You're Like Me (TodoDeku)

23

"How have you been doing, Sho?" His dad asks.

It was weird. His dad was hardly ever around, and hardly ever wanted to talk, but ever since his diagnosis, his dads been acting all types of weird, "Shouldn't you be on patrol?" He asks.

The boys door is cracked open as his dads towers in the doorway, "I wanted to check in on you."

"I said I was fine."

The man sighs, "Shoto, please talk to me."

God. The boy misses one meal and all hell breaks loose. Heaven forbid the boy has trouble sleeping so he sleeps through breakfast, "I'm fine."

"Fine is not a real emotion!"

Shoto narrows his eyes. He was tired of this already. All he wanted to do was curl into his bed and watch movies all day. That's probably what all his classmates were doing right now, hell, they weren't even heroes yet and they went through a traumatic experience with villains.

"I'm tired." He leaves the door open and walks away to flop on his bed.

His dad cautiously enters the room, expecting his youngest son to scream at him to get out, but all he's met with is silence.

He stands awkwardly as his son scrolls through Netflix, "I don't like talking. If you feel like you need to stay you can watch a movie with me- just don't touch my bed," he says with a scowl.

He picks a cheesy Adam Sandler romcom but Endeavor stays standing unsure if he actually wants to stay or not. He knows he should stay.

He decides to watch a couple minutes of the movie, so he grabs a pillow and sits against the wall by his sons bed as the show starts.

The beginnings a bit confusing so Endeavor takes this as his opening now thats he actually in his sons room, "I really am sorry it took me so long to get home after Monday," he glances at his hands, "I should have been there to pick you up."

Shoto freezes. The man has never apologized for being absent before. He keeps his eyes on the screen, "It's fine." He hadn't actually expected his dad to pick him up anyway.

"Shoto, please don't interrupt me,  I promise I just want to... just please let me speak." The boy can feel his eyes on him but he stares blankly into the screen holding Drew Barrymore and he nods.

"I know... I know Im not the best teacher, and Im not even really a good one. But I am a good hero, I know that." He thinks for a second, this is not how he wanted to start this, "What happened on Monday at school, the USJ... if that were me I would have been terrified. Things are scary to everyone, but heroes tend to see even more of those scary things."

The boy glances at his dad who's eyes are on the screen, "It's common for heroes to not be okay all the time, you know?"

The boy's eyes go back to the movie, "It was hard for me to fall asleep because of my anxiety. I slept through breakfast is all."

Without looking at his son, he smiles slightly.

The truth was, Shoto Todoroki had hated his dad for the majority of his life. He had put so much pressure on his mom she broke and gave Shoto the scar he's known for. Shoto had exactly the quirk his dad wanted, the reason he married his mom to begin with. He always had his dad putting pressure on him, giving him intense training since his quirk first appeared. But he never hurt him, no matter how resistant he was (physically at least).

Then he became obsessed with competing for the title of being the Number One hero. Shoto felt what his older brother and sister had felt for the first time, his father's absence. He was no longer pushing him to become the best directly, especially after his mom went away. Instead the presence of his father was replaced with some random woman meant to take care of them.

He could no longer run to his dad's room because of a bad dream. He didn't stick around for first day of school pictures. Family dinner's were once a week, where he mainly asked about the kid's studies. The anger and hatred towards his father took away half of his power, took away any sort of parental support he had felt, took away his desire to become a hero.

He didn't even want to apply to UA a year ago. He didn't want to be anything like his father, no matter how angry he'd be. But then, he started seeing a therapist for his eating disorder.

She didn't push the boy to forgive his father. She let him cry and remember all of his feelings he had pushed down for so long. He talked and he talked and he talked until it seemed there was nothing left to say and then said more. He had always been quiet, a boy of few words, but that didn't mean he didn't have things to say.

His therapist helped him recognize what all this anger and hatred was doing to him and his mind. Every interaction he had with his father was intense and stressful and was taking it's toll on the young boy, "You do not have to forget or forgive all of the things he did, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. But recognize what these feelings do to your mental well-being, and do your best to not let them control you."

So as they sat there watching the movie, neither anger nor hatred was at the front of Shoto's mind. Right now, he was watching a movie with his mostly absent father, laughing at the corny jokes together. And he could appreciate that fact.

*************************

Shoto Todoroki couldn't help himself as he confirmed to Izuku the man had in fact been at the USJ.

He quickly screenshotted the picture and put it into a reverse image search on his computer. A link for an arrest record came up.

HISASHI MIDORIYA: CHARGED WITH PETTY THEFT, BREAKING AND ENTERING, and TRESPASSING

Found guilty on December 4th, 2102. Sentenced to one year in jail.
Released on parole July 15th, 2103.

Midoriya. That's what Izuku went by at school. His birth name.

Shoto scrolls through the article, but all that's said is he was released from parole with no issues three years later.

He goes back to the search page and clicks on the second website. It says pretty much the same information until he gets to the bottom where a large banner reads:

WANTED: HISASHI MIDORIYA ON THREE COUNTS OF CHILD ENDANGERMENT.
Do not approach. Call 777-712-5111 or your local police station if seen.

Shoto almost wishes he had left it alone.

Izukus dad being there must mean he's working with the League. He tries not to stress about what that might mean for his friend. Izukus dad was a villain, and the fact he's wanted for child endangerment... it makes his stomach turn.

His phone lights up again, Izuku had played him back in checkers. They spend the next half an hour playing the game before Shoto loses and chooses to play archery next.

Fuyumi coughs, causing the boy to jump three feet in the air. He glares at his sister just lurking in the doorway with her eyebrows raised, "Youre supposed to be studying, Sho."

"I am." Or rather, he had been before Izuku texted him. His English textbook was still open in front of him, but the page hadn't turned in over an hour.

Fuyumi holds out her hand for the boys phone, causing him to scowl, "Dinners in fifteen minutes, you'll get it back once you're done."

The youngest Todoroki slaps the phone into her hand and turns back to his desk.