PHOENIX: A Pro Hero Toya Todoroki AU

Chapter 37: Sweet Relief (September 3, 2123)

"A whole building. Wow, way to upscale me. All I got you was a dumb watch. Is this our new agency lot?" I say sarcastically as I look up from the paper Keigo handed me.

"Toya. Look at the building ID."

"....Is this a joke?"

"Nope."

"This...this is?"

"Gonna be our new agency lot."

"Oh...So we're gonna be in the same damn building? This is the shittiest gift ever, Featherhead."

"Toya. Use your brain. What do you think your real present is?"

I pause for a minute: "No way."

Keigo nods with a cheeky grin on his face.

"KEI, NO FUCKING WAY!? THIS IS AWESOME!"

...

...

"Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"You haven't been able to stop saying that the entire way here," Keigo laughs at me.

Over the past year and a half, my family's messy issues were laid bare to the public, and all of the loose ends were tied up over the past few weeks. As soon as my interview reached the globe, Endeavor was forced to retire in shame, making Keigo the new Number Two hero. The abuse trial to put him away quickly started and ended, as his lawyers were ready for him to come out as redeemed, but we were ready to fight tooth and nail to ensure he paid his debts. However, the divorce case took forever to complete. Rei Todoroki won custody of Natsuo and Shoto, and pretty much got everything. Enji Todoroki would be serving time until mid-2125; that was the longest sentence they could grant with the charges against him. I wanted him to be locked up forever, but, alas, fame has its perks. Meanwhile, Keigo had transformed his agency to include both me and Rue at the helm beside him under the label of PHOENIX. We seized the top agency spot in no time with the downfall of the Endeavor Agency, and, now, we finally were gonna have our own physical building.

Keigo gave me the best anniversary present ever: he bought Endeavor's Agency, and I was allowed to literally burn it to the ground.

"And you don't wanna use the original building? You wanna build from the ground up? Won't that take a while?"

"Nah. I'm gonna hire Cementoss and some other heroes to finish our new digs by the end of the month. I just thought this would be better than anything else I could buy for you," He winks.

"You spoil me," I sneer as he sets me down on the ground and hovers beside me. "Legal arson. What a thrill," I laugh as I crack my knuckles and stretch. The enormous skyscraper looms over me menacingly, full of countless memories and darkness.

"The building is evacuated?" I ask hesitantly.

"Yep. All his sidekicks transferred to other agencies."

"And you really trust me to keep the burn controlled?"

"I think you got it, Toya," He reassures me, patting me on the back before he takes to the air and flies off so he won't be near the flames. I take a deep breath and look up at the building. I remember the first time Father ever brought me here. I was four, and it was immediately after my Quirk manifested. He showed me around the entire agency and assured me that everything would be mine. That I would carry on his legacy and be the greatest hero the world had ever seen. And then, four years later, he took it all back with Shoto's birth. The sodding bastard. He made me hate Shoto for the longest time. I haven't had an ounce of hatred for my little brother in years, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten how I felt back then. From then on, the building represented nothing but my failed dreams and my weakness. It represented everything my father thought I could never be. Now, look at me. I've done more for the Todoroki name than he ever has. I saved my family from him.