Echo Chamber

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"HUH? The Hospital?" Fuyumi Todoroki gasped as her younger brother slipped on his shoes.

"Yeah," Shoto said flatly, "I'm going to visit mom."

"B-but why now? After all this time?" the young woman asked, staring at the teen as he walked out the door.

"I have to...ask her something," he said, looking at his hands, "About her quirk. About our...my quirk."

"OCHAKO!" the two figures shouted as they scrambled down the short hallway in the brunette's apartment.

"M-mom? Dad?" she shrieked as the two adults stood up, smiling at her, "What are you doing here?"

"We came to see you!" her mother said happily, "To congratulate out little champion!"

"Oh, you guys really didn't have to!" Ochako gasped, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Of course we didn't," Her father laughed, "But we wanted to! Anyway, that was quite the Sports Festival! There are articles all over the place about it! Especially that last fight."

"Oh, yeah," Ochako said quietly, looking away, "I just hope Izuku-kun is doing okay."

"Oh~?" her mother chimed, suddenly slipping an arm around the girl's shoulders, "Calling him by his given name already? What's that about?"

"N-nothing!" Ochako squeaked, her face going bright red, "I'm just worried about him!"

"Sure you are!" her mother laughed

"Hey," Neito hummed as he walked through the door of Izuku's bedroom, one hand in his pocket as he looked at his best friend.

"Hey," Izuku replied as he laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"So, you won," Neito continued, "Though you didn't stick around for the Award Ceremony."

"Didn't feel like it," the other teen mumbled, rolling onto his side, facing away from the blond.

"I understand," Neito sighed, before pulling something out of his pocket and tossing it onto the bed behind Izuku, "Here, you should at least have this."

Izuku rolled over slightly, reaching behind his back and grabbing the circular object. He stared blankly at the gold medal, letting out a low sigh as he sat up on his bed.

"Thanks, Neito," he muttered, setting the medal down on his bedside table, "Though I hardly deserve it."

"Bullshit!"

The shout made Izuku jump slightly, looking at his friend in surprise.

"You earned that first place!" the blond continued, "You beat that asshole fair and square! Even more so, because neither of you used quirks! Now he has nothing to lord over you at all!"

"But I could have seriously hurt him. Even...even killed him" Izuku mumbled, "I was...I almost wanted to. I was just...I was so angry. I didn't even really mean to win! I was going to forfeit, but then I..."

"And honestly, he kind of deserves that," Neito sighed as he walked over and sat beside Izuku on the bed, wrapping his arm around the green-haired teen's shoulders, "With the way he acts, he should never have been allowed into UA to begin with. But he was, so we're both going to make sure he doesn't screw this up for all of us! And maybe show him his place."

"At the bottom of a dumpster?" Izuku chuckled.

"An on-fire dumpster!" Neito grinned.

"Hey, let's not bring Endeavor into this," Izuku laughed back, "I only have enough patience to deal with one egotistical fuck-head at a time."