Hoarfrost [villain todoroki - mha]

Prologue: a lesson never learned

The abode was never that calm in the evening.

   When the clock would hit three o'clock, the house would start filling with Natsuo and Fuyumi's chattings. As they were just returning from school, their discussions would mostly revolve around the things that had happened in class, or at lunch, the teachers they liked and disliked, or how much homework they had. Shouto would like to go to school too, it sounded fun. His private tutors were not bad; they weren't fun either. Years ago, Father had told him he would start school at six. Then Touya died. Then Mom left. Then Endeavor had decided he should stay "safe at home" for now, we'd see for middle school.

   For his part, Shouto had spent the evening writing in English with the most care in the world. He liked writing, it helped him focus and stay calm. Sure, he still struggled with the grammar, but the letters were easy to make. He had started English lessons two years prior, as he had been ahead of most kids his age when it came to reading kanjis (Father had made sure of that), that way he could quickly start learning another language. After all, it was essential for a future Number One Hero.

   At six o'clock, Father would come home, and the four of them would eat dinner together. There were four seats around the table: Father sat at the end, with Fuyumi at his right hand, Natsuo next to her, and Shouto at Father's left. Shouto did not like eating dinner. The food was always great. The housemaid Father had hired after Mom had left cooked really well and Shouto always finished his plate. What he didn't like was the atmosphere. Natsuo was always calm, and would never look at Father, or Shouto. Father didn't like when Fuyumi and Natsuo talked to Shouto. Actually, the only person Natsuo interacted with was Fuyumi. Speaking of her, Fuyumi always tried to tell Father about her grades (she always did her best to score the highest), Father never really paid attention though. Instead, he would stare at Shouto's plate, making sure he would maintain his diet for the training coming after dinner. Sometimes, when he wasn't too angry, he would ask Shouto about what he had learned today. Shouto would make sure to give every detail so that Father would remain calm, then the training would hopefully not be too hard.

   At seven o'clock, dinner would be over and Shouto would have to change into his training clothes and go to the training room. Fuyumi and Natsuo would go back to their bedroom and Shouto would only see them the next day at dinner. Shouto didn't like the training room. It was renovated regularly, yet some burn marks remained, some Shouto remembered vividly, and some he would swear had been here before he had ever first put his foot in this room. Sometimes there would be a dozen new burn marks on the walls, sometimes none. Those were the days Father was the calmer, and those days were rare. Especially after Touya died.

   Father had changed after Touya's death. So did everyone. But especially Father. Sometimes Shouto wondered how his life would have been if Touya was still around. Perhaps they would have trained together. Shouto had heard Mom and Father fight because Touya "kept training" when he "wasn't allowed to". Father had been very mean to Mom that day, even punching her harder than he would to Shouto! Shouto wished Touya had been allowed to train, perhaps it would be funnier together. Apparently, Touya had a very powerful fire quirk, even more powerful than Father's! No one really talked about Touya, it was like a bad word in the house. There was a shrine dedicated to him in his old bedroom, but that was it. Shouto had never really had the courage to go there, when Natsuo did go there he would always come back with red and puffy eyes. Father went at least once a week, and so did Fuyumi who talked a lot, as if he was there.

   When Shouto was five, something terrible happened to Touya. Shouto had never been allowed to know what exactly, he had actually learned after everyone had, at the time, he would refuse to talk to Father because he had made Mom hurt him and leave. Eventually, as Father had taught him to stay calm, he had told him that Touya was gone, but not like Mom, that he was in another realm, and that they would join him one day. Shouto had later learned it meant Touya was dead. Shouto wished he could have known Touya. They weren't allowed to talk, let alone be together without surveillance. Shouto didn't know why, according to what he had heard (and wasn't supposed to), something had happened when he was just a baby. Now Shouto was eight, he was taller and could understand a lot, but others still refused to tell him the whole truth. Touya would be sixteen now, almost an adult. Shouto had no idea what he would look like. All he knew was that before Touya died he had white hair like Mom and blue eyes like Father. Perhaps now he would be really tall and have a very deep voice, like an adult because he would almost be one. He would play football with Natsuo and Fuyumi and perhaps he would let Shouto play with them and hide it from Father. Mom would come back, and the abode would be loud from joy, not from cries.