Gone Cold - [BNHA]

- ONE -

TODOROKI

    Ever since moving into the dorms, Todoroki felt more happy but also more guilty. Leaving his sister and brother to deal with his father's bullshit made him feel like he should be there more often. The safety rules of keeping the students in dorms didn't really apply to him, since he lived with the current #1 hero. His living situation was considered safe, even if he didn't believe it to be.

Thankfully, after a long stretch of attacks one after the other, Aizawa and the staff at UA decided to give the students a week-long break. And thankfully for the Todoroki's, Endeavor would be gone during some of this time, so Shoto was available to stay with his siblings and catch up after all the years they spent separated.

"I'm home," Todoroki called, taking his shoes off at the front door and then heading into the kitchen.

"Bro!" Natsuo scooped him up as soon as he could see his little brother and hugged him as tightly as possible.

"Natsuo," Fuyumi laughed. "You're gonna kill him."

Natsuo set his brother down and instead ruffled his hair. "Glad you're back, kiddo."

"Me too," Shoto said as Fuyumi pinched his cheek in saying hello. "What are you making?"

Fuyumi was standing behind a boiling pot on the stove. "Soba, your favorite."

"Thank you so much," he smiled, causing Natsuo to ruffle his hair again.

"So, you know it's just us tonight," Fuyumi said.

"Yeah, it was yesterday, too."

"Well yeah, but we were thinking it would be nice to meet some of your friends."

Shoto's face went pale. He didn't really have friends, did he? Well, he did, like Iida and Uraraka, and Midoriya, but did they think of him in the same way? And certainly Midoriya was worth more to Shoto than just a friend. Shoto owed him his power.

"C'mon, just see if anyone can come over," Natsuo said.

"Give me a second," Shoto stepped out of the kitchen and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He knew that Iida and Uraraka had gone home to their families, but he thought Midoryia was staying at the dorms for a little extra training with All Might. He would probably be done by now.

"Todoroki?" Midoriya said from the other side of the phone.

"Hello, Midoriya," Shoto was glad that Midoriya couldn't see him fidgeting from across the phone.

"What's up?"

"I was wondering if you are free tonight. My siblings think it would be nice to have one of my friends over for dinner and Iida and Uraraka are busy."

Midoriya took a second to answer. Shoto held his breath, thinking that calling him a friend was taking it too far.

"Yeah, I'd love to."

"Wonderful," Todoroki sighed. He gave Midoriya a time and his address before hanging up and joining his siblings again. It was just Fuyumi this time, Natsuo was probably in another room.

"So?" Fuyumi asked.

"My friend Midoriya will be over in an hour or so."

"Didn't you fight him during the sports festival?"

Shoto blushed. "Yeah."

"Wait, is he that crazy dude?"

"No, he was the guy I fought before that. Bakugou is the crazy one."

"Thank God, that dude seems like a lot."

"He's okay," Shoto shrugged.

After going through the classes to get their licenses, Shoto actually didn't mind Bakugou all that much. He was not very easy to talk to, but whenever he gave into conversations, it made Shoto feel like he was really getting the hang of social interactions. Uraraka was probably the one who gave him the most confidence with that, though. She was so easy to talk to.

"Can you get Natsuo?" Fuyumi asked. "I think he's in his room. I need his help with the meat."

"Yeah," Shoto headed down the hall to find his brother.

After not being able to find Natsuo in his room, Shoto headed further into their house until a light caught his eye. The only light that was on in any room was the one coming from Endeavor's.

"Natsuo?" Shoto called.

"Yeah," he sounded sniffly.

Shoto pushed the door open and joined Natsuo on the bed. He was holding a burnt photograph in his lap. Endeavor's room was torn apart again, making Shoto worry about his siblings. They sat in silence.

"Shoto," Natsuo said.

"Yeah?"

He took a deep breath. "When we were younger, I hated you."

Shoto looked down at his hands.

"I thought that you were the favorite. I thought that he and mom loved you more than the rest of us since he spent so much time with you and we never got to see him. Later, I discovered that wasn't the case and that the time he spent with you wasn't time I should've wanted to be in your place. I think we were too late in knowing what was actually going on. Now I still think that we could've saved you if we weren't so stuck in our own hatred of him." He wiped his eyes and stuffed the photograph in his pocket.

Shoto's cheeks were feeling hot and his eyes were watering.

"I want you to know that we love you, Shoto. We are a family. It doesn't matter if Endeavor is a part of it or not."

"Yeah," a tear fell down Shoto's face.

Natsuo put an arm around his little brother and kissed the top of his head.

"C'mon," he helped Shoto stand. "Fuyumi's gonna get nervous, plus your friend should be here any time."

Shoto wiped his own face. "Yeah."

Midoriya had arrived almost twenty minutes later, plenty of time for Natsuo and Shoto to calm down and also plenty of time for Fuyumi to finish making dinner.

His siblings talked with Midoriya for the majority of dinner, ending with a passionate conversation between Fuyumi and Midoriya about pro-heroes. Midoriya had gotten a silent memo that Endeavor wouldn't be mentioned, but they had so much more to talk about so it wasn't like they were obviously avoiding it.

After they finished eating, Shoto and Fuyumi had started putting away dishes while Natsuo taught Midoriya a card game that they liked to play.

"He's awesome, Shoto," Fuyumi said as Todoroki handed her a stack of plates.

"Yeah," he smiled to himself.

"I don't know if this is the best time, but Natsuo told me what you guys talked about and I wanted to tell you that I feel the same as he does. I'm aware I've been more forgiving of him, but I'll never do anything to hurt you or put you in danger, Shoto."

"Right."

She hugged him with the hand that wasn't in soapy water. "Now bring in the rest of the plates. We should finish as soon as possible so we can talk with your friend more."

"Right."