Daichi Todoroki: Origin

Chapter 12: Todoroki

This time I wake up in a hospital bed. I'm staring at the ceiling. My first thought is: What happened? The images of the past few hours -maybe it was days ago, I have no idea- play in my mind. Remembering that Deku and Iida were there too, I lift my head and look around the room. Just like after the Hero Killer incident, they're in beds in the same room as me. Iida is in normal clothes and is talking to Midoriya who sits on the end of his bed in a hospital gown. Without sitting up, I realize that I'm probably wearing one too. Midoriya is saying something about the League of Villains, but he trails off when he looks over at me and sees that I'm awake.
"Oh hey Todorki! You're awake." He says, getting up from the bed. He limps quite a bit as he walks over. Iida comes too, he seems fine except for a few bandages on his face and arms.
"Hey guys." I croak out through a dry throat. My voice sounds scratchy. I swallow. "Midoriya what happened? Are you ok? What about you Iida?" I ask.
"Oh yeah don't worry about me. I just got hurt fighting a villain, nothing too serious though." He says with a shrug. Iida ignores his comment. "Midoriya, you should be using your crutch." He says accusingly.
"Crutch?" I ask. He looks down at his feet and laughs nervously.
"Trust me I'm fine. I'll just sit down." He says, and he sits on the edge of my bed by my feet. Iida remains standing. "Never mind about me, how do you feel Todorki?" He asks. "You got hurt pretty bad."
I try to sit up and I wince when the motion sends a sharp pain traveling up my arm. Oh right. I forgot about that.
"Careful." Iida says and he puts a hand on my shoulder. I lean on my right arm to push myself up into a sitting position. Then I examine my left arm. There's a big white bandage wrapped around it several times, and a can see where a little bit of blood bled through.
"Here." Deku says. He limps over to the sink and fills a paper cup full of water. His right foot is in a cast. He turns around to come back but Iida stands in front of him, holding his crutch out to him.
"Oh, right." Deku mumbles and laughs.
Iida takes the cup and hands it to me. "Thanks." I say. Deku sits on my bed again.
The cold water soothes my throat and it feels so good that I down it in two gulps. Iida takes it and goes to get me more. Deku looks at me expectantly and I realize I never answered his question.
"Honestly, I don't remember much." Everything is foggy as I try to picture the fight. "I remember going there, and then fighting, and then you guys showed up. And I went unconscious several times. But you'll have to fill me in on all the details." I say.
"Well, it's a very long story. First I'll tell you about what's happening right now. As for me, I've just got a few scratches and we all eventually went unconscious from the smoke, but other than that I'm fine. Midoriya here got caught up in the fight and ended up breaking his leg. Recovery girl came by so it's healed pretty well but he still needs a crutch for a few days. You however, got the worst of the smoke. You went unconscious yesterday after the attack, and we were told the doctors figured out you overused your quirk. Also what's that cut on your arm from?" Iida asks.
I try to remember when it happened. Then I hear Toga's psychotic laughter and it comes rushing back to me. "Remember that girl Toga from the League of Villains?" I ask them.
They both nod. "Oh yeah, she was there last night." Deku says.
"She cut me." I say.
"That sounds painful. She was so creepy back at the training camp attack. She cut Uraraka too." Deku says. He seems to have become a little upset at the thought.
I remember that. Toga almost cut Deku too. She's crazy, how she would laugh and seem to be delighted at the thought of making people bleed.
"Well, why don't we tell you about everything else that happened." Iida says. He starts to explain but I stop him.
"Before we get into all of that, I want to apologize." I say. Iida's face softens as he listens.
"I was just so caught up in my own feelings that I couldn't think of anything else. I'm sorry. I never meant to get any of you involved in this. And I never meant for you to get hurt. I feel really bad." I say. "And thanks. For coming to help me, even though you got hurt doing it." I finish. When Iida's brother got attacked by The Hero Killer, he didn't tell anyone how he was feeling, and eventually he got into a lot of trouble because of it. I didn't even realize I was doing the same thing until now.
"Well. Déjà vu." Iida says quietly. We can't help it, we all laugh a little.
"Seriously though. It's ok Todorki. We've all made mistakes before and we've all broken rules. Iida with the Hero Killer, my house arrest. And now this. No matter how much trouble we get in, we'll always help each other. Because were heroes. And we're friends." Midoriya says.
"I agree completely. I know I'm always saying how we need to be model students and all, but I make mistakes too. Nobody's perfect. What's important is what Midoriya said. We're friends and we will always help each other." He says. It's a little strange to hear Iida admit this. He's always so uptight. I stare for a second.
"Thanks guys." I say. We're silent for a minute.
"Well, at least no one's hand got messed up this time." Deku says matter of factly. We all burst out laughing. It hurts everywhere, but it feels good to laugh with them. It's been a long time.
Iida and Deku fill me in on everything that happened. Apparently all the villains escaped again thanks to the warp villain, Kurogiri. Some of the officers got hurt, but not nearly as bad as any of us, so that's good I guess. Iida says that after they realized I was gone, they went and told Mr. Aizawa, who confirmed I had found the right place. He and the police rushed out to come save me, but I had already gotten into a fight. I had taken down some of the villains too, so it was pretty easy for them to rescue me and get out.
After a while we just talk about normal stuff. We talk about the other students and how they've started work internships. I mention how I probably won't be allowed to even retake my licensing exam now.
"No, I don't think Mr. Aizawa will be too harsh on you." Deku says, but he looks a little doubtful. I know I'll probably at least be suspended, and maybe even expelled. It's kind of sad. I like UA. I want to be a hero, and I don't want to leave my friends. Not to mention what will happen with my father when I get home. I've had too many encounters with villains. I've put myself and the other students and teachers in danger too many times. The school will probably have to close or something if anything else happens.
Then they tell me about their theory of the League of Villains again. How they could be spying on the school. They ask me if I found out anything while I was there.
I sigh. This isn't something I want to admit. "It's me." They look confused. "They're using me to spy on the school. One of the villains- the one I was telling you about that I might know- he told me he was using his quirk to give me flashbacks." Their eyes widen. "At first I wasn't sure how that would help them spy on the school, but I think that villain..." I trail off, not wanting it to be true.
"What Todoroki?" Deku asks.
"I think he's my brother." I say. Iida looks stunned. Deku stares at the floor in deep thought. As soon as I say it, I know it's true. There's no denying it.
"Todoroki, I'm so sorry." Deku says quietly. I shrug with my uninjured arm. "Ever since I started having flashbacks, I thought it might have had something to do with him. At the training camp attack, he sounded so much like him, and he called me by my full name. And then yesterday, he showed me himself." I say.
"Showed you?" Iida asks.
"With a flashback." I say and he nods.
"Well that explains why some of them were about your brothers and some of them about the League of Villains." He says.
I figured that out a long time ago. Now that I know what became of my older brother, I can't help but wonder what happened to Eiji. Could he also have something to do with the League of Villains?
"I'll have to tell Mr. Aizawa about all this later." I say.
"Yeah." Deku says. Like he heard us, Mr. Aizawa suddenly appears in the doorway.
"Todoroki, glad to see you're awake." He says, and he actually looks relieved. "How are you feeling?" He asks.
"Fine." I say.
"Good." He sighs. "There's a lot we need to talk about. Iida, I know you've been discharged, but could you stay for a little while longer?" He asks.
"Of course sir." He says and sits next to Deku, careful not to cause me pain.
"First off, I'm proud of you. You all fought bravely and risked your lives to save each other. I saw you two helping Todorki, who I saw save Iida from getting hurt. Midoriya, you knocked out one of the villains for us. Iida and Midoriya, you two helped Tsukauchi, the police and I out tremendously. Thank you. All of you." He says.
We all look at each other, realizing how much we need each other. If one of us hadn't been there, we probably would've died. When it comes to fighting villains, there's no one better to work together than us. Well maybe except our entire class working together. That's pretty awesome.
"Now that I said that, I have to scold you for the millionth time for your stupidity and for breaking the rules. Iida and Midoriya," He addresses them. They both become nervous all of a sudden. Deku looks terrified, though Iida looks more ashamed.
"You two are constantly rushing into danger even after I've told you not to, especially you Midoriya." Deku lowers his head. "Iida, I know you only rushed into the fight because you were going after Midoriya and you were trying to protect him. But you were the one who insisted on going, and I think you knew very well that it would result in some kind of fighting where you two would have to get involved." He accuses. Iida looks like he wants to say something, but decides no to, and he lets Mr. Aizawa finish.
"As for you Todorki, I don't know what happened. At what point did you decide you were going to do this all on your own and not tell any of the teachers at the school before you went to go fight the group of villains that almost killed you twice?" He makes it sound worse than it is. Actually, he's probably right. "These two filled me in on some of your motivations and they told me that you've been having flashbacks. As your teacher, I feel partly responsible for this, because I wasn't aware of all that you were going through, and I couldn't keep you safe. Which is why I've come to this decision." He says. We look up when he says this, awaiting our punishment.
"I don't know how many times I am going to have to say this before you get the idea. Apparently being so close to death so many times is not enough to get you to stop, so I figured nothing will." He shakes his head. I brace myself for his words.
"Since I can't stop you from getting into fights with villains all the time, the only way to ensure your safety is to make sure you're prepared for them. So I've found you all a place to do your hero work studies." He says. I stare in disbelief. Did I hear him right?
"But I haven't even gotten my provisional license yet." I argue.
"Do you want me to change my mind?" He asks. "I talked to the people who run the whole license thing, and they agreed that it's important especially for UA students to be prepared for anything that could happen. They've agreed to hold another exam in three weeks. Todoroki, you will be healed by then, and if you get your license- which you will," he glares at me, "then you and the others can start your internships together at the pro hero agency of Top Notch." He says.
"I know him! He's known for taking down some of the most dangerous villains at crime scenes, and he went to UA!" Deku says with excitement. He's geeking out again.
"Yes, but you'll be starting your work studies a little late, so you'll have to work even harder than the others." Mr. Aizawa says.
"No problem!" Deku says.
"We will always work hard!" Iida says.
"Yeah, me too." I want to ask why in the world I'm still allowed to do any hero work, let alone go to school, but I'll leave it be. Mr. Aizawa is right. I don't want to make him change his mind. "Thank you." I say.
Mr. Aizawa nods, and a small smile creeps onto his face. "Todorki, Midoriya, the doctor will be in in a minute to talk to you. Iida, you can go whenever you'd like, but make sure to get some rest. You are all excused from school tomorrow." He says.
"Yes sir. Thank you as well." Iida says. Mr. Aizawa closes the door.
We all smile. I might be here because of my father, but I would never take back my choice to come to UA. Being a hero is the best thing I can be. I've become stronger because of this, and I've met Midoriya, and Iida, and all my other classmates.
"I certainly was not expecting that." Iida says. "Me either, but now we can grow stronger together." Deku says, clenching his fist.
"Yeah, let's do it." I say.
And I know now that no matter what happens, even if my brother comes after me again and the League of Villains makes another move, I won't have to go through it alone.
 
                                   The End