Bull of a Dad

(Temporary cover! The art is mine and it's how I imagine Ushi, but I'm currently working on a more specific drawing for this story to use as the official cover.)

Unable to bear the favoritism his father showed Shoto, Toya decides to do something unthinkable - something no future hero should ever even consider.
No one knows exactly what happened. All that's certain is that a four-year-old Shoto was found barely alive at the doorstep of an orphanage. He was taken in, nameless and silent, his past burned away like ash.

Not long after, a tall, intimidating man appeared at the orphanage looking to adopt a child. His name was Ushi - a quiet man with a mutation quirk that made people flinch at first glance. He was used to the fear. Used to being judged by his looks alone. But he never stopped hoping to be seen for who he truly was.

When he met Shoto, something shifted. The boy didn't flinch. Didn't stare. Just looked at him with tired, guarded eyes - as if he'd already seen far worse than horns and fangs.

Ushi didn't need to hear the boy's story. He saw enough in his silence. Enough to know they both carried scars no one else could see.

And so, without fanfare or a second thought, he took the boy home - not to fix him, but to protect him. To give him the chance to grow up away from the fire that tried to consume him.
Because sometimes, it takes someone who's been judged all their life to truly understand a child who's been abandoned by everyone else.