When Todoroki Shoto first heard about his father's condition, he was honestly pleased. He thought it was karma that the man deserved to end up like this. After all the man had put him, his family and his mother through, it had to be a gift from whoever was sitting up there. He thought it was the only right thing to happen and inwardly he thanked the person who had done it.
That was until he went to visit the man together with his siblings. For the family, Fuyumi had said when she had to drag the reluctant boy out of the house. The hospital was sterile and smelled of disinfectant, a place he couldn't stand. He wanted to leave, but for the sake of his sister, he stayed. She thought she could still save this broken family, he would let her, she would realize soon enough how hopeless it was. It was then that they entered the hospital room and if Shoto was honest, he was shocked. This man, his father, who always stood so proudly, taking no shit and countering everything with his untamable temper, sat there, broken, lost, silent. He stared at the ceiling above him, bandages covered his entire body and he was connected to countless machines.
When had he fallen like this?
But Shoto could not bring himself to feel sorry for him. He was shocked, yes, but his emotions reached no further than that. The time of the visit was silent, stifling, and unpleasant. The endless and steady beeping of the machines was the only thing that could be heard. And in all that time nothing was said.
"We should go" Fuyumi muttered and Natsuo had already jumped up and walked to the door. She herself stood up as well and Shoto followed, only to be held back by a hand on his wrist. The siblings' eyes fell to the man, who was now stirring for the first time since their arrival.
"Shoto, stay" he said quietly, and the others knew there was no argument. Albeit reluctantly and with one last look at his sister, who smiled weakly and nodded, he stayed and sat back in the chair. After the older Todoroki children left the room, silence followed for a moment. Enji had let go of his son's hand and was staring at the wall across from him. Shoto sat there, tense and ready to get up at any moment and run out of the room if necessary. It wasn't as if this man could run after him.
"You need to get stronger" was the first thing the flame hero said and Shoto's gaze shot up. His eyebrows drew together and his eyes narrowed. This was not what he wanted to hear.
"There are hurdles out there that you have to overcome that seem impossible to get out first".
Shoto gritted his teeth and his hands balled into fists. He knew that, he knew all that already and he would do it, but in his own way. He looked down at his clenched hands, his hair covering his eyes and he suppressed the urge to yell at the man in front of him.
"I didn't make it," Enji said, and Shoto's gaze flew to the man in front of him. His eyes widened. He hadn't expected him to admit his weakness so easily. Just said it like it was nothing, while he continued to stare at the wall. And for a brief moment Shoto thought that the person in front of him was no longer his father.
"And that's why I have to prepare you" he finished and for the first time he looked at his son. Their eyes met and silence followed for a moment.
Until Enji opened his mouth again and he told, he told so much with such painful details that Shoto for the first time became afraid of what was in front of him. What was this person in front of him saying anyway? Was such a thing even possible. Human experiments, brainwashing, blood and death, so much death that his stomach turned.
It was on this day that Shoto learned that a hero's job was so much more than looking cool, saving a few people and arresting criminals.It was so much more, so much more dangerous, so much more painful than that and for once he was scared. He was scared about what he was going to become.
Number one hero meant being better than his father, but could he? Yes, he wanted to say, but to be better than his father didn't mean throwing away part of his humanity. To lose a part of himself? He gritted his teeth and looked to the ground. It was a promise he had made when he was young, he would be better than this man, than Endeavor and All Might, even if that meant losing himself. Who would have thought that was so incredibly hard? To become someone he wasn't.
No, he couldn't start doubting now, he had to go on, harder, stronger, until he reached the top. Again he looked at his father, the many injuries, bandages, the time it would take to heal, the scars, physical and mental. He would be so much better than that, so much stronger and he would stop at nothing. This person who did this to his father, to all these people, he would prove that he was so much stronger than that.
That was a promise!
::
That very evening Orochimaru found his way to the secluded bar. All for One had tried to contact him more than once. He had also heard about the stunt the Sannin had pulled and made full use of his contact with the man to get the best and most reliable information about the incident.
"That was unexpected" he told him and Orochimaru grinned.
"I've always been one to do the most unexpected things" he answered honestly and All for One laughed. "I guess that's true" he confirmed.
Shigaraki watched the whole thing in silence. He was angry and he just didn't like the man in front of him. His master said he would be useful, but he saw no use in the assassin. His master said he could learn from him, but so far he had learned nothing from the guy.
He had not been able to stand him from the very beginning, but he endured his presence because of his master and because Orochimaru had said he would stay in the shadows. He had put up with him because he thought that this man would eventually be subordinate to him, without any solo efforts. But then came this. News of him murdering hundreds of people and the situation was only resolved when the military arrived. Now he was marked as highly dangerous and flee on sight. Where was the shadow now?
And while this man was breaking all promises and tearing Shigaraki's nerves apart, he himself was still sitting here, in this old bar, patiently waiting for the day when he could make his debut. He really didn't like him. He would just like to kill him right here and now. He didn't need him, he could do without him, he had his master and he would kill the symbol of peace together with him and start a new era.
He didn't need Orochimaru for that.
"Tomura" he looked up at his name and looked to his master. "Orochimaru is a good ally." only now did he notice that said assassin was missing, "It was a good decision to partner with him back then. Many eyes are now on him and I'm sure he will accomplish many things in the future."
"And what do you want to tell me with that?" Shigaraki interrupted him. Did his master now want to stand in his way as well? He could not believe that. All for One just laughed at his little outburst and remained calm.
"Just imagine what will happen if someone like Orochimaru were to work under you" he explained slowly and Shigaraki's eyes lit up in understanding. Slowly he began to smile, which then turned into a loud laugh.
Yes, he liked the way that sounded. This was really an excellent idea!
Him as the leader with Orochimaru under him, the world would know that he was someone great if he got such a man tamed. Then nothing would be able to stop him and the others would learn to fear him.
::
"Oh look who decided to show up" Takumi called from the other end of the room as Orochimaru was about to pay the three of them a visit. It was a place he had designed and built especially for them. You could say that it became something like a shared apartment, only underground, with training rooms and a little creepier. All three of his pupils sat at the end of the room on a sofa in front of a television and watched some children's programs. Well, after all, they were just kids.
Sora lit up like the sun at dawn when he caught sight of the Sannin and came bouncing towards him excitedly. Kyoko was similarly welcoming. Only Takumi didn't look so excited.
He got up from the sofa and came stomping toward him.
"Two weeks, okay? Two goddamn weeks we've been gone! And what happens? A fucking massacre!" he roared, throwing up his arms wildly. But Orochimaru just laughed, at which Takumi gave him a look.
"You really can't be left alone without killing someone!" the boy snorted, shuddering at the thought, then walked away again. He plopped himself down on the sofa and continued to watch whatever it was he was watching while shoving some chips in his mouth in a huff.
"Ignore him" Sora told him, grabbing the sannin's hand and pulling him away. "I've been wanting to show you something all along," and then they were out the door. Kyoko ran after them because she clearly still had something to say.
Takumi looked at the closed door, snorted again, and shoved another handful of chips into his mouth.
::
Orochimaru was absent from school for about two weeks. Izuku had overheard what was going on, many had. Even though the news only came late at night, it had become a hot topic, especially with the many heroes that had died that night. Originally, Izuku had already been asleep at the time, but of course he would not sit idly by when a few heroes from agencies not too far away had suddenly died at the same time. What he would not have expected were the gruesome details he had found out during his research. It wasn't a lot of information and a great number of things were left out and covered up, but what was there was enough to know that it was horrible. And while scanning through the list of fatalities, he found one particular name.
Takahashi Souta.
At first he didn't want to believe that he had seen correctly, but even after minutes it remained the same and the boy swallowed hard. He knew this man, the always cheerful man who loved his family above all else. Only recently he had been with them, even if he was not there then, the family was somewhat distraught already. How would they feel now? And more importantly:
How would Kenta be?
To say that he was worried was an understatement. He couldn't sleep because of how worried he was. All the calls went unanswered and he began to cry. When he told his mother, she burst into tears and together they watched a cheesy movie to cope with the news. His calls went unanswered after that, but he didn't want to drop in on the family unannounced. He was an outsider and he didn't want to disturb them in their time of mourning.
So he waited at school, staring at the empty seat next to him, hoping that his friend would come back soon. And he did, two weeks later, looking as serene and bored as ever. One could think that the boy was not at all unwell, that his father had not just died.
He asked, very often even, in the morning, during the breaks, during the lessons and after school when they had walked home together as usual. He asked about his well-being, offered himself as a conversation partner, as the shoulder on which he could cry, if the boy could do that at all, he just wanted to be a good friend. But as an answer came only a simple "I'm fine Midoriya" and to be honest, the boy didn't know if he should believe that. But everything about his friend showed that he was the same as always, no change, no sadness, nothing. Izuku frowned, but said nothing more. What could he say now?
And so they parted ways, as they always had for the last few years, and somehow Izuku couldn't suppress the feeling that it was wrong. So incredibly wrong, but he just didn't know how to express it. So he kept silent, looking after the snake boy and burying that uncomfortable feeling deep inside.
::
Orochimaru had enjoyed his two weeks of rest, the excuse that his father had died was perfect. But who would have thought that as soon as he came back, he would be so annoyed by Midoriya. He could have imagined it, but he had hoped that it would be different. Well it didn't matter. At the moment, he was being treated like a fragile glass doll at school. Even Bakugou had just ignored him that day and kept his distance. And while he found it absolutely amusing, he couldn't help but be annoyed.
He unlocked his front door and stepped inside, only to see an irked Nibori running down the hall. The red head gave his brother only a quick glance before ignoring him and disappearing around a corner. Orochimaru walked down the hall and looked into the living room. There sat his mother, watching some drama on the television and holding a bar of chocolate and a glass of wine as she cried her eyes out. The Sannin sighed. The woman had been a wreck since she learned of her husband's death. She would just sit on the sofa all day, wrapped in blankets and surrounded by countless pillows, while watching random movies. At the same time, she always had something to eat lying next to her and always a glass of wine. He didn't know how many she had emptied in the last three days alone, he could only say that there were many. And because Orochimaru was not interested in that, it was his brother who had to take care of the woman. He had to see that the woman fed herself, showered, and dragged her to bed at night. And on top of that, he still had his work as a budding hero. A fact that Misaki had been trying to discourage as of late.
The boy was stressed, annoyed and on top of that he had a little brother who didn't give a damn. So it was safe to say that Nibori hated him right now.
This very one came running back into the living room, bumping Orochimaru's shoulder as he passed him and hurried over to Misaki to mop up the spilled wine the woman had unknowingly splashed before it dried.
He wanted to get up and leave again, however Misaki stopped him, her eyes half-closed.
"Please don't go" she murmured and Nibori was about to reply something when she continued speaking and he faltered.
"Souta."
Time seemed to stand still for a moment in which the boy just stared at his mother. He drew in a sharp breath and collected himself again.
"You should go to sleep, Mama" he replied merely, trying to avoid his mother's insistent gaze.
Orochimaru simply shook his head and left. It was not his problem. All he would do now was sit back, stay calm, and concentrate on continuing to train his three students. He would disappear from the scene for the time being and let time take its course.
The world could do without him for a while.
________________________
So, this chapter was a bit short. I have now finally finished the first 'arc' and this chapter is just to wrap everything up.
I will now make a few days break from writing, to think about how things should continue and make plans. For example, in this chapter I set Shoto on Orochimaru, but I don't know exactly how I'm going to develop it further.
Well, I just hope that you enjoyed the first section of this book and that you will continue to support me. Until the next update :D.