𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: the sports festival continues! feat. more papa saitama!
Todoroki stared the stranger down. Suspicion clear on his face. The man seemed to catch on since he immediately backpedaled.
"Oh, sorry, rude of me not to introduce myself!" He smiled warmly. "I'm Keita Saitama, Y/N's father!"
Y/N Saitama... His classmate... Right. He had no idea what to make of her. On one hand, she was tired, apathetic, and seemed bored most of the time. But on the other hand, she had power... Lots of it. And power like that didn't come from nowhere.
He'd had his suspicions...
Was she like him?
Had she been through what he had?
...
He stared at the man more. He did look like Saitama. Their features were similar. It was tricky to see past Y/N's bored expressions versus Keita's more animated ones.
He was in an immaculate suit which subtly implied how expensive it was, and a corporate badge hung around his neck (difficult to get as far as he knew you needed to be a very high ranking member of a well known company).
"Shoto Todoroki." He introduced coldly, shivering minutely from the recoil of overusing his ice. "Yes. I am in your daughter's class."
"Right! You're doing great out there! Not that you need some random guy to tell you that! What you did in that last round was really cool." A pause. "Pun intended." The man smiled sheepishly. "Well anyway, you wouldn't mind too horribly pointing me in the direction of the class 1-A waiting room?"
A simple "Why?" escaped from Todoroki's mouth before he really thought about it. But if he was right and Y/N was avoiding this guy he sure wasn't going to bring him straight to her.
Mr. Saitama raised a brow. I just wanted to check up on her." Seemingly catching onto Shoto's hesitance, he added, "Ah... well, I know it might sound silly, given how strong she is but... I can't help myself. She's still my kiddo. And I know she's been really nervous about this whole thing. She's not the best with people."
He sighed. "You see, usually, I have to travel for work so I can't be around for her as much as I'd want to and I haven't really been able to support her as much as I would like to. I haven't really been great at that in the past..." The man seemed quietly thoughtful for a moment before apparently realizing he'd just been rambling and chuckled. "Geez... Sorry I can go on and on about my kid."
Todoroki stared. Then, "This way."
They walked for a moment until Mr. Saitama broke the silence, "Are you okay? Do you want my jacket?"
He simply stared at him. "Huh?"
The man smiled softly. "You're shivering, kiddo."
Kiddo?
"Oh." Shoto replied. "I wasn't... I-"
"You were trying to hide it, right?" The man chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry. I just..." He sighed looking up at the ceiling. "You just remind me of someone... Sorry."
I remind him of someone?
—
"It's working!!" Keita nearly leapt into his desk in excitement as he watched the small LCD screen flicker to life.
Then let out a death rattle of a power down noise and subsequently died. "Or maybe not..."
He sighed. He was a tad disappointed but really wasn't surprised. It was honestly optimistic for the device to boot at all the first time much less fully work when it was Frankensteined together from as many electronics he could get his hands on.
As he leaned back into his chair he was pulled from his plans by a knock at the door. Okay maybe knock wasn't the right word. It was more like something thudding into the door.
He froze, tense, and waited.
"Kei?" The soft voice made him immediately jump to his feet. "Kei, can you get the door?"
Keita didn't even hesitate to run over and pull the door open. And immediately was nearly slammed into the ground when an exhausted Akinori collapsed into his arms. "Aki!!"
He all but dragged his nearly unconscious twin into their room, closing and latching the door before bundling his brother in as many blankets as he could.
Then he sat down in front of him. "Aki..."
"..."
"You don't have to tell me what happened. I just want to help."
"..."
"Okay.. I... I'll leave you alone and-"
"She... she said I was being lazy..."
Keita raised a brow "What? You train basically all the time! How's that lazy?"
Akinori hesitated. "Well... Uh... she said that since I always have energy after training to play with you... that means I'm not giving it my all..."
Keita froze. "Huh?" Most of the time that 'play' after training was as laid back as possible since Akinori was always so exhausted. They just watched tv, played video games, played board games or other activities that could be done without much strain. He even distinctly remembered a point where he'd had to move both pieces when they were playing board games.
"That's stupid." Keita blurted. "She has no idea what she's talking about."
"I tried... tried to tell her that is... but..."
"She said you were wasting your time with me, right?" It was a question in principle only. They both already knew the answer.
It never had been a question how their parents thought of Keita. They got what they wanted with Akinori. Keita was just a copy without what they needed. Useless.
"She's wrong about you. I know that." Akinori's tone was much stronger than usual. "You know that too, right?" Keita's silence spoke volumes. "Hey! Do I need to remind you how awesome you are? You might not have a quirk but you're super smart! And you're great at taking care of people. You're nice, too!"
"Aki!" Keita floundered under the compliments. "You nearly passed out from exhaustion, you shouldn't be worrying about me!"
Aki chuckled. "Well, I am your older brother-"
"By two minutes."
"Regardless! I'm older and I do a terrible job taking care of you so let me at least do this."
Keita grinned. "Well, can you at least chill with the compliments? I'll drop dead of embarrassment!"
Akinori rolled his eyes. "Sure you will, Kei. Could you tell me about what you were working on? Your tech-babble always puts me right to sleep."
Keita jumped at the opportunity before the whole statement sunk in. "Sure! I was working on a small- HEY!"
﹤┈┈┈﹥
"You remind me of someone I cared a lot about. Just... Take care of yourself."
Todoroki furrowed his brow.
Cared. Past tense. Was this person dead?
"Oh."
The duo walked in a surprisingly comfortable silence then, just as Todoroki was about to give him the last few directions, they were interrupted.
"GET READY! Contestants to your corners!"
"The next match?" Mr. Saitama stated seemingly disappointed.
"You can probably still talk to her..." Todoroki offered.
"Ah, no worries. I'm sure she's already dealing with a lot today and I'd hate to bother her too much. Sorry for wasting your time."
"You didn't." Todoroki blurted.
"Hmm?"
"Waste my time." A pause. "Thank you."
Mr. Saitama smiled. "No worries kiddo!" Then he ruffled Todoroki's hair. He'd choreographed his movements so it didn't take him by surprise and he had more than enough time to move away. But he didn't. "Do your best out there."
﹤┈┈┈﹥
"Y/N!!" Kaminari practically threw himself against your side. "I can't believe I got beaten by that vine girl! And she was so cute too!"
"You did fine before that. And it's a great opportunity." You patted his shoulder awkwardly. "I mean, brute force doesn't always work."
"Yeah? Says you! You can just brute force your way through anything!" He grumbled. "I bet you're not worried at all!"
You stayed silent, you couldn't bring yourself to lie. You were already exhausted. Luckily he didn't take your silence as an admission that you were in fact intensely worried, since the next match started quickly after.
"Time for the fourth match! Get ready to watch two new players duke it out! He's the kid with engines in his legs. Tenya Iida from the hero course! Versus... a fully‐equipped gadget dynamo. The support course's Mei Hatsume!
So it's hero class versus support.
I have no idea what this fight will look like."
You saw the feral look on Mei's face and recognized it. You'd seen it on your dad's face before (last time you'd seen it, your dad had been moments away from absolutely destroying a robot fighting tournament). So, you were probably the only one who had an idea where this was going.
Uh, what's up with Iida? Where the heck did he get all that weird gear from?
You sighed, burying your face in your hands as Iida rambled about integrity and honor. Honestly if it was anyone else you'd call bullshit but Iida seemed to be genuinely like that.
"That's why, to honor her, I would like to wear this gear!"
Oh Iida you sweet summer child. This wasn't even going to be a fight...
"Such youthful vigor!" Ms. Midnight, why.
"Well, if everyone's on the same page, let's begin the fourth match!" Even Present Mic sounded taken aback.
"Bet you love how fast that gear makes you! Huh, Iida?" Whoop there it is. You called it.
"She's got a mic?"
You leaned back in your seat as you watched poor Iida get thrown around the arena like a sad square pinball while Mei went on a tech tangent which was definitely familiar. You should have brought popcorn.
You doubted she ever needed your endorsement after that kind of crazy...
And you were up next...
Fuck.
﹤┈┈┈﹥
"That's exactly the kind of crazy we need!" Tatsu gushed as his tail swung back and forth, more like a dog than a cat. "Guess there was more reason to come here than cheering on Mini-Saitama!" Before going off on a tangent of his own about tech.
Alya, on the other hand, had her face buried in her hands with the long suffering expression of someone who knew that they would be stuck listening to that kind of techno-babble for the entire flight home.
Keita awkwardly patted her shoulder before mumbling a soft "Sorry," and remorselessly joining in the tech conversation.
Alya let out a groan that was probably closer to the actual audio of the human soul leaving the body than anything else.
She wondered if it was too late to change career paths.
Though she couldn't help but smile as the duo excitedly talked.
﹤┈┈┈﹥
"We're gonna charge right on along to the fifth match!" Present Mic yelled as you tried your damndest not to look like you were about to keel over dead. "The Tired Terror who's been topping the charts so far! Y/N Saitama, from the hero course!" You chuckled at the stupid nickname. It almost made you feel better... Almost. "Versus... Is there some kinda purpose for those things sticking out of her head? From the same class, Mina Ashido!"
Ashido grinned at you. "Let's have fun! Show me what you're made of Saitama!"
You withered but managed a smile.
She, expectedly, ran straight for you. You dodged the first volley of acid. You saw the opening to counter attack but...
You dodged.
And dodged.
Just as your panic was ramping up, a voice cut through the crowd. "GO Y/N!!!" You swirled to see your dad standing in between the rows, holding a Nova Industrial branded voice-amplifier with one hand and waving a really poorly made, but adorable, flag with the other. "I believe in you kiddo! You'll be fine!" He yelled with a smile.
You couldn't help but smile back.
Ashido's next flash of acid nearly hit you since you dodged a tad late. "Hey!" You quipped. "You nearly messed up my uniform!" You grinned. "If you'd dissolved my skateboarding banana socks, then we'd have a real problem!"
"Now your head's in the game, huh Saitama?!" Mina yelled back. "Now I get to beat you!" She immediately attacked with more acid.
This time when you saw the opportunity for a counter attack, you took it.
You crossed your arms over your chest and flung them out so they were stretched out at your sides. The resulting shockwave, while gentle enough not to cause any damage, was enough to send Mina and the acid she'd attempted to splash at you flying backwards.
She nearly managed to catch herself but...
"Ashido is out of bounds! Saitama moves on to the next round."
"Aw geez!" Mina complained as you jogged over and held out a hand.
"You good? Sorry... Was that too much?"
Ashido grinned as she took your hand and let you pull her "You're like, crazy strong, Saitama! Good job."
"You too!"
﹤┈┈┈﹥
Meanwhile Keita leaned against the wall and smiled and focused on his breathing.
"Keita!" Tatsu ran over. "You good? That must have been scary. So many people."
He laughed. "Yeah... Definitely not doing that again... but," He glanced over seeing his daughter smiling as she walked off with the girl who she'd been fighting against. Probably talking about the match. "It was worth it."
Tatsu chuckled. "Ya know... I might need to make Mini-Saitama sign something for me. For when she gets famous."
"What? Do we not pay you well enough?" Keita asked, smirking.
"Not to sell! Just to brag about!" Tatsu explained. He glanced at Keita, noticing he was still clearly nervous. "I know how to make you feel better." He held his paws out. "May I offer you beans in this trying time?" He offered, showing the large but soft toe beans on his paws.
Keita laughed. "Thanks." Then plopped his face into Tatsu paws.
"Anyway, we should head back. I think Al might think you died of shock."
Keita's rebuttal was muffled by soft paws.
—
a/n: sorry for the wait! I have no excuse, I'm just a ✨mess✨ with no schedule.
For the ending, remember the advice he gave y/n! Papa saitama hates crowds just as much as Y/N, he's just better at faking it.
Todoroki, when Papa Saitama pats his head: what is this?
Papa Saitama: ??? affection???