Hello hello! Sorry if this chapter was a bit late... I'm moving houses :) But screw that.... HAVE A LOOK AT THAT BEAUTY OF AN ART!! OHHH MYYY GODDDD, IT'S THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I'VE SEEN IN MY LIFE, LIKE?? LOOK AT MC! SHE'S SO HOT, THAT EVEN THOUGH I'M STRAIGHT, I WOULDN'T MIND IF SHE SHOT ME WITH HER GUN! LIKE PLS STRANGLE ME WITH YOUR ARMS BBG! AND LOOK AT TODOROKI!MC SHE'S SO CUTEEE!! THIS BEAUTY OF AN ART WAS THE HANDIWORK OF THE GREAT AND TALENTED @Potato Chip so a HUGE round of applause pls! Tysm! P.s, the phone isn't letting me link their account with their name so I'll do that later :p
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Shoto hated getting up early.
The morning cold air was annoying to him, and he would always want nothing more than to curl up in his blankets and sleep away.
Unfortunately, other than his mother and... his deceased sister, no one else knew about this dislike of his. Not even his father, who was responsible for waking up Shoto so early in the morning, every day.
But it's not like Shoto actually cared anymore.
Ever since you had 'died', Shoto had become the shell of the person he used to be. He no longer felt like his life had any meaning other than getting back on his father and avenging your death. He would be a hero, not for his father's sake, but for yours.
Sometimes when the loneliness got too heavy to bear, he'd lay down his futon and read your old books, imagining as if he was back to being a 3-year old, laying with you in your shared room while you would read away.
He never really reached out to his siblings to see how they were faring, ever since that incident. He knew Natsuo had become a lot more aggressive everytime he saw Endeavor, and Fuyumi had started to become a little too emotionally drained. Watching them act like this reminded him that he hadn't just lost a sister, but a brother as well.
He didn't know much about Touya, just a few snippets here and there from what you would tell him or when he'd hear Fuyumi and Natsuo reminiscing their older brother.
But frankly, as much as it disgusted Shoto to feel this way, he knew that he didn't exactly feel as miserable at Touya's death. If anything, the dual haired boy held somewhat of a vendetta against him.
It was technically Touya's fault... His fault that you had died. His flames were the ones that scorched your body, burning you to mere bones.
He didn't want to hold a grudge against the dead, but he had realised that maybe you would have gotten to live if only you hadn't followed Touya to Sekoto Peak that day.
But what's gone is gone.
Shoto cannot turn back time, no matter how many times he cried himself to sleep, just for one single chance to save you and perhaps, Touya too while he's at it.
No matter what happens, Shoto didn't forget that time continued marching forward. He was reminded this when he looked at himself in the mirror once more, smoothing out the wrinkles of his jacket before wearing his bag around his shoulders.
"Shoto, aren't you going to eat your breakfast?" Fuyumi's voice rang through his ears as clear as a bell. But the boy was in no mood to eat anything.
Food didn't taste the same anymore, without you or his mother.
So he hoped that maybe she would just think he had left already and not nag at him anymore.
Ah, but looks like he already ran out of luck.
"There you are! What are you doing, tiptoeing to the door? Your breakfast is still untouched!" She scolded, in her hands a spatula that she used to flip the eggs she was cooking.
"I'm not hungry–"
"I don't wanna hear it! If you don't eat, you won't be able to focus on your studies or training!" In her eyes was a determination that was almost akin to their mother. It was eerie how similar the two women were in terms of caring for everyone. Your type of caring was more of a 'I don't care if you eat or not, but your death better not be on me'. Of course, Shoto knew you were too kind to actually feel that way.
"I'll have lunch later on–"
"Shoto, just eat your breakfast." She ordered and the poor 7-year old was forced to comply to his sister's commands. As he sat down at the dining table, he was yet again reminded of the loneliness that always seemed to accompany him.
Enji would always leave earlier than everyone, and hence would have his breakfast in his office. While Fuyumi would make breakfast for herself, Natsuo and Shoto later on in the morning when it was time for school.
Natsuo was no where to be seen, probably still getting ready. So it was just Shoto at the table, eating in silence. Fuyumi was still busy making the rest of the breakfast so even she couldn't join him, no matter how much she wanted to.
In the end, it was just like every other day ever since your death.
A day filled with nothing but loneliness.
Just as he was about to finish the last of his breakfast, Natsuo walked in alongside Fuyumi, who had just finished plating both their breakfasts.
"Oh, Shoto! You're here too?" The older boy started in an attempt to strick up a conversation with his younger brother. But it was in vain when he noticed how Shoto kept his head hung low the entire time, his gaze fixed on the food in front of him.
An awkward silence soon encased the siblings as Fuyumi cleared her throat and started next, "A-Anyways... It's already the 2nd of January... You're birthday's in almost 10 days... Is there something you want?"
She smiled, hoping that her brother would at least perk up at the mentioning of his birthday. But almost as if it had the opposite effect of what she wanted, Shoto's mood only worsened as the boy gripped his metal chopsticks so hard that his fingertips began to turn white.
"U-Uh... You don't have to tell us right away! But if there's anything in particular that you'd like to get... Maybe a new toy–"
"That man is only going to burn anything you get me, so don't bother." For the first time since Natsuo's arrival, Shoto spoke and that was also only meant to prevent his siblings from getting their hopes up.
It was pointless for them to celebrate his birthday anyways if his other half had already died.
There's no use of a birthday if only half of him continues to exist; if you... were no longer here to celebrate it with him.
————
"[Name], where are we going?"
A young Shoto spoke, who had just turned 5-years old that exact same day, as he gazed at you with confusion in his mismatched eyes.
You turned around to be greeted with his doe eyes looking so worried, now that you both were beginning to step foot outside of the Todoroki territory, "You know he's gonna get mad if I go out!"
"Who's gonna tell him?" You finally replied, turning your head around to check for any surveillance cameras that Enji might have placed.
Today was January 11.
Shoto and your birthday.
And while you didn't have the finances or the ability to actually go and get a good gift for Shoto, you had come up with a better, but far more dangerous plan.
Enji would be leaving for work, and would be on a business trip for at least three days to attend a boring Heroes' Conference in New York, USA.
This meant that the family maid would be in charge. And this also meant that you wouldn't be able to celebrate your birthday in the house without the family maid informing Enji, that instead of training like he had told Shoto to do, you guys were having a birthday celebration.
That's why you guys had to have a change of plans.
Luckily for you, a little bit of puppy eyes to Fuyumi and simply calling Natsuo, 'Natsuo-nii' for a whole week, and those two siblings of yours caved in faster than lightning. Touya was still busy bitching to help you but that's fine.
The plan was simple.
While Fuyumi would distract the family maid, Natsuo had one job to do.
Disable the bank's withdrawal SMS on Enji's phone before he left for the conference.
A very dangerous feat, indeed. But he had done it. And you couldn't have been happier.
Now, with Enji's card that he had given Fuyumi for groceries, your sister had withdrawn... a pretty good sum of money for your and Shoto's birthday.
And next came your part in the plan: getting Shoto the hell out of the Todoroki Estate.
It seems like you had successfully managed to do so because you both were now roaming the streets of Musutafu.
Now, what may be the reason for sneaking Shoto outside? Well, that would be the festival that would be taking place at this time of the year; the Tōka Ebisu Festival.
Not the most famous festival, but neither the most discreet. What mattered was the fact that this would be Shoto's first ever festival.
Thankfully, Fuyumi trusted you enough to take care of Shoto, because you're not sure what would have happened if she decided that you both were too young to go by yourselves.
Oh well, might as well enjoy the festival if you're here and worry about the problems later on.
Throughout the way to where the festival was being held, Shoto had been extremely quiet, keeping his body pressed against yours and jumping anxiously at every small sound he heard.
That's not good.
You dragged Shoto out here so that he could enjoy himself, instead of being scared the whole time. You wanted him to be happy, to experience the beauty of a festival. Not cower in fear...
"Shoto, are you okay?" You asked, making the boy look at you with fear in his eyes, "L-Let's turn back, [Name]... He's gonna hurt you-us if he finds out!" You couldn't help but frown at his words.
"Don't think about him, right now. It's your-no... It's our birthday, right? Let's enjoy ourselves today. You don't have to worry about Dad, he won't find out. And if he does, I'll just tell him that I kidnapped you and took you by force!" You joked, a small smile escaping onto your lips as your brother stares at you in shock.
"A-Are... Are you sure? That he won't find–"
"I pinky promise that he won't. Now, let's go!" You tugged at his arm once more, and this time he came a lot more willingly than before. Hell yeah!
The moment you two reached the festival, Shoto could feel his eyes opening wider and wider with each thing he saw, "You've never been to a festival before, right?" You asked, and all your brother could do was nod while keeping his gaze fixed to the lights.
"I-It's all so bright... and colorful!"
"Right? There's a lot of fun stuff to do here too! And a lot of tasty snacks!" Shoto stopped gawking at the festival for a minute and just turned to you, "How do you know about festivals so much?"
Of course, that's a normal question.
"Me? Well... I've read about it all before. In the books, you know?" Shoto nodded and you smiled to yourself, glad that he didn't question it any further.
Thankfully, after Shoto had gotten fascinated with the festival and all its little perks, he wasted no time in pulling you to check out each and every small thing. And needless to say, you didn't mind.
Although you may share your birthday, but this day was for Shoto. You wanted it to be for Shoto, that's why you were willing to do anything he wanted, be it playing the games at the stalls, or trying out the least healthiest snacks.
But who cares, it was for Shoto's happiness, and if Enji tried to take it away, you'd kill him before a villain could.
And it seemed like even Shoto knew that, because the dual haired boy could already feel his eyes watering. This was the best birthday he's ever had.
And it was all because you decided to put your everything on the line, just to give him a birthday that he will certainly never forget...
Not until he takes his last breath.
————
Over the course of the week, Atsuhiro had been visiting your house quite frequently, saying something along the lines of keeping watch on you in case you might run away.
Yeah, you don't get this guy either.
Well, for whatever reason he had been frequenting here, you didn't exactly mind that much. You had gotten accustomed to ignoring his presence. Touya, on the other hand, wasn't as laid-back about it though.
You could tell because everytime his blue eyes landed on Atsuhiro, he would growl and scrunch up his nose like a dog.
Scary Dog privilege who? You have Touya!
Having Touya around to scare away any potential freaks (yes, Atsuhiro is included) was certainly a new aspect for you. Because for as long as you can remember, you had always been the Guard Dog-type for both your brother and Nozomi. No one messed with them because everyone was aware how those two were your family; Phlegethon's family.
Needless to say, you had no worries when it came to stupid girls trying to seduce your man (Nozomi was a pretty hot dude, so you might even add a sprinkling of guys in that homewrecker list too). But of course, Nozomi was loyal enough to you to stay away from any pesky homewreckers himself.
And you always made sure to do the same. Although to your luck, no one bothered asking you out on a date or hitting on you because you were always too intimidating for anyone to handle anyways.
It was a win-win situation for you and your lover.
But now, the dynamics had completely changed.
Instead of you protecting someone, it was you being guarded yourself.
This took a pretty interesting turn. Because everytime you weren't taken seriously, Touya would jump in and suddenly everything goes smoothly. At first, it pissed you off. You were used to people cowering in your presence, people respecting you and taking your every word as if it were the word of the Bible.
Now, no one took your seriously until Touya backed you up with a scary glare.
But the more you had to go through it, the more you ended up getting used to it. Hell, you had even begun to like this set-up. You could use this to your advantage and let Touya do all the intimidation stuff while you would act as cutesy and innocent as possible.
It helped in a lot of ways. Especially when no one suspected you to be the one pulling the real strings.
And as far as Atsuhiro crashing at your place went... Touya never really did get over it.
He would randomly diss the older male with every moment he got, "Don't you have a house of your own? Or did you give us the only one you had because you're a broke little bitch–"
Atsuhiro was minutes away from strangling your bratty older brother.
But at the very least, ever since he began to visit more often, he had also began to join you guys for dinner. At first, he would just sit together with you both and watch you guys eat, saying that he was... providing company.
You're pretty sure he was just scared that you might poison him.
But as days began to go by, Atsuhiro felt himself getting more and more comfortable around you two, even if you were most probably, still a psychopath in his eyes.
As much as you wished you could say the same for him and Touya, but there wasn't much evidence to back that claim up. But there were some moments shared between those two that were akin to that of friends... err, acquaintances... actually. Yeah, acquaintances for sure.
Amidst all their usual ruckus, those quiet moments between them were the only periods of serenity you got in this house.
Unbeknownst to you, those quiet moments had only been under the pretence of getting along. But deep down, Touya had been trying hard to nicely plan a celebration for the only day that was sure to be special to you; your birthday.
He knew he didn't have the funds for an extravagant gift, but the best bet he had was getting you those books you always had your nose stuck into back when you guys lived with your family.
Mr. Compress, although he quite literally was annoyed by your mere existence, decided to put aside his irritation and actually get you a gift as well. Because who knows? Maybe you'll finally give him the files after he shows you a sliver of his kindness?
"What kind of books does she read?" Atsuhiro asked your brother as the albino gazed at the older male in vexation, "Like hell I know. She never really had much of a preference... She usually read whatever book she could get her hands on, regardless of it was advanced literature or a children's book..."
The magician still couldn't get over the fact that a 7-year old would be capable of reading advanced literature, as stated by Touya.
But then, Atsuhiro was met with a brilliantly idea.
"Has she ever read any... shojo mangas before? Girls her age usually like reading them, like those cute magical girl ones..." Touya thought that Atsuhiro was out of his mind. Has he ever even held a conversation with you? Your personality is a complete 180° of that of a normal girl!
There's no way you'll enjoy cutesy, romantic stuff!
But before Touya could state his disagreement, Atsuhiro concluded, "Alright, I've decided. Since the little lady is a lot more mature than the other kids, getting her a magical girls' manga would be out of question."
'Yes, thank you!' Touya thought.
"-but! I'm sure she'll love a nice, romantic manga. It's only fair to cater to a young maiden's heart's desires. Many girls enjoy this kind of stuff because they want to imagine themselves getting pampered as like the female lead." Giving your brother a wink, Atsuhiro continued, "And I'm sure no matter how much of a child genius you are, you cannot deny the want for being cared for."
Touya just scoffed and turned his head away, completely sure that you would hate that magician's gift.
But alongside your gift, Atsuhiro had one more thing to give to you. One that he gave you as soon as he had finished collecting it: all the information on All Might that he could gather.
You took the files from his hand with such glee that Atsuhiro almost forgot that you were a creepy child who probably commits tax fraud as a hobby or something. Not that he doesn't do the same... Nope, totally not.
"Thank you, Mr. Compress!" You grinned brightly as you clutched onto the files tightly. The man couldn't help the small smile from escaping his lips the more he stared at you.
You would be a really cute child, if only you weren't a psychotic mastermind.
"You're welcome..." He said, his hand almost outstretched to ruffle your hair before he recalled just why he even bothered getting you that file, "Oi! Wait a minute! Don't forget to uphold your part of the deal!"
You blinked owlishly before grinning cheekily, "Don't worry, I won't. I'll see you later! Bye!"
The magician found himself waving back at you despite the fact that he could've just not.
Meanwhile, you skipped your way back to your apartment, ignoring any other thing that you had to do, which was fold the laundry, and proceeded to open the file to scan through its contents.
You had asked for two main things from your magician friend.
Firstly, all the personal information about All Might that he could gather. Although you emphasized more on information about his quirk. Secondly, All Might's frequently visited areas, along with his patrol schedule.
The latter was a bit of a difficult thing to procure, but somehow that magician had done it.
Almost all of his patrolling areas were located in Musutafu, which certainly helped you greatly. There weren't that many frequented sights though, mostly because anyplace that man went, fans and villains followed suit.
As for his quirk... There wasn't any definitive name or explanation for his quirk. Almost like All Might was trying to hide it. But why would he? Even if he had One for All, he had no reason to hide it. You figure that maybe the fact that it was a transferrable quirk would make it a bit problematic for the civilians and at the same time, advantageous for villains.
Now that you think about where he could be found...
This was a sort of double edged sword.
Mostly because thanks to the fact that he was in Musutafu, you had a heightened chance of clashing with All Might. But since he wouldn't show up in normal areas that frequently, his time was limited. And thus, getting in direct contact with him in such a limited time without convincing the entirety of Japan that you might be related to this guy (and potentially put yourself and Touya in danger) was difficult.
For a few days, you were torn...
What should you even do?
How will you get in contact with the number one hero? It's obvious that he wouldn't pay attention to a little girl like you until you outed your information about All for One, that is... if All Might really is a One for All user.
What if you're wrong about it? What if he just has a generic power-up quirk? Who will you turn to next? What steps will you take?
Obviously, you need to take All for One down. You're the only one who can do it other than the One for All users. But if All Might isn't one of them then you're the only one who knows what to do.
Sure, there might be other heroes-in-training that would be able to be like you, a non-One for All user that can fight against AFO. But it took you 7+ years just to be strong enough to fight AFO. And even that ended up with you dying and him just being weakened.
What should you do?
Ugh... You hate this so much.
In an attempt to clear your mind, you figured you'd take a walk while simultaneously giving Mr. Compress the files that you promised him.
And so, with that plan in your mind, you set off. The journey to his office wasn't that far off, but it was a bit on the quiet side so you could definitely use the silence to clear your head.
But thanks to all that silence, you couldn't help but pick up the hushed whispers that came from the alley. Just thinking about approaching it put you in a spot.
Remembering the last time you entered an alley to fight those guys following that lady you helped, you sweatdropped when you recalled the results of that; you ended up with both an ally and an enemy on the same day.
Instead, this time you just decided to just eavesdrop at whatever that was being said and if any of it was dangerous to you or your brother (maybe even Atsuhiro).
But to your surprise, you were met with a shocking turn of events.
"Then, the festival on 11th is when we'll attack, right? Are you sure that it's gonna be any good?"
"Obviously! Those pesky heroes have a heart attack whenever there's any casualties! So where's the best place to get the most citizens? It's a shitty festival, teeming with our prey!"
"You don't think... All Might's gonna be there, right?"
"Who knows? If he does show up, it'll benefit us! I can't wait to see those fucking pigs squeak as their precious civilians die."
"He's right. Hey, do you have the stuff? All the bombs I ordered?"
"Yeah, yeah... It's all in here."
Bombs? They were planning to blow the area during the festival? Shit... This is bad. You can't let innocent people die just because of these assholes...
But... They mentioned All Might coming there? Then... If you can just hold them off before the heroes, preferably All Might, can show up, then it's a win for you!
Thinking about all the pros and cons, you decided... to shadow one of these three guys.
The one with the bombs was the main target of your stalking. You followed the man, trailing right behind him before he finally stopped in front of his house.
A pretty shitty house... Much worse than what Atsuhiro gave you guys.
He dragged himself inside and you peaked in through the window to check his whereabouts. Being in the army for a while, you had been taught a good handful of tricks that wouldn't usually be taught to soldiers.
For example, how to shadow someone...or how to torture someone for information. Which method was the most painful way to kill. Or which was the most merciful.
Using your skills to their full extent, you carefully watched that man throw himself on the couch before continuing to laze around for at least a good hour.
Walking up to the entrance of the house, you read the name plate, and made sure to memorize his name, his house and his neighborhood.
You need to come back here again to collect more information before the festival.
Amidst all this, you completely forgot about returning the files to Mr. Compress.
Oops... You hope he doesn't mind.
————
11th January came faster than you would have liked.
Needless to say, you were dreading this day, even if you knew this was just as important to you as it was to those villains.
As you got ready to finally leave, you were approached by Touya, surprisingly... who had yet to leave for the brothel. Does he have a day off today?
"[Name], are you going somewhere?"
You nodded and secured your shoes tightly. But you didn't look back, unaware of how Touya's face fell the moment you mentioned you were going outside... on your own birthday. Still, he decided to act like nothing was wrong.
"Stay safe, alright? I don't wanna find out that you got yourself in trouble." You smirked at his statement, "No promises, Touya."
And then, you walked out the door.
With little effort, you managed to reach the site where the festival was being held. And with even more ease, you located those three dudes that had plans to blow the place up.
Over the course of this week, you had found out that they had over six bombs all laid out and buried under the surface like landmines.
Although you had a vague idea of where the bombs were, you were still cautious enough to not let them know that you knew or had any idea that they were villains. You simply pretended that you were a little kid enjoying the Tōka Ebisu Festival.
Although deceiving them was easy.
Now, next came the tricky part.
How will the heroes find out about the bombs without one of them exploding and killing a bunch of civilians? You had thought long and hard about how to do this task until you finally came up with something.
A little bit of collateral damage but without the deaths is unavoidable, right?
And that itself, was your plan.
Knowing the location of the bombs gave you a huge advantage. Because it wasn't necessary for all the bombs to go off to alert the heroes, you'll use that and try to evacuate the citizens in such a way that even the villains wouldn't expect it.
You walked in the area of where one of the bombs was planted and cleared your throat. And then, after breathing in deeply, you screamed, "OH MY GOD, IS THAT A MAMUSHI SNAKE?!"
Panic ensued in the crowd faster than you could imagine and in an instant, screams began erupting as everyone rushed to save their lives. You couldn't help but smirk as sooner than later, the area of the bomb had now become devoid of even a person.
Now, you easily began to walk towards where the bomb was. But of course, the villains wouldn't let you ruin their plans so easily, "Hey kid! The hell are you doing here?!"
"My Mamushi snake went missing, mister! I'm looking for it here!" You explained with an innocently distressed look on your face. The man looked pissed, like he was ready to punt you to the ground but you grinned brightly, "Don't worry, mister! I trained it well, so it won't bite anyone!"
You continued until you were around 80 meters from the bomb. Using your quirk, you began to feel through the dirt for the bomb, with the help of your quirk.
Since your quirk allowed you to change the temperature of anything, this meant that you could choose to focus on certain things while ignoring the surrounding things. Using this, your quirk also acted like a sort of sensor for you.
Your plan was simple.
From your knowledge as a soldier, you knew the working of a bomb. There were two main components that allowed the explosion. The detonator and the explosive. The detonator, if exposed to heat or electricity, is what lights up the explosive, by producing a shockwave.
Using your quirk, you focused on the detonator. Although focusing on such a small part at such great distance (for your untrained quirk) is hard, you've trained your quirk to do far more accuracy-necessary techniques.
Besides, what's the worse that can happen? The bomb exploding? That's what you want.
For one of the bombs to explode, so that the heroes can be notified that there isn't just some poisonous snake gone missing in here. But rather... villains.
You felt the area around you more and more until finally... You found it. Next, you began to use your quirk and heated the said bomb before...
BOOM!!
The air around you whooshed violently, your hair fluttering back and you closed your eyes to save your vision from the explosion, on reflex. But it was pointless because thanks to your temperature barrier, no large amount of dust managed to permeate through.
Your ears had a loud, shrill ringing in them that was the result of the explosion. Tinnitus... Not the most fun part of an explosion, you'll admit.
Although you did have to anchor yourself onto the ground as to not fly away. A few moment after the explosion, the screams of people finally began to fill in your ears.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"
"OH MY GOD!"
"WAS THAT A BOMB?!"
"IS IT A VILLAIN ATTACK?!"
"SOMEONE CALL THE HEROES!"
Ugh, this damn ringing in your ears, as well as all those yelling and screaming, it's starting to give you a headache with how loud everything was. You could hear a bunch of police sirens and some heroes yelling to evacuate everyone but you really could care less.
But completely unbeknownst to you... A pair of mismatched were fixed permanently fixed on your form. They were widened in horror, and disbelief shone in them, as if they were begging that you, in front of them, were just a mere hallucination.
Meanwhile, looks like your efforts bore fruit, because not long after... did you hear the catchphrase of your lovely target.
"HAVE NO FEAR!... FOR I AM HERE!"
The abnormally tall hero yelled out as all the cries of people soon turned into cheers. But the blonde hero turned to you with a grin, "Are you alright, young lady?!"
Jesus Christ... Tone down on the yelling, will you, big guy? Your ears have already been abused enough, you don't want to go deaf tonight.
But still, the annoyance of his yelling was greatly overshadowed by your happiness that the person who you needed to meet was finally here.
"Took you long enough, Hero..."