Chapter 1: Second Chance

When I opened my eyes, I saw the ceiling of my room. It had been almost four years since then. I still couldn't fully grasp it; everything was too unreal. I imagined that, at the very least, I would rot in hell for my actions. But I had a second chance now. Would it be better? I don't know. It was supposed to change the way I saw the world, but that only lasted the first year after opening my eyes. Dying changes everything; almost dying changes nothing.

"Look what I can do, Touma. Aren't I cool?"

My twin brother entered without asking. Seeing someone holding a fireball with a smile would have been unbelievable in my previous life, but in this strange world, it wasn't the craziest thing I had seen.

"What are you doing here? I'm sure our father will be happy to see you," I said, adjusting my tone to not sound condescending. But for a four-year-old, that didn't seem to matter.

"It's true, hahaha. Now, who's the older brother?" Laughing, my brother brought silence back to my room.

Yes, I was the older brother. But with no interest, I closed my eyes to try to sleep a little more. Unfortunately, I only had 361 seconds of rest before being interrupted again.

"TOUMA!"

I felt the place starting to heat up; it was my dear father. Pretending to be asleep wouldn't help me. I resigned myself to being taken against my will. I didn't need to see my father's face to know he had the expression of someone who had just lost a lot of money.

"Have you awakened your quirk?"

We were in the yard, face to face with my father. I knew why he was upset. Instead of answering, I raised my index finger and produced a small flame, as powerful as a candle's.

"What great control... Maybe...?" With renewed vigor, my father knelt down so that our heights matched. "Try increasing the power of that flame."

I could do it, but I had learned something a week ago, and it was also why my father was furious. I decided to speak instead of act. "I'd prefer not to, I don't want to get burned."

I felt a great pressure on my shoulders for a few seconds until my father let go and stood up. He took a few steps toward the house and, without turning to look at me, said, "Change quickly, we're going to the hospital."

.................

"Damn it, this isn't fair. If our father taught us, we wouldn't give up." Toya, my twin brother, couldn't control himself after our father forbade us from using our quirk.

From my point of view, it was a hasty decision. Although our powers hurt us, it was too early to give up. Too bad thinking before acting wasn't something a four-year-old could understand.

"Forget it, here's an ice cream." It wasn't all bad; our visit to the doctor revealed that both Toya and I had very cold-resistant bodies, so cold food was much more satisfying for us.

"I don't get it, you should be mad. We were supposed to be heroes... You're a traitor." With fury, Toya raised his voice as he hit my hand, trying to knock my ice cream down.

I moved quickly, dodging his blow and saving the ice cream. "More ice cream for me."

Throwing a tantrum, Toya stormed off in annoyance. But it was for the best, so she wouldn't see him.

"Is something wrong, Touma-onichan?"

A little girl with white hair and red streaks peeked in at the noise. "Nothing, Fuyumi, let's go watch TV."

..............

Life at the Todoroki residence wasn't bad at all. There was the fact that our father trained us relentlessly. There was resignation in his face, which intensified with the birth of my fourth brother, Natsuo. When training ended, Toya always disappeared to continue training. I never went with him because I had my own plans. Taking my quirk lightly was one thing, but giving up was another. I guess Toya and I were similar in that regard.

Instead of continuously producing flames until something changed, I was in my room with a small flame in my hand while eating a popsicle. In a year of training, my heat resistance increased, but that wasn't the key. I could feel how my flames grew stronger with each passing day. At this rate, my body wouldn't be able to withstand my power. The flame disappeared from my hand as I began to reason. If I couldn't strengthen my body to withstand the heat, then what could I do? Now I imagined my father's plan: if I had been born with my mother's quirk, then I could cool my body. Like the coolant of an engine. A good solution, but something I couldn't rely on.

I sighed before finishing my popsicle. If only my body didn't heat up. But for now, I could only continue training until I thought of something, although the idea of giving up was tempting. Anyway, the goal of becoming a hero never crossed my mind. But in this dangerous world, strength was a requirement. I suppose I could also become a politician.

...................

Life in the Todoroki family was complicated; the tension was palpable. But as the eldest brother, I had to do something, even if my only effort was taking Fuyumi to the park to play. Natsuo was still too young to understand. But Toya was definitely troubled; he was a ticking time bomb. His mind was infected to a terminal degree by our father's ambitions. My humble suggestion of seeing a psychiatrist was not taken seriously, but I suppose I may have been exaggerating.

..................

Well, now, who would say that my idea of seeing a psychiatrist was a bad one? I could still feel the heat in my fist from hitting Toya. There was supposed to be an abusive father for that, but no matter how detached I was from this family drama, if someone tried to burn a newborn baby, I had to do something. If it were two people in equal conditions, I wouldn't care if they killed each other, but I still had the role of the older brother.

Why was it so hard to be the older brother? I always wondered that. Why did it have to be me who took care of everything? Sometimes, it seemed like no one else understood the responsibilities that fell on my shoulders.

"Let's go to the park," I said, taking Fuyumi and Natsuo by the hands.

...................

"Damn it, why do you act like you don't care? Don't you realize we don't please our father?" Toya accused me shortly after things calmed down.

"Why should we please him?"

"But... what kind of father doesn't love his children?" Enji Todoroki was a terrible father, he had many flaws. That was my deepest thought, but there were much worse parents out there.

"We have a place to sleep and food every day. Isn't that enough for you?" It was much more than I expected. But as the older brother, I had to make sure no boundaries were crossed. So as long as our father didn't do anything unforgivable, I didn't care.

My response seemed to anger Toya even more, as he didn't speak to me after that. Poor Natsuo, he had to listen to all of Toya's complaints. I guess telling Toya to stop being a crybaby didn't help.

.......................

It was a day in my room as I was studying. I still hadn't given up, but if I couldn't solve my problem of burning from my own Quirk, then aiming for the best university was my plan B.

The topics I was touching upon were very advanced for my age, but if someone in my situation couldn't handle something so simple, it would be a mockery. And it was a day like any other when my mind seemed to have been struck by lightning. I was reading a thermodynamics book when a great idea crossed my mind.

Why do I have to cool down my body if it didn't heat up in the first place? For that, I had two possible solutions. The first and most difficult would be to produce flames with such efficiency and control that no heat would reach my body. Which is very difficult. But the second was the most realistic: to be able to expel the heat from my body. Not cool it, but take it and expel it.

Immediately, I tried to move the heat from my body. It was strange, but there was a slight sensation, like an extra limb that I was learning from scratch. Finally, I had a notion of where I was going. Hopefully, I could have some success and then teach it to my idiot brother and make him stop being weird.

......................

My days continued with the strange normality of the Todoroki family, with good news: my experiments were yielding great results. It's a pity I couldn't train with anything flammable, as the heat I expelled was very dangerous. If someone was near me and breathed it, their lungs could be roasted instantly. Proof of this was the melted and red-hot concrete. It was lucky I brought extra clothes because I didn't want to arrive home naked.

.....................

Because everyone thought what I said was a joke. I truly believe that if our father were to step back and just send us money, life would be simpler. But I guess Toya didn't want that, especially when he's bent on proving to our father that he can surpass All Might. And now Toya doesn't want to listen to my idea to become stronger. Being the older brother was very tough.

.....................

It was official: the tension had surpassed the limit of a dysfunctional family. Not to the extent that I believe is correct, but Fuyumi was a good girl who wanted a united family.

So me, destroying the roof of our house by hitting my father, didn't help much. But in my defense, I was protecting our mother, so hitting my father a little extra might be forgivable. I just hope they don't make me repair the roof; this house seemed quite expensive.

My father had that crazy look because Toya was caught using his powers. And my dear father, like a husband from the '60s, went to hit his wife, although I think it's much in the future now.

Being the older brother was really tough. I think I'll play along with Toya and tell him he was the older brother.

.....................

That our mother was hospitalized for burning Shoto's face might be a good reason not to joke about being the older brother. But at least the family meals were much calmer now that my father avoided us like the plague, because everyone would have a long face. Peace was the best.

.....................

My twin brother died. Anything I said or thought could be misinterpreted. So I refrained from saying anything on the day of his funeral, but that's because Natsuo looked at me as if I had done something wrong.

"Touma-onisan. Are you sad about Toya-onichan's death?" Fuyumi pulled me aside, whispering almost as if she didn't want to hear my sincere answer.

"Of course, I miss him. I hope there was something to prevent this." I closed my eyes as I said it, although I knew my expression didn't show the true extent of my feelings. I wasn't very expressive, but in moments like this, I tried to simulate any show of emotion.

But Fuyumi gave me a strange smile before going off with Natsuo. I guess that wasn't the right way to say it; I'll have to work on that.

.......................

School had ended, so I was getting ready to fetch my shoes from the lockers. But confession letters were unusually abundant today. I suppose it was because it was the last day of classes. The idea of burning them crossed my mind several times, but as an exemplary student and student council president, I just smiled embarrassedly as I packed everything into my backpack before leaving.

It was a pity there were no sexy teachers, although there were many cute girls in this school, they still lacked maturity for my tastes. I guess that's where my chance for romance comes in.

At the school's exit, a car was waiting for me. As usual, I got in to leave. My family had a lot of money, so I didn't mind using luxuries, a viewpoint I didn't share with my brothers.

But my thoughts were interrupted when the car made a turn, my eyebrow raised.

"I don't plan on visiting my mother today, I want to go rest."

Every Friday, I brought flowers to my mother, even though she always refused to see me. But a good older brother couldn't give up.

"Your father instructed me to take you with him," the driver's response was direct, with no intention to continue the conversation.

That was strange. It had been 481 days since we had a conversation. But he was the one who paid my bills, so it would be rude not to go.

.......................

When I arrived, I noticed that my father's agency had grown a lot. The last time I had come was with Toya. Devoting oneself full-time to being a hero seemed to be very lucrative. It seems like my father has plenty of free time, especially since Shouto no longer trains with him.

When I arrived, I was greeted immediately.

"Good afternoon, Todoroki-kun. Endeavor asked me to escort you to the training area." I was greeted by a lively girl with flaming green hair, who seemed to be only slightly older than me. But as I looked her up and down, I realized I wasn't mistaken in preferring older women; her attributes were much greater. Plus, I wanted to compliment the person who made her hero costume. That miniskirt suited her very well.

"Todoroki-kun, it's embarrassing if you look at me like that."

........................

"You have a keen eye for interns, Father," I commented, but my observation didn't seem to please him entirely.

"I've been informed that you're applying to U.A. Academy," Endeavor said, with evident disapproval. "I see you haven't given up on the idea of becoming a hero."

"Not really, I prefer politics. But I can make a name for myself if I start as a hero. That will be my easiest path," I decided to reveal my true motive, although my father's expression indicated he was more interested in testing me than hearing my reasons. I would prefer to avoid a confrontation and spend my time getting to know the charming intern better.

However, the fact that I had to dodge a fireball indicated that my honest motives were dismissed.

"Do you think this is a game? If you want to be anything else, I don't care, but you're wrong if you think I'll let you use your flawed quirk to get yourself killed," Endeavor declared, with a mix of disdain and paternal concern. Although hidden behind his harshness, I could sense his concern for me.

I decided to stick to my plan, but before I could continue, I dodged another fireball.

"You can never reason with you. It's a shame, so I'll have to make you change your mind by force. I'll try to be gentle," my father threatened.

I didn't have time to debate the reasonableness of his methods, as I had to dodge his attacks. Plus, these were very expensive shoes.

"Stop running away and be a man," he ordered.

I decided to counterattack, extending my palm towards my father. I hesitated for a moment about the strength of my attack, but I knew Endeavor was resistant to heat, so I decided to apply considerable force. I hoped the place was also heat-resistant, as I could melt the whole building.

I attacked Endeavor, letting my quirk amplify the heat from my body and drain the heat from his. However, contrary to my expectations, I saw a look of fear on his face before he abruptly changed direction and hit the ground, generating a small tremor.

Unfortunately, I had exaggerated a bit, as the floor in front of me turned red-hot and began to melt, collapsing into hot magma.