Chapter 50

"Wow, the first time we've been apart in five years !"

Leo pretended to wipe away a tear and Natsu patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"You can always decide to stay with us, you know" the dark-haired boy added.

He brilliantly ignored the nasty look my father gave him, his arms crossed and at a respectable distance from the two bombs the boys represented.

"I'm sure my parents won't mind you living with us after Endeavor-san disinherits you"

This time, with my fulminating father about to enter the war, I decided to step in between them.

"Haha Natsu, you're so funny"

I punched his shoulder in a fake friendly manner, causing him to flinch under the force of my blows. Did I put some chakra in my fist? Yes, definitely.

I released him as he winced in pain, Leo sneering behind him. In less time than it takes to say it, they were off to another fight - one that, for once, I wasn't a part of.

"Yo, Dad"

He scrutinized me, combing through my outfit.

With my hands in my pockets and my satchel on my back, I whistled happily under his inquisitive gaze.

I was identical to the Shoto from the cannon - except for my mask, my vertical scar on my face and, strangely enough, I was also taller. Still, my father was a real monster, towering over me from a height of nearly two meters.

"Where's your tie," he grumbled.

I shrugged.

"You didn't wear one when you went to UA" I reminded him. He opened his mouth and I immediately said:

'And I know because granny Teka showed me your album'

He fell silent, frowned - probably regretting that he had brought me to her or even introduced me to her - and stared at me so intensely that it even made me nervous.

"What ?" I said looking away. "Don't tell me you're going to make me get another one ?"

Endeavor didn't make me nervous-there wasn't much that could make me nervous-but my father did. It was strange in a way, because...

Normally I wouldn't have cared about him after bending him to my will - which I had managed to do from the age of three - but lately I had found myself listening to his opinion on various things more and more and seeking his approval.

It was bad - I'd spent too many years alone with him, and I was hoping Yuei would help me fix-

He bent down and dusted the shoulders of my uniform with his big hands.

"There was a bit of dust," he grumbled, not meeting my gaze.

He stood up and I saw hesitation in his eyes. He ruffled my hair awkwardly.

"What the-" I began, eyes wide and a hand on my head.

My father avoided my gaze and turned away, already walking up the steps to the front porch.

"Don't disappoint me, Shoto"

And his silhouette disappeared in the doorway.

*

It had rained last night, so the roads were a bit slippery.

I had decided to come on my motorcycle because, firstly, it was a motorcycle, and secondly, I looked like a total badass.

I took off my helmet and ran my hand through my hair to push it away from my slightly damp forehead. I padlocked my bike under the curious eyes of other arriving students, then decided to enter, helmet still under my elbow.

My eyes swept over the glass building, taking in all the majesty of the place in an instant.

I'm going to fuck the plot so hard that Horikoshi himself will have trouble recognizing his work.

A smile formed on my lips at this thought as a swarm of students passed around me.

Yes, it's Shoto Todoroki's story now.

*

Headphones screwed into my ears but turned off, I entered classroom 1-A, motorcycle helmet under my elbow and hands in my pockets.

A good half of the students were already there, and Bakugo and Iida were already having their first argument. Seeing me enter, the bespectacled boy turned his attention away from the blonde - who followed his gaze to me, surprised and grumbling - to shout:

"No headphones in class ! It's in the rules !"

My eyes swept over him as if I didn't see him, and I pretended not to hear him, walking slowly and lazily (Kakashi would be proud) to the seat I had decided to make my own - the one to Bakugo's left.

Iida shook his arms when I passed him and I still managed to ignore him.

The blonde grunted when he saw me standing next to him, and I'm sure he howled as well, but I ignored him the same way I ignored the first one.

My eyes darted around the room, feigning boredom, trying to see if everyone originally present was there, and - oh, what a surprise, Neito Monoma had just entered.

He took a seat in the row in front of me and diagonally across from me as I wondered what could have caused his untimely arrival in 1-A. Maybe my little games in Field I had led to the disqualification of one or two students who should have been here, so there were empty seats and-

If I'd had a worse poker face, I could have easily shown my surprise at seeing Inasa - the guy who controls the wind - actually enter the room. But of course, being exceptional, it only gave the impression that I barely looked at him.

Still, it was surprising, but not illogical. If I remembered correctly, in the canon it was Shoto who had 'provoked' Inasa to leave for Shikitsu - or was it Shikutse?

Anyway, it was only a second grade school. Objectively speaking, I found the boy stupid and with an alarming lack of self-determination - who, in full possession of his means, would decide to leave the elite school he had been admitted to, just because some random person he had talked to turned out to not give a flying fuck about his existence? But at least he had an interesting Quirk - that might make up for his stupidity.

One of the last to arrive was a frail-looking Izuku with rimmed eyes. Surprising that he had managed to do so with such a cumbersome Quirk - unless he had managed to use it in some amazing way? - and especially without any help from All Might in the last ten months.

Bakugo grunted - oh, surprisingly - at the sight of him, but did nothing more than cross his arms over his chest.

Surprising, but not unexpected.

Izuku's Quirk must have been the talk of the town and the blond knew all about it.

The immortal seemed to hesitate, then decided to take a seat at the other end of the room. I counted the students and figured that it wouldn't be long before Aizawa -

"Take your seats, everyone" a man in a yellow sleeping bag ordered.

The students, though surprised and confused by the hero's appearance, quickly sat down without bothering.

I was sure that Natsu would kill for a picture of his uncle in that get-up. The everyday Aizawa (the one I knew) was relatively well-groomed - shaved beard and hair in a bun - so it was almost a shock to see him looking like a walking homeless man.

His eyes scanned the room and I'm pretty sure his shoulders slumped X10 at the sight of me. He gestured for me to remove my headphones, which I did immediately.

"Blah, blah, welcome to Yuei and put on these uniforms"

He pulled a stack from under his desk and threw them around.

We'll start with a test, and I swear I'll fire the first person who dares to complain that it's unfair," he added, seeing some ready to challenge him.

Not exactly what the Aizawa of the cannon had served, and I wondered what could have caused such a change in behavior.

Well, he's more fun that way.

*

I almost smiled scornfully at the sight of students in sports uniforms that were too big, or too small, with their ankles clearly visible.

The rest of the class arrived after me while Aizawa looked at his stopwatch.

"Too bad, ten more seconds and I could have gotten rid of half of you"

I raised an eyebrow as he pulled out a tablet and a pen from who knows where.

We're going to begin the physical tests. It's going to be a series of eight exercises, and listen carefully, because I'm not going to explain a second time.

He took out a ball - again from who knows where - and then began:

"The goal is to send it as far as possible with your Quirk"

He turned to me and handed me the object:

"Shoto"

Hmm ? Shall we go on a first-name basis ?

"You got the best entrance exam results. Your middle school score was 97 meters, so come here and show me what you can do"

I grabbed the ball and said:

"Of course uncl..." I coughed under his gaze before correcting myself "I mean of course Aizawa-sensei"

I took the ball, stepped into the circle and weighed it for a moment.

"And I'll fire all of you who don't give more than 300%" Aizawa warned. "Because plus ultra and all that"

Not that I hadn't planned to dominate 1-A, but it was always nice to have another source of motivation.

I threw the ball vertically and high enough into the air to give me time to materialize a giant ice hammer. I pushed a little chakra into my arms and when the ball reached my height, I struck it with all my might.

The sound of the hammer against the sphere sounded like a gunshot, and the deflagration created a gust of wind that sent a cloud of dust flying around me. The bullet was propelled through the air like a rocket, leaving a high-pitched sound in its wake. I disintegrated my hammer and watched it fly, hands in my pockets, until I could no longer see it, even with my exceptional eyesight.

I turned to Aizawa, who hadn't flinched and whose eyes were glued to the screen.

"What Shoto just did is the bare minimum of what I expect from each and every one of you" he announced matter-of-factly.

He turned the screen so that everyone could see and showed a score of 5,417 meters. I heard some people whistle, while others whined.

"Bakugo, you go second"

I stepped out of the circle, hands in my pockets, and walked right past the boy who was glaring at me in silence.

"Hey, aren't you the one who came in second ?"

He clenched his jaw and stopped as well, glaring at me.

I smiled and leaned over before whispering in his ear.

"Nothing worse than second, right ?"

"Say that again, you little shit !"

I pulled my face away from him and put my little finger in my ear as if I was casually cleaning it.

"And a sore loser to boot" I added nonchalantly.

This time, foam actually came out of his mouth. He raised his hands and explosions crackled in them, no doubt preparing to - try to - punch me in the face.

"Bakugo" Aizawa warned.

He had already wrapped his ribbons around the boy to calm him down and deactivated his Quirk.

"Shoto, none of that in my class"

I rolled my eyes and walked away before rejoining the crowd of students. I saw many hesitating to approach me, surely intimidated and unsure of how I would react if one of them approached me.

There was one brave enough - or foolish enough - to try to approach me:

"Inaza Yoarashi ," he introduced himself. "You're Endeavor's son, aren't you ?"

I looked at his outstretched hand, stared at it for a long moment Despite the whole stupid Inasa cannon thing, I was far too happy to see someone with first-rate heroic qualities to want to reject him. Besides, he'd helped get Grape-Boy and Animal-Man off the 1-A's back. So I could be a little polite - but it didn't mean I had to be all chewy and friendly.

"That's my old man, yeah" I said "But if you want his autograph, forget about it"

Inasa burst out laughing, and I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, not understanding why he was laughing so hard at something that wasn't even funny.

Especially since I didn't shake his hand.

"I have a feeling we're going to get along just fine, you and I !"

"That's it" I said and looked away.

Bakugo came back and I gave him my most hypocritical smile:

"That was really bad, Kacchan"

I hadn't even seen his performance.

He raged, but he didn't activate his Quirk because Aizawa's eyes were literally piercing the back of his skull.

"Where did you hear that name?" he growled.

I pointed behind me with my thumb - indicating Izuku - and someone yelped. I imagined that he had buried his head in his shoulders like an ostrich and was waddling from one foot to the other.

"Don't call me that" he threatened.

The blonde grunted and walked past me, trying to bump into me. I deftly dodged by turning my shoulder slightly, which only added to his frustration.

"As you wish, Kacchan"

I wondered to what extent I would be able to make the cannon obsolete.

*

Author's note :

And now is the good moment for me to conduct a new survey and ask what y'all think of Shoto.

I guess you like him a bit, or at least you have empathy towards him because of all the shit he went through - otherwise I absolutely don't get how you could still be with us at chapter 50.

Favorite character ?

Favorite event/mini arc until now ?

What do you wish for/expect for in the following chapters/arcs ?

Things you want to share ?

Power stones goal : 185. I'm feeling generous and decided to wait until the last minute before sunday's power stones reset to see if can get it (which we did last week, by the way).

Also check the public (free) space on my P@treon, I posted what was some of the first drafts of this story - and let me tell you we're coming back from very, very far.

See you in the next update everyone !