In Need
A Boku no Hero Academia oneshot
by mew-tsubaki
Note: The Boku no Hero Academia characters belong to Horikoshi Kouhei-sensei, not to me. I actually had a BnHA fic, not art, idea for once. XD Read, review, and enjoy! *Manga spoilers ahead.*
- ^-^3
Everything in Todoroki's life was half and half.
His quirk: Half from his mother, half from his father.
His looks: Same deal.
Having the TV in the common area at the dorms be on and tuned in to his father's first major battle as the new Number One Hero: He half wanted it off, half wanted it left alone as the smoke…and the scene overall…cleared.
The battle had ended—what? an hour? two hours? ago, but Todoroki still felt rooted to the couch as Sero clicked through the channels, finding nothing but news coverage. At least Todoroki had overcome the initial shock and was no longer on his haunches, watching in disbelief.
Now he was just sitting in disbelief, catching soundbites here and there but being too distracted to register any of it.
"Your dad's gonna be fine," Kirishima reassured him on his left. He was cheery, given the situation, but it did occur to Todoroki that Kirishima was that way for him, because of the situation. Plus the redhead kept a tight, comforting grip on Todoroki's shoulder, as if a good shake could convince him of a positive ending to today's events.
Midoriya, on the other hand, was no less supportive but far less ready to make assurances. Every few seconds, especially on commercials, he'd glance Todoroki's way and remind him that his father wasn't alone. "Endeavor had help. Hawks isn't a combative type, but support is his forte. The two of them teaming up…"
Todoroki shook his head. "My father's always been stubborn about the prospects of teamwork, Midoriya. Hawks' presence doesn't guarantee anything."
"But—" Midoriya dropped his eyes and jerked his head towards the TV. "We saw it, enough, at least. He helped Endeavor walk out of the debris."
He stopped himself before he said something that could be misconstrued as him being ungrateful. "Walking away at the end is only half the battle," Todoroki settled on.
Still, Midoriya's shoulders sank, and he clenched his jaw. Ah, maybe Todoroki hadn't expressed himself well after all.
He didn't need to glance around the room to know that his friends and classmates were eyeing him with similar pitiful expressions. And he gave a noncommittal nod when Kaminari and Ojiro echoed Kirishima's sentiments, all "Your dad will be kicking butt again in no time at all" and "There's a reason he's the top hero, Todoroki." At least no one had told him not to worry, not since Aizawa-sensei had rushed off to meet with the principal as soon as the battle with that high-functioning noumu had ended.
His thoughts detouring, Todoroki excused himself from the impromptu gathering, intending to head for his room. That noumu, Dabi showing up, all of this with the top two heroes in one place—
"Ah, Todoroki."
He snapped out of his musings at the sound of Shoji's voice. "Sorry, did you say something?"
Shoji winced, and Todoroki noticed he had one of his spare appendages pressed against his right ear. Even the little mouth on the tip grimaced and hid behind his white hair. "There's a call for you, on the house phone," Shoji stated with a jab of his thumb over his shoulder. "A very noisy, loud guy…"
Odd. The only exceptionally noisy people Todoroki knew were Midoriya and Bakugou.
"…from Shiketsu."
Oh. "Thanks," he said as he passed by the taller boy, but he had already exited this small chat and didn't hear anything else Shoji might've had to say, because he was trying to figure out why he'd be calling.
Shoji had left the phone beside the receiver, and Todoroki heard silence when he picked it up. "Hello?" Maybe Inasa had hung up.
"TODOROKI!"
Or not. He winced, same as Shoji had, and stifled a sigh. "Hi, Inasa."
"I'm so glad I reached you!" Though his voice was still exuberant, he took the cue and matched Todoroki's volume, softer and easier on the ears. "It's everywhere. TV, web—everyone's talking about it!"
At this point, he could feel the stress of today compounding in the tension in his muscles, and he pinched the bridge of his nose while fighting off a grimace. "Everyone's talking about it and everyone's seen it, I know." And then he waited for the same words that had been swimming around the common room since the fight first began.
"Are you okay?"
He blinked and stopped pinching his nose. "…why me?"
"I know he's your dad, but…" How rare for Inasa, a guy who enjoyed blowing in like a wild wind, to trail off like an evaporating dust devil.
Todoroki opened his mouth—and then closed it. Barely anyone knew or understood the tension between Todoroki and his dad; Midoriya only knew by accident, and it wasn't something Todoroki made a point of sharing. Even though he and Inasa had gotten off on the wrong foot and later seen eye to eye well enough to get along, maybe even be friendly…they weren't bosom buddies.
But maybe Inasa had picked up on the things Todoroki hadn't said. That hadn't happened with anyone at U.A. so far…and maybe that was all right. Maybe there was more than a healthy school rivalry involved in getting to know the Shiketsu students.
…although, truthfully speaking, Todoroki wasn't certain he wanted to or had any spare energy to direct towards the other Shiketsu kids. Inasa took a lot out of him…
"I know he's your dad," Inasa repeated. "And that's a lot to handle. But family is family. It's fine to feel however you wanna feel about him but still hope he's okay. You don't have to like your family, but…"
It took a moment for Todoroki to realize he was smiling to himself, just a bit. Inasa took a lot out of him, sure, but…he appreciated what Inasa said. Whether he loved or hated Endeavor, or even liked him, he knew he was still Todoroki Enji's son. And that meant something—perhaps not to his teenage self but instead to that tiny kid he used to be, the kid who remembered, no matter how short it'd been, a time when his family was whole, something close to happy, something not ranked high on anyone's list, just. Average. Normal.
"Todoroki?"
"Yeah, I'm still here." He exhaled and felt loosened up—not quite relaxed—for the first time in hours. "Thanks, Inasa."
He could hear the big guy grin. "You're welcome! I didn't know if I would catch you since it's a school line and with what just happened—"
"And I might not be here later," he agreed, checking his cellphone. Four texts and two missed calls from his sister.
"You're going home?"
"If it hasn't already occurred to Aizawa-sensei, I'll ask myself. What?" He thought he'd heard a low whimper on the other end, but…no. That'd be odd. Inasa was not the whimpering type.
"I hope everything goes well, then! I'll try calling another time!"
"Wait, Inasa!"
This time, he did hear a curious "Hmm?" from his companion.
"Don't…don't call the house phone. And I can't guarantee being able to talk if I do go home, but texting—texting is fine."
Inasa's happy yip nearly drowned out the first three numbers, but Todoroki had patience enough to repeat them once before hanging up.
No sooner done than his cellphone buzzed with a text. That was fast, he thought, until he saw the sender was Fuyumi.
He traipsed to his room to pack a few things when he received another message. This one was from Inasa, touching base again to make sure things worked and even sending a selfie of himself giving Todoroki a thumb's up for good luck.
Todoroki stowed his phone then…after saving the photo, just for good luck. Inasa was a good guy, after all. It was perfectly fine to be fond of him…
He just hoped that, after things with his father and family calmed down, perhaps the schools would present a more united front, would work more together…and maybe, just maybe, he and Inasa could become even friendlier this time around.
- ^-^3
:D I had said in a recent post on tumblr that I prolly wasn't gonna write for BnHA, but tbh I should've clarified that I meant I'd write only if I had an idea that wouldn't let go of me/ if I got a rly inspiring fic request. Ah, well. I've been more into drawing for the fandom (you might've seen my Endawks art :3), but I did get this short idea back when ch191 happened, and then of course Shouto *spoiler alert* did go home for a few days. So I like to think he texted Inasa during those days to keep him sane. I rly do love Inatodo; they're cute, they're precious…they complement each other well. -w- Not to mention they're both kinda dense, so writing pre-Inatodo is fun and cute! And Inasa will support Shouto no matter what Shouto's feelings about his dad, mum, or family are! Because Inasa is a supportive angel! :D
Thanks for reading, and please review! As mentioned, fic requests are great, but I mostly have BnHA art to offer the fandom, art that can be found on my tumblr (le-amewzing)—and I take art requests, too!
-mew-tsubaki X3