A/N: I wanted to flesh out Enji's motivations a little more in the ageswap AU, and figured the best place to do that would be in the Ageswap equivalent of That One Conversation Where Todoroki Tells Midoriya His Entire Backstory(tm). Shouto's not a bad dad, but he's not the best either. Neither of the Todoroki's are the kind of people to talk about their feelings for a while. And Toshinori, well, he's got his own set of issues.

I wrote this instead of writing my essay because Shut Up I'll Do What I Want, and I regret nothing.

Enji whirled on him as soon as they'd rounded the corner.

"What the hell does Deku-sensei see in someone like you, Yagi?"

Flames licked the edge of Enji's uniform, curling off the tips of his hair, and Toshinori leaned back, startled. He thought about how he could answer, thought about the covers he and Deku and Inko had devised about his living with them and about his quirk. Maybe that would be enough to sate the curiosity of his fiery classmate, who only seemed to tolerate him on the good days? He thought about echoing the words Deku had given him while he'd sat on his bed, the evening after the entrance exam, the ones he tried to recognize and make a part of himself and failed, every single time.

(this is not my doing, and it isn't the work of some other higher power either. you had help, sure, but you are here thanks to your own hard work, and no one else's. you've earned this, like everyone else did. be proud, my boy)

He stared into those eyes full of rage and pain and desperation, and discarded those thoughts immediately.

"I don't know what answer you're looking for, Todoroki-kun," Toshinori replied. "To be honest, I'm not really sure what Iz- Deku-san saw in me either. I'm just some kid he picked up from a villain attack who he let into his home for some reason. I'm basically nothing compared to him - our quirks are even similar, and yet I can barely control it. But somehow, Deku-san believes in me anyway, and has done so much for me even though he never had to. He and Inko-kun both."

There's silence between them.

"So you're a street-nobody that Deku-sensei took in because he could," Enji muttered. Then, he paused. "My dad is the second-best hero in the world," he said.

"Uh, yeah?"

"He's the second best, and he's got fire and ice - twice the quirk I, his son, has." Enji stared hard at the other boy. "You've probably seen him on TV all the time, everyone has. Tell me, when's the last time he used his fire?"

Toshinori tried to remember. "When he's in fights, sometimes. And if he needs to get rid of something, since his ice just builds on stuff."

"But it's not very often, is it?" He pressed. "I've been trying my whole life to get my old man to acknowledge me and my quirk, you know. He's always telling me how proud he is of me, giving me tips on how to use it, letting me know how incredible I am, but I know the truth. It's in his eyes, how he's always using that ice of his - I hear it everywhere, and see it in everything he does." Enji raised a hand and activated his quirk. "Fire's not good for much else except for burning things. It's all about destruction and wrecking shit, just like your stupid strength quirk. You keep breaking everything, like the moron you are."

"Wow, thanks," Toshinori muttered.

"I want to be a hero because I look up to my dad and Deku and all of my other aunts and uncles. I want to save people and be number one, and to know that people can look at me and say "he's my hero", but quirks are so important to the way people look at me. Dad tells me I can do it, but I know - he'd never say it to my face, but he hates my fire. He hates knowing it's all I have. He thinks I'm not good enough with just this. But I'll show him. I'll win the festival, then I'll become the number one hero so he can look at me and realize all the great things I can do. I'll prove to him that I'm strong enough just the way I am!"

Enji pointed at Toshinori, and stepped closer. "You're not Deku, of course you aren't. But right here and now, with your ties to him and your quirk, you're the closest I'm gonna get. And if getting him to acknowledge me includes me defeating you along with everyone else in the tournament, you know that's what I'm going to do."

He turned away. "That's all I needed to say. I'm leaving."

Hold on, I have so much to say but there he goes, how do i get him to listen-

"Wait!"

It took all of Toshinori's willpower not to startle when Enji actually stopped, and he scrambled to recollect his thoughts.

"…Listen, Todoroki-kun," he began. "I don't know how I've been so lucky, to know the people I know today. And I don't know what it is they see in me when all I really am is some street kid they saw walking in the wrong place at the wrong time. The fact that I'm here is more than I ever could have dreamed of, let alone everything else that's happened in my life. It's hard to believe that there are people out there who think I'm worth it. But…" Toshinori took a breath, and clenched a fist. "…somehow, people do believe in me. Deku believes in me, and I could never repay him for everything he's done. I want to be a hero - I want to be someone just as incredible as Deku is to the rest of the world, and to be someone that can save people with a smile. But just as much… I want to live up to his, and everyone else's faith in me, too, and give them a reason for that faith. So you better not expect an easy fight out of me, Todoroki!"

Meeting you with anything less than my all would be an insult to you, and to all the people that want me to succeed here today.

Toshinori's words faded into the air, a promise between them. Enji said nothing - he only waited for the sounds to fade away before rejoining the others in the packed stadium. After a few minutes, Toshinori followed him.