A/N:

In my last chapter of 'Demons of the Past', I asked if there was some interest in a Shoto PoV and the response was pretty positive, so here it is. Actually, this is not just meant for a Shoto PoV but for all added content from different perspectives that I may think about later, though there's no specific plan.

If you found this story without actually knowing my main story 'Demons of the Past', I gladly invite you to read that first, as many of these chapters will probably not make too much sense if you didn't. I mean..., I'm happy for everybody who reads this story, but it may cause some difficulty.

I am considering to at least try a PoV for the other siblings too, that I will add in here, if I get it done, but of course the main story has priority. I also don't want to risk spoiling anything for 'Demons of the Past', so whatever I post here will probably 'already have happened' in the main story. This first chapter, for example, is set right before the chapter 'The Interview' of the main story.

As I do not know what kinds of chapters and One Shots I'll be writing, I will update necessary trigger warnings and character tags as I go along.

Shoto I

"What's going on down there?" asked Mineta, loudly interrupting Aizawa-sensei and their homeroom class to point out the window down to the street in front of the school. Shoto didn't know what the boy was talking about. He himself sat furthest away from the window and only saw blue sky, however, it seemed like something was going on. After Mineta's comment had made them look, the entire window filled up with students who stared down at the street with varying degrees of curiosity.

"It's the journalists? Do they want another interview with All Might?" wondered Midoriya out loud, thinking, of course, first of his mentor's fame.

"Pah!" grumbled Bakugou still sitting on his chair, turning pointedly away from the window as if it didn't concern him and surely did not interest him what was happening down there. "Probably just poking their noses in where they don't belong," he complained before he grabbed his pen with more fervor than necessary, almost snapping it in two when he started copying what Aizawa had written down on the board in front of the class before Mineta had interrupted him.

However, soon there wasn't much more Bakugou could write down from the board as Aizawa, too, had now interrupted his class to walk over to the closest window himself.

"What do they want?" asked Mineta.

"They are probably here because of Todoroki-kun", explained Yaoyorozu.

"What about Todoroki?" wondered Kirishima aloud. He had walked over to the window, pressing his hands against the glass to watch. Then he turned around to look first at Shoto then at Yaoyorozu. "Because of his Dad's injury or what did I miss?"

"Don't you watch the news?" asked Yaoyorozu in surprise, as if she didn't understand how Kirishima didn't know what she was talking about. But apparently, Kirishima wasn't the only one who wasn't entirely up to date. Most of the students now turned to her questioningly, throwing quick glances in Shoto's direction. Shoto just sank back in his chair. He really didn't want to talk about this and…

Well, it had been inevitable that his classmates would find out sooner or later, now that the less glamorous aspects of his father's private life were plastered all over the news. Better to just get it all out in the open now. Get it out, that would be the least painful, he assumed. Like ripping off a bandaid. Quick and effective and it would hurt for a moment, but then it would be over. Everybody would know now, but eventually, they'd just get used to the knowledge and let it go. Shoto could go back to his normal everyday life. And maybe it would be easier if everybody knew. At least they would probably stop talking to him about the achievements of his father as if he had to be proud of it, or act as if he were oh-so-lucky that he had this powerful quirk from his mother and father as if everything was just gifted to him.

Midoriya already knew anyway.

"I watch the news," Midoriya said with obvious confusion in his voice. "But there was nothing new about Todoroki-kun." He sounded confident, but then he added an unsure "or did I miss something?"

"This morning they broke the story everywhere," explained Yaoyorozu, looking over to Shoto apologetically, as if she felt sorry for calling Shoto's suffering a 'story'. Maybe she couldn't think of a more fitting word in time. It didn't matter to Shoto anyway.

"Oh," mumbled Midoriya quietly, "I didn't watch the morning news today. What happened?"

"Apparently…," but she stopped herself before she said anything of substance, glancing at Shoto uncertainly. "Eh…" Shoto was almost thankful that she obviously didn't really want to talk about what she knew.

"That's enough," interrupted Aizawa, before Shoto would have to decide if he should encourage Momo. "We'll resume class, now. You can all look up the news during lunch. Shoto, I'd like to talk to you after the end of class."

"Sure," mumbled Shoto, still sunken in his chair wishing he could just vanish into the ground and wait out the storm. Did he want to talk to Aizawa about his family life? Not really, but it was preferable to talking in front of the entire class or being subjected to their curiosity.

Maybe it was too late to avoid the latter, he thought as his classmates walked back to their seats one after the other, throwing him nosy glances. Some of them looked as if they hoped Shoto or Yaoyorozu would whisper to them about what had happened. "But, Sensei!" complained Kirishima, "shouldn't we all…".

"We're going to find out anyway in half an hour," Mineta said almost simultaneously. Both were immediately shut up as Aizawa-sensei flashed his quirk. There was a sudden quiet in which nobody dared to say a word, then Aizawa turned back to his board.

"Well, now that that's done…" he mumbled to himself as he resumed with his explanation about the importance of proper first aid.

Shoto found it hard to concentrate as Aizawa resumed his class. He scribbled down whatever the teacher wrote on the board, but before Shoto had even copied the last word of a sentence, he had already forgotten what the whole sentence was about. It was hard to stay focused knowing that in a short while all of his classmates would pull out their phones and find the truth about Shoto's childhood plastered all over the internet. And what was he supposed to tell Aizawa? If his teacher asked him about it, he couldn't really to him, could he?

For years part of him had always hoped that the truth would get out. Just to see how his father would go down for all his despicable deeds that nobody had ever known about. Shoto himself had never talked to anybody about anything that happened at home, apart from Midoriya, of course. Maybe he had feared how the people would react, how they would treat him if they knew… Maybe he had been ashamed. Mostly, however, he had been obsessed with ruining his father by himself. Proving him wrong about all his goals, showing him how Shoto could become the best without his worthless help. It had been a thing between himself and his father. He had to best his father and he had never even considered running for help. Maybe years ago, when his mother had still been living with them and suffering from his father's hand, but back then Shoto had been too young and afraid. And later she had slowly started recovering so… making it all public wouldn't help, he thought.

Of course, Mother's doctors knew, but they were sworn to secrecy unless his mother decided otherwise. For whatever reason, though, Mother seemed determined to protect his father. So even from that side nothing filtered through to the public.

And still part of him had always hoped it would happen, had speculated how it could happen and pictured the consequences. Even only a few months ago, he had still played with the idea. They'd lock his father away, and Shoto would finally be rid of him. Maybe Natsuo would come home and Shoto could finally get to know him for real and … maybe even Mother could finally come home without her abusive husband around. It was a secret dream he had dwelled in, whenever he had been a bit too frustrated, when he hadn't been as powerful with his ice-quirk as he would have wished, when his training had forced him to see the clear limits of his mother's quirk and he had started to doubt that he would ever be the best without his father's cursed flames.

That was then… And now was different. He hadn't been really frustrated for a long time, now that he had accepted his flames. Midoriya had helped him with that. And his father…had changed? Maybe. He was at least trying to. Shoto didn't know how real the change was, how well it would hold if it could ever be enough to make up for all the things Endeavor had done to his mother, his siblings or Shoto personally. He wasn't sure of any of that. But he was sure that his father was really trying. It was plain to see. And Fuyumi was right, that had to count for something.

If his father was trying to be better, if he was actually changing … would it be petty to hold a grudge? No! Shoto had decided this long ago. He had every right to after everything his father had done. It wasn't even about having a grudge. Shoto didn't love his father, part of him even still hated him. And that was his father's fault. Other children loved their parents, the way he loved his mother. When he was younger, he had been a bit jealous, that other children had loving parents while he only had Endeavor. While everybody seemed always keen on telling him how lucky he was to be the son of such a great hero, he would have gladly changed fathers with just about anybody. If they thought him so great, why didn't they try to be Endeavor's child for a week and see how they liked it? Shoto didn't love his father … and for the longest time, he had been sure his father didn't love him, didn't care about him beyond his own ambitions to make Shoto stronger than All Might. And it was all his father's own fault. It was also his fault, that Shoto for the longest time in his youth didn't really have his mother. No, none of that was undone by his father finally behaving somewhat decently. Shoto didn't love his father, didn't even like him, and that wouldn't change, just because Enji Todoroki had finally started treating his family better. Familial love just didn't come out of nowhere like this.

But still, his efforts to change had to count for something. So, while Shoto didn't think it was petty to still hold a grudge, he increasingly thought it was petty to still somewhat wish his father gone. He didn't want Endeavor imprisoned or ruined the way he had before. More the opposite … Increasingly, Shoto found himself thinking … imagining … hoping that his father could do it. Increasingly, Shoto wanted that part of himself, that still thought it would be best if Enji just vanished from his life, that still insisted that he couldn't possibly change for real, proven wrong.

And now of all times, the truth had to come out. The timing was so ridiculously ironic; it would have almost been amusing. In fact, when Shoto had first seen the news this morning he had actually started laughing. It was a joke, his first thought had been. But of course, it wasn't a joke. It was reality…just life and life loved punching him in the face.

"Shoto-kun?" Aizawa-sensei motioned him over to his desk as soon as everybody else had left the room. "Just a minute."

"Sure, Sensei," grumbled Shoto as he grabbed his bag and carried it over to one of the chairs closest to the desk. "What did you want to talk about?" he asked as if he didn't know.

Aizawa just raised an eyebrow at him, obviously aware that Shoto knew very well what his teacher wanted to talk to him about. He looked tired, Shoto realized now that he was closer to his sensei.

Eventually, Aizawa sighed audibly and stretched his neck in a gesture of almost embarrassment. "Now, I won't ask you to verify those reports. I feel I have a pretty good idea myself," he looked at Shoto, scrutinizing. Shoto tried very hard not to give away any obvious reactions and only after sitting perfectly still for a few seconds did it occur to him that freezing was an obvious reaction by itself. His shoulders sagged a little in disappointment. Aizawa, however, only nodded after a moment. "But I want you to know, that if you want to talk about it, I'm here for you. Truthfully, I would prefer it, if you talked to somebody about this, but I know it won't serve to pressure you and if you feel like I'm not the person you want to share your story with, that is fine too."

Shoto nodded, a bit relieved. "I understand," he whispered breathily.

"But I am here for you," the teacher emphasized, "if you ever need somebody to talk".

"Thanks." Shoto didn't really know what else to say.

Aizawa looked at him again with that same scrutinizing look that didn't seem to miss anything. Shoto doubted he even needed to tell this man for him to find out the truth. The very thought would have made him wary and defensive with anybody else, but with Aizawa-sensei Shoto trusted the teacher wouldn't ever turn against him. Their homeroom teacher was like that. He acted as if he didn't care, but although Shoto didn't know what it was that made him so sure, he was certain that the teacher was trustworthy. He couldn't explain where that trust came from. Normally, Shoto wasn't one to trust or share easily, but with Aizawa, he almost wanted to tell him everything. It wasn't all that different from that time when he had decided to open up to Midoriya.

And that had turned out well too, right? Better than expected even.

Aizawa finally broke eye contact. He absentmindedly shuffled some papers on the desk. "There is something else. This morning there were already requests by several news agencies for an interview. Since you live on campus, they have to file a request with UA to get on school grounds and to get your contact details." Shoto was immediately worried, but Aizawa hurried to continue. "Don't worry. We, of course, denied all their requests. At least for now. Ultimately it is your decision. So, if you…"

"No," Shoto said immediately, "thanks for denying them. I don't really want to talk to anybody… Least of all the media."

"I understand that." Aizawa looked up at him again. "But if you should change your mind, you can. Just tell me, and we can arrange for you to speak to the media or the police or somebody from the Hero Association. There are rules and regulations in place that can lead to harsh consequences for Endeavor if that is what you want. So, whatever you want to do, UA will support you."

"Thanks," Shoto said again though a bit more honestly now. Even if he didn't really want to talk to anyone or bring those consequences down upon his father, it was surprisingly good to know the school was on his side. Should he change his mind, should his father fail him again, he'd have a powerful ally this time. More powerful than even Endeavor himself. If he used that … he wouldn't get hurt again, he realized.

He wouldn't let himself be hurt again. Shoto was willing to give his father a chance. Just one-Enji Todoroki's first and final chance. If he screwed up again if he hurt Shoto or his mother or his siblings again … There would be consequences. Not like years ago, when Shoto had still been too young and just stood by and watched. This time Shoto wouldn't just watch. If his father had actually changed for the better, good, but if he hadn't, if he fell back into old patterns, Shoto would ruin him. Not in the childish way he had tried before, but for real, with a strong ally and loyal friends.

Apropos Enji Todoroki … His father had probably seen the news by now too. Sure, the last time Shoto had seen him he was still unconscious for most of the time, but surely, he was better now. And it wasn't like his father had anything to occupy him other than watching TV while he laid around until his body had recovered. Surely, his father must know by now, Shoto suspected. Father would be furious.

"Eh…?" Shoto started uncertainly. "Would it be possible to visit my father in the hospital?" He looked at Aizawa and quickly added: "I know visiting hours are rather short and I have classes all day, but…"

"I can drive you over later," Aizawa offered quickly. "I have some time in the afternoon. Meet me here again at three o'clock?"

"Great," Shoto thanked him for the offer, then he left the room. On his way outside to the cafeteria, he texted his sister. It would be best if she could come too, then they could try calming Father together. The man was surely raging mad right now. He almost felt sorry for the nurses who had to work with him.