If there was anything Todoroki Shouto hated more than boiling water, it was feeling someone's stress in his body. It was invasive, and completely uncalled for, someone gaining the balls to project their emotions so loudly that it strike him. Yet, here he was, sitting across the kitchen table trying to enjoy a bowl of cereal while his mother looked nervous enough to have a heart attack three feet from him. "Mom," he began, taking her hand softly, "if you're gonna worry like this, you can't sit with me."

The older woman cracked a small, sad smile, accentuating the thin lines forming underneath her eyes. Staring at her, his mismatched eyes looking at her grey ones with an intensity he got from his father, he noticed that he never seen her look So aged—not during the fragments of memories he had from his childhood, not during any of the supervised visits he had during puberty, and not throughout the trials this summer and all the summers before. Up until this point, his mother had remained perfectly ageless, stuck in her mid-twenties. "I can't help but to worry, Shouto," she sighed, placing her hands on her temples. "I got my baby back but he's not a baby anymore, and now he's going to a new school and doesn't have a friend in the world."

"I'm not interested in making friends," he quipped back, taking a spoonful of cereal in his mouth.

"Oh God," she moaned, dropping her head onto the table, "your father's made you antisocial." Shouto only shrugged and continued to eat his cereal, smacking his lips very loudly. "There's nothing wrong with having friends, Shouto."

"I don't want anything to do with the idiots down at that school, mom," he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"You don't even know them."

"I don't need to know them. They go to public school for a reason."

"A public school that you'll be attending," a sharp voice interjected, "and please, little brother, don't cut yourself on all that edge." Shouto looked up to find his eldest brother, Touya looking down at him, all smiles and black hair dye. The elder Todoroki placed a kiss on his mother's forehead, the small smile spreading into something larger, fuller.

"I'm only going to public school because—" Shouto began.

"—Dad's going to jail!" Touya finished, his own smile growing wide. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"That's not—" their mother attempted to say, but she was cut off by her youngest son.

"It's fuckin amazing," Shouto said, his own smile forming on his face.

"Boys!" their mother screamed, closing her eyes and scrunching her face together. "What we will not do," she said, her eyes serious and fingers pointing sharp, "is talk about your father. Outside, we probably can't avoid talking about him—he was Endervour, after all—but inside of this house, we don't have to talk about him. He isn't ruining our lives anymore." The boys looked at each other and nodded at their mom, the younger taking this oppurtunity to take another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. Slowly, Touya raised his hand, a devilish smirk crossing his features. "Do I want to answer your question?" she sighed, a small smile crossing her face again.

"Can we talk shit about dad? 'Cause fuck that guy, mom." Touya said, crossing his arms over his chest triumphantly.

"Yeah, fuck him," Shouto added.

"My ex-husband corrupted my first son and turned my last one into a potty mouth," their mom said, head falling into his hands and sighing loudly. "Don't you both have a class? College and high schools and everything?" she sighed. She glanced at the clock and seen that it was a quarter past eight—the train would be coming shortly. "Please," she said, looking to Touya with wide eyes, "please make sure my baby gets to school safely."

x

Shouto was only able to steal glimpses of the principal as he sat outside of his office, his foot tapping the floor impatiently as he waited to be seen by the man. From what he could see, he was an older man with white hair and round, dark eyes, seeing pupiless. He was going back and forth with another man, probably a few years younger than him, but he looked like he hadn't showered in days. A teenager was in the room as well, though he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. It looked like it was turning into a shouting match, though he was not able to hear much through the thick glass. The door opened a the teenager walked out, his eyes sullen and his face annoyed. He could hear the yelling that he thought what was going on, shoutings of "You can't!" leaving the room before the door slammed shut.

"What the fuck is going on in there?" Shouto asked, his voice deep and serious.

"None of your fucking business," the other teenager responded, pushing his purple hair out of his face. His sullen, purple eyes rolled about in his skull, irritated but not paying Shouto any extra attention. With a heavy sigh, he put his white headphones in his ears and closed his eyes, rocking his head back and forth. He leaned back in his chair, probably thinking that he would be in the office a while, and he was going to ignore Shouto the entire time.

Like hell t(he)y were.

With "Fuck this," rolling off of his tongue, Shouto stood up and walked towards the closed office door and flung it open, much to the annoyance of the purple haired teenager sitting next to him. He found himself staring at the two men in the room, the white haired principal looking unsettlingly calm while staring at the scruffy man, who's narrow eyes bore into Shouto's angst-filled teenage soul. The scruffy man looked like he hadn't slept in years, deep bags settling under his eyes as if they belonged, the discoloration almost natural. His greasy, dark hair was splayed all across his head, falling in his face, almost shielding him from the teenager's view. A small scar ran along one of his eyelids, reminding Shouto of his own scar over his left eye. He reached out to touch it, but snapped out of it when he felt the tough, wrinkled skin that he's always known to be there. Seeing the men's expressions shift from confused to irritated, he opened his mouth and flippantly said, "What the fuck is taking so long? I wanna be in class before I graduate."

The scruffy man's eyes rolled before he diverted his attention back to the principal, saying, "Why can't we put this little shit in class 1-A and leave my son out of it?"

"That's an awful thing to say, Aizawa!" the principal scolded, but he made no effort to conceal the smile that formed on his face. "Besides, this is Todoroki. He's going to be joining class 1-A as well, the school it too crowded to put them any place else. If we had it my way, there would be no class 1-A, but we both know that isn't how it works," the principal said, adding a dry laugh to the end of his sentence. Shouto gave a haphazard glance to his nameplate, reading Nezu. Principal Nezu continued, "I'll get you in your class shortly, young man, though you're welcome to take a seat next to Shinsuo in the waiting area."

"I'm sick of waiting," he countered, leaning into the doorway. The principal kept his smile on his face and crossed his unusually large hands, twiddling his thumbs.

"And that's fine, young man, but that doesn't mean anything is going to move any faster. Here at Yuuei, we don't operate on the schedules of entitled brats such as yourself. And the next time you come into my office using harsh language, there will be dire consequences. Feel free to stand in my doorway if it tickles your fancy. A representative from your class should be here shortly." Silently, Shouto leaned into the doorway, crossing his arms across his chest and huffing slightly. A small smirk crossed his face, and he looked at the principal with sight disdain. The principal bought his eyes back to Aizawa, continuing, "I'm doing everything I can for my student's safety. I always do. This is just how it has to be."

"That's bullshit!" Aizawa said, slamming his hand on the table, "This doesn't just affect you, Nezu! It affects my son! Both of them!"

"Aizawa—"

"Mirio's in college, now! And Eri," he paused for a moment, a small smile appearing on his face, "...Nezu, she's so perfect." Aizawa opened his palm and closed it again, cracking his knuckles. "My kids have already been through enough, Nezu! This class is evil, and you know it! My kids can't afford any accidents! They are all they've got!"

"I understand that, but my hands are tied. If everyone follows the rules set in place, then maybe we can finish the year without incident. It's all I can do," Nezu said, his voice leaving his body towards the end. "This is hard for all of us, and it affects all of us. Nobody knows who's going to be next, Shouta."

A soft knock on the door drew everyone's attention away from the principal and the parent, bringing it to a young woman, peeking her head into the doorway. From what Shouto could see of her, she was pretty, having sparkling dark eyes and sharp features. Her long, dark hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and she spoke softly, "Sir?" Hesitently, she bought herself in the office, allowing Shouto to see her fully. Her long legs were covered in black tights that stopped right below her knees, and Todoroki took full notice of this. Her dark green skirt covered far too much for his liking, but he didn't say anything. She wore a grey vest over her white uniform shirt, emphasizing how small her waist was compared to her chest. "I'm Momo Yaoyorozu," she said, extending her hand to Shouto, who bought it towards his lips and placed a small kiss on her palm. A light blush crossed her face before she snatched her hand away, saying, "I-I'll be taking you and Shinsuo to class."

With that, she turned on her heels and exited the office, Shouto trailing not too far behind her. The purple haired teenager followed along silently behind, his shoes silently scuffing against the floor. Aizawa and Nezu watched them until they couldn't see them anymore, disappearing into the dimly lit hallways. When the teenagers disappeared, Aizawa turned to Nezu and said, "If my son—if any of those kids die, you're next."

x

"Class 1-A runs a little different from the rest of the class," Momo started, walking the teenagers down the halls, "we have a couple rules, and really bad things happen when you don't follow them.

"I don't like rules," Shouto replied, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"They're there for a reason," she said, matter-of-factly.

"Rules are made to be broken, Momo."

"That's the exact opposite of what rules are made for, Todoroki," she replied, her voice stern. They came upon a door and she opened it, smiling as she entered the class. The room radiated with life, bright colors from every angle attacking Todoroki. Laughter and chatter filled the air, creating a warm atmosphere that he almost basked in. His eyes were immediately drawn to the back of the classroom, seeing a row of empty desk and a single student sitting behind those desk, his green eyes bleeding into his own. His slightly tanned face was covered in freckles and he made no effort to look friendly, sitting in the back of the classroom without a single emotion displayed on his face.

He needed a haircut.

"Everyone, this is Todoroki and Shinsuo," Momo introduced loudly, "and maybe they would like to say something about themselves...?" Her eyes trailed to them, looking up at them brightly.

As if on cue, both of them said, "I'm not here to make friends." A strange silence crept into the class, but a moment later the students erupted into laughter, save for two of them—a blonde boy with an angry aura and a brunette with dark skin, who seemed to have a dark cloud circling him.

A blonde with a dark streak in his hair spoke up, "There can't be two edgy bitches in this class—"

"Language, Kaminari!" the teacher, an attractive young woman with diamond shaped glasses and bright blue eyes, scolded.

"Sorry, Miss Midnight," the blonde, Kaminari, said before continuing, "There can't be two edgy fucks—" he looked at Miss Midnight, who nodded her head in approval—"in this class, and Half 'n Half's got you beat, Cheshire Cat. Come on and sit next to me." He patted the empty desk behind him, calling over Shinsuo, who only sighed and grabbed the seat that he pointed to. Todoroki, on the other hand, stayed standing in the doorway, his eyes locked on the boy with green eyes and freckles.

"Sit wherever you'd like, Todoroki," Miss Midnight spoke, placing her hand on his shoulder, having it linger a little to long for it to be appropriate—not that he minded. "Just not in the very back, it's hand to see you from back there." It was becoming painfully obvious that they didn't want him in the back of the classroom, next to the boy with those piercing green eyes.

But he was going to do that anyway, because that's just who he was.

Confidently, he sauntered to the back of the room, taking the seat right in front of him. Miss Midnight gave him a soft, pleading look before shaking her head no, saying, "There's nothing for you back there. You're about to make a very big mistake, Todoroki."

"Am I breaking the rules?"

"You're about to," she said, her voice stern and powerful.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," he replied, a small smile forming on his face. He turned his head around, looking at the boy in his green eyes. He noticed the way his hair curled, thick from the root, a slight green tinge to the almost blackness that consumed the top of his head. His delicate green eyes lit up as Todoroki looked at him, but he said nothing, drawing in an anxious breath.

"You need a haircut."