"Dude, Todoroki's staring at you again."

Brilliant observation, dipshit.

It wasn't like Todoroki was hiding it. Either the taller boy didn't care about his open staring and how their classmates perceived it, or he had as much tact as a toaster and didn't realize openly spying on Katsuki during and after class was drawing attention. Katsuki was leaning towards the toaster theory.

It's only been what, a few weeks since he'd met Endeavor's masterpiece but it was clear by now that Todoroki was completely unable to grasp basic social cues or bother to try not acting like a creep.

"Let him stare, Shitty Hair." Katsuki replies gruffly as he scrolls through the news on his phone, not even looking up. "It's none of my business what he does."

"He's being doing that a lot.

"Maybe he's starstruck after you won against him?" Pink G- Ashido speaks up from the other side of the table where she sat next to the yellow haired brat who kept shortening out his own brain. Kaminari, if Katsuki remembered correctly. "Puppy love is a thing, you know." She continues with a sly, purring tone.

It's enough to get him to finally look up -only to see both her and Kaminari wiggle their eyebrows. Katsuki fights the urge to retch at her suggestions. There goes his dinner.

Goddamnit, why did he even put up with these idiots.

Right. Because they weren't leaving him the fuck alone since the Sports Festival. Katsuki had no idea where they got the idea he tolerated their company, but apparently they decided that not getting their faces blown off after the first two times they'd plopped down next to him at lunch was green light for them to follow Katsuki like a puppy.

(He hates to admit it, but their chaotic presence made the long stretches in-between classes somehow less lonely.)

Tape guy makes a odd noise from Kirishima left. He'd almost forgotten the boy was here too. "Well in that case, shouldn't he be doing it to Midoriya? I mean, they started sitting together." He questions, brows furrowed. "After their fight-"

Kirishima promptly elbows the dark haired boy in the side, just hard enough to make him snap his mouth shut. Katsuki glares at him. He's fucking lucky the redhead was sitting between the two of them.

As if sensing his narrowly avoided death, Tape croaks and ducks his head, chuckling apologetically. "R-right. Sorry, Bakugo."

"Fuck off with your apology." Katsuki retorts, shoving his tray away. He's not really that hungry anymore. "I'm leaving."

Kirishima immediately perks up, looking concerned. "Dude, you haven't even finished eat-"

"I'm going." Katsuki growls, glaring at him. The redhead wilts.

He goes to dump his tray and then heads to the exit, tucking his phone into his left pocket. Katsuki stiffens hears a chair scrape as someone gets up. It's too close.

Immediately, he starts walking faster.

Unfortunately for him, his brother had inherited their father's height, and his long legs catch up to Katsuki before he's halfway across the cafeteria.

Within moments there's a hand around his wrist, keeping him from darting away. Katsuki has to stifle a yelp when he's yanked back, nearly crashing headfirst into his brother's chest.

Did the fucker just- Katsuki snarls and jerks his head up, glaring straight into the other boy's eyes.

Todoroki merely tightens his grip on his wrist to ensure that he wouldn't leave.

"The fuck do you want now?!"

"To talk." Todoroki blinks, slow and not unlike a owl. That fucking blue eye never fails to make the hair at the back of his neck raise, and this time was no exception. "You keep running away."

Katsuki bristles. "Fuck you."

He wasn't running away, fuck him. It was a tactical retreat. After the massive fuck up at the stairs two days ago -because it was a cluster fuck, Katsuki had spent the better part of that night agonizing over his own stupidity.

He just had to be petty.

Just had to tie a boulder to his leg and throw himself into the deep end of the pool.

This was a mess of his own making, but that didn't mean Katsuki wanted to take responsibility for it.

"We need to talk."

"Like hell we should. I already said my piece."

Todoroki's eyes narrow. "I haven't."

"You've said enough during our match." Katsuki growls, just loud enough that only the other boy can hear it.

His brother scowls. "I didn't know during our match."

"Well good for you." Katsuki replies bluntly, jerking his wrist back insistently. Todoroki's grip doesn't relax -if anything, it grows even tighter. "Now let go."

"No."

"I said let go, you fucking half and half bastard!" Katsuki's sharp yell is almost loud enough to be heard by the entire cafeteria. He can hear the students around him grow quieter, and it makes something small and meek inside him flip and twist nervously.

Todoroki clearly had no tact if he was trying to pull him into a conversation in the middle of the goddamn cafeteria. God, if he opened his mouth and said anything, Katsuki was going to throttle him with his fucking tie.

Why did I tell him? In what world would that have made things any better, you dumb shit?

Katsuki knows the answer to that. He was a petty, spiteful bitch through and through and after the Sport Festival he'd been just so raw, he couldn't stop himself from shoving a big fat wrench into Endeavor's plans.

"...are you alright man?"

Katsuki blinks. He'd never even noticed Kirishima sliding up to stand next to him, unsure red eyes flicking between him and Todoroki. His body language was strange, tilted in a way that suggested he wanted to slide in between the two of them to break up the fight -because Katsuki's free hand was smoking and sparking, and the blonde was barely able to keep himself from slamming it into Todoroki's face.

Finally his eyes shift down, noticing Todoroki hand tightly locked around Katsuki's wrist. His expression goes from confused to worried and slightly serious.

"Dude, let him go." Kirishima exclaims softly, looking up from Katsuki's trapped wrist to Todoroki's face. "Let's just calm down, okay?"

Reluctantly, Todoroki lets go.

Katsuki immediately jolts back, putting at least a feet of distance between the two of them. Kirishima makes a odd little noise next to him, questioning, but he ignores it in favor of looking at his brother straight in the eye.

This time, he's so angry he doesn't feel the instinctive jolt of fear when his gaze connects with that bright blue eye.

"We have nothing to talk about, Todoroki." His voice was unnaturally cool and composed even to Katsuki's ears. "Just drop it. You're good at that."

Then he spins around and stomps out of the cafeteria. As if sensing his bad mood -or more likely, seeing the twisted snarl on his face- students all but threw themselves out of his way.

.

.

.

Shouto watches as the blonde hurries out of the cafeteria.

Just drop it. You're good at that.

Why did it feel as if Bakugo wasn't talking about him?

"You didn't have to grab him like that." Blink. Oh. Kirishima was still standing there, looking at him with a slight frown. "That was rude."

"I'm sorry." The apology tastes bland on his tongue. "I see that. It won't happen again."

As if sensing that Shouto wasn't feeling like talking, Kirishima nods gently. "Okay...okay. Just don't do it again."

Mina calls for him from their table, and the redhead wanders off. Todoroki watches his back emptily.

That went well.

"Is everything okay, Todoroki?"

He knows that voice, and turns around to greet the speaker. His eyes soften when they meet wide, confused green. Midoriya was out of his seat, wringing his hands nerviously as he looks up at him with a tiny, perplexed little frown.

"It's alright." Shouto murmurs, eyes briefly flickign to the exit Bakugo had left the cafeteria through. He knew better than to follow. "I just have to talk to him, but he keeps dodging."

Midoriya chuckles nerviously. "He does that a lot." The shorter boy tells him, voice soft. "He doesn't like talking things out. I'm sure you'll figure something out, though."

Todoroki hums in response.

"Want to go back to eat with the others?"

"...right."

He follows Midoriya back to the table where the boy's friends were still sitting. Iida scolds him lightly for the comotion he'd caused and Uraraka pats him on the back, and dinner resumes as normal. Still, Shouto's mind can't help but wander.

He knows, deep down, that only one person other than Bakugo that could give him the answers he needed.

.

.

.

The house is eerily quiet when Shouto returns to the Todoroki estate.

He makes his way inside, stopping by his bedroom long enough to leave his bag behind. Shouto doesn't take the time to change, instead heading straight for the deeper bowels of the house.

At this hour of the afternoon, his father was standing in his office. He turns at the sound of the door opening.

"Shouto." The man rumbles, a brow quirked and expression dark. He has no doubt that the man was confused as to why Shouto was approaching him first.

"I know." He merely states, fighting the urge to clench his fists. Now now. He needed to stay calm. "About Bakugo." Shouto adds, watching as his father's expression slowly darkens, lips pressed thin.

Endeavor doesn't answer right away.

"...I see."

The fact that the man doesn't say anything else makes something inside Shouto bristle.

Coldly, he asks. "...how many siblings do I have out there that I don't know about?" His father stays silent, refusing to respond. Shouto can't help the low snarl from leaving his lips."...why?!"

Endeavor looks away. Shouto watches as his gaze shifts from him to one of the glass cases lining the walls of the office. They're full of awards and other memorabilia of his work.

The silence stretches out, long and uncomfortable.

"I needed a heir." His father finally states, voice blank and expression carefully calm. "Your dual Quirk will take you far, boy, that I don't doubt -but I needed someone to continue the family line."

The realization immediately clicks.

"You needed someone with Hellflame." Shouto breathes.

Endeavor nods once.

"Bakugo had the perfect temperament for it. It took some encouraging, but that wretched woman made it easy for me to mold him however I saw fit." His father rumbles, unconcerned. His eyes were dark and narrowed, as if was recalling something that left a bad taste in his mouth. "With what I taught him, he was shaping up to be a worthy successor of my title as the next Endeavor."

Shouto felt sick.

Suddenly, he remembers how much he'd hated Bakugo during the battle trials. Seeing him beat Midoriya within a inch of his life, demanding that the smaller boy with the unstable Quirk fight him at his best. Roaring at him to get up, to stop being a weakling and fight back. Back then, Shouto had been utterly disgusted by the blonde's actions.

Now he knew why.

Because Bakugo acted exactly like his father.

Because that's how Endeavor had intended it to be.

Because his father had groomed-

"Unfortunately, he didn't inherit Hellflame." Endeavor continues, oblivious or just uncaring of the dark, dark pit that was opening up in Shouto's gut.

"And because of that you dropped him like goddamn trash, didn't you?"

His father makes a minute shrugs. "His mother and I had a agreement." The pro-hero says in a tone not unlike if he was talking about bad weather and not abandoning his own child. "If he didn't have what I wanted, he would remains his. If he had Hellflame, I would have brought him to live with us, as a Todoroki." He pauses, eyes turning back to meet his. "To raise him, alongside you."

Shouto's mouth snaps closed; he can't stop his expression from faltering, eyes widening as the confession left him reeling.

To raise him, alongside you.

God. He could have had a brother.

For a moment, he imagines it. A boy his age, sun-kissed hair and blazing red eyes running after him through the estate. Filling the cold silence his mother's departure had created with loud laughter and boisterous demands. Playing with Shouto. Growing up with Shouto.

Instead, he got a empty house and far away siblings.

And it seemed as if Bakugo had grown up alone as well -but not just neglected but forgotten, barely a thought at the back of Endeavor's mind. Thrown aside like garbage once he didn't fit their father's plans. That knowledge makes Shouto want to retch.

He doesn't know what to think.

He needs space.

He needs to think.

"Shouto?" His father speaks up, tone ever calm and rumbling. Shouto has to wonder how pale his face was. It must show, for Endeavor to question him like this.

"I…" The noise that leaves his lips is strangled. "...I just need to think." His body moves on his own and he takes a step back. And another. And another.

His father's eyes narrow. "Boy-"

"Shut up." Shouto rasps, spinning around almost too fast.

He rushes out of the room, nearly tripping over his own two feet. All righteousness and burning desire for answers gone under the weight of the revelation.

His father doesn't call after him, not even once.

.

.

.

The worst part, Shouto thinks, was how long Endeavor took to respond to his initial question.

'...how many siblings do I have out there that I don't know about?'


Cry my children, cryyy. Jk I love you. I promise there will be a good ending.

I'm not sure if I'm gonna add any other pairings besides Kiribaku in all honesty. Todoroki clicks well with either Izuku and Momo, but Hori writes his shit so well that friendship works just as good. I love the fact the female characters are actually people and not just bait like a lot of animes.