VII

Now for Toya's point of view on Boiling Night.


Toya took his time on the walk home. He inwardly frowned any pedestrians that wore headphones or any other personalized listening devices. What sheltered idiots, he huffed. They lived in a world where villains sprouted like daisies. Heroes had to take the longer path. They had to cultivate their strength, get accepted to a proper high school, they had to apply for licenses. All the bad guys had to do was act.

Finally, he reached his street. The teenager slowed his steps and took a moment to think back. Less than two weeks ago, Mom was here. What had once been a depressing thought was now empowering. She tried, but all she did was cry. He felt his mind slip back into memories.


Toya remembered sleepily registering some banging in the kitchen. Toya had thought nothing of it. His mom was famous for her nightly tea raids. She'd always slept terribly and was up several times a night, if she even bothered to go to bed at all. Rei had taken it upon herself to host vigils and watch for their father. As if they ever did any good.

Toya recalled seeing water on the floor. His first thought was that Shoto had slipped on some of his ice and melted it by accident. But why is Dad hitting Mom? It was only then that he registered the one sided fight against his mother. He knew his attack would be worthless, but he didn't stop the blue flames that sputtered from his hands. As expected, Enji destroyed them as quickly as they could be created.

Fuyumi rushed between them. Nobody hit her, that was the rule. As she instructed, they entered a temporary cease fire. As soon as she and Rei left the room, Natsuo had acted on instinct and applied a very thin ice to the burn. It was thanks to the middle son's sharp thinking that Shoto's injuries hadn't become anything more than a red blemish. Enji worried about his prized steed. "Call the family physician," he said to the room at large. Natsuo took the command to heart and carried his four year old brother from the room. He'd known there would be blood.

Enji and Toya glared at one another from opposite sides of the training hall. As one, they expelled fire. Toya had dodged and moved in close to try to get some hits in. Thanks to his smaller size, he was significantly faster than his old man.

Of course it wasn't enough. Enji elbowed Toya in the back and his eldest son dropped like a rock. "She hurt your brother, you idiot. How are you possibly taking her side?"

Toya had tried to get up, but his father lit a fire. "Stay down, son," he growled. Both of them knew that Toya's flesh wasn't made to withstand heat. His quirk and body were simply incompatible, thanks to Enji's selective breeding. There had been no choice for him other than to lay and wait until his father left.

"That's what I thought," Enji snorted as he stomped away. "You're weak. And to think I once thought you were worth training."


That hell is over, he reminded himself. If Teiko can't win, then I won't stick around.

He knew it wasn't a heroic way of thinking, but he never aspired to become a pro. His sole ambition was to find somewhere safe and live his days without having to check over his shoulder. Back before Shoto had become the student, Toya had been covered with various degrees of burns. He wore long sleeves to compensate for the bubbled and scared flesh littered about his body. Thanks to his extensive training, he had no hopes or dreams. He took each day it came and did his best with what was given. His marks were average, as he was devoid of desire to study. Even so, he didn't wish to suffer the repercussions of those that fell behind. His teachers couldn't understand how the son of Endeavor could have such small hopes for himself. They tried to offer him encouragement, but he remained detached to their genuine offers to help.

He had gone to the Quirk Gym again, so he was only just in time for dinner. The clock read 5:02 and Enji was nowhere in sight, but the rest of his family was at the table. He felt little arms grab waist in a tight squeeze. "Mom and Auntie were friends!" Shoto exclaimed. "You're just in time! We're going to have our dinner-time story!"

"I'll make you a plate," Fuyumi offered at once.

Natsuo was not nearly as welcoming. "Come on, come on! I want to know!"

Teiko laughed and tutted her finger. "Whatever you little monsters are going to ask won't change in the minute it takes for Toya to join us. Calm down."

"Done!" Fuyumi declared. She set Toya's dish at the place beside her. While the girl tried her best to remain patient, she felt as curious as her brothers to hear more about Teiko.

Toya slipped his shoes off and slid the door shut. He made sure to do it as slowly as possible, a broad smirk on his face. In his own way, he was going to harmlessly torment them for starting without him. "Is this going to take a while? I think I might need a bathroom break."

Teiko laughed, but Natsuo and Shoto bounced far too much for him to follow through with the threat. Toya nudged his brother away and herded Shoto to the dining room. "Alright, let's have it."

"Fuyumi wanted to hear about how I defended your mom for the first time. Are any of you opposed to that? It'll also answer what my quirk is, so I'd say it's a two for one deal."

Toya plopped down beside his sister. "Sounds good to me."

Teiko began as before. "Once upon a time, there was a fair farm girl named Rei. She was six years younger than me, but nobody would play with the Todoroki family – for obvious reasons – so she was my one friend. She lived at the neighboring farm, the sole offspring of her mother and father, a sweet couple who married for love. They called their precious daughter their baby and tried to give her the finer things in the world, but they were dirt poor." She looked around to gauge the crowd. None of them had touched their food and all had even leaned forward in their seats. She took it as a sign to continue.

"I don't even remember what their quirks were, but a trio of ten year olds from my grade couldn't find a harmless puppy to kick, so they settled on Rei. I, like her parents, didn't think the girl could stand up for herself. In the long run, we became enablers." Teiko made sure to look at Toya in particular to let her words sink in. "I was eleven, but these were kids raised in the boonies. They were strong and knew all about taking a hit. Thankfully, I've never been much for physical combat, or else this story might have ended differently.

"Rei had pinned herself against a tree and was shaking like a leaf. I didn't want to damage the root system, so that ruled out the majority of my earth manipulation, but I also couldn't set the forest on fire again, or my old man would beat the ever living s-not out of me.

So I made a sand tornado. I sucked those little fu—shi- twa-" the children laughed at her valiant attempts not to swear, "…boys," she finally decided, "into the vortex and rocketed them up to the sturdy branches a few meters off the ground. They got stuck and couldn't get down. In such a small community, everybody knew everybody, so I went to the boys' houses and told all of their parents that we were having a party at my house. They believed me, and come morning we had six pairs of adults at our front door begging to know where their children were."

Toya snickered along, only able to picture the row of outraged guardians.

Only Fuyumi looked flustered. "Was everyone okay?"

"One of the idiots tried to climb down and fell, but he only bruised his tailbone. The next time he even looked at Rei I smacked his ass, ah shit, fuck… looks like I'm doing dishes. Anyway, I smacked his butt and he howled in pain."

Natsuo laughed until tears streamed down his eyes and Shoto giggled like a maniac. "The three of them tried a few more times, but eventually realized couldn't hurt me, so they tried to go for Enji." The mood sobered considerably. Silence shrouded the small audience once more. "He was jumped, but managed to break four bones between all of them. Enji and I were ostracized in town because of it, but we didn't really care that much. Enji had his dreams of becoming a pro and I was a spiteful, sassy teenager."

Teiko did the dishes alone. The kids settled by the television, the eldest three with their homework out. Shoto watched his newly discovered cartoons and cuddled his All Might action figure. Ever since Teiko had given it to him, the toy hadn't left his grasp. Fuyumi looked up from one of her math problems and tapped her pencil at her chin. "Why were you late, Toya?"

He kept at his work. Maybe if he didn't answer, she'd leave him alone. "Toya?" She asked again, this time with a more serious face.

Oh great. She put her mom eyes on.

"I was out," he answered vaguely.

"Out where?"

"That's all you're getting."

"Toya, why don't you talk to—" she stopped when her brother snapped his book shut and stood. Without another word, he dismissed himself from the situation. There was only so much he could take. While he wouldn't ever hit Fuyumi, she had a way of prying beneath his skin. Her sense of responsibility grated on him. For whatever reason, she acted like she was the oldest, but it was him. He was the sibling in charge. Toya went to his room, turned on his music, and sat at his desk to catch up.

Hours later, he flipped the dial and the noise quieted. He was satisfied in his efforts and felt much more prepared for tomorrow. I'll be just a bit better than mediocre. A knock echoed through the chamber. Toya knew it could only be a sibling, father, or aunt, but wouldn't invite any of them in without checking first. He took a moment to listen, then crossed his wooden floor and opened the door. Teiko waited with a bag in her hands. "What's this?" He asked.

"What do you want it to be?" She countered.

The answer was so unexpected that he didn't know how to respond. "What?"

Teiko took a step back. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"It's late."

"There's no school tomorrow," she reminded him, as if he didn't know that with every fiber of his being. "If you don't come, I'm just going by myself."

"Going where?"

"Your dad won't be coming home tonight. According to the news, he's hunting a villain."

Why can't she just answer the question? Toya was frustrated and curious as he stared at the hunk of brown paper. "Fine." Their neighborhood was safe enough. "I'm staying close enough to keep the house in sight."

"Sounds good." She said easily enough. He had expected her to fight back or insist that she needed him for the errand. Toya appreciated how the woman could make suggestions, not order him around.

They exited their home quietly. "Are you going to tell me what's in the bag?"

"Once we get to the sidewalk," she whispered. Once they reached their destination, Teiko turned and presented Toya with the subject of his curiosity.

He grabbed it at once, as the wait had made him far too enthusiastic. There was a crinkle as he unfolded the top and looked down. "It's empty." This is stupid. He crumpled it up and tossed it to the ground.

"No it's not," Teiko insisted. She left the trash where it was. "It's now full of every responsibility you took upon yourself for having a shit dad. You just put in it all the duties you don't want to do. All your censored thoughts, the dreams that were imposed upon you – everything that isn't yours is in there. You don't have to be the guardian in your own home anymore. I'll take that job on for myself."

Toya wondered why it felt so good to listen. He stared at the litter and felt everything she said lift out of him like she had drawn poison from a grievous wound. Without thinking, he put his hand forward and blasted it to smithereens. There was no smoke, only a scorch mark over the pavement. He felt a wave of relief so overwhelming that tears dipped from his eyes and spilled down his cheeks.

Teiko afforded him privacy by staring at their grand manor. "Whatever you decide, think it through first. I had plenty of conviction to spite my parents, but none to be a farmer. I stayed there because it was easy. In hindsight, my most of my decisions were sloppy and lacked a great deal of hindsight." She shrugged. "You're an over thinker anyway, so I'm sure you'll choose a path that's right for you."

"How did you know?" He couldn't believe how perfectly she'd articulated his feelings.

"I used to feel the same way about your dad. I had to consciously let go of him to help myself move on."

He felt such overwhelming gratitude and trust that he decided to open up to her, even though she was still a relative stranger. "Society loves heroes," he declared as he wiped the moisture from his face. "But if it weren't for money, almost no one would be a hero. It shouldn't be a job that someone like him can do. A real hero would act selflessly and not need any compensation." He felt his words tumble from thick and emotional into an impassioned hiss. Toya looked her squarely in the eye at his proclamation, as if daring her to challenge him.

"I wholeheartedly agree. That's one of the reasons why I'm not a hero."

"I went to a gym after school."

"Let me guess, a Quirk Gym? We had one out in the country. I didn't know you city folk approved of such a barbaric trend." She reached out her hand. "I go by Maki there."

Barbaric? It's just fighting with quirks. He reached out to take it. "And I by Dabi."

According to Google, Maki is Japanese for kindling. I don't care if Google's wrong, that's what I'm hoping it means for the sake of the story.