Dinner was a quiet affair between the present Todoroki, that is, Fuyumi, Shouto and myself. Our elder sister kept giving us concerned glances, sensing the slight air of tension between my twin and me. My stomach was up in knots and my food seemed bland and I found I didn't have much of an appetite. Out of all of us, Shouto seemed the least bothered, keeping his usual calm and cool demeanor. When I'd eaten as much as I could stomach, I excused myself from the table and went back to my room, waiting for him to join me as I knew he would. Not two minutes later, my precious twin steps into my room, closing the door behind him. With a smile that was more of a grimace, I patted the bed beside me, straightening the stack of old notes I pulled out for our discussion as he sat down ready to hear what I had to tell him.
"You know how I've always been a little different from most people? How I always seemed to know things I shouldn't know? There's a reason for that."
He nodded, as if I had merely confirmed it for him, but didn't interrupt me.
"Do you believe in reincarnation?"
His eyes widened and his mouth dropped a little, and in any other circumstance I would've found it downright adorable, but I was more concerned about how he would react after the initial surprise.
"You remember your past lives? I thought you were some kind of psychic."
Some of the heaviness leaves the conversation as my lips twitch in amusement. "Past life. Just the one, Sho. I can't see dead people or read minds or anything else."
He frowns, but not an angry one, more of puzzled expression. "That explains a lot, actually. Why didn't you say anything?"
I snorted. "Oh yeah, like it's that easy. It's not like anyone would believe me. And besides, what business is it of anyone else's whether or not I remember my past life? I only kept it secret because you were too young and then later it was just habit to hide it."
His frown became more pronounced, actually upset this time, and I slumped in on myself. "You should've said something sooner. It's not like anything's really changed. No matter who you were before, you're still Todoroki Hien now."
My shoulders dropped in relief, tension leaving my body visibly, causing my sweet baby brother's lips to quirk in a small smile. The first part was over, and though I know he was probably still a little upset with me over keeping secrets, it was nowhere as bad as I'd made myself nearly sick imagining. In hindsight, I felt more than a little ridiculous entertaining the thought that Shouto would actually hate me over this, especially when I knew the only person he truly hated was Endeavor. Somehow, my brain had equated lying to my twin with being as much of an absolute garbage can as that man. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have worried about Shouto being the one to develop a sibling complex...
"How did you know about the USJ?"
His question was like a bucket of ice water being dumped over me. This was the second, more difficult part. Reincarnation? Yeah, sure okay, but explaining that you know the future because you came from a world where this one was a fictional story for other's entertainment? That was an identity crisis waiting to happen, so I decided on a half-truth. I couldn't- wouldn't- lie about knowing the future, but I didn't have to explain where exactly the knowledge came from. I could probably cover up the how through some aspect of my reincarnation. With a deep breath, I steeled myself for the next part of our conversation. This I sure he would be much more upset about.
"I knew about it before. I know a lot of things that happened before that haven't happened yet, but not very far. Only until around the end of this year. So I was kinda reborn in the past." Which was technically true, if I considered that canon takes place just a couple years before I died. "And before you ask, I didn't tell anyone about the attack because who would believe me? It's not like the teachers would just take my word on it without any proof. Besides, I didn't even know when the attack would happen until the day before. I didn't have enough time to do anything to stop it, but I remembered from before that only the teachers and one student got hurt so I knew things would turn out okay and I even alerted the school much earlier than they would have been!"
I knew I was rambling, trying to justify my decisions to him and make him see things my way. Perhaps I had a point, but I also knew I had been incredibly selfish by not at least trying to do something more. I had taken a risk, and it was only luck that the gamble paid off and things didn't go pear-shaped. I had let my pride and fear cloud my judgment.
"I thought I could change everything just because I knew what would happen. I was stupid and selfish."
"Yes, you were."
I flinched but didn't protest, knowing I deserved whatever beratement came my way.
"But you were also scared."
I looked up in surprise from where my gaze had fallen to my lap. It was moments like this that reminded me that though I had the benefit of living two lifetimes, that did not automatically mean I always knew better. I had always been the mature one between the two of us, but my mental age had stagnated around the age that I'd died and now that my physical body was starting to catch up with my mental maturity, I found myself being startled when Shouto displayed a maturity I didn't expect from a child. I forgot that he was growing up too.
Noticing my surprised stare, he snorted. "You may be older than you look, Hien, but I've still known you the entirety of my life. I know you better than anyone else, even more so now. You always try to be the strong one. Always looking after me, protecting me. That's why you didn't tell me sooner, right? You didn't want to worry me. You lean on me, but you don't depend on me when it really matters."
I gave him a wan smile. He was right, of course, he was right. What good was a support pillar if I didn't actually rely on it when I needed it most? For all that I praised his brilliance, I really didn't give my baby brother enough credit.
"I'm sorry. Will you help me? I can't do this alone anymore."
His face held its usual neutral expression, but I could see the pleased glint in his eyes that I wasn't going to continue with my misguided attempt to shield him from my knowledge.
"We stand together, as we always have."
Unexpected tears sprung from my eyes and half-forgotten lyrics came to mind. I didn't want to say I protected you, and you were never weak. I'm number two. You were stronger than I have ever been, and you mean more to me than you know. With a watery, but determined smile, I nodded.
"So what are those papers for?"
I didn't tell Shouto everything, just gave a quick overview, no details or anything. For all that I was willing to be more open with my twin about my knowledge, I was wary about revealing too much too soon. I told him that the League of Villains would be back, as well as the Hero Killer Stain, though I didn't tell him how we would encounter them. Shouto was all for immediately informing the school, but I put a stop to that by bringing up the potential traitor. I agreed that at the very least, Principal Nedzu, Aizawa-sensei, and All Might would have to know, but I refused to tell anyone else.
I also reasoned that I didn't have much in the way of proof of my future knowledge. Yes, I could tell them what would happen, and they might believe me when it came true, but that would take too long, and the most of what happens is all life-threatening stuff anyway. I was reasonably sure I could convince All Might by revealing my knowledge of One for All and about his identity, but Aizawa-sensei would be the harder one to convince, and the principal was up in the air.
At any rate, the school was closed down for a few days while they tightened up security. We made use of our free time by training as hard as possible. We both wanted to be prepared for everything that was coming our way. I told him about the upcoming sports festival that would be announced on the day of our arrival and I was looking forward to having my first "prediction" come true.
I spent our time training coming up with some new moves, I could use as ultimate moves later. The first I'd already used once before, creating light without heat by combining my hot and cold flames. I called it Flashbang. I also took inspiration from other series's fire-based moves. Firebending was a prominent one. Then there was a move I recalled where the character used his flames like thrusters, similar to how Bakugou moved in the air, but with better maneuverability that came from a constant stream of flames as opposed to repetitive explosions. It took some practice, but eventually, I was flying like a baby bird on its first successful flight, and I'd only refine my technique in the coming weeks before the sports festival. A huge advantage, seeing as Bakugou was probably now the only one in class who could keep up with me off the ground.
Our break ended faster than I would've liked. My brother had managed to convince me to talk to All Might. Oddly enough, I'd been more terrified of telling Shouto my secret than I was about telling the number one hero that I knew all of his. I sighed, cheek resting on my hand. Everyone was talking about the USJ incident and how we ended up on the news. I glanced behind me to check on Midoriya's fingers, but accidentally caught Bakugou's eye. I automatically gave him an acknowledging smile, but he scoffed and looked away.
"Everyone! Homeroom is about to start. Please settle down and take your seats!"
"You're the only one who's not seated, class prez."
"Oh yeah, who's going to teach homeroom?"
"Well, Aizawa-sensei's still injured..."
Just then, to the surprise of everyone but myself, the man himself walked in covered in casts and bandages (though how he managed to open the door with two broken arms I'll never know).
"Speak of the devil."
"Sensei, should you really be working in your condition?!"
"My well-being doesn't matter. More importantly, the fight isn't over yet."
Everyone tensed up at his pronouncement, but I was left scowling at the dismissal of his health. Just because broken arms aren't life-threatening, doesn't mean he shouldn't take them seriously.
"The U.A. Sports Festival is drawing near."
The class collectively flipped its shit. Aizawa-sensei reassured their security concerns, and I already knew nothing would happen to interrupt it. He mentioned the importance of doing well at the sports festival to get good internship offers. Again, I wasn't concerned since Shouto and I would probably just accept Endeavor's offer.
Lunchtime rolled around, and I stiffly rose from my seat, looking back at Shouto who nodded at me, making his way toward me. Shoulders stiff, I allowed him to guide me to the staff room, where hopefully, All Might would be. If not, we would have to put off our talk for after school. As luck would have it, we were able to catch him before he left for his own lunch break.
"Ah, Todoroki-shounen, Todoroki-shoujo. Can I help you?"
Clutching my twin's hand for support, I took a deep breath and looked our teacher in the eyes. "Sir, we need to talk."
I always forget to mention something here and then I have to wait until I'm done with the next chapter so I can inform you guys lol. I drew a couple more sketches of Hien if you guys are interested. Just search for username snowywyvern or Hien U.A. uniform. Anyway, points to anyone who can tell me what song Hien was thinking of.
