Two Weeks Until The Hero Gala
Enji strode down the hospital hallway, ignoring people who jumped out of his way as he continued towards his destination.
His mind was elsewhere, considering his successor's recent actions.
Until this year, Shoko had been relatively easy to control. Despite her angry words and foolish handicap of her own abilities, she had still followed her proper path in the end, even using her fire.
That was good; Enji had invested too much time and effort into creating and training her to let her waste her time in foolish acts of rebellion.
That desire to protect his investment, in fact, was why he was here.
His progeny's words during that last call a week ago were still bothering him. Shoko had confirmed what Geretsuna had told him following their disastrous meeting, saying that she had, apparently, developed a romantic attachment to someone else.
Enji snorted. Foolish girl, she thought she could be a hero and love someone? Well, she'd get a rude awakening when the object of her affection rejected her.
Enji has tried to show her a better path to success by arranging the engagement to Geretsuna, who would give her a chance for a powerful legacy without tying her down with silly infatuation.
Enji found Geretsuna to be a weak-willed worm, certainly, but he was a useful one. At the very least, he could be trained.
And yet, Shoko hadn't just rebelled against the man, she had actively harmed him. It had been difficult to persuade him to go along with the next part of Enji's plan, but he'd managed.
After all, Enji mused, he didn't care how much Shoko fought him out of a misguided sense of righteousness, as long as she ended up married by the end of it.
Finally, Enji came to the door he had been aiming for, and knocked once.
There was no reply, so he pushed the door open.
"Rei," he rumbled, spotting Shoko's mother sitting in a chair.
She turned to face him, and Enji saw that her face was set in stone. "Enji," she said calmly, "what brings you here?"
Enji strode into the room, closing the door behind him. "Shoko has been acting against my wishes lately. Are you the cause of it?" he asked.
Rei remained frustratingly calm and uninterested as she replied, "Oh, is your perfect creation giving you trouble?"
Enji didn't have time for this. He demanded, "Enough, woman! Are you the cause of Shoko's rebellion, or not?"
Fittingly, Rei's glade was icy as she stared back at him, utterly unafraid. She was more like her old self than ever, Enji realized.
"No," she said, hands folded perfectly in her lap, "but I wish I could say I was. Let me tell you why she's fighting you, Enji. She refuses to be married off like chattel, you beast. I am proud of her for having more strength than I ever did."
Enji flared in anger. "Watch what you say, Rei. Need I remind you why you're here? You are not fit to speak to Shoko, let alone raise her," he warned.
Rei responded, "The only person not fit to be a parent in this room is the one threatening the woman he forced to be his wife."
Enji snapped, "You were so weak, you damaged her! Do you know how much trouble you've caused both of us?"
Rei's eyes narrowed as she said, "Never refer to my daughter as damaged, ever again."
Enji retorted, "She is nothing of yours, foolish woman. She is my heir, and I have given her everything she has."
The petite woman replied, "I suppose you're right, I have no claim over her. But neither do you. Shoko is her own person, and she will do whatever she wishes. She won't be tied down by your schemes anymore."
Enji stood in anger; he said, "If she wants to be the best like me, she will have to put aside the weakness she clearly inherited from you-"
Rei slapped him.
Enji hadn't even seen her move; one second, she was sitting demurely on the chair opposite him, the next, she was striking his face with the palm of her hand, her eyes blazing in rage.
Despite being twice her size and a trained combatant, Enji staggered, both from the force of the blow, and the shock.
She'd never attacked him before, never even defended herself when he'd punished her for disobedience.
Stunned, Enji said, "What the hell are you doing?"
She hit him again, harder.
He went reeling backwards, barely staying on his feet.
Rei got in his face, and hissed, "That is enough from you, you piece of shit. I have heard your voice in my fucking nightmares for ten goddamn years. I am done with you calling me weak. I'm fucking human, Enji. Human, like the children you discarded like garbage, like Shoko. I have listened to your madness for ten long years of pain and suffering. Now, I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen. So hear this loud and clear: I'm not putting up with your shit any longer, you monster. I'm divorcing you."
Enji's eyes went wide. He gasped, "You-you can't! The court will take one look at your history and put you right back here!"
Rei's smile didn't go away. She replied, "My history of being abused? The clean bill of health from this institution? You haven't got anything that can keep me in here, you second-rate hero. And once I'm out, there is nothing to stop Shoko, or Natsuo, or Fuyumi from telling the world exactly what you did to us."
Enji paused; he hadn't thought of that. He knew it was true, and for once, he was genuinely worried. He knew the laws, and what he had done could get him in a lot of trouble.
Assuming it got out.
His mind was running, planning his next move, but Rei wasn't done.
The furious woman said, "I'm going to leave this place, and fix the mess you've made of the last family I care about. Now, get the fuck out, before I remind you that half of Shoko's power comes from me, not your precious fire."
Enji realized she was serious when ice started to cover her fingertips. He decided to leave then, just to be safe.
As he stormed back out, his mind was racing.
She was right; he couldn't stop her from divorcing him, she had too much evidence, and his legal team could only delay the inevitable and make her pay for it.
But he was mostly worried about the public fallout. He'd only just begun to get people to believe he'd earned the number one spot, and most of the country still didn't like him.
The negative press from a messy divorce could seriously damage his image again.
Well, he had an idea to stop that; he'd just have to speed up his plan for the PR coup he was hoping for at the Hero Gala.
After all, how better to counteract a marriage ending than with a new one beginning?
Meanwhile, back inside the room, Rei said, "You can come out now, Touya."
Her son eased out of the closet he'd hidden in when Rei had gotten the call about her husband's visit, a look of awe on his face.
"Holy shit, that was awesome, mom," he said reverently.
Rei just smiled, and said, "And I meant every word. Now, why don't you tell me about your day?"
1 Week Until The Hero Gala
Izuku was relaxing on a couch in the common room, trying not to think about the very important party he would be going to a week from now, when Shoko burst in, holding a magazine.
He sat up as she started coming over to him. He saw the look on her face, and started to worry; she looked like she wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.
Shoko met his eyes, and said matter-of-factly, "Here, Izuku. I have proof that the tabloids are fucking obsessed with me."
She threw down the magazine on the coffee table, but Izuku was scared to look.
"It's nothing bad, it's just the funniest thing I've seen in a long time," she reassured him.
But before he could look, Mina had already come racing over.
"Ooh, what is it, Shoko? Whatcha got there-oh. Ohhhhhh. Oh no. That's….oh my god, that's the most hilarious shit I've seen since the last time Kaminari did the fork in the garbage disposal!" the pink girl howled, tears forming in her eyes as she laughed. She flopped over the couch, beating her fists on the cushions.
That got Izuku to finally look at the front page. When he did, his eyes felt like they were bugging out of his head.
Just like Shoko, he wasn't sure to laugh or cry, or maybe do both.
There, in giant red font that tried to make up for the pointlessness of its existence with shock value, was the headline, "THE REAL REASON FOR SHOKO'S LOSS? DID ENDEAVOR'S DAUGHTER THROW THE SPORTS FESTIVAL FOR LOVE?"
The headline was laid over a close-up picture of Shoko raising her hand to attack Bakugo, except someone had apparently messed with her proportions when they edited the photo, because Izuku knew for a fact that her hips weren't shaped like that.
He'd explored those hips in exquisite detail just this morning, after all.
The caption at the bottom offered more information that Izuku didn't really want. It asked, "Is Shoko dating Katsuki Bakugo? For more, look at Page Twelve!"
Izuku looked up at Shoko, who was giggling like mad.
He said, "How the fuck did they come up with this one, Shoko?"
She shrugged and replied, "I have no clue. Do they think I like bad boys or something?"
Mina rolled back over, and reached for the magazine, which Izuku now recognized as the trashy tabloid " Hero Insider." Cracking it open to page twelve, Mina started to read it out loud.
"Those who saw the shocking final match of last year's UA First Year Sports Festival may recall how the stunning diva Shoko Todoroki fell in the last moments to the explosive aggressor, Katsuki Bakugo, later the cause of All Might's final battle after he was brought to a secret hideout by the League of Villains. Although concerns over the blonde boy's actions led to harsh questions about his character, who's to say that Princess Todoroki doesn't want to try and tame this handsome beast?" Mina read, before she closed it again, refusing to continue.
Looking up at Izuku and Shoko, she said, "Wow, that is the biggest pile of made-up shit anyone's ever written since that I wrote that last essay for Mr. Aizawa. And you got it in one, Shoko. Apparently, Bakugo is a "bad boy" and not, y'know, just a loud asshole."
Shoko shrugged, and said, "I've been seeing headlines like this since I was fourteen, they tend to fall into a pattern after a while."
Izuku was still staring at the obviously photoshopped picture of his girlfriend on the front cover, picking out all sorts of random details that someone had apparently decided shouldn't be included, like the cute freckle she had on her neck, or the muscles along her forearms. Then, another thought struck him. "The way they wrote this is as if they're implying that Bakugo joined the League!" he exclaimed in anger.
Shoko nodded and said, "Yeah, they're still convinced that he's secretly a villain or something. Of course, they're doing it so they can sell follow-up articles about my tragic love story and Bakugo secretly being evil, but still."
Izuku was furious at this blatant disrespect for the truth, while Shoko just looked used to it.
Mina, though, was just enjoying the chaos, and she saw another opportunity to cause it as the "handsome beast" in question entered the common room.
She waved him over, saying, "Hey, Bakugo, why haven't you told us about your secret romance?"
Bakugo snapped, "What the fuck are you talking about, Raccoon Eyes?"
But he came over anyway, and from the look in his eyes when he saw the cover, he regretted it.
"What the hell is this shit?" he asked.
Shoko replied, "Apparently, I intentionally let you win in the sports festival last year because I think you're a "handsome beast."
Bakugo's eye twitched as Shoko brought up his hollow victory, then his jaw dropped and his hands started crackling as she finished.
"First off, never call me that again if you want to live," he threatened, "and second off, what the actual fuck! Icy-Hot, if I had to choose between you and Deku, I'd be proposing marriage to the shitty nerd right now!"
Izuku pointed at himself, a questioning look on his face. He said, "I'm honored, Kacchan, but I'm afraid I'm already taken!"
Shoko, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow as she looked steadily at Bakugo. Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "You know, Bakugo, you shouldn't say things like that. It only fuels the people who think you two should be dating."
Bakugo's jaw dropped. In a strangely calm tone, he said, "You better be fucking joking, Scarface. If anyone thinks I like Deku, I'm going to kill them. Twice."
Izuku nodded. Hell no, he refused to think about him and Kacchan.
Shoko waggled a finger at the blonde. She told him, "No, Bakugo, you can't say things like that! It just makes you sound like a tsundere!"
There was a heartbeat where nobody moved or made a sound.
Then Mina couldn't stop herself, and she started cackling.
Bakugo snarled, and launched himself at Shoko and Izuku, explosions already launching off his palms.
Soon, yet another brawl had broken out in the common room, as the couple tried to avoid getting destroyed by a very angry blonde.
Aizawa had a great time verbally eviscerating them when they were done.
One Day Until The Hero Gala
Izuku was confused. Why was Yaomomo dragging him up the stairs with a blindfold on?
He knew that the black-haired girl had been helping Shoko with her dress for the Gala, just like Aoyama had been helping him.
Speaking of Aoyama, Izuku now treated him with almost as much fear as he did Recovery Girl, because that man was vicious with a sewing pin, and had extremely specific ideas for what Izuku should be doing while Aoyama worked with him.
The end result was a very nice suit that he didn't hate, though, so Izuku didn't mind.
"Uh, Yaomomo, where are we going?" Izuku asked as he stumbled over another stair he couldn't see.
"To Todoroki's room, she wanted to show you something," Yaomomo explained.
He replied, "Is that why I'm blindfolded?"
"You'll see," Yaomomo told him.
"That's the problem, Yaomomo!" he cracked.
She didn't signify that with a response, and simply pulled him up onto the floor Shoko's room was on, and dragged him forwards until they reached the correct door.
Izuku heard a light knock, followed by the door opening.
Shoko said, "Thanks, Yaomomo. For everything."
Yaomomo replied, "It was no problem, Todoroki. I hope you have fun at the Gala. Oh, and, um, have fun…"
Izuku heard Yaomomo leave at a run, and now he was really scared.
Shoko gently said, "Izuku? You can take off the blindfold now."
His heart was pounding; what did Shoko want to show him?
Slowly, he fumbled with the knot, finally pulling it apart and lowering the cloth from his eyes.
His jaw dropped as he saw what Shoko had been working on.
Her smile was wide and tender as she said, "Surprise, Izuku!"