Exactly one week after the exam, Izumi was at Tenya's house sprawled out on the couch as she played a video game. Tensei, when he found out, would probably be upset that she had used his account and beat the level he was stuck on (and the next three) but Izumi didn't live here, so Tenya would be stuck living with the aftermath.
She watched from the corner of her eye as Tenya paced, muttering to himself. Part of her desperately wanted to tell him—she was 100% certain he passed.
Putting the game on pause, she stood and stretched. "Want me to make us some food?"
"No. If I eat now, it will ruin all my focus. The mailman arrives specifically at 3:15pm ever—"
"Well, I'm hungry," said Izumi cutting off the rant that Tenya had probably scripted in his head. "I'm going to the convivence store and getting some ramen."
"Processed foods endanger your health! That much sodium intake will surely cause damage to your body, especially giv—"
"Look, instant ramen is a lifestyle. You either live it or you don't," Izumi patted him on the shoulder consolingly and moved to the front of the house. She exchanged her borrowed slippers for her beat up sneakers and head out the door.
"Text me if you want anything!" she called over her shoulder as she left.
She sincerely hoped the mailman would arrive while she was gone and put Tenya out of his misery.
Her own letter was set to be delivered at the house, which meant that someone needed to get it from the mailman before Endeavor came home. She pulled out her phone and texted Natsuo.
Izumi: did it come
Natsuo-nii: I've been standing at the gates all day waiting. You owe me.
Izumi: lol no one asked u to
Natsuo-nii: You did, you jerk.
Natsuo-nii: Why are you being so secretive about the exam anyway?
Natsuo-nii: Bet you failed.
Izumi: totally
Izumi: it not like i spent 8 yrs training
Izumi: all the rest came yesterday?
Natsuo-nii: Yeah, I hid them in my room.
Izumi: cool
Izumi: Shiketsu?
Natsuo-nii: Pass
Izumi: hell yeah
No one in her family knew about her acceptance to U.A. Though she frequently alluded to the fact that the test went well, she never gave them many details.
She wished she had some way of contacting Aizawa-sensei to say that she changed her mind about having only rescue points, because it was incredibly stupid to pretend that she hadn't gone for any of the robots. But she didn't plan to lie to her family, so she would probably end up telling Natsuo and Fuyumi.
What Aizawa-sensei didn't know, wouldn't hurt him.
The last problem Izumi faced was what to do about telling Shouto. They were still just starting to reform their relationship as siblings, she didn't want him to think that she was somehow competing with his dream to be Number One.
Izumi didn't really care about surpassing All Might or Hero Rankings—after all her father would be a lot lower, if the public approval ratings carried more weight. Izumi wanted to be a hero for different reasons for Shouto, but at a school like U.A. they would naturally have moments where they would come against one another.
She frowned and cracked her knuckles.
She could worry about Shouto later. He wasn't going anywhere and according to Fuyumi, his lightened training schedule and newly relaxed freedom had him spending more time with her two siblings.
Buying her ramen and a bunch of different flavored Hi-Chew packets, Izumi returned to Tenya's house to find that he was missing. Slipping her shoes off, she padded across the floor, peering into the living room to look for him.
"Tenya?" she called.
No answer. She dropped her bag on his kitchen table and walked down to hallway to his room. He was sitting at his desk, eyes glued to the screen as a projection of All-Might played.
"You got in!" shouted Izumi.
Tenya screamed, startled by her intrusion, and fell of his chair. His glass hung slanted, hair flopping into his eyes. Izumi stared for a moment and then started laughing.
"Your face! You looked like you saw *Sadako!" she said laughing.
Tenya ignored her laughter, giving her a proud look. "I have been accepted into U.A. High School. I was correct in my assessment of there being an addition—"
"Yeah, I know rescue points," revealed Izumi with a grin. "Don't be mad at me, but I've kinda known for a whole week."
She explained to Tenya her conversation with Aizawa-sensei and how they had asked her to fudge her scores to remove any chances of favoritism
"That's quite unfair," muttered Tenya with a frown. "Surely, U.A. must have known prior to the exam that you and Shouto were related. Giving Endeavor any credit for your ability doesn't acknowledge the hard work you've put into training."
"I don't really mind," said Izumi with a shrug. "Did they tell you what class you were in?"
"Class 1-A."
Izumi nodded. "Natsuo should be get—"
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
A video from Natsuo.
Izumi watched it quickly, recognizing the same projection that Ida had been looking at a moment ago, though hers was voice by the R-Rated Hero: Midnight.
When it finished playing, she and Tenya looked at each other with matching grins.
Class 1-A wouldn't know what hit them.
The front door opened, and a couple of shuffling steps were heard as whoever entered changed out of their shoes and into a pair of house slippers.
Izumi.
She doesn't see him immediately. A wide smile rested on her face as she glanced at Shouto.
She's grown. Tall and slender—far more like Rei than his other children. She moved with conviction, a subtle strength in the way she carried herself as if she was unmovable. Her face still carried awkward hints of childhood, but other than that she was a stranger.
The hair he had once prized as a sign of his success in creating the child he wanted was dyed pitch, black and it made her bright, blue eyes—Rei's eyes and Touya's too—look overly large and gaunt.
The smile on her face faltered and then died as she spotted him. For a moment, neither does anything.
Some part of him screamed to say something—but Enji never had the correct words and the only thing he knew was how to fight and how to run. What could he say? Nothing would undo the damage that hung between them.
He looked away first, glancing at Fuyumi who's shaking hands give away her nerves instantly.
Shouto's eyes dart back and forth. Natsuo, as always, was absent.
"Izumi," said Fuyumi gaze unable to move from her younger sister.
Enji felt the heat of Izumi's glare on him.
He watched as she took a seat next to Shouto. She placed her feet on the table, crossing one ankle over the other and tilted her chin up, raising a brow at Fuyumi—refusing to acknowledge him at all.
"Dad wanted to have dinner wit—"
"That's nice," Izumi cut across sharply. She turned her attention to Shouto, "Where'd you see that cat you sent me a picture of today?"
Shouto's brow furrowed, his eyes flying between Fuyumi and Izumi rapidly. They settle on the false calm radiating from Izumi. The hurt and pain he remembered all those terrible years ago are hidden behind a blank, unyielding mask.
"On the way to school. It's about to have kittens," explained Shouto quietly. Izumi hummed and spoke to him in a faint voice, asking about how his day went.
They sit close with their heads huddled together, Izumi casually sprawled out, Shouto poised with a stiff spine. It's not very different from the way he used to find them sleeping in their cribs.
Enji realized that there were worse things than Izumi's raging words. Her silences were more cutting, filled with all the unsaid words she was sparing him of.
Throughout dinner, Izumi was consumed with two things, avoiding every attempt to include Enji in the conversation—he felt like an unwanted guest, a buzzing fly, in his own house—and getting Shouto to eat the fiery, spiced squid Fuyumi placed in front of her.
Shouto shook his head. "I don't like it."
"You barely tried it!" Izumi banged her fist on the table.
"It's hot. You can't even taste the squid," Shouto picked another piece up, eying the curling tentacles with distaste.
"You only tasted the sauce, take a whole bite," urge Izumi.
Shouto set down the squid, squinting at the sauce that clung to his chopsticks. "No."
"You're no fun."
"You have bad taste," said Shouto with a frown. He looked at Izumi with worry, "All you eat is junk food and this."
Watching them, it seemed like they had never been separated. Shouto, who was always brash and blunt with him, easily teasing Izumi who seemed flustered when he pointed out her eating habits and started arguing to her defend herself.
Enji looked at the plate of squid realizing he didn't even know what Izumi liked to eat. As a child, he'd often seen her eating anpan, the sticky red bean paste getting all over her clothes. Did she still like those?
Had she already picked what high school she was going to?
What did she spend her time doing?
He had a stack of reports from her school that sat untouched in a drawer, because he hadn't had the strength to look at them.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered the look of shock on her face when he had hit her—carelessly and without thought, only to stop the words he didn't want to hear because he knew he had failed Touya, and Izumi was never afraid to tear open that wound.
The guilt and anger that curled in his gut and only fueled him onwards, pushing him farther and farther away. Sending her away had meant to ease his mind, make it easier to focus on Shouto, but the chilling coldness that spread throughout their house did nothing more than serve as a reminder of the destruction he spread.
It was too late now to voice his regret for something he should have never done.
"Izumi," voiced Enji, the first word he spoke since she entered the house. "How ha—"
"I don't think she wants to talk to you," said Shouto, sipping his tea delicately. Izumi snorted and the laughed into the palm of her hand.
"Careful," edged Izumi scathingly to Shouto. "Say the wrong thing and he might send you away too."
"He's been mad at me for not using my left side anyway," said Shouto not looking bothered at all. "A few words won't make a difference."
Fuyumi stared down at her plate miserably as the twins traded insults, all aimed at Enji, back and forth eagerly.
Shouto, who Enji realized had been slowly rebelling against him, would no longer abide by his rules. Izumi had not since the start—he had kept them apart in hopes that Izumi's personality wouldn't rub off on Shouto but seeing them now made him realize how rash that idea was.
Izumi and Shouto would always be two sides of the same coin.
"Shouto, can live here," said Enji bringing the twin's conversation to a screeching halt. "Izumi too."
Izumi's eyes cut to his face, cool as a winter's breeze. "What makes you think I want to?"
Fuyumi clapped her hands together, eyes shining brightly. "Can she reall—"
"Why?" asked Shouto bluntly. "You'll just use her the same way you used me. I don't want you to do what you did to Mom to Izumi."
"As if I'd let him," scoffed Izumi, eyeing Enji dangerously.
Shouto turned his head to Izumi, meeting her eyes evenly. They seemed to have a private conversation between one another.
"If she lives here, you have to leave her alone," said Shouto forcefully. His jaw was tight, skin straining against his knuckles as he clenched his fist. "I don't care what kind of bastard you are to me, but if you hurt Izumi again—I'll ruin everything you created."
Izumi looked around the table, her gaze landing on Fuyumi and softening considerably. When she spoke, it was in a frigid voice, cold as night. "The only reason I'm tolerating sitting here is for Fuyumi—because I won't ruin her dream of having a happy family. But don't assume that I've forgiven you, because I never will."
Enji bowed his head.
The moment the meal was over he left. He would not visit Touya's photo tonight—how many years had he denied Izumi that right?
Though he had no cases, Enji returned to his office in Tokyo, and moved the stack of reports from Somei Private Academy from an old drawer to his desk.
He picked the oldest and opened it.
Shouto blinked, then blinked again.
Izumi, who had moved in just over a week ago, sat at the kitchen table rapidly stirring heaps of sugar into her tea. But it wasn't the mound of sugar or the sweets stockpiled on her plate that made him confused.
It was the uniform she wore.
He looked down at his own uniform, noting the matching colors, down to the red tie that hung undone around her neck.
What was going on? Did dad know that Izumi was going to U.A.?"
He didn't think so. If Endeavor knew, he would have thrown a fit—but how had Izumi gotten away with sneaking into U.A.?
"Oi, Shouto, air is for breathing, not eating. Close your mouth, I'm trying to eat," complained Izumi.
"Did you kill someone?" Shouto asked. Izumi choked, slapping her chest hard.
"What?" she shrieked.
"Did you kill someone? Endeavor, I mean. Why are you dressed in that uniform?"
Izumi burst into a loud round of laughter—the cackling kind that often-made Shouto smile because it was funnier than whatever had made her laugh. She stood, grabbing her school back and taking one of the pastries in her hand and circled the table.
Her hand descended on one of his cheeks and he nearly moved away until he realized that she was simply patting it.
"Keep that energy up for U.A.," she said with a grin. "I'll tell you everything on the train. I'm gonna go ask Fuyumi to tie this stupid tie for me."
Shouto nodded, tilting his head as he watched her leave.
Then he took out his phone and googled his father's name.
Still alive.
Bakugou Katsuki kicked the door to the classroom open.
He was the first of Class 1-A's twenty students to arrive to school and threw himself into his chair in an angry huff. The excitement he felt at finally attending U.A. was stifled only by the slight reminder that fucking Deku would also be here at U.A.
Whatever that nerd was hiding, he'd beat it out of him.
He wasn't here to play games anymore. Everyone at this school was a stepping stone to him being Number One.
The only other thing in the way of him truly being number one was the other fucking annoyance in his life.
Todoroki Izumi.
A stupid ass name for the extra that thought they could one-up him by tying his score. They hadn't even had the decency to go head-to-head in attack points but pulled some bullshit move and scored 77 rescue points.
Rescue points. What kind of loser didn't stop a single robot? Deku, his mind supplied, remembering the stark 0 in that column.
He kicked his feet up on his desk, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Whoever it was and whatever Deku did—none of it would matter in the end, because Bakugou could beat anyone who crossed his path. Relaxing slightly, some of the tension left his body.
Bakugou wasn't the type to admit that he was happy easily, but he was. It had been his dream since he was a child watching All Might's rescues with wide, shining eyes to exude the very same strength All Might had.
The door slammed open, crashing against the wall.
"Why's it so dark?" A hand pressed against the wall, flicking the lights on.
Bakugou's eyes snapped open, glaring instantly at the girl who strolled in as if she owned the ground, she walked on. She had a drink in her hand, full of ice and a shocking pink, that she shook every few moments, making the ice spin in dizzying circles. Behind her was a boy with red and white hair, diligently following her around,
"Oh, hello," she said with a smile, jerking her wrist in an awkward wave. Candy-cane eyed him warily.
Bakugou sneered back, daring him to say something. Bakugou rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling hoping that the two would sit down and shut up.
"Rude," she muttered under breath and then turned to the other boy. "I feel like we shouldn't have stopped at that café, Shouto. My stomach's hurting," she said as she dumped her bag on the seat in front of Bakugou, leaving her drink on the table, and then popped her foot onto her chair to tie the loose laces on her sneakers.
"You ate a pound of sugar at breakfast," said Shouto blankly.
Bakugou's eyes flickered to the girl, tilting his head. Who did that?
"Yeah, so what?" she countered, taking a large, noisy sip of her drink. "You didn't eat anything. I felt like I had to compensate. Do you usually sit in the front or the back of the class?"
"I like sitting in the back," said Shouto.
The girl took her foot off the chair. "You know only slack—"
"Do you two mind shutting up?" growled Bakugou.
The girl looked at him, tilting her head to the side as she smiled. "I do mind actually. Interrupting a private conversation is really rude, you know?"
"It's not a private conversation if the entire world can hear it," said Bakugou.
"You're the only other person in here," she pointed out, gesturing carelessly around the empty seats in the room. "And I said hello, which you ignored, so your chance at being included in—"
"Not interested," ground out Bakugou sneering at her. "I don't have time for extras like you."
The other boy twitched, mis-matched eyes glaring at him furiously. The girl straightened up, took a few short steps, and leaned over Bakugou's desk. "I'm sorry, what did you just call me?"
"An extra, as in a side-character," clarified Bakugou with a smirk. "You know…unimportant."
"Yeah, that's what I thought." She bunched up the sleeves of her blazer, rolling her wrists. "Listen up, I don't care whether or not we get along, but you're not going to go around calling me an extra. Save that for someone you actually have a chance at beating."
Bakugou eyed her in thinly veiled amusement. He asked, words lined with the urge to laugh, "Are you going to fight me?"
Her gaze grew cold. She looked down in a way that made his chest curl, like he was too small, like he was a bug she had stepped on—Bakugou was used to being on top of the food chain at his old school. He wasn't going to let anyone walk all over him, especially not some smart mouth who probably didn't have the balls to match the attitude she had.
Bakugou, in one sudden move, grabbed onto the tie hanging down the front of her, and jerk her down to his level sharply. "I'd crush you any day, extra."
"Let go of my sister," said Shouto, pressing a hand firmly on his shoulder. His grip tightened, sharply when Bakugou didn't move.
"Don't worry," she said meeting Bakugou's eyes fearlessly. "I got this."
The girl swiped her hand in front of him.
A thin jet of water cut through the air, slicing just above Bakugou's hand. It was so close to his hand that he felt a couple of cool drops land on his skin.
It sliced a clean line through the material of her tie. The sudden break sent him back into his seat as she stumbled backward. She tugged at the knot of her tie, pulling it off her neck completely and glared at him hatefully.
"Try that again—" she started, tossing the other end of her tie on his desk. "—and see how long you last."
Shouto reached for her, quietly urging her along. "Izumi."
"Todoroki Izumi?" echoed Bakugou.
He eyed her in a new light, eyes raking her up and down to try and decipher what she could have done to be awarded 77 rescue points. The little stream of water she had manipulated before didn't seem all that impressive and if he was honest neither did she.
She glanced at him, surprised that he knew her full name. "Unless you're about to apologize, I don't want to hear it."
"77 rescue points?"
Izumi tilted her chin up. "What about it?"
"Couldn't even get a single robot, could you?" asked Bakugou, crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk.
She grinned back—all teeth and sharp eyes. "I did get one."
Bakugou's smirk fell away.
"You know that big Zero-pointer? Stopped that dead in its tracks. I'm sure you tried really hard with the little robots though."
She patted his shoulder mockingly, took her drink in hand, and followed Shouto as he chose his seat.
Bakugou bunched up the two halves of her tie and tossed them on the desk in front of him where her bag still rested.
Todoroki Izumi.
What a bitch.
Notes:
*Sadako—the main antagonist from the Japanese horror movie Ring.
Writing Endeavor makes me so angry, but I do think it offers some insight into his mind that is important to this story, especially given the Todoroki family's arc in the future. I also just want someone to deck him, preferably Dabi.
So, this might just be me, but Bakugou seems like the type to obsess when someone scores higher than him on an exam he studied really hard for and I feel like nothing would have pissed him off more than working really hard to defeat as many villains as he did, only to have someone else score the exact same amount without 'defeating' a single one.
Also, today's my birthday! So weird to have a pandemic birthday again :(
Anyway, pls enjoy, our fave has made his presence known
Thank you to everyone who reviewed! It makes my day to read ur thoughts :)