Todoroki's twin sister. Has control over any and all liquids and can change them into other liquids. She can also heat them up or cool them down, but she can't control them if they go through a phase change (i.e., are no longer liquid).
She, also, hates their excuse of a father. Their father tried to force her to be all fancy and have the manners of a princess, but she isn't having it.
{-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-}
"Todoroki-san! Pay attention!"
I took my head off my hands, looking up wearily at my etiquette teacher. "I am paying attention, Suzuki-sensei. I only had my head on my hand," I answered dully.
"That isn't very polite now, is it?" she asked exasperatedly.
I didn't answer despite knowing I ought to. Clicking her tongue, she returned to the board—something about helping your husband run a large corporation. Nothing worth listening to, in the first place.
Glancing at the clock, I straightened. 'Almost three,' I thought, feeling sudden butterflies in my stomach. 'Almost…'
The bell rang.
Jumping out of my chair, I grabbed my bag and dashed to the door. "I've got to run, Sensei! Sorry!" I shouted as I sprinted out.
I sped through the many hallways of our house, finally reaching my own room and grabbing the handle. As I pulled it open, Shouto walked out of his room right next to mine.
"Mizune? I thought you were in class?" he asked me, confused.
"Can't talk!" I blurted, dashing into my room and chucking my 'manners' backpack at a chair. "Good luck!" I heard a muffled thanks as I grabbed my other backpack, in which I had packed a change of clothes, my phone, my application papers, and some money.
"Mizune-san!"
I groaned, hearing Suzuki-sensei's call and her footsteps, somehow stern-sounding themselves, through the open door.
"Mizune, come back here this instant!"
My heart, which had already about burst, kicked into hyperdrive. It was beating so fast, I had to pause in my preparations, holding onto a chair as I took calming breaths.
Until someone knocked on my door. Then, I didn't have the luxury of rest. "Mizune-san, open this door this instant!"
"Okay!" I shouted back, urging my voice not to shake and give me away.
I took one last deep breath as I walked to the door, then, slowly, swung it open. Mrs. Ikkagawa is standing right before me, glaring down from a foot above me.
Right in front of me, towering about a foot above my height, she was glaring in a way that told me quite clearly I better have a good excuse. "What was that about?" she demanded, hands on her hips.
"I just- I felt really sick," I lied with a thick voice. Shut up, I didn't have a life, thanks to dear old dad, outside of that house. It was the best lie available. And, cliched or not, it worked.
Her sharp eyes softened, but her glare remained. "You should have acted differently, Mizune-san. Like the fine young lady you are."
I half smiled, then faked a wince. "Sorry, Sensei. Um, I don't" —I held a hand to my mouth, pretending to stifle a burp— "don't think I can continue today. May I be excused from all further responsibilities?"
She shook her head exasperatedly, her hands falling to her sides. "Alright, Mizune-san, you are excused. I shall inform the servants."
"Th-thanks," I coughed. "I can't eat, I th-think, so please tell everyone not to disturb me. I hope to s-sleep it off."
"Very well. I do hope you feel better by tomorrow's lesson."
I nodded before snapping my door shut again; I barely caught her scoff. I coughed loudly, hacking for good measure, then opened my window and climbed out into the garden.
Glancing around, I sprinted towards the wall. Leaping up, I grabbed the rim—you'd think how dad kept me here the fences would have barbed wire like a prison—and heaved myself up to it, swinging my legs over it and dropping into an adjacent alleyway.
'Now to make it to U.A. without trouble, pass the test with flying colors, and not let dad know.'
I groaned, hurrying on.
For the first time not riding First-class, I was jostled all the way to the very back of the train car. I didn't mind; I found all the different people interesting, all engrossed in their own lives.
As it pulled away from another stop, I felt my stomach drop again. A quiet, unwanted voice in the back of my head just wouldn't stay down, hissing regrets in my ears.
'It's not too late. You could go back, no one would know. You'd know what the future holds, assuredly.'
I shook my head violently, ignoring the stares of the other people in the car. 'I don't want to know what my future holds. If it's safe at the expense of being free, then it isn't worth it!'
'But you are giving all of it up forever. There is no going back.'
My stomach churned. 'I… I don't care! I hate that future! It's not my future, only dad's! I don't want it!'
"Next exit, U.A. Highschool!"
I clenched my fists, taking another calming breath before beginning the helpless task of finding the doors, and getting through them.
|^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^|
I squinted as I exited the underground subway station, the sun blinding and painful after the comparably tame subway lights. As I reached the walls of U.A., I glanced around. There were only a few people already there. 'There should be time to change…'
Jogging to a nearby convenience store, I hurry—I had time to change, not dawdle—into their bathroom. It was difficult to undress from a yukata in a stall, but I managed it, bundling it into a ball—with some relish for how incensed Sensei would be that I hadn't fold it to keep the wrinkles away—and shoving it into my backpack.
I put on the capri jeans and elbow length t-shirt I had packed, then pulled my long hair into a tight braid and twisting it around into a bun. I used far more bobby pins than usual; it would suck to have to redo it during the exam, or not redo it and be blinded by it.
Zipping the backpack closed, I jogged back to the entrance of UA. I was then the last one to arrive, the bell ringing deafeningly as I stepped over the threshold.
"Mizune?!"
I spun around and nearly tripped against Shouto. "Hey, Shouto," I said as casually as I could manage, automatically moving to unruffle my hair. I cringed as I remembered I had put it up.
He looked positively baffled. "What are you doing here? I thought-"
"I'm applying here," I chuckled, rubbing the back of my head.
"But, when did you- how did you even get here? What did dad say?"
"I took the train, and I, uh, didn't tell dad."
"All those taking the test!" a voice bellowed, and I looked up to see the pro hero Present Mic. "Follow me, and I will explain how this test works!"
"What are you doing?" Shouto hissed in my ear as we followed Present Mic into the school.
"I already told you," I returned out of the corner of my mouth, "I'm applying here. I'm sick of dad and the stupid classes and, and everything. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't even know if I'd have the nerve to go through with it."
Shouto shook his head, disbelieving. "Do you mean to say you snuck out?" he asked as we exit the building into a large field.
"Yeah. I told everyone I'm sick and-"
"Alright, Squirts! Here's how it works!" Present Mic shouts, making my ears pop painfully.
'Must he shout?'
After he explained the rules, we all went to our individual entrance gates.
"Ready!" Present Mic's voice booms across the cityscape in front of me. "Set!"
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and—
"GooooooOOOOOOO!"
I took off the second the gate swung open, barely squeezing through before a blond guy. He shouted something, but I ignored him.
As I dived deeper into the city, robots began to ambush or rush me, but, unfortunately for them, that was too convenient for my quirk. Pulling water from the sewers, I swipe my hand, effectively drenching the robot.
Unfortunately for me, my quirk wasn't going to be as OP in this trial as I had thought. While I did make the thing glitch, it wasn't stopped, barreling towards me. 'Okay, if that didn't work then-'
"Freeze!" I shouted, clapping my hands together. The fourteen foot tall robot, only four feet away from me, instantly froze and toppled over.
Jumping out of its crash range, I continued towards the center of the city, taking down robots as I went.
"Oi! Get the FUCK outta the way!"
I hopped to the left instinctively. A moment later, another robot crashed down exactly where I had been.
The blond guy from before landed on top of it and screamed—'a waste of energy,' I thought—before punching it. I barely had time to wonder how he had gotten it to fly up in the air before it exploded. Well, that'd explain it.
"Nice one!" I hollered as I passed the wreckage.
He ignored me and jumped, his explosions hurling him forward. "Not so nice, though," I grumbled.
After I had beaten thirty or so more robots, Present Mic's voice cut through the sounds of crumbling metal.
"The final obstacle starts now!" his staticky voice announced, sounding extremely excited.
As the buzz of the speakers died away, I felt the ground start to shake. It felt like the very earth had been hired to help them with their entrance exams, but no.
As I looked down, the pavement I was standing on began to rise, five feet, ten, soon I was twenty feet in the air, gawping at the massive chunk of metal.
As it straightened, I swayed backwards, flapping to retain my balance, but overbalanced. Not only did I fall, I managed to hit my head on it before tumbling off.
"Fucking-!" I swore, twisting around and looking around for something to break my fall. The ground was rising fast, but, as it neared, I noticed the glint of a storm sewage drain.
The sewers!
Without pausing, I stretched my hands out in front of me, ignoring the fall, the ground closing in, or the feeling of wind rushing past me. I could feel, as though my hands were in it, the water beneath the sewer cap, and, opening my eyes again, I yanked my arms sharply to me. A large quantity of nasty looking water gushed out from grills, pooling below me in a couple instants.
As I crashed into the water bubble, I forced it away from my face so I could keep my eyes open. This proved pointless, as the water was too mucky to see through, and as I took a breath I couldn't help gagging; it really was nasty.
Shoving myself to the surface, not swimming, instead letting my quirk push me up, I gasp down a breath of fresher air.
Finally certain I wasn't going to crumple to death on pavement during a freakin' entrance exam, I turned back towards the robot in time to see something electric green zip past me, leaving streaks across my vision and almost immediately followed by a massive crunch. The green blur had punched a hole through the over-sized robot, and, with a piercing, shrieking creak, it fell backwards onto the street.
"The exam is over!" came Present Mic's voice. "Come on over to the main building's field A!"
I growled in frustration as I cupped my hands, lowering them slowly, letting the ball of water descend to the street below.
After the end of the blah blah blah this is how long it will take etcetera etcetera speech, I left antsy, starting towards home.
"Mizune, wait!"
I stopped, waiting for Shouto to catch up. His nose crinkled when he gets near, but doesn't mention it.
"What are your questions?" I asked, starting to walk again.
"Well, first off, do you realize how much trouble you're in? If you do get accepted you won't be allowed to come here anyways. You know that, right?" he deadpanned; I scowled slightly. He raised his eyebrows, and I rolled my eyes, grudgingly conceding the point.
"Yeah… I know I'm in trouble," I mumbled, trying to sound casual. "I knew I wouldn't be allowed to come here."
"Okay," Shouto said slowly, "so why come? If you won't be allowed to go here anyways, then why-"
"I am going here," I interrupted him. "I know dad won't allow it, so I- I'm moving out." I endeavored—ugh, no, I hate that word—struggled—much better—to sound decided, but my voice wouldn't cooperate, breaking slightly.
"You- seriously?!"
I nodded.
He shook his head. "How come you didn't tell me?"
"I told you, I didn't know if I could actually do it," I said sheepishly. "I didn't want to involve you, and then be unable to back out, I guess." I shrugged, staring at a cloud to avoid his face.
"Mizune, you- you should have told me," he said in a hurt voice, and I forced myself to look at him.
"I'm sorry Shouto, but I…" I couldn't continue, trying to remember why I hadn't. "I just, if I'd told you, then you would have also gotten in trouble? I don't know, Shouto, I just wanted out, and I didn't want my actions to hurt you, so I tried to keep you out of it, see?" I could hear the plea in my voice.
"Yeah, but I still wish you'd told me."
We walked in silence for a while, walking without having to say where, to a park we always went to when we wanted to get away from dad—if he let his prisoners out of the house. Oh, did I say prisoners rather than children? Wow. Such disrespect. Such arrogance. Such impudence. What I meant to say was soldiers.
"When did you decide to come?" he finally asked as we stopped at the gate.
"About a week ago."
"I guess that's not as bad as if you had decided earlier, and had had time to tell me. I only got back from my trip yesterday."
"I wish I had told you," I said sincerely, "but I didn't. Sorry, Shouto."
Shouto shook his head, grinning at me in exasperation. "Sometimes I really can't understand you, Mizune."
I laughed, then glanced at my watch. "Fuck!"
"Don't swear near a kids' play-" he started.
"I've got to run!" I talked over him, making to dash away.
Shouto grabbed my arm before I had made it two steps. When I looked back at him, his lips twitched upwards again. "Now that I know, I want to help. What's the plan?"
I blinked, then returned the smile. "I'll explain on the way. Come on!"
|^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^|
When Shouto and I opened the door, we found dad immediately behind it, arms crossed and glowering down his fake mustache-ehem, I mean, Fire-stacheTM, at us. Wordlessly, he pointed to the living room, indicating we were to go sit down and explain.
"Explain," he growled predictably.
"I snuck out to watch Shouto take the Exam," I lied quickly.
He raised a fake eyebrow-ehem, I mean, Fire-browTM, and turned to Shouto. "Is that true, Shouto?"
"She certainly came and watched me," Shouto answered shortly, glowering right back.
"Hmph, well. Mizune, you're grounded for two weeks. Get ready for dinner, you smell like trash," he ordered. "You get ready too, Shouto."
|^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^|
As we reached our rooms, Shouto glanced around and followed me in, closing the door delicately behind him.
"Okay, so, I know you're thinking you should run away," he started without preamble, "but then he'll send the police out to look for you. You're underage so, by law, you have to have a legal guardian."
"But dad won't let me-" I started, dismayed, but Shouto ignored the interruption.
"So, if I said I wouldn't go unless you did, too, then he would have to."
I gaped at him. "You can't do that!" I ejaculated. "He'd be so mad at you and-"
"I don't care," he said fiercely. His expression cleared slightly. "This is why you should have told me about this. You've always been terrible with making plans." I pouted. "You can't run away, because, even if you evade the police somehow, you couldn't attend school with a wanted poster drifting around."
I opened my mouth to retort, couldn't think of anything, and fell silent.
"Great," he sighed, rubbing the back of his head and heading towards the door. "Okay, we'll tell him when the letter comes, yeah?"
"No, we need to tell him sooner. If he found out via postman, he'd be even more pissed," I pointed out. "We need to start the conversation so that we can stem his anger before it gets out of control."
Shouto raised his eyebrows. "So when would we tell him?"
"Um, tonight. Get it over with." He opened his mouth to protest, but I talked over him, "Then, if he flatly refuses, we'll have time to convince him, see?"
After a minute, he nodded. "You're not as bad at planning as I thought," he added teasingly, a shadow of a smirk on his face. I threw a shoe at him, but he dodged, laughing.
After showering and changing back into my usual clothes, I headed to dinner, still thinking hard about what to say.
"Ojousama?"
I turned to see a maid. "Yes?"
"We are having a formal dinner tonight. A guest is coming, and the master wants to introduce you to him," she said politely, simultaneously giving my yukata an overly-pointed look.
My heart stopped, but I forced myself to remain expressionless. "Ok. Thanks for telling me."
'Didn't even fucking tell me!' I thought furiously, taking small comfort from my swearing—a very unladylike thing to do, according to everyone dad put around me. 'Fucking shit,' I added for good measure.
Back in my room, I hurriedly changed into a kimono and undid my braid, letting my black hair fall in soft curls down to my waist.
Then came the knock at the door. "Ojousama, the Master wants you in the living room."
"Coming!" I shouted, deciding to forgo jewelry and makeup.
When I opened the door, the maid clapped her hands enthusiastically. "You look lovely, Ojousama! I'm sure you'll impress," she chirped in what was obviously supposed to be an encouraging voice. Like I wanted to.
"Yippee," I muttered, quietly enough that she didn't hear me.
As I neared the living room, I heard the familiar hum of quiet conversation and laughter. When I entered, it broke off.
"Ah, there she is," dad said in his disgustingly fake false fondness voice. "My daughter, Mizune Todoroki. Mizune, these are the Tanaka's and their son, Fuku-kun." He gave me a quick, be-nice-and-act-as-I-expect-you-to-or-else look.
I bowed my head slightly. "Hello, Tanaka-ryoushin-san, Fuku-san." I joined Shouto on one of the couches.
"We were just talking about quirks, Mizune-chan," Mr. Tanaka said jovially, his voice rather gravelly.
"Oh, yes," Mrs. Tanaka nodded earnestly. "What's yours, Mizune-chan?"
"I can manipulate liquids," I said automatically; how many times had dad made me say the same thing, aiming to impress or use, how many times Sensei had, trying to make me memorize a whole speech of an explanation. I never used that one.
"Really? That's wonderful! You know, our son manipulates air," Mrs. Tanaka chattered, looking at Fuku.
"Wow. That's interesting, Fuku," I said. I continued before he could respond, "And what is your quirk, Okaa-sama?"
While Mrs. Tanaka rambled on, I considered what to do. Finally, I came up with a wonderful idea. 'You want to propose my own hand for marriage without warning, I'll return the favor…'
"What is your quirk, Shouto-bo?" Mr. Tanuka asks as I come back to my surroundings.
Shouto faltered; this lady really was an over-affectionate woman. "I can manipulate fire and ice," he answered blandly.
"Yeah," I said, seizing my chance. 'Sorry, Shouto,' I thought guiltily. I noticed, in that second between starting to speak and actually speaking, dad nod approvingly. I had to suppress a snort of mirth. "It's really cool to see."
Shouto glanced at me, and I twitched my head sideways minusculey two times.
"He's applied to UA, you know, and I'm sure he'll get in," I continued, sounding as chattery as Mrs. Tanaka. "We both applied, actually, just today." Dad's smirk fell so fast I could barely continue normally. Shouto tensed next to me, then obviously made himself relax. 'Thanks for going along with it,' I thought gratefully.
I could have sworn I heard his thought then. 'Careful.'
'I know.' I plowed on, "The exam was really difficult. We were fighting dozens of enormous robots." I paused a moment to let Mrs. Tanaka gasp, then continued, "We'll be getting the results back in two weeks, actually, and I hate to wait. But it would be grand to have you all come over a week after that for a little celebration."
"My dear, that would be wonderful!" Mrs. Tanaka erupted, overflowing. She patted her husband's leg. "Wouldn't it be just lovely, darling? Then Fuku-mi and Mizune-chan could spend more time together!"
The contradiction between Mr. Tanaka and my own father was undoubtedly the best thing I had seen in a while. While Mr. Tanaka was nodding approvingly, my own dad was gawking like a fish out of water.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea," said Mr. Tanaka. "I do hope that you are accepted, Mizune-kun. And Mr. Todoroki" —dad's head whipped to him, clearly feeling as though he had lost all control in the situation— "I am most impressed. Two of your children, able enough to apply to U.A. You must be very proud."
"Ah-" Dad cleared his throat. "Y-yes, very."
Mr. Tanaka pursued the conversation, "If they are applying at the same time, are they twins, then?"
"Yes. They are. You wouldn't be able to tell, would you?"
"Not at all, they look so different!" Mr. Tanaka said happily. "What about you, son? Could you tell?"
Fuku looked up, his face slightly red. "No, I wouldn't- c-couldn't. Your, uh, Mizune-san, your hair is really petty, I mean, pretty," he stammered, turning even redder.
"Dear, you are too shy to be so sweet," Mrs. Tanaka giggled, making Fuku turn even redder.
{-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-}
Hooray! Another eternal WIP one shot for BNHA that I have no intention of updating or finishing!
…
I'm so sorry. I did warn you tho. Anyways, hope you like it!
{Your Names In Japanese} for this fic are~
{Hailey: ヘイリー}
{Hannah: ハンナ}
{Sarah: サラ}
{Matthew: マシュウ}