She's never been around adults like the Water Hose couple before. Miyuki is bubbly and sweet, but not overwhelming to be around. Her presence isn't stifling or fake, the way Toph's nanny was. Or Poppy. And Kano is sure and patient. He wasn't around as often while Miyuki was on maternity leave for Kouta, but now that they're both back to full-time work, Kano splits his time evenly to look after Kouta. He's gentle and silly around his son, but he doesn't belittle Toph.
They give Toph distance, because it's what she asked for. They give her help when she asks for it too. The one downside to living with them is the same as it was with the Beifongs—she can't practice her quirk freely. But unlike her own parents, the Izumis compromised with her when the issue was brought up: she started taking martial arts lessons to hone her fighting skills, and she can use her quirk at home if there's a trusted adult around to watch her.
And, luckily for Toph, Enji and Fuyumi Todoroki both count. (Fuyumi turned seventeen recently, and she's honestly more of an adult than Endeavor and the Water Hose duo combined).
Ever since Toph demolished half their courtyard, the yard space in the center of the Todoroki household has been re-done into a proper practice area. Well, half of it. She and Shouto were allowed to practice their quirks as long as they didn't touch the hedges and flowerbeds that had been shifted over to surround the small pond and tree on the western side of the yard. Toph felt a little guilty over all the hedges she'd torn up, but at least she hadn't gone near the pond.
Still, it's no Quirk Rumble. Toph has to keep her structures to a manageable size, and she can't dig very deeply into the earth for substance—otherwise she'll hit one of the metal tubes or wires down there, and probably flood the house.
Shouto, on the other hand, thrives in the open yard. "I only practiced with my dad before this," he explains breathlessly, pressing his left hand to his ice creations to melt them down. "And only in our training room. He wants me to fight the way he does, and he's way stronger, so it's—it's never fun."
Toph thinks fighting is always fun, especially going against someone bigger and stronger than herself—but she kept her mouth shut about it. She's yet to ask Shouto about his oddly reserved opinion of Endeavor, and Natsuo's loudly negative opinion, but now's not the time for it.
"Well duh, Endeavor's not as cool as me," she says instead, lightening the mood with a smirk. She's spread out on the ground like starfish while Shouto melts his ice, lazily leveling out the yard with as few movements as possible.
"You're not cool, Toph," Shouto denies with a careless half-shrug, and Toph arches an eyebrow in suspicion. "...You don't even have ice powers."
Toph digs a hand into the earth and flings a clump of dirt at Shouto. It doesn't make contact; he freezes it in mid-air and it shatters on the ground between them. "I rest my case," Shouto says solemnly.
She sticks out a tongue. "You're getting faster."
"Or you're getting more predictable—" he flash-freezes her foot to the ground before she can leap up and tackle him.
"Hey!" Toph yelps. "That was cheap."
"You made me fall on my face the first time we did this," Shouto replies evenly. "Don't talk to me about cheap shots." Ugh, he's always so chill, it's impossible to rile him up before he ends up riling up Toph…. Chill. He is the cool one, isn't he?
"I buried Twinkletoes alive the first time we met," Toph replies threateningly.
"No wonder you're so popular," Shouto muses dryly.
"You Icy-hot bastard!" Forgetting herself, Toph takes a swipe at him with about as much grace as a puppy—and he just freezes her other foot, and scampers away. Toph squeals in horror. "It's COLD! Augh!"
Forced to give up on attacking him, Toph focuses on disrupting the earth beneath the ice to break it up. By the time she's done, Shouto is sitting by the pond, silently shaking. It takes her a moment to realize he's trying not to laugh out loud at her. "Jerk," she huffs, sliding to sit beside him.
"You're the jerk," he shoots back in a mild tone, elbowing her. "What do we do now?" Shouto prompts, not for the first time.
Every time they've hung out he's asked her this, allowing Toph to bulldoze onward to another activity of her choice. She knows he's never really been around other kids besides herself and Twinkletoes, and he's always uncertain about what they should be doing besides training. She'd give him the option to choose, but Shouto is, for lack of a better word, uncreative. He never has any good ideas. Though to be fair, Toph doesn't have many hobbies outside earthbending either.
Toph rests her chin on one hand, thoughtful. There is one hobby that Shouto has, one interest she shares with all her friends. "Let's check the news for heroes," she decides, and she can sense the way Shouto perks up at the idea.
"I haven't heard anything about All Might in a while," he agrees, getting to his feet. Toph rises as well, and begins to walk away when Shouto takes her hand and gently pulls her in the opposite direction. "Wait, Toph."
"Hey! I know where I'm going," Toph frowns instantly, resisting him. "Your room is this way."
Shouto shakes his head. "Yes, but Natsuo left his laptop in the dining room," he says by way of explanation.
She can feel her face color at his words. "Oh. Right." Toph follows, annoyed with herself.
"I wouldn't try to guide you unless you asked for it," he tells her placidly, squeezing her hand, but it does nothing to erase Toph's chagrin. "You obviously hate it."
"I know…" Toph scowls to herself.
"So don't snap at me," Shouto suggests idly. "There's no reason to fight. I'm your friend."
She exhales noisily, plopping down at the dining table next to him. "S'hard not to. Everyone assumes I need help, all the time. Even the Izumis do it."
"Is it so bad that heroes want to help you?" Shouto asks. "Or your friends?"
His question reminds Toph of Tenya Iida, someone she's avoiding thinking about for a while. When it came down to it, there was nothing that terrible about Engine Legs, even when he nagged her. If they could start over, Toph thinks they would be friends, especially because he came from a hero family. "No," she admits sullenly. "But I don't want people to assume I'm helpless. I'm not."
Shouto hums in acknowledgement, but doesn't respond. He boots up the laptop and begins typing on it. Toph scoots on to his chair when he offers her an earbud. Inasa's too big to share a chair with, but it's easier to split the earbuds if she sits closer to Shouto. She makes sure to stay on his left side every time, and it's a lot more comfortable that way.
They listen to news broadcasts and a few old interviews they've already seen, commenting here and there. Sometimes they're loud and excited about what they're watching or hearing, but there hasn't been much news about All Might since he fought with Toxic Chainsaw. Shouto reckons he's working abroad for now, and Toph suspects he's either doing undercover work or testing out equipment at that super isolated island lab, because even when Japanese heroes work in Asia or America, they're in the international news.
"What if he's injured?" Shouto wonders suddenly, a sliver of genuine worry worming into his tone, making Toph lift her head from her hand. "I can't tell if any of this is recent news."
"Shouto… that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." She hears him tsk in annoyance, but Toph doesn't care. She flicks his forehead. "But you're right, none of this is new. What's that samurai guy doing? I like him."
"Yoroi Musha," Shouto echoes, typing again. "Oh, he stopped Mego-Volter on Monday. That's interesting, isn't his armor conductive?"
"Uh, yeah, it's a steel-based alloy," Toph says slowly. She'd be more interested in this if she hadn't just been throwing rocks at Shouto for two hours. Now would be a good time to just lay around and do nothing. "Any press release about it?"
"There's an analysis video..." Shouto clicks on it, and oh, Toph knows she's gonna fall asleep. It's from a vlogger that has the most soothing voice on the planet, the kind of voice meant for nature documentaries and lullabies. She doesn't protest his video voice, though.
They're both asleep before the analysis reaches the climax of the battle between Mego-Volter and the hero. She wakes up briefly for dinner, then Natsuo carrying her, and again when Shouto drags her futon over to his left side, and the rest of the day is spent in peaceful quiet.
Enji returns to a quiet home, something he didn't expect while Beifong was supposedly visiting. Fuyumi intercepts him with a timid smile as he takes off his shoes. Hm. If Fuyumi's home then they must be in the house as well. He frowns at his daughter in question, and she points wordless upstairs.
Still doesn't explain why Beifong isn't being obnoxiously loud. Shouto is the quietest Todoroki, but he has a bad habit of provoking the earth girl into a tirade, Enji suspects, just for shits and giggles. "What are they doing?" Enji finally asks, watching Fuyumi suspiciously.
The fair-haired girl just shakes her head, refusing to give up any more information. So, Enji climbs up, closely followed by his daughter, now vibrating with joy and unable to hide it. Fuyumi has always been very open about her emotions, and while it was annoying when she was a toddler, Enji finds new appreciation for it—his sons are closed books in comparison, and let themselves simmer until they're ready to blow a gasket.
As they approach Shouto's room, Fuyumi puts a finger to her mouth—he wasn't talking anyway, but fine—and carefully slides the door open.
… What? "Why are they—?"
"Shush!" Fuyumi smacks his arm, though there's no force behind it.
Enji looks at his phone, checking the time. It's nearly seven o'clock, and they're ten, too old for naps. There's no reason for them to be sleeping. "Fuyumi—" he tries again.
"Ah! Gimme your phone!" She gasps quietly, holding her hands out and wiggling them. "Quick!"
He hands it over, not really understanding her urgency, and she immediately flips to the camera function to take pictures from various angles. "Hey," He frowns, snatching the phone away. For Kami's sake, how did she already take twenty photos? "Stop it. Why are they sleeping?"
"They're tired," Fuyumi says it like it's obvious, eyes wide. "They practiced for longer than usual, Natsuo and I had to carry them up here." Enji just gives her a look, making it perfectly clear that he disagrees, but Fuyumi just ushers him away and back to the kitchen.
"You can't let them fall asleep whenever you want, 'Yumi," Enji lectures, crossing his arms. He flips through the photos on his phone idly, deleting a few blurry ones. Shouto's turned over to show only the white half of his hair, and Beifong is wrapped around his left arm like a koala, zonked out completely. It's… peaceful. Like puppies after going to a park. Regardless, Enji shakes his head. "They're too old to be sleeping together like this."
"I don't think so," Fuyumi reveals quietly, her brow furrowing. "Maybe it should stop in a year or two, but right now it's just cute. Natsuo thinks so too."
"Hm," is all Enji says in reply, looking back at the photo. Fuyumi makes a small noise, and when he looks back up at her, she's covering most of her face. "What?"
She puts her hand down, revealing a wide smile and glistening eyes. Another downside to Fuyumi, she's often overemotional. "Oh, you just didn't disagree with me. They are cute, aren't they?" She presses eagerly, a new gleam to her turquoise gaze.
Enji takes note of her keen expression, which is quickly evolving into a knowing grin. This is a trap. "They're just sleeping," he states neutrally, glancing at the photo again.
"Then delete all the photos," his daughter suggests brightly, holding out a hand, and he unconsciously moves his phone out of her reach. There's nothing sweet at all about the grin she wears now. "I'm sure Water Hose won't want to see them, if it's not cute."
Send cute photos of the kids to Beifong's parents? That's the last thing in the world Endeavor would do and Fuyumi knows it. "What do you want from me?" he demands, distrusting the look in her turquoise eyes. It's odd to see Fuyumi so… smug.
It occurs to him a moment later that he's already admitted to himself it's a cute photo. Stubbornly, Enji decides that Fuyumi won't hear him say it.
She shakes her head, relenting. "Nevermind, Dad. Send me the photo, please?"
"Fine." It was her photo anyway, as far as Enji was concerned. And his daughter knew better than to post it anywhere public. He sends it, and then puts his phone down to scrounge the fridge for leftovers. They have a cook in the house, but they're rarely all home at the same time to eat together, and Enji prefers being alone. The only reason their personal kitchen gets used is because Fuyumi likes to bake.
"Oh. Dad…" Fuyumi calls, holding back a giggle. "W-wrong chat."
"Wrong what?" He frowns, glancing at Fuyumi's amused face. "What do you mean? I sent it."
"Yeah, but," She shows her screen as several more messages pop up beneath the photo. His phone is lighting up too, but he has it on silent. "This one's with Natsu."
He scans over the series of messages, frown deepening. There's a lot of exclamation points and capitalization. Enji sighs. "Where's Natsu right now?"
"He was at soccer practice," Fuyumi twirls a finger around a lock of fine red hair. "Must be on his way home now." She steeples her fingers together, deeply amused by this all. Fuyumi mostly owes Rei for her good looks, and they're similar in temperament. But when Fuyumi focuses her bright blue eyes on him, there's an inherent fierceness in her, and it's hard for Enji to look her in the eye when she wears an expression so similar to his own. "Natsu's going to nag. Do not let him get to you."
"Me?" Enji gives her an incredulous look. "Natsuo's the one that takes things personally." Fuyumi seems doubtful. "I won't wake them up," he promises, just as his phone lights up again. This time it's a notification from Miyuki Izumi.
Endeavor! They're so cute! I'm framing it 3 3
Beneath it is the photo, of course. And then a photo of her infant for good measure. "God damn it." It's only been a few minutes. He didn't even know Natsuo had Izumi's number.
"What happened?" Fuyumi probes. He passes over his phone to her without a word, and gets back to putting together a meal for himself. By the time he looks back at her, Fuyumi's expression has crumbled into a gooey mess of affection. "Aw, Dad, he's so cute! I remember when Shouto was that little…" She spills into a rambling story of baby cheeks and tiny toes, tugging on the silvery ends of her hair like she can't handle her own sweetness.
He eats at the table, letting Fuyumi continue to talk at him. She doesn't seem to mind that he doesn't respond, but he does slap her hand away when she tries to take his tempura. Now that he thinks of it, that's one of the reasons he won't eat around her or Natsuo, they think it's okay to take from his plate. That and Fuyumi has a motor mouth when she gets going, but he'll ignore it for now.
Just as he finishes his food and Fuyumi begins to wind down, the door slams open to reveal a sweaty thirteen year old with a moon-glow grin. "OLD MAN! THAT'S THE CUTEST SHIT I'VE EVER SEEN."
"Be quiet," Enji barks at his middle son, hoping to smother his enthusiasm before it can start annoying him.
But Fuyumi adds fuel to the fire instead, squealing, "They're still sleeping!"
"NOT ANY MORE!" Toph bellows from the second level, stomping down the stairs. "You icy jerk! QUIT YELLING!"
There goes his quiet night.
A/N: Figured I needed to show Toph and Shouto spending some quality time together. Endeavor gets some development too, because I just want the best for my icy hot boy. I don't care how much of an asshole canon Endeavor is, he sure as hell thinks all his kids are cute. They're all beautiful and I love them. Natsuo's smile is a gift to mankind, Fuyumi can do no wrong, and I would die for Shouto. Sooner or later my version of Endeavor will feel the same damn way.
Also, I'm aware of how little this chapter has to do with winter. I dunno, it takes place in February? The majority of the characters have ice powers? Close enough for me. Let me have this theme.
