A/N: WE MADE 1000 FOLLOWERS. HOW.

Sweet Jesus. If you'd have told me I would make that figure on Incident Zero when chapter 1 went live, I would have laughed at you and said 'no chance matey'. I'd have maybe hoped and prayed to get it after 100 chapters, in an ideal world. To get that after 25 is insanity and I could not be more grateful to you all for that. Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the ride as much as I am writing it.

Longer note at the end, but for now, enjoy a non-Izuku chapter! There's a subplot ongoing, after all...

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Shoto would be lying if he said that what he had done had been a clever idea at the time, and he realised as soon as he opened his mouth that he was saying too much. But when he sat down and told the stranger in a moment of madness that he would tell her exactly why he was wandering around the Uraraka Construction office, and what had led him to get to this point, he didn't realise he'd tell her so much.

Nor did he understand why he had said so much. He didn't know this Ochaco girl, the daughter of the chairman and chairwoman of the company their group had turned up to rob. He had literally met her while wandering around lost on the lower floors of the office, on the vague instructions from his brother that he should keep watch and deal with any remaining guards while Dabi, Compress, Gentle and La Brava worked their magic upstairs and robbed Uraraka Construction of its data to expose Endeavor's destructive nature to the world. And yet... it had come so easily.

He hadn't needed to say everything. He might have compromised himself by showing his face to her and confirming who he was, but it was recoverable. All he should have done was create a story, some form of lie about why he had run away from home, anything which would get her to not ask any more questions about what he was doing there and why he was skulking around in a mask and hoodie like a common criminal. He could stop her calling the Police on him, he could stop her asking too many questions and buy Dabi enough time to finish the job and get out, and he could let her to put her guard down around him enough to get an avenue of escape.

Better still, the girl had been showing off her Quirk around him; some form of levitation-based Quirk activated on touch? He could have taken her even using only half of his Quirk, frozen her where she stood when she gave him an opportunity, and left her there to no longer pose a problem.

Shoto realised all of that now as he sat there in silence, cross-legged on the floor, staring at the brown-haired stranger who had been listening intently to every honest word that came tumbling from his mouth. He had been a complete idiot to say so much, but... it had been so simple. The moment he had taken a breath to compose himself and think of what he needed to say to distract her from why he was there, he had made one fatal mistake.

He had looked her in the eyes.

Shoto struggled to read people sometimes. So many people hid behind masks about how they really felt, and he had grown up in a home where it was all too common for people to put their masks on. There were times that his mother, before she had been taken away, would flash him a small smile that didn't meet her eyes, and he could see the sadness and hurt that lay behind the smile. There were times that his father had claimed to be proud of him, and he had seen the greed and ambition that corrupted all fatherly sentiment, that betrayed the true reasons Endeavor pushed him so hard. Even Fuyumi, usually a beacon of comfort and happiness before he left, hid the anguish she felt at losing mother, and even Shoto could pick up when the stress of having to manage both him and Natsuo while their mother was gone and while Endeavor did as he pleased got to her. He did the best he could to read people, and he tried not to be as dense as Fuyumi said he was, but at home and away Shoto never properly felt that he could trust the emotions he was seeing in people.

So when he sat down opposite Ochaco Uraraka in that dark conference room of her family's business, stumbling over himself to find the right words, he looked up and looked her in the eyes. It was force of habit, the habit of wanting to make sure how she was really feeling, in case that helped him with what he should say to her to explain why he was there. What he saw in that moment was concern, and compassion, and genuine empathy. She was worried about him. Someone was actually worried about him.

In that moment Shoto realised just what she was looking at. Never mind the fact that he was the wayward son of the Number One Hero, running away from home; never mind the scar across his eye which seemed to burn even long after the incident which had caused it. He was a mess, wrapped up in a ragged hoodie that didn't fit him at all, with matted hair that hadn't been washed properly in a long time; he could feel the grime even without touching it, and however pristine it had once been, he could barely say that the right side of his head was covered in white hair with how dirty it had gotten.

She saw all of this, and he could tell she was genuinely worried about him, about what had happened to get him to this point. He had only seen that look on the face of one person since he ran away from home, on the face of Touya when he finally tracked him down to some underworld bar after deducing that the vigilante Blueflame had to be his older brother. This Ochaco didn't know him, besides the news headlines about him running away and yet she wanted to know what was wrong. She wanted to help.

The truth had come pouring out not long after that.

She hadn't made a single noise, or a single comment to interrupt him as he spoke. That was good. Shoto found silence a lot easier to deal with than constant questions, but it meant that the only person who could stop him was himself. He hadn't stopped at all, or held back anything. Every detail of the Quirk Marriage between Enji Todoroki and his mother, all the desires his father had to create a perfect successor to be stronger than even All Might himself, it all came spilling out. How Natsuo and Fuyumi hadn't been strong enough to please his father, how Shoto had received all the brutal punishment in the name of 'training' once Endeavor found a Quirk he was pleased with, how the constant pressure had driven their family apart and made his mother unwell. He didn't say anything about Touya- Touya's life was a complicated mess in of itself, even without bringing in his new life as Dabi- but otherwise he laid his life story bare without hesitation, and lost track of time as he did so.

Only when he was done talking, and his new friend sat back with her eyes closed and let out a long whistle, did he pause for thought. He had wanted to say something to get her to calm down and not be suspicious of why he was there, he had wanted to just buy some time. In reality, having compromised himself already, he'd told her everything about his past and why he was there, and as much as he wanted to regret it, he couldn't shake the feeling that maybe he'd needed to get it all out there for quite some time. He felt... lighter. Like saying something to someone outside of it all had helped come to terms with what he'd been through.

As he sat there cross-legged, he was conscious of the long silence having finished speaking, and coughed awkwardly. "Um... sorry. I didn't mean to go on as long as I did."

Ochaco laughed, a little giggle as if he was being stupid. Was he being stupid? "I don't think ya have to apologise for that. It sounded like ya needed it. Sounds like you've been needing a friend for a while."

"... Yeah." She was perceptive; Shoto had to give her that much. "I think I did. I just... I'm not used to people willing to listen. Not with everyone surrounding Endeavor, like they do. People don't usually want to listen."

"I... get it. Really, I do. When all his sidekicks and everyone like that around him don't see that side to him... it can't have been easy to have been going through that on your own." She flashed a small and sympathetic smile at him, and Shoto froze like he'd used his own Quirk on himself in the face of it. "I'm sorry. Really, I'm sorry for what he put you through trying to push you his way. I... can see why ya ran away, when you say stuff like that."

"Do you... think I did the right thing?" Shoto asked, hesitantly, and he cursed saying it, but she seemed so willing to listen. "I sometimes think... maybe I should have stayed."

"You'll always think that." She nodded to him, brushing a strand of brown hair off her cheek. "I don't know if I'd have done what you did, but I wasn't in your shoes, so... I don't see what you could have done differently, and what good it woulda done ya to stay with him and keep putting up with what he forced on you. Does that make sense? Sorry, it's probably not what ya wanted to here but-"

"No, please, I asked," Shoto interrupted, reaching up with one hand to itch at the edge of his scar which had started to burn. "I appreciate your honesty... so thank you. We have a complicated family."

"I get that. We can't choose family, we're born with them, so we have to try to make the best of bad times when they happen because there's no changin' them." She laughed, and although he would have missed it if he blinked, Shoto saw something change ever so slightly in her expression, a brief glimpse of pain in those chocolate-brown eyes. "Families are hard, y'know?"

"It sounds like you have some experience with that". He had opened his mouth and said that without thinking, and the wide-eyed look Ochaco shot him after that remark made him instantly regret speaking. "Sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"N-No! It's fine, honestly! I..." She trailed off, and even Shoto could pick up that her shoulders seemed to slump a little, as if there was some great big weight of emotions and stress pressing down on her. "I guess I wasn't expectin' someone to see right through me like that, that's all. You're... kinda right."

"I see..." Shoto glanced around, seeing no sign of his brother or their companions, and figured that if they were still busy, he had time to ask. "Do you... want to talk about it? I did ask why you were here before we got distracted talking about my family..."

She paused, bit her lip, and then nodded to him, awkwardly laughing. "I guess it's only fair, right? I guess... the reason I understand what you're going through is because I'm kinda in a similar boat with my family. About the whole 'other people deciding my future for me', sorta thing."

"... Oh." Now Shoto was able to put a few things together. "You've come here to practice with your Quirk. You're alone, after hours, so... you've snuck out? Wait... you want to become a Hero."

"... Yep." She sighed, pushing her face into her hands as if embarrassed, and Shoto noted how she kept one finger from each hand off of her face so not all of her fingertips were touching. Something to do with how her Quirk activates, perhaps? "I... guess that's gonna sound kinda lame to the son of Endeavor, but-"

"I still want to be a Hero too, so believe me, I get it." Shoto still felt a buzz whenever he said it, even despite what he was getting into with Dabi by doing something like this. "I want to make Endeavor pay for what he's done, but I still have my own goals. Like you. So... your parents don't approve?"

"It's not... just that." Ochaco groaned, and looked up at him. "I know the world's a more dangerous place since All Might died, but it was after that Endeavor press conference years ago when everything really changed. The day before you ran away from your dad, I guess. Anyway... we weren't doing so great as a family up until that point. Nobody was wanting to build anything new, and nobody wanted to replace what got destroyed after Incident Zero by villain attacks. The business wasn't doing well and then... the Commission told everyone that the laws on collateral damage had got repealed. Suddenly even the Heroes are breaking stuff."

"I remember that day." Shoto clenched a skinny fist as he remembered watching from home with his siblings, the words of Endeavor the final straw that made him vow angrily that he wouldn't be his father's pawn anymore. "One of the biggest mistakes they ever made."

"Yeah... only not everyone sees it that way." Ochaco's look was strange, uncomfortable with what she was saying. "We won one of the bigger contracts to clean up after Endeavor, and some other Heroes across the country. Before we struggled to get enough work, and then suddenly we got the speed dial for damage control. Business boomed and... my parents changed their mind on what they wanted for me. What they needed me for."

"Needed?"

"You saw my Quirk earlier, right?" The girl wiggled her fingers, and Shoto found himself staring for a little longer than necessary. "Zero Gravity. I can make anything I touch weightless. I offered my family to use my Quirk to speed up building works when we were strugglin' to make ends meet, and my daddy said he couldn't ask it of me. Then we start working for Endeavor, we get more work than we can handle, and, well..." She shrugged, awkwardly. "I've been doing all the heavy lifting ever since, cause someone had to. We got to take it all on and the family business has never been better."

"I wanted to become a Hero before so I could earn more money for my family, and support mom and dad. I've been able to help 'em earn more money since Endeavor starting funding us for projects, but... I realised it wasn't the only reason I wanted to become a Hero. I wanted to actually help people, to make a difference and be something they believe in. And I... can't do that here. So I come in, and I train, and maybe one day I can tell mom and dad I don't want to do this anymore. Maybe one day I can apply to UA and be what I always wanted."

"I see..." Shoto felt incredibly conflicted about what he and the others had come to do now. Uraraka Construction were still profiting from Endeavor cutting loose and having no care for ordinary people in the crossfire, but... they weren't to blame for why the world was in its current state. And even in their massive tower, the heart of the business wished she was doing more to help people. "You'll make a good Hero."

"You t-think?" Ochaco clearly hadn't been expecting that. "Coming from the son of the Number One, that kinda means a lot-"

"Don't say that. I ran away from dear old dad to become a vigilante, and I broke into your family business. I'm clearly not as good a Hero as I want to be." Shoto paused, trying to get back to what he wanted to say in the face of his own bluntness. "Right. What I mean is that you're already being a Hero to some people. Even when the real Heroes fail and destroy their homes, you move everything to rebuild their lives for them. You're already saving people. So if you want to go to UA in future and be a proper Hero... I think you'll be good at it."

She started, and Shoto thought for a second he'd said something wrong, but then a faint blush passed over her round cheeks, as she smiled bashfully.

"... Thank you. Fingers crossed, hey?"

For the first time in a while, Shoto forgot how guarded he had been since fleeing from home, and how out of his depth he was in the world of Dabi and his friends; he smiled, seeing how the thought of making her dream come true had lifted her. "I'll look forward to seeing your debut."

"I'll let ya know, Todoroki." She paused, as if realising something, and the smile faded. "Say... you said then about breaking into our office. You never actually said to me why you'd done that. So come on? Why are you here?"

"Oh." The moment was over, and now she had asked the question Shoto had been holding off from. Still, there was no hiding from it. At some point she was going to ask, and he'd had long enough to think about an excuse to improvise. "I guess I'm here to-"

"Cause problems and make this ten times more difficult than it needed to be."

Shoto didn't normally get scared by simple things, and the sudden appearance of a third voice into their conversation didn't make him flinch, unlike Ochaco who jumped at the sound of someone else turning up. However, the angry tone was more than enough to remind him that he'd created a mess, and that he was probably about to be berated for it. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough. Since you told her she'd make a good Hero." Touya hadn't made a sound as he arrived at the conference room and let himself in. Shoto really needed to work on his awareness. "What the hell were you thinking? All you had to do was deal with anyone stray and not expose us, and now-"

"I'm not going to attack someone my age who means nobody any harm," Shoto said, butting in with courage he didn't think he had. "There was no need to hurt her-"

"The second you showed your face you needed to get her out of the picture!" Touya's right fist, clenched as he spoke, ignited into blue flames from frustration, and Shoto jumped up to take a step back and put himself between his brother and Ochaco. "The whole reason we gave you the mask was to hide your face from this mission, so you couldn't be attached to it. Everything we did was to give you the chance to not be attached to this, so you could leave and be a Hero after we dealt with Endeavor! And you threw it away!"

"Dabi..." Shoto had a lump in his throat as he spoke. "I'm sorry, I compromised the mission-"

"Dabi?" Ochaco looked terrified. "Wait, you're the Blueflame, the vigilante? The guy who burns people alive? You're telling me that your companion is Shoto Todoroki? What is Endeavor's son doing with you-"

"Starting life with people who actually have his best interests at heart," Touya interrupted testily, before fixing Shoto with a glare. "Although he forgot that when he met you, clearly. You're an idiot. This was never about compromising the mission, it was about compromising you. All you had to do was keep people quiet and keep out of sight so your own image doesn't get dragged down with ours."

"Ah, the naivety of youth." Compress had sidled into the room behind Touya now, and despite wearing a mask the thief mopped his brow as if wiping sweat from it. "I told you he wouldn't make the hard choices when it came down to it. He's got a lot to learn."

"Don't be harsh on the kid." La Brava had arrived now, clutching her laptop bag and a spare external hard drive in her free hand, as Gentle followed along behind her into the room. "We all make stupid mistakes on the first trip out. It's part of the job."

"Did you ever give a random stranger your real name to place you at the scene of the crime?" Touya snarked, fierce turquoise eyes still fixed on Shoto.

Gentle coughed awkwardly. "Well no, perhaps not, but you see he's young and it's easily forgiven, don't you agree? Why, I could tell you all manner of embarrassing stories from the time La Brava and I accidentally broke into a love hotel and-"

Ochaco (fortunately, thought Shoto) interrupted before that story could go any further. "Hey I know you! You're Gentle Criminal-"

"Again with the 'criminal' soubriquet!" Gentle dramatically clutched a hand to his chest, as if the sheer indignity of what Ochaco had just said had stabbed right through him. "I appreciate that the Commission don't like what I do, but when will I ever lose that awful moniker? It's just Gentle, you understand?"

"Forgive us for our rowdiness," Compress said, bowing to Ochaco despite the tension in the air. "We're a little lost circus troupe who don't quite know when to exit stage left after we find what we need. We'll be out of your hair in no time, Miss."

"Hold on..." Ochaco had a look on her face as if she had pieced everything together, and Shoto wanted to plead with her to keep her mouth shut, but she finally seemed to have done the maths. "You... you were left downstairs while your friends took our files? You want the contracts, the build designs, the accounts, the data... you're going to put this all out to the public to get back at Endeavor, aren't you? Is this what you meant by making Endeavor pay for what he's done to you?"

Shoto tried not to feel the heat of Touya's stare, and bowed his head. "Being a thief doesn't make you a good Hero but... people deserve to know what he does. The hurt he causes people. I hope you can understand why we did it."

"Oh great," Touya said, and Shoto could hear how the anger dripped from his voice. "So you didn't just expose yourself, you told her everything about your past, and what we're planning to do. Some random stranger and you gave yourself away completely."

"It's not like that-"

"Enough. You've risked enough for us tonight. I'll fix your mess." Touya looked Ochaco up and down, and the look on his face was enough to frighten Shoto; it was the same look he fixed Snatch with before he took the life of the corrupt Pro Hero, the same look he used on the scum who tried to assault them in alleyways to claim the bounty on Shoto's head. "You know too much about what we're doing. I can't leave you like that. Shame to waste potential, but if it's between you and the kid... then you're going to have to become fuel."

"Don't you DARE." As Touya raised his hand up, coated in blue fire, Shoto's Half Hot Half Cold surged, ice covering his left arm and left side of his chest with a wave of frost billowing out in front of him. Quicker than he had been in some time, he moved to stand in front of Ochaco and face down his brother, hoping his scowl was threatening enough to get Touya to listen. "Let her go. She doesn't deserve to die for what I told her."

"Deserve? Shoto, it's not about deserving. She needs to go." Touya had looked taken aback the moment he moved, but this transformed into a snarl at his defiance, and in his anger he didn't even bother with codenames. "She'll get us all burned if I don't deal with her-"

"And if you deal with her like that, you're no better than him!" Shoto shouted, the loudest his voice had been in quite some time; he was amazed more than anything that his voice didn't tremble. "Killing for no good reason? Are you trying to become Endeavor now?"

The blue flames peaked and roared, increasing intensity out of anger. "You dare tell me I'm like him, Shoto? After all I did for you? Listen to me-"

"That's enough from both of you! GENTLY REBOUND!" Gentle had been standing back as the brothers argued, but before Touya's rage burst or Shoto's attack could be launched, a shimmering wall of Elasticity sprang up between them, forcing them both to take a step back and dispel their brewing attacks. "Can you not hear yourselves? Get a grip!"

"Don't tell me you're getting sentimental too, Gentle," Touya sneered, anger still simmering beneath the surface clearly. "I'm just trying to fix Shoto's mess, here."

"While I can appreciate that we're all frustrated by this turn of events," Gentle remarked, shooting a pointed look at Shoto which didn't fail in making him feel utterly ashamed, "and while I'm sure we all wish Shoto had said less to this young lady, think of what you're saying! We gave away a little too much information to a teenager who now, through no fault of her own, deserves to be killed? There has to be another way!"

"We didn't sign up for this so that someone would start killing kids if they found out something they shouldn't have," La Brava piped up, standing beside her man and glaring up at Touya. "She did nothing wrong but be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and be friendly towards Shoto. You're really gonna kill her for that?"

"I'm just trying to do what needs to be done to keep us all safe," Touya argued, before turning to the otherwise silent Compress. "You're the one who knows how important it is to do what's needed. Tell them, or put the girl in a marble yourself. Any time you like."

"..." The phantom thief remained silent, unreadable under the mask, before he finally spoke up. "I don't think it's the finest idea in this instance, Dabi."

"Sure, forgive me for being the one who came up with the plan, and the one who wants to make sure the plan succeeds." Touya was fuming, and fixed Shoto with a glare again. "I'm sure you were doing your best to make sure this all went well, little Shoto? You didn't do anything that could put us in danger, right?"

Shoto didn't flinch in the face of his brother's fury. "This is my fault, and I'm sorry-"

"Oh I know. You ran your damn mouth like some dumb school kid, gave us all away, handed our plans to some random girl you'd never met before because she smiled at you nice and wanted to talk to you." The manic, furious grin on Touya's face was horrifying. "I'm sure you gave her everything as well. What did you tell her to buy us time, Shoto? What the hell did you talk about while you were off being such a helpful little distraction-"

"He told me all about what Endeavor did to him!"

Touya faltered at the cry, and his blue flames fizzled out almost immediately in shock. "W-What did you say?"

Shoto's eyes had shot wide open at the sound of her cry, and now he turned to see Ochaco stride past him, fists balled and tears running down her cheeks as she approached Touya with no hesitation. "Wait, Ochaco, what are you-"

"I'm not listening to this anymore." Her voice was trembling, but her tone was firm; Ochaco Uraraka might have been afraid of being burned alive where she stood, but that didn't stop her planting herself in front of Touya and looking to him with pleading eyes. "Please, I... h-he told me what he'd been through before he found you. What Endeavor did to his mom, to his older kids... how it made him run away from home because of how hurt he was. I... don't wanna stop you from making things right when I hear something like that."

Whatever Touya had been expecting, it clearly wasn't this, and he actually took a step back as the Uraraka Construction heiress approached him. For the first time, the mention of talking about what had happened to Shoto seemed to get through to him, and while he didn't drop his wariness, this was the most off-guard Shoto had ever seen his brother. "... Wait. You don't want to stop us?"

"I..." Ochaco's confidence seemed to deflate a little and her shoulders sagged slightly. "I should do. You've come in and robbed my family of our files and all, and I should try to stop you. I wanna be a Hero. What kind of Hero doesn't wanna stop thieves and villains?"

"I'll have you know I am a respected vigilante-"

"Not the time, dear," La Brava hissed at Gentle, shutting him up.

"I just..." Ochaco bunched a fist and appeared to Shoto to have made up her mind. "I wanna be a Hero. I wanna help people. And this... this looks like a way to help Shoto Todoroki. After everything he said to me about Endeavor and how he was treated, about what he did to the rest of his family? How can I stand in the way of you when what you're planning on doing is exposin' an awful man like that to the world?" She nodded, and closed her eyes, as if resolving herself. "If you're gonna post our files and try to attack Endeavor with them, if you're gonna try and make him pay for what he did... then go. Before I change my mind at making a stupid decision and pretend to be the Hero I'm not."

"But..." Shoto was stunned, and at a loss of what to say for a moment. "This is your family's company. The business you turned around from your struggles growing up. If we publish these files, the backlash will come for your family too. Are you really okay to let us walk out with these, knowing you'll be in the spotlight-"

"I shouldn't be. But..." She looked at him now, and there was no mask covering what she wanted to say; through all her emotional turmoil, Shoto saw her conviction and believed it. "But we have everything to be proud of. We do our best to fix people's lives and undo the damage done by others. I know we made money from it, I know we profited, but we're tryin' our best to help. We've been the only ones who were able to step up and meet the demand for work fixing collateral damage, because my Quirk means we can do the job in half the time. We've been able to fix more people's lives than we ever did before Incident Zero, and we'll keep on fixing 'em as long as we need to, wherever needed, whoever caused it. So... whatever storm you bring our way, mom and dad and I can ride it out."

"Oh my..." As Shoto stood with his mouth open, Gentle appeared to have teared up in response to her miniature speech. "Young lady... if you ever become a Pro Hero, then the world will be a better place indeed. I hope to goodness that I see you graduating a Hero Academy in the near distant future."

"Not bad," La Brava said, wearily handing Gentle a handkerchief as she gave an approving nod to Ochaco. "Thank you. We make it our mission to take jobs which go after the crooked and corrupt, so... thanks for understanding, and not getting in the way, I guess?"

Ochaco nodded but then faltered, remembering Touya was still in the room, and turned to him. "I-Is that okay? Are we... good now?"

For a moment, Touya appeared to be chewing over what to say, before he nodded, and it struck Shoto just how the anger had evaporated out of his voice after hearing what she had to say. "Sure. We're good. And... thank you for having the kid's best interests at heart. Just don't go telling people we were involved, or I might reconsider not setting fire to you." He looked up at the last member of their group. "Compress, you've been a bit too quiet. Cat got your tongue?"

The masked magician chuckled to himself, his shoulders shaking. "Not at all. I'm simply thinking perhaps young Ochaco here might be best served telling the Police who the masterminds are, after all."

"Huh? I know you like your attention, Compress, but don't you think that's too far?"

"Not at all. I think it may be even more advantageous to us in this way." Compress tapped his cane twice on the floor, echoing in the vast conference room. "Gentle and La Brava were enlisted in part due to their expertise in publicising scandalous stories like this, and enacting Robin Hood robberies. However this played out, we would always end with an endgame of Gentle posting the files and denigrating Endeavor for all the Internet to see. But that doesn't have enough impact on its own. It's a glancing blow, a pulled punch, nothing devastating."

"But it hurts him more if he knows I was there to help steal and release the files." Shoto had been foundering while Ochaco spoke, but the moment Compress started to draw up his plan, he found everything made perfect sense. "His youngest son, the one who ran away, is now fighting to expose him with other vigilantes. If people find that out, it hurts his reputation even more, and the press will talk."

"And you said this boy wasn't sharp!" Compress wrapped an arm around Shoto's shoulder, much to his embarrassment. "That's a solid hook to the jaw, and readies him for a one-two punch when the files are uploaded. I think you know what I mean, Dabi."

Dabi? Shoto paused and looked at Touya, and then realised what Compress meant by a one-two punch. So I'm not the only one who knows about Touya's real name, after all. "That... could work. If you're prepared for it."

Fire flashed in Touya's eyes, but it wasn't the rage of earlier; understanding of what Shoto and Compress were getting at had mixed with determination to do it, a decision made in the blink of an eye. "... Heh. Perfect timing." He turned to Shoto and reached out a scarred hand. "Don't think this means you're forgiven for messing up like you did, but... this could work. I'll drop it if you will, and we can just get out of here and get back to sticking it to the old firecracker. Sound good?"

He'd never get an apology from Touya, not the way he had reacted, and not when Shoto knew that he'd been lucky to find a way to spin it to their advantage. That didn't matter. His brother wasn't angry and their plan was still going to work, and as he clasped the offered hand that was all that mattered. "Deal."

With a nod, Touya let go, and turned to fix Ochaco with a look that Shoto couldn't read one bit. "For what it's worth, thank you for listening to Shoto, and for not standing in our way. I won't forget what you did for him and for us."

"And thanks for not settin' fire to me, I guess," Ochaco replied, not exactly smiling when she said it.

Touya snorted. "Heh. Don't mention it. I might not be so kind if you don't turn out to be a good Hero in future." He turned away and gestured to the rest of the motley crew gathered in the conference suite. "Let's go, before Shoto's new friend calls the cops and they actually find us here. Compress, marble us up."

"Right." As Shoto turned to leave, he felt his sleeve being pulled from his ragged hoodie. "Huh? Ochaco, what-"

The girl he had only met that day latched her arms around his shoulders and pulled him in close for a hug that lasted a second and a lifetime in equal measure. Shoto wasn't quite sure what he could smell in her shampoo as she did it, and wasn't quite ready to return the affectionate gesture, instead awkwardly patting her back as she hugged him, before she released him and stood back with a faint smile. "G-Good luck. I hope you can make things right. You... deserve a brighter future."

Despite everything, and the stress of the last few minutes, he smiled genuinely, for the first time in ages. "... Thank you. Good luck to you too. I... can't wait to see you make a great Hero one day."

He really meant it. He couldn't find the words at that point to say just how grateful he was to her for listening to his ramblings, for letting him get years of dealing with Endeavor's brutal ambition and the crushing expectation forced upon him off his chest. She had been nothing but kind and pure, patient and non-judgmental, and she had made sacrifices that could hurt her and her family in order to try to help him to overcome the past, to take down his father. One day he would find her again, and he would have found the words to overcome his crushing awkwardness at that point, the way to properly thank her for what she had done today. That much he promised himself.

"Touching last lines," Compress commented, as Touya, Gentle and La Brava were quickly shrunk into marbles by his Quirk in front of Ochaco's eyes, and stored for safekeeping in the deep pockets of his orange coat. "A pleasant way to say adieu, and I'm sure you two star-crossed teens will reunite one day. Although bold of you to assume I'd let anyone other than myself get the last line before the curtain falls!"

The hand of the magician came down, and Shoto Todoroki had one last thought before he disappeared into the darkness that came from being hit by Compress' Quirk...

I wonder how the old man is going to react to this?

(***)

Shoto Todoroki. Aged: 15.

Ochaco Uraraka. Aged: 15.

Touya Todoroki, Dabi. Aged: 25.

(***)

A/N: Remember when I said back along that Bakugo was the hardest character to write, in my humble view? I think Uraraka is easily top 5 hardest as well.

I think that stems from canon and the fact that her character development is somewhat hampered by the romantic interest in Izuku that emerges throughout the series. This crosses into how she gets written in fanfiction as she can be clouded by massively OOC characterisation when she gets written; I've seen too many fics where she is played up as an unlikeable character (frankly, some turn her into a complete bitch and I don't get where that comes from), a paper bag character with absolutely no agency or a borderline yandere for Deku. I tried to be a little different and avoid those traps- I wanted an Uraraka who has independent goals since she doesn't yet connect with Deku in Incident Zero, and an Uraraka who hasn't lost that drive of wanting to support family, while also wanting to do the right thing. Hopefully she's come across alright here and not too weak/an absolute monster.

And hey, Shoto and Dabi arguing had to be done. Their group contains people with very different ideologies for how they want to operate and what is essential in their line of work, and that was going to lead to a clash. There will be more brothers butting heads to come, and more of Compress and Gentle trying to comic-relief their way through the tension while also being legit characters (promise). For now though, they're successful and they can target Endeavor. Surely that's not going to help matters at all?

Anyway, as I said up top, 1000+ of you made the foolish decision to follow this story. Wow. I always said when I started out (to the few who listened or cared) that my goal for FF one day was either to hit 1000 faves and follows on a story, to get fanart, or to get a TV Tropes page- you've made that goal possible in one way, so thank you so so much. The fact so many of you put faith in me like that is humbling and on this, the 25th chapter, I want to remind you all it means the world. We have 484 reviews at last count and over 850 followers- here's hoping we can hit the 1000 favourite milestone in the near future too eh? The feedback has been something I've loved and I love writing this story to see the reactions it gets from some of you, it brings me so much happiness.

Next chapter is Izuku centric, obviously, but in the meantime if you liked this and haven't already please do consider throwing me a fave and follow. Please leave a review if you'd like, I really love reading them all and engaging with theories etc, and otherwise feel free to check out my other works. Not at all shamelessly plugging Decay, my Shigaraki SI, and my oneshot content, right here.

Until next time, ya boy, out.