Toru met Mina at the beginning of the walkway of the park. She was wearing a cute little sundress and hat, so that people could see where her head was.
It's nice to be in clothes again. She found herself thinking.
As soon as Mina saw her, she started running and swept Toru up into a big hug.
"I missed you! It's been so long since we've seen each other!" Mina bawled over dramatically.
"It's been four days, Mina." Toru reminded, patting her hair.
"I know but the only person I've been able to actually visit is Kirishima since he lives near-ish to me!" Mina complained. "And whenever I drop by, he doesn't want to see me because he wants to go visit Bakugo instead." She stuck out her tongue like how could someone choose Bakugo over her?
"Well, what about Tsuyu, YaoMomo, Jiro and Ochako?" Toru asked. "Why didn't you visit them?"
"Tsuyu's been busy with family stuff, Yaomomo's been on her 'staycation'. Jiro's been available to chat but is taking a little 'her' time to work on her hobbies. Uraraka's been off the grid and probably helping family. I've been so bummed out that Mom was like 'you can help your family too' and made me do a bunch of cleaning and chores. It's been so annoying." Mina shook her fists, lightly complaining.
The tone of her voice makes it clear even if she's complaining she's still affectionate towards her family. Toru picked up.
She didn't really understand. Having never had a family it wasn't something she could particularly relate to. All for One had other roles for her than cleaning, so even that wasn't something she could understand.
"Aww, it's kinda sweet that you're kinda a homebuddy when left alone, Mina." Toru tried to take the positives from Mina's complaints instead of mirroring her frustration. She'd pretend to be her own person near Mina instead of an echo chamber. "And hey! You must get along really well with your parents if you're able to spend most of the break with them. I bet they're really nice people."
Toru started walking, so her and Mina could talk and walk.
Mina followed. The positivity had brought her mood up as expected. She smiled and blushed a bit. "You're right. They're super nice people. My parents are in fact pretty awesome."
Toru pretended to nod making a "Mhmm!" Sound like she was saying yes.
"We're pretty close. But I mean, that's normal, right? They're my family! You'd do anything for family." Mina stated something like it was obvious.
Toru didn't pause. She matched Mina's walking stride. Still, she felt completely confused at the sentiment like Mina was some sort of alien and she had to pretend she was also that same species.
"Mhhmm!" Toru decided to casually nod and agree again.
"What about your family, Toru?" Mina asked. "You're close with them, right? Oh wait…Maybe you're a little annoyed at them because your mom is super strict, right? She made you study like crazy for the final and won't let friends over because you party too hard." She giggled a bit.
"Yeah. She is strict." Toru lied about her fake mom. "I'm not particularly close to my parents." She said after a moment of thinking up the angle she wanted to spin. "They're the career driven type, which is awesome, but it means I don't see them super often. During school sometimes they go on business trips."
Mina frowned, "Aw man…That sucks…"
"It's fine! When they're away I get to live the dream!" Toru waved her hands. "Eat ice cream all the time, take long luxurious baths, and lounge around watching TV!" She bragged.
Mina laughed. "That is kinda fun!" She admitted, "Still it's too bad you're not super close."
"I still love them lots and lots! They just aren't around all the time." Toru said quickly so Mina didn't pity her.
"Thank god." Mina sighed. "I was worried you were one of those people like from anime who gets money on their birthday but no present because their parents are busy, and they cry because they've never had a birthday party."
I'm lost. What? Toru thought to herself. That was Mina's definition of sadness? "No, no nothing like that!" She reassured. I don't even know my real birthday. I just lied on the UA forms. Sounds like a very human problem to complain about getting just money. She didn't count herself as 'human'. Why would a tool need a birthday or a present?
"I thought everyone was close to their parents like mine…But I'm glad you and your parents at least love each other despite the lack of a physical presence sometimes…I guess parents being busy sometimes happens though…Tsuyu's parents she said are frequently busy with work, so she looked after her younger siblings a lot growing up." Mina said casually.
I should change the subject back to something that isn't me. Toru decided. "What do your parents do for a living, Mina?"
"Oooh! I got this! My mom is a really cool lawyer. She defeats all her competition with her no holds barred demeanor!" Mina bragged. "She looks way less like me than my dad. But she's got my eyes and horns." She pointed at her eyes and horns.
"Does she have an acid quirk too?" Toru asked.
"Nope. She can transform into this monster-like alien looking thing. That's why I wanted to name myself Alien Queen, after her quirk. Mom could have been a hero if she wanted, high schools tried to recruit her in her youth, but she wanted to be a hero in a broader criminal justice sense. She said she wanted to make sure that the villains hero's caught were actually guilty of their crimes, and the people threatened to commit criminal acts or minors were convicted less harshly by the law." Mina explained.
I don't think I've heard of many lawyers that defend villains. Once a villain was caught, that was it. Perhaps the League of Villain's broker, Giran, might know more about that though.
"I admire how she has the capacity to show pity to villains. Not many people can." Mina admitted.
"Does that bother you? Since you're trying to be a hero? I mean she's defending people you might catch someday." Toru pointed out.
Mina shook her head. "Nope. In fact, I want to someday help my mom. If I become a popular enough hero people will listen to me. Mom's trying to make a system where villains can reintegrate into society if they become better people. If they made a mistake, shouldn't they be shown mercy and given a second chance instead of locked away forever?"
Mina didn't give Toru a chance to respond.
"No heroes are in favor of what Mom is suggesting should happen. Because it's not popular, politicians haven't taken up the cause either. I'm thinking when I become a pro and endorse it, it'll really help mom." Mina explained.
I can't think of any villain from the League who would want that law. They don't want a second chance. They want to destroy society. Toru thought.
If it became popular her Master might take notice of it. It would lead people away from villainy, and she couldn't imagine her Master liking that. Likely Mina's Mom would be targeted at that point. But that was far in the future.
"But do you actually believe in the cause, or do you just want to help your Mom?" Toru found herself saying.
Mina thought for a moment. "Hmmm…I want to believe somewhere there's a villain who is just making a mistake. It's kinda hard to imagine that any of the guys from USJ are that though. They were actually really scary…And the dude from middle school—" Mina stopped herself. "I just want to help my mom." She admitted. "I love her."
Toru could sense that the question had struck a nerve with Mina and decided to change the subject to brighten her mood.
"And how about your dad? What does he do? Oooh and is he pink like you?"
Mina smiled, happy to have the subject change. "He's got patches of pink because he has vitiligo. You know my quirk changes the pigmentation in my skin, right? I wasn't always pink."
Toru had not known that. "Wow!"
"Anyway, he's got a less powerful acid quirk and I guess it only changed patches of his skin." Mina shrugged, "He's a stay-at-home Dad so he's not nearly as extreme as my mom. My Dad gives the best hugs, and since I'm an only child I got a lot of them. I'm sure he's one of the best stay-at-home parents in the whole world!" Mina bragged.
"Awww sweet! He sounds very nice." Toru said politely.
"What do your parents do?" Mina asked bringing the subject yet again to Toru's family life.
"Stock deals." Toru said quickly. "They go to America frequently to do business dealings, I think. I don't know. Their job involves numbers and I check out whenever they talk about it. Too many boring things." Toru complained.
Mina giggled.
"I'm an only child too so I don't have any siblings so I can't tell you about them. And my parent's I don't think are coming up with anything as big as your mom. Maybe they are. I don't know. Work talk is outlawed as a dinner conversation, so I don't hear much about what's going on." Toru said.
Mina nodded. "That's super normal from what I've heard. Kirishima said I was an outlier for being so involved in my parent's work. I just love my mom so much!"
I made it through that conversation somehow…Toru inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. She decided when asked by any other classmates she had better commit to the story she had just told.
They were almost at the end of their walk.
"Oh! You know where we're close to?" Toru said at the end of the trail. "Endeavor's house! I read it in some magazine that he lives around this area."
"The number 2 hero, huh? If Todoroki lives so close to this nice park, I'm surprised we didn't see him walking." Mina admitted. "Too bad! It would have been fun to see Todoroki and learn some of the secrets to his strength—"
"You know there's still a way to see him, don't you?" Toru said mischievously.
"Drop by his house?" Mina asked. She slapped herself in the forehead. "Oh my god, we can just do that! We're his classmates. It wouldn't be weird. He hasn't invited us so that's kinda a problem…I hope we don't run into Endeavor and get burned…" She got a little gloomier.
"I'm sure he won't mind a surprise." Toru reassured.
Mina thought about this for a moment. "You know, he's kinda a loner. Besides Midoriya and Iida, I don't really see him spend time with anyone. So, I'm sure he'd probably have a heart attack if his two cute female classmates visited him! You're right! Let's go!" Mina said excitedly.
If Mina thinks this is her idea than if anyone gets suspicious of me investigating Todoroki, I'll just say I went along with Mina. Toru smiled to herself.
This would work out.
They got a fruit basket as a gift for Todoroki before they dropped by unexpectedly.
No one was outside the Todoroki household. For a famous person's home, it didn't look like it.
Fans are probably scared of Endeavor getting angry at them. Endeavor was famously cold to his fans. He'd probably have an angry outburst if the paparazzi tried to take pictures of his house.
It's morning so Endeavor likely is at work. That was good. Toru didn't want to see Endeavor anyway.
Mina rung the doorbell, taking the initiative. A woman who looked in her early 20's opened the door. She had white hair with red streaks in it.
Fuyumi Todoroki. Toru recognized. She was Todoroki's older sister. Magazines had said she had a powerful ice quirk and guessed she would make a good hero, but she always refused that lifestyle. Now she worked as a kindergarten teacher.
Fuyumi looked confused at the two girls in front of her.
"Hi! I'm Mina Ashido! This is my friend Toru Hagakure." Mina took it upon herself to make introductions.
Fuyumi looked momentarily annoyed, assuming they were fans. "Look my dad isn't here right now so-"
"No! We're not here for your dad! We're here for Todoroki!" Mina defended.
"Shoto." Toru added quickly.
"We were doing a walk and realized Todoroki lived nearby and since we're friends of his we thought we'd drop by." Mina explained, offering the gift basket.
Fuyumi's expression changed the moment Mina explained that they were classmates of Todoroki. Her eyes sparkled. She clapped. "Oh yes! I recognize you two from the sports festival!" She recalled. "It's so nice to see Shoto's friends!" She had a large smile.
Mina smiled back. "Can we see him? I want to know what kinda home the famed Todoroki of Class A came from!"
Fuyumi's smile dropped at that mention.
Oh Mina. You're so dense. Todoroki came from an abused household. Don't you see the scar on his face? Fuyumi probably doesn't like being reminded of that. Toru thought.
"You know to get his secrets!" Toru added quickly, "We might be his friends but we're also his hero competition! We would love to know how he got so strong!" She was hoping that her cheerful, overly friendly attitude would calm Fuyumi's memories.
"Shoto's never had friends over…Nor has he had competition." Fuyumi forced out a giggle. She was looking at Toru in specific and she smiled.
I'm no competition for Todoroki. I'm clearly on the weaker side. I can see she's sizing me up and can see I mean no harm. Toru read her expression.
"I won't spill your secret that you're trying to uncover your competition's secrets." Fuyumi winked. "Unfortunately, though, Shoto isn't here." She frowned.
Mina groaned. "Aww man…That means we can't visit him!"
I hope she doesn't deny us entry…Toru realized she might have to sneak in anyway. "Where is he? Will he be back soon?" She asked.
"I…I don't know. Shoto said he was going to visit a friend…For the entire summer break." Fuyumi's smile fell looking genuinely hurt. "Oh! But just because he's not here doesn't mean you can't come in!" She said quickly.
"Huh?" Mina and Toru both said.
"We don't get visitors often. So, I don't get to entertain very much." Fuyumi admitted. "Everyone's too scared of Dad…But for Shoto's classmates to come all this way…I'd love to talk to you a bit! I have cookies and tea."
Mina glanced at Toru. She smiled. "If you're offering cookies, I'm happy to take you up on the offer."
Fuyumi grinned and led them both inside. The house had tatami mats everywhere and sliding walls.
"Why do you think she wants to talk to us?" Mina whispered to Toru as she walked.
Fuyumi, who's ears were trained to hear children gossip turned her head, "I can't let this opportunity go to waste!" She admitted. "Shoto doesn't ever talk about school to me. You're my chance to hear about how he's doing!"
Toru giggled. "Well then we'd be happy to gossip with you!"
Fuyumi led them to a table, that was closer to the floor than normal tables. There were six zaisu (floor chairs) around the table. She set out some cookies and started steeping tea. She sat down in front of the table.
"Why doesn't Todoroki tell you about his life at school? Oh, could it be that he doesn't want to worry his precious sister?" Toru asked, trying to get information first and foremost.
Fuyumi's smile fell. "He's…Not particularly close to me and Natsuo. But I'm trying to be closer to him! If he could repair his relationship with Mom, I'm sure Natsuo and I are next in line."
"Natsuo?" Mina asked.
Toru had no need to ask about Todoroki's mom. Rei Todoroki was locked away in a hospital for mental illness 10 years ago. She hasn't been allowed to leave since. There had been whispers about it. People who wanted to stay on Endeavor's good side gossiped about what had happened that caused her to become ill in the head. Nobody said out loud how awful it was for Endeavor to lock up his wife.
"Todoroki's older brother!" Fuyumi replied cheerfully.
"Do you have any other siblings?" Toru asked casually.
There was a flicker of sadness on Fuyumi's face, but she quickly covered it up. She changed the subject instead of answering. "You know, I was rooting for you, Ashido, in the sports festival. Your quirk is pretty flashy. You went really far if I remember correctly."
"Aww thanks! You wouldn't have been mad if I beat your little bro?" Mina asked.
Fuyumi laughed. "No! It would have been nice to have a girl in the top four."
She's definitely hiding something. Toru realized. Dabi might actually be a part of this family.
"What about me? Were you rooting for me too?" Toru asked, pointing to herself. She had to make herself seem less nosy and lower Fuyumi's guard.
Fuyumi looked awkward. "Um…Well, you dropped out pretty early…But you had a great attitude. If I remember correctly, you did some cheerleading, right? You had such good energy it made me want to jump up and cheer too!" She complimented.
Toru laughed proudly. "Yep! That's me! It's just so fun to get up and move!"
Fuyumi smiled in relief that she had said the right thing.
"So…Todoroki's Mom and him don't get along?" Mina asked, opening an uncomfortable subject back up. "That's too bad. I was hoping to see her. She must be really strong since Todoroki's ice is so strong…."
Seeing that no harm was meant Fuyumi smiled softly. "She's got a weak constitution. She gets sick easily. Luckily Shoto, Natsuo, and I didn't inherit any of that…" She paused realizing something. "She's not the secret to his strength if that's what you mean."
Mina gasped and covered her mouth. "I'm so so sorry…I didn't know! Is she okay?"
Fuyumi nodded. "She's in the hospital. That's why Shoto and her are estranged…"
Mina looked horrified that she had asked about something so tragic. "I'm so so sorry…"
"Let's change the subject since this one might not be the best one. Moms are now banished as a conversational point from this table!" Toru tried to save things by playing up her peppy angle. "Do you want to hear about how popular Todoroki is in school?"
Fuyumi smiled. "I would appreciate that!"
"He's the most popular boy in our class. He's pretty aloof and loner-y but we all aspire to be on his level. Even Bakugo I think is jealous of his strength!" Toru bragged.
Mina nodded hurriedly.
Fuyumi frowned when she heard Todoroki was loner-y. "…So he doesn't have a friend group he goes around with?"
Toru pretended to think. "He's close to Midoriya and Iida. You saw Midoriya fight him in the sports festival, right? I think they've been friends since then."
Fuyumi looked relieved.
"And Iida…He befriended sometime after internships." Toru explained. "He's from the Ingenium family."
Fuyumi looked surprised. "Oh yeah! The engine heroes! He's another pro kid." She nodded to herself. "Then Shoto must be at Midoriya or Iida's house then…"
Mina smiled; glad Fuyumi was happy again. "Man, Todoroki is so lucky to have such a nice sister. I wish I had an older sibling now! Being an only child kinda sucks, doesn't it, Toru?"
Toru smiled. The subject was back to siblings. "It does! You're the oldest sibling, right, Fuyumi? You're so responsible! Would you adopt us into the family too and be our older sister?" She joked.
Fuyumi looked like she had been hit by the word 'oldest' but quickly regained composure. Mina probably hadn't noticed because it was a very subtle facial twitch.
"Yeah, I'm older than Natsuo. And of course!" She smiled. "I'd love to have some cute little sisters." Fuyumi paused and tried to change the subject. "So…Does Shoto have any people who might become his girlfriend in the future? Any crushes?"
Mina sparkled at this discussion. "I don't know but he and YaoMomo—Oh Yaoyorozu are kinda close. They did the final exam together and I think would make a great couple."
I'm pretty sure Jiro and her have something going on. They look like they both like each other but can't say anything about it. Either way I don't see it. Toru briefly wondered if Mina was dense.
Fuyumi giggled and smiled to herself.
"I can't believe Todoroki doesn't tell you these things. He should lean on his older sister and get some advice to help him get closer to girl's or just help him with crushes…" Mina rambled.
"You said you two weren't close. Is Todoroki actually a bully at home?" Toru asked worriedly.
Fuyumi looked horrified at that idea. "Oh no! No." She waved her hands. "We were raised separately from Shoto. Shoto was…My father's prized child who would inherit his legacy and so he had to dedicate himself to training. That's really why he's so strong. It's all from Dad. But Shoto was only able to socialize with us recently. So no, no bullying."
Mina's eyes widened. "I'm…" She was at a loss for words. That sounded so sad! It was awful.
Toru fake sniffled. "That's so sad he couldn't be with his family!"
Fuyumi reached out and pat Toru's head. She offered her a cookie. "We can't be caught up in the past. We have to look to the future. It's fine."
Mina decided it was her turn to bring the mood up and change the subject. "So, Todoroki's so strong because of his own effort. Training and hard work made him into the guy he is today!" Unfortunately, she chose the wrong subject to bring the mood up.
From what I know of Endeavor, his training probably walked the line of abuse. She didn't actually know if Endeavor had let his anger get the best of him though.
Fuyumi didn't let the subject bring her down though. "Yep! Hard work is really everything. It's rare for someone to just be naturally powerful. Do you want a tip on how to notice if someone is powerful because of effort or hard work?" She asked.
"Yes!" Mina agreed excitedly. Toru nodded as well.
"Natural geniuses are more confident, but they tend to lose in fights relying on experience." Fuyumi offered her advice.
"Like Bakugo." Toru said out loud recalling his fight with Midoriya in the combat training.
Mina nodded.
"Ashido looks to me like a natural genius too. You've got a very powerful quirk. Have you trained with it a lot?" She asked.
Mina shook her head. "I've played with it of course. But I never pushed myself or trained like Todoroki did…"
"That's because you're a natural. But you should start watching others to gather some experience." Fuyumi advised like the teacher she was. "Training can help and is never your enemy. Toya was a natural genius too and got stronger when he trained-" She covered her mouth quickly as if she had said a taboo subject.
Toya? "Who's Toya?" Toru asked faking a sweet cheerful voice.
Fuyumi looked uncomfortable. "Ah...Um…He was…my older brother."
Was? So, he disappeared? I have to see a picture of this 'Toya'. Toru decided.
"I thought you were the eldest." Mina was confused. She didn't pick up on the 'was'.
"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have said his name. We were all having such a fun time. Sometimes I forget not to mention him." Fuyumi looked afraid while her eyes were filled with grief.
"Whoa!" Toru told her. "It's not good to hold the sadness in. Avoiding someone's existence won't help you, will it? I could tell you love him a lot by how proud you were mentioning his genius." Toru told her. "Don't worry about us. We're heroes. Our moods don't get dampened so easily."
Mina nodded. "How could we as hero's sooth hearts if we got mad that the mood was all gloomy?" She agreed. "Toru said it perfectly. It's okay!"
Fuyumi smiled gratefully. "I did love him a lot. He was my older brother after all. But I don't think the feeling was mutual." She admitted. "He was a lot closer to Natsuo than me. He was always talking with him and sharing secrets. I was kinda cut out. I never wanted to infiltrate on their special bond, so I never said anything-"
Toru reached up and pat Fuyumi's head now.
"Thank you. I was hoping I could make up for things by being close to Shoto. I didn't want him to feel like Natsuo and I were closer and cutting him out of the relationship." She admitted.
"Toya probably loved you even if he didn't say it." Mina reassured, joining Toru to pat Fuyumi's head.
"Should we mob him and make him confess how much he loves his little sister?" Toru asked.
"I like that idea!" Mina agreed, smiling.
Fuyumi looked sadder at that.
"Oh wait…He was a forbidden word. Did Endeavor exile him from the family or something after a big fight?" Toru asked.
"No! My Dad would never." Fuyumi defended. "…He's a forbidden subject because…Well he no longer exists in the world." She admitted. "I'll never learn if he cared about me…"
Mina stopped stroking Fuyumi's head. Her hand dropped to her side, absolutely horrified.
Toya's dead? Then…. Is he not Dabi? Or did All for One steal another corpse and create a Nomu. Toru was confused.
"He…Died when he was 13. It's been 10 years since he parted from this world." Fuyumi was not crying at the sad truth. She just held her cup with tea tightly, her hand shaking slightly.
"God. That's so tragic! First your mom got sick and then your brother died. Poor Todoroki…" Mina was sniffling. "I'm so sorry! We should have never asked! I'm sorry for reminding you about Toya!"
"Me too!" Toru agreed. "…Was it your mother's sickness? Did it show up all of a suddenly? Are you absolutely sure Todoroki isn't sick?" She faked panic in her voice now to gather information on the cause of death.
"No! No. He didn't die from sickness. Shoto is fine, I assure you." Fuyumi reassured seeing two teens now incredibly sad in front of her, she acted as the adult she was. She pats both their heads. "It's okay. It's not your fault."
"But that's so tragic!" Toru fake cried. "He died so young."
"What if a villain got him and we accidentally reminded her?" Mina whispered loud enough for Fuyumi to hear.
She sighed. "This is what I get for trying to keep him a secret. He'll just burst out at the worst moments…" She looked at both of them. "It wasn't a villain attack. It was a tragic accident that got him. Hagakure was right that he inherited Mom's weak constitution. It was born to house an ice quirk, but he got a fire quirk. He wasn't resistant to heat at all."
"That's awful-" Toru gasped.
"It happens sometimes. You hear about stories like that on the news all the time. Dad of course asked for Toya to not be reported on. But…Apparently, he went out to play one day and lit himself on fire. Poof! No more Toya." Fuyumi was trying to talk strongly to explain what happened so Mina and Toru wouldn't be left in mystery but now she was crying too.
"It's…the sort of death people would make fun of. Accidentally lit himself on fire. Mom changed after that…She got sicker. And Dad was grief stricken. I try not to mention Toya for him, but I guess it was draining on me too. He was the one who told me and Natsuo…. Oh don't worry, Shoto isn't bothered by this stuff. He was a baby when it happened, and he doesn't really know Toya aside from his altar in his memory." Fuyumi tried to ease Mina and Toru's fears that Todoroki was incredibly sad.
Lit himself on fire, huh? Dabi has burns all over his body…And from what I've seen he uses his flames frequently, but it does look like it might physically hurt him. Hard to tell because parts of his face are already burned off. Toru couldn't really ask if they found the burned corpse though.
There was an altar to Toya though somewhere in this house. If she found it that would confirm things.
Mina hugged Fuyumi. Toru hugged her from the other side to ease her tears.
"…I know kinda what Toya went through." Mina admitted. "My acid burns me. That's how my skin changed pigmentation. My parents warned me if I used it too much, I might hurt myself…I didn't and chose to be a hero anyway, but Toya probably thought of it as little as I do. I'm sorry for your loss." She tried to put herself in Toya's shoes.
"We won't make fun of him. And regardless of the cause it's still tragic." Toru reassured drying her tears but sniffling every now and then in a calculated manner.
There was the sound of the door opening. Then the sound of running, probably conjured by the sound of sniffling.
Don't be Endeavor. Don't be Endeavor. Toru hoped.
Natsuo, a white-haired man who looked slightly younger than Fuyumi slid into the room conjured by the sniffling. "FUYUMI!" He shouted, "Are you all right?" He saw her red eyes and the two strangers holding her and sniffling.
Fuyumi wiped away at her eyes. "It's all right, Natsuo. Shoto's classmates and I…were just talking." She probably wasn't mentioning Toya as to not upset Natsuo.
"Shoto's classmates, huh?" Natsuo's eyes widened. "What are your quirks?"
"I make acid!" Mina said quickly sensing Fuyumi wanted to change the subject.
"I'm invisible!" Toru stated the obvious.
Natsuo frowned and looked at Toru. "Did UA change their requirements? I took the entrance exam for heroes, you know, just for funsies to see if I would qualify…" He put his hands in his pockets, rather embarrassed. "And it was hard! Did UA lower their requirements to pass? How'd you get in?"
Toru visibly shrugged. "I don't know! Maybe Mr. Aizawa did something to make passing easier for people like me. Was he a teacher when you were in school?" She was guessing he wasn't.
Natsuo shook his head.
"Maybe that's it then! He's got a non-power-based quirk so he probably made the exam easier for people like him." Toru made a fake assumption to keep Natsuo off her back.
"Did he?" Mina was surprised. "I never thought of that."
"Maybe. I don't know. I was able to climb the robots okay and find an off switch." Toru shrugged, "So someone probably gave us less power-based students an out!"
Natsuo was a little interested in that information, but not much. "So, what were you three sniffling about?"
"...Nothing." Fuyumi lied badly.
"…Celebrity break up? Shoto failed a test?" Natsuo tried guessing.
Fuyumi avoided eye contact. That just made Natsuo more curious.
"Hmm…It's something you don't want me hearing then. Something about how awful Dad is?" Natsuo guessed.
"He isn't awful!" Fuyumi defended quickly.
Natsuo shook his head. "He isolated us from Shoto, neglected us, and pushed Shoto too hard when he was literally a child, so I beg to differ."
Mina's face went pale.
Hm. I see we've entered the open family drama part of this outing. Toru noticed. She'd heard rumors about Endeavor's abuse, but it was good to get it confirmed.
"He's changed—" Fuyumi tried to defend now forgetting Mina and Toru were here to yell at her brother.
"Something you don't want me to hear about…If it's not that…Your dating life?" Natsuo asked.
Fuyumi shook her head.
"…" Natsuo's face turned pale as he realized what it likely was. He started shaking. "...You told them about—"
"I didn't mean to! It slipped out." Fuyumi apologized.
Natsuo nodded. "It's all right. I don't want him to be a forbidden subject after all. I'm just surprised that you're telling Shoto's classmates about…" His voice dropped to a squeak, "Toya."
"It's not good to bottle things up!" Mina defended, "She just accidentally let it slip, she was bragging about how great he was, and we got too curious. I'm sorry. We won't tell anyone!" She promised.
Natsuo tried to force a smile. "It's all right. I'm just surprised you're not trembling or absolutely horrified considering how he died."
"It's really unfortunate and sad." Toru agreed.
Natsuo looked confused. He then looked at Fuyumi. "Wait…Did you tell them that lie that dad told us about him burning himself to death?"
"Lie?" Toru was now extremely curious.
Fuyumi's voice raised and she looked mad now. "It wasn't a lie. I know it's hard to believe but accidents happen, Natsuo!"
"There's no way he accidentally set himself on fire. Toya had dreams. He had lots to live for. Dad killed him when he realized he was no longer useful. He threw him away now that he had his perfect child, Shoto." Natsuo snarled.
Oh? Which one is the truth? I can believe Endeavor would kill someone, but the accidentally burning himself goes along better with Dabi's wounds. Endeavor wouldn't have been able to burn only the tear ducts. Toru thought.
She and Mina had accidentally stepped right into family drama.
"Dad isn't a murderer, Natsuo! He never was!" Fuyumi yelled back.
"Sure. You can try to play happy family, but I'm not going to look away from the truth. He beat Mom when he got angry, what was to stop him from doing the same to Toya?" Natsuo was calmer with a hint of hatred in his voice.
Mina's eyes just grew wider and wider from absolute shock. "He…H-he beat his wife? T-that can happen?"
Fuyumi wasn't listening to her. "He's changed! Do you not believe in redemption? Anger outbursts and cold-blooded murder are two very different things!"
"Maybe we should leave them alone to their shouting match." Toru tapped Mina's shoulder and whispered. Fuyumi wasn't in the right mindset to pick up on it this time.
Mina was shaking. She nodded.
Toru led her friend out of the room.
I'll lead Mina into a different room so we can wait for Fuyumi to cool down instead of just leaving on an awkward note. Toru thought. It would also provide a good excuse to go into the other rooms and look for that altar.
Toru opened a closed door to try to find 'a quiet place that wasn't a bedroom' to be with Mina. She eventually found the room she was looking for, a sitting room with an altar. She helped Mina down.
"I…I had no clue…" Mina just whispered to herself. "I said everyone loved their families just this morning…I didn't even think…"
Toru pat Mina's back. She then looked at the picture of Toya on the altar. The person who had created this argument.
He had white hair and looked very young since he had died at 13. It would be hard to match him with Dabi since Dabi now had black hair, was older, and had lots of burns.
Still, those eyes are Dabi's eyes…Except with less hatred. Toru realized.
Looking at the picture and using her observational skills from her spying, it was clear they were the same person. She had found what she needed.
"Families can get this fractured and sad? Did you know? No, of course you did. I'm the idiot that was like 'all families love each other." Mina sniffled feeling guilty. She wiped at her eyes repeatedly.
"I didn't know about Todoroki." Toru lied. "But I knew families COULD get like this."
"You're smarter than me. Of course, they could get like this. I was being an idiot. I've seen abuse on TV, but it just felt so fictional because I had never met someone who had gone through it." Mina admitted.
Fuyumi and Natsuo's shouting had finally stopped, and they both peeked into the room. It had clearly gotten too much for Mina, the family drama had dragged her down.
"I'm sorry—" Fuyumi gasped.
"Me too. You two were essentially strangers. And this was…Way too much for her, I'm guessing." Natsuo pointed to Mina.
Toru held her. "Yeah." Should she be crying too? But Mina's tears came from her own ignorance that such awful things could happen. Toru hadn't pretended to have that ignorance. "If…Um…You don't mind, I think it would be best if we left."
Fuyumi covered her mouth, saddened by what she had done.
"It's not your fault! And if we can, we'd love to see you again, Fuyumi. We don't blame you." Toru said trying to make good will, "But this seems very personal for us to witness."
"I'm sorry…" Fuyumi apologized, "And thank you for your time."
"Mina, we won't share this in class, right? We promise, right? This seems like the sort of thing Todoroki should share with others instead of having us gossip about." Toru added.
Mina nodded, "Yeah."
Fuyumi looked relieved. "Thank you. My big mouth might have hurt Shoto…You two are really true hero material."
Toru tried not to gag.
Natsuo nodded, looking apologetic himself. "Sorry you saw some of our ugly secrets."
They bid their farewells and left the Todoroki family estate. Mina had tried to keep herself from crying again until they were out of eyeshot.
"How many other members of our class are suffering, and we don't know about it?" Mina asked looking up at the sky, horrified. "I thought abuse was something that just happened in media, but it can be much closer to us than we think."
"Uh-huh." Toru didn't really feel much for Mina's sympathy over the realization that people didn't all have great families.
"How many other members of our class have I accidentally triggered by saying how much I love my family and 'family is the most important thing in the world'?" Mina moaned. "What if someone has a dead mom, or as much of a sad life as Todoroki? It's so sad that not everyone can feel loved by their families, right, Toru?" Mina asked.
Toru just stared blankly having no concept of this word. "Right." She agreed.
Mina had stopped crying but her voice was cracking from sadness. "I always thought Todoroki was distant because he was an ice prince but no it was from his family tragedy and abusive household."
"Yep, it's real sad." Toru fake sympathized.
"Should we march up to Hound Dog after the break and ask if there's anything we can to make sure none of our classmates are in bad situations like Todoroki? Or would investigating families put our friends in dangerous positions? Would UA be able to help?"
"We promised Fuyumi we wouldn't talk about Todoroki's past—" Toru tried to deter her.
"Yeah…You're right…" Mina agreed.
"And it sounds like Todoroki's family issues stem from his early childhood. Fuyumi said their dad was changing now. And Todoroki's healing. He can use his flames now, right?" Toru continued. I don't actually think Endeavor is changing. That sounded like Fuyumi's desperation. All I've seen about Endeavor shows that he's awful.
Mina nodded.
"With all that healing that's likely happening, don't you think trying to help might tear open an old wound?" Toru pointed out.
Mina reluctantly nodded. "But our other classmates—"
"They all seem pretty happy. Nobody's as distant as Todoroki." Toru pointed out, "I think they're all right." She tried to get Mina to drop things.
"Mineta might not be alright." Mina tried to bring back her own sense of humor. "I don't know what sort of environment you need to be raised in to grow up as awful as that."
Toru laughed. "Yeah, you're right. But I'm not too worried about Mineta personally. He probably grew up in a life of privilege with nobody telling him to stop harassing girls."
Mina smiled. "Yeah, probably." She paused. "What about Midoriya though? He doesn't seem…okay. He's stuttering all the time and looks absolutely frightened sometimes. You don't think…" She gasped.
Pretty sure he was bullied by Bakugo, not dealing with family abuse. She didn't need Mina to feel the need to investigate all their classmates lives and solve all of their problems.
"I sit near-ish to Midoriya. I've heard him talk about his mom before. He loves her lots and lots! Almost as much as you love your mom. He's fine." Toru reassured.
Mina sighed, reassured by that.
"You have to trust that people in our class have enough social networks to reach out to someone if they're in trouble, Mina. And that bringing up the past might do more harm than good in this situation." Toru pointed out.
Mina nodded. "Then…What can I do? Oh! Maybe I can ask Mom what kind of laws there are to hold heroes accountable for things like abuse? Cuz that's probably contributing to Todoroki's problems!" She tried to look at the positive.
"That could help!" Toru said optimistically. Yeah, they're definitely not held accountable now. I would love to see a hero be torn apart by society.
Mina perked up and slapped her cheeks to stop the tears. "What would I do without you? I really wasn't in my right mind about all this stuff…I kept wishing Tsuyu was there because she's always able to keep calm in any situation. But you really held me together and made sure I didn't do any further damage. Thank you, Toru."
"You're welcome! And it's all right! As someone who wants to be a stealth based hero I try to listen to my intuition. My gut said I needed to keep calm! I think my gut's pretty good, that's how I know everyone in our class is probably okay." Toru lied and reassured.
She didn't actually know if everyone in Class 1-A was okay. That would take a lot of investigation that she didn't care about. But she needed Mina to believe everyone was okay. It would be a horrible problem if UA decided to meet all their hero student's families, considering she didn't have one. She needed to prevent that from happening at all costs.
"I'm glad you're my friend. You're a good one." Mina said.
"You're a good friend too!" Toru replied back cheerfully. She had used Mina this entire day.
I've got the information I needed. This mission was a success! Toru thought to herself.
With the chaos of chapter 335 and 336, I'm sure you're wondering what is going to happen with this fic now that my theory has been shot down. Well this fic will still be around, since it's a "what if Toru was the traitor", I'll still be writing it. Having the fan theory being disproven has given me the ability to embrace non-canon though. No reason to be afraid of cringey things that disregard canon. My fic now. I will have my Mina angst.
Anyway originally I was wondering if I should change Toru into being a Nomu, because with chapter 335 there were a few fan theories floating around about Toru being a high end Nomu and Shigaraki's dead sister which was interesting and a very unique idea. But I no longer gotta go back and change anything.
My goal was to finish the summer break arc by the time of my next surgery (December 9th) but uhh...I have 4 more chapters that need beta-ing in the arc?v So would you like me to post them without betaing or wait. I would like to hear opinions.
Anyway please review!