Chapter Two:
Shouto cornered Izuku against the back wall of the school. "I have new evidence."
Izuku rolled his eyes. "Not this again, please. For the last time, I'm not All for One's lovechild!"
"But you two look very much alike."
"Shouto, he doesn't even have a face. You don't know what he looks like."
"But at Kamino, when he fought with All Might, he deliberately avoided the piece of wall we were hiding behind—"
"You don't know that," Izuku interrupted. "It could have been a coincidence. Besides, it was the wall we were hiding behind. Tenya could be All for One's lovechild based on your theory." He chuckled at his own joke.
Shouto crossed his arms. "Then what about that extra quirk you manifested during training?"
Izuku winced and looked away. He scratched his hair. "Look, I can't talk about that, it's a secret, but I swear there's a reason."
Shouto grabbed his friend's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Izuku, even if you were the son of a villain, I would still be your friend. I'm worried about you. I only want to discover the truth in order to help you."
Izuku groaned. "But I'm not! Aargh. Fine. I'm actually All Might's lovechild."
"All Might?" Shouto gaped. "But you two look nothing alike!"
"I took after my mom." Izuku shrugged. "We kept it secret because of Dad's hero career. Villains would target me if they knew. The government even enrolled us in a witness protection program and created a fake husband for my mom. But my dad has always been in my life. He calls me every day and visits whenever he has a free moment from work. I know who my father is. And All for One can't possibly be Hisashi Midoriya, because Hisashi Midoriya doesn't exist."
Shouto gaped. "But…" he whispered weakly. Then he shook his head as if shaking off his feelings. "I'm happy for you, Izuku. It would be terrible to have All for One as your dad."
"Yes, exactly!" Izuku laughed. He clapped Shouto on the shoulder. "You can find a new conspiracy theory. Maybe Tensei Iida is dating Manual. They seem to be spending a lot of time together ever since Tensei's injury."
"Yes," Shouto said numbly. His phone buzzed with a new text. He flinched. Izuku did not notice, already heading to class.
Shouto ducked into the bathroom and checked his phone. It was another text from his mother: Shouto, it was just a moment of weakness. I was under a lot of stress at home. I don't even know his name. I'm sorry. Can't we forget about it? I'll forget what you did, too. You have to keep it secret. Enji would never forgive either of us. He'd cast you out if he knew you weren't his son.
Shouto's hands shook. But of course he texted Rei back, promising to never reveal her long-ago affair. He owed his mother that much for what he'd done to her.
Dim memory came back to Shouto. He'd been five years old and his father had constantly been pressuring him to try and develop an ice ability. He'd been stressed and desperate. One day, he'd felt the icy cold power under his mother's skin, and he'd reached out and yanked.
He could never forget the horror and rage in his mother's eyes as she'd screamed at him to give her back her quirk. He hadn't known how to do it. She'd shaken him until he nearly passed out, then grabbed the pot of boiling water and dumped it over his head.
After that, the psychiatrists had diagnosed Rei as unable to use her quirk due to a mental breakdown. And Shouto had started using ice during training.
He'd only been allowed to see his mother one more time. She'd apologized for attacking him and given him back his favorite Teddy bear, which she'd taken to repair a rip around the eye. At first, it had seemed like she'd turned back into his usual kind and loving mother. Shouto had believed everything would be okay. Then she'd asked him to undo what he'd done, in vague terms disguised from the nurse listening. Shouto had taken her hand and tried. But the ability hadn't wanted to let go. He hadn't yet had the control to force it. The nurse had dragged Rei off him as she'd cursed and choked him. That was the last time he'd been allowed to see his mother.
The fire ability had come much earlier. Shouto didn't even remember the time Touya had tried to kill him as a baby. But he'd instinctively acted in self-defense, drawing his older brother's quirk to him. He hadn't known what had happened until years later, when Touya had shown up among the League of Villains as Dabi. He'd tried to hide his identity at first, but while he'd fought Shouto, his mask had fallen off. Touya's face looked very much like Shouto's, except for not having any burn scars. He'd screamed and then nearly begged for Shouto to give his quirk back.
By that point, Shouto had figured out how to give quirks as well as take them. But Shouto had been too scared. Scared of what people would do to him if they found out about his real, villainous ability. Maybe that meant he'd deserved it when Touya had tried to murder him again.
Shouto had half a dozen other quirks he'd acquired from villain attacks. He never used them. People would believe that the son of Endeavor and Rei might have a fire and ice quirk. They'd never believe six other unrelated abilities.
He had another, older text from Fuyumi. He was afraid to check it. But he made himself look. It said, Little brother, did you come home to pick up your belongings? All the old clothes in your closet are gone. Your old Teddy bear is missing. So is that picture of you at your fourth birthday party hanging on the hallway wall.
Shouto's heart rate accelerated. His palms felt damp. His throat dried up. That man had been in his house. Had gone near his siblings. Had been in his bedroom and taken his childhood belongings. Shouto felt dizzy.
He quickly texted Fuyumi back claiming that he'd picked up his stuff while she'd been at work. He didn't have any choice. If he admitted who must have taken them, then all the rest would come out, too.
The phone buzzed with another text. Shouto stared at the message from an unknown number. I never knew I had a son, I swear it. I would have protected you if I'd known. I grew up with a violent father. I vowed to never let any child of mine experience the same abuse. I regret so much that I failed you. Do you want me to kill Endeavor? Say the word, and I'll bring you his head. At least answer one phone call. You need me. No one else can teach you how to control your quirk. You're hearing the voices, aren't you? Do you feel the urge to steal more? If you keep suppressing it, then it will only get worse. I'm the only one who can understand you. The heroes would turn against you if they knew. Let me help you, my son.
Shouto deleted the message, just like all the others. He couldn't let himself get caught with texts from All for One on his phone. Not with tensions rising over a possible traitor at U.A.
But Shouto knew that ignoring All for One was only a temporary solution. The villain had been getting pushier. What if he followed through with his threats to assassinate Endeavor? What if he told U.A.? They'd never let Shouto become a hero if they knew that his father was the greatest villain.
Shouto felt like he might throw up. He put his head between his knees until the sensation passed.
Pasting a fake smile on his face, Shouto stood up. Then he ran down the hallway, shouting, "Izuku! I still think you might be All for One's son! Maybe he had a baby together with All Might. Quirks can do all sorts of things."
Inside, Shouto begged:
Izuku, please.
Please get the hints I'm trying to give you.
When I say that I would still be your friend if your father was a villain, please say the same thing back to me.
Please figure it out.
Please, help me.
Author's Note: In case it wasn't clear, Shouto doesn't have Half Hot Half Cold, he has All for One as his quirk. He stole Touya's flames and Rei's ice and pretended to have only one quirk. Rei knew what he'd done, but saying anything would have revealed her infidelity, so she pretended to have stopped using her quirk from trauma. Touya knew too, but the theft happened while he was in the process of trying to strangle Shouto for the first time, so everyone believed he was just ranting about his little brother stealing his quirk out of a jealous delusion. All for One figured out the truth after Dabi told him a story about his little brother stealing his quirk. Then he remembered a one night stand with a white-haired beauty years ago. All for One stole a DNA sample at Kamino—because he was more focused on that than fighting All Might, he never got caught and sent to jail. He's been preparing Shouto's new room ever since. Shouto had better come clean to Izuku or a teacher soon, because All for One is not the kind of relative you can safely ignore.
Antagonistic_Protagonist drew the lovely cover art for this story and an additional adorable picture of little Shouto. She's also drawn art for some of my other fics, including Ochaco's birthday story. Delete the spaces to get the link to the image:
villanist.
tumblr.
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post/673091218716098560/happy-birthday-shouto-our-local-conspiracy
