-x- Izuku -x-

Things were beyond awkward with Shoto at school. Izuku didn't know what to do. He hated this, but at the same time, he knew they needed a bit of space. They were both too involved with one another's lives. But those thoughts made him feel like shit, because best friends have to share everything. And Shoto had not. So did that make him a bad best friend? He left for a year and said nothing. Then acted like it was no big deal when he returned.

Honestly, he didn't know what to do about it. Touya was right. His words were harsh, but he was right. Izuku was unreasonable, and making everything about him and his pain. Shoto had said it wasn't all daisies and roses when he was away. Izuku needed to be away for both of their sakes. He couldn't be so deeply involved and he also didn't want to hear more about Shoto's time away. When he wasn't a partner with him.

Shoto floated up to a tall tree to eat his lunch, Envy not there today for some reason. Mitty was with him, and kept slapping his leg, in a non affectionate way. She was angry about him and Shoto not being together. He didn't need Shoto's translating to see the chikorita was angry and wanted him to fix things.

Izuku didn't, and he and Shoto ignored one another. They just didn't know how to make space without completely cutting off. After school, Shoto walked in a direction that wasn't home. Maybe because he'd be going the same direction as Izuku. He stood at the gates sadly before walking home to change and go to the junkyard. He had to be ready… ready to be a hero, not just Shoto's partner.

He did his best not to think about it, and was glad that All Might didn't comment on the other's absence. Izuku had nobody to heal him, nobody to silently encourage him. It was lonely. But he used the loneliness and anger at himself and Shoto and Arceus to spur his efforts that day. He went home, aching badly.

-x- Shoto -x-

Did you make up with your friend?

Not yet.

I'm sorry to hear that. Hey, what do you want to do with your quirks?

Shoto was glad she didn't press on the fight. She asked a simple question. Well, not super simple, but simple compared to Shoto's usual discussions. And he wasn't about to say it was to stop the end of the world.

A hero. I want to go to UA.

Wow! Me too! What kind of hero do you want to be? Rescue, fighting villains?

Idk yet. I'd probably do rescue. I don't like fighting. Pokemon are better than people sometimes.

Shit, he didn't mean to send that.

My quirk wouldn't be suited for fighting either. I don't know about the pokemon. I can't talk to them and all! For me, they're cute and friendly. What are they to you?

They're never mean. They're bright, and kind and innocent. All of the kind I've met. But for some strong ones…

Ooh, what kind of strong ones have you met?

He wanted to blend honesty into it. He'd been talking with Yaoyorozu daily for a week. When he hadn't been talking with Izuku at all. It wasn't like the text conversations lasted all day, and she often left the conversation for awhile and came back later. It was nice having it spaced out. He didn't feel pressure to tell her things, or lay his heart out.

Some legendaries.

Wow, really? Are you lying?

No. It's okay if you don't believe me.

Which have you met?

Celebi was my favorite. Xerneas was very pretty. The other ones were scary.

Can I ask about the others, too?

I really don't think you'd believe me.

Okay, you don't need to tell me. Were you able to talk to the other two?

Yes.

What were they like?

Celebi was really kind and sweet. Xerneas wasn't very talkative, and avoided me mostly. My friend was with me when those happened. He met the ones I did but for the ones that were really dangerous.

Wow, you sound like a busy guy.

You totally don't believe me. I don't have any pictures because it would have been disrespectful to take any photos.

I believe you! I don't think you're lying, or faking. You have no reason to lie or fake.

Okay. She didn't reply, which didn't annoy him as much as he thought it would. Breaks in the conversation were nice. He didn't mind being left on read like this, and it gave him time to do other things and not talk for 12 hours. But he wished he had someone to talk to about the deep stuff.

He'd already said too much to Yaoyorozu. She no doubt thought he was insane. It was midnight when he decided to go on a walk. Touya had an awful sleep schedule because he had all online classes for the semester and could go to bed whenever he felt like it. "Touya? I'm gonna go on a walk."

"Fuck, you're still up?" Touya asked. "You have school in the morning. You've had an awful sleep schedule lately."

"I can't sleep anymore. That's why. I'll be back before mom wakes up."

"Uh, okay. Be safe." Shoto nodded, and put a hoodie on, and then walked down the street. He headed to the nearby park, wanting somewhere with zero light pollution, to look at the stars. He'd left Envy at home so he could just be alone in the silence. Bug pokemon could be heard faintly from the trees.

Shoto had his phone on vibrate to not disturb the silence. He saw it was Izuku. He didn't want to answer, but it might be an emergency. He should be asleep by now. So he answered. "What is it?" his voice was sad and tired. He didn't really want to talk to him right now, but ignoring his call like he was ignoring him at school just was rude.

"I'm really sorry, Shoto."

"Okay. But we went through this before," Shoto pointed out quietly. He was the only one around, laying on the grass. A trio of furrets were looking at him curiously from the tree line. He watched them while he talked. "We need to establish boundaries. I shouldn't… be expected to tell you every little thing. I should be able to have things to myself."

"Alright. And you'll not disappear without telling anybody again."

"I already told you I wouldn't," Shoto said, annoyance creeping into his voice. "Maybe you should find another friend… for you. I mean, my friendship is very stressful. There's always something wrong, bad news. I made another friend, I think it would be good for you, too." He was silent on the other side. "It's just a friend. Not a best friend. She was nice to me and bought me pins."

"I - okay… I don't know where… I'd just find a friend. How did you find her?" he sounded upset.

"Her jigglypuff was poisoned, so I fixed her." He didn't need to give the whole story. "It's not someone from school. Everyone at school are assholes." Izuku agreed. He asked when they could meet again. "We could stop fully ignoring each other at school for a start."

"Yeah… okay." Shoto heard Inko's voice on the other end, telling Izuku to go to bed. "I'm going to go to bed."

"Okay, then I'll see you at school tomorrow." Izuku agreed, and hung up.

He didn't know why, but he texted Yaoyorozu. Are you awake?

Yes. Studying for a test. Why? Is everything okay?

I sort of made up with my friend. Will you still be my friend?

Of course! You can have more than one friend.

Sorry. That was stupid to say.

It's ok! I'm glad you made up with your friend. Hey can you talk to pokemon over the phone?

Idk. I can try. She video called him, and she saw that he was in the park, the light illuminating the background. "You're at the park?"

"I have trouble sleeping."

"Right. Goldie, come here," she said. The jigglypuff peeked into view. "Can you hear what she's saying?"

"No. I don't think it works like that. I've never tried before." The furrets finally jumped him, one of them sitting on his shoulder, another grabbing at his phone. "Hey, stop it," he said. They started chittering away, shouting apologies as they went back into their burrows in shame.

"You must never get lonely, being able to talk to all pokemon. It's such an interesting quirk. I assume you can use pokemon attributes?"

"Huh?"

"Lots of pokemon have levitate. Then there's being able to heal someone. It's so interesting, I'm jealous. What else can you do? Of course you don't need to tell me! I won't pry," she promised. She was laying on her bed, and Shoto saw a mess of papers and books around her.

"I guess I have a lot. Too much to explain, honestly. I can't get any more, though. I… ran out of room…" It was a weird way to describe it.

"Did you get powers from the legendaries you met?!" she asked excitedly.

"Um…" He decided to be honest. It wasn't exposing everything important, and she figured it out herself. "Yeah. I was able to heal Goldie with Celebi's healing power. I met eleven. I don't want to talk about them all."

"How on earth did you FIND them?"

"I got lucky."

"Eleven times?"

"Yeah, I'm really lucky. I really don't want to talk about it, me and my friend got in an argument about it all."

"You don't have to tell me. It's okay to just refuse. I'm sorry I pried." She yawned widely. "I really should go to bed. And you should go home, it's too late to be out alone." Her tone was scolding a bit. He nodded, thinking it was time to go home, too.

"Night."

"Good night, Todoroki-san." The call was over, and Shoto headed back home. He looked at the shiny gold bands around his wrists. He was lucky, he was chosen to do this, and he was doing a good job by everyone's opinions that mattered. It was sad he never got to say goodbye to the Star Room.

When he got back home, everyone was asleep, and he went to his room to watch a show on low volume. Envy joined him. Were you okay?

Yeah. Just went on a walk and talked to my new friend. I'll introduce you next time. If we see each other again. The joleton nodded and curled up in Shoto's lap, sleeping while Shoto was awake and watched the show. With him not sleeping, he had a lot of extra time for hobbies that couldn't fit in his daytime schedule. There was some good about this.

-x-

Things got less awkward with Izuku, which was great. He was very good, outwardly at least, of respecting his need for some sort of privacy. There wasn't really anything new to tell him, though, and he wasn't going to talk about any meetings with Arceus unless they were important. And something uncomfortable happened when Izuku found a friend in the same spot as Yoayorozu.

Uraraka Ochako. Shoto tried not to be upset over it. Not because she stopped talking to them, they had been extremely young at that time, and he was not upset over it. He just didn't know how much Ochako remembered from their time as kids and with Shoto just learning about his odd power.

Shoto didn't want to be pushy, but he bluntly asked, "What does she remember about my situation?"

"It's okay! No worrying, she thinks she remembers stuff like that, but I lied. Said your quirk was just a quirk. I think she bought it, and I'll never expose your secrets. Even if we're never friends again some day, I'll never tell a soul."

"Good. I won't tell anyone your secret with All Might," Shoto vowed with a small smile. Maybe this will work! They could both have side friends to relieve pressure off of their own friendship. Shoto enjoyed talking with Yaoyorozu in shallow ways, about their school days, simple stuff like that. Not deep dives and emotional conversations.

Things looked to be going good. And then they weren't.

When he and Izuku were walking back to his house after school, tired from multiple tests all in one day, there was a fancy car in front of the house. Shoto rose his brows, and when Izuku looked at him questioningly, Shoto shrugged. They hurried forward, and they heard Rei crying and Touya screaming his head off.

"Fuck off! You don't know shit about Shoto!" Shoto hurried inside, deeply alarmed and confused.

"What's going on?" he asked in worry.

Run away Shoto! Run away! Hono and Era were shouting that at him, and he was terrified of whatever was happening. He stepped away from the doorstep, ready to jump the roof and run inside to hide. A hand grabbed him. A man in a suit, looking older and professional. "We've come to remove you from this home."

"Wh-What?" Shoto asked in deep, true confusion and lost.

"It's been deemed an unfit living situation for you."

"Says who?!" Shoto demanded.

"You went missing for three days. You go wandering around at night with no supervision. And Rei-san has said she didn't know you leave the home. Then there's the fact she gave you that scar on your face." How the hell did he know about that? Who told him? "Get your things."

"Forget! You don't know who we are or why you came here," Shoto said to both men who were there to collect him. They looked so confused. "You're at the wrong house. Get out," Shoto said to them. They both looked highly confused and embarrassed being at the wrong house. Shoto slammed the front door shut behind him and Izuku.

"Shoto, how did you do that?"

"Another pokemon ability," he whispered. "I'm sorry. It was all my fault. My fault I went missing, my fault you didn't know I wander around at night." She cried and hugged him. He vowed to not go anywhere else, this was his home. Who on earth was sending these people? Who called CPS or something on them?

-x- Izuku -x-

"What?" Izuku gasped in horror.

"Enji got custody over me. I have to move to his house. At least for now until mom can get me back. Or I can erase all of Enji's memories. Maybe make him not want me. I'll get out of there soon enough, there's no real reason to worry." He sounded detached and cold. And it wasn't personal, he was probably feeling detached and cold.

"What about Touya?"

"I managed to convince him not to burn the former Todoroki house to the ground. He knows I can get out myself if I need to. Well, when I choose to. I'll get out, I refuse to be stuck there. It's in another city, so I'll come to you. Use quick attack to get there. Or float away. Not that there's any reason for you to come to my new house."

"I'm so sorry, Shoto."

"I'm keeping my important belongings at home. The book and the things I got from Arceus when training are in the vents. I still have the pendant. It's not necessary anymore with the rings, but it's important to me."

"You can't use your powers on Endeavor. You'll never get to be a hero if you mess with him."

"Don't worry. I'm subtle and patient. I won't do anything reckless," Shoto assured him. Izuku was heartbroken for him. And for Touya, the only real sibling to care much. It seemed Natsuo was not deemed to be cared for unfittingly. Only Shoto. "I'll call you tonight, okay?"

"Yeah. God, I'm so sorry, Shoto."

"Me too."

-x- Shoto -x-

Shoto didn't remember this place, so it was like seeing it the first time. When he arrived, Enji looked very pleased with Shoto being there. It was nasty. He was shown to his old room, which was barren. There was nothing there, not even a bed. "Where's the bed?" he asked.

"We have traditional furniture here. You will sleep on a futon."

"No thanks," Shoto said in a bland voice, and walked back down the hall, kicking the slippers off, walking in his socks. He explored on his own, peeking in rooms, finding this place was lifeless and boring.

"You will do as I say, I am your guardian-"

"Current guardian, temporarily. If it's my home now, too, I should be able to do what I want." He was going to make himself extremely unlikable. Stubborn. He wasn't a pushover in this. He wanted to avoid conflict when it was not necessary. Bold, the umbreon, approached him. He was there when Shoto was a young child before he was hit in the face. Yet Enji managed to get custody despite the accusation of domestic abuse and child abuse.

It was through his connections that this happened. Because of his status as the number two. "Hello. My name is Shoto," he crouched in front of the umbreon. I remember you. I really like Envy. I'm happy to have another pokemon here.

"Well, sadly I won't be here too long. Maybe Enij could find you another friend."

"You will not speak with Bold."

"Alright. I won't let you hear it," Shoto stated. He picked up the umbreon, his silky, short fur soft.

"You will show me respect. I am your father." He seemed confused that Shoto was not going along with it. Touya told him that Enji had ruled the house with fear. Shoto had not grown up to need to cower. He'd grown up in a free home, surrounded by personality and charm. This place was cold, like an office or some sort of old shrine.

Shoto didn't respond, and went to the kitchen and looked in the fridge for any food. There was nothing that looked good to eat. He saw his gold band blinking. Arceus knew something was really wrong. Instead of going outside, to go buy something to eat somewhere, he left the property without permission and went to a secluded area. Home wasn't safe to have meetings at anymore. Well, not home, where he lived now.

He closed his eyes, and Arceus was there. Shoto. Are you alright?

Not really. I got taken away by my family. Now I'm to live with my abusive father. But I will use the lake guardian's powers to get me out of here. That and time.

You need to be careful. Remember, using them while emotional can do further damage. He knew that, one of the guys that came to get him had what amounted to a TBI from Shoto's use of the power. He wouldn't do the same to Endeavor, he was important, and as much as he now hated him, the hero world in Japan needed him. Especially since All Might's health was declining. The wound was far too old to be healed by Shoto, unfortunately.

I will be safe. I promise. I'll be okay. I don't know how annoying and disrespectful I need to be kicked out. I will contact when I can, okay? He gave an uneasy smile.

I'm sorry this is happening. It is only temporary. Good practice for control with emotions. And handling people you don't like. Shoto agreed, and the meeting was over, his gold band blinking and then back to being flat. He climbed out of the bushes, and went to buy a slurpee from the nearest convenience store. After getting the largest size, he returned the the property, jumping and activating levitation to make it over the wall. The place was huge, but so empty and cold. In all that space, there wasn't a single wild pokemon. There were always some in the backyard at home. The wooper had stuck to their pond for almost a decade.

He walked inside, took his shoes off and went to the family room. Boring. "Where did you go?"

"You don't need to know." Endeavor slammed his fist on the kitchen counter, surprising Shoto and making him jump.

"I am your legal guardian right now and you will listen to me!"

"Are you going to hit me if I don't?" Shoto challenged. "I may have been young but I remember that. And I remember you abusing mom, too. Forcing Touya into hating his own quirk. I am not your son, I'm you prisoner and my sentence won't last long." He'd been through far worse than an angry human.

He'd been nearly ripped into pierces. There was no fear that could top that. He was going to die, and he was going to watch his friend and family die. Right in front of him. This was nothing, and he was not weak. He trained mental strength and confidence. He did not fear Endeavor or his actions.

Shoto ignored him all day, bored as hell in this stuffy, empty house. Endeavor had to go to work, probably beating up villains to get out his anger at Shoto. He thought of something funny. Filling the house with pokemon. To the complete brim. Letting them relieve themselves on the floor, tearing up the floorboards.

He laughed to himself. But he didn't want to scare any of the pokemon. When Endeavor did come back, it was dinner time, but Shoto had already cooked for himself, nothing left for Endeavor. Bold was kind to him, and was very happy to meet Envy and play with her. He was lonely, and it was sad they'd leave him again soon.

"Shoto. You wanted to be a hero, right?" Endeavor asked, arms crossed and face set. Shoto nodded. "You will be a better hero under me. You will have more pull."

"I don't need your 'pull'. I don't need to piggy back off of your tarnished legacy."

"If you do not behave, I will help blacklist you." Shoto let out a small smile. He was recording every interaction they had after he'd slammed his fist on the table. He sent it to Touya, just that small bit. "Why do you find this funny?"

"Nothing." He didn't need his phone taken away. "You know how to work with fire. You have no idea how to work with me. And I don't need any improvement from you. I'm as strong as I'll be for now."

"With a handful of pokemon powers? You can levitate and shoot water. That's it."

"You don't have much information on me." Well, nobody did. Only Touya and Izuku knew about where he got those powers, and that he'd been training for a whole year.

"Then tell me. I want to know so I can better you."

"I'll never tell you all of what I can do," Shoto said, crossing his legs on the only bit of carpet in the whole damn house. He missed carpet and white plastered walls. This place was depressing, and he felt so sad for Touya being here, being forced to do Endeavor's bidding. It made him bitter and angry for so long. Shoto missed him so much. Missed Rei. She must feel so awful when it was all Shoto's fault he was removed.

Endeavor let out an angry sigh, jaw clenched tightly, teeth grinding. Then, something tore at the paperwalls outside. Shoto cud tell it was a pokemon. He got up and opened the ripped door. Hello. You probably shouldn't be here. He's an angry human.

Oh! I'm sorry for damaging things!

No, this was great. Just try and go before you get in trouble, too. The persian left, sauntering away before jumping the gate. "Get used to pokemon visiting. This place isn't going to be lifeless anymore."

In the morning, Shoto woke to Endeavor banging on his door. He didn't wait for Shoto to wake up fully before he was inside, and tossed some clothes down. "Dress. You're attending a new school. You previous one is too far from here." Shoto was furious. But he bit his tongue, not wanting to cause an aneurysm. It would look bad.

"No," Shoto said firmly.

"Would you be let into a place like UA by refusing to attend school? And pokemon are not allowed there. Envy will stay here." Panic was starting to well up in Shoto's chest. He grabbed the uniform and destroyed it with his aggressive lightning, frying it to bits.

"Go fuck yourself," Shoto said slowly and emphatically. He usually didn't swear, but he would not be controlled by this man who didn't want him until he saw him as possibly useful. Endeavor looked shocked and furious that this didn't work. "Maybe if I go missing for awhile you'll be accused of neglect as well," he said in a foreboding voice, and left.

He left in his pajamas, stuffing his shoes on and hurrying out. Envy ran after him. Shoto's hands were shaking, balled into angry fists. He easily noticed someone was following him. A black car. It was completely obvious, and probably was meant to be. Well, it could not follow him as a simple car.

Shoto grabbed Envy, bent his knees, and jumped as hard as he could while activating levitation. Anyone want to fly me somewhere?! And a delibird came over happily. He held onto it's leg as it dragged him away, over neighborhoods, and completely out of the reach of the follower. Thank you, it was an emergency. Envy had her eyes shut tightly, trembling, so Shoto finally landed.

He called Touya, and slightly hysterically freaked out and explained everything. "Just keep being a complete nuisance. He doesn't have the patience he needs for defiant people. You've been sending me recordings, which is really smart."

"While I'm here, I think I'm gonna go and try to find some more legendaries. I mean, it will make me go missing and he can't find me. I can't collect more powers, but I loved meeting them," he explained, walking beside Envy. He had no idea where they were in the city, and didn't really give a shit.

"Totally, but you'll need to come get the book."

"I will," Shoto agreed. "Maybe tonight. It's not like he can stay awake all night and keep me there. I will not be cowed by him. I grew up free and I will continue to live free."

"Damn straight. Be the brave kid I could never be." His voice had bitterness in it, but not at Shoto. But he promised.

When he went back, it was evening. He'd wandered around the city, mapping it a bit, meeting with pokemon, talking with Izuku, Rei, and Yaoyorozu. He wasn't completely alone as long as he had his phone. Which he would hide at night. When he arrived, Endeavor was in his training room.

Shoto kicked his shoes off, and walked inside deeper, pretty hungry. "Where were you?" he demanded when Shoto was noticed downstairs, not exactly being quiet.

"Places. You're stalkers can't follow me if I just fly away," Shoto said, annoyed beyond belief. He hadn't been tired in a long time, but he wished he could sleep. He turned with his bottle of purified water he'd made, and made to go into the hallway, but forgot there was a step up, and tripped landing painfully on his arm. He heard and felt his shoulder dislocate, and grit his teeth. He hid it and pretended to push it back into place himself as it healed automatically.

Endeavor looked suspicious, and Shoto headed to his room, Envy already there, hiding. When he got inside, he shut the door that had no lock, looked out the window, and cried in anger and upset. He wanted to go home. So, when it was 2 in the morning, he snuck away, carrying Envy with him as he was flown all the way to his home.

When he got there, he opened his bedroom window from the roof and entered. He got his travel supplies, and knocked on the door to tell Touya he'd be gone awhile. "Good luck. I love you, have fun." Shoto nodded, and got his book from the vent, looking for the location of the portal. He assumed it would be somewhere cold again, and put his clothes on, the layers, parka, face mask and goggles.

He had himself pulled there, levitating too high in the sky to be noticed, Envy held close to his chest while he floated on his back. It wouldn't do good for Touya to drive him there. He landed on the mountain on the side he'd never been to before, and found the portal with help from pokemon.

The environment was indeed an icy place. He took a deep breath, the tent, food, supplies and sleeping bag strapped to his back. He turned off the location of his phone so he couldn't be tracked, and walked through the portal.

It was freezing immediately, and he was not on a mountain, but a flat, endless tundra. He took the book out, and it showed him in Antarctica. He had no idea how he'd get back home. Hopefully the portal stayed. Or perhaps Articuno would fly him back. That would be fun. He walked with his thick boots, looking for any pokemon to give him the way.

He found a herd of walrein, and walked to them, Envy asking and giving him information. They said Articuno will find us, not the other way around.

When will that be? Envy looked to the walreins and asked.

When the moon is full, she'll come to any human. Shoto didn't know what moon cycle it was right now. It turned out it was a three day cycle, and he used up all his food, hanging out with the walreins herd since there was no guarantee there would be any other pokemon close in the tundra. He'd brought enough freezer food for five days.

The cold was pretty awful, but when the moon was full, he kept a look out while Envy slept. He didn't need to anymore, after all. He looked up when a large shadow covered the white sky. Shoto stood up, shivering. He wanted to go home, but home wasn't where he lived anymore. Freezing here was better than being there. Because he was free here, even if it was uncomfortable.

What is a human doing here? How did you get here?

I used a portal to get here. I wanted to meet you. Shoto had a smile on behind his mask.

You smell odd. Are you really a human?

It's a long story. Would you like to hear it? Articuno landed, nearly as tall as Shoto, but definitely smaller than most of the legendaries he'd meat besides Celebi.

Let us go somewhere more comfortable. I would like to hear it. Shoto picked up Envy and they walked to the den of the ice legendary bird. It was a cave, still cold but away from the wind and snow. When he sat down, it was warmer inside but still cold. Envy looked curious, sizing up the large bird. She seemed to like what she saw, and relaxed against Shoto's leg. Tell me.

So Shoto explained his life and his mission. He wasn't there to take her power, he just was entrapped in them and wanted to see more, even if the visits would leave him with no lasting impact other than the happy memory.

He had a long conversation with the bird. Not needing to sleep allowed him to talk through the night and into the morning. It was really nice, and it didn't seem like any bad pokemon were going to come and ruin it since there were no large pokemon in the area. Nothing threatening. I should make my way back to the portal. It's been four days or so and is a long walk back.

Very well. You were an entertaining human to be around. I will escort you back to the portal. If Envy wasn't there, he'd be able to walk through the night, but she still slept. It took a long five hours to get back, fighting against the wind while the ice bird flew in circles. She was gorgeous, and seemed very non threatening. Friendly.

When they got back to the portal, Shoto said goodbye. Goodbye, Shoto. I wish you good luck on your journey.

Whenever he told them about the shadow pokemon, they all seemed so… nonchalant. Either they were unafraid, accepted it, or had faith in him to save them. He doubted it was the last one. He stepped through the portal back into the warmth, and watched the portal close as the bird flew away.

He gave a shaky laugh. "We met another one. She was nice." Envy agreed. Shoto looked at his phone and saw it had indeed been over four days. Though it was four days for him, too. Not a year. He had a ton of messages that, of course, had not reached him where he was. He called Izuku to tell him he was back. This time he understood why Shoto didn't tell him, as Endeavor had come to interrogate him about Shoto's whereabouts. "I met Articuno. It was in Antarctica and super cold."

"Wow! That's awesome!" Shoto was glad he didn't bring up returning to the Endeavor household. Maybe him running away would be good. He then called Touya, who lightly asked how it went. Shoto lightly explained his time, and that he would be walking back.

"That's a long walk. If you want, I can bring you the change of clothes you left and take your stuff back to the house." That was a good idea, and he agreed. So, Touya met him where he was waiting, and he changed and put the ice supplies in the trunk. Touya promised to put the book back in the vent, and Shoto trusted him.

He asked, "Was Endeavor freaking?"

"Oh yeah. He had heroes and police looking everywhere for you. Couldn't track your phone, of course being fuckin' out of range. I pretended to have no idea. Be prepared for him being super pissy."

"At least he knows he can't keep me locked up." Touya sighed sadly. "It's not your fault, it's mine. How's mom doing?"

"She's doing everything to legally get you back. Hopefully she'll win the case soon. You'll probably go to court. Keep sending me recordings, I'm putting them in the Cloud for safe keeping." Shoto nodded, and they stopped in a neighborhood away from the mansion. Shoto got out, Envy jumping down after him. He had nothing with him that he hadn't left with. He made sure there was no ice anywhere, and walked to the property, levitating himself and Envy over the side wall.

His presence sent a bell ringing from somewhere. He hadn't showered in four days, so he had to smell a little bit. When he walked inside, Endeavor was there and blew up in fury. Shoto didn't react to it.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

"I went on a hike," he said. It was true, at least.

"I had heroes looking for you! Your phone was untraceable!"

"What, the number two hero couldn't handle finding his own kid?" and Shoto was backhanded against his face, throwing him into the wall. He wasn't really surprised, but shocked in the moment. He looked up at the man with wide eyes. He looked like he was surprised he'd done it. "Once an abuser, always an abuser," Shoto stated. He got up and went to the bathroom. Envy was livid, but Shoto convinced her to just stay away from him. She was afraid of him, even if she was very upset over what he'd done.

He went to the bathroom and saw there wasn't a single mark, not even a red print. Probably from his rapid healing. He was completely alone, and back in a place he was to be abused.

The next morning, he left before the sun was up to drop Envy off at home so Endeavor didn't hurt her in any way, put on his new school uniform, and walked to the school, following his phone's directions. When he got there, it didn't look like a normal school at all. More rich and expensive.

He sighed and sat at the gate until they opened before school started. He'd been reading in the dark and then the dawn light. The sky was pretty.

I'm at my temporary new school. It's for rich kids. I hate it already.

I'm sorry. How are you? Were you in trouble for disappearing for four days?

Yeah. He hit me. Izuku called instantly, fuming, even though Shoto had been through worse than that, Izuku having been there. But he could lie and say it wasn't upsetting. "I don't have any proof. The bruise healed too fast. I'm not sure what to do. It's not gonna end up good for either of us, and there's no way in hell I'd go to his agency. If that would even matter before the shadow pokemon begin."

He looked at the gold rings on his wrists, touched his pendant, yet felt so alone. "I'll be okay, I'll get out soon. Mom is working on it, and I have some testimony. With the recordings I've been sending to Touya."

"Still…" Izuku said uncertainly. The gates grinded open, and Shoto said goodbye. He should have started two days ago, but he'd been in the south pole at that time. When he went inside, he hated the place already. It was pompous. He went to the class he was in, and the teacher directed him to a seat in the back. He missed Izuku, he didn't want to be here. He didn't have rich kid problems, he grew up in a more normal household.

The people at his real middle school didn't act like his scar was that big of a deal anymore. There were the bullies, but nobody really stared unless they were actively trying to make fun of him. When the kids came in, they stared at him. This was awful, there wasn't a single pokemon there. He felt so alone surrounded only by humans. Humans he didn't know. He didn't make eye contact with anyone. Just looked out the window.

He picked nervously at his skin where the red color was. On his chest, out of sight. "Todoroki-san!" He looked up and saw Yaoyorozu there. Oh, nice. He gave a stiff nod, and looked out the window again, picking harder. She sat next to him. "Did you move schools?"

"For now." She looked a bit confused. He was really uneasy, only people there. People he didn't know. "This is only temporary."

"Oh, I see," she said. Thankfully, she didn't sound to disappointed. He did his work diligently, not planning on doing badly at school just to get back at Endeavor. He just wouldn't behave at the house. At the damn house that was a prison. How long until he got to go home? Surely it shouldn't be that hard to get him back.

At lunch, there were a lot more places to go to eat, but Yaoyorozu came with him, seeming like she didn't hang out with her friends at lunch, or just wanted to sit with him. The food was what he prepared, boring and not really looking that nice. "Why'd you move, Todoroki-san?" He looked around for any pokemon, but there were none. He felt like he was suffocating in a sea of humans, even out there. Envy must miss him.

"My dad stole custody of me."

"Oh… I assume you don't like that?"

"No. He's abusive and I want to go back to my mom's with my siblings," Shoto said, poking at his food with the chopsticks. He couldn't bring himself to eat any, and closed it, setting it on the bench beside him.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. Why did you need to leave? You seemed fine being there." She was prying but in the way that made him know he could decline to answer.

"I ran away and my dad blamed my mom for it."

"Why did you run away?"

"...I wanted to meet more pokemon, so I left and went camping without anyone noticing. I've been doing it for years, this was just the only time I didn't have anyone cover for me…" Yaoyorozu seemed surprised by him admitting he periodically ran away from home but never got caught.

"Well, did you end up meeting more pokemon, at least?" Shoto nodded.

"How do you do it? There's just people here," he said.

"It was hard to get used to, but after being here, it's not so strange." He wouldn't get used to it, this was awful. At least in most high schools, even hero high schools, pokemon were allowed.

Shoto sighed. "I want to go home," he mumbled, looking down. "My dad is an awful person. He threatened to black list me from being a hero if I don't behave for him. Then he hit me when I backtalked." She gasped, and asked why he didn't tell anyone. "I don't know who to tell. I don't have any proof either."

"Call the police!" The police were on his side as the number two hero. He shrugged, not feeling like hashing it all out. He'd get out in any way he could. He wouldn't be there long. "Well, for now, it's nice to see you more." Shoto nodded, at least glad there was one friendly face. It would be easier with pokemon there. He felt like he was going through some sort of withdrawals. Was it wrong to be so attached that being without them made him sick? Was it whatever part of him him was pokemon that made him feel like he needed them.

He'd never been somewhere so void of them. Endeavor had his umbreon, here there was nothing. He missed Envy a lot, and the other eeveelutions. Hono especially. He missed Hero's bad attitude, Era's jealousy and insecurity about being Fuyumi's favorite. Most of all, he missed his mom, Touya and Izuku. He'd wanted boundaries, but not to not be unable to see him at all. He didn't want any of this.

It would have been more likely for Shoto to know Endeavor as a hero if he hadn't forced him to live in that shithole. When he got back, he went into his barren, boring and cold room. The whole house was cold with the stupid paper walls. He scribbled out the math and writing homework quickly. Then he went to pick up Envy and bring her back.

It wasn't not allowed for him to go home, so he stayed there the rest of the day before returning at night, already having eaten dinner. He hadn't told Touya he was hit or the young adult would burn the place to the ground, possibly. The flat futon was just awful, and he hated having to sit up and stand up to do anything. He had no TV, so he just watched stuff on his laptop all night, of course unable to sleep.

He had headphones on for it. The thirteen year old looked at the digital clock by the head of the futon. 4 AM. He stood up, and went to the bathroom to shower before leaving when the sun barely rose, avoiding Endeavor as much as he could by leaving early and returning late. He and Envy ended up going to stay with Izuku while he trained. He was getting much stronger at a faster rate.

When the human and his jolteon appeared at the junkyard beach, Izuku saw them and sprinted up the steps to hug him tightly. Shoto hugged him back tightly. "I want to go home so much," Shoto said quietly, holding in tears. "He's awful. I just stay away from him as long as possible. He keeps trying to corner me, and hits me when I mouth off. I can't even prove it since my injuries heal."

Izuku pulled away, looking livid. Then All Might arrived. "All Might, Shoto needs help." Shoto thought this might work. Who had more pull than the number one? Endeavor was the number two. Shoto and Izuku explained everything. Well, not nearly everything, but about Shoto being at Endeavor's place, being abused, forced to stay there when Rei had done nothing wrong.

All Might's face hardened at hearing his colleague abused his son. Shoto was bitter about it because he'd tried to stay on friendly terms ever since he was little, and it was all thrown away by now. Endeavor didn't care about how he was repaying Shoto's efforts for a long time to not hate him.

But, he could not bring himself to forgive him for this. For ripping him away from his family, forcing him to go to a new school void of what made him feel whole. For hitting him, yelling at him. Being an awful person. All Might vowed to try and do something. When he got back to the house after going shopping at the mall with Izuku after he exercised, Envy went to have some poketreats.

I don't know how Izuku was ever able to eat these. They smelled bad.

Why don't you like them? You were like a pokemon!

No way. They were nasty before. Though that was a long time ago for me. He popped one into his mouth and his face tuned sour as he spat it into the trash. Envy laughed at him with her yipping noises.

"Hush, how dare you mock my pains," he said, happy to have her. Then Endeavor came back, and he took his food to his room. The child had ordered Envy to never be alone in this house. Shoto didn't put it past Endeavor to hurt his pokemon to get back at him.

Shoto decided to be a brat, to maybe deter Endeavor from hitting him again. "I reported you for hitting me."

"You can't prove it."

"This person doesn't need proof. He knew me before this happened, he trusts me. It's bad for your career if he doesn't trust you." Endeavor's jaw set. "Someone who ranks higher than you."

"You told All Might?!" Endeavor raged. Shoto nodded, and made to made to leave for his room before he was roughly grabbed by the arm. Envy bit onto the man's leg when Shoto yelled at him to let go. He kicked her across the room with a whimper. Shoto lost it. "You will never want to see me ever again and want to send me back to Rei!" he shouted. Not to fuck up his brain, but to get him to willingly get rid of Shoto.

Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere? Envy shook her head, but was still scared and whimpering. Endevor ordered him to leave, he didn't want him anymore. Perfect. Shoto gladly got his things and called Touya to come get him. He did, and Shoto was happy to tell him what happened. That he was no longer going to be wanted by Endeavor. He didn't tell his brother about the physical abuse, but he was laughing and happy Shoto used his power to help himself.

Shoto cried in the backseat when they pulled up to the house. He ran inside and hugged Rei and his other, more distant and uninvolved siblings. They'd missed him, too, though. That felt nice. "Honey, what are you doing here? Are you alright?"

"I made Endeavor not want me around anymore. And to send me back to you," Shoto said honestly. He hugged her a long time, the mother running her fingers through his hair lovingly. He was immediately re-enrolled back in his original school when Rei got an email saying that Endeavor relinquished any sort of contact with Shoto. He wanted nothing to do with him. Reading the message gave him a deep sense of satisfaction.

He was free again. He wouldn't run away without having a cover ever again. He hurt so many people by telling nobody where he was going. Hurt his family, his friend and himself. When he was in class, back where he belonged, beside Izuku, he messaged Yaoyorozu that he was able to get out, and so would not be going to her school anymore.

That's great, I'm glad you're safe!

Me too. Thanks for being my friend for the days there.

I'm your friend already, you know. Shoto gave a tiny smile.

Thanks.