"Old man! Where the fuck are you?" Todoroki ran through the front doors, shaking the frame as he went in search of his father. Upon reaching his study, he found Enji talking to a slim man wearing a tan jacket with expansive red wings emblazoned on the back. "Who are you?"
Turning around, the stranger had a catty smirk on his face. "Ah, Shoto! I've heard a lot about you, first time seeing you in person, though! I was just dropping off the results of some errands your father delegated to me. If that's everything, I'll take off now. Don't hesitate to call me again, Enji, you know I'll fly back in a hurry."
Ignoring the man with the wings, Todoroki turned back to his father. "What the hell did you do?"
"Oh, your little affair with the green-haired whore? What do you think?" Enji reached down and pulled a cardboard box onto the desk. "Open it."
Todoroki crept toward the desk, leery of his father's ominous expression. Touching the lid of the box, he froze, not wanting to see the contents.
"Tch, fucking coward!" Enji yelled as he tossed the lid aside, revealing Deku's missing leg, grotesquely clean compared to the rest of the person it had been attached to. Todoroki stumbled back, tripped on his heel and fell to the floor.
"You crazy fuck! How could you do this? I love him! He was going to leave that place, start a new life with me!"
Enji stood up from his desk and walked over to where Todoroki lay on the floor. "You don't even know the whole story, do you? Where that fucking slut has been? If your dear brother Touya was still here, he could tell you all about it. How he found himself in that same fucking club. He fell in love with your precious little whore too."
Eyes wide, Todoroki could only shake his head in disbelief. "No, no that isn't true. It can't be."
"I found out about their relationship just before the media outlets caught wind of it. With the connections I had at the time, plus a few favors, I managed to spin the scandal into something more manageable. Touya refused to stop seeing him, saying that he loved the boy, just like you're saying now. So I decided that if I couldn't make him break it off, I'd break the boy."
"You were the reason for his scars. You had him attacked just to hide his relationship with your son? Fucking bastard, you make me sick!"
"Trash like that didn't need such a pretty face. All it did was lure good men with potential into lewd and career-threatening depravity. I've done you a favor severing you from that piece of shit. He would have only used you for what you were worth and took off once he sucked you dry."
"You're wrong!" Todoroki yelled as he rose to his feet. "We had a genuine connection. Shared parts of us that we had thought would always be kept hidden. He overcame the fucking trauma that you caused and fell in love again. And you ruined it all. I won't let you get away with this, you sick fuck! You thought you were avoiding another scandal by hurting him? You've unleashed a fucking monster now!"
"You'd better think carefully before you make any decisions, Shoto. There's only a leg in that box. It could have been his heart. If you want that little slut to stay alive, I'd suggest you get your own shit together. I only need to make a single phone call to make him disappear for good."
The fire that had burned in Todoroki's gut lost its fuel. He knew his father well enough to believe him capable of following through with his threat. Deku was right, his family had ruined his life. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he caused the end of it. Looking away, his arms fell limp at his sides.
"One day you'll pay for this," Todoroki said, his voice void of all feeling. His head hung low, he quickly left his father's study. Enji watched him leave with cold eyes.
"When that time comes, I'm sure I'll have earned it."
Pacing in his room, Todoroki brushed his hair away from his face in a fluster. He had to make a move soon. No doubt his father would anticipate any attempts to retaliate. Patience would have to be his angle here. With time, his father would move on from this incident. He'd only need to keep the desire to avenge Izuku alive until the perfect opportunity presented itself. That didn't mean he had to stand idle now though. Pulling his phone from his pocket, dried blood still on his fingers, he dialed up Kirishima.
"Hey, sorry to bother you, but I have a favor to ask."
"Hey bro, what's up?"
"There's someone that I need you to locate for me. All I need is contact info. I can take it from there."
"You know I gotcha, man! Who is it that you're looking for?" Kirishima wasn't the type to be nosey, for the line of work that he was planning to go into, it was best not to ask many questions.
"My oldest brother, Touya. He left home several years ago over some... disagreements with our father. I'm not sure of his exact whereabouts, but I know he hasn't left Japan."
Nodding, Kirishima pulled out a small notepad and pen from his jacket pocket and wrote down the details for his search. "You mind if I ask you something?"
"Sure," Todoroki said with a shrug.
"Does this have anything to do with what happened at Ultra? I have friends that told me about the attack on De-"
"What if it does?" Todoroki interrupted, his voice tinged with anger.
"Look, I know you and him have a thing going on. Or at least had a thing, and it was the first time I've seen you actually look happy. You deal with a lot of shit because of your family, but it was good to see you find someone that could make you forget that. If this is about taking care of what happened to Deku, then I want to help in any way I can. You know I have a vast network that can make a lot of things happen. I don't want you to feel like you're alone in this."
Todoroki laughed at the irony of it all. His father had started all of this because he wanted to keep his image clean, and here he was discussing revenge plans with the son of a mafia elite. It was almost too perfect.
"I didn't want to drag anyone else into this, Kirishima. I appreciate the offer, but I think this is a matter best settled by family. I'm sure you understand."
"Yeah, I do. You have my full support with anything you need, Todoroki. I'll have your brother's information sent to you as soon as it's confirmed."
"I appreciate it, Kirishima. And thank you for being so understanding."
"No problem, bro!"
Kirishima sent the message containing Touya's current address and number within an hour of their call. Now that he had the means to make contact, he felt hesitant to do so. If it was true that Touya had a relationship with Izuku, how would he feel once he revealed what had happened since he was gone? Would his brother lash out at him? He'd missed having him around as one of the few people that understood the pressure put on them by their father and his position.
No, if anyone would know how to best handle this situation, it would be Touya. So he sat down and entered the number into his phone, finger hovering over the Call button before he quickly pressed it and held his breath. One ring… then two… three…
"Who's this?" a gritty voice asked on the other end of the line.
"It's me, Touya. It's Shoto. Look, there's something that we need to discuss."
"Well if it isn't my little brother. It's been a while, Sho. How did you get this number? I made sure to toss the one connected to the family when I took off."
"Connections. Is there any way we can meet in person? I need to talk to you."
"I've got nothing to do with the family anymore, Sho. If it has something to do with tha-"
"It's Deku. I need your help, Touya. They... No, he did something that can't go unpunished."
A long pause followed by a deep breath answered his plea. "Go to the train terminal, get on the S Line and ride it until it reaches its last stop. I'll be waiting for you there." Touya hung up on him as soon as he finished his instructions.