III

Last spoiler warning!

Stop reading if you don't want any potential CANON plot points ruined. I looked through all the public works and made some theories on the Todoroki family. I'm not sure if I'll write all the way until the magna timeline, but I do have stories in mind to develop the Todoroki gang from angry victims or Super-Bad-Dad (Endeavor) into the more reasonable human beings we see in the series. Thank you to those that leave comments – know that I read every one and take them all into account. Know that most of your questions have already been addressed and that your minds are too quick for my posting speed.

Shoto went to bed first and Fuyumi followed an hour later. Natsuo and Toya stayed awake and waited for their dad to get home. There's no way she can beat him, Toya told himself. Even with two quirks, Dad is the number two hero. He has way more combat practice. He's logged hundreds of hours of fighting. Farm work isn't the same. It won't strengthen your reaction time or give you battle instincts. He told himself every logical reason as to why he shouldn't get his hopes up. For all her talk, Teiko was going to fail.

The sounds of approaching feet had Teiko nod to the boys. "If you want, you can listen," she tells them both. "Go upstairs, keep out of sight and don't say a word. No matter what you hear, don't come down." They scampered to obey. Toya paused at the top of the landing and cast one last look over his shoulder. Teiko waved him on. It was nice to see you without any bruises. He thought as he moved just out of her eye line.

When Todoroki Enji entered his home, he set his freshly removed shoes beside Teiko's duffle bag. "You didn't pick a room," he noted. "Does that mean you're not staying? You can't handle a couple of kids?" He instantly assumed the worst and attacked with an equal mix of condescension and frustration.

"Nah, they're good kids. I'm staying for as long as they need me." Enji snorted, but seemed satisfied. "Shoto and I went out and looked at the sights."

She's lying to Dad to cover my ass. Toya felt a surge of guilt and gratitude. When his aunt lost the fight, it'd be one more thing Toya and Teiko would have to pay for.

Enji had begun to cross the room, but he paused. "You what?" He demanded. "You took my crowning achievement and took him out into the world?" That's all it took for his rage to ignite. His small moustache of flames rose higher in his anger. His ox-like frame rounded with fire blazing.

Teiko didn't even stand. "What achievement? You probably raped your wife and signed a few documents nine months later. She's the one that grew, birthed, and nursed him. You put in the same amount of effort as you did with your other three children."

Get up, idiot! If you want to stand a chance, you have to be on your feet. Toya knew from experience that the opponent always lost if they started on their butts.

Enji stormed across the room and tried to grab his sister by the throat. She slapped him neatly away. In the same movement, sand sprayed towards his face. It had been decades since he last saw the trick, yet Enji still expected it. He set his blaze just large enough to block the attempt. "You've never had children, you can never understand," he growled. His arm reached forward and he clasped his hand on her chin, which left her no choice but to stare at him.

"You've never had children either, idiot. Men don't work that way."

"I could snap your neck," he snarled. "He's only excellent because of me and my training. In any other family his potential would be wasted!" Shoto's door slid carefully open. Dad's shouting must have woken him up. Toya lifted his finger to his lips and shook his head softly. Don't talk.

"What if I told you my phone was on and was recording this entire conversation on a livestream."Tieko reached her hand up to grab his loosened fingers and pull them away. "Endeavor, the flame hero, a coward. That would make a nice title, wouldn't it?" Enji threw the first punch, but she was ready. Precise, needle thin gems punctured his flesh. Toya heard a sharp and undeniably masculine groan of pain.

She got a hit in? As one, Toya and Natsuo peered their heads around the corner. Enji's back was to them and Teiko was too focused on her brother to pay the children any mind. The siblings watched as their father pulled a six centimeter spike from his flesh. Blood dripped on the floor. She didn't even move. Toya couldn't help but be impressed. "You forgot to light them on fire," she sighed, as if she were the instructor and the infuriated man her student. "All you did was turn it into glass."

Glass? The shining object wet with his father's blood glinted in the downstairs lights. Did she do that? Or did he? Toya watched as the thin senbon disintegrated into nothing. Teiko lifted her phone. She mimicked the paparazzi so carefully as she held the device in his face, all while making sure she had it firmly in her grasp. "So, Endeavor. Tell the world. Are you going to let your crowning achievement see the world?"

"You'd do this to your own brother?" He snarled, his eyes widened with hate.

"Yup, sure would. I'll bury you in the front lawn and put up a sign that says kick me if you really want to revisit the things I'm willing to do to you." She knew she'd won. The red head slid neatly to her feet. Toya felt immense satisfaction when his father took a step backwards. She coerced him.

Enji finally complied. He stared at the mobile like it was a bomb. "Of course I'll let Shoto go outside. What kind of father wouldn't?"

Teiko grinned. "Precisely." Her hand dropped back to her side.

Shoto looked ecstatic. Tears of pure joy welled in his eyes. Toya quietly crept over to his youngest brother to share in a near silent fist-bump. Natsuo bounced from behind the wall. "I can't believe it!" He whispered with unbridled enthusiasm. The odds before had seemed insurmountable.

"Huh?" Enji turned his head and glared at the children. "Get back to your rooms!" He didn't want to address the elephant in the room, that they'd heard him admit defeat. The trio scurried, as ordered, and snapped their doors behind them.

Just this once, Teiko let Enji have his way. She chuckled as they scurried off.

Toya sat on his sheets for a long time. His mind filled with thoughts and heart full of desires he'd dared not even dream. For the first time, he saw that a hero could exist without a spot in the ranks. Teiko didn't have a license, but she had saved them all from their personal hell. Not only would he go to school tomorrow, but he'd stand up tall while he did it. Eventually, he drifted off with hopes for a brighter future.