Earth, fire, air, water.

People are not created equal. They never are. That was the raw truth that Izuku Midoriya learned at the age of six.

He lived in a world where people could bend a natural element, starting years ago without a specific origin.

He couldn't. And every time he tried; a horrible exhaustion caught him.

His mom sometimes told him stories of old times, but she never knew how to tell him how bend came about. But she did tell him about a being that could bend the four elements, and with it, he maintained peace among all nations. She told him how he was considered a hero of legend and how each of the people who possessed this title had died courageously, or lived his life being brave and persistent to reach a dignified old age.

She told him the story of Aang, who ended a war, and together with his friends built the city in which Izuku lived; he told her the story of Kyoshi, who created Kyoshi Island and the orders of the Kyoshi warriors and the Dai Li; the history of Korra and how he faced numerous enemies that almost ended his life and the peaceful order that the world had at that time; of Sena who died in a pitched battle after a horrible situation that led the world to the exile of beings called "spirits" (with some exceptions, but he never told her who); of Nana who faced an evil man twice; and Toshinori, or as she sometimes called All Might, who was the bravest of all. The latter was Izuku's favorite, as his mom always told him of great feats and how he helped others with her charisma, always with a smile. His mom never gave him dates, nor did she tell him what title these people had or how they managed to bend the four elements, always leaving him with a lot of curiosity ... Although she didn't know why these stories jingled in her head.

At school, he would sometimes tell the stories of his mom, but they always told him that they were lies and bedtime stories, especially a ruby-eyed blond boy who made fun of him.

"Hahaha! As if that was possible, nerd! Nobody can bend shit apart of one! Besides, if he were, he would never beat that weird guy over me, or my firebending!"

"Kacchan would never lose! I know that! But still I think you shouldn't make fun of my mommy's stories..." Izuku admired that child, although sometimes he couldn't help feeling sad about his comments ...

"Shut up, Deku!"

"... Deku?"

"It's another way of reading your name. It means useless"

"Don't be mean, Kacchan..."

When he asked his mom why everyone said they were false stories, she only gave him a smile.

"Kacchan! Wait for me!" The greenette boy was running behind the blond-haired one.

"Run faster, dumb Deku!" The blonde said with a somewhat annoyed voice, although he had a small mischievous smile on his lips. "You're too slow and you must keep it up with us! If not, we will leave you!"

Izuku was familiar with these kinds of phrases directed towards him.

"Don't be mean, Kacchan" The boy came behind the blonde. Panting, he tried to catch his breath. He wasn't very good at running.

"Why do we have to wait for him?" A long-haired boy asked in a low voice to the blonde and other plump boy. The blond only rolled his eyes. The other replied.

"We don't hang out with him; he just sticks to Bakugo". And he rolled his eyes.

Izuku puffed out his cheeks turning to the other side.

"Shut up! We must practice! And you just watch, Deku!" It was the last thing the blonde said, giving a kick in the air that generated a bright flame that illuminated the place.

Katsuki and Izuku grew up together. Their moms were best friends and they made them grow together. His mom said that, since he was in her belly, Kacchan was already looking for him. And he felt safe with him, despite the hurtful words he said to him. Kacchan was his friend, and had great admiration for him, more than the heroes of his mom's stories, more than his favorite All Might.

It was good to have such a close friend. Even though he sees him as if there was something wrong with him, as he was useless, as he was a defenseless baby.

Those looks were what made him realize that he wasn't treated like the others. But even if that was his premise, he wasn't going to stop. He wanted to help people, he wanted to be brave and smart and cunning, like the heroes in his mom's stories.

Unless he had nightmares.

That man was murdered.

Two sharp spikes of earth pierced through him: The first went through his back, smashing the lower part of his spine and making his legs lose bend. The second pierced through his stomach, part of a lung, and his intestines. Ten minutes of agony that were eternal.

But it was enough to hear the masked man in front of him say, "Damn it Raava. If you try to destroy my ideal world again... I swear your next life will be the last. You will never see Tui or Agni again". The blue-eyed man could just move his arms with the little strength he had left for the last time and impale the man in black with two other spikes equal to or sharper than those that pierced him, digging into the stomach and part of the skull of the masked man.

The blond, who looked quite muscular, gave a sigh into the air. His entire body seemed to deflate, to the point that he looked like a skeleton ... And he closed his eyes permanently...

It was at that moment that Izuku always woke up, trembling and with a pain in his abdomen that instantly vanished. It wasn't a pleasant thing to dream of the death, and much less when that dream was so recurrent. He could even detect which days he would have it: every full moon, since he was six years old to the present day.

The greenette had the habit of naming everything he heard, saw, and dreamed of, and then wrote it down in a series of notebooks that he had arranged in his bookshelf, all with a common title: "Analysis for the future, volume_" and a serial number. He never wrote down this nightmare, because he already knew it by heart, but at least he had a name for it: The nightmare of the blood moon.

Whenever the blood moon caught him in his dreams and woke him up, he just sat down, turned on the night lamp next to his bed, and began to see everything he had around him: blankets, curtains, the mirror, his lamp, a stuffed animal in the shape of a red fire ferret (a gift from his aunt Mitsuki, Kacchan's mom), the world map on his wall (a gift from his dad sent by mail a few years ago).

On nightmare nights his throat felt dry and he woke up very thirsty, and if he had finished the glass of water his mom placed on the bureau before going to sleep, he wouldn't get up for another. He was afraid that, when he left his room, he would encounter the blood moon scene, seeing the intestines of the blond-haired man or the man in a black suit impaled against the wall with his skull destroyed.

Then he would try to distract himself by looking at the world map or reading the notebooks with his daily notes. When he saw the world map, he wondered what the world was like outside of a republic city: Would they have animals everywhere? Or would it be just as advanced as in the city? Sometimes he liked to imagine going to those places, on a flying bison, or seeing turtle ducks in the wild and not in the private ponds of wealthy families. He also read his notes reminding him stuff: if he had finished homework, if he had sent a message to his dad that day, if he hadn't forgotten to eat, if he had helped someone today...

And he would go back to sleep hugging his pillow.

Those nightmares weren't the only thing that haunted Izuku. From the age of seven, although he followed Bakugo closely, he began to treat him worse than he already did: The bad looks and the rude words that came out of the blond's mouth, became blows from which he couldn't defend himself, although he was grateful that the blonde had never thought of hitting him using firebending ... besides that, sometimes, the blonde was kind to him and ... Well. He knew he wasn't that bad. The blonde always said that this was to teach him to defend himself, but that he was so useless that it seemed that the beatings they gave him were on purpose and not with the aim of teaching him to fight for himself. "Stupid Kacchan" was the only thing the one in blue could think of…

But not everything was bad! At least when it comes to his mom...

His mom, Inko Midoriya... A sweet, kind, and caring woman. She always did everything better for him, she loved him, and he loved her back... She always cared about him, told him those stories that he liked so much, she took his hand and made him feel special, she hugged him the nights that The Blood Moon left him way too scared to be able to calm himself down, cured him of the blows that Kacchan and his friends gave him (always asking who was hitting him, but he always makes up an excuse that he fell or collided with things. It wasn't hard to believe because he was quite clumsy), helping him to remember things that he forgotten, telling him about his dad and how he and his mom met, also telling him the stories that his dad had told her about his childhood, and telling him about her country of origin...

Who also was a very skilled nurse who, based on her healing abilities as a waterbender, worked as a private nurse, attending people who required her care in their homes. She took care of everyone: old people, children, women, men, athletes, benders, non-benders, she even attended important people like the General Enji Todoroki and his family.

When he was eight years old, he met the Todoroki's while he went there with his mom. It was a traditional house, with a large garden in the center. There he saw the turtle-ducks for the first time in his life, in the small pond the family had in the center of the large garden.

His mom was attending to the general, when he approached the small pond, to see those curious animals, kneeling in front of them. He stretched out his hand towards one of the animals...

"Don't touch Aoi, she will bite you"

Izuku got scared, jumping in his place, and going head-on about to fall into the pond.

A hand grabbed him by the collar of his blue shirt and pulled him back, falling backward onto the grass. Izuku squeezed his eyes at the hit in his head, rubbing himself. And when he opened his eyes, he saw him.

It was a boy! about his age. He had a strange look. His eyes were a purple grayish, as if mixing the fire of a boiling embers and the water of a stormy night, and his hair was two colors: His left side was red like fire, his right side was white like ice. He also noticed that he was wearing elegant clothes from the fire nation.

"Are you ok?" The two-colored boy asked, keeping a stoic gaze. Izuku just nodded, sitting down on the grass somewhat embarrassed. "I'm glad". And the boy sat next to the green and blue boy, watching the pond...

"... I-I'm Midoriya Izuku!" The one with freckles said suddenly, bowing and stretching his little hand towards the other to introduce himself. His mom had told him that introducing himself hand-held was the elegant way to do it, but since she had never done it, he felt super weird.

The stoic-eyed one bowed his head a little, then reached out and took the other boy's hand.

"Todoroki Shoto"

Hey! That was the general's last name - was this his son? His mom told him that the general had several children, but he never thought that he would meet one of them. Would he want to be his friend?

"Do you like turtle ducks?" Shoto asked looking back at the pond.

"Uh, Yeah! But I've never seen one live until today" The greenette nodded enthusiastically. Some ducklings approached where they were.

"That's good... Did you come with the lady who takes care of us?" Izuku nodded, while Shoto just nodded back. "I understand..." they were silent for a few seconds... Andthen the boy in red took one of the turtle-ducks in his hands. "Nene is a kinder one, I think she is not going to bite you" And he passed it to the green-haired boy.

Izuku couldn't help but smile, taking the little animal in his hands.

"Do they all have names?"

"Yes." The boy with dual hair replied. "Nene is the one you are holding in your hands. We recognize her because she has a little spot on her shell that looks like a heart" He said pointing to the spot. Izuku saw her... Yeah! she had heart-shaped mark! "Aoi is this one," he pointed out with his finger. "We recognize her because her shell has a blue tint".

And then, he was naming the ten duckling-turtles from his pond: Nene, Aoi, Haru, Rena, Hana, Yuki, Hekapu, Feza and Kurimo. Izuku held Nene in his hands ... he had to write down the names before they forgot! Also, the child's name! He had so many questions that-Oh right, he didn't bring his notebook... "Todoroki, Todoroki, Todoroki" was repeated in his head many times, to not to forget the child's last name. At least that one to remember...

The more serious boy looked at the green-haired one for a moment and tilted his head when he saw the boy's nervous face.

"You don't like to hold Nene? Did something happen?"

"Uh!? No-I say yes! I-It's nothing! I was thinking on something else!" The one with freckles turned as red as the clothes of the gray-eyed one. He tried to distract himself by seeing the animal in his hands, stroking her head...

Shoto nodded silently again, and they stayed that way for a while until Izuku turned the double boy over.

"Can you bend any element?" He asked curiously, to which the serious boy nodded.

"I'm just learning, but yes, I can bend fire. Why do you ask?" He cocked his head again.

"Oh, just! Curiosit ... I just love the fact that people can bend the elements so much. It is fascinating!"

- ... Do you bend any?" Asked back the pale skin.

"N-No..." Izuku replied, shrugging into his place. He lowered the duckling and put him back in the pond.

"Oh" Todoroki just replied, seeing Nene in the water again. - Then you are equal to my brother, Natsuo". He said calmly.

Izuku could only blink at the boy. Now he was more curious.

"Do you have more siblings?" Todoroki nodded. "And are they benders?"

"My sister Fuyumi is a waterbender, just like my mom, but neither of them has practiced as a hole, cause they don't have licenses. My brother Touya is a firebender, just like me and my dad". Shoto's gaze fell on the pond. Although Izuku noticed a hint of melancholy in his voice.

I was going to ask you more questions: What kind of techniques do you use? Who teaches you? What school do you go to? But she couldn't as she heard the melodious voice of his mom behind him.

"Izuku, I'm done. Time to leave."

Both children turned back, where the woman in blue was next to a big, strong man who was holding a bag of ice in her hand, pressing it against her arm.

Izuku got up from her place and was about to run with his mom, but he turned to see the boy and held out his hand to help him up.

"... Thank you..." The boy in red took her hand gently and stood up. When Izuku saw that Shoto was already on his feet, now yes, he ran out.

"Goodbye Todoroki-kun! I hope we'll be friends!"

The next time Izuku saw Todoroki-kun again it was a special day. Mitsuki and Inko had a habit of leaving their children one day of the week at each other's house, so that day Kacchan was at their house. And they were playing a board game! Hanafuda! Although obviously the blonde was still him.

"I'm going to beat you Deku!"

"You won't! This time I'm going to win!"

"Are you challenging me?!"

"It's one of the only games I can challenge you in~" And he gave him a big smile that reached his eyes.

They were like this for a few minutes when his mom walked through the door with the phone in her hand.

"Katsuki-kun, do you think you can tell your mommy to come get you and if she can help me with Izuku?" She said handing him the phone. "Somebody called me for an emergency and I really need to go…"

"The hag is working". Katsuki said suddenly. "I don't think she will be able to take care of us right now, Auntie..." Amusingly, it still was a thing that when he was in the presence of Inko, the boy suddenly calmed down.

Inko frowned, bringing her thumb to her mouth, and biting the nail.

"... Okay, I think I'm going to have to take them with me." She rubbed her face in some frustration. "Pick up your things, we'll go out for a couple of hours and we'll be back in a moment. Will you?"

Both children nodded at the same time.

Ten minutes later, they were in front of the same traditional house. When the gates of the house open, they saw a girl about fifteen, with snow-white hair and little red lights in it.

Kacchan raised an eyebrow looking at the girl's hair, "That looks so weird" he thought.

"Mrs. Midoriya! Thanks for coming, Touya is…" The girl's voice sounded relieved, letting them pass.

"Don't worry, Todoroki-chan. I have to apologize, I brought my song and my godson with me, I didn't had time to take them somewhere else…" Inko made a slight bow.

"Don't worry, welcome you two boys" the white-and-red hair girl said, smiling at them.

Inko started asking questions as the white-haired girl led them to the main garden. And as soon as they arrived, the greenette woman almost ran away, followed by the one with highlights.

Izuku entered the garden, taking Kacchan's hand and looking for the double-haired boy... Strangely, the blonde didn't try to loosen his grip, and was somewhat... Alarmed? But Izuku didn't notice it at that moment, as he saw the boy he was looking for across the garden. He was sitting by a big tree, and he seemed to be reading a little book.

"Come Kacchan!" He said suddenly, pulling the blond boy. "Hello, Todoroki-kun!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" The blond answered, but still he followed the green haired one.

Hearing those voices, Shoto looked up from his book, seeing the pair of children. He closed it and got up from his place.

"Midoriya-kun, it's nice to see you again" He said bowing as soon as they arrived in front of him. Izuku returned the bow after releasing Kacchan, so that the other only clicked his tongue, raising an eyebrow in a judgmental way. "Who is the kid accompanying you, if I could know?" He asked curiously, tilting his head.

"He is my friend Kacchan!"

"Hey! Don't speak for me, Deku!" He said giving the green-eyed one a light tap on the shoulder. "I'm Bakugo Katsuki, don't even think about calling me with that stupid nickname, extra half and half".

"... Deku?" Extra? Half and half?

"Kacchan, don't be mean" The blonde clicked his tongue again.

"... It's a pleasure to meet you, Bakugo-kun" He said bowing.

"Are you always this obnoxious?"

- K-Kacchan!"

Todoroki just blinked ...

"… Are you always this angry?"

"Todoroki-kun, no!"

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAID, SHITHEAD HOT'N COLD!?"

The visits to the Todoroki's home became more and more continuous. There were days when Izuku went with his mom, there were days when she even brought Kacchan to play with Todoroki-kun! And there were others in which he stayed at the Bakugo house.

He liked to go to Todoroki's, mostly because he could play with the dual-haired boy. They always played together, talked about turtle ducks, he liked to ask about Todoroki-kun's firebending: He even once had to see how Shoto raised his leg very high, generating a blaze of light! Also, Izuku told him his mom's stories! It was amazing. He had already known him for a little over a year and he liked him better and better. Also, it was SO funny to see Kacchan and Todoroki-kun argue (or rather, Kacchan yell at Shoto and make him unfazed).

Although he sometimes felt disgusted by the smell of burned meat that dominated in the house, and as the days passed this smell became more dominant.

"... Todoroki-kun." Does your mom's food burn a lot?" Izuku asked one of the days he went with Katsuki. Katsuki turned to see Izuku from the corner of his eye. He had noticed the smell too, but he hadn't said anything.

Shoto froze, seeing the cards that were face down in front of him.

"... No. In fact, the smell is the fault of my dad and my brother Touya" The child took in his hands a card from the memory game they were playing with, as if wanting to be distracted.

Kacchan just nudged Izuku and shook his head silently. Izuku fell silent again...

"My brother wants to perfect a technique that my dad has taught him, and he has not released in days" The boy kept talking, taking the cards from the game he had just won. "He has burned himself a lot because of his ambition to have blue fire"

The two children fell silent, looking at the dual-haired boy.

"It's your turn, Bakugo-kun..."

"Yeah, of course, whatever" The children looked clearly uncomfortable. Shoto looked up, seeing them both.

"Do you both feel good?" Asked the boy. "You look a bit pale... I can call Miss Midoriya to check on-"

"We're fine, Icy hot. Shut up"

"The question here is... Are you okay...?" And the clear empathy from the little freckled one was there.

Shoto lowered his head, pouting.

"Yes, I'm OK. Maybe a little worried, but... I'm fine"

And they didn't speak of the subject again.

The days passed and the visits continued. At one point, Inko preferred to leave Izuku at the Bakugo's house for almost two weeks.

They were already ten years old.

In these days Izuku knew there was going to be a full moon.

Izuku was a bit absent all day, thinking about how he would make it to not scream that night. Would he have to tie himself to the bed? No, if he did, he couldn't calm down, he couldn't see around him to make sure he wasn't inside the nightmare. Would Kacchan put a map in his room just for that day? He had his notebook, but his routine to calm the anxiety of nightmares down was very specific (looking at his things, his map and thinking of distant places, then reading his notebooks) and if he didn't follow it, he would start crying. Then he thought about the pain in his abdomen. How badly would it hurt that night? And then in his screaming's, what would happen if he screamed in the middle of the night? Would his friend got upset with him for waking him up? What would he do if he screamed and woke up Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru as well? The pain in the abdomen was sometimes very strong and those were the nights when Mom went with him because he couldn't help screaming from the pain and then crying because of the fear that one day that pain would be real and-

"Deku, you're mumbling again" He heard his friend say. He surprisingly he was calm. Normally Kacchan would always directly say "Shut up" or "Shut your mouth" or any other aggressive way of asking silence from his strange murmur, but right now it was ... A different situation.

Automatically, he brought his hand to his mouth.

"S-Sorry..." he said looking away.

Kacchan saw him again with that look that said silently: "There is something wrong with you". Deku didn't like that look, it was worse than when he hit him because he was slow, than when he treated him like a baby or when he called him Deku. He hated that look because he never knew why Kacchan looked at him that way, besides giving him a strange feeling that gave him chills. Izuku never said anything because his friend always hidden it before... But todays were directly focused on him and his mumblings.

"... Why do you always look at me like that?"

Bakugo realized that he was looking at him and turned away.

"Look at you how?"

"L-Like that?... I think? It's... It's weird..."

"Ha! Who do you think you are? As if someone were to see you in a way that does not denote that you are annoying" The blonde said, returning to his usual aggressive tone.

"… Forget about this then…" The kid in blue made a grin.

After time it was night. He would sleep on a small futon next to his friend's bed. But anxiety seized him from about eight o'clock, half an hour before his friend's bedtime and the time they were sent to bed both. Izuku kept tossing and turning since he wasn't used to it. That night was no different, except for the crippling anxiety.

Besides, he didn't want to sleep that night: The nightmare always grabbed him in different ways, and he didn't want to wake up anyone in the house. He always felt bad when he woke up his mom... And now doing it at his friend's house would be a very bad idea... What if he got upset by his screaming's and didn't want to play with him anymore? Would he take it like if Izuku was a baby for crying over a nightmare? From what he knew, nightmares were just bad dreams, but... His felt so real, they always felt so freaking real it was so scary...

Fatigue hit him hard. How always on a full moon... Oh, spirits…

The sharp spikes dug into the first man's body, and two more dug into the man in black. In all the time he has had this nightmare, it was the first time he noticed that the man in black really didn't have a mask: A shadow covered his face and hair, as if it were blurred, like in those shows where they do interviews with anonymous people. Also, the dream was changed on the other man's side: he saw his clothes for the first time, a blue shirt with a green jacket, red pants, and he saw those arrow tattoos on his skin. Also, he saw him coughing, bringing his weak hand to his mouth, and he saw how a stream of blood stained it. And it all ended as always, a sigh that made lights rise and...

Izuku woke up more agitated than usual, sitting on the futon and turning around. Oh no, his lamp wasn't there, nor was his bed, his blankets, his plushies...

Tears were running down his cheeks, and all he could think of was seeing his hands... were they stained with...? They are clean... The pain in his abdomen vanished the instant he lowered his hands.

He turned to the side, looking for something that would calm him... And he saw the ruby eyes of Kacchan looking at him.

"'Zuku, are you okay?" He could hear Kacchan's voice, very low, almost gentle (if you could tell he was gentle with that raspy tone). The blond boy frowned a little, but his gaze wasn't angry...

Izuku just saw him. His inner selfless voice told him to sweep everything under the bed and say a simple 'yeah, I'm fine', but Kacchan's look told him not to do it... It was the usual look, the one he didn't like, that said there was something wrong with him, but this time he had a strange touch, something with more... Warmth, concern, trust, protection...

"... No. I'm not okay..." Izuku shook his head, feeling more tears roll down his cheeks and feeling the wave of anxiety come rushing.

The blonde pulled the covers off himself, getting off the bed and kneeling next to the greenette boy. He automatically reached for the emerald-eyed man's hand, pulling him by the arm and giving him a hug. Izuku cried for about ten minutes on Katsuki's shoulder, while he could only feel gentle strokes on her hair.

The ruby-eyed one said nothing, asked no questions, nothing. He just hugged him and let him cry. And when he finally calmed down, he pulled him into his bed, letting him sleep next to him.

And they stayed together that night.

The next day the first thing he felt was Katsuki separate from the hug they had been in and push him off the bed. Izuku fell on the futon.

"Hey!"

"Wake up earlier, nerd!" This made the blonde laugh, and the truth is that it also made the green-haired boy laugh. It had to be Kacchan... "And for all this, what the hell did you dream last night?"

Izuku's smile fainted, looking at the ground. He gave a sigh scratching the back of his neck.

"Just a nightmare… A real bad one…"

"You're a crybaby then" He said shrugging. "Nobody our age cries with silly nightmares" The mocking tone was noticed, smiling sideways in a challenging way.

Izuku was silent for a few seconds ...

"... I dream of a horrible battle". He said suddenly, hugging himself. "Two people facing each other. One dressed in black, another in clothes in the colors of the nations. It's as if they were on enemy sides..." he took a deep breath. "I'm never able to see the full fight, there are... Lights that dazzle me from all sides and the only thing I can do is feel what is happening. Fire, earth, air, and water passing around me about to hurt me and…"

Izuku felt a chill run down his back. He'd only told his mom about the dream, so telling Kacchan felt liberating. He was grateful that his friend, having a mocking smile, kept quiet listening to him.

"When I can finally see, the colored man is nailed to two peaks of earth, right in his belly... And the one in black tells him something about a Rava girl? Something like that... Then the colored one moves his arm and... He fits two spikes onto the man in black, one in the belly same as the colored guy, and another in his face... And after that, I'm able to feel that the colored man sighs in relief, and I then wake up".

Kacchan grimaced, he supposed he imagined the scene. He didn't doubt that his friend understood that the dream was something terrifying.

"Wow... That sounds bad... But I don't understand why you started crying". Oh, he didn't understand.

"... When-When I wake up... I feel a horrible pain in my belly... But it disappears in an instant".

Bakugo frowned even more. He seemed to think of something, but he just shook his head as if putting what he had thought out of his mind.

"Ha! nor to dream you serve". He said turning to the other side.

"Don't be mean, Kacchan"

"Yeah whatever, it doesn't matter. We must go to breakfast before the old hag comes to scold us"

After breakfast, his mom came for him. She seemed upset, and she was quietly complaining about something.

"Mommy, did something happen with Todoroki-kun and his family?" Inko came out of her thoughts looking at her son. "Y-You look tense..."

Inko sighed, grimacing.

"Everything is fine. Just... General Enji Todoroki is a difficult person and he is making my work more difficult every time".

"Oh, okay..."

Days went by, he was at school again.

But the situation was different. Ever since he told Kacchan about his nightmare, the blonde was changing.

The insults and beatings that he always knew weren't serious (Kacchan always said it was training, so that he would "learn to defend himself") became real. Now he seemed to be mad at him. Was it because he woke him up?! No... That was absurd... Kacchan was a very logical person! But…

He didn't know what to think.

After a few days, he had returned with his mom to the Todoroki house.

"I see you tired, Midoriya-kun... Are you okay?" Izuku, who was normally quite lively being there, was quiet.

"Uh? Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." He said, playing with the grass. The children were under the tree in the yard.

"... Mhm ..." Shoto saw him directly. "You don't sound like you're okay".

Wow. Todoroki wasn't good at reading the environment... He must have looked VERY bad for his bi-colored friend to notice his attitude.

"W-Well... Hm..." he scratched the back of his neck. "I'm just thinking ... things about... my school and stuff..."

"Did something happen with Bakugo-kun?" Izuku's eyes widened "You two seem very close and, well" He shrugged. "You are usually very talkative, even when Bakugo insults you. If it's school stuff, I guess it's about Bakugo-kun".

Izuku grimaced, starting to play with his fingers.

"No, I-It's not that... It's just..." he sighed closing his eyes. "Yeah, it's about Kacchan. He's been more... Angry lately".

"Do you have any idea of why he is angry?"

"Well, I don't know. He's just like... Wanting me to get away from him. We have always played quite rough, but lately..."

"Has he hurt you on purpose?"

Izuku just nodded his head. Shoto put a hand to his chin.

"Did you do something to make him angry?"

"... M-Maybe waking him in the middle of the night?"

"And why did you wake him up?"

"I had a nightmare..."

"hmmm... what kind of nightmare?" Shoto tilted his head, grimacing.

"A very bad one... I... I don't want to talk about it". The double-haired one nodded but kept his hand on his chin.

"... Maybe he got mad at you for the nightmare". He said suddenly. "My father gets angry with my mom, with my siblings and me for absurd things too. Absurd things equal angry people. It is simple".

"... What?" Izuku frowned.

"Sometimes angry people tend to be angry because they are people with impeccable logic, or that's what they think. My dad is a military strategist; Bakugo-kun is a person who wants to be the best, and for this he also tries to create strategies to always win"

Izuku frowned more. That was true: Kacchan was always aiming for victory, there was no defeat in his future... It was something that he admired a lot about his friend.

"A nightmare could be considered absurd for someone who only thinks about success. For what Bakugo-kun is like, he probably saw your nightmare as weakness or something like that". And he shrugged.

"... Well... he has always seen me as a baby. Because of how clumsy I am…"

"Perhaps that dream was the straw that broke the camel's back".

"… Oh no…" Izuku turned to the ground, holding back his tears. He felt his friend's hand rest on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry that your friendship was broken by something so absurd... If you need to talk, you will always be welcome, even if you don't come with your mom".

"... Thank you... Todoroki-kun..."

Unfortunately, that was the last time he saw Shoto Todoroki.

The reason was on the national network news: The Todoroki family's oldest sibling, Touya, had died inside the house after what appeared to be a suicide caused by the firebender's own flames, incinerated in blue flames as hot as Hell itself, and only the eighteen-year-old's jawbone was left. The Todoroki family lost their home in Republic City, as well as his firstborn, resulting in the General having to return to his native Nation for a time, taking his family with him in the process. It is not known if they will ever return, but this was a great tragedy for the Fire Nation to have lost a potential member of the nation's elite, and a disgrace for such an exemplary family.

Izuku and Inko knew that it wasn't an exemplary family, the signs were there, but they said nothing because the least they should do at this time was throw them on their heads for another scandal. And unfortunately, they found out very late. When they went to see if the Todoroki's still hadn't left the city, they only found the house was being demolished. Izuku felt a wall fall on him. And the turtle ducks? The great tree? And Todoroki-kun?...

Inko promised that she would get him the boy's phone and/or address in the fire nation as soon as she could, but Izuku could only cry in his room. He couldn't even say goodbye... The last thing Shoto saw of him was...! Him crying for Kacchan... and he promised that he would be there...

Oh no.

He first lost his best friend for an absurd thing, and now he lost his other friend for something that wasn't their fault...

That day, he realized that the world was trying to make him suffer.

... Holly Molly, and he had barely ten years of this.