Chapter 1
We had actually thought it was over. We'd seen Endeavor doing that pose, his fist in the air, and been sure he'd defeated the villain and we were safe. But out of nowhere, that black-haired villain had appeared and surrounded them with a wall of flames.
We had all gathered around Shoto Todoroki, my classmate, my fellow recommended student and former teammate - and more importantly, Endeavor's son - as he collapsed to his knees in relief when his father survived the attack. But now he was tense again, his eyes full of fear and tension, sweating and transfixed.
Poor Todoroki…Please, Endeavor, Hawks, for his sake. Please survive this.
"YES, THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS IS HERE! IT'S LEAGUE MEMBER DABI! HE'S SURROUNDED ENDEAVOR AND HAWKS WITH A WALL OF FLAMES!" Said the TV announcer.
"It's him," gasped Sensei. "But out in the open like that? What's he thinking?"
Todoroki's jaw had dropped and he seemed to be watching the image of the villain. It seemed rather like he recognized him…
Of course. Dabi had been the villain who'd taken the marble-sized Bakugou - our other classmate - straight from Todoroki's hand during the kidnapping incident.
He was heading towards Endeavor and Hawks and -
From up above, they were saved as our #5 hero, Rabbit Hero Miruko, came barreling down and blew them in different directions with a giant kick, scattering the fire into all directions.
On-screen we saw Dabi grabbed his collar and start - barfing up the same strange black material that had transported the League to the Battlefield at Kamino Ward. It was surrounding him, but it didn't look like it was going to do anything to Endeavor and Hawks. Just opening up a portal gate. And pulling him away, thank goodness.
We all let out a sigh of relief. In spite of their greatness, Endeavor and Hawks had taken so much damage I had feared for them. But with the villain gone, they seemed to be safe for now. Todoroki let out a breath of relief, and dropped his head. Midoriya and Sensei were the closest to him and looked ready to hug him.
"THE CRISIS HAS PASSED! THEY HEADED OFF THE DANGER! THE THREAT IS NOW GONE! THEY CAN'T HEAR ME DOWN THERE, BUT LET ME SAY THIS! ENDEAVOR! AND YOU TOO, HAWKS! YOU RISKED YOUR LIVES TO PROTECT US ALL AND YOU WON! OUR NEW TOP HERO IS THERE! AND WHAT I'D LIKE TO SAY TO HIM NOW IS 'THANK YOU.'"
The class crowded round Todoroki. He was almost half-laughing with relief, his cell phone ringing. He picked it up as everyone seemed to be asking after him at once.
"Sis. Hi. You saw?"
Oh - right. Todoroki was not an only child. I flinched, as worry for the fear his other siblings must have gone through seeing all this flowed through me. Iida was dispersing everyone, telling our classmates to give him some room. Todoroki, finishing his conversation, put his phone away and looked up to meet my eyes. My hands were clasped together in front of me, and my anxiety must have been hard to hide.
Todoroki was the first friend I ever really met outside of my family. I grew up extremely wealthy, in a large remote manor house; I have no siblings and went to a very elite school, a long drive away where the priority growing up was always on studies. I met Todoroki at the Entrance Exam for the Specially Recommended Students for UA, where he made a good showing, though not the best there. I'd noted his abilities, and what a quick, intelligent thinker he was.
It was some time later that I learned the compliment was returned, and that Todoroki thought just as highly of me as I did of him. We'd been admitted to the same course, and he'd only continued to impress me as we studied together. Sometimes I found myself feeling less admiring and more resentful, unfortunately; we had started from the same place, yet he had seemed to surpass me at every turn. It turned out he'd admired me in much the same way; I held my current position of Deputy Class Representative because he had voted for me in the first week of classes, and when I was failing in my confidence he had told me this to encourage me.
I've always rather wanted to return the favor…now would seem a good time to try and cheer him up with something clever and supportive, but I couldn't quite seem to think of what to say, so I simply smiled nervously and said, "You must be so relieved."
He nodded silently, and opened his mouth as if about to say something, but the rest of our class flooded in to tell him the same sorts of things, and my window was shut.
2
Seeing poor Todoroki nearly lose his father seemed to stir something in most of us. We had been living away from home for the first time for months, months that had flown by but which already felt like a very long space of time.
So quite a few of us applied that weekend for special permission to go home and see our parents. Because of the extra security precautions, we had to have teacher escorts to go. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't get home, but at last Miss Midnight agreed to accompany me. She chattered the whole way in a lovely, open way as always, while my mind was wandering away to all our troubles.
Mr. Endeavor had been healed up by Recovery Girl and gone home, but it was clear he'd have that scar for good, the one across the same eye that Todoroki had been burned on. It occurred to me that I'd never asked Todoroki about the scar, perhaps because it seemed like a sensitive subject, but one couldn't help but wonder.
Occasionally I got the feeling that things at Todoroki's home were not very happy…small things he said, strange things about how he spoke of his father or mother, or rather didn't speak of them.
It was comforting to know that my family, for all the stress we sometimes felt, was at least a place I could be happy to come home to.
I had never realized just what a giant castle of a home mine was when I was growing up. After all, it was just 'home' to me, and I didn't visit other children's houses, so how could I know? But now I could see just how much we had that I'd never really thought about. Just the wonderful smell of the botanical gardens as the hired car flew up the driveway seemed to relax me a bit, a reminder of simpler childhood days before the League of Villains had ever entered our lives.
Uchimura was there again to greet me, as always, to offer Miss Midnight fine tea and company, to take me down the hallways past all the familiar grand paintings, doors off hallways into all of our various rooms into the grand dining room, the summer-Fall one that faced the proper direction, and hurry off to fetch mother.
Father was away on business. It seemed like he always was. It had honestly been some time since I'd seen him.
"Momo dear!" Said Mother, a little absently, smiling and curtsying as she came in to join me. "Good evening! How nice to see you!"
Why is she so formal? I thought inadvertently. Another thing about family life I hadn't noticed until I came to UA.
"Fine, mother. Very well…"
"The finest teas, Madame?" Uchimura asked mother as she seated herself at the end of the table, very far away from me.
"Yes, Uchimura; a fine conversational tea, and dinner for two." Then, looking at me, "Why has it taken so long for you to visit?"
I hesitated; Uchimura rescued me.
"Miss Momo had to receive special permission to come home, madame, thanks to all this security. Her teacher brought her; I have set her up in the second lounge."
"Perhaps Miss Midnight could join us?" I suggested, or rather blurted out. They both stared at me.
"Should I give orders for a third, madame?" Uchimura asked mother after a long pause.
"No, I am sure Miss Midnight-sensei has no wish to be part of a family conference," said Mother, a bit indulgently. "But be sure to provide her with the finest teas and hospitality."
I wasn't sure what to say. Uchimura bowed and left to fetch our dinner things. Mother's eyes wandered; she seemed already to have lost interest in me.
"So, how have you been, dear? How is school?"
"Well, we've all been very concerned about Todoroki-san," I said, "and Endeavor-san, after all this."
"What about Todoroki?"
"Well, you know. Because of Mr. Endeavor's fight."
"Mr. Endeavor, the fire hero?"
I realized then that mother, somehow, didn't know.
"Hm, I suppose that is the sort of thing heroes must concern themselves with, but all this fighting is really quite distressing. You know, your father has been having some troubles overseas…a few troubles on the stocks. It shouldn't be anything to worry about, though."
"Is Father all right?"
"Oh, yes, he'll be fine, you know."
It occurred to me too that mother does not like to talk about distressing things. Our home was one of whispered decorum, avoiding any direct confrontation, and speaking only vaguely about what was really going on.
"Things have been a little troubled, of course, but we've only got to tough it out for a little longer…I do wish he would simply not allow things to get to him quite so much. After all, things are never really so distressing as they seem. Just keep calm and carry on. People these days are growing rather too…easily upset, don't you think, Momo? Far too sensitive in many ways. So many growing easily affronted by casual conversation."
I flinch a little. "Erm, yes…"
"Well, we must simply learn not to allow such things to get to us, mustn't we?" Her smile was beginning to unnerve me a little. I felt suddenly that I could not even begin to talk to mother about all the things that were troubling me, because to hear about all the distressing sorts of things going on in the real world would simply be "too distressing, dear".
Uchimura had rejoined us as other servants entered carrying our meal and tea on trays.
"For this evening's tea, we will be serving a fine leaf, picked in the southern groves…"
The whole litany of our upcoming meal seemed to go on forever. At UA I had gotten used to eating as soon as mealtimes began; suddenly sitting about waiting for meals this way felt a little strange.
"I hope you will enjoy this serving, madam and Miss Momo," Uchimura finished. I thanked the servant - what was his name? - who handed me my plate, but he did not seem interested in meeting my eyes.
"Mother…" I began, deciding to at least take a stab at it, "don't you want to know about Mr. Endeavor?"
"He doesn't especially interest me, dear. Frankly, he's rather too rough and violent to be a good role model to the children like All Might was."
We ate a fairly quiet dinner for some time after that, mother telling me stories about life at the country club and always changing the subject if anything remotely troubling came up. We were taken after dinner to the "parlor" and mother began changing channels, telling me she hoped to find a "charming little show about young ladies" I might enjoy.
Did I really grow up in such a sheltered world?
"Wait, stop!" I cried as we landed on a news piece following up on the fight.
"It's been two days since the battle, but public opinion on the number one hero continues to waver."
"Oh, dear, we don't need to -" Mother began, but I was watching too closely for her to tell me to stop.
A woman was being interviewed first, one in a scarf and wavy hair. "He only barely won, right? Are we sure he can do this? The man was covered in blood by the end."
"Let's change the channel, dear, this can't be good for you," Mother fussed.
Two men were up next. "He let that one League villain escape again though,"
"And hang on, didn't they already catch a bunch Nomu? How's this guy struggling against one of those chumps?"
That seems so harsh, I thought, remembering with a small shudder the last time I'd fought one of them…
"Some remain dissatisfied…but on the flip side," the broadcaster continued, and the screen changed to replay a picture of a young boy with spiky hair - the footage of the boy who had called out to us during the broadcast.
"So don't give up just cause the other guy's gone! There's still a dude out there risking it all for us! Cant'cha see?!"
"Well," said another interviewee, "I was an Edgeshot fan, but now how could anyone not be a fan of Endeavor?"
"I'm a fire type too," said another, "So honestly…yeah, I'm pumped about him."
A woman and her friend were interviewed as well. "That 'cantata see' kid was great!"
"Risking it all, cantata see?" "He kinda turned things around."
"The 'Cant'cha see kid has become something of a meme in his own right. His passionate cries have actually garnered support for Endeavor!"
"Now hang on! Endeavor did give us a good battle, but the Can'tcha see Kid's and Hawks' contributions were monumental! They united everyone to cheer on the big man. No one can deny that he's facing a powerful headwind, but now they're aware that we're in the age of Endeavor. Support for him will undoubtedly spread."
"Well, isn't that charming!" Mother said, and hastily switched the channel as I had turned away for a moment, feelings becoming hard to control. "How nice for Mr. Endeavor! Well, as I was saying…"
And we were once again watching something light and foolish, as I thought sadly to myself,
I can't really ever talk to mother about any of the things that are troubling me. She doesn't want to hear about anything troubling, anything real, and she wouldn't know how to handle it if she did. And I used to be much the same way…I was so upset by my first failure I almost gave up. I don't want to be that way again.
"Shall I get you both more tea?" Said Uchimura.
"Oh, yes, indeed. And extra sugar!"
I said nothing. It is strange…I know this is my home, and my family. But somehow I just don't feel at home here anymore.
At last the visit was over. I took the time to take a few small things from my bedroom, some comfort items I'd left behind. Miss Midnight was waiting for me as I went to the car, Mother smiling rather strangely the whole way as she said, "Good luck, how nice for you, be sure to study hard and do well in class!"
The car started up, and we drove away, through the long pathway out from the castle towards the main roads. It was a sad, painful feeling, this realization that my old home was no longer mine, but it did help as a reminder. My future did not lay here in the past, but at UA. In, well, the future.