Taking a break Shoko sat in the middle of a featureless room trying to catch her breath. If anyone was to look at her now who had known her from a year ago would be surprised by her sudden growth, now standing a full seventeen cm taller. She looked down at a sticky note on her duffle bag next to her, picking it up to read it over again for what she felt was the hundredth time.
(…)
Remember not to overexert yourself, Rook. I am entrusting you with them both, Shoko.
-Mirai Sasaki
(…)
She looked up at the ceiling with one eye wrapped under a bandage sighing. She had gotten some skin grafting done since the damaged skin under her eye wasn't too extensive, thanks to the former sidekick of All Might. He had also rewritten a recommendation letter for her to the staff of UA, her dream school, claiming that it was the only way that she would be put in 1-A, and he stressed the importance of her being put in that class. Shoko wanted to get into the school on her own merit but being recognized as the future of the hero industry by the number one and his sidekick made it an offer that she could not refuse. She was exhausted from the workout that she was doing in this room, she had just gotten permission to be able to use her Quirk freely again after almost a year so she was eager to get back to training despite her doctor only allowing her to use it in the facilities that the hospital provided their patients for rehab.
Shoko now found it stupid that she could only train her Quirk here but she wasn't complaining. She came every time her sister visited their mother, this being one of those days. Shoko wouldn't see herself out of the fear that whatever Rei saw that day was still there, so much so that she had cut her hair into a simple bob and wanted to dye it to the same platinum the rest of her siblings and mother had, but her sister had none of it instead Fuyumi had complimented it's crimson color making the statement that she shouldn't ruin it because of some grudge, that she should wear it with the pride of being better than Endeavor. Speaking of which, Shoko heard the sounds of someone entering the room and saw her sister walk in.
"You are still training, Sho?" Fuyumi questioned as she entered the room. "You should go easy, what if something happened before your physical eh? It's only a couple of days away. You need to rest up."
Shoko looked at her sister incredulously, She stood up closing the rest of the distance to her sister putting her hands on Fuyumi's shoulders, now taller than her sister. "You have to trust me, I'm fine." She said letting go and having her arms fall to her sides. "I have been taking it easy for ten months now, nee-chan."
"You could have fooled me." Fuyumi made a point to point out that the room that was nearly pure white when they had arrived had now been covered in burn marks and several indentations and scars from her ice on every visible surface.
Shoko looked around getting Fuyumi's point. She hadn't realized up until now that she had been pushing herself and all that, she felt it would be normal to go as hard as she and her dad did as a kid, it felt only natural. "I guess you are right nee-chan. Next time I will take it easy."
"Nuh-ha..." Fuyumi responded looking her sister straight in the eye. "I am done with you two, there won't be a next time. Not if you are not coming to see Mom." She spoke with a look of frustration on her face.
"Huh?"
Fuyumi poked at her little sister causing Shoko to back up with her chasing. "You both want to see each other but neither of you want to take the next step. So I am." She was irate at her mother and sister for avoiding each other. Shoko not wanting to be anywhere near their father was one thing, but this was doing her head in. Before her sister was hospitalized she was okay with this weird game of chicken of theirs, but now, after Rei had blown up on their father, she was ready to force it entirely. "Do you know why you ended up at this hospital, Sho?"
"No..."
"Mom fought for you..."
"What?"
Fuyumi cooled after seeing the look of terror on her sister's face because of her anger. "Look... When you were in a coma Dad wanted you to go to a specialist in Korea but Mom wasn't having it."
(...)
Ten months earlier in the waiting area of the hospital Shoko was sent to after her involvement in the slime incident Rei Todoroki was chewing out her husband. "The hell you are." Rei poked the pro-hero in the chest. "I went along with this because you said that you would look after my children, Enji." The mother was now screaming her lungs out. "YOU SAID THAT YOU WOULD PROTECT HER IF I DID THIS, AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED. YOU TWO ARE NOT EVEN LIVING IN THE SAME HOUSE." She starts to beat his chest with a closed fist. "Five years Enji... I lost five fucking years with them... With her and all for what, Enji? You two are not even talking." Rei drops to her knees as she begins to cry.
A nurse came over to assist if needed but Rei shrugged her off and Enji dismissed her. He did not know what to say so he just watched her as she went through the worst of it. Something about the scene reminded him of the last time he had seen Shoko cry and it ate at him. "You are very similar." He kneeled and wiped Rei's cheeks with his hands. "You both wear your emotions on your sleeve... I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
"I'm sorry." Enji repeated himself. "I was so focused on the future that I lost sight of the present." A sad smile crossed his face. "You both are so strong and seeing her, seeing the footage from today reminded me of that. Just give me more time. I promise I can turn this around, just a little more and I can fi-"
"No!" Rei stopped Enji from speaking while slapping his hands away. "I want a divorce."
"What?"
"I can't do this anymore Enji, this is our fourth kid, whatever you want from me... From us is not there. I don't think it ever was." She looked at her hands while speaking softly. "No talks about a specialist or about Sho leaving the country. After what happened with Touya I want her to be safe at home, and I want to be there as long as she needs us. I'm sorry that we couldn't be what you wanted Enji." Rei looked up to Endeavour with a smile. "I should have said this a long time ago, you should find someone else, someone who can provide you with what you want." With her finishing Enji was as still as a statue in his hero attire. "We should end this before we lose another child."
For seconds that felt like an eternity, Enji just stood there trying to process what happened fist clenched. "If that's what you want, I will look into it." He said with a near-silent voice.
Unbeknownst to the pair their oldest daughter had unintentionally walked in as they were in mid-conversation. Fuyumi hid behind a wall as she heard her mother yell at her father. She had rushed down here after finding out that Shoko had been hospitalized after leaving her school.
(...)
After explaining the situation to Shoko after adding some details from what she heard from their mother afterward Fuyumi could see that her sister was going through a whirlwind of emotions. "Listen I know it's hard, it doesn't have to be straight away but you should see her before everything. She is doing all of this for you after all." She said, bringing Shoko into an embrace.
"I would not know what to say."
"That's alright, Sho." Fuyumi giggled, not letting go. "It doesn't matter, as long as you see her that's all that matters."
Shoko thought it over and concluded that she had to go. "Alright, next time we come I will see her." She resigned.
Fuyumi was over the moon and squeezed tighter, she had half the mind to drag her sister with her kicking and screaming if it came to it. Shoko in her mind inherited her stubbornness from her mother even though the young adult thought it was all Enji Todoroki's doing but she was wrong. Fuyumi was glad that Shoko gave in easily or she would have had to use her trump card to get Shoko to comply but she did not have to. Fuyumi let out a hum of satisfaction before letting go and speaking. "Are you done for the day?" She questioned patting the one-eyed girl on the head despite Shoko nearly being a full three cm taller, leading to some awkwardness.
"Yes, I was just about to pack up."
"Alright." Fuyumi said, walking over to Shoko's bag. "I will help you. What do you want for dinner?"
"I don't know." Shoko replied, confused by Fuyumi's now chipper tone.
"Come on, it could be anything you want." Fuyumi said as she picked up Shoko's bag, nearly losing her balance from its weight.
Shoko thought about it a little further, coming up with something. "Katsudon." She answered absentmindedly.
Fuyumi chuckled as she joined her sister, preparing to leave. "You have become a real carnivore recently, is this a workout thing or..." She paused with a teasing grin.
"Shut up, shut up... Shut up." Shoko covered her ears fully knowing what Fuyumi was about to say.
"Hey, you are the one who told me about the boy, I still have to meet him though. And when I do I am going to have a no-hero talk rule in place... Oh, which reminds me..." She chuckled as Shoko groaned at her sister while she searched her person for something, pulling out a photograph. "Something to make your time at U.A. interesting." She then passed the photo to Shoko.
The younger girl nearly had her eyes pop out of her head as she looked down at a candid photo of a younger version of her mother arguing with a familiar blonde muscular boy as he looked to be struggling with some books. "No... Way." Shoko said in shock.
"Apparently he was in U.A.'s general course before he got his Quirk and moved to the hero course, he was a late bloomer." Fuyumi said as Shoko continued to look at the picture mystified. "Honestly, how small can this world be?" She then got an idea. "You said that he was going to be a teacher right?" Shoko nodded with her eyes still glued to the image. "Do you want to help me make the teacher-parent meetings more interesting?"
"Wait, what?" Shoko had her senses return looking up at her sister. "What are you planning?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at her sister.
"Mom is going to leave the hospital soon enough, and a little reunion might lift her spirits you know." Fuyumi winked at her sister, getting a furrowed brow in response.
(...)
After nine months of harsh training, one Izuku Midoriya arrived at the campus of U.A., the site of the entrance exams for the school. "I made it." He said slowing to a walking pace, slightly out of breath. He was glad that he convinced All Might to give him All For One before he had planned or he might have been in some trouble or worse late. He entered through the front gate with some purpose as he looked up at the imposing building in many respects with some renewed determination. He had to wait for the last day of testing because of his training, but he was fully prepared to tackle this challenge. 'In the end, I didn't get to test out the power I received from All Might.' He thought back to his training and the studying he was doing in his free time. Although he had begged All Might to give him the Quirk early, those two things, his studies, and the training that All Might had forbade him from using One For All eating up his time.
"Outta of the way, Deku." The spiky-haired blonde from the slime incident got his attention with some annoyance to his tone.
"Kacchan?"
"Don't stand in my way. I'll kill you." Kacchan said with his hands in their middle school's uniform pockets.
Surprised, Izuku began a frightened greeting with his arms in front of him frantically waving. "M-Morning. L-Let's both do our best." He was surprised when Kacchan ignored him entirely. Ever since the slime incident the boy he considered a childhood friend had done just that. Although both he and their parents considered him his friend Kacchan was the exact opposite. He however considered this turn of events a blessing as he sighed and followed the same path to the school. He did not get far however, tripping on his foot he flew forward not before he felt a hand graze his back, he had fallen into something soft knocking it over, his hands out in front of him.
Izuku looked down at what he had run into coming eye to eye; it being a familiar face. Not fully realizing the situation he was in a feminine voice squeaked and offered the pair a quick apology. "I'm sorry, I was not fast enough to stop him."
The statement was met with Izuku floating over the other person, a girl he had met nearly a year ago, with his hands on her bust, fully groping her. Izuku in his panic squeezed her above-average-size breasts. "I know you missed me Midoriya, but there has to be a better way of saying hi." The Crimson-haired girl spoke with a light blush while underneath him. "You mind?" She asked him, turning her head away from him, arms sprawled out at either side of her head.
Both teens heard the word "release" before Izuku was suddenly dropped on top of the redhead, both letting out groans of pain.
Izuku was the first to recover, his panic returned still feeling her chest overflow his hands and her being closer to his face. Fully comprehending what happened, a synchronized apology came out of Izuku and the other girl behind him. "I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to." Izuku quickly got off and backed away.
"It's alright..." The redhead got up standing to her full height in the process. "It's not like it was on purpose, right?" She said as she walked over to Izuku offering a hand to help him up. "It's been a while, Midoriya..."
It took a moment of examining the crimson-haired girl's appearance before he had recognized her. "T-T-Todoroki-san?" Izuku questioned as he got a smile from the girl, her not waiting for him to grab her hand taking his instead.
"Took you long enough, nice meeting you again." Shoko said with a bright smile.
"You two know each other?" The other girl questioned as the pair also took notice of her. A brunette stood before them as she examined them. Although Izuku was in his school uniform Shoko was not and she rightfully had guessed that they didn't belong to the same school.
"Oh, hello." Shoko was the first to respond as Izuku was in his own world. "Yes, you are right. We have been... Well acquainted for some time, I am Shoko Todoroki by the way." Shoko looked at the other girl expectantly.
"Ah, right... Ochako Uraraka... Is my name." The other girl blushed and chuckled. "And you are?... Midoriya right." Ochako looked at Izuku who was staring blankly into space.
It took Shoko nudging him to get his attention, as the boy looked like he was about to explode with how red his head was. "Ah... Izuku... Izuku Midoriya." Izuku said, introducing himself.
"Well it's nice to meet you, I guess you're nervous." She began walking, prompting both Shoko and Izuku to follow.
"So are you here for the exam for the hero course?" Shoko asked Ochako.
The other girl nervously chuckled before. "Yeah, what about you?"
Shoko did not know what to say, although she was here for an evaluation she had already been accepted through her role as a recommendation student, so she decided to stick to the truth. "Not really, although I am here for the practical exam I have been already enrolled as a recommendation student." She said scratching her cheek.
"Oh really, did something happen that you had to come today?" Ochako questioned.
"Yeah, I was in the hospital earlier and my doctor had not cleared me to participate in anything in time for the test including the others, though I was able to do the written portion..." She paused as if remembering something. "I just remembered that I have to see someone beforehand." The others were then taken off guard as Shoko took off running before shouting back at them. "Good luck you two, see you later." She waved before disappearing through the building's entrance.
Ochako then turned to Izuku wishing good fortune to the both of them. "Let's do our best."
