Author's Note: Apologies for taking so long to get this one out. It's shorter than the other chapters by far, but I like where it led, and where I ended it for now. Disfrutar!
Author's Note-2: Gracias Senior/Seniorita Shin for clearing up that blunder on Momo's Quirk!
5: Dagobah's Angels
Enji Todoroki's brow was twitching violently as he stared down at his youngest son, "What did you say to me, boy?" He demanded as the boy stared back at him defiantly.
"I said I'm not going," Shoto Todoroki sneered up at him, "I already told you that I have no intention of marrying that girl, no matter what you do." He saw a movement near his father's wrist, "Go ahead and hit me." The boy said, "Add another mark to match the other side," he gestured to the ugly scar that adorned the left side of his face.
Enji's eyes narrowed at the boy, "I don't have to anything to you, boy," he intoned darkly, "I could have Rei moved into a different, stricter ward of the sanitorium," he let it sink in for a moment as the boy's face twisted with fury. "Now would you care to rethink your answer?"
Shoto clenched his fists angrily, "You're a real bastard, you know that?"
"Only when you choose to disobey me," his father grinned at the boy, then gestured to his room, "Now go get ready! It won't benefit us to be late!"
Shoto turned around angrily and returned to his room. His father had laid out clothes for him to wear, a white suit and red tie. He was half tempted to ruin it out of spite, but he knew that it wouldn't do any good. He would just buy another one and make him wear that.
He dressed quickly, wanting to get the meeting over with as soon as possible. His father had arranged to meet the Yaoyorozus at a small restaurant in order fo the two of them to get to know each other. However Shoto had no intention of making things easy.
He would not speak to her, or her father. He didn't even plan on looking at them if he could avoid it. "Shoto, hurry it up!" He heard his father yell. Shoto sighed as he adjusted the tie around his neck. Better to make a bad impression and be done with the entire farce sooner rather than later.
エックスメン
Dagobah Municipal Beach Park/Illegal Dumping Grounds...
Momo wrinkled her nose in distaste, "Father, I don't mean to be rude," the young woman said while she looked out of the large windows of the restaurant, "But are you certain that this is the right area?"
Isshin chuckled, "I assure you, dear daughter, that the food here is well worth the horrendous scenery," he gestured to the scene outside of the window where once sat lovely beach area, but now it was covered by nothing but a heaps of garbage.
"And the smell?" She asked as the breeze from the door caused a very unpleasant odor to waft in. "I confess that my appetite may leave me if it gets any worse."
Her father chuckled, "Trust me, dear, you'll soon forget it."
Momo nodded, the quaint little restaurant did suit her taste quite well. And the smells coming from the kitchen area were quite tantalizing...despite the rank odors coming from the dumpsite. "I will attempt to ignore it," she relented, "Though I hope things will go well." She said, tongue in cheek.
"In truth, daughter, I expect things to fall through," her father said, much to her confusion, "Do not get me wrong, dear, but that Todoroki boy seems like...a lost cause to me."
Momo understood that quite well, and she was hoping that it was true. From all that she had heard about Endeavor, she felt that she had no interest in becoming his daughter-in-law. "Either way, at least I will be able to get into a good high school," she said, hoping that he would still allow her to attend U.A. "And if half the things I've heard about U.A. are true, then I should have a bright future - "
Her father held up his hand to silence her, "Dear, I know that you wish to become a Heroine, but believe me, I think that, should this marriage not follow through your time would be better spent at finding a more suitable husband," he smiled at her, "That way your children can take over the company when I retire."
Momo tried to keep her face the emotionless mask she had built over the years, but a slight twitch came to her left brow. Thankfully, her father failed to notice and she decided right there and then that she was going to do everything in her power...to spite the man, and become one of the best Heroines in the business! "Placing her hands on the table, she rose, "Forgive me father, but that smell," she turned and headed for the door, "I am in need of some fresh air, and a good stretch of my legs."
Her father shrugged, "Just don't wander very far, daughter, our guests may be here at any moment," he said though his eyes were narrowed as the girl strode out of the door. "Dream all you want, girl, it will never come true."
Outside, Momo waited until she was at least a few blocks away before crossing the street over to the beach area. The smell was even worse than she imagined it would be up close. Still she made her way down to the sand, and walked right to the water's edge. The sea breeze was enough to remove the lingering odors from her nose. She then took a deep breath...and let out the loudest angered and frustrated scream she could produce.
"Stupid, inconsiderate, money-hungry, sexist pig-headed idiot!" She kicked a discarded can out into the surf and watched it sink. It was then washed back up onto the shore a few moments later as the girl caught her breath. "Ugh!" She sank down to the sand, drawing her legs up to her chest and burying her face in her knees. "I have to get away from him." She muttered into her skirt. "If I don't, I'm going to go insane!"
"Are you insane?!"
Momo's head shot up. "Who said...?"
"Of course I'm not!" Shouted a new voiced added to the first, "I'm just saying that this would go a helluva lot faster if we just blasted everything!" The shouted words were followed by a small explosion akin to a firecracker.
"Kacchan, you know we're on thin enough ice as it is," the first voice said, prompting her to get up from the sand, brushing off her skirt as she went to dislodge any sand. "The last thing we need is you getting us in trouble for blowing something up!"
"It's just garbage," the second voice said frustratedly as she peeked around a large pile to see a pair of teenage boys arguing. A very filthy pair of teenage boys. Both of them were stripped down to their muscle shirts and jogging pants. Both of them were covered head to toe in grime, they even had a few bits and pieces in their hair. One of them was an ashen blond boy with red eyes, "No one's gonna care if I destroy this shit!" The blond spoke up, revealing himself to be the second speaker.
The other boy wore a set of what looked like sunglasses, seeming vaguely familiar to her for a moment. Then she realized that she had seen him before. [He's the boy I saw when we visited U.A.,] she thought with a small smile coming to her lips as the two boys continued to bicker back and forth, [And that blond one must be his friend that was with him!]
"We're still in a public area, Kacchan, and we don't have permission to use our Quirks," the green-haired boy pointed out to "Kacchan" while the blond just pouted in a way that reminded her of a growling pomeranian. A thought that almost made her giggle. "Besides, I don't want anymore trouble after everything you and Mister Vlad went through get me to U.A."
The blond one he'd called Kacchan crossed his arms, "If we don't work with that Quirk of yours, you'll never get the hang of it," he said while tapping the side of his head next to his eyes, "You nearly lost your glasses, too. What happens if they get knocked off in combat?"
The green-haired boy, (she was trying to recall what his name was) adjusted his glasses, "I know, and I nearly took your head off." He said sounding fearful. She remembered that the boy was basically blind if he didn't have those special ruby-quartz glasses. "Power Loader said that he was going to build something that I could wear to bed so I wouldn't blast anything if I woke up suddenly, like goggles, but I still have to move them out of the way to fire a blast."
"What about a Support Item?" The blond asked, "You know that I can't fire off large scale explosions without a lot of strain on my arms," he said, holding out his muscular arms, "So I'm having a type bracer made that can store up my nitro-sweat so I can let loose one huge monster blast from either arm without hurting myself."
The other boy pointed to his glasses, "Yeah, but don't these already count?" He asked, "I mean, I can take them off and keep my eyes closed - "
"But you can't know where to aim when you open them," the blond went on, "What you need is something like...a visor...one that has a lenses that can open and close made out of that ruby stuff like your glasses."
Momo turned her back on them for a moment, thinking about the display she had seen at the school's medical ward. How his ocular beams had actually been strong enough to crumple and warp a solid piece of adamantium metal. [He would need something strong so his beams wouldn't harm it, but ruby-quartz is proven to be the only thing that the beams can't harm, and can even block the power of two gigawatts worth of energy he's proven to have...] She adopted a thinking pose, her chin pinched between her fingers as a design popped into her head, [What could it be made of that would stand up against that kind of power?]
She thought for a moment longer, knowing that vibranium would absorb energy from his beams and potentially injure him. [Dragonite, maybe?] She wondered idly if she would be able to create such a rare metal, knowing that the chemical makeup of it to be exceedingly complex. The same could be said of the ruby-quartz needed for the lens of such a device.
She looked back over her shoulder at the two boys as the continued their discussion. [He was so scared just a few days ago,] she smiled at the boy, [Now he's here doing god knows what.] She then saw them both moving large hunks of garbage around and taking it up the steps leading to the parking lot, [Oh my, they're cleaning the beach!] She thought with delight.
It was enough for her, because she decided that the green-haired boy with the ocular beams deserved something for his troubles. She looked around the beach to make sure that no one was around to see her as she raised her blouse up to expose her stomach while she concentrated on the complex piece of gear she was making. She felt an enormous drain on her energy reserves as the item formed and began to protrude from her skin, and fell to the sandy ground.
She wiped a small amount of sweat from her brow, her stomach giving out a low growl of hunger now that she had made something so complex. She looked down at her work and smiled before picking it up, wondering fleetingly how she could gift it to the boy without...what exactly? Her brow furrowed: it wasn't like her to act shy around people, her Quirk required her to expose copious amounts of her bare skin afterall, so why was she hesitating when it came to this boy?
[It's not like I'm interested in him or something silly like that,] she thought to herself as the boys returned and started shoving an old stove up the steps. A faint blush rose to her cheeks as she watched the boys work, her eyes on the green-haired one, [Although,] she felt her heart thud against her ribs, [He is rather nice to look at.]
Even though he was covered in grime, she could see that the boy had a very healthy physique. Healthy because most of the young men she had been introduced to stuck to very strict diets to keep themselves from growing fat. These two, however, looked as though they worked for every muscle they had. Then she saw the grins on their faces as they worked, and realized why she couldn't just walk out and give the Support Item to the boy.
[It's because I don't know how to act around people like them,] she thought. What her father called common people, the people she wanted to be like so much that it hurt. Certainly there were girls from her school that she could interact with, but they were like her. From wealthy families that often looked down on those that had very little. She looked down at the visor in her hands: the materials alone were worth a fortune. And it had a very beautiful design if she were to boast about her skills. [But he doesn't have to know that,] she thought idly, her devious side trying to take the reigns.
"It's rude to spy on people." Momo whirled around with scream rising to her lips. The visor dropped to the ground as she covered her mouth and rolled to the feet of a tall, thin man standing just a few feet from her. The man was gaunt, and the sclera of his eyes was black instead of white, a sigh of Quirk overuse. But his face held a smile on it instead of anger or outrage as he bent to pick up the device. Turning it over in his hands to examine it, he smiled at her, "Very fine craftsmanship, my dear." He said he glanced around her, checking to see if the boys had heard them. "I take it that this was meant for one of my students?"
Momo's face was lit like a Christmas tree, "Er, I didn't mean - That is to say I - Oh, dear lord!" She moaned, her face aflame as she sank down to her knees in embarrassment.
The strange man chuckled for a moment, and knelt down next to her, "Not to worry, young lady, I won't say anything," he held up the visor, "And if you would like, I can say that this visor was a gift from someone in our R&D department at Might Towers," he suggested.
"Might Towers..." she breathed out, "You mean you're - ?!"
The man nodded, "Toshinori Yagi, personal aid to All Might and U.A.'s No.1 talent scout," he said with a bit of a flourish, "And, for the moment, the personal trainer of these two extraordinary young men," he said as the girl tried to regain her composure, "But if I may ask; why all the cloak and dagger nonsense?"
"Oh," Momo's blush returned, "I just...you see I - "
Whether it was by fortune or misfortune, the young heiress was saved from answering when there came the loud screeching of tires followed by the sickening sound of metal slamming against metal. Toshinori paled as the sound gave way to grinding, shredding metal and people screaming up on the streets. "Oh no!" The man rushed passed her and hurried up the steps, "Boys!" He hollered out as she followed after him without thinking.
As she crested the steps, she found what could only be described as pandemonium. What had started out as two cars colliding turned into a pile up as other cars failed to slow down in time to avoid the inevitable crash. A few had managed to avoid the pile up, only end up smashing into a storefront, a fire hydrant, and a lamp post.
Just from a glance she could that there were several injured people. She then saw Toshinori rolling up his sleeves, "Young lady, I hate to ask, but I think we might need some help," he said as she saw the two boys prying the door of one car open to help the occupant get out. "Young Midoriya, Young Bakugo! Be sure to check for any injuries!" He called out, "Watch for broken limbs and head wounds!"
"Right!" The boy with green hair called out.
"Got it!" Bakugo, the blond, yelled at the same time as the two of them gingerly pulled the driver out of the car, Midoriya supporting their shoulders while Bakugo took hold of their legs to lay them down on the sidewalk.
Momo looked around frantically, "Um, what can I do?" She asked the man as he made his way over to one of the totaled vehicles.
"What's your Quirk?" He asked as the girl followed after him. "Any healing abilities?"
Momo shook her head, "No, but I can make any sort of non-living material whether it be organic or inorganic as long as I know the molecular make, so I can make bandages and perhaps some alcohol for cleaning wounds?" She said with hope of being able to help the situation.
To her relief, Toshinori turned around and beamed at her, "Perfect, go help the boys for now," he pointed to where they were tending to the injured driver, "I'll call you over if I need anything!"
"Right!" Without even thinking over it, she used her Quirk to create a roll of gauze and medical tape as she moved toward the pair. "Here!" She knelt next to them, "What injuries does he have?"
Midoriya didn't even look up as he was holding a handkerchief against the man's head above his right eye, "He has a head wound, and Kacchan thinks he might have a broken arm."
Momo nodded and created a few pads to place over the man's wound and wrapped it with the gauze. "How bad is his arm?" She asked of the blond boy.
"Not bad, but he needs something to keep it steady," he said while he watched her work by creating a forearm splint.
The man groaned as she worked on him, "You're alright," she said with what she hoped was a comforting smile, "There are ambulances on the way."
"Th-thank you." The man rasped out as Midoriya supported his head.
Toshinori had finished helping someone else from the crash, "Young lady, I could use some bandages over here!" He called out.
Momo turned, "I'll be right there!" She turned back to the two boys, handing off the gauze and tape to the blond, "Can you handle the rest?"
Bakugo nodded, "We'll be fine," he took the supplies, "Get moving!"
Momo pouted as she rose and moved over to help Toshinori, [He could stand to be a little nicer,] she thought idly as she created more medical supplies.
"Kacchan, you need to be nice to her!" She heard the freckled teen admonish his friend on her behalf. That brought a small smile to her face as reached Toshinori and helped him administer aid to the woman he was supporting.
From that moment on, her body moved as if on autopilot as she went from one person to the next in order to bind their wounds. In the back of her mind she knew that she heard her father calling out to her but she pushed it out of her head in order to keep herself going.
By the time that the ambulances arrived she had treated over half of the people involved in the accident and she finally had a moment to take stock of herself. Her once white skirt was now ripped and torn around the hem while it was painted with flecks of blood. Her pink blouse was in a similar state. Her hands, where once they were smoother than piano keys, now looked as though she had been climbing rocks barehanded.
Her face looked as though she had been through a fire as it was smudged with grease, blood and dirt. All the sound in the world seemed to be muted as she and the two boys were leaned up against one of the ruined cars as paramedics and firemen began taking care of the rest of the work they had started. Police officers were speaking with her father, and Endeavor ([When did he get here?] She wondered as someone handed her a water bottle.) as the incident was being taken down as a D.U.I. incident.
The man, Toshinori she recalled from his introduction, was speaking with Endeavor and her father over the incident, her father looking exceedingly upset while casting displeased glances in her direction. [He must be angry that I've made such a mess of myself,] she thought tiredly as she gulped down a mouthful of water and her stomach gave out a pained growl, letting her know that she was very close to fainting from hypoglycemia. [I'm too tired to even move my legs,] she sighed inwardly, [Let alone beg for something to eat.]
She saw Shoto there as well, looking at the scene with indifference. [Doesn't he feel anything?] She wondered as the boy started over in her direction.
He stopped just a few feet from her, "I have to say that I'm impressed by all of this," he said, which made her think that he was praising her for her actions. But his face was cold, and uncaring. "It must have taken a lot to stage something like this."
Momo felt her jaw drop, "Stage...you think this was staged?" She breathed out.
"Why else would a person of your stature lower herself to such menial tasks?" Shoto asked with an unchanging face. It was like a slap in the face. Almost as if her father was locking her in her room, to be raised as nothing more than a pretty song bird in a cage. Her exhaustion was quickly being replaced by something foreign, but she knew exactly what it was: blind fury.
She had always disliked Endeavour because of his cold attitude toward those of civilian status, but she had thought that his son might have been different. Her face twisted in an angered snarl -
"Oh, yeah, this is staged alright," said the verdette on her right in a flippant tone, "Can't you see how much bad acting is going on around here?" She looked at him to see the boy glaring up at the heterochromic boy, "Fake car accident, fake injuries," he wiped his face, looking down at his wrist, "Oh, and lookie here," he held out the limb, "Fake blood."
Bakugo's head lolled toward his friend tiredly, "Deku, come on," the ashen blond said, "No need to take this joker seriously."
Shoto glared at the blond, "What did you call me?"
"A joker," Bakugo said tiredly, "What, are you hard of hearing?" The boy asked, "If you think this shit is a joke, then you gotta be a joker." He reasoned, jerking his thumb at the two at his side, "I watched this chick set someone's leg while Shades over there held the poor sap down," he said before leaning his head back against the car, "And she helped me keep someone from bleeding out all over the pavement," he went on while holding up his bloodied hands, "If you think that's fake, then you're dumber than that dye job you've got."
"Dye job?" Momo asked with a look up at Shoto, taking in the fact that one side of his hair was white while the other was red. It was involuntary, but her cheeks puffed out in a small laugh before she could stop herself.
The boy glared at them, "How much did my father pay you to take all of this seriously?" He asked angrily.
Midoriya looked at him as if he were ready to take his glasses off, "We don't even know who you are, let alone your dad," the verdette sighed.
"He's Endeavor's son," Momo said without thought.
Bakugo scoffed, "No wonder this guy's a fucking joker," he smirked, "Endeavor's the biggest joke in the country!"
She saw Shoto's left eye twitch while steam began to rise from his skin.
"Is there a problem here?" Someone asked from behind the boy.
Momo looked up to see her father standing there, his hands tucked behind his back, looking more than a little upset. She smiled at him, "No, father," the girl said, "Mister Todoroki was just asking if we staged any of this."
"He did what?" That was Endeavor's voice as the man lumbered over to them with a furious look on his flaming face, "My Shoto is more well behaved than that!"
Midoriya shrugged, "We can vouch for her, Sir," the boy said with a slight tremble in his voice, "He even asked how much you paid us to say that this was all real."
Endeavor's face twisted with such rage when Midoriya said that that she feared he was about to lash out at one of them. Instead he reached out and clamped his massive hand down on his son's shoulder, "We'll be discussing this at greater length when we return home." The man said forebodingly as he turned to her father, "Your daughter performed well today; you should be proud of that." He said with a gesture in her direction.
It did not make her feel better to be praised by someone she despised.
Her father remained quiet, but the look she saw in his eyes seemed pleased as the large man tugged his son along. Toshinori came up to him then, "I'm entitled to agree with Endeavor, Sir," the blond man said as he fished something out of his pocket, "If she decides to attend a Hero School," he said as he handed her father what looked like a business card, "Give me a call at that number, and I write a letter of recommendation on behalf of All Might."
That made her father look more than a little shocked, "Are close with him?"
"I am his personal assistant in all things except his personal life," Toshinori explained, and gestured to the boys sitting on either side of her, "And I'm currently training these two fine young men to enter U.A. through the normal examinations." He smiled proudly, "I offered them a chance at recommendations, but they wanted to earn their way in rather than take the easy route."
Her father smiled slightly, "Admirable." He nodded before turning that smile on his daughter, "Come along, dear, we should get you home and cleaned up."
Momo nodded, looking forward to a long bath after the day she had had. She started to get up, but was struck with a sudden dizziness that had her tilting forward. "Watch out!" She heard someone shout from her side, she couldn't tell which as her hearing had dulled again to the point that almost thought that she was under water.
Her vision was blurred as she felt herself laid on her back, images swimming in and out of her vision.
エックスメン
Author's Note: For anyone that doesn't think Shoto would say something like that, please remember how much he despises his father. Also, Momo has created the Cyclops Visor! And all three have seen some action.
If you enjoyed this chapter, please hit that Review Button. See y'all in the next chapter! Adios Amigos!
