I only own this fan fiction. May contain Out of Character moments.

"Why the Hell are we here!?" Bakugou shouted, his anger reaching peak performance.

The next day had started early, though Izuku and Minoru were used to that as they woke up at this time to meditate with Fenghuang. They ate with Fenghuang, Todoroki, Bakugou, and the rest of Endeavor's sidekicks. Minoru and Izuku have but one thing to do today, keep up with Endeavor. As for the Fenghuang, she's there to continue to teach the newest sidekicks hand-to-hand and contact other Hero agencies to Team-Up. And at 7AM on the dot…

The day began.

As Izuku mentioned yesterday, he had to carry Minoru around in order for the shorter boy to keep up. But that didn't mean Minoru was dead weight, as he had been strategically placing hairballs down for his partner to spring off of. This gave enough speed to Izuku to stay with Todoroki and Bakugou and even get ahead of them from time to time. The shorter boy even kept his hairballs in places where the public won't stumble into, like the tops of streetlights or the sides of buildings.

However, this was not enough for Izuku to get ahead of Endeavor.

The Flame Hero was as fast as Todoroki and Bakugou described him to be. And he's always moving, going from scene to scene before an incident can truly begin. Endeavor said that once you become familiar with your area of jurisdiction, you can just sense what is occurring and move when the air moves funny. It's similar to what Master Eclipse had taught Minoru about becoming one with a given space…

Except this space was the size of a city district, sometimes more if the neighboring districts needed help.

Now Izuku and Minoru could understand why Todoroki and Bakugou, despite their best efforts, were always a step behind. Endeavor never also stopped giving advice to them either, pointing out how it was that he approached a given situation. He then pointed out what it was that Todoroki and Bakugou needed to work on, telling them to repeatedly condense and release their power until they can do it unconsciously. For Izuku, his parallel processing simply needs to be sharpened more to fully optimize his skill set.

As for Minoru…

Endeavor outright said that the shorter boy shouldn't be with them, given that his skill set is not suited for such high-speed, high-power Hero work. While Minoru already knew that, it still stung a bit since it was the current Number One saying it. However, he did compliment his perfect support of Izuku, allowing the green haired boy to keep up despite having the handicap of having to lug Minoru around. And while the Flame Hero firmly believes that Heroes must be able to handle a crisis alone… He doesn't dismiss the benefits of having a capable partner, especially if their skills complement yours.

He was no doubt thinking about his fight with that powerful Nomu and having Hawks's help throughout it.

So having that approval kept Minoru and Izuku in better spirits than Todoroki and Bakugou, despite still losing to Endeavor's speed like they did. There was nothing that could make them stumble…

…

Except when, for some reason, Endeavor had brought them all, Fenghuang included, to the Todoroki home that evening. This is why Bakugou was raving mad right now, who no doubt thought they were going to go do some challenging secret assignment or training.

"Seriously! Why!?" Bakugou repeated as they all walked down the stone pathway to the front door. The Todoroki estate was a traditional Japanese mansion, which is no doubt why Todoroki renovated his room back at the UA dorms.

"My sister invited us all for dinner. She wanted to meet my friends." Todoroki replied, answering like he always does.

"I'm not your friend damn it!"

"Kacchan, please! Lower your voice and calm down." Izuku replied, trying to stop his old friend from detonating.

"Don't tell me what to do Deku!"

"You're already here, so you might as well say 'hi' and eat something since she probably accounted for you too. And who knows? You might actually enjoy your time here." Minoru replied as they reached the door.

"Indeed. Don't shy away from new experiences just because the company you find yourself with isn't ideal." Fenghuang said with a chuckle.

"Don't you start with me lady. I barely have enough patience for them."

When Endeavor opened the front door, the first person they saw was a young woman with glasses and white hair with red streaks in it. Minoru had to shove the first thought that unhelpfully came to his mind as the woman began greeting them.

"Thank you all for making it! I'm Fuyumi, Shouto's older sister. It's a pleasure to meet you all and thank you for looking after him." She said as she untied her apron.

"Good evening and thank you for the invitation. I'm Saisei Chie, or Fenghuang, of the Heaven and Earth Temple. And these two are my students." Fenghuang replied, bowing before gesturing to Izuku and Minoru.

"Midoriya Izuku! Thank you for having us!" The green haired boy said with a deep bow.

"Mineta Minoru. I apologize in advance for whatever this guy says or does while he's here." The shorter boy said as he jabbed his thumb at Bakugou.

"Shut the fuck up Rat Bitch. Bakugou Katsuki. And for the record, I'm not your brother's friend." The explosive blonde said, not really hiding his displeasure.

"Oh, that's a shame… Still, I hope you two get along regardless. Now, let's go inside. I didn't know if any of you had a preference, so I made a little bit of everything." Fuyumi said as she began leading the group further into the Todoroki home.

"I saw Natsu-nii's shoes back there. Is he here too?" Todoroki asked,turning to his sister.

"Yep. The whole family wants to know what you're all up to these days. UA has been pretty non-standard lately right? They send you school work digitally while you all put more time into your internships. It must be tough."

"We're managing it quite well actually. It does get a little rough, balancing school work with Hero work… But I find it satisfying when everything is said and done." Izuku replied with a smile.

"It's a pain in the ass, that's what it is! Especially when a third of the class calls me and I'm forced to explain shit to them!" Bakugou said with an annoyed groan.

"That just sounds like they see you as a reliable teacher." Fuyumi replied, completely unphased by the explosive blonde's attitude. This woman has the patience of a saint…

"Damn right I am!"

"So which is it? Do you or do you not have a problem with helping people?" Minoru asked.

"Oh I'll help. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"This makes me wonder if half the reasons you don't like our class are self-inflicted." Todoroki asked, his heterochromatic eyes casually staring at Bakugou.

"Don't YOU start psychoanalyzing me now Half-and-Half! I already get enough of that from him!" Bakugou shouted, pointing at Minoru.

"Ah, the wonders of youth. I fondly remember those laughter-filled days I spent with my friends. So I'm glad to see that its spirit still lives on." Fenghuang said with a chuckle. Endeavor didn't say anything, he just gave a solemn and contemplative hum at the banter between the UA students. Again, seeing the Flame Hero in deep thought was strange… But the shorter boy supposed that even he had things weighing down on him, being the current Number One and all.

Fuyumi opened the door to the dining room and there, already sitting at the table full of dishes, was a white haired young man that looked like he didn't want to be here. Though the first thought that went through Minoru's head wasn't anything related to this observation… Instead, combined with his earlier thoughts on Fuyumi and his overall view on Todoroki and Endeavor, the shorter boy only had this mental note run through his mind.

Why is the whole Todoroki family attractive?

"This is Natsuo, he's the middle brother between me and Shouto. He's in college right now." Fuyumi introduced as everyone began taking their seats. Todoroki sat with his siblings. Izuku, Minoru, and Bakugou sat on the other side. And Endeavor and Fenghuang sat at the two ends.

"Welcome. We're sorry if this whole thing is pulling you away from important work." He said with a slight bow.

Izuku, Minoru, Bakugou, and Fenghuang were introduced to the young man through Todoroki. Also commenting that the Radiant Wing had dropped by to discuss something important with Endeavor. There was a flash of anger in Natsuo's eyes as they briefly went to the man in question. But despite how short the exchange was…

They can feel the tension grow.

"L-Let's eat before the food gets cold! If there's anything you don't like, you don't have to force yourself to eat!" Fuyumi said nervously, quickly winding down that building tension.

"Then thank you for the food." Fenghuang said with a relaxed smile, placing her hands together.

"Thank you for the food."

The clatter of chopsticks was heard around the table as everyone began reaching for foods of interest. Izuku went for some tatsuta-age, immediately complementing and breaking down the taste and texture of it. Bakugou, who immediately yelled at the green haired boy to stop analyzing the food, began focusing heavily on the mapo tofu. Minoru and Fenghuang didn't have a preference and ate everything equally, as did the Todoroki family.

"It's all bursting with flavor…" Izuku said after happily biting into a gyoza.

"Of course it is. Ever since our housekeeper injured her back, Fuyumi-nee has been doing all the cooking." Natsuo replied.

"You used to cook too, Natsu, we took turns." She replied as she pointed between the two.

"Then I ate your cooking at some point?" Todoroki asked, looking with an actual degree of surprise at his brother.

"I'm not so sure about that… I tend to over-season things, so 'someone' might have stopped you." Natsuo replied, side eyeing his father. The tension came back in full force as all hands stopped eating except for Fenghuang, who kept calmly moving her chopsticks. How was she not perturbed by this, Minoru wouldn't know. But he's thankful someone was remaining calm in all this.

"I never knew…" was all Endeavor could say, his voice edged with regret. However, before the silence became too uncomfortable, Fenghuang began speaking after she took a sip of her tea.

"The Temple once had a student who thanked us with a pot of home-cooked pasta. However, the student hadn't realized he added a bit too much salt to it, making it unpleasant to eat. But we didn't throw it away, no… Instead, we boiled some vegetables and beans to make a vegetable stock. And once we added the over-seasoned pasta in, it turned into an impromptu minestrone. It was quite delicious and filling. Young Natsuo, what did you make then?"

"... Huh?"

"What did you try to make back then?" Fenghuang asked again.

"... Chicken masala. I was getting tired of curry, so I wanted to try making another Indian-style dish." He replied, unsure of where she was going with this.

"Ah yes, spiritual India… One of my masters once went to the country during his travels across the world. He told me that the smell of the spice markets there was so intense, he had to stuff his nose to prevent a catastrophic sneeze. Has something like that ever happened to you? I know I couldn't stop sneezing when I got a little too close to the spices." Fenghuang asked with a chuckle, her kind eyes locked with Natsuo's gray ones. And for the first time this evening, he cracked a smile, if barely.

"One time on a high school camping trip. The curry mix my group had smelled a little funny, so I went closer to see if we were just imagining things. Someone then bumped into me and all that powder went into my face… I was practically a wet mess for a while after that."

"Oh dear! And that experience has contributed to your feelings on curry?" Fenghuang asked with a slight laugh. Natsuo didn't seem to mind as he took the response in stride, finding the memory funny as well.

"It did. Though I don't know how much better masala is since it's still pretty seasoning heavy."

The rest of the table watched as the Radiant Wing easily had full length discussions about several topics with the middle Todoroki sibling. She got him to talk about his college studies, health and welfare, and his favorite things, sashimi and the sea. He got her to talk about Inuito, especially her favorite places outside of the Temple, and what she does on her off time, meditating and reading texts on philosophy.

There was still an air of tension no doubt… But Fenghuang had put out her best to keep the tension at the lowest possible point. At some point, Minoru, Izuku, and everyone began eating again, but in silence as to not disturb the Radiant Wing from her task. They knew what she was doing. And Endeavor, Fuyumi, and Todoroki were all thankful for her intervention. Even Bakugou was nodding in approval.

"You know, if you ever find yourself in Inuito, you should drop by the naval museum down by the port. One of my masters works there as his day job and he'll be more than happy to talk to you about the… Oh, it seems we're done with dinner." Fenghuang said, breaking her train of thought the moment her chopsticks grabbed nothing. There was a hint of surprise and disappointment across Natsuo's face, knowing exactly that the good times had to end at some point.

"I'll wash the dishes, just bring what's here to the kitchen." Endeavor said somberly as he stood up and carried whatever could out of the room. Fenghuang began gathering the dishes, much to Fuyumi's surprise as she also began cleaning up. Shortly after, just about everyone was having a hand in the clean up.

"Thank you, Saisei-san, for tonight." Fuyumi thanked, tearing up a little.

"Whatever for Young Fuyumi? It is only natural that we help after you have prepared such an exquisite meal for us."

"Ma'am… Please don't treat us like we're dumb… You kept talking with me because you knew I had a problem with our father and that killed the mood. You were trying to keep things from boiling over any further and ruining Fuyumi-nee's hard work." Natsuo replied, voice hard with frustration.

"If you knew, then why'd you play along? You didn't have to, since it's clear to us that you don't want to be here." Bakugou asked, going straight to the heart of the matter. Minoru knew his nemesis lacked any form of tact… But this was not the time or place for him to be blunt and confrontational.

"Kacchan! You can't just say that sort of stuff outright!" Izuku said, nervously looking between Natsuo and the explosive blonde.

"No, he's right and he should say it. But… I guess I just couldn't help myself… It's been too long since I talked about anything else in this house…" Natsuo replied. Looking over at Fenghuang, she was just about ready to carry off a hefty amount of plates.

"Saisei-san… Would you have still talked to me if I wasn't so obviously upset?"

"I would've made a greater attempt to do so. In the midst of despair, it's often the quietest one that needs help the most. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Fenghuang answered, without a second of hesitation, before she walked out of the room. The remaining occupants continued to clean in silence, only the sounds of stacking plates and bowls can be heard. Natsuo then stood up and went to leave, but stopped at the door.

"Midoriya and Mineta, right? You've picked the right Hero to intern under." He said, turning to the two boys with a melancholic smile. But upon turning to his brother and Bakugou, Natsuo's expression turned into an angry, but disappointed, glare.

"Bakugou and Shouto… I don't think I can say the same for you."

"Natsu-nii…" was all Todoroki could say.

"Hey, you don't like your old man, we get that. But you don't get to decide if we made the wrong choice." Bakugou replied, narrowing his eyes at the young man. Natsuo's glare met the explosive blonde's, a brief silence followed as the two continued to stare one another down. However, Natsuo was the first to look away.

"Thank you for dinner tonight, Fuyumi-nee. I'll be heading out now." Natsuo said before leaving the room. More silence followed as the sounds of the remaining dishes were stacked upon the tray, ready to be delivered to the sink. However, Minoru could feel Bakugou's temper flaring and prepared himself for his imminent explosion.

"Okay! What the Hell was that!? I couldn't enjoy the mapo tofu with all that fucking drama in my face!"

"Would it kill you if you used a little more tact? You can't just ask something like that out of the blue." Minoru said, glaring at the explosive blonde as Izuku tried to mediate between the two.

"No… No… He's right… Shouto, how much do they know?" Fuyumi replied with a sigh, turning to her youngest brother.

"Our class only knows the basics, that the old man fractured our family, sent Mother to the hospital, and gave me a personal grudge... But only Midoriya knows the specifics. They were fine with me not sharing the whole story until I was ready."

"I also know the specifics, Half-and-Half. You people have to make sure no one's around before you spill the beans." Bakugou said, folding his arms.

"I overthought the details and probably came close to the truth… Endeavor, your dad… He abused the family over your Quirks, didn't he?" Minoru asked, looking shamefully at a spot upon the ground. Based on everything he knows about the Todoroki family, this was the conclusion the shorter boy could draw. And based on how Todoroki reflexively looked at his left hand and the frown on Fuyumi's face…

He was right.

"You should take your own advice, Rat Bitch…" Bakugou growled.

"Sorry… You don't have to answer that if you don't want to..." Minoru said, further shrinking his presence from the shame. It was times like this the shorter boy wished he had Eclipse's Quirk, so he could just escape from this situation by turning invisible.

"I have no idea how you can figure out so much with so little… You can be pretty scary yourself, Mineta. But yeah, that's the gist of our sad little family… Fuyumi-nee, I'll bring the rest of the dishes to the kitchen, but you can tell them about Toya-nii." Todoroki replied with a sad smile, standing up with the tray of dishes and leaving the room.

"Toya-nii…? You had another brother?" Izuku asked as he, Minoru, and Bakugou sat back around the table.

"Toya was my older brother… The oldest among us siblings… And once upon a time, we were a normal family. But as Dad focused more and more on Shouto's potential, the rest of us started to feel more and more neglected. Toya was the one who took it the hardest, doing his best to become a hero with a Quirk that wasn't suited for his body… He'd secretly train up on Sekoto Peak, to try and overcome his limits. And every time, Dad would find out through his burns and get angry… At Toya… And at Mom… For not stopping his training…" Fuyumi began, voice tinged with sadness. Todoroki came back at some point and silently sat by his sister's side. He had placed his right hand on her back as tears welled up in Fuyumi's eyes.

"Mom eventually snapped… She couldn't take it anymore… And the first person who suffered from that was Shouto. Dad sent Mom to the hospital shortly after, and we all retreated somewhere in our despair. Natsuo and I hid in our rooms, Shouto into his hatred of Dad… And Toya to Sekoto Peak… Where a massive fire broke out…"

She didn't need to say what happened next. Minoru was an only child, so he'll never know the pain of losing a family member… But he knew that sort of tragedy can, and will, change people. Some for the better… Some for the worse… And for Endeavor, his obsession with his children's Quirks, with Shouto's Quirk, only intensified. Fuyumi took off her glasses and placed a hand over her eyes.

Quiet sobs, barely audible even in an already silent room, can be heard.

"Natsu-nii began hating the old man even more after that… He believes Toya's death was his fault. And while I didn't know my oldest brother very well… I felt the same too. Endeavor just ruined another member of my family…" Todoroki said, slowly rubbing his sister's back.

"But I'm guessing that's not the entire story, is it?" Bakugou asked.

"Shouto, we know you've been trying to move forward from this tragedy since the Sports Festival. And considering your sister had brought the family together for dinner, so has she." Minoru said, looking into the heterochromatic eyes of his classmate.

"Only Natsuo-san isn't able to move past it all… And he feels like he's being left behind…" Izuku added, his eyes falling to the table.

"Yes… Natsu isn't ready to move forward when all of us, even Mom, is already doing so. And it's not like I don't understand where he's coming from. I can still hear Mom's cries and Dad's anger… But time has finally started moving on from that point! Things are different now! Shouto has friends, Mom is smiling again, and I don't have to hide away until the fire dies out! I just want us all to be a family again… But I also don't want to force Natsuo to change…" Fuyumi said as she put her glasses back on, her sadness and frustration leaking out.

"Then don't force anything." Minoru said, almost instantly as a memory of Fenghuang's teachings resurfaced. All eyes went to the shorter boy, expectations shining within their eyes as he channeled the feelings he felt then.

"You can't force a flower to bloom with grand actions or pretty words… If Natsuo doesn't feel like moving on yet, you should let him know that's okay, and give him time and space to fully work out his feelings. And even if he completely refuses to forgive Endeavor, I'm sure he'll find his own path to closure. You trust him, right?" Minoru said. Fuyumi nodded without hesitation, her once uncertain face now full of determination.

"Then believe in your brother. One way or another, he'll find his path through all this grief. I mean, you, Shouto, and your mom did, right?"

"We did. Thanks Mineta. You're surprisingly good at the whole 'encouragement' thing." Todoroki replied, a small, but satisfied, smile appearing on both his and Fuyumi's faces.

"You can say I've got a lot of practice in that department." Minoru said as he looked towards his partner with a proud smile on his face.

"It also helps that we have Fenghuang shifu. She seems to always have the right anecdotes to tie into her lessons." Izuku added, smiling at his shorter friend in return.

"The best teachers always do. I should know, I'm an elementary school teacher." Fuyumi replied with a smile much brighter than before. Ah, that explains why she has so much patience in the face of Bakugou. But before they could continue the conversation, the door opened and there stood Fenghuang and Endeavor.

"I apologize if we were interrupting something. But it is, unfortunately, time for us to go." Fenghuang said with an apologetic bow.

"Yes... We've all got plenty of work to take care of tomorrow after all." Endeavor added, a bit more somberly than his fellow Hero.

"Then allow me to see you off, as thanks for being great company. Despite how rocky it got… I still enjoyed our time together." Fuyumi said as they all stood up.

"We had fun too."

"It was alright."

"Kacchan please…"

And that has been Chapter 141!

Here we have the other kind of spice, the mega drama of the Todoroki family!

This chapter and the next will focus around Endeavor and the horrific shit he put his family through. It was quite difficult to write this in a way that conveys my personal opinions while giving the sensitive subject matter the consideration it deserves. And I won't know if I've succeeded or not until you all read both chapters and tell me your feelings on how I wrote about the subject matter.

I have nothing else to say. So...

Until Next Time. T1.