💥 ON HIATUS !!!
⎯ naoko todoroki decided she'd
go through a hell hotter than
her own fire for people who
never deserved it.
OR
⎯ in which the youngest todoroki
joins ua against her father's wishes,
and...
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Naoko Todoroki has always had a complicated relationship with heroes.
She knew very well their capacity for corruption. Her own father's shouting and bursts of fiery anger haunted her. The eavesdropped conversations of him paying off her tutors when she'd reach out to them for help plagued her mind. The unanswered letters she'd send to All Might, to even small time heroes and sidekicks, all prodded at her willpower—making her wonder, what is a hero?
She didn't have a lot of faith in today's heroes. As much as she'd always hoped to be one, she'd always felt in her heart of hearts that there was something wrong with heroes as they were now.
But still, she held onto that childhood dream.
Maybe it was forced upon her. She held the idea with an iron grip, that being strong, being number one, becoming a hero was the one way to earn her father's love after years of scorn. It was the reason she was brought into the world, so once she achieved it, everything would be okay, right?
Years passed and she grappled with the facts of her family. Though still a silent motivation, she finally figured that even fulfilling her purpose would likely not satiate her father's greed.
She couldn't make him love her.
It didn't matter how hard she tried, how much she longed for her father's love. It wouldn't happen.
So her mind shifted that day. Maybe she could still be a hero... only she'd be better. She could be a catalyst of a pro, ready to spark a much needed change in hero society.
She didn't want to be someone standing on even ground with Endeavor—she wanted to go beyond and reshape the reality of heroism.
She wanted everyone to know the world wasn't black and white... that a purse snatcher wasn't evil personified and a hero was not the ultimate savior. She hoped to teach the world that humans, whatever powers are stowed upon them, are still humans—and are riddled with flaws.
Heroes are not their gods. And villains are not their devils.
And so a hope for the future was born within the girl. A hope that someday heroes could be held accountable, "villains" could get the help they often need, and civilians would stop turning a blind eye and start thinking for themselves.
She wanted to be the guiding light that All Might had mentioned to her on the festival podium.
Yet in its infancy, the man who'd approached her managed to chip away at the idea, sowing seeds of doubt as easy as it was to take a seat next to the girl on a public bench.
He had plopped down heavily onto the metal with an even heavier sigh. Without care, he rested his arms on the back of the bench, one of his hands nearly brushing against Naoko's shoulder.
