Deer

Chapter 15

Shoto licked the strawberry lollipop while staring at anywhere except the smiling Nezu. Izuku sat right beside the headmaster, shuffling through a bunch of paperwork while muttering up a storm, a frown marring his usually expressionless face.

"How did this happen?" he asked himself in his head, once again. It was right after the end of the lesson, when he was busy contemplating which agency he should pick out for the internship. Someone tapped his shoulder. And when he turned around, he was met with the unchanging expression of the green-haired teen named Midoriya Izuku.

Shoto had a complex opinion of him. Izuku is Quirkless, meaning he'll never endanger his dream of reaching the number one rank without using his left side. Yet he's also strong, his fight with Bakugo, who is the second strongest in their class in terms of raw power, was cold, hard evidence at that. Not to mention how he kept going even though the Nomu cracked his ribs and twisted his ankle. Shoto didn't know if he really was the toughest in their class like everybody unanimously agreed, though he acknowledged that Izuku was a whole lot more durable than a normal civilian was supposed to be, a preconception people with flashy quirks tended to have. Pity he couldn't measure Izuku's own power against him, as he didn't join the Sports Festival.

He understands, as the greenette was never one of them and his classmates tended to forget that he attended the school with them. Didn't mean Shoto wasn't disappointed with the outcome, however.

Right now, Izuku asked him to come along, walking toward a direction where their principal's office was located. Now, he knew he was not on friendly terms with his colleagues. Friends and emotions will only hinder him in fulfilling his wishes to be the best. Yet he was not actively antagonizing any of them either, except when he challenged Bakugo to fight him seriously at yesterday's competition. Which, apparently, not using his fire means he didn't follow his promise through. Bakugo was an angry Pomeranian but he never saw him that furious. So, the brash blonde did his best to force him into using it. He succeeded in doing that by almost rupturing Shoto's eardrum if he didn't instinctively activate a burst of flame to protect it. Was that the reason why Nezu wanted to see him? Shouldn't he ask for Bakugo though? He was the one who got irritated and endangered the safety of one of the students.

Well, no matter. He's here now and Nezu wanted him to relax by giving him a strawberry lollipop. Izuku sat near the headmaster, pulling out a couple of paperwork from inside one of the drawers, then spread it on the long table, asking Shoto a question he never knew someone would ever ask.

"Is Endeavor abusing you?"

Shoto was glad Nezu didn't give him something to drink or else he'll choke on it.

The greenette didn't give him any time to respond, he just continued on listing the crimes of his sperm donor, willingly injuring his family using the pretense of 'training', endangering the safety of others with Quirk overuse, bribing law enforcement to sweep up any complaint he got, and more. They had been accumulating evidence after evidence to bring him down for the past two weeks. A hero's job is to protect. If he cannot start with his own family, how could they trust him to defend the citizen alike, then?

They only needed Shoto's consent regarding this, Izuku clarified. If he agreed to it, however, he had to be present in court and become an eyewitness. Tsukauchi Naomasa, a police officer with a Truth quirk would be present. Meaning there was no point in hiding anything just because he feared Endeavor would enact a punishment on him for trying to stand up against his injustice. Izuku was sure they wouldn't lose this fight, as they'd been scrounging up any info they could on Endeavor. And even if he did keep his job intact after this fiasco, it'll put a black stain on his supposedly unmarked papers. The Committee on the Rights of the Children won't allow him and his family to come back into that bastard's clutches. Not if he wanted to face Nezu's wrath.

The said creature cackled gleefully.

Shoto...Shoto was speechless.

To think there existed someone who realized what a rotten asshole Endeavor is. That his title as a Hero was nothing but glorified sunglasses.

Is this a dream? No, it hurt when he pinched his arm. Someone really tried to help him.

After years of hurt and despair, will he finally see the light? Where his brother and sister could also breathe the air of freedom?

But then—

"Fight me!" Katsuki roared, swinging his fist right under his jaw. The audience of the Sports Festival was deafening, yet Shoto could still hear him screaming, "Treat me as a villain if you must, I don't care! As long as you limit yourself and won't use your full power, you will never be a fucking Hero!"

But then, he wanted to be a hero.

A hero who saved people. Not the one who only cared about money and rank.

Never like his father. 

So, his decision was clear. He didn't like it, but he knew he could endure it for a while longer.

Shoto refused. He didn't want them to report him. At least, not until the internship ended and he managed to control his fire Quirk.

Not until he became a real hero. 

Izuku bit his lower lip like he wanted to rebut him and convince him to think twice. Before he let out a long sigh, mumbling something about "troublesome kids and their selfless tendencies". He reached to the back of his nape and unclasped his choker from his own neck, offering it to Shoto.

It contained five hidden cameras inside and the moment he wore it, the said cameras would turn on and record anything that occurred within ten radius miles. The camera would stop recording every time he stopped wearing it or when the day ended, before it picked up again one minute after that. He can also tap the choker twice for an express delivery, acknowledging that 'vibration equals it's-time-to-send-the-video' signal as well. This support equipment used a homing signal. So, no matter where he goes, the footage will be sent directly to Izuku's phone and computer. He ordered Shoto to wear it whenever he was home or Endeavor was there alongside him. Indeed, it was a breach of privacy, but for the sake of Shoto's health, he didn't want to risk it. This is to calculate if Endeavor's action towards his family will stay as it was or worsen.

"And when it does, I'll burst into your house along with several policemen. Your wish not to apprehend him be damned," he remembered Izuku said, fingers interlocking as he put his chin on it, eyes blazed with determination, "I won't let an abuser get away with their crime. Not again."

As Todoroki Shoto dazedly stood in front of the principal's closed door, still reeling over the fact that someone cared. Someone really cared. Choker already tied around his neck, he thought.

Midoriya Izuku is a vengeful guy, ignoring his uncaring attitude.

He didn't blame him, even if Izuku did it in a misguided attempt to pay for his sin. A sin in which he unknowingly ignored his former friend's plea for help, Shoto didn't mind. Actually, maybe. With this...

Both of them will get the peace they so vehemently need.