Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Of all the things to grow up hating, breakfast was one that nobody would expect from anyone, let alone Todoroki Hatsuki. From the moment Hatsuki could even understand what a meal was, the girl adored being surrounded by most of her family as they talked amongst each other. Her favorite moments had always been the ones she would be scolded for, when she bantered back and forth with her older brothers or teased her sister with her twin. 

Mom would gently chide them if their voices rose too loudly, or if one of the children got actually offended, but Hatsuki had always considered mealtimes her favorite parts of the day, because it was the closest to real happiness that she'd known at the time. And then Shouto's quirk developed at breakfast. 

Heterochromic eyes had widened suddenly as the four year old raised his spoon — because he'd yet to master chopsticks — of omurice to his mouth and found the utensil encased in a block of ice, frost spreading up his pale arm. The Todorokis had all looked on with varying levels of excitement, something like relief shining in their eyes, and Hatsuki had cried out in excitement, leaning closer in an attempt to touch it. And then Shouto's other hand burst into flames and his twin yelped and jumped backwards, nearly falling to the floor if not for Natsuo grabbing her under the armpits and righting her on her chair. 

"That's so cool, Shou-chan!" Hatsuki exclaimed, once again clambering toward her wide eyed brother. Her head whipped towards their father at the head of the table. "Dad, isn't his quirk so cool?"

She didn't realize then what the shining in her mother's eyes meant as her father slowly began to grin, but looking back years later, Hatsuki would realize that Rei was trying not to cry. 

After that, Shouto didn't eat breakfast with them anymore, nor lunch or dinner — and the only times she saw her twin were late at night as she darted across the darkened hallway to climb under the covers with him and talk until one of them fell asleep. Eventually though, as weeks turned to months and there was no sign of frost and flames emitting from her palms, the annoyance in her father's eyes grew, as did the distance between Shouto and the rest of them. 

It wasn't until nearly half a year after Shouto that Hatsuki finally developed her quirk. After her twin's fire and ice emerged, her family watched her closely, even going so far as to take her to a quirk specialist to confirm she had one. 

At one of the aforementioned dreaded breakfasts that Hatsuki sulked through its entirety, months of pent-up jealousy finally exploded from her. The youngest Todoroki had been sullenly pushing cut up pieces of pancake around her plate for well over ten minutes when she spotted her father dragging Shouto behind him towards the training room. Her eyes lit up as she spotted them, and Fuyumi's widened as she reached toward her little sister, likely spotting the blow-up before she did. 

"Dad! Dad, can I come train too?" Hatsuki cried, twisting in her chair to watch as the hero stopped abruptly, Shouto stumbling into the back of his legs with a yelp. "Please, Dad?" She asked him every time she saw him now, rare as it was, and she knew he was getting angry, but Hatsuki could only hope that if she just kept asking, maybe one day he'd say yes. 

"Train? Without a quirk?" Endeavor asked, addressing her with one brow shooting up to his hairline as he stared at his daughter. "Of course not." And then he returned his gaze to his destination and started forward again. Anger reaching its hands into her chest to wrap around her lungs and squeeze, Hatsuki clambered out of her chair quickly enough to nearly topple it over. 

"I do have a quirk!" Hatsuki exclaimed, hands curling into fists as her narrowed silver eyes glared up at her father. "It just isn't here yet! But it's gonna be the best quirk ever and it's not fair you're training Shouto and not me! I'm gonna be a hero too!" 

Behind her, Hatsuki heard her mother and siblings inhaling sharply. Shouto peered across the room at her with disbelief blowing his eyes wide, and Dad had frozen again. He dropped the harsh grip he had on her twin's wrist as he turned fully towards her, icy blue eyes narrowed on her red face and heaving chest. 

"Is that so?" He demanded, starting a slow stride toward her. Hatsuki's eyes widened at the full weight of her father's attention, glare disappearing. She leant back as he stopped mere inches in front of her, but he was suddenly gripping her jaw harshly in his hand, something like a snarl on his lips. "A hero? All I see is an insolent little brat, thinking only of yourself." 

Just as the grip was starting to become painful, Endeavor let go, stepping back. "You will train when you become useful, Hatsuki. Jealousy will do nothing for you." 

A wave of — ironically — cold fury washed over her small frame, and enraged tears blurred her vision. She didn't want to fall behind! She didn't want to be second best to her brother forever because he started training at four years old, and she was five and still without a quirk. "I want to train now!" Hatsuki shrieked, picking up her foot and stomping as hard as she could. 

She expected her mother and siblings to begin trying to rein her in, she even expected Dad to scream in her face — she expected many things, but the one thing she didn't foresee was for both of her trembling fists to burst into ultraviolet flames. 

Silence fell over the Todoroki manor as Hatsuki panted from the force of her yells, her anger seeping from her pores as she nearly stumbled over her own feet. Shouto was watching her in shock, and she knew if she turned around that so would be Mom and her other siblings. But Endeavor — his anger had disappeared as quickly as Hatsuki's, and his bright eyes watched her in poorly concealed glee. ". . . Purple flames?" He whispered, awed as his eyes locked onto her hands. 

Hatsuki had been waiting for this moment her entire life, yet she didn't know how to react. Slowly, the girl uncurled her fists, eyes widened and filled with wonder as she looked at her unmarred fingers, violet fire flickering a few inches into the air. "Woah." The word spilled from her lips unbidden, mouth agape. 

Suddenly, Endeavor was right in front of her again, hands grabbing onto her arms to yank her hands up in front of his face. Hatsuki yelped, but her flames remained as they were. "They don't hurt you?" He demanded, eyes flickering somewhere behind her. She knew instantly that he was looking at Touya. 

"No!" She cried, a wide grin cracking her lips apart. "It doesn't hurt at all! They feel cool!" Practically vibrating with excitement, Hatsuki craned her neck to see her family's reactions, and her smile froze on her face. Mom's hands were both covering her mouth, eyes wide but no sign of excitement. Fuyumi mirrored their mother, though she had one hand clasped onto her twin's arm, though Touya didn't seem to notice, lips pursed as he glared at her hands. And Natsuo — 

Natsuo didn't look at her, his head bowed, hands clenched into fists much like hers had just been. Hatsuki didn't understand why they weren't excited, and when she looked back to her father to ask, she found him releasing one of her arms to reach for her flames with the tips of his fingers. The moment his skin touched the purple flames, Endeavor hissed and yanked his hand back. 

He didn't look upset though, his eyes still wide and near sparkling. Cautiously, Hatsuki swallowed. "Does this. . . Does this mean I can train with Shouto now?" She questioned meekly, silver gaze flickering over his face. 

"Yes," Dad said after a moment. "Yes, it does." 

Hatsuki beamed, turning to smile brightly at her twin. Eventually, Shouto smiled back at her, but she'd come to learn that it wasn't genuine. 

(That day was also the last day she had breakfast with her family.)

Within a few days, Hatsuki understood why Mom seemed so afraid, why Fuyumi was so sad, why Touya and Natsuo were angry. After her third training session, Dad finally deemed her ready to begin attempting to copy the moves he and Shouto had demonstrated for her — moves that had her small grey eyes growing larger than she thought possible as she finally began to feel a bit of apprehension. 

Hatsuki thought she was ready, she thought that Shouto going through the techniques with her for hours even after Endeavor called the sessions to an end was an attempt to catch her up faster. She never could have guessed that his frantic instructions were fueled by fear instead of the goodness of his heart. 

After, when Hatsuki's face was streaked with tears and her entire upper body was littered with bruises and minor burns, she finally began to understand. Shouto wrapped his arms around her the moment Endeavor left the room, and he quietly asked her if she was okay. Not meeting his eyes, Hatsuki sniffed softly and wrapped her own arms around her twin, burying her face in his neck. Why did Touya want to train so badly if he already knew how badly it hurt?

Weeks passed without Hatsuki seeing any of her siblings besides Shouto, and eventually she stopped hoping to see them, even in passing. By waking up early every morning, she did manage to spend a few minutes with her mother. She set her alarm to half an hour before she was collected for a lonely breakfast and a training session to last all afternoon and she sat up in her bed and waited until Mom peeked into her room, always smiling timidly when she found her youngest child beaming excitedly, waiting for her. 

At first, Hatsuki spent the cherished moments with her mother recounting her training sessions and talking eagerly of her quirk. But when she saw how the woman's eyes saddened more and more each time, eventually she learned to be quiet beyond the instinctual, "Good morning, Mommy. I love you." 

Rei always looked a little happier as she replied with an 'I love you' of her own before dutifully pulling out a brush and hair tie and plopping her daughter into her lap to detangle her dual colored hair and weave it into a simple braid. Except for Touya, all of the Todoroki children had a mixture of red and white hair — though Natsuo told her and Shouto once that Touya's hair used to be red. Yet Hatsuki knew that she and Shouto had been slightly different from the start. With his hair color split down the middle and hers almost entirely white beside the swath of thick red bangs framing her face, and then Shouto's frankly very obvious manifestation of half hot, half cold — Hatsuki knew her family had been expecting something similar from her. 

But like her hair wasn't split down the middle, neither was her quirk. She couldn't lie and say she wasn't hoping for a fire quirk, but she never could have guessed just how different it would be from her father's and even her brothers'. "Mom?" Hatsuki spoke quietly one morning, eyes half closed at the feeling of her mother's hands brushing against her scalp. "Do you like my fire? It's pretty, right?"

Briefly, Rei's movements stilled, but the next moment she began braiding again, humming a soft sound under her breath. "Your fire is very beautiful, little moon." She responded eventually, finishing Hatsuki's braid and tying it off. "Just as pretty as your brother's." 

"Touya-nii's?" Hatsuki twisted in her mother's arms, peering into silver eyes that matched her own. "I like the blue. Did you know purple fire is even hotter than blue fire?" At her answering nod, Hatsuki leant over, resting her head right over Mom's heart. "I'm trying to make my fire less hot but I can't do it yet. Do you think Touya-nii will stop being mad at me if I make my fire blue like his?"

Something unrecognizable flickered in her mother's eyes, before her lips turned downward and she brought her hand up to cup the left side of her face. "Oh, sweetheart. Touya isn't mad at you. He loves you. He used to hold you for hours, you know?"

"Really?" Hatsuki's eyes grew large. "I thought he only liked Natsu-nii and Nee-san?" 

"Touya loves all of you." Her mother murmured, smiling gently in a way she didn't do when Father was near. "He helped me choose the kanji for your name. Sunny moon, your name means. It's why I call you my little moon, and why he called you sunshine." 

Hatsuki noticed the use of past tense, and she dropped her gaze to her lap. "He doesn't anymore. He doesn't talk to me at all anymore," she whispered, a lump growing in her throat. "Shou-chan says Touya's never ever talked to him either."

"Oh, my love," she breathed softly. "Sometimes —"

"Rei?"

Hatsuki yelped in surprise, flinching so violently that she tumbled out of her mother's lap as wide eyes whipped toward her door. Her father stood in the doorway, face blank and unreadable. "What is this? Coddling? Hatsuki isn't a toddler anymore, Rei. This will cease at once." 

Hatsuki's heart clenched painfully in her chest, and even though she was sure Mom had argued, she didn't remember any of the words, only watched as tears poured down the woman's face, her expression contorted in something like anger. Hatsuki flinched again when Father abruptly jerked his hand up and struck her mom across the face, and then she could only watch as the woman was dragged harshly from the room. 

Minutes later, Endeavor returned, fire flickering over his features as he grabbed her by the arm and tore her out of bed. She cried at the sudden heat, but nobody heeded her shrieks of pain, feet scrambling to keep up with her father's long strides. When they reached the dojo, Shouto was already there, face pale and heterochromic eyes wide and worried. "Let her go!" He spat upon spotting the tears on her face and the way she was still desperately trying to tear herself out of his grip. 

It got him to release her, but it did nothing for the third degree burn in the shape of their father's large hand covering her upper arm. That night, Shouto helped her clumsily wrap bandages around the wound, and she in turn helped him clean the blood from his split lip. They sat in silence until Endeavor removed Shouto from her room and she ate her dinner all alone. And then when her chopsticks briefly flickered purple before they turned to ashes in her hand, she pushed her plate away and cried herself to sleep. 

It took almost a month of continuing to wake up early and watching her door before Hatsuki realized that her mother wasn't coming, and it took nearly as long to learn how to braid her own hair. The first morning Mom didn't appear in her room, she burst into hiccuping sobs and made her way into her twin's room, climbing onto his bed and shaking him awake to ask if he would do her hair. 

Shouto had looked bewildered at the request, but he very obviously wanted her to stop crying, so he nodded his head and waited for her to turn her back to him before attempting to braid her dual colored hair. It became very clear that Shouto did not know how to braid if the way he'd knotted it horribly was any sign, but Hatsuki had nobody else to ask, so she smiled a watery smile at her brother and threw her arms around his neck before retreating back to her room. 

Endeavor huffed a breath through his nose when he saw the rat's nest that was her hair, but he said nothing else before throwing himself into their training. Briefly, Hatsuki pondered asking Father to braid her hair, but she thought of the burn on her arm and the many bruises littering her ribs and realized that the hero was more likely to burn it off her head. 

(The day after, she woke up two hours early and attempted her mother's braid until she was in tears and her still healing arm was in agony, but finally, she'd done it.)

She hadn't realized it at the time, but that image of her mother crying before Endeavor struck her was the last time she'd see her for another decade. A few weeks later, she'd come running to the sound of her twin screaming at the top of his lungs, writhing in Fuyumi's arms, and she'd come to hold his hand as they waited for the ambulance to arrive. She'd refuse to look up at the sound of Natsuo screaming at Father. Instead, Hatsuki stayed at Shouto's side as he sobbed, and looked up only when Touya settled on his other side. 

For once, her eldest brother looked at them with worry in lieu of his all consuming lividity. He pulled Fuyumi into his side with one hand, the other dropping onto Hatsuki's shoulder as Shouto was pulled from their grasp. When she burst into tears, Touya sighed and squeezed her shoulder. "It'll be okay, sunshine. Shou will be just fine," he told her gently, the first words spoken to her in months. 

Hatsuki turned her face into his shirt and wept, her cries mixing with her older sister's. Eventually, Natsuo joined the embrace and the siblings swayed where they stood for nearly an hour. Touya was the first to pull away, followed by Natsuo, and then she and Fuyumi were the only two that remained. Hatsuki wanted to retreat to her room and bury herself under her blankets and cry for an entire day, but her sister's arms didn't budge, wrapped so tightly around her smaller frame that it felt like Fuyumi was holding all the broken pieces of her together. 

In a way, she'd think of her sister like that for years, the glue that held their fragile family together, whatever pieces remained.

It was days before her father brought Shouto home, and Hatsuki entertained herself by attempting to lower the temperature of her vibrant purple flames. Endeavor had shown her a range of orange to white to blue flames of his own, and had only sneered when she could do nothing but hold up trembling hands sheathed in violet. 

After a day filled with somber silence from her siblings, Hatsuki sat on the edge of her bed before she went to sleep, her brush sitting on her blanket beside her and a red curtain of bangs obscuring her view of her pale hands. Glancing at the doorway like she expected her father to appear in the middle of the night to train, she hesitantly tucked her hair behind her ears and then willed her palms to burst into flames. 

Just like she'd said that very first time her fire came to life, it did feel cool. Every time she willed her flames into existence, it felt like dipping her hands into a tub of cool water. Like the memory of it, she supposed, because as they'd discovered when Natsuo accidentally used his quirk on her, spreading a thin layer of frost over her arm — cold to her was freezing. An hour after the frost was hurriedly cleaned away by their mother, she'd still been shivering, teeth chattering as she longed to curl up under a mountain of blankets and sleep. 

The following training session had warmed her up enough, but Endeavor flippantly warned her away from anything even remotely cold for the foreseeable future. Drawn from her thoughts, Hatsuki shook her head and blinked rapidly, refocusing on her alit palms. It was something that made her think, the fact that her purple flames, well over 3000°C, didn't leave so much as a sunburn, but her father's orange fire burned so deeply that a waxy white handprint scar remained on her upper arm. 

Furrowing her brows, Hatsuki pursed her lips as she stared into the violet inferno dancing upon her fingertips and willed with all her might to turn them down. Blue, she begged them, just turn blue! 

And then, miraculously, they did. Pure elation filled her chest as she watched purple shift into blue for a few seconds, before quickly returning to its normal color. With a wide grin, she extinguished the flames, squeezing her hands shut and dropping them on her legs. 

"Nice." Sounded from her doorway, and Hatsuki's sense of accomplishment vanished as her heart skipped a beat, terrified eyes shooting up as she scrambled backwards, her back against the wall. Her rapidly beating heart began to slow when she realized who it was, but her shaky breaths were still loud in the otherwise relative silence of the manor. 

Touya's brows shot to his hairline at her panicked display, his arms crossed over his chest, but he didn't mention it. "Blue flames, huh?"

Slowly, Hatsuki began to nod, sitting forward. "Uh huh. Just like yours, nii-san. Did you like them?" She probed, surveying the slight upturn of his lips that bewildered her, just the slightest. 

Pushing off the doorframe, Touya walked deeper into the room, watching her intently for something. Hatsuki watched him right back, curiously staring into his eyes that matched Father's. He didn't look much like him besides that, but she didn't mention it because she didn't know how he'd react. "Yeah. They were cool." Touya said eventually, stopping a mere foot from the end of her bed. 

Cautiously, Hatsuki scooted forward, climbing onto her knees in an attempt to get closer to eye level. "Me and you are just the same now, right? 'Cause we both got blue fire?" Inquired the girl, voice soft and wavering. 

Touya just stared at her for a moment, before he exhaled sharply through his nose, reaching forward to ruffle her hair. "Yeah, sunshine. We're the same. You keep practicing, yeah?" He replied quietly, and then just as quickly as he'd appeared, he turned to stalk from the room. 

Sitting back on her haunches, Hatsuki's face fell, and she bit down harshly on her lower lip, waiting for him to leave. Except, he stuttered to a stop in the doorway, back still turned to her. When he didn't say anything, she tilted her head in confusion, blinking bemusedly at the back of his head. "Touya-nii?"

Touya bowed his head, curling his hands into fists at his sides. "He's going to throw you away too, you know? Once you're not useful anymore, Father won't need you anymore. Not when he's got his masterpiece." He ground out, and then he was gone. 

Gobsmacked, Hatsuki gaped at the space he'd just been standing. Throw her away? That's not true, she told herself. I'm not useless. 

Yet, when Shouto finally came home, his face wrapped in bandages, shooting furious glares at Endeavor, Hatsuki felt pretty useless. And when she asked Fuyumi, "Mommy's not coming home, is she?" The five year old could do nothing but watch as her sister wept. 

Only then, did she finally begin to think that maybe Touya was right. She told him that one night weeks later, when he had appeared in her doorway to watch again as she turned her flames bright blue to match him. Touya didn't say anything that night, instead just watching her for a few seconds before slipping away without a word. 

She didn't know it then either, but it was the last time she'd see Touya before he died. If she had realized, she would have said something else, would've hugged him even if he didn't return the embrace. As it was, Hatsuki's last memory of her oldest brother was a blank look on his face after she whispered to him, "I think you were right Nii-san. I'm pretty useless too." 

Shouto didn't say a word when their father told them, remaining silent and impassive as Fuyumi screamed, her legs giving out, and Natsuo sobbed into her arms. 

Hatsuki — She was angry. Furious with the way Endeavor didn't even shed a tear over his child, his dead child. From that day on, Hatsuki's flames were blue, never hotter, never cooler. She would show him useless. 

But first, Hatsuki threw her arms around her twin's neck, and she wailed.

Chapter Text

Something that Hatsuki learned to grow bitter about over the years was that while her twin could get away with nearly anything, Endeavor did not pay her the same respect. For the first few years following her mother being sent away and her older brother's death, Hatsuki silently seethed over the many reasons it could be. At first, she'd wondered if it was just because she was a girl, but that didn't make sense because Father had treated Touya just the same until the day he'd driven him to accidentally kill himself. 

In the end, Hatsuki had settled on the fact that she just wasn't good enough to be worth her father's attention. She was a step below her twin brother, and she always would be. This was only fully cemented in her mind a mere two weeks after she turned seven. When Shouto refused to accompany Endeavor to a nameless charity event, he got a rather harsh training session and then an exception. When Hatsuki attempted to refuse, all she got for her troubles were a dark laugh and a fingerprint bruise around her wrist as he'd dragged her from the training room. 

Shouto watched her as she was led out the door, and Hatsuki could do nothing but accept it as she was dressed up by strangers, makeup covering the bags under her eyes and any visible bruises, her hair brushed back but left down, only a few inches down her back. An hour later, Endeavor was leading her through a crowd of reporters, camera flashes briefly blinding her.

She blinked the spots out of her vision and attempted a smile, aware of the tightening grasp her father had on her shoulder, and only once she'd been led inside did he finally loosen his grip, cool eyes glaring down at her. "Behave, Hatsuki. Can you do that?" He commanded her, voice low. 

The seven year old dropped her gaze to her dark kimono, lips pursed. "Yes, Father." She whispered shakily, and then his hand was finally gone. Instead, she was left to follow in his shadow as the hero made the rounds. At first, Hatsuki didn't recognize anyone there, but slowly as her eyes dragged around the large room, she began to spot other heroes she'd seen on the news. 

Across the room, there was a blond man laughing loudly, that she quickly realized was the Voice Hero: Present Mic. Before her quirk developed, Hatsuki would sit in Natsuo's room as he did his homework with the news or radio on in the background. It had been years now, but Hatsuki's piercing silver gaze latched into the man's familiar glasses and mustache, and she knew it was him. 

At his side, there was an equally boisterous woman with long, dark purple hair, that while she could guess was a hero, she had no idea which one. Finally, her gaze landed on a man near them that had a kid her age with him, both with matching dark blue hair and engines sticking out of their bodies. The man's were on his elbows, while the boy's were on the back of his legs. 

He must've been a hero too, but Hatsuki had no idea which one — She'd never seen him on the news nor heard from Natsuo about him, but he was smiling, and the boy at his side was smiling as well, even if he stood a little stiffly. Turning her gaze to her father, Hatsuki observed how his back was turned to her, his attention fully on the strangers he was talking to. Behave, he'd warned her, but surely she could slip away for just a few moments?

Slowly, her eyes flickering back and forth between her destination and Father, Hatsuki shuffled across the room, inching closer to the boy with engines on his legs. She got within a yard of the boy before he noticed her, dark blue eyes sliding over her before snapping back to focus on her face. At the intense look, Hatsuki froze, glancing nervously behind her to make sure Endeavor was still engaged in conversation. 

"Hello!" The boy said, a tad bit too loudly. "My name is Iida Tenya, it is a pleasure to meet you." With that, the boy — Iida — bowed deeply. She squeaked in shock, noticing the hero at Iida's side glancing their way with a small smile, before he returned his gaze to the other heroes. 

"O-Oh, um," she blinked, wide eyed at him as he stared intently at her, clearly waiting for something. "Oh! T-Todoroki Hatsuki, you as well," she said softly, copying his bow before meeting his gaze again. 

"Todoroki? Your father is Endeavor-san?" Iida said curiously, reaching up to push his glasses up his nose. Her artificial smile tightening, Hatsuki nodded. 

"Yes, that's right. And, um, he's a hero too?" She questioned, looking at the — presumably — older Iida. The boy's face lit up, a grin on his lips as he nodded vigorously. 

"My brother is the Turbo Hero; Ingenium!" He told her excitedly, waving his arm in the air in a way that reminded Hatsuki of a robot. "And I plan to follow in his footsteps as the next Ingenium! Do you wish to be a hero as well, Todoroki-san?" 

A small smile spread across her face, and though she was still nervously awaiting her father noticing her disappearance, it was nice talking to Iida, different to the way her siblings spoke to her because he didn't know like they did. "Yes, I'm going to be a hero too. As will my brother," she mentioned offhandedly. Briefly, Iida's brows furrowed, but he blinked quickly and nodded firmly. 

"If I may ask, what is your q —" He began, once again waving his arm around in a way that made Hatsuki want to laugh, when there was a voice a few yards away, barking her name. 

"Hatsuki!" 

The blood draining from her face, Hatsuki spun to find her father stalking towards her, jaw clenched and eyes hard. Her shoulders rising nearly to her ears, the girl bit down on her lip. "I'm sorry, Father. I-I was just talking to Ingenium's brother —" 

"You were told to behave, Hatsuki. Come, now." He demanded, one brow raised as he looked down at her, daring her to disobey. 

"My apologies, Endeavor-san!" Iida said loudly, bowing once again. "I was just asking Todoroki-san about her quirk, I did not intend to keep her from you." 

"Is that so?" Father kept his eyes firmly on Hatsuki's pale face. After a moment, he jerked his chin towards Iida, something contemplative in his gaze. "Well? Answer the boy." 

And suddenly, she realized what he wanted from her. Taking a steadying breath, Hatsuki hardened her gaze and looked over her shoulder at the now bemusedly frowning boy. "My quirk is Blueflame, Iida-kun," she said softly, offering a shallow bow. "Thank you for your time."

Without another word, Hatsuki met her father's gaze and glared up at him, noting the way his eyes flashed with something dangerous, nostrils flaring. She knew that if they were anywhere but here, his flames would've flared over his skin in warning. As it was, Endeavor grabbed her arm in a harsh grip and dragged her away from the blue haired boy. 

Her mind solely on the punishment she knew was sure to come, Hatsuki never noticed the four sets of worried eyes on her back.

The moment they were through the front doors, her father shoved her in front of him, hard, and she stumbled to the floor with a yelp. "Blueflame?" He shouted, towering over her, and Hatsuki trembled as she shrunk back. "You want to be like him so badly that you'd throw away any chance of being a competent hero?"

He stalked forward, and Hatsuki scrambled backwards until her back hit the wall, chest heaving with silent gasps for air. "I've put up with this insolence for far too long. You will never be even half the hero that Shouto will be if you don't live up to your full potential!"

Lips trembling and eyes burning, Hatsuki scowled viciously up at him. "You won't even say his name!" She shrieked, curling her hands into fists as she leant forward. "Touya's quirk was Blueflame! Touya was gonna be a hero! Touya was your son!" 

His fire roared to life, orange flames flickering over his face and chest. "He was a failure," Endeavor spat, "with a sorry excuse of a quirk that got him killed! Your reverence of him will get you nothing but the same. Use your fire!"

"Fine!" Hatsuki yelled right back, her hands bursting into flames. Blue flames. "I'm using them, Father! I'm using Touya's sorry excuse of a quirk!" 

From the hallway, a shaking voice chimed in. "F-Father?" Fuyumi whispered. Far too quiet, and far too late. 

With a furious shout, Father turned and grabbed something — a vase, she'd realize later — and then chucked it at the wall above her head. Porcelain rained down on the girl as she flinched violently, and suddenly a lance of burning pain was slashing over her face. 

Hatsuki screamed, hands flying up to her face as blood began to pour down her skin, Squeezing her eye shut, the seven year old curled into herself, shuddering violently as she began to sob, looking up at her father through her tear filled grey eye. "Father!" Fuyumi yelped, taking an aborted step into the room, but she froze when his gaze swung to her, slender hands clasped over her mouth. 

"'Yumi, what's — " Natsuo rounded the corner, chest heaving like he'd come running upon hearing the shouts — which he probably had. "What the fuck?" He demanded, eyes blown wide, and mere seconds later, Shouto followed. 

When he saw them, Endeavor still towering over her crumpled, bleeding form, he looked furious. Hatsuki's twin was the only one to dart in between them, ice crackling over his fist as he glared. "Leave her alone!" His voice cracked as he shouted, but he didn't stand down. And even though all of his children were looking at him with horror and fear in their eyes, there was nothing but disgust on Todoroki Enji's face. 

"Dojo. Now." He hissed at his youngest son, relenting, and even though the words made Hatsuki's crying increase tenfold, Shouto slumped in relief, and followed silently as their father stormed from the room. 

The moment they were gone, Fuyumi and Natsuo sprinted to her side, dropping to their knees in front of her and stumbling over their words in an attempt to hush her miserable sobs. Fuyumi was the one to pick her up into her arms and carry her to the bathroom, but it was her older brother that gently cleaned off her face and instructed her to open her eye when he'd wiped away the blood coating it. 

Natsuo frowned at her as he held a cloth to her forehead, sharing a glance with Fuyumi that she apparently understood — disappearing and reappearing with a first aid kit. After a few moments of silence, which Hatsuki spent sniffling through the pain as she perched on the edge of the sink, Natsuo slowly pulled something out of the kit. "Hey, Hatsu-chan, you've got a kinda deep cut on your forehead," he said softly. "It's too deep to just put bandaids over, so I'm going to have to stitch it up, okay?" 

A swell of panic stabbed at her heart, but Hatuski kept her mouth shut, nodding slowly as her eyes filled with a fresh wave of tears. "Is it gonna hurt real bad, Nii-san?" She whispered, searching his matching grey eyes intently. There was a pained furrow between his eyes as he nodded.

"Yeah, Hatsu-chan, it's going to hurt. 'Yumi's going to hold your hand the whole time, though, okay?" 

Turning to look at her sister, she found Fuyumi nodding vehemently, already reaching over to grab Hatsuki's hand in her own. "You squeeze my hand as hard as you can, Imouto." She instructed, voice warbling. Tears were already streaking down her face at a faster pace than Hatsuki's own.

She nodded, pale faced and trembling, and then squeezed her eyes shut as Natsuo's steady hands brought the needle and thread to her face. A pained whimper tore from her throat when it pierced her skin, her breath hitching in her chest as she forced herself to remain still. Fuyumi's hand had to have been aching something fierce, but she didn't say a word, so Hatsuki kept squeezing, but she felt the flinches every time she cried out. 

She bit down on her lower lip, stifling any other noises, and she remained there, deathly still until all eight stitches were done and Natsuo was pulling away with a sick look on his face. "All done, Hatsu-chan. Do you want to look in the mirror before I bandage it up?" He asked her quietly, swallowing thickly. 

Sniffling as she blinked away the last of her tears, she reached up and wiped at her eyes and she turned around to face the mirror behind her. Fuyumi held her in place so she didn't fall, and her puffy red eyes shot to her reflection. Hatsuki didn't know what she was feeling as she traced the cut on her face. It started about halfway down her forehead and cut through her left eyebrow. Another inch and it would have cut into her eye. 

"You should be a doctor, Natsu-nii," Hatsuki murmured, slowly turning back around to face him. "You're really good at stitches." 

Natsuo inhaled sharply, his lips trembling as he forced them into a smile. "Yeah?" Swallowing audibly, he looked to his hands briefly, before meeting her gaze again. "Touya thought so too." 

Fuyumi made a noise at her side, but when Hatsuki glanced over, she found her sister pointedly looking anywhere but at her. Making up her mind, Hatsuki managed a small smile at her brother. "You'll be the best doctor in the whole world, I know it." 

The ten year old stared at her with an emotion in his eyes that she didn't yet recognize, before he smiled back at her and reached for a roll of bandages. "Thanks, Hatsu-chan. Close your eye now, okay?" 

Following his directions, Hatsuki fisted her hands in the fabric of her pants and pictured Shouto's scarred face staring back at her.

We match now, Shou-chan, she thought mindlessly, unaware of just how heartbreaking the statement was. 

It wasn't until the next day that she saw Shouto again, his eyes wide and distraught as he noticed the stitches on her face while they sat in her room. "What did you do?" He asked her quietly, one of his hands reaching up to touch his own face. The smooth red skin over his left eye used to make Hatsuki flinch every time she saw it, but eventually it just became a part of her brother's face. Eventually, she stopped seeing the results of their mother's breakdown, and instead saw Shouto. 

"I won't make my fire hotter anymore," she answered him, looking to her hands. "I met a boy at the event yesterday, and he asked me about my quirk. I said it was Blueflame." Despite the rather permanent consequence, Hatsuki managed to smile. When she looked back up, Shouto was watching her curiously. 

Brightening, Hatsuki carefully climbed over the mountain of blankets on her bed and settled her arms over her twin's neck. "I'm going to be a hero with Touya's fire." She murmured, relaxing only after Shouto's arms cautiously came up to return the embrace. 

They sat there in silence for a few minutes before he responded. "I. . . I'm going to be a hero without Father's fire," he told her, voice a mere whisper next to her ear. Something unfamiliar rose in her chest, vicious and desperate and angry, something that made her smile a spiteful smile into her twin's shoulder. 

They'd be heroes better than their father had ever been, and they'd do it on their own.

There was an anger that the Todorokis all shared — whether they admitted or not — anger that in Natsuo and Shouto was silent seething and snapping remarks, that in Fuyumi was pursed lips and clenched fists and tear filled eyes. And one of the things that Hatsuki hated about herself, about Touya — was the way her anger looked exactly like her father's. 

It was red faced screaming, scathing insults and things that crossed the line, just a bit. Sometimes, after a particularly rage inducing training session, Hatsuki locked herself in her room and she sobbed until she had no tears left to cry because unlike Father, she felt guilty afterwards. 

She always felt guilty after, in a way she knew Endeavor never had and never would. That, if anything, was what kept her anger alive. The fact that no matter what anyone said or did, no matter how far he went to get what he wanted, nothing would ever matter to her father more than becoming the number one hero. 

(There was also nothing that hurt more to Hatsuki than well-meaning strangers telling her she was just like her dad.)

It was after yet another training session turned screaming match that left almost-ten year old Hatsuki with a purpling cheek, that she swayed from her self-imposed routine. Instead of ignoring her twin's worried glances and darting away to hide in her room, she curled her hands into fists and kept walking until she reached a room that nobody had touched for more than three years. 

She stopped in front of the door, a foot of space between her and it like there was a forcefield keeping her away. For so long, nobody had even bothered to dust off the doorknob, let alone peer inside. It seemed a tremendous task to Hatsuki, narrowed eyes eventually filling with uncertainty as the second passed and she continued to stand there, unmoving. 

It wasn't like he was around to tell her off, she mused, and finally reached forward, turning the handle. A lump formed in her throat, but she managed to cross the threshold anyway, raking her gaze over the bedroom. She'd only ever been in there one other time, long before she got her quirk. 

It had been so long ago, when she was still desperate for her father's attention and he still trained Touya relentlessly. Everybody else had long since fallen asleep, but when Hatsuki heard that oh so familiar sound of a door slamming shut, it had piqued her curiosity enough that she'd climbed out of her bed and trotted down the hallway, knocking quietly until Touya had ripped the door open harshly, only to freeze at the sight of her four year old self. 

He told her to go away at first, but when she refused, he eventually caved and let her in. Hatsuki had followed Touya back into his room, and then accepted his help to clamber onto his bed and sit at his side. His eyes were rimmed with red, but she payed no mind at the time, enamored with the way his eyes looked so alike her father's, and yet a hundred times more beautiful. "What's that, Touya-nii?" She asked him softly in the quiet of the night. 

Next to him, half buried under his pillows, a worn looking yellow piece of cloth was visible. With a raised brow and nearly silent scoff, Touya swiped it up, scoffing. It wasn't a cloth like she thought, instead a small stuffed animal that he held carefully. "This? It's just a toy duck, dummy." Despite the way he brushed her off, Touya didn't look away from the toy, brushing his thumb over one of its comically large button eyes. 

"A toy? Where'd it come from?" She demanded, nose scrunching as she observed it, not noticing that she'd been leaning closer until Touya spread his large hand over her forehead and shoved her backwards lightly. 

"It came from Mom, Hatsuki. Duh." Rolling his eyes, he'd placed it back down where he found it and turned his intense gaze to her. "Why do you ask so many questions?" 

"'Cause I'm four," she rolled her eyes, holding up four fingers to show him. "Why are you a butthead?" 

"Because I'm eleven," he'd mocked, and then promptly shoved her off his bed. Hatsuki caught herself with a pout, but relented easily enough when he began to herd her from the room. Despite his actions, she was pretty sure he wasn't angry anymore. 

Blinking tears from her eyes, Hatsuki sucked in a large, shaky breath. She came back to herself sitting on the floor in front of the bed, that damned duck in her trembling grip. It wasn't much more worn than it had been when she saw it the first time — it was clear to her how much Touya had cared for it. 

She wavered sometimes, became unsure of her mission to be the hero he never had the chance to be, but as she held the only evidence of her oldest brother's childhood, her resolve hardened. "I'll do it, Nii-san," Hatsuki whispered. "I promise." 

Her eyes fell closed at the same time that her tears started to fall, and Hatsuki's hands tightened around the stuffed animal. "I promise." 

If she'd kept them open longer, she might've noticed the flash of blue from the window. But as it stood, the handprints singed into the wood of the windowsill were never discovered, and at the end of the night Hatsuki left the duck sitting on the pillow and never opened that door again. 

Chapter Text

Though painfully obvious that Shouto would be the twin to get recommended by their father, Hatsuki still managed to feel a sliver of resentment over the fact that Burnin was the one to recommend her for the Entrance Exam. Something cold and familiar had wrapped its hands around her lungs and remained there, keeping her chest tight with irritation from the week leading up to the exam, all the way up until they got their results in the mail. 

The envelopes arrived the same day, unsurprisingly, and while it was a bit of a shock that their results were given via projection rather than a letter, Hatsuki saw the contents coming a mile away. Finishing the obstacle course quickly had been a walk in the park when she could literally launch herself forward with her fire, but it had been unnerving to finish third, one place beyond her brother and two behind a rather cheerful boy with a wind quirk.

Being cheerfully congratulated for finishing in third place by none other than All Might made it worlds better, though, and she found a gratified smirk pulling at her lips. She turned to face her brother, curious of his reaction, only to find him staring blank faced at the space the projection had just occupied. "Shouto?" 

Heterochromic eyes slid to her face, something complicated swirling in them before he blinked and glanced at the metal disc in front of her. "You placed third?" He questioned, more of a formality than anything since he was there. 

"And you got second," she nodded. "Did All Might tell you your score too?" 

His eyes lit up as he nodded. "Do you want to leave them on the table for him to find?" 

Hatsuki snorted, and then she grinned, all teeth and leant forward to swipe both discs up into her hand. "Please. Like he'd notice anything not in his little world," she said, an almost bitter tinge to her voice. "I'll put 'em on his desk. Wish we could see his face turn purple when he sees him." 

The corner of Shouto's lips twitched upward, the closest thing to a laugh she'd be able to draw from him. Before she could leave the room though, he stopped her with a quiet call of her name. "Hatsuki?" When she stopped abruptly, eying him curiously, he tilted his head ever so slightly before he spoke. "Insult his ranking — It'll have the same effect." 

Delighted, Hatsuki threw her head back and laughed. She continued on her way toward her father's office, but the sense of pride swelling in her chest couldn't be tamed. Her twin lacked a lot of social skills, all of the Todorokis did in some way, but sometimes Shouto would quietly drop the most beautiful gem like he hadn't just made Hatsuki's entire week. 

That night, Fuyumi's eyes were near sparkling as she congratulated them both, and it said something about Endeavor's pride about their acceptance that he allowed the 'family dinner' her older sister had begged for. She and Shouto sat side by side, backs as stiff as the chairs they were perched on, and Fuyumi would be stupid not to sense the tension in the air as Endeavor cast them furtive glances all throughout the meal. 

Be it Fuyumi's anxious fretting or Natsuo's glaring absence, Father eventually broke the silence. ". . . Shouto, Hatsuki —" 

"Sorry, did you hear that?" Hatsuki plastered an artificial grin on her lips as she turned her back on Endeavor. Propping her chin in her hand, she tapped her ear. "I thought I heard this droning noise." 

Shouto's eyes widened for a split second, before a mask of calm spread over his face. "Oh?" He said blandly, "You should get that looked at." 

Endeavor inhaled sharply in anger, but Hatsuki refused to even look his way. "Hm, maybe. I'll just wait until Natsuo is a real doctor — it'll be a few years." She said casually, delighting in the enraged exhale that sounded from behind her. 

"Hatsuki. . ." Fuyumi whispered, and the teen finally turned her gaze to her sister, whose wide grey eyes were flickering frantically between the other three. Putting her out of her mystery, Hatsuki turned toward her father with a halfhearted roll of her eyes. 

"Why, dear father, did you need something?" She questioned, drumming her fingers over the side of her face. His jaw was clenched so tightly it looked painful and his eyes were smoldering with as much heat as his quirk. 

"Perhaps congratulating your acceptance into UA would be presumptuous of me," he spat lowly, "seeing as they don't allow children in their ranks." 

Hatsuki couldn't help it — she spluttered through a laugh. "Their ranks? Where exactly do you think you're sending us — military camp? And hate to break it to you, Father, but it's a school. It's literally in the definition that they most definitely require children to attend." 

Abruptly, Endeavor opened his mouth with a sharp intake of breath, ready to go on a furious tangent only to slam his jaw closed as his phone began to ring in his pocket. With metaphorical steam billowing from his ears, her father gnashed his teeth at her and curled his nose in a snarl. "Remember who's funding your schooling, girl, and who can pull you at any moment." He snapped, and then stormed away from the table. 

The threat was an empty one and they all knew it, but a spike of panic still stabbed at her heart for a brief moment, the loose grip she'd had on her chopsticks tightening to the point that they began to creak between her fingers. Pulling one twin from the UA despite her passing the entrance exam? Hatsuki wouldn't let the news die quietly, and Endeavor knew it. 

Silence reigned for a few minutes, before sniffing, Fuyumi placed her chopsticks on the table and met her gaze. "Did you have to do that?" Her sister mumbled, tone wavering and voice warbling. Like it was Hatsuki's fault. 

"Me? Really 'Yumi?" She scoffed, nose scrunching and lips pursing as she stared right back. Fuyumi's eyes shone with tears. Gently, Shouto placed a hand on Hatsuki's arm, and all it took was one disarming look before she was relenting with a harsh sigh through her nose. "Whatever. I'm going to bed, sorry family dinner didn't magically fix all our problems like you'd hoped." 

With that, Hatsuki stood and shoved away from the table, disappearing down the hall. Her fault, her mind screamed. Why was it always her fault?

Something that a life of being homeschooled gifted Hatsuki was a hefty dose of isolation. She'd always considered herself rather lucky to at least have Shouto at her side, but she'd always been just the slightest bit lonely. It was why she'd tried for so long to latch onto her other siblings, as little as she got to see them. It was the reason she'd wandered off during the few events her father dragged her to — just an attempt to talk to someone other than her siblings. 

The time she'd met Ingenium's brother, Hatsuki had been so hopeful that maybe, just maybe she'd finally found a friend. It shouldn't have surprised her that she'd never seen nor heard from him again, but a tiny part of her that she pushed deep down wondered if he would've wanted to be her friend too. 

Thoughts like those kept her up at night, mind racing as she poured through her memories to find any friend she could've made, anybody she could've talked to, even for a moment. Because there was something about not having anybody that made it feel like it was your fault, like the reason nobody talked to her was because she was herself. Often, those nights, Hatsuki climbed out of bed and shuffled silently to her brother's room to sit quietly at his door on the off chance that he'd open it and invite her inside. 

It happened pretty rarely, because despite Shouto's sleeping habits, he never left his room when he awoke. He laid silently in his bed until he fell back asleep or until his alarm went off, and he went about his day. Hatsuki, always restless, wished she could be more like him some days. 

Other times, when the buzzing under her skin was too much, she slipped into the bathroom instead and looked at herself in the mirror with scrutinizing eyes. It was where she found herself early morning of their first day at UA, tired, frazzled gaze raking over her pale features. If she looked past the pink line cutting through her eyebrow, and covered her left eye, Hatsuki looked eerily like her twin. 

With a slightly more rounded face and minus nine inches of height, but Hatsuki refused to acknowledge that last bit. With a blank look on her face, Hatsuki reached up to run her hands through her tangled hip length hair, pinching a strand of red between her fingertips and frowning. She'd thought about dyeing it all white once — in fact she was pretty certain that Natsuo had dyed the small strips of red on the sides of his head white — but she knew Shouto would never bother changing his hair and she rather liked looking like her brother. 

Dropping the lock of red, Hatsuki sighed and began the process of brushing through it and weaving it into her usual french braid. Finding nothing else to occupy her hands or thoughts, the teen turned on her heel and slipped out into the hall, drawing her phone from her pocket to check the time. 6AM, she read, brows shooting to her hairline. Fun. 

She made the silent trip back to her room and dug her new uniform out of the closet. As she began the process of pulling it on, she had the sudden feeling that she was missing something but it wasn't until she pulled on her skirt and button up and then got to the tie that she realized what it was. Because she was taught at home, she'd never had to wear a uniform. Hence, she never learned how to tie a tie. Staring blankly at the red cloth in her hand, Hatsuki briefly considered attempting it with no experience, but she remembered Shouto's attempt at braiding hair when he didn't know how and wisely did not. 

She hung the tie around her neck like a graduation cord and then shrugged her blazer on, wrinkling her nose at the color. She was still shoeless and tightless, but she didn't pay that any mind, giving her alarm clock a cursory glance before deciding to bite the bullet and go wake up her brother. 

When his dual colored eyes blinked open in shock, Shouto found his twin peering over him, wide eyes blinking down, her hands on his shoulders. "Do you know how to tie a tie, Shou?" She whispered, as if she hadn't just woken him up an hour early. Hatsuki waited for a solid thirty seconds as he blinked up at her before he finally pushed her hands away and sat up. 

"You don't?" He prodded, but still dutifully reached out to tie it for her, a small pinch between his brows the only evidence of his concentration. 

Hatsuki beamed as he pulled back, running her hand over the last piece of her uniform and rocking on her heels. "No? Why would I? How do you know?" She sat on his bed unceremoniously, elicting only slightly narrowed eyes as her brother moved his legs before she could drop down on top of them. 

". . . I don't know. I've watched stylists tie them on myself and copied what I remembered." Shouto responded, slowly looking over to his own closet where his uniform — no doubt — hung. Exhaling sharply through her nose, Hatsuki poked him on the shoulder. 

"And yet you can't braid? Loser." She teased. In response, her brother got to his feet and rolled his eyes. 

"Do you mind?" He gestured toward the door, and Hatsuki pouted but she left as instructed and went off to find a pair of shoes to wear. The brown dress shoes she'd been provided would never see the light of day, buried deep in the dredges of her closet, but she had a dozen other shoes that probably wouldn't violate dress code too badly. Foregoing tights for ankle socks when she spotted her collection of converse, Hatsuki closed her eyes and swiped up a random two out of the rainbow of shoes that lined the wall of her closet. When she cracked them open, she was holding a sky blue shoe in one hand and light green in the other. Perfect — this monstrosity would bother Endeavor to no end. 

Opting not to put them on until she was about to leave, Hatsuki dropped her shoes on the foot of her bed and once again ventured out into the hallway, shuffling down to the kitchen to scrounge for a protein bar. Just as she peeled back the wrapper and went to take a bite, a wave of heat washed over the room and a glare pulled at her features. Her father stood in the entryway, eying her uniform silently. "I expect that this imprudent ruse you've kept up will finally end at UA." He said belatedly, jaw clenched and face otherwise impassive. 

Rolling her eyes, Hatsuki lowered the bar from her mouth. "Yeah, sure, I'll get right on that," she mumbled snidely, attempting to sidle past him without any further fanfare. Father stopped her with a near-bruising grip on her elbow, a muscle under his eye twitching.

"It's about time you grow up, Hatsuki. Becoming a hero like this won't work." 

"Oh yeah?" She hissed, trying to yank her arm away but his grip was unrelenting. "Watch me." 

"Hatsuki —" 

"Let her go." They both turned at the unexpected voice, but Shouto didn't look at his sister, instead staring their father down. "I don't think she wants to talk to you." 

"Astute observation, Shouto." Finally, Endeavor released her and she nearly toppled over with the force in which she'd been yanking herself backwards. Shouto caught her with an arm around her back, and they left the room the moment she was steady. He didn't say anything, so Hatsuki rolled her shoulders and sent him an awkward glance. "Thanks." 

Raising his brow, Shouto turned to her as they stopped outside her room. "You don't need to thank me, Hatsuki. You know that," he told her, earning a reluctant grin from his sister. 

"Never? I'm taking full advantage of that, just so you know." The girl teased, hand going to the handle. "Grab your stuff, we should get there early." With that, she slipped into her room and tied her shoes on quicker than she had in ages, before grabbing her bag by the foot of her bed and darting out to the main room to wait. 

Through all of this, she managed to eat her measly breakfast and throw away the wrapper, so all she had to do was rock back and forth on her heels impatiently. Despite that, she still managed to get lost in thought in mere seconds, jumping when Shouto appeared in her line of sight, quietly calling her name. "Are you ready?" 

Hatsuki's lips cracked apart in a wide grin. "You got Endeavor's debit card? I could go for a hot cocoa." 

Shouto rolled his eyes and slipped out the door, leaving her to follow after his long strides with a near jog. "When could you not?"

Despite the time they spent finding a cafe near their new school and subsequently spending an extra twenty minutes there when they discovered it was a cat cafe, they still managed to arrive early. Hatsuki had bitten her lower lip raw by the time they arrived at the gates, wringing her hands nervously until Shouto physically reached out and stopped her.

"Hatsuki," he chided her softly, "relax." As if she could help feeling nervous about something she'd never done before — going to school. She did manage to wrinkle her nose at him at the subtle insinuation that he was calm, so she should be too. 

"Wow, let me just go inform all therapists in the world that they need to pack it up and go home because Todoroki Shouto has found the cure for mental illness. Just relax." Focused on her mocking ramble, she barely noticed Shouto leading her through the gates and into the school. It was only once she stopped talking that she looked around herself and noticed they were approaching a rather large door. "Did you do that on purpose?" She asked him, noting the large 1-A on the plaque above the door.

"Do what?" He said pleasantly, reaching around her to tug the door open and gesturing for her to walk ahead of him. With a short sigh, Hatsuki felt around the wall for a light switch and winced the slightest bit as the dark room was bathed in white light. 

"I know your dirty tricks, Shouto," she informed him, jabbing a finger over her shoulder to point at him. To her surprise, when she turned around to go find her seat, she found the room not as empty as she'd guessed. Shouto was undoubtedly giving her back a look that probably pointed out how stupid her definition of dirty tricks was, but her attention was caught by the blond boy sitting in the second row with his feet propped on his desk and his arm thrown over his eyes like he was attempting to sleep. 

"Hey, are you sleeping?" Hatsuki demanded, stalking forward decidedly as she gripped the straps of her bag. 

"Not anymore," the boy spat, lifting his arm to glare harshly at her, eyes a furious red. "What's it to you?"

"Nothing, was just wondering if you were dead or something. Would be pretty bad luck to find a dead kid in our class on the first day." She shrugged nonchalantly, completely aware of the shit eating grin on her face that was making this boy's scowl deepen more and more each second. 

"Hah?" He demanded, voice much too loud for how early it was, "I don't look dead!" 

Hatsuki raised her brows delightedly at the pure vitriol in his voice, and she nodded at her twin after he gave her a questioning glance. He must've deemed her able to handle the situation because he slinked silently toward the back of the room to find a seat. Hatsuki, however, dropped her bag at the seat directly in front of the angry boy with a grin, decidedly not thinking about the way his eyes strayed to her forehead for a brief moment. "I don't know, have you seen a mirror today, buddy? Your shirt looks like you sparred someone in it and — I'm assuming the porcupine hair is a fashion statement, but are you aware that you're missing your tie?" 

As she rambled, Hatsuki dropped into the seat and turned fully, planting her hands on his desk. "Wh — Yes, I know it's missing!" He shouted, kicking at her arms harshly. If not for quick reflexes, she probably would have faceplanted on its surface, but instead she caught herself and smiled brightly. That's what he chose to address? 

"Is it because you can't tie it? Don't worry, you're not alone," she rambled on, "I had my brother do it for me. Are you an only child, is that i —" 

"I know how to tie my fucking tie, you damn extra!" The blond yelled in her face, attempting to kick her in the nose but she pulled back just in time, still smiling just as brightly. 

"Extra?" An incredulous laugh bubbled in her throat, and Hatsuki leant back as she cackled. "Like you're the leading role? Main Character Syndrome, much?" She shot a glance at her twin in the back of the room and found him staring back impassively. She rolled her eyes. "Okay, what's your name, big shot?" 

"As if I'd tell y — !" 

"Oh, Bakugou Kats —" She bent over to read the name scrawled on his notebook, and then let out an amused snort as she read it. "Katsuki? That's neat, we match," she told him with a wolfish smirk. All her previous anxieties had fled as she interacted with this garish boy, and Hatsuki felt almost as in her element as she did when screaming at her father. 

"Match? Us? In your dreams, you fucking Lifebuoy!" Bakugou raged without even knowing what she was talking about.

Hatsuki guffawed at his words, propping her chin in her hand and using the other to cover her mouth as she chortled. "Did you actually just call me a lifebuoy? A lifebuoy? You couldn't have gone with candy cane or something?" 

"That's Thing 2 back there," he ground out between clenched teeth, and his palms produced a series of pop-pop-pop's that showed just how fed up with her he was. And, Hatsuki was going to have so much fun making him squirm. 

"Aw, you're calling me number one already?" She spread her palm over her heart with a faux shy smile, batting her lashes exaggeratedly. "Real sweet, Boom-Boom Boy, Thing 1's hair was much better than Thing 2's, so — accurate." 

Just as the enraged, feral Pomeranian was about to explode, the door burst open and a pair of laughing students tumbled through the abnormally large doorway, mid-conversation. " — so big! Mina, did you — Oh!" A boy with shark-like teeth and spiky red hair was talking animatedly with a pink girl with frankly adorable horns sticking out of her matching hair. "Hi, guys! I'm Kirishima Eijirou, this is Mina!" Both their gazes flickering rapidly between Bakugou's angry glare and her wide smile — lingering on her face because of course. 

Hatsuki's pulse quickened at the new additions, though she shoved it down because — counting the desks, she had seventeen more strangers to meet before the day even started. "It's nice to meet you," Hatsuki said happily enough as the boy bowed hurriedly and pulled his friend into one too, though her voice level had dropped considerably. "I'm Todoroki Hatsuki, this here is Bakugou Katsuki — he's my name twin. And that back there is my actual twin, Shouto," she hooked her thumb over her shoulder with a polite grin. 

"Ashido Mina, not just Mina!" The pink girl corrected her friend, Kirishima, before she returned Hatsuki's smile with an even brighter one of her own. "It's great to meet you too, Todoroki-san! Oh — and do call me Mina, though!" 

Kirishima's eyes lit up at her mention of her twin, but Hatsuki was pleasantly surprised when he didn't bring up Endeavor, instead asking, "Twins? Both of you guys making it into the hero course is so manly! And you have a friend in class too —" he angled his chin towards Bakugou? "You must have been so relieved you were in class with people you know! I was so scared Mina'd be in Class 1-B and I wouldn't know anybody!" 

"Hah?" Bakugou spat, his feral rage back as he snarled at the newcomers. "Know her? I don't know this nobody, I don't have any friends."  

Mina and Kirishima both blinked in shock at his harsh words, though Hatsuki had to admit that the furious scowl on his face had to have hinted at his mood at least a bit. "Aw, Name Twin, that's so courageous of you to admit! I'm sure you'll find someone around here that likes rabid hedgehogs!" She patted his boot with an apologetic look on her face, once again flinching away just in time to avoid a boot print to the face. 

Jokes on him, she mused silently, I have practice. Kirishima and Mina both broke into raucous laughter at the jab, clearly ignoring him and choosing to believe they really were friends. Which delighted Hatsuki to no end of course, and she was now planning on convincing everybody in this class that Bakugou was actually her best friend. As the angry blond boy tried to disgruntledly convince the two that he really meant it, their other classmates began to trickle in and she turned to watch the door intently. 

She was incredibly curious to find out if Ingenium's brother had joined UA after his excited declaration that day so many years ago. Despite that being her sole reason for focusing on the door, she still managed to almost miss him as he strode in. Because in front of him, an apathetic looking purple haired girl strolled in like she owned the place, her bag held over one shoulder and black eyes sliding aimlessly around the room. 

And Hatsuki nearly burst into flames, face reddening and gaze dropping away from the prettiest girl she'd ever seen. From behind her, there was a barking laugh, and it took her a moment to realize that Bakugou was laughing at her, mirth on his face as he smirked between her and the purple haired girl. "I'm going to kill y —" Hatsuki began in a furious hiss, only to startle as someone called her name. 

"Todoroki-san, is that you?" 

Jolting, Hatsuki's wide silver gaze shot to a tall blue haired boy with familiar glasses adorning his face, and her lips cracked apart in a grin. "Iida-kun!" She exclaimed, and delighted in the way he still bowed just as stiffly. "So you were right, huh?" She said with a teasing glint in her expression. 

Iida beamed, jerkily pushing his glasses up his nose. "And you as well, Todoroki-san! Is your —" He replied, only to cut himself off with a sharp gasp. "Take your feet off of that desk now!" 

"Huh?"

Turning to see Bakugou's reaction at the sudden address, Hatsuki met her brother's still blank gaze with her wild one, grin only growing larger. "It's the first day and you're already disrespecting this academy by scuffing school property, you cretin!" Iida exclaimed, chopping his hand in the air. 

"Oh my God, cretin? Who even says that?" She snickered, glancing beside her in an attempt to find somebody to laugh at the incredulity of the situation with, but the seat directly beside her was occupied by a large boy with six arms that stared ahead like he didn't even notice the commotion right beside him. Hatsuki glanced further back, but the student behind him was the purple haired girl, so she turned back around with a strangled squeak to tune back into the conversation. 

" — old school put a stick up your ass? Or were you born with it?" Bakugou mocked Iida, grinning up at him. It was like looking in a mirror. 

A constipated look crossed Iida's face before he pursed his lips and took a second to calm himself. "Uh — Let's start over. I'm Iida Tenya from the Somei Private Academy." He introduced through grit teeth. It was a beautiful thing to witness, and Hatsuki's head was snapping back and forth between the pair like it was a tennis match. 

"Somei, huh?" Bakugou asked snidely. "So you must think you're better than me. I'm gonna have fun tearin' you a new one." He leant forward, crimson eyes narrowed dangerously. 

"You would threaten me?" Iida exclaimed, sounding genuinely scandalized. "Your own classmate? Are you sure you're in the right place?" 

Hatsuki slapped her hand over her mouth, brows shooting to her hairline. They reminded her of a pair of dogs trying to mark their territory, and when she cast a furtive glance to her twin, she discovered him in the middle of rolling his eyes — it seemed he thought so too. 

Suddenly, both Iida and Bakugou's attention snapped to the doorway as the standing boy's eyes widened. "It's him." He whispered, almost reverently, prompting every head in the room to turn towards him before she could even begin to wonder what that meant. 

A boy a few inches taller than herself with curly green hair stood in the open doorway, looking petrified with everyone's gazes on him, and honestly, she felt that. "Uh, hi?" The boy said meekly, wide eyes locking into Iida and oddly on Bakugou. 

"Good morning!" Iida said loudly, marching toward the boy. "My name is Iida Tenya fro —"

"Yeah, I — I know." The boy stuttered nervously, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "I — I'm Midoriya Izuku! It's super nice to meet you." 

Hatsuki drew to her feet, skipping over to peer around Iida at the green haired boy. "Hi Midoriya-kun! I'm Todoroki Hatsuki — Are you aware your tie looks hideous?" 

Midoriya turned bright red, actually squeaking like a mouse being strangled before Iida made an outraged noise. "Todoroki-san! That is most inappropriate!" He cried, then promptly bulldozed right over her greeting to say, "Midoriya. You realized that there was something more to the practical exam, didn't you?" 

And, he lost her. "Wait, what even was the regular practical exam?" She mumbled under her breath, but she shook the thought away as Midoriya blinked in confusion. 

"You must be very perceptive," Iida complimented, "And I completely misjudged you, I admit. As a student, you're far superior to me." 

Midoriya continued to blink bemusedly. "Um, I find that hard to believe," he said eventually, and Hatsuki had geared up to barrage the boy into a friendship via bonding over their ties since Attempt #1 didn't work on Bakugou, when a short haired brunette girl popped up behind Midoriya, cheerfully calling out a greeting. 

"Hey! I recognize that messed-up hair!" The girl cried out, suddenly making Hatsuki wonder how many people were just insulting the boy's looks nonchalantly today — and then she remembered her comment about the tie and slinked back to her seat. Another time, she mused, plopping back down in her seat and craning her neck to find Bakugou still glaring at the doorway. 

"Do you have a thing against Broccoli Head, or do you glare at everyone like that?" She asked curiously, narrowed grey eyes observing the way the blond jolted as though he hadn't noticed her return. 

"Do you have a thing against shutting the hell up?" He hissed right back at her, nose curling in disgust. 

"Yeah, I'm allergic actually," she retorted blandly, eyes crinkled at the corners. Her cheeks were beginning to hurt from all her smiling, but she hadn't interacted with this many people in years. 

Looking like he was about to pop a blood vessel, Bakugou inhaled sharply, only to cut himself off as a low voice greeted them all from the doorway. "If you're just here to make friends then you can pack up your stuff now." 

Slowly, every head in the room turned to spot the blob of yellow laying on the floor in the hallway. "Welcome to UA's hero course," the blob said blandly. 

Hatsuki blinked incredulously — UA had welcome caterpillars?

Chapter Text

Who was that? The man in the — cocoon? — rose to his feet, tired eyes drifting around the room. "It took eight seconds before you all shut up." He told them, climbing out of the sleeping bag to reveal a long, relatively thin frame covered in a black jumpsuit, with an off white scarf wound around his neck. "That's not going to work. Time is precious." 

He stood tall, half-lidded gaze roaming slowly around the room, briefly landing on Hatsuki's confused gaze and lingering for a moment, before continuing on. "Rational students would understand that." The vaguely homeless looking guy breathed. "Hello, I'm Aizawa Shouta. Your teacher." 

Their teacher? Hatsuki leant forward, silver eyes narrowing as she observed the man's appearance — If he was their teacher, then he had to be a pro, but Hatsuki had never in her life heard of a hero that looked like that. 

Then again, she mused, she hadn't known who Ingenium was before his brother told her. "Right, let's get to it," said Aizawa firmly, pulling something out of his sleeping bag. "Put these on and head outside." 

There went the opening ceremony Hatsuki was pretty sure they were supposed to attend. As the entire class began to murmur between each other in confusion, their teacher turned on his heel and disappeared from the room, leaving them to find the locker rooms on their own. People got out of their desks to start for the doors, but Hatsuki immediately turned to find her brother standing directly beside his desk staring in her direction. Suddenly, Hatsuki felt anxious in a way that her bantering with Bakugou hadn't allowed. Anxious over their classes, their teachers, everything. 

As if sensing this, Shouto — having noticed that everyone was finally out of the way — stalked towards her and held his arm out with the slightest furrow between his brows. She hooked her arm with his, something like a relieved sigh escaping her chest. Swallowing past the sudden lump in her throat, Hatsuki threw on a nervous grin, though it turned out more like a grimace and fell from her lips. 

"Do you know what hero Aizawa-sensei is?" She questioned him, otherwise silent on the walk towards the locker rooms, everyone else ahead of them and chattering loudly. 

"What hero is he? No. He doesn't look like a limelight hero," Shouto replied, glancing down at her. "He can't be very highly ranked if Endeavor has never mentioned him." 

"Yeah?" Hatsuki snorted. They slowed to a stop when they reached the locker rooms, arms still linked. "I'd say that's probably a good thing." She hesitated as she pulled away, squeezing his arm briefly. "I'll see you out there." 

With nothing more beyond a nod of his head, they parted and stepped into the separate changing rooms. When Hatsuki entered, she found the other girls all in different states of undress, and she hastily averted her gaze, ducking into the open stall to change in there away from prying eyes. When she slipped her shirt over her head, Hatsuki peeked the waxy, white scar on her upper arm and found a deep scowl pulling at her lips. 

Another reason to hide away when she changed — besides the frankly terrifying thought of someone finding out that the gay kid was changing around them — was to keep things like that locked up. Showing off her scars — or bruises yet to come — would bring nothing but questions she couldn't answer. Didn't want to answer. Suddenly a dozen times more downtrodden than she’d been before, Hatsuki hurried to finish changing and then practically ran to get outside before anyone could confront her. 

She met her brother on the field, nobody but they and Iida having rushed to follow Aizawa’s directions, and she was still halfway through fixing her braid before everyone else began to trickle outside. Hatsuki swallowed thickly and stepped further into Shouto’s space as Kirishima and Mina approached her, averting her gaze. Luckily, they either sensed her mood or noticed Shouto’s intense stare and they didn’t say anything, instead choosing to whisper loudly between each other their guesses of why their teacher had brought them out there. 

Hatsuki’s exuberant mood from before had drained away to practically nothing, though all she had to show for it was her pinched brows and still form — where normally she’d be fidgeting nervously and shifting on her feet. Finally, as the last two people made it over to the group, Aizawa with his back turned on them sighed — probably remembering just minutes ago when he’d scolded them on time, and he stood a little straighter, his hands shoved in his pockets. “Now that you’re all finally here, you’ll be participating in a quirk assessment test.”

“What?” Most of the class cried in unison. “A quirk assessment test?” Okay, Hatsuki thought, looking disgruntledly between her peers. Weird. 

“But orientation! We’re gonna miss it!” Cried the brown haired girl that had been fawning over Midoriya in class.

“If you really wanna make the big leagues, you can’t waste time on pointless ceremonies.” Aizawa said dryly, making half the class gasp in confusion. Hatsuki’s eyes — however — lit up like a Christmas tree. The obvious disdain for limelight heroes was right there in his voice, and Hatsuki was eating it up. “Here at UA, we’re not tethered to traditions. That means that I get to run my class however I see fit.” 

Aizawa turned halfway, eying him with a frankly exhausted looking face. Did this guy ever sleep? “You’ve been taking standardized testing most of your lives. But you never got to use your quirks in physical exams before.” He faced them fully, holding his phone up with the screen alit with something Hatsuki couldn’t read. It was rare Hatsuki could make out any text beyond a yard of her. 

Natsuo had said she had a RBF when they were only twelve and nine, one of the rare days she got to see him for more than a few minutes — Father hadn’t been home, a villain attack nearby drawing his presence for most of the day. When Hatsuki had looked up from the subtitles on the TV, a habit to keep quiet even though their father wasn’t home, she’d blinked away the strain in her eyes and asked what that meant. She earned a frantic ‘Tell you when you’re older,’ and ‘Don’t tell ‘Yumi.’ 

She of course went and kindly asked her big sister to borrow her phone and googled the phrase, proceeding to ask Fuyumi what ‘resting bitch face’ meant. Safe to say, Hatsuki had gone to bed smiling that night at the memory of Fuyumi’s stern scolding. The almost angry looking face she often displayed was the product of strained eyes squinting to see what everybody else could. 

(But her, wearing glasses? Endeavor could never allow the kids he let into the spotlight to be seen as anything less than absolutely perfect.)

Hatsuki shook her head firmly as if to physically dislodge the thoughts, and she tuned back into what the teacher was saying. "The country's still trying to pretend we're all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational." He said rather blandly — and Hatsuki, strung taut with tension, was reminded of her father, nose curling. "One day, the Ministry of Education will learn."

And then, like he'd been chatting about the weather, Aizawa shifted, focus zeroing in on Hatsuki's blond male counterpart. "Bakugou. You managed to get the most points on the entrance exam." Said the teacher in that same bored tone. "What was your farthest distance throw with a softball when you were in Junior High?" 

Hatsuki, while still sullenly hanging back away from her peers, perked up curiously. Was that something everyone just did? She glanced at her twin, hoping to find some form of reassurance, but Shouto was staring down Aizawa with an intense look of confusion. Great, he had no clue either. When Bakugou answered, he almost didn't sound recognizable, tone lowered and lacking any of his earlier bite. "Sixty-seven meters, I think." 

"Right. Try doing it with your quirk." Everybody tensed, eyes widened, except for the blond. He merely walked toward a circle in the dirt when Aizawa gestured for it. As he stopped in the center, the tired man tossed something to him — the aforementioned softball. "Anything goes, just stay in the circle. Go on. You're wasting our time." 

Hatsuki couldn't help but lean into Shouto's space, peeking around Iida's useless large frame, directly blocking her line of sight. "Alright, man, you asked for it." Bakugou said, stretching his arms in front of him as a slow smirk formed on his lips. He then proceeded to blast the softball into the sky with an angered death threat. Her eyes widened at the display, but she schooled her features quickly. 

"All of you need to know your maximum capabilities. It's the most rational way to figure out your potential as a pro hero." Aizawa explained, holding his phone screen up to show them again. Hatsuki didn't bother attempting to read it, eyes flickering conspicuously over her classmates in hopes of one of them announcing it. Her wish was granted in the form of a starstruck blond boy with a lightning shaped streak of black in his hair. 

"Woah, 705 meters? Are you kidding me?" 

"I wanna go!" The pink haired girl — Mina — was the one to speak up next, bouncing on her toes in excitement. "That looks like fun!" 

And — Hatsuki might not have known their sensei well yet, but she knew what training was supposed to be like, she knew how furious Endeavor got if she or Shouto committed the heinous crime of so much as smiling during a session. The dual haired girl looked at Aizawa and instantly knew her suspicions were correct. "This is what I'm talkin' about, usin' our quirks as much as we want!" 

"So this looks fun, huh?" Their sensei questioned. Hatsuki swallowed harshly, and inconspicuously entwined her fingers around Shouto's wrist. His right one as it turned out, the slight chill of his skin making her shiver almost immediately. "You have three years here to become a hero. You think it's all gonna be games and play time? Idiots." 

And then Aizawa grinned. Shouto had pulled his hand away already, always much more wary of letting her touch his right side — but Hatsuki didn't need to comfort anymore, her eyes blowing wide as the furrow between her brows disappeared. "Today, you'll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none, and will be expelled immediately."

As the others cried out over the fairness of it all, Hatsuki pursed her lips. It hadn't been thirty minutes of being in this hero's presence and already she was receiving the expected scolding, but he didn't scare her. Aizawa didn't make Hatsuki angry, no — he was her new role model. "Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs." Aizawa brought a hand to his face, lifting his bangs out of the way. "Understand?"

"If that's a problem, you can head home right now." Aizawa said, and the brunette immediately started complaining but Hatsuki wasn't listening anymore, instead fighting off a determined smile lest the man think she was amused. Cautiously, making sure her hand was far enough from her classmates to avoid lighting them on fire, she willed her flames to life in her hand, ignoring the instinct to let them dance across her fingertips — instead pushing blue fire through the pores of her palm and cupping her fingers over the light. Perfect. Blue, small, easy. Touya's.

"Now then," Aizawa caught her attention, no longer scolding the one girl and now addressing the entire class. "We're just wasting time by talking. Let the games begin." 

The fifty-meter dash was the first test, and while she was confident in her ability to not get last, having to run next to her brother made irritation begin to seep from her pores. He was just so much taller, and longer legs meant longer strides — everyone knew that! Nonetheless, she did the test alongside her twin and curled her nose distastefully at the 1.2 second quicker time he'd made than her — his ramp of ice just that much faster than the boost of speed propelling herself forward with her fire gave her. 

Still, it wasn't a bad score, and she went through the rest of the tests with a nervous air surrounding her. Only 38.2 kilograms on the grip strength test left her slightly bitter, but she knew it was a higher than average score. The standing long jump and repeated side steps went similarly to the fifty-meter dash, always just a step behind Shouto. 

And then it was time for the ball throw that Bakugou had demonstrated for them, and Hatsuki found herself almost excited as the brunette stepped into the circle — finally learning her name to be Uraraka via Aizawa-sensei calling her name. 

I'm gonna guess gravity related, Hatsuki mused, brows shooting to her hairline much like the ball disappearing into the sky. After an awkward minute of silence on all parts, Aizawa's phone beeped. She didn't even have time to wonder what it said before the entire class was incredulously crying out, "Infinity?" 

Everyone was exclaiming loudly about Uraraka's score, so Hatsuki almost didn't hear the next name being called — Midoriya's. The green haired boy was visibly shaking as he walked into the circle, making Hatsuki attempt a polite smile, though she was pretty sure he hadn't seen her considering the absolutely terrified look on his face. For a while, they all stood there in silence, until Midoriya finally reared back and Hatsuki squinted at him, eager to see the quirk that had Iida in some sort of a frenzy. 

And then the ball landed with a thud forty-six meters away, Midoriya gasping as his face dropped in horror. "What gives?" Midoriya breathed, looking down at his hand. "I was trying to use it just now."

"I erased your quirk." Came the voice of their new sensei, and Hatsuki spun to watch his back, pupils blown wide. Her jaw dropped, mouth slightly agape at the sight of Aizawa's floating hair and levitating scarf. "The judges for this exam were not rational enough. Someone like you should never be allowed to enroll in this school." 

And, woah? Someone like what did he mean? Midoriya, mid word, startled. "Wait, you did what to my — Ah! Those goggles, I know you!" Despite the frankly terrifying glare Hatsuki imagined Aizawa was giving him, Midoriya looked starstruck. "You can look at someone and cancel out their powers. The Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!" 

Hatsuki's first thought was 'Wait, there were goggles hiding in that scarf?' The second was 'How much money would it cost to employ her new teacher to follow Endeavor around and remove the flaming part of his 'Flaming Pile of Garbage' title? Around her, the others were talking amongst each other, none of them having a clue who their teacher was. 

Hatsuki yelped when Aizawa's scarf reached out and yanked Midoriya closer to him, but quieted as she watched the pair. It almost looked like her sensei had red eyes? With the angry look on his face, Hatsuki half expected the man to strike the trembling boy. 

Alas, Aizawa released his binding cloth and his quirk respectively, stepping back. It seemed that Midoriya was getting another chance, with his apparently not-very-liked quirk. Hatsuki never did find out what score the boy got exactly, but based on Midoriya's triumphant grin and Bakugou's sudden freakout, she guessed it must've been higher than the blond's. 

Despite how raptly she'd paid attention to the spectacle, she still startled when Aizawa called her name. "Todoroki, you're up." 

Blinking owlishly at the man, Hatsuki glanced to her side, hesitating. "Um, which — There's two of us." She said awkwardly when Shouto made no move to speak.

"The smaller one," Aizawa-sensei deadpanned. Hatsuki blue screened, jaw dropping, before with reddening cheeks she scrambled to move into the circle. A ball was tossed in her direction, her hands flying up to catch it before it could smack into her chest. 

She understood Midoriya's nervous trembling now, though she didn't let herself look anything but the picture of calm, stretching instinctually before winding her arm back, calling for her fire, feeling it bubbling up just beneath her skin — Hatsuki launched the ball across the field with a large ball of azure fire propelling it forward. 

She wasn't sure how much of the ball was left when it landed, but something must have registered because Aizawa's phone beeped and he held it out in front of him with his familiar bland look. Was that good? Hatsuki squinted at the blurry blob of light for all of a second before pretending she'd read it. Aizawa wasn't making a face so she had no idea whether or not she'd done well. She simply kept her gaze low to the ground and shuffled wordlessly back to stand at her brother's side. 

"You did well," Shouto whispered to her, ready to move when Aizawa called his name next, and Hatsuki let herself relax just a bit. She'd done well enough on all the tests so far that even if she did absolutely horribly on the last three on purpose, she still wouldn't end up in last. 

So Hatsuki knew she wouldn't be expelled, though for a reason she could never understand — there was a bitter taste on her tongue at the thought of being any place but first. Second always to Shouto from birth, Hatsuki pushed down the ugly feeling and forced a smile on her face. Her classmates gasped at his score, so Hatsuki was once again left to assume, quietly congratulating him as they moved onto the next test. 

"Alright, time to give you your results." Aizawa projected his voice as he stared at the students scattered around the field in front of him. "I've ranked you all from best to worst. You should probably have a good idea of your standing already. I'll just pull up the whole list, it's not worth going over each individual's score." 

Ouch. Hatsuki squinted at the projection, slight panic on her face as she attempted to find the familiar kanji of her name. There — in second she read Todoroki — her brother. Shouto placed in second, and Hatsuki placed three spots below that. Fifth. Not bad. Not great either, a very familiar voice whispered in her head. 

And then she recalled her teacher's warning of expulsion and her eyes shot to the last name on the list, in twenty-first place, but she just couldn't focus her vision enough and the screen flickered away before she could read the name. "And I was lying," Aizawa said nonchalantly, tucking his phone into his pocket. "No one's going home." 

At once, every head in the vicinity turned, shocked expressions locking onto the hero. Hatsuki watched as their teacher grinned widely again, bloodshot eyes raking over them. "That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all in the tests." 

The smug delight on his face was what made her crack, ducking her head to hide the quiet snicker escaping her lips. Midoriya, Iida and Uraraka seemed to be the ones most offended, crying out to their teacher with pure panic in their voices. 

"I'm surprised the rest of you didn't figure it out," said a calm voice to Hatsuki's right. "I guess I probably should have said something." 

Her eyes narrowed, nose curling as she turned to ask her twin something. She was interrupted by Aizawa's dry voice. "That's it. We're done for the day." What? Hatsuki had done much harder since a much younger age — she wasn't even winded. Then, he turned to walk away. "Pick up a syllabus in the classroom. Read it over before tomorrow morning. Midoriya," he paused in front of the green haired boy, passing a note to him, "Take this and go have the old lady fix you up. Things are gonna be tougher tomorrow when your actual training begins. Make sure you're prepared." His final words mollified her slightly, and Hatsuki completely forgot about whatever she'd been planning to say to her brother, gaze latching onto Midoriya.

"I'm just gonna —" she began, already starting a determined march towards the boy, but Shouto's hand dropping onto her head, stopped her.

"We should go change," he dutifully informed her. "We'll meet at the gates?" Hatsuki glowered, shoving his hand off of her hair with a glare. 

"Fine. Did you have to use me as an armrest, Shouto? I'm not even a full foot shorter than you, you know," she reminded with a pointed roll of her eyes. His lips quirked up briefly, but he bit down on the smile. 

"Right, of course," he assured her, darting his hand out to pat her on the head. He pulled back before she could react, practically skipping away when Hatsuki's hands burst into cerulean flames. 

A few people around her yelped, clueing her in on the fact that she was still standing in the middle of more than a dozen other students. All of them looked with wide eyes at her hands. Releasing a strangled squeak, Hatsuki snuffed out her flames and balled her hands into fists, crossing her arms behind her back. 

She was going to go after Midoriya, but the thought of pushing her way through all these people to seek him out instead of following after Shouto was suddenly a lot more daunting. Without any more fanfare, she took a nervous step backwards, prepared to take off for the locker room before the other girls. 

A voice stopped her. "Hey! Todoroki-san!" Hatsuki froze, unable to help the way her lips twisted fleetingly upon hearing the name. Kirishima was bounding toward her with the pink girl, Mina, in tow. "Fifth place? That's so manly, you did great!" 

"Oh!" Hatsuki startled, blinking rapidly. Mina nodded vehemently at the redhead's side, but before she could speak, somebody else cut in. 

"Yeah! Your quirk is fire, literally!" A blond boy said with an exaggerated wink, scampering over to stand at Kirishima's other shoulder. Mina rolled her eyes dramatically at that, but Kirishima laughed, high fiving the other boy. "I'm Kaminari Denki, it's nice to meet you, Todoroki! Endeavor's daughter, right?" He introduced himself. 

Before Hatsuki's mood even had time to sour, Kaminari bulldozed past his words, leaning closer. "So, how would you like to go out for lunch sometime? On me!"

Hatsuki blue screened for the second time that day, jaw dropping in horror as she reared back, purely in shock. All she could see was the bewildered look on Kirishima's face, the annoyed one on Mina's and even the slightly hopeful one on Kaminari's, and she blanked. "Uh — Um, I —" 

She spotted the purple haired girl walking behind the blond boy, rolling her eyes as she overheard the conversation. For some reason, that was what spurred her into action. "I'm a lesbian," Hatsuki blurted, holding her hands up in a surrendering gesture. 

Around her, the stragglers still remaining that stood around chatting, burst into laughter. Kaminari's eyes had widened, looking mortified at the attention, but it wasn't long before he was laughing too. The purple haired girl didn't stop walking, but she snorted, a half smirk on her lips as black eyes briefly met silver. 

Hatsuki's red face worsened, and before anybody could comment on the interaction, she tucked tail and ran. When she reached the locker room, Hatsuki was nervously fussing with the end of her braid, heart pounding in her chest as exhilaration made her lungs feel lighter. Despite the way her class had been laughing, it hadn't felt malicious, or like they were even laughing at her. 

So maybe it was allowed, a small voice told her. Maybe it was okay that she was the way she was, and she still wanted to be a hero. She still changed in the stall, entirely foregoing her tie, but as she stalked out of the room, back in her uniform, Mina shot her a bright smile and she wasn't afraid to return it with a timid one of her own. 

When Hatsuki reached the classroom, there were a few others inside grabbing their syllabuses and bags, and it just so happened that one of those people was the purple haired girl. With her chin tucked tight to her chest and her face on fire (metaphorically), Hatsuki made to shove the syllabus into her bag without once making eye contact. 

Her plan was foiled just before she could round her desk. "You're Todoroki." There was no room for debate in her tone — she wasn't asking. 

"Hatsuki," she confirmed, proud of the fact that her voice was only slightly shaky. "And y-you are. . ?"

"Jirou Kyouka." The girl's — Jirou's — gaze landed on Hatsuki's feet, an amused sparkle forming in her eyes. "Nice shoes." 

"Thanks," she squeaked, and when it didn't seem like the p — Jirou was going to continue speaking, she darted for the door with her bag hugged tightly to her chest. 

"Hey! Todoroki-san," she waited for the dual-colored head to turn to her and she nodded. "Same." 

Hatsuki bit down on her lip and fled from the room. A dozen different thoughts were running through her head now, but she didn't have time to process any of them, already pushing through the front doors and starting down the sidewalk. 

Her heart rate was just beginning to calm down when she spotted him, and she gasped. "Midoriya-kun! Wait!" Hatsuki finally tugged her bag into her shoulders as she raced after the boy, who stood panting with shoulders slouched. He yelped when she appeared in front of his face, but only blinked owlishly instead of flinching back in annoyance. 

"O-Oh! Y-Yes, Todoroki-san?" The green haired boy squeaked, perking up even though he looked dead tired seconds before. And — Hatsuki bit the bullet, finally curling her nose and conceding defeat. 

She couldn't stand that name, and she'd barely gotten through one day of hearing it addressed to her constantly. She couldn't do it for three years. "Um — Sorry, could you call me Hatsuki?" And then realizing what that implied, she rushed to continue. "I just — ah, prefer it over my family name anyways, and it'll make it easier to lessen confusion in class with my brother!" 

Midoriya smiled shakily. "Of course, Hatsuki-san! I-It's only fair you call me Izuku as well, then!" He exclaimed, sounding excited instead of put off. It made her wonder briefly, was Midoriya just as eager to make friends as she was? 

"Okay!" Hatsuki breathed, tucking a loose strand of red behind her ear before wringing her hands nervously in front of her and rocking back and forth on her heels. "I was just wondering — Aizawa-sensei, you said he's the hero Eraserhead, right? C-Could you tell me more about him?"

His face lit up. "Yeah, of course! I have a whole entry about him in one of my notebooks, I could bring it to show you!" 

"Notebooks?" She inquired, brows pinching curiously. "I'd love to see!" 

Suddenly, his face paled, a grimace on his lips. "Oh, um. I have hero analysis notebooks at home, I just really like writing about their quirks, you know? I swear I'm not trying to be a stalker or anything — !"

"Woah, woah!" Hatsuki put her hands out, face stern but hopefully still kind looking. "Analysis notebooks sound cool, Izuku-kun, not stalker-ish or creepy or anything!" She paused, face scrunching further. "I don't like how that sounded. Izuku-kun. 'Zuku-kun? No, Izukun. Izu-kun? Izu-kun!" 

Excited, she met the slightly taller boy's eyes, only to realize what she'd just done and suddenly fell back, a stuttering mess. He looked just as red and embarrassed as her, but he didn't look disgusted or confused — he was smiling. "Thanks! A-And it's alright if you want to call me that," he rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, avoiding her gaze. 

Hatsuki nodded stiffly, still blushed all the way up to her ears. Both of them were the picture of anxiety, near trembling from mortification. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her twin approaching her, and felt a sudden rush to finish the conversation before she was forced to leave with him. "Anyway I'm super excited to see your notebooks and you did really great on the ball throw — " For some reason he looked confused about the compliment, but didn't interrupt her, " — and I like your shoes and your funky tie, um — Willyoubemyfriend?" 

Hatsuki thrusted her phone into the boy's hands, a blank contact pulled up. "Can I — um, get your number? Y'know, just as friends! I don't like, like you or anything!" She exclaimed. Suddenly, she paled, shaking her head rapidly. "Wait, I mean of course I like you! As a friend! Like I said! I just meant like —" She blanked again. "I'm not hitting on you, I'm gay." 

Oh God. Hatsuki physically cringed, eyeing Izuku's form warily only to find the other teen chortling, one hand over his face to muffle his laughter as he squinted at her, his eyes shining. He held her phone back out with the other hand, though, and when she looked down she saw he'd typed in his number. "I f-figured," he said through a bout of giggles. 

Hatsuki swiped her phone back and squeaked a hurried goodbye before sprinting toward her brother with wide eyes. Shouto's brows were at his hairline as she reached him, but he didn't comment, content to ignore the scene as they walked from school grounds. "Hatsuki-san!" Her new friend(?) chimed. Pausing, she craned her neck to find him beaming after her "I like your shoes too!" 

She snorted, some part of her relaxing as her shoulders released some of their tension. "Thanks, Izu-kun! See you tomorrow!" 

He didn't say anything, else, his wide eyes landing on Iida's approaching figure, but Hatsuki was content to wander away then. Shouto was quiet for all of ten minutes before he glanced at her sidelong. "Given names already?"

She looked out the window — They lived just far enough away from UA that they had to take the train, and this time of day it was incredibly packed. She and Shouto stood shoulder to shoulder, though she was wedged slightly behind him, closer to the wall than any other people surrounding them. 

"I just figured it'd be easier with two of us in the same class," she half-fibbed, shrugging one shoulder. "Besides, you're not here to make friends, so one of us has to make the sacrifice." 

Shouto wrinkled his nose at her. "That's how you make friends?" He questioned dubiously, then flicked his heterochromic gaze over her rumpled uniform. "No thanks."

Hatsuki squawked, throwing a halfhearted punch at his arm. "Screw you, Thing 2!" Shouto frowned in pure bafflement. "Not my fault I have no social skills!" 

Her twin smirked, finally letting up on the emotionless mask he'd had on throughout the day. "I heard you talking to him, you know. You came out to him on the first day of knowing him?" 

Hatsuki crossed her arms over her chest. "I accidentally came out to half the class, Shouto." 

Chapter Text

Hatsuki ended up choosing her shoes for school the same way as the day previous — closing her eyes and hoping for the best. And when she peeled them open to find one baby pink shoe and the other bright orange, she grinned. It was more instinctual to pull on her uniform today, but she forewent her tie entirely, deciding to leave it lying on her desk. She told herself it was because she wanted to let Shouto sleep — she knew though, that she would rather be tieless like her name twin than ever end up with a monstrosity like Midoriya's tie.

Izuku , she internally chided herself, but her lips were pursed tightly, distracted. With her brows pinched together, she ran her fingers absentmindedly over the ends of her hair. She was perched on the edge of her bed, squinting at the opposite wall as she tried to will time to pass quicker. Light had only recently begun to bleed into the distant sky, and Hatsuki was already antsy to get to UA. 

She was tired, sure, what with the rather long (boring) lecture they'd gotten when they returned home, and the following hours long sparring session. It was almost funny how focused Endeavor had been on their quirkless sparring — he hadn't once brought up either of his children's inadequacies . 

Her muscles ached just slightly, but Hatsuki paid them no mind, shifting where she sat until she was cross legged, her elbows on her knees and her chin propped in her hands. Would Shouto care too badly if she left ahead of him? Huffing, Hatsuki's gaze drifted toward her desk. Her bag was leaning against the side of it, and with one last considering look out her window at the sunrise, she clambered off her bed and threw her bag over her shoulder. 

Hatsuki was already pushing through the front gate by the time she realized that she probably should've left a note or something, but she figured her twin wasn't that clueless and would realize that her missing, plus her bag and uniform missing, pointed to a very obvious conclusion. Still, she fished out her phone, feeling around for her wallet in one of the many side pockets on her bag. 

She was halfway to the station when she successfully sent the message while flipping through her wallet to find her copy of her father's card. Her nose wrinkled at the prospect of using it, but all those yen were just sitting there not doing any good. And Hatsuki was starving , she realized, barely noticing when she stepped onto her train. 

At the sound of her stomach growling embarrassingly loudly, Hatsuki felt her cheeks reddening, grey eyes scanning her surroundings in hopes that nobody had heard. It was just her luck of course, that there was a tiny red haired girl staring right at her, matching eyes widened adorably. Ducking her head immediately, she hastily gathered her hair over one shoulder and began to braid it in its usual style — anything to avoid social interaction. 

Only when she finished tying off the dual colored plait did she chance a look back at the girl. She was looking elsewhere finally, and Hatsuki was free to relax for the next few minutes in silence. Already, she was planning to head to that same cat cafe she and Shouto had found yesterday morning, but there was still a few minutes before the train arrived at her stop. So she pulled her phone back out of her pocket and began scrolling through her contacts. Considering the fact that she literally knew nobody , she found who she was looking for fairly quickly.

It took a few moments of contemplation, but she sent off her message before she could stop herself. 

Hatsuki: hey izu-kun!! are you excited for our second day? are you bringing your notebook about eraserhead??

The reply was near instant, her eyes popping at the speed. 

Izuku: Hi, Hatsuki-san! I've been awake for hours! I'm super pumped to meet our other teachers, what about you? And yes, I made sure to pack it in my bag last night. See you at UA :) :) !

Freezing, Hatsuki had the sudden memory of internally freaking out as Present Mic had informed her how the recommendation exam would go. Obviously, he was affiliated with UA, but it hadn't struck her until just then that he was likely her teacher . What subject did he teach? She blinked rapidly, having half a mind to Google it, but she decided against it. 

She finished typing out a distracted reply seconds before the train stopped and she slipped out the door, making her way hurriedly toward the cat cafe they found the day before — Purradise Cafe. When she stepped inside, Hatsuki was almost immediately stopped in her tracks by a grey tabby winding around her ankles. A small smile pulled at her lips, and the teen crouched down to run her fingers through its fur. Before long she was approached by another two cats, calicos that looked eerily similar — probably siblings. 

Hatsuki grinned widely, struggling to pet all three of them at once, her quest for a drink already forgotten. Gods, she wanted a cat so badly. She remembered a time when she was younger that she’d spent an entire month begging Fuyumi for a cat after she saw one in a show Natsuo was watching. Of course, when neither of them could ever work up the courage to ask Endeavor for anything, nothing ever came of it. “This is literally heaven,” Hatsuki murmured, her eyes practically sparkling when one of the cats butted its head against her hip, purring loudly. She wondered if Shouto would be upset with her for going without him — she’d never seen him as content as he’d looked the day before. 

Half a dozen cats had flocked to his left side, and despite her resistance to leaving, she’d been the one to finally drag him back out of the cafe. Her stomach rumbled quietly, and she felt her cheeks redden, gaze flickering around to check if anyone had heard, when she froze, grey eyes locking onto a boy tucked into a booth by the far wall who sported a UA uniform. Her eyes lit up as she got to her feet, prepared to stalk over and greet him when she was suddenly reminded that she hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday and she veered toward the counter to order something for breakfast. 

By the time she’d ordered and collected her rather large cinnamon roll and coffee, and turned to find the fellow UA student, the boy was getting to his feet and swiping his bag off the floor beside him. Hatsuki almost let him go without bothering him, but then she happened to glance down at his feet and spot his lavender colored converse and she grinned, determined as she jogged after him. “Hey, wait!” Hatsuki called, darting out the open door right on his heels. “You go to UA too, right?” Before the startled boy could so much as open his mouth to reply, she was shooting a wide grin at his feet.

“I love your shoes! You have great taste if I do say so myself,” the girl said teasingly, matching his pace despite the bewildered look he was shooting her. To punctuate her sentence, Hatsuki took a bite out of the cinnamon roll in her hand.

“Uh,” the boy glanced warily around them as he continued walking, picking up his pace. Hatsuki kept up easily. “Why are you talking to me?” 

She blinked, tilting her head. “Why not? You do go to UA, right? We’re going to the same place — I figured why not walk with you and talk with you?” Suddenly feeling a whole lot more nervous than she had minutes earlier, Hatsuki briefly looked at her mismatched shoes.

The boy’s breath hitched like he was going to say something, but then he faltered and sighed heavily. “Ah — Whatever. And, yeah, I go to UA. Class 1-C.” 

Hatsuki brightened considerably. “General studies, right? Cool! I’m in 1-A, Todoroki Hatsuki!”

Something flickered across the boy’s face, but it was gone as soon as it arrived. “Hero Course,” he grunted. “Why waste your time talking to someone from Gen Ed?” 

She frowned, taking another bite of her cinnamon roll as she attempted to think of a proper response. “I. . . What do you mean? Why can’t I talk to people from other courses? Am I only allowed to be friends with people in my class?”

He shot her yet another bewildered look. “Uh — I don’t — You know we’re not friends, right?” He stammered, lilac irises eying her with a disgruntled look on his face. 

Well, ouch. Hatsuki wrinkled her nose. “Okay, rude. ” She said pointedly, blowing a strand of hair out of her face that had fallen out of her braid. “Fine, Gen Ed kid — tell me your name and I’ll leave you alone.” She lied blatantly. 

“Shinsou Hitoshi,” He said far too eagerly, earning a narrow eyed frown. “Are you done now?” She let him stew for a moment as she finished off her breakfast and licked her fingers clean of icing. 

“Nope.” Hatsuki’s pout twisted into yet another grin, and she gestured at him with the hand holding her drink. “Something you’ll come to learn about me, Shinsou-kun, is that I am a lying liar that lies.” This was, ironically, a lie. Besides to her father, Hatsuki never really had a reason to lie, not until just then. 

The flat look on Shinsou’s face was priceless. “I should not have listened to my dads when they recommended that cafe,” he grumbled under his breath, before shooting her the stink eye. “We’re not friends, Todoroki.” 

The front gates of the school were finally in view, and she definitely wasn’t imagining the way he sped up. “Sure, Shinsou-kun! See you later!” She exclaimed, slowing her pace when she spotted her twin lingering by the entrance. 

“No, you won’t!” The purple haired teen called back over his shoulder, before he disappeared from sight. Hatsuki was still grinning as she approached her brother. 

“Who was that?” Shouto asked her once she reached his side, and they started inside. 

“ That ,” she said proudly, “is one of my new best friends.”

Her twin glanced down at her, a dubious look on his face, but she wasn’t paying attention. Hatsuki hid her widening grin behind the lip of her coffee  — Shinsou hadn’t once mentioned Endeavor or eyed her scar questioningly. 

Though Hatsuki had given each and every one of their teacher’s at least one look of wide eyed wonder throughout the day, it was Present Mic — or Yamada-sensei as he told them to call him — that left her nearly vibrating with excitement as they headed to lunch. While the rest of the class had looked bored out of their minds during the Voice Hero’s lessons, Hatsuki had only just barely managed to keep the starstruck look off her face. She was beyond curious to find out if he remembered her, but lacked the nerve to actually ask him that.

“I’ve met him once before, you know?” Murmured Hatsuki to her twin as they made their way to the lunch line. “Well, not actually — I didn’t talk to him or anything, but I saw him at an event Father took me to.” 

Shouto hummed at her side, not paying a speck of attention to her as his dual colored eyes locked onto the cold soba he was no doubt going to be buying every day. With a small sigh, Hatsuki — never one that was able to make her own decisions quickly — also bought herself some soba, and then devotedly followed her brother as he stalked toward an empty table, far away from any of their classmates. 

She glanced longingly at the table Kirishima, Mina and another boy (Sero, she thought?) sat at, already laughing loudly with each other. She liked to think that they wouldn’t have minded her sitting with them, but she didn’t bother trying to find out, dutifully placing herself at Shouto’s side. Her brother was quiet as he began eating, but he always was, so she was used to the near awkward silence. 

Hatsuki picked at her food with a pensive look on her face, red brows furrowed just slightly. “Hey, Shou?” She prompted eventually, her eyes darting across the room to land on Izuku, who was smiling brightly at Uraraka, sitting at Iida’s side. When her twin gave yet another answering hum, she dragged her gaze back towards him. “I know you don’t want to make friends, but could we sit with some of our classmates tomorrow? Izu-kun’s not that bad, right?” 

His nose wrinkled, and he eyed her silently. She felt like she’d been put under a microscope at the judgemental look he was shooting at her, and he hadn’t even opened his mouth before she knew what his answer was. “You can,” said Shouto finally, before turning his attention back to his soba. Hatsuki’s shoulders slumped, and she almost opened her mouth to try asking again, but she stopped herself. 

Shouto hated their father as much as she did, if not more, but if there was one way he was similar to him, it was his inflexible stubbornness. “No,” answered Hatsuki softly, “that’s okay.” Still, her gaze traveled back to rake over her classmates, scattered around the lunch room, all talking animatedly to each other like it was the easiest thing in the world. 

Hatsuki’s loyalty to her brother would always be stronger than her longing to make friends. However. . . She did already say that she’d meet with Izuku that day to see his notebook, so maybe it wasn’t all for naught. And that morning at homeroom, Mina had approached her to question her about her coffee, nearly dying with laughter at her response of, ‘Oh, this? It’s a macchicato.’

Maybe making friends wasn’t too far out of the realm of possibilities. 

Hatsuki didn’t know how to feel about All Might when he dramatically announced himself as he entered the classroom, and one glance to the back of the room told her that her brother held the same apprehension. While the rest of her class freaked out over the number one hero being their Foundational Heroics teacher, Hatsuki kept her face carefully blank, contemplative as she absentmindedly ran her fingers over the end of her braid. 

It was an anxious habit that she’d never managed to break, but it wasn’t harmful, so she never bothered to try. On one hand, she was glad All Might was number one — she didn’t want to think about a world where Endeavor surpassed him. On the other, she’d always sort of wondered just how different her life would’ve been if her father had gotten what he’d wanted. If he was number one, would he have been so focused on training her and Shouto? 

Lost in her thoughts, she almost didn’t notice the others clambering to their feet and heading towards compartments that had opened in the wall — their hero costumes. All Might fled the room as conspicuously as he’d arrived, and Hatsuki immediately drew to her feet, cringing away from her classmates as they brushed past her to reach their costumes. She stood back as the other students rushed forward, waiting for everyone to get out of the way before she moved forward. Looking to her right, she found another peer with the same idea — Jirou, her face unimpressed at the sight of their excitable classmates. 

Her cheeks reddened, and Hatsuki quickly averted her eyes. Finally, nearly everyone had grabbed their cases and disappeared out the abnormally large door, and she walked over to grab both hers and Shouto’s cases, turning to hand it to him when he appeared at her side. 

Despite the fact that they were going to end up at the same place, Hatsuki slowed her pace in the hall and grabbed her brother’s wrist to slow him too, watching intently as Jirou passed them, flickering onyx eyes over the pair briefly as she walked by. Once she was out of earshot, Hatsuki let go of him, shaking her hand out as a chill raced up the limb from the point of contact. “I was not paying attention at all — What are we doing? Where are we going?”

Shouto rolled his eyes, but he silently moved to her other side, and she felt the temperature rise just slightly. “Ground Beta. Combat training. How did you not pay All Might any attention?” He asked her, though there was a hint of something knowing in his tone.

“Listen,” spoke Hatsuki stiltedly, “I have no excuse. I’m a little scatterbrained — you know that. In fact,” she gave him a scrutinizing look as they reached the locker rooms. “You have no room to talk, space cadet.” Natsuo taught her that one. 

Shouto shot her a bemused look before they parted, and she realized with sudden clarity that her brother had no clue what that meant — her insult going unappreciated. With a soft sigh, Hatsuki disappeared into the girls’ locker room and slipped into a stall to change. As she tugged on her costume, she slowly began to frown, not liking the way it fit. It was snug, a little too snug. When she stepped out of the stall, still frowning, Hatsuki eyed herself in the mirror, her nose wrinkling. 

It was what she’d asked for, a simple black — presumably heat resistant jumpsuit with a dark grey tactical vest that doubled as a temperature regulator. With her extreme fallibility to cold temperatures, even her father had agreed with her that it was integral to her costume to keep her warm should the temperature drop for any reason. Endeavor may have pushed her limits, and he may have been an abusive bastard, but there was a reason that when she and Shouto fought, he forbade her brother from using his ice on her. One trip to the hospital from the beginnings of hypothermia had been enough for them.

Yet, every other aspect of her costume left her with a bitter taste on her tongue. The fabric hugged her curves far too tightly, and the neckline plunged far more than she wanted. Even her boots weren’t what she’d asked for — there were heels . Hatsuki scoffed and nearly stomped over to her locker to draw her gym uniform out, then returned to the stall to change. She was not wearing that. 

“Todoroki-san, what’s wrong with your costume? Why aren’t you wearing it?” Asked Uraraka when Hatsuki reemerged, already feeling a little more comfortable in her skin. 

“What’s wrong with it?” She parroted, brows still furrowed as she looked over the brunette’s costume. The slightly taller girl was tugging at the skintight fabric of her own costume, looking just as uncomfortable, and when she looked down — Yep, Uraraka had heels on her boots too. “It was made by sexist assholes is what’s wrong with it. I didn’t ask for it to be skintight, nor did I request a plunging neckline — and wearing heels in the field is just asking for broken ankles.” 

With a huff, Hatsuki crossed her arms over her chest, feeling her cheeks flush when she noticed she’d drawn the attention of everyone in the room. “I’m not wearing that. I’m going to talk to Aizawa-sensei after class about costume changes, and I’ll just wear my gym uniform until then.” She’d have to keep her flames to her hands only, not too excited to burn her clothes off. Offhandedly, she added, “Oh, and just call me Hatsuki.”

Uraraka looked at her with wide eyes, before glancing down at her own costume. “That’s. . . an option?” There was an undertone of relief in the other girl’s voice. “I. . . I think I’m gonna do that too! Mine’s also really tight, and — and you said the heels are unsafe, right? I’m gonna change too.”

“I. . . I think I will as well,” murmured the tallest of them, a dark haired girl that had an air around her that screamed old money. She was revealing more skin than clothing, and it was rather jarring. Hatsuki knew that it likely had to do with the other girl’s quirk, but weren’t there safety guidelines at all?

Hatsuki automatically looked to Mina next, the only other one with a much too tight looking costume, but the pink girl simply beamed. “I’m all good with mine — It’s exactly what I imagined!” 

As she started toward the exit, Hatsuki mumbled a retort under her breath. “What a colorful imagination.” It wasn’t meant to be heard, but a soft snort sounded behind her, and when she startled and craned her neck to see who it was, she nearly combusted when she saw that it was once again Jirou. Literally.

She was distracted from her predicament when they met up with the boys and she laid eyes on her twin. Her jaw actually dropped at the sight of the ice-like material completely covering one half of his body. “You look like a cyborg, Shouto,” she snickered as she fell into step at his side. 

He gave her a look . “You aren’t wearing your costume. Why?” Her brother completely bulldozed past what she’d said, his one visible eye scrutinizing her closely. 

“It’s just not what I asked for,” answered Hatsuki nonchalantly, not exactly excited to find a way to tell her twin that it looked like something a prostitute would wear, not a hero in training. She was sure he didn’t entirely buy her answer, not when he spotted Uraraka and the other girl (seriously, what was her name?) also sporting their gym uniforms. 

But they’d finally reached Ground Beta, and the sight of All Might waiting at the entrance distracted each and every one of them. “They say that clothes make the pros young ladies and gentlemen, and behold, you are the proof! Take this to heart. From now on you are all. . . heroes in training!” All Might exclaimed loudly. “This is getting me all revved up. You look so cool! Now. Shall we get started, you bunch of newbies?”

“For this training exercise, you’ll be split into teams of good guys and bad guys and fight two-on-two indoor battles,” explained All Might with his signature smile unwavering. 

“Isn’t this a little advanced?” Someone asked, and Hatsuki recognized her as the girl with the frog quirk. Gods, she was horrible with names.

“The best training is what you get on the battlefield!” All Might exclaimed, only to freeze a moment later as half the class began to call out questions before he’d even finished. The one question that stood out to her though was about someone’s cape — she almost dismissed it outright, long ago having decided that purple wasn’t all that great. But then her eyes caught on Jirou, and her thoughts stuttered to a halt. She flashed the blond boy a thumbs up, holding back an eye roll at the smug look that overtook his face. 

“Listen up!” Their teacher cried to get their attention, and he proceeded to pull a script out of his pocket. “The situation is this. The villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must try to foil their plans. To do that, the good guys either have to catch the evildoers or recover the weapon. Likewise, the bad guys succeed if they protect their payload or capture the heroes.” All Might held up a yellow box, the word ‘lots’ scrawled on the front. “Time’s limited, and we’ll choose teams by drawing lots!” 

Despite herself, Hatsuki felt her lips pulling into a grin. As long as she wasn’t against Shouto, she was almost positive she could win. Her smile fell. Well, she also had a severe disadvantage if she was paired up with him — after all, Shouto refused to use his ice near her, and using his fire was out of the question, had been for years. All she could do was cross her fingers and hope for the best.

All Might drew twenty names before pausing and asking which of them would be alright fighting against a team of three. He then  dramatically commended Mina and Aoyama (cape boy!) when they enthusiastically agreed. In the end, Sero — the last name to be drawn — was placed on Team F with Sato and Koda. Hatsuki only knew these names because she used the drawing of lots as a chance to learn all of her classmates’ names. 

She breathed a sigh of relief when her name was called and she wasn’t paired with or against her brother, instead on Team J with Kirishima. She was already looking his way with a small smile when All Might announced they’d be villains, up against Team H, Asui and Tokoyami. 

Kirishima grinned right back.

Hatsuki was practically vibrating with excitement as she heard Asui and Tokoyami’s approaching footsteps. Did it count as footsteps, she paused to wonder, if the frog girl was crawling along the wall? Her plan had been rushed with their time limit, but as she’d hurriedly explained it to her partner, first confirming that their enemies’ quirks were what she thought they were, Kirishima had enthusiastically agreed. 

Hatsuki was briefly stopped in her tracks as the redhead cried out how ‘manly’ it was that she’d ‘taken charge like that.’ She chalked it up to a funky little quirk of his— pun not intended — and she’d hurriedly disappeared into her hiding place. 

Just like she’d assumed, Asui and Tokoyami entered the building together, sticking to the shadows in what Hatsuki was sure wasn’t a coincidence. From where she’d tucked herself behind a set of rather large pipes against the wall, she had a perfect view of the hall when Tokoyami and Asui approached the room they’d stored the bomb in. She released a silent sigh of relief when she saw that they were approaching together, tensing in preparation. Her narrowed eyes followed the frog girl up the wall, and Hatsuki actually stopped breathing when the girl stilled right above her head. 

Keep moving. Come on . Hatsuki’s lungs began to burn, chest aching from the lack of air as she internally pleaded for the other girl to move just a little bit farther. Hatsuki’s gaze flickered to the right when she spotted a flash of movement — shadowy arms emerging from Tokoyami’s back. Just one more foot. . .

Hatsuki took a breath, a sharp grin spreading across her lips when Asui continued crawling along the wall, just far enough in front of her teammate that this wouldn’t hurt her. Hatsuki placed her hand against the wall and watched as a wall of azure fire roared to life, completely blocking the doorway. Tokoyami made a noise of surprise, head snapping towards her, and shadowy claws instantly arced toward her. 

Snorting at the sound of Asui crying out in surprise, Hatsuki dived out of her hiding place, dodging the hit by a hair’s width. She didn’t hesitate before lighting her hands up, her smile widening at Tokoyami’s flinch. She was right. His quirk wouldn’t come near her, not with the threat of her flames. Whether it was the heat or the light that stopped him, it was simply an unlucky match up. 

“Hey, there. Want to make this quick and surrender now?” She said lightly, inching closer. Tokoyami took a solid step backwards, scowling at her as he firmly shook his head. 

“Darkness will prevail,” said Tokoyami solemnly, and then his shadow was leaping towards her. She barely had time to be confused about his words before she threw her hands up, an arc of fire exploding from her palm. There was an inhuman screech from the shadow before it yanked itself backwards, and Tokoyami himself darted forward. 

She made to dodge, but he slid past her, and one set of shadowy claws raked across the pipes she’d just been hiding behind. “Oh sh—” Hatsuki hissed, only to get cut off as she was doused in freezing water, her flames fizzling out in a haze of steam. In her shock, she dropped the wall of flames behind her, and caught sight of a blur of green flying right at her. 

“Hatsuki-san! Duck!” Kirishima cried, and she obeyed instantly, dropping to the cement floor as Asui flew over her head, colliding with Tokoyami and sending them both sprawling. Kirishima stood in front of the bomb with a toothy grin, his entire body hardened with his quirk as he panted, positioned like he’d just thrown something. Some one . Hatsuki barked a laugh, clambering to her feet and darting to his side, once again lighting up her hands in cerulean flames. “New plan,” breathed Hatsuki, feeling a shudder run down her spine, “I s-surround the bomb with fire and we try to keep them from bursting anymore pipes?” 

Kirishima nodded eagerly. “Yeah, sure!” He exclaimed, watching with bright red eyes as she surrounded the bomb with another wall of flames. She didn’t bother trying to block off the doorway when water was still spraying all over the hall — it would take far too much concentration when she was already beginning to shiver. “Should I still focus on Asui?”

Hatsuki blanked for a moment, but when she noticed the other two already darting forward, she vigorously nodded. “Yeah! M-My fire is Tokoyami’s weakness!” She shot back, only to yelp in shock when Asui’s tongue shot out to wrap around her, yanking her bodily away from the bomb.

She wasn’t sure what exactly the plan was, whether they thought she had to be touching her flames for them to remain, but Hatsuki focused all her attention on keeping them alive as she braced to be thrown against the wall. Spoiler alert; it sucked. 

Hatsuki cried out as all the breath was forced from her lungs, but she rolled to her feet in record time, a wave of gratitude washing over her at the sight of Kirishima tackling Asui away from her. That left her to face off Tokoyami again, the other boy already darting toward her as the beak(?) of his shadow — seriously, did it have a name? — arcing over her head to reach for another set of pipes. Shit. 

Hatsuki was already shaking minutely from the first spray of ice cold water, she was not looking forward to getting drenched again. Her lips curled as she reared back and then launched a line of flames up to curl around the shadow like a whip. She flinched backwards at the loud hiss it released, only to get thrown on her ass by a sweeping kick from Tokoyami.

A split-second after she landed, she didn’t process where she’d landed, already preparing to roll to her feet. Except, Hatsuki landed heavily on her side, which while normally wouldn’t matter — she was currently the lucky owner of a mottled bruise painted over her ribs. Her vision flashed white for a minute as she blanked, mouth open in a silent cry of pain. 

She came back to herself almost immediately, pushing a wall of fire away from herself and glancing backward to ensure that the circle around the bomb was still intact. Her side was screaming in pain, but Hatsuki had long since gotten used to hiding her reaction to pain — She launched to her feet panting, ready to be done. She was tired, cold and in pain, so when she heard All Might’s voice announcing that Asui had been captured, Hatsuki finally dropped her flames and lunged. Within seconds she had Tokoyami face down on the floor, his arms yanked behind his back and wound with capture tape. 

“The villain team wins!” All Might exclaimed cheerfully. Hatsuki kept the frown off her face as Kirishima approached her with a loud laugh. 

“That was so manly , Hatuski-san!” He cried, holding his hand in the air for a high five. She weakly slapped her palm against his, managing a small smile of gratitude. “Ah — Are you okay, though? You’re shaking.”

He was right, she noted as she released Tokoyami, holding her hand out to help him up. Tokoyami eyed her for a few seconds, before he silently allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. “I’m f-fine,” fibbed Hatsuki, winding her arms around her waist. “I just d-don’t do well in th-the cold.”

This was a severe understatement, one Shouto was quick to rectify once they returned to the viewing room, immediately coming to wrap his left arm around her and tuck her tightly against his side. “Your lips are turning blue, Hatsuki — You should’ve ended the fight the moment you got soaked in cold water,” he scolded her.

“I’m fine,” she grumbled, but she slumped against her twin’s side with a sigh, reaching up to tug her hair tie from the end of her braid. “So-orry I didn’t want to end the fight in ten seconds like you did — You didn’t e-even give anyone a chance.”

“Wait, wait, are you saying you could have ended the fight as quickly as Todoroki-kun?” A voice asked incredulously from beside her. Kaminari, the blond that had asked her out the day before. Hatsuki glanced over at him awkwardly, feeling her brother tense at all the attention suddenly directed at them. 

“Um,” Hatsuki coughed, averting her eyes and pulling her fingers through her hair to loosen the braid in her dripping hair. 

“Don’t you know who their dad is, Kaminari?” A rather short boy pointed out, purple balls on his head instead of hair. “ Obviously she could’ve won quicker. Those moves were hot as hell, though — Thanks for the show, Todoroki.”

Hatsuki’s face dropped, and she felt the temperature of the room rise as Shouto stiffened. Around her, their classmates shifted uncomfortably, a few even beginning to tell off the short boy. She cut them all off, her eyes smoldering as she stared him down. “Mineta, was it?” She said flatly, holding up her palm to inspect it. 

“Ah — Uh, yeah —”

Her hand burst into vibrant blue flames. “Did you know that bones turn to ash when they reach right around 1,700 degrees celsius?” The boy blanched very obviously, as did many of the people surrounding them. “Something I learned years ago is that my fire can reach up to around 3,000 degrees. Isn’t that neat?”

Mineta stammered loudly, his face deathly pale as he backed away from her. “A-Are you threatening me?” He cried out, his eyes wide in terror. 

Hatsuki plastered a confused frown on her face, tilting her head. “Don’t you know who my father is? Obviously I would never do that. Just stating a fact, right Shou?” She turned her head to meet her twin’s eyes. 

She saw something like amusement flickering in his eyes as he gave one firm nod. Mineta scurried away quickly after that, and Hatuski let her lips twitch upwards, her quirk dying out.

“Hatsuki-san,” Mina said with stars in her eyes, “can you be my new best friend?”

She barked out a laugh as Kirishima cried out in faux offense, her eyes crinkling at the corners. She quickly glanced over toward Bakugou, almost frowning at the look on his face before she shook her head and blinked. “Sorry, Mina, I’d never leave my name twin in the dust like that,” she gestured to the blond with a grin, steadfastly ignoring the way the pink girl’s face dropped. 

Hatsuki. . . didn’t know what to think of his and Izuku’s fight. It had been clear from the start that they’d known each other — but it wasn’t until watching their battle trial that she’d realized just how much baggage there was. Bakugou didn’t glance her way when she mentioned him, not even to shoot her a glare. 

Hatsuki frowned softly, subtly looking the boy over. Her trembling had stopped at this point, but Shouto kept his arm wrapped firmly around her, paranoid as always. Finally, Hatsuki sighed heavily and looked away. Guess I’ll have to see that notebook another day, Izu-kun.

Chapter Text

Hatsuki blue screened when the gates of UA came into view, her grey eyes widening almost comically at the abundance of people clamoring around outside. She almost stumbled to a stop, not all that eager to push through a crowd of reporters, but Shouto’s hand latched around her wrist and dragged her forward without so much as a sidelong glance. “Wha — Hey!” Hatsuki cried as she nearly tripped over her own feet — clad in one yellow shoe and one white today. 

“It would be more efficient to continue forward and ignore the reporters,” said Shouto blandly, like she didn’t already know that from years of dealing with the press. 

"I know that, I was just shocked," grumbled Hatsuki, but she promptly shut her mouth as they reached the mass of reporters yelling questions about All Might. She was surprised, though, to find that only one of them was interested in the fact that they were Endeavor’s children, allowing them to slip through like the rest of the students relatively quickly. By the time they reached 1-A, half of their classmates were already there. 

Shouto did what he did best and disappeared to his seat before anybody could talk to him. Hatsuki pranced over to perch on the edge of Kirishima's desk, seeing as Mina was already doing the same, beaming widely as she chattered loudly to her friend. " — recognized me! Oh! Hatsuki-san, hi!" The pink girl exclaimed, leaning over to squeeze her arms around Hatsuki's shoulders in what she assumed was supposed to be a hug. 

By the time she'd unfrozen enough to realize she should maybe reciprocate it, Mina was pulling away in time for Kirishima to greet her as well with a fist bump. Strange, but on brand. "Did they recognize you too, Todoroki-san?" The redhead asked her eagerly, and she poured exaggeratedly. 

"I told you to call me Hatsuki, Kirishima!" She exclaimed, blinking rapidly to accompany her sheepish smile when she realized she'd spoken just a little too loud. “And yeah, one of them recognized me and Shou.” 

“Shou,” Mina cooed, propping her chin in her palm. “That's so cute! And it's ‘Shou and I,’ I think.” 

Hatsuki curled her nose. “I didn't realize he was actually your twin brother, my bad. Clearly you and him look so alike, my red and white hair is a strange coincid —” 

“Hatsuki-chan!” Mina cried out, clutching her chest, just barely louder than Kirishima’s loud guffaw. Something warm filled her chest at that, lips twitching into a delighted smile before she forced the expression from her face. Her gaze flicked toward the door when it opened, and her eyes lit up when she spotted Izuku trying to sneak his way to his seat. 

“Izu-kun!” Hatsuki cried, hopping down from her redheaded friend’s desk. The boy startled, eyes widening as she scrambled over to approach him. “Hey! I'm sorry I never got to talk to you yesterday about your notebook! You're okay, right?”

“H-Hatsuki-san! U-Um, yes! It's okay, really!” Izuku stammered, flushing bright red as he fiddled with the straps of his bag. “I brought it again today, if you still wanted to see. . ?” 

Hatsuki nodded eagerly, rocking on the balls of her feet. “Yeah! Can I borrow it and give it back later? Or do you just wanna show me sometime later?” 

The green haired boy looked hesitant at first, but after a long look, he smiled and began rifling through his bag. “Here! You can give it back at the end of the day,” he told her finally, thrusting it towards her with both hands. Hatsuki grabbed it gently from him with a smile, her gaze raking over the writing on the front. Hero analysis for the future. No. 10. 

“Ten?” Her eyes widened in shock, mouth agape. “You have ten of these things?” 

Izuku squeaked, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I'm actually on my fourteenth,” he admitted sheepishly. Hatsuki immediately flipped open the notebook, her eyes sparkling as she landed on an entry about Present Mic.

“How many heroes have you — ?” 

“I see you lot haven't learned a thing since yesterday,” spoke a dry voice from the doorway. Hatsuki would've yelped if not for the years of stifling a wide variety of shocked noises. Aizawa-sensei stood in the doorway with the same flat look from the day before, one brow raised at the sight of half his students not at their desks. 

Hatsuki scrambled across the room to drop into her desk, shoving Izuku’s notebook in her bag before smoothing a carefully blank expression over her face. She tugged at the end of her braid as their teacher stalked toward his desk, biting down on the inside of her cheek. Would he begin breaking down their weaknesses from the day before, she wondered, or leave them waiting for the other shoe to drop? 

For a few moments, the entire classroom sat in tense silence, twenty-one pairs of anxious eyes watching Aizawa. “Decent work on yesterday's combat training, you guys.” He broke the silence finally, and Hatsuki nearly slumped over in relief, her eyes lighting up. “I saw the video feeds and went over each of your teams’ results. Bakugou. You're talented, so don't sulk like a child about your loss, okay?” Nevermind. 

Hatsuki glanced behind herself to spot the blond’s reaction, but the explosive boy was merely scowling at the wall. “Midoriya.” Their teacher directed dark eyes behind Bakugou. “I see the only way you won the match was by messing up your arm again. Work harder. And don't give me the excuse that you don't have control over your quirk. That line’s already getting old. You can't keep breaking your body while training here.” 

With every word, her new friend sank lower and lower in his seat, and the sudden lump in Hatsuki’s throat grew. Her teacher's words were harsh, but true. How did Izuku have so little control over his quirk? She'd never heard of anyone with a quirk so harmful, not since — 

Aizawa interrupted her spiraling train of thought. “But your quirk will be really useful if you can get a handle on it.” Oh. “So show a little urgency, huh?” Endeavor would never have said anything like that, would never have done anything but pick them apart over every single miniscule mistake they could possibly make. 

“And Todoroki.” Hatsuki’s eyes widened when his full attention was suddenly on her. “Letting the fight continue unnecessarily when you knew your health was compromised was a bad move. In the field, it would get you killed.” For some reason, critique from her (newly) second favorite hero hurt a whole lot more than critique from her father. Her entire posture deflated, gaze sliding to her lap where she'd dropped her hands. “However, your strategy was sound and you executed it well. Don't prolong fights longer than necessary in the future, and you'll do just fine.”

Stilling in shock, Hatsuki glanced upwards, a flickering smile on her lips. Her teacher had already looked away, but she grinned anyway. “Right,” Aizawa continued. “Let's get down to business. Our first task will decide your future.” What? Hatsuki’s eyes widened as she thought back to the quirk assessment test, to the threat of expulsion. Now, whatever this was — Did their teacher enjoy making them sweat? Definitely, she decided after his next words. “You all need to pick a class representative.”

All at once, the class exploded into raucous shouting. Hatsuki grimaced at the noise, sinking down in her seat and craning her neck to watch her peers attempt to garner attention. Almost everyone had leapt to their feet, talking over each other, and Hatsuki found a bewildered smile tugging at the corners of her lips. 

Orientation day — in which they'd skipped orientation — Hatsuki hadn't been sure of her classmates, not all that sure that she'd even remember their names. (And while it took her a little while, she did memorize them!) Now, she found herself almost giddy at the realization that she was going to spend the next three years of her life with these people, and she was almost excited for it. 

“Everyone, silence, please!” Iida shouted, chopping his arm in the air with an intense look on his face, cutting Hatsuki’s train of thought before she could get too impassioned. Everyone fell silent to look at him, eyes wide. “The class representative’s duty is to lead others. That's not something just anyone can do. You must first have the trust of every student in the classroom. Therefore, the most logical way to fill this position is democratically. We will hold an election to choose our leader!” 

Most of the others immediately accused him of wanting them to vote for him, but Hatsuki merely tilted her head, propping her chin in her palm. “Yeah, as do literally all of you,” she mumbled under her breath. Her brows furrowed, though, as she considered. Iida was the only one to gain everyone's attention and propose a logical approach, and while Hatsuki obviously had no idea what being a class representative entailed, she could already picture him lecturing them on the various rules in the handbook that Hatsuki hadn't bothered to read. 

Her mind flashed to orientation day when Iida had immediately begun scolding Bakugou over his feet resting on his desk. She'd already made up her mind by the time the others had finished debating, following Iida’s gaze to their teacher, only to comically widen her eyes at the sight of him in his caterpillar getup from the first day. 

“Do what you want,” her sensei sighed apathetically, zipping his sleeping bag up to his chin, “just decide before my nap’s over.” He then promptly fell to the floor behind his desk with a quiet thump. She was the only one to snicker incredulously.

Iida took charge, passing out ballots for them to scribble down their votes on, and Hatsuki spun in her seat to lock eyes with her twin. Shouto glanced back, raising his brow at the look. She mouthed Iida’s name at the boy, then dragged her finger across her neck in a move universally understood as ‘or else.’ 

Her brother rolled his eyes, but gave her a miniscule nod and she grinned to herself as she scrawled Iida’s name on her paper. She was sure he'd have multiple votes anyways. Her class had to have some common sense, right? 

Wrong, she discovered, gaping at the results with her jaw dropped. “How did I get three votes?” Izuku cried in pure shock, and frankly, she agreed. 

Her friend was a nervous wreck, and she could tell that from the first day — She hadn't even considered voting for him, and from the petrified look on his face, she could tell she'd chosen correctly. Bakugou shot to his feet, slamming his hands on his desk angrily. “Okay, you idiots! Who voted for him?” 

“What, did you honestly think anyone was gonna vote for you?” Sero, the boy with the tape quirk snorted. Mina tilted her head considerably. 

“I dunno, I kinda thought Hatsuki might've since she's his best friend,” the pink girl murmured, earning a full blown cackle from Hatsuki. She threw her head back as she chortled, slapping her hand over her mouth at the sound of Bakugou’s enraged shouting. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? I would rather die than be friends with that extra!” A vein bulged on his forehead, earning yet another round of helpless giggles. 

“Name Twin, you're too kind,” she managed through her last bout of laughter. 

Once she'd finally managed to calm down, ignoring the blond at her back, she turned to face Iida, her eyes crinkling upon seeing the look of pure wonder on his face at the sight of his two votes. “Two people?” He gasped, only to suddenly narrow his eyes, squinting at the name with an equal amount of votes. “Ah — I see that we've tied for vice representative, Yaoyorozu-san!” 

“You voted for someone else?” Yaoyorozu questioned, a conflicted look on her face. “I. . . admit that I voted for myself, that means only one other person actually chose me.” Hatsuki watched as Yaoyorozu — the dark haired girl whose name Hatsuki couldn't remember for an embarrassing amount of time — looked down at her lap before inhaling sharply and looking back up to meet Iida’s eyes. “You should take the spot, Iida-kun.”

Iida looked conflicted, but that effect was dampened by the stars in his eyes. He accepted the position and marched to the front of the classroom, standing proudly at Izuku’s side. Hatsuki watched as her green haired friend trembled from head to toe as their sensei eased himself into a sitting position, but remained in his gaudy yellow sleeping bag. She had a theory that the man hadn't actually been sleeping, but she figured it didn't matter. “Alright, the class rep is Midoriya,” Aizawa said, proving her correct, “and our deputy is Iida.” 

“Really?” Izuku squeaked, eyes wide and hands clenched into fists. “Uh, it's not a mistake?” 

“Debatable,” Hatsuki said quietly before she could stop herself, her hand once again flying up to cover her mouth. No filter. A few seats away, she heard a quiet snort that she recognized as Jirou’s, and her face flushed. 

Thankfully, it didn't seem like Izuku heard her, too busy trembling anxiously. Iida took one look at the boy at his side and then cleared his throat. “I am honored to have been chosen for this position!” He said loudly, looking like he was preparing for a long winded speech. With a sigh, Aizawa-sensei sat back like he wasn't at all surprised, yet he didn't look annoyed. Hatsuki couldn't help but narrow her eyes. It was almost as if their teacher knew Iida. 

Before she could further explore this theory, the bell rang, and half the class slumped in relief. Hatsuki’s eyes lit up. English time!

“Shouto! Did you know that Yamada-sensei is deaf? I had no idea!” Hatsuki’s lunch sat abandoned in front of her, Izuku’s analysis notebook in its place and once again open to Present Mic’s section. She had been planning to study the notes on Eraserhead, but she couldn't help herself. After all, Present Mic had always been her favorite hero. 

“Yeah,” her brother said shortly, slurping up the last of his noodles. He eyed her untouched bowl of soba. “Are you going to eat that?” 

“What? How?” Hatsuki cried, shoving her tray unceremoniously towards him. “Why didn't you tell me?” 

Shouto gave her a look as he stole her lunch. “I wasn't aware I had to tell you. He wears hearing aids — I don't think it's much of a secret.” 

Hatsuki curled her nose, tugging at her braid with one hand as she shot him a glare before returning her attention to the notebook. “Shut up,” she grumbled sourly, in the tone in which she only used when she knew he was right. “Hey, do you think that means he knows JSL?” 

Shouto sighed, putting his chopsticks down. “Are you sure you don't want to sit with your friends?” He questioned, glancing pointedly behind her at the table Izuku sat at with Iida and Uraraka. Hatsuki scoffed in offense, brows furrowing as her jaw dropped. 

“Is this your way of telling me to go away? Why are you so mean to me?” She whined. “You know you don't get extra cold soba if I abandon you to sit alone like a loser, right?”

He wasn't affected by the jab, one brow raising as he watched her. “You'd rather be one as well?” 

“Oh, you little bi —” 

Startling her so much she nearly fell out of her seat, an alarm suddenly began to blare, much too soon to be the bell signaling the end of lunch. “What the hell?” Hatsuki twisted in her seat, annoyance replaced with trepidation. Her fingers curled around the notebook, and she slammed it shut as a voice crackled to life over the intercom. 

“Warning. Level Three security breach. All students please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion.” 

“Shouto?” Hatsuki turned back to her brother as the message repeated and found him already on his feet and rounding the table, a pinched look on his face as he stalked toward her. Hatsuki clutched the notebook to her chest as she scrambled to get out of her own seat and to his side, but another her student in his haste to rush towards the doors, slammed into her and she would've been sent sprawling if not for her brother appearing in front of her and steadying her with his hands on her arms. 

“Watch it,” he hissed at the already retreating boy, the most emotion he'd shown all day, before he wrapped his left hand around her arm and began dragging her towards the doors as well. They managed to reach the hallway before they were completely surrounded, other students pushing and shoving their way through. Hatsuki’s shoulders were nearly to her ears with how hunched she was, overwhelmed at all the noise. 

Hatsuki’s head snapped to the side when she heard a particularly loud yell, though it didn't sound like the panicked clamoring of everyone else — it sounded pained. “Was that. . ?” Silver eyes widened as she spotted Jirou against the wall with her hands over her ears and her earphones jacks. The purple haired girl’s eyes were scrunched tight with pain, and Hatsuki’s eyes blew wide as she realized that if she was overstimulated, the other girl must be beyond overcrowded. 

She had half a mind to call out to the girl, but she figured that adding more shouting to the mix wouldn't help at all, and instead turned to inform her brother of her plan, only to yelp in shock as his hand was ripped from her arm. Hatsuki winced as an elbow hit her ribs, and she cried out her twin's name, but he was already out of sight, pushed ahead by the other panicking students. 

Clutching the notebook in her arms so tightly her knuckles turned white, she made to shove her own way through, but then her gaze shot back towards Jirou and she made up her mind. Hatsuki forced her way across the hall, shoving back just as hard at the students that jostled into her, until she was a mere few feet from her classmate. 

Someone's leg hit the back of her knee and Hatsuki’s legs buckled as she cried out — she only remained standing because there was no room for her to fall. “Jirou!” Hatsuki called, a spike of panic stabbing at her chest as she was manhandled a few steps away from the girl, but it seemed Jirou had heard her, eyes snapping open even as her face remained scrunched in pain, hands still clamped down over her ears. 

Jirou widened her eyes, looking her over in confusion. Hatsuki tucked Izuku’s notebook into her blazer and reached out for the girl, finally heaving her way through the last few people in between them. Hatsuki placed her hands firmly over Jirou’s own, brows pinched and lips down turned as she surveyed Jirou’s shining eyes. 

“Does this help?” She asked softly, but she had an inkling already, from the way a little bit of the tension faded from the set of her shoulders. Jirou released a heavy breath, nodding minutely. Someone slammed into Hatsuki’s side, but she widened her stance and planted her feet, refusing to be manhandled any longer. Jirou met her eyes, watching her intently, and Hatsuki stared right back until she realized just how close they were standing — that she could feel the purple haired girl's breath on her face. 

She squeaked unintelligibly, dropping her gaze as she felt her cheeks flush a brilliant red. Hatsuki had to focus determinedly to not burst into flames. Suddenly, Jirou gasped. “Iida-kun?” 

Hatsuki’s head snapped up, following her gaze to see Iida — flying? She'd looked up just in time to watch the boy slam into the wall above the doorway in what had to be a painful manner, but he didn't show any signs of pain, instead inhaling deeply and shouting. “Listen up! Everything is okay!” 

All at once, the panicking and yelling slowed to a stop, every head turned to watch the blue haired boy. “It's just the media outside,” Iida explained, “There's absolutely nothing to worry about. Everything's fine! We're UA students, we need to remain calm and prove that we're the best of the best!” 

And just like that, everyone was calm, a resounding sigh of relief filling the hall. Hatsuki cautiously pulled her hands away from Jirou’s, and a few moments later, Jirou pulled her own hands away, her shoulders slumping. “Thank you, Hatsuki-san,” the other girl said softly, a small smile forming on her lips. 

Hatsuki brightened. “Of course, Jirou-san!”

The corner of her lips quirked. “Drop the honorific. You got to see me crying — we're past that.” 

A small laugh tore from her throat, and Hatsuki patted her shirt down to feel for the notebook as she glanced away, relieved to find it still there. “Ditto.” She replied softly. Then she blinked, stilling. “Wait, not that you saw me crying. I wasn't crying — Just the honorific thing. You probably already got that, nevermind — Please ignore me.” 

Hatsuki groaned, burying her face in her hands as her cheeks once again flamed (again, metaphorically). Jirou snorted, and then tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey, might want to turn around.”

Hatsuki glanced behind her immediately, and she spotted her twin pushing through the crowd with a frown on his face, heterochromic gaze locked onto her. “Shouto!” She shot one last look at Jirou, smiling briefly, before she turned and pushed through the other students to meet him halfway. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt at all?”

“I'm fine,” her twin grunted as she threw her arms around him, heaving a big sigh. “Are you?” 

“Am I fine?” Hatsuki pulled back, planting herself firmly at his left side. “Yeah, my side’s a little sore from — you know, but I'm okay.” 

Shouto’s frown deepened briefly, before he shot a look behind her. She followed his gaze to Jirou, still watching her idly. The other girl raised her hand in a lazy wave, and Hatsuki spun back around with pursed lips and wide eyes. At once, Shouto’s concern disappeared, amusement glittering in his eyes. “Your face is red.” 

Hatsuki spluttered angrily, then whacked him on the shoulder. “I wish you'd gotten trampled.” 

By the time everything had been sorted out and all of 1-A were finally back in their class, Hatsuki’s mind had wandered back to Iida’s display perched on the wall. When the class finally settled after Aizawa assured them that it was just the press, Izuku and Iida found themselves at the front of the room once again, the latter nudging Izuku with his elbow. 

“Midoriya-kun, you should begin,” the taller boy prompted. Her friend startled, trembling nervously yet again, but started to speak. Hatsuki smiled at the display, absolutely confident that she'd voted correctly. 

“Um, okay, so we need to figure out who the other class officers will be,” Izuku stammered. “But first, there's something that I wanna say. I've thought a lot about this, and I think that Iida should be our class rep, and Yaoyorozu should be the vice rep! Iida-kun was able to capture everyone's attention and get us in line. So I believe that he should be the one leading our class from now on!”

At his side, Iida was gaping, eyes wide as he stared in wonder. Similarly, Hatsuki noticed Yaoyorozu sitting forward in her desk with the beginnings of a smile on her face. “You know what, if Midoriya vouches for him, I'm good,” Kirishima piped up. “Plus he was a big help. He totally manned up and took charge, right?” 

“I agree!” Hatsuki said brightly, grinning. “It's why I voted for him in the first place!” Iida’s head snapped toward her, bafflement clear on his face. She had no time to wonder why he was so confused before Kaminari was speaking up. 

“Did anyone notice he looked like the dude on the emergency exit signs when he was on the wall earlier?” And, holy shit, he was right.

“This is a waste of time,” Aizawa said tiredly, startling half the class as he sat up in his sleeping bag. Hatsuki wondered if was going to teach them everyday from his sleeping bag. “I don't care who the rep is, just hurry up.” 

Their teacher laid back down, eyes falling closed. Hatsuki watched him, eyes narrowed and only halfway paying attention to Iida’s speech. That man definitely wasn't asleep, those eyebags were evidence. 

Chapter Text

“Do you know if your hero costume will be ready today?” Hatsuki glanced up from her feet and found her twin already peering at her, a curious look on his face. It was then that she realized she'd been spaced out, unfocused stare on her green and grey shoes for nearly the entire time they'd been on the train. 

“Huh?” She mumbled, blinking as she shook her head as if to rid herself of her thoughts, and then she processed what he'd said just as he opened his mouth to speak again. “Oh! Yeah! Me and some of the other girls went to Aizawa-sensei after the battle trials the other day and he brought us to Majima-sensei — Power Loader — and they helped us submit our requests. Should be ready today, but if they're not, Aizawa-sensei said we could just wear our P.E. outfits during hero lessons until they are like we did for the battle trials.” 

Shouto nodded slowly and then began to thoughtfully chew on the inside of his cheek. “Are. . . you okay?” He asked her finally, voice full of hesitance. There it was. Hatsuki sighed as she glanced away from his dual colored eyes. Fuyumi had practically begged her to sit through dinner with their father the night before, and she'd accepted if only to rid herself of the guilt she still held from the last family dinner. 

She only lasted twenty minutes before Endeavor said something that got on her nerves just a little too much, and she'd slammed her chopsticks on the table and swore him out until she was red in the face, only spinning on her heel to storm off once she felt the telltale burning of her eyes. Not without one last scathing remark of, I’d rather die than sit here and play pretend with this flaming bastard, of course.

“I'm fine, Shouto,” mumbled Hatsuki with another sigh, nearly slumping in relief as their train pulled to a stop. “Let's go — No time for hot chocolate today.” 

Her brother followed her dutifully, accepting her answer no matter if he actually believed her or not. “You do realize you're probably the only person that relies on hot chocolate to fuel your days?” 

Hatsuki scoffed as UA came into view, shooting Shouto a look. “No, you just have no life and haven't met any fun people.” 

With a blank look on his face, her twin splayed his hand over his heart. “Ouch.”

Hatsuki began to smirk, rocking back and forth on her heels briefly. “Need me to call the whambulance, Shou-chan?” She mocked, only to squawk loudly as he narrowed his eyes at her then put his hand against the side of her face and shoved her bodily away from him. 

“Sure,” he said casually over her spluttering, “but not for me.” 

“Today's training will be a little different,” Aizawa told them the moment the bell rang, apathetic gaze raking over the twenty-one pairs of eyes watching him. “You'll have three instructors. Me, All Might, and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you.” 

What? Hatsuki frowned, tilting her head a bit from where her chin was propped in her hand. It seemed excessive to have three pro heroes oversee their training. Unless it had to do with the break-in the day before? But. . . wouldn't that mean it wasn't just the media? 

“Sir!” Sero’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts, and Hatsuku craned her neck to find the boy leaning forward so far he looked seconds from toppling out of his seat. “What kinda training is this?” 

“Rescue,” their teacher informed them. “You'll be dealing with natural disasters, shipwrecks, stuff like that.”

As the other students burst into excited chatter, Hatsuki felt a vindictive smirk tugging at her lips. “Real hero stuff,” Kirishima said with a wide smile, earning a quiet snort from Hatsuki. 

“Endeavor wouldn't know,” she mumbled under her breath, grey eyes shooting to her teacher when he sighed and spoke over them. 

“Guys, I'm not finished yet. What you wear in this exercise is up to you. I know you're excited about costumes. . .” The cases on the walls opened up, and Hatsuki immediately honed in on hers. “But keep in mind that you haven't gotten used to them yet, and they might limit your abilities. This special training's at an off-campus facility, so we'll be taking a bus to get there. That's all. Start getting ready.”

Hatsuki shared a glance with the other girls that had requested costume changes, and then they all at once looked to their teacher, who was on his way out the door. Absolutely none of them said a word, looking pleadingly at Hatsuki. “Oh my God,” she groaned quietly, climbing out of her seat to jog after her teacher. “Sensei!” 

Without even turning around, her teacher sighed and shook his head. “No, Todoroki, your costumes aren't ready yet.” 

Hatsuki smiled sheepishly, her cheeks warming. She spun on her heel and shook her head. Yaoyorozu and Uraraka looked disappointed, but both mouthed silent ‘thank you's to her. She couldn't really speak for Hagakure, but she assumed the other girl looked the same.

With that, Hatsuki shot her brother a glance and then headed for the locker room, eager to change before the others caught up with her. Within ten minutes, the majority of 1-A found themselves standing outside waiting for the rest of the class. Hatsuki noticed that besides her and the three other girls wearing their P.E. uniforms, Izuku was also wearing his. She wondered why for only a brief second before she remembered his fight with Bakugou and winced, looking away as Uraraka questioned the boy.

Unintentionally, Hatsuki found herself looking at Jirou, and she smiled smally as she noticed the other girl absentmindedly twirling her earphone jacks with her fingers. “U-Um, hey,” Hatsuki said softly, wringing her hands together behind her back as she slowly approached her. “I don't think I said it before, but I like your costume. The leather jacket kind of reminds me of Yamada-sensei.” 

Jirou beamed. “Thanks! And, is it that obvious?” The purple haired girl wrinkled her nose. “He's my favorite hero, but I didn't think it was that on the nose.” 

“Oh! No!” Hatsuki gasped. “He's just my favorite too! My mind makes connections that aren't there sometimes — ignore me.” She felt her heart begin to race, her face the color of a tomato. Jirou snorted. 

“Really? Not your dad?” 

Hatsuki’s face fell briefly, before she replaced her embarrassed grin with an artificial one, glancing away. “No —”

“Gather around, Class 1-A!” Iida interrupted the conversation. “Using your student numbers, from two neat lines so we can load the bus efficiently.” Where on earth had he found a whistle? 

Nonetheless, Hatsuki quietly followed Iida’s instructions, only to struggle to hold in her laughter at the devastated look on his face upon seeing the open seat layout of the bus. Instinctually, Hatsuki locked her gaze onto her brother and followed him, sliding into his seat with him without a word. 

Once all the other students were settled into their respective seats, Hatsuki noticed that not only was Bakugou sitting in front of her, so was Jirou. She then noticed her twin closing his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest, and she followed suit, scooting close enough to drop her head onto his shoulder. 

They wouldn't actually be able to fall asleep, Hatsuki knew that, but she felt herself relaxing almost instantly anyways, sighing to herself as she let her own eyes slide closed. Within minutes, though, her lack of sleep the night before and the warmth from his left side soaking into her side had her drifting off. 

Only to then jerk awake however many minutes later to Bakugou leaping to his feet with a furious shout of, “What'd you say? I'll kick your ass!”

“What the f —” Hatsuki blinked rapidly, feeling her brother’s arm tighten around her shoulders — When had he wrapped his arm around her? — as she sat forward slightly. “Did someone insult his masculinity or something?” She asked with a yawn, her attention caught by Kaminari, who sat forward with a grin. 

“Y’know, we basically just met you. So it's kinda telling that we all know your personality is flaming crap mixed with garbage,” said Kaminari casually, redeeming himself immediately in Hatsuki’s mind. 

“Yeah, it's a real wonder that you managed to get Hatsuki to be your friend!” Kirishima added with a wide eyed nod. 

“You're going to regret the day you applied to this school, you losers! I'll kill you!” Bakugou swore, and Hatsuki cringed as she watched Jirou lean away from the explosive boy. 

“You really want to be friends with him?” Shouto questioned her quietly, and when she glanced over she found him peering at her with one brow raised. 

Hatsuki grinned. “Yep! I need a wide variety to make up for my lack of any other friends.” 

On her fingers, she began to count. There was Bakugou, Kirishima, Mina, Izuku, Shinsou and Jirou. Already, she had more friends than she'd ever had in her life. Narrowing her eyes, Hatsuki scanned the bus and tentatively added Iida to the metaphorical list, then stamped a question mark next to Bakugou’s name. She'd get him to admit it someday — it was her personal goal now. 

“Hey, hey, we're here. Stop messing around.” Aizawa called from the front of the bus, an annoyed tinge to his voice. 

Instantly, the students fell quiet, a unanimous, “Yes, sir,” falling from their lips. Hatsuki took a moment to wonder how the man could control them so easily without so much as raising his voice. Nonetheless, Hatsuki rubbed harshly at her eyes with a yawn to rid herself of any lingering sleep, then peered out the window with curious eyes as the facility came into view — a large dome-like building. 

Despite Aizawa’s warning, excited whispers broke out amongst her classmates, and Hatsuki could even see a bit of interest swirling in her brother’s heterochromic irises. When the bus pulled to a stop, they were almost immediately greeted just outside the entrance of the facility by a familiar pro hero. 

“Hello, everyone,” The Space Hero: Thirteen exclaimed cheerfully, “I’ve been waiting for you!” Hatsuki’s eyes widened, but no gasp rose in her throat like the others — more surprised that Thirteen was a part of UA faculty than the fact that she was there. “I can’t wait to show you what’s inside!”

She proceeded to do just that, their sensei following behind them with his hands in his pockets, appearing almost bored as he took in their surroundings. Hatsuki was a little overwhelmed by all of the disaster-esque habitats spread throughout the place, but she grimaced upon seeing the shipwreck and the windstorm, knowing for a fact that she’d be shivering the moment she touched the water. 

She was drawn from her derailing train of thoughts by Thirteen spreading her arms out and declaring, “I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. But, you can call it USJ!” From the blank looks on their faces, Hatsuki gathered that they’d all made the connections in their heads to Universal Studios Japan. At that point, Aizawa wandered over to Thirteen, and Hatsuki heard something about All Might before their voices became too quiet to make out. 

She tilted her head curiously upon watching the Space Hero splay three fingers for Aizawa-sensei to see, but Hatsuki quickly lost interest, eyes drifting once again over the areas she was sure to fail in without the heater from her suit. She felt a little sour about having only her gym uniform now, but she rationalized that her teacher had said himself that risking her health was a dumb move — he would probably excuse her from those habitats should she be assigned to them. 

“The clock’s ticking,” Aizawa’s monotone voice startled her out of her thoughts, and she smoothed out the concentrated furrow between her brows, nervously pulling the end of her braid over her shoulder to tug gently. “We should get started.”

“Excellent!” Thirteen crowed, “Before we begin, let me just say one thing. Well, maybe two things. . . Possibly three or four—”

Hatsuki snorted as her classmates droned out a unanimous, “We get it,” though the hero’s next words had her amusement fading away. 

“Listen carefully. I’m sure you’re aware that I have a powerful quirk. It’s called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it into dust.” 

“Yeah, you’ve used it to save people from all kinds of disasters before, haven’t you?” Izuku cut in excitedly, earning a small smile from Hatsuki as she pictured the — no doubt — detailed entry in one of his analysis notebooks. She imagined the word fanboy in a dictionary, the only description a picture of her green haired friend.

“That’s true,” Thirteen confirmed, “but my quirk could also very easily be used to kill.” And just like that, Hatsuki’s smile fell from her face. “Some of you also have powers that can be dangerous. In our superhuman society, all quirks are certified and stringently regulated, so we often overlook how unsafe they can actually be.”

Dropping her gaze to her feet, Hatsuki rocked nervously on her heels, red brows furrowing slightly as she wrung her fingers together in front of her. She thought of the handprint burned into her arm, of the countless scars she and Shouto — and once, Touya — hid underneath their clothes. No, she mused silently, that wasn’t something she’d ever forget. 

“Please don’t forget that if you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers can be deadly. Even if you’re trying to do something heroic like rescue someone. Thanks to Aizawa’s fitness tests, you have a solid idea of your quirk’s potential. And because of All Might’s combat training, you likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be when used against other people. Keep those lessons in mind. Today, you’re going to learn how to use your quirks to save people’s lives.” 

How, Hatsuki wondered grimly, could her fire do anything but burn? 

“You won’t be using your powers to attack enemies or each other, only to help.” Thirteen started to wrap up her monologue, her voice regaining the chipper tone from before. “After all, that’s what being a hero is all about. Ensuring the safety of others.” With a bow, “That’s all I have to say. Thank you for listening!”

“Right, now that that’s over. . .” Aizawa spoke over their excited cheering, only to cut himself off as electricity flickered overhead. Hatsuki’s head snapped up, eyes sharp at the uncharacteristic pause. She held her breath, squinting as she raked her gaze over her surroundings. 

A blur of purple down by the fountain caught her attention, but she couldn’t see it well enough to guess what it was. “Stay together and don’t move!” Aizawa snapped, stance tense as the students shared a collective gasp. “Thirteen, protect the students!” 

“Woah, what is that thing?” Kirishima pointed, eyes wide and voice shaking. 

Hatsuki squinted, watching as that blur of purple expanded, and from the middle of it emerged. . . a person? And then multiple — dozens of figures stepped out of the mist. Her red haired friend said something else, she was sure, but the words were muffled to her ears, her heart pounding in her chest. 

She swung around, eyes finding her twin, and she found Shouto already looking at her, his brows furrowed as he took an aborted step toward her. He jolted to a stop though when their teacher barked out a harsh, “Stay back!” Hatsuki sucked in a trembling inhale, clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides as she felt her flames rising to the surface, bubbling beneath her skin as they begged to be let out. “This is real, these are real villains.”

And just like that, Hatsuki’s lungs seized in her chest. 

“—atsuki! Hatsuki!” She flinched backwards away from the hands on her arms, wide eyes focusing on her brother in front of her. “We need to go, now!” 

“R-Right,” she breathed, allowing Shouto to drag her behind him after the rest of the class, darting for the exit. She was trembling head to toe, but claiming it was the result of his right hand against her bare skin would be far-fetched. With a yelp Hatsuki stumbled to a stop at the sight of the portal opening up in front of them, a mist-covered villain looming over the frozen group. 

“There is no escape for you.” The villain said slowly, and a sense of foreboding sent a chill down Hatsuki’s spine. Grey eyes were blown wide as she peered up at the — could he even be called a man? “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. We are the League of Villains.” 

A disbelieving laugh rose in her throat, hands shaking at her sides. She hardly even noticed that Shouto’s hand was no longer wrapped around her wrist, too wrapped up in the incredulity of the statement — because there was no way that the name was that cheesy. That ridiculous. “I know it’s impolite,” the mist villain continued, “but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say hello. And besides, isn’t this a fitting place for the Symbol of Peace to take his last breath?” 

“Of course it’s about him,” she whispered, steadfastly ignoring the way her voice shook. 

“I believe he was supposed to be here today,” the villain mused, “and yet I see no sign of him. There must have been some sort of change in plans.” 

But how did they know that? Unbidden, Hatsuki felt her palms burst into cerulean flames, gaze shooting to Kirishima and Bakugou as they leapt forward and attacked the villain. She flinched back — she was sure everyone had, but when the smoke from the blond’s explosions cleared, the villain remained standing, yellow eyes glowing as he chuckled sardonically. “You live up to your school’s reputation. But you should be more careful, children. Otherwise, someone might get hurt.” 

Hatsuki was barely breathing at this point, terror keeping her from budging an inch. And then, as Thirteen shouted something at her classmates, the girl had a sudden flash of memory — memories, dozens of instances where Shouto shoved his way through and planted himself between her and their father, where he would be the only Todoroki to face Endeavor’s wrath despite being just as young as her. Where he was afraid, but he shoved it down to protect her. 

Hatsuki took a steadying breath, and then forced her way through her classmates, ignoring her brother’s sharp inhale as she settled into place at Bakugou’s side. He side-eyed her for a split-second before returning his angry glare to the villain, but she thought she saw something like approval shining in his eyes. “You know,” Hatsuki spat, drawing all attention to her flickering fire and furious sneer, “this risk you took may have been calculated, but you are shit at math if you don’t realize that twenty-one against one isn’t going to end with anything but you in the ground.”

The villain had the gall to laugh yet again, before dark tendrils of mist were shooting out to surround them. “I’ll scatter you across this facility to meet my comrades, and your demise!” 

Hatsuki could’ve sworn she heard a shout of her name before she was enveloped in darkness, and everything fell away.

Hatsuki slammed into concrete, the air rushing from her lungs as her skull connected with the floor. Her vision flashed white briefly, and Hatsuki felt her flames flaring around herself instinctually before a spike of panic hit her, her quirk dying out. “Wh — ?” 

“Hatsuki!” Kirishima’s face was suddenly directly above her own, his eyes wide as he shoved a hand in her face. “Get up! Come on!” 

She blinked rapidly in shock, but took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled up, and all at once she understood the urgency in his voice. Even though panic was wrapping its slimy hands around her lungs and squeezing, Hatsuki felt her face curl into a snarl, hands once again lighting up at the dozen villains surrounding them on all sides. 

“Now, ain't this a treat?” Drawled one of the men surrounding the three — Bakugou was there too, his own face pulled into a furious glare as he put his back to her and Kirishima. 

“Go ahead and find out,” Hatsuki spat, forcing down the inane anxiety making her lungs constrict in her chest. “Don't be surprised when we break your fucking teeth.” 

With a shout, one of the villains lunged at her, and she raised her hands, decking him in the throat just in time to snuff her flames so she didn't kill him. He went down with a gurgling wheeze, and it wasn't long before the others were launching themselves at the teens with matching livid cries. 

Bakugou’s palms crackled to life, and Hatsuki grinned at Kirishima’s cry of, “You're gonna have to hit harder than that!” 

“Die!” Bakugou roared, and maybe it was a little crazy, maybe she was finally losing it — but Hatsuki laughed, and with a stamp of her foot, a ring of azure fire was circling them. Planting her feet, the girl raised her fists and waited for the first person to rush her. 

She didn't have to wait long, a rather large man with jagged teeth that reminded her of Kirishima threw himself forward, only to drop when she threw a punch, landing a kick directly into her stomach. Hatsuki grunted as she stumbled backwards a step, but she quickly caught her bearings and wrapped a still-flaming hand around his ankle and threw him. A pained scream tore from the villain’s throat, but he hit the floor with a sickening thud then went silent. 

“Shit — Lifebuoy! Watch your fucking back!” Bakugou growled, and Hatsuki took that as a warning, ducking down just in time to watch the blond boy blast a villain over her head to collide with the wall and land bodily on the guy she'd just incapacitated. 

Hatsuki grinned. “Thanks, Name Twin!” She retorted, then promptly returned her attention to the villains rushing her, and got the distinct pleasure of slamming her elbow into a nose, her own curling at the feeling of cartilage crunching against her skin. She brought her knee up to meet his face, and shoved him harshly to the floor at the sight of his fluttering eyelids. She fell into a blur of punches and kicks and flames, fluidly moving around her classmates as they worked in tandem to protect themselves — each other. 

And then with only five of them left, one of them got lucky. It was a large, dark haired man with claws for fingers, who swiped at her stomach and grabbed her dual colored braid with the other hand when she leapt backwards away from what most certainly would've been her evisceration. Hatsuki yelped as her head was snapped backwards, silver eyes shooting wide and flaming hands reaching up to latch onto the villain’s wrist. 

“Let me go!” Shrieked Hatsuki, panicked as another villain took advantage of the bind she was in, lunging for her. For a brief moment, she panicked, a flash of her brother’s face in her mind — And then she remembered that she had two free limbs, and she kicked out with both her legs, feet connecting with his chest and sending him crashing into the wall. “Kirishima!” 

The redhead spun on his heel, and before she had a chance to react, his arm arced toward her, quirk activated, and cut her braid off just above the clawed hand restraining her. A relieved exhale tore from her throat and she dropped just before the other hand could reach her throat, throwing her elbow back to jab him harshly where the sun didn't shine. When he bowed over with a howl of pain, Hatsuki copied her previous move of kneeing the guy in the face. With a blast of fire, the villain dented the wall with how harshly he slammed into it. 

Hatsuki drew to her feet, tensed and ready for the next fight, but she found Bakugou blasting two across the room with a furious cry of, “Say goodbye!” and Kirishima using his quirk to knock the last one into the ground. 

Finally, the room — floor? Was this an office building? — was silent bar their panting breaths. “Think that's the last of these guys,” said Bakugou lowly, murderous scowl still in place on his face. “Buncha weaklings.” 

Hatsuki snorted, dropping her hands onto her knees. “Alright,” Kirishima responded, looking them both over. His gaze paused briefly on her and she saw something like guilt flash in his eyes before he continued. “Let's hurry and find the rest of the class. If we're both still in the USJ, then so’s everyone else.” 

Hatsuki could only wonder about that look on his face for a second before his words processed and she shot up, eyes widening. “Oh my God, Shouto,” she breathed, reaching her hand up to tug at her hair anxiously, only to find empty air. Oh. That was why her friend looked upset. Where her hair had previously been down to her mid back, it now laid unevenly just above her shoulders, the ends jagged like a three year old had taken safety scissors to them. 

“We've got to make sure they're safe,” Kirishima said empathically. “Especially since we screwed things up when we got in the way earlier. If Thirteen had been able to suck up that villain, then we never would've been separated at all!” He directed that last part towards Bakugou, who scoffed. 

Hatsuki frowned, reaching toward her friend. “Kiri —” 

“You want to go track everyone down, have fun,” Bakugou interrupted. “But I’m gonna go beat the warpy bastard’s ass.” 

“What?” Hatsuki yelped, “I know you've got that whole bad boy thing going on, but we can't hurt him!” 

“Yeah!” Kirishima nodded rapidly in agreement, “our attacks didn't hurt him at all! Don't be an idiot, man.” 

“Shut up!” Bakugou growled in their faces. “I'm gonna take him down because he’s their way in and out. Once he's out of the picture, the rest of these low life thugs’ll be stuck here and have to pay for what they've done! We'll just have to figure it out!” 

One of the villains suddenly launched themself toward the arguing teens, a smug tone to their voice. “Hope you had fun chit-chatting —” Hatsuki and Bakugou blasted him at the same time, then promptly locked eyes in something like bewilderment. 

The blond gnashed his teeth and looked away. “Anyway. If all these villains are small fries like these guys were, then our classmates can handle ‘em,” he said gruffly. 

Relief flooded her veins, her shoulders slumping in relief. Right. Shouto would be fine. How could she have doubted him? She'd seen firsthand just how good he was at hand-to-hand, just how powerful his quirk was. Hatsuki sighed, running her hand down her face. “That reaction time was insane, guys!” Kirishima crowed excitedly. “Also. . . Since when do you act so calm and rational, Bakugou-kun? Usually you're all like. . .” 

The redhead trailed off, and Hatsuki bit down on an amused smile as she pictured what her friend was imagining. Bakugou exploded in anger. “I'm always calm and rational, you red-haired loser!” 

“Yeah! There you are,” Kirishima said in delight, and Hatsuki couldn't hold it in anymore, slapping her hand over her mouth as she burst into laughter. 

“Go find the others if you want to,” Bakugou grunted, turning to leave the two standing there. Kirishima held his hand out as if to stall him. 

“Wait, hold up!” He tilted his head, not unlike a puppy, and grinned. “I think what you're really saying is that you believe in our classmates. And that's thinking like a man, Bakugou!” 

Bakugou rolled his eyes visibly before he began to storm off, but he didn't seem all that mad anymore. Hatsuki matched Kirishima’s grin with her own, and they started after the explosive boy. “Oh, uh, Hatsuki, I'm so sorry about your hair,” he said with a nervous look on his face, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck. 

Hatsuki’s face softened at the sincere look in his eyes, and she shrugged. “I was due for a haircut anyways. You saved my ass, Kirishima. Thanks, really.”

The redhead beamed, a skip in his step. Suddenly, his grin turned teasing. “Back to Kirishima, are we? I heard you call me Kiri earlier!” 

Hatsuki felt her face flush a brilliant red, wapping him on the arm. “Explodo Boy interrupted me! You're not special!” She squawked, promptly rolling her eyes at his exaggerated pout. 

“I'm not special? I thought we were friends, Hatsuki!” 

“Can you two shut up?” Bakugou snapped back at them, though his tone lacked heat. She and Kirishima shared another look.

“Baku, are you upset that me and Kiri have nicknames for each other and not you?” Hatsuki teased, mirth in her voice. She splayed her hand over her heart. “All you had to do was ask!” 

Bakugou swore loudly at her, but she didn't hear it over Kirishima’s barking laughter. “Yeah Bakubro! Hatsu’s right, it's no problem for us!” 

Hatsuki was giggling wildly, but the smile on her lips came from the warmth settling in her chest. The last time she'd heard that name — from Natsuo, she'd been years younger. She'd have never thought she'd find friends like this, and even though this was easily the worst day of school ever, Hatsuki found a sharp smirk on her face as they exited the building. 

Chapter Text

“That was All Might, right?” Hatsuki asked quietly in wake of the loud crash from the entrance of UA. “It had to have been.” She wasn't sure whether she was trying to convince the others or herself — but Bakugou wasn't concerned, a crazed grin cracking his lips apart. He took off in a run towards the destruction, leaving Hatsuki and Kirishima to catch up. “Okay, right, yes. This is totally the smart move here,” she grumbled under her breath as she sprinted after her unhinged blond counterpart. She hadn't intended for him to hear, but Kirishima shot her a determined smile as he ran alongside her.

“Don't worry, Hatsuki! If All Might's here, we probably won't even need to help!” 

It would've helped maybe, if they hadn't reached the edge of the center plaza at that point, where the hope slipped right off their faces. The warp villain Bakugou was after had All Might trapped in two of his portals — the beaked monster had made him bleed. It seemed that just as they had noticed this, so had Izuku. Hatsuki was startled to hear the green haired boy’s yell, even more scared when she realized he was running straight into the fight. 

“You idiot!” Hatsuki was barely aware of the azure flames roaring to life around her as she launched herself forward to attack at the same time that her friend was nearly swallowed by one of the villain’s portals.

Bakugou had the same idea, just a little bit faster as he blasted the villain’s portal all to hell with a vicious snarl of, “Get the hell out of my way, Deku!” 

As they landed hard against the concrete, the familiar sound of ice crackling had her head whipping to the side. Shouto. Thank the Gods he was okay. Her brother had frozen a trail of ice from his foot all the way to encase the monster holding onto All Might. “One of your poorly trained thugs told me you're here because you think you can kill All Might.” 

Hatsuki gaped at her twin, before with a smirk she turned and met Bakugou’s — frankly a little murderous — gaze. And then she looked down and found the reason. Right next to where her hand was curled tightly around the armor adorning the portal villain’s neck, his hand was sparking and also holding him down. “Wh— Are you serious? Holy crap, whatever, you can be the one to restrain him, you child.” 

She sat back as All Might freed himself and Kirishima threw himself into the fray, pouting sadly when the hand–covered villain dodged his attack. “I didn't ask for your help!” Bakugou snarled, a slightly louder explosion muffled against the villain's armor. The warpy asshole groaned, shifting a little but he stopped when they both immediately snarled at him, and Hatsuki’s palms burst into flames. 

“Kurogiri,” the blue haired villain said in a low voice, and Hatsuki quickly reasoned this to be the purple guy’s name. “How could you let those brats get the best of you? You've gotten us into a real jam here.” 

Bakugou sneered down at Kurogiri. “You got careless, you dumb villain!” Hatsuki watched as he broke down his strategy, anticipation rising as he provoked them so casually. Despite being in the middle of a literal villain fight, she found her eyes wandering, landing on her brother. He was looking right back, heterochromic gaze flickering over her hair and her disheveled appearance. Meanwhile he looked as if this was a normal part of his day.

“Nomu,” the villain covered in hands didn't react at all to Bakugou’s taunting, instead moving his attention to the frozen creature. Horror filled her lungs with ice as slowly, the Nomu pulled itself out of the portals — completely uncaring of its arm and leg crumbling apart and breaking off. 

“How is it still moving?” Izuku gasped, “He's all messed up!”

“Stay back, everybody!” All Might commanded, yet Hatsuki couldn't keep her gaze away from her brother. He looked completely shocked, his eyes wide and mouth agape at the display of power. And then, before their eyes the Nomu grew its limbs back like it was nothing, standing to its full height as though nothing had happened. 

“What is this?” All Might demanded, “You said his quirk was Shock Absorption.” 

“I didn't say that was his only quirk,” the hand–covered maniac had the gall to giggle. “He also has Super Regeneration. Nomu has been modified to take you on even at 100% of your power. Really, he's a highly efficient punching bag that hits back.” 

Wh. . . What? Hatsuki scoffed in disbelief because it just wasn't possible. To have more than one quirk was unheard of. Contrary to popular belief, Half Hot, Half Cold was one quirk. Temperature manipulation was one thing. 

This wasn't possible. Blinking rapidly as her brows furrowed in pure bemusement, she almost didn't notice when Hands Villain started speaking again. “First, we need to free our method of escape.” 

Hatsuku finally tore her eyes from her brother, dread filling her to her core as she tensed and whipped her head towards them. Bakugou did the same at her side. “Get them, Nomu.” He spoke, and Hatsuki only had a moment to exhale sharply before there was a blur of movement and she realized how terribly they were outmatched. 

And then seconds later she was hitting the floor hard and nearly tumbling into someone's lap. But no sound escaped her as she pushed herself away from who she realized was Bakugou. She was holding her breath, she realized as her blood roared in her ears, and she faced the villain as the smoke cleared. She was about to die. She and Bakugou both had been about to die, so how the hell were they unscratched? How did they survive? 

“Wh— Kacchan, Hatsuki? How did you dodge him?” Izuku exclaimed as he whipped around to face them, and seconds later Shouto was scrambling to her side with an almost imperceptible gasp of her name. 

“Hatuki!” 

“Shut up, no, we didn't, you damn nerd.” Bakugou hissed but it lacked his usual volume. He didn't even look at Izuku. Hatsuki finally inhaled sharply when she processed her lungs burning for air and she instinctively curled her fingers in Shouto’s sleeve.

“Then how did you get over here?” Kirishima demanded, his eyes wide and brows pushed together as he eyed them. He'd been scared, she realized. Scared for them. 

Shouto stifled a gasp and turned, so she followed his gaze to find All Might kneeling in the disappearing smoke. “Isn't it obvious?” He asked, sounding awed. 

Their number one hero was almost panting, arms braced in front of him and clearly having taken the brunt of the impact. “These are children,” said All Might, “and you didn't hold back at all?”

The confirmation that they would be dead if All Might wasn't there sent a chill down Hatsuki’s spine. Last night she'd screamed at her father that she'd rather die than pretend she had an ounce of respect for him and today she’d been this close to following through on that promise. 

“Thank you,” Hatsuki breathed, near inaudibly as she continued to gape at the number one hero. 

“I didn't have a choice,” the villain covered in hands spat. “They were threatening my companion. Besides, these kids are no angels. The plain looking one? He tried to kill me with a maxed-out punch. What kind of ‘hero’ does something like that?” 

She felt her brows begin to furl, glancing at her green haired friend when he gasped upon being mentioned. Despite what the villain said, and the fact that Izuku didn't deny it, Hatsuki really doubted that the boy would attempt to kill anyone. 

“You think you can get away with being as violent as you want if you say it's for the sake of others.” The villain spread his arms out at his sides. “Well, you know what, All Might? That pisses me off. Why do people get to decide that some violent acts are heroic and others are villainous? Casting judgment as to what's ‘good’ and what's ‘evil.’ You think you're the symbol of peace? You're just another government-sponsored instrument of violence. And violence always breeds more violence. I’ll make sure the world understands that when you're dead.”

“You're nothing but a lunatic,” All Might replied instantly, and Hatsuki couldn't help but agree. Maybe she'd agree with that asshole if he were targeting Endeavor instead of All Might, and hadn't attacked a class of high school students. “Criminals like you. . . you try to make your actions sound noble, but they're not. Admit it, you're doing this because you like it — Isn't that right?”

At that, the villain remained silent, standing frozen on his spot. Hatsuki finally blinked away her shock, accepting her brother's help to draw to her feet. Shouto narrowed his eyes, shifting slightly. “We've got them outnumbered.” 

“And Kacchan found the mist guy’s weakness!” Izuku agreed. Hatsuki huffed a breath, flexing her fists in preparation of lighting them up again. 

“These dudes may act really tough, but we can take ‘em down now with All Might’s help.” Added Kirishima with a determined look on his face. 

“We're easily some of the more powerful of our classmates,” Hatsuki agreed, feeling only a smidgen of guilt at unintentionally insulting her classmates. 

“Don't attack,” All Might denied immediately, having overheard them. Hatsuki frowned as the man held his arm out, never removing his gaze from the villains. “Get out of here!”

“You would've been in trouble earlier if it weren't for me, remember?” Shouto spoke up, “You need our help.” 

Her brother and Izuku both attempted to change his mind, but All Might refused to be swayed and before she knew it the Nomu was rushing All Might and the hands villain was running straight towards them. Hatsuki readied herself, body tensing for a fight, when All Might’s superpowered punch connected with the monster’s. The shockwave produced sent both the other villains and the students tripping over their own feet. Hatsuki let out a shocked yelp, flailing to remain upright as the fighting continued, and it was only once Shouto latched onto her arm that she found herself able to keep standing, quickly grabbing onto her twin in return. 

There was really nothing she nor any of them could do until All Might and the Nomu were finished fighting, so the students all stood there uselessly until the creature was defeated. Hatsuki found herself craning her neck in pure bewilderment as the Nomu soared upwards through the glass dome and disappeared into the distant sky.

“I've never seen that kind of brute strength!” Kirishima breathed in wonder in the aftermath, still staring at the giant hole the Nomu’d disappeared from. 

“And that is the reason he's number one,” Hatsuki murmured, though her voice was quiet enough she was pretty sure only Shouto had heard her. He was the only one able to ascertain the double meaning of her words anyway, shooting her a look at the silent and why he’s not, that they were both thinking.

It didn't take long for All Might to turn toward the remaining villains and remind them that they weren't safe yet, but. . . Hatsuki was pretty sure something was wrong. The hands villain and Kurogiri were both standing there, frozen, but so was All Might, so were they. They were at a stalemate, and it seemed the tides were turning in the villains’ favor again. All of the villains Aizawa-sensei had incapacitated were starting to get up again, and Hatsuki had a feeling that their teacher wouldn't be much help in subduing them again considering that she actually had no idea where the man was. 

What had happened to him? A flare of anxiety had her chest tightening, but she furrowed her brows and let her flames flicker across her clenched fists as she shifted into a fighting stance along with her classmates. “I think All Might can hold his own against those two main dudes,” Kirishima said with a determined glance to them. “Let's make sure these guys don't hurt anybody else!”

“We make one hell of a team,” Hatsuki replied with a shaky grin, much more at ease with her brother at her side as well. 

“Midoriya?” Shouto turned to the green haired boy and Hatsuki followed his gaze to find the boy still staring at All Might. With a start, she watched as the blue haired villain began to rush All Might, and instead of turning towards them to help, Izuku launched himself in the air with his quirk, straight towards the villains. 

“What is he doing?” She hissed with a gasp, her eyes widening in terror at the sight of the portal opened up directly in front of his face. There wasn't any time to react, only a brief second to feel her heart skip a beat before the sound of gunshots rang in the air just in time to save her friend. 

She spun on her heel to look towards the doorway and nearly collapsed in relief. The teachers! Snipe-sensei! Hatsuki doused her flames as a relieved smile came to her lips. They were going to be okay. 

“Hatsuki,” Shouto murmured when all the fighting was finally over and the villains were all either gone or captured. His hand came to rest on her shoulder. “What happened to your hair?” 

Kirishima raised his hand in the air sheepishly, and despite it all, Hatsuki threw her head back and laughed. 

When she and Shouto finally approached their home, they each had a dozen missed calls from Fuyumi and surprisingly one each from Natsuo. That was why when they stepped inside and immediately found themselves with two sets of arms thrown around them, they weren't too shocked. Hatsuki sighed quietly as she sunk into her sister’s grip, eying the way Shouto looked constipated at the physical affection. “Oh my goodness, Hatsuki! Are you hurt? Shouto, do you have any injuries?” She exclaimed loudly, pulling back to look them in the face while Natsuo looked on with wide eyes. 

“You guys couldn't be bothered to answer us? Or call us back and let us know you didn't get murdered by villains?” Natsuo interrupted before either of them could even open their mouths to reply. He shook his head with a stressed look on his face and pulled Shouto into another tight hug before letting go and moving to Hatsuki to do the same. 

She couldn't help but snicker. “UA would've let Endeavor know if we were hurt! You worry too much!”

Shouto nodded in agreement. “We’re fine, Natsuo-nii. The only loss was Hatsuki’s hair.”

Her nose curled as she shoved him away from her and crossed her arms over her chest. “It's not that bad!” 

“Not that bad?” Fuyumi cried, “How do you not care that it looks like Shouto took a pair of gardening shears to it?” 

“Hey.” Shouto’s face quickly formed into a familiar pout that had Hatsuki and Natsuo dissolving into laughter as Fuyumi ran her hands through the choppy red and white strands. 

“You can fix it, right, Nee-chan? It just needs evened out is all,” she asked with a grin. The sheer relief at seeing all of her siblings safe and sound after the day she'd had was doing wonders for her mood. It has been ages since Natsuo had been home and none of them had been fighting. 

“Well, I suppose. . . I find it so strange that you don't care for the appearance of your hair, Imouto! I swear it's like I have f—three brothers instead of two!” Her sister's cheeks turned red as she stumbled over her words, but the Todoroki siblings all collectively decided to ignore her stammer. Natsuo dropped his arm onto Hatsuki’s head with a grin.

“Be honest, you're just upset that Hatsuki wanted to play soccer with us instead of playing dress up with you,” he teased their older sister, ignoring the way Hatsuki ducked out from under his arm with a dirty look aimed his way. 

“Instead, she tested her makeup on me,” Shouto said with a deadpan stare, though his eyes glittered with amusement. 

They all burst into quiet giggling yet again, Shouto even releasing a quiet huff of laughter as he rolled his eyes. “Alright, let's get some food into you two and then I'll fix your hair, Hat—”

“Shouto. Hatsuki.” 

At once, the siblings fell silent, and their smiles dropped from their faces. They turned in unison to face Endeavor, watching them from the doorway. “Father,” Shouto acknowledged, voice cold. For a moment Hatsuki thought he might simply say he was glad they were okay. She hoped he would anyway. 

“Meet me in the dojo in five minutes, we need to go over your involvement in the USJ attack.” 

She wondered when she'd learn. “Yes, Fa—”

“Are you kidding?” Natsuo demanded, shoving through them to stand in front of the twins. “They were just attacked by villains and instead of even bothering to ask if they're okay you're actually going to give them another training session right now? What's wrong with you?” 

Endeavor’s brows shot to his hairline as he took a firm step closer. “If they're okay enough to be dawdling around laughing, they're fine to train. If you're just here to question my methods then you can leave again, Natsuo.”

Natsuo didn't move, but his jaw clenched visibly. “They could've fucking died, and you don't even care, do you?” 

Sensing the beginning of yet another blowout between her father and older brother, Hatsuki stepped forward and wrapped her hand around Natsuo’s wrist. “It's fine, Nii-san. We're okay, not even a scratch on us.” While a lie, because she could feel dozens of small bruises littering her limbs and a pretty sizable lump on the back of her head from when her skull had connected with the concrete, it was the only way to get her brother to back down. 

Endeavor turned away with an angry huff and disappeared from the room. They continued to stand there in silence for a few moments, until finally Hatsuki took a heavy breath and squared her shoulders. “Alright, Shou. You ready?” 

Her twin nodded once, and they both started for the dojo together. “Always am,” he confirmed. Fuyumi and Natsuo didn't say another word, nothing they could do but watch as their younger siblings disappeared in the same direction of their father. 

Natsuo curled his hands into fists so tight his knuckles turned white. “Are you ever gonna do anything?” He spat at her, a lump forming in his throat. 

“Are you?” Fuyumi shot back with tears shining in her eyes. 

He didn't have a response for that, and neither did she. Natsuo left without another word, and Fuyumi stood there with her arms wrapped around herself in a sad excuse of a hug until she shook herself from her stupor and trudged into the kitchen to prepare a meal for her siblings that she'd have to reheat in an hour when they stumbled out of the dojo with double the amount of injuries than they'd walked into it with.

Chapter Text

“That's enough!” Endeavor’s voice startled Hatsuki as she attempted to gain her bearings from where she was climbing to her feet again. She'd just barely dodged a ball of fire aimed straight for her face, and it had skimmed her back as she dropped to the padded floor. “You're a disgrace to that school of yours. I better see improvement in your speed soon or there'll be consequences.” 

Hatsuki glared up at her father, dark blue flames flickering over her knuckles before she doused them and stood up straight. She was so small compared to her father that even at her full height, he towered above her. “You haven't let us eat lunch yet and you know I haven't had breakfast, Endeavor.” The teen spat in rage with her brows furrowed and jaw clenched. “Also, I literally just yesterday fought off real villains and you're disappointed in me?” 

“You got saved by a less talented classmate with none of your training and damaged your appearance just to continue to fail me,” her father spat right back at her with a quick step toward her.

“Since when do you give a shit about my appearance?” Hatsuki hissed, aggressively jerking her arm out to point at the scar running through her eyebrow. “And like nobody's ever helped you with a difficult villain? Teamwork makes the dream work, right?” 

“Hatsuki —” Shouto’s worried voice said in a clipped tone, but he cut himself off as Endeavor snapped, grabbing Hatsuki by the jaw and shoving her backwards bodily. With a strangled squeak, Hatsuki’s hands flew up to wrap around the man’s meaty fingers. She had to stand on the tips of her toes so the angle didn't strangle her. 

“Let her go!” Shouto demanded and even moved forward to remove their father’s hand from her face but with one harsh blow her brother was on the floor and glaring up at them. 

“I might've let this attitude of yours slide in your adolescence but it is time to grow up, Hatsuki. If you can't learn to respect me, you will never be a hero. Do you understand me?” His hot breath was directly in her face and it enraged her to no end, a snarl forming on her face right before he tossed her down to land at her twin’s side. 

“I'll start respecting you the moment I look at you and see a man worth respecting.” Hatsuki hissed, though it was proved to be all bravado when he took one more step towards her and she flinched. Almost immediately, Shouto’s arm was around her in warning and Endeavor quickly realized that her brother would not let anything else happen to her. He let it go like he always did, grabbing her brother roughly by his arm as he began to yell at him. 

Hatsuki watched Shouto get into a fighting stance on the other side of the dojo for only a few seconds before tears flooded her eyes, and she scrambled to her feet one more time to flee the room. Hatsuki darted to her room as fast as her feet would take her and slammed the door behind her as hard as she could. 

“Fuck!” Hatsuki screamed, reaching for her now chin length hair to fist in her hands and pull. Breathing hard and fast, she could feel her chest becoming tight as anger, regret and guilt twisted in her stomach. In a flash, she swiped her arm over her desk and watched all her pencils, papers and trinkets hit the floor. Next was her bedside table, then the shelves on her wall, and then she wrapped trembling cerulean hands around the lamp in the corner of her room and she yanked as hard as she could. It hit the floor on the other side of her room with a bent, handprint-indented base. 

With nothing left on eye level to satisfy her anger, Hatsuki dropped her gaze to the floor and swiped up her stupid mismatched converse and chucked them at the wall so hard there was a hole left when they fell to the floor. Finally, she dropped to her knees hard, already subconsciously noting that she’d need to wear tights tomorrow to cover the subsequent bruises.

Too many times, Hatsuki had let her mouth speak before she thought, and just as many times Shouto had stepped in and taken the brunt of Endeavor’s anger. Too many times, she'd let him. It took nearly an hour, but Hatsuki managed to control her breathing long enough to regret her decision to trash her room. After a couple of minutes of setting back on her haunches and closing her eyes, she peeled them open and crawled toward her shoes to pick them up and retreat back to her closet. 

Carefully, she put them back in place, and then with a weary sigh looked over her rainbow collection. It had seemed so satisfying to pick on her father in that one small, “unprofessional” way, but not now that she recalls each and every time Shouto has taken a beating for her, and she's just sat back and let it happen knowing that her brother would keep her safe. Hatsuki had never thought that maybe Shouto shouldn't have to do that for her, and that her twin deserved to be protected equally as much. 

Maybe he would've protected them both. 

With a harsh swallow, Hatsuki gingerly got out a pair of black shoes and put them at the front in preparation for the next day. She stood and turned to leave, but paused before she could, biting her lip in contemplation before bending back over to begin shoving the colored shoes toward the back. Expressing herself just really wasn't worth all that much compared to her other half. 

It was time to start thinking about Shouto first.

Hatsuki knew her twin was worried about her, but she refused to address it as they made their way into their classroom a good twenty minutes before homeroom was supposed to start. Nobody was there yet, something she was beyond grateful for, dropping into her desk without a word to bury her face in her arms. Shouto lingered at her side for a second, but he knew he wouldn't get anywhere with her at the moment and retreated to the back of the classroom. 

In the wake of her fit the day before, she'd half-heartedly cleaned up her room and threw out some of the broken things. It was only that night curled up on top of her covers that she began to think through what her resolution of thinking of her brother first really meant for her now. 

No more picking fights with Endeavor expecting her twin to protect her, it wasn't worth it to instigate him anymore when it was Shouto who’d be blocking the punches. That meant acting like the well behaved puppet he wanted and doing it without complaint. That meant no more snide comments or unprofessional quirks that were intended as a way of getting back at her father when Shouto was around. 

It meant no more fighting for herself, it meant her being the one to step in front of Shouto when the time came. 

Just as Hatsuki heard footsteps approaching the door, she lowered her face into her arms and pretended to be asleep. She was careful not to rub her face against her uniform, not wanting to smear the concealer on her jawline that Fuyumi had helped her apply that morning. She just wasn't prepared to face her classmates yet. “Ah, Todoroki-kun! Is your sister alright?” Iida’s voice greeted her ears, and really she shouldn't have been surprised that he'd be the first in the room after them. 

“She's fine,” Shouto answered flatly. “Just resting.” 

After that, Hatsuki attempted to tune out the voices of her classmates, brows furrowed as she gathered her thoughts. It wasn't until she heard Mina and Kirishima loudly chattering to each other that she lifted her head to search for them. “Hey, Hatsuki! Your hair’s looking manly as hell!” The red haired boy cried out to her with a wide grin on his face. 

She found her lips curling upward simply because that phrase absolutely did not mean what he intended it to. “Thanks, Kirishima,” she responded quietly, looking at the pink haired girl when she skipped over to run her hands through the short strands with a squeak. 

“Hatsuki-chan! It's so cute! How do you get it so soft?” Mina cried. 

“The blood of my enemies,” Hatsuki answered helpfully, cheering inside when she heard a quiet snort from behind her. Mina giggled, plopping down on top of Hatsuki’s desk. 

“I think it looks nice, Hatsuki-san!” Izuku said from behind Bakugou, a bright look on his face. 

“Looks like trash,” Bakugou followed up with, which tore a surprised laugh from her throat, and Hatsuki spun around, slapping her hands on his desk. 

“You have absolutely no right to speak, hedgehog!” She cried with a pointed look to the top of his head. “Do you do that every morning with gel or is it just like that?” 

“It's just like that!” Izuku supplied cheerfully, masterfully dodging the small explosion the blond aimed at him with a yelp. 

“Ooh, should I do something like that with my hair?” She asked, a cheeky grin on her face. 

“Yeah! Then we'll all three match!” Kirishima cried. Mina punched him in the arm. 

“What about me?” 

“Ow! Nothing is stopping you from gelling your hair up too!” 

“Show of hands, should I spike up my hair?” Hatsuki called, looking at all her classmates as she pointed at each one. She hardly noticed her sour mood fading away. 

Kirishima, Mina and Kaminari were the only ones to raise their hands, all three pouting when the rest of the class remained silent. Jirou locked eyes with Hatsuki and shook her head just slightly. Hatsuki flipped back around in her seat. “Whelp, looks like not. Wasn't a great idea anyway, I can’t twin with Bakugou too much.”

“Tch. You couldn't pull it off anyway,” he spat at her with a roll of his eyes. He leant forward and hissed, “Simp.” 

Hatsuki whipped back around, feeling her cheeks flame as she snapped out a, “You shut your —!”

“Wait, wait, guys,” Mina interrupted, seeming to either not notice or not care that Hatsuki and Bakugou were in the middle of something. “Who’s our sub gonna be today?” 

Glaring at Bakugou’s stupid, smirking face, she stuck out her tongue at him then turned back around to face her friend. “I hope it's Yamada-sensei. Did you know he and Sensei went to UA together?” 

“Wait, for real?” Sero butted in, his face scrunching as he presumably tried to picture their grumpy homeroom teacher as a student next to the voice hero himself. 

“Well, Aizawa-sensei should still be in the hospital recovering from his injuries, kero. So, he probably won't be back for a while,” Asui told them all with a contemplative look on her face. Hatsuki frowned at the reminder. She remembered catching sight of his battered form before they'd loaded him into an ambulance, shivering at the thought that that had almost been her if not for All Might’s intervention. 

Physically shaking the thought from her head, she nudged Mina off her desk. “Hey, class is about to start.” The pink girl scampered over to her seat just in time for Iida to run to the front of the room with a shout for them all to return to their desks. 

“Uh, we are sitting?” Kirishima said, scratching his head. 

“Yeah, you're the only one standing, class rep.” Sero pointed out, earning a mortified look. 

“Aw, Iida-kun, it's okay! Good try!” Hatsuki said with a double thumbs up, watching the poor boy hurry back to his chair with his metaphorical tail tucked between his legs. And then, the door opened to reveal. . . Aizawa?!

“Morning, class.”

“Sensei!” At least half the class cried out in shock. 

“What are you doing here? You're still hurt!” Hatsuki exclaimed, horrified. 

At the same time Iida called out, “I’m glad you're okay Aizawa-sensei!”

“You call that okay?” Uraraka whimpered. Hatsuki agreed with her, her hand clasped over her mouth in bewilderment. Their teacher was wrapped in so many bandages that he had the likeness of a mummy. His face wasn't visible through the white wrappings, and both of his arms were casted and in slings. It reminded her of just how close they'd all been to losing. 

“My wellbeing is irrelevant,” their sensei droned once he reached the center podium. “What’s more important is that your fight isn't over yet.” 

Anxiety gripped at her lungs, and she sat up a little straighter. Her classmates began to mutter anxiously to themselves, only to collectively let out a sigh of relief when Aizawa announced, “The UA Sports Festival is about to start.” 

Hatsuki slumped over her desk, relieved, only to sit back up with wide eyes a moment later. Fuck, she couldn't believe she'd forgotten about the Sports Festival. Some of the others broke out into cheers, Kirishima being the loudest. However, Kaminari put his hand over the redhead’s face, frowning worriedly. 

“Wait, is it really such a good idea to hold the Sports Festival so soon after we were attacked by villains?”

“They could attack us again once we're all in the same place,” Ojirou added. Hatsuki worried her bottom lip between her teeth. 

“What if they have another Nomu?” She whispered, swallowing audibly. Jirou glanced her way with a similarly concerned expression. 

“Apparently, the administration thinks this is good way to show that the threat has been handled and our school is safer than ever.” Aizawa-sensei explained with a sigh. 

“But it hasn't. And it's not, is it?” Hatsuki murmured. Despite the fact that she couldn't see his eyes, she could feel his gaze on her face. 

“They're beefing up security compared to past years. This event is a huge opportunity for all UA students, and there will be far too many pros there for the villains to risk making another appearance. It's not something we can cancel because of a few villains.”

“A few?” She heard one of her classmates cry out. 

“Why not?” Mineta whined, earning a dozen eye rolls. 

“Huh, don't you know how important the Sports Festival is?” Izuku asked him. Hatsuki found a small smile forming on her lips upon hearing her friend's voice. She was glad to see that he was completely healed after shattering his bones at the USJ. 

“Of course I do! I just don't want to die!”

“UA’s Sports Festival is one of the most-watched events in the entire world. In the past, it was the Olympics. Now that quirks have appeared, for people that care about competition, there's only one tournament that matters. Ours.” Their sensei explained blandly. Hatsuki took a moment to wonder about a world without quirks, where everyone was able to compete equally. Where there were no heroes. 

“The top heroes will be watching,” Yaoyorozu pointed out.

She was unable to help the way her expression darkened, jaw clenching and hands forming into fists in her lap. She knew that, and what it meant for her. For Shouto. Their father would be there watching their every move, breathing down their necks and letting them know just how much they're not good enough. 

Hatsuki didn't have to glance backwards to know that her twin was thinking much of the same. Glowering down at the surface of her desk, she didn't notice the two pairs of eyes on her. For the rest of homeroom, she remained trapped in her own world. She remained quiet for the rest of their morning classes too, mulling over what she planned to do. 

She of course planned to keep using her blue flames, though Hatsuki felt a wave of anxiety wash over her at the fleeting question of how long Endeavor would put up with that from her. She knew that she stood zero chance at getting first place, not when Shouto and Bakugou were going to be competing — and that didn't take into account that she didn't know anything about Class 1-B. 

She figured that at the most she'd get third place, but that would never be enough for Endeavor. All she could do was pray that Shouto won. With that, the idea cemented in her head. She had to make sure her brother won. By the time the bell rang signaling the end of their last class before lunch, Hatsuki had been stewing in her thoughts for hours. 

Finally, she drew to her feet with a small sigh, hoisting her bag over her shoulder and slowly starting towards the door. She was stopped by a sharp inhale from Jirou, and a matching reaction from who she thought was Shouji. “Kero, what is it, Jirou-chan?” Ribbited Asui, large eyes peering curiously at their classmate. 

“There's a bunch of people out there? They're, like — gathering outside the door.” The purple haired girl explained, scratching the back of her head in confusion. 

“What?” Hatsuki mumbled, bemused. Unable to help herself, she stalked towards the door and pulled it open, only to reer back in surprise at the sheer amount of students standing in the hallway staring right back. Her classmates exclaimed in surprise. 

“Um, why the heck are you all here?” Uraraka cried out from beside her, clutching the straps of her bag. 

“Do you have business with our class?” Iida demanded, waving his arm in the air with a firm look on his face. 

She ignored Mineta’s outcry, instead glancing around at the many unfamiliar faces, attempting to place one. “They're scouting out the competition, idiots.” Bakugou said with a roll of his eyes as he walked towards them. Hatsuki felt the urge to say something snarky in return, but she couldn't muster the energy. Instead she smiled weakly, despite the fact that it had to have only irritated him more. “We're the class that survived a villain attack.”

She huffed quietly, wondering what it was about being attacked that was so interesting to the other students. She was pretty sure if it weren't her class that had been almost murdered, she wouldn't be snooping around looking at the victims. Hm. Victim. Was that was she was? 

Bakugou stopped in front of the crowd. “At least you know what a future pro looks like. Now move it, extras.” He growled at them, a glare on his face. For once, Hatsuki agreed with the sentiment, sidling up by him so she could get out of the room with him. She startled when another voice spoke up, and she actually recognized it. 

“So this is Class 1-A.” Was that — ? “I heard you guys were impressive but you just sound like an ass.” She was right! The one and only Shinsou Hitoshi was pushing to the front, an apathetic look on his face. Hatsuki smiled as they met eyes, but he didn't seem to care at all. Oh well. She'd make a friend of him yet. “Is everyone in the hero course delusional, or is that just you?”

Hatsuki scoffed in faux offense, though it turned into a giggle when Bakugou started growling. Actually growling. “How sad to come here and find a bunch of ego maniacs.” Shinsou sighed. “I wanted to be in the hero course, but like many others here, I was forced to choose a different track. Such is life.” 

Was that why he'd seemed so confused about someone in the hero course seeking him out? “I didn't cut it the first time around,” explained Shinsou. “But I have another chance. If any of us do well in the Sports Festival, the teachers can decide to transfer us to the hero course. And they'll have to transfer people out to make room.” Hatsuki gasped along with her friends, eyes suddenly wide and sparkling. 

“Some of these guys might be here to scout out the competition, but I’m here to say that if you don't bring your very best, I’ll steal your spot right out from under you.” 

Hatsuki bounced on her heels, her earlier morose mood forgotten. “Yeah! You better do well, Shinsou-kun! I’d love to have you as a classmate!” She cheered to the bewilderment of everyone around her. Even Shinsou looked shocked, and she wondered why. “Plus, Mineta really sucks. So as long as you're not a sexist piece of shit, we'd much rather prefer you.” 

“Hey!”

“I — Of course I’m not — How do you know I’m not coming for your spot, huh?” He retorted, blinking rapidly. Hatsuki snickered again, brushing her hair behind her ear.

“Bring it on! I’d like to see you try!” With that, she followed Bakugou through the crowd, ignoring the shouting from the other students. Her Name Twin shot her a disgruntled look as she skipped beside him. 

“Tch. You know Eyebags?” He grunted. Surprised that he was actually talking to her and looking at her, she nodded rapidly. 

“Yep! He's one of my friends. He likes cat cafés. Do you like cat cafés? Or what about just cats?” As she rambled on, she noticed something shift in his ruby eyes before he looked ahead again, paying her no more extra attention. 

“One of your friends, like I’m your friend? That's just sad, Peppermint. Get a life,” he snarled at her. And while she perfectly understood what he meant, Hatsuki chose to ignore that and grin sharkishly. 

“Ooh, a new nickname! Also, did you just admit that we're friends?” 

“No! We are not and will never be friends you damn extra!” He yelled, but it did nothing to rid her of her grin. Mina and Kirishima caught up with them pretty quickly, and Hatsuki was still cackling over the sound of Bakugou’s furious shouting. 

“Just admit it, Blasty, you lo-o-ove us,” Mins crowed, throwing one arm around Hatsuki’s shoulders and the other around Bakugou’s. Predictably, he shoved her off of him with crackling palms and unintelligible screaming. 

Kirishima shielded the pink girl with a hardened arm and amused laughter. Looking at her handful of friends, Hatsuki found it easy to forget about her worries for just a moment. 

With a text to her brother that she'd be sitting with her friends, though he was welcome to join, she skipped into the lunch room with a pep in her step. 

Chapter Text

Hatsuki landed on her back with a loud thud, the air in her lungs expelled at once. For a couple of moments, she laid where she was, blinking up at the night sky with her eyes wide. A foot nudged her leg, drawing her back to the present. Gasping, Hatsuki sat up and shot a glare at the boy standing over her. Her brother stared down at her with a passive look on his face, one hand held out for her to grab. 

Narrowing her eyes, she ignored it and got to her feet by herself. He dropped his hand with a raised brow, but didn't speak. Her twin got back into a fighting stance, and with a groan Hatsuki followed suit. This time, once he nodded that he was ready, she decided to be on defense. Getting with the program quickly, Shouto threw a right hook immediately, though from the way he shifted in preparation, she knew to block the punch instead of dodging so she could actually dodge the sidesweep he aimed at her shorter legs. 

Hatsuki slammed her knee into his stomach, and then promptly threw her elbow against the side of his head when he grunted in pain. Immediately, Shouto hooked his leg around the back of her knee, a flat palm hitting her in the center of the chest. This time, when she went down, Hatsuki grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked him down with her. 

Shouto hissed through his teeth, using one arm to dislodge her hand and the other to block the fist aiming for his ribs. She grappled with him for another minute or two, before an idea struck her. Her eyes alight, she almost followed through with bringing her knee up to hit him where the sun didn't shine, but she hesitated. That would hurt like a bitch, something that was probably a little too much for just sparring. Instead she allowed Shouto to flip her over, her arm behind her back at an uncomfortable angle. 

Hissing out a curse, Hatsuki snapped her free hand twice. His touch was gone in an instant. She let out a heavy sigh of relief. “Fuck, dude. Were you trying to dislocate my shoulder?” Hatsuki whined from where she continued to lie sprawled out on the grass.

Shouto snorted. “If I were trying to dislocate your shoulder, it would be dislocated already, Hatsuki. Quit being dramatic.” 

Rolling over, Hatsuki curled her nose at her brother as the grass blades beneath her tickled her neck. Sweat shone on her face, strands of red bangs stuck to her cheeks. Shouto wore only shorts and a tank top , but she donned sweatpants and a thick sweatshirt over her sports bra. Even though they'd worked up a sweat, Shouto would refuse to train with her outside when there was a chill in the air unless she was properly bundled up. 

It annoyed her most times, but she could admit every once in a while that it warmed her heart just a little how protective he was over her. “Again?” She asked, a little breathlessly. She pulled herself to her feet to find him looking over her consideringly. She knew she looked more worse for wear than he did, but he was also breathing heavily and sweating through his tank top so she chose to see it as a win. 

“Alright. You'll be offense this time,” he murmured. Nodding firmly, Hatsuki readied herself, raising her fists. Only to falter when a voice startled her. 

“What in the world are you two doing?” The exasperated voice of their big sister called from the sliding glass door. The teens looked at her with wide eyes. Fuyumi stood with her hands on her hips, a disapproving frown on her face. “Do you even know what time it is? You have school tomorrow!”

Hatsuki fell out of her fighting stance, a sheepish look on her face. “No,” Shouto admitted, unabashed. 

Fuyumi deadpanned. “There's leftovers on the counter. Go eat something and then shower and go to bed, twins.” 

“We were just training,” Hatsuki grumbled, but obeyed her sister and started towards the door. “The Sports Festival is next week.” 

“And it is nearly midnight, Hatsu-chan,” Fuyumi chided, pushing her glasses up her nose. “You won't do anyone any good if you fall asleep in class. You neither, Shouto.” 

“Yes, Nee-san,” he said softly, and slipped past the girls into the manor. Hatsuki couldn't help but frown after him, a weird feeling in her stomach at the way he'd looked between them. 

“Hurry up, Imouto. You'll be cranky all day if you don't get some sleep,” Fuyumi murmured to her, before turning and shuffling off towards her own room. 

“I'm not five, Nee-san! And you have school tomorrow too, so why are you up?” Hatsuki called after her, shutting the sliding door behind her. 

“Goodnight, Hatsuki!”

Huffing to herself, she trailed into the kitchen where she found Shouto standing in the dark, chopsticks halfway to his mouth. She snorted. “You've got broth on your face, Shou.” 

He ignored her, slurping his soba with a blank expression directed at her. Hatsuki didn't bother heating hers up, just like she knew he hadn't because he'd always preferred soba cold. Until their late dinner was gone, they stood in the dark kitchen in relative silence. She couldn't keep herself from eying her twin while they ate, though, a contemplative look on her face. 

“You're still using only your ice at the Sports Festival, right?” She asked him out of the blue. Startled, his heterochromic eyes met hers.

“Of course. That was always the plan,” Shouto responded, his lips curled just the tiniest bit downwards. She didn't know why, but there was something like guilt festering in her chest at the relief that rushed through her. 

“Right. And I'll be using Touya’s fire,” she said, though it was unnecessary. Her brother set his bowl on the counter, giving her a considering look. For a moment, she thought he might say something, but in the end he only grabbed his dish to clean it. They didn't say anything else until they parted ways on their way to their bathrooms. 

Hatsuki murmured a quiet, “Goodnight,” and got one in return. 

She didn't sleep easily that night.

When the day of the Festival arrived, Hatsuki was a ball of nerves, jittery as she stepped into their classroom to see the rest of 1-A looking just as nervous. 

Almost immediately, a blur of pink threw itself at her. “Hatsuki-chan! Are you nervous? I'm so nervous! I think I might pass out!” 

Hatsuki looked at her friend with wide eyes as Mina pulled back from what was yet another unreciprocated hug. The girl never gave her time to process. “Don't pass out,” she blurted awkwardly. “Um, I mean — Yes. Of course I’m nervous. The whole country will be watching.” He would be watching. 

Mina nodded rapidly, head snapping to the side as Kirishima approached. “Guys! Are you ready? I'm so pumped!” 

Upon seeing and hearing Kirishima sounding so confident, Mina’s face shifted. She punched her fist in the air. “Yeah! I'm gonna make my parents proud!”

“Hell yeah! My moms will be cheering me on, so I have to do great!” He crowed with a smile. 

Hatsuki felt a knife to the heart as she plastered on a fake smile. “Hopefully my siblings will be watching.” 

“You have other siblings, Hatsuki-chan?” Asui — Tsu — asked, turning away from her conversation with Uraraka. 

“Wait, there's more Todorokis?” Kaminari butted in, popping up at Kirishima’s side. 

“O-Oh, yes.” Hatsuki honestly forgot that her siblings weren't common knowledge. “We have an older brother and an older sister. They were never interested in heroics,” she explained with an awkward smile on her face. She went to run her hand through her hair nervously but dropped it to her side when she was reminded that she had it in a half-up style so it was out of her face during the Festival. 

“Cool! I have a sister too, though she's younger than me,” Kirishima told her. Once the attention was off of her, she slumped in relief. 

“I have three younger siblings, kero.” Tsu croaked. Hatsuki wasn't surprised for some reason. 

“I have an older brother,” Kaminari added with a grin. 

“Only children unite,” Mina said loudly. A couple of people that were actually paying attention raised their hands briefly, one of them being Jirou and another being Izuku. 

“Nobody cares about your families, shut up already!” Bakugou growled. She giggled, pegging him as an only child simply based on his, well, everything. 

“What are you all still doing here?” A familiar bored voice droned from the doorway. “You know where to go. Get your gym uniforms on and meet at the stadium. It starts in an hour.” 

“Yes, Sensei!” They replied as one, and the moment he disappeared they all rushed for the locker rooms, conversation forgotten. 

The other girls talked as they changed, but Hatsuki got dressed in the stall like usual, her stomach doing flips inside her. The anxiety was back and she could feel sweat beading on her forehead already. You've got this, she chided herself. You don't need to win. You just need to make sure that Shouto does.

Nodding to herself, Hatsuki stepped out of the stall. A determined look settled over her features, and she even managed to give Mina a genuine smile when her friend caught up with her. She let Mina’s chattering voice wash over her as they made their way towards the waiting room, nervously gnawing on the inside of her cheek. 

When they got there, her friends began to chatter loudly to each other, and Hatsuki found herself sitting next to Izuku. He gave her a nervous smile when she sat down, and Hatsuki returned it with one of her own. “Are you ready, Izu-kun?” She asked, bumping her shoulder with his. 

His eyes widened and he shook his head immediately. “No, wait — Yes.” The anxious look was quickly taken over by a more determined one, and he clenched his fist in his lap. “I can do this!” 

Hatsuki’s lips cracked apart in a grin, and she patted his shoulder comfortingly. “Hell yeah! I'm sure you'll do amazing!” 

“You as well, Hatsuki-san!” He returned excitedly. Just when he looked like he was about to say something else, her brother interrupted them. 

“Midoriya.” 

Shouto? 

“A, Todoroki-kun, what's up?” Her green friend asked in confusion, clearly having thought he was there to talk to Hatsuki. 

“From an objective standpoint, I think it's fairly clear that I’m stronger than you,” he said blankly. 

“Wh — Shouto!” Hatsuki cried in confusion, only to be flat out ignored by her twin. 

“Oh. . . Um, yeah,” Izuku agreed, earning a displeased look from Hatsuki. 

“However, you've got All Might in your corner helping you out.” 

“He's what now?” 

“I'm not here to pry about what's going on between you two. But know that I will beat you.” Her brother said, his expression firm and unyielding. What the hell was wrong with him? Even if it was true, he didn't need to say it!

“Ah, what's with all these declarations of war lately?” Kaminari asked, amused. 

“Yeah, what's the big deal? How come you're picking a fight?” Kirishima asked, putting a hand on Shouto’s shoulder. “And right before we start, too.” Hatsuki winced. Bad move. Shouto shrugged the hand off of him with a sour expression on his face. 

“We're not here to be friends. Don't forget. This isn't a team effort.”

“Wha — Shouto, just because you don't want any friends doesn't mean nobody else should make any!” Hatsuki called after him when he turned and started walking away. 

“Wait a sec, Todoroki-kun,” Izuku called. Hatsuki looked to her friend, finding that same determined look on his face that she'd seen earlier. She smiled. “I don't know what's going through your head or why you think you'd need to tell me that you'll beat me.” That made two of us. 

“And yeah, of course you're better than me. In fact, you and Hatsuki probably have many more potential than anyone in the Hero Course.” 

“Woah, woah, I wouldn't say that —” 

“That's why you got in so easily,” Izuku continued. Hatsuki bit her tongue and finally decided to stay quiet. 

“Midoriya-kun, maybe you're being a little hard on yourself,” Kirishima interjected. “And like, all of us.” 

“No, he's right, you guys. All the other courses, they're coming for us with everything they've got.” Shinsou! “We're all gonna have to fight to stand out. And I'll be aiming for the top, too.” 

Hatsuki’s gaze flickered between the two like a tennis match, curious to see what her brother's response would be. And to her surprise, he simply said “Fine.” 

She blinked, shocked, and watched as he finally turned and left. It was time for all of them to head towards the entrance, now. Hatsuki was more anxious than Izuku had previously looked. She was beyond worried that the knowledge of her father’s surveillance might make her perform poorly, but she quickly frowned darkly, throwing the thought away. After all, he'd be focused on his masterpiece, not her. If she won, would he even care? 

Or would he only be disappointed that it wasn't her twin in her place? Angrily, she shook the thoughts from her head. Remember what you're doing. 

Shouto had to win. As they stepped out into the middle of the stadium to the sound of Present Mic cheering them on, Hatsuki’s eyes landed on the distant figure of her father. Her eyes darkened, and her teeth gnashed together. How will you like the world seeing Touya’s fire like you never did, Endeavour?

And just like that, the Sports Festival had begun.

Chapter Text

“Man, Yamada-sensei really talked us up,” Kirishima said with an anxious grin. “Kinda making me nervous. How you feelin’, guys?”

Hatsuki grunted, a constipated look on her face. “Great,” she lied, like a liar.

“I'm not worried,” Bakugou grinned. “Just makes me want to win this even more.” 

Hatsuki wisely did not speak a word. But, Bakugou most certainly would not be winning if she had anything to say about it. “You know what? You're right! I just need to think positive!” Kirishima exclaimed. 

“I don't think Baku here has been positive a day in his life,” she murmured. It was only because of Present Mic announcing the next classes that she didn't hear his snarked reply, but she watched Kirishima laugh helplessly and a genuine grin tugged at her lips. 

“You know, one of these days he's actually gonna kill you,” Jirou said, amused from her other side. Hatsuki jumped at her voice, but stifled her yelp and giggled nervously. 

“Nah, he's all bark, no bite when it comes to his Name Twin,” she denied cheekily. 

“I'm going to eviscerate you, fucking Hibiscus!” Bakugou shouted. Hatsuki danced away from his crackling palms and left Kirishima to deal with him. Finally they'd reached the center of the field, and the rest of the first years were settling into their spots as well. 

“Isn't hibiscus a flower name?” Jirou pointed out. Hatsuki stilled, and tilted her head considerably. 

“That's almost sweet, actually. Hmm, I guess he'd be a dandelion then.”

Jirou snickered, and Hatsuki’s cheeks warmed. Just then, Midnight snapped her whip in the air, drawing their attention. “Now, for the introductory speech!” She called loudly, shifting into a pose that probably wasn't all that school appropriate. 

Suddenly, Hatsuki’s mouth was dry. She looked to the ground, blush deepening. At her side, Jirou cleared her throat awkwardly. 

“Silence, everyone!” Midnight snapped, cracking her whip yet again. “Now, for the student pledge, we have Bakugou Katsuki!”

Her eyes widened in shock. Her classmates all stared after his retreating back, mouths agape. As her friend (no matter how hard he tried to deny it) approached the microphone, Hatsuki winced in trepidation and narrowed her eyes. “Just wanna say. . . I'm gonna win.” 

Oh, motherfucker. Literally everyone began to boo him, their class included. Hatsuki buried her face in her hands and groaned. “Has he always been like this, Izu-kun?” She asked, voice muffled. 

He sighed, nodding. “Yeah. . .” He mumbled, but the look on his face was severe as Bakugou walked back to the students, striding past him. Like she had many times now, Hatsuki wished desperately to understand the two boys’ history. Alas, she was sure neither boy would say a word if asked. They had a habit of dodging the topic. 

Then again, she couldn't really speak on being transparent with her classmates. “Without further ado, it's time to get started!” Midnight-sensei announced. Hatsuki forced herself to focus on their art teacher—turned—umpire. “This is where you begin to feel the pain! The first activity of the festival! Obstacle race!”

Hatsuki smirked. So, another version of her entrance exam, huh? She tightened her half-pony and took a deep breath. She had this. Shouto had this. 

Let the games begin.

Hatsuki used her flames to launch herself into the air above her fellow first years immediately, whooping as she soared over their heads. On the ground, with a trail of ice behind him, her brother had the lead, and the majority of the first years found their feet encased in ice. She glanced backwards as she began to descend, smirking as most of the students slipped and slid across the ice. 

Hatsuki landed in a crouch, her blue fire melting through the ice before she had the chance to even begin to slip, and she resolved to keep her feet alit as she sprinted through her melted path, still meters behind her twin. She might've had small legs, but she had stamina for days. As awful as her father was, his strength training actually did pay off. He was good at what he did, even if he was a vile human being as he did so. 

Hatsuki’s head snapped up as she heard Mineta shouting from above as he soared over the ice with the help of his. . . balls. Annoyed, her brows furrowed, and she was just beginning to consider blasting him straight off the track, when the next obstacle was quickly revealed. 

Hatsuki gaped at the gigantic robot that slammed a metal limb into Mineta’s small form and sent him flying with a crunch that even had her wincing. At once, the students came to a stumbling stop, feet digging into the dirt. Silver eyes stared up at the bots in awe. The first couple in their way looked easy enough to defeat, but there were easily a dozen beyond them that towered over the stadium. 

“The bots from the entrance exam!” Izuku cried loudly in shock. Hatsuki did a double take. 

“You had to fight these?” She asked incredulously, shifting into a readying stance as she noticed her brother’s face twist in contemplation. And then, she spotted the frost forming on his arm and she grinned. The second the bots began to attack, her brother sent a massive wave of ice forward to encase the legs of all of the bots.

Hatsuki laughed and took off in yet another sprint, melting footprints into the ice as she went. Speaking of. . . She really should've asked for fireproof shoes. Hatsuki was now barefoot. 

She didn't let it slow her down, instead following right after Shouto as the ice began to crack apart behind them. Only once the pair were through did a thundering crash sound, blocking off the other students. “Looks like it's just you and me, Shou!” She cheered as she neared him, a sharp grin tugging at her lips. 

He glanced back at her with narrowed eyes, neither bothering to pay any attention to how their classmates were fairing. Instead, Shouto once again activated his ice and began to skate forward, furthering the distance between them. “Not so fast, Nii-san,” she said mockingly, throwing a handful of fire at the ice directly in front of his feet. He tripped over the shattered remains and stumbled. Hatsuki launched herself forward quicker, sweat pooling over her brow while her flames provided an extra boost of speed. 

“Hatsuki,” he growled, quickly righting himself and passing her once again. 

Allowing it, she glanced back over her shoulder to see her classmates gaining on them, and when she whipped back around she almost screamed, instead wobbling to a panicked stop and snuffing her flames. 

This. . . would not go well for her. Already, she could see Shouto using his ice to make his way easily over the many ropes and jumps, not seeming scared at all of the near—endless looking fall. Shit. 

At times like these, sometimes she wished that she'd been given an ice quirk like her mother, like her brother and sister. How different would her life have been, she wondered? Shaking her head, Hatsuki took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was small. Agile. Hatsuki was clumsy. Endeavor's daughter was not. 

Her eyes snapped open, and she took a running start and leapt, not letting herself even think about the way her heart was pounding out of her chest. Hatsuki didn't pause for a single moment after landing precariously on one of the ropes, instead racing across it with her arms held out to balance her. 

She skidded across the first platform, and then with her bright blue flames at her back she swept through the air to the next one. If she happened to burn through the ropes as she ran across them, then it was merely a convenient coincidence. Scowling at the sounds of Bakugou’s explosions, she hissed in anger at the sight of him soaring above her head with explosions. 

Like that's so cool. I can do it, too! 

Hatsuki finally made it across the cavern, now behind both Shouto and Bakugou. Still, she kept up her fast pace, jumping up the staircase up ahead three steps at a time. Finally, she spotted the last obstacle and groaned heavily. Despite everything in her screaming at her to take a small breather, Hatsuki panted heavily for only a moment before scowling angrily at the minefield that Shouto and Bakugou were already halfway through. 

“You can do this. If Shouto can, we can,” she whispered to herself. Hatsuki threw herself back into movement, lunging over the disturbed dirt. She looked like she was dancing — or playing hop-scotch — with the way she had to jump around to avoid the mines. Her scowl deepened at the sound of other students catching up, and when she glanced back, they were much closer than she'd thought. 

She was still in the lead of nearly everyone, but that was rapidly beginning to change. No. I'm better than them! Hatsuki attempted to pick up the pace, feeling her heart in her lungs as she leapt carelessly around the lumps in the dirt. She heard the yells of some of her classmates from behind her at the same time that Bakugou began to attack Shouto as they fought for the lead. 

Idiots. 

Maybe, while they were distracted, she could get ahead of them, and even — no, Shouto had to — Hatsuki stumbled, the edge of her shoe clacking against a mine, and her eyes widened. “Oh, fu —” Hatsuki could only scream as she was launched forward, and if she hadn't abruptly aimed her hands at the ground and blasted herself back into the air, she would have collided face first with another half dozen explosions. 

Instead, Hatsuki kept herself in the air with controlled blasts, mind flickering to the way Bakugou used his explosions to boost him. If she produced quick, short blasts a lot like the Pomeranian instead of a steady stream of flames pouring from her palms, she noticed that it was easier to keep herself in the air and direct her movement. 

He would be disgusted to know that she was stealing his moves, so she grinned, sharkish, and propelled herself forward. “Hey, Dandelion Head! Thanks for the tip!” Hatsuki yelled as she neared the leading pair once again.

“Oh, no you fucking don't!” Bakugou roared, briefly looking away from her brother to send an exploding her way. 

Colliding into a blast of azure flames, the explosion fizzled out with a boom, the colors making her eyes light up in amazement. “Can't stop me!” She called right back.

With an infuriated scream, Bakugou launched himself at her, abandoning the fight with her brother. Bingo. She grinned as Shouto took the chance immediately to tear ahead. Bakugou whipped back around with the most offended expression on his face, one that had her nervous to pull off her next move. “Teaming up with that half-and-half piece of shit? I'll kill you!” 

“I would never, Blasty!” Hatsuki yelled, but even as he turned to go after her brother once again, she leapt forward with the help of her flames and found herself crashing right into the explosive blond. He attempted to throw her off with a blast to the face, but Hatsuki met his palm with hers, and the super-powered explosion blew up in both of their faces. 

The only reason Hatsuki didn't get herself blown up completely was because she had swiped her other arm out in a panic and found it wound around his shoulder and clawing at his uniform even as her arms burst into flames. 

“Get off of me, you fucking urchin!” Their limbs flailed as they grappled with each other, and Hatsuki yelped painfully when he blasted her directly in the jaw, but when she slammed her elbow into his gut, she heard the most beautiful wheezing sound as the air was punched from his lungs. 

Right before he decked her across the face and she fell backwards with spots dancing in front of her eyes. As she stumbled backwards she hooked her leg around his knee, hopeful to take him down with her. It did not work, and instead he caught her with a fistful of her shirt to keep from hitting the ground himself. 

Hatsuki raised her arms with a practiced ease, but in a surprising move, they both froze in place at the resounding boom behind them. It seemed that everyone had stopped to stare at the thing. . . person soaring straight over the minefield and towards the finish line. For a brief second, Hatsuki and Bakugou stood there in complete silence. 

And then — “Izu-kun?!”

“Fucking Deku? Get out of my way!” Bakugou promptly left her in the dust. Hatsuki was only a little offended. Swearing, she focused on advancing through the minefield once again. Hatsuki’s squinted eyes watched as Izuku, wielding a large piece of metal, slammed his weapon onto the ground right as he was about to land in between the runner ups. In an explosion of pink, her green haired friend cleared the minefield and launched her brother and Bakugou backwards. 

Despite her prerogative that her twin win this thing, Hatsuki couldn't help but grin. He wasn't even using his quirk! Gods, she had the coolest friends. 

Hatsuki almost breathed a sigh of relief as she finally cleared it herself, behind all three of the boys. Izuku crossed the finish line first, followed by Shouto and then Bakugou and finally Hatsuki herself. 

Present Mic-sensei announced all of the students as they crossed back into the stadium, but after hearing her own name, she tuned out. Hatsuki stood with her head down, wishing she'd kept her hair down to hide her face from view of the large cameras displaying the students who'd already made it through. 

She regretted the half-up style now, resisting the urge to scratch at her scar or just cover it up with her hands. Hatsuki knew that Izuku had won, but she was watching her twin. He stood, fists clenched and face tight with what looked to be anger. Hatsuki could only see it because she knew him so well, though. 

She knew that the harsh sting she felt at placing fourth, he must have also felt over not winning the race. Shouto never cared about his scar, or the attention on it — at least not that he ever let her know about. 

So, she felt a bit dramatic now. Still, Hatsuki ripped the hair tie from her hair as she stalked over to his side. Shouto didn't acknowledge her, but he didn't move away when she used him as a human shield from the cameras, her head down to curtain her face. Shouto’s ice and Touya’s fire weren't enough to place them at the very top during the first event, though she knew she'd do her damn best to make sure it was enough for the next round. 

They were given only a couple of minutes to rest before Midnight called for everyone's attention, going through the placement results. Hatsuki noticed immediately that only the top forty-two places were ranked, her gaze raking over the dozens of slumping shoulders and disappointed frowns. 

“Now, the real fight begins,” Midnight grinned after placating the losers with optional games. “The chance to finally move yourselves into the limelight! Give it your best!” With a crack of her whip, the screen behind her once again began to swirl through options, like it wasn't already decided what they would be doing probably weeks ago. “Let's see what we have in store for you next! It's. . . a cavalry battle!” 

Hatsuki turned immediately to look around at her classmates, even as Midnight-sensei continued to explain the rules. “Allow me to explain! You lovely participants will split up into teams of two to four members. In theory, it's a playground game. However, there's one difference. Each play has been assigned a point value based on their placement in the last round!” 

Hatsuki looked towards a trembling, sweating Izuku, and then towards the calculating expression on her brother's face and she bit down on the inside of her cheek. After Midnight snapped at some of her classmates for talking, she carried on explaining. 

“Now, then. The point assignments go up by increments of five, starting from the bottom. And the point value appointed to number one. . . Ten million!” 

Hatsuki sweat dropped, eyes immediately flitting towards Izuku’s petrified form. 

Oh, boy. Sorry, Izu-kun. She wasn't touching that with a ten-foot pole. After Midnight finished explaining how the rules of the game worked, they were allowed five minutes to pair up. Instantly, Hatsuki’s gaze shot toward Bakugou, and she began to gnaw on the inside of her cheek. Izuku was a no-go, but so was Shouto. They'd lose without a doubt if she was there hindering his ability to use his ice. 

Which meant. . . Hatsuki watched the students around her blond haired classmate try to bargain to join his team, and she winced. After her stunt in the last round, Bakugou might not want her on his team. However, he would definitely want more power, no matter how pissed he was. So, if she asked, there was probably no doubt that he'd accept. 

All she had to do was — 

“Hey, you.” Hatsuki turned around, blinking in confusion at the address. It was the purple haired boy, Shinsou! Unbidden, a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. 

“Hey, Shinsou-kun! You made it through, yay!”

Surprise flitted across his face for some reason, even though she was pretty sure she'd been clear about her thoughts on him joining the hero course. “Yeah, I did. Do you. . . want to join my team?” 

Shocked, and then delighted, and then unsure, Hatsuki shifted and glanced over her shoulder at Bakugou, whose team seemed to be filling up quickly. Surprisingly, his vermilion glare latched onto her, and he glared back, but it looked like he only had two other teammates so far.

“Um, I'm sorry, but. . .” Hatsuki met his eyes again, smiling sheepishly as she prepared to let him down gently. 

And then the unique white pupils of her acquaintance melted into a sea of hazy nothingness and the world fell away.