#natsuo todoroki deserves better

[arceus-insanity]

Endeavor Deserves No Sympathy!

I don't understand how anyone can think Endeavor was ever a good dad. It also always comes off as incredibly victim blamie, especially towards Touya, and often Shoto too.

He literally only got married and had kids to use them. He never gave a shit about their well being, never even thought about it until he had the one thing he cared about and was still miserable. I've already gone over the math proving he gave up on achieving his dream himself at 21 at the absolute latest. (https://www.tumblr.com/arceus-insanity/763259515356512256/i-liked-endeavors-character-when-he-was?source=share)

And basic math will once again be used to prove just how little this waste of flesh actually tries.

This time the focus is on how quickly he abandoned Touya and immediately went to emotional abuse via neglect & literally replacing him, and once again risking that more children be born with self-destructive quirks.

For context we only see Endeavor doing anything with his kids that's not him literally walking through and ignoring them in two circumstances. Once when Fuyumi's a newborn and Touya is attempting to crawl (not walk) over to her. And training. Those are the only times he tries to spend with any of them, even after he starts his 'atonement'

Now comparing Touya in the scene of them training and himself as a toddler and all the child imagery this series loves to use instead of actually saving imperfect victims, Touya is at least 3 (probably closer to 4) when he's taken to the doctor and they are informed of his condition

Natsuo is 4 and a half years younger than him.

We know for a fact Natsuo (& Shoto) was conceived after they got the news, not willingly either. Pregnancy takes 40 weeks average, so Touya would still be 3 when Natsuo was conceived. So once again it took this 'man' less than a year to give up and have another child he hoped to use as a tool, and was explicitly making to hurt his existing son. And as I have said plenty of times before, risking that the new kids could be born with the same disorder, I hate how convenient it is that Shoto gets near zero negative quirk side effects.

Want to know what we never see, Endeavor doing something else with Touya and Touya demanding training, it's always him walking past/ away from Touya. Considering all of the shit they've pulled to soften Endeavor's abuse both in the manga and even more so in the anime, they wouldn't skip something like this. It's not hard to tell that Touya's 'obsession with training' is really about spending time with his dad, you know like a human child that literally needs love, proven by numerous studies and research in the real world.

He throws all parenting responsibilities onto Rei, adds more children to that load, and when Touya suffers for it (like everyone else) he does nothing, doesn't even hire a nanny

Another are you kidding me take I've seen is that somehow Touya's quirk issues are worse than Midoriya's and Yuga's. Touya managed to train his quirk to produce blue fire at 13 with zero equipment and less than no help, and only lost control of it, because of the mental abuse Endeavor had inflicted on him leading him to a mental breakdown. And/ or the theory I've only seen once of AFO using his ability to force quirk activation (seen with a passed out chapter 90 during his first confrontation with All Might)

Midoriya was breaking his bones all the way into the Shie Hassaikai arc and was only able to fight because Eri and was breaking support equipment in the following arc as well. Yuga had a support belt all the way back in the entrance exam and was still struggling with that.

Speaking of Yuga let's compare parental effort here, because as much as it backfired Yuga's parents tried a whole lot more. For starters they nearly bankrupted themselves to get him a quirk, so he could feel equal. All For One is a mythic man prior to his arrest, and those who knew of him were shown to be serious long-term villain groups, so they had gone to quite a bit of effort to find that he existed to begin with. They also got him support gear (the navel belt thing) as a kid to help him with said quirk, he literally had it in the entrance exam. Endeavor never looked into that, Endeavor is not only rich too but he's a top hero he would have direct access to support equipment companies that would jump at the opportunity and it never even occurred to him.

Endeavor's name is an irony as endeavour means to try hard to do or achieve something. He never tries hard he gives up incredibly quickly the second there's any road block, but instead of moving on he makes everyone suffer for it. He's a toxic pageant mom who'd rather force their child into a toxic world and a role they don't want than work on himself

And what finally makes him change? Getting exactly what he wanted and still being miserable, and he still expects through his actions his family to cater to him.

Not his son getting a major disability due to his actions, no, he decided to double down, mentally abusing and neglecting the son he supposedly loves, raping his wife who didn't want more kids or participate in this abuse, and again risking that Natsuo & later Shoto might have that same issue. Not when his wife breaks down and permanently scars his precious masterpiece, who proceeds to rightfully blame him, and he just thinks of it as a tantrum despite it lasting a fucking decade. Not when his eldest literally dies as the result of his selfishness. Not literally during any part of this entire process!

Dabi is 23 when Endeavor finally starts to 'try' to be better, that means that for at least 24 years he has only been caring about his fucking precious number one spot in a popularity contest that he couldn't even bother to try to be likeable for, this wasn't one bad decision, this was him constantly choosing to be so insanely selfish that he found ways that shouldn't even be possible for over two decades. And it was all him.

[arceus-insanity]

You could also fit Midoriya and Bakugou into his motive to, with the family dinner, how they both seem at least partially aware of what Endeavor did but there responses are

Bakugou: yells at Fuyumi for talking about family issues. And just acts like Endeavor all the time, with his entitlement and default violent behavior. Aizawa literally said on tv the reason he didn't believe Bakugou would join the League was not because of moral reasons, but because Bakugou viewed the League as losers. Bonus points if Shigaraki or the League ever expressed regret for trying to recruit his spoiled rotten ass.

And then Midoriya telling Shoto he's forgiving Endeavor because he's a good person. This would be a great final nail in the coffin, because abusers like Endeavor only exist because of enablers like Midoriya

I'd imagine finding out Shoto told Midoriya about their father, and Bakugou overheard it would make things even worse. Both because neither did anything and those prior actions, but the fact that Shoto didn't even mention that Touya died. That he might as well have never existed to Shoto, especially as when Shoto had earlier in the series didn't mention Fuyumi or Natsuo or his siblings in general, when lamenting about his childhood (can't remember which chapter this one, but I'm pretty sure it's one of the earlier ones). Especially when Natsuo brought up all of them suffering when chewing Endeavor out

To be clear this is a mixture between how I see things, and Natsuo how would

Honestly, I think it would have been really interesting if Natsuo had been the traitor.

He had a hell of a motive. Older brother is killed in a tragic accident brought about because of their father, younger brother is abused by their father, mother is institutionalized because of his father, and Endeavor faces justice for absolutely none of it.

All of a sudden this news broadcast showing Stain yelling for the public to open their eyes to the false heroes among them happens...just saying, that could have appealed to more than one of the Todoroki siblings.

And with Shouto a UA student, that places Natsuo in a prime position to potentially gather information about classes on and off campus. He wouldn't be an active member of the LoV; he's just the mole. It might be a stretch to say he wanted Shouto in harm's way, but if you remember that Shouto was exhibiting the exact same anger and arrogance Endeavor had, there was room for a narrative where Natsuo reached a, "Fuck, now there's two of them," mentality and didn't care what happened to him. And that only expands on the betrayal. Shouto realizes he's on a path to become his father, then starts trying to reconnect with his mother and estranged siblings. Natsuo doesn't even have to approach him to form a connection.

...

Shouto: Why did you do this?

Natsuo: If you had any original thoughts of your own, you'd have done it, too. But I guess it's not your fault Endeavor raised you to be a puppet.

Shouto: This isn't who you are.

Natsuo: *not even anger at this point, just pity* Are you sure? Can you say with any certainty that you know any of your siblings? Or am I just the one who went to college, Fuyumi is the one who cooks, and Touya is the one who died?

[gece-misin-nesin]

i hate it when media portrays someone angry about what happened to them or loathing their abuser as someone who's 'letting anger control them' and 'not healing'. i don't see why unequivocally despising and hating the person who hurt you means you aren't/can't be healing. like, why does every character have to forgive and forget to heal? why can't characters just resent their abusive parents while still healing/having healed. why can't they be angry about their traumatic experiences without every other character telling them bullshit like 'you should forgive' or whatever? it's so fucking annoying AND entirely unoriginal.

[toyasgirl]

Am i the only one who doesn’t like this line? Not just her line but the todo family lines when it comes to touya

I mean i was waiting for the official maybe she could sound better than the scans but it’s even worse

It shows how she doesn’t want anyone to go down with touya (rei and enji die with touya) but she never said anything about touya himself? Like it should’ve been “touya, please!! Don’t take yourself again!” Or smth like that like touya is the one who’s closer to death than any of them. It’s like fuyumi still can’t see touya and she sees him as making the family she wants falling apart and like she doesn’t care about if he was included or not. It’s really so sad to see how each todo member still can’t see, feel and know touya’s pain and they all still act with him as they used to do. Also natsuo’s line isn’t even much better. First it was rei underestimate touya’s pain and then shoto defends Touya’s abuser in front of him and then enji sees touya all burned and instead act like that is fine and ask if shoto is okay and now fuyumi and natsuo :/ like Touya deserve soooooo much better than this family. They learned nothing and they all still the same.

[gonnagobankai]

The reason why I can’t deal with either bnha or atla discourse is because I’m of the apparently controversial opinion that it doesn’t matter if it’s a result of child abuse, if your sibling is causing you great harm or trying to kill you (or helpless civilians and children) then you are fully within your right to cut them out or not take their feelings into account

Zuko doesn’t owe azula anything and the todoroki kids would not be selfish or inconsiderate for being angry at touya

[ocdhuacheng]

endeavor you piece of shit cocksucker im gonna rip you to shreds

[todorokistheories]

Do we think Natsuo would push wheelchair Endeavor down stairs?

just like, a little extra push when they go over a curb.

[cat-eyeball-nul]

Not me crying sad-upset-angry tears whenever i see an endeavor apologist, or him interacting with any of the kids in a positive light, i HATE that fictional man, he does not deserve their love or respect or forgiveness

[st3ddie-starchas3r]

My favorite Todoroki.

JUST LOOK AT THIS CUTE LIL BEAN.

[gloridoesntexist]

CHAPTER 3 IS UP!!! PLEASE GO CHECK IT OUT<33333

[gloridoesntexist]

in my mind those 2 arent any better like-

Natsuo and his mouse gf r cute shit and Bakugo, well-

we call him an angry pomeranian for a reason

miruyumi and hotwings is good bc it’s just miruko and hawks showing off to their gf/bf and fuyumi and dabi being flustered by them and natsuo n shouto in the background like “smh fucking furries -_-”

[gece-misin-nesin]

A comment on reddit:

I think this is the main thing with MHA - the villains are just bad people, and the audience can tell. All of the villains have at least one unshakeable anti-social impulse that they absolutely cannot get over. They can explain how deeply hurt they feel by not being able to act on that impulse, but ultimately they just want to hurt other people in one way or another. They are childish, whiny, and entitled, and none of them has the slightest desire to participate in society whatsoever, no matter the infinite well of understanding and patience the heroes draw from*. So Endeavor, who is not a villain but rather just a douchebag, is able to atone and begin repairing the damage he did. But Dabi, who is a villain, can't do that. It's fundamentally beyond him - he has a selfish, childish mindset forever. Douchebags change, but villains are forever. As readers, we find this frustrating. After everything the todorokis go through, nothing really changes within Dabi's mind or heart. The siblings can beat themselves up about it and feel guilty, which is realistic - if only we had enough love and patience, we could have saved him! But as readers, it feels like bullshit. We know what the villains are like, and we know that they were all hopeless from the start. Not a one of them ever had a shot at being happy or associating with others in a healthy way, because there's a fundamental distinction between the basic, in-born personality of heroes vs villains that is just as immutable as the gap between the empowered and the quirkless. So when it comes to still feeling guilty over little Toya, it's like...I don't know, get over it? He was cooked from the start. You should have recognized he was born a villain.

I think I need to take a chill pill oh my fucking god. How can you read this manga and come to the conclusion that *checks notes* the villains were always destined to be evil, fundamentally different from the 'normal and basic', and 'born a villain'???

Even the manga itself, with its shitty epilogue and shitty messaging, acknowledges that the villains COULD have led normal lives if things had been different.

Like this is such an insane conclusion to come to?? I have no fucking idea how you can read bnha and write THIS shit???

This is EXACTLY why people say that media literacy is dead 😭

[whenanafallsinlove]

i quite literally screamed when i saw ur 150 post. i’d say i wanna be the james to ur betty but betty is too good for the world, let alone any guy 😞

ANYWAY, congrats on 150 🤍 you deserve that and so much more 🪽 SAD PROSE 🖋️ touya tdrk + “with my calamitous love and insurmountable grief”

- mady 🤍🪽💿💭🐚

ahhh sorry it took this long! this was a challenge! i really hope you like this. I guess, be the betty to my betty? anyway, love u mady!

✒️"SAD PROSE" - send a character + your favorite folklore lyric, and I'll write a short blurb

"MY CALAMITOUS LOVE AND INSURMOUNTABLE GRIEF" - TOUYA TODOROKI x reader

Touya and you were childhood friends. You had known him since you were a toddler, because you were neighbours.

The first time you met Touya, was when you were around three years old. Your had just moved in to the neighbourhood, so your mother decided that you should greet and introduce yourselves to the family next door.

You didn't remember that moment with a lot of detail, but you recalled your mother knocking on the door, a beautiful white haired woman opening, and a little Touya peeking from behind.

From that moment on, Touya became part of your life, and you his. You practically ate, slept and breathed together. It was so common for you to be at his house, that you weren't even amazed anymore by the fact that his father was one of the biggest heroes.

To you, he was just the man who usually made your best friend cry.

Touya was homeschooled, so he always asked you what it was like to study with other people. His reality was very different to yours; he was taught by private tutors, and as he grew up, most of his free time was spent on quirk trainning with his father.

Still, you did everything that was possible so you could see him everyday. Of course, you started to spend time with his sibblings as well. Fuyumi was just a few months younger than you, whereas Natsuo and Shoto were still very little.

As the years passed, you started to comprehend better a lot of things, you started to see things that you hadn't seen before.

You saw how Touya's father had a lot of expectations on him, you saw how your best friend was getting injured because of this, you saw the way Rei was as preoccupied as you were, and you understood how impotent you were in this situation.

The only thing you could do for Touya, was hold him while he cried, help him clean his wounds, and hear him vent about his father.

Throughout the decade you had known Touya, you had seen him change. He seemed to have lost his happineess, and replaced it with a motivation to please his father's wishes.

But you always remained as his constant.

Since you met, Touya told you that he would keep you by his side forever, that when you grew up, you'd be together for the rest of your lives.

But destiny played its cards, and on a windy day in winter something happened...

"Y/N, today is the day! I'm going to show my father how a great hero I can become!" Touya said, seemingly excited.

"Are you sure Tou? I'm sure you'll be a great hero, but I'm still worried about you..." You said to your best friend. Touya scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"You sound like my mother, Y/N. I have told you not to worry, I'm stronger than my father, he has to see that!"

"I really hope he does. Just be careful, Tou!" You knew better than to push Touya. He needed to feel supported, so you gave him that.

"Yeah, whatever..." Touya shrugged, and you both stayed silent for a few seconds, before he spoke again.

"You know, Y/N? I want you to be by my side forever. I'll marry you when we're older."

"Huh!? Don't talk nonesense Tou, you're too young to decide that!" You felt your cheecks burn.

"That's why I said when we're older. I'll be the greatest hero, and I'll have the greatest best friend as my partner" Touya gave you a small smirk, so you shoved his shoulder.

"Shut up, idiot!" You said, but couldn't help the smile you had.

You both started laughing and shoving each other. In that moment, your heart burnt with intensity, but the incident that happened later that evening made it burst into a thousand ashes.

That was the last time you had seen Touya; he had made you a promise he wasn't able to fulfill. Your forever dissapeared hand in hand with him.

The years that followed didn't make it any easier, you kept telling yourself "It takes time", but deep down you knew that it was only making you ache more and more.

So, when you watched the news and saw your childhood best friend confessing to be part of the League of Villains, you entered a state of shock. You felt a mix of happiness, nostalgia, hope and depression.

You weren't sure whether he remembered you, if you could contact him or if you should just let everything stay buried. But a few days after the transmission, you found a letter in your doorstep.

It was inside of an envelope, that had "Touya" written in it. You sat down on your couch and opened it, with a hole in your stomach.

"Dear Y/N, It's been a long time, so I'm not sure if you will read this. I haven't had classes in a long of time, so don't get petty with my spelling, okay dumbass? I'm sure you're confused with all the mediatic stunts I pulled, and you may have a lot of questions, so I'll try to answer some of them. That day, after we talked, I went to the place where I had asked my father to meet me. He never showed up. I can't remember much after that; I was surrounded by fire and the next thing I knew, was that I woke up in a hospital three years after. The next years, I worked on developing my quirk. I couldn't go back home, and I couldn't go back to you. I may sound like a stalker, but I've been keeping an eye on you though. Just checking from time to time that you were okay... You know? I sometimes wonder if you would feel dissapointed for the way I turned out. I hope that deep inside you, you understand that this was my only way to get my revenge at the old bastard. You're collateral damage. I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise, our field of dreams ended up engulfed in fire. Anyway, you may have been right back then. We were just kids, what we thought was for all time, was momentary. I don't have much more to say. This might be the last goodbye, please use this as closure Y/N, and don't try to contact me. I loved you, you were the loss of my life. - Touya "

With your watery eyes, you were forced to let go of Touya for the second time. Your heart filled with an emotion that you could only describe as calamitous love and insurmountable grief.

a/n: so... I know this was supposed to be only inspired by folklore, but i had to add a little ttpd for the suffering! btw this is not proof read, again! so sorry if there are any mistakes

[ramblebramblefun]

"Parallel processing!" Deku chirps. He proceeds to blather on at the reporter until Bakugou slaps a hand over his mouth and drolly condenses it down.

"He figured some shit out the last time we worked under Endeavour, and he's hopin' to do it again."

"And what about you?" The reporter asks.

Bakugou Katsuki sneers.

"That old man can't teach me shit."

Then why, Enji wonders, are you here?

The impromptu interrogation only gets worse from there, until Deku steps in, gently stealing the reporter's microphone and pretending to interview Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight himself.

Bakugou has a little more patience for Midoriya than for the general population, but Midoriya soon says something that makes Bakugou shout, lunging for the 'little shit' and causing the green-haired boy to duck behind Shouto with a grin.

Bakugou does not immediately shove Shouto out of the way, which says a lot about how much he respects Enji's son if you know him well.

Enji has been obliged to know Bakugou Katsuki a lot more than he cares for.

The boy is the most irritating person in all of creation. However, in the past, if you had taken Shouto off the table and asked Endeavour to, objectively, choose the child most like himself, Bakugou Katsuki is, reluctantly, the one he would have chosen.

Enji knows better, now.

Midoriya Izuku hides it well behind his smile, but the boy is driven by a wrath equal to Endeavour at his worst.

All Might does not understand how badly it could have turned out. Nor, Enji believes, does he truly appreciate how lucky they are that Bakugou Katsuki was able to be salvaged. That the boy saved All Might’s life is irrelevant; it’s what would have happened when the battle was over and Midoriya was forced to face a world without his ‘Kacchan’ in it.

A world in which in he had failed to save everyone.

Deku, like Endeavour, is driven by a singular furious ambition. That he believes that he wants to save everyone for everyone, well...

Well. Enji's self-delusions were never half so grand, but in the end...

In the end, all is well. Bakugou Katsuki got back up, Deku came down on Shigaraki like the wrath of God, society was saved, and Endeavour is still granted the title of 'hero' by the public.

Endeavour is still granted the title of hero by the public. Todoroki Enji has faced no true punishment for the things he did to his sons... And his daughter...

It's hard to tell, sometimes, with Fuyumi. She has always put on a smile for him, and in the past Enji had not cared enough to look further into how she might be feeling. Or listen, on the rare occasion that Fuyumi dared to open her mouth, to how he was hurting them.

He should... apologise to her as well.

Natsuo meanwhile has gone no contact, as is his prerogative, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt. Enji would have liked to meet the young woman who had caught his eye, and just generally…

Well. Natsuo is still speaking to Rei, so he isn’t totally devoid of the parental support long owed him, and Rei is kind enough to let Enji know that their son is doing well.

…

Enji has never deserved that woman. He should have let her be from the start, should never have dragged anyone else into his obsession, should have simply been a better man, but it’s not like he has a time machine.

It’s just another reason that he must live his life in atonement. He will draw the heat, he will draw the fire and, God willing, his family will be able to live in peace.

Away from him.

------

There’s one more member of the mess that Enji made, and he is farther now from Enji’s reach than all the rest.

Todoroki Touya, Dabi, the flame villain, succumbed to his injuries six months after the total defeat of the League of Villains.

It was much longer than any of the doctors had predicted. Enji did not find it within himself to be surprised. All of his children had inherited his stubbornness in one form or another.

At least this time they all got to say a proper goodbye, not that Touya had seemed to appreciate it. He’d spat insults at them and swore to come back to haunt them as Dabi once again.

But this time there was no Garaki and his cursed miracles. Todoroki Touya was turned to ash for the final time.

Enji still visits him regularly, as he’d promised, and thinks of how things could have been.

------

When Enji shakes himself off and glances over, Bakugou and Shouto are still engaged in a standoff and the reporter is taking advantage of the stillness to try and get their microphone back from Midoriya.

Midoriya, without looking like he's doing it on purpose, shifts the microphone to his other hand and leans over to Shouto's other side.

Enji has been obliged to know Midoriya far too well as well. Somehow this particular reporter has pissed the boy off, likely when they were questioning Bakugou earlier.

Midoriya is quietly, obsessively, over-protective of the lauded Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, final defeater of All for One.

The reporter is not going to get their microphone back.

It doesn't matter. Endeavour can afford ten thousand microphones, if need be, and there are worse ways to show your displeasure. So long as the boy doesn't make a habit of it, it's barely Enji's problem.

It's time to wrap this up.

"Shouto." He calls.

His son doesn't look away from where he is staring blandly into Bakugou's eyes. That's... Fine. Enji's lucky that he wanted to do his work study with him in the first place.

"Deku! Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight!"

Bakugou doesn’t offer him so much as a side-eye. Midoriya is the only one to make it look like he's giving Endeavour his attention, but he is almost certainly paying more mind to the reporter's repeated attempts to snatch back their microphone.

"We need to complete our patrols. Thank everyone for their time and follow me."

Midoriya gives the reporter and their cameraman a signature Deku smile. He speaks into the microphone before holding it out to Shouto and Bakugou in turn.

Bakugou reacts like he's been handed a live rat. Someone will need to beat interview protocols into his head before he graduates, but it's not something Enji has ever particularly cared for either. It can be UA's job. It should be UA's job.

…

Enji resigns himself to an unpleasant attempt at conversation with the boy later, and turns to fire away. There's a boom and a crackle and a hiss behind him.

It’s time to go.

[with-my-calamitous-love]

bnha ending spoilers! specifically for touya!

so. he’s alive but like barely 💔

touya todoroki is my favourite character from the entire series, one of them at least. i predicted for him to have an azula type ending, and in a way he did. he didn’t die, but he wasn’t redeemed. theres theories and guesses out there, but his fate is ultimately left unknown.

i think this is a good ending for him, and heres why.

i know a lot of people (myself included) wanted to see touya make amends with his family. and as much as it breaks my heart that the tdrk siblings didn’t necessarily get the happy ending they deserved, to me it seems more real that way.

as someone who grew up in a not-so-good household, and related to a lot of the struggles their family went through, i thought that the ending was comforting in a way. for me, it was reassurance that healing doesn’t have to be amends. sometimes, forgiveness isn’t always the ending. for touya, that wasn’t the case. he was mentally stuck as a traumatized child after being in a coma for three years. he went home to realize that his father didn’t forget about him, that he was just never impacted by him. that does something to a child.

and considering the abuse that every sibling in that family had to endure, it makes sense that forgiveness isn’t always how it ends. i actually agree with natsuo going no contact with endeavour- i found that relatable since i’m that way with my own. and i find ir even more gut-wrenching seeing how fuyumi had tried to hold the family together, since thats usually how oldest daughters operate.

and my heart just breaks just thinking about shouto. as a youngest child myself, i can’t imagine a world where i didn’t need my big siblings. youngest children often get a bad rap and for good reasons, but its also incredibly painful watching your older siblings go through things and feeling powerless.

if theres one thing i’ve learned, and one thing i think the bnha ending has taught us, life goes on. time moves fast. months melted into 8 years really quickly. im sure natsuo married his girlfriend. im sure rei is much happier and healthier than she was. im sure fuyumi is doing great. i hope that endeavour is a better person. i hope that shouto is healing from all that he’s gone through.

and though we don’t know what happened to touya in those 8 years, i hope he knows that at least, his family is healing. that they’re not the same family that broke him.

i am biased because again i relate to these characters and their struggles a lot! so know that you’re completely allowed to have a different opinion. i absolutely loved the bnha ending 🤍 thank you, thank you, THANK YOU HORIKOSHI!

[dekusdarling]

Happy Birthday

“Shotoooooooo” was the voice that rang out, the voice that brought a grin to Shoto Todoroki’s face as he was poked and prodded in the cheek, an instrumental version of “Happy Birthday” playing in the background.

He almost didn’t want to open his eyes; this was perfect enough as is.

But eventually he did.

“Does IcyHot just never wake up?” The voice of a certain blond grumbled from what sounded like the doorframe, causing Shoto’s eyes to flutter open like a motherfucking Disney Prince.

What he opened his eyes to was basically straight out of a Disney movie in his own mind anyways.

Y/n was there, right in front of him, smiling like the angel they were as they pressed gentle kisses to his face.

“Morning, birthday boy,” they mumbled against his cheek, peppering him with kisses until he couldn’t help but laugh, sitting up in his bed. “Good morning, Y/n. Everyone.” He said with a nod, barely acknowledging the other people in the doorway, of which there were quite a lot. But his eyes were focused on the person in front of him, sitting on his bed and grinning like it was their own birthday.

It was refreshing, the clear excitement, all for him. All from the person he adored most, his partner, his friend, his crazy, wild, sweet, utterly wonderful lover.

He was in a perfect state of bliss the whole morning, where he was dragged to the table and fed numerous amounts of food, all tasty in their own ways, but much better when he had a certain someone on his lap, cradling his face while they fed him strawberries and eggs and toast. He was promised soba for lunch, just how he liked it. He was happy.

Really, truly happy, a happy he hadn’t felt in… ever.

He didn’t even have time to change, clad in his pajamas all day, hair tousled and teeth unbrushed, to which no one complained, and yet he felt anxious. He tried to ignore it, he knew why it was there. All he could think about was what would my old man say?

That wasn’t a thought he wished to have at the moment. It was his birthday, after all, he didn’t need to worry about things like hair and showers. He was 17 now.

It wasn’t until lunch was being made, by Bakugo, who had been nominated best cook a week ago (and was secretly proud of it), when Y/n wrapped their arms around his neck from behind, pressing kisses to his cheek and temple and whispered “Would you like to get dressed, my dearest heart?” to which he nodded and stood up, his mind hazy as he was led back to his dorm and into his bathroom, his hair being brushed for him, and his clothes being picked out.

He deserved it, it was his special day, being doted on came with that. Package deal.

But clearly his mind was elsewhere, something he didn’t realize until Y/n’s hand was on his, which was halfway through pulling off his shirt. A rare blush formed on his cheeks as he yanked his shirt back onto his abdomen, mumbling half thought out apologies.

“Something on your mind, Shoto?” They asked quietly, worriedly, their hands still on his as he nodded solemnly.

He didn’t know what he wanted, he had everything he needed. His partner, his friends, food, gifts, cake (ok, the cake wasn’t quite ready, but he knew it was coming), his famil- oh.

Oh.

He looked back up at them, a sense of true and utter embarrassment on his face as he whispered, “I miss my family.”

Words he didn’t think he would say today.

Birthdays at the Todoroki household were not celebrated in a very… traditional way.

Shoto often got a pat on the back from his old man, and a gift from Natsuo and Fuyumi, often something they’d bought with money they’d scraped together (they were too virtuous, i.e. prideful, to use Enji’s credit card). It wasn’t a whole lot, but it was normal.

He hadn’t spent a birthday away from the house yet. It was an upsetting thought, the mixed emotions whirling around his pretty little head and bringing tears to his two toned eyes, which he wiped away with confusion.

It was a heartbreaking sight, he looked so confused and upset, and on his birthday. Y/n wouldn’t stand for that. Not their baby.

Shoto was led out of the room so fast he almost got whiplash, tripping over his own feet and protesting quietly (“Y/n, I never got changed-”) as she dragged him to the common room and sat him on the couch, nodding to Momo, who brought out a computer, already dialing Fuyumi.

Fuyumi picked up immediately, a smile on her face as she set her own computer down, revealing herself with Natsuo and Enji, all wearing party hats, some of them (ahem, Endeavor) trying to pull the cardboard triangles off. Fuyumi elbowed Natsuo, and they all broke out into the “Happy Birthday” song, pushing and nudging like the perfect, imperfect family they were.

All for Shoto.

He could barely keep it together, tears dripping down his face as he talked, conversed normally with his family, his soba being handed to him quietly.

It really was the best birthday he ever had.

The cake, the song, the kisses Y/n gave him, all the way to the last hour, where Y/n was cuddled up with him, hoping to watch his birthday come to its end.

They fell asleep before it ended.

Shoto Todoroki ended his birthday with a smile on his face, truly happy.

Happy Birthday, Shoto.