Chapter Text
The idea started to form during a visit with his mother. Shouto had pulled up a chair next to her bed so his mom could remain sitting on the edge as she tended to during their visits. The curtains in her room were open, the sunlight was pouring in through the large windows that lined the wall giving the room a warm and light feeling. They chatted quietly about safe topics, stories Fuyumi had shared about her students, how Shouto was settling into the dorms and dorm life, and the antics Shouto’s more rowdy classmates have gotten into.
At a lull in the conversation, his mom said, “Shouto, do you still want to be a hero?”
Shouto furrowed his brows in worry. He had been avoiding topics like this on purpose. Afraid his mother would not want the same things and terrified of what would happen when she learned he was using his fire. Shouto looked down at his feet, his hands gripped his knees. “Yes,” he said quietly but clearly. He didn’t want to lie to her. Not about this, not about anything.
His mom reached out and took one of his hands as she said, “I am so happy to hear that.” She squeezed his hand gently and continued, “When you were little you wanted to be like All Might and I was so worried I ruined your dream.”
Shouto jerked his head up and looked at her. “Mom, you couldn’t ruin anything. It wasn’t your fault.” He shook his head. The words were threatening to spill out, but he needed her to understand. “It would have been his fault. He almost did. If it wasn’t for my friend, I wouldn’t have remembered that I wanted to be a hero to save people and not just a pawn in his conquest for a legacy.” He took his mother’s other hand in his as he said, “I don’t want to be like him but I still want to be a hero.” He paused as he tried to find the words. “I want to be a real hero,” like Midoriya was for me, he thought but didn’t say.
“I’m so proud of you Shouto. I’m sure you will be a splendid hero.” There were tears in her eyes threatening to spill over.
“Thanks, Mom,” he said as his mom took her hands back to carefully wipe her eyes.
“And I am so happy to hear you have made friends that can do so much for you.”
“Me too,” he said, feeling himself warm a bit at the thought. He never expected to have friends and never expected them to mean so much to him.
Their conversation drifted back into safer topics for the rest of their visit.
The idea started to form after Kamino Ward. Izuku watched as his mentor, his idol, the Symbol of Peace, barely won the battle against All for One and was forced into retirement as a result. He couldn’t help but think about how world-changing that was.
In the months that followed Izuku watched as the world scrambled to hold itself together with the dramatic loss of it’s symbol. Crime rates went up and new villains and villainous organizations appeared regularly. Confidence in heroes was at an all-time low. Sometimes the heroes didn’t appear to believe in themselves anymore. Izuku watched it all and wondered if having a Symbol of Peace that could fall was worse than having no symbol at all.
The global crime rate did decrease with the rise of All Might but was that correlation or causation? Were heroes getting better? Were there fewer villains, less reason for people to go into villainy? All Might spent most of his time in Japan and while his time in America was well-known, why had a hero that spent most of his time in one country credited with worldwide change? Izuku’s mind buzzed with these questions as he sat in his dorm room one evening unable to sleep.
Izuku had always wanted to be like All Might, saving the day with a smile and inspiring hope. When All Might chose him as his successor, he knew he was going to be the next Symbol of Peace. He believed then it would be a seamless transition. Hero Deku in spot number two when All Might decided to retire, handing over the metaphorical torch to his successor. Izuku would still have had to work hard for his spot next to All Might but was determined to do so. But now, there was a gap. There was no Symbol of Peace and no one to take up the mantle.
Seeing firsthand the aftermath of All Might’s forced retirement hit Izuku with how human All Might is. How human all heroes are. There was no guarantee they would win the battle, save the citizens, avoid mistakes, come out able to fight the next villain or even come out alive. All Might was human and he could have died in his first battle with All for One with no successor to take his place. Izuku wouldn’t be able to take All Might’s place for years. If he managed to take it at all.
Symbols have a purpose but when those symbols are human is it really worth it?
Izuku had accepted the burden All Might placed on him but he was beginning to wonder if he should have. Was the symbol worth preserving? Should so much of the hero system depend on the single hero at the top?
Izuku knew he couldn’t answer these questions quickly. He decided to do what he did best. Pulling out a new notebook he labeled the front ‘Hero System Analysis No. 1’ and turned to the first page. Muttering to himself as he wrote, he listed out topics that would need more research, his current thoughts on the system, and questions he had.
The idea was solidified one day after a conversation with his father.
Shouto was sitting at his desk with his schoolwork spread out around him as he worked on the recent Math assignment. His phone rang and he glanced at the screen to see who was calling. He thought about ignoring it again but it was the fifth time Endeavor had called today. Shouto was rather sick of hearing his phone ring. Clearly, the man wasn’t going to give up.
“Father,” he answered tersely.
“Shouto, you should answer your phone when I call. I need to talk to you,” Endeavor said.
Shouto rolled his eyes. “That is usually why people call,” Shouto said sarcastically.
Endeavor huffed with annoyance. “This is important. Just listen to me.”
“Fine.”
“I know you had a run-in with a villain that goes by the name Dabi at your training camp over the summer. Dark hair, scars, blue flame quirk.”
“Yes,” Shouto said, wondering where his father was going with this.
“It has come to my attention that he might be-” his father paused and Shouto heard an annoyed grunt. “He might be Touya.”
Shouto went silent, too shocked to speak. He gripped the phone tightly, his knuckles turning white.
Touya’s dead. Touya’s dead!
He remembered seeing his brother bleeding and burned as the ambulance took him away after his quirk went out of control. He never came home. Died in the hospital as a result of his wounds. They had a funeral. His ashes and bones were in the family grave. What was his father talking about?
Touya’s dead.
“Touya’s dead,” he said numbly, unable to voice anything else.
“Touya might not have died,” his father said without any emotion.
“But the burns, the hospital, the funeral! I remember you putting his ashes in the grave. What are you talking about?” Shouto was barely able to keep himself from yelling. This didn’t make any sense.
Touya’s dead!
“He ran away from the hospital after he was admitted. No one with a healing quirk had been able to help, he had been too weak. He was never found, assumed dead, and we held a funeral,” Endeavor said.
“But the ashes. You told us he died in the hospital. Touya is dead. Touya died. We had a funeral.” Shouto knew he had started to become incoherent but unable to stop himself. “Touya is dead. He can’t be a villain when he is dead. Those burns. Touya died from his burns.” He felt his mind burning with thoughts as he ignored whatever Endeavor was saying.
Touya’s dead. Touya might not be dead. Touya might be alive. Touya might be a villain.
“Shouto, listen to me. I am only telling you this because he has attacked you once before. You may be targeted again in the future. Dabi is a villain and needs to be stopped,” Endeavor was starting to sound angry but Shouto was unable to say anything as his mind continued to run.
Touya might be alive. Touya might be a villain. But alive!
“Shouto! Do you understand?” Endeavor yelled into the phone.
Shouto hadn’t been listening, but he wanted this call to end. “Yes,” he said, clipped and short.
“Good. That’s all.” Endeavor said and hung up.
Shouto set his phone down and stared at the Math homework in front of him uncomprehendingly.
Touya’s alive!
His father had lied about his death. His father had faked Touya’s death. He knew his father saw his children as a means to an end but to care so little? Shouto had believed his father had cared in some way, but he sounded so uncaring on the phone.
Do Natsu-nii and Fuyumi-nee know? Does mother? Should I tell them? Touya’s alive!
Touya had been pushed into villainy.
The thought struck like a lightning bolt. This too, like his mother’s mental breakdown, was the fault of his father. The number two hero, number one now, had broken his wife and pushed his firstborn into villainy. Shouto was already sure he never wanted to be a hero like his father but now he knew what kind of hero he wanted to be.
The idea was solidified after the School Festival.
Izuku was resting after the cleanup in the common room listening to his classmates’ chatter. He scrolled through the photos that were taken that day. Eri had smiled so much that he wondered if her cheeks hurt. The day had been wonderful and he was grateful he could give Eri a day filled with fun.
Izuku let his mind wander as he scrolled, thinking about how they saved Eri. All Might couldn’t have saved her. She was too hidden. It took dozens of small-time local heroes all working together with Sir Nighteye to locate her. Without Sir’s investigative skills she would have never been found. All Might would have never faced off against Overhaul. He was too high ranking to have even been considered for the raid on the Shie Hassaikai. It would have leaked if All Might was on the case and Overhaul would have gone into hiding with Eri long before the heroes could have made a move.
It was only due to the fact that the main people on the case and actively investigating were relatively unknown. Ryukyu and Fatgum worked in the right areas to be involved without raising suspicion.
Izuku was seeing it more and more. The smaller heroes seemed to make a larger difference but rarely had the strongest quirks. Instead, they depended on surprise and honed skill to defeat the villains. Villains often underestimated local heroes too.
Their raiding force had only just been enough to save Eri and that had come at a high cost. Too high of a cost. Sir’s death and Mirio-senpai lost his quirk, neither should’ve happened. Eri’s power was the only reason he had been able to save her. She saved herself. Victims shouldn’t have to save themselves. What good are heroes if children have to save themselves from villains like Overhaul?
And the league had been there. All Might had managed to defeat All for One but Shigaraki and the rest of the league were still out there. Trying to be the next Symbol would paint a target on his back. A target he was willing to take but did that target mean the league would actually go after him? So far they hadn’t, not since the mall incident and clearly, Shigaraki wasn’t out to kill him that day. The league was hiding in the shadows, somewhere he couldn’t track them.
Izuku headed back to his dorm room. Once inside he pulled out ‘Hero System Analysis No 2.’ His research had expanded to a second notebook pretty quickly but the results were damning. He flipped through, rereading bits and pieces of information he had gathered. He already knew the picture that had been painted. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, his decision was already made.