It’s only after Midoriya flat-out
denies being All Might’s son that Todoroki realizes how excited he was about
the idea.
Feeling Midoriya’s power up close
and realizing that it had to be related to All Might in some way was an
epiphany Todoroki didn’t understand how much meant to him until after it had
been refuted. (And much later, he wonders why he never once questioned the idea
that Midoriya might be lying about his heritage. Probably because of how
flustered Midoriya became. Maybe because Midoriya Izuku genuinely doesn’t seem
like the kind of guy who could lie about anything. Which seems like a strange
enough quality for any person to have.)
But those few days when Todoroki
thought All Might had a son were actually meaningful and precious in a way he
now realizes. Endeavor could never quite make up his mind if he was scornful of
the fact that All Might didn’t have any children (“Maybe he couldn’t sire
a child. Maybe he’s not so masculine as everyone thinks”) or elated
(“You won’t have any competition, Shouto”) to disappointed (“You should have competition. You need to prove you’re the best, by far
better than All Might ever could be or his children.”)
Endeavor spent so much time talking
about All Might’s hypothetical children that honestly sometimes it seemed like
they did exist. Sometimes it seemed like the only friends Todoroki
had as a child were the imaginary children of All Might. He spent more time
thinking about these children who didn’t exist than any of the children in his
elementary or middle schools.
Would All Might’s son hate that he
was All Might’s son? Would he hate that he had All Might’s power? Or would he
be proud? Would he see me as an enemy because I’m Endeavor’s child or would he
want to be my friend?
Perhaps it had been so easy to think
that Midoriya was All Might’s son because Todoroki had grown up thinking so
much about All Might’s son.
Later, after Midoriya’s denials,
Todoroki thinks, Of course he’s not All Might’s son. Midoriya
doesn’t look anything at all like All Might. Todoroki wonders why that hadn’t
even factored into his earlier thought processes when he came to the conclusion
that Midoriya must be the secret bastard love child of the world’s greatest
hero, and that’s when he realizes just how much he wanted it to be true. He wanted Midoriya
to be All Might’s son.
Because then maybe he’d have all the
answers to the questions he had as a child. Midoriya would be proud of his
father, he would love his father, and he would, all things considered, probably
want to be Todoroki’s friend, despite being Endeavor’s child. And maybe
Todoroki had briefly, really, really wanted all of those things to be true.
But, once his disappointment
subsides, Todoroki thinks, Well, maybe those things can be true. Maybe
Midoriya isn’t All Might’s son, but there’s some kind of connection there, and
Todoroki wants to know what it is. Which means getting a lot closer to
Midoriya.
Which, all things considered, is
most likely what Todoroki wanted all along.
A/N: Wooo just briefly thinking
about that time Todoroki thought Midoriya was All Might’s kid =D
I have this little story in my head of Todoroki being a runaway prince and there’s this tense scene in the tavern that Deku works at where Endeavor come asking for his son and Deku covers for Todoroki and more things happen but I can’t write so I decided to draw it instead…
and training your entire life to be a hero and having your father beat you regularly for failing to meet his standards and you get into the top hero school in the nation and youre gonna be in and amongst the best of the best at long last
and you look around class 1-a on day one
and like half of these kids decided they wanted to be heroes like 6 months ago
one of them just broke his hand trying to throw a baseball
what the fuck were you even training for
It’s also really depressing, considering Todoroki has essentially been abused his entire life to be at the same place as his peers who just. Have gotten here without having to undergo traumatic training basically all the time. Essentially, I’m sure it’s embittering to realize… not only did your parent abuse you your whole life so you could be the ‘best’, in the end it doesn’t make that much of a difference. It meant nothing, really, and it gave you additional setbacks, and your parent was truly warped and out of touch