MHA: Undying

(Todoroki POV)

Izuku’s bullying has gotten worse apparently, but whenever I’m around Izumi, Bakugou, and the other kids leave him alone. I think they’re probably scared of me getting my dad involved. But after all the hell he’s put me through, I know that he’d probably encourage them to do worse. Either to ‘toughen me up’ or because Izuku is ‘making me weak’. Either way, me and Izuku will be dealing with them ourselves.

But before we get to that point, we have to get through our last few weeks of elementary school. But since we’re both confident in passing our final exams, we’re just hanging out at the park. He’s also showing me something he hasn’t shown anyone else apparently.

“You promise you won’t make fun of me? Or laugh? Or stop being my friend?”

I sigh in exasperation. “I promise I’m not going to make fun of you, laugh, or stop being your friend.” He opens his mouth but I continue, knowing what he’s going to ask next.. “Nor am I going to tell anyone else what you’re going to show me.”

He lets out a breath. “Um, ok then. If you’re sure?” At my nod, he finally pulls from his backpack… a notebook.

Seeing it, I give him a dead-eyed stare. Which is different from my usual blank stare. It’s hard to tell the difference for people who don’t know me, but Izuku can.

“I’ve already seen your artwork. Why would you make such a big deal out of this?” My eyes widen fractionally and I take a small step back. “Don’t tell me you're drawing something lewd!?”

“Huh!?!?” His mouth hangs open in shocked silence. Which just confirms my theory!

“My mom warned me that all boys were interested in things like that, but she said that I wouldn’t have to worry about it until middle school at the earliest. But you have always been ahead of everyone else in academics. I guess it makes sense that you’re ahead of them here too.”

“Wait!” He shouts to stop my muttering. It’s an odd habit I picked up from him after spending so much time together. Though I can’t mutter nearly as fast as he can. Sometimes I wonder if he mutters enough to fill an entire book.

“It’s not my artwork!” He takes a deep breath. “It’s… one of my other notebooks. You know, the ones that make Izumi and Kachan get angrier whenever they see them?”

Todoroki scowls at the reminder. “Yeah. Though you won’t let me…” She trails off as she realizes what’s going on. “You’re going to show them to me?”

He nods, his nerves acting up. “Y-yes. I am. Um, you know that I like analyzing quirks and writing them down in these?”

How could I not? What with Izumi and Bakugou spreading around how creepy Izuku is for doing that. At my nod, he takes another breath. “Well, my notes may be a bit more… detailed than anyone knows.”

He holds it out to me after a moment’s hesitation, the title proclaiming it to be ‘Hero Analysis for the Future: #10’.

I open it up to a random page and see a detailed picture of a woman with bunny ears in a leotard. Seeing my judgemental stare, he flushes and tries to assure me that the person in the book is actually a popular up and coming hero.

I decide to hold off on punishing him until after I’ve read what he’s written. “Name: Mirko. Quirk: Rabbit. Enhanced physique, and animal traits. Prefers to use her legs when fighting. Speed, strength, stamina, and flexibility are far above most heroes. Likely to enter top ten quickly.” I look at him in surprise for a moment before I continue reading.

“Master of hand-to-hand… can hear smallest sound from great distances… possibly had fighting experience before becoming a hero…”

What follows are details upon details of how her quirk might be affecting her body below the surface, such as theories on how it enhances her. Not to mention where she might have gotten her fighting experience, theorizing that she might have gone around challenging anyone she met back in high school.

Then I get to a section that’s more… concerning. “Loud or high-pitched sounds might cause disorientation. Ear plugs a part of costume? Good instincts, but straightforward personality. Traps most likely weak point. Rabbit instincts? Possible repression of ‘prey’ mindset. Overwhelming foe might cause flight instincts to flare.”

I look at him, my best and only friend, in confusion. He waves his hands in front of him as he assures me that his notebook shouldn’t concern me. “I-I just really like analyzing heroes! Wh-when I do, I can’t help but think about who they are, and what kind of situations they might get into! ThenwhenyouthrowquirksintotheequationyouhavetowonderhowthingswouldchangesoIdoandthenbeforeIrealizeitIendupwithafewpagesofstuffabouttheheroandIknowitsweirdImsorryIunderstandifyoudontwanttobemyfriendanymoreIllgonowso- ow!”

He yelps in pain as I smack his head with the spine of his notebook. “You were panic muttering again.” He says sorry and I sigh, trying to parse what he said while he was muttering. “You don’t have to worry. I told you that I wouldn’t stop being your friend, and I meant it. I was just surprised about how detailed it was.”

“Re…really?” He asks, his voice hopeful.

I nod. “The notes are really good, not to mention the part where you made notes on how the hero could improve themself, even if it was only them adding more protections to their hero outfit.”

He beams at me. “Y-yeah! I’ve noticed that a lot of hero costumes are more centered around aesthetics than functionality, though I’m sure that they’re made out of really strong materials. Which does mean that villains they fight will underestimate them, thinking that they lack protection, unless it’s associated with their quirk. I’m sure that’s how a lot of villains have gotten captured! Striking the hero and thinking that they won only to find out that their costume protected them. I just love the surprise- ow!”

I smack him on the head again. “You were fanboy muttering again.” He repeats his apology and I sigh as I go back to the page about that rabbit hero. Unknown to me, my eyes glare at her picture as they look at her body before switching over to the information portion.

I only skimmed it at first since there’s so much written down, and it’s all crammed onto the page. Flipping it, I see that there’s two more pages written down! I shake my head in bemusement.

Izuku really is smart. No, he’s a genius. If even half of the theories he wrote about her are true, he could either skyrocket her hero career, or end it completely. Just then, my eyes alight on a certain part of the analysis and the air around us grows cold.

Izuku, feeling the change, looks around in confusion. “Huh? Did the temperature just drop? Oh, did you do that, Todoroki? If you were feeling warm, we could have moved to the shade. Though this also works to train your quirk control-”

“Izuku.” I say, my voice as cold as my ice. He looks at me questioningly while I point to the section of his notebook that caught my eye. “Why do you have such a big section dedicated to theorizing on whether or not she goes into heat like a normal rabbit?”

He says nothing, his mouth hanging open as he tries to think of how to explain.

His punishment for being a pervert is brutal.    

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“Hmm. Nothing really going on with this scene. Just Midoriya showering Todoroki with his passionate words.”

“”HEY!”” Soahc’s phrasing is not taken well by certain members of the audience. Most notably Uraraka in jealousy, and Todoroki in embarrassment. Mina, however…

“Don’t go sinking the ship! They’re adorable together! Set sail on the Todoriya express! Wait, his last name is Yagi here. Shoku? Izuko? Yagaroki? Todoragi?”

“SHUT THE HELL UP RACCOON EYES!” Bakugou, tired of their noise, decides to shout back.

“This is a rather troubling discovery.” Nezu mutters. “When we get back, remind me to talk to Midoriya about his notebooks. It would be quite dangerous for them to fall into the hands of any villains.” Detective Tsukauchi is in agreement. 

Aizawa nods, impressed by his student’s analytical abilities. He knew about his notebooks of course, but he never realized just how detailed they are. I wonder what he’s written about me? He is the only one who realized who I was during the test on the first day.

All Might is bursting with pride at his successor’s obvious genius. I should set up some exercises for him to do that will train his brain, as well as his muscles! Though maybe I should do that for myself as well…

Tomura is wondering if he should try to recruit the kid to the league. Even though he doesn’t like him, he can get over it if he gets someone so helpful on his side. Or he can just kidnap him. Either way works. He thinks as he looks at Mother Midoriya

The mother in question is gushing about how the two children on screen are so adorable together, along with Toga and Mina. She’s gotten used to the way the girl talks about blood, so now she just ignores it while they talk. After all, other than that, she seems like a nice girl.

Everyone chuckles when kid Todoroki gets mad at Midoriya for writing his theories about Mirko having a heat, while Nezu is mentally stunned.

How on earth has he figured that out? It’s a well-kept secret, not nearly as much as All Might’s, but still not easy to discover! If it was released to the public, trust in heroes would fall quite far, and her own reputation might not be recoverable.

I’m very happy that Midoriya decided to become a hero.