THE SINS OF THE FATHER (BnHA Dad for One AU)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Mirrors

"What did I miss?"

Tensei looked at the person who just came back from a phone call. He smiled and told him, "Our brothers' team came at second, just behind the Bakugo kid's team. But how'd the call go?"

"Ah, it went well." Tenko answered.

"I see. Well then," Tensei stood up. "The festival is having its noonday break. Let's go get our brothers and eat lunch?"

Tenko stood up and followed the former out of the VIP area.

---

"Tenko, you what?!" Izuku exclaimed after Tensei ratted out his brother.

"I'm sorry! The call was an important one! I wasn't expecting it until next week, and I didn't expect to receive it today." Tenko scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I hope it was worth it." Izuku said sarcastically, while crossing his arms. Then Tenko accidentally blurted, "Oh it was."

Izuku glared at his older brother for that statement. Tenko immediately realized and apologized, while Tensei, Tenya, and Ochaco just laughed.

As they were walking, Tenko suddenly realized, "Hm? Won't Shouto be joining us?"

His older brother's question and reminder made Izuku stop in his tracks. The rest of them stopped as well.

"Izuku? Is something wrong?" Tenko asked as he noticed Izuku was clenching his fists.

"Was he ever even my friend?" His little brother's voice was low, inclining to silent anger and sadness about to burst out.

Tenko bowed to get to his brother's height. He then asked his little brother, "What's the problem, Izuku?"

Izuku furrowed his brows then he answered, "It's... earlier today, before the first event, he heard me speaking to Dad and he suddenly got mad at me for no reason. Since then, we've both been trying to beat each other in the events. I still don't know why he's angry with me."

Tenko straightened his posture then he tugged on his chin. "He got mad after he heard you talking to Dad? Well, I guess that answers your question."

Izuku, as well as their companions, looked at Tenko in confusion. The young man with light blue hair understood their confusion and explained, "Well, there are rumors that the Todoroki household isn't exactly a warm home, and that Enji isn't exactly the father-of-the-year type. This is just me being superficial, but could Shouto have been jealous of your relationship with Dad?"

"But Tenko," Tenya interjected. "Shouto mentioned something else."

Tenko became curious, "And what was that?"

"He suddenly accused Izuku of intentionally planning to half-ass the Sports Festival." Tenya answered.

Tenko tugged on his chin again, then he asked his brother, "Izuku, you didn't happen to have been talking to Dad about your bones, were you?"

Tenko's words confused Izuku, "I-I was, why?"

"It's just a speculation but maybe he overheard you talking about being more careful not to break 'them' and mistook 'them' as the other competitors. He probably thought that you were confident enough to think you were strong enough to accidentally hurt other people. Furthermore, if I'm correct and he ended up being a product of Enji's attempt at creating a tool through Quirk Marriage, then Endeavor was probably rough on his training. No one can get as good as you nor him with their Quirks without training since their Quirk had manifested. That was probably why he sought to be your friend. He saw that you were the same as him, a child that had been homeschooled and trained since the first manifestation of your Quirks. The only difference being Enji is an asshole, while Dad is, well, Dad." Tenko explained.

"But again, just speculation. Take my words as you will." Tenko smiled at his little brother.

Tensei, Tenya, and Ochaco had to blink multiple times to check if what they just saw was real. Did he just get all that from a few clues?!

---

I lost to him... again.

Shouto turned at the corner, only to be met by a person that he didn't want to be seeing at that moment. Shouto tried to ignore the man and continued walking but the man placed his hand on Shouto's shoulder to stop him.

"You should've used your left side to surprise him. He knew that you wouldn't use it that is why you lost. If you had just used it--"

"I will never use my left!" Shouto flicked his father's hands away.

"I will win against Midoriya using half of my power. I will prove to him that throwing away his father's kind training is the worst mistake he'll ever make." Shouto declared.

---

The final event has begun. Midnight informed the people that two students had withdrawn beforehand and as such, two students from the fifth team, Itsuka and Tetsutetsu, filled in the slots.

The pairings were then drawn. The first battle will be between Tenya and Shouto. Then the next will be between Izuku and Itsuka Kendo.

Izuku looked for Shouto among them. At the back, he found him. His eyes were full of anger and sadness.

...Endeavor was probably rough on his training...

...probably why he sought to be your friend, he found you to be a kindred spirit...

Izuku clenched his fists.

---

NOTES: To be honest, not really proud of this one. It jumps around a lot and keeps on skipping, plus it's also short. Maybe I can compensate in the next chapter/s?