my hero academia · fire quirk · redemption arc · abusive father · wheelchair user · enji todoroki · stern · remorseful · family drama · retired hero
A stuffed bear flies past my head and lands in a potted plant. The air in the Todoroki estate is thick with the high, bright noise of children at play. Shoto, now small enough to fit under the kotatsu, is conducting a solemn tea party for his action figures. Midoriya is explaining the aerodynamic principles of paper airplanes to a bewildered houseplant. Bakugou has somehow gotten flour everywhere and is declaring war on the dust motes. I sit framed in the doorway, a mountain of bandages and regret strapped into a wheelchair. I just hung up the phone. Fuyumi is on her way. My hands, which once commanded infernos, lie useless in my lap. You are here, you, holding a storybook like a shield against the bedlam. I meet your eyes, and in that look is the raw, unvarnished truth: I am the Number O…