Endeavor's flame

      He opened his eyes with difficulty. His head hummed like a beehive. He was sitting in a dimly lit room, in a chair shackled by iron shackles that blocked his abilities. In front of him in a chair, in a relaxed pose, sat the white-haired villain.       "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," Dabi said with a sneer in his voice.       "What the hell do you want from me?" In a hoarse, alien voice, after a short pause, Shoto said angrily.       "Aren't you glad to see your big brother?" Dabi continued in the same tone.       "That crummy freak can't be your brother," he suddenly remembered Katsuki's words.       "You're not my brother," said Todoroki Jr. firmly.       "How rude, but that's what I like about you, brother," Dabi laughed.       "What do you want from me? I thought you wanted to kill me," said Shoto, looking at the villain with hatred.       "I still do, so don't tempt me, okay. I just suddenly wondered what it would be like to be a successful Endeavor experiment. How does that make you feel? No disrespect for those who were culled: Fuyumi and Natsuo?" Dabi finally voiced his question.       "Culled," thought Shoto tensely, and remembered Endeavor forbidding him to play with his older brother and sister, claiming that they were from another world.       "I never considered them culled," Shoto said firmly.       "Come on, the only one of Endeavor's offspring who didn't boast of his great strength, superior to that of his father. That can't be right. He's been soaking in training and learning, perfecting his already immense abilities. When was the last time you asked how Fuyumi was doing at work, or how Natsuo was doing at the institute. When was the last time you just sat in front of the television in the evening, not waiting for Fuyumi to call you all to dinner or lunch together and you came as if you were doing him a great favor," Dabi said and his blue eyes sparkled mischievously. It was as if he already knew the answer to his question.       Shoto was silent. He had nothing to say to that. Each of them was in his own tiny world. Only Fuyumi occasionally looked at him and smiled warmly, remembering how the baby with huge eyes and rare heterochromia took her finger with her tiny fingers when her mother let her and Natsuo watch her little brother. That's what she dreamed of: watching movies together so she could discuss the plot later, fun birthday parties, picnics in nature. All the things that are done in normal, friendly families. But it was different for them, even though she tried very hard.       "Well, your silence speaks volumes," Dabi said triumphantly.       "It's none of your business," Shoto said stubbornly to defend himself against Dabi's attacks. "Really. Like it or not, I'm part of our friendly Todoroki family. The truth is, I never lived up to the Endeavor's great expectations. Think about it, if I was like you, none of you would have been born. And if you'd been born like me or the others, you'd have a younger brother or sister. Maybe even more than one," grinned Todoroki Sr.       "What's your point?" Shoto asked.       "That you are nothing but pawns in his game. No matter how the Endeavor, this great experimentalist, behaves. No matter how hard he tries, he'll never be a good father. He just doesn't know how to be a father. It's fun to watch him try, though. The way he pretends that other kids besides you mean anything to him. I mean, he's been to all the competitions you've been in, praising you for your victories. I don't think there's any need to answer the question of whether he did the same for the others. You're special," Dabi said, rising slowly from his chair and walking toward Shoto.       He instinctively tensed, feeling threatened by the villain. Dabi stopped, came almost close, and leaned over him to look into his eyes. Shoto involuntarily met his gaze.       "Just like his father," thought Todoroki Jr. as he gazed into the blue of Dabi's eyes. But something elusive flashed in the cynical gaze: hatred, disappointment, frustration, pain of resentment. All these feelings were familiar to him too, but since joining the academy something had begun to change in him. And the reason for that, in his opinion, was his friendship with Katsuki, Izuku, and other classmates. Talking to them made him look at some things differently, and his family relationships as well.       "What do you want from me?" Shoto asked, wanting to end this conversation as soon as possible.       "What do I want?" He asked roughly, grabbing him by the hair, not letting him look away.       "Tell me, brother, what it's like to be the Endeavor's legacy. It's been a long time since you acknowledged his power and used it. And now. Tell me how you feel when the Endeavor's flame awakens in you. How your heart beats faster, raising your body temperature. How the pores of your skin expand, releasing the flame. How the heat spreads around you, because the burning speed is so fast that the flames don't have time to appear, destroying everything in their radius. And the overpowering feeling of great power, of being in control of everything, like the Almighty. That's right," Dabi said.       Shoto listened to him spellbound, absorbing every word and intonation of his mocking, ingratiating voice. He could not help feeling that Dabi saw right through him.       "I was right again, and it's getting boring," Dabi said with a bored expression on his face. "Now imagine your own flames causing you unbearable pain. How your skin blisters after every time you activate your ability. How that pain keeps you awake at night. How the admiration quickly melts in the eyes of the one whose praise you were waiting for as a gift from heaven. And you're no longer Daddy's favorite child, but an unnecessary trash that you can just forget exists," Dabi continued.       "And you brought me here to tell me about your childhood grudges against my father," replied Shoto.       "No, little brother, so you can see what will happen to you if you don't live up to your number one expectations. So you have to be a superhero, whether you like it or not," grinned Dabi, who was amused by the confusion on his little brother's face.       There was a deafening rumble. The door to the room shook with a mighty thud. Dabi let go of Shoto and stepped away from him.       "Oh, Daddy, hoof rattling, has rushed over to rescue his beloved child. Okay, it's time for me to go, but I'm not saying goodbye yet, my little brother," he said, heading for the wall. There he pressed a hidden key and part of the wall slid aside. And just as Dabi disappeared behind it, the door fell with a noise from another mighty blow. Endeavor and his squad, including Bakugo and Midoriya, burst into the room.       The Endeavor looked anxiously at the bound Shoto and rushed toward him.       "Are you all right? Are you hurt?" he asked, releasing him from his shackles.       "No. No need to worry," replied Todoroki Jr. calmly.       And doubts began to plague him. Is the Endeavor worried about him as a son, or as a valuable result of the experiment. Shoto looked at his father incredulously, and he noticed the coldness in his gaze.       Attempts to chase Dabi down the underground passage were fruitless. And sitting in the car on the way home, Shoto recalled over and over again his conversation with Dabi. Everything he had said was confusing on the one hand, but on the other he could not help admitting that Dabi was right. He was all too aware of what was going on in his family.       "No. You can't let him win," Shoto decided to himself as he lay on the futon in his room. He realized that it was not enough for Dabi to destroy his body; it was much more pleasant to destroy his soul, causing suffering not only to the hated Endeavor, but to everyone around him. And there was no way Shoto was going to let that happen.