After the Black Leopard incident, Rei had become terrifyingly overprotective.
She watched Natsu with soft eyes that somehow made Natsu feel guilty for some reason. If he came home five minutes late, she would call him. If he left the house at all, she asked where he was going. If he looked tired, she checked his forehead like he was still five years old and about to collapse from lack of fire.
But he could not say no to his mom.
So when Rei asked Endeavor's assistant to drive him to and from school for a while, Natsu nearly died on the inside.
Every morning, Kurumada's car waited outside for him. Rei decided to join them.
Shou laughed the first time he saw it.
Glowl took a picture.
"This is not funny," Natsu grumbled as he climbed out of the car. His mother held his hand and walked him to the school gate.
"It's a little funny," Shou said.
"It's extremely funny," Glowl corrected.
"Have a safe day sweetie." Rei called out
Kurumada, standing beside the car with his usual stiff posture, gave a polite nod. "Have a good day, Young Master Yakuto."
Natsu froze.
Several students turned around. Some recognized him from their class. Some students were twitching as if trying to hold their laughter. Natsu turned red and rushed towards his class.
Shou wheezed.
Gray was laughing. They both found Natsu's embarrassment amusing.
They both absolutely insisted on seeing Natsu dropped off the first few days.
Natsu slowly turned back toward the car, face red. "Please never call me that in public again."
Kurumada blinked. "Understood."
The next day, he called him "Sir." instead.
Somehow, that was worse.
The overprotective phase lasted longer than Natsu wanted, but shorter than Rei probably needed. He reassured her over and over that he was fine. No injuries. No nightmares. No secret villain trauma. Black Leopard had scared everyone else far more.
Eventually, Rei calmed down and stopped dropping him off personally. It was a little better
Just a little. Eventually, the driver finally stopped coming as well. Natsu heaved a sigh of relief.
But Natsu did not forget the look on her face when she first heard what happened.
So he behaved.
Mostly.
No more fighting villains for now.
Just school.
Besides, there were bigger problems. Exams were coming up and Natsu promised himself he would do better than last year.
And so,
Weeks passed in a blur of textbooks, late-night cramming, and early-morning training. Natsu, for once, was completely focused, or at least as well as he could be.. Even Gray and Shoto were surprised by how seriously he took it. Every day, Natsu studied with Shou and Glowl, even dragging himself through boring practice tests they created for him. When he got home, he studied with Fuyumi whenever she was over, who was always happy to help him out.
And finally, the results came in.
Natsu stood in front of the results board. He scrolled down the chart, looking for his name. His eyes scanned the numbers. He finally found it.
75 in every subject. For Natsu, it was solid. Respectable even. He passed with his own effort.
He practically sprinted home.
—
The Todoroki household was quiet when he burst in. He skidded into the living room. Something was familiar about this.
"Hey! Hey! Look!" he shouted, holding up his results like a trophy.
Rei blinked, startled from the book she was reading. "Oh, your exam results?"
Endeavor looked up from the dining table, arms crossed. His brow furrowed as Natsu slapped the paper down in front of them. He had a sense of deja vu. He eyes started twitching already for some reason.
"75s," Natsu grinned. "Across the board. I passed. Boom."
Rei's eyes lit up with warmth. "That's wonderful. I'm so proud of you! You really worked hard."
"Damn right I did," Natsu said, flopping into the seat beside her, chest heaving from the mix of adrenaline and pride. Rei hugged Natsu and squeezed him. Natsu was too happy to stop her.
Endeavor picked up the paper, scanning it slowly. A muscle twitched in his jaw. Now he remembered. His son did the same thing last year.
"Seventy-five," he muttered. "That's… barely above average."
Rei shot him a warning glance, he immediately silenced himself.
"Whooo, I passed." Natsu was running around.
Endeavor looked back at him, and paused.
Natsu's expression wasn't smug but something close.
Endeavor huffed and folded the paper, sliding it back across the table.
"…Hmph. Keep it up."
Natsu blinked. "Was that… praise?"
"No."
Rei giggled. "That was as close as it gets."
Natsu just smirked.
—
Two weeks of freedom. Natsu awoke with the biggest smile on his face.
No school. No studying. Just training, and some goofing off.
Every morning started the same: It was a new training schedule he had built himself. It started with a five-kilometer jog before sunrise, followed by strength training, push ups, pull-ups, squats, and core drills. Once his muscles were screaming, he'd cool down with stretches and flexibility drills.
Then came the fun part.
He made his way to the empty stretch of coast nearby, just beyond the residential blocks, quiet and mostly forgotten by locals.
There, he practiced with his quirk.
Streams of fire arced around him as he practiced short bursts and extended blasts. He ran drills: dashing into a jump, igniting mid-air, turning his momentum into spinning kicks or aerial punches wreathed in flame.
Some days he practiced restraint, low heat, high precision. Other days, he pushed the limit, forcing himself to build control without burning out.
Occasionally, he'd practice heat bursts underwater, where the resistance forced him to temper his energy or risk wasting it all in a flash.
It was quiet and some of the most fun Natsu had all summer. However, All good things would eventually come to an end. The final year of middle school started and Natsu had no extra time to hang out with his friends and goof off. The only thing he kept consistent was training. Except he would have to do it after school.
—
The year already started out rough. Natsu almost woke up late and accidentally smashed his alarm. He groaned and cleaned his face. He stumbled his way down, still sleepy. Making his way down, breakfast was already ready for him.
"Excited for the first day of your final year?" Rei asked.
"No…" Natsu mumbled, mouth full of food. He noticed his siblings were all already gone. Rei told him they left early to school.
"Hurry up, or you will be late for your first day. Do you want me to drop you off?" Rei asked, she was still a little concerned.
"Nah, it'll be fine. I'll take the train." Natsu replied before heading out. His mother had already made sure he had everything in his bag.
The sun was shining. Natsu walked down the bustling street flanked by Shou and Glowl, sipping a soda as they chatted about school. The first day was over and the trio decided to go to the arcade. It was a rare, peaceful day, which wasn't that common in Musatafu. The number of villains seemed to be increasing for some reason.
Natsu was more concerned about his school. The classes were harder and the teachers were a lot stricter. By some of the looks he received, it looked like they were warned about him.
"Comeon, cheer up Yakuto. You can do this." Shou tried to comfort him.
"The break was too short… I need another 10 weeks." Natsu groaned. "Or–" Natsu was suddenly interrupted by the sound of an explosion.
BOOM!
A plume of smoke erupted from across the intersection. People screamed and ran as a villain in a metal exo-suit charged down the sidewalk, swinging a wrecking-ball arm and laughing like a maniac.
Natsu was already mid-step forward, fire beginning to spark. "You guys stay back-"
CRACK!!!
The villain was down. Flattened. Out cold. It happened in an instant.
Natsu had barely blinked and it was already over.
Standing over the villain was a man wearing a suit with a red symbol like a bold Y stretched across his chest, centered by a white diamond. White lines trimmed in red ran from it across his torso and toward his shoulders, spreading like wings along his back. Large white patches lined with red covered his hips, and a yellow belt with a silver buckle sat at his waist. His yellow forearm sleeves gleamed in the sunlight, sharp fins jutting from the sides, while gold boots planted firmly against the cracked pavement. The Symbol of Peace. Smile gleaming.
For a second, the entire street went quiet.
Then the crowd exploded in cheers.
"All Might!"
"It's All Might!"
"We're saved!"
Natsu had seen All Might his entire life.
All Might was shown on TV on almost every news channel. He was on posters, and on lunch boxes. His videos always had the most views. Kids were always looking for the exclusive All Might trading cards. Almost everyone he knew wanted to be a great hero like him. The strongest hero. The one who smiled no matter what. Even Shoto had admired and wanted to be like him since he was young. But Natsu had only one goal in his mind. To beat him. To see if he was able to surpass the strongest Hero.
"All Might…?"
It took Natsu a few seconds to register what he was seeing. Then his brain just… shut off. A huge grin formed on his face. If he could sweat, he would be at this time.
He crushed the soda can.
"ALL MIGHT!!" he shouted, suddenly full sprinting after the towering hero, who left just as quickly as he arrived.
Glowl and Itsuki didn't even have time to react.
He blasted fire from his feet, propelling himself into the sky with a wild grin. There was a boom, and Natsu was already in the air near him.
"WAIT! FIGHT ME!"
—
His muscles were burning.
"Almost… at my limit," All Might thought as he bounded from rooftop to rooftop. "I've got maybe a few more minutes before I change back… Shouldn't have pushed it damn it."
Then he heard it.
A voice, youthful, determined, and right behind him?
"ALL MIGHT, FIGHT ME!!"
All Might turned, confused.
A student was flying towards him. His shoes and socks were burnt off as he propelled toward him. His crimson red hair dancing in the wind. He had a huge grin on his face. His first thought was that this kid looks just like Endeavor.
"...What?"
He stopped atop a rooftop. The boy landed hard in front of him, fists up, fire trailing off his arms.
All Might blinked. "Young man, what are you-?"
"Fight me!" the boy repeated.
All might was stunned for a moment. So many fans want autographs, especially kids. But this kid wanted to fight him.
All Might raised a hand, still keeping his signature smile. "Hold it! You can't just go around attacking heroes!"
"But you're the strongest! I wanna test myself!" the young man replied. A wide grin on his face. His eyes held no contempt, bloodlust or ill intent. It was pure and determined.
All Might laughed, temporarily forgetting the sharp pain in his side. "Listen, I appreciate the passion, but if you attack a pro hero on the street, even just for a spar, that's still a crime. Not to mention using quirk without a proper license is also a crime."
Natsu's flames flickered. "...Huh?"
"You could get branded a vigilante," All Might said, tone growing serious. "And if you want to be a hero, that's the opposite of what you want."
The kid looked like he was contemplating something. But it only lasted a second. "Okay, if we can fight now, I don't mind not being a hero."
"Wha-" All Might was stunned again. What a strange kid. But he was clearly strong.
"Look, kid. There's nothing wrong with wanting to fight strong people and better yourself. I respect that," All Might said with a grin. "But there's a time and a place. If you really want to challenge me someday… then get strong. Get into U.A high. Get your hero license and then maybe we can have that fight one day okay?
Natsu's eyes lit up before he asked.
"U.A., why?"
"It's a secret, but I'll be teaching at UA next year. So if you have the chops, I will see you there young man." All Might didn't know why he gave him that information, but there was something in the boy's gaze that moved him. It was such a pure reason to fight. But he couldn't let such a promising looking youth waste his talents.
Then he grinned, wide and eyes full of fire.
"Alright then. I'll do it. I'll get into UA and challenge you. And I'll become the strongest. Maybe even a great hero, sure!"
All Might laughed as he leapt off the rooftop. "I'll be waiting, young challenger!"
The kid's smile was bright, and it even made All Might happy to see. The young boy leaped off the building with no effort, a faint trail of fire under his feet.
All Might was amused. That was an interesting kid. He was also a little surprised at the kid's speed. He wasn't trying his hardest since he was about to revert, but the kid actually flew up and caught up to him. 'Definitely Endeavor's son. But he is almost nothing like him.'
'Great hero is just an afterthought huh. He could be an inspiring hero with the proper education.'
However, All Might didn't waste anymore time. He used the last of his strength to quickly escape. He would revert any second now.