My Hero Academia Volume 5: Shoto Todoroki: Origin

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Why We Wield Power ( 何 ( なん ) の 為 ( ため ) に 力 ( ちから ) を 使 ( つか ) う , Nan no Tame ni Chikara o Tsukau ?) Since the arc I've been working on lately in the main manga series is quite frankly way too serious in tone, getting more of these slice-of-life scenes is an absolute joy! Thank you as always, Yoshi Sensei!

It's been a couple days since Izuku, Katsuki, and Shoto have started their Work-Study at the Endeavor Agency. The three chase after a robber, who uses a smoke screen Quirk to try and escape, as they prepare to corner him down an alley, but Endeavor shows up and stops him before they can. Izuku is impressed at just how fast he was able to get ahead of them, and how he was able to re-direct the villain away, while Katsuki and Shoto are mad they couldn't beat him to it. Endeavor leaves with Shoto to deal with a news interview, which he reluctantly agrees to, while Izuku and Katsuki are left to go on lunch break. As Katsuki angrily walks away, Izuku thinks about how their relationship has developed from childhood friends, to persecuted and persecutor, and now since they've started at U.A. how they've slowly started getting to an equal ground.

It's time for Class 1-A to start getting ready for the end-of-the-year holidays, and that means undertaking a big winter cleaning. The unsuspecting students get a big surprise when their cleaning leads to a crazy discovery. What's this mysterious entrance?! They have no choice but to rustle up some Plus Ultra spirit and venture inside! Well, at least you couldn’t say that he’s going easy on her because she’s a girl :P He is DEFINITELY not pulling any punches. Shield and Shield, Spear and Shield ( 盾 ( たて ) と 盾 ( たて ) と 矛 ( ほこ ) と 盾 ( たて ) , Tate to Tate to Hoko to Tate ?)

The Story of How We All Became Heroes, Part -1 ( 皆 ( みんな ) がヒーローになるまでの 物 ( もの ) 語 ( がたり ) − ( マイナス ) ① , Min'na ga Hīrō ni naru made no Monogatari Mainasu ① ?) The Wrong Way to Put Out a Fire, Part 2 ( 火 ( ひ ) の 不 ( ふ ) 始 ( し ) 末 ( まつ ) 後 ( こう ) 編 ( へん ) , Hi no Fushimatsu Kōhen ?) Know Where You Stand when It Counts!! ( 必 ( ひつ ) 要 ( よう ) ！！ 時 ( とき ) には 足 ( あし ) 止 ( と ) め 現 ( げん ) 状 ( じょう ) 把 ( は ) 握 ( あく ) ！ , Hitsuyō! Toki ni wa Ashitome Genjō Haaku! ?) Earth-Shatteringly Fateful Negotiations ( 天 ( てん ) 下 ( か ) 分 ( わ ) け 目 ( め ) の 交 ( こう ) 渉 ( しょぅ ) 時 ( じ ) 間 ( かん ) , Tenkawakeme no Kōshō Jikan ?) Now onto Izuku. Despite all of his insistences that he's in the festival to do his best and to win, come the vs. Todoroki fight, I don't think his motivator was "aiming for the top" anymore. No, this is the main protagonist we're talking about now: a kind-hearted boy whose deepest desire has always been to become a great hero like All Might.Koji Koda is doing his usual of cleaning up after his pet rabbit, Yuwai, while Eijiro Kirishima is throwing out his punching bag he accidentally broke, passing by Tenya. He comments that he still has some tiny corners in his room to clean up, and that Katsuki Bakugo's almost completely done his. The two decide to help Eijiro toss the heavy bag out, taking it outside where they spot Fumikage Tokoyami with his own garbage bag, pointing them toward the new garbage spot, as well as also assisting to carry the bag with Dark Shadow. The students end up passing by Power Loader hanging out in the forest, wondering why he's eating outside, and if it's just for a change of pace. Oh my gawd Daku, you’re not Naruto okay! You don’t have a super-fast healing ability! I understand not wanting Todoroki to win unless he gives it his all, but still! You’re going to end up destroying yourself! Todoroki's main characteristic up until now is best described as "aloof". While he's not shy about showing off his Quirk (well, his ice side, anyway), it's safe to say that he's nothing like the showboating, attention whoring person his father is. He doesn't do flashy things to garner attention like Bakugou (well, except to piss off his father, mainly by showing what he's *not* doing), and he very likely isn't the type to say things to garner sympathy. His sharing of his dark childhood and motivations to Izuku isn't to get Izuku to feel sorry for him and throw the fight; if anything, it's Todoroki's awkward way of apologizing to him. "This is how it is, and this is how I feel, and I'm ashamed that I couldn't even keep my own promise to myself (to never use his fire side, which he did during the cavalry battle), and I'm basically using you as a stand in for All Might to piss my dad off, but really, I have nothing against you otherwise." The fact that Izuku would feel UTTER HORROR at being told his classmate was abused as a child by his father and his mother poured boiling water ONTO HIS FACE doesn't seem to be Todoroki's intent; in fact he barely seems to realize the effect he has on Izuku's emotions in speaking with him. If all this didn't flip Izuku's Wanting to be Todoroki's Hero Switch, then I don't know what would. Shortly after the Todoroki vs. Sero fight (volume 4), while everyone else is freaked out at the scale and extent of his ice powers (and pitying Sero), Izuku is focused on how sad Todoroki seemed to him. Just prior to their match, he comes across Endeavor, who mainly just succeeds in reiterating what Todoroki told him of Todoroki essentially only being born as a tool for his father, and it is at this mindset and emotional state that the Midoriya vs. Todoroki fight begins. The final stages of the U.A. High sports festival promise to be explosive, as Ochaco takes on Katsuki in a head-to-head match! Katsuki never gives anyone a break, and the crowd holds its breath as the battle begins. The finals will push the students of Class 1-A to their limits and beyond! Smile, Prince of Nonsense Land! ( 笑 ( わら ) え！ナンセンス 界 ( かい ) のプリンス , Warae! Nansensu-kai no Purinsu ?)

What it means to be a hero." Being a hero is not done by winning school sports fests and garnering popularity. In Horikoshi's world, a world already brimming with heroes, to really be a hero, if All Might is the ultimate indication, is to help those in need with a smile and a simple line: "It's alright now. Why? Because, I am here." It means meddling even when you don't need to be, by those who don't want you to. And that's what Izuku does, because the deepest, main essence of his being is to be a hero, not to stand at the top. And by golly, does he want to help Todoroki. Celebration! Volume 5! MHA makes my heart race with both excitement and anxiety. It's working overtime. Still, happy days.

Table of Contents

I've been wanting to write a tournament arc since I was a little kid. Now that I've done it, I see it's a ridiculously hard thing to pull off. And so, the one who was truly aiming for the top in this match up is the one who wins, as it should be. Good job, Kacchan! Not that he's willing to accept that. If anything, Todoroki essentially giving up is *the* ultimate insult to Bakugou. I personally think this is one of the many ways that Horikoshi goes about punishing Bakugou for his younger actions.

I love Bakugo accidentally walking into the wrong preparation room, where Todoroki is having some quiet contemplation before their fight.

Bakugo doesn’t want to win unless he wins against an opponent who’s giving their all. I respect that.