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Some people might say that Shouto spends too much time with Kaminari Denki and Sero Hanta, especially considering they are members of the ‘rival’ Bakusquad - a group unwillingly run by the resident angry pomeranian himself.
But, he had a good reason to.
Halloween was coming up, and from the start of October the two of them had declared a prank war on each other.
From Kaminari’s screams echoing around the dorm building when Sero taped clown face pictures to his bedroom window one night, to Sero’s screeches when Kaminari dismantled his bed frame in a way that would collapse when just the right amount of pressure was applied to it. Even the awkward shuffling in class when their single brain cells collided and decided on putting itching powder inside each other’s underwear on the exact same day.
They may be the resident class idiots, but they were smart when it came to how to best mess with the other-- and this was exactly the kind of help Shouto needed.
See, Halloween was never a ‘thing’ in the Todoroki household. It was always deemed pointless, a holiday purely for people to party and “waste their time being idiots”. But being placed into a dorm with 19 other teenagers, all of whom had some prior experience with the holiday, it was hard not to want. The opportunity to try something new was exciting and Shouto had to admit he was curious.
Especially about these… pranks.
Shouto had never really pulled a prank before. Sure, he knew what they were from watching his siblings play from his window when he was younger-- but he’d never actually taken part in one.
And so, he questioned one day,
“Kaminari, Sero, how do I pull a prank on someone?”
Kaminari and Sero could probably claim whiplash from how fast they turned to face Shouto, equal looks of shock on their faces. Twin grins quickly began to spread across their faces, as Kaminari literally sparked with his excitement, momentarily losing control over his quirk.
“This is the best day of my life,” Kaminari exclaimed, patting the seat next to him “Have a seat, my faithful student. Let the masters of prank teach you how it’s done.”
Shouto took the seat. He was… excited? He wasn’t sure. Curious, definitely.
“So,” Sero bent forward, placing his oversized elbows on his knees, slipping slightly but catching himself before the punch to his own face could occur, “Who’s the target?”
“Oh.” Shouto thought carefully. Who could he practise on? Bakugou? Sounds like that could be a mistake. Midoriya? No, Midoriya was his closest friend, he’d hate to betray his trust.
And then it hit him.
“I would like to prank my father. Endeavor.”
Kaminari and Sero froze. Did he break them? He didn’t even use his hands?
Kaminari suddenly let out a loud snort, before the two of them burst into wild laughter.
“Bro, holy shit, this really is the best day ever.” Kaminari worked out through his laughing, sitting up straighter.
“Well for this, we gotta break out the big guns”.
Shouto was excited.
They suggested waiting for Halloween day, for ‘maximum atmosphere and impact’. In Shouto’s opinion, the day couldn’t come fast enough.
His father seemed shocked when he showed up that day, obviously convinced that Shouto would be spending his first real Halloween with his friends. But no, Shouto had more important things to do.
As Endeavor left, dressed for his patrol, Shouto’s work had begun.
He started simple-- replacing the sugar with salt, something Kaminari had suggested as a ‘longer-term’ prank. ‘Basic but effective’. He then entered his father’s bathroom, and using super glue stuck all of the contents to the surfaces.
Glue is messy, he discovered, trying to pry his fingers apart from each other.
To make Endeavor's life even more difficult, he removed all of the products from the shower cubicle, hiding them throughout the bathroom cupboards, before coating the white towel hanging on the rails with baby powder.
Making his way to his father’s bedroom, he then took the left shoe of all the pairs he could find, before beginning to hide them around the house. In kitchen cupboards, the training room, Natsuo’s old room, and even a few strewn about outside for good measure. After this, he hid various speakers around the house, programmed to play various songs of Kaminari’s choosing at a range of times, including a mentioned waffles and pancakes song to play at 4AM? Shouto had no idea, but judging by the gleeful way Sero agreed, it had to be a good prank.
He then picked up the cling film, remembering the prank Kaminari and Sero placed the most importance on.
Sero snickered, “Todoroki, please. Before you make your escape, you have to get this on camera.”
He was to… place this at the height of his father’s face on the doors?
Shouto shrugged, what did he have to lose at this point.
And so around he went, stretching the cling film over the top of various doors within the house, leaving a few clear for a ‘false sense of security’, as Sero had put it.
After a couple of smaller-scaled pranks, he sat down in their main living room and awaited his father’s arrival.
Shouto must have dozed off, as he awoke to the front door creaking open. His father’s heavy footsteps echoed through the quiet house, and Shouto sat bolt upright while reaching for his phone.
“Shouto? Are you here?” He heard his father gradually making his way towards the living room, and quickly jumped up while sliding his phone onto its camera app. Shouto crouched down, angled in a way to perfectly view the full door frame but to remain hidden from his father’s view until it was too late.
It begins.
With each step his father took, Shouto’s anticipation grew. This was his very first prank, and definitely the first he’d ever pulled on his father, something he would have never dreamed of doing. But that was then, and now, Shouto wanted to live in each moment. Enjoy his life in a way he never had before. To make the most of each opportunity he was given.
Why not mess with his father for a change?
He tensed, sensing his father round the corner to step through the door frame. And then three things happened in quick succession.
One, his father made to step inside the room, and instantaneously his face was mushed into the cling film, imprinting his face and forcing him to fall backward.
Two, the light of his father’s flames, released in his shock from the situation, lit up the door frame.
Three, Shouto’s camera flash went off in rapid fire, as he took as many pictures as possible of the moment.
Shouto glanced at his father, now at his eye level as he’d fallen backwards onto the floor, and he moved quickly to take another picture.
The cling film was no longer attached to the door, but instead remained attached to his father’s face, latched on tight to where his burning mustache had popped up in his shock. The front of the cling film hung down, attached only on that spot above his lip, revealing the widened eyes of his father.
He blinked-- once, twice, before steadily coming to the realisation of what had happened.
Shouto stood, looking down towards his father, and to the tune of the ‘spooky ghost sounds’ playlist Sero had found to play on some of the hidden speakers, uttered those three all-important words,
“Happy Halloween, father.”
And then he ran, straight out his father’s front door and into the street, huffing a soft laugh as he did. Faintly in the background, he could hear his father’s signature scream echoing throughout the house, framed by the even louder sounds of the ‘Monster Mash’ song Kaminari had suggested.
The loud “SHOUTOOOO” was no doubt heard all around the world.
He allowed himself a laugh then. Sure, he wouldn’t get to see the next few pranks in person, but knowing they were in place just to mess with his father that little bit was enough satisfaction. Plus, he didn’t doubt the incoming barrage of text messages he’d receive, and as usual ignore, over the next few days.
Pulling out his phone, he grinned slightly at each of the pictures he’d taken, the mushed up face of his father lighting up his phone screen. Quickly he sent them off to Kaminari and Sero as a backup, a way to make sure the pictures were never lost, and were possibly even shared around the internet by the next day.
He should take Kaminari and Sero out for soba as a thank you; there was no better way to thank someone than with soba.
With that in mind, he made his way slowly back in the direction of the train station, to head back home to the dorms.
He smiled again, mentally patting himself on the back.
A job well done.