Todoroki Shouto had been a figure in your memory for as long as you can remember. You used to speak to him through his back garden fence, he would always turn up with fresh bruises, cuts or having just thrown up. You worried for your fence friend a lot and asked him what happened. Most of the time he said he didn't want to talk about it, once he got angry with you for asking so you stopped after that. To this day you still wondered how he got those bruises, so here you were, on your way to his house to ask to see him.

You walked down the streets near his house and thought about what you wanted to say to him. Hi, nice day isn't it? How did you get those bruises and cuts when you were little? No, that's both too blunt and too soon. There's nothing to soften the blow...

You reached his house in no time at all and knocked your special knock. Todoroki's sister, Fuyumi, opened the door and smiled to you.

"Oh _______, hi, he's out at the minute I'm afraid, he went to the hospital to visit our mother."

"Oh, I'm glad he's started to meet her now." Fuyumi nods.

"We were two. Thanks for stopping by, I'll let you get on your way then, goodbye, I'm sure we'll see you soon." She giggled.

"See you soon, and thanks Fuyumi!" You said jogging away, waving. Now your destination was the hospital.

Along the way a decent sized pebble caught your eye and you began to kick it along the path. It kept you busy but also brought your attention off where you were walking and you ended up walking straight into someone.

"Oh gosh, sorry I wasn't looking where I was going." Looking up, it was the person you had been looking for, "Todoroki!"

"Hello, _______." He graced you with a smile.

"Are you coming back from the hospital then?"

"Yes, my mother was feeling a little tired so I cut our talk short. Were you coming to see me?"

"Yep!" You said, popping the 'p'.

"What did you want to talk about, I assume you want to talk about something in particular or you would have messaged me on your phone." Well, he had a point.

"Yeah well, do you remember when we were little and I was only allowed to talk with you through your garden fence?"

"Yes, why?" At this point you were both walking back to the Todoroki household.

"Well, I have a question. You've gotten angry with me for asking before but I really am curious. I know I shouldn't press the matter but I'm still concerned about it."

"What is it though?"

"When we talked, just how did you get those cuts and bruises?" Todoroki had no outwards reaction other than a plain shrug.

"My dad was trying to train me as soon as I got my quirk to be a pawn to become the number one hero. He would train me until my mother intervened or until I physically could not move."

"That's horrible! Did nobody know about this?"

"No, my mother was afraid of my father so she wouldn't say anything to get him in trouble but, she did try and help me by stopping my father, until she burned me of course."

"Is that why she is in the hospital now?"

"Yes."

"How come you never wanted to tell me? Until now that is." 

"Recently someone told me my eyes were like my fathers, always looking to somewhere far ahead."

"Isn't that a good thing? You've got your eyes on the prize."

"Well, my father wants something that may not be seen as a good thing, while all I wanted to do was deny him anything to do with me. It was a bad far away look. What they told me made me see that I was headed down a dark path and that I would end up like my father."

"That's so sad! I'm here for you if you need me Shouto. I guess I'm just mad that I didn't notice and I wasn't there when you really needed me, I'm sorry." The boy knew you were sincere, you never used his first name unless you wanted him to know you were serious even though you were both in a relationship of five months. You looked to the pavement and balled up your fists as you walked back to Shouto's house. 

From the corner of your eye you saw Shouto's hand reach out towards yours, hesitating slightly before tapping your fist. You slowly opened it and he quickly gripped it.

"You were there though. When I needed you, I thought of you and everything didn't feel so daunting anymore. I still do it now, when I'm stressed."

"Aw, that's so sweet, thinking of you calms me down too!" You squeezed his hand, but squeaked out of surprise when he presses a kiss to your forehead.

"We're in public!" 

"No-ones around though."

"... I guess you're right..."

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