You caught sight of the emergency chord at the corner of your eye. With one pull of that red string, you could call for help, but you quickly realised that it would be pointless. After all, what could a couple of doctors and nurses do against a licensed Hero?

Your uncle dusted off his suit as he cleared his throat. "How are you feeling, (y/n)?"

"I-I'm mostly fine."

"I have no idea of how to take care of kids, but don't take me for granted," he said in his gravelly voice. "No fever or anything? Your face is red."

Todoroki's ears perked up at the innocuous words as he stayed still, as still as he could behind the curtain. Because he had snuck into your room earlier than the visiting times allowed, he didn't debate going into hiding as soon as he heard knocking at your door. Even though he had managed to keep his cool in the heat of the moment, his heartbeat sped up when your uncle said: "Right, I'll open the window for you."

A cold shiver ran down your spine as he gave a step towards that side of the room. "No!" You clenched your sweating fists. "I mean- don't worry, I'll get it."

Daiki narrowed his skeptic light blue eyes, scanning your arm in the plaster cast. Though he assumed that it was just you being stubborn as usual, always wanting to pull your own weight, a fickle spot of doubt lingered within him.

Shuffling to the corner of the bed, you put your feet into your slippers. As you stood from the bed and ambled to the window, Daiki stole a glance down at his metal briefcase. He studied it, as though its dead weight would pull him into the ground. With an unhinged chuckle, he wondered if there was a special place in hell for people like him. The debt collectors had him on a short leash, which sometimes felt more like a noose.

Todoroki noticed the tremor in your hands, as you peeked at him on your left. He covered his mouth with his palm, stifling his breath. Droplets of sweat trickled down his tense neck. The early summer sun hit his back, but he didn't want to use his ice quirk, fearing that it would make a noise.

The children's security lock unfastened with a 'click', and you pushed the window open with your uninjured hand. Nevertheless, that wasn't the only clicking sound in the room. You whipped your head back, recognising the sound of the briefcase opening.

You took in how Daiki looked at his briefcase with such down-cast eyes, and then back up at you. The muscles in his arm tightened, regret etching his chest already.

Even though you tilted your head to the side, you wanted to scream out loud. You swallowed, hard, when you saw him bring his hand to his back pocket. You could take him on by surprise. Perhaps, dash and borrow enough of his life energy to make him faint? But he was strong, and your wrist had multiple fractures that had yet to heal. Every time you had trained with your uncle before starting at U.A., he had beaten you.

"What's the problem?" he took his favourite lighter out of his pocket.

Yet you held your ground, forcing yourself to appear calm.

Your uncle raised a brow before he began twiddling with the lighter. "Still in shock?"

Todoroki shut his eyes, furrowing his eyebrows as a wasp landed on his shoulder. Somewhat stupefied, the wasp made its way into Todoroki's shirt. Todoroki resisted the urge to smack it, feeling it trail down his pale back.

You heard the faintest ruffling behind you, which you knew could not be the wind. You took a sharp breath. "A bit. I'm still getting over what happened at the training camp."

Your uncle pressed his lips together, not entirely satisfied with your answer. He had an inkling that you were on to him. He knew that you were smart. You had got into the most prestigious hero school in the country, after all. But he wasn't sure of how much suspicion lingered in your heart when it came to him. His only clue was one fingerprint. And it belonged to you.

"(y/n), are you planning on coming back home or staying at the U.A. dorms?"

You ignored his question, far too focused on him as he lurched forwards and placed his briefcase on your bed. Your white-washed face wasn't sufficient proof, he reckoned. There were multiple ways of doing this, but in the back of his mind, some common sense remained.

"I brought you a gift." Daiki placed his lighter back in his pocket in preparation for opening the briefcase in front of you.

"Oh, really?" you feigned interest, scared shitless. You cursed under your breath when you heard a faint grunt behind the curtain. What the hell, Shoto?! You stared at your uncle, waiting for his expected, yet bloodcurdling reaction.

"Did you hear something?"

The pressure was on to pull through with your acting skills. You felt your stomach churn with anxiety as you rubbed the back of your neck. "No... so, what's the gift? I'm really looking forward to it."

Though your mouth quivered the corners, seeing your perky smile broke him. His time was almost spent, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not when he knew how badly you wanted to become a hero. Not when he had helped you train, and seen you collapse from exhaustion from pushing yourself too hard. Especially not when your (e/c) eyes mirrored your dad's unsuspecting ones that hellish day.

"On second thought," Daiki locked the briefcase. "I will give it to you on a later date. Soon, but I don't think you're ready yet," he said, his tone softening towards the end, almost as if he was talking to himself.

You only let out a long sigh of relief when he walked out and shut the door behind him, but you swiftly turned around to check on Todoroki. Your shoulders relaxed as he pulled the curtain open and stepped towards you. Taking care not to hurt your broken arm, you wrapped your uninjured arm around his body. With that hug, your rattling hearts began to subside.

"What even was that?" you whispered.

As Todoroki caught up his breath, he gazed at you. "Well done, (y/n). You did so well."

"Are you okay, Sho? What happened to you?"

"I'm sorry for the noise. I got stung by a wasp," he admitted.

You dug your nose further into his shirt, not minding the scent of his boyish sweat. Although you wouldn't say it out loud, you kind of liked it, as it comforted you. "I'm not gonna lie, I thought he was going to hurt me. You should've seen his eyes. All this time investigating what he's up to... that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Why was it that pro-heroes had such a hard time pointing a finger at one of their own? Corrupted heroes weren't unheard of, even more so nowadays with all of the post-Stain talk.

Todoroki wanted to tighten his embrace around you, but he stopped himself as he glanced down at your plaster cast. As he looked down at your soft hair, the full realisation of the things you were going through sank in. "You've done so much on your own," he muttered softly, stroking your hair. "I want to help you. Shall we investigate together?"

"It'd be quite dangerous, but yeah. Last time I was home, I took pictures of his diary. Maybe we could check out where his meetings are?"

Todoroki nodded, satisfied that you were letting him into such a delicate area of your life. "As I said earlier, I am here for you."

Those words felt like Todoroki was reaching out to you from the surface, helping you pull your head out of the sea of worries. "And I am here for you, too."

You looked back into his concerned mismatched eyes. Neither of you smiled as the summer light seeped through the window. Had your uncle not visited you today, you would have cherished sharing this moment much more, as it was now clouded with wariness about what was to come.

"Sho, let me help you with that wasp sting."

A tiny smile broke on Todoroki's lips before he replied in self-imposed reluctance. "But you said you should be careful with your quirk."

"It should be okay. I swear I won't overdo it."

"Alright," he absentmindedly agreed. A tinge of rosy pink set near his cheekbones. "Actually, (y/n), it's on my back, so I would need to take my shirt off."

Heat rose from the base of your neck to your cheeks. You looked down, averting your eyes away from him. "I-I'll see what I can do. Please, turn around."

Though Todoroki's mouth parted in surprise, he followed your request. You got some paper towels, and wet them in the sink so that you could clean the sting first.

He straightened his spine, feeling your fingers brush against his back as you lifted his shirt.

You furrowed your eyebrows as you examined the various angry scarlet patches on his back. The wasp must have gone all out on him until it managed to escape.

A dim light shone from your palm as you placed it against Todoroki's skin, your pulse starting to speed up once again.

"All done," you said, gently pulling your hand away.

As Todoroki turned around, he saw how you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. "Thank you, (y/n). That will come handy when we become heroes."

"Yeah, I hope so, too."

Todoroki shook his head as he scoffed at himself. "Is it bad that I don't want you to do that to anyone else but me?"

You let out a pure laugh, that welcome warm feeling filling your chest. You loved seeing this side to your boyfriend so much that the future daunted you a little less. But that didn't mean you were looking forward to receiving your uncle's hell-bent 'gift'.