"My parents told me something today, and I think a little part of me died."

Todoroki let your words sink in, retracting his hand away from your tear-stained face and placing it against the bed covers.

As your eyes flickered up to meet his, you chewed down on your bottom lip. A crushing weight settled on your chest as you noticed the caring, soft expression he wore, which made breaking the devastating news tougher for you.

When your mum had packed her bags and left without an explanation, she had left all of this baggage behind for you and your dad to deal with by yourselves. You couldn't face doing the same to Todoroki. Not when you knew he had plenty of his own to have to deal with.

Yet, Todoroki could tell that even though you lay right before him, you weren't quite in the room. Disconnected, empty, as if denying reality had brought you this far and saying anything else would make you crumble.

And the last thing he wanted was to make you break.

So, he waited for you to reach this place, knowing that there were a million things he could quiz you on, but they were all secondary. He hoped to be your rock: he would be the reason when emotion prevailed, and sort out whatever had happened to you.

Thinking it was hard to understand what was going on through your mind as you took a sharp breath, Todoroki reached out to you again, lifting your chin. "What are you thinking about now?"

That I really, really don't want to lose you, but I'm not prepared to give up on my life-long dream, either.

You took his hand in yours, drawing it away from your face. But when your fingers touched, with a spark of electricity, the loneliness suddenly came undone. "I don't know where to start. I'm trying not to think too much about it, but it hurts."

"Here?" Todoroki pointed to his temple, his eyebrows knitting on his forehead.

Though you usually would have let out a heartfelt laugh, you let your head sink into the pillow, and you placed your hand against your aching chest. "No, here."

"There's no need to push yourself. Take your time."

You sat up, bringing your knees close to your chest, trying to occupy the least space you could. Even now... he's taking care of me. Even when he pulled the 'stay away from me' card, he was taking care of me, in his own silly way.

Todoroki's body mirrored yours at first, albeit out of instinct, but then he decided to get off the bed and circle you. He knelt in front of you, taking care not to make the floor creak so you could regain some focus on him.

Seconds later, your stomach let out such a loud growl that not only did it snap you out of your trance, but it also made you throw your hands up to your face.

At least the impromptu embarrassment had shaken off a little of that numbness that had settled deep inside you.

Todoroki titled his head to the side. "Perhaps, you could try pressing some pressure points that the complementary medicine book alluded to? It might help with indigestion."

As you gently closed your eyes and shook your head, you found yourself diving further into the rabbit hole, which replayed the pleasant memories you had shared with Todoroki. Boy how you missed those ordinary, joyful days when there wasn't so much to worry about.

No, no one could replace him. And nothing would ever be the same after you got this off your chest. How could this flavour of happiness ever return after taking its leave from your life?

As he crouched down, analysing that some light had returned to your eyes, he asserted, "I see, you've regained some of yourself."

"Thanks to you, Sho," you muttered. "You're the only one who knows how to."

And, though some joy rattled him, your stomach let out another concerning sound that made him formulate a theory closer to the truth; you had probably not had anything to eat since breakfast.

Though his impatience had never overwhelmed him to this extent, he took hold of your right hand with care. "(y/n), what is it that you want me to do? Something that would make you happy?"

"To be honest, I'm a bit hungry, but that can wait." You rubbed the back of your neck, sheepish. "Just... hear me out, okay? I don't want to believe it, but I have to tell you."

As your lips began to move again, he wished that he hadn't heard what you had made yourself utter.

Looking down at your hands, which Todoroki held on to while you explained to him why your quirk played up on you so often, you wondered why no tears ran down your face, and why this emptiness had decided to take over from within you.

As if you were falling, the ground beneath you disappeared as you added, "So my mum said this drawback to my quirk will only get stronger if I keep experiencing these strong emotions. It was only this morning when you said I don't talk much about the past but... I-I missed her so much when she left for America."

Under Todoroki's unrelenting gaze, you tried to steady yourself. The unresolved tension in the room grew, making you unsure of whether you would face a soft landing, or crash and burn. "But if this is genetic, it means I have to choose, too."

Todoroki swallowed thickly, his jaw clenching as he ruminated over the many ways he believed he had spoiled what you two had built together.

Just when he had thought that step by step, through the self-reflection that love required, things were getting better, he had blinded himself to the elephant in the room.

He hated the fact that you had to go through this much suffering when you deserved the world. And it wasn't like Todoroki could pin the blame on your parents as he did with his father, knowing you cared about them, even if they had hidden something so crucial from you for so long.

Thus, he froze in his place, pinpointing the next best possible culprit. In his obsession of not becoming a failure, had he failed you? Had he damaged you beyond repair when he pushed you away, despite being what he had grown to fear the most?

Fortunately, your docile voice, although drowned out in his self-destructive thoughts, reached him. "Sho?"

"To think that this is all my fault makes me so scared." A slight tremble caved into his voice.

"Hey, it's not your fault at all. And I-I can't bring myself to choose either. Even talking to you about it..." You shuddered, as he caressed your knuckles with his thumb in an attempt to ground himself. "It makes it too real."

Before any more self-doubt could make him let you down when you needed him, he realised just how much you trusted him. There was no way he would allow you to fight this battle on your own, regardless of how much strength he saw in you.

And if what was done couldn't be undone, there was only one way forward.

To stop asking himself how you two got here, and start figuring out how you could move on. Todoroki would not lose you. Not when you were the first and only person he had ever loved this way. Not when he wanted to support you and try as hard as he ever had to make everything right.

You tensed as he stood up, towering over you, his eyes obscured by his bangs.

He couldn't help but think of himself as selfish because he didn't want you to make a decision yet. But giving up easily was something he rebuked, so he hunched over and said, "We'll find a way to make it work. We'll get you some help. More than that, I will help you."

His voice dropped as he noticed the clouds in your eyes finally clear. "We'll get you on your feet again. If there's nothing we can do to change this right now, we'll find a solution, eventually."

Nodding slowly, you got up and took a step forward, accidentally making your toes collide with Todoroki's foot. "Um, sorry, Sho."

He acknowledged you with a nod and allowed you to rest your head against his chest, aware that you found this comforting.

How could he remain so reliable after learning what could prove to be your fatal weakness?

Though Todoroki looked down at the ground, he brought you closer towards him. "And, at this point, we won't just talk about it... we'll draw up a concrete plan, and work a way around this hurdle so that you don't have to choose one path or the other."

"R-right," you said, not without noting that Todoroki's words possessed more than a sprinkle of your characteristic wishful thinking.

Todoroki distanced himself a tad from you so he could study you, unsure of what else to say. He didn't want to disappoint you in any way, so he didn't even want to think about what he would have done in your position.

Perhaps, had he allowed it, you would have already greeted him with goodbye.

Trying to shake this notion, he peered down at your vulnerable self, recognising that he longed to make you feel at home, although he had never felt that way here. "So... food?"

"Yeah, food," you said, weary.

"Of course, my Love. And a shower, too?"

"Do I really look that bad?" You straightened your crumpled (f/c) shirt, catching Todoroki off-guard.

He opened his mouth to respond, but settled for one of his classic wordless responses: a half-hearted scoff coupled with a brief shake of his head.

As this let you know that he was on edge like you, you inched towards him and gave him a delicate nudge on his elbow.

A wave of relief washed over him, until he met your (e/c) eyes at the corner of his vision. Not seeing that shine he had grown so fond of, the one so full of life, brought him back to the situation at hand.

To put it all at stake for him, was that what he was asking you to do?

---

You stepped into the shower, a chill running up your toes as they met the tiled floor. With your mind in tatters, you let the lukewarm water trickle down your back. It escaped you why Todoroki still wanted to keep you around. That was what had scared you the most, what had made it so hard for you to talk to him this afternoon.

And all the times you had encouraged him to open up hadn't made it any easier on you. Now, on your own, you wished that there was nothing left inside you, because that would always be better than feeling like you had been ripped in half.

As a few black dots clouded your vision, you reached for the damp wall to support yourself but your hand slipped. Instead of risking a fall, you decided to sit down.

You covered your eyelids with your wrinkled palms, letting out a soft whimper.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," you sniffled, roughly rubbing your nose as your throat tightened. "I know staying miserable doesn't help anyone. I know."

The thousands of drops of water continued to fall on you, turning your hair a darker shade as some stubborn tears rolled down your cheeks and went missing in action.

"Why do I never manage to tell him what happened with Chi when we were little?" You placed your hands against your face, trying to reassure yourself. After so many years of telling yourself that you weren't to blame for what had happened that day, you had learned to believe your lies.

However, nothing could change the fact you had sucked so much life out of your friend that she escaped death by a thread.

Your shoulders trembled as you attempted to quieten your sobbing. All too aware that what you had told Todoroki today about your quirk would make him view you in a different light, so revealing that well-hidden aspect of your childhood would only destroy whatever image he had left of you.

Why is he still there?

You gasped, sensing Todoroki's distinctive presence outside of the bathroom. In all likelihood, he was leaning against the door.

As the black dots threatened to make a comeback, you heard three knocks - classic Todoroki, in some ways. Checking on you as, either he had heard you crying, or you had stayed still for too long.

While you hoped it was the latter, the concern that laced his voice still tugged at your heart. "(y/n)," he said, mindlessly reverting to calling you by your first name.

His grip on the medium-sized, off-white towel tightened. He had been reluctant to hand it to you earlier because he didn't want to invade your privacy, but, beyond that, his eyes set on the door handle as the mistaken realisation that you had collapsed in the shower dawned upon him.

Without second-guessing himself, Todoroki pushed the door open and rushed towards you.

Nevertheless, he stopped himself right on his tracks as he caught sight of your shadow on the other side of the shower's curtain, switching the tap off.

"You know, I love your theories, but I'm fine, Sho."

He cleared his throat, heat rising from the base of his neck up to his ears and cheeks as if his body was about to catch fire. He would be lying if he said that the thought of seeing you in this state didn't appeal to him.

"So quiet..." Your fingers traced the shower's curtain like you were used to getting told that you meant trouble. "I don't mind you being here," you blurted out, pink setting on your face as you took in what you had just said.

"Apologies. If I stay for much longer... I'll just..." Todoroki placed the towel he had brought you on the furniture next to the sink. "I don't want to do something that makes things harder on you. I respect you, and want to treasure you."

You shivered, the cold of the condensed water droplets on your skin finally catching up to you. In spite of the fact that your knees felt like jelly, ready to give in as your heartbeat sped up when you realised what Todoroki had implied, you just ran your hands through your wet hair to squeeze out some water.

Struggling to choose between staying or leaving, Todoroki turned around, so, in the very least, he wouldn't see you when you stepped towards him. "Are you okay? What do you think? Or are things reverting to the way they used to be?"

Silence. And not the kind of comfortable silence that put him at ease.

The image of your dull eyes as you stood by his side earlier this afternoon burned through his mind. "Are you still there?"

You dried your body with the towel inside the shower and shoved the dark T-shirt that Todoroki had lent you on. Yes, you had brought your suitcase with you, but you couldn't refuse the offer to wear his clothes. More than the comfort their overly large size brought you, you had an inkling that it made Todoroki the tiniest bit proud.

"Maybe, try one question at a time?" you half-joked.

"Yes, fair enough. I suppose I shouldn't--" Todoroki straightened his spine as, out of the blue, two arms wrapped around him from behind. "What is this?"

"Don't worry," you said in a hushed tone, hugging him tighter. As you dug your nose further into his shirt, the faintest scent of burned fabric got to you. "It's just to shake off the bad luck. I said I could hold you one last time earlier, so I just wanted to make sure I was wrong."

---

Having lounged together for the rest of the afternoon, Todoroki gave you a sideways glance, noticing you blinking to keep yourself awake so that you could watch the action-packed film with him.

When he suggested that you two went to bed early, you stood up from the lavish sofa in the living room and stretched out your arms without him needing to insist.

You tiptoed behind him as you rubbed the sleep from your eyes, soon finding yourself in the guest room after a quick stop at the bathroom, where you brushed your teeth.

As you took a seat in front of him, from the two dips on the bed covers, you recognised that it was blatant you had both lied there earlier.

Todoroki let out a tired sigh and placed his hands in his grey tracksuit bottoms' pockets. "I guess, this is where we part ways..." he trailed, though he wanted nothing more than to stay here and cuddle you in his arms, silently adoring the sight of his shirt on you.

Todoroki placed a gentle good night kiss on your forehead. "Make sure you let me know if you need anything. I mean it. Rest well, baby."

As he turned away from you, you tugged the hem of his shirt to stop him from leaving.

The urge to get closer to him overwhelmed you. The desire to connect with him, talk with him, touch him... everything piled up at once. But you restrained yourself, knowing that if you pounced on him, the weight of regret would etch your chest later.

Once you retracted your hand away from him, you tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear. "You know, maybe, it's not that bad that my mum only told me about it today. Because, maybe, I wouldn't have tried to become a hero if I knew."

"Your point being?"

"I wouldn't have met you."

With that, he gained the confidence to ask, "May I stay here tonight?"

"Yeah, thanks." Your lips curled into the closest that they had been to a smile the whole afternoon, and you made some space for him as you got under the soft covers.

Although Todoroki was ready to tell you that you shouldn't thank him for this, he knew you well enough to recognise that it had become a habit of yours. So, he tried to relax as he lied next to you without another word.

"I'm sorry if I hoard the sheets in advance," you drowsily whispered.

For a good while after he dimmed the lights, he wondered if he would manage to fall asleep given that his heart pounded against his ribcage with such force that he thought you might hear it.

But, before you drifted to sleep, you reached out for his warm hand, helping him calm down.

Spiralling deeper into the muddled madness of your mind, the pain of making impossible choices haunting your dreams, you tightened your grip on Todoroki's hand. That proved enough to brace you from falling into the darkness of the night.