"Ow..." he muttered, gingerly maneuvering himself so he was leaning against the low brick wall behind him. He heard footsteps, and instinctively twitched, before looking up at the source of the offending noise. "You- you're not Kacchan..."
The stranger knelt down quietly, his two-toned hair falling into his face. "Is this 'Kacchan' the one who did that to you?" He gestured to the large bruise on his cheek, "Or those?" He referred to the burnt handprint on his shoulder and several more burns and bruises visible on his exposed arms.
He scrambled to pull down his sleeves. "We-well, sort of. I'm the one who provokes him, so they're my fault anyway. Why do you care?" He stared into the stranger's face, but saw no hint of a malicious smile like with Kacchan. Instead, there was a soft half-smile, gently crinkling the skin beneath heterochromatic eyes, one of which was surrounded by a large burn scar encompassing half his face.
"I was in a similar position to you, once. I had someone bigger and stronger than me giving me bruises and burns daily." The stranger held out his hand. "My name's Shouto Todoroki."
He took it. "Mine's Izuku Midoriya."
"Midoriya-san, would you mind if I helped you tend to the burns?" Todoroki offered. "Judging on your arms, I'd say you never really learned how to take care of them properly."
"That'd be... really nice." Izuku said after a minute.
"I'll be right back. My apartment's close, so I'll grab the supplies and meet you back here. Be right back."
Izuku grabbed the back of Todoroki's coat. "Th-thank you, Todoroki-san."
"It's nothing, really. I'll be back in a minute, so don't black out." Todoroki said, gently removing his jacket and placing it on Izuku's shoulders.
"Okay, I won't."
He watched Todoroki step out of sight, then focused his gaze on his hands.
'Nobody's ever been that nice to me unless they had to. Why... Why am I feeling like this? I've only ever felt like this about Kacchan, and... even that's been fading as the hurt's gotten worse... Am I being unfaithful? Feeling like this for Todoroki? Oh, oh no, oh, no oh no oh no... I don't want to be unfaithful to Kacchan, I don't, but I can't stop how I feel. My heart feels like it's being squeezed, why is it hurting so much? I want it out! Out, out, out, out! Oh, why, why, why?- oh, i'm going into another anxiety attack, i need to calm down before i hurt myself, Todoroki would notice- Wait, wait, wait, deep in, deep out, c'mon, c'mon, can't can't freak out, no, not here not now not right now! Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath' "Out, you're doing great, Midoriya-san, just breathe. Mimic my breathing, that's it, you're doing great. In, out. Good."
He recognized the voice, after a second. "Todoroki?"
"Sorry." The warm presence was gone. "I shouldn't've left you on your own after something like this, you spiraled in your thoughts."
"N-no, not your fault. Just... just... Kacchan, today... he... he knew what today was... and didn't care." Izuku gasped out.
Todoroki was closer, and Izuku could feel his heat again. It made him... calm(?) and made it feel like the omnipresent storm had cleared, for a second. "So, today was either something special or something sad, and 'Kacchan' decided to inflict physical and emotional pain on you regardless?" Izuku nodded, slowly, and heard Todoroki scoff. "Then he's almost worse." Todoroki didn't elaborate, so Izuku didn't push.
"It's... it's the anniversary... of my mom's death. She- she was... 'collateral damage' during a fight between Endeavor and some two-bit villain at the mall where she worked. Endeavor was apparently taking his son school shopping when the villain decided to rob my mom's store. The villain used... some kind of enhancement Quirk, and my mom was the hostage. Endeavor- he... he killed them both."
Todoroki's warmth was back in full, but was still the same distance. Izuku re-opened his eyes to see Todoroki's left half, the side with the burn scar, partly on fire. It was instantly put out, and Todoroki's eyes looked partly afraid, partly infuriated. "I- I remember that day. He insisted that I'd have to go to actual school, since he'd sent my mother to the hospital. He took me to the mall while my face still had the wraps, then disappeared for several hours. Later, I'd learned that he'd killed the villain Usa, and that a store clerk had gotten in the crossfire. He'd given me a much longer 'training session' that day."
"En-Endeavor is-"
"My asswipe of a father. He's disowned me, technically, at the ripe old age of fourteen. I hate the bastard quite a bit, maybe more than you." Todoroki interrupted, a patch of ice growing on his right cheek. He rubbed his left hand on it, and the ice went away. He began to dig through a backpack he slung off his back.
"Your Quirk's really cool." was the first thing that came out of Izuku's mouth. He immediately pinched the inside of his arm, hating that he just blurted the first thing he thought of. Kacchan hated that, and so might Todoroki, though he hoped that he didn't.
"Thanks. What's yours?"
"Tele-telekinesis." Izuku whispered.
"Why didn't you use it?" Todoroki asked, stopping his rustling through the bag.
"I- I can't... it's got too-too much of a ... a strain on my bo-body to use it, so I can-can't." He winced, expecting some type of pain, but it didn't come.
Instead, Todoroki merely said, "Okay." and went back to fishing through the bag, finally surfacing with a ribbed bottle of burn cream, some bandages, and gauze. "Can you take off your coat and shirt so I can dress your injuries?"
"Su-sure." Izuku gently pulled off Todoroki's coat, then his own coat, then his button down, and finally, gingerly, his undershirt. "I have a big one on my back, can we do that one first?"
"Sure." And so Izuku turned around, exposing his back to Todoroki. On it, there was a large third-degree burn, covered in soot, ash, blood, and charred flesh. "This part is going to hurt, so put this in your mouth." Todoroki warned, handing Izuku a thick pad of gauze.
Just as Izuku put it into his mouth, his back suddenly exploded in agony. He could feel nothing but an absolutely mind-numbing, excruciating PAIN. He groaned, shifting away, but the pain was still omnipresent.
Only then did he realize that he was screaming through the gauze, and that the faint buzzing in his ear was in fact Todoroki, whispering 'I'm sorry' s and 'You're doing so great' s.
After five more seconds of agony, it stopped, but his wound still throbbed. "I'm so sorry, I know that must've felt awful, but I had to get off all the soot and clean the wound. All that's left is to dress it." Todoroki said from behind him. Then he felt the cloth being placed against his wound carefully. The fabric wound around his chest and back, completely covering the wound.
Next, Todoroki moved to his shoulder, which was slathered in burn cream and dressed with more bandages and pads of gauze. The same treatment was given to the burns on his arms, as well as the bruises, and his arms were each covered in bandages as well. Once he was done, Izuku looked down at himself. "I'm a mummy." he remarked dryly.
"Yeah, totally." Todoroki agreed, and Izuku wasn't entirely certain Todoroki wasn't being serious. "So, here's a couple painkillers, do you think you'll be able to make it back to your house?"
Todoroki handed him two white pills, and a plastic water bottle, and watched as Izuku swallowed them down. "Yeah-yeah, I can make it... it's-it's not too, too far..."
"Okay. Do you have a phone?"
"Yeah." He hands the flip-phone over to Todoroki, and is given it back after a minute.
"Text me if you need anything, or call. I barely sleep, so don't think you're bothering me when you call or text. I'd be glad to help, or talk, or whatever." Todoroki turned around to go, before looking back over his shoulder and meeting eyes with Izuku. "You should really find someone else to obsess over. Someone who will be kind in return."
And he left back the way he came, as Izuku gathered his things in his arms and got up. Izuku made his way to his apartment in silence, slowly pulling on his clothes and slinging his backpack onto his back.
'Is... Is Kacchan really my, my obsession? I, I mean, yes, he's been getting meaner, but isn't that just... just his way of saying he cares?' -stronger and meaner- 'Yes, Kacchan's stronger, and he can be mean... and he burns me, and bruises me, but is he the same as Todoroki's father?' -YES- 'but, he does it because he's trying to make me 'better', right?' -TODOROKI'S FATHER WAS TRYING TO MAKE HIM BETTER, TOO. TRYING TO FORCE SOMETHING THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. BAKUGOU IS JUST LIKE ENDEAVOR- 'No, no, Kacchan cares, Kacchan does-' -IF HE CARES WHY TODAY? WHY NOW? TODOROKI CARES, AND HE CLEANED YOUR INJURIES, NOT INFLICTED THEM. YOUR MOM CARED, SHE NEVER HURT YOU. THINK! WHY WOULD BAKUGOU HURT YOU IF HE ACTUALLY CARED?- 'He, he wouldn't, would he? He hasn't cared since... since we were kids!'
And suddenly it's like he was peering through a little stained glass window, but the wall's just been tore away.
"Bakugou... he doesn't care, does he?"
'No, he doesn't, but Todoroki does. He's kind. He said... that I should stop obsessing over Bakugou and find someone else, right? Why not him? He was sweet, and kind, and didn't care when I told him I was basically Quirkless... so, why not? He's pretty, and kind, and hates Endeavor. Since he's my new obsession, can I stop letting Bakugou bully me, abuse me? I think so...'
When he reached the door to his apartment, Izuku smiled. "Can I say I love you, Todoroki-sama?"