Darkness. Silence. The total lack of any sensory information from anywhere left me feeling uneasy. I must be within Compress' Quirk. Damn, my reflexes have gone lax... But was Shoto able to avoid his attack? Damnit, I hate not knowing what's going on outside this small sphere of existence! At least when he had to compress me during the fight between All Might and All For One, I was unconscious and didn't have to experience this disorientation...
Unaware of how much time had passed, suddenly I was outside in the normal world again. But Shoto and I still weren't alone. The green-haired kid that Shigaraki kept obsessing over, Midoriya, was here now. But why? He looked like he'd been in a fight, scratches and bruises visible on his exposed skin. Wait... Wasn't this the kid that Shoto faced during the Sports Festival? He stared at me with an intense gaze, breathing heavily as he stood over Compress' unconscious body. Had he been the one to knock Compress out?
"Oh good, you both reverted back to normal. I was worried that he'd still be able to maintain his Quirk while he was unconscious," said Midoriya as he offered a hand to help Shoto back to his feet.
I set my right hand ablaze and advanced towards the green-haired brat. "And just what do you think you're doing here?"
"Wait Touya, he can be trusted, I swear!" said Shoto as he put up an arm in defense of the kid standing before me. "This is Midoriya. Although I'm not sure why he's here now, he has proven to be someone I can trust."
"I've been noticing you getting more distant, Todoroki. I wasn't sure of the reason, but it still concerned me. I accidentally caught you sneaking out one night a few weeks back. I didn't tell anyone because I wanted to confront you about it myself. I never found the right moment to do that, and then the fight with your father and that Nomu happened. I had this feeling that you weren't just going to rest in your room tonight, and I was right. So, I ended up following you here. When Mr. Compress showed up, I knew that I couldn't remain an observer any longer."
This wasn't good. I doubt Compress was the only one that found my recent behavior suspicious. Once it gets back to Shigaraki that Compress knows my secret, I'll have the entire League of Villains on my back. I crouched down over Compress' body and hovered my hand above him, igniting my palm. A sheet of ice cut my flame down before it could catch him on fire.
"What do you think you're doing, Touya?"
"This is the only way to keep my secret from being exposed. If he shares what he learned with the League, they'll be no end to them pursuing me. And you by association."
"I can't let you do that, Touya, there has to be another way!" Shoto answered back desperately.
"Don't you get it? This isn't going to be some storybook happy ending! The information that guy has now could kill us all. If we don't kill him, then—" Midoriya cut me off, his voice shaky but confident.
"Heroes have to fight off villains every day, for all kinds of reasons. If they do find out your identity, we'll be prepared for the backlash that creates. I can't condone murder, even if it's to keep others safe. Todoroki, we also have another problem we need to discuss."
"I know, but... If you could just give us some time, I have more that I need to say to him."
Midoriya nodded, "I trust you to do the right thing, Todoroki. I'll handle things here, just make sure you don't end up regretting anything, okay?"
I didn't like the thought of putting my life in that kid's hands. Trust wasn't something that villains held in high esteem, as evidenced by Compress' lack of it when dealing with me. We learned to trust our own instincts and actions. Right now I wasn't doing well listening to either of those. My gut told me to just raze the entire park to ashes, but my head... It just wanted to believe that death and destruction didn't have to be the absolute solution to every problem.
"You're going to regret handling it this way, little hero. Killing him would have been far easier than what you're about to let happen."
Midoriya answered, "We never expected any of this to be easy. But to be able to save someone, even in a hopeless situation, that's what makes a hero. You should get going, the police will be here soon," he looked to Todoroki, "I'll try to give you as much time as I can, but I can't keep the truth from them."
"Thanks, Midoriya." Shoto gestured for me to come with him. This was my last chance. The fork in the road that would dictate how the rest of my life would play out. I could avoid so much pain by walking away from this and destroying the last remnants of my past. Or I could follow the only remaining light from those dark times and still risk losing it all.
Against my better judgment, I decided to go along with my little brother. If things were going to get dangerous either way, I'd rather be in a position to destroy anyone that would threaten him.
There could be no light without the existence of darkness, after all.
Retreating to a nearby warehouse, we snuck through the gate and, after ensuring we weren't followed, sat down to relax for a moment.
"He's going to tell them about me, isn't he?" I didn't have to see Shoto's expression to know he was upset.
"Not everything. He won't tell them your identity, I'm sure of that."
"But his 'sense of justice' can't allow him to forgive my past sins, right? All that I did at the training camp, and beyond that." Shoto could only nod in response.
"So I guess if this is the last time we get to talk, we should get everything off our chests. To respond to your earlier comments; no, I never blamed you or hated you for anything that happened back then. My leaving wasn't on you. I decided that for myself. It was the first selfish thing I'd ever done, and I don't regret it. I don't want to go back to that life, Shoto."
"I'm not asking you to go back, I just don't want you to disappear again. Things got... So hard once you were gone, Touya. Mom was always so sad, she cried all the time. And he... Well, he didn't change at all."
"I can tell," I gestured towards his face and the scar around his left eye.
"Oh, this wasn't him. It was his fault though, he pushed her over the edge." Shoto traced the edges of his burned skin as he spoke.
"What does that mean? Who did that to you?" I asked, "If it wasn't him then who else—"
"Mom did it," Shoto replied. "He was constantly arguing and fighting with her over what he was doing to me. She had been heating some water on the stove for tea one morning. When I walked into the kitchen she was on the phone. She said that she wanted to leave and that my left side was unbearable to look at. When she realized I was there, she lost it and threw the boiling hot water at my face."
Fuck... I should have known she couldn't keep that promise.