It took forever. It felt like it, anyway.
Yuki eventually calmed down. Her tears stopped, but still hiccuping quite violently. Todoroki made her lie down while he knelt down by her bed. She curled into herself but refused to let go of his hand. She clutched on him tightly. She doesn't want him to leave. Todoroki isn't planning to leave yet, anyway.
"You should go change." Todoroki suggests gently.
"I'm tired." Yuki replies.
"Do you want me to get your dinner?" Todoroki asks.
"No." Yuki pulled his hand. "Stay."
Todoroki contemplates for a few second, then nods. Yuki lets out a sigh. And then, they were silent. Yuki absentmindedly traces the line on his palm with her fingertip. She fiddled with his fingers. And Todoroki lets her do as she pleases. What to do? What makes Yuki feel better?
"Father-" Yuki says, then winced as if it pained her. "Mr. Aizawa doesn't see me as his daughter."
And how was Todoroki supposed to respond to that?
It's a shock, really, a big one. With how Aizawa has been treating her without the class looking tells the complete opposite. Yes, he was somewhat distant, but there's really no indication that he did it reluctantly. Todoroki remembers the moment when Aizawa asked him to look after her. Would he really do that if he didn't care? Or maybe that's exactly why. Even though it still doesn't make sense. Yuki is fully capable of taking care of herself. There's no need for Aizawa to ask Todoroki to look after her.
"It was just me." Yuki continues when Todoroki didn't say anything. "It was all me."
"I'm sorry." Because that's all Todoroki could come up with right now.
Yuki shakes her head. "I... I just wish he'd tell me earlier."
"Maybe he doesn't want to break your heart." Todoroki says gently.
"If he told me then, this would never happen."
"Then" probably means before Yuki's... emotions. Before U.A? Now that he thinks about it, Todoroki doesn't know much about Yuki's life before they met. How different was she compared to now? What did she do back then? And it goes both ways, presumably.
One thing for sure, Yuki is strong, then and now. With or without her emotions. So to have her breaking down like this must means it was too much, too sudden. Overwhelming her. How will she get through this, when her whole life is her father? No- she'll get through it, but what will happen until then?
"Shouto." Yuki calls.
"Yeah?"
"There's something I want to show you," she says, pulling at his hand as she sits up. "Sit here."
Yuki scoots closer to the wall and pats the empty space beside her. Todoroki obeys, and Yuki reaches forward, grabbing her phone and showing it to him. The screen displays a long text, a news article, it looks like. He diligently reads through the text.
It talks about a Hero called North, how he intentionally stays away from the top 15 Heroes spot and instead stays on the 16th for one whole year, without raising or dropping. That caught the media's attention and this one had the chance for an exclusive interview.
"Things are already hectic enough as it is," North says, "I'm afraid that if I get busier I won't have time for my family. I want to put my families first, citizens second, and ranking at whatever lowest."
When asked is he's excited to be a father, North answers, almost dreamily, "I can't wait to see my daughters. I feel at ease thinking about them. They'll grow up together, play together, maybe be heroes together? But, they can be anything they want to be, it's fine. I just want my little angels to be happy."
At the bottom of the article, a picture is attached. A young man with white hair and sky blue eyes, his hand on... Iroha? And she's pregnant? Their surrounding isn't a conference room, or hero's office, it's a home. Comfortable sofa, soft-colored walls, the decorations...
"Do you think- do you think if he's still alive, I would be like this?"
"No. You'd be different."
Yuki lets out a sigh and leaned her head on Todoroki's shoulder. "I wonder if I'd be happier."
"There's no telling." Todoroki shrugged. "There's nothing you can do. You just have to live with it. Even if you regret it, it's not your fault your life is like this."
Yuki hums, and Todoroki isn't sure if that's an agreement or it's just her thinking. In any case, Yuki found her real father. Maybe Aizawa told her. Safe to say Yuki has some of his features. Most obvious would be his hair. Their face shape is also similar. Their gaze, sharp, but has a certain feeling in them. They look quite alike.
"Oh, also," Yuki gasps. "I have a twin."
What.
"Yeah." She says. "Someone from the test today told me she met someone who looks like me from her workplace. A complete stranger knows I have a twin, but I don't. Sad, right?"
"Now you know, though." Todoroki points out.
"Yeah." Yuki nods. "I want to see her."
"You should rest before that." Todoroki suggests. Yuki sighed once again, but she nodded nonetheless. He scoots off the bed and sets her phone on the desk, while she moves to lay down comfortably. The projector from a few days ago was set on the desk so Todoroki took it, placed it on the floor, and turns it on.
"Thanks." Yuki says. "And... sorry."
"Why?"
"For... this. Just, breaking down like that."
"Don't be." Todoroki shakes his head, kneeling down once more by Yuki, patting her head. "Just have some rest for now."
"Okay." Yuki nods, and closes her eyes. It stings, dry and uncomfortable. Is that what happens after you cry? That's annoying. Just as she was slowly stabilized her breathing and relaxing her body, she feels something soft, pressed against her forehead for a few long seconds. When it's gone, Yuki opens her eyes, gaze directly meeting Todoroki's. Did he just kissed her forehead-?
"Sorry." He apologized. "I read that it could make people feel better, so."
"Read it?"
"Yeah."
"You're insufferable." Yuki huffs out with no bite, amused and maybe she feels just a little bit better. She reached out and poked Todoroki's nose. "Dork."
"I'm still your soulmate." Todoroki points out, retaliating by also bopping Yuki's nose. "Goodnight," he says as he stood up.
"Goodnight, Shouto."
Their floor is silent with the whole class on the base floor, presumably enjoying their dinner. So when he stepped out the room and seea Midoriya, holding Yuki's cat in his arms, safe to say Todoroki was surprised. The green-haired boy lets the cat down and it immediately rushed into the room, Todoroki closing it right after.
"How is she?" Midoriya asks.
"She should be alright for now." Todoroki answers.
"I never thought I'd see Yuki cry... She was always so... so..." Midoriya struggled to finish his sentence, discomfort obvious on his face. But it was obvious what he wanted to say.
"Emotionless?"
"...I wish there's another word for that, but yeah."
"A lot of things has happened since USJ." Todoroki says, glancing at the door behind him, then at Midoriya. "She's confused too."
"I wanted to ask for your help, but..." Todoroki gave a pointed look at Midoriya, who shakes his head. "This is the first for me too."
"I see." That's tricky, then. Midoriya, Yuki's childhood friend, doesn't even know what to do. What about Bakugou, then? Speaking of, would he be worried if he knows? It's hard to imagine he would, he's Bakugou, after all. "Let's head down."
They were calm, thinking Yuki has fallen asleep, but she's really not. Though, she doesn't know that they were mingling around for sometime. Frankly, she could care less. Once Todoroki left the room, she waited for a moment, before climbing out of bed and heading to her desk.
She grabbed her phone, squinting at the bright light when she turned it on. She opened the contact app, scrolling down, looking for a particular number. A number she didn't think she would call on her own initiative. Soon enough, she found the number. But dreaded what she's about to do.
It's not a desperate measure. Maybe it is. But if she had been patient, there's really no need to do this. But Yuki waited long enough, at least she thinks she does. Sighing, she tapped the 'call' button on the screen and pressed her phone against her ears. It's ringing. Is this what they call nervous? Not good. It doesn't feel good at all. Still, when the ringing stops and the person on the other line greets, Yuki knows she can't back away.
"I have a favor to ask."
()()()()()
The next day, no one commented but everyone noticed. Even though Yuki was being her usual self, everyone could see her red-rimmed, slightly swollen eyes. And she does not like it at all. What's more shocking is that Midoriya and Bakugou had been in a fight that night, and now they're both on house arrest. Yuki could only shake her head in disappointment.
"How are you feeling?" Todoroki asks when they got out of the dorm.
"I mean," Yuki rubs her right eye, still dry from last night, "could be better. I wanted to skip today, but those two idiots just had to fight and ruin my plan."
"You shouldn't skip school." Todoroki says.
"I don't want to see him." Yuki sighed.
And understandably so. During the homeroom, Yuki went straight to lay her head down on the table, blatantly ignoring Aizawa who is filling them in on the future work study. It's not her loss, she already know about it anyway. She wishes for the homeroom to just finish already, repeating in her head 'english class, english class, engmish class-'
"Shimokaze." Oh God, here we go. "Sleeping in my class?"
With a silent groan, Yuki raises her head and narrows her eyes at the teacher. "No sir."
"This is the second time already. Do it again and I'll have you disciplined."
He- he's so unaffected by what happened yesterday. No unease, no concern, it's his usual stoic face. And that makes Yuki's blood boil and heart ache. She clenched her fingers to fists. How could he? Acting like nothing's wrong?
"I apologize, sir." Yuki says with a bite. "It won't happen again."
And just like this, with few parting words, Aizawa left. And he didn't spare Yuki another glance. It's not as if he doesn't do it before, but it feels different now. Like he's blatantly ignoring her. Yuki doesn't like that at all. Frustration builds up inside her. She's doing everything she can to stay seated. To not rush out and talk some senses with him, but what good will that do?
Dejected, Yuki sighed and covered her face. This feels absolutely horrible. It feels like she's about to break down again.
The clock ticks by slowly. Yuki tries her best to focus on the subjects, and she was able to despite difficulties. By the time break rolled by all she wanted to do was put on her headphone and listen to music to ease her mind, some of her classmates had to come by to her desk. It's annoying, but she can't just shoo them away. They mean well, too, asking her if she's alright or if anything had happened, but all she wants right now is just to calm down and relax.
As for Todoroki, he was watching silently from his seat. He can clearly see that Yuki is still affected by yesterday. Everyone could probably see it from her furrowed eyebrows, red eyes, fidgeting fingers... something is clearly bothering her and Todoroki is the only one who knows why.
"Shimokaze doesn't seem like her usual self today." Iida notices.
"Were you her classmate on Junior High, Iida?" Todoroki asks.
"Yes, for three years straight. Why do you ask?"
"Has she ever thought about skipping school?"
"Skipping? That's preposterous." Iida says. "She had perfect attendance. She doesn't want to miss a day because it would be a hassle to catch up."
"This morning she said wanted to skip." Todoroki informs, and that caught Iida off guard. If that's the reaction, then, he should keep an eye on Yuki. Is there anything else to do?
"Do you know what happened, Todoroki?" Iida asks.
"Yeah, but it's not my place to say." Todoroki answers.
"I see." The class president nods. "Then, please continue to look out for her, Todoroki. And let us know if she needs anything."
"Sure." Todoroki nods. Iida leaves after that. He looked back at Yuki, who is still talking to the girls of the class. They're all huddled around her, engaging her in a casual conversation, maybe to distract her from her mind. That's good, she needs it. She definitely needs it.
Later that evening after school, Midoriya and Bakugou are still doing the chores around the dorm and getting endlessly teased. And maybe, maybe Yuki felt a bit sorry for them, so she prepared Midoriya a katsudon and Bakugou a spicy curry. Midoriya, the polite boy he is, thanked her.
"The hell's this?" Bakugou had grumbled when he was served the curry. Then Yuki had swiftly grabbed the plate away from him. "Shouto, I made you curry." "THAT'S MINE!"
"You really need to learn to say thank you, man." Kirishima comments.
"Yeah, not every day you get a pretty lady to serve you food." Kaminari snickers.
'Pretty lady?' Yuki shakes her head and drops the curry on the table. 'Boys.'
Suddenly, her phone rings in her pants pocket. She fished out the device, read the display name, and briefly informed to anyone who hears her that she's going to her room. Todoroki saw her as she headed for the stairs with urgent steps, phone pressed against her ear. Who could that be?
"Todoroki, Mr. Aizawa is outside waiting for you." Suddenly Ashido calls out from the entrance. Oh, so he's not the one calling Yuki.
"Thanks." Todoroki nods at her and heads out. Once outside, Aizawa is there, hands in his pocket. Todoroki made sure that the door is closed shut behind them so no one could hear them, assuming Aizawa is here about Yuki. But, what else would he be here for?
"How is she?" Spot on.
"Could be better." Todoroki answers, quoting Yuki from this morning.
"I see." Aizawa sighed. Then, he takes out a plain white envelope from his pocket. "Give this to her. From Iroha."
Todoroki receives the envelope. Like that, Aizawa turns and walk away. He doesn't give a chance for Todoroki to even say anything. Ask anything. He just left him with that envelope. That's alright, maybe he can talk later. He went back inside and headed straight for the highest floor, where his and Yuki's room is located. When he stood in front of the door and about to knock, he hears Yuki's voice, probably talking over the phone.
"I can't sneak out, there are cameras around campus."
Sneak out?
"You're not a very good hero, you know that?"
"If you're that impatient, then why don't you tell me now?"
"Exactly. So just calm down. I should be the one more worked up, not you."
Who is she talking to?
Deciding to no longer eavesdrop on the conversation, Todoroki finally knocks on the door. He hears Yuki quickly hanging up, the shuffling of feet on wooden flooring, then the door opens, revealing Yuki. Her phone is on the bed, and she looks calm, not at all like someone who was caught in the middle of a supposedly private conversation.
"What is it?"
"Mr. Aizawa wanted to give you this, from the Painter."
Then, the calm expression quickly shifts to discomfort. Yuki seemed to dreaded to accept the envelope, but she does anyway. She thanked him, and they are silent after that. They awkwardly stood in their places, not knowing what to say.
"Who was that?" Todoroki suddenly asks.
"Who?" Yuki asks back.
"On the phone."
"Oh." Yuki blinked. "It's just an acquaintance of mine. Don't worry."
"A hero asked you to sneak out?" Todoroki pressed.
"Were you eavesdropping on me?" Yuki accused. She doesn't sound pleased. "Listen, I'll tell you, just not right now. Okay? I promise. Just leave me alone for a bit."
As did Aizawa, Yuki didn't give a chance for Todoroki to say anything else before she closed the door. Todoroki sighed. There's no use pushing it. He'll trust Yuki to tell him later, so he steps back and heads downstairs. But that phone call, for some reason, is bothering him.
What is she hiding?
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Hiya! Rica's here!
This will be my last chapter until finals two weeks from now, so I apologize for the cliffhanger! I will be on hiatus for two weeks and after that I will be editing this whole story before I post another update. I'll see you then! It's currently 12:24am and im very sleepy so ill keep it short.
And also, horrible things are going on right now. While it might be centering in america, racism towards black people happens all over the world. dont be afraid to speak up. your voice can save a life. i wish you all safety.
Stay safe, and with that, rica's out.