Chapter 13: Knowing the Blood Price

Shoto didn't see Sophie until the next day, though he was supposed to be studying, he had been consumed with thoughts of her all night long and barely got any actual studying done. When he arrived at school, he sought her out with his eyes, scanning the crowds for a glimpse of her. He was so focused that he didn't notice until she was standing right beside him. When he looked down at her she had her hand over her eyes like a visor and was scanning the crowd too as if she was looking as well. He couldn't help but smile, she was mocking him trying to find her.

"Goof." He reached out to gently tug on a strand of her hair.

"You are the one looking for me desperately as if you couldn't breathe." She looked up at him with a smile in her eyes.

"Maybe I couldn't wait for the darkling to show up so we could hang out." He teased.

She scrunched her nose for a second and then shook her head. "You want to spend time with the Darkling? I hope it eats you." She flicked her hair over her shoulder.

"I doubt that, you maybe, but the darkling likes me." He raised a brow in challenge which made her snicker before she caught herself, he grinned in triumph. He had not planned to get that reaction from her but he felt like he had just accomplished something amazing.

"Oh, I forgot to ask, do you need help studying? I assume you are top of the class or at least close to it. I know you have a physical test as well so I could help you with either." She told him.

"Shouldn't you ask Bakugo?" Shoto asked her confused.

"He said he was fine, something about training Kirishima to death." She shrugged.

"Then Tokoyami?" That tasted bad in his mouth.

"He doesn't like to study with me anymore, ever since grade school. The chicken." She grumbled.

"What did you do to him?" Shoto asked in mock reproach. She had known Tokoyami that long? And was very familiar with his power. His chest constricted and a part of him grew angry. Why?

She plunked her fists on her hips and tilted her body to one side affronted.

"Absolutely nothing! He just couldn't focus on the work and told me I was annoying nagging him all the time and playing with Dark Shadow." She fumed in outrage. "Me annoying! Can you believe it?"

Shoto laughed. "I can't see it." He confessed

"Hmph. Fine then, I won't help you." She folded her arms and tapped her foot annoyed.

"I'm sorry." He stopped laughing, containing himself to a smile. "I would appreciate any help you could give me," Shoto told her.

"Alright then. I'll meet you after class to go over what you need improvement on." She nodded, her eyes became inscrutable and he wondered what she was thinking. "There is a café…. that serves students for half off. It has good tea and cake; we can study there…"

She was shy?! Sophie Griffin the woman who once threatened to make him watch his own insides flatten was shy?! He was completely in shock. She was watching him expectantly though, so he did his best not to show it. Swallowing a lump that formed in his throat he nodded.

"Sounds good, you will have to give me the address or take me there so I know where it is." He told her.

"Okay, after school then." She nodded and left him to join Tokoyami who was watching from afar.

He watched them greet each other and felt nothing but an annoyance that Tokoyami knew things about Sophie that he didn't. Was it possible…? Did Sophie love Tokoyami? Why did that make him extremely angry?

"Hi, Todoroki!" Midoriya walked towards him.

"Hello Midoriya, how are you?" Todoroki asked him as he approached.

"I'm good. Did you and Sophie get into a fight?" He asked nervously having seen them talking, he didn't think Sophie was mad but she never smiled so it was hard to tell with her.

"No, we don't fight anymore," Shoto told him. "We are meeting after school to study." He told him.

"Oh, that's a good thing then. I'm glad you are both getting along now. I don't know what happened last week but it was good for you two." Midoriya smiled up at him.

"Yeah, it was good." A smile grew on his face.

He engaged Midoriya in conversation to class, he had time to get to know her as well as Tokoyami.

XxX

Sophie looked over the expense reports during class and received updates on all of the information they managed to glean from the small lab the other day. She sifted through them on her computer as the teacher lectured. There was a lot of information that didn't make any sense, some of its ideas that didn't look like they were worth trying and some of it was nonsense about patterns in the rising hero rates and declining in certain areas. The information about Nana specifically was not available. However, they were able to decipher that Nana was less a name and more of a number, a number in a series of experiments that failed.

But if that was true, then Rok was a number too, how could he be a failure if he was able to carry a conversation? Was it just a coincidence or was Nana just a failure of a different kind? Sophie didn't like the sound of it regardless. Nana was seven, which mean there were six others that needed to be dealt with, and who knew how many others after seven. She gave up on class and focused all of her attention on the discoveries they found. There was a lot of information on cell splitting and DNA transfer. This man was insane, he was perfecting the ability to select strands of quirk DNA from perfect hosts and put them in one body. Did this man think he was God?

She could not believe what she was reading, is this why Nana was a failure? Because it did not bond well with the chosen DNA? Wasn't this the scientific attempt to copy someone else's Quirk and give it to others? Just like…that man. She quickly forwarded the information to the other parties involved; this was going to be a problem. If he required a perfect host then that limited his field of victims to only the top-quality quirks, people like Endeavor and All Might would be on that list, could she use this? No, not Endeavor, too stupid and All Might would just smash things. But she did have someone else she could use, didn't she? Someone with perfect DNA.

Shoto Todoroki.

NO!

She would never use him like that. She had never intended to get him involved in her problems and she still would not. He could learn a thing or two but she would never let him get hurt, not him. He had his own problems and his own life to live. When everything was over, she would be hated by everyone, she would be a criminal. No, Shoto was never going to become part of this, he was just a friend. That was it. She shut her computer and returned to her lessons, she needed to push those dark thoughts from her mind.

Shoto waited for her at the gates and they walked together to the tea shop. They spent a few hours together going over all of the lessons, she was not surprised by the ones he was receiving that was vastly different from her own aside from the general studies. But he was surprised that she knew every answer to every study question.

"You are a woman of many talents." He sat back in awe.

"Of course, I am, I am the best." She nodded, her face gave away nothing but he was not fooled, the glow on her skin told him just how much she was having fun.

Shoto insisted on walking her home but she informed him that in no uncertain terms was he allowed to go home without a ride. With villains out attacking hero course students she would not allow him to endanger himself. They hung out until his sister showed up with the car to take him home, Sophie greeted the older girl and thanked her for coming to get Shoto so late. Shoto's sister was pleased by Sophie's politeness and expressed her gratitude to her for taking good care of her little brother. They traded phone numbers while Shoto looked on annoyed by them both for getting along so perfectly while he had to make a deal to get Sophie to stop threatening his life. Sophie teased him lightly as she waved them bye and he promised to make her pay for it later.

When she was finished with her homework Sophie sent Shoto a text wishing him a good evening and then stared at her phone in absolute horror. What did she just do? She sent a text to someone…. wishing them a good night…when she had never so much as said good night to Tokoyami. She couldn't take it back either, there was no way to retract what she sent. What the hell was wrong with her? She set the phone down and went to take a shower, maybe it will break the clutter from her head. Maybe Todoroki wouldn't notice it?

And maybe the sky will turn pink and fluffy puppies will rain down on everyone.

Her phone vibrated while she was in the shower. When she returned to it, she found one single message that had her smiling a stupid smile.

You too

She went to bed with a shake of her head, but the smile persisted why?

You know why.

Shut up!

xXx

Sophie and Shoto did not see each other all day long, she did everything to avoid him because she was not sure how to act after her text. Who the hell did she think she was last night? Some insipid normal high school girl with a fantasy crush? Life wasn't a manga, there was no way in hell she would ever act like she was some…some…. girly girl! So, she hid, his face was passive but she knew he was looking for her. She rushed to class and dove into her work before the bell even rang. However, she could not avoid Tokoyami who tracked her like a homing beacon and found her instantly at lunch.

"Why are you hiding?" He asked her annoyed.

"None of your business." She did not look at him as she peeked around a corner.

"You are doing a terrible job at nothing. I found you instantly."

"That's because you are in such desperate love with me that your stalker senses kicked in." She looked both ways before sneaking out and walking up against the wall, her eyes darting in both directions.

"Sure, it has nothing to do with the fact that you are walking around like some kind of reject ninja." He rubbed his head, following her normally.

"Nope, definitely stalker senses. Did you need something Kage?" She finally looked at him, annoyed. "I'm trying to get to the cafeteria without a fuss."

"Todoroki asked if I had seen you, I figured you were avoiding him. Why?" His eyes sharpened on her.

"You know, it's really annoying when you know exactly what I am doing at all times." She plunked her fists on her hips and glared at him.

"I know, it's the stalker senses." He rolled his eyes.

"Hmph. I…it's nothing, what am I doing?" She moved away from the wall.

"Exactly what I would like to know," Todoroki stated from behind her.

She froze in place, caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and no excuse.

"I'm going to close my eyes and pretend he is not there, tell me when he goes away." She looked up at Tokoyami. Nope.

"No such luck, looks like a power stance to me, better face the music." He patted her shoulder and walked away with a grin.

"Traitor Hawk." She grumbled.

"Griffin, why are you avoiding me? You confuse me." Shoto sounded like he was frowning, she turned to look up at him, yup he was frowning.

"I just needed some time…to think about something." She told him.

"That's all? You could have just said so." He unfolded his arms and shook his head at her.

He had thought she was upset with him since she was avoiding him but she just needed her own space. He was alright with that. After her text last night, he was in such a good mood, he had no idea why something so simple had made him so pleased. He was sure friends sent each other texts like that, he even sent a message to Midoriya asking him if it was normal. Midoriya assured him it was the usual thing for friends to wish each other a good night. But…her doing it made his heart race and his face heat up. Maybe he was sick? Regardless, he was pleased she was not mad at him.

"I will be sure to tell you next time then. Are you getting lunch?" She asked him.

"Yes, would you like to join us?" He asked.

Sit at a table full of Class A Students and chat with them? "You bet I do." She was glowing again with the questions that ran through her head.

He chuckled and lead the way; the whispers grew but everyone at the table greeted her like a long-time friend. She sat between Midoriya and Todoroki, she would ask a question and everyone at the table was jumping to answer her, sometimes for each other, and a lot of the times at once. She had fun talking to them all, she loved many personalities, and different powers she would love to back as their Manager. Her list was growing, it had already gotten quite large

After school Sophie met up with Shoto to study, several people wanted to join them and her little study session became a group one. The café was out.

"How about we do karaoke! With such a large party we will have room to fit and we can have fun." Mineta suggested.

"Well, I don't have a problem with that." Sophie pondered. "But I don't think the noise would be good for studying."

"How about the library, we can take up a large room in the back, the walls are soundproof so we can talk and not disturb anyone," Sero suggested.

"That's a great idea! There will be plenty of spaces available." Mina sounded even more excited.

That decided they were off in a group to the library where most of class A including Midoriya and Uraraka joined for a study session, they ended up taking two rooms that were connected by a door and studied that way. Sophie enjoyed helping the Hero class study, Shoto sat beside her watching her quietly the whole time. Her skin glowed, her eyes were bright and excited, and yet not once did she smile, not once did she do more than a chuckle. He could tell she was happy to be here, to be with up incoming heroes. The sun dropped down and everyone went their separate ways for the night. Shoto stayed after with Sophie and Midoriya.

"That was a lot of fun, thank you." Sophie bowed to Midoriya.

"Oh! No, I didn't do…um…I had fun too." He bowed to her. "I better get home." He waved them both goodbye and they were alone.

Sophie adjusted her strap over her shoulder. "So, I guess we go home." She rubbed her arms in the chill. He noticed right away and started to heat up.

"Here, stand on this site, I can walk you home." He said.

"Todoroki, I live the opposite way from you." She chuckled, moving close to his warmer side.

"I don't mind, I can always have someone come pick me up." He told her.

"Then I would appreciate the company home, you can wait at my house for your ride, again." She gave him a mischievous look. He wondered if she would smile at him one day, the way she did for Bakugo, the way she does for Tokoyami.

"I'm sure my sister would love to see you again." He rolled his eyes. She stuck her tongue out at him.

After that, they were silent for a long while, neither really talking.

"So, you are pretty smart, for a rich boy." She commented.

He smiled. "I guess studying was a good idea." He joked. "You are pretty smart too."

"Unlike a lucky few I got in U.A. through my GPA and test scores."

"You took the entrance exam for the school, right? I kind of feel bad for the students who were in the arena with you. I heard it was different groups in each."

"I didn't steal anyone's thunder, I had a specialized test. Because I am a special transfer the principle allowed for my abilities, I was tested differently." She sighed.

"How did you do?" Special transfer?

"Let's just say, I scored better than you would have." She challenged him.

"Really?" He was impressed, not rising to the obvious slander to his abilities. She was playing.

"Yes, I fought against a group of heroes in a simulation of one hero against many powerful villains." She commented.

"Heroes? You fought a group and scored high? Why take the exam at all? Clearly, you are very skilled." Shoto complimented her. "You could have even skipped recommendations with a level like yours?" Why was she not a hero then? For her mother?

"No, you know I live in a tribe, we work hard for what we have and what we are. I would have felt terrible not earning my position through my own efforts. Not that it's wrong to get recommendations, you are certainly strong. I just need to do things on my own, without someone there to help me. Since my mother…" She shut up.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean you shouldn't work hard." He said quietly.

"It's okay. Anyway, I rather liked taking the exam. But they had to call Tokoyami in as soon as he finished his exam, I apparently lost myself in the battle and refused to calm down."

"Oh? You lose control?" He wondered wistfully.

"You don't fool me for a second Shoto Todoroki! You want to tease me!" She chuckled.

"I am sure I don't know what you mean." He looked away with a smile.

She punched his arm and laughed; her body swayed playfully beside him. "You want to tease me! You want to make fun of me!" She sang.

He stopped and looked down at her, she looked up at him, her black and golden hair swayed even after her body stopped moving. He always liked how her hair was two colors, a dark black and a deep gold that blended naturally. She was beautiful from the tips of her hair to the bottom of her feet. That a woman like her could ever be anything but magnificent in everything. He had this intense urge to lean down and… what?

"I—"

"Hello cute couple, sorry to butt into your love play. But I have some business with this little lady." Several men appeared from the darkness and grabbed Todoroki from behind dragging him into the alley and down to the ground.

"Todoroki!" Sophie yelled and lunged through the darkness, the bodies outside the alley followed her into it. "Get off him!" She screamed, darkness roared around them and flung the attackers off Todoroki.

He got up quickly, lighting his flames to see their attackers. They were men in hoods, their faces unseen. Sophie appeared at his side, her arm was thrust out to protect him, him? She was defending him from these muggers?

"Leave him be!" She bellowed. "Shoto stay back!" Shit! She should have been paying attention! She had to protect Shoto from these men, these were not common thugs. It's them!

"Well well, that old fart didn't mention you were just a cute little girl." A man laughed from the darkness, his approach was slow as he neared.

Her skin chilled, hair standing on end from top to bottom. This cold voice filled with cruelty and hatred, it touched her mind like the slow insertion of a deadly blade. He was not a man to be trifled with. She didn't need to really ask who he was. The reference to an old fart was pretty obvious. She drew herself tall, the men had stayed back, waiting for this man to give orders, she had a moment to plan. The man she saw was no better than a low life thug, his clothes baggy and skin tattooed in many places. His golden eyes looked her up and down, a lazy smug smile on his face. The pitch-black hair he sported in a half-shaved fashion had several lines of golden blonde in it. For a moment she wondered if that was planned or natural.

"What shall I call you?" She asked cautiously.

"Go is the name, though I prefer my street name, Shark. See I was told I need to bring back some dumb bitch named Griffin, that old punk Rok says you are pretty strong. But I see a pretty busty chick and some stick in the mud rich boy. Not really worried now, probably could have left the guys out of it." He laughed.

The hooded men laughed and hooted.

"Griffin, what's going on?" Shoto was on the defense like she was, but this man seemed to know her, or about her. He would not let any of them hurt Sophie.

"Shoto, I need you to run when I tell you." She whispered. Eyes watching the men, her shadow was already on the move.

"No, I will not. We will run together, call for heroes." He refused to leave her alone, she knew better.

"Done chatting it up? Guys, the boss's orders were to bring the pretty lady in, didn't say anything about her little boy toy there, or about how in shape she needs to be in. Let's say...first, one to bring her down can have first shot at her before we bring her back to the Doc."

Shoto had a moment to let those words sink in, the meaning of them was instantly clear, the rage he felt sent his flames roaring to new heights. Like hell, he would let any of them touch her! All of them converged then, the fight was on. Sophie dragged her hand out in a great swooping motion and the darkness that surrounded the two of them became a huge clawed hand that slashed through space and threw most of them down the alley. The others dodged and swooped in beneath her attack. Todoroki sent flames in their direction, closing the gaps in her attack with a painful defense. She didn't move an inch from him however and retained her location.

"Get the damn rich boy, I'll distract her." Go shouted as he threw himself into the fight.

Shoto frowned, they would have a hard time getting ahold of him. Sophie tsked and launched herself at the three men who came towards them, Go clashed with her first, his hands flashing out to punch but she was quick to dodge. The Darkling she used remained in front of him and he wondered what she was thinking when he tried to join her and the thing stopped him. He was surprised as Sophie twisted around Go and without using a single part of her power she kicked, punched, and snapped fingers and arms in a mixture of Muay Thai and Ojibwe. Shoto tried again to get past the darkling but it would not let him join the fight other than to shoot down or freeze anyone who came too close. It took him a moment to realize what she was doing, against them all she was keeping them away from him, even the leader who was not playing nice. Sophie didn't once use her darkness nor her light to fight, putting herself at a disadvantage.

"Move! They will overpower her! Aren't you supposed to protect her?" Shoto shoved the thing but it did not budge, in fact, it seemed to look at him, two holes appeared in the darkness like eyes and they were not pleased either. "That foolish woman! If you don't like it stop protecting me! I can fight."

"Stop trying to convince it to leave your side! I can't concentrate on fighting and keeping it in line." She huffed, twisting away from an attack, one grazed her cheek but she used the momentum to kick away another attack.

"Fuck it." Go shouted and suddenly the battle shifted, Sophie flew back, almost falling.

She was surprised by the sudden and powerful assault from a quirk she had not seen.

"I thought she was supposed to be alive?" One man shouted.

"Alive, but not unbroken!" Go laughed, his hands began to move around and Sophie had a split second and a powerful urge to move that saved her.

An invisible force of power slammed down where she stood and she would have been out of commission had it landed. What kind of power was that? There was no way it was invisible. She couldn't use the Darkling, she would have to do something though. Go attacked her with this ability and through trial and error, she managed to avoid totally being beaten. The men around started smiling and began to launch attacks at her with their quirks. Sophie wasn't able to block or dodge all of the attacks coming at her and it was starting to show. Shoto leaped over the darkling, freezing it down so it would not follow him. He would not let them hurt Sophie! Her concentration on the fight was broken in that moment, her eyes turned to Shoto wide with terror as he plunged into the battle. Flames and ice spread out all over. Before he knew it, the enemies were converging on him instead and Sophie was suddenly moving between his attacks knocking down opponents wildly.

She saw in the fray the look on Go's face, the twisted pleasure. His hands reached out and curled in. She did something she never did, she reached a handout and called forth the light she hated. It flashed through the darkness, increased the firelight and she saw it then, the quickest moment that she could barely register before. She shoved Shoto away and avoided the attack of massive hands of darkness so fast it was near unseen. The light revealed the path as it came, sticking to the dark hands like little glowing lights until she could see where they came from, they extended from behind Go, an extra pair of hands that were strong, fast, and huge. She almost laughed, she had been avoiding something so dangerous probably thanks to the light side of her instinctually activating.

"So, the little bird has some claws, I didn't think you would be much of a fight but I'm loving this! Come on Griffin, give me everything you have." Go laughed. "If you don't I'll kill your boyfriend." He threw himself at her, his fists ready and his eyes wild.

Sophie's darkness converged around her and sent Go back a few feet, his expression became wilder as he launched several attacks from his quirk and his own fists. The darkness battled against the invisible enemy, the light before glowing in and out. Sophie fought Go hand to hand, she got more punches and kicks in than he did but his were more damaging, he was stronger and more savage in his attempts to hurt her. Shoto seeing her fight was awed by the way she managed to use her quirk and still physically battle. He would have gone to her but the other men were interested in capturing him still, it would make sense to go after a hostage but Shoto was not going to lay down and submit to a bunch of thugs.

She twisted around Go and went in for an attack on his back, her foot swung up to kick him, but instead of falling forward from her assault he stood still and turned his head to grin at her.

"That hurt." He swung his own foot back and connected with her stomach.

She let out a pained sound, her muscles on fire. Bile rose to her throat and despite her efforts spilled past her fingers.

"Sophie!" Shoto saw her bend forward, one arm around her middle and one hand covering her mouth.

The darkling roared in outrage and the shadows around them began to scream in rage, twisting and turning, tendrils began to grasp at the men around them, their focus shifted from Shoto to fighting the darkness that literally attacked them. Shoto took advantage of this and went after the man attacking Sophie. Flames flew forward and the man turned to grin at him, his hand came out, an invisible force separated the flames. Sophie looked up in time to see Go had grasped Shoto by the front of his shirt and was lifting him. With a cry of rage, she launched her whole body at him and grasped his neck, just a few pounds, it would kill him instantly.

Go tried to shrug her off but it didn't work, her grip on his neck was strong forcing him to toss Shoto away and grasp her arms to pull her off him. His air supply was dwindling as he grappled with her. She quickly wrapped her legs around his waist, holding on with all of her power. Shoto got up, his vision was of Sophie desperately trying to choke the leader of these thugs to death. He couldn't help but think at that moment, she looked beautiful. Her eyes glowed with two quirks and her hair had escaped its tail to swing around her in a glorious curtain of night gold. He knew now was not the time for this but...damn she was magnificent.

"Get off me you damn bitch!" Go grasped her by her hair and yanked forward until he finally flipped his whole body around and slammed her down on the ground with his entire weight.

Something cracked, her head slammed against the cement so hard it sent her into a temporary faint. Go rolled away from her and got up quickly.

"Pick her up and get her out of here, tie her up first." He commanded only to be met with no action, he quickly saw why. His men were fighting the darkness that roared around them and flames that burned everything in sight. "Damn." He clicked his tongue.

"Sophie!" Shoto rushed over to her only to be attacked by a swinging leg. He jumped back quickly and glared at the man. "I won't let you have her."

"Ah little boyfriend, you don't have a choice. I suggest you forget about her, this little bird is a dangerous beast. You will only be chewed up and spit out by the world she is a part of, go home, forget what you saw today." Go reached down to grasp Sophie's hair.

Shoto threw an ice spike at him which he dodged with a laugh and then turned to attack the foolish boy. They had both not realized that the darkness had not stopped its rampage despite Sophie being unconscious, it grasped both of them around the waist and threw Go far away down the alley. Shoto was gently removed from the scene of carnage, placed at the mouth of the alley. He was confused by this, Sophie was slowly getting back up now, her eyes were unfocused as they looked for him. She looked for him and when she spotted him her mouth almost twisted into a smile. At least it started to until her eyes grew wide and she screamed.

"SHOTO!"

He turned his head to see that Go had not only gotten up but somehow managed to appear behind him his face a mask of rage and his hands open wide as if he was going to smack Shoto on both sides of his head. He didn't see the massive hands of darkness swooping down on him preparing to crush him into nothing. Sophie did, her scream was punctuated with a deafening silence that seemed to last hours instead of the seconds it was. His whole mind screamed to move and he felt the cold of death on his neck. Sophie was in front of him suddenly her hands flung out to stop a force he could not see. Go looked down at her impressed.

"So that explains Rok's attitude. You are the birdie that flew the nest, time to collect you from the wild. Get the damn rich boy, this fight is over."

The men managed to escape the darkness and now spilled in around Sophie and Shoto, grasping at Shoto and trying to take him down. Sophie slammed a foot down onto the ground, darkness rose to hold back the force of Go's quirk and then she dove into the battle. Between the two of them, they managed to stay back to back, fending off the thugs. Sophie and Shoto heard the sirens in the distance, someone had finally called in the police and heroes. The battle became desperate until Go finally got sick of it all. He threw himself in it again. Sophie managed to maneuver Shoto to the mouth of the alley, she faced all of the villains. She needed to get him out of here, Go would kill him in an instant and it would be her fault. Just a few more minutes and the heroes would be here. Shoto blasted anyone who came too near with his flames and ice.

"Out of time." Go sighed and released his final attack.

Sophie had a moment to stand in awe at the many dark hands they spread out behind Go right before they fisted and flew towards her. She threw herself back onto Shoto knocking him just out of the alley. He scrambled to get up and many somethings slammed into the concrete where they had stood, fists deeply imprinted into the ground. Sophie rolled over and jumped up, Shoto reached out to grab her when Go reached his hand out and clenched it into a fist. Shoto heard her cry out and the sickening sound as her leg snapped.

"Sophie!" He bellowed flames rose from the ground covering the alley in heat and light. The darling went wild grabbing and slashing at the enemy before it.

She screamed, her leg was broken, the pain seared through her mind until it was suddenly shut off by the adrenaline that coursed through her veins, her desperate fear to protect Shoto. He can't be hurt! They were after her and they would hurt him to take her. This damn doctor would stop at nothing to stop her from winning. She needed to get Shoto out of here, so she can figure out how to fight back. The pain was nothing compared to what she dealt with every day thanks to him. She tried to sit up but she could barely move, she took a moment to examine her wounds, broken leg that throbbed like crazy, was that a bone? She probably had a concussion from hitting the ground so hard but she wouldn't know till later. It didn't hurt right now but she was certain she felt the crawling sensation of blood.

"Griffin! Are you alright?" Shoto appeared before her, kneeling amidst the flames and leaning over her.

"I don't know Todoroki, you tell me? What the hell is wrong with you moving away from the darkling? You should have stayed safely away!" They were going to hurt him!

They were going to break him and she would be the reason why he would die, she felt true fear curl around her spine and latch on. She had trained hard to fight her enemy, never once had she trained to protect someone from her enemy, she didn't want Shoto hurt.

"I won't do that! I will protect you, not the other way around! Hold still, your leg is broken and there is a lot of blood, it must have broken the skin." He removed his jacket and started to see to her leg, he hoped she didn't look because even in his adrenaline-filled mind, he clearly saw that the break was not pretty blood gushed down onto the pavement.

"Idiot! They want me! They will hurt you! You need to run away while you can!" She pushed at him, desperate to make him run.

"I won't leave you alone!" He yelled in her face.

Is it worth his life, this revenge? She looked up at him in terror, her eyes became so crazed it surprised him. "Please don't let them kill you because of me!" She grabbed his shirt and tugged him down to the side throwing herself up with the last reserves of her strength. It's NOT!

He watched as if it was in slow motion, as he hit the ground twisting to land on his side, he saw her rise using his momentum to meet a knife that had until that moment been heading for his head. The knife slid into her shoulder, the resulting pressure from someone pushing down while she pushed up sent her back to the ground again, her head slammed against the concrete a second time, her cry of pain from the knife was cut off as she lost consciousness. The darkness roared around her and Shoto, the flames licked at the enemies as they approached. He saw her slack face in his vision and he realized, this was why she kept him away from the battle because she would protect him with her own body and it would kill her.

"SOPHIE!" The flames roared from his skin.

"You fool, she could have fought them if you hadn't been in her way." Go leaned down to whisper in his ear. "She valued you over herself."

"Hey! Halt villains! You are all under arrest!" Several heroes appeared in the mouth of the alley then, rushing into the action.

"Let's get out of here!"

"Grab the girl!" Go shouted.

Someone started to lift Sophie but Shoto grabbed her around the waist and hung on with all of his strength.

"Let go you shit!" The man kicked him in the ribs hard but he refused to let go even when the second kick came causing his ribs to scream in pain. "Shit! Forget it run! Tell your little bird this isn't over yet!" Go shouted as they all ran for it.

The men ran away, several heroes took chase while some hung back to calm the flames. They pulled Shoto away and immediately started to help Sophie. Shoto was dragged out of the alleyway and seen to by another hero. He stood staring at Sophie in shock, blood spread all over the alleyway from her wounds, her face slack like death. He reached out towards her, his heart aching, this was his fault.

"Hello, young man! Hey! Focus now, your friend will be okay with medical attention. Are you hurt?" Someone was snapping fingers in his vision and he shook his head startled, it was a paramedic.

"I'm fine. Is she…Is she okay? Her head, she hit it twice, they…they wanted to take her."

"Those men are being chased down right now. You will need to come with us to the hospital just in case, do you know her parent's phone number? You will need to contact yours as well."

"She…doesn't have any parents…" He spoke absently. "I want to go with her." He finally heard the sound behind him, he turned to see and what he witnessed was horrifying, as much as when he stood before Stain.

"That thing won't stop fighting, we need to get away and let the heroes take control of it."

"Wait." Todoroki pushed past the man. He was in awe of this power, it raged without its user, it roared above the heroes swiping and slashing. "It's worried about her, it won't hurt you if it knows she is okay." He approached the heroes.

"Stay back! Let the professionals handle it." A hero called out to him.

"She's alright! Darkling stop." Shoto reached out to it. "Stop, she is going to be alright! You need to go back!"

The thing swung on him and he could hear something inside there.

Don't let them hurt Shoto! Don't let them kill Shoto! I HATE ALL OF YOU!

He reached out to it slowly. Even unconscious she was worried about him, and her hatred raged inside this thing, was this her darkness? It almost hurt; he felt her pain just standing here. "I'm okay, darkling, I'm okay."

A strand of darkness reached out to him, the heroes prepared to jump in but he held them off with one hand, it rose up and almost seemed to glare at them before it touched his hand and he released a calming cold upon it. It shrank, the rage dying and sorrow taking over as it became nothing more than a tiny glob resting inside his hand. He smiled and pulled it close.

"It's just a part of her, it went wild when she lost control. It's okay now." He walked to the paramedic. "Where is she?"

"She is in this one." The man smiled and lead him to the truck where Sophie was loaded into.

Shoto got inside and sat down out of the way, he lowered his hand for the darkling to climb down and disappear inside the blankets. The last strands of it caressed him as if to make sure one last time he was there and safe. Shoto felt it safe to relax now, Sophie was safe and the villains had runoff. But who were they? Sophie had spoken to their leader, seemed to know why they were after her and that they would kill him. What was going on? Was this related to her mother?

The paramedics staunched her shoulder wound and wrapped her broken leg. The ride was long to him, but they were there quickly, he followed as far as he could but they stopped him at the surgery room. He waited for hours, his sister showed up to talk to him and the principal of U.A. made an appearance with All Might. They talked to him for a few minutes and Principle Nezu shook his head before taking All Might away to talk to him. Shoto had no idea what was going on here. It was hours before the doctor came out, Principle Nezu stated he was the designated guardian of Sophie in the event of an emergency per her aunt and uncle. This surprised Shoto because she had never said anything about it…but she never said much about herself, did she? It was usually her mother.

"She sustained severe head trauma but the MRI scans revealed no permanent damage, as for her leg it was reset easily and tightly bound luckily the break, though terrible, was clean. The wound to her shoulder was another matter, it seems the knife carried all the way through to the other side in the final struggle. The end of the blade had been an unheard-of creation, barbed on the straight side, the paramedics who removed the knife did not make sure it was safe in their haste, they tore through a lot of muscle getting it out." He flipped through the papers on a clipboard. "She will need to take it easy for a week. That leg won't heal for at least six. As for her arm, she will have some stiffness as the muscles reform and bind back together but there should be no long-term damages as long as she does proper stretches after the stitches come out."

"Thank you, doctor, she is resting okay now?" Nezu asked with a kind smile.

"Yes, I wanted to speak to you about another issue I have. These records indicate that she is to receive no medications or any healing offered by healing type quirks. Once the medication wears off from the surgery, we cannot do anything else for her." He frowned, clearly this was not something he liked.

Todoroki didn't understand why she would wave anything they could offer for her pain.

"We understand, Sophie has an aversion to hospitals and healing. You did everything you can, we will take care of her after this." Nezu assured him.

"Can I see her?" Shoto asked.

"Are you family?"

"No, I was with her…when we were attacked, she saved my life at the risk of her own." He balled his fists, feeling helpless and useless.

"You can see her; however, she is asleep and will remain so until morning with any luck." He bowed to them all and walked away.

Shoto went looking for her room, she was sleeping soundly when he entered. They had the blankets up to her neck so he could not see her body. But her head was tightly wrapped so that her beautiful hair was mostly covered he could see. He stood at her side for a long time, listening to the monitors beeping quietly, hearing her heart thumping in the silence. Finally, he dropped to his knees and bowed his head against the bedside.

"I'm sorry. Everything is my fault if we had not met. If I had simply left you alone as you wanted instead of bothering you. I should have simply let you be angry at my presence; I should have let you keep hating me. Instead, I insisted on this truce and forced you to get to know me, to tell me about you. This would have never happened to you if I had kept away from you."

The silence yawned before him for a while, affirming that he was a fool to push this woman into a relationship with him, she was hurt because he did not see what she was doing and did not listen to her. She was protecting him from villains who were much more skilled than him, villains who sought to abuse her weaknesses and force her to submit. He was a weakness now; she had proven how much he meant to her by taking all the damage and protecting him despite her lack of safety.

Something touched his head, a hand. He looked up quickly, she should still be asleep. Her hand, bandaged heavily but still able to move was resting on his head, the fingers were unmoving and her breathing stayed the same but it was very clear she had moved to put her hand there. What did that mean? She had heard him in her sleep and sought to comfort him? Even now in a hospital bed, broken and under heavy anesthesia, she still cared more about his well-being than her own. What had he done? When had she started to see him as more than just the son of her hated enemy? One day she was threatening to send him to hell and now she was protecting him from bodily harm. Who was this girl? She was total confusion. Sophie Griffin was an enigma.

"Sophie, I'm so sorry." He took her hand gently and held it.

"Mn. Take the drip out." She ordered sleepily.

He smiled, of course, she would hate that in. "You need it for the pain."

"Stupid…pain." She grumbled.

"Sleep. I will remain by your side." He promised her.

Her head lolled to the side to see him; her eyes were glossed over from the medication but he could tell she was trying to focus on him.

"…okay? Are you…?"

"Yes, I am well. No wounds." He told her; her concern weighed on him.

"Good." She smiled faintly, her eyes closing as sleep took her over.

His heart ached with such pain, she was so beautiful with her pale smile and her concern for others. Sophie Griffin may not think she was a hero but she was, no others could care so much for someone they hated. Nor could anyone risk their lives for someone other than themselves like a hero, like Sophie. He fell asleep on his knees beside her, his hand holding hers the whole night. When the nurse came in to check on her drip, she didn't have the heart to separate them.

In the hall, she pulled out her cell.

"She is safe, refusing healing like always."

"The boy?"

"Safe as well, he has not left her side."

"We have two of them, they will talk soon."

"Good, The Griffin will want answers when she is awake." The nurse nodded and walked down the hall, disappearing in the small crowd.