Chapter 14: Enticing

When morning came Shoto and Sophie were surprised to find Recovery Girl showing up for a visit.

"I will be handling Sophie's healing from here on Doctor, I know her preferences and I already have a program set up for her." The little old lady explained.

The doctor breathed a sigh of relief It seemed the damage she sustained had concerned him greatly. However, Sophie would only consent to one simple session, and that was enough to clear her head and take away most of the pain. Recovery Girl had planned for this of course and Sophie was forbidden from using her leg and she had to use a wheelchair until her shoulder healed enough for crutches. During this, all Shoto stayed beside her, though he didn't speak a word to her.

All Might showed up after that.

"Young Sophie Griffin! You are remarkable in combat and I wish you would join the hero course!" He posed excitedly. Then he bowed politely. "But I understand your reasons and I respect them; I will be taking you home today!" He explained.

"No wait I will take her home." Shoto tried to tell the hero.

"Nonsense! You need to head home and clean yourself off young Todoroki! Leave Miss Griffin to me. I will see she gets home safe."

"Todoroki I will text you later alright, you need to clean up and rest." Sophie tried to assure him.

He did not look pleased in the least. Was it something she said? She tried to be nice, was she frowning again? When Shoto turned to leave the room without another word she checked her face to make sure she was not frowning. No, smooth like always, except where her fingers touched the scars.

"Sophie, we need to talk." All Might sat down beside her bed.

"Of course." She placed her hands in her lap.

"This was not your plan was it?" He asked her quietly.

"No, I didn't know they would attack me with others around."

All Might carried her home and she sat in her bed thinking about what had transpired. She needed to put more distance between her and Shoto, nothing good would come of this relationship, he was almost kidnapped and killed because of her. He should have never been tainted by the darkness of her world. He didn't seem too pleased either, just as well, he would probably avoid her from now on.

Her hand came up to touch the pain that bloomed in her chest. Why did the thought make her…unhappy?

Because you like him?

Shut up.

Xxx

She refused to miss school and since she was still not able to fully walk yet she was picked up each day and dropped off by Tokoyami and sometimes All Might would do it. Recovery girl was in charge of her progress, Sophie would not take any more healing but she would allow the good nurse to check up on her. She received a lot of fuss and pomp over what everyone was calling the great Back Alley Brawl with Shoto and Sophie. Sophie used the wheelchair as she promised but sitting was driving her nuts and because of her shoulder wound, she had to wait for others to push her around. Shoto stuck to her side like glue though he never spoke to her about the incident other than to apologize to her. She wasn't sure what he was thinking but it was beginning to concern her, his lack of follow up. Was he angry that she put him in danger? Or was it something else? Either way, she hoped he would open up to her soon. Which also confused the hell out of her.

Sophie was excited to see the exams, she was promised a special spot to view them by Principle Nezu since the critique would be part of her own exam. She was pleased when everyone did so well even if some of them failed. Shoto was up first and she was most excited to watch his battle with Aizawa, as far as she knew not a lot of people could take him one on one, but she knew Shoto would try. His partner was very skilled and Sophie wondered where the girl was going to when she graduated, she would need to talk to her. Skills like hers were very useful, but she needed to be more confident. The final battle was one she especially wanted to see, All Might against Midoriya and Bakugo. Her favorite pair to see battle together.

"What the hell Kacchan?" She shouted at the screen in her own private room. "No! You need to use Midoriya's speed and strength! NO!" She threw herself up as if she was going to run in and stop him, this only caused her to topple over the table and hurt her shoulder. "Ouch, forgot…the leg." She managed to get back into her chair but it was not good. "Oh, recovery girl is going to be so mad."

She looked at her shoulder and saw blood seeping from her bandages on the school uniform and when she looked down at her leg she cursed. She had managed to convince Recovery Girl to replace the cast with a thick wrap promising not to put it down on the ground once and let her use crutches. Well, now she would need the cast again, that was definitely crooked, and goodbye crutches. Sophie chose to ignore the intense amount of pain, however. The leg was throbbing and her arm felt numb but it would never compare to the pain she felt each day. This pain was simply second fiddle to her. Sophie found the battle won by the skin of their teeth, they both fought hard but Bakugo didn't use Midoriya when he should have, and that caused them more damage than they needed. She sat working on her paper when Shoto showed up in the room for her.

"Sophie, are you ready to go home?" He approached her and instantly saw all the blood pooled on the floor around her foot.

"Oh, hey could you take me to the infirmary?" She looked up at him as if everything was under control.

"Sophie what happened?!" He was kneeling beside her instantly, his eyes taking in the shoulder and leg.

"I fell and unset it I think; it doesn't hurt as much now." She told him happily. Stupidity happened.

"Why are you so happy? You are injured and bleeding all over the floor?!" He stood up angrily and picked her up into his arms. She scrambled for balance while grabbing her papers.

"Wait! Shoto too fast! My shoulder!" She crowed in annoyance.

"Hold still, stop worrying about your damn papers, and worry about yourself for once." He ground out exiting the room with her.

Sophie looked up at him in surprise, so…that was what was wrong. She remained silent and let him take her to the infirmary. Recovery girl lectured her about moving on an obviously still broken leg, she forced treatment of the re brake on Sophie and put a cast on her. Shoto left after dropping her off and didn't talk to her for the rest of the day. She wanted to talk to him but he didn't seem inclined to speak to her right now, so she simply waited for All Might to pick her up and deliver her back home. She was ordered to stay off her leg totally from this point on, not something she was pleased by. Recovery girl planed these sessions out so she could attend classes, not so she could run about and hurt herself more like the Hero class liked to do. But, the way Shoto looked at her like he wanted to scream at her. Like he wanted to keep holding her close so nothing could hurt her. Why?

In order to keep her mind off it Sophie spent the free time at home cleaning, there was laundry to be done, garbage to be thrown away, and plenty of scrubbing at hip level. During the last few days, Tokoyami and his mother showed up to check on her, making meals and helping her clean. Today Tokoyami and his class went to the mall to get supplies so Sophie was alone to do the last of the laundry. When she was halfway in she got bored and her body complained, so she put out the laundry to dry and decided to take a nap. She turned on the T.V. in the living room, rolled up in the handmade blanket her grandmother made her with the symbols and story of her people on it, then fell asleep on the couch.

UoU

Her hands clenched around the edges of her dress, her whole body shaking in rage. She could only see through one eye, her face was on fire with pain as tears dripped down her cheeks, one side bloody. The kids laughed at her, pointed, and jeered from a distance.

"Stupid halfer! You don't even know who your daddy is! And Endeavor put your mom in a coma because she was bad! You should die cause nothing good can come of your blood!"

"You're wrong!" She yelled.

"Children, what are you doing?! Stop at once." Her Chief came into view.

"I'll show you all!" She screamed at them.

They still laughed as they ran away.

"Yeah right! Your parents are villains! And one-day Endeavor will come back to put you down too, you filthy villain!"

Sophie felt her anger rise until the bile spilled from her throat, black darkness oozed from her mouth and nose. All around them was darkness and the children stared at her in horror stuck in their positions. Light danced in the darkness like hot flames, twisting, and mocking.

"I'll prove Mama was no villain! I'll bring Endeavor to his knees and punish whoever drove mama insane! I won't let you call me a villain again! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT I CAN DO!" She screamed.

"Sophie, calm your heart child. No good will come of this." Arms came around her and cradled her close to a warm body as she let go of her darkness and the children ran off crying. "The dark inside you, must not be fed. You must control your raging spirit, or it will control you."

Sophie sobbed then, the bloody tears stained her cheeks red, like the marks on her mother's bandages. She looked down at her hands and found them wrapped in bloody bandages up her arms. She started to scream and fell backward into laughter and ridicule.

"NO! NOOOO!" She screamed.

"NO!" She jolted awake, her body sat up quickly, making her dizzy, pain shooting through her head.

Lights flickered around her, the floor was covered in black sizzling ooze that popped and hissed, rising higher and higher. She rubbed her face and shook her head. "I'm fine. Relax." She waved. The light stilled, the darkness faded away to reveal the clean floors and coffee table surrounded by clutter.

It had been a minute since she had dreamed like that. The way it ended, was always the same. Falling in the darkness with laughter around her, her body broken beyond repair like her mother. She shivered, the blanket found itself around her, dark clawed hands tucked it around her body.

"Thank you." She smiled hand reached out to touch the hand, it hummed beneath her bandaged touch. She did the same to the light around her. It soothed her racing heart. "I guess nap time is over." She mused.

Her phone went off, she picked it up and answered.

"Griffin."

"We managed to get a little bit of information out of them. After Phoenix was done with them, they practically sang."

"What did they say?"

"They were to bring you back alive; they were to use any means needed aside from hurting you which they failed. Barring that they were also told that you would most likely be surrounded by heroes in training particularly Bakugo Katsuki and Todoroki Shoto. The one called Go, or Shark as the two referred to him, is the leader of their little group. But he takes orders from someone else, they don't know who, but their leader seems to hate answering to others."

"I see. Anymore?" Her eyes darkened. They were watching her pretty closely to know that much.

"Yes, the rest of the research from that room was inconclusive, there was a lot about project Dark and an AFO that we think is a person. But almost all of it was failed mutation research and a regeneration ability that he could not duplicate, no other information on that last one."

"Very well, keep looking. Let me know the minute you have anything."

"How is your leg?"

"Annoying but okay." She sighed.

"Want me to come over and look at it?"

"No, I'll live with it. Thank you Peryton." Sophie wasn't looking forward to more treatments.

"Griffin."

After hanging up Sophie turned towards the T.V. and moved the blanket down, something happened at the mall apparently. She wondered how long she had been watched, probably from the moment she came here. So, they knew she was around heroes, she would need to be careful with those two so they did not get hurt. What the hell was wrong with Shoto? Sophie sat staring blankly at the T.V. longer than she thought, she had not even paid attention to what was going on. Someone knocked on her door, which was odd but a distraction she needed, as she got up turning off the screen, she saw the time, dinner time. At the door was the last person she had expected to find there.

"Todoroki?" She folded her arms over her breasts and leaned against the door frame, her good leg taking all of her weight.

"Hello Griffin, I hope I am not bothering you?" He asked her, his eyes traveled to her heavily wrapped leg, shot to her shoulder which was still bandaged to the fingers tightly.

"No, I was ignoring my TV and thinking. Did you need something?" Take a guess.

She regarded him silently, she knew he was worried, he had been stuck to her side all this time, only ever leaving her to go to class, it was odd that he always managed to be right outside the door whenever classes ended.

"I was hoping to catch you before you ate dinner. Would you like dinner? If you are feeling up to it?" He gripped the strap of his bag and moved his eyes to hers; they were concerned.

Sophie regarded him for a while, watching him shift ever so slightly but otherwise remain still. He was asking her out to dinner, for what reason on this good green earth did he want to get dinner? After the way, he was so angry with her yesterday. She sighed and walked back into her house.

"Come in, no need to spend your likely large allowance. I can cook dinner, what are you in the mood for?" She asked him.

"Um, I don't mind ordering us food." He didn't enter the house, though did look inside. "Shouldn't you rest?"

"Asks the guy who just seconds ago asked me out to dinner. Don't be foolish, come in." She ordered and simply walked away leaving the door open. Her hand pressed to the wall to help her walk. "I can't stand being idle anyway."

"I see." He was obligated to enter now if only to close and lock her door, "Do you always leave your door open like this?"

"No, sometimes I put a sign up that says do not disturb." She quipped a hint of laughter in her voice.

"That was a joke." He locked the door behind him.

"It was. Dinner, any particular taste you are interested in tonight?" She asked poking her head out from the kitchen.

"Um, whatever you feel like making, but I really do not mind ordering dinner." He told her approaching the kitchen, her house had the smell of something that was recently cleaned. "I was thinking you might like a change of pace if you were up to it."

"How often do you get a home-cooked meal made for you by a beautiful woman?" She asked him, pulling pots from the cabinets at her waist, the darkling appeared to take them away from her.

"You have a lot of confidence." He commented entering the space and watching her, she had pulled on a little white apron that when he noticed the picture on it. "Is that your apron?" Todoroki asked her. The letters said: Kiss the Cook if you want food.

"Yup, don't worry, it's also a joke." She opened the fridge beside him next and peered inside. "How about, we have…. spaghetti?"

"Is that something your family makes? I would like to try the food of your tribe." He set his bag down on the table and returned to her side.

"Unless I also have Italian in me no, I eat other things besides Ojibwe traditional foods. I ask because Tokoyami's mother made me meatballs, and I need to cook them." She pulled out a large plastic bowl that had many large round balls of half-cooked meat in them. "I told her I wanted to have spaghetti and she made me some meatballs. I seriously think the woman is trying to fatten me up." He took each thing from her and placed them on the counter.

"I see, I will help you cook." He asked.

"Sure, warm up the water." She told him. "Then when you have it boiling toss the whole package of those long noodles into it." Sophie grabbed another bowl with red sauce inside.

"Alright." He approached the stove and started to fiddle with the knobs, not sure what he was really doing.

"Shoto, use your flames." She didn't turn around so he had no idea how she knew.

He nodded and lit his flames up pressing his hand carefully to the side of the pot. She was mixing something into the sauce now, the meatballs were being dropped into another pot with the sauce and he tried to focus on making the water boil. Without turning towards him again she pointed at the package on the counter beside him.

"When you are done dumping them in stir them immediately so they do not stick to each other, feel free to put some salt in." She told him.

"Won't that make it taste weird?" He asked confused.

"Nope, it keeps the noodles slick, the salt disappears." She squeezed in next to him and started up the fire in the back, a dark blob placed the second pot on it. Then she fired up the pot his hand was on. "Move back now, cool off." She took over.

"I don't need to- "

"I know our abilities; you are not the master of your fire yet. Cool off, sit down. Or if you wish you can make the lemonade, it goes best with this meal." She told him.

"How do I do that?" He asked her, feeling a little more than useless right now, just like the other day, she was so capable even after such a terrible incident.

She sighed and looked down shaking her head. "Mom never showed you how to cook did she?" Sophie asked without any anger or teasing.

"No, father had her committed when I was small." He looked away, not liking this question.

Sophie looked at him, her eyes softened, he caught his breath. She looked absolutely beautiful at that moment, her face was no longer stern or angry, she was relaxed, even her scars faded away.

"Mine either." She told him softly. "She fell into a coma when I was a little girl."

This small bit of information was like a treasure chest of jewels, he hadn't even meant to find it. She suddenly removed a large plastic bottle from the cabinet by the refrigerator, then a large pitcher from one by the dishwasher. She pulled out a large plastic spoon from a drawer and then turned to him.

"Alright, so the first thing you do is spoon the amount you need of the powder because I don't squeeze lemons unless I plan to enjoy it sour, I can never do my sugar right. This container holds about a gallon of water so we read the back of this container." She waved him over, he approached and looked over her shoulder.

"Eight?" He tilted his head.

"Yup, now spoon out eight spoons of this into the pitcher and I will run the water, check the sauce and roll these meatballs." She rushed off to do just that. He took the little measuring spoon from the container and spooned out exactly eight spoons full of it.

"What now?" He asked.

"Fill it to the line that says one gallon." She ordered rolling meatballs in the sauce.

He did that and set it down on the counter. This was much easier than he had thought it would be. She returned to his side to vigorously stir the mixture until it was gone and the drink was all yellow. He was not sure how powder could taste like lemons but he was willing to try it out. She moved aside when she was done and waved a hand at it as if it was a prize.

"And we have made lemonade!" She announced.

He smiled and nodded. "I've never made lemonade before, this was fun."

"Alright, you make it cold and I will grab the cups and such." She rushed about the kitchen pulling out items from cabinets and drawers, her kitchen was thankfully small enough that she didn't have to use her broken leg much.

Shoto placed his hand on the pitcher and cooled the drink till it was perfect, she set up the table while he carried the pitcher over and helped by finishing up the pasta and sauce. He noticed that the darkling would take away anything too heavy for her and she would simply move on to something else. At least she was not straining too much, a perfect helper never existed.

"How would you prefer to have it? Mixed in or poured over?" She asked him.

"Um, how do you usually have yours?" He asked her confused.

"Mixed, I like the noodles all covered in the sauce and the meat mixed in. I never liked just dumping the sauce on pre-plated noodles, doesn't give the noodles time to soak in all those herbs." She proceeded to dump the whole saucepan into the pot with the strained noodles then mix them up, after a moment of struggling to mix the darkling took over and scooted her over. She let it bring the pot to the table and set it down while she limped to the fridge and removed something wrapped in tin foil.

He joined her and helped her sit down, she opened the foil to reveal bread that had been cut in perfect slices with butter and garlic salt. She pushed it closer to him, he heated them up to a nice golden brown without a word. After everything was set up and dishes were filled with delicious food Sophie started to dig in. He ate quietly for some time, his eyes kept going back to her, this dish was delicious, he had never had spaghetti before. Sophie finally broke the silence.

"Why did you really come by?" She asked him. "I think I told you more this evening than you would have ever hoped to know. Are you worried about the other day and want to see if I am really okay?" She folded her arms over her breasts then winced and unfolded them.

He looked at her surprised. "No, I- I just wanted to spend time with someone…other than family." She caught him.

He was such a worrywart, just like Tokoyami and oddly All Might who always stayed a little longer to make sure she was okay. All these men worried about her; they were all foolish things. It made her feel warm.

"Alright, how about a movie then, before I send you home crying?" She asked him amused, standing to clear the table.

He smiled; her darkling followed her carrying the large pot of food they had not finished. "I would like that, not the crying part but the movie part sounds nice."

"Figured you might." She winked and rushed off to her living room. "Action, romance, or horror?" She asked sifting through her movies.

"Um. Action or Horror I guess." He followed her voice through her house.

"Romance got it." She pulled out a movie.

"Um, I'm not one for romance." He approached her.

"I know. This will be fun to watch, you blushing and me recording it for later blackmail." She pushed the CD he didn't see the name of the machine.

"Um, Griffin…please don't." He sat down on the couch.

She turned around to see him hugging one corner, she raised a brow at him. "Oh no, I will not be cuddling up to your cold side, move to the other side." She ordered.

"Cuddling?" He choked. "I can keep it from getting cold."

"Not a chance. Move over." She motioned for him to scoot which he did.

Sophie plunked down right next to him, the couch dipped in where they sat, his face was on fire now as she snuggled in deep and pressed her thigh to his.

"Um…Griffin."

"Sophie. Since we are getting along now, I think you can call me Sophie freely. Only in private." She told him hitting a button to turn on the movie. Plus, she did save his life and he cared enough about her to come over to see her after seeing his mother.

"Are you really going to sit like this next to me?" He asked unsure if he was speaking calmly. His throat was tight and his heart was beating out of control. What was wrong with him?

"Sure, I should have you more often, built-in space heater." She gifted him with a half-smile, the unscarred side rose up giving her a lopsided smile.

"I see." He gulped. He looked away covering his mouth with his other hand and clenching his teeth.

Shoto had only just noticed what she was wearing, unlike the outfits from before this one left absolutely nothing to the imagination, her tank top was thin at best, her breasts pressed against the fabric tightly and she must have been cold too. He could see the swell of them at the top, the valley down was deep and long. She may as well not be wearing any shorts at all since he could not even see the material anymore as she sat beside him. Was she trying to deliberately entice him with her body? Should he inform her that it was not needed? Would confessing that he actually liked her make her stop dressing like she was testing him?

"I hope you haven't seen this one." She said around the thundering of his own blood in his ears.

"I don't watch romance."

"Duck, I'm not so mean as to torment you that much. It's just a horror movie." She giggled.

He looked at the TV surprised to see that a horror movie had been put in. She moved away from him and adjusted herself to lay half on the other side of the couch with her legs up at her side. A beautifully decorated blanket appeared and covered those long legs up to just above her breasts. She looked over at him and raised a brow at him. He was surprised by her sudden disappearance from his side. He didn't like the loss he felt, and he didn't like that. What reason would he feel lost at her presence by his side? He felt her gaze on him and tried to swallow but his mouth had gone dry.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to tempt you." She told him softly. "You can cool down now."

She had moved away because he had nearly caught on fire, she knew exactly why he had been so hot suddenly. She would not be boasting to say she was well endowed, with her black mixed sun-kissed locks that shined like a raven's wing while also shining like gold in the firelight and a body that curved in all the right places. Her mother's genetics went well with her father's it seemed. But she didn't help any with the way she dressed around this particular person whose emotions showed as much as hers through his powers. She had to admit, she was playing around with him but…why? She didn't really have an attraction to him, did she? It wasn't that he wasn't attractive, she certainly liked the way he looked, his eyes were fascinating and she loved the way his body looked in his suit. Sophie could tell that though he probably hated the training it had worked out well for him.

"I'm sorry, I'll leave." He stood and she was in front of him suddenly gently pushing him down by his shoulders.

"Don't go, I'll change." She rushed off to her room and he sat down waiting in the silence, the horror movies opening menu played in the background of his thoughts.

She returned in a large shirt that dipped past her thighs and a pair of pants decorated with stars and moons. The shirt said the words: Nighttime, Sleep time. She returned to her seat and curled up content. He could still see her bandages on her arm, the shoulder wound had not finished healing completely and the thick bandages that wrapped her leg up. It brought back the memories of the alleyway attack, and what he had witnessed.

"Sophie, who were those men? Why were they after you?" He asked her.

She didn't answer right away. "You know my mother is in a coma, I told you at dinner. And you are smart enough to know that it was your father's doing. I will never forgive him for taking her from me, for punishing her so unjustly." She sighed long and deep. "I don't want to get you involved in what I have going on. I don't want you hurt because of me and what I am doing. Those men, were there to capture me for the man who hired them. It has nothing to do with you or even your father for that matter. Please, next time I tell you to run just do it. And if anyone with a number for a name approaches you to run for your life. Not one of my enemies will stop at anything, they will hurt you to get to me."

He looked over at her, her eyes were so terribly sad. "Sophie…I don't ever want to be the cause of your pain."

She blinked in surprise.

"And I don't ever want to cause your death." She confessed.

Here he was, a few months of knowing her and already he was so close to her that she didn't want his death anymore. It crushed him, how much she trusted him now. Because her enemies, whoever they were; planned to use this against her. Shoto vowed then and there, no amount of intimidation was going to take him back down. Sophie may not want to talk to him about the situation right now but he had every intention of helping her. Whatever it was she was doing; he was going to find out. And then he would help her, he knew she was good so whatever it was she had to go on probably had something to do with her mother and why she had lost control of her powers in the first place. He would figure it out so Sophie no longer had to keep it a secret. Shoto wanted to know all about her, but why? What was it…could it be he liked her?

He didn't ask her anything else after that. The movie started but he was not paying attention to the movie at all. He was painfully aware of the girl beside him and it made it hard for him to control the flames. He was attracted to her, it had nothing to do with her body, even now wrapped up to her neck she was beautiful, her eyes intent on the movie and her mouth slightly open to breathe. It wasn't her body; it was all of her. He wanted to be with her, all the time, wanted to protect her, fight alongside her, and be the one she looked at all the time. And it made him very afraid. What could this mean for them? For her?

Sophie had fallen asleep by the time the movie was over. He didn't know what to do now that it was over so he turned off the TV and tried to wake her, she must have been exhausted, he did notice her house smelled clean, she must have been busy. He carefully eased her into his arms, mindful of her shoulder, and carried her to her room. It was not hard to see which one was the slept in one, once he laid her on her bed, she instantly threw her arms out wildly and let out a mumble of pain from overextending her injured arm. He stood up and looked down at her, she had settled and it was comical. She looked like a child, with her arms and legs flung out wildly. He leaned over to pull her more into a better position but she refused to cooperate. He let out an exasperated sigh and looked at her, his hands pressed on either side of her body and her face inches from his own.

"You, are a beautiful woman." He whispered. He felt her hot breath on his face, she didn't brush her teeth after dinner, it smelled like the spaghetti they both made. "Fool, you will rot your teeth out." He smiled. Still, he lowered his head and pressed his mouth to hers, her lips so soft.

He left quietly after that, controlling himself until he shut the front door before he completely lost control and exploded with flames that he quickly quelled with ice. Sophie rolled over on the bed and touched her fingertips to her lips, her face a massive blush. This was not good.

It's never good when you love someone.

Shut up.