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Chapter 9


"Um… Todoroki?"

"Hm? What?"

"Ah… Your phone is ringing again."

Shouto blinked for a moment and poked his head out of the bathroom, staring down the hallway at Midoriya, who was holding up his phone gingerly. His green eyes were flitting back and forth from the screen, looking a bit nervous as he did so.

"Just ignore it," Shouto said, turning back towards the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. He sighed. Did he really have to wear this?

"Um! But shouldn't you answer it?" Midoriya called. Shouto could hear his footsteps coming closer towards the bathroom, and a mop of green hair poked out from behind Shouto's shoulder. "It is your father, after all…"

"That's even more reason to ignore it," Shouto said. "I already know what he's going to say. There's no need to have a conversation about it."

"But he's been calling nonstop all night and morning, right?" Midoriya said. "What if it's important? I'm sure neither one of you got any sleep."

"If it were that important, he would come to see me." He adjusted the wig on his head and sighed, turning to look at his partner. "Could you help me with this?"

Midoriya paused, watching as the phone finally stopped buzzing. "He doesn't usually call you this much, right?"

Shouto sighed. "Please just drop it, Midoriya. We don't have time for this anyway." He pouted as he adjusted the wig, a few of his red and white hairs still sticking out beneath the black hair of the wig. "We have to get ready for work."

Midoriya frowned and set down Shouto's phone, the accursed thing starting to buzz again. He walked over to the bathroom door and helped adjust the wig on Shouto's head, trying to get the black to cover both his hair and the scar on his face. Once it looked about right, Midoriya glanced in the mirror, staring at his own cheesy disguise.

"Do you think the mustache is too much?" Midoriya asked, his bandaged fingers rubbing over the fake 'stache gently.

"I think it's all too much," Shouto said. "This whole thing of keeping me hidden is over the top."

Midoriya frowned, pulling down the mustache hairs with it. "It's to keep you safe, Todoroki."

Shouto tugged on the wig one last time and turned away from the bathroom, ready to be done with it. He just wanted to get back to business as usual so he could get closer to his goal of reaching the Detective rank.

"I don't need this kind of protection. I know how to be safe," Shouto said. He packed up his police uniform and his gun in a backpack, checking to make sure the chamber was empty before packing it away. "I know how to use a gun."

"Well, even if you do, you can never be too careful," Midoriya said, placing Shouto's phone down on the coffee table and following him into the living room. He also grabbed his packed bag and faced Shouto, brows a little furrowed. "Don't you know how all of those police officers went missing? They were alone, Todoroki. They were probably caught off guard and there was no one around to give them back up."

Shouto's cell phone buzzed again on the coffee table, the loud rattling echoing in the apartment. He felt his frustration rise as he reached over to grab it. He ground his teeth at the sight of his father's contact popping up on the screen. He would blow a fuse before this day was over.

He powered off the phone and chucked it into his backpack, throwing it over his shoulders and gripping the straps. He looked at Midoriya expectantly.

"Ready?" Shouto asked, completely moving on from their previous conversation.

Midoriya, of course, picked up on the aversion to the topic but said nothing about it. Instead, he gave a small smile and nodded, his silly mustache wrinkling up a bit. Shouto resisted chuckling at him. He looked just as ridiculous as Shouto did.

As they headed out of the apartment, Shouto let out a long yawn, his eyes closing and his hand coming up to cover his mouth. Midoriya's face pulled into another frown at the sight, and he gazed at Shouto in concern.

"You really didn't sleep last night, did you?" he asked. "You can take the bed tonight so you can get some rest."

Shouto waved him off. "I'm fine." He tried stifling another yawn but it clawed up his throat and made tears spring to his eyes.

Midoriya frowned. "Seriously. I can take the couch so you can get a decent rest."

"I appreciate your concern," Shouto said as he rubbed his eyes, "but it's misplaced. I can handle this."

Midoriya didn't look convinced but he said nothing as they continued into the station. They rode the train down a few stops, Shouto holding onto his wig most of the time.

By the time they reached the station, Shouto was ready to throw his wig away. It was getting too itchy, anyway. He grabbed the handle to the front door and glanced over at Midoriya, who was fidgeting by his side.

"What's up?" Shouto asked before he opened the door.

Midoriya jumped a little and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, well... Kacchan is back at work today, so… I'm sure he'll say something about what we're wearing."

Shouto's brow twitched.

Just great. He had completely forgotten about everyone else in the precinct.

With a sigh, Shouto opened up the door and invited Midoriya inside. His partner followed behind him and they walked into the main floor where their desks rested. And as soon as they entered, the officers in the room stopped to look at them. Soft snickers started to spread throughout the room, and Shouto sighed. This was humiliating.

"Oi! Nice getup, nerds!" Bakugou called from his desk.

Midoriya frowned at him. "Stop it, Kacchan. We were told to do this."

"Oh yeah? By who? A cosplay director?" Bakugou teased.

"By me, actually," Aizawa said, walking into the room. He was holding up a mug of coffee and staring at the two of them with tired eyes. "But you guys didn't have to come all the way to the precinct like that. You could've changed once you were far enough away from the safe house."

The chuckles in the room because more boisterous, making Midoriya flush and Shouto scowl. He looked to his superior with a look of disdain.

"You could've told us that sooner," he said, pulling off his loose wig.

Aizawa shrugged. "I thought you two would've known that already," he said. He nodded to his office. "Get changed and meet me in my office. I need to speak with you."

Shouto nodded and then looked at Midoriya. "We'll go to the locker rooms to change."

Midoriya nodded. "Yeah, sounds good."

"Actually, I just need to speak with Todoroki," Aizawa interrupted with a raised hand to stop them from leaving.

Midoriya blinked, looking to Shouto for insight. Shouto merely shrugged and pulled off his wig.

"Go ahead and change. I'll meet you back here," Shouto said to him.

Shouto watched as Midoriya nodded and grabbed his duffle bag, heading straight to the locker rooms. He then turned to face Aizawa, who stood looking grimly at him.

"What do you need to speak to me about?" Shouto asked.

Aizawa took a deep breath and sighed, nodding his head towards his office door. He started walking, Shouto tagging along behind him.

"We need to discuss the nature of your possible relation to the killer," Aizawa said lowly so others wouldn't hear.

Shouto winced. "But I don't know anything."

"I figured as much. But we should discuss all possibilities so we know how to proceed," Aizawa said.

They arrived at Aizawa's office door, but instead of going inside, Aizawa stopped, his hand resting on the doorknob. He sighed and turned back to look at Shouto.

"You might want to prepare yourself for what is about to happen," Aizawa said.

Shouto's heart suddenly fluttered against his chest, his eyes widening a bit.

"What do you mean?" he asked nervously.

"Well," Aizawa began, turning back to his door, "you aren't the only one interested in the DNA results."

Shouto's feet felt frozen to the floor.

It couldn't be.

Aizawa opened the door and immediately bowed his head a bit. "Sorry for the wait. He's here now."

"It's about time."

Something akin to fear gripped Shouto's chest like a vice. His entire body seemed to stiffen up, his back ramrod straight, and the hairs on all parts of his body stood on their ends as a shiver rippled through him.

Of all the people who had to come to the precinct today, it had to be him.

"Come in, Officer Todoroki," Aizawa said, gesturing into his office.

Do I have to? Shouto wanted to ask.

But he inhaled through his nose and then entered inside, his eyes immediately flickering to the tall man standing in front of Aizawa's desk. His red hair and sharp blue eyes still haunted Shouto's memories to this day.

"Shouto," he greeted, his voice gruff and unforgiving.

Shouto swallowed, sending a dull glare up to the man.

"Father," he greeted back, just as unforgiving.

Enji stared back at him with narrowed eyes, his glance looking him up and down.

"What are you wearing? You look like a juvenile delinquent," Enji stated.

Shouto frowned, looking down at part of the disguise. He thought it looked fine.

"I gave it to him as part of the disguise," Aizawa said, closing the door behind him. He gestured towards the two seats in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat."

Shouto paused, waiting for his father to move first. Turned out, Enji was just as stubborn as he was. They stood glaring at each other for a moment, both waiting for the other to take a seat.

A sigh from Aizawa broke the spell, and the two Todoroki's looked over to see the Lieutenant taking a seat at his desk.

"You know, the sooner you two cooperate, the sooner we can put this behind us," Aizawa said. "Sit. Now."

Shouto exchanged a look with his father and then held his breath as he took a seat across from Aizawa. Enji sat in the chair next to Shouto, and suddenly, the room felt too stuffy.

He started to claw at the collar of his shirt.

"All right, let's skip the pleasantries. We've got a serious problem here and we need to gather all the information we can on the matter," Aizawa said, and he handed them both manila folders.

Shouto opened up his and started reading the material on the inside. It was details about the DNA test from the blood on the surgical staple. The staple itself wasn't from a local hospital, it noted, and the results were still reading those same numbers.

80% and 50% match. Match.

"So, you two already know about the results from this staple. And it's highly likely that this staple belongs to the cop killer," Aizawa said.

"What is it you want to discuss here? Are you accusing one of us of being the killer?" Enji asked, voice tight. It made Shouto cringe.

Aizawa blinked at him, unamused. "No. But since there is a link to the both of you, I thought I would conduct an interview." He paused giving an unreadable look to Shouto. "I was going to do it separately, but I suppose this way is killing two birds with one stone."

Aizawa paused in his speech, pulling out a note pad and twirling a pen in between his fingers.

"So. What can you tell me about your family?" Aizawa asked.

Shouto sucked in a breath. His hands were holding his knees tightly, tight enough to cut off circulation. Images suddenly flashed into his mind.

"Shouto? Oi, bro! Let's go!"

There was Touya. But he was…

"My Shouto. Please don't cry. You can do whatever you set your mind to, okay?"

And mother. But she was also…

"What about my family?" Enji asked, pulling Shouto from his downward spiral. "You couldn't possibly think—"

"I don't know, Chief. That's why I'm asking," Aizawa interrupted. "Now, would you please tell me about all of your family members?"

Enji looked ready to snap at him but he managed to hold back. Surprisingly.

"My wife is Todoroki Rei," Enji began.

Aizawa wrote it down on his notepad, and Shouto felt somewhat offended. He really wouldn't accuse his mother, right? There was no way she would do something so vile.

"And she lives with you?" Aizawa asked.

"No," was Enji's answer.

Aizawa quirked a brow, eyes lifting from his notepad. Shouto squirmed in his seat.

He could handle Midoriya knowing about his past, but Aizawa? That was entirely different.

"Then…?" Aizawa said, gesturing his hand. He was starting to look suspicious.

"She is currently a patient at a mental institution," Enji said.

Aizawa's eyes widened and then flickered to Shouto, who immediately averted his gaze. The silence was thick in the room as Aizawa seemed to wait for an explanation, but one never came. Both Enji and Shouto remained quiet.

"All right. So… There's no possibility of her leaving that facility then?" Aizawa asked, his eyes gliding back to Enji.

"No," Enji answered.

Shouto's hands clasped in front of him in between his knees and gripped hard enough to make his arms shake. He wanted this to be done as soon as possible.

Aizawa frowned and took some more notes. "Okay."

Shouto was slowly leaning forward in a hunch, his back curving downward. It truly was getting too stuffy in there. There wasn't enough space in that room for the three of them.

"What about your children? Er, and your siblings?" Aizawa asked, looking to Enji first and then to Shouto.

Thoughts of Touya, Fuyumi, and Natsu popped into Shouto's mind, but he pushed them away. The memories had faded, anyway, like melted snow.

"We had four children," Enji answered.

"I see." Aizawa hummed and looked at Shouto. "And you are the oldest?"

Shouto only looked at him for a moment before he looked right back down at the ground.

"Youngest," he answered.

"Hm. And what of your siblings? Where are they?" Aizawa asked.

Shouto winced, trying to wrack his brain. Fuyumi was working as a teacher, right? In some school somewhere? And Natsu… was a therapist. He thought. And Touya…

"I…" Shouto started, but he found that his voice was lost to him.

"Two of them are working full-time jobs, just as Shouto is," Enji said, answering for Shouto. When Shoto glanced up at his father, he saw a disappointed look on his face.

"As police officers?" Aizawa asked.

"No. They could not handle the pressure," Enji answered.

Shouto wanted to roll his eyes.

Pressure. Right.

That was exactly why they didn't become cops.

"I see. And the third sibling?" Aizawa asked.

The room fell silent for a moment, and Shouto breathed out through his nose slowly. He never wanted anyone to know any of this. He wished the ground beneath his feet would give way and swallow him whole so he wouldn't have to deal with this.

"Deceased," Enji said plainly.

Shouto frowned hard. He barely even remembered his brother, but why did it still hurt so much? The fact that he never got to know someone? That he was robbed of that chance?

It was all bullshit.

"I… see," Aizawa said, making another note. "So. Do the other two siblings present any hostile personality traits?"

Shouto let out a huff of laughter. There was no way either of the two of them could hurt a fly. Fuyumi was way too nice and Natsu was all bark and no bite.

"Something funny about this?" Enji asked, his voice tight.

Shouto titled his head up to look at him, watching as his bright blue eyes burned with a silent threat. After a moment, he shook his head, looking back to the ground.

"No," he said quietly.

He could still feel his father's hot glare but he pointedly ignored him, trying to push the heat away. And after a moment, Enji cleared his throat and faced Aizawa, the glare finally moving away from Shouto's head.

"Neither one of the others have the personality to do something like this," Enji said.

How would you know? Shouto wanted to ask. It wasn't like he actually made an effort to get to know his own children.

"Hm," Aizawa said, writing down something else. "What about extended family? Anything to report on that end?"

Enji shook his head. "None worth speaking on."

Aizawa tapped his finger on his desk contemplatively. Once a few tense moments in silence passed, Aizawa sighed and placed his pen down.

"Well, that's a start," Aizawa said, standing to his feet. "Thanks for the info. I'll get the teams to examine what we know and see if there are any connections."

Shouto and Enji stood to their feet, as well, and they offered Aizawa a polite bow as the Lieutenant left the office.

Then, they were alone.

Shouto couldn't stay in that room any longer. He couldn't even bear to think about his old man let alone be in the same room as him.

He took a deep breath and headed to the office door, ready to bolt and find Midoriya to go on their patrol. But just before his hand touched the doorknob, he was gripped by his wrist and yanked back violently. He was forced to whirl around and face the man that he had been trying to avoid for a long time.

"What is the meaning behind all of this?" Enji asked. "Did you plant that staple? Are you behind these false accusations?"

Shouto grit his teeth and tried to pry his wrist out of Enji's grasp, but his grip was too strong. It was getting uncomfortable, but Shouto tried not to let it show on his face.

"I didn't plant anything. It wasn't even me who found the staple in the first place," Shouto said. He tugged again and Enji squeezed harder, making Shouto wince. "Let go."

"Not until you tell me the truth," Enji said.

"I am telling the truth!" Shouto said, his voice starting to rise.

But Enji ignored his pleas and continued. "If this is some ruse to try to make rank, then it is foolish. Staging evidence will not be good for your career or our family name."

Shouto wanted to explode. He pulled his arm back as fiercely as he could and swatted his father's hand away, offering the man a vicious snarl.

"Our family name means nothing to me!" Shouto yelled. "And I'm going to make the detective rank by my own merit. I'm not a crooked cop."

Enji narrowed his eyes at him, looking every bit as furious as he did when Shouto moved out of the estate a few years back. Finally, after the intense showdown, Enji huffed out an annoyed sigh and adjusted his uniform.

"Fine then. Do as you wish," Enji said, his voice clipped.

Then, just as disastrously as he appeared, he was gone, leaving Aizawa's office in a whirlwind of anger and frustration.

Shouto finally released a long breath and gripped his sore wrist, feeling his heart hammering away inside his chest. His ears started to ring loudly as he started to hyperventilate, his body close to panicking.

No, no. He didn't have time to do this. He had more important things to do.

And he especially could not have a mental breakdown in the middle of his boss' office.

So, he took deep breaths to calm down his thudding heart and then smoothed out his clothes.

He had to focus. Put up those walls. Wear the mask. Become numb.

He had a job to do, after all.

After a few more breaths, he left Aizawa's office and nearly ran right into Midoriya, whose expression was twisted with a mixture of worry and frustration. Shouto couldn't quite decipher which one was more prominent on his face.

Midoriya didn't say anything, which was even more unsettling at first. But when he offered Shouto his bag of clothes in silence, Shouto knew it right away.

Midoriya had heard their entire conversation.


Shouto could feel Midoriya's eyes on him the entire way back to the safe house. It was incredibly out of place and overbearing, but if Shouto could ignore his father's glare, then he could bear with Midoriya for a few minutes.

It had been a long shift without Midoriya's constant muttering and annoying small talk throughout the day. They did a patrol and searched the same damn warehouse for more clues, but it produced nothing of value. So not only was Shouto on edge by his father's sudden arrival at the precinct, he was frustrated by the lack of findings. Now he only wanted to sleep. For the rest of his life.

As soon as they entered the apartment, Shouto shucked off his shoes and ripped the wig from his head.

"I'm turning in," Shouto said, trying to sound as calm as possible. "I can use the bed tonight right?"

Midoriya squeaked and looked at him curiously. "Oh, um. Yeah, that's… fine. But…" He wrung his hands nervously. "Are you sure? What about dinner?"

Shouto waved his hand in the air. "You go ahead. I'm not hungry."

"Ah, wait! Todoroki!"

Shouto shut the bedroom door behind him and then leaned against it. He could feel his chest burning from the lack of oxygen as he trembled and tried to breathe.

Today was too much.

His life had been too much.

Shouto sighed and hurried over to the bed. He stripped down and changed into a pair of sweatpants that he had in his bag and a white t-shirt. He collapsed into the bed and closed his eyes.

Just sleep, he told himself. Sleep and forget.

Forget his entire life's existence. And pretend, just for one night, that he could be anywhere but here, or anyone but himself.

Huh.

If he could've been born as a Midoriya instead of a Todoroki…

Would that have made a difference?

Or perhaps, life would've been better for everyone if he hadn't been born at all.

Shouto sighed and shut his eyes tight, hoping for a decent night's sleep. Due to his restless sleep the night before and his emotional exhaustion from the day, he succumbed to darkness shortly after falling into bed.

But that peace didn't last. He was soon tormented by voices echoing in his head from his distant past.

"Shouto, get up! You're being weak!"

"No," Shouto whispered back, begging his father to stop. "Please let me go!"

"You won't stop until you've learned how to overcome this!"

"I… can't…"

"Stop it! Please! He's only five!"

Shouto's heart fluttered. "Mama…"

"Get out of my way, woman! You are disturbing his training!"

"Mother… don't…"

He could see the kitchen through the crack in the door. He could see his mother talking on the phone next to the stove.

"He is looking more and more like him. I don't think I can stand this anymore. I have to run away."

Shouto reached out his tiny hand. "Mama?"

His mother whirled around, absolute terror in her eyes. She grabbed the tea kettle from the stove, reared it back and—

Shouto sucked in a harsh breath as the room twisted into darkness, leaving him confused and alone. He was no longer the six-year-old boy from before, but a grown man in his police uniform.

Just when he thought it was over, he heard a chuckle.

Shouto whirled around, trying to reach for his gun in his holster. He pulled it out and searched frantically around the dark room in search of the laugh. It was eerie and familiar. Where had he heard it before?

How sad, Todoroki Shouto.

Shouto whipped around and was suddenly face-to-face with a tall, dark shadow whose eyes shined blue in the darkness.

"Who are you?!" Shouto yelled.

The figure just laughed, and a hand reached out toward him. Shouto lifted the gun to aim at it.

"Stay back!" he shouted. "Stay the hell back!"

But the figure kept reaching out towards him.

Shouto pulled the trigger of his gun, expecting a huge blast. But instead, the gun just clicked, indicating an empty chamber. He stared down at his gun in shock, and raised his hand to smack it a few times before firing again. And once again, nothing happened.

The figure laughed and his hand finally clamped down on Shouto's neck, making him drop the gun.

"No…" Shouto whimpered.

How sad…

"No!" Shouto yelled.

The figure squeezed his neck, and suddenly a flame lit next to Shouto's face.

…Todoroki… Shouto.

"No!"

Shouto shot up from bed with a scream, his hand reaching for his neck. He glanced around the room in a panic, looking for any signs of the dark figure still lurking nearby, but he was completely alone in the dark bedroom.

Shouto found that he couldn't catch his breath. He knew where he was but his emotions were all over the place.

His father, his siblings, his mother, this killer…

It was all too much.

Suddenly, in a burst of energy, the door slammed open and in ran Midoriya, his gun drawn and his chest panting.

"M-Midoriya?" Shouto stuttered, his heart quivering too much to even focus. Was he still in the safe house? How old was he?

"Todoroki?" Midoriya panted, looking over.

Shouto's breath caught, and another surge of panic suddenly gripped him as he struggled to breathe again. He was so relieved to know where he was, but that relief was too cathartic—after years of building up the pain that he had kept inside, for it to suddenly spill all over the place was overwhelming. He hoped the lack of oxygen would make him pass out soon.

"Ah, Todoroki!" Midoriya gasped. He clicked on the safety on his handgun and put it down, hurrying over to Shouto's side. He reached out for him but didn't quite touch him. "Hey, easy, easy. It's me. Midoriya. I-Izuku."

Shouto inhaled another choked breath, his own hands reaching out to grab onto Midoriya's arms. He couldn't breathe.

"Calm down. Breathe, okay? I think you had another nightmare," Midoriya said, grabbing his hands. "Do you know where you are?"

Shouto nodded, his chest seized.

"Good. And you recognize me?" Midoriya asked, reaching up to cup Shouto's cheeks.

Shouto nodded again, and to his horror, he felt Midoriya start to wipe his cheeks. He didn't know when he had started crying but it was absolutely mortifying.

"Okay, good. It's okay, just relax," Midoriya said. "You can cry. You're allowed to."

Shouto wanted to laugh. Was he really saying that to Shouto? The king of crying?

Midoriya cut off his thoughts by leaning his forehead against his, and he immediately closed his eyes as Midoriya started to card his fingers through his hair.

"Breathe, Shouto," Midoriya whispered. "Breathe with me, okay?"

His name from Midoriya's lips made his heart flutter in a way that cut through the panic. He started to calm more and more as Midoriya started to hum and rock him back and forth.

"I'm here, Shouto," Midoriya said, and Shouto shivered, his shoulders beginning to sag. "I'm here."