chapter 5

"Shouto!" His sister Fuyumi called out to him from the back seat of their family car. "Why didn't you take the diver this morning, Shouto? Shouto where are you going? I came to pick you up."

Shouto sighed, adjusted the strap to his messenger bag over his shoulder and turned back to his sister. "Sorry Fuyumi, I'm going to walk home today. Sorry you came to get me but I don't want to use 'his' car anymore."

Fuyumi sighed as she rolled the tinted window up to their family car. 'His' car, Shouto, meant their father's car. Ever since their father had recommended Shouto for UA, Shouto had been more and more distant. She didn't blame him. Their father was harder on him than the rest of them. His 'Masterpiece', that's what their father Endeavor always called Shouto. 'My Masterpiece', Fuyumi mumbled under her breath, more like a means to make up for their father's own inadequacies.

Shouto crossed the street at the end of the sidewalk a block from his middle school. There were several other students waiting with him at the next light but they didn't talk to him, and he didn't acknowledge their presence. It had always been like that.

His father, the Number 2 hero held him back his first year, claiming he wasn't ready to start school with the other children, that he needed another year of training before he thought he was ready to start his less important academic studies.

Shouto should be wrapping up his first year of high school right now, not his last year of middle school, but he wasn't, thanks to his father. It seemed like every terrible thing in his life, every misfortune, every disappointment was always related, could be associated with him, that man, his father. He hated him.

He hated him more than anything else in the world and he refused to let him control him anymore...starting with his walk to and from school. It was petty and juvenile, Shouto would be the first to admit it, but he didn't care.

Shouto crossed the street, turned left and waited for the other light to change. Would she be there? Did she know what time he got out of school if she didn't go to school herself? Why wasn't she in school, she said she had stopped going to school at the age of twelve, did she drop out, was it different where she was from?

She didn't strike him as a drop out, nor a flunky. No, she told him she had finished school at twelve, not that she had stopped going. Maybe things were just different where she was from, but twelve was still pretty young to graduate from school he thought as he crossed another four way and continued walking toward the park.

Truth be told, he had taken a wrong turn and hadn't meant to walk through the park that morning. Meeting her there had been an accident, but a good one he thought as he turned into the park.

He walked around the bend and saw her, she was sitting on a park bench, close to where he had first found her. Yeah, a good accident.

Clearing his throat, he walked up to her.

"You changed your skirt." Todoroki spoke quietly, pulling her attention from the book she was reading.

"My other one got, uh ruined." Sakura dogeared her book and set it down on her lap. "I got it with the money you gave me, thanks for that again. Do you want the rest back? I still have most of it I think, I'm not sure if it's a lot or not though. I tried to get an inexpensive skirt and I wouldn't have bought clothes if I hadn't, well…" Sakura trailed off.

"How did you ruin your skirt?" Shouto sat on the bench beside Sakura, placing his book bag on his other side. "Keep the money, it isn't much."

That was a lie, he had given her quite a bit.

Sakura didn't know how much it was but she was sure it was more than she had back home on her dresser. She hesitated to say so though as she looked at him. He seemed different from this morning, like something was bothering him. "Hey, you okay? You seem tense."

Shouto frowned. Was he tense, well maybe he was. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Did you need to go? I'm not keeping you am I? I told you I would be here so I didn't want you to show up and I wasn't here but I did think that you might just be being kind again and…" She paused, she was blabbering.

"No, I don't have anywhere to be." Shouto sat beside her motionless. "So, you got a book?" He thought the book must be new, it was too big to fit in the little purses on her belt and he hadn't seen it earlier today. He was glad to see she was sensible. A book and a skirt, that's how she had spent his money. He was pleased.

"Yea, I wanted to learn more about this place, about Japan." Sakura picked the book up off her lap and showed it to him.

"History of ancient and modern Japan." Shouto read out loud. "So you're not from Japan?" She spoke Japanese so well, he was sure she was from Japan, if not some far corner, some remote part of it at least.

"No." Sakura played with the corners of her book, looking out over the park.

Shouto waited but she didn't elaborate. Sensing hesitation on her part, he didn't press her. He understood. If she didn't want to talk about herself it was fine, he only wondered why she was here, so far from home and alone. Was she alone?

"So, are you traveling with your family then?" He asked her.

The corners of Sakura's mouth wavered somewhere between a grimace and a smile. "No. I'm kinda solo."

"Ah." Shouto watched her roll the front cover of her paperback up then down again. The conversation dropped between them. He shifted his weight on the bench while she continued to play with the edges of her book. "Are you hungry? I didn't eat much at school today and I'm hungry."

"Oh well, yeah I got some juice from one of those vending machines but I didn't get any food so yeah I'm a little hungry." She admitted.

"Let's get something to eat then." Shouto rose from the bench relieved he had chosen the correct words, threw his bag over his shoulder and looked at her expectantly.

"I suppose but don't you eat with your family? I mean dinner right? Won't your mom get upset if you spoil your appetite?" She tucked her book in her belt.

"No." Shouto didn't elaborate, he didn't want to go into the sordid details that were his family.

Green eyes met blue and slate. Sakura nodded once, she understood. He kinda reminded her of Sasuke in a way. She smiled a bit to herself. If he didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't push him. There were plenty of things she couldn't tell him.

"So, what did you want to get?" She asked him.

"What do you like to eat?" Shouto started walking down the path toward the busy street. "There's a takoyaki stand over there or a hot cake stand." He pointed left.

"Either one is fine with me." Sakura walked beside him hoping whatever he chose would be better than the rice ball she had tried to eat earlier. The streets were more crowded than they had been earlier. She could see other teens their age dressed the way Todoroki was. "Is that a uniform for school?" She pointed to his shirt.

"Yea, my last year in middle school." He explained.

"What's middle school? I mean it sounds like a school in the middle, but what is it in the middle of?" She cocked her head to the side thinking. They had primary school in Konoha, then the academy later on but that was it, there was no school in the middle. Yet another difference from this world and her own.

"I've never met anyone who didn't know what middle school was before." Shouto blinked at her. "It's the school students attend in between primary school and high school." He explained to her.

"High school?" She didn't understand. "So you go to primary school, we have that, then middle school, so your middle school is like the academy for me." She tapped her fingers against her lips on her right hand.

"So those guys I saw earlier were probably in middle school, but they didn't wear the same uniform as you and they looked younger." Sakura looked at Todoroki again, waiting.

"Well, I started school late, because of my father." Shouto's voice was calm, but Sakura noticed he was clenching his fists.

"Ah." She tried to smile at him. "I thought you looked older and no wonder you were confused when I told you I graduated at twelve." She laughed a bit at their situation. "How funny. You must have thought I was crazy."

"Not at all, just...different." Shouto smiled a little. "What kind of sauce do you want on your takoyaki?" They were in front of the takoyaki stand now.

"I like eel sauce but please, get whatever you want. I eat almost anything." Sakura didn't want him catering to her anymore than he had already. He had done enough for an odd stranger such as herself.

Shouto turned back to the takoyaki vendor. "Two orders of takoyaki with eel sauce please and two bottled waters."

"I like eel sauce with my takoyaki too." He waited for her response.

"Did you say bottled water?" Sakura was watching the vendor move about the small stand, watched him pull two clear bottles of water out from his cooler and place them on the wooden counter for them.

"Yeah, you don't have that in your country?" He asked her curiously.

"No, we use canteens." She reached up and took the bottled water from the counter, turning it over in her hands. "It's very pretty." She stared at the bottle while Shouto stared at her.

"Here ya go kids, enjoy!" The food vendor smiled at Sakura and Todoroki.

Shouto picked up his bottled water and their bag of food, turning around to walk back to the park. "Want to eat in the park? It's a little cold maybe but it's quieter." He tilted his head toward the noisy plaza, now filled with teens and other younger people.

"Yea that sounds good, hey, why does everyone here call us kids? A man earlier called me a little girl. We're adults ." She watched him cock his head to the side.

"Adults?" Shouto actually stopped walking to look at her. "Is a sixteen year old an adult where you're from?"

"Twelve. In Konoha you're twelve when you graduate from the academy and you're considered an adult but if you don't graduate you're not. Most graduate at the age of twelve and start their miss…" She cut herself off abruptly. She had already said too much. "I just find it insulting to be called a kid when I'm not."

They continued to walk back to the park, Shouto thinking over her situation. She was not from Japan. She was from a place called Konoha. He had never heard of it before. It sounded Japanese to him though. Leaves?

"Your country is called Leaves?" He asked her curiously.

It was then she realized her mistake. Sakura groaned. "Well kinda. It's actually called Konohagakure, so…" She would need to be more careful. Todoroki seemed different than Shigaraki and she had let her guard down. That wasn't good.

They were back in the park now. Shouto looked back and forth. "Let's go over there, by the fountain." He lifted his bottled water and pointed to a fountain closer to the back of the park where there were less people. Sakura nodded in agreement. The fewer, the better.

"The village hidden in the leaves." Shouto untied their takoyaki bag and handed Sakura a box. "That's pretty. I like it."

Sakura smiled. She had always liked it too, thought it was pretty, like a storybook until she got older and fully understood what it meant.

"It is pretty but it is functional too." She put her hands together. "Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu." Shouto echoed her. "How is the name of your country functional?"

Sakura popped one of the pieces of takoyaki into her mouth to give her more time to answer. She needed to think about this. Shouto may not give off the same eerie vibe Shigaraki did but that didn't mean he wasn't as sharp minded as the white haired man. He had already picked up on her mistakes and was asking questions she didn't know if she should answer.

"It's not a country, it's my village." She explained once she had thought about it and swallowed.

"What country is your village in?" He inquired.

"Um, well…" Sakura hesitated. They were getting to a point where she didn't think she should continue. She didn't want to offend him but she couldn't possibly explain that she was a kunoichi from The Land of Fire and that…

"It's okay." Shouto interrupted her thoughts. "I'm sorry. I didn't think that you might not want to talk about it, that you may have come here to start over."

Start over. Yes, she was definitely starting over but...that didn't mean she wanted to forget either.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you." She began, her bottom lip between her teeth. "I'm sorry but I don't think I'm quite ready to face whatever it is I'm…"

"Then don't." Shouto said simply. "Face it when you're ready. If you rush it, or push forward unprepared no good will come of it. You can't force things on yourself if you're not ready for it. I understand that more than most." Shouto watched her eyes waver.

He had guessed correctly then. She had come here to start over, to be a new person. He wondered briefly what she was running away from to make her run so far. He knew that look. She was hiding, not from him, not specifically but from everyone else, maybe even herself a little.

Shouto cleared his throat. "Do you like the takoyaki, Sakura san?"

It was the first time he had said her name from this morning when they had first met but it sounded much different now. Was it her imagination or was his voice softer now after that shared moment. She was being ridiculous, she told herself. She had other things to think about, more important things to worry about.

"Yes, thank you Todoroki san." Sakura nodded as she took another bite of her food.

"Shouto, call me Shouto if you want." Shouto watched her eyes snap up to his. He watched them widen in surprise. He liked the look of her when she looked at him like that. He wanted to see more. He wanted to see her again and they hadn't even finished eating yet.

"Okay Shouto." Sakura blushed, lowering her eyes. "Then please call me Sakura, without the san, if you want."

"Hn." Shouto nodded looking back down at his food pleased with how things were going, missing the startled look on Sakura's face.

She had to will herself to swallow before she choked on her spit. He sounded exactly like Sasuke. That noise, that damned Uchiha noise.

"Hey! Todoroki!" Two boys around the same age as Shouto walked up to the fountain where Sakura and Todoroki were eating. "This your girlfriend?"

"No." Shouto's tone changed abruptly causing Sakura to look up at him sharply.

"She's pretty hot, mind if we join you two?" One of the boys sat down beside Sakura, pushing his leg up against hers.

"Uh." Sakura moved her food and her body closer to Shouto and away from the other boy. "I don't think this bench is large enough to fit all of us."

"Kinda stuck up aren't ya?" The boy on the bench grinned at Sakura then turned to his friend who remained standing. "What would you expect from a rich stuffed shirt like Todoroki though, am I right?" He sneered, making his friend laugh out loud.

"Hey babe, I just wanna be your friend, come on…" The boy reached out toward Sakura's face.

"Stop." Shouto was on his feet, ice fog rolling off the right side of his body. "Don't touch her."

"What? You said she wasn't your girlfriend, that means she's up for grabs man." The second boy laughed as though he had said something witty, which he hadn't.

"Grab me and I'll break your arm." Sakura smiled sweetly at both of the newcomers. "...and depending on what you grab, I might just break both of them and maybe a leg."

Shouto blinked, remembering this morning how she had leapt skillfully to her feet "Sakura wait…".

"Don't be like that babe." The idiot touched the side of Sakura's face and tried to pull her back toward him.

"Idiot." Sakura hissed under her breath, set her food to the side and reached out for the boy's wrist.

'Snap'

"You bitch!" The boy screamed, fell back off the bench and rolled on the ground moaning out loud. "She broke my arm! She fucking broke my arm!"

Shouto's eyes went wide.

"I didn't mean to do that." Sakura looked down at her hands. She hadn't put that much chakra into it. It shouldn't have done that, she had only meant to…

Sakura looked at the boy. "Actually I broke your wrist. I can heal it if you let me just…""

"Uh, we need to go." Shouto picked up their food boxes, shoved them in the bag, took Sakura's hand and ran in the opposite direction of his two classmates. "Sakura I don't know where Konoha is or how things work there but you can't break someone's wrist because they tried to touch your face."

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry. That's never happened before with only a little of my...I warned him though." Sakura ran beside Shouto easily. "I can heal him if we go back and..."

"I'm afraid not." Shouto grimaced. This was bad. She would get into a lot of trouble if the police were called and they would be. "We have to go somewhere safe, where I know we'll be protected. Follow me."

Sakura bit her bottom lip. Was what she had done really that bad? Was Shouto going to get into trouble because of her?

Ten minutes later they stopped outside a very large, very formal looking house.

"What is this place, Shouto?" Sakura looked at Shouto, his jaw was clenched, his knuckles white as he pushed the gate open to his house.

"My house." He pulled her through the gate, the metal latch snapping shut behind them.

Shouto slid his front door back and motioned Sakura into the house.

"Tadaima." Shouto took his shoes off, waited for Sakura to remove hers and put their shoes into the bottom cubby hole together.

"Oh Shouto, I'm glad you're home. I was getting worried. You should have been home by now even if…" Fuyumi's voice died in her throat as she came around the corner and spotted Sakura.

"Fuyumi, if the police come to the house, Sakura isn't here and I was home an hour ago." Shouto pulled Sakura past his sister, through the secondary sliding door and down the hall to his room.

Sakura bowed as well as she could as Shouto pulled her past his sister. "Nice to meet you." Sakura called out over her shoulder as Shouto pulled her into the last room on the right.

"Shouto what have you done?" Fuyumi covered her mouth with her hands. "...and is that, your girlfriend? When did you get a girlfriend?" Fuyumi walked down the hall the other way, back into the kitchen where she had been before Shouto had gotten home and set another place at the table for dinner.