Chapter 26

A few days after the run in with Endeavour, Todoroki had ignored multiple calls and texts from his father. Kaiya was beginning to get annoyed at his refusal to meet his father half way. "Why don't you just talk...baby steps. Doesn't mean hugs and confessions, just a conversation." She tried, scribbling in her notebook, sitting at his desk.

"We did. At the arena the other day." Todoroki snipped from his spot on his futon. Kaiya rolled her eyes at the petty behavior.

"So that's it for another six months? Come on, Shoto." She said, closing her notebook. Shoto's eyes burned into Kaiya's as irritation clouded in them; something she was used to seeing but not aimed at her. "What?"

"What do you want from me? I can't just flick a switch and everything is okay again." He asked, a touch of venom in his voice. "It's a lifetime worth of suffering to forgive." Kaiya took a moment to gather her thoughts before responding.

"He's your family. He made mistakes and he owns up to them. He is trying to be better, why won't you let him?"

"His mistakes are unforgivable. He broke my mother. Did this to my face. How could you forgive that?" Todoroki snapped, throwing his phone across the room when it buzzed again. Kaiya got to her knees and approached the boy, her eyes meeting him.

"I wouldn't. Don't forgive him for the past, but you have to let it go or it will eat away at you. Trust me I know." She whispered, reaching for his cheek but he turned away from her touch as if she had burned him. "Shoto?"

"You don't know anything. You didn't have parents that put you through that, any of that! You can't possibly understand! You have no one." His voice was reaching higher volumes the angrier he got. Kaiya's eyes burned with tears and anger as she got to her feet to put distance between the pair.

"I don't know what it's like to be hurt by a parent? What's it like to feel so alone in your own home? To feel so angry? At least you had people to come home to like Fuyumi. I've been alone all my life. Don't you dare tell me I don't know anything. You know that more than anyone how much bullshit that is." Her voice was so low, so venomous that Todoroki barely recognized the girl in front of him.

"You're really comparing your sad story to mine? It's not a competition. Stop projecting your trauma onto me!"" Todoroki growled, seeing Kaiya's eyes burn red. "Oh...you're angry now? What a surprise. Anytime your family is brought up you get angry. You want me to heal from my trauma? Maybe start with yours first." Kaiya's eyes widened at Todoroki's nerves as he spoke. He knew he struck a nerve with her, he knew he didn't speak the truth; he was just so angry that he felt she was on his father's side. She packed up her notebook and her bag and turned to leave. "Where are you going?" Todoroki growled, seeing Kaiya's tense, angry frame head for the door.

"Somewhere where you're not. I don't want to see you." She snapped, shutting the door behind her. Todoroki groaned and pulled at his hair. He knew he messed up, he upset Kaiya, moreso, angered her. But he was so angry with her too. He could hear her slam her bedroom door further down the hall and fell back onto his bed, angry with the world right now.

"Great Shoto. You pissed off the one person who was on your side."

Kaiya threw her bag down and screamed into her pillow. How dare Todoroki assume any of that. He knew better than that, and she knew that Todoroki was so angry he would say anything and not mean it. It didn't change the fact that he did say it. But she couldn't forgive him right now; he had struck a deep nerve. He deserved to be angry, be alone, and she didn't care to help him through it this time.

The next day, Kaiya entered the homeroom, her eyes clear but empty and Todoroki knew she hadn't slept well last night, like himself. She didn't say anything to him, didn't even look at him when she sat down. He refused to speak first, so they waited for Aizawa to join the class. Momo sat in front of Kaiya and turned to ask her a question but was met by a silent girl. Momo glanced at Todoroki who shifted his eyes to avoid her onyx stare.

"What's wrong Kaiya?" She asked quietly.

"I didn't sleep well. Headache." Kaiya answered her, keeping her eyes glued to her desk.

"I can make you some pain medicine if you'd like?" Momo offered sweetly, creating a pill packet for her. "I hope it helps."

"Thanks Momo." Kaiya nodded, swallowing the pill; knowing the mini pill wouldn't heal the pain inside her heart.

The day went by painstakingly slowly as Kaiya's mood did not improve. Between dodging Todoroki and avoiding answering any questions about why the couple looked distant, Kaiya was exhausted as she made her way outside the dorms to practice some new techniques. Before she could begin, she heard distant grunting from the other side of the garden, smelling burning in the air. Her eyes met Todoroki's body as he strained against an invisible opponent, practicing switching between fire and ice. His face was hard and angry, stifling his own frustrations as well as Kaiya. She yearned to help him through his battles, but she was still angry with him. Instead of joining his practice, Kaiya turned on her heel and started her own practice.

A little while had passed and Kaiya's muscles were screaming at her to calm down. She strained against the thumping pain in her head from using the mind trick that she didn't hear someone approach her. "Hey." A low growl sounded as Kaiya extinguished her flames and settled the earth. Between the smoke, Bakugou appeared in his traditional black tank and sweats.

"I'm really not up for any fighting tonight Bakugou." Kaiya mumbled, stretching her palms out.

"I come in peace. Something is up with you and Icy Hot." He started as he shoved his hands in his pockets. Kaiya nodded and pulled her hair into a bun. "That's why you're both out here separately, working through the anger...separately?"

Kaiya rolled her eyes and cracked her knuckles. "We're both stubborn."

"What happened?"

Kaiya's eyes snapped to Bakugou and sucked her teeth. "Since when do you care?" Bakugou rolled his eyes at her question and shuffled closer.

"I just do. Talk." Kaiya sighed heavily and recalled the short but heavy fight that happened the night before. "He's an ass." Bakugou stated, causing Kaiya to chuckle. "But you messed up too."

Kaiya nodded her head and a rush of emotions were caught in her throat as Bakugou approached her slowly. "Yeah. I pushed him too far." A tear rolled down her cheek as Bakugou winced.

"Icy Hot is complicated. I don't like him much, but living under Endeavors roof can't be easy." Bakugou murmured, looking up into the sky. "I feel bad for him at times."

"You weren't at the sports festival when you heard his story. What changed?" Kaiya asked as Bakugou regarded the question for a moment.

"I guess I've learned things. Life is shitty, but everyone goes through something. Whether it's a burn on the face or arm, or anger issues...we all struggle with something." Kaiya soaked in Bakugou's change of heart as silent moments passed by. "Your story...changed my mind." Kaiya looked at him gently, surprised at the honest confession of the normally distant boy.

"I need to stop projecting my struggles onto his family. We went through different things." Kaiya decided, wiping the stray tears away. "I just wish he hadn't said it so harshly." Bakugou nodded his head in agreement and nudged her shoulder.

"Do you feel better talking about it?"

"I actually do. Doesn't mean I forgive him."

"You're still angry. Come on. Let's spar." Bakugou offered, an evil smirk forming. "I won't go easy on you just because you're heart broken."

"Do you ever?"

Days went by and the students became more aware that Todoroki and Kaiya were not speaking. And each night, Bakugou and Kaiya sparred to help Kaiya alleviate the frustrations. With each hero assessment that Todoroki and Kaiya were forced to work together on, a heavy silence hung between them until talking was absolutely necessary. Even Aizawa had noticed that the friends weren't the same. He kept an eye on the pair from a distance between each class time.

"Couples fight, but this is crazy Kaiya." Jirou told Kaiya over lunch. The girls had gathered around Kaiya in support of her. "It's been over a week now. You have to do something."

"I agree. Just apologize and everything will go back to normal." Mina piped in.

"She shouldn't apologize if she didn't do anything wrong!" Momo jumped to Kaiya's defense while Kaiya remained silent as her eyes wandered to the end of the table further down where Iida, Ochako, Midoriya and Todoroki sat. Normally, Kaiya would sit with them every other day or so, switching between the girls and the boys, but not that week.

"He said hurtful things Mina. I know I probably look like the bad guy to him, but I was just being honest. He was being mean." Kaiya explained sadly as she nibbled on some chicken.

Further down the table, Iida Midoriya and Ochako sat with Todoroki. "I'm not one for relationships at all, but don't you think you and Kaiya should work this out? Everyone has noticed." Midoriya told Todoroki, earning a heavy sigh from the icy teen.

"It's not like I don't want to. I miss her." He replied quietly.

"Then why don't you…" Iida began to ask before a loud voice interrupted the trio.

"Because he fucked up." Bakugou said in passing with Kirishima. Todoroki glared at the boy but said nothing. "He said something rude to her about a sensitive topic and now he can't take that back."

"What do you know Bakugou?" Todoroki challenged him. "Do you know my girlfriend better than I do?"

Bakugou sucked his teeth as a smirk formed on his lips. "I know that she deserves more than a guy who makes her cry and angry."

"And how do you know I made her cry?" Todoroki snapped.

"Because we've spared every night since and she's cried about you." Bakugou snapped back, causing Todoroki to freeze. "Yeah. She needs someone to talk to." Small flickers of flame danced on Todoroki's left side when he squared up with Bakugou.

"Stay away from my girl." Todoroki growled. Heterochromatic eyes burned into Bakugou's red ones as the teens squared off, gaining the attention of the girls further down the table.

"Kaiya...Kaiya!" Jirou poked her friend roughly.

"Ow! What?" Kaiya snapped until she saw what Jirou was pointing at down at the other end of the table. "Fuck." She ran down to the table and pushed the two boys apart, feeling insane heat coming off of Todoroki.

"What is going on?" She asked, her hand hard on Todoroki's chest.

"Your boyfriend got jealous that we've been sparing every night." Bakugou told her, not breaking his eye contact with Todoroki.

"Really Todoroki? It was just to blow off steam." Kaiya told him quietly but he ignored her. "Bakugou...must you antagonize him?"

"Stay away from my girl. This is your last warning Bakugou." Todoroki's voice was so low and carnal, Kaiya almost feared him. Bakugou smirked at the boy's temper and backed off with Kirishima following close behind him.

"Shoto?" Kaiya whispered to the angry teen but he brushed her off and departed from the cafeteria.

"You okay Kaiya?" Iida asked carefully.

"That hurt more than what he said initially." She whispered, wiping a tear from her eye as the form of Todoroki escaped from the cafeteria. Aizawa noticed the tense interaction between his students from the entrance, feeling the heat radiate off of Todoroki as he passed by him.

"Very interesting." He mumbled