Shouto isn't crying.

Not yet.

Not quite.

But his breath comes out hitched and strangled, in wheezing sobs. His voice cracks and breaks, every inhale took more effort than he ever though was possible, and every exhale drains him emptier than the last. But his eyes are horribly dry and painful and they burn. They burn like his quirk but they're also dry like a dessert, dry and empty and just... nothing.

His palms digs into his sockets as he gripped his head, everything is so bright, so loud, so overwhelming and utterly too much for him to handle. The smell of the disinfect, the fluorescent lights, the whirring fans and vents, too much. It's just all too much and it's all driving him crazy—

He didn't know how long he did, but for long, long hours, He simply sat there, unmoving. He's already discharged, but he didn't want to leave. He didn't know where to go. Even after his conversation with Kimura-san.

All he knew is that he didn't want to go home.

Not yet, not now.

The whirring fan rings deep in his ears, the fluorescent lights flickers, and the vents rattles. All the small little noises fills his ears and ring, they ring and Shouto wanted nothing more than to cover them and stop them and just let everything go to silence—

His mind whirling. Whirling. Whirling, but he could never really catch any of those thoughts, so it kind of feels like he's thinking about everything and nothing at all. It's a bit of a weird sensation, and definitely not welcomed. Shouto closes his eyes, and a deep sigh left him.

He feel so drained.

"...Todoroki-san?"

The tired, slightly surprised voice of a young girl snaps him out of his hours-long stupor. Shouto looked up, a little startled despite his tired but indifferent expression, and stared into the dark black chocolates of Kimura Kōki's big, round eyes.

"You're still here, huh." She said faintly, her usual blunt and somewhat rude tone gone and replaced by something gentle, but fragile. "Why didn't you go home?"

"...Didn't want to." He answered curtly, dragging the base of his palm across his eye harshly, hoping to stay awake.

"Oh." She looked away, "I... get that, sort of." Her shoulders slumped, "Father isn't... the most pleasant of people."

"Wouldn't that be an understatement?" Shouto huffed, a sorry excuse of an attempted laugh, not that he's ever done that either.

Kimura Kōki looks surprised, "She told you?" She blinked, mouth gaping open slightly, "Akemi doesn't- she-" she stopped, voice stopping abruptly with a strangled sound.

Shouto doesn't speak. And instead kept his eyes downcast.

"Kōki, you came to visit again?"

At the voice, Shouto lifted his head. Behind the girl, her mother stood, papers clenched to her chest and eyes bloodshot, heavy makeup visible under her eyes to conceal what he assume are dark shadows.

"... I wanted to see Midoriya-san." Kimura Kōki replied, softly. "It's what Akemi would do."

An unexplainable feeling rises in his chest, Shouto tightens his fists.

"I see. And- Shouto-kun, you're still here." She glanced at her watch, "It's already been several hours, hasn't it? Shouldn't you leave? Your family might... be... worried..." She trailed off as he averted his gaze to the ground. Don't look them in the eye. Don't look, and they won't know.

"...I guess it's okay if you want to stay here." She murmured, "But if you just don't want to go home, you're Akemi's friend, you're always welcomed to stay over."

The words barely even reached his ears before the woman walked away with her daughter in tow, the latter's gaze resting uncomfortably heavily on him.

For a while, he doesn't move. And stays slumped in the plastic chair as he did in the past few hours, before finally, he mustered up the strength, and stood.

His legs were shaky despite his face being a calm facade, but it didn't take long for him to steady them and walk. Kōki-kun was right, Akemi would visit Midoriya, which he hadn't done. He doesn't even know which room Midoriya is in right now, he didn't listen.

His phone vibrates in his pocket, which he ignores. Instead he focused on his task of getting to the front desk to ask about Midoriya. When he feel drained and deprived of drive to do anything, Shouto finds that setting smaller goals makes thinks better. Like walking to the front desk, or pressing the elevator button. Small tasks.

He made each sentence he spoke to the receptionist a small task, keeping them short but polite and tries not to think about the next. Keeping his face blank and steady and calm as he spoke, before finally nodding to the woman in thanks, and turning to head to the elevator.

"Ah- Todoroki!"

The familliar voice jolts him. Shouto turned, and was met with the sight of Kirishima jogging towards him before he could school his expression. He startles, but quickly hardens his face into a look of cold indifference.

"You here to visit Midoriya and Yaoyorozu, too?" He slows to a stop beside him, and Shouto hurries to loosen his expression so instead of tense it would look more neutral (and less like he's about to kill someone). He nods after a short pause, and the redhead forces a grin.

"Great! Me too." The smile fades, "I heard that Midoriya is still in shock, I mean, it makes sense, after Kimura and Bakugou both..."

(Shouto bites back the need to correct him, knowing how much Akemi actually loathes that name.)

"I suppose." He kept his voice light. And Kirishima sighed before signing his name at the reception as well.

They walk inside the elevator, and Kirishima closes the floor for him. "So, you want to come along? I want to see how Yaoyorozu is doing, Mina said she's woken up this morning." He said as he selected the floor.

Shouto considers it for a moment, he wanted to talk to Kōki-kun again, and had hoped to bump into her later when he visits Midoriya, be he suppose it doesn't matter.

(What was she trying to say before?)

"Alright."

The light pings. They exit. They turn a corner and there was Aizawa-sensei's voice.

Shouto's world tilts.


Todoroki-san looks dazed when Kōki ran into him again, walking towards Midori-san room with slowed, blank steps. They look familliar to her, after all, despite being different people, humans are humans, and they act similar when they're trying to hide something.

Moreover, the confusion-what-to-do-I-don't-know-how-why-should-I-this-is-wrong-this-is-right is just leaking off him, Kōki could see it without even trying.

Not like she wanted to, but her quirk is like that. Even when she doesn't activate it she could sense things like this, surface thoughts are clear as day to her, just like how even if All Might isn't using his quirk he's still all muscles and strong.

"Todoroki-san." She paused as he walked past her without seeing her at all. She felt a spike of annoyance rise up inside her, but pressed it down with a firm grip of her fist. This morning's evens are still freash on her mind. She doesn't know if she should go to the authorities but something tells her that she really shouldn't, not now, at least. Not when everything's already enough of a mess.

She feels angry at herself for reaching this conclusion, but also sad. Funny how she can read and understand other's feelings so well when she has no idea what to do with hers.

(How ironic)

She gazed after the older teen (She's the same height as him now, she realized with a jolt), and walked back towards Midori-san's room again. Her mother is still in that direction but Kōki's worried.

What happened?

She watched as he was joined with a red-headed classmate, who said something which Kōki couldn't hear. She didn't approach however, but instead stated for away and watched as the words and color leak about of them and swirled around them, the readhead's calmer, more depressed and hardened, while Todoroki-san's whirled around him like a storm of translucent colors and words and whispers.

The classmate left soon after, looking drained and lost as his words trailed after him in faint whimpers and barely visible smoke.

Her mother step into view then. Pausing and stepping to the side as the redhead walked past her. Her gaze landed on Todoroki-san, whos' words began to whirl and spin and change so rapidly Kōki could barely catch them. It Akemi's here she could've dome something, anything, anything at all-

She stepped towards him, mouth opened to speak as she walked within hearing distance, just in time to see Todoroki stop in front of her mother, then spoke.

"...I'll take you up on the offer."


Current Poll Results~ (from both the poll and the reviews)

Akemi's paring:

Todoroki Shouto: 26

Midoriya Izuku: 7

Ueno Hibiki: 7

Bakugou Katsuki: 5

Iida Tenya: 3

Dabi: 1 (I actually really like this idea)

Iida Tensei: 1

Kaminari Denki: 1

Seiba Hiroi: 0

Others (Please state in review!)


Hibiki's pairing:

Shinsou Hitoshi: 9

Kimura Akemi: 7

Iida Tenya: 4

Midoriya Izuku: 0

Seiba Hiroi: 0

Todoroki Shouto: 0

Others (Please state in review!)


For Kōki's abilities, think of Bungou Stray Dogs' and those flying words circle and stuff and you're spot on. The shape and size varies with their emotions and thoughts but that's just how serface thoughts and emotions are displayed to her.

Emotions are linked to the colour, every colour has a different meaning and every shade is a different symbolism. A darker shade of blue and a lighter shade of blue are different, but it's also affected by their personalities.

The stronger the emotions the more opaque the colour, and stronger the thoughts the more solid the words. the words are usually with white or black, depending on the emotions it change.

The shape also has to do with the strength of the emotions. depressions swirls like a fog, anger whirls like a storm. happiness looks like light beams, ext.

When Kōki actually uses her quirk, the info from the colours and words are directly transported into her brain.

It's so cool. God imagine wanting her looking at Bakugou who's got like this solid mass of red around him storming around and Kōki can't even see the guy lol.

Onto the comment(s)!

To Taylor McBurnie: Ohhh interesting! Dabi and Akemi, Huh? I thought of that when I was writing up a small side story for fun where Akemi became a villain instead and murdered Geikyo. It was fun to write.

I have a discord server where I share art for my fic (and my original stuff) and just chat, link here:

https/discord.gg/2S7Cy4R