"Shoto," my father stands near me with his arms crossed, his face contorted in a disapproving scowl while his cold eyes stare down upon me.
"Father," I reply, forcibly suppressing a cough I feel coming on. I've been back at my "internship" with my father for two days now, and my coughing has become more frequent, but less powerful than it was when I was at the hospital.
"What's with this cough of yours, it's distracting," he comments, "are you ill?"
"No, I'm not," I deny, "it's just a small cold, I'm fine." I brush past him and enter my room where I close the door behind me and lean against it. Waiting to hear the tell-tale sounds of my father's heavy footsteps walking away into another part of the house so I can finally let out the cough I've been holding in.
I put my hand on my chest as I continue to cough for about a minute before eventually stopping and catching my breath. The pain seems to worsen day by day, there is now a slight pricking sensation in my lungs and the feeling of a dead weight is still present.
I move to my bed where its more comfortable and I can finally lay down.
"Hey, Onii-chan, I'm coming in," Fuyumi slowly opens the door to my room and pokes her head in, "I've been hearing you cough these past few days, and I'm worried."
I turn my head away, "I'm fine," I recite, clearing my throat, "it's just a cold it'll be over in a few days."
"Okay well..." she puts her head down slightly, "dinner's going to be ready in a few minutes, join us if you want." and with that she closes the door and walks away.
"...join us if you want," I repeat to myself. My stomach growls, and I simply put my hand over my abdomen. It's been growling on and off for days at this point yet the thought of eating food nauseates me, so I drink water and teas to suppress it.
School starts back up tomorrow, meaning I'll see everyone again. Hopefully Midoriya and Iida are close to healed.
The next day, 8:04 A.M
I adjust the face mask covering my mouth and walk forwards into the entrance of U.A. People are looking, but at this point I'm used to it. My class has been through so much shit it's become the norm.
"Hey Todoroki! Wait up!" I turn around to the sound of my name being called to see a familiar green-haired boy running towards me.
"Midoriya?" I cough, instinctively putting my fist to my lip.
"You still have that cough huh?" he asks, catching up to my pace and walking beside me.
"Yeah.. doesn't seem to be going away," Looking over at Midoriya, I can see his worried green eyes meet mine. Those eyes...
His eyes are like a glowing field of shimmering emeralds, I could stare into them forever...
"But I'l- *cough cough* be fine *cough*" I look to the ground but I can still feel his gaze.
"Todoroki, are you sure you're alright?" I can feel his hand come onto my shoulder.
*Tha-thump, tha-thump, tha-thump* What is this fluttering I feel?
"Yeah, I will be," my heart pounds a little bit as he walks a little closer *cough*.
"Well okay then... I'm gonna go catch up with the others," Midoriya removes his hand, and as I watch him run up to Iida and Uraraka, my chest tightens and I cough a couple more times.
"Woah, Todoroki are you sick?" Kirishima comments, pointing at my face mask. I'm in the classroom and the bell has just rung signaling the start of the lunch break. This is going to be hard...
"Actually now that you mention it I heard you coughing earlier," Kaminari adds.
"I'm fine really, it's just a cold'" I respond.
"Wait how do you get colds? Isn't part of your quirk ice or something?" They both question.
"OI SHITTY HAIR!" Bakugou stomps over and grabs Kirishima's arm, "you're studying with me for the finals right?" He looks over at me. "What's with the face mask icy-hot?"
"It's just a cold," I say. Finals are coming soon, lets hope that this cold goes away before then.
"Hmph, lets go get some food," He then drags Kirishima away as Kaminari follows suite, shrugging. My stomach growls but again I ignore it. My siblings have begun to look visibly worried, no matter how many times I tell them that I'm fine.
"You hungry Todoroki?" Midoriya asks, walking towards me.
"Uh, no not really," I blush a bit.
*growl*
"Sure sounds like you are," he chuckles.
"Hey Deku! Come on we're gonna miss lunch!" Uraraka calls.
"Coming!" He hollers back, "sorry I gotta go. Do you want to eat with us?"
I shake my head, "I think I'll be alright, thanks anyway."
Izuku has a downcast look on his face that nearly breaks my heart.
"Well if you say so, see ya!"
And as I watch him run off with Uraraka, a fierce pain strikes at my chest. I try to hold in the coughing as to not alert the others, but it's no use.
A coughing fit rips out of me, getting worse as I hack and hack away, falling to one of my knees. I throw away the mask as it makes it hard to breathe and replace it with my hands. The hacking gets worse and I gag.
The coughing subsides and I remove my two hands clasping my mouth, as I look down my eyes widen.
Within my palms, rests two petals, a red one, and a white one.