I am very much aware that I probably say this legit every time I post, but I'm sorry for the long wait. Being a caregiver while trying to do school and work is hard... But I've returned and I'm going to do my best! Thank you to everyone who came back when they saw the update. I really do appreciate you!

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Shatter Me

Chapter 7

*Todoroki's POV*

I shuffle through the multiple resumes I compiled of people who could make a suitable bodyguard/paid friend for Izuku. My fears for what could go wrong haven't changed of course; whoever watches over Izuku has to be trustworthy since he, as naïve as he is, would be easily manipulated into doing really anything.

This person has to be a 'certain type' as well though… They have to have the moral gray area of knowing that my ward is a prisoner without turning me in. The tricky part is finding that special balance of being technically corrupt without being a danger to him.

So far I haven't found anyone in the application pool that stands out, but there is another option I've been heavily considering. With how high profile I and the men I do business with are, we almost always have bodyguards when we go to meetings; most of us keep them for the private areas of our lives as well.

There was a young man my age that I met a year ago while meeting with clients who had deep pockets and questionable business tactics. Profiling is a skill of mine and I could tell just from our brief interaction that he was highly intelligent and loyal, protective and trustworthy.

As I make it a priority to find out more detailed information about everyone I come in contact with, I also know that he has superior combat capabilities from his time in the military before he transferred to the private sector and began acting as a bodyguard.

"Shoto?" I hear, the sweet voice pulling me from my contemplating. "What's wrong?"

I smile despite my nervousness, reaching out to brush my knuckles down his cheek. "It's nothing, Izuku… I was merely thinking about the person that I asked to come for a potential job interview later today."

"The one that's going to keep me safe when you have to be at work?" he questions with a mixture of sadness and nervous excitement in his expression.

I nod in agreement and take his hand into mine, massaging his finally healed wrist. The scar wrapping around his fair skin will always be a painful reminder of what he's been through but at least he doesn't wince whenever it's touched now. "I'd stay here with you all the time if I could, you know that don't you?" I question, smiling when his face brightens again and he nods. "Good… Just think of this person as a new friend, okay? He—or she depending on who we decide on—is going to do things with you that I can't; they're going to help you have so much fun, Izuku."

Izuku's cheeks pout outward and he scoots closer to me on his bed, eventually rubbing his face into my collarbone before peering up at me with the cutest expression. "But I have fun with you Shoto…"

My heart flutters and I wrap my arms around Izuku tenderly, holding him close as I suck in his affection like a drug. "How about this, then…" I offer, once again blinded by my unnatural feelings for him. "We'll pick someone out together and if you don't have as much fun with them as you do with me, then we'll keep looking until we find you a best friend. I'll even let you meet the person I'm seeing today if our talk goes well."

"Mmm… But Shoto, you're my best friend!" he squeaks with sincerity. "No one is ever going to mean as much to me as you do!"

There really isn't anyone who could stroke my ego like Izuku does and the craziest part is he does so without any ulterior motive or prompting; I truly doubt that he even knows how to lie. "You're such a good person, Izuku…" I hum, petting his silky curls. "You're so special to me…"

*Midoriya's POV*

Shoto left me almost thirty minutes ago to go do something he called an 'interview' with my new friend. I'm so curious about who this mystery person is… Shoto said he'd met him before but wanted to sit down with him and talk before we actually met one another; he's so protective.

With Master, I was always afraid, even when he was being kind to me; I could never tell if he was going to get angry or hurt me. But Shoto hasn't caused me any pain since the night he took me away from my Master… he hasn't even scared me!

Sometimes I'll have a bad dream and wake up terrified, but then I'll see him watching me from just outside my door and I know I'm safe. Shoto is there standing guard while I sleep so that I don't ever have to be afraid again! He even lays down next to me so that I can snuggle up to him when the nightmares won't go away.

I can't imagine this 'friend' I'm going to have ever meaning as much to me as Shoto does… it just doesn't seem possible! How could anyone ever be as kind and good and protective as he is? There isn't anyone in the world like Shoto.

'Knock, knock.'

"Shoto!" I gasp happily, having expected him to be gone much longer. I scramble from my spot on the bed and to the door, bouncing on my toes while I wait for him to open it. The moment the handle twists and the wood swings back, however, my heart stops with confusion... Do I... Know this person?

Shoto says something to me, but for the first time ever I can't focus on the sound of his voice; I can't even look over at him. The only thing working its way through my head is the shell-shocked expression on the person standing beside him; he looks so familiar.

"D-Deku?" I finally hear, this time the sound so clear it feels like it's busting my eardrums. The speaker isn't Shoto though, it's the man. His voice is gravely and distinct to me, which only makes me try harder to find his face somewhere in my fragmented memory.

The reddish-brown of his wide eyes flash dangerously moments later, however, and then turns sharply to Shoto with an intent that I recognize. Before Shoto or I can react, a tan fist surges towards him and connects with his cheek, sending Shoto flying backward into the hallway wall with a crashing thud.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU HAD HIM THIS WHOLE TIME?!"

He's quick to lung again as he shouts and I can already tell from how easily he knocked Shoto back that he's incredibly strong—but Shoto is too. He manages to catch the attacker's next blow and twist their positions, cracking him into the wall before snapping his knee straight into the man's stomach.

The sound of the wall breaking from the impact as well as the guttural grunt of pain makes me shut my eyes, fear boiling through my veins from the memory of being on the receiving end of that level of rage. I cover my ears and crouch low, shaking my head to make it stop—I just want it to stop!

The vicious noises continue to ring through my defenses, forcing me to picture every strike that connects with one of them. I can't get my tongue to move though; it sticks to the dry roof of my mouth, all moisture suddenly finding its way to my eyes and pouring out as I begin to cry.

"Oh, my goodness! What on Earth is going on here?!" It's muddled, but Chiyo's age-weakened voice rises above the chaotic clatter that moved somewhere down the hall from me and her shriveled arms find their way to my shoulders, shaking me.

"Izuku! Izuku—open your eyes!" She orders, desperately trying to pry my wrists away from my head so that I can hear her more clearly. "Tell me what happened—is happening!"

I do my best to follow her orders and peer up through my tears, but all I can manage for a response is to shake my head and let out the most pitiful wail, unable to explain what's going on. She moves to stand, causing me to latch on to her desperately; even in my current state, I have enough awareness to know that Chiyo could easily get hurt if she tried to break up a fight between people as big as Shoto and the man he's fighting with.

"It's okay, child, it's alright!" she assures quickly, already digging through the medical bag she always keeps with her. "I have experience with these things."

I can't focus enough to see what she pulls out, my vision blurring from how quickly I'm breathing. It's so strange how I can suck in so much air and feel like I'm not getting a single drop into my spasming lungs. Still, I manage to crawl after her, my heart thumping even more wildly as I leave the safety of my room and move towards the area the violence is coming from.

All at once though, there's a sudden silence followed by a choked gurgling and then a thud. By the time I force myself to grovel around the corner to the place they'd ended up, I find both the man and Shoto on the floor while Chiyo lowers what looks like a gun with wires coming out.

*Todoroki POV*

I open my eyes to a blinding pain I haven't felt since before I killed my father, instantly remembering what brought on the beating I received. I jerk up in a panic to find Izuku, terrified of what had happened to him after I passed out. I remember fighting with Katsuki Bakugo, the man I was seriously considering hiring to look after my ward, and ultimately being overpowered; I would have been killed if Chiyo hadn't snuck up from behind and shot him with a taser.

I don't get more than an inch up before something stops my movement, however, my body immobilized by straps around my wrists, ankles, and across my upper body. Rage pours into my chest and mixes with the initial wave of panic for Izuku, making me almost delirious.

"That's enough, Shoto." Chiyo hisses at me in warning, drawing my attention towards her.

She's standing at the edge of my bed with an annoyed expression, her arthritic fingers gripping the top of her cane tightly. I open my mouth to speak but the glare I receive makes it clack shut again like I'm nothing more than the child she took care of years ago.

"How dare you frighten Izuku like that?" she grinds out with disapproval. "After all the effort you had me put into weaning him off those drugs that monster forced him to take, I had to risk giving him a sedative he was so upset!"

The hatred burning inside me cools at her statement, mind refocusing solely on him and his wellbeing. She stops me again before I can ask all the questions that are flooding through my mind, holding up her hand as her own anger eases into a pained expression.

"He's still out cold… I thought it best to keep him under until you could be there when he wakes." She explains, shaking her head. "Though I don't know how poorly he'll react to seeing you so torn up."

If the pain I'm feeling is anything to go by, I probably look like hell; He's not going to take it well. "And… him?" I ask lowly, still too angry to even say the bastard's name.

Chiyo scoffs as she goes to undo the restraints she'd put me in. "The young man you fought with is resting in another room—also tied down. Why you two thought it best to attempt to kill each other in plain view of Izuku is beyond me."

"I think they knew each other," I state plainly, not seeing any reason to hide it from her. "Bakugo recognized Izuku and then attacked me. I'll take care of him."

Chiyo only pauses a moment before overcoming her shock, immediately stepping between me and the door as I struggle to my feet. "Oh no, you don't. This isn't some lowlife thug you can murder without anyone being the wiser, Shoto, and if what you say is true, he might mean something to Izuku."

My eyebrow twitches in annoyance. I don't give a damn if he knew Izuku when they were young; that was well over a decade ago and he tried to kill me first. Besides, I'm a multi-billionaire with friends in high places—I won't even get a slap on the wrist if someone does tie me to Bakugo's disappearance.

"Think of Izuku, Shoto." She urges further, frustration coloring her tone. "You wanted someone who would take care of him—someone who could be trusted not to take advantage of his fragility. It seems to me that this Bakugo fellow could fit that bill perfectly."

"His first response was to nearly beat me to death even though we're all roughly the same age! Izuku doesn't know when Shigaraki took him, but I think it's safe to assume he was a young child and therefore I would have been one too. What idiot could possibly think one toddler abducted another?" I scoff as I attempt to hobble around her again.

Chiyo responds by unapologetically swatting my injured leg with her cane, the resulting pain making me yelp and drop to the ground. She rounds in front of me once more, tapping the offending object near my head before trailing towards the door. "It's no secret who your father was, Shoto…" she states matter of factly. "And I doubt someone who's worked for high-powered clients doesn't know what kind of man he was either. If I were in Bakugo's place, I would likely have assumed your father had snatched Izuku initially and that you are just as sick as he was, keeping Izuku for yourself after his disappearance. Or that with all your money you simply bought him from another monster at some point."

The reality of her words is hard to swallow, but not unrealistic; the logic is sound even if it burns me deeply to admit it. In a sense that's exactly what I did—even if it wasn't for dubious purposes.

"He'll turn me in if I let him go, Chiyo." I hiss through clenched teeth. "And if he does that I…"

My voice trails off but I know she understands what I'm getting at. I'll lose Izuku and that's the one thing I was trying to prevent from happening. She doesn't respond though… and that's response enough.

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Again, apologies for the long wait! I hope you enjoyed this wild chapter XD I had a lot of fun writing it!