𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 (𝗏𝗂𝗅𝗅𝖺𝗂𝗇! 𝗍𝗈𝖽𝗈𝖽𝖾𝗄𝗎)

chapter twelve

todoroki

I'm okay now.

The words repeated in my head, playing over and over again like a broken record.

"I'm okay, Shoto," Izuku said calmly, twisting my arms around so he could put his hands in mine. "I'm okay."

There was nothing unordinary about him, neither in his voice nor in his face. Izuku's eyes were wide and filled with emotion, his lips trying to smile, and his voice donned the same tone is always did, albeit carrying a more calming sound now.

Despite that, something nagged at my head, trying to both warn and harm me. There was something off, but I couldn't see anything strange.

"You're fine." Izuku squeezed my hands and held my chin so I wouldn't be able to turn my head and see my surroundings. His finger jabbed into the soft skin under my chin and made it slightly harder to breathe, though I trusted him enough to believe that he knew what he was doing.

The bad vibe I was getting only got worse. I jerked my head to the side, removing his finger from my throat as I looked around.

The area in which Izuku and I were standing (When did we start standing?) looked different from the setting of my dark bedroom. We were still wearing the same nightclothes, even though we were now in a shady part of the city.

How did we get here?

Izuku's grip on my hands was getting tighter by the second—so much so I started to lose feeling in my fingers. I thought Midoriya might be nervous and in need of reassurance, but when I looked at him, he was perfectly serene; it was eerily similar to the calm before the storm.

I didn't say anything, despite the overwhelming anxiety growing in a pit in my stomach.

"Let's go in here!" Izuku said, terrifyingly unnerved. He led me through a doorway in the side of the alley we had just been in, and then down a staircase. At the end of the stairs, we were met with a familiar wooden floor.

My house?

I looked around, observing the walls and furniture even though I already knew what was there. At least, I thought I did—the floors were bare and the once-decorated walls were empty.

The pit of anxiety rooted itself further in my gut and doubled in size as I took in the lack of details in the room.

Where was Fuyumi? And Natsuo? My siblings were almost always waiting for me when I came home; where were they now?

Izuku smiled his usual cheeky smile and pulled me through the house. We entered a new room and I anxiously looked around for my white-haired siblings.

My eyes darted around the room, which was empty, just like the previous one. However, my eyes settled on something in the corner. A small pool of water was in place, still and barely large enough for someone to lie down. I had never seen it before. Next to it, a person, dressed in dark clothes, with a beard made of fire, was staring at me. Endeavor.

The tingling in my hand reminded me that Midoriya was still squeezing the life out it—unintentionally, I hoped. Despite this being a normal sign that he was nervous, Izuku looked calm, maybe even excited. His eyes were sparkling in the same way they did whenever he came face-to-face with a pro hero. His grin, so cheeky and genuine, was plastered across his face as he stared at Endeavor. Without any sort of warning, he started walking toward the hero.

My dad looked at Izuku disdainfully. "Get out while you can," Endeavor growled.

"I need your help, sir!" Izuku said. His awestruck voice was still filled with excitement.