His Reasons (Todoroki X OC)

S5 Chapter 3

Getting thrown to the ground, ten year old Keigo Tamaki coughed out a stream of blood as the small child wiped his face of the pouring sweat that had accumulated over the amount of hits and punches he had received. How long had this been going on? It seemed the sun had already set but it was honestly hard to tell from the commissions windowless walls, his amber eyes covered with a thick black blind fold as well.

Another kick to his chest shocked the boy out of his thoughts, the voice roughly shouting back in the blonde's face, with such malice and hate in the unknown voice, causing Keigo to groan loudly. "Get up Hawks."

The boy felt his body scream out in agony, begging him not to move and actually relax for a moment, although he already knew they wouldn't allow it. No, this would just continue until the commission was satisfied for the day. He had to keep going.

That's when Keigo groaned as the man's leg connected with his small body once more, irritation now very present. Crap, he was disappointing them again, wasn't he?. "I will not ask again Hawks. Get up. I didn't allow a break."

Against his better judgement, the boy's red wings lifted up before digging his hands into the floor, gritting his teeth as Keigo shakily made his way to his feet. He needed to keep going, he needed to become a great hero like Endeavor, and this was the only way to do it.

Seeing him comply, the instructor only nodded in approval, although it wasn't as if the boy could see it, given his blinded eyes. "That's better. You said you wanted to be a special hero right? You want to make the difference in this world, then stop acting like a coward. Attack me like you mean it, little boy."

Ticking his lips into a frown, Keigo always hated that phrase, the man using it when the bird wasn't reaching his expectations. It only pushed him harder because of it, wanting to prove that he wasn't just some little boy. No, he was going to be a hero.

The sweat dripped down his face as the boy tried to focus on his feathers, sensing the man's movement even without being able to see. He needed to predict his movements better in order to win and finally get a break. Now all that's left is to keep pushing on.

Keigo then closed his eyes before feathers began to shoot out of his wings, the man moving out of the way immediately. No, he couldn't mess up again and risk a punishment. He needed to be better than that. The president said he was special, so he knew he had to perform well.

Moving him almost immediately, a harsh wave on fire came barreling towards him and the child lifted up his wings to shift the blow before feeling the pain burn up the feathers he had just thrown. Keigo felt on the brink of exhaustion, desperate to lean over in agony before twisting his brow in frustration.

No, that wasn't good enough, and the man knew it just as well, taking the time to mock back. "You're losing your composure. What if the camera's were watching you, what if the world was watching you? You can't falter, nobody wants someone weak like that, the world doesn't want a hero like that."

Then feeling another wave of fire consume his body, little ten year old Keigo gasped, falling towards the ground in an instant, not being able to take it anymore. He just wanted to go home, to be able to sleep and be done with all this. But that wasn't possibly anymore. Somewhere the boy already knew that.

That was when his instructor harshly hissed into his ear, cruel and plain. "Have you forgotten, the world doesn't want Keigo Tamaki. They want Hawks, so give them Hawks."

There it was, his trigger, the thing that was drilled into his mind from day one at the commission. It was the one thing that made Keigo's hairs stand on the back of his neck, the sense of irradiation now present in the back of his throat. He knew Keigo wasn't good enough, that's why he was here, that's why he wanted to change to be a better hero.