I Burn [Todoroki x Reader]

57/100 Stress

Your POV

Lately, you've been having terrible dreams. Dreams that if you didn't know any better, could be easily mistaken as reality. They were horrifyingly vivid, from the colors of your surroundings to the faintest scent of blood that permeated the air around you. 

It was always the same, trapped in a small room, it was dark yet you could see your hands in front of you. The only thing that you could easily distinguish was how damp everything was and there was a faint smell of blood but every time you look for the source his voice reverberates in the darkness. 

Laughing at you.

Mocking you.

The insults that he spewed at you felt like daggers in your heart. Though your mind knew that they were lies, you couldn't help but feel the weight of his words in your heart.

"It was your fault that our father died. You and your whore of a mother are to blame…"

A maniacal laugh. Sounding as if he was next to you but when you looked he was nowhere to be seen.

"You should have died that day. You should be rotting with your mother."

"That's not true! It's not my fault!" Your voice seemed to bounce in the darkness, echoing in the void and back to you, though your voice that returned seemed to sound more twisted and mocking.

"Not your fault? Then how do you explain the blood on your hands? You killed them and soon enough your beloved Todoroki will be rotting under your feet…"

"Stop it!" 

You cried out, over and over but there was only silence that peered back at you. The voice no longer lingered in the dark but the air began to smell heavy with the scent of blood. Tears streamed down your face as you looked down at your feet. Fearing the face that would greet you, however, once you had looked there was nothing there. 

Just the darkness.

A shaky laugh escaped your lips, you felt relief but didn't understand why. You were just glad to see that it was only darkness under your feet, glad to see that there was nothing there though that relief was brief when a pale, leathery hand shot out of the darkness and wrapped its bony fingers around your ankle. 

A scream was lodged in your throat, you couldn't utter a sound as fear completely enveloped you. You felt the hand tug at you, almost as if it was trying to pull itself free from whatever confines it was in. Its pull was desperate and aggressive, the darkness under you opened up, and out came a familiar face. Its eyes sunken and hollow, its skin was gray and thin that it almost looked like leather that was left out to the elements for too long.

The thing beneath you scrambled for more leverage as it reached its other boney hand towards you.

When it was finally free from its dark confines did you truly recognize the face that was staring right at you and it was when he called out your name with its raspy voice did you finally let out a blood-curdling scream.

The sight of Todoroki's corpse reaching for you was a sight too much to bear, his image was forever burned in your mind. You thrashed about, shaking off the boney hands that grasped your ankle tightly. You screamed and screamed, you apologized over and over but your cries were drowned out by the sound of Todoroki's raspy moans and his maniacal laughter.

You screamed until your throat bled raw, you screamed until…

WAKE UP!

Your eyes shoot open, burning as it tries to adjust to the bright light. Someone firmly held your shoulders as a loud shriek rang in your ears. It wasn't until you felt a sharp pain on your cheeks did you realize that the shrieking came from you and the pain on your cheeks was from Fuyumi's hard slap. You stopped screaming, your vision finally cleared, and saw Todoroki and his sister beside you wearing a worried look.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do." Fuyumi broke the silence, though you were glad that she had. A feeling of sudden relief washed over you; your body trembling at the memory of your nightmare. At the clear image of Todoroki's rotting corpse but it was all just a dream, you thought. The real Todoroki is in front of you. Alive and well.

Tears started to flow once more as Todoroki took you into his warm embrace, you cried your eyes out, you cried without reservation as if to mourn the haunting images that remained in your mind. 

"I'll leave you guys, I'll get her something to drink…" You heard Fuyumi say, followed by her footsteps leaving and your door shutting close with a soft thud.

You still clung to Todoroki, he remained quiet and just allowed you to cry into his chest. Both of your fists clenched onto his shirt tightly, thinking that if you held onto him any lesser, he would just end up like the Todoroki in your dreams.

He held onto you, the palm of his hand rested on your back, his hand moving in gentle circles in an attempt to soothe you.

"It's just a dream…" he whispered into your ears. You let out a sob.

"I...I know, but it felt so real. I thought for sure that I had lost you." You cried out in soft breathy whispers.

"I'm right here...I'm not going anywhere." His tone was firm and there was a hint of finality to it that reassured you.

"You seemed to be getting nightmares more frequently lately…you want to talk about it?"

You shook your head, not ready to talk about the images that are still fresh in your mind, and continued to cling to him like a child.

"I think it's just been too stressful lately. I know my parents are somewhere safe but I can't help but worry about them. Not when my brother is still prowling about."

He hummed in response.

"We're going to need to do something about him…"

You couldn't bring yourself to agree with him, on one hand, you do want to but on the other, you were afraid of the consequences, of what your half-brother could do to you and everyone you love.

"Not yet...at least not until we are sure that we're going to win against him." 

"Yes, of course." His hold on you tightened, deepening his embrace. "But isn’t it about time we report this?"

His brows furrowed with worry when you stiffened in his arms. Deep down you knew he was right. This was something you should have reported the moment that your brother appeared and threatened you and your family. You were afraid, however, afraid that the situation would be blown out of proportion to the point that the people around you would come to harm. 

You were aware that the influence that your brother has was beyond what you could grasp. He hasn't even made a move since you last saw him, though you thought it strange, you knew that he was only waiting for an opportune moment. He wasn't worried about anything and you sensed that no matter what you do or say to anyone, he would still come out on top.

"Let's run away together...just you and me." You joked which incited a small laugh from him.

"Where will we go?" He played along.

"Somewhere far away from here. Somewhere stress free!" You laughed as you pointed at a random direction in your room. Imagining that it pointed to a place where your brother can't reach you.

"That would be nice but you know we can't. One way or another, we'll have to face him."

You quietly nodded, the fear threatening to claw its way back up but you forced it down. You shook off the memory of the nightmare as you didn't want to worry Todoroki any longer.

"Go back to sleep... I'll go see why Nee-san is taking a while." He shifted to stand up but was stopped when you grabbed the hem of his shirt.

"Don't leave...please stay. At least until I fall back asleep."

A gentle smile formed on his face and you were relieved that he happily obliged your request.

He made himself comfortable beside you, his hand kept yours warm and it was only a matter of time before sleep once again claimed you. This time you had a pleasant dream and with Todoroki beside you, all of your worries melted away with a single touch. Even if it was only for the time being.