Fractures

Chapter 14

The dark didn't really help but it calmed you down. As you sat in a tucked away corner in one of the corridors, your back pressed against the coldness of the concrete wall, you felt yourself collected again.

It didn't seem to last as long as you wanted it.

"What is up with the two of you?" the raspy voice of Bakugo crept into your little corner; he was still so loud, it was practically impossible to miss.

"I have no idea what you mean." Ryuu was as dismissive as possible. It didn't fit him.

"You barely uttered a word since this morning, especially to Y/N. I can see that something is up." you could almost see Bakugo's fists clenching, like they always did when he was this angry.

"It affects both of your performances, our class will look stupid." he added, like without it he would seem to care for either of you.

"Why does that matter to you?" Ryuu asked, his voice slightly mocking. "I thought you wanted to be number one, that we were just a stepping stone."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Bakugo pushed through his teeth.

Ryuu didn't answer. The silence felt loud, like it was screaming, but you kept in the dark, not wanting them to notice that you were there.

"You're acting like a jerk." you heard the blonde turning, his shoes screeching against the ground. "I thought you cared about her."

His steps echoed in the corridor, but halted when Ryuu answered, suppressed emotion in his voice.

"I do care. I do, that is why I just cannot watch her do this to herself. I cannot watch her become a tool."

"What are you talking about?" Bakugo turned and your heartbeat picked up.

Ryuu shut up. Just shut up.

"She isn't doing this for herself. She's doing this because someone else told her to."

Your eyes widened. He shouldn't have talked about this, about why you were here, to anyone.

"She is just following orders."

"Orders?" Bakugo was more confused than ever. He didn't understand what Ryuu was talking about.

"I want her to be her own person. To realize she is more than what her father wants her to be."

You pressed a shaky hand over your mouth, trying not to make a sound.

"And I tried, I tried to make her understand, but she just dismisses it like she can't even hear what I'm saying."

Bakugo was getting more and more irritated.

"Do you think that just leaving her by herself is the solution? Just because you are incapable of properly telling her what you want doesn't mean she deserves to be left alone." Bakugo's voice made you tear up.

Silence followed, the two boys were probably staring at each other, one in angry waiting and the other in a shamed surprise. Before any of them could speak, you heard other voices from further down the hall.

"So...what did you want to talk about?" Midoriya's voice was shaky from nerves.

Your breath halted. It didn't seem like they heard Ryuu and Bakugo, otherwise they wouldn't be talking in the hallway. At least you hoped so.

Whoever he was speaking to didn't seem to answer because Midoriya continued.

"If we don't hurry the cafeteria will be really crowded."

"I was overpowered out there." in the voice you recognized Todoroki, the one person you would never have imagined talking to Midoriya on the lunch break. Yet there he stood, even though you couldn't see him, you could hear him, as he continued.

"I was overwhelmed. So much so that I broke my own pledge."

After a short silence he spoke up again.

"Noone else felt it that day. I was the only one who felt All Might's power from so close."

You tried to peak out from your corner, you didn't understand where he was going with this, nor why he felt it necessary to talk about this time. But you couldn't see them, they were too far away, after another corner so you just pulled back before anyone noticed that you were hiding there and listened.

"What does that mean?" Midoriya asked, concern seeping through his words.

You could see in front of yourself how Todoroki glanced up at him, how accusation stared through his lashes at the boy.

"I felt something similar coming from you."

Midoriya panicked. You could hear it, the soft noises of his breath quickening, the shuffle of his clothes as he shifted against the wall.

"Midoriya..."

Even you leaned forward in anticipation.

"Are you All Might's secret lovechild or something?"

You didn't know if you wanted to laugh, sigh or bang your head into the wall behind you. Probably all three at the same time.

Midoriya seemed to be surprised as well, his no came out as a mere confused stutter. When he regained himself, he asked.

"Why do you think that about me?"

Instead of answering, Todoroki went forward with his side of the conversation.

"Since you said that's not how it is, there must be some sort of connection between the two of you that you cannot speak of, right?"

There was a soft pause, one that gave Midoriya the chance to look away from the boy's face.

"My father is Endeavour. I'm sure that you've heard about him before, that he is stuck at being the number two hero. If you have something from the number one hero, then I have even more of a reason to beat you."

He continued.

"My man wants to rise to the top. He resents All Might. Since he himself cannot surpass him, he moved onto his next plan."

Shivers traveled through your body. This started to sound painfully familiar but somehow darker.

"What are you talking about Todoroki?" Midoriya asked what you were thinking out loud.

"You've heard of quirk marriages right? Choosing a spouse based on strengthening your own quirk and passing it onto your children, forcing people into marriage. My father is a man with both accomplishments and money. He won over my mother's relatives and got a hold of her quirk. He is trying to fulfill his own desire by raising me to be a hero to surpass All Might."

You sat there, thinking about your own quirk. How your father always said that it's more powerful than his could ever be. But he loved you, he wanted what was best for you, always. It didn't really sound like Endeavour did the same.

"It's annoying. I refuse to become a tool of a scum like him. You know, in my memories, my mom is always crying. Your left side is unsightly, my mother said as she poured boiling water over me."

You barely remembered your own mom. She left, early in your life, so you just had a few memories, her touch, her scent, her warmth. But you also remembered her sobs, clearly echoing in her bedroom at night. And you certainly remembered her absence when she left.

"I picked a fight with you to show him what I could do, with rejecting his side completely. I will win first place without using it."

You never thought how similar the two of you could be. A single tear ran down your cheek, for the both of you, because you spent so long suppressing these emotions, these memories that you became rigid, cold like steel, like your shadows.

But it was better that way. Because the hurt you felt inside burnt more than your light ever could.