Cicatrize

14

They still had those cute little, cat bookmarks Rei had given you, in order to remember where you had left off.

The sight of those bookmarks only prompted more tears from the young boy, as he gingerly picked one of the books up and held it in his arms as his tears continued to fall down onto the ground.

He was waiting for you to come back so you guys could have lunch together, when he had received the news from the family maid.

That you and Touya had been involved in a fire accident and... both of you had passed away.

All they had found after the fire was extinguished was a fragment of a teenage boy's lower jawbone and a few fragments of a little child's vertebrae.

The fire was so hot that it had completely incinerated both your bodies. Those bones were all that was left of both you and Touya.

No... Shoto refused to believe that...

Shoto was your brother, he knew you better than anyone. He knew that you would never jump in that fire willingly unless you had a plan of saving yourself and Touya. If anything, you would have stayed back to direct the heroes to where Touya would have been to increase his chances of survival.

But no matter how much he denied it, he had to face the harsh reality.

You were gone and never to come back.

You: his little twin sister that he pinky promised that he would protect, was gone.

Didn't you both plan on becoming heroes together? You never agreed to it yourself, but since you always played Heroes and Villains with him, he knew you wanted to be one too.

So, why... why did he have to lose his sister? His other half... the only one who understood him and helped him...

Who took all his sorrows and sufferings and made them your own, and held his hand whenever he was scared.

What kind of hero was he supposed to be when he couldn't even save his own sister? Some prodigy he was, when he couldn't even protect you... in fact, it was always you protecting him.

The farthest he could remember, he was always cowering behind you, following you like a little lost puppy. You were always shielding him from the messed up things your father would do, but he never got to know because you protected him.

Why didn't he do the same for you?! Was it so hard to protect you that he couldn't do it?!

No... it was never hard. It was just that he was weak and pathetic. He couldn't even stand up against Enji.

Shoto pressed the book in his hands closer to his chest and curled up on the ground, not bothering to lay out his futon. He let the tatami floors slowly absorb all the tears that spilled down his cheeks. He closed his eyes to rest them and just laid in his misery.

He didn't want to take any part in that funeral. He didn't want to face anything that reminded him that he had lost you.

Shoto knew it wasn't nice of him. He should be giving your soul a proper goodbye. But he was a child, with no adult guidance. The only two people to guide him were either sent away or dead, so it wasn't really his fault that he hid himself in his room to drift off to a dream where you were still there with him.

————

Days had gone by in the blink of an eye.

It had been two whole months since your and Touya's funeral. And there was a significant change in the Todoroki family.

For starters, the moment Rei found out about both your and Touya's death, she relapsed back into her psychotic episodes. The poor woman was overridden with guilt and sorrow at the loss of two of her children. And the worst part was the misery she had to face after realizing that she never got the chance to apologize to you for hurting you.