It Can't Be Him... (Villain Kaminari Story)

CHAPTER 4: Scars

The nurse just looked at him, but said nothing. A weight dropped in Todoroki's chest as he pictured what she could have said at that moment. No. She's dead. Your mother is dead. Frustration and fear clung up in Todoroki's throat, and he felt himself saying it out loud.

"Is she...? Is she d-dea—" he began.

"Rei Todoroki is not dead," the nurse said, "But..."

"But what? Take me to her!" he pleaded, unable to stand the suspense. The nurse sighed.

"Alright. I can't refuse Endeavor's son, after all. And you saved us so..." she began walking and Todoroki followed her. He scowled at the name Endeavor, like the world revolves around his father. Just because he was that trash can's son, he gets treated like royalty, like he is exactly like his father. Like the only title that Todoroki could ever earn in life is "Endeavor's son". Todoroki didn't comment on the nurse's claim since his concern for his mother was more important than the anger for his father.

Rei Todoroki was lying down on the patient's bed, unconscious. There was a white sheet covering her body and draping over the bed. Todoroki took off the sheet to examine her body and froze when he saw her. Half of her body is...The sight of his mother was so disastrous, Todoroki gasped loudly and covered his mouth with his hand. No... He held his unconscious mother's hand. Her burnt hand.

"As you can see..." the nurse gulped, and looked at Todoroki with worry, "We were...too late. Half of her skin on her body ended up being burnt to ashes. The fire started in her room, when she was still sleeping, so we didn't know there was a fire until a strong scent was evident...She isn't dead! But it will take quite a long time for her to recover," She spoke nervously and quickly, as if Todoroki might attack her for being so naive. But the boy was staring at his mother and stroking her hand.

She looked like him now, except it wasn't just half her eye that had a scar. It was half her entire body. Todoroki trembled under the cluster of several different emotions taking over him. Instead, not looking away from his mother, he asked the nurse:

"So...you don't know how the fire started?"

The nurse shook her head.

"I...I see..." he said.

"People suspect it was an accident," she said, clenching onto her clipboard, "But I can't be sure."

"An accident?"

The white and red haired boy slowly got up and trotted towards the female nurse, his bangs shadowing his turquoise eyes. The nurse squealed and stepped backwards, fear covering her entire face. Todoroki grabbed her and pulled her up from her uniform collar, and she screamed, but he was louder.

"How can you let something like this happen to her?!" He fought back the hot tears that welled up in his eyes, "She's a wonderful woman that went through so much! She didn't deserve any of it! And you call this fire in your hospital an accident? You—you—" One of the other nurses held him back and another pulled back the nurse. She was given a glass of water to ease her nerves.

"Todoroki," said the nurse that was holding him back, "We're sorry. Thank you for everything, really. You've been a big help. We will let you know the remuneration details—"

"I DON'T WANT YOUR MONEY!" he cried. He drew back after seeing the scarred nurse, body trembling and eyes still widened. She couldn't even bring the glass to her face because her hand was shaking so much, "Sorry...I just...my mother...She needs to be healed. I don't want her to wake up and see herself like that..."

"Then you must leave it in our hands. I promise—We promise to do whatever it takes to get her fixed up. This is not the first time we had to deal with something like this, so I am convinced that she will not die from the procedure. Although it will take quite some time for her recovery. Until then, I want you to trust us."

Todoroki glared.

"Trust you?"

But the nurse was unusually confident. He nodded.

"Trust us. I know it won't be easy, after the incident you witnessed today, but it's either you leave her with us or you leave her with those scars. I think you know the obvious choice." He raised an eyebrow. Todoroki released the breath he held onto for so long. He could sue the hospital. He could destroy it again. He could make all the workers get fired. But it won't bring back his mother. It won't get rid of the past. Todoroki ducked his head down and walked off.

"Take care of her for me," he said, putting his hands in his pockets, "Don't make me regret doing this."

The nurse that held the glass of water watched the boy walk away and get drowned by a wave of journalists, reporters, and paparazzi, all positive that Todoroki was going to make the front cover of their news. She smirked and she swished the glass in her grasp.

Poor, Poor Todoroki Shoto.

***

"Sir, what have you found?"

After the fire died down, police were sent immediately to investigate the incident. They were sent to search every room for any piece of evidence. The chief of police was pacing through the room which housed Rei Todoroki, looking for anything that may have triggered the fire. A nurse was in the room with him.

"You don't have a match or conductor or anything in here?" he asked, not looking away from the walls of the room. The nurse shook her head.

"No, we always make sure our patients—"

"...are provided with the safest environment possible, yes yes," he waved her words off, annoyed at being answered the same response again and again. He felt the material on the walls. The entire room was burnt and blackened, some items have dispersed into ashes. There was no possibility that the fire had commenced elsewhere, since Rei's room had the strongest and oldest stench of ash. The chief lifted the glass window, which seemed to open quite easily. He frowned and turned to the nurse.

"Are these windows always unlocked?" he asked.

"We usually keep them locked while the patient is sleeping or unconscious," she replied. He turned back to the window to investigate, "They will be opened when the patient requests it."

"And can it be opened from the exterior?"

"No, and an alarm will be set off if someone attempts to open it from the outside."

"And you say that nobody has visited Todoroki Rei yesterday or today?"

"Yes. Her son was supposed to visit, but I'm afraid he arrived a little too late."

The chief sighed and peered down at the ledge of the window and spotted something. Two pairs of matches. He immediately picked them up and pulled out his fingerprint scanner. No fingerprint were detected, of course. Whoever started the fire had a very prudent plan carried out. The chief cursed and ordered the nurse:

"Get all the staff here immediately," he said, "Every single one of them. Make sure they're all gathered here." The nurse gulped.

"But they—"

"The fire was set off by someone," he explained, "But not just any someone. Someone who had access to the room on the inside without any supervision. Gather your co-workers here—you have a traitor among you."