Follow the River [Shoto Todoroki x Reader: Fantasy AU]

Chapter 7: Salute

The knight didn't notice Shoto standing there, feeling lonely, cold and trapped until she spun Izuku around, her eyes landing on him as she did so.

"How long have you been waiting?" Shoto asked with a strained voice, forcing himself to ignore what he was seeing.

"Not at all." (Y/n) scrambled to put Izuku down, who was redder than the tomatoes he used to sell. "Ready to go?" She looked down at his hands. "Oh, you didn't get anything?"

"Neither did you," Shoto countered.

(Y/n) huffed and put down her helmet. "Fair enough. Let's go!"

Shoto was behind (Y/n) and Izuku who conversed as they walked to the exit.

Why did this hurt so much? Being behind them?

Shoto caught a glimpse of his foreign reflection from a mirror placed on the ground. He stopped and knelt in front of it, confusing both the knight and Izuku. Shoto studied his own expression and then ever so slightly pushed the side of his wig away, revealing tiny traces of his scar.

He frowned. (Y/n) walked slowly next to him, unable to find words when she realized why he was doing this.

"Is everything okay?" Izuku asked.

Shoto nodded and simply stared at his scar for a while longer, and for each second that passed, the more tense the atmosphere became.

"It's just..."

(Y/n) narrowed her eyes.

He let the wig fall back in place, covering the burn. "Never mind. Let's—"

Shoto was stopped by the knight who grabbed his shoulders and shook his back and forth. "Don't you dare feel self conscious you beautiful bastard! We're going to beat your asshole father, and show him who's boss! Don't forget that!"

Shoto stood there in awe. His face heated up. In shame or embarrassment?

Izuku coughed. "Yeah. There's no reason to feel self conscious about it. Actually, I think it looks... kinda cool."

Shoto's gaze snapped to the floor. "My—"

"What about your mother? She was so deeply hurt by what she did, she doesn't find you unsightly— we don't!"

Shoto was about to speak, but stopped when he heard (Y/n) sniffle from inside the helmet. Her eyes were narrowed through the slits. She could read him like a book, it seems.

They were beginning to get stares. "Let's go," Shoto insisted. "And... thank you."

They were all silent for a moment. Their eyes spoke a thousand words, however.

"So who's gonna decide our next destination?" Izuku asked as they neared the exit.

"Shoto," (Y/n) said. "Where do you want to go?"

Shoto nodded. "Well, Shimura Square is a possibility. It's mostly visual, but-"

"I thought you wanted a place with lots of magic items, though?" Izuku cocked his head.

"That's not what you guys want, though." Shoto sighed. "My wants can stay on hold for now."

"You're so nice!" Izuku beamed. "There's a ferry that goes there, but first, we need tickets."

***

Shoto ended up using magic to copy someone else's tickets, replacing their names with theirs. He made double so that they could come back on the ferry as well.

Very illegal, but pretty much undetectable, and quite worth it.

Izuku threw up a few times, as well as some other people on the ferry, so there was a temporary magic barrier put up between the water and the ferry itself. It's only visual, so the seasick people weren't tempted to look. But you can still jump out if you wanted to. Shoto thought about that a few times when he got really, really bored.