THE OTHER SIDE / s. todoroki ✓

four. death is the terminal illness

MIDORIYA IZUKU IS AN UNDENIABLE REGULAR AT RECOVERY GIRL'S OFFICE.

That, coupled with his friendly personality and your constant presence in said office, meant the Class 1-A student was starting to grow on you. So when the freckled boy was knocking timidly on the door, standing in the doorway with a broken hand, he and you met eyes and greeted each other.

You were always sitting on a bed, reading a medical journal out of boredom or scrolling through the news, as if you had anything better to do. With your Quirk, and the fact that you attended U.A, meant you were always on 'standby' in the inevitable event someone died.

"Ah, Midoriya-kun," You beam at him, and then frown at his bruised hand, "Again? Weren't you just here yesterday?"

Recovery Girl was attending to someone else as of the moment, a girl from Class 1-H had accidentally broken her skull from a freak accident involving her Quirk, so it was just you and him inside the office.

Until, Shoto Todoroki stepped into view.

You feel all the blood simultaneously drain from your face but also turn your cheeks red, "T - Todoroki-kun?"

"Do you two know each other?" Midoriya looks curiously at both of you.

You bury your face into your book and shake your head, "Nope. We're just... friends."

"I met her at a flower shop," Shoto says blankly, again oblivious to how flustered he was making you.

Midoriya breaks into a smile, "That's cool. (Last name)-chan is always in the medical room."

"Yep," You whisper back, swallowed in the awkwardness. Or were you just making a normal conversation awkward? With your social skills, you couldn't tell anymore. "But... uh, Midoriya-kun, Shuzenji-sensei won't be back for another couple of minutes."

Shoto tilts his head at you, unable to understand why you are hiding your face and why you spend your time in the medical room, were you ill? He pauses, did you have the same thing as your mother? If you heard his piercing thoughts, you would have replied that everyone is suffering from the same thing... everyone is slowly dying together. Death is the terminal illness.

Your lips tremble, why were you here? You didn't want to go to U.A Academy, which was a big contrast in opinion to the millions of children across Japan who sought to attend the famous hero school. What you really wanted was for your mother to come home, for the eviction notice on the small apartment to go away, for your dad to come back, for your life to just stop falling apart. If you were trying to get the pieces of your fractured self back together, then every time your hand reached for a new fragment, it drifted further away from you into the depths of your soul.

There's a knock at the door and it surprises you to see Aizawa Shota standing there in the doorway. At first, you're startled in awe, Eraserhead was a powerful hero whom you and your mum used to watch on TV all the time. He looks like he has just rolled out of bed, with that dead expression and unshaven prickly beard. His eyes remind you of a sleep-deprived zombie, but then again with his Quirk he must be on guard all the time.

"Aizawa-sensei!" Midoriya exclaims, (you chuckle at this because of his somewhat squeaky voice), and he fixes his eyes on his homeroom teacher.

Aizawa looks dully around, "Todoroki, grab an ice pack for Midoriya's hand. Recovery Girl is finishing up soon. (Last name) (First name), come with me."

You hear your name but you don't move, because surprise is written on your face. What does the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A and a notable Pro Hero want with someone like you. Slowly, you leave the bed and head towards the door, your legs can't help but tremble, and as you follow Aizawa out into the corridor, you find yourself looking one last time at Shoto, and while your eyes lock, both expressionless, he breaks his nonchalance with a weak reassuring smile. An innocence rarely conveyed in someone as quiet as him.