Todoroki's eyes opens wide to the sound of people screaming and the smell of burning ash
Ash?
"Oh no.." He looks at his surroundings to find the place burning to ruins. His instincts kick in like thunder as he struggles to get himself free of the shackles. Upon realizing his quirk is back to his system, he also sees another woman laying next to him on the floor.
"H-Hello!? Mrs, can you hear me?" The boy freezes the shackles quickly and finally—after days of being tied up, he can move his wrists again freely.
The lady isn't moving and Todoroki is beginning to panic. Through his agony he lifts himself off the ground, although his ribs are aching and making him want to throw up—Todoroki isn't about to leave somebody. He promised himself, he would never be anything like his father.
He wipes the sweat off his forehead and kneels next to the woman, just as he is about to nudge her shoulder. A yelp comes from the other side of the prison cell.
"Shouto!" It's Ariko, her face full of fear. "Thank god you're up, this is your chance to get the hell out of here!" She pulls out a key and opens the door wide, almost to quickly.
"Ariko dear, it's time to leave~" Another shrilling voice comes from down the hallway that belongs to Rose.
"H-Hai!" Ariko yells back, trying to conceal her worried tone.
"Quick, this place is going to burn down. Don't come at me for being too slow" Ariko swipes her blond hair to side with one last smirk, a welcoming smirk.
Todoroki throws the woman over his shoulder, "Where will you go?" He coughs as he reaches the cell door. His breathing getting ragged from all the smoke. He needs to hurry, but...Ariko. He can't just leave her like this.
"Doesn't matter Shouto-Kun, I have chosen my path" She takes a step away from him, hands behind her back. "Although...being a hero and saving other does sound good about now" She scraps her cheek with an awkward smile adorning her face.
"But, we can't all be good, right?" Her smile fades into a sad frown, "This is my life now, even if I didn't want to hurt you. Please...don't forget about me okay?" She takes another step away.
"Wait!" Todoroki shouts after her, but his feet can barely carry him further.
"Run down towards the red door, it will lead you to an emergency exit!" Ariko starts running the other way with her hands cupping her cheeks.
"H-Hold on!-"
"Go be a hero Shouto! I'll watch you from the sidelines!"
"Ariko-"
"I'm sorry...for everything" With one last tearful smile, Ariko waves at the boy before disappearing away after Rose and their team.
Somethings are just meant to be and not meddled with.
Todoroki has no option but to sprint the other way—his way to freedom at last. Tears are falling from his cheeks, he doesn't care anymore. Never has he felt this surge of adrenaline before, he can do it. The door to freedom is almost there.
The burning building is crippling down at any moment, but he's going to make it. He's going to see his friends again.
<•>
Helicopters were swarming the scene, both policemen and heroes urgently to the burning house. Pro hero All Might, Endeavor and F/n were already at the place—as planned. But were caught in great shock when the building blew up right in front of their eyes.
Passing citizens could hear the curdling scream coming from Endeavor, seeing his flames grow into a mountain of flares. It was so warm, melting the asphalt closest to the man. All Might threw himself back, hand over his face to shield from the immense heat.
"Endeavor! Control yourself" The number one hero had shouted with authority.
And that leads to the very moment. The burning house in ruins, looking like there can be no survivors.
F/n is quick to go into action, picking up his phone to call more authorities. Than fire can spread even more and danger other people's life's. All Might gushes forward, but is held back when another explosion emerges. The force propels the hero a few feet back.
"Dammit! It's too hot! I can't get close without burning myself to ashes!" All Might hollers at his partners.
The building is starting to fall over, but by bit. F/n moves forward, hands placed forward as he closes his eyes fully. He uses his quirk—Combine, to pull back the rubbles to their original place. There is a limit as to how long he can keep this up while the whole building is wanting to collapse down. But as for now, he can keep the situation at bay.
All Might gives him a determinant nod, eyes then wondering off to Endeavor. "There is still a chance that he's alive...he possesses your quirk as well" The hero mutters softly.
Endeavor only growls, walking passed All Might. "Don't talk about my son" He sneers as more flames grow from his body.
All Might is taken aback by his behavior, but he does have anymore time to think before police cars starts showing up and heroes with the right quirk to stop the fire. Both rescue and offense heroes.
"Hey! Kid, get back right here this instant" A man wearing a police uniform screams a few feet away, getting All Might's attention. Endeavor pushes away a couple of rescue heroes before he enters the flaming building in hope to find his missing son.
"N-No! I have to go inside, my mother is there!" A young boy cries as he is being held back by that man. All Might arches an eyebrow before intruding closer to the duo.
"Shounen, please stay back. We will find your mother" The number one hero assures with a great smile.
Izuku wails and begs for the police man to let go of him, eyes full of fear and panic. "L-Let go of me! It's all my fault!!" He shakes his head, "Just let me go find her please!"
All Might purses his lips, something tugging deeply at his heart. Seeing the young boy so frantic and scared reminds him of a long forgotten time.
"Sir...I can take it from here" All Might speaks quietly.
Izuku isn't bothered that his idol is standing right in front of him. He's lost all ambition to become a hero a long time ago, even analyzing them seems like a distant dream. Because Izuku has learned this time, in this world— no one is truly there for you.
The police man nods slowly before letting the freckled boy loose, making him fall to the ground on his knees.
"Shounen, pl-"
Izuku bursts from the ground, ignoring All Might's cries. He knows it's no use, he can't do anything. It's suicide to jump into that fire, but he doesn't care anymore. He has to find his mother, he failed her as a son.
"Agh!" Izuku groans when All Might grabs the boy and flings him over his shoulder. "L-Let go! Let me go now!" He screams and begs, tears falling from his eyes like a waterfall.
"Listen to me" All Might holds him tighter, baffled by Izuku's will to just throw himself into the fire and die. 'Is he wanting to die?!' The hero can't help but think. "You're going to kill yourself if you run in there with no strategy!" He finishes off as he places Izuku gently on the ground again.
Izuku holds his face close to his hands, not willing to look his hero in the eyes. It's Izuku's first time seeing him, he should be ashamed of the way he's acting. But Izuku doesn't want this pain anymore...it all started with a silly childhood dream.
"Wooow, mom! He's so cool and he never stops smiling!" A bright and little Izuku yelled once spotting the TV screen.
He had just turned three years old—ready to find his true purpose and get a quirk. As any young kid, Izuku had been baffled by how the hero world worked. He definitely wanted to be one just as his classmates.
But once being introduced to the one and only All Might—Izuku's dreams shot through the roof. He had set himself a goal—one he couldn't stop thinking about day or night.
"I wanna be like All Might mom!!" His small feet danced through their living room and right in front of the tv. Eyes shimmering with pure admiration—one that made his mother giggle.
"Oh Izuku dear, that looks so scary to mommy. We shouldn't be watching this types of news just yet" She kindly placed a hand on top of his messy curls, before turning the TV off.
Izuku whined of course, wanting to see more of the heroes fighting.
"Now now, you're too young to be watching such violent things Izuku" She crossed her arms with a more serious feature.
"So when I get a quirk and I'm older? I can watch more?!" Izuku jumped up and down, hands clutching next to his chest.
Inko hunched down to his size with a sweet motherly smile. "Yes, when you're older...you can definitely become a hero"
Izuku's body falls down to the ground, in front of the very hero that started this whole innocent dream that would lead to so much pain.
"ITS NOT FAIR! IT WAS ALL A LIE!" Izuku ran his hands through his green curls, pulling harshly.
All Might is yet again—taken back by Izuku's behavior. Being the symbol of peace, he couldn't stand and wait anymore while other heroes were trying to stop the fire and rescue the people inside.
"Just stand here young boy, and we'll do our job to find your mother" All Might speaks firmly as Izuku gazed up.
"It's no use...there is nothing anybody can do. Even you, I'm over this. It's never going to get better" Izuku mumbles, eyes glassy.
All Might frowns, feeling bad for the young boy. He is probably distraught by missing his mother, that's what All Might thought.
But the sheer spark in Izuku's eyes is holding so much more than that...too bad nobody noticed.
Because it was too late.
<•>
The sun has reached its peak, disappearing into the horizon once again. The nigh sky is taking over, only this time it feels like an eternity until the morning will arise.
Somebody should have done something indeed, they should have warned Izuku earlier about the trauma he was going to endure.
The bloodbath on the ground couldn't be recognized, he needed to see, to feel if it was all true. He heard sobs behind him, but he couldn't look at her face. He never wanted to see her face again, not like this.
"Go!" He screams, voice choking back sobs. "Just leave me alone!"
"Izu p-please I'm-"
"YOU LIED TO ME!" His snaps back at her, legs threatening to collapse all over. People were talking loudly, there was fire all over the place. Yet he couldn't see any of that.
All Might stands behind the young teens, teeth gritting as he feels the sorrow swim through his veins. He promised Izuku that his mother was going to be saved...yet here they are.
"I'm sorry Midoriya...but you're mother is gone"
The senate shakes Izuku to the very core. He stares at the dead corpse of his mother in front of him. Todoroki—face full of trauma, sitting on his knees next to Y/n and Bakugou—as well as his father.
They are all silent.
"H-How? Why didn't I notice?" Todoroki mumbles, blood threatening to spill from his mouth again. The heterochromatic boy thought he saved someone..the woman he woke up in the cell with. Her body laying lifelessly in front of him, he thought she was alive. Why didn't he check?
He is the reason Izuku is witnessing his mother's dead body. He hunches over in dread, coughing up more blood. Enji grabs his sons shirt, lifting him up from the ground quite harshly. Y/n gasps, but doesn't have the time to react before Endeavor yells at her.
"You will never see my son again! Look at what you've done, you're a monster!!" Enji storms off, pulling a reluctant Shouto with him. But he doesn't have the energy to stand against his fathers demands anymore.
Y/n hands helplessly falls down to her sides, eyes shaking with disbelief. How did things go so wrong? Her and Bakugou were all over town looking for Izuku, but all in vain. Until when Todoroki was finally found and F/n called his daughter.
They came to see the most horrendous scene in their life. Izuku laying over his mother's corpse, wailing and sobbing for her to wake up. Her heart stopped...she didn't want this.
"I'm sorry! Mom please I'm so sorry!!" The freckled boy hugs Inko, his face already swollen from the heavy crying. He tries to shake her, anything to get a reaction.
"Deku...stop it" Bakugou finally speaks after being silent the whole time. His eyes are hidden by his bangs and Y/n can only figure he's actually crying. "Don't make this harder"
"Shut up!!" Izuku forcefully turns his head around, the darkest expression on his face. "You don't know anything! You can never be in my shoes, you all pretend to c-care for me!! It's all been a lie!!" Izuku bursts.
"You lied to me! Friends don't lie to each other! Not about things like these" He continues, "Dammit it's all been useless! I SHOULD HAVE DIED WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!"
Something familiar washed through the young female. It's the anxiety, the stress, the fear. Everything all at once. What has she done?
Maybe happy endings don't exist?
Maybe not everyone are meant to be happy.