Light in the dark (1/?)
Buky x Reader
Author’s Note: This first part is more of an introdutcion to the character. It might just be boring. Also I have no idea on the warnings I should make, please let me know and I will edit it in <3
Summary: You are working as a nurse on an american camp in Italy. Waiting for your brother to come back from a failed mission, you meet Captain America after a failed show he did on the site.
Word Count: 2.3k
P.S. I was inspired by @webslingingspiderling, thinking of a prequel to one of their series. I might be going on a differeent direction later, though
You were desperate to find him, to see him again meant everything to you at that point. Your brother had left for an infiltration mission and no one in the camp had heard anything in days, it didn't take a genius to conclude it meant bad news, you wouldn't allow yourself to lose hope, though. While taking care of some of the wounded that managed to get back, you overheard some of them saying a huge part of the batallion was taken, and were being held captive.
This was meant to be a pleasent surprise, you had asked to be transfered to where Y/B/N's unit was, so you could be with him since you were both serving the country in your own way. He was a great soldier, no doubt, your parents had raised warriors, but you were definitely the best nurse there was with the American troops in Europe.
"Who would have thought" Y/B/N said proudly while putting his hands on your sholder "the kids of an immigrant going off to war to save the country that saved him" It was the first tour for both of you, you were terrified to be separated from him, sad you were not tasked with the enfermary at his battalion
Keeping your head down so Y/B/N couln't see the tears coming "Dad would be very proud of you br-"
"Proud of us!" He quickly cut you off, while putting a stran of your hair behind your ear, then raising your chin to look in your eyes " I might be running of with a gun in my hand, but you are the one that will be keeping us in one piece after all" he cuckles "but in all seriousness, I count on you to patch my ass up"
"Well you better not need it!" you stated, starting to get angry just at the thought of seeing him wounded "I might be good at it, but if you ever need to lay on my hospital beds I will make sure you regret it"
He laughed at your threats, "You know I'll always make it back to you in one piece Y/N"
He'd better.
Pulling you out of your memories, you heard quite a comotion outside of the medical quarters, you stepped outside to see the soldiers rallying around the stage.
"Go watch it!" Megan, one of the few people you would call a friend, whispered to you "You need some distraction right now, you look awful, plus, from all the posters, that captain guy looks like quite the eyecandy" You laughed at her comment, Megan was always trying to pin you up with some handsome soldier, ever since she got married to some airforce big shot she was trying to find you someone on a rank.
You understood her point of view, to her you were alone, not counting on your brother to help you out from now on, she wanted you to be protected, but you didn't want to think about it, and you knew you could fend for yourself if need be.
"Alright mrs. Nurse" you said with a laugh, you liked calling people mr. and mrs. as a sign of respect, even if you knew them on a name basis, especially when it made people a little uneasy. Megan hated it when you called her that way, so you laughed as she stuck her tongue out "I'm going, cover for me, will you?"
"Of couse my mrs. Y/L/N" as she practically pushed you out the door.
---
The whole thing was terrible. That is, he was a good looking guy, and the soldiers loved the girls dancing, but damn, that show was meant to be played anywhere else but here. When Captain America ended his speech, you could see he wanted to burry his face on the ground, the soldiers were mocking him, soon enough they were throwing stuff and calling for the girls to get back onstage.
"Bunch of animals" you whispered to yourself, rolling your eyes as you walked to the back of the poorly established stage, wanting to see if the man was OK after those soldiers' behavior 'it might have been bad, but the man's just doing what he was told' you thought. You quickly spotted the soldier sitting on the steps next to a couple of empty racks.
"Are you alright Mr. Captain?" you approached slowly, trying to make him feel a little better but he barely moved, he was focused on the notebook he had on his hands.
"I'm fine maam, thanks", you could feel in his voice and posture he was pretty sad about the whole thing, but still trying to be as kind and polite as possible. You spotted the circus monkey he had drew, with the same costume he was wearing.
Poor man
"I don't want to be invasive," you continued, wishing to make the man feel better "- but you did probably just present yourself to the thoughest crowd at their thoughest moment this week, so don't be so hard on yourself" you offered the kindest smile you could as you took a seat by his side.
"I was stupid to not have thought that awful speech wouldn't worked here", the soldier finally picked his head up and looked at you "But why would you say this is their thoughest moment miss...?" He was eager to better understand his situation, while still being as polite as he could
"Y/L/N, mr. Captain, but please, call me Y/N".
"In that case, drop the mr... Call me Steve" he said while offering his hand out.
"Well Mr. Steve" you shook his hand while wearing a grin on your face, making him smile briefly "unfortunately, those guys just lost a lot of companions, they are maybe a quarter of the whole squad that was sent out a couple of days ago" now your voice was starting to shake with the terrible thoughts of what could have happened to Y/B/N.
"I should've thought..." He whispered to himself as you sniffed the tears away
Strugling to put the smile back on you continued "Well, if it makes you feel a little less pessimist, some of the guys I took care of on the medic ward said a great portion of those men are being held captive at a Hydra base.... Although I'm starting to think I will never see Y/B/N ever again" the smile faded with every word that went of your moutht, you couldn't even pretend to be optimist at that moment, your world was falling apart
"Hey miss Y/N, please don't be sad, you'll see your love again" he said, while putting his arms around you trying to console you. You let out a small chuckle with the comment, lifting your head up from your hands to say he was actually your brother. he hugged you thighter, offering a shoulder for you to cry on, but you just let him hold you for a while, it felt nice to have someone, possibly a friend, that understood your pain at that moment.
"This was meant to be a pleasent surprise, you know" you started to tell him as you pulled away from his warm and comforting hug. "These are meant to be my last couple of weeks in service before going back home for a while... You see, since I'm an immigrant nurse, people would hardly ever let me know the location of his battalion, under the belief I could be a spy, so we have barely written eachother" you paused to take a breath before the tears took control of you." When I finally discovered where he was and stated, I asked to be transfered here, to see him, since I don't have a clue when he's going home, and a letter would have taken way too much time. But he- he wasn't here" a few tears streamed down your face before you wiped them away "To my misfortune, his name is on the missing or presumed dead of the 107th"
You saw the Captain's eyes widening "the 107th you said?" He had worry, fear and pain mixed on his glance. You could see the million thoughts racing through your mind, as if you had just shot him in the stomach.
"Yes, Steve" An unfamiliar voice came from behind.
A beautiful brunnette was standing right above the steps you sat on. Despite the confusion in his eyes, you could see she made him feel more comfotable just by being there. You immediatly stood up to leave, but your body wouldn't move another inch. You could tell, judging by her face and uniform she knew at least something about the soldiers.
Quickly galncing at her name stiched on the uniform, you asked "Mrs. Carter, I do not mean to be indelicate, but do you know anything about them?" Your eyes were filling with hope and your heart was beating so fast you could swear both of them could hear it.
"I am sorry my dear, but I am not allow to talk to you about it, you should go tend to the wounded now" She sounded very harsh, but you didn't think much of it, most of your interactions outside of the medic ward ended that way
"yes, of course. Goodbye mrs. Carter, mr. Captain" so you nodded and started heading your way, trying to keep the tears from falling
---
"Her brother is in it Peggy, she's just worried" Steve said as he watched you go wiping your tears "Bucky is on the list as well, isn't he?" turning to Peggy, he had pain, anger, sadness and confusion all mixed up on his eyes, hoping the woman had answers to any of his doubts.
"Unfortunately, I do not know much, but I know who might" She motioned for him to get up as she walked towards the commander's tent
---
The enfermary was awfully quiet, there were not many soldiers for you to help. Most of the injured you tended to had been either estabilized and sent home, or were good enough to get up in a day or two. The few that were still there at the moment were, much like you, waiting for a miracle. No other missions were conducted ever since the disaster that took Y/B/N, so you had little to do there, especially at night. All you could do was look over at those who were sleeping or usually too high on medications to make any sound.
You sat on the edge of a french sargent's bed, changing the blood soaked bandages he had on where his right leg sould be, when you heard footsteps coming closer to you. It was definetly Megan, she would usually come in the middle of the night to check on you, she even transferred with you to Italy because she worried about you not getting any rest, Megan was like the mom you once had.
"Hey Megan, go back to bed, everything's fine", you said, not taking your eyes away from the wounds,
Probably woken up by his screams, those pillows were the worst to muffle the sounds of pain.
"Y/N..." you recognize the soothing voice, still concentrated in your actions you responded.
"I was not expecting to find you coming in mr. Captain, did the british lady already break that heart?" You said in a playful tone.
"Steve, please" He chuckled at your comment, but said nothing else, waiting for you to finish what you were doing.
"Give me a second, I am almost done" He took a seat on the bed opposite to the one you were. Gently covering the wound and closing the bandage, you looked to the sargent with a warm smile "C'est fini". You got to the sink and washed your hands before walking over to Steve, you noticed he was wearing gear, which could only mean one thing, really.
"So, what are you about to do?" you askes while drying your hands on your apron, shaking your head in disbelief. You knew exactly what Steve was up to, you just didn't know how.
"I'm saving them... Peggy has called in a favour and I will be dropped off close enough to their camp"
"You can't be serious, all by yourself? "That plan was nonsense, you both knew it, but you also knew there was barely any other option.
"I don't think I have much of a choice, there might be as much as 400 lives there, and no one else is willing to sacrifice" He was firm with his words, no one was changing his mind at this point. You never thought someone would be crazy or brave enough to do something like that.
"Well in that case...I should to give you something" you pulled your skirt up to take the knife strapped on your leg, but the poor lighting in the room made the captain feel extremely uncomfortable, not understanding what you were doing. "Relax" you chuckled as his cheeks got visibly red, then placing the weapon on both of your hands and offering it out
"Take this, my brother gave it to me for good luck" He was impressed by the bone carved handle and was hesitant to even touch it
"Please" you insisted "I will be right here for you to give it back once you're done, I know it will help you bring them back, it's not a gun, but it is still pretty pointy" you raised your eyebrows, practically waving it at him
Steve took a deep breath "Alright, I'll take it" he walked towards you "for good luck!" You couldn't help but smile at the man you wished to see again very soon. You gave him a peck on the cheek
"Now go, miss Carter is probably going to be jealous of you spending so much time with another girl" You saw his face almost catch fire at the sound of your words. "Good luck Steve, you better come back in one piece and with that knife on your hand"
You smiled as he walked out of the tent, looking back at you for a quick salute, making you laugh a little before going back to checking vitals as your mind drifted to memories.
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Just Between Us ~
Summary: Yaoyorozu Momo, now a well-established heroine, finally finds her childhood friend, Todoroki Shouto, who now goes by the name ‘Kuroroki’.
Rated: T
Words: 4k
Genre: todomomo angst + todoroki villain AU
A secret santa gift for @selephi !!
Check out Selephi’s Villain Todoroki profile first!
When Yaoyorozu was young, she didn’t understand what it meant to have no love from her parents.
Everything, generally speaking, came so easy for her. She was fortunate, talented, and if her parents believed in feng shui, then the alignment of the furniture in her house must have powered her luck as well.
On Sundays, Yaoyorozu and her parents would carry stacks and stacks of money in a 29 inch luggage, surrounded by their trusted bodyguards, to the bank. Of course, in one of their many limousines. When she felt bored, her mother would coo her in the vehicle, telling stories of Greek gods and goddesses, stories from the Grimm Brothers and also stories of how she met Yaoyorozu’s father, something that little Momo always found very intriguing. She was always delighted, and if she was hungry, she would tell her parents and in a snap of a finger, they’d get all sorts of dainty pastries ready for her by the time they got home.
Yaoyorozu never stopped attending these family errands until middle school hit and chemical formulas and recipes for god-knows-what were the only things filling her once naïve mind.
Nothing was impossible. Most things were within grasp.
But something else she recalled quite vividly from her lavish childhood was a boy her age dancing with her at one of her family’s ultra-posh galas. A boy who had beautiful, sleek, white and red hair, and eyes that could read her soul through the glassiness of her dark, onyx irises. She learned the hard way that all good things come with a price, and his was a dark angry patch of red that encompassed his fierce blue eye.
Yaoyorozu knew his father was one of the top ten heroes; a family so well-known that it became a household name.
“Todoroki.” She heard her mother say, gesturing with a nod of her head at the other side of the banquet.
The young girl played with a piece of hair that fell out of place from her chignon before her mother fixes it for her and began to feel curious about the giant man whose grip on his youngest son looked way too rigid. Yaoyorozu’s gentle eyes rested on the subtle smile that etched on that boy’s face— him looking uncomfortable, fingers twiddling a piece of thread that hung low on the hem of his nicely pressed dress shirt.
She tested that name, rolling it off the tip of her tongue a few more times, every syllable feeling as though it’d tangle her tongue. But who was she to comment on that; after all, her own family name sounded even more convoluted.
The boy, apparently a prodigy, seemed to have caught on her hawk-like gaze and stared back. Yaoyorozu gasped, mouth breathing in a little of the cold fluid air and wondered why she couldn’t avert her focus.
The night went on smoothly—she doing her own thing while he did his, until the clock struck 11.
Yaoyorozu was running around searching for her parents, the hour hand ticking to its place when she came across a scene that scarred her since.
She wouldn’t doubt that it scarred him as well.
“How many times did I tell you to talk to them with more enthusiasm?! YOU have the obligation to network and learn your duties NOW before you get to UA. Your siblings are nothing like you…I’m entrusting everything to you, Shouto!”
She watched from afar, hidden by wisps of a waxy house plant, as the boy that captured her attention rooted in place with an expression so dark that one would be surprised that he came from a heroic family.
Her fingers daintily moved a piece of leaf and continued to eavesdrop, her mother’s voice as her conscience, ringing at the back of her mind telling her to tiptoe out of there.
“I don’t want to,” The boy seethed.
“What did you say?!”
“I hate you and all heroes was what I said!”
The fumes and flames that flickered on the man’s head was enough to ignite the building when his youngest son’s awful words seeped into his ear. The man stood tall, fists unclenching as he whipped his palm across the younger boy’s face. The loud slap echoed across the hall and vibrated into Yaoyorozu’s heart.
She was mortified, feeling nothing but dread. For a second, she felt the slap on her own skin.
The rest of the otherwise pleasant night was quite hard to bear.
Yaoyorozu could see from outskirts of the crowd that the boy was still alone. She felt helpless. She knew she couldn’t tell anyone, not even her parents, and if she risked that then she’d risk the safety of that boy whom she so wanted to befriend.
The chance came when it was the farewell dance of the night. An event that always finalized her parent’s galas. Most of the time, Yaoyorozu would just sit somewhere and watch, but tonight she extended a caring hand to the boy and asked if she could take him for a spin. Which unfortunately came out quite awkward and silly for someone who only danced during her weekly Ballet lessons.
Let me make it up to you, she heard herself say under her breath, but the boy didn’t catch it.
As per her calculations, the boy didn’t take her hand at first. He instead opted to study her, skeptical if she was doing it for show or not, because let’s face it, who from a wealthy family was actually genuine?
After a short 3 second contest of stares, Yaoyorozu was already blushing like mad at his antics.
Initiating contact was definitely not her forte.
Her mother always reminded her to help people in need though, and so she’d let this time slide.
“Please,” she grabbed the skirt of her maroon dress and repeated, “just one dance.”
Yaoyorozu found herself concentrating on the slight tinge of sour red on the boy’s jaw from his father’s assault earlier, and she bit her lip, hoping he understood that she knew what happened between him and his alleged loving father.
Nevertheless, in the end the boy never found out why she was so adamant on accompanying him. With a sigh, he took her hand anyway.
Anything to get away from Todoroki Enji.
Afterwards, they became pen pals— a secret locked between him and her; when Enji was at work, the younger boy would sneak out and meet young Yaoyorozu at the park near her house. Both being 13 at the time, a false sense of freedom dawned and the girl felt something unfamiliar stir inside her every time they met. This went on for months until one day, the boy granted with the powers of ice and fire stopped coming to see her and to say that she hadn’t stopped thinking about why he left her alone at the park those afternoons would be a lie. She knew she had no other way of contacting him without risking being found out.
It soon became a habit: before she falls asleep, before she hears the creak of her parent’s bedroom door, Yaoyorozu would think about the idea of ‘star-crossed lovers’ and prayed that whatever happened to their friendship hadn’t dwindle away completely.
That year, on Christmas morning, Yaoyorozu sat between her mother and father’s embrace. Hands trembling, her father read the front page of the newspaper about Endeavor’s youngest son’s disappearance.
~~
“OH MY GOD, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU,” Jirou shouted, eyebrows scrunched in agony as her husband hid his face in his hands, “YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU DROPPED OUR WEDDING RING?”
Her spouse pursed his lips, nervous sweat on his cheeks as he ran a hand to brush his bangs away.
Kaminari was so dead. Probably the wrong time to die since they were at Iida’s Christmas gathering.
“Kyouka, I’ve got this, don’t worry!” The blond emphasized, afraid to even dare tilt his head up at his wife who was now so outraged that the mojito in her hand was swaying madly from her harsh movements.
Yaoyorozu quickly grabbed her best friend’s drink from the rim and pulled it out of her death grip, immediately setting it down somewhere far away before it spills all over the rug.
“I’m sure it’s somewhere in this vicinity,” Yaoyorozu suggested, giving the living room a quick scan and moving her palms up and down in attempt to calm the couple sitting directly beside her, “I’m sure it’ll show up. Lost things usually do.”
Yaoyorozu knew she was thinking of excuses; she really couldn’t focus on anything but the Christmas lights and poinsettias that was at every corner of the room, not to mention the amount of old classmates that were mingling in this place; finding a ring here was going to be harder than baking her mother the batch of pumpkin spice cookies last night.
But she digressed.
“Bakugou and Kirishima are helping me look outside right now –“
“THEN GO AND SEARCH TOO!”
“Y-YES MAAM!”
And with that, Kaminari booked it outside as fast as his legs could carry him. Jirou slumped back down onto the plush couch, index fingers massaging her temples in hopes to suppress her headache to no avail.
Iida and Hatsume’s screams of victory from beer pong on the other side of the room, ten decibels too high, was not helping either.
Yaoyorozu watched as her friend groaned again.
“I married a total idiot Yaomomo.”
Kaminari and Jirou had been married for a while now, engaged a few years after their graduation from UA, both now working hard climbing the hero ranking ladder.
“Well I think its endearing that both of you value your keepsakes so much. Not that I’d understand,” Yaoyorozu said.
“You are married to your work instead of a real human being after all,” Jirou answered back, words sinking a little too deep. The former had nothing else to say except to respond with a mere upwards tug of her lips.
As if on cue, Yaoyorozu’s phone vibrated on the edge of the coffee table, a slight clinking sound elicited from the crystal vase beside it. The creation heroine gave it a click and stared at the screen.
‘another victim, 25, kobayashi yoru, severe burns, Minoru and Fir intersection’
No. Not again.
“I’ve got—“
“to go?” Jirou finished the sentence for her, obviously worried, “Yaomomo, you’ve been working way too much lately. Your other sidekicks can handle fine without you.”
Yaoyorozu gulped down her drink, though the inside of her mouth was increasingly dry with anticipation. Her phone slipped back into her pant pockets without thought as she put down the glass a little too roughly.
Finally, another lead. To him. And this time it was right at her fingertips.
“This is important, and I know I say this every time but I’m so close.”
“Hasn’t it always been that way? The same case? For the past few years?”
Jirou’s fingers tapped agitatedly at her stocking-covered knee as she crossed her legs, ears quirking up at Yaoyorozu’s sigh as she got up from her seat. She knew her stubborn friend wasn’t going to listen. All she could do, Jirou guessed, was to support her however she could.
“If it’s that important, Yaomomo, then I’ll let Iida know.”
Yaoyorozu smiled as she slipped her arm through her coat sleeve.
“Thanks, I knew I could always count on you.”
~~
From the direction of the incoming ambulances and the police tape that comprised the crime scene, Yaoyorozu knew that she had to act quickly.
The culprit was close; he was fast but had always had a habit of staying nearby.
She wouldn’t call it a Christmas miracle, but to have him carry out his kill near Iida’s party? It was almost like Santa listened to her plea.
Her sidekicks left her yet another text to update her on the victim’s condition. The victim was apparently gifted with third degree burns and a perforated lung.
Sounded like his work alright.
Just thinking about his alias sent a ping down to the pit of her stomach.
Kuroroki. An infamous murderer who was killing a little too close to home had been on her radar for too long. Yaoyorozu had a dedicated cabinet to all the cases she had dealt with involving him and she wracked her brain contemplating whether or not she’d ever be able to crack these cases. Tonight, however, would be when she’d break through the wall that had always been blocking her path.
Yaoyorozu shivered as her teeth chattered from the cold though not enough to stop her from leaping from one alley to the next, dodging civilians as she felt her blood run in pure adrenaline. She didn’t know what to say if he were to be right in front of her but she didn’t care.
6 years she’s been hoping to find him. 6 damn years.
The following alley was enclosed with wandering policemen and she had no doubt that some were walking around to pretend like they were doing their job. She wanted to scoff.
“Sorry, miss, you can’t go through this way,” an officer said sternly, voice gruff, as she was about to step foot into the scene, “you’d better turn around, we’re still investigating here.”
“I’m a licensed heroine,” Yaoyorozu spat, wanting to roll her eyes as she fished out her badge, “The name’s Creati. Licensed since 2019.”
The man crossed his arms and casted an annoyed grunt at her before scanning the badge in her grasp. Yaoyorozu figured he must be new here if he had never heard of her name. Either that or he didn’t recognize her because of her formal attire and curled hair.
While he was busy reading at a snail’s pace, Yaoyorozu leaned forward and peeked behind him, eyes rounding and nose scrunching at the foul smell that began to waft behind the officer.
Blood stained the brick walls, and there were lots of it.
“Alright, fine, I’ll let you through,” the man finally said, words still laced with annoyance, and Yaoyorozu thanked him with a slight nod of her head, the taste of blood erupting in her mouth as the smell once again perturbed her.
The heroine tread swiftly past him, her head turned left and right, the ridges in her throat bobbing from disgust at the scene. She should be used to this by now given the nature of her work but something about knowing that it’s him that did this sent a choking chill down to every bone in her body.
For a second, at the corner of her eye, a shadow fleeted off at the furthest most passageway that connected to the back street.
Yaoyorozu craned her neck, knees still slightly bent from studying the blood splatters on the concrete above her shadow and she felt her fingers go numb. Did she imagine it? Her hands slid down to her phone and hesitated. Should she contact her sidekicks or better yet, just yell at the policemen around her to follow her in or …?
Yaoyorozu didn’t know what the million thoughts in her head were but she ran and ran, the clicking of her heel echoing behind her. She lost her footing for a brief moment but she kept going and shifted to her left at the sharp turn, eyes never leaving the small road. Thoughts wheeling in her mind almost blurring her vision; when she confronts him, what should she say? Should she say anything at all? Yaoyorozu gave her head a shake in attempt to swivel her mind back to the right place.
She knew the route around here painstakingly well given it being near where her parent’s house used to be, and she had already strategized several ways that this could go.
There was a 40% chance that whoever the shadow belonged to would hit a dead end and Yaoyorozu could already see the figure move even more frantically now.
She bit her lower lip; if only she had time. Time was all she needed to create something, anything, to help her mobility right now.
A splash from the puddle a few metres in front of her route knocked her senses back and she halted, legs firm as she planted herself in place. She extended her arm as the other pulled her sleeve up, a pole forging out of her skin in an instant. A giant vine-covered wall stood between the figure and the other side of the road.
The chase was over.
“Show yourself, you have nowhere else to run,” Yaoyorozu cried out, eyes piercing at the dark figure in front of her. She gulped as the person turned around, shifting under the dim street lights, his features gradually revealing. Yaoyorozu felt the grip around her weapon tighten, hands unsteady.
Black and red hair, grey and blue eyes, the dark patch on his face.
Even if he tried to change his appearance, she could recognize him anywhere.
Yaoyorozu’s mouth was agape, panicking to form a coherent sentence, but he beat her to it.
“Spare me your words, Yaoyorozu,” Todoroki simply said, head downwards. His voice was husky, reverberating into the brisk, frosty wind.
Even in that angle, she could see how much he had grown; in another situation, perhaps she’d be charmed by him.
She dropped her arms to her side, forgetting that she had a weapon for a reason. It was nostalgic to meet him again albeit in this undesirable environment.
Todoroki took another step forward. “Why are you always chasing me.” His words were vile, sounding threatening to her ears, but she didn’t care.
“It hurts me to think,” she began, trying to change the subject, her heart thumping hard against her ribcage, “what if I had reached out to you earlier? Then maybe you wouldn’t have become a criminal. Like you are now.”
He didn’t want to listen yet he didn’t move, his eyes blazing with raw anger, staring straight at her as if he was his prey. Part of her wishes it’s because he still cared, but the energy emitting from him was so menacing that even Yaoyorozu hitched a breath and let the pole in her hand drop.
It was now or never.
“I know you’re conflicted.”
“You don’t know who I am anymore. Whoever you think I was, well, he’s long gone. Stop following me or you’ll regret.”
Yaoyorozu’s hands balled into fists at his awful sounding words.
“Todoroki Shouto, come back. Please. I can help you.”
He shuddered at her calling him so intimately. The man scowled at her as if his real name was poison. Was it crazy to say that that was the reaction she was hoping for?
“Don’t fucking say that word. That name.”
Yaoyorozu was only a stride away from him but it was still like he was an ocean away. He was also a head taller than her, she recognized, though it became so much more than a mere measurement.
She blinked once. Twice.
“I know, with your skills, you could easily climb these walls and leave, yet you aren’t.”
Was she crazy to ignore his pure killing intent and instead, to blab on? To someone who had no remorse, no sense of humanity, no warmth?
He breathed harder.
“And I could burn you here in a second.”
“You won’t. I know. Because you saved me two years ago.”
Todoroki froze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.“
Yaoyorozu’s mind cycled through to the fire that night when she followed him. She had gotten intel that Todoroki had once again fried someone to a crisp in an office building in downtown. If that wasn’t bad enough, his finishing touch was to bomb the building by cutting off the gas pipes. When she entered, she was immediately blown back at the explosion, the smell of the leak muffling her senses, but she survived. Policemen told her when she woke up on that hard, stiff hospital bed that she was far away from the building when they had found her with minor injuries. They theorized that she got dragged away by someone to safety.
She didn’t tell anyone and her memory may be hazy but for the short moment between her eyes flickering and completely shutting to unconsciousness after being tossed back from the explosion like a ragdoll, she saw Todoroki’s face, and felt his grip around her, carrying her out.
Yaoyorozu had thought she imagined it, but taking a closer inspection of him now, she was certain it was him.
“And all those victims that you target, every single one of them are criminals that are on the wanted list. You had never laid a hand on an innocent person. Kobayashi Yoru, the one from tonight, he evaded capture last month for human trafficking and distribution of illegal firearms, amongst ten other offenses.”
“Shut up.“
“Why don’t you also tell me why you still contact your sister and ask about your mother? You thought you were so smart using various phones so we couldn’t track you but I think you underestimated my abilities.”
Todoroki’s mouth snapped shut, lips pursing into a thin nervous line. He was rendered utterly speechless by this girl whom he didn’t recall ever wanting to contact. Todoroki didn’t even want to reignite the flame they had when they were 13.
The past was the past. He will rid of every speck of it if it meant for him to make a new identity for himself.
Yaoyorozu swallowed hard, footsteps heavy, legs feeling like cotton with no sense of control as she slowly trudged to him, putting shaky hands on the side of his shoulders. He felt so real. He was real. The girl paused to study him, looking at him up and down, wondering if the wetness on her cheeks was from the rain.
It wasn’t raining.
“I promise you, if you stop this, you’ll never feel alone again, I know many lawyers and—“
“Kill whatever imagination you have of me returning to society like a normal human. I made this path and I’m not going to stop, until…until I kill that son of a bitch. Endeavor.”
Her eyes opened wide and she could see his adam’s apple hitch and in a blink of an eye she was pulled deeper into the shadows, snug against the damp brick wall and Todoroki’s rigid body. Yaoyorozu opened her mouth curiously, until she heard a rustle of steps and a string of shadows pass their alley.
Yaoyorozu didn’t dare focus anywhere except for the tense muscle on his neck; she couldn’t completely disregard their closeness either, reprimanding herself for having even a slight hope that her childhood friend would come to his senses. It could be silly and totally absurd, but Todoroki Shouto had run a soft finger down a curl of her hair.
The smell of iron and tonight’s murder still lingered on the surface of Todoroki’s clothes, however, and she felt strained.
“They’re gone,” she said as the last shadow passed them, his face twisting into a stern glare. He moved away.
Todoroki shot her a knowing look, as if to say that time was up. It had been awhile after all, to think that he’d even let her get this close was more than she had ever desired.
And in one last pathetic attempt, she let her feelings pour out.
“It’s been 6 years,” her words came out smooth, gradually rising in pitch, “6 years of me hunting you like some sad, disillusioned woman, not even doing this out of the duty of being a hero but because you were a friend.”
“Then continue to obsess over this fantasy of yours,” he snapped back, and she felt a twitch in her fingers. She could slap him, slap the demon or whatever that possessed him. Slap him until she was a pile of teary mess.
Yaoyorozu stood her ground, watching as Todoroki dug his fingers into the ridges of the fence beside them, but having no desire to pull him back down.
“If you follow me again, I will murder you, Yaoyorozu,” he added, “You let me live my life and I won’t bother yours.”
“Don’t leave, Shouto! I’m—“
“You can do so much better than me.”
She backtracked for a few seconds, thinking how much his words pained her. The moonlight shone over her face as she bit her lip, all the pressure held in her body accumulating in that one spot in her chest.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he leapt over and ran somewhere further into the dark, her cries not enough to turn him around.
Was that it? Was it over?
She crumpled over, knees buckling. All her energy zapped out of her as she held herself steady.
Her mind was a mess, all these things she had forgotten to say. All these ‘could haves’ and ‘should haves’ but none taken to light.
“Do you at least remember how we met?” she muttered to herself, voice thin.
And in the end, she pushed herself back up, alone like she had been for the past decade, feeling the rough, uneven asphalt below her.
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