Work Text:
pov: this author bets they can make you fall in love w/ Shoto and hurt you by the end of this fic
click here for the background music for ambiance (do not cheat yourself of a good experience by ignoring this link)
genre: fluff/angst
"It's weird."
You and Todoroki were curled up on the tatami floor in his room, sharing one blanket.
"What's weird?" You turned to him.
He was holding his knees with his head resting on them. Slowly, he steals your breath away with a smile, along with your heart. Wrong. There was nothing to steal anyways. You already pinned yours on his sleeves, giving your heart to him. Volunteering as tribute.
"I always seem to say more than I should when I'm around you."
The mood shifts ambiguously.
"Ah." You cleared your throat. "Is it because my presence is forgettable? That way you feel I'm safe?"
He chuckles. The swarm of butterflies fluttered wildly in your stomach. "You? Forgettable? Not likely. Safe, I agree. You're my confidant."
"Then maybe because I'm vulnerable around you alot and you got influenced?" You guessed.
"Maybe. Why are you so red?" He asks suddenly, teasing you upon noticing the rapidly reddening cheeks you're sporting.
"Speak for yourself." You scoffed. His right pinky curling and locked with yours. Your legs pressed against his. You weren't exactly caught off guard. You saw it coming and you simply stayed still but you couldn't avoid being flustered. "Also, when you like someone you adopt their habits."
"How arrogant."
"Is it arrogance when proven right?"
"...I never confessed."
"Neither did I."
"But you kissed me." He says bluntly.
You dry coughed. "I- Well- You pushed your face towards me!"
"I just wanted to see you blush. You were very... forward."
"You enjoyed it!" You scowled, embarrassed.
He slowly brings his face closer to you. Closer, and closer, and boop-
Your nose touching his.
You and Todoroki blushing madly but he wears it better because he prompts,
"Now what?"
The thing worse than a rebellion is what causes the rebellion. That's what the League of Villains stands for, isn't it? A rebellion against the corruption of Hero Society, against the real villains of the society: The Public Safety Commission. Someone had to take the brunt of the public's anger and first it was Endeavor, Hawks and now the new generation is taking a hit from the public as well. Dynamight for his arrogance, media couldn't help but see the similarities of Endeavor in the Explosion Hero. Every now and then, there were slanders to his character but all in safety of anonymity. Shoto had gotten the public's ire too with the simple relation of being Endeavor's son. And... Deku, more than anyone else got public hate the same way All Might did; when All-For-One revealed their quirk, the power to take away a person's quirk, a large number of the masses agreed that true equality could only be achieved when quirks ceased to exist. The League of Villain was defeated but the idea sat at the back of some people's minds.
But you worked hard to make the public love them again. You worked hard to expose Dynamight's 'gap moe' and all the fangirls came flooding in, supporting the once hated arrogant hero. Deku didn't need much of your help with the public because he was inherently kind and naturally charming. It took a few clips of him and Dynamight's teaming up that three types of fangirls emerged: the one who support Dynamight, the one who support Deku and the one who shipped them together. Endeavor needed careful planning, you didn't expose him too much on camera but the small feats, the humble work he did that he used to think was far beneath him, you had them on the newspaper just at the far corner. Humility. You didn't want Endeavor's changes to be shoved down the public's throat, just enough for it to simmer and have them come to their own opinion.
Lastly, your husband: Shoto. He was transparent, straightforward, no-nonsense, and he took the public's hate with a stride. Still, you went on talk shows just so you could give the public an idea of how adorable he is. You talked about how terrible he is with cooking, stories that painted normalcy, you worked hard to make him stand in good light. You wanted the public to see how similar the heroes are to them, that the only difference between the public and the heroes is occupation. Hell, you even took it a step further and made them realize that heroes aren't immortal and that they risk their lives through a documentary you were working on. You became the diplomat between heroes and the public.
That's why you became a target.
There was a new league of villain on the rise. The big named heroes were called and those who were on standby didn't think too much when a hero's home got attacked. Whoever was attacked, they're a hero as well, surely they can handle it. Despite the distress signal, the standby heroes took their time to respond. It was only mere minutes anyway. Shōto's house was found destroyed, and somehow it turned into a jungle. Your quirk, when you bleed, plants grow.
A city wide broadcast follows, interrupting the news, the rebels talked about how you covering the rotten cores of heroes, how you blinded the public with a fake persona, how you made your married life sparkling that everyone forgot how villainous the heroes are. It was sickening how you put the heroes' name in the sky as if they never did anything wrong. Not anymore, they'll shut you up. They made sure to shut you up but they weren't a total villain like the heroes, they relented you a chance to say goodbye,
"Mom, see how death follows a hero everywhere?-" You smiled at the phone you were holding. There was a cut on the video and when it resumes you had a swelling cheek. "Mom, listen to me carefully, I'm sorry I don't think I can visit you this weekend."
You took a shaky breath, trying your best not to cry. "Thank you for raising me. I'm sorry- you are a brave woman and I commend you.."
"You done?"
"No, wait- Shoto, sweetie, my wonderful husband... " You smiled affectionately at the camera, but tears trails down at the thought of leaving him. "I wish to commend you-"
You let out a sob and tried hard to stop the tremors on your body. You wiped away your tears and resumed to smiling sweetly, if this was to be your husband's last memory of you, at least let it be you smiling. "But you still have one thing to do: take care of our son. I love you."
You blinked the tears away, making it fall down your cheeks but you persevered to smile despite the ache on your cheeks. You don't wanna die. "Live your lives. I love you all. Especially you my son, I'm sorry I can't be there with you when you grow up. I love you. I love you all."
You wipe the tears again and kissed the camera. There was muffled click of the gun's safety being removed. The video ends.
Heroes against the public. For all the work the heroes did for the public, this is how they repay them: a hero dead. Not just any hero but everything she stood for. A bridge between the heroes and the civilians. After all the work she did, despite running herself ragged, just so everyone can reach an understanding. Until when... When will the heroes stop bowing towards the public? When will their condemnation stop?
"Retired hero, Vine, murdered in her own home."
"Protests to abolish the PSC rises."
"Flame-Ice Hero's wife murdered in cold blood."
"Hero diplomat, Vine, murdered by protesters."
"Heroes in pandemonium to catch fleeing protesters."
Todoroki raised his head, his wife's body covered in white cloth, lying down on the mortuary table. He uncovers your face, you looked so peaceful despite the violent shot through your brain. He screamed; wept; shook your body; he pleads for you to wake up; he pleads to Kami for some miracle; he broke down.
His wife was dead.
Shoto curled up. Covered his head. And tried to unmake reality and do it again, he would've stayed home.
He was not the only one here. All of your friends were here, the whole class A, his family, a hand on your shoulder, Endeavor, he barely felt it.
There were only screams and weeping. And then, silent fury. He and along the vengeful were gone, tearing the city to find the murderers. The shocked ones like your mother, wandered about in her own home, unsure of what to do. Jobs were neglected, some were done half-heartedly.
Not everyone. Some people, those who never knew you, those who never even heard of your deeds avoided those who mourned. Why was everyone crying? It was just another hero who died. A retired hero who couldn't even defend herself against her assailants. What a shabby hero. Why didn't she just kill them like how shitty heroes usually did?
Call them cruel but the world wasn't ending. When everyone was done with grieving, the world will still be there. The city will just be fine.
People died all the time anyways.
There were eulogies to be said. Not just from the heroes but also the civilians who received your help.
The old man spoke of your name solemnly. "... when my daughter was kidnapped for human trafficking, no hero looked at the case, they shoved it to the police, the police told me it was a hero case, I went back and forth between the two bureaus and I heard about her, it was a long shot but-"
He was riped with age, back permanently bent, a cane to steady him. Some of those who were here for your funeral, listened. Others, numb, oblivious to the way they knelt around your casket.
"She was a hero and yet- she never thought it was beneath her to help my daughter's case. Some heroes see catching villains is the only hero's job... but her? It wasn't that at all. She believed every crime to be solved is a hero's duty. She returned my daughter- alive- and well.."
He spoke from the heart. "Afterwards, she shouldn't have anything to do with me. But she kept in touch- paid for my daughter's therapy. I didn't know her well. But she cared about the people, she wasn't just a token hero. Yeah, she didn't beat up villains but she was the best damn hero for me."
He hung his head.
"She was a hero that everyone forgot to aspire to be."
He wiped his eyes. You have touched many lives. Ochako could see the old man was one of many as he looked at the crowd.
There was a pair of heroes enraged beyond belief, tirelessly turning brick and stone to find the murderers. Dynamight had always been a hothead but now, no one could say it was without cause. He owed you despite being an extra. He called you Weed because of your plant quirk. He didn't care if the public hated him but the adoration did make his life alot easier due to your help. He promised you and Icy-hot that he'd repay you for that.
Then you had to go and be killed by a bunch of extras. He never thought he'd owe someone he could never repay to now.
Shōto's grief manifested into fury. He had ice-like persona, no one could see past through his seriousness except you. He was as clear as the ice; his temper as tranquil as a glacier. But glaciers do crack and once they break off, a tsunami comes. Vengeance. For wrath. The world had ended. It was only fair that his wife's murderers should end as well.
Press statement to the perpetrators from Flame Ice Hero: Shoto
"YOU KILLED HER!! YOU FUCKING BASTARDS! RUN AS FAR AS YOU CAN, HIDE AS WELL AS YOU CAN BECAUSE WHEN I FIND YOU ALL, I WILL FREEZE EVERY DROP OF BLOOD IN YOUR VEINS AND BURN YOUR BODIES INTO ASHES. PRAY THAT WHEN I FIND YOU, YOUR DEATH IS SWIFT. PRAY TO ALL DEITIES, BUT KAMI WILL NOT SAVE YOU FROM ME."
Todoroki slams the man against the bars, hands gripping the collar. He activates his quirk ice starting to creep on his right arm.
"You can't kill him, Todoroki." Iida says with worried eyes. "They turned themselves in. They're at the mercy of the law."
"Mercy? Did they grant my wife mercy?" Kami, he wanted to kill them all. It was so so easy.
"They're sentenced a lifetime imprisonment."
"They're alive, the very thing they deprived my wife of. Why should they live when they took her life?!"
"Because it wouldn't bring her back!"
𝖳𝗈𝖽𝗈𝗋𝗈𝗄𝗂 𝗌𝖼𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗆𝖾𝖽 𝗁𝗂𝗆𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿 𝗁𝗈𝖺𝗋𝗌𝖾. "𝖳𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖽𝗈 𝖨 𝖽𝗈, 𝖨𝗂𝖽𝖺?! 𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖽𝗈 𝖨 𝖽𝗈 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗀𝖺𝗉𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗁𝗈𝗅𝖾 𝗂𝗇 𝗆𝗒 𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗌𝗍?! 𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖽𝗈 𝖨 𝖽𝗈 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝗌𝖾𝖼𝗈𝗇𝖽 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝖽𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀?! 𝖳𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝗆𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗉𝖺𝗌𝗌𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖨 𝗐𝗂𝗌𝗁 𝖨 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗐𝗁𝗈'𝗌 𝖽𝖾𝖺𝖽?! 𝖣𝗈𝗇'𝗍 𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗅 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗀𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗆 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝖨 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗄 𝗈𝖿 𝗂𝗌 𝖼𝗎𝗋𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗆 𝗍𝗈 𝖽𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗁! 𝖨 𝖼𝗎𝗋𝗌𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗆 𝖺𝗅𝗅!!"
"To feel better? Midoriya, you misunderstand me. I want to kill them not because I'd feel better. I know it won't. It's simple really. I want to kill them because I want them dead. That's all."
"Sneaking in here and killing them will undo her life's work, Todoroki! She worked hard to bridge heroes and the public. To bring peace between them. Do not dishonor her! If you kill them, the heroes will be hated, especially with how much her murder was publicized but if the people see that heroes follow the law too, that we can attain peace and justice, they will sympathize with us."
"If there ever was someone to become a martyr... I would've expect it to be you, Midoriya. Not my wife. You don't understand... if you lost Ochako, you would've felt the same way."
| Summer spent with you,
| Fall I lost you, then Winter
| I daydream for Spring.
-Todoroki Shōto, The Sakura Trees Stopped Blooming (a haiku)
"Hey, shotocake."
His mismatched eyes glanced at her, halting his strategic thoughts upon the shogi (japanese chess) pieces. You took a deep breath. A long and painful breath. Then another one until you remembered to exhale. Todoroki looked at you oddly. You were sitting together, on the tatami floors of the living room. A shogi board between you. He reached out for a teacup, the scent of matcha rose to his nose, a scent that clings to the air, prevalent to a home you two built; the taste left a nice herb note on his tongue. He knew what was coming. The cicadas sung.
"Love is weird, huh?"
His fingers slipped on the wooden piece. The clatter was loud. The dual quirk user caught himself.
"What was that, princess?"
"Love. Liking someone romantically. Weird stuff, huh?"
"...Indeed?"
"Does it ever get lonely?"
"What do you mean?"
"You see it's like shogi, I used to really love this game. I walked and breathed this game. My whole life revolved around this game until I realized it doesn't need to be. Just because I used to love shogi doesn't mean I had stop myself from loving anything else."
You looked up to meet his eyes, hand cupping a lieutenant piece. You placed it down and then he placed his piece down as well.
"But loving you is different from loving a game."
"That's what you're doing right now, shotocake. You're loving me like how I used to love shogi. You're... stuck. Love is not supposed to be stagnant."
"Can't I stay? It hurts to love you out there."
You gave him a smile, the one that haunts him still. "That's silly. Love is the only thing that doesn't hurt. Will you finally wake up, now?"
"I can't."
"He needs his father."
"I don't want to forget you. I don't want to love somebody else." He was crying now, hanging his head low in shame.
"That's something we can't control."
"I love you."
"I know. Time to wake up now." You moved to embrace him as he cried, sitting on the floor. You were never there. There was only the scent of the green tea, and the distinctive refreshing smell of tatami mats. The paper on shoji doors has long turned yellow; some had little tears on them.
"Otou-san, can you recognize me?"
Todoroki looks at the direction where the voice came from. It was like looking at his younger self. Except the eyes and the absence of a scar. Your son had his mother's eyes. Funny how the world goes on, how the world had to turn, how everyone's lives resumed just like how your son did, while for someone, for Shoto, time had frozen. He stood shakily and embraced his son. He had to stop pretending now, to stop hugging the air, to stop asking comfort in your ghost when his son needs it more, when the living needs it more than his dead heart. Now, he thinks of the next moment, the next minute, the next hour. Finally, he's thinking of the future. Thinking-
ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵈᵃʸ⸴
ʰᵉ'ˡˡ ˢᵗᵒᵖ
ᵈᵃʸᵈʳᵉᵃᵐⁱⁿᵍ
ᵒᶠ ʸᵒᵘ‧