Chapter Text
Fire. Burning. Mother, please make it stop-
Shouto has never lived an easy life. Always keeping guard in his own house, attending to his burn scars.
Kept away from his siblings. Forced to spar with a pro hero with decades of experience. Expected to fight when he’s only ten years old-
He feels bitter about his situation, he clenches his jaw as tries to wrap the burns on his arms.
Endeavor was harsher that day. A popular broadcasting show had a 1-hour special on the current top 10 heroes in Japan, with All Might at the forefront of the show. Endeavor was predictably angry about his placement, still stuck at the number two position for over two decades. No matter how hard he worked, he was always seen as the second best hero in Japan.
‘But’, Shouto thought, ‘that wouldn’t be enough to warrant this much training’. While it’s true that his father used their training sessions to relieve some of his stress, he wouldn't be unnecessarily harsh on Shouto unless he was particularly angry with something.
‘Maybe his PR manager told him to be nicer’, Shouto snorted. As if that would ever happen. Father rarely changed his attitude, whether he was on patrol or at home, he always had a stern aura in his presence that never wavered. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and Endeavor will always be harsh.
It didn’t matter if you were his child, Endeavor spared love for no one. Not even his own son. Shouto felt resentment creep up his throat. He wishes that he could speak out about his treatment, about his injustice, but he can’t. No matter what he does, he knows he can’t.
Shouto sighed while continuing to bandage his arms. It became routine to him. Wake up, study, eat, train, sleep. His tutors would drone about their subjects as he zoned out, thinking about how he’ll hide his injuries from Fuyumi. She always got upset when she saw him injured.
‘It isn’t fair’, Shouto thought as he grinds his teeth through the pain searing in his arm, ‘It isn’t fair. I want to see her without needing to hide. I want to see her like a normal brother’.
But he’ll never be normal. Endeavor made sure of that ever since he bought his mother, to create a masterpiece to surpass All Might.
Tears welled up in his eyes. Shouto took a moment to scrub them furiously away. This was no time for him to pity himself. He should work harder, be better. Be better than that sorry excuse for a hero he called his father.
He picked up the gauze from where he left off and finished wrapping up his left arm. Shouto looked at it proudly, he’s gotten better over the past few years. He reached out to get some more rolls but paused when he was reaching out to nothing.
His first-aid kit ran out of gauze. Shouto grimaced as he realized that he would have to travel with a bloody arm to get more bandages from the storage room. A room on the other side of the property.
With no other option, he got up to travel, wincing when he moved his arm slightly to open the door.
It was the middle of January, the peak of winter and fresh snow laid on the ground. Due to his quirk, Shouto was never really bothered by the changes in temperatures, always able to make slight changes to the air around him with his quirk. However, his injuries made it harder to regulate the temperature. Shouto didn’t want to aggravate his already patched up arm with his fire, so he just opted to get the bandages as quickly as possible.
He ran to the other side of the field, a shortcut he could take rather than taking the longer route through the mansion. He puffed as he made his way into the storage room, quickly jugging some rolls in his arms while trying to not get them stained by blood. When they were secure, he made his way back to his room.
Shouto continued running but then felt himself slip. He tumbled onto the hard ground, the snow softening his landing but making it no less painful.
He clenched his arm as he felt himself unable to room. The rolls of bandages were scattered about and he was too cold and tired to get up.
Shouto squeezed his eyes as the helplessness of his situation dawned on him. No one was going to help him at this hour. He would just have to lie down on the field until someone noticed in the morning. He hoped it would be Fuyumi who notices. At least she would help him, his father would just lecture him on his stupidity and increase the difficulty of his training. Afterall, it was his fault why he was injured in the first place. If only he was faster to dodge…
He couldn’t help but cry. He wanted someone to save him. Anyone, he desperately needed. His mother. Fuyumi. Natsuo. Even his other sibling, the one he never had a chance to interact with. Just someone to save him from the villain he calls his father.
Shouto sobbed and sobbed, his emotions making him a mess. He couldn’t comprehend what he was saying and was just in the middle of a snowy field making mumbling noises.
But his crying attracted the attention of a particular vulpine. One’s whose coat blended in with the surrounding snow. Carefully, it made its way to the crying boy.
The small fox took a closer look and became sympathetic. She whined as she realized the state of which the small boy was in. She slowly made her way to the boy’s face and licked off some of his tears.
Shouto’s breath hitched as his eyes made their way up from the ground and looked at the fox in front of him. Fur as white as snow, kind blue eyes that showed no malice, a soft-looking cloak that would be perfect to hug-
Before he knew it, Shouto was hugging the fox, continuing to cry as this was one of the few soft touches he’s ever had in a long time.
‘Ah, warm’, Shouto closed his eyes bliss, clinging on the vulpine for his life. It felt cold but strangely warm.
It felt like how his mother would hug him before she was sent away.
So there, in the middle of a lonely field, in the centre of a cold house, laid two innocent souls, a boy and his fox, seeking warmth in each other on this cold January night.