Matters of the Family (Pro-Hero Shoto Todoroki x Reader)

𝕊𝕝𝕖𝕖𝕡𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣

After getting the wine and two glasses, you led him through to the now clean living room. You plopped yourself down onto the floor with your back against the old sofa that was in there but was very rarely used. You cracked open the bottle and poured you both a glass. You both sat in comfortable silence up until you'd both finished your glass. You filled up both of your glasses and sat back against the sofa with a sigh. "You know, I don't think I've had a birthday this nice since well before I had Amai." He took a sip of his wine before leaning back against the heavily battered chair he was sat in front of. "I just don't celebrate my birthday at all. I usually go and visit my mum because she likes to see me but the hospital doesn't like if I stay too long." This piqued your interest. You picked up your glass and took a drink, letting the thick, bitter taste slip down your throat before you turned to him. "Hospital? Is she sick?" He let out a breath, avoiding eye contact. "It's....a long story, are you sure you wanna hear it?" You picked up your glass and moved closer to him, sitting down beside him so that your shoulders gently grazed each other's. "If you tell me your story, then I'll tell you something about me, although I will warn, I'm not all that interesting." You faced forward as you saw him turn to look at you, scanning your face as if searching for something. "Okay, I'll tell you about it if you tell me how you got that scar on your cheek." Your hand instantly came up to trace the very ugly scar that came up from the middle of the left side of your jaw to your cheek. You let out a tight breath before nodding. Todoroki relaxed a little against the chair. There was a few minutes of silence, in which he finished the second glass of wine and refilled his glass. You almost flinched when he started speaking because of how quiet it had been. "What I'm about to tell you CANNOT become public knowledge, okay?" He waited for you to nod in agreement before continuing. "I don't know if you're aware but my father, Endeavour, used to be the number 2 pro-hero, second only to All-Might. While he was a strong, powerful hero, he could never compete with the symbol of peace because he just wasn't liked all that much by the people. He wasn't particularly nice to his fans. He'd never sign autographs or do meet and greets and things like All-Might did so he never got a very high public approval rating, meaning he could never climb to the number one spot by himself. So he devised a plan that involved basically buying my mother from her family because he wanted his  perfect offspring to have an equal balance of both his fire quirk and her ice quirk. He tried and failed three times. My three older siblings weren't good enough for him. And then I came along. I was the perfect balance of both fire and ice. I was the child he would train and use to overtake All-Might and become the number one hero. From as early as I can remember he'd train me and train me. And when I wasn't good enough......I.....got hit. I grew up resenting my old man....especially after...what happened with my mum." He took a deep breath. You could see that this was hard for him to tell you. No matter how many years had passed since these things had happened, it had still left both physical and mental scars. You didn't know if it was the wine making you bold or the pain in your heart that you felt for this poor man who never had a proper childhood, but you reached out and took his hand, folding them together in his lap. You saw his eyes widen a little as he looked from your intertwined hands to you. You gave him a small, reassuring smile. "Take your time. It must be hard." He squeezed your hand gently and returned your small smile with one of his own. One that made his cheeks lift and his eyes sparkle slightly. He moved his gaze back down to your hands as he continued his story. "I came downstairs one night and overheard my mother talking to my grandmother on the phone. She called my left side unbearable, told them that she couldn't raise me anymore. If it wasn't clear by now he also hit her. She'd been living in hell for years. I'm not sure whether my father actually ever did love my mother. But I know that when I walked into the kitchen and she turned to me, he face was that of a broken woman. I don't remember exactly how things happened after that but I remember how much it hurt when she.....she poured the boiling water over my face. I remember my dad rushing in while I screamed after she tried to put ice on it. And then the next day he'd shut her up in a mental hospital and told me not to worry about her. I was 8 years old. It wasn't until I was in my first year of high school that I went and visited her for the first time. That was actually when I first started using my left side, because I'd sworn that I would become number one without using his quirk. I mean, it's not all bad, he started to be a better man when I was in my second year of highschool. I even found out that he was visiting my mum in hospital and giving her her favourite flowers. He started being a better father too. Not the best....but better." His eyes widened as he heard the sniffle you let escape your lips. You couldn't quite believe he'd gone through everything he had at such a young age. He scrambled up onto his knees, resting his hands on your shoulders. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?" You shook your head and looked up at him through teary eyes. You gently reached up and cupped his left cheek, gently running your thumb over the edge of his scar. "You're so strong." Your voice was barely a whisper but he heard it. He was also scared that you could hear how hard his heart was pounding at the feeling of your fingers on his skin. He turned his cheek into your hand slightly and couldn't supress the small smile that turned up the corners of his lips. You both sat there, enraptured by the other's gaze, neither of your wanting to be the first to look away. You had both been subconsciously leaning into each other, slowly closing the space between you both as your desires mixed with the inhibition-lowering alcohol. Your noses brushed against one another and you decided it be best to ask before anything went further. "Is it weird that....I really want to kiss you right now?" He didn't move away or break eye contact. You'd expected him to be completely put off after you spoke but he wasn't, if anything he moved closer to you. "No...because I want you to as well." You didn't need to be told twice. You closed the remained of space and connected your lips to his. His lips were soft and plump and warm. You could taste the bitter remains of his last mouthful of wine as your lips danced together in and earnest waltz of desire. You could feel the heat radiating from his mouth to yours. His pillowey lips parted slightly, allowing your tongue to invade his mouth, exploring every inch of it as your desire only grew more. You'd not done anything like this since well before Amai was born, and you'd convinced yourself you hadn't missed it, but you had been lying. The rush of his course hands on your waist at the hem of your shirt, not intentionally touching your skin, but grazing it as your shirt rode up at your needy movements to get more of him. The feeling of his surprisingly silky locks tangled around your fingers as you pulled him closer to you, as if even an atom of space between your bodies was forbidden. You reluctantly pulled back as your lungs ran out of air. You both sat there panting, not refilling the space between you both as you kept your foreheads pressed together. You scanned his face, looking for any signs of discomfort but found none. His hand came up to cup your face as his mouth twitched up into a smile. "That was.....amazing." You couldn't help but reciprocate his grin. You felt the same. You reached up and held his hand against your face. "Do you mind if I....do it again?" Your heart lurched at the blush that spread across his cheeks. "O...of course I don't." Your lips were back on his before a second had passed.