A Dragon's Heart // Shoto Todoroki x Reader

Chapter 36: The Other Side

I jolted awake and immediately felt unsafe. My eyes scanned the room. Why was I in a hospital room? Was this another sick joke of the Villains? My wrists and ankles were bare, free from chains; my chance to escape.

I hastily flung the white, gaunt satin sheets off my body and shot up to my feet. The soles of my feet collided harshly with the cold, tile surface beneath me. I inched towards the door, hands poised to grip the doorframe. It wasn't long until something collided into me, something hard. My heart became agitated as adrenaline coursed through my veins. I was taken aback and prepared myself to fight whoever it was, my eyes narrowed as my dark orbs peered at the person in my way.

It was Shoto Todoroki. My heart froze, his handsome features lit up the room, enchanting the light around us. It felt as if I had seen him for the first time, his face was as ever stoic as the day we met. I couldn't gauge the depth of his despair or measure the amount of anger I'm sure he felt towards me. My eyes faltered down to his strong hands, within them carried what looked like a clean assortment of clothes.

"Is this real?" I beckoned. My eyes watered as tears threatened to fall. My body seemed to forget how to function as my legs buckled under me. The floor's surface was cold, but nowhere near as cold and distant as I felt in this moment. I curled into a ball of a sobbing mess, my screams silent, my tears burning holes on my face.

Shoto didn't seem to budge, he froze like a statue watching me vibrate in a writhing mess. I heard the clothes he brought fall into the floor before me, my eyes stealing a glance of him turning around and walking away from me. It pained me, but I knew this was real and not an illusion—Shoto Todoroki hated me.

He must've still been mad at me for leaving and breaking up with him with a letter. I was left alone, like notes on a page, within a room I barely recognized. My shaky pale hands attempted to wipe the tears away. But I was left with a chasm within me; it made the weight of my actions unbearable. I hurt my friends, betrayed Shoto, I am a monster after all.

Sunlight cascaded through the barren windows; my tears ceased as I breathed in the silence. The sunshine and soft breeze wrapped around me, filling my soul with something that I had been starved of for a very long time—peace.

That was short-lived when I saw the familiar scornful glare of Shouta. He, the Principal, and several police officers charged in and stared at me. Shouta's glare was horrifying enough to kill, and I felt it almost did. I had never seen him this angry before in my entire short life. My withered heart raced as I wrapped my arms around my torso in an attempt of comfort.

"Amara! What were you thinking? You better explain yourself!" Shouta's voice was thunderous; it cut through the stillness that once was, leaving me in anxiety-riddled ambiance.

"The Villains blackmailed me into joining them, and then they tried to turn me into a Nomu," I rambled.

"What the fuck," Shouta spat.

The police awkwardly eyed each other, hesitation flickered like a poorly-lit candle over their faces.

"It's the truth," I grumbled before attempting to stand up on my feet. "Obviously something went wrong."

It was then the Principal spoke, much to my surprise. "I'm glad to see you okay, Amara. However, your punishment is three months of detention, and you are no longer allowed to leave the campus under any circumstances." The Principal smiled at me. "Now, I'll leave you two to talk." He finished.

That's not too bad, however, being stuck on campus sucks. It did not really feel like a punishment considering every fucked-up thing I've done in the short time I was a Villain. The police and the Principal exchanged words between them. With my perfect hearing, I was usually able to pick up and discern their words. But now, I could barely hear a single word they whispered. Perhaps I was still tired.

"Amara, do you remember anything?" Shouta asked me.

"Last thing I remember, Shigaraki injected me with all these needles to turn me into a Nomu. He also told me that my quirks aren't naturally mine and were given to me." I sighed. "I really had no choice, I thought the Police were blackmailing me. They gave me an email address to forward all my double agent information to."

"Yes, you did. You could've come to me and asked me for help, and we would've figured this out together. No legitimate police would question a minor alone, Amara." My father's words painfully made me aware of my arrogance.

"I guess, I never thought of that. I was just scared," I admitted, tears of frustration rolled down my already sore cheeks. I was so sick of crying.

"Well, we will worry about that later. There's some bad news I have to tell you." Shouta's dark eyes faltered to the ground. He pursed his lips together as his eyebrows knitted together into a frown.

"More bad news? Great," I quivered as I shakily wiped away these tears.

"We had a plan of finding you, we knew the League of Villains would team up with Overhaul so I asked Todoroki to come along."

Oh no

"We found you, you were on a rampage with some sort of mind control gear around your neck. You almost killed Midoria and Todoroki until..." He trailed off.

"Until what?" My eyes widened as I saw the sorrow wash over my Father's face. Something I wasn't used to witnessing.

"I don't really know how to say this, but you got shot by this special bullet. It, removes quirks, you don't have your quirks anymore."

"WHAT??! No that can't be right!" My voice screeched unnaturally. With posed fingers I tried to summon my flames to dance along my skin like I always had been able to do. Yet, I wasn't able to summon them—I had lost the quirks that made me who I am. I stood there in silence, I never knew this feeling. This feeling of complete and total weakness. My mind scrambled, I couldn't feel the electrical hum of the electrical energy that sauntered around us in our daily life either. I have always been connected to the electrical energies that is used to power the world. The lights, computers, phones; I could always sense them all. But now, I was truly alone. A new kind of numb.

"I'm sorry Amara. Togata was shot as well, he's recovering nearby." Shouta tries to change the subject.

"I don't know who that is." I simply said. The hollowness I felt inside me consumed me. After everything It seemed like this was karma. Karma for hurting the people I care about when I really thought I was protecting them.

"You'll be introduced to everyone soon. You'll be back at school and back to your normal classes after the Doctor's check you out some more. You have a lot of apologizing and a lot of afterschool detention to do." Shouta reiterated. He extended a hand to ruffle my dark curls, fatherly affection that I didn't know I needed.