The King is Dead

The Meeting

For the past few days, Yaoyorozu has been the one to force him to eat. She drags him out of his room every morning and back out again every night. He's glad one of the boys isn't doing that, since Yaoyorozu can't follow him into the restroom she can't stop him from getting rid of the food.

She's persistent. Not cute and girly like Fuyumi is but more powerful and politely demanding than anyone he's ever seen. There's something in her eyes that he can't deny, he finds himself agreeing with everything she says to him and everything she asks him to do. It's surprisingly pleasant, spending time with someone who isn't an adult and someone who doesn't despise him. He hasn't done that in years, not since Fuyumi would sneak out into the house and hug him.

But he doesn't see her as a superior he needs to obey rather than what he thinks a friend should be. He knows she's doing this out of pity but it's pleasant nonetheless, and a little pity never hurt anyone.

"All done!" She presses the last tack into the wall and hangs another medal there. Hizashi had gotten more things from Shouto's old house they were given the okay to keep. A box filled with medals and awards from when he went to public school. Each one was first place, Shouto doesn't know how they survived his father's wrath. Father didn't care for the medallions Shouto earned rather than the experience. He wasn't allowed to be anything but the best and so Shouto wasn't anything but the best. He was the definition of perfect, quirk, martial arts, and academics. Shouto never knew what being second place meant until the Sports Festival.

"Your room looks less boring now, even if we only added the medals. We should order a desk for your room so it's not just the futon and a laundry basket," she eyes the latter with a cringe. "How does that sound to you?"

Shouto shrugs, "I only need so much. A futon and laundry basket is fine."

"But you need more than that! Like a dresser and a mirror and curtains too! We can get a low to the ground chair and Ooh! How about a rug so it's not all hardwood?"

Pleasant was an understatement. Yaoyorozu was more than pleasant. Even if it's just pity.

"Well anyway, this room already looks more colorful than your old room."

Yaoyorozu is always looking at things in the best light while staying realistic. She's not one to glorify a bad thing but she makes the best of it instead. Shouto wants to ask if they're friends. He wants to be her friend, he's never really had one of those before. And maybe it's not pity, maybe she really does care about how he feels and she thinks more of him than some victim.

Wait...

Shouto looks at Yaoyorozu as she straightens out a certificate on the wall, the frame black and shiny. She's always been a perfectionist of sorts, little things bother her and she fixes them before anyone else notices they're out of place.

"Yaoyorozu?"

"Hmm?" She smiles and wipes some dust off of a medal, completely oblivious to what she'd just said.

"How do you know what my old room looks like?"

She pauses for a moment, smile turning to a frown before quickly picking itself up. "I don't think I do."

"You just said you did." He counters, straightening his posture. "How do you know? No pictures were released to the news." It was too gruesome to release anything to the public. Too graphic.

"I did? When was that-"

"Yaoyorozu, did you go to my house?"

She looks at the textured wall for an answer, eyes gliding over each bump and shadow. "No, I-"