Our Reasons

Chapter 3

Groaning out of his sleep filled slumber, Toya felt his body shift as a very familiar gentle voice filled his ears a moment later. "Sweetheart, it's time to get up. You don't want to be late for your first day. Your sister is already getting ready."

The words rolled over into his mind a couple times before the red haired teen finally registered them, his eyes opening slightly only to focus on the blurry gaze of his mother in front of him.

Amari smiled at the gesture before taking a step back, only for her son to groan in response, throwing a blanket over his messy hair with distaste. "Come on mom, five more minutessss..."

Dropping her cheerful smile ever so slightly, the woman's brow began to twitch at the clear rejection before crossing her arms over her chest with a huff. Oh, so that's how it was going to be. Fine.

The woman then leaned forward before speaking seriously towards the mountains of blankets that covered her son. "Let me rephrase that, if you don't come down for breakfast in the next ten minutes then I'm gonna call Uncle Suki over and he'll drag you out of bed instead."

And of course, the clear threat of Katsuki Bakugo seemed to do the trick, the boy obviously not wanting to be pulled out of the bed by his ankles again.

That was something he had foolishly tried a couple years ago after all, not believing that his mother would ever stoop to that level. Turns out she could, and that was the last time he challenged that.

Shivering at the past memory, Toya quickly pulled the covers from his head before scrambling out of bed with a quick stumble, his voice giving a nervous chuckle while stretching his hands in the air in defense.

"And suddenly I'm up!"

Amari couldn't help but smirk at that, not blaming the kid for not wanting her brother to wake him up again. She knew firsthand that Katsuki didn't take no for an answer. "Yeah, I thought so. Good choice."

Toya couldn't help but groan at that, already walking past her to grab his hair brush before Amari remembered something else as she followed the boy with her eyes. "Now, don't take too long. Natsuo and Fuyumi called and said they wanted to come over to congratulate and wish you two luck on your first day of U.A."

At the mention of his aunts and uncles, the boy couldn't help but brighten up a bit, not wanting to seem too eager in his sleepy steps as he nodded. "Alright alright, I'm going already."

Sure, she said that but on the inside Toya was overjoyed at the information, knowing that Fuyumi and Natsuo were always fun to hang around with. Although, they did seem like quite the contrast to the rest of the Todoroki family, knowing that his dad was rather different then their bold personalities.

Rummaging his hands across his desk, the boy then froze when his mom leaned forward before placing her fingers across his cheeks in order to stop whatever he was doing.

Toya then turned his head only to find Amari's gentle smile, her eyes playing with prideful joy and she gushed openly. "I love you, my little hero."

The phrase couldn't help but make Toya cringe though, knowing it was something she liked to call him as a baby. But he wasn't a baby anyone, and the boy certainly didn't feel that way.

Besides, how could she call him "her little hero" when he was the one that took away her quirk and her dream, that his very birth was the reason his mother had to give everything up?

He wasn't a hero, not to her at least. He knew that. So that stupid nickname couldn't help but leave a distaste in his mouth. Although, Toya never Amari about it, knowing how happy she looked to believe such delusions.