Shadowfire - OC x Shoto Todoroki

Chapter 16 - Bound in Blood

The sky was beginning to turn black when Kaida walked through her front door, not even the foreboding nature of her home able to quench the warmth filling her stomach, and the curve of her lips.

Her happy glow dimmed slightly as her gaze fell on her mother, seated at the kitchen table with her hands clasped in her lap. She sighed, pursing her lips as she dumped her school bag on the bench, standing a safe distance from Mariko.

"I'm sorry I came home so late; I was helping out a friend." Kaida said softly.

"What friend?" Mariko questioned, staring straight ahead.

Kaida rarely told her mother about her own life. They hardly ever had a peaceful moment to talk, their relationship filled with endless screaming and threatening words. So Kaida took every opportunity she could to have a sense of pretend normality.

"His name is Shoto. We just sat in a park and talked for a couple of hours."

"Talked? About what?" Mariko sounded so innocent, her voice calm but her eyes unblinking.

Kaida thought back to the last time she had mentioned her father. She had gotten a book to the face and a black eye. "I can't tell you that, mom. It's private."

Mariko nodded slowly. "And you were with him...instead of being here with me."

Kaida clenched her teeth, feeling goosebumps run across her skin.

"Well I'm with you now, aren't I?"

"But you left me all alone by myself. I'm hungry, Kaida. I haven't had dinner; you weren't here to take care of me."

Kaida dug her nails into her palms, fighting to remain calm despite the frustration building in her throat.

"I'm sorry, mom. But you could have easily taken something out of the fridge."

"But you weren't here to tell me that, I didn't know."

Kaida took a deep breath in. Her mother was acting like more of a child than usual, and she didn't know if it was genuine or if Mariko was sulking because she had come home late.

"I'm your mother, Kaida. Why don't you take care of me?"

Kaida slammed her palm down on the marble benchtop with a loud bang, making her mother jump in her seat.

Rarely did she express her anger to her mother, instead preferring to bottle it up until she could release it in a healthy display of unbridled power in the privacy of the nearby forest. But lately, it was like her rage had been clawing its way out of her, climbing further and further up her throat until it could finally break free.

Before now, she had never had anyone else in her life besides her parents. No one else to make her smile, feel comforted, feel wanted. And now her mother was trying to steal her away from an attempt at a normal life. Shoto was calm and kind and soft, and Mariko would not get rid of him so easily.

"I do nothing but take care of you!" Kaida's voice began to rise in volume. "I risk my life taking care of you. I wouldn't be surprised if one day I don't turn up to school because you've fucking strangled me to death in my sleep or some shit! And yet I'm still here! Why?! Why the fuck am I still here?!"

"You left me alone!" Mariko screamed, jumping up from her seat, flecks of spit flying from her mouth. "To fend for myself! You weren't here! What if he had come back?! What if I had gotten hurt?! It would have been your fault." She hissed, her expression twisting ferally.

"He is gone!" Kaida shouted. "Dad is gone forever and the reason I can't let him go, the reason I wear his ring around my neck is because you won't let me be free! You remind me of everything he did to me! You are worse than him, because you pretend you love me!"