His Breaking Point

Introduction

   The house was dark and quiet, making it sensible since it was a Friday night and everyone in the Todoroki household was sleeping. Well, everyone besides the multi-color haired teenager. Shoto, the golden child of Enji Todoroki or better known as Endeavor, sat on his bed. He was supposed to be asleep but all he could think about was his day that was still yet to come to an end. Shoto sighed softly and rubbed his face, getting irritated that he was still awake. He hadn't wanted to be up this late but he had gotten lost in his thoughts and sleep just didn't work at this point.

   Shoto stood up and walked to his door, quietly opening it and then closing it behind him. He slipped downstairs quietly and made his way to the kitchen, finding that a light was on. He found that odd but he shrugged it off and he walked to the pantry, opening the door and then pushing some things aside. He found what he was looking for and he pulled out a small snack sized bag of goldfish. He closed the pantry and then turned around, walking back into the kitchen and going to turn the light off. That's when his eyes met his brother's eyes.

   "Hi." Natsuo mumbled, setting down a white bowl that had something hot in it. Shoto could see the steam coming up and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

   "Why are you awake? Don't you have tests to study for?" Shoto asked softly.

   "No, I finished all of my exams today. They were fairly stupid. I'm already a doctor, I shouldn't have to take monthly tests." Natsuo whined.

   "Oh. Well—"

   "What are you doing awake?" Natsuo asked, interrupting his brother.

   "I couldn't sleep."

   Natsuo stared at his brother for a long time and Shoto refused to make eye contact. Natsuo could act stupid but he was good at reading through people and seeing that they were upset. Especially people that he knew well, like Shoto. Neither brother spoke but when Shoto tried to leave the room, Natsuo stood up and shook his head. A deep sigh was ejected from Shoto's lips and he turned around, still holding his bag of goldfish.

   Natsuo gestured for his brother to follow him so Shoto nodded and followed him to the living room. Natsuo sat down on the couch with his bowl of soup and he looked over at his brother who was still standing, not quite sure what was going to happen. Natsuo patted the cushion beside him so Shoto took this as an offer to sit down. The younger brother sighed one more time before he sat and looked at his goldfish.

   Shoto opened the bag and he began to eat the fish crackers. Natsuo enjoyed what looked to be like some sort of soup and when he finished, he left his brother and quietly washed his dishes. Even though he had left his brother, he was quick to come back and sit beside him. Natsuo pulled Shoto into his side and gently ran his thumb over his shoulder, humming softly. The humming took immediate affect on him and Shoto slowed his eating. He finally gave in to his sleepiness and Natsuo gently bumped his shoulder, making sure he was asleep.

   "I don't know what you're going through, but if you don't open up soon, I have a bad feeling you're not going to be okay. Shoto, please don't act stupid, whatever you do— just please." Natsuo whispered.

   The morning was quick to come and Shoto found himself being shaken awake by a gentle hand. He slowly raised his head up and stared at his sister, blinking and pushing himself up a little. Natsuo was sleeping underneath Shoto, one arm resting on Shoto's hip and his other arm thrown lazily across his eyes. The now awake boy stood up and grew dizzy almost immediately. He winced softly from his dizziness but he quickly got over it. Shoto walked away from his sister and brother and he went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. As he did so, Enji came into the room and he poured himself a glass of orange juice. Then he looked his son up and down and asked what was wrong with him.

   Shoto didn't bother responding and he walked away from his father, getting scolded and snapped at. Then the yelling started and he just shook his head and climbed the stairs to his room. His room was the one place that all of his problems could escape to. Sometimes, the problems even died off when he stayed in his room for a long time. He decided to test this and he shut his door behind him, then walking over to his bed and laying down. It started to look promising but then something unexpected happened.

   Shoto picked his head up and moved his arms aside as his bedroom door opened. Usually the person on the other side would knock so he knew something was wrong. He watched as Natsuo peeked his head around the corner of the door, investigating the room. His eyes trained on his brother and then he pushed the door open a little further, hitching his thumb behind his shoulder.

   "Enji wants you."

   "I don't want him." Shoto mumbled under his breath.

   "He said it's about training."

   "I'm up." Shoto sighed, sitting and then standing. He followed his brother out of the room and down the stairs to the living room.
  
   Natsuo departed from the living room and Shoto realized that his father was already set up to leave. Enji explained that he had been called in to patrol so their training was going to have to wait. Shoto was about to ask why he couldn't come but Enji explained that before Shoto could even ask.

   Shoto walked back up to his room, having a feeling that his father and the other heroes were not going to capture Dabi. Dabi knew his way around the city, he was decent at disguises, and he moved fairly quickly. Sure there were heroes around who were quick on their feet as well, but it seemed that the fast heroes had some sort of weakness towards Dabi. Enji was Dabi's father, Kamui Woods was literal wood, Hawks had wings which made him vulnerable to being injured, Mt. Lady was too big to fit in any alleyways, and Mirko wasn't in the city at the moment. Shoto shook his head at the thought and decided it would be better to just keep his mouth shut.

   As the morning ceased into the afternoon, thoughts started to compile into his mind. With his father gone, Shoto knew he wouldn't be getting back until later in the day. Even then, Shoto didn't have to stay home, he could tell his siblings where he was going and then leave. It was easy to get away so why not just do it? A slow, cracked smile formed over Shoto's lips.