Little Stars

Chapter 15

Watching someone you love suffer in pain when there is nothing you could do to stop it is the worst thing in the world. Shoto felt helpless as he stared at Touya, burning and withering in pain. Do you know what was worse? It is knowing that this someone had gone through all of this in the past, alone, with no one there to help them.

Shoto vaguely remembers his brother talking excitedly to Endeavor on the day of his death, telling him that he had mastered their father's move. Shoto back then wanted to run to his brother, so he could take him away from Endeavor, maybe they could hide in the closet like they used to do. But Touya had run before hearing what Endeavor would tell him; their father had only glared at the place where Touya was standing in then he continued yelling at Shoto to get up and to not be such a weakling (which was fucking depressing for a five years old kid.)

Then Endeavor came back, looking more angrier, and little Shoto wanted to ask him where was Touya, why Touya didn't come with him because he wanted his brother to come to his room at night to hold him and sing to him or tell him a story until he fell asleep, but their father said that Touya had died. Touya had left them like their mother. Shoto had cried that night, alone in the closet (his and Touya's safe place) because Fuyumi and Natsuo didn't dare to enter his room while Endeavor was at home - Only Touya could do this.

And now seeing his brother screaming in pain and calling their names (he also called Shoto; who was only five years old when the fire accident happened ,) Shoto didn't want to see Touya burning by his own fire, but he knew that day would come. He had woken up at Touya's screams and pleads for the fire to stop while Keigo was crying silently, clutching his hands which had burns on them - the winged boy had woken up with his own bruises and injuries, Aizawa had grabbed him, but Touya's fire had already burned Keigo's hands when he tried to reach for Touya.

Shoto stood frozen in front of his brother. His throat constricted and unshed tears stung his eyes and he could feel them wanting to stream down his face not doing anything as he watched his brother's fire burn him.

Did Touya suffer all of this alone? - Shoto thought. Of course, he suffered alone with no one there for him.

"Shoto!" The said boy could hear Aizawa calling him, trying to grab his attention, but all he could focus on was his brother's screams.

Why no one was there for him? Why I wasn't there for him - Shoto thought desperately, how could they? How could they -

You were only five, Shoto- Aizawa's voice rang through his head, saying the same words the hero said this past week.

And in an instant, the fire vanished; the fire that was always a beautiful sight for Shoto.

"It's beautiful, Nii-san," five-year-old Shoto said to his brother, gazing at the fire flower in his brother's palm - it looked like the one his mother always made for him with her ice. Touya's fire was so beautiful like his mother's ice, Shoto wasn't afraid of it, it wasn't like his father's fire which was always angry and hurting him.

Touya had smiled at him and his eyes brightened even though the fire hurt him, but at least Shoto was smiling. "What else do you want me to do?"

"A dragon!" Shoto said after a moment of thinking. "So it could take us away from here."

He was always fascinated by how it looked when Touya made different shapes from it. But now, these blue fire would hunt him in his nightmares - it was one of the reasons for his pain and suffering, it was what took his brother away from him, it was what was hurting Touya and Shoto began to hate it.

"The fire had reached over 2000 °C. It burned everything in its path."

Shoto didn't view the fire as fascinating anymore as he used to do.