𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬 || S. Todoroki x Reader

12 - Following Protocol

"The other kids tell me I should stop using my quirk."

Touya sat on your bed, fiddling with the bandages reaching down to his wrists. He'd come every day for a while now, so long you'd lost count.

It was hard to remember before he started coming, when your room didn't feel as light and the walls pressed against you instead of acting as the protection to your secret hideout.

The Lady who always took you to and from your classrooms hadn't mentioned him yet, so you decided you wouldn't either.

He was your secret friend.

"Why?" you asked.   

You always got nervous when you woke up, thinking for some reason that he wouldn't come, that something had happened to him, that they figured out he was visiting and decided to punish him. Or even that he wasn't real at all, just in your imagination.

But he always came. He always sat on your bed. And he always made you smile at least once.

Touya shrugged. "They could be jealous."

You looked at the sheets, still getting used to the concept of eye contact. "I would be."

"Really?" he said, sitting further up on the bed. "Why?" He was scrunching his brows, you could tell without looking.

"You said your quirk is pretty."

Touya never actually told you exactly what his quirk was, and after he said that it was beautiful and nothing more, you didn't ask. It felt wrong. It felt violating.

You wanted to ask about the bandages covering his arms, too. You wanted to ask him so many things, but instead your mouth got used to speaking without needing to be told to.

Touya looked over. "I bet your quirk is pretty too, though!"

You made a face, twisting your brows and pressing your lip into a hard line.

All the blood. The bones bending and snapping like twigs. The flesh stretching before being ripped open. It was better after they gave you those suppression tablets; there wasn't any more blood, just that numbed kind of hurt.

Pain held the place of any beauty in your ability, yet you still remained thankful that you'd been given such a quirk.

'It's a blessing,' they said. 'You're such a lucky girl,' they said. 'Your quirk is beautiful, Y/n.'    

"Maybe, I think they just say stuff like that to distract me."

Touya's brows scrunched again. "Why would they do that?"

It sounded like he already knew the answer to the question, but asked it anyway to see what you would say.

That was another thing; Touya always listened to you. He never stomped over your words like they were something to be silenced or dominated.

Like they were something to be controlled.

"They think it makes the pain go away."

"I understand," he said, sighing and laying back against the wall. You'd offered to give him your pillow, but for some reason he let you keep it. You weren't going to complain, your back was always sore, but still, you couldn't remember the last time someone was that nice to you. "People think that if they don't talk about hurting, then it doesn't exist. That's not true, though."

You shook your head, agreeing with him.

"I don't think they hurt like you and I do."

"Really?"