Fading into the background

Chapter nine: Not-late to not-training with Tokoyami

Warnings: Child abuse

Friday afternoon arrived and thankfully Shoto's father was not home at the moment. He took advantage of that to get rid of all the homework he had assigned for the weekend. Everything was too easy for him but he still had to do it if he didn't want a negative mark. It took Shoto all of the afternoon to finish all the homework. It was way past diner time but he hadn't had anything to eat yet so he went to the kitchen to make something.

He was trying (and failing) to make an omelet when Endeavor got home. Shoto had agreed to go training with Tokoyami the next day at 10:00 in the morning. However, he had yet to do the hard part, he needed permission from his father. He went to greet the flaming man and steeled himself "Hello father, can I go train with a classmate tomorrow?" Still by fear he waited for a punch, but the hit never came.

"Hnm, okay", that was not the answer he was expecting. Shoto was shocked still by the affirmative. He waited for the other shoe to drop but when nothing else happened he began cheering internally. Finally he turned around to go to his bedroom for the night (completely forgetting about the diner) when his father grabbed his shoulder. "You can go with your classmate tomorrow" he said with a mocking tone "but we'll make up for the lost training time now". His first answer now made more sense to Shoto, the condition was bad but it could have been much worse so he answered with a clipped "Yes sir".

He was immediately dragged to the training room. He was wearing some light gray sport clothes he used for home so he was somewhat properly attired. The session began rather normally Endeavor would try to hit him and he would dodge everything he could, throwing a punch every now and then. It was just like the 'sessions' he'd had during that week, except it never seemed to end. Shoto was extremely tired and sometime along it he was too slow to dodge one of the punches, getting hit rather hard on the head.

The next morning Shoto wakes up to his alarm blaring. He vaguely remembers dragging himself to his room to get patched up last night. But that is all he can make out after getting hit on the head. Groaning because of his throbbing head he checks out the time. His phone's screen assaults his eye with a bright 9:30. It is a 30 minutes train ride to Tokoyami's house and they agreed to meet at 10 o'clock. He hurriedly throws some training clothes on, shoves a change of clothes and his phone into a backpack and sprints towards the station still half asleep.

During the train ride Shoto tries to flatten his hair that is spiked up in different directions due to lying on bed. He must look pretty disheveled considering the odd looks he keeps getting. The staring isn't really helping his preexistent anxiety, he has never gotten anywhere late and can only hope Tokoyami won't be mad at him. With his stomach in a tight knot he compulsively checks his watch while he nervously taps his foot on the floor. The second the doors open on the right stop he sprints out, oddly enough he does not receive any insults for accidentally pushing some of the people that were on the way.

He runs all the way to the open field where he agreed to meet Tokoyami, arriving there at 10:03. His bird-headed friend was already there calmingly looking at his phone sitting on the grass. Shoto begins blurting out an apology for being late but Tokoyami just chuckles and tells him that three minutes is not late without even looking up from his phone. He keeps apologizing anyway so Fumikage finally raises his head to tell him to stop but he freezes when he sees the other boy's face.

"Shoto, are you okay?" Tokoyami says calmly and slowly as to not to frighten him. "Yeah" he responds with a slight nod, once again confused by his friend's actions. "Todoroki, who hit you?" He can't help but flinch at the question, eyes going wide and wondering how he knew. "Shoto, where you attacked by a villain?" asks the bird-boy pulling out his phone to call for help. He frantically shakes his head, he really doesn't want to talk to the police. For a moment Tokoyami seems conflicted and with even more wariness than the first time he asks "Did... did HE do that to you? Did your father hurt you?" Shoto flinches once again and readys himself to tell the story he always told the nurses, that he fell, that it was an accident. But his mouth doesn't seem to want to collaborate. So he just looks down, happy that he didn't lie to his friend but terrified of what would happen now that he knew.

Tokoyami's expression of concern has been substituted by a mix of sadness and anger. He slowly reaches out for Shoto's right cheek, which now that he thinks about it is throbbing a bit. At the sudden closeness he can help to flinch again, harder than the previous two times, falling backwards. His friend is startled and apologizes for trying to touch him without permission. After a couple of minutes of standing there awkwardly without saying anything Fumikage finally gets out of his shock and asks "How about if we do a movie nigh- morning instead of training?" Shoto nods slowly without changing his expression but inside he is happy he doesn't have to train more, his entire body still hurts from last night.