His Hero

Broken

"If you're not going to tell me the truth then we're done talking Momo" Shoto said, resisting the urge to slam the door shut behind him as he stormed into his hospital room. Past the guard whose mouth hung open and eyes darted between them. Past the bed calling his name. Away from her hand reaching out to stop him. Right to the window.

"Shoto please. I swear I don't know anything else. Your father wouldn't let me see you and I was only able to see Bakugo once. I just... I wanted to check in on him for you because I knew they weren't letting you see him, and he begged me Shoto - begged. He said when Kirishima came back from whatever errand your father sent him on, if I couldn't find you in your own room, I needed to come get you from his right away. He said... he said it was to protect you. I couldn't say no." She held a fist to her chest and her bottom lip between her teeth.

With one hand on his stomach and the other holding the window ledge to steady himself, he spun around to face her. Light from the flame flickering around his scar danced in the dark room. He must have looked half feral with hair plastered across his face, eyes wide with panic and pain, half-soaked pajamas clinging to his body at odd angles. But still, she didn't take those few steps backwards and out the door. She stayed.

She should have left.

"Protect me?" Something between a scoff and a laugh echoed around the room as his skin sizzled against damp clothes. "Protect m – I'm the number three hero! Not some clueless teenage hero in training with no concept of how the world works. Christ, I've been to war... or was that not something I needed to be protected from? Where was my protection when I faced Dabi? Or the hundreds of other villains who have tried to kill me?" She shifted her weight from one side to the other but said nothing.

His voice, hoarse with exhaustion and dehydration, continued to rise. "And what makes this so different, so much worse that none of you can be honest with me. That you hide it from me... to protect me" he spat. "You, Hawks, my father, Kastuki.... Did you all forget that I've been on my own. For five years. I'm stronger than I was, I've faced things that should have killed me yet here I am. I don't need to be protected; I need to know what the hell is going on so I can help."

She tilted her head towards the door to his room, where the guard was no doubt hanging on to every word. A silent reminder they weren't alone, but he didn't care. An uncomfortable heat surged through his body, giving life to the flames racing across his skin, burning through his rational thought. Leaving only anger behind. And even though some distant part of him knew it wasn't really Momo he was angry with; he couldn't stop the words from pouring out.

"And you... you pulled me from the one person in this hospital – in this whole fucking city that I want right now. That I've wanted for the last five years. The only person who can answer questions that are killing me. And I'm supposed to believe you did it because he asked you to? You hate him Momo, why the hell would you choose now of all times to listen to him." He said, clenching the fabric of his shirt tighter. He refused. Refused to believe she didn't know more.

Momo flinched, but still she stayed silent. Shoto knew he would regret this later - the harsh tone, the words sharp enough to cut through the still air of his room. But right now he didn't care. Not when every move was another dagger to his stomach, every ragged breath a twist of the blade. Not when his eye lids were so damn heavy but closing them only caused the room to spin faster around him. And not when his heart was screaming at him to go back. Back to Katsuki.

Gripping the ledge tighter, his knuckles went white with the effort it took to stay upright. "I guess I thought – I thought you of all people would at least tell me the truth." He paused to take a deep breath, forcing the air past the lump that had risen in his throat. "But instead, I'm left in the dark and the only thing I do know is that I failed him.... again. He needs me, I saw it. I felt it. But I still let you drag me away from him. I gave in to everything he asked because... because it's Katsuki." His head dropped and when mismatched eyes closed, the image of Katsuki falling to his knees before him flashed through his mind. An image now carved into his memory.