The Hellish Todorokis

Chapter 1

The first sound Touya hears after waking up is a consistent beep. He opens his eyes to bright fluorescent lights, squinting until his eyes adjust. Turning his head, he finds the source of the noise - a heartbeat monitor. Am I in a hospital? He looks down at the plain blanket draped over him, before bringing his hands up to his face. He lets out a startled gasp when he sees the skin grafts cutting both of his palms in half - his fingers showing healthy skin while the rest of his arm is a light purple. Burn scars. He hears his heartbeat speed up on the machine next to him.

What happened? The last thing I remember is Sekoto Peak. Did I pass out? How am I alive?

He carefully sits up and swings his legs over the bed, pausing for a moment when his head starts to spin. Taking a deep breath, he rips the IV out of his arm and disconnects all the sensors from his body, then unplugs the monitor from the wall when it won't stop making noise.

Willing himself to stand, he steadies himself with one hand on the bed as he finds his balance. Carefully, he walks towards the door, hoping it's a way out and not just another room. I have to get home. Dad will be looking for me. He walks down the corridors, studying the layout as he goes, taking in all the possible exit points. He needs to stay alert in case he has to make it out of here quickly. He wishes he had looked around the room first for supplies. There was no guarantee he'd be back there if things went bad.

Hearing faint chatter from up ahead, he follows the noise and peers into the window of a room housing a dozen or so children, all looking on as a man with a flower, or maybe a sun, as a face talks animatedly to the group. As Touya opens the door, the chatter stops, all the occupants turning to look at him with wide eyes.

"Sleepyhead's finally awake!" one of the girls calls.

"W-where am I?" Is that my voice? Why does it sound so different? Touya brings his hand up to his throat, unsure. His voice had a raspy tone to it that he had never noticed before. As if his throat was dry or he had been coughing, but it didn't feel any different.

He listens on with growing horror as the girl tells him he was 'home'. That he had been asleep for three years and they had all been waiting for him to wake up and join them. No. No no no. That can't be true. This isn't my home. My home is with Dad and Fuyumi and Natsuo and Shouto. This isn't home. I need to get back. They must be looking for me.

He backs towards the door, shaking his head frantically. "No. I need to go home. I need to leave."

"Oh! We can't let you do that, buddy," the guy with the sun face says cheerfully, moving towards him with a placating hand up in front of him. "Why don't you just calm down and - "

"NO!" he screams, his breathing picking up as he starts to panic. "I'm going home. Don't come any closer!" He could feel his flames rushing to the surface, feeding off of his emotions. He had felt the same happen at Sekoto - he had gotten so emotional that his flames had consumed him. He needed to control it this time. He had to control it enough to get out of here.

He lets out another lick of flames in warning, stopping the sun guy from coming any closer. He continues to back out of the room into the hallway. As the door closes, he turns and runs back towards the room he woke up in. He could hear the sun guy yelling at him to stop from behind him, but he didn't dare turn around and look. He swings out an arm behind him, sending out his flames. He hopes it's enough to discourage anyone from following him.

He doesn't stop until he gets back to the room, closing the door and ramming a chair underneath the handle. He looks around frantically for supplies. Anything he could use once he left. He finds an empty duffle bag and starts stuffing it full of medical supplies and a pair of scrubs he finds hanging in the closet.