Fighting Fears

Chapter 4

Winter's POV

They had been kind enough to let me move into an empty room in the dorm. I settled in quickly considering I had one set of clothes and no personal belongings other than a choker and a TV one of them had given me. I sat on my bed watching said TV in my room, door open. Next to me I had a bag of white chocolate covered pretzels and lemonade. I flopped back, munching happily until there was a knock at the door. "Hang on." I muttered, muting my show. I turned to see who I had nicknamed "Icy Hot", after the pain relief product they had in America, since it took me about a week to remember a name if they were part of a group, hence the names from Quirks. "Hey Icy Hot." I said. He looked confused for a moment. "Wh- oh. Never mind. May I come in?" Icy Hot questioned. "Door's open." I said, finishing my drink. He slowly walked over, sitting on the floor about a meter away. My bed was still on the floor. It was honestly just a mattress with a single blanket and pillow, no sheets or frame, since I didn't have the money for those things.

"Your room's nice." He said quietly. "I'd've called it plain and poor, but nice is fine." I replied. "You don't have anything else with you?" "Nah." "Well, didn't you want to bring anything from your home?" Icy Hot seemed confused. "Home?" I frowned. "Yeah, we all brought things when we left our parents hou-"

Todoroki's POV

I bit my tongue hard to keep myself from saying anything more, as the look in her eyes had changed, not to anything good either. Winter stood up, fur on her ears and tail bristling. "The door's closing." She growled, walking over to the door, one hand on it. I stood, stepping outside. Before I could even say another word, she bashed the door shut, some wood splintering from the frame. Still trying to get ahold of what had just happened, I put my hands in my pockets, going down the elevator without a word, silently walking over to the couch. A few of my classmates stopped talking to greet me. "Todoroki, what's wrong?" Midoriya looked at me worriedly. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing happened, so I just shut it again and looked away. The elevator dinged, and a few of the girls walked over. "What's going on? We heard something." Tsu questioned. "I don't know, I was just asking Todoroki if he knew." Midoriya frowned. "Is Winter okay?" Ochaco murmured. "No." I got my voice back. "No?" She echoed. "What do you mean no?" "No. Don't go talk to her." I said. "Why, is everything okay? Did Kacchan say something to her?" Midoriya questioned. "No. Her door was open, so I went to greet her, and when I asked her if she had brought anything from home, she repeated me, saying 'home', as if she had no idea what that was, so I went to explain, but as soon as I said parents, her eyes..." I shook my head, trying to clear the image. "I-I don't know what happened, she just snapped and kicked me out." I muttered. My friends were quiet for a minute. "All Might told me earlier today, before we left school, that if she seemed off to get him or Midnight. Should I do that?" Midoriya asked. "Yeah. That sounds like a good idea." Yaoyorozu nodded in agreement. Within about five minutes the two heroes were at our door. "Where is she?" Midnight questioned. "Upstairs. I'll show you." Ochaco took the heroine upstairs. "What happened?" All Might growled. Midoriya repeated what I had just told him. The retired pro sighed, sitting down. "I promised I wouldn't tell anyone." He muttered to himself. "Tell anyone what?" Midoriya worried. "I just told you kid, I can't say. I made a promise. Damnit, this is gonna be hard though." All Might cursed. "Did I do something wrong?" I said, not really to anyone in particular. "No, Todoroki, don't blame yourself. You didn't do anything." All Might quickly replied. "How can I know that you're not just saying that? And why are you two here? Shouldn't you get her family if something's this bad?"

The sudden glare All Might gave me shut me up. "Do not speak of her family. Ever. If I hear it again, you'll be expelled, got it?" He snapped. I nodded. Midoriya was scared silent. As far as I knew, neither of us had seen him this angry, not even when he was fighting All For One. No, this was different. It was a different anger. Midnight came back down. "Ochaco's with her now. I think she'll be fine." The pro spoke softly. Once again, something I hadn't seen before. As the two were about to leave, All Might stopped. "If you two boys want to know what's going on, use your heads. But I highly suggest you don't... though I can't stop you from figuring it out on your own. You lot are too stubborn. I just can't say anything myself."