The sound of the alarm beside his futon awaken Shouto from his slumber, one he wishes he can go back to as the light slowly disappeared, and the pain returned from the other day. Rising from his futon, he looked down at his nightstand to notice the painkillers Fuyumi the other day. He couldn’t remember when she did, but he felt grateful as the pain from the burns on his back and arms make his body feel dead and weak. It felt like every other day, but this time he didn’t wake up to the faint pain in his eye or the crying of his mother. The routine didn’t change, nothing was new besides the extra bandages, and the visible bruises on his face.
‘Fuyumi could use her foundation to cover up some of the bruising,’ Shouto thought to himself as he stared at himself in the mirror after washing his face gently, watching the small droplets of water from his face into the sink. The bandages around his arms and cheek needed to be changed since some of them had blood seeping through the cloth, though he had a feeling even the bandages on his back may need to be changed as well. Taking one last look in the mirror, Shouto walked out of the bathroom to grab his uniform from the closet, and get Fuyumi to change his bandages before he leaves.
Fuyu sat on the bed after noticing Shouto’s missing presence next to her, giving him a disapproving look when he pulled at the bandages. They were itchy against his skin and healing wounds, but Fuyumi would end up scolding him if he started to scratch at it. Putting on his uniform as gently as he could to not cause any of the wounds to reopen, he grabbed his backpack from its spot by the nightstand picking Fuyu up into his arms. The halls were empty and quiet, not a single sound could be heard throughout the house besides his shoes hitting the wooden floor as he started to walk towards Fuyumi’s room.
“Fuyumi?...Are you there?...” It was too quiet for Shouto’s liking as he knocked gently on Fuyumi’s door. Fuyumi would never leave the house unless she had a morning meeting to go to, but she didn’t have a meeting this morning. Opening the door with one hand, he poked his head inside only to find it empty, however, on the nightstand was a note with an envelope beside it . Dropping his bag and Fuyu quietly on the floor, Shouto walked inside towards the nightstand grabbing the note and envelope. He left the envelope for last, and looked at the note instead noticing Fuyumi’s handwriting.
Dear Shouto,
I’m sorry Shouto, but I’ll be away on a business trip. I know it’s so sudden, even I was surprised as well, so I left some money for you if you need to buy groceries or anything else. I’m so sorry that I won’t be there to help you with father, I feel like I should have declined the offer, but this is very important. Please take care of yourself while I’m away, I left the pills of painkillers in your drawer, and the first aid under your bed. I hope you can forgive me.
Your sister,
Fuyumi
P.S Fuyu’s food is under the sink in the kitchen, don’t forget to feed her.
‘She’s gone?...for how long? When will she come back? Does their father know about this?’ Shouto gripped the note in his hands tightly his breathing becoming slightly panicked before shutting his eyes completely. He repeated the steps Fuyumi taught him, breathe in for three, out for four, and he repeated the steps until his breathing was normal again. Opening his eyes, he blinked slowly for a moment before he noticed the note in his hands was burned on one side, and the other was covered in frost by the edges. Shouto didn’t need to look at the clock to know he’ll have little time to get to the train station, but he opened Fuyumi’s drawer either way to grab the foundation she keeps in there in case he needs it. Walking towards her bathroom, he opened the lid, and grabbed the sponge inside to start covering the bruises that could be easily seen a few feet away.
When he was little, Shouto always thought it was magic that made the bruises disappear when Fuyumi first started to put foundation on his face. Now he sees it as a way to keep anyone from finding out his secret, his past, his flaws, but it couldn’t hide the scar that covered his left eye completely. He tried it once, to see if it can make the scar disappear like it made the bruises disappear, but Fuyumi told him that his scar wasn’t gonna disappear, it was part of him now, something he can’t make go away. After the last bruise was covered, Shouto looked like his normal self, but the bandages stayed where they were. Even if he did try to change the bandages himself, he wouldn’t be able to put the medicine for infection on by himself.
Deciding to leave them as they were, Shouto left the bathroom with the foundation on the counter picking up Fuyu from her spot on Fuyumi’s bed. They walked out of the room quietly, grabbing his backpack off the floor before closing the door to the now empty room until Fuyumi returns from her business trip. Walking quietly down the empty hall, Shouto decided to skip breakfast, and find another way to get to school than wait for the train for two hours or longer.
“Do you think we’ll get to school sometime during first or second period if we walk?”
Shouto closed the front door behind him as he started his long journey to school with Fuyu in his arms, getting only a small purr as a response from the said cat. He didn’t the dark figure that stood in the shadows watching his every step as he continued down the path. Bright blue eyes followed his silhouette until Shouto walked out of the figure’s line of sight, that it disappeared into a dark mist leaving behind nothing of it’s existence.
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It was 9:52 AM by the time Shouto arrived to UA, using a card to enter since they each have been given to enter through the UA gates on the first two weeks of school. The gate opened, but closed immediately after as he started his walk towards the school. His legs ached from the long walk, he didn’t stop to rest, didn’t let Fuyu down, or stop to buy a quick snack, he continued to walk on auto pilot on the path that led towards UA by memory. Each step felt like a needle was stabbing through his skin down to the bone, repeating again and again until they grew numb of the pain. Shouto wanted to Fuyu down, but his arms felt locked and sore from holding her for 2 or 3 hours. It was difficult to open the door, his stiff muscles felt tingly and numb when he tried to open the door.
After a few more minutes of trying to open the door, Shouto finally succeeded in entering the building letting Fuyu jump out of his arms feeling his arms drop to his sides limply. Everything made him feel tired, he just wanted to lay down and let the blinding light take him again, but he pushed through the numbness of his body to continue walking down the empty hallways to his homeroom classroom. He wouldn’t have jumped and almost yell from the hand on his shoulder if he hadn’t had the action forced out of him long ago.
“Aizawa-sensei...what are you doing here?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing Shouto.”
Shouto felt his fingers twitch beside him, but he kept his posture stiff and tense as he stared at his teacher anxiously. What is he supposed to tell him? ‘Oh yeah, I walked to school cause I was late to the train station because my sister went out of town for who knows how long, so I’m stuck with my abusive father until then.’ Shouto thought to himself feeling the urge to turn around and walk away from this, but Aizawa was staring at him with calculating eyes waiting for an excuse.
“I...I was late for the train to get to school because my sister had to leave for a business trip this morning, but I don’t really know when she’ll come back…”
“And the bandages?”
“Uh…” What was he supposed to say to that? Fuyu was rubbing against his leg as he felt his fingers twitch again, but this time he looked down than staring back at Aizawa. It was starting to feel hard to keep his eyes open and standing, the exhaustion must finally be hitting him full force because the next thing he knew, he was on the floor with Aizawa kneeling beside him shaking his shoulders.
“...Shouto...stay awake...calling...Recovery Girl...come on…”
Everything felt...numb, he felt broken, sore, but he mostly felt exhausted, he wanted to sleep so badly. The light started to appear again, he was close to sleep then, but it then disappeared to reveal a worried face above him. Their face was blurry, the only things he could see clearly was dark curly hair until it started to get clearer showing piercing green eyes filled with worry as they continued to yell something at him.
‘What are they saying? Who is it? They have green eyes...so it’s...Midoriya...Izuku, Izuku! IZUKU!’
Shouto felt his lips move, but nothing came out, only a cough and a gasp for air. Everything started to blur, it was getting hard to breathe, the numbness came back, he wanted Izuku, not back there.
‘I want to hear your voice, I want to see your face again, please...please!...PLEASE!...please don’t go too Izuku...not like mother...please...don’t go...you promised...you promised!’
YOU ARE READING
Light In The Darkness
Fanfiction"Mom...I know it's not right, but I can't do it anymore. The children, they're...like him more and more every day. And Shouto...his left side. Sometimes I look at him and hate what I see." Shouto drew closer, just enough for his left side to be seen...
