Work The Pain Away (Todoroki Shoto x reader)

Ch. 17

When I woke up, a doctor told me that it had been a week and that my friends got here to visit me.

Apparently, they had demanded to go in and even almost sneaked into my room when doctors said that they couldn't visit, so the doctors just let them in.

Uraraka was there as well as her group of good bois (tm) and Tsu. Kirishima was there, even though I had never really talked with him.

But the first person my eyes really laid eyes on was Todoroki. He smiled at me, a sad but warm smile.

My heart broke at the sight of him. It broke not only at his sad face but at the fear I felt. The fear I didn't want to feel.

I wanted to remember our first kiss and the happiness I felt then but all I could feel was the hurt in my feet I felt when dancing with the other Todoroki.

I opened my mouth but didn't really know what to say. Soon enough, like everyone else in the room, I was crying.

"Oh, my god, (Name)! You're okay! I was so worried," cried Uraraka. "The doctors said they weren't sure if you'd remember us, or anything!"

I was going to respond but Todoroki stepped forward, saying, "you gave us quite the scare. What were you going to tell me before you were taken?"

I stare at him and I can tell he's hurt with the ways his eyes shine, like tears were just waiting to pour.

My mind goes blank for a moment, searching for how to respond. I know the answer to what he's asking but how to explain to him what happened afterwards, I had no clue.

When I opened my mouth to answer all that came out was, "I'm sorry."

I kept repeating it, not sure if it was because I scared them all or if it was because I was still terrified of Todoroki.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I-," I say, over and over. Until Todoroki moves quicker than I've ever seen him move and his arms are around me.

He's hugging me. My mind goes haywire but my body doesn't move. It feels different than any hug the other one has given me.

This one feels nicer, like it's coming from family or a friend. This one feels like he's giving me the world with such a simple motion.

My body hugs back. It confuses my mind enough for it to reassess the situation, to reassess who Todoroki is.

It isn't enough to wipe away all the terror but it's enough for me to recognize Todoroki as a friend, not someone to run away from.

Uraraka smiles at me when I look at her and Tsu. Everyone else looks at me nervously. They look like they have news to tell me but don't want me to know.

"What's wrong?" I ask, pulling away from the hug with Todoroki. He gives me a look, less nervous than the others but still like he doesn't want to tell me.

He steps back and away from me, silently hiding behind Midoriya. I start to feel anger bubble in me, "what happened?"

"Uhm, you see the thing is," Midoriya fumbles. "I know it's been a week since you've been out but we've got some bad news."

"What's wrong?" I ask again, this time able to get the answers I want to hear.

"The villain who kidnapped you hasn't been caught yet. They know who did it, but they haven't gotten them yet."

"What? Why not? They know who they are, right? It can't be that hard to catch the kidnappers."

"It's not the kidnappers they're trying to get, it's the people after that, or person," Uraraka says delicately, as if it would hurt me.

And it did hurt. My head hurt, my heart hurt, the memories flooded back to me against my wishes.

"Her quirk is that she's able to take form of people, just not able to mimic their voice. The problem with that is that police can't go down the street asking everyone to speak for them," Uraraka explains.

"Are you okay?" asks Todoroki. My fear for him began to grew again. My head hurt with the changes between trust and distrust to the boy.

"Yes," I responded. "I'll be fine. I think I just need some space right now. I need to be alone."

Uraraka nodded, understanding. She left the room, her boy band following her out. Todoroki stayed behind.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again. I know we were dating and all that but at this point, the line between dating and being afraid of him was very blurry.

"I'll be okay," I smile at him. "I just need a bit of time."

And time I got. A whole hour of it before he came back in. I was sleeping, the doctors saying I needed the rest even if I just woke up.

I didn't know it, but he might've smiled at my sleeping self. He might've cried a little, wishing me to get better and to not be afraid.

He might've even kissed my forehead. I wouldn't know though, I was asleep. Definitely asleep but not afraid, knowing this Todoroki was the real one.

The real one and other one were very different people and my brain started to differentiate them more.

This Todoroki was trustworthy. Very, very trustworthy.