Secrets [Todoroki]

*Chapter Twenty*

"MIRIANNE!" Recovery Girl smacked at the young hero in question repeatedly with her syringe cane. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING OUT THERE!?"

Miri sat on the table in the office. She was relatively healed, but she was a little more tired than before—if at all possible for her. The kindly old lady was rather concerned for Miri at first, but after seeing what needed to be healed, she was almost through the roof.

"I...I didn't have my head in the game." Miri sighed.

"Well, that was obvious, given your performance. You're better than that and we all know it." Recovery Girl then sat down on her chair in front of Miri. "What is on your mind, child?"

Miri then reclined back on the table and stared at the white ceiling of the room. "I have this friend who I'm keeping a secret from. A lot of secrets, actually. And it's not even him I'm only keeping them from, he just happens to be catching on to the fact that I'm hiding things and it's frustrating him. We got in an argument before my fight and I couldn't stop thinking about it."

Recovery Girl was silent for a moment. "These secrets you're keeping from him...are they bad?"

Miri's eyebrows almost disappeared into her hair. Her mouth parted, however she didn't know what to say. She took a deep breath. "They are kept for..." For what? Her position in the school? Keeping the secret doesn't help Todoroki.

It helps her mother and her. The thought of that disappointed her greatly. She ran a hand over her face and remained silent.

"One of the hardest parts of being a hero is that sometimes you have to make decisions that will tear you apart." Recovery Girl suddenly spoke up, catching Miri off guard. "If a building is on fire and there's two children, but only one gas mask, how do you help them? How do you justify your decision? Take too long to decide and they both die. Choose one, then the other dies. It's hard being the one who has to save others. You just can't save everyone."

"What if...I just give them my mask?" Miri muttered. "Then they both live."

Unbeknownst to Miri, Recovery Girl smiled. "True, but you don't."

"The good of the innocent is more important than-" Miri's hand slid away from her face. Surprise was clear on her features. "I see your point."

"Being a hero is hard, but as long as you do what you think is right, then you'll be alright. These secrets you're hiding from the boy are yours to keep or share with him, but if you continue to hold on to them, they may ultimately eat you up inside and possibly hold you back from being a hero." Recovery Girl wheeled away from Miri's bed. "Of course, if you share them, everyone could react negatively. It's a dangerous gamble, whichever solution you decide."

Miri sat up in the bed and ran a hand through her messy hair. "This conversation gave me an answer I didn't want to hear."

"I'm sorry, but this is the best advice I can give you. If you truthfully think these secrets are worth keeping from someone, regardless if it's hurting them, you may not find yourself a happy ending."

Walking out of Recovery Girl's room to go back to the stands, she was deep in thought.

Despite Recovery Girl's answer not being one that Miri liked, it didn't make it wrong. The older hero was correct on almost everything she said, and it gave Miri more things to think about.

Nearly making it to the stands, from the corner of her eye at the end of the long hallway, Miri saw a flash of red.

Her heart pulsed, immediately thinking it was Kirishima or Todoroki. She turned her head to gaze down the hallway and was met with the startling stance of Endeavor himself.

If Miri wasn't properly potty trained as a child, she surely would have shit herself.

"I saw your fight." The burly man said while staring her down. "For someone with your quirk, it was poorly done."

Miri's mouth fell open. No wonder her mother hated the man.

"Ex-excuse me!?" Miri was stunned. The man didn't even know her, yet he was criticizing her? Who does he think he is?

"You were almost beat by flowers. If you wanted to be a hero, you'd have beaten the girl within the first thirty seconds." He crossed his arms.

Miri clenched her fist. "Who the hell are you to tell me that?"

She thought of Todoroki. Everything he told Midoriya made so much more sense now that she's held a conversation with the man.

It only made her want to slam him into a crater.

His eyes seemed to narrow. "All I'm saying is that if you wanted to be a hero, you'd spend less time hopping around in battle like a frog and more time actually touching your opponent."

Her blood boiled to where she could almost hear it in her ears. It took a lot to make Miri mad. She got irritated, however anger was a rare emotion from her.

But this man? This man made her angry.

"Maybe if you spent less time belittling your son and more time encouraging him, you could be a better father." She seethed.

Miri felt her face heat. What she said was disrespectful, and she knew that what she said would be met with punishment. However, it felt good to be said.

Standing in the shadow of Endeavor, she felt powerful. Her mind got foggy, but clear at the same time. She started thinking maybe doing what her mother told her to do would be helpful. Endeavor needed to be put in place.

Todoroki wouldn't mind, would he? It'd help him get his father off his back. Maybe once everything was done, he could be happier? He'd be happy with Miri? The idea sounded wonderful to her.

A fire lit behind Endeavor's eyes. "Your parents should've taught you respect." He growled.

"I think I was taught just fine." She snapped back. Her head pounded, making discerning what she was saying difficult.

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'd watch who you'd make an enemy of, Mirianne. You forget that as the Number Two hero, I have connections and I can make or break your future as a hero. What you've said will not be forgotten." With that, he turned and stomped away.

His shadow left Miri, and she felt her body sag. The weird sensation in her head stopped, and she could finally form a coherent thought.

She held her head in horror. What was she thinking? What did she do?

She stared down at her hands then.

'Was it...the darkness?'

She didn't feel like herself in that moment.

She propped herself up against the wall and heaved in an enormous sigh.

She needed to get herself together. As Recovery Girl said, her future hung in the balance.

Her next fight, whoever it may be she's up against, will need to be better. She needed to really show what she was made of. Otherwise she'll disappoint everyone.

She pushed herself off the wall and made her way to the stands.