Silence Destroyed (MHA)

Chapter 35- The Leadup

Naoko could feel her heart breaking the longer she talked with Todoroki. Not necessarily because of what he did, it was more of the fact that she knew the consequences for what he did. 

No matter what happened here, he would eventually be outed. Eventually, he would be forced to come clean, and that would come with repercussions. Would he be arrested? Maybe, maybe not. He might just be forced to go with the League of Villains to avoid legal actions. He would be kicked out of UA, for sure, and he would become an outcast.

And worse? Rei would be absolutely shattered.

Naoko wasn't stupid, she had seen how much happier Rei had been since Shoto started visiting her. Before there had always been that layer of inherent sadness that followed Rei no matter what was happening otherwise, but since Shoto started coming, Naoko had seen a true change. For the first time in years, Rei shone of hope.

Now it would be taken away again, and even Todoroki knew that. The desperation in his eyes was plain as day to her, having worn that look more than once herself.

"So," She said cautiously. Shoto was extremely close to just shutting down after he ranted to her about his father for a good ten minutes or so and Naoko didn't want to give him anything else to be stressed about, "Why am I still here?"

Confused silence met her question and Naoko painfully pushed herself into a sitting position, "I mean... Well, to be honest, I kind of expected to be dead or quirkless right now." 

It was a genuine question. When you had been talking to All For One last, he seemed pretty determined to get rid of you to prove a point. It was a pleasant surprise that you weren't in a ditch somewhere yet... But it was also more than a little concerning.

For a moment Shoto just stared at you, evidently trying to decide what you meant, but before long, a guilty look crossed his face, at least, it was more guilty than before.

"Yeah, about that." 

Quick PSA, kids... When someone tells you something like that with an expression that looks like they just kicked the dog, you brace yourselves and you brace yourselves hard, because whatever they're going to say won't be good.

Naoko didn't necessarily know that, but it didn't take a genius to figure out, especially when Shoto's fingers began tapping nervously against his leg. "Go on."

Shoto's fingers stilled for a moment before starting up even faster than they had been going before and he was avoiding her eyes like the plague, "That's probably my fault... All For One was definitely going to kill you earlier, so I said the first thing I could think of to get him to stop." 

Well, that was a wonderful sign if ever Naoko saw one.

"It was stressful, and All For One is terrifying... So... Well... I might have told him that... itwouldbebettertokillyoupublically."

Even with Naoko's many years of reading lips and getting better and better with learning how to communicate with people, Shoto's sentence was completely unintelligible. It was on par with Midoriya's mumbling, which was an impressive feat, seeing as how the broccoli boy mumbled at near-supersonic speeds.

Naoko bit her lip as she cocked an eyebrow, "Wanna run that by me again?" 

If Shoto had been pale before, that was nothing compared to now, "Not really." He said, along with some other things, but those were lost as he pulled his knees up to his chest and tucked his chin in.

"No, seriously," Naoko was starting to feel rather desperate, as she had no idea what might be waiting for her, and anytime the unknown could kill her, she preferred for it not to be unknown, "I couldn't read what you said, what did you tell that Potato?"