Shadowfire - OC x Shoto Todoroki

Chapter 6 - The Peppermint Boy

[Author's Note: Yes, I know the USJ arc comes before the sports festival in the show but I swapped them around because...I can]

The sun was fully out, and the air warmed Kaida's skin comfortably as she made her way towards UA. It was still early; school didn't start for another hour but she had gotten ready without a single delay and left the house the second she had put the slightly damp uniform back on. A thick book weighed down her bag in preparation for the hour she would spend sitting in the classroom waiting for everyone to arrive. A horror manga; the furthest thing from Shakespeare.

Her boots thudded on the tiled floor as she walked through the deserted halls of UA. Pushing open the tall door of her classroom, she almost jumped out of her skin, not expecting to have company this early in the morning.

Two heterochromatic eyes stared at her as she entered quietly, and she winked at the bi-coloured boy, who nodded a silent hello before dropping his gaze back to the workbook on his desk.

The only interaction Kaida had had with Shoto Todoroki since discovering that they were desk-neighbours was making eye contact twice, and exchanging the occasional 'good morning'.

From what Kaida could decipher from the constant blank look on his pretty face, he seemed nice enough, if a little formal. But there was something about the boy that she had never heard speak three consecutive words; an aura of pain and suffering and regret. Something had happened to that boy, and while Kaida didn't want to forcefully dig his secrets out of him, one thing was for certain; she was going to make Todoroki her friend, whether he liked it or not.

Kaida sat herself down on his desk, making sure to not sit on his homework. His eyes slowly rose to her, and she watched his gaze go instantly to the bruise around her eye.

An almost invisible smile pulled at her lips. "You and me both, brother." She said, gesturing to her black eye and his burn. The two marks were almost identical except for the reddish tone of Todoroki's scar.

He cocked his head slightly, and his fingers brushed across his eye. "Did your mother do that to you, too?"

He sounded unimpressed, and Kaida didn't blame him. A bruise didn't exactly compare to a scar, one would fade and one would remain there forever, but she wasn't about to strip off and start telling her life story through the permanent slashes covering her skin, and he hadn't seemed to have noticed the faint twin scars on her chin and temple, so she worked with what she had.

She hadn't known the source of Todoroki's burn, and she certainly hadn't expected him to tell her so openly, but she guessed the strange similarities could only help her get to know the boy.

"Yeah actually, she hit me with a book."

He hesitated, staring blankly at her. She could sense him trying to read her, to see if she was making a joke at his expense.

"It was the complete works of Shakespeare." She said bluntly, as if that would make him believe her more.

Todoroki's face remained emotionless, but he nodded once, and gestured to his scar. "My mother poured boiling water on me, then burned my face with her ice quirk."

Kaida blinked. Damn. "That...that's rough, man."

Todoroki gazed up at the girl seated comfortably on his desk, her eyebrows drawn into a slight frown. "Yes, it is. I'm glad someone understands."

Kaida let out a breathy laugh, combing a hand through her hair. "Trust me, I do. I really do."

The corners of Todoroki's mouth quirked upwards slightly, before dropping back into its natural straight line, and the boy frowned like he was confused as to why he had almost smiled.