Making Things Right

Chapter 26: Warning

I lean against the wall as my limbs burn from the training earlier. The others groan, complaining about the intense training. I smile a little from their comments.

"Hey, Midoriya! You wanna play poker again?" Ojiro asks.

I shake my head, "I can't Hound Dog want to talk to me."

"Oh, ok. Maybe tonight then?" he offers.

I nod in agreement and grab my clothes to take a shower. After dressing, I head to the main building, where the teachers are staying.

It doesn't take me long to find Hound Dog's room. I take a deep breath to calm myself and tentatively knock on the door.

"Come in." The teacher growls out.

I open the door to see Hound Dog sitting in front of a desk. He motions me to take the seat opposite him.

"Midoriya, you've never been to counseling before, correct?"

I nod.

"Ok then, how about this, we'll take turns asking questions so we can get to know each other. Does that sound good to you?"

I blink in surprise. I half expected him to ask me about my panic attacks or the torture I endured, not this.

"Um...ok."

"I'll go first," He leans back in his chair, "why do you want to be a hero?"

"Well, I want to be a hero so I can protect people and save lives." I reply, "Do you have any family?"

"My parents and I have a sister. She's a doctor."

"Oh," I say, I never knew.

We trade questions back and forth. Unlike what I expected, Hound Dog mostly wished to know about my life. He never asked anything about what I endured, just questions like, "What subject do you like most in school?". I feel myself relax as the minutes tick by.

Too soon, the time is up and Hound Dog tells me to go back to the cabin.

**Time Skip**

I listen dimly to the chatter filling the cabin. It's been a few days since we got here. Thankfully, my plan to change the schedule worked and no villains have attacked.

Even my sessions with Hound Dog have been going well. He's hasn't asked anything too bad yet.

"Midoriya, can I talk to you for a minute?"

I glance up at Todoroki, who seems nervous. Nodding, I stand and we both go outside. I sigh, breathing in the fresh air, and turn to Shoto.

"What's up?" I ask.

He shuffles from foot to foot. I smile at his reaction since even in the future he has that habit when he gets nervous.

"I wanted to ask something." he begins tentatively.

"Go ahead."

"I-in the future, why didn't I help you?"

I tilt my head, slightly confused by his words, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why didn't I save you from your father? Or help you fight him? What happened to me? Did I just abandon you?" His voice is laced with guilt.

"Todoroki, what happened to me wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything but help me in the future."

"So then why didn't-"

I continued, cutting him off, "You died, remember. All of you did."

After a moment's silence, he asks, "Could...could you tell me how I died?"

I sigh, "I don't know if I told you, but there was a war between heroes and villains. During one of the battles, we were surrounded by villains. It was 10 to 1. We were terribly outnumbered. It didn't help that both of us were injured from earlier scuffles. You had lost an arm and I had used most of my strength. Still, we weren't the top heroes for nothing. Even when they called in reinforcements, we still fought. Their numbers began to overwhelm us so we made a plan. You would distract them by making a large ice barrier, and then we'd retreat." I look down, "But, as I said, you were weak, too weak to use your powers but you didn't tell me. Instead of making an ice barrier, you used the last of your energy to make a distraction with your fire and attacked them head-on. It drew their attention from me momentarily. Y-you told me to run."

I choke down tears as I remember him yelling at me. Telling me that for the sake of the people, those dead and those living, I had to survive.

"I ran, I left you and ran. After the fight, I went back to find your body." I shake my head, as images of his mutilated corpse flash, "I could hardly recognize you."

"I'm sorry."

My head shoots up, "What?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." he sounds like he truly believes his words.

Dumbfounded, I say, "Protect me! What are you talking about? I was the one who was supposed to help you! Aren't you upset that I left you to die!"

"No Midoriya. I told you already didn't I? Our deaths weren't your fault."

"I know that, but-"

"Izuku," I look up at him, surprised to hear him call me by name, "I just want you to know that I'm here for you. I know that you pretend to be happy sometimes because you don't want to worry about us. I know that it's hard to act like nothing's wrong...I didn't experience the things that you did but I know how it feels to blame yourself. I've never told you but I had a brother. He was older than me, but I remember him vividly. He was my hero. Then I got my quirk, he told me not to tell father about it and I listened to him. One day, I used my quirk and my father happened to see. My brother tried to protect me but he...he ended up dying because of it. I've always blamed myself for it. I thought that maybe if I was strong enough, or maybe if I hadn't used my quirk he'd still be alive. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt, so I isolated myself from the rest of my family. When I came to UA, I was content with being alone. Then I met you. You made me feel alive again. The more I got to know you, the more I feel like the person I used to be. I'm not going to lie and say that I don't feel at fault for my brother's death, because I still do. But at the same time, I know that my father is the one who truly killed him. I think what I'm saying is, I want you to know that you don't have to go through this alone. I'm not just talking about me, but everyone else too wants to help you." Shoto finishes awkwardly as he rubs the back of his neck.

"T-thank you," I say, moved by his words.

Before, when he told me this story, it was only because he didn't want to have any secrets between friends especially since people were dropping left and right. I can't help but feel glad that he trusts me enough to tell me about this. By the emotion in his voice, I can tell he means every word he said.

He smiles. The expression is so full of relief and care that I feel surprised. I've seen him smile before but never like this. My heart hammers in my chest and I look away.

"Todoroki-" I begin to say.

"Just call me Shoto," He says with that same smile.

I nod and stammer out, "Uh...well...I think we should g-go back inside,"

'Why do I feel so nervous?'

"Izuku," I glance at him, just now realizing how close he is.

"Y-yes?" I gulp and feel my face beginning to grow hot.

'What is he going to say?'

I bite my lip in anticipation.

He takes a deep breath and leans closer as my heart beats faster, "There's something else I-"

DING!

We both jump at the sound, moving away from each other.

Embarrassed, I fish my phone from my pocket. The apologies, for interrupting him, die on my tongue as I read the words on the screen:

They found Class 1-A