A/N

Content Warning:

This story focuses on issues that may be triggering to individuals. Some words may cause issues, but it gains a sense of reality that these words can be very harmful. There is offensive stuff in it, but some bits are from the unfortunate sense that not everyone is great and there's toxic nature.

Certain events may be triggering, so this story may not be for you as we incorporate problems that are problematic and not ok.

No way in shape or form this story is glorifying anything. We don't promote or encourage anything, but we want to be realistic.

Also, this is an era for Steampunk. We have major spoilers in the manga so don't read if you're not caught up.

Characters are aged appropriately to have the same age. If you don't like that, it's called creative freedom. This is just fictional and not real. Please, don't be a snowflake Karen and follow cancel culture. You have been warned.

We try to write the characters as canon to personality we can.

If you understand, feel free to read and get ready for all the feels!!

And dedicating major inspiration to outlander17

The loud sound of rumbling and chugging was huffing from the engine. Clunking and screeching as the train made its stop, encouraging passengers to hop on. The loud chattering of people was tuned out from a young girl's pulse beating strongly. The intensity of her situation grew as someone was screaming behind her.

It didn't matter to her. The voice was tuned out. Who cares what they were saying?

Freedom. She wanted to be free and happy. That's what her eyes were set on ahead as she ignored the trembling and sweating of her palms.

The wind was blowing so strongly that a few strands of her wavy coral locks whipped against her face. Her hand was tightening around a crumbled ticket. People kept bumping into her as she was trying to board the train. So close. She needed to escape this awful town. Start a new life on her own.

Forget the past to leave it behind her to die.

Her hand rubbed the throbbing pain on her bruised nose. Blinking frantically to not shed any tears in public.

Happy. I want to be happy.

Being 18, she was gaining adulthood. The right to make her choices.

The adrenaline was too much. She almost wanted to turn back as she was having slight cold feet. But when that boy behind her was inching closer, his voice became clearer. Still, she couldn't hear exactly what he said because of all the people chattering and giving confused looks.

Taking the large sack with her belongings, she pushed past the people. Somewhat expressively huffing out loud to make them notice her trying to board.

"KASUMI!"

She finally heard him call out to her, when she successfully went inside it. She sat by a window, seeing the 14 year old looking somewhat devastated. Kasumi put on a hateful glare towards him. She planted her middle finger and waved it onto the window.

"Screw off," she hatefully whispered out loud. Her head turned away from the window as the train was starting to move.

Finally, I can be with him.

...

7 years ago, Kasumi was taken into the car. She was about 11 years old at the time. Her distinct features of slightly wavy coral hair contrasted against the seafoam eyes that really made her facial characteristics stand out. Her unruly locks had neatly planted bangs. At the ends of her strands, there was a distinct curl. Her clothes were slightly wrinkled and worn. The dress was definitely more on the poorer side. She practically looked like a beggar.

Adults around her were whispering. Probably about her. Kasumi was too oblivious to it. She would tune them out as she daydreamed while looking out the window.

She was leaving another orphanage. Children who stay there for a while get transferred to another district in hopes to be adopted.

"What makes you think this place will be good?"

"Oh, it's certainly great for children like her. With a quirk like hers, it's for children who only have quirks."

More like problematic kids. She couldn't remember how many times this had happened. With quirks being such an odd occurrence, it would be hard to predict when someone would develop theirs. It didn't start out with any set age either. Some people would show their powers even as old as teenagers or adults.

Kasumi had a quirk, but she couldn't even remember when it had developed. Nor does she ever focus on those things. Her head was always stuck in the clouds in her own type of world. One where she could escape to and get rid of loneliness.

Oof.

There was a bump in the road. It showed the change of texture of the path they were on. An hour had passed already. She didn't know when they had stopped talking. It was a smoother ride. She could see bigger buildings from her view. Different from the typical countryside she was living in prior.

Would she miss the place? Ehh... Not really. She didn't have any friends there and the adults were mean. Why would she be missing that place?

At some point of the road trip, she had fallen asleep.

"Wake up, kid."

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she groggily stepped out of the car. She was careful not to let herself fall.

"She's a quiet one, ain't she?"

Adults always say that when they try to talk to her. All she would do was awkwardly smile or not. Maybe not smile at all as she couldn't even give them eye contact. Her shyness was terrible.

Of course, people misunderstand her that way. They'd get offended. The one man kept eyeing his pocket watch for the time. He smiled in satisfaction that they made it on schedule.

Kasumi looked up to see a huge building that you would typically see in this technology of the 19th century. Everything you see in the modern steampunk era. All the gears on the castle were quietly moving. Kasumi was in awe as she felt so tiny in comparison. It was so massive that she couldn't even see where the castle would end. There were castle guards positioned at different doorways from the distance.

"Quit gawking and come along now, lass," the man beckoned her.

Kasumi silently followed him as she lugged some of her belongings. There was a rectangular building attached to an open hallway of the castle. One would assume it was the orphanage as it was gated with iron. There were children already playing outside. There was an older lady, who had a regal and bouncy dress.

"G'day, missus." The man tipped his hat as a polite gesture. "I've brought you the new child."

The woman smiled down at the young girl, her tired eyes filling with just a bit more life at the sight. "Hello. Your name is...Kasumi, correct?"

Kasumi didn't answer her. Her eyes stared at the towering pillars of the outside hallway. The details of it made her study it more and more.

"Hey." The man snapped his fingers in her face to get her attention. He did it a couple times until she looked back.

"Listen when you're spoken to," he scolded.

All Kasumi did was press her lips together and nodded towards the orphan's keeper lady.

"My apologies. This one has always been like this since we've received her." He sighed and chuckled as if it was a pitiful thing.

The woman gave a gentle, breathy laugh in return. She put a hand on Kasumi's back to guide her. "That's alright. We'll get her to come out of her shell."

Kasumi involuntarily tensed up from the touch. Since the woman was a stranger, Kasumi felt off with the friendly hand on her person.

They were talking about who knows what. She was off daydreaming again because it was a boring conversation. They were discussing how Kasumi was held back a grade in schooling since she was a slow learner.

With that, the lady led Kasumi inside. Children on the outside looked towards Kasumi while she went into the building.

Kasumi was led into the girl's bedroom. There were beds scattered and untidied everywhere. She couldn't tell how many were set in there, but it was intimidating to her.

Which one would be my bed? She wondered.

She also hated sharing room with other kids. At her last place, her only roommate had gotten adopted. She gained the solitude she needed.

When the woman left, Kasumi set her things on what was chosen to be her bed. It took some time to unpack and sort her things.

Then, a random girl came running into the room, purposely laying on the bed Kasumi had chosen. She seemed to be a year younger than Kasumi, but she had a bratty smirk planted on her face.

The little girl kicked her legs up and down. It caused the bed to shake. Her shrill, high pitched voice carried effortlessly throughout the room.

"You're the new girl!" She practically yelled. "You're weird."

Kasumi didn't meet eye contact. She wanted to speak up and tell her that was her bed she was on.

But nothing came out.

"She can't talk so she must be retarded." Another girl made herself present. She was a brunette with a bowl cut. She was slightly on the chubbier side compared to Kasumi's scrawny frame.

Again, Kasumi didn't say anything but heard the mocking giggles of the girls.

She was trying to get herself on the bed, but the bowl cut bully mocked, "You didn't know? You're in the wrong bed. That's your bed over there."

It was an old bed at the end of the room. It was tilted and had a broken leg.

That's mean. Tell them. Stand up for yourself!

"Oh...." Was all Kasumi said super quietly.

The girls just laughed as they jeered for her to move. Kasumi obediently did what she was told. Doing that made the bullies feel like they had power over her.

Kasumi's fists started to ball.

Nightfall came and Kasumi had trouble sleeping. She tried not to think of any of the hurtful words as her eyes glossed over.

Her mind went a different direction as she imagined a world where she had many friends. A fantasy world where she could travel to different dimensions.

Have her own importance to the story where she could be so strong enough to fight with a sword. Having crushes on many guys who thought of her as pretty.

Sure, it was very mary-sueish, but she was still a kid. A kid that was lost in her own reality in order to cope with life.

...

In another part of the castle, a 12 year old boy was running around like he owned the place. In his mind, he should have.

It wasn't that he was interested in being the king or anything. No, what he was really interested in was gaining the attention of his father.

The boy was still only a child, but he worked harder than some adults. He sometimes stayed up all night training just so he could show off to his father that he was good enough. To prove that he wasn't worthless.

A sense of worth is something that a parent should already give a child without the child feeling the need to work for it. Children need to feel loved and cared for. The boy in question - Toya Todoroki - never felt that love.

He looked up to his father, loved him, and wanted to earn his respect. So even when painful burns blemished his skin and his hair began to change colors, he still worked as hard as he could to make himself seen. He was boisterous, energetic, and most of all, determined.

One day, he was walking about with a scowl. His feet stomped down with purpose in each step.

His younger sister, Fuyumi, noticed him pouting as he walked around. Fuyumi tensed up a bit. She was scared for her brother's sake. Despite being a year younger than him, she always held a sort of responsibility like a big sister would. It was a side effect of her longing to have a family that wasn't tainted by abuse.

"Toya, you shouldn't wander around everywhere!" She scolded. She grabbed his hand and tried to lead him away to his room. "Dad will get mad at you."

Toya's little hands that were scarred by his own quirk swatted her away. "I don't care! I'll do anything for him to notice me! You wouldn't understand, so leave me alone!"

Toya left his trembling sister there. He wasn't aware of just how terrified she was for his well-being, or maybe he didn't care. It was probably the latter.

He continued on through the palace with his goal in mind. Somehow, he was going to prove himself. He knew that he could be a strong king despite the injuries that his quirk caused.

He was just a child, and yet he was willingly destroying himself. All so the adult he admired would give him something. Anything. A smile would be enough. Even a nod. As long as he got some recognition, he would be fine. That was what he told himself anyway.

As he walked through, he spotted a set of bars in the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he saw a familiar sight. The door that resembled a cage and blocked his little brother off from leaving a designated area.

He was a little surprised that Shoto wasn't standing there, hands wrapped around the bars as he pleaded with Toya to let him out for a few minutes so he could see the rest of his family. That was how most of their interactions went. Toya, of course, refused to sneak him out. It wasn't that he couldn't. He was sure he could steal the key if he really wanted to. The thing was, he didn't want to.

He hated Shoto. Sometimes he wished the dual haired boy would just die already so that his father would have no choice but to train Toya again. Ever since Shoto's quirk manifested, their father only paid attention to him. He neglected his other two children.

He huffed as he walked past the door. He's probably in his room studying for his prince stuff. Or looking out the window like a weirdo. Why does he get everything anyway? Why does he get to have that stupid quirk?

His mind whirred with ideas. What could he try that day to gain his father's attention? Rowdiness? Or maybe the opposite?

He was so deep in thought that he hardly noticed where he was going. He was in the walkway that headed out of the castle.

He walked out the door and into a hallway with open pillars to see the outside. There were various children playing around. They were all so loud and obnoxious. It irritated him.

He decided to go back and try looking elsewhere. He started to turn around, but then a certain someone caught his attention. Her eyes were a pleasant seafoam color. Her hair was coral. Out of everyone outside, she was the quietest.

He picked up the pace, squirming his way through the pillars, until he was directly in front of her. The center of her attention. His cerulean eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Hey. You."

Kids nearby were starting to whisper and giggle to each other when they saw what was going on.

"Looks like someone else is trying to approach the stupid girl."

"Hey, hey. Does that boy look familiar to you?" Another snorted as they were making fun of Kasumi in the background.

The girl didn't move her eyes off her sketchbook. She quickly closed it when she was drawing something prior. Kasumi didn't even look up, but stared at Toya's shoes.

His shoes were so nice and shiny in comparison to her dull and tattered ones. But no words came out of her mouth. It made it seem like she was ignoring him.

When she really wasn't. She just really had a hard time meeting anyone's eyes due to her timid nature.

"I'm talking to yooooouuu." Toya drew out the words to get her attention. He tilted his body to the side in an attempt to get his face in her view.

He hated being ignored. It felt like it was a constant occurrence.

His body was, sadly, very frail. It caused pain to bend like that, but he was almost desperate for her to look him in the eye.

"I'm bored," he complained. "There's nothing I can do inside."

That was his excuse anyway.

Kasumi then glanced at him for a quick second to catch a glimpse of his snow white hairs. Then averted her eyes away when she finally spoke a little bit. "...Oh... Um..."

Her voice was rather quiet and not loud at all. She clutched her sketchbook against her. She was feeling anxious to talk more.

All she wanted to do was greet him confidently with a smile. How was socializing so hard to do?

Why does others make it look so easy?

Even she wasn't aware of that herself.

Toya pursed his lips in annoyance. He didn't take the time to second think what he was about to say. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, it went out his mouth. "Why don't you talk to me with real words? Do you not know how to?"

That made Kasumi on the defense as she became afraid he was going to bully her too. She started to bite her hair strand as a coping method. It was an anxious habit she did.

Tell him that you can. You can be just like the popular kids! Show confidence! Just like how you draw yourself!

But all she did was somehow laugh softly and nervously.

Toya scoffed. It felt like his chest was on fire when someone ignored him. It was as though his quirk was working on the inside, burning his nerves whenever he didn't get the attention that he felt he deserved.

He didn't want to live his life like that. Always ignored and treated like an afterthought. In a way, he was craving love, but he didn't really know how to read those feelings.

"Aren't you going to do anything?" He asked. He straightened up before he lost his balance. If it was possible, there would probably be smoke coming out of his ear. Maybe it was possible with his quirk, but it didn't happen.

"Why aren't you standing up for yourself?" He asked another question. It was partly out of genuine curiosity, but mostly out of anger.

Why? That was a good question.

A question she couldn't answer due to being severely introverted.

Recluse.

The social anxiety was terrible that she felt her eyes starting to get glossy. Her knuckles rubbed them to pretend they were itchy.

"I... dunno..." Her voice sounded cracked and apologetic.

"Fine." He tried to ignore the building anger inside. As a kid growing up in the circumstances that he did, he had no idea how to handle anger in a healthy manner. He had never been taught to channel those feelings in ways other than violence or training.

He could very easily hit her. How satisfying would it be to feel his hand make contact with her cheek? To leave a red mark and remind her not to ignore him?

Maybe that would get his father's attention. He would be angry, but at least he would have to acknowledge Toya. Even if that acknowledgment meant a red mark on Toya's cheek to match the one on Kasumi's.

He didn't hit her, though, for reasons that were beyond him. He just turned his back to her with that big scowl and began to storm off.

Stupid. He made a noise that resembled a growl as he went back into the palace. I should have been training instead and not wasting time. I need to get stronger!

When he walked away, the other kids saw him wander back into the castle. They were all chatting about how Kasumi made him mad so maybe he would lock her up.

All of them were making fun of her more.

All Kasumi wanted was a friend and she felt like she blew it. She felt so upset that tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"Wah, wah. Cry about it," another boy jeered as he laughed along with the girl with a bowl-cut.

That was when Kasumi made herself get up to go inside the orphanage. Maybe to be excused to use the bathroom so she could continue to cry in there.

...

It was the very next day when he saw her again. He was wandering around in search of something to do when he spotted her outside. Ignoring Fuyumi once more, he ran out.

She was on the grass with scraped knees. What really caught his attention was her quirk. Or, rather, what he assumed to be her quirk. Her knees seemed to miraculously become healed by her.

For the first time in a while, his eyes filled up with something other than bitterness. Real, genuine interest.

His pace slowed as he got closer to her. He crouched down to her level, once again, so that he was in the center of her view. "Do you have a healing quirk?"

The question was sudden and completely out of the blue. His behavior when he was younger could be a bit erratic at times.

When Kasumi's face lifted up slightly, her cheeks were drenched. Her nose was constantly running.

"Sorta..." Again with the short answers. She sniffled really loudly.

She felt extremely dizzy that her hands were shaking from doing such a procedure. Whenever she had to heal like so, it unfortunately caused side effects. It was worse when she does it on herself.

She hated getting hurt. It sucked. It was worse when no one even bothered to help her up earlier.

She had been running to get a ball and then tripped. The kids just watched her and did nothing to help.

So she waltzed away from the playground, not bothering to go to a caretaker inside. She would rather do it herself.

Even though she was healed and the pain was gone, feeling lightheaded was making her cry. Everything up to that point was just the aftermath of it.

"You don't hafta cry about it." Toya rolled his eyes. He made no effort to help her up, but he himself didn't get up yet either. He gave a look as though telling her to go on. "Are you gonna explain it or just be sad the rest of the day?"

Kasumi used her sleeve to wipe her nose as she cried a little more. She struggled a little bit talking as her voice sounded whiny. "It involves blood."

She didn't know how to explain it nor even liked the name of it.

Blood vessel manipulation is what it was branded as.

Still not making eye contact with Toya, her head buried into her knees to fight the dizziness.

Toya grumbled something incoherent. He settled down into a sitting position across from her. "I guess you're doing both."

He wasn't entirely sure why he was sitting with her. He could just as easily go inside and train again. After all, he was frustrated the day before for 'wasting his time' talking to her. But underneath his wishes to be recognized by his father, he was still just a child. Children naturally don't want to be alone in most cases. Even though Toya tried to convince himself that his father's recognition was all he wanted, his actions said otherwise.

Kasumi peeked a little bit through her blurry tears. She wondered why he stuck around her.

Was she not creepy towards him? Usually, when someone hears anything involving blood, they upturn their nose. Like it was the most dreadful thing.

She didn't know what else to say when he made that comment. She was somewhat nervous to glance towards him.

That habit started to form at a younger age when some kids were talking. She tried to get herself involved by looking and listening. One kid pointed at the floor as a way to never look at anyone.

She couldn't remember their words, but they hurt.

She didn't even realize she was an outcast at all until that moment in her younger years.

Obviously, the silence was bothering Toya once more. She heard him scoff. She can tell he was losing patience for her not explaining more, so she decided to mumble, "It's called Blood Vessel..Mani-" She struggled to say the last word.

She always had problems when it comes to speech with a slight impediment to pronunciation.

"Blood vessel manipulation?" He finished for her. He was able to pick up on what she was trying to say fairly easily.

He didn't seem upset or scared at the name. It wasn't the typical reaction that she got. Instead, he smiled. It was a rather ornery looking smile. "I bet your quirk isn't as good as mine is."

She slightly looked up towards him for him to get a good look at her face.

Yuck.

Too much snot hanging out. Her face was a mess.

She wanted to ask him what his was, but chickened out. She quickly looked down.

"Yeah..." Was all she could really answer.

"You need to wipe your nose," he pointed out mercilessly. "You're full of boogers."

He saw her shoulders shake as though she was about to start crying again. Strangely, it caused him to panic, although not much.

There were no heartfelt words of comfort. No hand holding or head patting. Instead, he gently pinched her arm. "Stop that."

Flinching a bit, she quickly moved her arm away. She started to frantically wipe her face. It was that command that made her slightly obedient.

Especially when it comes to being mortified from such a comment.

She may not be good with words, but she sometimes listened to slight demands. All she did was nod to answer him. Even though it bothered her, she didn't retort it at all.

She really was a pushover.

A week went by, and Toya didn't visit Kasumi often. Becoming her friend had never been part of the plan. His sights were still set on gaining his father's attention. He only had another person on his mind occasionally.

Despite Kasumi being a slight distraction, his goals hadn't changed. He still wanted to prove himself. If he could just get strong enough, everything could change. Shoto wouldn't be hogging the spotlight anymore. Toya would be under its bright beam instead.

The strength that he needed felt so far away. He never once gave up, but it was exhausting him in more ways than one. He often found himself screaming within his own head and asking why he couldn't seem to be enough no matter what he did.

Deep red blisters turned to charred skin. It was a little scary for him to look at as a kid, but he told himself that he had to keep going. Surely, it wouldn't kill him. He was stronger than that, right?

His skin started to peel in some places. One day, as he inspected those wounds in the mirror, he felt something unsettling fall over him. He looked almost completely different than he did when he was younger. Fiery red hair had turned to a snowy white. Skin was peeling, dying, and even starting to fall off in areas where it was really bad.

It burned and itched without any relief. The part of his brain that he still allowed to be childish was scared and desperate for the pain to stop. The part of his brain that he trained to focus on the goal thought that it still wasn't good enough. He needed to work harder somehow.

Maybe that dummy's quirk can heal it, he thought. He didn't like the idea of going to the orphanage again, but it was a feasible option.

He made his way over there. Just as he was about to get Kasumi's attention, he saw something that froze him in his tracks.

Kasumi was staring at the grass as kids around her were taunting her. There, Toya saw her dumb face just nodding along with everyone. Not even saying anything to stand up for herself once more.

"Weird, ugly, pasty b*!" A lanky boy spat and laughed. He mimicked her whining and crying. He even cursed too as something a child his age shouldn't be saying.

Kasumi didn't answer as she kept not looking at anyone. Their words were really hurtful. Especially being called ugly.

She wanted to make fun of him in return. Like calling him a girl or something.

"Is it true? Your quirk killed your parents?" A girl laughed mercilessly.

"Didja see what she did to me the other day? She moved my arm! I swear!"

""Wow. No wonder nobody wants her. That's so creepy!" The bowl-cut brat chortled.

"Hey, hey. Give me a back massage," a 'friend' of Kasumi's ordered her.

"O-ok." Kasumi nodded to her with a forced smile. She felt like she was going to be useful.

"And draw me something for class too. I need it for homework," Another one demanded, making Kasumi nod mindlessly.

Toya's anger returned. She was letting them walk all over her. It bothered Toya, but he simply blamed it on her stupidity.

He didn't feel like interfering. He didn't care all that much what happened to her at the time. At least, he tried to convince himself of that. He was impatient to ask her to heal him, though. The constant pain in his body wouldn't let his condition be forgotten by him.

He walked closer so that the kids were all aware of his presence. He glared at the kids who were bullying her and then grabbed Kasumi's arm. "I need to ask you something if you're done letting yourself get bullied."

The kids scrunched up their noses from the sight of Toya.

"Come on, let's go," they mumbled to each other to hide their intimidation. They knew Toya came from the palace. If it was anywhere else, they would have picked a fight.

Toya's hand's grip felt a little tight, but not enough to hurt Kasumi. It felt warmer than the average hand would typically feel.

"B-but, they're my friends-" She answered him in a naive manner. Swallowing the hurt she felt prior.

"You're stupid if you think they're really your friends," he snapped. His hold on her arm became a little bit tighter before he pushed her arm away altogether. "They're just using you because you're naive enough to fall for it."

And because of that.

Because of those words and actions.

That was when the waterfalls released relentlessly. She couldn't say anything, but cry loudly.

"Nobody likes meee...." She sobbed, feeling like her insides were churning from years of isolation. Years of wanting friendship, only to get this on the other end.

She hit her limit by leaking out words she kept to herself out loud like that.

At that moment, he felt the first bit of guilt in a long time. In a way, Kasumi was similar to him. That didn't make her any less annoying to him though.

"Obviously," he stated bluntly. He didn't hold anything back. "That's why you should stop hanging out with them. They're stupid. Anyway, there's a reason I came here."

His guilt was short lived as his mind reverted back to his father like it always did.

He rolled up his sleeves to reveal burnt skin, wincing at the way that his sleeves rubbed against him. He pushed his scrawny little arms toward her. "Can you fix it?"

Still crying, Kasumi didn't reply just yet. Her chest was burning from trying to swallow her tears.

But seeing the markings on his skin, she slowly hesitated to move her hands up.

She heard him scoff because of how slow and easily compliant she was. Before he could speak up about it, her hands barely made contact with his arms. The contact hurt for a split second before the process began, causing him to flinch. When he realized what was going on, he relaxed again.

She felt extremely anxious, but felt the tips of her fingers tingling. It became so natural to her to feel his blood cells starting to replenish.

Still having tears coming out from being sad, she wondered how Toya had such severe burns.

"I don't know your name." Toya would have looked directly into her eyes if she would look at him. His eyebrows furrowed. "Mine is Toya Todoroki. I thought you should know the name of the future king."

Kasumi suddenly got more nervous and stopped what she was doing. Her face involuntarily heated up due to him telling her that.

Uwah?! King?! An explosive thought compared to her quiet nature.

Her thoughts are more expressive compared to how she acts aloud.

She then snapped out of it when Toya asked for her name once more. His voice sounded irritated from being impatient.

"I'm Kasumi..." She said.

Toya noticed that she didn't say a last name. He tilted his head, keeping his irritated expression. "Kasumi what?"

"That's my name." Her eyes started watering again, while sniffling.

"Oh, right. You're an orphan." He said it so nonchalantly. There wasn't an ounce of care in his voice. The only thing that bothered him about that was that he would have no choice but to call her by her first name. It felt unbearably awkward to him.

"Yeah..." Ignoring the sadness the best she could, she then continued finishing up the healing process. She wasn't aware of just how much relief she gave to Toya's wounds. They were completely healed.

The wooziness effect wasn't too bad this time since she healed someone else. Her hands slowly removed themselves from his arm.

"Um..." She kept being timid as her voice was very quiet. She was trying to say more.

Toya was only half paying attention to what she was saying. His eyes trailed over the skin on his arms. That was the first time in a long while that he had seen his arms free of burns. Not only that, they were completely free of any pain.

He moved his arms a few inches. The skin on his shoulders still pulled uncomfortably, but his arms didn't hurt at all. He hated the fact that, with the lack of burning pain on his arms, a burning sensation of a different kind manifested in his eyes

"Tod- um.. Toya?" Kasumi blurted out his name. She said his first name because it was easier for her to say. She stared at her feet while trying to talk.

You can do it. This is your chance.

But even speaking was causing her heart to race. She absentmindedly put a little strand of her hair in her mouth from being anxious.

Strangely, he didn't seem angry that she said that. A little surprised, yes, but not upset. "What? Just say it."

"Are.. we..." She strained to talk. Her heart was going to throw itself out of her throat if she couldn't conjure any words up anytime soon. "Are we friends now?"

Asking that made her face super red. She blushed very easily when it came to talking. It was worse with him being a boy.

His nose scrunched up a little. "No."

Her face then started to grow pale. The tears that had subsided soon returned.

She was utterly crushed.

I guess he doesn't like me either...

"Ok..." Her voice cracked, indicating that she was sobbing once more. She hated that she was crying, so she kept trying to stop it.

There was hurt and a little anger residing inside her chest at the same time. More hurt than anything, so she started to slowly turn herself around.

She wanted to go hide in the bathroom again.

His eyes narrowed. Regret immediately settled in. That didn't stop him from insulting her one last time before trying to make it better.

"Crybaby," he said grumpily. "Fine. You're an acquaintance."

Then there was a little spark of hope in her watery eyes as she met his for the first time. "I am?"

She really was super gullible to believe people so easily. Too trusting for her own good.

Why is she so happy about that? He wondered. His usual angry pout had returned. After all, it didn't make sense in his mind. Shouldn't she want more than that?

Maybe it was a good sign, though. It meant that someone appreciated him. If calling her an acquaintance was enough to make her happy, then surely that meant she held him to a high regard?

It didn't change the fact that she wasn't the one whose attention he was trying to grab. That thought soon returned and caused that tiny bit of happiness to fade away.

"Sure. Now stop crying."

He walked away, unaware of the friendship that would blossom forth from that day. Unaware of the fact that she would quickly become more than an acquaintance. That day was the real start of their friendship.

A month passed. Toya went out to see Kasumi every single day. One day, he ran outside when he saw her drawing something.

The soft green grass felt nice underneath his pained skin. There were new burns that littered his flesh every day, but he didn't pay them much mind when he wasn't training. No, when he wasn't training, a surprising amount of his attention went towards Kasumi.

His blue eyes peered over her shoulder with curiosity. "How about you draw me?"

"Ok." She timidly grinned.

She still had trouble getting out of her shell within this timeframe. Whenever the topic would go about Toya being a prince, he would chatter on for hours about how he would be the next king.

The next king to prove his merit.

Not only that, the bullies stayed away from Kasumi whenever Toya would come around. They would be intimidated that he was royalty. Additionally, it creeped them out when his body slightly smoked.

She motioned herself to turn around to face him. "Can you sit in front of me?"

Toya did as he was told, sitting on the grass with his legs crisscrossed. The gentle breeze ruffled his hair a little bit as he wore a smile full of determination. He was posing, in his own way, to have a picture drawn that would be fit for a king.

It didn't take too long for her to doodle him. Kasumi was only 11 years old.

No one else at the orphanage knew how to draw like Kasumi did. Sure, her drawings were mediocre at best, but they did show a future potential.

At least one could tell it was a person, not some blobby mess.

She eyed Toya only once and drew with a pen. Some lines overlapped each other. She drew his head like a circular shape.

The eyes looked very anime style, but they were too far apart. The spikes in his hair were alright.

The hands....

Let's not talk about the hands.

Every beginner artist's nightmare. There was no way she could draw them right.

And his head was much bigger than his body. However, Kasumi didn't see anything wrong with her drawing. She smiled as she showed him it.

"There you go."

Toya wasn't as kind about it as she'd hoped. Once again, he gave a blunt reply. "It sucks."

His comment caused her to feel disappointed. Her smile suddenly disappeared. "Oh."

Feeling her pride hurt, her eyebrows furrowed slightly angrily with teary eyes. She ripped it out of her sketchbook to redo it.

She started the process to crumble it up.

Toya's eyes widened. That same sense of guilt returned from before. The girl was sensitive, and he knew that. Yet he still said things like that. It made him feel a lot worse than he thought it would.

"Don't do that. That'll only waste more paper."

He was trying to be comforting, but he wasn't very good at it.

He stood up and quickly snatched the pen away from her. He pulled one of her arms towards himself and began to draw on her skin. He drew tiny little stick people of horrible quality. Unlike Kasumi, he had absolutely no skill for art.

"There." He tried to keep from smiling as he worked. "Now you can see what real art looks like."

Kasumi started giggling. Every time he drew, it made her very ticklish. In fact, that was probably the first time he had heard her really laugh.

When she flinched from being tickled from it, it made one of the stick figures have a really long leg. That only made her laughing worse. "His leg is huge!"

The sound of Toya's laughter merged together with hers. Neither one of them had heard the other laugh before, so it felt like a weight had been lifted from their chests.

"That's because you keep moving!"

"Heeheehee! It tickles!" She squealed uncharacteristically loud as she went to go grab her pen back from him. "My turn to draw on you!"

He kept lifting the pen above her head so that she couldn't reach it. He was a good bit taller than her, so he had the advantage in that way. He gave her a teasing smile. "It doesn't work that way."

"Toya! Give it!" She waved her hands cautiously to try to grab it. That only made a smug smile appear on his face like it was some sort of new game.

"I already said no." He turned his back to her in order to make it more difficult. He felt amused to see her struggle so much. He tried to keep his lips pressed firmly together to suppress the laugh that he could feel bubbling to the surface.

Kasumi shifted her shorter frame in an attempt to move in front of him. She was trying harder to grab the pen. She was still laughing, but then followed with an, "Eek!"

Her ankle twisted the wrong way, causing her to clumsily fall into him. This was why she was trying to be careful as she's very accident prone with her balance.

Toya wasn't expecting the sudden weight. He didn't have time to brace himself, so his feet awkwardly gave out. He found himself tumbling to the ground.

"Ow!"

He landed on his side with his face a few inches away from hers. Her face was already red with embarrassment. His own face quickly mirrored the shade. He noticed some of her features.

Like the way her hair did brush against his face upon getting up. She didn't get hurt since his body cushioned her fall.

The way the wind subtly hit her from that moment.

He rolled to the side to sit up.

Upon moving away from him, she successfully grabbed the pen from his hand. Oblivious to his gawking, she motioned herself to draw on his arm. She made a mark successfully. "Got you."

Toya's mouth gaped for a second. He looked absolutely shocked that she was able to draw on him. "That isn't fair!"

"Don't move." She kept trying to draw on him. He was flinching. "I'm going to draw a cat on you."

It was strange how she was becoming more open to talking. Just a little bit more when she's in a giggling fit.

"I don't want a cat on me!" He argued. He pulled his arm away with a pout. He felt frustrated that he had been defeated, if it could even be called that. In his mind, that was exactly what it was.

"Oh..." She then clammed up a little bit once more.

Does he not like cats?

She then lowered her hand awkwardly, not knowing what to do. She felt a little anxious again.

The guilt had returned once more. Toya huffed before reaching his arm out again.

What am I doing? He failed to meet her eyes. It was hard to push past the embarrassment that he felt for a reason that was unknown to him. "Don't make it big, ok? And only one."

The smile returned to her face once more. That stupid, awkward smile of hers.

The pen made contact with his arm. She didn't press too hard nor too light. She didn't take notice of Toya's embarrassment as he was still looking away from her. Maybe she figured he was waiting to be surprised.

She drew the cat's head as a circle. The body and legs were just basic ovals. The ears were triangles. But the face at least looked kind of cute.

When she was done, he finally turned to look at it. He didn't give it more than a glance though. Then he looked away again.

Training entered his mind again. Strangely, he didn't feel like getting back to that. He would rather be with her than go through that torment at the time.

He had the mindset similar to an adult who had to go to work. He told himself that it needed to be done, but he didn't want to move from that spot. Kasumi was a source of gentle warmth to him, and he preferred that over the burning fire of his own heart.

Maybe there was a way he could get Enji's attention without training. A way that involved her. It was a selfish idea, one that was for his own benefit alone, but he didn't stop to care about the consequences when he wanted something.

"Come here," he said suddenly. He stood up and grabbed her hand to get her up faster. "We're going inside the castle."

Inside the castle? Her eyes became wide at the anticipation. Not only that, Toya's hand was warmer than the average person's. It almost felt hot, but not too hot to burn.

Not that she would know that as she had never held anyone's hand before. Let alone a boy's hand.

She tried to keep up with him but she felt like she was going to trip over nothing. Her feet weren't well coordinated with themselves to keep up with his fast pace.

Along with her face involuntarily blushing, she somehow squeezed his hand so she wouldn't trip.

As they walked inside, they passed by the door that looked like a dungeon. Toya could hear footsteps heading down the stairs that would lead to the door. Shoto must have been trying to go see them.

Toya had spotted Shoto leaning against the window in his room and looking down at them. He obviously wanted a part in whatever was going on, but Toya wasn't planning on even letting him see Kasumi up close. It was sort of his way of saying, 'She's my friend, not yours.'

Toya pulled Kasumi along a little faster when they got to that area. He was determined to not let Shoto get any satisfaction. To his relief, they got past it before Shoto could see them.

That was Kasumi's first time inside. She gawked at how far away the ceiling was. The floors were plated with a checkered pattern of a dull grey and brown.

The window's interior had golden frames. It made her heart race. She was excited a prince was her friend - er - acquaintance.

He hadn't exactly called Kasumi his friend out loud yet, but she really felt that way about him.

The inside was so huge that their footsteps echoed around the empty hallways. It was bizarre that there was so much space, but hardly anyone around.

Well, aside from maids dusting every nook and cranny. There wasn't any dust at all to clean, but they still were cleaning. They paid no mind to the two children walking around. Toya still never let go of her hand.

This makes me want to draw a story about this. Her imagination went wild. It would involve a not-so-original story of two kids that would have cat ears.

Kasumi liked drawing herself with cat ears and a tail. Cats were her favorite animal, of course.

She wondered what fun things they would do inside. She even imagined him having his own personal playground to play in. That sounded like fun, too.

Instead, there was another young voice that caught their attention. Another girl whose hair was mostly white with a few strands of red came into their field of vision. She was also 11 years old - a year younger than Toya. Same age as Kasumi.

She gave a confused smile. "Hello. Who would this be?"

Toya scowled. "That's my acquaintance."

Kasumi lowered her eyes as she kept her hand clasped with Toya's. She pressed her lips together as her shyness was making it hard for her to even greet her in return.

She noticed the similarities.

His sister? Maybe?

Toya never really talked about his siblings. Well, he mainly bashed his other brother for being the worst. Nothing about having a sister.

Fuyumi's lips quirked to one side. She squinted her eyes suspiciously and then had to adjust her glasses. "Acquaintances don't hold hands."

"They do now," Toya argued back stubbornly.

"That isn't how it works, Toya!" Fuyumi giggled. She tried to meet Kasumi's eyes, but noticed that Kasumi had trouble returning the gesture. "What's your name?"

"Kasumi." Kasumi mumbled shyly, somehow wondering why Toya didn't let her hand go yet.

But the thing was, she didn't mind it. It felt very comforting, so it helped her talk more. "Are you Toya's sister?"

Fuyumi nodded once, adjusting her glasses again. "My name is Fuyumi. I'm glad we have a new friend around here!"

Toya simply rolled his eyes. It annoyed him that his sister seemed to try so hard to keep things peaceful. He almost wished that she would be more loud like him. "Acquaintance."

Kasumi frowned at that. She was a little more open with Toya.

Just a smidge for her to blurt out sadly and pouty, "Well, I think of you as a friend." Only to see Fuyumi smile wider towards Toya.

Toya growled. His fingers twitched slightly before tightening his grip on her hand. "I guess we can be friends."

"Really?" Kasumi's voice rose ever so slightly with a hint of happiness. Not realizing Fuyumi was studying the markings of drawings on each of their arms.

"I guess," Toya grumbled.

The more they stood by and talked, the more there was an uncomfortable feeling in Fuyumi's stomach. "Toya, you really shouldn't bring people in here, though. You know what dad will do if he sees."

"I want him to see!" Toya snapped. There was venom in his tone. "Even if he gets mad, I want him to at least acknowledge me again!"

Kasumi flinched. She had never heard Toya's voice have that tone in it before. Not only that, his hand was starting to feel hotter.

Was it really getting hotter? Was it her imagination?

She quietly listened more with a worried expression.

Fuyumi's eyes glossed over. She held her hands close to her chin in two tight fists. "He's just busy a lot. He will probably pay more attention to you when-"

"When what?!" Toya exclaimed. His hand started to get even hotter. "As long as that little moron is alive, our father will never even look at us again! He only cares about him now!"

Toya's eyes were becoming glossy too. The hatred and hurt was apparent in the way that his voice shook.

When he was younger, he didn't hate Shoto quite as much. He occasionally snapped, and even tried to harm him once, but he regretted it afterwards. As he got older, his hatred and jealousy only worsened.

"Toya, are you o-" The heat Kasumi felt against her hand worsened. It was actually burning. The more Toya was getting worked up over Shoto, the worse it got.

She felt the sting of pain that caused her to yelp. Toya felt her hand yank out of his suddenly, causing both him and Fuyumi to have surprised looks.

Kasumi became teary eyed. Her hand was slightly peeling from a second degree burn.

For a second, Toya just looked at her. There was a whirlwind of different emotions flashing through his eyes all at once. Then, with a single hiccup, tears started to trail down his cheeks.

He turned away quickly, ignoring Fuyumi to go off alone somewhere. He didn't know how to express the guilt that he felt, so he was left with an unbearable feeling inside.

Fuyumi sighed and turned her eyes to Kasumi. "He doesn't hate you, believe me. He is going through a lot right now. Come on. I'll take care of your hand, and then you should really get of here before our dad sees you."

"I'm fine- I-" Her mouth wiggled while forcing a smile. She knew it was an accident. Just by Toya's reaction, she could empathize that he was hurting.

She could understand that she could lose control of her quirk sometimes. Although, she had never seen Toya's quirk in action aside from his body smoking, and now, the burn on her hand. She knew his power had something to do with heat.

I want him to come back. It pained her heart to see him cry too. Sure, she always cried, but this was different. It was the first time Toya had shed tears around her.

Was he going to be alright?

Seeing his back turned made her want to call out for him to come back. But he was too far ahead to even hear her. She didn't have the courage to speak up.

"I'm fine, Toya." She tried to reassure, knowing he couldn't hear her.

Then she sniffled loudly. She really does cry a lot. He was right about her being a crybaby.

"I can fix it." She didn't look at Fuyumi when she said that with a cracking voice. She used her other hand to attempt to heal it.

I don't want to leave either...

She dreaded going back to the orphanage. Whenever she was with Toya, it made her days start to be fun. Well, even though he was kind of mean at times.

He finally considered her a friend. Her very first friend. She didn't want him to be sad.

Fuyumi's eyes lit up. Curiosity and wonder sparkled in her gaze. "You have a healing quirk? That's amazing!"

Usually, Kasumi would feel happy to have a compliment, but she was still feeling very sad. She felt super dizzy from fixing her hand. She wobbled a bit.

She kept sniffling hard. "...Yeah..."

Fuyumi moved to her side. She took her hand with all the tenderness that a mother would have. Even though she wasn't much older than her, she had an air of maturity about her.

Fuyumi led her to a seat in the kitchen. "Here. You can sit down while I cook something for you!"

The kitchen was certainly extravagant. It was triple the size of her orphanage's one. Again, she was looking around, but more tearfully this time.

She cooks? She didn't think someone her age would be able to. She never learned how to cook and wondered if that's someone with a family could do.

She was too naive to know about their family's complications.

She thought she was supposed to leave, but Fuyumi was too compassionate to let her go like that. Kasumi wasn't used to this type of kindness.

She was hungry, but she was also a picky eater. I hope it's good...

Still sniffling and rubbing her eyes, her thoughts kept themselves wrapped around the subject of Toya.

....

Even though she said he doesn't hate me... what if he doesn't want to see me again?

She didn't know that he was thinking about her, too. Instead of going to his own room, he went straight to the training room. He thought that maybe he could get out his frustration that way, but he could hardly activate his quirk properly.

Fire came forth from his body, but then immediately went away as his knees betrayed him. He was still just a fragile kid. The pain inside of him was far worse than the physical pain.

He cried out angrily as he tried to rub his eyes hard enough to make the tears go away. Nothing that he did could stop the sobs from overtaking him. He put his fists on the ground in front of him, stifling the aggravated scream that wanted to push its way out past his lips.

Why can't I just have what Shoto has? Why does he get the things that I want when he doesn't even appreciate any of it?! He was gasping for air at that point, completely breaking down like he had so many times before.

To make matters worse, he had hurt Kasumi. His ticket to getting his father's attention. His friend.

What if she abandons me too?

...

After Fuyumi had made Kasumi some muffins, she had her take them with her to sneak out of the castle.

Fuyumi was so very nice to her. She'd talk about how the process was with making recipes. Asked Kasumi what her hobbies were too. All that was talked about as she was leading her to the way out.

She motioned her where to go since Kasumi was practically lost.

At the exit, Fuyumi was about to part ways with her, but Kasumi had to say something.

"Thanks for the muffins and... um.." Her words failed her once more. But Fuyumi was very patient with her to speak properly. "Will you be my friend..too...?"

Fuyumi beamed at that. "Of course! I already said that I wanted to be your friend, silly!"

"Ok..." Kasumi took a glance over Fuyumi's shoulder, hoping to see Toya once more.

Of course, Kasumi felt glad to make another friend, but she hoped to say goodbye to Toya too.

But he didn't come. She had a look of disappointment that was obvious to Fuyumi.

"Bye," she said as she made her way to leave. That prompted Fuyumi to get a look of determination to go talk to Toya.

Fuyumi knew her brother well enough to know where he was probably at. She took large steps full of purpose as he went to look for him. She had to adjust her glasses every so often as she did so.

She eventually reached the training room. There, she saw Toya in a sobbing heap on the ground. Her expression softened when she saw him. "Toya..."

"Go away!" Toya practically screamed. He buried his face deeper in his hands. "I don't want to see you!"

Fuyumi flinched at his tone. "Kasumi seemed upset. I wanted you to know that she seems to care about you a lot."

"Why would she?!" Toya argued back. "I hurt her!"

Fuyumi closed her eyes for a second before taking a shaking breath. "It was an accident."

She could see that the conversation was getting nowhere. Toya was too upset to see reason just yet. It left Fuyumi feeling hopeless that she couldn't do more to stop his pain.

She had been through a lot with him. She wished she could be there for Shoto too, but, of course, that wouldn't happen. Trying to be strong was hard sometimes. She would sit on the ground with her hands covering her ears to block out the sound of angry yells and crying from both brothers. From her mother. It was a terrifying thing for her.

When Toya only continued to cry, she walked closer. She knelt down across from him and embraced him in a hug. "It's ok. I promise. She really wants to see you again."

No more words were shared between them. All Fuyumi could do was try to comfort her crying brother.

...

Another month had went by. After that incident with Toya, he made it seem like nothing had happened. He would always seem like he was really headstrong.

As for apologizing for her hand, he didn't exactly apologize for it.

It was more or less a 'you healed it so it's fine now?' type of thing. He was a bit too gruff to show any signs of guilt or sympathy. Kasumi was too oblivious to see the guilt buried beneath his eyes.

There were days Toya didn't come out at all. Kasumi didn't even know he was dealing with his inner conflicts since that had happened.

But on days Toya did come outside, Fuyumi sometimes did too.

They all would play games like pick up sticks or hide-n-seek tag.

Another one of those days had come where it had drawn out loneliness from Kasumi's heart.

She saw the girl with the bowl-cut getting adopted. She stuck out her tongue towards Kasumi in a cocky manner.

It was nice one of the bullies was leaving. It gave her that satisfaction.

But...

Will I have a family someday too? She looked at the parents taking children to leave with them.

It was always the case whenever she had moved from one orphanage to the next.

That feeling of being unwanted made her feel like no one would ever want her.

What if Toya and Fuyumi would be that way too...? Not want to be around me...?

She found herself drawing near the castle in the entrance Toya would sneak her in.

Eep. What am I doing? She felt a rush of anxiety. Was she really about to go inside without anyone else taking her?

Ok. Just... one peek...

She felt like looking inside would make her feel better and less sad. Cautiously, she popped her head inside.

"Hey. Crybaby."

Toya's face popped up directly in front of her. He moved so suddenly that it was mildly impressive he was able to even do that. When she jumped in surprise, he must have gotten his desired result, because he let out a snicker.

"Hey!" She furrowed her eyebrows in a pout. "Don't do thaaaaaat!"

She held her head to calm herself down from the small thrill of it. Her voice was mildly louder compared to her quieter tone.

"It's fun though," he argued back with a roll of his eyes. "You just get scared too easily."

She gasped in mock offense. "I do not!"

Then she blurted out a thought she had. "Were you waiting to see me?"

Toya shook his head. "No. I didn't expect you to come inside like that. I was about to go out. But you didn't see me!"

When Toya was in a good mood, he would soften up around her a little bit. He would allow himself to momentarily feel the happiness that came with her presence. It was only when he was reminded of his situation that he would really snap and change his demeanor entirely.

"Oh." She immediately believed him anyway like the gullible girl she was.

Then, she brought out her sketchbook. She moved it towards him ever so timidly. She was doing that thing again where she wouldn't speak up.

Noticing that Toya made a huff of annoyance, she then worked herself up to talk more.

Toya would always nag her about how she was a pushover and that she needed to be better at talking. Especially once they became friends.

"Um-.. do you want to read my comic?" She spoke very lowly with a wiggled smile.

Toya frowned at that. He was about to say, 'sure', but then another voice cut him off.

There was a scream coming from another part of the castle. Toya almost didn't recognize the voice, but he was able to connect the dots in his mind. It was Shoto.

Sure, he had heard Shoto scream before. But those screams were usually cut short by him trying to suppress the noise or him getting hit again to make him be quiet. Or, in some cases, the scream would give way to a series of sobs instead. That wasn't the case, though.

The scream was free of any attempt to quiet down. It was so full of anguish and desperation that it caused a strike of fear to enter Toya's heart. He didn't care about Shoto, but he was scared of whoever hurt him so terribly.

After all, his brother's attacker had to be someone inside the castle.

Shoto's quirk didn't manifest until two years ago when he was eight years old. For that reason, Enji almost gave up on him too. The only reason that he didn't was because quirks could manifest at any age. There had still been a chance that he would get his. Eventually, he did.

Life drastically changed when Shoto got his quirk. He was locked up in a separate area of the castle and no longer permitted to see his other family members. It only had worsened Enji's reign of abuse.

Occasionally, he would stand by that door when Enji wasn't around. He would wait until someone else walked by and ask them to spend time with him or to let him out. Fuyumi always apologized but was too scared to try anything. Rei, his mother, sometimes did go spend time with him.

Then there was Toya. He suddenly started hating Shoto when Shoto's quirk manifested. Whenever Shoto asked him to at least let him out to see his mother, Toya ignored him.

At first Shoto was confused. He thought that he was on good terms with his brother. He quickly came to realize that it was because Enji stopped paying any attention to Toya after Shoto got his quirk. Toya looked up to Enji, so that rejection caused him to have a deep hatred for Shoto.

Another realization that Shoto had to make was that he was in a different world than his siblings. He could never again play outside like they could. He could never again enjoy a meal with the combined efforts of his mother and sister.

When he wasn't being forced to train, he often sat by the window and watched. Fuyumi and Toya seemed to have fun outside playing with that girl whom he didn't know the name of. He could hear their loud voices and laughs from his room.

He wanted so badly to laugh with them. How fun would it be to roll around in the grass? To play tag? It seemed that, after a while, Shoto himself had forgotten how to laugh.

When Shoto was being forced to train, he wanted to play with them even more. Every bruise reminded him that he wouldn't be able to have friends ever again. It was during those times that he also learned how to perform his royal duties. That part wasn't quite as bad, but Enji still managed to make him feel scared every single time.

When his mother went to see him, things could also get bad. She tried to keep from getting caught, but more often than not, Enji found out about it. When he did, he always resorted to hitting her. Shoto tried his very best to keep her from getting hurt, even if it meant him getting hurt instead. He never expected that she would hurt him someday too.

...

Before the screaming had taken place, the queen tiptoed her way towards Shoto's room.

Rei Todoroki took the chance to see Shoto while the king was away on business.

The door quietly opened. Rei spoke in a hushed voice. "It's me, sweetie. Are you hungry?"

Shoto's eyes widened. It appeared that he was relieved, but then his expression changed to one of worry. "Is father not here?"

"He's not here. Come along. You don't need to be cooped up in there." She offered her hand towards him, hiding the small hint of anxiety in her voice.

Shoto stepped forward and took her hand. He found a little bit of comfort in the fact that Enji wasn't around. "What are you making?"

"I'll be brewing up some fresh tea along with your favorite meal. Cold soba." Rei smiled. One could tell she had bags underneath her eyes. She looked older than what she really was.

That's what stress does to someone sometimes.

She carefully walked him towards one of the many kitchens the castle had. The coast was clear, so she softly let go of his hand to make preparations.

"The maids insisted on making you some, but it's been a long time since I made you a home cooked meal." She started quietly opening the cabinets.

Shoto didn't sit down just yet. He still felt uncertain. She said that Enji wasn't there, but what if he returned? He would definitely hurt them both.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" He asked carefully.

"Yes. We'll be ok," Rei reassured, drawing water from the bronze faucet into the kettle.

Shoto finally moved to sit down. He looked down at the table. The words that he were about to say made it suddenly difficult to look at her face.

"If we're really safe doing this," he started, "Then shouldn't we try to escape?" "

She placed the kettle on the stove and tinkered with the fire to turn it on. It took a bit of adjusting, but she managed to turn it on.

"You know we can't do that." She didn't turn towards him to say that statement.

Shoto lifted his eyes to the back of his mother's head. She couldn't see it, but his eyebrows knitted together in sadness. "I hate training with him. He always hurts me. We could run away and go somewhere he can't hurt us anymore. There has to be something we can do instead of staying here."

This time, Rei didn't answer. She was still by the tea kettle. It only looked like she was watching it intently.

Shoto felt as though something was wrong. He didn't know what it was, but there was something about his mother's silence that caused him to feel unsettled. Especially when the kettle began to whistle loudly.

He swallowed hard. He felt a little guilty for feeling nervous. His mother had never hurt him before, so he shouldn't have had any reason to fear. He felt especially bad because she was a victim of Enji's abuse just as much as he was. In Shoto's mind, his mother actually had it worse.

"He hurts you too," he pointed out quietly. "He's a bully. I don't want to be around people who hurt you."

Rei's eyes appeared blanked out. By that point, the kettle was whistling quite loudly.

Shoto was talking to her, but her eyes stared more at the fire beneath the kettle.

She broke out in cold sweat. Her pupils rapidly danced around as though she was lost in her own horrible nightmare.

Her breathing quickened a little bit as she felt her heart race.

Shoto stood up from his seat. He stood there for a second, unsure of what to do, and then went to her side. "Mom?"

Hearing his voice, she turned towards Shoto. Only to see his blue eye peeking beneath his red bangs.

Seeing him stare at her caused her to imagine Enji. She thought he had returned home.

She thought she was going to be beaten to a pulp again. The man never even treated her like a proper wife.

He practically raped her after she was sold off to be married to him. Her children were her comfort and joy.

She tried to love Enji, but she couldn't. Simply couldn't.

Quirks were still a bit of a mystery as the world was half populated with it. Quirk marriages hadn't become a thing until it was drawn into royalty. The generation before Enji was a quirk marriage as well. Enji himself was a product of the practice. There were success rates of promoting stronger quirks.

Those words echoed in Rei's head of how that was his only use for her.

And to dare not ruin his image. That she should be grateful she would still reside in the castle.

To not ever get in his way from what he wanted with Shoto.

"You can't tell me what to do." Her voice sounded crazed. Eyes widened in psychiatric distress, she grabbed the kettle and poured it onto Shoto's sapphire eye.

Shoto could hardly process what was going on. In the matter of a few seconds, he felt an intense pain on that side of his face. He stumbled backwards until his back hit the table.

A scream ripped itself out of his lungs. He tried desperately to push her away, but she was stronger than him. Not only that, she wasn't aware it was her son she was attacking.

He didn't understand it at the time. The one who was supposed to be his safe space was hurting him too. Both of his eyes were clenched tightly shut, but there were tears starting to appear anyway.

Rei moved herself back, realizing what she had done. "Shoto...?"

Her hands shook rapidly. His screams filled into her ears. It was so haunting to her that she shrieked herself. She didn't offer to help him.

Nor console him.

She was having a mental breakdown. She hurried out of the kitchen. Loud sobs and wails could be heard from her as she rushed by Kasumi and Toya.

Kasumi's face paled from the sound of the screaming. She didn't see Toya's face, but she moved on her own regardless.

Curiosity and fear was making her head that direction. Toya only followed behind her.

The two entered the kitchen to see the sight of Shoto.

Shoto sat on the floor then. Both of his hands were desperately holding the left side as his face as though that would do anything to help the pain. Instead of him feeling relieved that someone entered the room, his crying only became louder. A feeling of panic washed over him.

It could be Enji entering the room. He would hear his cries, and instead of offering sympathy, he would probably just roughly drag him to get medical attention. Or it could be Rei, although that wasn't likely with the way she ran out. If it was her, what would she even do? Would she try to help or only make things worse? Shoto had no way of knowing.

Toya eyed the tea kettle on the ground. There was a small amount of water spilled out onto the floor. Steam rose from the area.

He was shocked by the sight. Did mom...?

He caught sight of Kasumi going over to Shoto. He quickly moved in front of her to block her way. "Don't bother helping him. He's a nobody. Just a golden child that gets special treatment all the time for something he didn't even work for."

This doesn't look like special treatment to me. Kasumi's eyebrows furrowed. She saw that lady running out of the kitchen. Her gut feeling was that she wasn't coming back.

Usually, she would cave in and listen. Shoto's cries were making her feel guilty if she didn't help. She did have the ability to.

"He looks like he was hurt on purpose..." She nervously strained to say that only to cause Toya to scoff. She went to move around Toya, but was stopped once more.

"So what if he was?" Toya snapped back. "He deserves it. Let's just go. He won't die, so you don't have to feel bad."

His logic was twisted. He knew that she felt pity because Shoto was in pain, but he didn't care to dwell on that fact very much.

Shoto was able to determine who was in the room from the voices by that point. However, it didn't raise his hopes much. Toya was determined to not let the girl help.

Toya's words didn't convince Kasumi, though. She felt her heart race while her hands shook. She remembered all the times she had cried when she was bullied.

It wasn't bad enough to where she was in Shoto's condition, but all she wanted deep down was for someone to help her.

She was too dependent.

He needs someone to help him too.

In her comics, she always drew herself as some type of heroine. Sure, she drew herself being saved too at some moments.

In her own little world, she felt like she could be someone important.

Then there was that other feeling of listening to Toya for not wanting to upset him. She felt like crawling back into her shell, but Shoto's crying was making it difficult.

"I-I'm gonna help him." Her own eyes were tearing up. A sign of that empathy of hers.

She didn't hear Toya's grunt in annoyance due to Shoto's loud and distressed sobs. She made it towards him with her hands trembling.

Her one hand was underneath Shoto's chin and the other on the part of the injury. Well, lightly hovering over it.

She didn't know that the sight of her being near Shoto didn't settle well with Toya.

Toya didn't move at first. It bothered him, but there was still a sense of guilt regardless. Not for his attitude towards Shoto, but for the fact that he thought about pulling Kasumi away.

As Kasumi's quirk worked, Shoto's face relaxed a bit. It went from being tense with pain to a less intense expression. Eventually, he opened his eyes and looked at Kasumi.

There was still a deep sadness in his eyes, but there was also a lot of relief. One of his hands curled into a fist around the bottom part of her shirt, trying to keep her close as a source of comfort. "Thank you..."

That was what caused Toya to snap again. He rushed over and practically ripped Kasumi away from him. Shoto just watched sadly, not making too much of an effort to stop him.

---

A/N: Please, don't forget to vote and comment!! I was going to draw Kasumi to show you what she looks like, but my hand hurts too much from drawing webtoons all day. ;w;

A/N: Here's how Kasumi looks!! I drew her as her young self. uwu

This is the age group:

Toya: 12 years old

Kasumi and Fuyumi: 11 years old

Shoto: 10 years old

------------------------

"I said not to!" Toya exclaimed. "He's fine!"

Kasumi's eyes widened with a confused face. She didn't know that Toya reacting that way was due to his own jealousy.

Because it was her giving that attention to Shoto.

"I-I need to finish it..." She averted her eyes away from Toya. She stared at the ground as she was starting to feel cowardly again.

It'll scar if I don't.

"He's not screaming anymore, so it's fine," Toya argued. He shot a glance at Shoto. It somehow made him even angrier to see the way his brother seemed to shrink down under his gaze.

"But..." She started to bite onto her bottom strand of her hair anxiously. She hesitantly looked towards Shoto, who was sniffling loudly.

I want to try to be his friend.

She felt extremely bad for him.

"My name's Kasumi." She somehow managed to speak towards Shoto. She knew he didn't exactly ask her for an introduction. She even surprised herself for saying anything to begin with.

Maybe because she knew the feeling of others walking away from her. She wondered how many times anyone else wanted to say something for her sake, but didn't.

"I'm Shoto Todoroki," he replied. He didn't really feel like talking much, but she did help him. He would feel rude if he didn't.

Even though the pain wasn't as bad, he was still trembling badly. His heart wouldn't stop hammering ruthlessly against his ribcage.

Toya glared at Shoto. He takes everything from me. I won't let him take her, too!

"Say another word to her and I'll burn the rest of your face," Toya threatened. He felt slightly satisfied from the sight of Shoto flinching.

Kasumi lifted her sketchbook she had placed on one of the counters. She looked sad hearing Toya talk to Shoto like that.

"Toya, no. I want to be his friend too. He looks like he needs one." She hid behind her sketchbook to help her talk better. "M-maybe we can all read my comic together?"

"We can." Toya grabbed one of her hands, forcing her to show her face. "I don't want anything to do with him, though."

Shoto struggled to keep from sobbing again. He wanted so badly to be Kasumi's friend, but he was scared to say anything. He didn't doubt that Toya would attack him, and he didn't want to feel that horrible pain again.

He wished to see Kasumi's comic. Maybe it would bring him some sort of comfort. Something to think about other than what had happened to him. He didn't say that aloud.

Kasumi frowned at Toya. She didn't understand what it was like to have siblings or the conflict that came with the Todoroki brothers.

She didn't want to upset Toya anymore, nor did she want to leave Shoto out. She knew Toya hated Shoto a lot by him talking about him before with her.

But she didn't think Shoto was a bad person. Not with the way he looked at her in desperation.

Before she could reply to Toya, there was a booming voice that echoed in the room.

"What are you doing out here, Shoto?!"

Their attention turned towards the source. Kasumi somehow felt even more nervous than before.

There stood King Enji. Flames danced on his chin. His attire had very intricate details as a long robe draped from his shoulders. Armor was plated on different parts of his body.

He wore large black gloves that went up to his elbows. He was in the process of taking them off. His threatening eyes pierced towards Shoto. There were servants behind Enji, awaiting their orders.

Shoto's breath hitched. He tried to back away more, but he was already against the counter.

He didn't want to tell him about what happened with Rei. If he ever found her, he would be so angry. Shoto wished he could protect her, but lying was probably useless in that situation. There was enough physical evidence to say that Shoto didn't do all of that himself. Otherwise, he would have tried to take all the blame.

"Mom wanted to spend time with me," he managed to say. He tried to put on a strong front. "I chose to go with her, and then I upset her, so...it's my fault."

The large red burn around his eye was impossible to miss. So was the kettle on the floor. It wasn't hard to tell what happened just from looking at the room. At least, a basic idea of what happened.

Instead of showing him genuine concern to such an injury, Enji's face darkened in irritation.

"You know what to do." He snapped at one of the servants. Whenever Shoto would get hurt during their 'training', he would get medical attention.

None of his injuries would ever scar. This one was definitely the worst of it.

One of the servants hurried away and another went to Shoto's side wordlessly.

Enji had kicked out a servant once for even showing a smidge bit of a compassion to Shoto.

Then he turned his intimidating gaze towards Kasumi. She froze in fear, but the weird thing was...

Toya shown no signs of being scared at all? It was like he was anticipating Enji's attention.

"What the h* is a peasant girl doing in here\, Shoto?!" He immediately put the blame on his younger son. "For f*'s sake! Can't anyone do any s* right?!" The king was yelling loudly\, intensifying the flames on his face. "You know better! You're not allowed to waste your time playing!"

"Can't I just play with them for a little bit?" He pleaded. He tried to pull away from the servant, but was immediately held in place. He couldn't hold back the tears that once again began to fall.

Toya's eyes widened in a manner that almost made him seem insane. He smiled up at Enji. "I brought her in here. It was me."

"Not now, Toya!" Enji barked dismissively, ignoring Toya's statement. His eyes became bloodshot towards the servant. "No, you won't! Take him away now!"

The servant obeyed immediately, taking Shoto to get some medical attention. Shoto wasn't out of the room completely yet. Watching the horrors about to unfold.

Enji made his way towards Kasumi. Towering over her, she felt ever so small before him. Her heart raced at a high rate. She clung to her sketchbook as an attempt for comfort. The fear paralyzed her legs to stay ground from running away.

Their dad is so awful. I can't believe he's a king!

Her eyes began to sting, but she was too afraid to be angry.

Enji ripped the book out of Kasumi's hands, causing her to fall back onto her bottom.

"Witness this, Shoto. This is what happens when you have friends." Enji then threatened Kasumi in disgust. "Don't you show your face here again!"

The sketchbook completely became caught up in a harsh fire. It turned into ashes as she, Shoto in the distance, and even Toya watched in shock.

"This is your compensation for trespassing, brat." Enji scowled menacingly without a hint of remorse. Shoto was finally gone from their view.

All her drawings were gone. Just like that.

No... I didn't get to show anyone yet. I wanted to...!

At first, she was too shocked to cry, but then the droplets viciously came out. She tried to not sob loudly, but it only annoyed Enji further.

Despite the fact that Toya had made her shed tears before, he couldn't stand seeing Enji make her cry. He clenched his fists. First not paying him any mind. Then making Kasumi cry?

"Why are you mad at her?!" He screamed. "I brought her in! It's my fault she's here!"

He was so desperate for Enji's acknowledgment that he didn't care if he got hurt. He would rather that happen than to be ignored entirely.

"Shut up, Toya!" Enji practically hissed. "This isn't the business of a worthless failure such as yourself!"

How could he say that? Kasumi's anger started to rise up mixed in with her feeling of immense hurt. She wanted so badly to stand up for her friend. Cowardice overpowered her instead. Her eyesight became blurred.

To hear those words from a parental figure as a kid feels like the end of the world. There, in that kitchen, Toya's world was ending all over again. Like so many times before. He got the acknowledgment, but he still was hurt.

Why am I even alive? It was a question that haunted his mind often. If he was a failure, then why?

There was growing irritation towards Kasumi's sobs. Enji continued yelling at her. "State your name!"

She only kept crying as she struggled to do as she was told. Her stomach was getting upset.

"Name!" He snapped louder.

She didn't answer. His harsh tone only caused her to cry more. Crying was a huge nuisance towards Enji. He had hit Rei so many times before so this was no different. He raised his hand to strike Kasumi. She squeezed her eyes shut.

I can use it. I can-

But she became too afraid to use the offensive side of her quirk.

Toya got in between them. Enji's hand froze.

He grabbed Kasumi's hand once more and started to pull her away. The tears forming in his eyes didn't stop him from saying one last, "I hate you," to Enji before leaving the room.

Did he actually hate Enji? Toya had no clue. Probably not since he still wanted to be appreciated by him. Then again, feelings aren't always black and white.

"Fine. Take her! She's nothing just like you are, Toya! You two fit together!" Enji's voice echoed out from the distance. "You will always be nothing but a failure! Hate me all you want. It's the truth, you waste of space!"

Kasumi's frame was trembling. She was hurting so much as she held Toya's hand tighter. She was hurting for Toya more than herself.

Toya led her to another room and closed the door behind them. He finally let go of her hand and started to wipe away his tears.

He had his head lowered so that she couldn't really see that he was crying. She could only hear it.

Toya's frustration grew. He wanted to punch something, but he would get in trouble if he punched a wall. He didn't want to hurt Kasumi.

That was the second time she had seen Toya cry. Yeah, she always cries too. But it was making her face soaked seeing him like that.

She wanted to reach out to him and comfort him, but she was too scared to.

I always do this. I'm not able to do things I want. Why is it so hard to?

Why is it hard to be like the me in my stories? She isn't this scared to do anything.

Her sketchbook burning up didn't matter so much anymore even though that tore her apart. Her hatred towards Enji had just started.

She loathed bullies so much. She couldn't comprehend why they feel such a gain of power putting down others.

Just before, she was wanting a family to be adopted into. But wouldn't she be away from Toya if that were to happen?

She cried more audibly along with him. She wanted to ask him more about the things he was going through. She couldn't.

Just ask him. Nothing came out. Only the burning sensation filled her nostrils while she kept trying to swallow back her tears. She didn't want to cry any longer. She wanted to help Toya more than anything.

Hearing her begin to cry louder caused him to turn around. Before, he would get annoyed at her for crying. However, this was different. He could understand being scared of Enji to a certain extent. He himself wasn't scared of him, but he knew that Enji had the ability to intimidate most people.

For a girl who could hardly handle socializing at all, being threatened by someone like Enji must have been terrifying. Toya could at least see that much.

He gently placed a hand on top of her head. He was about to remove his hand, but then she started to cry louder. He had a deadpan expression despite his quiet sniffling. "What's your deal now?"

"You're hurt, Toya. Because of me, you're hurting." She blamed herself while not looking into his eyes.

What was she talking about?

She felt guilty that he was even patting the top of her head. His hand was so gentle and warm despite his gruff tone.

"I'm... sorry.." She hiccupped while crying. "I shouldn't have come today."

"It's all Shoto's fault!" Toya argued. "He..."

He trailed off when he quickly realized that wasn't helping. She didn't see things exactly like he did, so him blaming Shoto didn't make her feel any better.

"It's my fault," Toya corrected. That was the first time he ever admitted to being in the wrong about, well, anything. "I made things worse by being mean to Shoto. If I had just let you heal him, we could have left before my dad got back."

"But still... he...he..." She started to stammer a little bit while sniffling hard. "Your dad... He was really mean to you..."

Both of you. She wanted to say, but she didn't want to upset Toya further when it comes to Shoto. Shouldn't a father console his son?

Maybe if she could have told him she could heal Shoto... Would he have let her?

No. She could tell that man was difficult to reason with.

"I don't like that," she continued. She looked directly at him when she said that with her eyes glistening.

This dumb girl just had her sketchbook burnt to ashes and nearly got hit, and that's all she is thinking about? Me?

"There's nothing anyone can do about it," Toya grumbled. He pulled his hand back to wipe more tears away. His crying had slowed to sniffles already. His attention was more on her. "I won't let him hurt you, though."

Did Toya ever try talking to his dad about his feelings?

That was a dumb question she thought of. Was Enji really the type of person that would talk?

He denied Shoto from having friends, so why would he listen to Toya?

Even though he said that, she didn't want Enji to hurt Toya. Honestly, she was a little surprised with his softness regarding that.

Usually, he would say to suck it up or that she was being a big crybaby.

It felt like he was also opening up to her like she was to him. But that didn't last long.

She didn't realize she was balling her free hand - the one Toya didn't hold earlier - so hard.

When it released, there were parts of the ashes from her sketchbook. Her hand was smeared ever so dirtily with it.  "Oh..."

That sketchbook was clearly very important to her. Toya felt something like sadness within. He was feeling sympathy for her. He just didn't know it yet.

"You'll need to wash your hands," he stated bluntly. "Go do that at the orphanage. If you stick around here for too long, he might come looking for you."

Her lips quivered a little bit. She didn't want to leave him at all. Then there was something else troubling her.

"B-but..." She was having trouble trying to get the words out.

For once, Toya didn't interrupt her. He raised his eyebrows slightly in annoyance, but he didn't say a word.

"What about that crazy lady? I'm scared to go by myself..." She then lightly tugged on his sleeve without looking at him.

Toya looked down at her hand on his sleeve. There were ashes starting to get on his clean clothes from her hand. "You're ruining my clothes."

He said those words, but he didn't feel nearly as irritated as he tried to seem.

"Oh, sorry." She replied, feeling her shoulders deflate. She went to remove it, but his next words stopped her from doing so.

"The damage is already done, so it doesn't matter now." He pouted. "You can walk with me, but only because you're scared."

"Oh..." She felt even more confused, but she didn't let go at all. Expecting him to call her a 'wimp', he didn't at all.

He learned overtime that she's typically a very jumpy person. When she's really scared over dumb things, he would call her that.

Guess today was excusable.

"Who was that lady anyway?" She asked.

"That was my mom," he stated. It didn't seem that there was any emotional attachment to the woman. Only bitterness. "She has never hurt anyone before. I wonder what Shoto did to make her so upset."

"Your... mom did that?" Toya saw Kasumi's face started to pale a bit. He felt the tugging on his sleeve tremble a little bit.

She never heard Toya ever talk about his mom before. Only Shoto and his dad were the main topics.

It made her even wonder what Shoto did, too. Earlier, he looked so terrified. She could clearly tell he was innocent from whatever it was.

"Do you hate your mom, too?" She asked curiously.

He shrugged. "She doesn't matter to me. She was forced to marry my dad, so it's not like she wanted any of this to begin with. But she cares more about Shoto, too."

That wasn't exactly the case. Rei simply talked about Shoto a lot and had to pour more energy into caring for him due to the abuse he was put through. She didn't have favoritism towards any of her children, but she did tend to be a little more loving to Shoto. Not only was he the one who underwent the most physical abuse, but he was also the youngest.

It didn't change the fact that she wasn't always there for Toya or Fuyumi, but she did have good intentions. Toya misinterpreted it as her thinking Shoto was better than the rest of them. In reality, she was trying to make her youngest child a little more comfortable through the horrors that he faced.

Are all parents like this...? Is this what family is about? Kasumi didn't understand it. In the past, she saw happy families from outside the window before.

Nothing like this.

It made her very confused. Her pressed her lips together from asking anymore. She watched the back of Toya as she securely clung to his sleeve.

There was something also stirring inside of her that she couldn't understand either.

...

It had been two days since the incident. Part of Shoto's face was wrapped up from his burn injury.

He was isolated once more with servants who had paid no mind to speaking nor befriending him.

The queen had never returned from that day. Enji was more worried about his image more than his own wife to bring her back to him.

His soldiers searched, but unfortunately found her body. There was an indication she stabbed herself into her throat.

That was the unfortunate news. She was dead.

A suicide.

Enji didn't even bother going to see the body. News had circulated within the castle without the children knowing just yet.

People were bickering and bombarding the king with questions what or who could have caused this.

"Someone killed her." Enji put up a front to not make himself look bad. Even faked any sympathy for his wife's demise.

There was an uproar about who it was in question. He framed a mere servant and that servant was to be put to death.

Later on, Shoto heard Enji come into his room to tell him the news.

"Your mother is dead. I hope you're happy for causing her death." Enji put blame on him without missing a beat. Without letting the terrible news sink in with any hint of compassion.

It felt like everything stopped for a moment. Even Shoto's emotions seemed to be at a standstill, trying to figure out how to process the news. He gritted his teeth as tears filled his vision.

"It's your fault." Shoto looked him in the eye with pure hatred. "She wouldn't have hurt me if you had treated her right! She wouldn't have run away!"

"Watch your tone, tool." Enji reprimanded coldly. He started using gaslighting words towards him. "She killed herself because of you. Why else would she try to bring you harm? If you've never left the room with that harlot, none of this would have come to pass!"

Shoto suddenly went quiet. He wanted to continue arguing, but those words cut deep. He already felt guilty before, but hearing that she committed suicide made it worse.

One thing kept repeating in his mind. She wouldn't have died if he was never born. He wanted to say sorry to her for the pain that he caused, but he couldn't do that when she was gone already.

Seeing how Shoto was silent, but also at the brink of tears, Enji roughly grabbed his collar.

"Stop showing signs of weakness. A future king never cries." He could feel Enji's spit splat onto his face from barking so coldly. "This is what happens when you don't listen to orders! You need to stop being an embarrassment in the Todoroki lineage!"

He let go of Shoto abruptly, only to push him onto the ground with a strong force.

"Don't you get it, Shoto?! You need to straighten up!" He yelled mercilessly and gave him a kick into his leg.

Shoto tensed up, but he didn't cry out. Instead, he stood up despite the pain. "I don't want to be future king. I never did."

He wanted to break down crying, but that would only get him hurt further. He had to push his emotions down in order to avoid getting hurt worse. Still, the guilt and grief made that nearly impossible.

His mother was one of the few people who tried to keep him safe and happy. If even she couldn't handle being around him anymore, would anyone want to again?

"You will be future king! Toya was close to becoming king for having more firepower than I!" Enji kicked once more. "He had his mother's weak constitution. He was so close, but he was a failure. It has to be you, Shoto! Get up and be a man!"

This time, Shoto used his palms to allow himself to sit up. He didn't even attempt to stand again. "How can I get up if you keep kicking me down?!"

He meant the words in a literal sense, but they were true figuratively as well.

"You really are stupid, aren't you, tool?!" Enji continuously abused him. Not enough to damage him greatly, but enough to mark minuscule bruises.

When he was done, he slammed the door behind him without any exchange of words.

Shoto heard Enji's loud voice from the hallway outside his door. Something about finding his other children.

"They're playing outside, sir," a servant stuttered lowly.

Enji's voice soon had disappeared, indicating he was gone.

Finally, Shoto could cry. He no longer had to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. However, he decided that he should try to relieve the pain regardless. He pressed his right hand against the wounds that hurt the worst.

As he was trying to tend to his wounds, his tears started to steadily roll down his cheeks. He stopped before he had touched with his icy hand to all of the areas that brought him pain. He put his head down atop his knees and stopped trying to fight off the sobs.

That was just it. His mother was truly gone. A grief that a husband should also feel, but Enji had none.

...

"Eeek!" There was squeals hanging from the air. The game of tag was set into motion between Kasumi, Toya and Fuyumi.

They were playing in the courtyard area, away from the orphanage playground.

Kasumi would always receive glares from the other orphan children every time she went out, so the three children wanted to play amongst themselves. Toya and Fuyumi both knew the kids at the orphanage were mean to Kasumi.

After all, they all had a great bond with each other. Their own little group. Toya didn't want to include anyone else.

Toya was chasing Kasumi, but she was, of course, a little too slow.

Fuyumi's feet carried her as fast as she could force them. She rushed in front of Toya and managed to scoop Kasumi up. They were all surprised by her strength, but her moment of heroism didn't last long.

Toya wasn't able to stop running in time. He charged right into the group, knocking them all to the ground. They fell down in a fit of giggles.

Toya reached his hand over and tapped Kasumi's arm. "I got you!"

"Hey!" Kasumi exclaimed with a smile. "Come back here!"

Toya was already running ahead as Kasumi was 'it' this time. Fuyumi was caught by Kasumi as she knew Kasumi was a little slower due to trying to be careful not to trip.

She's too klutzy when she tries to run too fast.

Then there was catching Toya next. She was trailing way behind him, only for him to look back with a smug grin.

Toya's heart filled with warm. Never did he think that he would enjoy things as simple as playing tag. He always thought that training was the only way to feel fulfilled. He found that playing with them was the next best thing.

Toya's eyes shone with mischief as he laughed. "Slowpoke!"

Kasumi gave a great pout as she panted. It was hard for her to keep up. Toya would keep taunting her, but he stopped running when she stopped.

This calls for a secret weapon. Acting!

She tried to pick up speed again to chase Toya. When his head was turned around, she yelled a big, "Ow!"

She faked that she tripped and was curled up into a ball.

He slowed down his pace until he was fully stopped. He looked at her with suspicion. "Kasumi?"

When she didn't get up, he went to her side. "Come on. I know you're clumsy, but don't tell me you actually got hurt that badly from tripping."

He didn't want to admit it, but he was actually worried.

She didn't move for a brief moment. She waited until his foot was just close enough to...

"Got you!" She tapped his ankle, while looking up with a victorious smile. "Tag!"

Toya's jaw dropped. He didn't expect someone as shy as her to play a trick like that. It made him feel something like...pride?

He quickly tried to cover it up with a scowl. "You tricked me!"

"You're not mad that I won, are you?" She asked in concern when his expression changed. She knew from other games they would play together, if Fuyumi would win... well..

He didn't exactly take losing very well.

This was the first time she had won against him. She didn't think he would fall for it.

She didn't expect him to go towards her either, but he did.

He tried to continue looking angry, but eventually, his expression softened a bit. "It doesn't matter. Let's keep playing. You only got lucky!"

She stared at him like he had two heads. She actually couldn't believe that he was acting... nicer?

No calling me cheater? Nothing?

The gentle breeze started to kiss her cheeks as she started to space out. She was moved for the fact it was nicer of him to act like a good sport.

It was short-lived when she was literally tagged for having her mind in the clouds.

Well, a gentle flick in the forehead.

"Ah! Hey!" She frowned as she saw Toya already running away.

"You're too slow, you dork!" Toya grinned in victory.

When Fuyumi saw that Kasumi was tagged, she started to slow down like she did before. It wasn't enough to make it easy for Kasumi, but just so that she would have a little bit more of a chance. Toya, on the other hand, was running full speed.

He ran so fast that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going anywhere. He ran right into Enji, who had apparently gone to get them. He froze, unsure of what to do except step back.

Fuyumi and Kasumi immediately stopped what they were doing, too. Fuyumi felt a wave of fear wash over her.

"Come inside. Now." Enji's tone was very mean. His nose scrunched up hatefully. His large frame towered over them while his arms were folded.

Fuyumi noticed that Kasumi looked scared. She tried to give her a reassuring smile, but her lips quivered. "You can go back to the orphanage if you want. We'll find you later."

Instead of being scared, Toya felt excited. He wondered if maybe he would finally get some attention from his father. It wasn't likely, but he couldn't but hope. After all, it was one of the few things he cared about in life.

Finally. Maybe he can see that I've been working so hard-

That excitement slightly soured when Enji's threatening words came out of his mouth.

He glared at Kasumi, causing her to feel even more terrified being noticed.

"And you too, peasant brat. She isn't going back anywhere." He growled. "You're the other one at fault for this."

Fault..? For what? I'm scared! Is he going to hurt me? She felt like she was going to choke on her own heartbeat racing. She looked at the ground while already motioning herself to go inside with them.

As they walked inside, Toya was the closest to Enji. The other two stayed behind a little bit due to their fear.

Toya gave Enji an angry look. "What exactly are you blaming her for? She hasn't done anything."

"Yes, she has," Enji retorted back. He stopped them in an empty room to speak.

"After Rei's encounter with Shoto, the peasant must have played a part of what happened." He continued, making sure no one dared to interrupt him. "Since you failures have the decency to know this: Your mother killed herself."

Fuyumi could hear her heart pounding in her ears. How could it be possible that she would die like that? It was difficult for a child to understand.

It didn't take long for Fuyumi to start crying. She put her hands over her mouth to stifle her sob, but it wasn't working as well as she had hoped.

It was hard to tell how Toya felt. He himself didn't know for sure. No tears came from him. His only reaction was a mostly blank stare.

Kasumi couldn't comprehend what she just heard. She didn't understand the concept of suicide.

Regardless, learning that Toya's mother had died made her feel super upset for him.

Why would she die like that? She didn't know the lady, but she was hurting for Fuyumi and Toya.

She knew that her parents had died too. She didn't want her friends to experience losing a family member like that.

Her eyes welled up, but her thoughts were soon interrupted with a hard grasp on her wrist.

"If you didn't play with Shoto, she would still be alive!" Enji blamed her. Her eyes became widened with fear. She couldn't get herself to cry this time.

She would have been...? Kasumi believed it so easily. She was easily manipulated to think it was her fault.

"That's not true!" Toya snapped. His emotions were like a vicious tornado rampaging through his mind. There was a feeling that something was missing mixed with guilt. There was also anger towards Enji and Shoto.

Once again, Shoto was the easiest one to place the blame on. Toya didn't know, however, that Shoto was almost to the room. That he had seen Kasumi walk into the castle looking afraid. That he had found a way out of his area of the castle.

"Shoto killed her!" Toya screamed. Tears were finally released by him. "Shoto is the one who upset her, so he killed our mom!"

At that moment, another pair of footsteps were heard entering the room. It was Shoto. He appeared sad at first, but then he glared at Enji. "I heard part of the conversation. Kasumi didn't arrive until after mom hurt me. She didn't have anything to do with it."

"Shoto! What are you doing out of your room?!" Enji marched over towards Shoto, dragging Kasumi along with him.

Kasumi fear intensified. She tried her best not to cry.

It hurts...! Please, let me go! Was what she wanted to exclaim, but she felt too afraid to.

Shoto ignored the question. Instead, his eyes flickered from Kasumi to Enji. "You already said that it's my fault, so why are you blaming her now?"

As Toya was watching, the same strong hatred that he always felt for Shoto returned once again.

Look at me. Why aren't you listening to me?!

There was a twisted thought that he wanted to be the one to defend Kasumi.

I want to protect her. You're taking my spotlight!!

To Toya, Shoto really did get everything that he wanted.

Toya had tried to defend her against Enji, and hardly gotten a reaction from him at all. Yet as soon as Shoto showed up, Enji stomped in his direction. In Toya's eyes, that wasn't fair at all. He did almost the same exact thing and nothing happened.

Not fair. It's just not fair!

"Go back to your room now! If you don't do what I say, I'll break her limb off." Enji's hand tightened on her wrist, causing her to flinch.

She was trembling viciously at this point.

He's really serious...

She wanted to do something - anything - to get him away from her. She had no guts to.

Instead, she helplessly looked towards someone.

Of all the people who were in the room, she looked at Toya.

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A/N: Please comment on what you think! You can comment on different parts of the story multiple times! We don't mind!