Echoes of Vapor (Shoto Todoroki)

01.01

PART 01

PAIR OF DICE

When Ryou returned home, he felt a chill run up his spine as he stared at his front door, gripping his key tight. He pushed the key in and twisted, the satisfying click barely had time to ring out as he opened the door.

Immediately he was greeted with the sight of his foster mother, Yua Suzuki, sitting in front of the television, sipping a cup of tea.

"Welcome home..." She greeted before standing up and facing Ryou, "Ryou, sweetheart, where were you all day? We were so worried for you!" She said with a frown. She opened her arms up to prepare for a hug, which Ryou shied away from.

"Ryou, you need to be more comfortable with physical affection, we're family, and I'm your mother," Yua scolded lightly, taking the house keys from Ryou and pocketing them. Ryou scowled slightly but made no comment. Yua clicked her tongue in irritation, tugging Ryou's jacket off, "Take this off, you're inside now."

Ryou's patience was wearing thin, wanting nothing more than for Yua to leave him alone. In the year he spent living in the Suzuki household, Ryou felt like he was suspended in a limbo of feeling loved and neglected. Everything that Yua did for him felt forced and with every warm action, a chilling feeling was left in its wake and sent shivers down his spine.

Heavy footsteps caught Ryou's attention as Hideo Suzuki, his foster father, approached him and Yua.

"Yua, leave the kid alone. He clearly doesn't appreciate anything we give him." He snapped bitterly with a nasty glare towards Ryou.

A giggle chimed behind the burly man as he berated Ryou. Ryou frowned slightly, eyes focusing on a girl who was younger than him. His supposed "sister" Akari Suzuki, who never acted like a sister.

She was a bully who took pride in the fact that she was the biological child and he wasn't. Ryou couldn't hold back a scowl in her direction, to which she stuck her tongue out in response. Yua lightly slapped Hideo's bicep with a 'tsk.'

"Ah, nonsense! He just needs some warming up, Hideo!" She insisted with a crazed look in her eyes, looking back at Ryou, "Isn't that right?"

Ryou shifted uncomfortably and before he knew it, his quirk was pouring mist out of his mouth, and he was hidden from view. Yua frowned deeply, sending a sharp look towards her husband.

"Now Ryou, what have we discussed about using our quirk in the house?" Yua asked sweetly, making an effort to fan away the mist. Ryou made no response, producing more mist than what Yua could fan away, curling into a ball. When Yua was met with silence, her smile became more strained as she forced a laugh, "Oh! Well, maybe you forgot. The rules are that you cannot use your quirk in the house!"

In response, Ryou simply poured more mist out of his mouth, the initial fogginess of his quirk brought him more comfort than Yua could ever provide. Yua grit her teeth and clenched her fists, contemplating whether or not she should enter Ryou's space to retrieve him.

One look from Hideo was all it took for her to turn her back with a loud hmph, "Fine! I can't believe I even try with that boy! We give him food, water, and a place to live, but he insists on shutting us out! We've been nothing but good to this boy, so why isn't anything working!?" Yua's voice strained with each peak of anger as she headed toward the kitchen.

Ryou glowered slightly, taking deep breaths before standing up and dusting himself off. He pushed through his mist and made a run for his room. His room contained nothing but a bed, a bedside table, a wardrobe, and a desk. The definition of barren with no personalization whatsoever. According to Hideo, he had not earned that privilege yet as he was not considered a true part of the family.

Admittedly, he was right. Ryou held no desire to even try and get comfortable. He wanted nothing more than a real family that would love him truly and realized that this place was not it. It wasn't that he was against every family he was put into the care of, he was only against them depending on if they were sincere or not. The first day he arrived, the family was seemingly welcoming. However, when they sat him down to discuss the rules about his quirk, that was when he knew that they desired not to love him, but to fix him instead.

If they succeeded in "fixing" him, they would be able to brag to their friends about how they took in a troubled child who was rebellious and lacked discipline and turned him into an obedient child who would make just about anybody proud.

Ryou frowned deeply as he tucked himself into bed, and dozed off to dream about the cozy restaurant with the warm food and the kind chef. He dreamed that instead of the miserable life he was living, he was still with his real parents and going to a school regularly, learning as much as he could and doing well. He dreamed that he wouldn't have to worry if he would have to move again after finally making some friends that made him feel comfortable.

Ryou's dreams were soft, comfortable, and reminded him of his quirk. Inside his mist, he could control whether he could see outside or not. In most situations, he chooses not to as he just wanted to get away from whatever was causing him distress.

Ryou was paranoid of other people entering his mist, following an incident where a cruel mother stepped in to give him a beating, so he would enter his quirk being unable to completely forget about the outside world. The only thing that brought him comfort now was the fact that he knew that whoever was yelling at him would be unable to see him.

-

A few days later when Ryou awoke, he could hear the familiar sounds of cooking in the kitchen, and his stomach grumbled. He skipped dinner last night in order to get away from Yua.

When he stood up, he realized how dry his mouth was and his ache for water grew. He opened the door and headed to the kitchen where Yua, Hideo, and Akari were all gathered. Yua was cooking while her husband and daughter both scrolled through their phones.

"Ah, Ryou! Glad to see you slept well." Yua smiled, but Ryou could tell that she was lying through her teeth. Ryou didn't look terrible, but it was obvious he woke up feeling troubled. Suddenly, Yua adopted a serious demeanor while Ryou poured himself a glass of water, "Ryou, I hope today you will actually attend your classes."
Ryou had developed a habit of skipping school. Not because he didn't want to learn, but because there was no point in him going. On his first day of going to school, Akari had told everyone about Ryou's complicated life.
He remembered her voice as she berated him in front of her friends.

"Okay, Ryou," She spat his name out like it was poison in her mouth, "I know that you're a problem child and have gotten kicked out of soo many families, but I hope you'll enjoy school! It's okay to be a total weirdo because you'll probably be sent out before you make any friends at all!"

Akari's friends all gasped before they snickered, and that was when Ryou realized that her friends weren't the only people who were listening in on what she was saying. His eyes widened in horror as he looked around. Ryou was faced with mocking grins everywhere he turned. Not a single person looked like they had any sort of pity for him, and before Ryou knew it, a mixture of mist and steam engulfed his vision.

Ryou was snapped back to reality when Yua cleared her throat loudly.

"I expect no problems either, Ryou. Do you hear me?" She snapped, a cold look gracing her features.

A nod was all she got in return, which was enough for her. She huffed in satisfaction before turning her attention back to the breakfast she was cooking. Ryou sighed heavily and slunk back into his room, curling back into his bed, deciding that it would be better if he went to school late.