Ice Cold

Lies

You walked into the hospital, claiming to be a close friend of one of the people admitted. You were quite ashamed of being one of the last classmates to visit, especially because you were gone for so long.

Almost the moment you entered the hallway of rooms for patients, your phone rang and you held it to your ear while searching for Shouto's room. "Hello?"

"Vie, I understand that you are off today, but in the current situation-"

"Don't give me excuses, just tell me."

"Well... your fa- All For One has managed to release all the prisoners of Tatarus. As one of the only A-rank heroes not critically injured after the attack-"

"I got it. Thanks." You hung up and placed your phone back in your pocket. Instead of continuing to search for Shouto's room, you sighed, leaning against the wall, and shut your eyes. "Damn you, you stupid old man."

You lost so many people. You almost lost so many people. And in the end, he got away anyway.

It's funny how guilt works. Those who should feel guilty never do, those who shouldn't feel guilt have that burden on their shoulders.

You opened Midoriya's room, seeing All Might seated next to the bed as you expected. "Is he showing signs of awakening?"

"...No. He's in a coma right now."

You stood next to him and hovered your hand above his head, closing your eyes. Let me see... what's keeping you asleep.

You inserted your entire life force into him, making you collapse next to his bed. All Might grabbed you and put his hand under your head so it didn't bump into anything.

Moments later, you woke up. "Hm."

"What is it?"

"Something is blocking me out. It's likely quirk-related. You'd go into these comas frequently when you were in critical condition."

You turned. "I have to visit Mirio and Nejire."

Something you always liked about being hero was that you didn't owe it to anyone. Just like how your father didn't really have to take revenge on anyone, but it felt like he had something against everyone.

At least, All Might always told you that you didn't owe it to anyone. Still, you felt like nothing could ever truly apologize for... well, everything. Your father's actions, his destruction, what you've done through his control, heck, your very existence felt like something to apologize for.

Apologizing is not something that comes easy to humans. An admittance of wrongdoings. For someone to genuinely cry and grovel on top of admitting that they were wrong; you felt that it was so cruel to fake, although you've seen it acted so many times.

You didn't go to visit Nejire and Mirio. You went to the morgue and asked for records on the heroes that died in the Liberation War. There were plenty.

You sat against the wall, sifting through the files. Native. Majestic. Eel Boy. You closed your eyes, feeling your head throb again, but not like during the war. More like when you're shook too much, too aggressively, that your brain starts to feel like jelly.

There were multiple causes of death: burnt to death, crushed, stabbed, bludgeoned.

None of them you knew personally, so you gave the files back and returned to the hospital rooms, where you noticed Endeavour's room door ajar. You had planned on visiting him to tell him something about Dabi, but it seemed like someone beat you to it.

When you walked in, knocking on the door, the entire Todoroki family turned to you.

"Y/N...!" Shouto said in a scratchy voice.