Count to Ten

Item Nine: Allow Someone Else to Touch One of My Possessions

"Shouto?" Deku's voice rang out in Shouto's ears. He opened his eyes. "Oh, thank goodness. I thought my kiss had killed you. What happened?"

"Deku? Showing concern for someone other than himself? Hm, apparently more likely than one would think," Shouto sat up. His chest didn't hurt nearly as much right now. Just the faint twinge of pain.

"Maybe I did get a bit too excited. I should've held back a smidge," Deku pondered the notion. But the timing was just too good! He wouldn't have gotten a better chance to kiss Shouto!

"Deku is getting morals," Shouto would've laughed if he could've.

"Enough about that," Deku waved his hand. "I've been talking to Izuku while you were doing...a thing...and we've come to the conclusion that we want you to have this," Deku held out his bandaged hands. In the center was a small jar attached to a chain. "It's the ashes of our mother," Deku explained. "She died, and, well, Izuku can't touch it. It causes him too much pain. So, he wants you to have it. Guard it safely, okay? This counts as item nine."

"This is more than just me touching something that belongs to you. Why are you giving it to me?" Shouto didn't reach out to pick it up. He didn't feel worthy enough to hold something so precious.

"Didn't I make myself clear?" Deku dropped the necklace. If it made contact with the ground it would break. Shouto didn't have a choice but to reach out and grab it. "Izuku can't touch it. So, it's only right that it belongs to you."

Shouto held the necklace delicately in his hands. He didn't want to wear it. He didn't even want to have it. But, there was nothing he could do about that. He sighed. Deku allowed no time for him to return it.

"It's really better that you have it," Izuku smiled. "I feel bad for not being able to touch it, but I think it's time I came to terms with the fact that I can't be Mom's little angel anymore," Izuku sighed. All of this talking to Deku over the past few hours had him thinking. Deku wasn't all terrible. It was time he accepted him instead of ignoring him.

"Dr. Todoroki, go to the glass room please," a voice said. Shouto and Izuku both flinched. Neither of them knew there was a loudspeaker system of some sort in this cell. It made sense, now that they thought about it, but something about this really didn't make sense at the same time.

"I'm being summoned?" Shouto frowned.

"It appears so," Izuku shifted awkwardly. He didn't want Shouto to leave. What were they going to tell him? Was this because Deku kissed him? (Deku had made Izuku watch that entire scenario until the bit where Shouto couldn't breathe and went unconscious).

Shouto stood up and made his way to the room. Izuku followed him. He tugged on his shirt and frowned. "You aren't going to go in there, are you?"

"I don't have much of a choice in the matter," Shouto placed his hand on the doorknob. It felt weird being on this side of the glass. Izuku watched as he entered. He watched as the door closed. He didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. He placed his ear against the door, trying to listen, but he knew he couldn't. The door was too thick. What were they saying? What was going on? Who was on the other side of the glass? Was this because Deku kissed Shouto?

Izuku scratched his arm. He scratched and he scratched and blood appeared on his shirt. His hands were still covered in bandages and they got bloody as well. He walked in circles. He paced the area in front of the door until he couldn't stand it anymore. What was going on? What was happening? Anticipation rising. Suspense building. His anxiety induced agony continued. Was Shouto getting fired?

"Will you stop bumbling about like an idiot?!" Deku snapped. He sat outside the door, resting his arms on his knees, and sighed. "It's going to be fine, Izuku," Deku promised. It was a promise he wouldn't be able to keep. "They're probably just talking about, hm, well, the incident. Maybe new information on why Dr. Todoroki was kidnapped arose. There isn't anything to fear. Okay? Nothing." As Deku continued to voice his opinions while mumbling to himself so that Izuku wouldn't come out again, the door reopened. He stood up, full of curiosity, and Shouto didn't say a word.

Shouto grabbed what little things he had and made his way to the exit. His face paler than usual. His eyes hollow and damaged. His hand rested on the exit. It was only then that he turned to face the patient behind him. Izuku, Deku, they both had been flipping back and forth trying to get Shouto to say something. He was finally saying something. Now, they weren't so sure they wanted to hear it.

"Goodbye, Izuku, Deku, goodbye," he said. The door opened. The door closed. Izuku and Deku went around in circles intermingling their personality, confused beyond belief.

"Should we kill them? Should we kill them and get him back?"

"No, we can't kill them. We can't! Shouto could get fired or worse! What if nothing even happened! It's fine. It's fine. It's probably fine? I mean, I am partially to blame. I was the one that thought of him as something more than a doctor. I mean, you even called him 'Dr. Todoroki' but I just jumped right into 'Shouto'!"

"I want him back. Get him back. Let me kill them and take him back!"

They went around in circles like this for the remainder of the day, deep into the night. They hoped that when they fell from exhaustion into a deep sleep that they'd wake up and Shouto would be there, asking them what the tenth item on the list was. It was going to be fine, they told themselves, it was going to be fine. If it wasn't, the last piece of sanity that they had left would disappear.