Flea

Chapter Twenty Seven

So this feels like an unofficial beginning to 'part two.' If you thought Maeve's life was difficult already, buckle in folks. Things had to catch up to her eventually and well... This is it. I think there's three main types of loss: Loss of health (whether it be physical, mental or spiritual), loss of loved ones and loss of dignity. Maeve experiences all of these. 

Things diverge a lot more from the strict storyline, but they still intercede at important points. Spoilers from the manga will be rampant. As ever, thanks for reading xx.   

"Maeve!" Todoroki called, entering the monitor room with Yaoyorozu. Mr Aizawa had asked him to check up on her after their practical. Unfortunately, it was proving difficult to track the prodigy down. 

"Hmblear?" The nurse exclaimed, snapping out of a nap so deep a puddle of drool had spread across her desk. She immediately began coughing, which caused Todoroki to furrow his eyebrows in concern and ask, 

"Why were you asleep?" 

Maeve squinted blearily at him. 

"I wasn't asleep."

She looked around the room, noticed their dishevelled appearance and accidentally stuck her elbow in the sopping puddle. 

"Oh my God, I WAS asleep. The last thing I can remember is you getting tied up by dad, it was entertaining. That ninja comment, Todoroki. A... Somewhat mediocre attempt at banter, to be honest."

"Clearly not entertaining enough to keep you awake," he replied softly, examining her with mismatched eyes. Maeve brushed off his concern. 

"Wait, if you're here, that means..." 

"We won!" Yaoyorozu squealed uncharacteristically. Both Maeve and Todoroki had to crack a smile at her excitement. 

"That's amazing, congratulations! I'll need to rewatch the tapes when I... Have... time. Neither of you are injured, great," Maeve commented between wheezy coughs. When Todoroki shot her yet another look, she smiled weakly and gave him two thumbs up. 

"It's just a cough, stop worrying. If you're not careful you'll get early frown lines and eliminate yourself from the competition for number one already." 

"It's not just a cough. You've been hacking up your lungs ever since Hosu and it's only getting worse. You need to get that checked." 

"I'm fine." 

Maeve broke from the stare down first. She glanced at the monitors and what little colour that remained in her cheeks chose to scarper. All Might had just swung Midoriya like a baseball bat, smashing Bakugo so hard they could see the g force rippling in their cheeks. 

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Maeve groaned, collapsing onto the desk. She buried her head in her elbows. Todoroki and Yaoyorozu proceeded to wince and give sympathetic, 'ohh that would've hurt,' for the entirety of the match. Maeve didn't have the strength to look herself, remaining buried in blissful ignorance. When it was over, she slowly clambered to her feet, swaying worryingly. Todoroki tried to lend an elbow, but she waved him away and shuffled out of the room muttering disgruntedly under her breath about 'idiot heroes.'

Looking back on that day, Todoroki knew he should have stopped her then. Forced Maeve to see sense... Somehow. The events that unfolded over the next few months, the suffering, Shoto felt all stemmed back to that decision. If he'd just stepped up when it was safe, the first few dominoes in an increasingly devastating run wouldn't be toppled. 

It was the beginning of the end. 

He and Maeve were connected, whether they liked it or not. The bonds that tied them were painful and complex, but also instilled in him a sense of responsibility. To protect Maeve from not only herself but people who wanted to hurt the girl and take away her dignity. It was the least he could do. Yet he still failed. Everything, if he thought about it in a certain way, was his fault.