His Reasons (Todoroki X OC)

S5 Chapter 7

Staring at the boy she loved, Amari could already feel the sweat drip down her face. The amount of hurt, shock and betrayal that crossed his eyes in that single moment hit her all at once, slamming into the girl and destroying her in one single moment.

She didn't want him to make that face, to see the look of devastation that she had purposely caused. In fact, Amari had worked so hard in order for that expression to disappear from his mind, to only give him the best. So seeing it now, Bakugo couldn't stand it, and knowing that it was because of her choice made the decision even worse.

Amari's hands threatened to shake at the display but struggled to remain strong, knowing that the person she was defending was in fact a villain. It didn't matter if he was Todoroki's brother. No, that didn't change what he was in the slightest. The fact remained, she was protecting a villain.

Todoroki as well couldn't believe her words, trying to find some sort of hidden meaning in them like last time. This wasn't right, Amari had to be blackmailed into protecting him for some reason. Yeah, that could be the only explanation, because otherwise she would never defend such a terrible man.

Feeling the words come to his lips, the boy stood in utter shock. "A-Amari, I don't understand. What did he say to you, what did he threaten you with? It's okay, you can tell me."

She felt the utter faith and trust in his words crushing her even further, now hearing a soft laugh behind her. It was obvious someone was enjoying every moment of her distress.

Because of her devastation, Dabi decided to place both of his hands onto her shoulders, a lazy smile upon his face, almost like he couldn't wait to reveal this information. "Poor little Todoroki, he has so much faith in you, doesn't he? What a pity. You wanna tell him, or do you want me to do the honors and crush his little heart?"

Bakugo grumbled under her breath, trying to shove him off as the man only clutched even tighter, not letting her escape this conversation. She already knew he wasn't going to reveal his identity to the boy, which meant that whatever information Dabi spoke next wasn't going to look good for her. She had to get him to stop. "Shut up Dabi."

Todoroki on the other had stood there dumbfounded, not understanding the situation. "What are you saying? Are you trying to get me to believe that she's defending you freely, because that can't be the case. You tried to kidnap and torture her. Why would she ever want to support someone like you?"

Yet that only seemed to make the man even more cynical, pushing Bakugo's back into his chest roughly as his head lingered near her hair. It clearly was an attempt to make his brother more infuriated, and it was working like a charm. "I don't know. Bakugo is the one that visited me every week while I was locked away after all. Perhaps she got attached?"

Widening his eyes at the seemingly outrageous statement, Todoroki immediately started to deny his words. No, that was impossible. Amari was the one that put that villain in prison, she wouldn't continue her relationship with him, right? And even if that was the case, she would've told him about it, right? That had to be it.

He shook his head once, dismissing Dabi's cynical tone and scoffing. "You're lying."

Yet the villain only shrugged before pointing to the girl in question, already knowing the result of this conversation. "Am I? If you're so sure, why don't you ask her yourself?"

Almost immediately, Todoroki turned to Amari who was watching him with an unreadable expression, now taking in the desperation behind his eyes. "He's lying, right?"

Feeling the words catch in her throat, she struggled to find a logical explanation, something to tell him that would ease his fears besides the truth. The girl could never lie to him, perhaps she could to anyone else, but never to him.