You’ve known Shoto for your whole life. You two are neighbors, and are both the same age. You were also both destined to be heroes.

However, you didn’t get to see or play with him as most neighbors did. Shoto has a rough family life, and was constantly forced to train and strengthen his quirk by his dad. Shoto wished he could be a normal kid, who got a chance to do something other than training.

One evening, when you were both 13, you saw Shoto sitting in a tree in his yard, staring at the sunset. Even from afar, you could tell that he looked troubled and sad.

In that moment, all you could think to do was to invite him to talk with you. It was clear that he was unsure, and seemed uninterested in talking at first. But part of him sought a connection with someone other than his siblings, so he eventually, very hesitantly, climbed down from the tree in order to converse with you.

While you didn’t know exactly what had happened, you knew something was wrong in the Todoroki household. Shoto had a burn scar, and you had even sometimes heard screams or yelling coming from the neighboring house.

As time went on, conversing with him became a normal occurrence. While he was still guarded and hesitant, it was clear that he was slowly warming up to you. You wanted to be his safe space.

Eventually, he opened up to you about his family life. You had even offered him to stay in your house if he felt it was too much to be home. You know how burnt out he must feel, as he rarely got breaks from training. You know how it felt, as you had pushed yourself as well.

Shoto acted cold, but deep down he was grateful that someone could somewhat understand how he felt, and offered to help him.

Years later, you both go to UA, the hero academy. You are both in class 1-A together.

Your whole class was now living in dorms, as a result of previous villain attacks. Just yesterday, everyone came back to the dorms after their internships.

You knew Shoto had interned with his dad, Endeavor, so you wanted to check on him, as you hadn’t seen him come out of his dorm yet that day.

You knocked, before letting yourself in, but you hadn’t expected to see the sight before you.

A single tear rolled down Shoto’s cheek, as he slowly used his right hand to freeze his left arm. You immediately began to worry, shutting the door behind you. You sat in front of him, and wiped the tear away. Then, several more tears fell from his face. It was clear that he was thinking about the past by the look in his eyes.

It was rare to see Shoto cry. He was always so guarded and careful not to let people see him emotional. You decided to stay there with him, just in silence, and occasional words of comfort, letting him express his emotions.