Noticing that Toya made a huff of annoyance, she then worked herself up to talk more.

Toya would always nag her about how she was a pushover and that she needed to be better at talking. Especially once they became friends.

"Um-.. do you want to read my comic?" She spoke very lowly with a wiggled smile.

Toya frowned at that. He was about to say, 'sure', but then another voice cut him off.

There was a scream coming from another part of the castle. Toya almost didn't recognize the voice, but he was able to connect the dots in his mind. It was Shoto.

Sure, he had heard Shoto scream before. But those screams were usually cut short by him trying to suppress the noise or him getting hit again to make him be quiet. Or, in some cases, the scream would give way to a series of sobs instead. That wasn't the case, though.

The scream was free of any attempt to quiet down. It was so full of anguish and desperation that it caused a strike of fear to enter Toya's heart. He didn't care about Shoto, but he was scared of whoever hurt him so terribly.

After all, his brother's attacker had to be someone inside the castle.

Shoto's quirk didn't manifest until two years ago when he was eight years old. For that reason, Enji almost gave up on him too. The only reason that he didn't was because quirks could manifest at any age. There had still been a chance that he would get his. Eventually, he did.

Life drastically changed when Shoto got his quirk. He was locked up in a separate area of the castle and no longer permitted to see his other family members. It only had worsened Enji's reign of abuse.

Occasionally, he would stand by that door when Enji wasn't around. He would wait until someone else walked by and ask them to spend time with him or to let him out. Fuyumi always apologized but was too scared to try anything. Rei, his mother, sometimes did go spend time with him.

Then there was Toya. He suddenly started hating Shoto when Shoto's quirk manifested. Whenever Shoto asked him to at least let him out to see his mother, Toya ignored him.

At first Shoto was confused. He thought that he was on good terms with his brother. He quickly came to realize that it was because Enji stopped paying any attention to Toya after Shoto got his quirk. Toya looked up to Enji, so that rejection caused him to have a deep hatred for Shoto.

Another realization that Shoto had to make was that he was in a different world than his siblings. He could never again play outside like they could. He could never again enjoy a meal with the combined efforts of his mother and sister.

When he wasn't being forced to train, he often sat by the window and watched. Fuyumi and Toya seemed to have fun outside playing with that girl whom he didn't know the name of. He could hear their loud voices and laughs from his room.

He wanted so badly to laugh with them. How fun would it be to roll around in the grass? To play tag? It seemed that, after a while, Shoto himself had forgotten how to laugh.

When Shoto was being forced to train, he wanted to play with them even more. Every bruise reminded him that he wouldn't be able to have friends ever again. It was during those times that he also learned how to perform his royal duties. That part wasn't quite as bad, but Enji still managed to make him feel scared every single time.

When his mother went to see him, things could also get bad. She tried to keep from getting caught, but more often than not, Enji found out about it. When he did, he always resorted to hitting her. Shoto tried his very best to keep her from getting hurt, even if it meant him getting hurt instead. He never expected that she would hurt him someday too.

...

Before the screaming had taken place, the queen tiptoed her way towards Shoto's room.

Rei Todoroki took the chance to see Shoto while the king was away on business.

The door quietly opened. Rei spoke in a hushed voice. "It's me, sweetie. Are you hungry?"

Shoto's eyes widened. It appeared that he was relieved, but then his expression changed to one of worry. "Is father not here?"

"He's not here. Come along. You don't need to be cooped up in there." She offered her hand towards him, hiding the small hint of anxiety in her voice.

Shoto stepped forward and took her hand. He found a little bit of comfort in the fact that Enji wasn't around. "What are you making?"

"I'll be brewing up some fresh tea along with your favorite meal. Cold soba." Rei smiled. One could tell she had bags underneath her eyes. She looked older than what she really was.

That's what stress does to someone sometimes.

She carefully walked him towards one of the many kitchens the castle had. The coast was clear, so she softly let go of his hand to make preparations.

"The maids insisted on making you some, but it's been a long time since I made you a home cooked meal." She started quietly opening the cabinets.

Shoto didn't sit down just yet. He still felt uncertain. She said that Enji wasn't there, but what if he returned? He would definitely hurt them both.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" He asked carefully.

"Yes. We'll be ok," Rei reassured, drawing water from the bronze faucet into the kettle.

Shoto finally moved to sit down. He looked down at the table. The words that he were about to say made it suddenly difficult to look at her face.

"If we're really safe doing this," he started, "Then shouldn't we try to escape?" "

She placed the kettle on the stove and tinkered with the fire to turn it on. It took a bit of adjusting, but she managed to turn it on.

"You know we can't do that." She didn't turn towards him to say that statement.

Shoto lifted his eyes to the back of his mother's head. She couldn't see it, but his eyebrows knitted together in sadness. "I hate training with him. He always hurts me. We could run away and go somewhere he can't hurt us anymore. There has to be something we can do instead of staying here."

This time, Rei didn't answer. She was still by the tea kettle. It only looked like she was watching it intently.

Shoto felt as though something was wrong. He didn't know what it was, but there was something about his mother's silence that caused him to feel unsettled. Especially when the kettle began to whistle loudly.

He swallowed hard. He felt a little guilty for feeling nervous. His mother had never hurt him before, so he shouldn't have had any reason to fear. He felt especially bad because she was a victim of Enji's abuse just as much as he was. In Shoto's mind, his mother actually had it worse.

"He hurts you too," he pointed out quietly. "He's a bully. I don't want to be around people who hurt you."

Rei's eyes appeared blanked out. By that point, the kettle was whistling quite loudly.

Shoto was talking to her, but her eyes stared more at the fire beneath the kettle.

She broke out in cold sweat. Her pupils rapidly danced around as though she was lost in her own horrible nightmare.

Her breathing quickened a little bit as she felt her heart race.

Shoto stood up from his seat. He stood there for a second, unsure of what to do, and then went to her side. "Mom?"

Hearing his voice, she turned towards Shoto. Only to see his blue eye peeking beneath his red bangs.

Seeing him stare at her caused her to imagine Enji. She thought he had returned home.

She thought she was going to be beaten to a pulp again. The man never even treated her like a proper wife.

He practically raped her after she was sold off to be married to him. Her children were her comfort and joy.

She tried to love Enji, but she couldn't. Simply couldn't.

Quirks were still a bit of a mystery as the world was half populated with it. Quirk marriages hadn't become a thing until it was drawn into royalty. The generation before Enji was a quirk marriage as well. Enji himself was a product of the practice. There were success rates of promoting stronger quirks.

Those words echoed in Rei's head of how that was his only use for her.

And to dare not ruin his image. That she should be grateful she would still reside in the castle.

To not ever get in his way from what he wanted with Shoto.

"You can't tell me what to do." Her voice sounded crazed. Eyes widened in psychiatric distress, she grabbed the kettle and poured it onto Shoto's sapphire eye.

Shoto could hardly process what was going on. In the matter of a few seconds, he felt an intense pain on that side of his face. He stumbled backwards until his back hit the table.

A scream ripped itself out of his lungs. He tried desperately to push her away, but she was stronger than him. Not only that, she wasn't aware it was her son she was attacking.

He didn't understand it at the time. The one who was supposed to be his safe space was hurting him too. Both of his eyes were clenched tightly shut, but there were tears starting to appear anyway.

Rei moved herself back, realizing what she had done. "Shoto...?"

Her hands shook rapidly. His screams filled into her ears. It was so haunting to her that she shrieked herself. She didn't offer to help him.

Nor console him.

She was having a mental breakdown. She hurried out of the kitchen. Loud sobs and wails could be heard from her as she rushed by Kasumi and Toya.

Kasumi's face paled from the sound of the screaming. She didn't see Toya's face, but she moved on her own regardless.

Curiosity and fear was making her head that direction. Toya only followed behind her.

The two entered the kitchen to see the sight of Shoto.

Shoto sat on the floor then. Both of his hands were desperately holding the left side as his face as though that would do anything to help the pain. Instead of him feeling relieved that someone entered the room, his crying only became louder. A feeling of panic washed over him.

It could be Enji entering the room. He would hear his cries, and instead of offering sympathy, he would probably just roughly drag him to get medical attention. Or it could be Rei, although that wasn't likely with the way she ran out. If it was her, what would she even do? Would she try to help or only make things worse? Shoto had no way of knowing.

Toya eyed the tea kettle on the ground. There was a small amount of water spilled out onto the floor. Steam rose from the area.

He was shocked by the sight. Did mom...?

He caught sight of Kasumi going over to Shoto. He quickly moved in front of her to block her way. "Don't bother helping him. He's a nobody. Just a golden child that gets special treatment all the time for something he didn't even work for."

This doesn't look like special treatment to me. Kasumi's eyebrows furrowed. She saw that lady running out of the kitchen. Her gut feeling was that she wasn't coming back.

Usually, she would cave in and listen. Shoto's cries were making her feel guilty if she didn't help. She did have the ability to.

"He looks like he was hurt on purpose..." She nervously strained to say that only to cause Toya to scoff. She went to move around Toya, but was stopped once more.

"So what if he was?" Toya snapped back. "He deserves it. Let's just go. He won't die, so you don't have to feel bad."

His logic was twisted. He knew that she felt pity because Shoto was in pain, but he didn't care to dwell on that fact very much.

Shoto was able to determine who was in the room from the voices by that point. However, it didn't raise his hopes much. Toya was determined to not let the girl help.

Toya's words didn't convince Kasumi, though. She felt her heart race while her hands shook. She remembered all the times she had cried when she was bullied.

It wasn't bad enough to where she was in Shoto's condition, but all she wanted deep down was for someone to help her.

She was too dependent.

He needs someone to help him too.

In her comics, she always drew herself as some type of heroine. Sure, she drew herself being saved too at some moments.

In her own little world, she felt like she could be someone important.

Then there was that other feeling of listening to Toya for not wanting to upset him. She felt like crawling back into her shell, but Shoto's crying was making it difficult.

"I-I'm gonna help him." Her own eyes were tearing up. A sign of that empathy of hers.

She didn't hear Toya's grunt in annoyance due to Shoto's loud and distressed sobs. She made it towards him with her hands trembling.

Her one hand was underneath Shoto's chin and the other on the part of the injury. Well, lightly hovering over it.

She didn't know that the sight of her being near Shoto didn't settle well with Toya.

Toya didn't move at first. It bothered him, but there was still a sense of guilt regardless. Not for his attitude towards Shoto, but for the fact that he thought about pulling Kasumi away.

As Kasumi's quirk worked, Shoto's face relaxed a bit. It went from being tense with pain to a less intense expression. Eventually, he opened his eyes and looked at Kasumi.

There was still a deep sadness in his eyes, but there was also a lot of relief. One of his hands curled into a fist around the bottom part of her shirt, trying to keep her close as a source of comfort. "Thank you..."

That was what caused Toya to snap again. He rushed over and practically ripped Kasumi away from him. Shoto just watched sadly, not making too much of an effort to stop him.

---

A/N: Please, don't forget to vote and comment!! I was going to draw Kasumi to show you what she looks like, but my hand hurts too much from drawing webtoons all day. ;w;