A/N: Here's how Kasumi looks!! I drew her as her young self. uwu

This is the age group:
Toya: 12 years old
Kasumi and Fuyumi: 11 years old
Shoto: 10 years old
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"I said not to!" Toya exclaimed. "He's fine!"

Kasumi's eyes widened with a confused face. She didn't know that Toya reacting that way was due to his own jealousy.

Because it was her giving that attention to Shoto.

"I-I need to finish it..." She averted her eyes away from Toya. She stared at the ground as she was starting to feel cowardly again.

It'll scar if I don't.

"He's not screaming anymore, so it's fine," Toya argued. He shot a glance at Shoto. It somehow made him even angrier to see the way his brother seemed to shrink down under his gaze.

"But..." She started to bite onto her bottom strand of her hair anxiously. She hesitantly looked towards Shoto, who was sniffling loudly.

I want to try to be his friend.

She felt extremely bad for him.

"My name's Kasumi." She somehow managed to speak towards Shoto. She knew he didn't exactly ask her for an introduction. She even surprised herself for saying anything to begin with.

Maybe because she knew the feeling of others walking away from her. She wondered how many times anyone else wanted to say something for her sake, but didn't.

"I'm Shoto Todoroki," he replied. He didn't really feel like talking much, but she did help him. He would feel rude if he didn't.

Even though the pain wasn't as bad, he was still trembling badly. His heart wouldn't stop hammering ruthlessly against his ribcage.

Toya glared at Shoto. He takes everything from me. I won't let him take her, too!

"Say another word to her and I'll burn the rest of your face," Toya threatened. He felt slightly satisfied from the sight of Shoto flinching.

Kasumi lifted her sketchbook she had placed on one of the counters. She looked sad hearing Toya talk to Shoto like that.

"Toya, no. I want to be his friend too. He looks like he needs one." She hid behind her sketchbook to help her talk better. "M-maybe we can all read my comic together?"

"We can." Toya grabbed one of her hands, forcing her to show her face. "I don't want anything to do with him, though."

Shoto struggled to keep from sobbing again. He wanted so badly to be Kasumi's friend, but he was scared to say anything. He didn't doubt that Toya would attack him, and he didn't want to feel that horrible pain again.

He wished to see Kasumi's comic. Maybe it would bring him some sort of comfort. Something to think about other than what had happened to him. He didn't say that aloud.

Kasumi frowned at Toya. She didn't understand what it was like to have siblings or the conflict that came with the Todoroki brothers.

She didn't want to upset Toya anymore, nor did she want to leave Shoto out. She knew Toya hated Shoto a lot by him talking about him before with her.

But she didn't think Shoto was a bad person. Not with the way he looked at her in desperation.

Before she could reply to Toya, there was a booming voice that echoed in the room.

"What are you doing out here, Shoto?!"

Their attention turned towards the source. Kasumi somehow felt even more nervous than before.

There stood King Enji. Flames danced on his chin. His attire had very intricate details as a long robe draped from his shoulders. Armor was plated on different parts of his body.

He wore large black gloves that went up to his elbows. He was in the process of taking them off. His threatening eyes pierced towards Shoto. There were servants behind Enji, awaiting their orders.

Shoto's breath hitched. He tried to back away more, but he was already against the counter.

He didn't want to tell him about what happened with Rei. If he ever found her, he would be so angry. Shoto wished he could protect her, but lying was probably useless in that situation. There was enough physical evidence to say that Shoto didn't do all of that himself. Otherwise, he would have tried to take all the blame.

"Mom wanted to spend time with me," he managed to say. He tried to put on a strong front. "I chose to go with her, and then I upset her, so...it's my fault."

The large red burn around his eye was impossible to miss. So was the kettle on the floor. It wasn't hard to tell what happened just from looking at the room. At least, a basic idea of what happened.

Instead of showing him genuine concern to such an injury, Enji's face darkened in irritation.

"You know what to do." He snapped at one of the servants. Whenever Shoto would get hurt during their 'training', he would get medical attention.

None of his injuries would ever scar. This one was definitely the worst of it.

One of the servants hurried away and another went to Shoto's side wordlessly.

Enji had kicked out a servant once for even showing a smidge bit of a compassion to Shoto.

Then he turned his intimidating gaze towards Kasumi. She froze in fear, but the weird thing was...

Toya shown no signs of being scared at all? It was like he was anticipating Enji's attention.

"What the h* is a peasant girl doing in here, Shoto?!" He immediately put the blame on his younger son. "For f*'s sake! Can't anyone do any s* right?!" The king was yelling loudly, intensifying the flames on his face. "You know better! You're not allowed to waste your time playing!"

"Can't I just play with them for a little bit?" He pleaded. He tried to pull away from the servant, but was immediately held in place. He couldn't hold back the tears that once again began to fall.

Toya's eyes widened in a manner that almost made him seem insane. He smiled up at Enji. "I brought her in here. It was me."

"Not now, Toya!" Enji barked dismissively, ignoring Toya's statement. His eyes became bloodshot towards the servant. "No, you won't! Take him away now!"

The servant obeyed immediately, taking Shoto to get some medical attention. Shoto wasn't out of the room completely yet. Watching the horrors about to unfold.

Enji made his way towards Kasumi. Towering over her, she felt ever so small before him. Her heart raced at a high rate. She clung to her sketchbook as an attempt for comfort. The fear paralyzed her legs to stay ground from running away.

Their dad is so awful. I can't believe he's a king!

Her eyes began to sting, but she was too afraid to be angry.

Enji ripped the book out of Kasumi's hands, causing her to fall back onto her bottom.

"Witness this, Shoto. This is what happens when you have friends." Enji then threatened Kasumi in disgust. "Don't you show your face here again!"

The sketchbook completely became caught up in a harsh fire. It turned into ashes as she, Shoto in the distance, and even Toya watched in shock.

"This is your compensation for trespassing, brat." Enji scowled menacingly without a hint of remorse. Shoto was finally gone from their view.

All her drawings were gone. Just like that.

No... I didn't get to show anyone yet. I wanted to...!

At first, she was too shocked to cry, but then the droplets viciously came out. She tried to not sob loudly, but it only annoyed Enji further.

Despite the fact that Toya had made her shed tears before, he couldn't stand seeing Enji make her cry. He clenched his fists. First not paying him any mind. Then making Kasumi cry?

"Why are you mad at her?!" He screamed. "I brought her in! It's my fault she's here!"

He was so desperate for Enji's acknowledgment that he didn't care if he got hurt. He would rather that happen than to be ignored entirely.

"Shut up, Toya!" Enji practically hissed. "This isn't the business of a worthless failure such as yourself!"

How could he say that? Kasumi's anger started to rise up mixed in with her feeling of immense hurt. She wanted so badly to stand up for her friend. Cowardice overpowered her instead. Her eyesight became blurred.

To hear those words from a parental figure as a kid feels like the end of the world. There, in that kitchen, Toya's world was ending all over again. Like so many times before. He got the acknowledgment, but he still was hurt.

Why am I even alive? It was a question that haunted his mind often. If he was a failure, then why?

There was growing irritation towards Kasumi's sobs. Enji continued yelling at her. "State your name!"

She only kept crying as she struggled to do as she was told. Her stomach was getting upset.

"Name!" He snapped louder.

She didn't answer. His harsh tone only caused her to cry more. Crying was a huge nuisance towards Enji. He had hit Rei so many times before so this was no different. He raised his hand to strike Kasumi. She squeezed her eyes shut.

I can use it. I can-

But she became too afraid to use the offensive side of her quirk.

Toya got in between them. Enji's hand froze.

He grabbed Kasumi's hand once more and started to pull her away. The tears forming in his eyes didn't stop him from saying one last, "I hate you," to Enji before leaving the room.

Did he actually hate Enji? Toya had no clue. Probably not since he still wanted to be appreciated by him. Then again, feelings aren't always black and white.

"Fine. Take her! She's nothing just like you are, Toya! You two fit together!" Enji's voice echoed out from the distance. "You will always be nothing but a failure! Hate me all you want. It's the truth, you waste of space!"

Kasumi's frame was trembling. She was hurting so much as she held Toya's hand tighter. She was hurting for Toya more than herself.

Toya led her to another room and closed the door behind them. He finally let go of her hand and started to wipe away his tears.

He had his head lowered so that she couldn't really see that he was crying. She could only hear it.

Toya's frustration grew. He wanted to punch something, but he would get in trouble if he punched a wall. He didn't want to hurt Kasumi.

That was the second time she had seen Toya cry. Yeah, she always cries too. But it was making her face soaked seeing him like that.

She wanted to reach out to him and comfort him, but she was too scared to.

I always do this. I'm not able to do things I want. Why is it so hard to?

Why is it hard to be like the me in my stories? She isn't this scared to do anything.

Her sketchbook burning up didn't matter so much anymore even though that tore her apart. Her hatred towards Enji had just started.

She loathed bullies so much. She couldn't comprehend why they feel such a gain of power putting down others.

Just before, she was wanting a family to be adopted into. But wouldn't she be away from Toya if that were to happen?

She cried more audibly along with him. She wanted to ask him more about the things he was going through. She couldn't.

Just ask him. Nothing came out. Only the burning sensation filled her nostrils while she kept trying to swallow back her tears. She didn't want to cry any longer. She wanted to help Toya more than anything.

Hearing her begin to cry louder caused him to turn around. Before, he would get annoyed at her for crying. However, this was different. He could understand being scared of Enji to a certain extent. He himself wasn't scared of him, but he knew that Enji had the ability to intimidate most people.

For a girl who could hardly handle socializing at all, being threatened by someone like Enji must have been terrifying. Toya could at least see that much.

He gently placed a hand on top of her head. He was about to remove his hand, but then she started to cry louder. He had a deadpan expression despite his quiet sniffling. "What's your deal now?"

"You're hurt, Toya. Because of me, you're hurting." She blamed herself while not looking into his eyes.

What was she talking about?

She felt guilty that he was even patting the top of her head. His hand was so gentle and warm despite his gruff tone.

"I'm... sorry.." She hiccupped while crying. "I shouldn't have come today."

"It's all Shoto's fault!" Toya argued. "He..."

He trailed off when he quickly realized that wasn't helping. She didn't see things exactly like he did, so him blaming Shoto didn't make her feel any better.

"It's my fault," Toya corrected. That was the first time he ever admitted to being in the wrong about, well, anything. "I made things worse by being mean to Shoto. If I had just let you heal him, we could have left before my dad got back."

"But still... he...he..." She started to stammer a little bit while sniffling hard. "Your dad... He was really mean to you..."

Both of you. She wanted to say, but she didn't want to upset Toya further when it comes to Shoto. Shouldn't a father console his son?

Maybe if she could have told him she could heal Shoto... Would he have let her?

No. She could tell that man was difficult to reason with.

"I don't like that," she continued. She looked directly at him when she said that with her eyes glistening.

This dumb girl just had her sketchbook burnt to ashes and nearly got hit, and that's all she is thinking about? Me?

"There's nothing anyone can do about it," Toya grumbled. He pulled his hand back to wipe more tears away. His crying had slowed to sniffles already. His attention was more on her. "I won't let him hurt you, though."

Did Toya ever try talking to his dad about his feelings?

That was a dumb question she thought of. Was Enji really the type of person that would talk?

He denied Shoto from having friends, so why would he listen to Toya?

Even though he said that, she didn't want Enji to hurt Toya. Honestly, she was a little surprised with his softness regarding that.

Usually, he would say to suck it up or that she was being a big crybaby.

It felt like he was also opening up to her like she was to him. But that didn't last long.

She didn't realize she was balling her free hand - the one Toya didn't hold earlier - so hard.

When it released, there were parts of the ashes from her sketchbook. Her hand was smeared ever so dirtily with it.  "Oh..."

That sketchbook was clearly very important to her. Toya felt something like sadness within. He was feeling sympathy for her. He just didn't know it yet.

"You'll need to wash your hands," he stated bluntly. "Go do that at the orphanage. If you stick around here for too long, he might come looking for you."

Her lips quivered a little bit. She didn't want to leave him at all. Then there was something else troubling her.

"B-but..." She was having trouble trying to get the words out.

For once, Toya didn't interrupt her. He raised his eyebrows slightly in annoyance, but he didn't say a word.

"What about that crazy lady? I'm scared to go by myself..." She then lightly tugged on his sleeve without looking at him.

Toya looked down at her hand on his sleeve. There were ashes starting to get on his clean clothes from her hand. "You're ruining my clothes."

He said those words, but he didn't feel nearly as irritated as he tried to seem.