"Oh, sorry." She replied, feeling her shoulders deflate. She went to remove it, but his next words stopped her from doing so.

"The damage is already done, so it doesn't matter now." He pouted. "You can walk with me, but only because you're scared."

"Oh..." She felt even more confused, but she didn't let go at all. Expecting him to call her a 'wimp', he didn't at all.

He learned overtime that she's typically a very jumpy person. When she's really scared over dumb things, he would call her that.

Guess today was excusable.

"Who was that lady anyway?" She asked.

"That was my mom," he stated. It didn't seem that there was any emotional attachment to the woman. Only bitterness. "She has never hurt anyone before. I wonder what Shoto did to make her so upset."

"Your... mom did that?" Toya saw Kasumi's face started to pale a bit. He felt the tugging on his sleeve tremble a little bit.

She never heard Toya ever talk about his mom before. Only Shoto and his dad were the main topics.

It made her even wonder what Shoto did, too. Earlier, he looked so terrified. She could clearly tell he was innocent from whatever it was.

"Do you hate your mom, too?" She asked curiously.

He shrugged. "She doesn't matter to me. She was forced to marry my dad, so it's not like she wanted any of this to begin with. But she cares more about Shoto, too."

That wasn't exactly the case. Rei simply talked about Shoto a lot and had to pour more energy into caring for him due to the abuse he was put through. She didn't have favoritism towards any of her children, but she did tend to be a little more loving to Shoto. Not only was he the one who underwent the most physical abuse, but he was also the youngest.

It didn't change the fact that she wasn't always there for Toya or Fuyumi, but she did have good intentions. Toya misinterpreted it as her thinking Shoto was better than the rest of them. In reality, she was trying to make her youngest child a little more comfortable through the horrors that he faced.

Are all parents like this...? Is this what family is about? Kasumi didn't understand it. In the past, she saw happy families from outside the window before.

Nothing like this.

It made her very confused. Her pressed her lips together from asking anymore. She watched the back of Toya as she securely clung to his sleeve.

There was something also stirring inside of her that she couldn't understand either.

...

It had been two days since the incident. Part of Shoto's face was wrapped up from his burn injury.

He was isolated once more with servants who had paid no mind to speaking nor befriending him.

The queen had never returned from that day. Enji was more worried about his image more than his own wife to bring her back to him.

His soldiers searched, but unfortunately found her body. There was an indication she stabbed herself into her throat.

That was the unfortunate news. She was dead.

A suicide.

Enji didn't even bother going to see the body. News had circulated within the castle without the children knowing just yet.

People were bickering and bombarding the king with questions what or who could have caused this.

"Someone killed her." Enji put up a front to not make himself look bad. Even faked any sympathy for his wife's demise.

There was an uproar about who it was in question. He framed a mere servant and that servant was to be put to death.

Later on, Shoto heard Enji come into his room to tell him the news.

"Your mother is dead. I hope you're happy for causing her death." Enji put blame on him without missing a beat. Without letting the terrible news sink in with any hint of compassion.

It felt like everything stopped for a moment. Even Shoto's emotions seemed to be at a standstill, trying to figure out how to process the news. He gritted his teeth as tears filled his vision.

"It's your fault." Shoto looked him in the eye with pure hatred. "She wouldn't have hurt me if you had treated her right! She wouldn't have run away!"

"Watch your tone, tool." Enji reprimanded coldly. He started using gaslighting words towards him. "She killed herself because of you. Why else would she try to bring you harm? If you've never left the room with that harlot, none of this would have come to pass!"

Shoto suddenly went quiet. He wanted to continue arguing, but those words cut deep. He already felt guilty before, but hearing that she committed suicide made it worse.

One thing kept repeating in his mind. She wouldn't have died if he was never born. He wanted to say sorry to her for the pain that he caused, but he couldn't do that when she was gone already.

Seeing how Shoto was silent, but also at the brink of tears, Enji roughly grabbed his collar.

"Stop showing signs of weakness. A future king never cries." He could feel Enji's spit splat onto his face from barking so coldly. "This is what happens when you don't listen to orders! You need to stop being an embarrassment in the Todoroki lineage!"

He let go of Shoto abruptly, only to push him onto the ground with a strong force.

"Don't you get it, Shoto?! You need to straighten up!" He yelled mercilessly and gave him a kick into his leg.

Shoto tensed up, but he didn't cry out. Instead, he stood up despite the pain. "I don't want to be future king. I never did."

He wanted to break down crying, but that would only get him hurt further. He had to push his emotions down in order to avoid getting hurt worse. Still, the guilt and grief made that nearly impossible.

His mother was one of the few people who tried to keep him safe and happy. If even she couldn't handle being around him anymore, would anyone want to again?

"You will be future king! Toya was close to becoming king for having more firepower than I!" Enji kicked once more. "He had his mother's weak constitution. He was so close, but he was a failure. It has to be you, Shoto! Get up and be a man!"

This time, Shoto used his palms to allow himself to sit up. He didn't even attempt to stand again. "How can I get up if you keep kicking me down?!"

He meant the words in a literal sense, but they were true figuratively as well.

"You really are stupid, aren't you, tool?!" Enji continuously abused him. Not enough to damage him greatly, but enough to mark minuscule bruises.

When he was done, he slammed the door behind him without any exchange of words.

Shoto heard Enji's loud voice from the hallway outside his door. Something about finding his other children.

"They're playing outside, sir," a servant stuttered lowly.

Enji's voice soon had disappeared, indicating he was gone.

Finally, Shoto could cry. He no longer had to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. However, he decided that he should try to relieve the pain regardless. He pressed his right hand against the wounds that hurt the worst.

As he was trying to tend to his wounds, his tears started to steadily roll down his cheeks. He stopped before he had touched with his icy hand to all of the areas that brought him pain. He put his head down atop his knees and stopped trying to fight off the sobs.

That was just it. His mother was truly gone. A grief that a husband should also feel, but Enji had none.

...

"Eeek!" There was squeals hanging from the air. The game of tag was set into motion between Kasumi, Toya and Fuyumi.

They were playing in the courtyard area, away from the orphanage playground.

Kasumi would always receive glares from the other orphan children every time she went out, so the three children wanted to play amongst themselves. Toya and Fuyumi both knew the kids at the orphanage were mean to Kasumi.

After all, they all had a great bond with each other. Their own little group. Toya didn't want to include anyone else.

Toya was chasing Kasumi, but she was, of course, a little too slow.

Fuyumi's feet carried her as fast as she could force them. She rushed in front of Toya and managed to scoop Kasumi up. They were all surprised by her strength, but her moment of heroism didn't last long.

Toya wasn't able to stop running in time. He charged right into the group, knocking them all to the ground. They fell down in a fit of giggles.

Toya reached his hand over and tapped Kasumi's arm. "I got you!"

"Hey!" Kasumi exclaimed with a smile. "Come back here!"

Toya was already running ahead as Kasumi was 'it' this time. Fuyumi was caught by Kasumi as she knew Kasumi was a little slower due to trying to be careful not to trip.

She's too klutzy when she tries to run too fast.

Then there was catching Toya next. She was trailing way behind him, only for him to look back with a smug grin.

Toya's heart filled with warm. Never did he think that he would enjoy things as simple as playing tag. He always thought that training was the only way to feel fulfilled. He found that playing with them was the next best thing.

Toya's eyes shone with mischief as he laughed. "Slowpoke!"

Kasumi gave a great pout as she panted. It was hard for her to keep up. Toya would keep taunting her, but he stopped running when she stopped.

This calls for a secret weapon. Acting!

She tried to pick up speed again to chase Toya. When his head was turned around, she yelled a big, "Ow!"