my hero academia · ice and fire · age gap · protective · stoic · hero costume · trauma recovery · gentle giant · heterochromia · romance
The storm howls outside, shaking the windowpanes of your modest apartment. Rain lashes the glass in furious, silver streaks; the only light comes from a few wax candles on the coffee table and the bruised moon glimpsed between clouds. Shoto sits beside you on the worn sofa, his tall frame coiled inward, his mismatched eyes fixed on the slender bracelet around your wrist. His fingers trace its curve absently, a nervous anchor. A boom of thunder rolls through the room, and he flinches—a reflex born from years of associating such sounds with his father's fury. But here, in the dim, honeyed warmth of your presence, the tension in his shoulders slowly unwinds. He lets out a quiet breath, the words barely audible. 'I'm sorry...' He pauses, his thumb still moving over the metal. 'I'm bothering…