Not gonna lie, you basically stressed your way to the institute alongside Shoto.
You two didn’t talk much on the train there, but he did want to hold your hands a few times so you allowed that and just tried not to think about the ‘what if’s’ of meeting his mum, too much.
“What if she doesn’t like me or she doesn’t like that Shoto is dating me,” you thought, “would it make her mental health worse? Will Shoto break up with me over it? Surely he wouldn’t… maybe?” you stressed, your hand subconsciously clamping down on his hand as you looked out the train window.
“You are worried,” Shoto commented as he looked at you and you turned your head to look back at him.
“How can you tell?” you asked, still with vice grip on his hand.
“This,” he said as he held your clasped hands up, “you’re squeezing my hand very firmly.”
“Oh sorry,” you said quickly as you released your hold on him.
You took your hand back to yourself and Shoto gently dropped his hand to your knee.
“It’s going to be ok,” he said, “no matter what happens. It’s going to be ok.”
You had to just trust his word then and nodded as the train pulled up at the next stop.
Your stop.
You and Shoto got off the train and then headed for the station exit and off down the road to the institute.
“I need to make sure mum doesn’t see me,” you said to him, half expecting her to be waiting somewhere at the door of the place.
Shoto stepped into the building and you followed, keeping just a little back from him in case you needed to hide behind him at the last second.
He walked to the reception desk to notify them that he was here with a visitor to see his mother and they let him through, with you still behind.
You kept your eyes up, looking around and keeping a watch out for your mum but you didn’t see her as you followed Shoto to his mum’s room.
He knocked on her slightly ajar door and stepped through as he greeted her and you came in behind him.
His mum was sitting by the window, her long white/grey hair making her look quite regal as she sat there, poised on a small chair.
She looked back over her shoulder when she heard Shoto’s voice and smiled, but her smile looked tired… then her eyes fell on you.
You swallowed thickly.
“Hello Mrs Todoroki,” you said softly, afraid to speak too loud lest your loud voice melt her away or something, she looked like she might disappear at any moment, yet there was a silent strength about her too.
“Hello,” she said politely in a lilting voice and it was then that you realized why Shoto was so fond of her.
In one small greeting she had encompassed the feeling of ‘mother’ and there was a part of you that wished your own mother could have been like her.
“Mum,” Shoto said, “this is Wyen.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, still remaining seated, “Shoto has told me about you in his letters he writes me.”
“Oh,” you said sheepishly, “good things I hope?” you joked.
It was a dad joke. One of his favourites actually, and you hoped that it would land with her.
“Of course,” she said with another tired smile.
You didn’t know where to take the conversation after that and so just stood there for a second before remembering the cake gift in the bag in your hands.
“Oh uh… cake. I uh… bought you some cake,” you said quickly as you stepped fowards and presented it to her.
“That is very kind of you,” she said as she looked up into your face.
Although she looked tired, she had a beautiful face, and you were struck with the length of her eyelashes and quickly deduced that’s where Shoto got his lovely long lashes from.
“Like mother, like son,” you thought as you nodded and let go of the bag so she could take it.
“How are you, mum?” Shoto asked as he pulled up a chair and you were suddenly the only one standing.
“Where do I sit, where do I sit?!” you screamed internally, “I can’t sit on her bed?!”
You looked at Shoto with a panicked look, hoping he would understand that you were stressing without a seat to sit on but he just looked back at you.
“Uh…” you hummed as you looked around, then slowly started to sink down to the ground.
“Are you ok?” Mrs Todoroki asked you.
“Uh… yeah I… just wanted to sit…” you said as you folded your legs under you and found yourself in Seiza position, which is also a pose used when apologizing to someone, and you suddenly felt the urge to admit to dating Shoto and also apologizing at the same time, “I’m sorry,” you suddenly blurted out as you leant forwards on the ground and touched your hands to the floor in front of her, “Shoto and I are dating. I care about him a lot and he has helped me more than I can ever express in words. I know this is a shock but please accept our relationship. It would mean a lot to him if you did… And me as well,” you added, not really understanding why you had suddenly felt the need to say all of that.
Shoto’s head had whipped towards you as soon as you had said your first line about dating, shocked that you had suddenly bought it up… and out of the blue too.
He had fully expected that you were going to wait for him to explain the situation to his mum, and truth be told, he was going to wait till much later in the visitation to make mention of it, just in case it all went south, but because he had been so outwardly confident about it all it had masked his internal fears, so you had just gone for it.
You remained with your face to the floor, waiting for her to say something.
Poor Mrs Todoroki hadn’t been expecting a reveal like that, coupled with an apology, so she was just sat there looking a little dazed.
“Shoto?” she asked, looking to her son who was just staring at you on the floor.
“Yes?” he asked as he looked at her with wide eyes, “umm… yes. It is true. Wyen and I are dating.”
You waited, scrunching your nose and closing your eyes tight.
“Please say it’s ok. Please say it’s ok…” you begged internally.
“Shoto,” she said gently, and your eyes opened but you refused to look up just yet, “do you remember the time you asked me what gay meant?” she asked him.
You couldn’t help it then and looked up at her.
She was still looking gently at Shoto.
“Yes,” he nodded.
“I had a feeling back then,” she said softly with her tired smile.
“You knew?” you asked softly.
She looked at you.
“Please raise yourself, Wyen, I do not expect you to be on the floor apologizing to me like this. We have only just met,” she said gently, “you have done nothing worth apologizing for.”
“Oh,” you said as you quickly sat up but you still had nowhere to sit so you remained on the floor next to Shoto’s chair.
“I would have been more surprised if you had bought a girl to meet me,” Mrs Todoroki said with a small chuckle, a chuckle that was like a small gust of icy wind, pure and fresh.
“I didn’t know you knew,” he replied.
“A mother’s intuition,” she said with a little glint in her eye, then she looked at you, “Wyen, have you ever heard someone apologizing for being in love with and caring for someone else?”
You shook your head.
“Then why did you feel it necessary to do so just now?” she asked.
“Being gay is frowned upon,” you said plainly as you looked down.
“Some will frown upon it,” she said honestly, “and others won’t. But theirs is only an opinion. It is not something you must base your life on.”
You felt relief flood your being and you looked back up at her and smiled gently.
“Thank you,” you said, “I have a somewhat old school and strict father…”
“Wyen, no one is worse than my own father,” Shoto said and you suddenly remembered their family history.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” you said quickly.
Mrs Todoroki smiled.
“It’s in the past and I’m trying to look to the future,” she said with another small smile, and then she looked out the window, “what do you want your future to hold, Wyen?”
You watched her side profile before she looked back at you.
“Freedom,” you said softly.
She seemed to have understood and so just nodded with another gentle smile.
“Then work towards that,” she said, still holding her smile, “Shoto tells me you have summons that do your bidding… animals?”
“Uh yeah…. I’m an animal Necromancer,” you said.