Ache

The boy’s eyes always tended to give him away. They were shining, of course, bright and vibrant in their intensity and joy, and matching his classmates in that respect and looking a tad more rested than he had the days prior (which was a small relief for the man).However, beneath the almost forced cheer he could see something…A flicker and glimmer of something unpleasant, unhappy. A hurt that the boy seemed either be unaware of (unlikely) or trying to ignore. And it was the same look that Todoroki and Shinsou both had sometimes too, that haunted sort of shadow that filtered through when they thought people weren’t paying attention to them. Shouta didn’t like that look, especially in the gazes of children.