Cw: vomit, skin picking
Shoto glared at the unreadable contents of the book. The words were there, sure, but he couldn't read any of them. None of it was going into his head. He'd been pretty good with all this reading and writing before but tonight didn't seem to be his night. Peering over, he despaired at the sight of his fairly blank notebook. He'd jotted down a few things but it was all brainless chicken scratch. Somewhat incomprehensible jumble that barely meant anything.
He'd gotten himself into UA and that alone was spectacular, however he knew he needed to maintain his skill level if he wanted to pass and eventually graduate. Was this how Kaminari felt every time he tried to study? They had never studied together but Denki - in the nicest of terms - didn't seem like the most vibrant crayon in the box. So, what was messing him up this time? Shoto peeled skin off is fingers. He'd already ruined what had been left of his nails. The living space was silent apart from the gentle tapping of rain on the windows. Most of his other classmates were outside enjoying the new coming warm weather. Shoto never much enjoyed the rich sunlight and loud excitement that came from late May or the sunburn and melting ice-cream that came along with early July. He was more of a winter person. There was nothing like a thick scarf and mug of cocoa to drink whilst meandering round a Christmas market.
Exhausted, Todoroki gave in to defeat. This studying wasn't getting him anywhere. Slamming the book shut, he realised how dreadfully raw his fingers felt. How much skin had he torn away? Had he really been feeling so passively anxious? He didn't get much chance to ponder though as footsteps snatched his attention. Izuku and Iida were wandering over, smiling and chatting about who knows what. Slowly, Todoroki picked up his notebook and textbook, rising from the table with plans to disappear to his room. He appreciated the two boys company but some thought on the back-burner of his brain was telling him to leave. As he went to push his chair in, Izuku leant across the table, beaming. His pretty eyes looking his friend up and down.
"What were you making notes on, Shoto?" Izuku cocked his head to the side and made a grab for Shoto's notebook.
Knowing full well, he'd hardly written a thing, Shoto held it away from Izuku's reach. Iida shook his head in dismay, wandering into the kitchen to begin preparing dinner. "Don't take things that do not belong to you, Midoriya." Izuku blinked, a little puzzled though not disheartened.
"I wasn't going to snoop, Iida. I was just curious what Shoto's been doing. I mean, he's spent most of the day by himself."
"He always does that, Midoriya."
It's not like Shoto wasn't used to being talked about right in front of himself but it wasn't his dad this time. It was his friends and so perhaps that made it a tad bit jarring.
"The usual studies, Midoriya." Shoto replied, gripping his books tightly.
"Well, alright, how was your day?" Izuku was trying his best to bring a conversation that unknowingly to him, Shoto wanted nothing to do with.
"Oi, keep it down! Don't you realise how loud you're bein'?" Shoto cringed as Katsuki's voice erupted from the stairs. He'd stayed in since he'd caught a stomach bug, unknown till he threw up in the early hours of the morning. Luckily, Todoroki had been able to avoid the irritable boy for most of the day. Bakugo had been in and out of sleep the whole time which proved to be rather pleasant.
"Oh, hey, Kachan." Izuku piped up, tearing himself away from the table to greet the boy.
"I'm starved! Who's cooking?" Bakugo growled, blanking Midoriya and Todoroki, stomping across the room as though he hadn't been napping at all and instead was running off of two hours of sleep.
"You're not supposed to eat anything, Bakugo. You need to wait a bit longer to guarantee that you won't throw anything up again." Iida poked his head out and wagged his finger at Katsuki. Delicious smells were beginning to waft from the kitchen. Iida was, unsurprisingly, a good cook.
Shoto walked to the stairs. He didn't want dinner. He wanted to hide in his room where he could be alone. Perhaps giving his studying another go later on would give better results.
"Mmm! Iida that's smelling so good!" Izuku exclaimed. "Shoto, doesn't it smell really nice?"
Fortunately, there was no option for Shoto to respond as Katsuki suddenly gagged, rushing off to the bathroom. Todoroki took his chance and snuck up to his room. There he planned to remain for the rest of the evening.
YOU ARE READING
Always tired (bnha agere)
FanfictionA story following Shoto trying to explore his newly discovered coping mechanism whilst managing everyday life. However, will he learn how to deal with his emotions? Or will the pestering from Bakugo, the broken memories of his childhood and the ever...