change of plans || todoroki shouto x reader

chapter fifty

a few days had passed since the licensure exam.

[name] hadn't talked to shouto since then.

she found it hard to approach him, especially after watching the final phase of the exam.

the conflict between shouto and inasa, she couldn't help but feel that she was the reason.

no.

she was certain that she was the reason.

and though they reconciled to some degree after the exam, [name] felt a certain coldness from shouto since that day.

she felt responsible for his failure in the exam. it was no doubt that he probably blamed her to some point as well.

but worst of all, [name] didn't know if he had heard what inasa said.

"if it wasn't for his family and their dumb contract marriages, you wouldn't have left japan in the first place!"

[name] could only laugh in frustration as she recalled the incident again. she was alone in her room, trying to think of a way to resolve all of this.

i should've just told him from the start.

she just wants things to be back the way it was. she missed movie nights in her room, or board game and study nights in his room.

she just missed his presence.

it had only been a few days. but, to her, it felt like centuries.

a small part of her just wanted to climb up to the roof, crawl and climb down to shouto's balcony, and try to talk it out.

but where do i even begin?

and now this additional burden is weighing on my mind, she thinks as she holds up an envelope.

an letter that had just arrived that day.

an offer of admission to caltech, one of the best universities in the world. not to mention it was less than an hour away from her home. it came with a message from her mother, saying that she need not finish her studies in UA anymore.

apparently her mother had talked it over with her father, and they both agreed that it would be safer for her to be in the states with her family. so she'd asked a friend in the university to nominate her for special admission.

[name] was so confused.

first it was, "go to UA, there's no other option." but now it's, "or not. do whatever you want."

it was up to her, and she didn't know what to do.

she needed help. she needed advice. which only circles back to shouto. she was the one person she felt that could help him with this.

but [name]'s not exactly sure on what terms they are at the moment.

she turns to check the time on her phone, only for it to read 2:43 in the morning.

god, so i've been staring at the ceiling for four hours already?

i need to go to bed.

---

the bell signaling lunch time rings in [name]'s ears. it was cue to make her drop her head onto her desk, into a comfortable napping position. well, the most comfortable you can get while on a school desk.

she had barely kept herself awake during her morning classes as she'd been struggling to sleep since what happened.

everyone in the class noticed, of course, since she's been staying behind every lunch break to get a little rest before hero classes started. she assured them she was fine. some of them taking a little bit more effort to convince, namely uraraka.