Worth It (N. Todoroki X Reader)

Chapter 3: Awkward Dinner

So . . .

It's kinda been three months since the charity event.

Uhm.

I haven't touched the number Natsuo gave me.

Yes, I know I'm a disappointment, but what am I even supposed to say? It's not like starting conversations is something that comes naturally to me.

I did, however, run into Fuyumi at the store a few weeks ago, and she invited me to her house for dinner. I accepted, so now I'm getting ready for that.

"Yonda, it's just a dinner his sister invited me to. It's not like he's going to be there."

Ah yes. I didn't mention my friend Yonda who tends to romanticize every little thing on this earth. As I said, she romanticizes almost everything.

"You never know," Yonda said. She reached into her bag and pulled out a f/c shirt, tossing it to me. "Here's the shirt you ordered."

I caught it, slipping into the closet to put it on and grab the money for it.

"I seriously doubt he lives with his sister," I said. "It'll be fine."

•••

It was not, in fact, fine.

Turns out his entire family still lives together.

Damn it.

I mean this is great, I finally get to talk to Natsuo after a few months.

But also . . . I kinda haven't texted him in three months and he's been expecting something.

You know what, my excuse is I was showering.

I mean it's also not like I just don't know how to start a conversation and don't even know where to begin texting a guy you think is cute, college has also been an ass and those culinary classes are killing me.

It's fine, it's fine. I'm alllll good.

I followed Fuyumi into the dining room, sitting across from her, and next to Natsuo. I was told that Endeavor wouldn't be here because he's on patrol.

Which is honestly a relief because I do not think I can deal with the stress of being in the presence of number one added on top of worrying about the college homework I have yet to complete that's literally due tomorrow, not talking with Natsuo, the actual bad things Natsuo told me about Endeavor, what I'm going to pretend to eat, AND everything.

Why must life be this difficult? I never asked to be here. Why are you like this?

I'm just gonna have to schedule a mental breakdown for later while I'm trying to do my homework.

All is good.

"So, Y/n," Natsuo started. My heartbeat literally skyrocketed because, like, he's talking to me and oh shit. Also just because it's been a while since I've heard his voice and it sounds nice and just jciqlnc. "How've you been?"

"Eh," I responded, giving a heavy breath. "College and life definitely isn't in my favor, that's for sure."

"What do you study?" Fuyumi asked.

"Culinary arts," I said. "I'm hoping to be a chef or something. Which is pretty ironic seeing as I don't eat anything." My voice trailed off towards the end, getting quieter until almost I couldn't understand what I was saying.

Fuyumi hummed, inverbally asking what was that?

I shook my head. "Nothing."

A few awkward moments.

Heard in my head turning trying to think of what to ask.

"So what do you guys do? Like jobs and college and stuff."

"Fuyumi's a teacher, and I'm studying medical welfare," Natsuo said.

"That's cool," I said. "So you're, like, smart."

He nodded, continuing to eat . . . whatever was served.

This is really awkward and I think this may be my final resting place.

When dinner finally ended, Natsuo and Fuyumi were seeing me off at the door. It's not like the dinner was bad, I'm sure it was amazing, it's just that it was really awkward and just no.

"Well, I'll see you another time. Bye, Y/n." Fuyumi waved and walked back inside, probably to deal with some other business she had to attend to. Natsuo, however, leaned against the doorway and waited until Fuyumi was both out of sight and out of ear shot to talk. Once he was sure she wasn't near by, he stepped out onto the porch sidewalk area and closed the door behind him.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi." Oh dear lord this is so awkward I can't even right now I'm going to die. And I'm smiling. Why am I smiling?

And to make things so much better, before Natsuo could even say anything else I was explaining the whole texting situation faster than either of us could probably process.

"Sorry about not texting you, life has just been not great, and college is a mess, and then there's the whole thing with my weight and stuff and my doctor and I had like two dentists appointments this month because they had to fill a cavity and my homework is just piling up and literally like half of it is due tomorrow and I haven't even considered crossing that bridge so I'm just kinda here like—"

And the  Natsuo was laughing. And that scared me so bad because it led to this whole other thing to stress out about and overthink.

"Woah, slow down," he said. He cleared his throat, riding his voice of any trace of laughter. "Sorry about that. Anyways, you don't have to apologize about not texting me. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting you to—you just don't seem like the kind of person to initiate conversation over text."

"So, you're not like . . ." I couldn't think of the word to describe what I was thinking of, so instead I made elaborate hand motions that hopefully conveyed what I was trying to say.

"No, it's fine. Of course, I still want to get to know you, and I would start a conversation with you, I just need your number." Natsuo chuckled nervously, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck.

I blinked. "Wow, okay, uhm." Dear lord help me. "Sorry, I was kinda expecting this to go differently, uhm. I guess here's my phone?" I handed him my phone, letting him find settings and my number. His eyes ran over it a few times, committing it to memory. He handed it back, a small smile on his face.

"Hopefully I see you some other time," he said. I nodded, saying goodbye and walking away from his house. I hadn't even gotten to the corner of the block when my phone dinged, and I took it out to look at the notification.

Unknown: Hey

A smile crossed my face as I read it over a few more times. I glanced back at the house, my smile growing wider. I decided that what I was doing was a bit creepy out of context, so I kept walking until I managed to grab a taxi. In the back seat, I responded.

And that's how that conversation started and how we agreed to meet up again this Saturday at a coffee shop—the exact one Yonda works at. During her shift.

That will be a joy.