Echoes of Vapor (Shoto Todoroki)

01.03

PART 03

POLLUTION

For Ryou, things changed after that. Not at "home" (everything was still shitty), but at school or when he was out and about. Unfortunately, Ryou had really developed an addiction to cigarettes after his first one due to him getting pressured by Sakamoto's group (and his brain itching for more).

The effects of addiction were already starting to take its toll, but Ryou didn't want to believe it. The first cigarette with Sakamoto had been him pretending to really inhale the smoke, but the second time, which was also against his will, he had made the mistake of inhaling the smoke properly.

When he first inhaled the smoke how he was supposed to, Ryou felt afraid afterwards. Pulling the toxic substance into his lungs made his knees go wobbly and made his head experience a short rush, but neither of those things were what really made him afraid.

What he was really afraid of was the way it started to feel good.

The following week of the cafe incident, Ryou found himself taken in by Sakamoto's group. Although he was unfamiliar with the other guys, it didn't really matter, at least not to Ryou. He was surprisingly comfortable with Sakamoto's presence, though their friendship was mostly one-sided with Sakamoto always being the one to invite him over.

Sakamoto made it clear to everyone that no one was to lay a hand on Ryou, and in any case where that were to happen, they were out of the group. It was oddly nice, having Sakamoto there to defend him.

Soon, Ryou began to open up more to Sakamoto, and their relationship changed from being friends to close friends, before finally they became best friends.

They hung out outside and in school, and Ryou learned a lot about Sakamoto. Sakamoto spoke through actions better than words. He was also straightforward and often knew what he was going to do and how he was going to do it. He thought out loud and was unafraid to do so, openly complimenting Ryou. Sakamoto not only spoke through actions, but was quite physical in general. He was often seen with an arm around Ryou or when he wanted to go somewhere, he would reach out and grab Ryou by his wrist and lead him to the desired designation. He occasionally would stare at Ryou's face, and with a clumsy hand he would touch the blue marks on Ryou's exposed skin with curious intentions.

Ryou began to attend school daily and his reputation transformed from being an outcast to being Sakamoto's right hand man. There wasn't a moment where one was spotted without the other. Despite this, Ryou still didn't have many friends. People at school were too afraid to talk to him, not wanting to face Sakamoto's anger.

Sakamoto unlocked a new part of Ryou, one that was more confident and happier. He and Ryou often stopped by Cafe Ben, where Ryou noticed that Kikuchi tended to act more snappy to Sakamoto.

Ryou was doing a lot better in school, though, having built up enough courage to ask the teacher to move him to the closest seat to the board. He found himself tutoring Sakamoto, who surprisingly cared about things like academics from time to time.

Takashi Sakamoto, the older Sakamoto brother, wasn't as bad of a person than Ryou originally imagined. He was someone who loved his brother deeply and was doing everything he could to support himself and his brother, since their parents were gone. Ryou originally made him out to be a bad guy since he was behind Katashi's smoking habit, but after getting to know him, he really wasn't so bad. The only thing that ever stood out about him was the ratty briefcase that he carried with him wherever he went.

It just worried Ryou about where Takashi received his money, and he had spotted Takashi with a shady group of people a handful of times. The group of people were different every time, however two people were always the same.