Rescue // Shoto Todoroki x OC Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty-Three

She was back on the couch in her apartment, but it took her a second to gather her surroundings. She sat upright on the couch quickly, looking around her, her chest heaving.

Shoto- where was Shoto?

She panicked as she stood from the couch, and she frantically began to look around the apartment for him. It was likely he'd left while she was sleeping, but she still needed to be sure. As she headed down the hall, she grabbed her phone from her pocket and pulled up Shoto's contact. Right before she hit the call button, the bathroom door opened, startling Katsumi. 

She was instantly filled with relief upon seeing Shoto step out of the bathroom. She awkwardly froze in the hallway in front of him, not sure what to say. He regarded her with a look of concern before stepping closer, noting the subtle look of panic on her face. 

"Are you alright?" he asked. She couldn't even respond. There was a lump in her throat the size of Detroit that she couldn't seem to swallow. He came closer and gripped her shoulders, which seemed to finally shake her from her dream. She stepped back and beelined for the living room, but Shoto was hot on her tail. "You're sweating, Katsumi. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said quietly, taking a seat on the sofa. He sat down next to her, and against his better judgment, he placed a finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. Her eyes searched his face for any hint that he'd been hurting, even though she knew it had just been a dream. Still, she felt relieved that he was here and in one piece. 

"It was just a bad dream," she told him. "I'm fine." 

"What was it about?" he asked. He still had his hand under her chin, and she was trying not to focus on it too much, but it was hard not to with the way he was looking at her. She debated telling him about the dream but ultimately decided against it. 

"I don't want to talk about it," she told him. He held her gaze for a moment longer than was comfortable, and she began to feel a blush forming across her cheeks. And then it didn't help when he brushed his thumb across her chin, barely skating against her bottom lip. She turned away quickly--maybe a little too quickly--to hide her blushing face. 

"I think you had a bad dream earlier, too," he told her. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about them?"

No, she didn't want to talk about them. She didn't want to go into detail with him about the conditions she was kept in there. She didn't want anyone to know the kinds of things that happened there. It was stupid and embarrassing that she, a pro hero, had been captured and kept like that. She felt ashamed, and she didn't want anyone to know the extent of what had happened. 

She shook her head before grabbing the TV remote to put on a movie or something to distract herself as she worried about sleeping later that night. It was pretty late in the evening now, which meant Shoto would probably be leaving sooner rather than later. She thought that maybe if she stayed awake for longer, he would stick around longer as well. He must have been getting tired by then, having been looking after her all day. She didn't want to be a further inconvenience to him, but she didn't want him to leave, nor did she know how to ask him to stay. 

Shoto didn't move back to the other end of the couch, instead opting to remain at her side. She didn't mind it--rather, welcomed his presence. Even though they'd never been close before, she couldn't deny that his presence made her feel safe. 

She didn't like it that first night in her apartment by herself. It had been cold and quiet--way too quiet for her liking. Eventually, things were going to have to go back to normal, and he wouldn't be here, though, which meant that Katsumi was going to have to get used to the way things were before. There would be no Shoto to pull a blanket around her shoulders when she fell asleep on the couch or look after her when she came home from the hospital. 

It was evident that he was just doing this because he still felt guilty about what happened, despite Katsumi telling him it wasn't his fault. That means she was taking advantage of his kind behavior, letting him stay here to look after her. Even though she knew this to be true, she didn't want him to leave.

Still, she didn't want him to feel awkward. She needed him to know that she didn't need him. The last thing she wanted was to burden him with the knowledge that she really did better when he was there with her. 

"It's late," she told him. "You should probably get home soon so you can get some rest, too." 

You're probably right," he replied, "but I'll admit I'm a little worried about leaving you by yourself."

Katsumi sighed. "It's just bad dreams. I'm sure every hero has gone through that at least once in their career. I can handle it."

"I'm not saying that I don't think you can handle it," he said, forling his arms over his chest. "I'm trying to tell you that you don't have to do this all on your own."

Katsumi wanted to relent. She wanted him to stay. But she didn't know how to back down without sounding too eager and embarrassing herself. She folded her hands together in her lap and fell silent, not sure what else to say. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth again, she'd ask him to leave--and she really didn't want him to.

The other problem was that she hated being such an inconvenience to him. He had better things to be doing than hanging around her apartment all day to babysit her and make sure she was eating and sleeping. She was sure he'd rather be somewhere else right now. He just felt guilty and was trying to make it up to her for what happened.

Katsumi finally decided to speak again--this time without beating around the bush.

"You still feel guilty," she told him. "That's why you're doing this. You feel guilty."

Shoto shifted uncomfortably beside her as she locked eyes with him. He glanced back and forth between her and his hands, seemingly at a loss for words.

"If that's why you're doing this, then you really don't need to be here. I'm completely fine by myself, and I don't blame you for anything that happened. I've already told you that. So if that's why you're trying to stay and help, I promise you that you're fine. You can go."

"That's not why I'm here," he finally responded. His eyes were now fixed on the television screen as some random movie played. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was contemplating something, but just like always, she had no idea what he was thinking. Shoto was always one of the hardest people for her to read.

"Then why?"

"I'm here because I care about you. It's as simple as that. I don't want you to be here by yourself."

There was more Shoto wanted to say, but he couldn't. The words sat on the tip of his tongue but didn't make it any further. It was obvious that Katsumi didn't think of him as a friend. So there was no way he could properly share what was on his mind.

Katsumi didn't even have a proper response. She hadn't really thought about any other reason he'd want to be around her, and the possibility that he actually cared about her was... interesting. She wasn't sure how that made her feel.

"If you really want me to leave, then I will," Shoto said quietly. "But I don't want to."