Echoes of Vapor (Shoto Todoroki)

01.06

PART 06

PAINFUL

Ryou was basically vibrating in excitement, standing in front of the front window of Cafe Ben. Every blurry figure he saw pass by had him squinting his eyes, hoping that one of them would be the boy he was waiting for.

Takahashi awkwardly stood next to him after Ryou demanded he also be on look out for Katashi with him. The two had gone on a jog in the morning and had a quick smoke before they rushed back to the cafe after Ryou realized the time.

Ryou sighed heavily, slumping into a chair, "He's late," he whined, burying his head into his arms.

Still in the same spot, Takahashi gave him a sympathetic look.

"Hey, he'll show up eventually. Why don't you go grab something to eat? Seems you'll be waiting awhile," He suggested, looking over to Ben who waved at his sulking ward.

Ryou slowly nodded with a defeated sigh to punctuate the action, "I guess you're right," He grumbled before he headed into the kitchen to fix himself a plate of something to eat.

***

Takahashi hummed before fixing his gaze back out the window, smiling to himself at the sound of Ben and Ryou bickering over who gets the stove priority.

His eyes lazily traced passerbys, cars, animals, none of which are Sakamoto.

He wondered how he's been, especially after he pushed everyone away and decided to hog Ryou all to himself. Sure they weren't the best of friends, but he was a little hurt that he was also cast away along with everyone else, but mainly because he had intended on becoming one of Ryou's closer friends.

Something about Ryou was just so alluring, intentional or not, and he wanted to have some of him for himself.

Though, ever since Sakamoto decided to have an outburst, he has gotten none of Ryou at all, especially now that the two have been in a pretty obvious relationship.

He sighed heavily, his eyes scanning the outside again. In the distance, there was a rapidly approaching figure with black hair, and a small smirk graced his face.

"Looks like your boy is finally here," He said quietly, but Ryou heard it anyways.

Takahashi turned around to see Ryou hurriedly washing his hands, his half-made meal abandoned. Before Ryou could finish washing his hands, the doors of the cafe burst open, startling some of the customers who were oblivious to the situation.

"Ben, they've gotten rid of Ryou- he's gone-'' Sakamoto burst into the cafe, his voice sounding panicked, not noticing Ryou who perked up at the sight of him.

"Welcome back, 'Tashi!" Ryou cheered, hopping over the counter and making a brave leap into Sakamoto's arms.

Sakamoto let out a loud yelp in shock, but his arms quickly tightened around Ryou once he processed what was going on. His widened eyes slowly relaxed and he gently eased Ryou onto the ground.

"Ryou, I thought you moved away," Sakamoto breathed, both his hands resting on Ryou's shoulders, who beamed at him with a giddy smile, "I was so worried when I got to your place and those shitbags were telling me that you were gone for good."

Ryou smiled brightly, shaking his head, "Well, they were right! I moved in with Ben, isn't that great? Oh- Also, while you were gone..."

Takahashi watched the way Sakamoto's eyes softened as Ryou blabbed about all the things that happened while he was out of town. Takahashi never imagined that he would get to see the day where the Sakamoto make a vulnerable expression like this.