Echoes of Vapor (Shoto Todoroki)

02.03

PART 03

BOUNDLESS

Despite Ryou initially thinking that he wasn't nervous about the results at all, he proved himself wrong the day that results were supposed to come back. Instead of waiting by the mailbox like some people probably did, he preoccupied himself by doing every single possible chore that was available to him throughout the day.

When Ben got fed up with him stressing out the customers by just being stressed in their presence, he was banished from the kitchen for the day and sent to his room.

Ryou moped in his room, stressed out of his mind. Maybe he thought he wasn't nervous after the exams only because he was in shock. He thumbed a cigarette out of his pack, sticking it into his mouth and lighting it quickly, pulling a chair up to his window to lean on it.

"Ryou? Ben told me you were banished from interacting with the customers," Yuzuki's quiet voice lulled him out of his thoughts, "I think I can see why though. Are you feeling excited?" Ryou turned around after blowing the smoke out of the window, smiling brightly at the sight of his friend.

"Well, I was... Yesterday. Today? Not so much," Ryou mumbled, sticking the cigarette back into his mouth as another wave of stress washed over him.

Yuzuki laughed quietly, walking over to where he sat. She reached down and tried to take the cigarette from his lips, to which Ryou very quickly moved his head away to stop her.

"No, no, I need it," Ryou murmured, gently waving her hand away when she tried it again.

"It's bad for you," She chided, her voice ever so gentle, "Ben'll take it away from you anyways."

Ryou made a face, waving her off lightly, "I'd like to see him try," He grumbled before taking another drag and getting wrapped up in his thoughts once more.

Surely he would get in, right? He did well on both the written and managed to rack up a decent amount of points. Ryou turned his head away from Yuzuki, who was now sitting right next to him, releasing the smoke with a loud sigh.

"Don't think too hard, it's just making things worse, you know," Yuzuki piped up again, placing a hand on Ryou's forearm.

Ryou felt a bit bad, but his smoking was something that was really hard for him to let go. He hated seeing Yuzuki and Ben worry over him, because it made him feel like a burden, but he couldn't help it.

"I'm sorry," Ryou mumbled, gently tugging his arm out of her grip. He held the cigarette to his lips, taking a drag slowly, as he thought some more about the entrance exam, running through all possible scenarios in which he would be rejected from UA in his head.

The stress he was feeling reduced every time he convinced himself why one failing outcome would be less likely than an outcome where he would be accepted.

Only, it didn't. Just as quickly as he calmed down, his stress began to rise again.

Feeling antsy, he stood up and began to pace around his room, leaving faint traces of cigarette ash on the ground as he walked.

"I just can't keep my thoughts in check, y'know? Like a good part of me knows that I couldn't have bombed it and that I really did a good job, but there's still the other part of me that is constantly whining about useless what if's." Ryou explained, his hands moving around wildly as he spoke.

Yuzuki hummed from her seat, her expression troubled as well, but unsure of how to console her friend, "I understand, but the results come out soon, so maybe by then you'll have eased up!"