Echoes of Vapor (Shoto Todoroki)

02.09

PART 09

BREAK

Luckily, Present Mic was able to calm Ryou down after a few minutes of coaxing him out of his flashbacks.

This resulted in an extremely embarrassed Ryou, a pair of worried friends, and nosy classmates. As the students boarded the bus that was headed back to the school, Ryou felt uncomfortable because of the stares he was receiving from some of his classmates.

Ryou shifted uncomfortably in his seat, opting to sit at the back of the bus this time around. Of course, Uraraka sat next to him, but Iida sat in the middle section of the bus, because as class President, he felt that he should be ready at all times.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Uraraka whispered to Ryou after a few minutes of driving.

Ryou shook his head, wearing an apologetic expression on his face, "Not today, sorry." He really did feel bad, but he felt like this was something that was best talked about some other time.

Immediately Uraraka jolted back, looking a bit embarrassed herself, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't want to come off as nosy, I just thought that you'd want someone to talk to about stuff, I'm really sorry."

Ryou offered her a smile, showing her that he really wasn't upset at all. Uraraka relaxed again, her shoulders slumping slightly. "I just felt really bad when it was happening, y'know? I mean, the villains were all gone, and I felt like I hardly did much in that fight, and then I couldn't even help you when you needed someone to lean on."

Ryou felt his heart clench a bit in guilt, and he sighed deeply. He supposed that the small group of friends that he had made quickly had already shown themselves to be genuine people.

He went quiet, reaching up to fiddle with his earrings, debating on whether or not he should open up to his friend so soon.

Ryou casted a weary glance at Uraraka, who looked up at him with trust splayed out all over her face. For the somewhat short amount of time that Ryou has known her, he hadn't recognized a single judgemental bone in her body.

It seemed like nothing phased her and that she was ready to take everything in stride, and as he looked into her eyes, he felt like at that moment, he could tell her anything and everything.

But then an all-too familiar yearning began to make itself known in his head, and Ryou tore his gaze away from hers. A muted feeling of despair slowly crept over the hope that had begun to bud in his chest, and he was reminded of his ugly past.

If he had told Uraraka about how he really is, how would she look at him? Would she look at him with the same expression? Or would she be like everyone else and flip her nose up in disgust, looking at him with scornful eyes, and sending words of distaste his way?

What would she say if she ever found him, cradling a cigarette up to his mouth like it was his lifeline? What would she think if she ever saw the smoke seeping out of his mouth, a sign of the corruption that tainted his lungs?

Ryou clenched his fists, clenched his jaw, feeling contempt towards himself for being the way that he was. Someone like him could never deserve the support of someone like Uraraka, nor Iida, nor Midoriya.

Someone like him was better off alone, so why was Uraraka looking at him like he was worthy?

They hadn't known each other that long, and he was deceiving her. He was pretending that there wasn't anything wrong with him, and she was, without a doubt, being fooled.

But...

A part of Ryou really, really wanted to tell her. However, before he could go back on himself once more, the bus came to a stop, and he realized that he spent the entire time engrossed in thought.