Leave Your Mark | Various!BNHA x Reader

13: Troublesome Trio

The bell chimes, and with it, your very first day of school comes to an end.

All in all, you're feeling pretty good. Meeting Shouto was a welcome surprise, and you can only hope that he'll open up his heart to you eventually. Until then, you'll be patient, never get discouraged, and keep doing whatever you can to ease his burden.

All of the kids practically sprint out of the classroom, excited to get back home as quickly as possible. Well, all of the kids except you and Shouto, and as you slip on your cute little backpack, you notice him staring at you with a puzzled expression.

Curious, you stare back.

"What is it?" you ask. "Ah, don't tell me. Do I have leftover food on my face from lunchtime?"

He shakes his head. "No. But now that you mention it, you're a pretty messy eater. Maybe you should pack some napkins from now on."

Duly noted. It seems like being trapped in a child's body has really rubbed off on you. Even Chisaki always used to comment on your lack of table manners. Then again, he was anal about pretty much everything, though.

"So, what did you want to say?" you ask again.

Shouto tenses up. It seems like he hadn't gathered his thoughts before, because he's clearly struggling to find the right words. The way he scrunches up his brow in frustration is ridiculously cute though, so you don't mind waiting.

Eventually, he lets out a sigh.

"I can't stop you from trying to get close to me," he says. "But I'm not the kind of person you want as a friend. You can eat lunch with me as many times as you want, but that will never change. I just thought you should know."

Aw. He really is adorable, thinking you'll give up on him. But too bad. There's no way you can sit idly and let him suffer all on his own, not when you've just been given the opportunity of a lifetime.

No matter how much he stubbornly pushes you away, you'll keep coming back.

"I like you, Shouto," you smile, and his eyes instinctively widen, almost as if he can't believe what he's hearing. "Even though we just met, I want to be friends with you. I don't care how long it takes. So, whenever you're ready to call me your friend, I'll be here."

You wave goodbye to him, since you can see that some kids from the orphanage have stopped by to pick you up. They greet you happily and pat you on the head, asking how your first day went, to which you reply that it was amazing, of course.

Shouto doesn't say anything else. He just watches you link arms with one of the other kids, smiling as brightly as always, and slowly but surely, you fade into the distance.

You're gone now, but the words you just spoke are playing in his head on repeat.

"I like you, Shouto."

Surely, you don't mean it. There's no way you could possibly mean it. Besides, you hardly even know him. You don't even know anything about him.

And yet, his face feels hot for some reason.

*****

"I want to go see my friends," you say simply.

The caregiver gives you a funny look. "And where exactly are these friends of yours, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Um... I don't know exactly how to describe it. But we went there a little while ago. There was a park close to a neighborhood, and that's where my friends live."