Unexpected Changes ((TENYA IIDA X OC))

Chapter 13

"I can't sleep." I said after turning in bed for the seventh time that night, knowing full well that Aizawa still sat awake in his armchair by the window.

"Why not?" He asked, voice calm.

I sat up briskly and, in teaching for the lamp that previously sat on the nightstand, recalled throwing it across the room that morning. I frowned and settled for the dark as I let my hand fall back to the sheets again.

"I saw Bakugou on my way home," I confessed. I listened as Aizawa shifted in his seat.

"And?"

"He said he loved me." I replied almost awkwardly.

"I thought you were with Iida?" Aizawa asked, confused.

"It's a long story," I droned, unwilling to drabble in that topic. "Focus."

"Right," he agreed. "What'd you say about that?"

"I said I did too." I replied, groaning as I flopped back onto the bed.

"You don't, though," Aizawa observed.

"I don't know," I shrugged despite him being unable to see it. "There are too many things going on for me to tell."

"I think you're too young to understand love either way, kiddo," Aizawa reasoned and I glanced over in his direction. "It's complicated, no matter what the situation. I don't think Bakugou understands it very well himself."

"How do you figure?"

"He's a teenage boy," Aizawa went on, making me roll my eyes. I knew all too well where this was going. "They all want one thing and one thing only. They don't exactly think with the right hea —"

"Ew, okay, I get the message." I interrupted, shoving a pillow over my face.

"Good." Aizawa piped, sounding like a proud dad.

"But still..."

"Osoroshi," Aizawa groaned. "Not requiting his feelings won't kill him."

I took that too literally, then.

Due to the current situation, what Aizawa said was true. Not requiting his feelings may very well save him. If I could push him away and reveal his false hope, maybe that'd be enough to get him to stay away, but just the mere thought of deliberately hurting him made my heart hurt.

"Besides," Aizawa picked back up again and I found myself looking in his direction. "If I would have to pick between Bakugou and Iida, I'd say you loved Iida."

"Why?"

"I see the way you look at him," Aizawa said quietly. "I heard your argument in class. I heard you voice."

I looked up at the ceiling hearing that. It wasn't exactly a secret that I loved Iida, but it was also something I couldn't act on — not after everything that's happened; everything that I've done.

"It doesn't matter," I finally said, turning on my side. "They're both a lost cause."

"You don't act like they are."

I breathed out my nose and closed my eyes. "I know."

__________

Another day of Endeavor's internship dragged on, and after an afternoon filled with learning how to properly complete reports, Endeavor had called both Todoroki and I into his office.

I arrived there first, which gave the opportunity for an awkward silence to shuffle through the room as I stood with my hero suitcase in my hand.

"Has anything happened since we last spoke about Dream Walker?" Endeavor asked finally, taking the alone time as an advancement to ask questions.