Cherry Blossoms ✔️

s e v e n t e e n

* WARNING: Mature content ahead. Please read at your own risk. You've been warned.

Cherry | 17 | Blossoms

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Wednesday came and left before she knew it. She was able to see Shouto in the morning, but their greetings were small and his were clipped. Y/N wondered if something was wrong, but then again, she didn't expect for him to miraculously change overnight simply because she'd found out he had a soft side. Instead, for him to be austere and closed off was him being his normal self.

In the afternoon, she visited Rei, but there wasn't much change. The list remained the same. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to be doing, and the thought of Chisaki reprimanding her about it only made her feel terrified.

Still, Y/N brought Rei home cooked food, helped her bathe, change into clean clothes and watched her as she stared out the window, the journal she'd given her tightly clasped in between her hands. Her update to Chisaki had been short and she'd received a slap for her 'failure,' but thankfully it had only been that. He'd been in a good mood—at least after she promised she would do her best to get more information out of Rei next time. She wasn't sure how she was going to be able to do that though.

Her days were full of classes and work. She saw Shouto during calculus where they would always group up to do in classroom activities and make small talk. The small talk was usually Y/N's doing. Shouto had been more silent than ever recently. She would catch him staring at her, and not in the way she hoped for, but more like she was an obstacle he was trying to beat. She really hated that Mr. Aizawa had gone and spoken to her about rankings and being at the top of the school. She didn't want Shouto or any of her new friends as enemies. She already had one at home that made her life a living hell.

Her exhaustion was starting to get to her, but she didn't mind it. It reminded her of how hard she'd been working and how much closer she was to leaving Chisaki. She'd even tried studying more than usual.

After work, she would study with Kaminari at the cafe as much as she could, and she would meet with Midoriya and Uraraka whenever she had some time off at the public library. It was only ten minutes away from the school. Every now and then Shouto would stop by and join them, but he always seemed more tired than the day before. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was disheveled, but whenever Midoriya or Uraraka would ask him what was wrong, he'd simply put it off—saying that he'd stayed up late studying.

Everyone else believed him, but Y/N couldn't help but feel like something was off. Shouto was having a harder time answering easy questions and she saw one of his calculus quizzes that he got back in class. He'd failed it. He always made a perfect score. He kept dozing off a few times when they were on the roof eating lunch, and it only made Y/N more skeptical.

Still, she didn't have the guts to catechize him over what was really going on. Whenever one of the guys from the group asked him, he'd waved them off and gave them that look that radiated: drop it or else. She knew she'd only make him angrier if she started pestering him too.

The weekend was gone in a blink of an eye and she spent her Monday and Wednesday staring at Rei stare out the window. At least, she'd been reading the books Y/N had left behind. Thankfully, Chisaki had left on a business trip for the week and she didn't have to report anything to him. She wasn't going to get slapped this time around.

Thursday brought along a cold front. She'd made sure to layer up. It was always cold in Mr. Aizawa's classroom. For some reason, even after she'd taken her seat, Shouto still hadn't showed up to class. There was only a few minutes left before the lecture started. She found his tardiness very weird.