Bitter - Shoto Todoroki x Reader

Chapter Seven: Another Level

Play Hearing by Sleeping at Last

    Her facial expressions change, "Oh I thought we'd be playing an action-packed game."

     "We can play something else. If you'd like."

     She blushes, "N-Nevermind, it's okay!"

     I chuckle, handing her an Xbox controller. We create a new world in Survival and begin working together to eventually beat the game. We come across a large, flat plains area.

     "Would this be a good area to build our house?" She asks.

     "Sure, I'll go get some planks and logs from the spruce forest."

     Five minutes later, (L/N) scream, causing me to look at her half of the screen. A mob of creepers and skeletons are chasing her. She can't fight back properly because she doesn't have any weapons yet.

     "I'm coming!" I announce, "I'll save you."

     I rush through the forest and make it back just in time to divert the mob's attention to me instead of (L/N). I kill them all, nearly losing my life in the process. She thanks me and we continue working on the house.

     Eventually, we're able to get beds. I place mine in the back-centre of the house, just as (L/N) approaches and places hers next to mine. I don't think she knows why I'm blushing, but I have to act like I'm on my phone to direct her attention away. We continue playing together for a few hours until it is 6:30, around the time we usually have dinner.

     "Shoto," Fuyumi says as she enters my room, "Oh, hey (L/N)-chan! Dinner's ready in case you two want to come down."

     "We'll be down soon."

     I pause the game and save for good measure as we head downstairs into the kitchen. My dad, Natsuo, and Fuyumi sit at the main table, slurping some fancy ramen. (L/N) and I make up our own bowls and sit down on the opposite side of my father.

     It's quiet for a few moments until I glance over at Natsuo and watch as his eyes fill with anger as he locks eyes with our dad.

     "I'm sorry, I can't do this." He gets up and leaves, confusing (L/N).

     "Is he okay?" She whispers, "Did I do something?"

     "No, it wasn't your fault," I reply, "Natsuo-san just doesn't like my father."

     She nods, sending her own glare towards the man. When I'm done eating, I still decide to wait for (L/N) before getting up.

     "So, who are you?" My father suddenly asks.

     "(Y/N) (L/N)," She replies, "Todoroki's classmate at UA. We already met before, during the internships."

    "I meant your past. What do you want in the future?" He says, "The important parts."

    I now realize why he's asking these questions. He wants to make sure that it's a good idea to keep (L/N) around. To court her as he did with my mom's family.

     "This isn't necessary." Fuyumi says, practically shoving us out of the room.

     "But I must-"

     My sister shuts the door and tells us to go back upstairs for a few more hours. After playing on Minecraft for another hour, (L/N) passes out on my bed with her phone unlocked and serving as a light in my now, darkroom.

     I get up, attempting to wake her but she looks too comfortable. I glance at the texts on her phone out of curiosity. The texts between her and her parents suddenly cut off two months before she came to UA. Has she been alone this entire time? Where are her parents?

     How did you get into UA, (L/N)?

A few days later, a celebration has come to Musutafu, celebrating the year so far and to hope for a great summer and rest of the year. Of course, I text (L/N) to come with me. Midoryia and Iida, as well as a few other members of class 1-A are also tagging along. For whatever reason, it makes me slightly jealous.

     "Todoroki-kun, come on!" (L/N) calls as I snap out of my daze, "If we don't get in line soon, all the prizes might be gone!"

      I chuckle and smile slightly as she grabs my right hand and pulls me through the large crowd of people. She feels warm, just like her aura. We arrive at a stand where no one else has lined up. The man in the booth explains that our job is to catch as many fish as we can in a small river nearby. The three amounts we can get in order to win an actual prize are 20, 15 or 10. In all honestly, it seems impossible. The only upside is, we're allowed to use our quirks. Well it's an upside for (L/N), not me. I'm still at a big disadvantage. I can't freeze the fish because it might kill them. All she has to do is hold them in place and float them to the bucket.

     "How about no quirks?" She suggests, "Mine is unfairly suited to this."

     He nods, "Sure. Now, take these buckets and head to the river behind me. I'll time you for five minutes."

     We begin just as he clicks the button on his stopwatch. At first, we're both able to grab five to six fish before they begin getting scarce. We eventually begin fighting over them. She pushes me and I push back in an attempt to get a bright, large goldfish swimming nearby. We push so hard that we fall over into the river and get our kimonos wet. We laugh for a few moments until I jump up and dump (L/N)'s bucket of fish into mine. She squeals in protest but the man running the stand clicks his stopwatch, signalling that the five minutes are up.

     "Seems like you've won, sir!" He says, "Choose any prize from the top shelf."

     I end up choosing a cute stuffed bunny that's completely pink with black yarn details. Instead of keeping it for myself, I immediately hand it over to (L/N).

     "Really?" She asks, "B-But you're the one who won it, not me."

     I nod, patting her head, "You deserve it more."

     She blushes and holds the stuffed animal closer. For the next few hours, we play other games with the rest of our classmates. Eventually, its finally time for the fireworks. The rest of our class is nearby but currently, (L/N) and I sit alone on a comfortable picnic blanket. I wonder, is this a good time to ask her about her parents? No, I'll let her hand a fun night. I don't want to ruin it. There is one thing I know for sure.

     I love you (Y/N) (L/N).

     Just as I think the thought in my head, the fireworks of different designs and colors begin to flash in front of us. I smile.

     (L/N) grabs my hand to get my attention, "Todo, look!" I follow her finger, above it is a firework that explodes into a small bunny design.

     "(L/N)-chan," I call just loud enough for her to hear.

     "Yes?"

     I turn and stare into her (E/C) eyes, "Call me Shoto."

     She smiles, giggling, "Okay, then you get to call me (Y/N)."

     We smile once more at each other before turning back to the fireworks and watching all of the bright colors explode around us. I'm glad that I didn't stop talking with her. Usually, at this point, something happens to ruin the friendship, or I find out that they were liars. That...isn't (Y/N), right?

     For the next week and a half, as the Shigaraki situation dies down, (Y/N) and I hangout many other times. Slowly, my siblings begin to trust her. Mom has still never met her, while my dad refuses to trust her. I wave to her today as she walks down my driveway and heads down the road to the right. I pause. Why is she walking the other way? She always comes from the left, is she headed off to do something else? I wonder..

     Ignoring it, I turn away from the window to see Fuyumi.

     "So, you really like her, don't you?"

     I nod, "Yeah, I do." A smile displays itself on my face.

     I do.