change of plans || todoroki shouto x reader

chapter forty-two

"ah—i brought you tea... can i.. come in?"

"o-oh. sure..."

[name]'s hands warm up as she receives the hot beverage from todoroki, letting him in and shutting the door behind them. the room was illuminated by only the moon outside and the small lamp that was on her study desk.

todoroki himself was nervous. before he could think about how to react, he had blurted out asking to enter and a few seconds later, here they are, both in her room.. alone. but that was the least of his concerns.

following [name], he watches as she puts down the mug on a coaster.

"are.. you okay?" he asks. "we passed by your room earlier and i knocked but, you didn't answer. so i was a little concerned."

"oh, i didn't hear," [name] says. she closes her eyes and shakes her head. "actually, let me show you something."

shouto's eyes perk up and follow as she went outside to the balcony. it was only large enough to fit the both of them with a little extra space. keeping the door open, he looks as she started hoisting herself up.

there were neat indents grooved into the foundation pillar of the building. being on the other side, there was a similar one on his veranda, but this one was modified by [name] with her quirk to be some sort of makeshift ladder.

he follows as she climbed to the roof. it was quite dangerous, the heights alliance's having an inclined one. but after pulling themselves up and taking place on the top, it felt a lot safer.

looking to his left, [name]'s face now looked more calm. he stares as she kept her eyes on the night sky, watching the clouds pass by. he turns to where she was looking.

"the sky's really pretty at night, hm?" [name] says.

shouto hums in agreement. "so.. this is where you were the entire night?"

"mhm."

he turns behind him and looks at the other side of the building where his room was. had their dorms not been split up into left and right wings, their rooms would be right in front of each other. but there was a wall that bisected the two hallways and separate elevators for each gender's use. the courtyard was visible from behind them, and crawling a mere fifty meters would bring him to his own room's balcony.

[name] kept silent.

"when you went missing, i was so worried, you know," todoroki says, "i blamed myself for convincing you to come with us. i thought that maybe if you went ahead, you wouldn't have been captured by the villains."

[name] feels guilty. she hadn't considered how any of her friends were feeling. after dabi let her go, she sent a text and that was it. she places her hand on his shoulder, making him look toward her.

"please don't blame yourself. i think they would've gotten me either way," she says, laughing pitifully at herself. "i'm sorry i made you worry, but after the whole thing, i just needed to.. clear my head."

"what exactly happened..?"

the events of the whole night flashes through [name]'s mind. being captured, seeing dabi again, saying goodbye. her head hurt, and she rubs her hands on her face.

"can i tell you something first?" todoroki nods to answer.

"i.. never wanted to come to UA. i don't want to be a hero. maybe at some point during my childhood, i did, but now i think it's not what i want."

[name] feels like a burden has been lifted off her shoulders. not all of them, but a considerable amount. the kind of secret she's told only dabi and shinsou, and now.. shouto. but it was only one of the three big things she's hiding from him. she's a little nervous at how he would react.