Inside Your Mind

56 - Natsuo Todoroki

Any man can hold my gaze has done his job just fine

"Hey Kaori, wanna go and down some beers?" Natsuo Todoroki asked his fellow TA. He normally wouldn't be this open about drinking on a class trip when he really wasn't supposed to even bring alcohol in the first place, especially around people he didn't know for too long yet.

But Kaori seemed chill. And she looked like she could use a beer. And some sleep, but at least Natsuo was able to provide the beer. She turned around and looked at him. Her eyes were weary and it seemed like she needed a good bit of time to process what he had just asked her.

"I can down one beer with you, but I have to go to the remedial classes later on. Can't really turn up drunk to those." she replied. Natsuo raised an eyebrow. Her professor seemed pretty intense.

"Remedial classes? For real? At this time?" he asked. She just shrugged.

"Yeah. I hope the six kids that have those aren't going to be too slow with their work, because I'd like to at least try and get some sleep. An hour or two would be pretty nice." she mumbled.

"Man, Aizawa is being really tough on students. Sorry you're stuck with him." Natsuo replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, I don't mind him. I kinda enjoy being stuck with him, he's a pretty agreeable person once you get through a few layers first. Or maybe I can just relate to him, since we're both insomniacs." she answered, shrugging.

"You're insomniac?" Natsuo wanted to know. He wasn't sure why he was surprised, he honestly should have known. Kaori gestured broadly at herself with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile on her face.

"I'm flattered you don't think it's obvious." she said and chuckled. Natsuo laughed along with her.

"Yeah, sorry, that was kinda dumb of me."

"I thought you're studying some health related stuff or something."

"I am, please don't tell anyone about this, I'll never be able to live it down." he answered jokingly. Kaori grinned.

"I always like having blackmail material. You owe me one." she said and grinned. Natsuo laughed.

"Sure. So, like you have proper insomnia? How bad is it? And how long have you had it? Tell me everything." he wanted to know.

"It's genetic. I've had it since I was like... I don't know... 13 or something. I used to have it for short periods and the older I got the longer I had it. Tried sleeping pills, but I didn't like the side effects, they made my brain all mushy. So now I'm just trying to get in a lot of naps during the day, so I won't die. I can usually sleep around 10 or 11 at night for a few hours, then maybe between 3 and 5 again, but that's all I get most nights. My brother has the same thing, so we usually just hang out when we can't sleep." she explained. Natsuo nodded, making mental notes. It was a little concerning how nonchalant she was about her lack of sleep.

But Natsuo wasn't going to butt in. It was none of his business, really. He had his own issues to deal with, after all. He handed her a can of beer and opened one for himself, quickly drinking the foam that was coming out from the opening.

"Damn, that sounds rough. So you have a brother? Younger or older?" he wanted to know. He felt a little bad right now, because he really should have tried bonding with his brother a little more, instead of having a can with this random girl.

"He's my younger brother. He's the biggest dork I've ever known and I love him. He just started studying at U.A. this year actually, so we've been hanging out a little more lately." she said, smiling.