Savior (My Hero Academia: Todoroki x OC)

Chapter 37: Work Study

There was a weird tension between Shoto and I and it wasn't all on my end. I noticed when we sat down to dinner that something was off. Now, as we walked to class together the next day, I sensed it again. His arm was around my back and his hand held onto my waist tightly. It was almost difficult to walk with how close he was holding me to him. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but I found myself hesitating.

I had something of an epiphany last night while I laid in bed, unable to fall asleep. What if Sho somehow saw me as a replacement mother figure? He wanted to be comforted by me, encouraged by me, loved by me, but what if it wasn't in a romantic way? A lot of things would add up if he was confusing his feelings for me. But that thought was also super depressing. I wanted Shoto to love me and treat me like a girlfriend. And, maybe more importantly to me, I wanted everyone else to see him treating me like a girlfriend so they'd stop questioning our relationship.

The day seemed never-ending. I was quieter than usual, spending most of the day in my head and once classes were finished, I headed straight for the gym. I needed to hit something. It seemed Momo had decided to dive head first into getting closer to Shoto. And I was angry. She spent a majority of our free time today trying to draw his attention, while straight-up ignoring me. During lunch, on breaks between classes, any time she had an opportunity, she was asking him questions or talking to him. She was barely flirtatious and never inappropriate, just overly friendly. I normally wouldn't have thought anything of it, except I had eavesdropped on that conversation yesterday. I knew what she was trying to do. And it was frustrating because I knew if I said anything, I'd come across as the bad guy, the jealous girlfriend.

I trained for longer than usual, exhausting myself. It was good for me. I focused on my workout so much, I didn't have room to think about anything else. Which made me realize exactly how much I had been overthinking everything. Shoto was my boyfriend. I loved him and he loved me. And that was it. Shoto had told me something similar when we had first confessed. It didn't matter what anyone else thought or how anyone else felt. 

I also recognized it wasn't good for me to get so wrapped up in relationship issues. It was starting to affect my hero work. I made the decision that tomorrow was a new day. I was re-devoting myself toward the goal of becoming a hero. Shoto would be by my side and we would both work hard. Nothing else was important or worthy of my thoughts.

By the time I got back to the dorms, I realized that I had trained for so long that I missed dinner. Luckily, my amazing boyfriend noticed and a plate of food was waiting for me.

"You trained for a long time today, my love. Don't overdo it and make sure you're getting enough to eat, alright," Shoto said, pulling me into a side hug from the chair next to mine.

"Thanks for worrying about me, Sho, but I'll be okay. I know my limits a lot better now."

"As long as you're taking care of yourself..." he trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. "If you're good, I'm gonna head up early tonight. I think the stress of the past few weeks has started to take its toll on me." He pressed a kiss to the top of my head before heading upstairs.

I sat alone and finished my food before following his lead. Even though I had finally made the decision to let go of everything, today was emotionally draining for me. Being at UA had introduced me to a new world, a world where I had friends and a boyfriend. I had never struggled this much in dealing with interpersonal relationship issues before, mostly because I avoided people. Living in the dorms had forced me to interact with a variety of personalities on a daily basis. All the time spent in my head second-guessing my actions and wondering about the intentions of others was something I hadn't done in years. It was exhausting.

Thursday arrived and Midoriya's house arrest had ended. He apologized profusely upon entering the classroom, which made me laugh. He had been apologizing to everyone for the past few days, every chance he got, so I wasn't sure what made today any different. At least this was the last time. Once we were all settled, Mr. Aizawa surprised us with an announcement.