𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒𝐄𝐒 | bakutodo

EIGHT

| 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗶 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 - 𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 |

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲

𝗸𝗮𝘁𝘀𝘂𝗸𝗶 𝗯𝗮𝗸𝘂𝗴𝗼𝘂'𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄;
i stared out at the city silently, sipping at my fourth cup of coffee today. it was six AM. i hadn't slept. i couldn't. so i stayed up all night, checked on todoroki every hour, cleaned the house, and sat around watching the sunrise.

todoroki. since when did i start calling him that?

it was a question that had never left my mind since i kissed his forehead. why did i do that in the first place?! he was making me soft. no doubt about it.

i jumped when i felt something nudge my leg, my lips curling up into a smile once i knew who it was. my grandfather had given me the option to adopt an animal for my thirteenth birthday.

he took me to the the anime centre, and told me i could choose whatever i wanted. i was extremely persistent on adopting a doberman, but got lost in the mammal section. i ended up stumbling into the reptile section, and found myself falling in love with a oriental odd-tooth snake i had accidentally spotted.

she was disabled, and was soon to be put down if no one took interest in her. she had issues with locomotion, and she had trouble growing to her fullest too. but despite her disabilities, she was stunning. she was dark brown with orange stripes and a yellow belly, and owned deep eyes that resembled an eternal abyss of black. i knew i couldn't just leave her there. so i adopted her.

"hey there." i whispered, letting her slither onto my hand in her own time, letting her wrap herself around my clothed wrist. i ran my thumb along her scales, laughing quietly as her snout extended itself to boop my nose. i brought her up to my face, kissing the top of her head gently. i had only let her out to explore a few minutes ago, waiting for her to find me before bringing her back to her enclosure.

i then heard the light thumping of footsteps, making me subconsciously smile. i put my coffee mug down as todoroki sat himself down next to me, shoulders touching and all.

"morning." he yawned, rubbing his eyes as he brought his knees up to his chest. he smiled at me, eyes moving to me. "i didn't know you had a snake." he awed, holding my hand in his to bring look at her closely.

"u-uhm, yeah." shit. why am i stuttering! he just took my hand, so what?!

"can i take it?" i nodded. "be careful with her. she's disabled." he nodded in acknowledgement, waiting patiently for her to slide onto his hand. he brought his index finger to pet her scales softly, smiling softly as she danced around his fingers.

"what's her name?"

"darlene."

he cooed and awed over her, immediately falling in love with her like i did five years ago. peppermint played with darlene quietly as i stared at the sun, sitting in a comfortable silence. i awkwardly scratched the back of my neck, turning to look at him. "you busy today?" he shook his head.

"my dad doesn't want me home until tonight. why? did you want to do something?" i nodded gingerly, looking away in embarrassment. "i wanted to take you out of the city. thought we could both do with a break." todoroki's eyes lit up, and he shot me the biggest smile i had seen from him yet.

"i would love to go with you." that itself threatened to bring a smile to my face, but i fought it, biting my tongue. "then we should leave soon. i'll find you some clothes."

i was taller than peppermint by four inches. he was naturally lean, too. so the clothes i picked out for him, were rather baggy on his frame.

i found myself bringing a hand to my mouth, concealing my laughter as he exited my bathroom. i always deliberately bought my clothes a size or two too big for me. he was practically drowning in my clothing. they didn't even look like they belonged to him.