rubatosis | s. todoroki

shoto's birthday special

"You're sick?!" Emi gapes at the shivering boy in the sheets. She just entered his bedroom after waving to Fuyumi. Directions with Emi do not exist and the size of the Todoroki household does not help so eventually she had to try to trace her steps back to find Fuyumi. Emi remembers the sheepish smile she threw her and the loud chuckle that escaped older girl. She does not know her way with directions.

But this, she's sure she did not know about. Her best friend lying in bed, twisting and turning until settling on facing the ceiling. His face is beautifully flushed and his hair is tousled probably from trying so hard to get comfortable in bed. His eyes are half-lidded and his mouth is parted for visible shaky breaths.

"I'm sorry," he grunts, tilting his head to look at her and getting more red to tangle with white. "I know you had plans for-"

"Oh my God, Shoto I'm so sorry you have to spend your birthday bedridden." A pout settles on her lips and barely detectable eyes fall on the sight. "Oh well, I'll try to make it worthwhile!"

"Emi, you don't have to-"

"I want to."

"You need to stop interrupting me."

Emi waves her hand dismissively and dumps her bag next to the closed door. Sighing, she assesses what she has to deal with before giggling at Shoto's small lazy smile. She snatches the laptop off his table and sits on the couch underneath his window. A gesture from her hand has the sick boy groan but oblige and get up to sit next to her.

"Let's watch Friends."

"Emi, we watched all the seasons."

"Again."

He sighs and shifts to sit as comfortably as possible but after moving his legs in thirteen different ways, Emi throws him a piercing glare which Shoto has sworn to his sister, is ten times scarier when it's executed with green eyes and the red hue underneath her eyes.

"Would you stop moving?" she bites out with a smile that Shoto thinks is fake but he couldn't be too sure. He freezes in a strange position with his lower half off the couch and he looks pleadingly at the blonde. "Just sit properly." And he does. And then he moves again.

"What's bothering you?" She places the laptop aside and turns to look at him. At this point, she seems more amused than irritated.

"Too hot."

"I thought you could regulate your temperature."

"Yes." Shoto can feel his tongue getting heavier and his words becoming more slurred. Emi seems to notice too as he chooses the shortest answer to respond with.

"Okay no, I shouldn't have gotten you out of bed." She stands up. "Get up."

"Emi," he groans uncharacteristically.

"I know, I know." She looks at him with guilt. "Just get to bed and sleep and I'll go prepare some soup for you." She closes the curtains, making sure only little light is coming through.

"Pill," he says as he slips underneath the covers. Emi picks up the bottle of water off of the table where he pointed and got a pill out of the container.

"There you go." She hands him the pill and opens the water bottle for him. His hands are shaking as he holds the bottle and some water spills. "Wait." She places her smaller hands on his and steadily guides it to his mouth. His face flushes even more and Emi grimaces in concern.

"I'm so sorry." Her voice is wavering and her eyes are glassy.

"Don't cry," he tries, forcing his words to come out clearer. This predicament has come onto him so many times that the real problem changed from him not knowing what to do when she cries into him not knowing why she's crying in the first place. "Why are you even crying?"

She sniffles and looks hard into his eyes. "Because it's your birthday and I wanted it to be the best."

"Well, it's not the worst," he says truthfully but he's been warned by Midoriya many times that he says the wrong things at the wrong times and here he is, handling the consequences.

Tears fall from her eyes and her lips purse to push back sobs which he is sure from experience is hurting her throat. Her hands reach up to cover her blotched face and her small shoulders are shaking. Shoto never felt more stupid. His hands reach out without his permission and grasp hers to pull them away, revealing the brown freckles and new ones he can swear weren't there before.

"It's not the worst," he repeats, "and it's not the best-"

"Where are you going with this?!" she finally sobs out and he throws her a fond smile.

"I told you to stop interrupting me." He grips her hands tighter and he could feel her squeeze back. "I was trying to say that that it's good enough that I wouldn't spend the rest of my day like an angsty teen as you would like to say."

She lets out a small laugh just like he wants.

"I had no expectations if it makes you feel any better-"

"Okay stop." She's laughing whole-heartedly and the grip on his hands is loosening so she could wipe her tears away. "I get it."

With no regards to the state of his heart or his fever, she wraps her arms around his neck and presses herself closer to his chest. It isn't the first time they hug. No, Emi has made it clear that she enjoys physical contact. Still, the feeling of her hair against his cheek and her short arms trying to wrap around his broad shoulders always feel foreign yet comforting.

"Happy birthday," she murmurs, "Shoto."