I Royally Decline// Todoroki Shouto x Reader

Chp. 26: A Monster

Rory's POV

It had been two weeks since (Y/n)'s death... well kind of. Thanks to Shouto's begging, Recovery Girl had some machines keeping (Y/n)'s heart beating... but there was no way she'd actually come back. Shouto insisted that she would wake up if we waited long enough, but we all knew that wasn't the case.

Shouto slept at (Y/n)'s bedside every night and came to the infirmary during all his free time. Enji made a quick recovery, but had to learn to deal with being quirkless, with some mentoring from Prince Midoriya. Bakugo and Kirishima made themselves scarce, always out on patrol, Myoung often joining them (she talked very little these days). King All Might had made it to Endeavor two days after the incident and felt extremely guilty. He stayed and helped mend a broken friendship between himself and Enji. I spent most of my time writing and reading in the library, Quinn accompanying me most of the time. I wrote to my parents about (Y/n)'s death, but hadn't heard from them yet. One would think telling my parents that their prized weapon had fallen would have been the hardest feat, but it was far from it. I had to tell (Y/n)'s best friend... Uraraka Ochako.

Flashback
"Is Ms. Uraraka back?" I asked several other servants around the palace. (Y/n) had eagerly given Uraraka permission to fight, but she did not end up in the unit that saw the defeat of All for One and (Y/n)'s untimely death. Finally, I had received word that Uraraka had headed to (Y/n)'s room to prepare for her return.

"Ms. Uraraka, are you in there? It's Rory," I spoke sullenly.

"Yes, come in!" Uraraka's cheery reply contrasted the emotions inside of me. The door creaked open and I was greeted by a rosy-cheeked girl. Her face and neck was adorned with a few burns and blade wounds, but nothing serious. "Is (Y/n) back yet?"

Oh, how I wished I could say "Yes, she's on her way!" ; however, that was not the case.

"About that," I began, sitting on (Y/n)'s old bed, "Uraraka, we need to talk. You should sit down."

"Uh... ok? Is something wrong?" Little did she know, something was very, very wrong.

"Uraraka, you were (Y/n)'s best friend and she had told me that after this was over, she planned to make you a general in the Crystalli army," I spoke as calmly as possible, but I could see the round-faces girl begin to get confused.

"Wait a second... what do you mean by 'were'?Am I not anymore?"

"I don't know how to put this easily... Uraraka... (Y/n)'s not here anymore," my voice cracked.

"Wh-what? Did she head back home?" Uraraka let out a nervous giggle, not wanting to accept what she was hearing.

"No, Uraraka... (Y/n)... (Y/n) didn't... she didn't make it," I stuttered.

Uraraka never responded. The room was overwhelmed by silence. Her mouth hung ajar and her eyes stretched wide. Two tears trickled down on opposite sides of her face, but she still didn't speak. I place my hand on her shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze, and left the melancholic room.

Later that night, an ear-piercing, female shriek of pure agony filled the otherwise silent palace.

End of Flashback

I gripped my book, a few stray tears dripping onto the page I was on.

"Rory..." Quinn's sympathetic voice reached my ears.

"I'm fine."

"Rory, it's okay to be sad. Actually, it's rather unhealthy to keep these emotions bottled up. Have you even had a good cry since you brought her back?" Quinn moved from her chair and sat next to me on the sofa.