𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐙𝐄 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘 ↳ shoto todoroki x reader

45 | Bridge

Clearing his throat, Todoroki reread the words on his laptop's screen. "How I wish it were only a dream," he sang with the flattest, most off-key tone ever.

Yet, he wasn't someone who gave up after his first attempt. "Even now, I still dream of you."

Todoroki ran a hand through his dual-coloured hair in frustration, certain that his heart had skipped a beat. The thought that he was not the kind of guy who would sit and sing to you lingered in the back of his mind, but he persevered, wanting to make amends for the hard time he had put you through.

The guilt from shutting you out of his life, even when he had promised he wouldn't, still sit heavily in the pit of his stomach. An indescribable emptiness washed over him as he reflected on his actions. How he had pushed you away. How he had raised his voice at you. How he had come to realise that he wasn't worthy of you because he had misplaced his anger on you, instead of his father.

Moving past his apology, he wanted to find a way to move on from where you had left off. A way in which he could cope and redeem himself so that he could dispel these unexplained aches and pains that plagued his body whenever he caught himself thinking too deeply into this matter.

Even if Todoroki had shared some short, lively interactions with you during the week, he missed you. But as he checked the time and realised he needed to wait a few hours to see you, he understood that he had been missing you for longer than he had accounted for.

From before a physical barrier was set to keep you apart; since he decided that obscuring his internal turmoil would be for the best.

However, Todoroki knew well that backing down and letting himself feel hopeless and helpless wouldn't help anyone. And that's why he would pick up the pieces and rise up to the second chance you had given him.

Most of all, he needed to stand up and never forget who he wanted to become.

He crossed his legs, inching closer to his computer, and clicked on a more promising article on a website that he had become well-acquainted with:

※ How to Express Your Feelings to the One You Love ※

Biting his tongue, he shook his head, heat rising from the back of his neck to the tips of his ears. Although it would have flustered him if you had asked him about it, he had to admit that this wasn't the first time he looked something like this up.

Before meeting you, anything that wasn't his goal of becoming a hero or his hatred for his father had always been thrown to the sidelines. But with the help of you and his new friends, he was well under way of realising the harm of such a self-destructive fixation.

Increasingly self-aware that he wasn't the most affectionate of boyfriends, he skimmed through the introduction of this alien advice. He drummed his fingers on his grey sweatpants, as he scrolled down the article, longing to see you happy and strengthen the bridge between the two of you.

Looking down at his left hand, he promised himself that he would never burn it down, wanting to make sure that he never took it for granted again.

As he scrolled down his breath hitched, his heterochromatic eyes widening as he read one of the tips:

⇢ Give your s/o an endearing nickname

Despite the fact that he had to search that 's/o' meant significant other, he soon remembered he had promised to do exactly that in the summer, when you two had met up with your classmates at the school's swimming pool.

Todoroki let out a drawn-out sigh before he scribbled a couple of the nicknames on a piece of paper, which he then neatly folded and placed in his pocket.