Starbucks

Ch. 17 - Now I Can See

//This song and it's lyrics inspired certain parts of this, obviously. Give it a listen! I hope this is to y'all's liking. *nervous smile emoji* 

-

Katsuki was worried. He hated it, but he was worried. Normally he wouldn't be so worried about Shouto, he was an adult after all, but knowing that he had a bit of a meltdown the day before, Katsuki just.. he just needed to be sure that the dual-haired male was alright.

He stared at his phone off and on all day that day at work. No response to any of his messages. He even stayed up later than he usually would to see if Shouto would message him.

"Come on, Shouto.." Katsuki said quietly, lying back in his bed and looking at his phone screen with a frown. 'Let me know you are okay.'

[11:24PM, Half'nHalf (Shouto)

IcyHot.. for real. Please.]

Katsuki fell asleep soon after that; his phone still in his hand, and a soft frown still on his face even in sleep.

~

At Katsuki's normal wake up time, 7am, he blinked sleepily when he started to awake from his slumber. He brought his free hand up to rub the sleep from his eyes, then stretched with a soft moan. When the blonde realized that what he held in his other hand was his phone, he sat up quickly and powered it on.

Three texts, two app notifications, and a separate news update. He swiped all but the texts away.

[6:00AM, Pikachu (Dunce Face)

Hey, man! Yeah last night I texted Todoroki, but he didn't respond. He generally doesn't talk much, so don't worry about it!]

"He talks to me." Katsuki said quietly under his breath.

[6:35AM, Pikachu (Dunce Face)

Also how crazy is it that we all know each other?? 🤯]

[6:45AM, Dumb Hair (Ei)

Hey, you wanna hangout today? I know it's your day off!]

Katsuki stared at his phone, not sure what he wanted to do. He put his phone beside him, and brought his legs up to his chest and rested his arms atop them. 'Stop worrying. He's an adult. He can take care of himself.' He turned his head to look at his phone on the bed beside him. 'But.. sometimes it's nice to know that someone cares.' He closed just eyes. 'Don't text him again. Don't text him again. He doesn't need that.'

"Fuck." Katsuki muttered under his breath, lowering his legs and running his hands down his face. "I need a distraction." He looked back to his phone and grabbed it, unlocking it and going to answer Eijirou's text. The rambunctious redhead could always get him out of the dumps.

However before he could click the text banner, his phone began to vibrate and ring softly. It was Shouto.

Katsuki clicked answer a lot quicker than he would ever admit.

"Fuck, Todoroki!" Katsuki blurted out, sitting up straight again. "Where have you been?"

"I'm sorry." Shouto said. "I received your texts yesterday, but was too tired to reply last night."

Katsuki frowned. Shouto sounded.. off. "Don't worry about it- are you okay?"

Shouto responded immediately, "Yeah, why?"

"You sound strange.. Are you sure you're okay?"

Uh-oh.

"What.. what do you mean by 'strange'?"