torrent | shoto todoroki

六 | bargaining

TODOROKI BLINKED, his eyesight blurry as he tried to readjust to the bright lights that lit up his figure. He groaned, tired and groggy as he sat up weakly. To his right were three bottles of water set on the nightstand and on his left was an IV inserted into his vein. There was something in front of him too, but it was hard to make out since it was so bright.

"You're a fucking idiot."

Ah, Todoroki thought, Bakugo.

"Where am I?" He blinked confusedly, still trying to get the sleep out of his eyes.

"The infirmary, dipshit." 

Shoto's head pounded as he moaned to himself, raising a hand up to massage his temple. Everything came flooding back: the headaches, nausea, dizziness, and him nearly collapsing at the water fountain. "And why are you here?" Todoroki asked, glancing up at his classmate. Bakugo couldn't look more annoyed, but that was the usual.

However, there was something off about it. It was minuscule, but it was there. "Because I stayed behind to talk to Aizawa-sensei about something and he told me to pass on this shitty work to you." He muttered bitterly, tossing the stack of work at the dual-haired boy. It landed in his lap swiftly and Shoto flinched, surprised by the abrupt weight on his legs.

Todoroki glanced up at the IV next, as if trying to fully understand what had happened after he passed out. "Why do I. . . ?" This time, it was the old lady's turn to answer. Her gray hair was set in a bun, glasses hanging on her nose as an unwrinkled labcoat covered her smoothly. "You were dehydrated, Todoroki. Have you been drinking enough water?"

Now that she mentioned it, Todoroki couldn't remember the last time that he had a glass of water. Maybe when Fuyumi offered it? It hurt his head to even remember. "Um," His tongue felt thick as he answered, knowing that both pairs of eyes were staring at him intently. "I don't think so." Shoto answered meekly, averting his eyes.

Bakugo pursed his lips, looking away as a grunt left his lips. "Okay, well, I recommend you don't push yourself and start drinking water regularly. You kids do more physical exertion than average ones, so it's important to have an excess water intake." She reminded softly, knowing that if her words were any harsher, it could break the fragile boy.

"Will do, thank you." Todoroki nodded, speaking quietly. "I'll let the IV do it's last drops and then I'll take it out," Recovery Girl said, hopping off of her chair to head out of the nurse's office. Bakugo could hear her footsteps retreat down the hall as his carmine eyes darted back to Todoroki's heterochromatic ones.

"You're fucking stupid."

"I know."

"Then, why are you digging yourself a shitty grave?"

Todoroki looked down, unsure of how to answer.

"Don't look away from me, bitch! Answer me!" Bakugo's voice had grown louder, his brows furrowing as he stared at Shoto angrily. He had clearly hit his limit as to whatever he could tolerate, his nose scrunching up as he gazed down at his classmate. "Because. . . " Shoto's throat felt blocked off, his words faltering again.

Bakugo backed off for a bit, his shoes squeaking against the floor. "Y/n wouldn't want this, you know she wouldn't." Shoto's head turned up, eyes narrowed in a fierce gaze as his heterochromatic orbs clashed with Katsuki's red ones. "How would you know what she would want?" 

Bakugo's lip got hung up on his teeth, his hands shaking as he stared down at his classmate. "You think she would want any of her friends to run into the ground?! You're her damn boyfriend, for god's sake! Of course, she wouldn't want it for you!" Shoto looked taken aback by Bakugo's outburst, his hands flinching at the angry tone in his voice.

"She didn't deserve to die—"

"—goddamn it, don't you think everyone knows that?! Don't you think everyone thinks that?! God, there isn't a day where I hear 'she didn't deserve to die' in the fucking hallway. Just because you think you deserve to die in trade, you're going to run yourself into the ground like a fucking idiot?!"

By now, he had grabbed Todoroki by his collar, lifting him slightly to meet his eyes. Todoroki swallowed harshly, his nails digging into the skin of his palms out of fear. "If I had died that day, she would still be alive!" Bakugo shouted in his face, red eyes burning with fury as he glared powerfully at his classmate.

"AND HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW THAT?!"

That questioned stopped Todoroki, the doors sliding open as Recovery Girl gasped, rushing over. Bakugo quickly let go of the dual-haired boy, letting him flop back onto the bed as he grabbed his backpack again. Recovery Girl looked back and forth between the two as Bakugo gruffly turned to him again.

"Don't be fucking stupid."

Soon enough, he was out of the room too, gone and clearly not coming back anytime soon to yell at Todoroki some more. "Are you okay?" The nurse spoke softly as Todoroki winced, raising a hand to his forehead. "I'm fine," She blinked at him, staring in a concerned manner before readjusting his IV with a sigh. 

Shoto didn't say anything, his head tilted down to stare at his own lap as he processed Bakugo's words. Just because you think you deserve to die in trade, you're going to run yourself into the ground like a fucking idiot?! His words rang in his head loudly and Shoto flinched abruptly, glancing at Recovery Girl as she moved the needle slightly, fixing it.

"I shouldn't have left you alone with him," She said, apologizing softly.

Todoroki shook his head, "It's fine."

She pursed her lips, clearly wanting to say something else, but unsure of how to go about it. Instead, she averted her eyes to the stack of papers set on his lap, speaking calmly. "I think it's better if you stay here for the night. I'll let Aizawa know." Todoroki nodded meekly, shakily flipping a page of his worksheet.

He didn't want to go back to the dorms anyway.