[ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴀɪɴ ] - 𝙨. 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙞

【 𝙄 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙏𝙤𝙤. 】

I step out of the elevator, hands stuffed into my pockets. My brows furrow while I yawn and head toward the entrance of the dorms. I couldn't sleep, so I figure a walk will help.

But as I open the door, I quickly notice Todoroki on the porch.

"Sho? What're you doing out here? It's almost 12."

"Endeavor was calling me again. Also, I couldn't sleep. You?"

"Oh, I couldn't sleep either." I close the door behind me and I start down the steps.

"Where are you going?" Shoto asks, and I pause at the bottom step while moving my hand to the back of my neck.

"Just for a walk. Wanna come with?"

He blinks a few times and nods, following me. "Just through the woods? There's a path behind the dorms, unless you want to go somewhere else."

"No, that's fine. We'll go that way." I gently grab his hand and he starts leading me to the path since I've never been there before. While we walk, I can hear him humming, which is quite rare in the case of Shoto Todoroki. I rub my thumb against his hand and look up into the night sky.

For some reason, this feels so nostalgic. Just like when I took Shoto back to where I lived in that park. This one thought caused me to tighten my grip on his hand.

He seems to notice and gently brushes his thumb against the back of my hand at the exact moment the path ends and opens into a clearing. The sky seems bigger than ever and the stars are seemingly gleaming brighter.

"Can we stay here for a bit?"

"Sure." Shoto answers after a few moments and leads me up the hill, his hand gentler and handling mine with care.

When we reach the top and sit down in the short grass, it becomes so much more calm.

"I wonder if my little fortress is doing alright." I muse, holding my finger into the air and connecting stars together.

"I hope so." Shoto falls back into the grass.

"What're you doing?" I giggle a tiny bit, laying down as well so he wouldn't feel awkward.

"Stargazing." He answers simply, causing me to shift my eyes back up to the sky.

"Don't put it past you. The stars are gorgeous."

I'm not sure how long we ended up talking, but now here we are, back at the dorms, and the clock seems to read around 1 am. I slip off my slippers and follow Shoto to the elevator since we're both on the same floor.

Once we're about to part ways to our rooms, he stops me.

"Y/N."

"Yeah?" I turn back to him.

"Do you.. want to go for another walk tomorrow night? So we can talk and just.. hang out more?"

I raise a brow and fold my arms. "Alright, I'm down for that. Also, that reminds me..."

I approach him and wrap my arms around him. "I don't exactly know how to say this, um... I really care about you. I've been wanting to say it for awhile."

He returns the embrace, burying his face in my shoulder.

"I love you too."

Next chapter hits Friday, June 11th!

A/N: *Drinks malevolently in Leonardo DiCraprio fashion*