change of plans || todoroki shouto x reader

chapter thirty-five

"so, you live alone?"

todoroki made small talk as they walked together to the café. walking together side by side, [name] kept a safe, conservative one foot space between the two of them.

"mm, yeah. i like it though."

"must be a pain keeping the place clean."

"oh, i have househelp, but they only come in twice a week."

"i see."

[name] walks in unsettling silence. in her mind were different guesses to what todoroki might want to talk about. the most obvious one though, is that he finally knows. she didn't know how to react to that. she was perfectly fine pretending like they didn't know each other prior to UA but that was about to change.

they arrive at the café, todoroki opening the door for her. they're greeted by the barista who [name] has come to know well enough to address by their first name.

"[name]-chan! good to see you back," yuuka greets, "and you brought a different friend!" yuuka was a sweet, bubbly girl, just a year younger than her brother, who was studying as an art student. her mother owned the café. "you'll be having your usual?"

[name] smiles and gives a nod of agreement as she replies with a hum. yuuka looks to the boy with her. "and you'll be having?"

"an iced tea would be great, thanks."

yuuka takes their orders with her usual bubbly grin. "your usual table is open, just go ahead and i'll serve your drinks as soon as they're ready."

[name] thanks her before turning to todoroki. "oh, i forgot to ask. you're not allergic to cats, right?"

he shook his head in response and the girl in front of him proceeds to open the room. they're greeted by the pleasant sight of cats in every corner, nook, and cranny in the room. a large tabby cat approaches them as they enter and close the door, rubbing itself on todoroki's left leg.

"that one's name is renchi. she's the friendliest one out of everyone here," [name] says, squatting to greet the feline with a pat on the head. "the one on the cat tree is king," she adds, pointing to a fluffy grey persian. "he's the most popular one."

todoroki's heart warms up as he listened intently to [name] introduce the different cats they passed as they walked to the booth in the corner. "i'm guessing you come here often."

the girl shrugs as they took their seats. "whenever i feel stressed, or sad. so yes, i come here a lot."

"you've brought the others here before?" todoroki asks, referring to the comment yuuka made.

"ah, no," [name] answers. "the friend yuuka-chan was referring to.. he's a different friend, from outside of school. he's the one who introduced me to the place."

"boyfriend?"

[name] turns a flustered pink once more, as she explicitly denies todoroki's follow-up question. "no! god, no!" she laughs, in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. she imagined herself dating dabi, a ridiculous thought indeed. "he's just a friend, more like a big brother type of friend. i met him when i first moved here to japan."

"oh."

[name]'s energy dies a little bit at the thought of dabi. a big brother friend, she said. but now it seemed like he was just somebody that she used to know. she hadn't heard from him in weeks.

the sound of a cat jumping up the couch and its waving tail take's [name]'s attention, bringing her out of her quick stupor as the familiar black cat took its seat on her side. "touya!" she softly cheers. his striking turquoise eyes that stared back at her, reminded her of dabi and their first time here together. his gaze comforted her, but also made her a little sad.