Echoes of Vapor (Shoto Todoroki)

01.05

PART 05

QUICK REMINDER:

*** is a pov change, no time skip

- is a time skip, no pov change

... is both!

PANIC

Ryou was, without a doubt, thrilled. He was thrilled when he found out that he would be living with Ben in Cafe Ben! Two of his favorite things, every day.

"Now, I know you're gonna think it's sorta lame, but you can live up here," Ben said as they climbed up the stairs to the attic, but Ryou only snorted in amusement.

Ben didn't seem to understand that from the start, Ryou has always thought of him as his home. Ben was somehow the nicest adult Ryou had ever met after the death of his parents. Ben never judged him, never looked at him with scornful eyes, he never expected Ryou to behave a certain way, and he always looked so happy to see him.

Ryou walked to the middle of the attic, his eyes shimmering at his new space, his space. The bed was neatly done, and it was obvious that in the morning Ben had been in a rush to make some last minute changes. Ben gave him this space out of the kindness of his heart and not out of begrudging obligation like the other families did.

"Nothing about this is lame," Ryou said quietly, "Ben, thank you."

Ben smiled brightly and patted him on the shoulder.

"I'll leave you up here to get settled in, 'kay?"

"Yeah. I'll be down in a sec."

"Oh, and Ryou?"

"Yeah?" Ryou asked, turning to look at Ben, who suddenly looked somewhat shy.

"I-I know this is sorta sudden, but I just want you to know that I'm not taking my new role as your guardian lightly. I want to be someone who can show what it actually means to have a proper parental figure. I want to be here for you. I want to laugh when you laugh, cry when you cry, be angry when you're angry," Ben said, nervously wringing his hands together as he spoke, "Okay, what I'm basically saying is that you mean a lot to me, and I just want you to know that I chose you, because I want you here."

As Ben spoke, Ryou felt tears well up in his eyes, his brows creasing as his heart clenched. Ben looked up nervously, confused as to why Ryou hadn't said anything to him.

"Hey- What're ya cryin' for!?" Ben squawked, rushing over to fuss over his new kid, "You're gonna make me cry, so cut it out!"

Ryou simply brought his hands up to cover his eyes, but not the big smile on his face. "Sorry, it's just that I'm so happy. No one has-" Ryou's voice died out as his throat suddenly tightened up, "No one has ever told me that."

Ben frowned, his eyes watering as he wrapped Ryou into a tight hug, "Well, I'm glad I meant every single word."

Ryou smiled at that, before Ben pulled away from the hug to go tend to the cafe. Ryou decided to stay upstairs for a few more minutes, moving things around to his liking, although a bit shyly, before going back downstairs.

Ben, who had opened up shop again, was busy with some of the customers who had trickled in.

"Hey, I'm gonna go out for a bit," Ryou called quietly to Ben, who enthusiastically waved with an approving nod.

Ryou smiled as he walked out of the cafe, before his grin slowly slipped off his face. Katashi and his brother were out for one more day, and he wasn't really sure what to do in the meantime since he didn't really have any other friends.