a fateful encounter ;; tododeku

Chapter Seven: An Experience

Izuku //

When I hand him the flower, I almost instantly regret it. God, it's like going a first date and giving your date flowers as a sign of love. If he was weirded out by the gesture, he definitely didn't show it. Maybe I'm overthinking it, and giving a possible friend a simple flower isn't a weird thing to do.

Before I can furtherly embarrass myself by saying or doing something stupid, I walk for one of my favorite places in the world. I hope the serenity of the willow can calm me down and I can have an easy conversation with this boy.

Sho, he said. I'll never stop repeating that in my head. At least until I make him mine, then I can whisper it into his lips and kiss him.

Maybe not.

I should stop with those thoughts. Maybe those ideas are what is making me so awkward around him.

I push the willows hanging leaves out of the way and sit down, resting my back against the rough bark of the body of the tree. Sho lays close, yet not close enough, his legs outstretched on the warm and sun-filled grass, leaning his head on his hands. I watch his dual colored eyes trace the flowing leaves of the willow.

It takes a lot of strength to peel my eyes away from him, but I manage. I shift around awkwardly, my skinny fingers spreading through the grass, like it'll calm my nerves.

A gentle breeze blows by, tickling my skin and brushing Sho's hair around gently. He looks so peaceful, which is a nice sight. Before, even when he smiled, he looked like something was stressing him out. I don't think we are close enough for me to ask.

But I want to ask something. I need to talk to him or he'll leave again and maybe this time, never come back. He needs to remember me.

Say something...!

"So...are you...do you...?" I stammer. Maybe I shouldn't have forced myself to say something so desperately. "Are you from this village?" I already know the answer. He obviously isn't. If he was, I would have possibly known him for years.

"No."

I hold on to his words, hoping he'll tell me where he lives, or anything, but his face remains emotionless.

"I figured," I say awkwardly. "I've lived here my whole life. I don't know any other places."

"I know how that goes," He mumbles.

"Although there are tons of places to go around here! I like to adventure into the woods and of course, come here! It's almost like I'm travelling super far away, just like I dream of! I don't want to leave my mother, though, but seeing what's out in the world is something I've always been obsessed with! What about you?!" I ask quickly, wanting to get the subject off of me so I stop rambling. He's probably so annoyed. No wonder he isn't talking much, he doesn't want to spark up conversation because he knows I won't shut up.

He closes his eyes. "Travelling sounds nice. I'd like to get out of here someday, you know? Find happiness out somewhere new."

If he were to leave, I hope it would be with me.

"Yeah. I don't know if I'll ever make enough money to get anywhere, though."

"The bakery seems busy. Don't you have a lot there?"

"Well! Yeah! But, we, uh, use the m-money to buy more supplies, and of course feed ourselves every night. There isn't much left after we account for that, but my mother's cooking always makes up for it. She's one of the best in the kingdom—Not that I'm trying to boast!! I wouldn't want to do that!!"

"I didn't think you were bragging. I think it's nice that your mother is a good cook. I don't have that luxury, but..."

He trails off.

"Oh! Yeah! My mother makes tons of good meals outside of the bakery!! Just thinking about it makes me hungry..." I sigh. "You, should c-come over and t-t-try it sometime~!"

I blush deeply. It's like asking him on a date. Regret washed over me like the long slow waves on a shallow beach. Each wave was icy cold and sent shivers down my spine. How I longed to go back and take a different path, but now that was impossible. There was no way back. There was no way to go back and say something better.

My eyes immediately shift to the ground, not wanting to see his expression. I can picture it just fine, anyway, clear disgust and confusion. Why would he ever want to have dinner with my family? It makes no sense. He's probably too refined for that.

He's silent, and the moment seems to stretch on forever. I can really take that as rejection. It's okay.

"Yeah. That would be nice," He says. And as the last sound of his beautiful voice left his lips, every drop of regret and distraught emotion dried in the bright sun of joy that is now beaming in my chest. God, my emotions are like a hurricane when I'm with him. It's so unusual, and I hope that I don't drown.

We sit in silence again, but this is different. It's comfortable. I'm just enjoying his presence now, and I hope it's the same for him to me. So much time goes by without words, I almost forget that he is next to me.

I carefully shift my body so I can look at him.

He's asleep...

His features were much softer in sleep, the lines that usually creased his brow, replaced by the youthful appearance that matched others of our age. He looked peaceful. Wanting nothing more than to curl up into the curve of his body, I resisted the temptation, turning and keeping my eyes off him.

I sit quietly, thinking, as he sleeps. And soon, sunset falls over the horizon.

Should I wake him up? He probably has somewhere to be.

I reach my hand out, going to grasp his shoulder and shake him awake, but as I'm reaching towards his slim body, he shakes awake on his own. His body lurches up from his resting state, throwing away his state of peace like he was caught in the middle of a horror movie. His red and white hair is stuck to his forehead from sweat, and he's looking around frantically, like he doesn't know where he is. My heart races and mind overflows just looking at his complete panic.

Looking at him now, it would be hard to believe he was so silent and peaceful a second ago.

"Sho!" I yell, getting his attention. I want to comfort him, but I don't know exactly how. I awkwardly reach my hand towards him, unsure where to put them, so they just kind of hang in the air weirdly. "Are you okay?!"

He rubs his left eye, and then runs a hand through his damp hair.

"Sorry," He breathes. "I didn't mean to worry you. I...should be going now."

I can't hide the disappointment on my face, but it's not like I can do anything to make him stay.

"Oh, okay," I smile, hoping to comfort him. "I'll walk you back to the village."

"Thanks, Izuku..."

He stands up, but I'm still in a trance from the way he says my name. Maybe it's just in my imagination. As we walk back to my home village, I can't help but wonder if he will leave and wait a while to come back again.

Or maybe he won't come back at all...

•••

hey everyone :]

i know its unusual to have an update in the middle of the week, but we hit 600+ reads and we are ranked number three for rising tododeku fanfics - so, thats pretty cool. posting this to celebrate and thank everyone for reading once again.

• Word Count: 1,328 words