Fɪɴᴅɪɴɢ Hᴏᴘᴇ [Bᴏᴏᴋ 1] | 𝙏𝙤𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙞 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙤 𝙓 𝙊𝘾

15

The next day, they visited again.

This time Kyryan brought extra pastries, one box of langue de chat for each of us boys. Of course, Midoriya and Iida are surprised, insisted and apologized many times to which she brushes them off with an angelic smile. "I enjoy making them at home so we always have a bunch of leftovers of different kinds. It's better to share them than leave them uneaten," she says, her Japanese are more improving than yesterday. I should reward her once I get out of this hospital.

"Are you feeling any better?" Kyryan asks, the first to start the conversation.

"Yes. A bit." When I look at her face, worries are obviously written on it. This caught me by surprise as I never seen her like this before, especially as those feelings are directed to me. What is this warmth that I'm feeling? Is it called being loved?

I like her.

My eyes widen at my own confession. Those words almost escape from my lips. If it had, it would've been horribly embarrassing. I cover the bottom half of my face when I feel blood rushing up my head. I turn away to avoid looking at her worried face that I'm still not used to.

"Are you sick?" The slight gasp escapes from my sister's lips, thinking that I might about to throw up from the sweet dessert I just had. I shake my head in denial. My blue and grey eyes glance at Kyryan to see her more concerned face.

Stop being such a worry wart. You look too damn cute.

No. No one has ever felt that way towards me except my sister.

What about my mother? She felt concerned whenever I trained with my father but she, herself, poured boiling water on me.

What am I thinking? Am I going crazy? Why would I ever have a grudge towards my own mother? How dare I—?

"Todoroki?" How can her soft voice pierced through my chaos of a mind? Her hand lightly touches my shoulder and I turn to look. "Are you sure you're okay? Should we call the doctor?"

"No. I'm totally fine. Honest," I assure in a slight panicky tone that I tried hard to hide it. "Stop worrying." Those words left my lips before I can stop myself.

Well, that was an instant regret.

"What I mean was you shouldn't worry so badly about me. I'll be fine," I stutter. I'm not complaining her concerns. I appreciate it, I really do.

Why can't I just say those words? Why do I have to hurt her?

She makes a knowing sound to indicate she understood but what surprises me is the genuine smile plastered on her angel face. Will I ever get used to her? That makes it more interesting, doesn't it?

"Couldn't help it."

"Oh~! So you're not denying?" My sister chimes in, a playful smirk on her face.

"Shut it. He is a friend," Kyryan states. I couldn't believe my ears. Did she really categorized me as her friend? Did I get an okay from her? This little statement she made gives a huge impact on me. The muscles on the sides of my lips tug into a smile beyond my control. How did—? Who did it? Once again I cover the bottom half of my face with my hand. If the two girls see me smile, my sister will blackmail the both of us and Kyryan will kill me for it.

Anyhow, hearing her description about me, even as her friend, makes me happy the whole day.

—

Several days have passed and finally I get to be released from the hospital but Midoriya and Iida has a few more days to rest there. On my way home, I thought about the reward for Kyryan for improving well in her Japanese speaking. I decided to go to the convenience store but I wasn't sure what to get. What does she like? Desserts? She makes them. She should like them. What else was in her room? Guitar, three-screened computer, headphones. I saw that she have several game systems. I shouldn't buy something over the top, like that other day I bought her a brand new camera but that was to replace her broken one. Still, she was surprised and shocked about it. She insisted to not buy something expensive. Or did she say not to buy anything for her? Whatever. She's my friend.