Old Habits Die Screaming
Summary - self explanatory title :’)
Touya x childhood friend reader
warnings: sad (chat I’m on a roll w this shit ngl)
wordcount issss 1K
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“Hey Touya?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think we’ll really get to be heroes one day?”
The boy laughed at your question, drawing shapes in the dirt with a stick next to you. The two of you had been out all day, avoiding his parents and just being kids. It was something you rarely got to do, but deeply enjoyed doing together.
“Of course we’ll be heroes, don’t be stupid. After all, we’re gonna be partners”
“Partners?”
“Of course. I’d never make you my sidekick, not with that quirk of yours, so we’d be a duo!”
You laughed at the thought. The two of you would spend so many of those summer days you had together just waiting to be free, to fulfill those dreams. Before you met Touya, you’d never really wanted to be a hero. You didn’t think your quirk, or you for that matter, were cut out for it. And yet the moment he saw your quirk he was telling you just how amazing it was. And now this.
“Of course, you’d have to be strong enough to be a hero, y/n”
Touya said with a mischievous grin. “And I don’t think you’re quite there yet” he continued, glancing back to his patterns in the dirt to playfully avoid your gaze. “Oh yeah? And you are?” You retorted and he laughed even louder than before. “Of course I am! I’m the strongest kid I know, and one day I’ll be the number one hero. You just have to keep up with me”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Maybe”
And with that, the two of you were off again, running around the yard laughing and squealing with delight as you chased each other. You’d run around, climb trees, use sticks you found as swords and imagine the two of you were fighting for the favor of the king in some long lost fantasy. It was the most childish experience you ever had. On that note, some use the word ‘childish’ as a form of an insult, but I hope you understand I mean it differently. This experience was childish for them in the brightest, and fondest of ways.
And then, when they had no more breath left to pant out with a smile, it was over. The two of them lay on the ground next to each other, both catching their breath. Your chest rose and fell in quick succession, and you turned to watch his do the same. He was looking up at the sky, that dazed, distant expression on his face, that of a child who wished the moment could've lasted forever. You sat up and smiled at him, and he glanced over and smiled right back.
“Did I keep up with you?”
You joked playfully, and he grinned ear to ear. “You always do.”
You stood up again, and he sat up next to you. “Gosh y/n, but you sure are dumb”
You looked down, furrowing your brow in confusion, wondering what he meant. He was knelt next to you now, tying your shoe. You rolled your eyes as he finished and looked up at you. “Every time.” “Not every time-” “name one time in the past year your shoes haven’t come undone while we were out?” Silence. “Either get some new shoes, or relearn how to tie em” Touya continued, standing to flick your forehead. “Cause this has got to be the most annoying habit ever”
You pursed your lip into a pout, crossing your arms. “If you hate tying my shoes so much then why don’t you ever make me do it?” You retorted, shooting him a little glare that really never had any malice behind it. He chuckled, and was about to say something when he stopped, as if rethinking his response. “Because you’d never do it right, now come on, race back to your house, 3, 2, 1, GO”
He always did that, counting down for a race quickly and at the most random of times, but you never complained, always following with a laugh as you raced home, your shoelaces coming undone again.
There were a few times later in life where he’d stop to tie your shoelaces again. when meeting his friends, when walking late at night. even now that he was scarred and ruined beyond recognition, it was still your Touya who knelt at your feet, cracking a joke or two as he fixed your laces.
Now, after the war, after everything, you truly missed those days. You missed spending all your summer breaks out playing with him. You wanted nothing more than to turn back time and make him tie your shoelaces again.
You walked down the street, flowers in your hand, and a big, thick coat covering you as snowflakes flurried to the ground around you. Even the coat wasn’t enough though, not enough to stop the chill down your spine as you approached the cemetery.
You walked in, passed grave after grave of unfamiliar names until you reached your best friend. So close, yet so far, dirt and stone blocking your vision of him now, if there was even any of him left. You knelt down, running your fingers along the headstone, tracing over that familiar name before you lay the flowers just beneath it. You kissed the stone etchings before you stood up, and just stared for a moment at what was left of Touya Todoroki.
For the longest time, you’d never felt colder. You wished he was there next to you and this was the grave of someone else. Hell, you wished you weren’t in the cemetery in the first place. You stared so long you didn’t even notice the tears pouring down your face until you noticed their warmth first. Maybe you’d been here too long.
And with that thought, you turned around to leave, but something stopped you. A familiar tugging at your feet. You looked down, tears welling in your eyes again as you saw the cause. Your laces were undone. And Touya was no longer here to tie them.
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