TW: mentions of smoking (not by you or Todoroki)

KEY TAGS: gender-neutral reader, no quirks au, college au, library au, no spoilers

WORD COUNT: 1644

OPENING NOTE: thanks for clicking on this! please do not repost, copy, modify, or overall plagiarize this work anywhere else please. plagiarism is never acceptable, both in mla 8 format and in fanfiction! for translations, message me, and we can talk about it!

SUMMARY: "Anyways, to repeat, he would simply get up, get his stuff, and get out. Sweet and simple. However, today, something catches his eye as he passes by the seat near the windowsill. Judging by the empty, faux-wood chair and the backpack slouched in an unseemly posture on the chair next to it, you probably left to go to the bathroom or to get another book. That wasn't what struck out to him as odd since it was completely normal to temporarily leave your spot in the library for whatever reason. And, no, there was no sarcasm in that statement, as much as it would have seemed to be.

What made him pause in his tracks was the empty, flattened Capri-Sun juice pouch jutting out halfway from inside whatever book you were reading."

Or where Todoroki meets you and your questionable bookmark in the local, campus library.

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It isn't like this is the first time Todoroki Shoto had seen you before. In fact, this has to be the third or fourth time he had seen you sitting in the same spot by that open window. It isn't like he was stalking you or anything! It was just a mere coincidence that you happened to be in the library the same days he was there.

Now, normally when he leaves the library to go back to his dorm or grab a bite to eat, he would simply pack away his books and laptop in silence. After all, silence is the first and utmost rule one is required to follow in a library. While the head librarian is okay with students snacking away or even being a day or two late in returning due books, there was one thing they could not tolerate: unnecessary noise. Drop a book? Stern glare. Whispering to borrow a pencil? Harsh shushing.

Anyways, to repeat, he would simply get up, get his stuff, and get out. Sweet and simple. However, today, something catches his eye as he passes by the seat near the windowsill. Judging by the empty, faux-wood chair and the backpack slouched in an unseemly posture on the chair next to it, you probably left to go to the bathroom or to get another book. That wasn't what struck out to him as odd since it was completely normal to temporarily leave your spot in the library for whatever reason. And, no, there was no sarcasm in that statement, as much as it would have seemed to be.

What made him pause in his tracks was the empty, flattened Capri-Sun juice pouch jutting out halfway from inside whatever book you were reading. He takes a moment to look at the book cover. Of course, you come to the campus library to read romantic, young-adult novels instead of using any of the library's resources for your homework. Now that statement had sarcasm.

He glances over back at the Capri-Sun juice pouch, slightly interested. After all, it was more common to find empty Capri-Sun pouches in the trash rather than books. He remembers you sipping away at the childish drink earlier in the day. Even so, that was hours ago. You kept it for all that time? Although he is somewhat curious about the flavor, he doesn't bother to remove the pouch from its place, as it would lose your progress in the book.

"Do you need something?" a small voice reaches out from behind him, making him flinch involuntarily, "Don't worry, the librarian left a little while ago for their smoke break, so we can talk for a little bit."

He turns around, careful not to knock anyone over with his bulky backpack. When he turns around, he finds you standing before him with a gentle smile gingerly sketched on your face and a thicker, more scholastic-looking book tucked underneath an arm. Your hair was still tied up like before, and a faint floral scent was emanating from you, soon filling his entire senses.

As he stares down at you, he realizes you were waiting for an answer and scrambles for one. How creepy he may have appeared is something he would have to reflect on later.

He clears his throat to buy some time before giving a response, "No, I was just passing by and saw your...bookmark. I was interested, so I stopped for a closer look. I didn't move it or anything, if that's what you're worried about."

"Oh," you gently place the book you were carrying in your arm in your bag before continuing, "Yeah, I don't have a bookmark with me, and I don't want to ruin the pages by folding the corners or something, so I used the nearest placeholder I had: my juice! What do you think? Pretty creative, huh?"

"Right..." he was unsure of how to answer. Sure, it was creative, but it wasn't something to brag about either.

Before an uncomfortable silence could settle its way in between the two of you, he turns around for the exit and bids you a farewell. However, before he could make the full turn, you call out to him.

"Wait!" you halt him in his steps and rustle inside your bag, "Let me give you something!"

He turns around again to find you with a Capri-Sun in your outstretched hand, confusing him, "...What is this?"

"'What is this?'" you repeat, mocking him lightheartedly, "It's for you! I carry some with me every day, and I just so happened to have an extra one! Go on, take it!"

He looks down at you and then at the drink before begrudgingly accepting it, much to your glee. For some odd reason, the drink is still cool despite residing in your bag for who knows how long. Is it because of the air conditioning? Observing the packet, he takes note that you coincidentally gave him his favorite flavor. Then again, at the end of the day, they're all just sugared water, so was there really a difference in flavors?

To show his gratitude, he looks back at you and states a simple yet sincere, "Thanks."

"No problem!" you smile back at him, clearly happy that he seems to enjoy the gift, "My name's (Y/N), by the way! You'll probably find me here in the library, but I'm sure you already know that since you've been here practically every other day."

He corrects you bitterly in his head. It's not practically, he has been there every other day. It's not like he has anything else to do.

"Nice to meet you," he slides over his name and engages in a warm handshake with you, "I have to get going now. Early classes and whatnot."

"Right, I get you," you nod understandingly before waving him off, "Good night, then! Get home safe."

"You too," he replies and heads out with his Capri-Sun in hand.

On his way out, he notices the librarian coming back and reeking of tobacco. Jesus, how much did they smoke? He didn't even talk to you for more than ten minutes. As he goes out of his way to avoid the librarian, he steps out into the crisp night air. Thinking it a better time than ever, he yanks the straw attached to the pouch, takes it out of its wrapping, and stabs it into the designated hole. Pursing his lips around the straw, he takes his first sip and sighs at the taste.

Sure, it was just sugared water, but he hadn't had a Capri-Sun since grade school when kids would bring in treats to celebrate their birthday in school. It was nostalgic to say the least.

As he walks back to his dorm, he notices something written in Sharpie on the back. Flipping the packet in his hand, he reads the message of two words: For HIM. Him was written in all-caps, bolded, underlined, and even italicized. It was obvious that the him in the message was, well, him, and it was pertinent that you give this to him as stressed by the writing of the last word.

He feels a blush creeping up his cheeks, flustered by the gesture. So you had planned to give him this? It wasn't an extra like you said? Well technically it was an extra, but the way you phrased made it seem more coincidental than schemed. Was the message on here even supposed to be left for him to read? He wouldn't put it past you if you didn't mean for him to see it. After your conversation, you seemed to be a bit of an airhead (not in a bad way, though).

As he sips on the remaining juice, he panics, and questions come flooding in his mind faster than a broken dam. What was he supposed to do now? Was he supposed to bring it up next time they meet? But what if you never meant for him to see that message? The last thing he would want to do is embarrass you. Was this even a sign for anything? Did this mean you were into him? Did you somehow know his favorite flavor and decided to give one to him? How would you even have known? Even his roommate didn't know as it was meaningless information.

He stops walking to exhale, hopefully releasing the questions into the night air along with his breath. He was overthinking again, a terrible habit he developed, causing terrible consequences. The Capri-Sun was nothing more than a simple gift, or so he concludes. He repeats to himself that it didn't mean anything and that it was just a kind gesture. Maybe the note wasn't even referring to him! Maybe it was just you using the juice pack as a post-it-note. Yes, that had to be it!

Finishing the drink, he thinks to throw it away in a nearby trashcan before pausing. Although it was pointless and even weird, he decides to keep the Capri-Sun, stowing it away in some spare pocket of his bag. He may have concluded that the Capri-Sun wasn't anything more than a gift of chance, but he somehow still attached some sentimental value to the empty packet.

Although it was barely the first month of college, his seemingly-cold and reserved exterior steered most from befriending him, save his roommate and his handful of friends. He didn't mean to appear that way on purpose. He just wasn't good at appearing approachable to others. Not like the way you did. And the scar wasn't helping.

You, aside from his roommate, were the first to approach him for a reason unrelated to school, and your encounter filled him with an unexplainable urge to go back to the library the very next day once his classes were over.

Which is exactly what he did. 

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(a/n): hiya! so this is my first time posting fanfiction on wattpad in roughly three years! i actually wrote this in feburary, and this wasn't even meant to be for todoroki or anything; it was more a short story with a nameless oc. i've been wanting to post smth for a long time now, and this is honestly one of my favorite works i've written. i decided to settle with todoroki because he was his character was the closest to the oc here. my main concern in writing is making sure the character i'm writing for is actually the character i end up writing, y'know? i struggle with keeping characters in character when writing, so i'm sorry if todoroki seems out of character here. i didn't want to change the original dialogue too much, or else i would have ruined it.

also i was kinda thinking about making this a mini series? it's been on my mind where it would be just oneshots of todoroki hanging out with you, centered around the concept of you using some foreign object as a bookmark. it's most likely that i won't, so don't get your hopes up. but it's definitely something i would not mind doing! if only i had the motivation and confidence in my writing abilities to do it,,,

in case you are new, hi there! i will warn you: the oneshots after these next few will be nowhere near the same quality as those were written almost four years ago. so, be prepared for cringe and sex written by someone who read nothing but smut on wattpad!  

this is cross-posted on to ao3 and tumblr! my ao3 user is kawaii_angelanne, and my tumblr user is kawaii-angelanne 

anyways, thanks sm for reading this! i don't write on a regular basis, so the chances of me writing a second part to this in the near future at least is very unlikely. have a good day/night, and stay safe and healthy!

comments and votes are super appreciated :> if you have any other tags i should mention, lemme know in the comments! i'm not that good at tagging, so i'm not sure if there's anything i missed.