Torn Down The Middle Chapter 38: Cert Call (CPR call), Bay 3

The nurse nodded and left just as Shouto returned.

“My apologies for being late, Y/N.” He said as he presented a big plastic bag, laden with food.

Your eyes nearly fell out of your head.

“FOOOOD!” You moaned, sounding like a starved zombie.

“I didn’t know what to get so I bought a few different options.” He replied sheepishly.

“Meh, I’ll eat anything.” You replied dismissively, “thank you so much for getting so many things! What did you buy?” You asked, bouncing eagerly in the hospital bed.

Shouto gave you a small, amused smile.

You looked like a little girl who had just been gifted her first giant teddy bear.

He walked over and placed the bag down next to you on the bed, pulling up a chair so he could sit beside you.

“I went to the ramen shop just outside the hospital and got ramen and cold soba.” He said plainly, lifting out the two dishes and placing them down beside you. “Then some snack.” He added as he pulled out some pocky sticks and other desserts. “Then mochi balls.” He pulled those out too.

“WOW! You went all out!” You said, your eyes as big as saucers as you looked over the delicious array of food items.

“Anything for you, Y/N.” He said, his beautiful heterochromic eyes gazing fondly at you.

Your heart fluttered. “Oh well thank you, I appreciate it.”

He nodded and handed you some chopsticks and a plastic soup spoon.

You quickly broke the chopsticks and eagerly awaited him to pass you the bowl of ramen, digging in the minute he had taken the lid off for you.

He smiled and patted your head softly. “Slow down, Y/N, you’ll get a stomach ache.” He chided gently, finding your love of food adorable.

You looked up at him, cheeks full of noodles and nodded sheepishly with a close lipped grin and goofy look on your face.

He settled back in his seat and opened his cold soba noodles, holding the bowl up slightly and inhaling the aroma tenderly before setting the dish back down and taking the chopsticks out of their paper covering and breaking them.

He held his hands together with the chopsticks between his thumbs and edge of his index finger and took a moment to hold them up in a silent prayer before eating.

You watched curiously.

“That’s quite a ritual you have there.” You commented, mouth still half packed with food.

“Yes.” He replied, “soba noodles are to be revered.”

You would have laughed except he was so dead serious about his noodle dish that you dared not, just in case there were a soba noodle god who was watching, ready to smite you the minute you dared laugh at his soba disciple.

You watched Shouto savour each mouthful, chewing slowly and reverently enjoying his meal.

You swallowed yet another almost whole ass bunch of noddles before speaking.

“Shouto, can I try some Soba?”

His eyes flicked up and met yours. You could almost feel the internal struggle. This was a test.

He looked back down at his dish then back up to you, waging a war within himself.

Finally he nodded slowly and took a small portion of noddles in his chopsticks, standing slightly and leaning over to you.

“Open your mouth Y/N.” He said lowly.

You obeyed, maintaining eye contact with him as you did so.

He gently placed the noodles in your mouth and you chewed them slowly, letting your eyes flutter closed so you could focus on the flavours.

Shouto was spell-bound. He had expected you to inhale them like you did with the ramen noodles but you were respecting the soba just the way he did and not gonna lie he was a little turned on by it.

“H-how was it?” He asked as you opened your eyes and swallowed.

“Amazing.” You breathed.

He blushed.

“T-thank you for enjoying them.” He said softly before sitting down and continuing his meal.

You grinned.

“Also, Y/N, Midoriya rang to update me on how everything went after we left.”

“Everyone got home safe, I presume?” You said, reaching for the pocky sticks after having successfully downed a bowl of ramen noodles.

“Yes.” Shouto replied, “but Aizawa found out what that black cat was, that almost attacked you.”

“Oh! Yes? I’m listening, was it ok?”

“Yes, it was still alive, it was an escaped Jaguar from a travelling circus nearby and was out for blood.” Shouto said as he opened a drink bottle.

“What do they plan to do with it?” You asked, biting down on a pocky stick.

“Giving it to a wildlife sanctuary was the plan.” Shouto replied, taking a sip of drink.

You nodded. “Ok well at least it won’t be back with the circus then.”

Shouto nodded too, watching you eat the chocolate sticks.

“Are they nice, Y/N?” He asked, his eyes trained on the stick in your mouth.

“Delicious.” You replied, your word, half mumbled by the stick in your mouth. “Try one.”

He reached out to the packet and you pulled it away.

“No Shouto…this one…” you said, poking your head and neck out towards him to indicate that he should try a bite from the stick in your mouth.

He blushed heavily and froze.

You wiggled your eyebrows temptingly with a little giggle.

“C’mon.” You cajoled. “I don’t bite.” You said as you wiggled the pocky stick in between your teeth, the tip of it waving enticingly.

He continued with his hesitation and you thought you had beaten him until he stood up and leaned forward.

Suddenly you were the bashful one.

He moved with such determination it took you by surprise and you shrank back a bit.

“Oh? Don’t be coy now, Y/N.” He said lowly with a mischievous look in his eye as he leaned in. “You offered.”

“Well yeah that’s true but you were shy 0.02 seconds ago and now you’re dominant TOPoroki.”

His face neared yours and you pulled back even further so he lunged for the pocky stick, his nose grazing yours as he bit the stick super close to your lips.

You squealed and covered your mouth when he had moved back.

“Delicious.” He said lowly as he sat back down proudly.

“Didn’t know you had it in you, Shouto.” You replied with a smirk, referring to his dominant move.

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Y/N.” He said, his head lowered as his eyes burned into you with such a look in them that it rendered you speechless.

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Torn Down The Middle Chapter 39: One Thing After The Other >>>