Chapter Text
Shoto wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting when he bumped into his future fiancée in the hallway, but it certainly wasn’t her tears. They were subtle—barely noticeable to anyone else—but for someone as observant as him, they were as obvious as ordering cold soba and receiving it hot instead.
Kaguya Shiden was known for her composure and discipline. At least, that’s what he’d noticed from quietly observing her at school. He had never seen her falter or hesitate. She always knew exactly what to say and what to do, always had the correct answer no matter how difficult the question. And although she wasn’t the best socially—though he had no right to judge, considering he struggled just as much—her awkwardness never stopped her from being on everyone’s good side.
Maybe people found her monotone voice oddly funny, or maybe once you grew used to her intimidating presence, you found a strange sense of calm in it. Even though she didn’t have many friends—well, any at all—that didn’t mean people didn’t want to be her friend. It was just that her walls were so high they could put the Great Wall of China to shame.
But beyond that, there were countless other reasons she was the person everyone secretly dreamed of being.
Perfect posture.
Perfect grades.
Perfect obedience.
People talked about her as if she were a diamond — breathtaking, elegant, but tough. Untouchable and unbreakable all at once.
So seeing her the way he had in the hallway—lost in her thoughts, unaware of her surroundings, and bumping into him without even realizing it—something about that moment lingered in his mind long after she rushed past him.
He wasn’t sure why he followed her down the hallway. He just knew someone like her shouldn’t have to go through everything alone. Which was… strange. Shoto Todoroki was not the type to concern himself with other people’s feelings. He didn’t meddle in personal affairs—especially not those of someone he was arranged to marry. He knew he should be angry or at least frustrated about the engagement, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel that way.
Not when the person he was supposed to be angry at clearly didn’t want the arrangement either.
Maybe it was because they were both going through the same thing.
Maybe, in some way he didn’t fully understand yet, he believed they could confide in each other.
“Why are you following me.”
It wasn’t a question, but at the same time, it was.
When Kaguya turned around, the last person she expected to see standing there was Shoto.
“It’s you.”
She said it with a hint of spite and disgust, and Shoto couldn’t blame her. He would feel the same if he were in her place. Even though he had suffered in his own way, her situation was different—she was a girl being treated as nothing more than a tool, a possession. Her father only wanted her to bear a child for his own selfish ambition, and she had no choice but to obey. There was no reward for obedience, but there was no safety in disobedience either.
“I noticed you were crying,” he said bluntly.
Wow.
He couldn’t believe he actually said that. For the first time, he genuinely realized how badly he needed to work on his social skills.
“You’re quite observant, I’ll give you that. But what does me crying have anything to do with you?”
She raised a brow, irritation flickering across her expression. She hated when people meddled in her affairs—especially people who thought they had the power to fix things that were never theirs to fix.
Change.
She hated change.
And this boy standing in front of her probably thought he could change their current predicament.
But that was the last thing she wanted.
"I just thought that I should check on you. I don't know myself why I'm doing this either."
Shoto avoided her eyes for a moment. It was rare for him to speak this much at once, and the words felt clumsy coming out. "Though I know this is a situation neither of us wants… know that I'm not going to force anything to happen. I don't want this just as much as you do."
Shoto wasn’t good at comforting people—he knew that. Especially girls. The only girl he’d ever really interacted with consistently was Fuyumi, and even then, their conversations were almost always one-sided. He never had to try emotionally. He never had to reach out.
But now, facing Kaguya, he found himself trying without understanding why.
“You’ve got it all wrong,” Kaguya said.
The tone of her voice shifted—so subtly yet so sharply that it made Shoto straighten. When she lifted her gaze to meet his, he felt something unexplainable crawl beneath his skin. Not fear, not intimidation… something stranger. As if the girl who had bumped into him in the hall minutes earlier—tears streaking her pale skin—had never existed at all.
It was almost like a mirage, a moment he hallucinated. The Kaguya before him now was composed, cold, distant. Almost eerily so.
“What do you mean?” he asked quietly.
“You’re both right and wrong,” she said. “If that makes more sense to you.”
Her voice was steady, controlled—practiced, even.
“Although I despise my father and I despise both you and your family, and though this arrangement is something I never wanted… I have no plan to back out. That would cause more problems than it solves. Sometimes letting things follow the path they’re already on is better than forcing change.”
A faint, bitter smile tugged at her lips.
“Change does more harm than good.”
She stepped past him slowly, deliberately—like every movement had been calculated long before she ever stood in that hallway.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go to my room. Goodbye… dear fiancé.”
The last two words dripped with dramatization—as if she were mocking a play she had no desire to star in.
Shoto stood frozen, words dying in his throat. By the time he regained his senses, Kaguya was already halfway down the hall, her purple hair shifting behind her like a final curtain closing.
From her voice, from her expression, from her entire presence—he understood she wanted nothing to do with him.
And he would respect that.
He had to.
But still… as he replayed her final words in his mind, a tight, inexplicable feeling stirred in his stomach—warm, tense, and completely unfamiliar.
He wanted her to say those words again.