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notchesandbullets · 3 years

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Smoke and Mirrors (CEO!Soft!Todoroki x Reader) Part 2

Warnings: there’s a couple curse words but that’s it!!

A/N: still for @bnhacity‘s collab, the continuation!!! now comes the long awaited explanation of what transpired and as grief and misunderstanding gives way to something warmer, todoroki’s there all the way to give you someone constant to lean on 😊

Word count: 8.4k

When Todoroki first hired you to be the lobby receptionist at his main branch in the City, you didn’t think twice before accepting the offer. Even though it came with some conditions to ensure that you were the best fit for the job. You were hired under a trial basis that was supposed to only last three months at the most.

That was over a year and a half ago.

You came to him on the last day of your employment trial period, ready to turn in your work uniform and start another job bartending on the shittier side of town where crime ran rampant, only for him to push the ball back in your court and ask if you would like to stay on longer.

Your eyes had lit up in disbelief, shimmering with forbidden hope and even though you didn’t know it at the time, Todoroki swore he fell for you right then and there.

He wasn’t sure why you seemed so accepting of his apparent rejection coming but he didn’t push the issue, worrying that it might make you uncomfortable.

You didn’t tell him the reason why you wanted to quit and there was little office gossip on you for him to piece it together himself. You were a pretty private person who liked to keep to yourself. He already asked Shinsou and Yaoyorozu, both of whom were not particularly close to you at the time and knew no more than he did, so he took initiative in seeking out just why you seemed so exhausted when you came to work.

Because despite your best attempts to conceal it from the rest of the staff, he still noticed.

He saw the way you would walk with a limp on certain days, so slight that he had to blink twice to make sure he was actually seeing things right. The bruises that peeked out from underneath your blouse never faded with time and he only grew more concerned when one day you walked in with eyes bloodshot like you had been up all night.

After much digging, which was more than he expected he would need to do, Todoroki found out that you worked at another joint to make ends meet on that shitty place you rented out on the outskirts of the City. And his blood ran cold when he found out just what your other job was.

You were the messenger for a vigilante group that liberated the southern area of the City. They did good work but many opposed their existence, which put you in the crossfire whenever bullets started to fly.

Barreling through the door that led to the front desk, he slammed the privacy partition closed and spun you around in your chair, heterochromic eyes wild with panic.

Todoroki didn’t hesitate to confront you about it despite your surprised yelp, expressing his worry for your safety at the same time but what you conveyed to him next shocked him into silence.

“I’m not doing this for me.” You shot back in reply to his heated argument, your eyes blazing with deep-rooted conviction.

Todoroki grimaced and his eyes flashed in response to the fire of determination burning in yours. “Y/N—”

“No,” You interrupted fiercely, shooting up to your feet and held his gaze in spite of being a whole head shorter than him. “I can’t stop now.”

The Hotwings had infiltrated a trafficking circle and were closing in on the high leader. Your part was crucial in the mission’s success, since you were the fastest person on foot that they had at their disposal. You couldn’t quit now.

Lives were at stake.

“They’re just children.” You begged, unsure of why you felt the need for his support. You’ve never needed anyone’s backing before but this time felt different. Your heart stung at the thought of disappointing or hurting him. “Let me do this.”

Todoroki shook his head. “Go to the police.”

“They’re the ones counting on me.” You said without missing a beat.

This was a secret joint operation between the City’s law enforcement and the Hotwings that had been going on for countless weeks now. There was no way you were abandoning them now. Not when you were so close.

“I can do it.” You promised him, stepping closer so that every shaky exhale fanned out at the base of his neck. “I promise I’ll come back to you.”

And you made good on it, but not before he caught wind of something else.

Something sour.

The Hotwings were successful in their dismantling of the trafficking ring. But they also were a little too successful in catching the eye of some of their more dangerous enemies. They could hold their own just fine, sure, they had the numbers to deal with it; but you were a different story. You weren’t a full member of their ranks, you just helped out whenever you could.

In Todoroki’s eyes, that meant you did all the work without the benefit of the Hotwings’ protective network. It was like you were on your own.

And you certainly were targeted like you were. You couldn’t walk down the street without having a gun pointed at your head or getting jumped by strangers who were looking to use you as a bargaining chip for whatever stupid organization they were a part of, hoping to rip off one of the powerful leaders or hold you for ransom.

Todoroki had talked to Dabi and Hawks about this before but their hands were tied. You were the one who refused the protection.

“I will not be followed around 24/7 like a damn civilian!! I don’t need a fucking bodyguard.” You hissed, poking his chest to emphasize your point. Ten minutes after you got to the office for your shift, he broke down the door again. “I’m a grown woman, Todoroki, I can take care of myself.”

“Shouto.” He corrected you softly, holding back a smile as a small giggle slipped out despite your eyes blazing with defiance and his heartbeat quickened as your cold exterior cracked, humor creeping up on your face.

“... Shouto.” You repeated with a soft smile.

Nothing happened after that. Nothing bad anyways.

A month later, a total of two years after knowing you, he asked you out on a date, a picnic in a secret place on the hills that you couldn’t see from the City. Much to his surprise, you said yes.

That day was magical.

Fancy wanpaku sandwiches, sparkling lychee rose water and chocolate covered strawberries were packed in the picnic basket he bought specifically for this occasion. And amidst the impromptu food fights, playful teases thrown back and forth, and lounging on the soft grass while staring up at the blue sky, you bared your hearts to each other.

Todoroki told you of the company and how much he detested his father pushing it on him, despite his blatant desire to get a degree in digital photography rather than business like Endeavor wanted. He told you of his friends, of Midoriya and Bakugou and all the others, and how they helped him to see that he could shape what was given to him to make it his own. And how to do all of that without losing his passion for photography.

You told him of your reasons for becoming a messenger for Dabi and Hawks’ organization even with all the danger attached to it. You relayed to him your past and how parts of it screwed you up in more ways than one.

“I’ve never really been good at anything.” You confessed to him as the afternoon sun shone down on your bare shoulders. “Everyone around me was always so good at the things that they tried but whenever I tried the same thing, I always came up short. I wanted to be good at just one thing.”

Wiggling your arms that were falling asleep from keeping your head propped up for so long, you turned over to lay on your side to look at him. “So when Hawks praised my speed, I felt like I finally had somewhere where I fit in.”

Something worthy to contribute to a higher cause.

When you attended school, gym class didn’t exactly showcase it. You had no motivation to race against the boys you knew were much faster than you, no desire to be shown up and then taunted and teased for losing.

But you found when someone’s life was on the line, you pushed yourself harder and harder until your legs were nothing but a quick blur as you left everyone else in the dust.

Todoroki brushed the hair that had fallen into your face away from your eyes and turned to face you properly. His foot cautiously brushed against yours to test the waters, his legs slowly tangling with yours as you accepted the increase in affection.

“You’re amazing.” He breathed in awe.

You bit your lip to keep yourself from smiling too big, cheeks flaming. “S-Stop it…”

Todoroki’s smile widened and hummed nonchalantly as you squirmed around on the ground, trying to get away from him as he playfully trapped you in his arms, pinning your wrists to the ground.

“Let go!!” You giggled, not even fighting against him anymore.

Todoroki grinned, shaking his head from side to side. “Admit you are amazing, and I will.”

“No!!” You refused, sticking your tongue out at him childishly and thrashed around dramatically, trying and failing to break out of his hold.

“Say it.” He demanded, a playful glint in his eye.

You laughed out loud. “Never!!”

Pressing his forehead to yours, Todoroki smiled softly as your breathing pattern stuttered and the laughter died down. There on the field filled with flowers, underneath the warm sun, he laid with you and cradled your face tenderly.

“One day, I hope you see yourself as I do.” He whispered.

Many weeks passed and you two grew closer as you spent more time together, he offered you another position, one that would cover the extra expenses you had racked up from medical bills and rent since you refused to let him help you with it. And even though you didn’t stop running errands for Hotwings, you gratefully accepted it immediately.

Todoroki had been nothing but a gentleman to you ever since you started working for him directly, and the attention only increased once you two started seeing each other out of work.

Unfortunately, that caught the eye of some of your not-so-nice coworkers.

Some of your fellow employees hadn’t taken to the CEO’s friendly nature with you too well and it came out more often than not. You had been doing a good job of keeping all the drama under wraps and away from Todoroki since you didn’t want to bother him, but when someone stole your clothes when you had been taking a shower to wash off the condiments that someone launched at you earlier that day, it was Shinsou that was done seeing you take their shit.

The pounding in your ears overtook all your senses. They took every single article of clothing and if you had to guess, you were pretty sure they were either getting tossed in the dumpster behind the building or burned.

“Great.” You muttered to yourself as you peeked around the corner only to see two of your coworkers suppressing their hysterical laughter as they made their getaway with your clothes in their arms. “That’s just great.”

Now dripping wet and completely naked thanks to the towels they also swiped, you stepped back into the bathroom of the uninhabited suite that all employees were free to use, making sure to lock the door and brace it to prevent anyone else from breaking in.

Hopefully that would hold.

Grabbing your phone from where you stowed it in the drawer, like you always did when you took a shower, you hastily typed out a half-coherent text for help to Shinsou. Your first choice would’ve been to message Yaoyorozu, but you knew she was going to be out all day running errands for Todoroki.

You shivered, looking around the bathroom to see if there was anything you could use to dry yourself off with but there was nothing other than a couple of tiny washcloths.

Damn, they were really thorough. A part of you would’ve been impressed if you weren’t busy trying to calculate how the fuck you were going to get out of here without being completely exposed for the world to see.

You jumped back, startled when a sharp rap sounded on the other side of the door. Pressing your mouth in a hard line, you scooted closer to it and focused hard to see if you could identify the other person on the other side. You highly doubted it could be Shinsou, he wasn’t that fast, even when he got more than 8 hours of sleep.

“Y/N, it’s me.” Came a familiar whisper and you heaved a sigh of relief.

There was a shuffle outside of the bathroom and you panted hard as your heart rate finally started to slow down.

“Shouto.” You called out in relief, pressing your palms flat against the wood.

There was another faint rustle before he spoke again. “I’m going to cover my eyes and open the door to give you my coat. Is that alright?”

You nodded until you realized that he couldn’t see you. “Yes, yes, that’s fine.”

After you unhooked the lock, he cracked open the door. True to his word, he didn’t peek at you as he blindly handed you.

And even though the circumstances had you panicking minutes prior, you couldn’t help the giggle that slipped out as he fumbled to find you in the dark. Lifting the jacket carefully with two fingers, you didn’t even have to shut the door as Todoroki took care of it for you as soon as you took the coat from his grasp.

You dried yourself off as much as you could, toweling off your hair and hoped that water wouldn’t drip on his expensive designer jacket that he was lending to you too much to ruin it. It was a rich black and soft to the touch. It was probably made out of suede if you had to take a guess.

Draping it over your shoulders, you twirled once and giggled at yourself in the mirror. His build was so big that the collar was falling down your shoulders and the hem reached down to mid-thigh.

Clicking the lock open once more, you let an impatiently waiting Todoroki come inside.

Everything he was about to say faded on his tongue as soon as he saw you in his clothes. You were so beautiful. Hair framing your face, collar bones and the smooth, supple skin of your legs exposed, his breath caught in his throat.

“W-What?” You asked shyly as he openly stared at you, his jaw slack.

“N-Nothing, sweetheart.” Todoroki stammered, eyes darting away from your figure to be respectful.

You fought back a grin, fidgeting in place while playing with the extra long sleeves. The awkwardness that came with him standing so close to you dissipated the longer the light smile stayed on your face as you beamed up at him, as though he was the one who needed cheering up.

Clearing his throat, Todoroki broke the silence and gestured to his phone. “Shinsou told me what happened.”

You ducked your head, curling in on yourself under the intensity of his gaze. Clasping your hands behind your back, you tried to hide how nervous you were standing here with him like this. “Thank you for coming.”

Todoroki’s eyes softened and for a moment, he forgot how angry he was. “I’ll always come for you.”

But it was hard to forget just what landed you in this predicament in the first place and he wasn’t about to let it go. Leaning back against the marble sink, the broad-shouldered male regarded you closely. “What happened?”

The curiosity underlying Todoroki’s tone wasn’t lost on you but it was vastly overshadowed by how he visibly scrutinized you. His concern and worry stemming from his care for you outweighed everything else and in that moment, you made the split second decision to trust him.

With everything.

Todoroki’s body visibly tightened as you hesitantly told him of what you had been going through with your meddlesome and jealous coworkers, his forearms flexing and the muscles in his biceps bulging out as his eyes narrowed in anger. His knuckles were white as he gripped the edge of the porcelain sink, almost breaking it under his iron grip.

“They’ve been doing what?” He seethed, a ferocious snarl tacked on at the end of it as he pushed off the counter and stalked towards the door.

There was no way he was going to let anyone get away with treating you like that.

You cried out in protest. “Shouto, wait!! Where are you—”

“They’re fired.” Todoroki stated without batting an eye at you and you grabbed his arm before he had the chance to make it out of the bathroom. No way was he tolerating this.

“You don’t need to do that!!” You exclaimed incredulously, digging in your heels and almost fell in the process as he yanked a little harder than before. “I’m fine!!”

The corner of Todoroki’s mouth pulled back further, a scowl of distaste present on his normally pleasant features. “Like hell you are.”

Your voice dropped an octave and softened around the edges as he called you out on your bullshit. “Shouto.”

Todoroki halted at the soft pronunciation of his given name. At the sheer desperation in your tone as you called it out.

“Y/N…” He warned, his resolve faltering. You rarely used his first name. Said it felt personal. Special. That if you called it out too often, it would lose its meaning to you.

Even though that was impossible since the butterflies in your stomach never settled when he looked at you after you said his name.

But this time, you couldn’t dwell on it. You shook your head firmly. “No.”

No retaliation. It would only make things worse. You knew that much from experience.

“It’s okay. I’m okay.” You reassured softly, hugging him from behind and pinned his arms to his sides so that he couldn’t leave to exact his revenge on your behalf. “I forgive them.”

It had taken a little more coaxing to get him to listen to you, but you eventually succeeded in the end.

Todoroki refused to leave your side for the rest of that day after you went through all that. He was adamant about finding out who it was that exactly did this to you, who kept on harassing you relentlessly. When you didn’t give him any answers, he sought them out himself.

Shinsou merely flashed you a knowing smirk when you pestered him with questions on how Todoroki was able to single out exactly who it was that had been bullying you for the past months.

True to his word from before and probably in part thanks to your pleading, the frigid CEO didn’t fire them. Instead, he put them on the opposite shift as yours and reduced the hours they worked by 50% while increasing their responsibilities tenfold.

The smart purple-haired bastard was cocky as he let Todoroki in on all the secrets you spilled to him, knowing full well that you trusted the CEO more than enough that you wouldn’t care if you told him. The only thing holding you back was your own pride and deep-seated belief that you should shoulder everything on your own. But you didn’t have to. This much Shinsou knew.

Todoroki never understood how you were able to be so kind towards people that hurt you, why your forgiveness was so easily given. But the more he got to know you, the more he saw the reason.

It was the very core of your being. It was your heart. No matter what came your way, you always faced it with courage and never wavered.

Which is why as you crumpled in front of him on the rooftop, tears spilling out despite your very best efforts to contain it all inside the instant you finished, his heart shattered into a million pieces.

Clinging desperately to him, you cried, shoulders shaking as you buried your face into the crook of his neck to hide how weak you were being. How vulnerable you were.

Todoroki hesitated for a second, still torn as to whether or not he had the right to embrace you fully, but he quickly made up his mind as you clung to him. Gathering you up in his arms, he buried his nose into your hair and inhaled deeply, hoping to offer you some comfort as you trembled against him.

The way he held you wasn’t lost on you, but all you could think about was how hard these last few days had been.

The past week that he had been gone on his business trip had been hell for you. In the span of seven days, everything you had built for yourself had come crashing down around you.

Work was terrible. Dabi had you running all over the City to send messages out to his underdogs and dealers for the huge and upcoming project the vigilantes had going on. But with that increase of foot traffic, there was a boatload of added risks and dangers to your already dangerous job.

Purple bruises littered your skin, faint underneath the thick layer of foundation and makeup you used to cover it up, and you had to refrain from wincing every time you took a step even though it has been several days already. A lot of enemies had crawled out of hiding, pushing back and forming a resistance as you made your way through the City.

Hawks tried to protect you. But he wasn’t enough.

And thanks to a tip from an anonymous individual, you’ve lost your apartment, all the money you had saved up for your entire life along with dodging bullets all week.

The thing was, it all happened so fast that you have had no time at all to recover from it. Forced onto the streets after your cranky landlord kicked you out, you had been roughing it out on Mina’s couch for the past few days thanks to her well-timed and generous hospitality.

But you had no idea who targeted you or how they got ahold of all your assets and depleted them overnight.

The thing was, you needed that money. But it wasn’t just for yourself.

The majority of the money you made went towards various charities and orphanages, something you felt very strongly about. To think that those children would suffer as you lacked the funds to provide for them in the coming months made you sick to your stomach.

Todoroki tensed underneath you as you unknowingly spilled that little tidbit. “... What?”

You froze. You hadn’t meant to tell him that. Any of that.

Sniffling, you paused and tried to collect your thoughts so that you weren’t just rambling on and on. You sat up slowly and avoided his gaze. Not that you were worried he was going to judge you. He would be the last person to judge the person that he lov—

Wait.

No, that wasn’t right.

Heart squeezing painfully, you carefully peeled yourself away from him, gut twisting as you felt his fingers squeeze your shoulder once in a silent plea not to do this. Not to close him off again.

But you didn’t listen to him. Instead, you scooted back an arm’s length away from him and drew your knees up to your chest.

Just like before.

Todoroki whispered your name brokenly, reaching out for you only for you to shy away from him. And his eyes narrowed as he caught something he missed the first time around.

How your eyes darted away from his, like you were scared of drowning in them.

“What happened, Y/N?” He asked quietly, stopping his hand a hairbreadth away from covering yours. Right now, there was nothing he could do to comfort you. “What happened to us?”

You scoffed lightly but it sounded more forlorn and wistful than angered.

The night chill whipped violently around you and Todoroki almost lost his balance. Falling to his knees instead, he crawled over to you. The wind whistled so loudly in his ears that he had to strain to hear you.

“There is no us, there was never an us.” You spat lowly, the barest amount of venom and hurt lacing your sharp tone.

Then, your voice quieted and went resigned, almost as though you were afraid to speak it into existence. “You made sure of that.”

And Todoroki’s heart stopped. What the hell were you talking about?

Your decision to split up with him three weeks ago was like a knife to his heart and it caught him completely off guard.

“You wanted it that way.” Todoroki pronounced slowly, looking at you out of the corner of his eye to gauge your reaction. When you stiffened, his certainty wavered. “... Didn’t you?”

You hugged your knees tighter and ignored the tears budding in your lashes as you pressed your mouth hard to your knee in order to prevent the sob from escaping. “... Yes.”

Then, Todoroki’s eyes darkened as he caught movement out of his field of vision. And he didn’t back down.

“You’re lying.”

You went rigid and forced your shoulders to stop shaking, willing it to stop betraying your every emotion. “No I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

Todoroki’s adamant and firm declaration caused you to shake, irrational and anxious thoughts plaguing your mind as your heart started to pound in fear. You were weak. You needed help from others because you couldn’t stand on your own. He was going to hate you.

All your life, you only had yourself to rely on. That couldn’t change. You were too scared.

No, not this. He can’t know, he can’t!! I—

The spiraling train of anxiety-ridden thoughts were interrupted as Todoroki leaned in, hooking two fingers underneath your chin to gently raise it up.

He knew that your mind was starting to spiral and he was going to do everything in his power to keep you from that again.

Lower lip trembling, a soft gasp escaped you as he swiped the pad of his thumb over it. The soft touch was grounding and a lone tear slipped down your face. His eyes bored into yours, the depth of emotion swirling in the irises giving away just how much he wanted to, needed to know about the turmoil raging inside of you.

“Tell me,” Todoroki implored desperately. “Tell me what made you believe that I no longer wanted to be with you.”

And when he pressed his forehead to yours, your walls shattered.

With great reluctance, you told him of that day where everything fell apart between you two. You told him how one day you came into work with the expectation of seeing him, only for him not to be there.

Todoroki swallowed hard. He knew of the exact day that you were referring to.

It was sometime in the middle of June, a couple months after you two had been seriously seeing each other. He always made sure he was somewhere in the building while you were doing your shift. It was a tradition that he took you out as soon as it was over, but not that day.

That day he got called away on last minute business that was urgent. He had to take care of it right away. At least, that’s what he told himself.

It was odd because when he got to the other branch, Kendo looked at him all confused and told him that she didn’t call for him that day. There was no emergency meeting, nothing was wrong.

And that’s when the alarm bells rang off in his head.

Todoroki texted you, he swore he did, but you must’ve not received it because the next day when he got back, you wouldn’t even look at him.

Thinking that you were just upset with how he handled things, and understandably so, you were definitely allowed to feel whatever it was that you were feeling, he gave you some space to be sensitive while you processed your emotions. He waited for you to come to him, but you never did.

Days turned into weeks, which turned into months. Before he knew it, it had been so long since he had sat down and talked to you that he forgot what it was like. The absence of your presence left a gaping hole in his heart, but what was he to do? Every time he tried to approach you, you turned away.

The signal was clear. You didn’t want to be with him anymore.

Or so he thought.

For you, unbeknownst to him, you weren’t bothered when he had to leave. You knew that he often got called away to meetings at the last minute, but he always did his best to inform you as soon as he knew. When he didn’t this last time, you didn’t think much of it, figuring you would just make sure he was okay when he got back.

But this time, a small note greeted you as soon as you arrived for your shift, the pristine white paper stuck to your desk in a place where you couldn’t miss it. It was obviously intended for you.

A smile curved upwards at the edge of your lips.

But it quickly disappeared as soon as you read the perfectly printed words inked on the note. The ebony strokes grew sharper the longer you looked at it. Angry as they formed the words that broke your entire world in half.

The note conveyed his deepest apologies for leaving without explaining anything. But it was what followed next that made your heart stop.

Hollow apologies. Fragmented sentences piecing together how he thought things weren’t working out and how he thought it was best if you two should stop seeing each other.

Your heart beated loudly in your ears as you read flawlessly structured sentences saying how you weren’t good for him. How you were holding him back from reaching his full potential.

All of your insecurities hit you full throttle.

The social standing gap between you two only grew the longer you mulled it over. You two were worlds apart. How did you ever think this was going to work?

You would’ve gathered up the courage eventually to approach him and talk about it if it didn’t say at the very bottom of the note not to contact him because it was such a hard decision for him to make.

Your heart sank into your gut, an icy chill creeping up your spine as you read the last line.

If he second guessed himself and tried to talk to you, as a courtesy and out of respect for your brief relationship, he wanted you to shoot him down.

You weren’t good for him. You were toxic.

The doubts overwhelmed you and you couldn’t handle it. Blocking his number instantly without a second thought was the best thing for your mental health.

He didn’t want you anymore? Fine.

You could live without him.

But it still hurt like hell.

Heeding the so-called “advice” of the note, you steered clear of him and didn’t attempt to talk to him. At work, anytime he looked like he was coming your way, you turned around and walked briskly in the opposite direction.

But a little more of your fragile heart splintered every single time.

At first you were angry since now you had to avoid him outside of work as well. Then you were upset that you were catering so much to him after he clearly told you that he didn’t care for you anymore. Then you were sad and even more anxious than before, cooped up in your own apartment with no one else in your life.

Yaoyorozu and Mina tried to reach out to you. Kirishima got the gang together to pay you a visit when you were done running errands for a certain chicken and his smoking hot boyfriend. Shinsou even postponed his after-shift nap to hang out with you and keep you company, but nothing got through to you.

You appreciated the support and sentiment, of course, but you couldn’t bring yourself to get out of your head and all the insecurities that invaded your mind.

Todoroki tilted his head to the side in confusion as you fell quiet. “I never left you a note…”

You bowed your head, sniffling softly and wiping the budding tears from your eyes. “W-What?”

His shocked reaction, blanched face and wide-eyed horror couldn’t be anything besides genuine.

Realization dumped over you like a bucket of cold water and the bafflement etched on your expression gave way to astonishment.

The lies. The deceit. All perfectly concocted and timed so well that it caused the biggest misunderstanding to ever happen in your life and divided you from the person you cared the most about in this entire world.

None of what was written on the note was true.

The silence that followed was deafening as you and Todoroki reached the conclusion at the same time.

You had been tricked.

It didn't take long after that for the frustration and anger to bubble up within a certain CEO who had been under the wrong impression all this time and he nearly blew a gasket as he quickly came to terms with reality, singling out one exact name that had been showing up on reports of misconduct that have been tossed on his desk throughout the weeks.

Todoroki’s mouth pulled back in a snarl and he abruptly pushed up to his feet, knocking you over in the process.

You cried out for him as you lost your balance and reached out for him, desperately latching onto his hand before he could go too far. “Wait!! Where are you—”

“They’re going to pay.” He hissed through clenched teeth, barely repressing all the emotions surging forth inside of him. “I’m going to fucking—”

“Shouto.” You whispered.

That got a pause.

Todoroki’s heterochromic eyes were narrowed and dark with fury until both the usual icy blue and smoky grey were black. The hand not caught in your grasp was balled into a fist at his side and his broad shoulders were rigid.

He refused to turn back and look at you as you tugged on his hand and looking down at where your hands were joined, you swallowed hard.

Todoroki’s jaw locked in anger, rage brewing behind his eyes. “Let me go, Y/N.”

You shook your head, knowing that he couldn’t see you, and squeezed his hand. A desperate and silent plea not to make any more fuss about this than there had already been.

No more drama. No more pain. No more of the endless cycle that you had been trapped in.

“Please,” You begged, tears drying on your cheeks uncomfortably but you refused to let go, knowing that once you did, all his wrath would break loose. “No more.”

It was the exhaustion underlying your plea to him that made him turn around before he even registered what he was doing.

Todoroki didn’t hesitate to gather you up in his arms, burying his nose into your hair out of instinct. His muscular arms curled around your waist, his hands warm even though the fuzzy sweatshirt draped over your form.

“There will be consequences for them.” He promised darkly, murmuring the threat directed towards the people who had the audacity to come between you two in such a malicious way.

You sighed, wordlessly nuzzling into the crook of his neck, hoping that it would offer the comfort that you lacked the ability to convey with proper words.

“I know.” You mumbled, looping your arms around his neck and playing with the cropped strands of dual-colored hair on the back of his head. Everyone must take responsibility for their actions. “But within reason. It’s my fault for not coming to you sooner and asking about the note. Could’ve cleared up a lot of the issues right then and there.”

The guilt in your voice tripped Todoroki up and he pulled back, shaking his head, a frown etched on his face. Cupping your face in his hands, his thumb tenderly stroked your cheek and he exhaled softly, warm breath fanning across your face.

“It was my fault for not trying harder to talk to you.” Todoroki murmured, closing his eyes briefly as he rested his forehead against yours. “I’m sorry for letting it go on for as long as it has.”

You inhaled sharply as he pressed a soft kiss under your ear, arms clutching him tighter as your eyes squeezed shut, attempting and failing to keep the waterworks at bay. “It’s not—”

“Don’t.” He interrupted, his lips grazing the shell of your ear. “Don’t you dare say that it’s not my fault. It is.”

The gripe in his tone set you on edge and you subconsciously whimpered.

Todoroki stiffened at the sound and a rush of hurried apologies followed next.

“Fuck, sweetheart,” He swore, mouth pressed in a hard line as he internally berated himself for not doing a better job of watching his language around you. “... ‘m sorry.”

You nodded against his shoulder, inhaling his scent and breathed out shakily. “... ‘s okay, Shouto.”

Todoroki’s head tipped back and he closed his eyes as his face tilted up towards the starry night sky. His fingers threaded through your hair and gently massaged your scalp, which he hoped would offer whatever little comfort he was able to give.

It wasn’t okay. He should’ve done a better job of taking care of you. Of protecting you. He couldn’t forgive himself, but that wasn’t important right now. What was important was tending to you and making up for the time he had lost thanks to his poor decision on how to handle things.

A soft giggle broke him out of his thoughts. Cautiously, you looked up and poked his cheek.

“I can hear you thinking.” You teased shyly, blinking at him owlishly. “Penny for your thoughts?”

Todoroki exhaled slowly, a hint of a smile curving on the edge of his mouth. He hummed absentmindedly and gazed down at you fondly.

“Nothing.” He said quietly, in a manner which he hoped would put you at ease.

Your eyebrow arched in questioning caused the guard around his heart to crack and he caved in.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” Todoroki repeated, shushing you gently when you tried to protest that it wasn’t his fault. He knew at least part of it was. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when it counted.”

You combed your hands through his hair the same way he was doing it to you. “It’s okay, Shouto. You’re here now.”

One heartbeat. Then two.

Gaze locking with his, you murmured, “That’s enough for me.”

And with the apologies that echoed in the atmosphere, you sank into Todoroki’s chest, completely exhausted. A whole week’s buildup of repressed emotional burden rendered you speechless and you’ve never been more terrified of the consequences that were going to come out of this. Where were you supposed to go from here?

Pulling yourself out of his embrace, you buried your face in your hands and moaned. “You’re going to fire me, aren’t you?”

A soft touch brushed against your hands and you didn’t fight him as he lowered them for you, guiding your every move so that he could be sure you weren’t going to bolt on him.

Conflicted emotions swirled in the depths of his eyes but in the midst of the storm, you saw one thing for certain.

Unyielding and unapologetic love.

It shocked you into gaping like a fish as Todoroki angled his head, amusement dancing on the edge of his irises, his hand snaking around the back of your neck to pull you close before he slotted his lips against yours.

A small gasp left you but it was quickly swallowed by Todoroki as he kissed you, conveying every bit of untold affection he held for you. And how that wasn’t going to go away no matter what happened from here forward.

“No,” He stated quietly as he pulled away, maintaining his proximity as he kept you close, drawing you in for a hug once again. “I’m not.”

A hint of a playful smile crept up on your features and you couldn’t help but giggle. “No? Are you sure about that?”

Todoroki shoved your shoulder at the tease and shook his head humorously. “C’mere.”

After the heart-stopping kiss, you leaned your forehead against his and panted lightly, and he mirrored you, closing his eyes to savor the moment. To just have you in his embrace for one more second before he dealt with what needed to be done.

“Next time, tell me when it gets to be too much.” Todoroki requested with a hint of a plea cracking through his façade, rubbing his thumb softly over your cheek. “When you have your doubts about anything that I’ve said, come to me. Please.”

He would never be angry at you for questioning him or wanting to clarify something. Ever.

“I will.” You breathed, taking a chance and slowly wove your fingers with his. “I promise.”

A slight smirk tipped up the edge of his mouth. “I’ll hold you to that, sweetheart.”

And you laughed, the sound breathless and airy, a refreshing change from the weighted atmosphere and it dissipated the heaviness from his heart. It signaled the change, the chance you were taking on each other.

It would be hard. There was still much to talk about and to overcome but all that mattered was that you were right back at his side. Right where you belonged.

Todoroki fell back, a breath expelling from his lungs as you tackled him to the ground with a giggle. He made sure to catch you, his hand shooting out behind him to catch himself as the other arm wound itself around your waist to steady you as you latched your arms around his neck.

And your eyes twinkled with rare amusement as you booped him affectionately on the nose. “I don’t doubt that at all, Shouto.”

Stars twinkling high above in the night sky, you crossed your legs and breathed in the fresh air deeply.

For the first time in so long, you were at peace.

Bundled up in the blankets that Todoroki had lovingly fetched for you, you snuggled into them and sighed happily. The sound of a door clicking closed behind you had your head turning, and you bit your lip to stop the smile stretching across your face from growing too wide.

“Shouto.” You unconsciously whispered, twisting around on the rooftop to face him.

Todoroki balanced a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and bowl of cold soba precariously along with a book, his new cup of coffee and camera, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. That fond smile he reserved especially for you lit up his face as his gaze landed on your relaxed form.

He had already asked you if you wanted to go back inside, but you simply smiled and sheepishly requested if you could stay out here a bit longer, hastily blurting out that he didn’t have to stay with you if he didn’t want to.

Todoroki resisted the urge to kiss you to shut you up and instead gently pecked your temple before patting your waist and declaring that he was going inside to get something to eat. He wouldn’t take longer than ten minutes at the most.

You two had missed out on so much time together and there was no way either one of you were going to let it go on for a moment longer.

Your smile grew into a full fledged grin as Todoroki set all the food down on the picnic blanket along with his camera before settling comfortably behind you. You squealed as his fingers danced over your ticklish sides and you squirmed, trying to get away from him but he caught you and pulled you back into his chest.

He hummed. “Where do you think you’re going, sweetheart?”

You giggled, the corners of your eyes crinkling at the corners. “Far far away~”

“Hey!!” Todoroki protested.

The mock expression of hurt had you collapsing into another fit of giggles and to prevent him from another tickle attack, you snatched the plate of delicious confections drizzled in white chocolate.

“Hey!!” You cried out as Todoroki cleverly snagged a chocolate covered strawberry before you could devour it. “No fair!!”

Bright laughter and fond chuckles rang out in the air as you both “fought” with each other over the dessert.

“You have your own food!!” You said in between bouts of laughter.

Todoroki’s chest vibrated with deep laughter. “Hate to break it to you, but I made yours too, so doesn’t that make it mine as well?”

“Nooooooo!!!” You wailed dramatically as he lifted the plate up and out of your reach.

Making grabby hands towards it, you pouted as it held it high.

“Shoutoooooooooooo.” You whined pitifully, making those sad puppy dog eyes at him.

Todoroki’s mouth quirked up but it quickly disappeared. He knew that these were your absolute favorite, even though they were too sweet for his taste, so he couldn’t help but tease you a little more. It was too fun. “It’ll cost you, sweetheart.”

Your eyes lit up at the prospect of getting back the plate of goodies and he chuckled.

“What what what?!?!” You chanted over and over again excitedly. “I wanna eaaaaaaat it!!”

“A kiss.”

His blunt answer stopped you short and you blinked.

“Y— what? Mmph!!”

Before you could speak again, his soft lips were on yours, kissing you so sweetly that your mind blanked.

Todoroki parted from you ever so slowly and his chest rumbled with warm laughter as you unconsciously chased him. His hands were hot on your waist and softly, he rubbed circles onto your stomach.

And as he conceded the confection over to you, he started on his food, slurping down his cold soba while you eagerly munched on your chocolate covered strawberries, cheeks bulging like a hungry chipmunk.

Time passed by so fast and seemed to crawl by all at once as the two of you ate and talked, catching up on the time that you had lost due to the lack of straightforwardness that had plagued your relationship.

You wouldn’t be making that mistake again anytime soon.

“You almost done, princess?” Todoroki teased as you finished wolfing down the last of the sweet strawberries.

“Mawbee.” You mumbled around a mouthful of juicy strawberries, nearly losing it as he burst out laughing, the rare sound echoing in the still night air.

Stealing the book that he was reading, you bit your lip to keep yourself from smiling when you noticed it was one of the ones you had recommended to him when you two had first started dating.

It didn’t take long to immerse yourself in the pages, losing yourself to the world of literature as the comfortable silence encompassing the two of you stretched out.

Settled in between his legs, you sighed deeply and snuggled into him. You were so comfortable, in fact, that the clicking of a camera shutter was lost on you until the lens pointed directly at you.

“Eep!!” You exclaimed, leaping sky high as he positioned the camera right in front of you and snapped a photo. “What are you doing?!?!”

Todoroki chuckled, heterochromic eyes shining with mischief. He waved his camera at you, as though that alone could answer your question, and winked. “Keep doing what you were doing, sweetheart.”

“Whaaaaaat whyyyyyy—” You drew out in a whine, covering your face, overcome with shyness.

He knew how much you didn’t like having pictures taken of you but he couldn’t help himself to candids of yours when you were sitting there, looking all cute like that. He wanted to freeze time, to keep those moments between you two forever.

“Don’t hide from me.” Todoroki commanded softly, prying your hands away from your face. “You’re beautiful.”

Heat rose to your cheeks and your ears burned with embarrassment. “D-Don’t say things like t-that.”

He chuckled, lowering the camera only slightly to smile charmingly at you. “You’re so cute, Y/N.”

“Shouto!!” You protested weakly. “At least let me see them!!”

Todoroki shook his head adamantly, red and white hair falling into his face, his eyes twinkling with mirth. “You will insist all of them look bad and then delete them.”

“Because I always look ugly!!!”

He caught your flailing wrists before they hit him and flashed you a smirk at your pouty outburst.

“You do not.” Todoroki declared steadily and you flushed.

As your mouth opened and closed, trying to grasp and form words that would make sense, Todoroki took the opportunity to sneakily snap another picture.

“SHOUTO!!!!!!” You shrieked, lunging for his camera.

He burst out laughing, holding it high and out of your reach, balancing his coffee so that the hot liquid didn’t spill and burn you in the process.

Before he came back outside on the rooftop with you, he had fired off a quick text to Shinsou to take care of something for it. Needless to say, he was going to handle the person who had gotten in between the two of you and tried to break you up. You might’ve been willing to forgive, but he wasn’t. Not yet, at least.

But for now, all he wanted to do was bask in this moment and how he finally got to have you in his arms once more.

You landed on his chest with an ‘oomph’, cheeks coloring when he set down his cup and camera, winding his arms around your waist to keep you securely pressed against him. His body heat radiated off of him and although you pretended to resist, you gave in the second his hand landed on top of your head.

Todoroki’s throat bobbed nervously in a moment of vulnerability and he clutched you tighter to him.

“Stay with me?” He whispered hesitantly.

Time crawled to a halt as he awaited your answer.

But this time, he didn’t have to wait for more than a millisecond before you murmured.

“Always.”

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