#though it's forever missing shouto hours around these parts

[artemis32]

Transilience iii

The long-awaited part 3 is here, thank you all for being so patient <33 (you're all going to hate me, but yes, there is going to be a part 4)

word count - 10.1k

tw: mentions of past child neglect, abuse, kidnapping, violence, medical malpractice (they're bad people, what did you expect??), LoV being bad people (mainly Shiggs and Dabi), slight yandere LoV (kind of, but not really), reader is delusional - like, very delusional - dismisses red flags like its nobody's business

mbe masterlist

transilience masterlist

Dabi was… different.

You’d given up what little hope you’d had of Touya still being there, but you didn’t expect there to be such a vast change in his personality.

How could someone who was once so obsessed with the idea of being a hero, of overtaking All Might, become this horrible? And really, there was no other way to describe him but horrible.

From the very first day that you’d been there, he’d done his utmost to isolate you from the other members of his group, whisking you away if they ever got too comfortable around you.

To their credit, none of them had laid a finger on you, though they hadn’t said anything when they saw the freshly burnt handprint on your shoulder either. It felt like a branding mark, a sign of ownership.

You remained wary of them, forever on edge. It became exhausting after a while – never breathing too loudly when one of them was near, hardly eating or sleeping. It got to the point where you nearly passed out from sheer exhaustion.

If he cared, Dabi never said anything. 

The isolation was probably what got to you the most. The fear, the anger, the exhaustion – none of it felt as torturous as the loneliness. You weren’t allowed to talk to anyone but the leader, Shigaraki, and Dabi. Who’d decided that, you weren’t sure, but it ate away at your psyche day-by-day until almost nothing remained.

Most days, the only interaction you got was someone bringing your food to you. It was usually the man in the mask who had taken you – Mr Compress, or, you’d learned his name was, though sometimes it would be others in the group.

It was awful. They’d open your door and set a tray of food on the desk next to your bed.

They wouldn’t look at you. 

They wouldn’t talk to you. 

Nothing. 

And you tried. You tried so hard to hold a conversation, to get them to say something, to look at you, but still, nothing.

Shigaraki’s visits were few and far between. Most days he came to see you, it would be to accompany the doctor he brought with him.

You didn’t like that man. He was cold and harsh, and he left bruises that would take weeks to fade away. He’d take samples of your blood too, poking you harshly with the needle if you squirmed too much.

Shigaraki said nothing. He only stood in the corner, silently staring at you.

It was the same when he came to see you alone. He’d come in quietly, sit down by your desk and stare at you for hours.

Sometimes he would speak, but those days were rare.

He’d ask you about your life before they’d taken you, before you’d gotten your quirk.

Originally, you had ignored him, but after weeks of isolation, you’d told him what he wanted to know. He smiled that day. It hurt.

Dabi’s visits were even rarer. 

You thought you might dread his visits more than you did being alone.

He told you stories. Stories about his life – both while he’d been living with you, and after. You weren’t sure which you hated more.

While you’d understood how horrible your father was, to hear it first-hand, to hear from Touya himself what he’d gone through… it was almost more than you could handle.

Though right now, you’d take your father and his anger and violence. If you had a choice, you’d choose him over Dabi in an instant.

How pathetic – that you’d choose a monster like your father over your own brother, one who you’d looked up to, one who you’d mourned.

But that sort of thought had become surprisingly common. You’d been missing your family – Shouto, Fuyumi, Natsuo, even your father. Though you couldn’t bring yourself to miss your mother, and you were sure the feeling was mutual.

You tried as best you could, but nothing could stop your gradual descent into despair. You were so lonely, so scared that they’d decide you’d outlived your usefulness.

It was a shame that you were nothing like your family – you lacked Touya’s resolve, Shouto’s strength, even your father’s tenacity and anger. That would surely have helped you, but you were weak.

You were weak and scared, and even gaining a quirk had done nothing to change that.

****

If you had one complaint about how your days went, it had to be about the food they gave you.

It was plain, bland. Not to mention, you received the same thing every single day. 

Plain oatmeal for breakfast, plain, dry bread for lunch, and plain, flavourless ramen noodles for dinner. If you were lucky, they’d occasionally throw in a bruised, overripe fruit, or give you of the takeout they’d had for dinner.

You’d gotten to the point of having to choke it down, trying not to gag whenever you saw the same food day after day. You wouldn’t call yourself ungrateful, but it was pretty obvious that no one knew how to cook. After the first two weeks, you’d liken the experience to eating cardboard, taking hours to pick at the plain, odourless lump on your plate before giving up.

That’s how Dabi found you thirty minutes after Mr Compress had bought you your dinner - picking at your plate with half-hearted interest, doing nothing more than moving the now solid pile of ramen from one side to the other.

He shoulders the door open without knocking, kicking it shut behind him with no regard for the slamming that rings out in the corridor beyond. Members of the League knew not to bother him when he was with you - everyone except Shigaraki.

A brown paper bag is chucked your way as he slinks over, slumping down in the chair next to your bed.

The sigh he lets out is one of exhaustion, and if you actually cared about him, you might’ve shown some concern for the weariness in his eyes and the weight on his slumped shoulders. But you don’t.

Instead, you stare down at the paper bag next to you.

“Well?” he asks when you make no move to touch it. “Aren’t ya gonna open it?”

You shrug, still staring.

“That depends.”

He huffs. “On what?”

“If I open it, do I get to leave this room?”

He lets out a frustrated groan, head leaning against the wall as he rubs his hands over his face.

“Fucking hell,” he mutters. “This again?”

After about the first month and a half of being cooped up in the room they’d shoved you in, you’d decided enough was enough. Seeing the same four walls all day, every day, was driving you insane. So you’d begun asking Dabi if you could be let out, even for a short ten minutes, just to walk around the base, to the end of the hall - anything.

Unsurprisingly, your request had been denied. 

So you’d asked again. And again. And again. 

It had become routine at this point, and though he had yet to agree, you felt as though you were slowly wearing him down. 

Asking Shigaraki didn’t have the same effect. He’d fix you with this eerie, wide-eyed look, sitting in silence until you looked away or changed the topic.

So you stuck with asking Dabi instead, refusing to go along with whatever he asked of you unless you got what you wanted.

It seemed as though the two of you shared the same stubborn streak, and neither of you had given in yet.

“Yes, this again,” you say stubbornly, jutting your chin out at him.

“I’ll go crazy in here if you don’t let me out. It’s not as if I’m asking for a kidney, I just want to take a walk. Blindfold me if you have to, just let me out for a few minutes.”

He says nothing, staring at you for a moment.

“Please?” you ask – no, you plead.

He rolls his eyes, leaning back in his chair.

“Fine,” he says, sighing heavily, nodding slightly. 

“Fine. I’ll let you walk around for a bit. There – happy?”

You perk up at that, nodding eagerly, happy for what you consider to be a small victory. 

Honestly, considering the circumstances, it’s a massive victory. Any amount of autonomy is cause for celebration, and this was as good as it was going to get for a while.

“Are ya gonna open the bag or not? Or should I change my mind?”

“No! No, I’ll look.”

You scramble to grab the brown paper bag, ripping it open in your haste.

“A… burger?”

Indeed.

It’s a burger, and the smell makes your mouth water. You want to eat it, but you don’t. Instead, you look over at him, quirking your brow in question.

“Eat up, Cupcake,” he says with a smirk.

You scowl at the nickname. It was one in a sea of many – he seemed to sense how much it annoyed you, so he took great time and care in finding different nicknames for you each time he came to visit.

His smirk flattens into a scowl when you don’t immediately respond or go to eat.

“What’s this about?” 

“Huh?”

“You only ever bring me food like this- You’re only nice if something’s about to happen. So, what is it?” you ask suspiciously.

He brings his hand up to grip at his chest, gasping in feigned horror.

“Oh! My own sister doesn’t trust me. Whatever shall I do?”

He rolls his eyes.

“Can I not just be nice? Why’re you so suspicious all the time, huh?”

You squint at him. “So… you really don’t want anything in return? You're not going to knock me out and move me to another room or something? You’re not going to run some kind of painful quirk test on me?”

His palm still rests on his chest, right over his heart. He bows his head and closes his eyes.

“Cross my heart. Come on, eat up.”

He stands with a huff, slinking over to your bathroom as you hesitantly begin eating.

There are some clattering sounds as he moves around the bathroom for a moment before it falls silent. He emerges fifteen minutes later, right as you finish the burger.

“Ah, you’re done. Great. Put this on.”

He hands you a jacket and a pair of shoes. You slip them on without question.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“Go where?” you ask, palm rubbing contentedly over your full stomach.

“For your damn walk, what else?”

“Now?” you ask, mouth open in shock.

He hums, coming up to you and grasping your forearms before hauling you up.

“Come on, I don’t have all day.”

You stand and trail after him.

****

“Still nothing?”

Hawks hums, shaking his head. “Sorry,” he says with a shrug.

Endeavour lets out a frustrated huff, slamming his hand down on the desk. Everything atop it rattles.

His frame remains tense for a moment before his shoulders slump.

“We’ve checked everywhere,” he says in an even, measured tone. “Why, after six months, have you still not found my daughter?”

Hawks gives him a good-natured smile, eyes crinkled in the corners. “Hm, dunno. Maybe she doesn’t want to be found.”

The temperature of the room steadily climbs the longer Hawks talks.

“After all, it’s been a while. Surely if she wanted to get away from wherever she is, she would have by now, what with that nifty new quirk and all.”

At the mention of your strangely acquired quirk, Endeavour finally cracks. His fingers melt through the surface of his desk, the ornately carved wood caving beneath his warm grip like butter. The look on his face betrays his emotions – it’s a look of pure pain, what with his furrowed brow and quivering lip.

The mighty Endeavour did have a heart after all.

He slumped down into the seat behind him, roughly swiping over his face with calloused palms.

“I–” his voice cracks.

He clears his throat, sniffing and straightening up before he speaks again.

“Hawks, please, be honest.”

Keigo tilts his head to the side, eyeing the redhead curiously.

“Have you done everything in your ability to find my daughter? Does she– does she truly not want to be found?”

He lets out a heavy puff of air, carefully taking a seat across from the distraught man. After a few long, quiet minutes, he finally settles into a seemingly comfortable position, leaning back with one leg propped up over the other.

“I’ve done everything I can,” he says, looking directly into the other man’s eyes. He places his hand over his heart – a gesture of his sincerity. “I haven’t seen her – she really doesn’t seem to want to come back. That, or…”

He shrugs. “Never mind. I’m sorry Endeavour, but there’s nothing more I can do. I’ve helped as much as I can because we’re friends, but I can’t keep neglecting my own work for this.”

The chair scrapes harshly against the polished tiles as he stands, dusting off his jacket while he strides to the door.

“I’ll let you know if I find anything. For now just… relax.”

Hawks leaves the man to wallow in his ever-growing despair.

****

Your legs burn slightly from the stretch, but you welcome it as you pace each corridor eagerly, Dabi trailing a few steps behind you with a slouched frame and barely concealed scowl.

He’d made it clear that he thought your eagerness to go for something as silly as a walk was stupid, but he’d kept many of his comments to himself, choosing instead to mutter under his breath as he directed you through the dimly lit base.

“Left here.”

You turn left, trying to keep yourself from skipping like an idiot. It was one thing to be excited for a walk, but to skip like a child? Dabi would never let you live that down.

The corridors are as dingy as the rest of the building, flickering lights, cracked tiles, chipped paint on the walls. It truly looked like the prison it was. 

Oh well. It wasn’t as if you expected any better from a group of villains, especially those that had kidnapped someone without a second thought.

“So, what exactly do you do?” you ask, eyes still flitting from one side of the corridor to the other, taking in as much as you can while you have the opportunity.

“What?”

Dabi sounds bored. He drags his feet as he walks, shoes scuffing against the worn tiles.

You shiver. It’s freezing out here. A part of you was thankful that Dabi had given you the shoes and jacket. Not that you’d ever mention it.

“I mean, I get that you guys are villains and all, and you spend your days coming up with ideas on how to take over the world, but like – what do you do?”

You chance a glance over your shoulder.

He looks perplexed, lips pursed as he stares at you.

“What a dumb question.”

You splutter out in indignation.

“Hey, it’s not a dumb question!”

He hums, staring at the ceiling.

“Take a right.”

You do, waiting in silence for his response.

“We make deals, gather intel, threaten a few people – fun stuff like that.”

He shrugs, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants. 

“I don’t know, that’s about it I guess.”

You pause. 

“Sounds boring,” you say with a shrug.

He grunts, prodding the small of your back with his fingers to urge you forward.

“Keep walking.”

You walk past a familiar looking door.

There’s a slight stumble in your step and Dabi has to grab your arm to keep you from landing on your face.

“Come on,” he says, shoving you forward roughly. “Don’t make me regret this by acting all stupid.”

You nod in apology, eyes lingering on the door.

That day you arrived is still stark in your memory – the way they all laughed at you, the fear and anxiousness you’d felt. 

Shigaraki and his touch.

The way he’d turned your jacket to dust with a simple brush of his fingers.

Dabi. 

Touya.

The mark seared onto your shoulder.

You shiver again, though not from the cold.

The memory of your first night there opens the floodgates, and you’re forced down memory lane as you walk, Dabi’s hand still a warm fixture between your shoulder blades.

You remember the first time Shigaraki came to visit you. You remember the first time he truly hurt you.

You remember what he made you do with your quirk – the quirk shoved upon you, one you’d give up in a heartbeat for the chance to escape this place, to go back in time and be thankful for your lack of quirk.

But would you?

Yes, everything that had happened to you was horrible, and you woke up everyday praying it was some kind of sick nightmare, but would you really give up your quirk in exchange for your freedom?

It was something you’d battled with for a while now.

Would you rather be here, locked up and used as a lab rat, or would you choose to go back to your family and crawl back into their cold, unaccepting arms?

No matter how you looked at the situation, there was no lesser evil amongst the two.

The thought made you laugh to yourself whenever it crossed your mind.

Had you truly reached the point where you lumped your family, your own flesh-and-blood, together with a group of villains?

Yes.

They were one and the same.

Your father, your siblings – your mother.

Everything about them shunned your existence. 

If they weren’t overwhelming you, they acted as if you didn’t exist.

You wondered, not for the first time, if they were looking for you – did they miss you? Did they even realise you’d been kidnapped?

Thinking about it - them - got you nowhere.

Your family.

Family. 

The word didn’t exactly fit.

The League… They treated you similarly.

They hurt you, physically, mentally, emotionally. They ignored you when you served no purpose to them or their cause. They overwhelmed you, they controlled you when they felt like it.

Dabi – he was the epitome of both.

Both your family and the League, but especially Dabi – they had a certain intensity about them when they looked at you, when they thought you couldn’t see them.

It scared you more than their insults, more than their fists, more than their distain.

They looked at you as if they wanted to consume you. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say it was a look of crazed, unwavering mania. Obsession. But if that was the case, you wouldn’t be beaten and bruised, or locked up in a cage like some sort of pet meant for display.

You shake your head, trembling hands clutching at the bottom of the zip up Dabi had given you.

When did it get this cold?

Dabi distracts you from your thoughts, fingers harshly digging into your side, guiding you roughly down a corridor towards your right.

He tuts at you.

“Pay attention.”

He comes to walk beside you, reaching his arm around you to lay it over your shoulder.

You stiffen up.

The palm of his hand sits perfectly against the scar that sits in the juncture between your neck and shoulder – the one he’d given you.

Having a doctor on hand to run tests on your quirk wasn’t as reassuring as you might have hoped. It meant that no matter what any of them did to you, it could be fixed, and you’d be left with nothing but the mental scars as proof.

The scar Dabi had given you though – that they let you keep. 

It had taken a while to heal enough for you to touch it, and you’d spent a few days after delirious with pain. But now, months later, it was fine.

Or, it should be. 

But the mental scars from Dabi ran far deeper than anything else you’d been through since they’d taken you.

You hated it when people touched you.

It was the only scar you were allowed to keep, but you wished they’d rid you of it like they did with everything else.

The floodgates of your mind seem to open, the palm on your shoulder acting as a key, and you’re helpless to stop the painful barrage of memories you try so hard to suppress.

****

The first test they’d ever run on you had been the most painful to date. A large part of you had blocked out the memory, too overwhelmed to remember it in anything but short snapshots and glimpses.

You’d been strapped to a medical gurney, probably the most uncomfortable one the League could find.

The cold metal left you covered in goosebumps and shivers that had done nothing to deter the panicked sweat enveloping you, leaving your palms clammy and shaking.

Worse than being restrained and prodded with needles had to be the duration. They’d left you like that for three weeks.

Evidently, they hadn’t felt it necessary for you to eat either, deciding instead to shove a thick feeding tube down your throat. Similarly, you weren’t allowed to sit up or use the bathroom. You weren’t allowed to do anything.

They left you in a drugged haze after the third day, growing tired of your struggles and cries.

And that’s how you spent the first three weeks with the League. Completely exhausted and mentally checked out, staring blankly at the ceiling day in and day out, never so much as twitching a finger as they performed invasive surgeries you were too delirious to feel.

You’d flatlined more times than you care to remember, your heart rate dropping to a monotonous beep. 

Blood filled your lungs after they’d punctured the thin membrane.

Your face turned blue from the lack of oxygen after you’d choked on the feeding tube.

You’d had multiple seizures mid-surgery from a number of malpractices.

In the end, you don’t remember much of what had happened. All you recall is waking up out of a daze surrounded by cold, impartial doctors, and being forced to carry on as if nothing had happened.

It was probably better that way. You had a feeling you didn’t want to know the entire truth of what had happened while you were all but comatose.

And beyond that, the training they’d put you through to improve your quirk was just as bad, if not worse.

You imagined that training with your father would have been similar, in that you received painful, unwarranted punishments for failure of any kind.

The only saving grace was that your quirk had improved significantly since the League had taken you. 

You clung to that when despair crept up on you. You had a quirk. 

Somehow, it didn’t feel as wonderful as you’d hoped it might have years ago.

****

Eventually, Dabi drags you to a halt and out of your thoughts, grasping your forearm with a grip so harsh you’re sure it’ll bruise. If they’ll allow it. 

The two of you have stopped before a large set of metal doors. They reflect the flickering lights and make your eyes water. You’re confused – this isn’t your room. Why did he not take you back to your room? 

Had he lied to you?

Stupid question.

Of course he lied to you.

You turn to glare at him, heart pounding wildly.

“You liar,” you spit, flinching back in vain as he reaches for you.

He rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. I am a villain. And I didn’t lie. This is part of your walk – the walk you wanted. So,” he prompts, giving you a slight shove that nearly sends you crashing into the double doors. 

“Keep walking.”

****

You hardly dared to breathe.

Not that you could even if you wanted to. It felt as though the air had been sucked out of the room.

Your brain buffered for another few seconds before you could process what you were seeing.

The room, a large assembly hall, was, as you’d expected, filled with people. Members of the League. Villains.

But there, near the front of the room, looking far too content in a room of people he was supposed to be against–

Wasn’t he–?

Hawks.

The pro-hero Hawks.

Wasn’t Hawks a hero? 

Shouldn’t he be fighting? Running? Trying to rescue you?  

Why did he look so content? Why was he laughing, smiling next to Twice?

You take a step back, searching blindly for the door handle.

Consequences be damned, you weren’t about to wait around. Whatever was going on here, you wanted nothing to do with it.

Swallowing thickly, you tried to slip out of the room while the villains before you mingled about, as if this was some type of meet and greet or a party. 

You weren’t ever really the type of person to feel any degree of self-righteousness, or think yourself better than those around you, but it became difficult when the only people you were surrounded by were villains. You didn’t feel bad about what you thought of them. It wasn’t as if they’d ever find out.

“Ah ah,” someone tuts behind you. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Dabi. 

What was he getting at? What kind of sick game was he trying to play?

He lightly shoves at the small of your back, pushing you forward. You stumble back into the room, straightening up.

Glancing around cautiously, you all but meld into the wall, praying no one notices you. That hope is dashed as soon as Dabi seizes your forearm and yanks you towards him, walking with an air of ease towards Twice and Hawks.

A million thoughts race through your mind as you try, and fail, to pull away from Dabi. All he spares you is a warning glare before the two of you come to a stop before the winged hero and his animated companion.

Something flickers in Hawks’ eyes when he spots you, a slight glimmer of recognition. It’s gone a moment later, so fast you almost think you imagined it.

“Who’s the kid?” he asks with an air of nonchalance, turning to Dabi. Your brother, if you even still considered him that, spares you one more quick glance, a dark look in his eyes, before responding.

“Tomura’s new experiment.”

That hurt, more than you’d care to admit. 

You knew it was true, but that didn’t make it any less hurtful to hear out loud. You’d been denigrated to nothing more than an experiment. Not a person, not a child, but an object to be tested and prodded at. You were little more than an oversized labrat to these people.

Something in your expression must convey the hurt and irritation you try so hard to bury, because Dabi scoffs and wraps his hand around the back of your neck, jerking you closer to him as he tilts his head down to whisper to you. His breath is hot against your ear and it makes you cringe back awkwardly, though you don’t get far.

“What? Did that hurt your feelings?”

You clench your sweat slicked hands into fists, trying to hold your anger at bay, though it does nothing to curb your frustration. And with your frustration comes the familiar feeling of your quirk, unnatural and monstrous, bubbling up in the pit of your stomach as you try so hard to shove it back down.

“No. No, I’m just… tired. From the tests.”

He scoffs, a patronising smirk tugging at his lips. “Aw, of course. You’re tired.”

Twice and Hawks watch silently from the sidelines, not intervening, even as you wince, Dabi’s grip tightening on the nape of your neck.

“Behave. Be a good little lab rat and I won’t have to fry your face, okay?” 

His tone is gentle, as if he were talking to an infant, punctuated by the soft strokes of his fingers against your cheek, but his words send a shiver of panic down your spine, locking you in place.

Satisfied with your fear induced obedience, he releases you and turns back to the pair before you, chattering away about some or other plan the League was in the process of reviewing. 

None of them pay you any attention for the rest of the night.

****

Hawks seems to linger around base a lot more after that first encounter.

You see him every time the door to your glorified prison cell opens. You see him when the doctor visits to poke and prod at you, when Mr Compress drops by to deliver your meals, even when Shigaraki appears for his rare visits.

The only time he doesn’t appear is when Dabi visits, though that’s rare enough in and of itself.

He never stops to talk, or even stare, only sparing a fleeting glance at you from the corner of his eye, posture tensing slightly, before he continues down the corridor.

You feel a strange tension with him around base. The anxieties you felt before seem to be amplified, your heart rate picking up every time you catch sight of him. A part of you, deep down, hopes that he’s here to help you - to save you. But it’s a childish hope, one you’re sure to squash down as soon as it arises.

The first time he stops and lingers, around three weeks after you first meet him, is to drop your dinner off in place of Mr Compress. It’s a surprise, seeing him instead of the masked villain.

He’s silent the entire time, staring at you with a look of bored curiosity, as if he’s waiting for you to do something entertaining.

You don’t. 

You force down the bland food in silence, never once taking your eyes off of him.

He leaves just as silently and quickly as he arrived.

After that day, it slowly starts to become a routine. At first, you rarely see him, but as the weeks turn into months, he becomes one of the only people you interact with. You start expecting to see him instead of the others, and you find out in passing one day that the other members of the League had shirked their duties of caring for you off on to him. 

It didn’t bother you as much as it should have - the fact that they viewed you as little more than a chore.

You form a tentative bond with him, one that feels fragile and strained, but it’s better than anything else you’d had up until that moment. He’s the closest thing you have to a friend, to someone that cares about you.

His apparent care for you becomes obvious in the small things he does - the meals he brings you become more edible, something you actually look forward to instead of having to force it down. He visits more often, the short periods in which you see him seemingly becoming longer than they were before.

Four months after that first tentative encounter, Hawks had solidified himself in your dreary daily existence, establishing himself as your sole source of what could only be described as happiness. 

You’d, somewhat unwillingly at first, become far more relaxed in his presence, even going as far as to enjoy his company. Some days, you might even say you looked forward to his visits.

Not only did he act as a reprieve from your never ending boredom, with both his company and the gifts he bought you, but also his interventions.

Mr Compress had, on one of his now rare visits, not at all subtly told you that Hawks had convinced the League - specifically Shigaraki - to quote unquote ‘take it easy on you’. His tone had been tinged with something you couldn’t quite identify at the time.

Even Dabi had begun to unironically refer to Hawks as your ‘new best friend’.

He didn’t seem too happy with the new development.

A week later, Hawks, or Keigo, as he’d asked you to call him in private, had paid you one last visit, and you hadn’t seen him since. He’d gifted you one of his fluffy, scarlet feathers the last time he’d visited, for ‘when he wasn’t around’. 

It sat waiting neatly on the centre of the singular pillow on your bed one evening, easily catching your eye as you slipped out of the bathroom attached to your room. There was no note left with it, but you didn’t need one. You knew well enough what it meant, and it filled your empty, aching chest with a sort of warm feeling that left you breathless.

After that day, you kept it with you, tucked into your shirt, positioned right over your heart, and at night, you placed it under your pillow. You might’ve felt embarrassed at how much it meant to you, or how attached you were, but it felt like your only lifeline in the miserable four walls of your little room.

In a strange, cosmic joke kind of way, he almost felt like the family you’d never had.

****

The day Shoto had been scarred by your mother had been an odd day. It was one of the rare days since Touya’s death that you’d felt loved, accepted by your family. Everything felt normal. Two months after your fifth birthday, the snow had melted into clear, fresh streams and flowers had begun to bloom.

Sakura.

Your family had spent the day in the park, wandering around while you and Shoto played with Fuyumi in the dewy grass, in awe of the delicate pink blossoms. There’d been a strange tension between your parents that day, one you’d been too young and oblivious to notice.

After a long Spring day spent outside, your family of six had returned home and resumed life as usual. Dinner was a quiet affair, as it usually was, and you’d hurried about your evening routine after you’d felt your mother’s distasteful gaze trained on you for longer than usual.

Fuyumi had, for reasons unknown to you, attached herself to you that evening, insisting on helping you bathe and get into your pyjamas. You’d gone along with it all, happy and unquestioning of her attention on you. 

It felt good, having someone care for you - the first person to do so since Touya’s passing.

She’d laid next to you in your bed, reading a children's storybook to you, her fingers gently carding through your hair - the same hair she’d so caringly brushed out an hour before, carefully working each knot out with a patience and kindness reminiscent of a mother.

In the peace and stillness of the moment, you’d failed to notice Rei's shadowy figure in the doorway, watching the two of you through the slight gap in the doorway. If you had bothered to peer over Fuyumi’s shoulder, you might’ve noticed her blanched face, or her hands, clenched into fists so tight her knuckles turned while. You might’ve noticed the wide eyed, crazed expression that had washed over her face, growing in intensity with each passing moment.

But you didn’t notice her.

What you noticed was the commotion not long after she left. You heard her panicked shrieks fifteen minutes later. Shouto’s pained screeches and sobs followed soon after, echoing eerily down the long corridor to your room.

You heard your father’s thundering steps and bellowing rage, felt Natsuo and Fuyumi’s panic, their trembling hands on your shoulders, steering you away from the sight of Shouto’s raw, burnt face.

And you definitely felt the shiver of dread dripping down your spine when your mother turned her crazed eyes on you. She looked almost demonic in that moment, eyes red rimmed and wide, face nearly as stark white as her hair.

She’d tried to approach you, hands outstretched, fingers curled into cruel claws as she reached out for you, and only your father’s firm grip kept her in the kitchen as you were ushered to your room while Shouto was rushed off to the hospital.

You didn’t see much of any of them after that, and in the months following the incident, you felt even further ostracised from your family.

Rei had been institutionalised not too long after that, and the remainder of your family had kept you at arms length ever since, reminding you constantly of your insignificance to their lives - to the family.

****

The scent of soba and egg rolls fills the room, its occupants silent as they eat.

Hawks halts for a moment, the noodles dangling from his chopsticks as he glances to his left, to the hulking flame hero sitting beside him. He hides a small smirk, tilting his head down and clearing his throat before speaking.

“I looked into that lead you told me about - the one about your daughter? It’s a deadend.”

Endeavour tenses, shooting Hawks a pointed look, but it’s too late. Natsuo and Shouto pause, exchanging a tense look across the table, and Fuyumi perks up, her grip tightening on her chopsticks.

“You’ve been looking for her? And you didn’t think to mention it to us?” Natsuo sounds outraged, his hands tightening into fists on the tabletop. “You didn’t think to ask us for help?”

Endeavour’s jaw tightens. 

“I didn’t think it was necessary. Allowing you three to help would’ve done nothing but give you false hope and allow you to interfere with my work. You’d do more harm than good.”

“Ah, Endeavour, so harsh! Don’t shoot them down yet,” Hawks interjects, cutting off whatever scathing remark Natsuo was about to spit out. “More eyes and ears are always helpful. I’m sure they could help out in some way.”

His tone is light, but something about the look in his eyes has Endeavour cautious, and his tone becomes firm.

“No. You three will not get involved. That’s final.”

Hawks shrugs, going back to his soba with a quick final quip. 

“Well, that’s that. Dad has spoken. Don’t try to help find your sister.”

His words hit their intended mark, evident in the barely concealed rage on Natsuo’s face.

“...yeah. Figures, you wouldn’t want us helping. You don’t actually want to get her back, do you? You probably wish she’s dead in a ditch somewhere, don’t you?”

The silence that rings out after Natsuo’s rant is deafening, oppressive. It makes the air feel stifling and heavy, and no one dares move.

“You know nothing,” Endeavour spits, his eyes alight with a look akin to pure fury. Heat radiates off of him in waves, turning the once cold soba on the table scalding in mere moments.

“I know you scared her off. We all do. We know you’re the reason she ran away in the first place. We know that if she’s hurt, or dead, or worse, then it’s your fault. And I know that I won’t stop blaming you until the day I die.”

Before the situation can escalate further, Fuyumi intervenes.

“Okay, um– Everyone is clearly feeling overwhelmed, and we all miss her, so… so let’s just take a deep breath and calm down, okay? Getting upset with one another won’t bring her back.”

Her half-hearted interference, surprisingly, seems to work, just enough for everyone to cool their tempers slightly. Natsuo lets out a long, deep breath, standing and leaving the room without another word.

Shouto follows close behind, pausing at the threshold for a moment and turning to glower at his father.

“Find her, or we will.”

****

You’re rudely awoken in the middle of the night, sweaty and tangled up in your sheets with someone shaking you harshly by the shoulders.

“Hey, wake up– Wake up.”

You jolt upright, forehead banging against someone else’s. Wincing, you massage the bruising skin of your forehead and shoot a glare to whoever had woken you up.

Hawks.

“Wha-? What’s going on?” 

Your words are mumbled, sleep clouding both your mind and your vision.

Kiego firmly grips both your wrists, pulling them away from your face and yanking you to your feet, out of the bed. Your sheets pool at your feet, tangled up between your legs on the cold concrete floor.

“We’re leaving. Now.”

A quick tug towards the door accentuates his words, and you feel your heart drop to your stomach. You put up some resistance, pulling back slightly, trying to ignore the roiling in your stomach.

“Hawk– Keigo, what–? Why are we leaving? Where’s Dabi?”

His expression, from what you can see in the imposing darkness of the room, is hard and guarded, and his grip shifts to your bicep, tightening to an almost painful extent.

“None of that matters. I said we’re leaving, so start walking before I make you.”

You’re thrown off by how short off and rude his words are. He’s nothing like the man you’ve come to consider a friend, and a part of you is almost scared of him at that moment. Something in your expression must give your feelings away, because moments later, his eyes soften alongside his grip, his voice lowering to a whisper.

“I’m getting you out of here. Away from the League. Just… trust me. Please?”

Something about his gaze, his tone - it sways you. Convinces you to believe him.

So you do.

A slow nod is the only confirmation you give, but it’s enough for him to start pulling you towards the door again. You hesitate for only a moment before going along with him, pausing only to grab the scarlet feather laid carefully beneath your pillow.

It’s the only thing you take with you. The only thing you have to your name, the only possession of any value to you.

The low light disguises Keigo’s small smirk when he spots the feather clenched tightly in your grip as you trail after him, though he makes no mention of it. Similarly, you make no mention of his bruising grip.

You don’t encounter anyone in your silent, swift escape, and you almost feel as if it’s too easy, but you don’t point it out to Keigo. 

Maybe a part of you is scared of jinxing your good luck.

Or maybe you’re terrified this is some sort of elaborate, cruel trick he’s playing on you.

Regardless, you stay silent, sticking close to his side as you both exit the seedy bar. He immediately scoops you up into his arms, crouching down, powerful thighs flexing beneath him for a moment before he takes flight, soaring out of the alleyway in an instant. 

****

“She’s gone.”

The entire League sat gathered around the bar, tense and silent as Hawks speaks, leaning casually against the bar, wings splayed out behind him.

���I dropped off her breakfast this morning and her room was empty. Bathroom too.”

The group looks to Shigaraki, waiting for his reaction. 

He’s still, expression blank and guarded. The only sign of tension in his body is the tightening of his hand, clasped into fists at his sides. His jaw works for a moment before he responds, muttering to no one in particular.

“Ruined. All ruined. Those stupid pro heroes are always ruining my plans.”

His agitation becomes obvious as he begins pacing in front of the bar counter, hands clawing uselessly at the pale skin of his neck. Welts form within seconds, raised and red and angry beneath his frantic fingernails. 

“It’s Endeavour. It has to be. How did he find out? How?”

The words are muttered below his breath as he paces, not meant for anyone but himself, eyes wide and fretful when his head snaps up. His gaze narrows and sets itself on Dabi.

“Did you know about this?”

Dabi raises his eyebrows, expression cool, seemingly bored as he drawls. “Me? Now, why would I know a thing about this?”

His gaze flits momentarily to Hawks, narrowing.

“If anything, you should be asking bird boy over there. He seemed particularly comfortable around her. Wouldn’t he know something about our little escapee?”

Shigaraki groans and turns on his heel, kicking his leg out and toppling a table in the process. The room is silent for a long while, the only sounds piercing stillness is the resounding clatter of the table striking the floor, and Shigaraki’s own rage filled panting.

Silence stretches out for a few moments as he schools his rage, recomposing himself after his explosive tantrum.

“Bring her back - I don’t care how. I need her. My experiments aren’t done yet. Father won’t be pleased. She’s my experiment. Mine.”

He turns his cold glare to Hawks, then Dabi, eyeing them both suspiciously.

“Find her.”

****

Sometimes, you wonder what life would’ve been like if your mother hadn’t been around. Your siblings too, for that matter.

During the more peaceful moments of your life, you fantasised about life far away, often imagining what it’d be like if you’d been born into a different family entirely.

Maybe you’d be an only child, living in a small rural town by the beach, or on a farm. 

It would’ve been peaceful, you think. Calm.

Your parents would dote on you, their only daughter, and they wouldn’t care about your lack of a quirk. 

Imagining that sort of kindness made your stomach turn.  How would it feel?

Or maybe you’d be one of many children. The oldest child. 

You’d protect your younger siblings in the ways you never were. You’d be part of a big happy family, one where you had big Sunday lunches and went on annual vacations. You’d have a family pet, a cat or a dog, adored by everyone in your make believe family.

Or maybe you’d be an orphan.

How sad, that being an orphan without a home was preferable to your own situation.

But you’d be surrounded by other children like you - children without homes, without families.

The thought of a different life left an aching hole where your heart should’ve been.

There were times that you felt bad about wishing for a different life. You’d look at family photos, gazing down at your siblings smiling up at you, their faces joyful and free of concern. 

Why couldn’t your life have been like that? Was your lack of a quirk really the only thing that made you so different?

Maybe if you’d been born as Fuyumi instead, with her soft eyes and kind disposition.

Or maybe Natsuo, with his unwavering strength, that glint he got in his eyes when he looked at you - the one that meant that he loved or hated you.

Most often, you imagined what it would be like to have been born as Shouto. 

The golden child. 

Would you have been grateful? Or would you have hated your family as much as he seemed to hate yours?

What reason did he have for hating them? They treated him like a king. Like their own saviour.

You wish he’d been yours. You wish he’d never grown out of his kindness, like he did when you were five years old and desperate for some kind of connection. 

Perhaps things would have been different.

You try to imagine a world in which he took over the role Touya held in your life. You try to imagine a world in which your family protected you, in which they didn’t look down on you like you were scum.

The picture is blank and fuzzy.

You can’t imagine such a world.

But amidst the mess of self-pity and poorly disguised hatred in your mind, you remember small glimpses of happiness in your life with them. It rarely happened, but since you’d been taken by the League, it was as if the floodgates had opened. Memories you’d long since repressed came back in bits and pieces, and surprisingly, they weren’t all bad.

When you were seven years old, your father had hit you. It wasn’t out of the ordinary - in fact, you’d come to expect it.

But it hurt nonetheless. It bruised both your face and your feelings, so you’d escaped to the greenhouse in the garden for a reprieve - somewhere you rarely went.

It had been your mother’s sanctuary, but she’d long since been hospitalised, so you had no fear of seeing her through the thicket. You spent far longer there than you’d thought, and eventually the setting sun illuminated the room, filtering through the glass roof and overhanging foliage. It looked as if the room was on fire, bathed in the warm orange afternoon glow.

That’s where Natsuo found you, huddled up under a counter with your knees to your chest, careful not to jostle your bruised cheek.

He didn’t say anything, or try to coax you out of your shelter. Instead, he sat down next to you with a huff, slightly hunched over beneath the table. He, despite being only ten years old at the time, was already a lot taller than you, and most other children his age. The two of you sat in silence for a long while, not acknowledging one another as you sat side by side. 

The memory replayed itself in your mind, almost as clearly as the day it happened.

Some time passes before he speaks.

“When I’m older, I’ll protect you. Like Touya did.”

The words give you pause, and you don't look at him. Thinking back now, you wish you had. 

Would his expression have told you what he was thinking?

You’d never know.

“I’m not strong enough right now, but one day, I will be. And then he’ll never hurt you or Sho again. We’ll leave - us and Fuyumi.”

He pauses, bumping his shoulder against yours. You glance up at him and see his mouth pulled tight, his throat bobbing as he swallows.

“...I’m sorry for being a bad brother. I… I know I don’t act like it often, but I do love you. I worry about you too.”

You swallow around the lump in your throat, averting your gaze. The words, however true they may or may not be, make you feel… wanted. As if he actually sees you as a member of the family, a little sister, and not some pesky waste of space or a punching bag.

“Do you really mean that?”

“Of course.”

The conversation lulls into silence after that. He sits beside you in silence, staring blankly at the wall of ivy opposite the two of you, and you sit there, still curled up tightly, fighting back tears.

He glances at you for a moment, reaching out to rest his hand on your shoulder. The gesture feels comforting, in a way. As comforting as it can be, coming from him - someone who’s a strange combination of both your older brother, and a complete stranger to you.

The sigh he lets out is heavy, weighed down by an emotion you can’t quite put your finger on, and his thumb gently strokes your swollen cheek. He pulls back as you wince, recoiling as if you’d struck him.

“Come on. Let’s get you some ice for that bruise.”

It felt both strange and pathetic - the fact that that was your fondest memory with Natsuo, at least from what you could remember. 

But it felt soothing, in a way, to know that he didn’t completely hate you. Not as much as you’d thought.

It almost gave you hope that your family actually cared. Maybe they were looking for you. Maybe they were worried about you. 

And maybe, they even felt remorseful for how they’d treated you.

Or maybe not.

****

“There’s been a… development.”

Endeavour tenses, the vein in his jaw ticking as he eyes Hawks.

“What do you mean?”

Hawks takes a deep breath, his brows scrunching into a faux sombre expression. The hand he lays on Endeavour’s shoulder is meant to be reassuring, but it feels like a death knell, settling heavily on his mind.

“I looked into it, and… she isn’t with the League. I don’t know if she ever was.”

“So… What? She just disappeared? People don’t just vanish off the face of the earth Hawks!”

His temper is boiling over now, despite his attempt to keep it under control. Hawks takes a step back, cautious as he shows his palms in a placating gesture, attempting in vain to calm the quickly growing fury of the man before him.

“I don’t know. I haven’t found a single trace of her. Maybe…”

Hawks schools his features, taking another step back, preparing for the inevitable backlash he’s about to receive.

“Maybe you should let it go. She’s gone, and she’s clearly not coming back.”

The large mahogany desk, once anchored to the floor, flies across the room, slamming against the wall of shelves with a resounding boom, its contents scattered across the office.

Endeavour is the picture of barely restrained rage, shoulders heaving with each panting breath, posture hunched and shuddering, his face red and twisted beyond recognition. Even his voice is barely recognisable.

“How dare you? How dare you suggest I give up? She is my daughter! She might be dead or worse, and you think I should just give up?!”

The air sizzles with each wave radiating off of the flame hero, and the plastic office chair behind him melts like butter, dripping to the floor in a sticky puddle, marring the once perfectly polished tiles.

Hawks quickly backtracks, eyebrows raising at the display of unbridled fury.

“Woah woah, no! I’m not suggesting that at all! I mean… maybe I was, but I can see now how upset that makes you so– Let’s just take a break, okay? Just take some time to… rethink things.”

His eyes flicker to Endeavour’s face, searching for something for a moment.

“Maybe consider allowing your kids to help?”

He shows his palms again before Endeavour can interject.

“I know, I know! It’s just a suggestion. Many hands, and all that. Just… give it some thought, okay? I’ll keep looking and let you know if I find anything.”

He leaves without waiting for a response, a small smirk playing on his lips.

With Endeavour lost in his own self hatred and personal musings, and the League preoccupied with their plans and separate search for you, no one would be looking his way.

****

Keigo was surprisingly wealthy. 

Not that you’d expected him to be living in squalor - he was a Pro Hero, after all. A good one too, if his position as number two was anything to go by.

But the blatant decadence of his apartment shocked you.

He’d landed on the balcony smoothly, after a long forty minute flight, gently setting you down and leading you inside.

While he may have been accustomed to flying, you weren’t so lucky, and you felt as though you’d left your stomach back at the League’s base. Or maybe you’d lost it mid flight.

He seemed to pick up on your disorientation, guiding you to the plush couch with an unexpected tenderness. He’d allowed you to gather your bearings, bringing you a fuzzy blanket to stave off the odd chill in his apartment, and a tall glass of water, the condensation beading down the sides.

You’d been thirstier than you’d expected, chugging down the contents in mere moments, gulped down in six seconds flat.

Evidently, you’d been more exhausted than you thought too, dozing off less than fifteen minutes later. You felt Keigo there, his gentle hands helping you lay down and covering you with the blanket.

Now, when you wake up hours later, dazed and drooling, in a bed far too large for one person, Keigo’s gone, and the only indicator of his presence were the few scarlet feathers strewn across the fluffy duvet.

You spend a while combing the apartment for him, tentatively calling out his name as you wander the wide halls, but he’s nowhere to be found. Likewise, you note, at the back of your mind, the distinct lack of a front door.

There’s an off-kilter niggling at the back of your mind, but you brush it off, shifting your search to the kitchen after yet another unsuccessful ten minutes of searching. Evidently, exploring after hours of surprisingly deep sleep made you thirsty. You stand there, leaning against the marble countertop, chugging a tall glass of water, then another, and a third, until you feel bloated and almost sick. Only then do you set your glass down in the sink and move on from the kitchen.

His apartment is large, far too extravagant, but you suppose that must’ve been his taste.

You wander around the space aimlessly for a while, longer than you expected. 

Why did he need this much space? Did he live with someone else?

The three tall glasses of water you’d chugged catch up to you far too quickly, and you shuffle to the first bathroom you find, paying no mind to your surroundings.

After taking care of your business and washing your hands, you exit the bathroom and stop short when you spot Keigo standing in the doorway of the bedroom, his face blank. Neither of you move for a long while, but eventually he blinks, eyes clearing as he assesses you.

“You feeling better?”

His tone is light and airy, the same Keigo you’ve grown accustomed to. It sets you at ease, the tension you hadn’t noticed in your shoulders melting away, trailing down your spine like a trickle of water.

“...yeah. Much.”

There’s a long pause, neither of you moving or saying anything. You clear your throat.

“Um, I never thanked you. For helping me, I mean. So… thank you.”

You incline your head slightly, straightening up. He stares at you for a long moment, sighing as he shifts to the side, a clear indication for you to leave the room. You do, shuffling past him awkwardly and making your way back to the living room.

The ceilings are tall, nearly over twelve feet, making the room seem larger and more exposed than it truly is. You sit back down on the couch, shifting about for a moment, settling down as Keigo seats himself down near you.

After a while, when it becomes apparent that he has no plan of breaking the simmering silence, you decide to take it upon yourself.

“I– Can I go home now?”

Home.

You didn’t know what that was. Not anymore. 

It wasn’t with your father, on his sprawling estate. It wasn’t your four walled prison cell with the League. It certainly wasn’t with Touya.

The realisation that you had nowhere to go, no one to care for you… It was startling, and left a bitter taste on your tongue.

Keigo stares at you, head dipped forward so it appears almost as if he’s leering at you through his lashes. His golden eyes are alight with a strange intensity, and he takes a deep breath, seemingly thinking over his words.

“About that. See… I think it’s better if you stay with me for a bit. Just to… acclimate. You understand, right?”

His tone leaves little room for argument, but you try nonetheless.

“What? But wouldn’t– I don’t want to impose. I should really get back to my… family.”

The words die out on your tongue. 

Now, out in the open, free from both the League and your family, you’re not so sure you want to return to the Todoroki home. You’d never had a choice before. It felt freeing, in a way, finally having the power to decide what you wanted without someone else breathing down your neck, trying to influence your decision.

Keigo raises a brow, the look that he gives you filled with a mix of pity, and something far more calculated and knowing.

“Do you? Do you want to go back to them? To him? The media may not be privy to what happens behind closed doors, but I’ve worked around Endeavour long enough to recognise the fact that he has a bit of a hot temper. Are you really willing to leave one prison cell for another?”

His words are like a stone dropped in your stomach, settling heavily in your already uneasy gut.

It sparks something inside you, a deep seated realisation. Keigo was offering you a way out. Freedom. True freedom. Or, at least, as close as you could get to it. You wouldn’t have to be subjected to the whims of others, of what they wanted for you. 

Keigo was offering you a choice.

Maybe not in so many words, but the offer was there. You’d be a fool not to take him up on it. 

Your throat bobs as you swallow, fists clenched tightly in your lap as you meet his gaze.

“I’ll stay.”

He smiles, eyes filled with light, seemingly glowing in the early morning rays that filter through the tall windows, gaze intense and trained solely on you. You shiver, wrapping your arms around your midsection as goosebumps dance over your skin.

It’s so cold in here.

“Wonderful.”

#yandere #dark content #female reader #bnha #mha #x reader #todoroki family #yandere todoroki family #shoto todoroki #endeavor #enji todoroki #rei todoroki #natsuo todoroki #touya todoroki #fuyumi todoroki #dabi #yandere todoroki #yandere todoroki x reader #todoroki x reader #sister reader #platonic yandere x reader #platonic yandere #yandere shoto todoroki #yandere dabi #yandere endeavor #yandere enji todoroki #yandere natsuo todoroki #yandere fuyumi todoroki

[misoloop]

僕のヒーローアカデミア - Ch. 277  

#mha edit #bnh #mha 277 #manga cap #manga edit #bakugou katsuki #shigaraki tomura #bnha spoilers #spoilers #boku no hero academia #my edit #there's my boy #(actually both of them) #though it's forever missing shouto hours around these parts

[icedthoma]

caught in the act

Requested by @edensxgarden

--A scenario in which Todoroki introduces his s/o to his class for the first time when they catch her visiting him in the dorms 🥰 and everyone is so shook, because todo?? is dating?? and she’s SO COOL AND CUTE!!! just indulge me please 🥴👉🏻👈🏻💖

Pairing: Todoroki Shouto x Reader

Notes: This gif makes me so happy 

You were way past having second thoughts. By now you were on your fourth or fifth round of is this a good idea? Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this after all...

But Todoroki was actually the one who had suggested it, which came as a surprise to you, who was generally the most likely out of the two of you to suggest such an impulsive, rash, spontaneous idea. 

“Shouto, I don’t know,” you hissed into your phone, pacing back and forth from where you were at the foot of 1A’s dorm entrance stairs. The front door was right there, and all you had to do was step up and go through. “What if I get caught? You could get in serious trouble!”

“Is it wrong for me to want to see my girlfriend on a weekday?” he responded, a defensive tone lacing his words that would have had you snorting if not for the stress you were currently under. “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, babe, but I’d rather not get you in trouble with your teachers! Besides, um, I also don’t want to intrude on your other classmates! They don’t know we’re dating, and that would be a big hassle for them to find out from me sneaking in here to see you, you know? I'd hate to inconvenience anyone.” You were sitting on the stairs now, occasionally scuffing your feet in the dirt and scanning the road every few seconds for any passerby. There was a bush a foot to your right you could dive into if need be. 

The thing was, you had never met any of his friends personally from UA, only heard Shouto’s detailed stories of whatever nonsense they got up to in the dorms. You were happy that Todoroki had found people other than you and his family who accepted and supported him the way he was, but also worried you wouldn’t be able to live up to their...craziness? That was part of the reason you had accepted Todoroki’s suggestion that you sneak into Heights Alliance, but also there was that part of you that thought you wouldn’t fit in well with his classmates. What if they didn’t like you? Or worse, thought he could do so much better than you, someone who wasn’t even studying to be a hero? It was like meeting his family for the first time all over again. 

“Well, you’d be inconveniencing me.”

You groaned. “Shouto...”

“Also, how long are you going to stare at that bush?”

“Huh? How did you--” Twisting around, you stared at where Todoroki was leaning against the door frame of the now open Heights Alliance doors, ending your call on his phone and shoving his phone into his pocket. He walked over and offered his hand. 

“Come on.”

“What if someone sees us?” you whispered, allowing yourself to be tugged into his dorm for the first time. A small "woah” of amazement escaped you as you took in the spacious common room and a room farther down that you thought was the dining hall. So cool!

Todoroki shook his head, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Don’t worry. They’re all on the third floor right now. I’m on the fifth,” he added before you could ask. 

You allowed yourself to relax and allowed yourself to truly enjoy the feel of Shouto’s hand holding tightly to yours, breath coming quick as you ran over to the elevators. Now that you were sure you would be able to make it to his room with no incident, the adrenaline rush was finally hitting you, and all concerns about possibly getting in trouble were thrown out the window. You would worry about those later. 

“This is your room?” you asked once his door was shut and locked behind you. “It’s so...”

“Japanese?” he offered. 

“...like your house.”

“Oh.”

“Didn’t you only get one day to move in? How did you do all of this by yourself?”

He shrugged. “Hard work.”

You were aware of his gaze on you as you flitted around his room, checking out his desk and peeking in his closet to snatch out a hoodie. “What?” you asked in response to his skeptical look. “It’s cold in here.”

Then you discovered he had a balcony.

“You have a balcony?” you yelled, throwing open the double doors to stare in awe at the view of the ground below, UA itself visible from a distance. “Wow, you’re really living the life.” You hated how your voice dropped in tone at the end despite your attempts to stop it. After all, you didn’t want to kill the nice vibes the two of you had going just because you were maybe jealous over the fact that he got to live with all his friends. And have his own dining hall. And a balcony. 

Of course, being the intuitive guy he was, Shouto immediately caught on and wrapped his arms around you from where you were resting your elbows on the edge of his balcony, leaning his chin on the top of your head. “Is something bothering you?”

“What? Nah,” you said, reaching one hand up to pat Todoroki’s cheek affectionately. “I’m glad you get to see your friends all the time. You deserve it.”

“It’s not the same without you, you know,” he sighed, squeezing you tighter for a moment and pressing his lips to your hair. “Mmm. Your hair smells different. Did you change shampoos?”

“Yeah! I’m surprised you could tell.” Smiling now, you shifted around so you were now facing him, the soft fabric of his hoodie providing ample warmth against the cool breeze drifting by. His arms were still encircling you, and you slid your hands up his chest to settle on his shoulders, looking at him endearingly. “And I’m not bothered at all. As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”

Smiling, Todoroki lowered his lips to yours in a sweet kiss that turned any remaining strength in your knees to jelly. If it wasn’t for the railing supporting you from behind, you were sure you would have toppled over from the moment he kissed you. “I’m so glad you came, you know,” he mumbled against your mouth.

A pleasant warmth was spreading in your chest that tickled you all the way to your toes. You always felt this way around him, his very presence enough to energize you to get through any obstacle. “Yeah, me too.”

After an hour of the two of you vibing in Todoroki’s dorm room which mainly consisted of you swapping stories and cuddling, it was about time you headed home. 

“Don’t leave...” Shouto groaned, pressing his face into your back as you sat on his floor attempting to stand. “You should stay here forever.”

“I wish,” you said, still trying to get up despite your boyfriend clinging all over you. “But I really should be going home before it gets too dark.”

With that, he finally relented and opened the door to his room, checking both ways to make sure the coast was clear. “Let’s go.” Todoroki took your hand in his and led you down the hall back to the elevators. 

“This was really fun,” you laughed, shoving your hands into the pockets of his hoodie you hadn’t taken off yet. “I’m glad we weren’t...” You trailed off in horror as you exited the elevator only to be met with several pairs of wide eyes staring at the two of you from the common room. “...caught?”

“Hey, Todoroki,” a pink girl called from the other side of the room...Mina, if you remembered from his stories correctly. “Wait, uh, who’s that?”

Was it too late to run back inside the elevator? 

A small ding! answered for you as you heard the doors shut behind you. 

“Um, hey, 1A,” you sheepishly greeted, blushing up a storm at the fact that their gazes were glued to you and your interlocked hands with Todoroki. “Nice to finally meet you?”

Shouto sighed. “This is Y/n. My girlfriend.”

"You didn’t tell us you were dating someone!” Kaminari shouted, twisting around on his seat to get a better look at the two of you. “Oh, and she’s cute--”

Todoroki’s eyes narrowed, and you watched in amusement as his hold on your hand tightened by a fraction at his friend’s quip. Meanwhile, the girls present in the common room all ran over to you, and you were pleased to note you were able to guess which face belonged to the names you had been hearing from Shouto all this time. 

“How did you know our names?” Uraraka beamed, hands pressed to her cheeks. 

You blushed under all this attention, rubbing the back of your neck with the sleeve of Todoroki’s hoodie that was a bit too long for you. “Shouto talks about you all a lot.”

“Really? Aww!”

“Oh my gosh, you’re wearing his hoodie!” Ashido squealed, grabbing your hand and shaking it enthusiastically. “Ah, It’s so nice to meet you even though we didn’t even know you were coming! You two are so adorable!”

“So that’s why you said you didn’t want to participate in Kaminari’s invitation,” Midoriya was saying from over on Todoroki’s side, where most of the boys were lightly teasing him. 

“Where do you go to school?” Jirou asked. “Oh, that’s kind of far...” she said once you had answered, not mentioning once how it wasn’t a school focused on heroism. 

“Yeah, I usually only get to see Shouto on the weekends,” you said with a small laugh. “But I guess we both couldn’t wait this time around.”

“CUTE.”

“Mina, you need to chill.”

“Chill? I am chill.” 

“Y/n needs to go home now,” Todoroki suddenly announced, pulling you away from the rest of 1A protectively.

“Aww, is someone jealous?”

“Please come visit soon! I swear we won’t snitch,” Ochaco exclaimed, wrapping you in a quick hug that you eagerly reciprocated. “I can’t wait to get to know you better!”

“Me too! After all,” a small smirk worked its way on your face, “I have to return this, don’t I?” You pinched the sleeve of your--well, Todoroki’s--hoodie. 

“You better,” Shouto murmured as he walked with you to the door, the rest of 1A waving you off happily. “Sorry you had to deal with all that.”

You didn’t know why you had been worrying so much about meeting his friends in the first place. “I love all of them already.” You grinned, kissing his cheek before stepping fully out of the Heights Alliance dorms. “And you bet I’ll be visiting more often with the help of your friends.”

He smiled. “I can’t wait.”

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[svtkillua]

little lion man > 3

rating: [pg-13 / angst] pairing: bakugou katsuki x reader x todoroki shouto warnings: cursing, lots of yummy angst >:)) word count: 8.7k listen while you read here!

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ch.1 + ch.2 + ch.3 + ch.4 (final) + alt. ending

Having a secret for so long that suddenly becomes public was uncomfortable and dread inducing. A part of you you’d kept locked away from prying eyes for years had not only been thrown into the spotlight, but shown to the one person you hadn’t wanted to see it. You felt naked, you hadn’t been ready to let the world know you were completely in love with Bakugou Katsuki, but at the same time, you couldn’t help but feel a little relieved. The weight of keeping it hidden was gone off your shoulders but they still remained sagged from the pain in your chest.

He knew you loved him even if you hadn’t said the words, he had to know. Why else would you have had that reaction to him proposing to another girl? You could still see the pained look on his face when he’d seen you crying, a wave of guilt washing over you.

It wasn’t Bakugou’s fault he had hurt you, it was yours. You had never told him you loved him. You had never made a move to let him know that you wanted to be more than friends. Just because in your head it’d seemed obvious, didn’t mean it was to him. You had been scared, scared of the rejection and the pain you would feel if your friendship was ruined. You never let yourself risk anything more because what you had was important to begin with.

He hadn’t known he was tearing you apart by giving you every detail of his relationship. He hadn’t known that all the touches he gave you meant so much, nor did he know that every second you saw them together was like torture. You were so in pain just knowing they were dating, let alone now that they were engaged, but in the aftermath you’d been realizing that the blame wasn’t on him. It was on you.

You did this to yourself, and you were now dragging everyone else down with you.

Your body curled deeper into the blankets around you, bloodshot eyes half closed as your focus remained out the window. The curtains were drawn back so the sun could shine through, it warming the skin of your bare thigh the blanket had fallen off of. The bathroom door opening quietly behind you didn’t make you stir, figure un-moving as your cheek squished against the pillow.

His feet were quiet behind you as he moved towards his dresser, your fingers picking at the soft blanket surrounding your stomach and chest. The silence felt comfortable, your eyes sore from the consistent crying the past few nights. The bed dipped beside your head, your body lulling onto its back and your vision focusing up on Todoroki.

He was staring at you with a blank expression, his hand resting on your shoulder. His thumb moved in soft back and forth motions over the tense muscles and you felt yourself relaxing enough to close your eyes when he spoke.

“Are you alright?” His voice sounded gentle, calming even, as his bare torso shifted, his back resting against the headboard. His light grey joggers felt soft when his knee brushed against your forearm from how he had them folded.

“No.” You laughed quietly, opening your eyes back up to look at him, a small smile on his own face, though his eyes showed worry. You were thankful he didn’t stare at you like you were pitiful, despite that being exactly how you felt. You felt pitiful and sad and broken, like all you wanted to do was sleep but your nerves were too strung out to relax.

“You know you can’t just hide out in my apartment forever.” He spoke quietly, hand moving from your shoulder and instead shifting up to your hair, brushing it off your forehead. “I like having you here, but eventually you’re going to have to do something. You can’t avoid him forever.”

You nodded, turning your head to the side to look out the window again, his fingers still lightly combing through your hair. You knew he was right, you’d been holed up in his apartment for days and doing little more besides crying and showering. Five days had passed since Bakugou proposed and you fell apart, and those five days were spent self destructing.

You’d been avoiding everyone besides Todoroki, only once responding to Kaminari when he wouldn’t quit asking him if you were okay. You mostly stayed in bed, balled up in the sheets and thinking about all the wrong decisions you’d made to get yourself to this point.

Bakugou had called you that night, fifty-two times to be exact. Every time the voicemail came up he’d hung up and called again, for hours. You didn’t answer once, nor did you respond to his texts begging you to please come talk to him or to let him know where you were. You couldn’t face him, not now. Not now that there was no way he didn’t know you were completely in love with him.

The thought made you grow anxious, you weren’t even sure what to do. You couldn’t be in your own apartment, there were too many taunting memories. Todoroki had been there beside you helping you through it all but you felt guilty, like you were driving a wedge between himself and Bakugou. It wasn’t hard to see that the pair weren’t happy with each other that night he proposed. Todoroki had looked like he wanted to knock his teeth out then and there in the parking lot.

“Are you trying to kick me out?” You joked quietly, his soft laughter resonating in your ear as you turned your head back up towards him. His large hands came up to cup your cheeks, though they were upside down. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to your forehead, before flicking it right in the middle with his knuckle.

“Of course, not. Don’t be stupid.” He chided. The corners of his lips were turned upwards as his hands slipped off your face and he moved to stand, tugging on his shirt he’d sat on the nightstand previously. “Though you are an awful roommate, haven’t cooked me dinner once.”

His joking tone made it easy to laugh, your eyes rolling as you pushed yourself upright in bed, his eyes wandering over you quickly. You had been stealing his clothes all week, you hadn’t gone back to your place and you definitely couldn’t sleep and wallow in self pity in that horrible dress. You were wearing one of Todoroki’s old t-shirts and a pair of old boxer briefs that served as your shorts.

“You love cooking, I was doing you a favor, really.” You argued, tilting your head to the side, rolling it around on your shoulders to try and stretch out the strained muscles. Here in Todoroki’s bed felt like a safe haven, no one could see you cry here. No one would remind you of the bad decisions you’d made to make you cry, either. Todoroki never pressured you to talk, and when you did start to vent he was a willing ear there to listen and comfort you. You couldn’t help but think he deserved better than this.

“Sure.” Todoroki rolled his eyes as he stretched, sliding a sweatshirt over his chest and tugging it down as he focused on you. “I have to go to train, okay? If you need me call me, I’ll answer.”

You nodded and gave him a small, lackluster smile as he sighed, but left, the sound of the door shutting ringing in your ears a few minutes later. You exhaled loudly, fingers drumming into the mattress below you as you took a glance over at your phone. The temptation to call Bakugou was high, fingers practically itching to dial the numbers. The moment you were alone you wanted nothing more than to hear his playful insults and feel his warmth against your skin.

You missed him, you missed him so damn much even though thinking of him made you want to break down again. You wanted to know how he was and if he was okay and if he hated you now. You wanted to know if he was thinking of you as much as you were thinking of him. You wanted to call him and say you were sorry for making him be in this situation but all you could do was sit and stare at the device beside you. Calling him would do more damage than good and you knew that, but it didn’t make your natural pull towards him just go away.

Your fist rubbed away the stray tear that slid against the side of your nose as you rose to your feet, shuffling over to peek out the window. It was warm inside but outside was frigid, the sun covered by clouds and casting a grey shadow over every surface. Your fingers skimmed along the window pane, puffing out a breathe of air that fogged against the glass.

Todoroki was right, you needed to do something, something that would help you begin moving on and putting the pieces of yourself back together. You couldn’t even think straight anymore, it felt like chunks of the puzzle were missing but you had no idea where to find them. Your heart still felt achy and your muscles were still weak. You felt like a minimized version of yourself that wasn’t working properly.

You noticed Todoroki’s apartment key sitting on dresser by the door when you turned your head, eyes rolling as you slid it onto your palm. You stared at the metal for a moment before, as if on que, hearing a knock on the front door. You laughed softly, a teasing smile on your lips as you walked up to the door, throwing it open.

“See, aren’t you glad I’m here n-”

Your words were cut off when you realized it wasn’t Todoroki in front of you.

It was Camie.

She looked beautiful as ever despite the dark circles under her eyes, a jacket wrapped tightly around her petite form. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise at your lack of long pants and a shirt that very obviously belonged to Todoroki. You self consciously tugged the shirt down more, it covering your shorts as you swallowed the nervous feeling bubbling up in your own stomach.

Why was she here? How had she known where you were? Was she here to tell you to stay away? Maybe she wanted to punch you for ruining her birthday dinner.

“What are you doing here?” Your voice came across meek, your fingers curling into your palms as you tried to appear stronger than you felt, your mind exploding with the possibilities of what she could want. You weren’t sure Camie liked you much to begin with but after ruining her birthday party and causing a huge scene right after she’d gotten engaged, you doubted you were her favorite person. You bit down hard on your bottom lip, crossing one leg over her other as you cleared your throat “How did you know I was here?”

You could feel the resentment in your gut as you looked at her, the girl who’d gotten what you wanted. Your body felt strung out, like she wasn’t really there and you were just hallucinating from your lack of sleep. You’d been picturing her in a wedding dress so much the past few days you really wouldn’t have been surprised if it was just in your head.

“I got Kaminari to tell me.” Her voice was, as usual, soft and polite as she hesitantly took a step forward, your body sluggishly moving aside so she could come in. The door clicked with the force of your palm, her body moving over to the sofa and taking a seat. Your heart was pounding away in your chest as you slowly walked over, but took a seat on the chair furthest from her, when she spoke again. “I needed to talk to you.”

“Talk about what?” You questioned, crossing your legs over each other and folding your hands on your lap in an attempt to stop looking as tense as you felt. You’d never been alone with Camie before, you’d barely even spoken to her really, and yet here she was across from you wanting to talk about something that was making her usual soft exterior look hard and tired despite her even voice. “If this is about your birthday…”

“About you.” She cut you off and you shifted uncomfortably, silently wishing it had been Todoroki at the door, “There’s a lot that’s gone on you don’t know about and I think you need to.”

Something about her matter of fact octave made you narrow your eyes at her. She sounded like she had all the answers and you were confused as to why. Did she know something you didn’t? Did she even know that you had all but told Bakugou you’re in love with him? Why would she want to help you with information when you’d ruined her night just days ago?

“What are you talking about?” Your heart was pounding at an alarming rate as your mind wandered all the possibilities. Her demeanor made the room feel ominous, like a dark cloud was looming over you just waiting for a the right moment to pour out the rain.

“We’d been going out for about a month when Kaminari told me.” Camie said cryptically and looked away from you, instead staring at the dark colored wall, her fingertip dragging back and forth over the faux leather sofa. She came across forced,  like she didn’t want the actual words to come out of her perfectly painted red lips.

“Kaminari told you what?” You questioned, face scrunching up, baffled, your teeth biting down on your bottom lip, the flesh tender from doing it so much lately.

“That Bakugou was using me to make you jealous.” She said it like it didn’t bother her in the slightest but you could see the flash of pain in her eyes. Your lip slipped out from under your teeth’s grip, lungs tightening as the words processed.

“What?”

“That he was using me to make you jealous.” She repeated, turning her gaze to look at you again, her lips parting as she let out a heavy sigh before speaking again, “That Bakugou was in love with you.”

The room felt like it was flipped upside down, your heart slamming against your rib cage as you looked down at your knees, confused and unsure of what to do with this information. Was it even true? Why would Kaminari have told her that if it wasn’t?

“I think he took pity on me, seeing that I was starting to really like Bakugou. He didn’t want me to get hurt because of Bakugou’s irrationality. I think he’d assumed I’d break up with him, but I didn’t. I wanted him.” Camie explained, her hands lifting up to brush her curtained bangs away from her face. She looked wounded, as if this was something she hadn’t ever wanted to say out loud, “I was falling in love with him and I was sure I could make him love me too.”

“In retrospect I knew it was a bad decision. Even when he started to grow deeper feelings for me, I couldn’t trust that you weren’t still in the back of his mind. He was falling in love with me like I’d wanted but I never let him get over you.” She continued, edging forward in her seat so her toes could reach the ground, shoes tapping lightly into the dark wooden floors. “I almost thought I’d won him over, and then we went over to your place for dinner and I just knew.”

The way her voice wavered at the end made a feeling of irrational guilt spread in your stomach. He’d gotten so quickly into Camie that it was baffling he’d even had time to develop feelings for you, but her earnest voice was making it all seem so true. A bitter escaped her as she shook her head lazily.

“I knew as soon as he hugged you, the way he was gripping onto you so desperately. How he practically forgot I was there when he’d tried to get you to sit with him. That whole night he complained about how touchy Todoroki was with you. He’s not the best at hiding his feelings when he’s annoyed.” She mumbled the last bit as she folded her arms across her chest, growing quiet.

The sounds of your quiet breathing was the only audible sound, the air feeling thick around you. Your eyes were on her delicate features as she stared down at her lap, her sunshine yellow coat clashing with her dimly colored surroundings. She looked defeated, like she’d been trying to convince herself she was wrong about everything going on around her.

Maybe you hadn’t been the only one Bakugou was unintentionally hurting.

Your mind was reeling with too much information being pumped into it. You’d barely begun getting back to functioning again and now you were sent right back into the haze that is Bakugou. Your eyes shifted up to Camie’s face, her eyes now on you.

“I hated you, I hated you so much for a long time because I couldn’t get his attention how you did. I was so jealous every time you guys were alone. I would say such shitty things about you and he’d get so mad, it drove me nuts. I did everything I was supposed to do, everything he loved. I finally got his heart, and yet you’re still the one he went running after.”

“Why are you telling me this?’  You mumbled, picking at your thumb nail aimlessly as you stared back at her. You never tried to push a wedge into their relationship, but had you unintentionally? This entire time you’d been envious of her when she was insecure about you, and that was perplexing.

“Because I know you love him, I’ve known since I met you. Best friends don’t look at each other how you look at him. I love Bakugou, but I don’t want to be his second choice. I think he cares about me too, I know he does, he loves me. Just lately he seems confused, like he’s not sure what he’s feeling. I’m not going to pretend that I don’t think he’s still harboring feelings for you, though.”  Camie sighed, pausing as her hands slipped onto the sofa and gripped the edge of it. “The way he looked after you left crying the other night…I’ve never seen him that upset before.”

“Is he okay?” You asked before you could think, the words blurting out like a reflex, your body sorrowful with the thought of being the one making him upset. Part of you felt frustrated with him, if he had loved you why had he never said anything? Then again, neither had you.

“I wouldn’t know, he hasn’t been home in days.”

“What?” You asked, eyes widening and your body straightening up. She looked tired, physically and emotionally, like she’d been struggling to hold herself together and you were sure you looked very similar. The entirety of time you’d known of Camie you’d been envious of everything she had and everything she was. She seemed like she’d had everything all together, but now, alone and in front of you, she looked broken. Broken because she wasn’t sure the man she loved loved her quite as much.

“He won’t answer my calls, he hasn’t been back to his apartment, I can’t find him. I don’t know where he is or what he’s doing.” Camie said simply, body moving upright. Her diamond ring sparkled as she lifted her hands up to tighten her jacket around her slim waist, making your stomach twist uncomfortably. This was all too much to take in. “I should get going, I have class.”

Your body stayed frozen for a moment as she walked herself to the door, her heels clicking against the wood. She paused once she gripped the door handle and turned to look at you, a sad smile on her lips as she spoke.

“None of us can do this forever. I know you care about him, so figure out what you want to do.”

With that, she was gone, the door closing behind her and enveloping you in an uncomfortable, stuffy silence. Your palms pressed together as you bowed your head towards the ground, pulling your legs up and against your chest.

You thought back to all of your memories with Bakugou and swallowed the lump forming in your throat. You had so many questions and basically no answers for them. Had all the guys known he had feelings for you? Did they all know you did for him now? Had he really asked Camie out to try and make you jealous?

Bakugou wasn’t the type to willingly hurt people, so you could imagine even if it started out of a not so good motive, he’d developed feelings for her rather quickly, otherwise he would have broken it off. It was obvious he loved her, as obvious as it seemed to be to Camie that he cared for you. You could see it when they were together that she obviously made him happy, so why was Camie acting like she had lost a fight? Could it be possible he really harbored feelings for you both?

It all felt surreal, like the plot to a movie you’d surely hate, with a love triangle that left everyone upset and broken inside. From Camie’s perspective you’d be the villain, the girl who showed up and threw a wrench in her perfect relationship. Only that perfect relationship had apparently been built on a lie and you were just now finding out about it.

You groaned and flopped back on the sofa, folding your arms across your face and inhaling sharply. You wished you were miles away in a little cottage with no troubles on your mind besides deciding what you’d have for dinner. You willed your feelings to just go away so you’d not have to worry about what to do now. What were you even supposed to do now. You squeezed your eyes closed, chest feeling shallow, like your lungs had caved in. You didn’t know how you ended up here, but you knew you needed answers.

You needed to know if what Camie was saying was true.

Your fist rapped on the door to the training room, hair pulled back into a messy bun and nerves brewing up in your veins. You peeked through the glass, counting seven heads inside and breathing a sigh of relief when none of them looked like Bakugou. Camie hadn’t been lying about him being MIA, evidently.

Midoriya answered the door after the background music cut off, a smile making his cheeks bunch up as he opened the door wider realizing it was you. “Hey, come in.”

The room felt hot, the boys all panting and getting drinks of water during their short break. Tsuyu was curled up in the corner by Tokoyami, watching something on a phone that had them both giggling. Kirishima was stood beside Shindo as they talked about some special offensive move, both of them too in their heads to notice you. Todoroki had however, his hair covered by a ball cap and his sweatshirt from earlier folded neatly by the side of the room as he quickly made his way over to you.

“You okay?” He questioned, eyebrows raised slightly, surprised to see you here considering this morning you didn’t even wanna leave his bed. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his joggers, tilting his head backwards some to see you better under the bill of his cap. 

“I need to talk to you, and Kaminari.” You explained mutely, stepping a bit closer to him as you could feel eyes on the pair of you. It wasn’t silly as to why some of them would be starring, you’d been spending a lot of time with Todoroki lately. Not to mention you were still wearing one of his shirts, just now it was paired with an old pair of basketball shorts. It didn’t exactly send a look of friendship as much as relationship. “It’s important.”

Todoroki bobbed his head in a yes, his hand landing on your elbow as he called Kaminari’s name, the tall boy rushing over and smiling widely at you. His arms looped around your middle, picking you up off the ground til just the tips of your shoes were touching, the hug tight and crushing but incredibly comforting. You found yourself laughing faintly, shaking your head as he placed you back on your heels. It made your anxiety lessen just a bit, Todoroki nodding for the pair of you to move over to the corner of the room with him.

You sat cross legged beside Todoroki on the bench against the wall, Kaminari’s long legs spread out in a v shape on the floor in front of you as you took a shaky breathe, not sure where to start. Your mind was still a jumbled mess, so you blurted out the first thing that popped up in your brain.

“Did Bakugou have feelings for me?”

Both of them remained tight lipped at your question, Todoroki stilling beside you, while Kaminari’s eyes flickered everywhere around the room but to yours. You weren’t sure if it was because he didn’t want to tell you no or if he didn’t want to tell you something you weren’t supposed to know. Todoroki cleared his throat finally and maneuvered his muscular arms across his chest, speaking quietly.

“He did. Before he started dating Camie.”

Kaminari looked up at you finally, his eyes full of guilt as he squeezed his hands together, nodding in agreement. He looked somber, the emotion looking wrong on his usually cheerful exterior.

“When he asked her out he thought it would make you jealous, he was too chicken to just tell you he liked you.” Kaminari sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, “I told him it was a bad idea but he didn’t listen to me. I tried to tell Camie what was going on but she didn’t seem phased. I thought maybe she’d break up with him, but clearly she didn’t.”

You nodded languidly as you leaned back into the arm of the couch, Todoroki’s hand hesitantly resting on your knee and giving it a benevolent squeeze. You looked over to see him nibbling on his bottom lip, before looking back at Kaminari.

“He started to like her after a few months, he fell in love with her and I guess we all thought he’d gotten over you, but then at your house a few weeks ago… When I walked in on you two in the kitchen, seeing him all desperate to get you to talk to him, I figured out he was starting to feel something for you again, or those emotions never completely went away.”

“He’s an idiot.” Todoroki grumbled and brushed his thumb over your knee absent mindedly “He shouldn’t have asked someone else out if he still had feelings for you. He’s not just hurting you, but he’s hurting her as well.”

He had an edge to his voice you hadn’t heard before, your hand landing on his and giving it a light pat. He looked over at you, sighing and using his thumb and index finger from his free hand to rub at his eyes.

“He’s really been confused about what he wants, and it’s not fair to any of you, but I know he cares about you both. He won’t talk to any of us, and I think it’s just because he’s not sure what to do. Him and Todoroki about got in a fist fight yesterday.” Kaminari said, Todoroki narrowing his eyes at him, apparently not wanting him to share that information.

“What?” You questioned, turning your body towards Todoroki, who was now avoiding looking at you. “You got in a fight?”

“He came to practice trying to get someone to tell him where you are. I knew you didn’t want to  see him so I didn’t tell him. You’ll talk to him when you’re ready.” Todoroki explained, shrugging his shoulders “He wouldn’t back off. I’m tired of him making you feel like shit, he’s being selfish. He can’t just drag the both of you along, on purpose or not.”

You rubbed at your eyes with the heels of your palms, Kaminari sighing heavily and reaching forward to pat your leg. You looked at him through your fingers and he frowned, running his free hand through his messy hair, his forehead shiny with sweat.

“I’m sorry, he made me swear I wouldn’t tell you about it when he came up with the plan in the first place.” He was drumming his fingers against the light wood flooring, “I tried to get him to just talk to you about things, but you know how stubborn he can be. He was scared he’d lose you.

You just nodded, staring at your lap and letting your mind wander. You wanted to cry again but for completely different reasons than you had been lately. It was all too much, too much to think about and too much to fuck up your already unstable emotions. Everywhere you looked there was a reminder that your life was falling to pieces and no one could help you fix it.

Everything felt too quiet, most of the boys had stopped their chattering and were now watching the three of you, which made your neck feel hot. You stood, brushing Todoroki’s hand off your knee as you did so, his duo-coloured eyes watching you move.

“I gotta go.” You said quickly, making a move towards the door, Todoroki’s loud sigh audible behind you but you didn’t stop, giving a quick wave to everyone before slipping out, shutting the door behind you.

The air felt cold against your arms as you walked, regretting not taking one of his jackets before you’d left Todoroki’s place. You wanted to scream. You wanted to scream so loud your lungs would give out and you’d be left with no thoughts in your head. You were so lost and conflicted and tired, so so tired that you just wanted to sleep.

You needed to get away, from all of this. You needed a break to sort out all the things clogging up your head. You hated being away from everyone, but you needed to be. You needed to be alone with just yourself and your thoughts and your mind.

The idea of just grabbing your passport and leaving on a whim made your stomach churn with nerves. Could you really do that? Could you really just pack up your things and leave? Could you let go of everything holding you here and have time to figure things out? Maybe that was exactly what you needed; distance from reality.

Your limbs felt heavy, dragging you so your body walked at half speed towards your apartment door. It looked menacing, leering at you and taunting you of what laid behind it. All the pictures and memories you were trying so hard to tuck away and never pull out again, they were waiting just beyond the wooden surface. You inhaled sharply as you paused just outside, before letting your hand land on the brass knob, turning it, and slipping inside.

Everything seemed normal, like your world hadn’t exploded just a few days before. The walls were still covered in the old photos, your piano still sat in the corner by the big windows, everything felt still and silent. Your shoes made a dull thud as you slipped them off by the door, walking further into your apartment, desperate for a long bath to think.

Your bedroom was quiet, the curtains drawn almost shut, light coming from the small lamp on your bedside table. One of the blankets had been tossed on the floor, landing in a heap beside the foot of the bed, your closet doors open and a few boxes knocked over inside. Then, in the middle of the bed with a pillow against his chest and his eyes closed, was Bakugou.

His hair was a complete mess, parts of it sticking up and fanning over the pillow, parts of it sticking down near his eyes. His lips were open, breathing slow and his chest rising and falling in rhythm. His eyes were puffy and red rimmed, his fingers digging into your pillow he had hugged against his middle. He must have used his key to get in, one you gave him for emergencies, which he apparently decided this was.

You gradually moved further into the room, walking silently towards the bed, where he had just mumbled and rolled onto his back, his arms and legs spread out like a starfish. You hated the way it made your lips curl up at the ends, your heart slowing in your chest as you watched him. It was infuriating how he could simultaneously break your heart and make it pound all at the same time.

Part of you wanted to let him sleep forever, just peaceful and in your bed where nothing could make the calm look on his face twist to one of pain or sadness, but a larger part of you needed to talk to him. You’d been avoiding it but you knew that you did, you couldn’t avoid it forever, even if that was tempting. Whatever this was, it couldn’t stay like this, it wasn’t fair to any of you.

Your body lazily shifted to the head of the bed, sitting down beside his shoulder as you watched him hug the pillow tighter. Your fingers reached out, pushing his hair off his face, making him stir and scrunch his face up.

“Katsu.” You whispered, not wanting to startle him, fingertips feeling burned as you skimmed the skin of his arm. You bit down on your bottom lip, giving his shoulder a light shake. “Bakugou, wake up.”

His eyes fluttered open, looking glazed over and dazed as he tried to see in the dimly lit room, his hands coming up and rubbing at them. Once he focused up on you, it was like he registered in his brain who you were, his body springing up right within seconds. His hands came up to wrap around your waist, yanking you into him and burying his head into your hair.

“Thank gosh.” He sounded relieved, like he thought he was never going to see you again. His hands pressed into your spine, pulling you as close as you could get to his chest. He smelled incredible, like crisp, clean sheets mixed with an expensive cologne that drove your senses crazy. “I was beginning to wonder if you were gonna ignore me forever.”

“I thought about it.” You mumbled into his chest, dropping your eyes shut, half joking but half serious. Your fingers brushed down his back as he sighed into your hair, his lips puckering and brushing against your scalp.

“Don’t say that.” His voice came out muffled from your current position, but you could hear the sadness lacing it. He pulled his head away, his arms staying loosely wrapped around your middle as he stared down at you. His ruby eyes were bloodshot, his bottom lip chapped from biting it so often.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re trying to read my mind.” You looked up at him as you spoke, folding your arms over your chest. He reached up and pushed your hair behind your ear like always, grazing your cheek as they moved away. You let out a deep exhale as he brushed his thumb along your hip.  “If you want to know something than ask me.”

He stared at you silently for a moment, his lashes fluttering as he flicked his line of sight all over your face. He swallowed roughly, his eyes finally settling on yours as he spoke.

“When you left Camie’s birthday party, after I proposed, why did you get upset?” His eyes were glued to you, to your every move and reaction, like he was trying to see if what he was thinking was right. You shook your head at him, moving backwards from his grip on the bed and pulling your legs up to your chest, hiding into yourself.

“I think you know why, Katsu.” You said simply, voice quiet and forced as you stared at your feet. You wiggled your toes around, staring at them like they were the most interesting thing in the room. “I know you know why, actually, you’re not stupid.”

He sighed beside you, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck as he watched the side of your face. You could feel his gaze burning holes into your skin but didn’t turn your neck to look back, not having the stomach for it.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” He whispered and his hand brushed against yours. He easily tugged it towards him, slotting your fingers together and holding on tight.

“Why do you think?” You laughed bitterly, glancing over at him as your eyes stung. “You’re my best friend and you’re in a happy relationship. I wasn’t going to fuck that up just because I had feelings for you.”

“You should have told me.” He huffed, licking his lips and letting your hand go to stand up. He walked over towards your window, running his hands through his hair exasperatedly. “You shouldn’t have just assumed you knew how I felt.”

“You have a girlfriend Katsu, fiancee, now, actually. How exactly do you think I thought you felt about me?” Your stomach knotted at his words, choking down the frustrating emotions filling your esophagus. “She came and talked to me this morning by the way.”

You could see his back muscles tense, his arms folding over his chest and flexing in a manner that looked uncomfortable. He turned towards you, leaning his back into the window sill and staring just past you towards the other side of the room.

“She told me that you used to have feelings for me before you two started dating, that Kaminari told her you were using her to make me jealous.” You added, staring at his face to gauge his reaction. “Is that true?”

“So what if it is?” He sounded nervous as he finally looked at you, his hands dropping to his sides and shoving into his pants. His fingers were drumming against his thighs inside them, the fabric rustling.

“Why wouldn’t you have told me that? Why would you start dating someone if you liked me?” Even saying out loud that he liked you felt funny on your tongue, the idea something you never seemed to think would be true but had so desperately wanted.

“Probably for the same reason you didn’t tell me, I didn’t want to lose you.” He shrugged and gazed at you intensely, “It’s not like I could tell you once I was with her either. I knew it bothered her but I was too selfish to just let you go. You’re my best friend, I thought maybe the feelings would just go away after awhile.”

He paused as he started to pace, his head tilting back towards the ceiling and his eyes falling shut as he exhaled.

“I started to fall for her, I really did. It was so much easier when we were both busy and I couldn’t see you. I fell in love with her and it felt so right that for a while I figured it’d worked out, even if my intentions weren’t that great to begin with. Then when I brought her over to your place and I saw you again, I just…I knew. I knew I still had feelings for you.”

You were silent, taking his words in as they flowed out of his beautiful lips, gripping the comforter under you so tight your knuckles lost all blood flow.  Your heartbeat was thumping in your fingertips and toes, a faint ringing in your ears as his words settled in the air.

Your heart was screaming for someone to say something but neither of you spoke, your body raising and your arms folding across your chest, your stance much like Bakugou’s. Standing here in front of him, hearing him say he had feelings for you felt surreal. You’d always pictured yourself being so happy if he confessed to you. You’d pictured him holding you in his arms and whispering that he loved everything about you.

You never imagined it would be explained in such soft tones along with him detailing how he loved someone else. You never imagined that it would hurt quite this much to love someone. It hurt to love Bakugou, it made your heart sear in your chest and your eyes burn like lit coals. You knew that regardless of your feelings now or his, that he still wasn’t yours. He still loved her, regardless of his feelings for you, and you knew you couldn’t do it anymore.

“I think I’m going to go away for a while, Katsu.” The words left your lips before you could think about them properly, the decision already made in your heart. You had to get away, you had to figure out who you were without him.

“What? No.” He said and immediately whipped his head towards you, shaking it side to side frantically, the panic bubbling up inside him. “You’re not leaving, you can’t leave. I need you here.”

“I have to, besides you have Camie now.”

“I don’t want her! I want you, I need you.” He rushed over, grabbing your elbows and pulling your body towards his chest despite your squirming. His eyes were becoming more reddened by the second, water collecting in the ducts.

“You don’t need me.” You whispered and looked at your feet, “You’re engaged. You’re gonna get married and you’re going to be so happy.”

“Not if you’re not here!” His tone was getting louder, agitation pumping through him as you pulled from his grasp, “I don’t know what to do, I don’t, I’ll admit that. But I know I need you here, I know I have feelings for you that are so strong I can’t ignore them, and I know that you feel it too.”

You felt the tears starting to drip slowly down your cheeks, hands shaking as you gripped your sides, hugging your own stomach as if trying to hold yourself and the pieces of your heart together. You felt the remaining cracks in your heart quaking and getting bigger when you looked up at him again and saw a tear slipping down his cheek, even as he tried to rub it away.

“I’m not going to let you throw away the person who makes you happy because I was too slow to tell you how I felt. You don’t need me, Katsu, you think you do because I make you feel comfortable. I missed my chance to have you, it’s gone.” You explained somberly, teeth clattering together as you tried to keep yourself from sobbing. He was staring at you rigidly, his lips parted as he hung on your every word, no longer trying to hide the few tears leaking from his eyes, “I should have told you such a long time ago, and that’s something I’m going to regret for the rest of my life.”

“I don’t want to lose you.” Bakugou’s cracked voice was barely audible as he stepped closer to you. He looked so beautiful even with his eyes filled with mild panic and his bottom lip trembling. His hands were shaking as he lifted them up and rubbed at his cheeks again, hard enough to turn his skin light pink.

“Please don’t cry.” You whispered, hands reaching up and cupping his cheeks, dragging away the wet trails with your thumbs, your own cheeks soaked with your sadness.

“Don’t go.” He begged, repeating himself as his hands gripped your waist and held it tight, as if he could keep you in this spot forever. “Please, I’ll figure things out, I’ll give you space if you need it, just please stay.”

“Bakugou, please don’t make this hard.” You whimpered, moving your hands off his face, but his own just whipped up and grabbed yours, hugging them against his chest that was trembling as his tears fall more freely. You could feel his heart beating away through the material of his t-shirt and tried to memorize the rhythm.

“What about what I want? What if I decided already that I want you?” His voice was growing frustrated as he gripped your hands. He was holding them so tightly his knuckles were growing white as he spoke with desperation. “I want you, I want to hold you and kiss you and tell you all the things I never said when I should have. Does that not matter?”

“It doesn’t matter because you love her!” You snapped, “You proposed to her, you have her pictures on your walls and her in your heart. You feel safe with me Bakugou, you’ve known me long enough to not be scared of what could happen with us, that’s all this is. You never once were thinking of me when you developed feelings for her, if you were then you wouldn’t have developed those feelings. “

“You don’t know that.” He said loudly, throwing his hands up into the air as he shook his head, turning from you and walking across the room, beginning to pace again.

“Do you know what it’s like to watch the person you love love someone else, Bakugou?” Your eyes were blurry as more tears built up, your throat feeling like his hands were around it choking you when you tried to speak. Your breathing was becoming shaky, voice thick with from your crying. “It’s the most painful thing in the entire universe. It takes all of your good thoughts about yourself and consumes them, turning them into fuel for the self hatred it forms. I don’t like who I am anymore. I don’t like waking up every morning wanting to cry because you don’t love me.”

“I do love you.” His voice cut in, his body turning towards you again, eyes boring into yours from across the room. “I love you so much, more than I can explain.”

“You may love me, but you’re not in love with me. “ You wavered as you looked away from him, his heart breaking gaze too much to take when you were already having a breakdown. “There’s a difference and you know it. Distance is what we both need, so you can focus on Camie and I can try and move on from these feelings like you started to.”

“I haven’t fucking moved on!” His voice was so loud it made you jump, it reverberating around the small space and filling every corner. “Don’t you get that? Don’t you understand that seeing you with another guy makes me want to fucking explode? Do you think I don’t see how damn beautiful you are when you smile or feel how huge your laughter makes my heart swell? Do you think all that just went away because I started moving on?”

“It has to!” You snapped right back at him, your head lifting up to let your eyes meet, “Whatever chance we had is gone! We both waited too long, way way too long.”

“Stop fucking saying that!” He shouted, his eyes full of anger, perhaps at you or perhaps at the situation you’d both landed yourselves in, the warm tears flowing full force from him now. “You don’t get to just decide when our chance is over. You don’t get to just pick that we never get a shot!”

“We had a shot! We had a shot and we were both too fucking chicken to do anything about it and now that shot is gone!” You argued, hands tugging through your hair exasperatedly, body tired from crying and chest sore with the sobs still fighting to get out. He stared at you for a moment before his body was charging him across the room to you, face distraught.

“No.” He decided, feet carrying him to directly in front of you, his hands raising up and cupping your cheeks before you could process what was happening. “No it’s not.”

And then, his lips were pressed onto yours.

Your back was pressed against the wall behind you, his body molded against yours and his hands delicately holding you against him, his lips moving languidly. The kiss was desperate and needy, his hands leaving your face only to grab at your middle, arms then sliding around it. Your own hands found their way to his biceps as your slotted together lips muffled your crying.

It felt like everything, everything you’d ever wanted and everything in your heart you knew you couldn’t have, not now anyway, not while his heart still belonged to someone else, at least partly. His tears slipped between your lips, the kiss salty against your tongue. He lifted his hands to cradle your neck as a quiet, muffled cry fell past his own lips that were still pressing into yours.

He was everywhere inside you, in every single bone of your body, in every muscle that tensed and moved as he pulled you tighter to him, your leg slipping between his. He filled your senses in a way only Bakugou could, and you savored the kiss because it may be the only one you ever had. The one kiss to solidify that you had both broken eachother’s hearts without even trying, that you had murdered the chances you both were presented.

Because it was too late, it was to late now and he knew it even if his desperate kisses were trying to prove himself otherwise. Your time had come and gone and now you were both left broken, half of your hearts given to the other but never held how it was supposed to have been.

The kiss felt like so much, like all the things you’d wished you had done differently. All the times you had almost kissed him or held him. All the times you’d almost said those three simple words and changed everything. All those times he’d nearly held you too long, the times he’d spent late at night contemplating calling you and saying everything he ever felt.

But most of all, it felt like a goodbye.

A goodbye you never wanted to have.

“Please don’t go.” He hiccuped against your lips as you pulled away, his forehead pressing into yours as your breathes mixed together between you. “Please, I’ll do anything.”

You wanted to give in so badly, to just stay and live in the little bubble Bakugou was trying to make. To pretend you didn’t care he’d have unresolved feelings for another woman, to pretend that your life wasn’t a complete mess, but you couldn’t.

So when he laid you on the bed and kept whispering how much he loved you into your ear mixed with his sobbing, you let him. You let him whisper all the things to you you’d wished he had said sooner. You let yourself pretend that this wasn’t just for the night. You tricked yourself into believing that love was enough.

You let yourself pretend to sleep in his arms while your tears grew silent and his rapid choked breathing grew even. You let yourself feel his arms around you all night long while you listened to his heart that beat in his chest and pretended it only belonged to you. You let yourself pretend that finally, finally he was yours.

But when the sun rose and poked through the curtains casting a faint red glow on his features, you detached yourself from his arms, the bubble bursting and fading into nothing. The feelings you’d finally let yourself have, if only for a few hours, enough to give you the strength to pull out of bed.

You pressed a faint kiss against his parted, sleeping lips, his figure curling into itself as one silent tear dripped from your face onto the sheets beside him. Your bottom lip trembled as you pulled away, grabbing your things from your dresser drawer quietly before heading for the door.

You paused as you gripped the door handle, taking one last look back at his sleeping figure as you bit your cheek and fought out a whisper to his deaf ears.

“I love you, Bakugou.”

And then, you were gone.

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taglist: @bnhatrashh​ @icyhotpie​ @domtamaki​ @daphnxy​ @yamichxnwrites​ @hokage-state-of-mind​ let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist for the last chapter!

#bakugou #katsuki #bakugou katsuki #bakugou x reader #bakugou smut #bakugou fluff #bakugou angst #bnha #mha #bnha x reader #mha x reader #todoroki #shouto #todoroki shouto #todoroki x reader #todoroki smut #todoroki fluff #todoroki angst

[asian-hero]

You are literally the best at writing angst, your fics make me feel some typa way. Can I request a todoroki shoto fic where him and reader are dating and he’s a prohero and she’s a doctor. And shoto is absent a lot bc of work and s/o gets sad bc she feels the relationship is 1sided. They fight bc shoto prioritizes hero-ing, & rder is like “but I save lives too”. They get “close” to splitting, but they makeup somehow. Thank you!!!!!!!

A/N: You think you can get away with breaking my heart just because you complimented me on my writing? 😤 (but in all seriousness, thank you for the compliment!)

You guys know you can request fluffy shit too, right?

Summary: You knew that you and Shouto came from different worlds, and while both of your jobs helped to save people, that didn’t mean that the two of you necessarily saw eye to eye on certain things. One of the things that the two of you never seemed to agree on was your relationship, and you were starting to feel that the two of you would never agree when it came to that.

Words: 3,307

You knew from the start that dating a pro hero wasn’t going to be easy. One day you could wake up next to the love of your life, and then five hours later, you find out that they died while watching the evening news. Or, one day you could find yourself being abducted by villains as a pawn to lure your hero lover into rescuing you, and either become scarred from the trauma of being kidnapped, or be the reason why your partner had fallen. Along with this, the hours for a pro were sporadic and unpredictable, which made it even harder to keep up a healthy relationship. So, it was safe to say that most heroes didn’t usually get into relationships with civilians, and, as a doctor, who had to deal with said heroes, you promised yourself to never get involved with one of them. If not for your physical health, then for your mental health.

Oh, how naive you were.

Somehow, whether it be due to some force in the universe that wanted to prove you wrong, or your own lack of willpower, you not only caught the attention of a certain elemental hero, but he had also caught yours as well. At first, you blamed your flustered state on the fact that he seemed to be one of your most, regular, patients. You tried to fool yourself that you were just simply worried for his health. After all, it wasn’t healthy to be visiting a hospital almost every other week. A few weeks of trying to convince yourself, and you suddenly were faced with the horrendous idea that you may have actually been worried about him because you cared about him, more than you were supposed to. It didn’t help that he was so handsome and sweet. In all honesty, it was truly a marvel that you managed to keep it together for as long as you had.

While you tried to keep your feelings tucked away deep inside of your heart, Shouto seemed to have other plans. On the days that he wasn’t in your hospital, bothering you with some large gash from a villain, or some serious bruises and broken bones from attempting to catch a falling building, he would still make his presence known through vases of flowers addressed specifically to you, as thanks for patching him up. Soon, arrangements of flowers were no longer delivered by the mailman, but instead by Shouto himself. He’d make sure to catch you on your break, or whenever you weren’t busy, just so he could strike up a conversation with you. It was both the most sweet and baffling thing that someone has done for you. Fairly soon after his common visits, the hospital became like his second home, where everyone knew why he was there, and the glamour of having a famous pro hero in their work environment was no longer exciting. 

So, no one could really blame you when you started dating him a few months later. 

Loving Shouto was one of the easiest things that you’ve ever done. Being in love with him came naturally to you, as if it were another part of your body. He was always so kind and caring, and while he did have his moments where his inexperience in terms of relationships truly showed, he always strived to be the best boyfriend that he could be. You knew that Shouto was the one who you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, to grow old with. In fact, about a year into your relationship, Shouto had suggested that the two of you move in together, under the guise that you would both be saving a lot of money when it came to water and electricity, since the two of you practically lived together anyways. Not that you needed a reason to move in with him.

However, life wasn’t always that easy, and relationships don’t always turn out the way you thought they would.

After two years of dating Todoroki Shouto, you knew that the two of you would fall into some form of routine. The “honeymoon” phase wasn’t going to last forever, and you were perfectly fine with that. You still loved him dearly, and even though you both didn’t express it nearly as much as you used to, the feelings were still there, at least, on your side of the relationship.

While the two of you began to fall into your normalcy, with you growing comfortable with each other’s company, you found yourself realizing just how absent Shouto was. It started when he’d cancel your little dinner dates at home, saying that you shouldn’t wait up for him, since he’ll be home late. Of course, you gave him the benefit of the doubt, because you knew that his schedule wasn’t always the best, so you never complained to him. Soon, though, instead of missing dinner, Shouto was missing the entire day. It wasn’t very often that you had the day off, so when you did, he promised that he’d be home as well, so the two of you could make up lost time. But, when the time came, you woke up alone in your shared bed, a short note on your bedside table being your only indication that he’d left the house, and that he wouldn’t be home until late at night. Eventually, your shared apartment started to feel as though you were the only one living in it, and the only way that you knew Shouto was still living there was because the leftovers you’d put in the fridge for him would be gone the next morning.

At first, you tried really hard to be understanding. You knew that he couldn’t always be there with you, as he had a job to do. Any annoyance that you held toward him would be instantly replaced by guilt, since you knew that he was busy. However, as the days turned into months, your patience began to grown thin, and you were starting to question whether or not he even loved you anymore. If he did, he certainly never showed it, nor did he seem to feel the need to tell you that he loved you. In all honesty, you couldn’t remember the last time he told you he loved you, or the last time you ever felt loved. At this point, you were just wondering if he even cared if you were around, or if you were just someone who he knew would always be there.

Though you had managed to keep your feelings away from him for a while, it didn’t take long for your heart to no longer be able to carry your sorrows, and soon enough, you found yourself sitting on your couch at one in the morning, balling your eyes out as you waited for Shouto to come home.

Luckily for you, you didn’t need to wait much longer, as you could hear the soft click of the lock, and in a matter of seconds, you found yourself staring down the love of your life, who seemed shocked at the fact that you were still awake.

“(Y/N)?” He called out, concern filling his voice, “Why are you still awake?”

Wiping your eyes, you took in a deep breath, preparing yourself for what was to come. “We need to talk,”

Though it was a bit hard to see, with only the light from the kitchen illuminating your apartment, you could make out the tired expression on Shouto’s face. With a soft sigh, he moved toward you, patting your head.

“Can we talk about this in the morning?”

You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms across your chest. “Will you even be here in the morning?”

Hearing the edge to your voice seemed to catch his attention, as he tilted his head, clearly confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

You shrugged your shoulders, standing up from the couch in order to meet his eyes. “It’s a simple question, Shouto. You’re not even here when I wake up, so how are we supposed to talk?”

He furrowed his brow, not quite understanding what you were getting at. When he didn’t respond, you let out an obnoxious sigh, all of the anger you’ve been bottling up for the past few months finally rearing its ugly head.

“You know, at first I was fine with you cancelling for dinner. I did my best to understand that you’re a hero, and you have an important job to do,” Your eyes bore into him, almost as if you thought you could convey all of your hurt and anger by just your stare, “But, when you start to become less of a ‘roommate’ and more of a cryptid, that’s where I draw the line.”

“What are you talking about?” You could hear the defensive edge in his voice, and it did nothing to stop the fire from raging in your stomach.

“Do you even remember the last time that the two of us were together? The last time we did something that was remotely romantic? I certainly can’t!” You knew that you were unloading a lot of feelings onto him, but you couldn’t care less at this point.

“Well I’m sorry that I can’t be here all the time, but it’s not like I can just stop what I’m doing just to come home and chat,”

You wanted to rip your hair out. “I’m not asking you to do that!”

“Then what do you want?” He asked, his tone becoming as sharp as a knife, “Do you want me to quit my job? To stop being a hero? I’m not going to stop just because you feel upset. There are actual lives on the line.”

“Do you think that I don’t understand that?” You snapped, your nails digging into the palms of your hands.

“I save lives too, you know! Every single day I go to work and do my best to help out those who need me the most, but you don’t see me neglecting this relationship,”

He scoffed, his lips quirking downwards. “Just because you don’t see the work I put in doesn’t mean that it isn’t there. You knew what my life was like when we started dating, I don’t know why this is surprising,”

“I know what I got myself into! I just wish that I would matter just a fraction as much as your job,”

“You want me to prioritize you over my duty to the people?”

“That’s not what I’m saying! I just want to feel like I’m important to you,” You could feel your shoulders deflating, “Why is that so hard to understand?”

The two of you could have fought the entire night and have gone in circles. Instead, Shouto merely took in a deep breath, closing his eyes. “Can we just talk about this in the morning? It’s late, and I can’t think about this right now.”

All of the fight that was in you had suddenly dissipated, and all you were left with was this hollow feeling in your chest. Shaking your head, you brushed past him, heading towards the guest room.

“Don’t worry. There’s nothing to talk about anymore,” You didn’t even bother turning towards him, “Just, do whatever you want.”

With that, you shut the door behind you, locking it and then throwing yourself onto the bed, praying that you’d get at least a couple hours of sleep before your shift.

Unfortunately for you, you ended up getting about two hours of sleep before waking up at six in the morning. Wordlessly, you got ready for work, not bothering to check if Shouto was still home, though, you wouldn’t be surprised if he’d just taken off right after you left.

Once you had arrived at the hospital, you were instantly greeted by the concerned stares from your coworkers, with some even voicing that you didn’t look so good. Not wanting to worry anyone, you told them that you were fine, and that you just didn’t get that much sleep last night. It wasn’t a complete lie, and it got them off of your case, so, you figured that you got away with it.

You honestly couldn’t remember what happened during the rest of the day. Bits and pieces would come to you, like when you had to do a routine check-up for one of your favorite patients, or when you took a thirty minute nap during your lunch. Other than that, you truly could not remember what you did. In fact, if your receptionist didn’t tell you that it was nearly eight in the evening, you were sure that you would’ve stayed the night by accident.

As you left your shift and hurried onto the next train to take you home, you couldn’t help but replay the conversation you had with Shouto. You weren’t quite sure where your relationship stood. Neither of you had made the effort to contact the other, and although it had only been one day, you couldn’t help but feel anxious. While of course, you were glad that you told him how you felt, and that you wished he could be more present as a partner, you felt bad about how you went about telling him. There were better ways of telling him that you felt as though he didn’t care anymore, and snapping at him was probably one of the worst ways to go about it. So, as you continued your journey home, you figured that you’d apologize for snapping at him like you did, but you were in no way going to apologize for how you felt, or for telling him that you didn’t feel like a priority for him.

Once the train had reached its destination, and you had finally made it to your front door, you were just about ready to collapse onto the couch. Maybe get in a quick nap before eating dinner, or maybe you’d just head straight towards your bed and get a full eight hours of sleep. However, once the door swung open, rather than being greeted by the deafening silence that you had grown accustomed to, you could hear the soft hum of the radio being played, along with the quiet sizzling of something being cooked. Closing the door gently, you took off your shoes and jacket, quietly making your way towards the kitchen. As you peered from the doorway, you watched in awe as Shouto stood over the oven, watching almost warily at whatever he was making. It was obvious that he had no idea what he was doing, and, judging by how messy your kitchen looked, it was clear to you that this wasn’t his first attempt. Glancing over at the dining table, you noticed the pair of bowls and cups that were set, as if he were setting the table for two.

Deciding that you were tired of just standing there, you cleared your throat, making your presence known.

He jumped a bit, whipping his head towards the source of the noise, before letting out a sound of relief. Quickly turning off the stove, he faced himself towards you, and you could tell that he felt awkward.

“What are you making?” You asked, trying to break the tension in the room.

“Fried rice,” He started, rubbing the back of his neck, “I thought I could make dinner, it seemed simple enough,”

You hummed, slowly making your way over to him, trying to gauge his reaction. When he didn’t move away, you stepped closer, peering into the pan to look at what he made. While it was slightly overcooked, you appreciated the effort. Motioning toward the table, you spoke, “Go grab the bowls,”

After a few more beats of silence, the two of you found yourselves sitting in front of each other, staring awkwardly at your bowls of fried rice, unsure of what to say. While you really did want to apologize, you weren’t sure of how to approach the topic. You were worried that, if you brought up last night, it’d just end up with the two of you fighting again.

It seemed as thought Shouto had the same idea as you, as he finally spoke up, “I think we should talk about last night,”

Putting down your spoon, you nodded. Glancing up, you noticed the nervous expression on his face, and though you were about to talk about something serious, you couldn’t help but find comfort in the fact that he was just as nervous as you.

“Before we start,” You began, placing your hands in front of yourself, “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry that I got so angry last night. I was bottling up all of my emotions, and instead of just telling you, I let them get the best of me, and I exploded when I didn’t mean to,”

He frowned, moving to take one of your hands in his own, “I’m sorry that I tried to brush off your feelings and got defensive. I was tired and ready to go to sleep, so when you said you wanted to talk, I just snapped.”

You squeezed his hand, offering him a small smile. He returned it almost immediately, holding onto your hand as if you were his anchor. Rubbing his thumb against your knuckles, he gave you a reassuring look.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t listening last night, but I am now,” He pressed a gentle kiss to the back of your hand, “Tell me what’s going on,”

You felt a pang of anxiety rushing through you, but you pushed through. Even though you felt awful saying it, the two of you didn’t fight just for the fun of it.

“I know that being a hero means the world to you, and I’m so proud of what you do. You constantly put yourself in harms way in order to protect those who can’t save themselves, and I admire that,”

He nodded his head, ushering you to continue, “But?”

“But,” You said, trying to choose your words carefully, “I feel like you put so much of yourself into your work that there’s not enough of you left when it comes to our relationship.”

You smiled sadly at him. “I’m not saying that I should be your number one priority, I know that would be too selfish. I’d just like to be in the top five, you know?”

The frown on his face made you rethink your words. Mirroring his features, you squeezed his hand. It took him a minute to respond, letting your words sink in. Once he found his voice, he spoke, “You shouldn’t feel like you have to settle for the top five,”

He got out of his seat, pushing it closer to you before sitting down once more. This time, he took both of your hands in his, resting his forehead against yours. “I’m sorry for ever making you feel like you weren’t important to me,”

You shook your head, your nose gently bumping against his. “I know you’re busy,”

“Never too busy when it comes to you,”

You found yourself breaking out into a small grin, laughing a bit. Seeing your relaxed figure, Shouto found himself laughing with you, disconnecting his hands from yours in order to place them on your waist, pulling you closer. As you found yourself practically straddling him, you couldn’t help but run a hand through his hair, pressing a light kiss to his forehead. He seemed to relish in your touch, as he leaned closer to you as you pulled away, causing you to let out another stream of giggles.

While the two of you still had to figure out how to manage your schedules, you were finally filled with a sense of comfort and love, one that you hadn’t felt in a long time. 

#todoroki shouto #todoroki x reader #todoroki shouto x reader #todoroki shoto x reader #shoto todoroki #todoroki shoto #bnha #mha #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bnha imagines #mha imagines #boku no hero academia #my hero academia

[burnedbyshoto]

Gone For Too Long

todoroki shouto x reader

warnings: fluff

word count: 2,595

a/n: okay so this hits home because my boyfriend and i are in long distance :) so this is basically 50% of the struggle of having a boyfriend who you can’t love as constantly as you can. also anon, loved this so much!!!!!!! AND I LOVE YOU MUAH HAVE A GOOD NIGHT

“Pick up, already.”

You lay in bed, your laptop in front of you, the all too familiar ringing of FaceTime echoed through your apartment as you waited for your boyfriend to pick up. A tired grin comes upon your face as the screen turns black, and then the pixelated form of your boyfriend appears on the screen.

“Sorry, my computer glitched out for a bit,” Shouto’s voice flows from your computer speaker, the scratchy tone from it being online blending into his tone. “You’re calling late.”

“Oh yeah, sorry!” You laugh shifting your position while bringing a pillow to your lap, something you did often while calling Shouto, it helped make it feel like he was there with you. “We had a major breakthrough with the lab, it was so phenomenal, I think we’ll be done by this summer’s end.”

Shouto grinned, the pixels glitching just the tiniest amount as it tried to keep up with real-time, “That’s great! Two years later, and you’re almost finished!”

You groan at the thought of it being two years, that hurt a lot more than you realized.

It had been two years since you had left your home in Japan.

“Yeah…” You agree, your voice trailing off as you stared at the keyboard instead of your boyfriend. “When will you not be busy? I miss you.”

Shouto frowns, or at least you think he frowns, the lagging of the screen makes it hard to tell what emotion is occurring on his face at the time as he wasn’t the most expressive. “It’s just been a bit busy right now; when I have an opening I’ll make sure to come down,” Shouto explains, as per tradition.

It had been two years since you came down to London, England for a special experiment that you had been allowed to be the head researcher for. So you hadn’t had the time to go home to visit as you had to be there at the lab, except for the one time you went home last year.

It was a two-day trip back to Japan so that you could surprise Shouto as part of your third-year anniversary, but as you did this under wraps, Shouto had the same plan under wraps.

You remember getting back to Japan and arriving home to find the house empty. Thinking it was just Shouto being busy that day, the second you picked up your phone from a call from your boyfriend, you wanted to cry hearing that he was currently outside your apartment wondering where you were.

Shouto had tried to desperately get a flight back home, as you couldn’t afford to get your ticket moved, but like every month anniversary, the two of you spent your third-year anniversary via FaceTime. Only that you were in Japan and he was in England. And to make matters worse, he was back inside the airport two minutes after final boarding ended.

“I miss you, more,” Shouto sighs, and the two of you just watch each other through the screen. “You’re getting a bit of an accent.”

You can’t help the laugh that escapes your lips, as you quickly wipe a tear away from your cheeks and the two of you are thrown into a conversation concerning whether or not your Japanese was truly becoming muddled with an accent. There the two of you sat, chatting away, longing to be beside each other, but continued speaking so that the distance between you two just seemed a bit more temporary.

You were tired though, it was nearing two in the morning, and you had to be awake in a few hours to go back to researching. You rubbed your eyes as you listened a bit irritated as Shouto was explaining to you why Izuku, Katsuki, and himself were nearly arrested for starting a brawl over an arcade game.

“I can’t hear you.” You say again, your eyes burning from exhaustion as your hand goes to wave, a signal you guys did when the other was lagging due to poor connection. “Babe, wait…”

“I can’t—“ Shouto’s voice breaks through the laptop's speakers, and you sigh. “I—need to—can you??”

You rub your face with a free hand, the other continuing to wave until you can see Shouto waving back, the picture and audio now caught up. “I need to sleep.” You say, trying to suppress the irritation that is threatening to crawl into the tone of your voice.

“Oh, okay.” Shouto stills, his face emulating his sympathy towards your situation, the breaking up video was always something that irritated the both of you. “I’ll text you the story later, then?”

“Please do, I can’t believe you idiots haven’t gotten arrested, honestly.” You laugh dryly, trying your best not to sound irritated because you knew it wasn’t either of your fault the connection sucked. You watch as he nods his head, and you sigh for what feels like the millionth time.

“Goodnight and good morning, Shoucchan. Good luck with work, don’t stress yourself out, and know that I love you with all my heart.” You whisper to him, a truly tired yet loving smile on your face for your boyfriend.

“Sweet dreams, y/n. Make sure you set your alarms and good luck with your labs. I love you with all my heart and so much more.” Shouto whispers back.

You blow a kiss, and can’t help the laughter that escapes your lips as Shouto blows one back and produces two hearts with his fingers. “Kick some ass for me.” He says.

You roll your eyes but continue smiling as your finger traces up the touchpad and ends the call. You got up and turned off your lights, and returned to snuggle back into your sheets, hoping that your bed wouldn’t feel so empty without Shouto, even two years later.

A text message made your phone screen light up, and you smiled as you read the message.

shouto toa(d)orki - sorry video chat was crap, go to bed, i love you so so much

Knowing that if you replied the two of you would text for hours more, so instead you deleted the notification and came to stare at your lock screen. 

It was a picture of the two of you during a wedding for your best friend back home. She was getting married, and naturally, you were one of the two maids of honors, and when the wedding party went to take pictures, they allowed pictures to be taken with significant others. Because love is love is love.

So you stood there in your pretty maid of honor dress, your makeup done and hair did, and there was a glowing smile coming from your face as you were in mid-laugh. But it was Shouto that made this one of your favorite photos of you. It wasn’t a professional picture, but instead, one caught by a bridesmaid. You were laughing because of a dry comment Shouto made that you had found hilarious, and instead of looking over to where the camera was, he was looking at you. The most lovingly affectionate smile on his face as he stared at your face. The two of you had already been entangled together as part of the pose, but he seemed so gentle that even now it never failed to make you cry.

Unlocking your phone, you stared at the home screen, which was by far your favorite photo of Shouto that you had managed to take when he was off guard. The memory was years ago, but you could remember it like it was yesterday.

“Shouto, I have the most serious question in the world for you,” You intensely state, sitting on your knees as you turned your attention to your boyfriend who was mid-slurp of his soba noodles. His quirked eyebrow letting you know he was listening, and with a splitting grin, you asked away, “Are you an ass man, or a boobs man?”

There is no expression on Shouto’s face for a second. Two seconds.

On the third second, a light blush comes across his face as he returns his attention onto his food. But you can hear the slight choking sound escaping his lips and you cackle just the smallest amount as you wait for him to finish his noodle. You drag his chair out from the table, ignoring the small and weak protests leaving his lips. Taking your phone and opening the camera app, ready for the perfect moment, you sat on his lap straddling his body to the chair, and you laughed.

Shouto’s eyes were looking past you, ignoring you as you adjust your position on his lap. With the arm that held your phone, you placed it on his shoulder, letting your hand hang, and with your free arm, you grabbed his hand that was stiff against your thighs. “Ass?” You ask as you guide his hand to your butt, and you remove it after a moment of lingering, “Or boobs?” And you gently press his hands against your breast. An ever so teasingly smile on your face as the blush on Shouto’s cheeks darken.

“I–um, well, I–” Shouto stutters uncharacteristically as you let out a laugh crushing him into a hug, “What are you–?” He stops mid-sentence at the sight of you bringing your phone out and snapping a picture.

So forever on pixels was the embarrassed looking Shouto who was staring at your breast as your cheeks were pressed onto his as you smiled brightly for your camera. Simple and sweet.

Approving the picture, you pressed a lingering kiss onto Shouto’s lips to which he responds to immediately. “Thank you!” You whisper against his lips, as you scoot off his lap.

Only that it didn’t go as planned as Shouto grabs you by your ass and immediately has you back onto his lap, “You can’t expect to leave me just like that?” He says, a fire burning in his eyes, and now it's your turn to blush as his lips come to meet yours with unwavering passion.

“And you still didn’t answer my question!” You whine quietly as his lips momentarily pause.

“I’m a man who appreciates all parts of my lover.”

“Mhmm.”

The rest of this conversation is further explored by the actions of that night.

You sigh as you turn off your phone and turn around, and with thoughts of Shouto on your mind you pass out.

⋆✭⋆✭⋆⋆✭⋆✭⋆

It’s a few days later when you find yourself home, a single day off after working for eleven months straight. You’re on the phone texting with Shouto, or at least texting Shouto.

He wasn’t responding to you, and he hadn’t been for around eleven hours or so. Yes, there was a time difference, but not enough where you couldn’t text during the day. You had texted him what you had been doing all day, updating him with every lazy detail of your day, and sending him every PigeonGame you could. No response.

Not even your friends could tell you where Shouto was, and typically he was with at least one of them.

You stare at your phone some more, wishing for something from your boyfriend, and when a FaceTime call comes through, you immediately pick up. 

“HELLO!” You scream into the phone as it shows Shouto’s face on the screen.

He smiles down at the camera, god even at a downwards angle your boyfriend still managed to look good. “Hi, sorry, I wasn’t able to use my phone for the entire day. Something with the phone company.” Shouto explained, an awkward smile on his face, and you knew he was lying.

“M’kay,” You suspiciously squint your eyes, but let the lie slide, it wasn’t something you wanted to get on him about. Besides, you guessed that it could add up considering he was one to fall asleep before midnight, and it was currently three in Japan. “Where are you?” You ask noticing the grey interior of the car he was in, his interior was not grey.

“I’m in a taxi.” Shouto says with a small shrug, “I can’t use my car, so I’m using the taxi.”

“Not using the train still?” You ask a bit confused about the entire reason why he had started using a car all those years ago when you had a perfectly good public transport system at home. 

Shouto laughs a bit, his eyes looking up at where the driver was probably at. “Uh, I just was running late, and a taxi was going to be faster than waiting fifteen minutes for the next train.”

“Okay,” You hum as you roll over on your bed and you swear you hear English, but ignore it as you pull the phone closer to your face as you watch Shouto exit the car, handing money over to the cab driver. “What are you grabbing?” You ask as you hear a click from the trunk. “Are you having a sleepover at Bakugou’s? Mina said that's what she thought was happening.”

“What? No.” Shouto gave you a weird look.

“Why are you getting to work so late anyway, isn’t it three? Just cuz your daddy runs the business doesn’t mean you can be a douche.”

“Aren’t you little ball of sunshine,” Shouto mutters as he begins walking, and you can’t help but laugh as you watch him walk up staircases. “Can you do me a favor though?” He asks.

You hum, letting him know you were ready for anything he could ask, not that you were sure as to what it would be.

“Open your front door?”

Your scrunch your eyebrows together as you get off your bed and walk to the front door, “Did you get me a gift? I’m not forgetting our anniversary, and it’s not my birthday.” You say suspiciously as you open the door, your eyes concentrated on your phone before you glance at the floor for some package.

Except, it wasn’t a box you found your eyes looking at, but instead a pair of white sneakers. You froze and you felt your phone drop from your hands.

Tears swam in your eyes as you slowly trailed your eyes up the body and landed your gaze onto Shouto, who was staring at you with an almost breathless expression on his face. As if you two had been meeting for the first time and were in love at first sight.

Tears fell down your face and Shouto gingerly reached a hand out to wipe away the water coating your face.

“Hi, my love.”

thats it for now my lovely readers! i hope you enjoyed, long distance relationships are some of the best and worst experiences, but i think it makes a relationship stronger sometimes too!!!! anyways, i just hit 400 followers and that makes me excited, and i need ideas of things to do for that milestone!!! send me ideas!!!

bonus!

“No, no. Do not move.” You mumble into Shouto’s chest as the two of you finished making out for what was the twentieth time in the past two hours. “You’re ruining my time with you!” 

“I’ll be here for a month, dumbass,” Shouto says and the small reassurance causes tingles to shoot down your body. "Besides, you're the one who's been gone for too long."

“Do you think we can beat our old records in a month?” You ask suggestively as you let Shouto get up to go pee.

“No, because you’re working.”

“I literally called out for the month the second you told me the first time!”

“They let you?”

“No, but I did get two weeks!”

You waited on your bed as Shouto returned back to the room wearing nothing but his pants and socks, his shirt had long since been taken off. “Well,” He says as he climbs on top of you, “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

Smiles adorn both your faces as your lips meet halfway.

#todoroki shouto #todoroki shoto x reader #todoroki x reader #todoroki scenario #todoroki fluff #bnha writing blog #bnha #bnha x reader #bnha todoroki #bnha scenarios #mha #mha x reader #mha todoroki #mha scenarios

[alkhale]

Katsuyu marriage dynamic was sooo adorable. Kinda makes me wonder about what ToFu’s marriage dynamic would be like. Especially when Fuyu used to joke about marrying rich or teasing Shouto about being “Rich boi todoroki”.

Married ToFu/ShoYu goes something like this:

- the early stages pre engagement are rocky, the unexpected twist is that ToFu as a couple fights more than people would expect, these two are horribly bull headed when it comes to each other

- like KatsuYu they live together and their schedules are always clashing. Their schedules take a bit more of a toll on them because Todoroki is a lot more emotionally dependent then he lets on, visual, physical confirmations of presence are things he really wants from her but CANT GET IF THEYRE SO BUSY (Roki is needier than people expect)

- Pro Hero shouto’s interns always keep their mouth shut but notice how agitated Todoroki gets when he hasn’t seen his significant other in a long time, he has a blanket at work Fuyu made for him that’s half red and white and sometimes he wraps it right over his shoulders, leans back in his office and sleeps

- When she isn’t home and he is, he stares at the calendar of their schedules and often writes small notes (“free for an hour this day” or “off early”) and hopes

- Fuyu thinks about him a lot on the job, she misses him but can’t work her mouth to say it. It bums her out when she comes back to their stupidly nice and big apartment and she only sees traces of him left behind (his uniform, her clothes already washed for her, food restocked, their futon half folded, flowers left in a vase for her)

- she used to live in a smaller apartment and all the fancy equipment and furniture weirds her out and she’s always just yelling ROKI WTF IS THIS WHAT DOES IT DO or skeptically stares at the fancy machinery or runs off the personal grocery shoppers

- It takes a lot of convincing to move her into a nicer place. Todoroki has to fight many battles, keep doing your best, Roki

“Just let me call you the taxi.”

“It’s literally a twenty minute walk—“

“You just finished a two day shift.”

“It’ll be good for me—“

“I miss you.”

“God damn it, call the fucking car.”

- Endeavor is always sending them shit and gifts and Todoroki wants to throw it all out but Fuyu always feels bad when his dad sends a box of crabs or beef and is usually softer on Endeavor in secret, she stays rigid with him though because it’s a rocky slope and Roki comes first for her no matter what

- Fuyu is D O N E with this rich shit, she doesn’t know where all this money comes from, Pro Hero Shouto’s bank account statements blow her god damn mind, he suggested a shared account and she always says no because Fuyu Funds are sensitive and she’s never seen that many numbers

- Fuyu is the only that brings up marriage without realizing it, she’s the one that says one morning into his shoulder that she wants to stay with him forever. He asks if she promises never to take it back, she says yes

- Todoroki buys the ring, Fuyumi helps him pick it out and when he gives it to her Fuyu still has the audacity to look surprised like where tf did this come from??? And Roki is just??? You???

- they have a traditional Japanese wedding, they try to keep it small and intimate but it’s stupidly hard

- a lot of people don’t know they’re together, Fuyu is fine with that because she thinks part of Todoroki’s revenue is his bachelor status but whenever people ask he points and says that’s his wife and she’s just >:o but with a blush

- half the televisions in his agency are always tuned to different channels that broadcast Fuyu’s activities, she told him to stop it but he doesn’t

- sometimes Todoroki scares the shit out of an intern sitting down next to them on a couch and watching his wife on the screen in silence before calling her to tell her to rest and quietly listening to her cuss him out but still looking stupidly content about it because he gets to talk to her

- when Shouto visits the Akaito Agency theres yelling before it gets quiet and Eiji usually finds them wrapped up in each other on her couch or Todoroki holding her hand while she sleeps (they hold hands a lot)

- on free days they really love going to visit his mom or family or spending the entire day somewhere like movies or a solid date, she teaches him how to cook, some days they never make it out of the bedroom

- sometimes after really long days, Fuyu slips into the futon behind him and wraps her arms around him. Shouto waits before he turns around and wraps her up and she ties their strings together and falls asleep listening to his heartbeat

- they’re a bit stupid, but they love very passionately, these two

#ohbab #todoroki shouto #kouki fuyu #todoroki x oc #bnha oc #ToFu #ShoYu #roki x fuyu #ohbab headcanons

[shions-songbirds]

“You keep me warm”

Also posted on ao3

Shouto was cold. That was the thing about being undead, he was never warm. When he was fresh from feeding, there was a bit of warmth, something to fight off the icy chill deep in his bones, under his skin, permeating every bit of his being, but it faded quickly, souring inside him. Everything soured. From the appeal of living forever, of which there never really was in the first place, to the prospect of being eternally cold and lighting up like a sheet of gasoline covered paper in fire, of which also never really had any appeal in the first place. In fact, Shouto felt rather confident in saying that there were really no benefits to being a vampire at all, but the prospect of death was just as sour as the prospect of living. 

But at least he had friends. They weren’t capable of keeping him warm, but they filled the void of being all alone, provided love and comfort, made him happy. There was Uraraka, the sweet witch who lived outside of the nearest town, a good couple hour jaunt from the castle; Midoriya, the ghost who haunted the surrounding woods and would often stop to pay Shouto a visit; Iida, the man-made monster, or rather, creature, who spent many a day out at the castle because humans were the worst and constantly tried to threaten or kill him. A whole myriad of creatures lurked nearby, individuals who Shouto adored being around, and sure, they weren’t always around, they lead their own lives, but they were still wonderful. He still adored all of them.

But there was one, other than Midoriya, who made his entire undead life worth living, one who he would do anything for, any time. The love of his unending life, the man he’d give everything for. The man who hadn’t showed up in five months, who hadn’t even come back to town in all that time, though he did send letters to some of the other creatures, and to Uraraka, leaving Shouto to wonder where he went wrong. Never once did he think he’d be so hated by someone else that they simply wouldn’t return, and never once did he think that he wouldn’t even know what he did to reach this point. He didn’t think he had done anything, he didn’t think he’d hurt his lover in any way, but here he was, all alone, just as he had been for months now.

And it had been months, months since his Katsuki had returned to him, and there was no one, nothing, to blame but himself, because Katsuki was never one to run away from things, never one to hide. The fact that he hadn’t returned or even said a word had to mean that Shouto had screwed up somehow, had made some fatal mistake. Katsuki had promised to come back four months ago, promised he’d only be gone until after the next full moon, but five had passed, and what was Shouto supposed to do other than wait? What was five months in the scale of a lifetime? A lifetime that Katsuki was limited by and he was not. He only had one lifetime with Katsuki, and it seemed to him now that he didn’t even have that. He hadn’t heard a single word from his lycanthrope lover, and what was he supposed to feel when faced with the fact that practically everyone else had? 

He wrapped a blanket around himself, to fight the cold, but the cold permeated deeper, sunk into his heart, just as it had for the last couple weeks, and he stared out the window, feeling pitiful. He didn’t have any body heat to wrap himself up in, only comforted by the warmth the blanket itself was capable of providing, which was precious little, as he ruminated on his life. His pitiful life. He had lead multiple lifetimes all alone, what was one more? It should be that simple, it was that simple, and yet it wasn’t, because of course it wasn’t, because his heart screamed out every time he thought that he might be living out the rest of his days alone. He should’ve known better than to think anything different, but for one lifetime, just one, he’d wanted to hope, he’d wanted to try. For just one lifetime he’d wanted to love. And for the first time, he had gotten that, or he thought he had. Katsuki had made him feel like he was actually capable of feeling something, something more, and he hadn’t really felt like that since he was turned. He had thought being turned meant he lost everything that made him human, including his emotions, or at least, the bulk of them. 

Which made the loneliness hit harder, and the night chill creep in colder than before. Shouto figured he should just return to his chambers, pass the rest of the night in the comfort of his own bed, and maybe, hopefully, stop feeling sorry for himself. Katsuki had made his feelings clear, even if not in his usual brash and straightforward way, and that was simply the fact of the matter. Let his hope fall as dead as he was. 

Hope that shot up pitifully at the sound of a howl just outside, down in the garden, the horribly unkept garden, he really needed to get on that--, the cadence matching Katsuki’s, but maybe his brain was just filling in tones where there weren’t any. Maybe it wasn’t the beckoning howl of his lover, maybe it was nothing, maybe it was a wild wolf in the woods, but gods if everything in Shouto wasn’t calling back to it, drawn in by the siren song of the one who held his undead heart in his claws. 

He would just visit the garden and if it came up empty, if he’d imagined a cry that wasn’t there, then so be it, there was no one in this castle but him, no one else to see his over eager shame. There was no harm in it, it wouldn’t hurt him if it came up empty, at least that’s what he tried to convince himself. Katsuki would be there and everything could be fine! Everything would be fine, they’d be together again, and they could talk and sort out what happened together, and enjoy this one lifetime they had side by side. So what if he rushed down the stairs, so what if he hurried towards the door to the garden, only slowing down at the prospect that Katsuki might catch him in a rush, and dammit he was mad at him, even if he missed him more than his own life. And he missed his life a lot. 

He didn’t actually consider how he’d feel if he did find the garden empty, didn’t consider that trying to force himself to think nothing of it wouldn’t work at all because that meant he was still alone, didn’t consider how much it would crush him to deal with that. And it did. When he went outside and found nothing but the empty garden, he sobbed tears he couldn’t shed, feeling his heart shatter. A fool’s hope, a dumb wish, to think that he’d come back like this, after months, after making it clear he had no words to say to him. 

Maybe there was no one to observe his shame, but he felt awful, felt pathetic for ever having hoped, because why would he come back to him? At this point, why did anyone? He choked on tears he didn’t have, and the all consuming cold, on his knees outside the castle, staring down an empty garden through blurred vision. He sat there for quite awhile, feeling like he couldn’t move, like he was stuck like this, with a cold vice wrapped around his heart and an emptiness in his soul.

And that’s when he heard it, his wolf’s voice, and he should be happy, gods above this is exactly what he wanted, but it hurt. Parts of him he didn’t even know could still hurt stung as though he had been stabbed, and Katsuki couldn’t just do that. Couldn’t shatter his heart and his hopes and then come back and expect everything to be fine. This wasn’t fine! Nothing about this was fine!

“Shouto?” he heard, and he growled. His eyes gleamed and his fangs dropped, and he growled. “What that fu-”

Shouto didn’t let him finish his thought. “How. Dare. You.” he forced out, his voice incredibly tight. He moved shakily to his feet, and his expression was angry, and sad, and pained. Horribly pained. This was exactly what he wanted but to be faced with it after his hopes crushed again hurt too much, tore into him a bit too hard. “You don’t get to “Shouto” me! You left me for months! You didn’t say a damn word! And-- and then you come back and you let me think that maybe my mind was playing tricks on me yet again!” he sobbed again, no tears but all the pain of it, all the feeling. “I’ve waited for you every single night, hoping that maybe that would finally be the night you came back to me! But you didn’t! You never even let me know you were alive! I had to find out from everyone else! I had to sit here and wonder what I did wrong, what made you leave, because for the first time since I became… this, I had someone to love, and then he left me for four months more than he promised. Never told me anything,” he choked on his words, dripping with pain, and Katsuki, sensibly, kept his mouth shut as his lover went off. Let him air out his frustrations and his pain, because he was justified in it. He was allowed to hurt. 

“What was I supposed to think? That you leaving me, sending nothing, meant nothing? Katsuki, I’ve lived for centuries, and never once has five months felt so long. Never once did it feel like the days would never end. But that’s all this was. Five months of days that felt like five weeks, slowly coming to the realization that maybe I was a fool to hope for a lifetime. A fool to hope for a life once you were gone.” That was Shouto’s breaking point, his voice giving out on him, and that seemed to be Katsuki’s breaking point too, the wolf snapping before the other could continue. As though he could continue. 

“Shut up! Gods above, fangface, do you think you were the only one having a hard time? I didn’t want to be gone this long! I didn’t want to be out in the middle of buttfuck nowhere searching and searching for some random shit! If you think for a minute I didn’t wanna be here with you then you’re even fucking stupider than I thought you were. I didn’t mean to leave for this long--”

Shouto cut him off, finding his voice again. “Then why did you?”

“I’m getting to that! Fucking hell. I was looking for some things, okay? A potion Roundface promised me she could make, if I could just get her the damn ingredients. And before you ask, I’ll get to what the potion does in a minute. I had figured a month would be long enough to get everything, but there were some… complications, and it took me fucking five. Because maybe you just wanted this for a life time, but I staked my claim for forever, and there’s no way in hell I’d give up my mate to something as easy to fight as that bitch, Time.”

“You-- “ He put the pieces together quickly, shocked. “You got her to make you an immortality potion? But, the ingredients--”

“A bit of dragon’s blood, an angel feather, demonic tears, yada yada weren’t shit, they just took awhile to get.”

“Katsuki no one has made an immortality potion in all the time I’ve been alive.”

“Yeah because I’m better than everyone else.”

Shouto felt like he could cry again, shakily moving towards his lover, before promptly collapsing against his chest. 

“You’re absolutely insane. Did it work?”

“Guess we’ll fucking see, we’ve got a lifetime after all.”

“Hopefully more,” Shouto whispered against him, nuzzling into his neck, saturating his nose with the scent of Katsuki, like a weird mix of candy and musk, a scent he wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. “Wanna go up to the room? … You smell delicious.” This didn’t fix everything, there was still a lot to talk about, but for the moment, he just wanted to relish in the presence of his lover, his mate. They had forever, he hoped, this conversation could wait a few hours.

Katsuki scoffed, scooping up his batty boyfriend and hauling him inside. He’d be lightheaded by the end of the night, he was sure, lightheaded and sated, something he hadn’t been in months, wrapped around his lover the way he’d wanted to be since he left.

---

And he was right. As they settled down for bed, Katsuki was horribly light headed from blood loss and horribly satisfied, wrapped around his lovely mate, whose cheeks were flushed and hair was mussed, looking blissed out of his mind. 

That’s when he heard it, his voice saturated in love. “You keep me warm,” Shouto purred, nuzzling in closer. “Promise me you won’t leave me alone again,”

“...I promise.”

#bakutodo #todobaku #todoroki shouto #bakugou katsuki #vampire todoroki #werewolf bakugou #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bnha #mha #angst #angst with a happy ending #my writing #fanfic #fanfiction #I wrote this back in October around Halloween but I never posted it #so enjoy it now

[soren-bleu-kun]

BnHA Fics I’ve Read This Week 2

Here are my notable stories that I found and read this week. Some of these contain manga spoilers. 

Confined By My Own Mind (I’m Not Fine) - This is a Dadzawa fic that, despite the title saying that it must be, takes place from Aizawa’s perspective and not Midoriya’s. During this fic, the homeroom teacher of 1A realizes that something is wrong with one of his students and pulls him aside during class. 

Aches and Pains - Another Dadzawa fic, this time from Midoriya’s side of things. Unable to sleep because of the old pains in his bones caused by misusing his Quirk, Midoriya heads out of his room and runs into his teacher in the dorm kitchen. 

Disowned - This is not the most realistic Shouto Todoroki fic that I’ve ever read, but I like the idea of him losing control of his power and himself after being kicked out of the Todoroki family. I wish this fic went a little more into the “why” of things, and the aftermath, but still a good little story. 

Angel’s Egg - THIS IS NOT COMPLETED YET! Usually I don’t read, much less review, incomplete stories, but this one - only at three chapters so far - is a great story so far. Basically, what if Izuku was left on All Might’s doorstep, but instead of a baby, he’s an egg that has to be incubated? It sounds weird but it’s actually really cute - and baby Izuku has little wings. Honestly, give this a read and encourage the author, it is so good. 

Day 10 - Wait No, Aww Crap, Here We Go Again - This long titled fic is the first Kaminari Centric fic that I have read, but it will not be the last. In this story, Kaminari gets upset about something that Monoma said to him, and his friends make sure that some adults takes care of it - like they should in canon but don’t. 

Pretty - This is a fic where Monoma and Shinsou are an established couple, and Monoma goes off to visit his boyfriend in the middle of the night. No smut, I don’t review any of that. Honestly, this was cute, even if I don’t really ship it. 

Spare Scares? - This is clearly going for ShinDoriya, and they really make this a cute story, but this is more or less before any relationship that they could/will have. Basically, Shinsou only came to this UA Halloween party to find Hatsume and pick up something he needs for training, and runs into Midoriya, who is here dressed as a ghost. 

The Road That Went Forever - Would you like to utter despise Hisashi Midoriya? I know that I wasn’t planning on it when I read this fic, but that is what happened. Basically, after he finds out that Izuku is Quirkless, he starts trying to find a way to get rid of him and he does. 

A Routine Affair - This is the second Huyumi fic that I’ve ever read, and I still see it as a bit of a crack ship more than anything else, but this story is cute. Basically, Hawks brings Fuyumi coffee before work every day and it takes her a very long time to realize that he likes her. 

Float - Now this is an interesting one. Basically, Midoriya is trying to unlock Float, which is Nana Shimura’s power. It turns out the only way that he can do that is to let go of the things he’s been feeling that are weighing him down and talk about them. This is very much a “fuck Bakugou” fic, which is my favorite. I love that Midoriya finally gets to feel and talk about all of the things that were done to him in this one. 

Savior - Basically, what if everyone told Bakugou to stop being an asshole to Midoriya on the first day of school instead of condoning his behavior? 

Uraraka’s Guide to Crushes - This is a TsuChako fic, which I think is a cute ship but don’t read about often. In this one, Uraraka is so sure that this will be a quick crush and then it’ll be over. The thing is, it doesn’t go away, which means she might actually have to confront her emotions... terrifying. 

The Sparkling Hero : Aoyama Yuuga - I have never seen a fic entirely dedicated to Aoyama, which made this an interesting read. Though not canon to the few things we do know about his background, it is still an interesting take on one of UA’s most sparkling future heroes. 

The Second Prince - This is a “what is AFO were Midoriya’s dad” fics, in a royal fantasy AU. Although some of the characters are OOC, this is a look at what Midoriya’s life would be like if he lived in a little castle where he can’t get hurt and still tried to help people anyways. I was surprised by how much I liked this fic. 

First Try (Not the Last) - In this fic, Midoriya has a Quirk, something that he only discovers when he tries to launch himself off of a building like Bakugou told him to. This is the first fic in the series, and I haven’t read it all the way through yet. Pretty good though. 

Like Light Through a Window - In this Aizawa and Hagakure Centric fic, the teacher finds the young hero in training after she’s been almost crushed under a building. He’s able to see her face for the first time, but only because it’s covered in blood. 

The Deaf Hero: Deku -  Basically, what if everything were the same but Midoriya was losing his hearing during it? Forty chapters, worth the read. 

I See You - In another fic where Midoriya is missing one of his senses, this blind successor of All Might wants to be able to see his mentor. The only embarrassing part is asking him if he wouldn’t mind Midoriya touching all over his face. 

Remember From Here on In - This is a fic where the author comes up with the six Quirks that Midoriya is going to get because of OFA. Although not canon, it was very good and fun. 

Remembrance - Throughout the course of these three chapters, Midoriya gets blasted back through time and lands in a world pre-All Might. Or at least, not the All Might that he knows, since he’s still at UA. 

Shout & Mute - In this EraserMic fic, the two of them are stuck in each other’s bodies throughout the course of the fic because of a villain. While staying at Hizashi’s apartment in his body, Shouta realizes just how much he loves him and knows that he’s going to end up confessing even if the feelings aren’t reciprocated. 

How Not to Enjoy the Weather, an Article by Kaminari Denki - The story toys around with the idea of this electric boy getting overpowered during thunder storms and him isolating himself so that he doesn’t end up hurting anyone that he cares about. 

A Deadman’s Gun - Throughout ten chapters, we get to see what would happen if Midoriya never got a Quirk and instead fell in league with Stain. 

See No Evil, Hear No Evil - A Bakugou and Kaminari friendship fic. Turns out that on the day that Kaminari forgot his contacts that he hasn’t told anyone about, and Bakugou forgot his hearing aids that he needs because of his Quirk. They decide to depend on each other throughout the day. 

Pictures, Posters, and Tender Beauty - During this fic, we get to see exactly what Midoriya thinks about his mentors weakened state. Dad Might fluff ahead. 

Electric Connection - This is a story where Kaminari can’t sleep - thanks ADHD - and so the entire BakuSquad comes into help. Shinsou is his boyfriend in this one, but it isn’t the focal point of the story. 

Caught Up - This is a Shinsou Centric fic where he fights through all of the not-quite-comments about his Quirk, and is thankful for having Aizawa in his corner. The last scene is Shinsou and Aizawa working together with the capture weapon. 

How To Ask Out a Guy in 2000 Words or Less - This is a ShinDoriya fic, and it features exactly what you think it does based off of the title. A very cute little story. 

Ghost - This is a story that actually features Shinsou and Shigaraki, the two of them having met at a toy store when Shinsou was just a little kid. Honestly, I wish there were multiple chapters of this because the idea is really interesting. 

Eyes On Me - Throughout three chapters, we see how Aizawa deals with his own panic attacks and the reasons why he feels the need to help his students through theirs. 

For Blood and Wine are Red (and Blood and Wine Were on His Hands) - Despite having a very long and Oscar Wilde inspired name, this is a short one-shot about Vigilante!Midoriya breaking into Aizawa’s apartment, looking for a first aid kit. 

Schrödinger’s Cat - This is a an extremely beautiful and painful story where Midoriya is found, months after going missing with a new powerful Quirk, white hair, and no memory of how he got there. This story was translated by the author from it’s native German, where is got less than five hundred hits. I think that everyone should read this fic and give the author a lot of love. 

Around and Around We Go - One of those “Five Things + One” things, this time with EraserMight and hair ties. A very cute story. I don’t get the chance to read a lot of EraserMight but I’m glad that I took the time to read this one. 

Playlists - Useless lesbians Momo and Jirou pine over each other and don’t realize that their love is requited until Jirou makes her crush known via a playlist. 

Nothing Cuts Like a Mother - In this Inko Midoriya Centric fic, we have the mother going to UA to tell Aizawa about the troubles that he has, with his Quirk. She also tells him about the bullying that Izuku Midoriya went through, and tells his teacher that these mistakes cannot be repeated. 

Team Player - This is a fic about Dabi not wanting to be redeemed from his sins. That was for Touya, an old him. He isn’t that guy anymore. 

Helping Hands - Primarily from the perspective of Kirishima, this is a fic that deals with an AU where Midoriya never got into the Hero Course, and is instead a Gen Ed course student at UA. Cue Bakugou attacking him on the second day, telling him that he doesn’t even belong at the same school as someone like himself - and then see all of Class 1A get angry for Midoriya because “Dude did you just fucking attack a dude because he’s Quirkless?” 

It’s Hurt Denki Hours - Now, I don’t really like the way that this one ends, but in this story the BakuSquad is convinced that Kaminari is the traitor and refuses to talk to him. This really hurts Kami, because he was actually really, really worried about his friends and this hurts him deeply. There is also a bit of a misunderstanding about how Shinsou’s Quirk works, but I will overlook it for the angst. 

Optimistic Friendship Association - This fic features Midoriya accidentally texting Shinsou instead of Yagi, asking how to get OFA to stop breaking his bones. When he’s asked what that is, he panics and says it’s a school group. Now he just has to find a way to explain why a group around optimism is breaking bones... 

Lichtenberg Figures - Another Kaminari Centric fic. In this one, Kaminari accidentally hurts a civilian after panicking during a villain attack. Not wanting to hurt anyone else, he starts refusing to use his Quirk, which does nothing but hurt him in the end. 

Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n Roll - This is a fic that has nothing to do with intercourse, drugs, or music. No, this is an ADHD Kaminari fic, where his RSD makes him not want to fill out a test that he doesn’t remember any of the answers to and he draws all over it. As someone with ADHD, this hit close to home but was really good. 

Kiss Away All These Thrills - A short ShinKami fic about the two of them playing the Pocky Game. Spoilers: it ends with a kiss and a confession. 

#bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #erasermic #eraserhead #shouta aizawa #hizashi yamada #present mic #denki kaminari #hitoshi shinsou #izuku midoriya #midoriya #deku #antibakugou #bakugou #shindeku #shinkami #inko midoriya #tsuchako #afo #ofa #dadzawa #toshinori yagi #all might #erasermight

[kagehinataboke]

idk if you're still taking prompts... (and is totally okay if you aren't!!! you must have a lot already...) but IF you have the time AND I F you want to do it, can i please (with a cherry on top) request tdbk 1+17?? like maybe something in wwii?? like maybe they're both jews ot something along the ´the boy in the striped pajamas´ storyline, with todo as bruno (or maybe baku as bruno...) or maybe they're japanese and in japan... (1/2)

… i mean, japan was a big part of the wwii too. anyway, whatever is fine! i’m just really invested in the idea huh. but if you can, obviously!!!! no pressure!!! your writing is perfect!!!! (2/2)

first of all: thank you ❤️ second of all: HELL YES. YES. anon, you don’t know this, but i’m obsessed with history and have been wanting to do a WWII au FOREVER ;-;

also i listener to this song while writing and it increases the sadness level by about 100000% if anyone is interested

tdbk, [1] Historical AU and [17] War AU

***

“Are you still having the nightmares?”

“I’ve been doing the breathing exercises before bed.” Bakugou avoids the question, as he always does when Aizawa asks. “I think things are a bit better.”

That’s a lie. He still has the nightmares, and things are the opposite of better. But how is Bakugou supposed to tell his doctor that, after a year away from the war, he still has the same nightmare day after day? That it never gets any better no matter what he does? He can’t, and he doesn’t.

Every night, he goes to sleep terrified of the images that live deep in his mind. The memories that only come out in dreams. The nameless boy he doesn’t know, yet somehow knows all too well. The screams of that boy, which echo in Bakugou’s head for hours after he wakes up. The heat of blood. The overwhelming smell of saltwater. The smoke-filled sky over the murky Pacific. Fragments of things he used to know.

The only thing he can think of that will get rid of this burden is finding the person stuck in his head. If only things were that simple. Bakugou has been checking the records of every soldier in navy battle, but he can’t connect a name to the face that flickers behind his closed eyelids. Why can’t he remember?

After waking up in the hospital thirteen months ago, he could only recall three things: his name, his age, and that he was a soldier for the Japanese navy. Nothing else. Now, he’s regained most of his childhood memories, but his time spent fighting in the war remains hazy. He’s blocked it out due to severe trauma, the doctors say, but Bakugou wants nothing more than to remember.

“Make sure you come back in a month,” Aizawa tells him, as always, when he dismisses him. “And don’t go poking around the recruitment office anymore. They’ll think you’re well enough to be re-drafted.”

Bakugou just nods, pulls his hat low over his eyes, and steps out into the rainy afternoon smog. He’s got dark circles from lack of sleep, and he seriously doubts the army would want him back given his severe memory issues. It’s not like he chose to have his ship blown up or to get amnesia. Whatever. He doesn’t need to go back to the recruitment office, anyway: they won’t tell him anything. If he’s going to find this mystery boy, he’s going to have to do it alone.

He’s starting to recover bits and pieces, at least. The dreams, although horrifying, are becoming clearer. He can remember sights, sounds, sensations. The smell of the ocean. The feeling of a hand on his wrist, and the sun on his face. The smile of the boy with no name—the boy Bakugou’s heart aches for. He knows him, if only he could remember how.

That’s why he can’t tell Aizawa about the nightmares. He’ll try to get rid of them, and then Bakugou will have nothing left to remember. The more he dreams, the closer he gets. That boy holds the key to what Bakugou knew in the past. He’s going to remember everything, even if it fucking kills him.

His friends, however, think he’s lost it.

“You come back alive with nothing more than some scrapes and amnesia, yet your head is still living in the war? I don’t get you,” intones Kirishima, one of Bakugou’s old high-school classmates. He stayed back in Japan to design planes—helping the war effort in a different, arguably smarter way. It certainly didn’t make him any less annoying, though.

“You don’t get it,” Bakugou replies irritably, digging through the papers piled in front of them. “I’m not living in the war. You’d be frustrated, too, if you had things you knew you remembered but could never fucking remember them.” He nudges Kirishima roughly. “Keep looking. I know I’ll find him eventually.”

“How can you expect to dig through thousands of records with nothing more than a face to go off?” Kirishima whines, opening a new box to dump out piles of photos. “I obviously won’t know if it’s him, so how can I even be of help?”

“Use this.” Bakugou pulls a sketch from his jacket pocket and presses it to the table. It‘s the only thing that survived his trip to the ocean. He can’t remember drawing it, but it’s definitely his handiwork: A profile of the mystery boy, leaning against a ship’s railing. There’s half a smile on his face, and his eyes are peaceful. Serene. So out of place in a war zone.

“When did you draw this?” Kirishima squints at the paper. “Wow… it’s really good. You got better while you were stuck on that ship, huh?”

“Shut up and look, Shitty Hair.”

Bakugou spreads the pictures apart, but no face jumps out at him. Why is it so hard to remember someone he clearly knew so well? He’s so frustrated that he wants to rip his hair out. Where is this damn guy, and why does Bakugou need to get back to him so badly?

***

“Shouto, it’s past noon. You need to get up.”

Todoroki doesn’t stir. He keeps looking out at the sea, ignoring Fuyumi’s impatient presence at his back. The scent of saltwater is always strongest in the early morning. The harbor is already full of fishermen’s ships, heading out for a day of hard work.

Unfortunately, like the ocean, Fuyumi is immovable. “You need to get out of the house today. It’s been three weeks since you came back, and you’re starting to reek of despair.”

“Despair doesn’t have a smell,” Todoroki sighs, finally rolling over to look at her.

She folds her arms over her chest. “False: it’s what little brothers smell like after locking themselves in their room for a month. Get up. Bathe. Go to the market for me.”

Todoroki knows she won’t give up, so he pushes himself up, accepting the crutches she passes to him. She already has a tub ready, and as much as he hates to admit it, the hot water feels soothing on his aching limbs. They’re stiff after being in the same position for so long. Most of them, anyway. Todoroki has to marvel at the way the feeling in his left leg just ends at the knee. He’ll have to get used to it eventually, he supposes.

When he’s changed, Fuyumi gives him some money and kicks him out into the dismal afternoon drizzle. After the end of the war, Japan is healing slowly from its wounded pride and broken cities. Todoroki was lucky to return to his family home in Matsue, untouched by the carnage. If only his body and mind shared the same fortune.

The market is scarce with rationing still in place, but Todoroki manages to find most of Fuyumi’s list before he runs into a long line at the fish market. He settles in for the wait and picks up snippets of a conversation ahead.

“He’s raiding records and stirring up trouble with the army left and right, so much so that he’s infamous, even way out here.”

“What? All that to find one person? Kyoto men are their own brand of crazy.”

Todoroki reaches the front of the line, collects a parcel of fish, and heads home. His mind replays the strangers’ words. Kyoto is one of the only big cities unscathed after the war. Once upon a time, Bakugou had said he was from there.

Bakugou… Todoroki has been trying not to think of him. His name only brings pain. When they were separated at sea and Bakugou’s ship went down, Todoroki had minutes to panic before his own ship suffered the same fate. A slaughter, they called it. So many men lost to the sea that it was impossible to keep track of them all. Many are still lost, and even the ones that returned haven’t truly been found. They all left parts of themselves out in those bloody waters, Todoroki included.

He searched the records of their platoon and could find nothing of Bakugou Katsuki. It was almost as if he never existed. Todoroki would believe it, if not for the memories. They come on nights when the sea is calm and the sky is clear. Only good memories, which are somehow all the more painful.

Bakugou used to draw him. He was trying to be an artist before the draft, he said. He would only let Todoroki see some of his work, and never what he drew of him. He did draw him, even though he never admitted it. In every spare moment, Bakugou’s head was buried in a notebook, gaze trailing Todoroki across the deck, hand moving as if it had its own eyes.

“Shouto?” Fuyumi opens the door, which Todoroki has been standing in front of for a while. “What are you doing?”

Todoroki looks up at her, feeling clear-headed for the first time since returning home. “I want to visit Kyoto.”

***

Bakugou fiddles with a charcoal pencil. He still has to stop himself from using it. His fingers itch to sketch out the shape of familiar cheekbones. Of eyes that used to watch him. That still watch him in his nightmares. He’s afraid of what his hands will unleash if he gives them access to paper.

“Still can’t draw?” Kirishima sits beside him, an engineering journal in hand.

“No.” Bakugou sets down his pencil with a sigh. “Everything just feels so damn bland. There’s nothing beautiful here.” He’s not here, his mind corrects. He was here and now he’s not. He’s missing from me.

“You’re in a spiral,” Kirishima says. He doesn’t mean it maliciously, but it still pisses Bakugou off, even before he adds, “If you waste your life chasing after ghosts, you’ll always be living amid war.”

“What the fuck do you know?” Bakugou snaps, hugging his knees to his chest. He considers jumping off the train railing they’re perching against, but he isn’t suicidal. Yet.

“You’re stuck. That’s all I’m trying to say. This mystery person you can’t forget is like a rope. He’s keeping you tethered in a past you can’t even remember.”

“But he’s the key to remembering!” Bakugou snaps. “I know he is! If I can find him, I… I know everything will come back to me.” Bakugou’s hands clench into fists. “I’m not living in the past. I’m chasing it, but it’s moving too damn fast for me to keep up.”

Kirishima doesn’t say anything to that. How can he? Bakugou is sure he’s being clear about how desperate he is. One more dream and he’ll remember his name. Just one second longer and it will come to him. He can’t stop searching, or he’ll lose this part of himself. The part his heart won’t let go even when his mind has forgotten.

“I’m going back home.” Bakugou gets up, pausing before sticking the pencil in his coat pocket. “I’ll see you later.”

He doesn’t wait for a response. Instead, he pulls a sketch from his back pocket. Its edges are worn from constant unfolding, but the subject is as clear as when his unclouded eyes gazed upon it. There are thousands of other images like it living in Bakugou’s head, and he wonders now if it might be better to draw them. To set them free will be to experience them in the light of day. The light may be exactly what he needs most.

His hands agree all too quickly. Bakugou can’t rip new sheets of paper off fast enough before they’re filled with him. His eyes, his smile, his hands, his face, his everything. The pages spill across the floor, just like water spilled over the decks of that sinking ship so long ago. How his memories flowed out of his head and into the sea.

The sea… He lived by the sea, didn’t he?

Bakugou can recall his voice in whispers softer than crashing waves. My home is called Matsue. There’s nothing very exciting about it, but… the ocean is so close. When I wake up, I can hear it and smell it. The scent of saltwater is always strongest in the early morning.

Bakugou pauses mid-sketch. A stoic face looking out to sea watches him.

Matsue… isn’t very far away. If he’s alive, he’ll be there. He must be there. And even if he isn’t there, Matsue still might hold the key to who he is. And, just maybe, who Bakugou is.

***

“Are you sure you can handle taking the train by yourself?”

“I’m not a child, Fuyumi. I’ll be fine.” Todoroki lets her adjust the bag across his shoulders before nudging her away. “I’ll be back soon, and I’ll call when I arrive.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll see you later.” She hugs him goodbye, and Todoroki finally boards the train to Kyoto.

The ride only takes two days, and in that time, Todoroki has things to keep him occupied. He’s supposed to be studying his medical books to get back into school, but instead, he gets distracted by the paper tucked in his coat pocket. It’s a sketch of the ocean that Bakugou gave him for birthday. Fuyumi must’ve put it there. When he first arrived back home, he wouldn’t let go of it for a week.

Todoroki wonders what Kyoto is like. Bakugou spoke little about his home and himself. He always wanted to hear about Todoroki, instead. Perhaps Kyoto will reveal a new part of Bakugou. Or, with any luck, all of him.

The city is, however, not as Todoroki expected. It’s dark and rainy, but in a different way than Matsue. Kyoto rain is overwhelming and hard and doesn’t smell of the sea. Rather than wet sand and gravel underfoot, the city streets are muddy and antagonistic.

Todoroki wanders aimlessly through the center of the town, which is ablaze with activity. There are people as far as the eye can see, but none of them are the one Todoroki searches for. He should’ve come here with more than memories and a name, but it’s too late to go home now. If there’s one lesson the war taught him, it’s to always keep looking ahead. Literally, in this case.

“Watch where you’re going!” A stranger pulls Todoroki out of the way of an approaching car, which splashes then both with mud.

“Thank you,” Todoroki mutters after collecting himself. “I… I got lost in thought.”

“You seem lost in general.” The stranger pauses, doing a double-take for reasons Todoroki doesn’t understand. “Whoa, wait a second— Hey, weird random question, but you weren’t… in the navy, were you?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Oh. Oh man. I can’t explain, but you really need to come with me.” The stranger takes him by the arm. “I’ll tell you on the way. Actually, before that—do you know someone by the name of Bakugou?”

“What?” Todoroki’s heart skips a beat. He pulls the stranger to a stop. “Bakugou? Bakugou Katsuki? He’s still alive? Do you know him? Is he here? Can I see him?”

“Slow down. That’s too many questions. He’s here and alive, I’m his best friend, Kirishima, and I’ll take you to his place right now.”

“He’s… he’s really alive?” Todoroki presses a hand to his chest, feeling his pulse hammer against his fingertips. “You’re not kidding?”

“I’m serious. And from the looks of it, you’ve been searching for him as hard as he’s been searching for you.”

“He’s been searching for me?” Todoroki follows Kirishima down the street, feeling his heart slam into his chest. It’s been so long since he let himself hope… To think that Bakugou has been alive, and looking for him, this whole time is unreal.

“He’s been obsessed with finding you since he got back.” Kirishima glances at Todoroki nervously. “You probably don’t know this, but… he has severe amnesia. He regained most of his memories, but he says the time he spent in the war is hazy. Your face was the one thing he couldn’t forget.”

Todoroki wipes away a few sudden tears before Kirishima sees them. “Thank you. Thank you for telling me.”

“I just can’t believe I ran into you. He’ll lose his mind.” Kirishima stops outside a small housing unit and knocks on the door. His excitement noticeably dissipates the longer the knock goes unanswered. “Er… let me get the spare key.”

Todoroki takes a moment to cool down. He shouldn’t get his hopes up, even now. He needs to be prepared for the worst. But when the front door opens, his heart blossoms with nothing but hope. Drawings flood the room, lying across the floor in crests as big as ocean waves.

Him. It’s all him. Todoroki stares at himself on every page, staring out to sea, tying ropes, playing cards, smiling.

“He’s not here,” Kirishima says, bending down to pick up one of the drawings. “I don’t know what happened, but… I guess this probably confirms everything I said.”

“Where did he go?” Todoroki has to stop himself from grabbing Kirishima’s shoulders. Irrational panic is clawing its way to the surface. Todoroki has to reassure himself that he isn’t losing Bakugou again when he hasn’t even gotten him back yet. “Do you know why he isn’t here?”

“I’m not sure, but—“

“Oh, you’re here, Kirishima?” Someone new appears in the open doorway, shaking rain from his blond hair. “Who’s this?”

“Kaminari!” Kirishima practically jumps on the startled newcomer. “Do you know where Bakugou went?”

“Huh? Yeah. He went to Matsue to chase after that guy that he…” Kaminari pauses to look at Todoroki, then at Kirishima, then back at Todoroki. “Oh. Well. Bakugou is in Matsue, but I guess… the person he’s looking for isn’t.”

***

Matsue is completely different than Kyoto. Rather than being simply untouched by the war, it’s as if it never existed here. The people seem almost carefree; happy, even. Bakugou wanders the streets in wonder at the change. The war has touched here—it’s easy to tell—but things are already on the mend.

Bakugou finds himself in a crowded market, where rationed goods are being bartered for and carried away. His eyes comb through the rain, searching for a familiar face. He doesn’t find it, but he does spot someone who sparks the faintest recognition. He’s seen a picture of her before.

“Excuse me.” He startles her by tapping her on the shoulder, so much so that she almost smacks him. “Sorry. You just look familiar.”

The girl is about to brush him off when she does a double-take. “You’re—“ She cuts herself off; shakes her head, as if in understanding. “You missed him,” she sighs slowly. “He left for Kyoto two days ago.”

Bakugou’s hands clench into fists. She knows. “He’s looking for me?”

“He thought you were dead.” She readjusts the basket on her arm. “He only just arrived home a few weeks ago. Nothing would console him when he couldn’t find any trace of you. He‘s... well, he wasn’t well enough to searxh for you.”

“He thinks I’m dead?” Bakugou swallows thickly. He could ask her for his name, or ask when he’ll be back, but his tongue can’t form the words. “I have to go,” he mutters instead, backing away. She doesn’t stop him, so he turns to run.

He sprints all the way to the train station, the street passing by in a blur of moving feet and mud. He’s so distracted that he runs head-first into someone on the platform. They collide, Bakugou grabbing an elbow at the last second to keep them both from falling. “Sorry. I’m in—“

The world fractures, and Bakugou is suddenly back in the war. Not the violent parts, but the calm ones. The days where he would sit and sketch the same person over and over, but would never let him see no matter how much he begged. The afternoons where they played cards and swapped stories from home. The nights where they snuck into empty places and got lost in each other.

Bakugou‘s fingers have suddenly settled against his cheeks, holding his face up into the dreary evening light. His skin is soft and his eyes are lost in memories, just as Bakugou’s must be.

His name… His name is…

Bakugou feels himself smile for the first time in months. “Todoroki.”

He doesn’t recognize his own voice. It’s never been so soft. So close to breaking. But then again, he’s never experienced this type of relief before. The final pieces of his memory settle back into place, and his heart becomes whole again. The war that’s been waging inside of him ever since he woke up has finally been won.

Todoroki hugs him, his arms solid and achingly real. He pulls back to look at him, tears trickling from the eyes that used to haunt Bakugou’s dreams. “I missed you,” he says, so softly it’s almost a whisper.

Bakugou kisses him to steal the sadness from his voice. Then he kisses him again. And again, until he thinks he might know he is. Who they both are.

The war is over. This time, for good.

#hi #i am posting one tmore temporarily-off-hiatus-before-getting-back-on-hiatus request #and i'm dead #rip #i physically cannot handle this #;-; #answered asks #calla.txt #todobaku #trope prompts

[peerless-soshi]

Hearts in reflection (Ch. 1)

Title: Hearts in reflection Fandom: Boku No Hero Academia Relationship: Momo Yaoyorozu/Shouto Todoroki Setting: Snow Queen AU Genre: Romance/fairy tale retelling Rating: T (elements of domestic abuse, death themes)  All chapters: Prologue Word count: 3682 Links: AO3, FFN Summary:  “…And so the castle turned into a mirror; if a good heart looked at the lustrous surface of frozen walls, then they would see the Snow Queen and nobody else, forever and ever…”

Being raised among books, Momo remembers these words by heart. Every year, along with the arrival of first frosts, the girl was forbidden to look in the mirror for fear of the Snow Queen. But her childhood days have finally come to an end. Momo goes to celebrate the Winter Solstice, but instead of the queen in the white sleighs, she meets a boy with ice powers who turns the town into ashes. The line between tales and reality becomes less clear as Momo delves deeper into the books and notices inaccuracies in popular interpretations.

Does the Snow Queen kidnap children? And does the boy really have a shard of mirror in his heart? To find answers, Momo is walking on very thin ice.

The tale of Momo

"A few snow-flakes were falling, and one, the largest of all, remained lying on the edge of a flower-pot.The flake of snow grew larger and larger; and at last it was like a young lady, dressed in the finest white gauze, made of a million little flakes like stars. She was so beautiful and delicate, but she was of ice, of dazzling, sparkling ice; yet she lived; her eyes gazed fixedly, like two stars; but there was neither quiet nor repose in them. She nodded towards the window, and beckoned with her hand. "

*

The day Momo wore the poppy red lipstick was the first day of winter.

The sky was dripping with wet and puffy gray, like an umbrella unfolded over the town to announce the coming snowstorm. Sitting on the windowsill in the spacious living room, with her head resting on the glass, Momo wondered if the snow would last until morning. If it was cold at night, tomorrow she would find her fluffy muff and check whether the river froze at the edges. The beginning of December was fickle, and meteorological maps have taught her that low temperatures would melt before January, but today everything would ice over.

The river and the bridge, the one with the red railing, always froze on the Winter Solstice.

Her warm breath left hazy freckles on the window. What can you do with them? A quick creativity test: soft bunnies, snowflakes, roses similar to those blooming under her window in spring. Momo sighed and thought about painting a fictitious picture on the glass, but she stopped herself – instead, she let her fingers skim across the mirror lying beside her. The dim light reflected there together with the copy of her red lips, not so different from the roses, shining on the porcelain skin, and ebony hair tied in a ponytail. She looked so dignified this morning – so much like anadult – that she wanted to ask her mother where she kept her old skates, and if the ice would come tonight, and if Jirou would bring her sled…

But Jirou was an adult, right?

Momo really wanted to sledge, but it wasn't something a lady would do; it looked funny, but it could destroy the winter dress that her mother just ordered.

Jirou would like to tie the rope of her sled to the largest carriage, too – Momo knew it and smiled at her reflection. And she wouldn’t do it, too. Jirou would look at Momo in disbelief, that sarcastic Jirou, shrug and snort, and add that she wouldn’t make a fool of herself. Only children and boys go sledging! –she could say, Momo thought – not fifteen-year-old girls. And later she would watch Kaminari and Kirishima from the side, with a frosty blush covering a shame blush, and laugh out loudly only at their falls in the snow...

"Knock knock! Don't sleep, Yaomomo, or the Snow Queen will come and take you through the mirror!"

Jirou was standing in her door.

"You didn't hear me?"

"Not many people can take pride in such a sensitive hearing, Jirou. Recognizing a person after the sound of their steps is a gift, not a universal skill," Momo said, putting down the mirror and smoothing her dress.

"I... A gift?! Oh please… Sometimes you say absurd things, girl."

Jirou sat on the sofa facing the window and hugged her knees. Momo laughed but didn't add a word because Jirou sheltered her flush with a strand of hair.

A grown-up—or someone who believed herself to be grown-up.

"When will we start the lesson?" Momo asked, changing the subject.

Jirou let her head fall back, not even concealing relief.       

"Mom is downstairs, your mother caught her. I don't know... I guess we have about half an hour? I wonder why adult women talk so much?"

"I assume they are discussing the financial issues; since it's the beginning of the new month, it's only logical to think that they would settle the payment for my piano lessons. Mother will most likely use this opportunity to find out whether I have showed any progress. It is also possible that based on my skills, they are trying to choose songs that would be the biggest challenge... or, assuming the worst possible scenario, they agreed on the fact that there is no music future for me, therefore there is no reason to worry about piano..."

Jirou was looking at her with her eyes wide open.

Momo cleared her throat, sat up straight. "It was strange, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was." Jirou nodded. "Very strange. Nobody can go into this… lecture mode… only you.” She laughed. “That's why I come here: once you get used to it, your explanations become interesting."        

"Some consider it to be a lack of propriety, so..."

 "Forget about them," Jirou said and blew out some hair from her forehead.         

She had a habit of doing this: checking her hair, making blunt comments. Momo was perfect – her hair was long and combed, her tongue was impeccable, her lips were red and dresses were snow white or gray. Jirou was irregular – her hair was short and uneven, her tongue was spiked with sharp thoughts, her black pants were everything but feminine. Nobody understood why two girls became friends, and it didn't matter. Momo couldn't explain that the daughter of her music teacher was the only child visiting the cold house filled with sumptuous fireplaces, that they had slid down the banister even when Momo had been afraid and drunk hot tea with cake that Jirou couldn't afford in her own home. Nobody knew it because in their eyes Momo was too bright and Jirou was too dark; nobody noticed how artistic their souls were – though Momo lived on words, Jirou on music. It didn't matter as long as Jirou was playing the piano and Momo was writing lyrics for her.

Momo loved the wise twinkle in her friend's eye, the one telling the world that music taught her all she needed to know. The one she gave her now.

"Are you going to the Winter Solstice, Yaomomo?" Jirou asked, nodding in the direction of the window, where the frost was glazing like stained glass, and then on the mirror, exposed on the windowsill. Momo felt the urge to hide it.

"Today at six, in the main square, where they decorate the Christmas tree and stop sleighs," Jirou announced instead of asking.

"You perfectly know that it's not simple..." Momo began. "I can't get out whenever I feel like it. Especially on a day like the Winter Solstice..."

"You're crazy about this holiday, Yaomomo," Jirou interrupted good-naturedly, "Don’t worry so much. It's about time to take part in the festival and see the Snow Queen in person... At least I hope so, even if she hasn't come here past few years."

"Since winter constantly starts at the same time, the Snow Queen must travel nearby and bring snow with her," Momo pointed out. "It looks like she just stopped participating in the official celebrations."

Jirou glanced at the clouds, dark and round, filled with snow. They weren’t there yesterday; the Snow Queen brought them from the North. "I'm not surprised. The musicians at the festival play like a cat crashing a piano keyboard. I live nearby, so I know. My ears bleed. Maybe if they don't get drunk, we'll see her today."

Momo had seen the Snow Queen.

But even Jirou couldn't know.          

"I'd like to see her myself. It would be cool." Jirou sighed. ”We’re fifteen, so this year we can go out and have fun legally. You're gonna miss this opportunity?"      

"Of course I’m…"

Momo blinked. She felt stupid. Adulthood, a dream she had been chasing for so long that she passed it. Adulthood - like snow, falling tonight to disappear before Momo can enjoy it.

Jirou was right – only children were in danger of vanishing into thin air on the Winter Solstice. She and Jirou were safe. The Snow Queen couldn't curse their reflections; she couldn't wrap the ermine fur around them; she couldn't imprison them in the ice palace. At the age of fifteen, they came of age and their eyes learned to distinguish good from evil, and even the enchanted mirror wouldn't change it. That's what the books said, and Momo tended to trust them more than humans.

"Yaomomo." Jirou smiled gently. "I didn't tell you yet, but... Tonight I'm gonna sing in the main square."

"That's wonderful!" Momo exclaimed.

Jirou silenced her with a wave of her hand. 

"I guess. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy. But this is scary. The whole town will watch me - listen to me. And I will think about them... about this crowd... about these numbers...” She faltered. “You know. About everything.”

“I understand, yet it’s a wonderful chance. You deserve to show off your talent… Who knows, maybe a patron of the arts will pay attention to you? The first impression is especially important. Did you choose the song?"

“Yes, The rose and the wind. And... I want you to come,” Jirou admitted on one exhale, and explained, “I'd feel better if I could focus on one person."

Jirou sounded as if she had been looking in the mirror and practicing these words.

"Will you come?"

Excitement. Pride. And dry mouth.

"I'll try," said Momo.

A coffin thought Momo.

“Thank you.”

I live in a glass coffin.

"You are welcomed, my dear.”

I'll try... I always try. Everyone around me is doing what I'm trying to do. I can try... to ask for permission. To go out. To break the glass. Observing from behind this glass, reaching out, pounding in the lid. Nobody opens. They look at me. And fine, I don't need help. In the end, I can do this on my own. I have books - fairy tale worlds seen through the colorless walls.

Jirou's voice rang in her head, in her ears.

"Maybe I can talk with your mom? Otherwise, it's on you."

"There's no need to help me, really. It’s your day. We must prepare!" Momo smiled. Honest, beautiful, wide – the smile of a porcelain doll. "I'll ask her myself. As usual, I agree with you. We are fifteen. I know what I want."

Jirou thought about it. And then she said something surprising. "Yaomomo, tonight you should use your red lipstick. It looks good with snow. Besides, you look good in red."

The bells were ringing.

In a way, everything started with Jirou and the red lips. Later, Momo often wondered what would have happened if her friend hadn't said those words, that magic spell. Maybe nothing? Maybe Momo would have lived in her glass coffin, a beautiful and cold coffin. Maybe she would have died in a fire that came later. Perhaps on a certain December morning she would have been buried under the frozen ground.           

She'd have never thought about the redness, her cheeks would have never turned pink. And she’d have never reached for the mirror... but the mirror fell on the floor and broke into a thousand pieces, shining like the rays of sunshine peeking through the ice.     

Momo wouldn't have cut her finger.

But she did.

"Ouch!" She jumped to her feet.

"Are you all right, Yaomomo? Show me!" Jirou demanded, her voice full of panic.

Momo didn't hear her. Stay calm, she told herself. Her hands were shaking. No. Not this mirror... No. Calm down. It should be cleaned, disinfected and then bandaged. The cut was small, but droplets of blood were dripping and blossoming on the windowsill where she was sitting a moment ago. They left red stains.     

Momo raised her head, looked at the window...

And there was a boy.

Crouching on the frozen ground in a gray, traveling coat and with a white scarf wrapped around his neck, he looked like one of the sculptures her mother brought to decorate the garden. Momo tried to knock on the window but he didn't react - she only left petals of blood on the glass.

The bells were still playing in high tones.

"What are you doing, Yaomomo? Give me your hand." Jirou approached her.

"Someone is downstairs, in the garden," Momo explained.

"In your private garden?! What the..." Jirou glanced over her shoulder. "You’re right. Do you know him?”

Momo tried to take a closer look at his face. Unsuccessfully.

“I have no idea who he is.”

Jirou winced.

“So? Are we going to call someone?"

Momo shook her head. "Tonight takes place the Winter Solstice festival, right? Many people arrive from the periphery. Maybe he got lost and needs our help?”

“He’s in your garden, not at the front door. Remember?”

“Don't you think that if he was a thief, he would hide in a less visible place? That person definitely does not care if he is noticed. I think it is a good idea to check the situation before we decide to bother others."

Jirou crossed her arms over her chest, but said "Well, if you think so."

Momo grabbed the handle and pushed. The window was heavy, it froze to the frame. But winter was yet to come! Momo pushed up harder against the stubborn window, the icy wall, the pellucid lid of the glass coffin that imprisoned her in this beautiful house. She shouldn't think that way... The end of her nail broke, it fell like a flake. Finally, the window gave up and Momo felt coldness.

"Watch out or you’ll fall!" Jirou cried, putting her arm around her friend’s shoulders.

The sounds of scuffle caught the boy's attention. As Momo leaned out of the window and looked at him, the breeze that smelled like white flogging her face and tugging her hair, the boy looked back. He was probably at her age, or maybe a little older, judging by his pale face – the gray face of the garden figures – marked by seriousness. As if he has seen too much. His eyes were stone-cold; one was gray and faded like snow covering those endless winter deserts Momo had seen in geographic books, the other was turquoise, bright as corridors of ice caves. His hair was in two different colors too – pure white and intense red, very inconsiderate in the winter landscape, giving him a flame of life. He looked like someone who came from far away. Far, far away.

Jirou pushed Momo gently to look at him.

"Hey! Who are you?! Are you lost?"

The boy was still looking at Momo.

She shuddered; she had the odd sensation that she should protect this scene. Of course it was nonsense. She never made hasty decisions. But the boy in the garden suddenly reminded her of illustrations from children's books: old, dusty, worn-out by time and turning the pages.           

"Have we met before?" Momo asked.

Her voice was so quiet that the boy probably didn't hear her.

Jirou gave her a quizzical look, so Momo gazed away and spoke louder, so loud that the boy who ignored Jirou's question seemed to stare at the sound of her voice, "This garden is my family's property, ergo my property. If you got lost, I will be more than willing to show you the way. However, good manners require you to introduce yourself and explain your presence."

"It's better now," Jirou whispered in her ear, "You were a little pale. Are you okay?"

"Yes," she replied.

She didn't feel good. No. The boy stared at her with his eyes frozen like this garden. Like winter. And she felt uncomfortable.

Her broken nail tapped on the windowsill.

"Todoroki."

"What?" Momo asked, taken aback.

"You asked me for my name. It’s Todoroki," the boy repeated louder. As if they were having a normal conversation. But she indeed asked him; maybe they had. 

And then he got up and turned away. Just like that. Without a word, without a single look. He ignored them. The cold wall seemed to grow behind his back... Why was it so cold? The boy – Todoroki – was sliding on the frosty ground, mingling with the ubiquitous white air and walking away from Momo, from the window, from the garden, from the glass prison. Looking at his back, a knot in Momo's chest untied a bit. It melted. Because now she noticed why he was crouching there.

"Hey you! Stop!" Jirou exclaimed. Her voice was like a bell rising above the sound of the wind. Not like sleigh bells. "Didn't you hear our question? Who are you, by the way?"

Momo put her hand on Jirou's shoulder.

"What if he didn't get lost. Give me a moment, please."

"For what?" Jirou asked, blinking.

And Momo leaned out again.

"Do you like Christmas roses?"        

As expected, the boy stopped, although he didn't turn his face to her. Momo leaned her elbows on the windowsill. It was so cold that it almost caused her pain. Her breath turned into small clouds. Surely by now the river was freezing over.

"I saw you watching my flowers. They are commonly known as Christmas roses," Momo recited, "A plant from the glaucoma family, characterized by a very unusual period of flowering, as it's one of the few species blooming in December. I think that it gives them a unique... a creative charm. Or a fairy-tale charm, if you prefer."

Outside, there were no colors. The roses that bloomed in her garden were white. Growing in the even row, they looked like small crystals, as if Momo had planted seeds of ice. The frost shone on their petals like crushed silver.

Only his hair was red. And the blood on her hand.

Like spring roses.

"In my homeland, they are called hellebores," Todoroki said, finally turning to them. The frost shimmered in the white part of his hair, like between those white roses - Momo didn't know if it was possible - but white was clinging to silver, silver to white.

His eyes stopped on the flowers.

"Where are you from?" Momo asked, following his gaze.  

He disregarded the question; maybe he decided there was no need to answer.

"Do... do you like roses?" she repeated.

Todoroki was silent for a moment. "Not really," he admitted. "I don't like flowers. It's a waste of time. And they wither too fast. I don't like watching how they die after a while."    

Indeed, Momo thought that he was looking at the flowers like at living beings, bending under the breath of the wind, shaking with cold; whose life was short, beautiful and chained to the winter garden.

What would the flowers have told her if they had spoken?

And what did Todoroki find in those ordinary frosted petals that he clenched his hand and hid it in his coat pocket? 

"Well, then..." Momo started, her voice sounding much more timid than before. "Despite this, you were looking at my roses, weren't you? I love them. In summer, I also plant camellias… I wanted to say that I plant them earlier…” She took a deep breath. “Christmas roses… They are my favorite. They usually bloom on the first day of winter."

"I know."

"So you know?" Momo raised her eyebrows.

Todoroki only muttered something in response. He didn't give the impression of a talkative person. In fact, he clearly wanted to leave; he was blinking, hopping from one foot to another. And he didn't go. He was standing under her window as if something was holding him there, some invisible and unimaginable bond.

"Do you want to take one of them?" Momo asked with a smile.

He looked puzzled.

"I don't need this," he only said.

This was one of many moments Momo couldn’t explain later on—not to herself or to Jirou. But the answer disappointed her. As if she offered him something important, something valuable. And maybe Todoroki wasn't that bad at reading emotions, maybe he noticed, maybe felt that sparkle and sudden death of her smile as he added:

"I don't like flowers, but someone important to me likes them very much. Those specific flowers you’ve planted here."

"Ah, I see..."

Momo's arms were covered with goose bumps. Cold. So cold. She wanted to go for a shawl.

"Why don't you take one of them for that person?"

"That's impossible," he replied surprisingly indifferent.

She was waiting for explanation - any kind of explanation - but Todoroki was silent. So she started to look for a subject, one of those necessary to rescue a conversation in danger of drying up before it even starts. The one that would let her know why the strange boy in the traveling coat, with eyes from another world, knelt under her window, looked at the flowers, talked to her now. It was strange, it was unrealistic. It wasn't something that happened in the glass coffin.

Strange people knocked on your window only in books.

"I have to go now," he said quickly. "I've spent too much time here. I shouldn't enter your garden without permission. Sorry."

"Are you traveling? If that’s true… then the sleigh with bells that I’d heard earlier belongs to you?"

"What bells?" Jirou interjected. "I didn't hear anything."

Momo almost forgot that Jirou was here. The girl watched Todoroki, waited, analyzed. When the sun came out from behind the clouds, for the first time today, and the puddles in the garden reflected the light like yet another mirror, Momo had to squint. Everything became brighter, almost dangerously exposing and real. The frost glimmering on the trees. Jirou standing next to her. The boy who shouldn't be there.

"Goodbye," Todoroki said.

She still had so many questions. She had to ask them now, before the stranger turned into the anonymous memory of a certain day of winter and melted like snow in the spring. She had to ask them now because Momo was curious, and the more you know about the world, the better you can experience your life. And she was especially curious about people from different fairy tales.

"My name is Momo! Momo Yaoyorozu!" she screamed.

He was almost gone, almost somewhere else. Back on his way and his own life. But he looked at her. "Goodbye, Yaoyorozu. And thank you."

"What for?" she asked.

"For flowers. They are nice. You have a green thumb."

He hid his head under the warm hood, became the white air. Todoroki was almost at the fence when he stated:

“You look like nice people.”

She barely heard him. Momo didn’t answer – it wasn’t something she was used to comment on.

"Take care of yourself on the Winter Solstice. And don’t go to the festival."

And he left. Momo stood there.

Everything has changed.

Suddenly, it stopped being so cold.

Thinking back, I feel that Momo inviting her friends to study in her mansion was one of the first moments when I thought that I love her. It was a comedic moment, but it made me rather sad. Her reaction suggested that she had no friends, no company. Nobody, just books. Since her early life was never further explained - and stayed deep in my heart - I decided to grab this thread and weave Momo as lonely, despite her positive nature. I hope it didn't feel out of character.

If you like it, don’t forget to leave a word :)

#my writing #hearts in reflection #todomomo

[kitanoko]

A sequel requested by @foxxhunter44: “A one shot where momo and uraraka is a big time cosplayer and hides from the rest of the class until she runs into Todoroki at a convention with midoriya. So she tries to avoid him all day (have momo and uraraka get into cosplay from them wearing Todoroki and midoriyas hero suits)” PART ONE ENJOY! Its around ~3.5k words so its a longer read this time. Click ‘Keep Reading below’ !

“Yaoyorozu-san, I think there’re more kids that want pictures with us!” Uraraka squealed, face brighter than Aoyama’s usual demeanor, and pointed at a crowd of young children behind Yaoyorozu dressed in rain boots with dainty yellow hats, stealing glances at them once in a while.

15 minutes deep and these partners-in-crime were already the spotlight of the convention. Though, Uraraka and Yaoyorozu should really consider how awkward they’d be if they were caught.

The former Vice President of Class A crossed her fingers at the thought unknowingly.

“I really don’t think we should be taking so many pictures with them,” Yaoyorozu started, rolling her left shoulder slightly and stopped at a comfortable crack of her joints. The strap of the thermoregulator was really beginning to annoy her.

“But even if these pictures were to be published, they can’t even tell it’s us,” Uraraka did a semi-twirl with a pivot of her heels, red sneakers squeaking against the pristine floor, as if to say ‘can you deny how great our costumes are?’ and Yaoyorozu giggled.

“True. I think even my mother would praise us with our ingenuity.”

To be frank, it was Yaoyorozu’s idea to dress as Todoroki for this year’s ‘Hero/Heroine Appreciation Convention’ held in Hosu. In midst of the incident with the Hero Killer years ago, the city had decided to hold the dedicatory event as a way to remember the victims and to show the importance of recognizing the true meaning of what a ‘hero’ or a ‘heroine’ really is.

It was an annual event with many cosplaying as their favourite heroes.

And one of Yaoyorozu’s favourite heroes was the one and only, Todoroki Shouto.

She didn’t want to go alone however; so when Uraraka agreed (with such enthusiasm that one would think that this bubbly girl wanted to go all along), Yaoyorozu was thrilled beyond words.

The black-haired girl recalled asking her friend who she would dress as and immediately, without a moment’s hesitation, the Uravity heroine replied ‘Deku-kun’. Yaoyorozu smirked.

She knew Uraraka had something for him. Call it a lady’s intuition.

The week before the convention, the two girls had pulled their hair thinking of how to make their costumes. Their only option was to use the pictures of them in recent magazines, and after hours of scrutinizing their costumes in their old yearbooks while taking notes,  Yaoyorozu was able to create exact replicas.

It was pivotal that the former Vice President create costumes that would fit them like a glove.

The group of kids behind them was now speeding towards them with their parents calling at the back, and Uraraka waited for impact.

“GOTCHU DEKU!” A tiny girl with pigtails screamed and she squished herself against Uraraka’s leg, causing the latter to stumble a step behind her.

“HEY NO FAIR I WANT DEKU TOO!” Another girl cried out, cheeks as full and red as fuji apples, and she too hugged Uraraka like her life depended on it.

The Uravity heroine patted both of their heads as their mothers rushed to apologize at the inconvenience.

“Miss, I think you look really good as Shouto.”

Yaoyorozu’s eyes darted away from Uraraka and looked down. A boy with a baseball cap stood there, tugging slightly with his chubby fingers at the side of Yaoyorozu’s pants.

“Thank you, all of you kids are simply adorable!” Yaoyorozu beamed.

“How did you get your hair to be two colours like that? How did you draw the scar?”

Uraraka stifled a laugh. “This boy is asking the real questions.”

“Well,” Yaoyorozu began, taking a deep breath as she side-eyed Uraraka, “like my friend here, I’m using a wig. And for the scar, I had to use lots of face paint for it.”

The girl crouched down at eye level with the little kid, “You seem really interested in my costume.”

The kid’s eyes sparkled with imagination. “Ya! I want to dress up as Shouto for next year! He’s so cool!”

With a wide, toothy grin, Yaoyorozu nodded at the kid’s words holding more than a modicum of truth.

“Of course! Shouto IS really cool! Have you ever met the real Shouto?”

“Yea! Just now!”

Realizing what he said, Yaoyorozu forced a nervous nod and from the corner of her eyes she could sense Uraraka’s unease.

This was bad. Really bad.

“And do you mean just now as in….?” Yaoyorozu tried to pry some more, back slouching forward closer to the boy and he twisted his body towards the food court beside them.

“There, near the hotdog stand! Hero Deku was there too! I think they would like to see how cool your costumes are!”

Oh, no no no no no. This was not happening AGAIN.

At least not until they had a chance to get back at the boys for making a fool of themselves years ago! Fine; maybe they did sort of pull their own leg that time.

“Why don’t we take a group picture and leave these nice ladies to their day,” one of the parents suggested and she fished out her phone from her Kate Spade satchel. Probably from this season, Yaoyorozu had thought but she had to mentally slap herself. This was no time to be thinking about fashion lessons from Uwabami-san!

“1,2,3, SAY CHEESE!”

“CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!!!!!!!” The kids spat out and Uraraka felt her throat turn dry.

“We have to get. Out. Of. Here.” Uraraka muttered through gritted teeth, still smiling for the second or third shot. At this point, she had lost count how many photos they’ve already taken.

The parents and the children waved their goodbyes after deeming their photos Instagram-worthy and the two were left to their own devices again.

Yaoyorozu clicked her tongue, and in a rather low whisper, she said, “Uraraka-san, I think you’re right earlier. Our costumes should be good enough to fool them. Todoroki-san and Midoriya-san would have no idea if we keep our distance. Plus have you seen ANYONE recognize us?”

“Are they really that oblivious? I feel like they would see through it by our voices!”

“Okay then we won’t talk. Simple.”

“But our body language…..everything, I just feel like we’re digging our own graves! They know us so well. I mean, we were in the same class. We practically saw each other 24/7!”

Maybe for you, Yaoyorozu wanted to say, Todoroki-san and I absolutely do not spend that much time together. Well I guess we did eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. On most days. And we did used to study a lot together….there’s also the time when Todoroki-san—

Her thought was a whirling machine on its own.

Uraraka gave her friend a shit-eating smirk as if she knew what she was thinking and Yaoyorozu instantly focused elsewhere.

“Anyway,” Yaoyorozu cleared her throat, noticing another crowd of overly zealous children heading their way, “let’s just keep ourselves out of attention, if we can. That way we wouldn’t be as conspicuous.”

Uraraka nodded, scratching irritably at the itchy green wig she had on her head, the other hand smoothing the edge of the green hoodie. The girls exchanged glances, shifting their positions, both knowing they had to walk fast and stride towards the busy gift shop to hide before the kids could get to them.

They could hear the music blasting through the speakers and see the idle curious touching the displays with ‘please don’t touch’ signs plastered in front as they darted to their escape, when all of a sudden, the kids that were presumed to be targeting them ran past the two faster than Bakugou could spit out “motherfucker”.

“I guess we’re safe!” Uraraka rejoiced. The two heaved in relief, exhaling just when two figures caught their utmost attention.

Speak of the devil.

“Deku please sign my teddy bear!”

“I want Shouto to hug me!”

“NO, I WANT DEKU TO HUG ME.”

“Okay, Sarah we talked about being nice, remember?”

“But Papa, Billy is taking Shouto all to himself!”

Dark blue coloured flannel , a plain v neck tee, with the signature deadpan stare. Todoroki was bent down, accepting a bag of gummies from one of the petite girls. Was that a genuine smile for the kids? Yaoyorozu was quite eager to see more of where that smile was coming from.

Deku was on the outskirts of the crowd, already carrying one kid on each arm, tongue stuck out and making silly faces for the camera. The kids on his arms looked ecstatic, as if they won a lifetime supply of Reeses pieces and more.

The girls heard more of their conversations.

“Are you good friends with Uravity girl? She’s my other favourite heroine.”

Midoriya put down the two kids and quickly became flustered, hands hiding his shaky lips, “We-we are! Of course!”

“But best friends? Like the type of friend who you want to be with forever?” The asker of the question pulled a lollipop out of her pocket. “If you answer me, I’ll give you this.”

Was Midoriya that easy to bribe? And by a kid?

“It’s nice of you to offer me a lollipop, but please keep it,” Midoriya started, resting a hand at the back of his neck, face beet red, “Uravity and I are the best of friends. There’s no one else that can replace her. But I haven’t seen her in a while. I guess…I miss working with her.”

True. After graduation, only a few get-togethers were organized. It was only during certain missions were they able to really see each other, and most of the time, they would be too busy to catch up on each other’s lives.

Hearing such honesty caused an indescribable, nonplussed singe deep in Uraraka’s gut. She had missed him too.

“And who’s your favourite heroine?” Todoroki asked a girl who was snuggled in her mother’s hold. It looked like they had been having a pretty good conversation for a while now.

Yaoyorozu’s ears perked up at the sound of his voice. The warmth of his husky tone had been forgotten and she didn’t know how much she yearned for it until now.

The little girl thought for a second and gestured with a wave of her hand at a poster exposed behind a column.

Yaoyorozu felt her heart pound a few beats faster; it was a giant image of her representing the UA Alumni Counsel. She didn’t even realize that it was there on full display in all its glory.

Todoroki’s lips tugged into a warranted grin.

“Creati, huh.”

The little girl nodded fervently. “Shouto, you know Creati?”

“Yeah. She’s someone I admire. I guess you and I both like the same heroine.”

Li-li-like?!

Did he just say LIKE?

Her arm swayed a little at his words and felt her right hand clench hard on the zipper at her chest.

“Yaoyorozu-san, are you alright?” Uraraka eyed her with concern and Yaoyorozu mumbled a confirmation, feeling a hit of tunnel vision.

The girl beside her began toying with her green wig before speaking.

“You’ve got to be joking!” Uraraka’s eyes were as round as her slacked mouth. “What the heck are the chances that Deku-kun and Todoroki-kun are here? It’s like someone’s playing a prank on us!”

Yaoyorozu sighed and grabbed both of her friends’ shoulders, forcefully spinning her around.  The red Nikes Uraraka was wearing were untied and she herself was aching to fix the zipper on her white rubber boots but that seemed monumentally unimportant at the moment.

“We have to surmise the situation,” Yaoyorozu said, suppressing her nerves, “There’s an exit a few steps away. Keep calm and carry on. We’ll just take it in stride.”

How many of these expressions does this girl have? Uraraka was itching to ask before being urged towards the doorway. This was a habit that the former Vice President would often get called out on when she was anxious. Almost everyone knew that she would spew out random idioms whenever she was embarrassed.

“LOOK, THERE’S ANOTHER SHOUTO AND ANOTHER DEKU!” A voice shouted behind the two and they didn’t dare look back. These kids were too observant for their own good.

The two began shuffling forward faster, dodging an elderly woman here and a convention staff there before a strong hand tapped Uraraka’s shoulder. They froze.

“Hey your costumes are great! How’d you make them look so real?” Midoriya started, hand dropping back to his side. By the sound of it, he still had no idea who their real identities were.

Uraraka was facing downwards and so was Yaoyorozu.

Nonetheless they knew this was the end of the line.

“If you don’t mind, Shouto and I would love to take a few pictures with you. Only if you want to of course.”

Biting her lips, Uraraka turned around. This was the first time Midoriya and she had been this close in proximity in the past half a year.

He seemed baffled.

“You two look…familiar,” he began, eyebrows knitting together, “do I know you?”

Yaoyorozu and Uraraka reverted their gazes towards each other, and finally the former spoke.

“You’re too naïve! We definitely don’t know each other.” Yaoyorozu tried to lower her voice and mentally tapped herself in the back for being so steady.

Except here comes Todoroki Shouto and he was her only weakness.

“I think we should go now, sorry, no pictures today!” Yaoyorozu fixed her thermoregulatory strap and pulled hard at Uraraka’s arm.

Abruptly, her feet stepped on Uraraka’s loose shoelaces and slipped, losing traction as the Uravity heroine tripped on her own leg, both falling over, almost knocking down the faux-Lemillion in front of them.

“Ow,” Uraraka winced, one eye closed as she felt a brush-like material fall over her head as she began to stand up.

Shit. The wig.

The brunette noticed her friend still lying on the ground. She was also wigless, thick black hair glossing over her shoulders, petrified as the boys reveled at what just happened.

Todoroki was the first to make a move, arm extending over at Yaoyorozu’s lying form which was less than comfortable.

She was speechless, but she accepted his hand.

Silence. Except for those around who whispered something along the lines of “hey is that Creati and Uravity?” “I’m not sure but it looks like them?”

Todoroki still hadn’t let go of her hand.

“Yaoyorozu, I knew it was you when you called us naïve.”

She sulked.

“I hope you didn’t hurt yourself,” Todoroki sounded quite genuine this time around but something told her he wasn’t finished.

“I’m fine, I was just clumsy and stepped on Uraraka-san’s laces.”

“So it wasn’t the heaviness of the thermoregulatory as I suspected. It looks very real. Good job.”

Yaoyrozu wanted to roll her eyes but felt her conscience reminding her about manners, and choose to bite her bottom lip instead. She indicated at the metal add-on of her costume, “I made this with a thick sheet of aluminum so it’s not a bother at all.”

“I see.”

Yaoyorozu huffed at his teasing smirk which was oddly captivating. Todoroki reached over to smooth out a piece of hair behind her ear, and she pursed her lips in defeat.

“I still kept the picture of you in my hero suit back when we were in the dorms,” Todoroki stuck his hand out of his pocket holding his phone.

Oh she knew what was coming. She was not going to be tricked again!

“What are you doing Todoroki-san?!”

“Hoping I could convince you to take a picture with me.” He said straightforwardly, and focused on the glint in her eyes. In response, she wrinkled her nose annoyingly.

“No way, not unless…” She tapped her chin a few times and he waited. “Not unless you dress up with me to next year’s convention.”

“That isn’t something I can promise you. One year away is quite far.”

Dammit, he’s right. It would be unreasonable of her to ask for that.

“But I will say yes for now. For a while now, I wanted to meet you but I think I had gotten the wrong number. Every time I text you, it wouldn’t send.”

Yaoyorozu gulped.

“I changed my number and I forgot to tell you, my apologies!” She replied sheepishly. Had she been missing out all the chances she had for Todoroki Shouto to ask her out for coffee or whatever he had in mind?

Stupid, stupid Yaoyorozu! Why didn’t I text him first?

She put her arms behind her and he said, “That’s alright, just remember to give it to me this time.”

Midoriya on the other hand was fanatical over Uraraka’s incredible costume and makeup.

“I swear those freckles are on the exact places. And wow the material is identical? This…is crazy!”

He stepped closer to study her face though he took a step back immediately when he realized how awkward he was being.

“Well, I did take around 4 hours putting this together with Yaoyorozu-san,” Uraraka announced, sounding proud, “it’d be sad if we didn’t at least have most of the details correct.”

The green-haired boy darted his eyes away as if wanting to tiptoe around the topic, but in the end he insisted.

“I think I’m just surprised, but really happy, that Uraraka-san chose to dress up as me.”

The girl began chuckling heartily, “and why would that be? Deku-kun had taught me so much! You’re not only the role model of these kids but for me as well!”

At that Midoriya’s infamous ramblings set off. “Urarakasanyou’retoonicetome, IfeelthatIstillhaven’tprovenmyselftoyouand—“

“Relax, Deku-kun!” Uraraka slapped both of her hands against his flushed cheeks and he snapped back to reality. “You haven’t changed one bit!”

Except for maybe being taller than me by a whole foot.

“I guess I really haven’t changed much.” Midoriya guffawed. “And that’s a good thing?”

“Yupp, that’s a great thing!” Uraraka beamed.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Todoroki barged in, causing Yaoyorozu to hold in a giggle, “Could you take a picture of Yaoyorozu and I.”

Way to ruin my moment Todoroki-kun, Midoriya thought. Nevertheless, he took the phone and helped them anyway.

At this point, the passersby would occasionally take pictures of the four, but opting to not intercept their conversation.

In front of the phone, Todoroki was as oblivious as ever, holding onto Yaoyorozu’s shoulder with a tight grip, as if she’d fly away if he hadn’t.

Uraraka could only silently cheer for her flustered friend who was squished between Todoroki’s iron fist and his rock hard chest.

“Uraraka-san, let’s take one too… to….commemorate?”

“Sure!”

Midoriya scoffed at how nerdy he just sounded but oh well. People use the word ‘commemorate’ on a daily basis…right?

“Stand closer together,” Todoroki deadpanned as he aimed his phone at the two, and Midoriya shifted one millimetre closer to the girl beside him, acting as stiff as a boulder.

Uraraka quickly pulled him to her by his waist, “Come on, Deku-kun!”

Yaoyorozu gasped at her friend’s boldness. Something she had to remember to learn from Uraraka.

Right before Todoroki snapped the photo, Midoriya flipped her bunny-eared hoodie over Uraraka’s head, making the latter squeal a little.

“Take a look at it,” Todoroki handed his phone to Uraraka and the green-haired boy followed suit, still waddling over like he just did the impossible. “If they aren’t good then I’ll take some more.”

Yaoyorozu walked over, amused at Midoriya’s distance.

“They’re cute, aren’t they?” She chortled, voice low in a whisper, and Todoroki ran a hand through his hair, looking incredulous at the couple in front of him.

“Yeah, I guess so. But my sis thinks we fit well too.”

Did she hear him right?

“Huh?”

Todoroki crossed his arms and repeated without hesitation, “My sis, Fuyumi, says that we fit well too.”

Yaoyorozu nodded, “AH! Midoriya-san and Todoroki-san do fit well! I agree!”

He saw her subtle attempt at fixing the zipper at the front of her navy costume and he kept his eyes forward.

“No, she meant you and me.”

“What?!”

The black-haired girl accidentally zipped it all the way to her neck and choked at that moment.

“Todoroki-san and I ?!”

The boy watched her as if she had lost the intelligence that she was so famous for.

“Yes. Us. You and I. Is something wrong about that?”

He seemed worried at her reaction and she shook her head without delay.

“Of course not! I agree! In fact, I think so too! Re-remember that commercial we did for Vidal Sassoon?”

Oh god what was she saying? She was making a fool out of herself!

“Yes I remember.”

Yaoyorozu gulped at the way he was concentrating on her but continued, “Well, my mother loves it! She recorded it and everything, I guess my point was—“

“I hope we can do more commercials together too. Shoots. Stuff like that. I think I can get that arranged.”

Todoroki sent her a reassuring glance and Yaoyorozu felt her toes go numb. He was like her Achilles heel.

He closed his eyes and clicked his tongue.

“Or I could just send our pictures just now to the studios.  I’m sure they will find you in my costume a smashing hit.”

“NO, YOU WON’T!”

“It was a ruse, Yaoyorozu. I thought you’d be smarter than that.”

She playfully punched him in the shoulder.

“Gees, don’t scare me like that again!” Yaoyorozu replied, voice high, and he watched her as she puffed her cheeks in annoyance.

Todoroki relaxed.

It was always entertaining to see her all riled up like this, and if it meant anything to her, she was the only one who could unravel the lighthearted side of him.

#todomomo #izuocha #todoroki shouto #yaoyorozu momo #midoriya izuku #uraraka ochako #boku no hero academia #my fanfic #fanfic request

[kiribakus]

will you lead me? || kiribaku week 2017

kiribaku || 4,100 words || sfw || @kiribakuweek2k17

If the wolf is going to follow Bakugou into town, the least he can do is pretend he's not a wild animal. 

day five: firsts / future / tears

(this sure is a werewolf au)

>> READ ON AO3 <<

Bakugou steps out onto his back porch and crosses his arms, enjoying the relative silence of the forest his house backed onto. Just the sound of leaves rustling, the occasional bird call, and if he tilted his head and really tried, he could make out the bubble of a stream not five minutes’ walk away. When he had bought the dump of a lodge, this is what he wanted. Peace away from the constant flurry of deadlines and shifts and clawing for shadowing positions of veterinary school. Somewhere he could focus on his craft and passion, somewhere he could take a break and not have to worry about anything. Not…not this.

Bakugou sighs and raises his fingers to his lips. He lets out a sharp series of whistles and waits, but he’s not left alone for long. He hears Eijirou before he sees him. Any stealth he might have used when hunting is gone, replaced by the crunch of leaves under feet and the crack of branches snapping.

A normal man might have balked, seeing a young male wolf bounding towards him, but Bakugou was no normal man, much to his chagrin. Still, his muscles tense when the wolf doesn’t stop running but throws himself at Bakugou, rising on his hind legs to plant his front paws on Bakugou's shoulders and lick his cheek to death. Bakugou stumbles backwards and against the side of his house, but Eijirou doesn’t stop with his assault of tongue.

“God, fuck—Eijirou,” Bakugou says, shoving at the wolf’s coat. “Eijirou, get down.”

Eijirou, being a wolf and not a dog, ignores Bakugou's command and continues to slobber all over his chin and neck and nose and mouth—okay, that was disgusting. Bakugou grabs Eijirou by the snout and shoves him off, Eijirou whining in protest. He’s not mollified for long, though. His tongue lolls out of his mouth and he wags his tail, trotting back and forth along the porch, nails clicking against the wood. And then, he tilts his head back.

“No, fuck you, no—” Bakugou says, but he’s too late to stop Eijirou from letting out a long howl that echoes through the trees. He flicks an ear and looks up at Bakugou, grinning, his tongue still hanging out of his mouth.

“I’m muzzling you, mutt,” Bakugou says. “Bill is going to call the Park Rangers on me for poaching wolves.”

Eijirou sneezes, but doesn’t show any sign of remorse.

It takes a couple minutes, but the rest of the wolves trickle in from the forest. The second is Tsuyu, just a slip of thing, loping into the clearing and up the porch steps. She licks Bakugou's hand once and he gives her a scratch between the ears that has Eijirou nosing at his free hand. Bakugou swats at him.

Tenya, the big dark grey and white male and his partner, Ochako, the little cream-colored female are next. Ochako has a spring in her step, trotting up to Tsuyu and ignoring Bakugou entirely. She nips at Tsuyu’s shoulder and Tsuyu turns to lick at her nose before running down the steps. Ochako does a little run in place and barks, but Bakugou snags her by the ear before she can go. Ochako turns to him and wraps her mouth around his wrist, giving it a little shake. When she releases him, Bakugou pats her on her hindquarters and she races after Tsuyu, growling and tussling.

Tenya follows after her, slower, but pauses to look up at Bakugou. Bakugou waves him off, and Tenya pursues the girls, pawing at them as they roll on the ground.

And finally, the last two of the pack arrive. Most obvious is their alpha, the biggest male of the group and full-grown. He’s an incredible mixture of darker red fur and patches of white, with heterochromatic eyes and an ugly scar over his blue eye. He moves slowly, allowing for the runt to keep up with him. Smaller than both of their females and black with fur that he never seemed to be able to keep flat and unfluffed, the runt eyes Bakugou with big green eyes.

Bakugou only looks at him for a moment before meeting the eyes of the alpha. “My opinion hasn’t changed, Shouto,” he says. “Deku’s slowing your pack down.”

He gets a round of growls from the females and Tenya and a snort from Eijirou. Deku’s legs start to shake and he tucks his tail between his legs. He’s still looking at Bakugou. Shouto is the only wolf unperturbed by Bakugou's comment. He flicks an ear and turns to Deku and parts his jaws to wrap them around Deku’s neck, at the base of his shoulder blades. Deku yips but goes limp and allows Shouto to drag him across the yard and up the porch steps.

Shouto deposits Deku at Bakugou's feet and noses him gently. Deku keeps wide eyes fixed on Bakugou but remains curled up. Shouto sits down and looks at Bakugou too, as if to say, “Look. He’s yours now.”

“I won’t accept him,” Bakugou says. “It’s for the best that you leave him. I’m not saying it to be cruel—your pack needs to be strong enough to face poachers and whatever the fuck it is was that gave you that scar. You’ll lose the rest of your packmates with your selfishness.”

Shouto makes a hacking noise and spreads his paws apart. His coat starts to rustle and Bakugou can hear the cringe-worthy sound of small bones snapping and forming anew, the pop of joints shifting in and out of place, and the larger cracks as thicker bones took on new shapes. Shouto’s skin ripples and underneath the surface, his body writhes with the shift. Bakugou looks away. He had enough nightmares as it stood.

The sound of shifting ceases and Bakugou hears, “You forget, often.”

He turns back and a naked man stands before him. Same bi-colored hair, same heterochromia. Same ugly, slashing scar that runs from forehead to jaw. Shouto picks up Deku, the wolf wiggling a little in his arms before settling, licking the underside of Shouto’s chin.

“We’re not wolves,” Shouto says. “Human compassion exists within all of us. We will never leave him.”

“Clothes are the first room on the right,” Bakugou grunts. “Stop ripping up your shit. I look like I��m stealing from the poor, always going to Goodwill to shop.” He crosses his arms as Shouto passes him. “You know you’ll have to choose, one day.”

Shouto pauses, tilting his head back.

“Between being a wolf and being a human,” Bakugou says. “Your mannerisms are too animalistic to fit in with society, but your morals cloud your judgment in the wild. One of these days, having too much of one world in you will get you killed in the other.”

“Mmm,” Shouto says. “I don’t disagree. That’s why you’re here.”

“I ain’t your fucking babysitter!” Bakugou calls as Shouto walks into the house. “I’m not your owner, either!” He glares at the wolves left outside. “Well? Do you want lunch or not? Get to shifting or hunting, I don’t give a fuck.”

Ochako, Tsuyu, and Tenya, still restless from their play, take off for the woods, probably after a rabbit or a squirrel or something to eat. It wouldn’t fill their bellies, but Bakugou had plenty of peanut butter and jelly in his pantry to make up what was missing in their eight thousand calorie diets or whatever crazy high amount of food they needed to consume in a day.

Eijirou makes to follow them, but Bakugou whistles sharply and he pauses. “Nope, not you,” he says. “For you, I’ve got something special. Get to shifting, shitty fur.”

He walks back inside, ignoring Eijirou’s whine. On the way to the kitchen, he hears Shouto’s voice soft in the other room. “Do you want to try to shift today?” A soft whine, then a sigh. “That’s okay,” Shouto says. “Tenya always brings back extra.”

He better not be putting that mutt on my clean bed, Bakugou thinks.

In the kitchen, he identifies a Petsmart bag on the countertop and wonders, not for the first time, if this is a bad idea. It’s bad enough that the employees know him as ‘that guy who brought his wolf-dog in without a leash and got into a fist fight with the manager over it’ and ‘that guy who spent an hour trying to decide between six or seven large dog bowls, which means he has at least six wolf-dogs’ and ‘that guy who yells at his dog like it’s a person’ and ‘that guy we might want to call the National Park Service on because his wolf-dog is very, very much wolf.’ Now he’s going to be the guy that does all that and then spent over an hour blushing while muttering to himself that this was “definitely a dog thing and not something I should be embarrassed to buy.”

What if Eijirou doesn’t want it, or is offended by it? Bakugou supposes that wouldn’t be the end of the world. He’d just return the darn thing and they’d never speak of it again. But the fact that he went out and bought something for one of his wolves—no, no the wolves, not his wolves, he wanted no part in owning them—something they didn’t necessarily need, makes him feel stupid. And vulnerable. Fuck it, he hopes Eijirou hates it. Then they can get into a fight about it and maybe the wolves will fuck off forever.

Eijirou comes loping in a couple minutes later, naked, and turns to Bakugou, who points at the bedroom with murder in his eyes. “I do not want to see your dick, dickhead,” he says. Eijirou rolls his eyes but moves toward the bedroom anyway.

“And don’t forget a shirt!” Bakugou calls.

Eijirou returns wearing a tank top and cargo pants that are too big for him, if the tightness of the belt around his waist says anything. Bakugou scowls. “Do you even eat?” he asks.

“Dude, I can still crush you in an arm wrestling contest,” Eijirou says, crashing on the couch.

While that’s true, that’s not what Bakugou was asking. All the wolves are slimmer than they should be. Bakugou knows that’s just how wild animals are—a little feral and a lot hungry, all the time. Eijirou’s pack was strong enough to handle the pressures of living wild, but even as humans, although they were muscular, there was an unnatural slimness about them that set Bakugou on edge, made him complain a little less when he had to feed them three servings of everything.

“Also,” Eijirou says, “you should be a little easier on Deku. He’s not as useless as you think. No one’s better at getting burrs out of our fur. He knows what plants are edible when elk pickings are slim. He makes the best plans of attack in cornering the elk, too, even if he can’t hunt.”

“Yeah,” Bakugou says. “He’s useful as a human. As a wolf, he’s slowing you down. Ditch him in the human world if you want to do well by him.”

Eijirou doesn’t say anything. Typical. Their family bonds were strong. And no matter how many times Bakugou warned them, they would die for their runt.

“Anyway,” Bakugou says. “I got you something.”

“Just for me?” Eijirou asks, eyes bright. He doesn’t have a tail now, but it might as well have been wagging. “What is it?”

Bakugou hesitates, then decides to dive right in. Out of the bag, he pulls a black dog collar studded with silver spikes.

Eijirou’s eyes go wide and he gets very, very quiet. Bakugou doesn’t know what to make of that.

“Listen,” he says, shifting uncomfortably. “This is only a precaution, okay? It’s not—it doesn’t mean anything. You’re the only one stupid enough to follow me into town and since there’s no way in hell I’ll put you on a leash, I figured that if you’re wearing a—a collar, no one’s going to shoot you, or call NPS on you, or call NPS on me, and that’ll be better for everyone.” He takes a breath. “You don’t have to wear it all the time, just when you follow me into town, so don’t get offended or any—”

“Can I hold it?” Eijirou asks.

Bakugou blinks. “Yeah, whatever,” he says, handing the collar to Eijirou.

It’s big. Bakugou got the biggest one he could find because Eijirou isn’t exactly a small wolf, and he’s still young enough to grow some, but even then he’s worried it might be a tight fit. Eijirou fingers the spikes that, looking back on it, were a stupid idea, Bakugou just thought they were cool and there were so many choices so he kind of—

“They remind me of you,” Eijirou murmurs. “This is the kind of thing you would buy your dog, right?”

“Uh,” Bakugou says. “I guess?” He hadn’t thought about owning a dog until seven oversized mongrels came barreling into his life.

He still can’t tell what Eijirou is thinking.

“If you don’t want it—” Bakugou starts.

“No!” Eijirou says, holding the collar close to his chest. “It’s mine.”

Bakugou holds his hands up.

Eijirou fingers the spikes again. “It’s the first gift you’ve ever given me,” he says.

“Like I said,” Bakugou grunts. “It doesn’t mean any—”

“Will you put it on me?” Eijirou asks.

Bakugou looks at him. He’s pretty sure Eijirou could slip the collar over his head with how wide it is, but that’s not the point. Eijirou could put it on himself, but that’s not the point. He doesn’t need to wear it unless they go into town, and certainly not as a human, but that’s not the point. Eijirou’s eyes are half-lidded and soft, and he can’t stop looking at the collar.

Bakugou steps forward and takes it from his hands. He pulls out the tongue of the collar, unhooks it from the eye of the collar and opens it up. He leans forward, his face hovering by Eijirou’s. He slides the tongue back through the buckle and pulls it to a tightness that he estimates would fit snugly around the neck of Eijirou's wolf. He pokes the hook through the eye and secures the length of the collar around Eijirou’s neck. When he leans back, Eijirou’s lips are parted and he’s flushed.

Eijirou wraps a hand around the collar and tugs at it. His breath catches.

 This is too intimate. Bakugou should leave. He should get out of here before…

 Before…

“It’s like you own me,” Eijirou says softly. “I’m really yours, now.”

“You’re not a dog,” Bakugou says. “You’re not domesticated. You’re wild.”

“But I’m wearing your mark, now.”

Bakugou sucks in a breath. “You may be a wolf,” Bakugou says. “But part of you is human. I don’t—I can’t—”

Eijirou’s fingers find the hem of Bakugou's shirt. “You have to keep me,” he says. “You gave me this gift; you have to keep me now.”

“Whatever you are, you’re sentient,” Bakugou says. “I can never own you.”

“Then keep me,” Eijirou says, tugging at his shirt. He looks up at Bakugou. “You saved my life. I owe you everything that I am. We are bonded.”

We are bonded. Bakugou shivers.

“Then you would leave your pack for me?” Bakugou asks. “You would turn on all of them to stay by my side?”

Eijirou’s eyes fall.

“I thought not,” Bakugou says. “You’re too human and too wolf. You won’t abandon your pack, even though you have the free will to do so. You ask to be kept, but balk at the implications. As friendly as your pack is with me, you’re all feral, Eijirou. You could never be kept by me.”

Eijirou is quiet. “You’re so logical, Bakugou,” he says. “You’re so logical and so human, it’s almost cruel.” His fingers tighten around Bakugou's shirt. “I don’t want your reasoned arguments. I don’t understand what I feel. The human in me wants to stay.”

“The wolf in you wants to leave,” Bakugou says.

“No,” Eijirou says. “The wolf in me wants you.”

Bakugou falters. Eijirou presses his face into Bakugou's shirt.

“He wants to trail after you, nipping and playing. He wants to be chased away by your snarls and snapping, but always coming back for more. He wants to brush shoulders with you and sleep at your side.” Eijirou takes a breath. “And he wants to mount you over and over, seal the bond he can feel between us. He wants to go for hours, until neither of us can see or hear or smell or taste or feel anything but each other.”

“He wants you to run away with me,” Eijirou says. “He wants to take you back to the wild.”

“I’m not a wolf,” Bakugou says softly. “You need one of your own to satisfy him, and yourself.”

“No,” Eijirou says. “We want you. Both of us.”

Eijirou’s hands slide from the hem of Bakugou's shirt to his hips, holding him and looking up at him. Bakugou can see the rise and fall of his chest, his lips parted slightly to reveal wolf teeth. Even his hair, unkempt and usually studded with twigs or leaves, is inhuman, the same red-orange of his coat. Sometimes, when Bakugou met his eyes, for a second he saw wolf eyes instead of those of a human. He wasn’t lying: these kids—these wolves—were more feral than they were domesticated. Even if Eijirou did try to integrate into society, he wouldn’t be able to. He was just inhuman enough to alarm. They all were.

“What am I going to do with you?” Bakugou murmurs. He reaches out to sweep Eijirou’s bangs from his eyes and cups his cheek. “Where can you go?”

When Bakugou bought this decrepit ex-lodge, he had been looking for a home improvement project and time to focus on photography. And now, he was keeping seven orphaned werewolves who would never fit into either of their worlds.

“I can be with you,” Eijirou says. “I need to be with you.”

Bakugou swipes a thumb over his cheek and Eijirou turns his head to catch the digit in between his teeth. They’re predator teeth, sharp enough to remove Bakugou's finger in a single chomp, but Eijirou closes his lips around Bakugou's thumb and sucks at it, his tongue brushing the pad of Bakugou's thumb.

Bakugou's breath catches. Eijirou closes his eyes and nibbles at it, adding only the suggestion of teeth. He lets Bakugou's thumb go after a moment and turns to the rest of his hand, dragging his teeth over Bakugou's palm and nipping at the webbing between his thumb and forefinger. His tongue follows, lapping at the places he bites.

Bakugou knows what he’s doing.

I’m not your alpha, Bakugou wants to say. I’m not your mate. Don’t treat me like I’m one of your pack.

(But if he was.)

Eijirou looks up at him, gauging his reaction with wide eyes that vie for approval, for Bakugou's satisfaction. Bakugou can see it—Eijirou on his back in front of Bakugou, standing over him. He’d be nipping at Bakugou's muzzle, if Bakugou were a wolf, baring his belly to show his trust in Bakugou.

You’re too wolf, Bakugou thinks. This isn’t how you flirt.

Eijirou pulls on his hips, sliding Bakugou into his lap.

 This isn’t how you flirt.

His hands migrate from Bakugou's hips to either side of his face, and Eijirou presses their foreheads together.

 This isn’t…

“You’re right,” Eijirou says. “I’m too wild. I don’t know how this works. I don’t really understand human emotions yet. I don’t know what to call this—a crush, or lust, or love. It’s easier as a wolf.” He smiles. “You just kind of…go for it.”

“Unless you’re Shouto,” Bakugou grunts. “He’s romancing that runt of yours.”

Eijirou grins. “Yeah, we think so, too. The only ones who don’t know are them. But that’s not the point.”

He brushes fingers over Bakugou's three-day-old stubble, stroking away the scowl at the corners of Bakugou's mouth. “You act like you’re not one of us. And sure, you’re not one of us.” His smile is all teeth. “But you’re one of us.”

“I can’t replace a true mate,” Bakugou says. “You know that, don’t you? I can’t complete your soul bond the way Shouto and Deku can complete theirs.”

“I know,” Eijirou says. “We both know. And we still choose you.”

Bakugou grabs Eijirou’s collar and tugs him closer, so their noses brush and their breaths mingle. “I can only protect you so much,” Bakugou says. “This? This is all I can do to keep you safe in the human world. In Lamar Valley, and in your territory, I can’t help you.” He shakes Eijirou by the collar and Eijirou goes limp against him.

“It’s enough,” Eijirou whispers. “It’s enough just to know you’ll try.”

“And I’m not your alpha,” Bakugou says. “Stop going limp every time I do anything domineering.”

“He likes it,” Eijirou says. “So do I.”

“You want me to grab you by the neck but you still want to put your dick in me,” Bakugou says. “Make up your damn mind.”

Eijirou whines in a far, far too animalistic tone. Bakugou yanks his collar up, tilting his head back.

“Then wear this every day,” Bakugou says softly. “Let it be known to every animal and man and everything in between that you belong to me.”

“I do,” Eijirou whimpers. “I do.”

Bakugou pulls the collar again, this time towards him, so he can kiss Eijirou. Eijirou’s hands move to his hair in an instant, clawing at his scalp and pulling Bakugou down so that Eijirou can kiss him harder. His chest surges up and his back arches so that he can press himself against Bakugou.

Kissing a human with wolf teeth is more alarming than Bakugou expected. Eijirou is careful with his teeth, keeping nibbling to a minimum, but when Bakugou twines their tongue together, he brushes against a canine and jumps, pulling away.

“Jesus,” he says. “I forgot about those.”

Eijirou doesn’t let him pause to say anything else. He knocks Bakugou onto his back on the couch and crawls on top of him to kiss him, fingers fanning over his face to hold Bakugou in place. Bakugou's mind starts to go fuzzy at the edges and he tangles his fingers in hair as unkempt as a mane or the raised hackles of a beast. Distantly, Bakugou wonders about the morality of swapping spit with an entity that was at least fifty percent animal. Then Eijirou arches his back and presses his hips down, and Bakugou can’t think about anything but holy shit, they were really doing this quickly followed by fuck yes, we are really doing this.

“Things I didn’t need to see,” Shouto says from behind the couch. “This.”

Eijirou and Bakugou scramble apart, but it’s a mess: Eijirou slides into Bakugou's lap and Bakugou kind of just holds him there, while Eijirou’s hands fall at Bakugou's shoulder and they still look as compromised as they had two seconds ago. Eijirou’s lips are spit-stained and red, and he has saliva on his chin from—drooling, probably; that was what dogs tended to do when they were happy.

In Shouto’s (thankfully clothed) arms, Deku peers at them with wide eyes, his fur combed into some semblance of order, although still curly.

“Eijirou, he’s human,” Shouto says. “You can do better.”

“He’s pack,” Eijirou says tightly, his hands gripping Bakugou's shoulders.

Shouto’s odd eyes drift between the two of them. Bakugou is tensed, unsure if Shouto would shepherd his packmate back into the fold and away from the tainted human.

He walks towards them. Deku buries his muzzle in Shouto’s chest. Bakugou flinches when Shouto reaches a hand out, but he only rubs a hand over the left side of Bakugou's face. Eijirou looks between them with wide eyes.

“You’ve reached your rebellious stage, then,” he says.

Eijirou opens his mouth to protest, but Shouto keeps talking.

“He may be pack, but he’s ugly. And weak. And smells bad. Do try to work on that, Bakugou.” And he turns and heads out the door.

Eijirou’s jaw flaps open and shut. “That’s it? You’ll accept it?”

Shouto shrugs one shoulder. “If you had gone after one of us, my wolf would have seen that as a challenge, so I’d recommend against it. But since he sees Bakugou as this hulking, ugly pup, he doesn’t give a shit what you do with him.” Shouto glances over his shoulder. “Hurry up, though. Tenya said they’d be back soon.”

“I’ll show you ‘hulking, ugly pup,’” Bakugou mutters, but Eijirou just grins.

When they head back to the park after eating, seven dark shapes bounding into the forest, Bakugou can make out the glint of metal in the sunlight, and a black band around his wolf.

#krbkweek #kiribaku #bakushima #bnha #fics #can tumblr stop killing my italics like #please jesus #it's not that hard #anyway #feedback would be nice since this is a slice of a much larger werewolf au. #with much more wolfy fun times

[svtkillua]

milk and tea > 6 (final)

rating: [pg-13 / angst] genre: soulmate au pairing: todoroki shouto x reader warnings: cursing, heartbreak, angst! word count: 3k

listen while you read here! join the discord!

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 [final]

Waiting was something you used to think you were good at. You used to believe that you were fantastic at ignoring the clock and letting the hours tick by, thought that if you could handle the months of longing for Todoroki, there was nothing you couldn’t be patient for. You’d been wrong, however, completely incorrect that you were anything even remotely close to stoical. Because sitting there on the couch of your apartment, staring at the front door waiting for Todoroki to come back from his last tattoo removal appointment, you’d never felt more impatient in your entire life. Every creek of a floorboard or honk of a horn outside sent your heart racing, your skin crawling with nerves every time you glanced at your phone and another minute had passed. 

You hadn’t seen him all week, not since the night after you’d been at his and Momo’s home, when you’d gone with him to his parent’s place. You could still picture the look on his face in the car ride over, could still feel the way he gripped your hand tighter than he ever had before, to the point where you could feel his pulse pounding beneath his flesh. He’d confronted them as soon as the pair of you were inside, ignoring the disapproving looks you got for being so physical, facing his demons head on even though it broke his heart completely in half. 

They had denied it at first, insisted that they would never do such a thing as cover his mark, even going as far as accusing you of making things up, saying you had been putting lies into his head so he’d leave his soulmate for you. The remark stung, but nothing had hurt as much as watching Todoroki crumble apart when they finally fessed up, the look on his face one that would haunt you for the rest of your life. It was almost like a tiny part of him had been hoping he really was wrong, that maybe this was all some other weird freak soulmate mix up and that his parents hadn’t actually sabotaged the happiness he was supposed to have in life. 

He’d yelled, screamed, cried until his lungs were burned to ash and his face turned beat red, a vase broken on the floor when he swore that he’d never forgive them for doing this to him. You’d never seen him so upset, never witnessed someone more broken than you had that night, curled up on your bed with his head on your chest as he sobbed until all the water was gone from his body. He’d been there when you both woke up, still curled up in bed, his fingers tangled into your own as he pressed aimless kisses along your cheek and collarbone, like he was trying to calm himself down, quiet sniffles carried over from the night before. 

That was when he told you he needed a few days to process things, and as much as it broke your heart to think about being away from him anymore, you understood why he needed some space.

Everything about his life had come unraveled so quickly, things he’d wanted but never dreamed of being given to him were delivered in the worst manner possible. Things he thought were true and unbreakable were proven to be lies that easily shattered, everything he knew now brand new, like a map he had no idea how to navigate. He found out the girl he never quite loved right wasn’t made for him, discovered that his parents arranged a marriage for him and covered up a part of himself that was supposed to lead him to true happiness. He got to kiss and hold you, but also had to let you go, only to find out maybe he was supposed to be with you all along. But until the mark was gone from his hand he wouldn’t know for sure what fate had been hidden from him his entire life. 

He kept insisting it wouldn’t matter if it matched yours or not, promising that his heart belonged to you no matter what. It didn’t ease the worry in your heart, however. 

Because the universe had been awful to you before, had dangled hope in front of your face only for it to be ripped away and replaced with that hollow feeling you’d grown familiar with. You loathed it, you never wanted to feel it again, not after starting to get to memorize the way it felt to finally be full, to have Todoroki there next to you keeping your heart from wandering too far from his own. You had gotten close enough to hold him now and you never wanted to let go, the mere idea of his mark matching someone else yet again was enough to have you anxiously digging your nails into your palms. 

You didn’t think you could handle watching him fall in love with someone else, especially when this time you knew it would stick, that with whomever his soulmark matched would be who he stuck with for the rest of his life. Of course he loved you now, but if you didn’t match, that love would fade and be given to them, whoever it was, that was lucky enough to have the same beautiful tattoo as Todoroki. 

And damn it did you want it to be you. 

That gold mark on your palm didn’t seem as bad when you pictured it living on Todoroki’s skin, the pigment reminding you of the warmth that seemed to pump out of his chest naturally. You could see the beauty in it when you imagined it being the same as his, didn’t want to vomit just looking at it when it was attached to the way you felt when you were around him. It didn’t seem as daunting when you reminded yourself that maybe it would allow you to be with the one person you’d ever loved like this, the one person who ever seemed to love you back. 

You’d talked to Todoroki every night over the past week, listened to his voice as he rambled in your eardrum about how much he missed you, his light laughter now and then little indicators that he was slowly but surely starting to accept how things were. The thought brought you comfort, even if you were desperate to be able to see him, that he was going to be okay one way or the other. He hadn’t mentioned until yesterday that he had a few appointments with a specialist to get his dark blue tattoo removed over the past week, letting you know that this morning would be the final one. 

He promised he hadn’t seen it yet, that the doctor insisted he keep it covered until it was finished healing properly. He wanted to look, you could tell from how whiny he sounded when you made him swear to tell you if it didn’t match right away, able to detect that he was just as impatient as you were. 

“I’ll come over right after the appointment.” He’d promised, his voice full of vague excitement you wanted to feel yourself, eager to see him but scared of what you would both do depending on the outcome. “No matter what, it’s gonna be okay.” 

You wanted to believe him. 

The jiggle of the doorknob made your spine lock up, knees aching when you forced them to unbend, standing just as the sound of keys stopped, the wood pushing open. You sucked in a breathe when you saw him, his head down as he tried to shove his spare key into the front pocket of his jeans, his hair draped in front of his eyes, his jean jacket draped across his broad shoulders. It made your throat tighten, eyes trailing to his hand, which was wrapped in a bandage spanning from his fingertips to his wrist, only his thumb poking out, curiosity spiking when he finally lifted his head and looked at you. 

“Todoroki.” You nearly melted seeing the way his lips lifted slightly once you saw each other, his free hand raising to rake through his hair, shutting the door with his foot. You were moving before you could stop yourself, body barreling closer to his, eyes squeezing shut as your chest molded into his strong embrace, his arm not hesitating to wrap around your waist like a boa constrictor. He felt familiar, warm, like your home you never wanted to leave, like your lighthouse in the middle of a stormy night. He felt like everything, like the sun and the moon and every star in the universe, like the one thing that you had ever wanted to memorize every detail of so you could replay its beauty forever inside your head. 

“I missed you so much.” His muttered words made your grip on him tighten, the heavy exhale he puffed out making the hair on top of your head ruffle, his fingertips pressing into your hip. He leaned back enough to ghost his lips against your forehead when you looked up at him, lungs shrinking when his eyes bored into your own. His teeth dug into his bottom lip as he paused, his bandaged hand resting against your lower back as the both of you stayed pressed together, like you were the other’s anchor keeping them from drifting. “I swear I couldn’t sleep all night because I knew I’d get to see you in a few hours.” 

The smile that fought its way onto the curve of your mouth made his features relax only slightly, the muscles in his neck tense when you lifted a hand up enough to let your fingers brush along the back of it, assuming it was because he was as anxious as you were. How couldn’t he be, with everything happening in such a short amount of time? 

“How was your appointment?”

“Good.” 

“Did you see it yet?” Your voice lifted just slightly, lips pressing into a thin line to try and hide the nerves that were filling you up to your brim. 

“No.” His head shook before he even answered, taking a step back to lift his hand up between the two of you, the bandages seeming paper thin the longer you stared at them. They were the only thing left standing between the both of you and the future of your relationship, the one barrier stopping you from finally being together, but also the one wall defending you both from getting let down once again. “I wanted us to see it together.” 

Your head bobbed as you swallowed, stomach full of nerves that felt like stinging wasps, lips pursing as you exhaled all the air from your body in an attempt to calm down. It was useless, really, because your brain was going a mile a minute working out the possibilities, heart near ripping at the seams the second you let a finger brush against the start of the bandage resting right in the middle of his palm. Your pulse felt too strong, your eyes burning with the worry that was bubbling up your esophagus, lashes fluttering closed as your teeth dug into your bottom lip to stop it from trembling. 

“Hey.” His whisper made your eyes open, hand raising and cupping your cheek, keeping your head angled towards him. The way he stared at you made it feel like the world had slowed down, gaze dancing across his features to take in every single inch. Even with the way the edges of your vision were blurred from unshed emotions you could see how breathtaking he was. “I love you, no matter what. Remember? We’re going to be okay, regardless of what’s under this bandage. Okay?” 

Your quiet sniffle was accompanied by a small nod as he leaned down enough to mold his forehead into your own, noses brushing as his lips ghosted against yours, not enough to be considered a kiss, more like you were just breathing him in. His proximity brought your nerves down slightly, his grip on you staying tight as you blindly started to unwind the cloth from around his palm, your gazes glued together as his bottom lip shook, his heartbeat palpable against your cheek from the contact of his palm there. 

It felt like everything had been leading to this, like from that first moment in the park the both of you had been meant to end up here, in your apartment, with your fragile hearts on the line, that pigment on Todoroki’s palm the deciding factor on what would happen now. It was all so heavy, like the walls were closing in on you, like you were wrapped in a comforter but far too tightly, to the point where it was near suffocating. Every emotion imaginable was dancing through your veins, good and bad, happy and dreadful, hopeful and lost, every single way a human could feel but all bundled up into a jumbled mess that was crushing you. 

The bandage slipped from your fingers as it finished unravelling, falling to a mess on the floor neither of you bothered reaching for. Todoroki’s fingers flexed when your own skimmed against his wrist, his vision boring into your own as he tried to look less anxious than he felt, adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed down his heart that had made a home in his throat. With a nod from you, he mimicked the action, the both of you pausing for a beat longer before you looked away from each other, like you were remembering what being close felt like incase it was the last time you’d get to be. 

With a deep breathe you slowly dipped your head down, his palm coming into view, resting between your bodies while facing up towards the ceiling. 

And there, going from the base of his hand straight up to the tip of his middle finger, was the most beautiful strip of gold you’d ever seen. 

There on his hand was your soulmark, the one you thought matched no one, the one that made you upset and angry and bitter and so full of disdain for so long. The one that made you despise yourself at times, that made you question why you were the way you were, why no one was supposed to want you, why you had to be alone. That stupid gold line that you’d almost hated for so long now made your heart burst, a sob slipping from your lips as your hand raised and covered your mouth as you tried to muffle the sounds falling out of you, eyes blurring with an onslaught of tears because you’d found it. 

You’d finally found your soulmate. 

And it was Todoroki. 

He pulled you back into his chest as he sniffled, arms enveloping you as his nose buried against the side of your neck, your eyes squeezing shut as you gripped him as tightly as you could, your bodies swaying as your back shook from the crying, his lips pressing into your collarbone over and over again. It was everything you’d ever wanted, for his mark to match yours, for your heart to have someone to hold onto, for you to be able to love someone with all of you. He was everything you could have ever dreamed of and you’d known your heart belonged to him from the day you met. 

And finally, after so long, after so much pain and struggling and longing, he got to be yours too. 

“I love you so much.” His hands raised to cup your cheeks, his lips melting into yours repeatedly, in languid, lazy kisses, ones with so little effort but so much emotion lingering behind them. Every one felt like a bandaid being placed over the wounds the world had inflicted on you both, slowly undoing the damage that the circumstances you’d been in had done to you, healing the pain in your bones until all you felt was each other. You never felt something as perfect as the way it felt to be his. “So damn much.” 

“I love you too.” The words were muffled against his lips as he lingered closer to you, your fingers combing through his hair as his grip abandoned your face to instead grip the backs of your thighs, pulling your body closer, raising onto the tips of your toes with a gentle laugh against his mouth. His lips pulled into a smile against yours, your skin feeling hot as he abandoned the kiss to instead pepper them along your cheeks, nose and forehead, ending with one on each eyelid as they drifted shut. “I always have.” 

“I knew it was you.” He whispered, his eyes swimming with the things he was finally allowed to feel, his head shaking as your lips made gentle contact with the curve on the corner of his mouth. “From that first day in the part, from the moment I saw you, I knew. I knew that I was made for you and no one else. It’s always been you, you’re it for me. You’re a part of me, and you always will be now. We don’t have to fight it anymore.” 

You sniffled as your lashes fluttered, eyes opening so you could peek up at him as the light peered from the window and painted his cheek, his thumb brushing against your damp bottom lip as his grin spread. You’d never seen anything in your life more beautiful than the pure happiness oozing off his features, feeling content knowing that even if the world had tried to break him he still was greatful it ended him up there with you. That even though he felt like he’d lost it all, he’d gained something better, someone better for him, someone who loved him with every single cell in their body. Someone who would be with him until the end and would love him even longer after that. 

And that someone, was you.

-

[previous chapter]

a/n: and there it is! the finale!! i hoped you all enjoyed this spur of the moment christmas/holiday gift from me to you <3 since this is being posted on christmas night, i hope you all enjoyed your day to the fullest and filled up on a bunch of delicious foods and got/shared all the gifts you wanted! -aikigai

#todoroki x reader #todoroki #shouto #todoroki shouto #shouto todoroki #todoroki smut #todoroki angst #todoroki fluff #bnha #mha #bnha x reader #mha x reader #milk and tea fic

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Grimoire of Zero 10 - 11 | Royal Tutor 11 - 12 (FINAL) | Kado 10 | Boku no Hero Academia 25 | Tsukigakirei 10 - 11...plus summer 2017 anticipated anime.

Just gonna put this here so it gets more attention while it’s open.-> http://www.strawpoll.me/13311671

Grimoire of Zero 10

Geez, the staff pulled a Kado 0 - 1 on us here…i.e. the ending of one ep is the same as the opening of the next ep. It’s just to a lesser extent than Kado did.

Seriously, who is Him??? They still haven’t told us!

Welp, there’s my answer. It was too obvious to centre a 12 episode series around, I would’ve given a plot point like that about…3 or 4 eps, tops.

Grimoire of Zero 11

The thing about this show is that you can just turn your brain off and watch along. It’s a tad slow, but enjoyable and that’s why I’ve stuck with it.

LOL, I understand what it’s like to have “messy, wormlike handwriting”…

I don’t believe a wisp of that karate chop, Holdem. The hand was at the wrong angle.

Finally, the show gets funny again. There’s the Zero we know.

I love the sense of scale the animators have demonstrated with the spells. Just saying that before I have no more chances to.

Ooh! Oh, that man. I actually side with Holdem on this one, he deserved that punch.

“I-“ – Ooh, at that moment I got completely engrossed in the cliffhanger. Normally shows don’t cut off in the middle of a sentence, do they?

Royal Tutor 11

I can’t believe they forcibly took Gregor. Isn’t there some kind of legal offence for-oh wait. That’s called kidnapping. (partially sarcastic)

I’ve always found it interesting that the princes have to refer to the king as such, rather than “dad”. That seems to be a problem in every single piece of media you get about royalty, although these guys have a conscious sort of “I am no longer the king, but your father” (and vice versa) switch which is controlled by Viktor.

Oh, so it’s basically all the Dickensian stuff you get in Oliver Twist…(I haven’t read it, but you know how it is with classics *rolls eyes*).

Heine’s movements are believable, but there’s some suspension of belief needed for Viktor’s (because he faints a little too fast, I think).

Welp, this ain’t quite crying material, but I can tell there was a “climax” where the audience was expected to cry. Knowing this is anime-only material keeps my eyes dry, I guess. However, knowing that Heine’s resigned as Royal Tutor really made my heart drop…after all, this is the second last episode, and I’ve really had fun watching these princes and their diminuitive tutor.

Royal Tutor 12

Bruno really likes Gendo poses, doesn’t he?

Heine’s voice is great for a noob VA. It really sells the character.

I always thought “hai-neh” was a weird pronunciation, but that’s what it says in the katakana.

Seeing Heine tell others their strengths really makes me feel like I’m missing them already, in a good way. I’m not tearing up yet, but it’s real heartwarming and I know if I were in the same situation, I’d cry too.

“Goodbye” isn’t quite “excuse me”, but I guess it works context-wise.

This is one of those shows where “show, don’t tell” works well and I think the show’s nailed it for the most part.

University degrees don’t necessrily make good tutors. Any student knows that, especially in uni.

I can see why even the author cried at this now, even though I’m still not crying.

W-Who’s that? With the dark hair? Eins???

Ah, there’s my answer. It was indeed Eins. Why does he have dark hair???

Welp, there’s one finale for the spring season over. The anime staff really couldn’t have done too much about Eins, though, which sucks. Come back another time for a different show, ‘kay?

Kado 10

I’m in that weird stage where I want to like Kado, but because everyone’s jumped ship, I won’t want to like it either…what a weird thing peer pressure is. *feels like crying*

I feel like I’m in Superhero Project (one of my stories) where protag Keisuke wakes up in a white expansive room to be trained in his powers. Only this time, they gave the room fractals.

Interesting. It’s like an alien LINE convo.

Sarasouju tree…apparently, it’s this thing. Commonly known as “sal”. I’ve never heard of it, though.

“Humans are ephermeal creatures.” – You remind me of Haibara (Detective Conan).

“There’re guns everywhere in America!” – LOL, that sure ain’t the truth, as much as America has gun problems.

Let’s play another common anime game. It’s called “Spot the Main Character from their Hair Colour”.

(SPOILERS for White Parasite from now on!) zaShunina’s still teetering on “cuckoo” from his facial expressions here. It’s sad, because I wanted him to be mysterious and beautiful like La Luna forever...that’s why I killed La Luna off!

*sigh* Okay, evil mastermind pretender, put your hands back on and please just negotiate like you wanted to in the beginning. (*on the brink of tears* Hey, I realised something. I keep making comparisons to White Parasite, but people find it confusing. By making those comparisons, I seem to have almost jinxed Kado to be this way.)

*crying because Shindo* La Luna’s force of living was the goodwill that it used to create its powers. Does that mean the anisotropic run off trust in the same way? (By the way, please don’t resurrect Shindo. That would break the laws of reality as we know it – even anisotropic laws.) (end spoilers)

Welp, I guess not. B-But, my dreams just got ruined by Saraka kissing Shindo (although the Kado tag spoilered it for me anyway)…

Pffffft. Okkkkkkay, Captain Shang, hold up!

Shindo’s angry face at Saraka wearing his shirt had me dying. He really is Captain Shang.

Kado. You were so beautiful at first. I placed my faith in you. B-But you changed, and now all I can do is see you through as you become a cliché fest I could have easily created with my own hands. In fact, I did create a Kado with my own hands - White Parasite. So I am the one to blame…I will have to see this through as I have seen through White Parasite.

Boku no Hero Academia 25

Well, that certainly threw me for a loop. Between two forces of roughly even power, it’s unpredictable who’ll win, but the ability to humanise a character comes with weaknesses. I know that already, as a writer and reader of hero stories.

All Might is such a fatherly type. I don’t think I could write a character like him – both OP yet grounded at the same time.

Plus Ultra!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait, the woman with red streaks is his…aunty? Sister? I’m not sure at all.

Aw, this Shouto segment was just too good. I’m worried about Iida though, because from the Stain stuff I’ve seen floating around, he will not take the defeat of his bro lightly. Also, amazarashi is coming in the next part of BnHA! I loved Speed to Masatsu, so it’s good to meet him again here.

Tsukigakirei 10

“An Encouragement of Learning” is a Fukuzawa work.

From Kawagoe to Chiba it really is about 2 hrs. Look.

Oh great. Bad CGI people strike again…

Monzenyokocho.

Did Hira have kawaii eyes just as the other people thrust trash at him?

Imokoi is a Kawagoe specialty involving…wait for it…sweet potatoes. That’s why the sweet potato mascot makes sense.

My eyes!!!!!!!! Bad CGI people stand out more in night scenes (compared to day scenes, of course).

Toki no Kane, apparently also known as the Bell of Time.

The “game” in question, that rock paper scissors, was probably a batsu (penalty) game.

I guess I should’ve guessed Kotarou would’ve gotten angry at Hira eventually. I just didn’t think it would be now.

That shot of Kotarou walking down the street looked a little awkward because it looked like he was walking on a flat surface when it’s actually slanted.

It’s not just my video, is it? Akane’s crying got sped up and that pulled me out of what was meant to be an immersive scene.

Chotto matte means “wait a bit”, but I feel like “I’ll be right there” is warping the meaning a lil’ too much.

Well, I never expected this show to portray anger. It pulled Kotarou’s anger off really well.

I never thought I’d see the day where Kotarou would rely on the potato mascot, either. I like a show that goes out of its way to be unpredictable like this. Too bad it came a little too late in the game.

Tsukigakirei is all about following the heart and not necessarily the mind, so this is a pefect way to show it.

Oh! That was another good unexpected thing, but then they’ve been teasing that since the fireworks. Too bad they kept part of Kotarou’s face hidden right after it.

This end of ep LINE convo is about a couple that can’t sleep, so one of them starts talking about their part time job…then it gets cut off.

Oh, so that’s how Sakura is related to the main events…okay.

Tsukigakirei 11

“To decide that I’m hopeless before I even begin is nothing but laziness.” - Wise words, Dazai.

Were there always two potato mascots at the top of 13.70? I think one appeared there when Kotarou first received his, actually, although I’m not bothered to look…

The people aren’t CGI now…or I’ve somehow gotten used to them…? Either way, they’ve stepped up their animation game (in exchange for ep 12 being late, according to a note on the CR page).

That’s a cute jumper, Akane.

The fact Kotarou changes his message is something I can relate with. Even one forum post can take hours to type, even though time is always never on my side.

What’s that purple thing on the onigiri plate? A pickled plum? No, those are red…

A “root for the underdog” story is a classic, so I can see why Roman’s rooting for Kotarou.

Hahaha…yeah, let’s just sat I can’t understand the science for the life of me and leave it at that. That stuff’s chemistry, I haven’t touched it since I was 14 or 15.

The stuff about circles appears to be on segments, equal angles and so on (you know how you find the angle of a triangle based on where it is in a circle? Yeah, stuff like that).

Oh yeah, I never thought this but…Kawagoe Seminar. It’s named like Sailor Moon’s Crystal Seminar, and for good reason – both are cram schools.

There’s a grade score near Kotarou’s wrist, so understandably he got an A in Japanese.

Parents aren’t like that, Kotarou. They don’t always hope for your failure, they just hope you’ll do well in life…says someone whose parents have aways supported them.

Instead of having CGI people moving, they’ve finally done 2D people. However, the tradeoff is that now the people are not moving, which is just as weird if not even weirder.

“PoPo” is such a weird name for a shop, LOL.

No wait, I take part of my comment about 2D people back. There is still CGI, it’s just less prononced now they’ve bothered to put in 2D background people as well.

That scarf goes well with his outfit…says someone who sucks at coordinating outfits.

Why not just talk with her when you’re ready, Kotarou? If The Royal Tutor taught me anything, it’s that it’s always good to talk things over if you can’t understand each other.

Aitai can mean “want to meet”(like you’re meant to do to make the fish a heart), but the ai is in hiragana (so it doesn’t mean anything) and the kanji for tai used means “red snapper”. As in, the fish.

There’s a lot of ganbaru (try your hardest) used in this ep, and Kotarou says benkyouganbaresou in this “Sorry it didn’t turn out so great” convo. The nuance is therefore lost in the translated version, “I feel like I’m ready to study again starting tomorrow”, although I can’t suggest a better alternative.

Yeah, Kotarou’s mother is right. If you have a normal sleep schedule, you’re able to work better, despite how great it may be to sleep in.

I get easily lost on public transport, so I understand the vibe Kotarou’s parents are giving off.

This ep’s ED LINE convo is two people (one’s a guy, the other I don’t know the gender of) talking about studying and, at the start of the convo, the guy’s mother being angry. At the end of the convo it turns out the guy’s notebook was blank (and that’s the punchline to the convo).

Well, I’ll confirm my lineup for summer here and now. Licensing’s already being doled out as we speak so some of the lineup’s set in stone already. In order of hype:

Definite hype:

Boku no Hero Academia 2* (carryover)

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu*

Reflection*

Nana Maru San Batsu

Kaito x Ansa (already binged Nazotokine to prepare)

Nobunaga no Shinobi ~ Ise to Kanegasaki-hen ~* (see below, carryover)

Medium - low hype:

Vatican Kiseki Chousakan

Princess Principal 

Jikan no Shihaisha (seen the first chapter or so of the manga)

Isekai Shokudou* 

18if

Youkai Apato

Clione no Akari

Konbini Kareshi

Zannen Onna

Asterisks mean licensing’s been confirmed already for me as of this post - I’ve asterisked anything confirmed to be by CR this season, because that’s likely to be worldwide bar Asia. Katsugeki is the only known show out of the asterisks that isn’t a CR stream. 

Funi’s opened up its services to my region (due to the CR x Funi merger), I could probably watch 18if there, but 1) I feel like Funi doesn’t have a good enough player, and 2) I feel like it’ll show up on a service that has a better player.

You’ll notice Nobunaga no Shinobi, a carryover from the last season I previously didn’t care for, is on the list. I was looking at YouTube videos of people’s favourite OPs and I fell in love with Shirayuki (by Renka, it’s the OP for the current season) recently, so I binged the existing content in one day. However, it being a short series means it’s not eligible for simulcast commentary and I’ll have to make a separate ranking for short series once I make my year-end rankings (to include ~ Ise to Kanegasaki-hen ~, and because watching Kenka Bancho Otome has screwed my rankings over enough as it is). After all, my 2016 ranking policy was “a show I saw at least once over in 2016 and had at least one seasonal entry in 2016″, which if applied to this year would make Nobunaga no Shinobi eligible, but it would be unfair to pit it against any shows with standard 24 min eps.

#simulcast commentary #summer 2017 anime #tsukigakirei #grimoire of zero #seikaisuru kado #the royal tutor #boku no hero academia #Chesarka watches Tsukigakirei #Chesarka watches Kado #Chesarka watches Boku no Hero Academia #Chesarka watches Oushitsu Kyoushi Haine #Chesarka watches Grimoire of Zero #katsugeki touken ranbu #reflection wave one #nana maru san batsu #kaito x ansa #vatican kiseki chousakan #princess principal #jikan no shihaisha #nobunaga no shinobi #isekai shokudou #18if #youkai apato no yuuga na nichijou #clione no akari #konbini kareshi #zannen onna kanbu black general-san #nazotokine #shirayuki #renka