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confused-red-head · 14 days

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𝑤𝘩𝑒𝑛 𝑖 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 : 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑖 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑜 𝑥 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 : 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑖

𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦: In order to placate your anxious mother, you agree to return to your hometown to participate in a mating run—knowing full well that betas rarely get chased, never mind betas nearly old enough to age out of the practice. You’ve decided to treat it like a vacation, a chance to visit with your childhood friends, the mating run itself a nice relaxing hike.All in all it’s a solid plan—until alpha Todoroki Shouto, your best friend's little brother,steps in and blows it all to pieces. 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡: omegaverse, no quirks au, alpha!shouto, beta!reader, mating rituals, age gap, best friend’s little brother, older reader, afab reader, some class differences, aged up characters, semi-public sex, slight small town romance vibes, background implied dabihawks for some reason, smut, 18+; mdni! 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ: 4.7k | chapter 2 of 4

Then

The Todoroki house was the most interesting place you had ever been.

At home it was just you and your mom, and most of the time she was working, or recovering from working, but the Todoroki house was packed with children from wall to wall. There was almost never a dull minute—except when Todoroki Enji came home and everyone got stiff and weird—but when he wasn’t around, you found you preferred the Todoroki mansion to the loneliness of your own empty house.

Touya seemed to sense this, and deigned to invite you over often, enough that you found yourself following him home after school at least once a week.

After the first time, you’d been introduced to his other siblings, Fuyumi and Natuso, who were both much nicer than Touya, and notably far more talkative. Shouto was a near-constant too, almost always propped on his mother’s hip when you arrived home, and always eager to be handed off to you, enough that you could tell Touya was annoyed.

“You’re not even related,” he complained, and you hid a smile at his barely-couched jealousy.

“I’m just better than you,” you told him, sticking your tongue out, dodging when he tried to grab it. You’d never had siblings, and you’d been forced to learn quickly that nothing was off-limits to people with younger siblings. Revenge would always be exacted.

Even when Shouto got older, old enough to talk in complete sentences and toddle about on his own, he seemed to prefer your company. You and Touya were almost never left alone to play on your own, Shouto always in the room with you, almost velcroed to your side.

He was on the floor next to you in the living room on one such occasion, Touya absolutely destroying you in Super Mario, when Rei called Touya in from the kitchen.

Touya rolled his eyes, pausing and flinging his controller at your head with the manner of someone who hoped it actually connected. “Don’t restart while I’m gone or I’ll kill you.”

You saluted him as he stomped out, taking a minute to stretch out from where you’d sat hunched over your controller. You bumped Shouto as you did, and he looked up at you from his coloring book, where he was shading in a pair of penguins in hot pink.

“Nice choice,” you told him, and Shouto looked a little bit like he was trying not to preen.

“Izuku in my class says penguins mate for life, like us,” he said, authoritatively.

You blinked, your brain snagging on the like us. Alphas, betas, and omegas could mate for life, and were generally expected to, but that didn’t always quite play out if you didn’t find your life mate. Your mother was a near-hand example, your father having left her while you were still in swaddling clothes, only to pass away a short few years later. They hadn’t been life mates, you’d come to realize recently—though your mother still believed in them. You hoped she’d find hers still, someday.

You thought maybe, however, that you were not going to hold out hope for your own, if it was as tricky as it seemed.

“You know not everyone does, right?” you asked, peering down at Shouto.

Wide, guileless eyes stared back up at you. Shouto had lost a little of his baby fat recently, but absolutely none of his sweetness.

“Who does not?” he demanded, sitting back on his haunches.

You fiddled with the controller in your fingers, wondering suddenly if you should have brought this up with him. “Some people. My parents didn’t,” you said, cautiously.

Shouto’s eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. “Your parents?”

You shook your head. “Sometimes people don’t find them even after all of the mating runs.”

Shouto did not look pleased with this. His eyes roved over you, pinning on you with a sort of sudden, unnerving intensity. “Sometimes people go on mating runs. And their life mate is not there because they are too young to go yet.”

You blinked, surprised by the specificity of this conclusion. “Sometimes, probably, yeah.”

Shouto’s tiny frown deepened, and he carefully arranged himself up against your side. “You will wait though, right?”

Your hand found its way unthinkingly into his hair, ruffling it. He was a sweet kid. “I mean, people usually go through more than one mating run, right?”

Shouto pressed more insistently into your side. “You will keep going until your life mate is there, though.”

You had an image of yourself, greying and eighty, slowly wobbling on your cane through the preserve. You suppressed a laugh. “I’ll go as I can until I age out, how about that?”

Shouto nodded, satisfied. His crayon resumed on the penguins, fiery pink streaking across the page. “I will be there,” he pronounced definitively.

His decisive tone startled a laugh out of you. You grinned down at him, unable to help the urge to ruffle his hair again. “I’ll stick around until we can run together. Although you better get good at climbing trees.”

Shouto blinked, his mouth pursing in puzzlement. “Trees,” he repeated to himself.

You nodded. “If I’m not an alpha, and I have to hide somewhere, I’m going to find the best tree in the preserve and go up it and not come down until I find my life mate.”

You would not be like your parents. You would not settle, and you would be realistic about your prospects.

Shouto’s eyes tracked across your face once more, like he was committing the statement to memory.

“You’re welcome to come up with me,” you said. You couldn’t imagine Shouto as anything other than an omega like his mom, not with that sweet little face. You didn’t like the idea of some alpha trying to get at him, so it was better he stay safe in your tree with you.

The thought suddenly rankled, and you decided you were done with this discussion. Better not to think of Shouto all grown up and spirited away from everyone until you absolutely had to.

You tapped a finger on Shouto’s coloring book, turning him back to it. “Anyway. Tell me about the other animals in here? Did Izuku tell you about any of these?”

Shouto looked down at the page, his expression shifting seriously. “This is a killer whale,” he said, pointing to a corner of the page he’d colored in with a blob of forest green. “They are related to dolphins. They are the biggest dolphin in the world.”

You nodded, relaxing back on your hands, gesturing for him to go on.

Shouto took his job very seriously, explaining solemnly and in great detail all the animals on the page, the way he sometimes described all his toys to you. You let him go on, finding that you liked listening to Shouto talk—he was rarely so wordy, but he was easy and familiar and funny in how seriously he took everything.

You laid back and listened to him, hoping Touya took a little extra time in the kitchen. Shouto looked pleased to have your attention, and soon enough you found yourself dozing, your head against his little thigh, content with Shouto’s sweet little voice washing over you.

In Shouto’s company, the Todoroki house felt a lot like home.

Now

Your beloved mother woke you in the morning ramming the vacuum into the door of your old bedroom-turned-storage room.

You groaned from your air mattress, your old bed frame sold off already to pay a gas bill. You missed that thing.

“Only a week together and you were out all day yesterday,” your mother said when you emerged from your old room, shooting you a look that immediately made you feel like a teenager again. She was wearing one of your old sweatshirts, that she’d clearly commandeered because she’d missed you.

Your heart squeezed a little at the familiar sight of her, but not enough to curb your morning fussiness.

“Maybe I was out scoping alphas to pounce on during the run,” you said, shuffling towards the kitchen and the promise of coffee.

“You were out with the mayor’s son,” she said, sniffing. A small smile pulled at your mouth—she had pettily refused to call Touya by his name for years.

She’d been thrilled by your friendship with him when you were kids. From the outside, Touya had looked like a beautiful little boy from a well-to-do family. You knew she’d once held out hope for your friendship to turn into something more, to see you settled into a well-off family and taken good care of.

For your part, however, you’d been drawn to Touya but never interested in that way, and you knew Touya felt the same. And things had only gotten more complicated when Touya’s mental health had crumbled like dirt under his father’s heel, and even worse when the Todoroki family fire broke out; Touya’s extensive burns damaged his glands and destroyed any evidence of his secondary gender before he’d even presented. Though, personally, you’d always suspected he was an omega. He was showy, flashy, possessed of that classic omega need for praise and attention—not quite to your tastes.

You thought you probably preferred someone a little more lowkey, someone steady and easy. Definitely not Touya.

There was also the fact that his efforts as of late seemed directed at the one quarter of your friend group with blonde, fluffy hair. Though you knew Touya would rather burn his remaining skin off before admitting it.

Either way, your mother’s hopes of a marriage into the Todoroki family were dashed, along with her opinion of Todoroki Enji when things finally came to head, and she’d never quite forgiven Touya for it.

“Touya says hello,” you answered distractedly, fiddling around with the coffee machine, though of course Touya had said no such thing. “I saw Rei though, and Natsuo and Fuyumi and Shouto. Did you know Shouto is a firefighter now? He’s gotten so big.”

“An alpha?” your mom’s voice floated out from the living room, her eagerness not quite suppressed.

You laughed, though a tiny, strange sort of spark lit up your spine. “Mom, I’m a couple years too old for him. I’m like his grandma.”

“Oh you are not, you dramatic thing,” you heard her sniff.

“Our first date could be at my bingo hall,” you carried on over the hiss of the water boiling, the dribble of coffee into the pot. “And we could get drunk on our prune juice, and I could slide out my dentures waiting for him to kiss me—”

“I’m going to sell you,” your mother said, her vacuum starting up again pointedly. You heard the distinct thump of it being rammed into a couch leg and grinned.

You knew she wanted to see you settled because she loved you, wanted to see you taken care of in all the ways that she hadn’t been. Your father had let her down years before he’d even passed, which you thought should have besmirched any alpha’s good name in your mother’s book. But she was determined to believe in love and life mates despite it all, and you admired her for it. She was a stubborn thing.

You spent the morning helping her do chores, clambering up onto the counters and getting all the places she couldn’t regularly reach, hauling out her trash and googling your way through some low-level repairs. You shared a quick breakfast in between, dodging more questions about the mating run, before returning to cleaning.

You were covered in dust and a thin layer of Lysol by the time you remembered you’d promised to meet Shouto at the fire station for lunch. There was not enough time to change or shower if you wanted to pick something up on the way, and you supposed it was well enough that Shouto did not actually possess the level of interest in you that your mother might have wanted him to.

“Going to see my child bride,” you told your mom on the way out, laughing and dodging a sponge.

The walk to the fire station took the better part of forty-five minutes, including a long interlude spent hemming and hawing over the prepared foods section of the grocery store before you finally settled on cold soba—Shouto’s favorite from when you were younger, if you remembered correctly.

The fire station itself was an older, whitewashed multi-story building, set back from the main road. The garage doors were open in the warming spring air, the bright red of the fire engines clearly visible from blocks away. You must have been visible from blocks away, too, because Shouto stepped out as you turned onto the drive, the dark blue of his stationwear stark against his skin.

Your heart did a strange lurching motion in your chest, and you pointedly did not let your eyes linger on the way his uniform belted in at his hips, highlighting the trimness of his waist and the breadth of his shoulders. Nope.

“Hi Shouto,” you said, holding up your bag of spoils. “You still like soba, right?”

Shouto blinked, his eyelashes fluttering. Long fingers touched the bag, hefting it carefully from your grip. “You remember.”

You grinned up at him. “How could I forget? Especially because I was there when you had it for the first time. You flung some at Touya from your high chair and it ended up on me instead.”

Shouto looked embarrassed, a pink flush spreading prettily across the tops of his high cheekbones. “I do not believe you.”

“Uh huh,” you said.

Shouto’s mouth pulled into what might have been a nonexpression on anyone else, but was most definitely a pout on him. Cute.

“I can reassure you there will be no soba flung today,” he promised, his deep voice earnest. Then he paused. “Touya is not in range.”

A surprised laugh escaped you, and the edge of Shouto’s lips pulled. He looked pleased with himself for having drawn it out of you. He’d always made you laugh, even as a kid—though mostly for how incongruously serious he was as a child, even about the silliest things. But also for how he seemed able to press people’s buttons—Touya’s especially—just by existing.

Shouto gestured you inside, and you studied the firetrucks as you passed them, mostly so you did not watch the way Shouto’s shoulders shifted beneath his shirt.

When he caught your look of curiosity, Shouto led you over to one, opening the door for you to take a look inside. You peered at all the knobs and switches interestedly, leaning into the cab. It looked complex, and yet very familiar. It actually looked a lot like the toy fire truck that once spent a fair amount of time occupying the inside of baby Shouto’s mouth.

You glanced back, opening your mouth to tell Shouto as much, when suddenly two large hands were at your waist, warm and sure. They lifted you right into the driver’s seat like it was absolutely no effort.

You fell into the cab, suddenly winded. You whipped around to stare at Shouto, heart hammering with the casual display of alpha strength, unable to help the wide-eyed look you knew you were giving him. That was—that was—not allowed.

“Am I—can I be—in here?” you garbled out, trying not to make obvious the real reason for your sudden disorientation.

Shouto stepped up onto the wheel plate to lean into the cab beside you, bringing in a puff of that scent like campfire on a cold day. “Yes,” he answered, looking unbothered with how close his face was to yours.

You watched him helplessly, brain fogging with his proximity and his scent. He was very, very pretty up close. He’d grown into what had to be the most beautiful person you’d actually ever seen—his mother’s looks, dialed up to an eleven. The deliberate alpha edge to him should have been at odds with that delicate sensuality—but instead it was like his secondary gender sat on him like a beam of sunlight, highlighting his beauty.

It was totally at conflict with the round, pudgy little thing he’d been when you’d first seen him, the lanky preteen you’d left him as.

He felt so familiar and yet so strangely new. It was disconcerting.

You quickly averted your gaze, making a show of leaning in over all the dials and buttons. Shouto leaned right over your lap, his chest warm against your legs, patiently explaining what each one did in his low, calm tone. The depth of his voice was so shocking, but the tone so similar to what it had been—you could remember him explaining animals in his coloring book to you in much the same level of careful detail once.

Your head spun with the dichotomy. Baby Shouto, a lifetime away, and adult alpha Shouto here in front of you—

You hurriedly pushed the thought of adult alpha Shouto down before you could think too deeply on it. That was off limits.

When you’d had your fill and Shouto had managed to make sure you didn’t accidentally deploy the ladder in the station itself, he helped you down from the cab, his hands hot on your waist.

“I’m old but still spry enough to get myself down, young man,” you told him as he settled you back on the station floor. Your heartbeat felt like it was somewhere around your throat.

“I did not hear your bones creak at least,” Shouto said, startling you into a laugh again.

His mouth twitched as he led you further into the station, giving you a short tour of the gear racks, the office, the laundry room and fitness room stuffed with several of his coworkers, a room that smelled overwhelmingly of clashing alpha scents, none nearly as good as Shouto’s.

A cheery red head waved to you from the leg press, that Shouto introduced as Kirishima, and a blonde alpha greeted him with a towel whipped directly at Shouto’s face. Shouto ducked it with the ease of long practice.

“Oi halfie, who the fuck told you you could eat the cookies I brought in?” the blonde demanded, barely sparing you an acknowledging glace as he reracked a mind-bogglingly enormous set of weights.

Shouto introduced him anyway, in a deliberately bland tone that you immediately recognized as one he deployed to rile up Touya. “This is Bakugou Katsuki.”

“Answer the damn question,” Bakugou said.

Shouto blinked long and slow and absolutely meant to annoy. You hid a smile. “Am I expected to fight fires on an empty stomach,” Shouto said, flatter than a question.

“I’ll fucking show you an empty stomach when I rip out your—”

“You must be Y/N,” Kirishima said loudly from the leg press. You instantly clocked a beta disruption technique at work and smiled at him.

“Nice to meet you,” you said, searching for something to reply with, uniting in his peace-keeping mission. “That’s—an impressive amount of weight.”

“Thanks!” Kirishima said brightly.

Out of the corner of your eye you caught Shouto’s head snapping towards you, and you looked back to find his eyes narrowed on you.

“I can press as much,” Shouto said, his tone insistent. He crowded a little closer to you.

Your eyebrows crept towards your hairline, mystified. “I—that’s—great?”

A tiny frown pulled at Shouto’s mouth, and a disgusted sound issued from Bakugou’s corner of the gym. “You gotta be fucking kidding me. Take this shit right outta here,” Bakugou demanded.

Shouto ignored him, still staring at you. He pressed closer, his shoulders shifting so that he was angled between you and Kirishima, obscuring most of your line of sight.

“I—mean you definitely look like you can press, um, a lot,” you continued, bewildered. “The only pressing I do is, uh, french press.”

The frown evaporated from Shouto’s expression, something suddenly pleased descending over it instead. Beyond him, you thought you could see Kirishima smiling, mouthing you look like you can press a lot to Bakugou, and an answering eye-roll from Bakugou. Oh god. Had you said that?

Your face heated, and you immediately decided an evacuation was in order. “Well thanks for letting us interrupt you. Nice to meet you guys. Shouto—should we—?”

Shouto’s hand found the small of your back, gently guiding you. All thought of Kirishima and Bakugou suddenly evaporated under the feeling of that hot palm, and you barely managed another wave as Shouto shadowed you out of the room. He led you up a flight of stairs to the dorm area, where several more of his coworkers were arrayed, chatting over their own lunches.

Face still sort of warm, you helped Shouto unpack the soba and the various side dishes you’d grabbed. He disappeared further into the kitchen and returned with glasses of water and the appropriate utensils, arraying everything in front of you.

“So this is going to be your first run,” you said conversationally, after you’d taken your first bite of soba. “Got any lucky omega in mind?”

Shouto’s eyes darted up from his chopsticks to your face, grey and blue pinning you. “I have… someone in mind,” he said, after a moment.

A strange twinge made itself known in your chest again. You ignored it, shoving more noodles into your mouth determinedly.

“I am sure you will have absolutely no trouble, but I am happy to give you a quick rundown of all the usual hiding spots anyway,” you said. “Most omegas actually end up not too far into the preserve because they want to be caught, so it should be pretty easy.”

One of Shouto’s brows quirked the tiniest bit. “I have reason to believe I��ll need to follow at least a few miles.”

You felt your own eyebrows lift. Not too many omegas went super far in, unless they were looking to avoid someone or pose a real challenge. You went miles in specifically for that reason as well—to steer clear of the action, not that it was likely to find you anyway—and get up your tree before anyone came looking.

“There’s fewer spots that far out because the brush gets all scraggly at the coast,” you said. “There’s a few outcroppings though that I’ve seen omegas go for. You really think your intended will go that far?”

Shouto considered you for a long moment, those mismatched eyes roving over you. “I do.”

Whoever it was, they were going to make him work for it, huh? You suppressed a growing spot of offense on his behalf.

“And you’re sure about this person?” you asked.

Shouto nodded. “I have been sure since I was very small.”

Your heart skipped a beat at the same time as your stomach seemed to drop. That was very sweet—and also strangely disheartening to hear.

Why was that disheartening?

“Then—do you think they’re for sure your life mate?” you asked, taking a careful, studied sip of water.

“I do,” Shouto answered. The simplicity of his statement spoke for itself. You were a beta and did not have quite the same capacity to detect your mate as an alpha, but you knew alphas always knew. You wondered if he’d always known he was going to end up an alpha if he’d had that instinctive understanding since he was young.

You wondered why he’d never said anything, all those years you’d grown up together.

Your heart did a strange dip, sinking at the same time it lifted for him.

“I’m really happy for you Shouto. I’m glad I came back just in time to see you find happiness, when it feels like I have already missed so much else,” you told him.

Shouto leaned forward, catching your eye. His gaze was serious where it caught yours. “I am glad you came back, too. You have been… missed,” he said.

Your heartbeat fluttered, and you gripped the edge of the table, trying to quell the feeling. It would not do to be too overwhelmed by Shouto. Not now.

You managed a smile, and quickly rerouted the conversation back to the hiding spots you knew, and the forest trails you’d seen most omegas utilize. Shouto watched you carefully, and you hoped he was committing the information to memory.

After that the conversation turned to more innocuous topics, a rehashing of some of your shared childhood memories, some picking on Touya. The soba disappeared between the two of you, as well as all the side dishes you’d brought. Shouto was incredibly easy to talk to, you found—a fascinating blend of the earnest, slight shit-stirrer of a little boy you’d known and a blandly funny adult man. He had some of Touya’s underlying propensity towards intensity, and some of his mother’s thoughtful sweetness—and you liked the way the familiar traits blended into something faceted and interesting.

He really had grown up.

After lunch he let you explore more of the station, showing you all the compartments on the fire engines, explaining all the equipment. On the way to the door he also let you rifle through the gear bays, showing you his own rack of turnout gear.

He even let you try his jacket on, looking like he was suppressing a smile when the heaviness of it weighed your arms down, watching you flap your arms around, marveling as what was easily twenty pounds of heat-proof fabric resisted you.

No wonder he needed such an intense workout routine.

You couldn’t help but be amazed by it all—who Shouto had turned into, and the fact that he had such an impressive job, one that fit him so well. The fact that he was an adult now, with goals and ambitions that were a lot more grounded than yours. The fact that he was an alpha of all things, and could lift you up into a firetruck as easily as you’d once lifted him off Touya’s hip.

It was so much to contemplate, and you watched him, helplessly fascinated, as he led you around.

You lingered for long enough that the sky was tinging pink and orange by the time you left, and Shouto saw you to the door, insisting on plugging in his number to your phone so you could text when you got home. You could still feel his eyes on you as you turned the corner down the street, a strange warmth suffusing you as you walked. It kept you warm the entire way home, despite the cool evening air.

It was only when you arrived at your mother’s front door, shooting off your promised text to Shouto that you realized that you were mooning like a girl returning home from a date—a completely embarrassing, inappropriate tact for your mind to take with someone who had been your childhood friend. Your childhood junior.

Besides, Shouto had explicitly said he had someone in mind already, someone he intended to follow during the run. And you were too old for him, and a beta as well. Alpha-beta couplings were rare—and if Shouto had known who his life mate was since he was very small, and never given any indication it was a beta—well that spoke for itself.

You shook your head as you let yourself in through the door, trying to slough off the feeling as you called a greeting to your mother. It was sad you’d never get to haul him up a tree after you, the way you’d promised when you were kids. But such was life, you guessed.

Shouto may have grown up into an admirable man and a beautiful alpha—but he was off limits to you. You’d make sure you treated him with nothing but the respect and friendly fondness he deserved. Nothing else.

Absolutely nothing else.

#todoroki shouto x reader #todoroki x reader #shouto x reader #shouto todoroki x reader #todoroki x you #todoroki x y/n #todoroki x midoriya #todoroki shoto x reader #bnha x reader #shouto x y/n #shouto x you #shoto x reader #shoto x you

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confused-red-head · 2 months

Text

These Curses We Bear

Chapter 3: Here Comes The Sun

Pro-Hero!Shouto Todoroki x Psychic Medium Detective!Reader

Masterlist

Previous - Current - Next

WARNING: dark themes, death, minor character death, descriptions of dead bodies(no excessive gore), paranormal activities, blood, violence, cursing, angst, angst WITH COMFORT(moreso in later chapters), mentions of trauma, mentions of illness, fem!reader, READER TALKS TO GHOSTS, ghost child in chapter 1, children in general, Reader being a dork, home break-in, slowish burn, minor self harm (skin picking), strategically placed fluff, etc.

Author's Note: sup nerds guess who crawled out of her anxiety pit and decided to get back to work.

Morning came much sooner than you would have liked. Light streamed in through the glass balcony door, in the perfect position to blind you as you awoke. You glanced at your digital clock, which read '7:34 AM'. You silently curse yourself for not closing the blinds last night.

You heaved a sigh as you turned over in your soft, pillowy paradise in hopes of getting more rest.

Those hopes were crushed when your phone began to ring. Letting out a grunt, you snatched your phone from your nightstand.

"Hello?", you spoke into the phone, attempting to sound even somewhat awake.

"Detective Onee-chan!"

You immediately recognize the voice. You practically fling yourself from bed, already grabbing a sweatshirt.

"Akemi?! What's wrong? What happened?"

"We need help!"

After tugging on the sweatshirt and grabbing your wallet and keys, you slip on your sneakers,"Okay. Just stay on the phone. Tell me where you are. What happened? Is anyone hurt?"

"We're outside your house! Shouto's hurt!"

Huh?

"What?..."

"Haruka's Shouto plushie! Some boys came by and tried to take him from her! They pulled his arm off and ran! Now she's refusing to go to school with him like this!"

Oh.

You stared dumbfoundedly at your front door, simultaneously filled with relief and frustration. Ultimately, you had to understand this was a big deal for a kid. Especially when they had already lost everything that mattered to them once before.

You took a deep breath and steadied your voice into something softer, "I… Okay. Okay. I'll be out there very soon. Don't go anywhere."

You ran back into your room and grabbed the old sewing kit you kept around. You also ran into the bathroom to pluck a box of colorful adhesive bandages and wet wipes from the cabinet before rushing out to find the two young girls sitting on your front step. The older girl, nine-year old Akemi, stood from her seat and gave a polite bow, her baby blue hair swung about in her ponytail and her golden eyes shone brightly in the morning light.

"Good morning, Detective Onee-chan."

"Good morning, Akemi. Good morning, Haruka."

The younger girl, six-year old Haruka, remained seated in her spot on the step. She tightly hugged the plush, she quietly sniffled as more tears streamed down her face. Her tawny hair was tousled from her usually neat pigtails and her lavender eyes were blurred from the tears.

Both girls lived just across the street in a foster home with a few other children. You were familiar with all the children since you've known their foster mother, Manami, since she was an old family friend of yours. She ran the foster home with another friend of hers and, just for the record, did an amazing job with the kids. You even helped out some days if their schedules got a little too busy, thus the children knew you pretty well and had you as a contact in their emergency phones Manami provided them.

You crouched down in front of the younger girl, trying your best to meet her height.

"Hey Haruka. I'm here to help fix up Shouto for you. Is it okay if I take a look at him?"

Haruka was a particularly special case. Her parents died about a year ago. A fire had broken out and spread through their apartment complex. It claimed her parents and put her older brother, who had protected her from the raging flames, into a coma from the severe burns he sustained before a hero had managed to save them. That hero being Shouto, himself. Since then she's been selectively mute.

Unfortunately, this has made her a target for some unruly children who liked to tear up plushies for fun.

Haruka sat still for a moment and wiped her eyes before giving you a small nod. You gently took the plush and the severed arm from her small hands, quickly getting to work stitching the arm back onto the plush, being as neat as possible.

If you had one yen for every time you had to help fix up a Shouto… you'd have two yen.

Which may not be much, but it is weird that it happened twice.

You chuckled to yourself for your stupid joke as you presented Haruka with a variety of adhesive bandages.

"Which one do you think Shouto would like?"

The young girl looked at the bandages, a serious look crossed her face, like this was the most serious decision she had to make in her life. You had to refrain from chuckling at the adorable look.

Haruka finally pointed at a Princess Elsa bandage. You peeled the protective paper from the bandage and applied it over the stitching.

"Alright, there we go! All that's left to do is to give him a kiss to make it feel better!", you hold out the plush to Haruka.

The six-year old eagerly takes it back and gives it a kiss on the forehead. You chuckled, grabbing a wet wipe from the packaging.

"Now. If anymore boys try to take him away from you, kick them in the shins! Got it?" You lightly cupped the girl's face as you began delicately wiping her tear-streaked cheeks.

Haruka nodded firmly, a determined look in her eyes. A real woman on a mission.

"Detective Onee-Chan! You can't just tell her she can hit people!", Akemi gasped.

"Okay okay! Fine. No kicking shins… if you can help it."

"Onee-Chan!"

"Look. If she can't use her words then I'm sure a nice, swift kick to the shins will get the point across that they can't mess with her!"

Akemi's face scrunched up into a puffy-cheeked pout.

"Okay, okay fine. Don't hit people. Now let's get you two to school before you're late… again."

You took the girls' hands and walked off, unaware that a very distracted Haruka is staring in awe at a very familiar dual-colored figure standing in your apartment window.

You returned to your apartment building after dropping the girls off at school, only to catch the distinct smell of something burning and the blaring of a smoke alarm.

Your initial thought was,

Pfft, some dumbass is burning down their apartment.

Until, upon closer inspection, you realize,

Oh shit! That's my apartment!

You swear you sped faster than Ingenium himself as you climbed the steps of the staircase, aside from nearly face planting a few times. The moment you unlocked the door, nearly tearing it from the hinges. Smoke fogged up the hall and swirled around the entrance hall, stinging your eyes and nose.

You swerved around the corner, nearly tripping over your lovely potted monstera in the process, only to find a wide-eyed and bewildered Todoroki donning your cat pattern apron and holding a now frozen frying pan.

The two of you stared at each other for a moment, both of your faces adorning similar shocked expressions.

…

"Pffft…"

The silence was broken by an abrupt snort from you. You bit your lip in an attempt to conceal the grin tugging at your lips.

"Don't laugh." Todoroki wasn't amused as a tinge of red spread across his cheeks as his face scrunched into a pout.

"Nonono! I'm just…pffft… I'm just… ahem… I'm sorry, but the look on your face took me off guard." You tried to cover your curled lips with your hand as you strode across your living room to slide open your balcony door to filter out the smoke, thankful that the spring weather was agreeable this morning.

"So… I'm guessing you were trying to make breakfast…", you walked back to prop one hand onto the kitchen counter while the other was planted on your hip. You shot him a playful smirk, "Unless, you were trying to burn down my apartment, then I'd say you are going about it in a less-than-convenient way."

"...It was fish…" Todoroki looked back at the pan with a small, dissatisfied pout at the frozen pan he was slowly thawing in his left hand.

"What exactly did you do anyway?" You raised an eyebrow in question.

"I poured oil into the pan, then put the fish in the pan."

You take a glance at the bottle on the counter, quickly recognizing the contents of said bottle.

"Well, first off, you used too much oil. You should have brushed it on the fish, not doused it. Secondly, you probably had the heat way too high. Thirdly…" you stand from leaning on the counter to point a finger at the defrosted pan, "That's Mackerel. Unless you were to marinade it overnight, I would have just used sake and salt, then put it in the fish grill."

You pulled open the drawer containing a waste bin, gesturing for the man to dispose of the charred and soggy fish. The duel-colored hero complied, tilting the pan to allow the inedible bits of fish to slowly slide out of the pan and land into the waste bin with a splat.

"Well… wanna try again, Peppermint?", you slid the drawer closed again and directed your attention to the man who started washing off the dirty pan.

He quirked a brow as he scrubbed the char from the pan's surface, "Do you really want me to nearly burn the place down again?"

You opened the fridge, scanning for ingredients,"You won't. You just need a little guidance. Plus, practice makes progress."

Todoroki paused his scrubbing to turn to you, "Isn't the saying 'practice makes perfect'?"

You collected your remaining Mackerel along with a few other ingredients from the fridge and set them out onto the counter, "Not in this house, it isn't. I'm not perfect, why should I expect others to be? Perfection is a ridiculous expectation to put on people. We're human. We make mistakes."

The pro hero stared at you for a moment, brows scrunched slightly in contemplation before huffing out a small chuckle and relaxed, suddenly feeling much less bothered over the burnt fish incident.

You turn to him with your hands on your hips,"Alrighty! Let's get started, shall we?"

Cooking breakfast went much smoother this time around. The two of you worked in unison to put together a meal from what you had stored away in your kitchen. Todoroki had moved on from the fish to making rolled omelets with your instruction while you set the dining table that sat between the guest bedroom and the living room. You watched as he looked like he was defusing a bomb and not rolling up cooked eggs. It nearly gave you whiplash remembering that the oh-so-serious and stoic hero that you saw every once in a while on the news was the same man who struggled to fry a fish this morning. You couldn't help but let out a giggle.

"You certainly seem to be in a better mood than last night.", Todoroki said as he plated the second omelet.

"Huh? Oh. Yeahhh… A good night's sleep does wonders.", You gave a small smile, you didn't want to talk about last night so you did what you always did- Pretend you were fine, "Since we are on the subject, how did you sleep?"

"Ah. Not well, truthfully."

"Hmm, was your side bothering you? I should have left the painkillers out for you in that case."

"No. It wasn't that."

"Oh really? What was it then?" You tilted your head a bit to look at him from the dining table.

"I felt like I was being watched all night. It was unnerving…"

"Oh, that was probably Suzume-chan. She likes attractive men and she's been a little too excited since you've arrived. Don't worry though she's harmless. She has a huge crush on Shinsou and she'll be over you in a few days. I'll make sure to tell her to leave you alone."

You swear you could see the math equations pass by the hero's head as his face subtly shifted into a look of bafflement as he processed what you said. He set down the plates holding the rolled omelets, trying to restrain the small blush after you had suddenly and blatantly admitted he was attractive. Of course, he was told by many he was attractive at this point, but the way you had said it so casually made him ever so slightly flustered. You said it like it was a solid fact. Like the sky was blue. Like grass was green. Like Midoriya is All Might's secret love chi- He shook slightly to regain his train of thought.

"Suzume-chan?" He tilted his head as his bafflement grew into concern.

"Yeah she's one of the spirits." You spoke casually until a realization dawned on you.

"Oh shit! I didn't warn you about the spirits in the apartment!"

The two of you spent breakfast talking about your friendly neighborhood apartment spirits. The conversation fortunately seemed to quell his concern. In fact it seemed to spark a curiosity in him. He asked questions about the spirits and you answered what you knew. You talked about the boy-obsessed Suzume-chan, the ever-protective Ryuji, the mysterious figure that just stands in the hallway sometimes, and a few other spirits that haunt the place.

The conversation devolved from spirits to anything that came to mind. Todoroki didn't speak much at first, but grew more and more invested. He talked about how his friends threw him a surprise birthday party at his favorite soba shop after a week of hell. How a young fan gifted him a very wonky, handmade Shouto plushie, yet it's one of his favorite things. Even how he was concerned how his mother and siblings were doing and if they heard the news of what happened.

And like that time flew by. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours. Neither of you noticed until your cat, Kuma, decided to make himself known by nipping at your ankle mid-conversation.

"Ah! Ow! Cat, why?!"

You jumped from your seat and watched as your large tabby cat waddled over to his bowl that sat on the floor at the end of the kitchen's island counter. His big green eyes stared up at you with his tail swiping from side to side.

"Ah crap. I forgot to feed you. I'm sorry, Bud."

You followed Kuma over to his bowls, grabbing the bag from the cabinet, and crouched down to pour the kibble into the bowl. You give your now satisfied feline friend a quick pet before glancing at the clock on the wall.

"Damn… it's eleven already?", you stood and stretched your arms with a groan, back cracking from sitting at your less than comfortable dining chair for hours, "Welp! I have some errands I gotta run today. I'm gonna go get dressed."

"I'll come with you." Todoroki stood from his seat, collecting dishes as he did so.

You released your arms from a stretch and planted your palms on your hips, you arched a brow at the man gathering your dirtied dishes. Todoroki looked up at you, noticing your questioning expression before something seemed to click in his mind.

"The errands. I'll come with you for the errands… not with… getting dressed…"

"Pfft- No that's not-" you couldn't help but laugh at the hero's clarification. Todoroki cupped his hand over the back of his neck as an embarrassed blush bloomed across his cheeks. He watched you clutch your stomach at the genuine laughter spilling from your lips.

"I-I knew what you meant, don't worry. I didn't think you were some pervert.", you struggled to regain your composure and catch your breath.

You finally calmed down with a sigh,"It's just… people are probably looking for you as we speak, and you did get hurt last night. Are you sure you want to go out so soon?"

Todoroki nodded, "We have no way of communicating securely. If something happened to one of us, we would have no safe way to inform the other."

"Hmm that's fair. I suppose we are better off sticking close for now."

You pressed your curled forefinger to your lips, a little, devious grin stretched across your face.

"Then this calls for a little makeover!"

"Alright, hold still for me."

You make a mental note to thank Shinsou for the emergency supplies again. You had let Todoroki choose amongst the few wigs and fresh colored contacts that were stored away within the duffle bag. He chose a simple, but charming combination of light brown eye contacts and a short dark brown wig in a side-part style that left some locks resting over his left eye. With the contacts in and iconic white and red split hair carefully tucked away under the wig, he was, once again, seated at the dining table as you prepared the makeup.

"Just let me know if you feel uncomfortable."

You lightly held his chin, gently guiding his face in one direction or another while you applied primer, foundation, and concealer to his skin. The concealer and foundation(although slightly off from Todoroki's skin tone) worked like magic, seemingly making his scar disappear.

Damn. I need to ask Shinsou where he got this stuff.

Moving on you continue on to brush the lightest bits of contour and blush so Todoroki would look more natural and not look like a member of the walking dead. You contemplated plucking his eyebrows, but they were surprisingly well groomed; most likely done for his occasional public appearances, you guessed. So you let them be, settling for a quick shaping before applying the dark brow coloring and swiping a thin layer of mascara on his lashes. Finishing up, you pat on a layer of setting powder and finally the setting spray that seemed to snap the hero out of his almost meditative state.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you enjoyed getting your make-up done."

Todoroki gave a bashful look, but didn't respond, only rubbing the back of his neck. In truth he did enjoy it, far more than when he had public appearances. Perhaps he was so distracted dreading the event itself, he had no time to actually appreciate the process. This time there was no rush, blaring lights in his face, or the incessant shouts of people clamoring for his attention. Just a gentle spring breeze wafting through the apartment, the morning sun illuminating the space, and a set of surprisingly gentle hands pampering him. For a brief second he forgot about his less-than-fortunate situation.

He shook his head when you turned to store away the make-up supplies, hoping you wouldn't notice his internal dilemma or at the very least bring it up.

You turned back to him, hand on your hips and admiring your work. Just as he managed to finally ground himself again… you threw him for another loop.

"Damn. Maybe I did too well… someone might just mistake you for an actor or pop idol." You chuckled.

There it is again. That casual tone.

"Let's add a face mask for extra measure. If anyone asks I'll just say you're a germaphobe."

You turned back again to rummage through your closet for your supply of face masks, leaving a very confused Todoroki in your wake. When you faced him again with a mask in hand, you recognized the confused look on his face, staring down at his clenching and unclenching hands.

"Hey… are you sure you're good to go out today?" You strode over to him with a mask in hand, "Don't get me wrong, I know you're plenty capable, but… what you went through last night could mess with anyone's head. Hero or not."

That seemed to snap him out of his train of thought, blinking his eyes before looking up at you.

"I'll be fine. Thank you.", he stood from his seat and gratefully took the face mask from your hand, ignoring the fact his finger twitched when brushing against your own.

"Right then…", you shrugged with a pursed smile, not willing to argue.

Whatever you say, Peppermint.

You grabbed your bag from the table and spun around to face the front door,"Let's get going. Watch out, Nibetsu City! Here we come!"

Taglist: @andypantsx3 @canthavetoomuchchaos @xxblackroses623xx

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