If there was one thing Todoroki had learned in the many years since he'd started dating Bakugou it was that, despite what the other's explosive personality might suggest, he was actually really good at cooking. Which meant that, ever since they'd moved in together, most of the meals were prepared by Bakugou, who absolutely refused to let Todoroki get anywhere near the kitchen.
"You'll set the fucking apartment on fire," he'd say, shooing Todoroki out before closing the door on his face.
While Todoroki didn't mind eating Bakugou's cooking - it wasdelicious, after all - he couldn't help but find it frustrating. His cooking skills probably weren't stellar, but he was sure he could manage some of the dishes Bakugou was so fond of, and Todoroki would've liked to treat him to his favorite foods every once in a while.
With that in mind, Todoroki devised a plan. Bakugou spent the whole day at work, and while he usually arrived a lot earlier than their usual dinner time, there were days when he inevitably got held up at the office. When that happened, he'd send a quick text to warn Todoroki of his delay, which gave the other plenty of time to slip out of hiswork - the perks of running his own company - and prepare a nice, tasty dinner to greet his boyfriend with.
In Todoroki's mind, he could already see Bakugou's reaction; he'd pretend to be annoyed that Todoroki had gone against him, but that adorable tell-tale blush would be adorning his cheeks while he spoke, and he'd actually appreciate the effort Todoroki had put into surprising him.
It had sounded like a perfectly good plan in his mind. There was no way Todoroki could've known that the first time he tried to put it into action - preparing one of Bakugou's favorites, curry - he'd mess up on the ingredients. He knew Bakugou liked his food reallyspicy, so it had seemed reasonable to put a few times more chili than the recipe required, even adding some tablespoons of chili powder since he'd read online that it would only strenghten the spicyness of the dish.
After swallowing a single spoonful, Bakugou hadn't even been able to scream at him about it, but the look in his eyes as he downed glass after glass of water was threatening even through the tears that kept spilling down his face.
Even with his first attempt being a failure, though, Todoroki didn't give up. He waited a few months before trying again - this time with Spicy Salmon Onigiri, which seemed like a safer bet than his previous choice of recipe. He was careful not to make it toospicy, and in his opinion his handiwork at wrapping them up looked quite good.
Later, as he drove Bakugou to the hospital only to get the news that he had food poisoning, Todoroki tried try to make himself feel better by thinking that it wasn't his fault that he'd been sold bad fish at the market.
After this second incident, Bakugou started to lose his patience with Todoroki, and even threatened to lock the kitchen up while he was out so the other wouldn't have any more stupid ideas. Todoroki, however, reassured him that he didn't have to worry about it, that he was done trying to make any dishes that were out of his capability.
He hadn't lied, he thought to himself the next time he started cooking, since there was no way anything could go wrong with Fire Ramen. It was ramen, for God's sake, how much simpler could a recipe get? Todoroki was confident that this time he would be able to surprise Bakugou, and even if it wasn't some elaborated food like he'd first planned, well, at least his efforts wouldn't be wasted.
When Bakugou arrived from work that day, he found his building surrounded by firefighters, the fire alarms blasting loudly as the residents gathered outside. Among them stood Todoroki, kitchen gloves still on his hands, a look of utter defeat on his face. He turned when he noticed Bakugou's approach, and the other's "I told you so, you fucking moron" died on his lips when he noticed the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.
"You were right," Todoroki said, his voice trembling.
Bakugou sighed, shaking his head before pulling Todoroki into a hug.
"Shouto," he said, pressing a kiss first on Todoroki's forehead, then on his lips. "I love you a lot, but please stop trying to cook me dinner."
Todoroki let out a short laugh, nodding even as he buried his head on Bakugou's chest, relief washing over him when he noticed Bakugou wasn't mad.
He supposed he could find other ways to surprise him.
