Now Todoroki was deciding between a stalker and an assassin. Sadly, people trying to kill him was nothing new. Even as a child people targeted the Todoroki family to get back at Endeavor. When Todoroki was a teenager and he began to go at U.A, attacks towards him became more commonplace. Villains feared his power and how much stronger he would become the older he got. It'd be easier in the long run to take him out while young.

Todoroki became numb to the attacks over time. There wasn't genuinely a reason to fear for his life. Assassins hadn't managed to even graze him with a bullet or blow of any kind when he was a teenager. What chance did they stand now?

Days went by with no attempt on his life (save for the normal hazard of fighting villains). Now, he was starting to write the person off as a stalker and became even more careful to keep the door to his apartment locked at all times and the blinds to his window closed. Just what the hell did the person want?

It wasn't until he was heading home a few nights after he first noticed the stalker did something truly feel off. Todoroki trusted his instincts and kept his ears peeled for any out of place noises. Going down a rather unused street, his nerves were almost out of hand. He didn't want to write off this feeling as paranoia and end up dead, but he also didn't want to overthink all this.

Somewhere behind him, there was a loud POP! And he promptly sent up a wall of ice behind him. Todoroki spun around and was met with a bullet buried in the ice, causing a spiderweb of cracks. Had he not defended himself, the bullet would without a doubt have hit his head. Without a doubt now Todoroki knew this person was an assassin, and a presumably skilled one at that.

God, this was going to get annoying.

Whoever it was definitely ran the moment the shot failed to kill Todoroki. He no longer felt like he was being watched and only an idiot would stay behind after a failed attempt. Still, Todoroki kept his guard up as he melted the ice to retrieve the bullet. With any luck, the bullet's ballistic markings could lead back to the owner. Luck was the keyword here. Assassins rarely acquire their weapons through legal means.

One thing confused Todoroki: why did the assassin wait several days before making an attack? His first guess would be to judge his abilities, but that could easily be looked up online and be determined after observing him for one day. Were they waiting for him to do something? If so, what would that be? Todoroki couldn't recall doing anything different the past week that would push the assassin into action.

It was pointless to overthink it. The person was a villain. No other explanation needed.

Once he was in the safety of his apartment, Todoroki allowed himself to relax. It was a rather secure place to live, cameras everywhere and a key card needed to access the elevator. In here, he couldn't be touched unless he invited the assassin over. Considering how no one was invited over, the chances of that happening were pretty much non-existent.

Mindlessly, he turned on the TV to fill the apartment with some sort of noise while he took a shower. Once out, he was still drying his hair with a towel when he sat down on the couch to watch the news. His lips tugged a bit into a smile when he saw Midoriya. On terms of popularity, Todoroki and Midoriya were about equal, but given Midoriya's amiable personality, he was gaining fans rather quickly and reporters had a blast interviewing him.

Todoroki wondered when the last time they talked was. It had been awhile at least.. Last time they saw each other in person had been at dinner along with their other classmates. Thinking about it, Todoroki realized that it had been almost a year ago. That was way too long of a time for them not to have even chatted. Todoroki pulled out his phone to send a quick text to Midoriya, to see how he was doing, but stopped himself. If Midoriya, or any of his classmates for that matter, wanted to talk, they'd talk. No need to bother them.

Other familiar faces appeared on the news, and Todoroki was genuinely happy for everyone. Despite all their boasting back in school, about how they were going to be number one, everyone was a little worried that they wouldn't make a name for themselves. Todoroki was included in that, fearing the shadow of his father.

His stomach rumbling reminded him that it was getting late and he hadn't eaten. Usually on the way home he'd stop to eat, but the assassination attempt rattled him more than he'd like to admit. Not wanting to leave his apartment, Todoroki decided it would be best to order food. He was sure the assassin wouldn't try to make a second try on his life in one day, but he was hungry and didn't feel like having his dinner ruined if he was wrong. It was a bit of pain to have food delivered due to the strict security, but it was better than having another try on his life.

Whoever was after him would hopefully learn that they didn't stand a chance. Todoroki wasn't planning on going anytime soon. It was a game: catch the assassin or get assassinated. And it was a game Todoroki planned on winning.

Day One was the easiest. Todoroki went about his day not suspecting anything was off. While it kind of sucked to be trailing a guy on his day off, the alternative was sitting at home and talking to Pumpkin. Which, Bakugou already did way too much.

It was interesting to watch Todoroki work. He was the ideal hero, taking villains out with minimal collateral damage and injuries to civilians. This also meant that so far, despite being a rather aloof fellow, nothing he did could count as wrong.

Day Two, Todoroki was looking around more. Glances over his shoulders, looking more carefully into alleyways, and peering up at tall buildings. There was no fucking way he was already onto someone following him… right? Regardless Bakugou had to be more careful. Luckily, nothing about his appearance really stood out so blending in with the crowd wasn't very difficult.

Day Three, Bakugou had Todoroki's routine down and realized something. Todoroki was too fucking pretty. Like holy shit, no one should look good after being sucker punched to the stomach and sent flying to the ground. Except, he got up, still looking like he belonged in a boy band. It was bullshit. Why it pissed Bakugou off so much, he didn't know.

Day Four, Bakugou was ready to give up when Todoroki had finally done something that pissed him off. Sure, Bakugou understood that heroes were busy people, but the guy had utterly ignored a group of young kids who just wanted to get an autograph and a chance to talk to their favorite hero. He wasn't busy at the moment and had no reason that Bakugou see to shut down those kids that badly. Not even a glance in their direction, expression almost hardening in a cold way as he went by. The broken-hearted look they had was truly the thing that sent Bakugou over.

Bakugou decided then that the guy was like his father. His father was much the same way when it came to fans. Cold eyes and completely shutting them down. Countless people could back up the fact the dude was an asshole, but he saved more people than anyone else, so it often got overlooked. There were rumors that Todoroki was only born to surpass the old number one hero, All Might. It seemed that since Endeavor couldn't do that himself, he had passed on that goal to his son.

Years ago there had been a villain, Hero Killer Stain, who believed heroes should be heroes because they want to help people, not for the fame or money. Bakugou didn't really agree with everything, but he did see the reasoning behind it and agreed with him in some aspects. While Bakugou certainly wasn't going to follow in the man's footsteps, taking out someone like Todoroki didn't seem like a bad idea. A guy like that didn't need to end up being high up in the hero ranks, and heaven forbid the number one hero.

Work the next morning had him tense while he was thinking about how he'd go through with it. Sure, he had thought about it plenty the night before, but Bakugou wanted to make sure that if he didn't succeed, he'd be able to get away. Using a rifle and remaining far back seemed like the best course of action. By now, Bakugou had memorized Todoroki's path. After checking into the agency, he'd patrol, usually end up in a fight, lunch, patrol some more, go back to the agency to do paperwork, then he'd leave and go down a rather deserted street that lead to another much more busy street filled with diners and cafes. He'd stop at one place for dinner and then go home to a high security apartment.

Bakugou wanted as little, if any, witnesses as possible, so his best shot would be before Todoroki got to the busy street. If he failed, he'd have enough time to get away considering Todoroki would probably be too busy trying to figure out where the shot came from and trying to not get shot at again to reach him before he left.

Work was a mindless task of taking orders and making drinks until his favorite customer walked in. Kirishima Eijirou, yet another up and coming hero, who stopped by the coffee shop Bakugou worked at during breaks. At first, Bakugou couldn't stand the guy and purposefully got his name wrong every time he wrote it down on the coffee cup. Over time, Kirishima's enthusiasm rubbed off on him and Bakugou actually looked forward to him walking in. He still wrote down the wrong name, but now it was more of a joke between the two. Kirishima was the closest thing to a friend Bakugou had.

"Bakugou, my man, what's up?" Kirishima grinned the moment he entered the store, catching a few other customers attention with his loud greeting.

"When have I ever given you an answer besides "'nothing' or 'work'?" Bakugou questioned back, already starting to make his coffee. He got the same thing every time and after so many months, Bakugou simply had committed it to memory.

Kirishima shrugged and leaned against the counter. "I'm hoping one day you'll give me another answer, like 'I met the love of my life!' Or something dramatic like that. I don't know, something interesting."

That got a snort out of Bakugou. "Do I look like someone who'd go announcing they were in love?" He shook his head, focusing on the task at hand before he burned himself. Again. Kirishima was awfully distracting. "Is the coffee it, or are you gonna get something else?"

"I want that thing."

Bakugou turned around and gave him a blank stare. "What thing?"

Kirishima pointed vaguely at the display box filled with dozens of pastries. Scratch that. Kirishima is the worst customer, and judging by the stupid smile, he was being difficult on purpose. If Bakugou didn't know that this guy had a playful personality, he'd be pissed off by now. So, he grabbed a random pastry in the general direction where Kirishima was pointing.

"Wrong one."

"Oh fucking well," Bakugou muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Kirishima to hear, but not loud enough for a coworker to hear and get him berated or fired.

"You're lucky I'm an adventurous guy," Kirishima sighed as he got out his wallet.

"Here or to-go?"

"Here."

Bakugou handed over the food as Kirishima paid the cashier. It was usually to-go, but sometimes Kirishima wanted to make him suffer a little longer. He always sat as close to the counter as he possibly could so he could keep talking to Bakugou. It would forever be a mystery to Bakugou. Why was that guy so intent on talking to him? At first he wondered if it was maybe a bizarre way of flirting until Kirishima came in with friends and he saw that he acted that way to everybody.

"Hey I never asked, but do you have a quirk?" Kirishima asked once Bakugou came closer to him while cleaning the counter. His mouth was half full of the mystery pastry, but it didn't seem to stop him from trying to talk.

That wasn't a question Bakugou liked to answer. It's not that he didn't have a quirk, it's just that he never used it anymore and didn't plan on ever using it again. "Yes," he replied curtly, not looking up from where he was wiping.

Not seeing that he was uncomfortable with the topic, Kirishima pressed on "Ooh what is it?" He seemed way too excited. Didn't learning about other people's quirks stop being such a stunning thing in grade school?

"Explosions."

"Really? With a quirk like that, I'm surprised you didn't try and become a hero."

Bakugou froze for a second then continued to work, not answering.

"Bad topic. Got it."

Thank god Kirishima wasn't actually an idiot, he just acted like one.

The rest of the time Kirishima spent at the coffee shop was silent, and Bakugou went back to thinking about the task at hand: The assassination of Todoroki Shouto.

After work he made a brief stop at home to feed Pumpkin, change outfits, and get the gun he needed. He wore a simple black hoodie, jeans, gloves, and a medical mask to hide part of his face. Sure, Bakugou was very careful to make sure no one saw him, but accidents happened and he knew he wouldn't be able to take someone out after they saw his face.

"If I don't come back, tell the police you know nothing," Bakugou said sternly to Pumpkin who just meowed and bumped his head against Bakugou's leg. "Alright, as long as you know. Also, tell them to fuck off if they try to search the apartment." He leaned over to scratch Pumpkin behind his ear before heading off.

Bakugou couldn't believe that talking to his cat took up much needed time and now he had to run to get into position. The building he was going to be on a small convenience store. It wasn't very high, but the building next to it was what made it the perfect spot. It was much taller than the convenience store and would give Bakugou some cover. This also meant Bakugou had little time to aim and take the shot before the building would be in the way and he'd have to reposition himself.

Remembering his earlier scouting missions, once he got to the convenience store, he looped around to the back, upsetting some crows pecking through the trash. There was a ladder to the roof leaning haphazardly against the wall. Bakugou wasn't sure why, but he supposed sometimes getting onto a roof was needed. Or some teenagers liked sneak up there.

Setting everything up was a bit nerve wracking. Pulling the rifle out his bag, he double-checked to make sure the muffler was secure, I've never taken on such a big hero before. Just a few no names who vastly abused what little power they had. He got down on his stomach, gravel poking at him through his clothes. Not to mention his reflexes are insane. Bakugou had been so sure of his skills before this, but this guy had pro level powers when he was in high school.

Bakugou told himself to shut the fuck up and stop doubting himself. He vaguely aimed his rifle where Todoroki would presumably be. He had no reason to doubt his abilities; he was amazing at what he did. Cops never had a single clue as to who did it. This was no different. Piece of cake.

When Todoroki came into view, Bakugou took a deep breath and relaxed. He had this. Taking aim, he let out the breath he was holding. A second later, he pulled the trigger.

Had the half'n'half asshole not sent up a wall of ice, he would have been dead. Growling frustration, Bakugou wasted no time tossing the gun in his bag and taking a running leap off the building, rolling as he hit the ground. In a second, he was on his feet and sprinting through back alleys, only letting up when he was sure Todoroki wasn't in pursuit.

Well, that fucking sucked.

Bakugou knew deep down he probably wouldn't get Todoroki on the first try, but that didn't stop him from being pissed as all hell that the shit had quick enough reflexes to stop a fucking bullet.

Once home, he took everything off, shoes included, and threw them in the wash. No way that assassination attempt just then could get linked back to him, but it wouldn't stop him from taking precautions. If there was an investigation and they found gunpowder on his clothes, he'd be fucked.

Before getting dressed, he opened up the chest at the foot of his bed, took out the old blankets stored within and opened up the false bottom to put the rifle in with the other items Bakugou used for assassination. It was a simple trick, but hopefully one that would keep him protected in the long run. Of course he could just get rid of the guns and not kill people, but that didn't seem to be happening any time soon.

Todoroki had managed to block a fucking bullet with no indication he was going to be assassinated. Like what the fuck. This was a point of pride now to take him out. A new problem arose: now that Todoroki knew someone was after him, this was going to get a lot harder and Bakugou needed to be a lot more creative.

For now though, he'll just lay on his couch with Pumpkin sitting on his stomach, softly ranting. Bakugou would rant louder if it weren't for the fact that he was angry about a failed assassination attempt, and his cat would leave him if he got too loud.

Tomorrow was another day. Now Bakugou had to figure out something else.