A/N: Writing more Todomomo! This came to me so suddenly. I really enjoy the prospect of a quiet, young romance between them. They have such a richness to explore, I think. Cotton candy fluff.
Summary: Sometimes Todoroki can't see the forest for the trees, but he makes up for this in spades.
Aizawa-sensei employs foresight and common sense when making his decisions and Todoroki understands this, but he can't help questioning being paired up with Yaoyorozu again.
Surely, he should learn what it's like to work with another classmate, to pinpoint how his quirk can be used in unknown territory, so he confronts his teacher.
Aizawa blinks and rubs his eyes before releasing a long, tired breath. Todoroki shifts where he stands as he waits for an answer, and Aizawa looks at the ceiling like his response is hanging from it. The silence lingers, and Todoroki folds his arms, almost letting his temper fan out.
"I really have no reason," Aizawa finally says, voice gravelly and heavy from the nap Todoroki had interrupted. "Or rather, I want to gauge something. You could say it's the same reason why I've paired Midoriya and Bakugou again. Although, you've already confirmed what I thought. Now get to work. This assignment is timed as I said."
Something falls inside Todoroki, disturbing the pit of his stomach. He turns and finds Yaoyorozu's head swinging around the room observing their peers hard at work. Her shoulders slump and she catches his eyes. She wears a small, but far too generous smile, and he tells himself to move. There are only five minutes left.
"Did sensei help you with what you needed?" She asks him, placing a pencil on his desk as he moves it closer to hers.
"Yeah," he sighs.
They commence the word problems, answering them perfectly, and he barely says anything the rest of the class. Aizawa watches him leave with the other students at the provocation of the bell, thankful for Todoroki's knack for realizations without needing many words.
The day ends, and everyone works out whom they'll make their respective journeys home with. Todoroki hopes his feet can get him outside in time. Recovery Girl thinks it's strange that he's traveling away from the infirmary with his hurried, gift shop purchase.
"Yaoyorozu!" His voice carries, earning him the confused stares of his classmates.
His lips make a hard line but his eyes dance, one shining, the other blazing. Mina captures her face with both hands, mouth agape like a fish's as Todoroki minimizes the gap between him and Yaoyorozu.
He bows a little and extends the hand behind his back holding a bouquet of tulips. The girls could collapse and the guys mark down one more reason to envy him. Everything he does is surprising and gobbles up all the attention.
Yaoyorozu clenches her fists as she brings her arms up and holds them to her chest.
"Todoroki, I don't…"
The flowers are white with purple streaks veining over the close-knit petals, unforeseen beauty that shocks her breath away. She registers that her face must betray how dazzled she is so she uncurls her fingers.
"Please accept my apology for wasting time and jeopardizing our assignment today. That was inconsiderate of me."
He sports the kind of determination that he's only shown in battle, silently scolding himself for taking her for granted. This is the second time he's had to be reminded.
The old her had almost resurrected only to fall again when she heard his conversation with Aizawa-sensei. She'd secured herself in the belief that they could be a team during the final exam, and hadn't stopped believing it.
It was silly wanting to be close to him, to see how much they still had to learn from each other. The thought that she'd only been some means to an end hurt, but she wouldn't discard her confidence again for anything, not even the sting of unshared feelings.
"Todoroki, I —"
She feels everyone's glares hot on her back and all around her. Even Bakugou is uncharacteristically quiet. Todoroki acknowledges nothing except how her lips find that smile again that he doesn't deserve.
"Thank you." She bows too after taking the flowers. "They're lovely."
"No, thank you, Yaoyorozu. I'll see you tomorrow and I won't waste any more time."
Their friends are statues of ice when Todoroki leaves. They crowd around Yaoyorozu pressing her for details that she's not sure of herself.
"You two are so going to end up together," Mina says. "I'm a little jealous."
Kirishima cuts his eyes and Bakugou grits his teeth.
"Bastard thinks he's cool" is his last remark before he pulls Kirishima along with him by the collar.
At home, her mother helps her pick out a crystal vase for the flowers and they enjoy a late-night pedicure after their baths.
She tries to restrain herself from prattling on about the events footnoting her school day but her mother listens intently, thrilled that her daughter has made friends.
"And then Mina said that he and I are going to end up together, and that's just silly, Mother. He was only bestowing a kind gesture because that's the type of person he is."
"It's a good type of person to be." Her mother relaxes her head against the massage chair's cushion, knowing full well what the beginning of love looks like.
Yaoyorozu thinks Todoroki has the qualities she'd reckon the best type of person to possess, but she doesn't need to end up with him to maintain her high regard. The thought of an ending is much too sad anyway so she contents herself with the beginning of the second part of their assignment taking place the next day, and the chance to work alongside him once again.