Unlikely and Unusual
Day 26 - Fake Dating AU - TodoChako

"... so apart from the meds that Dr. Kendo from Neurology already gave this patient pre-op, I think we need to add another quirk suppressant to make sure that his bones remain solid post-op."

"Leave the medication adjustments to us, Yaoyorozu-kun. Aoyama-kun, take note!"

"Oui, mes amies!" Aoyama does a little twirl in his place and turns his shining face to him. "Do we have to do anything else, Dr. Todoroki?"

Pink.

Todoroki Shouto blinks once, then twice, then another time as a particularly large sparkle gets in his eye. Yaoyorozu and Iida are staring at him rather incredulously, and he stares back at them.

Round.

"No, I think we're good."

Iida's glasses flash skeptically. "Are you sure, Todoroki-kun? You were the first assist to Dr. Fukukado in this case."

Pink.

He nods. "Yaoyorozu endorsed everything you need to know about this patient. I'll come back later to check on him, too."

The sturdy intensivist makes another skeptical sound, but does not say anything more. "All right, if the neurosurgery service is finished, Aoyama-kun! Let us do rounds, starting from Bed 1!"

"Oui, mon capitaine!" The intensive care team takes all their notes and charts and leaves, with Iida bellowing out one order after another, and Aoyama diligently taking note. He hears Yaoyorozu sigh next to him as she tucks her notes under her arm.

"Tough case, huh? I hope the patient makes it through," she says genuinely as they begin their walk from the ICU back to the wards. "And it took you guys seven hours to get that tumor out. You must be exhausted, Todoroki-san."

It was seven and a half hours, but Shouto doesn't bother correcting her, because he doesn't feel tired. He's used to long OR's by now, and if need be he could probably go in for another one right now. He makes a noncommittal sound and keeps his eyes forward.

… pink. Round. Bouncy…. soft…?

"You okay?"

Shouto stops and glances at his co-resident. Her dark eyes are shining with worry as they stare right back at him, likely not missing a single detail on his expression.

"I'm okay."

There's a fifty-fifty chance that he's lying, he thinks, because he's not sure if he's okay. He isn't feeling particularly down, or miserable-well, at least no more than his default misery over his messed-up family life and the looming threat of Endeavor's latest harebrained scheme to subject him to a quirk marriage. But he isn't feeling particularly… normal either. At least, he's sure it isn't normal to suddenly obsessively think about a particular shape, and a particular color, and a particular nurse-

"I think you need to eat," Yaoyorozu says, her worried gaze not going away. "Might be hypoglycemia. I'm sure you haven't had a chance to eat breakfast before you guys scrubbed in."

That's a good idea. Maybe it's all low blood sugar.

"I'll treat you to anything you like, Todoroki-san. You can't be sick now-you have that event with Endeavor tonight, right?"

Todoroki huffs. Maybe he wants to keep his blood sugar low, after all. "Don't remind me. I'd rather go on perpetual duty for a month than to go to that gala. Maybe I can convince Honenuki to switch duties with me."

"You shouldn't," Yaoyorozu says with a hint of humor. "If you don't go, I doubt that the situation with him would get any better. And it's just a few hours, right? Speaking of which, have you found someone to come with you yet?"

"No, none at all." He gives her the best pleading look he can give. He knows it isn't much, he barely feels his face move, but he hopes it'll work this time. "You can still come with me, Yaoyorozu. There's still time."

She makes a face of absolute reluctance and apology. "I really can't, Todoroki-san… you know I have a report to finish by tonight, and besides, once Endeavor assumes we're together-"

"We can pretend to have a messy breakup tomorrow."

She laughs awkwardly and slaps him lightly on the arm. "You know that's not going to work. Your father… well, he's already interested enough with my quirk, and he's… um…"

"An asshole." There's a sudden bitter taste in his mouth. Yaoyorozu makes her own odd sound when she hears the inappropriate, yet adequate description of his inappropriate father. "It's okay. You're allowed to say so."

"Doesn't mean I will," she says, with all the dignity befitting of her. "By the way, about our next duty-"

"-ponytail. Paging Dr. Ponytail, please go to information. Paging Dr. Ponytail, to information please."

Shouto blinks. He looks at Yaoyorozu, focusing on her twitching, insulted ponytail first, before he moves on to the absolutely flabbergasted expression on her face.

"Um," he says eloquently, when he finds himself speed-walking behind her when she starts rushing down to information, her heels clacking angrily behind her, "how do you know that they're paging you?"

She doesn't answer him, but he hears her mutter, "I can't believe that man, how improper!" as they finally reach Information on the first floor. Shouto watches in awe as Yaoyorozu steps with a sense of indignation he's never seen on her before towards a guy wearing an apron, who for one reason or another is having a lively argument against Awase, 3rd year orthopedics resident and one of their former classmates in med school.

"Bakugou-san!" she calls out, hands on her hips, looking absolutely livid. Shouto briefly wonders if he's entered the twilight zone.

Apron-guy, who is apparently named Bakugou, sets his eyes on her and gives her a smug little smirk. To Awase, he goes, "See, Headband fucker? Told you she'd get it."

Awase only looks a little defeated, maybe a little surprised and insulted that the guy was looking for Yaoyorozu after all, but he doesn't show signs of backing down. "What kind of a moron would page a good and proper doctor by that nickname?!"

By this time though, the apron guy is already sauntering his way towards Yaoyorozu, that self-satisfied smile on his face not going away. "So, Dr. Ponytail. You ain't on call today, right?"

Shouto can see the struggle on the easily readable Yaoyorozu's face-it's obvious that she's really happy to see this man, for one reason or another, but she's also trying her hardest not to let it show. She tries to stiffen her upper lip as she says, "I'm not, but… Why do you ask, Bakugou-san?"

"That's all I need to know." He grabs her hand, ignores the yelp of protest coming from the young doctor, and pauses. He turns his red eyes to Shouto, and, without an ounce of shame in his gaze, asks, "You can cover for her, right Dr. Blackjack?"

… Dr Blackjack? Shouto thinks passively. Kinda old school. But he nods all the same.

"Fuck yeah. Come on, Dr. Ponytail."

"B-but-Todoroki-san isn't-"

"He says he'll cover for you, all right?! And we're just across the street, you can run through traffic if their dumbasses manage to mess things up while you're not here-"

When Yaoyorozu looks back at Shouto, there's a mixture of conflict and thrill plain in her dark eyes. He gives him a small wave of a hand and says, "Honenuki and I got this. Have fun, Yaoyorozu."

The apron guy knows how to speed-walk, that's for sure. It isn't even a minute before he has successfully abducted Yaoyorozu out of plain sight. He huffs a little, and stares right back at Awase, who looks at him like he's betrayed him or something.

"... she really isn't on call," he tells him matter-of-factly.

Awase makes an annoyed sound and goes in the opposite direction.

So. Now that Yaoyorozu has been stolen away by that explosive guy from the cafe down the street, Shouto is alone in the cafeteria.

As alone as he can be, he supposes. He isn't bragging at all when he concludes that there are about four different people taking sneaky photos of him - one when he enters the hall, two when he falls in line and orders zarusoba, and another when he takes a table in a dark, lonely corner in the cafeteria. He does his best to appear disinterested, even when one of the women accidentally forgot to turn the flash off her phone.

He sighs. People left and right tell him that objectively, he's attractive. He doesn't understand why it's important in any setting, and more importantly, he doesn't care. He just knows that he's tired of people taking his photos without his consent, and he's tired of turning down the admin's request for him to be an image model for the hospital.

It's why he enjoys it in the OR. At least with a mask, cap, gloves, and a gown on, his looks don't matter, only his skills and his knowledge of neurosurgery. Doesn't matter how tiring or nerve-wracking or how high the stakes are sometimes.

Pink. Round.

He bites down on one of his chopsticks. Damn, just thinking of the OR shoved his thoughts back in that weird loop. And he wonders, for the nth time that day, how and why he keeps thinking of Nurse Uraraka Ochako and her pink cheeks… on both ends.

Shouto hates himself for a lot of other reasons, but today he hates himself for having such debauched thoughts about one of the more capable OR staff in the hospital. He has always respected Uraraka, her general cheerful disposition, and her quick thinking during surgeries. The few curt words they've exchanged while scrubbing in and out weren't bad either. They're mostly of Uraraka, who always strives to do better, asking him about the case and how she can improve assisting next time, and him answering back to help her out.

But just one accidental look at her toned thighs and her shapely… um, derriere, and suddenly he couldn't think of anything else. He tells himself that he isn't as perverted as he sounds, because it's not like he wants to touch her inappropriately or degrade her or anything terrible like that-he's seen his share of thighs and derrieres and such, in many different sizes and proportions, and his mind has never felt this… stimulated…? before…

But for Uraraka… he supposes it's because the ones on her face and the ones over there are equally rotund. Shouto is merely amazedat her proportions. Her symmetry is… astounding.

Looks like they're bouncy too. He wonders what she does to keep in shape. He wonders what it would feel like to grasp them-entirely with her consent of course, of course he wouldn't grope her without it. Actually, what those upper pink cheeks of hers will feel like, if he holds her blushing face in both his hands-

Shit. He's a fucking pervert. He wants to douse himself in lukewarm water. He manages to build frost on his cheek instead.

His thoughts are jarred when a commotion manifests itself near the entrance of the cafeteria. He looks briefly in that direction, sees flames, and immediately retracts his gaze.

Endeavor, professional hero, present #1 in Japan, walks over to his table with his arms crossed. "Shouto," he calls out, his voice commanding and annoying and gravelly. "You left me on read. Again."

He tries not to glare too much as he meets those cold, blue eyes of his, under tendrils of obnoxious flame. He should really tone it down when he's not on the field. "I was in the OR."

"You aren't now, are you?"

Shouto hums in disinterest. Endeavor makes an annoyed grunt and pulls the chair across from him. "So, Shouto, you must know why I visited you here in your place of work…"

He doesn't miss the way Endeavor's nose wrinkles in distaste as he says place of work-making it plain how low he thinks of the quirks that people who aren't in the Hero Career track have. Shouto preemptively rolls his eyes so far back that he might as well be having a seizure.

"Who are you taking to the Pro Heroes Gala tonight?"

"I don't understand why you have to know right away."

The old man raises one flaming eyebrow at him. "I'm your father, for one. I have to approve of whoever it is you're planning to mate with-"

Shouto wants to vomit at his father's awful vocabulary.

"-and two, it's a public event. In my honor, I might add." Endeavor taps his fingers impatiently against his arm. Shouto knows that he hates things like this, but he has to do what he has to, to get the popular vote back. "So I will not risk having it ruined by you, if you bring someone who's unworthy of the Todoroki name-"

"Then don't bring me." Shouto slurps his soba as impolitely as he can as he actively ignores Endeavor's glare.

He hears the old man grumble under his breath. "What a waste, Shouto. You could have been on the red carpet next to me as a proper Pro Hero, saving lives and making a difference. I don't understand why you're letting your skills and your quirk go to waste in a place like this."

"We're saving lives and making a difference," he says evenly. "Not as obnoxious as some heroes tend to do, granted, but yes."

Endeavor clicks his tongue. "You still haven't answered my question. Were you, by any chance, bluffing when you said you were taking one of your co-workers to the gala?"

"I wasn't."

"... is it Yaoyorozu Momo?"

"No."

Endeavor somehow looks more annoyed. He wasn't bluffing at the beginning. He really thought that Yaoyorozu would agree to help him with this. It was silly of him to assume that she would, in hindsight. It's really creepy that the old man favors her above all others, just because of her quirk. "So? Should I contact Miruko and tell her you're interested?"

Shouto scowls. "She's ten years older than me. And I'm pretty sure she's already seeing someone."

"A woman, so it doesn't count." Ryukyu, to be precise. The old man sneers. It's not like the two women pros were hiding their relationship, so he isn't sure what possesses the old man to even have the idea in the first place.

Shouto doesn't say anything, just glares him down, as always. And as always, this has no effect on how unbearable he is. Endeavor raises a hand and grumbles, "What does someone have to do to get a waiter here-"

"This is a cafeteria."

Endeavor stares at him as if he doesn't understand. Shouto sighs and stands up. "I'll take care of it. What do you want?"

"Do they have kuzumochi?"

"... I highly doubt it."

Endeavor scowls. "Just a Mountain Dew then." He pauses for two seconds, then adds, "And Doritos, if they have Doritos. The blue ones."

Shouto immediately walks away from him, grateful for the few minutes he has not talking with him. He's a little disappointed to see that for once, the lunch line isn't that long, and he doesn't have enough time to cook up of a plan to avoid the impending disaster that is the gala that evening.

As he stares blankly at the colorful displays of candies and marshmallows lining the counter, he hears the answer piping up behind him.

"Ochako-chan? Have you checked all the forms for the patient who just went to the recovery area?"

Ochako glances at Mina, who is poring through a discombobulated mess of papers. "I did. Why? Is anything wrong?"

Mina taps a pen to her horns thoughtfully. "Yeah, looks like Doctoroki forgot to sign a whole bunch of orders here." She points to a lot of glaring blanks in the chart, where the neurosurgeon's signature is supposed to be. "We carried them out since Dr. Yaomomo paired him in these forms, but the ICU guys are gonna kill our asses for this. We need those signatures."

Ochako groans. Mina has her hands full in the recovery room, and Ochako's shift was supposedly over. Seems like it's her job to have him sign those, then. "Really? That sucks. But Doctoroki forgetting things? That isn't like him."

"True," the pink girl concurs, neatly bundling the papers and handing it to her. "He seems a little distracted today, eh? Maybe he's thinking of your sexy butt."

"Mina-chaaaan that's so fouuuuul," Ochako whines. She does not appreciate the reminder of last night's fiasco, and how jovial Mina's cackling is.

"What? Did you think of us when you flashed him? I mean, Kiri and I are totally peeved that Doctoroki saw your butt way before we did."

"Ugh. Of course you would tell your husband, Mina. Does the entire ER know about it now, too?" Ochako decides against using the employees' entrance next to the ER for the next ten years of service.

"Very likely." Why did she even share the incident with the hospital's biggest gossip, anyway? Mina gives her a winning smile despite the poisonous pouts that Ochako gives her and pats her on the back. "Anyways, love, just get these signed and you can enjoy your off. I bet you can catch him in the ICU if you make a run for it."

With obvious reluctance in her entire body, she gives Mina a quick wave of a partially-tattooed arm and rushes out of the OR.

When she gets to the ICU, however, she finds it devoid of any neurosurgeons who can help her. Aoyama meets her at the door and makes it a point to shield her body from Dr. Iida. "Mon ami, do not dare show him incomplete paperwork. Find Dr. Todoroki rapidement! I shall hold the fort 'til then."

"Thanks Aoyama-kun, I owe you my life. Do you know where he could be?"

Aoyama flutters his sparkly eyelashes in thought. "I heard that Mademoiselle Momo wanted to treat him to lunch at the cafeteria. He might have skipped breakfast to do the surgery, you see."

Oh. That might explain why his concentration was shot, better than her butt can, at least. And also, Dr. Yaomomo-of course the prettiest, most talented doctor who's ever walked the surface of planet Earth is the one taking care of Doctoroki. She swallows down that bitter pill, thanks Aoyama again, and rushes to the cafeteria.

When she gets there, the first person she sees are Kirishima and Sero, who are chatting over their lunches. "Hey guys," she says breathlessly, trying not to be too conscious of her butt, "have you seen Doctoroki?"

Luckily, neither of them make any rude remarks or any disturbing glances down below. She has nothing to worry about, they're both great at respecting women, and she feels silly doubting them in the first place. "He's over there, Uraraka-chan," the redhead points to the counter, where true enough, the dual-toned doctor is staring passively at the candies on the shelf, "but I wouldn't go there if I were-"

She ignores the rest of the sentence, mumbles a thank you, and rushes there. The faster she gets those signatures, the less time she has to spend being awkward around Dr. Todoroki, and the faster she can get home, take a nap, and convince herself not to think about anxiety-inducing things.

"Dr. Todoroki!" she calls. She tries not to huff and puff too much, even though she ran from the OR to the ICU to the cafeteria.

Dr. Todoroki Shouto turns around in slow motion, through what must be a rose-coloured screen. Being stuck inside the OR all shift long, Ochako doesn't often see this version of him: tall and broad and dignified in a tasteful button-down shirt, slacks, and a crisp, white doctor's coat that makes him look like the very vision of health and wellness. She admits that seeing all that up close, and also knowing about the tattoo he hides underneath all those layers, leaves her a little weak at the knees.

His usually inexpressive eyes are a little wider, for some reason. Ochako isn't too sure, maybe she's just flustered seeing him in such impressive lighting.

Okay, Ochako, concentrate… get signatures, go home. "Um, I need you to sign these pathways. They're for the patient we just transferred in the ICU-"

For a moment, she doesn't know if she accidentally spoke to him in a foreign language, because those mismatched eyes are looking at her oddly. Like she's an alien from outer space.

She tries again. Japanese, Ochako. Japanese. "I think you just forgot them, Doc, but we really need them for completion purposes…"

Suddenly, something entirely different happens in his eyes. It's not confusion anymore, but a bright, Eureka! type of gleam. Todoroki opens his mouth, hesitantly at first, before he speaks. "I'll sign," he says very carefully, like he's explaining the chances of survival to a very poor patient, "if you help me out."

Ochako raises her eyebrows in curiosity. "Um… Doc, no matter what, you really have to sign these, it's hospital policy."

"Please. I need you, Uraraka."

The tiny little harassed nurse with her tiny little harassed brain instantly feels herself dumb down more than enough at those words. So when Todoroki suddenly reaches out for both her hands to envelop them in his, the stuttering shut down of all her cerebral functions must be audible to outside ears.

"D-Doc…?" she manages to say. His eyes are looking right into hers, so she doesn't notice the tall shadow looming over both of them.

She barely catches the very soft, "No matter what, just play along," he mutters directly in her ear before he puts an arm around her and turns them both to the source of the shadow.

Shouto doesn't have time to regret all his life choices by the time he places his arm quite comfortably around Uraraka's shoulder, but he's sure he will later, when all this is over and the nurse has already likely cursed him and his stupid ideas to the depths of hell.

It isn't just Endeavor who's staring at the couple like they're two strips of udon in a bowl of soba; by this time, the entire cafeteria is watching them with their mouths hanging open in astonishment.

"Shouto," the old man starts. He's obviously uncomfortable and unprepared for this, and Shouto thinks that this rare moment of impulse must be worth it. "Is this… her?"

"Yes. She's the one."

He feels Uraraka silently choke on something. He grips her shoulder a little more firmly, hoping that it helps a little. He isn't sure if it does, because her cheeks turn from pink to red to purple.

"I see." Endeavor turns his gaze to the young nurse. She already feels small next to Shouto, so when the old man bends over slightly to look at her, she appears even smaller, like she's a mythical creature who lives in the forest and his father is an ugly, ugly troll. "What's your name, then?"

It takes her a couple of seconds to snap out of a trance. "Uh-Uraraka Ochako, Mr. Endeavor, sir. I work as a nurse here."

She holds out her hand, and Endeavor reluctantly takes it in his giant one. "I see. What's your quirk?"

Uraraka looks at him oddly. For people who aren't pros or in hero training, asking about quirks right off the bat is a little odd and a little rude, after all. She stammers, "I-I can make things float, sir."

"Hrm," Endeavor grumbles. He obviously isn't pleased-Shouto sees judgmental eyes go over the incomplete tattoo on her arm-but she has a quirk, at least, and not one of those mutation ones that distort humanoid features. Endeavor doesn't like those quirks, either. So he doesn't complain, at least not then. "And how do you do that, Nurse Uraraka?"

Shouto stops himself from huffing. Of course he focuses on the quirks first, and not the nature of their (pretend, spur-of-the-moment) relationship. He's going to spend the rest of his residency training apologizing to Uraraka for this.

To his surprise though, Uraraka answers him easily. "Oh, like this, sir."

Shouto sees the precise moment that the pinky buffer goes down and touches Endeavor's hand. Instantly, the giant-of-a-man wheezes and struggles in an undignified manner, holding on desperately to the small girl's hand to keep himself from floating to the ceiling.

It is a valiant struggle not to laugh his ass off right there and then.

"I can float up to three tons of anything using this quirk," she explains brightly, blatantly ignoring how his father is turning green in zero-gravity, "but any more than that, or if I use it on myself, I tend to suffer bouts of vertigo… luckily, I don't have to do this very often, because I'm a civilian."

"I can see that," Endeavor grits out, kicking his foot out to stabilize himself and failing, "you can let me down now, Nurse."

"All right, sir." She lets him go, causing him to float a few more inches upward before she touches all ten fingers together. The moment she says release in that playful voice of hers, all of Endeavor's weight comes back to him, sending him crashing down to the ground in a heap. "Oh-oh my gosh, are you okay Mr. Endeavor sir? I'm sorry, I got carried away-"

Shouto has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his face impassive, as Uraraka rushes to the old man's side to help him up. Endeavor is a well-built pro hero who can handle a fall from even higher heights than that, but he still grunts and rubs his lower back like a geezer with arthritis as the small girl helps him up.

The fall leaves an impression on the guy, at least. "I'm okay. That's… quite a quirk you have, young lady." There's a layer of respect in his tone that wasn't there before. It's impressive that Uraraka is able to achieve so much by making the old man drop onto the floor of a busy hospital cafeteria like a sack of potatoes. "You should have gone pro. I can foresee many useful applications to your quirk for hero work."

Uraraka bashfully rubs the back of her head. "Thank you sir. I really love my work here, though."

"Hm. You and Shouto both. Just why, I can't fathom." He straightens out his electric-blue costume and nods to his son. "So I suppose I'll see the two of you tonight. Don't be late, Shouto."

Without further ado, Endeavor turns around to leave, splitting the crowd of gawkers into two like the parting of the Red Sea. When the trail of flame completely disappears from plain sight, Shouto gives in to the urge to exhale.

"Um," Uraraka begins from his side, big brown eyes impossibly wide, pink cheeks flickering in confusion, "Wh… what was that about…?"

He turns to her and tries to look as apologetic as he can. He isn't sure what his face looks like, though, as again he doesn't feel it move very much. "Today... the two of us are dating."

A weird, panicked sound comes out of her mouth, devoid of all the previous confidence that she showed the old man before. "D… dating." She says the word as if it's a hot coal that someone shoved in her mouth. "M… me and… Doctoroki…?"

Shouto nods. "Just for now. Tonight, to be precise. At the annual Pro Heroes Gala."

"... oh."

She is absolutely petrified-not even blinking or visibly breathing, and the young doctor begins to worry. Shouto wonders if there's a marble statue quirk user somewhere nearby who hit her with a quirk. Is the prospect of dating a mess of a man such as him, for just one very publicized night with a bunch of stuck-up pros, that terrible?

Of course it is, Shouto. Uraraka's a nice girl who doesn't deserve any of this. Be gentle. Be sorry. "I'm… sorry about this," he says, attempting the sorriest voice he can muster, but his vocal cords barely bend the flatness of his default tone, and he berates himself for it. "It's just that my father is terrible, and I'm cornered."

"... oh," she repeats. She stumbles a little, and Shouto's arm shoots out around her waist to stabilize her.

"I'm stupid for doing this, I know," he tells her, even as she remains glassy-eyed. "And I know you can do better than me, but it's just for tonight."

"J… just… tonight…?" Her cheeks are actually quivering now. A weaker man would have succumbed to the temptation to prod them with a finger, but Shouto doesn't give in. It's barely the appropriate time for it.

"I'll make it up to you, Uraraka." He has to lower his voice as the curious crowd begins to move around them again. He does not want anyone to find out about his fake dating scheme. If Endeavor catches wind of it, he might find himself in an awkward dinner with Miruko-san and a handful of gossip that he doesn't want to deal with. "If you go out with me, I'll do anything you want me to. Even-"

He plans to say, covering for you when we get another Jeanist case, because he knows Uraraka really dreads those, but before he can finish his sentence, Uraraka stiffens and falls like a tree sawed in half by a lumberjack.

"!" He manages to catch her in his arms before her head hits the floor. In an instant, he feels a commotion happening around the two of them.

"Doctoroki!" Kirishima Eijirou stomps his way through the crowd, with Sero Hanta trailing behind him. "What happened to Uraraka-chan?! Did Endeavor say something?"

"Um," Shouto begins eloquently, as he finally gets a good reason to lightly tap the girl's cheek. Pink. Round. Soft. He's worried about her, of course, but it's… softer than he ever imagined. His answer stutters in his head as his cold hand remains on her skin. "Nothing much."

Kirishima and Sero obviously don't know what to do about that response. The dark-haired nurse scratches the back of his head awkwardly. "Okay…? S-so, um… do you want help taking care of your… girlfriend, Doctoroki?"

Sero says this very, very cautiously, like he's driving through a street full of potholes. Shouto blinks at them, almost hearing how everyone around them holds their breaths in anticipation.

"Yeah, that'd be great."

As if she's drifting in and out of consciousness, Uraraka groans in his arms. He hears a distant sobbing in the background. Kirishima and Sero look at each other, a silent message passing through, apparently. Their mouths simultaneously curl into toothy grins.

"Okay. Let's carry her to the locker rooms."

As the three of them lift Uraraka and support her by the shoulders, the gears in Shouto's head mercilessly shift. He's done it this time, didn't he? He just admitted to be dating one of his co-workers-a nurse he works with in the OR, at that. He knows all about the potentially ugly rumors that can arise from that. Damn, he really, really should have thought this through.

The media's going to have a field day over it. Now it's not just him who will be mercilessly hounded by all these vultures, but Uraraka as well. The gravity and the stupidity of his own hare-brained scheme to escape his father's control bears down on him.

He really doesn't care about how he's going to look like to the media, but… how is he going to pull this off, without compromising Uraraka's integrity?

Beside him, Uraraka moans again, her head rolling to his side, her soft cheek pressing on his shoulder. The scent of her sweet shampoo invades his nostrils. His brain goes blank, instantaneously wiped free of all anxiety.

He steels himself. He's going to pull off this fake-dating scheme and protect Uraraka, if it's the last thing he does.

AN: Okay, it's a bit of a struggle for me to write in Shouto's POV for this one. When I write him it's usually in a serious setting, so writing him in a self-indulgent rom-com is really challenging. I hope he didn't seem too OOC in this one~

So we're starting to see the background of this AU-pro-heroes exist in this world, but for many of our characters, they chose to serve people in the healthcare world instead. I wonder why? Where's the turning point? Please stay tuned!

The Dr. Ponytail scene was supposed to be placed in the BakuMomo chapter but I wasn't able to flesh it out properly. I plan to write it in Momo's POV too, in the separate fic I'll publish after I finish this challenge.

This story will be continued, of course~ four chapters by my planning. If you enjoyed this I hope you stick around to read that one, once I finish it :)