The week passed by in a blur of half-finished study guides, intense training hosted by a very annoyed Aizawa and overly exuberant All Might, followed by trips to the ice-cream parlor. Word went around pretty quickly after the initial trip to the cute specialty ice-cream shop and pretty soon it had become a group thing after training. In the span of six days Natsumi had gone four times after school with her classmates, she felt absolutely no regret over the amount of ice-cream she had eaten in less than a week.
It was now Saturday and, while her usual plans included training on campus with Shinsou, she had had to cancel with him today in favor of her study session with Todoroki. Guilt knotted in her stomach as she reread the text message she had received from Shinsou in response to her bailing on him, and while it had only been a simple 'ok' she knew that the boy wasn't actually okay with canceling their training.
Maybe this will force him to take a break, he's been working himself too hard and desperately needs a day to rest and recuperate. Natsumi reasoned with herself in an attempt to rid herself of her own anxiety over letting him down.
But she really needed help with her math review and Todoroki was one of the smartest guys in her class, she would have had to be an idiot to turn down a day of studying with him. I suppose it's not entirely a day of studying, he seemed pretty keen on training together too.
Currently, she was leaning back against her couch cushions with her legs outstretched in front of her, feet propped against the top of her coffee table. Her phone vibrated on the seat beside her and she found herself tearing her gaze away from the movie that had been playing on her television to glance at the name that lit up her phone screen.
At seeing Todoroki's name, she pulled her legs away from the coffee table and leaned forward in her seat, phone gripped loosely in her hand as she read over the address he had sent her.
A frown tugged at the corners of her lips, it's now or never, I guess.
She felt a nervous fluttering in the pit of her stomach that she associated with the growing anxiety that came with the thought of spending an entire afternoon alone with Todoroki. He had assured her on several occasions that Endeavor would not be in the picture whatsoever that day so there really was nothing to worry about. It was just going to be two friends helping each other out for their final exams. But still, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen.
Glancing down at the map on her phone that pinged with a 'you have arrived at your destination' notification, she bit her lip nervously and stared up at the large traditional-styled Japanese house looming ahead of her. A cobble stone pathway wound its way up towards the ornate wooden exterior of the home and she found herself hesitantly moving towards the door.
Shoving her phone into the pouch of her messenger bag, she brought her hand up and tapped her knuckles against the door to announce her arrival. After a few tense moments of silence where she assumed her knocks had gone unheard, she raised her hand once more. As she was about to knock once more the door slid open to reveal Todoroki.
He regarded her with a soft smile, his crimson and ivory locks slightly disheveled and his breaths coming out in quiet huffs as if he had run through the entire estate to come open the door for her. She quirked a curious eyebrow at his appearance, tilting her head slightly as she stared up at him. He was wearing a plain black v-neck t-shirt and a pair of grey athletic shorts, already prepared for their training.
"Did you start training without me?" Natsumi laughed as he stepped aside to let her in.
For a moment he was quiet, standing in the doorway drinking in her appearance as if for the first time. Well, to him it was the first time he had ever seen her wear something other than her school uniform or a large sweater. Today, Natsumi had decided to wear a long, crimson tank-top with arm holes that extended all the way down to her hips, showing off a fair amount of skin, much more than he was used to seeing of her that was for sure. Underneath her tank top she wore a black sports bra, and rounding off the outfit was a pair of black leggings. Her hair was already tied back in a braid, several wavy wisps of ivory left out to frame her face.
He tore his eyes away from her and shook his head, "No, I was busy helping my sister in the garden when I heard you arrive. I had to run to make it to the door in time."
So he literally did run across the estate to get here, she chuckled to herself.
She took her shoes off at the door and slipped on the pair of house slippers that her classmate had laid out for her, her eyes immediately wandering to the elaborate, yet traditionally styled woodwork of his home. Natsumi crossed her arms over her chest and self-consciously dug her fingers into her forearms, "Your home is so nice, Todoroki."
He glanced over at her and shrugged nonchalantly, "Thanks." It had never really felt like much of a home to him in the first place, the walls were bare, the rooms were cold, and the hallways were empty and quiet. Todoroki typically kept himself locked away in his room for the better part of the day when he was home, only coming out to train alone, or to have dinner with Fuyumi and Natsuo (when he was home from college, that is).
"You ready to get started?" He asked curiously, tilting his head over his shoulder at her and watching in mild amusement as she tore her wonderstruck gaze away from the ornately carved molding lining the tops of the walls.
"Oh, yeah, I'm ready." She blinked, lips upturning in a small, sheepish, smile at being caught admiring his home once more.
He motioned for her to follow him down the long, narrow hallway, leading her further and further into the compound with each step. She noticed how sparsely decorated the home was, no photos on the wall, no decorative chachkies, no potted plants—nothing that really showed that a family resided there, that the home was actually lived in. An involuntary shiver ran up her spine, goosebumps prickling at her skin as she realized how chilled the air was.
Kind of ironic considering Endeavor's Hellflame Quirk, She mused.
They took a left turn and ventured down another long hallway making Natsumi wonder just how large the estate truly was as it was beginning to seem never ending. A splash of color caught the corner of her eye and she halted mid-step, turning to face a small shelf that was built into the wall. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be an altar of some sort with various little candles and small offerings surrounding a photo of a small boy with brightly colored crimson hair and vibrant, turquoise eyes staring emotionlessly into the camera.
She must've been staring for quite some time, the silence surrounding them was deafening, but even so she still didn't notice Todoroki's footsteps drawing closer to her as he realized that she was no longer following and had backtracked to come and get her.
"That was my older brother, Touya." His voice was quiet, carefully void of any emotion that could give away his true feelings. He stood beside her, peppermint fringe falling into his eyes as he tipped his chin down, angling his face so that he could stare at the photo of the boy, staring out of the gilded picture frame listlessly.
"Was?" The word had left her lips before she had the chance to really think about the implication behind her friend's words. As soon as it was uttered, she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide in panic as she stared up at the stoic boy beside her, "Ah, I'm sorry!"
Todoroki shook his head, peeling his eyes away from the photo of his brother and meeting her panicked stare with calm heterochromatic eyes, "No need to apologize, it happened a while ago. Touya was training with our old man and there was an accident," his chest heaved out a quiet sigh, "I was young when it happened and Fuyumi and Natsuo would never tell me exactly what happened."
Her hand slowly fell away from her lips, dropping back to her side, her brows dipped low, lips tugging into a sympathetic frown, "I'm sure they did what they thought they needed to do to protect you at the time."
He regarded her quietly for a moment, slowly his lips twitched at the corners, "I was young and don't have many memories of my siblings from back then, the old man would keep me separated from them because he thought they'd be a distraction from my training. But," suddenly, a wistful look shone in his eyes, "I do remember that sometimes late at night Touya would sneak into my room and bring me little snacks or trinkets, sometimes he'd even read me a story to lift my spirits. I guess that was his way of trying to show me that things weren't as bad as they seemed and that I wasn't alone, even though it felt like it most of the time."
She stayed quiet, crimson eyes trained on him as he opened up to her about his past. The moment felt intimate in a way that she never expected from Todoroki. He was typically a quiet and reserved person, yet here he was telling her things that she was pretty sure no one else in their class knew of. Her chest constricted and she could feel every palpitation of her heart in that moment, it made her feel special to be let in on something so important, for Todoroki to trust her enough to divulge something so personal and painful to her.
"You must really miss him." Natsumi's voice was quiet, barely above a whisper as the words tumbled past her lips.
The boy beside her let out a quiet hum, closing his eyes briefly as he attempted to sort out his thoughts before answering her. After a moment of silence, he opened his eyes and met her soft, sympathetic stare, "I think…I miss the thought of having him around. Don't get me wrong, if I could go back in time and prevent such a tragedy I would. But, as I said, I really don't have very many memories of him or my other siblings from back then so it's not like I actually knew him all that well aside from the few times he would seek me out at night to cheer me up and ensure I was okay after a rough day of training." He brought a hand up, running his fingers through his peppermint locks, a frown marring his face, "That makes me sound horrible, doesn't it?"
She blinked in surprise, shaking her head, "Not at all! You can't help how you feel, especially with how you were kept isolated from them, it's natural and normal that you'd feel that way. If he were still around, you'd be working on your relationship with him, just as you're doing with your other siblings, and I think that's probably what bothers you the most; the fact that you won't ever have that chance with him."
He considered her words very carefully, a sharp pang of understanding and recognition igniting in his chest as he realized that she had hit the nail right on the head. Todoroki tilted his chin down towards his chest, giving himself a better view of the tiny teen standing before him, watching as her eyes searched his own for any sign that she had maybe stepped over an undisclosed boundary line with her words. His mismatched stare lingered on her form for several, silent moments, drinking in her hopeful yet concerned expression, before trailing down to the nape of her neck where a glint of silver caught his attention. Todoroki blinked, she's wearing the necklace I got her. The mere thought of her wearing the simple pendant that he had gifted her sent his heart racing at an irregular pace, making him involuntary squint his eyes in surprised confusion at the sensation happening within his chest.
His lips settled into a soft smile as he tore his gaze away from the necklace and let it rest back on her face, "You're right."
Natsumi bit the inside of her cheek and rose a brow at his answer, she wouldn't give him any indication that during his moment of silence she had been quietly squirming on the inside, worried that maybe she had said the wrong thing. He can be so hard to read sometimes, she let out an airy sigh.
"We've wasted enough time; we should start our training." His quiet voice pulled her out of her thoughts once more as he nodded his head towards the path they had originally been on before getting sidetracked by Touya's altar.
Natsumi bobbed her head in agreement, following closely behind him as he led her back down the hallway before stopping at a wide set of wooden double-doors. He gripped the handle and slid the door open, his hand groped the wall beside them before flicking on the light switch, illuminating the dojo with bright fluorescent light.
It was much bigger than she had anticipated, though considering the grandiose size of the Todoroki compound itself she wasn't sure why she expected anything less. The floors were inlaid with soft mats, so that the occupants could be as rough with their training as needed without worrying about getting hurt every time their bodies hit the floor. The walls looked as if they were made of wood, but she knew from the conversation she had had with him on her birthday that they must've been made from a more resilient material considering that the room was Quirk proof.
Todoroki quietly slid the doors closed behind them, slipping off his house slippers near the entrance and venturing further into the room to begin stretching. Natsumi blinked, sliding the slippers off of her own feet and shuffling towards the boy who was working on a set of toe-touches. She settled in beside him and began her own warm-up routine for the next couple of minutes.
Once they had completed their own personal routines, the two teens took their places on opposite sides of the room and faced each other.
"Quirks or no Quirks?" Natsumi tilted her head to the side as she addressed him, crimson meeting turquoise and grey.
"I am curious to see what you learned during your internship, but maybe we should start with some hand to hand first." Came his even-toned response, a teasing smile lit up Natsumi's face, of course he'd be curious, she hadn't told anyone about her newfound water manipulation abilities and had been rather hush-hush about everything she had learned in general.
She wasn't sure what lead to her initial decision to keep her new ability under wraps, but now that she had gone this long without giving her classmates a peak at it, she was determined to keep it a secret until she had a firmer grasp on it. Natsumi wanted the final reveal to blow everyone out of the water, metaphorically speaking.
Her head bobbed in a slow nod of agreement, her ivory braid flopping over her shoulder and resting against her chest from the movement. Natsumi and Todoroki both readied themselves, crouching into their own signature defensive positions, alert and ready for the other to make a move.
"Ladies first."
"Oh, what a gentleman."
Natsumi took off towards him, her footfalls silent against the mat beneath them and Todoroki was momentarily impressed by how light on her feet she truly was. She was fast, nearly a blur as she cleared the distance between them in record time, Todoroki was quick to block her incoming attack, sending her stumbling back.
She was able to correct her balance just in time to duck under the wide swing of Todoroki's right arm as he made his move, she popped back up behind him with a grin. Her own fist reeled back as she pushed herself forward, knuckles colliding with the side of his cheek right as he whirled around to face her once more.
A grunt escaped him from the impact, but he was able to shake off the pain that blossomed across his cheek, her hits are harder than the used to be, she's definitely improved. He swept his leg across the mat in an attempt to knock her on her ass but she was able to leap over it and put some distance between them to catch her breath.
"Running away already?" He taunted lowly, one eyebrow quirked high above the other as he stalked towards her in an uncharacteristically predatory fashion.
Leaning back on her heels, she shot him a mischievous smile, "Not running, just strategizing."
"How's that working out for you?"
She danced just out of reach of his extended fist as it crashed through the space beside her, the displacement of air creating a whizzing noise that brushed past her earlobe. Todoroki was quick to recover his momentum, however, sending the two teens into a well-choreographed dance of parries and strikes. In movement, they seemed almost evenly matched, though in brute strength it was quite obvious that Todoroki was still the undisputed victor. Each time he lurched forward with an attack she would quickly bring her arms up in a defensive position but the force behind his strike would send her sliding against the mats beneath her. Natsumi was quick to lock her knees into position to strengthen her stance, though it still wasn't enough to keep him from pushing her back farther and farther with each hit she took.
A strained grunt left her lips as she defended herself against another attack from the dual-color haired boy, he was relentless with his strikes, not even giving her a moment to compose herself and retaliate. Biting the inside of her cheek, she mulled over her options on how she could get herself out of her current situation. She felt cornered like a mouse in the claws of its feline adversary, Natsumi did not enjoy feeling like prey, regardless if it was just a training exercise between classmates.
With her mind made up, she winked at him, causing Todoroki to falter from his own surprise by her sudden change in demeanor before she blinked out of existence. He lurched forward from the lack of physical contact as their bodies were no longer pushing against each other.
An annoyed huff left his lips as he whirled around in the direction he was certain she had escaped to, "That's cheating."
Her voice sounded somewhere off to his left, an amused lilt accentuating her words, "In a real fight against a villain, they'd use any sort of underhanded tactic to get ahead."
"In that case…" His lips curled into a smirk, he stomped his right foot against the mat and released a glacier that raced forward, encasing everything in its icy prison. He knew that his ice would have nothing to cling to when she was in her intangible state, but with the drastic drop in temperature he knew there would be subtle signs to look for that would pinpoint exactly where she was hiding.
Todoroki's eyes narrowed in concentration as he surveyed the layout of the room, the ice coating the floor shimmered beneath the fluorescent lighting above, creating an almost whimsical looking scene before him. His own breath plumed out in a tiny cloud of condensation as it escaped his parted lips and made contact with the chilled air around him. Movement caught in his peripheries, while it was incredibly subtle, it registered in the back of his head almost immediately and his smirk grew, almost taunting.
"You can run, but you can't hide, Kurosawa." He chuckled as he noticed her breath hanging in the air closer to the left-hand corner of the room. He bit the inside of his cheek, if I can't touch her with my ice then I'll have the flush her back out into the open somehow, maybe by turning up the heat…
Todoroki was still hesitant about using his flames in the midst of battle, he was slowly becoming more accustomed to the idea of them, but despite all of his own personal growth over the last couple of months his flames still brought back bad memories. Absently, he brought a hand up to run his fingers through his sweat soaked peppermint fringe, lips settling into a thin line as he narrowed his stare at the corner of the room.
He thrust his left hand forward and allowed a flurry of vibrant flames to dance across the room, quickly enclosing in on the space where he was almost certain she was hiding. The ice was gone in an instant, melting and evaporating in the air, an uncomfortable dry heat settled in and he had to activate his right side to keep himself from overheating.
A startled yelp echoed across the dojo as Natsumi did her best to dodge the onslaught of flames pushing towards her. Trapped with nowhere else to go, she tumbled through the wall of fire and blinked back into existence, panting heavily as she felt the intense heat sear at her back.
"Not fair." She whined, taking the back of her hand and wiping away the sweat that had coated her forehead and threatened to fall into her eyes, "That could've really hurt, you know."
His eyes softened; a small pocket of guilt expanded in his chest at her words. The boy started walking towards her as the sprinkler system activated, a torrent of water falling around them like a summer storm to put out the fire. The two teens were drenched instantly, Natsumi let out a satisfied hum as the water cooled down her hot skin.
"I was confident in your abilities to find a way out of the situation." He responded finally, stopping in front of her and holding out a hand to help her to her feet.
She stared up at him through ivory bangs that clung to her face, blinking at the proffered hand before allowing her gaze to trail up to land on his face. Todoroki had his chin dipped towards his chest so that he had a better view of her, his own hair stuck to either side of his face from the constant stream of water falling over them. His clothing was soaked through, clinging tightly to his body and accentuating his toned muscles underneath. Natsumi swallowed hard when she realized she had been staring a little too long and immediately turned her head away from him to avoid his gaze.
His lips pulled back into a smirk as he caught her eyes lingering on his form longer than he was sure she had intended, his eyes lit up in amusement as he watched her cheeks flood with color. Tilting his head, he leaned towards her, "You feeling alright there, Kurosawa?"
A small groan escaped her at his comment, her gaze slid back over to rest on the hand hovering in front of her face and she hesitantly placed her own palm against his and allowed him to pull her to her feet.
She quickly pulled her hand out of his grip as soon as she was steady on her own two feet once more, a mischievous gleam in her eyes as she lurched forward and swept her leg out, knocking Todoroki off balance. His eyes widened in surprise as he tumbled backwards, completely caught off guard by her sudden attack. Todoroki was able to catch himself by jutting his palm out behind himself and launching into a back hand spring to correct his balance and get him back on his feet.
"What a dirty trick." He chuckled, shaking his head and flinging the excess water clinging to his dual-colored locks every which way. His actions were far quicker than she had anticipated and Natsumi found herself barely dancing out of the way of a right hook, ducking low enough to the floor to be just out of reach of his swing. However, she quickly realized that it had been a bluff and his real retaliation came in the form of him jutting out his leg and sweeping her right off her feet.
The ivory haired girl hit the mat with a harsh thud, kicking her legs out at the last minute and hooking her foot around the back side of his knee, dragging him down with her. Todoroki let out a startled grunt as he was pulled forward, arms shooting out in front of himself to break his fall so that he wouldn't completely crush her under his weight.
The sprinkler system turned off in that moment after sensing that the room had returned to a normal temperature now that the fire had been extinguished. The center of the floor opened up to reveal a large drain that sucked in the water that had pooled atop the mats while a high-powered fan descended from the ceiling to dry the walls.
The two teens were unaware of everything happening around them, however, as their sole focus was on each other. Natsumi laid stiff as a board beneath the fire and ice wielder, crimson eyes wide and unblinking as she stared up at the boy. His arms held himself inches above her, placed on either side of her shoulders and effectively trapping her beneath his body. One leg fit snuggly between hers while the other rested on the outside of her thigh.
Todoroki's breath hitched in his throat and he was absolutely certain that she could probably hear his heart beating erratically against his ribcage with how close in proximity they were to each other. He swallowed hard but found that he was unable to tear his eyes away from hers.
Natsumi wasn't in any better shape, internally she was screaming at herself for being an idiot and getting them into such an awkward situation in the first place all because she refused to lose so easily to him.
His shaggy hair hung around his face like a peppermint curtain, movement caught her attention as excess water collected at the tip of a crimson strand, lingering for a moment before falling and splashing gently against her cheek.
Silence enveloped them save for the sound of their ragged breathing from exerting themselves during training.
Todoroki tore his dual-colored gaze away from her eyes long enough to notice a stray strand of ivory hair clinging to her cheek. Without thinking, he brought a hand up, his knuckles gently brushing against her cheek. In that moment, Natsumi felt the air leave her lungs as his fingers pushed the strand behind her ear, his brows furrowed in concentration.
"Hey Sho?" A gentle voice called out from beyond the door to the training room, effectively pulling both teens out of their trance and sending them scrambling away from each other just as the door slid open to reveal a young woman with a head of ivory hair with crimson highlights. Grey eyes lit up behind a pair of black framed glasses as she took a tentative step into the still partially damp room. Either she was unable to feel the tension of the room or she chose to ignore it, a wide grin spread across her face as her eyes landed on Natsumi, "Oh! You must be Kurosawa-chan! I've heard so much about you, I'm so happy to finally have a face to the name, I'm Fuyumi."
Natsumi blinked, still reeling from the strangely intimate moment she had just shared with Todoroki and now feeling even more caught off guard by how forward and friendly his older sister seemed to be. She wants me to call her by her given name…?
"Ah, it's nice to meet you too." Natsumi offered the older woman a lopsided smile as she pulled herself to her feet, inwardly cringing at the feeling of her wet tank-top rubbing against her uncomfortably, "In that case, you can call me Natsu-chan if you'd like."
Fuyumi excitedly clasped her hands together in front of herself, "You're even cuter than I imagined!"
The small teen blinked in confusion, staring between Fuyumi and Todoroki, the latter who was staring hard at his sister as if trying to convey something to her with his eyes alone, a light tinge of pink dusting across his cheeks.
"I see you two were going hard with the training," Fuyumi giggled, giving the two teens a knowing look, "Sho, why don't you go find something dry for Natsu-chan to change into. And then the both of you can meet me in the dining room, I made lunch."
Fuyumi tore her eyes away from her brother's and turned on her heel to leave, there was an extra pep in her step and she was humming a jaunty tune to herself.
As soon as she disappeared down the hallway beyond the training room doors, Natsumi turned to her companion with a raised eyebrow, "So, I was absolutely not expecting your sister to be so…chipper and carefree."
"Oh?" He turned his head towards her, a curious lilt in his voice.
"Well, yeah. I guess I had this image in my head of her and your brother just both being a combination of you and Endeavor personality-wise." A light laugh escaped her and she brought a hand up to absently rub at the back of her neck sheepishly at how presumptuous she had been.
"I suppose that would make sense; their upbringing was very different from my own so they were able to experience more than I did." He shrugged his shoulders, "Fuyumi and Natsuo are…" He scrunched up his nose as he searched for the right word to say, it was a very subtle change in expression, "more optimistic and upbeat. I'm sure you'll meet my brother eventually and you'll see what I mean."
While she was trying to decipher the meaning behind his words, Todoroki had already started towards the door, slipping on his house slippers and turning to wait for her to follow after him. She tilted her head up at him, shuffling towards him and slipping into the guest slippers she had borrowed.
Natsumi followed him down a series of twists and turns before they stopped at another door, he seemed to hesitate for a moment, peering at her over his shoulder. Todoroki bit the inside of his cheek, he had never invited anyone over to see his home, let alone had a girl in his bedroom, this was all new territory for him. Swallowing his uncertainty, he slid open the door to his room and gestured for her to follow him inside.
Crimson eyes scanned the decently sized bedroom, her lips twitching at the corners at how traditional the setup was. In the back corner of the room lay a futon with his bedding neatly folded ontop of it, across the room, closer to the door where they had entered was a dark colored wooden desk with various writing utensils placed delicately next to a stack of stationary. An opened door near the futon gave her a peak of what his bathroom looked like, spacious and clean from what she could tell at the angle she seeing it from. Another dark wooden door was against that same wall but was closed, she assumed that must've been his closet.
"So you're a minimalist, hm? Gotta say I'm not surprised, but I am surprised that you don't have any Hero merch lying around." She laughed, "Not even an All Might figurine or poster."
"I admire him as a Hero, but I've never been the type of person to show my appreciation by buying merchandise. I don't like clutter and anything extra would just end up collecting dust." He shrugged his shoulders, ambling towards the closed door and sliding it open to reveal a walk-in closet with all sorts of clothing items hanging up, sorted neatly by color and the type of clothing that it was—hoodies all hanging from one side, t-shirts and casual wear next, button-ups and more formal clothing last.
He disappeared inside of his closet, his index finger tapping against his chin in contemplation as he tried to decide what to give her. Todoroki finally decided on a pair of grey sweatpants and a black v-neck tshirt, handing the comfortable clothes to her moments later, "You can change in my bathroom."
She nodded her head, shuffling into the bathroom and closing the door behind herself so that she could change into the dry clothing he had given her. Her fingers curled around the uncomfortably damp material of her tank top and she quickly pulled it over her head, letting it fall to the floor with a disgusting wet slap. Next, she peeled off her leggings, groaning as her foot got stuck and she nearly toppled over herself trying to stand on one leg while pulling the garment all the way off of herself.
"You okay in there?" Came Todoroki's amused voice from the other side of the door after he heard the sound of her back thumping against the wall and an irritated grunt escape her.
"Y-yeah hold on." She called out, embarrassed, as she pulled the dry set of clothing on over her still partially damp undergarments. The sweatpants were not only too wide for her but they were also too long, and she nearly tripped over the bottoms as she took a step forward. Letting out a laugh at how comically large the sweatpants were on her, she quickly pulled on the drawstrings in the waistband as tightly as she could before tying them to secure them around her waist. While it did tighten the top half to keep them up on her hips, there was absolutely nothing she could really do about the drag of the pant legs.
The shirt was large on her as well and fell almost to her knees, when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, she couldn't help but to let out a snort of laughter at how ridiculous she looked in such oversized clothing. Bringing a hand up to muffle her laughter was when it hit her. The strong, overwhelming scent of campfire smoke and mahogany invaded her senses, she paused and took a step back, leaning up against the bathroom wall and taking in deep breaths of the intoxicating scent that she associated with the boy on the other side of the door.
She felt delirious, basking in the aroma of Todoroki's clothing draped around her, and she figured that the erratic beating of her heart in her chest and the funny thoughts running through her mind were fueled by the strange interaction they had had before Fuyumi had interrupted. It was all insanely confusing, she had never cared before how any of her classmates smelled to her, or the way they smiled—
Nope. Fuck off. She growled to herself, pulling herself out of her own intrusive and inappropriate thoughts, cheeks ablaze. None of this means anything, things just got a little weird during training, that's it. I'm not going to think about how good he smells, or the way his eyes soften when he looks my way, or how he saves a smile just for me—ugh. Why. Why are hormones like this? You're looking too far into things that aren't there, idiot.
Running a hand through her damp bangs, she exhaled sharply, counting to ten slowly in her head to calm her racing heart before shoving open the door and startling Todoroki who had been leaning against the wall opposite of the bathroom. Grey and turquoise had been transfixed on the floor in front of him until she came barreling out of the bathroom with an annoyed huff, his gaze quickly snapped up and he bit back a small laugh at how she was practically swimming in his clothing.
Cute. He couldn't help but to think as her attention darted to him and she glared.
"Don't laugh, you knew they'd be too big, you're almost a foot taller than me." Natsumi crossed her arms over her chest with an indignant pout.
"I guess it would've made more sense to give you some of Fuyumi's old clothes to wear instead…" He chuckled, "Should I go ask her to find something else for you to wear?"
She bit her lip and shook her head, even if the t-shirt and sweatpants were too big on her there was a sense of comfort that came with them that she wasn't ready to give up, "No, it's fine. This is actually insanely comfortable; you'll be lucky if I ever give them back." She shot him a teasing grin.
Todoroki shrugged nonchalantly, "Keep them, then."
"W-what?" She choked out, not expecting him to say something like that.
"You heard me." He chuckled, "Fuyumi has lunch ready; we should go before she comes looking for us."
Natsumi sat next to Todoroki at the table with Fuyumi across from them, an assortment of dishes laid out across the low table in front of them. The elder Todoroki insisted that Natsumi take from the dishes first as she was the guest, once her plate was filled with rice, fried fish, and vegetables did the two Todoroki siblings begin to take their fill as well.
"I'm so happy that I finally got to meet you, Sho has told me so much about you I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to meet you or if he had made you up!" Fuyumi giggled at her own joke, sharing a look with her brother who was silently asking her to drop the subject with his eyes. She, of course, ignored her brother's wordless pleas, "He doesn't invite people over often, in fact, this is actually the first time he has ever had anyone over. So you can imagine my surprise when he mentioned that not only was he having a friend over, but that friend was a cute girl from his class."
"Fuyumi."
Grey eyes landed on her brother's pained heterochromatic stare, "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you, Sho. I'm just so excited that you're making friends and finally coming out of your shell." She apologized, a sheepish smile spreading across her lips.
Natsumi shoved a clump of rice into her mouth, watching the two Todoroki siblings exchange looks back and forth. It was funny how expressive and open Fuyumi was while Todoroki was the complete opposite, watching them interact made her feel lighter, happier, just being around them.
"So, Sho tells me that you interned with Hawks a couple of weeks ago. That must've been so exciting, how was it?" Fuyumi seemed genuinely intrigued, leaning forward against the table with a friendly grin, glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose in her excitement to learn more about her little brother's friend.
The boy beside her continued to chew the piece of fish in his mouth thoughtfully, though Natsumi could tell that he was paying close attention. She hadn't spoken much about her internship other than when she had originally complained about being on cleanup duty.
She swallowed a bite of fish and smiled, "It was interesting, that's for sure. He's a very efficient Hero, gets a lot done in a short amount of time, his work ethic is impressive and honestly, I hope to one day be as accomplished as Hawks."
Fuyumi beamed, "It's wonderful that you found someone that you can look up to like that, I can tell that you really appreciate him as a Hero just by the way you speak about him."
"I definitely learned a lot while with him, he gave me a lot to think about in terms of the different uses of my Quirk that I'm working on incorporating more of in my daily training." Natsumi absently twirled her chopsticks between her fingers.
Todoroki's interest was piqued by that, he placed his chopsticks down and turned towards her with a curious gleam in his eyes, "Different uses of your Quirk?"
She blinked, tilting her head to meet his gaze, "Yeah, he made me realize that my Quirk wasn't what I thought it was. I'm still figuring it out myself, so I've been pretty quiet about it because I don't want to tell everyone about it until I have good enough control over it."
He nodded, though he didn't quite understand what she meant by that. Todoroki was curious, he wanted to know what she had learned from Hawks about herself and what she meant when she said that her Quirk wasn't what she thought it was. Wasn't it pretty cut and dry? Ice manipulation and her invisible intangibility, what else could there be to it? How could there possibly be another aspect to her Quirk that she hadn't previously been aware of?
"Sounds like you had a very enlightening internship, I know I can't wait to see the sort of things you can accomplish with your newfound abilities, once you're comfortable showcasing them." The elder Todoroki's eyes softened, the kindness radiating off of her crashed over Natsumi like a tidal wave, making her throat constrict at the way Fuyumi stared at her as if she was proud of her. Proud of someone she had only met that day.
Natsumi turned back to face Fuyumi, a soft smile pulling at the corners of her lips, "Thank you, Fuyumi-san."
The rest of the meal passed with idle chatter, mainly between Fuyumi and Natsumi, while Todoroki listened attentively. Afterwards, the two teens sat out in the garden and worked on their study guides together, though they focused mostly on the math section which was what she had the most trouble with. Todoroki was a very patient teacher, going over each equation slowly and explaining how to use each mathematical formula multiple times until she understood how to accomplish the task on her own.
It was sundown by the time Natsumi packed her things and left, bidding the two Todoroki siblings farewell, Fuyumi yelling that she better come back soon and have dinner with them.
I like her. Natsumi had decided that the moment she had met his sister, but the thought was further cemented in place when she received a tight hug from the older woman as she was stepping out to go home.
Thing 2
We miss you Mi-chan! (´,,•ω•,,)
Thing 1
Found a place I think you'll like, meet us here in 30 minutes.
She stared down at the screen of her phone for the hundredth time, running a hand through her loose ivory curls and letting out a quiet sigh. Natsumi knew that meeting them in public was risky, especially if someone she knew happened to walk by and see them together. The twins had worn disguises during the USJ attack but it really didn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together considering that the chances of her knowing another set of twins wasn't very likely.
The map app that she had used to input the address sent to her dinged with a robotic voice stating 'you have arrived at your destination' and she quickly turned the app off and glanced up at the building she had stopped in front of. Large glass windows stood before her, inside she could see various cats lounging about in the rays of sunlight that beamed in from the outside. Crimson eyes widened, a bright smile tugging at the corners of her lips as one cat rubbed itself up against the glass. Natsumi bent her knees to lower herself to its level, tapping her fingers gently against the window to gain the feline's attention.
"I knew you'd approve of my choice to grab lunch here." She didn't even have to turn around to know that Ryou was standing behind her, she could hear the satisfied smirk in his voice.
"They just opened a few weeks ago and I've been dying to come and see all the cute kitties, we figured that you'd also appreciate the cozy atmosphere of a cat café too!" Hibiki bounded towards her, light as ever on his feet, and slung an arm across her shoulders as she straightened up to turn and greet them.
Today Hibiki wore a black tank-top beneath a jean vest with various band logos stitched into the dark washed material, a pair of black skinny jeans, and his black and teal Chuck Taylors. A top his head was a dark grey beanie pulled down over most of his shaggy dark hair.
Ryou, on the other hand had his hair pulled back into a messy top-knot, a pair of thin black framed reading glasses sat perched upon his nose. A tight fitted dark grey t-shirt clung to his thin form, paired with form-fitting dark washed jeans, a studded belt, and his black Vans.
She really had to hand it to them, though their outfits were simple, they really did the trick in making them look less recognizable.
"I'm impressed that after all this time you still know exactly what I like." Her lips pulled back into a smirk, crimson meeting two pairs of silver.
Hibiki pulled her closer to him, dipping his head and speaking lowly against the shell of her ear, "We've never forgotten a single thing about you, even after all these years the thought of you is what keeps us going."
She tilted her head to the side to get a better look at him, raising an eyebrow at his comment, "I'll just pretend like I believe that," a teasing laugh escaped her before she gently pushed him away, "enough with the small talk, are we gonna go inside or what?"
The younger twin pouted, following after Natsumi as she breezed through the front door, the tinkling of bells above alerting the staff of her entrance. Hibiki mumbled a forlorn, "But I meant what I said…" as he trailed behind her.
Ryou rolled his eyes, shaking his head at his brother, bringing up the rear of the small group as they were led to a cushioned booth on the far end of the café, far away from the other patrons. Silver eyes softened as he watched Natsumi's face light up as she took in the cutesy décor and the even cuter furry occupants of the café who meandered lazily around them.
They were seated at the booth, both boys opting to sit next to each other while Natsumi took the empty booth across from them where a large, white cat with piercing green eyes had already taken up residence in the space next to her.
"This is literally the coolest place I have ever been to." The ivory haired teen declared in all seriousness, causing both boys to share a look before laughing.
"I'm glad that you like it." The eldest twin smiled softly, his fingers sliding a menu across the table towards her, "I think you're going to also be impressed by all the cat themed treats they offer as well."
Her eyes lit up as she glanced down at the menu in front of her, noticing the artsy photos of each menu item, an amused laugh bubbled up within her throat, "Are you kidding me? They have cat shaped donuts and hot chocolate with marshmallows shaped like little cat paws? That is fucking adorable."
"Isn't it though?" Hibiki leaned forward across the table, lips split into an excited grin, "They also have a pudding that's molded into the shape of a fat little cat that I cannot wait to try."
A little while later a waitress stopped by with hot chocolates for Natsumi and Hibiki, a large white marshmallow in the shape of a paw print with pink toe beans floated a top the dark, creamy liquid. Ryou had opted for a latte, a cute little cat face drawn with steamed milk greeted him when he pulled the mug closer to himself.
A plate of donuts in the shape of cat faces sat in the center of the table, all glazed in various colored frostings with sprinkles for eyes, little mouths drawn in icing, and little pointed ears poking out of the top of the pastry.
"Mi-chan let's take a cute picture together~!" Hibiki whipped out his phone, grabbing one of the donuts and moving around the table to slide in next to her, making the sleepy cat that he been napping on the spot beside her to let out an annoyed mewl before hopping down.
The younger twin put his camera in selfie-mode and held out his arm to get a better angle of the two of them. Natsumi snatched a donut from the center of the table and they both turned it so that it's little face was also facing the camera, both teens gave cheesy grins to the camera and snapped the photo.
"You know," Ryou's chin rested against his fist, elbow pressed against the table top as he watched the two across from him with a fondness that was solely reserved for them and them alone, "you could have just asked me to take the picture rather than raising your phone at odd angles."
"Psh, where's the fun in that? Besides, now we know which angles work best for us." Natsumi shrugged, taking a bite out of the side of her blueberry glazed donut and sighing in satisfaction as the flavor burst against her taste buds.
Hibiki pulled his plate from across the table towards him, deciding that he was going to stay seated next to his best friend for the remainder of their stay. The pudgy cat-shaped white chocolate pudding jiggled from the movement, he nudged Natsumi and pointed towards the wiggly treat, both teens laughing at how absurdly cute it was.
"Why do I always feel like a babysitter when I'm with the two of you?" Ryou's amused comment made the other two laugh even harder.
"Don't even pretend that you don't fucking love it." Natsumi teased, loose ivory curls falling over her shoulder as she leaned forward to snatch another donut off the plate after finishing her first one.
The elder twin rolled his eyes, though could not hold back the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips, "Damn, you caught me."
"Oh, we should get a picture with all three of us in it." Hibiki pointed a finger at his brother and curled it to beckon him over, "We can ask one of the servers to take it for us, that way we don't have to do all the angle bullshit since it upsets you so much." His voice was light and teasing towards the end, lips pulled back into a small smirk as his brother rolled his eyes.
The three decided to move away from their booth and sit on a plush couch that was up against the far side of the café, a seven-foot-tall cat tree next to it and multiple cats lazing around and grooming themselves. Ryou called over one of the servers and she was more than happy to oblige and take their photo. Hibiki sat on the left of Natsumi, Ryou on the right, and each of them had pulled a cat into their laps for the photo—Hibiki and Natsumi grinning eagerly while Ryou offered a subtle smile, barely noticeable save for the slight upturn of the corners of his lips.
"Look how cute we are, this is definitely going to be my new background." Hibiki declared, setting the photo as has wallpaper immediately.
They migrated back to their table, taking the cats in their laps along with them so that they could continue to give the purring felines more attention. The three continued to chat and snack on pastries for another hour before Natsumi decided that she should head home and work on her homework.
"We should do this more often." Hibiki tilted his head, eyes shining hopefully.
She glanced over at him as the trio excited the café, her fingers absently fiddling with the bracelet wrapped around her wrist, "I…think I'd like that. I have finals coming up so my free time is going to be pretty nonexistent, but we can figure something out."
Ryou's interest was piqued by the mention of her final exams, his lips curling into a smirk as he leaned forward, "Oh? Well, perhaps we'll have more time over the summer to be together since you won't be worried about that hero school of yours."
An uneasy feeling briefly overcame her, her eyes hesitantly rose to meet penetrating silver, she bit the inside of her cheek before quickly doing her best to squash the anxiety slowly creeping over her, "Maybe, though just because it'll be summer doesn't mean that I'll be slacking on my training. But, I think, I should have a little more time on my hands to make plans."
"That's all I needed to hear!" Hibiki leaned back on the balls of his feet, "Oh, I'll start making a list of all the things we'll have to do this summer together! Of course, the beach will be at the top of the list, and I think a trip to Disney is in order too, oh! We should go to the aquarium!"
Her eyes widened and she found herself nodding eagerly at the thought of visiting the aquarium and seeing her favorite sea creatures. Natsumi laughed at her friend's easily excitable disposition, "Sounds like a plan, you work on that list, alright?"
The three teens exchanged hugs and words of goodbye before parting ways, heading in opposite directions. As soon as she was far enough away from them she let out a breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding, I know I shouldn't worry, or maybe I should? But the look in Ryou-nii's eyes… She shook her head, I'm overthinking things, it was nothing.
I was a little hesitant to keep the majority of the chapter to be honest because I thought, maybe it's a little too fluffy? But screw it. Here it is, I hope you enjoyed your Todoroki snack 😉 lol
I wanted to add a little more of the twins in there because honestly, I don't know if there will be much time for them in the next couple of chapters and I love them so much I just needed to get my fix haha. Final exams will likely start in the next chapter unless I decide to add something in last minute, which is always a possibility lmao. But I'm really looking forward to the exams, they're going to be fun to write.
You have no idea how long I fought with myself over whether to give Fuyumi grey eyes or turquoise because in the manga they're turquoise after Endeavor but in the anime they're grey like Rei's. So sdhfajsdh it was a tough decision but I decided to go with what the anime has for her.
As always, thank you to everyone who sent in reviews for last chapter, I really appreciate it. Everytime I get a notification that I've received a new review I always quickly open up my email and read them and it makes me day 100x better immediately. So please keep them coming, things have been rough lately and reading the things you have to say has made a huge difference 3!
Xxjaelee – Thank you so much! I am high key in love with Shinsou and I'm happy that there's some people who appreciate the ShinsouxNatsumi ship 😊
Alora Lawson – Seriously, your series of comments that came in as you were reading and catching up on the story had me dying, thank you so much lmao! I'm sorry if you got in trouble for waking your parents up that one night you were reading lol! I AM HONESTLY LOWKEY THINKING about writing a oneshot where Todoroki finds out about her fwb relationship with Bakugou. Sometimes I wish I was brave enough to actually have that relationship be a part of this story, but I don't have the balls to actually add that in so it'll just have to live on in the AU in my head or in little oneshots here and there lmao. Also, super happy to hear that you're also a fan of the Shinsou ship because I feel like our sleepy purple boy just doesn't get enough love T_T
Bbymojo – dudeeee! I HAD to include that part with Kaminari, it's literally one of my favorite BNHA moments because it's just so ridiculous, like I can't believe he actually said that in canon. I love Kaminari so much lmao! Also, I know there wasn't much Todoroki in the last chapter…so I hope this chapter made up for that . lol
Lapis Laguna – Your review literally came through the moment I finished writing this chapter and I was so giddy to read it, thank you so much for your kind words! I love how in the series Quirks aren't always black and white, there's always something to learn about them, and I wanted to kind of incorporate that here with Natsumi's. She's gone years thinking that she's able to just manipulate ice and turn invisible/intangible and it took one bird-brain to get her to really think about her abilities and put things into perspective for her. Even though she's had her Quirk since she was a tiny thing and thought she had mastered it she's still learning things about herself and what she can do.
Also, in terms of her Hero costume, I definitely wanted something a little different because personally my favorite colors are blue and silver and I feel like most OCs I have kind of have that color scheme because that's what I like so I wanted to branch out a little here .!
The friendship she has with Bakugou is probably my favorite relationship of hers to be honest, and originally, I had intended for them to end up together before I changed my mind. I just think that they mesh so well together, even when they're butting heads and screaming at each other, but then they have their moments where they're soft with each other and they'd probably kill to protect one another.
Oh boy, I love the twins, but you're right. Natsumi is walking a dangerous path here by letting them back into her life, she definitely sees the red flags but she's a dumb teenager who is choosing to ignore them in favor of trying to recreate what they had in the past. I don't think the twins actually mean to cause her any harm, physically or emotionally, because they really do love her but that possessiveness they feel towards her is definitely borderline toxic, Natsumi just is too blind to see that. (I cannot wait to write the summer camp arc, I've been looking forward to that for months so I'm eager to get that that point :P)
Stay healthy and safe out there everyone!