Long time no see, I'm surprised I wrote this but happy none the less. I don't know when I'll update again, or where this will go, but as always I love feedback. Thank you to anyone who's here reading 3
o.0.o
Vee hadn't much thought about Shouto Todoroki after their disaster of a meeting not three weeks before. Sure, after meeting him and subsequently realizing exactly who he was and just how bad she'd probably get in trouble if anyone found out she was a dick to him, she had felt bad. But Vee had plenty of other, more pressing things to feel bad about, and that feeling soon passed.
The days came and went, each one filled with more of the same hustle she'd come to expect from her hospital. Check in patients, take vitals, get snide looks for being herself, file papers, make calls, kiss her bosses' ass, rinse, and repeat.
It was a cycle she wasn't fond of, but she had an end goal to achieve and she was so far in she didn't see the point of bemoaning a situation she put herself in. Still, that didn't mean she didn't bitch to herself every now again when she found herself doing boring things like rigging through the archives to fetch files for her boss.
While it was technically part of her job description as an intern, she much preferred her lab and clinic rotations where she got to help test samples and actually put her medical training to good use.
Sneezing as her rummaging through the file cabinets displaced dust all around her, she dropped the large box she was carrying full of her gathered files and swore.
"I'm going to die in here," she murmured aloud, dust somehow getting into her mouth and making her gag on the taste.
Determined to get out of there as soon as possible, she rushed through the file gathering, seemingly just on time as her pager went off.
Glancing at it, she saw she was needed with her files right at that moment. Determining that one of the patients was probably their to pick up their information, she hurried to her boss's office and set the box down, calling down to the front desk to figure out which file she needed to pull.
"Mustafa Medical Center front desk, this is Yamada speaking how may I help you?" The clear voice rang out through the speaker of the phone, and Vee bit back a sigh.
Miki Yamada was one of the regular front desk attendants, and in her humble opinion, the woman was an absolute bitch. Well, to her at least. Miki made it no secret that she thought Vee far too young and under qualified for her position, but Vee knew that was just because the woman's boyfriend had wanted the same job and gotten beaten out by her. Was she too young? Maybe. Under qualified? Not a chance. Vee had worked her ass off, skipping grades and forgoing all extracurricular to get to where she was, and though it was a pain to balance school and her internship, she was going to do it even if it killed her.
"Hello Yamada-San, I was wondering if you could tell me who was here to pick up files from Dr. Akagi?" She asked politely and quickly as she could.
Immediately Miki's once professional tone changed.
"Todoroki. I'll send him up."
With that, Miki hung up, but Vee couldn't help but clench her jaw. In any other circumstance, Miki would have known that she needed a first and last name, as well as time to pull the file, but it seemed protocol was in the trash when it came to her.
Knowing that the front desk was only about a five minute walk from the office she was in, she began frantically sorting through the files, hoping upon hope that she'd find it and be able to present it before the patient arrived.
As she searched, however, something dawned on her and frantic fingers slowed just as she hit the 'S' portion of her box.
'Todoroki?' She thought, the realization hitting her just as the door behind her clicked, and a familiar voice rang out, sharp and disapproving.
"What are you doing here?"
Sighing, she turned around and greeted the bicolored young man she'd managed to completely act an ass to. After their encounter, it hadn't been hard to realize who he was. Nor had it been hard to remember that she shouldn't have been acting like that in her place of work, not when she was already in such a precautious place to begin with
"Todoroki-San, how are you this afternoon?"
She knew her tone was much different then he expected, but no matter how alone they where in the office, she knew there was still the risk of being overheard and she wouldn't get chewed out by anyone for throwing sass at a patient. Nevermind that he was a patient, she didn't want to deal with the absolute verbal ass whooping she'd be given for talking shit to Endevour's son.
Still, she couldn't quit keep up the whole 'loving nurse' facade knowing he'd already seen the flip side to it; the act would've just made her feel more miserable and stupider then she already did. Turning back, she found his file and then, with his Manila folder in hand , she made her way around the desk and leaned back against it, still facing him. She kept her stare even with his dual colored one, and noted the look of confusion on his face.
"I'm fine... Golding-San?" He replied uncertainly, obviously trying to match her feigned politeness.
She couldn't help but cringe in response, hating how the honorifics sounded pinned to her foreign name. She'd been in Japan for some time, but on the occasions people had referred to her by name, she couldn't ever get over the feelings of awkwardness.
That feeling coursing through her body, she opened her mouth without thinking.
"Just call me Vee."
Wanting to slap herself for the faux pass, Vee's mouth immediately snapped shut.
She could see his eyes widen in surprise, and the blush that graced his pale cheeks made a curious warmth bloom in her belly. Generally she was pretty good at following Japanese customs and not making a fool of herself with her more 'American Tendencies', as they'd once been called when she'd been caught using a fork in the cafeteria by an older nurse. However, in this moment, with too many thoughts weighing on her tired mind, and a young Todoroki staring at her, she hadn't managed to bite her tongue fast enough.
"That's hardly appropriate-" he started, furthering her embarrassment as she cut him off in her haste to cover her own ass.
"I'm sorry I just hate the way my last name sounds with an honorific. It's too foreign, ya know?"
'You couldn't just stop talking could you? Always have to say something stupid, always have to fuck thing u-'
Her mind would have simply kept eating at her until she was distracted by something else, and she knew that from experience. She'd expected the distraction to come in the form of Shouto finally calling her out, so her surprise when genuine when instead her attention was drawn to the door once again.
o.0.o
Shouto was rarely caught off guard; he supposed in a way his life was oddly predictable. He had his goals laid out in front of him, and the people around him, usually his family, often could be depended on to act a certain way.
That was why, as the small, frizzed out mess of a girl in front of him babbled, he wasn't sure what to do. The first time he'd met her she'd been rude, then when he'd come in she'd seemed to be oddly polite, and now the nervous visage she presented now was where they'd landed.
Fingers death gripping a Manila folder, and eyes looking at everything but him, the intern made a pitiful sight, if he did say so himself. He was fully prepared to ask her just what her problem was when his thought was cut short by the unmistakable presence of Japan's number 2 hero behind him.
"And just what's going on here?" Endeavor asked, ever present fires blazing angrily.
'Overbearing as ever," Shouto thought to himself as the man he could hardly called a father laid a large palm on his shoulder and stared down the girl in front of him.
Not even bothering to hide his disdain, Shouto shrugged off the hand and stepped away from Enji. Crossing his arms, he looked pointedly at the intern, Viveca.
"Golding-San has the files we need," he said, noting how she cringed at her own name. He supposed she hadn't been just saying things when she'd told him she didn't like the way it sounded. He could agree that perhaps it didn't flow so well with Japanese, but it was her given name and he wasn't sure else he should use.
He certainly wasn't going to call her by her first name, especially in front of his father.
"I... Yes, here they are," she stated awkwardly. With a small shuffle, she'd moved over and handed the files over to Enji, pulling back quickly. Probably to avoid the flames that Enji had only toned down just enough to avoid setting off the fire alarms. These days, the large man rarely went anywhere without his trademark look. Shouto couldn't even remember what the man's face even looked like without the obscuring mustache.
Perhaps that was for the best.
Gaze sharpening, Shouto listener as Enji proceeded to say probably the worst thing he could've in such a simple situation.
"Why is a child dealing with such sensitive information?"
As it had when he'd pointed out something along a similar line of thought (loath as he was to admit to anything being similar to his father) that immediately set Viveca off.
Her back straightened, her large eyes narrowed, and her mouth set in a firm line. With a start, he realized she'd shown him a sort of softness earlier that wasn't present now.
"I'm an intern of this hospital, and today my task was to help Dr. Akagi with his filing. I was on shift when you requested those, and so it's me who is giving them to you now. Dr. Akagi is a busy man, but if you wish to speak with him I'm sure the front desk would be able to get you an appointment. Now if you'll excuse me, I have duties to attend to," she said, tone sharp.
Comically small compared to his father, she looked like an ant scrambling past a mountain as she pushed between them to make her exit, but he had to give her accolades for managing the gal to stand firm in the face of a man many found to be far too intamdatijg to anything but tremble before.
And maybe, just maybe, when she turned to him specifically, and gave a shallow bow followed with "Have a lovely evening, thank you," but didn't spare his father a second glance, he may have smiled.
o.0.o
Six hours later, long after the sun had set but still with three hours left on her shift, Vee sat crunching on a stick of pocky. Her last task of the day was to input data into the computer's online database, and as she slowly worked her way through the large stack, she found her eyes drawn to one name.
'Todoroki, Shouto'
The black ink on white paper was harmless, really, but it still made her stomach clench in anxiety and embarrassment. Truly, it seemed Whenever he was involved she would find some way to inevitably make a fool of herself. Even worse, after seeing him with his father earlier in the day, she felt bad about dragging him into the cloud of bullshit that seemed to orbit her. She hadn't met to be rude or weird with him, but the first time she'd met him he'd got the more acidic part of her without really deserving it. The second time she'd all but insulted him by forgetting her manners and asking him to cal her by her first name in a way that was far too familiar to be okay.
Teeth snapping through her snack with a particularly loud snap, Vee shook her head and brought her fingers up beneath her glasses to rub at the tired orbs. Shaking her head, she sat back in her chair and tried to refocus herself...
Only to completely veer off track again when she began reading the file in front of her that she was supposed to input. The particular stack she was working on wasn't anything out of the ordinary, as doctor that produced them specialized in quirk biology. Every file detailed how the individuals quirk affected their natural bodily functions, which was extremely useful for treatment. The thing was, though, that the testing she was imputing was a particularly detailed batch that where usually only conducted under patient request. Because of the wide array of quirks in the general populace, it was expensive and took a lot of time to truly study the biology of each patient in retrospect to their own unique abilities. Therefore while done, it wasn't done often unless there was something life treating going on or the patient was just curious about themselves. Routine medical care worked for most, and general populace was okay with that.
As she read through Shouto Todoroki's file, however, she wondered why exactly the 15 year old would be ordering tests not only on for his physical health, but for the very cellular composition of everything from the red and white strands of his hair to the toenails on the dual parts of his body.
As she read farther and farther down the findings, though, all the whole entering them into the computer by muscle memory alone, it hit her.
There at the bottom of the page, right where the authorizing signature line lay was not the signature of the patient in question.
No, instead, right below the signature line of aggressive looking cursive, lay the name Enji Todoroki. His father had ordered the test, and as his legal guardian, Vee knew he probably hadn't even had to tell his son about them. Despite admittedly not knowing either the man or his son very well, something about that rubbed her the wrong way.
Vee knew that Enji, otherwise known as Endeavor, was Japan's number 2 hero. Loved by many, he probably had more than half of Japan ready to sing him praises.
Still, Vee had a practiced eye for disgust. She'd had it aimed at her often enough by others, and recognized it even better from her own daily looks in the mirror.
Watching Endeavor with his son for less than 15 minutes was all she needed to know that neither male liked the other, and even worse was that Endeavor had barley even acknowledged his son. Shouto Todoroki has looked less like the son of one of the biggest heroes in the world, and more like an object to be toted around. He'd probably been poked and prodded without a single word as to why or what for, and a deep part of her recoiled at the violation.
Normally, Vee had a good head on her shoulders. She knew when to do what needed to be done, and she never acted without thorough thought. Still, she was human, and a young one at that.
It was late, nearing the end of a 70+ hour work week, and she still had a simmering guilt in her gut telling her that she needed to do something to make up for her bad behavior.
'You terrible, stupid girl,' the dark voice in her mind whispered, 'always going out of your way to make people hate you.'
That voice, still whispering, is how she would later explain away just why she did what she did.
Always one to do her job, she continued through her stack, always aware that she was on a time limit and had much more to do. Still, within that block of time, if anyone where to have looked, they would have found an email sent from one Viveca Goulding to one Shouto Todoroki.
It's heading simply read 'Results' and body was nothing more than a single line explaining what lay within, and a file attachment of all the results Enji Todoroki hadn't bothered to give his son.
o.0.o
Upon further inspection, hours later after a particularly intense training session, and even longer still after reading said files and accidentally melting off the edge of his laptop, Shouto would find that Vee had forgotten to take off her personal emailing signature.
Overcome with rage at his father for controlling his life even in this, but confused as to how the information had ended up in his hands in the first place, he would take the number found there and send her a simple message.
'Why?'
o.0.o
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