Note: This was inspired by my muse and my finishing watching Season 2 of the anime. Roughly based on an experience I had while in Australia, where my dad let me rest my eyes after dealing with a Surprise Encounter of his old friends ambushing the travel group with their kids for social meetings. Low social batteries are rough.

Not beta-read and only edited by me, so please bear with it. Only CW is for the occasional use of language. The only short story with a theme so far, being the theme for the Melody Town level in Kirby's Epic Yarn.

Please thank Todoroki Shōto for getting me back into this fandom. :)

Short Story 4: Half-Half, All-Warm

It took a moment to realize my fingers were cold and stiff against the piano keys. It took another moment for my eyelids to droop, vision blurring.

Gosh darn it…

Exhaustion wasn't exactly new. It was something everyone dealt with. But recently, it seemed to come about more often after performances in the café on my part. It almost always happened after performances that I could've handled with enthusiasm when I was little. Now I just couldn't muster that energy, even if I wanted to, with all my soul. Why was it that after pouring out my heart for so long, my mind couldn't keep up anymore when growing up?

So frustrating.

Once I could faintly feel my head start to bob from my trying not to nod off, a hand was gently pressing against the small of my back and keeping me sitting up straight on the piano bench. "You look like you need a break, sweetheart," Mama's voice said clearly in spite of all the haze, her touch comforting. "C'mon."

"Okay…"

The hand moved up my back and wrapped around my shoulders, gently guiding me to my feet as I could barely keep my eyes open. We walked together, my leaning on Mama more than anything else, before the wind blew in my face and I squinted my eyes shut. The sound of doors closing behind us echoed in my ears, alongside what seemed to be something getting pulled over, and then the hand at my shoulders pushed.

My back gently hit a cushion once my legs gave out, a blanket hitting my knees once they did, and it took a moment for my mind to register I was in a chair. "Rest here for the rest of your shift, sweetie," Mama whispered, and the blanket shifted to cover the bottom half of my torso. The kimono dress normally would've given enough, but I wasn't going to complain when she was worried. "I'll get you if anything happens."

Code for 'rest up and don't think about anything,' I guess. Am I that bad at self-care?

No answer.

Even if a part of me felt weird and wrong for taking a break, my mind didn't seem to agree because my eyes were already glued shut with my ears all open to take in the quiet hubbub. In my meager defense, the blanket was warm and the cushion against my back made the café chair Mama picked out feel cozy.

Maybe, with nothing to see, I could fool myself into taking a nap and not feeling guilty about it.

Chatter filtered in and out of my ears, my head barely registering the window behind me as the world started to flicker.

"Can I sit here?"

"Muuu…?" Okay, who is interrupting—

I opened my eyes and stopped whatever rude thought was on the tip of my tongue once my mind recognized the UA High uniform. With the prominent burn scar on the right eye and the red-white hair — yep.

Todoroki Shōto was standing in front of the café I called home and in any other situation, I might've nearly disrespected him. Verbally too. Shit.

"Todo—" I cut myself off once a yawn left my throat, and my vision blurred for a bit. Well, double shit. "Shōto-san?" Hii-kun did mention that it was Todoroki's hero name. It was still a bit jarring, using his first name when we weren't past "acquaintance-basis" yet, and judging by the shuffling near my right side, Todoroki felt the same way. "Sure, go ahead…"

Darn social battery and lack of energy.

"You don't have to call me by my Hero name, Hoshino." Huh. Another person using my surname. Todoroki seemed a bit distant just saying that, but then again… "Even if I have my Provisional License, I'm off duty," he said dryly. "Todoroki is fine."

"Todoroki-san, then…" I closed my eyes once he took a nearby seat. "I would…normally offer you a drink or any kind of service, but I'm out of it right now…"

It took a moment for the atmosphere to settle in. "We're…outside of Nagareboshi Café right now," Todoroki said after an adequate pause.

Oh. Um… And here I thought I had a bad social battery. "'Out of it' means 'I'm tired' in this case, Todoroki-san," I said patiently, trying not to slur my words. "I've just had a long day today…"

"Oh," he replied succinctly. After another moment, barely interrupted by an absent yawn on my end, there was a faint echo of something skidding across the floor. A chair? I guess he took me up on my offer of sitting close by. "If you need to rest, I can go elsewhere."

"I mean…" I halfheartedly opened one eye to glance at him, smiling weakly. Not enough energy to wave a hand at him in reassurance — darn. "I am on break, but you're not bothering me, Todoroki-san. Thankie for the consideration, but hey… Do you need a break too?"

Past his bangs, I could see his heterochromatic eyes widen slightly in surprise at my question. One brown-gray, one turquoise. As soon as they did, he turned his head away, rubbing the back of his neck. "Kind of," he offered in lieu of an answer. "I—I didn't realize you worked here, Hoshino."

"Only on Friday nights and weekends," I said in the barest volume node above a whisper, my battery sputtering in and out of the situation no thanks to lack of energy. I had a feeling that, if not for Todoroki-san choosing to sit next to me, I would've fallen asleep in a heartbeat. "My parents own the café and it's a family business. Since moving into the dorms, I haven't been able to help as much…"

"Huh," he said thoughtfully. "I see."

"Could I ask you something then, Todoroki-san…?" left me in a small breath before I could think otherwise. I kept my eyes closed to hide the bit of nervousness surfacing, no thanks to social anxiety popping up.

"What is it?"

"Why did you come by the café, then?"

There was a soft scritch, scratch noise that seemed to suggest Todoroki was scratching the back of his scalp. "It wasn't on purpose," he said, dragging out the last word in what seemed to be him in deep thought. "Needed to get away from people for a while."

Even with the lingering feeling I hit on a loaded subject, a tired sigh left my lips. "You and me both, then…"

"You too?"

I weakly shrugged while tugging at the blanket on my legs to better cover myself. "Helping people can get exhausting, Quirk usage factored in or not…"

A soft sigh echoed from my side. "Maybe," Todoroki-san acquiesced after a second, a creak signaling some kind of movement on his end before I could feel one end of the blanket on me get tugged upwards. "Rest, then."

"Trying, but thankie…"

Once I was adequately tucked in, Todoroki-san went quiet again, and I practiced deep breathing to try helping the sleep come by faster.

A thought occurred to me after a long period of adequately "vibing with another person" silence, and my mouth opened. "Thankie again, Todoroki-san."

He exhaled softly. "For what?"

"For remembering my name."

Todoroki-san, even without my eyes open, certainly seemed perplexed at my answer if his deeper voice was any indication. "You visit our classroom almost every day," he mused, the saying accompanied by a questioning tug on my blanket to further tuck me in for warmth away from the winter air. He probably remembered the flying tackle hugs I gave to Hii-kun on a daily basis then. Well. "And you intern with Recovery Girl. There's no way I wouldn't remember, Hoshino."

"Still," I said softly, holding back a yawn. "You did, and I'm grateful for that. So just let me thank you, Todoroki-san."

Todoroki-san made a noise that sounded like he exhaled through his nose. "…You sound like you've had it rough," he said mildly.

"Not as much as everyone else," left me in a tired breath. "Not as much as you."

After all, being the "prodigal" son of Endeavor had to come with some kind of baggage, and considering the footage of Class A's Sports Festival back when they were all first years — it was baggage that I knew I wouldn't be able to help with on my own. After all, I wasn't a therapist. I was just a General Studies student who cared too much and let sympathy turn into empathy far too often. Reaching out to everyone would be impossible.

But for one person, one person who knew my friends as classmates, maybe—

"Life isn't…" Todoroki-san took a breath as his chair creaked again, interrupting my train of thought. "It isn't a competition."

"Yeah…" A soft noise caught between a yawn and a sigh left my throat. I opted to snuggle into the blanket. "It isn't. But that doesn't make either of our experiences invalid…"

Todoroki-san sighed, too. "True," he admitted.

I squinted my eyes shut while attempting to change the subject because this was getting awkward. "When I'm more awake…"

"Yes?"

"I can make chocolate for you if you want, Todoroki-san."

Todoroki-san tugged at my blanket to get my attention, and I opened one eye to humor him. Even with blurry vision, the small crick at the corner of his lips made him look thoughtful. He apparently did not mind how my proposition came completely out of the blue (which it kinda did, when looking back on it). "Not when you're this tired," he said in total deadpan, contrasting the soft look in his heterochromatic eyes, "Recovery Girl mentioned your Quirk makes worse-tasting chocolate the more tired you are."

"To be more specific," I tried not to slur my words, blinking both eyes rapidly in an attempt to keep up in the conversation, "I did say I'd make it when I'm more awake. I know my ChocoTouch can leave bad aftertastes…"

"At least you're aware of it," he allowed, letting go of my blanket before awkwardly patting my shoulder. The touch was warm, as if flames had accompanied his fingers right before he made physical contact. "But you look like you need more rest than me, Hoshino. So go sleep."

I did my best to cover my yawn. "Aye aye, Cap'n Todoroki…"

Todoroki-san huffed out a breath that sounded very close to a laugh through my muddled hearing. "I'm not a captain, Hoshino."

"It was a joke…"

Todoroki-san exhaled softly. "Alright."

We fell silent again. The wind passed between us, making our breaths come out in soft white clouds from the cold, and I tried to sink into the blanket some more. But before I lost myself to sleep, one last thought graced my mind and I felt myself voice it without questioning it. "All-Warm."

"Huh?"

"Your Quirk, Todoroki-san," I felt myself laugh quietly. "They call it 'Half-Cold, Half-Hot,' but it doesn't fully encompass your personality of 'All-Warm.' And you are warm."

The one time he had patted my shoulder had left a soft tingling feeling that made me feel like I had laid in front of a campfire, after all. Heck, it was still there, sparkling and soft and just cozy. "Isn't that…" Todoroki-san went quiet, as if struggling with his words, before saying, "Isn't that just how you feel, Hoshino?"

"It is and it's supposed to be a good thing," I said sleepily. "Fact or not. 'Warm people have warm hearts,' or so the saying goes. I think I said it wrong, but…" One last yawn brought tears to the corners of my eyes, forcing me to close them and render me unable to see Todoroki's expression. "You're All-Warm and already a Hero to me, Todoroki-san…"

Once the familiar darkness of sleep finally kicked in, I could've sworn a hand was tugging at my blanket again to bring it up to my chin, a soft, "Sleep well," echoing above my hair. Who knows. Sleep was a beast I could never defeat.

By the time I woke up to Mama's hand on my head, Todoroki-san was gone from the café entrance, his empty seat holding nothing but a note that said in neat scrawled handwriting, "Thank you." The only other sign that he had been present was the UA High jacket left hanging on top of the blanket Mama had left me, gold rivets and all.

Even though a part of me felt like I hadn't thanked him enough for the company, I'd take it.