It was a truth universally acknowledged that when you got into a serious relationship with someone, you were also getting into a serious relationship with their friends.

Despite the universal acknowledgement of this truth, Todoroki Shoto did not become aware of it himself until one early afternoon where he found himself being ambushed by a pair of magical girls.

But first, let us provide some context.

XXX

10 hours earlier.

Todoroki was in his bedroom and leaning back in his desk chair, it was already dark outside and the only source of light in the room came from the desk lamp which focused on the various books, pens, and papers that had wound up scattered across the work surface. It was getting closer to exam season so all of his classes were churning out tests and essay homework's in preparation.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, if he just kept working he could finish of this chapter and then move onto the next worksheet... but the thought of keeping his eyes open much longer made his body feel lead like, the need for sleep had been whining at him for about an hour and a half know and it seemed his nervous system was intent on punishing for ignoring it.

Just as he was about to straighten himself back up in his chair his phone buzzed from its place on his bedside table, he went over to pick it up and saw the smiling picture of Mami's caller id photo brighten the screen. He smiled to himself and opened up the text she had sent, it was a bit different from her usual messages but Todoroki was too tired to notice, the text told Tododroki that they should meet up tomorrow to hang out.

Todoroki frowned a little, hadn't he told Mami he would be busy this weekend? Hadn't she said she understood because she had a lot of school work to catch up on as well?

Did your schedule open up?, He texted back.

The phone stayed quiet for a while and Todoroki sat down on the edge of his bed waiting for a response. Eventually the little text filled bubble appeared on screen with a very curt response.

Yeah sure. Meet me plus ultra arcade. 1 o'clock.

He was fairly sure Mami had never used symbols to replace words, even in texts, a lingering effect of a particularly terrifying teacher she'd had back in grade school. He was about to question her on it when a yawn fell out of his mouth, he rubbed his eyes and tried to focus his mind but suddenly all the thoughts about Mami conjured an image of her in his head, and he couldn't help but smile at the pouty expression she would surely get on her face as she asked him how he expected to do well in any of this work that he was torturing himself over if he couldn't even kept his eyes open.

Todoroki let out a chuckle under his breath, that was it, she was in his head now so there was no way to say no. He shot back a text saying he'd be there and wishing her a good night before he properly leaned back onto his bed and closed his eyes.

The next day after a quick lunch with his sister he grabbed a bus headed into town and made his way to the arcade. Now that he'd had a good nights sleep his brain was starting to poke holes in the situation, Todoroki had seen the arcade he was heading to before, it was loud and flashy and the kind of place he would imagine Bakugou hanging out, that had never really been Mami's type of place.

He arrived at the arcade to see that it was almost completely packed, he leaned his head close to the window and peered inside, various people around his age were loitering around in groups or hunched over machines, after a few minutes of waiting outside he eventually went inside to see if Mami was waiting for him indoors. It was even louder on the other side of the doors.

He tried his best to move through the space without bumping into anyone, which was easier said than done since the arcades patrons seemed to be under the impression that this was a mosh pit. He finally managed to get to the back wall where music was blaring from the dance floor game. Still no Mami. The longer he went without seeing her the more he was beginning to think there must have been mistake, he could understand if she was just running late, things like that couldn't be helped, but what was really bothering him was the arcade, usually when Mami picked places for them to meet up or spend the weekend together she choose tea houses, walks in the park or tea and cake at her apartment. Did she even know this place existed? No wait- she did, she had mentioned coming here before because a favourite of-

"Well would you look who's here?"

He turned to see the voice coming from his right, the girl was wearing a tye-dye shirt and a blue skirt which was the same colour as her hair, he'd seen her in pictures around Mami's house, Sayaka Miki. She looked him over with a smirk and a critical eye before leaning to look behind him with an annoyed expression,

"Hey Kyoko! Did you hear me?"

Todoroki turned to see that Sayaka was looking towards the dance platform, or more accurately, the girl jumping and spinning on the platform, her red hair was swishing through the air like a foxes tail, finally she spun to face them, she leaned against the railings with a cheeky expression as she surveyed Todoroki as well. Kyoko Sakura.

"Oh, so you did get our texts." she said around the mikado between her teeth.

"Your texts?"

He then felt an arm thrown over his shoulder, Sayaka had to stand on her toes to do it but she grinned at him none the less, "Why don't grab a seat and have a little chat?" she asked in a tone that sounded more like an instruction.

XXX

Presently

And that was how Todoroki found himself sitting at a table in the arcade snack bar across from two of Mami's best friends, who were looking at him like he was a suspect they were interrogating. Well at least half of that was true.

"So you stole Mami's phone." He repeated what they had told him,

"Yep" Kyoko confirmed,

"And sent me a message telling me to come here behind here back,"

"That we did." Said Sayaka,

"All so that you could... ambush me?"

"pfft, lighten up would ya." Kyoko muttered, now nibbling away at a cookie.

"We just thought it might be a good idea for us to get to know you a little bette," Sayaka cut in, "since the two of you seem to be getting so... close."

"She told you we were dating?" Todoroki asked bluntly.

"Why? Haven't you told your friends?" Kyoko snapped back with a bite in her voice, had he done something to her?

As a matter of fact he hadn't told his friends, not that he was hiding his relationship from them, it just hadn't come up, the work that was required from the hero was near all consuming and free time conversation rarely made it to life outside the classroom. Before he could explain any of that however Sayaka bounced back in.

"Mami hasn't right out said that you two were an item," Sayaka rolled her eyes, "doesn't think it's appropriate to discuss with her underclassmen. But she does talk about the time you spend together a lot, and we have noticed your novel length text chains."

Kyoko groaned "She's got this whole thing about the right kind of etiquette between master and disciples, you try getting her to talk about anything remotely personal and she either changes the subject or goes into full mother hen mode."

"Yeah, my big sisters like that too." He added.

This made both girls suddenly start, a light blush began to decorate their cheeks, but as Sayaka began to laugh at Todoroki's attempt to contribute to the discussion, Kyoko pursed her lips, hunched her shoulders and turned a furious shade of red.

"Look if this is about you thinking I'm not good enough for Mami-" He began,

"It's not about that, we don't even think that." Sayaka insisted, though Kyoko began chewing on her snack with a new intensity that suggested that in her mind the subject was still debatable.

"It's just that Mami is important to us, when we started out the whole costumed crime fighter thing she took three newbies under her wing and taught us how to work together." Sayaka explained,

"And when we found ourselves starting to fall down slippery slopes she refused to give up on us, even when we were being idiots about it." Kyoko said in a tone similar to a sacred confession.

"Well her and Madoka." Sayaka smirked while poked Kyoko in the ribs with her elbow. The shared a small smile, a look in their eyes of two people who had survived hardships together.

Sayaka turned back to him with a serious expression, "But Mami isn't always so good about looking after herself, she's been through a lot and she suffers because of it so often, she's afraid of being alone, and that can make her... willing to put things aside if she thinks it will keep bonds from breaking. What we want to do is make sure she's not setting herself up to get hurt again. We brought you here to ask you if you're genuine about your feelings and if you're serious about treating her right."

After that the table had gotten quiet. Todoroki was stone still in his seat, trying to keep his face neutral as his mind reeled for something to say. In turn Sayaka and Kyoko sat across from him with expectant expressions as they awaited his answer. He'd had his hands in his lap up until now but he placed them up on the table and took a deep breath.

"I don't want to give you any brash declarations that I think might win you over, the truth is I'm not sure if it's love or anything like that but I do really like her and I promise you that I do care about whatever way I affect her emotions. And I promise you that I care about her, genuinely and seriously... my family situation growing up wasn't the happiest and it made me apprehensive about a lot of things, I think Mami and I relate on that. And having a good idea of what she's feeling, and seeing how it's only made her kind, I think she's amazing for that. I can't promise we won't have any problems ever, but I promise you I will never intentionally hurt her." That was all he can think to say, every word of it was true, he just hoped they saw his sincerity.

Kyoko and Sayaka's eyes slid to look at each other as though they were having a telepathic conversation, before they both smirked and got up from their chairs.

"Glad to here that." Sayaka said with a big grin on her face, "We'll let you get back to your weekend."

She and Kyoko began to walk around either side of the table so they flanked a slightly baffled Todoroki as they left, but while Sayaka went straight for the door, Kyoko held back a little a leaned down to sling her arm around his shoulders.

"I'm going to hold you to that promise ya hear me?" She asked with that plastered on grin never leaving her face, "and just remember that if you bring an ounce of pain into that good woman's life," she broke off to giggle a little before unwrapping her arm from his shoulders and speaking directly into his ear "I've got three friends and your number."

XXX

An hour earlier on the other side of town Mami Tomoe was making her way down the street to a cafe she knew, she'd been working late last night and had just gotten home when she'd received an email from Todoroki asking if she'd like to meet up for lunch. She had wondered why he would email instead of just texting her but she had agreed none the less.

Once she got to the cafe she scanned the interior looking for Todoroki's dual coloured hair, he didn't seem to be here, was she early?

Mami was pulled from her musings when someone sitting at a table near the back abruptly stood up with surprising speed,

"Miss Tomoe?!" He asked loudly in an official tone, as if he were calling her in for a test. He looked a bit like an examiner too, with his tidy hair and square glasses.

"Um, yes?" She responded a little nervously,

Her eyes flicked to the other people sitting at his table, there was a girl around her age with her hair up in a spiky ponytail and a smaller boy who's fluffy hair had a green tinge to its ends, both looked a little uncomfortable with their friends gusto.

"Would you please like to join us at our table! We have some questions we'd like to ask you!"