EEven if it's not a date, she should look her best. She dons a blue sundress with a floral pattern. She's only wearing it because she hasn't had the opportunity to wear it in public yet. It's not just for Todoroki.

…Though, she has to admit a small part of her hopes he likes it.

She meets him down in the lobby. "Did I keep you waiting?"

"Not at all." He gets up from his chair and she can properly see his black turtleneck- cashmere, if she had to guess. She's seen him wear it before but every time it makes him look more dazzling. "Are you ready to go?" Todoroki asks before looking at her more closely. "Are you okay? Your complexion doesn't look very good."

He is certainly referring to her eye bags that she could not find a way to erase. "I'm alright. I didn't catch much sleep last night."

"Why's that? Are you okay?"

She refuses to tell him the real reason; she was so excited to go that she couldn't fall asleep. Adventuring to this new place and with him, at that. "I was up late studying."

"We don't have to go there today. We can always reschedule."

She knows that he's only saying that out of genuine concern for her, but that only makes her feel more bad if they cancel. She's the one who suggested they go together and he took time out of his busy schedule for today. "I'm fine enough to go, really. And… I've been looking forward to going. Maybe I'll get better after seeing it in person."

"That kind of argument doesn't sound like you. You usually try to convince the other person through logical reasoning."

"I blame you for that."

"Me? Why is that my fault?"

"You may think otherwise, you're quite adept at appealing to other people's emotions from my perspective. Like when you convinced me to cooperate with you during Bakugou-san's rescue."

"...Do I really sound like that sometimes?"

"It's not a bad thing, and you make it sound more persuasive than I can-" She realizes that these are the flirty moments that the girls were talking about. She can only imagine more future teasing if the two of them stay here any longer and the girls catch them. She gestures to him to move with her. "We should leave now before we get interrupted."

"Okay, if you're sure you're up to it."

The plan Yaoyorozu came up with is simple: they will pose as two new, unassuming customers who happen to find this store. As they are not even aware of what they are looking for, this method is the one that arouses the least suspicion. And if they manage to gather any evidence, they can escalate it to the appropriate authorities.

They briefly go over the plan before leaving, so there is no need to bring it up on the way there. They've done all that they can in terms of preparations.

And then, a thought that is irrelevant to their mission pops into her head. A thought from her conversation with the girls the other day.

'I don't know much at all about Todoroki-kun's personal life.'

Even Uraraka expressed that she doesn't know much about Todoroki despite spending so much time with him. Come to think of it, am I any different? Yaoyorozu glances at him and then shakes her head when she realizes she might have even less knowledge about him than Uraraka.

She's always enjoyed the comfortable silence between the two of them, but now is as good an opportunity as any to get to know him more. "Do we still have a ways to go before we arrive?"

"We're about halfway there."

"You said Midoriya-san told you about this place?"

"Yeah."

If she were the same person she was at the beginning of the year, she would think he is deliberately acting cold to her right now. But she's not, and she knows that sometimes she has to talk a little more to get him to open up. "Do you remember when he found it?"

"He passed by it the morning of the school festival. He forgot to get something beforehand so he had to rush. I think he needed to get the rope. He didn't actually go inside the place because of that. So I guess we're the first ones to try it."

"He could've just asked me for assistance…"

"I guess he didn't want to bother you. Everyone had their hands full just fulfilling their duties for the performance." He shrugs. "And you were one of the main performers."

"But if he never went inside," she taps her chin, "then how does he know they serve it?"

"He was kind of vague about it, but it seemed like some of their enthusiastic customers were praising the tea out loud when he was running past them."

"I see." That summary doesn't inspire confidence in her that the store really has Golden Tips Imperial tea, fake or not.

"My sister thought so too." He nods. "She cooked for us. She said to invite more of my friends when I have the chance..." He trails off before stopping, producing a momentary pause. After a few seconds, he opens his mouth once again. "If you have the opportunity, would you like to come and try her cooking too?"

"Um- you mean... eat dinner with your family?" She asks just to be certain.

"Only if you want to."

"I'm honored. I would love to."

"Okay. I'll let her know. Oh, I think we're here." Todoroki points at one of the buildings across the street.

She follows his finger and the building does match the picture on the internet, but... "Are you sure this is the place?" Yaoyorozu can't help but have doubts after seeing the building in front of them looks even more worn-down than she imagined. The exterior is made of wood, with its age showing as certain parts are cracked or chipped. It looks like a strong breeze is all it will take to knock it over. There is a hardware store next to it that also isn't that big, yet it still makes the cafe look invisible in comparison.

"That's what Midoriya said." Todoroki approaches the door before he notices her standing in place. "What's wrong? Do you not want to go in?"

She could not be any less convinced that there is no Golden Tips Imperial tea at all here. If they don't have it, this investigation loses all meaning and it would just be a brunch between two friends… which doesn't sound so bad. "It's nothing. Let's go inside."

But it's still not a date!

At the U.A. dorms

Ashido stifles a yawn to address the girl next to her. "Jirou?"

Jirou ejects her earjacks from her phone. "Yeah?"

"I'm bored."

"Okay? I don't know what you want me to do about that."

Ashido glances at the clock and remembers something. "Yaomomo's probably just arrived at that place with Todoroki for their date, right?"

"I think so."

"Hey, I've got an idea. Wanna hear it?"

Jirou has an inkling about where this conversation is going. "Not really…" she sighs at Ashido's sparkling eyes, "but you're gonna say it anyway, so what is it?"

"Wanna tail them?"

"...No? Are you crazy?"

"Why not? It'll be fun!"

"We stick out like sore thumbs and she'll definitely recognize us immediately. I don't wanna scare her if she's really going to confess. She might get nervous and back out from seeing us."

"Can't we just wear disguises or something?"

"Do you have any?"

"...Nope. Usually Yaomomo's the one who handles that stuff. Hm. I see your point. Then how about grilling her about their date when they get back?"

"That sounds like a much better idea."

Back to the cafe

"Achoo!" Yaoyorozu has to let out a sneeze after feeling a chill. "Excuse me."

"Here." Todoroki asks as he passes her a tissue. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Thank you. I feel like someone might have been talking about me…"

"What do you mean?"

"There's a saying that if someone's talking about you, you can't resist the urge to sneeze."

"I see. I've heard about it, but I've never seen that in person before."

"Well, it might just be my imagination..."

Todoroki and Yaoyorozu are seated across from each other with an assortment of food between them and are the only customers there right now.

"What do you think?"

"It's a nice store."

"It is. The interior is much more modern than expected." Todoroki agrees and his eyes point to her drink. "How's that tea?"

"The aroma and color definitely resemble Golden Tips." Yaoyorozu carefully glances at the hot mug in front of her. Her drink of choice was the Golden Tips Imperial, of course, which the store did indeed have despite her doubts. The color is the signature bright gold and the smell is tropical.

"Did you taste it yet?"

"Not yet." Now, it's time for the moment of truth. She prides herself in having memorized the taste of her favorite brand of tea. She'll be able to notice immediately if there's anything off. She does one final sniff before lightly blowing on it and taking a sip. "...It's nice." The signature floral taste of the Golden Tips Imperial causes memories to flood into her. "It is the real thing."

"That's good." He nods and the corners of his mouth turn slightly upwards. "I'm happy for you."

Seeing him smile like that... she has to admit it causes her heart to spur. "Th-thank you."

Before they ordered, they asked a few questions to the manager, who was more than willing to answer. The main clientele are a handful of regulars with an occasional splattering of first-time customers. The last new customers apparently came around the time of the School Festival; they were what appeared to be a suspicious father and daughter duo. They haven't been back since, but the shop's been worried as the employees later identified the man as the infamous 'Gentle Criminal.' And so, Yaoyorozu and Todoroki decide to stay the whole day here just in case he does pop by again.

Their goal earlier was to watch out for any criminal activity... but at this rate, they'll be lucky if they see any customer activity at all.

As there is plenty of time to kill and food to eat, she continues their conversation from earlier. "You said your sister cooked for you on that final day? Do you have any other siblings by any chance?"

"Yeah. I have one older sister and… one older brother."

"That's nice. I believe you and Tsuyu-san are the only ones in the class with siblings."

"Asui… yes, I remember her mentioning that before."

"If she were here, she would remind you that she prefers being called Tsuyu."

"Oh, right. I'm still not used to it."

She thinks about reminding him that he can call her by her nickname if he ever wants to, but holds it in. He might just not be comfortable with it, she reasons. "I've always wondered what it's like living with siblings. According to Tsuyu-san, she fought with hers all the time. A constant cycle of fighting and making up, but never doubting the love they had for each other."

Todoroki emphatically blinks at her. "Is that how siblings are supposed to be? It's not at all like that with my family; there's no fights in mine... between us. That they're both older than me by a few years could be the reason why. My brother's off in university and going to live separately once he's graduated. My sister's older than him and is busy taking care of her class when she's not managing the house."

"I'm a little jealous of both of you having siblings, to be honest. It sounds like such a unique type of relationship..." Her eyes drift towards the dishes sitting on the table in front of them (mainly ordered by her). Cinnamon rolls, coffee cakes, chocolate croissants, apple turnovers, donuts… Okay, maybe I went a little overboard. "Let's get started on the food before it goes cold."

He lifts his fork to bite off a piece of his croissant. "Oh," he utters afterwards, causing her to look up from cutting her apple turnover, "scratch what I just said. I just remembered my sister once told me that they did get into fights with each other when they were younger. Maybe I would've been like Asui- Tsuyu," he quickly corrects himself when he sees her opening her mouth, "is in her family if I was closer in age to them."

She looks up from slicing her apple turnover. "I'm having a hard time seeing you fight with your siblings like that. You've always been mature."

"So is As- Tsuyu."

She has to stop herself from giggling at how much he's struggling to say Asui's given name. "That's true. She's said that she wasn't always like that when she was younger."

Yaoyorozu slowly stirs her teacup with her spoon, pondering about whether to ask him another topic that's been bothering her.

'But maybe he really is seeing someone. Didn't he say he needed to visit someone before?'

'Are you sure that Todoroki-kun doesn't have a girlfriend, though? I mean, he's- you know, totally hot. He's definitely been confessed to before.'

While she has greatly enjoyed this day, depending on his answer, it could affect the rest of the day and, despite her earlier confidence, his relationship with his possible girlfriend. As she contemplates the best way to put it, he breaks the silence first. "Yaoyorozu?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course. Ask me anything."

"Do you... have a boyfriend."

"Hm?" She did not expect him to be the one asking her. "No, I don't."

"I see. I wasn't sure since you were quite popular."

"Popular in what way?"

"When we were doing the concert, someone shouted your name."

"Oh. You were talking about that..." She flushes when she recollects the memory. "I was concentrating so much that I couldn't hear the crowd until after it was over... But if we're talking about popularity, you don't lose out to anyone, Todoroki-san."

"Popular, me?"

Given that he's the one that brought it up first, it should be fine to turn the question around to him. "You even go visit someone on the weekends and the time you declined shopping with us after the final exam. Well, before the remedial classes started. So, I was wondering," she feels a lump forming in her throat before saying the next part, "if the person you visited was your girlfriend."

He blinks emphatically for a few seconds. Afterwards, he looks at her incredulously. "Well, that person definitely isn't my girlfriend. I don't have one. The person I visited before… is my mom."

"Your mother?"

"She and my father are…" he mulls over his next words carefully, "separated right now. I've been visiting her when I can."

A pang of guilt hits her from possibly bringing up something she shouldn't have. "I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't mean to pry. You don't have to tell me the details if you don't want to."

"Don't worry about it. I told you because I wanted to tell you."

"In that case, I'm not saying this as an apology, but I'm sharing this with you because I wish to. Just like your sister, my mother also said she wanted to meet some of my friends. Though, she specifically mentioned your name."

"Really? Why?"

"I'm really not sure about her motives… but feel free to come by whenever you'd like. Many of our classmates have already visited my home, so of course that offer extends to you as well."

"Okay. Thanks. I'll take you up on that someday."

The outside becomes dark once they leave, so they take the bus back to the dorms.

As much as Yaoyorozu wants the day to continue forever, all good things come to an end. Well, she can't really complain, especially as she carries a container of Golden Tips Imperial tea leaves with her. "Thank you for telling me about this place and for coming with me, Todoroki-san. I had a lot of fun." While she feels that he also enjoyed it, it can be difficult to tell with his lack of facial expressions."

"It was my pleasure. I also enjoyed it." He replies. She lets out an internal sigh of relief that he feels the same way. "Though, we didn't really get much information out of there."

"You're right. Who would've thought we would be the only customers all day…"

"Should we go to investigate it again?"

"I would love to." She smiles. Even if it's not for an investigation.

After they pass through the gates, Yaoyorozu feels something strange. It's as though they are being watched, although she can't identify where that is coming from right now even after looking around.

The garden lights turn on, signifying that they just made it before curfew. Seeing him under the lights like this… she has to admit that Hagakure was right about his appearance. Not that she ever thought otherwise.

Now that she knows that he's single, the temptation to kiss him is starting to overpower her. But it's not a date. She firmly puts her foot down to the tempting voice on her shoulder. If it was… maybe it'd be acceptable.

"Is something wrong?" His voice breaks her out of her thinking.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking about how fun today was. I'm already looking forward to doing this again sometime!"

"Me too. Well- good night, Yaoyorozu."

"Good night, Todoroki-san."

As she waves goodbye, she notices her phone buzzing with messages. She looks at the screen and… the words that pop up causes her to choke up and drop her phone.

Ashido Mina: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Ashido Mina: WHY'RE YOU JUST LETTING HIM WALK AWAY LIKE THAT?!

Ashido Mina: JUST KISS HIM!

This instant reaction implies that at least Ashido is close enough to see her. Yaoyorozu's first reaction after picking her phone from the ground is to look at the windows of the dorm facing her, but no one is there. She then looks at the ground floor around her and sees a protruding pair of horns peeking out from one of the shrubberies. "What do you two think you're doing?" Yaoyorozu says coldly when she finds Ashido and Jirou squatting from the bushes.

"Hehe, looks like we got caught." Ashido flashes a bold grin as she and Jirou stand up.

"Sorry, Yaomomo. I told her not to do this…" Jirou sighs.

"Are you talking about the texts or the hiding?"

"...The texts." Jirou weakly replies. "It was my idea to hide near your room but then it became almost curfew and then we were seriously worried."

Hearing about her friends worrying about her helps subside some of Yaoyorozu's irritation.

"Then why are you hiding like this? And hiding in the first place"

"Cat's out of the bag so we might as well tell you." Ashido shrugs. "You probably figured it out already, but it's to spy on your romantic progress. And then we came out here to witness this scene so we didn't wanna break the moment."

That Ashido said that so brazenly actually calms Yaoyorozu down more. "Why are you so curious about it?"

"Is that a joke? Everyone is. Even your mom."

"...What?" Now there's the last person who Yaoyorozu thought would be brought up here. "My mother?"

"The last time we were at your house, you went to the bathroom and then your mom came in with snacks right after." Jirou explains. "And she asked us if her precious daughter was close with any boys."

"...And you mentioned Todoroki-san." Her mother bringing up Todoroki-san's name now makes complete sense. Yaoyorozu wonders if she did the right thing inviting him over or if her mother will try and scare him away.

Ashido continues. "Anyway, it was looking so good until you stopped yourself from kissing him! It was super obvious you were thinking about it!"

"W-what are you talking about?!" With her being the one now being questioned, Yaoyorozu becomes momentarily flustered. "I was thinking of no such thing!"

"Oh yeah? Look me in the eye and say that."

"Huh? Why?"

"To prove it."

"I don't know why I'm doing this, but okay…"

"..."

"..."

A few seconds pass before Ashido opens her mouth again. "Just say the words, Yaomomo." Ashido's yellow eyes look into Yaoyorozu's black ones. "I don't want to kiss Todoroki-san."

No matter how much she tries to get the words out of her throat, it doesn't work. When facing an insurmountable foe, sometimes retreat is the only option. "I-It's late…I need to prepare for tomorrow! Good night!"

Yaoyorozu faces the other way, but she can feel both of their smirks bearing down her back as she dashes away.

I could continue to work on this but then I'd keep editing forever… Hopefully it's acceptable quality-wise!