Bread on winter. Himiko Toga
The howling of the cold wind of the autumn was like the bite of a wolf coming for the arms and legs of the girl wearing a sailor uniform. She hated the autumn season because of that, everything was harder to do with the cold. Getting food, getting clothes, finding a shelter that wasn't already busy...
"Excuse me? You can't be out here; wouldn't you prefer to enter?"Oh great. I swear I am never allowed out and... wait.
Confused, Himiko Toga turned to see the store she had chosen as her temporary stop. She hadn't really thought much about it, she just chose it because it was the warmest spot, it turns out she chose a Bakery.
"Ah? Sure… thanks." She entered the bakery, it was small, and it had a small section to be waiting for your order, there were a couple of chairs and a coffee table. It wasn't obviously meant to keep people waiting for long… "Excuse me?" Now what? "Yeah?" "If you want to warm yourself, you can come to the employee lounge… well we call it a lounge but is really just a living room. This place used to be a house before it became a bakery and" Himiko took to ask him to stop his ramblings. It was oddly adorable, but she was cranky because of the cold and would rather get warm and be ready for when she was kicked out.
The employee lounge was indeed a living room with a big couch and blankets. "… Can I really stay here?" "Yeah, I have to be on the front if any customers come by, but please enjoy…" Izuku Midoriya was no hero, but he was someone who liked helping others. In that sense, that made him much more of a hero than others out there. Himiko took the blanket and just let herself plop in the couch.
She wasn't sure what happened. She knew she wasn't drugged; she was just tired and as a result when she found somewhere warm to stay, she ended up just resting. Ignoring any alarm bells or anything of the sort. Because of that her surprise was bigger at the smell of the chocolate and bread on a small coffee table. Did he move it here? She took to inspect the bread and the chocolate but felt nothing in them. Not the worst way to go out if it is poisoned…
Surprise overtook her, the bread was great and so was the chocolate, she had been hungrier than she thought. It didn't take long for her to deal with both offenders in front of her. Having eaten, she wondered if it was time to start leaving. When she thought about it the door opened revealing the young man with the curly green hair again. Seeing him with a fresh set of eyes she noticed his features and the badge with his name, Izuku Midoriya.
"Izuku" "Ah, yeah that's me, we didn't speak much before… I am Izuku, Izuku Midoriya." "Himiko Toga… I am guessing you own the bakery?" "My mom was the owner, but she left me in charge to follow her passion… becoming a chef." "From one kitchen to another then?" She chuckled enjoying the casual chat that she knew was aiming to kick her out. "Toga?" "Himiko is fine." Not like you will see me much anyway. "Ummm… Toga." Not good with girls, are you? "If you want to take a bath… take the door to the left. There are towels and a bathrobe, I can clean your clothes." "… Why?" Now she was confused. "… you don't look like you are that comfortable."
He chose his words in a political way, trying to be polite and not be privy of her living situation. But she did smirk. "Not many chances to get a bath when you live in the streets… can I?" he nodded. She took him on his offer and spoke. "… thanks for the meal." He smiled, happy, she liked it, rambling on why he chose that particular bread and how he made the chocolate.
Geez! He can really get going! She excused herself to take the bath.
What she expected to be a temporary rest stop of the night, ended up becoming a spot she could use anytime, Izuku welcomed her with open arms, even offering her a chance to live in the bakery if she wanted, on one condition.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.
"I want you to work here." He smiled at her, and she felt odd. She wasn't expecting that. "… I don't know anything of making bread." "I can teach you! I also have notebooks!" I think you meant notes… oh geez those are some thick notebooks!
Surprise overtook her but she wasn't against having a place to spend the autumn season and the winter. But something weird happened.
"This thing smells fear or what?!" Turns out making bread was hard, but the notebooks were so insanely detailed that even a total ignorant of the art of making bread could actually make something half decent. When autumn ended, Himiko Toga was still living in the bakery, when winter started, she was getting good at the whole gist of making bread. When the rush for Christmas started, she was helping Izuku with the sales.
"Thanks, come again!" She was always with a blush on her cheeks and a smile as she said goodbye to the customers. "Three more Izu-kun!" She had come to have an endearing way of calling Izuku who was glad he was in the back working the oven and not having to look at the girl who often teased him.
She was expecting Izuku to tell her to close the store like many other times as it had been done recently but she was more surprised when Izuku offered her a coat. "Eh?" "I thought you would like to have dinner… you know, out of here?" If it was possible her smile grew bigger.
Christmas passed; winter ended. And Himiko Toga was still in the bakery, working with Izuku Midoriya. To be fair, neither knew that much about the other, but they didn't have much to learn about the other. One was happy with having something akin to normalcy, the other one was thankful to have some close company.