Assassins Can Be Heroes Too || Todoroki Shoto

|90| Bonding Between A Servant and His Master

"Rie~" Karma's sly voice rang through the entrance, humming as the siblings trailed behind him, "where you at?"

"Kitchen!" she called back, walking out with a white mug, "did your training finish?"

"Yeah," snapped Killua, walking past the female and into the elevator, Alluka running after him to make sure she'd get in before the doors closed, successfully running in. Seeing their strange behaviour, she raised a brow and turned to her personal servant sceptically.

"Why are you giving me that look?"

"What happened during the training session?"

"Huh? Nothing happened, I trained them-" he cut himself off, seeing her unamused stare, "again, why are you-"

"Karma."

He sighed.

"I... pushed them too hard... Killua got mad... Alluka started crying... which led to Killua getting madder and his Quirk going out of control..." he sighed, flopping onto the couch with an arm over his face, "it was a disaster..."

Rie was wordless, quietly sitting next to the boy as his lip trembled slightly.

"I'm such a failure..."

"You're not a failure, Karma..."

"You're just saying that because you're my friend."

"Friend..." she sighed, leaning back with a thoughtful expression, "Karma... you're more than just a friend."

"I thought you liked Todoroki?" he cast her a side-glance.

"We've been through... hell and back... and I'm not just saying this because you're my personal servant... but I'd like to say that..."

"This is some sort of cheesy confession, isn't it?"

"Stop ruining the moment," she groaned, "I just... I dunno how to say it..."

She let her hair fall over her face as she heaved, Karma stiffening as she suddenly fell back on the couch, falling over his lap with a slightly apologetic look.

"Am I crushing you?"

"No, you just startled me," he huffed, leaning back with a scowl, "besides..."

He smirked down at her, her relaxed smile suddenly faltering.

"Karma-"

"Yes~?"

"Don't do it," she warned, slight fear swimming in her eyes as they slowly drifted to the devil's horns and tail that had appeared.

"I don't know what you're talking about~" he hummed, his eyes glowing a golden colour.

"Stop-" her breath hitched as he grinned, his hands digging into her sides as she squeaked, sitting up as she whined, trying to push his relentless attacks from her, squirming as she groaned, feeling the energy drain out of her. She huffed in relief as he stopped, hugging her waist tightly, nuzzling his head into her neck as shivers ran down her spine.

"Well... I suppose I should be going now," he stretched, gently pushing her off of him and standing up as if nothing had happened, Rie sitting up and gazing up at him, "the other servants are in the Class 1-A dorms, setting everything up... if you want to come..."

Her cold glare gave him the answer he was expecting.

"Well... I'll make sure nobody's causing any trouble~"

She deadpanned.

If anyone's going to be causing any trouble, it's you, not the other servants...

"See ya, Rie~"

The door shut, the female watching him leave, her golden eyes never leaving his figure until he was out of sight. She sighed, gazing down as a slightly robotic voice called out.

"Rie?"

She blinked, gazing up at the television.

"Oh... Ritsu..."

"I seemed to notice you weren't feeling to good, are you okay?" the A.I. cocked her head curiously.

"I'm not... I don't have a fever, as far as I can tell..." she frowned, Ritsu giggling.

"No, no, silly, that's not what I meant~" she smiled, though it faded and was quickly replaced with a small frown, "I meant... you're not happy, are you?"

"I'm-" I'm happy.

That's what she wanted to say.

But... was she happy?

What did it mean to be happy?

She was engulfed by her thoughts, her violet hair covering her golden pupils as she hesitated.

"I... don't know..." was what she settled for, Ritsu's smile never leaving.

"And that's okay!"

She blinked.

"You should go and talk to them, Rie."

"Talk to-" she thought she heard her neck crack.

"Talk to the A-Class, maybe the Big 3," she stated gently, "you've gotten a chance to talk to the teachers again, you have their contacts again."

"But... I..."

"You can't avoid them forever, now that U.A.'s become a boarding school... you'll be seeing them even more than before," Ritsu stated gently, smiling as she waved, the screen going black, leaving Rie with her thoughts.

She sighed, standing up and stretching.

"Ritsu... I hate that you're right..."

She yawned, stretching as she gazed down at her casual clothing, ignoring the thoughts of its original owner and frowning, stepping outside, groaning as she shielded her face from the glaring sun. From the day she had arrived at U.A., she didn't think to go outside that often, other than for reasons such as talking to the teachers in their dorm or training with the servants and her cousins.

"Why is it so bright..." she muttered under her breath, closing her eyes and stuffing her hands into her pockets.

She quietly snuck in through the back, listening into their conversation. Gazing around, she noted that their dorm room was simple - granted, they had only just moved into the dorms an hour ago, meaning they wouldn't have had any time to move in.

Huh... looks like their dorms are the same as ours.

"Now then... which one of you bas-"

She frowned, not having heard what had just happened, though she knew she had to stop him before things went out of control.

She quietly slunk through the group of servants, placing a hand on his shoulder as his breath hitched, his heart momentarily skipping a beat.

"That's enough, Karma."