𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘺 | 𝙗𝙖𝙠𝙪𝙜𝙤𝙪 𝙭 𝙤𝙘

◌ºঃ her heart ◌ºঃ

Emiri yawned as she emerged from the van, the girl cuddled into herself as she stepped out into the cool morning air. She still wore the oversized shirt and pyjama shorts that she wore to bed, barely awake as she wandered to the campfire.

Bakugou and Ashido were cooking, engaging in quiet conversation while the other three boys were getting plates of food from Ashido, engaged in their own loud banter.

"G'morning," she greeted tiredly, wandering to Ashido and Bakugou.

"Aw! Good morning, Emi!" Ashido greeted as she took Emiri into a big hug, enamoured by her half-awake demeanour.

"Mornin'." Bakugou quietly responded as Emiri let go of Ashido.

Emiri cutely smiled at his greeting, unconsciously wrapped her arm around Bakugou's as she peered into the pot he was attending to.

"What are you cooking?" She murmured, eyeing the miso soup. "Mm, yum."

Ashido glanced at Bakugou, her cheeks puffing as she held back a laugh at his frozen expression. His body was rigid because of Emiri's arm that linked around his, the male visibly fighting the blush that began to appear on his face.

"What... do you want?" Bakugou struggled to say.

Emiri hummed, "I'll have miso please."

Ashido grinned as Emiri wandered off to Kirishima, giving him a tired hug before falling asleep while clinging to him. Ashido couldn't help but land a hard smack on Bakugou's back, the poor boy jolting forward and nearly dropping his chopsticks into the miso soup.

"Fuck!" He swore, glaring at Ashido. "Don't do that!"

She chuckled, "you're so much cuter when you're in love~"

He grabbed her sleeve, raising his fist to punch her until she kicked his shin, making him hunch over.

"Geez, you still have a long way to go." Ashido teased, grabbing the bowl of miso soup he made for Emiri before running away to give it to her.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Shoto was taken aback to see his homeroom teacher at his dorm door.

He was getting ready to hang out with Midoriya that morning when he heard a knock. He thought it was Midoriya who'd come early, but instead it was Aizawa.

"Mr Aizawa, hello..." Shoto greeted him as blandly as usual.

"Hello, Todoroki." Aizawa also greeted him in a neutral tone. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Shoto shook his head before opening his door wider, "did you want to come in?"

Aizawa waved a hand, "No thank you. I was wondering if you knew where your sister is today?"

Shoto tilted his head, "she's on a road trip with Bakugou and his friends. They won't be back until the end of the month."

Aizawa frowned, clicking his tongue.

"That's not enough time," he mumbled to himself before eyeing Shoto. "Todoroki, do you think... Emiri could get recommended into the hero course by Endeavour?"

Shoto's eyes widened.

Shoto had no clue whether or not Endeavour would recommend her. She wasn't quite like Natsuo and Fuyumi whose quirks are too weak to be impressive. But neither was she like Shoto who wielded both fire and ice like their father wanted.

"I don't know," Shoto said before looking up at Aizawa. "Why do you ask?"

Aizawa sighed, shifting the weight between his feet.

"Your sister has too much potential to let slip by," he confessed. "Letting her go is like failing the hero system. We need her, but I can't convince Principal Nezu unless she gets a recommendation. He was already tentative about letting me host a hero course entrance exam this year."

Shoto quietly nodded, letting his words sink in.

A determined look appeared on his features before he clenched his fists.

"I'll make him recommend her if it's the last thing I do."

Aizawa raised a brow as Shoto suddenly slammed the door in his face.

What was wrong with this family?

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

"No."

"Yes."

"Shoto, no."

Midoriya sat in an armchair in Endeavour's office at his agency, a snack in his arms. He had been watching Enji and Shoto argue for two hours now.

They were meant to go see a movie together, but Shoto said they had a 'quick stop' to make on the way.

Instead, here he was, watching a different kind of movie: also known as a slightly entertaining argument between father and son.

"Why not?" Shoto asked, leaning over his father's desk to glare at him. "You saw the video I sent you, didn't you?!"

Endeavour glanced at his computer screen where Vlad's recording of the exam was displayed.

He had to admit: seeing Emiri finding a use for her crystals was astonishing.

But Shoto is his prodigy. He's the one with the quirk he desired.

"She's too weak to be a hero."

"She's not like you who got lucky when All Might retired." Enji's hands balled angrily. "She could be stronger. If you put the time into developing her quirk, maybe she would be to your standards by now. Instead, you–"

" – focused on cultivating your power. You're the one who will be number one, not her." Shoto's shoulders fell at his words. "Shoto, do you know what Emiri's biggest strength is?"

"Her healing?" Shoto said in a dejected tone, his eyes lowering to Enji's desk.

"No," Enji stood up from his desk. "Her heart."

Shoto's head shot to look at Enji but his broad back was turned to him as he looked outside the window overseeing the city.

"Emiri has a gift that goes beyond healing physical injuries," Enji began. "She has a beautiful kindness that could save many lives. I confess, she could become the number one hero one day if we pushed her."

"Then let's push her–"

"If we push her, she'll kill herself before she could save the amount of lives she would if she was happy with where she was." Enji had been saying this the whole time, Shoto echoing it with Emiri's safety in mind. But his words actually made sense now. "Emiri doesn't know how to save herself first. She only knows how to save other people, and she won't stop until everyone is saved. She'll push herself further and further to the point that the fire in her heart will burn out. She'll be dull, and lose what makes her special. Do you understand, Shoto?"

Shoto pushed off Enji's desk, his heart absolutely shattering.

Only Enji Todoroki could make a compliment sound so dreary.

"I told Mr Aizawa I wouldn't leave without getting your recommendation." Shoto confessed.

Enji turned around, his fiery features illuminating Shoto's face.

"Emiri is my precious daughter." Shoto's features softened. "Emiri will never get my recommendation."

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

a/n: plot twist, Endeavour is just a huge softy who really loves his daughter. IT'S SO FUCKED AND I LOVE IT.

Anywho, I'm so shit at the romance portion of this ff. I get so caught up in the family problems and quirk develop aspects of these stories that I get hell sidetracked.

NO WONDER WHY I END UP WRITING SLOW BURNS HUH.