Assassins Can Be Heroes Too || Todoroki Shoto

|27| Take Your Time

"ki... roki... Todoroki! Todoroki!" called Midoriya. The said boy snapped out of his trance, staring at the boy quizzically with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. He shivered from the cold stare that he was receiving, tapping his fingers together nervously. "A-ah, i-it's just... class ended ten minutes ago..."

He blinked in surprise, his grey and turquoise eyes travelling to the clock to see that the green-haired boy was indeed right and that class had ended ten minutes ago. His eyes travelled around the classroom to see that it was almost empty, par Midoriya, Iida, Asui, Uraraka, himself and Kirishima - who he assumed had just stayed behind because he had forgotten something - the others had probably stayed behind to wait for him, which he appreciated.

"You were staring at Rie's desk..." he trailed off, "she left a few minutes ago... are you okay?"

"Huh?" he blinked, "o-oh, yeah..."

The class representative pushed his glasses up, the light reflecting off the lens as he stared at the bi-hair-coloured male, who stared at him blankly. He sighed, slinging his bag over his shoulder and following his classmates outside. They stared at him, unfazing him in the slightest as murmurs began to flood from the group. He turned slightly, raising an impassive brow and giving them a blank expression.

"You've been acting strangely for the past few days, you sure you're okay, Todoroki?" Midoriya was the first to speak.

"I guess..." he sighed, staring up at the cerulean sky, clouds drifting over to shield the Sun's glare from them. They continued staring at him. Iida chopping the air as Asui placed a finger to her chin in thought. "I... honestly don't know how I feel."

"About?"

"Rie..."

Uraraka squealed loudly.

"I knew it!" she whirled around to face Asui who held a ghost of a smile on her face, "Tsu, you owe me ten dollars!"

"W-wait, what for?!" the boy blinked, bewildered as to why she was handing over ten dollars.

"We made a bet, ribbit," she hummed, the boys sweat-dropping, "about whether or not you'd confess."

"I-I don't know how I feel just yet!" he fumbled, his face suddenly red. He sighed, calming down as his classmates trailed near him, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, what's your opinion of Rie?" Iida was the first to ask the question that was lingering on their minds.

"She's a very quiet girl who never really talked much, I guess she never really had that much human interaction before coming to U.A., so we've got that in common," he frowned slightly, "her smile is... cute, I suppose." He groaned in frustration. "I've never felt this way before, I don't know what I'm doing!"

"Understandable," shrugged Kirishima, who he only just realised had tagged along. The group stared, wondering when he had gotten there, frowning slightly as he whined. "I take the train home too, you know..." He turned back to the conflicted boy. "Take your time, Todoroki, man! You can't rush your feelings towards anyone, the more you rush the more mistakes you'll make!"

He leaned in closer to whisper so that the others wouldn't hear.

"Rie likes sweets."

He stared in stupefaction, Kirishima flashing him a thumbs-up.

"See you guys later!" he waved, running to catch his train.

The group of friends stared after him.

"Well, I'm going to see my mother," Todoroki stated suddenly, his friends walking in the opposite direction. He exhaled deeply through his nose, clutching his bag tightly and ventured into the hospital, up the everyday stairs that he had grown accustomed to.

"Shoto," the familiar, soothing voice filled his ears as he gently shut the door, placing his bag down onto the chair next to the door. The woman turned around, smiling gently at her youngest son who stared back at her, his face impassive. Her face fell slightly at seeing his lack of expression. He awkwardly hugged her for a moment, letting her gentle hands run over his hair soothingly. "What's the matter?"

He voiced his thoughts to the woman who listened patiently. By the time he had finished rambling, a soft laugh came from his mother. He stared incredulously, groaning slightly.

"What is it?"

"Shoto... can I meet this girl?" The boy, who had been drinking water at the time, immediately choked; he spared his mother a shocked glance, though she only returned it with a slightly amused and concerned gaze. "She sounds like a wonderful girl, from what you've told me. I know your childhood hasn't been the best but I think this Rie can really make a difference."

"Y-yeah, I'll bring her over sometime," he coughed, recovering and gazing at his mother who smiled, "I... should be going now..."

Oh, if only they knew what her home life was like...

~TIMESKIP~

"So, Todoroki, huh?" smirked Ashido, the girl gazing over at her in confusion. The rest of the girls crowded around her desk as they waited for the class to empty; the girl slung her bag over her shoulder, raising a brow as she stood. They filed out, Uraraka and Hakagura walking backwards as the girls walked forward, outside the school and walking home.

"What about him?"

"He's hot," she winked, the girl not understanding what Ashido was so excited about and their suggestive nods, "hey, Rie... isn't it kinda weird that you call him by his surname?"

"What are you talking about? I mean, I called him by his first name once, but..."

"Aww... that's too bad," pouted the girl.

"You two are dating, right?" Hagakure squealed. She stared, crashing into a pole and the girl groaned, glaring at her friends who were struggling to keep in their laughter.

"We're not dating!"

"Your face is betraying you, Riri," smirked Jiro, twirling her Jacks around her finger, the girl whining.

"So, is Todoroki hot or what?" a sly grin spread across Pinky's face, nudging her.

"I-I guess?"

Every single one of the girls was staring at her.

"I-I mean-"

"You guess?!" squawked Hagakure, "Todoroki's hot! Literally and metaphorically! Like, when I ran into you at the Sports Festival, you just finished talking to Todoroki and your face was so red!"

She groaned, having forgotten about that one incident, silently pleading for the girls to stop talking about her.

"C'mon, Rie," the frog-girl chimed in. Tsuyu too?! "What's your opinion on Todoroki?"

"I-I-" she fumbled with her words, the words suddenly striking a chord. Now that she thought about it, she did feel strange when Todoroki was around; she was a generally nervous girl, that's just who she was but it would seem that whenever he was around, her anxiety would skyrocket and her heartrate would increase. She wasn't too sure if his would, because she wouldn't be paying attention. She was drawn out of her thoughts by YaoMomo lightly shaking her. She blinked. "I-I mean... we're both quiet people, s-so I guess there wouldn't be too much of a dynamic t-there..."

"God, your stammering," Jiro snorted, though she wore a playful grin, her Jacks moving about.

"S-shut it..."

She just wanted to take the subject off her and Todoroki and talk about some other couple... Deku and Uraraka, maybe? She suggested this, the girls immediately agreed, taking turns to fluster the poor brown-haired girl. She sent her an apologetic smile, silently slipping away and only telling Jiro that she had to return home soon. She nodded, returning to tease the girl. Rie hummed, scanning her travel card and hopping onto the bus. She stared outside, smiling to herself sadly.

It's not that I don't have feelings for him... it's that I can't have feelings for him. I mean... how can a Hero and a Villain fall in love?

Take your time, nice and easy.