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Over the course of the school year, Todoroki had progressively grown accustomed to your clumsiness.
The first time he noticed you was on the first day of class during Aizawa’s Quirk Apprehension Test. Like most of your other classmates, you flew through the series of physical tests with graceful ease, demonstrating impressive control over your quirk. During your battle against Jiro and Kaminari, Todoroki begrudgingly had to admit your tactful skills were something to take note of as well.
Which is why it was only natural for him to wonder how someone so talented on the field could trip over a flat surface the moment they entered a room.
He considered it a skill in and of itself.
Within the first few weeks of class, Todoroki developed a sort of sixth sense whenever he was around you.
He noticed the way you put all your focus on the person you were talking to even while walking in crowded area, never realizing you were less than an inch away from crashing the side of your hip onto the corner of a desk. (Todoroki found himself moving the desk out of your path seconds before you could hit it, despite the fact that he had to make his way from the opposite side the room in superhuman speeds. You never seemed to notice. The rest of the class did.)
He also observed the way your eyes widened a fraction and your arms flailed out as you felt yourself about to trip. (In those moments, it took all of his willpower not to use his quirk to freeze you in place before you could fall. The one time he did, Tokoyami thought Todoroki almost hurt you and proceeded to threaten Shouto in your honor.)
One day, you and Todoroki arrived at U.A. around the same time--both uncharacteristically later than the rest of your classmates--and proceeded to walk to homeroom together.
“Morning, Todoroki-kun!”
“Good morning.”
“You’re running late today, too, huh?” you asked, matching his step as the two of you paced down the hallway. “Busy morning?”
Todoroki thought of the argument with his father that went on for longer than usual. “You could say that.”
You nodded. “At least we’ll still be earlier than Aizawa-sensei.”
The conversation carried on as you moved to the topic of breakfast foods--you talked so fervently about the arbitrary topic even Todoroki found it hard not to share your interest.
By the time the two of you walked into class, you were still in a heated debate about natto (he thought it was something every breakfast should consist of and you decided he must’ve been deprived of some good tamagoyaki) when Todoroki felt you beginning to walk wayward into Aoyama’s desk.
He didn’t want you to bump into it, but kicking the desk backwards with Aoyama seated on it didn’t seem like an action he’d think you’d approve of.
So instead, he maneuvered you aside-- One hand resting on your hip, pulling you towards him and away from the desk, and the other gently on your shoulder, steering your path straight. Todoroki made sure to not let himself linger, but it was too late. The rest of the class noticed and all conversation stopped to stare at you two.
“Careful,” he said, his face skillfully passive.
You blinked in stunned silence. “T-Thanks! I guess I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking.”
“It’s okay.”
He wanted to say something else, but he didn’t have the words.
Instead, you both headed to your respective seats as Todoroki tried to ignore Kirishima’s so-called whispering as he walked down the row.
“ Pst , Todoroki! You and Y/L/N, huh?”
And while he was able to ignore Kirishima’s antics, Todoroki wasn’t able to ignore the small, yet embarrassed, smile that made its way to your face.
He couldn’t help but smile back.
- - - - -
After the events of these past few months with villains at every turn of the page, you were happy that an exam has been the only thing keeping you and your classmates up at night lately.
It was a late Sunday night and you were at Midoriya’s dormitory with a group of friends, studying for your mathematics exam the next day. Tsuyu and Iida brought a handful of snacks to share with the group, but even they weren’t enough to keep your brain from going off topic every few minutes.
“So, we use the Law of Sines when we know two angles and one side of a triangle, or when it’s SSA?” you said as you tapped your pencil against your notebook, staring down at your notes.
“Precisely,” replied Iida with a nod.
He’d been patiently helping you with the same concept for the past twenty minutes, but you just now began to understand it.
“And SSS and SAS is for Cosine Rule?”
“Correct again!” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and beamed. “Great, now that everyone understands those rules, shall we move forward to trigonometric identities?”
This earned a groan from you and Uraraka.
“Wait,” you cried as you rose from the floor. “My brain isn't awake enough for this-- I’m going to make myself a cup of coffee first. Does anyone else want one?”
“I’m good, thank you!” said Midoriya.
“Coffee? It’s almost midnight,” Iida exclaimed, a bewildered look on his face.
“But we’re only halfway done with the material! I need to stay awake.”
You returned his stern look with one of your own. He sighed. “Fine. I suppose we could use a study break while you get your dose of caffeine.”
Smiling, you sent him a thumbs up before heading to the door. As you reached the handle, you paused.
“Todoroki-chan, do you want coffee? Or maybe tea?” you asked, looking down as he sat cross-legged on the mat.
He glanced up, with a tilt of his head. “Thank you, but I’m okay. Would you like me to accompany you, though?”
You laughed but shook your head. “It’s only one floor down; I should be fine.”
“The last time you said that, you had to go to Recovery Girl for a rolled ankle.”
“I’ll be careful this time!” you promised, letting the door shut behind you before he could get out another word.
It was sweet of Todoroki to be worried for you, but you were perfectly capable of making coffee by yourself--no matter how accident prone you may be.
After waiting for the coffee to brew (all the while thinking of how convenient making udon and miso would be if you had Bakugou or Todoroki’s quirk), you grabbed your mug from the communal kitchen space and poured. When you dumped the contents out of the coffeemaker, you placed your mug at the edge of the counter and grabbed the cream and sugar.
You needed at least one and a half spoonfuls of sugar in order for your coffee to be palatable.
But while you were humming to yourself, things took a quick turn for the worst.
As you were reaching for the creamer behind your coffee, you felt your elbow brush against the handle of your mug. You held your breath. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. With eyes wide, you attempted to catch it before it hit the ground.
The good news, you caught it before the mug shattered.
The bad news, all its steaming hot contents poured onto the hand you caught it with.
“Shit!” you yelped, dropping the mug in shock as you cradled your right hand against your chest.
Swearing under your breath, you ran over to the sink and held your pink-tinged hand under cold water to soothe the burn. You wanted to stay under the faucet forever, but you knew your friends were waiting for you to continue studying.
Sighing, you cleaned up your mess and quickly headed up to Midoriya’s room, coffee-less and with a discomforting burning sensation in your right hand.
When you entered the room, Tsuyu was the first to remark, followed by Todoroki.
“Did you forget your coffee?”
“What happened to your hand?”
You blinked. How did he notice so quickly?
“I didn’t forget my coffee, no,” you told Tsuyu with a nervous chuckle. “I finished making it, actually. But then it fell off the counter and I burned myself trying to catch it.”
Tsuyu’s eyes widened but you quickly amended your statement, shaking your head as sat back down next to Todoroki.
“I’m fine, though!” you said, holding out your pinky in her direction. “It’s just a little burn; it’ll probably be gone by tomorrow.”
Satisfied with, but still skeptical of, your answer, Tsuyu nodded and proceeded to ask Uraraka how to do a certain question.
“Can I see it?”
You jumped. His voice was so quiet you barely heard him.
Turning to Todoroki, you offered him your hand with your reddened palm face down. “It hardly hurts, I swear. You don’t need to--”
He enveloped your right hand between the two of his and brought it to his close to his chest.
You flushed. The conversation in the room stopped. Todoroki kept his gaze on you.
“Wh-What are you--!?” You broke off with a startled breath when you felt a soothing chill followed by a comforting heat. “Oh.”
The careful balance of hot and cold on your slightly burned hand felt so relaxing your eyes fluttered shut, hardly registering the looks of bewilderment from Midoriya, Iida, Tsuyu, Aoyama, and Uraraka. Minutes passed and Todoroki still held you hand, only releasing after a long, cool exhale.
You swallowed.
“Does your hand feel better?” he asked.
Nodding fervently, you tried not to think about how you wished he hadn’t let go. “Much.”
“I’m glad.” Without warning, Todoroki stood up from beside you and you felt the absence of his warmth. “Now, wait here.”
As he left Midoriya’s room, you glanced at the others with the same confused look on your faces.
“What was that about?” Izuku wondered with a scratch of his head.
“I don’t know, but it sure was adorable!” said Uraraka, squishing her face between her palms.
Iida stared at the door then back down at his textbook. “But where did Todoroki-kun go? Hopefully he doesn’t take too long; we still have a whole chapter to cover.”
Aoyama sighed, resting his arms behind his neck as he leaned against Midoriya’s bed frame. “Don’t be oblivious, mes amis . He’s getting Mademoiselle Y/L/N her beverage, of course.”
Before you could deny that outrageous claim, Todoroki walked into the room with a mug in hand.
You gaped. Aoyama sent you a smug wink.
Todoroki sat back down beside you before offering the drink. With your non-burned hand, you graciously held the mug. It was lukewarm to the touch and aromatic to the smell.
“For me?”
He nodded. “Two pumps of cream and one and a half teaspoons of sugar, right?”
You blinked. He knew how you took your coffee? “Right.”
“I wasn’t sure if you drank dark or light roast,” said Todoroki, looking down at the wooden floor. “My apologies. But I made sure to cool it down to about 120 degrees so it can’t scald you.”
You heard the pounding of your heart from your ears as your stomach filled with butterflies. What was this feeling? You shook your head.
“Thank you, Todoroki-chan,” you said, touched. “It’s perfect.”
“But you haven’t even tried it--”
Uraraka flicked Iida on the back of the head before he could continue.
“ Ow! I mean-- You’re right. It is perfect.”
Laughing at your friends antics, you turned to Todoroki with a smile. He had a content look on his face as he witnessed their interaction before glancing at you. You took a sip of the drink and peered at him from the top of the rim. The contrast of the sweet and the bitter, earthy taste filled your tastebuds, causing you to sigh.
“Tastes better than the ones I make for myself!” you pouted, wondering how he was able to make a perfect cup when he never drank coffee himself. “You’re just the perfect guy, aren’t you?”
A flush made its way to Todoroki’s ears, but you paid it no mind, instead grabbing your pencil with your right hand.
“ Ouch ,” you hissed, retracting your pencil and glaring down at the angry pale marks on your still reddened palm. Maybe you should get an ice pack and some painkillers.
“Y/N? Are you hurt?” said Todoroki, a frown clouding his face.
You shook your head. “Just my hand from earlier.”
“Is it still hurting?” He gently took your right hand in his left, worried lines between his eyebrows. “Here-- Let me help.”
Before you could say anything, he laced his icy fingers between yours and sent a mild chill to his palm, instantly soothing the pestering burn from the earlier scald. This time, even after a few moments had passed, Todoroki didn’t let go.
Instead, he kept your hand in his for the remainder of the night, the occasional brush of his thumb sending shivers up your spine--and not from the cold.
Needless to say, neither of you could focus much on studying.
- - - - -
Tonight was the night of the school dance and, much to no one’s surprise, you were running late.
When you arrived, the dance was in full swing, with all the classes mingling together to celebrate the end of a school year. But in a sea of obscurity, a certain duochromatic student caught your eye from across the room.
As if Todoroki could sense your presence, his gaze found yours in an instant, raising a hand in greeting with a subtle smile.
Wow.
That was all you could think as you walked over to him, eyes never leaving his face.
He looked stunning.
So stunning, in fact, that you hardly noticed anything else. Including a wayward balloon that made its way to the side of the dance floor you were walking along.
You also didn’t notice that your heel caught on said balloon until it was too late.
With a small yelp, you felt yourself slip backward as the rubber rolled off your shoe, arms flying out in an attempt to grasp at the table next to you only to miss by a fraction of an inch.
Shit.
Closing your eyes shut, you braced yourself into a position that would soften the impact of the fall that never came. Instead, all you heard was a soft woosh of rustling clothes and an intake of breath as two muscular arms wrapped around you.
A beat passed.
You opened your eyes.
“Careful.” His voice was deep next to your ear.
“Shoucchan,” you said, a little out of breath. “Hi.”
You heard the amusement in his voice. “Hi.”
Todoroki helped you upright onto your feet, but kept his hands lingering on either sides of your waist. Spinning around to face him, you touched his cheek with a smile.
“How do you always do that?”
He raised a brow.
“How do you manage to cross the room and stop me from falling in such a short amount of time?” you wondered with a hint of awe. “Do you have another quirk no one knows about?”
Todoroki exhaled a laugh as he tugged on a strand of your hair. “ Baka. No. I just learned to be on high alert when I’m with you. Especially when you’re in heels.”
You stuck your tongue out at him, but couldn’t deny anything.
“Maybe that’ll be part of your tagline in a few years,” you teased. “Pro Hero Shouto: Saving the world from villains, and saving his girlfriend from her own clumsiness.”
Todoroki froze slightly before relaxing, the corners of his lips tilting upward. “Girlfriend.” You quirked a brow at him but he shook his head. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that.”
“Good. Because I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of being that.”
Pressing a chaste kiss on your forehead, Todoroki hummed. “Good. Then you have nothing to worry about.