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“I’ve been watching you
For quite some time.
Can’t stop staring
At those ocean eyes.”
You kept your polite distance from Todoroki Shouto. It was more like you were abiding by his wishes to remain distant from his peers than it was you doing so out of fear or anger. In fact, you felt quite the opposite. The bi-color haired boy intrigued you to no end, particularly those beautifully heterochromatic eyes.
Something about those eyes held secrets that you desperately wished to understand. Despite being in the same class from the beginning of both of your careers at U.A., you had remained a background character in most regards: an extra, as Bakugou has frequently put it. You kept to yourself in a similar (though slightly less blunt) manner as Todoroki when it came to your isolation. You simply preferred to be by yourself than get caught up in the chaos that your group of classmates tended to get into.
Throughout your first and second years at U.A., you kept to yourself and worked hard on becoming a hero. Your fire-breathing quirk aided you tremendously in your work, especially once you got your provisional hero license. However, the cold look that you often got from Todoroki when your flames were present never escaped your notice. You couldn’t blame him, not when you knew what kind of a man his father was. Top Hero Endeavor was a horrible man, as you had come to find out through word of mouth and overhearing a particular conversation between father and son during the sports festival your first year.
“No fair
You really know how to make me cry
When you gimme those ocean eyes
I'm scared
I've never fallen from quite this high
Falling into your ocean eyes”
It wasn’t until your third year when things suddenly changed.
It was a training exercise with pairs, you being paired up with Kirishima and the two of you put up against Todoroki and Midoriya. A quick look at your partner confirmed the thought you had: you were seriously outmatched. However, that wouldn’t keep you and Kirishima from doing your absolute best.
The goal was for you and Kirishima to act as the villains and defend the hostage you had taken (a dummy with a silly face drawn on it). Todoroki and Midoriya would be coming to try and take back the hostage while subduing the villains with as minimal damage done to the surrounding area as possible.
You stood on the rooftop of a tall building with Kirishima, the both of you keeping your eyes and ears open for any sign of the hero pair coming towards your location. The distant sound of ice cracking could be heard and you faced that direction in anticipation of Todoroki sliding up to where you were. You positioned your feet to brace yourself and provide some balance as you took a deep breath, the burning in your throat ready to burst forth in a fiery beam.
Instead of Todoroki, you were greeted with Midoriya being tossed up onto the roof. It shocked you and forced you to take a step back to prepare for his attack. Kirishima barely managed to knock you out of the way to take on the blast, but in the process of his defense, you tumbled towards the edge of the flat rooftop. With a groan, you quickly pushed yourself off of the ground. Steam escaped your mouth as you exhaled and you knew that could only be caused by the sudden drop in temperature as Todoroki finally came onto the roof. Frost made its way towards you and you quickly breathed out fire to keep the temperature around you hot enough to melt the oncoming ice.
The double one-on-one battles continued on the rooftop, but you and Kirishima were being worn down far faster than the hero duo were. Midoriya prepared another attack that sent the rooftop cracking from the impact. With wide eyes, you couldn’t react fast enough as the corner of the roof you stood on gave out beneath you, sending you free-falling from the top of the tall building. The last thing you noticed was Todoroki’s two-toned eyes looking down on you as you fell, one of his hands reached out and his mouth parted in shock.
“I've been walking through
A world gone blind
Can't stop thinking of your diamond mind
Careful creature
Made friends with time”
You had woken up in Recovery Girl’s office with a groan. There was a dull throb of pain in the back of your head, but you were thankful that that was all you could feel after such a fall. Next to your bed was a sleeping Kirishima and a book-reading Todoroki. Midoriya was in the next cot over getting his own rest. You rubbed your eyes and sat up in the uncomfortable clinic bed with a sigh. Your movement awoke Kirishima and caught the attention of Todoroki, both of whom looked to you with surprise.
“Hey, rise and shine, sleepyhead!” Kirishima gave you a sharp-toothed grin. “You doing okay? That was a pretty crazy fall, but you survived! Super manly!” He laughed and you couldn’t help but return the gesture with a smile.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Head hurts a bit, but I’m okay. Thanks for worrying.”
“Midoriya ended up getting injured too. He feels bad about causing your fall,” Todoroki stated cooly, his eyes trained on you, analyzing your condition to see if he could see through a lie.
You frowned and looked over at the green-haired boy. “I hope he won’t dwell on it. It was an accident, and I could have reacted faster. Or, at the very least, not fallen to my near-death.” You chuckled and shrugged your shoulders.
“That’s the spirit!” Kirishima grinned and patted your blanket-covered shin enthusiastically. “Anyways, I gotta get going. I just wanted to make sure my partner was okay!” He rose from his seat and gave a wave before heading out of the office, leaving just you and Todoroki as the only conscious people in the room.
“So…” you started, unsure of what to say. This was, quite possibly, the first chance you had at having a full conversation with your classmate. “Did we win?”
That made Todoroki chuckle. “No. We won.”
“I see. That’s unfortunate.” You folded your arms over your chest with a dramatic sigh. “I was hoping to best you, Mister Best-of-Both-Worlds.” Todoroki gave you a perplexed expression at the nickname, so you decided to elaborate. “You’ve got both fire and ice. I’ve just got one.” You smiled at him, hoping that your joke was taken well.
“Ah, I see.” Todoroki furrowed his brows in thought as he contemplated the idea. “I never really saw it that way.”
“I’m sure you hadn’t. It’s always been natural for you to have both. I’ve always only had the one, so I always wonder what it’s like to have the icy side of things. It’s a little tiring being warm all the time, you know?”
“You feel warm all the time?” His question seemed genuine. You nodded.
“Always. I always feel warm, both internally and externally. Here, feel for yourself.” You held out your arm, but much to your surprise, Todoroki reached out and held onto your hand, his eyes trained on it. You were thankful. He couldn’t see your reddened cheeks that way.
“Huh. You are warm.”
The two of you sat like that in silence as you enjoyed the cooling sensation of his own hand on your own burning one, neither of you making any immediate action to retract your hands. Eventually, Todoroki finally realized that he was, in any point of view, holding your hand. Once that realization dawned on him, he released your hand and his cheeks turned a dusty shade of pink.
“Ah, sorry. That was, um, inappropriate.”
“I-It’s okay!” you stammered out, your own embarrassment evident by your re-reddened cheeks. “It was nice!”
“I see.” Todoroki averted his gaze, turning those beautiful eyes you adored away from you. “Would you mind… if I did it again… another time?”
“No, not at all!” Your voice went up several octaves due to your surprise at his question. Flustered, you cleared your throat. “I wouldn’t mind that at all.”
“Alright then.” Todoroki got up from his seat and looked to you one more time, the corner of his mouth upturned in a small smile. “I’ll see you later. Rest well.”
You nodded your head, effectively speechless at seeing such an expression on his face, especially seeing it be directed right at you.
“I've never fallen from quite this high
Falling into your ocean eyes”
Oh, you had certainly fallen.