Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It started with a cream coloured envelope appearing atop the floor near the dining area of the common room. 

Uraraka held the soft paper gently in her hands—examining it, noticing with a furrow in her brow that the once crisp quality of the cover was now brandishing several blemishes, most likely from being trampled by the shoes of their classmates. 

“Whatcha got there, Ochaco-chan?” Ashido exclaims, surprising her with a hug from behind. 

Most of the girls in their class had planned to gather for tea that afternoon, collectively deciding that the occasion would be a great way to catch up with one another after a very busy week of exams. 

“This envelope,” She hums, laminating the attention of all the other girls setting up the table. “It looks like someone must have dropped it.” 

“Oh?” Ashido expresses her surprise, lips puckering in the shape of the sound. “Does it say who it’s addressed to?” 

Uraraka examines the item from top to bottom again in hopes of finding some form of signature, but to no avail. 

“Doesn’t look like it,” She says, a frown pulling at her round cheeks. 

“That’s odd— who’d be writing letters in this day and age?” Jirou pipes up, setting out the tea cups neatly on the dining table. 

“Perhaps it’s not a letter, but a permission form of some sort?” Yaoyorozu adds, referencing the slips of paperwork their parents were often sent in the mail by their teachers.

“Let me take a look!” Hagekure requests gleefully, making her way back from the kitchen— nudging herself in between the two girls brandishing the letter in hopes of catching a glimpse.

it’s only a matter of seconds before the room explodes with a high pitched squeal— any bystander might have thought the sound to be a kettle. Even the girls themselves realize belatedly that the noise ringing was in fact the sound of their invisible friend. 

“No way…!” Hagakure exclaims, choosing finally to articulate her thoughts— her gloved hands clasping together all the while. “I know a love letter when I see one!” 

At hearing such a proclamation, all four girls occupying the dinning area grow stiff— rendered speechless by the possibility.

“A l-love letter…?” Uraraka is the first to stutter out, eyeing the envelope in her hand incredulously— holding the item carefully, almost as if it were glass.

“Oh my gosh, you could be right!” Ashido gushes, ripping the letter from Uraraka’s hands— unable to contain herself from excitement.

“Hey—” the brown haired girl exclaims, but her cry fell on deaf ears. Both Ashido and Hagekure had quickly run off to the other side of the table.

“You guys seriously gonna open it?” Jirou says sardonically, scoffing at the antics of the other two girls. Yaoyorozu, all the while, watches on in muted disapproval of the events unfolding. 

“That seems like something that should remain private, kero,” Asui makes herself known, returning with the tea from the kitchen.

“Just a peak couldn’t hurt, right?” Hagekure says, already pulling the letter from the inside— eager to reveal its contents. 

While Uraraka hated to admit it, she too was shamefully curious to see if it was in fact a love letter— and if so, who of their classmates it belonged to. It seemed as though Yaoyorozu and Jirou fell under the same category, as they took their seats with somewhat bated breath right along side with her. 

“What’s it say? What’s it say?” Hagakure repeats, no doubt hanging over Ashido’s shoulder.

“I dunno…” The pink haired girl explains slowly, still stringing information together it seemed. ”Something about internships coming up, and— Oh! They’re talking about Midoriya-kun and Iida-kun…?”

There’s a beat of silence illustrating everyone's blatant confusion— Uraraka finds the sight to be almost comical. 

“Psh,” Jirou snuffs her laughter from across the table, placing a hand up to cover her mouth. “What kind of ‘love’ letter is this?”

“Oh dear,” Momo shakes her head with a chuckle, the absurdity of her expectations falling flat.

Uraraka can’t help but share the same sentiment— feeling if only a little bit foolish for getting ahead of herself.

“Wait— oh my gosh,” Ashido suddenly chirps with a sense of urgency she was lacking from earlier— recapturing everyone’s attention. 

With a quick clearing of the throat, the girl begins to read from the letter. 

“ —Living together does sound nice, It makes me happy hearing that you feel the same way.” The girl chants, sounding giddier with each passing word. “ I hope I can see you again soon.” 

Then—

“ I Love you.”  The girl annociates the last few syllables with a theatrical tone— only adding more to the suspense. 

Uraraka feels her face heat up, all while both Ashido and Hagekure have their own moment to squeal amongst each other.

Just the prospect of a boy in their class writing such a thing was enough to stir an uproar between the girls— one Uraraka couldn’t help but find herself in the middle of.

“No way…” Jirou says belatedly, adjusting her posture so that she was sitting up straight. A thoroughly red faced Momo, shakes her head in disbelief— her hand clasped to her mouth. 

Hagekure— who wanted to see the letter for herself stealthily steals the item from Ashido’s grasp during all the excitement. 

“I didn’t get to see who it was from…” The girl whines, making a grabbing motion toward the letter. 

“Well, whoever wrote the letter must be hella passionate— sounds like they’re already making plans to move in together.” Jirou quips, leaning back into her chair. 

“Moving in t-together…?” Yaoyorozu stutters, flustered at the thought. “It’s much too early to consider moving in with a lover! We’re still in high school aren’t we?” 

Jirou grins a mischievous smile. “Who knows, maybe the receiver is an older woman—” 

The comment earns her a bonk on the head from Asui— Who, as far as Uraraka could tell, doesn’t seem too keen on where the conversation was leading. 

“Hmm,” The invisible girl hummed, still reading the letter over in earnest. The rest of the room turns to her in curiosity. 

“Find anything?” One of them asks. 

 “Hmm—Oh…!” The girl suddenly exclaims. “It says, um— Shouto …?”

There’s a momentary silence that fills the room as they all contemplate the sign off to the letter— none of them initially knowing anyone by that name. That is until Yaoyorozu makes a sudden noise of surprise, covering her mouth as if she were having a hard time coming to terms with something. 

“Todoroki-san…?” The dark haired girl utters, cheeks ever so slightly pink.

The brief silence from earlier remains as everyone in the room puts two and two together, but it’s not long until they all make an amalgamation of noises to express their surprise. 

“Todoroki-kun wrote the letter…?” Uraraka finds herself asking, the first to speak among the others. 

Meanwhile, Hagakure and Ashido seemed off in a whole other plane of existence— entirely blissed out by the revelation. 

“Woah— that’s unexpected,” Jirou says, looking up to her left to gauge Yaoyorozu’s reaction. 

“I never pegged Todoroki-san the type to write a love letter,” The dark haired girl says with one hand to her cheek, her head tilting slightly to one side. 

“Well, it’s written here— clear as day!” Hagekure exclaims, placing the letter down on the table for everyone to see. 

Uraraka, Yaoyorozu and Jirou (despite their earlier sentiments) find themselves leaning over to read the contents of the letter for themselves— finding such a notion hard to believe. 

“If this really is Todoroki-chan’s letter, wouldn’t it be best to return it, kero?” Asui chimes in, ever the voice of reason among them. 

The three girls overlooking the letter retract their gazes from the object of their curiosity, feeling a pool of guilt wash over them.

“We can’t do that, what if he finds out we opened it?” Ashido cries, sinking down into her seat with a sulky expression. 

Asui doesn’t seem entirely happy with that answer, and instead chooses to ignore their shenanigans in favour of distributing tea to the rest of them.

“More importantly,” Hagekure hums sadly, taking her seat along with the others. “The letter doesn’t mention who it’s addressed to on the inside either…”

“He did mention wanting to see her again…” Ashido thought aloud, placing a finger to her chin. “Going from that, It must be some girl from another school.” 

“That doesn’t surprise me, I heard from Bakugou that some Shiketsu chick asked for his number during their remedial training— Maybe that’s who the letters for.” Jirou adds blandly. 

“Eh—?” Hagakure draws out her surprise, “Why am I just finding out about this now?”

As the others continue to squabble, Uraraka finds herself sneaking another glance at the letter that was discarded atop the table— taking into account it’s neat handwriting, feeling a flimsy smile tug at her lips when she spots a cute devilish looking cat sticker skillfully placed in the bottom left corner. 

‘Surely, Such a thing couldn’t belong to Todoroki-kun— right?’ 

“What kind of girl do you think Todoroki-kun likes?” Ashido asks, face smooshed into the surface of her opened textbook. 

She, Jirou and Uraraka found themselves studying in the common area of the dorms—all working hard on the homework assigned to them in class earlier that day. 

“Hmm,” Jirou feigns thought, placing the back end of her pencil against her lips. “Probably the ones that mind their own business— Ow!” 

Ashido kicks the sarcastic girl discreetly from underneath the table— pouting all the while. 

“I’m being serious here…” The pink toned girl whines, doodling along the sides of her textbook. 

“I take it you’re still thinking about the letter then,” Jirou says blandly, closing the notebook in front of her. 

“How could I not be…!” Mina exclaims, hoisting herself up from her slump on the table— a motion that startles Uraraka from next to her. “ Besides, you two were curious before too, weren’t you?” 

“I guess…” Uraraka admits, fidgeting with her hands in a guilt ridden motion. 

“I mean, yeah, but that was just because it was so unexpected,” Jirou says, shrugging indifferently. “But if the guy’s got a girlfriend then that’s that, right?” 

“Oh? Don’t tell me you were interested, Kyouka-chan—Ow!” Ashido teases, only to be swiftly kicked from underneath the table— a small act of karma. 

“I just mean there’s no point in thinking about it,” Jirou glares, leaning lackadaisically against her palm. “Unless you’re planning to get between them, that is.”

Uraraka watches as Jirou’s smile turns into a triumphant grin, all while Ashido seems all the more bothered with the implication. 

“I’d never do something like that…!” The pink haired girl challenges, puffing out her cheeks in a pout. “It’s just hard to imagine what kind of girl Todoroki-kun would be into, y’know?” 

“If I’m honest,” Uraraka pipes up, gaining the attention of both the feuding girls. “I’m still grappling with the fact that Todoroki-kun wrote a love letter to begin with... It just seems so—” 

“Romantic?” Ashido interrupts with a sigh of bliss, both hands at her cheeks. 

“—unlike him, is what I was going to say…” The brown haired girl trails off.

Up until this point, Todoroki barely showed interest in anyone in their class— let alone the opposite gender. 

“Why write a letter anyway?” Jirou blanks, interjecting before Ashido could express her disapproval. “He could have just texted her or something— that would’ve been way more practical.”

“Love is never practical—” Mina is quick to chime in— though, promptly cut off in the process. 

“I think i’ve had just about enough of your theatrics for today,” Jirou snickers, shoving a pastry puff into her friend's mouth. 

As Uraraka watches her friend munch away happily at her cream filled dessert she can’t help but wonder if perhaps they judged their duel quirk classmate too hastily. Perhaps Todoroki wasn’t as cold and detached as they all pegged him to be— maybe this letter was proof of that. 

“Look,” Jirou sighs, eyeing the brown haired girl deep in thought. “If it’s bothering you guys so much, why not ask the boys?” 

Uraraka freezes at the suggestion, her face heating up. “The b-boys…?” 

“Of Course—!” Ashido exclaims, smacking both her hands on the base of the table. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Jirou and Uraraka watch in mild amusement (and some part terror) as Ashido calls over Kaminari and Kirishima, both returning to the common area, post workout it seemed.

The brown haired girl has half a mind to retreat underneath the table as the other two approach— not wanting to be exposed for her twisted curiosity regarding the love life of a classmate. 

“Oh, hey you guys,” Kirishima says, overlooking the three—chugging a sip from his water bottle. “What’s up?” 

“Um,” Uraraka begins, though she cuts herself off when she hardly knows what to say. 

Jirou finds herself rolling her eyes as Ashido pulls the two boys down to ear level— whispering something to them with an enclosed palm. Uraraka watches the scene play out with heightened nerves. 

“Eh—!?” The two finally exclaim, obvious in their surprise— making it so that anyone within earshot could easily listen in. “Todoroki wrote what—!?” 

“Shh—!” Ashido chides, Smacking a hand over their mouths. “We aren’t supposed to know about this…!” 

“No way, I won’t believe it unless I see it,” Kaminari says, tearing away from her grasp— outstretching his palm in an exaggerated fashion. “You gotta let me give it a read.” 

“There’s no way we’d show you something so private…!” Ashido exclaims, her hands moving to her hips. 

“Oh sure,” Kaminari challenges, pushing past a dazed looking Kirishima. “I bet you stole the letter from his desk or something, you stalker…!” 

As the two continue to bicker amongst themselves, Kirishima— who seemed to have snapped out of whatever train of thought he was in— turns to the other two girls, scratching at the back of his neck sheepishly. 

“Sorry about him,” The red head chuckles, “It’s just kind of a big shock, y’know?” 

“I’m guessing that means you guys never heard the guy talk about a girlfriend then?” Jirou asks, scooching in closer to the end of the booth— leaving room for the other boy to sit. 

“That’s the thing,” Kirishima says, scratching at the side of his face. “Todoroki never really talks about that kind of stuff all that much— Well, not to me at least.” 

“Oi, Kaminari—” The red head turns, grabbing the attention of a still feuding blonde. “Has Todoroki ever talked ‘girls with you?” 

“No,” The other deadpans, plopping himself down on a seat across from them— done arguing it seemed. “—And believe me, I really did try.”

The rest of their group looked on at the boy in muted interest— urging him to continue. 

“ I mean— Mineta and I would often probe him about what type of girl he liked and all that juicy stuff,” Kaminari continued, leaning his cheek into the palm of his hand. “Rather than not be interested— it seemed like he wasn’t even in the flow of the conversation.”

“That’s our Todoroki-kun,” Ashido sighs, letting her head hang in her hands. “—Dense as ever…”

“Well, even so,” Jirou adds, stirring her drink around with her straw. “By the sound of the letter, Todoroki must really be head over heels for this girl— whoever she might be.” 

“Eh—? Really?” One of the boys asked. “Was the letter that juicy?”

“Todoroki-kun, he—” Uraraka begins, surprising herself with how eager she was to elaborate. “ It sounded like he and the receiver were making plans to move in together…” 

“M-move in together…?” Kirishima stutters out, leaning closer to the girls in disbelief. 

Two fists suddenly slam on the table, surprising all it’s occupants.

“Todoroki, you—“ Kaminari exclaims, basically frothing from the mouth— eyes shining with genuine tears. “Was it an act this whole time? Were you really a player…?!”

“Oi, chill out man, we don’t know—“ 

“How dare that guy advance so far without us—“ the blonde cries, hiding his face in the crux of his elbow. “He’s making the rest of us men look like idiots…!”

“Hey, now,” Kirishima placates, a bead of sweat grazing his brow. “Crying over something like that is pretty unmanly.”

Jirou watches the scene unfold in disgust, murmuring something along the lines of ‘tch, boys’ as she continues to stir her drink with its straw. Meanwhile, Uraraka was beginning to think that things might be escalating far more than she anticipated they would.

“Shocked as you may be, it’s true—“ The dark haired girl says, “though, I had a hard time believing it myself.”

“—And you’re sure it’s really his?” Kirishima asks.

“Well, ‘Shouto’ is his first name, right?” Ashido chimes. “that's how the letter was signed— and we found it here in the dorms…”

 “—I mean, who else could it be?” She continues, glancing around the common area— as if she were looking for other possibilities. 

“Hmm,” the red head hums, clearly deep in thought.

“You think she goes to U.A?” Kaminari asks, still seeming somewhat bitter.

“The letter made it seem like they were estranged,” Jirou says, earning a nod from Uraraka. “—So it’s likely that she goes to another school.” 

Kirishima jolts suddenly, earning him a curious glance from everyone seated. 

“What?” Ashido asks, leaning in closer to the other— the boy leans back to accommodate the lack of space. 

“Hmm, well,”  He says, an anxious toothy grin in tow. “I guess I kind of just remembered something, but I have no idea whether it actually relates to this though…”

“Eh, so you know something after all?” Ashido asks, raising an eyebrow at the other. 

“—I mean, maybe…?” He shrugs, scratching at the side of his neck— ignoring the four sets of eyes blinking back at him. 

With a defeated sigh, Kirishima continues. 

“So, y’know how Sero and Todoroki are floor buddies, right? Well, I heard from Sero that the guy usually leaves his room pretty early most Sunday mornings— around the same time too. Apparently he doesn’t come back until later in the day either. ” 

“You think he’s going to meet his girlfriend?” Ashido asks, practically bristling from the new information. 

“Hey, I didn’t say that, okay?” The boy says, throwing his hands up in a motion of surrender. “ I don’t want to jump to conclusions— especially when we’re already poking our noses into someone else’s business.” 

“Still,” Jirou says, sitting up straighter in her seat. “To think Aizawa-sensei would give him permission to leave campus that often— that itself is kind of odd, no?” 

Jirou’s words hang heavy in the air as the rest of them contemplate the implication behind her words— or at least, how it was that their classmate was able to convince their hard headed teacher to excuse his leave from the dorms so frequently. 

“If you guys are really that curious,” Kaminari pipes up, drowning out the quiet of the room. “You’d probably have better luck asking Iida or Midoriya— those guys spend the most time with Todoroki, right?” 

“Ah— that’s right.” Kirishima says, nodding along with the other boy. “They’d definitely know more than we do.” 

“I guess you’re right,” The pink girl sighs, folding her arms into a pillow and pressing her face into its embrace. “Though, they’d definitely know something was up if I asked them out of the blue… It’s not like we hang out or—” 

Suddenly Ashido’s head snaps up so that she’s inches away from Uraraka’s face— the brown haired girl practically jumps out of her seat at the abrupt movement.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Uraraka flushes. 

“You eat lunch with Iida-kun and Midoriya-kun sometimes, right Ochaco-chan?” She exclaims, a grin tugging at her cheeks. 

“Well, I-I mean I—” 

“Could you please try asking them about it?” The pink girl continues to press. 

Uraraka’s mind is swirling with all kinds of anxieties— not entirely sure what to say to such a request. 

“Don’t let her pressure you into doing anything you’re uncomfortable with, Ochako-chan,” Jirou tells her friend, eyeing a desperate looking Ashido. 

“Um, I—” 

“C’mon, the boys are curious too y’know…!” Ashido cries rather shamelessly. 

“Hey, don’t drag us into this...!” 

Sure, Uraraka was curious too and all, but to probe her two closest friends for information about the private life of another classmate… wasn’t that a little much? 

“Pretty please?” Ashido begs, her palms clasped together— puppy dog eyes in effect. 

“I—” She starts. Then with an indignant sigh, resigns herself to her fate. “Okay… I’ll see what I can do…” 

“Are you looking for something, Todoroki-kun?” 

Todoroki looks up from his spot on the floor underneath the dining table— nearly bumping his head in the process. 

“Ah, Midoriya,” he says, returning to his standing position. “I suppose I am.” 

The freckled boy looks at him curiously, tilting his head to the side a few inches. 

“Need any help?” 

“No, it’s—” the duel haired boy begins, eyes scanning the floor like he was earlier— only to then return his gaze to Midoriya’s. “It’s fine. I probably just left it in my dorm room.”

“Hm,” The other hums, a knot in his brow. “Was it something important?” 

“No, it’s fine,” Todoroki answers indifferently, following Midoriya out into the front foyer. “I can always make another, I guess.” 

“Huh…?” Midoriya spouts, looking at his friend's side profile curiously— though the other keeps his gaze steady in front of him. 

‘I wonder what he means,” the shorter boy thinks absentmindedly as the two continue to their morning classes. 

Chapter Text

“Are we getting along with Todoroki-kun...?”  Midoriya asks, his question muffled by the rice he was currently chewing.

Although she tries to resist the feeling, The innocent look from her friend pierces right through Uraraka’s conscience— knowing well that the trusting boy would never suspect her to be anything other than forthcoming with him. 

And yet, as requested of her, she still sat anxiously across both Iida and Midoriya at the lunch table— withholding information from the two boys who didn’t so much as bat an eye upon her request to sit with them during their lunch period. 

‘ I’m really in it now…’ She thinks morbidly, preparing herself for the incoming conversation. 

“What I meant was—” She begins, correcting her phrasing from earlier. “You guys have gotten pretty close with Todoroki-kun recently, don’tcha think...?” 

The other boys stagar slightly at the sudden inquiry, but quickly seem to snap back to their senses— taking her words into consideration. 

“Hm, I suppose we have,” Iida hums proudly, his glasses gleaming from the fluorescent lights above. “Would you say so too, Midoriya-kun?” 

“I guess so,” Midoriya grins, rubbing a hand down his neck sheepishly. “Though, I’m a little surprised myself— I didn’t think we’d get along as well as we do.”

Somehow over the course of the past couple of months she’d almost forgotten, but Uraraka does recall a time where Todoroki wasn’t tied at the hip of Midoriya. Of course that was much earlier into the year when Todoroki was… well, certainly less approachable than he was now. 

Though, somehow the ‘anti-social’ air that had once surrounded the boy had dissipated slightly as time went on— nevertheless, Uraraka couldn’t quite put her finger on what sparked the change. 

“I mean, you guys must have at least some things in common, right?” She prodes, “Otherwise you guys wouldn’t hang out as much as you do.” 

“That’s true,” The freckled boy hums sweetly, “Though, I guess I haven’t thought about it all that much.” 

“Hm, We do spend quite a bit of time together...” Iida contemplates, his expression contorting into one of thought. “But seeing that the three of us are all passionate Heroes in the making— Naturally, we’d be drawn to one another.” 

The response earns another smile from Midoriya, who nods along earnestly— clearly sharing the sentiment. Uraraka can’t help but find his smile contagious. 

Even so, she still wasn’t too sure what it was that had tied the three together. Truthfully, Iida and Midoriya seemed more likely to get along together than Todoroki did with either of the other two. 

But watching both boys across from her beam at the mention of their friend gave Uraraka all that she needed to know about their dynamic— Somehow, the three of them really did get along well together. 

“—Normally, Todoroki-kun would join us for lunch,” Midoriya explains, taking another hearty bite of his food. “Though, it seemed like he had other obligations today.” 

“Other obligations?” She asks, looking at the other two curiously. 

“That boy,” Iida chides, crossing his arms disapprovingly. “All he ever eats is Zaru Soba— to think he’d skip lunch just because the cafeteria is serving Oyakodon instead…” 

Uraraka can’t help but stifle her laughter at Iida’s mother-like remark. 

“Well, to Todoroki-kun’s credit,” Midoriya chuckles— keen on defending the honour of his friend, it seemed. “I’m sure It also had something to do with him needing to speak to Mic-sensei.” 

“Though, it’s true that Todoroki-kun has a bit of a childish streak.” The boy tacks on near the end— returning his now empty bowl of rice to its respective tray. 

Iida’s chuckle from next to him seems to confirm Midoriya’s claim— further cementing her surprise. 

“I suppose that’s true, He does get awfully pouty over the silliest of things— like the vending machine being out of the milk he likes to drink, for example.”

“Ah, that’s right…!”  Midoriya affirms, “He totally makes a face doesn’t he? He doesn’t say anything, but I can tell he gets depressed just from that.” 

The sharing of anecdotes continues for some time— and at some point Uraraka finds it hard to follow along, especially at the mention of a ‘ Hand Crusher’ (whatever that might be). However, from the sound of it, the notion that Todoroki had a childish side to him had to hold at least some truth— if she were to believe the things being told to her by the two boys, that is. 

“Wow,” She balks disbelievingly, earning her a glance from her two friends. “I had no idea...” 

Though Uraraka was beginning to realize that there were a lot of things she didn’t know about her classmate. 

Lowering her gaze to the rice filled bowl in front of her, she wondered if maybe she was the only one who had jumped to false pretenses with regards to their duel quirked classmate. 

“—It’s a bit unexpected, is it not?” Iida pries. 

“Hm?” 

“That Todoroki-kun can be somewhat childish,” The tallest among them clarifies, a gentle smile in tow. “It’s a stark contrast to how he usually is, wouldn’t you say?” 

“Yeah,” She nods, confirming Iida’s inquiry— somewhat relieved to hear she hadn’t been the only one to think so. “But I guess I wouldn’t know either way...”

She’d never thought to seek out the other boy purely due to her own inhibitions. Todoroki just seemed otherworldly— someone who couldn’t be bothered to trifle with the likes of a commoner such as herself. Sure, He wasn’t haughty in the way that Bakugou was, or openly eccentric as Yaoyorozu proved to be at times— but nonetheless, Todoroki was still a Todoroki. The son of Number 1 Hero, Endeavor . That in itself made him incredibly daunting.

In any case however, she’s always been at least a little curious about the boy— and obviously, recent events have even furthered that curiosity. Yet, she’s beginning to wonder if asking around about him instead of getting to know the other directly was cowardly, and unfair to the boy in question. 

“Todoroki-kun and I haven’t gotten the chance to really hang out, I guess...” she trails off, suddenly stricken by her guilty conscience. 

At this point, Uraraka can feel both sets of eyes on her—  she wonders if perhaps the other two sensed the sudden change in her demeanor. 

“—He’s always felt a little out of reach, y’know?” She admits, a flimsy smile in tow. 

Perhaps that’s why she had reluctantly complied with Ashido's pleas to gauge more information about the origins of the letter they’d found. Todoroki was always somewhat of an enigma and up until this point she’s never made an effort to get to know him better— not in any way that mattered anyway.

Not when everything Uraraka thought she knew about the boy has since proven to be based on a shallow understanding of him.

“I can understand that,” Midoriya says, his tone partially muted— almost reflective. though, he smiles all the same. “Todoroki-kun… He can be kind of hard to get close to.”

Iida seems to bristle at the other boy's words; his face schooling itself into an expression of thought— Yet, Uraraka can’t help but feel as though it was one of mutual understanding. 

“I mean, It wasn’t all that easy for me to get to know him— In fact, I kinda thought he hated my guts at first…”

Uraraka mused the thought; recalling the demonor in which Todoroki had carried himself near the beginning of the year. The words ‘ cold’ and ‘intense’ came to mind— there were times that his dual coloured eyes looked like glass beads, looking nowhere in particular but dull all the same. 

“Back then, well... I guess I kind of put him on a pedestal.” He admits, scratching the side of his face in a way that showed regret. “I figured that he wouldn’t give a nobody like me the time of day— y’know, with him being a natural prodigy and all that stuff.” 

Midoriya breathes a contemplative sigh; looking as if he only wanted to scratch the surface of what he was really trying to say. 

“I guess It was for that reason that I kinda made some assumptions about him. Though, I’ve long since realized that that was unfair to him… Especially, when I’ve come to learn that he really is just a kid— one not much different from you and I.” 

Uraraka straightens in her seat; watching as a bright smile spreads to the freckled boy’s cheeks. 

“Plus, It’s just like Iida-kun had said earlier— Todoroki-kun may seem a certain way, but he’s not nearly as intimidating as he might seem.” He assures, his kind green eyes shining. “I think you’d be surprised by how easy he is to talk to…!” 

There’s a poignant moment of silence that draws into the air with the absence of Midoriya’s zealous tone. Both Iida and Uraraka blink in his direction, which in turn causes an influx of blood to rush to the aforementioned boy's face. 

“Ah, My bad…!” Midoriya spouts, clasping his mouth shut in an exaggerated movement. “I didn’t mean to ramble…!” 

Uraraka can’t help but chuckle at Midoriya’s modest nature— It seemed the boy hadn’t caught on to the fact that the two of his friends were rendered speechless due to the sheer amount of light he radiated when he spoke. 

‘The power of words certainly isn’t something to be reckoned with…’ She thinks absent mindedly. 

“Hm, I think Midoriya-kun put it extremely well,” Iida hums knowingly, nodding in the other boy’s direction. “Todoroki-kun might not be the type to often share what’s on his mind, but I assure you that his actions speak volumes to who he is as a person— and as a Hero to boot…!”

“Try spending some time with him,” the tallest of the three says in a much more grounded way, his eyes shining through his glasses. “You’ll see for yourself what kind of person he is.” 

In her seat across from the two boys, Uraraka’s feelings of guilt had been cemented, yet she couldn’t find it in herself to mope. Perhaps she too had fallen into the habit of making idle assumptions about Todoroki— but she had every intention of making it right. 

“Okay,” She says, wielding a quiet smile. “I’ll do my best to get to know him better then.” 

From across the table, Both Iida and Midoriya practically beam at her— clearly happy to hear that they had represented their friend well. Uraraka can’t help but giggle at their unconcealed satisfaction. 

“In any case,” she says, watching the boys perk up at her words. “It seems to me that Todoroki-kun has made some pretty amazing friends.”

Perhaps she hardly knew Todoroki, but at the very least that much was clear.

“I-I wouldn’t go as far as to describe us as amazing,” Iida staggers, adjusting his glasses in an effort to hide the pink sheen of his cheeks. “It’s only natural that we’d only have good things to say about Todoroki-kun…!” 

“That’s right!” Midoriya exclaims, his face tinted a bright red. “We’re normal— completely normal...!” 

‘Dummies…’ Uraraka thinks sweetly to herself— to think that she had almost forgotten just how cute these two goofballs could be. She makes a mental note to eat lunch with them more often. 

“But, come to think of it,” Iida says, swiftly changing the subject. “You seem awfully curious about Todoroki-kun today, Uraraka-san.” 

“Eh—?” Uraraka draws out a noise of surprise— her face heating at the thought of her being caught. It seems as though it’s her turn to be embarrassed.  “I’m not really sure what gave you that idea…!” 

“Oh, was I mistaken?” Iida inquires, noticing the over the top reaction— Midoriya from next to him seems curious as well. “I just figured that there must be a reason, is all.” 

“There’s no special reason or anything like that,” she assures the two— waving off the notion. “I just felt that I should make an effort to get to know all my classmates… is that wrong of me?” 

Her question seems to take a moment to register, but before she knows it, good natured laughter fills the vicinity.

“No, not in the slightest,” Iida chimes, “In fact, I’d say it’s rather admirable of you.” 

Midoriya makes a noise in agreement, nodding along eagerly. 

‘It’s not as admirable as you might think…’ she thinks, her heart squeezing. Though she supposes that even if the letter she’d found had piqued her interest regarding her classmate, her heart was now in the right place. 

She’d get to know Todoroki better and return the letter back to him. It was only right that she saw through to that. 

The only question was… How?

“A soba restaurant?” Todoroki asks, sounding somewhat confused in his delivery of the question.

Though, Uraraka figured that it was inevitable that her request would be met with confusion. 

It was fortunate that she had been able to catch up to Todoroki after class right before he’d made his departure back to the dorms. She’d caught him alone— which was a rare and lucky occurrence in and of itself these days. Perhaps that’s what had caused her to forgo the level headed-ness she’d planned to have when she played out the events in her head that afternoon in class. 

Evidently, she took a much more direct course of action when it came time— which admittedly, wasn’t her best move considering she just about blurted out the proposition to Todoroki as soon as they both turned the corner of the building. It was only natural that such an action would be greeted with scepticism. 

“That’s right…!” The girl nods fervently, feeling her brow becoming sweatier by the second. “One just opened up near U.A’s campus…and well, Deku-kun mentioned you really liked Zaru Soba so…”

“Oh,” the other boy says, his expression unchanging—Uraraka pales at the indifferent response. 

She was expecting their interaction to go somewhat similarly to this— awkward in every possible definition of the word— but nothing quite to this caliber of uncomfortable. 

She really did wish that Todoroki would make it a little easier on her.

“Do you not want to…?” Uraraka asks in the drawn out silence— trying to gauge Todoroki’s feelings on the matter. 

“That’s not it,” he says, adjusting the strap on his shoulder, hiking up his book bag. “I just figured you’d want to go with Midoriya or Iida instead— you guys are friends right?”

She staggers at his words— knowing all too well that his assumption was not without some merit. It must be weird for him to be asked to hang out out of the blue, especially when the two of them have never done so before… not without the company of Midoriya and Iida, that is.

“That’s right,” She affirms, scratching at the back of her neck anxiously. “I mean— of course I would ask them but well… they just seem so busy recently, I wouldn’t wanna be a bother.” 

Todoroki continues to stare back as though he isn’t convinced, which isn’t something can find fault in… Seeing that their class wasn’t particularly busy nowadays— especially since exams had just recently passed.

 It didn’t take a genius to see through her terrible excuse. 

“—And well,” She starts, in hopes of finding something better to say. “We’re friends too, aren’t we?”

To her shock, her statement seemed to strike a chord within Todoroki. His typical stoic expression distorted into what Uraraka could only guess was surprise… Well, with his eyebrows jumping and his eyes widening ever so slightly, she assumed that the word ‘surprised’ just about covered it— Then again, it was Todoroki she was talking about here, and even his most expressive faces were tough to gauge.  

“Ah... right.” The boy says eventually, his eyes lingering to the side— If Uraraka didn’t know any better she’d say he looked sort of bashful. 

“—So, it would just be you and I then?” he then asks, any traces of his earlier emotion gone.

“Uh-huh!” she hums eagerly— happy now that it seemed things were beginning to go smoothly. “It’ll be just you and me!”

There’s a beat of silence that drags out momentarily between the two of them where she’s left smiling thoughtlessly at the other boy, all while Todoroki blinks back at her characteristically. It's only seconds later where Uraraka’s brain catches up to the words that had fallen out of her mouth just moments before— And suddenly, she’s mortified by the implication behind them. 

“Ah—! Oh my gosh, Not like that—” She sputters, both her hands waving at the air vehemently— her face heating in the process. “Not like— y’know….! Since we’re friends and all! Just really good friends...!” 

Uraraka was starting to regret having asked the question in the first place.

Maybe just handing Todoroki his letter back right here and now would have saved her the embarrassment of… whatever charade she just put on in front of her classmate. Though she supposes doing something like that would defeat the whole purpose of why she set out to do it in the first place. 

“Alright,” Todoroki says simply, almost like he hadn’t even considered the possibility of their excursion being a date. 

‘ Come to think of it… ’ The girl contemplates. If it really was true that Todoroki is happily in a relationship, Uraraka does suppose it could be possible that his mind wouldn’t immediately jump there. 

Though, she does recall a comment Jirou had once made in the past about Todoroki being unassumingly dense... surely, this couldn’t be an example of such a trait, right? 

“It sounds like fun,” A low voice says then, breaking Uraraka from her train of thought.

Just as Uraraka feels as though she might have heard wrong, Todoroki’s dual coloured eyes meet her own. The girl can’t help but stare a little when she notices the corners of his lips have carved upward into a soft smile. 

She realizes belatedly that she’s never seen such a warm expression from her classmate— and with that thought in mind another isn’t late to follow...

‘You should make that expression a lot more, y’know…’ 

It isn’t long before the two of them begin to exchange contact info, and by that point the awkwardness from earlier seems to dissipate into the afternoon air. 

When Todoroki eventually turns to leave, Uraraka can’t help but notice his book bag cooly slung over his shoulder. Particularly, the emblem embedded in the fabric of its bottom right corner— a devilishly cute looking cat icon , the very same one from the letter she’d found. 

‘ So it really is Todoroki-kun’s letter after all...” She thinks, as if she needed any more proof of that. 

“I was expecting this with what Deku-kun had said but…” Uraraka trails off, looking owlishly at the two toned boy sitting across from her. “You really like Soba, huh Todoroki-kun?” 

From the otherside of the booth, her classmate sat with a nearly empty tray— an impressive feat considering the food had only arrived a couple of minutes prior. Uraraka, on the other hand, had barely made any strides in finishing the food of her own. 

“Hm,” Todoroki affirms, slurping away at the remaining noodles in his dish. “I’sh my favorite.” 

‘ I can see that,’ Uraraka thinks, but she holds back the teasing remark. 

“Your hair is in your face y’know,” She giggles instead, gesturing to the red fringe of his hair falling in his eyes. 

“Ah,” Her classmate says simply, making quick work of brushing the hair out of his face and behind his ear— attention still wholeheartedly devoted to his meal. 

She stifles a chuckle at the oddly earnest expression the boy was wielding even with his mouth full. Uraraka was beginning to understand what both Midoriya and Iida had been chatting about earlier— about how Todoroki had child-like tendencies. It was sort of weird to see him in such a new light, but in an endearing sort of way. 

‘It’s like having a little brother…’ Uraraka surmises, smiling down at her freshly arranged bowl of Soba. 

“Do you not like the food?” The boy asks out of the blue, his head tilting to the side ever so slightly— eyes blinking in a cat-like fashion. 

“Of course I do,” The girl sputters, shoveling some cold noodles in her mouth in hopes of proving her statement. “It’s super delicious…!”

Todoroki’s expression doesn’t change much (it never really does), but somehow Uraraka could tell that he had relaxed some.

“That’s good,” He says placidly, his tone not matching his words— though, she supposes that Todoroki wasn’t one to speak with much enthusiasm. 

“Midoriya told me once that you prefer sweet things, so I wasn’t sure if you’d like the food. ” The boy goes on to explain. “Though, I guess you had to have liked Soba for you to have invited me in the first place.” 

Uraraka couldn’t help but feel sort of touched (and some part surprised) at Todoroki’s consideration regarding her tastes. The feeling, while comforting, also resurfaced some guilt from within her. 

Truthfully, she wasn’t the biggest fan of Zaru Soba. The dish has always been a bit too bland for her taste. However, it was much too late for her to confess something like that— considering that her invitation banked on the both of them sharing an appreciation of the food.

“That’s right,” Uraraka chuckles, scratching at the side of her face self-consciously. “Sweets are great, but you can’t go wrong with noodles…!” 

Her comment earns her a nod from the other, leaving her pleased with the reaction.

“I guess it’s something you usually eat in hot weather though, right?” 

“Hm, I suppose that’s true,” The other contemplates. “But I still like to eat it whenever I can.”

“You like it that much, huh?” She pries.  

Todoroki only nods at her statement, then looks reflectively back at his bowl. Uraraka watches the action curiously. 

“My mother used to make it for me when I was little,” The boy says, and for a second, any trace of that childish spirit from earlier seemed to take the back seat. Though, Uraraka couldn’t wrap her head around why.

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” She says in spite of her confusion. “I’m sure she’s a great cook!” 

The comment seems to return the muted jovial expression to Todoroki’s face, as he blooms a small smile at her words. Uraraka almost bristles at the sight— she’s nowhere near used to being on the receiving end of a smile from the typically stoic boy. 

“Yeah,” He says after a moment, promptly returning his gaze back to his food. “She was.” 

‘Huh...?’ The girl thinks, considering his choice of words. ‘Was…?’

Uraraka’s chopsticks are still in her hand as she looks up at the other boy— almost as if she were hoping to find an explanation. Instead though, Todoroki’s attention is still engrossed in his meal, as if he hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary. 

‘Maybe he misspoke then…’ She supposes, chalking up the word to be a mistake, rather than anything truly telling. 

After all, something like losing a mother… Surely Uraraka would know something that big about a classmate, wouldn’t she? 

Somehow that thought didn’t satiate the now growing anxiety she felt trickling up her spine— not when there was already so much she had been left in the dark about with regards to the personal life of her classmate. Todoroki’s mother could very well be light years away or stationed out on the moon for all that she knew. 

That notion becomes even more clear as their lunch together continues— and Uraraka comes to terms with just how much she had wrongfully assumed about her classmate. 

Because, as it turns out, there are indeed many things she hadn’t known about Todoroki. Things like how he’s actually the youngest of a whopping three older siblings. Things like how he enjoys borrowing Manga from Sero, or looking through the vast expanse of All Might merchandise Midoriya collects. All things that painted an entirely different picture of a person— one she hadn’t yet been able to formally acquaint herself with. 

It was shocking to say the least— having the image she curated of Todoroki: the strongest, coolest, most promising student in their class , shattered over the course of one meal. In hindsight, it all felt so silly. She understood well now, all the things both Iida and Midoriya had eagerly tried to convince her of. Of how Todoroki was a kid not so different from herself... one who earnestly devours one bowl of Soba after another, or needs to have the punchlines of jokes explained to him so that he can understand properly. 

With this revelation, Todoroki no longer seemed like an all powerful deity— but instead, human. 

It’s only after Uraraka had come to that conclusion where she feels herself clutching her bag— feeling as though she was ready to reveal her true intentions in inviting to the other.

‘Here it goes,’ She thinks, bracing herself for the events yet to ensue— reaching for the letter that was sitting comfortably at the bottom of her purse. 

“To—” She begins, but is cut off before she can even utter the boy's name. 

“I feel that I should apologize…” a deep voice says to Uraraka’s sheer surprise. The admission is enough to slow the hand reaching for the letter. 

When looking to the other, Uraraka finds that Todoroki seems hesitant— a show of emotion she didn’t often see from her classmate. Of course (like always), his expression does not differ much from usual, but the boy’s head is tilted downward in a somewhat guilty display. 

“What would you need to apologize for?” The girl asks eagerly, trying to hold back the exacerbated tone to her voice. 

“My reaction to your invitation,” Todoroki explains, his voice low and calculated. “It was rude of me to assume we weren’t friends.” 

Uraraka could only stare widely from across the table. She felt as though she lost the ability to articulate words to say with the information being brought to light.

‘Had this been weighing on his mind…?’ is her first immediate thought after recovering. 

“We don’t typically spend time together outside of when Iida or Midoriya are around so I figured it would be out of the ordinary to consider you one,” Todoroki admits, his expression stiff. “So when you approached me— I guess I was a little surprised, but I was flattered to hear you thought of me as such.” 

The boy glances at a waiter passing their table, eyes straying from hers momentarily— but he continues all the same. 

“That’s when I remembered something Bakugou had said to me during our remedial training— about how ‘friendship isn’t relative to time spent together’...” Uraraka bristles at the mention of their angry classmate, surprised to hear that his words (of all people) had clearly made an impression on Todoroki. “That had me thinking that I had been rude in not considering your feelings. I wanted to apologize for that.” 

There were just about a million things on her mind, but Uraraka could only feel guilt seeping into her consciousness as she sat across the other side of the table.

Despite the words shared by the other, Uraraka was the one who felt as though she hadn’t fully considered the feelings of Todoroki: Her friend.

Up until this point, her affiliation to the boy wasn’t something she’d thought hard on. If one were to ask she’d say that the two of them were classmates— though that isn’t to say that she never considered him a friend. All of the students in class 1-A were her friends to a certain degree, even Mineta. Both she and Todoroki just weren’t the kind of friends who… hung out, so to speak. 

Asking Todoroki to do something with her outside of school was just as jarring for her, as it must have been for him. So to think that he’s been beating down on himself for not realizing they were friends sooner… when really Uraraka had only just come to the conclusion recently…? It was enough to set her straight immediately. 

She had to come clean. 

‘Well, now is as good a time as any…’ Uraraka thinks morbidly, clutching the purse in her lap. 

“I’m the one who should be apologizing,” the girl confesses, her gaze lingering to the left of her, unable to meet Todoroki’s heterochromic eyes. 

Her classmate makes a low sound of inquiry as she sifts through her bag, seeking out the item that started this whole mess in the first place— The blasted letter. 

“The truth is...” She starts, placing the letter atop the table with care— sliding it over to the other boy who overlooked the scene with blatant confusion. “I wanted to return this to you…”

Uraraka watched trepidly as Todoroki picked up the letter, and examined it for himself. She searched for something in his expression, but unsurprisingly found nothing out of the ordinary— aside from the raise of his brow. 

“The girls and I… we found it lying on the floor in the common room,” She continues, her tone solemn. “We— um, weren’t sure whose it was and well… we took a look inside hoping that maybe the person who had written it signed their name…” 

“And... I guess that maybe our curiosity had gotten the better of us, and we ended up reading the contents…” She admits, feeling more shameful as she continues to speak— ears growing redder by the second. “I had hoped to formally apologize when I invited you here today, I figured it was only right that you’d be given back what was originally yours.” 

“I’m really, terribly sorry, Todoroki-kun…!” Uraraka finally spouts, bowing her head deeply. 

A moment of silence drags on, and with each passing second Uraraka feels her face heat more and more. She didn’t have the heart to lift her head, even when she could feel the gaze of other patrons in the restaurant straying towards her due to the extravagant gesture. 

“There’s no need for such a grand apology,” A deep voice says eventually. Uraraka jolts at the words directed at her, and sneaks a glance at the boy from in between her brown streaks of hair. 

She’s surprised to find that Todoroki didn’t seem angry, nor irked by the news. If anything he looked like he might have been a little caught off guard, which was usually unheard of when it came to the boy. Seeing such a sight on any other occasion might have been interesting at best, but all Uraraka could feel at the moment was embarrassment coursing through her veins. 

“Uraraka,” The same even keeled voice says, “Could you please lift your head?” 

In response to that she adjusts her position accordingly, and directs her gaze toward her friend. The look on Todoroki’s face still has yet to contort into anything resembling anger, and somehow that seems to quell the rapid beating of her heart. 

Uraraka had been surprised more times than she can count in these past 24 hours alone, and yet, the extent of which Todoroki could hold such a placid expression still amazes her. 

“It’s only a letter,” The boy says matter of factly, as if this whole situation wasn’t a discretion against him. “It’s not a big deal.” 

“Are you sure…?” The girl pries, taken aback by his indifference. Uraraka didn’t know what she’d expected his reaction to be but she supposed that he’d be at least a little upset with how his privacy had been breached— by his classmates no less. 

 “You can be upset, y’know…!” She reasons. 

“While I can’t say I’m pleased knowing you all read the things I wrote— I’m still partly at fault for being careless and leaving it out in the open.” He explains methodically, head tilting to the side as he thought aloud. “I don’t see how I could blame anyone for opening it considering that fact.”   

‘Always so logical…’ She thinks, staring owlishly at the other. While she could understand Todoroki’s line of reasoning, deep down she knew that both herself and the rest of the girls still harboured at least some of the blame. After all, they could have just turned the envelope into the lost and found— maybe if that had happened she wouldn’t be in this whole mess. 

Then again, if such a thing did occur… would she ever have given herself the chance to get to know Todoroki better? Considering that fact, perhaps opening the letter wasn’t such a bad thing after all. 

“Maybe that’s true, but even so… I shouldn’t have waited so long to return it to you.” She says, imploring the boy to understand. 

“I noticed I misplaced it so I ended up writing a new one,” He explains. “It all worked out in the end so I don’t see a problem.” 

Floored by Todoroki’s forgiving nature, Uraraka is rendered speechless. Surely, she had expected something a little more intense considering that she was speaking with the son of Number 1 Hero: Endeavor —who was known for his temper. Though, the pair of Todoroki’s already differed so much, so it wouldn’t surprise her if their dispositions didn’t align either. 

‘ Still…!’ The girl thinks rather intensely. If something of the same nature had happened to her, Uraraka would be fuming from embarrassment— and that of course would churn itself into anger depending on who had crossed her in such a way. 

‘ I guess things like this just don’t bother, Todoroki-kun…’ she reasons, coming to another understanding.  

“The letter wasn’t particularly special anyway, I write one every week.” Todoroki adds, referencing his point from earlier.

Uraraka’s ears perk at the information being given to her suddenly— forgetting her trail of thought from earlier. 

“Every week?” She asks, impressed by her classmate's dedication. She thinks back to what Jirou had said about Todoroki being head over heels for the letter’s recipient and wonders if she had been right in saying so.  

“Isn’t that hard on you? 

“No,” He says simply, bringing forth his tea so that he could take a sip. “My mother often tells me not to strain myself in writing them, but I enjoy it.” 

“Your mother?” Uraraka asks, surprised at the mention of her— and at least some part confused as to what this had to do with her. 

“Mn,” Todoroki confirms with a hum, setting his cup down gently. “That’s who the letter is for.”

At that moment, Uraraka was only grateful she too hadn’t chosen to take a sip of her tea— because if she had, surely she would have spit it out in display of her surprise. 

“Your...” she trips over her words, head still spinning. “The letter... It’s for your mom?” 

She watches as Todoroki nods cooly in confirmation, looking in no way aware of her own declining mental state.  

‘ Of course,’ Uraraka thinks, resisting the urge to slap herself. Even with what little she knew about the boy, she’d known from the start that Todoroki had little interest in things like Romance. Despite that, she’d let the other girls string her along in believing otherwise— so much so that Uraraka hadn’t even considered the possibility of it being his mother that Todoroki was writing to. 

It was a fitting explanation— and one surprisingly more innocent than any of the other girls had anticipated.   

“Are you alright?” Todoroki asks, his head tilting to the side. Uraraka wonders absentmindedly if she’d done a poor job at hiding her blatant shock. 

“Yes, sorry— Everything is fine,” Uraraka assures, collecting herself once again. 

The weight of Todoroki’s curious gaze urges her to continue despite her reluctance to explain herself. 

“It’s a little embarrassing to admit now but… I guess most of us assumed you were writing to a girl.” She chuckles, scratching the side of her cheek sheepishly. 

“Why would I write a letter to a girl?” Todoroki asks genuinely, and Uraraka wonders how she or anyone else ever thought the boy capable enough to pursue romance when it was clear that he has yet to even comprehend it. 

‘We really got ahead of ourselves’ She thinks stupidly, cringing inwardly at her own foolishness. 

“It’s silly, I know,” Uraraka jokes lightly in spite of the mantra playing in her head. “But it’s really sweet of you— to write your mom a formal letter, that is. Usually I just send my mom a text or something like that.” 

“Texting is convenient,” He confirms, nodding to her statement. “Unfortunately, cell phones aren’t permitted at the hospital though.” 

“Ah, that’s right— they can interfere with the equipment can’t they?” She says, though she can’t deny her confusion. “Is your mother a nurse?” 

“No, she’s not,” Todoroki says thoughtfully, and Uraraka isn’t too sure she likes the absent look in his eyes. “She’s a patient there.”

When the information clicked she felt as though her growing spirit from earlier sank back down into her stomach. ‘ So there was something amiss after all…’ Uraraka thinks grimly, recalling Todoroki’s choice in using ‘was’ instead of ‘is’ with regards to his mother’s skill in cooking. 

Then her mind flies back to parents day, and the young woman who’d shown up to film Todoroki as he presented his letter of gratitude to the class. Uraraka remembers thinking the woman looked much too young to be the mother of a teenager. Reflecting back on that now, she realizes that that must have been his eldest sister who had come in lieu of his parents. 

‘ So his mother has been hospitalized since before then…’  

“... I’m sorry to hear that,” She says, unable to think of anything else to say to express her condolences. “...Is she sick?” 

“No,” Todoroki says, almost automatically— only to recall his answer shortly after. “ I mean, she is... just not um—”

Uraraka tilts her head slightly, trying to understand what it was that her friend was trying to say. She felt her heart pang at seeing Todoroki struggle to explain his mother’s situation— it was a bit unnerving hearing him sound jumbled.

“She’s a psychiatric patient.” He says, leaving it at that. 

Uraraka senses that Todoroki’s unwillingness to explain any further meant that there was a lot more to the story, yet she knew not to pry any more than she had already. By that answer alone, She understood well enough to know the implication behind the words said— and the state of Todoroki’s mothers condition. 

“I see,” She says, in lieu of the questions bubbling in her mind. “...I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be,” He tells her, eyes wandering to the nearest table where a mother and child sat. “She’s been doing better recently— My sister says that there’s a chance she’ll be released soon.” 

Uraraka recalls the mention of living arrangements in the letter— and how by the sound of it, Todoroki seemed happy at the thought of sharing the same roof as his mother. The girl couldn’t help but wonder how long it was that her friend was estranged from his mother. She didn’t dare to ask in fear of overstepping, yet somehow she felt as though it’s been a long time— longer than any child ought to be away from their mother. 

“That’s wonderful,” She says, smiling to the best of her ability— an effort to lighten the mood. “Maybe when that happens, you could ask her to make soba again for you...?” 

“Mn,” He hums, a ghost of a smile present on his face. “I’ll have to have her teach it to me too.” 

She allows herself to chuckle at the idea— knowing all too well that the last time Todoroki had attempted to cook something, the dorms nearly went up in flames. Ever since then Bakugo hasn’t so much as let him set foot into the kitchen. 

Todoroki smiles too, she wonders then if that had been his attempt at a joke. Either way, the look on his face could only be described as endearing. 

However, just like that the warm expression is gone and replaced by furrowing brows, and a face scrunched ever so slightly in a familiar tense expression. On any other day Uraraka would interpret such a face to be something akin to displeasure or annoyance, yet knowing better now, she braced herself for another one of Todoroki’s often clueless inquiries. 

“...You said earlier that you brought me here so that you could return the letter, right?”

Uraraka nods, though she can’t say she’s entirely sure where the boy was going with his question.  

Her confirmation seems to strike a chord of some sort, as Todoroki’s shoulders seem to sag if only a little bit more than earlier. 

“Then,” He begins, his expression softening only slightly. “...It wasn’t because we’re friends?” 

Uraraka feels her heart squeeze at the remark, overwhelmed by the fact that, yes. A high school boy just directed such an innocent question her way. And yes. That high school boy happened to be the stoic and cool Todoroki-kun , who (for some reason or another) seemed to concern himself with the criteria that surrounds friendship much like an elementary schooler would. And yes. She’d be lying in saying that wasn’t undeniably cute. 

“Of course we’re friends…!” She assures him, watching as his muted expression seems to brighten. “I wouldn’t say we were if I didn’t mean it…!” 

“I see,” He says, though his expression still betrays little of his emotion, Uraraka felt that he seemed relieved— if that almost sheepish smile was anything to go by.  

‘Dummy…’ She thinks sweetly, similarly to how she often reacts to both Iida and Midoriya’s eccentricities.  

It was now easy to understand why the three Heroes in training got along so well. After all, Todoroki has proven to be a huge dork too— one who cherishes his friends above anything else. 

“You…” Ashido stammers, looking as if she’d seen a ghost. “You said the letter was for who…?” 

Uraraka once again found herself sitting down with the girls, all of whom had gathered to have tea together in the common room like they had only a couple days prior. However, this time Uraraka felt as though her patience for shenanigans wore thin. 

“His mother,” She repeats lowly, choosing then to take a long sip of her tea, in hopes of avoiding the topic. 

“His mother…!?” A sea of voices repeated, and to a certain extent Uraraka couldn’t blame them for their shock. 

However, as the girl recalled her earlier conversation with Todoroki she knew not to let herself get sucked into the petty gossip. After all, this was her friend she was talking about here… and Todoroki himself didn’t seem keen on sharing much information regarding his mother. With that in mind, Uraraka felt that it was only in good faith of her to respect his privacy. 

“Yes, but it’s like I said earlier— from what I gathered it sounded like a sensitive subject so please don’t press me with any more questions.” Uraraka asserted politely. 

Upon her request, the girls quickly compose themselves, poignantly leaning back into their seats. Uraraka relaxed at the sight, knowing deep down that her friends were kind and would never want to make anyone uncomfortable— even if it meant forgoing their curiosity. 

Perhaps they too had also suspected something being amiss with regards to whatever that ‘sensitive subject’ entailed— if Uraraka wasn’t mistaken in noticing their disquieted expressions. It was clear then that the girls wouldn’t press any further, having known that they’d be crossing a line if they did. 

“I mean, that sort of makes way more sense, don’t you think?” Jirou speaks first, earning her a glance from all the others. The girl's expression looks fond. “Kaminari and Kirishima both said it themselves— Todoroki’s not the type to even engage in talks about girls. Knowing that, It was pretty presumptuous of us to assume he’d been writing to a girlfriend of all people.” 

“Gah—” Ashido whines, sinking low into her chair. “You’re right… We definitely got ahead of ourselves, didn’t we?” 

“Hm,” Yaoyorozu agrees, tilting her head in a show of guilt. “It seems so silly now… but I never would have guessed Todoroki-san would be—” 

“Such a Mama’s boy?” Jirou teases in an effort to bring up the mood. 

“—Writing to his mother…!” Yaoyorozu quickly finishes, her face flushing as she gives the shorter girl a pointed look. “That’s what I was going to say…” 

“Hey, I'm not trying to poke fun,” The girl says genuinely.

“... Just saying It’s cute,” she then admits, in a manner that could be described as shy. “...That he writes his mom letters, I mean.” 

Hearing Jirou of all people admit something like that wasn’t a frequent occurrence, Uraraka knows. The punk girl is often tough on all the guys in the class, hardly ever admitting their good points— so hearing her say such a thing about Todoroki seems to highlight the statement. 

“A cool guy with a cute side…” Hagekure muses the thought aloud. “Isn’t that the ideal type?” 

“Not when the guy in question is as dense as a sack of bricks—“ Jirou quips, using sarcasm to negate her nice comment from earlier. 

“There are nicer ways to say that,” Ashido pouts cutely, nudging the girl lightly with her elbow. “And as far as I’m concerned, Todoroki-kun’s air-headed tendencies just make him more appealing.” 

“It’s the Tennen* appeal…!” Hagekure declares, clasping her gloved hands. “Both he and Hado-sempai have that in common!” 

“Geez, Do you keep an index on every attractive air-head in U.A or what?” 

Uraraka listens to the ensuing discussion with half an ear, finding herself relieved that things were seemingly back to the way they usually were— sans all the gossip about boys that tended to make her skin crawl with anxiety. She prefered it best when her friends were rowdy like this, in any case. 

As the girl adjusts the posture of her neck, she can’t help but notice Asui listening to her friends just the same as Uraraka had— with a pleasant smile present on her face. 

“Come to think of it,” Uraraka turns to the girl, gaining her attention even over the loud voices of the others. “You didn’t seem all too surprised by everything, Tsu-chan.” 

Asui’s smile grows as she sets down her teacup gently— placing her index finger to her bottom lip in an expression of thought. 

“Hm, I suppose that’s because I had figured that Todoroki-chan was writing to his mother is all— Kero.” The frog-like girl says, shutting her eyes sweetly. 

“Really...?!” Uraraka asks her urgently, surprised to hear her friend had known long before she did. Though, she does suppose the Asui had been rather quiet when the girls were first discussing the letter— maybe this would explain the reason why.  “How did you know?” 

“I can’t say I knew for sure,” Asui explains methodically, “But I suspected it had to be a family member seeing that Todoroki-chan had mentioned his friends quite frequently in his letter— normally gushing about friends is not something you’d discuss with a girlfriend, Kero.” 

“Ah— I guess you’re right,” Uraraka chuckles, thinking back to what was actually written in the letter. Todoroki had mentioned Iida and Midoriya pretty often— detailing his time spent with them. If the girl remembers correctly, she could have sworn that Bakugo’s name had even come up at least once. 

“If that was the case, why didn’t you say anything sooner…?” She then goes on to ask, her expression pleading. Maybe if Asui had spilled the beans back then, she would have been saved from the embarrassment of making a fool of herself in front of Todoroki. 

“Todoroki-chan is a private person.” The girl says knowingly, and her smile fond.  “Even if he seems to be opening up to the class bit by bit, There are still things he’d naturally want to keep to himself— it’s for that reason I didn’t say anything.” 

Uraraka thinks back to the things Todoroki has shared with her over lunch— and then the things Todoroki didn’t share. It was clear what Asui meant. Everyone had things they’d rather keep private, and Todoroki was no exception. 

For not the first time Uraraka marvels Asui’s maturity for not falling victim to her own curiosity. 

“Besides,” The girl begins, closing her eyes sweetly with a smile. “I wouldn’t want to spread rumors based on a hunch, Kero.” 

While her friends blunt way of saying things was always without malice, Uraraka couldn’t deny the sting such words sent to her conscience.

“As always… you’re right Tsu-chan,” the girl says, hanging her head with shame, feeling the weight of her friend's kind smile bearing down on her.  “Though, I hadn’t realized you understood Todoroki-kun so well.” 

“Hmn,” Asui hums, as if she hadn’t considered that before. “I wouldn’t say I understand him all that well— I’m just used to reasoning the thoughts of my younger siblings is all, Kero.” 

“Does that help with intuition?” Uraraka inquires. 

“I suppose that’s one way to put it,” Her friend says warmly. “But in the case of Todoroki-chan— I’d say he’s much easier to read than one might think.” 

Uraraka considers the words of the other girl carefully, thinking back to the curated placid expressions made by Todoroki during their outing together— and then the quiet, genial smiling expression she’d never had the pleasure of noticing until she’d had the opportunity to get closer to him.

She realizes then that Asui was right.

At first glance Todoroki didn’t seem to outwardly express himself, but Uraraka had seen it herself today— the small movements and gestures that the boy made that gave way to emotion. The way he’d scratch his cheek awkwardly when feeling shy, or furrowed his brow when determined.  

With that in mind… Perhaps Todoroki wasn’t as stoic as everyone made him out to be… maybe, just maybe , people didn’t look deep enough to find the softness that lay underneath the hard stares and glares they’d associate the boy with. 

Perhaps if they had, They’d see Todoroki for who he really was— Not the talented, genius son of Endeavor, but the awkward, Soba addict who cares an awful lot for his friends. 

“Yeah,” Uraraka says, mirroring her friend's warm expression. “You’re probably right.”