fate , todoroki

always

"ugh, denki! you lazy ass!" y/n grumbled to herself as she dragged her feet to the nearby convenience store. actually, if someone were to look at her, they'd think she was the lazy one.

she was headed out in pyjamas, her nail polish that she'd painted since the party was peeling, and her hair was messy and unkempt. this was all denki's fault, really—he asked her to get both of them ramen and popcorn right before they started the movie marathon.

right before meant that she was stunningly messy.

but it didn't really matter, anyway. it was just a small trip to the convenience store, what's the worst that could happen? there wasn't any chance that she was going to see someone she knew, and everyone would probably be too focused on their own appearances to care about hers.

so, she entered the store, bowing with a friendly smile when the worker greeted her, "welcome!" the cool breeze from the air-conditioned place caressed her face and the initial heat which had wrapped itself around her vanished.

humming her favourite tune, she skimmed through the shelves, choosing denki's favourite flavour for him and her own for herself. for the popcorn, she took both sweet and salted buckets so that she could trick denki into eating salted popcorn. he hated it.

but it was payback for asking her to go out to get it anyway. she grinned to herself as she placed her items on the counter. "are you paying by cash?" the worker asked and she nodded, reaching into her back pocket to pull out her wallet.

...only it wasn't there.

she gasped, fumbling about. "hold on, i remember bringing it..." she muttered to herself as she searched her pockets. "where...?"

the worker there was obviously upset, a deep frown engraved into his features. "hey," he began, his voice rough. "if you can't give me the money then—"

"i'll pay for her."

y/n spun around in surprise. she was stunned, her hand flying to her mouth as she gasped, "roki!"

his face twisted. "mm... don't call me that."

"shou?"

he didn't say anything to that, simply handing a card to the worker, who huffed and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "you lucky brat," he muttered under his breath as he swiped the card on the machine, so soft she almost didn't catch it.

but she did, anyway. a small frown formed on her face as she looked at the worker in disgust. it was a quiet, seething anger, which todoroki found was way scarier and more effective than throwing things around. her fists were clenched, not that the worker was able to see it. she slammed one of her fists onto the counter, leaving both males startled.

"i know i held up the queue," she began, her gaze angry and unwavering, "but i don't think that's any way to speak to a customer. or anyone, for that matter."

he looked like he wanted to squirm and run away.

"you don't hold any senior position to me just because you're older. you hold it when i respect that you're older, and when i recognise that you have more maturity and better thinking," she said, reaching over to snatch her items from his hands.

"oh, and his card. may i have it?"

she plucked the card from his fingertips and stalked out of the store. todoroki glanced at her, then at the man, saying, "see you around," before heading out after her. he tapped her on the shoulder, hand outstretched.

"oh! todoroki!" she took a look at his hand, then back at him. frowning in confusion, she placed her hand over his in a questioning manner. she tilted her head, as if to ask, you wanted to hold my hand?

he sighed. "no, i'm here for my card."

"o-oh!" she removed her hand in an alarmingly fast movement and handed his card to him with the other. "how come you're here, by the way?"

"i live close by," he said, taking the card from her hand and slipping it into his pocket.

"oh, yeah! you told me before," she said, and he nodded. suddenly, she realised the reality of her state: messy. even her nails were unpleasant to look at, and she'd just scolded a worker in her pyjamas.

i must have looked stupid, oh my gosh...

cupping her hands around her face in distress, she mumbled, "noooo..."

"what?"

"you...i—!" she stammered, backing away.

"what?" he asked again, reaching forward, and she retreated backwards.

now he was slightly annoyed. "what is it?" he asked for the third time and she pouted, bringing her hands away from her face to gesture vaguely. "i just did something embarrassing again, oh no..."

"embarrassing? when?" he asked. "if you're talking about that young man, i think you dealt with it well," he said, "he should know his place by now. it's best that you said that so he wouldn't go around treating other customers the same way."

"still, i look messy," she said. "you weren't supposed to see me like this... denki, you idiot!" she mumbled to herself, hanging her head to the side dejectedly.

denki? "hey," he suddenly said, "focus on me."

he held his hand out, and she stared at it. "but i already gave you your card," she said, pointing to the card he held in his other hand. he shook his head, smiling slightly, "your hand."

she found herself grinning a little as she placed her hand into his, and he smiled, walking her back home. "you look fine," he said, but he was walking in front of her so she couldn't see his expression. "i don't know what you're worrying about."