Quiet Love [Shoto Todoroki x OC]

Chapter 33

Aimi's nervous as she stands up and walks to the front of the room. She's one of the last ones to present her hero name, since she was struggling with what to call herself. 

"The Mindbend hero: Scarlet", Aimi says as she holds up her whiteboard, displaying the hero name to her class. 

"That sounds so cool", Mina cheers along with a few other classmates who agree that Aimi's choice was a good one. 

"Sounds catchy, I like it", Midnight tells her with a thumbs-up and Aimi sends her a tight smile back before rushing back to her seat. She lays her head down, exhausted from the brief attention on her. 

"It's a good name. You chose well." Aimi turns her head as she hears that and is met with Todoroki staring straight back at her. A small smile pulls at her lips as she thanks him quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I like yours too", she tells him, as she thinks it's only fair to compliment his, too.

"It's just my name", Todoroki says in return, turning his head to look to the front of the class where Bakugo is presenting his absurd hero names. 

"Well, I like your name. So it's still a good choice", Aimi admits before she can think. As Todoroki turns to look at her again, his cheeks are tinted a faint shade of red. Internally, Aimi groans at her loose mouth as she raises a hand in front of her mouth, embarrassed. 

"You do", Todoroki asks her, his voice a little less monotone and more surprised as he continues looking over at her. From the corner of her eye, Aimi can see Mina biting her lip to suppress a grin as she, rather obviously, stares at them.

"I do", Aimi confirms, her voice coming out more strained than intended. She's relieved when the bell rings, and she has a reason to get away from him. Not because she's uncomfortable around him, but because she's embarrassed that that slipped past her lips. 

"What did you tell him", is the first thing Mina asks when she catches Aimi on her way to the cafeteria. 

"Nothing", Aimi denies as heat creeps up her neck at the embarrassing memory.

"Come on! He couldn't stop staring at you. So, what did you say", Mina insists, a wide grin on her face as she leans forward to catch a glimpse of Aimi's.

"He complimented my hero name, I said that I like his, too. When he said that it's just his name I told him that I like his name without thinking."

Now that she thinks back on it, it's not as embarrassing as Aimi thought it was. Still, the way he stared at her after she said it makes her skin burn up for some reason. 

"To be honest, I expected something more shocking. But that's still a good start", Mina tells Aimi as she grabs her food, looking at it hungrily. Aimi looks at her confused, trying to catch her eye.

"A good start to what?"

"To your relationship", Mina answers without batting an eye, turning around to search for the table the boys are sitting at. 

"What", Aimi exclaims, louder than anticipated, and mumbles a quiet 'sorry' to the people around her, staring at them. She quickly follows Mina, her face warm.

"What are you talking about? We aren't together and aren't going to be. I doubt he likes me like that", Aimi tries to tell Mina, who only seems to be half-listening. 

"But you like him like that", she counters with a grin as they get closer to the table where Bakugo and Kaminari are already arguing.

"Wha- No- I don't." Aimi blushes even further, angrily staring at the back of Mina's head. Well, it's not that much of an angry look rather than an embarrassed and irritated one. 

"You can try to lie to me, but it won't work. I'm your best friend, of course I know that you like him", Mina tells her with an amused chuckle as she raises a brow to look back at Aimi, almost challengingly. 

"I don't want to talk about this anymore", Aimi mumbles as she sits down next to Bakugo and stuffs her mouth with food, avoiding Mina's eyes.  

"You know I'm right", she says with a wide grin as she watches Aimi's annoyed expression, enjoying teasing her friend. 

"You're right about what", Kaminari asks her as his attention shifts from Bakugo to her, trying to get out of the argument. The later continues glaring at him while angrily eating.

"Nothing!" 

Kaminari looks back at Aimi with a surprised expression at her abrupt dismissal, while Mina laughs loudly. Kaminari mumbles an amused 'sorry' as Aimi continues eating with flushed cheeks. 

                                       ~

"Here. The internship I chose",  Aimi says as she holds out the paper towards her dad in the teacher's office. He grabs it from her, his brows furrowing as he reads which hero his daughter wants to intern for. 

"You're sure you want to do your internship with Endeavor", he asks her, confused, as he looks up at her from his seat. Aizawa's aware that he's the Number 2 hero, but he's also aware of the fact that he's an asshole. And honestly, he's not sure he wants his daughter to intern with him. 

"I don't like him. At all. But he's one of the best, and I can't pass up on that opportunity", Aimi tells him truthfully. She hates the man, but he's one of the best heroes. She'll probably be able to learn a lot from him. Also, she can be somewhat sure that there'll be someone else she knows interning with him. So that's a huge plus. She won't have to navigate everywhere on her own. 

"Okay then." Aizawa places the form somewhere next to him before looking back at her. "From teacher to student, I hope you learn a lot from him for your own benefit. However, from father to daughter, if he gives you shit, you tell me and I'll come blow some fire up his ass, okay?" 

"Okay", Aimi laughs before leaning down and hugging her father. 

"Now, go back to class before Ectoplasm complains to me that I play favorites."

Aimi grins before nodding. She walks back to class and, weirdly, looks forward to doing the internship.