A Flower's Affection (KiriBaku Flower Shop AU)

Shoto Todoroki

        Shoto Todoroki hummed against the tip of his pencil, trying to order his thoughts so he could write them out on the paper that rested on the table in the dorm's common room. He rubbed at his shoulders, pressing into his muscles through his black knit turtleneck. He'd taken off his blazer to do his work, preferring comfort over custom, something that Iida would surely come yell at him for. Sure, the report wasn't due for another three days, but Todoroki liked to get all his homework done with and out of the way.

        One of his classmates had the same idea. Next to him, Midoriya was scribbling furiously, words flowing out of his pencil and onto the notepad in a messy jumbled heap. He'd order his thoughts later when he didn't need to jot them down the moment they popped into his head. 

        Todoroki managed to write down another line to his report before Bakugo entered the common room, flopping down onto the couch with a loud growl. They didn't have another class for an hour, and he intended to be as lazy as possible in that timespan. Todo clicked his tongue in irritation. Through powers beyond the serious boy's comprehension, the explosive blonde had already finished the report on Red Riot's jewelry store rescue and now had the whole weekend to burn away to his heart's content.

        "Todoroki," Izuku Midoriya complained suddenly, "this report sucks."

        "How so?" The bi-colored boy asked, his brain still focused on the assignment.

        "Professor Aizawa wants us to find what an amateur hero did wrong," Midoriya grumbled, "but I think given the circumstances and the fact he was ill-equipped, there was nothing he could have done better. I mean, sure he could have called for back-up, or realized that the hostage would be proud and uncooperative," the greenette started, beginning to ramble on as usual, "and sure he could have carried a long-range capture weapon on him to detain the villain from afar, but that's not his fighting style. From what we've seen, he's more of an understanding shield than a volatile sword."

        Todoroki looked at the boy blankly for a moment before adding those random thoughts to what he already had on his report. "And what about a perimeter sweep? Or a request for a radio transmitter before he went in? Having another hero inside with him would have helped the situation immensely, in multiple ways. He needs a partner, if not to come out of the woodwork completely and join the world of modern-day technology and coordinate with the police and other heroes." Finished, he crossed his fingers together and leaned back in his chair, waiting for the inevitable argument.

        "It's not that easy," Midoriya retorted. "He works at night, where the world is harshest and heroes become scarce. There's probably a reason he works at night, and the hero world is bound to be a harsh environment that would judge him for his nocturnal timetable. How did it feel for you to switch to a diurnal hero schedule, Shoto?"

        Todoroki stiffened at the use of his hero name. It had become obvious, since the moment he had been accepted to UA, that was indeed pro-hero Shoto. His hair, his scar, his quirk, his absolute refusal to cover his face--he'd attempted once to wear a black wig over his hair, but that had ended very badly. Before coming to this school, like Red Riot, he too had operated by night, after his father's long, rigorous, morning tutoring and afternoon training. Joining the school had excused him from both of those daily activities, and the university had granted him some leeway with his attendance to protect the city by day. "It felt like heaven," he admitted, turning the pencil in his fingers. To be honest, he hadn't seen his father in two months, since the entrance exams, and he loved every moment of their estrangement.

        Midoriya bit down on his tongue, pouting at the older boy. Of course, he couldn't relate to Todoroki's sentiments, as Hero Deku (his alter-ego made obvious by Bakugo's refusal to call him anything else) had always been an active day-time hero. If anything, joining UA had hindered his abilities to patrol, but the greenette wasn't complaining. Besides, the freckled boy's long-time idol and stepfather was an alumnus of this school, and Midoriya would literally kill to follow in his footsteps.