Number 17 hero, Cupid heaved yet another overly dramatic sigh knowing quite well Nezu could hear him through the entirely oversized door to his office. His tourmaline eyes raked over the decor of the building with distaste, the extreme lack of pizzazz and high quality Persian rugs making him long for his agency building.
Slight movement from the plastic chair across him and he allowed his sharp eyes to stray from the appalling room to the student who quickly looked away in turn.
He could give a rather scathing review of the school's uniform, perhaps if Nezu stopped wasting his time he would consider letting it go. But seeing as Cupid could hear the mouse-dog in the other room, humming what could've been "all the single ladies" (no judgement there), he figured that wouldn't happen anytime soon.
Cupid looked up to find that the student in question had returned their eyes to him, and had been holding his gaze the entire time he internally ranted. The defensive glare they gave back was almost impressive.
A grin tugged at his lips.
Todoroki watched the encounter between the two with mild interest, vaguely wondering if Cleo knew who the man in front of them was.
And that Cupid could easily buy UA, and end Cleo's whole career.
Cupid, to Todoroki's surprise, was the first to break eye contact (obviously amused with the wordless encounter), and as he did Nezu appeared at his side.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, I've been so busy with paperwork!"
Liar, the three thought cohesively.
"Don't worry, Nezu. Beyoncé calls upon us all at some point." Cupid stood, gracefully stretching and to Cleo his movements were reminiscent of those of a cat. He looked back over at Cleo who withheld their exasperation. "I'll be happy to work with you one day...sir? "
It was the slight of Cupid's voice that made Cleo's jaw drop. He'd sent the intended message in one word, and as the door to Nezu's office slipped shut there was silence.
Todoroki was the one to break it.
"Your mouth is still open."
Cleo quickly rehinged their jaw.
Todoroki peered curiously at their facial expression. "I'm confused. Why are you smiling?"
"Gender euphoria, my friend. Gender euphoria." Cleo replied, grinning wildly.
A little more silence ensued before Todoroki noticed a shiny red arrow on the ground. Glancing back at the grinning genderless mess beside him, he got out of his chair and carefully picked it up, turning it over in his fingers.
"What's that?" Cleo asked.
——- VOICEOVER OF PRESENT MIC
CUPID'S ARROW! PRODUCED ENDLESSLY FROM CUPID'S QUIVER, CUPID'S ARROWS HAVE THE ABILITY TO DISORIENT HIS ENEMIES AND INSPIRE A DEEP INFATUATION IN HIS TARGETS WHEN THEY MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH WHOM OR WHATEVER IS IN FRONT OF THEM. —-
"Ah, no need to explain, Percy Jackson taught it all." Cleo popped up out of their seat, not-so-gently picking the arrow from Todo's hands.
"Be careful, we need to return it." Todoroki said, his voice filled with warranted caution.
Holding the arrow right in front of their eyes, it didn't look like much. In fact, it sort of reminded Cleo of a melted down ring pop, but like...fancier.
"Yeah, yeah alright. Here you go." Cleo held out the arrow, and Todoroki reached out to take it.
Only for the arrow poke right into his hand, and poof into thin air. There was a sort of hazy comical moment in between the peace and the chaos where the two made eye contact and realized that today was not going to be a normal day at UA.
Or at least not for Todoroki, Cleo decided, slapping a hand over his eyes and steering him down the hall to Granny Kiss Kiss Fall in Love.
"Where are we going? Cupid is back there." An alarmed Todoroki asked, stumbling to follow.
Beneath their hand, Cleo could feel his eyes fluttering to open and walked faster. "Recovery Girl is this way, and I sincerely doubt Cupid's arrows have an undo button." Cleo replied. "And stop trying to open your eyes!"
The two bickered down the hallway, hauling ass to Recovery Girl's office in order to avoid being caught during the lunch rush. But the universe seemed to have other plans for the two, when the bell rung and doors opened like the floodgates of hell. Students poured into the hallways, and the two were pushed apart by the tides of the sea.
"Whatever you do, do NOT open your eyes!" Cleo yelled.
"That wasn't part of the plan!" His voice called out from the roaring sea of students.
For a school of aspiring heroes, the words "excuse me" didn't seem to register with anyone. The tide quite literally carried Cleo, all the way to the cafeteria where they struggled to eject themself from the line.
Their eyes scanned the entire room for the red and white ticking time bomb. And there he stood, not too far from where the rest of 1-A usually sat, only a few steps away.
There was still time.
Bobbing and weaving through the crowd, doing better than they did in actual exams, Cleo kicked and clawed through the crowd in what felt like slow motion.
6 feet, 5 feet, 4 feet away.
Mineta got thrown out of the way, a few others got body checked on the way. Just as Cleo was about to grab Todoroki's arm, somebody bumped into him, sending him stumbling forwards right into the arms of someone else.
"Oh sorry about that." The extra said, but Cleo was more focused on who'd caught the boy.
Todoroki blinked his eyes open, and peered into pools of hazel in front of him, his eyes flashing a startling pink before returning to normal.
"You okay?" Lily asked, as Todoroki wordlessly stood back up.
He didn't respond, instead getting down on one knee and grasping her hand. "Lily, will you do me the honor of becoming my lawfully wedded wife?"
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A series of squeals erupted all around them with one overbearing groan from Cleo.
"All that trouble just for this." Cleo grumbled."He's lucky Bakugo ain't here."
Yet sure enough at the entrance of the cafeteria was the porcupine himself. "WHAT THE FU-"
