Assassins Can Be Heroes Too || Todoroki Shoto

|47| Housekeeping

"Hey, Mandalay?"

"Huh?" the said Pussycat glanced over at her, momentarily pausing as the knife hovered above the cutting board.

"There's... four members in the Pussycats... right?"

"Hmm?" she hummed, "oh, right. The other two are on their way, they'll be arriving tomorrow."

"I see..."

There was silence among the two which was quickly broken by a curse slipping out of the girl's mouth, Mandalay blinking and gazing over at her as her eyebrow raised and opening her mouth to begin scolding the girl as she sweat-dropped, muttering an apology as she hissed, placing her hand to her mouth as she silently asked where the bandaids were. Mandalay sighed, placing a hand to her temple as she yelled out.

"Kota!"

Small footsteps could be heard and a small child - who couldn't be older than Alluka, she noticed - appeared at the door, a nasty scowl on his face.

"What?" he spat.

"Rie cut herself with the knife," she responded, gesturing to the girl who waved awkwardly, "show her where the bandages are."

The boy didn't seem too happy about this.

"Kota."

"Tch, fine," murmured the boy, stuffing his hands in his pockets after tilting his red cap downwards so that it was covering his face, "let's go, Rie."

She sweat-dropped at his attitude before following him down the corridors. His personality kinda reminds me of Killua but he's the same age as Alluka... she stifled a laugh, coughing into her fist as he glared at her, shoving the door open to a room on her left.

"They're in the drawers," he pointed. She nodded in acknowledgement, feeling the boy's wary eyes on her as she bandaged her finger. She stared at it for a moment, controlling her bloodflow and watching as the wound slightly healed. She heaved, turning to find the boy still staring at her.

"Can I... help you?" she asked slowly.

The boy remained silent, though the scowl on his face never wavered.

"Tch," he finally decided to say before leaving the girl in the room, frozen as she blinked, sweat-dropping with a deadpanned expression.

Yeah... definitely like Killua...

"I'm sorry about Kota," apologised a voice. She raised a brow, turning to face Mandalay who held a sorrowful expression. "He's like this with anyone who wants to become a Hero, really..."

"Were they... too late?"

The tone of her voice was quiet and pitiful, though it was laced with venom. The sudden change in tone sent shudders up the female's spine. Her dark violet hair covered her eyes as she swallowed, a cold wave rushing over her as the female gazed up, any violence that was present in her golden eyes vanished.

"I... suppose," she glanced away, uncomfortable.

Rie quickly got the message.

~TIMESKIP~

"Wahh! Rie, you're such a good cook!" fangirled Pixie-Bob after lunch, the girl sweat-dropping as she suddenly pounced at her, a small yelp escaping her mouth, "who taught you?!"

"U-uh... A-Ace and I-Isogai?" it was more of a question than an answer.

"Rie, have you unpacked your things yet?" Aizawa walked into the room, slouched over and his hands stuffed into his trouser pockets. She shook her head, claiming that she wanted to make the meals before unpacking. He shrugged, muttering something to himself as he sat on the couch, silent. Her eyes warily trailed him before choosing to speak up.

"When should the others be arriving?"

He wore a blank expression as he sighed heavily, digging into his pockets and fishing around for his device, flashing the screen to show her that they weren't even halfway yet. She sighed, hanging her head, irritated.

"You're quite impatient, Rie," hummed Mandalay, poking her head into the room.

"Be quiet," she muttered.

"Unpack your things, maybe unpack some of the others' bags as well while you're at it," he suggested, the girl shrugging as she followed his instructions, "oh, and Rie?"

"Yeah?" she called from halfway up the stairs.

There was silence, then she assumed he was shaking his head.

"Never mind..."

~TIMESKIP~

She blinked, standing up as she placed her hands on her hips with a satisfied yet weary smiled. Her golden orbs scanned the room, lingering on the mattress that she set up for herself. The room was still, though it was quickly interrupted by the buzzing of her phone in her bag. Eyebrows furrowed, she fished in her bag to find a message from Karma.

The Devil
yo, riri

The Devil
something bad's gonna happen at the camp

Riri-chan
i know...

The girl furrowed her brows, typing back a response, though her fingers hovered over the 'send' button.

Riri-chan
but what do u have to say abt this?

She sighed, hitting 'send' and pocketing her phone, unpacking the other girls' things and turning around, her hair covering her eyes with a visible frown on her face. She clenched the end of her shirt, exhaling as she turned to face the boys' room.

She paused, hesitating at the door.

Was it really alright for her to go through the boys' things?

She sighed, turning away when a voice rang out.

"Rie, they're here!" Aizawa called from the entrance. The girl raised a brow, fishing her phone out of her pocket and checking the time.

5:20pm.

Huh... so they didn't make it in time for lunch...

"Look who made it," she rolled her eyes cheekily, descending the stairs to greet them, "took you guys long enough~"

"WHERE WERE YOU?!" her class yelled, irked as the girl poked her tongue out, holding up a peace sign with her right hand, her left hand in her hoodie pockets.

Well... it wasn't hers, per se...

It was Todoroki's, but she was sure that he wouldn't mind.

Speaking of Todoroki, he was staring at Rie (in his hoodie) with a light blush on his face, coughing and redirecting his gaze as they made eye-contact.

"Three hours?! Yeah right!"

"Ah, sorry!" Pixie-Bob waved it off, not an inch of apology on her face, "that's how long we would have made it!" The students grumbled. "And besides, even Riri made it in only a few hours!"

"How long?" grumbled Bakugo, his eye twitching as he gripped his wrist with a scowl.

"3 hours," shrugged the girl nonchalantly and ignoring her classmates' yells of protest.

"But!" interceded the blonde, holding up a finger and pointing it at Iida, Bakugo, Todoroki and Midoriya, "you four were brilliant!"

They weren't too sure what to make of that compliment.

"Ooh, I just wonder what you four will be like in three year's time!" she cackled, "I'm marking them as mine!"

"Is... is she always like this?" both Rie and Aizawa murmured in sync, sharing an uneasy glance and gazing at Mandalay for an explanation.

"She, uh..." she went for a nod.

"Well... I suppose you lot will be eating lunch and dinner in one," grinned the assassin, shaking the thoughts out of her mind, "anyone hungry?"