Eria

Christmas was over a few days ago, but the memory of Todoroki and I standing beneath the mistletoe haunted me all the time. Whenever I saw him, my heart would thump hard in my ears and my face would burn like fire. Instinctively I avoided him, which confused him a lot.

"What's wrong with you and Todoroki?" Ochako asked as her sharp intuition kicked in.

"Nothing! We are so fine. There's no mistletoe involved!" I gave a dry laugh, which perplexed her. "Oh shit here he comes." I tried to run, but my feet were not touching the ground. Ochako had betrayed me and activated her quirk on me to prevent my escape. I should have spread my wings and fly instead but Todoroki had reached me.

Ochako left us alone with a sly smile as I cursed her, glaring at her viciously.

"Why are you avoiding me again?" Todoroki asked. Even though he sounded monotone, I could tell he was hurt.

"Sorry, you know... the..." my eyes instinctively scrolled down to his lips, that looked a little bit pinkish and red and irresistib—

I slapped my cheeks. He jolted.

"Why are you hurting yourself?" he sighed. "Never mind. Just answer my question...... please."

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to look at his eyes. But they were too mesmerising — the turquoise colour of an ocean and the greyness of a storm cloud. "The mistletoe damn it!"

Todoroki blinked. He paused for a second to think. "Ah. So, what about it?"

"You know! We were standing beneath it... the 'tradition' of the mistletoe! K-k-k-kiss—"

But Todoroki continued to stare, looking quite confused.

Then it hit me like a train.

Todoroki didn't care about the mistletoe. Because he never thought of me the way I thought of him.

Something invisible squeezed my heart tight, and I couldn't breathe for a second.

"Sorry. I just needed some alone time that's all. I didn't mean to avoid you. I was overimagining things."

"Of what?" he asked again.

"Stupid stuff," I said, my chest getting painful. "I need to go to the bathroom. See you later."

"Okay."

He didn't take notice of my weird expression, yet I hoped he never did. I walked to somewhere where no one can see me, and my legs failed me instantly. I sat on the ground, my heart squeezed tight, my head throbbing as I cursed my ignorance, my stupidity, my overconfidence, my optimism that someday... just maybe someday...... he would feel the same......

But it would never happen.

It was one-sided. It had always been.

***

After thrusting the truth into my head, forcing my stupid heart to believe it, I didn't sleep well at night. But when I woke up in the morning, the day seemed to be better, even just a little, and I stopped pining on the truth. My friendship with Todoroki was utmost important, and not even my stupid crush would destroy it. I returned to my normal self, occupying myself with homework, training and the upcoming Work Studies. My crush was still there, but it seemed so insignificant, now that I knew the chance of it being reciprocated was so little.

On New Year's Day, we were allowed to return home to celebrate with our families before our Work Studies began. It was New Year's Eve and my parents were still at work, so as usual, my brother takes charge of the cooking. It has been his annual honour to do so. And I was stuck with him bossing me around with the cooking and the preparation. Oh the nightmare of having a mini-sized Bakugou in my house.

"Wow, you suck at cutting. How are you going to cook for your precious Todoroki with such bad cutting skills?" Hinata teased.

"I am still holding the damn knife that I can throw it and murder you in seconds, so shut up," I snarled back.

"Are you doing Hatsumode with anyone this year? With your special friend?"

"Not everyone is in town. Ochako went back...... I'm not sure," I replied.

"Well, since you have friends this year, you should go. Don't stay at home like last year and last last year because no one invited you."

"That's just because my friends were busy!"

"Or because you didn't have any!"

"I will murder you and make you the soup stock for the noodles!"

"Oh please you would just mess up the taste!"

We glared at each other viciously. The ringing of a phone interrupted our squabble, and Hinata went to pick up his phone.

"Oh hi. Hmm. Okay. Hmm," he gave out a long sigh. "Well at least you're smart enough to call me for help. I'll come over then. See you."

I watched him, wondering curiously who he was talking to, especially when he adapted the tone of a superior talking to his subordinate. "Where are you going?"

"Someone needs my help for a culinary distress."

I gaped. "No way."

"Yes way. You may be a hero, but I'm a 'hero' too — the hero who saves food."

I rolled my eyes at my brother's arrogance and confidence. If only I bested him at cooking too, then he would be kneeling down begging for my help. I stirred the soup stock that was boiling in the pot, continuing to curse my brother in my mind.

"Oh yeah, do you know where Todoroki lives?"

Taken by surprise, I nearly dropped my ladle. "Yeah. Why?"

"Could you give me the address? I'm going there to help him."

My brain malfunctioned. I couldn't link the connection between my brother and Todoroki. What was going on? Why did he call my brother? Were they so close? Why didn't I know anything about this?

"Hello? Wake up, dumbass. Don't get jealous cos Todoroki calls me and not you~"

"Brat!" I threw the ladle at him and he dodged swiftly. "GET BACK HERE!"

***

In the end, I ended up bringing him to Todoroki's house, which was a grand Japanese-styled house with a large compound that was twice the size of ours. I had never been here before even though it was close.

The wooden door creaked as it opened, and out came Todoroki, whose eyes brightened when he saw us. I was about to question him his relationship with my brother when my brother walked in first, acting like he was a boss or something.

"It's inside," Todoroki said.

"What is inside?" I asked, glaring at him.

Todoroki scratched his neck sheepishly. "My brother and I...... we messed up the soba."

I was still speechless. "What... how... why... why did you call my brother? How did you two get so close?"

"We talked about food. Mostly soba."

I was still having a difficult time wrapping my mind over the entire thing. Todoroki led us through the courtyard, which was teeming with green life. There was a pond with swimming koi fish and a wide spacious plain that was suitable for outdoor events. The Japanese house looked ancient and was completely built from wood, yet despite the years it remained sturdy and its grandiose was never affected by the flow of time. I stepped carefully into the house after removing my shoes, afraid that if I broke a floor panel I would have to sell myself to repay the damage.

"Here." I passed a box of Kyoto candies that my father recently bought to Todoroki. It was customary to bring a gift to the owner whose house I was visiting.

"Thank you," Todoroki said. "Are you cooking with your brother as well?"

"More like we were arguing than cooking......" I admitted.

When we arrived at the kitchen, my brother gasped. "You have got to be kidding me! What the hell is that!"

"You're rude! Shut up!" I slapped the back of my brother's head.

"It's the soba......" said a man with spiky silvery white hair. I recognised him as Todoroki's older brother, whom I had met at the hospital that day. He also awkwardly scratched his neck, blushing with embarrassment.

I looked at the glob of whatever that thing was lying on the kitchen counter. It had the brown colour of soba, but it was never close to one.

"This is such a waste of food! What did you do?" my brother shook his head, taking a piece of the glob to feel it.

"Can you save it? Shouto and I wanted to try making soba and......"

"Sorry......" Todoroki lowered his head guiltily. "I really wanted to try making soba and......"

Ah how cute~

"What kind of ingredients do you still have?" My brother asked, rolling up his sleeves. He was taking control of the situation, like a 'hero'.

"We're out of flour......"

"Can you save it?"

My brother smirked with brimming confidence. "Easy peasy."

"Our hero!" Todoroki's brother was gleaming with hope, while Todoroki's eyes widened brightly.

Watching the scene of my brother being worshipped as a 'hero' by a rookie hero and his brother, I still couldn't believe it was real.

***

Fine, I had to admit, my brother was definitely a 'hero' of the kitchen. With some sugar, spice and everything nice (honestly, I had no idea what he did), the glob of whatever it was turned into fine soba noodles. Todoroki Shouto was the happiest of them all, since he loved soba so much and he practically couldn't live without it.

By that time, their sister came back and she was surprised by our visit. She chuckled when she heard of her brother's antics and praised my brother for his skills. My brother had such a prideful smug on his face that I just wanted to smack him.

"If my brother couldn't save it, you're going to be sad for the entire year, aren't you?" I asked Todoroki.

"...... yes."

"You and your love for soba," I sighed. "Well, we should head back to cook too. Our parents are coming back soon."

"I should get you something for your help......" Todoroki looked around at his kitchen, trying to find something.

"It's okay. It's just soba. My brother loves to help, free of charge."

"Ah, wait," Todoroki called before I dragged my brother to leave the house. "Would you like to go hatsumode together?"

My brain malfunctioned the second time today.

"M-me? With you? T-t-together?" I stuttered incoherently.

"Yes. My brother said it is fun to with friends, and I have never been to one before with friends. If you don't want to, it's fine."

"She will definitely go~ Don't worry~" my brother teased and I resisted the urge to kick him.

"So...... it's just the two of us?"

"I'm asking Midoriya and Iida too, but they haven't responded to my invitation yet."

It would be awkward for me if it's just the two of us, but I didn't want anyone else to join us......

"Sure!"

Todoroki lit up a small smile. "Thank you."

"It's first for you to be asking people out," I teased, my face was still blushing red.

"I just wanted to have fun with my friends......" there was a faint blush on his cheeks, which probably meant he was embarrassed of doing this the first time.

"See you in a few hours then!"

"Bye."

"She'll dress in a super pretty kimono —"

"Shut up you stupid brother!"

"You shut up you stupid sister!"

I glared at my brother, but the smile on my face didn't fade. It was finally a different New Year I was looking forward to aside from the food and the celebrations — a New Year to spend with him.

***

"This is... isn't this too much?" I lifted my arms, looking at the kimono my mother forced onto me, which was tightly wrapped around my body, constricting my movements.

"Nonsense! Kimonos should be worn during hatsumode! *Coughs* Especially when you are going on a date *Coughs*. Look how pretty you are!" My mother pulled me towards the mirror.

"I couldn't quite get the last sentence," I gritted my teeth.

"Now now, don't focus on the tiny details... focus on you!" my mother pointed at the mirror. "Look!"

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I was clad in a dark blue kimono decorated with pink, white and red flowers and bonsai motives, with a pink obi. My hair was tied in a bun and my mom clipped a pink and red flower hairpin onto the side of my head.

"Yeah I do look pretty," I admitted sheepishly. Would Todoroki think the same of me?

My brother snickered evilly as he watched us. "All the things my dear sister would do to get a guy to like her."

"Shut. Up," I hissed.

My mother finished the final touches on my appearance and made sure I looked perfect before sending me off. It was strenuous to walk in a kimono, walking elegantly in baby steps when I was used to walk fast with big steps. Finally, after a long time, I made it to the shrine nearby. It was a shrine that nested on top of a small hill that guaranteed an excellent view of the sunrise. People were bustling around, greeting, hugging, laughing in their tightly-knitted groups. I tiptoed on my sandals, trying to look above the crowd of heads to find my friends.

Finally, I found him. His hair was prominent with the colours of red and white even among the sea of people. Todoroki stood quietly in the crowd, watching the people walking past him as he waited patiently. He wore a knitted sweater, with a jacket and a familiar beige-coloured muffler was wrapped around his neck.

My heart skipped a beat. He was wearing my muffler.

"Hey," I said.

"Hi," Todoroki replied. "You look nice."

"Thanks." Thankfully it was still dark so my burning red face was not apparent. "Where's the others?"

"Apparently Iida and Midoriya couldn't make it. And Uraraka's not in town so... it's just the two of us."

'Just the two of us. Just the two of us. Just the two of us......' the sentence echoed in my mind, like it was God's New Year gift for me.

"L-let's go!" I stuttered. He nodded. We weaved past the crowd, making sure we didn't lose each other among the sea of people. The queue to the shrine was long and more people were still queuing up.

I tiptoed on my wooden sandals to see the long line ahead of us, which snaked up to the stairs and onto the shrine on the small hill. Even for a small shrine, it was still packed of visitors, but at least it was better than the shrines in Tokyo, which would mean a crowd hundred times more than this.

"Would we make it for the sunrise?" Todoroki asked.

"Sure," I said halfheartedly. Looking at my watch, I wasn't sure about it either. And I didn't want to pour cold water over his enthusiasm. "Did you eat soba?"

He nodded, a small smile spreading on his face when his favourite food was mentioned. "Your brother did a great job fixing it. My sister said it was even better than the ones she used to make."

"Yeah better not let him hear there. Bad for his ego......"

"I......want to learn to make soba. Can he teach me?"

My jaw dropped. That little brat is going to be so arrogant after he knows about this! I could imagine my little evil brother's smirking face, with horns and a tail like a true devil.

But I didn't want to disappoint my best friend, so I said, "I'll ask him."

Todoroki's eyes glittered with joy, or it was probably my imagination. "Thank you."

We continued to make small talk as the queue slowly brought us forward and closer to the shrine. Todoroki was nice company, not only because I had a crush on him. He was a good listener, observant and rarely interjected people rudely. He was such a perfect existence that sometimes I wondered what kind of luck had I used up to know him as my best friend.

Finally, after passing through the torii gate, we cleansed our hands and reached the shrine. Two people were allowed to pray at the same time, so we stood side by side. A bell was hung in front of the shrine and we rang it together. We each threw a coin into the offertory box—Todoroki's nearly missing the box—then we performed 2 bows, 2 claps, prayer, 1 bow and the procedure was done.

"The sunrise is about in an hour. What should we do now?" I asked. Todoroki was looking at the group of people crowding over the ema board, hanging their wishes that were written upon a small wooden rectangular piece.

I tugged his arm and it took him by surprise. "Let's do that then." Immediately he brightened up like a little kid when his mother said he can eat ice cream.

I wanted to draw something nice on my clean ema piece, but apparently I sucked at drawing. A lot of the ema pieces there had beautiful drawings of their favourite anime characters or heroes. I didn't want to spoil mine so instead I resorted to writing. I snuck at peak at Todoroki, who focused intently on writing his wishes.

I wonder what he is writing......

"Are you done?" he asked, looking up.

I nodded. "What did you wish for? An unlimited supply of soba for the year?"

"No......"

I raised an eyebrow.

"......fine. I wanted to but there are more important stuff than soba. Like you —"

My stomach fluttered.

"— and everyone else. So I wished happiness for my family and friends."

Such a kind boy......

"But mostly I wished that you would stay safe and sound."

He stared at me unblinkingly, his eyes carried heavy meanings, and for a moment I just wanted to hug him and cry. His kindness touched me deep in my heart. If it wasn't his support, I didn't think I would have stayed and persevered. I would have caved in from the stress. I would have left everything behind to find somewhere safe.

Thank you for being my safe haven, Todoroki.

I turned away, trying to hide my tears. "Let's hang it up!"

Thankfully, Todoroki didn't take notice of the tears in my eyes. We hung our ema pieces and Todoroki took the chance to sneak a peek on my wish.

"I thought you would be wishing the villain to be caught soon," he said.

"Wishing my family and friends to be safe and healthy is the best wish I hoped for, after all that has happened," I said. "I did want to wish that you have soba all year long though......"

He pouted a little.

"I'll treat you to soba. Don't cry~" I teased.

"I want two servings."

"Sure."

We walked towards the food stalls lined neatly nearby and I turned around to take a last look at my ema piece before someone else's covered it. My wish was written boldly in black ink, hoping gratefully that the God would fulfill it....... along with the small selfish wish I had written on the back.

'I wish I can stay by Todoroki's side forever.'

***

"Follow the instructions on the paper and you will reach the hero's agency. Gee, Mom, why can't you just tell me who the hell am I going to?" I cursed angrily, peering at the piece of paper my mother gave me instead of telling me verbally. She wore a mischievous smirk on her face which I didn't like.

I arrived at a train station in the middle of the city, waiting for the hero to meet me. There was a huge crowd of people flooding in and out of the station as it was the peak time for people to go to work. I looked around, trying to spot the hero, even though I didn't know who he or she was. Amongst the crowd, I thought I was hallucinating, seeing the familiar hair colours of red and white together, and thought I was missing that idiot Todoroki too much.

But I blinked again, and I was definitely sure it was him. And Midoriya and Bakugou.

"What a coincidence meeting you here," I said, walking to them.

"Takasaki?" Todoroki was slightly surprised.

"Oh hey Takasaki. Are you here meeting your hero too?" Midoriya said.

"Why the hell are you here?" Bakugou glared angrily.

"Nice meeting you too, stop glaring at me." I rolled my eyes at Bakugou, who huffed. "Are you waiting for Endeavour?"

"Yes," Todoroki sounded a little reluctant.

Immediately, Endeavour appeared from the crowd, dressed casually but towering over the other people with his muscular bulk. He wore a wide grin, which immediately turned into a stern frown.

"I'm not here to welcome you. Now get moving," Endeavour commanded in a low gruff voice. His eyes peered at his beloved son, but Todoroki gave no endearing response back to his father.

I waved my friends goodbye and watched them leave with Endeavour. But the tall hero stopped midway and turned around to give me a hard look.

"What are you doing? Get moving," he snarled.

I blinked. "Are you...... talking to me?"

His sharp turquoise eyes shot a venomous glare. "I thought you were smarter the last time I met you. Yes. YOU. You are coming with ME."

I wasn't the only one shocked. Todoroki, Midoriya and Bakugou froze in their steps, turning around to watch us.

"......what?" I gasped again, my voice a little squeak.

Endeavour seemed exasperated. He looked like he would have exploded in the middle of the crowd due to my dullness.

"From now on, you, Takasaki Eria, are one of the students interning under my supervision. As requested by your mother, Dark Rose." 

***

Author's notes: 

1. After a long delay, I am back with a new chappie! Sorry for keeping you guys waiting! Do enjoy this new chapter!

2. Initially, I wanted to add a part where Todo and Eria would watch the sunrise together, but the chapter would get too long so I had it omitted. 

3. As for the soba part, it was a side story from the latest light novel, where the two brothers really did mess up the soba because Todo wanted to make some. 

4. The next chapter would be focusing on the team's Work Studies and also the Todo family drama. I haven't started on it yet so apologies first since it would take a long time for me to finish again. Hope you guys aren't upset :(

5. *SPOILERS FOR THE LATEST MANGA CHAPTER* If you havent read it yet, skip this comment! I was super surprised how Horikoshi-sensei threw in that bomb out of nowhere, even though it has confirmed everyone's suspicions! And it broke my heart when Todo actually cried :( He has it tough this few chapters, with his friends injured and he was helpless to do anything :( (Eria needs to give him a big hug after this)

6. It doesn't seem Covid is ending soon, so please stay safe and take care! 

With lots of love, whiteraven.