Fake smile

Chapter Ten

Shoto's POV

The weekend was now over and it was once again Monday morning. The sun was shining and the birds were singing and all that jazz. All I was worried about was whether Midoriya would be coming in today.
It's what I've been wondering everyday for the past week. 
Last Monday, he seemed in really bad shape even after Recovery Girl's treatment. I wasn't surprised that he hadn't shown up, but I still missed him.
Wait...what?
I missed him?
We've barely talked more than a few words since the start of the year. Sure we're in the same class and all, but I don't talk to anyone, let alone him. And surely we haven't had enough interaction with each other to warrant me missing him!
But.
I did.
I noticed that the day seemed...less bright without his smile. The classroom strangely quieter without his constant mumbling. 
No one else seemed to even notice he was gone. If anything, the class seemed more energized now that he wasn't here which I found strange considering how most of the class always interacted with him. 
Now that I think about it, on the first day everyone seemed to be very sociable with him, but after that day he seemed to be on his own quite a bit more with people only coming up to ask him a question or for some advice. Didn't he have any friends? 
I found myself sitting and talking to Shinso a lot more now, seeing as we were both the quiet ones in class. It started when I first asked about Midoriya and he told me that he was fine, but needed to rest. After that, we just found ourselves sitting together at lunch and doing class activities together, seeing as no one really wanted to do them with us. It was quite nice, actually. Being able to have someone to talk to that wasn't too loud or probing into my business. He didn't ask questions unless he absolutely needed to and I responded with the same courtesy. It was only fair, and it seemed that there were things he would rather keep to himself just like me so I knew better than to step where I shouldn't. 
Lesson was about to start and there was no sign of Midoriya, Shinso or Mr. Aizawa which made me start to worry. I knew that Midoriya was staying with Shinso and Shinso had told me how he was adopted by Mr. Aizawa and Present Mic so all three of them being later wasn't a coincidence. Something happened. 
Before I started fully panicking, the door to the classroom opened and everyone rushed to their seats, too afraid of Mr. Aizawa in the mornings.
Shinso came in first and made his way to his seat and nodded in my direction as if the say 'good morning'. I nodded back and focused my attention back to the door. 
Mr. Aizawa came in next, seeming to be more on edge and alert than usual which confirmed my suspicion that something had happened. Was it another villain attack? Is Midoriya ok? Is it safe for everyone to be in school with a new villain running around?
My anxiety eased when a familiar green haired boy walked into the class, but instead confusion took its place.
Midoriya stood in front of the class with a nervous smile on his face while a small child with long silver hair clung onto him like a koala.
Sorry, what? Who? And just circle back, the heck?!

Izuku's POV
One hour ago

"Eri, he needs to go to school." Mr. Aiza- *cough* sorry - Dad told Eri.
"No! You guys go! Deku stays!" Eri said clinging onto me tighter by the minute.
"But sweetie-" Pres- *cough* need to get that checked out - Papa tried to coax Eri off of me before she cut him off.
"NO! DEKU STAYS!"
"Eri...can't...breathe," I tried to say as her arms tightened further around my neck. Luckily she heard and her arms loosened, but only just enough so that I could get air back into my lungs. She just wouldn't let go!
Shinso didn't even try to help. He was taking a nap on the sofa because he spent the night watching conspiracy videos. Typical.
I was watching a few too, but I went to bed at a reasonable time unlike him.

The situation at hand: it was Monday and I needed to go back to school before I fell behind (everyone helped me catch up with the work I missed last week so I was caught up), Mr. Aizawa and Present Mic specifically told me to call them Dad and Papa when at home, Eri would be staying at home with Papa but currently it was hard to pry her off of me and Dad was activating his quirk this whole time in order for hers not to lose control and potentially turn us back to when we were children. 

I let out a sigh and asked, "What if we took her to the school with us? We wouldn't need to worry about each other because we would all be together and she would be protected from any 'potential threats' while at UA. It's probably the safest solution. She can also start learning how to control her quirk. Recovery Girl could also use the help if there was a big injury during training again." When I mentioned potential threats, that was in reference to any of Chisaki's minions that the police and pros weren't able to detain. 
Dad let out a sigh, "It's way too early for this." he mumbled. Eri seemed to have relaxed a bit so he finally blinked and took out his eye drops before applying them. "Fine. It is the safest option anyway and I can't be asked to argue anymore." 
And with that we all piled into the car and headed off towards UA.

Back to the present

So now I'm standing in front of the class with Eri still hugging me like a baby koala, not having moved from her position since finishing breakfast.
Her back was towards the class, which was probably for the best considering all the stares she was receiving. It would probably freak her out. Hell, it's freaking me out and I know these people.
Dad cleared his throat and gained everyone's attention successfully, "As you can see, Midoriya is being clung onto by another problem child that is currently in my care. Her name is Eri and she will be staying in this class with Midoriya until the foreseeable future. Do not approach her unless she wants you too. She has problem controlling her quirk and there's a limit to my limit and my care for that matter." He lets out a yawn before turning to me. "Midoriya, you're seat has changed and you're now sitting behind Shinso in the very back. Now do whatever you want. I'm going to take a nap." It's amazing how quickly he can take out his sleeping bag and actually be able to fall asleep in a matter of seconds.
I made my way to my new seat, eyes and whispers following me as I walked past. I felt Eri shaking in my arms, so I rubbed her back in a soothing motion while whispering that she was going to be ok and that I was right next to her to protect her. She seemed to calm down after that.
Shinso turned around so that he could talk to me and Eri. I looked to my side and saw Todoroki looking at me. I smiled. "Good morning, Todoroki. How are you?"
He nodded in greeting. "I'm doing quite well today, but how are you? Last time I saw you, you were unconscious."
Wow. Straight to the point he is.
I scratched the back of my head and chuckled nervously, "I'm doing fine now, thanks for asking." I turned to look at Eri. "Do you want to say hi to my friend?"
Had I looked over to Todoroki at that moment, I would've seen him blushing slightly. But I didn't.
Eri slowly turned her head to the side to look at Todoroki. "H-h-hello. I-I'm Eri." Her voice was quiet, but he was still able to hear her.
"Hello there Eri, I'm Shoto Todoroki."
"Todododoroki?" 
I giggled at her attempt to say his name, "Why don't you try calling him Todo?" I suggested.
"Todo. Y-yeah I can say that." she said with a small nod.
I turned to Todoroki with an apologetic look, "She struggles with names quite a bit. I hope you don't mind."
He shook his head, the faintest of smiles on his face. "That's fine with me."
He looked back at Eri before deciding to send a small snowflake her way. It gently glided towards her as she watched in amazement. It landed on her nose and disappeared.
"W-what w-was t-that? W-where d-did it go?" she asked in confusion.
Todoroki took it upon himself to explain. "It was a snowflake is an ice crystal that has a specific shape. Ice is frozen water so when it heats up, it turns back to water and disappears."
"T-that's why m-my nose is a-a bit w-wet." she muttered to herself, making me giggle again.
She looks back over to Todoroki before asking, "C-can you make it a-again?"
He gave her a small smile and nodded. He carefully moved to sit on the ground next to me as not to startle her which I found to be very considerate of him. For the rest of homeroom, Todoroki was making snowflakes for Eri, some even lasting a big longer than a few seconds so that she could take a better look at them, while I sat and watched with a smile on my face. Shinso was recording the whole thing from the very start to show both Dad and Papa when we got home. It was the happiest moment of my day. 

Ok, I was smiling so much as I was writing this because, honestly, I can see Todoroki being good with kids while Midoriya is like a mother. All I was picturing while writing was Todoroki being the dad while Midoriya was holding his daughter, which I know is really wrong to be thinking about as they are only 15, but...foreshadowing???
Anyway,

Byee xxx