𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 | 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗶 𝘅 𝗼𝗰

²⁵a heart of gold

All Might leaned back in his seat, trying to desperately pick up what Enji was putting down. But there were too many gaps for him to comprehend what he meant. All Might knew that Enji was sworn to secrecy about what happened to Nova the fateful day she passed, but he assumed it had something terrible to do with Ryu.

"She could be working with you so she can save her father, because she knows that you more than anyone else could bring him back." All Might tried to reason. "Young Takahashi is intelligent, she's using her connections well."

Enji scoffed.

"You say she's intelligent but severely underestimate her." Rin's figure straightened at her hero mentor's unreadable tone. "Rin joining my agency is the last thing Ryu would want her to do, it ruins his image and admits that I'm stronger than he is. So, Rin's either a fucking idiot, or she's out to destroy Icarus."

Rin smiled, crossing her arms to her chest at his words. Whether or not they were said as a compliment or not, she felt glad that Enji actually took the time to get to know her throughout the time she'd worked for him.

"Why would she want to destroy Icarus?" All Might questioned.

She heard Enji stand up from his seat, her figure tense as she prepared herself to disintegrate into star dust if she needed to.

"Like I said: something must not be right about Ryu." Enji continued. "Rin hasn't tried searching for Ryu, nor has she displayed any signs of worry as to his whereabouts and his safety."

All Might frowned, "you aren't suggesting that she's the cause of his disappearance?"

Before Rin could panic, thinking that she accidentally made an enemy out of the two Number One Heroes, Enji let out a hearty laugh.

"That kid has a heart of gold," her lips parted. "She radiates the same kindness her mother once did. If she were to be plotting some immoral scheme to destroy the hero system, I would be thoroughly defeated."

Her eyes watered at his words, a fragile smile on her face.

A small chuckle came from All Might.

"You seem fond of Young Takahashi." All Might commented. "The only time I hear you speak so highly of someone is when you talk about Young Todoroki."

Enji peered down at his son at where he held out a small flame to a group of children, a gentle smile on the boy's face as they excitedly pointed at the slide made of his ice in the background. Shoto scooped up a few of the kids in his arms, the children burst into giggles as he helped them make their way to the top of the slide.

"Rin is my responsibility too now that Ryu is missing." Rin peered past the wall to see the luminous back of Enji. "I haven't talked to Shoto as much ever since the dorm system was introduced, but I know for a fact that she makes him the happiest I've ever seen him. So, if there's one thing I can do to make Shoto happy, it's to protect her."

She blinked away her tears before hastily wiping her eyes with her sleeves.

✩࿐  

After his remedial classes, Shoto had returned back to the dorms fatigued, to the point where he and Bakugou had sat in total silence on the ride home – a rare feat for Shoto who'd grown a little talkative with Bakugou, and for Bakugou who always found some reason to shout at Shoto.

He had been tempted to fall face first onto his bed knowing he had remedial classes again the next morning. Alas, he somehow ended up sitting on the couch in the common room with the entirety of Class 1A.