Anti-Hero

4: Ranchor

Yaoyorozu awoke the next day with pillows sandwiched between herself and Bakugo. She wondered who on Earth would go through so much trouble to make such a configuration.

She rose to wake slowly, almost fumbling in the dark. Perhaps it must have been her congestion due to traveling, or the sudden adjustment to such a small room compared to her home; because her senses were completely dulled. She entered the comfort room quietly to avoid waking Bakugo without realizing that the shower was on.

She sluggishly grabbed her toothbrush and mindlessly started brushing her teeth.

"Yaoyorozu..." Said a familiar voice.

She turned to see Todoroki, standing aghast newly showered, eyes widened and  completely naked.

Like a bolt of lightning, the embarrassment, and the shock woke Momo faster than an espresso shot.

"Mmmm!" She said spitting out her toothpaste.

Instinctively Todoroki put a towel on and placed his index finger on Yaoyorozu's lips, tilting his head to the left, "Don't wake Bakugo..." his body said, but his eyes were saying something differently.

Yaoyorozu nodded.

Todoroki slowly turned the knob and peeked outside. Bakugo was still fast asleep.

He sighed quietly and looked back at Yaoyorozu. Her face so close to his. His heart began to race, and the sensation of losing oneself in a trance seemed to loom over him again.

Yaoyorozu with her big brown eyes looked up at him, his wet, unkempt red and platinum blond hair, his well-built physique and her face so close to his. She found herself leaning slowly towards him.

Todoroki saw Yaoyorozu inch closer. His heart raced, his fingers twitched and his temperature began to rise. He found himself inching closer as well.

As soon as he felt her breath upon his lips she slowly and sorrowfully broke the trance and looked down so that their foreheads gently met. He felt her long bangs brush against his cheeks and an air of self-restraint present in the moment.

He didn't want to continue if she was unsure. Even Todoroki was too young to understand what he was experiencing. He gently held her arms and took a step back, "Good morning, Yaoyorozu." He said kindly.

Momo looked up at him almost surprised at his resilience, 'Todoroki is so...' she thought.

Todoroki quietly stepped out of the bathroom without another word.

Yaoyorozu breathlessly pressed her back against the door and closed her eyes. No matter how much she tried, no amount of knowledge could process what she was feeling.

————

They all had an early breakfast, save for Bakugo who was left in the room sleeping.

Todoroki, Aoyama, Ojiro and Yaoyorozu were fed a delicious and healthy breakfast in the employee lounge. They discussed the happenings of that evening and it seemed that there were strange occurrences afoot.

Eraserhead visited that morning as they ate their breakfast, "Good morning, looks like everyone is off to a rough start."

"Aizawa-Sensei!" Yaoyorozu bowed, "I'm  so sorry if we did anything careless."

"No need to apologize, Bakugo was at the wrong place at the wrong time." He said with his hand raised telling them to continue their breakfast.

All four of them sat in confusion.

"The group of Jirou has picked up some strange activity in Takayama Old Town Proper." He began helping himself to a cup of coffee. "Tokoyami intercepted a group of people with strong quirks, one of whom had the ability to transform water into ice. It's a rare quirk called Maelstrom."

"Maelstrom?" Ojiro repeated

Eraserhead nodded, "It's a quirk that allows the wielder to transform anything of aqueous nature into cold crystalline structures causing weather conditions that suck out all the moisture in the air making winds rise and form violent storms."

Aizawa took a sip of his coffee, "I decided to tell you this because we have reason to believe this group will be visiting the hot springs and geisha town. I want you to be discrete. They don't want any of us here."

All four of them agreed and continued on through their daily routines in the hot springs.

The news of Bakugo's mishap urged Eraserhead to deduct a few points from his group and from Bakugo. After meeting him early morning, he escorted Bakugo back to the Geisha Town to be strictly observed.

"You fucking idiots didn't need to save me." Bakugo growled.

Todoroki chided in, "If Yaoyorozu hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death." He said arms crossed.

"Shut up Icy-Hot!" Bakugo eyed him from head to toe and for some reason he became more irate. He hated that he collapsed. He hated the shitty weather and most importantly he didn't want Ponytail to be the one rescuing him while looking so frail. "If you got something to say, say it to my face." He growled at Todoroki

Todoroki responded with an icy stare.

"Yes didn't think so." He said looking down at Todoroki, walking past him and Ojiro and exiting the room.

As soon as he passed by Yaoyorozu on his way out, he paused, with hands in his pockets, "Ponytail..." he bit his tongue. He wanted to talk to her properly without looking like an idiot, "...Momo." He said.

Todoroki's eyes snapped towards Bakugo as he mentioned Yaoyorozu's first name.

"Thanks." He said under his breath and immediately walked past her with Eraserhead trailing behind him.

Yaoyorozu's eyes followed Bakugo as he left.  She had never heard Bakugo express gratitude towards anyone. He was rude, callous and devoid of social graces. The thought of him going beyond his usual persona to thank her made her feel happy.

Todoroki watched her as she faintly smiled with Bakugo's words of gratitude. His annoyance, and his anger began to well up. He turned away and left the group abruptly. "I'll be going." He stated roughly.

He thought of the new threat that was presenting itself during their training. He wondered who among the clientele could have such a powerful quirk. The odds of a ruffian gang seeking to hurt students was beyond him.

I didn't matter right now though. No matter how much he thought, the annoyance of Yaoyorozu acknowledging Bakugo more than him had yet to abate. He always held her with such high regard and the feeling, he assumed was always mutual, or rather, exclusive. Having to share her admiration with someone else was irksome. There was no shred of indifference, except for a deep seated loathing for how she looked at Bakugo.

He tried for the rest of the day to brush it aside.