After much planning and decision-making, Yagi and both his new and old students agreed to visit the Melromarc church at nighttime, where they would be less likely to be spotted by other people.
Todoroki, however, got sidetracked into an alleyway after hearing the cries of a little girl. He was right in following the cries, as a young female with brown hair and red eyes rushed towards him, fear present on her face. She looked terrified at first, but quickly calmed down when she saw Todoroki standing there, and held onto him tightly.
"Mister! Please help me! He's chasing me down!" The girl pleaded.
"Where are you, brat?!" A man growled.
Now Todoroki was on high alert, whatever that man wanted with the girl, it's certainly nothing good.
"Help me... Please..." The girl begged, hugging Todoroki's leg.
Todoroki wasted no time, he used his ice to freeze the entrance to the alleyway, grabbed the girl who climbed onto his back, and made a run for it. The girl hugged Todoroki's back tightly, both to not fall off him and to signify she felt safe with him.
After managing to find a safe place to hide, the girl got off Todoroki's back and hugged him again for saving her.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The girl said.
Todoroki, not used to receiving much affection, made the situation slightly awkward. However, he responded to the girl's thanks.
"Don't mention it. It's just my job to protect people." Todoroki said.
Upon closer inspection, Todoroki noticed that the girl had some type of dog-like ears and a bushy tail. There were also some bruises and cuts on her skin, some visible through her ripped clothing. Todoroki took some bandages out of his pocket and carefully wrapped them around the girl's arms and legs.
He also took out some healing potions to make sure the girl recovered faster. After doing all that, Todoroki called the other heroes via a crystal ball he had found out also worked as a communication system.
"Everyone, this is Todoroki. I found a kid being chased down by a man. It seems like they're in a bad situation. I'll be taking care of the kid for a while, I'm gonna need some help." He said.
"Understood. We'll be there in a moment." Deku said.
"Um... What is your name, mister?" The girl asked, wanting to know what she should call her hero.
"I'm Shoto Todoroki, a hero. What about you?" Todoroki said.
"Raphtalia..." The girl replied, a bit confused at what Todoroki meant by being a hero, until she saw his daggers that resembled a cardinal weapon.
Todoroki was well aware of the story of waves of calamity and the cardinal heroes after Yagi had told his new students to catch them up on what was happening. But the thing is, the hammer, axe, and dagger heroes were not mentioned in said story.
"I am a hero, but not one of the main four. My weapons are these daggers." Todoroki explained, showing Raphtalia his daggers.
Raphtalia was about to ask something else, but she started coughing repeatedly. Todoroki took notice and lit a fire with his quirk, as it was a chilly night. Todoroki did not expect what would happen next, as he felt Raphtalia's arms wrap around him tightly. However, what Raphtalia saw as a show of affection, Todoroki saw her actions as a way to increase both their body heat.
This made Todoroki move Raphtalia closer to his left while using his fire quirk to warm her up faster. Raphtalia interpreted Todoroki's actions in a way that made her blood rush to her cheeks, making her blush. This misunderstanding was made worse minutes later when Motoyasu, of all people, found the pair. Needless to say, Motoyasu did not interpret this the right way.
"What is going on in here?!" Motoyasu yelled.
"Oh, hello Motoyasu." Todoroki said, completely oblivious to the situation.
"Uh- I- I- Uhm-" Raphtalia stuttered, stumbling to search for an explanation to the predicament she was currently involved in.
"Hello?! That's all you have to say?!" Motoyasu yelled.
"Uh, yeah. That's normally how you greet someone." Todoroki said, still unaware.
"Oh, don't you get sassy on me! We're going back to Sensei, and you better have a good explanation for this!" Motoyasu said, pulling Todoroki by his arm while Raphtalia followed along.
A few minutes later, Todoroki, Motoyasu, and Raphtalia arrived at the church, where the rest of the heroes had agreed to meet at to increase their level capacity.
"Ah, young Todoroki, young Kitamura! Good to see you again! And who's this?" Yagi asked.
"Yeah, Todoroki. Who's this?" Motoyasu said, staring daggers at Todoroki, who did not react.
"This is Raphtalia, she-" Todoroki said, before being interrupted.
"He did something to that girl! I found them both cuddling each other back where I found them." Motoyasu accused.
Raphtalia blushed once again after recalling the memory, while Todoroki still didn't understand what Motoyasu meant.
"Cuddling? She was cold, so I used my quirk to light a fire and warm her up." Todoroki said in monotone.
"Warming her up with your body, huh? That's an interesting way to put it." Motoyasu said, glaring at Todoroki.
"That's enough, Motoyasu. Young Todoroki, please explain yourself." Yagi said, wanting to make sure this wasn't just a misunderstanding.
"Right. When I got distracted, I heard the girl running away from a man. I took the girl to a safe place after freezing everything behind me to make sure he didn't follow us. I gave her some healing potions because of her bruises and cuts. She started to cough, so I assumed that she was cold, so like I said before I lit a campfire to warm her up. She wrapped around me to increase her body heat, I think." Todoroki explained, making Motoyasu feel like a fool after hearing how much that made sense, but still feeling like something was being left out.
"I see. Is this true, little one?" Yagi asked, kneeling to Raphtalia's height.
"Well, yeah... But I just hugged him and he hugged me back, nothing else!" Raphtalia said, trying to justify her actions towards Todoroki.
Then, an idea for what possibly could've happened clicked in Deku's mind. "Wait. Todoroki said Raphtalia wrapped around him to warm her up. While Raphtalia said that she hugged Todoroki, who is said returned the hug."
Everyone realized where Deku was going with this theory. Said theory being continued by Ren. "So that means that both of them saw each other's actions differently. Todoroki saw it as a way to warm up and Raphtalia saw it as a hug. Combine the fact that they fell asleep and Motoyasu's poor sense of analysis, you get the conflict we are currently dissecting."
Raphtalia was completely embarrassed and Motoyasu was ashamed of himself for jumping to conclusions too fast. And for that, he received a scolding from Yagi and...
"Dumb piece of crap!" Bakugo shouted before smacking Motoyasu in the head.
"OW! But I deserve that..." Motoyasu complained, rubbing the back of his head.
"So what are we gonna do with the girl, Sensei?" Itsuki asked.
"We should return her to her parents." Yagi said.
Raphtalia told him the truth about her parents. "My family died after the first wave of calamity. Shortly after, a man with a mustache and a top hat took me to a huge tent and put me in a cage, where I was sold as a slave. Before they put a slave crest on me, I managed to escape. That's where I met Mr. Todoroki, you all know what happened next after that."
The seven heroes stood silent, taking in what Raphtalia had just said. After a minute, Yagi spoke up one more time.
"Would you like to come with us, young one?" Yagi asked Raphtalia.
Everyone was taken off guard by this offer, especially Raphtalia. She didn't know if she should trust a group she just met until she saw the shield Yagi wielded on his left arm.
"Are you the shield hero?" Raphtalia asked.
"Yes, that's me!" Yagi replied.
Raphtalia then remembered what her parents had told her about the shield hero: "The shield hero is a shining beacon of peace that will protect anyone at any costs, it is said that he treats all living beings as equals, even creatures like us." This made Raphtalia ease every suspicion she had about Yagi. Without any other choice, she accepted his offer.
"I'll go with you!" Raphtalia exclaimed, determined to change her life for the better and be of assistance to the shield hero.
"Excellent! Well, time to get going if we want to increase our levels." Yagi said, getting a nod from all his students and Raphtalia.
After Motoyasu finished feeling ashamed of himself, he approached Todoroki.
"Hey man, I'm sorry about the whole misunderstanding thing. I guess I just got caught up in the moment... I mean, I'm glad you were there to save the girl." Motoyasu said.
"It's alright, not everyone can be the sharpest knife in the crayon box." Todoroki said, confusing Motoyasu.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Motoyasu asked.
Todoroki simply walked away with the others, smiling to himself.
"What is that supposed to mean?!" Motoyasu asked, even more confused than before.