#MAAM DID YOU NEED TO BRUSH UP FOR THE TEST

[ave-immaculata]

walked into my mom falling asleep to a video and found out it was men on a panel discussing Linden B Johnson since "the anniversary of the JFK assassination is next week" and she wanted to know if he was involved

[muwur]

long distance headcanons

✧ hc’s ✧ for daichi, suga, hinata & tsukki

❧ gn reader

✎ 1.5k words

a/n: hello yall this is my first post! nobody asked, but i just started this haikyuu reader insert blog, feel free to check my page n see wazzap. also requests are open pls come fhorfjepfiwf;

daichi

✧ after high school, he stayed in miyagi while you went to tokyo, about 5 hours away, for college

✧ texting or calling whenever u can!

✧ you be like “heyyy”

✧ then he clap back with a “go focus on your lecture”

✧ “im not in lectureee”

✧ “you gave me your schedule so i know you’re in the middle of class”

✧ “...”

✧ makes sure you’re awake on time for your classes and calls you if he thinks you’re oversleeping (and hes usually right, this man just KNOWS)

✧ “morning y/n, i think you need to get to class soon”

✧ “mmrghhhghhh” *checks time* “holy sHI-- i forgot to set my alarm. IMMA BE LATE. THANKS DAICHI I LOVE YOU ILL TALK TO YOU LATER BYE”

✧ definitely skips out on some nights out with his friends to video chat you. you catch up, talk about future plans, reminisce, complain about not being able to hug one another, etc. occasionally one of you falls asleep on call, particularly after a long day or week. if he sleeps, you make sure you screenshot his sleeping face and start a picture collection  

✧ you hit him up when you get drunk lMAO

✧ “daiichiii, i miss youuu, i needdd youuuu AND i needa peeee---” “hey daichi, this is y/n’s friend. y/n’s pretty out of it now but they’ll be okay! we’re heading back to our place right now” “im gonna pEE IN THIS CAR”

✧ daichi coordinates with your friends to make sure you arrive home safely, use the bathroom, and get tucked into bed. he thanks the universe you have good friends. if it weren’t for them he’d probs have a heart attacc. sends you cute, reassuring voice messages for you to wake up to the next morning with hangover tips he learned from suga

✧ always checks in with you throughout the day, every day. able to pick up on the slightest hints if you’re feeling unwell and calls you immediately to try to make you feel better

✧ makes plans to visit you! you get really excited to introduce him to your college friends (who, after meeting him, tell you not only is he a hottie but is such a kind guy, fosho a keeper. they also ask if he has any cute friends)

✧ either holding your hand or has an arm around you most of the time.

✧ you spend all day together outside and wandering the city, then spend the night back at your place (sorry roommate, but we’re gonna have to kick you out for a lil bit--)    

sugawara

✧ you finally secured a job! unfortunately, the company required you to work for a year at their main facility, which was a 4 hour drive away from miyagi

✧ if suga wasn’t needed in miyagi for his teaching job, he would’ve tried to come with you

✧ after unloading your things in your new apartment and before parting ways, suga was like

✧ “everything’s unloaded everything from the car?”

✧ “yes maam”

✧ “do you have enough snacks?”

✧ “we just went to the grocery hun”

✧ “did you bring enough underwear?”

✧ “gDI yEs I dID”

✧ “:c promise to call me often”

✧ “<3333 of course”</p>

✧ good morning texts before y’all leave for work! you send each other cute pictures when you’re getting ready for the day (suga with bedhead, brushing his teeth? suga with his tie half done?? sign me up)

✧ always texts you when something reminds him of you, usually sends a picture along with it

✧ “the store was having a special on oranges today! this one reminds me of you”

✧ “why”

✧ “it just looks so cute~”

✧ will immediately call you if you send him any sort of message that worries him

-“hello? y/n what’s wrong, why is there blood?? speak to me, you haven’t replied in 5 minutes”

✧ “ohhh my bad, i’m just cleaning up don’t worry! i didn’t explain, but the picture i sent you isn’t blood, it’s ketchup i spilled on myself lolol”

✧ poor man nearly fainted from worry

✧ would pay you a surprise visit, making sure to plan it carefully so he knew you weren’t busy with work or plans. brings you gifts of your favorite snacks and a scarf that matches one of his own for the upcoming winter

✧ plans out that weekend for y’all, mans did his research beforehand. together, you toured the city and the surrounding nature, took lots of selfies (and many candids of you), and taste tested lots of foods before returning to your apartment and collapsing into your bed with exhaustion

✧ but y’all not too tired for cuddling n a lil something else >.>

hinata

✧ sure, being a couple hours away was hard for some... but y’all in different countries right now

✧ calls you immediately when there’s any inconvenience that occurs in his life, no matter how minor, thinking you’ll know how to fix it (or at least give him the reassurance he needs)

✧ “hey y/n...”

✧ “what’s wrong? you sound worried”

✧ “i broke my bike, what do i do”

✧ “you what? are you alright?? how? where are you? it’s midnight there, honey”

✧ “i was biking back to my apartment after staying late to practice! i didn’t wanna hit this turtle, so i swerved into a pole and now my bike’s wrecked :**”

✧ “ahh, are you okay?? you’re not hurt are you :(”

✧ “no, im okay... but im tired and i have two miles to go ;(((”

✧ “;( im sorry babe but you gotta walk home. we’ll get you a new bike. ill stay on the phone with you until you get back. tell me about your day <3″</p>

✧ talks about you all the time to his friends! introduces you through video chat to them! “look how pretty and cute y/n is!”

✧ together you work out your time differences and busy schedules so you can chat whenever possible

✧ he lets you know whenever he bought something for you, but never shows it to you because he’s excited to see your reaction in person when you reunite

✧ always asks you to send him pictures of yourself, he wants to see what you look like everyday he’s missing you in real life

✧ you surprise visit HIM. he’s so happy he could cry. shows you around every place he loves, shows you off to everyone he knows, holds your hand the entire time and never wants to let go, is practically glued to you not that you mind  

✧ you spend your last night together lying in the grass, hand in hand, looking at the stars and sharing sweet kisses  

tsukishima

✧ y’all went to separate universities. while he stayed relatively close to miyagi, you went across the country to okinawa, which was about a 3 hour flight away

✧ he sees all the couples around campus n becomes lowkey bitter, texts you immediately about gross pda like hand holding that he secretly wishes he could do with you “these people in relationships are too happy, i didn’t ask to see them gawk at each other all day” “u just miss me lmao”

✧ once overheard a convo on a shuttle at school that went like :

✧ person 1: “ugh, he’s so cute”

✧ person 2: “why dont you go out with him??”

✧ person 1: “i dunno, his dorm’s down the street, i can’t really do long distance”

✧ nANI (by the way, this is a irl conversation my friend overheard, oml)

✧ tsukki nearly choked on his morning coffee

✧ bothers texts you in class bc he’s bored and in need of your attention

✧ “hey tsukki this prof’s lectures are rlly dense, i needa focus, ill text u after”

✧ “but arent i more interesting than rocks”

✧ “trust me, id even rather watch some dino documentaries with you than be here”

✧ *read*

✧ likes to chat with you most nights as he lies in bed before going to sleep, staring up at the dark ceiling and listening to your voice through his headphones. usually just talking about how your days went (as if you weren’t texting all day) or just casual talk and banter

✧ you remind him to make sure he’s taking care of himself and eating well

✧ “who are you? my mother?”

✧ “no but you’re about to be single”

✧ surprise visits you, tells you it was yamaguchi’s idea when it was really his own and yamaguchi was just teasing him about it  

✧ you show him around the city, sharing what you know about its rich history and culture. you visit most areas you both wanted to see before calling it a day

✧ your roommate conveniently spends that night over at their friend’s they just wanna give you alone time, which y’all very much needed. you make it a note to repay your roommate somehow.

✧ sweet lovin that he’s been missing, then some spooning as you sleep    

a/n: just wanna tackle these about 4 characters at a time but if u wanna see this headcanon w/ other characters feel free to hmu w/ an ask <3<b> also sorry if i text type a lot and that im inconsistent with my apostrophes, let me know if that’s something you want me to fix! 

[kitanoko]

Just Between Us ~ 

Summary: Yaoyorozu Momo, now a well-established heroine, finally finds her childhood friend, Todoroki Shouto, who now goes by the name ‘Kuroroki’. 

Rated: T 

Words: 4k 

Genre: todomomo angst + todoroki villain AU

A secret santa gift for @selephi !!  Check out Selephi’s Villain Todoroki profile first! 

               When Yaoyorozu was young, she didn’t understand what it meant to have no love from her parents.

               Everything, generally speaking, came so easy for her. She was fortunate, talented, and if her parents believed in feng shui, then the alignment of the furniture in her house must have powered her luck as well.

On Sundays, Yaoyorozu and her parents would carry stacks and stacks of money in a 29 inch luggage, surrounded by their trusted bodyguards, to the bank. Of course, in one of their many limousines. When she felt bored, her mother would coo her in the vehicle, telling stories of Greek gods and goddesses, stories from the Grimm Brothers and also stories of how she met Yaoyorozu’s father, something that little Momo always found very intriguing. She was always delighted, and if she was hungry, she would tell her parents and in a snap of a finger, they’d get all sorts of dainty pastries ready for her by the time they got home.

Yaoyorozu never stopped attending these family errands until middle school hit and chemical formulas and recipes for god-knows-what were the only things filling her once naïve mind.

                Nothing was impossible. Most things were within grasp.

               But something else she recalled quite vividly from her lavish childhood was a boy her age dancing with her at one of her family’s ultra-posh galas. A boy who had beautiful, sleek, white and red hair, and eyes that could read her soul through the glassiness of her dark, onyx irises. She learned the hard way that all good things come with a price, and his was a dark angry patch of red that encompassed his fierce blue eye.

               Yaoyorozu knew his father was one of the top ten heroes; a family so well-known that it became a household name.

               “Todoroki.” She heard her mother say, gesturing with a nod of her head at the other side of the banquet.

The young girl played with a piece of hair that fell out of place from her chignon before her mother fixes it for her and began to feel curious about the giant man whose grip on his youngest son looked way too rigid. Yaoyorozu’s gentle eyes rested on the subtle smile that etched on that boy’s face— him looking uncomfortable, fingers twiddling a piece of thread that hung low on the hem of his nicely pressed dress shirt.

She tested that name, rolling it off the tip of her tongue a few more times, every syllable feeling as though it’d tangle her tongue. But who was she to comment on that; after all, her own family name sounded even more convoluted.

               The boy, apparently a prodigy, seemed to have caught on her hawk-like gaze and stared back. Yaoyorozu gasped, mouth breathing in a little of the cold fluid air and wondered why she couldn’t avert her focus.

               The night went on smoothly—she doing her own thing while he did his, until the clock struck 11.

Yaoyorozu was running around searching for her parents,  the hour hand ticking to its place when she came across a scene that scarred her since.

She wouldn’t doubt that it scarred him as well.

               “How many times did I tell you to talk to them with more enthusiasm?! YOU have the obligation to network and learn your duties NOW before you get to UA. Your siblings are nothing like you…I’m entrusting everything to you, Shouto!”

               She watched from afar, hidden by wisps of a waxy house plant, as the boy that captured her attention rooted in place with an expression so dark that one would be surprised that he came from a heroic family.

               Her fingers daintily moved a piece of leaf and continued to eavesdrop, her mother’s voice as her conscience, ringing at the back of her mind telling her to tiptoe out of there.

               “I don’t want to,” The boy seethed.

               “What did you say?!”

               “I hate you and all heroes was what I said!”

               The fumes and flames that flickered on the man’s head was enough to ignite the building when his youngest son’s awful words seeped into his ear. The man stood tall, fists unclenching as he whipped his palm across the younger boy’s face. The loud slap echoed across the hall and vibrated into Yaoyorozu’s heart.

               She was mortified, feeling nothing but dread. For a second, she felt the slap on her own skin.

               The rest of the otherwise pleasant night was quite hard to bear.

Yaoyorozu could see from outskirts of the crowd that the boy was still alone. She felt helpless. She knew she couldn’t tell anyone, not even her parents, and if she risked that then she’d risk the safety of that boy whom she so wanted to befriend.

               The chance came when it was the farewell dance of the night. An event that always finalized her parent’s galas. Most of the time, Yaoyorozu would just sit somewhere and watch, but tonight she extended a caring hand to the boy and asked if she could take him for a spin. Which unfortunately came out quite awkward and silly for someone who only danced during her weekly Ballet lessons.

               Let me make it up to you, she heard herself say under her breath, but the boy didn’t catch it.

               As per her calculations, the boy didn’t take her hand at first. He instead opted to study her, skeptical if she was doing it for show or not, because let’s face it, who from a wealthy family was actually genuine?

After a short 3 second contest of stares, Yaoyorozu was already blushing like mad at his antics.

Initiating contact was definitely not her forte.

Her mother always reminded her to help people in need though, and so she’d let this time slide.

               “Please,” she grabbed the skirt of her maroon dress and repeated, “just one dance.”

               Yaoyorozu found herself concentrating on the slight tinge of sour red on the boy’s jaw from his father’s assault earlier, and she bit her lip, hoping he understood that she knew what happened between him and his alleged loving father.

               Nevertheless, in the end the boy never found out why she was so adamant on accompanying him. With a sigh, he took her hand anyway.

               Anything to get away from Todoroki Enji.

               Afterwards, they became pen pals— a secret locked between him and her; when Enji was at work, the younger boy would sneak out and meet young Yaoyorozu at the park near her house. Both being 13 at the time, a false sense of freedom dawned and the girl felt something unfamiliar stir inside her every time they met. This went on for months until one day, the boy granted with the powers of ice and fire stopped coming to see her and to say that she hadn’t stopped thinking about why he left her alone at the park those afternoons would be a lie. She knew she had no other way of contacting him without risking being found out.

                It soon became a habit: before she falls asleep, before she hears the creak of her parent’s bedroom door, Yaoyorozu would think about the idea of ‘star-crossed lovers’ and prayed that whatever happened to their friendship hadn’t dwindle away completely.

That year, on Christmas morning, Yaoyorozu sat between her mother and father’s embrace. Hands trembling, her father read the front page of the newspaper about Endeavor’s youngest son’s disappearance.

~~

               “OH MY GOD, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU,” Jirou shouted, eyebrows scrunched in agony as her husband hid his face in his hands, “YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU DROPPED OUR WEDDING RING?”

               Her spouse pursed his lips, nervous sweat on his cheeks as he ran a hand to brush his bangs away.

               Kaminari was so dead. Probably the wrong time to die since they were at Iida’s Christmas gathering.

               “Kyouka, I’ve got this, don’t worry!” The blond emphasized, afraid to even dare tilt his head up at his wife who was now so outraged that the mojito in her hand was swaying madly from her harsh movements.

               Yaoyorozu quickly grabbed her best friend’s drink from the rim and pulled it out of her death grip, immediately setting it down somewhere far away before it spills all over the rug.

               “I’m sure it’s somewhere in this vicinity,” Yaoyorozu suggested, giving the living room a quick scan and moving her palms up and down in attempt to calm the couple sitting directly beside her, “I’m sure it’ll show up. Lost things usually do.”

Yaoyorozu knew she was thinking of excuses; she really couldn’t focus on anything but the Christmas lights and poinsettias that was at every corner of the room, not to mention the amount of old classmates that were mingling in this place; finding a ring here was going to be harder than baking her mother the batch of pumpkin spice cookies last night.

               But she digressed.

               “Bakugou and Kirishima are helping me look outside right now –“

               “THEN GO AND SEARCH TOO!”

               “Y-YES MAAM!”

               And with that, Kaminari booked it outside as fast as his legs could carry him. Jirou slumped back down onto the plush couch, index fingers massaging her temples in hopes to suppress her headache to no avail.

               Iida and Hatsume’s screams of victory from beer pong on the other side of the room, ten decibels too high, was not helping either.

               Yaoyorozu watched as her friend groaned again.

               “I married a total idiot Yaomomo.”

               Kaminari and Jirou had been married for a while now, engaged a few years after their graduation from UA, both now working hard climbing the hero ranking ladder.

               “Well I think its endearing that both of you value your keepsakes so much. Not that I’d understand,” Yaoyorozu said.

               “You are married to your work instead of a real human being after all,” Jirou answered back, words sinking a little too deep. The former had nothing else to say except to respond with a mere upwards tug of her lips.

               As if on cue, Yaoyorozu’s phone vibrated on the edge of the coffee table, a slight clinking sound elicited from the crystal vase beside it. The creation heroine gave it a click and stared at the screen.

               ‘another victim, 25, kobayashi yoru, severe burns, Minoru and Fir intersection’

               No. Not again.

               “I’ve got—“

               “to go?” Jirou finished the sentence for her, obviously worried, “Yaomomo, you’ve been working way too much lately. Your other sidekicks can handle fine without you.”

               Yaoyorozu gulped down her drink, though the inside of her mouth was increasingly dry with anticipation. Her phone slipped back into her pant pockets without thought as she put down the glass a little too roughly.

               Finally, another lead. To him. And this time it was right at her fingertips.

               “This is important, and I know I say this every time but I’m so close.”

               “Hasn’t it always been that way? The same case? For the past few years?”

               Jirou’s fingers tapped agitatedly at her stocking-covered knee as she crossed her legs, ears quirking up at Yaoyorozu’s sigh as she got up from her seat. She knew her stubborn friend wasn’t going to listen. All she could do, Jirou guessed, was to support her however she could.

               “If it’s that important, Yaomomo, then I’ll let Iida know.”

               Yaoyorozu smiled as she slipped her arm through her coat sleeve.

“Thanks, I knew I could always count on you.”

~~

               From the direction of the incoming ambulances and the police tape that comprised the crime scene, Yaoyorozu knew that she had to act quickly.

               The culprit was close; he was fast but had always had a habit of staying nearby.

               She wouldn’t call it a Christmas miracle, but to have him carry out his kill near Iida’s party? It was almost like Santa listened to her plea.

               Her sidekicks left her yet another text to update her on the victim’s condition. The victim was apparently gifted with third degree burns and a perforated lung.

Sounded like his work alright.

Just thinking about his alias sent a ping down to the pit of her stomach.

Kuroroki. An infamous murderer who was killing a little too close to home had been on her radar for too long. Yaoyorozu had a dedicated cabinet to all the cases she had dealt with involving him and she wracked her brain contemplating whether or not she’d ever be able to crack these cases. Tonight, however, would be when she’d break through the wall that had always been blocking her path.

               Yaoyorozu shivered as her teeth chattered from the cold though not enough to stop her from leaping from one alley to the next, dodging civilians as she felt her blood run in pure adrenaline. She didn’t know what to say if he were to be right in front of her but she didn’t care.

               6 years she’s been hoping to find him. 6 damn years.

               The following alley was enclosed with wandering policemen and she had no doubt that some were walking around to pretend like they were doing their job. She wanted to scoff.

               “Sorry, miss, you can’t go through this way,” an officer said sternly, voice gruff, as she was about to step foot into the scene, “you’d better turn around, we’re still investigating here.”

               “I’m a licensed heroine,” Yaoyorozu spat, wanting to roll her eyes as she fished out her badge, “The name’s Creati. Licensed since 2019.”

               The man crossed his arms and casted an annoyed grunt at her before scanning the badge in her grasp. Yaoyorozu figured he must be new here if he had never heard of her name. Either that or he didn’t recognize her because of her formal attire and curled hair.

               While he was busy reading at a snail’s pace, Yaoyorozu leaned forward and peeked behind him, eyes rounding and nose scrunching at the foul smell that began to waft behind the officer.

               Blood stained the brick walls, and there were lots of it.

               “Alright, fine, I’ll let you through,” the man finally said, words still laced with annoyance, and Yaoyorozu thanked him with a slight nod of her head, the taste of blood erupting in her mouth as the smell once again perturbed her.

               The heroine tread swiftly past him, her head turned left and right, the ridges in her throat bobbing from disgust at the scene. She should be used to this by now given the nature of her work but something about knowing that it’s him that did this sent a choking chill down to every bone in her body.

               For a second, at the corner of her eye, a shadow fleeted off at the furthest most passageway that connected to the back street.

               Yaoyorozu craned her neck, knees still slightly bent from studying the blood splatters on the concrete above her shadow and she felt her fingers go numb. Did she imagine it? Her hands slid down to her phone and hesitated. Should she contact her sidekicks or better yet, just yell at the policemen around her to follow her in or …?

               Yaoyorozu didn’t know what the million thoughts in her head were but she ran and ran, the clicking of her heel echoing behind her. She lost her footing for a brief moment but she kept going and shifted to her left at the sharp turn, eyes never leaving the small road. Thoughts wheeling in her mind almost blurring her vision; when she confronts him, what should she say? Should she say anything at all? Yaoyorozu gave her head a shake in attempt to swivel her mind back to the right place.

She knew the route around here painstakingly well given it being near where her parent’s house used to be, and she had already strategized several ways that this could go.

               There was a 40% chance that whoever the shadow belonged to would hit a dead end and Yaoyorozu could already see the figure move even more frantically now.

She bit her lower lip; if only she had time. Time was all she needed to create something, anything, to help her mobility right now.

               A splash from the puddle a few metres in front of her route knocked her senses back and she halted, legs firm as she planted herself in place. She extended her arm as the other pulled her sleeve up, a pole forging out of her skin in an instant. A giant vine-covered wall stood between the figure and the other side of the road.

               The chase was over.

              “Show yourself, you have nowhere else to run,” Yaoyorozu cried out, eyes piercing at the dark figure in front of her. She gulped as the person turned around, shifting under the dim street lights, his features gradually revealing. Yaoyorozu felt the grip around her weapon tighten, hands unsteady.

               Black and red hair, grey and blue eyes, the dark patch on his face.

Even if he tried to change his appearance, she could recognize him anywhere.

Yaoyorozu’s mouth was agape, panicking to form a coherent sentence, but he beat her to it.

“Spare me your words, Yaoyorozu,” Todoroki simply said, head downwards. His voice was husky, reverberating into the brisk, frosty wind.

Even in that angle, she could see how much he had grown; in another situation, perhaps she’d be charmed by him.

She dropped her arms to her side, forgetting that she had a weapon for a reason. It was nostalgic to meet him again albeit in this undesirable environment.

Todoroki took another step forward. “Why are you always chasing me.” His words were vile, sounding threatening to her ears, but she didn’t care.

               “It hurts me to think,” she began, trying to change the subject, her heart thumping hard against her ribcage, “what if I had reached out to you earlier? Then maybe you wouldn’t have become a criminal. Like you are now.”

               He didn’t want to listen yet he didn’t move, his eyes blazing with raw anger, staring straight at her as if he was his prey. Part of her wishes it’s because he still cared, but the energy emitting from him was so menacing that even Yaoyorozu hitched a breath and let the pole in her hand drop.

               It was now or never.

               “I know you’re conflicted.”

               “You don’t know who I am anymore. Whoever you think I was, well, he’s long gone. Stop following me or you’ll regret.”

               Yaoyorozu’s hands balled into fists at his awful sounding words.

               “Todoroki Shouto, come back. Please. I can help you.”

He shuddered at her calling him so intimately. The man scowled at her as if his real name was poison. Was it crazy to say that that was the reaction she was hoping for?

               “Don’t fucking say that word. That name.”

               Yaoyorozu was only a stride away from him but it was still like he was an ocean away. He was also a head taller than her, she recognized, though it became so much more than a mere measurement.

               She blinked once. Twice.

               “I know, with your skills, you could easily climb these walls and leave, yet you aren’t.”

               Was she crazy to ignore his pure killing intent and instead, to blab on? To someone who had no remorse, no sense of humanity, no warmth?

               He breathed harder.

“And I could burn you here in a second.”

               “You won’t. I know. Because you saved me two years ago.”

               Todoroki froze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.“

               Yaoyorozu’s mind cycled through to the fire that night when she followed him. She had gotten intel that Todoroki had once again fried someone to a crisp in an office building in downtown. If that wasn’t bad enough, his finishing touch was to bomb the building by cutting off the gas pipes. When she entered, she was immediately blown back at the explosion, the smell of the leak muffling her senses, but she survived. Policemen told her when she woke up on that hard, stiff hospital bed that she was far away from the building when they had found her with minor injuries. They theorized that she got dragged away by someone to safety.

               She didn’t tell anyone and her memory may be hazy but for the short moment between her eyes flickering and completely shutting to unconsciousness after being tossed back from the explosion like a ragdoll, she saw Todoroki’s face, and felt his grip around her, carrying her out.

               Yaoyorozu had thought she imagined it, but taking a closer inspection of him now, she was certain it was him.

               “And all those victims that you target, every single one of them are criminals that are on the wanted list. You had never laid a hand on an innocent person. Kobayashi Yoru, the one from tonight, he evaded capture last month for human trafficking and distribution of illegal firearms, amongst ten other offenses.”

               “Shut up.“

               “Why don’t you also tell me why you still contact your sister and ask about your mother? You thought you were so smart using various phones so we couldn’t track you but I think you underestimated my abilities.”

               Todoroki’s mouth snapped shut, lips pursing into a thin nervous line. He was rendered utterly speechless by this girl whom he didn’t recall ever wanting to contact. Todoroki didn’t even want to reignite the flame they had when they were 13.

               The past was the past. He will rid of every speck of it if it meant for him to make a new identity for himself.

               Yaoyorozu swallowed hard, footsteps heavy, legs feeling like cotton with no sense of control as she slowly trudged to him, putting shaky hands on the side of his shoulders. He felt so real. He was real. The girl paused to study him, looking at him up and down, wondering if the wetness on her cheeks was from the rain.

It wasn’t raining.

               “I promise you, if you stop this, you’ll never feel alone again, I know many lawyers and—“

               “Kill whatever imagination you have of me returning to society like a normal human. I made this path and I’m not going to stop, until…until I kill that son of a bitch. Endeavor.”

               Her eyes opened wide and she could see his adam’s apple hitch and in a blink of an eye she was pulled deeper into the shadows, snug against the damp brick wall and Todoroki’s rigid body. Yaoyorozu opened her mouth curiously, until she heard a rustle of steps and a string of shadows pass their alley.

               Yaoyorozu didn’t dare focus anywhere except for the tense muscle on his neck; she couldn’t completely disregard their closeness either, reprimanding herself for having even a slight hope that her childhood friend would come to his senses. It could be silly and totally absurd, but Todoroki Shouto had run a soft finger down a curl of her hair.

The smell of iron and tonight’s murder still lingered on the surface of Todoroki’s clothes, however, and she felt strained.

“They’re gone,” she said as the last shadow passed them, his face twisting into a stern glare. He moved away.

Todoroki shot her a knowing look, as if to say that time was up. It had been awhile after all, to think that he’d even let her get this close was more than she had ever desired.

And in one last pathetic attempt, she let her feelings pour out.

“It’s been 6 years,” her words came out smooth, gradually rising in pitch, “6 years of me hunting you like some sad, disillusioned woman, not even doing this out of the duty of being a hero but because you were a friend.”

“Then continue to obsess over this fantasy of yours,” he snapped back, and she felt a twitch in her fingers. She could slap him, slap the demon or whatever that possessed him. Slap him until she was a pile of teary mess.

Yaoyorozu stood her ground, watching as Todoroki dug his fingers into the ridges of the fence beside them, but having no desire to pull him back down.

“If you follow me again, I will murder you, Yaoyorozu,” he added, “You let me live my life and I won’t bother yours.”

               “Don’t leave, Shouto! I’m—“

               “You can do so much better than me.”

               She backtracked for a few seconds, thinking how much his words pained her. The moonlight shone over her face as she bit her lip, all the pressure held in her body accumulating in that one spot in her chest.

               Without a moment’s hesitation, he leapt over and ran somewhere further into the dark, her cries not enough to turn him around.

Was that it? Was it over?

She crumpled over, knees buckling. All her energy zapped out of her as she held herself steady.

               Her mind was a mess, all these things she had forgotten to say. All these ‘could haves’ and ‘should haves’ but none taken to light.

               “Do you at least remember how we met?” she muttered to herself, voice thin.

               And in the end, she pushed herself back up, alone like she had been for the past decade, feeling the rough, uneven asphalt below her.