Ch. 12 Dinner Party Invitation

Your hurt face felt better after another nap, so that afternoon you decided to take a walk down to the park near your apartment. There was a small lake there with a wooden pier where people sometimes went to fish. Most of the time, though, it was empty, and the perfect place to think and pass the time. And you certainly had a lot to think about. 

Just as you had hoped, the pier was empty when you got there, so you sat down, dangling your feet over the edge as you thought back over the events of last night.

The fire. The chaos. Shigaraki. And Dabi.... Yeah, you hadn't known him long, but still.. you hadn't expected this from him. 

As mad and exhausted as you were, when he'd dropped you off last night (this morning? it was hard to tell, the hours were running together), you hadn't resisted when he followed you up the stairs, or when he got in your bed. And you sort of hated yourself for that, too. 

But that was the last time. It wouldn't happen again.

Why was this all so confusing? Your eyes started to tear up the more you thought about what had happened, but you tried to shove those feelings to the side.

When you got down to it, were people all just really terrible? 

Okay, you tried to tell yourself, not everything was bad right now. Your rent was covered, thanks to the mysterious payments that had been made, and now you apparently had a new job. 

It was too bad that this new job was working for the craziest person in town. 

Apparently you were a magnet for crazy bosses. You would have laughed at this idea if you didn't feel awful about all of it. 

What a fucking mess.

"Y/n?"

You looked up and were surprised to see one of Bakugo's friends standing beside you. 

The last time you'd seen Shoto Todoroki he had been drop dead gorgeous in his perfectly fitted tux, but right now he was dressed down in regular pants and a hoodie pulled up around his head. Not that that made him any less gorgeous. Sunglasses hid his beautiful eyes, but his two-tone hair let you know exactly who he was.

"Hey. Shoto, right?"

"Yes. And you're y/n."

"That's me."

"Mind if I sit?" he asked, taking off his sunglasses. How could you say no to those eyes?

You shook your head, and he sat down next to you on the pier.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Good! You?"

"You don't look good."

"Well, that's rude."

Todoroki reached up and gently touched your face. You started to jerk away but then you remembered. The bruise. You'd forgotten what it must look like.  Apparently the make up wasn't doing its job. 

"I'm sorry," he said. "I meant this. What happened?"

"Oh," you were a little surprised by the feeling of his hand touching you so it was hard to think of a lie quickly.  "I ran into.. the wall. Yep. A wall. Came out of nowhere." 

Inwardly you cringed at how awkward that sounded. 

He kept his hand by your cheek, and it suddenly became very cold. 

"Let me ice it a little to bring down the swelling." That's when you realized he was using his quirk against the bruise. You let him keep his hand there; honestly it did feel better while he was doing that.

"Oh, wow," you said. "That's really cool, I mean cold, no, I mean neat. No -  I mean thank you. Sorry." 

Ugh. 

He softly chuckled. 

After a moment, satisfied with what he saw, he took his hand away. "Anyway, I haven't seen you since..."

"The award ceremony," you said, finishing his sentence.

"When Bakugo forgot his speech."

"And I was the dumbass who brought it to him even though he'd fired me earlier that day."

"Yes, that night. I'm sorry about that. Where are you working now?"

"I'm sort of in-between things," you said, avoiding his eyes.

"Oh."

"I'm still looking though. You know, trying to keep my options open."

"Right."

"Anyway," you said, desperate to change the subject. "I definitely didn't expect to run into you. There's no way you live around here, right?"

"No, I don't." He seemed a little embarrassed. "I've found that this is a place where I can be mostly anonymous, so I'll come here to walk and think occasionally. I appreciate my fans, but they can be a lot sometimes."

"Yeah, same. Well, except for the part about fans obviously. Can't say I feel sorry for you though."

"Don't. It's part of the job."

"I do feel sorry for your poor fans sometimes. The things I would read when I went through Bakugo's fan mail would make your toes curl. It's like they've made up whole fictional lives for you in their heads."

"Yes, at times our fans can be... disturbing," he grimaced.

"So... um..." You coughed to clear your throat. You were desperate to ask your next question but didn't want to seem like you wanted to ask. "How is he, I mean, Bakugo, doing?"

Had your words come out too fast? It felt like they'd come out too fast. Maybe the pitch was too high. You prayed that you had sounded at least slightly normal.

"Not that I really care," you added for good measure. "I hope he's drowning in paperwork that he doesn't know how to file."

Todoroki grinned. "Does he really not do email?"

"No, he really doesn't! He would say that it's stupid and that people should just call each other."

"That sounds like him." Todoroki seemed thoughtful for a moment. "So does he call you?"

"Me?" you squeaked, your face starting to feel hot. "Why would he call me?"

"I was just curious. Anyway, what about you? Do you live around here?"

"Yep," you said, pointing to your apartment building. "Right over there."

"Oh," he said frowning. "At least you have a good view of the park?"

"From my apartment? No. I have a great view of the raccoons that get into the dumpster though," you laughed. "I have front row seats for all kinds of raccoon drama."

You launched into a story about the time the raccoons had jumped out at you when you went to put your trash in the dumpster. You thought it was a pretty funny story, or at least it made you laugh, and it had been one of the few stories that Bakugo hadn't completely tuned out when you told it. 

But when you looked over, you realized that Todoroki wasn't laughing.

"I'm so sorry. You don't care about raccoons. That was dumb. I tend to ramble when I'm nervous. Not that I'm nervous. You don't make me nervous. I just... I'll shut up now."

"No, I didn't mean to stare. I was just thinking that... you have a really pretty laugh."

You clamped your mouth shut. You weren't sure what to say to that. 

"Shut up," you finally said, playfully hitting him on the arm.

"No, I meant it."

"Well, then, thanks."

An awkward silence settled over you both. He stood up to leave.

"Y/n... I'm having dinner at my apartment tonight."

He continued to stare down at you as if he expected you to say something. 

"Okay?"

"I'm sorry, I misspoke," he said. "I'm having a group of friends over for dinner at my place tonight. It would be great if you could join us."

Friends... Did that mean that Bakugo would be there?

"Thanks, but I'm not sure that I would fit in very well at a party full of heroes."

"Why do you think that?"

You shrugged. This was not the moment to get in to all of that. "It's a long story. I don't mean this against you, but I haven't had the best experiences with heroes. One did just fire me, you know."

"All the more reason that you should come and have a good time. These are good people. You'll like them."

"Oh. Well...okay. I could probably come for a little while."

He smiled softly. "Great." 

---

A server handed you a glass of champagne the second you walked in the door. Todoroki's apartment, a penthouse on the top floor of his building, was every bit as sophisticated as you had imagined it would be. But to your surprise, his friends were lounging on the couches and furniture as if it was the most casual of get togethers.

You felt a little overdressed; your outfit seemed to fit the apartment but not the easy-going mood of the people inside.

Luckily the swelling on your cheek had gone down, thanks in part to Todoroki earlier, and you'd managed to cover most of the bruise with make up.

Before you had a chance to scan the room to see if Bakugo was there, his red-headed friend was right in your face. "Hey! Long time no see!"

"Hi. How are you?" you asked, a little taken aback by his energy.

"Great! Come sit down and join us. Todoroki told me that he ran into you today. I'm glad you were able to make it."

"Me too. So where is he?"

"Bakugo's with everyone else in the living room. He's going to be -"

"What? No, I meant Todoroki. I wanted to let him know that I'm here."

"Oh," he seemed slightly confused. "Him. Probably in the kitchen. It's right through there," he said pointing down the hall. "But then come back and hang with us!"

"Definitely."

So he was here tonight. You took a big gulp of the champagne. 

You cautiously peered around the corner into the kitchen but then gasped when you realized how big it was. You were pretty sure the kitchen alone was the same size as your whole apartment.

Two chefs bustled back and forth between the ovens and stove while a group of servers were arranging appetizers on trays to bring out. Todoroki was right there in the middle of it, helping where he could. You were more than a little surprised that the host was right in the thick of things.

Todoroki looked up and smiled when he saw you.

"Y/n. You made it."

"Yep. This is a great apartment."

"Thank you. You look beautiful."

The chefs and several of the servers looked up when he said that, and with all of their eyes on you, you could feel yourself blushing. Todoroki didn't seem to even notice.

"Oh. Um... Thanks."

"Want a tour?" he asked as he washed his hands and came over.

"Sure!"

Todoroki led you around to each room, each one nicer than the one before it, but you were amazed at how modest he was about all of it.

"You can leave your jacket and purse in here," he said, pointing into one of the bedrooms where others had stashed their things. But just then one of the servers came up and tapped him on the arm, whispering about something.

"Sorry," he said to you, "They need me for just a second. I'll be right back." 

After he left, you finished hanging up your coat and then looked in the mirror hanging on the wall for just a second. You wanted to take a last look before joining everyone, especially since you knew that your former boss was there somewhere. 

You wanted him to see you doing well, no, you wanted him to see that you were better than well, you were thriving.

 Would you go talk to him? No, you decided. You were going to make him come to you. Right. That's it. You were going to walk in there and talk to everyone other than him. And then when he finally said something, you were going to be like, "oh, I didn't see you there!" 

Yeah, that was it. That was the plan. 

You adjusted your dress and smoothed down your hair just a little. The bruise was mostly covered and you didn't think anyone would know unless they knew what to look for.

"All right," you said to the mirror. "You can do this." You nodded to yourself and turned to go. 

But there he was, leaning against the doorway, those red eyes staring right at you. 

"Now that you're done with your little pep talk, what the hell are you doing here?"