This is a secret santa gift!

I'm always thankful to my loveliest friend Rachel Tooley for revising my works.

When Fire Meets Warmth

When his mother was transferred from the psychiatric ward to a nursing home, Todoroki was sceptical. He didn't know the place or the reasons behind his father's decision, neither was he willing to ask him about it, but it was much closer to his house than the hospital and for that he was thankful.

The first time Shoto went there, a weight he wasn't aware he carried was lifted from his shoulders. Even his breathing came easier, as if his lungs were purified from some sort of disease. He wondered how his father had come to know about this place.

As Todoroki climbed the last step of the long ladder, he met a somewhat familiar face - he didn't recognize her back then - sweeping the front yard. She wore a blue sweater and jeans. The pitch black hair and big blue eyes in a heart-shaped face and small stature. As soon as she saw him, the girl stopped the sweeper, fixed her clothing and stood straight.

Her eyes widened for less than a second, Todoroki would have missed it had he not been paying attention, then she greeted him. "Welcome to Higurashi-jinja," she said in a voice that contrasted her surprise from moments before. "How can I help you?"

'Higurashi K.' Her identification gave him only her surname. "I'd like to see Ms Todoroki."

Higurashi frowned and checked her wrist clock. "I'm afraid you are too early. Visiting hours start at 11," she said in an apologetic tone. He involuntarily scowled, so she added in a low voice, checking their surroundings to make sure no one was listening, "but I can make an exception for her son."

Todoroki flushed at her wink. She clearly knew him, or at least knew of him, but he couldn't remember where he had seen her before. That didn't turn to be a problem, though, since it was only the first of many of their meetings.

The following week, the one cleaning the yard was a young boy, Souta Higurashi, as he introduced himself, whom immediately recognized him from the Sports Festival. The boy's overly excited attitude was cut short when a nurse - Higurashi H., according to her ID - scolded him for fanboying over visitors again. She apologised for her son and sent him to his mother's room.

Ms Todoroki wasn't alone but talking merrily with Higurashi-san. The girl from the previous week, that couldn't be older than him, listen to his mother talking about his achievements at the Festival as she groomed her hair.

"Enji will never say it to Shoto-kun but I know he's proud too, Kagome-chan, I know he is." Todoroki rolled his eyes. "Have you met him, my Shoto-kun? He attends to U.A. too."

Kagome had already noticed his presence and stamped an awkward smile on her face before answering that she was from class 1-C and cut short the chat announcing his arrival. She finished the hair and went to the door. Kagome held Todoroki's glance for a couple seconds before leaving them alone in the room.

Ms Todoroki silently observed the way the two teens shared a glance before going different ways. She hoped her son would come more often.

In the following days, Todoroki paid more attention to students present during the lunch break, trying to spot a certain someone. He wouldn't be so bold as to go straight to the 1-C classroom but he could always bump on his mother's caretaker 'by accident'. They went to the same school after all.

Yet, not even once he had seen her, except for the weekends at the shrine, which wasn't so bad since he didn't have to explain to his colleagues why he was seeking a girl from a different class.

With these weekly visits, soon they started talking. At first, he would ask about his mother's progression and trivial questions. Then, the subjects slightly turned to personal matters and Todoroki found himself looking forward these weekend chats just as much as seeing his mother - even though he wouldn't ever admit it, even to himself.

As a bonus, his mother seemed to wholeheartedly approve it.

The Principal's decision to board all students forced Todoroki to rethink the situation.

Being stuck at U.A. took away the privacy of their weekly meetings at the shrine, which left Todoroki with the option of just forgetting about it or going out of his way to approach her while in school. He chose the latter. He pondered about the possible gossip and intromission from other students and decided he didn't care for any of it.

Todoroki 'accidentally' found 1-C tower as he 'accidentally' took a different route to get to the main building. She sat near the entrance, distracted talking with another girl, yet somehow she spotted him as soon as he crossed the building. He briefly waved back before dashing to his destination.

His cheeks burnt as he walked away. He supposed it was from the summer heat.

The second coincidental meeting happened at Gamma Gym.

Aizawa and the other professors explained about their need to develop new super moves in order to do well in the provisional license exams. After Midnight gave them directions for what they were supposed to do, Cementoss brought in someone.

"Students, please welcome Higurashi-san. She's a healer in training from class 1-C and a personal recommendation from Recovery Girl. Pushing your quirks to new levels can be dangerous but she will be here if there's an emergency."

Kagome wore an outfit similar to scrubs, except for the colors, red with white details. He had known her quirk was healing but would never guess that Recovery Girl trusted her enough to send her to watch out for his class' training. Maybe he didn't know her so well after all. That didn't stop him from getting jealous at Midoriya, though.

All he got was a few shared glances and some nods, but when Deku came from the lab with Hatsume's upgrades on his garments, she fussed over him as if they were old friends, asking all sort of questions about his physical condition.

Todoroki had to fight a green-eyed monster that refused to let him concentrate.

He was the last to leave the gym. The control over his fire was still much worse than his ice and he felt he needed a great deal of improvement before the exam. Outside, someone waited for him.

"Higurashi-san."

"Todoroki-kun, took you long enough."

"Were you waiting?"

Her cheeks reddened, almost matching her outfit. "I was supposed to watch out for any injuries," she said with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest. With the corner of her eye, she checked him before relaxing. "I'm going now. See you tomorrow?"

"I'll walk you to your dorm," Todoroki said abruptly, and quickly added, "it's on my way anyway."

Even if the offer was sudden, the outcome was worth the trouble. They shared few words, the awkwardness of the environment hindering their previous comfort around each other. Nevertheless, in a matter of a couple days they were back on track.

Shoto wasn't expecting for Kagome to go to the exam with them.

"Shuzenji-sensei told me to pay attention to the second part of the exam," she said.

"What will it be?"

"That's a secret." She winked. "But I'll get to see you in action! Isn't that great? I can't wait." The smile on her face twisted into a pout. "I wish my quirk was as cool as yours."

"That's nonsense. You can save lives. It's much better than fire or ice bending."

Kagome shook her head, her eyes distant. "Heroes save lives. They can prevent people from getting hurt, healers can only care for the injured. Those who are already dead cannot be saved."

"Then it's the villains' fault, not yours."

Kagome covered his hand with her smaller one and squeezed it lightly. "Thanks."

Shoto blushed but didn't pull away. Their hands stick together for the rest of the trip.

The peacefulness filling Todoroki's chest came to a halt when they arrived at Takoba National Stadium. It wasn't because of the anxiety of the exams, or because U.A. seems to be the most targeted/hated hero academy. His nuisance came with a face a name, Yoarashi Inasa.

Inasa seemed to have a dislike of him for some reason and after a minute, Todoroki could easily tell that the feeling was mutual.

"Had I known that such a beauty attended U.A. I wouldn't have dismissed my admission." A girl from Shiketsu slapped the back of Inasa's head. "Where are my manners? I'm Yoarashi Inasa. Maybe I have the honor of knowing your name?" Inasa said as he held Kagome's hand.

If Todoroki's quirk was laser eyes, Yoarashi would be fried at that moment. Whom did he think he was to approach Kagome like that? To touch the hand he held just moments before? To make her visibly embarrassed in front of the others? His vision turned red.

Kagome pulled back her hand from his grip. "What's your problem?!"

"Yoarashi," warned Aizawa, "stop harassing Higurashi. Todoroki, next time don't stand watching and do something. Higurashi, come with me. Students, get ready. The exam is about to start."

"Good luck, Todoroki-kun! Do your best!"

He wanted to do his best, to get his license, to be a better hero than his father, but Yoarashi wasn't helping.

"Trying to impress your girl, Todoroki?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You don't deserve someone if you can't see the way she looks at you!"

'Looks at me?' The information was buried in his mind as he proceeded through the exam. For a split of a second, he looked to the bleaches and, just as she said, Kagome was cheering for him. Was he missing something? Had Yoarashi seen something he had missed for so long? Did the way his heart skip a beat mean something more than the adrenaline of the battle?

He knew he shouldn't be thinking about it in the middle of the rescue exercise but the rush of blood in his brain made many things clear, including the fact he may be very much attracted to Higurashi Kagome.

He only needed to figure out what to with this realization.

"It's so unfair! I can't believe you didn't get your license. You will excel at the special training and show them the great hero they're missing!"

The ride back home had the others excited, talking among themselves about their plans for the near future, taking pics to send their relatives and sharing online. That left Bakugou ready to explode someone and Todoroki and Kagome sharing the back seat.

Yoarashi's words keep replaying in his mind and he caught himself looking at Kagome. Really looking at Kagome, maybe for the first time, maybe for the first time doing it consciously. The street lights reflecting on her blue eyes, the way her plump lips pouted whenever she pronounced some phonemes, the mass of dark and voluminous hair that framed her face perfectly.

"What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

"What?"

"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"

Shoto paused for a moment, weighing his words, deciding his next move. He didn't want to say the wrong thing, rush into conclusions or push Kagome away. Not able to choose the correct speech, he stayed in silence.

"Come on, Todoroki-kun, It's not the end of the world." Kagome nudged him. "You are still the top student and most handsome of your class." As soon as these words left her mouth, Kagome blushed and turned her face.

For the first time that day, Todoroki smiled. Perhaps Yoarashi was right and he was wasting precious time not noticing the signals.

Forgetting about the awful day, his classmates and even the fact they were in public, Todoroki grabbed Kagome's hand and placed a kiss on its back. Startled, Kagome looked at him but didn't pull back her hand, just blushed and opened her lips with a wide smile, the biggest he had ever seen on her.

Intertwining their fingers, Todoroki was glad his message was understood. He would put it in words later, in private, but for now, he was happy.

That day turned to be perfect in its own way.

Omake 1:

'Congratulations, Shoto-kun! I knew it would happen sooner or later. Say hello to Kagome-chan,' said the message from his mother that popped on his screen.

"When did you tell her?" asked Kagome.

"It wasn't you?"

At the shrine, Toshinori showered Ms Todoroki with pictures of the young couple.

Omake 2:

"Kagome-chan," called Tsuyu. The girls from 1-A invited the healer to a slumber party. Lately, Shuzenji-sensei had been suggesting that Kagome could be transferred to Hero Department to learn how to use her healing in offensive ways. Aizawa-sensei kept refusing, but let Kagome have more contact with his students other than as a healer in training. "When did Torodoki-kun ask you out?"

Back in his room, Todoroki dropped his tea.

Happy New Year!