Chapter Text
Shouto hummed to himself as he arranged his notebooks on order of importance and by importance, he meant conspiracy possibility. After Ochaco, whom he could now firmly say was more than acquaintance and possibly a friend, had forced him to begin to socialize, he discovered a new hobby...people watching. And through watching those people he learnt about the various types of relationships which he began to compare to the media made available to him, movies and fanfictions courtesy of Ashido, and began to see some similarities between his classmates and the romance tales in his Wattpad library.
For instance, the lingering touches between Jiro and Momo, the shy blush on Yagi's face whenever Aizawa was in vicinity, even the secret glances Midoriya shot at Bakugou when the blonde was not watching. Shouto saw all of it and soaked that information up like a sponge, making sure to scribble in his observations in his notebook as the term progressed.
However to his utter dismay,the relationships he was now invested in were not making any progress. After a bit of thinking, he realized that romance in books worked quite differently in the real world...especially since the couples in real life were hardly forced into unrealistic situations that made them depend on each other.
And so he thought, what if he created those opportunities?
What if he set them up in situations were they would have no choice but to face their feelings just like the scenes in those romcoms he watched with Ashido. And so his plan was set into motion.
And the Love Therapist was born.
************
Operation: Frogtea
Estimated time of success: two days
Success rate: 75%
Date: 16/1/2023
Shouto figured getting Ochaco and Tsuyu to go out would not be that hard. Girls picked up on these things a lot quicker than guys did. He also made sure to take into account the amount of trauma they each had and the possibility of emotional repression as well and they were both good to go. The only problem could possibly be that Ochaco was harbouring a very obvious crush for Midoriya.
In normal circumstances, Shouto would have not bothered to even try to get the girl to see sense (to see that Midoriya was obviously gay, a bottom and in love with Bakugou) but he had noticed the sneaking glances she gave Asui every now and then. That meant that she had to be at least questioning her sexuality and her crush on Midoriya as well.
And so Todoroki was going to help her see that Tsuyu was interested in her as well.
And what better way to do that than to lock the both of them in an enclosed space for a questionable amount of time until Tsuyu gathered up enough confidence to confess.
(He had read this scene a million times and it almost always worked.)
The set-up was ridiculously easy.
After procuring an appropriately sized closet, because it HAD to be a closet, he asked each of the girls to meet him there at different times (exactly ten minutes apart). Once Tsuyu was persuaded into the small space, he unceremoniously shoved Uraraka in there as well and locked the door shut.
Patting himself on the back, Todoroki walked off to plan his next conquest. He would be back in an hour to check on them.
************
Ochaco stared blankly at the shut door in front of her, "Did Todoroki just trap us in a supply closet?" She asked incredulously.
Tsuyu shrugged in response, "He had done weirder things, -kero-"
Ochaco shook her head in amusement, "I wonder what he is trying to achieve."
Tsuyu said nothing and choice to look around instead. It was not a large closet. It was filled with brooms, a bucket and an old mop. The only light source was a fluorescent bulb above their heads. Tsuyu could stretch her hands and touch the walls. It was not meant to be occupied by two people.
"It's seems like we are going to be here for a while," Ochaco huffed, " What so suppose we do until then?"
The frog girl shrugged, "Whatever we want-kero-" She kept her gaze firmly to her feet.
Despite being a member of the 'Deku squad ' Asui could not claim to be really close to Uraraka. It was true she hung out with the girl often enough, but only ever as a group and never alone like this. She didn't even know what to say.
"Shouto told me he needed me to help him plan a surprise for someone -kero-" Asui said into the awkward silence, " That's how he got me to wait in here."
Uraraka snorted and folded her hands, "He told me the same thing! And here I was thinking he was planning something special for a special someone." She said excitedly.
Tsuyu let out a small giggle. Of course Uraraka would attribute Todoroki's questionable behavior to romance.
"Then again considering who we are dealing with it was too good to be true." Uraraka said shaking her head in fondness.
Froppy blinked and cocked her head to the side, "Is romance that important to you?"
Uraraka looked up shocked with a questioning look on her face. Tsuyu nearly physically recoiled.
" I don't mean it in an offensive way!" The frog girl assured waving her hands, " it's just that you are always talking about crushes and love and how wonderful it all is..." She ducked her head her face going red in embarrassment.
Ochaco was also sporting a decent blush of her own. She scratched the back of her head and smiled slightly, "I do huh? I never realized I talked about it that much but it's just so wonderful!"
"Imagine it! Two people fated to be, star-crossed lovers who happen to meet by chance but share a band that goes deeper than that moment!"
Her brown eyes sparkled and she waved her hands enthusiastically to make her point. Tsuyu was utterly enchanted.
"Is there anything more beautiful than that?" She sighed dreamily, playing her clasped hands underneath her chin.
Tsuyu agreed, "That does sound wonderful -kero- just like you and Midoriya right?"
Tsuyu did not mean to bring up the freckled boy. Anyone with eyes could tell that Uraraka liked him more than a friend, everyone except for him that is. It was one of the aspects that made her crush on Ochaco so difficult. Liking the girl and knowing her feelings would never be reciprocated.
Ochaco almost seemed to deflate, placing her hands meekly behind her back, "Hmm maybe." She sighed heavily, "I know that is not what Deku thinks of me."
Asui blinked in surprise and Ochaco laughed.
"Don't look so shocked," she teasily scolded, " I like Deku yes, but I can clearly see he doesn't feel the same."
Tsuyu moved closer to the other girl, confident enough now to place a hand on her shoulder in comfort, "then why do you keep pursuing him?There are so many people that really like you and maybe they want to ask you out."
Ochaco let out a self-depreciating scoff and rolled her eyes, "Like who?"
Tsuyu tried to swallow the lump in her throat. This was her chance. She could confess her feelings right now. She wouldn't get a better opening than this yet the words remained lodged in her throat, refusing to be let free.
Ochaco sighed, "See, you can't even name one."
The brunette shrugged the greenhead's hand off her shoulder and turned her face away. The silence was oppressive. Ochaco pointedly keeping quiet, quite unusual to her bubbly attitude and Tsuyu trying to force the truth out of her mouth.
In the silence her timid voice rang out clear, "I like you."
Ochaco spun around to face the other girl, shock evident on her face, "What did you say?"
"I said I like you -kero-." Tsuyu said louder and clearer this time puffing up her chest, "And I'd like to go out with you if you gave me a chance."
Ochaco simply stared at the other girl, her mouth gaping and a pleasant rosy blush on her cheeks. There was yet another relapse of silence, "do you mean that?"
Tsuyu nodded passionately, now emboldening the reactions she was getting, she gently grabbed the brunette's hands, "I really like you, I want to take you out on a date -kero- and maybe if things go well, I'd like you to be my girlfriend too."
Ochaco stuttered not able to get out any words. She felt like her face was on fire, "Don't you mind that I, that I like Deku?" She asked incredulously.
Froppy blinked," I mind a bit," she said shrugging, "But it would be stupid to miss the chance to ask out the girl of my dreams -kero-"
Ochaco felt like her face was going to melt, "Do you mean that?" She asked shyly.
An enthusiastic nod from the frog girl was her response. The brunette gave her a dazzling smile, "Then I would love to go out with you."
**************
Todoroki did let them out of the closet after an hour.
The peppermint took one look at their Rosy cheeks and hands grasped in each other's and knew that his plan was a success.
"Why did you lock us in there? " Ochaco asked once they were free.
The peppermint shrugged, "So you can finally ask each other out."
The two girls stared at the boy in disbelief who only looked back with an innocent expression on his face.
"What in the world have you that idea?!" Ochaco screeched.
Shouto smirked slightly, "Well it worked didn't it?" He said gesturing to their hands.
The two girls flushed and looked away but still did not let go of each other. Todoroki hummed happily as the two flustered girls walked off, probably planning their first date.
'That Wattpad subscription is worth it.' Todoroki decided.