#blind!todoroki

Quirkless AU (because it’s me, duh) where Sero is a newly hired beat cop, the lowest on the food chain at his department. He’s the guy that usually gets handed all the less important work that higher ranking officers and detectives either don’t want to do or don’t have time to do.

This includes taping off crime scenes. It’s also the one job Sero actively asks for. Every scene he’s called to, he asks to be the “tape guy” and after the first few times of odd looks and awkward approval, he doesn’t even need to ask anymore. The moment he steps foot on scene someone is shoving the yellow tape into his hands and telling him where the boundary lies. He’s the Tape Guy now, and he does his job with pride and efficiency.

Meanwhile, Todoroki is a clueless, blind civilian who mostly stays out of people’s way. He walks the same route to and from work every day, makes the same trip to the grocery store twice a week, and is known by name by every shop owner in town.

But again, he’s blind, and since he’s been walking the same route for years without an issue he doesn’t necessarily ask one of his friends to walk with him. He doesn’t need it. So it’s a very jarring start to his day when he trips over yellow tape he can’t see and stumbles right into an active crime scene, and right into the Tape Guy’s arms.

Todoroki walks the same route to and from work every day, makes the same trip to the grocery store twice a week, and is known by name by every shop owner in town. He’s memorized the exact steps it takes between each of his destinations and, being a small(ish) town and all, the rest of his community helps him in small ways.

When he can’t tell the crosswalk light has turned green, whoever is waiting at the red light will roll down their window and say, “Go on ahead Todoroki, it’s safe.” When a store has closed unexpectedly on the day Todoroki usually visits, the shop owners kindly leave him a note on the door handle with their imperfect Braille, jumbled and barely forming coherent words but it’s enough to get the message across. Todoroki appreciates that they think of him at all.

His small town takes care of him best they can, but every now and then there are some blips in their unofficial system.

Like today, when Todoroki is walking his morning route to work and hears distantly Kaminari — a cop and friend who offers him rides home after work when the weather gets bad — call out to him, yelling, “Todoroki, look out!” But look out for what? Todoroki can’t see so what is he supposed to look out for?

He turns his head in the direction Kaminari’s voice comes from, intent on asking what he means but his next step forward sends him tumbling forward, his foot caught in some kind of webbing or rope.

From one second to the next, Todoroki goes from searching out Kaminari’s voice to on his way to crashing onto the ground. He prepares himself for the impact, hands blindly stretched out in front of him searching for purchase, anything to mitigate the impact or negate the fall all together, but it’s useless.

He knows he’s already passed the part of town with all the shops and small businesses and is now walking through a park area. There’s nothing here to grab so he fully expects to show up to work with a few cuts and bruises.

So it’s a bit jarring when someone’s arms wrap around his waist and pull him back up before he busts his face open on the sidewalk. He assumes it must be Kaminari since he’s the one who tried to warn him, but the voice that speaks up is not a voice he’s ever heard before.

“Woah! Dude, you okay?”

Todoroki can’t help but narrow his eyes as he tries to make out the stranger’s voice, his eyes fluttering around blinding trying to find where to look. He can’t tell where the stranger is standing anymore because his hands are no longer around his waist, and he feels a bout of anxiety start to bubble in his chest at feeling lost.

Luckily for him, he hears heavy footsteps frantically approaching them followed by Kaminari’s slightly out of breath voice.

“I’m so sorry Todoroki, I didn’t realize you were here already! I was going to try and catch you before you crossed the last street so I could help you take a detour.”

“Um,” Todoroki turns to face the sound of Kaminari’s voice, relaxing slightly when he feels the grounding presence of the other’s hands on his shoulders in response. “Why?”

Someone snorts off to the side, quick and muffled like it was an unexpected action. The noise makes Todoroki flinch, feeling self-conscious and like he’s missing something important.

One of Kaminari’s hands suddenly lifts from his shoulder and there’s a muffled thwack that follows. “As you probably can’t see,” Kaminari puts a weird emphasis on those two words, making Todoroki curl into himself with insecurity, “the police are investigating something right now. We have the area taped off so I wanted to intercept you on your walk to work before something like this happened.”

“Is that so?” Todoroki’s reply comes out softer than he intends and Kaminari’s hand finds its way back onto his shoulder. He feels the reassuring squeeze Kaminari gives him, and he imagines that he must be smiling.

“How ‘bout it, Shou? You want me to walk with you or give you a ride?” Todoroki’s stiff muscles relax a little when Kaminari calls him ‘Shou’, a nickname that hardly anyone except him and Midoriya use and it’s always nice to hear. It reminds him of the friendships he was able to make after taking a risk and moving into town all alone.

He smiles a little when he says, “Can we walk? It feels like a nice day.”

Kaminari laughs quietly and squeezes his shoulders one last time before the comforting weight of his hands disappears. “Sure thing. Come on.”

Kaminari gently grabs Todoroki’s elbow and slowly turns him in the correct direction, orienting him back on his path before he lets go of his arm. He appreciates the gesture, especially the fact that Kaminari remembers how much he hates people trying to grab his arm and hold onto him as they walk.

It makes him feel incompetent and insecure when people do that, like they’re implying he can’t take care of himself.

He blinks a little too forcefully as a way to dispel that train of thought, taking one last moment to compose himself before he takes the first step forward. He hears Kaminari’s footsteps follow his, for the most part directly beside him but trailing a little bit behind.

“Finish up here.” He hears Kaminari say, his head turned to address someone behind them. There’s the sound of someone clearing their throat, followed by a short and firm, “Yes, sir.” The voice sounds like the one that caught him, still unfamiliar and Todoroki can’t help but ask about it when they’ve walked far away enough to be out of earshot.

“Kaminari, who was that?”

“Hm?” He hums in question as he gently taps Todoroki’s elbow, silently asking for permission to grab his arm and guide him elsewhere. Todoroki stops and allows him to, feeling firm fingers wrap around his arm and gently turn him in a new direction. He lets Kaminari hold onto his arm as they deviate from Todoroki’s normal path, their footsteps slowed and more cautious.

“That… person. The one who caught me.” He feels silly wording it as such, but he wasn’t sure what else to address them as because he wasn’t sure why they were there in the first place.

“Oh! You must mean Sero.” Kaminari laughs a little as he tugs Todoroki a little more firmly to the side, probably trying to get him to avoid something. “Newest hire. He just moved here a few days ago so he’s still settling in.”

Still settling in, meaning still not familiar with the people. Todoroki has learned to read between the lines that Kaminari is hesitant to write.

“Don’t mind him, Shou.” Kaminari rubs his bicep as he turns them a little to the right, like he’s trying to soothe a child. “I knew him a few years back before I moved here, he’s a certified dumbass. He didn’t mean any harm.”

“It’s fine.” He feels Kaminari squeeze his bicep as he pulls them to a stop before he drops his hold on Todoroki all together.

“You’re destination, good sir.” Kaminari jokes and Todoroki hears the rustling of clothes, meaning the other is probably bowing or some other silly thing. Even though he can’t see it he smiles; he appreciates that Kaminari jokes around with him like he does with everyone else. “Tell Midoriya I say hi, will ya?”

“Of course.”

Ophthalmologist!Kaminari and (Going) Blind!Todoroki

Now, think on it for a moment. Forbidden doctor/patient attraction. Vulnerable Todoroki seeking comfort in Kaminari because he doesn’t have anyone else really. Kaminari helping Todoroki navigate the new world after his vision is gone. The possibilities.