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Sleepovers in the common room had been a novelty the first few months after moving into the dorms. In the beginning, the idea of waking up besides 10 other odd-some students, all groggy and sleep deprived, kept many of the dorm residents away.
Even at the onset of their second year, many were wary of sleepovers and tended to avoid sleeping around their fellow teenagers, what with the possibility of pranks or hearing someone snore all night.
"C'mon, guys, it'll be fun!" Mina - always the first to fall asleep and the last to wake during these late night escapades - announced cheerfully from the couch.
Every Friday night she made it her mission to camp out in the common room, ensnaring anyone who'd listen. "I've got Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle on DVD. Just give me a shot, please?"
Usually, Kaminari and Kirishima would sigh and join her on the couch; always found passed out later on, drooling on each other's shoulders.
It was on one of these fateful Friday nights that Mina finally managed to hook Iida, who had viewed her sleepovers as irresponsible. He'd always say, "We are students, don't forget! Maintaining a healthy sleep schedule is an important part of becoming a pro hero!" and Mina would sigh and wait for him to leave before begging any other passerby to come watch a movie with her.
"C'mon, Iida! It'll be a great bonding experience, and Denki and Hanta already agreed to come. We’re planning on playing hide-and-seek and truth or dare later on." She's draping her torso off the back of the couch, smiling mischievously at the taller boy, a towel around his shoulders as though he'd just came back from the showers.
Mina's drops her voice down to a whisper then, forcing Iida to lean in. "Plus," She adds, shielding her lips with her hands. "If I can talk Midoriya into joining us this week, Todoroki will probably come, too." She narrows her eyes and grins when Iida frowns. "After that, we might need you to chaperone."
Iida sits back up at that, appearing deep in thought. "I don't know what you're implying by that, but you do have a point." He sighs, rubbing a hand over his eyes and displacing his glasses.
"Fine," He submits. Mina nearly jumps for joy, until Iida cuts her off. "But only if Midoriya and Todoroki are coming. If it's only you, Kaminari, and Sero, I don't see the point."
Mina seems to droop a little, before she gets her wits about her and takes off towards the kitchen, where she last remembered seeing Todoroki and Midoriya at the table.
To her delight, they're still there, sitting beside one another and working diligently on English homework. Mina cringes when she realizes she hasn't even started her essay yet, and guiltily pushes it to the edges of her mind when she approaches the two boys.
Midoriya is the first to look up when he hears her slippers softly scuff the floor. "Oh, Ashido. Do you need something?" He tilts his head to the side like a puppy, and Mina can't help but think it's adorable. Todoroki looks up when he hears Midoriya speaking, both boys' attention now on her.
Mina smiles, hoping it looks sincere. "Actually, not really." She rocks on the balls of her feet. "I just wanted to ask Midoriya if he's ever been to a sleepover before."
Midoriya sets his pencil down, looking thoughtful. He leans back in his seat.
"I had a few, with Kacchan, when we were little," He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. Todoroki seems to be hanging on to his every word, which doesn't go unnoticed by Mina. "But after a while... I just stopped going over to his house altogether. I haven’t had any since."
Todoroki turns to the notebook in front of him and starts to play with the edges of the paper, seemingly lost in thought.
"What about you, Todoroki? Have you ever been to a sleepover?" Mina asks, hoping that it would be a better bridge into asking them to join her’s.
Todoroki doesn't look up when he murmurs a simple 'no', but despite this both Midoriya and Mina's interests are piqued.
"You've... You've never been to one?!" Midoriya sputters, eyes wide in disbelief.
Todoroki shakes his head, confused. Mina sees the opening and takes it for all it's worth. "Well, how about we change that? I was just about to invite you two to the little sleepover I'm hosting in the common room."
Midoriya tilts his head, tapping his pencil against his chin. "Who's all coming?" He asks inquisitively.
Mina counts on her fingers, "Denki, Hanta, and Iida, but Iida said he'll only come if you two do." Then, to sweeten the deal only further, Ochako steps into the kitchen and asks, "What's all this talk about a sleepover?"
After that, recruiting the rest of the class for their big Sleepover Extravaganza was a piece of cake. If Iida was coming to supervise, then surely it would be something worth hanging around for.
All in all, she managed to garner nearly the whole class (minus Bakugo, who slammed the door in her face, and Kirishima, who was mysteriously absent...). It was around 9:00 when everyone had collected in the common room, bringing blankets and sleeping bags; pillows strewn across the floor and couches.
Midoriya and Todoroki sit next to each other on the couch, shoulders almost touching, and Midoriya has never been more aware of his body in his entire life. Sitting on Todoroki’s right, he was all too cognizant of the gentle cold that seemed to radiate off his skin in waves.
Watching Mina flit about as she organized the events for the night brought a smile to his face. Midoriya leans over and murmurs in the space between them. “Ashido-san’s really trying to make this fun for everyone, huh?”
Todoroki hums noncommittally, distracted by something.
“Something wrong?” He asks quietly, but Todoroki shakes his head slowly, leaning back into the couch with a sigh. Midoriya doesn’t believe him, but doesn’t say anymore. If there’s something really bothering him, he’ll tell me, Midoriya thinks to himself.
Mina snaps up all the attention in the room when she stands in front of the TV, loudly clapping her hands once. “Right! Now that everyone is here, we have one movie to watch tonight, and then I’ve got a lot of games planned for after that!” And then, as an afterthought, “It’s okay if you just watch the movie and leave, it’ll be pretty late when it ends.” Midoriya hears a few quiet sighs of relief.
As Mina busies herself with putting the movie on, Izuku’s classmates chat loudly among themselves.
“Hey, Deku!” Uraraka calls, plopping onto the seat to his right. Todoroki startles, but neither of the two think anything of it. “Are you going to stay for the games?”
Midoriya laughs. “I don’t know, I might just go to bed.”
Uraraka pouts. “Aww, I was hoping we could team up for Hide and Seek.”
Midoriya furrows his brows in confusion. “Team up?”
“Yeah!” She grins, pumping her fist in the air. “I like the way you strategize, and my quirk will definitely come in handy,” She pauses, then adds, “If you don’t mind teaming up with me, that is,”
Izuku chuckles nervously, scratching his neck. “No, it wasn’t that, I just didn’t know we could team up in Hide and Seek.”
Uraraka smiles mischieviously, “I’m not aware of any rules against it.”
Todoroki chuckles at that, and Izuku turns to look at him, all too aware that his ears are beginning to heat up. “Are you going to play, Todoroki?”
Todoroki, usually so composed and stoic, looks aside. “Sure,” A small smile graces his lips. “But only if you do, too.”
Suddenly, Izuku’s face is on fire, and he can barely manage to squeak out a little “Ok!”
Uraraka’s eyes widen, before they narrow and she’s got a predatory look on her face.
“What’s that face for?” Midoriya asks, concerned, before Uraraka gets up and dusts off her pajama pants.
“Wait, I think I want to pair up with Tsuyu this time,” She smiles, “You two should be a team! Everybody already knows you two work well together, your quirks being along the same caliber in terms of power and such.” Her eyebrow quirks up. “Don’t want to get in the way of something like that…”
Midoriya is confused, and Todoroki stiffens beside him. Uraraka and Todoroki seem to share a silent conversation with only meaningful looks, before Uraraka drifts away to help Mina with the TV.
“I don’t understand and I don’t think I want to,” Midoriya groans, holding his face in his hands. “I feel like you two talk a lot when I’m not around.”
Todoroki hums, and the lights dim as the movie begins. As the opening credits role, the class lets out a collective groan.
“The Notebook? Seriously, Mina?” Kaminari groans from the floor in front of the TV.
“Actually, I’m not the one who picked it out…” She giggles, curled up with the other girls on the couch opposite to Midoriya. “Iida was the one to suggest it, he said it’d help with our English.” She sighs dreamily, her face lit up by the screen. “I think that it’s just an excuse and Iida is secretly a romantic,”
From across the room, Midoriya can see Iida karate-chopping the air in indignation, his face a bright shade of red. “It’s not nice to gossip about your classmates, Ashi-“
“Yeah, yeah,” She laughs. “Just keep telling yourself that, Iida…”
After that, the class seemed to settle down, popcorn shared among classmates being the only sound.
All throughout the movie, Midoriya can sense Todoroki relaxing, until finally they’re leaning against one another casually (it might’ve been a proposal with the way Midoriya is sweating).
Izuku is starting to feel pleasantly sleepy, but the cold from Todoroki’s right side is keeping him alert. Or, anxious, rather, when he starts to feel Todoroki slowly get colder. He starts to shiver, but he doesn’t want to move from Todoroki’s side for some inexplicable reason.
“Midoriya?” Todoroki whispers.
“C-c-cold…” He chatters out, and Todoroki’s eyes widen in embarrassment. Suddenly, instead of it being chilly, the room starts to grow steadily warmer.
“Midoriya, control your human heater for a minute, please? It’s a sauna in here.” Sero calls out, and some of his fellow students snicker.
Todoroki seems to choke on his own spit, and Midoriya is laughing nervously, but he doesn’t know why. The comment didn’t exactly make him uncomfortable, just a whole lot more anxious. “S-sorry,” Todoroki murmurs, just loud enough to be heard.
Midoriya pats his arm gently, and Todoroki jolts so bad he falls off the couch. “Todoroki!” Midoriya cries, resulting in several shushes from across the room. “Sorry!” He whisper-shouts; reaching out a hand to help Todoroki up from this floor, where he had landed in a disoriented heap.
Todoroki takes his hand, allowing himself to be pulled back up onto the couch, but he doesn’t let go. Not even as they sit, their hands laying between them, twisted at an awkward angle, but Todoroki doesn’t want to pull away. Midoriya casts him a strange glance (Todoroki's hand is stuttering between cold and abnormally frigid).
Isn’t this what friends do? Todoroki wonders, remembering all the moments where he’d seen his female friends holding hands. However, couldn’t recall one with a single boy in his class. Maybe he wasn’t wrong, since Midoriya is still letting him clutch his hand like a child, but somehow he feels embarrassed.
The movie ends with a chorus of gasps, a mixed bag of emotions from the two boys’ classmates. Midoriya finally lets go of Todoroki’s hand, and Todoroki misses the warmth already.
“Wow, that was beautiful,” Uraraka sighs, standing up to flick on the lights.
“I saw the ending coming from a mile away,” Shinsou murmurs to no one in particular, his voice sleepy.
“No you didn’t, how could you have predicted that?” Kaminari appeals, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he stretched. “I definitely didn’t.”
“So romantic,” Aoyama smiles, voice going dreamy as he relaxes against the foot of the couch. “I wish I could have a love story like that ☆.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Todoroki wearies, voice not lacking melancholy. Every face in the room turned to look at him. “What?” He asks, looking pinned.
“Sounds like Todoroki has some love issues, hmm?” Mina grins, sitting up and tapping her chin. “Did your girlfriend break up with you or something?”
Todoroki sighs, deflating. “No, I’ve never dated anyone.” But something in his tone reveals that he probably wishes he had.
“Unrequited love, oui? That’s always the worst ☆.” Aoyama starts, reading between the lines so well that Todoroki flinches, only confirming his suspicions.
“Who is it?” Mina squeals. “Someone in our class? Are they cute?”
“Umm…”
Midoriya senses Todoroki’s discomfort and rushes to stop the conversation before it can evolve into something beyond playful teasing. “C’mon guys,” He says good-naturedly, scratching his neck and betraying his nerves. “Let’s not have this conversation right now… Besides, we should play some games before we all pass out.”
Mina blinks at the blatant attempt to change the topic, and shrugs her shoulders, but Midoriya can see the suspicion in her eyes.
Todoroki has someone he likes! Midoriya thinks to himself, stifling the feelings of jealousy rising within him. He needs to be supportive of Todoroki, not disappointed without a real reason why.
“Sure.” Mina agrees, almost too easily. “I was thinking we start out with Hide and Seek.” Midoriya holds his breath, waiting for the catch. “But first, Midoriya, tell me who you like. And don’t try to tell me you don’t like anyone, because I can tell that you do. You’re sort of obvious.”
Midoriya sputters, glancing around the room in disbelief. Even Iida, who he expected to come to his rescue, was averting his gaze; seeming at least marginally interested.
He sighs, finally, when he realizes that Mina isn’t going to back down.
“They… they’re in our class…” Izuku relents, hoping that that would be enough for Mina, but she seems to want to squeeze every drop of information out of him. “I’m not saying their name.” He answers the unasked question in her eyes. She pouts, until he goes on.
“They have a really powerful quirk, one that I admire a lot. They’re really inspiring to me, even if they don’t know it. They always know what to say to make me smile. And they look so amazing, all the time, even when they don’t try.” He can feel the blush creeping up his cheeks as he rests his chin in his hands. He sighs, “I just… really like them. A lot.”
His brain finally catches up to his mouth moments after he finishes his sentence, leaving the room in complete silence.
“Oh, Deku,” Uraraka gasps, her hand over her mouth. “You’ve got it bad.”
Mina stands up, patting Izuku on his curls as she passes by on her way to the kitchen. “Normally, this would call for an intervention,” She begins, calling out to them from where she rattles in the cupboards. “But we can’t do anything without knowing who this special someone is.”
Midoriya jumps up and shakes his head so fast Todoroki wonders if he got whiplash. “No, no no no… No intervention!”
Yaoyorozu hides a snicker behind her hand and smiles, “Midoriya, it’s not healthy to disregard feelings like that.”
Midoriya groans and plops down onto the couch again, now a good distance away from Todoroki, and Shouto can’t help but feel disappointed.
“Feelings be damned, if any of you breath of word of this to Kirishima, you’re gonna get it.” Midoriya threatens, but with no real conviction behind it. He seems to deflate a little, until Todoroki builds up the courage to pat him on the shoulder. The green haired boy looks at him gratefully, if a little sheepish.
About a minute after, while Mina is still messing around in the kitchen, and all of the students who weren’t staying the night in the common room had left, a loud whoosh comes from Kaminari’s phone as the boy sent a text message.
Denki curses under his breath, but the damage has been done.
Izuku’s head jerks up, and he narrows his eyes at Kaminari. “Denki…” He warns, and Kaminari laughs.
“Oh, so we’re on a first name basis now?”
Midoriya shakes his head with a smile, and stares up at the ceiling. “Maybe. You just have me worried.”
Kaminari grunts, an invitation for an explanation. Midoriya sighs, giving up on relaxing a bit before the night’s festivities. “You know how Kirishima is, he thinks himself a love expert but he can’t even get his relationship with Kacchan figured out…” He scratches his ear nervously. “What if he comes to the wrong conclusion? I don’t know if I can deal with the embarrassment.”
Uraraka snickers from where she’s glued to Tsuyu’s side. “He does have a point,” She says to Kaminari. “Maybe it’s best we don’t involve him just yet.”
“Well,” Kaminari concedes, tapping out a message on his phone. “It’s too late now, I already told him.”
“You what?!” Midoriya gasps, so loudly that Mina comes skidding out of the kitchen to find the cause.
“What did you do?” She pointedly groans at Kaminari.
“Why’d you assume I did something?” He pouts. Mina only stares at him with an eyebrow raised. Denki grins. “Yeah… I did something.”
“What is it?” She asks, going to stand in the doorway between the common room and the kitchen.
“I might’ve texted Kirishima about our two most oblivious classmates and their… ‘issues’...” He admits, drumming his fingers on his legs (“I’m not oblivious!” Midoriya calls weakly upon hearing this).
Mina grins. “Oh. Well, then, this is about to get really interesting after all.”
————
A few minutes later, after Mina had finished preparing snacks in the kitchen and had come back into the common room, Kirishima bursts out of the stairwell like a bat out of hell.
“I heard someone needed advice?” He says breathlessly, the eight classmates that had stayed after the movie chuckling and pointing at Midoriya and Todoroki. The two boys in question scoot even farther away from each other on the couch, if that was even possible.
His mouth made a little ‘o’ shape before he smiled widely, cracking his knuckles. “I’m gonna help the shit out of you guys,”
“Please don’t,” Todoroki grimaces, but Kirishima has already sat down in the empty space between the two on the couch.
“Please do,” Sero chuckles. “Midoriya was just waxing poetic ten minutes ago about how amazing his crush is, and Todoroki went all… all emo about his,”
“Sero!” Midoriya hisses, and the boy bursts out laughing, Kirishima, Iida, and Uraraka chuckling gently. Aoyama raises an eyebrow with a cheeky smile.
“I can fix this.” Kirishima says proudly, tapping his temple. “I am Yuuei’s resident love expert.”
“As if!” Uraraka laughs, but she promptly shuts up when Kirishima raises an eyebrow and pointedly looks at Tsuyu, who is curled up asleep in her lap.
“Okay,” Kirishima says finally, turning to Midoriya, who looks sort of green. “I need to figure out how long you’ve been feeling like this. When did you first realize you liked your crush, whoever they may be?”
Midoriya’s first answer would have been, ‘our internships,’ but he felt that would have been far too telling, and he certainly didn’t want Iida getting the wrong idea.
He still remembers the intense feeling of exhilaration when he looked over at Todoroki, beaten and bloodied, the Hero Killer tied up at their feet. That was the first time he realized the surge of fondness for his friend wasn’t relief from being able to live another day, but something that ran so much deeper.
“The Sports festival, in our first year.” He replies easily, hoping that he didn’t just give his entire game away. The answer was technically true, but also vague enough to not have his secret revealed.
He doesn’t hear Todoroki stifling a gasp, but Kirishima does and glances at him sideways.
“What about you, Todoroki?” Uraraka says slyly, and Todoroki looks at his feet, his cheeks getting redder by the second.
“Same as Midoriya…” Todoroki murmurs, hiding behind his hair.
Kirishima shakes his head with a little tsk. “I can’t believe you two have been hiding this for over a year now. It’s not good for your hearts.” He sighs. “But I can work with this. I still need to find out who your crushes are, though, so I can be the best wingman I can be.”
The look on Kirishima’s face says that he already knows, but Midoriya sighs anyways. “Fine. I’ll tell you mine. But you better not tell anyone else. That includes Ochako.”
Uraraka groans good-naturedly. “C’mon, Deku, don’t ruin all my fun!”
Midoriya shakes his head with a smile. Todoroki looks nervous when all eyes turn to him.
“Okay…” He concedes.
“Yay!” Kirishima grins, clapping his hands together. “This is gonna be good.”
“Please don’t make this into more than what it is…” Midoriya begs, before he leans into Kirishima's ear and whispers.
After Todoroki's turn, Kirishima sits on the couch in shock. He looks at Midoriya, then back at Todoroki, then Midoriya again. He rest his face in his hands after a few moments. "You've got to be kidding me." He says incredulously.
Midoriya is suddenly very afraid. "What? Why are you saying that?" Todoroki looks as perplexed as Midoriya is.
Kirishima simply stands and walks into the kitchen. "I give up! They're too oblivious!" He calls, and Midoriya can hear him opening up the fridge.
Everyone in the room but the two boys in question groan.
"I feel like I'm watching one of those teen romance shows." Ochako laughs.
Mina pouts and bites her lip. "Well, I guess we'll drop it for tonight if even Kirishima can't do it."
"Do what...?" Todoroki asks cautiously.
"It's nothing," She says mischeviously, standing up to stretch. "But now it's time for Hide-and-Seek. I'm sure Aizawa-sensei won't mind if we tell him it's training."
Midoriya nods, his relief palpable now that he wasn't under the spot light.
"Okay, so how are we doing this? What are the rules?" Iida asks. He taps his foot as he sits on the couch next to Uraraka.
Mina grins. "There are none," She says. "As long as you're not noticed, you can do whatever you need to do to hide. But you have to stay in the building, so there is that."
"So we're allowed to use our quirks?" Izuku says, brightening and leaning forward with interest.
Cute, Todoroki thinks, and he blushes right after.
"Yep! Like I said, anything works as long as nobody sees or hears you," Mina says, pulling a blindfold from her shorts pocket. "I'll count first, and the first person to be found this round will seek next."
"Are teams allowed?" Todoroki asks, fidgeting.
"Of course." Mina smirks at him, slipping the blindfold over her eyes. "1, 2, 3..."
Everyone scrambles out of their seats to find somewhere to hide. Midoriya and Todoroki take off, and Midoriya resists using a burst of One for All to boost his speed. Don't want to leave Todoroki behind, Izuku thinks.
All the good places are taken by other students, so in the end, the two boys duck into a hall closet when they hear someone approach.
Even after the sound of footsteps fade away, they stay in the closet in favor of hunkering down instead of running again.
Midoriya can't stand the silence permeating the air, so he asks a stupid question. It even sounds stupid and awkward as he thinks it, but some part of him feels motivated to say it anyways.
“So there is someone that Todoroki likes after all, huh?” Midoriya whispers in the space between them; the closet was cramped, certainly not meant to fit two teenage boys. Midoriya can feel Todoroki’s little breaths spilling over his nose, making him shiver.
Todoroki hesitates, then nods.
“I’m happy for you,” Midoriya smiles, chuckling quietly. “You deserve someone that makes you feel special.”
Somehow, Midoriya feels like he’s said the wrong thing, because Todoroki’s eyes fill with a heavy emotion that he can’t name. It makes him squirm and sets off the butterflies in his belly.
“Likewise,” Todoroki says, finally, after a long, pregnant silence.
Midoriya’s hands itch to grab Todoroki somehow, pull him closer than he already was, but he knew he couldn’t indulge in his desires. Todoroki liked someone else. Simple as that.
He decided to push his luck. “Todoroki, we’re friends, right?”
Todoroki seems confused by this statement, and nods, unsure.
“And you can decide whether or not to tell me. It’s your decision. But I just want to know.” He takes all the courage he has left in his body and funnels it all into looking straight into Todoroki’s eyes, which are dilated in the low light, casting shadows onto his sharp features.
“Who’s the person who’s got your heart all riled up?” He asks finally, searching Todoroki’s face. He seems unsure, torn, his eyebrows scrunched up in thought.
Then, Shouto leans in, quickly enough to not give Izuku any time to process what’s happening, and tentatively presses his lips to Izuku’s.
He pulls away too quickly for Midoriya’s liking, his lips making a little puckering sound. Shouto stares into Izuku’s green eyes, pinning him with a heterochromatic stare.
All Izuku can think about is how soft his lips were, and how much he wants to kiss Shouto again.
“Oh.” Midoriya whispers. He pauses, to stare into Shouto’s hooded eyes a second longer, weighing the pros and cons of being so impulsive. Then he digs his hands into Todoroki’s hair and pulls him into an open mouthed kiss, and Shouto melts like candle wax.
In their haste, their teeth click together painfully, and Izuku pulls back with a laugh before diving in again, more gently this time.
It was all Shouto ever dreamed of and more, and he never wanted it to end, running his hands down Izuku’s shoulder blades, his spine, the small of his back. He tilts his head to the side and deepens the kiss, letting Midoriya tug him until the shorter boy’s back hits the wall.
Izuku lets go of Shouto’s hair and trails his fingers down his nape, featherlight, causing him to groan quietly into Izuku’s mouth, sending a zing of what felt like electricity down his spine
It’s at that moment when the door is ripped open with a loud, “Aha!”
Midoriya and Todoroki jump back from one another, tripping on the cleaning supplies strewn about the floor in their haste to get away.
Mina’s hand is clamped over her mouth in surprise, before she pumps her fist in the air and yells, “I knew it! I was right! Denki owes me ¥1000!” She runs off, and Midoriya can only stare at her back as she leaves, filled with conflicting emotions.
When Midoriya looks into Todoroki’s eyes, all he sees is fear. Fear of what? To him, it’s obvious.
Midoriya hates it, but his feet take off before his brain can make a decision and he’s running; away from that hall closet, away from Todoroki, away from all the things he has to address now that all his most vulnerable parts have been exposed.
Todoroki calls after him, but doesn’t give chase. Midoriya doesn’t expect him to.
Todoroki feels the tears stinging his nose, but they never fall. The burn of cleaning supplies in his nose drowns out the lingering smell of Izuku’s coconut shampoo. He chokes on a sob and pulls out his phone, bringing up his messages to the first person he could think of.
Shouto:
I fucked everything up.
Uravity:
mina told me she found you two making out in a closet.
Uravity:
how could that have gone wrong?
Shouto:
He ran after we were interrupted.
Shouto:
I kissed him first, I could have misinterpreted the conversation we had beforehand.
Shouto:
I’m such a fucking idiot.
Uravity:
what was the conversation about?
Shouto:
He asked me if I really had anyone that I liked, and that I could tell him because we were friends.
Shouto:
So I kissed him.
Uravity:
you definitely did the right thing here, Icyhot.
Shouto:
But he ran…?
Uravity:
i can’t tell you anything about why he did that, you’ll need to ask him yourself. but he totally had a stupid reason and i’m going to need to talk him down now. brb
Uravity has left the conversation.
Uravity has started a conversation with “Deku”
Uravity:
i’m coming to your room in T-5 minutes, lover boy. you better be decent.
Read 23:58
———
When Midoriya heard the knock on his door, he still didn’t feel ready to open himself up like that again, even though he’d had several minutes to psych himself up.
He mutters, “Come in,” quietly, and Ochako gently pushes his door open, letting in a sliver of light from the adjacent hallway.
Izuku buries his face further into his pillows, sniffling. Ochako sits beside him on the bed. “You can talk about it, you know. It’s not that big of a deal.” She whispers, rubbing her thumb soothingly over his exposed palm.
Midoriya groans and turns over to stare at the ceiling, eyes puffy. “It is a big deal,” He says, his voice thick with tears. “I didn’t want anyone to find out… this could ruin my career…”
Ochako laughs. “Deku, you think about the future too much.” She settles further into the bed, leaning against the wall. “Yeah, it’s true, some people are going to hate you for it, but those people don’t know you. They aren’t heroes, they’ve probably never saved anybody’s life.”
She purses her lips. “It’s our job, as future heroes, to stand up for people when nobody else can, and be the figures to look up to. Don’t you think those people want a hero that’s just like them? Don’t you think they deserve it?”
Midoriya cranes his neck to look at her. He smiles, but his eyes are watery. “Yeah.” He finally agrees. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Do you admit that what you did was stupid and you hurt Todoroki’s feelings?”
“...Yeah…”
Ochako pats his thigh. “Good. Because Todoroki is going to be here in a few seconds and you’re going to apologize.”
“W-wait! No no no! I’m not ready yet!” Midoriya starts to protest, but is interrupted by a knock on his door, quiet and hesitant.
Ochako gets up and opens the door, ruffling Todoroki’s hair as she walks past. “He’s all yours.” She grins, shutting the door behind her, closing the two in.
When Midoriya looks at Todoroki, he can’t help but notice that he’s wrecked. His hair has lost that clean line through the middle, now a chaotic mix of red and white with pieces sticking up in random places. His eyes are watery, his cheeks a bright shade of red. Instead of shoving his hands in his pockets, they are clasped at his navel, the boy looking unsure.
Midoriya sits up and pats the space next to him, and Todoroki hesitantly sits beside him, carefully making sure that they don’t touch.
When Todoroki stays silent, Midoriya starts to speak. “I’m sorry… for running. I just got scared. But I’m not scared anymore. At least, I don’t think I am...”
Todoroki looks at him, and Midoriya meets his eyes, resisting the urge to glance away. “It was stupid of me to make you think you did anything wrong, because to be honest, you did everything right,” He laughs, his breath barely making it past his lips.
Because Todoroki still isn’t talking, his face a tiny bit relieved, Midoriya continues. “Will you ever forgive me?” He pleads quietly.
Todoroki whispers, “What were you scared of?” instead of the answer Midoriya had been looking for.
Midoriya stares at the floor, feeling way too exposed for his liking. “Coming out. I… thought it would hurt my popularity as a hero… so I never told anyone that I was… heh…”
“Gay?” Todoroki finishes the sentence for him. “But what about Uraraka?”
Midoriya purses his lips. “What Uraraka and I had during our first year was mostly just me being happy that I had a friend for the first time. We kissed once, but my thoughts were elsewhere. I knew she could tell, and we both agreed that we didn’t really have anything real between us.”
Todoroki nods, his face brighter already. “So you actually like me?” He says hesitantly, refusing to meet Midoriya’s eyes.
Midoriya scoots closer and gently grabs his jaw, turning Todoroki’s face towards his. Midoriya felt giddy, they were only a few inches away from each other, he could kiss him right now if he wanted to. He felt himself smiling.
“Of course. I always have.”
Midoriya drops his hand from Todoroki’s jaw, but Shouto grabs his hand and puts it back. “Kiss me,” The taller boy whispers, and Midoriya does.