The bell for the end of the day rung, and Todoroki immediately rushed out of the classroom.
Izuku broke away from his friends and slipped out the door before anyone could stop him.
"Wait!" he yelled after Todoroki, activating his Quirk to catch up to his fellow second year. "Todoroki, why have you been avoiding me? I don't mean to pry, but I worry, you know?"
"Not here. C'mon." Todoroki mumbled, walking out the door of the school and going around the building to a small pavilion with a fountain. "People won't see anything here, and only like five students in the whole school knows this place exists."
"Okay. Todoroki, what is it that's been bugging you?"
"This- this is really personal, and it's really the worst time to tell you, of all people. I don't want you to think any differently of me, or anything like that. And, please, please, please, don't hate me. I don't think I could-" He broke off, breathing in deeply. "Izuku Midoriya, I've developed feelings for you. I've had them for well over a year now. I thought at first that the feelings would go away, but they haven't. The relationship that you and Bakugou now share, the two of you dating... it just brought my feelings to the forefront of my thoughts, and it became painful. I'm sorry. You have absolutely no reason to apologize for not realizing, I was just too late. I need to move on, because, you aren't available. But until that happens, it might be awkward and full of tension. I'm sorry, for bothering you with this."
"Don't you dare apologize for having feelings and expressing them. I'm sorry that I'm not currently in a position to receive or accept those feelings, but please don't beat yourself up about this either." He glanced down at his wrist. "Now, I'm so, so sorry, but Bakugou hates it when I make him wait, and that's never fun to deal with. See you tomorrow, or on patrol!" He waved, already sprinting towards the gate where Bakugou waited, looking pissed.
Todoroki halfheartedly waved back. "See you."
He made his way home, taking the bus to a small apartment he shared with his two older sisters and his mother. His brother also stopped by occasionally, and the officers posted outside let it slip.
"I'm home." he called as he shuffled through the door.
A woman with pure white hair poked her head out of the kitchen. "Oh, Todoroki! Welcome home, son. Dinner will be ready in a second, and I'm making American apple pie for dessert because Fuyumi got a raise!"
"Okay." He toed off his shoes, unbuttoning his blazer as he did.
She began to go back to the kitchen, but stopped and turned back around. "Wait, what's wrong? Is it something with that boy you have a crush on?"
"Mom, I- he- I- just- I told him how I felt and now I feel terrible for making things awkward. It's not a big deal. I mean, it is, but I-"
"You don't want to talk about it. That's fine, hun. Now, come on, help me with this pie!" his mom smiled, and instantly Todoroki felt like everything would be okay. He had Mom, he had his brothers and sisters, Izuku didn't hate him, Endeavor was dead, everything was good.
"Sure." He shucked his blazer, hanging it by the door, and placed his book bag down as well. "What do you need help with?" he asked, walking into the kitchen.
"Just pare those apples." She tapped the apples in question, gathered into a small bowl, and went back to rolling out the dough.
He rolled up his sleeves, grabbed an apple off the top, and used the corer already on the counter to core the apple, placing the slices into a smaller bowl his mom had slid to him. He continued this until all the apples were done, then grabbed a paring knife from the knife block. He began peeling the apple slices he had made, putting them back into the original bowl. Halfway through, he felt a pricking on his finger, and realized that he had cut into his thumb.
"Mom, I'm bleeding." he informed offhandedly.
She gasped, quickly ripping a paper towel off the roll before running to him. "Goodness, don't just say that so flippantly! Hold this to the cut, it'll staunch the bleeding. I'll go get the first aid kit."
"Second left shelf in the laundry room!" he called after her.
"I got it!" she shouted back.
She hurried back over to him, and placed the kit on the counter, grabbing out gauze and medical tape. "I dunno what you'd do if someone wasn't minding you. You'd lose your own head. I swear..." she muttered, replacing the paper towel with a small piece of gauze, then holding it in place with the tape. "You're almost worse than Saika, always bumping into stuff. I don't want to see you guys hurt, you know."
"I know, Mom, sorry for worrying you. I'll try not to get lost in thought the next time I'm near sharp objects." He patted her hand gently, then smiled a bit. "It didn't hurt much, and if you like, I can go to Recovery Girl tomorrow to make sure it's not serious."
"No, it's okay. I think you've chopped enough apples, so you can go relax while I assemble everything, okay? Fuyumi said she'll be home in twenty minutes, and Touya RSVP'd as well, and Saika is upstairs in her room." his mom listed off, pushing him to the living room.
"Okay, love you, Mom."
"Love you too, Shouto."