(A/N: Ngl, I've never had this much trouble with a fanfic before, but it was a fun learning experience! Shoutout to the platonic BNHA Discord chat for helping me out with the honorifics and major shoutout to AVeryPassionatePerson for being my beta for this fic! If you're looking for more good platonic BNHA content PLEASE check out her story, trust me you will not regret it)
In the busy lunchroom of U.A., Midoriya paced back and forth, his brow furrowed and his mind lost in thought.
Will it really be all right to invite him? I still don't know for sure whether or not Iida and Uraraka will be okay with the idea… on one hand, Iida knows and trusts him, but he doesn't like sudden changes to his schedule, and we've never invited another person before. Then there's Uraraka, who's really sweet and I'm sure would love to help a friend in need, but she doesn't know him personally, and seems a little wary of him whenever we're on opposing teams during basic hero training…
"…oriya… Midoriya?"
Midoriya blinked, suddenly aware of Iida's hand waving mechanically in front of his face.
"Midoriya-kun, are you all right? You've been mumbling to yourself again."
"O-oh!" The young hero's face reddened slightly. "Sorry. I'm fine. Just thinking about something. What were you asking?"
Uraraka's voice answered cheerfully. "We were trying to decide an episode for tonight— between re-watching the one about those badgers that you liked, or a new one. We still haven't started any of the bird ones yet, after all!"
"I tried to tell her that it was her turn to make the decision," Iida said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "but you two are always so insistent on letting the other choose…"
"Well, actually, I was wondering— about tonight, that is—" Midoriya hesitated. Instinctively, his eyes darted across the lunchroom. He looks pretty content right now, but earlier during class I could've sworn… maybe I'm just seeing things again…
"Deku-kun?"
"AH! Sorry!" The green-haired boy shook his head to show Uraraka he was paying attention. She frowned in response.
"You've been drifting off even more than usual lately. What's wrong?"
"Does it have anything to do with what you were about to ask regarding tonight's activities?" Iida added. "I assure you, if you had a particular choice of documentary, neither Uraraka-chan-kun or I would object to—"
"N-no, it's not that! I-I was actually wondering if we could maybe invite someone to join us," Midoriya suddenly blurted out. There was a silence as what he'd just said registered in his friends' minds.
"You want someone to… join us?" Uraraka asked. "Do you have someone particular in mind?"
"Aha!" Iida exclaimed. Midoriya jumped in his seat, startled by the sudden noise.
"I believe your actions as of late have finally clicked into place now," the studious boy continued. "I've noticed your gaze frequently falls on a particular fellow student of ours. Have you been considering asking Todoroki-kun to join us for a while, now?"
"Todoroki-kun?" Uraraka asked as Midoriya glanced away. "As in, Tall-Quiet-and-Mysterious?"
"W-well, he's not really mysterious…" Midoriya mumbled.
"Todoroki-kun happens to be quiet a diligent student, and a very worthy member of Class 1-A," Iida replied in a slightly too-loud voice that attracted the glances of several students nearby. "However, I, too, must ask what brought to your mind the idea to invite him to join in our monthly social gathering. After all, our ritual is somewhat different from the common activities people generally partake in to relax."
"I know that, but doesn't he seem kinda… I don't know… lonely to you?" Midoriya asked. "I mean, he always works alone when we have group projects, and when we're put into teams for basic hero training he's really quiet…" Or is that just me imagining things, like always? Half the time when I try to help people, I only end up making things worse, or it turned out that they didn't want my help in the first place… am I poking my nose where it doesn't belong again? Or is that what I'm supposed to do? Does that apply in personal situations?
Iida cleared his throat, pulling Midoriya out of his thoughts yet again. "While I haven't noticed any such indications myself, I've never know you to mis-analyze," he stated. "If you think inviting him to join us for the evening is a good idea, I shall trust your judgement." The corner of his lips turned up and he gave the smaller boy a formal salute.
"I'm with Iida-kun!" Uraraka exclaimed. "If there's anybody who's an expert at helping people through their problems, it's you. Whatever you decide is good by me."
Midoriya felt his own lips press into an embarrassed smile. "Thank you both. I'll ask him at the end of lunch, then!"
Right on cue, a bell rang across the lunchroom as students looked up and quickly started scarfing down the last of their food before rushing off in groups.
"Better catch him before class starts," Uraraka said with a smile. "And whether or not he decides to come, don't be late tonight!"
"I won't!" Midoriya exclaimed. And with that, he ran off.
Uraraka would never do anything to cause her dear friend Midoriya to doubt himself. So of course if she was worried over one of his ideas, she wouldn't show it.
But she had to admit she was a little freaked out over the idea of Todoroki walking in on the trio's monthly get-together.
"Uraraka-chan-kun?" Iida looked up from his science textbook towards the brown-haired girl in concern. "Are you feeling all right? Your skin seems rather pale. Shall I fetch the school nurse?"
"No, I'm okay, thank you," Uraraka sighed. "I'm just…" She glanced at the bare door leading into the room. "Well, to be honest, I'm a little nervous about tonight."
Iida closed his book and his eyes, frowning in agreement. "I fear I have had the same thoughts. I can assure you that Todoroki-kun is, at least, nothing like Bakugo-kun in temperament…"
"Thank goodness for that."
"…but his aloof mannerisms and tendency to end up working alone suggest that perhaps our odd social convention wouldn't exactly be his cup of tea."
"That's what I thought," Uraraka sighed. "I mean, he's so quiet and reserved. He seems like the kind of guy who spends his nights drinking hot tea and meditating, you know? Not, well, sitting in a messy room and eating pretzels and watching animal documentaries."
"How many times must Midoriya-kun and I assure you that your room is perfectly suitable for the purpose which we have designated?" Iida asked. "Anyhow, I— I am sure Todoroki-kun will have declined if he found the situation too jarring."
"I hope so, but I never got to ask Deku-kun what he replied. We kinda got split up from him all afternoon," Uraraka said with a frown. "I wanted to pass a note, but by that point we were in Aizawa Sensei's class, so that was out of the question, and then during training we got put on different teams."
"Temporarily ignoring your utterly disrespectful comment about passing written memos during class," Iida replied, "I'm certain that whatever happens, things will work out for the best." His voice was confident, but Uraraka recognized the beads of sweat on his temples that only appeared when he was extremely nervous.
"Ugh, now I'm just more worried than before," she groaned, flopping onto her green bed. "I wish we could've said something to dissuade Deku-kun from the idea in the first place."
"Mm." Iida nodded solemnly. "It is simple enough to think about, but when actually attempting to talk to Midoriya-kun… it seems impossible to deny him anything he asks."
"I know, right?!" Uraraka exclaimed. "Like, he looks up at you with those huge puppy dog eyes, and it's like, like—"
"—like a beam of light born out of the pure, untouched innocence of youth shines out of them?" Iida suggested helpfully.
"Yes! Exactly like that!"
As Uraraka was talking, a knock sounded at the door. Iida quickly stood up and walked over to answer it, but before he did, he paused and nodded at Uraraka to reassure her that he'd handle the greetings.
"Midoriya-kun!" Iida bowed formally. "And… Todoroki-kun." He bowed again.
"Good to see you," Todoroki greeted, bowing back in a much subtler, less robotic way.
"Um, welcome!" Uraraka exclaimed. Just keep a grin on your face. This'll be fine. "Sorry there's still a bit of a mess…"
"It's fine," the red-and-white haired boy stated simply, walking into the room and looking around. Midoriya closed the door behind him and bounced in cheerfully.
"I'm really glad this works out!" he exclaimed. "Iida-kun, Uraraka-san, did you end up deciding what to watch?"
"Um… yeah…" Uraraka stated nervously. "We figured we'd re-watch the one about the badgers, since we know that one's good…"
Todoroki only nodded in response to this, so at least Midoriya had informed him of what the evening's entertainment would be.
Iida and Midoriya carefully moved the television over while Uraraka scooted over to the edge of her bed near the wall. She noticed that Todoroki had brought his school bag, which he set down awkwardly beside the door.
Did he bring homework or something in case we were really boring? I wouldn't blame him if he did, honestly…
Todoroki cleared his throat. "I brought snacks," he said, pulling out some small red boxes from the bag and placing them out on the bed like a peace offering. Pocky. Seems fitting for a pretty boy, somehow… But I can't eat those…
"U-um." Uraraka stammered and glanced at Iida uncomfortably.
"Actually, Uraraka is allergic to chocolate," he stated for her, "but we are very grateful for the considerate gift!"
"Oh. Sorry."
"W-Why don't we start the documentary now?" Midoriya asked, already booting up the television. Uraraka nodded and moved to give the corner spot to Iida, who was always very insistent about maintaining proper posture. Deku sat in front of Iida, as usual, and Todoroki… seemed very unused to sitting on a bed casually. And had no place to sit besides in front of Uraraka, blocking her view due to his taller stature.
Great, just great… I can't say anything now, it's already awkward enough, and I don't want to make him feel unwelcome…
Todoroki looked like he was about to say something when a blaring loud noise from the television alerted the group to be quiet.
Uraraka had never felt self-conscious about watching the Wildlife Examined intro before— heck, most of the time she hummed along loudly with Iida and Midoriya and then burst into giggles at the ending. But nobody hummed along this time, which only made her feel more aware of just how silly their normal ritual was. A gross feeling rose up in the pit of her stomach that she tried to squash down.
We're about five minutes into the hangout and this is already awkward moment number three. I hope none of us having to talk for the next hour and a half makes it better.
"Planet Earth." The narrator's familiar accented voice spoke over a wide-shot of a beautiful forest as Iida ran to turn off the lights and then quickly ran back. "We all live in a mixing bowl of diversity. A salad of plants and animals surrounds us all, in every waking moment, and we are nothing more than flecks of salt in this vast array of colors."
Oh heavens… I jinxed it… I take it back, I take it all back… Why do you never remember the weird parts of a show until you recommend it to a friend?!
To be fair, the weirdness of Wildlife Examined had been the very thing that made it appealing to the trio in the first place. All three of them were on board with the idea of making a monthly movie night, but finding a new movie to watch every single month was a struggle— as much as the friends loved each other, their tastes in genre differed greatly. Then they'd tried remedying the situation by finding a TV series to watch instead, but that had the same problem as the movie proposal. It was only thanks to an old DVD that Iida found in a "memory capsule" he'd made when he was little, and a subsequent online search of the title of the DVD (after all, nobody had DVD players anymore), that the group found the hidden gem that was a kitschy and overdramatic series of nature documentaries that was surprisingly addicting, and had something that appealed to everyone. Iida had faint nostalgia ties to the series, as well as a general appreciation for learning about nature, and Midoriya liked writing notes about the animals down in his hero notebook— he'd even figured out how to use certain animals' defense strategies in practical situations. Uraraka herself pretty much just liked all the footage of cute animals, especially baby ones, although she had to admit she also had a bit of a soft spot for the quirky narration.
Plus the narrator's voice is kind of cute.
"Today in the salad bowl of nature, we will be exploring the wonders of the badger species. Recognized mostly by black-and-white coloring and aggressive behavioral patterns, these furry critters are actually…"
…but now really isn't the time for that, Uraraka groaned internally. She stole a glance over at Todoroki, who's expression was hard to read, as usual. Should've figured that. Please, please let him not hate us after this. I really don't need Deku-kun's bad luck of making strong enemies this early in our career.
Unfortunately, despite her constant stream of silent pleas, Uraraka found that the next few minutes were hardly any better than the first. In fact, the entire next half-hour seemed to pass by as slowly as molasses while the normally-entertaining monologues about the feeding habits of badgers droned on in the background of the aspiring hero's worried thoughts. She looked over at Todoroki frequently, but he was pretty much always staring at the screen with the same blank, unreadable expression, which only made her more nervous. There was only one time when she could even randomly stab at what he was thinking, and that was when she looked over to see his gaze focused on Deku (which she guessed roughly translated to "I appreciate his intentions, but what was he thinking" at the best and "I'm going to burn his friend's dorm room down" at the worst).
The trio-plus-one was completely silent for a painful half-hour of this nerve-wracking torture until finally, Deku asked Iida to pause the movie so he could run to the restroom. (Deku and Iida always ran back to their own rooms across the building to do so; out of politeness or embarrassment Uraraka didn't know.) The female hero breathed a sigh of relief at the opportunity to talk to Todoroki alone— now she could at least apologize for the awkward taste in media without making Deku feel bad. And if Todoroki wished to leave early, well, she wouldn't argue against that either.
"Todoroki-kun—"
"Iida-kun—"
The two students stopped abruptly, having accidentally spoken at the same time.
"S-sorry, you go first," Uraraka mumbled. Todoroki bowed his head.
"No, no, I didn't mean to interrupt you."
"Oh, great," Iida huffed. "Uraraka-chan-kun, you must stop letting people go ahead of you when it is your turn to do something."
"Right… sorry, Iida-kun," Uraraka muttered, blushing slightly. She was especially awkward around Deku— she'd come to terms with that, although still not with the reason why— but she wished she could be more confident when having normal conversations, like Mina or Tsu or almost any of the other girls in her class. "Um, Todoroki-kun, I wanted to apologize for… well, the situation."
Todoroki blinked and gave her a questioning look.
"W-well, you know, Deku-kun dragging you here and making you watch something so weird with us and all…" she muttered.
Suddenly, the stoic boy's mouth shifted into an awkward, slightly confused grin. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was going to apologize to both of you for not knowing how to behave. I had to hold back laughter a couple of times."
Uraraka and Iida exchanged mutual looks of surprise. "Y-you did?!" Iida exclaimed. "Truth be told, I looked over once or twice to see if you were enjoying yourself, and I certainly wasn't able to tell…"
"Me neither!" Uraraka agreed.
"Well, I did," Todoroki said. "That intro bit about the whole earth being a salad bowl— pfff—" He raised his hand up to his mouth and covered it partway, holding back snickers.
"I— I can't believe you actually enjoyed it," Uraraka admitted. "Even the three of us don't know why we enjoy it so much."
"Some things are forever a mystery," the split-haired boy confirmed, nodding. "Although, to tell you the truth, I was a bit nervous the whole time. I wasn't even going to come because I wasn't sure how I was supposed to act in a casual setting."
"You are unfamiliar with those, then?" Iida asked. "If that is the case, might I ask what changed your mind?"
"Well, it's kinda hard to say no to Midoriya-kun…" Todoroki started. "Especially when—"
Uraraka's head jerked up. "When he gets those huge puppy dog eyes?"
"Yes!"
"And that light shines out—" Iida started—
"—Like the embodiment of the pure, untouched innocence of youth?" Uraraka finished.
"YES!" Todoroki threw his hands up in the air, and his face lit up with more expression than Uraraka had ever seen him with. "I've been trying to describe that look since forever! In fact, just now while we were watching, I was looking over thinking, if I didn't know his Quirk already, I'd think it was those huge eyes that make it impossible to say no to him."
True to the perfect timing of the evening, the conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. In an instant, Todoroki's face suddenly changed back to a neutral position as he opened the door for Midoriya.
Deku-kun was right, Uraraka realized. He's tall and quiet, but not mysterious at all. He really is just awkward.
"That was fast," Todoroki commented nonchalantly as Uraraka tried to digest this new, earth-shattering piece of information.
"I used my Quirk to run there and back," Deku explained. "Didn't want to keep you all waiting!"
"Then we shall repay your thoughtfulness by quickly resuming the festivities!" Iida exclaimed, already back in his corner on the bed. Uraraka nodded and started walking over, but was held back by a noticeably cool hand on her shoulder.
"Uraraka-chan," Todoroki noted, "I don't wish to disturb your normal setup, but as I am taller it seems like I should be in the back. Would you like to switch places?"
"O-oh! Sure!" Uraraka exclaimed. And with that, the evening was right back on track.
The rest of the night wasn't without its own share of awkwardness, but there was a tangible difference from before. Iida started sharing related facts about other animals whenever the narrator was quiet for more than a moment, Uraraka sat a little closer to Deku than she'd intended, and Deku was (for whatever reason) a blushing mess, who also sometimes leaned back to whisper pieces of information that Todoroki had missed due to Iida's talking. The whole group made jabs at the documentary's description of badger breeding habits, and Deku did a surprisingly good impression of the narrator. On top of that, Uraraka found a bag of pretzels left over from the previous hangout in one of her drawers, so she had something eat while the others munched on their Pocky. All in all, the entire second half of the gathering seemed to fly by rather quickly. Too quickly, almost.
"Well, I think we can call tonight a success," Midoriya stated cheerfully as the credits began to roll.
"Indeed!" agreed Iida, seeming unaffected by the fact that the smaller boy had inched backwards so many times that by now he was basically curled up in his lap.
Todoroki cleared his throat. "If I may… before I go, I'd like to say thank you." He spoke slowly, as if he were giving a pre-prepared speech. "For inviting me. I know you three are very close, so, I don't want you to feel as if you've been intruded on—"
"Don't be silly!" Uraraka piped up, intentionally cutting him off before Deku got a chance to. "It was fun having you! And I think we'd all be really happy if you joined us next month, too." She looked at Iida and Midoriya, who both nodded in affirmation— though the latter seemed a little shocked that she was the one to suggest it.
Todoroki froze, only his eyes moving as he scanned the faces of the other three people. "I— I'm… honored. I would love to."
"Then it's settled!" Uraraka exclaimed, shooting a smile at Deku. "We'll see you on the second Tuesday of next month." Todoroki gave her a quizzical look. "Iida-kun's rule," she explained. "Apparently the second Wednesday of every month has the lowest average likelihood of tests or important projects, and sometimes these hangouts run kinda late, so…"
"We'll technically see you tomorrow in class," Iida interrupted, "but I trust the sentiment is understood." Todoroki nodded.
"We'll head back, then," Deku said. Then he turned to Uraraka and looked her right in the eye with that beaming, hypnotic smile everybody but him and maybe Kacchan knew about. "Thank you for hosting, Uraraka-san." (Uraraka hosted every night. She knew what he meant.)
But she replied with a simple, "You're welcome!" as Iida moved the TV set back to its original spot and the boys walked through the door.
Hm, Uraraka thought as the room descended into silence. All the world is a salad, huh?
She smiled to herself as she noticed the empty boxes of Pocky still lying on her bed.
I guess we just got a new ingredient.
(A/N: The concept of Uraraka, Iida, and Todoroki bonding over their shared love of Midoriya makes my heart swell almost as much as reviews do)