AuthorNote: Sorry for the long chapter! Hope the fluff will make up for it. Heart!
At the end of their 4th period class, Japanese, the students of class 1-A packed up, grouped up, and bolted for lunch. Todoroki, Midoriya, Uraraka, Asui, and Iida lingered, awaiting everyone else to file out first.
Asui and Uraraka both went over to Deku's desk. "Are you ready for lunch, Midoriya Kun?" Asui put her right hand up to her face, as if resting her cheek in her palm. Her tongue hung out to the side, with a grin.
"Almost." Izuku pulled his bag over his shoulder and walked up to Shoto's desk. "Todoroki Kun, will you join us for lunch?" He tilted his head to the side and smiled wide. His eyes closed and it added to the adorable glow around him.
Shoto almost swallowed his own tongue. Izuku was too cute for his own good. He stood pin straight.
"Uwwaaaa! Todoroki Kun is having lunch with us?" Uraraka rushed over, and put her hands on her cheeks in awe.
Shoto nodded. "If I'm not intruding…" He looked down at the ground, and awaited their answers.
"Of course not! I invited you." Izuku reached his hand out, and put it on Shoto's shoulder. He squeezed it reassuringly. The red and white haired young man looked over to Izuku's hand, and let a rose color dust across his nose.
"Please join us!" Iida walked up to the group, and smiled invitingly. He put his hand on Shoto's other shoulder.
"Lunch will be so much more fun with you, Todoroki Kun", Asui croaked.
"So what's your favorite food?", Uraraka asked, already convinced he was coming.
Beginning to feel overwhelmed, Shoto distracted himself with grabbing his school bag off of the back of his chair. "I really like Soba." He hit his spiral, with loose papers stacked atop it, against the surface of his desk to keep everything level , before placing them in his desk.
When he looked back up, everyone stared at him with adoring smiles. Shoto wasn't sure what to do. His classmates were staring at him. His palms began to sweat, and he darted his eyes around, uncomfortable, but not displeased.
Izuku grabbed his hand, to lead him out of the classroom, to the Lunch Rush Cafeteria. " Did you pack your lunch? Or are you getting it here?"
As Midoriya and Todoroki walked out of the classroom, Iida, Asui, and Uraraka followed behind them, closely. "I don't see Todoroki Kun in the cafeteria often." Asui contemplated, aloud.
Uraraka put her index finger to her chin and nodded in agreement. Iida responded, by asking, "Todoroki Kun, do you usually eat outside?"
"I packed my lunch." He answered Izuku, then turned to Iida. "And sometimes; I was going to today. The wind felt good this morning." Shoto allowed his freckled guide to lead him down the hallways of UA, so he could continue to feel him hold his hand.
"That sounds great! I need to get my lunch in the cafeteria; can I meet you by the entrance?" Iida turned from Shoto to the two young women. "Did you bring your lunches Uraraka and Asui?"
"Our lunch is packed." Uraraka turned to Asui and rubbed the back of her neck, nervously. "I just got some new jellies, and I know you like Jelly, so I made us PB&J sandwiches."
"Thank You Ochaco Chan!" Tsuyu jumped up to hug Ochaco from the side. "You're so thoughtful!" Ochaco used her anti-gravity quirk to lighten Tsu, and carry her on her back.
"I still need to get mine too, Iida Kun." Izuku let go of Shoto's hand, and turned to Iida, once they reached the entrance of the cafeteria.
With quick goodbyes, Uraraka, Asui, and Todoroki went to pick up their lunches, while Iida and Midoriya waited in line to received theirs. Asui and Uraraka were the first to arrive at their meeting spot. Todoroki was the next to arrive, and spied them both conversing intimately. He approached slowly, as not to startle them, but as soon as he came into their view, their eyes were locked on him.
"Can we ask you something Todoroki Kun?" Uraraka and Asui both cornered him by the cafeteria entrance.
He knew he was trapped, and he should have been expecting the question, but the boldness still shocked him. Uraraka rose on her tip toes, Asui behind her, and whispered in Todoroki's ear, "Do you like Midoriya Kun?"
In that moment, Shoto was grateful that his container with his soba was well wrapped in the blanket he'd grabbed, as it would have surely spilled everywhere when he dropped it in surprise. He quickly crouched down to pick up his lunch, and avoid the awkward stares. "Doesn't everyone? He's friends with the whole class."
Ochaco, piecing his response and pink visage together, pushed the question. "…I mean romantically. We won't tell anyone." She smiled smugly.
"What if I do?" Shoto's defensive nature kicked in, seeing her over-confident expression.
"Then Ochaco Chan and I want to help." Asui answered. Both of the women smiled at him, and gave him knowing winks.
Realizing he had answered their question inadvertently with his antics, and hearing their wish to help, Shoto let a confused and frustrated sigh slip from his lips. Weighing the pros and cons of their help, he ultimately decided that they knew Izuku better than he did. Any help was welcome, when you didn't know anything about relationships. "Thank You."
Uraraka and Asui jumped up and down, filled with glee.
Both Midoriya and Iida walked up to the group, lunches in hand, and greeted everyone. "So where do you normally sit, Todoroki Kun?", Midoriya inquired.
Shoto lead them around the back of the school, to a shady side under a large tree. The blanket he had wrapped around his lunch was used to lay on the ground. Uraraka and Midoriya, "oooooh"d and "aaahhhhh"d. Iida thanked Todoroki for the consideration. Asui thanked him for his thoughtfulness.
The group sat down and tore into their lunches. No one talked until, at least, half of their lunches were down. Then, their conversations varied from All Might, to which classes they found difficult, to what they enjoyed doing in their time off.
Even though Shoto was nervous about the experience, he hadn't ever enjoyed his classmate's company more than now, during this lunch. He smiled, chuckled, and found similarities between each of the students there.
At the end of lunch, the newly formed Dekusquad left for English class. They had this, and one more class for the day, before they were free for the weekend.
Algebra came to an end, after English, and Midoriya waited by Todoroki's desk, as he packed up for the day. Iida, Uraraka, and Asui joined them.
"Did you have any plans tonight?", Uraraka asked the squad.
"I must study." Iida answered immediately.
"But it's the weekend!", Uraraka complained. "What about you, Tsu Chan?"
"I'm free." Asui put up two of her fingers to give Ochaco a peace sign. Asui and Uraraka looked to Midoriya and Todoroki for their answers.
"I'm, actually, quite tired.", Todoroki began to excuse himself for the evening, only to have Midoriya answer at the same time. "I'm a little sleepy."
"Awwwwww!" Uraraka squeezed her eyes shut. "Then I guess it's just Asui and me!"
"That's ok Ochaco Chan.", Tsu smiled. "We can watch that funny movie together, if you want."
Bidding them a good evening, Uraraka and Asui took off for their evening together. The three young men exited, after the women, and conversed about an English test on the way to the dorms. Once inside the common room, Iida set his school bag by the couch, and began to take out his study material. He'd explained that he wanted to use the space before everyone else gathered there for games and lounging.
Without intending to, Shoto had followed Izuku to his room. When Izuku opened his door, he quickly turned around to ask, "Were you still tired, To -Shoto?" His All Might homage sparkled through the slit in the door behind him.
"Oh," one nervous chuckle escaped the ice and fire student's throat. "I suppose I am. I'll just be heading to my room." He bowed, respectfully, and took flight towards his dorm's direction. He'd actually been hoping to spend special time with just Izuku, but he didn't want his thoughts to be conspicuous.
As soon as Shoto entered his room, he set his bag aside, and unrolled his futon to lay down. Today had been great, but so draining. He let his legs give out, and slammed into his bed. "Shit.", he said to no one in particular. He had forgotten to do laundry. 'It's always when you lay down.'
He got up, grabbed his hamper, and ran downstairs, to the laundry room. Since no one else's clothes were running, he threw his clothes in one washer and his blanket into another one, near by. Everyone always rushed to do their laundry in the morning. 'You think they'd learn.' He shook his head at the thought.
While waiting, Shoto left for the kitchen. He went to the fridge to grab some of his apple juice, and some white rice he'd portioned out. Instead of sitting, he ate standing up, secluded. With one bite, he decided to add some flavor. Nori flakes and sesame were added, and he leaned against the pantry to continue eating by himself.
Ashido, seated by Kirishima, Bakugo, and Kaminari, in the common room, looked over at the sad scene. She knew Kirishima had experience with romance, and looked over to him. "Kiri, how would you help a friend who was having a hard time confessing to someone?"
Kirishima's eyes opened wide in shock, and he blushed. He, quickly, looked back at Bakugo. Bakugo scowled and looked away, arms crossed. "Uuuuh… Well I just - or, I would try to get them alone together. The more time they have alone, the harder it will be to ignore their feelings." Bakugo looked like he was ready to rip something's arms off.
Ashido nodded. She did the first thing that she thought would help, and pulled out her phone. She need Uraraka and Yaoyorozu's opinions. They were the closest girls to Midoriya and Todoroki. If they didn't know how to get the two alone, no one would.
After eating, Shoto went back to the laundry room to throw his clothes and blanket in the dryers. He leaned against the machines and let himself reflect. It had been a little while.
Fatigued, the dual quirked student slid down to sit in front of the dryer. His first thoughts were to try and decide the exact moment he realized his feelings for Izuku were romantic. That one was easy: it was at the Sports Festival. Izuku had put everything on the line just to help him realize his true potential as Hero Shoto. He realized the most important thing he cared about in life was to become the best hero, not by rejecting his father's means, but by using all of his. Izuku had broken through his defensive walls, and changed him, all in the span of less than half an hour.
Next, he decided to trace back his memories to the first moment he knew he was attracted to Izuku. Shoto thought about when he'd challenged him. Yes; he'd been attracted then. Thinking back further grew difficult. Basking in the memories of all the times he'd spent with Izuku, he fell asleep against the warm drying machine.
Zzzzzt. Todoroki's phone vibrated. "Where are you?", it read. Midoriya had sent the message. He'd answer it when he got back to his room. Shoto turned around and realized that the dryers were done. He, groggily, took his fresh clothing and blanket out to head upstairs.
Around the corner, on the floor his room was on, Shoto saw Izuku pacing outside of his door. "Hey."
The angel faced student jumped. "Ah! Shoto Kun, you scared me!" Deku rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, and laughed off his nerves. He suddenly became serious and a determined look crossed his face. "Are you ok?"
"What?" Shoto was still too tired to grasp what he meant.
"Ashido, Yaoyorozu, AND Uraraka all said you needed to talk to me." Izuku walked closer to him, concerned. He put a hand up to grab Shoto's shoulder, but in a sleepy stupor, the fire and ice hero rested his face in Izuku's palm.
"I'm tired. But if you want to talk, we can hang out in my dorm."
Realization dawned on Izuku that Shoto was half-asleep. He couldn't blame him, with the early wake up call he'd given him. The green haired cherub chuckled at sleepy Shoto. 'I've never seen him like this. He's so innocent.', Izuku cooed in his mind.
Shoto shifted his hamper into one arm, and used his newly freed hand to grab Izuku's. He lead him into his room. "Please make yourself comfortable." The drained young man put his hamper down and took out a few articles of clothing to fold.
"I can help you with that."
"No. No. S'ok. You can pull up some videos on my laptop if you want." Shoto's sentences came out with large spaces between them.
Izuku laughed and pulled up Youtube.
"SUGOOOOOI" Opening his history, majority of the videos were about All Might. Izuku set Shoto's laptop on his desk, nearby, and watched a few Silver Age videos as Shoto folded his clothing. He stacked his shirts and pants on the ground, too tired to organize them in his dresser.
When he was finished, Shoto joined the amazed fanboy on his Futon, and leaned against him. "Turn on the one… where All Mi…" the words were lost as the tired young man began to fall asleep against his crush. Soft breaths fell from his lips.
Lost in the warmth flowing into his side, and the heroic deeds of All Might on the screen, Deku became comfortable and, also, fell asleep.
A memory began to emerge from the darkness of Shoto's vision. Sunlight kissed a young man's already tanned skin. He looked so nervous. His tender cheeks were pink. Freckles dotted under his tired eyes. Those eyes were green jewels. He kept licking his lips and shaking his head in a way that looked like he talked to himself. Shoto couldn't give time into watching this small, fragile man, because he needed to focus. It was their first day of school, and he'd just laid eyes on the whelp. It was ridiculous how he couldn't tear his eyes away. Talk about frustrating. A musical laugh escaped from the student. The man in front of him turned to make eye contact with him.
Shoto felt too hot, and shifted awake. He was on his back, in bed, but his blankets weren't there. 'Why am I hot?' He turned to his left, to seek cool pillow, and was instead greeted by soft hair. Like a sudden blow to the chest, he remembered Izuku coming to his room to talk, him folding his laundry, and then watching an All Might video. He, then, remembered his dream. It was the first time he laid eyes on the precious hero in front of him. The thought struck him, that this wasn't just some crush. He'd been attracted to Izuku from the moment he saw him, and he was falling for him with each new time they were together. Quickly.
Overcome with deep seated emotion, instinct drew him in, when the sleeping hero nuzzled into Shoto's cold side, that was now on the bed instead of next to him. The rapidly heating man propped himself up, over Izuku. He leaned down and touched his soft bottom lip, just barely, with his own.
"Shoto?"