Summary: Monoma has a crush on the reader, who just so happens to be in Class 1-A. His confession goes about as well as you'd expect it to.

Warnings: none


Monoma Neito was having a bit of an issue. While he would never want to take back everything that he said to Class 1-A over the school year so far, he was starting to regret some of his more…harsh word choices against them. That's because the problem that Monoma was currently facing was that he had developed a crush on one of the Class 1-A students. The irony of the situation didn't escape him, but now he was stuck trying to figure out how to confess to one of the students whose class he had berated and insulted so viciously.

He wasn't really sure how his crush had started; sure, you were utterly gorgeous in every way, but he was hardly shallow enough to develop feeling for someone solely based on looks. Maybe it was because he could never get a rise out of you like he could your classmates; every time he went into a rant against your class, you would just stand there and smile at him with a knowing look in your eyes (he could never figure out why you had that look, either). Maybe it was because of how diligently you trained, but then again, as much as he disliked them, he wouldn't deny that the rest of your class trained hard, as well. It had to have been because of what happened at the training camp. You had gone out of your way to protect a handful of his classmates after they had been knocked out by the sleeping gas, putting your own life in much more danger than it was already in. Yeah, that was probably it.

His initial thought over the situation was that he should just be straightforward with his feelings, but when he thought back to some of things he said to your class…yeah, he was probably going to have to be a little more suave than that in order to get rid of the bad impression that you probably had of him. He then thought about asking one of his classmates for advice, but he hardly cared to face the teasing that they would undoubtedly give him for his situation. So he was going to have to go at it alone, but it couldn't be too difficult to confess to someone, could it?

Monoma's first attempt to confess to you was…unsuccessful to say the least. It was the dead of winter and Christmas was looming in the horizon. He had made it his goal to confess to you before the upcoming holiday, and when he saw you walking outside by yourself one afternoon after class, he decided to make his move. You obviously hadn't bundled up enough for the frigid weather, if your shivering was anything to go by, and what could be more romantic than offering someone your jacket? He already had an elaborate confession made out and everything.

"Ah, someone from the mighty Class 1-A doesn't know how to dress properly for the winter? And I thought you were all so superior!"

Monoma felt his soul crumble to pieces. That hadn't come out right at all. He had the right thing to say in mind, but…it just instinctively came out as an insult. He'd even thrown his head back to laugh at you, freezing midway with his mouth wide open as he realized what had happened. He must have gone deathly pale too, given the concerned look in your eyes and the comment that you made after.

"Are you sure that you're dressed properly for it, Monoma? You look like you're freezing! You better get inside before you start turning blue and get frostbite!"

And then you were gone, and Monoma wanted to punch himself in the face. He was so disappointed in himself. He thought he had more self-control than that.

After that, Monoma came up with a new confession, one that was much simpler and wouldn't call for as much bravado as his previous one. He practiced saying it to himself in the mirror every day, making sure to commit it to memory. He didn't want to leave any room for mistakes in his next attempt.

The second time Monoma tried to confess to you was in the lunch room. You were sitting at a table all by yourself, your friends still standing in line to get their food. He was going to approach you as calmly as he could and blurt out his confession before anything could go wrong. He was about five feet away from you, and he had just taken a breath and was about to open his mouth to start confessing, but then a hand slammed down on the back of his neck, and the next thing that he knew, someone was dragging him out of the lunch room.

"Monoma! I know that you don't like Class 1-A, but did you really have to single out Y/N like that?"

"I wasn't…doing that, Kendou, I swear."

"And just what were you doing then?"

"…"

"Well?"

"I was…going to…confess."

"…What?"

"I know. The irony of the situation is not lost on me."

"So, you're not joking? You, Monoma Neito, contemptuous hater of Class 1-A, have a crush on Y/N?"

"Don't make it any worse than it already is, Kendou. As you can see, I'm struggling to find the most opportune time to express my feelings to Y/N."

"…I guess you'll just need some help then, won't you?"

The third time that Monoma tried to confess to you had not ended in disaster, but given how nervous he was, it very well could have. He was waiting by a bench outside of the dorms, holding a wrapped box under his arm. He was lucky that he didn't tear the paper with how tightly he was clutching it. Kendou had told him to wait there, and that she would make sure you showed up so he could confess to you and give you the gift he had chosen. He took even more precautions this time around, writing his confession down on a small card that was inside the giftbox in case his instincts kicked in and insults started to poor out as soon as he tried to speak to you (he really was going to have to try to break that habit).

"Monoma?"

It was wonder that he hadn't heard your footsteps coming towards him in the snow, and it was also a wonder that he hadn't completely crushed your gift when you startled him.

"Ah, Y/N! What brings a Class 1-A-"

At least he caught himself this time, but his incomplete statement caused you to cock your head to the side.

"Is something wrong, Monoma?"

Before he could even think to speak again, he shoved the giftbox towards you, forcing you to take it before he turned his body to the side, unable to face you directly anymore as nausea was bubbling in his stomach from anxiety. He could hear you untie the bow on the box and make your way through the paper, and all of that was followed by a quiet hum as you finally opened the box. He had gotten the most beautiful red rose that he could find for you, and he attached the notecard with his confession on it to the stem.

It felt like an eternity was passing as you read the note, no doubt wondering if he had hit his head or something as you were met with the words of a heartfelt apology for his actions before his confession started. He had tried to make it poetic, but he had been so nervous when he wrote it, so much so that his hand had been shaking, so it probably hadn't turned out that great, and he doubted that it looked pleasing, either. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or worried when he heard you chuckl, and he looked over to you to try to gauge how he should feel. Relief was probably the better option, because the smile that you were giving him was positively radiant.

"Well, I can't say I expected this."

He just hummed in agreement, because obviously he hadn't seen it coming himself.

"This is very sweet, though, Monoma. And while the apology is nice, it isn't really necessary, not for me, at least. I know that you just want to prove yourself and show how great your classmates are. It's probably hard to do that with everyone's attention always on us, so while you can be a bit…unconventional at times, I understand where you're coming from."

Monoma felt like his heart was about to beat its way out of his chest; nobody had ever read his intentions so clearly, especially someone that had barely been given a chance to get to know him. It was frightening to be scrutinized like that, especially when he was the one that was always trying to read people so he could have an advantage over them. But even though it was unsettling, it was also flattering, and maybe even heartwarming, that you hadn't just assumed the worst of him and had instead actually tried to understand what his motivations were. The thought of it actually made him smile a little bit.

"I'd love to get to know you better, too, Monoma."

He wasn't quite sure where to go from there, but he was elated that you hadn't turned him down. He was going to suggest that the two of you go have a hot cup of tea together so you could warm up, but just as he was turning back to you to make his suggestion, he saw a sprig of mistletoe floating towards the streetlamp behind you, with a familiar disembodied hand attached to it.

"You're going too far, Tokage!"

His hissed statement had come too little too late, and before he could pull you away from the scene, the same disembodied hand that had hung the mistletoe floated down to tap you on the shoulder before it dashed away. You looked behind you, and your eyes were immediately drawn to the plant hanging ominously above the two of you.

"Huh. I wonder how that got there."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Y/N! How what got where? I don't see anything strange anywhere around us! Why would you think-"

You cut him off with a kiss to the cheek before he could dig his own grave again. Obviously, the warmth and softness of your lips against his skin had taken him off guard, and he ended up have a similar reaction to when he first tried to confess to you, freezing in place, mouth and eyes wide open, arm caught mid-movement. But this time, instead of ghostly white, his face was turning to a shade of red deeper than that of the rose you held, and steam was practically rolling off of him. It was oddly cute for someone who regularly insulted the entirety of your class.

"Well, I have homework to do, so I'll catch you later! Try not to catch a cold out here!"

As you walked back to the 1-A dorm, Kendou and Tokage came out from their hiding spot, both chuckling at the state Monoma was in.

"At least he didn't mess it up, right Kendou?"

"And what a surprise that is."

"He totally should have gone in for a kiss, though."

"Tokage…What on earth made you think that it would be a good idea to bring mistletoe into this?!"

"Don't get testy with me, Monoma. I was just trying to help you out. Plus, I like being festive around the holidays. It's not my fault that you didn't go along with it."