Midoriya came in and leaned his back against the door, but he couldn't take his eyes off the floor. He was feeling very nervous and was about to leave the room; his friend was doing pushups next to the bed.
Although he could not see it directly, he could check the moving shadow that was reflected before him every time Todoroki rose and fell, as well as hearing the applauses he gave between each repetition. He tried to say something, but realized his voice was not coming out and nervously he clasped his hands tightly and waited for Todoroki to finish his exercises.
"Why do I feel so restless? I didn't expect him to train at this time. Does he do it very often?"
Now the shadow looked different; he felt him jump a few meters away and at times he could see his silky hair very close to the ground. He was not brave enough to turn and see him but he seemed to do burpees, with that he knew that Todoroki had enough resistance because he managed to calmly do an exercise as complex as that one.
"It helps him a lot to increase the resistance of his lungs against the radical changes of temperature of his gift."
"Hello!" He greeted, when realized that his friend murmured his name several times. "How are you, Todoroki?" He whispered, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets.
"You can't sleep again, Midoriya?" Todoroki said, taking a drink from the glass of water on the table.
"No." He scratched the back of his neck. "I have many things going on in my mind." Midoriya didn't like to fool people.
"First learn to lie." He saw Todoroki turn his face and hide his half smile with his hands at seeing him so nervous.
"I'm sorry, Todoroki." Midoriya lowered him face, thinking that, without knowing how, he could read him better than anyone.
"What's really going on?" Todoroki set the glass on the table and grabbed a small towel from the floor.
Midoriya followed his movements with his gaze before landing on his friend's bicolored eyes as he straightened up. He saw beads of sweat fall from his forehead and held in a sigh. "I hadn't realized the intensity of his gaze."
"There is something that…" Midoriya was having a hard time coming up with the right words.
"Midoriya, say it at once." Todoroki wiped the towel over his forehead.
"Excuse me," Midoriya exclaimed almost in a cry, falling to his knees to the floor. He was throwing his plan away but he didn't want to stay with that feeling any longer.
"Why?" Todoroki looked surprised and tried to get closer but Midoriya raised his hands in the air to signal him not to take another step closer.
"I ignored you and, for that, I'm sorry," Midoriya murmured, almost unintelligible as he hid his face in his hands and covered part of him mouth in the process.
Todoroki folded the towel and placed it on the table, next to the empty glass, smoothed his hair back with his hands and fixed his shirt before sitting down on the soft bed.
"Come on, Midoriya," Todoroki whispered, patting the mattress.
"Uhm?" He wiped his tears a little with the back of his hand.
"Sit next to me, come on." He watched him with surprise as Todoroki tried to curl his lips to give him a smile.
"That is weird. Todoroki is smiling again? That is not very common in him."
"I ignored you while you told me about something that excited you and you smile at me as if I had done something right?" Midoriya was surprised by that behavior.
"Come here, Midoriya." Todoroki's voice came out in a more demanding tone than expected, causing Midoriya to slowly approach the bed.
"I hope you aren't mad at me," Midoriya murmured, sitting delicately on the soft cloak that covered the bed.
"Yes, I was a little upset," Midoriya quickly turned to see Todoroki, "but it is not so bad, it's not so serious and you do not have to worry."
Midoriya's jaw dropped. "I thought he was going to be sad but no, he seems the same as always."
"We don't have time to hold grudges. Just…" Todoroki lifted one leg until it was bent over the mattress, "don't do it again."
"All right, Todoroki!" Midoriya nodded as he finished wiping the tears that still fell from his cheeks.
"Besides, we all have our problems." He saw Todoroki close his eyes before finishing what he was trying to say. "We are not always available to others."
"You're right, Todoroki." Midoriya tried to give him a smile when he raised his face.
"What's wrong with...?" Todoroki couldn't finish his sentence because of Midoriya's interruption.
"What were the improvements you were talking about?" Midoriya knew what he wanted to hear but he couldn't tell him anything so he preferred to not let him talk about it.
"They weren't improvements, Midoriya. They were new movements," Todoroki murmured patiently, leaning back a little, already beginning to feel very close to his friend. "For my temporary license."
"Yes, that." Midoriya scratched his thigh nervously, waiting for him to start talking.
"I can now activate both powers at the same time." Todoroki sounded very excited and relieved to be able to tell him about his progress.
"That's great, Todoroki!" He didn't want to raise the volume of his voice too much but he couldn't hold back the happiness.
Midoriya approached him again and, without thinking how strange that might be, and gave him a quick hug as a congratulation act. He immediately walked away with flushed cheeks and a lump in his throat, preventing him from saying anything and increasing the tension between them.
"Look, I'll show you," Todoroki murmured after a few seconds. He finished sitting on the bed with his legs intertwined; Midoriya could tell that he was still a little nervous.
Midoriya was very happy. He saw Todoroki settling in, straightening his back, placing both hands in front of him, at the level of his chest. He took a deep breath with his eyes closed and waved both hands at the same time, but only a little ice came out of his right hand. Todoroki stared at the palm of his left hand, analyzing what had happened because he did not understand what the problem had been, but he did not give up and tried again a couple of times.
Midoriya noticed how his friend, try after try, became more annoyed and his expression became sadder and sadder. He wanted to say something to help him but he didn't know what. He searched in his mind for some advice that might calm his friend down, but his brain didn't want to cooperate so he remained silent for few more seconds.
"You can try again in a bit." Midoriya just wanted to cheer him up.
"I was able to do it again a moment ago." Todoroki seemed to be trying to stay calm.
"Do not worry." Midoriya brought a hand slowly to his wrist and wrapped him fingers around it. "Surely you are tired, that is all."
Midoriya couldn't see, by staring at the mattress, how Todoroki shifted his gaze from his palm to the wrist where his hand was, surprised at how gently he had grasped it.
He didn't know if Todoroki felt the same as him. Midoriya had to decide if he liked the feeling of having his hand wrapped around his friend's wrist or if it was better to pull his arm away from him before the atmosphere became even tenser between them.
"Todoroki…" he whispered, still not removing his hand.
"Midoriya…" He said it so softly that he hardly heard him.
"Uhm…" He wasn't so sure what he meant; his breathing got heavy.
"And, uhm… how are you doing with the kick?" Todoroki whispered, withdrawing him wrist from between his friend's fingers, drawing his hand to his chest and placing him own hand on his left wrist. "I assume it is already stable and serves very well as a special move."
"I still have a long way to go before it's perfect." He placed his hands over the mattress. "All Might said I have to learn to control intensity better first."
"And are you practicing that?" Todoroki seemed not wanting to return to the previous topic; Midoriya could see in his face that he still didn't understand what happened to his quirk.
"Every day in the morning I get up to train." Midoriya turned to see his friend with a smile on his face. "You can join me one day, if you want."
He saw the surprise on Todoroki's face. He knew his teammates had seen him train in the yard but he had never considered inviting someone. He longed for his friend to accept his offer.
"Do you even do that the days that you stay here with me until dawn?" Todoroki asked, arching an eyebrow. His face expressed the surprise he felt when he saw him nod. "When do you sleep, Midoriya?"
"Sometimes I don't." Midoriya let out a sigh, getting a serious expression on his face.
"It's impossible to tell... I've never noticed." He saw Todoroki rest his chin on the back of his right hand. "Tell me your secret," he whispered, in a rather curious tone.
"I do not know." Midoriya started to mutter unconsciously uninterrupted about All Might and his relationship with him, his quirk and how much he still has to learn, what he does in his practices and the helplessness he feels for not saving Eri when he had the chance.
"Midoriya," Todoroki whispered, watching him with wide eyes. "Midoriya, you already started again." He felt as he gently shook his shoulder.
"Sorry." Midoriya's cheeks began to burn. "I got carried away." His tone came out much more nervous than usual; he was afraid of saying something he shouldn't have.
"I can't do that, it's evident in my face that I didn't rest during the night," Todoroki said, shrugging, "much more under my eyes."
"Don't think like that, you don't change that much." Midoriya wanted to swallow his words as soon as they were out of his mouth.
"Did you know that you are quite observant?" He didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or as a bad thing; he opted for the latter.
"Excuse me," Midoriya said, lowering his head, "I didn't mean to."
"As a nerd, I mean." Todoroki shook his head several times waving his arms in front of him. "I said it because of the hero notebook." He leaned his body forward a little.
"Oh!" Midoriya laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "It's just that quirks are very interesting."
"Do you do it with everyone?" Todoroki questioned, placing both hands over his own legs.
"Yes!" Midoriya replied, a little proud but still ashamed of that nerdy side of him.
Todoroki laid down with his back against the mattress and stared at the ceiling for a while. "He has something that makes him look very interesting." Midoriya scanned him silently until he managed to collect his thoughts and get the words he wanted to use.
"Midoriya…" Todoroki drew his attention, interrupting his thoughts before he could say anything.
"Hm?" He finished sitting on the bed and turned his body towards his friend.
"I don't want you to take it badly, okay?" Todoroki turned his face away, but he could still see the uneasy expression that he reflected.
"Todoroki, what is it?" Midoriya was starting to freak out and he didn't like feeling so worried.
"Uh…" Todoroki sighed for a moment to relax and let the words flow. "You didn't feel something strange when you took me by the wrist?"
"What are you talking about, Todoroki?" Midoriya didn't know why but he felt happy, and nervous, even though he didn't understand what happened inside him during those seconds.
"Midoriya, I… uh…" You could tell that Todoroki was fighting internally with himself; he seemed to be regretting what he started to say.
"Todoroki, you're worrying me." Midoriya lay down next to him over his left arm. "You look very distressed."
"Let's see..." Todoroki turned his body, placing all of his weight on his right side and facing him. "You didn't feel something when you put your hand around my wrist?"
"You were getting very sad and I didn't want to see you like this." Midoriya curled his lips slightly downward.
"Midoriya…" Todoroki sounded as if his voice refused to leave him throat, "I felt different."
"Your skin was warmer." Midoriya gulped into his eyes. "Maybe because that's the side of the flames, I don't know."
"I'm not talking about that." He saw Todoroki close his eyes and take a deep breath. "You managed to calm me down with that."
"That is good, no?" He knew that that was not what Todoroki expected as an answer but he didn't want to accept in front of his friend the internal conflict that that show of affection had caused him.
"Even the hug…" Todoroki bit him lower lip, "even though we parted so fast."
"Todoroki…" Midoriya couldn't help but sigh when he saw that image in front of him.
"Should I understand that you felt it too?" Todoroki could read him better than anyone.
"Like a stream running down your back?" Midoriya asked really quietly, not wanting to say it too loud just in case.
"Yeah…" Todoroki seemed relieved that he wasn't alone on that roller coaster of emotions. "That is exactly what I was referring to."
"Todoroki, I don't know what that was," Midoriya licked his lips, he was very nervous, "but I felt it."
"Midoriya, I don't know either," Todoroki imitated his friend, "but I liked it."
Todoroki brushed the back of his right hand and made him tense immediately, he ran his fingers over the marks that he left over Midoriya's skin after their fight during the sports festival. He transmitted a mixture of cold and heat to him that made him shiver a little but, strangely, he liked it. The two of them saw each other intensely for a moment in which Todoroki entwined his right hand with Midoriya's and began to stroke the back with his thumb.
Midoriya's heart asked him for something like that a thousand times; he had dreamed it several times already but he never felt so real; it would have been almost impossible. He admired the two colors that Todoroki's eyes had, he couldn't decide which one he liked more. Each one showed a side of him that not many understood, that even he himself did not fully know.
He didn't realize how long they had spent in silence, observing each other, detailing the small features they hadn't realized before. He was also unaware of the wild beating of his heart or the slight trembling in his hands.
Todoroki outlined his face with his free hand, stroking his soft skin until he made Midoriya wanting to close his eyes and smile. Midoriya saw him look down at his lips and notice, in his path, the rhomboidal shaped freckles that decorated his cheeks, a detail that seemed to have fascinated him enough to stay watching him for a couple of seconds more.
Midoriya felt very different. He had a whirlwind of sensations that filled the interior of his soul, it seemed that a hurricane was taking out of a trunk everything that he had hidden, unconsciously, these last months. He did not want his friend to stop caressing his face and he had less planned to close his eyes when the friction came to calm him. He wanted to open his eyelids to appreciate Todoroki's expressions but the delicate way with which he caressed him skin felt very relaxing.
It was quite difficult for him to stop smiling while his eyes were closed. "Why does he make me feel like this?" Inside him was a battle going on, between being carried away by the pleasant sensations or quickly getting away from Todoroki before something happened that could break their friendship. "It could already be broken."
He opened his eyes with little resistance and met the captivating gaze of his friend. As much as he wanted, he could not have prevented his lips from separating when he realized the closeness he had with him and the way his gaze alternated between his lips and his eyes. He made it even more difficult to focus on calming his breath because of the way Todoroki kept drawing lines on his skin; he could feel the slight gusts of heat that he transmitted to him.
"Why did I get into this? How can I accept that we are separated, in this way, by so few centimeters? I'm sure we both enjoy the situation but I feel like I'm not going to put up with it any longer. I have to walk away quickly or get completely close to kiss him."
The roller coaster of sensations that Midoriya had didn't stop, even increased in intensity with every detail that he discovered on Todoroki's pale skin. Midoriya's lips were still separated, almost waiting for his friend to come over and taste them. He felt Todoroki run his fingers over the fine line that defined his mouth. "Is he trying to tempt me?"
Midoriya stifled a sigh and moved a little closer but without touching him yet; he kept thinking about it. He imitated him and traced Todoroki's face with his fingers, his index finger stroking his jawbone. "He could hurt someone with this." He took him by the chin and, not sure if it was okay to take the initiative, stayed a few millimeters away from his face.
"He seems to be able to read my thoughts... We can't be so close together and not want to finish what we started as fools." Midoriya thought, before raising his gaze to Todoroki's eyes; he seemed to have made up his mind. He felt his friend take a deep breath and cup his face with his free hand. He slowly brushed his thumb over his lips, waiting for him to react, and let him know that he agreed with what they were doing. Todoroki approached shortly after.
Midoriya did not expect the delicacy with which his friend kissed him; he moved away a little when he felt a strange current go down his spine. He saw Todoroki's regretful look draw on his face and it scared him. He ran his hand from his friend's chin to the back of his neck and pulled him close to kiss him again. This time he is the one that started and he felt that he should make the kiss a much more intense experience.
One hand hot, the other cold. The mixture of temperatures made Midoriya's breathing quicken and he started gasping for breath. He couldn't deny that he enjoyed the sweet taste of Todoroki's lips. "Just as I imagined." He was eager, very eager; he never thought something like that would actually happen.
Midoriya felt Todoroki's tongue separate his lips, slipping into his mouth, unleashing the frenzy they both seemed to feel. "Guava…" He recognized the taste he got from exploring every corner of his mouth. "That explains why his body odor became sweeter."
As neither of them had any experience, the kiss had this certain strange sensation that became heavier as he discovered new sensations and was carried away by his instinct, by what his body wanted to do and try. The kiss lengthened but Midoriya didn't want it to stop; he didn't want to separate more than what was necessary to breathe. He was still afraid. He was still scared of the consequences of his actions.
Midoriya realized the heat on his cheeks when Todoroki placed his right hand on his skin. The shock of the different temperatures made him shiver; lowering the hand that was on the back of his neck to the lower back of his friend, realizing that he was trembling slightly too.
He stepped back a few inches and saw that his friend had blushed, making him seem much sweeter, but that did not remove the doubt from his mind:
"Why are you trembling like this, Todoroki?" He asked, his voice laced with concern.
"I'm scared," Todoroki replied, looking away from his friend.
"Me too…" He tried to give him a smile even though he couldn't see it. "Although it is not the only thing I feel."
"Midoriya, I don't know what we're doing," Todoroki stated, surrendering to face his feelings.
"All I know is that I'm enjoying it." Midoriya didn't understand the uncertainty on Todoroki's face when he saw him raise an eyebrow at hearing it.
"And why did you get away?" Midoriya gave a soft, short laugh at Todoroki's question.
"I was worried, you were shaking," Midoriya murmured, tightening his grip on his friend's back.
"Midoriya…" Todoroki was having a harder time expressing himself, "you look very cute."
"You look like a bad boy." The words spilled out of his mouth without him being able to stop them.
"Let me kiss you again." Todoroki's impatience was evident in that sentence.
"Come on," Midoriya muttered, pulling him by the shirt with his free hand.
Midoriya turned, pressing his back against the mattress, and made Todoroki lay on top of him. They brought their lips together again but this time they didn't start so calmed. Todoroki nibbled on his lower lip, intensifying the sensations he experienced before and discovering new ones. He felt him place one hand on the bed to lean on and wrap the other around his throat, stroking his skin with his fingers. He could hear his heart pounding along with the sighs that Todoroki was letting out.
The sweet taste that he had perceived before from Todoroki's lips mixed with the metallic sensation of the blood that he had managed to get out of him when he bit back. He still had one hand rolling the white fabric of his shirt and with the other he stroked the exposed skin of his lower back, from side to side, changing from cold to hot with the gentle movement.
He saw Todoroki throw his head back, looking for some air, before opening him eyes and staring at the diamonds that his freckles formed. He felt his friend bringing his right hand up to his left cheek and brushing his forefinger over his moles, transmitting a faint stream of cold before placing his mouth on the same spot. He seemed like he wanted to do that for a while, even if it didn't seem like a big deal to him. He realized that Todoroki could not resist and began to distribute short kisses over the same place.
Midoriya closed his eyes and tilted his face to the right enjoying the strange romantic moment that he was living with Todoroki. A few seconds passed before he decided to wrap him arms tightly around him, almost forcing Todoroki to rest his head on him shoulder. "This is the best thing that ever happened to me."
Little by little his breathing calmed down and his heart began to pound calmly and at the same time as Todoroki's. It was surprising how all the sensations that had accumulated made them end up that way: one on top of the other, smiling and relaxed… Practically the same as how they started.
Todoroki put one of his arms under the nape of Midoriya's neck and with the other hand he was starting to draw small circles over his chest, still above his shirt. Now he could sneakily breathe in the sweet scent he had noticed earlier and had to admit that it ranked among his favorites.
Midoriya placed a hand on Todoroki's arm, noticing the muscles he had built up from training, bringing him back mentally to the moment he entered his room that night and reminding him that he had invited him to work out with him in the mornings. "Was it a good idea? I don't know, maybe I told him without much thought. Will he accept?"
Midoriya was torn between holding him a while longer or separating, just as he was not sure if it would be okay to take the first step to kiss. "I don't want to stop feeling like this." He wanted to know what was going to happen with what they had done. The fear returned to him and it was paralyzing him. He said nothing and stood still, ignoring everything around him. He just tried to focus only on what he was feeling.
The minutes passed and they continued in the same position: hugging each other and with their eyes closed. It was a while before Midoriya realized that his muscles had clenched. It was true that he enjoyed being like this and he wanted to think that he did not care in the least what happened next, but he was not able to ignore it for more time:
"To..." he sighed; Midoriya needed to muster his courage, "Todoroki."
"Uhm..." The aforementioned waited for him to continue speaking.
"Todoroki, we should get away." Midoriya went straight to the point, it seemed that it was the best way.
He saw Todoroki move right away, almost running to the chair across the room. Midoriya regretted what he said when he understood that his friend separated as much as possible from him; leaving him immobile. He soon began to feel a sad cold where his friend was leaning before:
"I didn't want it to sound so bad." The tension had clouded his judgment. "Sorry."
"You are absolutely right, Midoriya." For the first time in a long time, Todoroki had pure fear in his expression. "You don't have to apologize."
"Uhm…" Midoriya moved a hand to the back of his neck. "And now?"