"T… Todoroki… kun…"
"…You…"
"W…When did you…?"
Sensing what she's trying to ask him, he answers, "You guys were on the ground. You got up, and then Katsuki started screaming."
"…W-Why didn't you say anything?" He doesn't answer. He stares at her like she should be able to guess. "Ah. I… I see… Thank you. Thank you for letting us talk… Um, I'm really sorry but the truth is that I used to like you." She's gotten this far. She figures she might as well come clean. "It was only for a little while, but it's over now. I even… had to end things with Uraraka-san too. I love Kacchan. I don't want to be with anyone else anymore."
This time, Kacchan's voice is the one that comes from behind. "You…" She whips around to see that he's actually walked all the way back just to say something to her. "You're a real fuckin' piece'a work, y'know that? Should'a fuckin' known… You just 'love' everyone, huh?" Her eyes widen at him, and a sinking feeling comes over her. "First Uraraka, then this idiot, then me? Who's next? Somebody else from our class?"
"No." She shakes her head. The horror of the situation nearly takes her voice away.
"No… Knowing you, you're into real heroes, right? The best… So is All Might your type too?"
Now she's the one with disgust clearly written on her face. But even more than that, there's an indescribable pain in her chest just from hearing the accusation, just knowing that he truly thinks she's disgusting enough to… She can't even speak.
Todoroki, also somewhat offended on Midoriya's behalf as a friend, speaks up. "Katsuki…"
The blonde's eyes land on him. "What? You gonna defend him? I knew it. You really do like him. Whatever. You can fuckin' have him."
"Hey—"
"And don't call me Katsuki." Todoroki pauses as he stares back at Bakugo's disgusted glare. "If I hear you call me that again, I'll blast your face off, Half-and-Half." And now Todoroki is left speechless. Bakugo, suddenly feeling calmer than just a minute or so ago, looks back at Midoriya and deals the final blow. "Y'know, when everybody was treating you like a slut, it didn't make any sense to me. Far as I could tell, you didn't do anything wrong… Turns out they knew you better than I did, huh?"
Her eyes blur with tears. "N-No… No, I…" She wants to argue, but she feels so utterly destroyed by his words, her legs give out, and she sinks to the ground. "I… I didn't…" But she can't hold back anymore and bursts into tears. She regrets it. She truly regrets being so wishy washy and uncertain. She wishes she had just settled on him sooner. But she can't change the past! So what is she supposed to do now?
"Midoriya!" Todoroki kneels next to her, uncertain of what to say to calm her down.
Bakugo scoffs. "Figures. Just 'cuz you're a girl now, you think cryin' is gonna help. Go ahead. Use your shifty little brain to make everybody take your side. Don't expect me to care."
"Katsuki!" Todoroki yells.
"I told you not to fuckin' call me that!" His palms spark and crackle.
"You don't mean any of that. You're just angry. Take it back!" He's sure. Whenever Bakugo drastically changes his tune like that and goes against things he said before, it's because his anger has gotten the better of him. Todoroki can recognize it now. But maybe… maybe even more than that, he just doesn't want to believe that his friendship with Bakugo could end so quickly. He refuses to believe it.
"The fuck?! You think you know me?! You… You're just tryin'a defend that piece of trash! Fine! Bring it on! You can hug and kiss all you want and catch whatever gross stuff he got from all the other guys he 'loves'!"
"Would you…" a voice suddenly comes from behind him, and before he can fully register whose it is, he feels the impact of a foot crashing into the small of his back. "…give it a rest already?!" He slams face first onto the ground.
Todoroki stares at the scene in shock, first at Bakugo and then at… "Ashido!"
Uraraka comes running up behind her too yelling, "Good work, Mina-chan!" The two had already left earlier and were a lot closer to the school, but some of their classmates saw what was happening, and when Jiro listened in and got the gist of the conversation, she happened to be walking with Hagakure and Tsuyu, and the three jointly decided to inform Uraraka as soon as possible. After all, the girls had all been there to lend a shoulder to cry on when Ashido delivered the news that Midoriya "dumped" her for Bakugo. This time, they were quick to ask if she wanted backup, but she and Ashido insisted they'd be fine to handle the situation themselves. More specifically, Ashido was still upset, but Uraraka knew she had to see this through to the end.
"What's the matter, Bakugo?" Ashido taunts, "Normally, you would've heard me running."
He slowly tries to turn his head and glare at her as he recovers from the attack, "You… little…"
Uraraka runs to Midoriya and kneels to her. "Deku-kun!"
Midoriya tries but can hardly stop her tears. "Uraraka-san… I… I'm sorry. This is… what I deserve. Kacchan knows… I used to like a lot of people. Even if… I only want to be with him now, I can't change the past. I… I can't blame him for not trusting me. It's my own fault."
Ashido sighs. "Geez. That's what I tried to tell you, y'know."
"Mina-chan!"
"I know! I know!" Predicting that Bakugo will try to get up, Ashido lifts her foot and instead bends down to sit on Bakugo's back. Her right side faces Uraraka and the other two, and her front faces the many bystanders who have stopped to watch at a distance and even question if they should fetch a teacher. Since there were no quirks being used, they're still hesitating, but Ashido's flying kick didn't exactly help the situation. She yells at them to mind their own business, scaring some of them away, before she turns to Midoriya and continues, "You really did get what was coming to you… But if Bakugo's that mad about it, it means he really does like you back. So good for you, I guess."
"Hah?!" Bakugo balks as he tries to push himself up. Ashido stands just a little and lets her full weight drop back down onto him with a thud. He finally decides to just lay there, but he tells himself that he'll get her for this later and that he's not going to hold back just because she's a girl.
"Not 'hah?', Bakugo! You're probably the most clueless boy I've ever met! Can't you just like a girl normally?" She pinches and pulls on his ear. He gets so angry, he abandons his reason for a second and actually tries to get up again, and she repeats the same technique to keep him down.
"Ashido-san…"
"And you! Midoriya, I told you to just give me some time so I could help you! You didn't really think you could just tell Bakugo how you feel and he'd say, 'Yeah, I like you too!' and you'd start dating or something, did you?"
"N-No! Of course not! I knew it would be hard but… I just didn't want to keep hiding from him. This is our problem, and I appreciate the help, but—"
"Aw, just save it! In other words, you wanted to handle it on your own even if it didn't work out? Even if you lost your chance?"
"B-But I can't just depend on you guys to fix everything!"
"We're not gonna fix anything! You're gonna do it! But you don't know how, and that's why you needed help, right?!"
Midoriya has no retort to that. Ashido is right. She sighs again. "Look. I'll say this much. It might be your fault for two-timing, but don't listen to anything Bakugo says. He's just mad you didn't pick him first. Uraraka was sad you didn't pick her either. That kind of response is just normal if someone really likes you."
"You jerks," Bakugo seethes from under her, "Acting like you can just say whatever—"
"Y'know, Bakugo, I didn't think you were the type to dwell on the past so much. Midoriya only likes you now. Don't you think you should get over your jealousy a bit?"
He feels like he might burst a vein, "M'not jealous! Who'd be jealous about—?!"
"No matter how you look at it, getting mad at a girl because she likes someone else means you're jealous, Bakugo!"
"I'm not…! That's not it! He's the one tryin'a say he loves me and wants to touch me or some shit! That's already gross enough without him goin' around touchin' everything else that moves first!"
"You're exaggerating! He only had feelings for Uraraka, and you were alright with it at first!"
"Ha!" Bakugo scoffs, "Guess he was too ashamed to tell you the whole truth! He was sneakin' around to hug Todoroki when no one was lookin'!"
Ashido makes sort of a strangled noise and then stares at Midoriya.
But quickly, Todoroki defends Midoriya. "I told you, that wasn't what you're thinking!"
It's then that Uraraka realizes she was so focused on Bakugo that she never did ask Midoriya why Todoroki was hugging her, and Uraraka can't help becoming curious as well.
"Kacchan! I told you Todoroki-kun was just—!"
"And I told you to fucking shove it!"
Uraraka interjects, "Wait! I want to hear this too!"
Then Ashido, "Midoriya! What were you thinking?! Now you like Todoroki too?!"
Losing her patience for a moment, Midoriya finally screams louder than all of them, "EVERYONE SHUT UP FOR A SECOND!"
And for just a second, they're so shocked that she'd tell them to shut up, they really do go silent.
And in a moment that can only be explained as entering a flow state, she stares at the ground as she explains clearly, concisely, "I'm aware that this is my fault because I couldn't control myself, but the past is in the past, and I can't do anything to change it. The only thing I can do is explain what happened in the order it happened. First I fell in love with Uraraka-san. She's cheerful, and warm, and a good person, and who wouldn't fall in love with that?" Uraraka blushes a bit in surprise. Hearing him say it so matter-of-factly definitely gives her heart a jolt, and she really wasn't prepared for that. "Then Todoroki-kun. He was patient with me after I was struggling with trauma from the incident, and he started hugging me because he thought it would make me feel better. But I've been afraid of boys ever since the incident. I didn't want to tell anybody, but Todoroki-kun was the only one who figured it out, so I let him hug me as a form of exposure therapy. But I fell in love with that too. He was caring and gentle and… safe. And I needed that at the time. I needed someone to tell me that it was okay to not feel okay." Todoroki's eyes widen a bit. "Then I fell in love with Kacchan… But to be honest, I feel like falling in love with Kacchan was probably my destiny from the beginning anyways. The one person other than All Might who's influenced me the most is definitely him, and I should've figured out earlier how important he is to me." Finally, she looks straight into Bakugo's eyes. "But I feel like I didn't really love him like that until he started changing. I was fine seeing him as a rival. But then he started to show me he really cares about me. And it's… all I've ever wanted."
Staring back at her, Bakugo suddenly feels the weight of those words. It makes his chest clench painfully, and he curses himself for it.
For a second, Midoriya remembers Omoda-senpai. But somehow, staring into Kacchan's eyes, she feels like it's not worth mentioning. After all, Omoda-senpai is "just another hero Midoriya loves", and in this moment, Midoriya feels like she finally understands herself. Dr. Shinbyou's words replay in her mind, that her heart is "big enough to love them all". And for the first time, Midoriya feels a surge of pride. That's right. Her heart is big enough to love all sorts of heroes, and love is nothing to be ashamed of. But the one person more special to her than anyone else, the only one she thinks she'll end up spending the rest of her life with… the only one who reminds her that before she's a hero, she's just a person, that she has desires too and deserves to chase after them with everything she's got so she doesn't lose them… the one who makes her actually want to face that ugly, selfish version of herself, embrace it even… and the only one who makes her feel like she can still love herself despite that ugliness… the only one who does that to her is…
"Kacchan, I love you. I'm sorry for all the confusion I've caused, and I'm sorry if this apology isn't enough. But I want you. And I won't stop until I've done everything I can to make you say you love me back."
…Happy. Bakugo is happy. He can feel it. Something in him is so overjoyed he could cry. After all, the nerd's never looked at him this way before, like… like he's the only one in the whole world Midoriya could look at forever and never take her eyes away. And her eyes burn with a quiet passion, possessive, obsessive, and completely captivated. The only one… Somehow he knows he's the only one she's ever looked at like this.
And it dawns on Bakugo that this… this is what it means to be loved.
A moment of deafening silence. Then, seeing that Kacchan seems to have finally understood something, Midoriya doesn't break eye contact with him as she calmly says, "Ashido-san… You can get off of him now."
Ashido had been staring at Midoriya too. They all had. They couldn't help it. After all, none of them had ever seen such a look of total captivation on a person's face before. Ever. But upon hearing Midoriya call her name, she snaps out of it and finally stands up.
Bakugo slowly pushes up to his knees, then carefully stands up too. He stares at Midoriya. Then his eyes drift down. He doesn't want to admit it, but his head is scrambled. He thought he knew what love was, that he wanted to avoid it at all costs because it was gross and wouldn't do anyone any good. But now he just doesn't know anymore. If love is actually the look in Midoriya's eyes just now, quiet but powerful, possessive but also promising a lifetime of happiness, then… Bakugo doesn't know what to think.
He was wrong about love. That much, he's figured out now. He was wrong, but he still feels like everyone else in their class didn't quite get it right either. Love is something different than any of them were expecting. It's way more than just kissing and dating. And to be honest, Bakugo isn't… He can't…
"Sorry," he finally starts, "I don't really get it. I don't get… all this love shit…" Midoriya had been waiting patiently for his response and blinks at his expression now. He looks… lost. Maybe like he's insecure or worried about something or even more confused than he was just a few minutes ago. He looks like he's been trying to solve a puzzle or a complicated math problem for weeks now and then just got told that it's actually part of an even bigger puzzle. Like he thought he was on level 2 but just realized he's actually on level 20 and has no idea how he ended up there. And no idea how to just quit.
He looks helpless and weak… but something about it makes Midoriya feel relieved. He finally understands. In some way, he understands how she feels. And now he's seriously thinking about her feelings. He may have no idea what to do with them, but at least he's finally heard her out. And right now, she feels satisfied with that.
"That's okay," she replies, "Thank you, Kacchan, for listening. I'm sorry if it's confusing. I just wanted you to know how I felt. Now that you know, I feel a lot better. Ah, Todoroki-kun, thanks, for the advice. It was scary to tell him, but you were right. It was definitely worth it."
Seeing the joy on her face, Todoroki feels some relief for her and nods.
She turns back to Bakugo and says, "Let's go. We can talk about it later. We're gonna be late."
"AH!" Ashido screams, realizing that Midoriya's right. And before Uraraka can say anything, Ashido grabs her arm and starts pulling her along into a mad dash.
Todoroki says to them both, "We should run too," and also starts running.
Midoriya nods. Bakugo is still in a bit of a daze, but the next thing he knows, Midoriya has grabbed his hand and started pulling him along. Before he can say anything or even consider objecting, she continues, "Sorry… but from now on, I'm just gonna get even more greedy." And by that she means doing things like grabbing his hand whenever it happens to benefit them, looking into his eyes, smiling at him, making him feel nervous around her, maybe even making him blush just so she can marvel at how cute he can be sometimes. She wants to take in all of it. All the different sides of him. She wants to make him love her more and more, to make him just as greedy as she is. Until he can say with just as much certainty that he loves her. And until then…
As they sprint, she turns her head to him, just enough for him to see the confidence in her eyes. "I'm not letting go, Kacchan… So I guess…" She turns back to face forward. "You'll just have to keep up with me!"
A snapshot of that moment firmly plants itself in his mind. Her already tousled hair bouncing wildly against the headwind, the way she seems to be running into the light of the morning, creating a dazzling view from behind, her hand holding his in a vice-like grip, like she'd rather die than let go… Without really thinking about it, he grips it back as he struggles to keep up.
She feels it. And smiles as brightly as the morning sun in her eyes, knowing that this is just the beginning.
