Thank you everyone for your support! It means so much and really helped me feel more confident about this piece.

Shout out to FlourChildWrites for the beta.

Chapter 2

It was like Kaminari had shocked him. Electricity sizzled down Shouto's spine and every thought in his head scattered as her lips moved slowly against his.

Her mouth was soft, and she kissed him as Shouto had always imagined. With a groan, his eyes closed as she ran her tongue along his lips and slid it inside his mouth with a soft noise. His body quivered.

This wasn't real.

She pressed closer. Her hands curled into his jacket.

This was a hallucination. And yet, even knowing it was fake, Shouto didn't want the illusion to stop.

His fingers twitched, and Shouto found that his hands were already around her bare waist, pressing against the small of her back, arching her closer. His tongue slid against hers as his hand lowered to the thin waistband of her skirt before skimming down the fabric to firmly cup her ass.

It was soft with just the right amount of firmness, and Shouto couldn't help imagining what it would feel like slapping against him as he took Yaoyorozu from behind.

Tightening his grip, Shouto rolled his hips into hers experimentally. Yaoyorozu pulled back slightly with a breathy gasp, and Shouto dragged her closer.

Everything felt fuzzy. He could barely think. Yaoyorozu's body was warm and felt so right molded against his. And Shouto's cock was already hard and aching for her.

Kissing the side of his mouth, Yaoyorozu followed his jaw line planting slow open-mouth kisses up towards his ear. Shouto shuddered as a flood of heat shot through him, and she nuzzled the thin patch of skin underneath his ear before nipping him.

Shouto groaned low in his throat, and he realized he didn't want to stop this. He wanted to touch and be touched by Yaoyorozu, more than anything.

'They call themselves "Heroes" and keep fooling everyone! The only ones these "heroes" protect are themselves! With all that ugliness inside, they use you people to give them protection! Approval! Admiration!'

Dabi's words cut through his foggy lust-induced mind.

Shouto froze. That's right; this warmth that Yaoyorozu was offering wasn't something he was allowed to wish for, even in a dream. If he wanted to be a true hero, he needed to be better than this.

The thought sobered him, and he caught her hands as they slid up to circle his neck.

"We can't."

Slowly, Yaoyorozu pulled back to stare up at him. Her eyes were dark, and her chest was heaving as she looked at him in confusion. "Todoroki-san?"

Shouto gritted his teeth, and he pulled her hands away. "We need to stop. A hero wouldn't do something like this."

Yaoyorozu blinked. "What-What do you mean?" she asked shakily. Her expression wavered.

Shouto inhaled deeply through his nose to steady himself. "I can't become a hero if I give in to these desires."

At those words, something flashed across Yaoyorozu's face, and her dark onyx eyes widened. "But you are a hero already!"

His stomach twisted. He wanted to take her face into his hands and kiss her senseless but stopped himself.

"No," Shouto said firmly, looking away. He hesitated a moment. A tight lump had wedged itself in the back of his throat, and he swallowed thickly. "I'm not. Not a true hero at least. There is still too much of my old man's teaching in me. I'm still too selfish and let my emotions control me." He swallowed and forced the next words out. "This illusion is evidence of that. A true hero wouldn't have a dream of their friend this way."

Yaoyorozu was silent a moment.

"But there are plenty of heroes with lovers or families. Are you saying they aren't respectable heroes?" Yaoyorozu asked finally, pulling her hands out of his and stepping back.

Reluctantly, he let her go as he looked back at her.

"No, but I need to be better than them." Shouto pressed his lips into a hard line. "Since I was made for the sole purpose of becoming a hero, I have to work harder and be better than anyone. I need to be perfect."

Yaoyorozu opened her mouth and then closed it. Her lips twitched, but she swallowed whatever she was going to say and dropped her gaze to stare down at her shoes.

"To defeat your brother?" she asked softly after a few seconds.

Shouto nodded. "They call themselves 'heroes' and keep fooling everyone. With all that ugliness inside, the only ones these 'heroes' protect are themselves."

"Those were Dabi's words?"

"Yeah."

Her head jerked, and she looked sharply at him, her eyes flashing. "But Dabi isn't right! You shouldn't let him influence you," she said, her voice rising as she pressed a hand to her chest.

Shouto shook his head. "Dabi may be crazy, but not everything he said is wrong. And unless I am able to achieve those goals, I don't know if I can defeat him."

"That's why we'll work together. You don't have to do this alone." Her eyes searched his face, her expression pleading.

Shouto curled his hands into fists. "No." It felt like one of Mineta's purple balls had wedged itself into his mouth, making it hard to speak. "There's a reason top heroes—All Might, Hawks, Best Jeanist—are single."

"Just because they are single doesn't mean you have to be," she said. "You aren't them. It's your life, isn't it?" Her body quivered before him.

His heart clenched at her words. They were so similar to what Midoriya had said to him at the last sports festival.

Shouto swallowed over a dry mouth and shook his head slowly. "True heroes need to stand alone. If we let our emotions control us we only hurt those people we want to protect. I wouldn't be able to stand seeing you suffer because of me."

"But," Yaoyorozu wavered, her eyes growing glassy, "isn't that my decision to make?"

Shouto's breath caught in his throat.

Yaoyorozu continued, taking a step closer. "I don't understand. You say heroes need to stand alone and that if I get close to you, I'll suffer. But what about my feelings? Is having people who care for you truly that wrong?"

"That's not it." His voice was thick. "I want to be with you. More than anything I want to be with you and the rest of the class. But this is my cross to bear. Otherwise, I'll just bring misfortune onto everyone more than I've already have." His fists tightened until his knuckles were white.

He didn't know where these thoughts had arisen from but, somewhere in the depths of his subconscious, Shouto realized he believed them. Someone like him—someone created to be the perfect "hero"—didn't get love. Didn't deserve it. No matter how much he wanted it.

This was for the best. Forcing himself to realize this now, in this hallucination, was just saving himself from future unnecessary hopes and desires.

"Is that truly what you think?" Her voice snapped Shouto out of his thoughts, and he looked up. She was staring at him pointedly. "That you can't have love because you feel responsible for your brother?"

It felt like someone had hollowed out a hole in his heart as he stared down at her. Shouto inhaled unsteadily. "Love. Relationships. Those kinds of things are for other people. Heroes need to be better-"

"You're wrong, Todoroki-san." Her voice cut through the air in that steely, unwavering quality of conviction.

"Wrong?" he echoed, eyes widening at the look of anger and heartbreak written across her face, as if it were her that wasn't allowed to be loved and not him.

Yaoyorozu straightened her shoulders. "Dabi's manipulating you into believing that the only way you'll defeat him is if you're alone. But, if you let him do that, all you'll end up doing is hurting yourself."

Her gaze was intent as she met his eyes, and she pressed her hand to her chest. "I've been watching you for a long time, Todoroki-san. More than anyone, I've been watching your progression, and I know what kind of person you are. You're kind, and despite your stoic demeanor, there is a lot to you. But, because I've been watching, I can also tell that those emotions you're trying to suppress in order to meet this unrealistic vision of a 'hero' are slowly becoming too much for you to handle. Eventually—eventually they'll overflow, and at that point it may be too late. All you'll be left with is regret."

"Yaoyorozu…" Shouto whispered.

Biting her lip, she swallowed and dragged in a deep breath, composing herself. Then, in a softer voice, continued. "Someday, you'll see. But, until then, will you let me take some of your burden?" Yaoyorozu searched his face. The heartbreak of a moment ago was gone, and her expression was collected. But her eyes–

The way she looked at him—a mixture of longing and hope—was enough to take Shouto's breath away. And the thought of moving away never even crossed Shouto's mind as she stepped closer.

"If it's in here, in this dream world, it should be okay, right?"

Slowly, as if to give him the chance to pull away, she reached up to the metal zipper of his gym jacket and pulled it down. Shouto's body trembled as she slid her hands underneath. The heat of her palms transferred through his undershirt as she pushed his jacket aside and rested her hands over his chest.

"Please."

Yaoyorozu leaned in and kissed the space over his heart. Shouto inhaled sharply.

"Please." She slid her hands up his chest and around his neck. Shouto's heart pounded as fast as if he had fought a nomu. She pushed up on her toes.

"Even if it's a dream..." Her lips hovered over his mouth. "...let me be your motivation. Let me love you."

Yaoyorozu closed her eyes and touched her lips to his for the second time that day.

Todo is just a typical angsty, horny teenager. He just needs a good suck suck to get rid of some of his angsty negative emotions. Good thing Momo is there and is an over achiever.

Will Shouto survive his own horny energy? Will he be called out for finding the wrong kind of motivation? Find out in the last chapter!

Thanks for reading!