Friday February 14, 2020 4:50 pm

Why isn't she answering her phone, Midoriya huffed at himself. The room was destroyed with clothes and shoes he decided weren't good enough. He wanted to wear something halfway between casual and a suit so he would feel comfortable at the arcade and at the Hibachi but everything he put on felt too casual or too stuffy. He wasn't good at these things. He certainly didn't fit the stereotype about his sexuality being good with clothes.

He had attempted to call Uraraka 7 times in the last 10 minutes and she still hadn't answered. He decided if he couldn't get ahold of her, he would follow his gut. He threw his dark jeans and white "t-shirt" t-shirt back on and felt ridiculous for having changed his clothes so many times only to end up back in the same thing he had been wearing already. He put on his red boots and a red leather jacket All Might had bought him for Christmas. It was similar in style to a traditional suit jacket but was much flashier and had a pin on the lapel which represented UA. Midoriya saw it as his most valued item of clothing even if it was just a little too big on him.

He walked over to the mirror where he fixed his hair one more time and reapplied his cologne. He took several deep breaths as he gave himself a pep talk in the mirror. He was trying to convince himself that everything would feel normal and he would just go and have a good time with his friend, but his mind was flooded with 'what if' questions that he couldn't seem to answer. What if Todoroki wants to hold my hand? What if he doesn't and I reach for his hand and he is disgusted by the gesture? What if he wants me to hold his hand and I don't and then he is disappointed and never knows how I feel? What if he tries to kiss me and I don't know what to do because I've never kissed anyone before? What if I get caught up in everything and act too much like the obsessed boy that I am and it scares him off not only from wanting to go on a date with me again, but from wanting to be my friend as well?

His thoughts were cut off by a knock on the door. It was 5:00 on the dot. Todoroki was as punctual as always. Midoriya took one final deep breath before walking over to open the door. He was blown away but what he saw when he did. Todoroki had a similar idea to Midoriya and wore the same dark jeans and yellow t-shirt from earlier but was now wearing a brown suede jacket and brown suede shoes with it. His hair looked almost the same as it usually did but it was smoother and you could tell he took extra time to make sure it was well maintained. His cologne was still evident and Midoriya could only think to describe it as the smell of the forest.

As Midoriya stood in the doorway, surely looking like a drooling idiot, Todoroki took a look behind him and smirked. Midoriya turned around to see what Todoroki was looking at and realized his room was a disaster area. All color drained from his face as he shoved Todoroki out of the doorway so he could close the door behind him, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for you to see that! It doesn't usually look so messy! I mean it's a little messy – I'm a teenage boy but it never looks like that, I swear!"

Todoroki cut him off by putting a hand on his shoulder, "Midoriya, calm down. I didn't react to it because I think you're messy. I reacted because I know you're not. It was just nice to see I wasn't the only one who destroyed their room for this."

Midoriya let out a sigh of relief and then his cheeks immediately turned bright red as Todoroki's words sank in, "Oh."

"You look nice," Todoroki started. "The jacket All Might gave you is a bit large. Knowing him, I feel he was probably hinting that you'll grow into it eventually."

Midoriya couldn't help but laugh, "Probably so."

The air between them got quiet and Midoriya wasn't sure what to compliment Todoroki on. Everything about him looked so perfect, but he always felt that way. Midoriya found himself wanting to compliment his eyes more than anything but thought that might set an awkward tone for the rest of the evening and decided to choose a different approach. He felt more tense as more seconds ticked by and knew if he didn't say something, it would be as awkward as if he said the wrong thing, so he decided to go with his gut and blurted out without hesitation, "You smell like the forest!"

Todoroki flinched at the outburst but found himself chucking about it immediately after, "Thank you."

Midoriya turned bright red until his face nearly matched his jacket and thought to himself that it may have actually been better to have said nothing at all.

"Do you know where the restaurant is?" Midoriya asked quietly.

Todoroki pulled out his phone, "I programmed the address into my GPS earlier. We should be able to walk there. The arcade is farther away, however. We will have to take the train to get there."

"I see," Midoriya stated calmly. "Then we should get going so we aren't out past curfew."

Todoroki began to walk towards the exit, "Of course."

As they started walking through the building, Midoriya noticed something he hadn't before. Several of his classmates were wandering around the dorms with clothes or shoes in their hands, racing to other dorm rooms to get ready with their friends. He was so distracted that he ran right into one of them. Uraraka made an "oof" sound as she hit the ground.

Midoriya extended his hand to help her back to her feet, "Uraraka I am so sorry. I didn't see you there."

Uraraka got back on her feet and wiped herself off, "No I should be sorry. I was running to your room because I saw that I missed 7 calls from you. I was worried that something was wrong and was hoping to get to you before you left for your date at 5. But I see I am too late for that. Enjoy your date and I will talk to you about everything tomorrow."

Midoriya nodded his head and then looked back to Todoroki. He smiled and walked over to his date, who was holding the door open for him, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Todoroki stated simply as he stepped into the elevator behind Midoriya. "I wasn't trying to eavesdrop but I couldn't help but overhear Uraraka mention that she had 7 missed calls from you. Is everything okay?"

Midoriya got tense immediately, "Uh. Yeah! Everything is great! I don't even remember why I called her. It was probably nothing"

"You're a bad liar Midoriya," Was all Todoroki said before he stepped out of the elevator and walked out of the building onto the street.

Midoriya knew this statement was true but he wished that it wasn't. He followed right behind Todoroki as they made their way to the restaurant and hoped there were no other situations where he would need to lie about his feelings for Todoroki as he wasn't sure that he would be able to keep up the act all night.

As they walked they talked about their training and what foods they thought would be on the menu. They kept the conversation light and Todoroki didn't press him for information, for which he was grateful. When they arrived at the restaurant they were told they wouldn't be seated for over an hour because they had so many people to serve. Todoroki insisted that they could go somewhere with a shorter waiting period but Midoriya told the waiter to put them on the list. He knew that would mean not being able to stay at the arcade for very long, but he was fine with that as long as he was able to make Todoroki happy The waiter wrote down Midoriya's phone number and said he would call them when it was their turn to be seated.

The two boys walked out of the restaurant and were both relieved to have some fresh air as the entrance to the restaurant was very cramped and the air was thick. The decided to walk around some of the shops while they waited but when they didn't find anything that really caught their eye, the pair sat on a bench across the street from the restaurant and started talking. This time the topics were slightly heavier than they had been, but the air between them remained as comfortable as it always was. Midoriya started rambling on about how guilty he felt for worrying his mother the way he did and Todoroki used his left hand to rub his back empathetically so as not to interrupt him. However, the action caused Midoriya's voice to come to an abrupt halt. Midoriya loved the sensation of Todoroki's warmth radiating through him and a flush creeped across his cheeks against his will. He had to force himself to push through and maintain a meaningful conversation.

"I know she supports me being here, but I can't help but feel I am putting my dreams ahead of her happiness," Midoriya explained as he attempted, mostly unsuccessfully, to hold back the tears.

Todoroki continued to rub his hand across Midoriya's back, "Don't you think it makes her happy to see you following your dreams? She's your mother, Midoriya, and she seems like an excellent woman. I'm sure she's happy because you're happy."

"But I am worrying her."

Todoroki chuckled, "You would worry her if you were at home too. If she wasn't worried about your training, she would be worried about something else. That's how mothers work. I wouldn't feel guilty for her natural, motherly instinct."

Midoriya didn't have much time to contemplate what was said as his phone began to ring. It was the host at Fire & Ice telling him that a table was ready. Midoriya wiped the tears from his face as Todoroki stood up and motioned across the street with both hands, "After you."