No.
It could not be.
It just could not be.
He was the Phantom Thief. To have his heart stolen by her? No.
Monoma Neito was not in love with Kendo Itsuka. He was not. He was not. He was not.
He'd rather apologize to someone from the detestable, horrifying, not-to-be-named Class 1-A than admit he was in love with Kendo Itsuka.
It wasn't really that he had anything against Kendo herself. They were actually pretty good... frenemies. It was really just the feeling of being in love that really scared the self-proclaimed greater-than-Class 1-A, Monoma Neito.
Being in love - he couldn't even think about the words without being disgusted - would prove to be... inconvenient, to say the least. After all, being in love did nothing to help his one and only purpose in life (For now): Putting Class 1-A to shame.
Given, he didn't only think about Class 1-A - even if their destruction was the main factor in his thinking process. He wasn't that much of a genius that he could just skip class and sketch Class 1-A's destruction. And nowadays, he caught himself staring at Kendo. He couldn't help himself; she was beautiful. Her long, luxurious orange hair tied to the side only added to her beauty. And those piercing eyes. They were just stunning. She was beautiful. She was-
Wait.
When had he started associating the words "beautiful" and "stunning" with Kendo? She was not beautiful. Or stunning. She was not.
She was definitely, definitely not.
Well...
Maybe... just a little?
Monoma sighed, exasperated as he thumped his head against his desk.
This was going nowhere.
"It's time for lunch, dude," Tsuburaba reminded the blonde as he passed by the table. "Get movin' or there's going to be a huge line."
Monoma, glaring at his classmate, muttered something under his breath that nobody could possibly comprehend.
"Monoma!" a voice sang behind him, mockery and laughing entwined together to make the most beautiful, melodious notes ever heard.
Kendo placed her hands on his shoulder and shook him, the action a little more than "gentle". "Earth to Monoma!"
Suddenly, everything rushed back to him. His thoughts from before, his denial, his inconvenient attachment to Kendo and he whipped around unexpectedly, causing the girl to hold her hands up, surprised.
"Hey, you okay, Monoma? You've been acting a little distant during the last class," Kendo pointed out, worry in her eyes.
Dare he hope worry for him?
Stop being weird, Neito. Of course she's worried. Kendo's always acting like such a mom.
The class president bent down to his level and stared at him, her teal eyes gazing into his periwinkle blue ones.
And everything around him stopped.
After a moment or two, very abruptly, Monoma stood up in his seat, his cheeks flushed, and yelled a lot louder than needed, "I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH YOU!"
Nobody in Class 1-B spoke for a while.
Before he could wish he was dead, Kendo interrupted the silence with a short tinkle of laughter that sounded like heaven itself and playfully pinched the side of his cheeks.
"Don't worry," she giggled, "the feeling is mutual!"
Gosh, he wanted to die.
Monoma half-threw, half-placed his tray onto the table as Pony marveled at his impeccable accuracy and ability to make the food stay on his tray.
"It's called experience," he merely said, shrugging as he plopped himself by Tetsutetsu. "A lot of experience."
"And cleaning up," Ibara added from the opposite end of the table.
"That's true," Kendo laughed, coming up behind Monoma. "I, on the other hand-" She practically threw her lunch onto the table.
Nothing spilled.
Monoma twisted his neck, looking behind him to find himself face-to-face with Kendo's teal eyes. Again.
"I, on the other hand," she continued, her eyes clearly, clearly mocking him, "got it on the first try."
He grumbled something inaudible under his breath while the class president sat down in the empty seat next to him.
Lunch was pretty uneventful.
Just the normal banter, Tetsutetsu raving about Kirishima, Monoma ridiculing Class 1-A, Kendo karate-chopping the back of his head for insulting them. It was supposed to stay that way, but his wonderful, awesome friend Tsuburaba caught him staring at Kendo.
"Dude, I know she's a beauty, but stop staring at the class prez and eat your food."
Monoma, of course, turned bright red and prepared to end his classmate when Tetsutetsu interrupted him.
"What? Monoma likes Kendo?"
Great. Another person to add to his hit list.
The phantom thief was not above adding his own classmates to his list, and he was seriously considering it when yet another person interrupted him.
Kendo tapped her foot on the ground while titling her head, a finger to her chin. "Monoma, if you're prone to fall in love with pretty girls, then how come you hate Yaoyoro-"
"I'm not in love with you!" he yelled for the second time that day.
Silence would have been so much better than what followed. For reasons unknown to Monoma and reasons the rest of Class 1-B knew very well,, Tsuburaba decided that it was up to him to voice the thoughts of the class.
"I'm pretty sure you are, dude."
Monoma definitely wanted to die.
The next day, they were sent outside to train by themselves while Vlad had a talk with Aizawa about something coming up.
Monoma decided to stay far, far away from Kendo as long as he could.
Of course, his plan was immediately crushed when the class president whacked him on the head from behind.
Whirling around, he glared at her while trying to ignore how radiant she looked with the sun shining on her silky hair. "Hey! What did you do that for?!"
"I heard you badmouthing Class 1-A to Pony again," Kendo replied, teal eyes narrowing in anger. "I told you to stop it with the insults. Class 1-A is not our enemy!"
"How can you be so ignorant?" Monoma asked, clearly exasperated. "Class 1-A thinks they're better than us! They're the reason nobody sees us! They are a hindrance to Class 1-B. They are plague! They're scoundrels, lowlifes, villains! THEY ARE OUR ENEMIES!"
"Hey, Kendo," Tetsutetsu called from the other side of the field. "Shut him up with a kiss, would you?"
The class president pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "You're both hopeless, you know? And really, for the last time, Monoma, Class 1-A isn't our enemy."
"Oh rest assured," he scoffed, voice thick with sarcasm. "I know they bring everyone oh-so-much joy."
Kendo waited impatiently for him to finish his thought.
"When they leave the room, that is."
The orange-haired girl stared at him for a while, unaware of the red dusting his cheeks, before rolling her eyes and flicking his forehead.
"Just stop influencing Pony like that and I'll leave you alone, okay?"
"Oi, Kendo, Monoma doesn't want you to leave him alone!" Tsuburaba shouted, pausing his spar with Tetsutetsu.
"Exposed!" Setsuna sang, suddenly popping behind the pair.
"Would you guys stop?" Monoma gritted his teeth, sending all three of his classmates a death glare.
Kendo laughed and playfully bumped her shoulder against the growling boy's. "Hey, am I really that bad?"
As always, the ever-faithful Class 1-B didn't let down their favorite Phantom Thief and beat the poor boy to the punch.
"Of course not!" Tetsutetsu filled in during the hesitation Monoma betrayed.
"Because we all know-" Tsuburaba continued, eyes dancing in mischief.
"That Monoma has always been in love with..." Setsuna giggled, creating a hole in herself before Monoma could punch her in the gut.
Pony, having just skipped in to the conversation, tilted her head, putting a finger to her chin, and finished very innocently, "Kendo?"
"I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH-"
Kendo did her signature karate-chop to the backside of his neck, making him stop mid-way and slump down in defeat. "Yeah, yeah, we know. You're not in love with me, blah, blah blah." She sighed and looked at him expectantly. "Seriously, Monoma, that's the third time you've said that. Please explain why you're being so awkward these days."
And before the metal boy or lizard girl can intrude on their conversation, Kendo shot them a glance, warning them not to speak.
His face was flustered and for the first time, maybe having Tetsutetsu talk for him didn't seem too bad. "N-Nothing," he mumbled. "It's nothing. I just haven't been getting enough sleep."
He immediately regretted his choice of words when Kendo started launching into a whole lecture about the importance of sleep while Tetsutetsu, Tsuburaba, Setsuna, and Pony inch off slowly from the side, wanting to live another day.
The class president ended her speech with, "So sleep is important, Monoma! Now go train and I don't want to catch you bad-mouthing Class 1-A ever again." After a moment of hesitation, she added with a very-much-there smirk, "Oh, by the by, Monoma, if you keep saying you're not in love with me, people will take it the other way."
Monoma decided that dying seemed like the best option.
Just his luck.
A full week of training with none other than the infamous lowlifes, Class 1-A.
Lucky for him, each class had their own training regiment and schedule, so they wouldn't meet that much unless their teachers wanted a joint practice match or something of the other. And even if they did want one, Monoma wouldn't mind showing off to Class 1-A and absolutely, unquestionably, undeniably crush those scoundrels.
Alas, alas, alas, fate, like the other three times when he essentially professed his love to Kendo, was not on his side.
It never was and it never will be.
Go figure, Monoma.
"Monoma!"
He ignored her.
"Monoma!"
He still ignored her.
"Monoma!"
Kendo marched over to where he was standing to the side, looking distastefully at the combined classes of 1-A and 1-B.
"Geez, Monoma, don't ignore people when they're calling you, 'kay?" she scolds him, thumping him on the head with her fist, a lot more gently than normal.
When she sat down next to him, he forced himself to stop blushing when her shoulder brushed against his.
"What do you want?" he grouchily asked, averting his eyes from hers.
"Really, Monoma," Kendo admonishes with a tsk. "Are you seriously being angry because-"
"I will not, no matter what you tell me, work with 1-A!"
Silence, once again, instilled between the two of them.
It was interrupted when Kendo erupted into laughter so hard, she was clutching her stomach.
Glaring at her, Monoma opened his mouth for a retort. He was not in the mood to be patient even if she looked magical in the moonlight, its lasers, as bright as diamond flame, shining onto her beautiful, smiling face. She was like an angel from above, perfect whiteness surrounding her while dark blue engulfed her.
Wow.
He should quit Hero work and go train in poetry.
"Monoma," she finally managed out, wiping a stray tear. "Seriously. You are such a baby."
His indignant stare was expected. "Excuse me?"
It was another moment or two before she could finally talk without any traces of giggles.
"I mean, you're mad because you have to make dinner with 1-A? You're too cute," she teases, standing up and offering him a hand. "C'mon, Monoma, stop being so childish. If we work together, we'll get it done faster, and we can eat!"
Eating sounded good.
Working with Class 1-A didn't.
Eating did.
Class 1-A didn't.
Eating or Class 1-A. Eating or Class 1-A. Eating or-
A low growl came from Kendo's stomach.
She blushed, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry! Just kinda hungry."
Eating it was.
Monoma really wished somebody would put the fire out, because he was feeling really, really hot.
"Aren't you lucky?" the absolutely wonderful Tetsutetsu smirked from his right. "Kendo falling asleep on you."
Yeah, it was definitely getting hotter by the second. And for the first time, it wasn't from anger because of Class 1-A.
He certainly wasn't pleased that 1-A and 1-B were sitting around a campfire, chatting like they were old buddies. He definitely wasn't pleased, but the red on his cheeks wasn't from anger this time. It was from Kendo Itsuka, who had fallen asleep on his lap.
If he had known what she was going to do, he wouldn't have ever let her, but she had said nothing before lying her head down - he was conveniently seated next to her - and promptly falling asleep on his lap.
"Shut up," he growled, gritting his teeth.
"Monoma likes Kendo?"
"Whoa, didn't know they were a thing."
"Makes sense, I guess."
"They're always together, anyway."
"So is this like a crush or an actual thing thing?"
Within the second, murmurs about his relationship with Kendo became the topic of discussion between Class 1-A.
The accursed students of the accused class of the not-so-accursed U.A. were talking about him having a crush on Kendo, which he definitely, definitely, definitely didn't have. That was, obviously, unacceptable.
"I am not in love with Kendo!"
The mixed voices of 1-A and 1-B stopped as their heads all turned simultaneously to him.
"I-" he started, glaring at them.
"That's nice," Kendo murmured, softly. "But please don't yell next time, 'kay?"
"Isn't she cute?" Tetsutetsu smirked, noticing how his classmate was staring at her.
Monoma, still entrapped by Kendo, nodded. "Yeah, she is."
"AND WE HAVE IT FOLKS!" the metal boy shouted, standing up and grinning at the confused blonde. "THE SECRET IT OUT - MONOMA NEITO, HERO NAME: PHANTOM THIEF, QUIRK: COPY, IS IN LOVE WITH KENDO ITSUKA, HERO NAME: BATTLE FIST, QUIRK: BIG FIST!"
Monoma, trying to process the unnecessarily long claim, didn't respond right away.
When he did, however, he quickly scrambled off into the forest, leaving a slightly angry Kendo, a smirking Tetsutetsu, and a confused Class 1-A.
He was really, really ready to die now.
He was running surprisingly quickly for someone in a school uniform, his tie choking his throat, his belt squeezing his waist, his shoes pinching his feet.
But still.
Monoma didn't care if he felt like he was dying – he's been in multiple situations where he felt like it and situations when he actually wanted to.
All that mattered to him was Kendo.
As expected.
If Tetsutetsu was here, he'd likely start off a whole thing about it, but luckily, the metal boy was not here. He was in the hospital. Coincidentally – or not – he was in the hospital the hospital Monoma was jumping the stairs and sprinting in.
Because he was with Kendo.
He arrived at their room, breathless and panting. "Kendo… Tetsutetsu…" he wheezed. "You… guys… all right?"
Confused, laughing teal eyes greeted him. "Monoma, you're hilarious. What are you getting all worked up for?"
Monoma's head whipped up and he realized that there was nothing to worry about. Kendo and Tetsutetsu were seated in the middle, where the nurses apparently brought a table for them to play cards. Besides small cuts here and there, their bodies betrayed nothing of their almost-death at the training camp just a few days ago. Their teacher had made them continue class without the two, so it had been a while before Monoma found the time to check up on them. He didn't expect them to be healed so soon.
"I thought... you two almost died," he said, blinking.
Tetsutetsu, of course, didn't lose this moment to tease him. "Betcha you were worried to death 'bout Kendo."
Narrowed eyes told Tetsutetsu that even if he had escaped death all those other times, he wouldn't be so lucky this time around. Of course, the metal boy was smarter than he looked and he called Monoma's bluff.
"Weren't you, though?" he repeated, grinning from ear to ear.
Monoma gritted his teeth, but eventually stopped trying to kill his classmate with his eyes and sighed, sitting down by the boy's right.
"I have to go now!" Tetsutetsu declared, the moment the blonde sat down. "Gotta get some water!"
Kendo opened her mouth to remind him that the nurses could get it, but he was out in a quarter of a second before either of them could protest.
"He's quicker than he looks," she commented while placing her cards on the table. "You'd think with his Quirk he'd be the type to be slow."
"Yeah," was all he said. Stop sounding so stupid!
"Appreciate you checking up on us," Kendo smiled, offering a chance at conversation.
"It was nothing," he shrugged, playing with the cards and making them roll around on his fingers. "I just want to be sure you're at top shape when we next crush those lowlifes."
"If you mean Class 1-A, I'm going to hit you," she warned dangerously.
"I did mean Class 1-A," he declared while betraying no sign of fear.
She sighed, although she didn't hold her end of the bargain. No karate-chop met his head. "You know, Monoma, I think a lot of girls would fall for you if your personality would match your looks."
He squinted his eyes and let the poker cards tumble onto the table. "Say that again?"
"Nope."
Monoma crossed his arms and smirked evilly. "You just admitted I was handsome."
"I didn't," she retorted quickly.
"But, ah, dear Kendo, you did."
She pinched the top of her nose and let out another long sigh. "I hate it when you get like this, Monoma."
"Changing the subject isn't very convincing, Miss Prez," he mocked, fulling enjoying this moment.
Kendo pouted and averted her eyes, her cheeks bright red. "I did. So what?"
A grin began to form as he tucked this conversation in the back of his head for some time else. "Oh, nothing."
"Anyway," she quickly said, "I heard you calling me cute the other day! What was that about?"
Oh wonderful.
She had heard that.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
"Hey, Monoma! Don't ignore me! You think I'm cute, don't you?"
Time to actually die now.
"I love it at night!" Pony squealed, dancing around in the open field.
Tsuburaba nodded. "It was a good idea to train after class. It's really cool at this time."
Kendo shivered. "It's too cold."
Suddenly, she felt something soft and warm thrown over her bare shoulders. She looked over to her right, where Monoma stood with crossed arms across his chest, leaning against the base of a tree.
"Next time bring your own jacket," he replied, slightly mumbling.
A bright, cheerful smile settled on her face as she poked his shoulder playfully. "Thanks, Monoma! I forget that you're not always horrible."
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
She shrugged, her grin still in place. "Just saying that you're a pretty fun guy to be around when you're not screaming about 1-A's downfall."
"I don't scream about 1-A's downfall. I plan it," he corrected her, a voice that said duh.
"Don't duh me," Kendo admonished, sending him a glare. "I can read between lines, y'know."
He sighed, and opened his mouth to speak when he realized that everything around him was silent. Apparently Kendo noticed it too, because both their heads turned to see why it was so quiet when they were clearly eighteen other people who should've been chatting or training.
Instead, the rest of Class 1-B had decided to drop whatever they were doing and eavesdrop on their conversation.
Tetsutetsu, as always, was the first to react. "Why'd you stop? Carry on."
Kendo put a hand to her forehead and sighed. "You're all perfectly hopeless. You're old enough to know not to intrude on other people's conversations."
"Oh, no, don't pay us any mind," the boy assured, nodding his head as if he had just done a great act of kindness.
Monoma rolled his eyes, leaning against the tree once more. "We can't carry on when eighteen pairs of eyes are staring at us."
"Monoma, Monoma, Monoma," Tsuburaba said, clicking his tongue. "Whatever will you do at your wedding with Kendo?"
Hot.
There was no fire this time, so why was he feeling so hot?
"Geez, Tsuburaba, stop teasing poor Monoma," Kendo laughed, while shooting the blonde a sympathetic look. "See how red he is? You're going to make him sick. He may be just a dimwit who is incredibly mean to 1-A, but he's still human, y'know. You're going to demolish his chances at getting a girl."
"He doesn't want anyone but you, Kendo," Tetsutetsu assured her, an obvious smirk directed at Monoma.
"To get married to someone, you would most likely have to love them, and I definitely, definitely do NOT love Kendo," Monoma put in quickly. "So if you would just stop this, I would really, really appreciate it."
Tsuburaba shrugged. "Whatever you say, dude. Just doing this for your own good. Like, it's obvious you're in it hardfor Kendo, so we're just giving you the push you need. Don't want our help, though? Fine."
Brow furrowed in confusion and concern, Kendo opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted when Monoma stuck his hands in his pockets, grumpily - and rather childishly - walking back to the dorms.
He might as well put himself on his hit list at this point.
Monoma didn't know what possessed him to do what he did that morning.
Maybe it was hearing from Tetsutetsu that somebody had asked Kendo out, maybe it was realizing that he wasn't the only one who saw the radiance, elegance, and beauty in Class 1-B's class rep, but whatever it was, he was standing in front of her dorm door, roses behind his back.
It had only been a few weeks from when he decided that he was going to put himself on his hit list when Tetsutetsu texted him.
[3:57 PM]
Tetsutetsu: dude ur going to have to act fast
Tetsutetsu: somebody asked miss prez out
Tetsutetsu: on a date
Tetsutetsu: soooooooo yah
Tetsutetsu: watcha goin to do now?
[4:13 PM]
Tetsutetsu: hello? u there? it says ur online yknow
Tetsutetsu: u can't hide from reality
Tetsutetsu: somebody asked kendo outtttttt
Tetsutetsu: gtg cya
What?
Somebody asked Kendo out? What? Only he was allowed to ask Kendo out. Nobody else. If they did-
His furious thoughts were interrupted when a ring sounded from his phone, signaling a new text message. Monoma sighed, knowing it was probably Tetsutetsu talking about who knows what. He did, however, pull out his phone just in case it was something important. You never know.
That was the best decision of his life.
[4:20 PM]
Tetsutetsu: im back
Tetsutetsu: just wanted u to know i got more news
TetsutetsuL the guy is someone from 1-a
Tetsutetsu: kaminari or smth
Tetsutetsu: good luck with that 'great monoma'
Monoma stared at his phone.
He knew who Tetsutetsu was talking about. Kaminari Denki, otherwise known as the Stun Gun Hero: Chargebolt. He was a member of that accursed group, Bakusquad or something. Led by none other than the lowlife above all lowlifes, Bakugo Katsuki.
Kaminari Denki has asked Kendo out on a date.
Unacceptable.
Perfectly unacceptable.
And that was how Monoma Neito ended up in front of Kendo Itsuka's door with a bouquet of roses behind his back the next morning.
The door suddenly opened, and a very, very sleepy Kendo appeared. "Mon...oma?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. "What are you doing here so early in the morning?"
Monoma was the one who would lead Class 1-B to victory. He was the one who would finally crush 1-A. He was the one who would finally make the crowd realize how great 1-B was. And yet, all he could do was stand and bask in Kendo's elegance, grace, and beauty.
How would he ever demolish 1-A like this?
"Monoma-"
Before she could finish her sentence, he shoved the bouquet into her hands and started to walk away.
"Monoma!"
He really, really didn't want to turn around, but his brain wasn't listening to him, and he ended up staring into the piercing eyes of Kendo.
"Yeah?" he mumbled, gruffer than usual.
"What in the world are these roses for?" she asked, a voice that said duh.
His head shot up when he finally remembered what he was supposed to be doing. "You can't go out with that scoundrel from 1-A!" he blurted out.
Kendo looked at him, brows furrowed in concern as always. "Monoma, what in the world are you talking about?"
"Kaminari Denki asked you out, didn't he?" the blonde reminded her, practically spitting out the name.
"Kaminari... oh!" Her eyes lit up as realization hit her. "You mean the dopey-looking dork?"
"Uh..." He shrugged. "I guess?"
Kendo waved a hand in the air, her eyes clearly mocking. "Oh, don't worry, Monoma, I wouldn't ever go on a date with him."
Monoma breathed a sigh of relief as he felt a heavy burden lift up from his shoulders. "Well, that's all I had know. I'll be going no-"
"Wait, Monoma," Kendo interrupted, biting her lip. She lifted up the bouquet bashfully. "What are these roses for?"
His face burned. If he thought he had been "embarrassed" before, he was painfully wrong. This brought embarrassment to a whole new level. "I... uh... nothing... that was..."
"You're not in-"
"I'm definitely not in love with you or anything like that," he blurted out, waving his hands in front of him quickly. N-Not all!"
Silence hung in the air for a while before Kendo interrupted it with a small chuckle.
"You know what, Monoma?"
He didn't want to know.
"I think you are."
Wow, he was doomed.
"But you know..." Kendo looked up, eyes bright and cheerful, cheeks crimson. "The feeling's mutual!"
Okay, he was really glad he wasn't dead.