⟢⟢⟢⟢ ༘⋆ ❅ ･:*:｡ ❆

I've been sitting on our bed in a square of full moonlight for thirty minutes, wishing things had gone differently, when I hear your keys unlocking the front door. I'm no longer bloody but I am still furious. I've shoved the ring box in my turtleneck drawer, and I have no idea if it'll ever see the light of day. At this point, I don't even care.

This was not how I expected the dark morning of our anniversary to go.

The front door opens and shuts. "Shoto, baby, I'm back," you timidly announce from the hallway. "I just got off the phone with Iida. He's home safely, too." I'm twiddling my thumbs through clenched fists and nod as if you can see me.

What am I to say? I'm not happy you stayed on the scene and sprung into action to save Bakugo's hide after he passed out. I'm not glad you stayed behind to fill out the incident report with the police even though Ingenium said he would gladly do it. I'm not happy you told me to return home without you, just as you left me behind. I'm no longer relieved you're back home.

"He took…" You pause and I know why. "Everyone's safe and sound." I don't respond because my left side is steaming; I didn't realize it until a faint red glow formed in my closed palms. It's so quiet I can hear you sniffing the fire. You rush into our bedroom and find me standing in the dark, my left half engulfed in flames.

"Shoto!"

The pain in your voice, that agony, nearly moves me. But I stand my ground in silent fury. "Do you even want to be here, Midoriya?" I'm fuming because my heart won't stop rattling in my chest while tears well in my eyes and evaporate into steam. It burns to even look at you.

"Of course, I do, baby!" You slowly approach me. "Shoto, please! Calm down! You're going to burn out. Please." My flames lick the oxygen in the room, siphoning each deep breath you take right out of your lungs and you look terrified.

But you've never been afraid of my fire. You like my fire. It's my face that gives you pause. It's devoid of all emotion. It's a face you hate to see on me.

A cold tenor fills my lungs. "Did you know he was back in town?" The room turns to ice and you shiver.

"No. "

"So, he didn't tell you? Didn't reach out? Text? Email?"

"N-No…" you falter. I can see you gauging my reaction time. "I found out the same time you did, remember? On the couch, hours ago. I haven't spoken to Kacchan in years."

"And yet, you still went running," I chuckle derisively. "Like no time has passed at all."

"I'm sorry," you repeat, reaching for my arm. I back away. Frost crackles on the windowpane.

"Don't touch me," I bite. "You're filthy." I don't want those same hands holding my body. Not now. Maybe not ever again. I'm not sure; the heart is a fickle lover. You look down at the mess of blood, dust, and dirt on your hands and clothes and your repentant eyes remind me that you're not built for the cold.

"Right. I should go get cleaned up." You turn away toward the bathroom and I almost allow you to reach it without saying anything else. But why suffer the frustration of betrayal alone?

"You miss him." You freeze but don't look back at me. "I know you do. I always have. At least, I've always had my suspicions, but tonight proved it."

"Shoto, I wasn't thinking…"

"Ha! You're right; you weren't even thinking about me." Whenever my two Quirks compete for dominance inside me, hot and cold air mix into what can only be described as a storm cloud full of lightning and rain in my belly, the pressure fills my limbs down to my fingertips and toes with a static shock that itches like hell. "You left me here—in our home—to chase after him."

Turning to look at me, shame bowed your head. "I…messed up." You try to reach for me again but second-guess yourself.

"I know you heard me calling your name, Izuku. Tell me that you didn't hear me begging you like a bitch trying to convince his man not to choose his mistress. Lie to me."

"I can't lie to you, Shoto."

"Then why did you still leave me behind?! You heard me crying out to you, and you still left me, Izuku! I've never felt so humiliated and betrayed in my life."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you sorry? Why didn't you pause to turn around?!" You said nothing. If there were glass near me I would've shattered it at the wall. But I have ice. I throw shards at my feet and they crumble around me like balls of snow. Embarrassingly, I continue begging. "Why?" The tears fall and wet the snow mound. "I thought you loved me." Now, the tears won't stop.

"Shoto, I do love you. But..." The look on my face must've been severe because you jump back. "I couldn't stop because I knew it was too late to undo my decision."

What emotion is a mix of rage and disbelief?

"Izuku. What are you saying to me right? Do you even hear yourself? What is the point of being together for the past seven years if mistakes against each other cannot be undone? We could've left together at any time if you'd just turned around." My hands shake. My body temperature is plummeting and the impending frostbite rattles my bones. But I have dissociated from physical pain; my heart is too broken.

"What was I supposed to say?!"

"You could've said something! Anything! But you plowed ahead to your fucking unrequited love story and left me in your wake begging you to come back. I prayed that you were still alive after you ran headlong like Captain Save-a-Hoe into the same old mistake!"

"So, you wanted me to say, 'Hey babe, my old best friend's randomly back in Tokyo and in grave danger. Can I have your permission to save him?'" You say, low, "Shoto, I'm a pro hero." Looking me dead in the eye. I cock my head to the side and spit at your feet.

"Oh? So, what? I'm a villain? A fool?"

"No, no you're not either. I…didn't mean it like that. Please, I'm sorry, baby. Please let me make it up to you, K-"

What a fucking Freudian slip!

"Fuck. Shoto-"

"We're done." My left side erupts before I wrap my head around your newest mistake. Thank goodness I had enough sense to ensure our walls were fireproof in the building stage. "Get out," I growl. My body is engulfed in a raging flame but my mind is calm. Things are burning around us—nothing invaluable. Nothing that can't be replaced.

Your back to the wall, beads of sweat drip down your forehead and cheeks. "No...I-I didn't mean that! It was a mistake."

"I said get out!" Tears are streaming down my face. My ice Quirk breaks through the flames— freezing fire. You panic, stumbling over your useless apologies, trying to break through my defenses. I do not care. I do not hear a single thing. The ringing in my ears blocks out your pitiable voice.

Then everything—my Quirks, my fury, time—just stops. I sit on the bed. The sprinklers cut on and put out the small fires everywhere.

"I don't want to look at you, sleep in the same bed as you, or even breathe the same air as you right now, Izuku Midoriya. I only want you to leave." My hair is too soaked to see past my tears.

"But it's our anniversary!" You approach me more cautiously than ever. "Come one. Let's get out of here." Your wet hand grabs mine and leads me out of our room, but I feel nothing. I enter the spacious guest room on my own.

"So, now today means something to you? What a joke! Don't insult me!"

"I'm not! I'm here, aren't I? It's because I love you!"

"Well, I don't want you here."

He staggers back. "A-Are you serious?" I shrug, dying a little more the longer the conversation goes on. "But where am I supposed to go? It's almost four in the morning."

"I have a bright idea," I say, venom coating my tongue. My eyes shoot a piercing look and you wince. Tears well in your eyes.

"...Are you breaking up with me?" Your fear and desperation is laughable. "I'm so sorry. I should've stopped and listened to you. I should've known better."

"Yes! You should have! But you did exactly what you wanted to do. You always do exactly what you want to do. So, there's no need to apologize. I don't believe you anyway." Your eyes widen and nostrils flare with an indiscernible affect. "What? Does that hurt you to hear?" I walk away. It's dark, and your shadow extends along the east wall behind me.

Still, you're smaller than an ant to me.

"I didn't think—"

"You never do when it comes to him," I mumble. My eyes remain fixed on your shadow though I feel your touch as you drape a warm, dry towel over my head and shoulders. I cannot look at you for what I'm about to ask, nonetheless, I must. "Are you in love with him?" My voice is nothing more than a mouse's squeak; all the strength I have to muster. My heart is stretching at both ends, splitting at its seams. The second of silence chokes me until you let out a small gasp.

"What?"

"Did you not hear me? Will you shame me by forcing me to repeat myself?"

"Shoto, I…" I turn towards your anxious face. Your eyes are darting around the thoughts in your head. You stutter in confusion. "He's my oldest friend."

I nod, staring at your shadow. "That's not what I asked." My words are steel and pin your gaze on me at last.

"Yes, I love him. Like a best friend or a brother. But I'm in love with you." You pull me into your arms and incline your head, narrowing your begging eyes at me.

"How do you define friendship, Izuku?" You're speechless. "Hm. Are you in love with him?" I ask again. Your answer leaves your lips so quickly I nearly doubt my intuition.

"No. I am in love with you, Shoto. I have been for ten years, you know this." You try to cup my cheek with your hands and quell my doubt with your voice and words.

But I'm not buying it. Not this time. I sit at the edge of the bed I'm forced to sleep in tonight. "Your luggage is in the bedroom closet, Midoriya."

"Wait! Shoto, no! I do not love Kacchan how I love you! Baby, please! I don't want to spend today away from you!" You fall to your knees at my feet.

"And I don't want to spend today with you, Izuku. You've ruined it for me. I want—no, need to be alone, away from you, to reevaluate this relationship."

"Is this..." You choke back tears and sound so hollow in the wide space that I almost miss your question. "...the end of us?" I don't entertain you with an answer. You seek the emotional comfort you deprived me of when I needed it the most, and I'd rather you felt my pain of uncertainty instead.

But, unfortunately, I'm still madly in love with you. So my fangs only prick, but don't bite. I sigh.

"I'll see you at Tenya's bachelor's week."

"But we bought our plane tickets together."

"You keep the tickets. I'll eat the Sky Miles and bum a ride on the Yaoyorozu family jet."

"Oh-" you start, stuttering in your steps. "Okay." I watch from the guest room as you slowly enter our bedroom closet's alcove to begin packing. I've seen you do this too many times to count—pack, that is—that even if I closed my eyes, I can still trace your steps. Returning with an overnight bag, your mouth drops. "It's...already packed?" My expression remains blank. "Shoto, at least let me see you tonight. For dinner? We can finish talking about this then, y'know, when we've both calmed down?"

"I am calm, Izuku."

You timidly kiss me on the forehead—the one indulgence of affection I allow myself—and place a small blue box on the guest vanity. Those glimmering emerald orbs roll on me. "For you, my love. An anniversary gift." I try to ignore it as you take your leave. "I'll go to my mother's." You walk out and I hear your keys jangle in your hand. A betraying part of my heart aches as you open the front door for the second time in an hour. The part of me that doesn't want you to leave waits in agony for the damning sound of the closing door. It wants you to turn around and walk back down the hallway to me, to defy my orders and demand that you stay and we work this out. Hell, I'd even agree to us fighting this out.

On bated breath, I wait as my resolve melts.

"Okay..." you sadly say. "I'm leaving, Shoto. But I'm not leaving you. I promise to make this up to you tonight, and every day after that, until you forgive me—as long as it takes. I won't stop trying to regain your trust. Please, don't give up on me. I love you with all of me."

Then the door gently clicks close and my tears shatter into a million ice droplets.

⟢⟢⟢⟢ ༘⋆ ❅ ･:*:｡ ❆

a/n: Good times don't last always. And good memories don't matter at all when they can't hold up to the present pain of heartbreak.

this chapter went through a lot of growing pains, and mirrors todeku's relationship in that regard. i'm still not convinced it's angsty *enough* (idk, you tell me) but if you want to know what happens after izuku leaves, (spoiler alert!) head on over to read my other mha fic, "bakugo's inferno" and catch up as these parallel stories begin to unfold and overlap in real time!

i hope reading this was PLUS ULTRA! ch. 7 is scheduled for a very special day in August release! (๑✧ ³✧) (▀U ▀-͠)

[I don't own the rights to MHA.]