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I did not sleep. I couldn't sleep in our soaked bed, and I couldn't sleep in the guest bedroom because it wasn't our bed. Momo stayed up with me on the phone for as long as she could.

"You okay, Shoto? The cleaners will be there first thing in the morning. Don't worry about a thing. I've got it all covered." I nod at her apologetic face through puffy eyes.

"Thank you."

"No worries! That's what best friends are for. What have you been doing since he left?"

"Journaling."

"In your diary? Is it helping?"

"Sort of. But at this point, it just feels like I'm writing letters to Izuku about things I no longer feel comfortable saying to his face." My voice quivers, "I can't even believe this is my life right now, Yao-momo! After everything I've done for him!" I weep in the camera at my best friend. My nose won't stop running, and I feel like shit, inside and out. The levees are about to break once again.

"Aw, Shoto, baby! It's going to be alright! Izuku messed up big time. But you know he loves you and listens to every word you say."

I shake my head damn near off my neck. "No. He didn't listen last night. So, this can't be love. If it is, I'd rather not have it. This is not the love that I want, Momo."

She sighs, tears pooling in her eyes, too. "He's just…hey, why are you cutting your eyes at me like that?"

"Because you're about to make excuses for him."

"I promise, I'm not. I'm on your side, so just let it all out," she says softly. I sniffle up my runny nose as the tears refuse to stop falling. Momo's expression pities me over the video screen. "But I still know that Izuku is a hero to his core, no matter what. And I think that instinct, coupled with being out of the field so long, has him running into every fire."

"This was the wrong fire. He knows that. You should've seen his face watching the news," I break down into a pool of resentment again. Momo lets me.

"Friend, I love you. I wish I could take this hurt away."

"The betrayal hurts so bad, Momo! Ten years of love and friendship just ended. And on the night I was going to propose?" I let out an agonizing sob and clutch my shirt over my heart; it feels like it's pulling apart. "I hate him for doing this to me!"

"I know. But, Shoto, you don't hate him. I know how much you love him. So, don't make rash decisions before talking to each other because you know he's head over heels in love with you. And love is…complicated, you know? But that doesn't make it any less worth it."

"Are those…are you reciting your vows to me?" It's the first chuckle I can muster in the hour we've been on the phone.

"What?! No, I am not! I'm merely stating an unfortunate truth about being in a committed relationship. Sometimes, partners mess up big time because, for all our Quirks, we're still only human..." I know what she's talking about and where her thoughts are going, but now isn't the time.

"Bakugo has a lot of fucking nerve! I told his insolent ass never to return."

"I can't disagree, but it also sounds like he didn't have much say in the matter, either."

"So, do I get to blame you and Tenya?"

"No, please don't. You're going to make me feel bad. We just wanted all of Class A together again. Neither of us expected this."

"Of course you didn't. Because no one wants to see that man for the monster he is! But me! I knew this would happen!"

"Did you, now?"

"...Okay, maybe not this very situation, but I knew back in the hospital when I told Bakugo to leave us alone it was to prevent this—my heart from being broken again and again!"

Her tone drops. "Wait…Sho…are you the reason why Katsuki fled from Tokyo?"

"Tell no one. Not even Tenya. Especially not Tenya."

"Does Midoriya know?" She asks, hushed.

"No one but Bakugo and I knew. And now you, so if it gets out, I'll know you narc'd."

"Woah! You're really coming in hot, friend! I wouldn't think of it…hey! I didn't know inviting him would be a betrayal! I just knew you wouldn't prefer his attendance, but you love me so much that you'd get over it."

"Okay, so who do I blame for all this now?"

"I don't know, my love…God?" She simpers at me, and it only makes me feel lower. I scoff, nodding at such a ridiculous notion.

"Listen, I know those two have such a complex history and an even more complicated relationship dynamic, but you were going to propose to Izuku tonight for a reason, remember?"

"...Yes. Glad I didn't."

"And what was that reason, Shoto?"

"I love him."

"Mm-hmm…go on."

"I'm in love with him."

"And…?"

"I want to spend the rest of my life with him."

"Why?"

"Because he fills my days with joy and my nights are peaceful beside him, and he makes me laugh and think and strive to be a better man and hero-"

"Okay, don't make me rewrite my vows!" We laugh a little. "But you see? There's so much love left to focus on. And you know he loves you just as much. Maybe couple's counseling will help?"

"Funny enough," I sniff and smile, but only just a little. "Maybe even more. But I'll have to sleep on the therapy. I'm still traumatized from family therapy."

"Listen, I get that. But as your bestie, I know how down bad you are for Izuku, so I wasn't going to say it…but that man loves you more than All Might!"

"Ha! I don't think that's possible. It's Midoriya we're talking about." She smiles at me because we both know the truth. "He left something on his way out." I rub snot from my nose with the back of my sleeve.

"What is it? Is it the small blue box you refuse to open?"

"No… It's another box. A big silver box."

"Well, did you open that one?"

"No. I haven't even picked it up."

"And why not?"

"Because I don't care what's in it, Yao-momo! I don't care anymore," my voice breaks into more tears, and a wave of rejection consumes me. "He didn't care about leaving, and I'm so tired of caring so much about everything else."

"But honey, yes, you do. And it's undoubtedly another anniversary gift for you. Where is it?"

"On the table in the entryway."

"Go get it."

"I don't wanna," I sulk, turning my head from the camera.

"Shoto! Go get it, or so help me, God! I want to see it!"

"Ugh, okay! Hold on, let me go grab it."

"No, take me with you! I want to see how you redecorated the foyer!"

"Another time, Yao-momo, but okay." I walk to the front entrance and grunt. "See, there it is."

"Wow, that box is huge! And looks very expensive, Sho! What do you think's inside?"

I shrug. "Probably a new vase or something. I don't know. I don't care."

"That doesn't even remotely sound like Midoriya. Or you. Go on, open it then!" The large silver box is a decoy. I open it and find another smaller red box inside. Pulling it out, I set it on the glass table and back up. "A sizeable difference, those two boxes," Momo whistles. "I think I know what it is…" she sings.

"What?"

She snaps her head to the right. "Nope. Open it."

"Why? Were you in on this?"

She looks at me head-on. "No."

I give her a watchful eye, "Oh…kay..." but open the small red box.

I immediately shut it and broke into tears.

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You came back home too late. One look at you, and I knew something was amiss.

"Happy anniversary, my love! I brought home dinner!" You walk into the kitchen with two takeaway bags, and your eyes gleam when you find me. "I grabbed soba and udon noodles." You lean in to kiss my lips. "I made sure they made the noodles firm like you like it. There's also shrimp fried rice, steamed rice, calamari, yakitori, pork dumplings, and a couple of broiled lobster tails. I got some red bean soup with extra mochi balls."

"Izuku, I already cooked and ate." I point to the blown-out candles and place-setting for two at the dinner table.

"Oh." You looked at the time. "I…guess it is way past dinnertime."

"Yes. It is."

"How are you? How was your day?"

"Terrible." We sit down at the table, and my mind struggles not to dissociate from my body. You look at me, study me, with the most anguished wide eyes.

"You, or your day?"

I just look at you. What an asshole thing to ask. You must've realized the same.

"What did you do all day? Did you open your gifts?" You're nervous. Good. You should be.

The image of a matching set of obsidian and gold engagement rings flashes through my mind. The fact that we both bought each other complementary rings fucks me up all over again. "I cried, slept, and left your love offerings alone." You frown at that. Stung by my rejection, I assume.

Your eye catches something out of the periphery. "What a lovely arrangement. Momo came by?" I glance at the large bouquet of blue, purple, and pink hydrangeas on the coffee table.

"Oh. Yeah. She and Ochaco came to clean up the damage in our bedroom." Your eyes widen.

"Ochaco came? She knows about what happened."

I squint. "...Yes. Was she not supposed to know?"

"Oh! No, it's just...I hadn't told her yet." You're fiddling with the hem of your t-shirt, and I'm itching to know why.

"Yeah, well, she's all caught up. She's the one who brought the flowers. Yao-Momo brought wine." I hold up the nearly empty red wine bottle sitting on the table. You sigh as your head drops in your lap. "What? Why do you look like that?"

You sigh and my stomach clenches for the worse. "Shoto. I love you more than words can express. But I know that's not enough right now-"

"It's not."

"-And changed behavior is the best apology, so I will do everything I can to show you how much I do. Please, I ask for your forgiveness. You are the love of my life. The only person I want to and choose to do life with. Please. How can I make this right?"

I cross my arms and legs. "Tell me where you've been, Izuku," I demand, jutting my chin.

"I..." You avert your gaze and then look at me with steely resolve. "I went to my mother's for the night. In the afternoon, she told me to join her at the Bakugo's residence for Kac-Katsuki's homecoming party."

"Did you go?"

"Y-Yes."

"Izuku..."

You rush to clarify. "I went because my mother asked me to check in on him. She didn't know...well, you know. Anyway, he was in bad shape when Iida took him home, so..."

"Another time, you had a choice and chose the wrong thing. Why didn't you just come home?" My leg is shaking under the dining table. The table quakes under our hands. You sigh, and I stop.

"Of course, I thought of coming back to you, my love," you say, pained. I scoff and look at you. "But you did not want to be around me last night. I was afraid you'd still feel that way today, so I gave you the space you demanded from me. Your words said you broke up with me. Did you mean that?"

I shrug, and my bottom lip quivers. "Don't I have a valid reason to?"

you nod. "You do. So, I want to tell you something because you should know, but it's not easy news to share." You take a deep breath. "...Kacchan kissed me. I pushed him off, but—"

"HE KISSED YOU, IZUKU?!" The terrible storm that had been brewing in my mind all day and night lands in the center of my chest. "You let him kiss you?!"

"No! No, I did not! It caught me off guard, so I pushed him off and cussed him out, Shoto!"

"I don't believe you."

"I promise, baby," you whine, reaching out to hold my thighs. "I did not kiss him back. I didn't want to kiss him at all. It's only you..." He leans in to kiss me, but I turn my head away.

"And then what happened?" My voice breaks, and my throat closes up.

"We argued. I left. Then he..."

"He what?" I can't take any more. My hand's wringing my wrist. For some reason, I have a feeling you're not done giving me bad news.

"He... No, forget it, Shoto. It's just going to piss you off."

"Now you must tell me, Midoriya. What did Bakugo do?"

You let out a long sigh and rub the bridge of your nose. "He told me to tell you it was kind of you to show up last night."

My body scorches with fresh heat. "That backstabbing bitch is dead meat," I growl.

⟢⟢⟢⟢ ༘⋆ ❅ ･:*:｡ ❆