Always
Ren Ishikawa's twentieth birthday party carried on in the gardens of the estate, the sounds of music and laughter, the soft bursts of fireworks drifted up over the lawns and over to the manor. On the ground floor was one of the many drawing rooms comprised of dark wood paneling and antique furniture that shifted in colour thanks to the fireworks that could be seen through the tall windows. Crystal decanters caught the light, sending rainbow prisms dancing across leather-bound books.
By a window, standing in a flowing lilac gown, adorned with diamonds shaped like shooting stars and lace butterflies on her dress, the birthday girl found herself completely and utterly at the mercy of the boy next door. What had started out as a carefully crafted facade, the media princess, the socialite, the billionaire heiress, had cracked and given way to the genuine warmth and affection she felt for Shoto Todoroki.
He held her face in his hands, gently, kissing her softly as though he did not want to frighten away the fairy he had captured. His white hair was catching the coloured lights from outside, his red hair looked darker in this dim light. The hot and cold of both his sides were at war with one another, neither wanting to overwhelm the girl he was desperate to taste a little more of. Eventually, regretfully, Ren pulled away from him.
"I should go," Ren said softly, backlit against the lanterns outside, a golden light behind her making her look just like she did in Shoto's head. "They're probably looking for me." It was most likely true, but Shoto caught the tone of her voice; teasing him, daring him. He caught the look in her eye; that sparkle of mischief, as she moved past him, knowing exactly what effect she had. This girl was chaos incarnate, ready to spend hours throwing him flirtatious glances and fleeting touches that would drive him to insanity.
But Shoto couldn't bear the thought of letting her go, not after their fight that morning, not after making up with her. He had meant what he said; he needed her to show him how to be close to someone. He felt vulnerable, needing her close, next to him, beneath him, wherever he could show her how he felt about her. As she passed, he caught her wrist in one fluid motion. "Let them look," he said without turning, his voice low and commanding. "You're busy."
Ren stopped along with her heartbeat, a thrill ran through her, up her spine, emanating from the point of contact of his hand clutching her wrist. This was new, Shoto taking control, being decisive about what he wanted, so different from the boy she used to instruct on how to touch her. Her face glittered with shimmering eyeshadow, diamonds, the glisten of their kiss still on her lips as she turned back to him willingly as he pulled her close again. The music from the garden faded away as they looked at each other, taking in every detail. The soft curve of Ren's smile, the intensity in Shoto's mismatched eyes. When would this ever end? Being everything the other always wanted? This heat, this pain, this want? Why did it feel half like a curse, half like a blessing?
The girl in the colour close to moonlight, stiffened slightly, her breath catching in her throat as Shoto lifted his right hand and placed it gently against her throat. Ren's eyes widened; he'd never done that before but he wasn't trying to hurt her at all, nor trying to control her or contain her. She could feel what he was stirring as his thumb pressed against her pulse point, felt her heartbeat quicken beneath his touch. Their quirks seemed to recognise each other, an almost magnetic pull drawing them closer. Shoto's temperature fluctuated subtly - his right side cooling, his left warming - as Ren's presence affected him in ways he still couldn't fully understand. She felt the familiar sensation of his quirk calling to something deep inside her, making her knees weak as the connection between them intensified.
The bass from the music outside thrummed through the walls as another firework exploded, casting them in shades of gold and purple. Ren's diamonds caught the light, twinkling like captured stars as she tilted her head back, exposing more of her neck to his touch. The scent of her perfume - vanilla and coffee - mixed with the leather and old paper smell of the library.
"Shoto," she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes danced, glancing from his lips to each different coloured eye, searching his face, wondering if he could feel it too. Of course he could. He watched the effect he had on her, with just a single touch he could get Ren to give up control so easily. Their breath mingled as he leaned down to kiss her again.
"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" Hagakure's panic, surprise, delight and pained jealousy echoed across the lawn as class 1-A stood, open-mouthed, staring as their most stoic, reserved classmate placed a gentle hand around the throat of one of the most famous women in Japan and kissed her deeply. "Todoroki knows how to…how to… HOW TO FEEL THINGS?!"
"Is it weird that I'm suddenly attracted to both of them?" Mina whispered dramatically, her pink skin practically glowing in her black evening dress.
"No," Jirou and Aoyama answered simultaneously, before catching each other's eye.
"Everyone, please!" Iida's arms chopped through the air with increased urgency, his glasses flashing in the lantern light as he walked in front of the group and attempted to block their view. "This is completely inappropriate! We must respect our host's and our classmate's privacy!"
The class reluctantly turned away from the window, their formal wear a stark contrast to their shell-shocked expressions. They all looked around the party, blinking slowly as though they couldn't believe the world could carry on as normal given what they had just witnessed. They moved like a group of zombies away from the manor before eventually huddling near a crystal champagne fountain, still processing what they'd witnessed.
Kaminari slumped against a marble statue, his rental tuxedo already wrinkled as though it knew the mission was over. "She knew my name," he moaned as Mineta patted his shoulder. "She took my drink. We had a connection!"
"It's always the quiet ones," Mineta murmured like a super villain as he rubbed Kaminari's back.
The class watched the party continue around them - pro heroes mingling with movie stars, photographers capturing every moment, waiters weaving through the crowd with expensive hors d'oeuvres. No one seemed to know what had happened in the window, how the world had turned upside down in the space of a few seconds. The gardens still looked beautiful, shimmering, shining with light and crystal, the sequins on designer gowns, the air was filled with the tinkling of champagne glasses, the chatter and music of a public utterly ignorant to the life changing thing 1-A had just seen.
"But," Mina gestured at their opulent surroundings, her yellow eyes wide, dancing as though trying to connect the dots. "She's so..."
"Ren?" Uraraka suggested, staring blankly at the opulence that surrounded them. "Like, the actual Ren Ishikawa? The one on magazine covers? The rebellious journalist? The glamorous heiress?" Everyone nodded slowly.
"And he's so..." Sero started, looking dazed.
"Todoroki, ribbit," Tsuyu finished. "The same Todoroki who didn't know what a high-five was until last month?" Sero nodded.
"The same Todoroki who barely smiles, trains non-stop, is a part of the very system she critiques, ribbit?"
"Yes," Sero said, "yes to all of that."
"Hey, uh," Midoriya interjected nervously, "where's Kacchan?"
"Over there," Kaminari pointed wearily, "he didn't notice," he said slowly as Midoriya looked up to see Bakugo staring up at the fireworks and shouting, his palms held open as though ready to join them.
"Is he saying boom under his breath?" Uraraka asked with a frown.
"You know," Yaoyorozu said slowly, adjusting her white gown gently, "it's not actually that strange."
"No, I'm pretty sure it's the weirdest thing that's ever happened," Jirou interjected.
"Think about it," Yaoyorozu continued undeterred, "they're both from powerful families, both dealing with enormous pressure. Ren is a rebel through her writing, undercutting the foundation her father's empire was built on. Todoroki is a rebel through his training, not allowing his father to dictate his power…they're both quite similar, incredibly intelligent, competent, complex and-"
"Gorgeous," Mina finished.
"Yes," Momo said matter-of-factly, much to everyone's surprise, "they have most likely both experienced the world in a very similar way, given these similarities. And, I suppose, it's not that opposites attract, its that they complement one another. I bet Ren is the reason Todoroki is-"
"So different lately!" Uraraka said suddenly, as though finally understanding what Yaoyorozu was saying, "he talks more now, actually smiles, shares his training space-"
"The laws of nature have been rewritten," Sero declared, accepting a canapé from a passing server.
"The dance between light and shadow that we call love," Tokoyami intoned from the darkness between lanterns, "has the power to transform even the most frozen heart."
"So manly!" Kirishima wiped away a tear with his arm. "Our boy's growing up!"
"But we don't know for sure they're together," Hagakure pointed out, her empty sleeves gesturing expressively. "Maybe they just hooked up tonight?"
"Actually," Midoriya began, sweat beading on his forehead, "I really think we should stop speculating about things we know nothing about-"
"Indeed!" Iida jumped in, his hands chopping the air again. "It would be most inappropriate to make assumptions about our classmate's personal life-"
A mischievous grin spread across Mina's face, her sharp teeth glinting in the lantern light. "Or... we could ask them."
High up in Ishikawa manor, Ren felt her back hit the door of her childhood bedroom as Shoto pushed her against the wall. His cool hand on her waist, squeezing her gently, his warm hand against her throat, their quirks dancing between them, threatening to freeze over or burn down the entire manor. The fairy lights twinkled around Ren's bed, catching the diamonds she wore, making her glitter in a soft pink glow as Shoto's lips trailed down her neck. Ren was holding onto his shoulder, her other hand grasping outward along the wall, looking for something to hold onto for fear of being completely swept away by him. Her lilac dress rustled against the door, Shoto removed his suit jacket swiftly before placing his hands back on her as quickly as possible as though scared her quirk might disappear, not that he knew that that was what he was controlling. The party continued in the garden a few floors below, the bass of the music could be felt in the floorboards but all Ren could focus on was the way Shoto's teeth grazed her skin, the perfect balance of hot and cold that made her dizzy with want.
Something felt different tonight. Maybe it was their reconciliation after the argument, or the way he'd taken charge, but there was an intensity to his touch that made her heart ache, a desire to be closer to him than ever before. Shoto bit her neck gently, in that way that could completely unravel her. The careful control he usually maintained was slipping, his quirk responding to her in ways that made her gasp. She tilted her head back, allowing Shoto to do whatever he wanted to her. And suddenly, feeling the solid warmth of his body against hers, her quirk gently dancing beneath his fingertips, her entire body aching for him…the words she'd been holding back tumbled from her lips:
"I love you."
Shoto froze, his lips still pressed against her throat. Slowly, he pulled back to look at her, his mismatched eyes wide with surprise. "What?"
Ren's heart hammered against her ribs as she met his gaze steadily, seriously, so desperate for him to know how much she loved him. She'd imagined this moment a hundred different ways, maybe not like this, maybe not while hundreds of people were waiting for her in her family garden, maybe not while Shoto was completely unprepared for it. But now that the words were out, she couldn't take them back. Didn't want to. Ren took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.
"I love you," she repeated, her voice stronger this time. "I am completely in love with you, Sho."
A moment passed.
And then another.
Ren stared at Shoto.
Shoto stared at Ren.
But…nothing. Silence. Endless, awkward, horrible, deafening silence.
Shoto's face was utterly unreadable as he stared at her with zero discernible expression. After a moment Ren took in a sharp breath, a tear fell from her eye as she felt her knees give out. She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor, her dress pooling around her like spilled moonlight. The magnitude of what she'd done, of his silence, hit her like a physical blow. One of the diamonds in her hair came loose, falling onto the carpet with a soft thud.
"I knew there was a chance you might not say it back," she said, looking nothing short of broken on her bedroom floor. "I prepared myself for this, but fuck," she let out a shaky laugh, "that hurts." Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as more tears threatened to fall. This was not how this was supposed to go. The perfect princess in her perfect dress, crying on her bedroom floor because the boy she loved couldn't love her back.
"Ren-" Shoto started, dropping to his knees in front of her.
"No," she held up a hand, stopping him from consoling her. She took a deep breath, fighting against the painful lump in her throat. "I need 25 seconds to be upset and then I'll be fine and I'll tell you that its okay. I will be super understanding and tell you it's fine if you say it back later or…maybe never at all." She wiped her eyes as delicately as she dared without disturbing her makeup.
Shoto sat back on his heels, loosening his tie as he watched her take her time. His mind was racing, trying to process the surge of emotions her words had triggered. The two sat in silence, on the floor, the air heavy between them.
"I've been waiting," Shoto said finally, shifting to sit cross-legged on the floor opposite her, "for it to hit me." Ren wanted to tell him to give her some time, some space, but a part of her wanted to know what he was going to say. "I've been trying to understand when it would happen. Like it did for you on Christmas Eve, I saw it; the shift in your eyes, the way you looked at me. Everything was different and I knew, deep down, somewhere, that you loved me." Ren put her hands against her cheeks to cool them down, the heat of embarrassment was threatening to flush her face bright red. "In some of the songs I listen to," he carried on, "or in Fuyumi's K-dramas, there's always this moment where love just... hits a person." He watched as Ren's expression shifted from hope to confusion to something like dread. "I kept waiting for that moment with you. I thought maybe it would happen tonight, when you said those words...but it didn't-"
"Oh my god," Ren whispered, pulling her knees to her chest, her dress crinkling around her. "How much do I have to pay you to get you to stop talking?"
But Shoto continued, barely registering that a human being was incredibly upset by his words: "It didn't hit me just now," he reiterated, the words like a sharp knife in Ren's stomach. "I feel exactly the same as I did ten minutes ago. The same way I did on Christmas Eve. The same I did when you came back after ten years." His brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of his own thoughts. "I've been waiting for something to change, for some grand realisation, but nothing's different. I don't think that moment's ever going to come-"
Ren stood, trying to salvage what was left of her dignity. Her dress was wrinkled, her hair falling loose from its careful styling. "It's okay," she said, though her voice trembled. "We can just pretend I never-" but she stopped as Shoto caught her hand, keeping her in place, still staring at the wall opposite him. "It's not going to come because it already did," he explained matter-of-factly, "and I…missed it?"
"Missed what?" Ren tried not to be hopeful.
"The moment," he said looking up at her, "I think it already happened, years ago, and I'm only now understanding why I haven't felt it hit me." He ran his free hand through the red side of his hair, frustrated with his inability to express himself properly. "I couldn't have that moment because... I think I've always been in love with you."
For a heartbeat, Ren just stared at him, her lips parted in surprise. Then her face crumpled. "You," she launched herself at him, knocking him backwards onto the floor, "fucking," her fists beat against his chest as she straddled him, "sociopath!" He caught her wrists gently and looked up at her, above him in the moonlight, grey eyes and dark hair, tear-stained cheeks and diamonds glittering around her. Shoto felt something click into place. Maybe this was his moment after all, not the realisation of love but the understanding of it, of that thing that was set into motion over a decade ago. Ren was chaos and light and everything he'd ever wanted, everything he thought was beautiful. Everything he had ever loved. "You couldn't have figured out a better way to say that?" she demanded, though there was laughter in her voice now. Shoto reached out and brushed her cheek.
"I love you," he said simply, and watched as her entire face lit up. "I'm sorry," he said softly, "I'm not good at this."
But as Ren stared down at him, her smile faltered as she took in his beautiful face, his mismatched eyes, contrasting temperatures, the feel of him beneath her. After everything they had been through, everything they had fought against, every obstacle they had overcome…she needed to be as close to him as possible. Ren leaned down until their lips were almost touching, feeling his breathing change as she came in close, his body tense a little beneath her. "Want to do something you're really good at?"
I love how these two cannot do anything normally.