Chapter Text
Shit, no, he’s been compromised. His hands shot out on their own, and suddenly he was holding a cup of disgusting, syrupy red punch in one hand, and he still hadn’t turned around to talk to the guy behind him. Shit. Slowly, he faced his friends, but before he could say anything, his hands moved again, and he downed the entire cup in one go. It tasted like… fruit doused in paint thinner.
“Uh…” Todoroki stammered, watching Midoriya slam a plastic cup of red juice and then crush it in his palm.
“H-Hi!” Midoriya said, and it sounded loud and terrified, even to himself. Todoroki blinked, looking in surprise at Tsuyu, and then back at Midoriya.
“Is… Does that have tequila in it?” Todoroki asked.
“No,” Midoriya said at the same time Tsuyu deadpanned, “Yes.” Todoroki nodded, once, but it was clear he was more confused than before.
“A-anyway!” Midoriya shouted awkwardly. “I didn’t see you earlier; how long have you been here?” A blatant lie, of course, but it was better than the truth. And a fairly good one at that, considering how many ‘panic’ alarms were sounding in Midoriya’s head. Tsuyu shot him a sidelong glance, but said nothing.
“Uh, not too long,” Todoroki replied. “I came in with the rest of the dorms.”
“Oh, cool,” Midoriya muttered, feeling his face flush even though he knew that. Tsuyu made an exasperated sounding ‘ribbit’ and shook her head.
“Let’s go back with the others,” She suggested, and walked away without waiting for either of them to reply. Todoroki glanced at Midoriya and shrugged, and they both began to push back into the crowd.
As it would seem, Kirishima and Kaminari had given up the spotlight to someone who Midoriya thought was in class 1-B and a second year student. The second year was actually pretty good at dancing, from what Midoriya could tell.
As the song ended, the two laughed, one took a joking bow, and stepped out of the middle. Midoriya felt his throat dry up. Should he say something to Todoroki, or…? He gently hissed, irritated by his own awkwardness. They were friends, after all. Why was he suddenly so awkward?
“Todoro--” Midoriya started, but before he could even say his name, Ochako appeared in front of them from out of nowhere. She grabbed Todoroki’s wrist, said something too fast and garbled for Midoriya to understand, and yanked him away.
“H-hey, guys, w-wait!” Midoriya started, making to follow them, but a loud boom from the other side of the room made him yelp and step back.
“LET GO OF ME, SHIT-FOR-BRAINS!”
That was… Bakugou. Midoriya had officially lost the plot of the evening somewhere along the way, because now Ochako was firmly holding Todoroki in place while Kirishima hauled a (pissed) Bakugou behind him, giggling each time he got punched.
Suddenly, everybody was pressing in, eager to see what was happening.
“Get him, number one!”
“Show him who’s boss, ice guy!”
“Those two won the tournament, right?”
Midoriya managed to stay in the front, and in a moment of terrifying clarity, realized what was about to happen. Apparently, Todoroki came to the same conclusion as him at approximately the same time, and tried in vain to shake Ochako off. Bakugou was too furious to notice, too busy trying to bash Kirishima’s head in, while the latter simply drunkenly grinned.
“No real fighting, ‘kay?” Ochako shouted, smiling sweetly at both of them. With that, she and Kirishima slipped back into the crowd, which had formed a tight ring around the pair.
Bakugou growled, and stepped forward to attack, but as he moved, a loud noise interrupted.
“Just a reminder, to all you students down there; fighting is absolutely forbidden!” Present mic boomed.
“Then let me out, you fucking vultures,” Bakugou snarled, turning around and attempting to push his way out. “Fuck off, all of you!”
“NO way, bro! Not ‘till you dance!” Kirishima returned. The song was starting up, and Midoriya recognized it, from something he heard Yaoyorozu listening to while she was studying sometimes. Everyone else began to cheer, excited. Todoroki was expressionless, although Midoriya knew him well enough to notice the absolute mortification in his eyes.
“Go Bakugou!” Mina shouted, earning a few cheers.
“Screw you!” He snarled, angrily turning on the crowd.
“Go get ‘em, Todoroki!” Ochako yelled, and about half the crowd echoed her sentiments. Todoroki flinched.
“You can do it, Todoroki!” Midoriya found himself yelling without thinking about it. The song’s lyrics kicked in, and everybody cheered, waiting for either of the two people in the middle of the circle to move. For a moment, Todoroki looked like he was torn between setting the crowd on fire and collapsing where he stood. But the the chorus started, and...
Oh.
Todoroki was actually kinda good at dancing. Midoriya felt his face heat up. Scratch that-- Really good at dancing. The crowd lost its collective mind, screaming and clapping and cheering while Todoroki danced and Bakugou stood stock-still. Midoriya found himself smiling widely. It wasn’t his dance, but it still made something flutter in his chest.
“I guess Todoroki was holding out on us,” Ochako mused, sidling over to Midoriya. He nodded.
“I never knew he danced.”
As Midoriya watched, Tsuyu’s words echoed in his head: It’ll be worse if he doesn’t move. Somehow though, looking at Bakugou, he just couldn’t agree. He tried to keep up, making jerky, abortive hand gestures and awkward, unsure steps that followed absolutely no tempo. His face screamed pain, but his eyes promised death. It was, in a word, delightful. Midoriya found himself cheering for Bakugou, albeit quietly.
As the song progressed, the circle that had formed seemed to cave into itself, pressing together into a tight glob centered around both Bakugou and Todoroki. Midoriya lost sight of them both, only catching a glimpse of Bakugou’s snarling face between heads every so often. He tried in vain to force his way towards his friends, who seemed to be closest to the center, but after a song or two, he gave up, and found himself back near the punch table.
“Heeey, dude!” Midoriya looked over to see a sloppily grinning Kirishima leaning against the table. “Wicked party, huh?” His words slurred together in a way that spelled the word ‘intoxicated’ better than Kirishima could right now. Midoriya smiled awkwardly at him.
“Yeah, it sure is,” He lied. In all honesty, tonight had been less than stellar so far, and he was getting ready to call it quits. It felt like he’d spent the whole night chasing after someone, hiding, or searching for his friends. If it was a fairytale, it was a damn awful one. But it wasn’t a fairytale, it was real life, and real life had a way of hitting him in all the weakest spots.
Something in his gut told him it was better to leave now, so something couldn’t happen to disappoint him later. He couldn’t be rejected if he left before a slow dance ever even played, right?
“Hell yeah brother,” Kirishima smirked, clearly not comprehending either side of their conversation. Without any warning, he yanked a bottle out from underneath the table, and took a swig of it before dumping the rest of the contents into the punch bowl. “Oh, sorry. Shoulda asked if you wanted any.” Whether he meant punch or whatever was in his bottle, the answer was no.
“Is… is that tequila?” Midoriya blanched, taking an involuntary step back. Kirishima nodded, head lolling a little bit too far to each side. Where the hell did he even get that? Nevermind. Midoriya was probably better off not knowing anyway.
Just as Midoriya began to think of an excuse to flee, the lights suddenly dimmed, and over the speakers, Present Mic warbled,
“Alright, we’re slowing things down for the night but remember-- Some of your teachers have super-vision and super-hearing, so let’s keep things PG, folks!”
“Oh! Sexy dance time,” Kirishima mumbled, staggering away from the table. “Gotta go find Bakugou. He promised.”
Midoriya watched Kirishima stumble his way across the dance floor, heart sinking despite itself. He should just go. It wasn’t like he was going to miss anything anyway. Just as he turned to go, something made him pause. With a short huff, he poured one more cup of punch, downed it, and hurried out the door of the gym.
--
Todoroki was so, so glad he had ice powers, because without them he would have sweated a puddle at his feet already. Too many people crushed around him, elbows and shoulders and knees that somehow were more difficult to block than the ones in any fight he’d ever been in before. He bopped with the rhythm, if only to avoid the brunt of the flailing limbs surrounding him.
“Hey, Todoroki!” He craned his neck around, searching for the voice that had called him, only to nearly knock heads with Tsuyu. She stared at him with emotionless, wide eyes. “Have you seen Ochako? I need to ask her something.”
“Uh. No. I haven’t,” Todoroki replied, shrugging as best he could. Tsuyu frowned, nodding once. She seemed disappointed, but it was hard to tell-- Tsuyu always looked so impassive.
“Have, uh. Have you seen… Midoriya?” Todoroki ventured, fully prepared for the ‘no’ that she gave him. Oh well. With a heavy sigh, he nodded. It wasn’t like he’d really seen him all night anyhow. Perhaps it was just a sign-- If he’d asked him, they might have just avoided one another all night anyway. Despite his reasoning, Todoroki’s heart hung low in his chest, hammering an intense beat into his sternum.
This was stupid. The thought hit him suddenly, like the elbow to his jaw that he narrowly avoided, and ignited something like rage inside him. Why the hell was he wasting his time here? He’d spent so much time preparing and worrying and thinking and searching and for what? He’d seen Midoriya maybe ten minutes in total tonight. He’d missed the whole reason he’d come in the first place (besides the fact that it was required of him). This whole freaking thing was just so goddamn stupid.
Todoroki let out an angry grunt, and with a newfound forcefulness, began to shove his way out of the dance crowd. He couldn’t go back to the dorms until the dance was over, but he didn’t have to stay in the gym, getting sweated on all night, either. Anywhere was better than this stuffy dancefloor.
Just as he managed to break out of the crowd and begin his determined route through the doors, a hand caught his arm, pulling him to a stop. It took all of his will power not to throw it off and storm out faster than before.
“Todoroki? What’s up, where are you going?” Ochako looked up at him with genuine concern in her big eyes, and just bit of his anger faded. He sighed, and nodded towards the doors.
“I’m leaving,” He said. She opened her mouth, and then closed it, and then opened it again. It took a moment for words to come out.
“Before you go… I think you should at least stay for a slow dance.”
“I…” Todoroki couldn’t find any responses to that. A slow dance? There was only one person he really would want to slow dance with, and he had no clue where he even was. Maybe it was better this way. After all, he hadn’t messed anything up. They were still friends, and Todoroki hadn’t embarrassed himself by being rejected by Midoriya. It was better this way, he told himself sternly, ignoring the way his heart stuttered in his chest at the thought. “I’m. I’m gonna leave.” With that, he began to walk towards the doors, but once again, Ochako caught his shoulder.
“Please?” Ochako pleaded, “Just one, and then you can go, okay?”
“No,” Todoroki replied, more confidently this time, “I’m gonna go now.” His broke free from her grasp, and took another step, but as he moved, the lights dimmed around him, and over the speakers, Present Mic’s voice announced the start of a slow song. It took all of Todoroki’s resolve to not look at Ochako as he continued towards the door, exiting just as the opening chords of a sappy love song he recognized echoed through the gym.
It was better this way.
--
Ochako tugged nervously at her dress as she watched Todoroki leave, her plan falling like sand through her fingers. Why the hell was he leaving? This was bad, very bad. Kirishima was supposed to help her push Midoriya and Todoroki together during the slow dance, but Todoroki was gone and, she confirmed with a brief glance behind her, Kirishima was only vertical thanks to god’s grace and the helping hands of Bakugou (which were wrapped tightly around his waist). Maybe she shouldn’t have given him tequila, of all things.
Ochako set her jaw. No. This wasn’t going to fail. She wouldn’t let it. Midoriya deserved to have one dance with his prince charming, and goddamnit, she would be the wicked step-mother if she had to. She wouldn’t let this plan fail, no way, no how.
“Ochako? You ok?” Tsuyu asked, cautiously approaching as Ochako seethed. “You look a little… stressed.”
“No, no, everything’s fine,” Ochako ground out, clenching her fists with determination. Tsuyu just stared at her, head tilting slightly to one side.
“Well, I wanted to ask you something… Kinda embarrassing…”
“Hold that thought, Tsuyu,” Ochako interrupted. She knew what she had to do. “I need to text Iida, and he needs to get Jirou. Come with me, we’re going after Todoroki.”
“What?” Tsuyu asked, clearly lost, but there was no time to explain. Ochako just grabbed Tsuyu’s wrist and yanked her out the doors. Prince Charming, meet Maleficent.
--
Outside was warm, but not nearly as stifling as inside. The sun had fallen in the sky, only barest sliver of sunlight left to illuminate the purple sky. It was pretty, Todoroki noticed offhandedly, as he walked quickly along towards the parking lot behind the gym. He could wait out here until it was all over, and then go back to his dorm and forget this whole thing ever happened. Nobody would look for him, except maybe Ochako. Or Midoriya, the stupid little hopeful idiot in his brain whispered.
With a heavy sigh, Todoroki hunkered down on the curb, preparing himself for a rather boring half-hour of waiting. The boredom did wonders to distract from the disappointment coiling in his gut.
“SHIT!”
Todoroki was on his feet before he even registered what had startled him. He looked around the dim parking lot, zeroing in instantly on the flailing shape of someone who was clearly not sober and had also apparently just eaten shit on the two steps that lead into the gymnasium. Todoroki covered his mouth and snickered, because seriously, what kind of idiot--
That was Midoriya.
It was his kind of idiot.
“Midoriya? Are you ok?” he asked tentatively, walking over to where his crush was laying face down on the pavement.
“Yeah, why?” Midoriya replied, not moving from his position.
“Do you want… any help?”
“I guess.” he still made no movement.
Todoroki sighed through his nose, and reached down to bodily heave Midoriya up into a sitting position. He struggled for a moment, because seriously, how can someone so tiny be built like a brick shithouse at the same time?
“Thanks,” Midoriya mumbled, voice simultaneously clearer and more muddled now that he was upright.
“Are you drunk?” Todoroki asked, at the same time that Midoriya slurred, “‘M drunk.”
“Uh…. How drunk?” Todoroki decided to follow up with. Midoriya shrugged.
“Enough I guess.”
“Um. Ok.” This was a fabulous conversation. “Why?”
“Because!” Midoriya cried, throwing his hands into the air and making Todoroki flinch. “Tonight sucks a lot and I didn’t know how much stuff Kirishima dumped into the punch so I drank a bunch of it and now everything sucks and I feel kinda nauseous.”
“Oh.” A brilliant addition by the stunning Todoroki Shouto.
“It’s whatever. I just want to go home, I think.” Midoriya’s voice suddenly got much quieter, and he looked down at the ground. In the dim light of dusk, Todoroki couldn’t help but notice the way the shadows pooled in the fabric of his purple vest, or the hollow of his neck. He looked like an oil painting. He looked like a masterpiece.
“Do you, uh. Do you want me to help you?” Todoroki finally said, his voice stalling out as he tried to hold a normal, human conversation. “Get home, I mean. Do you want me to help you get home.”
Midoriya glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, and for a split second, he smiled. Todoroki felt his neck heat up, and in the second he took to check that he hadn’t caught fire, it was gone. Midoriya shook his head.
“No, thanks. I’m gonna sit here for a while, I think.”
“Oh. Ok.” Todoroki looked down at the pavement, unsure if this was his cue to leave or not. He didn’t want to; this was the longest conversation he’d had with Midoriya all night.
“This night doesn’t just suck for you.” He blurted it out before the silence could stretch too long, too awkward, and Todoroki wasn’t sure whether to praise himself or kick himself. “It sucked just… for everyone, I think. It sucked for me, anyway.”
“Yeah right,” Midoriya snorted, rolling his eyes. Huh? At the sight of Todoroki’s confused look, Midoriya gave his shoulder a slight shove. “King of the dance floor? No way. You were the coolest guy out there! People were fighting to dance with you.”
“It didn’t feel like it,” Todoroki muttered. “Besides, I don’t want to dance with anyone in there anyway.”
Midoriya paused, fixing Todoroki with a stare he couldn’t quite understand. Perhaps he was too hung up on the way Midoriya’s brow furrowed and his cheeks flushed to think about it too hard.
“...You don’t?” He finally asked, small voice ringing unreasonably loud in Todoroki’s ears. Was that… hope, he heard? No, he was imagining it. He had to be.
“I don’t,” Todoroki sighed, leaning back on his hands to look up at the night sky. No stars were visible yet, but the purple had deepened considerably into a navy blue. It matched his shirt, nearly. Beside him, Midoriya crossed his legs, and turned to face Todoroki.
“Is there someone you do?”
The question caught him off guard, enough to make him whip his head towards Midoriya, who just gave him a blank, inquisitive stare. Of course there was, but he couldn’t tell Midoriya that-- He was the someone!
“Uh,” Todoroki said instead, cheeks heating up, and yes, that was fire. His entire shoulder and face was now on fire. If only it could burn him alive. He reached up and patted it out quickly, pretending it took more concentration than was actually necessary to avoid looking at Midoriya.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Midoriya offered, and when Todoroki glanced up, he was smiling, despite the hint of bitterness in his voice. God, if only he knew.
They both sat there in silence for a moment, Todoroki staring up at the stars, and Midoriya staring down at the pavement. The quiet rang loudly in both of their ears, especially after the auditory assault of the gymnasium.
--
“Iida! Where were you?” Ochako demanded, voice low but vicious. Beside her, Tsuyu crouched low, fingers twisting in her hair.
“My apologies, ladies. I had to locate Ms. Jirou as per your request,” Iida explained, gesturing to Jirou, who, for her part, just seemed happy to be out of the loudness.
“Thank god you’re here, Jirou. We have a huge favor to ask,” Ochako pleaded, shuffling over and grabbing Jirou’s hand. “You’re a real lifesaver!”
“Tell me what I’m doing, then thank me,” Jirou huffed. “And hurry up, Momo and I are getting food after this.” Ochako pulled her over to the side of the gymnasium, and behind a conveniently sized bush, beckoning everybody else to follow. Cautiously, she peeked over the top and pointed towards the parking lot where Todoroki and Midoriya sat together, silent.
“What are they doing out here?” Jirou asked.
“Indeed! It is against the rules for students to leave the gymnasium during the dance!” Iida gasped.
“You’re out here too,” Tsuyu pointed out.
“Well, you see, I… As class rep, it is my duty--”
“Shh!” Ochako interrupted. “Jirou, can you use your quirk to play music all the way over there?”
“Yeah, but I need a source,” Jirou replied, looking between the three with confusion. Tsuyu nodded, nonplussed, while Ochako snatched Iida’s phone from his pocket.
“What’s a good, sappy love song?” She demanded, rapidly typing. Iida and Tsuyu both shared an unsure glance, and Jirou just scoffed, rapidly putting two-and-two together.
“Unbelievable. You guys are trying to play matchmaker and you don’t even have a song ready?” she chastised, plucking the phone out of Ochako’s hands. “Here. you want me to play it for those two, right?” He nodded towards the parking lot.
“Yes, please!” Ochako grinned.
--
As Midoriya sat in the parking lot, trying his best not to tip over/fall asleep, he couldn’t help but wonder who it was that Todoroki wanted to dance with. It was unfair! He wanted to dance with Todoroki and someone out there was lucky enough to get that chance, and they were blowing it! Unbelievable. Midoriya huffed out a frustrated sigh, lilting to the side and brushing Todoroki’s shoulder with his cheek.
“I think-- I think I’m gonna… I’m gonna go,” Midoriya decided, unable to combat the growing bitterness in his chest any longer. He should just resign himself to this night being a total bust, and leave it at that. No princess story-- how stupid, anyway, to think he’d have a Cinderella moment at his freshman year dance.
“I’ll go with you.” Midoriya blinked slowly in surprise, alcohol fog making him take a moment to process what Todoroki had said.
“But don’t you live in the dorms?” He asked.
“It’s fine. I’ll walk you home and come back,” Todoroki replied, pushing himself off the curb and brushing off his suit pants. He looked so pretty, with his entire face. It sounded stupid, even in Midoriya’s brain, but he couldn’t force himself to come up with anything better, especially as Todoroki stretched his hand out to help him up.
“I can go by m’self,” Midoriya objected weakly, but he nearly slumped over into Todoroki’s arms as soon as he stood.
“Can you?” Todoroki asked, voice so completely devoid of all emotion that it didn’t even sound like a question. Midoriya grunted, and pushed Todoroki away, determined to retain as much dignity as he could, even if his heart thrummed at the contact.
“Let’s go.” They began to make their way across the parking lot, but as they neared the bushes, a faint sound made both of them pause, looking around for the source. It couldn’t be from the gym-- No, Midoriya could still hear the pounding bass through the walls. This was a sweeter, gentler sound; piano strains floating like silken spiderwebs through the air. It was almost like a lullabye…
“What’s that?” Midoriya asked curiously, stumbling away to peek behind the bushes. It sounded as if it were coming from somewhere close, but nothing nearby looked like it could be the source. How odd…
“It sounds like…” Todoroki paused, cocking his head to the side to think for a moment, and god, he looked so handsome, chin tilted just so that his jawline popped out, casting a long shadow down the dip of his neck. Like chiaroscuro, a charcoal painting of red and white. “Music. Huh.”
Midoriya swallowed, unable to tear his gaze from Todoroki, even as he turned back towards Midoriya, inquisitive eyes boring into his own. Todoroki said something, but it was lost in the rush of blood in Midoriya’s ears, and the faint buzzing sound in the back of his brain, screaming say something!
“Dance?” Midoriya blurted, awkwardly sticking his hand out and smacking Todoroki in the chest. Smooth as sandpaper, dummy. He cleared his throat, and tried again, retracting his hand. “Do you want to… Dance? With me?”
An eternity passed in the span of a minute, as Todoroki looked down at the ground, and then off to the side, and then back at Midoriya. He could only measure the passing seconds in the pounding, thundering, beating of his heart. It wasn’t terror, or panic, or regret-- it was absolutely nothing. Everything, even his emotions, were frozen, only to be melted by the spontaneous combustion of half of Todoroki’s body.
“I’m sorry!” Todoroki yelped, flailing and generally making things worse. Midoriya jumped back while also grabbing for his arm, and ended up tipping face-forward into his chest, knocking both of them to the ground in a heap of fire and limbs. A flaming trash pile, indeed.
“You wanted… wanted to-- to dance with me?” Todoroki asked from somewhere near Midoriya’s clavicle. He was still on fire, but just a little bit, and it wasn’t that big of a deal-- not when that sounded like disbelief in his voice.
“Yeah,” Midoriya sighed. “But I’m guessing you’re not really--”
“I am,” Todoroki interrupted. There was a pause.
“You do?”
“Um. Yeah.”
Midoriya scrambled into a sitting position, and ended up with his ass planted squarely on Todoroki’s stomach. He stared down at his crush, cheek-splitting smile stuck firmly across his face.
“Ok! Let’s-- Let’s do it!”
“Ok.” They stared at one another for a moment. “You have to get up first.”
“Oh!” Midoriya leapt up, brushing himself off as discreetly as he could and trying to force the idiotic smile off his face. He said yes! Holy shit, he said yes!
Todoroki stood across from his, and made a few small abortive hand gestures, spluttering a couple of half sentences and flushing as red as his hair. Oh, dammit, they actually had to do it now. Midoriya hadn’t thought past the first hurdle, at least, not the step immediately after asking. He’d just mentally skipped to the part where they were dancing. Oh god, where did he put his hands, did he need to be closer, where did his feet go--
“Um, I’ll just--” Midoriya mumbled, and awkwardly grabbed Todoroki’s shoulders, refusing to look up at him in case that was the absolute wrong thing to do. Slowly, a pair of hands wrapped around his hips, and after an awkward moment where they both stood stalk-still, Midoriya chanced a glance upward. “You’re head’s on fire, still,” He murmured with a small smile.
Todoroki’s quirk was a little cute, when it wasn’t putting him in immediate bodily harm.
“Oh, crap!” Todoroki muttered, looking up and snuffing the flame with a small puff of smoke. “Sorry.”
“S’okay. It’s…” Midoriya paused, biting his lip. He was thankful for the tequila that loosened his lips enough for him to add, “It’s cute.”
“Don’t say that,” Todoroki mumbled, looking down. The tips of his ears were awfully pink. “It’ll make it worse.”
“I really don’t mind,” Midoriya snickered, and took a small step closer. They weren’t dancing, really, just standing awkwardly close. The music was still playing, although Midoriya was having trouble hearing anything outside the small bubble of air that seemed to cut off the rest of the world, outside himself and Todoroki.
“Where are all of your moves from the dance floor?” Midoriya asked quietly, soliciting a vague approximation of a glare from Todoroki. Midoriya giggled, watching as an embarrassed Todoroki pretended to be annoyed.
Don’t expect me to dip you or something,” He warned. “You’re way too heavy.”
“Hey, rude!” Midoriya gasped. “Maybe not a dip, but how about…” Slowly, Midoriya began to sway his hips from side to side, tugging Todoroki along with him. They settled into an easy rhythm, although it was hardly real dancing, not like the ballet Midoriya’s heart seemed to be dancing in his chest.
“This is… nice.” Todoroki finally met Midoriya’s eyes, and the world shrunk to the space between them so suddenly it made Midoriya’s head dizzy. It was like the change in a camera lens, suddenly shifting everything into sharp focus, though everything only consisted of Todoroki’s face and his burning hands on Midoriya’s hips (They weren’t actually burning-- Midoriya made sure to check). His stomach flipped, but not in the way it did from tequila. What the hell was happening?
“Um… Uh, yeah.” Midoriya wanted to scream, and it may have been a more eloquent response, but his mouth really wasn’t cooperating with him at present. He quickly licked his lips, worrying his bottom one between his teeth. Todoroki’s eyes trained on the motion, hand suddenly tighter around his hips.
“I-- Uh,” Todoroki mumbled, but it didn’t matter, because almost subconsciously, his face seemed to gravitate towards Midoriya, as if pulled in by some invisible force. And look, how funny; Midoriya’s was doing the same thing. Dreamily, he felt his eyes flutter closed, his chin tilt up to meet Todoroki’s, and the faintest brush of his lips--
“I CANNOT ALLOW THIS, OCHAKO, IT IS AGAINST SCHOOL POLICY AND--”
“Iida, no!”
It was as if an electric current ran between Midoriya and Todoroki. They sprang apart, Todoroki in a battle stance and Midoriya in a clumsy drunken stagger. Iida stormed out from behind the shadow of a large tree, while Ochako desperately floated down from its branches.
“Were you-- were you guys watching us?” Midoriya demanded, outrage welling in his chest. Iida paused, guilt crossing his face for only a second, before launching into lecture mode. Ochako gently touched down, and ran over, apology scrawled across her face. “What the hell?”
“Not just them,” Todoroki answered darkly, pointing out two more figures perched in the tree, clearly floated there by Ochako’s quirk. Jirou waved sheepishly, while Tsu just shrugged. A range of emotions, including but not limited to embarrassment, anger, and disappointment all gripped Midoriya as one.
“--It is inappropriate as well as expressly prohibited, and I will not allow something so brazenly intimate--”
“Iida, shut up!” Ochako burst. She smacked him in the shoulder, glaring until he finally quieted, although not without some select grumblings that would definitely be brought up later. “Look, I’m sorry, but I know you really wanted this night to be perfect, so I--”
“You set this whole thing up?” Midoriya demanded. Ochako shrugged.
“It wasn’t actually that hard, and the plan sort of disappeared halfway through. You two are pretty easy to predict, and you wanted to dance together anyway, so…”
“We… wanted to dance… together?” Midoriya asked faintly, glancing over at Todoroki, who returned his look with mild embarrassment. Somehow, it hadn’t quite sunk in that Todoroki wanted to dance with him just as much as Midoriya did. Queue the warm and fuzzy overload.
“How cute!” Jirou shouted from her perch in the trees. “Can you float us down, or are Tsu and I supposed to sit up here for the rest of the night?”
“Oh! Sorry, be right there!” Ochako replied, and hurried back to let them down. With a stern look, she dragged Iida along with her, leaving Midoriya and Todoroki alone once more.
“So, um…” Midoriya began, but he quickly ran out of words. What did he even say in this scenario? Apologize? Scream? Flee? All good options, but ‘D, all of the above’ seemed a bit like overkill.
“I guess that explains the random music,” Todoroki offered, awkwardly stuffing his hands into his back pockets. Midoriya nodded dumbly.
“Did you want… to finish that dance?” Todoroki forced out, nervously shifting from foot to foot. “It doesn’t have to be right now, I meant like--”
“When else?” Midoriya interjected, resisting the urge to laugh hysterically. What was his life right now?
“I… don’t know. Maybe we can try again some other time?”
Was this the worst possible attempt at asking Midoriya out on a date?
Yes.
Was he going to say yes?
“Alright.”
Todoroki looked away, doing his best to hide an adorable smile that spread to Midoriya’s face. He couldn’t help it-- or at least, the final dregs of tequila couldn’t. Midoriya leaned over and kissed Todoroki’s cheek.
And, yeah, it wasn’t a fairytale ending for his far-from-perfect night, but storybooks were overrated anyway. Midoriya wouldn’t trade the way that the sidewalk beneath him froze into a sheet of solid ice as Todoroki let out a small, surprised squeak for any glass slippers in the world.