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Valentine’s Day turns UA into a battlefield.
Okay, technically it’s a battlefield all the time. They have literal fields for battling in.
Still, the metaphor stands.
It’s hard to say who is more tense that morning, the boys or the girls. Izuku watched all of this happen in middle school, but the intensity is so much higher already. Kaminari and Mineta are practically vibrating with what Iida called “dangerously impure energy” last night, and Kirishima is trying and failing to get Bakugou to sympathize with him about the likelihood of them receiving chocolate.
Izuku is sitting just outside their little bubble of nerves, going over his notes before class starts. It’s really just a distraction, but it isn’t like he has his hopes up for today, and self-pity won’t get him anywhere.
Of course, he’d forgotten to account for the changes in his social standing since last year.
“Deku! Happy Valentine’s Day!”
Uraraka sneaks up on him but Izuku manages to suppress his startle reaction. He’s made a lot of progress with that. He gets up from his desk to greet her. His friend is absolutely beaming as she holds out a small, pink box.
“These are for you, to thank you for being such a great friend!”
Affection hits Izuku square in the chest. His first valentine’s chocolates! He accepts them with shaky hands, unaware of the hateful eyes of all the boys around them.
“Uraraka…”
“Yaoyorozu gave me some of her peanut butter chips to mix in, so they should be a little more interesting than standard milk chocolates! I hope you like them!”
“I’ll-- I’ll savor them! Thank you!!”
He hugs the little box to his chest, feeling dizzy with happiness. He hasn’t had friends for long enough to grow accustomed to gifts, especially not special holiday ones.
Uraraka grins and does a little fist pump.
“Yes! One more gift well received! I think Todoroki might have actually smiled when I gave him his!”
“Really? That’s great, Uraraka!" Izuku pauses and lowers his voice. “Have you given Tsuyu-chan hers yet?”
Uraraka’s cheeks go even pinker than usual.
“Not yet! I wanted to give you three yours first, you know, for luck! I can’t find Iida, though.”
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him all morning. I hope he’s feeling okay…”
It would be bad if Iida was sick today, for a whole host of reasons. Aizawa likely won’t do much to keep chocolate fever down, so they’re going to be relying on Iida for crisis control.
“I bet he’s helping a lovelorn student get back into the school spirit!” Uraraka suggests.
Izuku laughs and smiles.
“That sounds like him. You’re right, if Iida-kun’s not the first one to class, there must be a noble reason for it.”
“I’ll just... wait until he gets back to talk to Tsuyu-chan!”
“To talk to me about what?”
Uraraka nearly jumps out of her skin when Tsuyu pops into the conversation with a soft ‘ribbit’. Izuku holds his breath. You can do it, Uraraka!
“Oh! Um! I have something for you in my bag!” Uraraka blurts out, her face getting gradually redder. Izuku is fiercely proud of her.
“Really? I have something for you too,” Tsuyu says, smiling brightly. “I'll go first, if that's alright.”
“O-Okay! I’ll talk to you later, Deku!” Uraraka says, giving Izuku a shaky wave goodbye before following Tsuyu. Izuku is overwhelmingly happy for her.
However, in his excitement, he’d forgotten about the other boys entirely. They close in on him like scavengers on roadkill.
“Aw, man, why did she only give Midoriya chocolates?” Kaminari whines. Izuku laughs nervously.
“I saw Tsuyu putting chocolates in everyone’s lockers today, but I didn’t get anything! This isn’t fair!” Mineta joins in.
“Maybe if you had any likable traits, girls wouldn’t hate your guts,” Jirou calls from a few desks over, sounding almost bored. “Besides, she gave those to the girls. Tsuyu knows better than to indulge your weird masculine power fantasies.”
“Aw, come on!” Kaminari complains. Jirou ignores him and goes back to sharing a box of chocolates with Yaoyorozu. Izuku thinks he might have seen the two girls exchange gifts by the shoe lockers that morning; he’s happy for them. But that bit about about Tsuyu giving gifts to all the girls... Well, maybe she has something special for Uraraka. He doesn't want to see his friend’s hopes crushed.
“You’re all being fucking stupid about this,” Bakugou grumbles. “Worry about your goddamn love lives somewhere else.”
“C’mon, Bakugou, there must be someone you want to get chocolates from!” Kirishima says, throwing an arm around Bakugou’s shoulders in a way that makes Izuku momentarily afraid they’re about to witness a dismembering. Bakugou growls and shakes him off, but Izuku notices how he very pointedly doesn’t look at Kirishima.
“Fuck you, no! The girls can go to hell and so can you!”
“Dude, you’re blushing! Who do you like? You gotta tell me—”
“I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!”
Izuku decides it’s time to escort his precious chocolates out of the danger zone, and excuses himself while the other boys are distracted by Bakugou’s flustered outrage.
There are at least two confessions happening in the hallway. Izuku politely pretends not to notice Todoroki trying to let a girl from class B down easy, and congratulates Hagakure on her successful confession to Ojiro.
He still can’t find Iida.
At this point, Izuku is actively looking for him. It’s weird enough that he hasn’t seen him all morning, but if Uraraka hasn’t seen him either, something might be up. It isn’t like him to be missing when there’s such a high chance of misbehavior.
Izuku is returning to the hallway after checking the boys’ bathroom when Ashido grabs him.
“Midoriya! There you are!”
“Oh, um, hello! Did you need me for something…?” Izuku asks, a little nervous about the mischief in her eyes.
“I think Iida’s looking for you, but, more importantly! Here’s your chocolate!” she says, pushing something store-brand into his hands. Izuku accepts it blindly, a little amazed by the fact that he’s just received a second chocolate today.
“Wow, thank you!”
“I don’t think you’ll get the wrong idea, but just for the record, I’m giving them to everyone. Except Mineta. Even obligation chocolate is too good for him.”
“Still, that’s really nice of you!”
“Don’t mention it! Now, you should go see Iida, he was shouting a lot.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that, thanks! Um, for the message and the chocolate.”
“Just don’t forget my White Day gift and we’re all set,” Ashido says, winking at him.
Well, that certainly explains the motivation behind giving chocolates to all the boys.
“Where is he?”
“Oh, right! Classroom.”
“Thanks again!” Izuku says, smiling and waving with his free hand. He has two chocolates to carry now. What an amazing day.
He’s only been out of the classroom for maybe three minutes, but that was enough time for the level of chaos to ramp up to eleven. Ashido came from here, and the damage has been done. Mineta is wailing, the alliance of chocolateless boys broken.
Izuku gives that mess a wide berth, heading straight for Iida. Even from a distance, he can tell something is up. Iida is visibly tense, standing ramrod straight beside Izuku’s desk.
“Iida? You were looking for me?”
Iida flails in surprise, robot hands in full effect. His body language is always so cute.
Nope, pushing that thought down. Not a good idea.
“Midoriya! Yes! This is true! I have, indeed, been looking for you!”
Okay, that was a lot of confirmations. Is Iida… nervous?
“Hey, is everything alright?” Izuku asks. The nerves are contagious, and he’s missed important clues that Iida isn’t doing well before.
“Yes! Of course! Nothing is wrong!”
Without further explanation, Iida ducks down and pulls something out of his bag. It’s a flat box, bigger than any Izuku has seen being exchanged today. If he set it down, it would take up at least half the desk. The box itself is a cream color, tied with a delicate, sheer ribbon in pastel green.
“Th-these are for you! As an expression of my admiration and affections, please accept them!”
Around them, the conversations go silent. Iida probably shouldn’t have shouted that.
For a long moment, Izuku just stares. His eyes go from Iida’s flushed, determined expression to the box of chocolates and back.
Is this real? Is this actually happening? Izuku’s heart is pounding and he has the insane desire to pinch himself, just to make sure he isn’t dreaming.
“Iida, I—”
“Wait! Before you give your answer, please, open the box!” Iida is still way too loud. Izuku is too caught up in the moment to be fully aware of how many eyes are on them, though. Iida is so sweetly earnest, treating this moment as though it were vitally important.
“O-Okay! Sure!” Izuku says, hurrying to undo the ribbon. His hands are shaking. He already knows he’s going to accept, there’s no way he’d say no; but if this is what Iida wants, then he’ll do it, gladly.
The chocolates inside are shaped like stars, each one carefully packed with tissue paper to separate them. Each one has a different kanji drawn on it in precise white chocolate lettering, and Izuku knows Iida’s handwriting well enough to recognize it. These are homemade. The words written on them are all virtues: perseverance, compassion, courage, loyalty, sincerity, discipline, responsibility.
Iida gives him a moment to read them, but not a long one. He hurries to explain the context, hands all over the place to emphasize.
“I have carefully selected the traits I admire most about you, to show the depth of my feelings!”
Izuku hears himself squeak. This is way too much to process. The hot rush of shyness is at war with the joy flooding his chest. Iida likes him!
“I! I-I accept!”
Izuku is lucky he’d opened the box on the desk and hadn’t continued holding it while he examined the contents. As soon as the last syllable is out of his mouth, Iida grabs both of his hands, practically sparkling with happiness.
“You truly return my feelings?!” He’s gotten even louder, but Izuku is totally caught up in his energy.
“Y-Yes!” Izuku says, matching Iida’s enthusiasm step by step. “I do!”
Iida smiles so brightly it seems to envelop his whole body, not just his face. If this were a cartoon, he’d probably be sparkling.
“Then! Izuku Midoriya! I must ask! Will you go out with me?!”
Izuku scrambles up to his feet so he can give a proper answer, heart pounding. Iida keeps a hold on his hands the whole time, watching him intently.
“Of course!”
Someone cheers. Regardless of who it is, Izuku is suddenly dragged back into reality. He just accepted a confession in front of half their class. Iida is holding his hands. Kirishima has been moved to tears. Bakugou is glowering at them. Yaoyorozu and Jirou are watching with matching smiles.
Iida abruptly drops his hands.
“My apologies! I believe I’ve exceeded the limits of propriety during a confession! I am sorry for the disturbance, everyone!”
“Iida! That was inspiring, man!” Kirishima wails, getting up from his seat to clap Iida on the back. “So bold! So manly! That was the coolest thing I’ve seen all day!”
Iida is bright red, and now that his hands aren’t occupied with Izuku’s, he’s doing a lot of exaggerated fidgeting. He’d kept it mostly together during the confession itself, but now it seems the adrenaline is wearing off.
“Thank you, but I merely wished to express my genuine feelings!”
Izuku flushes and smiles shyly down at his box of chocolates.
“It wasn’t that cool, I could do a way better confession than that!” Bakugou protests, glaring right at Kirishima. Izuku had expected that stare to be aimed at him or Iida, but apparently there’s something a little more complicated than Bakugou’s usual competitive nature going on.
“Um, Iida… Can we go somewhere else to talk?” Izuku asks, eyeing Bakugou warily. Class doesn’t start for another ten minutes, and there’s a high likelihood of explosions in that time.
Iida puts a hand on the back of his neck, laughing sheepishly. He’s bashful. Izuku had always assumed he’d have sole providence over that particular emotion if they ever dated. Today is just full of surprises.
“Yes, of course! I’m feeling a bit shy now myself!”
“Um, you should probably stop yelling, then…” Izuku says, laughing a little as he carefully closes up his box of chocolates. Iida coughs and flushes darker. Cute.
“Ah, yes. Good point. Sorry, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by my feelings at the moment!”
He’s still sort of shouting, but Izuku understands the sentiment. He feels like he could run a marathon right now and still have too much energy.
He carefully puts Iida’s confession chocolates with the other two in his bag. Iida is watching him with affection in his gaze, almost blinding in its intensity.
“Can we hold hands?” Izuku blurts out, offering his hand, palm up. Iida turns bright red and visibly gulps.
“Y-Yes!” he shouts, and holds out his own hand like they’re going to shake hands, only it’s the wrong hand for that. Izuku takes a deep breath and carefully takes Iida’s hand, entwining their fingers.
“Um. Let’s go, then,” he says, smiling.
Iida beams back at him.
They walk out of the classroom hand-in-hand.