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Todoroki Shouto was doing a lot of thinking lately. After the school festival, he started spending more time with his opponent, now friend, Midoriya Izuku. He rather liked spending time with him and the other students. Once the school announced they were going to add dorms, he saw himself wandering into the common room, Izuku’s room, or even in his own room to spend more time with him; whether it was them doing homework or just discussing about All Might’s heroic actions for hours. He started noticing the little things, like Izuku’s smile radiating some sort of warmth every time he saw something he had a passion for, whether it was his favorite food or new strategies for heroes. He also noticed the soft mumblings his friend provided whenever he was in deep thought or when his face was scarlet red.
Shouto always smiled fondly at these thoughts, which made his own face warm up and his chest wanting to burst. Sometimes he thought his face warmed up due to his quirk, but he had it under control thanks to all those harsh years. A thing he was certainly thankful for was Izuku’s speech once he exposed himself to him. He didn’t understand why he did so, but he was grateful he had someone that knew what he had gone through. He was glad he had Izuku in his life.
Speaking of Izuku, Shouto was standing in front of his dorm door waiting to gain entrance. He was invited over to have a small discussion about the assignment they had, and when Izuku said small, Shouto chuckled softly because he knew they would both stay there for countless of hours. He wish they would never end, and he was upset every time he had to depart from his friend.
“Midoriya, it’s me,” Shouto called out as he knocked on the door again. Shouto decided to wear a casual white shirt with some sweatpants and some socks, seeing as they were only going to chat. A startled voice replied from the other side as a few items going thud followed suit.
“Coming!” Izuku called out. A few minutes later, he opened the door and waved at his friend. He was wearing his usual All Might T-shirt and some black shorts
“Sorry I took so long, come in Todoroki-kun!” Izuku smiled nervously as he made his way to the bed with All Might bedsheets.
“Everything alright? I heard some things falling,” Shouto asked as he entered the room. He was impressed by his room in the first visit, but he got used to all the figures and posters of their idol staring at them from all different angles.
“Yeah! I was just cleaning some things up before you arrived. I didn’t realize my room was such a mess, so I’m sorry if you still see some things lying around,” Izuku admitted.
“It’s no problem at all. Thank you for having me,” Shouto said as he sat down next to his friend. He couldn’t help but bring his attention to his cheeks that were decorated with freckles. They were splattered around like sparkling stars in the night sky, each one standing out one way or the other, and Shouto was fascinated by them. He felt like he could count them all if he was allowed to. It should be illegal for someone to be as cute as his friend was! His mismatched eyes moved up to the tangle of locks his friend had. The color reminded him of a rainforest that was active all year round. Shouto sighed softly and that’s when he realized Izuku was saying his name.
“Todoroki-kun! Are you feeling alright?” Izuku asked as he moved closer to him. Shouto blushed slightly and looked away.
“Ye..Yes, my apologies Midoriya,” Shouto apologized.
“Izuku,” He spoke up, looking at him with a spark of determination that Shouto always cherished.
“Pardon?” Shouto wondered.
“Please call me Izuku when we’re alone,” Izuku stated.
“Then, I’d like for you to call me Shouto as well,” Shouto smiled.
“Is it alright if I call you Shou-chan instead?” Izuku beamed, and in that moment Shouto swore he was going to faint from how sweet his suggestion sounded.
“Of course,” Shouto replied.
"I thought you wouldn't like it, but I'm really glad you do! I was actually thinking since we're such close friends now that maybe we could use our first names. At first I thought you wouldn't like the idea, but then I thought yeah maybe he would! But Shouto sounds rather too formal and it's also your hero name after all so maybe a nickname would be nice so I went with Shou-chan!" Izuku rambled as his hand gestures went along with his explanation.
"Izuku, I'm honored to receive a nickname from you. I’m glad you think we’re close enough for this sort of thing," Shouto complemented, and that’s when he realized he had it bad for his friend. His chest aching whenever they were near or apart, his heart palpitating every time he was in his thoughts, their soft glances at each other; It all made sense now, and Shouto was glad his feelings were for Izuku and no one else. Izuku blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry, I was mumbling again huh?" He apologized.
"It's fine, I like to hear your thoughts," Shouto reassured.
“Oh, thank you Shou-chan. Let’s get started with the discussion shall we?” Izuku smiled softly, changing the subject.
“Alright, Izuku.” Shouto agreed.