Chapter Text
Shouto didn’t understand where the flowers were coming from. Every day, without fail, a single rose sat on his doorstep in front of his dorm room.
He questioned Midoriya about it first.
“Well, when a guy likes a girl, sometimes he’ll get her flowers to send a message with the meaning of the flowers. What kind of flowers are you getting, Todoroki-kun?”
Shouto blinked. “Red roses. It’s been every day for about two weeks now.”
“Roses?!” This time it was Kirishima who answered. Shouto supposed it was his fault for talking about this in the middle of the common area.
“Dude, someone’s crushin’ on you hard!” the redhead whistled, “Pretty manly to send a flower like that right off the bat.”
Shouto didn’t understand. “But why would they say that with a flower without leaving any kind of note, or their name?”
Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck, “M-Maybe they’re embarrassed? It might be hard for them to confess. Not everyone is as straightforward with their feelings as you, or Kacchan.”
“I heard my name. What do you fucking nerds want this early?”
Katsuki, in his irritable, half-asleep state, had just stormed into the common room, glowering at all of them. Kirishima grinned at the sleepy blond.
“Mornin’ bro! Apparently Todoroki’s been getting flowers every day for the past two weeks! He’s not the class pretty boy for nothin’, huh?”
Katsuki just grunted, shuffling off to the kitchen, “What a buncha crap. Who’d go through all that effort every single day for shit like that.”
“I don’t know, but I wish I did. I’d like to respond to their efforts in some kind of way,” Shouto explained quietly. “It’s a kind gesture.”
He couldn’t quite tell from where he was standing, but Katsuki looked a little red, despite his glare.
A sigh brought his attention back to Midoriya.
“Sorry, he’s usually pretty grumpy in the mornings…”
“It’s not like you have to apologize for his behavior. Anyway,” Shouto continued, getting back on track, “I think I’ll do some research and respond. Thank you for your help, Midoriya.”
The small male smiled up at his friend. “Of course! Let me know how things go, okay?”
With a nod, Shouto turned to leave, heading up to his room. He needed some place quiet to think and look up what he needed on the internet. The problem was that he didn’t know exactly what he was looking for.
He knew he needed flowers, but what kind? What color?
Shouto frowned slightly at his phone. What was he going to do?
What he ended up doing was spending several hours searching online before finally picking a flower that he thought would fit what he wanted to say.
A Peruvian lily. Friendship and devotion. He couldn’t return proper feelings if he didn’t know who was giving him roses, after all. But unlike his “secret admirer,” as Kirishima had sent in the group chat, Shouto would be leaving a note.
‘Please accept this flower in response to yours. I wish I could return something more clear in meaning, but without knowing who you are, I’m afraid this is all I can offer.’
Was it too vague? Shouto didn’t know if it would be well-received or not. He went to pick up the flower that afternoon, and he held onto it until nightfall, keeping it in a vase with his roses until it was time.
He’d texted Midoriya to let him know right before he’d set the flower and attached note outside his door before going to bed, although he wasn’t able to sleep at all.
Nervous. Shouto was nervous, worried about his decision on the flower he’d used to respond. He hoped it was someone he was close to — though that limited the people he hoped it would be, since he was friends with most of the class now, but he wasn’t close with many of them.
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The next morning, Shouto realized something had gone wrong. His flower was not there, so his nightly visitor must have come, but there was no rose in its place.
He was usually not a morning person, but today was even worse with how little sleep he’d gotten. However, upon realizing that there was no flower , he’d woken up pretty quickly and texted Midoriya to let him know.
He pulled some sweatpants and a hoodie on over his shirt and boxers before shoving his feet into his slippers and shuffling his way downstairs to eat.
“Ah, good morning Todoroki!” Kirishima was the first to greet him, energetic as always. Shouto just grumbled something unintelligible in response as he sat down, staring at the table.
“It’s okay, I appreciate the attempt,” the redhead chuckled. “So, how did last night go?”
Shouto’s expressionless face shifted into a frown, brows furrowed.
“I don’t understand what I did wrong. Was it the friendship part? Maybe I shouldn’t have written a note?” As out of it as he was, he still heard Katsuki stomping around the kitchen like usual, except it was quieter today. Was the blond not feeling great either?
“Well, maybe they just need some time to think about it, man. I mean, you just suddenly responded after two weeks of radio silence. Give them a few days or somethin’, okay?”
Shouto nodded. Later, when Midoriya came down, he said the same thing.
“Why don’t you ask someone for help? Maybe one of the girls will know something about flowers,” Midoriya suggested. It wasn’t a bad idea.
“Okay. Thank you, Midoriya… I’ll try that.”
It wasn’t until lunch break that he could approach Momo, the one girl in the class he considered himself close to — though Uraraka would be another, probably, since she was so close to Midoriya.
“Meanings of flowers? I’ve been meaning to study them, but I haven’t learned enough of them to be of any help. I’m sorry, Todoroki-san. Perhaps Jirou would be able to help you?”
Shouto nodded in understanding. He was about to ask where Jirou had gone when he heard footsteps, and he turned his head to see Jirou step up to them. Momo explained the situation to her, and Jirou nodded seriously.
“I understand. Todoroki, why don’t we talk tonight after dinner? Momo and I should be free then.”
Shouto gave a slight smile in his relief. “Thank you, both of you. I’d like that, if you don’t mind.”
“If we minded, we wouldn’t be offering. Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out!” Jirou gave him a small smile and a thumbs up before they parted to eat with their usual groups.
Throughout the day, Shouto had noticed that Katsuki was avoiding him. If he was near Midoriya, the blond wouldn’t yell at him, just the shorter male next to him. He refused to be partnered with him during class. Katsuki wouldn’t even turn around to yell at them when he, Uraraka, and Iida were gathered around Midoriya’s desk to talk before class started.
This went on for several days, and for the longest time, Shouto couldn’t fathom what he’d done to make Katsuki avoid him like this.
On the fourth day, he finally received another rose, and Shouto felt relieved. He still had a chance. This time, he would make sure he passed on the right message.