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Part 1 of tddk shenanigans that are somewhat linked together
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Tododeku Fic Recommendation, tododeku collection to cure my insomnia
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2018-07-01
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accidental notes of affection

Summary:

Wherein Izuku pines on Todoroki through his notebook entries (without knowing it)

Notes:

The church of tododeku helped me to regain some motivation to start writing again, so here we are.
Sorry if things seem wonky, I'm quite still new to publishing fics on ao3.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

 

Hero Analysis For The Future #14: Introduction 

Hi! This is Midoriya Izuku writing here. I don't know why I still say hi when writing the introductions for these notebooks. It's not like anyone else would be reading this, but at this point it's become a habit. By the way, I managed to recover the previous journal, but it's too damaged to write on anymore.

I can't believe I actually made it into UA high! It used to feel like a faraway dream until All Might, out of all people, showed up and helped me pass the entrance exam. Mom was (and still is) so proud of me and I feel happy too, knowing that she doesn't have to worry (well, worry less) about my future anymore.

Turns out that Kacchan got 1st place by getting 77 villain points and 0 rescue points. It isn't a surprise to say the least, but I'm getting mixed feelings about him possibly being in the same class as me again. On the other hand, that nice girl I saved back in the entrance exam got 3rd place, so if we also turn out to be classmates, we may become good friends!

Seeing as how I'm going to attend Japan's top hero school in a few months, I decided to focus more of my #14 analysis journal on school stuff rather than outside activities. My soon-to-be classmates are going to be future pro heroes alongside me, so taking down individual notes for each would be wise and may be helpful later on. I want to help as many people as I can, and that starts with getting to know them well. Hopefully, I'll be able to make a good first impression.

I guess this is all for my introduction. Remember to go beyond!

Notes on Todoroki Shouto (Page 1) 

Note #1: Todoroki Shouto instinctively attacks with his right

From what I've seen during hero classes and the surprise attack at USJ, Todoroki-kun seems to favor his right side way more than his left, both combat-wise and quirk-wise. When ambushed, he will reach out his right hand and blast a powerful ice attack in a blink of an eye, trapping the attacker with some space to breathe. He tends to use his right limbs more often during hand-to-hand combat as well, especially when making the first move. A sweeping kick with his right leg, an upper strike with his right knee, and maybe the occasional blow with his left fist. However, it may just be his right-handedness that's making those calls.

The strange thing is that concerning quirk-wise, he never uses his left for combat at all. It's pretty clear that he has a fire quirk on his left, seeing as how his father is the number two hero Endeavor. The only time he activates that quirk (I won't really call it activating. You can't see any fire emitting from his body.) is to regulate his temperature and prevent frostbite from the overuse of his ice. The reason why isn't clear. He's been pretty quiet and reserved since the start of the year, so I can't come to any solid conclusions.

Perhaps his skin isn't as resistant to fire, telling from the scar on his face. I could be wrong.

Notes on Todoroki Shouto (Page 2) 

Note #5: Todoroki Shouto eats plain cold soba for lunch everyday

Okay, I know this isn't the most important information about Todoroki-kun, but I just need to let out some steam. 

Ever since our battle in the UA tournament, he's been sitting together with me, Iida, Uraraka, and Tsuyu during lunchtime. I think we are officially friends now? I'm not sure if that's the right term. We've never acknowledged it before.

After a few days, I noticed how he would always eat the same thing: plain cold soba with dipping sauce. I'm guilty of that as well, ordering a bowl of katsudon from Lunch Rush everyday despite Iida's reminders about having a balanced meal. His food is really tasty, but nothing can beat Mom's home-cooking. Cold soba is nice too, don't get me wrong. But I would at least eat it with some tempura on the side, not just straight up plain with no extra flavor. I mean, it's just buckwheat dough and sauce! I don't know how Todoroki-kun can eat that everyday without getting sick of it. Well, I guess he could ask me the same question.

Today, I tried offering a piece of my pork cutlet to Todoroki-kun because I wanted to make his lunch more...more. He kindly refused, saying how he didn't want to bother my own meal. I still insisted though, and he finally accepted after the second time. He seemed to enjoy the cutlet, so that's good.

Later on, Todoroki-kun offered some of his soba to me as a gift in return. It's actually not as plain as I thought it would be. The simplicity of it is what makes it easy to eat. I somewhat understand his food preferences now.

Notes on Todoroki Shouto (Page 5)

Note #12: Todoroki Shouto doesn’t get bedhead

What kind of shampoo does he use to wash his hair? ‘Coz mine sure doesn’t work.

This note is going to be a short one, since of course, I can’t dive much into this fact. Every morning, when I go into the male common bathroom, Todoroki-kun is always the only one there with tamed hair. Everyone else (well, those with actual hair) will be combing away, and he would just be there making sure his bi-colored strands of hair are all in the right place.

Now, I logically thought that Todoroki-kun might have combed his hair in his dorm before going to the bathroom. But a few nights ago, he had fallen asleep on the common room couch during our weekly movie night. No one wanted to wake him up, so we left him there with an extra blanket draped over him. And when I went to check up on him the next morning, he was still lying on the couch dozing off, and his hair was in perfect tidy condition. It looked so smooth and silky too, like it had never been dirty before. I was tempted to run my hand through his hair for some reason, but that would seem really creepy. At the end, I woke him up and gave him a glass of water to drink. His half-asleep face was something I’ve never seen before, and I had to stop myself from smiling too wide. 

I didn’t dare to ask what shampoo brand he buys.

 Notes on Todoroki Shouto (Page 7)

Note #16: Todoroki Shouto fiddles with his tie or collar when he’s bothered by something

Recently, he’s been doing this pretty often and it’s getting hard for me not to notice. Whenever we talk, there would be times when Todoroki’s fingers would fiddle with his well-kept tie (unlike mine) or hook around his collar. His tone would also shift into something more careful and hesitant. 

People would usually make the same unconscious action when they are distracted with something. I even do it myself sometimes! For example, I would start rambling when I get too caught up with my thoughts. It’s a known habit of mine in the class.

Anyway, yesterday, I decided to investigate on his strange behavior. During lunch, I chatted with Todoroki-kun as usual before asking him about his day. As he spoke, I once again noticed his right hand playing with his tie. Going on my assumption, I asked if anything was bothering him lately when he finished talking.

I don’t know if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but as he opened his mouth to reply, he seemed to have suddenly taken back some words. His face had slightly reddened as well.

Todoroki-kun explained how he had spotted a lost white cat in the UA compounds that morning. It looked clean and even wore a collar. He said that he tried to get a closer look at it, but the bell had rung and he returned to class. So right now, he was a little worried about whether or not the cat was safe.

Uraraka suggested that we should go search for the cat after school and everyone agreed. Eventually, the cat was found napping in a tree and Tsuyu had to use her tongue to bring it down. There was a pet ID on its collar and its name tag read Miko. We wanted to find the cat’s owner as soon as possible, but it was getting late and someone had to keep the cat in their room until tomorrow. Todoroki volunteered at the end and we helped to hide the cat in his dorm.

It’s kind of cute how it was already snuggling against the warmth from Todoroki’s left leg as it calmed down. The cat didn’t favor the cold from his right leg, I noticed as the cat made an effort to avoid the cool area around it. I wonder if Todoroki-kun is a cat person and offered to take care of Miko on purpose.

Oh, I got off track quite a bit. This notebook is starting to feel more like a diary than an analysis journal. Maybe it sprouts from my habit of rambling. I should really learn to control it.

Notes on Todoroki Shouto (Page 8)

Note #19: Todoroki Shouto is in love with someone

I’ve been having a hunch about this for a few weeks now. I could tell how Todoroki’s behaviour was slowly shifting into something softer and warmer, as if there’s something that was making him more flustered than before. When I think about it, even his face seemed a little more red an usual. At first I thought he was beginning to really open up to the class, probably feeling overwhelmed from making new friends. But that didn’t feel right. I know he isn’t one to behave like that upon meeting new people.

When I was heading back to class after lunch, though, I saw him talking to Yaoyorozu-san in a corridor right next the washrooms. Todoroki-kun had told me he had something important to attend to, that he couldn’t join our group for lunch. I really didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I could hear him explaining something in a confused tone, in which Yaoyorozu mentioned the word “crush”. I remembered an awkward silence before Todoroki replied in a rush, but it was too soft for me to comprehend what he was saying.

I never knew Todoroki-kun was one to get a crush so easily. So far, he’s still adjusting to the friendly environment around him. If I were to guess who he like-liked, I would say Yayaorozu-san, but she was the one who he asked advice from. I haven’t seen Todoroki-kun interact with any other girl as much as her, so it’s pretty hard to tell.

What would that special person have done in order to gain his affections that quickly? Maybe a kind deed? A pretty face? I don’t have a single clue. I don’t think Todoroki-kun would get flattered easily.

But why would he be so worried about his crush? If he were to confess to the mystery girl, anybody in their right mind would gladly accept. He’s such a capable hero-in-training with an awesome quirk and a good build. Not only that, he’s not bad at his studies and his looks add to that as well. Despite the scar, he still has a good-looking face. His bi-colored hair looks so mesmerizing, the red and white split apart perfectly. When you stare into his blue and grey eyes, you can’t help but get sucked into them. And not to mention how his collected and calm exterior is simply a shell that’s hiding away something more sincere and heartfelt inside.

Woah, I’m getting really off topic. I’m just curious about how Todoroki-kun had developed this sudden crush of his. Maybe I should help him muster up the courage to confess, but for some reason, something in my mind is telling me not to interfere. I still feel like a bad friend if I just sit around and do nothing...

All that aside though, as long as he’s happy, I’ll be happy for him too.

Izuku had lost his fourteenth hero analysis notebook, and calling him anxious was such an understatement. 

He was, in simple terms, panicking. 

His crumbling state wasn't because of the possible mockery he'll receive upon someone spotting his name on the notebook's cover. That was the kind of scenario that would and had happened during his middle school years, but his one-year experience in UA high so far was practically the opposite. Everyone was not only accepting but impressed with his brilliant note-taking and analytical skills, especially when he could go off on a winding tangent without getting told to shut his mouth.

No, he was paranoid about foreign fidgety fingers nosily digging through the contents inside. He wasn't afraid of anyone finding out about his connection with All Might. From the start, he had purposefully written anything involving the retired hero as vague as he could get. He was afraid of those curious fingers finding their way to a certain sacred section dedicated to Todoroki Shouto.

He shamefully admits, his hand really, really got carried away when he scribbled down details about his classmate.

He admits, not all of his penned down observations from watching afar were quite necessary or insightful. There were even some that caught Izuku off guard upon rereading, wondering how exhausted and delusional his brain was to have written down such embarrassing comments. However, he soon recognized that those weren't mere mistakes made during sleepless nights, when his mind wasn't at its fullest attention.

The more he read, the heavier the realization that had struck him when his eyes had scanned through the last line. He himself had fallen in love with Todoroki Shouto. And that piled up mess of late realization smashed him hard in the gut.

Izuku spent the rest of his night thinking, pondering about how he had so foolishly fell into this sticky trap of adolescent love. What were unimportant musings had shape-shifted into distracting daydreams, but he wouldn't say he hated this new-found affection. It felt like a new sense of passion that had been building up from the start within his naive heart, growing more and more each time he wishfully glanced over at Todoroki.

Right when he reasoned that things couldn't get any worse, his analysis journal, the book containing certain pages that made he himself turn into a jumble of confused feelings, decided to pull a Hagakure and scurried away from his sight.

The anxious boy had already searched high and low and in every nook and cranny there was to uncover in this school, but sadly to no avail.

Stepping out of the elevator, Izuku let out a heavy breath he didn't know he kept within his lings. His mission wasn't a successful one, to say the least. All he could do now was to desperately hope, hope that a kind-hearted soul would hand his journal over to the teacher's office without any invasion of privacy.

Oh, how he wished for that to happen.

Just as he reached out to twist the doorknob that granted access to his dorm, he felt something on the floor, barely knocking against his over-sized shoes. He glimpsed down and nearly passed out from the sudden wave of relief crashing over him.

His hero analysis journal laid in front of his feet, carefully tucked in halfway beneath the door as if it had grown legs and made its way back home.

Unsure hands retrieving the seemingly unharmed notebook, Izuku swiftly slid into his room, slamming the door shut to prevent any more secrets from escaping. Verdant eyes scanned across his room once more just to double-check that thought before he hurriedly changed from his school uniform to something more comfortable and homely, a pair of shorts and a simple white shirt with text that ironically read "polo shirt".

Stretching away the lingering soreness as he settled onto his chair, Izuku snapped into focus and began browsing through his journal as diligently as he could. Something kept insistently pestering him from the back of his mind, wanting to ensure that everything was in its rightful place. Everything seemed undisturbed as his hand moved to the final few notes that would lead to a clean page. Nothing was torn out, nothing was erased off, nothing was out of the ordinary.

Until something amiss appeared at the corner of his eye.

That didn't look like his handwriting.

Izuku's moment of false relief transformed into one of complete panic, his fingers undoing their actions and returning to the previous pages. Within a second, he spots it again, his hand halting to a stop.

His hopeful heart couldn't help but internally combust when he read the headline of the vandalized page.

" Notes on Todoroki Shouto (Page 8) ", highlighted in outstanding neon pink.

Of all pages, it had to be this one, Izuku mentally groans. Just when he thought everything in his life was all right, it decides to stab him in the back and crumble before his eyes, a reminder that nothing can stay perfect for long.

Very reluctantly and hesitantly, he took a tiny peak at the unfamiliar writing, written neatly at the bottom of the paper.

His hammering heart immediately froze ice solid cold upon reading the starting sentence.

Note #20: Todoroki Shouto is in love with Midoriya Izuku 

What. 

Before the flustered boy could fling himself off his veranda at 100% full cowling, he heaved out a much needed but rather shaky sigh—he knows he's not that reckless—and continues reading on, his iced heart slowly thawing itself from the overwhelming heat of embarrassment.

At the start of the year, he viewed Midoriya as an opponent to overcome because of how similar his quirk is to All Might. He thought the path towards the top was going to be  easy, even without the use of his left side. 

But then, his rival had told him that his power was his. 

From then on, he viewed his classmate in a different light. He admired his strength and  determination, his drive to dive into danger for the safety of everyone else. 

He also began to admire the little details of Midoriya when everyone had moved into the  dorms. The way he laughed so freely, the fact that he always smiled for everyone, and  how he always carried a notebook around with him.

He felt something new whenever he looked at Midoriya. It made it more difficult to talk to  him without setting half of himself on fire. It was a crush, as Yaoyorozu had concluded.  He never thought he could feel love, but he did.

He tried to confess his feelings, but he was too afraid of the consequences, so he kept  quiet.

And one day, he found the perfect opportunity as he watched his crush rush off, accidentally leaving his notebook behind in the cafeteria.

I like you, Izuku. All those times I seemed more flustered than normal was because of  your presence. I don’t need an immediate response, but I just thought you should know.

- Todoroki Shouto

Quavering hands reached up to cup Izuku's red-tinted face as he attempted to calm his panicking heart. He couldn't believe that any of this was happening. He wanted to believe it, but he's not sure if he fully could. He sharply pinched his cheek to confirm that he wasn't merely dreaming.

After a few seconds of needed and uninterrupted reflection, something finally clicked in his brain.

How could he had been so stupidly oblivious?

All the times he had observed Todoroki acting differently was when it had only been just the two of them, whether it's just a simple chat about nothing or a stroll to their classroom. The addition of their friends would bring Todoroki back to his unfazed façade. 

Retracting his stiff hands from his face, he took one last glimpse at the confession note scribbled on his journal before carefully closing it shut. 

He needs to do this now, or else he'll never have the courage to do it later. 

Firmly hugging onto the notebook as if it would suddenly disappear again at any moment, Izuku burst out of his dorm and scurried towards the stairs, strays of curly hair flapping against his vision. The elevator might potentially break down for all he knew. 

Once his feet touched with the fifth floor and an exhilarated pant left his throat, he re-tightened his grip on the book and headed towards the door of Todoroki's dorm. His buzzing mind began to clutter with "what ifs", but he shook his head to shoo them away. 

Recollecting himself one final time, Izuku's hand formed into a nervous fist and gently knocked on the door. 

"Todoroki-kun? It's Midoriya." 

A few seconds of silence followed. Before Izuku could regret his decisions and retreat, a soft voice spoke from inside. 

"Come in." 

Acting on command, the freckled boy awkwardly turned the doorknob and creaked the door open. He was greeted to the sight of Todoroki in all his glory, lying flat on his futon with arms folded over his stomach. As Izuku closed the entrance behind him, his classmate proceeded to sit himself up and mindlessly run a hand through his scarlet hair. Izuku barely caught the subtle blush that brushed over his cheeks. 

Todoroki's heterochromatic pupils then fell onto the notebook that was clutched in Izuku's hands. His eyes widened in either fear or realization. Maybe both, Izuku couldn't tell. 

"M-Midoriya, I already told you. I don't need—" 

Todoroki's unspoken words were put to a halt as Izuku ran over and tackled him into a hug, the force of it knocking them flat onto the airy futon below. The journal, now long forgotten, had flown from his weakened grasp and landed not too far from them. Izuku could check for any flimsy bends in its cover later. 

"You're way heavier than I thought," Todoroki huffed out in a tone that came out too nonchalant, considering their current situation. Izuku couldn't help but laugh at his claim, just a little. 

This felt so warm yet so cold, so foreign yet so familiar. Izuku's flushed face snuggled even closer into Todoroki's right shoulder, as if the chill from it would help to subside the prominent redness in his cheeks. 

Everything felt so perfect. He didn't want to let go of it just yet. 

A steady pair of arms finally wrapped its way around Izuku's back, delicate fingers lacing into his cotton shirt. The wavering sigh that followed pleasantly tickled against his ear, causing a tiny giggle to leave his own lips. 

"I like you too, Shouto." 

No, everything wasn't perfect at all.

Everything is perfect.

Notes:

Oof, you made it to the end. Thanks for reading!

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