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Midoriya Izuku blinks at the bowl of katsudon placed in front of him, half way out of his seat to go get a bowl of katsudon. For a few seconds, he wonders if the universe decided he deserved a freebie today, before Todoroki takes a seat beside him, setting down his own plate of soba.
Izuku slowly lowers himself back onto the bench with a grateful smile. “Thank you, Todoroki-kun! You didn’t have to…”
Todoroki looks at him in the middle of eating a mouthful of cold noodles. “Oh.”
“N-no, it’s fine! Thank you,” he repeats, picking up his chopsticks and beginning to eat.
“I thought that, since you’re my boyfriend…”
Izuku almost chokes, desperately grabbing for a glass of water and chugging the whole thing before he’s able to breathe again. “T-Todoroki! You c-can’t just say that out of nowhere-!”
Todoroki stares at him with alarm. “Is that not what we are? We’re dating. Doesn’t that make us boyfriends?”
He’s right, of course, but… something about saying it out loud makes Izuku’s heart jump into his throat and what feels like all the blood in his body rush to his head at once. Maybe it’s the fact that whenever he thinks of the word boyfriend or girlfriend he immediately thinks of the couples on television or in movies, the ones that always seem to end up in a… passionate embrace. “B-but- saying it like that, it’s - we haven’t even kissed!”
Izuku then realizes that the universe definitely didn’t decide to be kind to him today, because the next sound he hears is the smug mocking of Monoma, who was apparently walking by at the exact right moment to hear Izuku’s protest.
“What?! You’re dating and you haven’t even kissed?! I didn’t realize class A was a bunch of kindergarteners!” He laughs a little louder than is really necessary. “What, is holding hands too much for you??”
Izuku feels a familiar heat rising in his neck, grateful when one of the other class B students uses physical force to stop his harassment. Normally, Monoma’s insults don’t bother him, but this… Izuku can’t help it. He can’t help knowing that it really did almost overwhelm him every time they held hands at first, reducing him to a blushing, sweating, stuttering mass of pure agitation, and he has to wonder if that’s normal.
It’s not like they’re stuck at that stage, though; over the past few weeks they’ve slowly added other gestures to the collection of things they’re currently comfortable with, from running fingers through each other’s hair to soft, affectionate kisses on the cheek, or the nose, or the hand… just not the lips.
It’s not that Izuku doesn’t want to, either. Especially recently, it has become almost impossibly hard not to, when he and Todoroki sit side by side in one of their beds - making notes and reading, respectively - and happen to steal a glance at each other simultaneously, that glance inevitably dissolving into uninterrupted staring until one of them decides to break the tension and pepper the other’s face with chaste kisses. Izuku gets the feeling Todoroki mainly does it to watch Izuku devolve into a delighted fit of laughter, which happens practically every single time he’s on the receiving end. The satisfied, affectionate smile on his face when he finally lets up seems to indicate as much, anyway.
The blush on his face during those extended staring periods probably indicates something else, though. Izuku steals a glance across at Todoroki, finding him half way through a mouthful of noodles, completely unaffected by anything that just happened. The other boy meets his gaze, and slurps up the dangling noodles before speaking. “What’s wrong?”
“Is… is it really that bad? That we haven’t, y-you know…” he says, a waver in his voice giving away his uncertainty.
Todoroki stares at him for a moment, before returning his gaze to his plate. “I think… We should go at a pace that’s comfortable for us.”
“Right,” Izuku says, settling into a relieved smile as he, too, goes back to his lunch. “Yeah. You’re right.
“A pace that’s comfortable for us.”
“You haven’t kissed yet? Really?” Uraraka says, blinking at Izuku that afternoon, a fluffy pink scarf obscuring her chin in the crisp winter air as they walk back to Heights Alliance.
“I-it’s not that I don’t want to!” Izuku answers immediately, his own red, yellow and blue scarf almost slapping him in the face as he waves his hands, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. “It’s just… I don’t know how.”
She stares at him incredulously. “…You don’t know how to kiss?”
“No! T-that’s not what I meant!” Izuku exclaims in panic, mortified. “I meant the first time! I don’t know how to kiss someone for… t-the first time,” he explains, peering down at the concrete path. “Sometimes I think I want to do it but then I chicken out at the last second, because, well… I guess… h-how do I know if it’s the right moment? It’s supposed to be special, right? Like in the movies…” He trails off, hoping he doesn’t sound ridiculous.
Uraraka settles into a sympathetic smile. “I don’t think Todoroki-kun is the type to care about that, Deku-kun…”
“What if I’m bad at it??” Izuku says, his thoughts racing ahead of the conversation. “What if he’s disappointed? I’ve never kissed anyone before! A-at least, not in that way… I just… I don’t want to ruin everything. I want to do it right,” Izuku says, winding his fingers into the hair at the back of his head, flushing from holding the concept of kissing Todoroki on the mouth in his mind for so long.
“You’re overthinking it. The next time you want to do it, just do it!” she responds, punching a fist into her palm with familiar gusto. “Do you really think he has more experience than you?”
“No… no, I guess not,” Izuku says, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. “He said I’m the first…”
Izuku still finds it hard to believe a guy as attractive as Todoroki decided Izuku was the best candidate for a first dating experience, but then, he seems too focused on his training to pay much interest to that stuff most of the time, anyway.
“Then he can’t be disappointed if he doesn’t have anything to compare it to, right?” she says, making it sound easy.
Izuku groans. “No- no, you’re right, it’s just…”
“Just what?”
“I want it to be good!” Izuku fixes her with a determined stare. “Everyone always says you never forget your first kiss, so… so I want it to be good. I want it to be amazing! He deserves that… I want to give him a really incredible memory. I want to do my best,” Izuku says, clenching a fist in front of him.
“You will. You always do!” Uraraka says. “You can do it, it’s in your hero name, right? So be Hero Deku, and do it!”
For some reason, when she puts it like that, it all seems… silly. He’s Deku, isn’t he? The Deku who applied to U.A. without a Quirk. The Deku who broke his bones and leapt into combat with notorious villains time and time again without so much as a second thought.
He has faced more life-threatening scenarios than most do in a lifetime. What’s a kiss in comparison?
“Right,” Izuku says, nodding, an uneven grin of resolve spreading on his face. “I will!”
The internal light of the fridge spills into the common room as Izuku opens the door, reaching in to grab a bottle of orange juice later that night after several unproductive hours spent laying awake, conjuring dozens of potential first kiss scenarios in the darkness.
“Midoriya!” someone says, right behind him, and Izuku jumps violently, almost dropping the juice, performing a rather impressive improvised juggle to catch it before whirling around.
Ashido grins at him, her yellow irises bright in the darkness, a set of floating pajamas at her side giving away Hagakure’s presence.
“Y-yes!” he says, still recovering from the surprise.
“We were looking for you!” says Hagakure.
“You… were?” Izuku responds, trying to think of any reason they could possibly need him at ten-thirty on a weekday night.
“We heard you were looking for kissing advice and, well,” Ashido says, her grin widening as she pulls back to engage in what Izuku can only guess is some kind of duo pose, flashing a peace sign above her forehead, “we thought we could lend our services!”
Izuku almost chokes for the second time that day. How did they-?! Well, the whole lunch hall probably heard Monoma… and it’s true: he does want kissing advice. Ideally, as much of it as possible, from as reputable sources as possible.
“A-ah— w-well, yes, I am, but… you guys aren’t dating anyone, how do you know about kissing…?” he says, closing the fridge.
“You don’t have to be dating someone to know about kissing, dummy!” comes Hagakure’s voice.
“Oh! Right…” he says, not sure how that works exactly, but they seem to know what they’re talking about…
“So, what is it you want to know? Technique? Setting the mood?” begins Ashido, leaning closer with her hands on her hips.
“The difference between romantic and spicy?” Hagakure chimes in.
“Making yourself irresistible??” Ashido wiggles her eyebrows knowingly.
Izuku sputters, feeling the temperature from his neck up hike up a few notches. “M-making myself— n-no!! None of that, I…I need to know how to… how to initiate a first kiss…” he says, fidgeting with the label on his orange juice, so quiet by the end of his request that he’s practically mumbling.
“A first kiss…?” Hagakure repeats.
“What?? You mean… you and Todoroki haven’t kissed? You’ve been dating for, like, a month!” Ashido exclaims.
“I know!!” Izuku answers quickly, sounding a little more panicked than he really intended, partially covering his face with embarrassment. “I-it’s not that we don’t want to, a-at least, I don’t think it’s that, I feel like we keep coming close but then… I just can’t do it, I get too nervous! I want to do my best…”
Ashido nods sagely, tapping her cheek. “Well, I guess that makes sense, you do want the first time to be extra special and memorable…”
“Mm-hmm!” Hagakure agrees. “I can see why, it’s hard to find time for dates with classes and training and homework, and it has to be at the end of a date…”
“Oh yeah, imagine a first kiss with no date! That would be really bad!”
Izuku straightens with this onslaught of information, eyes wide with concern. “See, that! I didn’t know that! You have to tell me so I don’t mess it up!” he says, trying not to sound overly desperate, and failing.
“Well, you can’t just kiss someone out of nowhere in your daily life! You have to set the mood with a date, and it has to be a goody,” says Ashido, holding up a finger for emphasis.
“It has to be romantic. And personalized to your partner, you can’t just use the same date over and over!” Hagakure adds.
“Personalized to your partner…” Izuku mutters, patting his pockets in search of a notebook. Of course, the one time he doesn’t have one—
“Yeah, it has to be something special, just for this person—”
“W-wait!” Izuku interrupts, holding his hands up to stop them. “I’ll be right back, I need to write this down.”
A few minutes later, he returns from his room to find them lounging on one of the sofas, and takes a seat on the other, open notebook in his lap and pen at the ready.
“Okay! Now tell me!”
“Well, you have to really make them impressed with you! Otherwise they won’t kiss you,” Hagakure begins, pajamas shifting as she gesticulates.
Ashido nods in agreement. “You have to pay for everything, of course. And you should ask them what they want to do first but have a plan anyway, because they’ll usually leave that up to you. You know, as a test, to see how well you know them!”
Izuku notes all of that down, pausing to think. “I think I know Todoroki-kun pretty well… and I don’t know if he would try to test me, that doesn’t sound like him…”
“Whatever, the idea is still the same!” If Hagakure was visible, she’d be waving a hand. “It has to be the perfect date, and then afterward, you go somewhere romantic, like the side of a still lake with lilies and fireflies, or the top of a fancy old tower under the stars…”
“Or a balcony with sweet smelling flowers!” Ashido adds.
“…and that’s when you can do it! They’ll never forget it if it’s somewhere romantic after an incredible date. I mean, they’ll never forget it either way, that’s why it’s so important that it’s a perfect memory! It decides how everything else goes in your relationship!”
Izuku frantically scribbles down every detail, his heart rate spiking with the increasing weight of this apparently very important responsibility. “So… I have to tailor this to Todoroki-kun… but it has to be romantic. I think I know what to do, but… keeping everything organized, making sure nothing goes wrong, it will take a lot of planning… perhaps backup options in case of delays, alternate schedules…” He begins to mutter, his brow furrowing with focus as he examines his notes.
“Oh, there he goes…”
“I guess that means we helped!” There’s the sound of a high five, breaking Izuku out of his concentration.
“Sorry! Yes, you did…” he says with a relieved smile, lifting his pages of notes higher to check them once more. “Thank you!”
“Our pleasure! You just have to do one thing in return…” Hagakure says, with the tone of someone very aware that they have the upper hand, and Izuku finds himself almost regretting his failure to ask if this was an exchange as opposed to a charitable effort.
Before he can ask, she continues: “you have to tell us how it goes!”
“You have to tell us what it’s like!” Ashido clarifies, while Izuku blinks with confusion. “I mean, you have to tell us what Todoroki-kun likes! He’s always so mysterious.”
“And it’s his birthday next week and nobody knows what to get him…” Hagakure adds.
“A-ah… right! I… I think I can do that,” Izuku responds, relieved it wasn’t something embarrassing… though it could still become that, if they ask for excessive detail about the kiss itself… but he’ll worry about that later. First, he needs a plan.
“If you ever need love experts you know where to find us!” Ashido says with a wave as he makes his way to the staircase, determined focus bringing the corners of his mouth up as he begins to brainstorm.
Izuku drops a stack of notebooks on his desk, his laptop already open and ready. If this is going to be the date that defines the rest of their relationship, the date leading up to a memory he’ll never forget, then Izuku is going to make it the best date Todoroki will ever go on.
He starts by making an itemized list of Todoroki’s likes and interests, his brow furrowed with focus, muttering under his breath, completely unaware - as always - of how creepy this could look if anyone were to stumble upon it. Soba. Soft things, including, but not limited to, sweaters - especially turtlenecks -, blankets, pillows… Izuku’s hair, apparently. Tea. Using his Quirk to help in any way, but particularly smaller, more frivolous ways, for some reason. (Izuku suspects it might have something to do with the fact Endeavor would probably blow a fuse seeing Todoroki use his abilities for anything but heroics.) All Might, of course. Reading, but more of the manga type of material and less of the informational type. Sleeping. Definitely sleeping, he sleeps a lot. He even falls asleep during movies sometimes… he really is like a cat, which is, conveniently, another item for the list.
When Izuku runs out of things to list, he skims the pages one final time.
He hesitates, a slight flush darkening his cheeks, and adds Izuku at the very end. That doesn’t exactly help, considering the purpose of this list, but the reminder makes his heart do a little leap every time he sees it.
He can’t mess this up. It has to be perfect.
Izuku first narrows down activities and locations by area - the less time spent in transit, the better - and then by timing. Some places aren’t open in the morning, so those would have to occupy the afternoon slot in the date schedule… and that means… those would be the areas in which they could…
Izuku’s heart does a very much not little leap at the mental image of himself and Todoroki, eyes locked, leaning in until their lips are just a few inches apart—
His skin an impressive shade of red, he decides this is a good moment for a run, and scrambles out of his seat to do several laps around the dorms before returning.
When he drops back into the chair, his skin is back to its usual hue, and he brushes damp hair off his forehead as he gets back to work.
The options that check multiple boxes on his itemized list of Todoroki’s likes and interests are probably ideal… that big bookstore with the quiet, plush reading area in the back corner would be almost perfect, but there’s nowhere to get soba nearby, and everyone knows how much Todoroki likes soba. There’s really no other option when deciding what to eat on a date personalized to Todoroki… besides, they spend a lot of time reading on Izuku’s bed anyway. They can do that any time, so they should really do something they can’t do here.
Izuku glances at his list of options. There’s a special screening of an All Might documentary at a theater just a few blocks from the soba restaurant currently sitting at number one in his list of ideal food options (it’s small and - at least, if the guest reviews are accurate - romantic), but something about it sparks hesitation, and that something is probably the fact that some of his fellow All Might super fans have been not-so-quietly questioning the authority of the director. It’s not an official film, and that tends to make people cautious, but that doesn’t change that Izuku is curious. It might be better left for another time, though; for this date, he needs guarantees.
Speaking of guarantees… Izuku pulls up the train schedules on his laptop, and begins to highlight the important parts. Several different options would probably be the best plan. That way, if something goes wrong, he always has a backup.
Two hours and twenty pages of notes later, he completes his preliminary set of five potential dates. He’s pretty sure Todoroki would like any of them, but… he doesn’t want him to just like them. If Izuku’s going to pull this off, he needs him to love them. He goes over the end-of-date locations once more, swallowing his nerves, which have apparently shown up almost a week early.
It’s too cold for most outdoor locations, especially in the evening, which narrowed down his options automatically. Not to mention he really doesn’t want to kiss Todoroki for the first time in a crowded area, which thinned out the results further… an indoor location with the potential for privacy… he wonders if he has time to scout these locations, but that’s probably not an option. He’ll have to go off any images he can find on the review website.
His number one choice has plenty of foliage as part of the interior design, which would be ideal. It also has a heated patio, which is even better. That would be romantic, right? He can take Todoroki out onto the patio, under the heat lamps, and if no one else is out there…
He swallows again. He actually has no idea how the mechanics of a kiss function - he assumes there’s some tilting of the head, because otherwise your noses would get in the way, but what do you do with your hands? Are you supposed to do something with your lips other than… pressing them against the other person’s lips? The kisses from the movies jump to the front of his mind again, all open mouths and tongues and oh, god-
Izuku gets up for the second time that day, and pushes away his embarrassment to make room for an hour of lifting heavy things.
When he returns, he stares at his collection of notes, brow furrowed with renewed vigor. This isimportant! He can’t let his tendency to become flustered stop him from executing his plan.
He clicks his pen, and begins to write.
An hour later, his eyes flick over two fresh pages of notes on kissing technique(it turned out that it helped to approach it as something he’s researching for someone else as opposed to himself), and he nods with satisfaction. All that’s left is finalizing the schedule… he taps his pen against the page, frowning. Something about it still doesn’t seem quite right. It’s good, but it’s not perfect, and he can’t put a finger on what exactly the problem is…
That is, until he raises his eyes to his laptop, his gaze falling on a banner ad near the bottom of the screen. The tapping ceases, and he slowly straightens from his slightly slumped position.
Perfect!
They leave right on time, which - while Izuku wasn’t anticipating them being late, both having a tendency to show up early, if anything - he puts down as a firm ‘win’ in his mental checklist. He has to fight the urge to pull out his notebook and put it down in his physical checklist, a struggle helped by the fact his hand is otherwise occupied, gently clasped in the familiar warmth of Todoroki’s left.
“Are you all right?” Todoroki says, peering at him with a look that, to anyone else, might read as neutral curiosity, but Izuku recognizes as concern.
Izuku responds with a nervous laugh which, on second thought, probably doesn’t help. “Y-yes! I mean, I’m fine, just… it’s important to me. That today is really amazing for you, because it’s special, and…”
Todoroki reaches across to take his other hand, and gives both a reassuring squeeze. “I don’t think anything you do for me could be anything but amazing, Midoriya.”
Izuku’s brain falls blissfully silent for a moment, then reboots into an ‘oh no, he’s perfect’ loop. It takes a large portion of his willpower to resist simply kissing him here and now, heat rising into his face becausethat’s not the plan, we have to stick to the plan, our first kiss can’t be at the train station!
Todoroki’s eyes flick up to follow a snowflake, lazily descending between their chill-touched faces.
It takes Izuku a few seconds to process it.
“I-it’s snowing!?” he yells, jumping back with alarm and looking up at the grey blanket of clouds above. The forecast didn’t say snow! He didn’t even come up with an alternate plan for snow! He immediately pulls out his phone to check the forecast again.
“So it is,” Todoroki says, holding out a hand to catch another flake. “Is that a problem?”
“N-no! No, no problem, hah-” Izuku’s heart rate slows back to a fast but not painful level as he scrolls through the hourly forecast: occasional light snow. He lets out a sigh of relief. Light snow… that’s not so bad. It shouldn’t affect the trains, and light snow might even make their second destination more romantic, now that he thinks about it. Maybe this is a good thing. Maybe the universe is telling him ‘today’s the day!’ “J-just… I didn’t bring gloves, or a hat,” he says pathetically.
“We could go back and get them,” Todoroki suggests.
“No! No, it’s fine, I have pockets, and… we’ll be inside most of the time anyway, I’ll be okay!” He’s only exaggerating a little.
Todoroki nods. “All right. So where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise!” Izuku says as a train pulls into the station, practically bouncing with excitement. He just knows Todoroki is going to love it.
Todoroki leans back as an orange tabby climbs into his lap, eyes widening slightly with surprise as the cat settles. He reaches up to pet its head carefully. “They’re friendly.”
Izuku laughs, rubbing the belly of a particularly fluffy lynx point, its purrs rumbling against his palm. “Yeah! I guess they see a lot of people, so… it’s hard to be scared when people are around all the time.”
Todoroki peers around the room, observing.
The cat cafe was the perfect final addition to Izuku's plan, combining Shouto's appreciation of cats with his love of tea and new experiences. He even made sure that the location offered green tea - Todoroki's favorite, now steaming from two cups on the low table between them.
Izuku doesn’t think he has ever seen Todoroki look as relaxed as he does right now, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth when the cat in his lap blinks up at him, its purr audible even from Izuku’s position across the table.
“I think he likes you,” Izuku comments. “Would you want a cat? When you have your own place.”
“I’m not sure,” Todoroki says, thoughtful. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
“Yeah, I guess we still have two years until we graduate anyway. It’s plenty of time to figure that stuff out…” he trails off as another curious cat joins the now three felines vying for his attention, this one a calico, its fur color split almost exactly down the middle, half white, half orange. Izuku’s eyes light up, and he beams over at Todoroki. “This one reminds me of you!”
Todoroki blinks across at him, curious, his smile widening with amusement. “You’re popular.”
Izuku attempts to maneuver around the cats in his lap, on his shoulder, attempting to scale his back… “I don’t know why they like me so much! Wait… fish! I had fish last time I wore this jacket… but... I washed it, can they really smell that…?”
“It’s possible,” Todoroki says, his gaze wandering off to his right again. “I read somewhere that their sense of smell is more than ten times as strong as ours.”
“Really, it’s that much?” Izuku says, watching as the calico sniffs his sleeve with great interest. “Well, I guess I can’t complain. They’re so cute…”
Todoroki observes, resting his head on his hand. “I think you’re right. That one does resemble me.” From the thoughtful look on his face, though, Izuku gets the impression he’s thinking about it on a different level. “Excuse me?” he says as a member of staff passes by. “That cat over there…” Todoroki points over at a mass of black fur tucked behind the base of a cat tree.
“Oh, that’s Mochi!” the woman says. “He’s shy, but he’s sweet once he warms up to you. I could try to get him to come out, if you want, he loves bananas…”
“Banana?” Izuku says, unsure if he heard right.
“I know, it’s unusual! But he really loves it. Here, let me get some.”
Todoroki continues to watch the shy cat while she’s gone, and Izuku can’t help smiling at his obvious show of empathy. After all, Todoroki was like that, once: closed off in an emotional cage, convinced those around him viewed him as nothing more than an obstacle to overcome. It’s one of the reasons Izuku likes to remind him otherwise every day, even when they don’t get a chance to see each other.
Maybe this cat, like Todoroki…
Izuku pushes himself up from his pillow, making his way over to the shy cat, crouching to smile at dilated yellow eyes sympathetically. “Hey,” he says in a voice he hopes comes across as reassuring. He’s not exactly sure how cats react to speech, but he’s seen other people do it like this. “It’s okay! Don’t be scared, we’re safe.”
He cautiously extends a hand into the cat’s space, and is rewarded with a loud hiss, immediately yanking his arm back with an alarmed yelp.
“I guess he doesn’t want to make friends…” Izuku murmurs.
Todoroki blinks at him as he reclaims his seat, then looks back over at the black cat. “Maybe you have to let him come to you.”
The woman returns, placing a banana on the table, and Todoroki picks it up. No sooner has he begun to peel it than the black cat’s ears rotate towards the sound, the rest of its head following to lock onto the item in Todoroki’s hands.
Izuku watches, transfixed, as the cat hops down from its perch, sniffing the air, and cautiously approaches Todoroki. Only when the cat enters his space does Todoroki then break off a piece of the fruit, holding it out for the feline to inspect before a pink tongue begins to lap at the treat.
“Wow,” Izuku says, watching. “He really does like banana…”
Todoroki smiles warmly when the cat places its paws in his lap, slowly lifting a hand, watching as it brushes its cheek against his Quirk-warmed skin.
“Oh, he likes you!” the woman says, looking up from where she’s cleaning another table. “He’s been here for so long, I think he doesn’t want to leave, so he never gets close to anyone….”
“Leave?” asks Izuku.
“The cats here are all adoptable!” she replies, gesturing at a poster on the wall detailing as much. “This way we help cats find homes, and new cats can have a place to stay here as others are adopted. If you’re interested…”
“Actually, we’re students at UA, on the hero course,” Izuku says, by way of apology.
“Oh! Well, then, maybe when you’re older. You know where to find us!” she adds, with a laugh.
Todoroki stares at the black cat, and Izuku wonders what he’s thinking. Izuku got the impression that Todoroki’s mother would do well with cats, when she’s well enough to leave the hospital, but he also got the impression that the possibility of that happening is still some time away. Endeavor, on the other hand… Izuku stifles a laugh at the idea of him being exposed to a pack of very angry, screaming cats.
Todoroki looks at him inquisitively, and Izuku swiftly makes the decision not to tell him what he was thinking about. Reminding Todoroki of his father, even for the purpose of a joke, might not be wise on a day intended to be the basis for a perfect memory.
“It’s nothing,” he says, redirecting his train of thought. “You know, maybe my mom would like a cat. It must be quiet at home, now that we live in the dorms. I don’t know where I’ll end up after graduation, too.” He stares into the slightly bemused-looking eyes of the calico, wondering if he should ask her. “I hope everyone stays close by, though. Well, especially you, and Uraraka-san and Iida-kun and even…” Even Kacchan. The thought of everyone going separate ways fills him with an unfamiliar sense of melancholy.
Todoroki looks down at his hand, the black cat gobbling up another piece of banana. “I’d be more worried about you. Won’t you go to America? Following All Might’s footsteps?”
Izuku glances away, his mouth twisting with uncertainty. He has to admit, he hasn’t really given it much thought yet. That all seems so far away, but then… shouldn’t he be prepared? Shouldn’t he have a plan for his rise to the top of the hero rankings?
“I… I don’t know. I guess I haven’t really thought about it yet,” he answers honestly, his gaze wandering to the windows at the front of the cafe, the large, fluffy snowflakes trickling through the air to gather on the sidewalk. Light snow… it looks more like a blizzard.
He groans and lowers his head until his forehead hits the table.
“Ah,” comes Todoroki’s voice, short and surprised.
Izuku lifts his head to find his boyfriend blinking down at a horizontal cup, a trail of spilled tea, and where the cup was, Izuku’s hand.
“Ahhh!” Izuku yells, immediately pushing himself to his knees, reaching out in Todoroki’s general direction in panic before realizing he’s not entirely sure what he intends to do. “S-sorry! Oh, god, l-let me- tissue! I have tissue!” Izuku claws at his jacket pocket until he finds the tissues, quickly extracting several and pushing them into Todoroki’s hands before beginning to mop up the tea. “I-I’m so sorry!”
“It's all right,” Todoroki says, dabbing at the damp patch on his thigh like Izuku didn't just spill tea all over his boyfriend on what was supposed to be a perfect date. “It’s just tea.”
“But it was for you…” Izuku says, brows pulled together with a pout. He blinks, his gaze wandering to his own cup. “Here! Please take mine!” He's holding it out toward his companion before he even realizes he moved, head bowed in apology.
He doesn't see the smile, but he hears it in Todoroki's voice. “All right. If that's what you want.”
Izuku finally lifts his head, smiling with gratitude. Maybe the date isn't ruined after all... “It is!”
Todoroki uses his Quirk to dry his pants, attracting the interest of five heat-seeking cats for the rest of their visit, though Izuku’s eyes seem drawn to the remaining tea stain like a magnet. The staff even offers Todoroki a small, tea-flavored cake when they learn it's his birthday, which he insists on sharing with Izuku.
And there it is again, as they eat and prepare to leave: the swelling warmth in his chest, the affectionate, admiring smile on his lips, the overwhelming urge to… His gaze lingers on Todoroki’s lips a fraction too long, earning him a curious head-tilt, and he averts his gaze with a deep flush, reaching for the door. “O-okay! Let’s go!”
Izuku pulls.
Izuku pulls a little too hard.
Izuku may, in his flustered state, accidentally use a small percentage of One for All while executing said door-pull and the next thing he knows is an explosion of dull pain across the midsection of his face.
“Midoriya!” Todoroki exclaims somewhere on his right, but Izuku is too busy clutching his nose in his hands as something hot and wet blossoms across his palms.
Someone is rushing over, saying something about a first aid kit, and it’s all Izuku can do to barrel through his mortifying embarrassment at having hit himself in the face with a door and wave a bloody hand in dismissal. “No, no, it’s fine, really! It’ll stop in no time!”
When he removes his other hand from his face, though, he is only rewarded with a steady trickle of blood dripping down his chin onto his collar.
Todoroki’s ice-cold palm on his nose is pleasant, but all he can think about as they tend to his bleeding - but, thankfully, not broken - nose is how late they are for the next stage of their date.
By the time they finally leave the cafe, Izuku’s nose bruised but, mercifully, blood-free, they’re running thirty minutes late, and Izuku starts to wonder if it’s even worth continuing with his plan at all. Even if he somehow manages to pull it off, kissing someone with a stuffy, bruised nose doesn’t sound anywhere close to the realm of perfect.
It decides how everything else goes in your relationship.
Izuku’s heart sinks, his eyes beginning to burn, and he shakes his head to clear it, wiping his eyes as they cross a deserted, snow-dusted park.
“Midoriya,” Todoroki says, snapping him out of his contemplation.
“Huh?”
“Is everything okay? You seem distracted.”
Izuku watches as large snowflakes begin to settle in Todoroki’s hair, that concerned expression making a reappearance, and finds himself unable to maintain eye contact. “Y-yeah, it’s fine, it’s just…”
We can’t continue with my plan when the weather’s like this, it will definitely become too wet, there’ll be mud everywhere and I think the universe hates me and doesn’t want us to kiss ever, maybe? Because everything that could have gone wrong today has happened, and I didn’t account for any of it, my preparations weren’t thorough enough, I messed it all up, I failed, I failed—
“I failed!” he exclaims, clenching his fists with frustration. “I w-wanted to give you a perfect day, and… and everything got messed up, and now it’s a disaster, and…”
Todoroki stares at him, perplexed. “It’s really not that big of a deal, Midoriya. I’m having a good time.”
“You don’t understand! It is a big deal, because…” Izuku trails off, turning to brace himself against the rail of a small bridge, his arms sinking into the thin layer of snow on its surface as a stream passes below, snowflakes dissolving into its mass upon contact.
Warm pressure against his right shoulder tells him that Todoroki has joined him.
“Midoriya… What’s this about?” Todoroki says.
The melancholy is back, rising like a wave between his ribs, and he hesitates, attempting to dislodge the lump in his throat.
“I… I have to make the most of it now, because…”
He hasn’t told Todoroki about it, but… how can he possibly keep it from him?
Izuku swallows. “I h-have to make the most of it now, because I d-don’t know if I’ll be able to- to do this when I’m a Pro Hero, o-or… when I’m the Number One Hero… you said it yourself, if I want to be like All Might, then… I’ll have to move a lot, I won’t have time for anything else, a-and… and what about all the people who came after All Might? Anyone nearby would be in danger, a-and… and nobody wants to be with someone like that! S-so… before things become that way, I have to…”
He hears Todoroki shift at his side. “…If we’re still together then, I don’t mind moving.”
Izuku’s shooting him a tear-filled look of indignation before he even realizes he has moved. “No! You have to focus on your career, too! Y-you need to - you need to be where you’re needed, not passing on opportunities because of me! I’d feel terrible - I wouldn’t be able to live with that, Todoroki-kun! D-damn it, this was supposed to be perfect, and now I’m… we shouldn’t talk about anything sad!” He wipes his eyes with a snow-dampened sleeve.
Todoroki stares at him. “But if it’s bothering you, we should talk about it.”
Izuku turns back to the stream, leaning over the side of the bridge. “I guess… it’s too early to worry about that, anyway… maybe I won’t have to leave at all. Things could be completely different in two years, right? So much changed already, in just one…”
The bridge trembles beneath his feet, and he straightens up, glancing down at it with concern. The cause of the disturbance soon becomes obvious, though, because when the ground shakes again, it’s accompanied by an explosion of concrete in the side of a building across the park.
“Villains…?” Izuku says.
They exchange a glance, and that’s all it takes for the pair to take off along the stream-side path leading directly to the site of the action.
“That’s right, everybody stay where you are and no one gets hurt!” sneers a hulking man with a metal mask, a bus balanced easily in his hands over his head as the two young heroes come to a stop in the crowd of concerned onlookers. Izuku’s gaze flicks to the vehicle’s windows, finding terrified passengers clinging to their seats as the bus shifts unsteadily in the villain’s grip. Behind and to his right, the front of a building appears to have been demolished… did he come from there, or is he guarding the newly created entrance? The building doesn’t look like anything special, but…
In any case, their number one priority is getting those hostages to safety. He probably isn’t strong enough to catch the bus… but Todoroki would have no problem with his ice.
“Cover me. I’ll take him out, you take care of the passengers,” Izuku says, keeping his voice low, but not so low that Todoroki is unable to hear him. The other boy nods in acknowledgment, his steely eyes fixed on the scene before them.
Izuku reaches for his Quirk, and the surge of Full Cowl flows through his body as he sprints out from the crowd towards the muscular figure, watching his exposed eyes widen at the sudden appearance of a young hero from amongst the civilians.
“Stupid kid, you wanna die?!” he snarls, his eyes narrowing as he shifts his weight, brings the bus back… and then heaves it into the air directly at Izuku.
Izuku does not break stride, running into its path, trusting Todoroki with his life like it was no harder than breathing.
A sheet of thick ice shoots out into the air above his head as the bus falls, curving upwards to meet the vehicle, and Izuku hears the screech of metal on ice as it meets and begins to slide down Todoroki’s ramp to the street.
Izuku leaps at the surprised villain, bringing his right heel around for his first blow, and the villain snarls, pulling back an enormous fist, swinging forward to meet him—
BOOM! The force of the impact as heel meets fist sends a shock wave of pressure out into the air from its location, and Izuku immediately transitions into his next move, using the villain’s clenched fist as a springboard to flip over his head, spinning, swinging with his right leg again.
This time, it connects, a direct hit to the villain’s upper back that sends him flying down the street, crashing to the pavement well past the crowd of onlookers.
His reflexes are slow. Izuku suspected as much considering how slow he was to react to Izuku’s appearance and attack… slow, at least, compared to Izuku.
Todoroki arrives at his side. “There are accomplices inside.”
Izuku opens his mouth to ask how many, but right on cue, voices echo from beyond the haphazard hole in the wall.
“What?! I thought there weren’t any heroes patrolling this area!”
“There weren’t.”
“Hammerhead, what’s going on out there?!”
The sound of heavy footfalls brings Izuku’s attention back to the bulky villain, now barreling back down the street in their direction. Izuku prepares himself for another scuffle, but Todoroki is already sending a wave of ice to intercept, spires springing from the concrete—
Todoroki makes a noise, and the ice stops, black cables wound tightly around Todoroki’s arm from their source: the arm of one of the accomplices, several of the appendages snaking out of her wrist in place of a hand. He turns, igniting his left to send a stream of fire at his assailant, and Izuku turns back to the charging villain, his fingers curling into fists.
He trusts Todoroki so thoroughly he doesn't need to look, let alone speak.
They fight like two halves of a whole, particles of ice glimmering in the green light of Izuku’s Full Cowl between flares of hellfire. Even when the bulky villain’s arms extend on springs to punch him backward, Todoroki’s ice is there to catch him and send him into a seamless counterattack.
Despite their synchronicity, though, it turns out that one injury was not enough to satisfy the universe’s need to crush Izuku’s hopes today, because by the time the heavyweight crashes unconscious to the concrete, Izuku's lip is bleeding to match the nose.
Somehow, though, it doesn't matter much; not when Todoroki is arriving at his side, smiling with satisfaction.
Izuku can't help it. He grins back.
By the time they have given statements to the police and been cleared by the medical response team, the sky has darkened, and what remains of the snowfall casts speckled shadows against street lamps and lit windows.
Izuku sighs, tucking his chin into the collar of his jacket and his hands into the pockets as they sit side-by-side in the back of Endeavor’s personal taxi, because of course. Of course, after all Izuku’s efforts to make this an Endeavor-free day, the man himself would find a reason to insert himself into their thoroughly derailed schedule.
“You need to work on precision. Your flames caused significant burn damage to that villain's arm,” Endeavor says, from Todoroki's other side.
"I know," Todoroki responds, short and steady.
"Being a Pro is not only about firepower. It is also about minimizing damage and risk of--"
"I know," Todoroki says, through gritted teeth.
The silence stretches unbearably, and every muscle in Izuku’s body seems to squirm with discomfort. He tried to insist that they take the train, but how could he say no to the Number One Hero?!
“So, it’s your birthday,” Endeavor says.
“It is,” Todoroki responds.
“I trust it was going well before, ah…”
“It was,” Todoroki says, and Izuku struggles to comprehend how this could possibly be a conversation between parent and child.
“I see, I see,” Endeavor says. “Well, I’m glad to see you have, ah… company…”
Izuku stares pointedly out the window, sweat beading on his brow.
“You know, if you had something else planned, I would be more than happy to drop you off…” Endeavor begins.
Izuku feels Todoroki tense briefly.
“Midoriya?”
“U-um!” Izuku says, his throat threatening to close entirely. “N-no, UA is fine! T-thank you!”
“Hm, you have a good friend, Shouto,” Endeavor says, pausing before continuing: “you know, if you wish to return the favor for his birthday, you’re welcome to--”
“No, thank you,” Todoroki says, and silence once again reclaims the car.
Izuku runs both hands down his face in an attempt to suppress a groan.
So much for a perfect date… First the weather, then the tea, the door, the villains… almost everything Izuku failed to account for happened in a single attempt. Maybe he should have done a test run alone. Maybe--
"Midoriya," comes Todoroki's voice from his right, interrupting his focused pouting at the path below on their way from the school gates to Heights Alliance.
"Mm?" Izuku blinks, snapping out of it instantly.
“Is something wrong?”
Todoroki’s face is calm, and sincere, and full of nothing but concern, and Izuku can’t help but laugh. Even though it’s Todoroki’s birthday, Todoroki’s day, he’s not focused on himself at all.
“No! I mean- well, it’s not important…” Izuku trails off, because, well… it is important, isn’t it? Not because he wanted a kiss, not for his own accomplishment, but because… he wanted to make Todoroki happy. He wanted to make Todoroki happy, and now…
“It’s not important, but it made you upset?” Todoroki says, tilting his head quizzically, and Izuku knows he’s defeated.
“I… I wanted this to be perfect,” Izuku admits, returning his gaze to the concrete with a regretful smile. “I wanted today to be perfect for you, but then… but then I…” The day’s events flash before his eyes, and Izuku groans, covering his face. “I spilled tea on your pants! I hit myself in the face with a door and then those villains and your dad--”
Todoroki is silent for a moment, but then his hand finds Izuku’s in the dark, warm in the winter chill. “I don't mind,” he says, squeezing gently. “It happens. I had a good time.”
Izuku leans into him, absorbing his warmth, and not just in the physical sense. “Why’d it have to be today…?”
“It’s like Aizawa-sensei says,” Todoroki responds. “You have to be prepared for the unexpected. You never know when villains are going to attack, but as a hero… it’s your duty to protect everyone, even when you’re not in your costume.”
Izuku almost wants to be mad at him for being so right. Instead, though, his heart just swells with affection, a searing heat against his ribs.
“Uh, don’t -” Izuku laughs, frantically swiping the piles of perfect date-related notes off his desk and quickly depositing them in a drawer, “don’t look at that. I didn’t think we’d, well - you know.” Come back to my room, because I was planning on kissing you at dinner and then once again before bed because all the articles said ‘always leave them wanting more!’
Todoroki watches curiously, wandering over to Izuku’s bed to pick up a stray notebook. “‘Date ideas’...? Midoriya, what is this?”
“Ahhh!” Izuku yells, lunging for the notebook, feeling his face heat up with embarrassment as he clutches it to his chest. “It’s--”
Todoroki blinks at him, and Izuku wonders why he felt the need to hide it from him in the first place. Todoroki has never laughed at him, never judged him for any of his eccentricities, never been anything but supportive and understanding.
“I’ve… I’ve been planning this for a while,” he admits, chuckling, and when Todoroki looks puzzled, adds: “your birthday! Today! I… I wanted it to be perfect, so… I researched everything. I made a schedule and a backup schedule and a… backup-backup schedule. I guess I wasted my time...” Izuku laughs at his own misfortune, sitting on the edge of his bed, and Todoroki joins him.
“You didn’t waste your time,” Todoroki says, taking his hand, piercing him with mismatched eyes. “I told you. I had a good time.”
“But it wasn’t perfect!” Izuku says, brows pulled together with distress.
“I don’t understand,” Todoroki says, confused.
“It was supposed to be perfect,” Izuku explains, peering down at his lap. “I-it was supposed to be perfect, because… because…”
Todoroki waits.
“It was supposed to be perfect because then I could give you the perfect first kiss!” Izuku blurts, passion overriding anxiety, and Todoroki’s eyes widen, a faint pink blush settling on his right cheek. “But… it went wrong, so now…”
There’s a moment of silence before Todoroki speaks.
“But I thought it was perfect.”
Izuku looks up at him with disbelief, his heart pushing at his ribcage. “But… but everything went wrong?”
“True,” Todoroki says, scratching his cheek thoughtfully before shrugging, “but I was with you. It’s like you said. We’re heroes, right? Our dates will just be like that sometimes. But... I like doing hero things with you.”
Izuku watches as he speaks, amazement holding his gaze, his heart thumping with such force he’s surprised Todoroki doesn’t seem to hear it.
“We did some normal date things, and some hero things, because... we’re not just average people. That’s a part of our relationship. So, I think… tonight was a perfect representation of our relationship,” Todoroki finishes, like he’s stating a simple fact, and if Izuku’s defenses were disarmed already, it’s nothing compared to now. Izuku’s heart swells impossibly with affection, eyes burning with unshed tears of passion, and when their eyes meet, the remaining thread of control Izuku still holds over his desire breaks.
Izuku isn’t sure when he moved, but his hands are clutching the front of Todoroki’s shirt as he kisses him, clumsy and awkward and imperfect but perfect at the same time, like Schrodinger's cat if the cat were instead a state of perfection.
After a few imperfect perfect moments, Izuku pulls back for breath, though he thinks that may be more a result of his panic than the kiss.
Todoroki stares at him, eyes wide with surprise, an icy breath chilling the space between them. He tilts his head forward, slightly, an invitation, and Izuku’s heart roars in his ears as he leans in to meet him.
What was clumsy and awkward gives way to confidence and exploration, and this time, Todoroki is prepared. Their kisses are like traded blows in an arena, each action met with equal and opposing force, defensive walls crumbling in the space between them. Izuku kisses like he fights, trembling with adrenaline and nerves despite his stubborn persistence, at first calculated and precise but eventually losing himself in reckless abandon.
They kiss until they’re flushed and breathless, side by side and sideways on Izuku’s bed, all grins and embraces and endless adoration.
Izuku can’t help it. He begins to laugh.
He laughs because for the gargantuan undertaking he built it up to be, his first kiss was… nothing. His world does not reorientate. His priorities do not instantaneously rearrange.
He laughs because it was inevitably imperfect.
He laughs because in the end, he didn’t need a perfect date at all. He didn’t need a perfect date because Todoroki is perfect.
Todoroki fixes him with a concerned look, and Izuku has to bring up a hand to wave it dismissively.
“I-it’s nothing, really! I’m just… happy…” Izuku says, smiling with relief. “I was so worried, but… in the end… it really wasn’t anything to be worried about at all.”
Izuku loses himself in Todoroki’s eyes. He loses himself in Todoroki’s eyes, his gentle smile, his soft, imperfectly perfect skin.
That is, until the fire alarm begins to blare.
Izuku tears his gaze from Todoroki’s eyes for long enough to notice the steady trail of smoke rising from under deep red hair.
“T… Todoroki-kun… hair,” he says, pointing up at it with a nervous, shaky smile.
For once, Todoroki doesn’t react with frustration. He simply blows a cool breath across scarred skin, tossing silky bangs in its wake before leaning in to kiss Izuku’s cheek, the corner of his lips, his cheek again, and Izuku laughs, pushing on his chest halfheartedly.
“Todoroki-kun! The alarm!”
“Mm, it can wait,” Todoroki says, winding arms around Izuku’s waist, and Izuku would be lying if he said he didn’t want to indulge a little bit. He’s earned another minute or two of perfection, right?
They lay in each other’s arms, alarm blaring - and ignored - until firm rapping at Izuku’s door informs them they can ignore it no longer.
“Midoriya-kun, please evacuate the building immediately! This is not a drill!” booms Iida’s voice from the hallway, and Izuku turns to smile apologetically at his boyfriend.
“One more disaster?” Izuku says.
Todoroki smiles that warm, gentle Todoroki smile.
“With you, there’s no way it could be anything but perfect.”