Chapter Text
Todoroki Shoto knows he’s a good looking guy. Whether he honestly agreed with that or not didn’t matter to the hundreds and thousands of girls and boys lining up to just be near him.
Wherever he went, people took pictures, asked for his number, and would attempt to flirt with him. It was worse at school.
Confessions left and right, dozens of love letters being stuffed into his locker, unwanted hugs and kisses always, always, always being pressed against his cheeks or sometimes his lips, which he never let happen.
Despite all of that, Shoto wasn’t interested in any of the people who threw themselves at him. Sure some of the girls were beautiful, and yeah some of the boys were handsome but the fact that they were just willingly making a fool out of themselves just so Shoto would do so much as look their way was very off putting.
His siblings always joked about it, calling Shoto’s admirers ‘fans’. He found it quite annoying.
It wasn’t until one day, during homeroom, that everything changed.
The class was bustling with chatter and excited laughter, friends talking about their weekends or upcoming plans they had. It was like any ordinary morning.
”If you’re not quiet in the next five seconds, detention for all of you.” Aizawa sensei snaps, and the class quiets down in an instant. “Good. We have a new student. Be respectful while he introduces himself.”
Shoto perks up slightly from his seat in the back, his vision of his new classmate obscured by all the heads leaning in every direction to get a glimpse of him. He sighs softly and leans back in his chair. He’ll just have to look for him later.
”Hello, I-I’m Midoriya Izuku. Nice to meet you all.”
Shoto saves the name to memory as the class greets him back. Midoriya Izuku. What a unique name.
Midoriya is instructed to sit behind Bakugou, and Shoto subtly tries to catch a glimpse of him then. He wasn’t able to see much of what the boy looked like, other than the wild curls of forest green hair and messily scattered freckles on a round cheek—
”Todoroki, you can introduce yourself to Midoriya after class, stop staring and pay attention.” The mention of his name is what snaps him out of his thoughts, his eyes darting to the front of the class where Aizawa sensei stood with an unimpressed glare on his face.
He ducks his head, blood rushing to the apples of his cheeks as the class chuckles at his expense.
He idly writes down his notes, distantly aware of his classmates who were shooting him sideways glances while hiding giggles and chuckles behind their hands.
The rest of class dragged on, the stinging on his cheeks from the embarrassment of being caught staring never quite disappearing.
He just prayed Midoriya didn’t take it the wrong way.
It was at lunch that Shoto decided to properly introduce himself to his new classmate. Easier said than done. Midoriya was easily spotted at the end of the lunch line, a wild head of green hair swerving every which way. Shoto was about to call him over to join him further up in line when a group of his … admirers jump in front of line of sight, completely shielding him away from Midoriya.
“Hi, Todoroki-sama!” “Todoroki-sama!” “Todoroki-sama, you can cut in line with me!”
Shoto begrudgingly waved back, peering over their bouncing heads, eyes searching for the green tuft of hair.
“Whatcha lookin’ for Todoroki-sama?” One of the girls asked, stepping closer to him, wide eyes blinking robotically. He thinks she’s trying to be charming. It’s not working.
“I’m just trying to find my friend,” He says distantly, finally spotting Midoriya in the crowd. “Excuse me, ladies.” He apologizes, lightly pushing past them, only to have them squeal in excitement from even acknowledging them in the first place.
He quickly makes his way toward Midoriya, slipping in line behind him, and tapping softly on the boy's shoulder.
When he turns in mild shock, Shoto is thrown for a loop. The first thing he notices is Midoriya’s eyes. They demand attention, with the different shades of green all encircling the black pupil in the center. Freckles are scattered all across the boys roundish cheeks and button nose. His hair framed his face quite well for seeming so messy. It fit him nicely, in Shoto’s expert opinion.
“Is there something on my face? Or do you actually have a staring problem, Todoroki-kun?”
Shoto blinks twice before his brain can process that he’s being addressed. “U-Uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to stare. I-I just wanted to introduce myself.”
“You stare a lot don’t you?” Midoriya smiles coyly, thrusting out a hand to Shoto, who fumbles to slip his hand into his smaller one, giving it a good shake.
Shoto flushes, as they shake hands. “N-Not really. Aizawa sensei made it seem like I was being creepy. I just wasn’t able to see your face where I sit. I didn’t mean to stare.”
“Hey, breathe,” Midoriya chuckles, stepping forward in line. “I’m not upset or anything. Just thought it was funny.”
“Right,” Shoto nods, picking up a tray of cold soba noodles, then turns to Midoriya who’s looking out into the sea of lunch tables; his own tray of warm katsudon resting in his hands. “Would you like to join my friends and I? I’m sure they’d like to meet you.”
Midoriya turns to him, surprise written on his round face, before it morphs into a grateful smile. “Sure. That’d be nice.”
Shoto nods happily, beckoning Midoriya to follow him.
“Shoto, finally , damn. Gimme your apple, I’m starving!” Denki bemoans, snatching the granny smith apple off Shoto’s tray before he could even sit.
“Oh, Midoriya-kun, hello! Are you sitting with us today?” Momo beams, sitting straighter in her chair when she catches a glimpse of the shorter boy standing behind Shoto.
“If that’s okay with you guys.” Midoriya smiles bashfully, cheeks turning a pretty pink color.
“Of course it’s fine! Sit, sit!” Momo grins, patting the spot in front of her. Midoriya wasted no time sitting himself in his seat, smiling at Momo once more before shoveling food into his mouth.
Shoto sits next to him, and the four of them eat together like they were longtime friends. Midoriya has no trouble fitting right into their friend group, and Shoto has no idea how much that will change everything.
It’s not until a few weeks later that Shoto realizes he’s developed a crush on Midoriya. He doesn’t quite grasp it at first, brushing off the tingling sensation in his stomach whenever Midoriya would join them for lunch, or when Midoriya did just about anything. The effect he had on Shoto was alarming and obvious to most of his friends. Shoto couldn’t find it in himself to care, honestly.
“After years of being pined after, Shoto’s finally the one pining! How does it feel, Mr. ‘I don’t have a heart’ Todoroki?” Natsuo jokes, holding a banana up to Shoto’s mouth to mimic a microphone.
Shoto pushes the fruit away with a roll of his eyes while his siblings bust out laughing.
“How’re you planning to confess, Shoto?” Fuyumi asks after calming down.
“I was just planning on telling him straightforwardly. Midoriya doesn’t seem like the type of person that would like big gestures.” Shoto explains, and Touya scoffs.
“What’re you scoffin’ at?” Natsuo asks.
“At Shoto’s lack of dating experience, obviously.” The man drawls. Fuyumi giggles, shoving his shoulder playfully, Shoto frowns. Were they really laughing at him?
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Shoto pouts, crossing his arms over his chest.
Touya chuckles at him. “Everything, littlest bro. You barely know this kid, yet you’re making assumptions on things he may or may not like in the few weeks you’ve known him. Sounds like a rejection waiting to happen.”
“Touya! Don’t be so mean!” Fuyumi chastises, though it looked like she was biting back a smile of her own.
“I think what he’s trying to say is never judge a book by its cover. You may think confessing to Midoriya-kun will be easy, but what if Touya’s right?” Fuyumi explains more gently, and Shoto finds himself slumping in his seat.
“So I shouldn’t confess to Midoriya?” He asks, confused in the message he knew they were trying to get to him.
“No! Agh , how should we explain this?” Fuyumi grumbles, tapping her index finger on her right temple.
“What we’re trying to say is, don’t go into this confession thinking it’ll be easy.” Touya shrugs, standing up from the tatami. “Gonna go for a smoke.”
“I’ll go with!” Natsuo volunteers, following their oldest sibling out the door, hot on his trail.
Shoto thinks over Touyas words. Don’t go into this confession thinking it’ll be easy . Well, of course it wasn’t going to be easy. Shoto was confessed to all the time. He couldn’t ignore the way the girls and boys stuttered out their love for him behind the school building, or the way their cheeks would turn a bright red as they spoke the word love .
That was kind of the reason why he wasn’t so nervous to confess to Midoriya in the first place. Surely, he wouldn’t be rejected, right? Not that Shoto was a narcissist or anything, but he was pretty confident in himself that this confession would go just fine, and that Midoriya and him would be dating the next day. That is the preferred situation.
Was he wrong for thinking that? Was it wrong to be confident before going in for a confession? Would that come off the wrong way?
He’d just have to see.
“Midoriya, could you meet me after school today?” Shoto asks the next morning. The boy in question falters in slipping on his indoor shoes, looking up at Shoto with an inquisitive look.
“After school? What for?” He asks while fingering on his other shoe.
Shoto fidgets underneath his stare, eyes darting to the side. “Just because. What, friends can’t meet up after school?” Shoto shrugs, trying to seem calm.
Midoriya giggles, standing up from the bench while slipping on his backpack. “Of course they can, it’s just strange because you’ve never asked to hangout after school before.”
Shoto pouts at him, and more giggles bubble from Midoriya’s mouth. “ Fine . I’ll meet you after school. You can stop pouting now.”
Shoto throws him an exaggerated grin, and Midoriya laughs, nudging his shoulder with his own.
They walk the rest of the way to class, Shoto’s heart thundering in his chest.
The entire day leading up to his confession, Shoto is a bit nervous, he admits. He almost talks himself out of it before deciding a confession wasn’t something he should be freaking out over. All he had to do was tell Midoriya he liked him. It shouldn’t be that hard.
When after school finally rolls around, Shoto’s lightly pacing around underneath the second year staircase, tugging at his bottom lip with his thumb and index finger, a nervous habit.
He texts Midoriya, letting him know where he is.
Midoriya
on my way!!
If anything, that makes Shoto more nervous. Is this what all the girls and boys that have confessed to him before felt like?
Agh, this is dumb. I shouldn’t feel like this. It’s just a stupid confession.
“Todoroki-kun?”
Shoto swivels his head every which way, failing in finding the person or the voice.
“I’m up here.” Shoto peers up, a ball of fluffy, dark green hair peeking over the railings of the staircase.
That hair could really only belong to one person, but Shoto still finds himself calling out his name. “Midoriya?”
Quick footsteps echo down the empty hallway as the boy in question comes rushing down the stairs, almost crashing into Shoto’s chest from how fast he was going
“ Whoops , sorry! I couldn’t see over the railing, even on my tiptoes! They should really make those things shorter.” He rambles, a light shade of pink dusting his cheeks, probably from exertion. The late afternoon sun is hitting his face in different ways, creating different shadows on the freckled skin, it’s stunning. Midoriya is stunning.
“So, why’d you call me down here for? It’s kinda creepy when it’s all deserted like this.” Midoriya chirps, leaning his backpack clad back against the wall, giving Shoto all of his attention.
Shoto feels the nerves kick back in, and he suddenly forgets all the words he’s ever learned.
“I- well I- I wanted to- you- Midoriya I …. like you, and was wondering if you’d like to …. go out w-with me.”
Shoto can’t look at him. His eyes are looking forward, but they focus on a spot behind Midoriya’s head, tricking himself into thinking he’s actually got some balls to tell his crush he liked him straight to his face.
Midoriya is silent for a moment. For a long moment. And then he speaks. “Wait …. don’t you already have a girlfriend?” The boy asks, in a tiny, if not judgemental, voice.
Shoto risks snapping his eyes over to Midoriya, who’s staring up at him with disappointment in his eyes.
“Who told you that ?” Shoto grits, embarrassed.
Midoriya shrugs while shaking his head. “Nobody told me, but I thought I saw someone confessing to you the other day, and just assumed you were dating somebody.”
Shoto sighs, in relief, terror? Who knew, exactly. “I can assure you, I’m not dating anyone.”
“Right. But, a lot of people have their eyes on you. Don’t they? I’ve seen the way people look at you, Todoroki-kun. So what makes me any different from the rest?” Midoriya asks, stepping closer to Shoto, which he, in turn, takes one backward.
Shoto gulps, cheeks burning, heart racing . “Y-You’re just- you're not like the others. I know that sounds cliche, b-but it really is the truth. You don’t … overwhelm me.”
Midoriya stares at him for a short moment before smiling softly, taking a few steps backwards. Shoto finds himself stepping forward, craving the close proximity from before.
“How do I know you won’t run off with a pretty girl if she confesses to you? Or if a handsome boy—?”
“You’re the only person that makes me feel like this! L-Like my heart’s gonna explode or something! You do that! Only you.” Shoto interrupts in a rush, impulsively reaching out to grab one of Midoriya’s hands.
The boy gasps, hand squeezing as if on instinct. His wide eyes stare down at their joined hands, color filling out his cheeks.
“Show me,” he whispers, and Shoto blinks, confused.
“Show you?” Shoto repeats.
“Show me the things you say are true. Prove that you like me and only me.”
Midoriya’s words were firm, but his voice was soft, almost hopeful. He walks further backwards, their hands falling to their sides.
“How do I do that?” Shoto asks, tentatively taking a step forward.
Midoriya smiles, his eyes crinkling beautifully. “You’re a smart guy. You’ll figure it out.” With that, he begins to walk away.
“W-Wait!” Shoto yelps, stumbling towards the staircase Midoriya was ascending down. Midoriya stops, eyes wide, surprised. “Does that mean your answer is no?”
The boy smiles softly and shakes his head. “It’s a … a maybe .”
Shoto’s heart flutters. “ Maybe ?”
“Maybe.”