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It’s a well known fact that Class 1-A and Class 1-B don’t get along very well. If not for one student in particular, their classes probably would’ve been closer than ever. Some friendships had been formed before an actual rivalry was declared, like Kirishima and TetsuTetsu, alongside Yaoyorozu and Kendo.
All those relationships had gone to waste after the sports fest. Everyone was in it for themselves. Especially Shoto. He definitely did not attend the most prestigious hero school to make friends.
That’s what he initially thought.
During the sports fest, he was paired up with a boy from Class 1-B to have a one on one battle with. The boy posed no challenge to Shoto. He appeared weak, and timid, and his Quirk seemed to self-destruct on his own body.
Shoto assumed he had won even before their match had started. He was wrong in some aspects.
In the end, he did win. But the heat coursing through his left side makes it feel like he didn’t. He feels like he cheated, but it’s what Midoriya had wanted the entire time.
It’s your power, isn’t it?!
Those words echo in Shoto’s head long after their fight is over. Long after the festival is over. He thinks about those words over, and over again. He’s thankful for them, truly.
He’s thankful for his fight with Midoriya. Most importantly, he’s thankful for Midoriya .
Shoto had entered Yuuei expecting to make nothing but acquaintances that he could probably use in the future for hero work. After the festival though, he feels like he’s able to call at least one person a friend.
That person was Midoriya, obviously. The only problem with this was, Midoriya was in Class 1-B. Certain members of their respectable classes definitely took their class rivalry a little too seriously.
He remembers the exact moment he realizes this. Shoto and his classmates had been walking back to the dorms from training in Gym Gamma for their afternoon classes, when Class 1-B strolled right past them.
Shoto catches Midoriya’s eyes, and immediately goes to say hello, but is roughly yanked by the arm leading him into the opposite direction.
“No fraternizing with the enemy.” Bakugo growls, throwing Shoto’s arm back to his side. “Especially not with that loser, Deku. ”
Shoto frowns, ignoring the glowing pain he feels in his wrist. “You mean Midoriya?” He reubuttles.
Bakugo rolls his eyes. “ Whatever you want to call him. We don’t associate with those Class 1-A wannabes.” The blond sneers, before stomping away with the rest of his class.
Shoto lets out a long sigh, disappointment sinking into his chest when he realizes Midoriya was long gone. He picks up the pace to catch up with the rest of his classmates, wondering if he’ll ever get the chance to thank Midoriya for what he did that day.
It’s days before he sees Midoriya again. This time though, Shoto wasn’t with his class. And neither was Midoriya.
It was an opportunity, and he wasn’t going to let this one pass up like the last.
He catches Midoriya by the arm before he makes it into his dorm building. The boy blinks up at him, eyes shining with surprise. “Todoroki-kun?”
Shoto lets go of his arm quickly. “Midoriya, hi.”
“Hey,” The boy smiles softly, turning his body towards him. “What’s up?”
Shoto opens his mouth to speak, but just as he does, the doors to Midoriya’s dorm building swing open, and out bursts Monoma.
“And what do you think you’re doing, Class 1-A scum?” The eccentric boy squints, grabbing Midoriya and hauling him backwards. “Stay away from our precious Midoriya-chan, or you’ll suffer .” He growls before whisking the both of them away into the building.
Midoriya manages to send him an apologetic smile before he fully makes it into the building.
Shoto sighs frustratedly, and stalks back to his own building, frowning down at the floor as he does. He’ll figure out a way to talk to Midoriya without being interrupted. He swears it.
The moment Aizawa sensei announces conjoined training between Class 1-A, and Class 1-B, Shoto knew their teachers would be in for a treat.
Shoto on the other hand, would be taking advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity to talk to Midoriya.
When Bakugo and Monoma break out into an inevitable fight, Shoto takes the distraction as his chance to pick Midoriya out in the crowd. He stood next to a purple haired boy, watching with matching grimaces as the two blonds brawled in the middle of the gym.
Shoto quickly makes his way up to the pair, hoping everyone was distracted enough to not notice him on the opposite side of most of his class.
The purple haired boy notices him first. “Your boyfriend’s here.” He drawls, arching a brow at Shoto, who’s entire face blooms with heat.
Midoriya goes rigid in his spot as he quickly turns his head to meet eyes with Shoto, who was trying really hard not to combust with fire.
“T-Todoroki-kun, ah, don’t mind him.” The boy giggles nervously, then looks around. “Did you want to talk?”
God, yes, Shoto thinks desperately.
What comes out though is a controlled, “Yes, please.” And they’re on their way to a more secluded area of the gym, which was right outside the back door.
“So,” Midoriya smiles. “What did you want to talk about? I know our classes really don’t allow us to interact with each other much anymore.”
Shoto nods in agreement, annoyed at the fact. “I just wanted to… to thank you for what you did for me at the sports festival. You really have no idea how much you’ve… you’ve changed my—“
“And just what the hell is going on out here?!” The familiar voice of Bakugo rings very loudly in Shoto’s ear, making him jolt away quickly, almost losing control of his Quirk.
The rest of their classes pile out, everyone giggling and whispering, most likely about them.
“We were talking, before you interrupted.” Shoto scowls, he notices Aizawa sensei and Vlad King step out to aid the situation.
“ Just talking?” Ashido giggles unhelpfully, a teasing lilt in her voice, as the rest of the girls giggled along with her.
Midoriya splutters from behind him, and Shoto then realizes what they were really implying. Thankfully though, before he can actually erupt into flames, Aizawa sensei steps in and orders everyone to go back inside the gym, including the two who had been ‘skipping class’.
Needless to say, Shoto did end up talking to Midoriya, but he also managed to land a detention after school that same day.
You win some, you lose some.
Shoto soon learns that he won’t be able to have a proper conversation with Midoriya while in class, or even while classes are in session.
Even at lunch, the rivalry between classes still commenced, which annoyed Shoto to no end. He almost burned a hole in the table as he got reprimanded by Bakugo, of all people, about staying away from the Class 1-A wannabes.
Seriously, what grade were they all in. Shoto wants no part of this childish game the ‘leaders’ of each opposing class was playing.
It shouldn't be this hard to make friends. Especially not with someone who was your own age, who went to your school, and who was also interested in the same things you enjoyed.
He and Midoriya would make great friends. If not for this annoying rivalry that seemed to get in the way of every move he made to get near Midoriya.
He’ll just have to be sneakier about his approach. He could definitely do that.
Shoto actually sneaks out of his dorm room, and performs an act of teenage rebellion for once in his three-ish years since even becoming a teenager.
He sneaks out of his dorm, and stands just outside of Class 1-B’s dorm building. He walks around the building until he stands in front of what he hopes to be, is Midoriya’s room. He got his information from Shinso, Midoriya’s friend, so maybe he wasn’t totally off the mark here.
Shoto calls for his ice, and makes a small pebble sized glob of half frozen ice, and pelts it at the window, hoping to any Diety that might be watching over him that the glass wouldn’t shatter.
He throws approximately three more mini snow balls, before the sliding door leading out to the balcony opens timidly. “Hello?” A voice whispers loudly.
Shoto straightens himself out, unknowingly fixing his hair as the boy steps further out onto the balcony. “Is anyone there?”
Shoto feels his heart skip a beat at that. “Midoriya?” He calls out quietly.
The boy jumps away from the balcony for a second, before returning shortly afterwards, peering down over the balcony, his hands resting on the railing.
“T-Todoroki-kun? What’re y-you doing here?” The boy gasps, bending further at the waist to look down at Shoto.
“I… I needed to talk to you, and nothing else seemed to be working, so I thought I’d just… come to you when no one else could interrupt.” He explains, feeling a nervous itch creeping into his hands, turning them damp with sweat.
Midoriya squints down at him. “I-I can’t hear you, Todoroki-kun.” The boy frowns, somehow bending himself even further.
Shoto sighs in frustration, and thinks about scaling the wall like a spider. There were enough indents in the exterior for him to make it to the third floor.
Just as he steps forward to attempt his half assed idea, that would definitely result in some sort of injury, he remembers what he can do with his Quirk. His ice Quirk, more specifically.
He stomps softly onto the grass, and feels himself being lifted into the air, the wind tousles his hair carelessly as he stops right in front of Midoriya’s balcony, his ice glimmering in the moonlight.
The boy gapes at him, eyes roving at the ice. “That’s amazing.” He whispers, then looks up. “Ah, I have so many questions, but you were saying something. I’ll let you continue before I start rambling.” The boy mutters sheepishly.
“You changed my life.” Shoto states without hesitation, watching as Midoriya’s cheeks turn a cherry red. He needs to say this now before he never gets the chance to. “At the sports festival… when you told me to use my power. You really changed my life. I haven’t been the same since that day.” He admits, looking down at his left hand.
“I… I didn’t do anything, Todoroki-kun.” Midoriya says softly, gently placing a hand on top of Shoto’s warm one. “You did it all on your own, all I did was show you that the things that seem impossible…”
Shoto lifts his head, and suddenly their faces are a lot closer than he remembers them being.
“Might not be so impossible after all.” The boy finishes softly, his lips twitching into a soft smile.
It’s at that moment that Shoto realizes why he’s going through all this trouble to talk to the boy in front of him. At first he thought it was because he really did see a friend in Midoriya.
That hasn’t changed, but… you shouldn’t have the urge to kiss your friends.
Before Shoto can do anything with this new information, the familiar voice of his teacher standing below them, startles him out of his thoughts.
The boys jump back from each other, both with a matching blush on their faces.
Shoto gets a week's worth of detention because of his reckless behavior, and misuse of his Quirk, but he can’t find it in himself to care much about any of that.
He likes Midoriya, and that’s the only thing on his mind.
Apparently, word travels fast in the Yuuei dorms, because now their classes are making a special effort to keep Shoto and Midoriya away from each other.
Monoma yells something about Shoto corrupting their sweet, innocent Midoriya-chan .
Bakugo rebuttals with his own argument that Midoriya would distract Shoto from his training, which wasn’t too far off the mark, but still annoying for him to assume.
With the added pressure of being under a watchful gaze every time their classes had conjoined lessons, the two boys sort of silently agreed that they wouldn’t seek each other out… during class.
When they weren’t being surveillanced, however, was a different story.
“We really should just exchange phone numbers, finding each other would be so much easier that way.” Shoto chuckles quietly, leaning back on the bathroom stalls wall.
Midoriya giggles as he slides the lock into place, standing up on the toilet to not seem suspicious to anyone else walking into the boys bathroom. That was rare during lunch, though.
“Where’s the fun in that?” The boy grins, cheeks dusting a light pink shade. “It’s like we’re chasing each other around the school, like an adventure.”
Shoto smiles fondly, shaking his bangs out of his eyes. “You’re something else, truly.”
Emerald eyes sparkle with mischief.
“I know.”
Sneaking out, Shoto finds, is the most fun he’s ever experienced. Especially when he does it with Midoriya.
They always meet outside, under the boys dorm room window. The night takes them on adventures, nothing is ever planned.
Planning makes possibilities less likely to happen, Midoriya said the first time they snuck out together.
What are the possibilities? Shoto asked.
That’s what’s great about possibilities. They’re endless. They’re unpredictable.
Midoriya said that before he took off running in the direction of downtown Tokyo.
Unpredictable.
The urge to kiss Midoriya becomes stronger with each passing day. Whenever they meet eyes during training, Shoto’s stomach twinges with the urge. Whenever Midoriya grins at him when they’re out on the town, all Shoto wants to do is pull him into a kiss.
Shoto’s never kissed anyone before.
When they’re out one night, their sixth time sneaking out of the dorms, Shoto seeks for a possibility.
That same night, he kisses Midoriya. He’s not good at it, and anything after their kiss would be out of his hands.
It’s unpredictable.
And he finds that he enjoys the thrill of it.
Eventually, they get caught. And their nightly adventures are stopped for good.
When their classes find out, the word explosive would be the right term for how they reacted to the news.
Nobody believed Shoto and Midoriya were dating. Noting how emotionally stunted Shoto seemed, and how emotionally available Midoriya was, the pair just seemed odd.
They were odd. They were unpredictable.
Shoto loved that the most.