Work Text:
Izuku shifts from foot to foot in front of the ice cream counter. He feels bad for clogging up the line and making Shinsou wait to order, but he doesn't know what to get. Izuku doesn't have any past experiences to base his choice off of, after all.
A grandmotherly cashier with a nametag that reads 'Yamamoto' smiles at him and reassures, "Take your time, kids. I'm going to refill our soft serve dispenser, so just ring the bell when you're ready to order." With that, Mrs. Yamamoto disappears.
Izuku turns to Shinsou to ask if the purple-haired teen knows of any flavors Izuku should try, and he pauses when he sees Shinsou's hand outstreched towards Izuku’s shoulder.
"Shinsou?" Izuku murmurs quietly. Shinsou retracts his hand as if he's been burned, and he brings it up to rest against his neck.
"Yeah?" Shinsou responds, just as quietly.
"I can't decide what flavor to get; do you have any suggestions?" Shinsou looks like he has swallowed a particularly sour lemon, and Izuku's breath catches in his throat. What did he say wrong this time? "What?"
Shinsou pauses for a second, then blurts, "I was going to ask you the same thing."
"Oh." Izuku frowns and exhales. He half-shrugs and suggests, "Maybe we could try vanilla? It's a really common flavor, so it's bound to be good, right?" Shinsou nods shortly, and no more than five minutes later, the two of them are joining their friends with ice cream in hand. Izuku sits comfortably between Tsuyu and Iida while Shinsou ends up squished in-between Todoroki and Uraraka.
"What took you two so long, ribbit?" Tsuyu croaks curiously.
"Midoriya here," Shinsou jabs a thumb at Izuku, who blushes, "couldn't decide what type of ice cream to get."
"It's not my fault I've never had ice cream before," Izuku protests. "Plus, you didn't know which ice cream you wanted either." Shinsou shoots him a look, but before the two can really get into it, Izuku notices Uraraka's untouched ice cream.
"Uraraka! Why haven't you started eating yet?" Izuku questions.
Uraraka gestures at the other table menus and says, "We were waiting for you." Izuku ducks his head down and blushes.
Izuku waves his hands around and exclaims, "You guys didn't have to do that!"
"We wanted to," Todoroki quietly interjects. Izuku shifts his gaze towards Todoroki and softly grins.
They all take their first bite together, and then blanch at the coldness. Iida lets out a little shriek, while Uraraka promptly spits her bite out into a napkin. Tsuyu is the only one unfazed by the cool, as ironic as that is.
Tsuyu takes another lick of her sprinkle covered cone, then wonders aloud, "Why haven't you had ice cream before, Midori-chan?"
Izuku freezes, but its so subtle that Tsuyu doesn't notice. "I mean, I haven't had it before either, ribbit, but that's only because my siblings always eat it all, ribbit."
"Tsuyu!" Uraraka exclaims. Tsuyu tilts her head curiously. "You can't just ask people stuff like that!"
"Oh. Sorry, ribbit, I wasn't thinking," Tsuyu apologizes. Izuku waves her off with a quiet reassurance.
The group of friends sit in awkward silence for several long moments. Then Iida admits, "I too have not had ice cream before today."
"Really?" Izuku blinks. "I guess I should have expected that, since you were so shocked by the cold.”
Iida squares his shoulders and says, "In my defense, it didn't look that cold!" Uraraka giggles.
Todoroki speaks up, "This was also my first time eating ice cream."
"You too, Todoroki?" Uraraka asks in shock.
Todoroki hunches in on himself slightly as he murmurs, "Yes. Father homeschooled us, so I never had any reason to come out like this, and he didn’t like to buy ‘frivolous snacks.’" Izuku sends Todoroki an empathetic glance as the rest of the table mulls that over.
"Wait," Shinsou says suddenly. Everyone swivels around to stare at him inquisitively, and he blushes at the attention. "I was just wondering about how many of us have had ice cream before today. I know I haven't."
After a moments' hesitation, the rest of the table voices their agreement. Izuku runs a hand through his hair as he says, "It's crazy that none of us have had ice cream before today."
"Why haven't you had ice cream before, Deku?" Uraraka asks curiously. "You're such a nice person, so you must've had a ton of friends!"
"Er, not really," Izuku stammers.
Ochako gasps in indignation, "Why not? You're amazing!" Izuku blushes a brilliant red.
"Uraraka, please be respectful of Midoriya's wishes," Iida cautions. "If he doesn't want to discuss it, he shouldn't have to."
"It's fine, Iida. Really!" Izuku adds when his tone doesn't convince Iida. "There isn't much to talk about anyways. People just… didn't like me very much."
"Well, we like you plenty, Deku!" Uraraka exclaims happily. Izuku grins at her from across the table and leans onto Iida's broad shoulder.
Izuku lifts another spoonful of vanilla ice cream to his mouth and swallows. Izuku still shivers at the cold, but he's prepared for it this time, at least, and he ends up enjoying the cool vanilla flavor.
Iida, on the other hand, does not deal with the cold as well. Iida ends up giving Izuku the rest of his mint-chocolate-chip ice cream- which Izuku finds delicious. Shinsou, Uraraka, Todoroki and Tsuyu all finish their own ice creams easily enough.
They all walk to the train station together; Izuku and Uraraka skip along the sidewalk with their arms linked, while Shinsou and Todoroki just walk side by side. Tsuyu convinces Iida to give her a piggy back ride to the station, and at one point, Iida comically staggers into Izuku, who waves off his apology with a grin.
It’s a perfect end to a perfect day, and Izuku can’t help but look forward to their next outing.