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"Alright, that's all for today," Mr. Aizawa addressed his class. "Oh yeah. I forgot about a very...important...announcement."
The class sat on the edge of their seats. Every time their teacher said he had something important to tell them, they never knew if it was going to be something fun like choosing hero names or something super serious.
Mr. Aizawa stared blankly at his students as they squirmed anxiously. "UA will be hosting its very first dance in two weeks."
"A DANCE?!" the students of Class 1-A all exclaimed. Mr. Aizawa flinched at the sudden outburst. He knew it was coming, but the volume of his students was always too much for the man. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"Yes. The school has decided that the students need a "morale boost" after all the events that have happened this year."
The students were buzzing with excitement. A flurry of hands shot into the air, although it didn't really matter if they raised their hands because they were all yelling their questions at once anyway.
"WHAT'S THE DRESS CODE? IS IT LIKE A FANCY DANCE OR JUST LIKE A CASUAL THING?"
"WILL ALL THE YEARS GET TO GO?"
"WILL THERE BE FOOD?"
"WILL THERE BE GIRLS?"
"WILL THERE BE CHAPERONES?"
"IS THERE A THEME?"
Mr. Aizawa waited until he thought they had gotten it all out of their systems before he continued. "I've been told it's a formal dance. All the students of every year and every course get to attend. There will be refreshments. The teachers will be chaperoning and..." he took a deep breath and shuddered a bit. "The theme is... A Lovely Evening Under the Stars." he said, placing a hand on his chest and holding back a gag.
Even MORE hands shot into the air but the bell rang, allowing Mr. Aizawa to quickly gather his things and leave before his students could attack him with more dance related questions.
Everyone began packing up their things, excitedly chatting amongst themselves. Some of the girls had bunched up together to discuss all the details. Mina squealed in her seat. "A dance! The perfect chance to dress up in our most glamorous outfits and dance the night away!" she gasped, grasping the arm of Y/N who was sitting next to her. "Y/N, what are you gonna wear?" You opened your mouth to answer, but before you got the chance, Mina had already continued on. "Oh my gosh. We HAVE to go shopping!"
"Yes, yes, yes! But you know what else we have to do right?" Hagakure chimed in, gaining all the girls attention. She leaned in closer and lowered her voice. "We have to figure out who we're gonna ask to be our DATES!"
You instantly blushed and couldn't help but let your eyes drift over to a certain someone seated at the front of the class. Of course you wanted to go with Shoji. You've only had a crush on him FOREVER. He was so kind, selfless, brave, and you loved his shy and reserved demeanor. The fact that he was incredibly good looking certainly didn't hurt either. Your heart started beating so fast and loudly that you didn't hear your friend trying to talk to you until she was snapping her fingers in front of your face.
"Helloooooo! Earth to Y/N!" Mina laughed. She followed your gaze to see what, or who, had gotten you so distracted. When her eyes landed on Shoji, she couldn't help but smirk. You might've thought you were subtle with your crush, but it was pretty much a well known fact to everyone else. "Come on, Y/N, let's go back to the dorms and start planning our outfits!"
♡♡♡
Several hours of shopping and trying on outfits later, you were able to find something suitable to wear. You and the rest of the girls of 1-A ate and relaxed at a table in the food court, while showing off the outfits you all had picked.
"So ladies," Momo started. "Now that the subject of our outfits is settled, who are we all going to ask to dance?"
You blushed heavily as nothing else but images of Shoji entered your mind. Ururaka covered her mouth to finish chewing on her snack before asking "I thought the boys were supposed to ask the girls?"
Momo thought for a moment before responding. "I guess traditionally, but come on! We are strong independent women. Are we really going to rely on the boys to man up and ask us? I know I'm not going to sit and wait around for Todo-I mean, uh...anyone...to ask me to go to the dance! "
Ururaka, Mina, and Hagakure gasped and pointed at her, screeching in unison. "No way! You want to go with Todoroki!"
You laughed along with Tsu while the other girls started a chant of "Momo and Todoroki!" much to the horror of an extremely embarassed Momo.
"...it's true." Momo quietly admitted, blushing.
You reached across the table and held her hand, trying to offer a little bit of comfort to the poor girl. "There's nothing to be ashamed of, Momo! Todoroki is sure to go with you. I just know it."
"Who do you want to go with, ribbit?" Tsu asked, one finger on her chin and a curious expression on her face.
Your face turned as red as a tomato as you tried to come up with an answer. "Uh, no one in particular...you know, maybe we could all just go as a group?" The girls all smirked at you with knowing expressions on their face.
"Wouldn't that be fun?" you tried desperately to convince your friends. Looking around the table, the smiles on the girl's faces continued to grow. You nervously glanced at Momo. "Strong, independent women, right Momo?"
"Come ON, Y/N!" Mina teased, poking you in the side. "We all know you are majorly crushing on Shojiiiiiiii!"
You didn't think you could possibly be blushing any harder. "...how'd you know?" you managed to squeak out.
Upon your confession, all the girls burst into squeals of excitement. This time, it was Momo's turn to offer you a bit of comfort and support.
"Just girl's intuition I suppose." she gently smiled at you.
"Yeah, that and the fact that she's always got heart eyes while staring at Shoji all day long!" Hagakure laughed.
"I bet Shoji would want to go to the dance with you, ribbit." Tsu interjected.
"No, I don't think so." you said, casting your eyes down in disappointment.
The girls quieted down. "Well, why not?" asked Ururaka.
"I just don't think he likes me in that way," you admitted. "Plus, Shoji is so kind that even if I did manage to summon the courage to ask him, he would say yes just because he's too nice to embarrass me. I don't want to put him in a weird position."
Everyone stayed quiet and thought. It was true, everyone knew that Shoji was such a gentleman. He was always doing things like holding the door open for people, reaching things that were too high up, and pushing Mineta away from the girls when he was being a little perv. He was always encouraging and would never want to put any of his friends in a situation where they'd feel bad about themselves. It was then that Jiro decided to speak up.
"You know, I sit behind Shoji everyday and I kinda get the vibe that he's into you too."
You choked on your drink. "W-what do you mean?!"
Jiro smirked and took a sip of her drink before continuing. "I started noticing that he sits up just a little more when you walk in the room. Also, he tries his best to hide it but his eyes follow you for as far as they can when you walk by. The other day when you said good morning to him, I swear I could see the blush rising up beneath the edge of his mask!" she laughed.
Shoji, blushing because of you? No way. The two of you were good friends, and talked with each other comfortably, but he never seemed to give you the feeling that he wanted anything more than that.
"I think that could all just be coincidence." you say.
"Well I didn't even tell you the best part..." Jiro had a mischievous smile on her face.
All the girls leaned in as close as they could, literally on the edges of their seats.
"Spit it out then!" Mina pushed.
Jiro put on her best set of puppy dog eyes and clasped her hands together before continuing. "I can hear that his heart beats faster whenever you're nearby!" she teased in a sing song voice.
There was a single beat of silence before the girls erupted into overlapping screams of excitement about how Shoji was totally into you. Ururaka grabbed your arm and said that you had to ask him to the dance now. Mina started talking about how you must let her do your makeup and let Momo do your hair. Hagakure had pulled your dress from the bag, admiring it and talking about some accessories she had that would be perfect with it. You, however, burst into a panic.
"Jiro! W-what are you doing listening to Shoji's h-heartbeat anyway?! Isn't that like...an invasion of privacy or something?!"
"Oh, lighten up," she waved you away. "It's not like I read his mind or anything. Besides, I only did it the one time after I started to suspect he liked you too. I was just trying to help a friend out!" she smiled.
Oh man. If you weren't nervous enough for this dance already, you definitely were now.
♡♡♡
Sure, Shoji was excited for the dance. Well he was, until some of the boys started talking about things like dates and girls they wanted to dance with. Before that, he was just thinking it was something fun for him and all his friends in class to do. Now, he was becoming increasingly nervous about the whole thing.
A group of boys were sitting in the common room, relaxing and talking about their plans for the dance. Kaminari and Mineta had brought up the fact that there were only 7 girls in the entire class, meaning most of the boys would have to go alone, and suddenly there was a competitive air in the room.
"Just because you don't go with a girl doesn't mean you're going alone," Sero nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Right?"
"Ah, don't worry about it bro, if you don't get a date, I'LL go with you!" Kirishima laughed and ruffled Sero's hair.
"That's right, you can just go with friends and still have a good time!" Ojirio added. Sato and Koda nodded their heads in agreement.
"Good," Mineta mumbled. "That just means better odds for me!"
"Shut the hell up, Grape Man," Bakugo shouted. "As if any of the girls in class would want to go with you."
"It's just basic math! The more boys decide to go without girls or just with friends means that someone will HAVE to go with me!" Mineta cried, tears streaming down his face.
"Mineta! Compose yourself!" Iida chastised the little man.
"If boys can go by themselves, so can girls!" Midoriya pointed out. "Although, I do want to ask Ururaka..."
"Well fine, let's just decide here and now who DOES want to go with a girl and we can figure it out!" Kaminari suggested. "Midoriya wants to ask Ururaka. I myself want to ask Jiro. I already KNOW Todoroki wants to go with Momo...yo Shoji, you going solo or do you have plans to ask someone?"
It was an innocent enough question, but Shoji started sweating. Should he leave? He doesn't really want to talk about how badly he wants to go to the dance with Y/N. He's not really the type to talk about his feelings out loud, particularly in a large group. Tokoyami, sensing Shoji's discomfort, and also not wanting to discuss such topics, decided to step in.
"I don't think we should be "claiming" girls without even considering their feelings about it all." he said.
That seemed to clear the air, and the rest of the boys agreed. Shoji released a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He morphed a dupli-arm into a mouth and placed it near Tokoyami, whispering so only he could hear. "Thank you."
Tokoyami didn't say anything back, simply nodding his head.
♡♡♡
It was the night of the dance. The dorms buzzed with excitement as everyone started getting ready. Some of the students had worked up the courage to ask out dates: Momo stood firm on her decision to take matters into her own hands and asked Todoroki to the dance. Mina decided to take after Momo and asked Kirishima. At first he was flustered, mumbling something about how it would have been more "manly" if he had asked her, but ultimately accepted. Midoriya had finally managed to ask Ururaka, and Kaminari asked Jiro three times until she finally agreed. Toru had decided to go on her own, and find a cute date from another class at the dance.
Neither Shoji nor Y/N had been able to be brave enough to ask the other, despite their friends encouraging them. Anyway, Shoji was happy to go with his small group of Tokoyami and Ojiro. Shoji was wearing a sleeveless navy blue button down, a black tie, and some black suspenders. On the bottom he wore some black dress pants and his signature black boots. Once he was ready, he headed over to Tokoyami's room.
Tokoyami was putting the final touches on his all black outfit when Shoji came in and sat on his bed, fiddling with his suspenders. "I'm both surprised and not surprised that you didn't ask Y/N." Tokoyami said bluntly.
Shocked by his question, Shoji accidentally let go of the clip and one side of his suspenders flung back and slapped him. "W-hy would I have asked Y/N?" he stammered.
Tokoyami turned around, an exasperated expression on his face. "Shoji. We both know you have been madly in love with the girl ever since you first laid eyes on her."
Shoji felt the heat rising in his cheeks. "Well, even if that is true, which..." he sighed. "while it is true...it's probably not mutual." he said, lowering his head.
"Really?" Tokoyami seemed perplexed. "Because I have heard otherwise..." he trailed off.
With that, Shoji's head shot up. "What do you mean? What have you heard?!"
"Well, it doesn't really seem like my place to say, but..." Tokoyami sighed. "Just promise me one thing." Shoji looked over at his friend. "Promise me if she asks you to dance you'll say yes."
Shoji chuckled. "Sure. I doubt it'll happen, but if it'll satisfy you then fine."
The two walked out of the dorm and towards the common room. Tokoyami smiled to himself while he closed the door.
"You never know, my friend."
♡♡♡
Y/N took the elevator down with Tsu. You looked at yourself in the reflection of the metal doors and let out a shaky breath.
"What's wrong?" Tsu asked.
You looked at her with a timid smile. "I don't know, I'm just feeling nervous for some reason!"
"Don't be nervous, ribbit. I bet we're going to have a nice fun time with everyone." she smiled.
"Thanks Tsu!" you replied, smoothing out your dress. You had opted for a navy blue dress which had silver sparkles cascading down from the top and fading downwards. Hagakure had given you a pair of diamond earrings to borrow, Mina had kept your look simple but elegant, and Momo styled your hair just how you liked it. "You're right. I'm looking forward to a fun night."
"Plus you look really nice, you're sure to catch Shoji's eye. There's still time to ask him to dance, you know." she added.
You blushed, and before you had a chance to say anything back, the elevator reached the ground level and opened its doors. You could hear all your friends talking amongst each other. From the crowd, Mina spotted you first. She squealed and ran towards you and Tsu, giving you both a big hug before dragging you over to the group.
"Y/N! Wow girl! You. Are. STUNNING." she gushed. You couldn't help but blush a little at her compliment. You were just about to thank her when Mina interrupted.
"Doesn't she look pretty tonight, Shoji?" Mina whipped you around, your cheeks flushed and your eyes as wide as dinner plates as you met eyes with your crush. Shoji was also flustered, and you swore you really could see the faintest bit of his red cheeks beneath his mask.
He was at a loss for words for a couple moments before Tokoyami mumbled to him, snapping him out of his trance. "It's not nice to keep a lady waiting, Shoji..."
Shoji gulped. "Y-you look beautiful tonight, Y/N."
The two of you could not stop staring at each other until Mina giggled. "And look! You guys even MATCH!" You finally managed to tear your eyes from the handsome man in front of you to stare intensely at the ground, blushing profusely.
"Class 1-A! It is time for us to make our way to the dance. All together now!" Iida bellowed. You had never been more glad for Tenya Iida and his strict itineraries than in that moment.
♡♡♡
"All right all you listeners out there! It's time to dance the night away! Let's see those moves! If you've got any song requests, just let good ol Present Mic know!" Present Mic, the DJ for the dance of course, yelled into the crowd. The gym had been decorated for the dance, and the theme of "A Lovely Night Under the Stars" was apparent. The lights were dimmed and the ceiling was decorated with streamers, balloons, and what looked to be an endless sky of twinkle lights shining up above.
You were having a great time dancing with all of your friends, laughing at Iida and his robotic moves, bouncing around with Tsu, Ururaka and Midoriya, and whistling at Momo as she and Todoroki danced together. As one song came to an end, Kirishima sighed, a light layer of sweat on his forehead from dancing so hard and trying but ultimately failing to get Bakugo to dance with him.
"I'm gonna go get some punch. Anybody else want some?" he asked. A couple people said yes, so he and some others left to go get some. You let your eyes drift across the room and through the crowd to where the punch table was.
Shoji stood along the wall opposite of you, with Tokoyami and Ojiro, just chatting with a cup of punch in his hand. You couldn't help but admire how handsome Shoji looked. He always looked good to you, but this was the first time you really saw him all dressed up. The shirt he wore was doing wonders for his arms, a fact that you just couldn't stop thinking about. You were now openly staring at Shoji, but he had not noticed, too into his conversation with Ojiro.
Happily staring and daydreaming of Shoji, you didn't even realize what the rest of your friends were up to.
♡♡♡
Finally pushing through the crowd and arriving at the punch table, Mina and Kirishima grabbed their drinks. They ever so subtly went to stand near Tokoyami, who had managed to slip away from Shoji for the moment.
"Is it time?" Kirishima whispered.
Mina glanced over her shoulder to see where you were and smiled. "Yep!"
Their mischievous plan was now in action. Tokoyami nodded and walked back to Shoji, gaining his attention. Mina slipped away and headed to the DJ's booth and whispered something into Present Mic's ear.
"Okay boys and girls, we have our first slow dance request of the night!" Present Mic excitedly announced. "And it's a good one! Prepare yourselves for pure cheesy rom-com goodness!"
Present Mic's booming voice snapped you out of your Shoji-trance and the song "Unchained Melody" began playing. All the couples separated themselves from their groups to go dance together. You awkwardly moved yourself towards the wall where your friend Tsu was standing, watching Ururaka and Midoriya dance together.
"Guess it's just us two, huh Tsu?" you nervously laughed.
"Actually..." she said, looking over your shoulder at someone across the room. She seemed to make eye contact with someone else and nod to them.
"I think someone else wants to dance with you. Brace yourself!" she said, smiling.
"Huh?" you asked, before Tsu shot her long tongue out at you and flung you spinning into the middle of the dance floor.
♡♡♡
"I'll take that from you, bro." Kirishima said, gently taking the cup of punch out of Shoji's hand. Shoji just looked down at him, confused. "You'll thank me later!" Kirishima flashed a pointy smile at him and ran off.
Shoji turned to face Tokoyami and laughed. "What...was that about?"
"Remember what you promised me earlier?" Tokoyami asked.
"What are you talking about?" Shoji asked.
"Just don't break your promise, my friend." Tokoyami smiled, and before Shoji had a chance to pry more, he summoned Dark Shadow and gave a thumbs up to someone across the room.
"Tokoyami what are-?" Shoji asked again.
"It's showtime!" Dark Shadow exclaimed, turning Shoji around and quickly wrapping around him to push him into the middle of the dance floor.
♡♡♡
You landed against something very tall and very solid. Right before you could fall over, you felt...arms? wrap around you, preventing you from hitting the floor. You looked up and made eye contact with the person who had saved you.
You were met with the equally surprised eyes and masked face of none other than Shoji. In the position he had caught you in, it looked like he was dipping you. His arms were wrapped around you, and your hands were on his chest. For a moment, time stopped. There was no one else there but you and Shoji, alone with the music and all the twinkling lights. You swore you could feel sparks flying.
"Oh! S-s-shoji!" You exclaimed, snapping back into reality.
"Y/N! Are you okay?" he asked, glancing over you for any signs of injury.
"I'm okay, I'm just a little..."
"Confused?" you both said in unison. You nervously laughed together.
"Yeah, just confused! One second I'm standing over there with Tsu and..." you began.
"Same! I was just talking with Tokoyami when..." he laughed
The realization that your friends had this planned all along hit you both at the same time and you turned around to face them.
You turned to see Tsu smile and wave at you, and Ururaka and Midoriya winking and encouraging you. Shoji turned to see Mina, Kirishima, and Ojiro waving at him, hollering and whistling, and Tokoyami giving him a smile and silent nod.
You both turned back to each other, blushing like crazy and nervously laughing.
"Umm..." you mumbled.
"Since we're here..." he said, you both nervously talking over each other.
"Would you like to dance? Oh! Yes!" you both said at the same time. You stared at each other again for a moment before laughing.
Shoji chuckled softly and slowly moved closer to you. He fumbled a bit while trying to figure out the best way to situate all his arms, before settling on just wrapping them all around you.
You looked at him, smiling, before slowly placing your arms around his body too. You felt him stiffen up at this, before accepting it and relaxing.
It was magical. He was all you could see, looking down at you with such sweetness in his eyes, and what was a definite blush under his mask. You stayed that way for a while, letting yourselves get lost in the moment and in the music. He lowered his head and placed his forehead on yours, his silver bangs ever so slightly tickling you.
"This is nice." he whispered. You hummed in agreement. The two of you swayed slowly to the music.
Oh, my love, my darling
I've hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time
And time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me
All those hours pining after him, thinking you were crazy that he might ever like you back seemed to melt away. You couldn't imagine going back to the way things used to be after this. How could you ever continue living if you weren't wrapped in Shoji's arms, feeling the warmth of his body against yours? How could you continue on without seeing this look in his eyes?
You decided to be brave.
"Shoji?" you asked.
"Hm?" he said, lifting his head off yours.
The two of you now stood still, the rest of the world still blurred away around you. You removed your arms from around his body and reached up to cup his face in your hands, staring at him for just a moment before continuing.
It's now or never.
You closed your eyes and raised yourself up on your tip toes and placed a quick kiss on his mask, right where his mouth would be.
Shocked, his entire body stiffened before closing his eyes and melting into the kiss as well. You pulled back and looked at him again, both of you blushing profusely. You could see the outline of a big dopey smile behind his mask, which made you smile and bite your lip.
He pulled you into a tight hug again, placing another kiss on the top of your head. You let out a little giggle before placing your head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
And damn it, Jiro was right.
♡