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Little known fact about Tokoyami, he blushed. Often. The littlest things set him off. Crude comments from a certain classmate, a romantic line in a movie, things that didn't bother anyone else. Or at least didn't physically effect them.
But, he considered himself lucky. No one knew about his little problem. Every inconvenient flush to his cheeks was safely hidden away under his feathers, and no matter how much Dark Shadow could insist that he was flustered, no one took them seriously. Thankfully.
You just had to join class, and ruin his luck.
He had been drawn to you immediately. Aizawa sat up for the first time that period, and announced your arrival to class, and when you entered wearing the same uniform as everyone else, you were almost normal. But while you introduced yourself, he noticed the one thing different. Your nails were painted black, shining smooth like wet stones. He never was too proud of the small bird-like traits he had, but your nails were like perfect coins of obsidian, glued to each of your fingers. And no intelligent thought could convince his corvid brain that he didn't want to keep them. Collect them, steal them away, something irrational that secretly pinked his cheeks.
He didn't talk to you. You didn't sit near him, and already started to befriend the others, so there really was no reason for him to. Your nails were distracting, anyways.
But that wasn't the end. Of course not. Your presence could never just leave him in peace.
The weekend after you had arrived, Midoriya and Uraraka had invited you to join them out of the stuffy dorms and into the city. He didn't know exactly where they planned to go, but you were excited. You hadn't yet gotten a chance to explore.
When you emerged from your dorm, there was a sudden quiet. Then, and even more sudden overhaul of conversation. You had only ever worn your uniform. Or pajamas, maybe. This. This was so different. Tall platform shoes, ripped clothes, safety pins, piercing he didn't know you could legally have.
His face was hot, even before he could fully register that this is what you looked like.
His reaction wasn't the odd one out. Your classmates almost swarmed you, gushing or questioning, a pair of wildly chopping hands that practically took you out. And the noise only grew as more entered to see what had happened. You were different. He was the darkest in the class, but now the competition was stiff.
Fashion wise, anyway. Your pretty smile wasn't gothic at all.
Something was wrong. A chill ran through him, like he had just walked into a freezer. But his face stayed the same, hellfire heat.
Your eyes suddenly flicked to him, and your expression changed to one of confusion. He was staring, wide eyed, had been since you had walked out. He suddenly felt even colder.
"Are you okay?" You called. All conversation surrounding you stopped, and suddenly all attention fell to him. Why were you concerned? Why did everyone else looked concerned now, too? The fire was creeping down the back of his neck.
He heard Dark Shadow emerge on their own, snickering.
"He just likes your style!" They said back, loudly. "He likes it a lot."
A flustered stutter came from him then, meaning nothing but still embarrassing him even further. You either didn't hear it, of pitied him and ignored it. You gestured vaguely at him, glancing back and forth from him to his little demon.
"Why are you so..." You paused, the delicate uncertainty looking foreign on your made-up face.
Midoriya finished for you. "....Puffy?" Like it was a question.
He ran away then. To the safety of his room across the dorm. There was no other way he could have escaped, and as Dark Shadow laughed and flew around the ceiling like an excited puppy, he could only hope no one brought it up the next day.
How could he explain that black birds puffed their feathers to both scare away other birds, and to impress mates?