Work Text:
“a large hot chocolate for midoriya!”
sluggishly, izuku stood up and made his way to the barista’s counter. everything still looked a little fuzzy, but that was no surprise, he had been staring at nothing but his computer screen for the last hour and a half. quietly thanking the employee, he returned to his small table which was completely cluttered with notes and scribbled papers (most of which were filled with doodles). izuku set his cup down and stretched his back, exhaling with relief. collecting his thoughts, he put his glasses back on, fully intending to get back to work.
he most certainly did not intend for someone to, quite literally, stumble through the door, frantically search around the room, and drop into the chair across from him, nearly toppling over.
furthermore, he didn’t expect that person to have the most striking half-red-half-white hair, and gorgeous eyes he thought were only seen in art pieces. one, the shade of a summer sky, his other, the clouds in a winter storm.
and they were staring directly at him.
izuku flushed.
“hi,” the man said, sounding very out of breath. “sorry, i kind of need a little help right now. would you mind?”
“oh! of course,” izuku was caught off guard by the smooth tone of his voice. it made his heart flutter (just a little bit). “what was it that you needed?”
“uh, i just need it to seem like we’re friends,” he rushed to say. his eyes still darted around the room.
“well, ok,” izuku was still confused but he was willing to help this guy out. “how about we introduce ourselves! that way we’re not complete strangers.”
“right, yeah, good idea. i’m todoroki.”
“hi, todoroki! my name’s midoriya,” he smiled, “how are you today?”
“definitely not the best, as you could’ve already guessed from my situation,” todoroki replied.
“and what might that be? i’m very curious why you need a fake friend,” izuku pried.
“ah, that…” todoroki looked down at the table and rubbed at his neck. “i’m kind of running from some people…?”
“don’t tell me the authorities are after you!” izuku’s eyes widened as he leaned away from the guy.
“no! it’s not that, i swear,” todoroki looked back at izuku and sighed. “it’s the paparazzi.”
wait. what?
“th-the paparazzi?!” izuku asked, his brain completely frazzled.
“yeah, uh, sorry if that’s a problem now–“
“no! it’s fine, really,” he quickly waved his hands in front of him. “it just surprised me, that’s all. i’ve never seen you before, i really didn’t know you were famous.”
“honestly, i’m kind of glad you don’t know me,” todoroki admitted. “it’s just like meeting someone normally, instead of meeting a fan.”
“ah, you must get that a lot then?”
“yeah,” todoroki looked like he deflated, “it’s hard to make real friends sometimes. most of the time, people just want to be famous, and they figure they can get it indirectly from me.”
izuku had never thought about it that way. looking at it now, being famous must not be everything it’s cut out to be. all of the attention from thousands (possibly millions) of fans just couldn’t make up for the struggle of finding someone genuine. someone who wasn’t after the benefits that came with knowing a celebrity.
he surely had no idea what this man was going through, but gosh darn if izuku wasn’t willing to give him a helping hand.
“well then. right now, you aren’t famous,” izuku said. “you aren’t being chased by the paparazzi, and we’re just friends having a nice time in this cafe.”
“that…” todoroki looked a little stunned, but then he grinned. “i can do that.”
——————
oh god.
he’s too cute.
the little green-haired guy shoto unceremoniously chose to be his “friend” turned out to be absolutely adorable with his rosy, freckle-stained cheeks. the way all of his things were spread out on the tiny table, how he talked with dozens of facial expressions, his inability to sit still in his chair. those emerald puppy dog eyes were just the cherry on top.
the way he—midoriya—treated him like they had known each other for years was…comforting. shoto wasn’t very friendly, and honestly didn’t like many people, but something about midoriya was so captivating.
“oh yeah! the newest all might movie was so awesome!” midoriya’s eyes lit up as he brought it up. “that one scene where he carried out, like, thirty people from the giant fire was so cool! and when he was fighting that monster thing! ah, what was it called…”
“the nomu?” shoto suggested.
“yes! they’re so scary! i don’t know how all might was able to fight five of them all at once!” midoriya rambled on.
shoto laughed, his hand coming up to cover his face. midoriya was so honest about everything he said, it made shoto weak. his pure adoration for everything he talks about was a breath of fresh air for shoto. he couldn’t help himself.
all of a sudden, midoriya had gone quiet. shoto looked over at him across the table, and saw midoriya with wide eyes (his cheeks looked a little red, too).
“midoriya, are you alright?” shoto asked.
“oh! yes! i’m ok!” he chirped out quickly. his arm reached up to tuck his hair behind his ear, a nervous habit, probably. “sorry, i got lost in thought.”
“hap-”
“you-”
they both started. shoto looked at midoriya, who was looking right at shoto. hurriedly, the two of them glanced away. shoto felt his chest seize up (and a small flutter of his heart).
“sorry, what were you going to say,” shoto still couldn’t look at midoriya.
“ah, um, i just…” midoriya struggled to get his words out. when he did manage to say them, they came out as a whisper. “you have a very nice laugh.”
well.
shoto didn’t need his heart anyway.
his face flushed. in fact, his whole body felt like it would burst into flames. oh, the effect midoriya had on his heart. this was certainly not good. a mere few hours with the guy, and somehow shoto can’t even seem to function. he planted his head on the table, and wrapped his arms to cover his face. perhaps darkness would make this feeling go away.
“oh no! are you ok?” midoriya asked, startled. “i didn’t mean to embarrass you!”
he tilted his head to try and catch shoto’s eye, but oh, that made it worse. his glasses slid down his nose a little, which exposed more of those iridescent eyes. his hair hung to one side from the slant of his head. and why now did the sun shine through the window and light up his freckles in the most perfect way possible?
back down into the little den of his arms he goes.
“i’m fine,” shoto murmured into his elbow.
midoriya laughed, and if it wasn’t the most delightful thing shoto had ever heard. (that’s saying a lot since he, quite literally, makes some of the best music in the world).
“you don’t look fine,” he couldn’t keep the giggle out of his voice, but shoto wasn’t complaining. “but i meant what i said…i think your laugh is very nice.”
“your laugh is nice,” shoto shot back as if it were an insult.
at least it got midoriya to laugh again.
“you think so?”
“yes,” shoto looked up and saw midoriya’s smile. not even the sun stood a chance against its brightness.
“oh, well thank you then,” even midoriya’s ears went red.
“i…” words were coming out of shoto’s mouth before he could even think. “i don’t want this to be the last time i see you.”
midoriya looked at him with surprise.
“you wanna see me again?” he asked. “i mean, i definitely want to see you again, but i wasn’t sure if you’d also want to, so i didn’t ask. and oh jeez what if—“
“yes, i want to see you again,” shoto gave him a small smile. “as long as you’re ok with it.”
the red in his cheeks didn’t seem to go away.
“of course!” he exclaimed.
“here, why don’t i give you my number, and we can talk later?” shoto suggested.
“ok!” midoriya rushed to pull out his phone and hand it to shoto. he punched in his number, double checking to make sure it was right, before giving it back to midoriya.
“there you go.”
“thank you! i’ll text you when i can!” midoriya looked at him with bright eyes.
“perfect,” shoto stood from his seat. “well, i’ve got to get going. i had a nice time with you, midoriya.”
“i did too!” he stood up to wish him off. “thank you for staying with me, todoroki.”
“it was my pleasure,” he replied. shoto looked at him once more before smiling, once again, and walking towards the door.
his heart still fluttered in his chest.