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Y/N was alerted by a light knocking at the door. She figured it was her best friend, Shinsou Hitoshi.
She was sat on piles of blankets and pillows that were stripped from her bed. They were piled in the corner of her fairy-light-adorned balcony spilling out onto the rest of it.
Hearing the knocking, she did nothing to acknowledge the person quietly stepping into her dorm room. Her back was turned to the window and she was instead leaning against it. As the steps got closer and eventually came to a stop, she leaned her head back onto the glass and peacefully turned her head to get a good look at Hitoshi.
“Hey,” Y/N spoke barely above a whisper.
“Hey,” Hitoshi responded, “are you okay?”
Y/N turned her head back to look up at the dark sky, only illuminated by the bright stars and the glowing crescent moon. “Yeah,” she uttered, still almost in a whisper. She turned her head down into her knees which were tightly tucked into her chest. She removed her arms from around her legs and stared at her open palms in front of her face. “Yeah, why wouldn't I be?” She turned her head back up to make eye contact with Hitoshi.
“Y/N,” he paused. “You know you can talk to me. Please talk to me.”
“I'm really okay Hitoshi, and honestly I'm confused about why you're so adamant that I'm not,” Y/N sharply retorted back.
“Don't be like that.” Hitoshi finally stepped onto the balcony. He walked around Y/N’s folded-up body and sat on her right side. He sat mirroring Y/N only his legs were much looser in front of him. His hands rested in his lap as he gazed up at the stars. “You can't let it get to you. It's Bakugo, that's just how he is. I'm sure he didn't mean it. It was just a heat-of-the-moment thing.”
Y/N paused. They sat in semi-uncomfortable silence for at least a minute before Y/N squeaked out, “It's not that he said it. I know Bakugo just says whatever to achieve his goals. I wouldn't care if he wasn't so.. right.”
“Y/N-,”
“No, you can't tell me at least some of what he said wasn't true.” Y/N snapped her head towards Hitoshi to see the expression on Hitoshi’s face of shock and guilt? “Everyone in our class has such noble reasons for why they want to be a hero and they have to work so hard to achieve it, but me..? My quirk and my dad, everything is practically set up for me yet I still can't do anything right. At the sports festival, the training camp, and basically every single training exercise we've done, I always manage to mess everything up not only for myself but also for my teammates and the people who were rooting for me. Why am I such a fuck up, Hitoshi?” At this point, tears were streaming down Y/N’s cheeks. She wrapped her arms back around her legs and shoved her face into her knees. Hitoshi sat there for a second, not sure what to say or do. He’d never really been super great at comforting people, but he knew Y/N. He knew that none of that was even remotely true and that she had a tendency to be hard on herself whenever she didn't meet her expectation of perfection.
Hitoshi shuffled around Y/N until he was sitting on his legs in front of her. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and trailed his hand along her jawline until he reached her chin. He gently hooked his hand under her chin and lifted her head to face him. Her face was stained with tear tracks, her eyes puffy and red. Somehow, though, Hitoshi couldn't help but admire her. A warm feeling shot through his body at the tears dripping off her face because he realized how comfortable Y/N had to be with him for her to be able to break down like this in front of him. Y/N wasn't the type to express how she was feeling, never mind crying in front of someone. Hitoshi smiled, the softest smile Y/N had ever seen before he spoke.
“Y/N, you know that's not true. You work as hard as everyone in our class, if not harder. Your quirk is so powerful but only because of how much you've trained it to be. You aren't your dad. You've always done as much as you could to help your friends and classmates. You've gone through so much, yet you’re still an amazing friend, hero, and daughter. I know one day you are going to be an amazing hero and it's not going to have anything to do with your dad. You're going to be an amazing hero because of all the work you've put into your dreams. Everyone is so so proud of you, especially me. You are incredible, Y/N.” Hitoshi wiped a tear from Y/N’s cheek before she practically jumped at him and engulfed him in a hug.
Hitoshi froze for a split second in surprise until he gently grinned and wrapped his arms around Y/N’s waist. They stayed in their hug in comfortable silence for what felt like forever but at the same time it wasn't long enough for Hitoshi. At some point, Hitoshi started rubbing comforting circles into Y/N’s back until eventually she spoke up and whispered “thank you,” into Hitoshi’s ear.
After a few more minutes of silence, she let go of Hitoshi, but he only loosened his grip on Y/N so she still rested in his arms and slightly in his lap with a small distance between them. They faced each other and Y/N’s eyes met Hitoshi’s. For a fraction of a second Y/N could swear she saw Hitoshi’s eyes glance down at her lips. And for another fraction of a second, she could swear she saw her own eyes glance down at his. Hitoshi interrupted the silence by clearing his throat and muttering a “sorry,” before he let go of Y/N and she climbed off of him.
They resumed their positions next to each other, gazing at the stars. Y/N’s hands were on either side of her which she suddenly became aware of when she felt a finger loop around her pinky. She glanced at her hand, then at Hitoshi, who was anxiously watching the sky. She smiled and fully entwined her hand with Hitoshi’s.
