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Izumi bit her lip as she braided the thin yarn. She was nearly finished. And honestly? She was kind of proud of her work. As she tied the final knot she looked down at her creations. Two matching bracelets. One was mostly green with a blue pattern weaved into it and a metal charm that looked like the sun. The other was the same but the colors inverted and a moon charm.
Friendship bracelets.
She had always admired them. She remembered back in middle school the girls would trade bracelets with each other as a sign of friendship. It was a sign of being best friends. Until UA Izumi never had a close female friend. The best she had was Kacchan but he was... A man. And her off-and-on bully. For whatever reason the concept of a friendship bracelet just took hold.
When she first met Ochako she thought about making one for her. But Ochako and Tsuyu were best friends. Not Izumi. But, that wasn't to say that Izumi didn't have a best friend- at least she liked to think so.
Todoroki Shouko. They were friends. They hung out a lot. But Todoroki was so hard to read. Todoroki was tall, beautiful, smart, strong, and a little standoffish. Izumi loved their time together but it was hard to tell if... Todoroki liked it. She never turned Izumi down when she offered to spend time together but still.
Izumi wasn't a stranger to people only tolerating her. If Shouko weren't so rude (only in the fact she was so blunt. Izumi actually really admired this trait in her), Izumi might think she was only saying yes to be polite.
She held up the bracelets. "There's only one way to find out..." She said out loud. If only to try and convince herself that this was a good idea. She could do this. She could do this. "Plus Ultra!" she cried and marched to her dorm room door and opened it.
Where would Todoroki be right now? It was after dinner but before bed. She wouldn't be in the gym after food. It was Tuesday which meant she was probably in the main living room. Izumi took the elevator down to the ground floor. Her eyes scanned the room.
Yaoyorozu and Jirou sat at one of the tables doing some studying. Kacchan and Kirishima were in the kitchen making popcorn. Hagakure and Ojiro were sitting together watching TV quietly. Finally, she found her target.
Todoroki was leaning on a wall. Sero was with her. He had one hand on the wall above her. Izumi smiled. She knew how bad Todoroki had it before UA. It was nice seeing her make friends. She approached, as happy as she was this was important. "So what do you think Todoroki-chan? I can show you the ponds there and we can feed the ducks it'll be real ro-"
"Hello, Midoriya," Todoroki said standing up from the wall properly, cutting Sero off completely. "You went upstairs after dinner, is everything ok?"
Izumi smiled "Y-yeah! Fine! I'm fine, but I was wondering if we could talk?" She asked.
"Uh, actually Midoriya I was-" Sero tried.
"Of course," Todoroki said "Sorry Sero." She walked away from him and closer to Izumi. "What is it?"
She looked down at her feet "Can we go for a walk? Curfew isn't for another hour."
Todoroki nodded "Of course. I'll meet you outside." She said and quickly walked toward the elevator. Izumi smiled after her.
"Dammit..." Sero mumbled.
Kaminari popped up around the corner "Told ya you'd blow it." He said.
"I didn't blow anything. Midoriya distracted her. Man, I was this close to asking. Been working up the courage for that for weeks!" Sero sighed. "If you think it's so easy," he poked Kaminari "You shoot your shot right now huh?" He motioned toward Izumi.
Kaminair's face turned bright red as he looked away from Izumi "Sh-shut up!" he yelled and tackled Sero to the ground.
Izumi reached her hand out to stop them or maybe figure out what was happening but she thought better of it. She had a friend to meet. She ran to the door, grabbed her red sneakers, and went outside to wait for Todoroki.
She didn't wait long. Todoroki came out of the door a moment later. She was wearing a soft pink jacket and in her hand held out a light blue hoodie "It's cold," she said "I thought you might need this."
"Aw," Izumi said and pulled the coat on. It smelled like Todoroki's perfume. Strawberries. Izumi kept meaning to ask what brand she wore. She wanted to buy it too... "Thank you Todoroki-chan."
They walked down the front steps together before they set down the well-lit path that followed along the dorms. "Of course. I figured you'd forget one. And you get cold easily."
"You're so thoughtful."
"Not really..."
Izumi smiled up at her friend. Todoroki had the most beautiful hair. Long and brilliant in color. Not to mention it was so soft! Izumi could run her fingers through it for hours. Todoroki used to wear it in tight severe ponytails but ever since- well Izumi supposed it started after she started visiting her mother. But suddenly Todoroki's hair was styled more. Long braids, buns, or even down. It was down now and cascaded down her back. "So... What did Sero-kun want?"
"I'll be honest I wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying." Todoroki said "He's very nice but if he talks to long I just can't focus anymore."
"Oh..." Izumi frowned "Sorry I do that too."
Todoroki shook her head "No, it's nice when you do it. Maybe it's your voice. It's very soothing."
Her cheeks heated up. "Todoroki-chan..." she whispered "Well uh, he seemed pretty sad when you walked away. Maybe he likes you!"
She rolled her eyes "I hope not. It'd be bothersome to turn him down. I suppose he's handsome? He's sort of got a feminine face and I like that. And I certainly like him as a friend. I don't want it to be... Awkward."
"I'm afraid I don't have any advice. I've never been confessed to before." Izumi said.
Todoroki turned her head to look at her, eyes wide "Really? But you're the prettiest girl I've ever met."
If she weren't blushing before she was now. "Ah- Todoroki-chan! If you say stuff like that-" she felt like she might cry. She wiped at her eyes.
"It's true..." She mumbled "So, what is it you wanted to talk about? Wanting to get away like this... It's not like you. I'm worried."
Right. The whole reason she dragged her out here. "Well uh... Gosh, it seems so silly now." She reached into the pocket of her pants "Well uh... Todoroki-chan I wanted to ask you something." Izumi stopped walking.
Todoroki turned to look back at her. She reached her hand up and gripped at her pink jacket "Yeah Midoriya."
Izumi was blushing hard "I was... Well ever since you know the Sports Festival and the Hero Killer we... I feel like we got really close. Before UA I never really had a lot of friends. Much less... Girl friends. So... I'm sorry if this is weird or childish but do you want to be..." She held up the matching bracelets "Best Friends?"
Todoroki's eyes got wide. She looked down at the matching bracelets. She reached her hand out and grabbed the one that was mostly blue "For me?" she asked.
"Yeah... If you want it."
"I've never had a best friend before." Todoroki said, "How is it different from a regular friend?"
She flushed "Well it's just your friend who... You're closest to, the one you love the most. So... I understand if that's Yaomomo or Iida..."
"No, Midroiya," Todoroki said "You're the one I love the most."
Her breath hitched "R-really?" she asked.
She nodded very seriously. "Yes. Midoriya you have done so much for me. I would be honored to be your best friend." She put the bracelet back in Izumi's hand "Put it on me?" She asked and held out her hand.
Todoroki's hand was long, pale, and slender. Her nails were short but well-manicured. She looked up at her, meeting that intense mismatched gaze. Todoroki's eyes were gorgeous. Aquamarine blue and steely gray. The long white eyelashes around her right eye looked so good... The scar around her left eye made her blue stand out more. And she thought Izumi was pretty... Izuku pushed the bracelet with the moon charm onto her wrist. "Th-there."
"Here," Todoroki said and took the other bracelet. She grabbed Izumi's hand and slipped it onto her wrist. Todoroki hesitated for a moment before she gently took hold of Izuku's hand "This... we're best friends now, right?"
Izumi did cry this time. "Y-yeah!" She said.
"I'm really glad I met you." Todoroki said "I was wondering... Since we're best friends now, can you call me by my given name?"
"O-ok!" Izumi said "Shouko-chan. Or maybe Shouchan?" She asked.
Shouko smiled "Either is fine. Izumi."
She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her "You know, no one has ever really called me by my given name. Other than my mom. So... It's nice that you do now."
"I'm glad to be the first." She sighed "We should probably get back." they turned to walk back to the dorms, holding hands. Best friends held hands, right?
"So... Not going to ask out Sero-kun?" Izumi asked, feeling very happy about that fact.
"God no. Maybe if he were more like you I would." Shouko said.
Izumi giggled and intertwined their fingers, their matching bracelets touching as they walked back to the dorm.