No Strings Attached

A Day Out

"What did you all need here?" Uraraka questioned as they walked into the five story art store that was only a short five blocks away from their school.

"Granite pencils, charcoal sticks and prisma colored pencils." Midoriya replied as he slowly looked around the giant store that he had never stepped foot into until today. Usually, he would prefer to do something like this alone, but it was his thing that scared him for the day.

"You'll want the fourth level then." Todoroki said aloud as he nodded towards the escalator. "I need those too, so we can head up together." Todoroki suggests.

"I need this floor, so I'll be staying down here." Uraraka said as she glanced around the many fashion stations throughout the floor. She was in dire need of some new patterns.

"I need the second floor, so I can head up with you guys." Iida stated. He didn't really need much other than some inspiration since he had just about everything for his film class.

"Let's go then." Todoroki said as he began walking towards the escalator.

"Just text me when you guys are done!" Uraraka yelled as she ran towards the pink patterns on the back wall.

"She'll definitely be the longest." Iida said with a smile as he shook his head.

"I've got nothing else to do." Todoroki replied with a simple shrug. Midoriya wanted to join the conversation as the trio headed up to the next floor, but he couldn't find the courage. He was already so far from his comfort zone, he could barely function anymore.

"I'll catch you two in a bit." Iida said with a small nod as he walked away from the escalator, letting the other two go up another two floors.

"Are you okay Midoriya?" Todoroki questioned when he saw the green haired man nervously play with the hem of his shirt.

"I'm fine." Midoriya whispered as he kept his gaze on the ground, terrified to look up. His body felt like it could collapse any second now due to his anxiety. His anxiety usually wasn't this bad, but today had been an off day since the second he woke up.

"You sure? You seem really tense." He commented as they stepped onto the fourth floor.

"Y-yeah. I usually don't do stuff like this." Midoriya replied in a whisper as he followed Todoroki to the other side of the floor.

"Go shopping?" He questioned as he led them both to the charcoal sticks.

"Hang out with people." Midoriya replied nervously as he could feel Todoroki's gaze burning into his scalp.

"Come to think of it, you never have hung out with any of us outside of school, have you?" He questioned as he began to scan the shelves for what he needed.

"No.." Midoriya's voice trailed off as he attempted to scan the shelves, but his mind was being pulled in about 80 different directions. He was so anxious he felt like he could decorate the entire store with vomit. He was really hating his therapist at the moment.

"Do you two gentlemen need help?" A sales associate asked from behind, causing Midoriya to jump and nearly fall onto the display shelf.

"N-n-n" The green haired man tried to respond, but he couldn't bring himself to form an actual word. He felt like his throat was closing off.

"We're okay, thanks." Todoroki replied with a soft smile. The sales associate gave them both a questioning look as he turned away from them.

"Here." Todoroki said simply as he held his hand in front of Midoriya's chest.

"W-what?" He questioned in confusion as he stared at the hand that was being extended towards him.

"Take my hand." Todoroki ordered as he took a small step forward. The freckled man didn't understand what was going on, but he obliged anyway. He hesitantly reached his hand on, gently laying it on top of Todoroki's.