"cough syrup" - TodoDeku Hanahaki OneShot

1

Shouto realized his admiration for Midoriya upon their first year of UA together. He figured that Shouto found kindness inside his own heart due to the kindness which spewed out of Midoriya, a sort of sweetness that was all too foreign and a little overwhelming... At the same time, Shouto couldn't find it within himself to pull away. Thick, sweet water dripped from the metaphorical fountain in which Shouto found himself drowning.

Maybe that was his fault. The drowning, anyways. Shouto just couldn't bring himself to fight against it. It wasn't entirely unpleasant and brought an unfamiliar warmth blanketing over his previously iced-over heart. Midoriya peeked over Shouto's walls of indifference and fiery hatred, reached his crooked hand to Shouto, and gave his ever-so benevolent smile... How could Shouto have rejected it when it just felt too good? The metaphorical water ran faster, deeper, thicker within Shouto's heart and down through his lungs, staining his veins and tainting all of his blood.

Shouto figured that maybe his friendship with Midoriya was built on more than the foundation of admiration on Shouto's part. Maybe, just maybe, he felt something much deeper. Delving into those types of thoughts was equally as confusing as they were terrifying. Shouto never gave much thought to more romantic interests growing up, never understood the interest everyone had with finding a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Though, Shouto supposed that all he could blame in regards to the ignorance he holds towards romantic relationships would be his upbringing.

He did not want to end up forced into some loveless marriage full of angst and pain much like his mother was subjected to. An even worse thought was ending up like his father, being the reason that someone's heart has to fill up with freezing ice and they feel as though they have to grasp at straws with trembling hands. He made a mental note to himself, reminding his conscious brain that falling in love would be the most idiotic thing he could ever do to himself or anyone else.

So where does his heart lie in regards to Midoriya? Maybe that would be a question for another time as he had to almost forcefully blink himself back into reality, feeling a sudden jolt as the bus he was standing on made such an abrupt stop. Luckily, he was lucid enough to not fall over and his hand only tightened against the pole he used to lean on.

He barely processed someone knocking into his shoulder until they were in his face spewing pointless apologies. Shouto brushed them off easily and moved around the person who hardly registered in his brain as he made the move to get off of the bus after the majority left. He entered through the front doors of the hospital, taking an elevator up a couple of stories, and even greeting the receptionist with enough politeness to barely scrape by on being acceptable.

"Good afternoon, Shouto," The small woman behind the desk smiled up at him and moved a hand to adjust her glasses, her eyes soon moved back down to her computer screen as she typed for a moment.

"Here to see your mother?" She asked and Shouto nodded his head almost robotically, taking the visitor's badge when it was slid across the counter towards him. He pressed it to his chest and turned to walk away.

"She's been doing better recently. I think it helps now that you're around."

Shouto wasn't entirely sure why that comment made him feel a bit prickly. Maybe it was because the woman was a stranger, not even his mother's nurse, so why does she think she has the right to comment on his mother's condition? He puffed out a heavy breath and shook his head just as he stopped in front of his mother's door.

Cautiously, he slides the door open to peek inside and make sure he wasn't intruding on his mom's privacy. Even though he's been visiting her for over a year now, there was still an anxious prickle under his skin and wrapping around his heart as it only seemed to beat a little faster. Sometimes he even finds it hard to get his tongue to form words too as if any strong syllable could shatter the delicate woman in an instant.