𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 (𝗏𝗂𝗅𝗅𝖺𝗂𝗇! 𝗍𝗈𝖽𝗈𝖽𝖾𝗄𝗎)

chapter fourteen

My face twisted with confusion. He's a hero. I shouldn't be enjoying this.

Todoroki used his free hand to point to a bench by the side of a dorm building, where the wind was blocked. I followed him to it and we sat down, appreciating the sudden peace. Neither of us spoke.

I glanced over at Todoroki. His bicolored hair was ruffled from the wind and he subconsciously ran a hand through it. His eyes were calm and pointed toward the cloudy sky as he tilted his head back to look up, highlighting his sharp jawline. His shoulders were relaxed, and he looked extremely attractive in the lighting.

What did I just say? Oops.

He looked down, meeting my eyes. I frantically averted my gaze, suddenly very interested in the tree standing a few paces away. A low heat crept over my cheeks, and I tried to cover my face with my hands. Todoroki did not need to see me blushing.

Shoto laughed. It was a genuine, hearty sound that filled me with an indescribable feeling; it made me want to laugh with him, to smile, to hold and kiss him, to just be with him. And even though the emotions were strange, I didn't complain about them or even bother to fight them. I let myself enjoy the moment.

As we calmed down, a question popped into my head, and I blurted it out before I could think twice. "What were you like before U.A?'

The words caught Todoroki off guard and he took a moment before responding. "Honestly," he said quietly, "I don't remember much from my childhood. I've blocked out so many memories. From what I can remember, I was almost always training with my dad, and when I wasn't, I had to stay in my room, away from my siblings. I was alone, and I don't remember being happy at all after my mom left."

His breath hitched and he looked into my eyes, squeezing my pinky lightly. "I felt like that until I came to U.A. . . . and met you, Izuku."

Todoroki smiled softly, and the combination of his grin and sweet words made me feel bubbly inside. I didn't understand why, but I felt a sudden urge to hug Todoroki and never let go. His smile was so inviting that it was hard to resist beaming back at him.

Stop it. He's a hero.

"You were so positive and kind, even with everything going on," Todoroki continued, letting go of my pinky to hold my hand. "No matter what happened, you managed to smile. I really needed that, so thank you, Izuku."

I grinned at him and rubbed the back of my neck instinctively. Shoto and I stared into each other's eyes, neither of us daring to look away and ruin the tender moment. His gaze shifted to my lips momentarily; as did mine.

Almost as if we were being pulled by magnets, we moved closer to one another, our eyes moving from eyes to lips to eyes to lips.

I felt a need to back away, to stop what was going to happen, but a stronger feeling blocked that. I didn't want this to stop.

My eyes shut as our lips locked. For a moment, I tensed up; my body froze from the shock of Todoroki's slightly chapped (but still soft) lips against mine.

Holy shit. I'm kissing Todoroki, and I don't entirely hate it.

The soft breath from his nose tickled my cheek as the kiss deepened. Todoroki's free hand moved to the back of my neck while his other hand held onto mine tightly, almost as if he was scared I would pull away at any second. I slipped my fingers through Todoroki's hair, tugging on it gently to show that I wasn't going anywhere.

I put my all into the touch, focusing solely on Todoroki. I completely forgot that we were still outside, sitting on a metal bench outside of a random class's dorm building. I forgot about the howling wind, the cloudy sky, everything that wasn't Shoto.

I was harshly reminded as my phone buzzed in my back pocket.

Todoroki must have noticed, and he pulled away from me. A soft whine escaped my mouth as he did, but I ignored it to catch my breath.

Shoto's hand removed itself from my neck, and I gingerly let go of his hair to grab my phone.

(Today, 11:49 am) Shittyraki: hiii deku-kun! it's toga （≧∇≦）shigaraki didn't want me to tell you but the plan is ready when you are!! come back soon ok?? dabi's being mean   
.°(ಗдಗ。)°.

I sighed, clicking off my phone and leaving her message on read. "Sorry about that," I explained. "Uh, Uraraka texted me about lunch."

"Oh, okay." Todoroki looked up at the sky as it darkened with clouds. "Maybe we should go inside? It looks like it's about to start raining."

"Okay," I said. Shoto's hand was still in mine as we made our way back to the dorm building.

~~~

"Aw, look at you lovebirds," Uraraka said as Todoroki and I sat down across from her and Ashido at their table. We were in the cafeteria for lunch, having actually been invited by Uraraka after going back to the dormitories.

I gave a small laugh and hesitantly let go of Todoroki's hand. When he looked at me, confused, I just pointed to our plates. We needed free hands to eat.

"So," Ashido said, stretching out the vowel suggestively, "how was your walk?"

Upon hearing her tone, I nearly spit out the sip of water I had just taken. "What do you mean by that?"

"You know."

I started laughing, holding my sides as I chuckled. "The perfectly normal walk was fine, Ashido."

"Mhm, okay. Todoroki?"

"Yes?"

"Any comment?"

"No."

Ashido just giggled, her pink hair bobbing slightly as she did. "You guys are boring. Did you guys kiss? Come on, tell me!"

I leaned over to Todoroki. "Was she watching us or something?" I whispered.

"Maybe," he answered just as quietly.

"Mina, let them eat lunch in peace," Uraraka said calmly.

"I'm just curious," Ashido whined.

"You already know the answer."

"Hmph." Ashido crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip like a pouting child. "I know."

Her face lit up again as she pulled out her phone, holding it up to her face and snapping a quick picture. Ashido turned her device around to show me a photo of myself with some ridiculous filter placed on it. It was a fake hammer that had been slammed into my skull, making it appear the I had been hit with it. I thought I just looked stupid, but Uraraka and Ashido cackled like they had never seen anything funnier.

Todoroki pulled out his phone as well. He opened his photos and scrolled past four months worth of pictures. Once he passed them all, he didn't stop, instead going all the way back to the beginning of the school year.

He paused on an old picture and enlarged it. My face popped up on the screen, smiling happily, probably mid-laugh. I was looking at something behind the camera, which must have been Shoto.

He swiped to the next picture, which was a selfie of the two of us. I was smiling at the camera while he was looking at me, his eyes soft with love.

"When were these from?" I asked as the next picture showed up. It was one of me kissing Shoto on the cheek.

"I think they were from the night we started dating," he said, continuing to scroll through the photos after observing each of them.

"Can I see?" I asked nicely. Shoto handed the phone to me and I looked at the photos closely. In each of them, I was—very obviously—having a genuinely great time. My eyes were bright, either staring at the camera or Shoto with adoration.

I swiped to a photo of us kissing; both of us were smiling as we pressed our lips against one another, too happy not to.

Surprisingly, the photo didn't make me want to gag. Even more surprisingly, I didn't mind it.

What is happening? These feelings were good, happy-feely, and strange. I liked them, even though I kept telling myself not to. I'm not supposed to like heroes.