Shattered Dreams

Leak

UA Cafeteria

- Midoriya-chan, you're mumbling again. Is everything alright, kero?

Izuku snapped back into reality and swallowed his mouthful of ramen with a string of apologies.

- ...A-Ah, sorry, yeah, I was lost in my thoughts!

Shōto shot him a worried glance.

Whatever All Might may have told the green-haired teen last night seemed to really have upset him, he thought. Izuku had returned too late to share the info, so he had no idea what it was about.

However the fire and ice wielder was starting to know his boyfriend; maybe he could speculate by analyzing his state, as Izuku was used to doing with him?

His head was tilted on one side, cheek leaning on his palm, altering the balance of his body weight instead of his usual upright posture; he moved his chopsticks more slowly and kept them to his lips several seconds after stuffing the ramen into his mouth.
And he was mumbling. Very fast.
(His brain must be processing a million thoughts a second, Shōto figured.)
And the fact that he had kept his eyes low when he had answered Tsuyu's question, instead of looking at her, was a sign of uneasiness.

All Might must have finally told him the mysterious reason why he left to America without a word, causing his relationship with Endeavor to shatter to pieces.

"Looks like it had a nasty impact on Midoriya, too."

... and Shōto didn't like that. At all.
If Izuku himself started having doubts on what to do, they wouldn't go far!

- What's wrong? Ochako finally asked, looking about as worried as he was.
- Maybe we can help, you never know! Tenya added in, instantly straightening up like a soldier.

Izuku couldn't help but feel touched at how natural and kind the proposal sounded. For an instant, he wished he-

- Two of our, uh, friends broke up, and we're trying to get them back together, Shōto dropped matter-of-factly, while slurping his soba.

Izuku spat out his mouthful of water and turned crimson.
- T-Todoroki-kun!!

He broke into a coughing fit and frantically shook his head, eyes wide.

- W-Well, yeah, it's just that, uh, it's way more complicated than it looks!! he hurried in explaining, waving his hands in defense before their friends' confused eyes. We really don't wanna bother you with that.

As he finished his sentence he shot his boyfriend a half panicked, half disapproving glare.

The latter shrugged it off.

- Why? We just need to keep their identity secret, right? he pointed out, visibly surprised at his violent reaction. With how stubborn one of them is, if it goes on like this we'll still be at it in thirty years. We can use all the help we can get.

Izuku felt cold sweat drip down his neck. He absolutely hated keeping secrets from his friends — risking that they feel discredited was his WORST NIGHTMARE.
- But-

Ochako raised a hand to stop him.

- Okay, so one of them is super stubborn, that's a start! she summed up. What else do you have??

... okay, when she stared at them like that there was no more stopping her. Izuku had no choice but to give in.

He ran an unsteady hand in his green locks with a sigh.

- Well, the other one has a golden heart. From what I've understood, they're the one who messed up somehow, but it was due to unexpected circumstances and bad timing and they never got the chance to explain themselves later.