fate , todoroki

seem

"look, that's so stupid of him!" denki laughed, hand hitting the couch repeatedly as he used his other hand to point at the screen. "what's he even doing?"

that was what denki was—a noisy movie-watcher. honestly, y/n didn't mind. whether or not she was noisy with him depended on her mood, anyway.

but today, she couldn't focus on the movie. ugh... always embarrassing yourself in front of him, she thought to herself and rethought all the actions she did, starting to feel the familiar embarrassment creeping up her neck, red and hot like fire.

while denki was watching the movie ( and making a whole lot of noise ), she spent the time overthinking. now he probably thinks i'm really weird! but he did say that i looked okay, and that i handled it well... oh, i guess i'm okay, then.

she heaved a sigh of relief, tossing popcorn into her mouth.

wait, what if he was just being polite?

she choked on her popcorn, and denki's attention went all the way to her as he paused the movie and began patting her back lightly. "are you okay? you weren't even watching, were you? you clumsy mess." he said the last part without any unfriendliness, without any hostility but the words still pierced her heart and she looked at him, eyes glassy, and pointed to herself.

"i'm a clumsy mess?"

"yes!" he laughed, but seeing as her expression didn't go away he felt like it was the wrong thing to reply with. "no?" he tried again. "hey, don't cry. no, actually. i'll start crying too."

when did i start caring about what todoroki thinks of me? she shook denki's shoulders lightly, whispering—or mumbling—incoherent sentences to distract herself from crying. all denki could make out was 'oh no' and 'probably not' and 'i'm not good enough' and the last one was where he decided he needed to step in.

"y/n, you are good enough. why do you say otherwise?"

"he'll find someone less clumsy... and less of a handful. and maybe she won't show up to a convenience store in pyjamas, with messed up nails, and maybe she won't do embarrassing stuff and maybe she won't be such a handful."

she was rambling, denki was sure of it, but he could tell she meant every word she said. and this was where he felt like he needed to pull her in for a hug, so he did, drawing soothing circles on her back. "you'll be okay. if he leaves you so easily, he isn't the right one."

"but i want him to be," she mumbled into his shoulder. "i think i like him, denki."

"you are the last one to find out."

she pulled away, surprised, "you know who i'm talking about?"

his hand on his neck, he looked away. "i think i know...? let me guess," he said, pulling her hands into a tight grasp. "the reason you went out without your wallet but didn't call me to come and get it for you was because todoroki shouto happened to be there, and helped you pay for it, which also made you feel more weird things besides the fact that you wanted to slow dance with him?"

"how did you know i want to slow dance with him?" she sniffed. "i used the excuse of 'trying out a dance move'."

"i'm your best friend! and, um..." his eyes trailed the desk to her phone. "aren't you gonna thank him?"

"for?"

"buying you food and walking you back home. what else?"

she gasped. "you saw him walk me back?"

"of course!" he exclaimed. "you took so long just to buy stuff from the convenience store, plus you didn't bring your wallet. i was starting to think you had a plan to steal something, but you'd probably drop them before you could get it out of the shop—"

"denki!"

he laughed, "i'm joking. anyway, i was sick of waiting for you, so i watched couples fight outside from the window. then i saw the couple."

"we aren't a couple!" she said, but her flustered tone suggested that she wanted otherwise. "oh, i need to thank him!" she picked up her phone, hoping that she'd successfully changed the topic.

she didn't, but denki didn't want to press further.

she sent todoroki a text.

roki

y/n
i'm so sorry you had to pay for me again!
i'll treat you to a meal :D

roki
what about we watch that movie you told me about instead?
at the restaurant
we said we'd hangout together again anyway.

y/n
oh! im fine with it!
i have the cd, but
it doesn't show in cinemas anymore,
so it won't really be repaying your money :p

roki
but i think
watching a movie with you is priceless.

—

she gasped at the last text, letting go of her phone. it dropped onto the couch and she stared at denki with widened eyes. "...movie!" was all she was able to say, so denki unlocked her phone—he knew her password—and read the texts.

"is it a date? this is asking you out on a date, right? although it'll most likely be at your house since cinemas don't show it." denki's voice was excited. "i think he likes you!"

and they quit watching movies, instead sitting down to spend the rest of the time squealing about their crushes.