Unexpected

Chapter 1: Monoma's Realization

Monoma Neito never thought that he would be the type to get his heart broken.

Be the heartbreaker? Sure, maybe. That is, if he ever cared enough to put the effort in or if some poor fool fell for him despite his overbearing personality. Be the one whose heart was shattered? He would never be so stupid as to get close enough to someone to even give them the chance!

But it just so happened that he fell in love before he even realized what was happening.

At first, Shinsou Hitoshi was just someone that hung around him for more than five minutes at a time. He wasn't scared off like the others. He would just continue the conversation like Neito hadn't burst into maniacal laughter after threatening Class 1-A.

That was back when they went to UA together. Hitoshi had been in the general education class and was trying to make his way into one of the hero classes. Neito's classmates were just as ambitious as he was at first, but they quickly lost their steam when Class 1-A continued to do better than them in every competition. They had started saying that they wouldn't transfer to 1-A if someone had paid them to after it became apparent that they had the attention of the League of Villains. It was much safer to be in Class 1-B. If they had to forgo the glory and recognition to remain safely off of the radar of dangerous villains, they would do so gladly with smiles on their faces.

Not Neito, though.

Sure, he might be traumatized after the first few encounters, but he would have to face villains eventually, so might as well get it out of the way while he would have his class to back him up, right?

Except... his class didn't want to back him up.

He was jealous. Although he couldn't admit it then, or even see the jealousy for what it was, he saw it perfectly clear now.

He was jealous that students as dumb and useless as Kaminari Denki and Mineta Minoru were welcome among the elite, deserving members of Class 1-A. Neito knew that he was the one who deserved to fight against and alongside students like Bakugou Katsuki, who had drastically changed for the better each time they faced off, or students like Todoroki Shouto who could take out multiple people and win competitions with only half of his quirk. Why didn't his classmates advance and surprise him like that? Why didn't his classmates challenge him like he saw Class 1-A challenge each other?

Neito wasn't so self-centered that he didn't realize that everyone hated him. He loved going against Class 1-A. If he wasn't going to get to face villains like them, they were the next best thing to help him advance his own skills. He knew that they hated him and any experience they had to share with him, but it really did mean a lot when they would go full-out and treat him and his class like they were actual threats.

It made him even more mad at the same time, though. They had the audacity not only to be better than him in combat and rescue skills, but also in sportsmanship.

Neito never cared much for sportsmanship, but it was still infuriating that they had bested him in that area as well.

Neito had found a true friend in Hitoshi when his whole class would roll his eyes anytime he opened his mouth to speak. It was because of Hitoshi that he got over his obsession with besting Class 1-A as it was. No thanks to his classmates who scolded him for complaining to Hitoshi when Hitoshi himself was not fortunate enough to get into either hero course. Hitoshi never minded, though. He just let Neito rant to his hearts' content.

Neito was grateful that Hitoshi didn't start out in the hero classes, or he might have just seen him as another obstacle to overcome instead of a friend.

The first year of university is when Neito realized that he was head-over-heals in love with his best friend. Neito tried to push his feelings down, but he was already in too deep.

Even if he had been willing to cut off all ties with Hitoshi, these feelings weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Also, he wasn't willing, so there was that.

Neito was proud of himself with how he devised a plan to admit his feelings to Hitoshi.

He framed it as quirk-training and wanted to copy Hitoshi's quirk. It had been a while since they had practiced together, and neither of them wanted to get rusty, so they always said yes when the other requested to practice using their quirks.

Instead of making physical contact with Hitoshi's arm, like usual, he caressed his face. It was a good sign when Hitoshi didn't pull away.

Neito wasn't about to ask to kiss his best friend, but he knew better than to forgo consent altogether. He wasn't a monster. So, when he leaned into kiss Hitoshi, he did so slowly and deliberately, giving Hitoshi plenty of time to back off and push him away.

What surprised Neito, though, was instead of pushing him away or even just sitting there frozen, Hitoshi had met him halfway. And what a confidence boost that was!

After a simple peck and eye contact to make sure they were both on the same page, they had immediately gone back in for another kiss. Then another. Until Neito and Hitoshi were exploring each other's mouths with their tongues.

When Neito and Hitoshi pulled away, hooded gazes locking, Neito had asked, "do you like me more than a friend?"

Neito almost felt bad about what he was going to do after sharing the moment with Hitoshi, but when Hitoshi had answered "obviously" with his normal level of attitude dripping from the word, his guilt vanished as he took over Hitoshi's mind with his own quirk.

Hitoshi had broken out of it pretty quickly, even without having practiced recently. Hitoshi had met Neito's nervous grin with a blank stare before they both jumped to their feet, Neito running and laughing manically while Hitoshi chased him.

If it weren't for that damn capture scarf, he would have gotten away with it, too.

Hitoshi had wrapped him up deliciously, like always, but this time, Neito's fantasies had come to fruition when Hitoshi, ends of his capture weapon still in hand, had grabbed Neito's face and pulled him into another heated kiss.

Neito realized with a start that he was crying when a tear dripped off of his face and onto his hand, jolting him from his daydream of what was once so, so good.

And now it was broken.

He was glad he had the foresight to send Denki away. He didn't want him to see him like this. No... he was done showing weakness. Look where it had gotten him with Hitoshi—brokenhearted, cheated on of all things.

Neito wondered if this hurt more than if Hitoshi had left him for the electric blonde instead of going behind his back. Shaking his head, he realized that it would hurt either way. He wanted to keep Hitoshi forever, but he didn't deserve something as good as Hitoshi forever, did he?

Just because it was inevitable didn't mean that it didn't hurt. It hurt so, so much.

Poor Denki had looked heartbroken as well.

As much as Neito wanted to hate him, he believed him when he said he had no idea that Neito had been seeing Hitoshi.

It hurt even more when Neito realized that he had starting dating Hitoshi around the same time Denki had. Hitoshi had never really been his, has he?

He didn't stop the tears as they fell, allowing himself to wallow in self-pity for the night with a compromise with himself that he would have to pull himself together in the morning like it didn't even matter.

He knew then that he was lying to himself, and he wouldn't be able to act indifferent the next day, but it made him feel less pathetic as he sat there and sobbed over the betrayal.