Need You (ShinDeku)

Ch. 54 - Okay

A/N: a few of you seemed to think I had forgotten about a certain someone... the truth is, they've been in the plans since the beginning and there's a very good reason they haven't been introduced until now.

Shinso POV

Should I ask him when he wakes up? No, Shinso. He's probably traumatized and stressed out because he just got saved from his second kidnapping less than 24 hours ago. This is the worst possible time to risk messing up our relationship. I look down on Midoriya fondly, watching him snuggle further into my chest in his sleep. My fingers thread gently through his hair, occasionally lightly scratching his scalp. Sometimes he reacts, giving a small sound of content or just barely pushing his head up into my hand. I said baby steps, right? Maybe I should ask him to call me Hitoshi.

So the question now is how do I ask him? Maybe I shouldn't even ask, because then he'd feel pressured to call me that even if it made him uncomfortable. This is so difficult, I wish I had instructions or something. I've never liked someone like this before and I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

I contemplate my options for a little longer, not really coming to any conclusions. It's getting latter into the morning so I spend fifteen minutes trying to replace my body with a pillow without waking Midoriya up. I don't want to make him uncomfortable and last time he woke up on top of me he seemed really embarrassed.

Once I've successfully done that, I go back to waiting. I would play a game or work on something school related but I'm too nervous to actually focus on anything. Thankfully—or not, I'm not really sure—he wakes up ten minutes later.

He hasn't opened his eyes yet but he's rolled onto his back, releasing the pillow he was holding. He lets out a small groan and lifts his hand to rub his eyes, but he stops before he touches his face. I can practically see the gears turning in his head as his eyes fly open to stare at his hand in the air.

His head turns to me and we lock eyes as he calms down.

"Right, I forgot where I was for a moment." He rasps, morning voice sounding a bit worse than usual.

He groans a little as he pushes himself into an upright position.

"Morning. Are you feeling okay?" I ask, seeing him wince in pain.

"Yeah," he responds after a moment. "Better than I thought I'd be feeling. Your mattress must be magic."

My face glows red. He slept on top of me last night, not on the mattress.

"Do you want some water?" I decide to change the subject.

"Oh, that... would be nice. Do you, um..." His face seemed to tinge pink and he looked down. "Do you have any more of that tea that you made me a few times?" He coughed, bringing his knees up closer to his chest.

"I can make some right now, and I don't even have to leave the room," I supply proudly, moving towards my desk. While he was...gone, I impulse bought a coffee machine online (because I was stressed and desperately trying to keep my mind off what might have been happening to him) and I don't think I've ever been so happy that I bought something.

If I just skip putting a coffee pod in after I fill it with water and start it, it gives me hot water so I can brew the tea. The perfect investment considering it gives me the sacred bean water and allows me to make Midoriya happy.

"You should still drink a bottle or two of water since you're probably dehydrated," I mention, grabbing a bottle off of my desk to hand to him. "But I'll also make you a cup of tea."

"Thanks, you really are amazing." He sighs, staring blankly at the wall.

What?! My face explodes in red again. How can you just say something like that? I hide behind my hand, willing the blush to go down. Why are you so cute?

I use brewing the tea as a distraction, completely forgetting to respond to him at all.

"I'm sorry about last night, for being all emotional and everything. I was just really stressed, and I thought you died so I wasn't really thinking properly." He mumbles.

Did he not notice me crying? And the way I shoved the door open when I heard him call out my name in the nurses office? I'm pretty sure I looked like I was about to have a meltdown. So much for good impressions.

"Don't worry about it, you're dealing with all of this way better than I ever could. I'm just glad you're back." That was okay, right? I hope I'm not being insensitive or something.

We're silent for a few more moments until I finish the tea and walk it over to him. I never act like this, second guessing everything I say. I'm genuinely nervous that I'm going to mess something up, even though that's never really been an issue in the past. Everyone already thought I was a villain and didn't want to hang out with me because of my quirk so it didn't matter what I did, but Midoriya doesn't see me like that. I really care about how he thinks of me. Ugh, I can't believe I'm acting so lovesick over him. This is the exact thing I used to gag about in movies.

"It's probably still hot, so be careful." I warn as I hand the tea over to him. He gives me a small smile as he shifts once again, getting into a more comfortable position.

I pull my phone out, suddenly unsure of what to do in the silence between us. Surprisingly, there's five texts from Aizawa-sensei so I open his contact.

<Hey there Shinso, this is present mic!
<Shota's sleeping right now but I thought i'd let you know that you and Izuku don't have anything you have to do today. Both of you should relax as much as possible, and make sure Izuku stays hydrated and eats a lot!
<I'll probably stop by later in the evening to give him his new phone, but if anything happens don't be afraid to call us right away!
<I'm headed towards the 1-A dorms to talk to your class rn and we're gonna plan something small to welcome him back tomorrow.
<Oh, and in case he's curious, Shota spoke to the police department and they said they could wait until the end of the week to speak to Izuku.

I checked the texts to see they were sent about an hour ago, and quickly sent a reply.

Sounds good. He just woke up, I'll let you know if we need anything. >

I don't even know if Mic still has Aizawa's phone. Whatever, Aizawa can back-read if he needs to, and then text mic.

"Shinso?" Midoriya mumbles.

"Hm?"

"The man...He told me he could fix my hand. Do you think recovery girl is right? That I'm never gonna be able to use it normally again? If I... if I focus really hard I can bend all of my fingers now, that's good, right?" He looks up at me with glassy eyes, and the vulnerability on his face makes me freeze. "Shinso, I'm scared... I don't know what to do. I just wanna be a hero."

I sit down on the edge of my bed and glance towards Midoriya.

"I believe in you. You're my hero after all, so I know you can do it."

The tears building up in his eyes seem to overflow as he lowers his head, hunched over the tea.

"Okay." He whispers.

It's quiet for a while, and for even longer after he's stopped crying. I curse my awkwardness for preventing me from comforting him further. Eventually though Midoriya's stomach growls, making him flush in embarrassment.

"Hungry?" He nods silently.

"Do you want to wait here or go downstairs with me?" I question, watching as he looks shyly up at me. I already know what his answer will be as he glances over to his wheelchair.

I help him get situated and soon the two of us are on our way down to the kitchen, still in pajamas. When the elevators open there seems to be a commotion on the floor and I almost just want to go back up. There are a few kids running towards the entrance and I can see why a few moments later. What's he doing here?

"All might?" Midoriya asks in a small voice, craning his neck.

1422 words.