Work For Your Affection (BakuTodo)

"date"

Mina smiles at me. "Okay, let's try it one more time."

My eyes shift between my four idiot friends huddling around me. Looking up at them from my desk chair, my irritation reaches exponential levels. I haven't been keeping track of how long we've been doing this for, but I'm over it.

I roll my eyes. "Todoroki, will you go on a date with me?" I mutter.

Mina flares her nostrils. "Can you at least pretend to have some enthusiasm? You're only asking the most handsome boy in school on a date."

My deadpan expression doesn't change. "It's not my fault I can't act like I'm attracted to any of you morons."

Kaminari pulls his phone from his pocket and scrolls through it. When he finds what he's looking for, he hands it to me. "Try this then."

Observing the screen, it's a picture of Todoroki. He's sitting at his desk in the 1-A classroom, staring back at the camera with an adorable look of confusion. Given the angle of the camera, my guess is Kaminari took the picture from his own seat when the teacher wasn't looking.

"Why do you even have this?" I say.

He shrugs. "Why not?"

Surveying the photo again, I can't fight back a smile at Todoroki's innocent face. Why does he have to be so cute all of the time?

"Practice what you're going to say while looking at that picture," Kaminari says.

My smile drops and I glare at him. "No fucking way."

It's not a terrible idea in theory, but there's no chance I'm doing any of that in front of these people. I know I asked for their assistance in how to ask Todoroki on a date, but I've expressed enough of my vulnerability to them today and I refuse to dive any deeper.

I give Kaminari his phone back and stand up. "I've practiced enough. I think I got this."

Kirishima flashes a toothy grin. "That's the spirit, bro!"

Sero slaps a hand on my shoulder. "Yup! Just remember to be confident. You and Todoroki are already close, so there's no need to be nervous in front of him."

I nod, both to acknowledge my friends' words of encouragement, but also to pump myself up.

"Besides," Mina adds with a sincere grin, "the worst he can say is no."

Upon hearing that, my heart sinks into my stomach. "H-He can say no?"

Mina blinks twice with her mouth half open. "Uh..."

I turn to Kiri. "You never told me he's allowed to say no."

Kiri's gentle smile morphs into a nervous one. He tugs at his shirt collar. "Well, we didn't feel like we had to. There's no chance he'll say no."

Every insecurity I ever acquired over my sixteen years of life clouds my brain as I run a hand through my hair. "Holy shit, he's gonna say no."

"He won't," Kaminari insists. "Why would he?"

"Um, because he's way out of my fucking league, you moron."

Sero presses his lips together. "Nice going, Mina."

Mina slumps her shoulders. "I didn't even say anything bad!" She looks back at me with a soft smile. "Bakugou, you have nothing to worry about. Todoroki's feelings for you are mutual, I know it."

I pout. "What makes you say that?"

"It's obvious. I can tell by the way he looks at you."

"How does he look at me?"