His Hero

Friends

The ride to the bar where everyone was meeting was both too short and too long for Shoto. His leg bounced relentlessly, and his mind raced, unable to focus on the small talk Sero was attempting to make. A few words about their mission and patrols cut through his thoughts, and he felt a slight pang of guilt for ignoring his friend. But the more he thought about the friends waiting for him, the more his mind wandered into memory and at this point there was no stopping it.

---

It had been two weeks – no three – since those elevator doors had opened and shattered his heart. He was sure he'd heard it crack as he stood there and watched Kirishima place a kiss on Katsuki's cheek in the hallway while he went up in flames like the idiot he was.

Shoto had confined himself to his room where he currently lay deep in thought, his limbs numb with the cold he hardly felt anymore. He had refused to leave for anything other than classes or training since then and almost everyone had given up on trying to get him out at this point. Thankfully he knew the routine Katsuki stuck to by heart, one he had accompanied him on almost every day for the last year or so, and he was able to avoid him when he did need to leave. For the most part.

They still had classes together. Classes where he had to watch Kirishima throw his arm around the explosive teen's waist and pull him in for a hug, for a kiss.

And every time he would swipe furiously at the tears that threatened to spill from already puffy blue and grey eyes. He would choke down the sob that was just at the top of his throat, dying to be let out again. He could only sit there and stupidly massage his chest in a futile attempt to dull the ache that just would not leave.

The class had been confused by the news of Katsuki and Kirishima's relationship, but quickly shrugged it off and congratulated the two. Most of them admitted to still not really understanding the explosive blond, even after three years of school together. And if any of them noticed the pain Shoto was in, they didn't show it. But it was better that way. He wasn't going to let anyone in, not like that, not again. His ice walls were back up, higher and thicker than before and they wouldn't be coming back down any time soon.

Or at least that's what his head told him.

His broken heart cried over its distance from the blond, begging him to melt the walls and return to his side.

His heart was a traitor.

Staring up at the ceiling of his room, massaging that same damn spot in his chest again, he sighed and closed his eyes. Each breath was a frosty exhale into the icy air around him, but he didn't notice anymore. A single tear slipped out from his right eye and froze to his cheek. He was sure he'd cried more in the last two weeks than his whole life combined and was starting to wonder if his tears would ever dry up. He could tell he was weaker in training, no doubt a result of his dehydration, but he couldn't seem to stop crying. As hard as he tried.

Izuku, Momo, and Hawks became his lifeline in the last three weeks and were the only ones who knew what really happened. He'd spent the first few nights sobbing to them, too broken to care about being embarrassed. But he was done with that now.

Sitting up after minutes – or maybe hours – of laying in his bed his vision burst with stars. Shaking his head to clear them he stood and stretched, feeling a satisfying pop from each stiff joint. A haze of frost hung low in his room, but he didn't have the fire in him to warm it up anymore. His stomach growled and with a groan he left the safety of his dorm room and headed for the kitchen. Judging by how dark it was outside he hoped he would be lucky enough not to run in to his classmates.

But luck didn't seem to want anything to do with him anymore.

Shuffling down the stairs and into the kitchen his stomach instantly sank. His mind screamed at him to turn around and run, but his heart urged him to move forward towards the blond who was busy in the refrigerator with his back to Shoto.