My Hero Academia: Romanticise Like A Raven

SHOELACES - Part 3

Shame still pounded at my head as I sat in the common room. Ashido had already announced that Rikido Sato had won the competition for best room (mostly due to cake and modesty), and now I was just sat in a slump.

"Why didn't they vote based off of rooms?" Ojiro complained to Denki Kaminari and his electric head of messy yellow hair.

"Hey, don't ask me! I voted for my favourite!" Kaminari scoffed theatrically.

"Which was..?"

"Kirishima, of course." Kaminari grinned his goofy grin, "But Todoroki was a close second."

"Yeah, well I did vote for Todoroki. So unfair that Sato won." Ojiro finished.

Ojiro seemed to be particularly salty because he'd been voted for 'most boring room', whilst Kaminari hadn't been voted for anything at all. They both sat there grumpily, and I watched them out of the corner of my eye.

Eventually, Kaminari saw that I was looking at them and asked, "What's your opinion on this whole thing?"

"That Sato won this thing fair and square, so the two of you should stop complaining." I groused, closing my eyes impatiently.

"Nah, he totally cheated with sweet treats!" Kaminari disagreed. However, when he decided that I wasn't in the talking mood he said, "Whatever."

"Mull it over as you sleep." I suggested absently, "I need to go to bed. Goodnight, both of you."

"Night." Ojiro breathed.

"See ya." Kaminari nodded, turning back to Ojiro.

I groggily trudged towards the staircase, rubbing my tired eyes. Today had been emotionally draining, and I had to admit that I couldn't wait to-

My thought train was stopped when I bumped into someone at the foot of the stairs. I opened my eyes wildly to see that I was now looking at the person in the class who consistently had the least energy, Shoto Todoroki.

His two-tone white and red hair was ruffled as I bumped into him, and I noticed his heterochromic eyes widen as he realised he'd gotten bodied by a classmate.

Me and Shoto weren't close, but we did talk a bit. I'd always felt comfort in his company, mainly because of our similar attitudes to many things. We'd also been paired up a lot by Aizawa because our names were next to each other in the register so we'd gotten to talking a lot during those times. He was a great teammate and a great friend; I knew that we really should speak more, if only I had the courage to ask.

Like his hair, his body and his quirk were also split in two. The left side with the white hair was his mother's, with her brown eye and the inherited ice power. The right side with the red hair was his father's, with a mysterious burn he'd never explain to me, his turquoise eye and the inherited fire power. He hasn't used the fire side as much, and as such it was a weakness. On the other hand, that didn't mean that the boy himself was weak.

I noticed that he was wearing a white, long sleeved shirt with a black flannel shirt over the top. His legs were adorned with shady grey jeans that were too big for him. Very emo. Nice.

"Hello, Tokoyami." Shoto spoke awkwardly, "Apologies for bumping into you there."

"That was me, not you. But thank you." I nodded slowly.

We then both started to head up the stairs, walking at the same, somnolent pace. The stairs creaked, and I tried not to think about anything as a method to relax.

"Congrats on being voted for the scariest room." Shoto broke the silence, with his usual level of energy and his expected straight face.

I winced, still embarrassed, and muttered, "Thank you."

Shoto shrugged, "I did vote for you to have best room, but I guess that didn't work out."

I stopped in my tracks and turned to him, "S- seriously?"

I told myself to compose myself and I did so promptly.

Shoto nodded, and then he continued, "Who did you vote for?"

I chuckled without thinking, composed myself again and answered, "Jiro. She had a cool room, I liked the instruments."

"Yeah, it was pretty cool." Shoto smiled a little.

Once we'd reached the second floor, we both stopped and turned to face each other. There was a vexatious moment where we both ended up looking into each other's eyes before looking away.

"Goodnight, Tokoyami. Sleep well." Shoto inclined his head.

"G- goodnight, Todoroki." I followed.

I then took a small stride forward...

...Only to stand on my still-untied shoelace. I started to tilt backwards, my eyes widening in fear as I realised that I was due to fall backwards down the stairs. I closed my eyes and tensed my body.

However, I didn't fall. Instead, I was caught with two strong hands, which then lifted me up to the main body of their owner. Shoto's face was very close now, and I could feel the layering of his clothes as our chests touched.

I started to pant as if I'd been having a workout. I realised that he was enveloping me, his arms tucked around me as my beak hung open. My face heated up to the temperature of the Sun, and my heart rate started to increase emphatically.

One would have thought I was to be executed, but that was not true.

The feeling evaporated all at once as Shoto let me go.

"Are you ok? Your shoelace was untied." Shoto gushed, his eyes wide with worry.

"I- I- I'm fine. Th- thank you." I croaked briefly, my eyes just as wide, if not wider.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow, then..." Shoto trailed off.

I watched Shoto leave carefully, my mouth still hanging open as if my jaw had been broken. Every step he made. The movement of his arms. The expressionless look on his face. Finally, I shut my beak, but my eyes didn't unwiden.

What... what had just happened?