**ON HOLD** Soft/Sharp (Kirishima x OC)

Chapter 11

Sero looked at Kamanari dumbfounded. "Why did you and Shinso smile at each other like that? What's going on?"

"Yeah dude, tell us!" Kirishima was getting nervous now.

Kamanari giggled behind his menu, then peeked over the top edge at Kirishima. "I dunno what you're talking about, dude. We're just here to eat and hang out with our friends, right?"

Bakugo rolled his eyes, mumbling to himself about Dunce Face having a stupid plan. "He's never gonna do it anyway, and I don't know how I let you drag me into this."

Kirishima looked to his grumpy friend now, frowning anxiously. "Bakubro, tell me what's going on! Seriously dude you guys are freaking me out!" His fists were on the table, clenched tight.

Sighing dramatically, Kamanari dipped his menu down to the table. He looked at the redhead with a devious smirk. "Don't worry, Kirishima, we're just here to give you a little push."

Now Sero looked back and forth between the other three boys, "Huh? Push for what?" He already knew the answer, he just hoped deep down it wasn't what he was thinking.

"We saw him talking to Shinso last night, all nervous over Kiashio. And he got confirmation they aren't dating, and he's not interested, so..." Kamanari was resting his head in his hand now, elbow propped on the table in front of him. He wiggled his eyebrows at Kirishima, causing his face to glow as red as his hair.

"Dude, shh!" Kirishima reached across the table to try and cover his mouth, blushing furiously worrying someone might overhear. "It's not like that, I swear! I was just making conversation."

While they went back and forth, Sero was looking down at his hands, which were folded in his lap. He was silently praying that Kirishima really wasn't going to make a move. He didn't want to compete with him for a girl, partially because they were friends, and mostly because he felt he didn't stand a chance. Girls never really looked at him, and this probably wasn't any different. After a moment of silent panic, he stood, grabbing Kirishima by the wrist and dragging him towards the door. "Come on, dude, we need to talk."

Kirishima was startled at first, but let his friend drag him away from the embarrassing conversation. He was sweating nervously and couldn't take Kamanari's teasing any more. He was just thankful Moegi seemed too involved with her studying, although he caught Shinso smirking at him as he exited the café, making his face a brighter shade of red before he rushed out the door.

"Tell me," Sero spun around to face Kirishima now, looking right into his red eyes, "are you actually going to ask her out?"

"Huh? N-no! I mean..." Kirishima rubbed his neck nervously. "I don't... I don't know? I mean I barely know her, I doubt she's even interested, and I don't want to ruin the chance of us being friends if I make her uncomfortable, and"

Sero grabbed his shoulders to snap him out of his nervous rambling. "Do you like her?" Before Kirishima could open his mouth to protest or finally admit it, he bit the bullet. "Because I think I do."

Kirishima's tense shoulders relaxed, he looked at his friend with a puzzled expression. "Y-you do?" He pressed his lips into a thin line when Sero looked down at the ground again, crossing his arms over his chest. "Then... you should ask her out."

Sero's eyes snapped back up to Kirishima's. "Wait, what? Really?"

"Yeah..." Kirishima sighed deeply. "If I'm not even manly enough to admit to my friends that I like a girl, why should I worry about asking her out? You just told me point blank, clearly you like her. Go for it. I'm sure she would say yes."

"I..." Sero relaxed, a small smile forming on his lips. "Thanks, man. I... I will."

"Go do it. Right now." He forced a sharky grin to encourage his friend. Sero nodded, readied himself, and went back into the café, leaving Kirishima to stand there alone. His smile dropped as soon as Sero went past him, now looking blankly at the ground. His chest felt heavy. But he wanted to put his friends before himself, even if it meant being a little sad for now. They'd all only known each other a week anyway, and this was just a little crush. He would move on. Right?

Sero marched past the table where Kamanari and Bakugo sat, towards Moegi and Shinso's table. Both blonde boys looked at him with confused expressions, then to each other, then towards the door. A sulking Kirishima came through it, the gentle bell sound contrasting his sad look. He slumped into his seat and opened the menu, not looking at or saying anything to either of the boys at the table.

"What the hell is going on?" Kamanari asked him before looking over his shoulder at the other table. Sero was nervously talking to Moegi, with Shinso looking up at him perplexed. His purple eyes then shifted over to Kamanari, his expression asking for clarification. Kamanari simply shrugged, then turned back to the sullen Kirishima.

Even Bakugo looked at his friend with some semblance of sympathy in his crimson eyes. He ultimately decided to try cheering him up in his own way. "They'd have some ugly kids, dude." He turned to his plate of pancakes and began eating silently. He wasn't good at comforting people, nor did he want to be.

"Hey, Kiashio," Sero stepped up to her side of the table, immediately losing steam and realizing how nervous he was. "I, uhm... I wanted to ask you i-if you, umm, wanted to maybe," He struggled to find the words.

She looked up at him, smiling at first but now her smile faded to a confused frown. Her yellow eyes swept over him, searching for signs of illness. "Are you alright, Sero? You're all red and... sweaty." She glanced towards Shinso, who was looking at Sero, his expression reading as "what the fuck am I looking at right now?" He returned Moegi's glance and she shrugged.

Sero gulped, speaking faster (and louder) now, trying to get the words out and over with. "Would you maybe want to go out sometime if not it's fine bye!" He spun on his heel to speed off, but a shocked Moegi jumped up, grabbing the back of his shirt with her gloved hand. The sound of her chair legs scraping the tile floor drew in everyone's attention.

"Sero!" Her tone was demanding as she pulled him back. "Slow down! Did I... did I hear that right?" She tilted her head to the side, the tip of her right ear just missing her shoulder, and with her left hand she tucked her hair behind her ear. There was no way he asked what she thought he did.

Now that the commotion had all eyes on him, Sero was panicking. He looked back at his friends, then to Shinso, then back at Moegi's big yellow eyes. Biting his lip, he nodded slowly, bracing himself for rejection.

After a moment, Moegi chuckled. Her hand fell from where she had been gripping his shirt. "Uhm... yeah. Okay." She looked down at the floor, feeling a bit nervous herself now. She hadn't expected it, but the feeling of a boy liking her for the first time made her feel warm, like she was wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. She smiled at him now. "Yes, I would like that."

He was so taken abackby her response. He thought she liked Kirishima, that she would never look athim that way, but maybe he had read the whole situation wrong. Moegi wasn't exactlya flirt, and Sero wasn't exactly experienced when it came to understandinggirls. Finally, though, he smiled back at her. "Okay. Cool. When you're alldone studying can I walk you home?"

"Yes."

A/N: I know exactly where I want this story to go, I'm just trying my best to string together the parts I have in my head please bear with me.