𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 (𝗏𝗂𝗅𝗅𝖺𝗂𝗇! 𝗍𝗈𝖽𝗈𝖽𝖾𝗄𝗎)

chapter eight

todoroki

What now?

I had asked myself that question an uncountable number of times since returning to my room from dinner—and it hadn't even been an hour yet.

Do I apologise to Midoriya, or do I leave it alone just in case he doesn't remember the fight?

Ugh.

"Dammit," I mumbled to myself. "I hate feelings." I paced around my room, debating against my own thoughts.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head: I should go talk to him.

And then, of course, I shot it down again. What if he's mad at me?

I sat down on the floor by the wall, sighing defeatedly. I tugged at my two-toned hair as thoughts swirled through my head, trying to drag me down with every passing second.

I need to apologise to Izuku.

Even though I had just sat down, I stood up again quickly as I thought of something. This time, I didn't let myself shy away from the idea.

I shook away my doubt and pulled open the door, leaving the comfort of my dark room and walking straight to the staircase. As I descended the stairs, Bakugou was walking up them, his arms folded over his chest. He looked pissed, but that was normal.

"Move it, Icy-Hot," he grumbled as I passed him.

I ignored his words and made my way to the second floor. Then, I turned and walked to Izuku's room.

Once I reached his door, I paused with my hand hovering in the air, ready to knock.

Soft sniffles were coming from the other side of the door. Was he . . . crying?

The noises didn't stop; they were actually getting louder the longer I waited.

I moved without thinking. Before I realised, my hand had knocked on the door, and Midoriya's sniffling stopped immediately. A few seconds later, the door was opening, and Izuku was standing in front of me, his eyes red and puffy.

Instantly, I felt like tearing up just at the sight of him being sad. He looked so upset, which absolutely tore me up inside.

"What's u-up?" Izuku asked, his voice still quivering from his crying.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," I answered, "but it's not important. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he lied, wiping any remaining tears from his eyes. "I'm okay."

"I understand if you don't want to talk, but there's definitely something bothering you."

Izuku paused and looked down at his hands, thinking. "C-come in, Shoto."

I entered his room and he closed the door behind me. "What's wrong?" I asked, looking around. Midoriya's obsession with All Might was extremely obvious with all of the merch collected im the room.

He sat down on the bed, patting the empty spot directly in front of him as if to tell me to join him. "I-I'm just slightly overwhelmed," he said, forcing a smile on his face. "I dreamed of coming back here for so long, but I guess I never thought that you guys would welcome me back so . . . openly."

Izuku was looking down at his hands, which were in his lap. I reached for them and intertwined our fingers, making him look up at me.

"Why wouldn't we welcome you back?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't know," he admitted, "I was just worried."

"You have no reason to be, Izuku."

I looked into his eyes as I spoke. When he heard his name, though, a wave of emotions seemed to flash in his eyes. After they passed, he softened, loosening his tense shoulders and smiling a bit brighter.

"Thank you, Shoto," he said softly.

I kissed Izuku's hand gently and he giggled. He leaned toward me and planted a kiss directly on my lips, to which I gladly returned. I let Midoriya push against me, leaning back on my arms to support both of us.

After a moment, he pulled away, breathing heavily. Once he had caught his breath and sat down again, he asked, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

I cursed in my head, any hope of him forgetting instantly being crushed. "It was just something small. We don't have to deal with it right now."

"Is it about what happened at dinner? You seemed really upset earlier."

Hesitantly, I nodded. "Yeah, it is."

"What's on your mind, Shoto?" he asked calmly, squeezing my hands with his own.

Better now than never.

"I know that this is four months late, but I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I said at the mall that day. I shouldn't have snapped at you," I said, trailing off slowly as Izuku's face clouded over with confusion.

"It's okay," he started, the memories of that day seemingly coming back to him.

"No, it isn't!" I said hastily. "I'm sorry for interrupting you," I added. "I shouldn't have lashed out like I did. Maybe if I hadn't . . . you wouldn't have been kidnapped."

Izuku looked like he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself and rethought his next words. "You couldn't have done anything, Shoto. It was my choice to leave early."

I felt tears welling up in my eyes. "Maybe, but still, Izuku, I'm sorry—"

He cut me off by kissing me roughly. This time, I pushed up against him, kissing back with just as much passion. Our lips moved together in sync, so forceful and starved of one another that we knew exactly what to do.

I pulled away slightly, my face still just inches from Midoriya's, and tried to catch my breath again. He managed to start breathing normally sooner than I did and kissed my jaw.

Confusion momentarily set over me. Did Izuku miss my mouth? I thought, right before realising that he was doing this with a purpose. He moved from my jaw down to my neck, kissing the skin along the way.

"Izuku," I muttered quietly as he placed a gentle kiss near my collarbone.

He paused and looked up at me. "Hm?"

I leaned against the pillows on his bed and opened my arms. "I wanna cuddle."

The green-haired boy laughed and fell onto me, softly placing his head on my chest. I put my arms around Izuku's body as he yawned.

"Are you tired?" I asked as he snuggled closer to me. Instead of saying anything, Izuku just yawned again and pulled the blanket over the two of us.

I smiled at how cute he was being. "Goodnight, Izuku," I whispered, exhaustion falling over me. I wanted to say more, but I held off so I could let the boy fall asleep. I love you, Izuku.