Friends? (tododeku)

Chapter 8

Third-person POV

Todoroki stood in front of Midoriyas' grey door. The vacation had ended and school had begun. Todoroki wore a thick black jacket and a beanie of the same color. On his feet, he had his big brother's old sneakers that were a couple of sizes too big. His backpack was black with red stripes.

The door clicked and opened. Todoroki looked down. Midoriya peeked from the door and smiled broadly. "Hey Todoroki!" he said with delight and stepped out. He was wearing a red jacket and an iconic All Might backpack.

"Hey..." Todoroki said quietly and after a moment of silence, turned to leave. Midoriya followed after saying goodbye to her mother first.

The boys walked side by side along a dirt road. The weather was cool and there had also been some snow. The shouts of the other students echoed through the neighborhood as they ran towards the school's large gates. Todoroki glanced imperceptibly at Midoriya. He squeezed the straps of his backpack and his shoulders were tense. Is he scared?

"Is everything all right, Midoriya?" he asked and slipped his hand into his pockets. Midoriya looked up and laughed.

"Mmhm, yeah. I'm just excited," he smiled and lifted his backpack. Todoroki smiled back and let it be.

As they reached the school gates, they noticed a loud boy raging at the other students. It wasn't hard to recognize him... Bakugou. He and Todoroki had never spoken before, and Todoroki had never wanted to approach him. Bakugou was a loud, impulsive, and self-centered child. Todoroki couldn't tolerate that kind of attitude. "Aah, Kacchan!" Midoriya smiled as they arrived at the gate. Bakugou turned his head and grinned when he saw Midoriya.

"Deku," he said briefly and turned his gaze to Todoroki. The grin turned incredibly quickly into a mixture of disgust and anger. "Who do you think you are?"

Todoroki stared expressionlessly at the grimacing blonde in front of him. He clearly didn't like Todoroki nor wanted him near him. Todoroki didn't respond. He didn't know how to answer. Should he introduce himself or...?

Waiting didn't seem to be one of Bakugou's greatest strengths, and he loudly clicked his tongue. He put his hands in the pockets of his black loose pants and came closer.

"What's wrong with you? Can't you talk?" Bakugou grinned mockingly and turned away. "Oh yeah, Deku," Bakugou turned back at them, "don't approach me anymore if you are hanging out with such rubbish." He pointed his hand to his other friends, who understood and followed him.

Todoroki was speechless. What's wrong with this boy?

Todoroki felt someone pulling his sleeve. He looked down and noticed Midoriya smiling at him. "Don't mind him. He's always like that," Midoirya said and started walking towards the school. Todoroki shrugged and followed. Bakugou was weird, but everything would be well if they didn't collide again. Midoriya lowered his backpack next to his locker and began to take off his red scarf. Todoroki's locker was on the other side of the room, which is why they hadn't seen each other at school before. Todoroki threw his jacket and changed his shoes. Midoriya did the same and finally, both boys threw their backpacks on their backs.

They stepped next to the lockers and stood facing each other. Todoroki straightened the strap of his backpack and put his hand in his pocket. He glanced down and noticed Midoriya smiling wide. "See you at lunch break, Todoroki!" he said and waved his hand. Todoroki nodded and watched as Midoriya ran into his class with his green hair fluttering. Todoroki scratched his cheek. They were in different classes, so he would have to wait until lunch before he could see the boy again.

Todoroki felt heat spreading on his face.

Wow, the weather is really warm today...

-- -- --

"Todoroki!" Midoriya exclaimed excitedly and opened the sliding door with a loud thud. Todoroki startled and turned his head. He had sat alone at his desk deep in thought, while the other students laughed and ran around the room. Todoroki lowered his hand, which had leaned against his cheek. Midoriya smiled and waved his pink lunch box. It was a lunch break, which meant that Todoroki and Midoriya could spend time with each other. Todoroki got up and took his box from his backpack. They walked along the corridors towards the stairs that would take them to the roof. Midoriya was as talkative as ever and Todoroki nodded next to him. He told stories about his classmates, and how one time someone had tried to put sharp pins on a teacher's chair but quickly got caught. Todoroki smiled at the thought. He usually did not pay much attention to his environment, which left many of his classmates' tricks unnoticed by him. Midoriya stepped onto the white stairs and stopped. Todoroki stood still and looked up. Midoriya turned his head and locked his gaze to Todoroki's light blue and dark gray eyes. Neither of them moved. Outside, the bright sun cast a bright beam of light around Midoriya's head. Todoroki squinted and shadowed his eyes with his hand. Midoriya lifted a wide smile to his lips and swayed his head shyly to the side.

Todoroki's eyes widened and his hand fell limp. He felt as if some warm breeze had swept through his tiny body. It was as if some invisible force had departed from Midoriya. Some burning force that now meandered around Todoroki's heart, squeezing it gently. Todoroki raised his hand unconsciously to his heart and squeezed the fabric. He couldn't breathe. His lungs were not working. Damn, even his sense of time disappeared completely.

Midoriya turned and everything seemed to be in slow motion. He slowly jumped up the stairs, his green hair fluttering. The sunlight made him sparkle like millions of stars on a cold night. Todoroki didn't notice it, but his face was fiery red to his ears. He still squeezed the fabric in his fist. Did my body stop functioning? Am I broken?

"Todoroki!" Todoroki looked up at Midoriya. "Are you coming?" he asked. Todoroki shook his head, trying to get his brain to work again.

"I am," he answered and took a step. It felt like tens of minutes had passed, when in reality everything happened within a few seconds. All those feelings and thoughts filled his mind in just seconds. Such great feelings can appear all of a sudden, and you can do nothing about it. Why does a person fall in love? Why do they fall in love with that particular person? What do others think if you fall in love with the wrong person? Todoroki would probably never get an answer to these questions, as love is far too difficult to understand yet. And that if something was scary.

What Todoroki, on the other hand, did not know was that from that moment on, he was able to experience a whole new kind of feeling: love, and that was the cause of that green-haired, freckled boy.