Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Attention, everyone!” Tenya shouts into the nearly empty 1-A classroom. “Somebody has been leaving unauthorized flyers in students’ shoe lockers! In the future, please refrain from doing so unless you have been given special permission from a teacher beforehand!"

Tenya holds one of the aforementioned papers in his hand and waves it around for the small handful of students to see. Several pairs of eyes follow the piece of paper as it flutters through the air.

“What does the flyer say?” Asui asks with a curious tilt of her head. “I didn’t receive one in my locker."

“Same,” Todoroki says. “I didn’t see any loose papers or anything when I was over there.”

Tenya stops waving his hand. He pauses before answering. “I’m… not sure. I didn’t actually look to see what it says.” Tenya’s brow furrows. “Did you two really not receive any suspicious articles in your lockers this morning? Just me?”

The two of his friends nod in reply.

“Hmm. Let me take a closer look, Iida-chan,” Asui asks as she holds out her hand for the paper. “I have an idea of what it might be…”

Tenya hands her the mysterious paper as Todoroki walks over to join his friends.

Asui turns the folded piece of paper over in her hands and then she sees something that makes her gasp quietly.

“I had a feeling. Iida-chan, this is a love letter.”

Tenya splutters in shock. “How do you know that?”

“Look here.” Asui points at the sticker that’s keeping the paper folded. “It’s a heart sticker.”

“How could something this important end up in my locker, of all places?”

“Because it’s for you?” Todoroki says.

Tenya’s eyes widen, and his face heats up at the idea of someone confessing to him. “That’s--! That might not be what’s happening here! Maybe we’re misinterpreting… It could be something else entirely!”

“You don’t think it’s a love letter?” Todoroki asks, concern etched in his brow.

“I’m not dismissing the possibility completely, it’s just…” Tenya’s words drift off.

It’s not that Tenya dislikes the idea of somebody at his school giving him a love letter. In fact, he would be extremely flattered and happy at the idea of someone liking him! It’s just, well--he can’t help but have his doubts about it truly being meant for him.

“It’s just…” Tenya says again. ”The idea that someone I know might have feelings for me? It’s… challenging for me to really imagine.”

“I don’t think it’s a hard thing to imagine,” Asui says adamantly.

Tenya looks at Asui with wide eyes. She smiles reassuringly at him.

“If you open the letter, I think it will ease some of your doubts,” Todoroki says kindly.

Tenya nods and looks down at the folded letter in his hands. He stares at the little pink heart. He can feel his fingertips beginning to tremble nervously.

“You don’t have to read it in front us if you don’t want to,” Todoroki reassures. “You can read it somewhere private or wait until later?”

“No.” Tenya shakes his head. “I would like to read it now. I’m much too curious to wait.” He smiles and glances at Todoroki and Asui. “Besides, being surrounded by my friends gives me courage.”

Todoroki and Asui smile warmly at that.

Tenya looks back down at the note in his hands and he takes a deep breath.

He opens the letter and begins to read silently to himself.

Dear Iida,

I REALLY like you!!! You are extremely admirable and smart and handsome and manly and strong and kind! You are an amazing person. It’s only natural that I would end up falling for you! I wish that someday soon I’ll be able to tell you in person just how wonderful you are and how much I like you. Perhaps then I’ll be a braver man and worthy of offering you my feelings. Until that day comes, I will continue to admire you from afar! I hope you can forgive me for my cowardice.

With my dearest respect and affection,

Your secret admirer ❤

Tenya finishes reading the letter. He reads it a second time and a third time.

He’s interrupted during his fourth reading when he hears the voices of Midoriya and Uraraka approaching.

“Good morning, Iida-kun, Todoroki-kun, Tsuyu-chan!” Midoriya greets cheerfully.

“G’morning!” Uraraka grins, but it starts to drop as she notices the intense mood in the air. “What’d we miss? It looks like we missed something.”

Midoriya stands close to Tenya’s side. “Iida-kun, is something wrong?”

Tenya lightens his grip on the paper in his hands and looks up. He attempts to speak but his mind is scrambled. “Uh.”

“Iida-chan received a love letter,” Asui announces just loud enough for her friends to hear.

Midoriya and Uraraka both make surprised noises.

“Whoa!!”

“A love letter?! That’s so cool!”

Midoriya asks the question on everyone’s mind, including Tenya’s. “Who is it from?”

Tenya looks up. His friends listen eagerly.

“It says it’s from ‘your secret admirer.’”

The group of teens answer with mixed reactions.

“Aww!” Uraraka exclaims sweetly.

Asui makes a displeased noise at the lack of a name.

Todoroki hums thoughtfully.

“Ohhh,” Midoriya mumbles with awe in his voice. “I wonder who it could it be from?”

Tenya is definitely interested in knowing the answer to that question too. The fact that there is someone he knows and shares the same school halls with who holds onto such dear feelings--soft, and kind feelings--directed towards him...

It’s wondrous.

Although…

Tenya can't deny that he already has a crush on someone.

If Tenya is completely honest with himself, when he thinks of such warm feelings, he can’t help but imagine the face of a certain red-haired boy. A certain strong-willed boy with the brightest smile he’s ever seen. A certain boy that makes Tenya feel dizzy in the head and fuzzy on the inside but in the best and happiest way possible.

He imagines for just a second what it would be like if that certain boy wrote this letter for him.

That would be… really nice.

“Iida-chan?” Asui says, startling Tenya out of his thoughts.

“Yes, Tsuyu-chan-kun?”

She smiles. “I wish you the best of luck.”

“Yes!” Uraraka exclaims brightly. “Congratulations, Iida-kun!”

Midoriya grins, his eyes shining. He touches Tenya’s shoulder. “I’m so happy for you, Iida-kun!”

“You deserve this, Iida,” Todoroki says with a soft smile. “We’re here for you.”

Tenya gapes at his friends’ words before he huffs out a quiet laugh. “You guys... I’m at a loss for words. Thank you!”

The group of close-knit friends continue to chat and encourage their best friend, basking in affectionate encouragements and hopeful wishes for the future, until the time comes for them to take their individual seats for the start of homeroom.

Chapter Text

It’s only moments after Iida discovered he has an admirer that Aizawa arrived to class and everyone returned to their assigned seats. However, the small group of friends were not the only people in the classroom at the time of Iida’s discovery, so word quickly spreads that the class representative has an admirer. Throughout class, voices whisper of an anonymous letter, a declaration of love. Every student in class 1-A knows before homeroom ends.

Despite her general dislike of gossip, even Yaoyorozu Momo catches word of her classmate’s situation.

Her initial reaction upon hearing the news is to be pleased for her peer, with whom she’s on friendly terms. After all, Iida is a very respectable person and a fine comrade. Momo hopes that he finds happiness, one way or another.

It isn’t until she considers the means by which Iida received his confession that thoughts about romance start to churn in her mind.

Momo can't help but utter a wistful sigh at the idea of receiving a love letter. It’s such a traditionally romantic way to express one’s feelings. Admittedly, she always was attracted to some of the more cliched ideas when it came to romance.

Eventually, when homeroom ends and Aizawa leaves the room, the class bursts into chatter, most of it directed at Iida.

“Is it true?” Aoyama asks with visible interest. “Has someone confessed their heart to you?”

“Ah, um, yes,” Iida answers. He nervously adjusts the frame of his glasses. “I did receive a… confession this morning.”

Momo voices her earlier thoughts aloud. “A love letter… how charming!” she sighs.

“You think so?” Kirishima replies with a bright smile.

"Of course!” Momo says, cheered by his sudden enthusiasm. He’d been a bit down all class period, which is quite unlike Kirishima. She’s glad that the excitement of the letter was enough to bring him out of his funk.

“It is a very alluring idea...“ Tokoyami muses aloud. “The idea of an anonymous suitor secretly pining for you from afar.”

“Huh. I never would’ve read you as a romantic, Tokoyami,” Jirou says, turning backwards in her seat.

Tokoyami shrugs. “I never said I wasn’t one.” He gestures to Jirou with a subtle tilt of his head. “What about yourself?”

“Me?” Jirou points to herself with a surprised expression. “Romantic? I’m--uh…” Her eyes dart sideways in Momo’s direction, but they bounce back just as quickly. She lazily twiddles with one of her ear lobes. “W-well, I wouldn’t say I’m not interested, y’know? Heh.”

That’s such a vague answer , Momo thinks. But she’s happy to hear that Jirou isn’t turned off by the idea of dating someone.

Maybe… maybe there’s a chance she could-

Oh, what is she thinking? How much more presumptuous can she be right now? Thinking about Jirou’s interests in dating. Momo doesn’t know what kind of people Jirou is interested in. They’ve never spoken about it before. She can’t just make assumptions like that about her!

But… Jirou did say she could be interested in someone, so just maybe...

Momo’s inner turmoil is interrupted by a loud voice from the corner of the room.

“I definitely know someone who is interested in romance!” Aoyama declares, posing in his seat. He pauses for effect. “It’s me!”

“Ooh, do you have your eye on someone in particular?” Uraraka asks with a wiggle of her brow.

Aoyama laughs brightly. “Yes, I do!”

For a few seconds, Momo thinks he’s going to follow up with a name, but he doesn’t.

Realizing that that particular conversation is exhausted, Uraraka turns her attention back to Iida. “So, Iida-kun! Do you have any clues yet who gave you the letter?”

“Y-yeah, do you have any theories?” Kirishima says, his demeanor suddenly quiet again.

Iida shakes his head and gestures firmly with his hand. “I feel it would be very rude to voice any of my assumptions publicly! However, I will admit that no, I don’t have any ideas yet.”

“Boring!” Aoyama proclaims. “I’ll bet that Midoriya-kun has come up with some ideas. He’s very perceptive!”

Every eye in the classroom turn to Midoriya, but the boy in question shakes his head.

“No, not really,” Midoriya says as he looks down at his notebook. “From looking at the letter, there really isn’t too much information to go on yet. All we know is that the admirer referred to themself as a man and goes to UA. It could be anyone, really. Iida’s well-known enough around the school that the admirer could be from a different class or even a different year. But it does seem more likely that the person who sent the letter is from our class since they would know Iida better.”

“Oooh!” Aoyama croons. “You mean the secret admirer is in the classroom with us right now?”

“It’s possible?”

“Haha... that’d be pretty wild,” Kirishima chuckles awkwardly.

Midoriya taps his chin with his pen, thinking. “Oh, and another thing! Whoever dropped off the letter in Iida’s locker must have arrived to school extra early this morning.”

“Really?” Iida says, his brows lifting.

“Really ?!” Kirishima laughs, slightly frenzied.

“Iida-kun, do you remember who else was in the classroom this morning when you first arrived?”

Iida opens his mouth to speak but is interrupted by a clatter of noise when Kirishima bolts up from his desk.

“Bathroom! I’m going to the bathroom!” He utters a strangled laugh and speed-walks over to the exit.

Jirou scowls. “TMI, dude.”

“Ah, Kirishima-kun!” Iida calls out. “Our next class starts in just a few minutes! Don’t be late!”

“O-oh, uh, right! Thanks, class rep!” Kirishima smiles sheepishly before he stumbles his way out into the hall.

That was… kind of weird. But not too much different than Kirishima’s usual enthusiasm. Momo decides she’ll ask him later if he’s feeling ill.

It’s a few hours later during their recreational gym period that Momo is able to speak to Kirishima, as she, Kirishima, and Todoroki are getting ready for sparring practice.

It’s still kind of new, but the three of them have developed a special sort of relationship that feels somehow different than their other friendships.

It started when Kirishima openly announced that he was gay. Then, when Todoroki got closer to Kirishima, he too came out to him as gay. Meanwhile, Momo became closer friends with Todoroki and came out to him as a lesbian. And then, from that point on, the three of them naturally just gathered together, feeling safe and accepted within each other’s presence.

They could openly talk to each other about things like crushes and their experiences with being gay, knowing that the others would understand what they’re feeling.

That isn’t to say that there aren’t other LGBT+ kids in their class. Momo’s positive that they’re not the only ones. But for right now, they know that the three of them have each other to rely on.

It’s while the three of them are doing stretches that Momo decides to check on her friend.

“Kirishima-san, are you feeling well enough to exert yourself right now?”

Kirishima looks up, confused. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“I mean, do you feel ill by any chance? I just thought you seemed off earlier…”

“Nah, I’m not feeling sick. But thanks for worrying about me!” He grins, but it seems a bit forced.

“I noticed it too,” Todoroki says. “You started acting strange when the topic of Iida’s letter came up.”

Kirishima snorts. “Ha, did I really? That’s oddly specific.”

Todoroki hums, skeptical.

“If you’re not feeling ill, then is something else bothering you?” Momo asks, concerned.

“Whaaat, pfft, no. That’s not...” Kirishima’s words falter and his smile deflates. He slumps to the floor in a sitting position and sighs, defeated. “Man, why’d I have to make friends with the most observant guys in the whole class?”

Momo frowns. “So something is the matter.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Todoroki asks.

Kirishima looks around to make sure no one else can hear them. “Wellll… the thing is. I may have been the guy who gave Iida that love letter.”

“I had a feeling.” Todoroki half-smiles.

“You like Iida!” Momo exclaims excitedly. She covers her mouth, her eyes shifting in each direction, before lowering her voice. “All this time I thought you said you didn’t have a crush on anyone!”

Kirishima scratches the back of his head sheepishly. “Yeah, I did say that. But! I kind of only just realized myself that I like him, y’know?”

Momo smiles. “Either way, I’m happy for you!”

“Same here.” Todoroki says.

“Heh, thanks guys.” Kirishima smiles weakly. Then he heaves a sigh. “Man, I still can’t believe I did that.”

“What? Made a move?” Todoroki raises an eyebrow. “That’s a good thing, you know.”

Kirishima waves his hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, I know, but! Ah... I feel kinda bad about it?”

“Bad? Why would you feel that way?” Momo asks.

Kirishima frowns and sighs again. “I just feel like I acted too impulsively writing that letter. Like, I only just figured out my feelings like a week ago, and then I got so excited and overwhelmed that I wrote that letter! I just couldn’t keep it bottled up inside me! At the time, I wanted to run over to Iida and tell him right away how I felt, but I didn’t ‘cause I thought it’d be super weird, so I wrote the letter instead and gave it to him! And now he knows how I feel, which is… something, even if he doesn’t know it’s me yet, but still.” He wildly runs his hands through his hair, messing up some of his spikes. “I just feel like I went about this the wrong way, y’know? Like, I didn’t even tell him in person. It feels… unmanly.”

“It’s not too late though!” Momo encourages him. “You can take your time and tell him in person when you’re ready.”

Todoroki nods in agreement. “I think what you did was brave enough on its own. You took a step forward. And you’re confident in your feelings about him too, which is good.”

Kirishima keeps his eyes down towards his feet. Eventually, he chuckles softly. He looks up at Momo and Todoroki and gives them a genuine smile. “Thanks, you two.” Kirishima lets himself fall onto his back and he groans. “Ugh, I know I can do better though! Next time I won’t be afraid, and I’ll tell him my feelings to his face!”

Momo grins. “That’s the spirit!” She offers Kirishima a hand, which he eagerly takes, and she helps him stand up.

Todoroki, on the other hand, has suddenly gone quiet. Before his friends can ask him what’s wrong, he looks at them with determination in his eyes.

“I wanna tell Midoriya how I feel too.”

Momo gasps quietly. “Todoroki-san!”

“Aww hell yeah, man! Let’s do it!” He holds out his fist for a fist bump.

Todoroki smiles and bumps his fist.

Kirishima lets out a bellow of excitement. “I’m feelin’ so pumped right now!” He bounces on his feet with unbridled liveliness. “Yaoyorozu! Let’s spar! I need to get some of this energy out of my system before I go feral!”

“I accept your challenge!”

Momo’s equally as eager to let off some steam, but before she readies herself into a battle stance, she makes a mental note to think about her own feelings later.

Maybe she should do something about her crush on Jirou too.

Chapter Text

Ebony, dark as the night

You’re flightless but I see wings

Let’s soar together

*

Beautiful puzzle

You shine without knowing so

I can’t look elsewhere

Poetry, written in elegant cursive script, decorates the margins of Yuuga’s classwork. Surrounding the fine words are doodles of hearts, stars, and the head of a raven.

Yuuga isn’t exactly sure as to why, but despite his glittering disposition he’s attracted to darkness. Specifically, a certain classmate of his who emanates darkness and is all around shrouded in mystery.

Tokoyami Fumikage.

There’s something about the boy that makes Yuuga’s heart stutter. The way he thinks, the way he speaks, the way he behaves. Tokoyami is a mysterious person, and Yuuga can see just by looking at him that he’s a person brimming with emotion and elegance.

Also, he’s pretty.

Is it ridiculous for Yuuga to write melodramatic poetry about the boy he likes? Perhaps.

Does Yuuga care? Not a bit.

After all, it’s just for himself. An outlet for his whimsical feelings. It’s not like anyone else is going to read the things he’s written.

With a long-winded sigh, Yuuga pushes away from his desk. Classes are done for the day, and now it’s time to leave. He stands up, gathers his things, and-- oh. He’s the last one left in the classroom. Yuuga was so caught up in his daydreaming that everyone must have left without him noticing.

He frowns to himself. It’s not that Yuuga isn’t used to being alone (he’s very used to it, really), but he’s recently made friends with people like Midoriya and a few others. He’s sad that he may have missed an opportunity to spend time with his new friends. Maybe if he’s lucky, he can still catch up to somebody.

Yuuga steps outside of the classroom and looks down the hallway. It’s thoroughly empty except for two figures walking just a few paces away.

It’s Midoriya and Tsuyu!

Yuuga smiles, relieved. He’s about to call out to them, but he pauses when he hears Tsuyu start to speak. Not wanting to interrupt, he waits and listens.

“Midoriya-chan?” Tsuyu prompts Midoriya as they walk together.

Midoriya looks to his friend and smiles at her. “Yes?”

“Are you interested in dating Todoroki-chan?” Tsuyu asks him without warning.

“Huh?” Midoriya answers without thinking. Then her words really sink in. “Huh?! Wh-what?!”

Tsuyu holds up a hand and shakes her head apologetically. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable with that question. Never mind.”

Midoriya is hiding his crimson face behind a forearm. “N-no, it’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting you to say that all of a sudden…”

Tsuyu nods. “I understand. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine.” Midoriya lowers the arm shielding his face and takes a deep breath. “I… Y-yeah,” he whispers. “I wish... I could date him…” He fidgets and looks up shyly. “Um, why do you ask?”

“Well, today’s events got me thinking. You know, with Iida-chan’s letter and all.”

“Oh! Me too, to be honest.”

It’s at this point that Yuuga feels it’s time he finally announced himself. He never meant to overhear such a private conversation, but it’s too late now. Besides, Yuuga can barely stay silent another second during such an interesting conversation about romance!

Yuuga steps closer so as to not startle them. “Hello, my friends~☆,” he greets brightly.

He didn’t shout but the sudden change in volume still jolts Midoriya. “Aoyama-kun! H-hello!”

“Hi, Aoyama-chan,” Tsuyu says with a friendly wave.

Yuuga curtseys. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation from before. You were speaking about matters of love, oui?”

Midoriya squeaks and blushes to his ears. “You heard?”

Yuuga nods, apologetic. “Yes. But I promise I will not tell a soul what I heard!” He pretends to seal his lips shut with his fingers.

Midoriya calms and looks at Yuuga kindly. “Thank you…”

“Do you mind if I walk with you guys?” Yuuga asks with an apprehensive smile. He knows that he’s friends with Midoriya and Tsuyu now, but he hasn’t completely shaken the habit of anticipating a negative response from others (if he gets one at all).

“Of course, Aoyama-chan,” Tsuyu replies.

Yuuga's strained smile morphs into a genuine one and he prances forward to his friends. The three continue walking down the empty hallway together.

Yuuga clears his throat daintily. “So!” He broaches the subject on everyone’s mind, “Iida’s love letter.”

“Yes,” Tsuyu says. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it all day.”

“Me too,” Midoriya answers with a smile. “I’m really happy for Iida-kun!”

Tsuyu nods. “Mhm. But, it’s also been making me think about other things. Like my crush on Ochako-chan and your’s,” she gestures to Midoriya, “on Todoroki-chan.”

Midoriya gapes, astonished by the new information. “I… I didn’t know you like Uraraka-san!”

“Yeah,” Tsuyu smiles. “I think I’ve liked her since the first day I met her. I thought it was obvious?”

Midoriya shakes his head. “It wasn’t obvious to me. But…” he nervously fiddles with the straps of his backpack as he asks with a low voice, “is my crush on… Todoroki-kun that obvious?”

“Yes,” Yuuga and Tsuyu answer simultaneously. Midoriya makes a strangled noise of surprise.

“To be fair, I think it’s pretty obvious that Todoroki-chan likes you too,” Tsuyu says.

“No way,” Midoriya averts his eyes and looks outside the tall windows that line the hallway. “I don’t think Todoroki-kun would ever like me in that way.”

Yuuga scoffs. “Nonsense! I disagree! If anything, he definitely likes you the most out of anyone in this whole school!”

Midoriya shrugs. “He wouldn’t want to date me though.”

“You don’t know that, Midoriya-chan,” Tsuyu reassures.

“Don’t give up hope, Midoriya-kun! I have faith in you!” Yuuga cheers and gives him a cheesy wink.

Midoriya beams at Tsuyu and Yuuga, grateful for their words. He hums appreciatively in reply.

The three walk silently for a few moments before Tsuyu eventually speaks up.

“Did either of you happen to see the look on Iida-chan’s face when he realized that he has an admirer?” Tsuyu smiles as she recalls the memory. “He was glowing.” Then she pauses, briefly lost in her thoughts. “I would love to see that same expression appear on Ochako-chan’s face…”

Midoriya’s eyes widen slightly in realization. “Do you mean…?”

“Yeah. I wanna tell her that I like her.”

Yuuga gives a small round of applause. “Very good! Do you plan to confess?”

“Yes I do.”

“Oho! Are you nervous, ma cherie?”

Tsuyu holds her head up high with an air of confidence. “Not at all!”

Midoriya and Yuuga reply in the form of bewildered expressions on their faces.

Tsuyu stifles a giggle. “The idea of confessing to Ochako-chan has always made me feel excited. I really want her to know how I feel. I’m hopeful she feels the same way.”

“That’s great, Tsuyu-chan!” Midoriya says, sharing her excitement.

“Yes! But why haven’t you told her yet?” Yuuga asks eagerly.

Tsuyu isn’t phased in the slightest by Yuuga’s bold questioning. She considers for a moment.

“Timing.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’m not sure when I should tell her. Like at what moment.” She shrugs. “I should tell her during the right time and at the right place, you know? Maybe have it be romantic somehow?”

Midoriya nods in understanding. “Ah. That makes sense.”

Yuuga ponders his own situation. He’s only ever fantasized about confessing to Tokoyami. Or rather, Tokoyami confessing to him. He doubts that any of his own attempts at flirting would ever succeed. It’s ironic--Yuuga looks the part of Prince Charming, but he can’t even imagine himself as daring enough to woo the boy he likes.

The soft pattering of footsteps are the only sounds in the still empty hallway. As the three descend the stairwell, Tsuyu suddenly stops on one of the steps. She keeps her eyes down, a somber sort of frustration visible on her face.

“It’s hard,” she says, her voice tight. “Because sometimes it feels like my feelings for Ochako-chan are going to bubble right out of me at the most inconvenient times. The things I want to say to her… I get the urge to just shout at the top of my lungs that I love her while we’re sitting in class after Ochako-chan laughs in that adorable way that makes her slap a hand over mouth and makes her sway in her seat with her eyes shut because she’s giggling so hard.” Tsuyu sighs. “The last thing I ever want to do is make her feel uncomfortable because of something I did. So I can’t mess this up.”

“Do you want any help?” Midoriya urges, his face etched in concern. “We can help you come up with a plan!”

Yuuga nods enthusiastically in agreement.

Tsuyu looks to her friends and smiles softly. “Thank you, but no. This is something I need to figure out on my own, I think.” She takes the remaining few steps down the stairs. “I’ll come up with something, or I’ll know when the right time is while it’s happening.”

She’s much braver than me , Yuuga thinks to himself.

“Sorry. I wish I could talk more, but I’ve got plans to go meet Ochako-chan in the library now. I’ll talk to you guys later, okay?”

“Good luck, ma cherie! I believe in you! ☆” Yuuga waves graciously.

“Bye, Tsuyu-chan!” Midoriya says.

Tsuyu waves goodbye, but before she leaves, she sends Midoriya a stern look that says clear as day: we’ll talk later about your feelings for Todoroki and your horrible self-esteem problems.

Midoriya returns a sheepish smile and scratches his cheek.

Meanwhile, Yuuga hums to himself as he contemplates everything he’s learned in the last five minutes.

So Tsuyu is in love with Uraraka and really wants to confess her feelings, but she doesn’t know when or how to yet, and she refuses any help from her friends. And Midoriya has feelings for Todoroki, but he’s convinced that Todoroki wouldn’t reciprocate if he did confess, so at the moment he has no plans to do anything to change their relationship.

And Yuuga… well, he’d very much like to have a boyfriend. Especially a very handsome boyfriend who goes by the name of Tokoyami. Does he even stand a chance though? The idea of confessing his innermost, vulnerable feelings to a beautiful guy and there being an overwhelming possibility that he’ll be utterly rejected and humiliated in the end? It’s… a stomach-churning thought, that’s for sure.

Yuuga quickly shakes the sickening thought away and puts on a determined face. He has an idea. But it all depends on the strength of his bond with his recently acquired friend.

“Midoriya-kun?” Yuuga says, his voice wavering just slightly.

“Yeah?” Midoriya turns to him with an expectant face.

There’s no point in tiptoeing around the subject, so Yuuga drops his confident mask and confesses with complete honesty, “Tsuyu-chan may have things under control on her end but I certainly don’t!” He bows humbly. “Please help me with my efforts instead?”

Midoriya’s briefly taken aback, but it only takes seconds before Yuuga recognizes the brilliant twinkle that appears in Midoriya’s eyes--the one he’s never without before he enters a battle. “Sure! I’d love to help you, Aoyama-kun!”

Yuuga grins spectacularly. “Oh, merci beaucoup!” He spreads his arms wide. “May I hug you? Please let me hug you, my friend!”

Midoriya goes pink. “A-ah, um! O-o-okay!” His posture stays rigid as Yuuga wraps his arms around him in a gentle embrace, but the shy, wobbly smile on Midoriya’s face is one of contentment.

Yuuga sighs gratefully. “Thank you, Midoriya-kun.” He whispers into tufts of green hair, “With your help, perhaps there is still some hope left for me.”

Chapter Text

Shouto said it himself: he is going to confess to Midoriya.

It’s just, now that he thinks about it, it really is going to be easier said than done.

Shouto doesn’t exactly have a plan set up yet. He just knows he wants to tell Midoriya about all the feelings he’s been harboring up until now. He wants to tell Midoriya that he likes him and… well, he’s not sure exactly what would happen after, but he hopes that they could start dating. That would be nice.

Telling Midoriya outright how he feels just seems like the most practical option. And besides, it’s not like Shouto hasn’t already bared a lot of his feelings and experiences with Midoriya. Over the last several months, they’ve become very close friends--best friends, Shouto dares to hope. There’s no one else that Shouto trusts, admires, and enjoys spending time with more than Midoriya. He’s become one of the most important people in his life, and the idea of telling him that to his face doesn’t terrify him in the slightest.

Well, mostly. The actual speaking part is kind of daunting. Spoken word has never really been Shouto’s strong suit. His words usually come out brief and sometimes harsher than he means to say them. He doesn’t mean to sound rude or short with people, it’s just how he speaks.

And he can’t deny that sometimes words are just… hard.

Shouto thinks about all this on the same day of the love letter incident. There’s still lingering excitement and intrigue in the air around their friend group, but, for the most part, Iida has been quiet about the incident. He gets shy any time the topic is brought up, but he’s not outright avoiding talking about it. He just seems overwhelmed by the situation. Shouto doesn’t blame him; it’s a situation that no one in their group has ever had experience with.

Shouto and his friends, including Midoriya, are seated together in the cafeteria eating dinner and chatting amicably. Shouto, however, is disconnected from the conversation; he’s unfocused and quieter than he usually is.

There’s… a lot he’d like to say to Midoriya. Shouto wants to tell him everything--when he realized that he liked him, what he likes about him the most (it’s everything, but he still wants to list them all), his hopes for the future and how he desperately wishes that Midoriya will be a part of that future. Just everything. He wants to tell him everything.

He’s not going to actually confess right this moment. He just wants to pretend and imagine what he would say if he was about to.

From his seat across from Midoriya, Shouto closes his eyes and takes a moment to mute out everything else around him. No chatter, no distractions--just Midoriya.

He opens his eyes and focuses on the boy in front of him.

Midoriya is chatting energetically with Iida and Uraraka. He smiles and listens earnestly to his friends’ input, invested deeply in their conversation. When he offers his own responses, he speaks a little too fast and gestures enthusiastically with his hands. Occasionally, he giggles--the sound harmonic and sweet--and muffles it behind his palm. The movement directs Shouto’s gaze to the freckles that adorn Midoriya’s lightly pinked cheeks. Mirth and happiness shine in his evergreen eyes, just like they always do.

He imagines those eyes directed solely at him.

Shouto’s throat tightens and it makes it hard for him to breath. Now would be the time to speak if he were really confessing. What’s the first thing he’d say?

Midoriya, I like you.

No, that’s not enough. It doesn’t even begin to describe how he feels.

I’m in love with you.

There’s so much more though. So much more he needs to say, to explain. All the reasons why he’s fallen in love with his best friend. He doesn’t know where to start; there’s just too much, it’s all there, just pure, concentrated love.

Finally, those green eyes really do catch his. Midoriya smiles at him with a fondness that Shouto only ever sees directed at him. He asks with curiosity in his voice, “Todoroki-kun?”

I love you.

There’s no other words. His mind is empty except for those three words.

Shouto gapes, his mouth open but with no words ready on his tongue. Seconds pass and Midoriya’s inquiry remains in the air, unanswered.

I love you. I want to tell you more than just that but I can’t think--I can’t--

Shouto blinks and finally answers. “Uhh,” he says unintelligently.

The puzzled but amused expression that Midoriya responds with makes Shouto blush. He bashfully turns his head away, finally breaking eye contact, and takes a sip of water to busy himself.

Shouto eventually cools down, and he’s able to spend the rest of their meal interacting with Midoriya and their friends like normal. But that previous train of thought, that mental practice run of imagining what he would say… It was a complete failure.

Easier said than done? Yeah, right. He can’t do it at all. He just can’t conjure the words to describe how he really feels.

Or rather… he can’t conjure the words when faced with Midoriya. Maybe if he wasn’t put on the spot, had some time, and maybe a little space, he could eventually convert his feelings into language.

He would need to write them down and--

Oh.

He can write them down. And share them with Midoriya that way.

A letter. He’s good with those. He has experience writing to his mother and has always enjoyed those written conversations. The words he wants to say--they always come easily to him when he’s holding a pen.

He can write a letter, no problem.

Writing a love letter, though… That’s a new challenge that awaits him.

Yeah, this whole confessing thing is turning out to be harder than Shouto initially thought.

That same evening, he sat down at the desk in his dorm room and started to draft his confession on paper. He’s on draft… seven? Shouto stopped counting after the third or so time he crumpled the papers.

It’s hours later when Shouto finally takes a break from worrying over his words, and he descends to the dining area in the dorm common room to have some tea. It’s nearly midnight on a school night, so the room is dark and empty except for Shouto. He sits at one of the tables, a warm mug nestled in his hands, and stares at nothing, lost in his thoughts.

Shouto has definitely been able to find words to express some of his feelings, but he’s afraid of how they sound. Is there such a thing as being too honest...? Okay, yes, Shouto is pretty sure that’s a thing, and it’s not usually a good thing. But how should he know if he crosses that invisible line of being too forward? He doesn’t want his letter to sound creepy or anything…

Maybe he should have asked to read the letter that Iida received when he had the chance earlier. He could have taken some notes from how his secret admirer worded their feelings…

It’s then that a non-metaphorical light shines upon Shouto that startles him out of his train of thought.

“Todoroki-kun?” a familiar voice addresses.

Shouto turns towards the voice and sees--

“Iida?” It’s as if he was summoned by Shouto’s previous thought.

Iida stands, pajama-clad, with a flashlight in his hands. “What are you doing down here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Ah, well. I typically like to do a quick survey of the common area when it reaches past curfew.” Iida clicks off the flashlight and walks closer to Shouto’s table. “I’m still curious as to why you’re down here so late?”

Shouto purses his lips, unsure of how to proceed. “I was thinking.”

“Is it about something that’s troubling you?” Iida sits down across from his friend. “You did seem to have a certain, ah… distressed expression on your face when I first arrived.”

He can’t exactly hide from Iida now, can he? Iida has always been extremely considerate and loyal to Shouto. Shouto doesn’t want to lie to him. If anything, he wants to trust this secret to him.

“Yeah.” Shouto pauses, thinks about how to broach the subject, and eventually speaks. “I want to confess to Midoriya, but I’m having trouble thinking of what to tell him.”

Iida cocks his head, contemplative. “Confess? What do you--” Iida’s eyes widen in surprise. He hunches forward in his seat to whisper, “You mean, confess romantically?”

Shouto nods.

“This! This is very sensitive information to disclose to me, Todoroki-kun. I… I apologize if my questioning you was--”

“Iida, it’s fine,” Shouto insists. “I trust you.”

The concern on Iida’s face gradually morphs into a warm smile. “Thank you for trusting me.” Iida reaches out with his hand and affectionately squeezes Shouto’s forearm. “It makes me very happy to hear this news! Congratulations, Todoroki-kun!”

Shouto chuckles softly. “Nothing’s happened yet, Iida. I still need to confess.”

Iida laughs in return. “Yes, of course. Although, you said you’re having trouble?”

“Yeah.” Shouto looks off to the side, feeling shy. “I want to tell him how I feel through a letter. Like the one you received, but mine won’t be anonymous.” Shouto looks back to Iida with a timid expression. “Do you have any advice?”

Iida sits up straight in his chair, a clear sign of determination. “Yes, I’d love to help you in any way that I am able! Although, I may not be able to offer much due to my own inexperience with romance.”

“That’s okay. Anything helps.”

Iida presses his thumb to his lip in a thinking gesture. “Hm. Well, I believe you should be very clear about your feelings and intentions. Be straightforward! At least, that is how I would do it.”

Shouto nods. “Right. I like that approach, too.”

“What else… Ah! You should be mindful of Midoriya-kun’s feelings as well and make sure not to overwhelm him with too much information. I would say that a letter longer than two pages might be too much to comprehend at once, but that is just an estimation on my part.”

“Okay, I’ll be careful of that.” Shouto already had taken a lot of these kinds of ideas into consideration while trying to write some of his earlier drafts, but it’s good to hear these kinds of suggestions from another person.

After a few more moments of thoughtful silence, Iida says, “I’m afraid that’s all I can think of at the moment. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.”

Shouto shakes his head and smiles softly. “No, this was very helpful. Thank you, Iida. I think I have a few ideas on what I can do differently in my next draft.”

“You’re very welcome! I really hope for the best possible outcome for the two of you! You and Midoriya-kun are two of my closest friends and I don’t want to see either of you unhappy!”

Shouto beams at Iida fondly. “Me too.”

As Iida makes to stand up and leave, Shouto remembers something. “Wait, Iida. Can I ask you something else?”

“Of course.”

“What do you plan to do about your letter? The one you received?”

Iida’s stance wavers at the question. “Ah.” He stands and crosses his arms, self-consciously. “I’m not sure. To be perfectly honest, there is already someone that I’m interested in… But the chances of the letter being from that person are too miniscule to even hope for.”

Shouto nods in understanding.

Iida frowns. “I feel… selfish. My secret admirer sent me such a heartfelt letter, filled with such praise and affection, all directed at me. And yet, here I am thinking of another person--not to mention, one who I’m barely even friends with--and projecting my hopes and desires onto them instead, and ignoring the person who so kindly reached out to me with their sincerity.” Iida scoffs under his breath. “It’s shallow of me.”

Shouto rises from his chair, worry etched onto his face. “Iida--”

“It’s not shallow,” says a new voice from the shadows.

Both Iida and Shouto freeze, startled by the intruder. They turn to the voice.

Tokoyami steps out and into the moonlit area of the dining space. He bows his head humbly. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to intrude or overhear your conversation.”

A wispy cloud of blackness peeks from Tokoyami’s upper body.

“Took you long enough to show yourself though,” Dark Shadow jeers.

Tokoyami sighs. “Be quiet.”

“How much of that did you hear?” Iida asks carefully.

“Enough to be considered disgraceful. Forgive me. However, since I have already overstepped my boundaries, I would like to confirm: did I hear correctly that the two of you are planning to confess to your love interests?”

“I am, but not Iida,” Shouto clarifies. “At least, I think so.” He looks to Iida, uncertain.

Iida shakes his head. “I don’t but…” His brow pinches in thought. “No, that’s right. I don’t have plans to confess. Not yet.”

“I see,” Tokoyami says. “Interesting.”

Shouto finds his reaction intriguing. Didn’t Tokoyami mention earlier today that he was interested in romance? Is that why he’s so interested in what they’ve said?

“Do you like someone, Tokoyami?” Shouto asks without thinking.

Iida gives Shouto a scandalized look, but he doesn’t say anything.

“I do,” Tokoyami answers plainly. Then he sneers to himself. “However, I believe I am cursed to never receive love that is requited in this lifetime.”

What? What would cause him to say something so harsh about himself like that?

Before Shouto can come up with a reply, Tokoyami turns to exit the room. He holds a hand up to his chest. “Cross my heart; nothing heard in this room will ever make it out beyond these walls. You have my word.” Then he’s engulfed back into the darkness.

Iida and Shouto stare with stunned expressions on their faces.

Iida speaks up first. “That was…”

“...Something,” Shouto finishes.

Iida shakes his head and sighs. “I’m going to bed now. You should too, Todoroki-kun.”

“Yeah. I will. Thanks again for your help, Iida.”

“Of course.” Iida smiles, waves, and leaves the room.

Shouto looks down at his now-cold cup of tea. At least he’s got some new ideas and he’s motivated now. One more try, he thinks. Then sleep.

He picks up his tea, now steaming with help from Shouto’s left hand, and finally goes back to trying to articulate his feelings.

Chapter Text

Momo knocks lightly on the door to Uraraka’s dorm room. “Uraraka-san? Are you in?”

“Coming!” Uraraka answers from inside. Seconds later, she opens the door and gasps when she sees her guest. “Yaoyorozu! Hi! Um, is there something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s the matter! I was just wondering… May I ask for your advice on a matter?”

Uraraka’s eyes go comically wide. “Eh? Me?” She points to herself. “You want to ask me for advice?”

Momo nods eagerly. “Yes, please!”

Uraraka still looks surprised by Momo’s request, but she eventually smiles. “O-okay! Come on in then.” She steps back and beckons for Momo to enter.

As Momo situates herself into the room, Uraraka putters around restlessly, brushing food crumbs off of her table and putting away clothes that are strewn on the floor.

“Sorry about how messy things are, haha,” Uraraka laughs nervously. “And for the… blandness.”

Momo delicately sits herself down at Uraraka’s floor table. “No, it’s perfectly fine! I quite like how spacious your room feels. Mine always feels so crowded.”

Uraraka joins Momo at the table but then she gasps, “Oh wait!” and bounces back up onto her feet. She grabs something off of her desk. “I have some cookies, if you’d like some? Please do!”

“Oh, thank you! I think I’ll have some.”

Uraraka spreads out a handful of shortbread cookies onto a clean plate and places it in the middle of the table. Finally, she settles down onto the floor.

“So! How can I help you, Miss Assistant Class Rep?” Uraraka says in playful voice. She still looks nervous though.

Momo laughs politely behind her hand. “Please. The thing I want to ask of you is hardly professional.”

Uraraka’s shoulders loosen up as she visibly relaxes. “Okay then. What’s up?”

Momo worries at her lip, feeling shy. “I want to ask you for… romantic advice, if that’s okay.”

Uraraka looks dumbfounded. “Really? Uh, sure! I mean, I don’t mind at all! But I’m wondering why you’re asking me and not someone closer to you like Jirou?”

Momo’s subsequent blush and lack of a response gives Uraraka a pretty clear answer to her question. 

“Ah, I see.”

“Yes… Asking Jirou is… definitely not an option in this case. But, I wanted to ask you, Uraraka-san, because I admire your positivity and outlook on things.”

Uraraka laughs nervously and scratches the back of her head. “You really think that? Thanks!” Then she grins and pumps her fist, looking ambitious. “Okay, so how exactly can I help? I’m ready!” 

Momo smiles gratefully. “Well, I want to ask Jirou-san if she’d like to be my girlfriend, but I also want to give her a gift when I do ask. I’m just not sure what I should give her?”

“Ooh, so you need ideas?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, let’s see…” Uraraka hums to herself. She takes a cookie and snaps it in half with her teeth. “Are you interested in any of the more common ideas? Like flowers, candy, giant stuffed teddy bears?”

Momo also takes a cookie and nibbles on it slowly. “No, not really. It feels… wrong? Like I don’t think I want to spend a lot of money just to spoil her with gifts. I want my gift to really have meaning, if that makes sense?"

“Mm! How about a homemade gift? Even if it’s simple, like something artsy or crafty. Ooh! Or even food? You could bake her something or cook dinner for her, you know?”

Momo makes a pensive noise. “Oh, I like that idea! Cooking something for her sounds really lovely. And it wouldn’t be too difficult either. Since my quirk requires me to have to eat quite frequently, I have a lot of experience cooking different recipes.”

It’s then that Uraraka has a moment of epiphany while her mouth is full of cookies. She hums incoherently while flapping her hands excitedly. Eventually, she speaks, “Or you could also make her something with your quirk!” 

Momo’s eyes widen in realization. “Make something… with my quirk?”

“Yeah! I don’t know what yet, but it would give it that same personal touch that you’d have if you made anything else homemade, but this way it would be especially unique because it’s something only you can make!”

Momo’s expression brightens. “Yes, yes! I can do that!”

Uraraka grins cheerfully. “Yay!” 

“Oh, there are so many possibilities… I’ll have to think about this some more!”

“I’m sure that whatever you whatever you decide to make, Jirou will love it,” Uraraka reassures.

Momo smiles to herself. She feels warm and hopeful as she thinks about presenting her gift to Jirou, accompanied by her confession. What kind of expression will Jirou make? Momo imagines every smile Jirou’s ever shared with her, as well as the smiles she’s yet to see.

“Yes,” Momo says, her voice tinged with emotion, “I think she’ll like it.” Momo looks at Uraraka, her eyes gleaming with elation. “And I’m hopeful… that she’ll accept my feelings, as well.”

Uraraka continues to smile happily, but an unreadable emotion crosses over her face. “You think she will? That’s wonderful!” She raises a hand to rest on the back of her neck nervously. “Is it… Can I ask how you know?”

Momo tilts her head curiously. “Hm? What do you mean?”

“I mean…” Uraraka twitches in her seat just slightly. “What makes you think that Jirou is going to feel the same way?” Then she waves both of her hands in the air frantically. “I-I mean that in the nicest way possible, of course! I’m not doubting you! I’m just… curious, you know…”

“Oh!” Momo says, understanding. “Well… it just feels like there’s a special energy between us when we’re together. I feel closer to her than I do with anyone else--and in more than one way. Jirou… I’m pretty sure that she is flirting with me sometimes.” Momo’s cheeks pink as she speaks. “Some of the things she says, or the way she stands close to me, or some of the touches she gives me. I feel like they’re more than friendly.” 

“But…” Uraraka says, her voice suddenly much quieter, “how do you know that the special feeling between you two is… different than just friendliness? How can you tell the difference?”

Momo looks at Uraraka, surprised by her question. What she doesn’t expect to see is Uraraka with her eyes cast down and her hands folded tightly in her lap, looking more vulnerable than Momo has ever seen her before. The sight makes her heart pang in sympathy. 

Momo takes a moment to really think, to remember what it feels like when she’s together with Jirou. 

“When we’re together, it feels… almost like something is missing. Or something has yet to happen,” Momo says thoughtfully. “When I’m with her, I feel anticipation and hope.”

“Hope for…?”

“Hope for something to happen that changes our relationship.” Momo smiles self-consciously. “I suppose. If that makes any sense.”

Uraraka scrunches her face in thought. “Sort of? I think I get what you’re saying…”

Momo’s smile wavers. “But you… can’t relate to it, can you?”

Uraraka is quiet for a few seconds before she eventually hums in agreement. 

This conversation has quickly taken a somber route, but Momo wants to continue it. She wants to help out Uraraka with whatever is making her feel so disheartened. 

“But, there is someone that you wish you could have this feeling with, yes?” Momo asks carefully.

Uraraka inhales deeply, calming herself before she speaks again. “Yes. But, I don’t think we have it. I feel… like I am misinterpreting her feelings. Twisting them into what I want them to be.”

‘Her feelings.’ She’s probably talking about Asui, Momo assumes. 

“How do you know that’s what is happening?”

Uraraka rubs at her arms self-consciously. “I don’t, but! I’m just pretty sure that what she feels for me is only platonic. Like what we have is a very close friendship, but I’m desperately wishing that the way she loves me is… the way I love her.” 

Momo gapes, momentarily speechless. 

Uraraka definitely has an emotional weight upon her, and Momo can’t help but wonder where it came from. It’s so unlike her, Momo thinks, a bit ruefully. 

Uraraka believes that there is little to no hope for her feelings to be reciprocated. But Momo has seen the way that Uraraka and Asui interact. She’s seen how close they are to each other and the way that they laugh together and the way that Asui always puts Uraraka before her own needs. She’s seen the looks, the touches, and the smiles. 

She’s seen that anticipation, that special feeling between Uraraka and Asui. 

The very same one that she feels with Jirou.

Momo cares about Uraraka and wants to help her see otherwise, but the truth of the matter is that she doesn’t know how to tell that to her. Momo came to Uraraka today for advice, but even that task felt like it may have been pushing the boundaries of their still-developing friendship. Perhaps she has already asked enough today.

Regardless, Momo doesn’t get the chance to argue Uraraka’s feelings before Uraraka is recovering from her emotional spell. 

Uraraka slaps at her own cheeks and puts on a weak smile. “Heh, sorry! I didn’t mean to burden you with my silly problems. What matters is your feelings and what you’re going to do about them!”

“Uraraka-san…” Momo says sadly. 

“It’s okay! I’m fine, really!” Uraraka’s faux smile widens, and she stands up from the floor. “I’m really happy I got to help you figure things out today! I wish you the best of luck with Jirou!”

“Uraraka-san, I--”

“Ooh man, I think I’m gonna do some studying before it gets too late, haha. I’m really behind.” She holds out a hand for Momo and helps her stand up. “Hey, do you wanna take any more cookies with you before you head back?”

Momo opens her mouth, ready to try again, but she inevitably relents. “No… no, thank you. I’m--Thank you so much for your advice, Uraraka-san. You’ve been so helpful.”

“Hehe, I’m glad! It was no problem!”

As Momo exits, she looks back to Uraraka and smiles sadly. “Let’s talk again soon, yes?”

Uraraka’s pretend smile softens, and her eyes crinkle as she says, “Yeah. I’d like that."

That could have gone better.

Momo got the extra help that she needed from speaking to Uraraka, but now she’s aware of Uraraka’s own problems. Momo eagerly wants to help her. But can she really do much? She doesn’t want to overstep her boundaries and pry her way into such sensitive and personal matters. 

It’s clear that Uraraka is hurting and may not be able to see things clearly regarding Asui’s feelings. Uraraka needs support in this matter, but it isn’t Momo’s place to be the one to provide that support.

What Uraraka needs is to be bolstered by one of her own close friends. She would be able to be more open with them--allow herself to be more vulnerable and willing to receive support from them. 

Momo is unfortunately not very close with anyone from Uraraka’s friend group.

Well, except for one person.

From her seat on one of the dorm common room’s couches, she pulls out her phone and composes a new text message.

Momo:

Todoroki, may I ask you for a favor?

Todoroki Shouto:

Sure, what is it?

Momo:

Today I spoke with Uraraka and she seemed… discouraged.

I believe she thinks that Asui doesn’t return her feelings.

We both know that can’t be true, yes?

Todoroki Shouto:

Yeah

You’re definitely right about them

Momo:

Can you please help her, Todoroki?

Talk to her about Asui?

Or at least cheer her up somehow?

I wish I could myself but…

I know you two are closer friends

Todoroki Shouto:

I’ll try

But you know words aren’t exactly my thing

Momo:

I know.

I’m sorry to ask this of you. 

Todoroki Shouto:

It’s fine

I’m worried about Uraraka now 

so I’ll try to say something the next time I see her

Momo:

Thank you

Momo intends to send another message to Todoroki asking him about how his progress with his confession plans is going, but suddenly she’s interrupted. 

“Hey,” says a voice from the side of where Momo’s sitting.

Momo drops her phone in her lap. “Jirou-san! H-hello!” Momo says with at least some composure. 

Jirou smiles, one corner of her lip upturned coyly. “I was looking for you. Glad I didn’t have to search too hard.” She points to the unoccupied space next to Momo on the couch. “This seat taken?”

“Oh, not at all! Please, sit.”

She was looking for Momo? That’s… sweet.

Jirou plops down on the couch next to Momo, and she sighs as she relaxes into the cushions. “Man, today felt like it lasted forever . I’m so tired.”

Momo hums, comforted by just the mere presence of Jirou by her side. 

Today’s classes were tiring, Momo agrees. Not to mention that the conversation with Uraraka had been emotionally draining, especially towards the end there. And now, Momo has to deal with the anxiety of making sure that Uraraka is okay, as well as come up with an idea of what kind of gift she should make for Jirou. 

Jirou clears her throat, gaining Momo’s attention. “Hey, uh, is it cool if I, uh, you know…” She tilts her head, gesturing towards Momo’s shoulder. 

Oh! She wants to use her shoulder as a pillow…!

“Y-yes, you may!” Momo manages to answer, her excitement building.

Jirou breathes out a quiet chuckle. “Thanks.”

Jirou leans over, her hip grazing against Momo, and she gently rests her head against Momo’s shoulder. Jirou sighs contentedly and nuzzles her cheek into the fabric of Momo’s sweater.

Momo subtly takes a deep breath and tries her hardest to keep her body from shaking with nerves. All she can feel is the heat of her blush and the pounding of her own heartbeat. And… if she listens close enough, she thinks can hear Jirou’s heartbeat too.

That sound alone reassures her, tells her that this moment right now with Jirou, is right. 

Momo lets herself breathe. She leans back and into the warmth at her side.

Chapter Text

Tsuyu:

hey Ochako, can we meet up?

Ochako:

hi Tsuyu!! 

sure! :D

what time were you thinking of meeting?

Tsuyu:

is right now okay?

Ochako:

oh!

is something the matter?

Tsuyu:

no, everything’s fine 

i just wanted to show you something

Ochako:

okay well where are you rn?

Tsuyu:

on the roof of the dorms

Ochako:

the roof???

why r u on the roof??

aren’t we not allowed up there?

Tsuyu:

it’s fine

i asked aizawa sensei for permission

can you meet me here?

Ochako:

aaaaah i’m sorry tsuyu i can’t :(((

i’m actually at the store right now

Tsuyu:

buying more mochi?

Ochako:

…

maybe lol

Tsuyu:

okay... so you won’t be able to meet me

Ochako:

sorry!

i’ll be back soon i promise! i’ll meet you then! :)

then you can show me what you wanna show me!

Tsuyu:

…

yeah

see you soon Ochako 

<3 <3 <3

Ochako:

<333 !!!!!

Tsuyu slips her phone into her pocket, disappointed. She sighs and frowns sadly at the small handcrafted bouquet of flowers lying next to her.

Her plan has busted.

It’s not Ochako’s fault at all though. There’s no way she could have known ahead of time that she was going to meet Tsuyu here at sunset. Afterall, it was going to be a surprise. 

The surprise being, well, Tsuyu’s confession.

Tsuyu has been thinking long and hard since “the love letter incident.” Talking about her feelings for Ochako with her friends like she did… it really spurred on her desire to confess. Tsuyu is tired of hesitating, tired of locking up her feelings and stopping herself from saying the words she really wants to tell Ochako. 

But the timing! That’s the thing that’s been throwing Tsuyu off this entire time. When is the right time to tell Ochako? She just can’t figure it out.

This plan--confessing to Ochako on the roof at sunset--was cheesy, Tsuyu knew that, but it was undeniably romantic. And while it was just one of several possible ideas, it happened to be the most opportune at the moment. 

She was impulsive, Tsuyu will admit. As soon as she thought of the idea, she got a little too excited and just… acted without thinking.

Tsuyu tidied herself up after classes had ended, called up her little brother and asked him graciously to deliver her some flowers from her garden at home, and waited until just before sundown to approach the dorm’s rooftop and contact Ochako.

She didn’t exactly consider the time restraint that came with this plan. 

The sun is about to set and Ochako’s a no-show.  And the novelty of her confessing on the roof has been lost now that Ochako knows she wanted to meet here. So, now she’ll just have to come up with a new plan.

Tsuyu stands up from where she was sitting on the floor of the roof and dusts off her skirt. She looks up at the sky, the sun low in the horizon and the clouds just starting to fade into pretty shades of pink and orange. 

It would have been nice, she thinks dejectedly, to tell her that I love her, just the two of us, with this sky surrounding us.

With bouquet in hand, Tsuyu turns and begins to walk back to the stairwell door, but then suddenly the door bursts open and someone else enters the rooftop.

“Oh,” Kirishima says when his eyes land on Tsuyu. He grins and greets her, “Hey! Surprised to see you up here!”

“Kirishima-chan?” Tsuyu asks, surprised. “What are you doing up here?”

“Me? Ah, I just like to come up here to think sometimes.” Kirishima looks beyond Tsuyu and at the warm, glowing sunset behind her. “Whoaa,” he breathes. “Heh, and the sights aren’t bad up here either, huh?”  

Tsuyu smiles ruefully. “Yeah, they aren’t.” 

Tsuyu’s crestfallen expression doesn’t escape Kirishima’s notice. He frowns and his brow scrunches in concern. “Hey... are you doing all right?”

“Yeah. I’m okay, I just... “ Tsuyu looks down and twiddles at the flowers between her fingers. “I was just hoping to surprise Ochako-chan up here. But it didn’t go as planned.”

Kirishima purses his lips, understanding. “Ah… Sorry to hear that. Did she… say ‘no?’”

“Huh?” Tsuyu says, momentarily confused by Kirishima’s question. “Oh! No, she didn’t reject me or anything. I just didn’t get to ask her, is all.”

“Oh, okay! Well, that’s still good then. You have another shot!” 

Kirishima is already back to his usual enthusiastic optimism, Tsuyu thinks with amusement. He’s a good guy.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll definitely try again, I’m just not really sure how to yet.”

“Want some help?” Kirishima gives her a thumbs up and one of his customary toothy grins. “I can give you some ideas!” 

Tsuyu shakes her head. “No thank you, Kirishima-chan. I’ll figure something out myself. But, I appreciate the offer, especially since I know you have experience with confessing.”

Kirishima’s smile slowly drops. “Huh?”

“You know. Your love letter to Iida-chan,” Tsuyu says nonchalantly. 

There’s a beat of silence.

At first, Kirishima just stares at Tsuyu, completely dumbfounded. Then he breaks. 

“HOW?! How did you find out?! Does everyone in this school know that I have the hots for Iida!?”

Tsuyu can’t help it; she giggles. The bewildered look on Kirishima’s face is just too funny.

“Sorry, Kirishima-chan,” she croaks, still sounding amused. “Nobody told me. I just figured it out on my own is all.”

Kirishima pouts. “What gave me away?”

“Hmm. Well, in your letter, the overuse of exclamation marks made me think of you. Also the fact that you wrote down the word ‘manly’ to describe Iida but then you scribbled it out. Not to mention your outburst in class that morning.”

“So I was obvious?” Kirishima asks with a frown.

“Yes.” 

Kirishima whines and pretends to wipe away a tear from his eye. “You’re so cruel, Asui.”

Tsuyu lips twitch into a smile. She shrugs. “I just say what I think. And call me ‘Tsuyu-chan.’”

“O-kay , Tsuyu-chan,” Kirishima replies in mock exasperation. 

The two’s playful banter helps Tsuyu forget some of the melancholy she was previously feeling. After all, it really is hard to feel sad when you’re around Kirishima. He just always gives off such a positive and lively energy. It’s contagious in the best way possible. 

Kirishima steps a few paces away from the stairwell door and towards the chain link fence surrounding the edge of the rooftop. He takes a seat on the ground, his legs bent casually in front of him. 

“I guess, well, since you already know, um,” Kirishima fumbles with his words, “can I ask how Iida’s... reacting to the letter? Like… do you think he’s caught on yet that it’s from me? Or is he, like, weirded out by it, y’know?”

Tsuyu contemplates for a moment. From what she’s seen, Iida hasn’t been acting too differently at all. He was initially embarrassed to talk about it on that first day, but now his demeanor is pretty much back to normal. He didn’t seem to be repulsed by the letter--if anything, it was the opposite. Iida was very flattered by the letter, and he was pleased to receive it. Other than that, though, Tsuyu hasn’t pried too much into how Iida plans to proceed with his secret admirer. 

And sure, Tsuyu did happen to perceive on her own that it was Kirishima who sent Iida the letter, but Tsuyu would never think twice about revealing such delicate information that wasn’t hers to share. It’s undoubtedly a secret that Kirishima should have full control over, especially considering the fact that he chose to remain anonymous when he sent the letter. Even in the case that Iida ever did ask about who confessed to him, Tsuyu would not say anything that would expose Kirishima’s secret. It’s not her place to interfere. 

“To be honest, Kirishima-chan, I’m not exactly sure just how Iida-chan feels about the letter. He hasn’t talked about it too much since the time he first read it.”

“Ah, I see,” Kirishima hums. He looks a little sad.

“But,” Tsuyu continues, wanting to rid Kirishima of his sad, puppy looking face, “Iida was really happy when he received the letter. He wasn’t grossed out by it at all. He was actually pretty thrilled by it, I think.”

“Really?” Kirishima’s somber expression dissolves into one of relief. He chuckles softly. “That’s… that’s really good to hear. I’m glad.” 

A few seconds of comfortable silence pass before Kirishima stands up, his silhouette framed by the sunset.

“That’s it.” Kirishima nods to himself, resolute. “I’m gonna tell Iida how I feel this weekend.” 

“That’s great, Kirishima-chan,” Tsuyu says. “I hope it works out for you.”

“Mm!”

Kirishima walks over to Tsuyu, determination in his gait. 

“And you, Tsuyu-chan!” Kirishima says with fire in his eyes. He gestures a hand at the flowers drooping in Tsuyu’s grip. “You’re gonna confess too, and Ochako’s gonna say ‘yes,’ and it’s gonna turn out great!” 

Tsuyu stares with wide eyes, stunned by Kirishima’s confidence in her. 

She… really likes the sound of that. 

Yeah, she can do it. She can and will confess to Ochako. And it will work out. 

Tsuyu smiles and croaks graciously, “Thank you.”

Kirishima replies with his own grin. “Of course!” 

In the distance, the sun glows a deep orange, dipped beneath the horizon. Clouds in the sky shine, every wispy arch painted in vivid shades of pinks and purples.

Kirishima stands with his hands on his hips as he admires the view before them. “Heh. Too bad neither one of us is confessing to each other,” Kirishima jests. “Now would be the perfect time.”

Tsuyu rolls her eyes. “Kirishima-chan. I literally cannot even begin to think of a retort to that. I’m way too gay to even fathom the idea.”

Kirishima throws his head back and laughs heartily. “Saaame. Bad joke! That one’s on me!”

Tsuyu’s deadpan expression cracks and she joins in with her own laughter. 

This time didn’t work out the way Tsuyu wanted it to, but at least there’s the prospect of the weekend ahead for her to try again.

Chapter Text

Darling, we’re so bright
Shimmering sparks between us
Do you see it too?

Yuuga hums absentmindedly to himself, the tip of his pen pressed against his lip as he wonders about the softness of raven feathers. He sighs dreamily.

His daydream is interrupted when Yuuga notices a flash of green out of the corner of his eye. Ah! It’s the person he’s been waiting for!

“Midoriya-kun~!☆,” Yuuga calls from across the library, flourishing his arm to garner Midoriya’s attention. Yuuga receives a few irritated glares and shushs from other patrons, but he pays them no mind.

Midoriya jumps slightly upon hearing his name, but he smiles when he see Yuuga and quickly makes his way over to him.

“Hi, Aoyama-kun,” Midoriya greets with a quiet voice as he sits down.

“Bonjour, my friend!” Yuuga returns. “I'm so glad you’ve arrived to help me!”

“Of course! I’m happy to help out in anyway that I can. I might not, uh, know a lot about this kind of thing, but still! Two heads are better than one, right?”

Yuuga nods fervently. “Exactly! Together, we are bound to think of something!”

Midoriya digs through the contents of his backpack and brandishes one of his notebooks. With an eager grin he says, “I actually got a head start and compiled some ideas of my own already! I think I have about…” his eyes scan quickly over the pages, “...thirty-one possible ways you could confess! And that’s just without any additional information about the person you like. If I knew who it was, I could come up with some other approaches that are more relevant.”

Yuuga’s eyes twinkle with reverence. Midoriya has gone above and beyond his expectations.

“Oh, Midoriya-kun!” Yuuga croons, completely overjoyed. “You are magnifique! I feel like I could scream right now I’m so pleased!”

“Please don’t, we’re in the library,” Midoriya giggles.

Being noisy in the library is the least of Yuuga’s concerns right now. Who cares! He has the opportunity to progress his love life! There’s still hope for him!

“Okay, so first off,” Midoriya says hesitantly, “could you begin by telling me a little about the person you like? You don’t have to tell me their name if you don’t want to!”

“Oui! I will tell you!” Yuuga stretches over the table, leaning in close to Midoriya to whisper in his ear. “The person that I like is none other than Tokoyami~☆”

Midoriya reacts with an owlish look on his face. “Really?”

“Yes! Are you confused?”

“No, it’s just… I wasn’t expecting that answer.”

Yuuga furrows his brow. “Why?” he asks defensively. “Is there something wrong with me liking Tokoyami?”

“No! Not at all!” Midoriya says in a frantic attempt to fix what he said. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to sound cynical or anything! You two are just very different, is all. It’s… interesting to imagine you both together.”

Yuuga crosses his arms with a pout. “So? I think that is more the reason why we would make a wonderful couple! Tokoyami is surely the man of my dreams!”

There’s a snort of laughter a few tables behind them.

Yuuga twists in his seat in a search to spot the offender. Ah… How long has Jirou been sitting back there?

“You!” Yuuga cries.

Jirou averts her eyes, abashed at having been caught eavesdropping. “Sorry, my bad. But man, you guys are noisy. It’s impossible not to hear you.”

Now, it’s not that Yuuga doesn’t trust Jirou to keep a secret. He doesn’t know her very well, but he’s at least aware that Jirou tends to keep to herself, and she doesn’t get too involved with classroom gossip. She’s definitely not an unreliable person.

However, this is Yuuga’s deepest, most personal secret that they’re talking about here. And it has just been revealed to another person without his consent! Yuuga refuses to allow knowledge of his crush’s identity to leave this room without consequence.

Yuuga stands up from his chair and strides over to Jirou’s table. He looks down at her with a sharp frown.

“Now that you know my secret, you must help me!” Yuuga begs desperately. “Please!”

“Huh?” Jirou blurts, completely taken aback.

Yuuga’s firm stance does not waver. “I need all the help I can get! Please help me figure out how to woo Tokoyami!”

After all, Midoriya said it best: two heads are better than one. And in this case, three is better than two. It just makes sense!

Jirou laughs nervously. “Haha… I didn’t sign up for this.” She purses her lips and eventually sighs. “Yeah, okay. I’ll help you, if that’s really what you want.”

Yuuga’s frown immediately morphs into a bright smile. He claps his hands together joyfully. “Oh, merci beaucoup!!”

It’s Yuuga’s cheerful outburst that finally gets the three of them kicked out the library for being too loud. Yuuga humphs at the librarian as they exit the library, but, for the most part, his spirits are not dampened in the least. Now Yuuga has two allies that he can rely on for their advice. His day just keeps getting brighter by the second!

The three students inevitably end up taking residence outside on the campus patio, seated at a shaded table. The change in scenery is definitely welcome. The library was too stuffy and dark anyway. Definitely not a place that Yuuga would want to discuss his romantic aspirations in.

Yuuga looks expectedly at Midoriya and Jirou. “So! My goal is to tell Tokoyami that I like him, but I don’t know what I should do. What do you two recommend?”

“Can’t you just ask him out?” Jirou suggests. “Like, just walk up to him and tell him?”

Yuuga shakes his head. “Nope! I want to do something special!”

“Special?” Midoriya asks curiously. “How so?” He skims his finger along in his notebook, scanning for any pertinent information that might fit Yuuga’s criteria.

“I want to do something that Tokoyami won’t be able to stop thinking about. Whatever I do, I want it to be unforgettable!”

“So… big and flashy?” Jirou offers. “Like performing a song for him or, I don’t know, confessing in front of the whole school or something?”

Midoriya chuckles at the ideas. “That does seem like something you would do, Aoyama-kun.”

But Yuuga just shakes his head. “You’re not wrong, Midoriya-kun, but this isn’t about what I want to do. I know for a fact that Tokoyami would hate it--and thus, if I did it, he’d hate me!”

“Oh, yeah,” Jirou says with a grimace. “He doesn’t exactly like having the spotlight shone on him, not even indirectly. A public confession would ruin him.”

Midoriya hums in acknowledgment, and he begins to cross off items on his list of ideas.

Yuuga has considered this fact many times before when thinking about Tokoyami. He knows that Tokoyami likes to be alone and out of sight a lot of the time. Tokoyami is a person who seeks out places of solitude and peace. Yuuga has seen him every now and then relaxing at some of his preferred hideout spots: on the branches of trees; inside of empty classrooms; or, more frequently, in the dorm’s common room at the dead of night while everyone is asleep. It’s an aspect of Tokoyami that Yuuga wholly respects and wishes never to disrupt.

“When I confess, I want Tokoyami to feel comfortable and in control of the situation,” Yuuga explains. “If he decides he wants nothing to do with me and my feelings, he should be able to leave and be on his way without anything holding him back.”

Midoriya looks at Yuuga with something like awe in his eyes. “You’ve really put a lot of thought into this.”

Yuuga looks slightly offended. “Of course I have. Don’t you give the same amount of thought when thinking about the person you like?”

Midoriya’s ears go pink. “Ah, um... Yeah,” he mumbles.

Of course he does. In fact, that’s one of the reasons why Yuuga was so excited to ask Midoriya to aid him with his crush situation. They both know intimately what it feels like to pine and hope and feel all gooey inside just by thinking about the person they like.

And… Midoriya also knows what it feels like to think of yourself as unworthy. He admitted that he doesn’t think his feelings for Todoroki are reciprocated. Yuuga knows that’s probably bogus, but it’d be hard to convince Midoriya to believe otherwise. What matters is that Yuuga relates to Midoriya because of their shared self-doubts. He feels even closer to Midoriya as a friend knowing that they have that they have that in common.

Yuuga regards Midoriya with concern. “Do you still not want to confess to you-know-who?”

Midoriya keeps his eyes glued to the pages of his journal, his expression contorted with nervousness. “That’s… not important,” Midoriya deflects with a strained smile. “Right now, we’re talking about your crush, Aoyama-kun.”

Yuuga sighs. “Yes, but I don’t want you to continue pining like this. Like the way that I am!” He insists with genuine concern. “I want you to be happy, too!”

Midoriya looks up at Yuuga, his eyes beginning to mist over. “Aoyama-kun…”

“Uhh,” Jirou says awkwardly, “should I… leave now?”

Breaking away from the emotional tone of the conversation, Yuuga snaps back at Jirou, “No! Please stay!”

Jirou holds up her hands appeasingly. “Okay, juuust making sure I wasn’t about to accidentally overhear another secret or something.”

“To be fair, Midoriya-kun’s crush isn’t really much of a secret to anyone,” Yuuga says nonchalantly.

“H-hey!” Midoriya yelps, his expression reddening again.

Jirou tilts her head appraisingly. “Yeah, I probably got a few good guesses who it is.”

“Jirou-san!”

Yuuga giggles airily. “I’m sorry for the teasing, Midoriya-kun.” He scoots along the seat of the bench, nestling next to Midoriya and gives him a one-armed hug.

Midoriya whines indignantly, but he returns an affectionate squeeze of his own.

Yuuga returns to his seat and clears his throat. “Okay, back to brainstorming, my friends!”

“How about giving him a gift?” Jirou suggests with a shrug. “You can’t really go wrong with that.”

“What would I give him?”

Jirou makes a funny face. “Uhh, I don’t know.” Then she laughs. “Maybe another sword?”

Midoriya acknowledges the idea with a bob of his head--a nonverbal ‘yeah, true.’

“Oh wait,” Jirou says, perking up in her seat. “Can I ask something real quick? It’s been bugging me.”

“Of course, what is it?” Yuuga responds.

“So you like Tokoyami… but what about Dark Shadow? The guy’s literally attached to Tokoyami. Wouldn’t it be like dating two people? Is that, like, weird for you at all? ”

Yuuga shakes his head. “Nope! I don’t think it’s weird. In fact, I like Dark Shadow too! They’re a part of Tokoyami. And I like pretty much everything about Tokoyami, so there you have it.”

“Huh. Okay then, that’s cool.”

“Yeah, that’s really sweet,” Midoriya says with a smile.

Jirou rests her chin in her hand, contemplative. “I’m still just, like, trying to wrap my head around the idea of you liking Tokoyami. You guys are total opposites. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s cool and I’m happy for you, but still. Who knew, right?”

Something about Jirou’s phrasing causes a metaphorical exclamation mark to flash above Yuuga’s head.

He holds up a finger, halting the conversation. “One moment, s’il vous plait!”

Yuuga rapidly digs out his notebook from his bag and hurriedly scrawls down:

An unlikely pair
Light and darkness together
But maybe it’s fate

“Is that… poetry?” Midoriya asks curiously as he glances over Yuuga’s shoulder.

“No way. Lemme see.” Jirou leans across the table to try and steal a peek at his writing.

Yuuga gasps and hurriedly covers his notebook with both of his arms. “Non! You didn’t see anything!”

“Sorry!” Midoriya says, leaning back and away from Yuuga’s personal space. Jirou sits back too, with an apologetic look on her face. “But… you are writing poetry?”

Yuuga blushes. He remains curled over the tabletop, protective of his notebook, but he nods stiffly.

“Dude, that’s really cool,” Jirou says admiringly. “I don’t write poetry myself, but I do write song lyrics and that’s kind of the same thing. It’s tough, especially when you get into the real deep stuff.”

Yuuga glances at her dubiously. It’s not like he’s writing poems because he’s that fond of the hobby or anything. It’s just an outlet for his ridiculous, mushy daydreaming. He knows that the blurbs he’s been writing are probably amateur. And they’re definitely unworthy of being read by anyone. Half the poems he’s written end up the garbage, having been put down on scratch paper and crumpled into balls at the end of classes.

He hopes that no one will ever read a single line of his gross attempts at poetry.

Suddenly, Midoriya utters a soft gasp.

Yuuga looks towards his friend and… Oh no… That’s his epiphany face.

“We’re thinking the same thing, right?” Jirou says to Midoriya.

Midoriya nods fervently. “Aoyama-kun! You could write a poem and give it to Tokoyami as a way to express your feelings!”

Yuuga looks positively aghast at the idea. “Non!” he shrieks, “I refuse!”

Jirou stands up from her seat and stretches. “Yep, take it to the bank, boys. We’re done here.” She throws her bag over her shoulder with a confident air. She looks just as proud as she does after having finished an exhaustive exam. “Writing poetry is romantic as hell. Nothing is gonna top that. You’re good to go.”

“Absolutely not!” Yuuga continues to dismiss. “I won’t do it!”

“Aoyama-kun...” Midoriya pleads. “It’s a really good idea, though…”

Yuuga shakes his head vigorously. “No! Tell me about one of your other thirty-something ideas, Midoriya-kun! Better yet, tell me all of them!”

Jirou gives Yuuga a friendly clap on the back. “Go get your man, my dude. You got this.” She gives a quick wave to Midoriya before she walks away, exiting the patio.

Yuuga feels like all the blood has drained from his face. This isn’t a good idea… He can’t do this. He can’t gift the boy he likes with weird poetry about him! That’s so humiliating! Tokoyami would laugh at him for sure. Or worse… he’d be downright repulsed and back away from Yuuga with disgust…

He can’t bear that possibility. He can’t.

“Aoyama-kun,” Midoriya says softly. He’s moved closer, sitting right beside Yuuga on the bench. “You don’t have to share your writing if you don’t want to.” Midoriya looks down at his own notebook with a sympathetic frown. “I know what it feels like to not want to share the things you write with other people. It’s super embarrassing, I know. So you really don’t have to do it, but…” Midoriya bites on his lip and eventually gazes up at his friend with kind eyes, “I think it would really mean a lot to be able to share those kinds of words with the person you have feelings for. It’s all coming from the heart, you know?”

Midoriya really is just too bright of a person. Every time Yuuga thinks he understands Midoriya, the green-haired boy finds a new way to surprise him. Yuuga is so lucky to have him as a friend.

Yuuga takes a deep breath and blinks away the urge to cry. “Thank you, Midoriya-kun. I… need to think about this. I don’t know if I’ll do it, but I’ll think about it.”

Midoriya smiles and affectionately bumps shoulders with Yuuga. “Okay.”

Yuuga still isn’t convinced that this is a good idea. His confidence levels just aren’t high enough for him to truly believe. But… his friends believe in him, and for Yuuga, that’s enough.

He will try. No promises, but he’ll give it a shot.

It’s in the name of love, after all. There’s no better reason than that.

Chapter Text

Shouto is walking back to the dorms after classes one afternoon when he sees something that makes his steps falter.

It’s Tokoyami lounging on a thick branch up in one of the campus’s many trees. This isn’t an unusual sight on it’s own since Tokoyami regularly frequents hidden spots similar to this one, but seeing Tokoyami reminds Shouto of the enigmatic boy’s words from the other night.

I believe I am cursed to never receive love that is requited in this lifetime, is what Tokoyami had said.

That’s a harsh way of thinking, even coming from the guy who labels himself as “a creature of the dark.” Sure, it’s one thing to feel doubtful of yourself and to deny the possibility of finding fortune in life, but to believe yourself to be cursed to never be loved? That’s… extreme. And really sad.

Call it his heroic nature, but Shouto can’t continue on his way without at least trying to say something to Tokoyami. Especially when Shouto knows all too well what that headspace is like.

Before Shouto can even think twice about it, his steps slow and his feet find their way over to the base of the tree that Tokoyami rests in. He looks up at his classmate and hesitantly calls out, “Hey...”

Upon hearing the greeting, Tokoyami blinks open an eye and squints down from his perch. “Ah. Todoroki. Hello.” He doesn’t appear to be annoyed at having his solitude interrupted, per se, but the pointed look in his eye reads ‘I hope you have a reason for coming here.’

Silence falls upon them as the two boys look at one another.

Shouto mentally grimaces. He didn’t actually plan ahead what he was going to say to Tokoyami. Now he feels awkward, standing below Tokoyami, not saying anything, desperately trying to latch onto words that bounce around sporadically in his head.

“Do you require something from me?” Tokoyami proceeds to ask after a heavy ten seconds of stillness.

“Uh, yeah,” Shouto says awkwardly. “I have a question.”

“Okay.”

“...It’s personal. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“Let me hear it. I will judge if its a question that I feel is worth answering.”

Right. Well, it’s not like Shouto has never blurted out an extremely personal question to anyone he knows before, so--

“You said you don’t believe that you’ll find requited love. Did you really mean that?”

The air around them goes quiet again.

This is awkward. Perhaps Shouto needs to stop beginning conversations by asking extremely personal questions.

“Yes,” Tokoyami suddenly answers. “I did mean that.”

Oh. Well, it’s good that he answered. But still, it’s not a very reassuring answer.

“You… shouldn’t think that way,” Shouto says, and then mentally slaps himself. That was probably too up front of him to say.

Tokoyami raises an eyebrow at Shouto’s suggestion. “That’s a very easy statement for you to make, you realize? I do not think you fully understand the degree of my situation.”

This conversation isn’t going how he imagined it would. Then again, Shouto hadn’t really imagined or thought through this conversation at all--he’d merely acted on impulse. Spending too much time around Midoriya, perhaps.

Shouto looks away sheepishly. “You’re right. I don’t know your circumstances. However… I still think that what you said isn’t realistic.”

Tokoyami huffs out a humorless laugh. “Really? Is it not realistic of me, a man born with subhuman attributes and possessed by a carnal beast made of darkness, to believe I am unworthy of receiving love?”

Dark Shadow peeks his head out from Tokoyami’s shoulder. “Ouch,” they mutter sardonically. “Didn’t know I was that burdensome to you.”

Tokoyami shuts his eyes in exasperation and ignores them.

Okay, now should really be the time that Shouto apologizes and leaves and pretends like he never started this conversation in the first place. It was a mistake to try and console Tokoyami when he didn’t even consider the fact that Tokoyami’s entire view of the world and himself might be completely different from his own. He messed up.

“Sorry,” Shouto mumbles. “That was ignorant of me to ask. I just… wanted to know if you truly felt that hopeless about that kind of thing. It’s not my place to try and convince you otherwise. I know how impossible it feels to change your mind about those kinds of thoughts.” Shouto winces and tries to move on before he overshares again. “But I know from experience that you should at least try to reach for what you want in life.”

Tokoyami sends Shouto another stern look. “So, you believe it best that I try to achieve what I want despite being conscious of the fact that I am bound to fail, no matter the odds?”

Their phrasing of things may have gotten a bit vague during this conversation, but they’re both still talking about finding love, right?

“Uh,” Shouto says and cups the back of his neck awkwardly. “Yeah… You might as well try. After all, we only have one life to live.”

And he immediately has to restrain himself from rolling his eyes at himself. Did Shouto seriously just tell Tokoyami to ‘YOLO’ his problems?

Tokoyami goes quiet and leans back against the tree’s trunk. Eventually, he hums appraisingly. “So, reminiscent to a suicide mission. Interesting…” he mutters quietly to himself, just barely loud enough for Shouto to hear.

Shouto’s mouth twists into a grimace. “Well… I wouldn’t word it like that.”

As if he didn’t hear Shouto’s reply, Tokoyami nods to himself with conviction. He sits up from his lounging position and gracefully pushes himself off the branch and onto the ground below. “I believe I now understand what you were trying to tell me.”

“No, I’m not sure that’s the case…” It really kind of seems like he got the wrong type of message across instead. Shouto definitely didn’t say anything even remotely suggesting ‘suicide missions.’

Tokoyami stares ahead with a determined expression. “Thank you for your words, Todoroki. Farewell.”

Just as Tokoyami turns his back to walk away, Dark Shadow reappears and glares at Shouto. “If this all goes south, I’m putting the blame on you,” they whisper accusingly.

Now alone, Shouto stands by the tree, dumbfounded.

That… perhaps didn’t go well. His intentions were purely to encourage Tokoyami to think more positively, but from his and Dark Shadow’s parting words, it kind of sounds like he egged him on to doing something more sinister.

If what ‘goes south?’

It appears Shouto managed to get some kind of message across to Tokoyami, but he really isn’t sure as to what it was.

 “Hey, is everything okay?” Uraraka says, appraising Shouto with a worried expression. “You look… troubled?”

“Huh?” Shouto murmurs, snapping back to reality and away from his thoughts. “Oh. Yeah, I guess.”

After his botched conversation with Tokoyami, Shouto headed back to the dorms and ran into Uraraka in the common room, lounging on the sofas. She happily invited Shouto to chill with her, and Shouto eagerly accepted her offer. He needed a break and a comforting friend right now.

Shouto keeps replaying his and Tokoyami’s conversation in his head. He can’t help but feel that there are so many better things he could have said to Tokoyami. He could’ve said things that would have actually shown that he cared and wanted to help the guy, instead of approaching him without a clue and without a plan.

Maybe it would have been better if he hadn’t have said anything at all.

Uraraka nudges Shouto with her foot from her spot on the common room sofa. “Wanna talk about it?”

Shouto hums listlessly from where he’s seated on the floor, leaning back against the sofa. “There’s not really much I can say. But I was talking with Tokoyami.”

“Huh. Okay. Did he say something weird to you?”

“No. If anything it’s what I said to him that bothers me. I was trying to give him advice, but I don’t think I did a very good job of it.”

Uraraka shakes her head, making her hair twirl around the sides of her face. “Nah, I bet you did okay! I’ve definitely seen you help people out in the past! You’re good at it!”

Shouto just raises a skeptical eyebrow at her.

Uraraka laughs at his reaction. “Really! I mean it!”

Shouto sighs and leans his head back against the cushion of the sofa. “I guess I’m more worried about how I conveyed what I wanted to say to him. Like, I don’t feel like I got the right message across to him. And it’s my fault because of how I said it.”

Uraraka hums, understanding. “Well, that’s normal. I think everyone has moments like that. Especially if you’re talking about deep or personal stuff, y’know?”

Shouto huffs out a self-deprecating laugh. “Or maybe I’m just bad at talking to people.”

He pauses and thinks of all the recent awkward conversations he’s had in general. There’s… been a few. A wave of embarrassment washes over him at the memories and he sighs. “I either say too much and overshare and make people uncomfortable, or I say too little and end up killing the conversation. I don’t know how to stay consistently in the middle.”

Uraraka nods along as she listens carefully to her friend’s venting. “I think… as long as you try to express your feelings and at least try to say what you want to say, then it’s better than not saying anything at all,” she says with a rueful smile.

Shouto thinks over what she said. He never really thought of it that way. It was rare for Shouto to not say what was on his mind at a given time. And sure, maybe some of the things he’s said have made situations worse than they should have been, but who knows what may have happened or not happened if he had never spoken up to begin with.

Rivalries, friendships… Some of them may have not happened if Shouto had stayed quiet. What would have happened if Shouto had never called out Midoriya during their time in the Sports Festival? Would they have ever become friends? Would Shouto ever have realized his own mistakes in the way he thought about his powers? Where would Shouto be right now if he had never said anything that day?

Despite his harsh words and actions back then, good things still came out of those flawed interactions.

“Sometimes…” Uraraka says, her voice softer now, “I feel like I don’t speak up as much as I should.”

“You’re usually pretty talkative though?” Shouto says. “I would think you wouldn’t have too much trouble with that.”

He means that in a genuinely non-mocking way. Uraraka is familiar enough with Shouto’s straightforwardness that she understands what he means and doesn’t take it offensively.

“Heh, I mean… I kind of have trouble confiding in people? Like with my friends.” She fiddles nervously with the sleeves of her sweater. “I… keep a lot of my feelings bottled up, and I don’t tell anyone when I’m feeling troubled by something, because I don’t want to burden them with my problems. And… sometimes I do it so much that it feels like I’m gonna explode!” She utters a nervous laugh.

Shouto turns around to face Uraraka, and he looks at her with concern. “Well, you technically just confided to me about your true feelings.” His lip twitches upward in a small smile. “So, that’s good.”

Uraraka’s eyes widen just a fraction at the realization. She chuckles and it sounds lighter than before. “Ha, I guess you’re right. I did it without even thinking about it. It… was kind of hard though. My words felt like they were stuck in my throat and I had to force them out. But, I do feel better now that I’ve said them.”

Shouto smiles. He’s glad that Uraraka trusts him enough as a friend to be able to talk about her insecurities with him. They’ve been friends for a while, but it wasn’t often that the two of them had the chance to just talk about stuff that wasn’t related to schoolwork, or pro heroes, or everyday topics with the rest of their friends.

He never even thought that Uraraka has much to bottle up; she always seems so cheery and optimistic. Rarely did he ever see her without a smile on her face. If she has burdens weighing upon her, then she must be very good at hiding them.

But, does that mean that there’s more that Uraraka might be hiding from her friends right now? Obviously, she doesn’t have to share all of her problems with her friends, but what if there is something that she’s been purposefully keeping hidden away because she’s worried about bothering her friends? Shouto knows for a fact that him and none of their other friends would ever be annoyed to hear about whatever may ail her. They’d want to help her in anyway possible. They’re all friends, after all.

Which reminds him, Shouto still hasn’t asked Uraraka about whatever might have upset her during her conversation with Yaoyorozu from the other day. Yaoyorozu said in her text to him that it had something to do with Asui.

It surprised him to hear that. On the surface, it really looks like Uraraka and Asui have a very strong and healthy relationship. The two of them are practically attached at the hip and they always look happy together. And it's not hard to imagine that the two might have a connection that goes beyond just friendship.

But the possibility of those two having some kind of conflict between them? That’s really worrying to Shouto.

Before Shouto can even begin to think of a way to ask about their supposed problem, Uraraka speaks up again, her voice meek, “You know, since we brought it up, I might as well mention… that something has been bothering me recently, but… I don’t really know how to talk about it?”

“Does it have to do with Asui?” Shouto asks without even a moment’s worth of sensible thought.

Uraraka freezes, her face completely stunned. “H-huh?”

Damn it.

He did it again. Shouto said the very first thing that came to his mind and ended up not being subtle at all.

Uraraka raises a hand to her face anxiously. “How--Why would you think--Um! D-did… Yaoyorozu-san tell you something?”

Shouto lowers his eyes, abashed at having made Uraraka uncomfortable with his prying. “Yeah… She did tell me. But not much, just that you seemed discouraged by something and it had to do with Asui.”

Uraraka blushes and utters a nervous laugh under her breath. “Wow… I never even mentioned Tsuyu-chan when I was talking to Yaoyorozu-san. I must be pretty easy to read, huh?”

No, not really, Shouto thinks. Before receiving Yaoyorozu’s text, who knows if Shouto would have even noticed that something was wrong with Uraraka? He was pretty perceptive when it came to noticing his friends’ situations, but Uraraka was turning out to be a special case. She’s apparently very good at putting on a facade, at pretending to be okay when she’s really not.

“I’m sorry,” Shouto says. “You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.”

Uraraka twists her hands in her lap, looking conflicted. “Mm… I can’t. Sorry. I can’t talk about it. Not right now, at least.” She takes a shaky breath. “I want to talk about it, I really do. But… I can’t. It’s just too upsetting for me.”

Shouto nods understandingly. “Okay. Sorry I asked. I wasn’t thinking.”

“No, it’s all right. I… If I ever do feel like I want to talk about it, then you’ll be the first person I tell, Todoroki-kun.” She smiles weakly. “I promise.”

It seems like Shouto can’t do much else to help. He really hopes that whatever is bothering Uraraka doesn’t continue to get worse. It would be terrible to see two of his friends drift away from each other because of a problem he couldn’t help with.

But, for right now though…

“Uraraka,” Shouto says a few moments later, after the conversation’s tension has settled, “Do you want to, uh, watch TV or something?”

Quirking a small smile, Uraraka beams at Shouto. “Sure! There’s this one new animated series I’ve been dying to watch!”

The least he can do right now is to just be her friend.

Chapter Text

Unknown Number:
Good evening! Is this Jirou Kyouka’s mobile number?

Jirou:
uhh yeah
sorry who is this??

Unknown Number:
My apologies! This is your class representative, Iida Tenya.

Jirou:
ohh ok cool
wait how did you get my number

Iida:
As class representative, I am responsible for keeping
a record of every student’s contact information.

Jirou:
…
am i in trouble or something

Iida:
Of course not!
I merely want to ask you a question, if you have a moment.

Jirou:
sure. hit me

Iida:
Thank you.
By any chance, would you happen to know where I might be
able to find Kirishima-kun on campus during the weekend?

Jirou:
….is kirishima in trouble

Iida:
Not at all!
I just need to speak with him.

Jirou:
uhhhh
yeah idk
i don’t rlly know what he gets up to on the weekends
why are you asking me tho

Iida:
I have already tried contacting several of Kirishima’s
friends to no avail.
Kaminari-kun didn’t have any clear answers.
And Bakugou-kun won’t reply to my messages.

Jirou:
ah
well sorry man idk what to tell you

Iida:
That’s quite all right!
Thank you for your assistance, Jirou-kun!

Jirou:
no prob man

Iida:
Good evening, Tsuyu-chan-kun!

Tsuyu:
good evening Iida-chan :)
how are you?

Iida:
I’m very well, thank you for asking!
I apologize for my abruptness, but may
I ask you a question?

Tsuyu:
of course
how can I help?

Iida:
By any chance, would you happen to know
where I might be able to find Kirishima-kun
over the weekend?

Tsuyu:
are you going to tell Kirishima-chan something?

Iida:
I...
Yes. I am.

Tsuyu:
hm
well I think that whatever you have to
say will make Kirishima-chan very happy

Iida:
Um, yes.
I hope so as well.
I just need to know where to find him first.

Tsuyu:
maybe check the rooftop of the dorm building
he likes to spend time up there

Iida:
The rooftop? I see.
I will definitely check that location when I look for him!
Thank you very much!

Tsuyu:
of course Iida-chan
good luck :)

Iida:
…
I have no idea what you are referring to.

Tenya turns off the screen of his phone and places it on the bedside table in his dorm room. From his seat on the bed, he takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. He bows his head and closes his eyes, giving himself a minute to calm his nerves. Eventually, he feels himself relax and his lips curve into a small smile.

He has somewhere to start his search once Saturday rolls around. Right now he feels… mostly confident. The new information from his classmates helped to ease his nerves a little, at least.

Tsuyu’s parting words in her text though… ‘Good luck.’ What was she referring to? She couldn’t possibly know about Tenya’s plan to confess, could she? But then again, Tsuyu is a very perceptive person.

Either way, whether she knows about his crush or not, Tenya is still glad that she said it. ‘Good luck’ is exactly what he needed to hear right now.

Tenya smiles to himself again. He resituates himself on the bed and lies down, wiggling comfortably into the cushioning beneath him. He gazes up at the ceiling, feeling thoughtful.

Tenya’s first year at high school is turning out to be much more exciting than he ever would have anticipated. He’s made an entire group of close friends whom he loves dearly. He received a heartwarming love letter from a secret admirer. And now he’s about to ask a boy he likes to go out on a date with him.

Who knows, he might even have a boyfriend by the week’s end!

The thought makes Tenya blush to his ears, and he turns his head to smother a goofy grin into his pillow.

He’s letting all of this hope get to his head, Tenya knows that. But, just for a moment, he wants to let himself dream.

Dream about a boy with a heart made of gold, a spirit bright enough to lighten even the darkest of voids, and the most charming and handsome smile that Tenya has ever laid eyes upon.

Tenya sighs and thinks back to when this all started.

He had his doubts about Kirishima at first.

On their very first day of class at UA, Tenya had sat dutifully at his assigned seat and watched with leery eyes as each one of his new classmates entered the room. After all, every person that entered had the potential to be an ally, or a rival, or even a friend to Tenya. One way or another, they would find a way to integrate themselves into Tenya’s life here at UA.

Eventually, Kirishima entered the classroom, with his bright and unnaturally styled hair, and a jagged scar decorating his brow. He was practically vibrating in his shoes with unsuppressed energy.

Tenya’s first impression of the boy was instantaneous and uncontrollable. Troublemaker, Tenya thought as he watched the sprightly boy meander around the room, enthusiastically introducing himself to anyone within arm’s reach.

Oh, how wrong he had been.

If only he had waited instead of being so quick to judge. Then he would have noticed the manner of civility in how Kirishima approached the people around him, the genuine interest on his face as he learned the names of his classmates, the boy’s instant recognition of their teacher entering the room and immediate obedience to locate his assigned seat.

Despite his rugged appearance, Kirishima had undoubtedly presented himself as a respectful gentleman.

It was later that same day that Kirishima found an opportunity to introduce himself to Tenya.

“Hey there! I’m Kirishima Eijirou!” he said with a wide smile and an extended hand. “Pleasure to meet you!”

Tenya eyed the other man warily but nevertheless returned the greeting, gripping the other boy’s hand in a firm handshake. He can still remember the feeling of coarse skin against his palm.

“My name is Iida Tenya. I look forward to working alongside you.”

The brilliant smile that Tenya received in turn made his gut churn with guilt. And perhaps another emotion he couldn’t quite recognize at the time.

Before him stood a kind and respectable man. A man with a passionate heart and eyes that burned with fiery determination. Tenya could see it clearly now; this man was going to achieve great things.

This wasn’t the first time that Tenya had terribly misjudged his peers, but he hoped that from that moment forward it would be the last time that he did so.

And as time went on, he only found more and more reasons to respect and admire the other boy.

Kirishima quickly revealed himself to be one of the strongest fighters in their class, performing impressive feats of strength that left many of their classmates, including Tenya, in a state of awe. The young man proved himself to be an incredible ally to anyone he teamed up with, always offering encouragement to his partners and communicating clearly in order to achieve their objectives.

Kirishima was absolutely devoted to his friends. Tenya will never forget the perseverance, the fire he saw in Kirishima’s eyes when he fought against all odds to rescue one of his own friends from a desolate battlefield that could have easily become their deathbeds.

Kirishima was not a quitter. No matter how many obstacles he faced or how many setbacks he encountered, the young man always charged forward, never ceasing, and he always came out on the other end, battered and bruised maybe, but still smiling.

Tenya could never keep his eyes off of that smile.

Falling for him just came naturally.

More often than not, Tenya found himself distracted by the other man. In class, his eyes would drift away from the blackboard and land on the back of the red-haired boy’s head. Later, he would try to focus on reading his textbooks, but then he’d hear Kirishima’s resounding laughter as he chatted amongst his friends. Sometimes, Tenya would listen in on their conversations, and he’d hear Kirishima crack a goofy joke, causing Tenya to turn away and hide a mirthful smile behind his hand.

On a daily basis, Tenya’s mind was plagued with the most trivial thoughts concerning the other man.

Was Kirishima getting enough rest at night? Was Kirishima keeping up okay with his studies? What is Kirishima’s favorite food? What inspired Kirishima to want to become a hero?

There was one particular evening, when Tenya had passed by the dorm common area on his way to his room, that he glimpsed at Kirishima sprawled out on one of the couches. Kirishima was dressed for bed and his usually spiky hair was let down for the day, still damp after having been just washed. He was grinning one of his signature smiles as he chatted happily with his friends.

He looks very handsome like this, Tenya thought to himself as he willed his feet to keep moving, to resist the temptation to linger and watch the other man for a few seconds longer.

But it was as soon as Tenya’s thoughts caught up with him that his steps did falter. It was at that moment that Tenya understood his fixation for what it truly was.

He had a crush on Kirishima.

Initially, the realization had taken Tenya by surprise. When had he developed feelings like this, and why hadn’t he noticed before? It was all so sudden.

Except… that it wasn’t sudden, Tenya realized soon after his shock died down. Tenya had always been attracted to the other man; he just didn’t know at the time what that attraction really meant.

His feelings made sense now. Why his heart beat faster when the other boy was close by. Why his eyes instinctively searched crowds for crimson, spiked hair. Why Tenya felt relieved when he heard Kirishima casually admit to his peers that he was gay. Why he felt drawn to him, why he itched to be closer to him, and why he wanted to be noticed by him.

He liked Kirishima. Yet, that fact didn’t unnerve Tenya at all. Rather, it made him feel excited.

The idea of dating another person wasn’t something that Tenya thought about often, but he never looked down upon the possibility of it happening. He liked the idea of being in a relationship, being together with someone special whom he could trust, admire, and rely on. It would be an adventure: experiencing romance, learning how to navigate a relationship. Surely it must be something worth striving for, right?

Despite how daunting the prospect sometimes seemed, Tenya felt comforted by the fact that dating was not a solitary affair. If he was ever lucky enough to find someone who wanted to be with him in this way, he knew that at least he wouldn’t be alone. The idea inspired him, made him want to put himself forward, to be his true self. Tenya wanted to connect with other people, make friends, form healthy rivalries, and, yes, maybe even find love.

Tenya kept that hope safely stored away like a lucky charm. He needn’t worry or rush himself to tie people into his life, after all, not when he has his entire high school career and beyond ahead of him. One way or another, the people he was meant to encounter would find him. Tenya reminded himself of that on the days he felt lonely and discouraged.

But now, as Tenya thinks about his newfound feelings towards Kirishima, he can’t help but wonder if this is one of those moments where he should take action to draw someone into his life, rather than wait for them to come to him.

While Kirishima and Tenya have had some interactions together in the past, Tenya definitely couldn’t claim that the two of them were friends, exactly. They were friendly when they did have their moments, sure, but Tenya knew that they weren’t close.

Maybe... that could change?

Many times, Tenya considered approaching Kirishima to try and befriend him, but in the end something always stopped him.

There was a prickling, little voice in the back of his mind, a whisper, that told him that this was selfish of him. To want to get to know Kirishima better, to get closer to him, and then what? Date him? Was that… authentic of him to do? Something about that… just didn’t feel right with him. Wouldn’t he only be revealing half of his motivations? Pursuing a friendship with him while still maintaining hopes of becoming something more?

Kirishima deserves to know the full extent of what Tenya really desires. It would feel like a form of dishonesty otherwise.

So then… perhaps Tenya should just cut right to the chase. Ask Kirishima out on a date.

He has a chance after all. Kirishima is single, he likes guys, and, who knows, maybe he likes Tenya? It’s all a possibility. It wouldn’t hurt to try. If it turns out that Kirishima’s not interested, then well, that’s that. Tenya would be able to move on, disregard his feelings, and continue an academic relationship with the other man.

Probably.

A sigh of frustration escapes from Tenya’s lips. Closing his eyes, he removes his glasses and rubs at his temples.

It’s doubts like these, mixed precariously with feelings of hope, that caused Tenya to remain in a limbo of hesitation for so long. After all this time, he never did try to approach Kirishima to tell him his feelings. He wanted to, but then he would think about the possibility of being rejected and losing that hope altogether. So instead, he decided to hang back and keep quiet about his feelings.

And he’s done that ever since.

But now, things have changed. All because of a love letter addressed to him.

Somebody likes Tenya. Somebody thinks that Tenya is attractive and worth dating. It’s… a new feeling. One that makes Tenya feel joyous, and grateful, and oh so warm and burning with hope.

It’s almost enough to motivate Tenya to want to confess again. Almost. Even with that note, Tenya still didn’t have the will to risk that hope.

It isn’t until later, when Tenya discovers the dilemma of his own close friend, Todoroki, that something finally causes him to consider otherwise. Todoroki also has someone that he likes and wants to confess to. But, unlike Tenya, he’s actually doing something about it. He’s brave and determined and risking a lot to try and share his feelings with Midoriya.

Speaking with Todoroki that night before, Tenya saw with his own eyes what that kind of resolution looks like. He saw his friend’s vulnerability, his fear, but, more than that, he saw just how hopeful Todoroki was.

And seeing that… just made Tenya’s own hope burn even brighter.

If Todoroki is willing to confess his innermost feelings to a close friend, then shouldn’t Tenya be able to confess his attraction to someone he can’t even confidently call a friend?

Tenya can’t argue with that logic.

He’ll do it this time. He’ll ask Kirishima out.

It’s better if he does it before he loses his nerve again. This weekend, he decides. He’ll find Kirishima when he’s not busy and tell him how he feels. It’s now or never.

Hope continues to surround Tenya. He sinks into it like a warm bath.

But, he can feel himself starting to doze off as he lays on the bed, so Tenya sits up and rises from the bed to properly get ready for sleep.

For the briefest of moments, Tenya’s eyes catch on a piece of paper that sits on his desk.

A letter addressed to him.

He looks away.

I’m sorry, he thinks with a flash of guilt. If I knew who you were, I would give you an answer to your feelings. You’re probably a wonderful person, but there’s nothing I can do if I don’t know who you are. Forgive me for directing my feelings towards someone else.

Tenya quietly grabs a fresh set of pajamas and his toiletries, and he exits his room, flipping the lightswitch off as he goes.

He pushes any lingering thoughts about the love letter to the back of his mind.

Chapter Text

Momo is famished. 

When lunchtime comes around, she rushes ahead of her friends to the front of the lunch line, eager to grab something to eat. The moment that she seats herself at the table, Momo doesn’t waste a second grabbing a spoon and digging into her plate of omurice.

Across the table, Jirou sits down and watches Momo with an amused smile on her face. “Someone's hungry," she says.

Momo looks up from her food and promptly blushes at having caught the other girl’s attention with her enthusiastic eating. 

Jirou chuckles and averts her gaze sheepishly. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to call you out like that.” She looks back at Momo with a concerned expression. “Did you, uh, skip breakfast or something?”

Momo readies herself to answer only to stop when she realizes her mouth is still full of fried rice. Momo self-consciously raises a hand to her mouth as she finishes chewing. “No, that’s not it. I did eat this morning.”

“Ah,” Jirou says. She puts her elbows on the table and rests her chin in her palm. With a contemplative look, she guesses again. “So then, quirk training?”

“Mmhm,” Momo hums affirmatively around a spoonful of fried rice. 

It wasn’t a lie, but it also wasn’t a complete truth. Momo definitely did use her quirk for an extended period of time yesterday, and she definitely did try her hand at creating something that she’d never made before, but it wasn’t because she was training for hero studies. Rather, Momo spent the whole afternoon trying to create the perfect present to give to Jirou. 

Momo had sat on the floor of her dorm room, surrounded by books and snacks to aid her creation and replenish her stamina, respectively. She had vividly pictured the finished product she wanted to make in her head, but when it came down to actually creating the correct material, shape, and color of the item, it turned out to be much more of a challenge than Momo had originally expected. As a result, there was a lot of trial and error to get the item’s creation just right. But by the time evening had rolled around, Momo was smiling proudly as she held in her hand the final result of her hard work. 

Her gift for Jirou is now ready. In fact, it’s sitting in Momo’s bag right this moment, already boxed up and daintily tied with a ribbon. All Momo has to do now is hand over the gift and... tell Jirou her feelings.

Momo’s stomach does a little flip at the thought. But not because she’s scared; she’s actually excited to give Jirou the gift. Something tells Momo that she just might have a chance with Jirou. Looking back, there’s just too many instances where it really felt like Jirou was being more than friendly with her. 

It’s impossible to count how many times Momo has caught Jirou watching her when the other girl thought she wasn’t looking. Seeing Jirou quickly look away with flushed cheeks and bottom lip tugged between her teeth has become a regular sight, one that never fails to make Momo’s heart skip a beat. 

And despite the fact that Jirou is friends with some of the more ‘entertaining’ students in their class, more often than not Jirou will turn down their invites to hang out, saying that she’s busy only to immediately gravitate to Momo’s side and ask her if she’s free to hang out instead. Even on the days when they only end up studying or quietly killing time in each other’s rooms, Jirou always has this warm smile on her face, one that Momo never sees her make around any of her other friends. 

It’s the way that Jirou’s looking at her right now, with soft eyes and lips lazily upturned. Head still cradled in her palm, she brings up her other hand and taps a finger to the side of her mouth. 

“You’ve got a little something there.”

Momo’s cheeks flush with embarrassment, and she hastily brushes her hand against her mouth. “Did I get it?”

Jirou chuckles softly. “No, right here,” she says as she points to her face again. 

After another failed attempt at catching the stray crumbs, Jirou shakes her head. With a laugh, she hands Momo a napkin, which Momo eagerly takes and dabs upon her lips. 

How embarrassing… 

“Don’t worry, you still look cute even when you’re covered in food,” Jirou teases. Then she winks.

Momo is so glad she doesn’t have food in her mouth at that moment, because her jaw drops. She recovers quickly, though, and clears her throat daintily. “Laughing at another woman’s misfortune isn’t very attractive, you know.”

Jirou’s brows raise into her fringe and she blushes. “Heh, well,” she mutters quietly, “I’m glad that you don’t usually resort to those sorts of tactics then.”

Okay, they are undoubtedly flirting right now. Momo is not imagining this. This is really happening.

Momo will later blame the hope currently swimming in her veins for what she says next. 

“Well… even if I did, would you still like me?”

Jirou’s elbow nearly slips off the edge of the table, her cool demeanor faltering. She lifts her head, and her eyes lock onto Momo. This time, Jirou doesn’t look away. Momo imagines she sees something in her stare--a glimmer of confidence and anticipation, however guarded it may be with caution. A mirror reflection of Momo’s own hope.

She really isn’t imaging this. There’s something there. Momo takes in a sharp breath at the realization. 

Jirou opens her mouth to speak. “I--”

A resounding cough from the end of the table shatters the moment. 

The girls startle at the sound and hesitantly turn to meet six pairs of eyes on them, as the two abruptly remember that they’re not the only ones at the table. Today they’re sitting with Aoyama, Midoriya, Todoroki, Asui, Uraraka, and Iida--all of them feigning innocence at having witnessed Momo and Jirou’s conversation.

Iida, probably the one who coughed, fiddles with the frames of his glasses, trying to appear inconspicuous. Aoyama has a knowing smirk on his face (an ‘ooh, la, la’ goes unspoken, but Momo hears it nonetheless). Todoroki has a hand covering his mouth. He’s smiling; Momo can see it in the way his eyes crinkle slightly at the sides. 

“S-sorry for my rudeness!” Momo blurts, needing to say something, anything to quell the awkwardness in the air. “I was so caught up in eating that I forgot to say hello to everyone.”

“That’s okay, Yaoyorozu-chan,” Asui reassures. “We all get a little carried away sometimes.” The rest of the table nods and murmurs in agreement. 

“Indeed!” Iida affirms with a signature chop of his hand. “Eating a meal with fervor is a sign of one’s good health.”

Momo looks down at her lap, feeling self-conscious. “That is true… It’s just that my quirk relies so heavily on how much food I intake. My appetite can get a bit… demanding at times.”

“When you’ve exhausted your quirk, you mean?” Midoriya inquires curiously. “Your appetite increases when you use your quirk too long or in a strenuous way?” 

“Ah, yes, that’s correct,” Momo says. “I was, ah, training my quirk quite a bit yesterday, so my body is still urging me to recover my stamina.”

Midoriya nods along as she explains. He looks genuinely interested in what Momo has to say about her quirk. “That’s really interesting!”

Momo smiles and answers when Midoriya continues to ask her questions about how her quirk works. Though, she can’t help but steal a few glances at Jirou while Midoriya rambles on. 

“I should probably do some quirk training of my own this weekend,” Midoriya ponders aloud to himself. 

“Training? On a weekend?” Aoyama asks skeptically. “Midoriya-kun, don’t you ever rest?”

“Well… it’s that or I could study, maybe.”

Aoyama makes an offended sound and laughter rings around the table of friends.

“Thank goodness it’s Friday though,” Uraraka sighs in relief. “What’s everyone else doing this weekend? Any fun plans?”

“I’m going to spend the weekend visiting my family,” Asui says. “It’s been a while since I’ve stayed at home.”

The smile on Uraraka’s face dims just slightly. “Oh… so you won’t really be around much this weekend, huh…”

Asui must notice the subtle shift of Uraraka’s expression because she frowns. After a moment of thought, she puts a finger to her chin and tilts her head inquisitively. “Would you like to come with me, Ochako-chan?” 

Uraraka perks up at the suggestion. “Huh? W-with you? You mean… like a sleepover?”

Asui nods. “Yeah. It’ll be fun.”

The grin on Uraraka’s face returns tenfold. “O-okay! Well, that settles my plans for the weekend!” Asui returns the smile and the two share an excited look.

“What about you, Todoroki-kun?” Midoriya asks.

Todoroki blinks as all eyes at the table fall on him. “Oh.” His eyes briefly scour the room, as if he’s searching for something. “I have to, uh, go to the... post office.”

“Oh yeah! You write letters to your mom, right?” 

“Yes,” Todoroki replies a little too quickly. “That is what I’m doing. Dropping off a letter… to my mom.”

Oh, Todoroki-san, Momo thinks to herself as she bites back a smile. You’re not actually dropping off a letter to your mother, are you?

“Iida-kun, are you doing anything fun this weekend?” Uraraka asks.

Momo doesn’t fail to notice the way that Iida’s back straightens up at the question. “Yes! I suspect that I will spend my free time socializing with friends.” Something about the way he says that feels off. Stilted, perhaps. There’s probably more going on with Iida then he’s letting on. But Momo decides that it’s not her place to pry. 

“Aoyama-chan, judging by the look on your face, it looks like you have something planned,” Asui notes. 

Looking over at the boy in question, he does seem to have a certain glow emanating from him. Aoyama is smiling peculiarly, like he knows something that no one else does, and his chin is raised in a way that radiates self-confidence. 

“Moi?” he says. “Hmm, yes, I believe I am doing something interesting this weekend.”

There’s a beat of silence as everyone waits for Aoyama to elaborate. 

“Well, what is it?” Uraraka asks, intrigued.

Aoyama’s smile widens. “I think I’m going to confess my feelings to the person I like.”

Momo’s jaw drops at the bluntness of his answer. Others around the table react with a similar shocked expression. Midoriya, on the other hand, is beaming.

“Whoa!” Uraraka exclaims excitedly. “That’s awesome, Aoyama-kun!”

“I really hope it works out for you,” Asui says with a smile.

“That is very admirable of you, Aoyama-kun!” Iida says. “I imagine it must be very challenging to accomplish something like that.”

Interestingly enough, Iida makes eye contact with Todoroki when he says that. Some kind of meaningful message must pass between them because Todoroki meets the look head-on, and he responds with a nod in Iida’s direction. 

“Thank you, my friends,” Aoyama replies, sounding grateful. “I’m very hopeful that my feelings will be returned.”

“Good luck, man. Seriously,” Jirou says with a smile. “I think you’ve got this.”

Aoyama inhales deeply and huffs out a soft laugh. He brings a hand up to his face. “Okay, now you guys are going to make me cry.” 

“Aww, Aoyama-kun, don’t cry!” 

Aoyama laughs again. “I’m joking. I’m okay,” he says, albeit with a wobbly smile. 

There’s a pleasant buzz of excitement lingering in the air after having heard such thrilling news from Aoyama. It especially resonates with Momo. After all, she’s going to confess to the person she likes too. It helps knowing that she’s not the only one who is going to attempt such a daunting task. 

Aoyama seems to be very confident about his chances, though. Does Momo’s confidence match his? She’s not entirely sure. Momo has high hopes, of course, especially after the flirting that happened earlier with Jirou, but she’s still nervous. 

After all, it wouldn’t be wise of her to assume that the most positive outcome is the only possibility. There is always a chance of failure. It doesn’t matter if she’s taking a written exam, performing heroic duties in a life-or-death situation, or confessing her romantic feelings to her best friend. There’s always the possibility that things won’t turn out the way she wants. And there’s only one way to find out which possibility will occur. 

That fact lingers in the back of her mind, grounding her, preparing her for action. Without it, Momo might have completely let herself get swept away with all the hope she’s harboring, lingering in that hope--in the fun, safe ambiguity of flirting--forever without searching for more. Hope is a powerful thing, but alone it’s not enough. Hope will carry her to where she needs to go, but it’s up to Momo to put her feet down and take her own calculated steps towards her final goal. 

She has all the hope she could ever need right now. She’s willing and waiting to take action. 

But when, is the question. When should Momo act? 

She obviously can’t do anything right this second; they’re in the cafeteria, surrounded by people. After classes end, then? But Jirou could be busy. There’s no way for her to know. Tonight? Tomorrow? Next week? No, definitely not that far off. She should do this soon, while her spirits are still high.

Oh, she’s making this more complicated than it needs to be! She needs to relax and calm her thoughts from running wild. There is time, she has time. She doesn’t need to know Jirou’s feelings right this moment. Even though… she really wants to know right now...

Hearing Jirou’s voice shakes Momo from her rampant thoughts.

“Hey, Aoyama, do you need any hype music or something? You know, to get yourself ready for when you do confess? There’s this one band I love that I could recommend. They actually just dropped a new album yesterday, and I’ve been listening to it like nonstop, it’s so damn good.”

“Ooh, I’m interested to hear,” Aoyama replies. 

Jirou practically bounces in her seat. “Want me to play some for you right now? I just gotta bring it up on my phone.” She starts to dig through her pockets for her phone.

“If you’re going to be playing music at a high volume, I’d advise against it,” Iida admonishes with a chop of his hand. “We are in the cafeteria, after all. It would disturb our fellow classmates.”

Jirou grimaces. “Ah, man. Fine.” Under her breath she mutters, “And it’s gotta be played loud, too.”

“Send me a link to it later?” Aoyama says.

“Yeah, will do.” Jirou leans back in her chair and sighs. “Man, now I really wanna listen to it. I’m telling you guys, it’s so good.”

Momo isn’t sure how it happens exactly, but suddenly it feels like she found the missing piece to an unfinished puzzle. It’s almost an unconscious thought, what happens next. 

Now, Momo’s brain echos. Do it now. This is your chance.

“Then, let’s listen to it now,” Momo is saying before she even realizes what’s happening.

“Huh?” Jirou questions, confused by her sudden suggestion. “But Iida just said--”

“I mean, we can go somewhere else and listen to it. We still have time, yes?” 

“Y-yeah, there’s like thirty minutes left of lunch…”

“Okay! Then that should be plenty of time to listen to a few of your favorite songs!”

Momo is suddenly full of energy and adrenaline. All of her chaotic thoughts from before are nowhere to be found, replaced by a single linear goal: telling Jirou right now. 

Jirou huffs out a laugh. “All right then. I’m up for that.”

“Okay,” Momo says as she stands up from her seat. “Shall we go?”

“Yep. Let’s go.”

The two of them shoulder their bags and grab their lunch trays to dispose of. The rest of the table waves them goodbye.

Just before Momo turns around to leave, she notices Todoroki give her a thumbs up. ‘Good luck,’ he mouths silently.

Momo’s heart swells at the gesture and she mouths back a 'thank you.' She turns around and follows Jirou outside of the building.

“Hey, would it be cool if we, uh, headed to my room?” Jirou asks as they walk. “The music will sound better through the speakers I have set up, so…”

“That’s perfect,” Momo exclaims. 

"Okay, cool. Cool, cool, cool..." Jirou says, her voice progressively fading into a mumble. 

If Momo’s hopeful assumptions are correct, and Jirou has been showing signs of interest in her, then… is Jirou feeling just as nervous as she is right now?

No, wait. She can’t let her hopes take over completely just yet. She needs to stay focused! She can’t know anything for certain until after she actually confesses to Jirou.

Wow... She's really about to do this.

Momo places a hand over her rapidly thumping heart, and she breathes in deeply. She needs to calm down and act normal.

“So this band you like…,” Momo begins casually, “have you ever spoken to me about them before?”

Jirou smiles, eyes shining. “Yeah, I probably have. They’re one of my more recent favorites. Y’know, I actually made it to one of their concerts like a year or so back…”

Their walk to the dorms goes by in a flash. Momo listens with interest as Jirou raves enthusiastically about the bands she likes and what concerts she’s been to. 

Ever since becoming Jirou’s friend, Momo has learned to appreciate quite a few new genres of music that she had never taken the time to listen to. It’s fun and exciting, and Momo never gets tired of seeing the way Jirou’s face lights up whenever she talks about music. 

“You know what kinda sucks?” Jirou says as they walk down the hallway to her dorm room. “Ever since classes started, I haven’t had the time to make it to any concerts.”

“UA does keep us rather busy, doesn’t it?”

“I’m hoping that maybe before the year ends, I’ll be able to squeeze in at least one. Would you… maybe wanna come with me?”

The sudden invitation takes Momo by surprise. It must show on her face because Jirou quickly tries to backtrack.

“I mean! It was just an idea. You don’t have to go, of course. I’d get it if it’s not your thing. And it’s not like I even have actual plans to go to one yet...”

“No, no, that’s not it,” Momo clarifies. “I was just surprised, is all. I’d--I think I’d really like that. Going to a concert with you.”

Now Jirou looks surprised. “Really? You’d want to go with me?”

“Yes! Absolutely.”

Jirou turns away from Momo to unlock the door to her room. “Heh, all right.” Even though she’s out of view, Momo can still hear the smile in her voice. “So then… it’s a date.”

This is becoming unbearable. It feels like Momo’s heart is about to burst. Is Jirou doing this on purpose? She must be.

Once they’re both inside the room, Jirou lazily tosses her bag and takes a seat on the floor, her back against the bed. Momo follows, careful to avoid stepping on the electric cables connected to various instruments serpentining across the floor. Sitting beside Jirou, Momo keeps her bag clutched in her lap. 

Okay, this is it. They’re alone in Jirou’s room now. It’s the perfect time for Momo to present her gift and confess. Or… confess and then present the gift? Does it matter what order she does it in? Or should she do both simultaneously? 

Momo bites her lip as she ponders her next move. She wants her confession to be perfect. But with all of the excitement from having finished Jirou’s gift, Momo overlooked some of the finer details of what she’s about to do. Hell, this whole ‘ask Jirou to take her somewhere without people‘ situation was improvised out of nowhere too. Momo really has let herself get carried away because of her emotions. 

This is fine though. She just has to keep rolling with the punches (albeit, the ones she inflicted on herself). Nothing in her plan has gone wrong so far. She can do this.

With her confidence bolstered, Momo glances at the girl sitting by her side. Jirou is lounging comfortably, her knees bent and socked feet lazily toeing at the carpet. Her face scrunches cutely in concentration, engrossed as she searches through her music app. 

After a few moments of unabashed staring, Momo steels herself and speaks. “Jirou-san?”

“Hmm?”

“There’s... something I want to tell you.”

Jirou’s attention is still glued to her phone. “Sure, what’s up?”

Momo anxiously clutches at the bag splayed across her lap. 

“I--”

“Oh! Hey, sorry to interrupt, but would you wanna watch one of the music videos for these guys?”

Momo’s concentration stutters to a halt. “Huh?”

“I mean, they’re really well made and cinematic and stuff. And it doesn’t hurt that the lead vocalist is really pretty. But not as pretty as you, of course.”

She says the last part so damn casually, and it makes something inside of Momo snap.

“W-will you go out with me?!” The words burst from Momo’s mouth without any control.

Jirou’s phone promptly falls out of her hands, and her head jerks up, eyes blown wide.

“Wait, what?!”

“I--I mean, I--” Momo stumbles over her words, trying desperately to regain her mental footing. 

Well, there goes her attempt at a composed and romantic confession… This definitely wasn’t supposed to happen like this, but it’s too late to go back now. As a final resort, Momo decides to just roll with it.

“I...I really like you, Jirou-san! You’re beautiful and talented and an amazing friend and… it would make me so unbelievably happy to have someone like you as my girlfriend! So please, will you go out with me?” She finalizes her confession with a bow. 

A bow?! Momo chastises herself mentally. What is she thinking? This can’t be a normal thing to do during a confession! She feels absolutely ridiculous. Oh, this is a proper mess.

There is a torturous second of silence before Jirou is scrambling to sit up and answer. “Yes! Yes, of course I want to be your girlfriend!”

Momo straightens herself and sees Jirou beaming at her, a huge grin stretched across her face.

“Really?” Momo already knows the answer, but, right now, with her thoughts and feelings currently flying completely out of control, she can’t help but voice her disbelief aloud.

“Yeah, really!”

Momo releases a mixed sound of surprise and delight. “You really like me back?”

“Yeah!” Jirou says with just the slightest hint of exasperation, but her grin never falters. “Was I not being obvious?”

“Not exactly--or I mean, yes, you were! But, I just… I wasn’t sure? I didn’t want to assume things and mess up what we already had…”

“That’s what I felt too!” Jirou says. “I was afraid you might not feel the same way, so that’s why I just… kinda flirted with you a bit just to see how you would react?” 

“You could have said something…”

Jirou scoffs and points an accusing finger at Momo. “You could have said something too!”

“But I just did!” Momo argues back. “That’s how we’re having this conversation right now!”

The two girls gape at each other briefly before the absurdity of the situation finally sinks in and they break down into laughter. 

“We really have just been dancing around each other this whole time,” Momo says in between giggles. 

Jirou snorts. “Oh god, we have been, haven’t we?”

In retrospect, it should have been obvious that Jirou feels the same way. She was never imagining things. Of course all the signs that Momo was witnessing were Jirou’s attempts to make her feelings known. Momo needn’t have worried to begin with. 

It’s then that Momo remembers the present for Jirou that’s been waiting inside her bag this whole time.

“I nearly forgot… I have something for you,” Momo says with a shy smile.

She unzips the bag on her lap and pulls out a thin, small gift box wrapped with a silk ribbon. 

Jirou’s eyes widen. “For me?” She scoots closer to Momo and takes the offered gift. 

Momo watches nervously as Jirou carefully unwraps the ribbon and lifts off the lid of the box.

“Whoa.”

Inside the box is a necklace. It’s simple in design: a simple silver chain with a purple-pink jewel charm. The jewel is cut into the shape of a star. 

Jirou lifts the necklace by its chain and stares at the purpleish gem, twirling and glittering in the air.

“Dude...” Jirou breathes. “How much did it cost you to buy this?”

Momo shakes her head softly. “I didn’t spend anything. I made it myself.”

Jirou’s jaw drops, and she looks at Momo with wide eyes. “You made this? Like, with your quirk?” 

Momo nods, feeling bashful. 

Jirou stares at Momo, then back at the necklace, then back at Momo. “That’s… freakin’ awesome.” She huffs out a soft sound, bewildered. “Thank you, Yaomomo.”

Happiness and pride swells in her heart at knowing that her gift and her feelings were warmly accepted. Momo smiles and she blinks back the fuzzy feeling building behind her eyes.

Suddenly Jirou gasps and is clambering to her feet. “Wait! I--I have something for you too!” She stumbles over to her desk, nearly tripping in her haste along the way, and starts to dig through one of her drawers. After a few seconds of searching, she finds what she’s looking for and hurries back to Momo’s side on the floor.

“Here,” Jirou says, averting her eyes to the side as she hands over the item. 

It’s a CD in a simple see-through case. Written on the disc in black marker is ‘To Momo’ punctuated with a single drawn heart.

“It’s a mixtape,” Jirou admits shyly. “I made it for you a while back, but… I never ended up giving it to you because, well, I didn’t want to scare you off or make you feel weird or, y’know… Also, I thought it was super cheesy...”

Momo fondly traces her fingers over the mixtape case. She subtly clears her throat, willing away the tears forming in her eyes. “This… This is such a thoughtful gift, Jirou-san. Thank you so much.” She brushes a finger along her eye and chuckles softly. “Cheesy is good, by the way. I like cheesy.”

“Oh really?” Jirou murmurs, a smirk slowly forming on her face. “Then, is it cheesy if I say that you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever met?”

Momo giggles. She recognizes the playfulness behind her compliment and decides to retaliate. “Yes, it is. Would it also be cheesy of me if I said that you make my heart beat fast just by looking at me?”

Jirou’s cheeks turn a pretty shade of pink but she continues on. “Definitely. But what if I said that I wanted to sing you a song about the color of your eyes and the way you smile at me?”

Momo has to clamp a hand over her mouth to hold back a shout of laughter. “Oh, that is terrible. But is it cheesier than me telling you that I wake up every morning smiling because you’re the first person I think of?”

Jirou’s flirty smirk dissipates and she stares back at Momo with a beet-red, stunned expression. Then she buries her face into her hands. “Okay. I’m dead. You’ve killed me.”

This time, Momo doesn’t hesitate to let her laughter ring throughout the room. Both of them are completely flushed, and while Momo feels so silly flirting like this, at least now she’s certain that she’s not alone in feeling this way.

A minute later, Jirou holds up the star-shaped necklace that Momo gave her. “You don’t mind if I wear this in public, right?” 

“Of course I don’t mind! It would make me very happy if you did wear it.” Momo beckons with her hand for Jirou to come closer. “Here, I can put it on for you?”

“Sure.”

Jirou scoots closer and hands Momo the necklace. Sitting on the balls of her feet, Momo leans forward, reaching over Jirou’s shoulders and clasping the necklace around her neck. 

“There you go.”

Momo leans back a bit and stills when she notices Jirou gazing up at her, only centimeters away. She can feel Jirou’s breath dance across the skin of her face, they’re so close. Momo’s eyes drift down to her lips when Jirou quirks a hint of a smile.

“If you wanted an excuse to get up close to me, you could have just asked.”

That teasing smile will be the death of her, Momo decides. But a death she welcomes willingly. 

Feeling brave, Momo tilts her head forward just an inch, gauging the other girl’s reaction. Jirou inhales sharply through her nose, her eyes darting to Momo’s lips. She doesn’t back away. Momo leans closer still, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. Jirou tilts her chin up, her eyelids hooding. Momo closes her eyes and presses forward until her lips meet Jirou’s. It’s a gentle kiss. A soft, timid press of lips, but oh, so warm. And so much better than simple hope. 

Momo pulls back, suddenly feeling embarrassed despite the giddy joy bubbling up inside her. “I’m sorry. Was that too soon of me to do?”

“No way.” Jirou laughs under her breath, her face about as flushed as Momo’s feels. “I’ve been wanting that to happen for ages. Kiss me again?”

With a smile, Momo leans in again and happily fulfills her request.