( chocolate love )

[ex_herotaku594]

[ In a world where Todoroki is Midoriya's childhood friend instead of certain other parties, everybody is generally a more well-adjusted teenager, minus said certain other party. However, it doesn't teach Midoriya one thing that he wishes he knew more about: what it is to have a crush on somebody, and how to deal with it. No amount of reading he can do, he knows, is actually adequate preparation for what that's like In Real Life, although he really appreciated that Uraraka loaned him basically her entire collection of shoujo manga and even marked her favorites.

Still, he feels like he should say something. He consoles himself by mentally insisting that he's just waiting for the right moment, although he knows in his heart of hearts that he's just waffling, neither moving forward nor backwards. It's a place that makes him feel uneasy; he doesn't mind working hard and enduring to advance with anything, but he isn't sure how he feels about not going anywhere.

But the forces of the universe have their ways. In the middle of their practical field training, while he's busy trying to figure out how his quirk actually is supposed to be used, Todoroki unexpectedly gets more hands-on combat experience when a villain attacks nearby where his hero office was stationed. When Midoriya had heard about it, something sunk in for him: If he waits, what if there's never an opportunity to say something? He's not that worried about Todoroki, really (he finds it difficult to think that Todoroki could be killed so easily, practically unbelievable), but this and that can happen. Sometimes strength has nothing to do with it — All Might, of course, comes to mind.

Which is why he spurs himself to action, calling Todoroki out to a park that the two of them used to play at together when they were younger. (Totally indiscretely in the background: Iida and Uraraka, who are being really Good Friends and supporting/spying on him in his time of duress.) After the usual greetings, he inhales deeply, and —

Promptly launches into a very long rant, said entirely in a mumbling tone, about how dangerous the superhero occupation is, and how he's glad that Kou-chan is fine but he was really worried, and it made him think what if we never see each other again? and that isn't something he wants to consider but it makes him think that it means he should say something if there's something on his mind, because he doesn't want to regret not taking the initiative, and while it's very presumptuous of him since he has no lineage or really many redeeming points at all, it isn't unheard of for superhero couples to exist, in fact there are a few well-known cases that were documented in this really interesting article he read last year...

It goes on and on. And then finally, at the end, when he thinks his face is going to explode, he inhales sharply and blurts out: ]

AnywaywhatI'msayingisthatIlikeasinlikeyoulikeyougoodbye.

[ And then turns around and walks off a bit mechanically because oh god what is he doing even. ]