WORD COUNT: 1.9k
SUMMARY: You're hit with a quirk that compels you to tell the truth to those around you. Will you be able to keep your deepest secret about your crush hidden from him?
WARNINGS: none, just fluff!
LINKS: ao3 | masterlist | ask box
TAGLIST: at the end of the post, message me to be added/removed!
AUTHOR’S NOTE: this was originally a fluff friday request, but it was so cute, i just couldn't help myself to do a bit more! thanks to @lynlys for requesting this, and a big thanks to @dompubliczn for helping me with it. hope you enjoy!
You sit in a hospital bed, contemplating your feelings and where you hide them. It won’t be very long till they’re exposed.
You keep your feelings in a safe... a waterproof, fireproof safe with three locks on it. And you vowed to keep them there for as long as they existed. You could never let Izuku Midorioya know how much you loved him. You could never let him know how every time you looked at him, your heart would skip a beat, and butterflies would take flight in your stomach. He could never know. You cared too much about preserving the friendship you had with him.
You met Izuku fresh out of school, both of you two new recruits at the same pro-hero agency. At work orientation, you couldn’t keep your eyes off of him. He was so pretty. And the way he exuded enthusiasm for hero work was nothing short of admirable. When the two of you were paired up on your first missions, you knew this was the start of something special. You guys worked seamlessly together, your quirks and personalities meshing perfectly.
And this led to a beautiful friendship. When you two weren’t on patrol together, you’d be at each other’s apartments, sipping tea and fawning over other pro-heroes. It led to late-night chats, where it was 2 AM and both of you were teary-eyed, discussing each other’s personal wants and dreams for the future.
The relationship was truly one that you cherished. One that you were willing to overlook the dull ache in your chest for. An ache that was a sure sign of your greatest weakness: love. But you couldn’t help but love Izuku Midoriya. Everything about him begged to be adored. From his determination to do good in the world, to his freckled cheeks that blushed ever so slightly when you gave him a compliment.
Could Izuku feel the same way you do? You often pondered this late at night, staring up at your ceiling. It was possible. But “possible” wasn’t good enough. Because it was also possible that he doesn’t share the same feelings, and that confessing to him would ruin your relationship with him for good.
It’s not worth the risk, you’d repeat to yourself inside your head if you ever felt like that safe full of feelings was opening. It’s not worth it.
“Is she okay?!” Izuku comes rushing into the hospital room, eyes wide and focused on you as you sit up in bed.
“I’m fine,” you say pointedly, trying to reassure a panicked Izuku. “It hasn’t taken effect yet.”
“But it will,” the doctor in the room speaks up. “She’s good to go home, but she should have someone to keep an eye on her. The quirk she was hit with is a truth serum. From what we know about it, it compels whoever is hit with it to tell the truth, reveal secrets, you name it. It should pass within a few hours, but until then, she needs to be looked after."
“This is all my fault,” Izuku says, looking at the floor. “If I hadn’t rushed into the fight like that, you wouldn’t have gotten hit.”
“It’s fine, Midoriya,” you reply. “I’m f-”
You feel the word “fine” get stuck in your throat suddenly. For the life of you, you can’t get it out. Instead, a new word comes out.
“-ucked.”
You instantly slap your hand over your mouth. You did not mean to say that.
“What?!” Midoriya looks up from the floor and gapes at you. It wasn’t like you to be so frank and, well, honest about your current state.
“Aaaaand, it looks like it’s started,” the doctor sighs and takes out a card from her pocket before handing it to Izuku. “This is my card. Call me if she starts to exhibit any other strange behavior.”
“Okay,” Izuku nods to the doctor as she exits the room.
He turns back to you, your eyes still wide and hand still over your mouth.
“Let’s get you home.”
Your mouth opens and begins talking into the palm of your hand, the sounds coming out are jumbled nonsense. But anything is better than the truth.
“What is it?” he asks.
You sigh and take your hand away, blushing. “I want to go to your apartment instead.”
“But why?”
“I like the way it smells like you,” you say, before slapping your hand back over your mouth.
Izuku smiles and lets out an awkward laugh. “I guess we can go to my place then!”
The car ride back is the most nerve-racking moment of your life. You can feel the truth serum inside of you, slowly melting away at the steel of the safe where you keep all your secrets. You don’t know what you’re going to do. No way can you convince him to leave you alone while you’re like this— and you can’t even try to lie to say that you’re better! You feel absolutely doomed.
The car parks and Izuku gets out, running to the other side to open the door for you, ever the gentleman.
“Are you okay? Do you need help getting out?” he asks, offering his hand.
Without a beat passing, you immediately respond “I don’t need help, but I’ll say yes just so I have the opportunity to hold your hand.”
“Oh, um, that’s okay!” he says nervously, taking your hand in his.
If you weren’t so mortified at your honesty right now, you’d relish the way that your hand fits into his calloused hand. Almost as if it was meant to be there.
“It’s like our hands are meant to be together,” you say out loud.
You tilt your head back and groan, already getting tired of this quirk’s effects on you.
“Hey, it’s okay!” Izuku says reassuringly. “You don’t have to be embarrassed about anything when you’re with me... I thought the exact same thing.” He mumbles that last part, but you manage to hear it, making your heart burst.
His words are comforting, but doesn’t do anything to ease the anxiety inside of you. Especially once you say:
“God, you’re just the perfect man, aren’t you?”
Izuku deeply blushes and rubs the back of his neck, chuckling slightly. “Let’s go inside.”
The two of you walk inside his apartment, and although you're on edge, you immediately feel comfort in your surroundings. His All Might paraphernalia never fails to bring a smile to your face.
“I love your apartment,” you say.
He smiles, then furrows his brow. “You haven’t really had a chance to recuperate since getting hit in battle… Do you want to take a shower and get some rest?”
“Only if you’ll join me in the shower,” you respond.
Izuku’s mouth drops a little as his eyes go wide.
“I mean,” you say, waving your hands. “Yes, a shower sounds great. Thank you.”
“O-of course,” he says, trying to do the right thing and ignore your previous comment.
When you get in the shower, you sigh in relief. Finally, a little bit of time where you’re not at risk of exposing yourself. You wash away the dirt and grime from the battle. You hope that if you scrub enough, you could also wash away this feeling of constant embarrassment.
A few hours, you think to yourself. I only have to get through a few hours and then I can go back to how it should be: me stuffing my feelings down deeper and deeper so they never see the light of day.
“Everything okay?” you hear Izuku’s voice from the other side of the door.
“Yes, just still wishing you were in here with me,” you shout back.
You shut your eyes tightly, wishing to be anywhere but where you are.
A beat of silence passes before he speaks up again “I, uh, left some clothes out on the bed for you to change into.”
“Thanks,” you say back weakly. “I’ll be out in a sec.”
After drying off, you go into his bedroom to find a neatly folded t-shirt with basketball shorts. You sigh to yourself. At any other moment, the idea of putting on Midoriya’s clothes would have made you squeal and jump for joy, but now you’re worried that you might actually do that. Despite this, you put on the soft clothing, breathing in the scent of him.
You walk out into the living room and find Izuku lying on the couch, scrolling through his phone. When he sees you, he lights up.
“Feeling better?” he asks.
“I’d feel a lot better in your strong arms,” you reply.
Rolling your eyes at yourself, you plop yourself down next to him, curling up into yourself.
About a minute of silence passes before he speaks up. “I mean if that’s what you want…”
“What?” you ask, confused.
“If that’s what you really want… to be in my… um, ‘strong’ arms... then…” he says, opening his arms to you shyly, avoiding eye contact.
You’re almost too shocked to react, even with the truth serum flowing through your veins. But there’s definitely something deep within you that, without thinking, causes you to scooch closer to Izuku, gently resting yourself up against his chest.
“This feels right,” you whisper.
You feel Izuku nod slightly. “It does.”
“My heart is so warm,” you say, the words spilling out of your mouth. “All my love for you makes my heart so warm and I would never trade it for the world.”
“I-I love you too... You’re my best friend,” Izuku replies, unfazed.
Normally getting put in the friend-zone like that would cause you heart-ache, but right now you’re just thankful for his naivety.
You think you’re out of the woods until you feel something deep inside you. The feeling of the three locks on your safe opening. Like magma making its way to the tip of the volcano, all your secrets and feelings rush up to your throat, demanding to be heard. You couldn’t keep it down, even if you tried. And you were trying so hard.
“No,” you hear yourself say with conviction, so much that it takes both you and Midoriya aback. “Not like a best friend.”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“I love you more than a best friend,” you say really fast, practically exploding with those words.
Izuku’s eyes go wide. “You.... You do?”
“Yes!” you say, exasperated, sitting up from the couch to face him. “I love you so much and you don’t even know it! I love you more than I love anything else. More than I love hero work, more than I love myself! You’re all I can bring myself to think about every day of every week. You’re absolutely perfect and it kills me that I’ll never be the woman to be with you!”
Izuku swallows hard and looks away, dejected. “Why do you think you’ll never be the woman to be with me?”
“Huh?” you ask, dumbfounded.
“Why do you assume that I wouldn’t want to be with you?”
“Well… I… Uh…”
“Why do you assume that I don’t feel the same way about you? That I don’t adore you with every fiber of my being? That every time I see you, I don’t feel the most complete I’ve ever felt?”
Izuku looks up at you, tears pricking his eyes. “I love you too. I love you. I mean it.”
You gasp before wrapping him in a hug. He freezes in surprise but soon melts into your touch and pulls you closer.
“I can’t believe you love me too,” he whispers. “I can’t believe it.”
You smile and look into his beautiful, green eyes. “It’s the honest truth.”
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