Heyy!! So I’m hella tired it’s so late aghh! I just wanted to thank you all for all the support my posts have received literally since day one. Remember to eat and sleep well!
Enjoy it (I love Izuku let’s not pretend here), mwah! (not proofread srry)
It had always something to do with those stupid questions you like to ask. Always. Questions that had both the capacity of making you cry tears of amusement or making you wish All Might would use his famous Alabama Smash to crash your head against a wall. Today, sadly, the last option had been victorious.
Izuku, the guy whose kindness was just as extensive as his freckles, trained with you. Often. Too often. And you asked him some questions after every session because who wouldn’t want to get to know what hid those gentle eyes? Who wouldn’t want to know more about the guy who always stopped to help you up after one of his hits landed harder than he intended?The one who repeated his apologies like a mantra afterwards? Well, let’s be real here, those weren’t the only motives that fed your interest for your training partner. Maybe, just maybe you had quite the biggest most enormous crush in him. Who would’ve guessed that hard knocks breed love?
Your questions were usually innocent. “What’s your favorite dessert?”, “Have you ever jerked off in a public place?”, “would you rather fuck having Tsuyu’s quirk or with Sero’s quirk?” Well, maybe not innocent at all but whatever.
Today, just because God likes to mess with your mental health, you were feeling a tad bit more bold than usually.
“Do you like anyone Izuku?”
Your question came out like a gunshot, leaving the green-haired guy hoping he had auditive problems and he had heard that wrong.
His eyes widened like when a little kid is about to be pushed in a passage of terror.
“Do you like any girl or guy, Izuku?”
You repeated the question, anticipation building within you as the tiniest of the hopes that your name was the next word he pronounced tugged at your heartstrings.
The poor guy looked like his blood was running cold and getting stuck on his cheeks.
“Awwwww come onn Zuku! Nobody? Really?”
He mentally thanked his position, sitting down as he changed his shoes after a rough training session, so that the only witness of his expression of pure suffering and of the crimson color that had made its way onto his face, but could never take the protagonist from his perfectly spread freckles, was the hard and cold flooring.
“C-can’t think of anyone right now…”
“Well then, who do you think the prettiest girl is? The one you’d be the most attracted to?” Your voice came out in a rush, almost in an irritated tone that made the young Midoriya fear you might run out of patience if he didn’t say a name right there and then. You weren’t actually irritated of course, but that strange sensation of invulnerability that had possessed you whole when you asked him the first question had long abandoned your body, so now you were just wishing wholeheartedly to change the subject, which wasn’t possible if he didn’t say something. Anything for God’s sake!!
Inside Izuku’s head the situation wasn’t any different. You were not gonna let it slide were you? Did he really have to say a name? I mean, yours was absolutely discarded. How could he just confess to the girl that occupied about the last 10 pages of his notebook- not his hero notebook, the other one, his personal one- that she had the most precious smile in the world? That his pages were filled with the way your tone shifted to a slightly softer one whenever you talked with an elderly or a kid? That his wrist hurt from trying to draw that characteristic glint in the eyes of yours, but he could never quite capture it? That, at this point, his old and weary notebook was practically begging him to stop writing about you, about things not even you would have noticed about yourself that he treasured in between egg shell colored papers?
No. He couldn’t just do that.
“Come on Izuku just say the first name that comes to your mind- she’s getting mad! Come on Izuku!”
You were just as surprised as he was upon hearing that name. He started fidgeting with the laces of his block-like shoes nervously
“I-If I have to say a girl… Ochaco?”
Ouch. Right in the heart. Was it surprising though? They were always together, and they shared inside jokes, and they sat together during lunchtime and- and- you felt a knot on your throat that unabled you to swallow your own damn fucking feelings. The knot just intensified at the thought that Ochaco was actually your friend. You girls had a good relationship and right now you could just wish her name would stop echoing in the back of your mind. This had been such a dumb way to break your own heart.
“O-oh! Well, it’s… I mean kinda previsible? You guys are always together…” you smiled awkwardly as both of your hands played to pull up and down the zip of your sports jacket “she’s really pretty as well” you blinked quickly avoiding not even a trace of a tear to appear on your slightly shaky eyes “good luck with that Zuku, she’s lucky. Really”
You didn’t even give him time to process your answer before you walked towards the nearby bench were your belongings rested in a familiar way, grabbed your backpack and walked towards the exit, waiting for him there.
The walk back to the dorms was… quiet, to say the least. Not quiet like when you are too lost in appreciating the warm colors of the leafs in autumn and he is too lost in appreciating the moles on your face and your neck as to say anything. It was actually quiet, disturbingly quiet.
Izuku’s anxiety just grew bigger. You were always talking, always yapping about things you liked or you disliked, rambling on about your day or making questions that put him on the spot. Where was your laugh now? Where were those faces you made when you commented how much Katsuki pissed you off when he insulted him?
You, on the other hand, were focused on not opening your mouth. You couldn’t afford to let your guard down or your feelings would’ve come out in heart wrenching sobs. Not in front of him.
As soon as the two of you reached the Heights Alliance, Iida and Ochaco greeted you enthusiastically, but they went straightforward to chat with Deku, which you mentally thanked since they were giving you the perfect cover to do what you had been wishing for what felt like ages: lock yourself in your room, complain about life and bawl your eyes out.
Izuku wanted to ask you if you were okay, apologize even if he had been to hard in you during the practice, but he couldn’t bring himself to cut Iida mid speech about values and hard work to go after you in front of everyone. He also didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. If you wanted to be alone then why should he take that from you?
As you reached your favorite 20 square meters in the world, your frustration bubbles up and you allowed yourself to throw your gym bag with way more strength than necessary on the floor right before jumping onto your bed, face down, and sobbing silently.
About 3 minutes later you heard the door opening in a slow but confident motion.
“Hey girl. Haven’t seen ya since you’ve come back from training with your future husband and future daddy of my nephews, were you so love-drugged that you forgot about the bestest of your best friends-“ Mina’s voice was abruptly cut off as she caught that something wasn’t okay. She closed the door behind her with a worried face you couldn’t see as yours was pressed against your pillow, and she hurried towards you, sitting down on the edge of your bed as she placed her warm hand on your back to rub it in comforting motions
“Hey now what’s wrong Y/N? Love? Is this about Izuku? ‘Cause I’ll break his legs if it’s necessa-”
Your whining came along a sniff and Mina’s worried face changed to a “what the heck” one.
You raised your head from the pillow as your crying face caught Mina off guard. Red eyes, shaky lower lip and liquid boogers sliding down your nose. That wasn’t your better looking moment, that was for sure, but of course she couldn’t care less about that.
“How do you know that, girl?”
As you tried to calm down your raging breathing slightly, you explained everything to her under her attentive and worried face, warm hand now resting over your thigh.
“Girl, honestly, his loss. I would literally become a lesbian for you”
Her way of cheering you up got out a little smile from you, as she always managed to do.
“I mean sure, Izuku is a good guy, but he’s just a man isn’t he? Men couldn’t recognize the godliness that stands right in front of them even if they had fucking magnifying glasses instead of eyes” her offended expression melted into one of comfort with a soft smile hanging in her lips “if he makes you cry like this then he doesn’t deserve you Y/N”
You hugged her tightly, finding a very needed comfort in your best friend.
Mina was quick to hug you back “hmmm yeah gimme those boogers all over my t-shirt” she joked with a fake disgusted expression on her face.
“Idiot” you mumbled, sniffing as you rested your chin on her shoulder.
She chuckled noticing ah had successfully managed to lift your spirits up a little.
“I was actually here to tell you that is dinner time”
“… can you tell everyone that I’m not feeling good? I’ll go eat something later don’t worry”
“Sure thing love, but don’t let a guy make you starve okay. Promise me you’ll eat something?”
“Promise” you scratched your nose with the back of your hand “Thanks Mina, you’re the best”
“What can I say, you’re a lucky girl” you rolled your eyes as you girls got away from each other after that heartfelt hug.
She giggled at your action “I know I’m lucky to have you as well, love. I’ll bring you some ice cream later so we can keep complaining about guys, pinky promise” she stood up, the sense of reliability still lingering in the air. When she finally left you alone again, the little comfort Mina had provided you with diminished, making your mind travel back to the exact same moment Izuku said another woman’s name.
You covered yourself with the blankets of your bed, desperately wanting to call it a day and wake up in a different reality tomorrow.
——————————————————————————
“Where’s Y/N” Tsuyu asked as soon as he noticed Mina’s lonely silhouette walking down the stairs.
“She isn’t feeling very well so she said she’s not coming for dinner” Mina’s acting was absolutely unbeatable as the sadness her face reflected left everyone worried about you, specially a certain green haired guy.
While Izuku spinned over what could’ve happened to you about a hundred thousand times, he perceived the shameless gaze Mina had not so luckily blessed him with. Nothing too noticeable, just something close to a “you fucking messed up” message nobody else had seem to catch.
“Shit. I did something wrong didn’t I? Does she not want to come here with everyone because of me?” His mind just kept spiraling as everyone began to eat- well, not everyone. Not you. And that was enough reason for him not to eat as well.
“Midoriya are you feeling okay? You haven’t touched your food” Iida’s steady voice tore him out of his vicious circle. Izuku lowered his gaze to the full plate that tried to tempt him with its bright colors and penetrating smell, which casually seemed way less appetizing that day than any other. He hurried to respond his friend so he wouldn’t worry.
“Oh- yeah don’t worry Iida, everything’s fine” he smiled awkwardly as he finally grabbed the chopsticks with his right hand “I was just distracted. I’ll start right now” gifting Tenya a last tender smile, he began to eat and tried to enjoy his classmates chattering and company, among which you weren’t… “snap out of it Izuku”
——————————————————————————
You had stopped crying about 6 minutes ago, but your eyes were still puffy and you felt so tired you couldn’t even bring yourself to scratch the itch of your cheek.
A knock on the door made your heavy breathings pause for a second. If it were Mina she would’ve just barged in full of exhuberant energy, as she always does.
“Who is it?” Your voice was muffled by your pillow.
Nuh uh. You gotta be kidding
“Y/N? Are you feeling better? Can I” there was a short pause “can I come in?” Your training mate’s unmistakable voice drives your exhausted body to react.
You changed your position from thrown over the bed like a lifeless puppet to being sat on the edge with frightening speed. It was almost as if the simple fact of hearing his voice had faded away the heavy fatigue that sat over your back just 2 seconds ago.
The door was opened in a tortuously slow motion, as if he still were unsure of what his purpose was in your room. Izuku’s freckles, which seemed even more shy than usually, peeked through your door, followed by the rest of his body.
“Mina said you weren’t feeling good… so, uhm” he cleared his throat. Oh hell was this awkward.
“I wanted to apologize for not noticing you were ill while we were training, I was too rough. I’m really sorry!”
He bowed so low that his forehead was half an inch away of meeting the floor. Your eyes opened widely.
“Oh no no, don’t bow please! I was good during our training session Izuku, please don’t-“
While he hesitantly raised his torso, your eyes fixed on a small container he was holding with his right hand. Were those strawberries?
Midoriya’s gaze followed yours, which led him to offer you the small bowl filled of those familiar small reddish fruits.
“Today’s dessert were strawberries and… well…” your jaw hung slightly which made him tilt his head to the side. The gesture made you inevitably think of a confused golden puppy “I think I remember you like strawberries quite a lot?”
It was a normal Tuesday, one of those days in which the air feels fresh and people’s echo seem to be quieter than ever.
During their training session, Bakugo and Kirishima had utterly destroyed a room, which earned them a direct pass to chat with the great legend, Principal Nezu. It was Cementos’ day off, meaning said room couldn’t be fixed that day and the rest of the bookings were cancelled - including Izuku’s.
With no intention of giving up, quite like always, he had managed to book a room in a gym outside of the UA so you two could carry out the training.
After blood, sweat and almost tears you got out of that unfamiliar building, feeling absolutely trained. On your way to the train station you would look through the showcases of all types of shops and you would cheerfully comment whatever item it was that had caught your eye.
“OOOOH!” You remember turning around and seeing Deku’s face impossibly closer to the glass, its shape deforming and creating new funny features as a result of being smashed against it “THOSE ARE THE NEW ALL MIGHT ACTION FIGURES! I’VE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT THEM!” His eyes shined full of admiration “THE RUMORS WERE TRUE! They captured All Might’s fist pose incredibly well, and the colors of his Golden Era suit are just-“ as soon as his mind registered he wasn’t on his own or with his mom, he shut his mouth and turned to look at you mortified, wishing you didn’t think he was a lunatic.
You blinked a couple of times and laughed out loud, holding your stomach with both of your hands “you probably know more about All Might than All Might himself. That’s quite impressive Izuku!”
His racing heart calmed down at the sight of your genuine laugh, not laughing of him, but with him. Nobody had ever praised so sincerely his nerdy side, and he had yet to decide what the feeling that provoked on his lower stomach meant.
A couple of stores later your eyes were the ones that opened like crazy. In front of you, an immense showcase showed a great variety of desserts made out of strawberries. Strawberries with whipped cream, strawberry cake, strawberry mousse, strawberries with hot chocolate, etc. Your mouth was practically leaking out as you scanned every single inch of it. Izuku noticed your wild desire of breaking the glass into thousands of tiny pieces and jumping inside to live out your fantasy.
“Do you like strawberries, Y/N?”
You twisted your head towards him full 90 degrees in a quarter of second.
“Like them? I LOVE STRAWBERRIES. If I got told I can only eat one food for the rest of my life it would be strawberries. Strawberries taste good with absolutely everything! With whipped cream, with sugar- Hell, I bet they would even taste good with curry!”
As you kept on rambling, Izuku noticed how your mouth curved up more than when you were talking about something else.
You were sharing your fanaticism with him, just like he had done a moment ago, and you didn’t seem to be embarrassed in the slightest.
As he heard every single detail about berries’ maturation, the boy couldn’t help but store that small moment in the back of his mind. That was not to comment with Iida, with All Might or even with his diary. This was a moment reserved just for him to savor and treasure in the back of his mind.
“I think I remember you like strawberries quite a lot?”
You couldn’t bring yourself to grab the bowl he so enthusiastically held up for you. You simply couldn’t.
“But” you furrowed your eyebrows “whose are those?”
Rule number who knows of class 1A: if you’re late for dinner and you haven’t let anyone know about it before dinner time, at 8 pm your food goes from being yours to being everyones until you arrive.
It was a rule created specially thinking about those who destroyed themselves training harder everyday and tended to forget about the course of time.
From 8 pm onwards, time in which dinner started, everyone at the table was free to eat whatever there was on the plates with no owner, even Aizawa if he wanted to.
This was a rule you weren’t quite fond of since you arrived 3 minutes later to the residence and had to eat a half bitten chicken wing right beside Denki’s cackling.
Taking that norm into account, your dessert must have already be resting in the stomach of one or more of your classmates.
Izuku’s other hand travelled to his nape, scratching it nervously like it would make the awkwardness fade away “they were mine but, I figured you’d enjoy them more than I would”
You looked at the ground, fidgeting with your feet anxiously. How could someone be just so genuinely good? Your eyes swelled up and you sniffed, unable to look at him directly in the eyes.
“Izuku…” your voice came out in a longing whisper. Longing for his proximity and for everything your mind had forcefully left behind after that stupid question during training.
“I lied to you… I’m not feeling sick- well, I’m not feeling really good either but… but I’m not sick” Izuku’s curious eyes looked at the back of your head.
“I was so disappointed that the girl you like is Ochaco… so disappointed that it wasn’t me” your voice broke painfully but you quickly covered it up “I’m such a selfish asshole… I’m sorry”
You can’t quite decipher what his expression must have been like since your stubborn eyes couldn’t stop flirting with the floor.
“I swear I’ll cheer for you two”
“Well I’ll try my best, ‘m not really sure how it’s gonna go”
“You’re always so nice and- gosh. I don’t even deserve your friendship Izuku I swear-“
“Y/N!” Izuku grabbed you by the shoulders, successfully managing to stop your anxious rambling. Your widened shaky eyes finally met his, all the unspoken feelings reaching the surface.
Even though his grip pretended to demonstrate the confidence you were lacking at that moment, he looked like he was about to bleed his whole blood content out of his nose and then faint on the floor of your bedroom. Not really soothing if you think about it.
“Did you just say” he struggled to breath in “wait, what did you just say?”
Accepting your defeat you let yourself fall yet again on the side of your mattress.
“Izuku Midoriya, I like you so so much it’s almost painful- Well, not almost, it was painful to know you don’t feel the same way about me” you pressed your lips together in a thin line while your hands fidgeted on top of your lap “but I honestly can’t even be mad, not with you, I’m happy for you” the way your eyes swelled up suggested you weren’t being honest at all, which really annoyed you because you were actually happy for him, but that happiness didn’t ease the pain on your chest in the slightest
“I lied as well” his voice came out in a whisper.
“Twice actually. I do like a girl but… she’s not Ochaco” he took a step towards you, gaze fixed on the bowl you hadn’t been able to take a minute earlier. He offered it to you with both hands, unsteady pupils meeting yours, and that’s when you understood that this time he wasn’t just giving you his strawberries, he was giving you all he got to offer.
“Couldn’t be anyone else”
This time, you took the small ceramics recipient without a hint of hesitation.
