⋆‧°𓏲ּ𝄢
Tenya Iida x Reader
extreme slow burn
pt. 1/?
synopsis: you and iida have been friends for quite some time now. what you don’t know is why he is suddenly acting strange around you…
⋆‧°𓏲ּ𝄢
It was almost jarring, the way people would talk about you. Your lifelong curse, as you called it, frightened nearly everyone you met. It was terrifying to think that with one look, a persons biggest fear could be laid out in front of them in seconds. But that was how your quirk worked. That was how your curse worked.
Making friends wasn’t an issue. Keeping them, however, could be a struggle. Once they found out what your quirk was, there was usually one of two responses:
1. “Will you use it on me?”
2. “I don’t think we should be friends anymore.”
You had accepted those conditions early on in life. You knew that not everyone would be comfortable being your friend. That was okay.
Being accepted in UA was no different. People were afraid. But in every place you’d gone, there had always been at least one light, one person who accepted you for who you were despite your quirk.
That person was Mydoria. After Mydoria, it was Uraraka, then Shinsou. Shinsou seemed to have a deeper understanding of your troubles than other people did.
His quirk was dangerous. Answering a simple question meant being under his control. That was something you two bonded over. A loss of control.
Now, with time having passed slowly and your classmates opening up to you— many trials having been endured and many villain attacks having happened— there’s a sense of trust between you and your classmates. A trust that you didn’t expect to come as easily as it did.
A fifteen minute recess was in place by Mr. Aizawa, one of your hero course teachers. He needed to have a brief meeting with another staff member, which allowed for some free time during class.
Per the norm, you had gathered with Uraraka, Mydoria, and as of late, Iida, near the front of the room.
You were sat back in a desk, ankles resting over Uraraka’s thighs, her hands tapping a steady rhythm on your lower legs. Mydoria was rambling mindlessly over Shoji’s quirk. The quiet boy had agreed to letting Mydoria study his quirk for the week— which you and Uraraka had advised against. You both knew Mydoria would be a mess the entire week, fretting over the smallest things, coming up with the silliest questions. He chose not to heed your concerns and agree to Mydoria’s experiment (which you theorized he regretted).
Iida was sat in the chair beside you, phone in hand, and a concentrated look on his brow.
“Jeez, Iida. You looking into some secret file or something?” You joked, peering over his arm.
Iida smiled and sat up straighter, allowing you to look at his phone.
“No. I am minding this page,” he looked to his phone screen, which had a page pulled up that was dedicated to seals. “it is very entertaining.”
“Do you like seals?” You asked.
“No. I do, however, find them entertaining on occasion.” He closed his phone and set it face down on the wooden desk.
You gave a small “ah” and nod and turned your attention to Mydoria.
He tapped the eraser of his pencil against his chin, small, mindless mumbles escaping his lips.
“What about you, Mydoria?” You tapped the desk to catch his attention.
“Huh— what?” His pencil dropped. “Oh, sorry. I was just, uhm…” he reached down to the floor to grab his pencil, muttering quick apologies for spacing out. As he sat back up, the back of his head hit the bottom of the desk.
“Ah! Crap..” Mydoria carded his fingers through his hair, gently rubbing his scalp.
“Are you okay?” Uraraka pushed your ankles off her legs and scooted her chair closer to Mydoria.
You couldn’t help but smile a little as you watched Uraraka fret over Mydoria. It was obvious to everyone but them that they had feelings for each other. It was a frequently discussed topic in the class.
Iida nudged your arm. Your gaze landed on his, red eyes staring back into yours.
“Do you like seals?” He asked.
“They’re cute,” you nodded. “but I don’t find them that interesting.”
“I see.” Iida’s gaze turned downcast.
You sat up in your chair, hands slapping against the desk to catch everyone’s attention.
“Okay! Study night is still happening, right?” You questioned.
Uraraka’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes! My dorm tonight, right?”
“Yeah, I forgot that was happening. Your dorm.” Mydoria agreed with a shy laugh.
You couldn’t help but smile a little at the way Mydoria’s ears turned red. He was an easy-to-read guy. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that he liked Uraraka just by how he reacted when she spoke. It was a rather cute predicament in your opinion. Their quiet feelings were something you admired. Two friends, both who had feelings for each other, both who were too shy to say anything.
“And it’s your turn to bring snacks, yes?” Iida’s eyes lifted to meet yours once more.
Shit. Was it really your turn? How could you forget…
“Uh, yes. Yes, it is! I’ll make sure to bring a bunch.” You assured everyone. But with what allowance? You were still recovering from your last turn to bring snacks…
The class door creaked open and in came… Gunhead?
The room fell silent.
“Aizawa is currently held up in a meeting. It’s going way longer than expected. He said your class is dismissed for the rest of the day.” Gunhead gave a cheerful smile, glanced at Uraraka, and gave her a thumbs up of pure confidence.
She had done her work study under Gunhead and he was more than aware of her feelings for Mydoria. He supported her efforts to get with him greatly.
With an eager move, you stood and began gathering your things. “Okay. I am going to get a bunch of snacks and shit, and we’ll meet at your dorm at, what— five?” You asked, slinging your bag over your shoulder.
“Yup! Sounds like a plan.” Uraraka giggled excitedly.
“I’m going to see if I cant use this time to train with Shoji. I want to see how his quirk works at a more in depth level.” Mydoria stood and pulled his notebook to his chest. He wasted no time with body blocking Shoji so he couldn’t leave.
With a relieved sigh, you started toward the door and squeezed out of the room. You should have plenty of time to figure out the snack situation now. Surely you had enough yen to buy a few things of ramen or milk’s.
“Six-hundred Yen? Oh God, I’m screwed…” You muttered as you padded down the hallway.
“Someone finally screwed you? Wow.. never thought that would happen.” A dull, but witty-toned voice spoke up beside you.
“Holy fuck— you asshole!” You instinctively punched the arm of a blond-haired boy beside you. “Don’t sneak up on me like that again or I’ll—,”
“—you’ll what? Sick your evil quirk on me? I’ll use it right back on you.” Monama chuckled wildly.
“You’re seriously sick, y’know that?” You pocketed your phone, words coming out more disgruntled and irritated than anything else.
“So I’ve been told.” He smiled proudly. “Anyway, what’re you screwed about, besides your obvious lack in attractiveness?”
Monama’s quick insults were hard to respond to. He enjoyed provoking people. It made him feel good. Getting under other people’s skin, exposing their feelings, stealing their quirk— or dignity— made him feel powerful. It also made many people hate him. But you saw under all of that. Well, only after Shinsou helped you. It took Shinsou some time to trust Monama as well, but after a mysterious encounter he refused to talk about, they seemed to get along swimmingly.
Monama nudged your arm.
“Fuck off.” You nudged him back. “I just forgot to put some money aside to buy snacks is all.” You explained.
“For your study nights?”
“Yeah. It’s my turn to buy stuff but I completely forgot. I only have six-hundred Yen right now too…” You sighed.
“Damn. You really are screwed.” Monama laughed.
“Jeez, thanks fr your sympathy, buddy.”
“Oh, I’d never offer my sympathy or my pity to someone as broke as you. That’s just pathetic that you don’t have any money.” Monama threaded his fingers through his pale blond hair and stopped beside his shoe cubby. You hadn’t realized you’d walked all the way there. It was like being on auto pilot.
You leaned against the cubby beside his and folded your arms over your chest. “Okay, well I’m not going to put up with this psychological torture any more than I have to. See you later, Monama.” You pushed off the cubby and gave a small wave.
“Farewell, peasant!” He called back.
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Five pm rolled around faster than expected. You stood outside of Uraraka’s door with nothing in your hand but your Ipad, notebooks, and pencil case. Though you tried, you weren’t able t score any money from your parents for the night. Not even thirteen-hundred yen. You didnt know how to say that to Uraraka though, so you avoided the topic. She texted you a few times asking what kind of snacks you were going to bring, and you ignored every single one of them. You didnt know how to tell her you couldn’t bring anything.
With a shaky sigh, you lifted your fist to knock on her door. Before you could, a shadow engulfed your frame.
“Take these,” a familiar voice began.
You turned, eyes raking over grey-plaid pants, a navy blue t-shirt, and steady red eyes kept behind clean frames.
“Iida,” you looked at the bags he was offering you. Convenience store bags.
“Give me your things.” Before you could say no, you had traded items.
“How did you— why’d you get all this?” You asked.
“You forgot it was your turn to provide snacks. I’m merely helping a friend out. It’s my duty.” He smiled down at you with a reassuring nod, one that made your stomach twist.
“Yeah, but, this was supposed to be my responsibility. I have to pay you back. I swear I will, I—,”
“—please, enough.” He held a hand up, effectively silencing you. “It’s alright. You have no need to pay me back.”
“Iida…” You frowned.
He shook his head. He wouldn’t let you pay him back no matter how hard you tried. You knew that. When his mind was set on something, it was damn near impossible to change it.
Still, that didn’t mean you didn’t feel bad about it. You hated being indebted to others. It was an anxiety-inducing situation to find yourself in. Iida was someone who put you in a constant state of anxiety because of his lack of acceptance of money. He seemed to really only respond to drinks or offers of food over actual money. You knew why. He came from a wealthy family. He didn’t have to worry about money. He felt comfortable with paying for others and not getting anything in return.
You were the opposite. Your family wasn’t exactly poor, but they weren’t the kind of people to hand things out willy-nilly and not have anything in return. It put you in a state of anxiety when people would do something for you. It made you feel like you had to repay them immediately. Because of your quirk, being in a state of anxiety wasn’t exactly a good thing…
“Come on. We don’t want Mydoria and Uraraka to think we’re abandoning them.” Iida’s words snapped you out of your thoughts.
“Yeah. Yeah, right.” You agreed.
Iida lifted a hand to knock, and within seconds, the both of you were in Uraraka’s dorm.
Mydoria was already sat on the floor in front of her desk, which was to the right of the room. His notebooks were set out before him. To his left was Uraraka’s things.
“Ah! I’m so happy you’re here. Izuku and I were just talking about you.” She pulled you in excitedly.
“Talking about me?” You hugged her back. “For why?”
Uraraka extended her hands, giving your arms an excited squeeze. “Because we’re starving and want something to eat! What did you bring?”
You rolled your eyes and set the bags on her desk. “Uh, let’s see… We have some banana milk. That’s good. Oh— those strawberry pocky you like.” You and Uraraka began digging through the bags you— Iida— had brought, looking at the snack selection.
Iida began to set your things down in the meantime. He put your Ipad and other things in front of Uraraka’s bed, which was to the left of the room, and put his things a solid two feet away from yours, more at the foot of the bed.
He sat down and began opening his textbooks almost immediately. “We should get started as fast as possible. The quicker our approach, the more knowledge we can cram in!” He spoke eagerly.
“Yeah, if Uraraka can pay attention this time.” You joked as you slid down to sit where Iida had set your things.
“Hey! I wouldn’t have been so distracted if you hadn’t brought up Wotakoi!” Uraraka stuck a pocky straw in her mouth as she sat.
“I only brought it up because you had mentioned wanting the sixth volume recently. And Iida said one of the characters names.” You shrugged.
“I did what?” He looked up from his text book, glasses halfway down his nose.
You rolled your eyes and leaned over, fixing his glasses for him. “Last week when we were studying, you used a random name as an example. It was the name of one of Uraraka’s favorite manga characters.” You explained.
Iida pulled back the second you got close to him, his eyes drifting away quickly. He fixed his glasses while clearing his throat. “I see. Well, I will try to refrain from saying ‘triggering’ names so she will be more successful in studying.”
Your gaze landed on Uraraka. She gave you a small shrug. “Yeah, sounds reasonable.” You chuckled sarcastically.
The night dragged on slowly. There were some arguments, some moments where you debated threatening to use your quirk on Mydoria, and a few moments where you almost sided with Iida on his more opinionated speeches— which would be a rare event.
Through all of that, your mind kept drifting back to a small, more than likely insignificant moment. It was stupid really. Iida wasn’t very big on people touching him. You knew that. That was probably why he pulled back so quickly. He had done it earlier in the day. It made no difference that he was doing it now. Still, it made you feel weird.
Iida was a kind boy. His intentions were always pure, even if he wasn’t very smart with the execution of his actions. He was especially kind to you. He bought the snacks for the night without even having to ask if you would need help supplying them. He always seemed to know when you’d need help. That was what made him such a good friend. Still, his reaction earlier irked you. He’d never flinched so violently. Did he hear a rumor? Did someone tell him you were dangerous because of your quirk? You just couldn’t tell.
Before you knew it, it was eight pm, and Mydoria was gathering his things to leave, as was Iida. Uraraka stood near her bathroom door, putting a few things back up on a shelf. You padded to her side and spoke quietly.
“Hey, did you notice how weird Iida acted with me earlier?” You asked.
“Yeah,” she nodded almost instantly. “he’s never been like that before. Not with anyone, I don’t think. That was so weird.”
Your arms folded over your chest as you shifted your weight from one foot to the other. “Do you think he heard a rumor about my quirk? People are always coming up with crazy things about it…” You whispered.
“No. No way. He wouldn’t be weird with you over your quirk. Maybe he was just caught off guard.” Uraraka suggested.
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Thanks.” You sighed with relief.
“Don’t worry about it.” Uraraka gave your arm a small punch and padded back over to the boys. You followed in suit and grabbed your things.
With a small hug, you all said your good night’s and left Uraraka’s room. Mydoria went to the left and you and Iida went to the right, seeing as you both needed to use the elevators to get to your floors.
You walked quietly beside him, but there was still an unspoken tension between the two of you. You hit the elevator button and it came. When you stepped in, Iida hit the button for his floor, as well as yours.
Soft music played. You spoke.
“Thanks for getting those snacks, by the way.” You hugged your things to your chest, as if to protect yourself.
“I already told you it wasn’t any trouble. It’s my duty as a friend to help you when needed.” Iida assured you.
“Right, a friend.” You nodded.
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hoping to make this the world’s slowest slow burn out there. probably going to give in by like… post 3.
