#I rushed the glare cuz I was exhausted and you know shame on me

[thedailyvio]

Day 161

[junionigiri]

and you say, stay Chapter 5 - Fly Me To The Moon

[former title: just another secretary story!]

Summary: Director Todoroki takes Secretary Uraraka out after work.

Rating: T

The Office of the Executive Director begins the next day in abject and utter suffering. Struggling through their hangovers, they each draft out their gravely-worded apology letters while passing out a bottle of aspirin between them.

“Oh my god, I can’t even remember how we got home, Kiri!” Mina whines, slapping a cold compress over her forehead. “I woke up on the bedroom floor feeling like I got punched in the face! Where were you? You should have carried me to bed!”

“I was home too,” Kirishima groans through a hefty chug of his protein shake. “I passed out on the stairs, remember? I felt so bad I couldn’t do a single dragon flag this morning! Not manly!”

“I, too, awakened in a most uncomfortable position! My head was at the foot of my bed, my feet were on my pillows, and my pyjamas were inside-out!” Iida adds in utter humiliation. “How did we arrive home safely? Did the Director teleport us home, somehow?”

“No, he drove all of us home,” Ochako answers, gathering all their letters for them. “So you should all thank him when you can, okay?

“Really? The Director was there last night?” Monoma grumbles irately. “Figures. All I remember is the vague stench of evil and existential dread. I bet I drank so much so I can ignore his demonic aura.”

Camie snorts. “Cuz, you sat right in the bossman’s lap. You got no rights anymore.”

“What?!”

Monoma demands to see evidence, and Camie happily complies to everyone’s horror. Her many blurry selfies of the night before painted an awful, embarrassing picture. Only the owner of the phone finds this amusing. Her promises not to upload anything can only do so much to stave off the shame.

“Utsushimi-kun! I implore you to get rid of this evidence!” Iida begs.

Camie hums. “Change my mind. You can start with an orange frappuccino~”

As another argument goes forth, Ochako leaves them with an amused smile and makes her way to Director Todoroki’s office.

With a gentle knock, she enters the room and finds him seated behind his computer. Unlike her officemates, there is no evidence of a headache or exhaustion in him. It would have been infuriating if she had the same terrible hangover as the rest of them, but luckily she watched her intake last night and her head’s clear.

Not-so-luckily though, she clearly remembers laughing at the Director and everyone else. And she can’t pretend to forget if he asks her about it, because just thinking about everyone cuddling the Director makes her want to burst out laughing again.

Because of that, she places the apology letters over to his desk with her own letter on the top of the pile. “Here is all that you asked us to accomplish, Director,” she says as politely as she can.

Todoroki hums in disinterest, eyes not moving from a set of data on his computer. It’s obvious that he’s going to ask her to shred these documents later without so much as reading them. It’s some small relief for them at least, because then they can pretend none of this happened. “Asui from Marketing requested an emergency meeting with us about the art center project. You have all the proposals for the launch ready, right?”

“Of course, Director. We just need the Chairman’s approval. I’ve already sent an email to their office about it.”

He clicks his tongue and tugs on his tie in thought. “Send another reminder to Takami-san. I need an answer before lunch.”

“Yes, Director,” Ochako says, eyeing his fingers on the tie. While at first she hated that she had to fix his tie for him so often, it’s now a point of pride for her to keep the Director looking neat at all times. So much so that it annoys her to see it so crooked.

It’s pure muscle memory at this point that she’s stepping over to his side and her hands are flying to his tie, pulling at it expertly until it’s tidy. She took all the trouble convincing him that morning that he can wear this diamond-patterned tie instead of the solid dark blue ones that he preferred. She has to make sure that he looks perfect.

“You’re perfect.” Satisfied with the results, she looks up at him and directly meets his eyes.

The demon Director’s stare is famous for a lot of reasons--the color, the intensity, the way they make you feel like you’re both burning alive and freezing at the same time. It’s not a metaphor Ochako likes because being burned must feel terrible (his scar tells a story all on its own), and also she’s used to being the target of that stare when he’s irritated or dissatisfied, so she knows it in a way that cannot be enjoyed.

But now he’s staring at her the way he was last night at her doorstep. The burning feeling behind it is less like fire and more like the warmth of her blood rushing through her veins and the throb of her pulse. It’s intense, unwavering. Ochako’s hypnotized for exactly half a second too long.

“Thanks,” he says absentmindedly. “I could have done that myself.”

She snaps herself out of the trance. “With all due respect Director, you didn’t. But, noted.”

All the strange thoughts fly out of the window of the 65th floor office. It’s good that she’s reminded of how infuriating he is. His vague warning about how he shouldn’t underestimate her might be making her see him in a different (inaccurate) light, but she should know better. She bows and turns with a suppressed huff when he calls to her again, “Secretary Uraraka.”

She turns to him. After a thoughtful pause, he asks, “You speak with your colleagues differently, don’t you?”

She blinks. “Not that I know of, Director. Has anyone sent a complaint about the way I speak? I should apologize and clear up any misunderstandings--”

“No, not them.” He gestures out the door. “Iida and the others. Last night you spoke with them informally. Using ‘ sure thing’ or ‘ yup’ instead of ‘ of course,’ for example.”

“I… see.” Gosh, he sounds so weird just trying to talk in a casual way. “It’s only when we’re drinking. But if it offends you...”

He shakes his head. “It’s… fine. In fact, you may use that sort of language with me. Provided that it’s just the two of us, of course.”

Ochako stares at him incredulously. “Beg yer pardon?” she mutters by accident.

“Yes, like that.” Todoroki gives her a reassuring nod. “That’s what they call the Kansai accent, right?”

She tries not to slip into her accent again when she asks, “May I know what brought this on, Director?”

“Are you offended?”

“No, but… this is a strange request.”

He shrugs. “You seemed more comfortable speaking that way instead of the usual way you converse with me. Since I am giving the same freedom to Utsushimi, I am granting you the same thing.”

Well, Camie hasn’t talked to him directly since the interview and since she got drunk in front of him so she can’t say that it’s exactly the same freedom. Plus Ochako isn’t sure that the Director is just telling her that she can talk more naturally around him, or if he’s commanding her to do so. Frankly it’s making her sweat figuring out what he wants.

“If you say so, Director. Of course I’ll--”

“Not of course, ” Todoroki insists. “ Sure thing .”

Ochako gives him a strained smile. “S-sure thing, sir. I’ll keep it casual in front of you.”

Director Todoroki nods in satisfaction and gets back to work. Ochako walks out of the office and tries to do the same thing, but it’s suddenly hard to concentrate.

*

A few days later Ochako comes home tired as all hell and not in the best mood, as she does when the Demon Director is extra demonic. Honestly, for all his talk about wanting her to be more comfortable around him, he’s making it impossible for her to even breathe normally within his vicinity.

The art center project is now top priority to beat their competitors, so suddenly the office is rushing through all the things they were scheduled to do for the next two months, over the course of three weeks. The stocks of energy drinks and orange juice in the pantry is running dangerously low from their efforts to keep awake. It’s so bad that Monoma was even caught drinking ‘peasant’ instant coffee instead of his usual French press ones.

And Camie… oof. Ochako knows that she’s trying her best and that this is a lot of pressure for someone who’s new to the team, but she missed one of the financial reports completely during the staff meeting. And while both of them apologized for her mistake, Todoroki only directed his ice-cold glare at Ochako.

“Is this how you do transfer of duties, Secretary Uraraka?” She flinches just remembering the cutting edge of his voice. She hates it when he uses that because even though his standards are impossibly high, it tells her that he expected more from her, and she let him down.

Well at least she’s home an hour earlier than usual. Director Todoroki told her not to collect Victoria at his home as previously ordered. There’s just enough time for her to eat the convenience store katsudon she got on the way home, take a bath, and watch her soaps before angrily passing out on her couch.

… if only her phone would stop ringing! It takes all of her strength not to throw her food over her kitchen table when she fishes for her phone. The name on the screen gives her pause, however, and she’s extra careful to mind her tone when she answers, “Chief Midoriya?”

Midoriya Izuku opens up their conversation with another alarming cough. Ochako wonders if this is merely an unfortunate butt-dial until he stammers over the line, “A-ah! Hi, Uraraka-san! This is Midoriya Izuku from Endeavor’s Marketing Division! Oh, wait, you know that already, haha.”

Ochako laughs cautiously. Even over the phone, Midoriya’s usual nervousness is palpable. “Yes sir! How may I help you?”

“Er, yeah! So there’s this urgent thing that I need your help with that’s, um, related to work. It… it’s not weird or anything, it’s totally normal, nothing to be alarmed about. So the Director wants--no, not the Director, I mean-- koff koff koff! ’

Midoriya suffers another coughing fit so violent that it sends Ochako close to panic. “Are you okay sir?! Do you need someone to take you to the hospital?!”

“No, I’m fiiine. Please don’t ask. ” The chief takes a deep breath through the phone which seems to calm him down somewhat. “I’m expecting a package for work, but Secretary Hagakure made a mistake with the shipping address. You’re the one closest, so I was wondering if you could pick it up for me?”

That sounded like a weird mistake to make, but she also knew about the time Tooru-chan accidentally ordered twenty Hawaiian pizzas instead of the single calzone that Chief Midoriya wanted to eat for lunch. “Where do you want me to go?”

Midoriya gives her the exact address and pleads with her to be there in twenty minutes. “I hate to be a bother, but this is important for the company, so you can’t be late, okay? I’m counting on you, Uraraka-san!”

“Okay Chief! I’m heading out,” she says, rushing to her door. Twenty minutes to the address given to her is tight, but she’ll make it if she runs to and from the train station.

It’s good that she changed out of her office heels and into sneakers. She makes it to the address in fifteen minutes. It’s only then that she realizes that she’s in the location without knowing who to look for and what to expect.

Also, she’s in front of MightyLand, the amusement park in the middle of town dedicated to their governor, All Might. It’s closed today for some reason. It’s dark, quiet, and scary as amusement parks which are completely dark tend to be.

Ochako calls Midoriya in pure confusion and tells him, “I don’t think I’m at the right place, Chief.”

Midoriya laughs. “You’re exactly where you should be, Uraraka-san.”

Wondering what he means, she turns around just as the lights click open all around her, and the stagnant water of the fountain at the entrance springs to life.

She almost drops the phone from her hand as the fake castle gates of MightyLand flash and glow in pinks and blues and greens, sparkling prettily under the night sky. Soft string music plays in the background. The lights along the pathway light up one-by-one like fireflies, guiding her eyes to the entrance of the park.

Breathless, she watches Todoroki Shouto emerge from the gates. And while her eyes dart everywhere trying to make sense of what’s happening, his eyes are on nowhere else but her.

“Secretary Uraraka,” he calls as soon as he’s in front of her. He’s in the same three-piece suit and tie she picked for him this morning, but somehow he looked impossibly devilish in it tonight. “Fancy meeting you here on this ordinary night.”

She should pick her jaw off the floor any second now. “G… good evening, Director Todoroki,” she stammers. “Chief Midoriya sent me here on an important errand. I’m afraid I don’t understand what--”

“I allowed you to speak as you normally do around me, Uraraka.”

“Er… yeah, so,” what the fuck, she wanted to say, but instead she squeaks out, “What’s goin’ on?”

Satisfied, he says with an enigmatic smile, “Nothing special. Come.”

He signals her to follow him with a bend of a forefinger, and with very little strength in her to ask any further questions, she silently follows him into the park.

*

She should have known that there wasn’t anything ordinary waiting for her that night.

Even though everything is lit up and functional, the park is entirely empty except for them. While Ochako is busy gawking at all the sights, Director Todoroki is leading the way with brisk, purposeful steps. It takes some effort for her to keep up with his relentless pace until he gets to the destination in mind. Before she realizes it, they’re at the Smashville area of the park, where all the big, scary rides are.

Ochako stares up in horror at Todoroki’s first choice of activity: The Carolina.

“It’s a drop tower, 100 meters tall. We rise to the top at an excruciating pace of 10 km/h and drop at a speed of 100 km/h. Not the tallest or the fastest in the world, but it’s in the top ten,” the unfazed Director explains like he’s talking about the latest performance review. He holds a hand out to the seat at the very center and says, with a smile that looks evil, “After you.”

Ochako doesn’t know how she wills her feet to move, but with nobody to help her escape, she gets strapped in right next to her calm boss.

“D-Director--”

“I know you’re excited,” Todoroki says when they’re fifty meters above ground. “Don’t hold back.”

There’s nothing to hold back, not even her internal organs, when the first drop occurs. And the next one, and the next one. Ochako screams as she’s never screamed before, while Todoroki is so silent that she legitimately worries if he passed out in the middle of the ride.

He didn’t. With a spring in his step, he hops off from the ride and assists her shaking body off the ride. “You must be excited. Don’t worry. There’s more to come.”

Oh, god.

He takes her to the other extreme rides: The Nebraska, The California, The Detroit. Ochako never imagined that there’s more than one way to drop and spin and tumble anyone via a machine, but with each new ride she loses part of her soul and all sensation of her legs. Todoroki’s unnervingly steady after each ride, however, and just brings her to the next one without an ounce of hesitation.

By the time he brings her to the coup de grace of all the rides--The United States of Smash, the biggest roller coaster in Japan--she’s sure of it. The Demon Director brought her here to punish her for all her misdeeds.

“You must be looking forward to this one all night, Secretary Uraraka,” Todoroki says with that same dark smile. “If you’re ready to get on, then…”

He wants to kill her.

Rushing to the nearest wastecan, she hurls up an entire rainbow consisting of all the colors of the energy drinks she ingested that day.

Dammit, how embarrassing! She would have cried but it already takes a lot of effort to stop the earth from spinning in the wrong direction. She hurls for another solid minute when she feels a cold, comforting hand tentatively rubbing circles on her back.

The rush of cool surprisingly makes her feel better in an instant. She stands up and bows to him apologetically. “Director… sorry. This is really icky,” she whimpers helplessly. “I’m super weak when it comes to rides like this. I get dizzy real easy.”

He holds out his expensive silk handkerchief to her. “No, it’s my mistake. I should have anticipated that you had weak labyrinths.”

Were her ears deceiving her, or did that sound like an apology? She takes his handkerchief and wipes her face gratefully. “No… you looked like you wanted to do all those things, so I did my best to keep up.”

Todoroki blinks. “Ah. But I thought you wanted to…” When Ochako stares at him curiously, he pauses and considers his next words carefully. “I assumed that you liked this amusement park like everybody else does. I must have made an error in judgment.”

She laughs weakly. “Nah, I’ve always wanted to go back to MightyLand… just not Smashville.”

He ponders on this briefly. “... okay.” He holds his hand out ahead of them and tilts his head ever so slightly. “Secretary Uraraka, for tonight, you lead and I’ll follow. What do you want to do next?”

She doesn’t hide her surprise at that. And thinks about it. And smiles excitedly.

A long walk to the other side of the park later, Director Todoroki looks up at her ride of choice blankly. “Space World.” he deadpans.

It’s a cutesy, slow ride made for kids that simulates a gentle ride through outer space, complete with planets and aliens and constellations. In front is a statue of Thirteen, the famous space explorer that she idolized when she was in grade school.

“Let’s go in right now!!! Hurry, Director!”

She can hardly believe it. She had promised herself to get on this ride after her resignation, and she’s even willing to line up with all the little kids on a busy weekend just to get here. Yet here she is, no lines, no embarrassing explanations necessary, just her and the Director and the fake stars. Once the little train brakes in front of her she’s climbing on it in an instant.

She doesn’t even notice that she’s dragging Todoroki by the hand until they’re side by side in the car and the lights grow dim around them.

“Oh. Sorry,” she squeaks, thankful that outer space is supposed to be dark and he doesn’t get to see her blush.

Even then, she feels his gaze on her. But he says nothing as the first comet passes them by.

Ochako gasps. It’s a lot prettier than she imagined. The narration drones above them as an emulation of the Big Bang blooms above and around them like a flower. “Oh my gosh, look at that! I can’t believe it, it feels so real! Director, isn’t this pretty?!”

She feels the subtle turn of Director Todoroki’s head toward her. “Yes. Beautiful,” he mumbles somewhere close to her. After a pause, he adds, “I don’t think it feels real, though. If it did, we’d be suffocating by now. There’s no oxygen in the vacuum of space.”

“Geez, Director, just enjoy it.”

“I am,” he assures her, as the little car follows Jupiter into orbit.

But just like that, the ride is over. Ochako is sad when they have to get off--that is, until Todoroki tells her, “We can stay here if you want to go again.”

So she happily pulls him down on the seat next to her, pulls the bar down, and goes through the ride again.

Seven more times.

To his credit, Todoroki sits with her the entire time without complaints. Although she hears him silently fuming in his seat every time she goes “again, again!” She’d feel guilty over it, but dammit he made her go through the Carolina and the Nebraska and the California and the Detroit--twice!--and she needed this after all that he put her through that week.

Anyway, she makes it more tolerable for him by telling him everything she knows about the planets and the stars that the narration doesn’t tell them. “You know, Saturn has 150 moons! Some of them are bigger on Earth, and most of them are frozen solid! Some of them might have oceans under the surface too!”

“I know,” he says quietly. “But keep going.”

Of course he knows everything. But he doesn’t seem to want to ruin her mood, so there’s that. She continues feeding him all the space facts she knew happily.

The moment she says “Okay I’m good,” Director Todoroki gets them off that ride so quickly he almost lifts her up off the seat. “Back to earth with you, Secretary Uraraka.”

She giggles. “Why, Director! Speaking figuratively? I didn’t think you knew how.”

He blinks, as if astonished with himself. “Huh. I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

He drives her out of the park and into a different part of the city. There’s a field decorated with fairy lights, flowers (all hypoallergenic, he says when she braces herself for a sneeze attack) and a table set for two. Below them is the city, and above them are the stars. It’s mind boggling how beautiful the set-up is.

Todoroki leads her to the table. As soon as she sits down, there’s fancy vintage wine being poured in her glass. From a distance, she sees Sato doing finishing touches on a pretty plate. He winks at her when she catches his eye.

They’re served steak, and pasta, and fancy vegetables with violets on them. They’re all delicious as expected, but then Sato comes out with what seems like an unlimited supply of strawberry mochi for them and she’s instantly melting.

“Everything is so good, I can’t believe it,” she gushes. Oh man, the mochi is so good. If she kept up at it, she’s seriously going to explode.

“Good. I’m glad you like it.” There’s a smug look on his face when he says this. Dangerous…

“Director... what’s this about?” she asks suspiciously. This isn’t another ploy to get her to not quit, is it? If he ends up proposing again, she is seriously going to break something expensive (and probably regret it later).

He hums as he cuts up his mochi neatly. “We had a welcome party for Utsushimi. It’s only fair that you had a goodbye party of your own to show my appreciation before you leave. Nothing special, but something ordinary that you liked.”

No proposals then? That’s a relief. She was going to say no (really, she was!) if he had asked, and that would have ruined such a beautiful night. “Director… I’m sorry, but there’s nothing ordinary about what you did for me!”

He blinks. “Taking you to an amusement park and treating you to dinner isn’t ordinary?”

It’s almost amazing that he’s genuinely baffled, but then again she expected nothing less from Todoroki Shouto. “Closing an amusement park so we had it all to ourselves and then treating me to a five star dinner prepared by a famous chef to a picnic under the stars is not what I’d call an ordinary date, Director.”

Wait. Date? Did she say date? Is she out on a date with the Director?

“I see. I’ll take note of that.” Oh no, he didn’t deny it! “For next time.”

Next time?! Oh no. No no no. She can’t date the Director! Reiko and Yui would kill her if they found out! And she didn’t mean it, he suckered her into it, she didn’t want to, not really--

“But you really enjoyed yourself, so I consider this a success,” Todoroki says, satisfied. “You made me ride Space World seven times. I’d give you a salary deduction if you said you didn’t enjoy yourself.”

He is never going to let go of this, is he? Despite that, she laughs again. “I went overboard, didn’t I? It’s just that I’ve wanted to ride that since I was a little girl. You wouldn’t wanna hear it, it isn’t exactly a happy story.”

He stares at her. “Tell me.”

She swallows a bit of mochi reluctantly before starting her story with a sigh. “Well… Director, if you remember from my job interview nine years ago, I told you that I started working for you because I needed to earn money as quickly as possible. It’s obviously because my family wasn’t well-off, and I was the only one who can earn money somehow.”

“... I remember.”

“Well… even when I was little, we were poor. We lived where MightyLand was before the houses there got demolished, so that space is kind of special to us. Sometimes Ma and Pa had extra money to bring me and my cousin Yui there, but the money wasn’t ever enough for passes to get to rides like Space World. Even though I wished for it so hard, I never had the chance.”

Todoroki unexpectedly watches her tell her story in rapt attention. “I see. Why Space World?”

She shrugs. “Why not Space World? Outer space is great, isn’t it?”

She would have studied astrophysics in university if she could, but there’s no point in telling the Director that. He doesn’t seem like the type who feels guilty over anything, but she doesn’t want to test that by admitting that she chose to stay by his side instead of doing what she really wanted.

“So, that’s the sad, sad story of my youth. How about you, Director? You must have been a more interesting kid than I was.”

Todoroki keeps those distinct eyes on her--a black hole and an entirely blue galaxy, she suddenly thinks, moons with oceans hiding under frozen wastelands, the waves beneath straining to reach the surface. He seems to want to reveal them to her, just for a second, but the second passes, and time remains locked.

“No, not really,” he finally decides on saying. “Nothing much happened to me. I grew up as Enji’s heir from the start and worked hard from the moment I learned how to talk. I had no choice, because my older brother failed. Fuyumi and Natsuo were never given the chance to try.”

An older brother? Is he talking about Natsuo? While it’s true that Todoroki Natsuo won’t ever be the heir of Endeavor because he chose to become a physician instead, Ochako could have sworn the Director was talking about someone else.

“It was difficult, but I met most of his expectations, and now I’m here.” His eyes become cold again. Knowing that he gets this way after talking about Todoroki Enji is just the basics of dealing with Todoroki Shouto.

It was her mistake to even suggest bringing up his childhood. Now it’s her job to ease him out of it. “You did great, Director. If we were friends when we were kids, I’d have been the first to cheer you on.”

He freezes for just a second, a look of pure enigma in his eyes. “... is that so? Do you think we would have been friends if we met earlier?”

He seems to be expecting an honest answer out of her. Ochako guesses it has to do with certain parts of his past that he obviously doesn’t want her to see. She can’t blame him, but in all honesty, if they were both young and innocent, being friends with him wouldn’t have been hard. “Yes Director. I don’t doubt it.”

He looks genuinely taken aback by this. A second passes before he allows himself a relieved smile. “Thank you for your vote of confidence. I’d believe you more if you don’t quit.”

“Don’t even try it, sir.”

He clicks his tongue. And then, in true Todoroki fashion, the conversation’s suddenly over.

With the taste of strawberries lingering in her mouth, she follows as he leads them to a grassy knoll some ways away from dinner. Flowers of all colors surround their feet, glowing ethereally under the moonlight. The city below, the stars above. It’s a beautiful night.

And… cold. Ochako is painfully reminded that she’s in a thin silk blouse and the denim shorts she wore at home when a particularly sharp gust of wind blows past them.

Todoroki observes her with a stern look. “You’re not in appropriate clothing.”

“I didn’t know you were going to bring me to such a windy place, Director.”

“You weren’t supposed to know. This is a surprise, after all.”

Still, he looks frustrated that she’s so cold--not a good look. Her secretary instincts tell her to do something about that. Trying to smile meaningfully through her chattering teeth, she suggests, “You know, ordinary guys offer their jackets to their dates when it gets chilly.”

He blinks twice before he makes that eureka! face again. “I have an idea, Uraraka. Since you’re cold, you should wear my coat.”

“Oh--but you’ll get cold.”

“No, I’m always temperature regulated,” he says with a voice that doesn’t leave her much room to (pretend to) argue.

He drapes his coat around her easily. He’s much taller than her and has wider shoulders, so naturally she’s swallowed instantly in fine woollen bliss. She suppresses a sigh when she feels the toasty warmth, and suppresses a shudder when she feels his fingers brush around her shoulders and her neck.

“Is this okay?” he asks earnestly when he notices her shiver. His warm breath tickles her ear.

She nods through the overwhelming feel of his voice vibrating through her body. Oblivious to this, he nods in satisfaction and looks up at the stars. She stares at his profile against the moon, feeling light-headed and mesmerized at everything.

Oh, gods, this is a date . Reiko and Yui are going to kill her in her sleep.

When he notices her staring, he gives her an odd, puzzled look. “Secretary Uraraka. Since you like the stars so much, you should take advantage of this. I suggest keeping your eyes off me and keeping them to the sky.”

A vein pops on her forehead. Okay, so the Director is still the same clueless demon with no sense of romance. No surprise. This isn’t a date, after all.

She follows his orders and looks up at the sky, lined by a myriad of shooting stars.

*

After the star-gazing session, they both decide that it’s late and he brings her home. He drives the car, and thankfully this time the drive goes by smoothly. He parks at the narrow street in front of her home and follows her out of the car, looking strangely self-assured.

“Director, thanks for the great evening,” she says. “I’m honestly speechless. For a surprise, that was…”

A small smile is on his lips when he asks, “Ideal?”

“Yes, exactly, ideal.” Wait. Ideal. Where has she heard that before?

“Hm. I thought you’d say that,” he says smugly. “I doubt that anybody else will give you as much mochi as you had tonight.”

Describe your ideal partner.

A tall, handsome guy with a stable job who will feed me mochi until I explode!

“And I don’t think anyone else will bring you to an amusement park and a picnic under the stars in the span of a single evening.”

Describe an ideal excursion with your ideal partner.

A date in MightyLand, where we can ride all the rides I like as much as I want!

A simple picnic with tasty food where we can go stargazing afterward is pretty neat too!

This guy is a sneaky, sneaky bastard. Ochako crosses her arms in front of her as Director Todoroki ambles confidently to the trunk of his car. “Finally, I doubt that any other ordinary man will give you…”

Describe an ideal product that you would like to receive from your ideal partner.

A giant stuffed toy that I can hug in my sleep!

(I don’t care what it looks like as long as it’s soft and cute!)

“Director,” she cuts him off with a controlled smile. “There’s… a giant stuffed toy in the back of the trunk, isn’t there?”

Todoroki freezes just as he pulls out the offending item--a giant stuffed cat.

“... how did you predict this,” he says stiffly as he presents the gift to her.

She laughs. “Chief Midoriya almost had a heart attack giving me that survey, you know. You should make it up to him.”

“... maybe,” he says, although the sudden dark look in his eyes tells her otherwise. She should apologize to the freckled Chief when things happen. “In any case, this is for you, if you’ll have it. It’s your very own Victoria. You should be grateful to have such a beautiful object.”

The cat is white and about half as big as her, with a squinty smile and a little bell on its collar. She won’t admit it, but she loves it immediately. She takes it from the Director. “Thank you, Director. I am filled with such gratitude.”

“Formal language, again?”

“I’m just teasing.”

He huffs. “You seem to be getting used to that, Secretary Uraraka. I don’t approve.”

She snickers. “Yeah? Well, approve this! ”

She playfully smacks the cat’s face right into his. She doesn’t know why she suddenly had the balls to do something like that, but the small surprised mmph he produces makes it all worth the risk. When he pushes the cat off of him to glare at her, she’s in another fit of giggles.

“I thought you had a good time. Is this how you say goodnight?” he asks in mild annoyance.

“I did! And, yes,” she says with a confident smile.

“Strange. That’s not what I know of ordinary people saying goodnight on ideal dates.”

Without warning, he steps closer to her, and closer, and closer. She should be backing up to keep a safe distance, far enough that he doesn’t hear her blood rushing or her heart beating or her mind racing into oblivion. She should, but she doesn’t--all she does is hold her breath.

Even when he meets her eyes.

Even when he leans in closer.

Even when her eyes are suddenly squeezing tight in anticipation of something she shouldn’t.

Whatever it is she was waiting for doesn’t come, however. Because what she feels in that cold, dark, anxious and excited void is something cold pressing into the very tip of her nose.

When she comes to, she’s staring cross-eyed right at his index finger.

Todoroki Shouto is poking her on the nose.

He gives a little satisfied smile and steps back. “That’s how they do it, right?”

She stammers, face impossibly red. “No? That’s not a thing anyone does in any planet! Where did you even learn that?!”

He chuckles lightly, the sound of it another shock to her senses. “I guess being ordinary is more challenging than I thought. Goodnight, Secretary Uraraka.”

Why is he so weird? Why is she feeling so bamboozled? Before she can make any sensible words out of her mouth, the Director is already behind the wheel and smugly driving off into the night.

God, all she can do is to run into her apartment, dive on the bed and hide her face over Her Very Own Victoria’s face to hide her blush. But then she remembers what she made this doll do (read: smack the Director in the face), and then she remembers that smooshing her face against it is exactly the wrong thing to do.

Great. How is she supposed to sleep now? Stupid Director!

[sociallyawkward--fics]

55 and 20 for ultimate angst combo, feat Virgil and your pick

I decided to go with Logan cuz we all know I love my left brain bois

I wrote half of this when I was very tired and the other half with this newly developed fever, so I’m sorry if it doesn’t make sense lol. I think there may accidentally be some tense switches in there that I may not have caught but oh well too late now I’m very tired

Warnings: miscommunication, arguemnts, panic attacks, general anxiety, let me know if I missed something/you’d like me to add something

Word Count: 2067 (remember when these prompts were supposed to be drabbles lol)

[ao3 link]

Logan couldn’t quite pinpoint when he’d started. At first, it had just been offhand observations that he’d dismissed, Anxiety was, after all, their enemy.

But then he wasn’t. And Logan stopped dismissing his observations. In fact, he began writing them down, practically studying Virgil.

Virgil was not only the personification of Thomas’s anxiety, but he also seemed to experience it himself. He slept and ate poorly, and it was difficult to convince him to join in on group activities. His hands were frequently shaking, and he grew irritable if he didn’t get enough time to himself to recharge.

So Logan observed. He took note of specific stressors to Virgil, and tried to come up with possible solutions on how to minimize them. Things like lessening his caffeine intake, improving his diet, and perhaps having a calming tea before bed.

And the more Logan observed, the more trivial his observations were.

Like how husky his voice was after just waking up. Or the beautifully musical sound of the small chuckles he hid behind his hand whenever Patton made a pun. Or the (objectively adorable) teasing smirk on his face when he playfully provoked Roman.

Eventually, he Logan starts to realize he has a problem when each of these observations sparks a strange feeling in his chest and stomach. A feeling that he unfortunately knows the diagnosis to, despite how clueless the others believe him to be when it comes to emotions.

He never meant to start falling for Virgil.

And he never meant for it all to fall apart.

Logan had been writing plans in his notebook as usual, trying to come up with ways for Virgil to better manage his anxiety, when Patton frantically called him into the kitchen. Logan had left his notebook open on the coffee table while he went to assist (Patton had, once again, gotten multiple spoons stuck in the drain).

After fixing the issue, Patton rushed upstairs, saying something about being late for a date in the Imagination with Roman. Logan returned to the living room only to find Virgil flipping through the notebook, expression growing increasingly angrier.

“Virgil–” Logan started.

“The fuck is this,” Virgil asked, cutting him off and barely looking up from the book to glare at Logan.

“Virgil, please, let me explain, I–” Logan started again, but was cut off once more.

“Are you observing me?” Virgil’s voice rose in volume. “Am I just another experiment to you?”

“Virgil, no, you don’t understand–” Logan tried to explain

“I don’t understand?” Virgil scoffed, looking back down at the notebook.

Logan resisted the urge to growl in frustration. That would get them nowhere. If only Virgil would stop cutting him off–

“I think I understand perfectly,” Virgil said and began reading from the notebook, “‘The subject’s diet and sleeping patterns must be monitored further before an accurate routine can be created.’ What the hell, Logan?”

“I was only trying to help!”

Virgil’s scowl deepened. “Maybe I don’t need your help, ever think of that?” He shoved the notebook into Logan’s chest. “Don’t try to fix me. I’m not broken. And I’m not some experiment you can just toy with as you please.”

Logan let the notebook fall to the ground as Virgil stormed off to his room.

He’d really messed up this time.

Virgil stays in his room for days. No one even caught him coming out for food or water, which especially concerned them.

Patton had taken to sitting in front of his door for some amount of time during the day. Sometimes it was thirty minutes. Sometimes it was three hours. He rambled aimlessly at the door, tried to convince Virgil to come out, or at least eat. No one even knew if Virgil was actually listening.

Logan couldn’t sleep. He would barely eat, which only served to fuel Patton’s worry further.

It was his fault Virgil was locked in there, ignoring them all. He had betrayed Virgil’s trust (even if he still wasn’t 100% sure what had happened), and he had to fix it.

So Logan used his newly terrible sleeping schedule to his advantage. He burrowed under a blanket on the couch – making sure to adjust it’s positioning so that it’s placement looked natural and haphazardly thrown on the cushions – and waited.

After all those days, there was no way Virgil wasn’t hungry. Even if he had been sneaking food somehow, he’d need more. And Logan would keep doing this until he caught him.

As things were, it did take a few days before Logan caught Virgil.

He had almost fallen asleep, when a presence going by woke him up and put him on edge. Logan carefully listened to the footsteps of the presence and the resulting sounds in the kitchen.

Everything sounded too quiet, too sneaky. There was no way that wasn’t Virgil (he should know, he’d caught both Patton and Roman rustling around in the kitchen late at night enough times to know what they sounded like).

Logan listened while Virgil quietly ate some of the leftovers Patton had left in the fridge. Listened while he stuffed what was probably his coat pockets with what was probably granola bars (if the crinkling wrappers were anything to go by). Listened as he quietly made his way back through the common room to the stairs.

Then, Logan moved. Virgil wasn’t the only one who could be sneaky.

He climbed up the stairs quickly (as quickly as he could, being as exhausted as he was, which wasn’t very quickly), remembering exactly which steps not to step on because they would squeak.

Virgil was almost at the end of the hall by the time Logan made it up the stairs, so he dashed down the hallway, slipping into Virgil’s room just before Virgil finished shutting the door.

Virgil startled so badly that he stumbled backwards and the food fell from his pockets (Logan was right, granola bars).

“We need to talk,” Logan said, hands already shaking. Apparently the affects of Virgil’s room came on faster when you were tired and vulnerable.

“I don’t think I have much to say to you right now,” Virgil said, steadying himself and eyeing Logan’s hands carefully. “I think it would be better if you left.”

“No,” Logan said. “Not until you listen to me.”

“Logan, seriously–”

“No, last time you did all the talking, now it’s my turn.” Logan could feel the panic building, but he did his best to swallow it down. He had to do this. “I never meant to hurt you, Virgil.”

“Yeah, well, you did,” Virgil said, crossing his arms and looking away.

Logan ran his trembling fingers through his hair and tried to take a deep breath. It stuttered and he lost it, but he kept speaking.

“I simply wanted to help you, Virgil. I’ve noticed for a long time that you show many symptoms of anxiety yourself, and deduced that you are not just the presence of anxiety, but also the experience of it–”

“So I get nervous,” Virgil butt in, still refusing to look at Logan. “So what?”

“Stop interrupting!” All of Logan’s breath whooshed out of his lungs, and he gasped a few times trying to fill them again. “I wanted to help you, you idiot! I wanted to help you be less nervous so that you could be happy! I wanted to help you because I care and I fucked up, but please, Virgil, please stop hurting yourself because I was an idiot. You’re not broken and I don’t want to fix you, I just wanted to help.”

“Logan,” Virgil breathed out, finally looking at him. His eyes were glassy, his face vulnerable.

But Logan could hardly pay attention to that now. He was practically hyperventilating at this point, buzzing with anxiety and worry. He was worried about Virgil, worried for Virgil’s health, worried for Patton if he couldn’t get Virgil to come out again, worried for the relationship he shared with Virgil and if he’d doomed it from the start–

Logan’s eyes snapped open (when had he closed them??) when a cool hand pressed against his face, wiping away tears that Logan hadn’t even realized were there.

“Logan, it’s okay,” Virgil said gently. “We gotta get you out of here.”

Logan didn’t respond, he simply allowed Virgil to pull him closer and sink them both out, popping back up in the common room.

“I’m sorry,” Logan stuttered out over and over, still in the midst of his panic. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry–”

Virgil guided Logan to sit on the couch, wrapping the blanket that Logan had been hiding under earlier in the night around his shoulders.

“It’s okay, Logan,” Virgil said, trying to gently pry Logan’s hands away from his hair. “I’m not mad anymore. I’m not mad at you.”

“I messed up, I’m sorry–”

“It’s all okay now,” Virgil spoke soothingly. “I need you to breathe with me, can you do that?”

Logan nodded shakily, squeezing Virgil’s hands tightly as opposed to clutching at his hair.

“Four, seven, eight, remember that?”

Logan nodded again.

“Okay, do it with me now.”

The two breathed in unison for a few minutes. They breathed until Logan’s breaths no longer stuttered and neither of their hands shook. They breathed until Logan’s tears dried and Virgil’s heart slowed. They breathed until Logan finally allowed their hands to drop away from each other, embarrassed by the contact.

“I’m sorry,” Logan started to say again, looking down in shame, but Virgil held up a hand to stop the apology from going further.

“It’s okay. I’m not mad, Logan.”

Logan looked up at him again. “I find that hard to believe.”

Virgil shook his head. “I was mad for a little bit. And scared. I thought I was just another experiment to you–”

“You’re not,” Logan blurted, grabbing Virgil’s hand again.

“I know that now,” Virgil gave a small, almost imperceptible smile, “so stop apologizing.” He frowned again. “Just smile,” Virgil said, clutching Logan’s hand back. “I really need to see you smile right now.”

Logan scoffed. “You say that as if I smile normally in my day to day life.”

Virgil smirked. “Maybe you should.”

“I am a very serious man.”

“A very serious man with a very nice smile.”

“Falsehood.”

Virgil’s smirk grew into a rare grin. “Careful, Logan. You know what Patton likes to do to liars.” He took one of his hands back to squeeze Logan’s side, smiling wider when Logan tried to wiggle away.

“Stop it,” Logan said, but there was no heat behind the words and he was smiling wide.

Virgil clasped their hands together again. “See? It’s like the sun, I can’t even look at it straight on it’s so bright. Good thing we’re both gay as fuck, huh?”

Logan broke down in giggles slouching forward to lean his forehead again Virgil’s shoulder. “I think the sleep deprivation is catching up with me,” he said in-between bouts of quiet laughter.

Virgil ran a hand through Logan’s hair. “More fun for me, then,” he joked, but started to recline them against the couch anyway, adjusting Logan to lay on top of him. “Means I get to see that smile. I won.”

“Stop talking about my smile, already,” Logan whined, then mumbled into Virgil’s chest, “Just wait until I’m coherent, then I won’t be the one who’s blushing.”

Virgil sighed, fixing the blanket around Logan’s shoulder’s to cover them both entirely. “If only the room wasn’t so dim, I would’ve liked to see that.”

Logan only hummed in response, beginning to drift off.

“Hey, Lo?” Virgil murmured after a few minutes, almost asleep.

“Hmm?”

“We’re not gonna just… go back to normal in the morning and pretend this never happened, right?”

Logan, barely awake, snuggled deeper into Virgil’s chest. “Fuck that. I gotta prove that I’m the better flirt.”

Virgil giggled sleepily. “I don’t think either of us were very good flirts tonight.”

“I’ll show you,” Logan muttered, words starting to slur.

Virgil smiled down at the unruly mass of brown hair resting on his chest. “You do that,” he whispered, finally letting sleep drag him under.

And if Patton woke up to make breakfast and found those two curled together on the couch and snapped dozens of pictures? No one needed to know.

And if one of those pictures ended up as Logan’s lockscreen? No one needed to know that, either.

[ice-cream-nekogirl]

Tag, You’re It!: Shinsou x Witch!Reader (END!)

Part 6 to Part 5: https://chocolatekitsune.tumblr.com/post/181969628794/tag-youre-it-shinsou-x-witchreader-pt-5

Pt. 6: Tagged (Final!)

“TAG!! YOU’RE IIIII…” In your rush, you didn’t see that Bakugou rather easily ducked out of the way before you could tag him, and instead your palm pressed onto someone else’s chest. Blinking, you slowly and reluctantly stared up to see a VERY angry looking Aizawa who glared down at you with his angry, glowing red eyes.

“(Y/N)…”

A gulp was heard from you. Bakugou ALMOST felt sorry for you, but at the same time he couldn’t help but smirk and snicker a bit, especially since this just meant that YOU were the loser in the end.

Nervously, you grinned and held your hands up. “I know you’re mad Mr. Aizawa but to be fair… to be fair… to be fair…” You took a long, dramatic moment of silence before continuing your sentence. “Today was boring as hell. And we needed a goddamn break, so… that’s why I told them all to play tag, it’s all on me. Give me punishment but not them.” Finally, you owned up to starting the game, much to everyone’s surprise. However, of course their respect for you went up a little bit when you took responsibility.

As for Aizawa, he sighed a bit and pinched the bridge of his nose. “While it’s good that you’re owning up to what you started… don’t think this means you’re off the hook for fooling around instead.” He visibly softened but wasn’t going to NOT give you punishment since once again, you completely disobeyed and went against his rules.

“So I’m not in trouble?” You asked with a cheeky smile, even though it just served to irk your teacher. “No. You’re definitely in trouble.” He replied quickly, but he remained calm and unflappable even though you always manage to get under his skin. Sighing, you took that, but to your surprise…

“A game of tag?! Why didn’t anyone tell me?!” All-Might suddenly arrived, and in his heroic form with his trademark smile that never ceased to amaze your classmates.

“A-All-Might?!” You and Midoriya exclaimed in surprise and awe, wondering just when exactly he got here. However, you started to grin now that the ex-hero was here and raised your hand. “Yes! Young (L/N)?”

“Sir… I’m sorry I didn’t invite you. If you were here boy that would have made things a TON more interesting…” You admitted with a smirk, but you flinched when All-Might went into a coughing fit and reverted to his weakened form. Though his attitude remained the same…

“I see… it’s a shame… I used to play that game all the time when I was a school boy… I’m assuming that you brought up this game in hopes of improving on evasive skills while allowing your classmates to utilize their quirks?” The ex-hero asked you, and you just innocently nodded. “Yes sir. That’s exactly why I brought up this game… AND… admittedly I wanted to have some fun… I mean I get that we’re heroes in training and all, but my friends and I needed to have a little bit of fun too.” You added, and the look of understanding on All-Might’s face was all you needed to know that he wasn’t going to be mad at you for it.

“Hm. I see. I suppose you kids ARE still young…” He let out a sigh. “With all the ordeals you’ve had to suffer, this wasn’t a bad idea… I can tell that you all had some fun in this.” All-Might deducted when he saw a few bit of smiles (except from Bakugou and Todoroki of course) and sensed mostly positive and youthful energy from the students.

“EXACTLY.” You smiled and nodded up at the hero, who smiled back at you.

“And how did you fare in this game Young Midoriya?” All-Might then asked his protégé, who perked up and started to sweat a little bit. “Oh… um…”

But then you put your arm around your second best friend with a snicker, “Sorry All-Might… but as soon as I tagged Bakugou, he tagged Greenie here… sure he managed to evade everyone else, at least I think he did, so… meh… he did his best.” You answered for him, much to the green-haired boy’s embarrassment.

“(Y-Y/N)…! Don’t say it like that…” Midoriya blushed, especially with how close you were as you practically hugged him tight. The only thing that alarmed him was the smirk rising on your face. “Hey All-Might… why don’t YOU play with us this time? I lost the first game… but another one’ll do, it’ll be more of a challenge… anything goes…” You suggested, and most of your class all gasped lightly at the idea of another game of Tag when the first one was pretty intense yet thrilling.

“No.” Aizawa said flatly, but All-Might was quick to take up your offer, and in turn he took up his strong form yet again. “An excellent idea young (L/N)!” He exclaimed, and you threw your fists in the air.

“YES! It’s anything goes now! Thirty minutes this time! Mr. Aizawa’s it though! Cuz I tagged him last! Let’s go!” Immediately you took off running, grabbing Midoriya’s hand as he shouted in shock but let you take him away from your teacher. And you were pleasantly surprised to see that many of your classmates were glad to follow you and split up to find someplace to hide.

As for Aizawa. He took a huge sigh, seeing that for once there was nothing he could do, or rather he COULD if he really wanted to but at this moment, secretly he decided that this wasn’t too bad. His students earned a day of playing after everything they’ve been through.

“Use your quirks! Don’t hesitate! And don’t leave yourself wide open!” All-Might called out to the running teenagers but flinched once he felt a hand tap him on the back, and he turned to face the grinning pro-hero.

“Tag. You’re it.” He said, and reacted quick by getting away fast, much to the shock of the ex-hero. However, he nonetheless laughed it off and kept smiling.

“NOW I AM IT!” All-Might declared, which of course startled you and all your friends as everything quickly turned chaotic as soon as he tagged Bakugou and the last thing you remember is that Bakugou proceeded to tag you, and then you tagged Todoroki, and everything went downhill from there…

“TAG! YOU’RE IT!!”

“No I’m not! You’re it!”

“Tag, you’re it…”

“Tag!”

“Tag! You’re it.”

“No You’re it!”

“Tag! You’re it!”

“Now you’re it!”

It was full-on madness, yet you weren’t complaining. However, the last thing you expected was for Present Mic to show up and get tagged by Kaminari. Or for Present Mic to start tagging the teachers in the school, which lead to the students in Class B, Class C, Class D and the General Studies students…

“AHAHAHAHA~! You weren't careful enough~ And now you’re it!” Monoma was the first to instigate the wide-spread game of tag, as he started off by tagging Tetsutetsu, who was all too enthusiastic about the game as he and his classmates started tagging each other, and then some left to tag the students in General Studies...

“TAG YOU’RE IT NOW!”

“Tag! You’re it!”

“HA! Now you’re it!”

“TAG!”

“YOU’RE IT!”

“TAG!!”

“TAG YOU’RE IT!”

“HAHA! I DID THIS! I AM A GOD!!” You cheerfully shouted in between all of the chaos when seeing every student running around in the wicked game you wove, missing the annoyed sigh coming from Shinsou as he stood behind you, along with the very nervous trio of Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida and a perplexed Todoroki watched all of the madness…

5 Hours Later…

Everyone was surprisingly exhausted from all the running around and relentlessly tagging each other, but they came back feeling somewhat happy and partially relieved from one of their only days of free-spirited fun. Especially because they knew that this would be one of their few days of fun since next week will have them go back to training, and probably twice as much homework as punishment from Aizawa.

And on top of that, it turns out there was one winner…

Hagakure. Who wasn’t tagged once because nobody could find her due to her invisibility. “Yay! I won! I won!” The invisible girl chirped, now in clothes that let her be partially seen as she happily cheered with the girls, as the boys all gloomed a little bit.

“She had the best advantage…”

“There’s no way…”

“Any of us could have seen her…”

Sero, Kirishima and Kaminari each muttered a bit in defeat, since they definitely got tagged more than once during the second round of tag. However, both boys still had fun, and secretly wanted to play it again sometime.

As for you…

Needless to say, you definitely got in trouble for starting a game of Tag that spiraled out of control when EVERYONE in UA started participating with the help of All-Might and spread out to the rest of the school. However, because All-Might took responsibility you only thankfully had to do ALL the chores and clean-up in the dorms and everyone’s rooms.

“Hehe… I don’t know why people complain about this, it’s so easy.” You said breezily as you used your telekinesis to easily carry everyone’s trash to throw away, without any effort of course. Something that you never ceased to flaunt to your friends as you happily walked and hummed now that you were finished.

“You played good today!” As soon as you saw Bakugou, you grinned widely at him even though he just growled and glared at you. “Shut up you damn cheater! I wouldn’t have even had to play if you hadn’t tagged me in the first place!!” He shouted angrily, obviously not as happy or relieved as the others since today felt like nothing but a waste of time. In fact, it felt just like elementary school.

“Ah you’re just mad cuz you didn’t win.” You replied neutrally and smirked at the seething blonde.

“That’s coming from the first loser! I did a hell of a lot better than you did! All you did was fuck around!!”

“That’s right, and I loved it! And you know what? I’d do it again!” You stuck your tongue at him, passing by as he huffed in annoyance.

“Idiot…”

“Good night~.” However, you sang-songed to him one last time, almost smirking when glanced at you before scoffing at you.

Smiling, you rolled your eyes. ‘What an ass.’ You thought to yourself, but you were glad to see another friend who wasn’t a frenemy. “Toto!”

“(L/N)”.

“So… did you have fun today?” You asked him that question repeatedly today, and finally he gave you a satisfactory answer along with a little smile and chuckle of amusement.

“More than I thought.” He admittedly calmly, but your reaction was pretty much the opposite as you grinned and laughed triumphantly. “AHAHAHA~! I knew it! I knew I’d get you to have fun somehow!”

“As I recall, you had said that I ‘didn’t know how to have fun’.” His smile turned into a small smirk, causing your eyes to widen in genuine surprise, but your smile returned as you clapped your hands. “Shouto… you son of a bitch you are full of surprises… ha! Well… I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that. I was hoping you’d be able to loosen up after a dull-ass week of training.” You gave him a thumbs-up and a pat on the shoulder, but you were confused when he looked just a little bit nervous.

“You’re not tagging me are you?” Even though the game was over, he had to ask you. Blinking twice, you burst into laughter, and thankfully to Todoroki you didn’t see him blush a warm pink because he initially thought you were laughing at him.

“Oh God no, no not tonight… I’m in quite a lot of trouble, if I started another game… I mean, it’d be hilarious, but Mr. Aizawa will probably kill me if I started something at this hour.” You nervously admitted, much to your friend’s amusement.

“Good point. Well… thank you for today. I never played Tag until today, it was surprisingly enjoyable. I understand it now.” He politely thanked you, his smile doing something to your chest as you blushed and felt a little bit bashful. “Aww… you’re welcome Toto.” You exchanged smiles and then you giggled a bit.

“We gotta do that AGAIN though.” You declared. Todoroki didn’t complain, in fact his pleased expression was enough for you to know that he was down for that.

“I won’t mind that.” He affirmed for you, making you giggle and clap your hands excitedly, “Yaaaay~. Hee-hee… good night Shouto~.” Waving at him almost flirtatiously, this time you saw Todoroki blush as he smiled at you, almost nervously, yet his reply was still calm. “Good night (Y/N).”

Afterwards, you could go to your dorm-room happy that everyone, well mostly everyone had fun and you got to have the day full of excitement you had been looking for.

“Hey.” And Shinsou sitting in your bed with his casual, lazy demeanor sparked even more excitement in you even though you were secretly surprised. “Hitoshi~!” But you weren’t complaining at all as you quickly flipped your shoes off and plopped right next to him on your bed.

“Today was pretty wild eh?” Giggling, your remote floated over to you and landed right in your hand and shut your door with your mind.

“What do you expect? When you make a plan, everything’s wild.” He replied to you in a deadpan tone, but he did give you a smile to indicate that despite the craziness, it WAS fun. Aside from the way Todoroki looked at you.

“Haha you know it… but it’s cool now… well... since there's no Madison to bother us, thank God... Aristocats?” You smiled at him, getting out the DVD as Shinsou’s smile grew just a little bit more. And it warmed your heart knowing that those smiles were for you, and only you.

“Yes.” Shinsou nodded as you grinned and giddily giggled, happily putting the movie in your player and pressing ‘play’ to start it up. Sitting nice and close to a somewhat flustered, now bashful looking Shinsou.

“Hey… Hitoshi. What is it you wanted to tell me? Before I called Todoroki you looked like you wanted to say something, what was it?” You then asked him because you remembered that Shinsou seemed like he had something to tell you before you got distracted by Todoroki. However, once you brought that back up Shinsou started to blush more than he wanted, and for once he was at a loss for words as he averted your eyes and struggled to come up with an explanation.

“Oh, right... I was only going to say that…” He began slow, which you found a little odd since Shinsou wasn’t the type to be so hesitant, and you had no idea how nervous you were making him with the way your (E/C) eyes practically stared into his soul. Secretly, he thanked all the deities for making you not have the power to read minds, you had a variety of powers but thankfully you weren’t a clairvoyant like Nan, that one witch you often mentioned. As much as he wanted to tell you, something kept him from doing so. Fear? Maybe... 

“Your shoe was untied the whole time.” Shinsou finally settled on a lie, far from his best one but it was all he could come up with on the spot. Blinking, you made a bit of a face. “No it wasn’t…” You were sure that couldn’t have been true, although you didn’t really pay attention to your shoes at the time, but you had no idea that Shinsou was denying that.

“It was at the time. You weren’t paying attention.” You pouted and grunted in light annoyance at the way he smirked at you, now you were starting to think that your best friend had just been messing with you as he often did, but you never really minded. That was just yours and Shinsou's thing. 

"Whatever. The movie's starting." Now it was your turn to smirk as you scooted closer towards him. As your sides touched you hugged his arm and deliberately placed your head on his shoulder purely to fluster him. And you had to resist the urge to snicker when you felt him shaking slightly. Shinsou swallowed hard as his face flushed very hot from the proximity. You little witch...

But instead of shying away, he slowly brought his arm around you, making you nearly jump in surprise as you looked up at him in surprise, purple eyes locked with (E/C) eyes in a stare before he smiled at you, "Tag. You're it." He said to you playfully. His tone causing you to blush as you coyly smiled back at him, and nuzzled into him warmly as the Aristocats' opening song played.

"And now you're it~."