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Everything was on fire. The books were coated in hot flames as they fell out of the shelves. They landed with heavy thuds as the timber turned to black ash from above. A table was sent flying and narrowly missed its target. It’s hot. Exceedingly hot. Almost anything could melt in such temperatures.
“Shoto!” a voice boomed through the room, shaking the house.
Todoroki found it hard to breathe, like two hands were wrapped around his throat, robbing his lungs of oxygen. His eyes were hazy as they focused on the image of a muscular man standing before him. The man that ruined the lives of those around him in order to further his own selfish goal. Todoroki could never forgive this man’s sins no matter how hard he tried to atone for them.
This man was his father, Todoroki Enji. Otherwise known as the pro hero: Endeavor.
“Please,” Todoroki choked out. “Leave him alone.”
Him? Who’s him? Todoroki felt like someone important was being held captive or something. But as Endeavor stepped closer to his son, another figure appeared behind him. The slumped over, burned body of Midoriya Izuku.
Todoroki’s breath hitched in his throat. His eyes snapped open in shock as he tried to create ice to counteract the flames. But it didn’t work. Instead, his other side burst into flames, engulfing the room in an even more intense inferno.
“Todo… roki…”
“Midoriya!” Todoroki shouted, shooting up and throwing his blanket off. There were some burn marks on the sheets and sweat poured from his face. His breathing was heavy, uneven, and in a broken croak, he let out a sob. “Midoriya… I’m so sorry…”
The nightmares started not too long ago. At first, Todoroki assumed that it was because he never had a close friend before meeting Midoriya. But as time went on, he came to the realization that those feelings ran deeper than just platonic. It hadn’t even been his own epiphany. It was back during the raid mission, when news stations started talking about a group of young heroes saving a little girl.
“Todoroki-kun!” Hagakure called. “Are you okay?”
He had been completely still when he heard that Midoriya had been hospitalized again. “Hm? Oh… I’m fine.”
The invisible girl cocked her head to the side though it was difficult to tell. “Are you sure?” She wasn’t as perceptive as some of their other classmates nor was she the most tactful. But when someone as usually deadpan as Todoroki displayed any kind of emotion, even she could tell. “You know, you can talk to us, right? We’re your friends.”
“Thanks,” Todoroki replied. “I just hope Midoriya is okay.”
“Um… and the others, right?” Hagakure stated.
“Huh? Oh, right,” Todoroki nodded numbly.
Hagakure crossed her arms as she pondered this. The other boy was completely inattentive as he took out his phone to try and figure out what to text Midoriya. After the seventh or eighth time of retyping the same sentence, she gasped.
“Todoroki-kun,” she said. “By any chance, do you like Midoriya?”
Todoroki frowned, eyebrows stitching together. “Of course I do.”
“No,” she groaned. “I mean… when you think of him, do you want to be alone with him? Do you want to talk about the most mundane but simultaneously deep things with him? Do you want to hold his hand and reassure him when he’s nervous? Do you… want to kiss him?”
The questions pelted Todoroki from every direction but there was only one answer for them. “Yes… I do.”
“You like him!” Hagakure squealed. “Damn it, I owe Ashido a thousand yen.”
Todoroki ignored her as he focused on his phone screen. Three little hopping bubbles indicated that Midoriya was typing something back and all of his sudden, his stomach was filled with butterflies and his chest was tightening. “I like… Midoriya?”
Since then, it’s been hard to actually look at the other boy directly. Yet every time Midoriya spoke, he would end up looking. It was also much too painful to be apart from him for too long. But thanks to supplementary lessons and his own provisional license retake, they ended up missing each other all the time. So they put aside a day to hang out and catch up.
“Sorry I’m late,” Midoriya called, running up to Todoroki at the bus station.
“It’s fine,” Todoroki replied, adjusting his messenger bag as he stood up. “I just got here myself.”
In truth, he actually got there immediately after getting out of his uniform. He then spent the next few hours sitting on the hard bench, thinking about his feelings. Something he was not used to. But he came to the conclusion that his nightmares were a manifestation of the idea of losing Midoriya.
“Let’s get going,” Midoriya smiled.
“Isn't it a little late to go to a theme park?” Todoroki asked.
“Yeah but there are less people on weekdays,” said Midoriya, “plus, the fireworks are amazing!”
Todoroki rarely smiled but the way the corners of Midoriya’s mouth upturned was infectious and made it hard for Todoroki not to mimic the expression. At least to some extent. He still had trouble trying to make an open-mouthed smile as wide and bright as Midoriya’s but apparently, Midoriya liked the way he did it naturally.
“I’ve never actually been to an amusement park with a friend before,” Todoroki admitted when they arrived.
“Really?” Midoriya blinked, before turning away and awkwardly scratching the side of his face. “Ah… well I guess I haven’t either.” If he ever went out before high school, it was always either alone or with his mother. “But I guess that means we can experience this together!”
Todoroki nodded. “Sounds good.”
As expected, there weren’t a lot of parkgoers during the evening and some of the rides were already closing up. But there were still plenty of things to do. Midoriya excitedly went over to grab Todoroki’s hand, pulling him towards a 4D theater.
“Let’s try this first!” said Midoriya. “Have you done a 4D show?”
“I didn’t do a lot of things that were fun,” Todoroki replied.
“Oh…,” Midoriya muttered. “Well… let’s go inside!”
Todoroki’s right side was usually cold, but with his fingers laced with Midoriya’s, he felt warm. It brought another soft smile on his face. But it vanished as he was seated into a giant ladybug, given special glasses, and trapped inside the chair. Midoriya was bouncing up and down enthusiastically while he had no idea what was going. Once the ride started, his fight or flight reflexes kicked in.
“Midoriya, what’s happening?!” Todoroki yelped.
“It’s like we’re in the movie,” Midoriya replied as an explanation.
Todoroki didn’t suffer from entomophobia like their classmate Koda but when the giant spiders appeared on screen, he tried to burn the theater down. If it weren’t for Midoriya reaching over to grab his arm, reassuring him, he would’ve actually done that. Finally, when it was over, he wobbled out of the ladybug and into the sunlight where he collapsed onto his knees.
“Sorry,” said Midoriya. “I should’ve explained it to you before going in.”
A five year old boy skipped out of the theater. “Let’s go again Mommy!”
“Toddlers do this for fun?” Todoroki rasped.
“Let’s try something more classic,” Midoriya chuckled nervously. “Hm… what about roller coasters?”
Suddenly, Todoroki’s head snapped up and turned over to his companion, an air of determination having taken over his previously queasy features. He’d seen these mythical roller coasters many times on TV back home. Usually in his sister’s dramas. There was something exhilarating about them and if he wasn’t always inside studying with the ‘best tutors money can buy’ then he’d have tried one by now.
In the most serious, monotone voice, Todoroki stated, “Let’s go.”
“Eh? Todoroki-kun?”
They waited in the long line as they talked, mostly the finer details of the raid mission since Todoroki was curious. As they got closer to the front, the high-pitched screams of the riders got louder. Todoroki craned his neck upwards, his mouth hanging open and his stomach churning as his pupils reached the peak.
“I’m starting to get second thoughts,” Todoroki remarked.
Midoriya glanced over at his trembling friend. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Todoroki nodded. “You like roller coasters, right?”
Midoriya smiled a little, taking hold of the taller boy’s hand. Much to his surprise, his companion stilled and tightened his grasp. “The ride is perfectly safe, so don’t worry,” he said softly. “I’ll be with you the entire time too.”
“Thanks, Midoriya,” Todoroki smiled in return.
It was clear that Todoroki didn’t do so well on thrill rides. He didn’t scream during nor did he throw up afterwards but they had to shut down the ride for a couple of minutes because he froze himself to the seat. The boy was stuck. And no matter what anyone said, he couldn’t use the other half of his Quirk to melt himself out.
They decided to take things slow on the merry-go-round. Todoroki clutched at the pole of the white unicorn he sat on for dear life like he did with the front bar of the roller coaster. Once Midoriya sat on the horse beside him, he relaxed a little.
“Do you want to go home after this?” Midoriya asked. “We can get dinner and then—.”
“No,” Todoroki interjected. “You… really wanted to see the fireworks.”
“Well, I don’t have to,” Midoriya shrugged.
Todoroki looked forward. “There’s nothing wrong with going after something you like once in a while.”
Midoriya couldn’t help smiling again, thinking that it was a really cool line. But the fact remained that they were bobbing up and down on mechanical horses so they looked rather uncool. Well, it was still enough to cause a warm feeling in his chest to blossom.
Before long, the sky darkened and almost every ride and show was closed for the day. There were just a few restaurants still open and the haunted house. It was advertised as the most terrifying experience in the entire eastern hemisphere. Supposedly, Tokoyami visited with his father and gave advice to each of the actors on how to scare better. Since then, business boomed.
Midoriya believed it since Tokoyami told him the story personally. The details were so specific that it seemed unlikely to be a fabricated lie. Not to mention, the park did get a surplus of visitors around the time Tokoyami stated.
“He gave advice to class B during the test of courage too, didn’t he?” Todoroki muttered.
Midoriya did hear that as well. “Come to think of it, I never got a chance to participate in that.”
Even though the mere thought of going through the haunted house had Todoroki trembling, he could also see that Midoriya seemed hurt. After all, he’s been the odd one out when being paired up and the test had been rudely interrupted by the worst possible people. Midoriya deserved a chance to experience it.
“Let’s go then,” said Todoroki.
“Eh?” Midoriya blinked. “Are you sure?”
“I can handle it,” Todoroki promised. “It’s no big deal.”
That was a downright lie and Midoriya could tell from the way he quaked. So he held up a hand. “Do you want to hold hands through it?” He felt like they were having a lot of physical contact since they joined up together, not that he minded. “Come on, we’ll get through it together.”
“Thanks Midoriya.”
The employee out front was really tired. But he woke up instantly when he heard a scream coming from inside. It wasn’t the usual fear scream but what sounded to be a teenage boy yelling about not using fire on a zombie. When the pair stepped out, Midoriya had to carry his friend—who passed out—on his back.
“Are you feeling better?” Midoriya asked.
They were sitting side by side on a wooden bench, drinking water they bought from a nearby vending machine. Todoroki gulped down the rest of his bottle before covering his face in a hand, hanging his head with a heavy sigh. The entire day was supposed to be fun but he was constantly embarrassing himself in front of the guy he liked.
“I’m sorry,” Todoroki groaned. “This must not be very enjoyable…”
Midoriya turned his head to get a better look of him. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, haven’t I been a nuisance?” asked Todoroki. “I keep getting scared and I keep icing things.”
Midoriya let out an awkward laugh. “True, that part isn’t very fun for the workers who have to clean up.” He then got quiet, looking up at the darkness that had blanketed the sky. “But you’re wrong about today. When I’m with you, Todoroki-kun, I have fun. That’s just how it is.”
Todoroki felt the heat rise to his face. “Really?”
“Of course,” Midoriya nodded. “We get to spend time together, after all.”
If Todoroki didn’t have so much control over his left side, the bench would be up in flames. But then he wondered for a moment if it was okay to confess his feelings. Not to put an end to his nightmares but because he felt that Midoriya should know.
“Mido—.”
“Oh no!” Midoriya gasped, leaping up and onto his feet. “The fireworks are about to start!” He looked around for a decent vantage spot that wasn’t already taken. “We should find a good place to watch them!”
Todoroki glanced around as well, his eyes landing on the Ferris wheel. “I have an idea.”
They asked the operator to take them to the summit and stop it there for them. All it took was an autograph from Endeavor which Todoroki secretly kept several copies of for moments like this. For once, his father was useful.
“This was a good idea,” Midoriya grinned, once they were at the highest point.
Todoroki turned his focus over to the other boy. “Yeah…” He reached over and grasped Midoriya’s hand, possibly for the hundredth time all day. It pulled the other boy away from looking out the window and at him, causing his heart to skip. “Midoriya… I want to ask you something.”
Midoriya leaned in, noticing how quiet the other boy got. “What is it?”
“Can I… kiss you?”
The freckled boy didn’t know how to answer, his eyes just widened, stunned by the sudden question. They stared at each other for what felt like hours but with each passing second, their faces gravitated closer together. Their eyes fluttered closed just as the cart lit up with the first firework. The first electric spark running between their lips. The first thunderous kiss of a possible many.
“Todoroki-kun,” Midoriya whispered breathlessly. “We’re missing the fireworks!”
Todoroki pulled away, chuckling a little. “Sorry, sorry. But… you’re not weirded out?”
“By the kiss?” Midoriya muttered. “Well, no. It was… new. But I’m… really glad it was you.”
Todoroki smiled and he held on to the other boy’s hand tighter. “Me too.”
“I like you, Todoroki-kun.”
“I like you too, Midoriya.”