Stop and smell the roses - Chapter 1 - akataiii - 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia (2024)

Chapter Text

Roses

.

A defeated sigh left Shoto’s lips as he leaned his head back against the wall. His gaze drifted to the toilet next to him, eyes catching onto the abnormal contents drifting atop the water.

There, in the basin, weren’t the remains of his dinner. Instead, in its place drifted a lone red rose petal…

.

This problem began one random Wednesday afternoon.

Shoto was on his bed, mindlessly scrolling through social media seeing as he’d finished his homework for the day.

Not much time passed before he stumbled on a picture that made him stop and actually look. The picture wasn’t anything flashy or extravagant. It was just a simple selfie of a smiling Midoriya and Uraraka, the brunette’s arm slung around the greenhead’s shoulder.

Shoto’s eyes trailed across Midoriya’s features, admiring the way the afternoon sun cast a warm glow across his skin and made his freckles pop. His gaze lingered on the picture, longer than it had on any of the previous posts he had scrolled past.

The selfie shouldn’t have made him feel any different—shouldn’t have made his eyes narrow at the brunette. It shouldn’t have caused his grip to tighten on his phone or made his chest tighten and ache.

Screwing his eyes shut, Shoto shut off his phone and tossed it to the side, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips.

He was never an expert when it came to emotions, thanks to his dick of a dad and his sheltered childhood. Most of the time, Shoto carried himself with a sort of indifference. Apathy was the way to go when it came to his life of not really understanding social cues.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel .

Shoto felt emotions all the time despite looking the opposite. It’s just that he didn’t quite…understand what he was feeling.

With an irritated grunt, Shoto hauled himself from the bed and grabbed his hoodie from his closet, casting one last look towards his phone before making his way out of his dorm room.

Hopefully some light training would help release this tension he was feeling.

.

The 1-A classroom buzzed with the lively chatter and laughter of students. Shoto, being his reserved self, sat by his desk with his chin resting in the palm of his hand and his gaze fixed on the window.

His mind wandered as he watched the students entering the main gate, most chatting with a friend by their side. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular, yet, almost instinctively, his eyes caught onto a head of green hair, always seeming messy and untamed. His gaze lingered on the smile that could consistently be found on Midoriya’s face.

Then, Shoto’s eyes narrowed, brows drawing together in a frown when he saw that the smile was aimed at the brunette walking next to Midoriya. He tore his gaze from the window, huffing in annoyance.

It’s not that he hated Uraraka or even disliked her. She was one of the few people Shoto considered a friend, in fact—it’s just that…

For some unfathomable reason, whenever she was around Midoriya, smiling at him… laughing with him… taking friendly selfies with him…

Something about it just rubbed Shoto the wrong way.

It made his heart beat faster. It made him anxious. Caused his chest to tighten and his breath to catch in his throat. It made him—

Shoto abruptly jumped up, chair falling backward with a loud clatter due to the exerted force. The students in the class all turned their heads toward him, gazes questioning and confused, but honestly, Shoto could give less of a shit right now. He needed to get to the bathroom, and fast.

He started making his way to the front of the class, one hand gripping his shirt over the spot where he assumed his heart to be, and the other clasped over his mouth to stifle his coughs. His nausea had come so suddenly, completely catching him by surprise.

The hand that was clutching at his shirt lowered to grab onto the door handle, suddenly grasping at air as the door flew open and revealed two students.

Green eyes stared at hetechromatic ones, wide in surprise.

“Hey Todoro—”

“Move.”

Shoto shoved Midoriya to the side, rushing down the hall toward the bathroom. He raced into a stall, hastily locking it behind him before promptly being sick into the toilet.

He coughed and sputtered, his lungs constricting so much he felt like he could barely breathe. His eyes were shut so tight he could see stars, and his head pounded with the lack of air.

It felt like forever until the coughing subsided, but eventually Shoto could breathe again. He sat back on his heels with closed eyes and took deep, shallow breaths, regaining his senses and wiping the light sweat he’d worked up from his forehead.

When the bell rang, signalling the start of the school day, Shoto opened his eyes again and got to his feet. Just as he was reaching for the handle to flush away his sickness, something made him pause. In the basin, mixed between the remnants of his breakfast was a single red rose petal.

Shoto stared at it for a moment, only able to muster a quiet "Oh” before he flushed the toilet and left the stall.

.

Hours passed and classes dragged on, but Shoto’s mind refused to focus on English or Math when he had bigger things to worry about.

What was a rose petal doing in that basin? Had it just appeared out of nowhere, or did he actually cough it up?

Nothing made sense to him, and no matter how badly he wanted to shrug it off and forget about it, he just couldn’t.

It bugged him, the same way Uraraka’s friendship with Midoriya bugged him.

Shoto tried to push it to the back of his mind, but Midoriya’s constant concerned glances in class and at afternoon practice made it impossible to forget about.

What made it worse is the fact that (apart from being unable to ignore it), he continued feeling sick for the rest of the day. Every time he met Midoriya’s gaze or saw Uraraka giving him a high-five after a successful combo move, he would get the undeniable urge to vomit.

It got so bad that he had to skip out on lunch with his friends in fear of being sick at the sight of brown hair next to green. And when dinner rolled around, and Shoto had to bolt up to his room after seeing Midoriya laugh at one of Uraraka’s jokes—he wasn’t nearly as surprised at the red rose petal floating atop the water alongside what he did manage to eat…

Cherry Blossoms

.

“Hey Iida?” Izuku called, catching the attention of their class president, who was busy clearing off the empty dishes.

“Oh, Midoriya. With what may I assist you?”

Izuku smiled at his friend’s formal way of speaking, lightly shaking his head.

“I was just wondering if you’ve seen Todoroki around,” he answered, helping by picking up the last of the empty plates.

“Not since he left during dinner, I’m afraid.”

“Oh. Okay…” Izuku’s brows furrowed as he placed the plates in the sink.

He turned and left the kitchen, pressing the button to call down the elevator so he could go up to his room.

Truth be told, he was pretty concerned for Todoroki. He’d been acting strange all day. He’d been much more reserved than usual, almost avoidant.

At first Izuku thought it may have been because of what happened that morning, when Todoroki pushed him out of the way and ran down the hall, but then again, Todoroki should know by now that Izuku would never be mad about something like that. He could clearly see that the latter wasn’t feeling well by how pale he was.

So, if it wasn’t because of that, then…why? Izuku just couldn’t wrap his head around it.

With a frustrated sigh, Izuku fell face first onto his bed, only turning his head to the side when he started to feel smothered.

Things with Todoroki were so… confusing. Izuku knew that what he felt for Todoroki was more than just friendly concern.

First and foremost, yes. Todoroki was his friend. That much had been established after the whole ‘It’s your power, not his’ speech at the sport’s festival.

Secondly, Izuku knew he liked Todoroki. But could he really say that the way he liked Todoroki was a more than friends kind of like?

Izuku’s never really liked anyone before. Sure, there had been moments of admiration and respect, but never really outright attraction.

But then again…

His mind flitted to Todoroki, recalling his half and half hair, the one side red, the colour of a spider lily, and the other as white as pure snow. His hetechromatic eyes that reminded Izuku of water in an aquarium and the clouds in the sky on a rainy day. His skin that always seemed so smooth and clear, even with the scar painted over his left eye. His muscles, built and refined after years of training, looking so attractive when he—

Oh, who’s Izuku kidding here? He liked Todoroki. In a more than friends, definitely not platonic way.

Izuku grabbed a pillow and groaned into it, the material cold against his flushed cheeks. Why did he have to have his first crush now of all times? And why did his first crush have to be on someone like Todoroki? Someone that would never like him back.

Izuku abruptly sat up, taking in a deep, panicked breath. Then another. And another. His breathing became fast, erratic, desperate. He couldn’t breathe. His chest felt like it was stuffed full of cotton.

Then he sprang to his feet, scrambling to the small bathroom in his dorm and making it just in time to hurl into the toilet. A series of coughs and gagging filled the air as bile made its way past his lips and into the basin. Izuku could barely get enough air in his lungs, causing him to feel lightheaded.

When his fit subsided and the pressure on his chest was finally gone, Izuku reached for the toilet handle with a heavy arm. He was originally planning on flushing the contents without having to look at it, but that was before he saw it.

Floating next to his hacked-up dumplings was something that was not supposed to be there. Something small. Something pink.

A single cherry blossom petal.

“Whaaaaa!” Izuku screamed, scrambling backward and bumping his head on the bottom of the sink.

He hardly had time to worry about the pain, though, as several questions flooded his brain.

Why was there a cherry blossom petal in the toilet basin?

Did that cherry blossom petal come from him?

Did he somehow eat a cherry blossom without realising?

What if it did come from him?

Is he dying?

Oh god. Is he—

Knock, knock, knock.

“Deku?”

The soft knocks on his door drew Izuku out of his muttering state. He whipped his head around, eyes wide and stinging with the threat of tears.

Another series of knocks sounded out.

“It’s me. Can I come in?”

Izuku recognised Uraraka’s voice, shoulders sagging with relief.

“Yeah,” he called back, quickly wiping his eyes and getting to his feet.

“Are you okay? I heard you scream,” she said, now inside the room. Her brows were furrowed in concern.

Izuku was about to assure her that everything was fine when he suddenly remembered that he had yet to flush the toilet. He hurriedly spun around and raced to flush the toilet, practically tripping over his feet in the process.

“Uh…” Uraraka mumbled, her brows drawing together in a deeper frown.

“Sorry, sorry,” Izuku apologised, turning around to face her again. “I just didn’t want you to see that mess. I must have eaten something weird at lunch.”

“Oh. Okay…” she said, not looking very convinced.

“Did you need me?” Izuku asked, desperate to shift Uraraka’s focus from his earlier scream.

“Right,” she recalled, perking up again. “I was going to ask if you wanted to join me and Iida down in the common room for homework.”

“Sure,” Izuku agreed, flashing her a smile. He was grateful for the change in topic.

He rounded up his books and grabbed his pencil case from his desk, falling into step with Uraraka as they made their way down to the common room. He pushed the matter of the cherry blossom petal to the back of his mind, vowing to worry about it later.

Stop and smell the roses - Chapter 1 - akataiii - 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia (2024)

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