Shoto woke up an hour before his alarm, feeling a bit disconcerted despite the events that had occurred last night. He decided to take a walk through the building to clear his thoughts before he had to get ready for class.

Even though he'd had a decent night of sleep, he still woke with a twisting feeling in his stomach and it wouldn't let him fall back asleep.

His body probably knew he was nervous.

As he stared at his feet, he thought about all that he could say. How would she react? Would this ruin their friendship? Was this even a good idea?

Before he could run into the wall in front of him, he raised his head and stopped, startled, and saw that his feet had unconsciously lead him straight toward what occupied his thoughts

Ochako's dorm.

He stared blankly at the door with her name printed neatly on it, cursing inwardly at his body's honest response to his muddled feelings.

The door swung open. Before he could even react, Ochako appeared in the doorway, looking sleepy, with her gym bag in one hand and a water bottle in the other.

She noticed him and almost jumped back twenty feet in shock. "Shouto-kun?" She asked, a little bewildered that he was at her doorstep at 8am in the morning.

Todoroki was still staring, dumbfounded by the way this situation was playing out.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Ochako looked shocked and mildly confused. She took a step back into her room, gesturing inside with her hand. "Uh, why don't you come in first?" She suggested.

He stepped into her room and reached around to shut the door behind him.

She dropped her bag and water bottle onto her table, before turning around to face him, her body taking up a defensive stance.

Todoroki exhaled to calm his nerves. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

There was a tense silence while Ochako scrutinized his face, seemingly still upset. And suddenly, like a switch, her stony expression melted into a gentle smile.

"It's okay," she replied airily, with a strangely fond look on her face. "I know you didn't mean it. I could never stay mad at you for long, anyway." She laughed, and Todoroki hadn't realized how much he missed this--this easy, comfortable friendship between them, until he'd been stupid enough to push it away.

Ochako punched his arm teasingly and tilted her head up at him with a brilliant smile (God, he'd missed that smile) and launched into a story about how her room was a mess and how she hadn't even put her dress away from last night and how could they still have class today? She was rambling, but Todoroki felt so much relief

things were finally back to normal.

But there was still a nagging feeling at the back of his mind.

Things were finally back to normal, but was this what he wanted? Was this fair to her?

As he watched her flit around her room, gesturing to the lumps of clothing and trinkets scattered on her floor as she talked animatedly, Todoroki realized that he not only wanted her friendship, he wanted much, much more.

And maybe she didn't feel the same way. But she deserved to know.

"--we were watching Kendo stuck in the middle between Monoma-kun and Tetsutetsu-kun and it was quite the triangle! Honestly, I don't know who I would've picked--"

"I wanted to go to the dance with you."

Ochako stopped abruptly, peering at Todoroki in shock at his interruption. "What?" she asked, blinking widely.

He paused, sighing.

"We always go together, so I didn't think much about it. But then you asked Bakugou and I was confused and honestly, a little betrayed and then you invited him to the zoo and it was suffocating and--" Todoroki closed his eyes and rubbed at his face, frustrated.

Now he was rambling. Ridiculous.

Todoroki steeled himself and looked up at Ochako, making steady eye contact. She now had her jaw dropped, speechless.

There's really no going back

"Look what I'm trying to say is, I love you... Ochako"

Her eyes widened slowly.

A jolt of panic rushed through him, and he felt the sudden need to do damage control. "I know you don't feel the same way, and it's alright, I don't want this to negatively affect our friendship--"

"What?" Her expression morphed from shock to confusion.

The boy ran a hand through his hair, trying to find the right words. "You and Bakugou, I know how you feel about him, so--"

"What? How I feel about--what?" Ochako was shaking her head, still looking stunned. "B-but!"

"--I just wanted you to know how I felt" the boy finished lamely. He'd had this speech prepared, but as soon as he saw her, he had blanked. He didn't know if anything he had said made any sense.

She stared at him.

And suddenly, she gasped.

He watched as realization finally bloomed on her face, her cheeks starting to flush a pretty pink and her mouth beginning to form a shy smile.

"You're incredibly difficult, you know?" She asked, with the widest grin he'd ever seen on her face. Her brown eyes were warm and affectionate as she gazed at him. "I feel the same way silly"

What?

Had he heard that right?

Ochako pursed her lips lightly, watching him with an amused expression. She stepped closer into his space, sliding her arms around his torso in a tight hug. Shoto unconsciously reciprocated, resting his hands on her back.

"I've held strong feelings for you, Todoroki Shoto" she mumbled into his chest.

And like a flower unfurls and breathes the first breath of spring, something in his chest unfurled and swelled. He had never been able to breathe easier.

The anxiety disappeared from his gut, his throat felt numbly clear, and the only indication that his organs were working was the irregular stuttering of his heart. He felt like he was floating, slowly lifting off the ground and getting ready to soar

"Shoto!" Ochako was panicking, grabbing him tighter, and he realized that he was actually beginning to float toward the ceiling.

"Ahh! Release!" She brought her hands together to release her quirk, and the momentum of her tight grasp caused him to tumble right into her, landing them both sprawled on the futon behind her.

Shoto recovered quickly and sat up, observing Ochako as she lay stretched out on the futon next to him, giggling endlessly and clutching her stomach. He watched her laugh, a soft, happy smile quirking up on his lips.

Ochako wiped the tears from her eyes from laughing so hard. As she ceased her laughing fit, her face turned to gaze up at him.

He gave her a genuine smile in return, holding out his hand.

Ochako took it, and he pulled her up into a sitting position. Her hair was mussed and her clothes were rumpled and disheveled, but her eyes were twinkling with happiness and affection.

As he looked at her, all he could think was that nothing could compare to this. So Todoroki cupped her face with one hand, leaned in, and kissed her.

The end