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Now, Denki wasn’t usually the type of person to notice certain things until they were shoved in front of his face. But as of recently, he had been noticing something he felt like he wasn’t supposed to. It’s not like it was anything inherently bad or anything, it was just… strange.
Long story short, he had started to randomly get the feeling of somebody staring at him when he wasn’t paying attention. At first, he had no idea who it was, because he would have confronted them a long time ago if he knew who was staring at him. Y’know, the usual Denki Kaminari confrontation that involved a lot of unnecessary flirtations and other mannerisms of the like. It was only mildly annoying and all in good fun, so he continued to do it.
So, he thought, he was going to confront whoever it was the moment he found out, because this particular feeling had been going on for days. However, one of Mina’s observations had changed his entire perspective of the situation.
“Hey, Kami?” Mina grabbed Denki’s attention, her head tilted to the side as she was eating her rice. Her, Denki, and the rest of the Bakusquad—as everyone but Bakugou called it—were eating lunch at their respective table.
“Yeah?”
“I’ve noticed something recently, but I dunno if you have, but…” She trailed off and pointed her finger across the cafeteria at something. Denki slowly scanned the cafeteria to find out what she was pointing to before he locked eyes with none other than Shoto Todoroki. It only lasted for a second before Todoroki seemed to notice and quickly ducked his head down, leaning closer to Midoriya, whom he was sitting next to. Denki blinked, not looking away just yet, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. It took him a hot second before he could put together the puzzle pieces.
“He’s the one that’s been staring at me?!” Denki exclaimed, his shoulders raised in surprise.
“Oh, so you have noticed,” Mina chimed, a smile making its way onto her face. “Did you say something to him or what? He’s been staring at you like that for a while now.”
“I— I don’t know! Have I said anything to him? I don’t even remember what I had for breakfast this morning!” Denki pulled at his hair, clearly in distress. He was already thinking about all the things that could have happened, even though he was pretty sure he hadn’t messed anything up with Todoroki recently. Their meetings were pretty brief, and they didn’t seem to cross paths very often, since they were both in different friend groups.
“You didn’t have anything for breakfast, you dolt.”
“Oh, thanks Bakugou.” A pause. “Wait how did you know that?”
“You were complaining about starving the second you walked into class this morning. Has your brain finally fried?” Bakugou raised an eyebrow at him, momentarily taking a break from eating his food.
“Wh- No! My short-term memory just sucks sometimes! Besides, it’s not like knowing what I had for breakfast is super important, anyways.” Denki huffed and crossed his arms, looking to the side to avoid eye contact with Bakugou. “And now I have something more important to worry about. AKA how I could have pissed off Todoroki without even knowing it!” He cried and raised his arms in exasperation before sliding down in his chair, his knees touching Mina’s own.
“Kami, I’d love to play footsies with you, but I think you’re being a little dramatic. You haven’t spoken to him recently, right?” Mina asked, to which Denki nodded slowly. “Then you probably have nothing to worry about! Maybe he even wants to talk to you!”
Shoto Todoroki? One of the two people in the class who got into U.A. on recommendations? Who could totally beat his ass in less than a second? Talk to Denki Kaminari? Like, as a friend?
Denki groaned and slid down further in his seat, prompting Mina to give him a little tap on one of his shins. He whined and finally sat upright again, looking down at his tray of food. He lifted his head up a bit and glanced over in Todoroki’s direction, who was staring at him yet again, his eyes narrowed. Denki quickly looked back at Mina, trying not to let Todoroki’s staring get to him.
“Why would he want to talk to me? What would he want to talk to me about?”
“Well, you’re really friendly! You kind of draw even the more anti-social people to you,” Mina explained, pointing at Bakugou, who rolled his eyes and grumbled in response. “Besides, you’re really easy to talk to! Maybe he wants to expand his friend circle. You won’t know unless you talk to him, though.”
“Uuuuugh, I hate that you’re right.” Denki sighed and looked back over at Todoroki to see if he was still staring.
He was.
So, Denki raised his hand and waved at him, offering the other male a bright smile. Todoroki seemed surprised at this and put one of his hands on his face before finally looking away and turning his attention back to his friends.
Denki would really have to confront him later.
A couple days after that incident, it was a Friday, and classes were over. So, Denki thought it would be the perfect time to finally confront Todoroki about why he had been staring at him.
And if you were wondering, yes, he had still been doing it up to this point. It wasn’t like Denki had told him to stop; he hadn’t confronted him yet. But now was finally his chance.
As soon as class was over, he bolted out of the classroom and made his way to the dorms, where Mina was running by his side. They both whooped and laughed happily, thankful that the weekend had finally arrived, and they could do other things than just sit in class. It had been an uneventful week, so Denki couldn’t wait to find out what the weekend would bring. However, he still had a thing to get out of the way first before he could get to doing his usual activities.
“See you later, Mina!” He gave his friend a quick hug before pulling away and grinning. “I got a person to confront!”
“Pff— Good luck!” Mina waved her hand and the two went their separate ways to their respective dorms.
Denki changed out of his school uniform in record time, putting on a white t-shirt and black sweatpants with two bright yellow stripes down the sides. He took a deep breath and checked his phone for the time. It had only been a couple minutes since class ended. Would it be weird to confront Todoroki right then and there? Would it be too sudden?
Denki groaned and flopped down onto his bed, letting his hands drop onto his stomach. He wanted to wait just a couple more minutes, but he was already antsy. He wasn’t one to wait until things would blow over, he wanted them resolved as soon as possible. That way, all the stress was out of the way and he could focus on other things.
“Ughhh! I don’t wanna wait,” he whined to nobody in particular, rolling across his bed until he landed haphazardly on the floor, his phone having landed next to his face. It was a good thing he had a protective case on it. He huffed and checked the time. Only two minutes had passed. He decided that he couldn’t wait any longer and scrambled to his feet, putting his phone into one of the pockets in his sweatpants and quickly grabbing a pair of mismatched socks, sliding them onto his feet. He wasn’t about to walk around completely barefoot, especially not when he was planning to go see Todoroki.
He brushed his hair out of his face and patted down some loose strands, giving up after another minute of trying to make himself look presentable. Why was he fretting so much? He was just gonna talk with Todoroki, they were on good terms. Yeah. It was gonna be a piece of cake.
So why is this so intimidating? Denki asked himself as he stood in front of Todoroki’s dorm, tugging on the bottom of his t-shirt. Nobody else was out and about in the hall, as they were probably still changing or finishing up homework so they wouldn’t have to cram on Sunday. Denki should think of doing that sometime.
Right, back on track. He needed to talk to Todoroki.
He took a deep breath and composed himself, telling himself he had absolutely nothing to worry about. He was just overthinking is all.
Denki raised his hand and knocked on Todoroki’s door in quick succession, putting his hand against his chest when he was done. He waited for a couple of seconds, not hearing anything. Maybe he had already left and Denki would have to wait another time, so he moved to turn on his heel when he heard the lock click and the door open.
“Oh. Kaminari.” Todoroki stood in his doorway, looking mildly surprised that the shorter male was at his door. “Hello. Do you.. need something?” He asked, a bit of a stall in his question.
“Ah! Oh, well,” Denki started, smiling brightly. “I actually came here ‘cause I wanted to talk to you! If you’re like, not busy or anything! Can I come in? If you don’t mind, of course.” Denki beamed, slightly nervous. He hoped he wasn’t interrupting anything. The other had probably been studying, and Denki just had to interrupt him.
“Oh, of course.” Todoroki dipped his head down once in a slight nod and stepped aside, making room so Denki could step inside, only closing the door once he was inside. “I am not particularly busy at this moment.”
“Cool! Thanks, dude.” Denki spun around to face Todoroki, clapping his hands together once, causing the other to blink. He stood quiet for a moment, tilting his body from side to side, trying to find a way to politely ask why Todoroki had been staring at him lately.
Todoroki tilted his head to the right in confusion as he waited patiently, seemingly confused at Denki’s mannerisms. He didn’t want to say anything and interrupt the other’s train of thought before he could even speak to him.
“Okay! So, I dunno how else to ask this, but…” Denki trailed off, lacing his fingers together before dropping his hands at his sides. “I’ve noticed this, but uhh… Well..” He pursed his lips before smiling awkwardly and rubbing the back of his neck. “I just wanted to know, like, why you’ve been staring at me recently. Like, I’m just curious!”
Todoroki’s eyes widened and he seemed shocked—flustered, even—at what Denki had just said. He opened his mouth and then closed it, like he didn’t know what to say.
“Oh..” He mumbled, tilting his head down and placing his hand on the back of his neck. “I see…” His face was slightly hidden, but Denki could see that it had a pinkish hue to it. Denki thought he was seeing things. Was Todoroki blushing? Was he embarrassed? He must be dreaming.
The taller male shifted his weight from foot to foot repeatedly, keeping his mouth closed and his lips pressed firmly into a line, like he didn’t want to say anything else. Denki stayed silent, trying to process exactly what he was seeing. He had never seen Todoroki like this; all flustered and shy.
“I.. Well…” Todoroki sighed before shaking his head and looking away, holding onto his own arms. “It’s.. Ah, nevermind.. It’s too embarrassing, really.” He spared a glance at Denki before quickly avoiding his gaze again.
“Huh?” Denki looked at him incredulously and then waved his hands dismissively, offering the other a reassuring smile. “C’mon, Todo, I’m sure it can’t be that bad! I was just wondering, is all. You can tell me!” He assured the other, rocking back and forth on his heels. He wasn’t gonna let Todoroki pull that on him; he needed to find out. Besides, it was Todoroki, it really couldn’t be that bad. He didn’t know why he was so worried earlier.
Todoroki stayed silent for a while, keeping his head down and completely avoiding eye contact at this point. Still, Denki waited patiently, not wanting to rush him. It took a couple more seconds of silence until Todoroki finally spoke again, his voice only a whisper.
“I just wanted a hug…”
What?
“Wait, what now?” Denki asked, and now it was his turn to be shocked at what the other said. Did he just say that he wanted a hug? That was why he had been staring at him? Whatever he had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t that.
“I—Well,” Todoroki stammered, lifting up his head to look at Denki. “It’s just that you are always hugging people, like Mina, Sero, and even Bakugou.” That was true. He had hugged Bakugou on several occasions, even if he almost got his face blown off every time. “So, I guess I just thought that I…” Todoroki paused, looking down at his hands, which were twitching nervously. “I thought that I could just prompt you into giving me a hug, but that’s silly, so never mind. It was irrational of me.” The other shook his head and looked away again, wringing his hands together as if he were scolding himself silently.
Denki almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Almost. For some reason, Todoroki reminded him of a cat in that moment. You know, the way they kind of just stare at you when they want something until they get it because they think you’ll get the hint. Denki’s second thought was a sort of revelation. A revelation that ‘oh my god, Todoroki is really precious, and he clearly deserves all of the hugs in the world.’
A second after his realization, Denki proceeded to take a step forward and securely wrap his arms around his taller classmate, pulling him into a hug. Todoroki froze and became rigid, due to the physical contact being so sudden, but he didn’t pull away. Denki assumed that was a good sign and continued to hug him, determined to give Todoroki the proper physical affection he deserved. It took a moment, but Todoroki eventually relaxed and gave in to the hug, which was obviously a relatively new experience for him.
He awkwardly wrapped his arms around Denki, unsure of the physical boundaries he might have around him, but that concern was quickly tossed out the metaphorical window when Denki buried his face into his shoulder. Todoroki let his own head drop onto the other’s shoulder and sighed, a sudden weight being lifted off of his back. He had no doubt that he was touch-starved, but it was almost scary how he never wanted to let go of Denki ever again.
Denki lifted his head up a little and whispered to the other, “You know, you deserve all the hugs in the world. Please, if you want a hug, just ask me.”
Todoroki let out a hum in acknowledgement and Denki smiled, gently patting Todoroki’s back. He was slightly concerned with how tightly the other was clinging onto him, but he could only imagine how touch-starved he was. Whenever he saw him, he was rarely, if ever, having physical contact with anyone. He would even shy away from contact with Midoriya of all people. So, the fact that Todoroki was hugging him made him feel just a little special.
They both stood in silence for a little bit, just soaking in the presence of the other. Denki had to admit that this was probably one of the best hugs he had ever experienced, as his hugs didn’t really last for long amounts of time. He didn’t know why, but hugging Todoroki just felt different.
“Kaminari…?”
"Yeah?"
"Are hugs supposed to involve this much crying?"
Wait, Todoroki was crying? It probably wasn't a bad thing, right? It must have been happy crying or something. He really hoped he hadn't made Todoroki sad by hugging him, but he doubted that was the reason why.
"They can if you want them to," he replied, keeping his voice soft. To be completely honest, Denki wouldn't be complaining if he stayed with Todoroki like this for the rest of the afternoon. In fact, that gave him an idea. "Say.. Todo.. Are you busy this afternoon?"
"I don't have any plans, no."
"Great!" Denki pulled away from the hug a little bit to look at Todoroki, who quickly ducked his face down and wiped at his eyes with his hand. Denki chuckled. "It's okay if you cry, dude. I don't mind. But I don't have any plans, either, so I was thinking that if you aren't busy and I'm not busy, that maybe we could just hang out for the rest of the afternoon!" It was a tiny lie that Denki didn't have any plans, as he made arrangements to hang out with Mina, but she'd understand why he cancelled when he explained everything to her.
"Oh.. Well, you are not obligated to spend time with me, but I'm not opposed to the idea." Todoroki sighed and Denki laughed softly.
"Dude, c'mon! I'm asking because I want to hang out with you!" He flashed him a grin and playfully hit his shoulder, which ended up making Todoroki smile back at him. "You're a cool dude! Pun intended."
Todoroki let out a quick breath from his nose as he continued to smile, which Denki assumed was the ghost of a laugh.
"Soooooo.." Denki tilted his head and leaned forward so he was pretty much right in Todoroki's face. "Is that a yes? Are we gonna hang out?"
The other put a hand over his mouth for a moment, hiding his wide smile as the corners of his eyes creased, giving away that he was smiling anyways.
"It's a yes."
Friday, 4:32 pm
KD: MINA YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO ME!!!!
MA: huh??? what happened?!?!
KD: one word. four syllables.
KD: to do ro ki
MA: omg what happened?!?! spill the tea!!!!
KD: deadass okay we HUGGED
KD: and im gonna have to cancel our plans to hang out but HEAR ME OUT OKAY
KD: todoroki said hed hang out with me!!!!
MA: I KNEW IT
MA: SERO OWES ME 1000 YEN
KD: YOU BET ON THIS?
KD: wait what exactly did u bet on??
MA: that todoroki actually liked you and wanted to be your friend but just didnt know how to ask
KD: wait so you bet that he wanted to be friends with me?
KD: hold up let me ask him smth
MA: yeah we did
MA: and okie dokie
KD: AAAAAAAAAAHFSJDKFGKSDGGH
KD: M I N A
KD: mina
MA: do i get those 1000 yen?
KD: you get those 1000 yen
MA: YES! okay now stop talking to me and hang out with todoroki!!!! but you have to tell me everything tomorrow
KD: okay okay dont worry i will
MA: just dont fall in love with himmmmm
KD: pSSH who do you think i am? it wont even be a problem
Saturday, 2:41 am
KD: mina theres a problem