Fight or save. Save or fight. But while the hero would take saving as the top priority, the hero would not be saved. It was more of a constant torture. Holding themselves responsible for the people they failed to save, while not seeing how many people they did manage to save. A hero's life was full of pain.

Todoroki tapped with the back of his pencil on his desk, so deep in thought he almost didn't hear the ringing of the school bell. But when he heard it, he stood up, stuffed his books in his bag and was one of the first in the class to leave the classroom. He stalked through the halls and only stopped when he had reached his locker. Not even he himself understood the rush he seemed to be in. He just felt like being alone in his room at the moment.

For heroes it was 'fight or save'. Instead villains went by 'kill or be killed'. So who'd save a villain? Who'd tell them that all hope was not lost? He thought that all hope was lost, and that his only option was to save. Until Midoriya told him otherwise. There was an alternate option that didn't include obeying like some damn dog. Midoriya showed him that heroes too were sometimes in need of saving. So what alternate option was there for villains? What if heroes would save villains as well? Wouldn't that be an actual heroic thing to do?

A finger tapped on his shoulder. Todoroki shook off his thoughts and turned around, his lips curving into as smile shortly after seeing the boy seeking his attention. Midoriya answered my almost unnoticeable smile with his own cheerful beam. "Is everything okay, Todoroki?" Midoriya asked, replacing his smile with a worried frown. Todoroki nodded absentmindedly. Midoriya forced the corners of his mouth to lift and fidgeted. "It's just that you seemed to be in a bad mood, so I thought something might've happened."

Todoroki shook his head. "I've just had many thoughts on what makes a hero a hero, and a villain a villain. That's all." Midoriya looked a bit surprised upon hearing that.

"Well, I think a hero is someone who fights to protect, and a villain is someone who fights to hurt." he muttered softly.

Todoroki watched the green haired boy now walking next to him. He let out a soft sigh. "But are we really allowed to label a person a villain when we're no better? We too try to solve our problems with violence." Midoriya seemed to think deeply about that. Todoroki focused his eyes on his surroundings. "We don't know their stories, so are we really allowed to judge them?"

"Has the thing with Stain gotten to you?" Midoriya asked softly. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. Stain does have a point. Some humans tend to let things like fame or money dominate their beliefs and abilities. But they do save people. I personally think that's already admirable." Todoroki just stared at the boy, who immediately panicked and started waving his hands at random. "I'm not saying your beliefs are wrong! Villains all have their own stories, and they deserve to be saved as well. Villains are the result of heroes failing at their job, so I think it's really good to think deeply about these type of things. But don't feel obligated to save the villain you're fighting. A hero's priority lies with saving the innocent."

Todoroki shrugged, averting his eyes from the green haired boy. "Stain's ideology... it's got some truths to it, indeed. Yet I didn't agree with him because of the methods used. I started thinking, though. And I came to the conclusion that Stain's rampage was because heroes like us failed to help him when he was in desperate need of help. We only physically save people, but we don't do anything about people's mental state. For all we know, there's someone suffering from a traumatic event right now. But instead of saving that person, we save the person that caused that traumatic event, simply because we're able to see their wounds." Midoriya nodded slowly, a frown on his face. "You said you wanted to save everyone within your reach. But I wonder, is something like that really possible?"

Midoriya kept quiet, and for some time the thuds from their footsteps and chattering from others were the only sounds heard. There was a pained look on Midoriya's face, which Todoroki felt sort of guilty for.

They arrived at the dormitory, Midoriya still silent. Todoroki opened the door for them, taking in the puzzled look on Midoriya's face, which he had to admit to himself was cute.

"It's no use thinking so much about it." Todoroki said, a hint of a smile on his face. "Sorry for bothering you with my problems."

Midoriya's eyes widened and he finally looked up. "N-No, that's not it!" he yelled. Todoroki shot a quick glance through the hall to check if no one was here. "I'm happy that you have finally decided to open up and talk about your problems. I'm just as happy to be told what's been bothering you. Especially knowing you never would've told me a few months back."

"Then what's wrong?" Todoroki looked Midoriya right in his eyes. The boy looked back for just a few seconds, before turning away. Probably intimidated by Todoroki's deep stare.

"I guess I'm just slightly frustrated hearing that I can't even save everyone within my reach." Midoriya muttered, a little embarrassed. A definite smile appeared on Todoroki's face this time.

He cupped Midoriya's cheek and forced the green haired boy to look him in the eyes. "You will never be able to save everyone, Midoriya. But you already know how to save people whose wounds don't show."

Midoriya just looked up at him, neither of the two boys bothering to acknowledge Todoroki's hand, carefully placed on Midoriya's cheek. Midoriya's ridiculously big eyes just stared into Todoroki's smaller ones. And a big, frustratingly cute smile appeared on Midoriya's face. Todoroki felt his cheeks burn up a bit. Even his right side.

"T-Todoroki?" Midoriya asked. Todoroki blinked in answer. "Your hand is a little too hot."

"Oh," Todoroki immediately removed his hand, placing it on his other arm instead. "Sorry."

"I-It's okay." Midoriya's smile reappeared across his face, and Todoroki noticed a nervousness and awkward atmosphere now.

He shook his head and walked away to the living room, a bit too quick. Midoriya seemed to be following him close behind. Todoroki wanted to get away from that atmosphere, at least.

The only people in the living room seemed to be Bakugou and Tokoyami. Tokoyami politely greeted the two boys as they entered the room. Bakugou just let out a disapproving grumble but refused to show any emotion other than that.

"Todoroki," Midoriya said, still following behind him. Todoroki looked at the boy in the corner of his eye, seeing a confused look on Midoriya's face.

Shit. To Midoriya it must look as if he was angry with him. Todoroki turned around, putting both of his hands on Midoriya's shoulders. "Are you okay?" Midoriya finished his sentence.

"I'm alright. No need to worry." Todoroki said, immediately taking back his hands. He turned around and walked away. As soon as he reached his room, he curled up into a ball on his bed. Now Midoriya would surely think he was angry with him. He didn't mean it that way. He just really wasn't used to these kind of situations. And what was with that heat on his cheeks? Embarrassment? Why would he be embarrassed?

Todoroki slid a hand through his hair, cursing himself for being so stupid as to leave Midoriya standing. Making friends shouldn't be this hard.

Todoroki's entire body stiffened up as he heard repeating raps on his door. "Todoroki?" Midoriya asked. Todoroki felt as if he couldn't breathe. "Todoroki did I do something wrong? I'm sorry if I did." Todoroki stood up to open a door, shaking heavily. Even his movements seemed to be stiff. His hands gripped the door-hatch, and opened the door.

"You did nothing wrong, Midoriya." Todoroki managed to say. Midoriya looked worried as his eyes met Todoroki's. "You did nothing wrong."

"Todoroki, your face is a little red. Do you have a fever?"

Todoroki placed his hand on his cheek, and indeed felt a heat radiating from his cheeks, again. He had to force himself to not slam the door shut out of embarrassment, but successfully held the door open.

"No, I don't believe I've got a fever." Todoroki replied. The quick solution to his problem had become not to look in Midoriya's eyes. It felt as if he'd been running nonstop with how fast his heart was beating. Maybe he did have a fever.

Midoriya shifted a bit. "Anyway I—" he began, but stopped mid sentence. I looked up to see Midoriya, to find him focusing his eyes on the ground, struggling to find the right words to say. "I think... If I... If I did nothing wrong, then why did you walk away from me like that?" Midoriya raised his head, now making the eye contact I had previously tried to avoid.

This time, Todoroki noticed his heartbeat raising. His chest felt strangely tight, and he couldn't look away from Midoriya's eyes, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Was Bakugou the problem? Or is something wrong with you that you didn't tell me about?" Todoroki slid his hands through his hair again, considering the possibility he was suffering from a serious disease. What disease could cause these type of effects?

"I don't know." Todoroki admitted, letting out a sigh.

Midoriya, again, gave that worried expression. "Is something other than what we talked about bothering you?" Todoroki shook his head, backing away.

"It's not the first time this happened." he admitted. "It just happens sometimes. My heart starts beating at a ridiculous speed, and heat rises to my cheeks. My chest feels tight. There's some bubbly kind of feeling within me. I didn't even know that could be a feeling." He let out something that could be considered a chuckle. "My hands are getting all sweaty, so I start getting embarrassed. There's some nausea, too, because of some tickling thing in my stomach. I've always thought it's because I'm changing and gaining friends. But it's been worse lately." He looked at Midoriya, a truly desperate look on his face. "Am I sick?"

Midoriya looked surprised. "Does that... often happen when with one specific person?"

"Well, when I'm with or looking at you, which is why I thought it was related to me getting friends." It looked like Midoriya was also burning up at a high speed. Shit. Did he infect Midoriya?

Todoroki opened his mouth to say something, but Midoriya was faster. "I don't think that's because you got friends." Todoroki rose his eyebrow in silent question. Midoriya's voice was unusually high pitched, and he didn't look like he was doing well. He was also fidgeting nonstop. "Those symptoms... It kinda sounds like... like... like you're in love."

Todoroki's eyes widened. Even if the last part had been muttered quickly and in a soft voice, he had heard it clearly. "With you?" he asked. "But you're my friend?"

"Y-You don't really get to choose who you love." Midoriya said, seemingly panicking. He looked even redder than Todoroki did, at this point. "Your body just kind of reacts."

"So, that you're red as well. Does that mean you love me back?"

Midoriya seemed to redden even more upon hearing that.

"I—"

"I'm sorry, that was a weird question to ask." Todoroki interrupted the green haired boy, a small smile plastered on his face. The previous giddiness had almost vanished, and made place for some kind of disappointment.

"N-No, it's okay." Midoriya stuttered. He looked like just as much of a mess as Todoroki thought himself to be. Midoriya's voice turned extremely quiet as he added, "I suppose I do sometimes consider the possibility of having such feelings for you."

"Those symptoms I told you about. Do you have them, too?" Todoroki asked, looking straight at Midoriya, despite his red face.

"Well, yes..." Midoriya admitted. A soft sigh of relief escaped Todoroki's mouth, yet at the same time his heart skipped a beat. This felt so strange. He still wasn't convinced he wasn't ill. It didn't seem like Midoriya was wrong, and he didn't hate the idea, either. He was simply confused by all this information dropping onto him. The feeling he'd been trying to suppress for months could be love. He was in love with Midoriya.

Shit, he was.

"I just... I'm probably getting my hopes up. Sorry for bothering you." Midoriya jumbles, forcing another smile. A pain shot through Todoroki's chest as he saw Midoriya's dejected expression. "You must be disgusted by me."

Todoroki blinked a few times. "No. Why would I be?"

"Well, we're both guys..."

"So? Should that stop me from loving you?" Midoriya shot up, his big eyes focusing on Todoroki.

"You love me?" Todoroki averted his eyes, embarrassed over the word he now realised he'd accidentally spit out. He didn't think there was any more heat to go to his cheeks.

He pouted slightly; a gesture he'd seen Fuyumi make. "Did I stutter?"

Todoroki didn't dare look at Midoriya, but not long after the words had formed, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around Todoroki's torso. His eyes widened, a fulfilling, content feeling flowing through him. Even though the only thing he could see was fluffy green hair.

"I love you too, Todoroki!"