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They walked into a soba noodle shop around 9:20 pm to eat. Given that the weather was still a bit chilly outside— [____] asked for the noodles in a hot broth.

"Todoroki, did you decide what you want to order, yet?" She asked her companion, who was still reading the menu.

"I'll come back in a few minutes to ask again, so please take your time." The waitress was a kind old lady, she seemed to act like one of the owners of the shop.

[____] waited for her to be gone so she could speak to her classmate again, "If you don't want soba, after all...we could find another place to eat—"

"I want to eat here." He reminded her. "I just can't decide if I want them to be served hot or cold."

[____] smiled at his words. 'I guess he probably likes soba because you can eat them in either of those ways...It's funny, because of his quirk...'

"Todoroki...Thank you for inviting me here tonight. I promise that I'll pay this time, so you don't have to hold back!"

He nodded once to her.

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"Ah, I'm stuffed!" After slurping one bowl of noodles, [____] was feeling more relaxed. "This place is the best!"

"Do you want dessert?" Shoto grabbed the small sweet course menu from the side of their table to look through it after finishing his own meal. "Do you want your own, or should we share?"

"Um...I love all sweets, really. So I don't mind sharing...If that's what you'd like..."

'I don't know why I feel a little sad...Being here with Todoroki and not Katsuki; if Mina was around she would definitely say that this is a date! But it's not! Is it....?'

As she studied Shoto's tranquil expression, she began thinking that if her crush was the one sitting right across from her— She wouldn't be able to stay so still.

'If Katsuki was here instead of Todoroki...I don't think I could eat so comfortably and enjoy this food. He's keen at making me feel nervous just by looking my way. I wonder if I only feel like this because he has kissed me twice already...'

After Todoroki ordered one single dessert so he could share it with his new found crush; he scratched the back of his head. "[____], tell me. Do you have anymore stories about your childhood?"

"M-Mine..?"

"Earlier today, you were saying you couldn't find the same brand of chips that you like in another country and your father had to buy them in bulk for you..."

"Y-Yeah..." She timidly asked herself why he'd remember that when Katsuki was telling her that it was a boring story. "What about it?"

"I just thought it was interesting." He gave an honest reply, "The way your father cares for you, that much..."

'He really thinks that...? Or could it be something else...?'

"Todoroki...Does your father care for you like that, too?"

He was caught off guard with her question. When he averted his gaze to the wooden table instead of her, it gave [____] the idea that there was not much to say to that. "Sorry! I shouldn't of asked..."

"I don't mind your questions...but I rather hear more about you, first, before I begin to talk about myself."

"I see..."

"So...Your grandparents. They reside in Japan?"

"Yes. They live in Matsumoto...Their farm is really huge. As a kid, I remember thinking the size of it was like a huge part of the whole country, like, I didn't know any better."

The way she looked when she talked about her past, or anything for that matter, was mesmerizing. Shoto could stare all day and not be bored. "You said...there was a flower field?"

"Right." She cheerfully nodded.

"Is there also any farm animals?"

"You bet!"

"A vegetable garden?"

"Yep!"

"Fruits?"

"Of course!"

"Buckwheat?"

"Buckwheat—?" She noticed that he seemed a little too excited about that particular question. "Yeah...They have buckwheat, all types of grains."

He smiled at her answer. "It sounds like a nice place. Do you visit, often?"

"It really is!" In all her life, [____] hadn't spoken to someone her age about her childhood memories. She assumed nobody cared enough to ask— and that it was a rather opaque topic to use as the start of a conversation.

It made her feel joy, to see that someone had taken their time to ask her more questions regarding it. "I haven't thought about visiting them, now that I am back... But since I'm talking about this, I'm getting all excited for some reason. I should give them a call and go see them! Oh, I can even bring you guys along!"

"'You guys'.."

"Yes, all of my friends. Mina, Kirishima, Izuku, you, Sero, maybe Denki, oh and Katsuki—"

"[____]." He cut her off. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Bakugo...Do you really not care when he insults you?"

'I feel like...I've answered this question before...'

"I do care but he's always insulting everyone..." She shrugged it off, "Besides...He can be nice too, sometimes. I guess I feel like that makes up for it..."

"But you can stop him; you know. Why don't you?" He cut straight to the point as the waitress dropped off their dessert.

'I was talking too much to realize that he picked a dessert for us to share, already...'

"Here you guys go, one coffee jelly— two spoons." The old lady took a liking to the pair, she even complimented them. "It's so refreshing to see a young couple here— nowadays teens just want to eat all that fast food...We rarely get customers your age around, and you two are so cute together! I hope you enjoy this sweet dish, it's on the house today."

"Thank you." Todoroki wasn't fazed by her comment, the only reason he didn't feel like correcting her was so that she could leave both of them alone, faster.

"Enjoy."

[____] gave a faint smile at the old lady and then bit her bottom lip at the question Todoroki had asked. "I'm pretty sure I've asked Katsuki to apologize to me, before..."

"That won't work. He's not forgiving, like a normal person."

"I guess you're right about that..." she let out a quick laugh, perplexed at his tone of voice.

'He was calm...He still is, even right now...He just sounds a lot more serious...'

"[____]." Shoto was determined to get a few clear answers regarding their relationship. "Do you like Bakugo?"

The words entered her ears and made her heartbeat pound a little faster. Her eyes travelled from his heterochromatic ones, to the table, then back to his eyes again. "I..."

'I don't know if I like him, I mean— Of course I like him, he's my friend now, right? But I don't think I can say it like that, I know that's not the type of like that Todoroki means...'

"[____], do you feel love or some type of attraction towards him?" He asked again, this time, a lot more bluntly to make it obvious.

Her cheeks began to flush, "I just...I don't know, he's just— Whenever I see him, I feel like smiling. I know he says mean things to me all of the time, I know it sounds stupid to say this after you've heard him speak to me like if I'm just an object or something...

But I can't help to think that there's more to him than that. Like, maybe, if I could stick by his side a little longer I'll be able to figure him out...Then it'll all be worth while. Right now, I'm just very confused. It's strange.

I've known him since I was younger. We never talked, one day he just decided to bully me. I met Izuku thanks to that, though— I found my quirk during that time, too... It's like, if he helped me somehow without even intending to..."

"It sounds like abuse to me." He unintentionally interrupted her feelings. "He is emotionally abusive, just by being around him, I can tell."

'Emotionally abusive? Could those be the right words to describe him?...But he's not only mean to me— He treats everyone the same, as if we're all below him.'

The truth was there, in Shoto's hands. Just like he wanted, but he couldn't accept it, at least not then. "[____], I think you deserve better."

"W-What do you mean?!"

"Going after a guy like Bakugo...it's going to cause you nothing but pain. Please don't lower your standards like that."

"I'm not going after him!" She denied it. "I'm not trying to have a boyfriend or anything of the sort, anyway— I really just want to focus on my studies, and meeting new people, I—!!"

He suddenly reached out for her cheek, using his index finger and thumb to softly pinch it. "So they feel soft, too..."

She slapped his hand away with unintentional force, "Todoroki?!"

"Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that!"

She gasped at her own actions, believing that he was going to be upset. Expecting for him to yell at her or insult her, she was feeling muddled to see him act like if nothing was wrong.

He held his glass of cold water and took a sip before changing the topic. "The pen that I gave you, does its flower have a meaning?"

'So...He's not angry?! I don't know why I kept waiting for an insult from him...Maybe he's right...I'm somehow lowering my expectations from others, thinking they're all going to react like Katsuki does. AHH! Stop thinking so much!!'

She mentally yelled at herself, trying to focus on the real-life conversation she was having with Todoroki. "Y-Yeah, it's a rose, so—"

"What is it?"

"Roses always mean some type of 'I love you's but —I know better than to believe it was some sort of love confession, coming from my classmate, who I just met..." She felt the vibration of her phone inside her pocket; she grabbed it and identified the name of the caller on her screen.

'It's Katsuki...?!'

"Um, I'm sorry I have to end our night like this, Todoroki. But my parents are calling me, I have to take this call. So I hope you don't mind? Will it be alright I leave, right now—?"

"It's fine." He didn't have a reason to not trust her. "I apologize if I made you feel uneasy with my comments, earlier."

"No, i'm okay, I promise!" She picked up her bag and then gave him a quick side-hug while leaving something on the table for him to grab. "Here's my card, please use it to pay! It doesn't have a PIN number, so— Goodnight! I'll see you in class tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow..." Shoto repeated after she thank the old lady for her service and left the store.

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[____] ran to the nearest street light before answering the second call, just so that she felt like she was at a proper distance from Shoto and he couldn't hear anything. "Yes?"

"Finally, you answer!" Bakugo sounded angry from the other side of the line. "I'm by the train station— where the fuck are you?!"

"Katsuki, why are you at the station?"

"The real question is why aren't you?! The last train is coming in 2 minutes. So why don't I see you here?!"

She took a deep breath before answering that. "I came to eat some soba noodles with Todoroki— This place is literally minutes away from there, I guess we didn't look at the time...but I'm done, now so I'll be heading home soon. I'll use a portal so you don't have to wait for me ther—"

"Ahh?! You fucking went out on a date with that ass?!" Out of everything she said, that was the only thing Katsuki cared about. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?! I look away for one fucking second and you're over there, probably crying in front of him!!"

[____] closed her eyes shut. "Hey! Don't yell at me! It wasn't a date, we were just hungry. Also, he's not an ass!! Also, why would I be crying?! ALSO— Why do you care so much about what we are doing?! You kicked us out of your house!!"

He didn't reply.

"...You know something? The least you could do is be nice to him...I don't think Todoroki has done anything to you, for you to be this mean to him...He's a really good person, I understand you guys don't see eye to eye, but that doesn't mean you should direct so many insults at him..."

"That's it..." He dry laughed. His voice was a little raspy from yelling so much in one day. "Keep defending him."

"It's not that I'm defending him...I'm only okay with you treating me like this because it doesn't really hurt my feelings. I became immune to it after you and I— you know."

"I told you already to quit bringing that shit up."

"I know! That's why I didn't say the word! I just...I'm just trying to be honest with you— Today, I realized how good it feels to be honest... I want to tell you how I feel."

"I don't wanna hear your half-ass feelings."

"Well— If you don't wanna hear me out then you can hang up! I'm still going to say it, so here it goes..." She tried to calm herself down so she could focus. "Katsuki; I know you can be a good person when you try...That's why I don't mind being insulted by you. Really, I'm okay with anything that you'll do. I want to keep hanging out with you, regardless of how you feel about me. If I really am an eyesore to you...then I hope one day you could see me in a different light.

Because I— I think I may...Like y—"

"Shut up, would you?!" For whatever reason, he stopped her confession. "...Turn around."

[____] obeyed, just to find him a few feet away, walking towards her. She hung up her phone after having a mini heart attack, "Katsuki, are you always going to scare me like this? Why can't you just let me know you're nearby? One of these days, I—!!"

She felt vulnerable after she was embraced by him so suddenly.

"Katsuki..?"

"Shut up, don't talk or I'll kill you." He demanded hoarsely.

'He's holding me tighter...His arms wrapped around my waist like this...Its making my legs feel weak.'

'He smells so nice... I don't think he's wearing any cologne...Is it just body wash mixed with his sweat?'

[____] finally closed her eyes and decided to wrap her arms around his neck. 'I hope he doesn't get mad at me for this...I kinda just want to stay this way for ever.'

"....... ...I don't mean it." He mumbled.

"Huh?" It's like if she was in a dream, being cuddled by the guy she was falling in love with...and hearing him speak right next to her ear was giving her goosebumps.

"To threaten you...Or insult you. I don't mean it."

'An apology?! Is this an apology, really?!'

Finally, what she had been waiting for this entire time.

"Listen to me, you just said that you're okay with everything that I do...But that's not how I want you to think."

"But—! Ah!"

He squeezed her a little tighter. "...You fucking talk too much."

[____] tried to not let out another sound come out of her mouth. Her chest was begging to hurt from the pressure, though.

She accidentally let out a small moan. "Katsuki...It's starting to hurt..."

He loosened his grip by just a tiny bit, "I'll set you free on one condition..."

"W-Which is...?"

"Stop talking to him."

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[an: you guys asked for a love triangle?? No?? Well you are getting it now— but don't worry it'll be over before you know it 😁 Not planning on including Todoroki in the cover since I just wanted to add a little bit of drama in here Cus jealous Kacchan is so hot don't hate me ;~;

Let's be real guys cus this is still a Bakugo fanfic even though it's starting to not sound like it (trust me it still is you'll see soon I'll never choose anybody more than that hot ass mf) — what do you like about him? Is it's his looks? His personality? His voice?

I meant to post this last night too sorry I fell asleep instead lmao. I'm even so tired as I reviewed it this morning so mistakes are there definitely but, eh. I'm not a pro. More updates will start Friday— I'll be taking a small break from writing tomorrow since I'll be visiting an old friend]