"Isn't there supposed to be, like, a process? It's always in those romance stories."

"What kind of process?"

"I don't know. Falling in love; denial; misunderstandings that never get solved...?"

Midoriya and Hitoshi were outside, in the training grounds that were usually full of Class 1A students. Today, however, it was empty and they were the only ones doing stretches. They were currently sitting next to each other, trying to touch their toes. For context, Aizawa and Toshinori instructed them to do extra training at the end of every school day. 

"That sounds boring. When you're in love, you're in love. Why would you waste time with a process like that?" Izuku half-whined and half-argued — perhaps he was in pain from stretching.

Hitoshi had no idea why he was even talking about this. He was not experienced in this odd topic called love, so he didn't have much to say.

Yet, despite his inexperience, he was pretty sure most people weren't as straightforward as this ridiculous classmate of his. That aside, he found this situation troubling.

Shinso shrugged and lifted himself up. He moved onto the next warm-up exercise, while Izuku followed sluggishly.

"So they can have sixty chapters?"

It was silent.

"Touche," Izuku said, shrugging his shoulders too. His confused expression was replaced with a cheerful smile.

Hitoshi stopped stretching his arms and waited for Izuku — who surprisingly didn't try to skip some seconds like he attempted the first time — to finish. His eyebrows were knitted, while a frown plastered his face as he stared at Midoriya.

"What is it? Do you want to say something?" Izuku asked. His arms fell back to his sides, but suddenly, he hugged himself and gasped. "Are you undressing me with your eyes?"

Hitoshi inhaled and exhaled deeply. His face was blank; he did not say a single word.

Izuku blinked. "I'm joking."

"Run," Hitoshi simply said.

"What?" Izuku said.

Hitoshi moved his head to gesture behind him. "I'll give you a head start. Run."

Although this sounded like a threat to outsiders — gosh, to Izuku himself — running a certain amount of lapse was part of their physical training regime. All Might had another physical training plan, but that acquired them to be outside of school grounds. Unfortunately, that was not possible until he got permission.

"Um, yeah. Of course, that's what you meant." Izuku laughed.

He awkwardly walked to the starting point, while finding Hitoshi's gaze slight intimidating. He began jogging, but he sped up when Shinso caught up to him.

"So--" Izuku started, but Shinso quickly interrupted him rather nonchalantly.

"Then how are you sure that that's how you feel?" He asked without taking a single glance at him.

Midoriya, on the other hand, took a glimpse at Shinso. He looked naturally exhausted with his dark bags and a stoic attitude.

Izuku didn't like that he could only think seriously when he was around Shinso. It was one of the reasons he liked to tease him, because he was quiet. If it was too quiet, he found himself thinking about things he didn't want to think about.

"What else could it be? It's not as if it's a nebulous feeling," Izuku answered. "It's pretty clear to me."

Fine, Shinso had gotten a serious answer out of him. He would give him this one opportunity.

"I disagree. Things like love can be complicated," Shinso said, taking the lead on their run.

"How so?" Izuku chuckled. "Did you get your heart broken?"

He didn't take the bait again and when he refused to do so, Izuku knew that they were going into the serious territory. He recalled his argument with Bakugou, which was originally planned to be fun. It turned out to be something intense and he wanted to avoid all seriousness he had to face. 

Izuku hated this sinking fear — a fear that there would be a repeat of that conversation. 

"It's not that. It's just a reality I know," Shinso said. "Sometimes you think you love someone, but you just like the thought of them. Sometimes it's true love and sometimes your holding onto a feeling that faded a long time ago." 

"That's oddly specific." Izuku's pace slowed, so Hitoshi was further ahead of him.

"Grown-ups around you and their relationships tend to effect the children's thoughts on love. That's just what I've learned through observing older cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles."

Izuku thought about it; his lips pursed into a pout. "Hm, but I still think that I like Ochako-chan. What do you think?" 

He heard Shinso sigh. He could tell Shinso was answering reluctantly. "It could be that you feel attracted to her or your just someone who falls in love easily. I honestly don't care if you like her or not as long as it doesn't affect her in a bad way -- or me. Especially me."

Izuku smiled. 

"Is that all your worried about?" He laughed, but he was oblivious to Shinso's tense face at the question.

"Hypothetically speaking, if you actually did like her, what then? What would happen?" 

They neared a corner.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

Izuku and Shinso ran in silence for a brief moment. Izuku's lips tightened, making his cheeks hurt from smiling. He had a vague idea about what Hitoshi was trying to say, but he wanted to play stupid. He wanted him to leave that question alone and he wanted things to be uncomplicated for once. 

They passed the last corner, starting a new lap.

"Never mind." 

➵

Authors Note