Requested by: XxTodoroki_ShotoXx

"Wuah, it's so hot!"

Izuku exclaimed, fluffing his vest to expel at least a little bit of heat.
Sweaty sacramento locks matted against his neck and forehead, causing his hair to appear more frizzled and deflated than usual.

"Mhm,"
The rugged teen hummed into the rim of his water bottle, not quite caring for the droplets that escaped needy, chapped lips. Tenya paused upon noticing Izuku's lack of of water for himself, abruptly wiping the spilled water from his mouth and offering Izuku a drink.

They had left for their morning run a little later than usual, and got caught in the summer blaze as a result.

Izuku seemed as though he was on the verge of collapsing, so the two sought shade below one of many trees in a nearby park.

"It's rather irresponsible that you decided to come jogging without any form of hydration."
Tenya said pointedly as Izuku took the thermus from his hand.

"And yet you're willing to share. All's well that ends well."
Izuku chuckled as he took a generous gulp.

Tenya bore a disappointed glare; how could his friend be so careless? This was his health and well-being on the line!

Had it been just a few degrees hotter, he may have just passed out on the sidewalk!

Reckless,
Tenya thought, as he stared.

It was only a few moments, but for some odd reason, he'd felt as though he'd been taking in Izuku's form for ages.

He was well-toned and glossed with sweat, but had a rather immature splay of features despite being 18.

He was taller than he was when they'd first met; just as tall as Tenya himself thanks to a spontaneous growth spurt in their third year.

The movement of his throat as he swallowed his share of water, paired with the salty droplets that trickled down every definition of his tanned skin--it was enough to make Tenya feel starved of something primal.

What that something was, he'd yet to find out.

"Here ya go!"
Izuku capped the steel bottle and tossed it to Tenya, the weight that had landed reassuring him that he had more than enough to last the rest of their run.

"Alright, let's get going!"
Izuku enthusiastically began jogging on the spot, waiting for Tenya to get on his feet.

"U-Um, hey..."
Izuku glanced back as Tenya stood to his feet, face reddened from what he could only assume was the scathing heat.

"Whoa, you okay? You're face is..."

"I-I wanted to ask you something..."

Izuku's brows knit as he questioned why Tenya was hesitating so much,
"Sure?...What is it?"

Tenya bit his lip, becoming notably anxious about potentially making the situation awkward.
"How does one...Become aware of a crush?"

Izuku stalled for a minute, blinking in a  dumbfounded manner.

"Ohh, you mean how do you know when you like someone?"

Tenya nodded, prompting Izuku to place finger-to-chin in thought.

He was so goddamn cute.

"Well...I think it depends. I mean, it's different for everyone, but I think the general idea is that you can't get enough of the person in question.
Such as thinking about them constantly, wishing you talk for hours upon hours, never giving up the opportunity to see or touch them..."

His eyes fixated on Tenya as he began to trail off.
"...Does that help?"

The teen flinched,
"Oh, of course. We can get going now."
He tried his best not to stammer.

The two continued their jog back to the dorms, hardly conversing because of the buzzing city noise they endured along the way.

Despite the heavy bellows of horns and roaring engines, Tenya was still finding himself entrapped in a lingering thought.

I wanted to talk to you more...

Over the course of the following week, he was outwardly as studious and friendly as usual, but couldn't stop thinking about, well, Izuku--and what he'd told him to be exact.

He was sure he'd never had a crush before and was able to keep his feelings in check, but had he been lying to himself this whole time?

Truth be told, everything Izuku had outlined was an explicitly accurate depiction of how Tenya viewed him.

He'd always assumed that the reason
That he constantly thought about Izuku was applicable to the fact that he saved his life, and even the fact that he was a strong, admirable--and inevitably reckless--Hero.

Although he's definitely changed throughout his time at UA, sometimes Tenya would steal a glance and recall that starry-eyed first year who'd rapidly climbed from the very bottom.

He was an imperfect image of everything Tenya admired.

"Iida? Are you okay?"
Izuku glanced up from his textbook with a concerned frown, seeing as Tenya had yet to even take out his study material.

"O-Of course."
Tenya reached into his bag, almost wishing he could bang his head against the solid desk.

They were at the school library, where they and Ochako would study on weekends before big tests.

The brunette had to babysit for a relative, resulting in her being a little late--making it inconveniently more awkward for Tenya.

He was finding it difficult to focus on the miniscule print of his Japanese History textbook, while Izuku seemed to be getting along just fine with his own.

"Iida,"
Izuku didn't look up from the pages,
"Can I ask you something?"

"Oh, sure."

"Was there a reason you asked me how to know if you have a crush on someone?"

Tenya bristled.
"No, not really."

"Oh. Okay, cool."
Tenya glanced at the desk so as to avoid making awkward eye contact, when he'd noticed something...
Odd.

Izuku's hands, were shaking.

"Midoriya, are you... Nervous?"

Izuku's hand abruptly stilled as he balled it into a tight fist, likely as a result of his entire body going tense.

"I've... Been rereading the same line for fifteen minutes."
He mumbled, glancing down at his paling knuckles.

There was an abrupt silence, before Izuku heard a light snort coming from the opposite side of the desk.

Izuku looked back up to see Tenya suspiciously holding a textbook to his face, expression shielded by the glossy covers.

He was still for a moment or two, before breaking out into a soft laugh.

Izuku flushed.
"This isn't funny!"
He couldn't help but chuckle as his fist collided with the desk in a semi-playful berating, only begging a moment of silence.

They both stared each other speechless at this, before simultaneously releasing stifled laughs.

There was a distant 'shh!' from an unknown point if source, not that the two had really cared in the moment.

Tenya removed his glasses to wipe a tear from his eye, inquiring,
"Would you like to go elsewhere?"

"Sure."
Izuku exhaled as he swiped his textbook and highlighters from the edge of the desk into his backpack, prompting the two to stand as they made their way out of the library.

They nudged and joked as they made their way down the city sidewalk, even passing an ice cream stand on their way to absolutely nowhere in particular.

They'd settled for a park, the same one that they'd stopped by the previous week.

Tenya hadn't the slightest clue what they could possibly talk about, which made it all the more surprising that Izuku took the lead.

"You weren't my type, you know."

Tenya would've spat out his drink if he had one, but he decided on just staring in shock and awe.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I-I mean in first year. You were always so high-strung and bossy, I thought you only existed to chew people's heads off."

He placed his bag at his feet,
"But then I grew to understand why you did it, why you were constantly strict despite being a kid like the rest of us. You...Were scared."

Tenya bit down on the lining of his inner cheek.
Where was he going with this?...

"You were scared for your classmates, your friends and even total strangers. You're strange like that. Caring about the social well-being of others even though you know that it could give you a bad look."

He smiled as he unzipped the front pocket of the bag, reaching in and taking out a small box.

"I guess I'm weird too then, since I'd do the exact same."

Tenya cautiously took the yellow cube from his hand, opening it to see a small silver ring with a pendant head shaped like a moon.

Tenya looked back at Izuku with a concerned bewilderment, likely because he had no idea why he was giving this to him in the first place.

"I-It's a promise ring. I've been meaning to give it to you for a while now...But I didn't exactly know how to go about it."

Izuku dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his own ring, except it depicted a sun instead.

Tenya sat still and silent, leading Izuku to take the band from it's case with fumbling hands,
"H-Here, like this."

He slipped it on to his ring finger with ease, but Tenya had yet to utter a word.

"You... Don't like it?"

"Are you kidding me..."
Izuku's eyes widened when Tenya let out a sniffle, a single droplet falling from his cheeks as he removed his glasses.

"I... I don't know what to say."

Izuku gave a gentle smile, swiping a thumb below his eyelid as he reassured him.

"It's fine, your reaction speaks for itself."

"Uh... But I don't have anything for you."

"You don't have to have anything for me, silly. Gifts can't smile for me. That's all the repayment I need."

Tenya breathed a light chuckle as he wiped away a tear from reddening cheeks, putting back on his glasses with a sigh.

"Can I... Kiss you?"
Tenya looked down, eyes still sparkling with late tears.

Izuku's expression fell, freckled cheeks bearing a passionate red as he gave a single nod.

The two individually sought the upper hand, without acknowledging each other's position and making an awfully sweet mess as a result.

The bumped noses at least three times, before just settling with intertwining their hands until their lips would finally touch.

Tenya wasn't expecting the sour taste of citrus that lingered on Izuku's lips, nor did he expect the hand that began pulling his neck closer, closer and closer until–

Bump!

"Ah, sorry!"

Izuku pulled back once he realized that he'd knocked Tenya's glasses out of place.

The spectacle of the usually strict class rep with a dazed expression and crooked glasses was well worth the accident.

Izuku was about remove them to see if they'd gotten smudged, when Tenya's entire body had suddenly began shaking profusely.

"Iida, you're–"

"Phone."
Tenya mumbled hazily to himself more than anything, reaching into his pocket to answer his vibrating cell.

"Iida here."

Despite the call not being on speaker, Izuku could hear the person on the other end if the line as clear as day.

"Where are you guys? I've been waiting at our spot for the last half-hour!"
Ochako scolded, rather frustrated since she was the one who needed a study group the most.

"U-Uh, we'll be right there."

Tenya almost seem to flip a switch, properly aligning his glasses as his gaze refocused with a purpose.

He tucked his phone away as he stood up, inviting Izuku to do the same.

"Make haste! We must study if we want to succeed as heroes, am I right?"

Izuku nodded, bearing a warm smile.

Same old Iida, huh?

And he wouldn't have it any other way.

To think, it all started with a question.