Chapter V

~Few weeks later~

I was strolling through the hallways of the college, on my way to my Music Theory class. I was pondering the last couple of weeks as I hung out with Uraraka's friends and some people from my classes. Hitoshi Shinso was one out of few I could stand in some of my electives and we agreed that if their was any partner work to be held, we'd work together unless one person wants to work with someone else.

This was that kind of situation.

"Yo, Todoroki," a guys voice echoed behind me. I turned my head to see purple hair.

"Good morning, Shinso."

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it?" I stopped and faced him. He looked to the side and rubbed his arm while a pink tint sprinkled his cheeks. This wasn't like him. "Are you sick?"

"No. I was just wondering if it was okay if I partnered with someone else," he answered. I was curious, who made Shinso act this way?

"Only if you tell me who."

"Kaminari Denki." He was curt saying the name. I finally understood, Shinso had told me about his sexuality so I wasn't surprised at the fact that it was a boy.

"I understand," I nudged him, "go get your man and make sure he's yours or else." I winked at the flustered mess of a guy walked away.

"Thanks, I guess..." I heard him mumble as he followed me to our class.

•-•-•-•-•

"Okay, choose your partners for the project. And choose wisely," said Ms. Midnight. She walked to her desk and propped up her feet to read. I was swarmed by... girls.

"Can I be your partner? And girlfriend if possible?"

"No way he's mine!"

"Shut up bitch! Who would want to be your partner in anything?!"

"Says the one with a rats nest for hair!"

"And the one with shit breath!"

I sighed and stood up, making the swarm quiet. I rubbed the visible eye, feeling a head ache pop up.

"You okay broski? You look a little stressed," said a cheery voice that I recognized easily.

"Not really, Ashido." I could feel the impassiveness my face held.

"I told you to call me Mina!" the pink hair girl shrieked. I sigh.

"Who's this skank?" said a brown headed girl in the crowd.

"My partner now. Your presence is no longer needed," I scolded. I heard whines and pleads and I was getting aggravated. "I said, your presence is no longer wanted." Stunned silence for the exception of the others in the classroom. They scattered, leaving me with Mina.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side! It's scary!" Mina teased with a chuckle. I sighed.

     "I'm sorry for dragging you into this. If you don't want to be my partner-"

     "I was gonna ask you to be mine so it worked out for the better," she interrupted with an all too happy grin. I exhaled, kind of relieved.

     "Alright. Shall we get started?"

     "Not yet! I need to get to know you first before I'm able to work with you."

     Ah, she's that type of person.

     "You don't have some sort of thing for me, do you?" She shakes her head.

     "Nah, your not my type and besides," she cuts her eyes over to someone and I follow it. The blacked haired boy was speaking with Ojiro with a toothy smile.

     "You like Sero?" I ask and a deep blush, barley visible in her unique pinkish skin, was shown.

     "Yeah, but he likes Denki so it's not gonna happen," she says sadly.

     "Oh really? Shinso likes Kaminari too," I blurted and she perks up with hopeful eyes.

     "Oh my gosh! I can matchmake them and I can have the courage to confess to Hanta~," she hugs me out of nowhere. "Thank you for telling me."

     "I didn't mean too but I guess it's for the best."

     "Alright class, dismissed," said the teacher and most of the student filed out except me and Mina.

     "We'll meet up after school, at the commons area in the dorm building."

     "Okay," and with that, we left and went our separate ways.

•-•-•-•-•

     School was boring and now it's over, but it was also the time to meet up with that pink haired dork.

     "Where are you going, Todoroki?" Midoryia asked, hunching over the desk to do his usual homework.

     "Ashido—I mean, Mina made plans for us to meet up for a class project. I should be back around late," I inform. A strange expression stared back at my nonchalant one.

     "Okay, see you later," he muttered with a smile. I nodded and threw a peace sign over my shoulder before closing the door.

•-• Mina's POV •-•

     "Tell me! Do you have a crush on anyone?" I asked eagerly over the small round table. We chose Taco Bell because I was craving tacos and Todoroki didn't care where we went.

     I was wearing a black, short sleeved crop top and funky blue and purple pants with high top converse. I also wore my many bracelets on my arms, which were a lot and it covered my forearms.

     He looked the total opposite. A plain blue long sleeved shirt and black jeans and sneakers. The only extra thing he had on was a black beanie on his head. With his duel-colored hair covering his left eye, he looked rather emo.

     He shook his head at my question.

     "What's a crush? I've heard of it but never understood what it meant," he admitted and I felt my eyes go wide.

"Where have you been? Living under a damn rock?" I said quite angrily.

"I was homeschooled for all my life so I never got much interaction with kids my age," Todoroki deadpanned and my eyes went soft while his gaze hardened.

"Well, I guess I can sorta understand if that's the case," I trailed off.

"It's alright. Just explain to me what a 'crush' is and I'll tell you whether or not I have one," he demanded rather bluntly but I didn't take offense and gave him my best smile.

"Deal." I took a bite of my taco. "A crush-"

"Wait until you finish chewing before you speak."

"Oh, sorry," I nervously chuckled before swallowing. "But anyway, I wanna know your interpretation of a 'crush'. What do you think it means?" I snicker. He rolled his eyes and pondered. I continued to eat my delicious shell.

"I guess someone you dislike so much you want to crush them under your feet. If that's the case, I have someone in mind." His gaze narrowed and hardened into a glare. It was scary and I waved my hands in panic.

"That's not it but what did I do to make you wanna hurt me? I'm sorry for whatever it is!" I plead and I noticed the concerning looks of other customers. He closed his eyes as a smirk twitched on his mouth.

"You're not the one I'm thinking about. It's someone else in which I despise," he atoned and looked at me softly. I relaxed, a relieved sigh involuntarily escaped my mouth. "Then a 'crush' I assume is a positive feeling?" Todoroki asked. I nodded.

"Yes, though it might cause negative outcomes," I inform as he drinks his tea. "It's when you get feelings of affection for someone. You like them romantically. And in severe cases it can be called love." I daydreamed for a minute of Hanta until the peppermint man brought me back.

"So how do you know when you have a crush?" he asked so innocently. I shrug.

"I'm not sure. All I know is from my personal experience, but it's different for everyone." It went silent between us as the boy sipped his drink and I sipped mine.

"Then tell me, what's it feel like?" Todoroki asked softly, looking down with a disappointed face. I smile, trying to ease the tension.

"For me, it was subtle and slow. At first I thought of him as a good friend. And then I began to feel butterflies in my stomach and I feel hot and I smile a lot when he's around. I always want to make him smile when he's down or having a bad day. I couldn't wait until the next time we hung out, with a group or alone. That's when I knew, I liked him more than a friend," I rambled before looking down at my hands. "But the bad thing is, you never know if they'll return your feelings and it seems like your getting smushed by the weight of that possibility they might turn you down." I quickly wipe away a tear that fell out of my eye and locked my gaze with Todoroki, who I gave a small smile to me.

"I guess that's why they call it a crush huh..." he muttered.

     "That's not all. It feels wrong when you know one of your friends have a crush on the same person you do. It feels like your betraying them for being selfish," I continued on. He looks at me with a blank expression, but his eyes are soft and his face is relaxed, almost like a sensitive curiosity was settled into his features. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you caught up in my feelings..." I trailed off.

     "It's okay since we're friends. Friends respect each other's opinions and offer help if needed," he quirked his brow, "I think."

     "You're... right. But I didn't know you saw me as a friend so that makes me feel better," I happily admit. After my very brief celebration, I leaned over the table again. "Anyway, based on my description of a crush, do you have any?" I ask eagerly. He tilts his head forward and placed his chin between his fingers. He looks so concentrated.

     "I'm...still not sure. But I do have someone I'm interested in," he says.

     "Ooo~ really? Who?"

     "Midoryia."

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Published June 24 2019Edited December 12 2022