//   HEY  !!!!!!!  SHOUTO HAS BEEN MOVED BACK TO @manylived  !!!!!!!

          “    Oh! Kinda similar to yourself right??    ”    It’s not out of the ordinary for them to pick a hero that has a quirk not too far different from their own. Ochako can’t help but notice he doesn’t pick a hero that has anything to do with the fire part of his quirk. Not your business, she reminds herself. He’s barely opening up to her, the last thing she wants is to offend him and have him close himself off again. 

             Her brown eyes dart down to the final name he writes down and she nods as if in silent agreement. Aizawa-sensei has done so much for them, she agrees. She, too, admires him for all that he has taught them and for being such a voice of reason among all the chaos of villains uprising. 

          “     You really have a preference for your ice side right?? I noticed!    ”    Oh shoot, no, no, she blurted out her thinking! So much for her keeping her bluntness to herself. Time to backtrack and fix!     “    I mean – not that there’s anything wrong with that! Both parts of your quirk are pretty amazing! Kinda like – yin and yang!   ”

      a nod is your initial response, glancing at her momentarily as you see her eyes land on the one other name scrawled on the list. you see the agreement, approval,  &&  again a brief glance is aimed at sensei up at the front of the classroom  (  preoccupied with something, it seems  ).

      surprise crosses your feature at her question, though only momentarily. dichromatic hues watch her features as she seems to backtrack, scramble to fix what she thinks to be a mistake. you don't think the question is anything of the sort, merely a rather accurate observation.

      "  yeah i do.  "  the words, your tone, hold no hint of irritation, you're simply confirming what she's noted,  "  i always have, though i do need to train more with my left side. but ... thank you. i guess it is a lot like a sort of ying  &&  yang, both sides balance each other.  "

     he’ll  be  the  last  to  admit  in  this  moment  he  already  misses  their  closeness.   (  what  is  he  thinking?  it  will  never  happen.  he  probably  doesn’t  feel  the  same.  )   he  knows  this  feeling,  it’s  like  meeting  an  old  friend  and  have  those  memories  rush  back.  except…  it’s  not  as  fun  as  talking  to  an  old  friend.

     tenya  won’t  say  anything  about  it   (  he  cares  too  much  for  what  they  have  NOW  but.  again,  nothing  lasts.  )   and  what  matters  right  now  is  cooking!  yes,  showing  todoroki  to  cook  is  what  he  came  here  to  do  and  he’s  going  to  DO  IT  GOOD.

     he  nods  as  he  chops  the  food  deftly,   ❛  yes.  grab  a  bowl  and  mix  together  1 / 4th  cup  of  flour,  a  half  teaspoon  of  salt,  and  a  half  teaspoon  of  pepper.  once  your  done  with  that  pour  it  on  the  beef,  which  i  have  cooking  already  in  the  slow  cooker.  ❜

     it’s  different  cooking  with  someone  else,  he  notes  to  himself  as  he  pours  his  cuttings  into  a  bowl  and  starts  the  next  batch  of  vegetables  to  cut.   ❛  i  actually  learned  how  to  cook  through  following  the  instructions  on  websites  and  such.  but  i  happened  to  pick  up  a  few  things  so—  if  you  want  a  pinch  of  heat  to  it  add  a  teaspoon  of  pepper  sauce.  of  course,  that’s  just  personal  preference.  ❜

     cooking  with  someone  else  is  different  because  now  the  amount  of  time  he  has  to  spend  on  STARTING  to  cook  it  is  drastically  cut  back.  it  feels…  nice  to  be  able  to  share  this  experience  with  todoroki.

      your feelings mirror his, unbeknownst to you, the lingering sensation of closeness, contact, leaving you feeling something akin to cold in it's absence. you've not experienced these sort of feelings before, you aren't aware what they are, but you know they're something new,  &&  despite your better judgement you continue to chalk them down to something that comes with friendship  (  though you haven't experienced this with your other friends, but that thought is not considered, shoved to the back of your mind  ).

      dichromatic hues fall on tenya's hands as he cuts the food with a skill that can only be acquired over time, one you hope to acquire yourself, a few notes taken in your mind as to how he holds the knife, the movements. your attention draws back to his words when an answer presents itself,  &&  for a moment you nod, mentally storing the instructions  ----  unknowingly mouthing them back to yourself as you begin.

      the task is easy, measuring out each ingredient, though you find your attention drawn away by his voice once more. another nod, you suppose you could've done similarly, teaching yourself, but you find you'd much rather have him teach you  ----  his presence is comforting, reassuring  (  he can spot mistakes before a dish is ruined, for one, among other reasons you still cannot put words to  ).

      "  hm  ----  i don't normally go for heat, but it'd be nice to try.  "  the edges of your lips are lifted in such a way that your neutral, usually bored, looking expression has shifted drastically in tone  ----  curiosity, enjoyment, can be parsed from your words  &&  body language if one knows to look. hot spice is not something you tend to consume too often, but if tenya has a preference for it in this dish  ----  you're more than willing to try.

      topping off the dry mix with the pepper sauce you manage to find a fork  &&  gently mix the contents together  (  even you know not to aggressively stir dry cooking ingredients, lest you want to be covered in them  ). your eyes find the slow cooker, walking over with the mixture in hand  &&  slowly pouring it over the beef. already the smell is making your mouth water as the ingredients intermingle.

if u think otherwise ur part of the fucking problem w/ this shit being normalized, and i dont want ur gross ass anywhere fucking NEAR me

     he  quickly  lets  go   (  he  briefly  —  very  briefly  —  hesitates  )   seeming  to  jump  away  from  him.   ❛  hold  on.  ❜   he  leaves  the  room,  searching  for  first  aid.   (  he  keeps  one  in  his  room.  )  when  he  makes   it  in  he  shuffles  through  a  couple  stacks  of  books   (  he  needs  to  clean  )   to  find  it.  once  found,  he  hurriedly  goes  back  to  the  kitchen.

     he  opens  the  case  and  pulls  out  a  band - aid,   ❛  this  should  help  for  now.  i  told  you  to  be  more  careful…  ❜   he  takes  todoroki’s  finger  and  wraps  it  before  it  marks  his  other  hand  up  too  much.  he’s  gentle  about  it,   (  mistakes  like  these  happen  all  the  time.  )   trying  to  not  apply  pressure  to  the  wound.

     once  finished  he  then  grabs  the  knife  and  washes  it  off,  turning  to  todoroki,  he  furrows  his  brows.  there’s  concern  in  his  eyes,  as  if  saying  SORRY.   (  ah,  there  it  is  again.  it’s  almost  ironic  really,  that  almost  any  time  they  grow  closer  there’s  a  knife  injury  involved.  )   ❛  i’ll  cut  the  rest,  though  i  hope  this  becomes  a  lesson  for  you.  you’re  lucky  you  didn’t  chop  your  finger  off.  ❜

     he  means  not  to  sound  harsh  but  whenever  he  says  things  like  this  it  seems  to  come  out  wrong.   (  his  tone.  )   he  clears  his  throat  and  turns  away  as  he  closes  the  first- aid  kit.  he  doesn’t  know  why—  can’t  put  his  finger  on  it,  but…  he  already  misses  the  closeness  they  had  just  a  few  moments  ago.  why  did  it  have  to  be  cut  short  by…  an  actual  cut.

      the warmth leaves you as he moves away, jerks away almost, leaving a mere ghost of the touch in it's wake. your brows knit together, frustration knotting in your gut as your lips draw into a thin line  ----  a short nod given in reply as tenya disappears. he's only gone for a minute or two, but that time feels like an eternity to dwell on your jumble of feelings, staring at the crimson bubbling softly from the cut  &&  slipping into your other palm held below. after a pause you quietly move  &&  rinse the blood from your hands in the sink, a paper towel taken to dry your skin  &&  stem any further, inconvenient bleeding.

      a blink of surprise meets tenya's return, dichromatic hues watching him as he handles the first aid kit. you draw away the paper towel as he takes your hand,  &&  momentarily the warmth returns, a more pronounced flutter in your stomach as he tends to your wound with such gentleness you feel that heat return to your face.

      &&  it’s gone again, he's washing off the knife  &&  you allow your hand to fall to your side. the look he gives you is almost shocking, in a way, the concern. your cheeks redden with a mixture of embarrassment  &&  something else you cannot identify,  "  yeah  ----  definitely.  "

      you are embarrassed, yes, ashamed in a way, though you know tenya's concerned  ----  logically you know he's not angry with you, despite the gentle scolding  (  &&  even despite how much your brain would like to try to convince you otherwise  ). you purse your lips once more as he turns away, your own brow furrowed, missing him being so close to you  (  no idea how to get that back  ).

            Thank you – the gratitude startles him, stalling his grouchy step towards the dorm rooms and turning his shoulders back to assess the other. His expression is blank, confusion reflected in the cardinal irises blinking back at the other – was the half and half bastard actually talking to him? He was thanking him? Of all the things he’d ever expected this guy in particular to express to him, he never thought gratitude would be one of them. …in truth, it probably would have come as just as great a shock coming from anyone else, considering how rare it was that Bakugou was thanked; perhaps that had something to do with the fact that he didn’t do very much that deserved gratitude. Gritting his teeth, he tersely threw his gaze the other way. 

            ❝ – shut up. ❞

            – which brings us to our second example. That was likely another reason most refrained from thanking him; it was almost exclusively met with that particular response. – very few would be able to perceive the lack of venom behind the words, the careless tone with which the syllables were uttered, and decipher it as the Bakugou equivalent of “no problem.” – Huh? Oh. He’s still talking to him; though the blond isn’t really sure why. It’s not like they’re really friends or anything – but it was probably just because he’d been the one to see the whole thing unfold. Jesus, was he seriously still worrying about this? 

            ❝ – what, the girl? – fuck no. Not like you were threatenin’ her ass. Way I see it, the scarier somethin’ is, the better, long as it’s on your side. – don’t you have better shit ta do than sit here and kick yourself all damn night? ❞

       you do your best to suppress a ghost of a smirk at the response, one you'd almost expected  ----  the lack of fire behind the response, lack of glaring hostility. you know if you dare take up an expression that could be misconstrued as smug, that tone may change,  &&  quickly  ----  he doesn't have much tolerance for smug, you think.

       his follow up is what keeps the curl from daring to touch the corners of your lips, a blink as your mind runs through what he's said. for the time being, you set aside the punctuating question,  "  ... alright.  "  you don't let any doubt into your tone, the doubt you're most definitely feeling  ----  bakugou doesn't have the full story here, the fact your friend has horrible father just as you do, one with a fiery temper, you fear you've reminded her of him.

       "  ... i guess.  "  finally a response to the question, a shrug lifting your shoulders in a smooth motion. he's right, yes, that letting yourself be consumed by your anxiety is a waste of time  ----  but you can only control your dysfunctional brain so much, you can only ignore  &&  do your best to manage the anxiety until it starts your stomach turning, your heart thudding in your chest so that you feel it in your ears. it's that sort of anxiety submerging you now, lapping over your mouth as you keep your breathing steady, this whole thing has hit both a conscious  &&  subconscious nerve  ----  the only thing you can do to hide the so briefly visible tremble in your hands is to stuff them deep in your pants pockets.