#not fully

—---—

You find Shoto by the stove, stirring what's probably soba noodles. He had…limited cooking skills, and a penchant for the stuff, so soba was usually a pretty good guess.

The strange reaction from his classmates fades into the background as your attention settles fully on your boyfriend. Walking up behind him, your arms around his waist, hands pressing against his muscles as you take in the familiar scent of warmth that follows along with his presence.

You hum in response, pressing your cheek against his shoulder as you try to peek over at what he's making—aha, soba indeed. "Mm...the train was crowded," your voice comes out muffled by his shirt. "Worth it though."

Shoto doesn’t startle, he simply glances over his shoulder at you. "Was the trip okay?"

Shoto gives a small nod, like that answer satisfies him completely. The noodles bubble softly in the pot as he sits them and turns the burner down, the movement practiced in a way that suggests he’s cooked this exact thing many times before. (He has).

"Your classmates were all staring at me when I came in," you mumble into his shoulder, voice something near a whine. "Do I have something on my face? What gives?"

For a moment, the kitchen is quiet except for the faint clink of chopsticks against the pot and the distant noise coming from the common room.

"No," Shoto answers without so much as taking a second glance to check. "They're just nosy."

He says it so plainly that you almost laugh, pulling away to hop up on the counter beside him, watching as he finishes up with supper. You're glad you didn't eat before coming. "What, do you not talk to them about me?"

Your voice is teasing, light, but Shoto's plain response catches you off guard.

You blink, sheer bewilderment settling over you.

"Not really, no."

...

'He doesn't talk about me?'

Insecurity tags along with it, bubbling up before you can stop it. Shoto is…objectively attractive. You’re reminded of it often—whenever you show someone a picture of him, the edits that pop up on your TikTok feed, the giggles and lingering stares he gets from younger girls when you’re out together...

"...Embarrassed?" Shoto looks up immediately as the word registers, his expression creasing with a confusion that nearly matches your own. "No. Why would you think that?"

You gulp down the feelings, trying to keep your voice level. "Are you…embarrassed of me?"

"...You just said you don't talk about me."

God, he's dense. You sigh.

"No one’s asked," Shoto explains, tilting his head slightly. "Was I supposed to talk about you?"

Oh. Of course.

Shoto pauses at your words, considering them with the same seriousness he gives most things. Whether small or large, simple or complicated, his face always scrunches up the same way. "…I see."

"People usually talk about their girlfriends, Sho…yes…" You say slowly, the insecurity dissipating and leaving behind just the bewilderment, with a bit of frustration seeping in.

Of course, no one gets a boyfriend this hot without some negative qualities...his denseness can be cute sometimes, but often leaves something to be desired.

He feeds you a spoonful of dipping sauce, and as if it's secretly potion of calmness, your worries are immediately quelled.

He turns back to the stove, thoughtfully dividing the noodles between two bowls

"I wasn’t hiding you," he adds after a moment, at the very least recognizing the clarification is important. "It just never came up. I figured they'd meet you at some point, anyway."

Then another.

But alas, the quiet atmosphere of the kitchen abruptly disappears as a head pokes around the doorway...

And another.

—---—

After you had left the common area, Class 3-A continued to watch your retreating figure, still in various states of surprise. Eyes wide, jaws slightly slack, slowly, almost in unison, they turn to look at eachother once more.

"…Dude," Kaminari mumbled, leaning closer. "Does anyone know her?"

A beat passed without response from any of the class.

Midoriya hummed thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "She doesn’t look like a criminal, but Todoroki does have a lot of fangirls in the other courses…it wouldn't be too hard for other students to get in our building."

"Then should we be like…worried?" Kaminari’s face scrunched up in a mix of curiosity and concern. "She was cute though…"

That comment earned himself a nudge from Jirou.

Iida nodded seriously, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "In that case, we should send someone to follow her—purely as a precaution!"

And as expected for any mission requiring stealth, heads immediately turned to Toru, who gave an invisible thumbs up. "Invisible girl is on it!"

Sero chuckled in a bit of a wince-like manner, finally standing to join the rest of his friends as his eyes drifted over to the hallway where you had disappeared down. "Ah… guys, y'know, maybe we’re overthinking it—"

Too late.

Toru was already halfway down the hall…but she wasn't gone for long.

She returned barely a minute later, footsteps invisible but loud against the floorboards as she squealed, the sleeves of her shirt waving in excitement. "You guys have gotta see this!"

And so...

You were now sat on the counter, their classmate sliding a spoonful of sauce in your open mouth before leaning against the counter beside you. "Good?"

The rest of them shuffled closer to the kitchen entrance, trying—and failing—to look casual as they hovered just out of sight.

One by one, their heads peek cautiously around the kitchen doorway, trying to see what’s happening without being too obvious.

The scene seemed...domestic. It almost felt wrong to watch, like interrupting something very private.

Midoriya shuffles his feet nervously, glancing at the others. “I think maybe we should leave them be? He's clearly…familiar with her.” He whispers out.

"Familiar," Uraraka mocks lightly in the same hushed tone, trying, and failing, not to giggle. "Wow Deku, good observation!"

…

Wow.

Shoto's classmates suck at eavesdropping. His eyes rolled as he saw as various heads pop in and out of the doorway in of his peripheral vision, almost akin to that game he played at a carnival once—whack a mole?

"...Can I help you?" He huffed, one eyebrow raising (the one that's nerves still worked properly) as he finally turned to face the door. You've gone quiet next to him, legs swinging against the counter and lips pursed.

After a few rounds of passing around the blame of getting caught like hot potato, the class all slowly filed into the room, avoiding eye contact with the couple.

An awkward tension hung over the room for longer than anyone desired, until Sero awkwardly coughed. "...So," He gestured vaguely towards you, still sat quietly on the counter.

Shoto simply stared back, one eyebrow still raised in a way that said 'yes, and?'

The class shuffled awkwardly in front of him for a few seconds, clearly uncomfortable with the silence that filled the air, before Midoriya cleared his throat.

"So um...is this your girlfriend, Todoroki?"

You took that as your cue to wave, an embarrassed smile creeping onto your face.

Shoto exhaled a frustrated breath, his cool demeanor cracking a bit. They really had to eavesdrop to ask that? Couldn't they have waited for him to introduce her?

"Yes, this is my girlfriend.”

...

The room descends into shouts, general chaos, and a jumble of questions all blending together—

"How did you meet?"

"What school do you go to—"

"So this is Todoroki’s type, huh?"

"Do you have a quirk?!"

"Man, how does someone so dense—"

"Everyone! Do not overwhelm our guest—"

"Ah…" You chuckle awkwardly, watching with wide eyes as they all speak over eachother and poor Iida tries to calm them down. ‘Maybe there’s a reason he didn’t talk about me after all…’