PROTECT THEM !

his smile, this time, isn’t something he forces onto his face. the concept of spending time out of the city, especially in a flower orchard, sounds… really good. and of course iida has the entire day planned out — shouto wasn’t worried about time ( far from it ; studying can be done at any time, and his plans were mostly a way to fill his time anyway — it’s not like his grades are suffering at all ) but the concept of iida drafting up an itinerary is entirely in character and utterly unsurprising. ( and, he won’t admit, kind of cute. ) he nods, shifting the strap of the bag on his shoulder to a slightly more comfortable position, still smiling up at iida. ( there aren’t that many people their age taller than him, so it’s always slightly… weird, when he has to look up to a classmate. ) ( not, of course, that he doesn’t look up to iida anyway. he does, it just has nothing to do with height. )

for some reason, he’s nervous. it doesn’t make sense to him — they’re friends, right ? why wouldn’t iida want to hang out with him ? why would the thought of spending time with him surrounded by flowers make him both anxious and anticipatory ? he must just be nervous about trying to become better friends. that would make sense. this is unknown territory ; he’s worried that if iida gets to know him better, their new friendship will end. ( the logical part of him knows how utterly ridiculous that is, but humans can hardly be logical all the time. ) he deeply values his friendship with iida and midoriya, and the thought of losing that because they get to know him is scary. and since iida and midoriya were friends first, there’s a part of him that wonders if iida decides he doesn’t want to be friends, would midoriya follow ?

but he can’t let that stop him. ( doesn’t want to. ) so he takes a deep breath, fixes his gaze on iida’s shoulder. ❝ that sounds… fun. ❞  and fun is usually something held in short supply for him. beauty is usually something held in short supply, too. so having both ( the fun of spending a few hours with iida, with a friend, and the beauty of the flowers ) is damn near irresistible. ❝ are we allowed to pick the blooms ? my… mother might like one. ❞  they might not necessarily be her favorite, and it’ll probably be a bit wilted by the time he’s able to visit tomorrow, but that’s easily circumvented if he just freezes the flower.

     ❝  oh!  i  don’t  think  we’re  allowed  to  pick  anything  since  they  have  to  harvest  them...  but  i’m  certain  there’s  a  shop  there  for  flowers  already  picked?  i  understand  the  sentiment’s  not  the  SAME  but...  we  wouldn’t  want  to  damper  their  harvest  any!  ❞   in  a  way  it’s  quite  INTERESTING  that  they  get  along  so  well.  tenya---  full  of  boundless  energy,  loud  and  expressive,  next  to  shouto ---  more  reserved  and  quiet,  like  night  and  day.

    he’s  more  than  happy  that  shouto  agreed  to  joining  him.  he  already  had  a  feeling  he  would,  and  yet  he  couldn’t  help  the  nervousness  that  hung  over  his  head  when  he’d  asked.  it  will  be  a  good  day,  he  thinks.   (  they’ve  been  spending  MORE  time  together  alone  as  of  late,  especially  after  the  incident  in  HOSU,  but  it’s  from  an  UNDERSTANDING  that  no  one  else  has.  he’s  sure  that’s  just  it,  really.  nothing  MORE  of  the  sorts.  )

【 ask prompt. acc. @aperihellion. 】

     it’s  silly,  maybe,  to  hear  shouto  wax  poetry  of  him.  his  heart  still  doing  those  funny  little  flips  when  they  so  much  as  hold  hands.  (  not  in  public,  because  tenya  would  probably  die  of  embarrassment,  and  truthfully  he’s  just  a  LITTLE  scared.  )   and  he  can’t  do  the  same,  his  words  can  never  be  so  poetic.  blunt  and  straightforward  because  he’s  always  hated  metaphors  but  only  because  he  hates  when  people  are  too  vague.

     but  it’s  DIFFERENT  when  shouto  does  it,  and  he’s  sure  this  one’s  not  necessarily  a  metaphor,  but  that  there’s  truth  to  his  words.  who  is  he  to  question  what  shouto  dreams  of?  and  if  it’s  better  than  nightmares,  then  he’s  so  very  HAPPY.

     and  maybe  he  should  say  something  back  but  he’s  too  fixated  on  his  words  and  their  hands  and  he  can’t  really  bring  himself  to  ruin  the  moment.  which  he  will  undoubtedly  do  by  saying  something  silly  trying  to  sound  deep  and  failing.

     perhaps,  when  he’s  older,  when  he’s  ambitious  in  his  heroic  pursuits,  when  he’s  a  HERO,  when  he  finally  reaches  his  goal,  he  will  think  of  this  moment.  perhaps  he  will  think  of  it  when  he’s  bleeding  out  on  the  side  of  some  battle.  perhaps  he  will  think  of  it  in  the  dead  of  night  when  he  can’t  seem  to  let  himself  sleep.  or  perhaps  he  will  think  of  it  whenever  someone  asks  him  what  love  is  to  him.