ive officially joined bnha and more specifically tododeku hell

also im writing more for this but idk when itll be done so stay tuned

Izuku isn't familiar with American traditions, and he's fairly certain that rest of class 1A is in the same boat, but despite that fact – or, perhaps, because of it – winter comes with a (less than pleasant for some) surprise.

"It's called mistletoe," declares Mineta, standing proudly at the center of the common area. "If you and another person stand beneath it, you have to-" there's a weighted pause as Mineta looks around with all the flourish of someone about to reveal a long secret truth about the world, "-kiss"

There's chatter all over the room at that: excitement from Kaminari, embarrassment from Uraraka, disdain from Jirou.

"Where'd you even learn about something like that?" Kirishima asks, amused.

Kaminari interjects. "Does it matter?"

Mineta brings attention back to himself. "That foreign girl from class B told me.

Sero whistles. "She talked to you?"

"Of course," Mineta replies. "Well, not technically. But I overheard her talking to that other hot chick in the locker room."

Iida storms over at that, hands motioning and brow drawn. "That kind of behavior is absolutely intolerable!"

"Oh, shush it, Iida. Not like Mineta has the balls to actually do anything."

"I do have the balls, as a matter of fact," Mineta retorts. "Anyways, someone tall come help me hang this stuff up."

After the afternoon excitement dies down Izuku forgets about the whole ordeal, more focused on his evening training and studying and further thoughts for how he can improve himself. In fact, it's not until he's walking to his room to retire for the night that it's brought back to his attention.

"Ooh," Ashido teases, "Midoriya, look up!"

He does, not thinking much of it, only to realize too late what's going on.

"Oh-"

Izuku is no stranger to embarrassment – rather, they're close friends, along with 'bad luck' – and so he doesn't expect to leave this situation without a little pain.

(Izuku's quirk may as well be fortune telling for how often he says that.)

((Which is to say, he is generally painfully correct.))

He tries to move away from the plant's area of effect but someone passing by steps into the circle and the spell in complete.

"You know the rules!" Kirishima grins at him. "You and Todoroki have to kiss now!"

Todoroki frowns, confused. "What? Why?" His question is directed at Kirishima but Izuku feels the brunt of it, embarrassment fueling his guilt at the situation. He can feel his face flush without his consent.

"Weren't you here when Mineta went over it? If you stand under the mistletoe with someone, you have to kiss them." Kirishima points to the ceiling, at the small, innocent splash of green on the otherwise empty white.

Izuku can feel all the eyes on him, though he's not sure if anyone is actually looking this way or if it's his own mind producing it. Either way, it weighs at his shoulders, and he forces himself to stutter out a few words.

"W-we don't- it's not, not really..." He motions nervously with his hands as he trails off.

Todoroki, seemingly unperturbed, simply turns around and begins to walk away.

"Hey! You have to follow the rules!" Kaminari has joined the slowly accumulating group, and Izuku, not for the first time, wishes for a quirk more like Togata's so he could have an easy out.

"Really, let's not..." Izuku tries, but his voices comes out too soft to be heard above the chatter.

"Why?" Todoroki asks.

"Because it's the rules!"

There's a moment of tense silence, a fight of wills or a fight of thoughts, while Izuku debates saying something else. Before he comes to a decision Todoroki speaks.

"Fine."

A moment later Izuku is closer to him than he's ever been besides perhaps the sports festival, and he can see every strand of white and red hair, and he can smell his shampoo or conditioner or fabric softener, he's not sure which but it smells better than anything he's ever smelled before and

And then Todoroki presses their lips together and everything melts away until all he can feel is the warmth of a mouth against his.

Todoroki pulls away much sooner than Izuku realizes he would have liked, and he's saying something but Izuku doesn't think it's directed at him. He's red, he knows, red all the way down his neck and wow that was his first kiss and wow is he gay for Todoroki and wow does he need to run away now.

So he does.