Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Say whatever you want about Monoma Neito, nobody could deny that he was a lying, scheming, cunning, petty bastard, and that he owned it with grace.

He bounced on the balls of his feet, shifting his weight from one foot to the other while examining the lunchroom with an attentive eye to make sure it was the right time to strike. Neito liked to think that there was a certain viper-like quality in his actions: being silent and unseen until it was the right time to attack and quickly disposing of his target in a swift ambush before they had the time to react, as it was fit for a Phantom Thief.

As he watched, Kendou crossed the cafeteria in the direction of her usual lunch spot, completely absorbed in her conversation with Tetsutetsu, and Neito curved his lips upward in a mischievous grin. It was now or never, he supposed. He turned on his heels, walking in the exactly opposite direction as Kendou. Mentally, he calculated how much time he would have before she came drag him away.

…which was probably not much. It was best for him to hurry.

He walked as quickly as possible in the busy cafeteria, being as careful as he could to not knock over his lunch. Damn lunch rush, this would be so much easier if there were less people in the room; moving around was difficult and slow, and Neito couldn’t help but feel the anxiety gnawing on him. What if he refused? Then he would’ve made a fool of himself and —

No, he had to push these thoughts away, distract himself with something else. He had a new comic he wanted to show Midoriya, didn’t he? It was another mystery one, and Neito was confident that his friend would enjoy it — hell, knowing Midoriya’s sharp wits maybe he would even solve the mystery before the story was finished.

He took a long breath, being mindful to breath in with the nose and let it out through his mouth. He could do that. 

Neito conquered the crowd and gracefully slipped into the table that Midoriya and all his 1-A friends occupied, cutting someone off from sitting on the bench. Just as he expected, there was instant uproar and he could just feel the person whose seat he stole, the tall girl with the ponytail, rolling her eyes before looking for another place to sit. He ignored her in favor of giving Midoriya a charming smile.

Midoriya seemed surprised. Neito couldn’t blame him, it was the first time they actually interacted at school, but he smiled at him as well. It was shy and contained, but suddenly all of Neito’s doubts were put to rest and a pleasant warmth spread from his chest. He could do that, he repeated to himself.

“Want to hang out this Saturday?” Neito bursted before he could lose his courage. He was only vaguely aware of his increasingly heating face, or the fact that he probably looked like a goddamn tomato.

The look on Midoriya’s face was of pure delight. “After class?”

Neito nodded quickly, his heart beating fast against his ears. He didn’t know if it was because of Midoriya or due the fact that with the corner of his eye he could see Kendou’s bright orange hair fast approaching. He would have to flee soon.

“Yeah, in my dorms,” he said with all the composure he could muster, which honestly, wasn’t much. “I rented a movie and was thinking we could watch it.” 

“Okay,” Midoriya said quietly but without hesitation, surprising Neito. “Okay!” The boy repeated, louder this time. “Sounds great. Let’s, uh, meet after school then? And you walk me to the dorms?”

“Great!” A huge grin spread through his face. “It’s a date, then!” Neito realized how embarrassing and high-pitched his voice sounded, but he stood up feeling giddy and light; he wondered if his face was as silly as he thought it would be. The boy took about two steps away from the table before he remembered. “Oh, yeah. This is for you.”

He left the last chocolate pudding in the entire lunchroom — which he bought right in front of Bakugou solely out of spite because Neito knew Bakugou wanted the goddamn pudding and he wasn’t letting that asshole have nice things — right in front of Midoriya. Neito gave his friend one last smile before turning on his heels and running away from Kendou at full speed.

Oh god, he actually did it.

———

Neito decided five minutes into his afternoon classes that Saturday couldn’t come fast enough. One on one combat simulations were the absolute worst, and Neito couldn’t find himself at a biggest disadvantage; his best approach to combat was to sneak undetected after careful examination and finish things as quickly as possible (or just sabotage and cheat his way to the top, which was an equally viable solution when you’re Monoma Neito), but facing a single opponent in broad daylight while they’re prepared, instincts primed and with their quirk ready to strike? That was… quite difficult, to put it mildly.

Well, at least Kendou was kind enough to buy her punching bag something to drink after school, even if it was from the cheap and understocked vending machines in front of UA while they walked back to their dorms.

“Catch!,” she said while unceremoniously throwing him the canned coffee that Neito grabbed while in midair in the most gracefully manner he could manage — which, to be fair, was clunky at best. “Man, I’m beat!”

Neito couldn’t stop himself from sneering at her. “From what? My outstanding performance?”

Kendou laughed at that and they opened their drinks, savoring their beverages while walking in a comfortable silence. She was merciful; instead of buying the incredibly bitter black coffee that Neito couldn’t stomach, Kendou got him the sweetest, creamiest, single most lactose-filled nightmare she could find. The sheer amount of sugar posed a new challenge for Neito, but he wasn’t giving up.

“Your punches are getting better, tho. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be sore tomorrow.” She grimaced for a second, like she couldn’t believe in what she just said. “Ok, that felt weird to admit. Don’t get used to it.”

“A compliment from Battle Fist herself? Am I dreaming? Those are rare.” Kendou rolled her eyes, but the small grin in her face betrayed her true feelings. Neito was secretly happy for earning her approval, and she probably knew that. “I feel like I’m getting better at handing your quirk, but it still makes my hands cramp.”

“Yeah, it was like that in the beginning for me too. Don’t worry, you’ll soon become become a pro!” She punched his shoulder in a playful manner and her smile grew, completely replacing her fake contempt. God, how long had it been since Neito spent time with his friends like that? He missed that.

“I believe you,” he told her with a smile in his voice.

For some reason, his answer prompted Kendou to laugh; a good hearty laugh that shaked her entire body. Neito stared her with his brow furrowed, surprised and confused.

“What’s so funny?”

“No, it’s just… you’ve changed quite a lot, haven’t you? I noticed that you stopped dragging yourself down as much.” She hummed for a second, like she was searching for something else to say. “You look happier, I suppose.”

——— ‘happier.’

Was he happy?

He had his classmates and Midoriya, his friends, and he cherished them but… his own failures still haunted him, like an unwelcome guest that simply refused to leave. He still felt awful about himself, and that was completely the opposite of what happiness should be.

“I don’t think I’m happier,” Neito admitted. He absent mindedly crushed his now empty can only to have something to do with his hands. “I’m less sad, I think. Not happy yet, but I’m getting there.”

“Well, I know that I am happy,” Kendou promptly told him. She stopped walking for a second and looked at Neito, her face soft and eyes full of pride. “I don’t know what happened, but as your friend, there’s nothing better than to hear that you’re feeling better about yourself. I’ve been worried about you since the sports festival, you know? You looked really bad.”

Neito’s heart ached with guilt. Right, the sports festival, and then the provisional exams after that. Looking back, he probably did a pretty terrible job of hiding how he felt, even if he didn’t want to concern anyone.

“I’m sorry to make you worry, but it’s alright now, I swear.” He offered her a smile that he hoped would put her mind at ease but that probably wouldn’t convince himself if he saw it. “A friend has been helping me out.”

“A ‘friend’, huh?” Kendou laughed again and patted Neito’s head like she had the habit of doing, making a mess of his neatly combed hair. The boy made a small annoyed noise, more for theatrics than anything else. She kept giggling. “Well, I'm glad then. You befriended someone from the other courses?”

Oh yeah, he hadn’t told her about that yet. “Oh, no. It’s Midoriya, from class A.”

“Ah, I see, Midor—“

She blinked slowly and stopped dead on her tracks. There was a second of silence where they just stared each other while Kendou processed the new information, shock all over her face. When the girl finally put herself together, she mouthed two simple words:

“… wait, what. ”

———

Neito shoved his face in his pillow in order to muffle his squealing. He was reluctant to call what he felt towards Midoriya a crush in fear of somehow jinxing their friendship, but when his friend said such embarrassing things it was hard for Neito to deny his heart started beating faster.

He had fallen hard, but he was fully willing to keep digging that hole.

M. Neito [01:13]: I miss you as well.