𝚂𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 - 𝙸. 𝙼𝚒𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚡 𝙾𝙲

3 - Birds of a Feather

CHAPTER THREE

When Nishida returned home from work, the first thing on her mind was comfort. She tugged off her office attire and changed into a much more comfortable pair of yoga pants and a loose black racerback tank with the silhouette of Ectoplasm on it before she scrolled through her music library on her phone and put on an upbeat playlist, turning the volume up loud enough that she could sing along without feeling self-conscious about her voice. Once in her kitchen, she danced around whilst pulling out the necessary ingredients for her meal of choice, yakisoba.

Singing her heart out to a Ladies of the '80s slew of songs, Nishida's enthusiasm grew along with the volume of her voice, carrying the sound out into the hallway to unintentionally annoy her neighbours while she fried up some veggies.

Sliding open the window on the ledge he had just leapt onto, Midoriya hoped he chose the right one this time and relief flooded through him when he tumbled down and landed on his bed. Stripping himself of his costume, the hero walked straight into the bathroom and turned on the shower, letting it heat up a bit before stepping in.

A sigh left Midoriya's lips as the hot water hit his skin, the heat and pressure beginning to relax his sore muscles. After dealing with a few clever villains that afternoon, he was exhausted both mentally and physically but something about the scalding temperature of the streams hitting his skin had him feeling a bit more rejuvenated than he expected.

Forcing himself to leave his steamy slice of heaven so as not to waste too much water, the hero trekked back into his bedroom to change, slipping into a pair of heather grey sweatpants and a dark purple Ectoplasm branded t-shirt. Out of the corner of his eye, Midoriya saw the bento box he'd dropped onto his bed with him when he came inside and his lips curled up at the reminder of his cute new neighbour.

After he had the container freshly washed, Midoriya contemplated whether or not he should simply leave it in front of Nishida's door or if he should interrupt her evening to return it. Not wanting to be a pest, he opted for writing a quick thank you note and placing it outside her apartment but the moment he opened his door and smelled the heavenly aroma that filled the hall, his stomach acted on his behalf and he knocked on her door.

Metal scraped against metal as Nishida unlocked her deadbolt and when she opened the door and saw Midoriya standing before her in such a casual manner, a blush immediately crawled across her cheeks. While it wasn't exactly surprising to see him she hoped she would, she just wasn't expecting to see him in this state. His dark green hair was mostly wet and beads of moisture dripped down onto his shirt, accentuating the already strained fit around his broad shoulders as the fabric clung to his muscular form while his sweatpants hung perfectly off his hips.

Shaking her head to rid her mind of impure thoughts, Nishida returned herself to the present. "Oh, um, Hi Midoriya."

"Hey, Nishida," he smiled sweetly, holding up the container and folded piece of fabric with his note tucked underneath. "Thank you for lunch, that was really nice of you."

Hearing the sizzle of her frying pan, Nishida grimaced slightly and looked over her shoulder for a second. "I've just got dinner on the stove. Wanna come in?"

"O-oh," Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck. "I couldn't possibly inco-"

Growing more nervous about burning her food, Nishida reached out for his wrist and tugged him inside. "You could possibly," she smiled, letting go of him and speed-walking back to the kitchen. "Lock the door behind you, please!"

A quiet chuckle left Midoriya's lips as he watched her rush away before locking the door as she'd requested. Popping himself up on the same stool he'd sat on the previous night, the hero glanced over at her phone beside him that blared Push It by Salt-N-Pepa and couldn't help but smile when he also heard Nishida begin to sing along.