𝚂𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 - 𝙸. 𝙼𝚒𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚡 𝙾𝙲

11 - "Friends"

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Nishida floated around her kitchen while she prepared Midoriya's favourite dinner, a smile permanently on her lips knowing she was going to get to see him soon. Her hair was still slightly damp from the rushed shower she'd taken when she'd arrived home but she'd pulled it back into a braid when she no longer had the patience to continue trying to blow dry it. After fifteen minutes of staring into the abyss of her closet to choose an outfit for tonight, she opted for comfort...it wasn't as if it were a date, right? They hung out all the time, why would this be any different?

Midoriya had rushed home as soon as possible, but politely trying to wrap up conversations with co-workers who loved to chat had always been a struggle for him and so he was a little out of sorts by the time he reached their building. Knowing he'd tumbled through the wrong window purely by the overwhelming aroma of sautéd onions, Midoriya's embarrassment was temporarily halted when he heard Nishida softly singing to herself while she cooked and he couldn't help the smile that decorated his lips.

Having heard her floorboards creak under his weight once he stepped off her bed, Nishida quietly chuckled to herself before she called out to him. "Did you forget about the door again, Midoriya?"

Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck as he walked into the kitchen, the rosy hue of his cheeks only serving to accentuate the cute freckles that resided on them. "Maybe we should get you a lock for that window."

"There is one, it's just broken and the landlord keeps putting off fixing it," she hummed, glancing over at him to stick out her tongue teasingly. "But there's no point in locking it when the only person who ever visits me uses it as a door half the time."

"It's safer if you lock it, Nishida. You still lock the door even if I'm not coming over, don't you?" Midoriya's mind began to race as he considered other potential complications. "And what if someone noticed me using it and then tried it themselves? What if a villain thought this was my apartment? Or worse, what if they knew it was yours and wanted to use you against me an-"

"Hey," Nishida interrupted his chain of anxiety-provoked thoughts with a gentle tone, peering over at him from her spot behind the stove. "If any of that ever happened, the number one hero lives next door. And even if you're not home, I know I can call. If it makes you feel any better though, I'll try to bug our landlord again tomorrow."

Exhaling a large breath, Midoriya ran a gloved hand through his forest green hair. "That's a good plan. I'm sorry I keep making that mistake, I guess I wasn't paying as much attention because I was rushing and didn't want to be late. I need to be more careful."

"Midoriya, it's no problem. I trust you," Nishida offered him a kind smile before grabbing the pork cutlets and dredging them through the batter she'd prepared. "You should change into something more comfortable though, dinner will be ready in ten and it's been a while since you've had a meal that didn't need to be reheated."

I trust you. The three words Midoriya didn't realize he needed to hear until that moment brought him a sense of relief and he found his anxiety dissipating. "Right! I'll be back shortly!"

Nishida shook her head with a laugh as Midoriya zipped away like a flash of lightning. The second his door was shut behind him, he was tearing off pieces of his jumpsuit and hopped into the bathroom to take the fastest shower known to mankind. While vigorously towel-drying his hair in front of the mirror, a small rectangular glass bottle nestled against the corner of the counter caught his eyes and he contemplated if using cologne would be overkill. After a long day of physical activity, he didn't want to smell bad around Nishida and despite having just showered, there was still a nagging voice in the back of his mind worried that he didn't smell fresh as a daisy and so he opted for just a tiny spritz of it because she probably won't even notice anyway.