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"So this is where you were," Todoroki's amused tone drifts up from behind him, the heavy door to the roof creaks as it shuts.
"Fuck off," Katsuki says mildly, as close to a civil greeting as he can give, keeping his eyes locked on the horizon, "the hell were you looking for me for?"
Todoroki comes up beside him, leaning against the banister, "you looked upset."
"I always look upset."
There's a snort, "fair enough. I mean you looked affected by what they said."
Katsuki doesn't respond. There's no need to confirm the obvious here.
"Looks don't..." Todoroki starts, then pauses, seeming to roll his words around in his head before trying again, "Looks alone don't determine how likable someone is. Besides, you're not ugly. If anyone looks weird and misshapen at all, it'd be me with this big scar."
"You honestly think that scar makes you ugly?" Katsuki breathes, incredulous, turning to properly face the other.
"I've got weird hair too," Todoroki says with a firm nod, bland earnesty the only thing Katsuki can see in his eyes, "overall I'm a rather weirdly put-together person. That doesn't make me any less likable."
And Katsuki can't help it, he laughs.
"I don't know if you're just dumb or blind or both, but you are aware that you've been voted... ugh, 'UA's Most Eligible Bachelor' for three semesters running now?"
Todoroki, again, nods, "yes. Why?"
"And you think that has nothing at all to do with how attractive you are?"
"I didn't..." he blinks, head dipping as he seems to consider the implications of this for the first time, "so it's because people think I look attractive?"
"Well, it's not based on your intelligence, that's for sure."
"I see," Todoroki says, clearly not seeing at all, "in that case, you should be considered even more beautiful, no?"
Katsuki ignores the slow creep of the flush under his collar and huffs, turning away. Where the hell does this bastard get off on just casually using words like 'beautiful'?
"What the hell kind of hoops do you have to jump through to get to that conclusion?"
"It seems very simple to me," Todoroki says, with an easy shrug, "between the two of us, you're more beautiful than me. So if I'm considered attractive, then you would be even more attractive overall."
"How the-" Katsuki starts, chokes slightly on his spit, "who the fuck have you heard saying that I'm beautiful?! Have you seen this face?"
So he pulls one of his nastiest expressions, one eye squinting and lips fully drawn back in a toothy snarl, jaw jutting and veins popping everywhere.
"It is hard to ignore your face," Todoroki simply agrees, a strange smile crooking his lips. Weirdo. Stupid, handsome, weirdo.
"See? Like sure, I keep my body in good condition, and I guess that looks good? But everyone in the Hero course is expected to do at least that, so that hardly counts for anything."
He huffs, spinning back around to slump his forearms against the banister again.
"Look, I'm know that being ugly or not has nothing to do with being likable, or whatever. Just so happens that I am both ugly and unlikable, at the same time. 's not rocket science."
"That's ridiculous," Todoroki says, "plenty of people like you. Like Midoriya-"
"He's brain dead and likes everyone."
"And Kirishima-"
"I saw him cry over a dead fly once."
"And Kaminari-"
"His brain is literally fried."
"And me," Todoroki states, firmly squaring his jaw.
Katsuki sighs, "you're the worst of the lot, weirdo."
"I don't really know why this is so hard for you to accept, but Bakugou," Todoroki grabs his shoulders, spinning him gently to face him, "you are beautiful, inside and out. If to no one else then at least to me, and if you think I'm attractive and likable, then my opinion has to count for something too."
"Why are you being so insistent?" Katsuki asks, looking into Todoroki's heterochromatic eyes and hoping he can't hear the way Katsuki's heart is thundering, "it's not like any of this matters anyway."
"It matters, Bakugou, because you're my friend, and I don't like hearing you be so hard on yourself."
Stupid, stupid, stupid...
He slaps Todoroki's hands off.
"We're not friends," he growls, folding his arms on the banister and burying his chin in them. The sun's starting to set, have they really been up here this long? "Stop insisting we are."
He can feel Todoroki's gaze boring into his back, making his skin prickle. Then he says, "You're a good and dear friend of mine, Bakugou, and I'll insist it everyday until my feelings can reach you. I'll give it my all and won't give up."
The tempo of Katsuki's thundering heart echoes Todoroki's fading footsteps. When Todoroki leaves, Katsuki clutches at the hollow ache left in his chest.
"They have reached me. That's the problem."