Chapter Text
"Today we'll be having another practical lesson." said Aizawa, apathetic as ever as he began the day's class.
Instantly, most of the students erupted with cheers and some even pumped their fist in the air! Shouto certainly didn't express his excitement in the same way as the rest of the class. Regardless, he was happy to be given another opportunity to show off his skill! Second place in the sports festival is good, but not good enough.
"I'll give you a brief explanation of what we'll be doing." he continued, causing 1-A to fall silent before him. "You'll all be paired up, again."
Shouto could have sworn he actually felt a pair of eyes gaze at him after Aizawa said 'paired up'.
"The place we'll be going is a closed off, abandoned area that used to be part of a city. We've hidden several boxes throughout this large location. They look like this..."
The apathetic teacher reached to the ground to pick up his example of one of the boxes the class was going to be searching for. They were large cubes, about the size of Aizawa's entire chest area.
"These things are pretty heavy. Most of you will only be able to carry one at a time."
The boxes were intentionally made to have a similar weight to your average Japanese man. It would be difficult, even unsafe to carry more than one, unless your quirk could help you with that, like Mezou.
"Your goal is retrieve as many of these as possible. You'll bring them to the entrance point and then go out searching for more to retrieve. If you haven't caught on yet, pretend the boxes are civilians. Although, you don't exactly have villains in your way or fires to pass through… for today at least."
Meanwhile, Shouto tapped his finger on the desk contemplating who he might work best with.
Yaoyorozu, perhaps? We've worked well together before and we get along...
His eyes continued to survey the classroom.
Midoriya and I get along as well, so he's a good choice too. I definitely felt his determination during our fight - it's extraordinary. I'm determined too, but he's something else.
"That's basically what you need to know. Now, here's All Might." said Aizawa. On cue, All Might jumped in through the class door - a flashy entrance!
All Might's energetic nature never failed as a positive influence. On arrival, he furthered the explanation about what the class was going to do today.
"However, before that, who can tell me some of the things you'll need to keep in mind to succeed?" said All Might. Shouto thought up answers like lightspeed!
Easy. Teamwork, strength, speed-
"Teamwork." answered Izuku with his hand raised.
"Exactly! Good answer, Midoriya!"
"Speed." said Shouto.
"That's also correct." said All Might. "Any other answers?"
Wish he'd say a bit more...
All Might had long since finished talking to the class. The students of Class 1-A had taken a trip to the location they'd be completing their practical in. Each student merely needed to take a single step out of the coach, then they were right at the gates of the abandoned area.
What they saw before them were damaged buildings, roads, signs, vehicles and more; quite the contrast to the bright blue sky above them. The buildings were tall, but almost every floor of the property looked as if a hero and villain had gone toe to toe inside it. The amount of land they were able to explore was massive; an entire town would definitely fit into it!
"Now I'll arrange you into teams!" smiled All Might, making his way to the front of the group.
He paired up the students swiftly, as if the pairings were completely random.
"Shoji and Ojiro. Jiro and Bakugou. Kirishima and Aoyama…" it continued until only four students remained. Izuku, Shouto, Ochako and Momo.
"Urakara, you go with… Yaoyorozu." he said.
"That leaves just two…" said the hero, desperately holding back a grin. "Shouto, Izuku - you're a pair."
Both boys nodded while wearing a straight face, yet Shouto was both relieved and irritated that Izuku of all people wound up as his partner. He acknowledged Izuku as a great partner and the best choice for success in the day's test, but he wasn't content with that. His goal was number one; outshining Izuku would put him a step closer!
Once the pairs were decided, All Might wasted no time in getting things started.
"Collect as many boxes as possible, then bring them back here!" he busts the gate open. "You have 15 minutes. Ready, go!"
With that, every student ran in past All Might, searching the abandoned area for boxes!
13 minutes passed smoothly. Shouto and Izuku were excelling as a pair, ahead of the rest of their class - a great demonstration of their ability to work together! It was looking like they were going to finish with a better performance than the rest of the class!
2 minutes to go.
The leading pair continued to run through the abandoned city, eyes panning left and right, scouring for any remaining boxes. That's when the two stumbled across an empty road. From the distance, you could see it was a dead end. It must have been blocked off by all the destruction that happened around the area.
Izuku knew there was only 2 minutes left, so one look at the road and he had already decided he wanted to take a different direction.
"Damn it, a dead end, and we've seen no more boxes anywhere else!" said Izuku.
He hurried, as if he urgently needed to retrieve more of these boxes as soon as possible. The two were well aware that they were doing better than the rest, but Izuku still wouldn't stop until he'd given it his all. A trait that Shouto admired.
"Wait, Izuku. Look closer." he said, pointing in the direction of the dead end road. "At the end there. A box."
Izuku did as Shouto said, and sure enough, there was one last box sitting there. Instinctively, the hero in training zipped down the road at great speeds to retrieve the last box they were able to. Meanwhile, Shouto hadn't taken a step at all. Instead, he patiently watched Izuku handle the last box himself, not that it would take too long.
Then he heard a loud noise. Izuku heard it too - the sound of windows shattering and… explosions. Louder and louder, by each second, even louder!
"DEKUUUUUUU!" shouts Katsuki, bursting through the building in mid-air, shattering all the windows surrounding the road! He was diving for Izuku!
Katsuki's impact destroyed the ground around him but his target, Izuku, was quick enough to dodge and escape - box in hand!
"That box is mine!" he shouts again, shooting towards the boy who was now running away. Another dodge, and Katsuki became even more furious than he already was.
"Get back here!" he shouts once more, shooting towards Izuku one more time! This time, Katsuki almost managed to grab him. However, Shouto wouldn't allow that to happen. Katsuki was stopped by the sudden appearance of a large wall of ice! Katsuki couldn't have been more than a few footsteps away from the two, but the ice was an obstacle. Separated from the wild Katsuki, this was Shouto and Izuku's chance to make a beeline for the exit!
"Go, Izuku!" shouted Shouto, focused on keeping Katsuki away from the two. "I can slow him down while you take the final box to the exit!"
"But-"
"We don't have much time! If he keeps fighting us for it, you won't make it back in time." he said confidently.
With that, Izuku gave him a simple nod and headed for the entrance as quick as he could.
"Good. Now all I need to do is hold him back for about a minute-"
After a large explosion, shards of ice, smashed concrete, drying blood and an unconscious body on the ground.
"M-Medic!"
Shortly after the event, Shouto was in a hospital bed. After regaining consciousness, he awoke to see Izuku sitting in the room with him.
"You're awake!" said Izuku. The joy in him was clear - his smile beamed and Shouto couldn't resist but smile a little in response.
"What happened? How long have I been in here?"
"It's been a few hours. You were knocked out during our lesson today. Bakugou used his grenadier bracers.." explained Izuku, standing up and walking over to the bed. "The ice may have stopped him for a short amount of time, but he wasn't far from you. He t-tore right through the ice and you were quite close to the explosion."
"Midoriya? Are you alright?" asked Shouto, noticeably in pain. It was concerning to him that Izuku was on the verge of tears when simply explaining why he was now in a hospital bed.
"I-I'm fine…" he said, fighting hard to keep tears back.
Shouto's expression was one of genuine confusion. He tried to guess why Izuku looked upset, yet he just couldn't come to a reasonable conclusion.
"Izuku, I mean it. What's upsetting you?" he asked again.
Izuku took a few seconds to calm himself down, otherwise he'd end up in tears. He didn't have much trouble telling others how he felt on the inside, so all it took was a deep breath.
"I feel guilty." eyes averted in shame, he continued. "I left you there. It was a team task… I should have known better." he confessed, his eyes looking to the ground instead of facing Shouto directly.
"Midoriya? I apologise. You shouldn't feel guilty…" his speech was slow - unsurprising due to the ache in his body. "I told you to leave. I made the decision that it was better for you to get the box back in time… and look where it got me."
There's a knock at the door - All Might! Before giving them the time to respond, All Might says he's coming in anyway and opens the door to see Izuku standing next to Shouto's bed.
"Oh! You're here, Midoriya?" said All Might. The hero went from looking surprised to smirking in almost an instant. It took one quick analysis of the situation. Two young boys. One of them having a huge crush on the other. It definitely wasn't the right time to barge in.
"Heh, I'll leave you two alone. Get well soon, Todoroki! I'll visit later." said the hero. He hadn't even taken more than two steps into the room before he was already out of it again, but what he witnessed in there kept that firm smirk locked on his face! He thought to himself.
"Those two… did I interrupt again?! Damn it! Or maybe he hasn't said anything yet… maybe he won't say anything at all. I need to find out later!"
Meanwhile, things seemed strange to Shouto.
What's with All Might suddenly leaving? Maybe something came up… but then what's with him wanting to 'leave us two alone?'
"What was that about-" he wonders aloud until he is cut off again by the ache in his body.
"I think you need rest!" the green-haired boy suggested, blushing over the words their teacher had said in front of them.
"I'll be fine, Midoriya." he said. "Is there something you're not telling me?" he asked, a power in his voice that demanded Izuku tell him the truth. As much as he could, he shifted his head towards Izuku so that he could look right into his eyes. Shouto glared at his friend.
Izuku was shaking. He couldn't lie. Not to the boy he had a massive crush on - not when he stared at him like this. Besides, he wanted to tell Shouto. Ever since Shouto pulled him to the side in the cafeteria and said he wanted to confess. Maybe, just maybe… there was a slim chance that Shouto liked him too.
Slowly walking over to his friend, his next words took an insane amount of courage to muster up.
He let it all out.
"I feel a certain way about you!" he quickly said, louder than usual, redder than ever.
Huh? Shouto's expression was a mix of surprise and utter confusion. This was a completely unexpected response!
"Could you… explain that?" he replied, still trying to understand what was going on.
"Explain it? I don't want to have to say it again..." the boy was now covering the majority of his face with his hands.
"M-Midoriya… you're being really weird." a slight irritation was beginning to build up inside Shouto - it was clearly evident within his voice. "Why are you being strange now too? Why did All Might leave when he saw you here with me? I need answers!" he said. He was letting out more emotion, despite the additional pain in his body that came with it.
"Because I like you, Todoroki!" he exclaimed. There. He said it.
The two were silent for just a few seconds. It was understandable, Izuku couldn't open his mouth after that. He needed to know exactly how Shouto would react.
"Midoriya, I know you like me, I like you too! We're friends, that's how that works-" he was saying until he was cut off yet again by the ache.
"Maybe you should speak less Todoroki…" he shyly suggested.
"Look, Midoriya, I'm in the hospital. I don't have the time for this - I just want to understand. I'm very confused." he said, and he meant it. He was still confused and he still believed he wasn't being told the details.
"What? Todoroki… I told you already-"
"If you're just going to keep confusing me, I don't really need you here right now. Tell me the truth or leave." said an impatient Shouto.
"Todoroki, I'm sorry." Izuku began. He wanted to calm things first. "Do you really understand what I meant when I said I liked you?"
"Of course - you're fond of me, whatever reason that may be. Admiration, our similar interest or whatever it is you like me for. That's why we're friends." said Shouto.
"Todoroki, that's not what I meant. I'm sorry, I should have been more clear with you, I was just too scared to say it outright." the young boy said. It would take great confidence to do. Now was the time. No sugarcoating it, but just the scary, brutal, honest truth.
"When I say I like you, what I mean is… being around you is different to being around anyone else. Every time I watch you, in anything you do, you somehow put an uncontrollable smile on my face. You don't even have to be in the same room as me. I could just… think about you and I smile. It would make me look stupid around other people. Thinking about you is something I do everyday, every hour of the day, because in my head I keep thinking up what it would be like if I could just be with you… you know?"
Shouto silently stared, clear surprise plastered on his face. Izuku continued.
"I know it sounds weird… it is weird, after all. It's like those couples you'll see get together on TV because they love each other. Except, I think this is how I feel about you. It's intense, powerful, and I can't hide it away. Whenever I'm with you, there's an impulse within me. I want to grab your hand whenever I see it unclenched - hold it, kiss it. Or when you standing, I want to go in for a hug. I think I'm in love with you. Or if your face is ever close to mine, I just want to place my lips onto yours…" suddenly, Izuku stopped speaking.
Though fearful, he took one quick look at Shouto. The injured student only looked surprised, but not disgusted. Phew.
"Please say something please say something please say something-"
"Midoriya." he began. "I would have asked if you were sure about this, but I believe you already know for sure that this is how you feel, right? However…" and after that, Shouto didn't know what to say. He paused for a few seconds, but that felt like minutes to Izuku. His heart was beating so hard it could break out of his chest at any moment!
"You were right. It's weird… it's different…"
"I know… but I didn't want to lie to you. That's why All Might was acting strange, as you put it."
"All Might knows about this?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He was curious to know what the number one hero's thoughts on something so different was.
"I told him a while back. He was catching on, so I eventually told him everything. I needed someone to talk to about it, after all." he said, still standing beside the bed.
"I see." he said, and another moment of silence ensued. What now? What was he supposed to say to the other boy who just confessed to having feelings for him?
"Uh… how do you feel about me, Todoroki?" the boy slowly asked. His heart was pounding at even faster now - it could explode at any minute!
"I don't think I could explain how I feel about you in as much detail as you did about me," he said, chuckling. "but I can say… I just think of you as a friend. I'm sorry." and with that, a large unbearable pain had awoken in Izuku's chest.
"Those sort of things are new to me, Midoriya. I don't have the time to think about it when I've got bigger things going on, not to mention I have to focus on becoming a better hero. If I let my guard down, you'll be way ahead of me. I can't let that happen." he jokingly says, smiling at Izuku. Sadly, he received no smile back.
"I understand." said Izuku. "I'll just leave now. Rest well." said Izuku. He tried to smile, but quickly gave up on that front. He turned his head away so Shouto wouldn't be able to see him slowly starting to tear up.
"Wait Midoriya, do you not want to talk about-" but it was futile. Izuku left, shutting the door with a quiet thud, leaving Shouto all alone.