Chapter Text
Amidst the busy streets, two young boys were just about to enter a store together when in the corner of their eye they noticed an enormous villain wreaking havoc upon the streets! Upon hearing the cries of innocent citizens, like a true hero, one young hero by the name of Deku abandoned his possessions and rushed to the scene!
Despite the villain's quirk to grow larger than surrounding buildings, Deku did his utmost to take him down! Leaping swiftly high up above, Deku clenched his fist and was prepared to smash this evildoer's face in! However, his attempt failed as the enemy caught sight of Deku in the corner of his eye, swatted at him, and caused the boy to go flying backwards until he slammed into concrete!
However, Endeavor was also at the scene! A myriad of flames engrossed the villain and it seemed that this would be enough to take him down until...
"It's fine now - because I am here!" he exclaimed. A voice that touched the hearts of many. All Might saw Deku face first on the ground. When he noticed that the boy was covered in bruises, that's when he looked back at the villain. It took one attack. The problem was gone. Almost as quick as the villain's defeat, paparazzi appeared with flashing cameras. After a thumbs up, All Might returned his attention to Deku to ensure that he made it to the hospital.
Shortly after the event, Izuku was unconscious in a hospital bed with every visible area of his body littered with bruises. Not too long passed before he was able to regain consciousness. The moment his eyes shot open he scanned the room and in the corner of his eye he noticed another boy in the room with him - Shouto. Sat in a chair far from the bed, dressed in casual clothing, tapping his feet to pass the time.
"You're here?" asked Izuku, his face lighting up upon seeing Shouto.
"Yeah. Glad you're awake." the friend replied.
"I'm glad too!" said Izuku. "Thanks for coming to see me."
"Yeah. I was with you before that incident happened, so..." answered Shouto.
"Thanks again." he sad, appreciating that even someone as busy as Shouto would take time to visit him. However, he was still curious. "Are you the first to visit?"
"The second, after All Might." explained Shouto. "All Might dealt with the villain and then brought you here, but you were still unconscious. I arrived when he was still waiting for you to wake up, but he said he quickly had something to attend to, so he would leave while I was here with you and return shortly." he said, gaining another thank you from Izuku for the explanation.
"Sorry, but my memory is still a little foggy... why were we together before that?" asked Izuku.
"I was buying a few things." explained Shouto. "You happened to be in the same place at the same time."
Izuku's memories of what happened beforehand began to return, making him sit up and cause sharp pain in his strained muscles.
"Ouch!" cried Izuku!
"Calm down, Midoriya." said Shouto softly. He walked over to Izuku and aided him with his hands to gently lay him down on his back again. "You should be resting."
Izuku nodded in compliance, putting all his effort into holding back his urge to blush. Putting his hand to his head, the wounded boy began to focus.
"You're right. Anyway, I think I remember a lot more now." he agreed. "My mom and I were watching TV together when commercials came on..."
Izuku slowly began to mumble and Shouto wasn't incredibly interested, yet there was nothing better to do. He would listen to the continuous mumbling.
"...and after finding nothing in the fridge to eat, she said she would go shopping when we were done. I wanted to save her the trouble, so I volunteered." he said.
"I see. How selfless of you." replied Shouto.
"Heh, not really." smiled Izuku, shutting his eyes and rubbing the back of his head. "You did the same anyway though, right?"
"No. My father told me to go and buy things, so I was doing as he said." explained Shouto.
"I'd forgotten, sorry." he apologized.
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Nevermind." said Izuku. "What did he want you to get?" he continued. Izuku was trying his best to make conversation.
"It's not important." he said, turning his eyes away from Izuku to gaze at the walls.
"That doesn't matter, I'll listen to anything." chuckled the injured boy.
"I'd rather not tell you..." said Shouto, with his eyes now looking at the ground, as if his mood had dampened.
"Doesn't this mean you still haven't bought any of what your father asked for?" said Izuku.
"Huh?"
"Neither of us finished what we set out to do, because of that villain..."
"Yes, but after everything that happened, I'm sure I can leave it for tomorrow. More importantly, I've been thinking about what you did-" he spoke until he heard someone twisting the handle on the door to the room. Upon entering, the man exerted a strong presence with his huge body and his huge smile - it was All Might!
"Hey there!" he greeted jovially, with his loud voice displaying his enthusiasm.
The mood was raised and Izuku couldn't help but form a smile on his injured face. Even Shouto had the faintest curve resembling a smile on his lips! It was as if new life had bloomed in the room from All Might merely entering it! However, Shouto felt that he'd be getting in the way if he stayed with Izuku any longer and left after greeting All Might and giving his friend a goodbye.
Shouto visited many different places before actually going home after he left the hospital. Home wasn't a place he ever hurried to. It was dark out by the time he returned home, but that didn't stop his father. Seconds after Shouto shut the door behind him, Enji was already questioning his son.
"Did you get what I asked you to get?" said Enji. Shouto couldn't see him because Enji was in a different room, but he still recognized the impatience in his father's voice.
"My apologies - I didn't. I spent a lot of the day on a hospital bed after the attack." replied Shouto, raising his voice for Enji to also hear. He hoped that Enji would understand that he didn't finish buying anything because of the incident.
Enji was silent for a few seconds while Shouto awaited a reply. The silence almost made him uneasy, he knew there was a possibility he could have pissed off his father.
"I saw you at the scene... you weren't hurt at all." said Enji. "Where have you been?!" he shouted. The man's voice had risen; Shouto felt mild anger in it.
Shouto also understood that his father was likely still angry from the incident earlier in the day - after all, All Might did show up and do a better job than him.
"I really was just in the hospital all day." he said, once again lying to his father. No response. He was relieved when Enji left the matter alone, whether he knew it was a lie or not.
Enji had finally finished firing questions at his son, so Shouto thought he'd finally be able to get on with his own business now. Yet, on the way to his room, his father slipped in one final question.
"That Midoriya kid... he's in your class isn't he?" asked Enji.
Shouto stopped in his tracks at the surprise of hearing Izuku's name come from his father's mouth. Did his father already know he was lying and that he was actually with Izuku? He could only hope not. The response to his father was a simple "yes."
Enji continued.
"Don't associate with the boy." commanded Enji. "He got involved in today's incident without a hero license - he broke the law."
Shouto was yet again relieved that his father seemed to not have caught onto the lie.
"I won't. He's just another student in my class." obeyed Shouto, wanting nothing more than to hear his father stop talking.
"Good. He was stupid to get involved and breaking the law will hurt his reputation. You don't want something like that near you when you ascend to your well deserved position as the number one hero." he said, but at this point, Shouto was rolling his eyes while continuing to walk to his own room. The speech continued.
"That boy was merely a stepping stone for you. He was good for evoking my side of you! Nothing more."
Shouto didn't take the lecture to heart in the slightest! He was grateful for what Izuku had done for him during the tournament and would continue to treat him as an equal. Disobeying his father would be easy, especially when he already despised the man. Enji had nothing left to say, and Shouto went to his room to rest.
"How are you feeling now, my boy?" asked Yagi. Hours had passed since he visited Izuku and he had reverted back to his skinny form.
"Still hurt. Everywhere." he jokingly says, exaggerating the pain.
"Seriously?! Maybe I really should go and get recovery girl-" he panics, instantly rising from his chair!
"No, I was joking All Might! I'm doing okay." the boy says. "Besides, didn't recovery girl say she won't be healing me anymore?"
"Yes..." replied Yagi, evidently looking like he felt quite dumb for forgetting that. "But it doesn't hurt to ask!" he continued, to which Izuku chuckled and agreed.
"Don't laugh, Midoriya. You're in trouble." he said, taking on a more serious tone. He sat back down on the chair and gazed at Izuku while he spoke.
"You got involved in the attack, despite not having a hero license! That's illegal!" exclaimed the man, although his attempted serious tone was ruined by the chunks of blood he spat out.
"I-I... I forgot about that. I just wanted to help-"
"I know. You already know that's why you inherited One For All." he said, with Izuku nodding in agreement. "I'm proud, but at the same time, you need to be realistic. Think before you-" two blood filled coughs sprung out from Yagi before he could finish his speech, but the younger boy understood what his teacher meant.
"I promise I will, All Might." replied Izuku, finally getting Yagi to smile again.
"So... Todoroki was here before me." said Yagi, instantly switching the conversation, as if he wanted to talk about this from the start.
"Yeah, he wanted to make sure I was okay." said Izuku, now avoiding eye contact with his teacher.
"Of course! He was quick to come see you!" said Yagi, grinning a little.
"He was, but it's probably because I was with him before the incident happened." explained Izuku.
"Oh... well, what did you two talk about?" continued Yagi, trying to get something out of Izuku.
"Not much. He only asked if I was alright and a few other things." the boy said.
"A few other things?" the man repeated, increasing his grin tenfold. Izuku began to understand what his teacher was getting at and it left him with an incredibly red blush!
"N-no! Nothing like that. I wish." he retorted.
Yagi was the only man that knew about Izuku's strong feelings for his classmate, Shouto. It was an attraction that had begun to develop ever since the tournament fight he had with Shouto. The icy boy who had kept to himself the whole time, opened up to Izuku, of all people, even before the two students fought it out! Izuku found himself wanting to spend more time with him, realizing that there was much more to the boy than meets the eye. He was intriguing.
Yagi had found out about this attraction a few days prior. Izuku would repeatedly mention Shouto in any of their conversations - even when it wasn't necessary. Not only that, but Izuku would always smile much more when talking about Shouto or being around Shouto, a detail Yagi didn't miss! Naturally, he doubted his suspicions. Shouto is a guy, the chances less likely. He was also fairly sure that Izuku was interested in Ochako, a much more likely possibility. Just like Shouto, Izuku had more smiles for Ochako than most other classmates too. Despite all of it, Yagi had been sure that Izuku had some sort of special interest in Shouto, be it romantic or not.
But when he jokingly suggested that Izuku and Shouto should get date one day in private, Izuku opened up.
"That wouldn't be so bad. I would go on a date with him any day." laughed Izuku. Yagi laughed with him.
"Hehe, I didn't know you had that kind of humor in you, my boy!" he laughed - but Izuku didn't.
"All Might... can I tell you something?" said Izuku, now with a straight face. "I think I have intimate feelings for Shouto."
Yagi was just as surprised as Izuku had been when he first realized it! He was unaware that he was capable of feeling this way for another boy, or even feeling this way for another person right after he had slowly lost romantic interest in Ochako.
Despite the surprise, Yagi was nothing but supportive.
"Hehe... I still think you should ask him out on a dat-" said Yagi, unable to prevent his enormous grin. He was interrupted by a cherry red Izuku that was now exclaiming!
"I'm not asking him anything of any kind!" he shouted in embarrassment at first, but was quick to calm down. "I'd rather ignore it. I want to ignore it." he said with a much quieter voice. He still refused to give All Might eye contact.
"Why would you want to ignore it?" asked Yagi, furrowing his eyebrow in confusion.
"Well! It's just... this isn't how people are. We're both guys. Do I even really like him? Even then, as a guy, there's zero chance he'd feel the same way." he explained.
"But what if he does feel the same way? Why not just ask?" said Yagi, only having more questions.
"Because! What would he think of me? A guy asking out another guy? Even if he didn't mind that sort of thing, what if he says no? Let's be realistic! He's got priorities, like becoming a better hero! And so do I!" the boy worries.
"Listen, Izuku... I completely agree." he said bluntly.
"W-what?! You're not going to say that it's worth a shot?! You were the one that said it doesn't hurt to ask!" says a shocked Izuku after receiving a genuine response that he ever expected.
"Nope. You told me every reason why you shouldn't say anything." chuckled All Might. "I'm just kidding! I see your issue. Go at your own pace, things'll be okay." he says, reassuring Izuku. "I'm always here to listen if you need it!" the man proudly said with a large smile.
"Thank you, All Might." he smiles. "I forgot another reason. If Shouto and I ever did start a relationship- which I'm sure would never happen, I'm confident his father wouldn't allow it." he added.
"Endeavor? Haha, you're right my boy! He definitely wouldn't! This is looking a little hopeless for you." he laughed, forcing that laugh to cover the upsetting truth. Izuku forced a laugh alongside him until they both sighed.
"Well, Izuku, I'm just glad to hear you're all right. You did a brave, stupid thing today! Good on you!" he said, arising from the chair once again. "I've got places to head to now, so this is goodbye. Get a good rest in here my boy!" said Yagi, giving Izuku one last smile before exiting the room, leaving Izuku alone on the bed.
Alone, Izuku only had himself to keep himself company. He thought to himself.
"He's right... it's hopeless."