Work Text:
“How do I even start?”
Midoriya looked helplessly at that small collection of wooden boards, screws and nails, trying to find some logic where there seemed to be none.
“I think we should leave the shelves and drawers for last,” suggested Uraraka. “Let’s start with the bigger ones. Deku, pass me the screwdriver.”
Midoriya, who was still trying to figure out how all of those pieces would become a cabinet, handed her the hammer. Uraraka simply stared at him, until he noticed something was wrong.
“That’s not a screwdriver,” she said.
He looked at the tool he was holding, finally realizing his mistake.
“Ah… I was distracted!”
But it was already too late: Uraraka wasn’t going to let it go that easily.
“C’mon Deku…” she said with a provocative smile. “You can’t be that incompetent with basic tools.”
“I said I was distracted!” said Midoriya, gesturing in her direction — a habit he inherited from Iida. “Stop laughing at me!”
But, of course, she didn’t.
They had gathered together that day to help Todoroki and Inasa move to their new house. It was an old, small place, but with a good localization, only ten minutes away from the train station. Besides, after some maintenance and a fresh coat of paint, it gained a new, cozy aura.
“Poor Izuku…” said Todoroki, watching the drama that unfolded a few feet away. “Ochako can be cruel when she wants to.”
“You’re right… I feel bad for him,” agreed Asui with a brief laugh, then raised a thin, rectangular piece of wood. “Where do you think this one goes?”
“Probably on the back… Here.”
They placed it on the back part of the narrow shelves on the desk they were assembling.
“It seems to fit,” said Todoroki. “Hold it in place.”
Todoroki got a few nails and the hammer — screwdriver — from Midoriya, who was still suffering with Uraraka. Soon after, Yoarashi and Iida entered the room carrying a couch, placing it on the floor.
“My back hurts!” groaned Yoarashi.
Todoroki watched as he stretched his body.
“Sit down for a while,” he said, “we can do the rest ourselves.”
Yoarashi looked at him, his eyes acquiring a suspicious look.
“You’re being unusually kind…” he said.
“I’ll need your help later to set up the kitchen,” proceeded Todoroki. “You’ll be useless to me if your back is still aching.”
“Of course…” Yoarashi shook his head. “Can’t you just admit that you care about me?”
Todoroki simply smiled at him. At that point, it went without saying.
“I’ll help Iida bringing the rest inside,” Uraraka got up, walking to the door with hasty steps. “Try not to break anything, Deku!”
“I’m not that incompetent!”
Yoarashi laughed, approaching them, taking a look at that half-assembled furniture, that just started to become recognizable.
“Let me help you!” he said.
Todoroki stared at him.
“I told you to rest.”
“It’s not that bad,” answered Yoarashi. “I’m already feeling better!”
“Just don’t push yourself,” asked Asui, then looked at Midoriya, who had started mumbling to himself with a puzzled look. “Izuku, do you need help?”
He looked at her, brows furrowed and puffed cheeks. He could be among the top heroes now and have legions of fans all around the country, but, in many ways, he still resembled his fifteen-year-old self.
“Why don’t anyone trust me with this?” he asked, frustrated.
“Because you have no idea of what you’re doing,” said Todoroki.
“I… have…” not even Midoriya himself seemed convinced of his own words. “Kind of…”
“I’ll go help him,” said Asui. “You two can finish the desk.”
“Alright!”
Yoarashi sat beside Todoroki, who showed him what to do next. They spent the whole afternoon like that, stopping only to order food for lunch and take a few breaks. At the end of the afternoon, they still had many things to unpack, but the furniture was already in place — thanks, in great part, to Uraraka’s quirk. It could still be far from finished, but was starting to feel like a home.
“Thanks for the help!” said Yoarashi, when their friends were about to leave.
“Don’t mention it!” said Iida.
“You owe us dinner on our next visit,” said Uraraka. “As long as you don’t make us work again…”
“That sounds good!” agreed Midoriya.
She looked at him, forcing a severe face.
“You don’t deserve dinner, Deku…” she said. “You didn’t help.”
“Of course I did!” he protested, shaking his fists like an outraged kid. “Why are you all being so mean to me, today?”
“Because your reactions are funny,” thought Todoroki, holding back a small laugh.
Of course, with his ridiculous strength, Midoriya had been of great help, especially when moving the heavy boxes and furniture. But, if his friends had the slightest reason to tease him, then they most certainly would tease him. Midoriya looked at Iida, seeking aid.
“C’mon, say something to them!”
Iida fixed his glasses, assuming a serious posture as he placed a protective arm around Midoriya’s shoulders.
“Please, don’t be mean to my husband,” he said, “he tried his very best!”
Midoriya stared at him, feeling betrayed.
“This doesn’t make it sound any better…”
At that point, it was becoming difficult to keep their serious expressions.
“We recognize your effort, Deku,” said Uraraka, giving him a light tap on the shoulder.
“You did your best,” agreed Asui, patting his back.
“Stop!” he waved his hands around, getting away from all of them. “I don’t like you guys anymore!”
His complaints sounded so tragic that no one there was able to keep that act any longer, laughing until tears left their eyes. They said their goodbyes, and soon Yoarashi and Todoroki were alone.
“Should we go back to work?” asked Yoarashi, when the lights of their cars disappeared from sight.
“I think so.”
They went back inside and proceeded to give attention to those many boxes and bags. They started with the clothes, which took a long time to be folded and placed on the drawers or on top of their bed — where did we put the hangers? I have no idea. Todoroki also put the small dalmatian plushie he gained from Yoarashi — Inasa, as he secretly had been calling it for years now — on his desk, smiling fondly at it.
After that, they proceed to the kitchen, but stopped to take a break halfway. They had a considerable number of things to unpack, since, in theory, they had been living together for almost two years already, in the tiny apartment Yoarashi had rented to be closer to his working place. After some discussion, they decided to give it a try and see if things would work out. There was a period of adaptation, and, of course, some highs and lows, but, in the end, they both realized that was what they wanted, all flaws included.
Since then, they worked on getting their own place. And now, they had it.
They sat on the couch, and Yoarashi stretched his back once again, groaning.
“Damn, this hurts…” he said.
Todoroki looked at him, a little worried.
“Do you need some medicine?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
Saying that, he lay down with his head on Todoroki’s lap, who caressed his short hair, absent-mindedly.
“Now we can focus on starting our own agency,” he said after a while.
They had talked about it many times, opening a Hero Agency of their own. It wasn’t an easy goal, of course, but the two of them liked the idea. Yoarashi’s face brightened.
“That’s right!” he said. “Fire Tornado Agency, turning villains into ashes!”
Todoroki groaned, rolling his eyes.
“Inasa, I told you that name…” he stopped talking. “No, you know what? Sure! Let’s go with it.”
Yoarashi stared at him, confused. Usually, Todoroki would seem about to punch him whenever he said that.
“What?” he said. “Wait, just to be clear, I wasn’t being serious…”
One look at Todoroki’s face and he realized now he was the one being played with.
“You suggested it,” said Todoroki, “now we’ll have to use it.”
“I think we’ll have a problem if you start taking all my suggestions seriously.”
“I can totally agree with that.”
Yoarashi grunted in a half-hearted protest, then reached for Todoroki’s hand, bringing it to his lips, kissing his palm.
“Want to go back to unpacking?” he suggested.
Todoroki groaned, unwilling to get up from there.
“Five minutes?” he asked.
“Alright.”
Yoarashi closed his eyes, enjoying that brief moment of rest. They spent a few minutes like that, until Todoroki’s voice called his attention.
“Inasa…”
“Hm?”
“I was thinking…”
He made a brief pause, organizing his thoughts. Yoarashi waited.
“Maybe I should invite my father to come and see this place.”
Yoarashi wasn’t expecting something like that.
“That’s a good idea!” he opened a wide smile.
“Is it really?”
Todoroki sounded so disheartened that Yoarashi felt bad about his optimistic reaction. He sat again, looking at his partner.
“Shouto,” he started to say, “I know it’s difficult, but… You want things to get better between the two of you, right?”
“I don’t know,” Todoroki averted his gaze. His relationship with his father was never a pleasant subject. “It’s not like things haven’t changed in the last few years, but… It’s still strange to try and act like a family. A normal family, at least. Am I making any sense?”
Yoarashi nodded.
“I know he’s trying to be a better person,” he proceeded. “But I feel like part of me is just waiting for him to do… something. To go back to his old self, so I can look at him and say ‘I knew it, you haven’t changed, after all’…”
Todoroki stopped talking, feeling his chest tighten.
“It’s a terrible thing to think, isn’t it?” he asked.
Yoarashi hugged his shoulders, pulling him close.
“You’re doing your best too,” he said. “You can’t just pretend nothing bad ever happened between the two of you. Honestly, after everything you went through, I wouldn’t blame you if you just gave up on him. But you’re still willing to try, aren’t you?”
Todoroki hesitated a little.
“I think so.”
“And so is he,” completed Yoarashi. “That should be enough for now.”
Todoroki thought for a while, then slowly nodded.
“Sorry for bringing this up out of nowhere,” he said.
“Shouto,” Yoarashi placed a hand on his chin, gently making his boyfriend look at him. “You can talk to me about anything, especially if it’s something that’s bothering you.”
“I know.”
“I just wish I was a little better with advices.”
Todoroki smiled, placing his legs over Yoarashi’s lap, hugging him.
“You’re good enough,” he said.
“Better than nothing,” agreed Yoarashi with a small laugh.
“Definitely better than nothing.”
As expected, those five minutes of rest became twenty, and then, a whole hour. Maybe they would’ve stayed there even longer, if they didn’t start feeling hungry. They bought dinner on the closest convenience store, then proceeded to finally hang the rest of their clothes on the wardrobe.
“I’m so tired…” complained Yoarashi, throwing himself on the bed as soon as they were finished. “I feel like a bunch of elephants stomped on me!”
“That’s a bit dramatic…”
“It’s true!”
He stretched his back, and his face was taken by a pained grimace.
“Is it hurting too much?” asked Todoroki.
“A little. I think I’ve injured it when carrying the couch.”
“I’ll bring you a muscle relaxant, then.”
“Alright.”
Todoroki went to the kitchen, searching the remaining boxes until he found the one that had their medicine. He took a pill and a glass of water, then went back to the bedroom.
“You know,” said Yoarashi after drinking the medicine, giving the glass back to Todoroki, “a massage would be nice, too.”
“I’m not good at this,” Todoroki frowned as he put the glass over the desk. “It’ll probably just make it worse.”
“The intent already helps!”
“If you say so.”
Yoarashi lay with his back up, and Todoroki massaged it, not sure of what to do in the beginning, but getting a little better as he proceeded.
“Is this any good?” he asked after a while.
“It is,” said Yoarashi, closing his eyes. “It’s making me feel sleepy, though…”
“Sleep, then. We can sort the rest tomorrow.”
Yoarashi let out an exaggerated sigh.
“And I had so many plans for our first night in our new place…” he said.
“It seems like your plans will have to wait a little.”
“Yeah… But this isn’t bad, either.”
Yoarashi smiled softly, and Todoroki couldn’t help but do the same. He honestly felt like he could spend years beside that man, grow old with him. Have a family with him.
Family… That thought was, at the same time, exciting and terrifying. He considered talking to Yoarashi about it, but… Not that day. It was still too early, they were barely starting their lives together. Maybe in a few years, when things were more certain in their lives, after he had enough time to get used to the idea and confront his own fears. Maybe then, they could talk about it.
“It’s raining,” said Yoarashi.
Todoroki hadn’t noticed until he pointed it out. He looked at the window, the glass already covered in raindrops.
“Looks like it,” he said.
“The sound is so comforting!”
“It really is,” he agreed. “I’ll stop now, my arms are tired.”
“Alright. Thanks!”
Todoroki lay beside Yoarashi, and as soon as his body touched the mattress, he knew he wouldn’t get up from there so early.
“I’m starting to feel sleepy too,” he said. “Moving is exhausting.”
“That’s true. And we’re not done yet.”
“Makes me tired just to think…”
“You’re so lazy!”
Yoarashi laughed, then reached for a blanket they left on top of the chair, throwing it over their bodies. Then, he bent toward Todoroki, kissing his forehead.
“Sleep well,” he said.
“You too.”
But Todoroki didn’t fall asleep immediately. He had many things in his mind, from talking to his father to his future with Yoarashi. Usually, those things would appear when he was in bed and there was nothing else to keep him distracted. But, that night, they seemed quieter than usual, and he couldn’t explain why. Maybe it was a mix of many little things that kept everything else away: the smell of paint, the sound of rain, Yoarashi’s warmth against his body, the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in his sleep, the certainty that he would be there when he woke up in the next morning.
He closed his eyes, smiling as he fell asleep.