Chapter Text
Shouto wrapped his fingers around a cup of tea, pressing his hands against the warmth until it stung.
He was eating lunch at a cafe with Momo, sitting outside as the warm summer's day drifted by in their seaside town. Sounds of the ocean lulled in the background, and Shouto felt himself sliding into the noise of people walking by on the street, conversations broken and disjointed as they passed.
"Todoroki, did you hear me?" Shouto glanced at Momo, taking in her worried expression as she cut a bite of her tea cake and popped it into her mouth. They had both ordered a piece of the rich dessert, but when she finished hers and he hadn't touched his, he had readily given her his plate.
"Sorry, I..." he trailed off, watching another bite of cake disappear. "I didn't hear you."
Momo sighed, waving her hand when he tried to apologize.
"It's alright. I asked when you were leaving for your next trip," she said, and Shouto hid his expression behind a sip of tea.
He didn't want to think about his next trip.
"This weekend," he murmured.
"I thought you went out last week?"
"We did," Shouto said, and Momo frowned. "One of his buyers gave him a new lead," he explained.
"I hate that he..." Momo started and then covered her mouth, looking to the side.
She didn't need to finish her sentence, because Shouto didn't have a choice in the matter.
He never did.
Not when his father was a world-renowned treasure-hunter, and Shouto was expected to help with the dives.
He had been four when he first stepped onto a boat, excited and clinging to his father's ankles as the boat swayed and dipped with the waves. He hadn't known how to swim yet, but he had begged his way onto the ship, wanting to know the water his mother described with gentle words.
They had lazily sailed around the harbor, and Shouto had fallen in love with the sea.
The ocean had been smooth as glass, the sunlight dappling across the water and sparkling against his eyes. He had run around the deck, ducking under the crew and peppering his father with question after question until they returned to shore.
He should have known better.
When they had returned, Shouto had watched the crew tie the ship to the docks, his small hands pressing into the railing. He hadn't wanted to leave, didn't understand how his siblings got sick every time they went out, and started babbling as such to his father when he walked over.
His father had smiled, resting a hand on his back.
And then, as Shouto was leaning over the edge, the hand at his back tipped him forward and his father cast him into the sea.
He had somehow managed to stay afloat until the crew pulled him out, and he had gone home shivering, clutching his wet clothes until his mother caught sight of him and rushed him into a warm bath.
His parents had fought that night while he laid in bed, curled up under a blanket and shivering as phantom waves rolled over him.
After that, his father dragged him along on every outing until Shouto learned the sway of the ocean, calm and stormy waters imprinting their movements into his bones.
Until he learned how to swim and dive, searching for lost treasure to add to his father's fame.
Until one day he woke up and realized his father would never let him leave.
"Todoroki?" Momo prompted and Shouto came back to himself, his gaze sliding from the table to the people walking by.
"How's the aquarium going?" He asked, and Momo set down her fork, tapping the table to get his attention.
"I know you're trying to change the subject," she said, reaching out and resting her hand on his arm. He couldn't meet her eyes, and his gaze slid back to the people on the street.
"So what if I am?" Momo tightened her grip and then let go, leaning back in her seat.
"The aquarium's going well. The new manager I hired finally stopped—"
"S-Sorry!" Momo paused as a loud sound came from the street beside them, and Shouto watched as a man carrying a few books tried to sidestep around a woman and ended up crashing into someone else. Both people fell, and the man's books scattered on the street.
"I'm so sorry!" The man chirped, his face beet red as he fluttered his hands around the person he knocked over. They grumbled, pushing themselves to their feet before storming off. The man watched them leave, sighed, and then began picking up his books while people walked around him.
The man was short, with dark green curls that splayed in every direction, giving him a slightly frazzled appearance. It didn't help that his clothes were weathered and simple, and he muttered to himself as he gathered his books.
Another moment and he had left, skittering down the street with his books in his arms.
Shouto watched him go and then glanced at the ground, his eyes widening when he saw a small book lying near him. He bent to pick it up, turning the it over in his hands.
A Philosopher's Guide to Magical Theories
"Who...was that?" Shouto asked, looking from the book to Momo. The man hadn't looked like a tourist, but Shouto had lived in their town long enough to recognize most of the residents, and yet he hadn't known him.
"Oh, his name's Midoriya," Momo said, still looking toward where he had vanished down the street. "Why do you want to..." she started and stopped when she caught sight of the book in Shouto's hands.
"Only him," she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"You know him?" Shouto asked.
"We used to live in the same...town," she said, and Shouto furrowed his brow at her pause.
"I thought you always lived here?"
"I did, in a way? But when I was very young I lived in a village not too far from here. Midoriya moved here a year or two ago, although I haven't run into him in awhile. We weren't really friends," she explained as Shouto ran his fingers over the book. He thumbed over the cover, looking for an address and frowning when he didn't find one.
"Do you know where he lives?" Shouto asked, holding Momo's gaze. She swallowed a bite of cake as she nodded.
"I can take it to him," she offered, and Shouto gripped the book, shaking his head.
"It's alright, I know you need to go back to work," he said, pushing himself to his feet. "If you tell me where he lives, I'll take it to him."
"Okay," Momo said, giving him an odd look. "Thank you," she added before she explained where Midoriya lived.
Shouto quietly paid for their bill—waving off Momo's protest that she could pay for her own food—and then set off down the street, following Momo's directions in his mind.
Considering where Midoriya lived, Shouto wasn't surprised he hadn't met him before.
Shouto followed Momo's words, winding his way through their town before he set off into the meadows beyond, heading toward the outskirts where a few farmers lived. He followed a dirt trail past patchy fences and a few bumbling children before he took a turn in the path and it started veering towards a cliff.
A small house stood at the end of the path, if you could even call it that.
The house was more of a cottage, tiny and perched upon the cliff's edge as if daring the wind to sweep it into the sea. Flowers and weeds had overgrown the front half, and it looked like they were the only things keeping it from tumbling over the edge.
Someone really lived there?
Shouto slowly walked up the dirt path to the cottage's door, lifting his hand and hesitating before he knocked, realizing he didn't exactly know how to explain his visit. The book hung heavy in his hand, and he swallowed, staring at the ground before he forced himself to knock.
He waited, but no one answered.
Another knock, and when no one came to the door he looked around for a mailbox so he could at least leave the book for later. He couldn't find one though, and he resigned himself to seeing if Momo could find Midoriya when he noticed a path leading around the house. Shouto shifted on his feet and then followed the path, telling himself it wasn't trespassing if he was returning a book.
The logic sounded haphazard in his mind and he winced, clutching the book tighter.
The path wound behind the house and continued down the cliff to a small strip of sand. Shouto paused at the top, looking over the ledge and freezing at what he saw.
Midoriya was standing in the ocean shirtless, the water lapping around his chest as he faced the sea. Shouto shook himself, and went to call to him when Midoriya slipped something around his neck and dived under the water.
He didn't come back up.
Shouto hadn't been counting; but after a minute passed, he had dropped the book on the trail and started scrambling his way down to the sand.
At two minutes, he was standing at the water's edge, frantically scanning the waves.
After three minutes, he kicked off his shoes and waded into the surf, diving under a wave and searching for Midoriya.
It was only after he had come up gasping for air, unable to find anything, did he drag himself back onto the sand.
He coughed out seawater, pulling on his shoes before he turned and sprinted up the path, picking up the book as he ran to find Momo.