Chapter Text
Shouto was changing out of his school shoes when he sensed a presence from among the throng of exiting students come to a stop near him. He finished tying his shoes and stood to place the school shoes into his locker, steadfastly ignoring the presence next to him until whoever it was gave him a reason to acknowledge him, otherwise, Shouto had things to do. He finished up in his locker, closed it and turned away from his fellow classmate with the intention of leaving but the small sound of a throat being cleared stopped him.
“Um, s-so, Todoroki-kun..” The voice paused, Shouto turned and looked to his timid classmate but didn’t say anything, waiting for Izuku to finish his thought. “U-um, well, do you want to hang out?” Izuku looked away as he asked, holding the straps of his backpack, head hanging and hunching his shoulders, as if he was expecting to be hit. Then, before Shouto could reply, Izuku continued on in a rush, “I know it’s really sudden but Y-you see, my mom is making soba noodles tonight and I-I noticed you seem to like soba a lot so I just thought, it would be a good time to, you know.. We could do that assignment for Aizawa-sensei together and I don’t know, maybe it would be fun but you don’t have to if you don’t want to, you probably don’t want to, that’s okay, maybe some other time...” Izuku started turning away as he trailed off but stopped at an angle, he still wasn’t looking at Shouto but he wasn’t leaving either.
Shouto blinked, surprised that Izuku had noticed what he liked to eat. He gave Izuku a moment just in case he had anything else to say. Almost immediately Izuku seemed to change his mind, “N-never mind, it was a stupid idea to ask so suddenly, see you tomorrow”. Izuku turned the rest of the way to go.
Shouto reached out to stop him with a hand on Izuku’s elbow, “Okay.” He said simply, dropping his hand. Izuku stared at him with wide eyes for a brief moment before it clicked, “O-okay!” He exclaimed with obvious delight. Shouto couldn’t help but smile a little back. It was more of a smirk. “Just let me check in with my sister, gimme a minute.” He stepped away, flipping his phone open and dialing his sister. It was a brief exchange, “I won’t be home for dinner tonight.... No, I have a school project. I know... Don’t worry, I won’t be out too late. Goodnight.”
Izuku was standing where Shouto had left him, prodding an invisible speck of dust with the toe of his shoe. His classmate was so timid but he had such enormous power. Shouto couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to him? He knew Bakugou bullied him but Izuku should have been able to stand up to him, so what horrible thing was he hiding? Why was he so afraid? Shouto wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have agreed to go to his home but despite the distance he kept from his classmates, Shouto felt a kind of kinship with Izuku. Izuku seemed to show on the outside, the weakness that Shouto felt on the inside, but Shouto had seen the inner strength Izuku possessed. Maybe they weren’t so alike after all. Deep down, Izuku was strong, Shouto was weak. Still, soba noodles were his favorite and he hadn’t been particularly looking forward to going home that night.
Shouto returned to Izuku’s side, “So, where do you live?” Izuku gave him a bright smile, “This way!”
~ ~ ~
Shouto didn’t know what had possessed him to accept the invitation but there he was at the Midoriya residence. He had swapped a perfectly safe, if boring, afternoon at home for one of awkwardness turned horror as he watched the water glass fall. It seemed to take forever, as if it fell in slow motion. He couldn’t use his ice to catch it. The small apartment was too cramped to use his ice without risking additional damages. The sound of the glass shattering rang too loudly in his ears bringing his thoughts to a stuttering halt as time resumed normally. Shouto was frozen stiff where he stood, staring at the broken glass like it was going to jump off the floor and bite him. He looked up at the doorway to the other room where he knew Mrs. Midoriya was and then quickly glanced at Izuku in time to see his smile falter. His classmate was watching him, his smile from a moment ago had been replaced with a wide-eyed expression, a hand covering his mouth in what Shouto presumed was an expression of terror.
“Izuku?” The boys heard Mrs. Midoriya call from the other room.
“I’m so sorry, Midoriya-kun” Shouto said so quietly it was nearly a whisper. He knelt quickly to clean up the glass while Izuku said something about a broom and walked out of Shouto’s view.
Shouto quickly but carefully gathered the larger pieces in his hands. He hoped to have it cleaned before Mrs. Midoriya arrived to enquire about the disturbance. He did not think that he could hide what he had done but if he removed the visible evidence, maybe Mrs. Midoriya wouldn’t become too angry. Shouto feared what would happen to Izuku because of his mistake. But just as Izuku left Mrs. Midoriya came into the room saying, “Izuku, is everything ok- Oh…”
Shouto’s eyes snapped to her as he stood, hands at his side concealing the glass he had already picked up in a loose fist as if that would do any good. Her eyes were on the broken glass at his feet and his eyes immediately followed her gaze back to the mess.
Shouto looked up to Mrs. Midoriya again. She opened her mouth to say something else and a sudden spike of anxiety lanced through Shouto’s chest, making it hard to breathe. As if a string connecting his breast to the floor had been yanked, he fell forward at the waist into a deep bow, his hands at his sides were balled into fists to hide the shaking, the glass in his left hand forgotten, “Mrs. Midoriya, please forgive me, there are not words to express my apology,” he was proud of how steady and strong his voice was even though inside, he was shaking.
“Oh, uh.. No need to be so formal,” he didn’t see her waving dismissively but sensed her discomfort with the situation. Shouto wished he could see her expression but he dared not lift his head as she had not offered her absolution. He bowed more deeply, saying, “It was my fault, please allow me to make it up to you.”*
He heard footsteps approach and a gentle hand on his shoulder indicated for him to rise; it was Izuku. The hand fell away as Shouto rose to his full height; it was hard not to flinch. He held his head high, and forced his body to display calm composure but he could not make eye contact.
“Todoroki-kun, it was just a glass,” Izuku spoke softly but firmly. Shouto made eye contact then, holding it long enough to settle his mind. He looked to Mrs. Midoriya for confirmation. She looked concerned but not angry, he thought, as she gave him a weak smile and a nod.
Shouto felt heat blossom in his face, this time he looked away out of shame. His stomach churned angrily. He was a fool. “O-of course. Forgive me, I didn’t mean to overreact,” his voice was clipped even to his own ears. Why had he been so scared? How could he have thought the timid and kind Mrs. Midoriya was anything like his father? Did they see through him? How could he have lost his composure? If his father knew of this weak behavior well... It didn't bear contemplating.
“It’s alright,” Izuku said brightly holding out the dustpan to Shouto and successfully interrupting his spiraling thoughts. “We can clean it up together.” Now that he realized the crisis was only in his head, he felt the pain in his left palm. He could feel a hot wetness slowly filling his palm, threatening to seep between his fingers any moment.
Without a word, Shouto took the dustpan and knelt to hold it in place while Izuku swept the broken glass up. He carefully kept his left hand close to his chest, just above his heart, fingers curled in to hide the blood slowly filling the space between them. As they worked, Mrs. Midoriya shuffled past them into the kitchen saying, “I’ll get dinner started!”
Mrs. Midoriya busied herself in the kitchen as they cleaned up the mess. Shouto was not feeling particularly hungry but maybe by the time dinner was ready, he’d feel better. As soon as the glass was safely disposed of, Shouto excused himself to the bathroom. He didn’t think either of the Midoriya’s had seen his injury, thankfully. He leaned on the counter to catch his breath for a moment, careful to position his dripping left hand over the sink. For some reason, the thought of either of his hosts knowing he'd injured himself made him shake even though, logically speaking, he was sure they would only be concerned for his wellbeing. He could imagine Izuku wrapping his hand. He would be gentle, so careful not to cause any additional pain. He would probably apologize even though it was Shouto's own fault he'd been injured. Shame burned through him again at his weakness. With a shake of his head, he cleared the thoughts away and focused on evening out his breathing. When he could finally breath normally without having to concentrate and his hands had stopped shaking, He pried his fingers away from the bloody glass to inspect the damage. It wasn’t severe. He wrapped the glass in tissue before tossing it in the trash, then rinsed his hand. The water stung and the cuts still oozed but it wouldn’t take long to heal. Maybe a week. He found a bandage under the sink and applied it. He’d have to explain to Izuku but if he was careful with his hand, maybe he could remove it in time to go home. Maybe his father wouldn’t notice at all.
Shouto considered asking if Izuku thought his mom would say anything to his father. He wanted to go to Mrs. Midoriya and ask her himself not to mention it to Endeavor but it would be too suspicious. If she had not already thought to discuss it with his father, then his bringing it up might encourage her to do just that. Even if she attempted to defend Shouto, it would still end in punishment for him. Ultimately, if she felt it was necessary, who was he to intervene? She would do what she would do and he had no right or power to influence that. Really, he deserved to be punished for his carelessness. That didn’t stop him from wishing to avoid it though. With an internal sigh of resignation, Shouto tried to bury the worry for the time being. He might as well enjoy his time at the Midoriya residence while he could and worry about would happen later when it came time.
Shouto left the bathroom, his mind made up, and headed straight back to his homework. He tried to be discreet about his hand but Izuku noticed.
"T-t-t-todoroki-kun! Your hand!" Izuku exclaimed with alarm. Shouto leveled a dull but not unfriendly look at his Izuku. "It's not that bad, honestly. It's just a -"
"Y-yeah, but you got hurt! Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped you bandage it," Izuku interrupted.
Shouto sighed, "Midoriya-kun. It's. Fine. Let's just get back to work." He didn't mean to snap, he guessed he was just a little high strung still.
"Oh, okay.." Shouto didn't sigh at Izuku’s response again but the kicked puppy look on the green-haired boys face made him want to. He felt bad for not showing Izuku and for then snapping at him. They both settled at the table, eyes steadfastly on their work. Shouto felt the seconds crawling by, he heard Izuku mumbling under his breath, took notice of the delicious smell coming from the kitchen –the dinner Izuku had specially invited him over for, and finally looked up at Izuku, letting the sigh out. Izuku halted his mumbling with a flinched but didn't look up. He seemed to be waiting.
For the third time that evening, Shouto felt a spark of shame. "Midoriya-kun, I- " He faltered for a moment, "Sorry I snapped." It came out grumpier sounding than he intended. He wanted to say more but he didn't know what else to say. Izuku finally raised his head and looked at him again, a smile on his face. It felt like forgiveness.
"So, about this question..." Izuku moved on so quickly Shouto almost didn't keep up.
~ ~ ~
The rest of the evening went pleasantly. Shouto enjoyed himself. He was even able to relax a bit but he was careful not to become careless again. At dinner, with Mrs. Midoriya present, he made sure to put forth his best behavior. He sat in the seiza position until invited to get more comfortable. He spoke clearly and promptly when spoken to. He did not ask for seconds but accepted when it was offered. He helped clear the table. He saw Mrs. Midoriya glance at his hand but she didn't say anything so he didn't say anything either. Later, Izuku and Shouto finished the assignment for Aizawa-sensei. They really hadn't needed to work together on it but it had been a good excuse to come over. It turned out Izuku was a rather good study partner too. He was smarter than he let on in class, and had an amazing ability to analyze problems from multiple perspectives. Shouto was glad he had accepted the invitation after all.