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Eight hidden throughout the department building with only two minutes to go. The fact that that's not enough time doesn't register. The only thing to do is get it done.
The first one is always easy. Midoriya pushes his quirk and makes a simple Wish, which is immediately answered by Shinsou's voice crackling to life in his ear.
"What's the plan, Shooting Star?"
Pressing a button on his earpiece, he answers, "There should be one right where you are, Charge."
It's not a guarantee, but with two years practicing his quirk, Lucky, some patterns make themselves apparent. When confronting a new problem, the easiest, most direct solution tends to present itself first. When wishing to have one of the eight bombs planted in the shopping building dismantled, the first hero to answer is going to have the easiest time.
"Found it," Shinsou announces through their shared comm. "Under the first floor reception desk. Minute forty-five left."
Kneeling in the hallway of the sixth floor, amidst all the management offices, Midoriya pulls out a small notebook and pencil from the pocket of his hero suit. It's easier to plan and Wish under pressure when he has it mapped out and clear in his head. Six floors, five heroes including himself, seven bombs left. He notes it all down.
"I got one!" Uraraka relays triumphantly. "Third floor ceiling. We're at one minute and thirty-six seconds!"
One thirty-six until the building explodes and takes them all with it. Midoriya closes his eyes and takes a steadying breath, then marks the first and third floor with Xs.
The building had been evacuated in a chaotic rush when the tip came in. The police were just starting to set up a perimeter when Midoriya and his team of third-years stormed the building. With civilians still within range of potential debris, they can't afford to miss a single explosive. There isn't enough time to clear the area.
Going with the first strategy he comes up with, (there isn't any time to refine it for efficiency), Midoriya pulls out the coin Todoroki gave him when he first got into the hero course and flips it with a Wish, repeating for each floor of the building.
Midoriya directs his peers with confidence, "Charge, take out the one on the second floor. Uravity, you have another one on the third. And then there's two on the fifth and one on the fourth."
Surprisingly, no bombs were planted on the sixth floor, where he's situated. As much as he knows the best place for his quirk is in a supporting role, analyzing the situation and guiding others to victory, Midoriya regrets not being part of the action. His ideation of heroes has always been the firm wall of muscle that is All Might, jumping into the center of action with fists swinging, glancing over his shoulder with a reassuring smile on his face.
"I'm already on the fifth floor," Yaoyorozu says.
Todoroki replies, "I'll go to the fourth floor."
In another situation, hearing Todoroki's voice while his only company is his broken heart might have reduced Midoriya to a teary-eyed, hollowed out mess, but he doesn't have time for that right now. At the end of their second year, after an immeasurable, wonderful time of dedicating themselves to each other, Todoroki pulled out those dreadful four words. We need to talk.
There was nothing wrong with their relationship, but that in and of itself was the root of the problem. You know that I care about you, he had said. You are everything to me, and that's why I think we need to take a break. Third year is going to define our careers. I don't want to regret not giving it my all, and I think you feel the same. I can't dedicate myself to you and to school.
Midoriya stays focused on the task at hand. Two dismantled, five more located, which means one is missing. He checks each of the floors again with desperate speed.
"Guys, there's something weird going on. There's only one on the fifth now, but another one showed up on the first floor," Midoriya relays. There's still one missing.
"Do you think the villain is still here?" Uraraka puts out to the group.
"Make that zero on the fifth floor. One minute and twelve seconds left. I'll move down to the first floor," Yaoyorozu offers.
One more. It has to be somewhere. Somewhere he hasn't checked.
"Third floor is clear! We're at one-oh-two! I'll come down and help you, Creati," Uraraka says.
Yaoyorozu asks, voice shaky from...is she cycling down the stairs? "What's your status, Charge? Shoto?"
Midoriya studies his little sketch of the building, tracing over the outline of it with his pencil.
"Still looking."
Half of the time is left, but more than half of the explosives remain. His quirk is supposed to be Lucky, a beacon of hope when the odds are stacked against them.
"No luck yet."
His team is counting on him. Think outside the box…
"I'm here! Sweeping the ceilings."
"Thanks, Uravity. I'll search down low when I get there."
Lower! Midoriya makes a Wish with a flip of his coin, checking the basement.
"Got mine," Shinsou says. "Forty-nine seconds left. Heading down to the first floor."
It's not in the basement.
"Do you think the one from fifth floor is the same as the one on the first floor?" Uraraka asks.
Outside, maybe. On the walls.
"How did it get there, then?" Shinsou counters.
Another flip of his coin determines it's not on the exterior walls.
"The elevator!" Yaoyorozu exclaims. "They must have stuck it on from the top floor."
"Heading there now!" Uraraka reports.
"You're on the top floor, aren't you, Shooting Star? Did you see anyone?" Shinsou asks.
"I didn't," Midoriya replies.
Yaoyorozu adds, "I didn't see anyone on the fifth either."
"Fourth floor is clear. We have twenty-seven seconds," Todoroki announces.
If not the fifth or the sixth then the only logical explanation is…
Midoriya is on his feet, dashing toward the stairwell not a second after he's made the connection. There's no time to check if he's correct, but there's no need to either. He can feel it with his quirk this is the right thing to do.
Taking three steps at a time, Midoriya calls out, "The roof! The last one has to be on the roof!"
"I'm heading up," Todoroki says.
"First floor is clear! Eighteen seconds to go!"
Midoriya bursts through the roof door, looking every which way for a sign of a bomb. He runs without thinking, searching over the edge, checking around the side of a large aluminum vent.
"Ten seconds," Shinsou announces over the comm.
The roof door opens and Todoroki walks through.
If they weren't pressed for time, Midoriya might have ducked back behind the vent like a child, heart pounding for fear of what he might say or do in the face of the one he secretly holds dearest to his heart. I understand, Midoriya had told him. Let's do our best to become the greatest heroes. Then he cried into Shinsou's arms for a week. Instead, he turns to face Todoroki when he spots the last one secured to the top of the door frame just above Todoroki's head.
Each step seems to take an eternity as Midoriya sprints back toward him. "Behind you!"
"Five seconds."
The thing about wishing is, like the heart, it is fickle. As Midoriya rushes toward the one who put him aside for his career, that normally placid face now turning back with wide-eyed alarm, he doesn't Wish to dismantle the bomb on time, he's not thinking about completing the mission or saving innocent civilians. In the face of the one he's coaxed out secret smiles from and held close to his chest on the darkest of nights, what he wants most for is a chance to do it again.
"Three seconds."
"Did you get it?"
The voices in his ear are distant noise.
Instead of toward the bomb, his feet carry him to Todoroki.
"Are you guys there?"
"Two seconds."
Instead of dismantling the bomb, he tackles Todoroki back through the door.
"Shoto?"
"Shooting Star?"
"One second left."
Midoriya lands on top of Todoroki, shielding him with his body. The door, with its hydraulic closer, doesn't shut in time. The Wish Midoriya makes is fueled by his longing for Todoroki's laugh, his cold hand in his on a hot summer's day, curling up together on the dorm couch reading in silence, just enjoying each other's company without the awkward tension that's been keeping them apart all semester. The power behind it is immense and Midoriya feels all his power drain from him at once, leaving him exhausted.
"That's time."
Midoriya shuts his eyes and holds Todoroki as tight as he dares.
He can still hear the voices of his teammates.
"I didn't hear anything."
"Are you guys there? Answer if you can hear this."
"Maybe they found the villain."
"We're here," Todoroki says into his comm, cool as ever.
They're still alive. The bomb didn't go off.
Midoriya opens his eyes only to realize he's face to face with Todoroki.
Midoriya blinks. Heat crawls up his face and he knows Todoroki will catch him blushing no matter how hard he may Wish for this not to be the situation he ended up in.
"Hey," Todoroki says.
"H-hey." Midoriya stammers out, "I, uh, I got- I stopped the bomb!" Powered by the intense, bottled up feelings I have for you, he doesn't add.
This is the closest he's been to Todoroki in months, and probably the most words he's said to him in that time. Heart pounding in his ears, he misses what the others are saying through the comm. Todoroki's face inches from his, a hand on his shoulder, and mismatched eyes staring at him impassively consumes his attention. When Todoroki subtly moves to prop himself up, Midoriya knows he took too long before getting up. He gets up with an awkward, "Ah, sorry!"
Back on their feet, Todoroki heads back out onto the roof, leaving Midoriya on the stairwell landing. The door shuts behind him with a soft click. Wrapping his arms around himself, he closes his eyes and leans against the wall. Releasing the pent up beast of emotions he's been hauling around in a cage was enough to save their lives but now it's running rampant, turned on its owner, ready with claws and fangs to rip him apart. A cold fog settles in his ribcage, and he's overwhelmed by how much he misses Todoroki. There's nothing he can do about it.
Todoroki's voice brings him back, slightly grainy through comm even though he's just outside, replying to some unheard question, "You can report back that the last one has officially been deactivated."
Midoriya slaps his cheeks. This isn't the place or time. The best he can do is put on a brave face and bottle it all up again.
When Todoroki walks back through the door, Midoriya flashes him a hero's smile. They walk down the stairs, Midoriya trailing five steps behind, hoping Todoroki is none the wiser.