Chapter Text
The last day of class was finally over and summer vacation began for U.A. High School. Class 1-A nearly ran out of the classroom, eager to escape the confining space of the classroom and the glare of Mr. Aizawa.
Izuku walked with a hop in his step and a smile on his face, confident that he passed the final exam for the semester. At his side, Ochako and Tenya were engaged in conversation, discussing questions from the exam.
Almost out of nowhere, someone came up behind him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Izuku turned his head to see that it was none other than Denki. “Midoriya! That was some test, huh?”
Izuku shrugged his shoulders. “It was a little difficult, but nothing I couldn’t handle. How do you think you did Kaminari?”
“I actually think I got a score higher than just a passing grade. Those study sessions with Yaoyorozu are really paying off.”
“I didn’t know you guys were still doing study sessions.”
“Oh yeah. She’s made it, like, her goal to transform us into the perfect students.”
Izuku laughed. “And how’s that going?”
“I’d say she’s still got a lot of work to do when it comes to me and Kirishima.” Denki pulled his arm away only to scratch the back of his head.
“You guys will get there. I’m sure of it.”
“Thanks, Midoriya. See you back at the dorms.” Denki left with a wave that Izuku returned.
Izuku had almost forgotten that they would be staying at the dorms this year for summer vacation. With the League of Villains’ gradually growing numbers and power, it had been decided that the students would remain safer within the confines of the school. They would be allowed to go out of the dorms, so long as they returned by ten every night.
Izuku was disheartened at first when he heard this. He had been looking forward to returning home. He missed his mother and her homecooked meals. He missed his room. He missed having time to himself and away from the schoolgrounds.
However, he decided to look at the upsides in staying at the dorms. Afterall, there wasn’t anything he could do about it, so he might as well make the best of the situation. Besides, this would be a good opportunity to spend more time with his friends and classmates, to bond with them.
Mina was apparently thinking the same thing because once he and his friends entered the living quarters of the dorms, he saw the pink girl standing on the coffee table waving her arms frantically. “We gotta celebrate the end of the semester! It’s only fair!”
“Fair?” questioned Kyouka.
“Yes, fair! After all the torture the teachers put us through, I say we’ve earned some fun!”
At the mention of the word, Kirishima came barreling into the room. “Did someone say fun?”
“Yes! I declare we have a game night!”
“I second that!” Kirishima said as he pumped a fist into the air.
Rikido stood up. “I can make pastries for tonight, if that’s okay with everyone.”
“May I help? I’ve been wanting to learn my way around the kitchen more,” Momo asked.
“Oooo, me too please?!” Ochako asked.
Rikido smiled. “That’d be great. I could use all the help I could get since I’m gonna have to make a good amount of pastries.”
“To the kitchen!” Ochako exclaimed as she made her way to the kitchen, followed by Sato and Momo.
Mina grabbed Kirishima and Denki by the hand. “We’ll go and get some awesome games to play!” Then she ran out the door, dragging the two boys behind her.
“I guess that leaves us to spread the word to everyone else,” said Hanta.
“Yes! I’ll go tell the girls!” Mineta hopped up and was about to make a mad dash for the girls’ dorms.
Kyouka grabbed Mineta by the collar. “Oh no you don’t you little perv. I’ll go tell them.”
Hanta sighed. “Since Mineta is obviously unreliable, I guess it’s up to us three to tell the others.”
“I suggest we split up the remaining persons among ourselves, that way we’ll get done faster,” said Tenya. “There are seven male students left. That means one of us will get three and the others, two.”
“So how do we -”
“I’ll take three people!” Tenya interrupted Izuku.
Hanta nodded. “Well that settles that then. Now to decide on who’s telling who.”
Izuku stood in front of the door, fist raised to knock. This could either end up good or bad, and confrontations with Bakugou usually ended up going bad. He didn’t want him to be left out on the celebration though. Bakugou was his friend, whether the blonde felt the same or not.
Taking a breath, he knocked on the blonde’s door, waiting a few seconds until it was slammed open.
“Fucking Deku! What the hell do you want?!” Bakugou yelled.
Izuku blinked at Bakugou, wondering how someone could get angered so easily and quickly. “There’s gonna be a game night tonight. Just wanted to let you know.”
“For what?! So I can be stuck in a room with a bunch of idiots?!”
Izuku quickly thought of a way to convince Bakugou to come to game night. It may not be the wisest way to get the blonde to go. As a matter of fact, he may just end up causing the boy to shoot him out the nearest window. It was the only plan he had though.
Izuku shrugged. “That’s too bad Kacchan. I really thought you would want to go in order to beat everyone. Guess Todoroki-kun will just have to take your place.”
Bakugou clenched his fists, explosions erupting from them. “What the hell did you just say?”
“I’m just saying -”
“Don’t you dare use that icy hot bastard to get me to go to your stupid game night!” He shut the door.
“So that’s a no then?”
Bakugou opened the door once more. “Fuck no! I gotta show all of you who’s the best at everything, and that includes games!” And with that, the blonde shut the door once more.
Izuku smiled and shook his head. The easiest of the two classmates he was assigned was checked off his mental list. “Don’t know how I’ll get him to come,” he said as he thought about the next person he had to tell.
The green haired boy was so busy mumbling to himself that he walked right into a door and fell to the floor. He sat up and saw the person he had been looking for, standing above him, holding the door open.
“Midoriya?”
“Todoroki! I was looking for you.”
Shouto looked at the boy, then at the door to his room. “Did you crash into the door?”
Izuku chuckled as he stood up. “I guess so. Anyway, I came by because there’s a game night happening and-”
“Sorry, but I can’t go.”
Izuku was prepared for this answer. “Why not?”
Todoroki averted his gaze. “I’m busy.”
“You’re busy.” Izuku raised a brow in question.
Todoroki nodded with a straight face. Izuku, of course, wasn’t buying it. “School just finished though.”
“I’m getting a head start on next semester.”
“I’m sure one day away from your studies won’t-”
“Midoriya!” Todoroki had raised his voice suddenly. Izuku could only stare back at him with wide eyes. Realizing what he’d just done, the heterochromatic boy sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… it’s just that…”
“Todoroki?”
The boy looked down at the floor, turning red. “I’ve…I’ve never played a video game before.”
“Oh, well that’s okay. There’s also gonna be board games too.”
“I’ve never played those either.”
“You … really?”
Shouto crossed his arms, a scowl appearing on his face. “I believe I just answered your question a few seconds ago.”
There was an awkward moment of silence with Shouto, seemingly bothered, staring at the other boy. Izuku was busy thinking over Shouto’s words, finding it a bit sad that he never got to experience such a fun activity before.
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about Todoroki. Besides, I’m pretty sure that there’s gonna be games that some people don’t know how to play.”
“That still doesn’t change the fact that I’m the only one that has never played anything.”
“So?”
“I’m gonna make a fool out of myself. I don’t need to make myself more of an outsider than I already am.”
“I’ll help you then. I can teach you as we play. No one will mind.”
Shouto sighed. “I’ll … consider it.”
Izuku nodded, realizing this was the best answer he would be able to get from him. “Okay. It starts at 5. Hopefully I’ll see you there then.” He gave the other boy a smile and walked back to the living quarters. Hanta and Tenya were already seated on the sofa.
“That took longer than it should have,” commented Hanta.
“Well he did have Bakugou,” Tenya mentioned.
“That’s actually not-” Izuku stopped as he remembered how embarrassed Shouto had been when he explained why he didn’t want to go to game night. “Not as bad as I thought it would go.”
“He’s not a bad dude. Just difficult.” Hanta chuckled. “So, who’s coming so far. Aoyama and Ojiro are coming.”
“Koda is coming as well. Unfortunately, Shoji will be staying in his room due to his cold,” Tenya said.
“Kacchan’s coming. Not so sure about Todoroki though…” Izuku said.
Hanta smiled. “I’m impressed Midoriya. You actually got Bakugou to say yes? And not a direct ‘no’ from Todoroki?”
“No one can resist ‘the look’ from Midoriya!” yelled Ochako from the kitchen.
“Look? What look?” asked a confused Izuku.
“You give off this innocent pleading puppy dog look when you want something.”
“I do not!”
“Do to.”
“It’s true Midoriya. Even I can’t resist ‘the look,” said Momo.
Everyone laughed which caused Izuku to puff his cheeks and pout.
“Aww! Now he’s giving off the other ‘look!” Ochako exclaimed.
“You guys are bullies! All of you!” Izuku stood up and stomped to his room, eventually chuckling to himself once he was inside.
How did he get so fortunate in having such good friends? He never would have imagined that he would be able to get along with all 19 of his classmates …
He thought about Bakugou then decided that he got along well with 18 of his classmates. Sure, they weren’t perfect, but that’s what made them perfect for him. They all were unique and special in their own ways despite their quirks. Some were intense like Kirishima and Denki, others were more mellow and quiet like Shouto and Koda, and others were like Ochako, sweet, kind, pretty…
Izuku shook his head and snapped out of his thoughts, feeling his cheeks warm up. This wasn’t the first time that he caught himself thinking about the girl. He didn’t know what these feelings were just yet. All he knew was that he liked being around her and that she made him feel all warm and happy. It was a feeling he couldn’t quite put a label on yet. He would just have to be patient and see what this feeling would evolve into. There was no rush, right?
He fell onto his bed, deciding he had a good hour or so before game night started to catch some sleep.
The green haired boy woke up to banging on his door. He grumbled and slid off the bed, shuffling to the door. He opened it to be greeted by Kirishima, fist raised to bang against his door again.
“Izuku, dude, you alright?”
“Yeah, why?” the freckled boy asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
“Well, cause it’s 6:47 and -”
“What?! I slept that long! And game night’s already started!”
“Then stop standing there like an idiot and follow me to never ending fun!”
“Never ending?”
“…okay it’s never ending until 9:30.”
Izuku chuckled. “Did Mr. Aizawa say that?”
“Maybe…”
As the two entered the living quarters, Izuku saw that a good majority of the group was surrounding the TV, cheering on either Bakugou or Ochako. It looked like they were playing a Street Fighter game. By the looks of it, Ochako was winning so far.
“Stop cheating Round Face!” exclaimed the furious blonde.
“How do you even cheat in this game?” asked Ochako.
“Don’t play innocent with me!”
Izuku smiled at their antics. It was nice for everyone to just hang out for once and not worry about schoolwork or villains. Those who weren’t part of the cheering were sitting on the stools at the kitchen counter chatting. One of the few people at the counter was Shouto, looking uncomfortable and scrolling through his phone. Izuku approached the boy from behind, causing him to jump a little from his seat.
“S-sorry Todoroki! I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
Shouto shook his head. “No, it’s alright. You just surprised me, that’s all.” He put his phone down on the counter and turned to face the other boy. “For a second, I didn’t think you’d come.”
“Yeah, I kind of fell asleep. But I’m here now. I’m glad you decided to come though. We all deserve to have some fun.”
Shouto watched as Bakugou threw his controller on the floor and began yelling at Ochako, who was laughing hysterically. “Bakugou looks like he’s angry rather than having fun.”
“Kacchan has very subtle ways of expressing positive emotions. It may not look like it, but he’s having fun too, even though he lost to Uraraka.”
“When did you become so good at analyzing people?”
Izuku chuckled. “It’s kinda my thing. I guess since I study heroes and villains so much, I can read people well.”
“I see.” Shouto looked pensive for a minute, then looked at Izuku. “What about me?”
“What about you?”
“What kind of person am I?” Shouto crossed his arms, a smirk threatening to appear at the corners of his mouth.
Izuku laughed nervously, knowing that if he didn’t approach this topic right, he could end up either being burned alive or frozen to death. “Well, I don’t know you that well, but I’ll try my best with what I’ve read off of you so far.” The green haired boy looked at Shouto as if examining him for answers. “You’re a pretty closed off person. You isolate yourself from people in order not to get close to them. That’s probably a result from all the anger you hold against -” Izuku stopped, eyes widening as he realized he could probably set Shouto off with his next words.
Shouto knew what Izuku was going to say next. He wasn’t stupid. He also saw that the boy looked a bit, scared maybe? He shook his head and gestured for the other to continue. “You can say it you know. I won’t get mad. I asked you to do this anyway.”
Izuku took a breath and nodded. “Right. I was gonna say that the anger you have for your… father, is what causes you to keep your distance from others. This anger is what controlled you and your emotions.”
Shouto shrugged his shoulders. “Seems about right.”
“I’m not finished.”
The heterochromatic boy raised a brow. “Oh?”
“That’s how I saw you, not how I see you now. Now, you’re different. It’s not completely obvious, but I can see that you want to change. You’re trying to change. Now, you keep your distance because you don’t know how to interact with others, but I see that you want to try. And you do. Even though you may seem awkward to others or blunt, I see that you’re trying to make friends. And you smile more too.”
Shouto tilted his head, trying to figure out just who Izuku Midoriya was and how he was able to see that in him.
“See, you’re smiling now!” Izuku gave the boy a bright smile.
Shouto didn’t even realize he had been smiling until the other had pointed it out. He turned his head. “Sorry.”
“Sorry? You’re apologizing for smiling?” he chuckled. “You don’t have to apologize for being human.”
Shouto let out a humorless chuckle. “I guess I’m just so used to it.”
Izuku gave the boy a sad smile. He hopped up, eyes filled with determination. “Don’t worry Todoroki! With us around, you’ll forget what that ever felt like!”
“We?”
“Yeah! All of us here are your friends!” Izuku said with outstretched arms.
“Really? Even Bakugou?”
“… okay. All of us are your friends, except for one person!”
Shouto let a barely audible laugh escape. “That sounds more believable.”
Shouto stared at the bills on the table. He only had sixty dollars left and he already sold all his properties off. He had to roll a three. It was the only way he would be safe. Anything else would just end him right then and there.
“Oi, are you gonna roll the freaking dice or what?” asked Bakugou, clearly agitated and impatient.
“Don’t rush him Bakugou. He’s obviously planning for the potential outcomes,” said Momo.
The blonde only grunted in response.
Shouto took a breath and rolled the dice. The dotted cubes rolled across the board until they came to a stop.
It was a fucking seven.
Bakugou let out a laugh that startled Ochako, causing her to yelp. “Looks like you gotta pay up Half & Half!”
Shouto looked at Bakugou, then looked down at the game board. He reached out for his piece with his left hand, only for flames to spout out and spread across the board.
“Whoops,” Shouto said without a hint of remorse.
Bakugou stood up abruptly. “What the fuck Icy Thot?!”
“Maybe we could still save it if we put it out quickly,” Ochako said.
“Allow me,” Shouto said as he stuck his right hand out. Ice shot out from his palm, but it hit the edge of the table instead of the board. He aimed again but hit the floor. He apologized after every failed attempt. Momo and Ochako began to panic while Izuku was doing a poor job of stifling his laughter.
Bakugou pointed an accusatory finger at the heterochromatic boy. “You did that on fucking purpose!”
“I did not!” Shouto replied, feigning hurt as he finally put out the fire. The board game was completely burned.
“Yeah! Why would Todoroki do something like that on purpose?” Ochako asked.
Momo nodded her head. “I agree. Todoroki would never do something so childish in retaliation to losing a game.”
“Ye- yeah. Totally,” Izuku said in between giggles.
“See! Even fucking Deku knows that you purposely burned the fucking game!” exclaimed Bakugou as explosions erupted from his hands.
“N- no, I’m just- I’m just trying not to cough. Excuse me.” Izuku stood up and quickly walked to another room. For a few seconds, there was only silence. Then, Izuku’s loud laughter was the only sound that filled the room. The laughter continued for a good five minutes until the green-haired boy stumbled out of the room, trying to catch his breath. “I’m- I’m okay now.”
Shouto looked at the boy and saw that his shoulders were slightly shaking. “Are you?”
“Pffft, no!” Izuku broke out in uncontrollable laughter once again.
This seemed to irritate Bakugou even more, for he stomped up to Shouto and poked him in the chest. “Now you listen here you little-”
“Don’t touch me.”
“I’ll fucking touch whoever I want!”
Ochako, who was watching the two nervously, did the only thing that she could think of to insure that they didn’t break out fighting. She touched Bakugou’s arm with the pads of all her fingers.
Shouto watched as Bakugou floated up to the ceiling. The blonde was silent for a moment, then his eyes flared up in rage as he looked down at Ochako.
“What the hell Round Face?!” the blonde flailed his arms wildly.
Ochako in a panic, floated in the air next to the blonde and balled up, covering her face in embarrassment.
It was in that moment that Mr. Aizawa decided to step into the living area of the dorms. “What’s going on in-” He looked at the room in annoyance. He saw the burned game board that was now covered in frost, a flailing floating Bakugou with an embarrassed floating Ochako next to him, and Izuku on the floor holding his stomach in laughter.
“Hello Mr. Aizawa,” spoke up Momo. “Uhh, fancy seeing you here?”
The hero squinted his eyes at her. “I work here.”
Momo chuckled nervously. “Right.”
Aizawa let out a sigh and crossed his arms. “Care to explain what’s happening here?”
“Umm … game night?”
“Game night.”
“Yes. Isn’t that right Todoroki?” Momo turned to the other teen who only nodded at Aizawa.
Aizawa raised a brow at this. “You seem to be the only other person in this room that isn’t having a mental breakdown or floating in space.”
Shouto, never breaking eye contact with the teacher, pointed at the burned game board. “I burned the game.”
Mr. Aizawa rolled his eyes. “I know Todoroki.”
“But I put it out.”
“I know Todoroki.” He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “What I want to know is why.”
Momo laced her fingers together. “Todoroki got a little … too into the game. It’s his first time playing.”
“Okay … And those two?” Aizawa gestured his head toward the floating Bakugou and Ochako.
“Uraraka panicked and made Bakugou float in order to prevent him from starting a fight with Todoroki over the burned game.”
“The more I learn about the situation the more I regret coming up here.” The hero shook his head. “And what about Midoriya?”
“Curtesy of Todoroki’s temper tantrum.”
“I did not have a tantrum,” argued Shouto.
Momo gave him a deadpan glare. “You burned the game because you were going to lose.”
Shouto then felt a hand pat him on the shoulder. “That was totally a tantrum Todoroki, but it was a fun one.” It was Izuku.
Shouto shrugged. “I didn’t know a tantrum could be fun.”
“Me neither, but then you had one.” Izuku let out a small chuckle before looking up at Aizawa. “Mr. Aizawa!”
“You know what, it’s late. I’m leaving. All of you go to bed. It’s a little past ten already,” said the teacher.
Izuku’s eyes widened. “What?! But why didn’t anyone …”
It was at this moment that the three teens around the table realized that everyone else had already gone back to their rooms.
“Ochako!”
Uraraka looked toward Mr. Aizawa only to meet glowing red eyes. Her quirk was erased and both she and Bakugou fell to the floor. Mr. Aizawa made his way to the door and turned before leaving the room.
“You chose to play Monopoly amongst hormonal teenagers who can’t control themselves or their quirks? Next time, pick something simple and less stressful, like perhaps sitting down and doing nothing.” And with that he left.
“Well, that could have gone worse,” said Momo.
“Don’t hold your breath,” said Shouto.
As if on cue, Bakugou sat up and growled at the brunette next to him. “I could kill you!”
“I panicked okay! Sorry!” Ochako said as she flailed her arms.
“Yeah Kacchan. Uraraka was just trying to help, that’s all,” Izuku said.
“Well I don’t need anyone’s help!” The blonde stomped away to his room.
Momo blinked in surprise. “That could have gone worse too.”
This caused Shouto to chuckle softly. “You’re not wrong.”
Izuku approached Ochako and held out a hand. “Are you okay Uraraka?”
Ochako took his hand gratefully, carefully not letting all the pads of her fingers touch him. “I’m fine. I guess I just feel bad, that’s all.”
“Don’t be. Knowing Bakugou, he’ll probably take out his frustration on Kaminari or something,” said Shouto.
“That’s why I feel bad,” whined Ochako.
The three looked at Ochako and burst into laughter. The brunette was very confused as to why they were laughing but shrugged it off and decided to go along with their good mood.
Everything felt so calm and carefree. It was a nice feeling.
Shouto could get used to hanging around friends.
It was 2:17 in the morning and Bakugou was awake in the kitchen making himself hot cocoa. Right after their chaotic game night, the furious blonde had stomped off to his room and went to bed. However, his anger kept him from having a peaceful sleep. As hours passed by, he got so fed up with his restlessness that he decided to make himself something that would help him sleep.
In this case, it was hot cocoa.
He grabbed a mug and poured the hot milk into it. He stirred in the hot cocoa mix and made his way to the sofa. Once he reached the sofa however, he heard an indistinct noise. Bakugou looked around the room, trying to decipher where the strange noise was coming from, but it was to no avail.
“Alright who the hell is-”
Bakugou’s words were cut off as he felt a weight fall on top of him. He crashed to the floor, causing his mug to go flying and shatter as it hit the ground. The blonde grunted and blinked rapidly, trying to clear the temporary haze that clouded his vision.
“Ah shit,” a female voice said.
The weight suddenly disappeared, and the blonde could breathe easier. Once Bakugou could see clearly, he looked up to see a girl hovering over him. She had blonde spiky hair that just passed her shoulders and chocolate brown eyes. From what he could see, she was wearing a fitting red shirt, a brown cropped leather jacket, black fingerless gloves, black skinny jeans, and black combat boots with red laces that reached her calves midway. He also noticed that she was wearing a necklace on which a small red heart charm was hanging.
As a matter of fact, she bared a striking resemblance to …
“Mom?” Bakugou questioned in confusion.
“Dad?!” the girl exclaimed in disbelief.