Archive of Our Own ^beta

Shinsou Hitoshi moves into the dorms for class 2-A on a perfectly wretched day. The rain falls so fast and hard it looks like the air is made of water. The wind howls in disdain for the world. It’s like an opening for a horror movie or a natural disaster flick.

If Hitoshi was the type of person who believed in superstition, then he would have taken this as a bad omen. He wasn’t though. He couldn’t be Aizawa’s protégé if he was superstitious. No, Hitoshi believed in hard work and determination in making your own luck and forcing the world to give you good fortune.

All he does is look at the torrential downpour and is glad that he had two days to move into the dorms. Yesterday, he moved in all the big items. Today is just a couple of bags which are tightly zipped up and ready for transport.

Thankfully, Aizawa said he would help him with the bags when Hitoshi woke up to apparently the sky deciding to drown them all. He appreciates that Aizawa made the offer, that he shows affection by doing over anything else. Hitoshi waits near the entrance of his old dorm, seeing two figures make their way through the sheets of water falling from the sky.

He recognizes Aizawa’s form right away in his long dark raincoat. His mentor’s loping gait cuts through the water easily as he slouches his way through. The figure next to Aizawa is shorter and in a neon yellow raincoat that reminds Hitoshi strongly of a highlighter.

It’s when they approach the door that Hitoshi recognizes the figure as Midoriya. He should be less surprised than he is. Midoriya has been on a one-man friendship campaign with Hitoshi. Like his declaration that he was not planning on making friends in the hero course was some sort of challenge. Still it’s one thing to try to sit with Hitoshi at lunch and another to trudge through a monsoon to help him move.

The feeling in his chest when he sees Midoriya did this is unfamiliar, but not unwelcome. Midoriya absolutely beams at him with his bright raincoat and brighter smile, he sticks out like a mini sunbeam in such a rotten day.

“Shinsou-kun!” he greets cheerfully. “I’m so pleased that you’re moving in.”

“You said so yesterday,” Shinsou reminds. Aizawa nods a greeting at him and Shinsou nods back. His teacher grabs two bags, Midoriya picks up four easily, which leads Shinsou with the remaining one.

“I-I…well you see, I just wanted you to k-know!” stutters out Midoriya. His cheeks are flushed. Exposed curls plasterd against his forehead. “Y-you worked so hard to get in, Sh-Shinsou-kun. And, well, you replacing Mineta-“ here both Aizawa and Midoriya do their own versions of grimace “-b-but I think you’re going to be great with our class. A-And I have a lot of questions about your quirk! If you have the time. I-I don’t think I e-ever took the time to t-tell you. But I think it’s a really amazing one for hero w-work!”

It’s an admission that’s so real and genuine that it blindsides Hitoshi for a moment. His breath feels stolen. His legs rooted to the ground. He doesn’t think anyone outside of Aizawa told him it. No one his own age at least. No one his age ever said that to him.

Aizawa sighed, which had Midoriya snapping to attention with a sheepish smile.

“You can ask Shinsou about his quirk later, Problem Child. Let’s get through this storm first.”

“R-right! Sorry, Aizawa-sensei.”

And then Midoriya grabbed several of Hitoshi’s bags with a bright smile on his face.

“I hope you like r-ramen, S-Shinsou-kun! I-It’ll taste good today with this weather. We’re ha-having it for dinner t-tonight. Please j-join us!”

And with a blinding smile and most of Hitoshi’s shit, Midoriya takes off into the storm like a hurricane in human form that he is. Hitoshi looks at Aizawa, feeling a bit adrift after the interaction, who just huffs and ruffles his hair with a wet hand.

“Believe it or not, kid, people are actually excited for you to be in the hero course.”

With that, he grabbed Hitoshi’s big duffel bag, slung it around his shoulder, and also took off. Hitoshi paused for a moment, needing a second to reorient his worldview, before he grabbed his remaining bags and headed into the storm. Hitoshi pushes down that warm feeling in his chest, like a glow that won’t quit glowing. He’s not here to make friends, no matter how excited someone appears to have him there.

Todoroki Shouto did not “do” romances, whatever that meant. It was a fact that was largely agreed on by Class 2-A. Honestly, Shouto never really gave much thought to what his romantic life would look like. Well, the exact opposite of his parents, but he felt like that was a given to those that well and truly knew him.

Between their studies, their internships, and desperately trying to have something resembling a social life, romance wasn’t really high on anyone within Class 2-A’s priority list either. He knew, from listening to Uraraka gossip, that Kaminari had a fling with someone from Support and Hagaruke dated those two in business for a short time. Apparently, Kirishima and his doppelganger from Class B made out at one point, but that was pretty much it on the dating front.

Shouto does like the thought of romances though. Not the ones like his parents or the ones shown on movie night, but something like what Aizawa-sensei and Yamada-sensei had. Something gentle, something that felt like two equals coming together, something…balanced. He could half imagine that, when he felt the weight of his father’s expectation press in around him like a vice. He imagined a warm place full of warm people that knew him so intimately that they knew what he needed without being told.

That, Shouto thinks, sounds like paradise.

He doesn’t know why he brings it up to Midoriya at three in the morning though. His room felt too stuffy, too hot, too…

Anyway, Shouto allows himself to be chased from his room to find Midoriya making tea in the kitchen. He takes a moment to take stock of his friend, who blinks at him with owlish green eyes. There are no tremors in his hands nor a sheen of sweat on his face, indicating a nightmare. In fact, despite the late hour, Midoriya looks almost peaceful.

“I was talking with a couple of my online friends,” Midoriya says with sheepish twist to his lips. “I lost track of the time and went to make myself some tea to help me sleep. Would you like some? Yaoyorozu-chan lets me dip into her special blend of chamomile.”

Yaoyorozu’s chamomile blend was magic because shortly after drinking it you were out. Shouto nods his assent for a cup of tea as he sits down, watching Midoriya work.

“What do you think about love?” Shouto asks suddenly. Midoriya knows a lot about emotions, in his limited opinion. The green haired boy seems to be full of them. There was even a room a side chat in their group chats to document all the ways Midoriya burst into tears, which the other boy takes with good grace.

So if anyone knew anything about love, Shouto figures Midoriya would be the best bet. Midoriya blinks at him from where he’s fiddling with the kettle.

“Love?”

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.”

The thing that Shouto likes about Midoriya is how he takes a moment to answer the really big questions, the important sort of questions.

“I think love can be a like a double-edged blade. Don’t get me wrong. It can inspire wonderful things, but it’s also the inspiration for some pretty terrible ones as well. It can be twisted or it can save. Love is volatile and gentle. And, I think, that love is just want you and the person you love make of it in the end.”

Shouto didn’t say anything as Midoriya finished getting the chamomile tea ready. He watches though as Midoriya prepares Shouto’s tea just as he likes it, a splash of milk, and pushes the mug to him.

“Does that answer your question, Todoroki-kun?”

“Love is what you make of it.”

Midoriya smiles in the dim light of the kitchen. It’s a half smile, not the one of those boundless bright bursts. No, this one is more intimate and more secret. Shouto’s heart flutters in his chest, like it wants to claw its way out and fly through the air. He, however, settles on tightening his grip on the mug.

“I think I know what kind of love I want in my life.”

Midoriya hums and his eyes are sharp, “Did your father try to get in contact with you again?”

Shouto grimaces. Because, well, yes. He knows how he feels about his father. He knows an “I’m sorry” doesn’t make up for everything. Endeavor is sorry now. Now that he has everything he thought he ever wanted, but realized it meant nothing.

Instead of pushing it, Midoriya tentatively reaches out so their pinkies brush together.

“Just say the word, Todoroki-kun,” Midoriya says oh so seriously. “And I ruin your father’s life.”

Shouto’s breath was stolen. He felt his cheeks color. His heart was like a hummingbird in his chest. Desperately, wildly, he wonders if this is what love felt like.

(Yes. Not that Shouto realizes it.)

The thing about saying that you didn’t want friends was that you probably shouldn’t say such things in Midoriya Izuku’s earshot. Or, at least, this is the logical conclusion that Hitoshi has come to over the past couple of months of being in Class 2-A. He could say that he was, at least, Midoriya’s friend.

And…having a friend was nice. It’s been years since he had anything deeper than casual acquaintances. Aizawa-sensei didn’t count because the man was his mentor and like father/older brother figure all rolled into one. Not that Hitoshi would ever tell him that to his face, but he’s definitely thinking it very loudly.

The heart of the matter was that Hitoshi enjoyed spending time around Midoriya and his friends, even if they could be loud. Well, except Todoroki, he just was socially awkward and dedicated to conspiracy theories. Hitoshi could vibe with that.

Even so, Hitoshi likes the moments when it’s just him and Midoriya in Midoriya’s dorm room. Hitoshi sprawled on Midoriya’s bed, doing homework while the other boy is at his desk with a near constant mummering that has become Hitoshi’s very own white noise machine. It was soothing to be here, even if All Might’s face was staring at Hitoshi from every angle.

The book that Hitoshi was supposed to be reading for Cementoss-sensei’s class was opened on his chest. It had been long forgotten. The evening sky cast a warm glow on Midoriya’s bed and the steady murmur of his voice was lulling Hitoshi to sleep. Since insomnia made Hitoshi its bitch on the regular, he was definitely not going to ignore the siren call of a twenty minute catnap.

So he did.

On Midoriya’s bed.

Whoops.

He wakes up to a gentle shake to his arm, “Shinsou-kun? Dinner’s ready.”

Hitoshi blinks open his eyes to see Midoriya standing over him, looking bemusedly nervous. He sat up and rub his eyes.

“I fell asleep.”

“Yeah. It’s been about an hour? I-I didn’t have the heart to wake you. Since y-you have insomnia s-so it seems better t-to have let you sleep. I hope that’s okay.”

Hitoshi feels his cheeks burn a little bit, especially in the face of Midoriya’s sincerity.

“No, that’s fine. Thanks. I…guess I just dozed off because of your voice.”

Midoriya blinks a bit and tilts his head to the side.

“My voice?”

“Your muttering,” Hitoshi says absent mindedly before tilting his head and looking at Midoriya’s surprised yet unreadable expression. “N-not that it’s not interesting! It’s pretty interesting, but if you’re not very clear or loud or anything. I don’t know it’s soothing? Like my version of ASMR. It makes me sleepy when you did really quietly.”

Hitoshi pauses and winces. Usually Midoriya is the one with his foot in mouth, but right now Hitoshi is really tasting his slipper. It’s hard to get a read on Midoriya right now, who looks like his brain is rebooting.

“You like my voice?” Midoriya asks, quiet and shy. “You don’t think my muttering is creepy?”

Hitoshi blinks but shakes his head.

“I think you have a great voice. It reminds me of a river. And you wouldn’t be you without it, Midoriya-kun.”

Oh. Oh no. Midoriya’s eyes are looking shiny. He cries so much. But Hitoshi still isn’t good with handling tears. Aizawa-sensei says it gets better with practice, but…Hitoshi sees how awkward Aizawa-sensei gets around tears. So that whole spiel about “better with practice” is definitely a logical ruse because Aizawa-sensei gets sadistic enjoyment out of other peoples awkwardness.

“Thank you,” he says with a wide watery smile. “No one’s ever said that to me before, Shinsou-kun. You have a really nice voice too.”

Hitoshi feels himself blushing.

“Thanks. So dinner?”

They go to dinner.

Three days later, however, Hitoshi finds an envelope pushed under his door written in Midoriya’s scrawl. It’s a flashdrive with a note that says, “To help you sleep”.

It’s audio files of Midoriya murmuring on a variety of topics. It doesn’t work all of the time to get him to sleep, but Hitoshi sleeps more because of it.

Another summer, another training camp elsewhere in Japan. There are more teachers on this trip, determined not to have another incident like the previous year. He knows that Bakugou was given an alternative to it, but he’s here looking stubborn as ever. Kirishima, however, seems to have the impending breakdown well enough in hand. So Shouto is going to leave them to it.

They’re near the beach this year, which is about as far from a forested area as they could get without being near an active volcano. Shouto has never been to the beach. Or, if he had, it wasn’t a memory that had stuck in his head.

Yes, they have to climb down a sheer rocky cliff in order to get to the area because Aizawa-sensei was a bit of a sadist like that. But they do it in record time with Midoriya using his strange black energy tentacles that are an apparent weird mutation of his quirk to offer aid to the others. Shouto’s not sure how much he still believes of that, though. Between the strength, the energy tentacles, and the flying? It makes him wonder.

(After all, if All for One could just take quirks, what’s to say that there wasn’t a quirk that could just…stockpile other quirks and be passed down? Hmmm. Definitely one for his theories, maybe under Best Jeanist not having a mouth.)

Shouto, for his part, just makes an ice slide and slides on down. Shinsou, ever the opportunist in a way that Shouto finds a bit refreshing, slides after him while the others a) try to climb down on their own, b) take Midoriya’s offer for help, or c) attempt to slide down after them. Yaoyorozu just straight up makes a parachute and base jumps. Shouto wonders about his childhood friend sometimes.

Their hosts, the crew of the Siren’s Song, specialize in water battles but have a variety of interesting quirks not related to water (or so Midoriya tells them all later). They dress like pirates too. Aizawa-sensei has been wrestled into a big hat by Ace’s High, who was Aizawa-sensei’s senpai.

The training is, of course, difficult, but they’re learning a lot from it and get stronger. Tsu is enjoying herself in particular, and there is talk of a class beach day rather than a test of courage. Given what happened last year, Shouto is definitely in favor of a day at the beach and a peeling shoulder from too much sun on his right side.

Even with the difficult training that knocks out everyone (including Shinsou and Tokoyami which is quite frankly a miracle), Shouto still wakes when he hears Midoriya get up from next to him and leave the room. He waits in the darkness, surrounded by the other boys in their class, all sleeping deeply. He sits slowly, mainly to make sure Bakugou didn’t lead Midoriya out for a midnight fight session.

But Shouto sees Bakugou asleep with his food in Kaminari’s face, who is drooling on Bakugou’s big toe. Shouto waits in the darkness to see if Midoriya comes back, maybe he had to go use the bathroom. It’s when he thinks that five minutes have passed that Shouto silently slips off of his futon and out of the room.

He’s good at sneaking through darken hallways and dampening the sounds of his footsteps. In Endeavor’s household, you had to have a delicate step.

Shouto finds Midoriya, sitting on the large front porch like area of where they’re staying. He sits with his eyes at half mast, looking at the soft push and pull of the waves underneath the moon. Between how big the moon looks here and the billions of twinkling stars in the sky, Midoriya looks almost unearthly in the light.

People call Midoriya plain looking and Shouto handsome, but, in times such as these, he doesn’t really see it.

Shouto doesn’t speak. Instead he sits down next to Midoriya, who gives him a wan smile as he presses his cheek to his knees.

“Did I wake you, Todoroki-kun? I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Shouto says. He waits for a couple moments to see if Midoriya wants to tell him what’s wrong without prompting. When it doesn’t happen, Shouto knocks their shoulders together slightly.

“You okay?”

Midoriya hesitates for a moment. He does this sometimes, Shouto noticed. Like he’s scared, even well into their second year as classmates and friends, that they will make fun of him or abandoned him or worse if he says or does the wrong thing. It’s something that Shouto struggles with as well, so maybe it makes him more adept at recognizing it.

“It’s silly.”

“I promise I won’t laugh,” Shouto promises.

“I woke up and it…it was peaceful. Everyone is here and accounted for and fine. The girls are in their room. The teachers are in their room. And it’s just so quiet that feels like silence but not really. I just…I wanted to enjoy the moment. I came out here to get some fresh air. Because it’s still now. We’re as safe as we’re ever going to be. And I just wanted to bask in it.”

Midoriya turns his face back to the ocean as he talks, more whispers. As if not wanting to break the tranquil stillness of the night like the waves break on the shoreline. When Midoriya cannot sleep in the dorms, when he’s keyed and paranoid, when his normal coping mechanisms taught to him by his therapist don’t work, he stalks the hallways like a ghost. He checks the perimeters and the windows and the locks multiple times.

But this is different.

Contentment, happiness, joy, these are things that Todoroki Shouto wasn’t intimately familiar with before coming to UA. It’s funny, he reflects, as he sits elbow to elbow with Midoriya on the steps of the rooming house. For all that they nearly died, for all the trauma and heartache, Shouto has learned what such thing felt like. Mainly thanks to Midoriya.

“I’m glad,” Shouto whispers because vulnerability is easier, somehow, in the middle of the night than in the harsh light of day. “You deserve to feel this way all the time, Midoriya-kun.”

“Izuku,” he replies.

Shouto feels something in his chest at Mid-Izuku’s permission to call him by his first name. It’s a mix of the long tattered and forgotten remnants of the childhood joy of a snowfall mixed with when he used his fire and not thought about his father once.

“Shouto,” he says back.

And they sit, content, under the blanket of starlight and the gentle laps of the ocean and not a single damn thing wrong in their world. If only just for a few moments.

There’s other stuff that happens for the rest of Class A from their second year to their graduation.

Izuku tells his closest friends (Ochako, Tenya, Tsu, Shouto, and Hitoshi) and Aizawa-sensei about One for All and his past history of quirklessness in the middle of the second year. His hands shake and his voice trembles, he trips over his words and stutters, but he does so. It changes nothing for them, except everything as well as pieces fall into place.

There’s Izuku’s growth spurt, which throws of his center of gravity, and the emergence of more quirks. Natuso’s tell all book about growing up in Endeavor’s household and the fallout from that. And then learning that Dabi is Touya and that’s a whole other fallout.

Mirio gets his quirk back via a blood transfusion from Eri and the combined quirks of three different specialists. He becomes the next Sir Nighteye and reopens the agency with Amajiki. There’s more villain attacks and battles and a war brews between both sides.

There’s Ochako, Tsu, and Tenya starting a very loud yet simultaneously bubbly and blunt courtship. There’s Bakugou and Izuku in therapy and sometimes punching each other due to reasons of feelings.

It comes to a head, what was supposed to be, Class A’s graduation. The Graduation Attacks, the Lost Graduation, the history books will go back and forth on it. Either way, Class A and Class B of UA’s hero course make their simultaneous debuts as heroes.

And the saga of All for One and One for All ends with Midoriya triumphant over Shigaraki.

What most people don’t know is that UA had a second graduation ceremony after the Lost Graduation. It was very hush-hush, but the students deserved acknowledgement. Even if the brand-new limelight hero graduates of the hero class have broken into the Top Fifty (and one broke the Top Ten) of the rankings.

After the ceremony, Izuku grabs Hitoshi’s arm and leads him over to Todoroki.

“Fresh,” Hitoshi says as Izuku pulls him along.

“Don’t be such a Victorian maiden, Hiichan,” Izuku scoffs, but there’s a grin around his mouth that promises whatever he’s planning is good.

Hitoshi allows himself to be tugged along to where Todoroki is awkwardly standing to get a few minutes of piece away from everyone.

“Shouto!” Izuku calls, before seizing Todoroki’s arm with his free one and tugging him along as well.

Todoroki allows himself to be pulled, blinking in confusion and looking at Hitoshi helplessly.

“The Number Five hero is kidnapping us, Todoroki-kun. Just go along for the ride.”

Todoroki, just as used to Izuku’s antics as he is (and maybe enjoying seeing Izuku looking so damn happy and playful), follows amiably enough until said Number Five hero stops suddenly in the gardens near the teacher’s dorms.

“I want to start a hero agency,” declares Izuku, turning around with a big smile. “And I want you both to be my partners.”

Hitoshi blinks, looks at Todoroki who looks as poleaxed as he can get, and turns to face Izuku.

“Say what now?”

Izuku bounces a little on his toes, his cape bobbing behind him as he moves.

“I want to start my own hero agency,” he repeats, green eyes sparkling and smile wide. “And I want you both to be my partners. I’d like Shouto-kun to help me head the limelight hero division and Hiichan to run the underground hero one. More than that, I want to have outreach, counseling, analytical services. I want to make an agency that no one has ever seen before. And I’d like you both to help me.”

“You’re serious,” Hitoshi says after a moment. He’s never heard of a limelight hero that would run an underground division nor offer counseling or any of the other things Izuku says. It’s just never been done before. “Do you think it can be done?”

“I talked with a couple Management students that graduated. One that Mirio-senpai knows is helping him with the Nighteye agency. Anyway, she thinks that it’s a great idea. And I have a lot of cache right now. Toshinori, Nedzu, and the Shields are willing to give me funds, plus I got…a lot of money for our first graduation.” Izuku pauses. “Ochako-chan and Tsu are going with Tenya-kun to the Ingenium Agency. They’ll be starting a rescue operations division there while Tenya-kun takes over officially.”

“And you want to start your own agency,” Todoroki states, tone even yet thoughtful.

Izuku nods; green eyes near glowing with the power of One for All.

“I want to change the hero system. I want underground heroes and limelight heroes to work together without their being ego and turf wars. I want to do more than just show up and fight the bad guys. I want to try to stop that kind of treatment that leads to people being villains. I want to change a lot of things and the best way I can figure is leading by example.”

Hitoshi has known Midoriya Izuku for three years, been friends with him for two. This is one of the many moments that he feels simultaneously humbled and inspired by his friend.

“You want to try to change society,” Hitoshi states, feeling something like awe and glee bubble in chest as well. “You’re crazy.”

“I think that there are things wrong,” Izuku says serenely to them both. “I think that people just look at the world and say oh this is how things just are. This is the way the world is. And I think that it can be changed. I’m already the Number Five Hero. If I play my cards right, I’ll be a Symbol and Number One in my own right within the next five years at most. And that’s a lot of power, I want to use it to make things better for everyone.”

“I’m in,” Hitoshi interrupts. Todoroki nods firmly next to him. All of them know how fucked the current system is, all of them want to see things change, Hitoshi wants no kid to be unwanted because they have a “villain” quirk.

“Then welcome to the Musketeer Agency,” Izuku beams at them holding out his hands.

It’s not until later that Hitoshi looks up the name Musketeer on his phone. He can’t help but laugh, All for one, and one for all. Izuku’s making some kind of point with it, Hitoshi’s sure. But he likes the idea of what those phrases originally meant before two brothers went to war against each other.

Loyalty through thick and thin. The Talk To Me Hero: Mindfuck smiles at that. Yeah, this is something he can get behind.

Shouto does not remember the first year and a half of being a hero. Yes, he does remember bits of it. Like opening the Musketeer Agency and his first major takedown, moving into an apartment with Izuku and Sh-Hitoshi. But, really, the whole first year and a half is a blur, but a pleasant one.

There’s a lot of meetings with everyone to get the Agency up and running. There’s starting those very first cases. There’s checking in with the group chat and movie nights either with the others in person or via video chats. There’s lunches with Fuyumi and Natsuo, visits with his mother, calls with Dabi’s lawyers about which villain rehab center to advocate for. Trips to his therapist, hiring staff…it all adds up.

He also has to take breaks for himself and experiments with self-care. He picks up a cooking hobby and turns to be quite good at it. Face masks, as well, Momo turns him on to them and it’s nice, taking time for himself when he can.

But he loves every minute of it. He feels invigorated and full of life, passionate even if he has a hard time showing it. The Balanced Hero: Harmony is in the Top 20 and only the biggest assholes in media mention his father when talking about his ascent.

They make a good team, running the Musketeer Agency. Hitoshi runs the underground heroics department well using both his contacts and Aizawa-sensei’s to make it robust and flourishing. Izuku and Shouto take the limelight hero side of the business and provide cover for the underground heroes and spearhead takedowns and rescue operations.

After that first year and a half passes, things don’t slow because there are villains to fight, wrongs to set right, and everything to put in perspective. Such as the Hawks scandal, when it was revealed to the public via a whistleblower that the Heroics Commission essentially bought and groomed the current Number One to be a child soldier.

Shouto feels something icy and blazing settle into his stomach at the news, thinking of his own father and the ambitions of Endeavor. Izuku watches, head in hand and thoughtful as the news plays in front of them. Hitoshi would be here, but he’s running an undercover op with Hagaruke for the next couple weeks.

“We can work with this,” Izuku says thoughtfully hours later. His emotional reaction well and truly spent: full of anger at the Commission and sorrow for Hawks. Now Shouto knows that he’s assessing, figuring out where this fits within his grand plan.

“Was taking down the Commission really part of the plan?” Shouto asks.

“Not until we were in our thirties, but the timeline is always flexible. Either way, we can still work with this.”

Shouto lets out a shocked little laugh. Izuku always surprised him.

“Is this what you were doing with Nedzu in your one on one classes in third year? Building a fifty-year plan to change the world?”

Izuku grins at him and winks. “The lessons were quite informative.”

Shouto notes that he didn’t deny anything about a plan, so he marks it as a possibility in his head.

“How’s Dabi?” Izuku asks suddenly as they watch B-reel of Hawks in action.

“Still wants to be called Dabi,” Shouto says. “Watashi-san says that he’s still settling in. But he’s confident that Dabi could be a success story. I’m not sure if he’ll ever want to be called Touya again though.”

“It’s his choice in the end. He wants to be your brother and he helped a lot with the League in the end.”

Shouto has to agree, even if the gap between him and his eldest brother felt almost insurmountable at times to cross. Sometimes, though, you have to pay for a happy ending with blood, sweat, and tears. For his family, Shouto would do it, especially without Endeavor hanging over them like a thick oppressive cloud.

“We should probably come up with a statement,” Shouto said. He can see Izuku grimace a little out of the corner of his eye.

“I already texted Nakahara-san to get started. I promised her macarons for the overtime. But she knows our views on the Commission so she’s more than happy to use the opportunity to rip them an even bigger new one.”

Shouto leans back in his chair and looks at Izuku, who rests his chin on steepled fingers. His eyes were still a bit puffy and red-rimmed. He cried for Hawks earlier, for the childhood of Takami Keigo, even though their interactions were sparse at best.

“Sometimes, I wish the world was kinder than it actually was. That people were better than they are.”

Shouto doesn’t know what to say to that. He’s not one that people run to for comfort, but he reaches out and rests a hand on Izuku’s shoulder.

“Then we make it a world where people can be a bit kinder.”

His heart soars at the small yet still brilliant smile that Izuku gives him.

Ironically enough, or, well, perhaps coincidentally enough, Todoroki Shouto and Shinsou Hitoshi both realize that they’re madly, truly, irrevocably in love with Midoriya Izuku at the exact same moment. Given that, in a couple years’ time, the three of them would be in a relationship with each other, then it’s probably for the best that this realization of mad, truce, irrevocable love takes place at the exact same instant for them both.

It takes place on Wednesday morning, which no one in the apartment has any position or negative feeling fors. Wednesdays are just there, reliable as any other day of the week. Noted for its perfect bisection of the week, yet nothing to get excited about. Unless you took Hump day literally as some particularly horny adults can do from time to time.

For the founders of the Musketeer Agency, however, this Wednesday morning dawns nicely. Hitoshi stumbles in from a night patrol as Shouto finishes cooking breakfast. Izuku shoves a cup of chamomile tea along with his melatonin gummy into Hitoshi’s hands so after he eats, he can shower, and face plant into his bed.

“I also sent you some more recordings,” Izuku says because, more often than not, the murmuring of Midoriya Izuku still helps get Hitoshi to sleep.

“You’re a prince amongst men, Zuzu.”

Izuku grins as he picks up a bowl of rice.

The breakfast that follows is like any other that three have shared hundreds of times in the past. It’s nothing special, a traditional breakfast, held around the table. They talk because they are friends and roommates and coworkers, but they lapse into a tranquil silence.

It’s not until Eri sends Izuku a picture of her brand new kitten LeMewillion and he immediately becomes a bundle of emotions that the thought hits.

“I love him,” Shouto and Hitoshi think at the exact same moment. Neither of them were expecting the thought, though, so Hitoshi spits out his tea a little bit back into his cup and Shouto also dies choking on a grain of rice.

Meanwhile, Midoriya Izuku, who knew he was in love with both of these disasters at age eighteen, puts down his form to whack Shouto on the back a couple of times while shooting concerned looks at Hitoshi.

The thing is, after realizing that he loves Izuku, Hitoshi doesn’t really do anything about it. He doesn’t act on his feelings or go around making big declarations of love. He definitely doesn’t do anything about it when he realizes that Shouto also loves Izuku. He knows that look on the other man’s face as he wears it often enough himself.

Instead, Hitoshi pines hard and drowns his sorrows into his addiction to magical girl anime, especially ultra-retro Sailor Moon. Despite being a big dumb pining mess, though without emo poetry, things are great in Hitoshi’s life. Work is challenging, but rewarding. The Musketeer Agency is doing well. Deku is the Number One hero, people call him a Symbol of Hope. Harmony rests at Number Four.

The new Department for Heroes, risen from the ashes of the old Heroic’s Commission, has been officially established and doing well. It’s largely made up of retired heroes both limelight and underground along with those in support and management plus retired law enforcement officials. Nedzu helped restructure it along with the checks for those who are considered for a spot in the Department.

Hitoshi is twenty-one almost twenty-two. He sees his most of Class A somewhat regularly and gets the most obnoxiously brightly colored drinks at bars. He makes a lot of puns and sasses people a lot. He’s happy almost obnoxiously so. (well to himself). And he’s in love with his best friend because he might as well be that sort of bisexual disaster.

Shouto is also in love with Izuku. What a mess.

Hitoshi’s also in love with Izuku, which is the definition of messy. Neither of them says it out loud, but they know that the other knows their feelings toward their friend, roommate, and business partner. Shouto knows that he is also quite royally fucked. So, as with most things in his life, he accepts this feeling, buries it deep down, and then, one day, he will die.

It looks like Hitoshi is also doing something similar in regard to his feelings toward Izuku. Both of them waiting for the other to make a move. Even so, he and Hitoshi are still friends. They work well in the field and at the office together. Hitoshi introduces Shouto to more and more ridiculous reality television to get a rise out of him.

Izuku watches them, half exasperated and half fond as barrels onto the couch with snacks when they eventually switch to watching people make soap on HeroTube because, oddly, it’s soothing to watch. Sometimes after a long day of being a pro hero, all you want to do is watch a lady make All Might themed soap.

What a time to be alive. Shouto found her Etsy store and is ordering some All Might soap for Izuku’s birthday.

Shouto is almost twenty-two and life just seems to get better the more time passes. He likes dancing with his friends and running his anonymous conspiracy podcast that no one knows about. He grows his hair long and learns how to do it more than just a ponytail in the field (a braided crown is the best, in his opinion). He likes meditating, cooking, and has taken up watercolor. Life is good and it just seems like it will get better.

But Hitoshi is also in love with Izuku, so sooner or later…it’s going to have to be addressed.

Every Thursday afternoon as their schedules allow, Hitoshi and Aizawa will meet at one of the many cat cafes that they both know for coffee and/or tea. The time and place vary, sometimes it’s not even a Thursday that they meet on, set schedules and routines are an enemy of an underground hero. Even so, it always feels like a Thursday (but what really are days after all) afternoon when Hitoshi goes to spend time with his mentor/father-older brother figure all rolled into one.

Despite the whole “underground heroes shouldn’t have a set schedule” thing, Aizawa was a teacher at UA for years without missing a bit. But he’s also the best underground hero out there, so Hitoshi’s not surprised. He knows he still has a lot to learn from Aizawa. Even if it feels like his life is a disaster eighty-five percent of the time because the whole “I’m in love with my best friend and my other good friend is also in love with him” situation.

Also he has a long term undercover assignment in Hokkaido coming up, a joint operation with the Nighteye Agency, so he’s cramming in as much friend and family (though really it’s the same thing in Hitoshi’s mind, his friends are his family) time possible. Though Aizawa will always be hard to define in Hitoshi’s life. After graduation, they’ve settled into a friendship even though Aizawa offers mentoring and advice, texting him to ream him out when he does something stupid.

The thing about Aizawa was that he could always read Hitoshi like an open book. Possibly due to their similar experiences growing up, despite Shouto’s conspiracy theory, they weren’t related. A blood test that they took in Hitoshi’s second year when he admitted to Aizawa he didn’t know who his parents are proves that much. But they were bonded.

So, even though this revelation was a relatively old one, Hitoshi did chew on what to do about him, Izuku, and Shouto on the way over to the cat café. He doesn’t think Shouto would make a move while Hitoshi’s out of town, he’s not that kind of guy. Plus Hitoshi is not a clingy sort of jealous guy. He never wants to be that sort of guy. So he chews over the situation on the way to meet Aizawa before trying to switch to a new train of thought so his mentor won’t ask what’s wrong.

Unfortunately, Aizawa reads Hitoshi like a cheap romance novel. Though he gives him until their drinks arrive and their laps are full of cat before he pounces.

“What’s wrong?”

Hitoshi should definitely make some kind of token effort here. At the very least, a token attempt to lie and have Aizawa push before he spills his guts in front Miss Muffet, Miss Tuffet, Aizawa, and God Above.

He opens his mouth to do just that, but instead “I’m in love with Izuku and so is Shouto” spills out instead.

Aizawa stares at Hitoshi for a moment with his mug of coffee halfway to his mouth. Miss Tuffet, from her spot in Aizawa’s lap, makes a displeased noise at the sudden lack of pets.

“Aizawa?” Hitoshi prods tentatively after one moment becomes two becomes ten. Great. This is how he breaks his mentor. Yamada was going to kill him.

Aizawa blinks. Hitoshi releases a breath that he was holding. Good, his brain is rebooting. Hitoshi takes a long sip of his iced coffee and scritches Miss Muffet under her chin.

“You’re in love.”

“Yes.”

“With Problem Child.”

“Are you going to get weirdly paternal on me?”

Aizawa continues on like he hadn’t heard Hitoshi.

“And so is Todoroki.”

“My best guess is since they tried to murder each other on live television during the Sports Festival. But we haven’t really acknowledged this whole situation. Even though I think he knows that I’m in love with Izuku and he knows I know that he’s in love with him.” Hitoshi shares because a) it’s relevant information and b) he wonders how far Aizawa will listen to this drama before he up and leaves.

Aizawa blinks at him slowly, sets down the coffee cup, and resumes petting Miss Tuffet.

“You all live together.”

“Mmhmm.”

“You all work together.”

“The agency’s doing well if that’s what you mean. We’re trying to raise funds for a specialized daycare for kids with quirks that are hard to control. You and Eri should come volunteer.”

Aizawa looks at him, like those bloodshot eyes can see into Hitoshi’s very soul.

“Do you need relationship advice?”

Hitoshi freezes. On one hand, Aizawa has been married to Yamada for years. Not many people know about, well before Class A found out about it, but still the number is relatively small. More to the point, they seem happy and stable and are pretty much raising Eri. On the other hand, whoa boy, Aizawa’s relationship advice pretty much amounts to “dump him/her/them”.

“No.”

Aizawa sags against his chair, “Oh thank fuck. I’m still not sure how I started dating Hizashi.”

Hitoshi sits up straight at that, too fast for Miss Muffet’s liking as she hops down. But Hitoshi can’t mourn the sudden loss of cat because the need for the tea is too overpowering.

“What?”

Aizawa’s normally cultivated blank expression looks as sheepish as is possible for him.

“I still don’t know when Hizashi and I officially started dating and at this point I’m two afraid to ask.”

“You’re married to Yamada,” Hitoshi says shocked and gleeful at the same time. “You both adopted a child.”

“Well lucky for everyone involved, I love the loudmouth.” Aizawa’s voice sounds irrevocably fond. So much so that it makes Hitoshi want so badly.

The two drink their drinks for a couple of minutes.

“I’m not asking,” Hitoshi states firmly. “But if I was…”

Aizawa raises an eyebrow, pushes the green streak in his hair back. The green streak that is actually all the white hairs that Midoriya Izuku and Class A gave Aizawa Shouta in three years at UA. The man will probably religiously dye it when all of his hair goes white to keep proving a point.

“It will all work out in the end.”

Hitoshi sips the dregs of his iced coffee.

“That’s terrible advice.”

Aizawa sighs and buries his face in cat.

Out of his entire family, Shouto thought that if he was going to open up about his feelings toward Izuku, then it would be with Fuyumi, Natsuo, and his mom. He never in a million thought that it would be Dabi that he opened up to.

Twice a month, though he tries to go more often, Shouto makes a trip to see his mother at the hospital and his brother at the villain rehab that was part of his plea deal.

His mother, after the release of Natsuo’s book and the ensuing scandal, was moved to a different hospital. One a little more out of the city with lush gardens and staff not paid off by his father to keep her there indefinitely. They believe that she will be ready to transition to living at home within the next couple of years, which pleases Shouto to no end.

Fuyumi and Natsuo visit both their mother and Dabi weekly. Due to the nature of Shouto’s job, however, his schedule remains in a near constant flux. His mom understands at least. Shouto visits her first because, for lack of a better term, it helps fortify him to see Dabi. As if she’s a reminder that people who once appeared so irreparably broken can heal again.

Shouto is relatively certain that Dabi hates him. Or, at the very least, dislikes him. It’s been years, but, yeah, Shouto doesn’t know how to talk with Dabi. Most of their meetings are trapped in a masochistic silence.

Shouto’s therapist says that the effort matters. Watashi-san, one of the counselors, also says something similar.

“If Dabi doesn’t want to see you,” Watashi-san says with a shrug. “Then he would say so. He knows that he has boundaries here, but also a level of control as well. We wouldn’t let you see him if he said no.”

That was something, at least.

Either way, Shouto walks into the villain rehab center with its soothing walls of mint green and walks to the visiting room. The path is very familiar and Shouto tries not to fiddle with the end of his braid as he walks inside to see Dabi at their usual table, by the window and far away from the others.

Shouto sits down, and the silence commences. He can see the red of Dabi’s roots showing, idly he makes plans on giving Watashi-san some money for Dabi’s dye. Unless, he wants to grow the red back in.

The thing is, and there’s always a thing when dealing with your reforming supervillain older brother who turned state’s evidence against a group of supervillains, Shouto doesn’t really remember Touya. Or, if he does, then it’s more like impressions. Bright eyes, a warm hand on his shoulder, sorrow, but pretty much every memory of Shouto’s has a tinge of sorrow on it. Or anger.

Shouto has tried small talk, tried asking Dabi about his therapy, tried talking about Natsuo’s book, tried a thousand little other tactics to have an un-awkward conversation with his brother. So, today, he decides for brutal honesty.

“I’m in love with my best friend,” Shouto says as Dabi takes a sip of his tea. “And my other good friend is also in love with him. Do you have any advice?”

It’s only due to years of honing his reflexes that Shouto dodges out of the way when Dabi spits out his tea in a fairly epic spit take. Dabi coughs into his elbow and waves away one of the orderlies who comes over in concern.

“What,” Dabi says softly but with feeling. “The. Fuck. Shouto.”

Shouto sips his own tea, “I was asking my big brother for advice on romance.”

Dabi stares at him, looking completely thrown off guard. The only time he’s seen someone look so thrown was when he accused Izuku of being All Might’s secret love child. Shouto relishes the look a bit.

“I’m the last person to be asking advice on romance here.”

“Surely you have something to give me.”

Dabi scratches the back of his head and looks around awkwardly before slouching back in his chair. His fingers gently trail along the specialized quirk suppressing bracelets that he’s meant to wear while in the program.

“Love is…not easy for people like you and me, Shouto. Fuyumi and Natsuo got a lot of Endeavor’s shit, but we got the worst of it. And it’s hard to deal with that kind of stuff. The fact that you know you love someone is…it’s the biggest fuck you that you can give to him. Endeavor thought those kinds of feelings were weakness.”

Dabi strums his fingers on the table. “And love is a such a weapon sometimes. I wanted him dead because I love you and mom and Natsuo and Fuyumi. And I went down the worst path possible and let it turn into something horrible. So, fuck, my advice is to just talk with them, alright? You’re an adult for all that you have a baby face, Shouto.”

He grins when Shouto narrows his eyes at him.

“Look all the counselors say it, but use your words. Name your feelings. Talk to the people involved. And work it out. You may be surprised.”

“Very evolved.”

“Sooner or later, something’s gotta stick.”

The two stare at each other for another few moments before Dabi sighs.

“So how was your week?”

Conversations get easier after this.

Izuku meets on Watashi Kiyomi during this time on a roof after coming across her defending a childhood bully against a villain with a random pipe and about thirteen years’ worth of rage at society due to her Quirklessness. Then she asks him if she can be a hero and he smiles and says yes.

Ki, as she quickly becomes to Izuku, remains very perceptive. She’s good at reading people, more than just the paranoid warning signs of growing up quirkless in today’s society. No, she enjoys people watching, reading body language from photos and video clips. Along with her quirk analyses Izuku hones that talent all the more.

Four months into mentoring Ki, he walks into his office to see her looking at a photo of him, Shouto, and Hitoshi with a thoughtful look on her face. She ruffles her pixie cut and turns those large dark eyes on him.

“You know that they’re in love with you, right?” Ki asks.

Izuku blinks in surprise and feels something fond and pleasant well in his chest. He wonders if this is how Nedzu felt back in his third year.

“I’m working on them, but they’re both disasters.”

Ki snorts, “Bold words from a man who got his arm stuck getting veggie sticks from the vending machine. Twice.”

“I never denied that I was a disaster.” Izuku claps his hand on her shoulder and leads her out.

He really does need to talk with Hitoshi and Shouto. Definitely when Hitoshi gets back from his undercover assignment.

Midoriya Izuku delay big, scary, potentially life-changing emotional talks? Never.

(His therapist, Takahashi-san, however, would probably disagree with that blatant lie.)

People say that conversations are an artform. Interpersonal communication is a tricky subject, if you deign to study such subject matters. In every conversation, even the most mundane, there is a push and pull, two people in dance to both get what they want out of the interaction. From getting the time to finally confronting you friend/roommate about their romantic feelings for your other friend/roommate, there’s a sort of tension going on.

Alas, this is not a lecture on relationship dialectics. Though, if Izuku can be frank, it was possibly one of the most important lessons that Nedzu gave him during their year of special classes together. Izuku knows his heart, knows he’s been in love with Hitoshi and Shouto since he was eighteen and the world was burning around him as he fought Shigaraki.

It’s amazing what can be put into perspective when you’re so certain that you are about to die and then don’t.

While Izuku can boast his bravery in fighting villains, in charming people, in his determination and courage, he can also admit to being that scared quirkless middle schooler. The one who gets false love confessions, knows they’re false, and shows up anyway because what if this time it’s true?

So, despite his assurances to Ki that he’s handling it, he really has no idea how to start. Or, at least, he doesn’t want to be the one to start here. Unfortunately, Hitoshi and Shouto are emotional brick walls at times. Unfortunately, broaching the topic of a relationship with either of them, let alone both of them, will more than likely fell on Izuku’s shoulders.

Seriously, once he has Hitoshi and Shouto on lockdown, Izuku will make sure that the relationship never ends because he wants to be a one and done sort of guy. So Izuku fortifies himself with imagining lazy apartment days when the world is not ending and they can all just cuddle on the couch and watch Ghibli movies.

Or make out.

Izuku is down for both, frankly. But if he wants cuddles, make-outs, and more, he recognizes that he’s going to have to talk about feelings for an extended period time. More than likely, he will have to be the one to instigate such talk. He does the frankly logical thing and goes to a bar with Ochako to get drunk.

Ochako, Tenya, and Tsu had the sort of relationship that Izuku hopes to emulate when he pulls his head out of his ass and finally has that talk with the mutual pining Hitoshi and Shouto. Right now, though, Ochako and tequila are his best friends as he downs far too many shots and spills the whole sorry tale to his best friend.

“Communication is key, Deku,” Ochako says in the over enunciated and eloquent way of the particularly hammered. “Like when Tsu and I decided to bring Tenya in on this stuff, we talked so much. And then we talked with Tenya so much. And it’s a lot of talking but good things as well.”

Izuku nods, “Not good. I just wanna touch their butts and kiss them and stuff.”

Apparently, his best friend finds this particularly beautiful because she tears up and throws her arms around him.

“You deserve to touch all the butts, Deku.”

Izuku sniffs at that because Ochako is so sweet, nice, and punts bad guys into the sun. Izuku loves her so much. And it’s so great to have friend night.

Ochako pats his head, “Just put yourshelf out there. But first! Shots.”

The bar erupts around the pro heroes in a chant of “SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS”, so really, they have to oblige.

In the history of relationships starting, there are definitely bad ways and good ways for them to start. From meet cutes to meet uglys, relationships begin in messy unbelievable ways. What gets Shouto and Hitoshi talking is Izuku coming home bitchass shitfaced from drinks with Ochako. He’s singing, stumbling, and sloshed as he pours himself into the apartment.

Honestly, they’re glad for the soundproofing because damn if they lived in your typical twenty-something apartment situation the neighbors would hate them.

“Have fun?” Hitoshi grins, leaning over the couch. Shouto looks up from where he’s playing the latest Animal Crossing.

Izuku stares at them both. The Number One hero in the world and drunk twenty-two bisexual disaster with a possible fifty-year plan to drag society into some semblance of equality breaks down into drunken tears.

Hitoshi and Shouto exchange slightly terrified looks before rushing over to the crying man. They’ve dealt with the many flavors of Midoriya Izuku crying over the years. Drunk tears, all things considered, is still relatively uncharted territory.

Both Hitoshi and Shouto immediately spring into a slightly panicked action. While Izuku cries at everything, seriously there’s a Twitter account for all the times he’s cried in public that literally everyone follows, both Hitoshi and Shouto still aren’t great with dealing with tears.

In their panic, it takes them a moment to realize that Izuku has kissed both of them, tear-stained, and sloppy drunk. Like most drunk kisses that take place throughout history, it’s really nothing to write home about. Yet one after the other, Izuku kisses them, tearstained and tasting of tequila.

Both Hitoshi and Shouto freeze as Izuku sways on his feet, unsteady yet brave, eyes near glowing in the darkened apartment.

“I like both of you,” he says. “And ‘m sorry that I kissed you both without permission. But I like your stupid faces and dumb jokes and terrible conspiracy theories. I wanna date both of you and touch your butts and cuddle.”

He sways forward to pat both of their faces with his rough and scarred hands.

“Imma go sleepy sleepy now. Okay. Love you. Night night.”

And then Izuku falls to the floor and immediately starts snoring.

Hitoshi and Shouto stand there with their brains processing what just happened.

The pair eventually snap out of their post kiss and drunken confession stupor. Shouto carries Izuku into bed while Hitoshi gets the water and painkillers for what promises to be the hangover from hell tomorrow for the Number One hero.

“Should we just leave him by the toilet instead?” Hitoshi asks as Shouto places Izuku on the bed.

They stare at the snoring prone form before them.

“Bucket?” Shouto suggests.

“Bucket,” agrees Hitoshi, glad that they both are handling this first before talking.

Hitoshi goes to get the bucket while Shouto busies himself in the kitchen. Placing the bucket within arm’s reach of Izuku, Hitoshi takes a moment to huff at the other man.

“Could never let me and Shouto just angst until we die, huh?”

Hitoshi allows himself a moment to gently card his hand through Izuku’s mess of green curls, still voluminous and many despite his undercut, before leaving the room.

Shouto makes hot chocolate when there is a Serious Discussion to be had. He remembers his mother and sister doing so over the years, though not without the caveat of a Serious Discussion attached to it. Granted, every discussion in that house felt Serious when he was a kid.

Hitoshi wanders into the kitchen and sits down. Shouto pours two cups of hot chocolate, setting one in front of himself and the other in front of the other man. The whole night feels faintly ridiculous and Hitoshi’s wearing his hoodie with the cat ears, which only adds to the surrealist feeling of the night.

The two of them take sips of their drinks before Hitoshi sighs and buries himself further into his hoodie.

“So how long have you been in love with Izuku?”

“First year during our fight. Though I didn’t realize it for a long time. You?”

“Second year, I think. But yeah same on the not realizing it thing.”

The two look at each other. Shouto finally broaches the subject.

“So do you think we can both date Izuku?”

“Don’t see a reason why not. Tsu-chan, Uraraka-chan, and Iida-kun make it work for them. Izuku wants it. I love him. You love him. We like each other.”

“It can’t be that easy.”

Most of Shouto’s life has been spent looking for catches, looking for hidden clauses. Just doing this? So easily? It seems wild to him. Hitoshi, who has had similar experiences, understands that thought processes.

Shouto feels the warm weight of Hitoshi’s hand on his.

“Maybe sometimes it just is that easy. After all we’ve been through over the years, maybe it should be easy. Just this once. We deserve it to be this easy.” Hitoshi shrugs and then laughs. “Damn, it looks like it all did work out in the end. Aizawa’s a scary man.”

Shouto blinks, “I..what?”

Hitoshi waves off his concern, “Just that Aizawa gives terrible yet scary accurate romance advice. Maybe he’s psychic.”

Shouto perks up at that. Now that would be a great episode for his podcast that no one knows about.

In the morning, Izuku nurses the hangover from hell, but apparently drunk him also did the job of getting Hitoshi and Shouto on Team Boyfriends so he can’t be too mad at Drunk Izuku.

Even with the pictures of him dancing on a table with Ochako.

“So you guys are going to be boyfriends and stuff now?” Ki asks one Sunday at the apartment. Her weight is warm next to Izuku as she works on a scarf for Shouto. Izuku ices his shoulder and half watches an old All Might documentary.

“Yep.”

“And kiss each other and stuff?”

“Yep.”

“Gross,” Ki says scrunching up her nose. She also stops her knitting to hold out her hand so Izuku can fist bump her. “Nice.”

Izuku grins, fist bumps her, and settles back.

“Thanks.”

The rest of Class A, predictably, lose their goddamn minds over the news.

On the flip side, Satou wins the betting pool of when the three of them would get their goddamn acts together.

He buys a Dutch oven with it and the three of them get the first batch of bread from it.

The best nights, Izuku finds, take place twice a week. They order a massive bed for the master bedroom. Those nights Izuku sleeps in the middle with Hitoshi and Shouto on either side of him. Their arms warm weights around him, he smells their soap and shampoo, and there is sort of heavy limbed peace that accompanies this time together.

In those moments, Izuku thinks back to being quirkless and thirteen, feeling like the world was crashing down around his ears. He thinks about being told to kill himself and red spider lilies on his desk. He thinks about lonely nights and days that blur together in one long unpleasant haze. He thinks of burnt flesh and ink-stained hands, regret and longing all at once. How everything seemed so dire then, how lonely he was.

And then he feels the weight of Shouto and Hitoshi’s arms, smells their soap and shampoo, look into the darkened bedroom, and breathes before falling asleep.

Everything is calm. Everything is peaceful. Midoriya Izuku lives a life that, at thirteen, he could only wish for.