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Izuku looking painfully similar to oboro once he starts coming out of his shell is something shouta didn’t expect. He should have in hind sight. Izuku had always been self sacrificing, kind to a fault and infinitely patient with people . But he had been so skittish and shy in his first year that neither of them made the connection.
In retrospect shouta hates that he didn’t look into his behavior sooner. He knows he could have helped if that blonde buffoon had told him his student just got his quirk and that he’d be getting more surprise quirks, but most of all that he was connected to the biggest supervillan ever(That had been a pretty big shock.). He’s sure he could have saved his student some scars, and the thought is painful.
But he’d seen the student fight, so he doesn’t know how he missed the similarities at first. Sure he was usually timid, but when someone else was in danger or in need of help, he was less like a meek little flame, afraid of how much space he’s taking up, he became a raging inferno, one shouta and all those that izuku saved or fought along side of had never been burned by, but rather had felt the gentle warmth from. It was like he kept all those but his opponent in the safe haven that was the eye of his tornado of fire. He was so bright . So warm.
When second year rolled around izuku became more confident and actually stood up for himself with a lot of encouragement from his teachers and peers. He was so much more out going than he had been a year prior , and yet they still missed it.
By his third year he laughed loudly and stood tall, the odd growth spurt he hit at the end of his first year having continued all throughout his third. (Bakugo hadn’t been happy about that (he was the shortest of the two now)). He had become somewhat of the high-school Sweetheart and a member of the big three. He’d also taken the spot of class president in his second year and kept it in his third. With his genius analysis, compassion, and extraordinary planning skills He’d been perfect for the job, and proved himself by getting his class out of many a pickle over the years, he was also responsible and empathetic which made him push his classmates forward and help them up. His somewhat relaxed view of rules was arguably his only fault but the slack was easily picked up by yaoyorozu who had gone through her own journey (partially thanks to izuku himself) and was similarly much more assertive.
And despite all of this it took a clumsy little accident, where ashido swung her arm behind her in her enthusiasm and accidentally scratched an unsuspecting izuku on the nose Bridge, and yaoyorozu slapped a band-aid on it in the following second. It was a the evening before graduation and shouta had told them he was ordering takeout for everyone, but then, Shouta saw it. He looked so similar as he was beaming back at him. He had the same smile. The same teasing smirk when he looked at his friends as they were falling over themselves to get ready for what they had decided was a party .
Soon the boy was dragged off by a majority of the girls and todoroki who didn’t want to feel left out, to Yaoyorozu’s room to find something the greenette should wear, as they no longer trusted him with his own fashion. And shouta was left in an empty common room to deal with his thoughts.
Oboro would have loved him. They were similar in their will to bring people together and would give themselves to people seemingly effortlessly. Even as hero students they carried this aura of safety around them. An aura that was less about strength but felt like a promise to never be judged, to be understood and helped and protected to the best of their ability. Where oboro and Hizashi had somehow managed to befriend him, izuku practically adopted every other lonely kid.
As he thought he also saw what izuku had in common with hizashi, they both have an ability to read a room like no one else he’d ever seen. They were the best judges of character that shouta knew. They both always seem to know what to say to cheer someone up or be tactful. And they both had loud laughs that made everyone smile.
With this realization shouta was forced to connect the 2 dots he’d been avoiding since the boy’s first year. He was self destructive, he he was determined enough to work himself to the bone if he set his mind on something. He was unkind to himself. He put his well-being at the bottom of his priority list.
It left a bitter taste in his mouth, the fact that all the similarities he shared with his deceased and overly lively friends are all of his qualities and the things he shares with shouta are his failings.
The next day as he stood in the crowd in front of the stage with Hizashi and nemuri on either side of him and he waited for the ceremony to move onto the Hero classes, he asked a question out loud that he hadn’t meant to. Damn old habit. “did you two notice?”
“notice what?”
SHouta fumbled for a response he ended up just making a hand gesture and saying “…Midoriya”
“You’re only seeing it now?” said hizashi
“they’re very similar” agreed nemuri
“They have the same smile” added hizashi
“he’s similar to all of you in a different way" concluded nemuri
When she said that shouta thought back to his thoughts the previous day and felt a little salty once again. He tried not to show it but alas his friends could read him like an open book. He wouldn’t be surprised if they explained that his tell was a slight clench of his left butt cheek. Which is why he doesn’t ask.
“What’s wrong" they both said
“The only thing we have in common are the bad things” he said simply, unable to explain why it upset him so much.
“are you kidding?” Hizashi said disbelieving
“He has hizashi’s clumsiness and oboro’s terrible handwriting” nemuri said smirking
“he has your drive and determination , sometimes it goes to far, yes, but you’ve both worked on it and it’s arguably one of the best qualities he has . He also has that adorable mumbling habit that you only managed to curb in your third year.” Hizashi chuckled at the end, reminiscent.
As the conversation derailed to the odd things that shouta had accidentally said aloud during his school days, shouta felt infinitely lighter and grinned widely in his capture weapon when he saw his students walk on stage. His friends where truly the only ones who could read him so well and get away with their teasing.
….well, there might be one exception.
Something barreled into his front as he was walking back to the staff lounge to get his things at the end of the day, he might have fallen if not for the hug he was trapped in. It wasn’t the first hug he’d gotten from the greenette, even though they were rare and he must admit it feels nice for it to be for a happy occasion for a change.
“you did good problem child" he said as he reciprocated the hug from his student- well, former student.
“thanks daaad” he said as he looked up (he was only a little shorter than shouta now) with a wicked smile. The boy had taken to calling him that after the painkiller incident of his second year. He’d done it accidentally the first time and then instead of being ashamed he did it over and over again to elect a reaction out of shouta and somehow it worked every time. Thank goodness his other students never jumped on the bandwagon.
The underground hero just buried his face in his capture weapon and pulled away to do so “brat"
IIzuku laughed and broke the hug and said “I’m going to miss ua so much, I’ll be working with most of 3A- well former 3A?”
“the hell class"
“yeah them. I’ll be working with them almost everyday anyway, and nezu asked me to come back as a guest to teach a class every now and then. (Kachan was fuming when he heard that nezu asked me)so I’ll see the school again so I guess I’ll be missing you the most sensei ~~~”
“it’s not like you’re never going to see me again problem child, you promised eri you’d see her often so you better keep it.”
He laughed loud and bright and sweet “of course I’ll come and visit you both often! We’ll I’ve got to go, my mom is waiting to go home and celebrate! But dinner is still on tomorrow night right? I said I’d cook with eri"
“thank God someone is teaching her how to cook” shouta grumbled as a response and izuku laughed again and bounced away, waiving.
As he walked away shouta contemplated his disbelief in reincarnation, he still doesn’t believe in it, but if there was ever a time to question it he supposes it should be now.
Either way he’s content enough to believe that izuku will be- is the Hero HE would have wanted to be.