Work Text:
It started with:
“Midoriya, you’re very strong,” Todoroki said while looking Izuku directly in the eyes in the middle of the corridor that separated their dorm rooms, before walking away to get dinner.
He said this without provocation, face deadpan as ever but with an awkward sincerity unlike the intensity of when he said much the same thing before the sports festival.
Izuku was left baffled, and not even given enough time to thank Todoroki before he walked away.
____________
A week later, Todoroki strode across the class room and leaned on Izuku’s desk. Again, in silence, before saying, “you’re not only strong, you’re pretty.”
Izuku’s eyebrows furrowed, “pretty what?” and then, realizing he’d forgotten something, “thank you! You’re also really strong, but you know that, anyway, and-”
“No, you’re pretty.” Todoroki emphasized, before standing up straight again and walking away, pulling out his phone and texting someone with a slight frown on his face.
It took Izuku another few seconds to understand what Todoroki meant. As soon as he did, his face flushed bright red and his heart hammered in his chest.
Pretty?
Izuku?
Izuku, with his frizzy nest of hair, freckles, and too-big eyes?
Todoroki was the one who was pretty! Tall and slender, silky looking hair, eyes that looked like gemstones-
Izuku stopped himself. Todoroki was his classmate. They were barely even friends, and certainly not anything more than that. Thinking like this was disrespectful to him…. But wait, he called Izuku pretty first!
Todoroki was very matter-of-fact, and he didn’t really give out compliments… Maybe he thought Izuku was down in the dumps, and that’s why he called him pretty? That made much more sense. Nobody ever called Izuku pretty, why would Todoroki be an exception?
Izuku did not see how Todoroki watched his reaction, then typed even more furiously into his phone.
_______________
Not two days later, after class while Izuku was at his desk, analyzing Midnight’s quirk, Todoroki sat down in front of him, backwards in Kacchan’s seat.
“You are also very intelligent. I don’t think I could ever analyze quirks the way you do.”
Izuku grinned, but it quickly dimmed, “thank you, but I’m not that smart. My quirk just came in late, so I got good at analysis to make up for it.”
Todoroki frowned, and it looked like he had something to say, so Izuku waited to put his notebook away.
“That doesn’t mean you aren’t smart. It means you’re resourceful and strategic.”
“Oh,” a wobbly smile crept onto Izuku’s face as heat rose to his cheeks, “thank you. Nobody’s ever said anything like that to me…”
Todoroki’s frown deepened, “they should have.” Then he got up and slung his backpack over his shoulder, “see you tomorrow.”
“See you…” Izuku trailed off.
This was the third time when, out of nowhere, Todoroki complimented him for no apparent reason. Did he… Want to be friends with Izuku? Was Izuku maybe reading into this too much?
Maybe… Tomorrow he could ask if Todoroki wanted to be friends with him. Todoroki, though stoic, wasn’t cruel so the worst he could say was no, and…. Honestly, knowing his backstory, Izuku could say with some certainty that Todoroki needed friends and currently had none.
___________________
The very next day, as soon as Todoroki sat down at his desk, it was Izuku’s turn to confront him.
“Todoroki.”
The boy looked up, “yes?”
“Do you want to be friends with me?”
Todoroki thought of Izuku, wreathed in green lightning and glowing like some kind of god, and the smile that lit up the room, and wanted to say no, being friends was not what he wanted, but…
“Yes.”
Then Izuku smiled and it was the sun coming out from behind the clouds and Todoroki couldn’t bring himself to regret becoming friends with him.
“Great! Wanna spar after school, then?”
Todoroki nodded.
“See you later!” And Izuku returned to his desk, worries resolved. Todoroki had been giving him all those compliments because he didn’t know how else to make friends, confirmed.
______________
They sparred; Izuku lost twice and won once, and was left panting hard, hands on his knees as Todoroki stood across from him, looking tired but not as much as Izuku. The only real clue was the frost that had built up from overuse of the ice side of his quirk.
Even if he used his fire, he used it sparingly. He recovered quicker than Izuku, though, and walked over.
“Your eyes are beautiful. When you use your quirk, they glow, but all the time, they…” and then he cut himself off and his face was infused with a light flush, “they sparkle. Your eyes sparkle.”
Izuku blushed again, although his face was already pretty red from exertion. He waved his hand.
“You don’t have to say stuff like that anymore. We’re already friends,” he laughed awkwardly.
Todoroki stopped moving completely and stared at Izuku. He looked… Hurt…?
“Do you think… I didn’t mean what I said to you?”
Izuku wasn’t wrong; he was hurt. Hurt that Izuku didn’t believe him.
“I-”
“You don’t believe what I said about you,” Todoroki was certain this time, voice firm, he put his hands on Izuku’s shoulder so Izuku would look him in the eyes, “I mean everything I say. When I said you were strong, I meant it. When I said you were pretty and intelligent, I meant it, and when I said your eyes are beautiful just now? I meant it.”
And then he walked away again, once again leaving Izuku stunned. So… He wasn't just awkwardly trying to make friends…? He actually thought all of that? About Izuku?
And what had Izuku done? Assumed he was faking it and basically lying…
Izuku felt like shit. He wanted to call Todoroki and apologize, but they had just become friends today and it would feel weird to take his number from the class groupchat and contact him privately without his permission.
It hadn’t been long since Todoroki left. Izuku could still catch up to him if he ran, especially if he used his quirk a little.
“Wait!” Todoroki was at the end of the hallway when Izuku ran out of the quirk training gym. He stopped moving and turned around, waiting for Izuku to catch up.
Izuku’s legs ached but he didn’t give himself time to rest before apologizing.
“I’m sorry for thinking that you- that you were insincere,” Izuku confessed and then, thinking that wasn’t enough, tried to explain, “nobody has ever said stuff like that to me, it was just a lot of…”
‘Quirkless’
‘Useless’
‘Deku’
“But you’re so good,” Todoroki interrupted Izuku’s train of thought, confused, “why wouldn't anyone tell you?”
Izuku gaped at Todoroki. How could he just say things like that as if they were nothing? Still, Izuku answered the question.
“Well, I was quirkless, so…” Izuku shrugged casually, attempting to hide how much it hurt that his value had always been negated by his lack of a quirk.
“That’s foolish. Just because you didn’t have a quirk?”
Izuku nodded.
“But I’m not a fool. You’re strong, smart, and pretty, and I’m going to keep telling you that until you believe it yourself. I haven’t been complimenting you, I’ve been stating facts.”
It felt like Todoroki’s eyes were staring deep into Izuku’s soul. Izuku, personally, felt like there was electricity buzzing in all of his veins and every ounce of blood in his body had rushed to his face. He was one word short of passing out from partly embarrassment and mostly self-consciousness.
Todoroki’s words rolled around Izuku’s brain. Strong? But Todoroki was also very strong. Smart? But Todoroki had better grades. Pretty? Had Todoroki ever looked in the mirror? Shouldn’t he have… Higher standards or something?
______________
Todoroki did not fail in his mission to compliment Izuku. If he didn’t tell him in person, he would text him.
Day three, it was, “your ability to adapt to your quirk is extremely admirable.”
The next day, he texted Izuku, “I didn’t say anything today, but you look really good in the summer uniform.”
Izuku blushed at that one.
A week later, Todoroki blocked Izuku from leaving the classroom to say, “your freckles look like stars on your face. They don’t mar it, they just make you even more beautiful.”
Uraraka was with Izuku, so she stared at Todoroki, glanced at Izuku, then smirked in the manner of someone who knows many things.
Izuku found himself blushing bright red. Again. This time he got a little upset, this had been happening too many times.
“Todoroki, you can’t just say things like that to me!”
“Shouto.”
“What?”
“Call me Shouto. Can I call you Izuku?”
“Uh- sure,” Izuku’s head was spinning. What was he saying?
“Anyway, you have to stop complimenting me! It’s…” It was giving Izuku hopes he shouldn’t have.
“But I’m just telling you what I think,” Shouto tilted his head, “am I not allowed to do that, Izuku?”
Izuku groaned, “of course you can tell me what you think, but-”
“But I think that you’re beautiful, and I think that your freckles are also beautiful. They make you look like a work of art. Am I not allowed to say that?”
Izuku’s mouth formed words but no sound came out. He wanted to be a little outraged, but he was flabbergasted. What came out was infinitesimally quiet.
“You… You really think that? About me?” Izuku looked into Shouto’s eyes for any trace of a lie, but all he got was the softest smile.
“Of course I do.”
Izuku’s mouth pulled into something that could only barely be called a smile and tears forced their way into his eyes, and his “thank you” came out choked and quiet.
Shouto’s small smile disappeared quickly, replaced by concern, “I didn’t mean to make you cry. Did I say something wrong? Did-”
“No,” Izuku interrupted him with a wet chuckle, “I’m not sad.”
Though there were still tears on his face, his grin ushered away all of the fears in Shouto’s heart. It was bright and beautiful and Izuku.
“Thank you, Shouto.”
“There’s no need to thank me,” God, what Shouto wouldn’t give to be the one wiping tears off of Izuku’s face, the one who would always be able to make him smile like that.
But… If he told Izuku that…. Fuyumi said he would be ‘coming on too strong’ and he might scare Izuku off. Shouto didn’t want to scare Izuku, ever. He got out of the way so Izuku and Uraraka could leave.
Izuku was still dazed as he walked down the hallway. Was his brain malfunctioning? Did friends just… Say stuff like that? And mean it? And smile like angels and say they could call each other by first names?
“Deku!” Izuku finally woke up to Uraraka shaking his shoulder, “I’ve been trying to get your attention for the past minute!”
“Sorry, I was distracted.”
“No, shit,” Uraraka grinned, whispering, “Deku, I think Todoroki likes you.”
Izuku looked at her, “of course Shouto likes me, we’re friends.”
She rolled her eyes like Izuku was an idiot, “romantically, I mean.”
Izuku froze, then laughed, “no way, Shouto? He’s so out of my league-”
“First of all,” Uraraka pointed her finger into the air, “you’re incorrect. Nobody is out of your league. Second, were you paying attention to what he said to you just now? ‘Your freckles are like stars, you look like a piece of art’? Deku, he could not be any less subtle.”
Izuku considered that, and then finally decided to think about the possibility he had been pushing to the side all this time.
“So… You think Shouto might have a crush on me?”
Uraraka laughed, “might? Deku, I would literally bet my entire savings that he has a crush on you,” she kept quiet about the class betting pot, which she had started with Sero.
“Really…?”
Izuku would not sleep that night.
__________________
Izuku and Shouto kept getting closer, although nobody talked much during exams because, obviously, they were taking exams. Potential romance could wait until they passed all their classes.
The written exams were… Fine. Izuku had always gotten pretty decent grades, and he had hiked up his studying time since he came to UA. Also, the topics were often things he was interested in instead of like. Pre-algebra. Who cares about pre-algebra when you could be studying hero law? Not Izuku.
The practical exams… Izuku was paired up with Kacchan which… Could have gone worse than it did. It also… Could have gone better…
He was covered in dust, in pain, and exhausted, but he and Kacchan had worked together for once, even if it was when Kacchan thought he had no other choice but to work with Izuku.
“Are you hurt?” A warm, damp towel was thrust in front of Izuku’s face, and he looked up to see Shouto, only slightly less dusty than Izuku himself.
“Only a little bit,” Izuku said, stretching his back and then cringing from the ache.
“All Might is strong even with the limiters, huh?”
“It wasn’t All Might,” Izuku said without thinking.
Shouto’s voice sharpened, “... Bakugou?”
Izuku looked up. Shouto’s brows were slightly furrowed, his lips pursed. He clearly did not think of this as lightly as Izuku did.
“It’s fine, he’s always like this,” Izuku soothed.
“Always? That’s even less fine. Didn’t you go to the same middle school?”
“I mean, yeah, but-”
“Izuku, he injured you during a final exam where you were supposed to be working together. That’s not fine.”
Izuku knew that, he knew that, but…
“That’s how it’s always been…” He squeezed out.
Shouto took a deep breath and Izuku hunched his shoulders, curling inward a little.
He must have noticed because the first thing he said was, “I’m not angry with you, Izuku,” Izuku relaxed, “but it’s not alright for Bakugou to treat you like this. It isn’t now, and it wasn’t before.”
Izuku kept his mouth shut. Shouto was right. It wasn’t okay for Kacchan to treat him the way he did. As he thought this, he still decided to minimize the extent of what Kacchan said and did in middle school when he talked to Shouto. He didn’t want to ruin any possibilities of cooperation between them and besides, Kacchan was getting better.
“Izuku,” Shouto’s hands were on his shoulder again and, through the thin t-shirt he was wearing, he could feel the warmth from the one hand, and cold from the other, so he was a little distracted when Shouto continued with, “At least tell someone if Bakugou does anything, okay?”
“Okay…” He used to try to tell people. His classmates, his teachers, his mom, “but what if they don’t do anything?”
Izuku felt the hand on his left shoulder become chillingly cold as Shouto bit out, “they’ll do something. You know what Aizawa-sensei is like.” Izuku did know, so he nodded. Shouto’s grip did not loosen, but both of his hands returned to semi-normal temperatures, “you don’t… Deserve to be hurt.”
“Nobody deserves to be-”
“But you, especially. You’re kind, and selfless, and when you get hurt, I- your friends- we want to know. We don’t want you to be hurt alone.” The way he spoke was halting and quiet, but each word hit Izuku’s heart like a hammer.
Speaking of hammer, Izuku’s heart was hammering in his chest and Shouto was so terribly soft and sincere that he was blushing again.
“I’ll- I’ll tell you, then…” Izuku looked down as he said that because if he kept looking at Shouto’s face, he might actually explode.
If he had looked up, he would have seen Shouto’s entire face relax.
“Good.” His relaxation did not stop him from shooting an especially vicious glare in Bakugou’s direction.
__________________
A couple days later was the shopping trip. Shouto didn’t really need to go, but Izuku was going and it was an opportunity to empty his father’s bank account as much as possible, and therefore, Shouto stood at the entrance of the mall, waiting for the class to show up.
He checked the title of the entrance again. This was where they were supposed to meet, he just happened to be half an hour early. Izuku also just happened to be half an hour early.
“Shouto, you’re here!” He grinned and Shouto almost raised a hand to shade his eyes.
“Mm,” Shouto mumbled a response while staring at Izuku. He was wearing a white t-shirt that said t-shirt across the front of it and loose fitting jean shorts. A very… Casual outfit. Was Shouto overdressed?
“You have a really good sense of style,” Izuku muttered, “my mom always sighs when I leave the house.”
Fuyumi told him to seize opportunities when he saw them.
“Do you want me to buy you clothes?” Yes, Fuyumi had picked this outfit, but Shouto had seen a magazine before. He knew what fashion was.
Izuku waved his hand dismissively, “no, don’t waste your money on me-”
“But I would get to see you in the clothes I buy, so it wouldn’t be a waste of money,”
Izuku went bright red. It was so cute when he did that, Shouto wanted to hold his face and kiss the reddest parts.
“And besides, it’s not my money.” He held up his father’s credit card. Even if it was a waste, it wouldn’t matter. Endeavor could afford to waste some money.
Izuku laughed, “Okay, fine.”
Shouto wanted him to laugh forever. It was so warm and nice and thinking about it too much was making him nervous, so he opened the door to the mall and gestured for Izuku to go inside.
“After you.”
Shouto had never been to this mall before, or any mall, so Izuku led the way to a clothing store called ‘Lowkey’. Lowkey what?
“Is this where you usually buy clothes?”
Izuku laughed again, sheepishly this time, “no, I usually go to secondhand stores, but there aren’t any in this mall,” he gestured to the wide variety of clothes inside the store, “ wanna pick something out for me?”
And, oh boy, did Shouto want to pick things out for Izuku. At first, he was just picking things out that would flatter Izuku, or that Shouto just desperately wanted to see him wear, like tank tops and crop tops and leggings, but then he took a step back. And considered what Izuku would be comfortable wearing, judging by what he wore right now.
He quietly put back anything that would be overly revealing or super tight. He kept the tank tops. And a couple crop tops. And one pair of leggings, but only because they were All Might themed and he knew Izuku would love them. He also picked out a couple pairs of shorts and pants that didn’t look… Dorky. Some button downs, too, though he knew in his heart of hearts that Izuku was unlikely to wear them.
Did Izuku even own formal wear?
Finally, he went back and pushed the haul, separated into sections within a shopping cart, in Izuku’s direction.
He gaped at the cart, then back up at Shouto.
“All this?”
Shouto nodded, then added, “it’s just to see what you like and are comfortable with.”
And what a perfect excuse. Although, if Izuku did turn out to be comfortable with crop tops, Shouto had some other Ideas.
“Umm..” Izuku hesitated, still staring at the piles of clothes, “should I come out and show you, or…?”
“If you want to,” Shouto replied coolly, not giving away how much he wanted to see Izuku in every single thing he picked out. If Izuku didn’t want Shouto seeing him in something, then Shouto didn’t want to see him in it.
“Ok…” Izuku smiled hesitantly, dragging the cart into the dressing rooms, “see you in a bit!”
Shouto nodded, choosing to check his phone while he waited. He had a few notifications, but the only one he clicked on was a message from Fuyumi.
[Fuyumi]: how’s your not-date going? (*^.^*)
[Shouto]: fine
[Shouto]: …thank you for your assistance
Fuyumi is typing…
[Fuyumi]: of course! ଘ(੭˃ᴗ˂)੭ good luck!
Shouto smiled involuntarily then put his phone away just as he heard footsteps coming from the dressing room.
Izuku appeared, in all his excited glory, in the All Might leggings and a black crop top that Shouto had fished out of the bargain bin that screamed ‘HERO IN TRAINING’ in neon green, glow-in-the-dark font.
“How do I look…?” He tugged on the crop top a little bit; it did not cover his abs.
“Really, really good.” Shouto wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest. The leggings… Made it very clear how muscular Izuku’s legs were, and the crop top, though tacky, definitely set off his green eyes and went with the leggings.
“Really?” Izuku looked down at his shirt again and let go of the hem, standing straight up, then twirling around a bit to check himself out, “then I’m getting these.”
Shouto heard that, vaguely, in the back of his mind, but the front of his mind was currently focused on how the leggings wrapped around Izuku’s thighs and uh-
He coughed, face a little red, and forced his eyes back to Izuku’s face.
“Good. I can afford more than that.”
Izuku grinned again and Shouto successfully removed his head from the gutter. They weren’t even dating yet, don’t get ahead of yourself. Izuku went back to the dressing room, and Shouto realized he wasn’t the only one watching him go back. The employee managing the dressing room was watching a little too closely for Shouto’s comfort.
They were probably just surprised by how muscular he was under the baggy shirt and shorts, but it was still a little uncomfortable.
The next outfit Izuku came out in was blessedly normal. A pair of loose jeans and a pretty normal graphic t-shirt. Honestly, they made him look a little younger.
“Those are cute.”
“Thank y-”
“They’re cute on you, because you’re cute.”
That sent Izuku into a blushing mess, and he clammed up, stalking back into the dressing room without saying another word.
The next outfit was formal wear, a nice dark green button down over slacks with a black blazer. It was as simple as formal could get. The one thing: the shirt was too tight. It must have been one size too small because those buttons were straining. Again, Shouto kept himself in check.
“That also looks good. The shirt seems a little small.”
“Yeah, I thought so, too. Also, are you gonna say everything looks good, or actually give me something substantial?”
“I say that because it’s true. Do you want me to tell you in detail why everything you’ve tried on looks good on you?”
“Umm..” Izuku glanced furtively at the dressing rooms, then shot a quick smirk at Shouto, “only for the next one.”
“Alright.” Shouto would wait eagerly for the next one, then. He could hardly imagine anything being better than the first outfit, but…
The first thing Shouto noticed about Izuku’s outfit: Shouto had not picked it out. This was all Izuku’s doing.
The second thing: bike shorts were even more lethal than leggings, why was that allowed-
The third thing: those were Shouto’s colors.
Izuku, the knowing little bastard, sauntered out of the dressing room in red bike shorts and a cropped, white tank-top with graphics of cracking ice. He smiled widely and Shouto felt the sudden urge to fall to his knees and surrender completely to Izuku’s will, whatever it was.
“So, Shouto,” Izuku got closer than was strictly necessary, “tell me in detail why this looks good on me?”
The blood slowly rushed to his face and, within ten seconds, he felt like his cheeks were on fire.
“Izuku,” he croaked, “you can’t do this to me.” Never had he been more tempted to cover up his face with his hands.
“So it doesn’t look good on me?” He could hear Izuku smile.
“No- no, you look so good I could die,” Shouto groaned. God, now that Izuku was close, Shouto noticed that he had freckles on his arms and shoulders too, but his skin looked so smooth and soft, and the scars didn’t take away from it at all. He was going to die today. He was going to die because Izuku was too pretty and too close and had learned how to flirt.
“Shouto, you’re steaming,” Izuku pointed out, laughing a little.
Shouto cursed and tried to get his quirk under control, very purposefully looking away from Izuku because he was not helping. After a minute or so of calming down and thinking about things like ice and cold showers, Shouto was no longer steaming. He finally looked back down at Izuku, who was muttering to himself as he typed into his phone.
Noticing the stare, Izuku looked back up with a mischievous smile, “so, you liked the outfit that much?”
Shouto would not give in now.
“Yes. You look so beautiful that I would worship at your feet and eat from your hands. If you wore this to any sparring match, I would be so distracted I wouldn’t be able to fight, I-”
A pair of warm, calloused hands covered his mouth. Izuku had gotten successively redder as he kept speaking and had stopped being able to tolerate it. Oh, his shoulders and neck were red too, that was so cute, holy shit.
“You- you-” not able to figure out what to say, Izuku gave up and finally muttered, “the rest of the class is here, we have to go meet up with them.”
Izuku changed into what he was wearing before and Shouto could finally breathe normally again. He paid for everything Izuku liked (even those bike shorts and tank top, that menace), and headed out of the mall into the blistering heat to meet with everyone else.
Shouto had never been less happy to see the rest of class 1-A. He even heard Uraraka pull Izuku aside to ask why he was in such a bad mood. Who would be happy to have their entire high school class third-wheeling them?
Whatever, at least he could talk to Izuku without Aizawa here to give him the evil eye for not paying attention in class. And he could also buy Izuku things, which he’d read online was a desirable trait for a significant other.
He pretended to be checking his phone while listening to Uraraka and Izuku’s conversation. It couldn’t be considered eavesdropping; he was standing maybe two feet away from Izuku.
“Whoa, Izuku, what did you buy?” She gaped at the overstuffed bag Izuku was holding.
“Clothes, Shouto bought them.”
“Ohhh~, Todoroki bought them, huh?”
“Yep.”
Uraraka waggled her eyebrows at him, then leaned in to whisper something that Shouto couldn’t hear. It made Izuku blush, though, then he nodded. Shouto was curious, but he read that intruding in other people’s private matters tends to drive them away, and he didn’t want to drive Izuku away.
The shopping trip began and most of the class separated into little groups. Iida hadn’t come, so Izuku was walking with Uraraka and Shouto.
“Do you think they’ll have us spar during the summer camp?”
Izuku shrugged, “maybe? Depends where it is.”
“If they do, I’m gonna beat Bakugou this time,” Uraraka clenched her fist decisively, “I’ve learned from last time, and this time I’m gonna crush him to dust.”
Both of them prepared for Izuku to tell them not to go that far, but all he said was, “I think you can do it. Kacchan needs to lose if he’s gonna grow as a person. He won too much as a kid and now he thinks the whole world is like that.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Bakugou alright,” Uraraka said, then she froze, and finally turned to Izuku apologetically, “sorry, I just remembered I need to go grab bug spray. I’ll be back in a bit!”
She didn’t sound or look apologetic as she bounced over to the elevator, though. Shouto’s phone buzzed.
[Uraraka]: you’re lucky that i’m observant and have no interest in being a third wheel. Ask deku out already, it couldn’t be more obvious that you like him
Shouto put his phone away with a tiny smile on his face. The tiny smile disappeared and his heart dropped to his stomach. Izuku was gone. He was right next to him just a second ago, where did he go? SHouto searched the crowd. No green hair. It was so crowded he couldn;t pick out one person from the next, and Izuku was small, so this wouldn’t work.
He texted Izuku. No response. He called Izuku. His call was accepted, but he didn’t hear Izuku’s voice. There was someone talking, and it was familiar, but it wasn’t Izuku. It was Shigaraki. Why was Shigaraki here? Why with Izuku? No, that wasn’t important. What was important was finding them and getting Izuku away from that manchild.
He kept the call open while he texted the class groupchat, letting them know to look for them, and also messaged Aizawa, who might not have been checking the groupchat. His hands shook and he willed them to be steady as he typed.
[Shouto]: izuku disappeared. He’s with shigaraki
Izuku pinged his location to the entire class right after Shouto sent the message. He was still at the mall.
[Aizawa]: security is on it, as well as nearby heroes. I Will be there in five minutes. Do not do anything reckless.
Reckless? Finding a kidnapped classmate couldn’t possibly be considered reckless, SHouto rationalized as he searched the crowd, listening to the phone call to try to figure out where they were. Ok, he could hear birds, so they were probably outside. Shouto made it to one of the entrances.
________________
Izuku sat on the bench, sweating and yet cold as ice, deeply and constantly aware of the fingers on his neck. If Shigaraki twitched just once the wrong way, Izuku was done for. And all that while Izuku was trying to pay attention to the man’s raving about Stain and why he got so much attention.
He had answered a phone call, hoping that whoever called would notice he was in trouble and get help. If Shigaraki noticed, he would be in even more danger.
Finally there was a pause, and Shigaraki stared at him with bloodshot eyes, waiting for an answer. Izuku grasped around in his head for some kind of response.
“Stain has… An ideology, people know what he believes. But people don’t know anything about you, except, except how destructive you are.”
Shigaraki scoffed, “an ideology. I have a fucking ideology. My ideology is that society is shit and we need a new one!”
His finger twitched and Izuku stood up straighter than ever before, “society has… Problems, yeah. If Stain and you are both trying to ‘fix’ those problems, then I understand Stain more than I understand you, because… Because he’s also inspired by All Might.” Izuku was just saying words at this point. Did they make sense? He wasn’t entirely sure.
“All Might,” Shigaraki seethed, “it’s always about All Might. That’s why I hate you and Stain so much,” his hand tightened and Izuku tried very hard not to breathe so his throat wouldn’t come any closer to the man’s fingers. “Thank you for opening my eyes!”
“Get away from him!” Izuku heard a familiar voice yell.
Shouto.
No. He shouldn’t be here, Shigaraki was dangerous. And yet, at the same time, Izuku felt a horrible guilt for being happy, relieved, that Shouto was here. Shigaraki’s fingers stayed just as tight around his neck as he laughed.
“I’m just a fan looking for an autograph-”
“He’s Shigaraki, get help!” Izuku interrupted.
“Aww, no need to ruin my fun,” the man drawled, removing his hand from Izuku's neck and standing up, preparing to leave. As soon as he turned around, a streak of ice flashed towards him and he dropped through a portal on the ground.
The outside of the mall was quiet again, and Izuku turned to face Shouto. He was breathing heavily, his left sleeve burnt off and his right encrusted with frost. He approached Izuku and pulled him into his arms. Izuku could feel his heart hammering, although he couldn’t tell whether it was his or Shouto’s.
“You’re okay,” Shouto breathed, relief thick in his voice.
“Yeah.” Izuku pushed his face into Shouto’s left shoulder. It was almost scalding but still so comfortable. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“I was… So worried, that you would get hurt, or-” Shouto cut himself off, “you’re precious to me, Izuku.”
Izuku listened to his heartbeat and mumbled, “precious?”
“Yes, precious. Cherished, valued, wonderful, precious.” Shouto’s arms tightened slightly on the last word.
A warmth suffused Izuku, a light fluttery feeling. Joy, happiness? It was like there was air in his veins, making him lightheaded and dizzied but in a good way.
‘Precious’
____________________________
After they separated from the hug, both of them still had to deal with the whole thing that had just happened. Izuku was taken aside by Recovery Girl to make sure he wasn’t hiding some grievous injury, while Shouto was taken aside to be scolded by Aizawa for ‘acting recklessly’. Shouto would act recklessly as many times as he had to if it would ensure Izuku would come out of every situation safe.
Aizawa sighed, narrowing his eyes at Izuku, “of course he would target you, problem child.”
Izuku shrugged, “maybe he just thought I was the weakest out of the bunch.”
“No,” Aizawa shook his head, “then he would’ve gone for Mineta. Seems like he’s got some grudge against you. Be careful from now on, Midoriya.”
Izuku nodded.
“I’ll walk him to school and back home again,” Shouto offered.
“You’re okay with that, Todoroki?”
“I’m not ‘okay’ with it, I want to,” Shouto affirmed.
“Midoriya?”
Izuku nodded far more vehemently than before. Aizawa, seeing what was going on, groaned. Whatever, as long as it didn’t get in the way of their hero training, it would be hypocritical of him to criticize them.
“Alright. Do that, then.”
And thus, Shouto walked Izuku home. A comfortable silence lingered between them, occasionally broken by Izuku commenting on a few of the heroes on patrol they walked by, or a sponsored ad hanging in the window of a store. Shouto didn’t say much, but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy it.
He liked listening to Izuku talk. Izuku had a smooth voice that Shouto suspected originated in the way he monologued to himself sometimes. But then he would go off on some tangent and his voice would get smaller and smaller as he realized he’d lost his train of thought. And the way his eyes lit up when he saw something he wanted to talk about… Mm, that was cute too.
Shouto walked Izuku all the way to his door, and when Iuzku leaned in for a goodbye hug, Shouto ruffled his hair.
“Goodbye, precious. See you tomorrow.”
Izuku’s face went red again, but he smiled so happily before he said, “bye, Shouto. See you.” And walked into his house. He peeked back just once after he unlocked the door, and Shouto sent him a small wave. Izuku waved back before going inside.
Shouto stretched his hand. As messy as Izuku’s hair was, it was also very soft. And iridescent. And it shimmered like a lake in the sun. Shouto would have to tell Izuku that, too.
___________________
“Good morning, precious,” Shouto said with a soft smile, standing at Izuku’s gate.
Izuku couldn’t help but smile.
“Morning, Shouto.”