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Modoriya liked to run. Every morning, without fail, he’d be up at the crack of dawn ready to sprint two, three, four miles around UA’s campus before anyone else’s alarms had even rung. Uraraka would tease him about the earliness of the hour, and even Iida admitted that he didn't understand Midoriya's ability to rise before the sun.
“I enjoy running.” Midoriya said nonchalantly, spooning more of Lunch Rush’s food onto his plate as his friends stared at him in horror. They’d just learned exactly how early he woke up, and were understandably shocked. “It’s really not as bad as you guys are making it out to be.”
“You know what I like, Deku?” Uraraka whined. “Sleeping in. I like sleeping in.”
“You’d get plenty of sleep if you went to bed earlier!” Midoriya responded cheerfully.
Uraraka muttered something that sounded like hypocrite under her breath, but made no further comment.
Todoroki tended to agree with Uraraka. Sure, he liked running - but did he like waking up before sunrise to do it? No. Not alone, at least. But then Midoriya had invited him along, and, well, it would be un-hero-like to pass up a chance to get stronger, right?
That's how Todoroki found himself slipping on his running shoes and cramming a pair of airpods into his ears when the grass outside was still crusted with frost and there was barely enough light to see by. He snuck out the door quietly, so as not to disturb anyone else in the dorms, and headed onto the front lawn to find Midoriya already finishing his morning stretches. He was in bridge pose, hands and feet planted firmly on the ground, back arched, belly bared to the sky. It was an incredible display of flexibility, Todoroki had to admit. He tried very hard not to look impressed.
Midoriya glanced around when he heard Todoroki crunching across the grass and smiled. That was one of the things Todoroki liked best about Midoriya- he was always welcoming and warm, even at five o’clock in the morning.“Todoroki!” He said happily, flipping back onto his feet. He wore a pair of black leggings and a green under armour shirt. A pair of wired earbuds were draped around his neck.”You came!”
Todoroki shrugged in response, unsure what to say. Yes, he’d come. What was he supposed to do? Say no? When Midoriya had asked him so nicely? Please. He had a heart.
“Do you want to stretch before we start, or…?” Midoriya was rolling his shoulders while he talked, and it was very distracting.
“No, I’m okay.” Todoroki responded casually. He refused to do any stretching before a run, save for the occasional toe-touch, because he was pretty sure he’d look like a board trying to fold over on itself.
“Alright!” Midoriya said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. They lined up in front of the dorms as Midoriya shook out his limbs and Todoroki rolled his neck. Modoriya started moving first, beginning with a gentle jog before working his way up to a hard run.
At first it was fairly easy. Todoroki found that there was a certain freedom to running so early, before the rest of the world was awake. Music filled his ears, but outside of the artificial noise, the world was completely quiet and unusually still. It was like stomping around in untouched snow, or starting a sentence on a brand new peice of paper. And the running itself felt kind of good, once he got into it. Cool air hit his face, drying his sweat before it had time to form droplets. His blood pounded through his veins and his breath came out in even gasps. He got the urge to take off at a full sprint, to spur Midoriya into a race and see how fast they could both go. But he knew that he needed to conserve his energy if he wanted to run for longer than a few minutes, so he avoided pushing himself any further than necessary.
Even so, after the first mile, Todoroki found it harder and harder to keep up. His throat began to burn, and his muscles protested. But Midoriya didn’t slow down at all. If anything, he sped up, fueled by pure determination. His earbud wires bounced around his torso and his face turned tomato red, but he still showed no inclination to quit. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the path ahead, as if it was a challenge that he was intent on beating.
Midoriya led them on a winding path through the dewey forests surrounding the grounds. They lapped the pond twice and continued on a paved road that Todoroki knew would bring them back to the dorms eventually, but not for several miles. Todoroki glanced at Midoriya, wondering with alarm if he was planning on running the whole way. Surely not, Todoroki comforted himself. Even Midoriya wouldn’t be able to run that much.
It turned out that Midoriya actually was planning to run that much. Around the end of mile three, Todoroki started feeling like he was going to die. Every step hurt. Every breath ached. It was like gravity had decided to increase in an attempt to push him to the ground. He began to feel dizzy and sick and heavy. Any second , he’d think, I’m going to collapse and pass out on the concrete. Midoriya will have to tell the others that I died of overexertion. What a humiliating way to go .
Despite his immense pain and morbid internal dialogue, he never did collapse. Somehow, his legs kept moving, and his feet kept hitting the pavement, one after another. His breath continued to come in weary gasps, despite the pain in his side. He ran straight, even as dizziness crowded its way into his head. Miraculously, he managed to keep going.
It was times like this when he really admired Midoriya, who continued to run alongside him, as fast and unyielding as ever. As their goal came into sight, he even sped up, hungry to reach it. They ended at the little yard behind the UA dorms, where Koda had planted flowers and Tsu added a tiny bird bath. Midoriya sprinted the last few feet to the edge, before ripping out his earbuds and throwing himself down on the grass with a shriek of relief. He was soon joined by Todoroki, who staggered over to the grass next to him and collapsed, panting.
For a few minutes, they just lay there, unable to even turn their heads and look at each other. The noises of the world slowly waking up around them were drowned out by the sound of their desperate gulping of air. Their backs became soaked with dew and sweat as they waited for their breathing to return to normal.
Midoriya moved first. He loosely raised his arms off the ground in an expression of half hearted triumph. “Whooo..” He panted “We… made it…”
“Hmm.” Todoroki agreed. He didn't want to waste precious breath by speaking yet.
Midoriya allowed his arms to collapse back to earth. “I feel like I might pass out, though.”
Alarmed, Todorki tilted his head towards Midoriya before catching the grin on his face and relaxing again. “Please don’t.” Todoroki deadpanned. Midoriya huffed out a laugh. He was staring up at the sky, face glowing redder than a strawberry with exertion. The brilliant color made his freckles stand out even more dramatically than they usually did.
“Aren’t you supposed to do some kind of cool down after a sprint like that?” Todoroki asked, returning his gaze to the sky.
“Ugh, don’t tell Mr. Azawa.” Midoriya groaned. “He’s always lecturing me about exercising properly. Pacing myself and all that.”
“Yeah.” Todoroki said, thinking back to Mr. Azawa’s many, many lectures on the subject. The whole class had received them countless times.
“I mean, I usually exercise properly! I cool down. And pace myself.”
“Mmm.”
“Today I just wanted, um, to see how fast I could go.” Midoriya sounded like he was getting flustered. He did that often, though this time Todoroki had no clue as to why. “It’s fun to test yourself like that, you know?”
“It was fun.” Todoroki agreed. “You’re a really good runner, Midoriya.”
“O-oh! Thank you! I was always pretty fast, but before I came to UA I didn't have the stamina to go long distances, but I trained a lot and I think I’ve gotten much better now, although I’m still not fast enough, and I don’t think my lung capacity is as good as it could be!” Midoriya stammered out. He was going into full ramble mode. Todoroki wondered where he found the air. “Running is really useful for heroes, and it’s so important that we learn to be quick as well as strong, so we can get to where we’re needed before people get hurt, or help injured people that might already be hurt, and that’s why speedy heroes like Flash always have such low casualty rates, even though they’re not as powerful as fighters with more strength-based quirks, because they can arrive on-scene the second something bad starts happening, or use their quirk to evacuate civilians, or even warn other heroes-”
Todoroki would have been delighted to lay there on the soft grass and listen to Midoriya talk all day, but he was interrupted by a pesky wake up alarm drifting through one of the open dorm windows beside them. Midoriya stopped talking and checked his watch, letting out a little hiss when he realized the time. “I was rambling on again, wasn't I? It’s getting late- we should head back and get ready before class starts.”
“I don’t mind.” Todoroki said truthfully. Beside him, Midoriya slowly stood, then turned and offered a hand to Todoroki. He took it. Midoriya’s hand was warm. “The rambling, I mean. I like hearing what you have to say.”
Midoriya’s face went from strawberry red to stoplight red. “Thank- I mean- do you want to run with me again tomorrow?”
And how could Todoroki say no to that?