Archive of Our Own

U.A. BASE

TIME: 11:39 December 30

“Where’s Agent Uraraka?”

Aizawa stood by the doorway, file of papers in hand. His eyes flickered to the inhabitants lounging about in question before shuffling over to agent closest to him. “Nevermind, you’ll do.” Midoriya perked up when he was handed the profile with a large red CLASSIFIED stamped on the top. “From All Might.” he said.

“The fuck?! Deku got to go on All Might’s last assignment!”

“Well Midoriya doesn’t have a knack for destroying ice cream carts with illegal fireworks and attracting attention to himself while undercover, now does he?”

Bakugou scowled, muttering obscenities under his breath. Kirishima simply laughed and sympathetically patted his friend on the shoulder. Midoriya remembered the event fondly. Or well, fondly enough— at the time it was more or less a disaster. He recalls arriving at the scene with Bakugou standing awkwardly behind the detained criminal. Children ran around a flaming ice cream cart, screaming in joy as they picked up the desserts that littered the ground. The popsicle hustler sat head in hands on the curb, part of a deformed Sonic popsicle melting in his hair. It was quite a picture.

Aizawa returned his attention back to the Midoriya. “Your next assignment is to infiltrate the Todoroki Household. And please, no disasters this time.” Everyone directed their gaze at the now bristling Bakugou.

“I got the fucking job done, didn’t I?!”

Aizawa ignored him. “There is now concrete evidence that Enji Todoroki, the head of Endeavor Inc., has been dealing in the black market once again. Your job is to find as much dirt as we can to bring his activities to light. We’ve been paid a large sum of money for this, so don’t screw it up.”

Midoriya frowned and flipped through the case papers. “I’m sorry sir, but is that all? The number of team members required for this operation seems a bit much for a simple undercover snooping.”

“That’s not all. Included in the cargo of Endeavor Inc.’s last shipment to the Russians, we detected a large amount of military-grade uranium.”

“Oh. Well shit”

“Yes, oh shit. Besides, their house is quite large and you’ll have difficulty covering the entire area.” He waved a hand in the air. “You and your team will also be targeting Minoru Mineta, a young man we believe to be working with Enji. He will be appearing on business matters concerning the uranium at the Todoroki’s house party, so you have about a week to prepare. The rest of the details are listed in the case papers, along with your predetermined partners.”

“Yes sir!” Midoriya saluted. Looking at the date stamped on the top of the paper, he sighed. New Year’s Eve was going to be spent in bulletproof vests once again.

“Bakugou, Kirishima. I’d get going with Midoriya, since you’re on his team,” Aizawa said to the spiky haired duo.

Bakugou spluttered. “But you just said-“

“I never said anything about participation, stop assuming. You’ll be stuck in the vents this time around.”

U.A. STORAGE WAREHOUSE

TIME: 16:02 New Years Eve

“I cannot believe I got stuck in the fucking vents this time around.”

“Oh, cheer up Blasty! You’ll be stuck in there with ME.” Kirishima gave him a thousand-watt smile that would’ve blinded anyone just coming out of a movie theater. Bakugou only pulled a face as he strapped on a bulletproof vest. Kirishima continued, “At least be glad they don’t have an accessible sewage line, or else we’d be swimming in shit. Like, literal shit.”

Uraraka poked her head into the van. “Besides, you stand out too much with your punk demeanor! They’d kick you out for sure.”

“Shut up! No one asked for your goddamn input!” Bakugou snarled while pointing an accusing finger at Kirishima. “Hair for Brains over here looks just as punk as I do!”

“But he’s got the nice next-door neighbor attitude that cancels it out. That’s why everyone thinks he’s an angel.”

“A manly angel.” Kirishima corrected. “But it’s okay, we all still love you even though your face could make the cover of a Halloween magazine.”

“Fucking die in a hole.”

Midoriya stifled a laugh as he buttoned up his stiff white collared shirt. The four of them were dressing for the mission, parked inside one of the agency’s empty buildings. It was a large warehouse scattered with boxes of miscellaneous items from previous outgoings.

Thanks to Iida and his family, their team had two tickets into the Todoroki household, which hosted the annual Endeavor Gala for the start of the new year. The amount of media that flocked to the event would surely be trouble for the team to carry out their mission. Enji Todoroki was seen as a star figure the public, one who appeared on newscast interviews and befriended all of the powerful political figures in Japan. His compassion though, was very limited. The only smudge on his record was the mystery behind his wife, with what thought to be spousal abuse. Not that Enji was found guilty though. No, the case was dismissed when “physical evidence” could be found. Midoriya’s face soured; scars could run a lot deeper than just on the physical level. The whole situation was hushed up through the work of his lawyers. Enji Todoroki was going to be a tough nut to crack. It was obvious that they were going to have great difficulty gathering any intel on the man, considering that he’d be smart enough to hide away anything illegal quite well with the amount of money he has. This time around, he would be taking much more drastic measures to cover up and make sure everything seemed fine. That being-

“Deku.”

“Huh?”

“You’re doing it again. With the mumbling.”

Midoriya gave an awkward laugh and apology as he rubbed his neck in embarrassment. So much for keeping that habit to a minimum. He looked up his friend, who had a slight bouncy jitter as she paced about. “You nervous?”

“I’d say the same about you!” Uraraka chirped right back.

Midoriya looked down to see that he had been tugging at his tie; an old habit of his. Uraraka had known him since the first year of training class together and could read him like a book. “Only slightly. N-not for the mission though! It’s just that I’ve never been to to such a formal black tie event before.”

“You’ll do fine. You always end up pulling ahead and beating everyone when things seem hopeless. That’s the Deku I know!” she said in confidence, partially sounding like she was trying to pump herself up as well.

“You look nice in your dress, by the way.” And Uraraka truly was stunning. Her strapless light pink gown hugged her hips and flared out toward the end, the elegant mermaid style sitting her body to a T. She ended up matching Midoriya’s height with her heels, and he extended an arm to his partner. “Would you be my ever-enchanting, romantic date for tonight?”

Uraraka smirked in mirth as she looped her arm onto him. “I’d say the same you, looking all dashing in that tux.” She then sighed in mock anguish, raising a melodramatic hand to her forehead. “But alas, I must decline. We both seem to bat for the other team.”  The duo giggled.

“Hey asshats, stop dicking around. We’ve got work to do.” Bakugou stood up and patted down the simple uniform of a black shirt and pants. Lucky him.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Mission doesn’t start until an hour or so anyway.” Uraraka waved him off. “When are Hatsume and Kaminari coming?”

Loud obnoxious honking from behind answered that question.

“HOO HOO HOO!! All hail your lord and savior, Mei Hatsume of Tech Support!”

“I picked out the car!”

True to their word, Hatsume and Kaminari rolled up next to the team in the almost abandoned warehouse. Flipping her pink hair, she waved happily behind the wheel of a flashy sports convertible. Sitting in the passenger’s seat was Kaminari donned in his usual track suit, holding a large lumpy bag that screamed ‘Suspicious!’. On his forehead rested a pair of dark sunglasses straight from a spy movie.

“Why the shades?” Kirishima inquired.

Kaminari laughed and lowered them further down his nose. “Why not?”

The two began to eyebrow wiggle until Hatsume interrupted them. “I’ve brought my babies! And by babies I mean everything that you guys will need in order to operate smoothly— all from yours truly of course.” Kaminari tossed the bag to Hatsume, who rustled through it and began to hand each individual their designated items.

“Standard bugging devices, mostly just going to my vent boys. It’s just audio. Uraraka and Midoriya get the cool stuff.” She wiggled her fingers at them.

“Uraraka, you’ve got earrings with little sleep darts implemented inside. Make sure when you point them at your target, that they're the only person in that direction. The locators will automatically hit your target’s neck, so you don’t have to worry about aim. It’ll knock your guy out for about 10-15 minutes. The time length really just depends on the person’s alcohol tolerance. That saying, don’t shoot a European if you’re on a tight schedule.”

“Now, tired of beating your enemies unconscious? Well I’ve got news for you!“ The pink-haired girl said as she pointed to the metal rings located in their hands.

“You sound kind of like an American infomercial.” Uraraka said humorously.  

“But wait! There’s more!” she laughed with a puff of her chest. “These are metal subduers, a single prick and your guy is paralyzed for an hour. I’d prefer if you guys only used it once or twice, the effects start to wear down after that.”

Hatsume was one of the U.A.’s most valuable members. Though she didn’t go out actively into the field, she both made and invented quality gear that helped wonders during missions. A few of the agents at U.A. even had Hatsume’s innovations to thank for saving their lives in a crisis.

Kirishima tilted his head. “No guns?”

“Nope- remember guys, none of these are deadly and are only meant to protect yourselves. U.A. has requested no casualties tonight.”

Bakugou scowled, “U.A. said that? Sounds like a sack of bullshit.”

Hatsume threw him a shrug. “I don’t make the rules blasty boy. Oh, and one last thing- these are transparent earpieces. They allow for us, meaning me and Kaminari, to hear everything that goes on. But the only way you guys can communicate and hear one another is when you press the little button on the side. Pretty standard stuff.”

Bakugou turned to Kaminari. “Aren’t you terrible with electronics? Why the fuck are you even on our technical team?”

Kaminari put his hands on his hips. “Hey! Rude! I may be a field agent but I’ll have you know that I’m also pretty decent at working the radio.”

“That’s cause Jirou’s gone on another “mission” and they were desperate enough to scrape at the bottom of the barrel.” Bakugou said with a flat face.

Kirishima guffawed. “Oh man! Katsuki, it’s too early be dragging people like that!”

“Eijirou!! I trusted you! You were supposed to be my friend!” the electric blond whined.

Hatsume shook her head and laughed as she hauled out a hunk of metal the size of a shoebox. “This here is the transfer machine, for you." She gestured towards Uraraka. “Either Bakugou or Kirishima will drop this off for you by our instructions.”

The mission was simple, sort of. As tech support, Kaminari and Hatsume were to direct the team as their eyes in the sky, shutting down cameras and opening previously locked areas with a click of a button. Meanwhile, Kirishima and Bakugou had to enter through the back and then into the vents, as loudly complained about beforehand. Their job was to to bug the whole house while entering the main computer and downloading all of the files onto a hard drive.

Midoriya was a people person- he could read and analyze them fairly well. Profiling any suspicious activities was part of the plan, but the main goal was to get close to at least one of four Todoroki children. Each had a hand in the business, some more than others, but a hand nonetheless.

While the boys did their business, Uraraka’s job was the main backbone of the mission. She was to distract Mineta before he met with Enji at 21:00, subdue him, and copy the uranium-related contents inside. This should give U.A. more information for further investigation on the uranium’s purpose, and in addition it could be used as physical evidence in court.

Mineta was always an interesting case. How the small man got involved in the whole mess, Midoriya could never guess. Mineta was previously just a low level businessman, and now he had moved onto more international matters. Money was money , he supposed. Greed could take you a long way.

“You know, I’ve always wondered if the stuff we’re doing is entirely legal.” Kirishima wondered aloud.

“Are you fucking serious right now? We work for the shadiest part of the government, they can do anything they want.”

“No, no! Like, if we’ll ever be assigned missions out of bounds even on U.A.’s terms.”

Uraraka leaned in, hand on Kirishima’s shoulder. “I saw the numbers, our mysterious client paid a lot of money for this mission.” Her face darkened. “A lot. Of. Money.”

Scary… Midoriya shuttered.

“But no death on this mission!” Uraraka immediately brightened to her normal cheer. “Why, have you been ordered to kill someone?”

Kirishima gawked. “What?! No, of course not!”

The brunette laughed. “I’m just messing with ya! That’s not U.A. policy anyway.”

“Dead bodies are gross to deal with anyway,” Kaminari added in. “Don’t they start leaking once rigid mortar sets in?”

“It’s rigor mortis , Denki…”

“That’s what I just said though.”

TODOROKI ESTATE

TIME: 19:07 New Years Eve

Uraraka and Midoriya pulled into the cobblestone driveway at exactly 19:07. They had driven past the press, who gathered around the gates of the Todoroki Property like an angry swarm of bees. It was a wonder how they could stand to be there in such cold weather. Hatsume and Kaminari situated themselves in the van somewhere down the street, close enough to see the illumination of the house but nowhere near the entrance.

The two techs had already hacked into the security systems, observing the party without the Todoroki security guards knowing. He heard Hatsume give the signal for Bakugou and Kirishima to start scaling the property walls from the East.

Uraraka fidgeted with her white satin gloves and pulled her coat tighter. This was probably her most important role to date— she’s never had such a large part of the mission entrusted to her. Midoriya shot her a reassuring smile. You’ll be fine.

Midoriya looked up. The multi-storied house could only be described as a mansion (and that in itself was an understatement-- the place was huge ) fit to the traditional Japanese style. The look was even completed by two cherry blossom trees placed on each side of the property wall. The flowers would have looked magnificent in the spring. Glancing around, Midoriya spotted a small stream that looped around the house. It was all rather impressive.

He took in a breath. Well, here goes.

“Would you like an escort into the gala, Grand Duchess Ochako?” This seemed to snap Uraraka out of it, shoulders relaxing.

“Why of course, Your Majesty Izuku!”

The two walked side by side up the steps and into the open doorways. It was like prom all over again. Except that this was a serious event for adults and not hormonal teenagers. Also with the intervention of possible detrimental international affairs? That too. Maybe the prom comparison was a bit of a stretch.

“We’re in.”

“Denki and I have our eyes on you.” Hatsume’s voice crinkled from his ear. “Just play it cool. Bakugou, Kirishima- there’s a vent to your upcoming left. I’ll have Denki create a blindspot when you reach it.”

“Roger that!” Kirishima chirped from afar.

Midoriya and Uraraka shed their coats and followed the direction of the crowd to a large ballroom in the back. One of the walls held grand french doors, giving a perfect shot of the outside patio, brushed with light snow. The area was lighted with a string of lanterns from tree to tree, giving the atmosphere a peaceful glow in comparison to the bright overwhelming light of the interior. Midoriya made his way to the right of the room, where a bar was stationed. Midoriya looked to his partner, who gave a determined nod and turned in the opposite direction.

He ordered a glass of sake from a rather peppy young woman. Getting intoxicated on the job wasn’t exactly the best of ideas, being a lightweight and all, but he needed to blend with the surroundings. One glass wouldn't hurt.

To his right, was a middle aged man around the age of 40. Deep set eyes looked tiredly at the amusements around him, fingers playing with his link cuffs. Currently irrelevant. Sitting to his left, a young lady with artificially dyed hair. Not the objective, either.

Midriya sighed and took a sip of his sake as he glanced around the room, grimacing at the taste.   Showtime.

--

“You know my parents… they want me to marry some rich son of a CEO and Jirou isn’t exactly that .”

“So?”

“They wouldn’t approve of my lesbian-ism.”

“So?”

“So I can’t date her!”

Todoroki stared at Momo.

“Shouto, be serious! Not everyone can always go around blatantly ignoring their parent’s wishes.”

Todoroki raised a finger. “Not true. Sometimes I do what my father says. I just carry it out with as much salt and spite as humanly possible. Like right now.”

“Ohmygod, why did I even bother with you.” Momo groaned in exasperation. The comment was rhetorical. The two were the closest of friends, anything out of line with one was sure to be noticed by the other. Though they kept to themselves and respected each other’s privacy, it was almost pointless to hide something. Todoroki reflects back to their childhood; Momo had always let him take charge, even if the girl had brilliant ways of thinking on her own. She could handle this situation fine on her own— in fact, he was already confident that her mind was already made up, but she was looking for Todoroki’s approval. He worried about her, sometimes.

“If you like the girl, date her. Damn what your parents want.”

Momo frowned down into her drink as she swirled the clear liquid. “Yeah, I guess so. You just always seem like you know what to do.”

Todoroki scoffed. “I wouldn’t say that.” He flung his head back and downed the rest of his drink.

She raised an eyebrow. “You know, if you wanted to take shots, there are actual glasses for that.”

Todoroki merely shrugged. He took the almost empty drink out of Momo’s hands and left their secluded corner in favor of entering the crowd, weaving his way through the mass of bodies. Stealth was key. He preferred not to get roped into discussion with any of his father’s acquaintances, he was never one for those types of talks anyway.

“Hey, Todoroki!”

“Hi, Hagakure.”

The girl behind the bar counter jumped excitedly while she cleaned a glass like a stereotypical barista. “Oh, I’m so glad you came! I’ve been dying of boredom over here! Got any gossip?”

Todoroki smiled. “Nothing new to your ears. You know I can’t stay long here— last time you got in trouble for slacking on the job with us.”

“Oh pssh, it’s fine. Just wait an hour or so— no one cares then.”

“If you say so.” Todoroki pushed the glasses toward Hagakure. “Refill, please.”

“Sure thing!”

When she handed the drinks back to him, they were filled with an amber fizzy liquid.

“… Apple cider?”

Hagakure closed her eyes and placed a hand on Todoroki’s, mimicking a wise old sage. “It’s better for you, honey.”

“Now tell Momo I said hi when you go back to the little nook and cranny you two always hide in. But before you leave—“ she raised a finger in the air and winked, “I’ve got a little something for you.”

“Please don’t try to set me up with another stranger.”

“Hey! At least check him out before you reject him! The freckled cutie over there has been sitting over there for 30 minutes all alone. Oh look, now he’s talking to the old guy next to him because he has nothing to do.”

Todoroki looked around before he saw a bush of green locks. Holy shit. Caught under the light, large green eyes shone in what seemed to be (false?) interest. The boy laughed awkwardly and brushed a strand of hair out of his freckled face. He seemed to be stuck in an unwanted conversation, too polite to stop the man from his droning rant. His occasionally eyes flickered around the room, eventually catching Todoroki’s stare. He gave a small smile in acknowledgement and Todoroki flushed, quickly turning away.

“I— yeah he’s cute.”

Hagakure cackled under her breath. “Ahaha! I knew he was your type too.” She proceeded to do a little solitary dance in triumph. “Go bring that drink to Momo. I’ll make sure he doesn’t leave.”

“I’m not going to ask him out.” Todoroki sighed. “And I’m not coming back here so you can push us together.” he added for good measure.

“You’re no fun! I think you two would look super cute together!! Promise me you’ll talk to him if you ever get the chance?” She pulled a puppy-dog face.

Todoroki reluctantly agreed.

--

The middle aged man had absolutely nothing to say that helped Midoriya in the slightest. He tried bringing up the topic of business, politics, and just Enji Todoroki in general, but the man was adamant on talking about his intense distaste for avocados. To him, they were ‘tasteless’, had the texture of ‘really soft rubber’, and ‘shouldn’t even be classified as a fruit’. Personally, Midoriya was a little offended. He liked avocados.

Thankfully, Irrational Anti-Avocado Man had excused himself to use the restroom, so Midoriya was free to continue on without any conversation constraints.

Good news was that Midoriya identified a certain goldmine. Shouto Todoroki, youngest son of Enji Todoroki and certainly the most praised. Identifiable by his split hair and eye scar, the quiet man was a handsome mystery that left many gazing in longing. Certainly the son would know of more highly classified information. Midoriya hoped he could leak at least a couple of tidbits from the man. But how to approach him…

Midoriya spotted movement from the corner of his eye.

Small.

Purple.

Bingo.

Shouto would have to wait. Midoriya discreetly raised two fingers to his earpiece. “Ochako, objective is at the West entrance, descending the stairs now.”

--

Uraraka directed her attention toward Midoriya’s mark. In the middle of the stairs trotted the target himself, nose upturned in a slightly snobbish manner. Oh, lovely, he’s full of himself. Mineta adjusted his golden tie and stuck his hand in a purple jacket. The other held a shiny leather briefcase, no doubt holding the secrets to the uranium U.A. was so keen on investigating. All in all, he looked liked a pompous asshole.

“Got it, thanks Deku.”

Uraraka hurried her way to the end of the staircase. Her plan wasn’t the best, but after assessing Mineta’s character, the team agreed that it’d work. In three… two… one…

“Excuse me, mister!”

Mineta’s head shot up and looked directly at Uraraka.

“What do you want? I’ve got places to be, you know.”

“I’m so sorry to bother you, but I don’t know my way around, and I’m trying to find my way around the place. Do you know where the guest rooms are?”

Mineta squints. “Isn’t that a question you should be asking the hired help?”

“A-ah, yes it is! But they all looked so busy so I thought I might ask someone who looked as important as yourself. Surely you must know?” You gotta lay it on thick, she thought.

The short man puffed his chest up in shallow pride. “Well, you’re not wrong there, miss. I would be happy to assist— I have been here before.”

“Perfect! If you don’t mind me asking, could you walk there with me? I have a terrible sense of direction…” She gave him a defeated, puppy-eyed expression. Please fall for it, please fall for it.

“ A perfect gentleman, like me, would do anything for a damsel in distress.” He eyed her figure.

“Perfect! Thank you so much!” Uraraka gave a small bounce in mock cheer. And so did her boob. Mineta started drooling.

He cleared his throat. “Follow me.” Mineta turned around and started walking, completely missing Uraraka’s pained grimace.

--

The two turned several corners before reaching a hallway of doors.  

“These are all of the guest rooms, do you know which one is yours?”

“Oh, uh-“

Kaminari’s voice echoed through the comms. “The one at the very end, to the left. Bakugou should be on his way with your gear.”

“ I think it was the one at the very end, to the left? My luggage should be in there.”

They walked up to the doorway and she stopped. “I-I wanted to thank you for directing me to my room.” Look down, be shy .

“Oh?” He leaned in with a raised an eyebrow. Uraraka tried her utter best to keep her face neutral. Oh my god, last time I practiced this, I went into a fit of nervous giggles that lasted thirty minutes…

She felt betrayed as her lip twitched. Stop. Don’t do that. She prayed to the stars for help; U.A. taught her better than this.

Loud metal banging from inside the room interrupted the moment, ending with a loud pop and the sound a person falling to the floor. Said person gave a muffled “ Fuck! ”

Mineta jumped in surprise. “What the- ?!”

Uraraka pressed her earring, shooting Mineta with the poison. He crumpled.

She opened the door to see Bakugou and a grate sprawled out on the ground, directly under the vent entrance high on the wall. Rubbing his knee with one hand, she noted that he held a duffle bag in the other. After dragging Mineta’s unconscious body inside, she closed the door and locked it. Dark furniture took up the majority of the space, along with a gigantic mirror hanging by the bed. It was a surprisingly western-styled room.

“Damn it Bakugou— that was dangerous! Can you make a little less racket next time? Or at least WAIT until I had subdued the target?”

“Shut the fuck up, Angel Face! You could’ve told me you were already outside the door!”

“And how was I going to signal you when he was standing right next to me? Don’t be a dumbass!”

“You’re a dumbass! You wanna fucking go?!”

“Ladies, ladies. I think-“

“Shut up Denki!” they both yelled into their microphones.

“Hey guys,” Hatsume interrupted. “You’ve got less than ten minutes to copy the contents of the briefcase before little man on the floor wakes up.”

“Oh right!” Uraraka jumped for the leather briefcase, popping the case open when she dialed in Mineta’s birthday for his password. Too easy.

Inside were a couple of papers, all with a thorough amount of printed words. In addition lay a small flash drive tucked into one of the inner pockets. She picked it up and inspected it.

“Bakugou, hand me the metal shoebox.” Transfer machine, she heard Hatsume mumble through the line. “I’ll work on this and you can take pictures of the paperwork.”

Uraraka opened the ‘transfer machine’, seeing two USB cables that plugged into a large green surface of interconnected squares and circles. What were these technology plates called again? Plantain? Platine? Plateau? One of those was correct.

She inserted Mineta’s flashdrive into the left USB, noting that the right was already preoccupied with U.A.’s own. A little countdown appeared on the screen in the middle— eight minutes, that was good.

“Oh Uraraka! I sent Bakugou in with a change of clothes for you— you get to slip out and run the halls with these two when you finish. We’ll get the job done quicker that way.”

“Sweet, thanks Hatsume.”

Uraraka grabbed the bag from the floor and peered inside. True to her word, there was a black T-shirt and pants to match, along with a bullet-proof vest. And a more comfortable bra! Bless.

She cleared her throat. “Ahem.”

Bakugou looked up in annoyance. “What?” He finished photographing the papers and was now placing everything back in the case in an orderly fashion.

“I’m going to change now. Can you turn around?”

Bakugou grumbled and faced the wall without the overly large mirror. She started to undress and all was quiet.

“So… how’s the progress with Kirishima?”

“Are we really going to talk about that right now??”

“Yes.” Uraraka was determined.

“No, fuck you. I’m not going to say jack shit about Shitty Hair.”

“Come on Bakugou!” She slipped her bulletproof vest on. “You must know the entirety of our field agent division has bets on who’s going to do the confession. Plus the tech team. And the medics. Even the general secretaries! That’s a lot of people.”

Kaminari’s voice appeared in the mic. “Yeah! I put good money on that!”

Hatsume chirped in as well. “I mean, it’s basically old news since it’s being going on for so long, but I kinda want results.”

“I placed my bet on Kirishima!” Uraraka announced.

“Oh you too? Dude, great minds think alike.”

“Same- I’ve got science on my side.”

“SHUT THE HELL UP YOU THREE.”

“Uh, guys?” Fuck , speak of the devil and he shall appear. “You know I can only hear one side of the conversation right? Aka Hatsume and Kaminari. Mind filling me in?”

“Oh, it’s nothing! Don’t worry about it.” Uraraka pressed her earphone button. Thank god for the limited-conversation-thing going on. The tech team’s words were quite ambiguous, keeping the redhead in the dark.

“Yeah, Hair for Brains. It’s nothing. Mind your own damn business.”

“Really? Like, that doesn’t sound suspicious at all ?”

Midoriya’s voice came in, the blessed angel. “Don’t worry Kirishima, I’m pretty sure they were talking about the bet going around to see if Agent Jeanist could actually tame Kacchan’s explosive hair. Personally, I say it’s impossible.”

“Fuck off Deku!!”

Kirishima took the bait. “Oh, I knew about that! Yeah, I’m with Deku on that one. Sorry Katsuki.”

Bakugou growled obscenities over the radio line before throwing his next comment over his shoulder to Uraraka. “Are you done fucking changing already?! I’ve been staring at this wall for longer than I need to be.”

“What? Oh, I finished a while ago.”

Bakugou let out an angry groan. Removing Mineta’s USB from the transfer machine, he pocketed it and threw her a look. “Grapejuice over there should be stirring any minute now.”

The two looked at Mineta, who lay still to the world. Bakugou checked his watch-- eleven minutes had passed. “I… he should be awake by now, right?”

Uraraka paled. “Ohmygod… ohmygod . We killed him!”

“Shit!” Bakugou said with wide eyes.

“Denki!” Uraraka sobbed, hands waving around frantically in the air. “You actually have to help us bury a body this time.”

“WOAH- hang on there!” said Kaminari in a panicked voice. “I promised Eijirou that, not you .”

“Denki, you butthole!!”

“What did you promise me?” Kirishima questioned from wherever he was in the vents.

Bakugou pressed his earpiece. “We accidentally killed a man, but we do not need help!”

“You KILLED the somebody??” came Midoriya’s shocked voice.

A very familiar, feminine cackle rang across the shared line.

“Why the fuck are you laughing, Goggle Eyes??” Bakugou snarled.

“Hoo hoo hoo— oh boy! You guys weren’t paying attention, were you?” Hatsume snorted. “My poison isn’t lethal— the effects are based on whether or not the subject could handle foreign substances. Mini man isn’t awake because he’s a lightweight. Check his breathing.”

Bakugou pressed his palm against the ‘dead’ man’s chest. He felt nothing at first, but after a moment he recognized the tell-tale signs of life. “He lives.”

The team breathed a collective sigh of relief. Murder was not committed that night.

“Alright get back to work you two-- the target will wake up eventually and I’d prefer if you were already on your way towards Eijirou when that happens. He’s already in the mainframe room downloading Todoroki’s files.”

Uraraka picked up and returned the flashdrive back to it’s original location in the briefcase, closing it up all nice and tidy before placing it down by the bed. Bakugou packed everything away in the duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder. In a last ditch effort, she messily applied a large amount of red lipstick on her lips and bent down to kiss the man’s face several times, covering him in multiple red stains. Hopefully he could wipe it all effectively before his professional meeting with Enji…

She then took out a sticky note and wrote ‘ Sorry I had to run but I had a fun time. Thanks again ;) ‘ with a little heart on the side and shoved that into his palm. After ruffling his outfit up a bit, it honestly looked like he did have his seven minutes in heaven.

“Are you done?”  said, Bakugou clearly grossed out. Same, she thought.

Uraraka looked over to the vent, high above. Maybe she’d be able to grab onto it with a jump or boost…

“Hey Bakugou, kneel over there.” She pointed to the area right below the vent, where the grate currently lay.

“Do I look like a fucking stepping stool to you? Move out of the damn way, I’m going in first.” He did a little run and jump, hefting himself into the hole. He reappeared and Uraraka threw him their items. With an extended hand Bakugou managed to heft Uraraka inside. Uraraka turned around (there was a surprisingly enough room to do so) and secured the vent with the gate. Perfect. Nothing looked out of place and the job was complete.

Hatsume’s voice appeared again. “I’ll point you guys to Kirishima’s location. Start crawling, he should be done by the time you two arrive.”

With that they were off. The two made their way silently through air ducts, careful not to make any disruptive noises that will alert the guards of their hidden location.

Uraraka pondered on their situation awhile. “Hey, Bakugou? I take back what I said earlier. Thanks for being a terrible secret agent and making that distraction, it actually helped.”

“Fucking knew it.” came the reply.

A beat of silence passed by.

“ Bakugou?” Uraraka whispered again.

“What now?” he hissed in return.

“Did you fall on your face when you exited the grate?”

“Why you little-“

--

Midoriya dipped another strawberry into the chocolate fountain when he heard the telltale “ Clear! ” from Kaminari. Kirishima had secured the files and Uraraka’s part had gone easily enough. Now the only one truly out and about was him, stuck in the ballroom. His other friends got to run around the household, placing hidden microphones around the area. After that, all they had to do was to slip back outside and wait in the van with the others. It was smooth sailing from here on out.

Midoriya observed his own target, who he had been watching for a while now. He never engaged in conversation with Todoroki, and for good measure too. He spent most of his time in the corner with his friend? Girlfriend? Midoriya remembered her as Momo Yaoyorozu, daughter of the Yaoyorozu Corporations, which was famous for its donations to orchestras and anything music related around the world. He remembers joining a piano program with their name it in when he was younger…

Focus Midoriya! He turned his attention back to the split-haired man. Todoroki would have to break off from his little hideaway eventually, having to entertain conversation with some of the guests. Midoriya guessed it was inevitable as the son of Enji. The other girl had taken off with someone that looked almost exactly like one of his co-workers, Jirou. She even winked at him. So maybe it was her after all? That would explain the ‘extra mission’ she was ‘assigned to’ even though work for the past month had been bare for everyone...

Todoroki finally stepped out into the gardens, past the lighted patio. Midoriya trailed behind, electing to take an alternate entrance. The moonlight softly illuminated the backyard in a washed out blue, and Todoroki stood as a the lone figure. Hands in his pockets, he sighed deeply and stared beyond the scenery in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he saw the figure’s shoulders finally slump. Unfortunately for them, the melancholy was quickly pulled away when the harsh artificial light snapped on with the sensory trigger. The area he stood in was easier to see, but the shadows only darkened in the distance, making the surrounding area shrouded and unclear. Todoroki sighed, breath fogging in the cold air, and Midoriya did the same.

“ Oh hey, didn’t see you there! Sorry about that” Midoriya lied, waving at Todoroki.

The man turned around and his eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, hello.”

“Ah, I just wanted to escape the activity and check out the gardens. The plants out here sure are beautiful.” Midoriya looked around at their snow-covered surroundings. The green foliage of the trees drifted slightly, but everything else remained relatively still. A wooden path winded through the area, outlined by smooth stones. The pathway led to a small pond with small koi fish swimming about, flipping their tails to create small ripples in the frosty water . “I wish the light wouldn’t ruin the serenity. It’s really harsh.”

Todoroki nodded in agreement. “These automatic lights are only around the house, but the rest of the garden is safe.” He paused a moment, as if he were thinking. “Would you like to walk with me?”

Midoriya threw him a smile and the two headed down the path, slowly growing the distance between them and the house. “So I take it you’ve been here multiple times before? Since you seem to be familiar with the area.”

“Yes, I have. This is actually my house.” Well, obviously.

“Oh! You must be one of the Todorokis then! I’m terribly sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Mi-“ Shit. Don’t give him your real name. “-ku. My, uh, name is Miku.” He wanted to slap himself. Did he really just combine Midoriya and Deku together?

Todoroki blinked. “Like the blue haired vocaloid singer? Hatsune Miku?”

Midoriya tried to ignore the cackling coming from the tech crew, especially when they relayed the information to the others. Midoriya mentally cursed the sky. “Yeah. I know it’s kind of embarrassing and all, it gave me hell in high school.” He looked at the ground, desperately avoiding eye contact.

“I think you have a wonderful name, Miku-san.” he said respectfully.

Miku looked up and waved his hands, “Oh please, just Miku is fine.”

The two continued on their stroll through the gardens, talking about their interests, hobbies, and so on. Midoriya couldn’t be too pushy with his questioning, he had to make sure it all appeared as though he had no alternative reason for walking beside the man besides simple chatter. Relax the target, that was simple. Get him comfortable enough before digging deeper. With his guard down, one wrong slip of the tongue from Todoroki could mean whole new insight for U.A.

It was somewhat difficult to tune out Hatsume and Kaminari’s constant directions in his ear, though. Too many times he found himself pausing to listen to commands such as “Take a left Uraraka—there’s a good place to place a microphone!” and “Kirishima! Bakugou! Hide in that closet- a guard is coming your way”. He was glad for the two techs though, with them the rest of the team could travel the halls unnoticed. Every time an agent entered a camera’s line of sight, they froze the image until they left the area. Foolproof.

Midoriya was pleasantly surprised that he and Todoroki shared an interest in All Might though. All Might, one of Japan’s top secret agents, was revealed to the public eye years beforehand. When the Yakuza was in it’s prime, it was All Might’s job to infiltrate the building where over fifty hostages were being held. The man not only saved every single one of the innocent lives, but he managed to arrest the head of the Yakuza as well. Since then, he had become a public hero, one that both Todoroki and Midoriya idolized while growing up. The agent had to retire due to the publicity ruining his career as a secret agent, but instead he was reinstated as a head governmental official. I wonder what Todoroki’d think if I ever told him that I work for our childhood star…

After that conversation, the two began to throw around light banter on top of the stream’s arched  bridge. They paused as they reached the highest point, leaning against the rails as tiny ripples undulating across the surface of the water below.

“So the New Year’s Gala is nice.”

Todoroki hummed. “I guess, but I prefer the Halloween costume party we threw last year. Much more entertaining.”

“Oh! Did you dress up?”

“I did, actually” He pulled his phone out of his pocket, scrolling through it before enlarging a picture for Midoriya to see. “My sister and I dressed up as Avatar the Last Airbender. My sister made a terrible Azula— her personality doesn’t match her at all.”

Midoriya ooh-ed at the photo— their costumes were pretty impressive.

“I have but one problem with this”

Todoroki gave him a confused look. “What’s that?”

“The scars on the wrong side.”

An awkward silence passed before Midoriya started to panic. “Sorry, sorry! I’m so sorry! Oh, that was so insensitive, wasn’t it?” He groaned and slid his hands down his face. Todoroki’s expression was unreadable, and his mouth started to twitch. Oh god, what was he going to say?

Instead, the taller threw his head back and burst out laughing. Midoriya was shocked, before he joined in as well. They each tried taking in deep breaths to calm themselves, before making eye contact and bursting out in uncontrollable fits all over again. It had been a long time since Midoriya laughed like this, both his sides and cheeks aching.

Midoriya looked at Todoroki, and this time he really looked . Todoroki’s face was flushed and his eyes crinkled as little tears pricked at the sides, emitting a pure sort of happiness. He looked good like this, flushed in laughter. Midoriya figured this wasn’t a common sight to see— Todoroki had such a constant, cool demeanor.

“I, I must apologize. That was a bit unexpected, seeing that everyone tends to avoid that part of me”. He gestured to the left side of his face. “Thank you.” Todoroki says with a genuine smile. Midoriya could have sworn he felt his heart swell.

Midoriya breathed out a shaky “No problem.”

“I cannot believe you said that to him, Deku.” Kaminari communicated over the comms.

Midoriya simply chuckled and hummed an agreement to a exasperated tech team while Todoroki was still distracted. Said man was shaking his shoulders slightly to return himself to his normal posture. Traces of a smile still touched his face as evidence of rambunctious outburst beforehand.

He motioned for the other to follow as he hopped his way off the bridge, happily switching topics to favorite TV shows and dramas. Todoroki listened intently, eyes flashing in amusement and nodding slightly so Midoriya knew he was paying attention. It wasn’t long before they lapsed into a comfortable silence, simply enjoying each other’s presence.

Pausing at a large boulder, Midoriya took initiative to climb on top of it, brushed off a thin layer of snow, and laid down to gaze at the sky. It was beautiful. Stars prickled the endless dark blue, flashing bright, even in comparison to the full, glowing moon. It reminded him of powdered sugar, flicked across a dark surface. Everything seemed so calm and peaceful in this moment, sending him back to a more simplistic time. The childhood nostalgia warmed his heart.

“My, uh, my mother used to take me out during nights like these, when I was young. To the beach though, since we live near it.” Todoroki stayed silent, so he continued on. “She used to point out the ‘constellations' to me, except the only one we knew of was the Big Dipper, so we made up our own. Kind of like when you make images out of clouds, but at night.”

“That’s a very beautiful story.”

“Thank you.”

The other man didn’t speak, and Midoriya worried. Maybe bringing up the mom situation was too much?

“My mother and I… did that before as well.” Todoroki prompted himself after a while. “She loved these gardens, used to walk them every night. This was her happy place— it de-stressed her. I remember feeding the koi fish, down there by the pond…”

“Does she not do this still?”

“…No.”

“Oh.”

A second passed. Then two. Then three.

“You have heard of my family situation, have you?”

Midoriya turned his head away, slightly ashamed. “I have... heard tidbits of it here and there. I’m sorry for pressing, I shouldn’t have done that.”

Todoroki waved a dismissal hand. “It’s fine. Don’t apologize, I just don’t talk about it very often. I’ve been told that it’s good to open up every once in awhile.”

Midoriya smiled at that. “It is, but you should also do so when you’re comfortable.”

The other hummed in agreement. There was a brief pause before he started again. “The memory I shared with you, the one where I fed the fish with my mother, that only happened once before. It was one of the rare times my mother looked at me without a reminder of her sorrows.” He took in a deep breath. “My father is an overwhelming figure, one that pushed her to her mental brink. At that point, she couldn’t take it anymore. Everyday, when she looked at me, she saw my dad. She couldn’t stand it. I— that’s how I ended up with this.” He gestured toward his face.

Midoriya gaped. “H-how-“

“Boiling water.” A hand instinctively brushed his bangs lower on his face, evidence of a self-conscious being.

“Oh…”

“After that my father whisked her away to a mental hospital. I barely got to see her, and even when I did, I was always filled with anxiety that she would still be reminded of the one who haunts her. But the years have passed, and our relationship has improved. She has apologized, and I don’t hold anything against her. Even if the time I spend with her is in a hospital room, I’m glad I can have her back in my life again. We are pretty close now, but the time it took to get to this point was painful.”

“Wh- why are you telling me this? Why so much?”

Todoroki knit his eyebrows together, as if confused himself. “I’m… not entirely too sure either. But, you said to open up when I felt comfortable, so I did.”

“But we’re practically strangers.”

“True, but you seem like a trustful person, and I have good intuition, so, you know.”

Guilt pooled into Midoriya’s stomach. Oh god, his mission was to try and extract information from the poor man, and here he was, being handed his tragic, personal backstory on a silver platter. Midoriya sat up straight on the rock, looking down at the split-haired man, who in return peered up in curiosity. “I am truly honored to earn your respect and trust as a person, Todoroki-san!” He said, bowing his head awkwardly from the position he was currently in.

“It’s no big deal. Lay back down with me.” Todoroki flashed him a small, tender smile, eyes slightly crinkling at the action. With his heterochromatic hair splayed out over the rock, the man looked absolutely stunning. The moon’s lighting from above made his skin glow, like some pure, ethereal being. That is so unfair — no one looked like that.

Midoriya did as he was told and tried to calm his stuttering heartbeat. When did it get like that? Oh yeah, when I realized I’m sitting next to a fucking model, Midoriya thought bitterly.

“What about you? Do you have a tragic backstory as well or something?”

“No, just your stereotypical household with a single mother and a deadbeat dad. We’re cool now though. Kinda.” Midoriya squints at the moon. “To be honest, my life is more like some cheesy inspirational story, if you think about it. I was just some kid with big dreams, and when advised otherwise, I proved them wrong.”

“What do you do?”

“I play the piano.” Well, it wasn’t the first time he lied tonight so whatever.

“Oh, we have one in the house if you want to play? I’d love to hear you.”

Midoriya internally freaked. “Ah-h, probably not the best idea? Haha, since I tweaked my wrist the other day and so I’ve been sent off duty.”

Todoroki seemed to accept his answer. “You’re pretty admirable, you know that? Better than what I’m doing.” His face returned to the blank look he wore around the party.

“And what’s that?”

“I’m inheriting my father’s business.” he stated.

Midoriya stilled. This is what he was looking for. With a glance, he observed Todoroki’s expression.To most, it may have seemed as though his face was neutral, but Midoriya could read his distaste. The ends of his mouth quirked downward and his eyes hardened.

“What’s so wrong with that?”

“Because that is exactly what my father wants out of me.”

Midoriya gave him a nod to make him continue on, and Todoroki openly displayed his irritation now. “Everything my bastard father has built will be given to me, his successor, and I will be there to carry out his name. But why? I don’t want it. I don’t want to take his place at the head of his company. So far I’ve rejected all of his proposals to start building connections. It’s pissing him off, but I’ll be damned if I follow in his footsteps exactly how he wants me too.”

He let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s all for naught though. My father thinks I’m just going through a rebellious stage right now, but sooner or later I’m going to have to go along with him. I don’t really get that much say in it.”

“…You know, if you had the ability too, I think you’d be sizzling right now.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m not sure if you’d appreciate it…. But would you mind if I told you what I think?” Midoriya said after a while.

Todoroki raised an eyebrow. “Go ahead.”

“I think you’re looking at this in the wrong perspective. Sure, it’s your father’s company now, but he’s making you the successor of the business. Once he hands it to you, it’s no longer his. It will no longer be Enji’s Endeavor Inc., it’ll be Shouto’s. You can make something new— you can shape and mold it to however you please. What your father controlled will be different when you take over, because you have the ability to do so. You can create your own legacy, your own name, with the resources you have in your hands. When the time comes, it’ll be your company, not his.”

“I- I never thought about it that way.” Todoroki said, wide eyed.

Midoriya stood up and beamed. “You’ve got a whole lot of potential when you think about it, huh?” Brushing himself off, he extended a hand. “Want to go inside and get a drink?”

Midoriya lifted Todoroki up, internally glad that the other released his grip fairly quickly— his palm had already started to get clammy from the few seconds of contact.

“So, after you?”

--

“I dunno about you guys, but the view from where I am is great. Wish I brought a camera.”

The trio traveled on their hands and knees, shuffling through the metal vents. Bakugou led in the front, followed by Kirishima, and Uraraka in the very back.

“Touch my ass and you won’t have anything to be smug about tomorrow, Hair for Brains.” Bakugou snarled at Kirishima, who merely laughed in return.

The trio crawled through the almost spacious vents running throughout the house-- they had completed their part with the microphone bugging and were heading back toward the van. The only one they would be waiting on was Midoriya, who was still talking with one of the Todoroki siblings.

Bakugou stopped as he reached the grate, pushing it open with ease. Thankfully, this entrance was just inches off the ground and wouldn’t result in anyone faceplanting into the ground.

Bakugou squirmed his way out before turning around to help yank the redhead outside as well. When Kirishima stood up and brushed himself off, he received a hard punch to the shoulder.

“Ow dude! What was that for!”

“That was for being a fucking lame ass.”

“Rude!” Kirishima roped Bakugou into a headlock, giving the wild hair a noogie. Bakugou screamed his usual chant of “Die! Die!” before tripping the red head and going into a full on scuffle. Kirishima laughed loudly while the other snarled.

Uraraka had stopped hauling herself out of the vent to watch the pair. She rolled her eyes, Boys.

Suddenly Hatsume hissed over the comms, “Stop it! Stop it! Someone is coming your way to investigate the noise you MORONS are making because SOMEONE decided it was a good time to WRESTLE. LOUDLY.”

“What? I thought this area was abandoned!”

“Evidently not!” Hatsume replied in irritation.

“Don’t you have eyes to our surroundings?!” Bakugou accused.

“I still have blindspots! We don’t have access to everything, you know!”

“Shit! We can’t hide anywhere!” Kirishima frantically looked around, trying to find something to duck behind. The three of them were stuck in an dim-lit hallway-- not the most convincing place to say that they were just strolling about in.

“No fucking shit dude. We’re screwed— we aren’t even wearing any of that frilly garbage shit. There’s no time for the both of us to crawl back in either!” Bakugou snarled. “Uraraka! Get back in the fucking hole!”

Uraraka quickly scooted herself back inside the vent, not even attempting to argue with the blond. Though she hated somewhat leaving her friends behind like this, adding one more person to the chaos was not going to work in their benefit. If need be, she’d launch herself out of her hiding place when the person wasn't expecting it. They just needed a new plan…. Oh, what would Midoriya do ?

“‘I’ve just identified the newcomer. It’s an elderly woman.”

“Oh shit dude. Do we have to take her out? We don’t have Hatsume’s fancy gadgets for this type of situation! I don’t want to punch an old lady, man. What are we going to do?!”

Kaminari’s voice interrupted, surprisingly calm and collected. “Shut up, both of you. Wipe your lips really hard and lick them.”

“What the fuck? What’s that gotta do with-.”

“Just. Do it.” Kaminari authorized.

They both did as told, and Kirishima looked up to see that Bakugou’s lips flushed red. Nice , he thought. It was a good look for the blond. They were swollen looking, almost as if…

Kirishima’s eyes lit up in understanding. “Oh, I got you bro.” he said to Kaminari. “Thanks man.” A sly grin stretched across his face as he reached for Bakugou’s shirt and started to undo some of the top buttons.

“You bastard! What-“

“Shh” Kirishima quickly grabbed Bakugou’s shirt in his fists and pushed him up against the wall with a thud. He leaned in, winking at his shocked expression before smashing their mouths together. Bakugou gave a surprised yelp but quickly adjusted, responding to Kirishima’s movements with the same vigor, if not more. It wasn’t much of a first kiss; too much clashing teeth in the beginning, and it didn’t help that Kirishima kept smiling throughout the whole ordeal. Kaminari and Hatsume whooped in the background.

“Oh my!”

Both of their heads whipped around. There, standing at the entrance of the hallway, was the little old lady who came down to investigate the mysterious commotion. She started to blush and fanned herself as she averted her eyes.

“Young love! Please forgive me for interrupting such a moment between you two darlings— I’ll just take my leave now.” With that she spun around on her heels and scuttled away.

Kirishima waited until he couldn’t hear the click-clack of her heels before fist pumping the air. “Hah! That was easy. Right Katsuki?”

There was no response. “Katsuki?”

Kaminari broke the silence with an outburst of laughter. “Ohmygod! He’s speechless! Bro, you managed to shut him up! Bro! Bro! I’m crying.”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP STATIC SHITBRAIN!! Just wait till I get over there and shove a goddamn meter stick up your ass!”

“Ohoho, but wouldn't you rather let me do that to you tonight babe?” Kirishima grinned.

The noise Bakugou emitted sounded like the cross between a screeching pterodactyl and a fork in the garbage disposal.

--

For some reason Kacchan decided to broadcast his mortified screams across the entire radio line. Midoriya knew something interesting was taking place with the other group, but he was left very confused withe the limited conversation.

“You okay?” Todoroki arrived with their drinks. “You look kind of startled.”

“Er, nothing! Just lost in thought.”

He handed the glass to the him and Midoriya’s heart skipped a beat when their fingers brushed. Man, was he fucked. “Mind telling me what was on your mind?” he said as they started walking down one of the estate’s hallways, out of the main ballroom.

“I’d, um. Rather not.” Smooth.

“Uh, ok?”

“What’s this?” Midoriya inquired as a distraction. They had paused in front of what seemed to be a large open gallery filled with several paintings and other artifacts on display.

“Oh, this?” Todoroki frowned. “This is just a collection of art pieces my father bought around the world. I’m not even sure what the point is though. No one really walks through here, and he mostly closes this area off unless he bringing about some high-end business man. To show off, I guess.

Midoriya’s ears perked up. “Do you mind if we go inside? I’ve always had a knack for galleries.”

Todoroki shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

Midoriya gave Todoroki a tour of his own gallery, ironically, spouting facts on several of the paintings he recognized. The items in the room truly were fascinating. None of them matched a certain theme, but they all held importance that Midoriya was sure to be pricy on the black market. The diversity was nice though. Todoroki trailed behind him, not saying anything, but Midoriya could tell that he was paying close attention. Eventually they reached a canvas around 2 feet tall tucked away in the corner of the room, next to a couple of wooden crates. Todoroki walked over and lifted the cloth.

“These seem new— I’ve never seen them before.”

“I know this painting! This is, uh…” Midoriya paused. A brunette woman looked to her left, plants blooming in the background as she sat on what looked like a rock, holding her hands together in her lap. She was dressed in a white gown that hung off of her shoulders, edges decorated with white flowers. On her neck the woman wore a jeweled collar. Midoriya recognized the painting, the name just on the tip of his tongue. Where had he seen this before?

Oh.

Oh.

Midoriya pretended to scratch his ears, all while pressing the button of his earpiece. He hoped the others were listening right now. “If I’m not mistaken, this is the Young Girl in a Ball Gown , painted by Morisot around the the late 1900’s, maybe a little bit earlier. This impressionist painting used to hang in a French Museum. I think it was named the Musee Marmottan? Back in 1985, during the fall, a handful of art thieves robbed the museum, taking nine paintings. Most of them were Monet’s paintings, but this was one of the few that wasn’t.” Midoriya leaned in, inspecting the painting closer. “This was a huge deal, and was considered the ‘Theft of the Century’. Fortunately, all of paintings were recovered 6 years later, after the trail led to one of the Yakuza’s leaders, Shuinichi Fujikuma. The man couldn’t sell any of them, being that the price on the paintings were much too high. Since then, every other art piece was recovered. All but one. ”

Midoriya met Todoroki’s gaze, dead in the eye. “Your father is in possession of the French painting that has been missing for over 30 years.”

Todoroki open gaped in astonishment. “How did you know about all that?”

“My class had an assignment on criminal dealings. I did mine on the Yakuza’s art theft.” Midoriya said with a shrug. “ He-he isn’t in that type of business, right?”

Todoroki glanced at the painting again, expression unreadable. “I always assumed that my father dealt behind the shadows, the black market a definite, but the Yakuza is completely knew to me…”

Internally, Midoriya cheered. He had successfully gotten dirt from Enji’s near-perfect profile . “ Uh, sorry if I just exposed your dad then?”

“No, do not apologize. It is I who am in your debt.” He smiled.

Midoriya beamed. “No problem! I live to serve!”

“Come on, if my father finds out that we are walking through a room where he has placed all of his stolen art, I’m sure he will not be happy with either one of us.”

--

“Hey boss?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve been noticing weird occurrences with the cameras tonight, they kept freezing for some reason. I dug around and I found an undercover radio line that is centered around here and several voices popped up, all communicating to each other.” The security guard pointed to his companion, another security guard who was listening in and recording everything being said on the line. “What we’ve picked out at least two girls from the voices, the rest male. We’re not sure how many, we’ve only tapped in a few minutes ago.”

The boss scrunched his eyebrows together. “And what have they been saying?”

“The most we’ve heard has been cheering on someone’s breakthrough? Something involving Todoroki Enji for sure.” The boss’ heart jumped. “Everything’s still a bit scratchy, but we managed to make out an angry “lame green haired nerd”. He seemed kind of upset that the person in question accomplished more than what he did? I am almost positive that they may be interfering with our cameras as well.”

The boss opened and closed his now clammy hands. “Alert all the guards of the green-haired person. We need to pull this man in and question him without disturbing the Gala.” He whipped around, pointing a finger directly at the security guard. “And do not let Enji Todoroki know. If there are any problems, you come to me first. Work on locating the infiltrators— I’m going to go find someone to help kick them out of our surveillance system.”

“Yes, sir.”

With a slam of the door, the boss took off in the other direction. The security guard sighed. He did not get paid enough for this job.

“Uh.”

The main security looked down at his friend recording. “What?”

“They found us eavesdropping— the line shut down.”

--

Hatsume slammed her palm into the car’s metal wall. “Fuck!”

Kaminari waved his hands, trying to calm her down. “Woah woah, it’s okay! We can always set up another secure line- they won’t find us again!”

She slapped her hands onto her cheeks and groaned. “I know that! But right now we have no connection to Midoriya, and all of the security in the area is now hunting for him!”

A knock came from the van’s door.

“Hey open up! I’m freezing my fucking balls off out here!”

“Well maybe if you had just followed my instructions you could have avoided the slippery rocks.”

Kaminari opened the door to see all three of his friends return from their mission. Kirishima stood in front the front, grinning, while Uraraka gave a very pissed off (and wet) Bakugou an unamused stare from the back.

“Hey guys!” the redhead sing-songed. “Guess who fell into the river strea- What’s with the grim faces?”

“They found us.”

“What?”

Hatsume sighed. “The guards dropped into our communication line without us knowing a couple of minutes ago. Todoroki’s security team didn’t get that much information, but they did hear you guys talking about a “green haired companion”, so now they're on a hunt for Midoriya. I had to cut off the line before they got any more information, but right now Midoriya has no clue that he’s in danger.”

“So he’s in there all alone.” Uraraka said quietly.

“Yeah.”

“Well, they just have his hair color right? That’s all they have to go on.” Kirishima added.

Hatsume looked at him. “I may have pink hair, but how many people do you honestly know have green hair, Kirishima?” He didn’t reply.

The shut the five of them into silence, everything quiet save for the clacking of keys as the tech duo tried to stealthily reboot the communicators again. Guilt gnawed at their stomachs. Midoriya was counting on them to help him maneuver incognito-- now he was target number one.

Bakugou clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Stop fucking worrying. This is Deku we’re talking about.”

“How can you say that?!” Uraraka replied, anxiety clearly bubbling to her surface. “Are you not worried for him?”

The blond’s face pulled into a snarl. “Listen— I’ve known Deku since we were fucking babies. If there’s anything that the little shit can do, is to get himself out of this situation. We all went through training camp together, you all know how stupidly determined he is. The lame nerd puts himself in situations that he can’t handle, but all of you know damn well that he can get himself out as well.”

Uraraka let out a breath, as did the rest of the car. Bakugou was right, this was Midoriya they were talking about. “Right, sorry for yelling. I just got really…” she trailed off.

“It’s fine. The little fucker’s gonna make it out okay.”

--

Midoroya was actually having a fun time. Despite the slow start, his meeting with Todoroki really did change his night.

As an agent, he really shouldn’t be thinking about the other like this. Friendships were always dangerous in missions, romantic attachment even more so. The situation didn’t help at all, given that his job was to sneak around the man’s personal territory. But he couldn't help it— his heart beat faster whenever Todoroki go too close, and butterflies tickled his stomach when he saw the other smile.

Focus Izuku , he told himself. The two were walking comfortably side by side down one of the halls, planning on returning back to the main entertainment area. He just needed to push his admittedly, really, really gay thoughts away for now. Everything was going just fine.

“Hey you! With the green hair!” Or not.

A large guard with wide shoulders came hunkering down the hall. “I need you to stop right there and come with me.” he said, whipping out a small radio and updating his fellow workers that’d he found a— what was that? A possible suspect?

Shit! Was their cover blown? Midoriya pressed his earpiece for the tell tale static of the communication line. His stomach dropped when he realized that there was none. How long had it been out?

“My friend is not going anywhere with you.” Todoroki’s narrowed gaze turned into an icy glare. He stepped in front of Midoriya. “I am of the Todoroki household, you have no say in this.”

“Doesn’t matter. This is for security reasons, so right now my orders overrule your word.” The man answered, turning to the agent. He shifted forward to grab at Midoriya’s, but the smaller reacted quicker. Roughly grabbing the approaching limb, Midoriya turned around shifted his weight to propel the already leaning figure forward, throwing him over his shoulder. The guard gave a small “oof” as he landed on his back. Quick to work, Midoriya activated his ring and pricked the man in the neck.

Todoroki’s jaw dropped, but then he quickly adjusted himself and closed it. “That… was slightly unexpected.”

Midoriya looked like a deer caught in headlights. “… Yeah.” An awkward beat of silence passed between the two.

“So you are the one my father’s men are after right now?”

Midoriya didn’t answer because Holy shit , what was he doing? Now was the time knock Todoroki out and bolt for it. Attraction be damned, Midoriya trusted the guy. But U.A.’s training program rang through his ears, telling him otherwise. It sounded so much like Kacchan.

Oh wait. It was Kacchan.

“FUCKING TASE THE GUY AND GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE DEKU!!” rang his earpiece. Kacchan had a fair point, he was in kind of a pickle right now.

Hatsume’s voice cut in as well. “Midoriya, I just started the line up again. I’m sorry this comes without warning, but you need to get out of there NOW. They are after YOU. SPECIFICALLY.” Midoriya figured he could’ve put that together on own.  

Todoroki sighed when Midoriya didn’t respond and tilted his head. “I'll take that as a yes then. Follow me.”

Midoriya blinked. Wait, what?

“A-arent you going to call more guards on me?”

"Um, no. Unless you want me to? The exit is this way, so you know.”

“B-but I’m a wanted man! Does that not concern you in the slightest ?” Midoriya could hear multiple voices urgently telling him to just gtfo . They’d have to wait, he wasn’t fully done here.

“A little, but the only reason why you’re here is to interfere with my father’s line of work, is it not? I’d be happy to help you, since you already know my situation.” Todoroki plucked a strand of hair off of his shirt sleeve and inspected it.

“You know, most people don’t act like this when there’s an invader in their house. I could be a serial killer for all you know. How do I know if I can trust you?” Midoriya stood his ground, scanning the other’s face.

“I’d say that the situation’s a little different from the way you described it.” Todoroki chuckled, turning around to lead the other away from the fallen guard. “Besides, I think you already know the answer to that.”

U.A. BASE

TIME: 9:56 January 2

The team relaxed in the U.A. gym, having completed their mission and turned in their papers the night before. Bakugou and Uraraka sparred in the center of the room while the other four spouted friendly chatter on the benches.

“So. I’m dying to know— who confessed?”

Kirishima rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “It was Bakugou, actually…”

“What?!” Kaminari covered his face in his hands. “Aw man, I placed 20 bucks on you, my dude! Why do you do this to me?”

Hatsume frowned. “Dang it, I thought for sure that it would have been the other way around.” She turned to Midoriya, “Who’d you place your bet on anyway?”

“I placed my money on Kacchan.” He smiled happily.

“Why??”

“Kacchan would have gotten word on the bet eventually. Once he realized that most people voted on Eijirou, well, we all know that he takes personal pleasure in proving people wrong. Reverse psychology works wonders on him.” Kaminari shook his hand to his sky in defeat.

“How are you two doing anyway?” Midoriya asked. “This is the most I’ve seen Kacchan not-scowl in a really long time.”

“Oh you know Bakugou, he’s Mr. Tsundere all the time. But he let me kiss him on the cheek when we went home last night! And he didn’t yell afterward!” The redhead practically sparkled.

Hatsume giggled. “I’m glad. If it weren’t for Kaminari over here though, who knows if he would’ve gotten his head out of his ass and actually agreed to go out with you.”

“I’d have to agree— you two have been pining over each other for so long now, it stopped being funny.”

Kaminari proudly stretched and placed his hands behind his head, “Oh you, I try. But I must say, the real star of the show isn’t me. I’d have to place that in the hands of Uraraka, Hatsume,” he paused. “-Miku.”

Everyone groaned. “I cannot believe you used my name in that order to make that joke. I’m a little offended.”

“Really though, bro. Don’t do that again.”

Midoriya returned his attention to the fighting in front of him, which was truly a sight to behold. Bakugou advanced on the offensive, eyeing his partner with full concentration as he tried to land a hit on the girl. Uraraka weaved through his attempts, dodging with with frightening speed before rushing in to land a blow. Neither of them were going easy on each other, but then again, it’s not like they needed to.

His mind reeled back to the mission.

After the whole guard confrontation, Todoroki led Midoriya through a series of twists and turns around the household, before finally emerging to the outside through one of the servant’s back entrances. The two made their way through a slightly abandoned path in silence. Todoroki suddenly stopped in front of an old tree, whose trunk and thick, low branches allowed for a perfecting opportunity to scale over the property’s wall safely.

“I used to sneak out this way a lot. It made the whole escapade more exciting.” the man had said with a smile.

“Why are you helping me like this?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your answer shortly.” A loud boom shocked the two of them, directing their attention attention to the sky. Sparks of red and gold fluttered through the air before dissolving into wisps of smoke. More and more fireworks shot up into the air, painting the night in brief flashes of color. “I guess it’s midnight already.”

Todoroki leaned over and gave Midoriya a small kiss on the lips. “Happy New Year, Miku-san. I had fun today.”

Midoriya spluttered, “Wa- wait!”

But the other had already turned around, walking in the direction of the gala. He didn’t even look back before slipping inside the manor and leaving Midoriya alone outside.

The whole situation scrambled Midoriya’s brains. Why? Why would he do that? Wouldn’t the whole “secret agent reveal” thing break whatever connection the two had? And what was with the whole dramatic exit? And that kiss?? Who even does that?

“Besides, I think you already know the answer to that.”

Todoroki knew he trusted him, but how? Sure, Midoriya figure that he was a pretty observant guy, but still. Agents didn’t exactly have the best reputation for staying buddy-buddy with their target. What stumped him the most though, was that he was pretty sure the trust was mutual. How did Todoroki have enough confidence in Midoriya for that type of behavior? Unless…

The gears in his head clicked. Oh.

The gym door slid open and Tsuyu appeared, greeting Midoriya with a little wave. “Have they been at it for a while? I need to gather you six to Aizawa’s office”

Uraraka finally noticed the dark haired girl standing by the door. “T-tsuyu?!” She said, slightly flustered. "What are you-“ The question was never completed when a kick came swinging into Uraraka’s gut. Midoriya winced.

“Oi, what gives! I know you could’ve fucking dodged that— get your shit brains out of the gutter. Don’t get distracted and don’t you dare go easy on me, Angel Face!”

Uraraka flipped him the bird from the floor.

“You all need to report to Aizawa’s office.” Tsuyu stated, interrupting the scene unfolding in front of them. She turned away and waited for the rest of the group to get up, stretch, and follow her out.

As they all walked up to their destination, Tsuyu looked to Uraraka in concern. “Are you okay? That was a hard kick you took.”

“O-oh! Haha yeah, I’m fine— I’ve hit Bakugou way harder before! Don’t worry about me!”

Tsu smiled. “Good, I’d be concerned if you were actually hurt. You mean a lot to me.”

Kaminari whispered “ Gaaay ” underneath his breath.

“We can all here you, dude." Kirishima said, entwining his fingers with Bakugou’s. Midoriya couldn’t see the explosive blond’s face since he was trailing behind the rest of the group, but there was no doubt that Bakugou’s ears and neck had changed to a darker shade of red.

They reached the doorway and Tsuyu parted the group before returning to her regular schedule of water exercises.

--

"Enji… hired this mission on himself?!” Uraraka yelled in confusion.

“No, no it’s not like that.” Aizawa said.

“Then why is it from the a bank account under the name of Todoroki?!”

“Yeah, what gives man?? Who in the hell would do this?”

“Because he wasn’t the one to pay for it. I was.”

The group’s heads swiveled around to see Shouto Todoroki standing by the doorway of the office, hands in his pockets. Todoroki mentally cringed. Was that too dramatic? He didn’t mean to do it, last night’s exit included.

The young agents all gaped at him.

“Are-aren’t you his son-“

“What the heck?”

“That makes no sense though-“

“Hey, It’s Zuko!”

“Who does Half n Half even fucking think he is over here?”

“Hi Todoroki.”

Todoroki waved. “Hi Miku.”

The green-haired man blanched when he said the name in front of the others. “Actually, it’s Midoriya. Midoriya Izuku. Miku was just a name I came up on the spot, sorry.”

“Yeah, cause Deku’s an idiot.” grumbled the blond with the punk-ish hair.

Aizawa sighed and sank back in his chair even further. Tired eyes assessed the situation before finally speaking up again. “Agents, this is Shouto Todoroki. Todoroki-san, this is the team we assembled per your request.”

Aizawa gestured to each agent respectfully, “Meet Denki Kaminari, Katsuki Bakugou, Eijirou Kirishima, Mei Hatsume, Ochako Uraraka, and Izuku Midoriya, but you two have obviously been acquainted with before.”

Todoroki paused. “There were a lot more people on this mission than I originally thought.”

“Yeah well, you paid a hefty amount so we gave you a six party snoop mission.”

“Hm. I guess so.”

“So what? Are you going to fucking explain why the hell we’re crammed into one room or are you just going to stand there like a fucking moron.” Bakugou spat. “I’d like to get back to kicking this girl’s ass.” He pointed to Uraraka, who replied with a “Pfft— as if .”

Todoroki raised an eyebrow. Aizawa dismissed the action. “He’s always like that, carry on.”

Todoroki took in a deep breath. “Some of you are unaware of this, but a couple of years ago, my mother tried to sue my father for domestic abuse. Unfortunately, the case was unsuccessful, seeing that nothing had changed. Instead, she and her lawyers are pulling an investigation on my father, to try to take him to court for other reasons. The thing is that my father has a close eye on her, so I took it upon myself to send a team to investigate my own household.” Todoroki looked up and smiled. “The results have been very successful.”

“With U.A.’s resources, we have discovered that there is a tie between my father and the Yakuza when it comes to arms trade. I think the most important discovery, however, was the famous missing French painting.” He glanced at Midoriya fondly. “We’ve already devised hard concrete evidence that my father cannot fight.”

“Wait! What about Mineta!” Uraraka asked.

Todoroki’s smile slipped at that. “The plan for the uranium was apparently all legal, and is to be used for peaceful generator purposes in Russia. How my father got permission to do that, I have no idea, but I’m sorry to say that we cannot use this against him.”

Uraraka tilted her head back and let out an exasperated groan. “All that. For nothing!” Hatsume patted her sympathetically on the shoulder, telling her she did a good job despite the results.

“The recordings the security teams took of your agents have all been destroyed, and the guards have all been payed off” Todoroki bowed. “I hope this helps. Thank you again for doing this mission.”

Kaminari popped the lollipop he was sucking on out of his mouth. Where did he even get that? The man certainly wasn’t eating it when he came in. “You’re pretty chill. You’re the only patron who has ever come and thanked us personally after the mission.”

The rest of the team hummed in agreement, all happy that they could help with Todoroki’s cause. Aizawa dismissed them with a wave of and everyone exited the room.

Todoroki was the last to exit, greeted by the sight of the freckled agent leaning against the opposite wall. “Midoriya.”

“Todoroki.”

“You didn’t look to surprised when I told the rest of your group that I was the one who hired you.”

“Well, would you believe me if I said that I figured you out five minutes before I walked in?”

Todoroki laughed at that. “I… I just wanted to thank you personally, I guess. For everything. I mean, I know it was part of your job…” He rubbed the back of his neck.

The other shook his head frantically. “No, no!! Don’t think of it like that! I mean, yes, technically I engaged contact with you because you were my target, but what I said wasn’t a lie! Please don’t think I was trying to manipulate you in this type of situation! It wasn’t intentional if I pulled strings on you. I’m sorry, I-“

Todoroki steadied the man by grabbing his shoulders. “I never accused you of anything.”

“Oh, okay.”

Midoriya looked at Todoroki. “When did you realize I was the person you hired, anyways?”

Todoroki removed his hands from the other. “Right about the time you started spouting information on the Yakuza’s painting. The pieces started connecting together after that, how you scanned always scanned the area and froze when I mentioned my father’s business. I knew there were agents about, but I never thought one of them would be assigned to me personally.”

“Me attacking the guard was confirmation, wasn’t it?”

“Indeed it was.”

“I knew it!” Midoriya exclaimed. “Your behavior, the way you acted! I was wondering about that, you know. You seemed way too nonchalant in your somebody in your position.” The agent continued to ramble on, green, fluffy hair floofing up when he bounced. His eyes shimmered bright with stars, like the ones they gazed at the night beforehand.

Fuck, he’s cute.

“-And that’s why you said I’d understand soon enough!” He placed a fist in his hand in triumph. Too cute, too cute. Todoroki had it bad.

“I would also like to apologize for kissing you without permission.”

Midoriya’s face turned beet red. “Oh, uh. It’s fine!”

Todoroki shifted nervously. “There’s… also something else I wanted to ask you.”

“Huh?”

“Would… would you like to meet with me another time, when you are free? I know a nice coffee shop around here.” Todoroki flushed, turning away. “Of course, I can understand it your work does not allow-“

“So, like a date, right?” The other put out, rather bluntly.

“Yes.”

Midoriya’s face lit up, wobbly smile stretched across his face. “I’d love to.”

His shoulders slumped in relief. He had a date! A date with a secret agent he hired to spy on his father and spilled his heart out to, but a date nonetheless! Midoriya handed him a card. Blank on one side, he flipped it over to find a cellphone number on the other.

Midoriya rose up on his toes and kissed Todoroki on the cheek as farewell, walking backwards down the hall. “I’m expecting a text from you tonight, Todoroki-san!” the agent called out.

His fingers brushed where Midoriya had kissed him. “And I’m expecting a reply, Midoriya-san.”