Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It wasn’t necessarily that he’d never had a friend before or that he’d never been allowed outside, but the weight of Endeavor’s thumb that had been felt without fail for the entirety of his life suddenly seemed…lighter, now that high school had begun. He could attribute that change to the excellence in education he was receiving at UA, but it was much more likely he had a particular freckled ray of sunshine to thank for his sudden ability to claim his own freedoms.

Todoroki Shouto wasn’t stupid. Perhaps he had been a bit of a spiteful, impulsive child (for valid reasons), but ever since the Sports Festival, a confident young hero was emerging out of the woodworks of his heart. Part of that judgment which came in hand with pursuing professional heroics rendered him unable to deny that he was unabashedly and undeniably intrigued by Midoriya Izuku. He had tried talking to Bakugou Katsuki (he and Midoriya were…friends at some point…right?) to get to the bottom of it, but all he got was an uncharacteristic pause before more kicking and screaming from his belligerent classmate. He had even tried silently watching Midoriya from a distance ever since regular classes had resumed, for some sign pointing to an answer. Why did the boy push him so hard in their fight during the festival? What was it he was after? How did he know exactly what to say to set Todoroki free?

Todoroki felt his face heat up at the thought, but only because he had been so lost in it that Midoriya caught him staring from across the cafeteria. The boy shot back a blinding grin and trotted over to sit across from him at the one relatively empty table in the entire room. Behind him trailed his ever-growing group of friends – Tenya Iida, Tsuyu Asui, and Ochako Uraraka respectively. Todoroki looked down at his plate as they approached, attempting to coach his face into its normal pensive expression.

“I hope you don’t mind us joining you, Todoroki-kun! We got stuck talking to Aizawa-sensei and before we knew it the cafeteria was full!” Midoriya said through one of his ever-present smiles before practically diving into his katsudon. Todoroki just shook his head.

“Hey – kero – we have a whole weekend ahead of us. Maybe we should get together and do something?” Tsuyu suggested.

Ochako jumped up immediately, adding, “Oh! We could go to a movie! Or go shopping! Or –“

“Let’s go to an arcade!” Midoriya declared emphatically, rice sticking to the side of his mouth.

“Mm, yeah, that sounds like fun too! We can practice our heroics within the safe confines of classic video games,” Tenya decided, fixing his glasses on his face, “Todoroki-kun, you’ll come too, right?”

He had never been invited out by friends before, but the thought didn’t occur to him until he was tossing and turning the night before they planned to go. It just seemed so natural to say yes, to take the invitation in stride, to have it on his phone calendar. But the giddiness and nerves hit him all at once and he couldn’t sleep for all the right reasons. He hadn’t ever even been to an arcade! All of his gaming up to this point was done in solitude, on his Nintendo 3DS during those nights that he couldn’t sleep through the nightmares and the calm early morning tunes of Animal Crossing were his only solace. He was getting to play games…with his friends. The thought kept coming back as he willed his excitable heart to rest. His smile, however, would not budge.

They chose not to meet the next day until the evening at the train station close to Todoroki’s home. He was, naturally, the first one there (he had always been chronically early and over prepared – a symptom of being raised in the home of a pro hero maybe?). He kept an eye on the group chat Tsuyu had created for them, just in case anyone said they were going to be late. However, looking at the chat turned into looking at social media and three piano covers of his favorite anime openings later he was startled by a tap on his shoulder. Ochako smiled at him softly, and they made small talk until Tenya, Midoriya, and Tsuyu arrived shortly after.

Their train ride to downtown left Todoroki staring out the window, listening intently to Midoriya and Ochako bounce game plans off of each other. Tenya butted in at the mention of Dance Dance Revolution, insisting that he was quite good at it and simply had to dance battle everyone at least once. Todoroki instinctively glanced at his feet, rubbing his eye for a second to hide the nervousness that surely showed on his face at the thought of dancing in front of his friends. He really, really didn’t dance. But when he looked back up, Midoriya was peeking at him from across the way, eyes absolutely sparkling.

“I can’t wait to dance with you Todoroki-kun!”

Before they even got to stepping foot in the arcade itself, Tsuyu and Ochako dragged them into the room with all of the prizes. The girls found giant Totoro pillows and plush cat keychains, while Tenya found a glowing lava lamp alarm clock that he was rapidly calculating just how many tickets he would need in order to win it. Todoroki didn’t really look for anything in particular, though some All Might merchandise caught his eye. Midoriya followed him to the stand, thumbing through the posters before grabbing one, looking like he had just won the freakin’ lottery. Apparently, he was aware of Todoroki’s gaze, because he looked him dead in the eye and said with conviction, “I need 2,000 tickets. I’ve been looking for this poster for years.”

To this, Todoroki had no other reaction than to let out a small laugh of a snort, but considering how Midoriya’s face went swiftly from determination to wonder, he realized he had likely never laughed in front of his friends. It was disheartening, but only for a second. He got jolted out of his thoughts by Ochako and Tsuyu jumping onto either side of him, and the present was forced to resume.

“I know what I want to get with my tickets! Let’s game!” Ochako trumpeted, equal parts cheerful and competitive, raising a determined fist in the air.

The hours passed much quicker than the young hero could have envisioned. At first, he mostly watched. But then, very slowly…he started to have fun. So slowly in fact, that he didn’t consciously realize that his chest felt lighter or that his smile came to his face quicker than before until much later. He really, really wanted to beat Tenya on Rainbow Road playing MarioKart! He teamed up with Ochako on Space Invaders, but they still did terribly. He redeemed himself when Tsuyu taught them all how to play some of the musical games, which luckily came to him quite naturally. The tickets were flowing, determined grins were worn en masse, and sodas were being endlessly refilled...

His awareness came back into focus rather abruptly when it came time to play Dance Dance Revolution, but everyone seemed aware of his fears without needing to voice them and didn’t pressure him to participate. Anyways, everyone wanted a go at Tenya, who went down almost immediately when Ochako won her first round, and then again in her second against Tsuyu. Midoriya was an endearingly terrible DDR dancer and lost to both Tenya and Ochako, but when all turns had been exhausted without Todoroki, Midoriya turned those terribly large pleading eyes in his direction and dramatically knelt at his feet.

“Todoroki-kun, may I have this dance…” he barely got the words out without absolutely erupting in laughter so contagious, Todoroki’s brain went uncharacteristically quiet and he agreed to dance with an easy grin. And it was so fun. They were equally terrible, stomping all over the place and occasionally all but keeling over in laughter at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. Even though he knew Tsuyu was undoubtedly recording them for her Snapchat, the cheers and exhilaration kept his anxiety at bay long enough for him to beat Midoriya.

“Daaaamn, I can’t even beat you at DDR!” Midoriya moaned in defeat, before bouncing back up, “One day I swear I’ll beat all of you! I’ll be the reigning DDR champion!”

“Sure sure, Midoriya-kun, one day…” Tenya fixed his glasses, wearing a sly smile plain as day (he seemed to have forgotten he only won one round).

Once they had exhausted both themselves and their game cards (and wallets), each of them meandered to the prize room, stopping only once to haphazardly bundle into a purikura for a quick souvenir. Midoriya and Ochako got a bit carried away with the stickers and Todoroki ended up with cat ears and whiskers, but it wasn’t that embarrassing once Midoriya mentioned that he looked “cute.” In fact, it made his heart feel fuzzy as radio static. Interesting.

Once in the prize room, Midoriya practically ran to the All Might stand, searched for the poster that he had hidden towards the back, plucked it out, and sprinted to the counter. Torodoki followed him slowly. H e hadn’t seen anything he needed earlier, so it seemed best to participate with Midoriya, since he was so excited – that was, until his face fell. Todoroki approached the counter apprehensively and asked what was wrong.

“I don’t have enough tickets. I’m about 500 short! I thought I had gotten more…” his voice trailed off and he stared at the poster, clearly resisting tears.

Todoroki faced the employee, “I thought these were only 2,000 tickets?”

“Most of the posters are, but that’s a rare print. The rare ones are 2,500.”

“Was there any sign saying that that was the case?” he insisted.

“No, we haven’t marked them yet I guess..”

“Well then it isn’t his fault that you didn’t mark it.”

At that point, Midoriya butted in, “T-Todoroki-kun, it’s okay, really. I’m uh…I’m sure I’ll find it somewhere else!”

“No, it is clearly unfair,” he replied pointedly, “Can you check to see how many tickets I have please?”

The cashier nodded, visibly annoyed, but swiped his card through anyways. “You have 1057 tickets.”

“Perfect, then please use some of my tickets to make the full purchase for this poster.”

Midoriya began to speak, but then seemed to think better of it. Instead, he turned to Todoroki and beamed, body slumped in relief, with beads of tears still in his eyes. “Thank you so much, Todoroki-kun.”

All Todoroki could do was smile at his feet, willing the heat in his face to die down a bit. What is this?!

In the end, they all got something. Even after sharing his tickets, Todoroki still had some left over, so he got a small All Might keychain for his house keys (mostly to piss off his father, partially to make Midoriya smile). Tenya successfully redeemed his tickets for the lava lamp clock. Ochako got a small Totoro plush, while Tsuyu found a good quality frog enamel pin for her backpack. They took the train back home in comfortable silence, all tired of being on their feet for so long. Yawns were passed around every couple minutes or so, but no one said anything about it. Todoroki, who was standing next to Midoriya this time, alternated between watching the city night life flash by and watching the light of it dance on the shorter hero’s freckles and reflect off of his half-lidded eyes. Midoriya seemed to be on the lookout for something (or at least, he was as alert as he could be considering how sleepy he looked).

 “What are you looking for, Midoriya-kun?”

The question seemed to startle the boy, but only for a second. He turned to give Todoroki a half smile, “Just keeping an eye out. You never know what will happen with villains these days! I want to be the greatest hero so…so I’m just in the habit of keeping an eye out, you know?”

“I see,” Todoroki smiled back, “Thank you for watching out for us.”

Watching the lights play off of Midoriya’s blush, he decided, had been the best part of the evening.

Chapter Text

Todoroki liked it when it rained. The steady drum of droplets plummeting to Earth always made him think of his mother, of how she always did laundry on rainy days, reading all the while she waited for each load to be finished, a hot cup of tea at her side. It was one of the few times he felt he truly saw her at peace, he thinks. She would be nestled under blankets, blissful in her fiction. Todoroki would lie on the floor reading as much manga as he could before his father got home…

The realization that he had stopped reading to follow his own internal monologue jolted him back to reality. He set his book down and took a sip of his own tea, but it had gotten cold. The somber situation settled in his mind and he sighed, running a hand through his hair, greasy from neglect. Tutting at himself, he willed his body to, by some miracle, make it to the shower. He let the water run cold. He didn’t mind the cold.

Why am I so sad today, when things have been going so well? he wondered after emerging from the shower, physically cleaner but feeling just as unfortunate. Outside, the day was getting darker, not that it had been all that bright to begin with. It had rained for the vast majority of the time he had been awake. Street lights in the distance glowed eerily in the fog, colors from the nearest downtown center playing in loops in the distance. All of it simply reminded him that he was alone, his father away on pro-hero business and his siblings out freely living their lives (as he wished sometimes he could).  His mind turned towards his friends, and what they could possibly be doing on such an evening where most stayed in.

There are times that Todoroki expects mind-reading to be a part of Midoriya’s elusive quirk. This was one of those. As Todoroki sat gloomily on the porch outside of his bedroom, watching the rapidly clearing rain tap and ripple through a puddle in front of the gate to their garden, he heard a weak knock from the front door. He didn’t think much of it, perhaps he was just hearing things – the door was a few hallways away after all. But then he heard a louder knock, and as he crept towards the front hallway, the door opened and a very, very soggy-looking boy poked his head in.

“Todoroki-kun? Are you home? Can I come in?”

Todoroki rounded the corner to the door faster than he had ever before in his entire life, stopping with little grace and pulling the door open much more frantically than he had meant to. “Midoriya-kun! You’re soaking wet, please, um, come inside! I’ll grab you something to dry off with. Do you need a change of clothes?”

Midoriya, in the middle of removing his shoes and setting his things down, began to giggle. “I’m okay Todoroki-kun, I promise! But yes, that all sounds great, if you don’t mind…”

“Of course not! I’ll be right back.”

He all but sprinted to the linen closet, tugging out the fluffiest towel he could find, then running to his room, trying not to overthink the idea of Midoriya, wearing his clothes. Would they even fit? He returned to the foyer of his home to give his friend the dry change of clothes and showed him to the bathroom.

“I’ll be in the room two doors down on the left, okay? I’ll make us some tea, too.”

“Thank you, Todoroki-kun. Really.”

Midoriya’s smile alone made him question if it was a sunny day after all.

When Midoriya walked into his room, Todoroki had to suppress an entirely involuntary gasp, his mind far too focused on the freckled boy that was currently in his clothes and far too distracted from the actual situation that had caused Midoriya to be there. The boy, looking small in the old red tee, gave him a sheepish grin and then sat at one end of the futon.

“Sorry to show up out of the blue like this! I really didn’t mean to barge in uninvited –“

“That’s alright. What happened?”

“I was getting groceries! But then I fell asleep on the train and when I woke up I realized I was at your stop so I got off without really thinking. And then I realized I left my umbrella on the train! So I had to either come here or wait for another train and I came here because well, it’s late for one, but also because it’s so miserable outside!”

Todoroki looked down at his hands, resituating his seat on the futon. He handed Midoriya his cup of tea, which the boy accepted graciously, dipping his head.

“Do you not like rain, Midoriya-kun?”

“D-do you?”

The question caught him off guard. It was so immediate, even Midoriya looked a little taken aback by himself for asking it.

Todoroki sighed. “Normally I do. It reminds me of my mother. But…today it just made me sad. Although, I suppose…” he kept looking down. I can’t believe I almost said that.

“You suppose…?”

Well. He looked his friend in the eye this time. “To be honest, I’ve been feeling lonely since I am the only one home this weekend. Not that having my father here is any better, but I suppose…well, if the rain brought you here, I can’t be too sad can I?”

After a beat, when realization seemed to dawn on the opposing boy’s face, a sing song of “To-do-ro-kiiiii-kuuuun!” came ringing out of Midoriya, who had both hands covering his face to hide what most definitely was not a blush, there’s no way, that couldn’t possibly be happening right now.

“What?!” Todoroki panicked, instantly looking down at his own hands again, hoping his hair was hiding the heat rising in his face. Was that too forward? Too genuine? Did he make Midoriya uncomfortable?

“That’s so sweet! Are you home alone often?” Todoroki just nodded.

“Well, you’re always welcome to stay with me for the weekends if you’re feeling alone. My mom is a great cook! And she’s just pretty wonderful overall. If you don’t mind her gawking over you for the first five minutes…”

“Thank you, Midoriya-kun. I will consider it.”

The freckled boy seemed satisfied with that answer. He sipped his tea and they looked out over the misty garden as the night grew even darker.

Todoroki made them a simple dinner of salmon fried rice. He felt giddy, really, as he stirred the mix, all the while listening to Midoriya recount the pro-hero coverage for the week. All the previous melancholy seemed to have been unceremoniously ripped from him like the quick peeling of an old band-aid, not nearly so painful in its absence as it was fresh in the presence of new air. Midoriya made him feel lighter. Breathing came easier. He didn’t know how it worked, but his friend helped shoulder the burdens Todoroki felt most acutely when he was alone simply by being there, muttering his thoughts in rapid succession, sometimes quietly to himself, other times loudly, as if he had made the greatest discovery in the universe (he undoubtedly had).

Once he had portioned their dinner out in bowls, he moved to sit next to Midoriya, handing him his share. The boy’s eyes simply sparkled and he inhaled it in no time. Todoroki ate quietly on the opposite side of the couch.

“Could we watch some TV?” Midoriya asked meekly.

“Oh, our system’s pretty broken actually…you’d think with how meticulous my father is he’d keep the house in better shape. We can watch a movie though? I have some on DVD.”

“Sure!” the freckled boy exclaimed as Todoroki went to find the DVDs. “You know, Todoroki-kun, it’s almost like we’re roommates! With you making us dinner and then us watching movies. Or, actually, that’s more like…” he cut himself there off rather abruptly.

“More like…?” Todoroki prompted, peeking back out of the closet he was going through. All he saw was Midoriya leaning over his knees, looking at the floor.

“Ah hah…nevermind,” the boy said weakly.

They ended up watching an old American movie that Midoriya claimed to be his favorite, something called Star Wars IV: A New Hope which turned out to be the first film in a prolific sci-fi action series the freckled boy could not believe Todoroki knew nothing about. He really had to commend Midoriya for not spoiling the whole series though. He knew his friend was really holding back.

What really was capturing more of Todoroki’s attention was the fact that they started the movie on opposite ends of the couch, and by some unseen force (maybe he was sort of paying attention to the movie) they ended up right next to each other by the time Ben Kenobi disappeared. And then by the time Luke made the final blow to destroy the Death Star, he felt Midoriya’s head on his shoulder. When did my arm end up on the back of the couch…? Finally, the credits rolled, and when Midoriya didn’t immediately jump up to ask him how he liked it, he realized that his friend was fast asleep.

He did his best to not wake Midoriya up as he did the dishes, but the water eventually gave him away. The boy rose from the couch, rubbing his eyes and blinking at Todoroki quizzically.

 “I would normally offer our guest room, but since we never have guests, that room has turned into more of a storage room. Would you mind if I set out a futon for you in my room?”

Midoriya shook his head slowly, letting out a yawn. “As long as you don’t mind.”

“I’ll do that right now then. Be right back. Oh, and I already set out pajamas for you in the bathroom.”

 He set to work on setting up Midoriya’s futon, stubbornly ignoring the loud beating in his chest as he thought of the implications this could have. The implications he…wanted this to have. No, stop that. Todoroki shook his head and screwed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath. Midoriya was his friend. Probably his best friend, and one of the first real friends he’d ever had. That’s why he felt like this. That’s why he could hear the drumming of his heartbeat all the way to his ears.

“Todoroki-kun…?”

Midoriya’s voice made him jump, and spurred him into quickly completing setting up the futon, “Ah, sorry about that, I was just thinking. Here, everything is ready for you now.” He walked over to the switch to turn the lights out as Midoriya made himself comfortable. The dark was welcome. It would obscure all the obscenely bright colors his face kept turning.

After a few moments of silence, Midoriya turned onto his stomach and looked over at Todoroki. “Thank you again, Todoroki-kun. For tonight. I think…I think we both feel a little less lonely now, right?”

The scarred boy turned onto his side, peering up at Midoriya, who was illuminated only by the subtle moonlight peering through the clouds. “Yes, I think so. Thank you as well. You’ve saved me again.”

Even the dark couldn’t hide Midoriya’s blush there. Todoroki cracked a smile, amused.

“You’re doing it again!” the freckled boy gasped.

“Hm?”

“Smiling. You’ve been doing that more lately.”

Todoroki looked away. Maybe it was true. He never thought much about it anyways, but it was a little embarrassing, to be called out on it like that.

“N-not that it’s a bad thing! I like seeing you smile, Todoroki-kun.”

Todoroki looked back up at him. Midoriya was sitting up more now, propped up on his elbows, closer than before. The scarred boy silently prayed that Midoriya couldn’t hear his heart pounding as he drew nearer, resting a small kiss on Todoroki’s forehead. What in the world –

And with that, Midoriya turned away to sleep. Todoroki was entirely frozen in place, his left side growing hotter and hotter until he simply had to turn away from Midoriya to keep himself from catching fire.

“Oyasumi,” he heard from the other futon.

“Oyasumi,” his voice cracked back.