Chapter Text
“Clear!”
Izuku jolted up, staring at Kaminari’s (thankfully teenaged) face. His hands were sparking like he was a human defibrillator. “Oh thank fuck. I thought you were a goner.”
“What?” Izuku blinked rapidly, clearing his vision. All of his friends were hovering over him, face worried. He tried to sit up, and felt an arm wrap around his waist. “Why am I on the ground?”
Iida, who was helping him sit, spoke. “We were out for a run when you suddenly collapsed. I sent out an S.O.S., expecting someone to go get Recovery Girl , but everyone came here instead.”
“Are you okay?”
“What happened?”
“You look terrible, man.”
“Deku-kun, are you alright?”
Izuku blinked rapidly. “Oh, I don’t really, um.” He shook his head a little. So he was back. He looked at his friends, at how young they all looked. Shouto’s face was there too, lined with worry. “Todoroki-kun?”
“Yes, Midoriya?” Shouto asked, blinking at him with wide, mis-matched eyes. They were so pretty.
“Do you wanna grab dinner sometime?” Izuku asked. “Like, on a date?” Shouto’s lips parted.
Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Oh great. Shitty Deku has brain damage.”
“Kacchan, don’t you think Kirishima is cute? I think you guys would be good for each other.” Izuku watched with delight as Bakugou turned bright red and Kirishima’s eyes widened. He looked back at Shouto. “What’dya say? Dinner? This Friday? We can go to that soba place you like so much. My treat.”
“O-okay.” Shouto said, blushing prettily. “I would, um. I would like that.”
“Great!” Izuku said. “It's a date!”
“I really think you should see Recovery Girl.” Iida said.
Izuku nodded. “I agree. Can you help me stand?”
Iida hefted him to his feet, and Izuku felt a wave of vertigo. “Woah.” He blinked the stars out of his eyes, looking back at the assembly of anxious faces. “If Aizawa’s up, can one of you guys tell him to meet me in the clinic? All Might, too, if he’s around.”
“Why?” Tsuyu asked, as Momo demanded, “Is something wrong?”
Izuku smiled at them, feeling exhausted. “Nothing’s wrong. Can you just send them, please?”
Recovery Girl declared that there were no lasting physical effects from the quirk, and patched up his bumped head and scraped elbows from where he hit the pavement.
He sat on the clinic bed, swinging his feet in the air. After a few minutes, the clinic door burst open and All Might burst through, followed by a far less frantic Aizawa. “Young Midoriya, are you alright? Your peers told me that you were admitted here, and-”
“He’s okay.” Recovery Girl said. “Just some scrapes and bruises.”
Aizawa crossed his arms, unimpressed. “You can never just let me have one normal day, can you, kid?”
All Might laid a massive hand on his shoulder. “What happened?”
“Alright.” Izuku took a deep breath. “This morning, I went out for a run with Iida…”
After he told them the whole story, All Might, Aizawa, and Recovery Girl all looked at him with varying measures of horror.
“Young Midoriya, that is…” All Might trailed off, coughing up a little bit of blood and wiping it away.
“One hell of a story.” Aizawa finished for him.
Izuku felt wrung out. He was emotionally drained. “You told me, uh, you said to tell you ‘Loud Cloud.’”
The color drained from Aizawa’s face. “He’s telling the truth.”
“I know he wouldn’t lie about such a thing,” All Might said. “But perhaps it was simply a false memory implanted by the quirk.”
“No.” Aizawa said firmly. “It really happened. The only reason he would know that phrase is if Hizashi or I told him.”
Izuku smiled. “How is Present Mic?” He wiggled his eyebrows at his sensei, and Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I will pay you ten thousand yen not to tell your classmates.” Aizawa said.
“I’ll trade you.” Izuku said.
Aizawa crossed his arms. “What do you want?”
“Go easy on Ashido and Kaminari in the next exam. They really are trying their best.” He thought for a moment, then pointed at Aizawa. “I will also take my bribery in the form of pictures of Eri-chan.”
Aizawa let out a hefty sigh, but held out his hand. “Fine. As long as they actually study.”
“Deal.” Izuku shook his hand firmly. He looked at All Might. “All Might, what do you think of my mother?”
Recovery Girl granted him the day off, and Izuku stripped to his boxers and crashed into his bed face first. He only woke when there was a soft knock on his door.
Izuku dragged himself out of bed, grimacing at his aching muscles. He opened the door just a crack to see Shouto standing there, shifting from foot to foot, his hands behind his back. He looked at Izuku, then looked away, blushing furiously. Izuku could actually see lines of heat drifting off his face. “Oh.” Izuku realized he was just in his underwear. “One second.”
He closed the door and fetched his favorite All Might hoodie, pulling it on. Then, he opened the door again. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s, uh. It's okay.” Shouto said, staring at the ceiling. He was so cute! Strangely enough, Izuku had missed him. Shouto held out a bento. “I brought you katsudon.”
Izuku blinked. “Oh, is it lunchtime already?”
“Midoriya,” Shouto laughed. “It's dinner.” The loud growl of his stomach interjected, and Todoroki stifled a laugh, offering the bento. “Here.”
“Come in.” Izuku opened the door, letting Shouto in. He switched on the lights, wincing at the brightness. “Can you open the window?”
Shouto nodded, setting the bento down and walking over to the window. He stood on the balcony for a second, and with the sunset behind him, Izuku thought he looked really beautiful.
Then, he peered over the side, gasped, and ran back in. He grabbed Izuku’s arm, dragging him over. “What-”
“Sh!” Shouto put his finger over his lips, pulling him towards the edge. Once they were there, he pointed over at Bakugou’s balcony.
Kirishima and Bakugou were leaning against the window, arms around each other, and it looked like they were competing over who could get their tongue farther down each other’s throat. “Gah!” Izuku stumbled back. “My eyes!”
Bakugou whipped around, and Shouto tackled Izuku to the ground so that they wouldn’t be seen and explodo-killed. They had to army crawl inside Izuku’s room, giggling. “Oh my god, my childhood will never recover.”
“I thought you wanted this to happen!” Shouto said between wheezing laughs. “You told them they would be good for each other!”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think I’d have to watch it!” Izuku said, leaning his back against his bed. “I mean, good for them, I guess. Kirishima makes Kacchan a better person and Kacchan makes Kirishima value himself, but I really don’t want to think about them-” he gestured wildly. “That!”
Shouto was still laughing at him. “What is all that-” he mimicked the gestures Izuku was making “supposed to mean?”
“Gah, I don’t know, don’t make me think about it.” Izuku closed his eyes and covered his ears, like that would somehow stop the mental images of his childhood best friend getting railed.
He took the katsudon from his bed. It was actually really delicious, and he finished it quickly. “This is amazing, Todoroki-kun!”
“Thanks.” Shouto blushed. “I, uh, I asked your mother for her recipe.”
Izuku brightened. “Really?” That was so sweet. Izuku might cry.
“Yeah. It's just… it seemed like you weren’t feeling well, so,” Shouto bit his lip. Izuku wanted to kiss him.
“Can I, um.” Izuku looked away for a second, then steeled his nerves. He looked back at Shouto, at his pink lips. “Can I kiss y-”
Shouto’s lips were dry and warm. If they were two different temperatures, Izuku couldn’t tell. They pressed against his for three seconds, then they were gone. Shouto’s face was pink, and from the heat in his face, Izuku figured that he was probably in a similar state.
He lifted a hand to Shouto’s face, trailing fingertips against his jawline. Little crystals of ice followed his touch, and Izuku leaned in again. This time, when they kissed, Shouto let out a cold sigh against Izuku, lips parting. Izuku captured Shouto’s bottom lip between his own, lightly sucking it into his mouth. As he gave it a curious lick, Shouto let out a gasp and suddenly pushed Izuku back, covering his face.
“I’m sorry!” Izuku said immediately. Stupid, he was so stupid! “I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to go too fast or too-”
Shouto pressed a finger to Izuku’s lips. When Izuku looked at him, Shouto’s face was on fire. “You-you didn’t go too fast. I just didn’t want to burn you.”
“Oh.” Izuku watched as the flames died down. He caused that. “Wow.”
Shouto covered his face with both hands. “This is so embarrassing.”
“No, no,” Izuku pried his hands away from his face, holding them in his own. They were so slender, but so rough. Izuku thought they were pretty. “It's not embarrassing. It's… it's cute.”
Shouto rolled his eyes. “I nearly set you on fire during our first kiss.”
“Well, that just means we’ll have to practice!” Izuku said this, and then immediately blushed. “I-I mean, as long as that’s okay with you. I-I don’t want to assume that-”
Shouto kissed him again.
The week progressed as it should, in a linear fashion. Izuku was grateful. He was done with time travel, at least for a while.
His friends all teased him about his and Shouto’s new relationship, while Bakugou exploded anyone who dared poke fun at him and Kirishima. After a pop quiz on Wednesday, he overheard Ashido and Kaminari remarking about how easy it was.
On Friday, he took Shouto out to his favorite soba place. It was really nice.
They walked back, holding hands. “It’s a really beautiful night.” Shouto remarked, looking up at the full moon. Izuku felt lucky to be alive.
When they got back to the dorms, everyone was in the common room, huddled around the TV. As Izuku and Shouto walked in, Uraraka quickly waved them over. “You guys have to see this.”
“What is it?” Shouto asked.
Izuku caught sight of the television, and his stomach dropped. ALL MIGHT’S RIVAL, ALL FOR ONE, KILLED.
“Wha-” He looked around at his friends. “What happened?”
“Apparently he tried to stage a breakout.” Tsuyu said.
“Luckily, Hawks was there, dropping off a villain!” Sero said, punching the air. “Man, your mentor is so cool, Tokoyami.” Tokoyami inclined his head.
Kirishima was bouncing in his seat. “Man, I wish I could have been there to see Hawks put him in the ground!” Bakugou sat next to him, his fists clenched, knuckles white.
Izuku’s heart was in his throat. The room was spinning around him. “I…”
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, and Izuku jumped. He looked up, seeing Aizawa. “Come with me.”
“Okay.” Izuku said lightly.
Aizawa drew him aside, where no one would hear. Izuku let out a shuddering breath. “Is it really...”
“Yes.” Aizawa said. “All Might is going to the morgue to confirm that it's him, but yes.”
“Was it…” Izuku swallowed. He didn’t know how to ask. “Did…”
Aizawa squeezed his shoulder gently. “I protect my students.” He said gruffly.
Izuku’s vision swam with tears. “How…”
“I bet Hawks two thousand yen that he couldn’t.” Aizawa said. “He’s very predictable.”
“Oh.” Izuku sniffed. “I… thank you.”
Aizawa pulled him into a hug. Izuku quietly cried into his shirt. He felt like an immense weight had been lifted off of him. “Thank you.”
“You owe me now, kid.” Aizawa said, his tone light. “You better not tell the others about me and Hizashi.”
Izuku laughed wetly. “I promise.”
“Good.” He knuckled Izuku’s hair. “Now, get off me.” Izuku nodded, stepping back and wiping his face. “Go join your friends.”
“Yes, sir.” Izuku said.
Izuku stopped by the bathroom to wash his face, then came back into the common room. Shouto caught his eye, mouthing, “You okay?”
Izuku nodded, and went to sit next to him. Shouto wrapped an arm around his shoulders. The news was still talking about All for One, and Izuku couldn’t bring himself to look at the TV. He cleared his throat, speaking a little too loudly. “Shouto, a little birdie told me that you’ve never seen any of the All Might movies.”
“What!”
“Never?”
“What about All Might: Leap of Faith?”
“Your life is so sad, Todo bro ki!”
“How have you not seen any All Might movie? How do you live like that?”
“Bro, we have to watch them!”
“Yes! Movie marathon, bitches!”
“What order should we watch them in?”
“Are you stupid, Round Face? We watch them chronologically.”
“Do we have snacks?”
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief, watching with fondness as his friends scurried about, building pillow forts and making movie snacks and preparing for an All Might movie all nighter.
Shouto tilted his head. “Who told you?”
“Hm?” Izuku blinked. “Oh.” He smiled. “I guessed. I can’t imagine Endeavor was taking you to any premieres.”
Shouto narrowed his eyes, and Izuku winked. “I’ll tell you when you're older.”
“Okay, weirdo.” Shouto leaned down, kissing the corner of Izuku’s lips.