A/N: With the tumblr purge and what not, I've been persuaded that it's okay to transfer my 'not worthy' stories to archiving sites. This hurts me, but it's also a good exercise on not being a perfectionist and letting others see that.
This was posted Sept 2017, un-betaed.
Midoriya Izuku was an enigma of a friend to Todoroki Shouto. He bounced into the backyard on random days, usually scratched and bruised, but always with a bright smile and a contagious spirit.
It was impossible to know what to say to such a tremendous person.
Luckily, Midoriya was always the first to spill blood. Literally, he was the most likely to ooze red— but he also found the frown on Todoroki's face to be some form of crime and was the first to address it.
"Are you okay?" Midoriya asks. Todoroki never gets the chance to say anything. "I brought Pokémon today. I thought I could play Charzard and you could kick my butt with Articuno."
That always brought a small smile out of Shouto—which resulted in a blinding grin from Izuku. Smiling fast became his favorite expression when Izuku was around.
They never talked about quirks. And it was amazing. All his father talked about was Shouto's quirk—how strong he was, how he would become greater than All Might, that he was the favorite child of all his siblings. Izuku never cared about that.
He hopped the gate of the gardens and, on intuition alone, knew how to solve all of Shouto's troubles. They skipped rocks in the pond, ran around for tag (no quirks involved, of course), played games from Izuku's bag, and talked about their favorite subjects. Shouto once saw a notebook called "Hero Analysis for the Future", but Izuku never brought it up.
They existed outside of their worlds. When Izuku stopped by, the world melted away like a painting doused in water. Only his friend was clear.
Then, one day, he stopped coming.
Shouto always assumes it was something he did. Maybe he wasn't enough for Izuku. Maybe they should have discussed their quirks— their problems. Even with multiple siblings, Shouto didn't have the social instinct to figure why Izuku would never return.
Maybe that could have saved him, knowing Izuku. Having Izuku. Some sort of constant and partner to hold onto when it was too hard.
Lord knows it was too late now.
When he meets Izuku again at UA, it's clear there is no recognition in his eyes. It shouldn't hurt so much, it was a few years since they last talked, but it hurt a lot.
When Izuku was your friend, or even as a hero, his gaze was heavy and sincere. He is...kind and attentive. It's impossible to believe he is giving the cold shoulder, Shouto would know about that. Shouto wants to know why they split apart. He wants to rekindle the friendship he lost with the beaten boy with a big heart.
But what good would it do. He isn't Shouto anymore. He is Endevour Mock Two. Trained and bred to surpass All Might.
His life isn't his own. He can't escape what he was born into.
What he wants doesn't matter. Who he loves doesn't matter.