This story is dedicated to Rina (todoyamas), who won a challenge in our zine discord, and to our mods, Jelly and Jammy for creating such an awesome experience.

This was a really fun warm-up experiment writing for a new fandom and also trying to capture that really action/adventure shounen anime style. Lots to learn from this series and I hope to contribute more!

(Yes, I am very aware of the timeline issue of setting a winter story after the sports festival. Let's just say this is an AU where the festival happened in March and they went skiing late in the season. It's really not connected to the rest of the series)

Thanks Rina for the prompt!

Warm air blasted through the vents of the bus, mixing with puffs of hot breath to form steamy clouds on the inner windows. Fingers streaked the glass, drawing smiley faces, tic-tac-toe games and, in the case of a certain student, a rude turn of phrase. "Deku sucks" got wiped away by a quick elbow, and laughter filled the vehicle as it rumbled along, climbing up the winding mountain road in the early morning hours.

Izuku still considered himself lucky. He'd missed his chance to sit with Ochaco, who'd gotten on first, and was crowded in behind Koda. Iida had gotten on last, and was sitting up at the very front by the teachers. So Izuku, stuck in the middle, had guessed his way along the half-filled rows and taken his seat beside Shoto Todoroki for the two-and-a-half-hour trip.

This guy, Midoriya concluded, had to be a skiing expert. Born with ice in his blood and frost in his fingertips, powerful enough to place second in the sports tournament, yet still stoic and reserved with a quiet confidence. He'd boarded the bus with a full bag of professional ski equipment, sleek black-and-silver double-layered sport jacket, and a determined stare. Surely, definitely, this was someone who knew a thing or two about snow.

Izuku took the seat beside him, cradling his lumpy bag of hand-me-down gear in his lap. Todoroki barely nodded his acknowledgement as the bus engine rumbled to life in the predawn darkness.

"I guess we're like bus buddies, huh?" he offered, throwing Todoroki a cheesy grin.

"You could say that."

The response was… understated. Shoto turned to face him and his bi-coloured eyes bore into Izuku. He could feel his palms beginning to sweat and the moisture leaving his mouth making it hard to swallow. Why was Todoroki always so calm and cool all the time?

"You've got some really nice gear," Izuku continued, not knowing where his mouth was taking him. "Mine's all… old, but I'm sure it'll still work out ok. I bet you're really good at this! I'm ok, I've been skiing a couple times before, I'm not the best, but I'm ok." Crap, he said he was ok twice. "Haha, well, I guess we're like partners together for this! Unless you don't want to be, that's ok too, but we're here to learn and it'll be a great learning experience, I bet!"

Todoroki nodded very slowly. Izuku took the hint.

Izuku had planned, truly, at some point, to ask him a few tips. And he really was going to talk to Todoroki during their ride. At the right opportunity. When it presented itself. But soon after the bus left the school grounds and exited onto the highway, Todoroki closed his eyes and sat very still and Izuku couldn't tell if he was sleeping or meditating or contacting aliens with his brainwaves.

And so Izuku waited, watching Shoto gently breathe in and out from the side of his vision.

Of course, Izuku didn't, perhaps, need to ask Todoroki for help. He could always use the trip for personal practice, channeling One For All into his entire body and using the experience as a way to further his training. He could certainly take some notes. On the other hand, this trip might also give him a way to observe his classmates in a different environment and see who was likely to be adapted to a snowy, mountainous terrain and who might struggle to accommodate their bodies and quirks into a-

"You're mumbling," Todoroki whispered, rolling towards the steamy window.

Crap. Izuku clamped his hands on his face, biting down on his tongue as the bus slammed a pothole on the gravelly mountain backroad. Did he say One For All out loud?

Todoroki didn't seem affected, still gazing bleary-eyed at the fog-coated window. He blinked twice, rubbed his eyes, and yawned, stretching out from the slumped hunch he'd been sleeping in. Then he raised his fingers and lightly grazed the glass, instantly clearing away the condensation from the purple-hued haze. Izuku let out a little gasp. Several other students gawked as well.

Todoroki's touch revealed a sweeping view of the valley below. Golden arcs of sunlight were just beginning to creep into the skyline, shifting the rich pinkish morning colours to pale gold and light blue. Illuminating wide stretches of patchwork farms and tiny highways that ran along the valley floor, dotted with even tinier cars scooting along, all the way to the dwarfed city skyscrapers on this cold, cloudless spring morning. Everything was as it should be today, without the need for heroes.

Izuku's gaze swept up the mountainside to where they were now. The trees surrounding their ride had shifted from bare, scraggly brown stumps to tall and mysterious evergreens looming over the steep road they climbed past the snowline. Izuku watched the ground change. First a few dirty old lumps of melting ice here and there, then patchy areas of white. And then, after a while, a solid blanket of soft snow covering the trees and the road, promising piles of fresh powder upon arrival at the resort.

Soon.

Izuku's stomach tightened with excitement. They really were up high, now.

"Alright, settle down." Mr Aizawa stood up at the front, zipping the rest of his puffy black jacket that made him look like an overinflated tire. "We're nearly there. Hands up if you have prior ski experience. We're going to partner you all in groups with someone who knows what they're doing."

Five hands rose into the air. Aizawa counted them off.

"Yaoyorozu, Aoyama, Tokoyami, Hagakure and Sato. You'll be group leaders. Anyone else?"

The chattering ceased. And Izuku felt the distinct presence of many eyes suddenly pointed in his direction. Everyone was looking at Todoroki beside him. Waiting, expectantly. His gaze shifted over all the sudden, silent faces.

"I'd rather spend this trip doing my own thing, if you don't mind."

"That's… fair," Asui croaked.

And Todoroki turned back to the window, saying nothing for the rest of the trip.

Everyone hurried off the bus in one giant rush of boots and noise and adolescent excitement. Behind them, the bus for class 1B pulled up and deposited its own passengers into the icy parking lot below the ski village. Then the busses for the support and general courses. All in all, there had to be nearly a hundred students and teachers milling about, calling out attendance and organizing themselves.

It was a nice change, moving from the dense city air into the glaring sunlight of the mountains. Izuku breathed deeply, appreciating the chilly breeze filtering through the tall pines. He loved listening to the fresh crunch of hardpack under his boots and the excited chatter of students and holidaymakers all around. He slung his bag onto his back and waited impatiently in line for arrivals to finish.

Aizawa had everyone sign in and dump their overnight bags at the lodge before they were allowed to get changed and head to the slopes. Izuku's was the large room at the very end of the hall that smelled faintly of wood smoke and wet clothes and sweaty feet. Three log cabin-style bunk-beds crowded a rustic window that overlooked the mountainside, and let the warm morning sunlight pour in. Izuku had precious few seconds to appreciate the sight as the five other boys he was stuck with this weekend piled in, hurrying to get changed as fast as humanly possible. And that meant-

Izuku clutched his bag tightly to his chest. Maybe he could just get ready and slip out the door after everyone else was done.

"I wonder why Todoroki was so quiet on the way up." said Shoji, unpacking three sets of gloves. "Didn't seem like he wanted to lead at all."

Kaminari popped his head through his thermal undershirt. "Maybe he's on a different level and he just doesn't want to hang around with us."

"Did you see his gear?" Kirishima asked, pulling on his boots. "That's what olympic athletes and pro mountaineering heroes use!"

"Must have cost a small fortune," Izuku nodded. He fluffed his pillow, trying to look busy. "I bet he can pull some amazing stunts."

"Not as good as me!" Bakugou interrupted, needlessly flexing in his snow pants.

"Hey, Midoriya," Mineta piped up from underneath Shoji's discarded shirt, "you gonna get dressed or what?"

Izuku sat on his bed, procrastinating to the best of his ability until the others were done and ready. He'd almost made it through by carrying on that conversation about Todoroki until Mineta had ruined it for him. But now he looked suspicious and everyone else wanted to get moving. Izuku sighed, slowly opening his bag and revealing the contents inside.

"Oh my god , you nerd! " Bakugou shrieked. "I cannot fucking be seen with you!"

"If you've never skied before, a good thing to do is warm up and stretch before you get started." Momo Yaoyorozu stood in front of the gathered semicircle of students, all clad in warm winter jackets and stick-on day-passes. A fresh whip of cold air buffeted the group, and Izuku could smell the cold tang of frozen air blowing off the high peaks as the bright mid-morning sunlight glinted off the icy ground.

"Yeah, we know, Momo," said Jiro, fiddling with the settings of the Gopro attached to her helmet, "We warm up before every physical class."

Iida stepped in. "Do not disrespect the group leader, Jiro-san! She has valuable experience for us all!"

"Er, well, yeah." Momo tried desperately to regain her composure. "But, really make sure to target your legs and ankles so you don't strain the muscles! Lunges are great!" She laughed nervously, demonstrating a few swings.

"This is useless," Bakugou growled, "I'm heading to the halfpipe. Bye, fuckers!" And with that, he stomped his foot into his rental snowboard and kicked away towards the trick park.

"Bakugou!" Iida yelled after him, "You should have raised your hand if you had prior ski experience!"

"I didn't want to be in charge of anyone," he spat over his shoulder.

"Mr Aizawa!"

Aizawa, leaning against a ski rack, shrugged. "I didn't want him to be in charge of anyone. Anyway, if you need me, I'll be in the lodge. Stay in your groups and make sure you don't break anything."

"Sir," Asui asked, "Do you mean equipment or bones?"

Mr Aizawa made a vague hand gesture as he sauntered off towards the central recreation building with the other teachers.

Great. Left alone without adult supervision. That wasn't a recipe for disaster if Deku ever heard of one. Fortunately, Momo managed to wrangle the rest of the class back into order and they went over safety rules and regulations while the other team leaders demonstrated how to attach their skis and hold the poles.

Izuku looked around at everyone else getting ready. Some had their own sets of winter gear, others like Shoto had an entire set of equipment. Some had never been skiing before, combining rentals and borrowed pieces like him. In all the excitement, they'd stopped laughing at him altogether. That was nice.

Todoroki sure did look sporty and professional in his gear. Sleek silver-and-black coat, warm zippered white pants, and a pair of finely-jointed sport gloves instead of the awkward, puffy blue mits Midoriya wore. Everything expensive and brand-name and matching like it was supposed to.

Why on earth did he have to stand beside Izuku for their entire orientation?

There was no hiding it now. Especially standing right next to Mr. Cool. Izuku fussed helplessly with his oversized neon pink and teal winter jacket. "Cute!" Ochako had called it, as he'd left the his room, head hanging, and pocketed his rental ticket. Or hideous, Izuku thought, wearing his mother's hand-me-down with jagged purple stripes that screamed 'clearly from the 90s'.

His mom had chided him gently as she cinched in the belt the previous night, saying how they didn't need to go out and buy a brand new jacket when the one they already owned fit perfectly fine. And besides, Izuku was carrying on a family tradition. This is what she wore when she and his father first met.

"I used to be quite a catch, you know, when he slid in and swept me off my feet!" She giggled, adjusting his sleeves and reveling in her son's utter embarrassment.

"Midoriya, you look… uh…" Todoroki searched for some appropriate words while he watched Izuku try to snap his boots into his skis.

"Easily identifiable in the snow," said Iida. "Nothing wrong with that."

"Thanks Iida," Izuku laughed, catching Todoroki's small smirk. "Yeah, this jacket used to belong to my mom. And she- Oh hey, speaking of, did you guys want some sunscreen? She said it was going to be really bright today, and that the sun will be reflecting off of the snow, and it could give you a... nasty-" Izuku froze and clamped his tongue.

"Come on you guys," Kirishima shouted. "Daylight's wasting!"

Todoroki's smile had disappeared, and class 1A headed off toward the practice slopes.

After dividing up the students, Izuku found himself in Tokoyami's group, with Todoroki, Ashido, and an empty spot where Bakugou would have been. Tokoyami was a careful teacher, insisting on testing each of his charges on the practice hill before allowing anyone further up the mountain.

Mina had a natural affinity for the sport. She was so used to using her quirk to skate and slide on the inner-city concrete that the transition to downhill skiing seemed like second nature. She took up all of Tokoyami's attention on her first run, zipping down the bunny hill ahead of him, weaving around classmates and shouting her glee to the other girls.

By contrast, Todoroki looked stiff and stern on top of the hill. Like he wanted to conquer the entire mountain, but was politely holding in his incomprehensible ice powers for the sake of group cohesion. Impressive. He waited quietly beside Izuku as they stood beside each other, and Izuku wondered just how hard this guy was judging him.

Tokoyami waved at him from the bottom. Izuku took a gulp of cold air, forcing himself to focus on the hill and not on the person standing next to him. Now or never. He gripped the poles, swallowed deeply and pushed off from the top of the learner's hill.

Izuku felt the sudden rush of motion, and heard the slick sound of packed snow under his skis as he built up a bit of speed. Yes. His heart lightened and joy flooded through his body as gravity took him, pulling him forward, faster. Time stopped as Izuku carved the snow, summoning up old muscle memory and working his new teenage body into the sport.

Deku had been on this mountain before. When he was a child, he remembered going tobogganing and kiddie-skiing with his parents before his dad went away to work overseas. He was barely old enough to waddle up the hills in his snowsuit, and howl with excitement as his mom tucked him into her lap and together they sped down those steep hills.

Or at least, they seemed a lot steeper when he was a kid.

Then, once more in elementary school, he and Kacchan had been here for another school trip. It was the first time Deku had put skis on his own feet. He wasn't half bad, but at that age, most of the other kids had started developing their quirks, and Izuku was left to fend for himself in the family areas while packs of students roamed the lower hills. It was only on the bus ride home that Izuku heard the story of how Bakugou snuck away from the teachers, all the way up to the top of the peak.

Judging by the way he'd glided off towards the terrain park, Kacchan must have kept it up.

Izuku's ankles were getting used to this. Leg muscles flexing, guiding the skis left and right, he followed Tokoyami's pilot trail down the hill. Having a quirk now certainly changed things. Izuku no longer had to hold himself back and play it safe, he could exert himself and test his own limits, knowing he was a real contender if he put his mind to it.

But where was-? He risked a glance over his shoulder, and Izuku's stomach flopped. Todoroki was right there behind him. Like a silent shadow. Accelerating and dangerously close- almost hitting the tips of his skis! Izuku swerved to avoid an impact, and Todoroki swerved with him. He zagged the other way, and Todoroki quickly followed suit. Great. Competition. Already Shoto wanted to turn this into a race.

Izuku leaned into the slope, allowing himself a bit more speed. Just to get ahead, he told himself. He wasn't going to take any bait. But the faster he went, the louder he heard the soft skiff of Shoto's skis behind him, and Izuku's stomach settled itself quite comfortably in his throat. So this was how it was gonna be.

Izuku made it to the bottom to a friendly wave from Ashido and an icy spray of snow hitting the side of his head not two seconds later, followed by a heavy-fisted thump on his back. Really? Was that really necessary? He stood there, dripping cold water off his bangs as Shoto plunged his poles in the ground and adjusted the velcro on his gloves.

"You're pretty fast."

Was that- a compliment? Was Todoroki just messing with him? Trying to psych him out like the sports tournament? Izuku wiped the snow out of his hair and circled around to Tokoyami, about to give his final verdict. Who knew with this guy and his intense gaze and his handsome face and weird monotone. Todoroki was always so impossible to read.

And now he was turning and walking away. And Tokoyami was looking at him. What did he want? Crap. Izuku hadn't responded at all! "Y-yeah, you too," he sputtered without thinking. Ashido gave him a thumbs up.

Tokoyami decided they were all good enough for some intermediate runs, and together they packed their little group onto a chairlift that brought them roughly halfway up the mountain. Ashido beside Tokoyami in front, and behind them...

"So... Together again. All the way up, huh?" Izuku forced a nervous smile. And again, Shoto was dead-silent, glaring out over the lift's guardrail at the random skiers fifty feet below. Judging their technique, probably. Judging him? Is that why he wasn't talking? Izuku's mind slowly worked itself into a panic. Was it something he said? Was it the sunscreen comment? Did Shoto have it out for him?

Todoroki turned to face him. "We're bus buddies," he said, completely serious, and went back to staring out at the snow.

One awkward, silent ride later, Izuku arrived to a pleasant surprise at the half-top of the mountain. "Midoriya!" Ochaco waved at him, pushing her way between Yaoyorozu and Ojirou, crowded with their groups around the park map. "Hey there, you pink cutie!" She laughed, presumably at the way Izuku clumsily departed the chairlift. "Fancy seeing you up here!"

Izuku's heart fluttered in his lumpy jacket. Everyone around him seemed to fade into the distance and his mother's words flashed through his mind. Here. Up on the ski hill. This was where his parents first met. The coat his mom wore when his dad swooped in and swept her off her feet. And then they fell in love and were married ten months later.

Izuku knew he was grinning a big dumb goofy grin. Still, he could see himself like that. Cool and impressive, ready to slide in and charm a nice girl and also pull some sweet stunts. Maybe Ochaco and him could take a trail alone together later…

Izuku felt the blush rising in his cheeks, conveniently blaming it on exercise or the warm sun shining overhead.

Yaoyorozu's group decided to take the slalom. And Izuku watched as Ochaco, last in line, dipped over the edge of the hill and out of sight with the rest of them. "See you at the bottom!" She yelled, with an adorable "woop!"

Yeah. Definitely.

"Hey, dummy, we're over here doing the Pronged Stag run!" Ashido laughed, yanking Izuku's arm and his thoughts back into the present. "You're about as distracted as Todoroki today. You guys gotta learn to keep up!"

This intermediate run wasn't a steep drop down the mountain like the slalom, instead it consisted of a slowly winding path that snaked through the dense forest on the outer edges of the park, eventually curving back and around into the main village.

Although it wasn't steep, the trail's swooping curves and hidden turns meant that a novice still had to be on their game and in control of their shifting direction. And Deku was. Warmed up and ready to go, Izuku could easily handle the bends in hs path- when he wasn't being hounded by Todoroki who often careened ahead of him, recklessly risking breakneck turns.

By all accounts, Deku could risk being a bit more aggressive with his moves. He had the knowledge and the skill. He could. But- why? This was supposed to be fun, wasn't it? They weren't training for life and death situations. This was a holiday, not an olympic race. But here was Shoto, riding his heels at every single turn, egging him on with his aggressive maneuvers. He just wanted a fight, didn't he?

On one final downward bend, the four of them had to follow along the cliffside, navigating the swooping rounds of an almost 360 degree turn and a sharp cliff on their left side. Izuku kept himself in the middle of the trail as Ashido hugged the wall with Tokoyami behind them, watching.

But not Mr Cool, oh no. Todoroki zoomed past Deku, poles tucked, heading dangerously near the sharp cliff. He looked half-ready to jump off. Was he-? No. That would be suicide. Turn. Turn, Shoto. What the fuck. Shoto, turn now! Surely this kid didn't have a deathwish!

"Watch out!" Izuku screamed instinctively, making a desperate grab at the hem of Todoroki's jacket. But it was too late. Izuku's mitt grasped only air.

A sharp ridge of ice exploded up and out of the ground at Todoroki's feet, curving around the cliff edge, and preventing Shoto from going over. But Izuku didn't have time to stop or even brace himself before hitting the ice full-force. He slammed into the rigid structure face-first, while Todoroki gently swung down the side, curving around the curving lip.

Cold. 'Cold' and 'Hard' were the only two things that registered in Izuku's brain as he came back to his senses. Heck it all. He'd tried to save Shoto and got a face full of ice as his reward. Perfect. Good thing Ochaco wasn't watching. Tokoyami skid to a halt behind him and even Ashido stopped, momentarily, to see what was going on.

"Jeez, dude," Izuku snorted as he stood up and wiped the blood from his face, flicking it onto the gleaming white snow. "If you wanted to take me out, you could have just asked for my number..." He laughed away the trickle of blood on his lip and caught Todoroki's smirk as he slowly side-stepped his way back up the hill. Oh, shit! That was actually a good one.

Well. It wasn't too bad, Izuku supposed. Looked worse. He'd bitten his cheek a bit, but otherwise it was more of a surprise than anything else. Izuku spat one more time, getting the last of the blood out of his mouth and nose, and he definitely looked kinda tough and cool doing it.

"I'm sorry." Todoroki sounded genuine. And he did offer Deku a tissue from his pocket. Izuku decided to shrug off the whole incident, hoping this near miss might knock some sense into Todoroki and he'd cut out the rest of their foolish competition.

But it didn't stop.

Todoroki's racing and roughhousing continued down the next two runs, steadily ramping up in intensity as they took on more difficult trails. Aside from being utterly terrified, Izuku was starting to get fed up with constantly having to watch for the cold menace that always seemed to hover around his shoulder, whacking him, grabbing onto him, and pulling him down into the snow.

"Sheesh. And I thought Bakugou was rough," he mumbled to Tokoyami as they waited in their next chairlift line while Todoroki quickly used the washroom. Izuku dropped his poles to massage his battered were definitely going to be bruised and sore tomorrow. "What's his deal?"

"Please, Midoriya-kun," Tokoyami leaned in, "be respectful."

Respectful? After that last nightmare where Shoto nearly cut Izuku's legs out from under him? Izuku felt the heat rising in his cheeks. "He's certainly not respecting me!"

"Everyone's doing their best." Ashido quipped over her shoulder, budding in on their conversation. "Just relax try to have fun, dude."

What the actual hell?

Nevermind. It was still a gorgeous day outside, and at least they weren't stuck in school. Izuku had better things to think about, watching the crowd of happy skiers passing by, laughing and chatting, and in that cluster-

"Uraraka!" Izuku waved frantically, finally glad, for once, he was stuck wearing a searing neon-pink coat. 'Easily identifiable in the snow' indeed.

"Hey, you! How was your run?" Ochaco slid her way out of the crowd and over to Izuku's place in line. And then her bright smile suddenly disappeared. "Midoriya is that- blood? "

"Oh! Yeah- sorry!" Deku made a few more panicked swipes at his face with his dirty mitts and stopped when Ochaco rolled her eyes.

"It's- sort of on your chin..." she smiled, grabbing a tissue out of her pocket and gently wiping his face. "Hold still."

Izuku Midoriya would freeze to the spot if she told him to.

"What happened?"

"Todoroki happened," Izuku said, trying not to scowl too hard.

"Oh?" Ochaco cocked her head. "Well," she tucked the tissue into Izuku's pocket beside the one Todoroki gave him, "you'll have to tell me all about it at lunch!"

She took her hand out of his pocket. And back. And away from reachable, acceptable hand-holding distance. Nope, now it was retreating back into her own jacket. Crud. Awfulsauce. But, wait what did she say?

"At lunch?" Oof, yeah, his voice just cracked. Why was she walking away again? "Hey, w-where are you going?"

"Over to the terrain park!" Ochaco pointed with her ski pole over to the southern end of the village, where the corner of a large halfpipe was visible behind the lodge. "Sero's using Kirishima's hardening quirk as a human snowboard and our group wants to check it out! Oh, it looks like your line is moving! Hope Todoroki gets back soon! Have fun!" She waved with those wonderfully pink-gloved, unreachable, unholdable hands and was gone. Again.

And of course Izuku had to be stuck in line while Ochaco went off to do something awesome and fun, with awesome, fun people, and he was stuck here with Dark and Brooding, Cotton Candy Cheerleader and the Icy Terror. Fudgemuffin. Maybe… Maybe next time he'd catch her. Maybe after lunch. The day was young, and Izuku Midoriya still had plenty of time to feet-sweep.

Izuku finally snapped on their fourth run. He didn't consider himself to be an angry person, honestly. But, damn it, he was just trying to have a nicefucking day. This was the zillionth time Shoto had cut him off, or clipped his poles or sprayed him with snow. The back of his neck was dripping wet and freezing-ass cold, and he was definitely getting bruised shoulders from constantly being smacked and grabbed and rammed into.

Like, yeah, sure, maybe Midoriya wasn't the best skier around, and maybe he didn't have the best and newest top-tier gear to show off with, but at least he wasn't a complete hecking snowdouche.

Enough was enough.

They were halfway down the mountain, stopped in a low-traffic side-area between runs. Ashido was somewhere off trail, convincing Tokoyami to take photos of her with a very extroverted squirrel, and Shoto had just used his ice powers, again , causing Izuku's skis to suddenly freeze in place and Izuku to flop face-forward into the snow.

Izuku spat out a mouthful of dirty slush, hoisting himself onto his elbows to see Shoto staring calmly down at him, silently offering him a hand back up.

"Dude! What is wrong with you?" He shouted at Todoroki's outstretched palm. "Do you think you're being funny?" And, frankly, what was up with that? Always treating Izuku like crap, but saying how he was so sorry, or offering his hand. Why not just kick him while he was down or rub salt in the wound? It would at least be more consistent.

Todoroki didn't move from his position. He waited, calmly standing over Izuku as his white hair blocked out the sun behind him, its harsh glow framing him like some sort of angelic skiing disaster.

Izuku grumbled, sighed, bit his tongue, and took Shoto's hand. A hand offered was a hand offered, but-

Shoto overcompensated.

Izuku couldn't catch his balance, and Shoto tripped on his own skis, causing both of them to tumble another ten feet off the side of the mountain into a large drift. Izuku was now trapped under Todoroki, covered in snow up to the collar, and he could hear Ashido losing her mind with laughter from her position way back up the hill.

"Sweet hecking fuckberries, Shoto! Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Izuku growled, wrenching himself out from under his classmate. "Iswear to god! What the fuck is up!?"

Shoto deigned to lift his body off of Izuku, pulling himself up to a sitting position. He sighed heavily, refusing to say anything, choosing instead to stare at the snow covering his legs.

Not answering, huh? Izuku scrambled to his feet, looking for his other ski pole. The one that flew out of his hand when he fell. Shoto still wasn't talking. Yeah, tough guy, see how it feels.

There it was- three feet away, jammed sideways into the snow. Izuku made a grab for it while Shoto just sat there, sunk into the drift, looking oddly crestfallen for someone who'd been playing pranks on him all day.

Izuku waited for his answer, but none came. Just the sound of winter birdsong and dripping water and cold wind rushing through the upper branches of the swaying pines.

Really? Nothing? Izuku smacked his fist on a nearby sapling, causing another dump of snow to fall on both of them, and Izuku just, honestly, couldn't fucking care about it. He was too mad. "Come on, man." He leaned against his sapling, exhausted and bruised. "This isn't fun anymore."

Todoroki just shifted his gaze up through the swaying pine branches, covered in melting snow and scattered sunlight, expression still totally unreadable on his stupid, ugly, handsome face.

"It's not safe, either!" Izuku was on a roll now, and at least stuck-in-the-snow Shoto was forced to listen to him. No more zipping past and ignoring his warnings. "You heard our orientation! We stick together, but no rough housing! You could break your ankle or something!"

Todoroki nodded absentmindedly.

"Hey, idiot. I'm talking! You're being reckless! Any amateur with the least bit of knowledge would know these things, Shoto! Like, have you never, ever been on- a... moun-"

Oh. That made a lot of sense.

Izuku's words disintegrated and fell away from his chapped lips. The forest was suddenly very quiet. Even Ashido's laughter was gone. Todoroki's gaze fell to the ground, avoiding him.

"No."

Silence and cold air between them. Shoto continued to sit in the snow, running a gloved hand through his sweaty hair and determinedly avoiding Izuku's eyes. Deku's stomach sank.

"This gear is all brand new. I've never used it before."

At some point, Tokoyami slid up behind him and placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder. He glanced over at Tokoyami, who shrugged an 'I could have told you that, dumbass' shrug.

Shoto lowered his gaze back to the hardpack snow, scratching at it with his glove. Izuku was starting to feel nauseous with guilt.

"But, your ice quirk-" he said, ineffectively.

"I've only ever used it to fight."

"I thought- I mean," Izuku tried his best to rationalize, "I think a lot of us thought with all your spiffy, expensive gear and your ice and everything that you'd be, like-"

"A pro," said Shoto. He scrunched the snow under his gloved fingers, forming a small snowball and crushed it. "Yeah, I know. That's why I said I wanted to do my own thing on the bus. I wanted to try to learn today, and you sounded like you'd be a good teacher. But, Tokoyami's been pretty busy, and I was embarrassed to ask for help. So I tried shadowing you and copying you."

Izuku stood there, slowly sliding back, inch by inch, on his skis while the world sort of rearranged itself around him. Huh. He let out a low whistle, impressed, at the very least, by Todoroki's raw honesty. "I thought you hated me."

"Of course not- !"

"-Like you were trying to ram into me and push me over." A grin crept onto his face. "But I guess this whole time you've been trying to grab onto me because you suck! " Izuku, despite his best efforts, felt the laughter start to bubble up inside him. Just wait until Iida and Ochaco heard this.

"Midoriya, I can still kill you."

Right. Yeah. Still amusing, though. The great and powerful icelord had never been skiing before, and thought Izuku, of all people, was some kind of expert. Deku couldn't help the big dumb cheeky grin spreading across his face. Shoto Todoroki needed his help.

"Dude, stand up. You look pathetic sitting there," he said, offering his own hand for once. Shoto took it, and Deku successfully hauled him to his feet. It felt good, being able to help. Being the one able to offer assistance when needed. That was what being a hero was all about.

Izuku turned towards Tokoyami and Ashido, patiently waiting to continue their run. They'd heard everything, and heck, they probably know about Shoto from the start. Izuku was the only oblivious idiot in the group. "Look," he said, handing Shoto's poles back to him, "Let's just take it easy down the rest of the hill. I won't go so fast, and if you panic, just say something and I'll let you grab onto me if you need to. No more masculinity bullshit. Deal?"

"Deal."