Racing Against the Sunset
The morning was off to a terrific start for Todoroki Shouto, with him spotting his favourite person standing in the hallway. "Good morning, Izuku."
Izuku's lips curved into a smile. "Morning, Shouto."
Shouto gave his partner a soft kiss on the lips before interlacing Izuku's crooked fingers with his own.
If Izuku gripped Shouto's hand a little too tightly on the way down to the dining hall, Shouto did not notice. The day was proceeding normally for Shouto with the familiar clatter of trays and dragging of chairs in the dining hall.
Setting down his cup of tea during breakfast, Izuku muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'I'm an idiot.'
Shouto furrowed his brows. "Did you say something?"
Izuku plastered a smile on his face and poked at the mackerel with his chopsticks. "The mackerel's good."
"Yes, it is." Shouto chewed rice, figuring that he misheard what Izuku said earlier.
Yet ten minutes later, Izuku was still moving the rice around in the bowl, never touching the mackerel again.
Catching Shouto's worried gaze, Izuku said, "I guess I'm not hungry."
In retrospect, Shouto would realise that his partner did not bring up any topics pertaining to heroes or quirks that morning.
Shouto's gaze strayed to Izuku during class out of habit but this time Shouto frowned, unsettled. Izuku was hunched over the desk, clawing at his scalp and mumbling up a storm. This would be a normal affair, had it been Ectoplasm-sensei's class but this was Health class.
Shouto strode purposely towards Izuku's desk after the lunch bell chimed, catching another troubling phrase from Izuku who was packing up his things.
"Can't control it...useless."
Placing a hand on each of Izuku's shoulders, Shouto kneaded them a little. The muscles were knotted with tension. "What's useless?"
Izuku closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. "Ah...nothing."
"Are you certain about that?" Shouto knew something was wrong, it fuelled Izuku's odd behaviour and muttering all morning.
"It's fine, it's fine." Izuku stood up, stared out the window, mumbling, "I keep hurting her."
Her? A thread of uneasiness coiled in the pit of Shouto's stomach. Which female could Izuku be referring to? He would never suspect his partner of infidelity, nevertheless, his partner's mood was evidently affected by a girl and Shouto needed to know why.
Furthermore, what was it that Izuku could not control? Shouto wanted to think that he knew his partner very well but they had been only dating for six months; the best six months of Shouto's life and Shouto would do anything to keep Izuku happy.
Whipping around to face Shouto, Izuku made an excuse and scurried out of the classroom before Shouto could reply to him. "I-I need to go to the fa-faculty office."
Shouto turned on his heels to follow Izuku but Tenya approached Shouto.
"Pardon the intrusion, Todoroki-san but."
Shouto regarded his friend.
Clearing his throat, Tenya continued. "Are you and Midoriya-san fighting?"
"We're not." Shouto did not think they were, their relationship was rock solid as far as Shouto was concerned.
Tenya pushed his glasses against his nose bridge, his voice was laced with worry. "Midoriya-san appears to be upset about something."
This much is true. Shouto nodded.
"If there's anyone who can provide ample comfort to Midoriya-san, it is you." Tenya patted him on the shoulder.
Be that as it may, Shouto never got the chance to do so during lunch time, since Izuku failed to show up at the cafeteria. Moreover, Izuku overexerted himself during the training exercise, resulting in a harsh scolding from Aizawa-sensei and questioning glances tossed in Shouto's direction.
Push had come to shove, finding Shouto knocking at Izuku's door that evening. He could not bear the thought of Izuku suffering in silence any longer. "Izuku, it's me."
"It's open." Izuku said after a short time.
Casting a glance at Shouto, Izuku shifted into a sitting position on the bed but kept silent.
Shouto looked around, spotting an empty desk and Izuku's book bag lying on the floor. Shouto doubted that Izuku started his homework yet. "I brought your favourite snacks."
"Thank you, Shouto." Izuku accepted the bag of gummy bears and the boxed coffee milk, making no attempt at opening them.
The bed dipped when Shouto sat next to his boyfriend. "I didn't see you at lunch."
Covering Izuku's hand with his own, Shouto said, "I know something is bothering you. What can I do to make it better?"
Izuku glanced at their hands. "I'm not sure anyone can help me."
"Try me." Shouto kept his tone gentle.
Izuku's chin quivered as Izuku swallowed. "It's about my mother."
"I kinda didn't tell her about the surgery on my leg last month but it slipped out this morning when she called me, she got really upset, she said I should give up on becoming a hero, cause I keep getting hurt all the time."
Izuku squeezed Shouto's hand, voice cracking."I-I don't want to keep anything from her, I don't want to keep worrying her, but I don't want to give up my dreams, I don't want to leave my friends, I don't want to leave you."
Izuku's face reddened, sobs racked his frame. "It's just my quirk, my quirk is..."
Shouto cradled Izuku close, needing to find the words to make it better for Izuku.
Izuku possessed a wonderful quirk yet it wreaked havoc on Izuku's body; therefore Shouto understood Inko's concern, it mirrored Shouto's each time Izuku injured himself in battle; Shouto's own mother must have felt the same way each time Shouto trained with his father when Shouto was little.
On second thought, both of Shouto's parents supported Shouto's dream of becoming a hero, though Shouto had lost sight of the dream until Izuku came along. So he would protect Izuku's dreams now. "Don't you think you rely on your quirk too much?"
Izuku sniffled. "I can't fight without it."
"You can learn how to, just look at Aizawa-sensei, his quirk is offensive yet he's developed a fighting style with those scarves of his." Shouto pressed on with his goal to soothe and encourage his partner.
"I believe analysing Martial Arts videos can help you to develop your own moves, that way you can still fight without overusing your quirk and your mother will worry less about-"
Izuku's face went blank at the suggestion, muscles tensing under Shouto's touch.
And a coil of regret unravelled in Shouto's stomach in turn. Did he cross a line, offending his boyfriend?
"You're a genius, Shouto! That's-that's perfect." Izuku threw his arms around Shouto, laughter bubbling over.
Breathing a sigh with relief, Shouto thought Izuku was the genius in their relationship but it was not everyday someone called him that; he was simply glad to have helped his partner.
"YouTube will have lots of videos and coming to think of it, we have a Judo and Muy Thai club here, I'll have to check them out tomorrow."
Izuku's eyes strayed to the fold-up chair in the corner that Izuku kept for guests, that he kept mainly for Shouto's visits. "Do you want to check out the videos with me on the laptop?"
"Of course, I'll check the clubs out with you too." Shouto gave him a small smile, having no desire to be anywhere else but right here at Izuku's side.
The End.
A/N: This was inspired by an Otpprompts on Tumblr. I meant for it to be smutty but realised Izuku would want to look at those videos right away. I'm getting started on a multi-chapter TodoDeku story next. Thank you for reading!