AN:

This chapter was written to the tune of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi".

"Todoroki Izuku"

Chapter 04: This picture of us don't have a price.

Todoroki is too happy, and he hates it.

He's too glad, grateful, relieved. Honestly, he didn't even know why he's feeling this way, let alone what to do with these kinds of feelings. He's been fidgeting the whole way to work, and just couldn't get himself to calm down. Like there's a weird hyperactive energy inside him all of a sudden, and it just won't go away. Damn it all. He hasn't even made it to work yet and he already wants to go home. Funny how that works, when that house is the same one that old bastard resides in. He used to make all the kinds of excuses just to get away from there before, but now he has a husband waiting there for him to come home. Not to say, they're in love. He won't let himself get ahead of himself. Really, he's just... giddy. And no, he's anything but a sap. There's just no other way to describe the feeling.

It all started last night, when his father triggered some doubts about Midoriya, all for him to blow away with something like cake. Seriously, Midoriya didn't even have any idea of what he did. He's a reassurance, in and of itself. And so much Todoroki didn't feel the need to ask questions anymore. There's absolutely no doubt in his mind, Midoriya would not be able to do a single slightest bad thing, if his life depended on it. It's just unthinkable. And the fact that Todoroki believes like a devotee just after one week of knowing the guy honestly scares him. He isn't blind to say the least, but he's even starting to consider that if Midoriya would ever do something bad or hurt him, he'd be far too willing to close his eyes and excuse it. Like how his mother used to be. Now he doesn't want to compare his marriage to that of his parents, but they're literally the only example he has. He's probably just lucky Midoriya isn't like his father. Because everything about his husband just feels like a whirlwind of all the things he finds appealing. And okay, so maybe he is a sap. But he's not in love, period. Just a little giddy, excited, curious. There's lots of things he still wants to know about his husband, many things he wants to experience with him, as well as tons of what ifs and maybes and questions he wants answers to.

Yet still, he has to go to work. He sighs, rubbing his knees to stop his leg from bouncing. He could tell people are looking at him weirdly, from where he sits on the train. Usually, girls would approach him, greet and praise. But now they only stare. They must be able to tell he isn't his usual self, not that the change was a bad thing. He's just too happy and restless, and people probably think that's weird. But whatever. If it keeps them away that's great.

Eventually, he gets off the train and nod to a few older people who greet him. The hero office he and some of his classmates established after graduating is just ten minutes away from the station, a lot of them didn't want to be sidekicks so they just stuck together. Many fresh graduates are starting to get bold following the example of pro hero Deku, who also made a name for himself fresh out of hero studies. He was the main reason their generation is called, the "Symbols of Peace". He admits they get a little forward sometimes, but doing their own thing as a group will always be better than obeying orders from a superior. They still know how to listen to some authority's guidance though, so that's fine.

Todoroki rounds a corner and stops, there were a lot of reporters and photographers for some reason, loitering around the parking lot. That's almost always a bad thing. He decides to go around the back, running up the fire exit to the fourth floor. He breathes a sigh of relief when he doesn't bump into anyone at the hallway, and enters their office. Suddenly, all the chattering stop. And they're all looking at him. How peculiar. Usually, people would greet him or ignore him. But now everyone is dead silent, like they've seen a ghost. Weird. But as long as they don't talk to him, it's not his problem.

He walks towards his desk, takes a seat and starts his computer while sifting through reports and papers he has to work on.

He didn't have to wait long, and Kaminari is in front of his desk. "Good morning, Todoroki! And welcome back!"

"Thanks," he nods, waiting patiently for the blond to spill the news like he always does.

"How have you been? Fresh from vacation?" Kaminari continues, with a very distinct twinkle in his eyes.

"Good, actually," Todoroki smiles good-naturedly remembering the past week's events. "I might take more time-offs from now on."

"Oho? I bet," Kaminari was laughing inside his head, he could just tell.

But he didn't want to ask a question, preferring to stare dead at the blond.

"You haven't seen the news, have you?" Kaminari takes the hint and starts scrolling on his phone.

Now Todoroki gets a bad feeling, this was probably about him if Kaminari was acting so smug about it. He thinks about all the possible things it could be about, his leave, his wedding, his husband, his yesterday. And then he sweats. Well, shit. "I was preoccupied," he answers instead, leaving out how that's because he was too busy thinking about his husband, who also happens to be the possible cause and reason for all of this.

"With what?" Kaminari looks up to him from his phone. "Or better yet, with who?"

Todoroki sighs in resignation, this was definitely about his husband. He thinks back at the reporters and photographers downstairs. "Just show it to me, how bad is it?"

"Bad? But this is good! Too good to be true! Just unbelievable! I've never seen better news in my life!" Kaminari finally shoves his phone on his face.

It was a picture of Todoroki at the café he was at yesterday with his husband, it shows him leaning over the table to lick at Midoriya's lips. The headlines read: "Pro Hero Shouto out on a DATE!", "Pro Hero Shouto with his BOYFRIEND!", "Pro Hero Shouto is GAY!".

"Hmmm... nice shot," he comments instead at how the photo captured Midoriya's surprised expression perfectly. He had been too close in person to really appreciate it at the time. There were two more shots, one when Midoriya was feeding him and the other of Midoriya kissing him goodbye on the cheek.

"Aw, come on! I went out of my way to build the suspense, the least you could do is give me a violent reaction," Kaminari puffs his cheek.

Todoroki just shrugs, and that seemed to be the cue for Yaoyorozu and Jirou to approach them. Shinsou spares him enough mercy and minds his own business from the desk next to him.

"So, you're not gonna deny it, huh?" Jirou asks, sitting on the edge of his desk.

"What's to deny? There's literally a picture of us," Todoroki takes Kaminari's phone and starts scrolling through the news about him. The comment section is wild, fangirls were grieving, gays were celebrating, and homophobes were condemning him. Sounds about right, he isn't expecting anything less. "Besides, I don't want him to hear any news about me denying him."

"So he really is your boyfriend?" Kaminari leans on the table.

"No," Todoroki answers without batting an eyelash, and for a moment his friends look concerned. But then he raises his left hand showing off his wedding ring. "We're married."

Absolute silence resounds for a miniscule moment before all hell breaks loose.

"EEEHHHHH?!" Kaminari and Jirou chorused, yelling at the top of their lungs.

"That's why I took a leave," Todoroki says as if that explains anything.

"What? Really? The heck! Are you serious?!" Kaminari takes hold of his wrist and glares at the ring as if it were a lie.

"Bitch, I didn't even know you were gay! All this time, I thought you were ace!" Jirou pulls on his earphone jacks. "I'm so disappointed in me!"

Yaoyorozu chuckles at the duo's antics and when they've had enough, she faces Todoroki and asks seriously. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Instead of answering, Todoroki glances around. Everyone was trying not to look at them, but he knows they're all ears. Now he doesn't think ill of anyone, especially those of their own office. But there were staff, interns, and people he isn't very close with. He isn't sure either of how much information he was allowed to divulge, or how much Midoriya would be comfortable with people knowing. "I'll explain everything later-"

"No! You can't keep us hanging like this! We need to know now!" Kaminari slams a hand at the table. "Let's go to the conference! You come too, Shin."

"Why?" Shinsou asks not looking up from his laptop.

"Because," Kaminari walks up to him and pulls him by the elbow, looking towards Todoroki's table. "Now, let's go."

Todoroki sits at the head of the table with Yaoyorozu and Jirou to his right, Kaminari and Shinsou to his left. There was suddenly an unspeakable tension in the air. If it feels like they were about to have a serious top secret meeting, it might as well be.

"All right, spill." Kaminari grins at him like he's the best news he's heard in days, he probably is.

Todoroki breathes deep once, that was enough. "I didn't say anything about my wedding because I didn't know much about the arrangement at the time."

"Arrangement?" Yaoyorozu frowned at his choice of words.

"It was an arranged marriage, set up by my father." Todoroki stares at his hands resting on the table. "I didn't even know who I was marrying until I was at the altar."

Kaminari's smile was slowly sliding down. "What."

"But it's not that bad, he turned out to be a really nice guy." Todoroki nods to himself, avoiding the questioning stares.

"You're saying you're okay with this?" Jirou asks, disbelief written on her face.

"Yeah," Todoroki nods again, smiling a little inwardly. "I honestly have no complaints thus far."

"So, what? You like him?" Kaminari couldn't think of any other good explanation.

"I wouldn't really go as far as to say that," Todoroki answers looking up to stare at them.

"Well, you certainly don't hate him," Jirou smirks at him. "If sucking his face was any indication."

Todoroki pinches the bridge of his nose. It wasn't like that, he knew it wasn't like that. But it might as well have been like that, with the way the picture looked and his intentions at the time.

"Or was that just for show?" Yaoyorozu asks before he could reply.

"No, it's not a show," he quickly dismisses the thought. He always knew Yaoyorozu was smart, and she wasn't knew with 'shows' that go with the social hierarchy. "We didn't know we were being watched, it completely slipped our minds."

"Why, because you were preoccupied?" Kaminari wiggles his eyebrows.

Todoroki sighs. "Yes, it's because we were flirting."

"Oh my God, can you say that again? I need to record it," Kaminari points his camera at the bi-haired man in question.

Todoroki narrows his eyes at the blond. "No."

"So, you're just attracted to him? But it's not to the point you could say you like-like him already?" Jirou tries to clarify.

"I don't know," Todoroki rubs at his nape. "I think he's cute, and everything about him is appealing to me. Like, he's my type or something, probably."

"But isn't that what it means to like a person?" Jirou raises an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not sure," Todoroki leans back on his chair, resting his head on the backrest. "I don't think I know him enough to say that I like him."

"But?" Jirou prods.

"But I enjoy his company. And I'm not afraid to make advances. I don't even have to think or worry, about how he'll react or whether he'll reject me."

"Why not?"

"Because we're married. And he told me he was my fan, that he likes me."

"So he confessed?"

"Not really? He just mentioned it in passing."

"But doesn't that mean you're taking advantage of him? That you're leading him on?" Kaminari frowns at him. "You know he's a fan and he already told you he likes you, but you don't? And still you flirt?"

"No, we're just trying to make our marriage work."

"So it's an obligation?" Jirou continues with the questions.

"No, it's not just that."

"So it's more than that?" Jirou tries again.

"I think I wouldn't be surprised if I do end up falling for him, it feels like that's the natural course our relationship is going to take."

"So then what is the deal? Why don't you just say you like him and be over with it?" Jirou almost gives up, slouching on her seat.

"I think it's too soon for that, I don't know if I'm ready." Todoroki frowns at his hands.

"But you weren't afraid to make out?" Kaminari goes back to his phone.

"It just happened, I wasn't thinking." Todoroki runs a hand through his hair. "I just feel safe with him, like I can't do anything wrong. Like everything's going to work out fine in the end because I'm with him, even though I don't even know him."

"Sounds like a soulmate fanfiction." Kaminari comments off-handedly.

"Shut up, Kaminari."

"Okay, so the key point is... that you think it's too soon to say that you like him? You're just refusing to be a victim of love at first sight?" Jirou let her head hang from the chair.

"I just want to get to know him more, before I let myself get carried away."

"Todoroki, liking someone isn't something you decide to do."

"Maybe I'm just not convinced enough." The bi-haired man shrugs, raising his hands. He was running dry, he could just go on with an interrogation for so long. And he's answered them all as honest as he could, knowing that lying will only make them more annoying. Besides, he also kinda wants help in working through his feelings. He's learned through their years in UA that talking about them as casually as he could makes him more comfortable about having them.

"I think you're over-complicating this, man." Kaminari looks up with a frown, it's starting to get confusing.

Jirou waves him off. "Okay, so you think it's too soon because you think you don't know him well enough. So what do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"So why don't you just ask?"

"He wouldn't tell me. He kinda got mad about me not bothering to know who I was marrying before the wedding."

"So he wants you to find out on your own who he is?"

"Basically."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I know who he is," Shinsou suddenly pipes in for the first time after staying quiet since the beginning. "Midoriya Izuku, right? He's the CEO of All Might's foundation. I met him at a charity event Aizawa-sensei took me to." The purple-haired man turns his laptop around and shows them a search results page with Midoriya in it.

They sift through a few of his pictures and profiles, but Todoroki couldn't find what he's looking for. "What's his hero name?"

Shinsou blinks slowly. "I don't know. I didn't know he's a hero."

Todoroki sighs. "I need to know his hero name."

"Then, let's investigate!" Kaminari put his phone down, grinning. "Somebody has to know his hero persona, it can't be that hard."

"I guess we can ask around, or dig things up." Jirou ponders aloud, looking at her phone.

"But are you sure it's okay?" Yaoyorozu asks. "Won't he get mad?"

Todoroki shakes his head, "it should be fine. He told me to find out myself, so it shouldn't make a difference if I'm asking around or having people help me."

"All right!" Kaminari jumps out of his seat. "Operation: Weed out the Marimo begins!"

"Marimo?" Todoroki frowns.

"That's what he looks like, okay?" Kaminari shrugs.

"I was thinking more like broccoli though?" Jirou looks at the Midoriya's pictures on her search engine.

"Broccoli isn't a weed though," Kaminari reasons.

Todoroki sighs. "This is stupid."

The day passed by particularly slowly, and still they did not uncover a single significant clue that would lead them to his husband's hero persona. Todoroki was not sure if it was a good thing it had been a slow day, but what he was thankful for was that Bakugou had been out the whole day with Kirishima. And since the two of them had been apparently enough to patrol their area by themselves, the rest of them could take it easy with the paper works. Or not, depending on how you look at it, or if you're actually getting the job done. But in their case, they weren't, since they had more pressing matter to attend to. Bakugou would probably blow his fuse when he finds out they wasted the day away doing nothing productive, but no one really heeds to him anymore as long as there's Kirishima.

Anyway, it was time to go home. But even so, the media people did not give up. They were still waiting by the gates to ambush him. Todoroki doesn't really know how to deal with them, especially because he wasn't sure of what to say and how much Midoriya would be comfortable with sharing to the rest of the world.

He heaves a deep breath and decides to brave through, stepping out of the safety of his agency's building and into the pit of doom. He was immediately surrounded by reporters shoving microphones and cellphones to his face, flashing lights of cameras relentless. He has never seen them this aggressive and chaotic towards him before. He's itching to use his quirk to keep them at bay, but he manages to hold himself back.

"Pro Hero Shouto! Who was that man you were seen with yesterday?!" A female reporter to his right, shouts pushing through the others.

"Is he your boyfriend?!" Another one asks from the back.

"How long have you two been together?" A man this time, shouts from his left.

"Are you gay?!" Another man yells from somewhere he couldn't pinpoint.

"How do you think your father will react to this?!" Another woman asks. And they just keep on going.

Todoroki really meant not to comment and just push through without divulging anything. But that last particular question got to his nerves. Why do these people even assume he cares about what his father thinks of him? Hasn't he shun him enough by not using his flames? Don't they know anything? They're supposed to be reporters.

He grabs one microphone and addresses the nearest camera to his face. "My father fully supports my relationship with Midoriya Izuku. In fact, he attended and blessed our union." Todoroki raises his left hand that wasn't holding the microphone, showing off his golden wedding ring.

"And if the pictures do not make it obvious enough, yes, I'm gay." Todoroki then shoves the microphone back to whoever he took it from, releasing enough heat and cold from his body to show people he wants them to step back. "Now, please don't bother me or my husband at work, lest you want to deal with my father's people."

He then stomps away without another look, making sure to leave burnt marks and frost on the ground. He decides to take a service car home, he'll just return it tomorrow.

Driving home is fairly more convenient, but now he remembers how the people at the train stared at him this morning. It wasn't because they figured he was off, it was because of the news he didn't bother checking. He thinks about how his husband would have to deal with the same harassment, or probably worse because his personal life is separated from his hero persona. Those people would not know who he is to respect him at the least. He feels guilty already.

He arrives home to the sight of his husband crying in his mother's arms, his siblings standing around not knowing what to do with him. Judging from the open television with his face on it, they must have just watched his proclamation to the media. He couldn't figure out why his husband would be crying though.

"Shouto!" Midoriya runs up to him when he sees him by the doorway. He hugs him. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"For what?" Todoroki holds him by the waist.

"I was just hungry, I wasn't thinking!" The green-haired man wails as if that explains anything.

"What?" Todoroki spares a glance at his mother, but Rei just shakes her head.

"Yesterday, if I hadn't asked to eat lunch, people wouldn't have caught us!" Midoriya shouts through his sniffling. "We were supposed to be careful, but it slipped my mind."

"Izu, this is not in any way your fault." Todoroki frowns, holding his husband gently by the shoulders. "And I'm sorry if you didn't want the public to know, I just didn't know what to say earlier."

"That's not the problem," Midoriya shakes his head, wiping away tears that have rolled to his chin. "I'm worried about you! How are you going to work from now on? I totally ruined your career! And they made you answer stupid questions, are you okay?"

Todoroki narrows his eyes at his husband's tear-stained face and wonders to himself if the other was really in any position to ask whether he was okay. He laughs breathlessly, he couldn't help it. Midoriya is just too much. Naïve or pure or kind, he isn't sure which but he really is too much. He pulls away, wiping the other's tears off with a fond smile before kissing his forehead. "I'm fine, Izu. Us being together does not ruin my career and it never will. I will continue to work as I always have and if people have any problems with gay me, they can beat it." He turns his attention to his mother and they smile at each other. He walks further into the room with a puff in his chest, thinking he managed the issue well. Or so he thought.

"What are you saying? I don't understand," Midoriya asks with an uncharacteristic quiet voice. "Now that people know we're together, those who know about my hero persona would come after you too, and this family. Villains could attack us."

Todoroki frowns, looking back at his husband. This was not the kind of turn he was expecting. He still does not know anything about his husband's hero persona, but if it's true they could become a target for villains, that says a lot. Still. "Izu, we're both heroes. If anyone should attack us, we'll fight back."

Midoriya looks at him with dread, shaking his head like he doesn't know what he's saying. Slowly, his green eyes widen marginally. "Oh..."

"What is it?" Todoroki is confused but also concerned.

"I get it now, sorry for blowing this out of proportion." Midoriya slumps to the wall. "It's because Endeavor's your father, that's why you never have to live in fear."

"What." Todoroki didn't mean for that to sound biting, and he knows Midoriya does not know anything about his father and this family. But that was pushing it.

"I haven't seen my parents for over a year now, and I'll probably never see them again if things take a turn for the worse." Midoriya grips his hands together, new tears already forming as he starts rambling. "I'm always afraid villains would come after me, my parents, and the people I care about. I might not be able to protect them, I could lose. They'll die, and I'll have their blood on my hands."

"What are you talking about?" Todoroki tries to approach his husband, but he steps back.

"Do you know why All Might doesn't have a family?" Midoriya bows his head now, shadowing his eyes. "It's because he was scared, even he was scared..."

Todoroki didn't know what to say to that, he didn't even know All Might didn't have a family. Ever since the man's personal identity was revealed to the world, he stepped off the spotlight, completely vanishing from the public. There were speculations he went back to America, but reports from the higher ups always suggested he was still in Japan. Todoroki couldn't figure it out, and he probably does not have the resources to find out the truth. But what is really troubling is how his husband looks like he's speaking from trauma. What was he so afraid of? What does he mean things could take a turn for the worse? Certainly, villains could attack them, but they would do something about it. He couldn't imagine losing, he didn't want to. And Midoriya was drawing up worst case scenarios from nothing.

Sure, their marriage was just revealed, but to Todoroki that wasn't a big deal. Midoriya getting paranoid was uncharacteristic. There has to be something else to it. "Izu-"

"Why are you all standing around here for?" Endeavor suddenly shows up from behind Midoriya. "It's dinnertime."

Midoriya whips his head around at the sound of the commanding voice. "Father-in-law!" He runs up to him and clutches at ends of the older man's shirt. "The media found out about Shouto and me!"

"So what?" Endeavor answers unfazed.

"His hero career is ruined!" Midoriya cries.

"He doesn't have one," Endeavor doesn't miss a beat. "So long as you aren't Number One, it doesn't matter whether you're supposed to be a hero or not."

Midoriya was obviously taken aback, he wasn't able to answer.

"And how many times have I told you to drop the whole crybaby act?" Endeavor frowns at the tears, pinching Midoriya's nose and pushing him off. He walks towards the dining hall. "You're going to be the Number One hero soon, you can't keep sniveling like a brat."

"B-but, Shouto's career," Midoriya fruitlessly tries to wipe his tears away. "And the villains, now they know I'm a Todoroki."

"Izuku, the strong do not recognize fear." Endeavor sits himself at the head of the table. "It doesn't matter if the enemies come after us, they won't win and they never will."

"You can't know that," Midoriya shakes his head, shoulders falling.

"Maybe not about them, but I know that you're strong so stop acting like you're weak." Endeavor dismisses him then, motioning for Fuyumi to serve dinner. "Really, I don't understand why All Might chose you."

Todoroki doesn't know if that is his father's way of reassuring Midoriya, but his husband shuts up, and remains tight-lipped through the whole dinner. Needless to say, it had been an excruciatingly awkward dinner. His parents had not spoken to each other once after his mother came back, and neither seemed willing to try. His older siblings did not bring anything up either, so usually the chatter would be facilitated by Midoriya. It doesn't seem like that would be happening tonight though.

The bi-haired man glances at his husband, it was the first time he's seeing Midoriya in distress. And he couldn't figure out why, it made no sense to him. Sure it was probably going to be bothersome that everyone knows they're married now, but it's not the end of the world. And even if villains do target them, they will protect each other, right? They're husbands now. They're family now. And he wants to assure him of all of that. He doesn't understand the hysteria and he doesn't need to, but he'll be damned if he ever allows his husband's feelings to be invalidated.

Todoroki reaches under the table and takes hold of Midoriya's hand, squeezing firmly. His husband looks up to him then, but he doesn't meet his gaze.

He doesn't let go until they're inside his room.

Todoroki prepares their futons then, and just like their first night together, he offers a hand to his husband.

Midoriya doesn't take it this time though. "Shou-kun, I..."

"We can talk about it later, whenever you're ready." Todoroki stands up and coaxes his husband into a hug. He holds him tight by the waist, resting his chin on soft green curls. He doesn't know how to make anyone feel better, he's never had to try before. He doesn't know how to reassure him either, that everything will work out all right in the end, he doesn't know if they really will. But he wants Midoriya to feel the same as what he makes him feel. No worries, just hope. And maybe something more in the future.

To be continued.

And please review! It's the only payment writers get. Thank you!

— Lynx
20190419

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