His first Friend

Shoto had been delaying this since Midoriya came back to the dorms. He let the other boy be to eat his dinner. Surely, he needed time to himself after dealing with both their teacher and the principal. Not to mention Shoto himself had homework to get done.

They were all excuses and Shoto knew it. The last one wasn't even a particularly good one, considering he'd spent the whole time since he opened up his math book staring at an empty sheet of lined paper and thinking about the conversation he was delaying. Heck, at the moment, he couldn't even summon enough focus to figure out the math for the amount of time he'd wasted when he could probably have had it over and done with by now.

Besides, Shoto knew he couldn't wait any longer or he'd start telling himself that it was too close to curfew and use it as an excuse to push everything off until 'another day.'

He sighed and left the open book behind as he exited the room, taking the elevator to Midoriya's floor. Even as he stood at Midoriya's door, he had to fight off a wave of doubt as he knocked. He'd been trying to think of exactly how to approach Midoriya. Even after the idea he'd gotten from the talk earlier, he'd still had trouble trying to figure out how to go about it.

But there were times when he had to act, even if he wasn't sure exactly how he was going to make things work. Now was one of them.

The door swung open and Midoriya greeted Shoto with a big smile, some sort of tablet in his hand. "Hey Todoroki, what are you doing here?" After looking for a moment, his smile faded and he asked, "Is something wrong?"

Shoto was reminded once again about how intense Midoriya always was. Now that he thought about it, while many of their other classmates took time to talk about little things like celebrity drama, mall openings and sports games, Midoriya was one of the few who seemed to have only the mildest interest in such conversations, bordering on merely polite tolerance unless the subject was related to heroes.

Usually, when he talked, it was to cut into serious, personal subjects where he would be learning about the people around him. He was only ever the first to engage if he sensed something was wrong and—like in the case of Kota—the other person refused tell him what the problem was.

In that regard, they would have no problem communicating. Shoto was well aware of the fact that he rarely said anything himself unless it was important. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure, come in," Midoriya said, worry that was undoubtedly for Shoto predictably spreading across his features as he put the device he was holding down on his desk, which was already cluttered with paper, showing that although he'd been cut off from class work, something was clearly keeping him busy.

But then Midoriya startled Shoto as he pulled out his cell phone and called out in a loud but calm voice, "Jiro? Shoji? Todoroki and I are about to have a talk. I downloaded an app for calming sounds and am going to play 'rain on a tin roof.' If you can still hear us over it or this isn't a good sound to use, please let me know." With that, he activated the app and the sound of pattering rain issued from it.

Midoriya turned to Shoto and said, "After last night, I couldn't help but think about their quirks. Even if they might have ways of dealing with noise, I felt like they shouldn't have to do all the work. So, I've been trying to think about ways that I can help. I'm hoping to talk to them about some sound preferences sometime, so that I can make things more comfortable for both of them and can avoid accidentally doing things that might bother them."

"Oh…"To be honest, Shoto hadn't thought about the implications of their quirks beyond their uses. He had learned to consider other people's quirks from a competitive or fighting standpoint but not beyond that. Reflecting on last night, he now couldn't help but think about it. Sure, he'd insulated his room for temperature related issues but he really didn't know how much it kept them from hearing him. And then there was still the rest of the building…If they had to hear whatever Mineta did in his free time, he felt extra sorry for them.

"Maybe UA should offer to soundproof their rooms for them." He couldn't imagine it being too much of a problem, considering everything they'd let him do to his room.

"That's a great idea," Midoriya replied as he sat in his desk chair and offered for Shoto to take a seat on the bed. "What do you need to talk about?"

It wasn't very encouraging that Midoriya had had to call Shoto's attention back to the task at hand. As he sat down, he reminded himself that he couldn't let it happen again. Midoriya most certainly wouldn't help him regain focus. In fact, Shoto had no doubt that the other boy would talk circles around him to prevent it once he realized exactly what he was here to discuss.

With this in mind, Shoto took a moment to collect himself and organize his thoughts.

"Father had a personal healer who I had to visit monthly. I doubt it was any more legal than his marriage with mom. He was worried that overextending me without treatment might cause physical damage and stunt me. Apparently having such vastly different temperatures on either side of my body has the potential to be more dangerous than just getting either too hot or cold. The guy would talk about possibly nerve and muscle damage, especially." The man would talk to his dad right over his head, as if he weren't even there. He had a healing quirk that, while it didn't speed up healing, it could guarantee that—if the damage weren't too extensive for the body to work with and was caught soon enough—it would heal correctly. Shoto was still expected to come home for a weekend at least once a month for checkups and touch ups.

Shoto studied Midoriya, knowing that the next words would be the ones that would cause the other to get defensive but pushed on, anyway, "You've been healed like that too, haven't you? Because Bakugou started using his quirk on you long before UA training sessions. You should be covered in starburst shaped burn scars but you're not."

Rather than say anything, Midoriya looked down at his shoes. "I'm sorry you have to deal with that."

Shoto didn't take the bait. He knew he couldn't. Instead, he focused on what he had planned to say next. "Bakugou wasn't really your friend before you came to UA." He wasn't asking.

"How did you-…?"

"I grew up in a house where everyone had to tip toe around someone with an explosive temper who could and would hurt us." Usually, he would be the only physical recipient through training, as the others delt with harsh words or the silence of being ignored. "I know what it looks like. Last night when you and Bakugou were 'getting along'…I know what I saw. What Bakugo is to you, he's like what my father is to me, isn't he?"

Izuku looked down at his hands and said, "He's not…he used to be but…he's gotten better since then…he's still trying to be better. Please, don't be angry at him…"

Todoroki glowered at the floor and clenched his fists as he declared, "I can be angry at him if I want."

"Then please, don't fight him about it," Izuku begged. "He was my first friend. Last night, it was the first time that I thought that maybe someday we can be closer again."

Todoroki looked him in the eye and said, "I can do that but only if he doesn't hurt you again. Even that's because you asked."

"You don't have to…"

"Yes, I do. Do you know what happened to my family because no one did anything? I told you about Mom and me but that's not all. My eldest brother is dead and as much as my old man would compare me to him, he'll never talk about how it happened. I'm sure his training had something to do with it. I have another brother who I barely ever see, since he chose to leave because he wants nothing to do with our father. Until I came to UA, my big sister was the only person in my life other than my old man. All that because no one helped us. If Bakugou can stop hurting you, I'll stand back but don't ask me to just watch him push you around while you take it. If I'd seen him for what he was, I would have stepped in sooner." With the last declaration Todoroki's usual mask cracked and he let his anger show.

"You were starting to get along with Kacchan," Izuku replied sadly. "I don't want to get in the way of that."

"You're more important to me than him. I don't want to be friends with someone who hurts other people. Definitely not someone who hurt you."

Midoriya frowned in confusion at his declaration. "What makes me specifically any different?"

"What do you mean, 'what makes you different?'" Todoroki asked, disbelieving. Everything they'd been through together and he had to even wonder? "You're my best friend. You can't expect me to just stand by if someone's hurting you."

Midoriya looked like a deer in the headlights before blushing and admitting, "N-no one's ever called me their best friend before."

"Really?" Shoto asked, uncomprehending. Sure, Shoto had never had any friends before Midoriya but with how the other boy had been, he couldn't imagine no one else ever considering the green haired boy as such. He couldn't picture anyone who could ever measure up as a truer one.

"Yeah," Izuku said.

"The way you are always there for everyone, I'd figure that you must've made many, even if a lot of people found you overwhelming."

Izuku looked down at his hands and said, "Not really. Honestly, one of the major reasons I got in trouble when I was younger was because I tried to help people so much. They didn't like me being nosy, even if I was trying to be there for them."

While Shoto couldn't deny that Midoriya had a habit of inserting himself into other people's business and that it could be maddening at times, it had always seemed with the best intention. And when he did, people often ended up much better for it. He could see some people getting annoyed with him for it but the idea that everyone would reject him for it…

There must have been something in Shoto's silent contemplation that worried Midoriya because he quickly insisted, "B-b-but things are better now! Really."

"You know we don't think of you that way, right?" Shoto asked.

"I…" Midoriya trailed off and looked down at his hands, biting his lip. "You don't need to say that to make me feel better, Todoroki. Really, it's okay, I…"

"I'm not saying it to make you feel better. I'm saying it because it's true! And I don't want you to think…"

"…that I'm a burden?" Izuku asked.

It hurt to hear the words because it had to be how Midoriya saw himself.

"How can you be a burden to us? For all that you do for us, you don't ask us for anything. Honestly, that's what I'm here about."

"What?" Midoriya asked, sounding lost.

"Do you remember why you said you were going to aim for first place in the tournament, even after I told you about my family?"

"Of course," Izuku said. "I was doing it for everyone who helped me get here. I couldn't make everything they did for me be for nothing. I can't let that happen."

"You haven't."

"Yet-…"

"Midoriya, how many of us have you helped? How many of us are only where we are because of you? Even if we wanted you to return some favor or something, which we don't, you would've already gone above and beyond."

Shoto glanced up to see Midoriya crying. Midoriya, who, despite throwing everything he had into helping everyone he could, had never been called a best friend and even saw himself as deadweight.

"What I was trying to say is that you told me that you've made it so far because of how everyone helps you but no one knows how to give what you don't ask for," Shoto pressed on. "You get to help us whenever we need it but you're not the only one in the hero course who wants to help people if they need it. And if you need help, we want to know so that we can be there for you, too."

"What do you…I do ask, though. Hosu, I-island, the camp…"

"And every time, we were focused on saving others. I mean you, Midoriya." He took a deep breath before adding, "It hurts to know that for everything you're willing to do for us, you won't let any of us do anything for you." Shoto looked Midoriya in the eye, hoping to get him to understand. "You, of all people know what it feels like to see someone suffering and want to help them. You could hardly take it with Kota for two days. But you've been avoiding showing your own problems the whole time you've been here. More quietly, and certainly more calmly but you've been doing it."

Izuku bit his lip before countering, "We're not supposed to need rescuing."

And Shoto found himself thinking about their first day and how Aizawa had gotten onto Midoriya in front of everyone. At the time, he'd agreed with their teacher's point but now he wondered if the words did more harm than good. "Then does that mean I did something wrong by needing help during the tournament? Even if I didn't know I needed it?"

"No! Of course not."

"Was I a burden to you?"

"No! Never! If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing!"

"So, why would it be any different when it's you?"

"Because I'm not-…because…" The lost, confused expression on Midoriya's face as he clearly kept trying to find a counterargument was heartbreaking.

When the other boy couldn't give an answer, Shoto said, "Look, I'm not even asking you to say everything. Even if you can just let us know what we can do to help you, that would be enough." Then he forced out a word he wasn't sure when he'd last used. "Please?"

Midoriya looked at him, pain suddenly bright and clear behind his eyes but also a guarded wariness as he asked, "Telling me about your family. Why'd you do it?"

"I…don't know," Todoroki admitted honestly. "I've been wondering about that. I…had a feeling about you. Looking back, maybe I recognized something in how you acted…"

"Does it feel better, talking about it?"

"I…don't know. I want to say yes but that could have been because of our fight afterward."

Midoriya stared at him, deep in thought. Finally, he came to a decision. "What I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone."

There was an AO3 story I read, A Study in Firsts by Oceanbreeze7, that touched upon the issues of people with various different quirks sharing a dorm, on top of my mentioning it as a problem earlier in this story. Although I'd already considered Shoji and Jiro having auditory sensitivities, something that the author of this story brough up was Todoroki heating and cooling himself all the time might warp certain things in his room, such as the doors or windows (maybe that's part of the reason he decided to have the room remodeled and decided to set it up completely to his comfort since he had to replace almost everything anyway).

I just want to clarify, after a comment I got, when I compare Bakugou to endeavor here, its in that they were the long time aggressors who physically and mentally abused the victim(s). I know that there are many differences between them.

I can't help but think, with the way the body reacts to hot and cold temperatures, having to cope with both could have serious short- and long-term impacts to a user's health. Despite how the series implies Shoto's quirk being 'perfectly balanced,' I have my doubts but that the truth of the situation probably wouldn't make itself known when he gets older…If he doesn't push his quirk to it's limits in a way that does serious damage sooner.