Author's note: Took me nearly a year to finish this second part, which is frankly embarrassing and I apologise for the long wait. I'm going to be honest and say that I'm not entirely happy with how this chapter ended up being, but after such a long time I didn't want to keep you all waiting for much longer either. Apologies in advance if the part sucks :/ I did my best, but the story really wouldn't cooperate at all.

Thanks to the following reviewers: Iraheta 127; babyvfan; Yana5; TheBeauty; SarahNThatcher

Warnings: Time skips; fluffish; slash

Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia. Kohei Horikoshi owns it.

I hope this part doesn't suck too badly!

Part 2

Shouto froze up, not knowing what to do now. Perhaps the human boy was talking to an animal? But no, when he chanced a careful look at the human, his big eyes were firmly trained on Shouto, unwavering.

"I like your wings," the human went on; his mouth spreading out in an excited grin. He shuffled closer; his fingers fidgeting with each other. "Are you a fae? You are one, aren't you?"

He knew about Fae.

How did a mere human like him still know about Shouto's people? Hadn't the elders all claimed that the knowledge of Fae had been long since lost amongst the humans? That was why they could no longer see them, why none of the Fae could interact with humans anymore.

Yet here this human boy was, staring right at Shouto with glistening eyes, as if the stars themselves had deigned to leave the sky and implement themselves in the boy. What did he do now? Fly away? If he did that, however, he wouldn't be able to figure out whether the human would pose a threat or not. As far as Shouto knew, the human boy had never harmed any of the forest animals, but that gentle nature might not extend to beings like him. What if he was a danger to them? It was Shouto's duty to find out whether he was a threat or not and flying away now wouldn't give him any answers at all.

"How do you know about us?" he demanded.

The human tilted his head to the right. "Ah, mother told me stories," he replied and this time he blushed, looking strangely embarrassed. "She knows a lot because her mother used to tell them. She said there was a time when the Fae and humans interacted almost daily, but something went wrong and now almost nobody can see you anymore." He nibbled on his lower lip.

"You can obviously see me," Shouto said, narrowing his eyes slightly. How come this human was able to see him, but others couldn't?

"Hehe, I didn't know I could!" The human boy beamed, looking quite excited. "Mother has never seen anyone of you, but maybe you no longer visit our town?"

"I do not think we do," Shouto murmured.

Since the Time of Obscuration had occurred, he hadn't heard of any Fae entering the town to mess with the humans there. There was no point in messing around with them when they could no longer react apparently. They had all assumed that the humans had lost the Sight completely, but clearly that was not the case. Somehow this human boy had the Sight, enabling him to see Shouto.

"I wasn't certain whether I was seeing things," the human continued, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Sometimes I thought I could see something shimmering between the leaves, but you were always gone by the time I tried to get a better look at you. I'm glad I managed to see you now, though."

"Why?" Shouto asked suspiciously.

"Hm?"

"Why are you so glad?" He hovered above the branch, ready to duck and fly away the second the human tried to do something.

"Ah, well, because I've always wanted to see a Fae," the human replied frankly, blinking his large eyes up at Shouto. "You sound very interesting from what mother told me."

"Who says those tales are the truth?" What could this human's mother possibly know about Fae anyway? The Time of Obscuration had occurred at least two centuries ago, if not longer. What kind of stories could possibly have survived the strain of time?

"You exist, so they have to be true," the human said, smiling bemused.

Well, Shouto couldn't really argue with that, though he still doubted whether those tales contained nothing but the truth about them. That seemed very unlikely considering how long it had been since the Fae had last interacted in any sort of way with humans.

"Ah!"

The exclamation had both of them looking up at the sky where the soft pitter-patter of the rain had made way for heavier drops, promising a heavy downpour soon. The grey clouds were so dark, it was as if evening had fallen already.

"I have to go, but …" The human bit down on his lip again. "Can I – will I see you again?"

Shouto raised an eyebrow dubiously. "Perhaps we will see each other again," was all that he was willing to say.

That made the human light up like he was the sun itself. "I'd like that!" He started turning away, ready to run back to his town. "Oh, my name is Midoriya Izuku!"

Shouto watched him run off, disappearing between the trees; the rain turning into a curtain of water. He wasn't exactly certain whether it would be wise to meet the human – Midoriya – again. For all that some of the Fae had loved to mess around with humans, that didn't mean that Fae were completely infallible. There were several stories in which humans had got the better of the Fae and had either ended up hurting the Fae or worse, destroying them. Was Midoriya's interest of the good sort or the bad sort? Should he tell his parents about this meeting or not?

His wings flapped softly back and forth as he stood there, wavering. He wouldn't tell his parents just yet, he decided eventually; his eyes mapping out a path across the forest in order to avoid the worst downpour. There was no sense in worrying them when he had no idea yet what Midoriya could possibly want. He would study the human further, perhaps allow more interaction between them in order to gauge where the human's interest laid.

If the interest was of the harmful sort, he and his family could easily take care of him. He was a mere human boy, after all. One human boy couldn't possibly measure up to a family of Fae whose territory he was walking through.

If his interest was of the good sort … Well, Shouto would have to think about what that would mean.

After only having met him once before, the human boy – Midoriya – seemed to have developed a particular sense for Shouto's presence. No matter how still the Fae kept himself or how hidden, without fail Midoriya would spot him. Shouto would suspect Midoriya was merely calling out to him all willy-nilly, guessing his presence, if not for the way those green eyes would firmly fixate themselves on the spot where he stood or sat. Perhaps knowing that Fae truly existed, had made him more attuned to Shouto's presence; he could not say.

Midoriya was quite the chatterbox, however, even worse than how he had been when he had still thought himself to be alone. He talked about everything he could come up with, from the tales his mother told him – which contained quite a bit of truth, Shouto was reluctant to admit – to what he had been doing that day before coming to the forest. He always had something to say, an observation to make, a comment about the wildlife thrown offhandedly. His words weren't meaningless but they certainly were a lot, especially for someone as quiet as Shouto had always been. For every word he uttered, Midoriya uttered ten and a part of Shouto couldn't help but feel … fascinated?

He shouldn't keep seeking out the boy, especially not after the first time he had been caught, but it was difficult to ignore him once Shouto picked up his voice. His senses ended up attuned to it, leading him to find the boy every time once he was finished with his duties. He would only have to hear but one word and he would immediately know where Midoriya was: always in the forest, near animals. Sometimes near a brook or a creek or sitting near the dilapidated bridge nobody ever used anymore. Other times under a tree or on a rock, throwing bits and pieces of food at the birds and deer. Always alone as well.

Shouto had expected Midoriya to drag one of the other humans with him, if only to prove to them that Fae did exist, but no matter the day, no matter the hour, Midoriya was always alone. Always cheerful, no matter the weather, even when the days turned even colder and drearier, rain more present than absent.

"Why are you always here?" Shouto asked one day, sitting cross-legged on a flat piece of rock next to the river.

He was in his bigger form, his human-like form as Midoriya liked to call it, pouting as he did so, because in this form Shouto was half a head taller than him. He had both been shocked and elated to find out that Fae could change sizes if they wished so and had asked Shouto with big, pleading eyes whether he wouldn't mind changing his size just this once.

Shouto hadn't even thought twice before doing so and while it had been rather disconcerting to see the world from a bigger point of view the first time, changing forms came as natural to him as breathing now. He didn't always change to his bigger form when meeting with Midoriya, but it made conversing with the human a lot easier if Midoriya didn't always have to squint to see him.

"Getting bored of my presence, Todoroki-kun?" Midoriya chirped; a crooked smile on his face. There were some scratches decorated the back of his hands, but he had merely waved them around when Shouto had asked about them.

"Not really, but the forest doesn't seem like a good place for a human to keep wandering through," Shouto replied. The real dangerous animals didn't visit this part of the woods, but one couldn't expect from them to keep adhering to that unwritten rule.

Midoriya shrugged. "I like it here, it's nice and peaceful," he said and his smile deepened when he glanced at Shouto. "And it has you, why wouldn't I want to come here?"

For some reason that made Shouto's cheeks feel oddly warm.

"What has got into you these days?" Fuyumi's voice had him stopping before he could spread his wings and fly out.

He turned his head to look at her blankly. "What do you mean?"

His older sister offered him an unimpressed look and crossed her arms. "Mother and father are content to let you be, but we have all seen how your mood has changed lately. You're smiling more often - "

"Am not." He scowled.

"Fine, what constitutes smiling in your case," she said blithely. "You often come home a lot later than usual."

"Not that much later," he muttered defensively.

She lifted an eyebrow. "Late enough for all of us to take notice of it. So fess up," she said bluntly. "What has your mind all wrapped up?"

"Nothing," he protested, but it was futile, he knew.

Mother and father might have been content to just let him be, but the fact that Fuyumi was here interrogating him when they should be out attending to their duties indicated clearly that their parents were expecting an explanation regardless.

"You're meeting with someone?" she asked knowingly; a hint of a teasing smile across her lips.

He hesitated, which was his mistake. She squealed instantly, making him wince and cover his ears. "Fuyumi!"

"What?" she laughed and bounced forwards to grab him in a tight hug. "Can't I be happy for my little brother that he finally found someone?"

"Why do you have to make it sound like I'm - "

"Meeting with a potential mate?" she asked teasingly and smirked when his face flushed. "I'm right, aren't I? Who are they? Do I know them?"

"I never said they're my mate," he denied and wriggled himself free from her tight grasp. "They're just … a friend."

That definitely was the wrong thing to say. If she had been unimpressed before, she was double so now. "Shouto, I doubt you would go through the trouble of flying back home through heavy rain merely for a friend." There was an unnecessary stress on the last word.

"That doesn't happen every time," he mumbled, looking away.

Only when he and Midoriya met up and the hours flew by faster than either of them could anticipate. Even this late in the season Midoriya kept meeting up with him, bundled up in the thickest coat he had. Shouto had taken to sitting right next to him, pushing him under the cover of the trees just to keep the silly human warm. It was as if Midoriya kept forgotten that he was still only human and humans were very susceptible to cold when Shouto as a Fae was not.

"Look." Fuyumi's eyes softened. "If they make you happy, that's all that matters, okay? We'd love to meet them, though, so whenever you are ready …"

"I'll consider it," he muttered and sped out of their home before she could try to unearth more information.

Was Midoriya his mate? It was a question that consumed him as he attended to the trees and the bushes, checking on their vitals. It was true that Shouto had never been interested in befriending any of the Fae. That had made him even more of an anomaly than his dual nature had and if it were not for his family no doubt the others would have started spreading rumours about him ages ago. He had never been able to make a click with either of them, no matter how many meetings mother had organised between him and the others.

In that aspect, talking with Midoriya went a lot smoother even when Shouto himself still did not say that much. Midoriya didn't seem to mind, however, capable of both filling the space with his bright chatter as letting them sit in comfortable silence. Did that make him mate material? Would he want Midoriya as a mate? He tried to envision not seeing the human anymore as if he had suddenly disappeared from his life.

The awful cramping of his stomach was a clear answer as any he would ever get.

Could they be mates, though? Shouto landed on a thin branch, looking at the rotten leaves below. His family would definitely have to be informed – how would they react, having a human amidst them? A human who knew all about Fae, knew about their shenanigans and their aid to humans in the past, all the ways they could trick humans and all the ways they could be hurt, yet never used that knowledge against Shouto.

Could they be more than what they were now?

The question kept him occupied for days as he avoided Fuyumi's knowing look and his brothers' bemused ones while attending to his duties.

It lingered in the back of his mind as he finished his chores and searched out Midoriya, finding him every time without fail thanks to his voice and bright tinkling laughter. It rolled around in his mouth while he watched Midoriya talk about his week and the secret training sessions he was following with the old human.

"I'm nowhere near Katsuki's skills," he would smile sheepishly every time before grinning wider, "but I am improving!"

That bright grin never failed to make Shouto feel warm inside even when the cold rain made way for ice cold snowflakes, blanketing everything in its white colour and sending most of the animals shivering into their warm nests. With the weather this harsh, they now gravitated towards hollowed out trees and small caverns, anything to keep Midoriya warm and protected against the harsh wind. He would huddle up in his thick coat, the tip of his nose a cherry red, and Shouto would sit right next to him, their bodies touching from shoulder to thigh; Shouto's own body blocking most of the wind. The redness around the tip of Midoriya's nose would then extend to his cheeks for some reason as if the warmth their bodies created needed somewhere to go.

It was quite the lovely sight and if Shouto was more adept with his words he might actually write something about the way those reddish cheeks made Midoriya's green eyes glisten even more. As it was, he wasn't that adept with his words and so he could only sit there each time and watch that red spread out before Midoriya would glance away, his voice growing higher pitched at certain intervals while his feet would rapidly tap against the forest floor.

Their hands would always touch, however, the sides pressed together.

Could Midoriya be his mate?

He found the answer on a late winter day when Midoriya was busy scattering seeds for the birds brave enough to brace the cold. Once his bag was empty, Midoriya scampered over to his side, dropping down next to him on the rock.

"I still don't understand how you don't feel the cold," he fussed, plucking at Shouto's fingers which were always warm. He laughed quietly; his breath escaping in white puffs. "Must be your Fae nature; I'm so jealous!"

"Do you want to be my mate?"

The question left his mouth without thinking and it hung suspended in the air between them. Only when green eyes widened even further did Shouto realise what he had just blurted out and his cheeks caught on fire immediately; his wings fluttering uneasily.

"I - " This was not how you were supposed to ask, right? How did one even ask someone to be their mate? Was there some sort of ritual he had to follow but had never heard of before? Had he messed up entirely? He might be the first Fae to mess up a human simply by asking them to be their mate. Should he have explained first what a mate meant to a Fae? No wait, Midoriya knew about that, because he knew a lot of about Fae, maybe even more than some of the Fae children themselves. Of course he would know what a mate was, but that didn't mean he would want -

"Oh, are you certain?" Midoriya asked tentatively. Was that hope glimmering in the depths of his eyes or was Shouto merely seeing things?

"Completely certain," Shouto instantly replied, because while he might have messed up, answering truthfully was something he could do.

Midoriya bit down on his lower lip; the imprint of his teeth dragging Shouto's eyes towards it. "Yes then," he laughed shyly. "I'd love to be your mate!"

"Yes?"

"Yes!"

Before Shouto could think twice – and perhaps he should just stop thinking for the moment, because it seemed like his impulsive self was doing just fine – he lowered his head towards Midoriya and then –

Their mouths touched for the first time. It was light and sweet and careful; Midoriya's breath uneven and shuddery as he kissed back. Their hands found each other; their fingers tangling together, a spot of warmth amidst the cold air.

He would have to tell his family about them, about Midoriya. About the fact that Midoriya was human and yet had the Sight. He would tell them about how wonderful Midoriya was, how great with the animals and how smart and how he would never betray their secret. His family might not like it, might not like the fact that Midoriya was human and he was Fae, but that was a worry to be considered later.

For now they would sit here, together, getting to know each other in a whole new way. All the rest, they could figure out later. For now, it was just them.

The End

AN2: Yeah, not happy with it, but it's all my brain could come up with, I'm sorry. I might return to this universe in the future, but for now it's finally finished.

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in my future stories! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.