With hearts heavy from anticipation – and apprehension, mostly – the students from Class 1-A snuck away from the bonfire on their last night at the training camp and made way for the Battlegrounds. Word had spread like a wildfire that Bakugou and Midoriya would be battling; somehow, though, the class (Iida, mostly) managed to keep it a secret from the teachers. The two in question already occupied the Battlegrounds, standing on either end of the football field, with Todoroki by Midoriya's side and Kirishima by Bakugou's. At the center stood Yaoyorozu, who had somehow gotten elected to play the referee. With the sun setting, she crafted torches, which Todoroki went around and lit as it got too dark to see.
A nervous frown played at Midoriya's lips while he shuffled from foot to foot. On the other side of the arena, Bakugou and Kirishima seemed to be having a calm, regular conversation. "You know you don't have to go through with this," Todoroki murmured to him. "I could go get Mr. Aizawa or All Might, and we could tell everyone they heard the commotion—"
"No," Midoriya replied sternly, then smiled sheepishly. "Ah, sorry. I just…really need to do this."
"If that bastard hurts you again, Izuku," Todoroki said in a warning tone.
"He won't," Midoriya assured. He leaned over, nudged Todoroki's shoulder, let their pinkies connect momentarily. "You'll be here to kill him if he does," he said in a teasing tone.
"Right," Todoroki replied seriously.
"Please don't kill him, Shouto."
"No promises, Izuku."
Midoriya laughed, despite knowing that Todoroki was entirely serious – he had no qualms with severely hurting Bakugou if he tried anything. He was about to respond when Yaoyorozu blew her conjured whistle. "I want this to be a clean fight!" she bellowed like a true boxing announcer. "Kirishima and Todoroki are standing by in case one of you goes too far," she said accusatorily, though she mostly directed her words at Bakugou.
A few more words of caution followed and Yaoyorozu blew her whistle again. Immediately Bakugou sent sparks from his palms to propel himself to the center of the field, while Midoriya activated Full Cowling in his legs. He met Bakugou with a quick jab to the stomach, then a dodge away from Bakugou's fist that swung at him. "It's on, fuckin' nerd!" Bakugou snarled, but his usual animosity-filled smirk was replaced with a smile, a genuine smile, as if he missed their occasional spars.
Bakugou swung again, with his right once more – Midoriya had expected his left – and he knocked Midoriya back a few feet, but the boy managed to stay upright. In retaliation, he channeled Full Cowling into his legs and propelled himself at Bakugou. Bakugou leapt, exactly what Midoriya hoped he'd do, and he reached up, grabbed one of Bakugou's ankles and threw him down. Class 1-A erupted into various cheers and boos; despite only fully recovering just a week or so prior, the crowd was quite split in their chanting of who they supported. Perhaps Midoriya's biggest supporter (aside from Todoroki) was Aoyama, who had even made a sign for the occasion.
Bakugou pushed himself to his feet effortlessly, a bit of grass on his chin from the fall. He launched himself back at Midoriya, delivered a strong hit to his right side that sent Midoriya reeling – but only for a moment as Midoriya propelled himself forward and leapt and kicked Bakugou's upper chest. Again Bakugou stumbled backwards, even fell on his butt – causing more than a few 'ooh's and 'ouch's from the crowd. He hesitated a bit before he got up.
"How'd you manage to get even stronger?!" Bakugou barked, but his smile still appeared happy.
"Training," Midoriya replied simply. His stamina had improved when he began training with Todoroki almost a year ago now, and the second he was cleared to use his left arm to its fullest strength he and Todoroki had taken off to train, making up for over a month of lost time.
Bakugou sent both fists flaming at Midoriya, who jumped up just in time and landed directly behind him, used his fingertips to flick a wave current at Bakugou and send him fumbling forward into the grass. That spot on his chin melded with the rest of his face, which was also covered in grass stains now. Bakugou leapt to his feet, threw a few angry blasts of fire into the air, and charged forward again.
But, before he got there, bonds stretched out from the thicket of trees to the side of the stadium and secured Bakugou nearly ten feet in the air.
The cheers and hollers died quickly, replaced with a nervous silence as Aizawa stepped out of the shadows, eyes glowing red. Midoriya stood untouched, his eyes wide as he watched the neutrality drain from Aizawa's face and replace instead with anger. "The hell is going on here?" he barked, voice loud enough to boom across the entire field.
"S-sir," Midoriya bowed his head, "this is my fault—"
"I challenged Deku to a rematch, sir," Bakugou spoke from above, his head hung and his voice quieter than Midoriya had perhaps ever heard it. "We—I asked Kirishima and Todoroki to stand by in case…anything happened."
"And by 'anything happening', do you mean an event similar to what put Midoriya in a sling for three weeks?" Aizawa replied shortly, letting Bakugou down so his feet touched the ground.
"Yes," Bakugou continued to hang his head.
"We were right on the sidelines in case someone got hurt," Todoroki stepped in. Even he was uncomfortable watching the way Bakugou's face contorted like he was about to…cry? No, Bakugou would never cry.
"Yeah!" Kirishima leapt to their aid, a nervous smile playing at his lips. "Mr. Aizawa, sir, Bakugou's not the only one to blame here. We all—"
A few of the kids in the bleachers fled the scene, as if they could act like they'd never been there in the first place.
"Well, ah," Kirishima rubbed his neck sheepishly. "If you're going to punish Midoriya and Bakugou, please punish me, too."
"And me," Todoroki added.
Aizawa let his grip slacken completely on Bakugou and he looked between the four of them. His expression slowly mellowed out into his usual unimpressed face, and he sighed, gripped the bridge of his nose. "Dish duty tomorrow morning," he said finally, with a weak wave as he turned back towards the bonfire. "All of you."
"Yes, sir!" they yelped out, surprised their punishment wasn't more severe.
The next morning, like almost all the others of the training camp, Midoriya awoke with half his body splayed across Todoroki's. This time it was to the sound of his phone alarm, though, not the intercom alarm of the campsite. Todoroki grumbled underneath him, something sounding oddly like "turn it off", but instead Midoriya peppered a few kisses on his cheeks to force him to open his eyes. And it worked – Todoroki cracked his eyes open, his brow furrowed in his tired, cranky state. "What time is it?" he asked in a low hiss; the sun didn't look even close to rising yet.
"Five thirty," Midoriya whispered back. "You said we'd train today! Remember?"
Todoroki grunted in response. When had he said that again? Oh, right – the night before when Midoriya continued to pester him until Todoroki finally caved so they could get some sleep. He sighed, rubbed the sleep from his eyes with little success. "Alright," he mumbled finally, and Midoriya's smile was enough to force himself to wake up. Yeah, he couldn't deny Midoriya anything with a smile like that.
They stumbled a bit in the darkness, and Todoroki feared they'd awoken Iida – but he just muttered something in a half-slur of sleep and rolled over once more, his nose nuzzling into the back of Ochaco's neck. Todoroki and Midoriya left the cabin shortly thereafter, Midoriya in Todoroki's hoodie and vice versa, and headed to the training clearing.
Midoriya had a decent bruise on his side from the night before, and his muscles ached slightly, but still he put up a good fight with Todoroki. Being in a relationship meant neither of them quite went so hard on each other when they trained, mostly so they could save their energy for the kissing that tended to come after training. Midoriya didn't mind the arrangement; he found that he didn't overwork himself as much this way. He hoped Todoroki felt the same.
By the time they called their training session over, the sun had risen a decent amount in the sky. Between the physical activity and the incoming summer sun, the hoodies became a little too hot. They stopped by the cabin to change just as the intercom erupted, and Iida and Ochaco lazily forced themselves from the bed.
"We're going to borrow the baths," Todoroki said before Iida and Ochaco could even fully comprehend they were already awake. Midoriya, in response, flushed and quickly grabbed spare sets of clothing for them while Todoroki prepared the bath.
When he pushed open the door to the baths, Todoroki was already showering in one of the stalls. Midoriya undressed and stepped into the next one over, each of them with the mutual understanding that they'd respect the other's privacy – even with the temptation of their significant other being only a few feet away and completely naked.
"I'm getting in," Todoroki called from beside Midoriya, and Midoriya turned his face just a bit further from the direction of the bath. He heard Todoroki's tentative steps into the bathtub and turned off his own shower, joined Todoroki moments later.
He fell easily to Todoroki's side, leaving only a few inches between their bare skin while he stared ahead at the window open only to the thick brush of the forest. "Shouto," his voice reverberated off the walls, "are you upset?"
"Why would I be upset?" Todoroki countered quietly, his arm reaching around Midoriya's shoulders naturally.
"We're leaving today," he said. "I'm upset, I thought you might be."
"Oh," Todoroki hummed quietly. "I'm not upset. I had a good time."
"Don't you wish it could last longer?"
"Well, sure, but I'm ready to go back to class. Mr. Aizawa kind of kicked my ass this month," he rubbed his neck. Midoriya laughed, and it bounced back at them, sounding happier and more jovial somehow the second and third time Todoroki heard it.
"I need to thank Recovery Girl the second we get home," Midoriya mumbled. "My arm is almost completely healed now."
"Aside from that scar," Todoroki said with a small nod. "I'm glad your arm is doing better."
"Me too," Midoriya sighed. He let his eyes fall closed as he rested his head on Todoroki's arm, a lazy, content smile on his face. He turned his head so it faced Todoroki, welcoming him to place a kiss on his soft lips – which Todoroki nearly immediately obliged to do. In response, Midoriya hummed, that smile only growing on his cheeks.
"Izu," Todoroki began a bit hesitantly, "things won't change when we go back, will they?"
"Why would they?" Midoriya cracked an eye open, his smile faltering before melting away completely. "Did you—did you want to forget about it?"
"No," Todoroki said quickly. "No, I don't want to forget. I thought…you might want to?"
Midoriya laughed quietly, soft enough that the walls didn't shove it back at them. "I couldn't forget even if I did want to, Shou," he murmured.
They fell into a comfortable silence shortly after, with Midoriya's head still being cushioned by Todoroki's arm. For a moment or two, Todoroki thought he might have fallen asleep – but then his eyes opened and that lazy smile returned, and Midoriya was leaning close and pressing a kiss to Todoroki's cheek.
"What was that for?" Todoroki asked softly, though he leaned a bit closer to encourage another. Midoriya supplied it, peppered a few more cheek kisses, even. Their thighs brushed and this time it felt natural; neither of them pulled away.
"Because I love you," Midoriya said with ease, and he only noticed he'd said what he did out loud when Todoroki's side steamed hotly enough to make the water around him begin to boil. It was an odd sensation, though, because the water on his other side froze over just as quickly, and the temperatures seemed at war with each other. "Sorry, sorry!" Midoriya stuttered out, the blush on his face much darker than it had been from just the steam of the bath.
"I—must have heard you wrong," Todoroki whispered.
"N-no," Midoriya stammered. "I, uh, that came out wrong. Can I try again?"
"Please don't – I might explode."
"Right!" Midoriya nodded, and they fell into a silence much less comfortable than before.
A few moments passed. Midoriya trembled a bit at the discomfort until he finally erupted into a question: "Do you, um, you know? Me too?"
"Um," Todoroki squeaked out, his bodily temperature regulation not functioning quite properly. "I should—I should get out," he added, noticing how ice cubes kept surfacing around him. "Breakfast and stuff, y'know?"
"I, um, sure," Midoriya nodded. He felt like he might explode even without the heat Quirk. "I'm sorry," he called out as he heard Todoroki toweling off behind him. He felt guilt rising in his chest like bile and just as the door to the bath slammed shut he forced himself out of the water, too. He wanted nothing more than to get back in and pray the water got hot enough to melt him into a puddle. His cheeks were pink with embarrassment and he fought back a stubborn bout of tears while he toweled off and dressed himself.
Todoroki made a straight dash for the mess hall. Most of the students were still in their cabins, likely packing their things – but Todoroki didn't quite want to pack up yet. In fact, he really wanted to return to Midoriya's side and tell him just how much he loved him back, but his feet felt like lead the second he even thought about Midoriya.
He'd – he'd said it so easily. Never had anyone said they loved Todoroki with such ease, and such sincerity, even; it had always been hesitant, if it ever came at all. He remembered his sister a few times after a rough training with his father, she would stop by his door before he went to bed and say goodnight, and she would drop her voice to a whisper and say "I love you" so quietly Todoroki had to strain to hear it. And his mother, she always had a hard time saying she loved anyone after Endeavor, but those words always seemed to stick to her tongue when it came to saying them to him.
Did Midoriya love him? He supposed it wasn't really a question, but with Todoroki it had to be. Then again, Midoriya had a heart of gold – a heart that could love anyone, even himself. His brows furrowed in confusion and anger with himself and confusion with Midoriya.
"Hey, Todoroki?"
Todoroki turned around and saw Yaoyorozu and Jirou, standing just behind him in the line for food. The doors into the kitchen hadn't even opened yet, but Todoroki didn't notice; he just stood himself by the door and waited for a line to move that didn't even exist yet. Yaoyorozu looked concerned, Jirou more annoyed-looking than anything.
"Sorry," he murmured, stepped out of the way. Despite the door still being closed.
"Are you okay?" Yaoyorozu asked quietly. "You look…tense."
He hesitated a bit, only because Jirou was present, but he resigned and sighed. "Izuku told me he loves me," he whispered.
"What?!" Jirou shrieked. Yaoyorozu clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Yaoyorozu urged.
"I mean, I guess?" Todoroki frowned deeper. "I kind of, um—I maybe ran away?"
"Oh, oh no," Yaoyorozu murmured.
"What?"
"He's definitely going to think you don't love him too," Jirou spoke through Yaoyorozu's hand. Her speech came off muffled, but Todoroki understood it enough for that sinking feeling to hit him straight in the stomach.
"Shit," Todoroki whispered.
When Midoriya finally managed to convince himself to leave the bathroom, tears spilled openly down his cheeks and he didn't really feel conscious enough to care. Ochaco and Iida tossed clothes to each other, Ochaco's phone playing music while they packed their bags – but they froze in unison seeing the look on Midoriya's face. The whistling and playful singing from a moment ago died, and Ochaco reached over to stop the music on her phone. Midoriya pushed past them, though, intent on going to breakfast and choking on his food and dying right there.
"Deku, what happened?!" Ochaco squealed, already rushing to his side. "Did—is it Todoroki?"
That only brought on a new bout of tears at the guilt Midoriya felt. He choked down an ugly sob, leaned heavily against the bed. "It's my fault," he muttered finally, and Ochaco shook her head and wrapped her arms around him tightly.
"It's not your fault," she assured, lowering him to sit on the bed. Iida sat on his other side.
"Where's Shouto?" Midoriya asked weakly, wiped his nose on the fabric of his long-sleeve tee shirt.
"He went to get breakfast," Iida replied. "Do I need to—"
"No," Midoriya stopped him. "It's my fault."
"What happened?" Ochaco repeated calmly.
His tears fell down his cheeks and into his palms, upturned in his lap as he slouched over himself, trying to make himself small. "I told him I love him," he whispered finally, chewing on his bottom lip to keep it from trembling.
"And—and what?" Ochaco frowned. "Does he…not love you?"
"He ran away," Midoriya mumbled. "I…it really is my fault, I didn't mean to say it…we've barely been dating a few weeks…"
"But you've been really good friends for a year," Iida countered gently. Ochaco rubbed circles on Midoriya's back.
"I don't want to talk about it," Midoriya choked out finally, letting his head fall into his hands as he let out a loud cry. "I ruined everything," he said, voice muffled by his palms.
"You didn't," Ochaco assured. "It'll be okay, okay?"
"You don't know that."
"And you don't know it won't be," Iida piped in. "Do you want me to go get him?"
"No," Midoriya and Ochaco said at the same time.
"I'll get you breakfast instead, does that sound okay?" Iida asked, let a gentle hand fall on Midoriya's shoulder. Midoriya sniffed, nodded, and Iida left them alone in the cabin to bring back breakfast.
"He doesn't love me," Midoriya said, a little brokenly, and even though his own tears had stopped Ochaco's started as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Don't say that, Deku," she whimpered as she rubbed his back. "Please don't say that. How could anyone not love you?"
"Ask Shouto," he whispered.
Normally he'd be the one comforting her, but now Midoriya couldn't even bring his arms up around her. He felt numb, now that he'd cried for a good few minutes there – but numbness brought with it the inability to think, really. His brain clouded and everything aside from Todoroki's form retreating from the bath seemed unimportant in that moment. He relived the moment in his head, losing sensation in his fingertips and toes as his mind drifted aimlessly. He wished it was Todoroki's arms around him. Of anything he could ever have, in that moment he doubted he wanted Todoroki's love more than he wanted to be held by him.
By the time Iida returned, Ochaco had quelled her own tears. Midoriya's eyes felt swollen and heavy, and it certainly didn't help how early he and Todoroki had gotten up to train. Iida carried two trays – one loaded with various fruits, the other with three plates of waffles. "Anything else you want, Midoriya?" Iida asked as he set the trays carefully on the bed.
Ochaco reached for an apple, her other arm remaining around Midoriya. He eyed the trays, then shook his head. "Thanks, Iida, but I'm not all that hungry."
"You're going to eat something," Ochaco said sternly.
"I'm not hungry," Midoriya replied blankly.
They were in the midst of an argument – pretty one-sided, really, with Midoriya's lack of enthusiasm or any other emotion – when the cabin door creaked open and standing on the other side was Kirishima, happily tugging Todoroki along by the arm.
The feeling returned, hit Midoriya like a bus, and he could do nothing more than wince at the rush of emotions swallowing him again. "Todoroki told me what happened!" Kirishima said from the doorway, his voice just a bit too happy for the state of Midoriya.
Todoroki stared at Midoriya, his face red and blotchy from tears. He couldn't bring his legs to move, with the guilt threatening to swallow him from the ground up. Kirishima was talking, but Todoroki couldn't hear him; the blood rushed in his ears, heart pounding. He did this.
Midoriya pressed his palms to his face, tried to wipe away as many tears as possible – but by now they'd dried, leaving visible tracks on his face where they'd fallen. Ochaco and Iida were responding to Kirishima now, in place of Midoriya, who still sat in his spot on the bed and stared at the door.
"Can you give us a minute?" Todoroki asked, interrupted Iida completely, causing the other to stop mid-sentence in surprise.
With quiet approval, the three left the cabin; Ochaco was a bit hesitant, considering Midoriya still hadn't said anything. The second they left, though, Todoroki stepped tentatively into the cabin. "I'm so sorry," he murmured.
Midoriya plastered a fake grin on his face that looked oddly similar to the few times he'd gotten seriously injured during training and tried to play it off. "It's fine," he said, his voice betraying even the poor attempt at a smile. His voice was rough, gravelly, a bit too quiet.
"You just—you startled me," he admitted quietly.
"Forget I said—"
"No," Todoroki cut him off, sitting next to him on the bed. "I don't want to forget."
That smile melted away, replaced with that blank expression Todoroki witnessed when he and Kirishima arrived at the door. "Why?" he mumbled finally, his hands folded delicately in his lap. Todoroki reached to take one; Midoriya didn't register until Todoroki's hand met his own, and he flinched. Just slightly, but evidently enough that Todoroki drew back.
"I," Todoroki frowned slightly. He'd practiced in his head the whole way Kirishima tugged him along, he could say it. I love you too, he thought desperately, trying to will his lips to move. Instead, he somehow found himself saying, "I'll always be here."
He didn't know at first if Midoriya understood, because really, how would he? But then when that sunshine smile dared to peek through Midoriya's sad face, Todoroki so gratefully remembered just how synchronized they were. Midoriya took his hand with only a slight bit of hesitation. "I will, too," he replied, let his head fall to Todoroki's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry I made you feel like this, Izuku," Todoroki murmured. He'd never really cried, not since he was a child, but a tear slid down his cheek and froze there. Midoriya noticed (of course Midoriya noticed) and cupped his cheek delicately, his face a mixed expression between happiness, sadness, and some confusion, even.
"It's okay, Shou—"
"Please don't always act like it's okay," Todoroki whimpered, hung his head. "It's not okay. It's not okay what I did to you."
"But it's okay now," Midoriya countered gently, his hand drifting up to push the stray strands of hair away from Todoroki's face.
"I'll make it up to you," Todoroki insisted.
"You don't have to."
"Let me do this, Izuku."
And Todoroki did. He packed Midoriya's bags for him, despite Midoriya insisting he wanted to help; when they loaded back onto the bus, Todoroki carried their bags; he let Midoriya have the window seat (again); he even let Midoriya pick the music for the ride back. Most of the class didn't sleep on the trip back this time like they did on the way there (they left about mid-morning, with Mineta holding up their departure once again to use the bathroom), but Midoriya and Todoroki fell asleep against each other quite quickly, despite the chatter of their classmates around them.
They didn't part ways immediately afterwards. When they arrived back to campus, Midoriya and Todoroki took a walk together, their bags left in All Might's car while All Might and Aizawa reviewed some documents (or something – neither of them quite cared enough to listen intently). The sky had darkened with the onslaught of rain, but even as the first few drops fell on their shoulders they continued together, laughing and talking and enjoying one another's company in the summer storm. Only when it became thick enough that Midoriya couldn't see very far ahead, and the sound of thunder boomed in the distance, did they return to All Might's car, soaking wet and laughing even more when All Might muttered something about getting his back seat all wet.
"Shouto can steam us off," Midoriya said, nudged his arm into Todoroki's shoulder. Like old times. "Right, Shouto?"
"Sure," Todoroki agreed.
The car ride itself was unceremonious, with little conversation aside from All Might asking where they wanted to go for lunch. By then, Midoriya and Todoroki were ridiculously hungry – both had skipped breakfast over similar circumstances – and settling on a place to eat really didn't take more than thirty seconds ("Anywhere with edible food is fine with me," Todoroki said, and Midoriya agreed). They ended up at the first noodle shop they found, seated in the far corner during the tail end of a lunch rush.
"Sir," Todoroki began just after ordering, "did my sister say why she was unable to pick me up today?"
"Oh, I told her I'd take you home," All Might waved dismissively. "I needed to talk to the two of you."
A pit settled in Midoriya's stomach almost immediately. He recalled his conversation about Todoroki just after their summer break started, and with a fearful smile he painfully awaited some sort of birds-and-the-bees talk, or something.
"I have an offer," All Might announced proudly, startling Midoriya out of his downwards spiral.
"An offer?" Todoroki repeated, certainly not as afraid as Midoriya appeared to be. He glanced idly at his partner, wondering what could be going through his head.
"It's been a bit of a secret," he said in a quieter tone, "but I've used some of my hero funds to put together an agency for U.A. students and alumni, and I want to offer you two positions."
"Sir—" Midoriya started, but Todoroki cut him off.
"Why us?" he asked, a little skeptically. "We're not the top students in the class."
"Maybe not with your classroom grades accounted for on the same level as your practical grades," All Might replied with a small shrug, "but your practical scores are the top of the class, by far. Aside from Young Bakugou just below Young Midoriya," All Might gave a short laugh at that.
"But sir, I'm still technically recovering," Midoriya countered worriedly.
"I'd like you to begin in the fall," All Might replied seriously. "By then, you should be fully recovered with ample time to rebuild the strength in your left arm."
Midoriya and Todoroki exchanged looks. "Why not just one of us?" Todoroki asked finally.
"Well, Young Midoriya told me you two barely need to talk to each other to understand each other," All Might replied with a small glint in his eyes. "I trust you two know how to partner together on hero missions."
It took a bit more convincing for Midoriya to finally recognize the offer as legitimate – somehow he'd reverted back to his Quirkless mindset of things like pro hero jobs being jokes to someone like him. Todoroki agreed only on the term that he and Midoriya would work together; he claimed to All Might it was because they knew each other better than anyone else, but really it was mostly so he could keep an eye on Midoriya. They both knew, as well as most of Class 1-A, that Midoriya wasn't one to admit weakness when he'd spent so long being confronted with his own Quirklessness.
"I have contracts for the two of you to sign when we go back to school," All Might said with that charming grin of his, somehow the only heroic physical feature he managed to retain. "You have until then to reconsider, but the position pays well and you'll be guaranteed a job when you graduate from U.A."
Three Years Later
"Shouto!"
"Izuku, the pancakes are burnt—"
"Throw them out, we'll grab breakfast on the way. Jesus, we're already late…"
Midoriya and Todoroki rushed through their apartment, one going one way, the other going the complete opposite way. One of Midoriya's shoes dangled from his hand while he desperately searched for the other, and Todoroki tried to scrape burnt pancakes from the pan into the garbage. There was smoke in the kitchen, but Midoriya flicked a finger at it and dissipated it – as well as ruined Todoroki's carefully-brushed hair. "I wish you wouldn't do that," Todoroki griped.
Midoriya found his other red shoe underneath their coffee table and grabbed it, not bothering to put it on his foot while he and Todoroki rushed down the steps of the apartment complex. He pecked a kiss on Todoroki's cheek just as they clambered into the car, and Todoroki took off towards their agency building downtown while Midoriya forced his shoes onto his feet in the passenger seat.
As promised, they stopped for breakfast on the way – in the drive-thru so they didn't face the wrath of the paparazzi. Still, Todoroki's hair gave away their secrecy nearly immediately, when the woman handing them their breakfast squealed and dropped it and rushed to remake it. She included two extra muffins for the trouble.
"You should let me drive, Shouto," Midoriya murmured with a click of his tongue as he dug out his breakfast sandwich.
"It wouldn't be any better," Todoroki argued. "Do you know any other top-ten heroes with green, curly hair like yours?"
"But when I pull it into pigtails you can't even tell who I am!"
"Yeah, people will just think you're four."
"That hurts, Shouto!" Midoriya puffed his lip into a pout, obviously asking for a kiss, and Todoroki was never one to deny Midoriya anything. He leaned over at a stoplight and kissed the silly pout off his boyfriend's lips.
They pulled up to the agency shortly thereafter. "Izuku, your tie," Todoroki murmured as they stepped out of the car into the empty parking garage. Todoroki scanned the area; he saw Bakugou and Kirishima's car just a little ways away, sighed quietly to himself. Their wing of the building always tended to be uncomfortably loud when Kirishima and Bakugou were in the office.
"Can you fix it, Shouto?" Midoriya asked sweetly. Todoroki had shown him a dozen times by now how to tie his tie, but still Midoriya seemed perfectly content letting Todoroki do it, and if Todoroki was truly honest with himself, he'd prefer to do it himself, too. He grabbed the tie – split down the middle, red and white, some novelty tie he'd ordered and waited a month to arrive. He supposed he couldn't complain though, considering his own tie was kelly green like Midoriya's hair.
They walked up the stairs of the parking garage and to the main level of the building, pinkies intertwined and swaying gently between them. In Todoroki's free hand he held his own breakfast, while Midoriya carried their coffees – plus two for Bakugou and Kirishima – in a drink carrier. They passed by Kaminari's office on the way up, door ajar and room empty. One of the walls had built-in bookshelves, like most of the offices on this floor did, but rather than books Kaminari's were occupied by fun miniature figures of each of the heroes at the agency. Jirou's looked especially accurate, Midoriya always thought, but his figure made his hair look more like broccoli than he'd have liked.
Tokoyami was in the office already. He greeted Todoroki and Midoriya with a curt nod and a quick "Good morning." Ochaco and Iida's adjacent office doors were still closed, with a sign on either saying they'd be back in next week. They were vacationing in South America. God, Midoriya wished he and Todoroki had that kind of time.
Monoma and Shinsou chatted idly with each other on the plush loveseat outside Mirio's office. "Oh, look who's here," Monoma cooed condescendingly. Shinsou rolled his eyes, shook his head a little.
"Morning!" Midoriya chirped with a quick wave. Todoroki nodded to each of them.
His and Todoroki's offices were directly across the hall from Bakugou and Kirishima's shared office. The door was cracked open, but Midoriya knew better than to welcome himself inside without knocking; he'd learned that the hard way a little over a month ago, accidentally walked in on something that certainly should have been reported to HR. And, well, had it been anyone else Midoriya probably would have. Instead he had turned on his heel and walked away, vowed to forget it happened.
He knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Kirishima asked.
"Coffee delivery!"
"What took so damn long?" Bakugou barked as Midoriya pushed open the door, but he had a small smile on his face.
"Thanks, Izuku," Kirishima said with a soft sigh. They sat on the gray sectional in the center of the office, perfectly across from their L-shaped desk. Midoriya remembered the argument between All Might and them while he tried to convince them to work in different offices – he was mostly concerned they'd argue all day and not get any work done – but he found shortly thereafter that they were quite productive when they worked together like this.
Most of Class 1-A (most of the students who graduated from U.A. in the past three years, really) were picked up by the All Might Agency either during schooling or shortly after graduation. There were six branches already, though Midoriya and Todoroki were lucky enough to be in on the ground floor and therefore worked at the main branch closest to U.A. Occasionally their work would include being called in to the U.A. campus for impromptu training sessions with incoming students, and Midoriya wouldn't lie – it was nice to be on campus again, sparring with Todoroki by his side. They were pro heroes, but sometimes they went up against some strong students, and each time they got cornered – well, that was when they used some of their special moves.
In their second and third years at U.A., there was a heavier emphasis placed on teamwork. Many of the students worked together to draft their own special moves that utilized each other's Quirks in a way to make them practically unstoppable; but Midoriya and Todoroki took that to a new level, and everyone knew it. Being so unstoppable, though, also meant they were the most highly requested heroes at the main branch of All Might Agency, which got tiring sometimes. They often got home late and collapsed together on the couch, falling asleep before one of them could suggest dinner or a bath.
Though some of Class 1-A worked at the other smaller branches, Midoriya and Todoroki still made an effort to visit when they got called into town. They had gone just the week prior to see Tsuyu and Koda at the naval branch of the agency, and together the four of them had dinner out by the water. Often times the Class 1-A students at the main branch (now labeled as Floor 1-A) plus Monoma, Shinsou, and Mirio gathered at one another's apartments once a month for game nights and movie nights, though everyone agreed that Iida and Ochaco were the best hosts because they had two kittens that everyone enjoyed playing with. For some reason, they always managed to plant themselves directly in Todoroki's lap.
"Izuku, that meeting," Todoroki startled him out of his reminiscing.
"Ah, right!" Midoriya bowed his head quickly, then turned and bade goodbye to Bakugou and Kirishima. Together he and Todoroki got on the elevator to the top floor – All Might did always like to be on top, after all – and stepped into his penthouse suite of an office.
There were posters of each of the heroes at the agency lining the hall to his office. Midoriya's and Todoroki's were just past Mirio and Tamaki's, and following them were Bakugou and Kirishima. Todoroki knocked while Midoriya stared in awe; he'd seen them a million times before, but still somehow they always managed to take him off guard.
"Come in!" All Might's voice bellowed.
Inside the office was an ornamental waterfall fountain, in front of which All Might's desk sat. There was a wall of windows, a spiral staircase to a balcony with walls of bookshelves. More posters hung on the walls in here, ones with plaques underneath to honor the memory of heroes that had died on duty. Luckily, this wall was much smaller, but it still pained Midoriya to see Night Eye's and Grand Torino's smiling faces watching over the office.
All Might looked up from his desk and smiled. "Ah, good morning Young Midoriya, Young Todoroki! How are you today?"
"Good," Midoriya felt a twinge of annoyance with the small talk. Usually All Might didn't bother with such things. "What's the problem, sir?"
"I have a very important mission for the two of you."
"What is it, sir?" Todoroki chimed as he and Midoriya sat on the loveseat across from All Might's desk.
"I need you two to take a vacation!"
They startled, looked to each other in confusion. "Huh?" Midoriya said first, followed by Todoroki echoing his concerns.
"Starting next week," All Might stood, "you will be on vacation for two weeks. I'll require your work phones and laptops before you leave."
"Is that such a good idea?" Todoroki asked quietly. "If anyone found out we took a vacation—"
"Young Bakugou and Young Kirishima have it covered," All Might interrupted. "Please, for everyone's sanity. You two have been with this agency as long as Young Tamaki and Young Mirio, and they take breaks quite often."
"To be fair, sir, Mirio doesn't have a Quirk."
"W-well, they're working on it!" Midoriya added, as if it mattered in this particular discussion.
"So, it's settled!" All Might clapped his hands together, but nothing had quite been settled. At least, not from Midoriya and Todoroki's perspective. "I expect you'll take two weeks off. Go travel the world, or something! Haven't you always wanted to visit the American U.A. campus, Young Midoriya?"
"W-well, yes," Midoriya stuttered out, "but sir! You're asking us to plan a whole vacation for the next two weeks and you're only giving us four days to do it!"
"The number one and two heroes will figure it out, I'm sure," he waved nonchalantly. "That's all! Please wrap up as much work as you can this morning so you can plan a vacation this afternoon." He stood and ushered them to the door as quickly as possible, leaving Midoriya and Todoroki especially confused.
When they were out in the hallway, All Might's door slammed behind them, they turned to face each other. They blinked a few times, trying to process what had just happened.
"Well," Todoroki sighed finally, "where do you want to go on vacation?"