A/N: Thank you all so much for the favs and reviews! You motivate me to keep this going.
Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia, I do, however, own the world that I created.
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They fell into an easy pattern and a close friendship after that day. Shouto became the fourth in the weird little gang that was Izuku, Ochako, and Tenya. He slotted into that place like a puzzle piece; he had always belonged. The days morphed into weeks.
Two months after their mock battle, their professor was pushing them harder than before.
The digital target sizzled and disappeared. The wall around it glowed orange and the emergency sprinkler system activated, cooling the metal and drenching Todoroki. He panted, bent at the waist, clutching his knees. Aizawa sighed. "Shouto," he barked. "Are you trying to burn through the wall?"
"No sir," he flinched.
"Could'a fooled me. You melt a hole in your ship and your entire crew dies. You need more control. You unleash a blast like that in battle and not only will you destroy the environment around you, you'll most likely cause friendly fire."
Todoroki had heard this lecture already. Multiple times. And Aizawa was exhausted of telling him and Shouto was tired of hearing it. "I'm trying," he said through gritted teeth.
"Maybe get your dad to help you," his professor told him snarkily. It had the desired effect as Todoroki snarled and stormed out of training range. Aizawa watched him go, pinching the bridge of his nose between two long fingers.
He didn't expect Midoriya to speak up, "That was uncalled for." Though he was small, he stood at his full height and looked directly into their professor's eyes. He didn't break contact. They stared each other down for several tense moments.
"You're both assigned to extra cleaning duties this evening after dinner. Leave. Go tell Todoroki that his actions earned the detention." He pointed at the door.
Midoriya slung his bag over a shoulder. "Yes, sir."
But he was struggling to find Shouto even an hour later. He had checked through the dorms, the mess hall, the gymnasium. He briefly glanced at the equipment rooms where they stored their weapons under lock and key. No sign of him in the library either. He also hadn't responded to the message Midoriya had sent through ASHIR. With a sigh, Izuku resigned himself to doing double the chores, taking Shouto's task as well so he wouldn't get in even more trouble. With time to kill, he went to his favorite spot in the academy.
The Academy had been around for two hundred years. A space station orbiting the Earth. As a little boy, Izuki would sneak to the roof of his house and watch it zip across the sky. A beacon of hope. He was ten when his mom caught him and, rather than being mad, began to join her son during the Academy's loop. For a long time, he was positive that was the closest he'd ever get to the stars.
He'd been born natural, no biotechs of any sort. His dad left a long time ago. And his mom expunged enough money trying to keep them sheltered and fed. So, acquiring a biotech was unrealistic. A fantasy he kept to himself, playing in his dreams.
Still, he studied and worked harder in grade school than any of his peers. It paid off.
He ran, quite literally, into Admiral Toshinori Yagi one evening. Fate stitched them together forward.
His desire to explore the universe but the knowledge that he would never be able to is what made him fall in love with the observatory.
High upon the space station was a glass dome that viewed the stars. He spent a lot of his free time sitting up there, awed that he was actually in the Academy.
Midoriya silently clicked the door shut as he crept into the observatory. Strangely, he wasn't alone.
Leaning against the far window, forehead pressed into the glass, was his heterochromatic peer.
Todoroki sunk against the wall, weakly. His eyes were dry but tear tracks stained his cheeks. He hadn't noticed Midoriya come in until the boy was beside him. He dropped his bag to his side and sat next to Shouto, following his gaze into the abyss.
They were comfortable in one another's silence. The soft inhales and exhales of the purified—but strangely stale—air was enough of a conversation.
The Academy spun lazily through the sky for several minutes before Izuku broke the silence. "Want to study with me? Practice and spar?"
Shouto cocked his head. "Huh?" The noise was undignified coming from the Vice Admiral's son. "What?"
Izuku picked absently at a nail. "I need extra work learning my biotech… I still often hurt myself using it. And you need to practice with your fire. I thought we could work together." He spoke with his head down, green curls falling into his eyes. "Outside of class."
Todoroki attempted feebly to control his erratic heartbeat. His face ignited in a blush that he desperately tried to cool away using his ice. At least he isn't looking at me, he thought desperately as his ears burned. It was an innocent suggestion you complete moron, calm the fuck down Shouto. "I, uhm," please don't let my voice crack, please, please, "I think that could be very-" his voice hitched an octave as it cracked, and he wanted to strangle his own larynx. "—beneficial. To us both."
If Midoriya noticed the tremble in his voice or the sudden jump in pitch, he didn't acknowledge it. "Really?" He lifted his face up to meet Todoroki's with a brilliant smile.
Idly, Shouto wondered how anyone could admire the stars when Izuku's smile brought blinding rays into the universe. Much more special than a celestial body. "Yeah. I think we could learn from each other."
"That's great. Todoroki! I can invite Iida and Uraraka. We can make it a full-on study group!"
"N-no!" stammered Shouto. He cringed at himself. "I mean. I want as few people as possible around to risk getting burned by me."
Midoriya considered this a moment and then nodded. "Oh well. That makes sense. Just the two of us, then."
Just the two of us. Todoroki silenced his runaway brain.
"Oh, we have detention by the way."
"Fuck."
Todoroki and Midoriya stumbled up to the dorms several hours past curfew, drenched in sweat. Their bones ached. Their heads pounded with the residue of chemicals in the air. They'd cleaned several rooms from top to bottom, leaving nay a speck. They had run the filtration system into its quarterly reset—Izuku had hilariously fallen off the catwalk and destroyed a pair of uniform pants by crashing into the reservoir. And as much as Shouto had laughed, they both were sour at having to redo the entire reset again due to contamination. The second time around, Todoroki had Midoriya stay on solid ground as he navigated the catwalks.
Then they'd been tasked with pressing the dress blues of the officers that had stationed in the Academy. All one-hundred-and-forty-three of them.
Aizawa was seriously punishing Todoroki. He felt guilty for dragging Midoriya into it, but those green eyes sparkled delightedly as they conversed well into the night. So, it wasn't all bad.
Still, they could barely grunt farewells as they reached the corridor where they parted for separate dorms. "Thank God tomorrow is a rest day," huffed Shouto.
"Yeah. I think I'll sleep until noon."
"Screw that, I'll be in bed all day."
Midoriya shook his head weakly. "Nope. Gotta start our training tomorrow."
Shouto wanted to argue but his stomach did a little flip at the idea of more quality time with Izuku and he kept silent. They bumped their fists together as a final goodnight and each disappeared into their own rooms.
The morning came after Todoroki spent the majority of the night tossing and turning, waking frequently. "ASHIR, what time is it?"
"It is 09:47."
Shouto debated staying in bed, since Izuku said he would sleep until midday. But a grumble from his stomach convinced him that a trip to the cafeteria would be time better spent.
The mess hall was nearly empty, early risers having already eaten and everyone else probably still sleeping. A tuft of green hair out of the corner of his eye had Todoroki pausing and turning. Midoriya was sitting alone beside a view port, nursing a mug of coffee. His head was bent, fingers carding through locks of emerald.
Shouto smiled softly and gathered a pot of coffee, an extra mug, and two ridiculously large muffins. He balanced everything precariously with one arm as he slunk into the seat across from Izuku. Green eyes flashed up and Midoriya started, "Oh. Man. You scared me."
He had purple rings under his eyes from fatigue. "You didn't sleep well?" Todoroki asked, concerned.
"Nah. I just had a lot on my mind. No worries."
After a moment of consideration, Todoroki decided not to pry. Instead, he filled his friend's cup with a splash of hot coffee. The gratitude in Midoriya's eyes was prominent. "Got you a muffin, too."
"Thank you," Izuku said around a mouthful of crumbs.
The silence hung thick in the air for several minutes as they silently sipped at coffee. A couple of late risers began to stagger into the cafeteria, breaking the peace that had settled into the room. Two more pots of coffee and the two resembled fully functioning beings. "Alright. What's the plan?"
Izuku finished the dregs of his cup before replying, "Well. I think we should start with some warmup exercises, maybe some light biotech calibrating," he began to ramble off in murmurs and Todoroki watched with a small smile. "Oh. I'm sorry. I mutter to myself a lot."
"I think it's endearing."
Izuku visibly blushed. "You're one of the few." Not waiting for a reply, he grabbed Shouto around the wrist and practically dragged him out of the cafeteria.
"Uh. Midoriya. The training room is that way." Todoroki gestured back toward a hallway that they'd passed.
"Oh. I have special permission to use Admiral Yagi's private one."
Shouto balked, stumbling over his own two feet. Izuku had to stop and steady him. "What? How'd you manage that?"
Another world-shaking smile replied, "Oh, you know."
"No. I really don't," he grumbled but Midoriya had already taken off again. They rode the elevator up several floors and took numerous turns that left Todoroki dizzy and confused but eventually Izuku was having to stop at every doorway and scan his palm and irises. Shouto tried to regulate his breathing, at some point the green-haired menace had threaded their fingers together as he led them through hallway after hallway.
"Okay, here we are! ASHIR please assign Todoroki Shouto as my guest."
The robotic voice replied with, "Yes Midoriya."
"So. This is a more advanced field than the students have access to. So, the doorway is blocked by a stun wall. Scan your palm and your eyes and it should let you through."
"Wait, you want me to just trust that being your guest will let me in here?" Todoroki eyed the trap, now that he knew it was there, and saw that the invisible field ran from the door jamb up to the roof. "I don't particularly feel like getting thrown across the room and knocked unconscious." He wanted to keep protesting but as he turned and saw the dejection plastered over Izuku's face, he faltered. Fuck. You're gonna be the death of me. "Never mind, I trust you." Shouto scowled as he let the machine read his features. Right. Just walk forward. He straightened his spine and braced himself and then took a step through the doorway. It didn't react to him. A sigh of relief slipped from his lips.
Midoriya followed after him, impatiently bouncing on the balls of his feet as the machine scanned his palm.
All the newest and most advanced tech lined the walls from floor to ceiling. Metal that glistened off the artificial lights. Off the main room was an artificial-holo training field that could be programmed to simulate any environment and condition. A flight simulator sat in the corner. The farthest room had a sparring dojo, with optional target dummies.
"This is intense," Todoroki remarked casually. Midoriya grinned in response and pulled his shirt casually over his shoulders. Shouto felt the temperature increase tenfold. "Uh?"
"We're gonna spar, right? So, let's go." Izuku wrapped gauze and elastic tape around his hands and bounced back and forth, stretching his muscles with joints popping satisfactory.
Todoroki tried to focus on his stretches. His eyes desperately searching to land anywhere but on his best friend. He ran through some basic yoga and was in a swan pose when Midoriya sidled up to him, hand extended—there were the scars that his fire had made, nearly mangling the appendage. A tightness in his chest and a roil in his stomach. He frowned, opened his mouth to apologize—again—but Izuku stopped him with a brilliant smile. He wrapped his nimble fingers around Todoroki's forearm and pulled him to his feet. "Not one word." Shouto's brow knitted together. He activated his ice biotech, frost beginning to coil up his arm. "Todoroki. You have complete control of that tech. I want your fire."
He hesitated.
"You aren't going to hurt me, Shouto."
"You say that as if you're positive. I might burn you. I don't think I can do this."
"I trust you." Midoriya's green eyes pierced through him, cutting him open and baring his soul. "You aren't going to hurt me."
He is my downfall; Todoroki's thoughts swam through his head. I can't risk hurting him. Not again. And why does he smile like that. All the time.
He was so focused in his head that he lost the reality in front of him. Only when a flash of green sparked from the corner of his eye did he return to the present. Izuku had activated his biotech, and his body crackled with emerald lightning. Todoroki was not quite sure on the specifics of it. Midoriya grew faster and stronger, like a super hero in old Earthen comic books. Izuku was in the air, a kick aimed straight at Shouto's neck. In reflex, he blocked the attack with a wall of ice. It didn't slow the onslaught. Easily, Midoriya leapt over the glacier and was coming at him again.
They fought this way for some time, Midoriya a never-ending assault and Todoroki desperately blocking and fleeing. His lips began to turn blue. His movements were slowing. A well-placed kick sent him flying against the wall, the wind racked from his lungs.
Izuku didn't stop. As soon as Shouto was back on trembling legs, he pounced again. And again, his opponent was thrown against a wall, cracking his head on the metal. He tasted copper and felt the trickle of blood down his cheek.
It had been so long since he had been tossed around like a ragdoll. He had almost forgotten the helplessness of it. Eventually his ice was never enough and Enji would have his way, slamming his son around their home's dojo in waves of flame and pain.
But this was not Enji.
When he looked up into Izuku's eyes, he found them clouded with tears. The salty tracks left trails all the way down to his collar. Still, he sparked. When Todoroki stood, he charged him again. "Fight back," he choked. "Shouto. Fight back."
He raised his fist and Todoroki watched everything in slow motion. He felt the desperation of seeing Izuku cry and knowing he had caused those tears snap something inside him. Perhaps his heart. He couldn't be sure. But as Izuku came within range he reached his right hand out to meet his fist and with one final push of ice he parried the attack. And as Izuku moved to bring his other hand up, Todoroki ignited his left side. Fire licked up his arm and he threw it down, creating a ring around himself that blocked Midoriya out.
The warmth of his flames began to bring feeling back to his toes.
"There you are," Izuku sobbed, smiling wetly through his tears. Todoroki could see him through the wall of fire, grinning in relief as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "There you are, Shouto. Finally."
I'll hurt you either way. Either I'll burn you or I'll make you cry. I can't win.
"You aren't going to burn me, Shouto."
"I didn't mean to say that out loud." Todoroki pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep inhale of air. His temperature now being properly regulated, he could feel energy shifting back into his veins.
"Fight me, Todoroki!" Midoriya all but shouted at him as he leapt over the flames and aimed for Todoroki's left. He spun, using his fire to aid in his retreat and rooting Midoriya into place with a block of ice.
Izuku grinned and ripped through the ice like it was nothing but mesh cloth.
And they dueled. Dancing a duet that only they could hear the music to. Todoroki opened a little bit of himself to Midoriya and smiled. He laughed as Izuku slipped on a patch of ice and when Izuku managed to kick his legs out from under him and sent him collapsing to the floor. He snickered when Izuku's hair singed with smoke and frosted the locks like dew on cold morning grass. And Midoriya laughed with him. And that in itself was beautiful.
Everything happened too fast. Todoroki had a flame conjured in his palm when he felt time slow around him. He saw the figure behind Midoriya, a great hulking beast. A species that was actively at war with the U.P.A. How did it get here? A face that lacked eyes and nose. But a great gaping mouth, rows of fangs dripping with their venomous saliva. There wasn't time to shout, it was already raising its weapon. It's going to kill Midoriya!
Todoroki released the flame with a rage that boiled deep in his blood. The fire ball soared through the air, right over Izuku's shoulder. Close enough that it surely made his ear ring. His aim was precise, and his attack erupted into the monster.
The hologram disintegrated.
Todoroki fell to his knees; it took him several seconds to realize that he was crying. The tears burned with relief. Midoriya was by his side and the smaller boy had wrapped Shouto in his stronger arms, soothing. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Izuku was sobbing into his shoulder. "Yagi and Aizawa suggested it. They thought th-that if you thought I w-was in d-danger that you'd…"
The words sunk down into his bones and he wondered just how observant his professor was. Or perhaps he was just transparent. Oh. I just need something to fight for. He came to the realization as Midoriya fell into his usual mumbling madness.
Todoroki shook him gently, pushing him away and holding him still by the shoulders. His face was red and swollen, his eyes seemed even greener at such a close distance. His nose ran. "It worked," Shouto breathed, searching his friend's face for recognition.
Slowly, it came. Midoriya's tears stifled. "It worked? You aren't mad?"
"Oh, Izuku. No. I couldn't be mad at you if I tried." Todoroki smiled at the raw emotion in the air and pulled Midoriya into another hug before he lost his nerve and his adrenaline was gone. He pulled away and guided both to their feet. "Let's get to a med bay and make sure these bruises don't stick around, yeah?"
Midoriya grinned and nodded, grabbing his discarded shirt.
The next day, Todoroki obliterated the target dummy in a blast of fire and a chill of ice, using his two biotechs harmoniously to control each other. Aizawa watched with a condescending smirk that Shouto ignored, not favoring another detention. "Well done, Todoroki. Well done indeed."
After that day, Midoriya and Todoroki still regularly sparred together. They made a good team. Good partners. And if sometimes Todoroki lingered a little too long with his eyes or lost himself in a casual touch, well, no one ever mentioned it. Except his frantic heart.
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A/N: Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think and I'll see you soon for Chapter 3!