Notes: Thanks for the favs/follows/reviews you guys! Only one more chapter after this one!

Shouto gets cleared for work.

He returns to his father's agency with a letter in hand and nervous energy aching his bones, something that makes him feel slightly sick. The unease grows when he notices the cleared desk opposite his, the space Yaoyorozu had once kept, now blank and devoid of human interaction.

Still, Shouto pulls out his chair, sits and takes a moment to think.

Between him and Yaoyorozu, it is possible for them to run their own agency. And if his friend can promise him workers, then Shouto can run the risk of stepping out from Endeavour's shadow, whether he gets a good response or not.

Okay, Shouto thinks, and he glances at the papers on his desk, all important paperwork that he won't be completing. I just need to go into his office, and give him the notice.

Working as a hero is difficult. Not because of the villains – fight enough and eventually workers will fall into rhythm with their colleagues – but because of the rules wrapped around it. While they were teaching Shouto about heroism at U.A, Endeavour had been teaching him about legislation.

And part of working for Endeavour's hero agency means signing a noncompete disclosure at the beginning, stating if they leave, they cannot work as heroes for at least a month following their resignation.

Shouto takes a moment to think – most heroes wouldn't leave Endeavour's agency purely because of the contract they're bound to. Mainly because if you leave one agency, you need to sign on to another quickly, or risk not getting a job at any.

So, together Shouto and Yaoyorozu will be restricted for a month. They'll have to use that month to find an office to work out of, to come up with suitable funds and to run the agency through the HN – the hero network – to become a legitimate agency.

A month should be plenty of time to set up the basics.

"Alright," Shouto nods his head, pushes out from his desk, and makes his way to Endeavour's office. He tries to seem calm, thinks of Yaoyorozu and Midoriya – both trying to offer him help – and knocks on the door. "I can do this."

The booming 'come in' spurs him forwards.

Shouto pushes forward, pushes the door open with tense shoulders, his resignation letter in his hand. He closes the door behind him, glances at his father. There's a distinct lack of flames – as much as his father uses his quirk, the man can't exactly fill out paper work when he's burning everything to a crisp.

"Shouto," Endeavour says, and he doesn't look pleased to see him, but there is something in his eyes that seems… Proud isn't quite the word, more accomplished, glad to have created something that will outshine even All-Might.

Well maybe he will, Shouto thinks, but it will be on his terms.

"What do you want?" Endeavour says, and he's frowning, but that's only because it's his everyday expression. Shouto gives him exactly half a minute, before he starts outright glaring.

"I wanted to hand you this." He passes the letter towards his father, trying not to let the man's expression deter him. "It's a letter of resignation."

"You're not resigning," Endeavour says, and he doesn't even look at the letter before flames envelop it, flaking away into ashes as he lets it drop into his bin. Shouto puts his hands in his pockets, readies himself for whatever lecture he receives. "You're going to work to the plan I created you for."

"I'm not working here anymore."

A scowl. "No other hero agency will take you when I'm through with you. You'll work here, and you'll best All-Might, do you understand?"

Shouto shakes his head. "I will become the best hero, but only on my terms. Not yours."

He reaches into his jacket pocket, pulls out a second envelope, and slams it onto Endeavour's desk. He takes a moment to stare his father in the eyes, a sign of defiance, before turning his back on the man.

"The letter is a formality, father." Shouto says, "you can burn this one too, but I'm leaving either way."

And with that, Shouto leaves his father's agency behind.

"So, you and Yaoyorozu are starting your own agency?" Midoriya says, the following week when they meet up for lunch. It's their first interaction as friends, so they've settled on doing something simple – eating food.

They're sat in a restaurant just around the road from Midoriya's clinic. It's a nice area, although the server does wink at the doctor as if their lunch is something more than just lunch.

"Yeah," Shouto nods, as he takes a sip of water. "We've got the permissions to open the hero agency, we're just looking for the offices now."

Midoriya tilts his head. Chews on soba noodles as he thinks – he's got this habit, Shouto's realised, of scrunching his nose every time he's pondering something. That, and the muttering.

"There are some buildings on sale across from the clinic," Midoriya says, after a moment. "they've just finished rebuilding them, following a villain attack in the area a few months back."

Shouto chews on his own soba noodles, takes the information in stride. He'll have to mention it to Yaoyorozu, because it is a rather reputable area and near enough to the main districts that seem to be overwhelmed with crime – Shibuya and Shinjuku.

"I'll mention it to Yaoyorozu," Shouto responds, and he crosses his arms, "she's a little bit tense because we've not made much leeway yet."

Midoriya hums. "And you, aren't you nervous about this?"

Shouto shakes his head 'no'. He says, "there's not much we can do until our noncompete ends. Until then, we can relax on finding the location and setting up the business end."

The doctor smiles, "you can admit you're a little excited about it, you know."

"I'm not-" Shouto breaks off at the playful grin he receives, takes a bite of his noodles. "Okay, I guess maybe I'm a little bit excited."

"I knew it!" Midoriya cheers. "You look happier today, so I just knew you're excited about this agency!"

Shouto offers him a smile.

"Across the street from Midoriya's clinic?" Yaoyorozu's expression is contemplative, and she takes a moment to think it over before nodding her head. "Even if we don't choose it, we can always just look at the offices and see how much it'd cost to rent the space."

Shouto nods his head. They're both sat inside his apartment, sat in his living room, each on opposite ends of his couch. Yaoyorozu has a notepad in her lap, from where she's sat cross-legged, and she's been writing what they need to do for the agency for the past thirty minutes.

"We'll need to get a rough estimate what we can afford," Shouto says, and he's scrolling at various other buildings and their estimated prices. "So, we should visit the bank before we check out any offices."

"I'll book an appointment then," Yaoyorozu says, leaning towards the table to grab her phone. As she flicks through it, readying the call, she says, "and as soon as we've got an office, we can tell the others."

The others… Shouto isn't sure what it's going to be like running an agency filled with his old classmates, but there's unease at that. He'd never really talked to them much, hadn't made the same bonds that Yaoyorozu had…

He leaves her to the call, glances at the message that pops up on his phone. Midoriya – questioning whether he's actually eaten lunch today, or whether he needs to drag him out for tempura.

Tempura sounds nice, Shouto thinks, but he does also need to be polite and he can't exactly leave Yaoyorozu behind.

"They put me on hold," Yaoyorozu sighs, glancing at her phone. Then, raising an eyebrow, "you're frowning at your phone."

He is. Shouto's beginning to wonder when he became so expressive – he's not usually like this.

"I've been invited to lunch," Shouto says, by way of explanation. "I'm wondering how to decline without seeming rude."

"Oh, I see." Yaoyorozu nods her head, pauses, and now her eyebrows raise even higher. "Wait, lunch with… Midoriya right?" She doesn't give Shouto a chance to respond, it must show on his expression, "that's the second time this week."

Shouto crosses his arms. He says, "what's wrong with that."

"Nothing," Yaoyorozu says, and she places her phone back to her ear, sighs as she realises she's still on hold. "It's just, twice in a week seems less like friendship, and more like courtship."

"It's not like that-"

Yaoyorozu stands, grabs her messenger bag from the side of the couch, shoving her notebook inside. She offers Shouto a smile, "I've got some errands I need to fill out anyway, go enjoy your friend lunch, and I'll text you the time for the bank, okay?"

"I said it's not like that Yaoyo-" Shouto narrows his eyes, "stop giving me that expression. Stop it."

She does not stop. If anything, Yaoyorozu's smile is bright as she throws her bag over her shoulder, waltzing out of the door with a lazy wave. "All right, all right. I'll give it a rest. See you later."

Shouto doesn't have much time to respond to her leaving – his door is closed with a click, before he can even stand himself. It's all extremely abrupt, and he finds himself staring after Yaoyorozu even though she's gone.

"Huh," Shouto mutters, before turning back to his phone.

'Tempura sounds good,' he texts Midoriya, and tries to level the blush that Yaoyorozu has forced to his cheeks.

"So where exactly does the nickname Kacchan come from anyway?" Shouto asks. The two of them aren't eating lunch this time, but they are shopping. Or rather – Midoriya's shopping, and Shouto holding the man's basket as he checks vegetables to make sure they're good.

"Oh, it's just a play on the fact that Kacchan's first name is Katsuki. That's all." Midoriya says, placing some lentils into the basket. He bites at his lip, "are you sure you don't want me to take that?"

"It's fine," Shouto says. He's not really sure how they've got to doing this, but Shouto had been in the area after Yaoyorozu and he had looked at the offices – it's a nice space, Shouto favours it out of all the one's they've viewed – and when he'd popped his head in the clinic, Midoriya had been on his way out for the evening.

Midoriya gives him a look, which Shouto's pretty sure is distrust for his basket holding skills. He offers a wounded expression in response.

"Just pick up your vegetables," Shouto says when the man doesn't say anything. And Midoriya huffs out a sigh, before turning away to grab carrots and potatoes, muttering under his breath as he does so.

"Why're you getting so much anyway?" Shouto asks as they make their way over to the discount meats, the evening sale rife, "you live alone, right?"

Midoriya nods. "My mother comes over for dinner once a month, so I'm making sure I've got enough ingredients for dinner."

"This is a bit… much for just two people, isn't it?" Shouto asks, as Midoriya places pork in basket. He follows the doctor down the aisle as they make their way to the check out. At this point, when Midoriya asks for the basket back, Shouto hands it over.

"Oh yeah, All-Might is coming over as well," Midoriya says, placing items onto the conveyor belt. He says it like it's an afterthought, as if he's talking about just another guest and not the number one hero in the world. Who does that?

"Right," Shouto mutters, watching the man bag his items up.

"Plus, I always like having a little left over, I'll take it in to work so I don't need to worry about lunch the next morning."

Like with their previous conversations, he offers little in way of explanation for his connection to All-Might. Shouto finds himself thinking about it, even as Midoriya pays for his groceries, even when the two of them leave, making their way towards the train station.

"So…" Shouto asks when they're waiting for the next train, "how exactly do you know All-Might?"

Midoriya turns to him, offers a small grin. He leans back against the wall, glancing at other workers done for the day. Shouto tries to avoid the looks of random civilians, fails, and decides that it's just one of those things he's got to deal with as a hero.

"Oh, is that why you've been stuck in thought during our walk?" Midoriya offers a short laugh, grins. "Well… All-Might saved me from a villain when I was a teenager, how else was I supposed to meet the number one hero, right?"

Shouto raises his eyebrow. All-Might had saved thousands… no, hundreds of thousands of civilians. And Midoriya had left a lasting image? Well… Midoriya does have a way of being memorable, Shouto finds himself thinking of the man a lot.

"I asked him if he thought I could become a hero, even though…" He pauses, scratches at his cheek as they redden, his shoulders curling inwards with embarrassment, "even though I'm quirkless."

Quirkless?

The doctor had never given an indication that he'd be… not that Shouto particularly cares either way, Midoriya's amazing whether he's got one or not. But, why's he embarrassed about not having one? It's not…

"And…?"

"And All-Might was the first person to tell me no," Midoriya offers the faint crackle of a laugh. "I was determined to prove him wrong, you know? So I taught myself first aid, and every time there was a villain attack I made sure I was there to help the injured. Civilians, heroes and villains. Anyone who needed it."

"You wanted to become a hero," Shouto mutters, and Midoriya looks at him, almost guiltily. As if he thinks it was a stupid dream to have. Shouto offers him another awkward smile, "I can imagine it."

Midoriya's smile brightens. "Really?"

Shouto nods.

"Sometimes I wish I'd tried regardless," Midoriya continues, and they step forward as their train comes into the station, smiling at one another as they wait for people to exit through the doors. "But, then I remember I only wanted to be a hero to help people – and I can do plenty of that as a doctor."

"Wait…" Shouto says as they pile through the doors – there are no seats available, so they lean by the side of the doors, trying to keep their balance as the train starts to move. "But how did that lead to All-Might becoming a frequent dinner guest?"

Midoriya laughs, "he got used to seeing me patch up the people he saved. Eventually he suggested I go to medical school, so my showing up at villain attack sites would be official."

They choose to use the offices opposite Midoriya's clinic.

Shouto is glad, and after the first payment, he and Yaoyorozu step inside the vacant rooms, summing up the equipment they need to buy. They'll need desks – obviously – and computers and all of the other things that make an office an office.

There some rooms they can use as locker rooms, for heroes to change in and out of their costumes, and they'll have to fill those, although the lockers themselves shouldn't be too expensive.

And… well – they won't need a doctor on sight, seeing as Midoriya's clinic is right across the room. They'll have to get in contact with a psychologist for the agency though, to ensure they fulfill the requirements set for heroes. What else… the break room will need to be furnished, but there's not too much.

Well – there's a lot they need to do, but looking through a catalogue for everything they need isn't too difficult. In fact, with Yaoyorozu's notebook and a few hours rechecking they've got everything they need, they call up and make an order on the furniture they need.

There's a wait – there's always a wait – but it means they're actually doing this. They're starting their own agency.

"I'll let the others know that we've got an agency we can run," Yaoyorozu says over the phone, once they're home for the evening. "And they'll be able to prepare their resignation letters, if they want to move to us."

"Yeah," Shouto says, "okay. It'll take a while for their resignation letters to go through anyway. Tell them they can do a straight transfer if it's easier."

Yaoyorozu hums agreement.

Shouto goes to sleep wondering which classmates from U.A he'll be working alongside, when his agency officially opens.

"Let's work well together, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu!" Uraraka says when she steps over the threshold into the newly furnished agency. She's in civilian clothes, having brought a backpack with her, her hero outfits no doubt folded inside.

She bounces with a slight excitement as she moves, offers them both a nervous smile as Yaoyorozu shows her to her new desk.

"We've had a technician in," Yaoyorozu says, and Shouto snorts at the memory of waiting around for hours as they'd tried to create a cloud system for the agency which wouldn't cause errors for everyone if one computer gained an error, "so your account is all set up. It'll ask you to change your password when you log in, but for now it's your birth date okay?"

"Yep! Thanks, you guys," Uraraka says, and she falls into her chair, tapping against her keyboard, eager to get set up. "I was starting to get so tired of working crappy hours, you know?"

"If you want to talk bad hours," Yaoyorozu says, as both she and Shouto make their way over to their own desks – not in separate offices, after so long of working in a communal space, it'd be almost… wrong they've decided – "then you should ask about what Todoroki worked, seriously."

Shouto glances at her, offers a half-hearted glare and says, "it wasn't too bad."

"What did you work?" Uraraka asks, and she raises an eyebrow, curious. Her expression is open, as if to say 'I'll-be-the-judge-of-that'.

"I'd get in for six," Shouto says as he unlocks his own computer, "and I'd go home around midnight."

Yaoyorozu stage-whispers, "workaholic."

The day continues, and more heroes make their way in through the doors.

Tsuyu is seated opposite Uraraka, and the two wave hello to one another and ask about previous trips they'd gone on together. Shouto gives the standard greeting, although both of his new colleagues seem a little awkward around him compared to with everyone else.

Not that Shouto can particularly blame them.

He'd always been standoffish in school, and he can't blame them for not being comfortable with him due to it.

Kirishima enters the agency at eight, claims he'd gotten lost, but ultimately readying himself for the day. He's slowly followed by Kaminari, and then Jiro. That leads them to a full agency, and Shouto readies himself for his first day.

They're nearing the end of their scheduled work day – Shouto knows he'll probably end up staying a little later, just so he can finish his paperwork up before the next load tomorrow – when Midoriya enters.

He waves to the other heroes as he steps inside, gaining loud responses, (how many patients from Shouto's U.A class is he treating?), before making his way up to Shouto's desk.

He stops in front of his desk, and offers Shouto a bright smile.

"Look at this place," Midoriya says, and Shouto is almost glad when Yaoyorozu starts talking to Uraraka and Tsuyu because then the conversation isn't something he needs to share with the agency. "It's amazing."

"You think?" Shouto says, although he thinks it's a nice agency as well. Midoriya offers him a nod. "It's thanks to Yaoyorozu and you, I guess. So… thanks."

Midoriya flushes. "I didn't do anything."

Shouto signs a piece of paperwork, places it in a file that he'll have to sort away later, before giving his full attention to Midoriya. He gives him a smile – a true one, because he doesn't feel like faking smiles around the doctor – and says, "I look after myself a little better thanks to you."

"Maybe I helped a little then." He receives a smile that feels almost like sunshine. "But I did pop over for a reason."

Shouto waves a hand, tells him to go for it.

"Well," Midoriya flushes again, "you were asking about All-Might, so I was wondering if you wanted to be a guest to my next family dinner. He'll be there, so you'll be able to talk to him if you want."

Eyes widening, Shouto realises that he has never been invited to a family dinner. Not even his own. He realises this in about the same time it takes for him to accept, a hesitant 'yeah, okay', slipping from his lips.

"Great," Midoriya says, and he claps his hands together. He looks more confident now that Shouto's accepted, and his smile is blinding. "I'll text you the details then, and oh, are we still on for lunch tomorrow, I was thinking of getting some soba-"

"I'm always available for soba noodles," Shouto says, "tomorrow sounds good."

"Okay," Midoriya says, "well, I'll meet you outside tomorrow for lunch then, I guess that's all I needed. I'm calling it for the evening now, you're not going to overwork yourself, are you?"

Shouto thinks of his previous plans to stay back and thinks that it's not urgent, and that if he heads into work a little earlier, it should be fine. He shakes his head.

"I'm finishing up now," Shouto says, although he'd not been planning on it. "In about five minutes, I guess."

The doctor grins. "Five minutes… I'll catch the train with you then. I've got to grab something from my office, but let's leave together, alright?"

Shouto nods.

And with a flurry of movement, Midoriya is out of the door, waving goodbye to everyone. Shouto watches him leave, before turning back to answer the final email he actually needs to respond to.

When he looks up, Yaoyorozu is giving him the look again. There is a smirk on his face.

"Stop it," Shouto says, his fingers tapping against his keyboard as he tries desperately not to focus on the expression she is sending him. He sends the email off and realises that it's impossible.

"I came for a new job," Uraraka mutters after a moment, "I think I'm going to stay for the romance I've just seen."

Shouto logs off from his computer, pushes away from his chair. Then, grabbing his jacket, he slips it on, offering Uraraka the most intense glare he can muster – it isn't much.

"You and Midoriya dude," Kirishima says, and he raises an eyebrow of his own. "Isn't he your doctor though?"

"Not anymore," Yaoyorozu hums, raising her hands in surrender when he glances back at her.

"It's not like that," Shouto mutters as zips his jacket up, grabbing a few files to work on at home. His cheeks are dusted a light pink. "I'm heading home for the evening though."

Kaminari offers him a thumbs up.

Shouto tells them all to shut up.

Dinner at Midoriya's is… eventful to say the least.

Shouto isn't exactly sure what he's expecting when he steps inside, swapping shoes for guest slippers, but it's not for a woman to bombard him with questions and affection. Midoriya stands by with a faint smile as his mother – 'call me Inko, please, a friend of Izuku's is a friend of mine' – pulls him into the kitchen.

The kitchen, where All-Might is stood.

He looks skinnier now, deathly pale, but still like the man Shouto remembers teaching him at U.A high. And he offers Shouto a warm greeting as he steps inside.

"Ah, Todoroki-" All-Might says, and Midoriya moves inside, making his way towards the curry he'd been cooking, arguing with his mother about whether they should add more salt. "It's been a long time."

"Er…" Shouto isn't sure what to say, "it has."

"Young Izuku tells me that you're running your own agency now," All-Might says, and Shouto nods, "I remember when I ran mine. It's a nice atmosphere don't you think? I enjoyed it a lot."

"It's a change of pace," Todoroki says, and glances towards Midoriya, who's lost the battle against his mother and is now adding more salt into the curry huffing out a sigh. The doctor turns to Shouto, having noticed him looking and beckons him forward, something that forces him to excuse himself from All-Might.

"Come taste this," Midoriya says, "and tell me it doesn't need any more salt."

"Oh, ignore Izuku honey," Inko says, although she too urges him to try the curry sauce, something that Shouto does almost hesitantly. "it obviously needs more salt."

"I've put more salt in," Midoriya sighs. "Don't put too much in, mum it's unhealthy. What do you think Todoroki?"

Shouto glances to All-Might, and feels disbelief pulse through his blood as the number one hero shrugs his shoulders, offering an expression that shows that he might as well answer, because he's not going to find a way to get out of it.

"It tastes good." Shouto replies.

"You don't think we should put more salt in," Inko says, offering a look of pure dejection, "don't put any more salt in then Izuku."

"I'm sure it'd taste good with more salt in as well," Shouto says, and generally feels helpless when Midoriya sends him his own dejected expression – you want more salt? – "I'm sure it'd taste amazing either way, if Midoriya's cooking it."

Midoriya puffs his chest out at that, and his mother smiles as well, as if she knows some sort of secret that Shouto doesn't. And he says, "see – Todoroki likes my cooking, so the salt concentration is going to be low, okay?"

"Fine, fine," Inko says, although she's smiling. She looks at All-Might, offers him a smile. "Does anyone want some tea?"

Shouto accepts, watches Midoriya as Inko makes her way towards the kettle, preparing tea. And he comes to a realisation.

It shouldn't be as surprising as it is – because he'd semi-known – but it is. And it leaves Shouto blinking, cheeks tinged red as he looks at the floor.

Yaoyorozu was right.

He might be a little in love with Midoriya Izuku.

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