"So, uh," Izuku's breath puffed out in front of him in pale, wispy clouds, "has your family never went on a winter vacation before?"

Izuku and Shoto matched each other's leisurely pace on this flat cross-country section of the trail. They were alone now, in the quiet backwoods. Ashido had strong-armed Tokoyami into going on ahead with her, assuring him that Izuku had everything under control. Deku wondered if she really was that confident in his skills, or just bored out of her mind being stuck in a group of amateurs with her level of natural talent.

"Nope."

Todoroki answered with a finality that told Izuku his family probably didn't go on any spring, summer, or fall vacations, either. Weird. Everyone knew Todoroki's family was absolutely loaded, what with his dad being the number two Hero and all. It's not like they couldn't afford it ten times over. Maybe his family was always just busy? Shoto mentioned at school how he spent a lot of his time training. Izuku nudged closer to him, trying to catch Shoto's expression out of the corner of his eye. He looked… distracted; even a little lost.

"Huh."

"What do you mean 'huh' ?" Todoroki huffed. He made to pick up his pace and cut in front of Izuku to take the lead as their trail narrowed into a single-file path.

"Well," Izuku shrugged. "Do you like it?"

"Skiing?" Shoto glanced over his shoulder.

"Having fun!" Deku laughed. "You know, being outdoors!" he gestured his pole around to the dappled light pouring through tall pillars of spruce and hemlock. A few birds took flight from their wintery foraging, into the treetops. "Enjoying the sun! Being, like, connected to the ice and snow!"

"I think I'm starting to..." Todoroki nodded pensively. He ducked his head under the enormous fallen log crossing their path, brushing away a delicate fall of dripping icicles. Each one snapped with its own musical pitch and landed like shards of broken glass in the soft snow. "And, well, I've always felt connected to it. It's just that I've only ever used it-"

"Yeah," Izuku sighed as he hunched his own awkward way under the log. "You said. For fighting."

He saw the drop in Shoto's shoulders on the other side. Saw him clench his poles just a little bit tighter as his eyes followed the line of broken ice shards he'd just created.

"You are talented, you know," Izuku said, pausing, waiting to see if Todoroki would take the lead again. "Probably better than me."

"At killing. "

Was he- not proud of himself? This was the guy who almost won the sports tournament handicapping himself with only a fraction of his power. He was far and away one of the best students in their school. Anyone should be gloating about that fact. He was a hero! Or, maybe Izuku had spent too much time around Kacchan...

That low tone in his voice told him Todoroki didn't really want to keep on the subject, and Izuku racked his brain for a good transition as he kept pace behind his classmate. An extended conversation with Shoto Todoroki was a rare blessing, and Izuku desperately didn't want to lose him to an awkward silence.

"Yeah, but, like, have you thought about working your ice quirk into it? You know, skiing. I mean, really using it for motion, instead of just trying to, uh," He grinned sheepishly, "kill me with obstacles?"

Shoto clicked his tongue. "That's illegal, and you know it."

Spoilsport.

Good thing Izuku didn't believe him for a second. Coming from Iida? maybe. But after the USJ, Deku knew that Todoroki was absolutely ready and willing to bend the rules - when applicable. "Come on, dude," he prodded. "We're gonna be pros in a couple years. We need all the practice we can get. This isn't just a holiday, you know. Aizawa wants us learning on different terrain."

Shoto stopped himself on the lip of a small hill, practicing the foot techniques Izuku and Tokoyami had been showing him. He let Izuku catch up to him so they were shoulder to shoulder once more.

"It's difficult," he said, looking down at his feet, sliding his skis back and forth in their tracks. "I thought if I warmed them up slightly, it would melt the water underneath and create a low-friction barrier I could use to go faster."

"Hmm," Izuku nodded along, following Shoto's eyeline to the snow. Good idea. That could definitely be a great way to increase speed, especially on a downhill slope. "And?"

"My heat only comes out of the left side of my body." Shoto paused, and Izku saw a few lazy curls of steam wafting up from the bottom of his ski, causing it to slide diagonally on the unstable slope. "When I use it, my left ski slides ahead. And," he tried several times to retract his leg, to futile effect. Then Izuku saw a spike of ice erupt from Shoto's other foot. "If I use my ice to try to balance it out, my right side freezes up and gets stuck. And then by that point," he looked up at Izuku, halfway to the ground. "I'm just doing the splits."

He looked like a sad baby deer splayed out on a frozen pond. Izuku bit his tongue to keep from laughing. Hard. Stay behind todoroki, he told himself while Shoto scrambled to his feet and kicked off again. Don't make that pained coughing noise. Just keep moving. Spit. Pretend you're cool. He's not turning around.

"Anyway, I can use my ice to stop in an emergency-" Shoto continued, unperturbed.

"Which is what you've been doing, thanks. "

"I did say I was sorry," Shoto growled, whipping his pole behind him to flick snow at Izuku's face. But there was no hostility in his voice. It sounded almost playful, to Izuku's delight. "Honestly, It's just easier to not use it right now until I can get a better handle on the motion."

As the trees around them cleared out a bit more, and mid-morning sun poured down on them, Todoroki pushed himself ahead of Izuku, as if to make up for lost time. Izuku had to work to keep up with the guy who'd never been skiing before. His pace was strenuous, like he was trying to win at a game Izuku didn't know the rules to.

Todoroki added, after a long moment of silence, "If we were fighting, I feel like I'd know more of what to do."

"Sounds like snowboarding might suit you better."

"Yeah," Shoto sighed, "but I don't think I smoke nearly enough weed to fit the lifestyle."

That was it. Izuku lost it. No amount of tongue-biting hid that snort. Todoroki spun around to find Izuku leaning heavily against a sapling, clinging to his poles for dear life as his gut ached with loud, obnxious laughter. Oh, gosh. Fuck, Shoto, you weirdo...

There it was. Arms-crossed like he was still pretending to be mad. That million-dollar, eye-in-the-middle-of-a-storm smile. The one few people ever got to see. The one that made him look... Really cool and handsome.

"You are funny sometimes, you know," Izuku choked, wiping his eyes and nose on his pink sleeve as he attempted to suppress the hiccups bubbling in his lungs.

Izuku Midoriya considered himself lucky.

Some while later, Izuku glanced up at the soaring sun overhead and asked about the time. Todoroki pulled back his expensive glove, revealing an even more expensive smartwatch and declared it to be almost lunch. And that they should probably try to pick up their pace.

The western backtrail was starting to slope downwards again. Still that shallow, narrow, cross-country path, but now the going was at least a little easier. The switch back to downward momentum allowed their calves and arms a rest from the laborious grind.

So, maybe Izuku ate it when he lost his shit laughing at Shoto back there. And maybe Shoto had thrown a few defensive snowballs at him for his utter disrespect. And perhaps, in retaliation, Izuku had charged him down and pushed Shoto into a drift. He may have leapt in after Shoto, completely burying him in the snow, causing foraging squirrels to scatter at the sound of screaming laughter and cracked 15-year-old voices in the silent woods.

"You're covered in snow, Mr. 420!" Izuku laughed, brushing at Shoto's hair with his mitt. The tiny crystals stayed stuck in his hair, sparkling in the sunlight.

"Your fault," Todoroki grunted as Izuku helped him up.

"Yeah, but..." Izuku stood back for a moment, taking Shoto Todoroki in, caught for a fraction of a second by the way his hair divided down the centre of his handsome face. "On your right side they tend to stick a bit more. Here, one second." And Midoriya thoughtlessly removed his mitten, combing the last flecks of snow out of Todoroki's hair. And Shoto stood there, wordlessly staring into Izuku with his blue and grey eyes.

Just staring.

"Thanks," he mumbled, after Izuku was long-done.

Izuku smiled and grabbed his poles. "Don't worry," he winked, "I won't tell the rest of the group you suck at skiing."

Todoroki rolled his eyes heavily. "That's not- I'm... pretty sure they already know."

So, that happened.

And now he and Shoto were hurrying along, picking up speed as the trail began to slope further downward. Izuku could feel the intense pounding of his heart in his chest as hot blood surged through his body. This was exciting! This was the kind of workout he loved; being outside in the fresh air, with a friend, and nothing to spoil his day! Todoroki kept pace by his side and Izuku watched his breath puffing out in hot clouds in front of him, as the two boys sank into a deep but comfortable silence. And then-

"Wait. Stop."

Todoroki skid to a halt. "-What is it?"

"Do you hear… dubstep? "

Thud.

"Alley-oop, nerds!" A blur of gold and purple, Jiro's snowboard clipped Izuku's sleeve, slapping down between the two of them. She carved herself to a hard stop. "What up, dork patrol?"

"Jiro-kun!" Iida's exasperated screech erupted from behind a cluster of pines. "That's too close to the other skiers! You're not supposed to be doing jumps on the back trails! Only in the terrain park!"

"Thanks, mom!" She waved to Iida, desperately power-jogging round the corner, caught between trying to keep up with Jiro and stay below the park's regulation safety speeds. Izuku forced his laughter down once more.

"Hey, uh, have either of you seen Bakugou?" Jiro pointed to her empty helmet mount. "He borrowed my GoPro and took off with it, and I'm trying to get it back."

"Haven't seen him all day," Izuku said truthfully. Todoroki shrugged.

Iida caught up to them at last, puffing his way along the winding trail. "Jiro- I told you not to get too far ahead! We need to stay with our partners when we go off-piste! You could get lost or injured!"

Jiro pretended she couldn't hear Iida, and after more fruitless lecturing, Iida decided it wasn't worth the energy to keep going. He looked exhausted, actually, when he finally turned his attention to Izuku. "Did you guys get into a fight back there?"

"Yes-" said Todoroki. "-Not really!" Izuku cut him off. Snitch!

"Yeah, sure, ok." Jiro rolled her eyes.

"What brings you guys all the way out here?" Todoroki pointed at Jiro's board. "And how exactly did you get here? The last 2 kilometers are flat trail. How did you follow us on a snowboard? "

"Oh, duh," she grinned. "I made Iida push me." She thumbed at Iida behind her, leaning on his calves and panting heavily. On closer inspection, Izuku could see the curls of smoke drifting from his engines.

"Told you guys! I'm on a Baku-hunt and I think he's deliberately avoiding me, but-"

"Well, if you're not fighting, that's good," Iida interrupted her. "The rest of the class was wondering what your group had gotten up to after we all split up. Midoriya-kun, it's very kind of you to have devoted your day to personally training Todoroki-"

"OKAY, DID EVERYONE KNOW HE SUCKS SHIT EXCEPT ME?" Izuku raised his poles in mock-threat over at Shoto.

"Uh, yeah." Jiro shrugged, not even trying to hide her smug grin. "We pretty much figured it out after Asui mentioned that all his gear was brand-new. A real pro's stuff would be scratched and worn."

Iida lay a patronizing hand on Izuku's shoulder. "We thought you were just being nice."

"Also, it was really funny watching you."

Filthy rotten fake fudging friends. Nobody, not Tokoyami or Ashido or Iida or anyone else had the guts to actually tell Izuku that the icy menace who'd nearly killed him on three separate occasions was actually just trying to learn how to ski. Jerks. Izuku made a mental note to ransom that GoPro back to Jiro for a bag of sour candy if he ever found it.

"Oh, speaking of," Jiro suddenly cut his criminal machinations short. "That's the real reason we're here. You guys keep an eye out for Asui, ok? She could be anywhere. In these temperatures, her cold blood makes her keep falling asleep in the snow. We've lost her twice now on the trails."

Todoroki nodded, glancing about. "We'll stay sharp."

"Definitely."

"Now," Jiro grinned, "Onwards, husky! Mush! Mush!"

Iida wiped the sweat from his brow. "It's downhill, " he groaned, "Jiro, I'm not pushing you anymore."

"You're the one who said we had to check EVERY run for Asui!" she laughed, bunny-hopping her board into action and slipping into an easy glide down the shallow slope. "Anyway, smell ya later, boyfriends!"

"Jiro-kun! Get back here!" Iida screamed, taking off after her.

Izuku fired off a quick text to Tokoyami and Ashido when they arrived back at the village. Near midday, the noise and throng of people had only grown larger and larger at the bottom of the mountain. Izuku immediately missed the quiet of the western backtrail, where he could spend his time just concentrating on his run. Here, the village was overflowing with skiers and snowboarders all running their eyes over him, clearly disdainful. He felt the knot of anxiety tightening in his gut. Tokoyami told them to wait where they were and that he'd come get them. Izuku glanced over at Shoto, who seemed to share his distaste for overcrowding.

Izuku was certainly ready for a break. His legs were starting to shake, and his mitts were soaked through with snow and sweat. Todoroki looked ok, still clean-cut in his spiffy temperature-regulating gear. But- he also had this bad habit of trying to hide any weakness. Hard to tell. Izuku tried to watch him for signs of exhaustion as other skiers milled about.

There were a lot of people down here in the village.

More and more, skiers began gather up around them, catching Izuku's eye. He recognized a few students from Class 1B hanging around, glaring at him, sizing him up. A young girl with green hair made an obvious cough in his direction. Was this- what did they want from him?

"You know, despite what Iida said," Todoroki leaned in, whispering quietly in his ear, "it still feels like everyone is staring at me because they expect me to be some kind of skiing expert."

"Yeah," Izuku nodded, gripping his phone in his fist as he searched the crowd for Tokoyami's feathers. "I feel like they're staring at me in this embarrassing pink jacket."

"Hey idiots!" Ashido shouted from behind the crowd. "They're staring at you because you two are blocking the lineup to the chair lift! "

"GET MOVING!" Some older students from UA shouted from behind them.

Oh, darn fuck.