December 24th
"Deku, wake up!" announced an excited voice. At first, Izuku would've immediately assumed it was his mother. But upon further inspection (by opening his eyes, of course), it turned out to be little Eri craning her neck over to greet him.
Deku screamed in alarm, as expected of the boy. He was very easily startled. Todoroki instinctively wrapped a protective arm around Deku, despite him still having been asleep. "Eri! Hey- uh, hi! G-Good morning!" he stammered. His face was now blooming into a shade of red. Firstly, out of embarrassment, and secondly, because of Todoroki's actions.
"Can you finish the story? Pleaaaase?" Eri begged, her cherry-colored eyes beginning to take on the form of puppy-dog eyes.
"Huh? Oh, the story I was telling you last night? Hmm.. how about later, after we get some breakfast? I'm kind of craving Froot Loops right now.." Midoriya confessed, an apologetic smile framing over his lips. He was glad to hear that Eri had enjoyed his story so much, even if he had taken the main idea from a classic book.
Eri looked a little disappointed. "Okay.. want to race? So you can tell the story after we're done eating?"
"Eri, I don't think that's such a good idea, I mean, you might choke!" Deku insisted, but the young girl was already sprinting out of the bedroom, her All Might bunny ears flying after her.
"Seems as if you've won over Eri's attention," Todoroki softly teased, his words coming across as a bit muffled. Half of his cheek was pressed into the pillow, and his eyes were fluttering ever so slightly, trying to ward off any incoming temptations to fall asleep.
"But.. my story isn't even that good. If anything, it is way too dark.." Deku sighed softly. "I'm not sure it's the best idea to finish it.. I mean, everyone basically dies in the end."
"It's your story, Izuku," Todoroki pointed out. "It might be a play on someone else's writing, but that doesn't mean you have to continue it step by step. Why don't you make it original in your own way?" He finally lifted his head from the pillow, a slight smile tweaking over his lips. "Show Eri that not everything has to have a devastating ending.. but I recommend that you include the theme of the story. That every character had devoted their lives to her in one way or another.. it would be a nice way to welcome her into your home."
Wow. Midoriya didn't even know that Todoroki was capable of talking that much. However, he took the initiative, knowing that he was right. "Shouto, that's brilliant. Thank you." His eyes flickered with a combination between determination and motivation. That's a lot of 'ation' words. A bunch of ideas were flooding into his mind like a flipbook.
"Breakfast first," Todoroki reminded him. He helped Midoriya get up by clasping onto both of his hands. Midoriya thanked him.
"We have a lot to do today, don't we?" Midoriya asked, stretching his arms up and yawning. He began to ramble. "First off, we have to go back to the dorms pretty soon for the Secret Santa. Not sure when. I'll text Ochako. Speaking of, I really hope that she's okay.. I kinda heard that she got in a fight with Mineta a few days ago. She didn't text me about many details, but apparently she's friends with Kacchan now, which I'm really happy to hear."
"Are you sure that he won't hurt her?" Todoroki, who had somehow been listening in on the whole thing, interrupted.
"Huh? Oh.. yeah. Well, that won't happen. I won't let him. Ochako is pretty good at self defense techniques, too. But Kacchan has done a great job at keeping his temper. I mean.. it's been an improvement since our first year at U.A, at least. I can say with confidence that I'm pretty sure he won't harm her." Midoriya nodded at his own words, as if he was confirming them.
"Aside from that, we have to show Eri the horse carriage, possibly get caramel apples, and.. I think we go to U.A, then go home for the break. Are you going to stay over, Shocchan?" Midoriya tilted his head quizzically.
"Actually.. I've been thinking of another idea."
"Oh yeah, Shouto? What were you thinking about?" Deku questioned Todoroki, curiosity beginning to sneak into his emerald irises. For Todoroki to be suggesting something other than what they had planned, Deku assumed it might be important.
"I wanted to introduce you to my siblings, if possible.. if you've already shown me what your home is like, I thought that returning the favor would be the best thing I can do for you," Todoroki answered. Then, his eyes timidly flickered towards the wooden floor underneath their feet. "Plus, my sister has been pestering me, wanting to meet you in person.."
Izuku chuckled, a pink color shading in underneath his freckles. He was a little intimidated, having to meet Todoroki's family. As he had gotten angry at Endeavor on several occasions, and stood up for Todoroki. Maybe Endeavor still had bitter feelings towards Izuku. Though, he was glad to know that he'd be able to see Todoroki's older siblings, and that Todoroki trusted him enough to allow him to visit in the first place.
"I'd love to come over," Deku replied, pecking Todoroki's cheek to assure him.
Todoroki's hair on his left side rose a little, as embers began to awaken from the ends.
"Ah! Don't get too flustered, heheh," Midoriya commented within a nervous giggle, patting out the flames before they could become a problem. A burnt down apartment on Christmas Eve might not be very ideal. "Let's grab food, okay? I think I hear some of our friends out there."
Sure enough, as they both quieted down, they heard murmurs and uproaring laughter from the kitchen.
Taking Todoroki's hands, Midoriya guided him out to the kitchen. His smile widened as soon as he recognized who these figures were.
Nejire's turquoise-lavender hair billowed after her, as she ran to retrieve a smaller boy with a dark gray baseball cap with two protruding aqua horns from the corner. Taking his hand, she tried to talk him into at least eating some kusamochi, rather than nothing at all. A simple enough treat. As soon as Deku realized who's face was shadowed under the baseball cap, he felt his heart leap with thrill.
"Kota!" Deku rushed forward, crouching down to be at eye level with Kota. "I'm so glad you're here! Oh-" He caught sight of Kota's red hightops, recognizing that they were the exact replica of his own.
Kota's face shaded red with embarrassment. Nejire chuckled, and explained for the boy. "Seems like he's still quite a fan of you, isn't he? His caretaker told me has several other pairs, too."
"Is that so? Well, I'm so happy to hear that! Comfortable, aren't they?" Deku even wore his hightops to formal events. He had refused to wear any other kind of shoes for his entire three years at U.A, and he still wasn't planning on changing that.
All Kota had to offer was a shy nod in response. Though, he had noticed that the young girl 'Eri' kept looking at him, and would quickly turn her head away when she caught him staring back. Kota wasn't the type to initiate conversation whatsoever, but if he had just the right amount of bravery as Deku, then maybe he could say a simple 'hi'.
Nejire watched as Kota was shyly peeking at Eri. "Go say hi, Kota! I'm gonna go get some food. Just get me if you want some!" She winked at him, then released his hand as she went to the counter, where Inko was occupied with frying food. Man, Deku's mom was wonderful for preparing all of this food in the first place.
Since Kota was too shy to be alone around Deku, he decided that he'd rather confront Eri. She was his age, and she was just a girl.. it couldn't be too difficult.
Deku watched as the smaller male trudged towards Eri, and awkwardly poked her shoulder. Eri spun around, and gave Kota a surprised glance at first, as if she wasn't actually expecting him to speak to her. Then, her lips upturned into a bright smile. Well, seemed like Deku didn't need to step in to keep the conversation flowing.
Turning back to Todoroki, Deku found that Todoroki had a fond smile on his face as he was watching the two kids. The look in his eyes seemed like he was distant, somewhere in the middle of recalling a memory, or daydreaming. Deku couldn't help it, his face instantly turned a strawberry shade of red. What could possibly be going on in Todoroki's mind..?
"Shocchan." Midoriya gently shook Todoroki's shoulder, to stir him away from his thoughts. "You in there?" he teased.
Todoroki blinked, being brought back to awareness. "Hello, Izuku," he greeted. Instead of smiling, he looked just as serious as he normally did. Now Deku couldn't read him as easily as he could, which may prove difficult.
"You were deep in thought all of a sudden." Deku chuckled. "What was that all about?"
"Just.. thinking about the future.." Todoroki answered honestly. Rather than being shy about his answer, he gave Midoriya somewhat of a confident smile, and winked at him.
That sent Midoriya sprawling head over heels. Not literally, of course. Though, he froze up, as if Todoroki's right side had been brought into effect. "Hahahaa.." Midoriya slurred, his mind not being able to get itself together. Was Todoroki implying that he wanted a family with Izuku?
A few seconds later, Midoriya was nudged aside. Shinsou, from within his own class. He was here because Aizawa acted a lot like his mentor, so they spent a lot of time together. Which, of course, meant that he was also spending time with Eri. He was one of the only people who could cancel her quirk when it got out of trouble. Shinsou had also done the same for Midoriya, countless times. In his sophomore and junior years, Midoriya couldn't exactly get a tight grip on his quirk.
"Ah, Shinsou! I didn't think you'd be here.. I thought we were rivals, or something." Midoriya was quite confused about his relationship with Shinsou. Sometimes, he acted like Deku was a friend. Other times, he acted like he wanted nothing to do with him. Something that Shinsou and Aizawa had in common? They both had very feline-like behavior.
"Not everything has to be about you, Midoriya. I'm here to support your sister," he flatly stated. He gave a sneaky grin, that very much reminded Midoriya of the way Totoro grinned, from the anime film.
"Though, I don't hate you," Shinsou reminded him. "I'd just rather be off doing my own thing than awkwardly standing around in your house. It's nothing personal."
"Ah, I got it." Deku had met so many wild characters at U.A. In fact, one of them was here right now! Wherever Nejire and Mirio went, Tamaki followed. Tamaki had grown so much in the past three years. Rather than being kind of scrawny, he had bulked up a bit. He was also able to hold a conversation with a stranger without retreating to a corner of the room. Though, it seemed like he had been involved in too much conversation for the day. Tamaki was hunched over in the corner, his forehead being pressed into the wall. Mirio was attempting to coax him into sitting with him at the table, at least.
Aside from Tamaki's chronic fear of social situations, Deku figured that some people would rather be alone, and that was okay. Shinsou and Tamaki were just more comfortable with that, than being the center of attention. Deku knew a time where he was the exact same way. That he'd rather read All Might fanfiction, or participate in online forums rather than being with Katsuki and his friend group. Well, he figured anyone would prefer that, rather than being beaten up with a crazy intense quirk. Deku had also been defenseless at the time, since he hadn't had a quirk yet.
"I'll see you around?" Shinsou asked.
"Definitely. You're coming with us to the Secret Santa, right? I know you didn't get a partner, and that you stay with Aizawa rather than in a dorm.. but it'll be fun to hang out with the rest of us. Maybe Eri could come, too," Midoriya offered.
"Maybe," was all Shinsou said, along with a flick to Midoriya's nose. He stalked off, ending the conversation. He took a seat next to his mentor Aizawa. So, it looked like he stayed the night at their house. Sure enough, upon closer inspection, Midoriya spotted his yellow sleeping bag that had gotten shut between the door in a lazy attempt to clean it up before the guests came over. Midoriya snickered a little. For such an admirable hero, Aizawa really was not organized, nor did he mind that he was messy. After all, he did look reminiscent of a crackhead. But.. so did All Might, when his muscles weren't present.
"Well, I don't really feel like eating Froot Loops, now that there's all of this other food. Want some onigiri, Shocchan?" Midoriya beamed up at his boyfriend.
Todoroki nodded. "Let's try to thank your mother, while we are at it."
"Absolutely." Midoriya quickly nodded.
It took about an hour to eat, as well as save leftovers, and cleaning dishes and scraps of garbage. At the moment, Mirio was keeping Eri and Kota busy, by trying to get them to laugh. A loud 'spSSHHH' was heard, as he basically emptied an entire can of whipped cream in order to create a beard reminiscent to Santa's on his own chin. Mirio was quite childish, for a grown man.
In the end, they had two whole garbage bags to dispose of. Inko was still rather energetic, for having cooked so much breakfast. "Who here wants to get on a horse carriage for a ride around the town?" Inko called.
Eri immediately abandoned Mirio, scrambling towards Inko at the mention of 'horses'. "Eri wants to!" She could hardly sit still in place, excitedly bouncing.
Mirio swabbed the whipped cream into his mouth, though he had to discard some of it into the sink, since it was all too messy to be able to eat. He rinsed it down to cause fewer problems for Inko. Though, Kota bounded after Eri, a light smile tweaking his lips. It seemed that he wanted to see the horses, too.
"I think that there's only five people permitted to a carriage. So, if you'd all get into groups, then that would be perfect!" Inko exclaimed.
Midoriya mumbled under his breath, not-so-silently counting everyone in the room. There was himself, Todoroki, Inko, Eri, Kota, Mirio, Tamaki, Nejire, Aizawa, and Shinsou. That meant there were ten people, and if they were divided into two groups, then it would work out perfectly.
Obviously, Midoriya and Todoroki were paired together, so they needed three others. The three people up to going with them were Mirio, Eri, and Kota. All because Eri had insisted that she went with Midoriya because she wanted to hear the end of his story, and Eri was the only person that Kota felt safe talking to. Oh, and Midoriya. Two-for-one package deal.
So, the group went on the trek towards the end of the block, though it took Mirio a bit of time to catch up. Eri was prancing about, not letting something like the snow ruin her excitement. Today, she had cute little pink kitten earmuffs. She hadn't known how to put her mittens on the correct way, so Mirio had kindly assisted her in reversing the mittens, so that her thumbs could fit through.
Deku noticed that Kota was secretly watching her, a light pink color tinting his cheeks. His scarf was pulled up over his mouth, as he thought that it would cover his face, and no one would suspect him of blushing.
A jingling sound chimed in the distance, as two horses filed down the road, hauling a carriage behind them. Eri's red eyes widened in amazement, as she had never seen a horse in real life before. She could hardly contain her excitement. She squealed, and gripped onto Mirio's hand as tightly as she could. "Kota! HORSES!" she exclaimed, turning to the boy.
Kota offered the best smile he could muster. Which was a big deal, since he didn't smile often. He was mostly scowling whenever Deku saw him, and Izuku had a feeling that Kota was just born with a bad case of RBF.
The man holding the reigns of the horses ordered them to hault, as he allowed passengers to board.
Inko trotted towards Izuku. "How about you go first? I think Eri is more excited about this than the rest of us are. We'll take the next one that comes around."
"Are you sure, mom?" Izuku asked. "It's pretty cold out.. I don't want you to be standing out here for too long."
"We'll be fine, don't worry! Go, have fun!" Inko gently prodded Izuku towards the carriage, though Izuku
hardly budged at all. He had grown quite strong since his sophomore year in U.A, where he had trained so hard that he was certain that his body would give up on itself.
"Okay, okay, I'll go. I'll see you back at the house." Izuku laughed, as his mother tried to shove him towards the carriage with all of the strength in her arms. Still, Izuku wasn't moving from her force. He finally climbed on. Todoroki and Deku in the front, while Mirio and the two kids were in the back. Well, it took Eri a bit more time to join them, as she was too invested in gawking at the horses. She was particularly interested in the brown one, with a pink muzzle. A white stripe was marked up its nose, and it had white patches on its body. It closed its eyes as it allowed Eri to pet it. She notably commented on how fuzzy its skin was, and asked if horses had their hair cut just like people, or if they just never grew it out.
No one had an answer, since these U.A. students weren't particularly interested in horses. Deku felt bad for disappointing Eri, but she didn't seem too fazed by it.
She sat down on the plush seat next to Kota, on the far left of the carriage so that she could see the horses. Unfortunately, looking at a horse from behind was unsightly, to say the least. Eri snorted, and began to giggle when this realization occurred to her.
Once the carriage began to move, the sound of hooves crunching on the snow and the smooth wheels turning echoed through the air. There were many cars on the road today, all in hopes of grabbing last minute gifts, or getting to their families. Oh, there were also those that unfortunately didn't get the day off from work.
Eri's face began to ache. She wasn't used to smiling for this long, but she couldn't stop. There was so much of Japan that she wanted to see. Since the sky was cloudy, sprinkling snow down onto the earth, the sun was away on vacation for the day. It was dark enough to see the light show in the city once again, but light enough for it to be day time. Jagged Icicles that hung from the buildings seemed to be having a contest, as to which one would touch the ground first. With some people's quirks, they were able to create beautiful sculptures and snow forts outside of their homes. It was like the snowfall gave some people the opportunity to use the world as their canvas, and to show off their quirks.
Izuku found it ironic, that there were several ice sculptures chipped into statues of Endeavor, the hero with a fire quirk. It made it all the more intriguing to look at. Eri was in the middle of eating a candy apple that Mirio had bought earlier. The reason he was late coming back to them was because he had been retrieving it. It was his Christmas gift to her, and she was thoroughly enjoying it.
"Um, Izuku?" Eri poked Midoriya's shoulder from behind him. "Finish the rest of the story?"
"Alright, if you insist. I guess it would be a good time to finish it." Midoriya turned his head, to look at her as best as he could. So, he dived back into the story that he had created the previous night.
"Meri was staying with some caretakers, that treated her in a very cruel way. Oversmall would force Meri to undergo some experiments that she didn't agree to, but she had no choice. She didn't remember her mother Nejira, and didn't know that what was happening to her wasn't normal. Oversmall would force Meri to clean, and only let her outside of the house when he needed her to go into the forest at night to fetch some water. Oversmall didn't know that he was hurting the most lovable girl, and how he was taking her for granted. He didn't even see how his actions affected her, and one day, she couldn't take it anymore. She ran away from him, when she wasn't told, clinging onto her very last hope that she would be saved. That was when she ran into Cheerio, who had been spending so much time to find her, to keep his promise to keep her safe for Nejira. He had to take special precautions to do this, and that he needed to prove to her that he was trustworthy. Meri was nervous at first, but she didn't want to be treated so miserably anymore. So, she was taken into Cheerio's care. She learned to trust and love him, and he loved her just like she was his own child."
"Wait. Hold on a second, am I Cheerio?" Mirio suddenly interrupted, a quizzical look written onto his face.
"..N-No.." Midoriya lied. Though, he was too honest. He instantly felt guilty afterwards. "I'll just- answer your questions after the story, okay?" Anxiously, he fidgeted with his fingers. Which Todoroki took into his hand, and helped Midoriya relax, simply by twining their fingers in between each other's.
"You got it." Mirio seemed to understand how the story was parallel to their reality now, and he was more interested to see how it would play out.
"Sooner or later, Meri grew up, able to make her own decisions and choices. Though, Cheerio would hardly let her out into the real world, as he was worried that Kenya would suspect that he was alive. Cheerio couldn't leave Meri by herself, since she didn't have anyone else. Until she met a handsome young man named.. Sota. He was very interested in the war, which was threatening tension between the villains, and the heroes. Sota was a hero in this fight, and his other friends were as well.
"Meri tried to sneak out, as she was in love with Sota. The two had basically fallen for each other at first sight, and Cheerio was heartbroken, realizing that she was growing up. That he couldn't protect her in the same way that he had been since she was a younger child.
"Meanwhile, Kenya was working as a spy for the war, and he was about to be executed by the heroes. Suddenly, Cheerio came to the rescue! Despite Kenya dedicating his entire life to the law, he physically couldn't comprehend the fact that Cheerio decided to spare him from the chopping block.
"After that, the war broke out. The tension had risen too high, and it snapped under the pressure.
"Unfortunately, the heroes were outnumbered.." Midoriya wasn't sure if he should teach Eri about how the villains won. While it could be reality, he didn't want to make her feel depressed, and remind her of her time under Overhaul's explicit conditions.
"..But they won the battle in the end! However, Sota got very injured in this skirmish, and was on the brink of death. Cheerio knew how much Meri loved Sota, so he saved him, and rushed him to the doctor. But a villain got in the way.. Kenya."
Midoriya felt bad for making his close friend out to be a villain, but it was the only character he felt suited the role.
"Kenya was about to turn Cheerio in, for running away from prison all of those years ago. But as he raised his gun, and pointed it at Cheerio, he was suddenly hit with the realization that he couldn't arrest Cheerio, no matter how hard he possibly tried. Because Cheerio had saved his life. For once, Kenya was faced with going against the law, having a change of heart. So.. he.." No suicide allowed, it has to be child-friendly, Izuku.
"..Cheerio asked him to come with him, to help him carry Sota to the hospital, to make sure that Meri was happy. So the two raced to the hospital, with Sota hardly conscious. Meri came as soon as she heard, and was reunited with Sota once again. He was alive, and he had narrowly avoided death. They both agreed on marriage that night, realizing that they never wanted to survive another day without each other.
"Cheerio did his best to attend the wedding, to support Meri and Sota. Sota realized that Cheerio was weak.. Cheerio was dying, because he was so old at this point. His promise to Nejira was accomplished, and he was satisfied with that. However, he made Sota promise to him that he would take care of Meri for him, and to keep her happy and safe. Sota, of course, accepted. Though, he told Meri the bad news, and they both visited him, in a last attempt to keep him alive.
"Cheerio was with his loved ones, and he could hear Nejira beckoning him closer to death. Cheerio was sad that he had to leave Meri and Sota, but it was beyond his control. He peacefully passed away, but was able to see Nejira again, and watch over Meri and Sota live happily with each other as husband and wife. They also got a horse, and named him Cheerio. In the end, Meri realized that everyone in her life had saved her from despair, and that they had even risked everything to do so, all because of how much they loved her. The end!" Midoriya finished, grinning back at Eri.
"Cheerio.." Eri whispered, repeating after Midoriya. "I loved your story! Even more with the horse!" she excitedly told him. Her lips were red and sticky with candy apple.
"I thought you would." Izuku's cheeks were turning pink. He was still embarrassed from the whole 'Les Miserables' aspect of it.
Eri continued to eat her apple, and even let Kota have a slice. Shyly accepting it, he pulled his scarf down from his nose to pop the apple slice into his mouth.
"...What happened to Eponine? Wasn't she one of the characters that died for Cosette?" Mirio brought up.
Great, exactly as Izuku feared. Questions that he wasn't sure how to answer. "Well, yeah.. I was thinking of using Shinsou for that role, but.. I thought it would be awkward because of the age gap between him and Eri.. so I just left it out."
"I also don't appreciate that you offed me in the end," Mirio teased. "Like, come on, man. I know I lost my quirk, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna die that easily from old age. I'll always be alive and kicking!"
"You're going to die someday, Mirio, it's inevitable," Todoroki wasn't very subtle with that comment.
Midoriya awkwardly laughed. "There, there, Shouto.." He patted him on the shoulder, to help him ease off the edgy dark thoughts that were possibly lurking in his mind. It seemed that the story might've gotten to Todoroki's head. "I'm not saying you're weak, Mirio. I'm saying that I was following the story according to how it really ended. I felt like it was a good way for it to end.. The main character has a fulfilled life, and so he dies happy."
Mirio snorted. "Yeah, okay. I guess you have a point there, lil' bud." He playfully ruffled Deku's messy hair, and then turned his attention back to Kota and Eri, to make sure they weren't falling out of the carriage.
Kota was pretty intelligent for a child his age. Right now, he was tugging on his cap to cover his face as well. It wasn't very hard to tell who 'Sota' was in Midoriya's story. Was he implying that Kota was in love with Eri? That's silly.. he had only known her for a day, and they were both so young! He scowled, trying to make his cheeks cool off. Due to the cold weather, it wouldn't prove too difficult.
"What's up, Kota? You good, pal?" Mirio questioned.
"Yeah.. I'm fine," Kota mumbled, his words being blocked by his scarf.
"Are you still feeling nervous about Eri?" Mirio gave him an understanding smile. "You know, Tamaki used to be really nervous about talking to girls, too. Well.. actually, everyone just made him nervous. It took him about a whole month before he spoke a word to Nejire, when they first met."
"It's not that I feel nervous.. I just.. haven't really had a friend my age before." He didn't have to worry about Eri listening to their conversation, because her focus was on the beautiful city around them. It amazed her, and she was thinking about how it would look in the summer. Would people use their quirks on sand sculptures, or did they play instruments? Eri was particularly fond of music. It was the first thing that had ever gotten her to smile. "I don't want her to hate me," Kota admitted softly, watching Eri from the corner of his eye.
Mirio patted Kota on the shoulder. "You both have a lot more in common than you may think.. you see, I think you're one of the only people who would be able to understand her."
Kota blinked, looking up at Mirio's confident eyes. "What..? How would you know something like that.. you hardly know me.."
"I know enough."
Kota felt dread churning in his gut. He hated when people gave him that look.. the one where their eyes filled with sympathy, and how they expressed how sorry they were that his parents had tragically passed. People only recognized him because he was the 'son of the unfortunate firemen couple'. That was all people would be able to see him as. Kota hated that people felt like he needed their pity. It was useless. His parents had already died, and the sympathetic look would not reverse that. It was getting old..
Kota ripped his gaze away from Mirio, now looking at Deku and Todoroki. Except, the two were in the middle of a passionate kiss. Kota felt embarrassed to even witness something like that, so his gaze turned back to Mirio's eyes. Mirio seemed to notice too, since he was doing his best to block Eri's view of the two. He was happy for his friends, but it was better to prevent the kids from seeing it.
"I know you don't like hearing people talk about what happened.. but I do know someone who can understand what you're going through." Mirio winked, and jerked his head towards Eri, to signal who he was talking about.
"..Huh?" Kota was confused. Eri was so happy.. there was no way that her parents died.
"Her father died, and her mother handed her over to her grandfather, since she believed Eri to be 'a curse'. Then, he gave her up to a very horrible villain.. and he conducted very horrible and inhumane experiments on her. It's all thanks to Izuku that she's safe now." Mirio had helped, too. But now was not the time to explain that he was quirkless.
Kota's eyes were wide, and he looked back at Eri once again. He could hardly believe it. How could she smile like that, when she had suffered through so much? Was suffering all she ever knew?
Eri turned around, now beaming back at Mirio and Kota. Though, Mirio hadn't done the best job at blocking Todoroki and Deku from her vision. She started laughing. "Deku! People are gonna see you!"
Deku immediately disconnected his lips away from Todoroki, his face now tomato red. "H-Huh? Sorry.." He awkwardly chuckled, then turned back around, shutting his eyes as if expecting the world around him to vanish. Or, that his friends behind him would forget what they had just seen.
Kota couldn't stop admiring Eri. Now that he knew about what she had been through, he wanted her to know that he went through something similar. Both of them had been saved by Deku, too. Kota wanted to find out her secret to finding happiness in the simplest of things.. and he wanted to make Eri smile, too.
After veering into a corner, they were back at the stop, where they were let off of the horse carriage. Eri waved goodbye to the horses, before stepping off, along with the others.
"Now we just have to wait for the others, I think they'll be here in a minute." Deku showed off his grin to Eri. "So, was that fun? What did you think?"
"I loved it! I wish I could go again!" Eri exclaimed.
"Maybe my mom could take you later?" Deku offered. "I'm staying over at Todoroki's for the night, but my mom would love to take you later today, or tomorrow."
"Please!" Eri cheered, already looking forward to it.
Some black and white horses rounded the corner, and allowed the other group to step off of the carriage. Midoriya went to go ask his mother about going with Eri again, and Todoroki followed, as expected.
The group started to fall into chatter again, all explaining their experience. Apparently, one of the horses had tried to eat Shinsou's hair, when he tried to pet one. Shinsou didn't seem to think it was too funny, because he was the only one without a smile on his face.
Eri and Kota stood away from the group. Kota decided that now was a good time to ask Eri how to be happy.. or at least, talk to her about what had happened in her past.
"Eri.. I heard about how your life was, before Deku found you.. how do you look so happy? After my parents died.. I felt like I would never be happy again." Kota felt embarrassed talking about this, but if Eri was going to share her feelings, then the least he could do was share his own past.
Eri did not get the same pity look that nearly everyone had, which shocked Kota. Instead, she had a smile. Not that she found his parents' death amusing, but because she was happy to find someone who could relate to what she had personally gone through. Where it felt like there was nothing in the world to rely on. Where it felt so lonely, that Eri thought no one would ever love her. All because she held her very last remaining straw of hope as tightly as she could, she was saved. Despite feeling so weak, she used it to call for help, and to gain strength for herself.
"Well, I just realize how grateful I am to be alive. Deku did everything in his power to save it, even putting his own life on the line. So, I have to be my own hero, to save my life too.. if not, I wouldn't have met Deku, or Mirio, or Aizawa, or even you!" Eri exclaimed, raising her arms for dramatic effect. "It used to be so lonely.. even though I was with people, they didn't treat me like they loved me. I didn't know that I could be loved. I was in so much despair, that I couldn't even begin to love my own self. Sometimes, you just have to know that you aren't alone, to be happy. You don't have to be loved, since relying on other's feelings about you shouldn't define you. But, if there's no one in your life to understand, then it gets hard.. you feel like an outcast, and like you don't deserve to be alive." Eri grasped Kota's hands in her mittens, and looked right into his eyes. Kota hadn't seen her look this happy all day, nor had he ever seen a smile as bright as hers.. it was one that could even be compared to the way Deku and All Might smiled, to show that they weren't afraid.
"I want to understand you, Kota! If there's no one to tell you that they love you, then I will! I love you, Kota!" Eri confidently told him, her eyes shining. It seemed that everyone else's love was radiating from her as well. She was hoping that her loud tone would knock itself into Kota's brain.
Kota knew that she didn't mean it in a romantic way, of course. But his cheeks burned all of a sudden, really not have been predicting that Eri would say something like that to him. He had never been talked to so directly before, either.
She loved him.. and the words kept ringing in his ears. He knew that his aunt loved him, yes.. but he had never really believed it. He had his doubts, fearing that she'd just pass away too, or decide that she didn't want him anymore. He found himself doubting every other relationship he had as well, except for the bond he had with Deku.
Right now, he truly felt loved, and it reminded him of how he felt when Deku had fought for him. Kota hadn't felt it this intensely before. His feelings hadn't gotten the proper nourishment they needed, and right now, all he could do was start crying. Tears gushed from his eyes, as he hoarsely whispered, "I love you, too, Eri.." For once, he wasn't scowling. He actually looked.. moderately happy.
Eri hugged Kota tightly, with so much force that it took the both of them a couple of seconds to regain their footing. Kota was a little flustered, so it took him a bit more time, before he finally wreathed his arms around her. Kota was really not the type to accept hugs, and he'd normally wrestle away when unexpectedly offered one. Though.. right now, he desperately needed one.
The group of ten walked back home, pretending not to have seen the whole scene with Kota and Eri, to relieve them of embarrassment. Despite knowing what had occured, it was all an unspoken agreement not to bring it up.
There, Todoroki and Deku departed from the rest of the group, to make it to U.A. Deku said his individual goodbyes to everyone, and Todoroki politely thanked Inko for allowing him to stay over, and for the breakfast. Once again, Inko looked like she was about to combust, absolutely adoring Deku's new boyfriend.
From there, Deku and Todoroki took a cab to U.A. There was too much snow drowning the sidewalks to possibly consider walking that entire distance, even with Todoroki's quirk on hand.
The two were dropped off at the U.A. gates, where they both entered. From here on, Todoroki used his left side to melt the snow as they walked back to the dorms. Due to kids wanting to spend the night with their families, the Secret Santa was scheduled at an earlier time. After that, they were going to go back to Todoroki's house for the remainder of the night.
Stepping through the door once they got to the dorms, Deku recoiled back in shock, accidentally bonking his head up underneath Todoroki's chin. Todoroki hardly winced, just simply muttering "Ouch," in a monotone voice.
"Sorry, Shouto! Kaminari and Kirishima are fighting, I almost got hit because I was in the way," Midoriya apologized.
The two cautiously entered, and shuffled against the wall to be out of the way. Kaminari was shrouded within bolts of electricity that were flashing around his body. Snot was snaking down his nose, meaning that he had been using up about half of his quirk's limitations. Kaminari didn't quite have control of being able to keep it in, since that thought couldn't exactly process correctly in his short-wired brain.
Opposing Kaminari, Kirishima had a bright grin on his face, though he had a couple of nicks, scratches, and electricity burns. Evidently, his quirk was wearing down, too.
Bakugou was standing on top of a plastic chair about three meters behind Kirishima, barking attack moves and orders at Kirishima. Most of his advice was sandwiched between a whole load of swearing, so it was difficult to decipher what he was actually trying to say.
"SHITTY HAIR, YOUR FUCKING ASS BETTER WIN THIS DAMN FUCKING BITCH ASS FIGHT OR I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU BEFORE THIS BITCHY DUMBASS PIKACHU KNOCKOFF DOES FIRST!" Katsuki screamed. What a supportive boyfriend.
"Hey! I'm not a Pikachu knockoff!" Kaminari protested, but that was just enough to leave an opening for Kirishima. He tackled Kaminari to the ground, and pinned him to the floor. Despite trying to generate electricity, Kaminari couldn't quite electrocute Kirishima as much as he wanted to, so it proved ineffective.
"One, two, three!" Mina counted the seconds that Kirishima managed to keep Kaminari down, supposedly the referee of this match. "Kirishima wins! Uh, we don't really have a reward, since.. the both of you just wanted to 'outman' each other. But it was still fun anyway! WOOHOO!"
Kaminari was let go from underneath Kirishima's weight, and they both high fived, and performed various other hand motions. Supposedly their 'secret handshake'. Kaminari was a good sport about this, so he wasn't complaining. If anything, Katsuki's insults had beaten him up more than Kirishima had.
"Good fight, you guys!" Deku called.
"Thanks, Midoriya!" Kirishima waved at Midoriya. "When did you guys get here? You've been away, for like, forever!"
"Ah, well, we were kind of taking care of Er-" Midoriya started to explain, but Ochako rushed towards Midoriya and squeezed him into a tight hug.
"Deku! I'm so glad you're here! I was so worried you wouldn't be able to make it back.." Ochako was happy, but a small twinge of guilt was hidden behind her eyes. She really didn't want him to find out what she had done to Mineta. Reflecting back on it, it was an action she had done out of pure rage. If Midoriya found out, then he'd be afraid of her.
"Yeah, sorry.." Midoriya awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, offering up an apologetic smile. "I'll explain everything later. All that's important is that I'm here now, and available to spend time with you. Shouto, too."
"Great. I'm so happy to know that. Well, as soon as Aizawa gets back, then we're gonna unwrap presents and all. Present Mic said he was at your house, so.." Ochako expected Midoriya to explain, since she wasn't sure how that outcome had turned up.
"He's probably helping Eri and my mom. He'll be back soon, don't worry. We were actually just with him," Midoriya informed her. "Though, All Might wasn't at my house.. I was kind of expecting him to be there, if everyone else was. Oh well, maybe he's away doing errands or something." He shrugged it off, since he wasn't too worried about his favorite hero.
"Yeah. Well, the rest of us are in the kitchen. We didn't have enough chairs in the commons area." Ochako tugged on Midoriya's free hand, the other occupied with Todoroki's. The three of them made their way to the kitchen. Kirishima, Mina, Bakugou, and Kaminari followed, all laughing (except for Bakugou, Bakugou mostly hung out with the group just to keep Kirishima company, and hated to be involved in their chats) about how hilarious it would be to see other students try and fight each other. Then, they could finally be able to declare one student as the 'manliest man of all' if they had an entire competition involving Class 1-A.
The other students were seated on the tables, which were situated a lot like ones expected to be found in a cafeteria. Except, these ones had comfortable seats, so that it didn't ache to stand up.
"So, who won? Give us the details." Jirou was in the corner of the room with folded arms and a proud smirk, seated with Tsuyu and Yaoyorozu. Maybe Hagakure was there, but no one could tell, due to her invisibility.
"I lost, babe. I'm sorry. Better luck next time, am I right?" Kaminari now seemed a little embarrassed, to admit that he lost to his girlfriend.
Suddenly, about half of the students got up from their seats, and handed Jirou some yen.
"Wait, hold on a minute, did you all make a bet? Kyoka, did you expect Kirishima to beat me?" Kaminari watched this event unfold with bewildered eyes.
"Yeah," Jirou answered coolly. She seemed serious, as she wasn't smiling. Though, this was mostly her relationship with Kaminari, so it wasn't intended to hurt his feelings. The two loved each other, but Kaminari got on Jirou's nerves at times, so she used opportunities like this to get back at him and tease him.
"Hmm.. even my own girlfriend doesn't believe in me. Title of Mineta's sex tape. Anyway, we have Midoriya and Todoroki here now. We have all the students here now, except for Shinsou.. but he doesn't normally come to things like this, so I guess we're only waiting on Aizawa," Kaminari announced.
"I'm here," said a flat and tired voice. Simultaneously, all of the students' heads turned. Aizawa was standing at the door, brushing snow off of his shoulders. Shinsou was behind him, giving Midoriya a look that said 'if you tell anyone else that a horse tried to eat my hair, I won't hesitate to wreak havoc and chaos upon you'. Luckily, Midoriya wasn't even thinking of updating everyone on that situation.
"Speak of the devil! Not really, please don't hurt me. You two are both angels," Kaminari corrected. Aizawa and Shinsou actually looked more like they were dead, and that their souls were unable to escape, making them trapped inside their corpses forever. Like zombies! But 'angelic' would definitely not be a comnon way to describe them.
"So, we're starting up Secret Santa, right?" Aizawa muttered.
Present Mic popped into the room. "Come on, you gotta do it with more SPUNK! Who's ready for Secret Santa!?"
Everyone in the room was silent. No one ever really responded or cheered for Present Mic, feeling like it was too disrespectful to speak up against a teacher. Even if that teacher was a DJ.
"You can all go find your presents now, but we will all take turns opening them. The game is to guess who was the mastermind behind your spontaneous gift!"
The students clamored towards the tree, which they had moved into the kitchen. They all retrieved the gift with the tag corresponding to their names, and they went and sat down, excitedly waiting for Present Mic to give further instruction.
Deku's gift was a simple box, coated with luminescent green wrapping paper. Tilting it up and down in his hands, Deku could almost see a wavy green-tilted reflection of himself. His name was neatly written in sharpie, all of the letters capital.
Looking over, Todoroki's gift was lengthy and flat, but was sealed with a lot of transparent tape on the backside to prevent the wrapping paper from splitting open. With all of that tape, it looked about impossible to tear off the wrapping paper anyway. The handwriting was sort of messy, as if an outgoing person was the pen-bearer.
"We'll go through the list according to alphabetical order, since it's easiest that way!" Present Mic caterwauled. "Aoyama, you're up! Followed by Asui!"
"Ribbit," Asui hiccuped at the mention of her name. She had a lilac present bow in her hair, which she had extracted from the wrapping paper of her present.
Aoyama was thrilled, and he stood up, presenting his sparkly gift for everyone to see. "I think everyone will be glorified with what's inside. Cher, let's give it a look-sy!"
Uraraka tensed up beside Midoriya. Her face heated up from the embarrassment, and she looked at the ground in shame. Not that she was upset about what she had gotten Aoyama, but she didn't want any attention on herself whatsoever. If she were to reveal herself as the one who had been Aoyama's Secret Santa, she'd be doomed.
Midoriya noticed that Ochako seemed on edge, and the way she was focused on the ground, with her brows creased over her eyes in frustration, he knew that she was feeling troubled. The Uraraka he knew would definitely be cheered up and excitedly awaiting for Aoyama's reaction.
After Aoyama sat down, clearly very pleased with the bubble wands that he had received, Asui hopped upwards from her seat, tearing into her present. Asui had gotten a loose t-shirt, with black sleeves protruding from the top. The rest of the shirt was white, along with five cute frogs that struck through the center. Lillies were printed over the frogs' heads, and underneath their feet.
Jirou chuckled. "I thought you'd like it.. see, it's you," she said, pointing to the frog in the center, notably the shortest one. "Then there's me, Yaoyorozu, Mina, and Ochako. Hagakure is there too, she's just invisible."
Asui slipped the shirt over her head. Asui never smiled often, but she flashed Jirou the best one she could, her tongue slipping past her lips. "It fits." Asui was a bit awkward, and never really gave proper compliments. That was possibly the best response that Jirou would get. Though, Jirou seemed happy, and not distraught in the slightest.
Sooner or later, it was Midoriya's turn. Unlike the other students, he was careful to open the wrapping. It caught his eye, and he quite liked the color. All of the students' eyes were on him, as he popped open the small gift box. What was wrapped inside, was a miniature box. On the top, a wooden chibi replication of Midoriya in his hero outfit stood at the top, a very tiny grin carefully painted just above his chin. His eyes were closed into an excited expression, and mini freckles were sprinkled onto his round cheeks.
The back of the small music box was jutting into Midoriya's hand, so he cautiously turned it over. A golden metal key was sticking out, so he started to crank it, a continuous clicking noise releasing from the turning. After a couple of times, the chibi Midoriya started to slowly spin, as a soothing lullaby song swam around the room.
To see someone made the efforts to put this much time and effort into carving a gift? Midoriya felt tears swarm to his eyes, and his chin quivered as he gave a bright smile. "This is beautiful.."
Tokoyami stepped forward, admitting to be the one who had created it. "If it weren't for Todoroki, it probably wouldn't have been as great. He helped to pick out the song, assuming that you would find it pleasurable. Of course.. Dark Shadow helped me carve it. I took care of the painting." His beady eyes closed, nodding to Todoroki.
Midoriya glanced to Todoroki. Todoroki had a light rose color dusting his cheeks. He met eyes with Midoriya, and a small smile twitched onto his face, as if confirming that he had indeed helped Tokoyami.
Midoriya hugged Todoroki as tightly as he could, making sure not to break the box in his hands. He pecked his lips a few times as if to thank him. Then, he rushed back to Tokoyami, and thrusted his arms around him as well. "Thank you.."
Unfortunately for Tokoyami, he had to awkwardly lift his head to avoid hitting Midoriya with his pointy beak. "Yes.. of course."
Midoriya went back to his space next to Todoroki, still gazing at his music box with pure wonder. He hadn't ever seen strokes of paint done so carefully and smoothly. Was this a secret talent of Tokoyami's? If so, Midoriya would have to ask Tokoyami about it in private. He was very intrigued, and he wanted to know if Tokoyami had any other work that Midoriya could look at.
Todoroki's gift wasn't quite so heartwarming, but it was amusing. After fiddling with the tape after some time, he found an opening, and tore a hole into the wrapping paper. Discarding the wrapper aside, he was now holding an alignment of fake furry mustaches, all different shapes and styles.
"I didn't really know what you'd like. So, I thought that I could get something humorous. I'm sure that Midoriya would love to try them on with you." Sero grinned brightly.
"Like this, Shouto!" Midoriya peeled a sticker from the sheet, and applied it just below his nose. The fur tickled his noise, but he was sure that it would make Todoroki smile. "I look thirty years older, don't I? HAHAHA!" He bellowed a hearty laugh, a lot similar to All Might's. Except, it was obviously in a much higher pitch. Midoriya didn't quite have a low voice.
Todoroki seemed to find this amusing. He stuck a mustache over his lip, and looked back at Midoriya. "I will shave it, if you so desire me to," he murmured, with a straight face.
"Nah, go for it! I think it's pretty cute!" Midoriya exclaimed.
The rest of the students found this exchange hilarious, since they had never predicted that Todoroki to try something as silly as a fake mustache. Well, there's a first time for everything!
Next was the moment that Uraraka had been dreading. It was her turn. Her hands shook as if she was in a horror movie, and she had almost forgotten to lift her pinky when she touched the present again. She unravelled the wrapping, and she found a plush kitten keychain in her hands.
"Huh..?" Did Ochako dare to look up? She glanced around the room, and most people looked away, as if afraid of her, or looked clueless. Would.. no one claim that they were the one who had given it to her? Were they really that afraid of her? As soon as her happiness had been lifted from the cute kitten, her spirits immediately sank underneath the sorrow flooding through her.
"Sorry if you're more of a dog person," muttered a cool voice.
Ochako's eyes drew towards the source of this statement.
And there was Shinsou. At first, he was frowning, until Ochako looked at him. Then, he exposed a little grin, his pale face lightly flushing.
"I love it. Thank you.. so much." Ochako smiled right back at him, but her built up tears had already been falling down her blushing cheeks.
"My apologies.. I didn't intend to make you cry.." Shinsou frowned.
"I-It's not that, just.. it was a really nice gift.." Ochako wiped her eyes with her sleeves. "I can't live with myself.. knowing what I've done.. I hate that you all feel scared of me.. look.. half of you can't even look at me.."
The room fell silent, all eyes drawn to her now.
"..I hate to speak against the teachers.. after all, they know best.. and I'm sorry to let you down, Deku. I'm not throwing a pity party for myself.. I'm just here to correct my mistake.. because that's what a hero should do. And because I know that what I did was wrong.." Uraraka sniffled.
"Ochako.. you didn't let me down at all. What's the matter?" Midoriya worriedly frowned, gently placing his hand on Ochako's shoulder. His hand began to shake, because of how violently Uraraka was shivering. She was scared..
"It wasn't self defense.. I hurt Mineta.. I was bullying him!" Uraraka snapped. "Even if he has acted inappropriately, that's no way to treat him.. sure, it gets on our nerves.. maybe it could've gotten to a point where I had to use violence. But I let my anger get the better of me. The teachers excused it as self defense.. s-so I'm gonna come out and say that.. they're wrong.."
Katsuki had a bewildered expression as he stared at Ochako. The rest of the class? Just as dumbfounded. "You could'a gotten away with it, pink cheeks. Why the hell are you suddenly having an outburst?"
"It just didn't feel right. I should be honest.. right?" Ochako murmured.
Mineta had never had anyone stand up for him before. He felt embarrassed.. and while he knew it wasn't Uraraka's intentions, he knew that he had led for things to be this way. He had let hormones overpower everything else. He had managed to touch Asui's boobs, and Yaoyorozu's, and it was the best two experiences of his life.
Ochako standing up for him was really hot, too.. but it wasn't the time to think about it right now. This was a serious discussion. If Ochako was going to step up and be a hero..
Then it was time for him to be a hero, too.
"No.. Uraraka, I get why you lashed out the way you did. Lots of girls treated me like that back in middle school. I guess I just have that effect on girls."
He noticed that the other girls were glaring at him.
"I know that none of you are interested in me, but.. I recognize that I failed to notice that. I should've just gotten the message, but.. I had my hopes up a little too high. You don't have to forgive me, but please forgive Uraraka. I forgive her.. so all of you should, too."
"We weren't even mad at her in the first place," Jirou mumbled, but now the class was even more shocked than they were to begin with. They had never witnessed Mineta ever showing this level of maturity.
"We must think about her admittance to her actions not being a choice of self defense. Adults don't know everything, as much as you children want to believe. While we are the heroes of today's society, that does not mean we have perfected our choices of action, and contain all of the knowledge in this universe," Aizawa spoke up, coming to Mineta's aid. "We are still learning. I admire Uraraka's honesty, along with Mineta's apology. It takes a lot of courage to even admit to being false. Though, I feel like the both of you have resolved this issue. The both of you will be punished accordingly, if you decide to turn back on your word. This time, we will take both accounts into consideration. Do not hesitate to bring up if you think that we have made a mistake. Our job is to teach you what we know, and abusing that power is not acceptable."
Uraraka and Mineta nodded in unison, and glanced at each other. Rather than the normal lust that dwelled in Mineta's eyes, he actually looked like he admired Uraraka for herself for once. Although his perverted thoughts weren't erased, he found that he had a little more self-control over them.
"WHO'S READY TO GET BACK TO UNWRAPPING PRESENTS!?" Present Mic cheered.
This time, several students piped up a little, expressing that they were ready in response. Aizawa and Present Mic weren't overly superior over them, and they knew that now. It was okay to speak up to their questions, and to talk with them. They were all equals, in a way. The students and teachers had one thing in common. Finding their way through life, and building on those experiences. That alone, was enough.
"Shocchan? Uh.. before we leave to your house.." Deku was gathering some items from his closet, like sweatshirts that he might want to bring back home for the holiday break. Most of them were All Might themed. "I sort of.. got a present for you. But I also have one for you tomorrow. Would you prefer I give it to you now, or what?"
Todoroki was patiently waiting, his legs crossed as he sat on Izuku's bed. His eyes followed Deku, as Deku went back and forth across the room to put his beloved sweatshirts in his suitcase.
"Perhaps later tonight. Surprise me," Todoroki answered. His vision was suddenly blocked by green fluffy hair, as Izuku leapt onto his lap, weaving his arms around him again. Looks like someone wanted to cuddle.
"Okay. After dinner at your house?" Deku questioned. Todoroki really wondered how Deku managed to have so much innocence in his eyes.. he was like a puppy, though. Puppies are pretty innocent.
"Yes. I have a gift for you tomorrow, as well." Todoroki pulled Midoriya closer, and leaned back into the wall, holding him properly close. Midoriya was wearing a sweatshirt right now, and it made his cuddling feel even more warm.
"You do!?" Midoriya peeked up at Todoroki.
"Yes." Todoroki was fairly rich, the kind of kid that could buy Air Pods at any given opportunity. Perks of having the number one hero as your father. Though, that meant that he had just enough to get Midoriya something to express his gratitude. While it wasn't expensive, he knew that Midoriya would adore it, nonetheless. It was the thought that counted.
Midoriya pecked Todoroki's lips. "You didn't even need to get me anything.. that's so sweet of you!" He exclaimed.
Todoroki knew that. But he also wanted to see this sort of reaction from Izuku.. it was so endearing to see his eyes light up so brightly, and to see him smile uncontrollably. It was so worth it, to get him a gift. Nothing would be better than to make Midoriya smile.
"Well, I'm ready to get going. All your stuff is already in the car, right?" Midoriya questioned, tugging on the zipper of his suitcase to merge it shut. He succeeded, and brought it onto the floor. It was the kind of suitcase that had wheels underneath, so all Midoriya had to do was simply pull it like a wagon.
"Correct. Shall we go, Izuku?" Todoroki offered his hand to Midoriya, just as a prince would.
Midoriya happily took the hand, and twined their fingers together. With his other hand, he tugged the handle of the suitcase along.
"Awww, leaving already?" Kirishima spotted the two in the hallway. Bringing a hand up through his spiky hair, he laughed softly. "Well, in that case, Merry Christmas! I hope to see you around once the break is over?"
"You can count on it." Midoriya grinned back at Kirishima. "Don't forget to tell Kacchan that I said 'bye'!" Even if Katsuki was hostile towards him, he couldn't bring himself to feel that way about his childhood friend. He had a lot of respect for him.
"Sure thing, Midoriya! Goodbye!" Kirishima waved them off, and disappeared down the hallway. Todoroki and Midoriya entered the elevator. The doors disassembled their places from inside the walls, and they closed in front of them. Soon enough, they opened again, revealing the commons room.
They both said goodbye to the others, and soon exited. Todoroki helped Midoriya stack his suitcase over his own, and they both got into Todoroki's car. It was a good-looking dark red car, with no notable scratches or dents.
They both turned on the radio, while Midoriya sang along to some tunes. He was actually in tune with a lot of the notes, and they danced right to Todoroki's heart. Todoroki couldn't help but smile the entire time, even joining in to sing some duets with him. Todoroki really wasn't the kind of guy to sing, or open up this side of him. It made Midoriya all the more merrier. He felt tingles climb up his spine, simply listening to Todoroki's voice.
It wasn't a long road trip. By the time they withdrew their suitcases from the back, the sun was hardly hovering over the distant city horizon. It was soon scheduled to be night time.
"My sister is named Fuyumi," Todoroki said, giving Midoriya a recap. "My brother is named Natsuo.. our other brother mentioned that he may visit.. I'm not certain that he will, so don't count on it." He carried Midoriya's other suitcase with minimal effort. Perhaps to show off to Midoriya?
They both trotted up to the door, and Todoroki drove the key into the lock, easily stepping inside. Midoriya followed, and watched as Todoroki deposited the suitcases in his room. There weren't any vibrations detected in the floor, neither was there any shouting. Endeavor must not be home.
Fuyumi came speeding into the room, desperate to get a look at Midoriya in person. She squealed, and grasped his hands. Izuku Midoriya, in the flesh! "Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Shouto's sister, Fuyumi. I'm hoping he already told you that.. anyway, we've been very excited to have you over. I made dinner if you're interested."
She was talking so quickly, that Midoriya could hardly keep up. Though, luckily, he found that he was able to translate all of her blabbering. "Ah- uh, that sounds great," he chirped.
Natsuo appeared in the doorframe, leaning against it to inspect the scene playing out before him. He chuckled, and grasped Midoriya's scarred hand, giving it a gentle but firm shake. "I'm Natsuo. I'd like to say that Todoroki has told us a lot about you, to embarrass him. But he doesn't tend to say a lot, even to us," he joked, despite it being the truth.
"Hi, you guys." Midoriya had a friendly smile, but it seemed that he was a tad bit flustered upon meeting Todoroki's older siblings. Perhaps they were just about as nervous as he was.
Todoroki looked different from his siblings, but only because he was between a fine line of fire and ice. Fuyumi had white hair, with red streaks slashing through some strands. As for Natsuo, he just had pale white hair as well. Fuyumi seemed to be a logically sound female. Natsuo was the kind of chill guy that wore loose hoodies a lot, and probably found a particular liking to skateboarding. His personality corresponded to his quirk.
"Our mother is here, too," Fuyumi informed Midoriya. "Not to add any pressure on you, or anything. She's been wanting to meet you just about as much as we have. Though, if you come here in the future, she probably won't be around often. She mostly stays at the hospital."
That didn't reassure Midoriya very much, but his smile remained on his face. "I won't bother her too much, don't worry." If Todoroki could easily be polite for Inko, then Midoriya could be polite for Rei too!
Todoroki squeezed Midoriya's hand, to give him more confidence. Todoroki believed that his family would adore Izuku. Izuku was just so charming. His smile was so reassuring and sparked bravery into anyone who laid eyes upon it, and he was so friendly and carefree. It was really hard to dislike him. Unless your name happened to be 'Bakugou Katsuki'.
The four entered the dining room, where Rei sat at the very end. She had long silky hair that draped around her shoulders. Her gray eyes were quite warm, quite the opposite of Endeavor's chilling sky blue ones. Midoriya found that she looked too sweet.. how in the world did she end up with someone like Endeavor, such a strong and assertive hero?
"Hello, Miss Todoroki," Midoriya greeted, and he shook her hand. Cold, just like Todoroki's left hand. This was definitely the same hereditary quirk. "I'm Shouto's b-boyfriend. It's a pleasure to meet you!" His face was red, and he was trying so hard to act calmly. Midoriya was just too awkward for his own good.
"Ah, Izuku. The number one hero in U.A, so I've heard." Rei's fragile lips formed into a smile. "Feel free to call me Rei, don't worry about formalities."
"Oh, okay! If that's what you say." Deku calmly sat down in a chair, when in fact, his whole brain was screaming. He couldn't remember feeling this much anxiety before. He didn't want to ruin his image for Rei. This was his chance to impress her, it wasn't supposed to go down the wrong direction.
Todoroki took a seat next to him. "Don't worry so much," he whispered softly, only to Midoriya. He rubbed the back of Midoriya's hand with his thumb to tone down his nerves a couple of notches.
Fuyumi and Natsuo sat down across from the pair. There was only one unoccupied seat left at the end of the table. Presumably for Endeavor, but it seemed that they were still having a difficult process in forgiving him for what he had done to their mother and little brother.
Somehow, it gave Midoriya a sense of hollow loneliness. He had grown up without a father figure in his life, but what would he have done without his close friends? Or without Eri? It was like.. missing a big part of life, even if it had been a negative result.
Though, just as they were about to set out the bowls of food, the door creaked open.
Midoriya's heart just about burst, since he had panicked so quickly. Green static swarmed around him, as soon as he identified who was now standing at the door. A tall, lanky teen with dark hair, and had stitched patches onto his own skin. Engraving a permanent smile to his mouth, and underneath his eyelids. A villain. Midoriya had seen this villain before.
Dabi.
His flames could easily wipe out an entire forest, if he were on a time crunch of about thirty seconds. Half a minute, and he could clear acres and acres of land.
This man was standing just outside of the dining hall.
"Izuku.. do not fight him. That is my older brother," Todoroki explained. Might be unfortunate to have a skirmish in the dining hall, if Midoriya wasn't filled in on Dabi's background and relations to the Todoroki family. It was sweet that Midoriya had readily braced himself to protect the family, though. Todoroki knew that Midoriya didn't have any intentions of full-on fighting unless it was against a threat, or for training.
Dabi's chilling voice was sent into the room. "Hello.. long time no see," he murmured. His words might've been soft, but Midoriya could hear every annunciation as clear as a bell. Might just be something he picked up on to become a part of the League of Villains.
Tears spread out through Rei's eyes. "Welcome home, Touya." She stood up, and hugged her oldest son tightly. She didn't seem to judge his eery appearance whatsoever. She loved him, despite his affiliations with the villains. She was quite short compared to Dabi, the top of her head only reaching his shoulder.
Dabi hugged back, making sure to prolong it for more than a few seconds. It seemed that his mother would always be someone who he treasured.
After studying Dabi for a moment (it was tough to imagine what his appearance looked like before the patches), Midoriya was able to find that he had Endeavor's eyes, and possibly hair, a lot similar to his as well in terms of spike. Why hadn't Midoriya put this puzzle together soon enough!? It all clicked in way too well. Sadly, Midoriya did not have a detective-like quirk.
Though.. how long had the Todoroki family kept this a secret? If word got out, that Endeavor's son was a villain, it would cause a major uproar. Maybe they all just cared about Dabi too much to allow him to be destroyed by some silly reputation? Midoriya was too confused. Best not to overthink it.
Dabi sat down in the empty chair, and Rei returned to her seat. "I see that Midoriya has joined us?" Dabi coolly asked.
"Yep, that's right." Midoriya smiled back at Dabi, though he couldn't make direct eye contact. Dabi's face was a little too creepy for Midoriya to handle. Though, Midoriya felt that it was interesting and relieving that they were setting aside their differences for right now. "Shouto invited me."
"I'm sure we have encountered each other before. I am happy to get to know you.. though this doesn't mean I won't go easy on you in battle next time." Dabi winked towards Izuku.
Izuku's mind was reeling. Was this legal? What was he supposed to do? He couldn't just reveal Todoroki's secret..
The best thing to do was just to hide it, and to keep it hidden with him for the rest of his entire life. Just a secret that could only be distributed between himself and Todoroki. As well as his family, he knew that he could trust them, as well.
Was Dabi the missing Todoroki brother? If so, why were they acting so casual about it? Wouldn't it be a huge deal if their son was home? Unless.. they had known Dabi would come over on the holidays. Did he make frequent visits? Maybe this had only happened because of preserving Endeavor's reputation, which unfortunately had to be done because the citizens were still in shock from All Might's retirement as the symbol of peace. They might lose hope if Endeavor was revealed as untrustworthy. That only left Hawks, right underneath him.. though, there was a small rumor going around that he was actually on the villains' side.
The family seemed very happy to have Dabi home, and they were all laughing and talking. Even Shouto, who never really went out of his way to speak. Midoriya knew that Dabi was a very important person to them. He also knew that this family didn't support villains.. especially because Shouto was in the hero course. Though, they didn't seem to see Dabi as any different, even with his intimidating scarring on his face.
So, Midoriya began to relax a little, soon finding himself spilling laughter with the rest of them, and joyously sharing stories. He also found that he was able to look at Dabi in the eye after some time. The villain was actually getting less and less scary. Midoriya didn't get the rush of alarm when Dabi stared at him back anymore. Though, Midoriya was still on guard.. you can never be too careful with villains..
It seemed that Shouto wasn't the only one in the Todoroki family that loved noodles. His siblings kept asking Rei for seconds, and would dive right into their bowls. Midoriya wasn't even halfway finished with his, so his eyes widened in bewilderment. Dabi didn't look half as intimidating as he normally did, now that he was eating noodles.
Sometimes, Midoriya forgot that the villains had normal lives like this.. and that they all were human, too. Well, at least, they had human emotions and the same pain and motivations. Midoriya was far from the villain side, but it was nice to refresh his mind, and to realize what he was doing when he fought them in battle. Empathizing with them too much might cause harm, though. It may cause hesitation before delivering a final blow, or trying to give them a therapy session. Not such a wise idea. So, Midoriya quickly stopped thinking about it, to avoid encountering the worst case scenarios that he had just thought up.
Midoriya felt like he was the only one aware of the elephant in the room.. it was a lonely feeling, and quite awkward. What would he tell All Might?
Soon, Todoroki stood up, gathering his empty bowl and his chopsticks. Midoriya was still not done, so he slurped them up. In the process, the noodles whipped his nose, and so Midoriya had to wipe off his face in his sleeve after he was finished. Noodle broth dripping down his nose would make a fool of himself. He didn't want the Todoroki family to remember him as 'Noodle Boy'.
"May I be excused from the table?" Shouto politely asked, nodding his head towards his mother.
"You may," she responded. "Just make sure to come back, before Touya leaves."
Todoroki nodded, and beckoned Midoriya to follow. Midoriya perked up and stood up, picking up his own bowl and chopsticks. He bowed down, to show respect to Shouto's mother. "Um, thank you! For the soba," he clarified. "It tasted delicious, and you cook very well." He hoped that he didn't overdo it with the compliments. But, he hurried out of the room before Rei could respond, his face practically bursting into flames from embarrassment. Midoriya was polite, but he didn't know how to confront Rei. How in the world did Shouto talk to his mom without any issue?
Todoroki was rinsing his bowl underneath the faucet. He took the bowl that Midoriya was clutching in his hands. "Your face is red, Izuku," he observed, though cleaned off Midoriya's bowl as he was speaking.
"Y-Yeah.. uh, it's fine, don't worry.." Midoriya assured, but he gave Todoroki a small gist of what had happened. "I kind of freaked out while talking to your mom.."
Instead of giving advice, or remaining attentive to the sink, Shouto glanced up at Midoriya. There was an amused glint in his eyes, and a small smile overcame his face. "That sounds like you."
"Oh, hush.." Midoriya was trying to be mad, but he couldn't. He started to smile, too. At least Todoroki didn't seem to be worried. Maybe his mother was expecting Midoriya's reaction. Which was admittedly kind of embarrassing, but it was better than making her confused with her son's new boyfriend.
Todoroki scooped Midoriya into his arms after he dried off his hands, and playfully pressed a ton of kisses against Midoriya's neck.
"H-Hey! That tickles! Shouto!" Midoriya began to giggle brightly, doing his best to pry Todoroki away, even though he loved the attention. He wasn't really thinking about his volume, but it might be embarrassing for Todoroki's family to hear.
Todoroki added a final kiss to Midoriya's lips, then began to walk, leading Izuku with him. "I could show you my room." He led him upstairs. This intrigued Izuku, as he had never gotten to see Todoroki's room. Besides the one at the dorms, which was strongly reminiscent of Japanese culture.
When Midoriya entered, he hadn't really braced himself for what he was about to see. Several Endeavor posters were hung up in a corner, and it looked like Todoroki had tried to hide them as much as possible. He probably didn't want to upset his father, so he hung them up, but was too ashamed to have them in his possession.
It was pretty fancy, but the light in the room seemed to glow differently through the window, almost like it was sunset. Todoroki walked to the blinds which were standing guard in front of the window. They hinged to the top of the window, as Todoroki pulled a string, and there were some All Might posters, too. Seemed that Todoroki was trying to hide them from a specific jealous dad. "I don't open my windows. People think it's because I like my room dark. Which is true. But I thought you'd like them, so.."
Midoriya's eyes shimmered. "You like All Might, too!?" He had the same posters that Todoroki did, only because he was such a fanatic. But knowing that Todoroki had them in his room, too? Izuku wanted to marry Todoroki immediately.
"Yes. I looked up to him a lot, when I was younger. I still do." Todoroki drew the blinds again, and they unrolled back to their position in front of the window.
"Me too!" Midoriya squealed, but he knew Todoroki was already very aware of that. Midoriya was always hanging around All Might when he was around U.A. Plus, he wouldn't shut up about him.
Todoroki sat down on the bed. "I figured you were confused about my brother, so I decided to explain to you." He sighed. "We all know that he is a villain. My mother wouldn't talk to him when she first found out about the news. But.. he's done a lot to redeem himself for us. As far as we know, he has not actually been the cause of any deaths so far. We believe that he's still conflicted.. that he knows what he's doing, but he can't go through with it. He has been helpful.. he doesn't really hide anything from us. The only person he absolutely resents and would have no trouble killing is.."
"Endeavor," Midoriya quietly finished for him.
"Correct. Because he's a hero.. my brother wanted to do anything to show that he wasn't anything like him." Dabi went to extreme measures to do anything to look completely different from Endeavor, even going as far as to setting himself in his own scarring flames. In the end, Dabi's current appearance was the result. Dabi didn't even want to be acknowledged as Endeavor's son, because he hated him more than he could ever handle.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Shouto.." Midoriya felt like that would be very hard to go through. He couldn't imagine destroying himself.
Todoroki fell back onto the bed, and Midoriya flopped down beside him. "I would not worry.. we all used to argue. It was my fault that the villains attacked the USJ," he confessed. "I had told him where we were training, thinking it was harmless.. but he revealed that to the other villains as an act of revenge. Now.. instead, he tells us what the villains are plotting. We all got over our differences."
Midoriya nodded. He remembered the USJ attack, which was so long ago. That was back when All Might still was able to activate his quirk. Todoroki must've felt so guilty, knowing that he was the reason that the villains were able to hijack their training campus.
"It's okay, Shouto." Midoriya looked up at him. "I won't tell anyone.. besides, you weren't in control of that situation. You can't blame yourself." He nuzzled his cheek and closed his eyes.
"I know.. I've been more forgiving towards myself lately.." It was hard for Todoroki to let go, because of what he had been through for eighteen years of his life. Midoriya was the start of something brand new, though. It was like he was able to love himself now, and to recognize himself as a human. So.. in many ways, he was already letting go of his father's mistakes.
"Good. I hoped you would be." Midoriya traced patterns into Todoroki's chest, and listened to his steady breathing. He was already falling asleep. Usually, he was able to stay up until midnight. Though.. tonight, he wasn't excited about presents. He was perfectly content with spending time with Todoroki instead. It was the only thing he wanted right now. The best thing Todoroki could give him, actually.
"You know the song I suggested to Tokoyami, to put in the music box?" Todoroki glanced at Midoriya, gently petting his hair.
"No, I didn't recognize it. What is it?" Midoriya asked softly.
"I came across it when I first realized that I liked you.." Todoroki murmured. "I used to listen to calm music before I slept, to distract myself from the demons in my head. Then I heard you outside of my room, laughing and talking with Iida and Uraraka. I realized how much I wanted to make you laugh like that.. while your words weren't intelligible, I still knew that I wanted to talk to you, too.. you're brave, for being the first to do something like that. I couldn't bring myself the courage to do so."
Midoriya's cheeks were a light pink, and he exchanged a loving kiss with Todoroki. "I'm glad I talked to you, Shocchan.. I wouldn't miss spending a second with you for the world."
Todoroki smiled, brushing his nose against Midoriya's. "I wouldn't, either."
A/N: THIS TOOK FOREVER, I AM SO SORRY. Well, only one more chapter until I'm done! We're on the home stretch. Thank you for being so patient with me. Also, if you're wondering what the song in the music box is, just click the link above the chapter!