Try to believe walking down the lonesome road

[inheritance]

[With the start of their internships fast approaching, it's no wonder a good portion of the students in 1-A are too excited to properly concentrate during class. Aizawa, picking up on their lack of focus, eventually ends the class a few minutes early with a tired, exasperated sigh. Izuku grins guiltily at their teacher's retreating back. He can't exactly blame his classmates for distracted like this--picking their hero names and their first internship is pretty exciting. And a big step toward being pros.

Fidgeting with the bandages on his hands, Izuku turns in his seat and just happens to catch Todoroki's eyes. There's the barest flicker of hesitation before Izuku offers up a cheerful smile.] Todoroki-kun, have you already decided where you're going for your internship?

[The classroom's already emptying out, but there's no real need to hurry out like everyone else is. Besides, Izuku hasn't really gotten a chance to talk to Todoroki since the festival. Remembering how subdued Todoroki was during the medal ceremony has made it difficult for him to shake away his concerns. So Izuku gathers up his books slowly and waits for an answer.]

Comments

[glaciers]

It's too bad you're running out of space.

[He could buy something small like a keychain and leave it with Midoriya.]

You don't have to do that.

[inheritance]

[Izuku laughs again, shaking his head.] Yeah...I don't think mom's going to let me take up any more of the living room shelves, either. [His collection sure did get out of hand.]

Maybe I don't have to, but I want to.

[glaciers]

Is your entire house covered in hero merchandise?

[He's perhaps having a completely incorrect vision of Midoriya's apartment. All Might posters everywhere and anywhere. They're the wallpaper for the entire space.]

Sometimes I don't understand you. ... But I'll gladly accept whatever gifts you give.

[inheritance]

[Izuku immediately blushes, which probably answers Todoroki's question already.] It's not that bad! I-it's just a few of my posters and figures here and there...most of it's still in my room. [It's pretty bad.]

Good. [He looks pleased.] At least I don't have to argue with you on that.

[glaciers]

[That probably means his assumption is only the beginning of how many pieces of merchandise must be lying around his room.

... He's never seen his friend on a free day, but he wonders if he owns all of the limited edition All Might t-shirts and proceeds to never wear them.]

I'm not sure I could win an argument against you. Not when it comes to gift giving.

[inheritance]

[If anything, Izuku just looks even happier than before.]

That's not a bad thing. I've never had friends to give things to, and you've never had a chance to buy merch like this. It's kind of a trade off, see? We both get what we want!

[glaciers]

You always seem to look on the bright side. ... That's probably the best way to look at things.

We'll stop somewhere after I get things for mom.

[inheritance]

[Izuku's smile goes a little lopsided, an odd undercurrent to it, though it doesn't lose its brightness.]

I try my best to. Everyone's going to feel sad sometimes, but if you get too caught up in it, that kind of thinking can stick around for way longer than you meant it to.

A-anyway, I think it's a good thing if you can focus on the bright side instead!

[glaciers]

[Usually Shouto isn't perceptive enough to notice this kind of thing. Usually he's not close enough to the person in question. But he knows Midoriya now, the way his smile sits, the way his expressions are- something is off.

If he was Uraraka or Iida he might be able to say something about it- but he's hardly used to being around a friend to begin with. He shouldn't pry.]

Are you okay?

[Oops.]

[inheritance]

[Ah, Todoroki noticed. Despite his efforts, Izuku still feels pleased that Todoroki's gotten so good at reading him now.]

Y-yeah. Just um, bad memories. [His smile falters for a second.] It's not important or anything!

[glaciers]

[They've spent so much time together, it would be impossible for him not to realize.]

Are you sure?

I had a lot of bad memories and you helped me through them.

[inheritance]

[Izuku's hesitance and silence is answer enough on their own, in a way.]

It shouldn't matter--things are different now.

[glaciers]

Things were different for me too. But talking helped.

[He won't push it because he doesn't think he knows how to do it properly. But he'll lay the offer on the table. Midoriya helped him, once. Shouto is more than willing to reciprocate.]

I'm always here to listen.

[inheritance]

Todoroki... [Izuku says softly, turning to look at him. For a moment, there's just the sound of their footsteps and the the chatter of the people around them.]

It's just stuff that happened when I was in school. [And out of it, too.] You already know that I didn't have friends before U.A.... [Izuku trails off uncertainly. He tries to keep his problems bottled up most of the time, so now he isn't really sure where to start.]

[glaciers]

[Shouto's quiet, all of his attention focused in on Midoriya.

There's a tiny nod in response.]

I don't understand how. You have... a very large heart and a very heroic outlook.

[inheritance]

[The way that Izuku only blushes the tiniest bit at the compliment instead of the animated response it would usually get, shows just how nervous he actually is to talk about this.]

My...my quirk came in late. [Izuku's shoulders hunch slightly, like he's ready to shield himself from Todoroki's reaction.] Really, really late. People thought I was quirkless for the longest time.

[glaciers]

[There's a pause as he considers this... Midoriya has injured himself so often-]

It might have been better that way.

[Kids are resilient but not that resilient. He'd injure his entire body just trying to use it.

He squeezes Midoriya's hand, thumb rubbing over the scars from the sports festival. It's his fault.]

[inheritance]

[Todoroki's reply takes him by surprise, forgetting to even be wary.]

You think it was better that it came late? Why?

[For someone like Izuku, who had spent so long wanting a quirk, he can't think of any reason. Even his confusion isn't enough to distract him from Todoroki's casual touch. This time, the blush is more obvious and immediate.] Um...

[glaciers]

You've hurt yourself a lot. If you were younger... You probably wouldn't have known Recovery Girl.

I don't know if I would've met you.

[inheritance]

Oh. [Izuku's eyes widen. Despite his constant over-thinking, he had never considered it that way before. It would make sense if meeting All Might and getting the quirk much earlier would have changed the sequence of events that came after.]

If...getting my quirk earlier means I wouldn't have met you or the others, then... I don't mind the way things turned out now. I just wish we could've met earlier. [He could've used a friend back then, and maybe Todoroki wouldn't have been caught up in those negative thoughts about his fire quirk for so long...there's so many "ifs" that Izuku's struggling not to think about now.]

[glaciers]

It would have been nice to grow up with you as my friend.

[Assuming Midoriya could even reach him. Endeavor kept him away from all kinds of normal kid things, including going to school. Shouto's body and quirk had to be trained full time. He just hired tutors to get him the schooling he needed.]

[inheritance]

Maybe we wouldn't have been so alone if that happened. [Briefly, he allows himself to imagine it. Having Todoroki to turn to whenever Bakugou and the others got too much for him to handle.

Izuku sighs, smile just slightly sad as he squeezes Todoroki's hand again.] At least we have each other now.

[glaciers]

That's what's important, right? The present and the future.

[ This soft, quiet warmth in his chest is odd but not unpleasant. He just wants to be with his friend as much as he can. ]

[inheritance]

Yeah. [This time, the agreement comes more easily. That's right, it doesn't matter what happened back in middle school. He has Todoroki now, and his other friends, too.]

Thanks, Todoroki. [For listening, for not changing your mind when you found out I was quirkless before.]

[glaciers]

You don't need to thank me for this, Midoriya.

[His gaze softens, his heart seems to skip a beat, and he squeezes Midoriya's hand. Soft and gentle, a reassurance that he's not going anywhere.]