His Personal Hero (TodoDeku)

Where it Began

  Hi, my name is Izuku Midoriya. I'm a student at the prestigious U.A. High School. I inherited One-for-All from the number one hero, All Might. I have been training non-stop to strengthen my body, so I can use this newly acquired quirk at one-hundred percent. Although, I must say, this isn't going where you believe it is. This is actually the story of how Shoto Todoroki and I fall in love.
  It all started back at the U.A. Sports Festival when I broke through Todoroki's wall. You see, he has a strong resentment towards his pyrokinesis quirk. It was passed on to him by his father, Endeavor.
  "It's yours! Your quirk, not his!" I had screamed to him, hoping I would get through. His facial expression proved I did.
  After the sports festival, I started to notice how he would always be around me. When we would train, he'd always look over his shoulder at me. In class, he'd always be staring at me, while twirling a pencil through his fingers. It was like he was studying me, trying to decipher the sudden friendship. I never gave it much thought though. I would always continue on with my work. It wasn't until one day, much later, that I stumbled upon Todoroki in a time that I shouldn't have.
  "I thought I raised a better son than this." I overheard these words, coming from around the corner into the hallway. I froze in my steps, frantically looking around to see if anybody else was nearby.
  "Well, you didn't and I'm not going to apologize for being like this either." A familiar voice said as a snarky remark. Immediately after, the hallway filled with an echo of skin slapping against skin, followed by a low growl.
  "Shoto, you will not speak to me like that! We will continue this discussion at home. Go back to class, I'm done with you." Footsteps slowly faded away down the hall until the air was silent again. I peeked over into the hallway and saw Shoto Todoroki sitting on the floor. His back was pressed against the wall with one leg pulled up to his chest. His head was leaned back and his eyes glued to the ceiling. I could faintly see a tear rolling down his cheek while he bit his lip. My fingers gripped tighter onto the wall. I probably shouldn't be here... But, he looks hurt.
  I began to take a step back, but my shoe squeaked across the waxy floor. Todoroki's eyes swiftly met mine. He jumped up off the floor while wiping his face clear of any visible anguish. He attempted to hide his right cheek, but it was obviously red and sore. That loud noise I heard was his father slapping him?
  "What are you doing here, Midoriya?" His voice nearly broke at the beginning, but it quickly recovered.
  "I-I was going to meet with Recovery Girl. She said she had something to give me." I stuttered, my mind kept screaming 'help him!'
  "Oh, yeah. Okay," he continued trying to hide his face, but without success. "I need to go back to class. I'll see you around?" I nodded, at the time it was all I could do. I should have done more.

  That evening when everybody was leaving Ochaco Uraraka came running up to me.
  "Hey Deku! Have you seen Todoroki? He was in class earlier today, but when his father pulled him out, he never came back. Do you know if he's okay?"
  "Oh, uh.." I clenched my teeth, did he go home? "No, I haven't seen him anymore today. I hope he's okay." I gave a weary smile and ran my fingers through the back of my hair. This isn't good...
  "Yeah, I hope everything is okay too." She gave me a worried expression, but she dropped the conversation. I glanced around the classroom, realizing he hadn't came back since I last saw him in the hallway. I'm sure he will be back tomorrow, I had thought to myself. I decided to just head home. I had a pile of homework to get through before Mr. Aizawa flunks me from the hero course.

  "Goodmorning class, thank you for turning in all of your homework from yesterday. I imagine it wasn't very difficult." Mr. Aizawa mentioned as he looked over the classroom. Everybody groaned and started murmuring to each other.
  "What the hell is he talking about? That was the hardest one yet!" Eijiro Kirishima exclaimed to Tsuyu Asui.
  "I don't know, it wasn't that hard to me, ribbit." She said politely, putting her finger to her lips.
  "I thought it was challenging, but I think I aced it!" Uraraka shouted, always remaining optimistic.
  "Screw you guys. That assignment was stupid." Katsuki Bakugo snarled. All of those voices echoing around me, but I couldn't pay attention. I was too focused on why Todoroki wasn't in class.
  "Oh, and Shoto Todoroki won't be joining us for class today. His father excused him for personal one-on-one training," Mr. Aizawa expressed, "as for us, we will be doing some endurance training. Go get changed into your training uniform."
  My eyes widened, personal one-on-one training? After hearing how his father was talking to him yesterday?
  "Deku, are you okay?" Uraraka was standing over me. Everybody else had already left.
  "I-I'm fine! Just lost in thought!" I darted out of the room and rushed to get changed. My mind wouldn't stop racing, is he okay? I had never seen him so broken down before yesterday. I should have intervened when I had the chance...

  We were all ordered to go out to the P.E. grounds to train our quirks in endurance. I was the last one to arrive, resulting in everybody's eyes on me.
  "Look who decided to show up." Bakugo murmured to himself, as he was pushing his explosion quirk to its limits against a training dummy.
  "Nice of you to join us, Midoriya." Mr. Aizawa stated, "go run twenty laps and then come talk with me."
  I glanced at the ground, knowing my mind had not been focused on my studies or training since yesterday. I took off at a full sprint, using my One-For-All in order to quickly knock out those laps.

  I managed to clear those laps within five minutes, which was slower than normal. As soon as I finished I went to speak with Mr. Aizawa like he requested.
  "I can't help but notice your slacking recently, Midoriya. Is there anything you want to talk to me about?"
  "No, Mr. Aizawa." He glared at me. He knew I was lying.
  "Okay, but I expect you to improve overnight." I nodded in agreement. I knew I needed to get back on track and to not let anything blind me from it. I clenched my fists and forced myself to run a few more laps, mainly as self-punishment.

  As the day ended, I was covered in sweat from pushing myself. If I ever want to become the number one hero, I don't need to let simple things bog me down. I watched all of my classmates go home, but I insisted on staying for one more lap.
  I put myself on the track, looking dead ahead at my goal. I must get through this in thirty seconds, I have to. I pushed off as hard as I could, activating One-For-All in both of my legs, sprinting around the track. As soon as my foot passed over the line, I checked my time.

00:28

  My knees buckled to the ground, but I shouted in excitement. I made my goal! Yes!
The echo of clapping shot through my ears. My eyes were immediately drawn to the source of the noise.
  "Congrats, it was inspiring to watch you push yourself so hard." Todoroki expressed, leaning against the entryway to the school. I smiled instantly at the sight of him.
  "Thanks!" I began gathering my stuff together. I noticed out of my peripheral vision that he was walking towards me.
  "So, err.." He started to say as I looked up at him, "I'm guessing you saw what happened in the hallway yesterday." He glanced away shyly.
  "Oh, um..." I wasn't sure whether I should acknowledge that I did or not.
  "I take that as you did... Okay." He sighed, appearing disappointed, "my father found out something that he highly disapproves of. He thought forcing me to go through an intensive training session today would fix it, but nothing will." He tugged at his shirt nervously.
  "Hey," I laid my hand on his shoulder, our eyes connecting.
  "Remember what I said, back at the sports festival? You are not your father. Don't let him force you into whatever you're not." I gave him a reassuring smile, in turn he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a gentle embrace.
  "Midoriya, I don't think you understand how much you have changed my perspective on my life. I was a miserable person before you came along. I want to thank you, personally, for pulling me out of the darkness." He said softly. I tightened my grip around him, not expecting this response in the least.
  "I also want to tell you why my father was so upset with me..." He pulled back out of the hug and locked eyes with me again, "he found out that I like you, Midoriya. I really really like you."

🖤