It had been almost a month since Todoroki and Midoriya's excursion in which they saved a child together. The weather had warmed significantly since then, and the crowded common area of late winter slowly emptied as more and more of Class 1-A spent time outdoors. It was one of these times that only Midoriya and Todoroki were inside; the rest of the class had reserved one of the school's many gymnasiums to play sports. Midoriya could still hear Bakugou yelling in the distance that he wanted to be captain, and Kirishima yelling back that they hadn't even settled on a game yet.

Midoriya hadn't even known Todoroki was there, in all honesty. He wandered around the kitchen, humming to himself while he prepared an early dinner for himself. He and Todoroki had taken to practicing through lunchtime once or twice a week, but the result of the extra practice was always a growling stomach that kept Midoriya distracted in the afternoon.

Todoroki cleared his throat and Midoriya jumped in the air, almost accidentally activating his Quirk in the process. He'd have shot straight through the ceiling. He heard Todoroki's soft snickering behind him and couldn't help but laugh himself, even though he'd spilled the water out of the pot he'd been holding. "Hey, Todo," he waved with that cheeky smile before ducking his head and grabbing a towel to begin mopping the water off the floor.

"Mido," he replied just as casually, grabbing another dish towel from the drawer and helping Midoriya clean up the water.

"Oh, y-you don't have to help!" Midoriya insisted. "It's my fault—"

"I'm already down here," Todoroki replied simply. Rather than argue, because he knew by now it would be for naught, Midoriya simply moved aside to grant Todoroki more room.

"Are you gonna go with the rest of the class to the gym?" Midoriya asked softly after a few moments. "I thought you'd already left."

"My old man called," Todoroki replied.

"Oh."

The conversation that Todoroki had wanted to have so badly about a month ago had been put on the backburner while he tried to resolve his issues with the warm, fuzzy feelings he got from spending time with Midoriya. Now, though, he was more used to that tight feeling that overcame him when Midoriya called him that goofy nickname, or when their shoulders nudged so casually as they tended to. Or...pretty much any other time Midoriya spent time with him. Maybe he could broach the topic now.

They cleaned up the water and walked with each other to the laundry room, conversation nonexistent and silence welcomed. Their shoulders nudged casually as they went, Midoriya humming that same tune once again. Todoroki had the question sitting on the edge of his tongue, ready to ask Midoriya if he had a minute to talk, maybe they could go for a walk again—no, that seemed dangerous, what if they were interrupted again? Of course Todoroki was glad they had been there to save the child, but he really needed to talk and—

"Todo?" Midoriya asked softly. They were back in the kitchen, and Todoroki's hand had somehow found its way to Midoriya's.

Todoroki let go quickly. "Sorry, there's just something on my mind," he mumbled. Midoriya leaned his elbows on the kitchen counter and watched him, his head tilted to the side as if to say go on, I'm listening, I care.

"What's up?" Midoriya asked, emphasizing just how much he was willing to help. "Is it about your old man?"

Todoroki sighed and leaned up against the counter. Midoriya shifted, instead deciding he would be more comfortable sitting up on the countertop. He kicked his legs idly, leaning forward with intrigue to listen to Todoroki. "Ah, well," Todoroki rubbed his neck sheepishly. "He wanted to talk about my training."

"What about it?" Midoriya asked cautiously, trying to control the anger that threatened to seep into his voice.

"He wants me doing more."

"What more can you do besides go to U.A.?" he replied, that anger starting to poke holes in his façade.

"He wants me to join a work study with him so that he can train me on the job."

"And what do you think?"

Todoroki fell quiet. He hadn't really considered how he felt about it, besides the anger he felt at his father for calling him and his anger with himself for even picking up the phone. "I think," he began hesitantly, "it's probably a good idea to join a work study. Whether or not that work study is with him, though, is a different story."

Midoriya nodded. Todoroki briefly imagined him holding a clipboard and wearing glasses on the edge of his nose, like the therapists he'd seen on television sometimes did. The thought made him smile, and Midoriya returned that smile without hesitation.

"A work study would definitely be beneficial," Midoriya said. "Be careful not to show up the pros, though," he added teasingly, gently nudging Todoroki's shoulder with his hand.

"You're saying that to me?" Todoroki replied with that smile playing at his lips still, threatening to pull them back and show his teeth. He turned away and covered his mouth with his hand.

"Oh please," Midoriya shook his head, "every time we train together you get me fair and square. And when I win, it's because you're holding back."

Todoroki was about to retort saying that no, that's not true, he and Midoriya were nearly tied in their training because they were of nearly the same strength level. When he "held back" it was because he'd run out of juice, and without Midoriya breaking limbs at every turn he had much more stamina than Todoroki did.

"Oh, speaking of which," Midoriya suddenly realized why they were in the kitchen when his stomach growled. "Do you want me to make you something? I was about to make dinner for myself."

"That sounds...nice," Todoroki finally removed his hand from his mouth. "Do you need any help?"

"I'd love some help," Midoriya replied, a light blush touching his cheeks as he smiled wider. "Somehow I always burn the sauce when I make cold soba. Do you—"

"I can make the sauce," Todoroki offered, the idea of making his favorite meal with his favorite person doing those weird things to his chest.

"Perfect! I'll start the water boiling for the noodles."

"I'll try not to scare it out of your hands this time."

Midoriya giggled, honest to god giggled, and Todoroki had to fight every part of him that wanted to envelop the smaller boy in a hug. The thought was so impulsive that he nearly didn't catch himself in time, his arms reaching out while Midoriya's back was turned, but they snapped back to his sides the second Midoriya turned around. "Okay, do you know how to make the sauce? I pretty much have the recipe memorized, but if you make it a different way then I don't mind."

"Oh, uh," Todoroki rubbed his neck. "I know how to make it, yeah."

"Great!" Midoriya chirped, taking the pot he'd grabbed earlier over to the sink.

There was a bit of downtime between waiting for the water to boil and the sauce to come together. Midoriya had reclaimed his place sitting up on the counter, once again idly kicking his feet while he and Todoroki talked about the previous school day. Todoroki mindlessly stirred the sauce while they chatted, grateful to have something to absorb part of his attention so his mind didn't wander to how cute his friend looked.

Midoriya took his water-boiling and noodle-cooking task very seriously. He set two different timers – one on his phone and the other on the actual oven – then rushed over to the freezer to grab ice for an ice bath for the noodles. Todoroki watched the endeavor with a confused look, suddenly remembering that not everyone could create ice from their body. Every time he made cold soba, he used his freezing abilities to instantly cool the noodles. He supposed in an ice bath they wouldn't get freezer burnt as easily.

The domesticity of the exchange was sickeningly sweet, at least to Midoriya. A few times as he passed behind Todoroki at the stove, he bumped his friend's hip, a playful smile on his face. Another time, Todoroki passed behind Midoriya and gently touched the small of his back as he went, almost barely noticeable. Both were smiling and blushing like fools by the time the food was ready, and they sat across from each other at the otherwise empty table, Midoriya's feet resting toe to toe with Todoroki's.

Midoriya couldn't help but shovel his face full the moment his plate touched the table. Not only had he not eaten lunch, but he'd had a small breakfast, too; he'd slept in and didn't have time to make anything more than a slice of toast. (He would have had two slices, but Bakugou burnt his other piece.) Todoroki, on the other hand, coming from ever the rich and elegant family...did the exact same thing.

They had each cleared their respective plates in less than five minutes. "That was so good," Midoriya whispered, almost to himself. "I can't tell if it's because I was so hungry or not."

"No," Todoroki replied. "It's because it was cold soba."

Midoriya reached out for the second time that day and nudged Todoroki's shoulder with his hand playfully, giggling to himself. "You're just saying that because cold soba is your favorite."

"And it's not yours after eating that?" Todoroki replied, reaching out to reciprocate the action. Midoriya laughed harder.

"It's a close second after pork cutlet bowls."

The dormitory door swung open then, Iida standing proudly on the other side. "I was told to come retrieve you for sports activities with the class," he announced. Midoriya and Todoroki exchanged a look, then laughed to themselves.

"Iida—" Midoriya wheezed.

"You ran so hard your pants are on fire," Todoroki supplied where Midoriya couldn't.

They were correct; the cuffs of Iida's pants had burned off. "Damn it!" Iida cried. "I forgot I was wearing these pants!"

"Hold on," Todoroki crossed the room quickly, cautiously extending his right hand and producing a frosty air. The fire died quickly, leaving seared pants in its place. Iida grumbled something under his breath that sounded vaguely akin to "third time this week".

"What are we needed for?" Midoriya asked curiously. Despite possessing his Quirk for about a year now, he still wondered why anyone would require the Quirkless kid – especially for something like physical activity.

"Kaminari said it would even out the teams," Iida replied. "And Uraraka, and Bakugo. I tend to agree with them as well."

"What are we playing?" Todoroki asked.

"Kickball," Iida grinned between the two. "They want you and I to be captains, Midoriya."

***

As expected, Iida chose Uraraka first, and even more expected, Midoriya chose Todoroki first. The game had started out pretty evenly, but well, there was a reason Midoriya had been put at the end of the lineup, and it was because he had three people on base waiting for him when he kicked the ball all the way to Class 1-B's dormitory. The rubber ball left a hole in the ceiling of the gymnasium. Aizawa, forced to referee, grumbled "I expect you'll be fixing that, Midoriya." Still, it was hard for him to hide the smile that emerged watching Bakugo try to fit through the hole to go retrieve the rubber ball.

They switched gears soon after; even when Bakugo returned with the rubber ball (he'd been searching for almost twenty minutes), it was lopsided and leaking air. Bakugo suggested a "friendly" competition of Capture the Flag on one of the training sites that resembled a city structure. Class 1-A's pleading eyes turned on Aizawa, who refused the offer in favor of returning to the dorms to enjoy dinner. He did, however, hint that perhaps an upcoming training exercise could be replaced with an event such as Capture the Flag.

While the rest of Class 1-A ate dinner, Todoroki and Midoriya sat on the floor of the common area, shoulders nudging as they chatted amongst themselves. Iida and Uraraka settled across from them after they finished eating, Iida's arm casually draping across Uraraka's shoulders. Had Midoriya and Todoroki not been so invested in their shoulders touching, they might have noticed the dark blush gracing Uraraka's cheeks.

The group of them settled into a comfortable conversation spurred on by Iida referencing an odd dream he'd had several nights before. "I dreamt we were back at the entrance exam," he spoke with vigor, as if he stood at the gates of the provisional exam himself. "Midoriya, you were there. Except this time you didn't break your legs and your arm."

Todoroki raised an eyebrow at Midoriya, to which Midoriya supplied a sheepish shrug and a nervous grin. Not many people besides those who Midoriya had completed the provisional exam with knew about what actually happened.

"And Uraraka was saving you! It was so cool, she made the big robot go flying!" He accentuated his story by squeezing Uraraka tighter, who still sat pressed up against Iida's body.

Uraraka laughed, waving her hand. "That's not how it would have gone at all. In fact, that's not how it went at all."

"He's got a point though," Midoriya noted. "If we were back at that exam, you would probably be able to throw that thing with how much stronger you've gotten."

"Don't sell yourself short," Todoroki chided Midoriya, bumping his shoulder. "You wouldn't have broken a limb this time, at least, if you fought those things. You're talking about the robots from the obstacle course, right?"

"Yeah, the ones you froze to the ground and sped right past," Midoriya poked at Todoroki's cheek, an action he'd found himself much more comfortable doing in the weeks following their outing. Todoroki blushed; none of them, not even himself, could tell if it was from the compliment or from the finger prodding at his face.

"Oh, right!" Uraraka said excitedly. "That was super cool!"

"It was?" Todoroki asked dumbly.

"It was efficient," Iida commented. "And, if I had to rate its coolness, I'd give it a seven out of ten."

"Why just a seven?" Midoriya countered. "Your rating scale is all wrong."

"Well, if you set 'one' as that Class 1-B kid almost getting you out in the first round of combat by telling you to turn around and walk away..." Iida hadn't been joking, but Uraraka and Midoriya laughed, and Todoroki fought back a snicker.

"Fair enough," Midoriya shrugged. "I think Uraraka's floating rock idea against Kacchan was pretty cool, though."

"I'd give that a nine," Iida replied. Uraraka nudged him with a playful pout on her lips. "Okay, maybe a nine-point-five."

"What's your ten, then?" Todoroki asked curiously, leaning forward and tilting his head. Idly, Iida thought his mannerisms quite resembled Midoriya's.

"Obviously your fight against Midoriya," he replied with an eye-roll, as if the answer should have been obvious. Then again, maybe it should have. Not because Midoriya and Todoroki were so self-centered that they believed themselves to be cool, but their battle had lasted the longest and well, they'd shattered the arena.

"That was pretty fun," Midoriya said nonchalantly.

"Fun?!" Uraraka squeaked, gesturing to Midoriya's scarred and slightly crooked right hand. Midoriya laughed and used said hand to scratch the back of his neck nervously.

"Well, I mean, that's how Todo and I became such good friends, so I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Todoroki was steaming.

"Over here gettin' all sappy, huh?" Bakugo casually jumped over the back of one of the couches and sat himself down, effectively inserting himself into the conversation. Midoriya could feel Todoroki's right side getting colder, ready to freeze Bakugo in place again.

Though he'd never wish to see Bakugo and Todoroki fight when they didn't have to, Midoriya had to admit the one time Todoroki had frozen Bakugo's feet to the floor had been one of the funniest things he'd ever seen. He had been standing outside Todoroki's locker with him, chatting idly about some superhero he'd seen on television the night before, when they heard Bakugo's voice echoing down the halls. Bakugo was yelling something about scoring higher than Midoriya on a rather meaningless quiz and, just when Midoriya had resigned himself to his fate, Todoroki stepped in front of him and froze Bakugo's feet to the ground. Though Mr. Aizawa scolded Todoroki for using his Quirk recklessly, he didn't issue any formal punishment, and Midoriya caught the snicker of amusement Mr. Aizawa made when his back was turned.

"We were just talking about the summer festival," Uraraka explained. "Iida rated my floating-rocks move a nine-point-five out of ten for coolness."

"Bet my fire blasts were a ten then," Bakugo stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Actually, they were about a five."

"Huh?!" Bakugo shot up, and Todoroki thought that Iida was a good enough friend to protect, too, so he froze one of Bakugo's feet to the floor. As quickly as it happened, though, Bakugo shot a reckless blast of flames at his own foot to free it. "Why the hell is it so low?!"

Iida didn't even flinch; most of Class 1-A had gotten used to Bakugo's voracious attitude by then. "You didn't do anything I hadn't seen before. Big fire, that's all."

Surprisingly, instead of call Iida a dumbass or storm off to shoot angry fireballs outside, Bakugo lowered his palm and scoffed. "Whatever," he muttered, turning to leave just as quickly as he'd interrupted.

The group exchanged a few curious looks. Midoriya was the first to let a laugh bubble out of him after Bakugo had gone upstairs to go to bed, followed by Uraraka, then Iida. Even Todoroki felt his lips quirk upwards in a smile listening to his friends roar with laughter over Bakugo's sudden calm.

***

"I bet you already know why you're here," Mr. Aizawa announced as he and the rest of Class 1-A stood in front of the city-shaped training ground.

"To play Capture the Flag, sir!" Iida announced, bringing his hand up in salute. Mr. Aizawa nodded.

"This seemed a lot more interesting to me than the conditioning drills I had planned for you. So I'm pushing conditioning back a day." He paced in front of the line of students as he spoke. "I've noticed that many of you have paired off to do individual trainings and such with each other." Midoriya could have sworn that Aizawa stopped, if only momentarily, to give him and Todoroki a look. "So," he continued, "for this exercise I'll be splitting you up to see if those extra trainings have done you as much good individually as they have as a pair."

Many of the students of Class 1-A exchanged looks, mostly with those they'd been training with outside of class time. "The rules are simple, just like regular capture the flag," Aizawa continued. "Each team will plant a flag on one side of the city. The other team will try to take that flag. If a member of your team is restrained by an enemy, it means that they have been captured and must be rescued by another member of their team. Does everyone understand?"

They excitedly bobbed their heads, some making noises of excitement or hooting and hollering to get started.

"Team 1: Iida, Todoroki, Bakugo, Kaminari, Jirou, Shoji, Asui, Aoyama, Mineta, Sato. You will be defending the eastern side of the city. Team 2: Ashido, Uraraka, Midoriya, Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, Hagakure, Ojiro, Sero, Koda. You will be defending the western side of the city." The class split into their teams as Aizawa spoke. "The catch to this game of Capture the Flag," Aizawa's voice travelled over the students excitedly sharing strategies, "is you have to find your flag before the other team does. You are free to move the flag once you find it."

The door to the training ground swung open, revealing All Might with a referee whistle dangling out of his mouth. "I'll be your referee!" he called to the class. "If I see any unsportsmanlike conduct, I won't hesitate to put you in the penalty box!" All Might gestured to a tall building on the very edge of the training ground with large windows.

Midoriya began to vibrate with excitement, glancing over at Todoroki and hopping from foot to foot. He thought he saw Todoroki smile back at him, if only for a second, but then All Might blew the whistle and he was swept away with his team to go find their flag.

The city was divided into sections by a long, red line perfectly across the course. Midoriya wondered idly how much time it took to set this up and if Aizawa was really doing this because he thought it would be interesting, or if he actually cared about his students' happiness. He hoped the latter.

He was pulled from his thoughts – and physically pulled aside – by Yaoyorozu, who had also grabbed Hagakure while the teams split and disbanded. She pulled them into a side building while the rest of the team ran by. "I have a plan," she announced as the door shut behind them.

"A plan!" Midoriya echoed the words with excitement. "What is it?"

"They're going to be watching for you, Midoriya," she dropped her voice down to a soft murmur, despite the building being completely empty. "So, I think it would be perfect if you could pave the way for Hagakure."

"That's a great idea!" Midoriya clapped his hands together excitedly. "Hagakure, let me know what I need to do to distract them from you!"

"Well," even only seeing her clothing, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu could tell she was fidgeting, "I expected to be more of a—a scout than anything, you know? Go in and find the flag, then let the bigger heroes capture it."

"You're a hero, too," Midoriya countered gently, resting a hand on her invisible shoulder.

"Well, we can start with that, certainly." Yaoyorozu turned her back to her and Midoriya as she began crafting several earpieces. "I'll make these so we can talk to each other. Hagakure, if you'd feel more comfortable snooping across enemy lines, then we'll use that to our advantage!"

Midoriya pumped his fist into the air. "That's so cool! Being able to wander around undetected like that..."

"That being said, though, they might be expecting that." Yaoyorozu tapped her chin in thought. "How comfortable are you with your body, Hagakure?"

"Please don't ask me to get naked," she cried in response. Yaoyorozu turned around and placed an earpiece in both their hands.

"No, no, never," Yaoyoruzu shook her hands and a blush spread on her cheeks. "I just—I could make you some really thin and flowy clothing, which would likely make it harder for our opponents to tell where you are."

Midoriya put the earpiece in his ear in the meantime. "If you need, I can step out of the room," he offered. "I was thinking I should go find the rest of our team, anyways, and explain our plan to them."

"Sure," Yaoyorozu nodded. Hagakure made a noise of agreement as well.

"Then, I'm off!" he waved. "Good luck, Hagakure! You'll do great!"

Midoriya left the side building and didn't have to look too far to find his team. They'd set up a base in the center of their side of the city; by the looks of it, Kirishima had smashed bits of rubble from fallen buildings and Uraraka had used her ability to make the pieces float into the shape of a large fort. In the center sat Koda, mumbling quietly, and Midoriya could see in the distance a dozen birds carrying a large purple flag their way.

"You found that fast!" Midoriya said in awe as he carefully climbed into the fort. Koda blushed and smiled, rubbing his neck.

"Actually, it was the birds," he said softly.

"Either way, you're doing great!" Midoriya beamed.

"Where were you at, Midoriya?" Kirishima asked, a taunting smile on his lips. "Could've used some help smashing up the rubble for our fort."

"Sorry, sorry!" he waved his hands apologetically. "Yaoyorozu pulled Hagakure and I aside to develop a plan." Midoriya pointed to the earpiece in his ear. "Yaoyorozu is making Hagakure some stealthy clothes right now, and then Hagakure is going to go find the flag and tell us where it is."

"I can look from above," Ojiro offered. "Where's Yaoyorozu? We should all have earpieces."

Yaoyorozu rounded the corner shortly thereafter. Hagakure wasn't with her, so Midoriya assumed she'd already left to find the flag. He could tell by the sound of the earpiece clicking on that she was running, her breath somewhat labored in his ear. "Hey!" Midoriya waved to her. "How many earpieces do you think you'd be able to make?"

"Not many more, if I want to be able to defend the flag," she replied.

"How many people need them?" Midoriya scanned their team. Uraraka and Kirishima would certainly be best on defense, he thought, and Sero could make webs from tape to tie up opponents...Yaoyorozu could hang back and create weapons for them to fight with, should they need to.

"What do you think, Midoriya?" Tokoyami asked by his side. "Dark Shadow and I can do either."

"Yaoyorozu," Midoriya called, "How does three more earpieces sound?"

"I can make it happen," she replied.

Midoriya fell into position in front of the remaining team members. "Sero, I think you should stay here to play defense. Maybe from a high position, so you can spot the others and alert Yaoyorozu that we have incoming. Catch who you can, but we're a strong team and you've got help."

"Yes sir," Sero replied.

"Tokoyami, you and I are probably going to be the biggest targets to be running at the flag," he continued, "so that's exactly what we should do."

"Midoriya—" Tokoyami readied himself to argue, but Midoriya continued.

"Who they won't expect," Midoriya pointed, "is Koda."

"M-me?" Koda squeaked. Midoriya grinned and nodded.

"Your Quirk could bring the flag right to us, just like it did with our own flag! Don't worry, Tokoyami and I will watch your back while you use it," he stated proudly.

"That's...a really good plan," Yaoyorozu said, finishing the creation of the extra earpieces. Midoriya gave one to Tokoyami, Sero, and Koda.

"Ashido," Midoriya said, noticing the pink-haired girl had been waiting for a chance to speak, "where do you think you'd be most useful?"

"Well," she tapped her chin, "I really wanna go kick Kaminari's ass...but I feel like I can help on defense the most."

"How about you play mid-field then?" Midoriya suggested. "Shorter offense and shorter defense. Sero will watch out for you from above, and if Kaminari is on the front lines, you'll be able to get him."

"That sounds perfect!" Ashido clapped her hands together, laughing.

"Ready yourselves, team!" Yaoyorozu called, drawing a sword from her stomach. "We're going up against Todoroki and Bakugo!"

"Seems you've forgotten who else you're up against," Jirou stated from a nearby alleyway, a smirk playing at her lips. "You shouldn't talk about your plan so loudly."

"Get her!" Midoriya cried, but Jirou had already turned and was running away at full speed. Sero swung himself from his high building and Ashido ran to corner her in the alleyway.

And, about that moment, is when Midoriya heard Bakugo yell.

***

Midoriya saw Sato throwing a rock after Bakugo caused an explosion, ready to disrupt the already chaotic energy, and it caught his arm. After that, Aoyama shot a blast at Midoriya, calling out an apology as he did so. In fact, all of team one attacked; Midoriya saw everyone but Todoroki. He supposed that strategy wasn't Bakugo's strong suit, and no way would Bakugo listen to Todoroki when it came to battle.

Midoriya thought to himself how stupid of a plan that was, because while he didn't deny Todoroki's strength, with five of them coming at him at once, he likely couldn't stop them all.

Then he heard Hagakure's voice hissing in her headset. "It's just Todoroki at the flag! It's in the building with the red and white sign near the northeast!"

Koda got lost in the crossfire, and Tokoyami chose to hang back and defend following the decision to send all their troops in. Midoriya, despite being targeted by both Aoyama and Sato, managed to slip past the offenses by kicking holes into walls and running through a few buildings.

"Where's Deku?!" Midoriya heard Bakugo snarl, and through the headset he heard Yaoyorozu's voice.

"Keep going, Midoriya!" she called. "We've got 'em! Bakugo isn't even trying for the flag, he's just looking for you!"

Hagakure spoke then. "Midoriya, I'm coming up on your left! Don't worry!"

Midoriya yelped still when he felt a hand on him. He expected to see Hagakure (or rather, her clothes) but admittedly the stealth outfit Yaoyorozu had crafted was perfect. Unless he knew what to look for, despite knowing she stood there Midoriya couldn't see her. "Amazing!" he whispered, only faltering in his step for a moment before he continued running.

"This way," Hagakure led him through a series of complex alleyways towards the flag's location. Sero jumped rooftops after him.

"Tokoyami and I switched spots," Sero called to them through the headset. "I'll come in through the top."

"We're getting overpowered here!" Tokoyami yelled through the earpiece. "Midoriya, hurry it up!"

Seconds later, All Might's voice boomed through a loudspeaker. "Young Kirishima has been captured by Team One!"

Midoriya didn't have time to stop and rethink their plan. Hagakure pulled them through a side door to the building; the front door was blocked by ice. Midoriya proceeded cautiously; there was no way Todoroki hadn't noticed there was a back door to the building. Either he deliberately didn't block them as a trap, or he wanted Midoriya to get to him.

Hagakure let go of Midoriya's arm, then. "I'm going to scope it out," she whispered. "Be careful, Midoriya."

Midoriya nodded. The only way he'd known Hagakure left his side was by the sound of her soft footsteps crossing the room. He saw the door to the store's basement open ever so slightly and close again.

Midoriya went up. Sero came through his earpiece. "I'm on top of the building, Midoriya. Should I come in, or do you want to force Todoroki out?"

"Whatever you think," Midoriya whispered back. He doubted he could corner Todoroki on his own, or force him anywhere, but a part of him wanted that. Some sick part of him wanted to be captured.

"Roger," Sero replied. "Coming in now."

Midoriya cautiously went up the steps. Most of the stairway doors had been frozen shut. Midoriya wondered if Todoroki deliberately did this to point Midoriya straight to him.

Outside, the muffled sound of All Might. "Young Ashido and Young Aoyama have been captured!"

The sixth floor wasn't frozen closed; it was the only door thus far that wasn't. Midoriya pushed open the door and let it fall closed as a test. He didn't hear anything behind the door. He peeked his head in, cautiously, finding a yellow flag at the end of the hallway, but no Todoroki.

Midoriya was no moron, but sometimes he deliberately chose to be. He walked into the room, calmly, his eyes on the flag and only the flag. A part of his brain screamed this is suicide, Todoroki's going to get you while the other part screamed back let him.

"Todo?" Midoriya called out, still creeping towards the flag. The floor didn't feel as cold as the others had when he passed by them. His hand reached out towards the flag, and he was maybe a foot away from touching it when his feet were frozen into place. He laughed. "I should have known it wouldn't be easy."

Todoroki stepped out of a storage closet, a small smile on his face. "I've been waiting for you, Mido," he said in a mock-serious tone (which, honestly, just sounded real-serious to Midoriya).

"How'd you know I'd make it past Kacchan?" he asked cautiously. "Also, my feet are cold. Can you let me go?"

Todoroki complied, to Midoriya's surprise, letting a bit of steam out of his left hand to melt the ice at his feet. Todoroki trusted Midoriya to a surprising level, and Midoriya refused to break that trust. Even with the flag in front of him, he turned his back to it in order to talk to Todoroki.

"They all charged at once," Todoroki replied. "I was supposed to go, too, after freezing every entrance to the building. But that's no fun."

"Easy to penetrate, too, when I can punch through it," Midoriya shrugged.

"Knowing your strategizing abilities, I decided to hang back exactly because of that."

"So then, why didn't you freeze the back door?"

"I wanted you to have all your stamina for this."

Midoriya chuckled, a bit darkly, and let himself fall into a battle stance. "Do you expect to be able to take on three of us?"

"Three?" Todoroki asked, then his smile returned. "Oh, you're talking about Sero and Hagakure. Don't worry about them."

As if on cue, All Might boomed, "Young Sero has been captured!"

"I froze Hagakure in place," Todoroki replied with a shrug.

"How? I didn't see you on the stairs."

"There are two sets of stairs," Todoroki replied.

"Oh."

Midoriya should have probably been nervous at that point, but it began to feel more and more like a regular training session that he and Todoroki would have over lunch. Todoroki's right hand filled with ice, the left with fire. "You could surrender, if you're scared," he teased.

"Never," Midoriya breathed back, his fingertips erupting with energy.

He didn't remember how their battle went – well, not exactly, anyways. He remembered a sharp pain as his fist expected to connect with ice but instead delved through flames. He remembered pulling back and seeing a moment's hesitation on Todoroki's face, almost wondering if it was fear, but the look disappeared as soon as it had appeared and Midoriya resumed his battle stance. Todoroki dodged most of his attacks with ease, and Midoriya managed to dodge quite a few of Todoroki's attacks following the first.

He remembered his fist connecting with Todoroki's stomach, sending his friend lurching backwards, and his momentum carried him on top of Todoroki. When they landed, Midoriya straddled Todoroki, labored breathing, one hand on Todoroki's chest. He could feel Todoroki's heart racing, cheeks pink (whether from physical exertion or embarrassment neither of them could say). Then, that booming voice. "Young Todoroki has been captured by Team Two!"

"Good job, Midoriya!" came echoes of his teammates' voices through the headset. He sat there for a moment, Todoroki watching blankly. Finally, Todoroki pointed to the flag.

"Go get it. Seriously, before Bakugo gets yours."

Midoriya didn't need to be told twice. He leapt up, grabbing the flag proudly, letting out a happy noise that sounded somewhere between a battle cry and a scream of victory. He barely registered when All Might came across the loudspeaker again.

"Young Midoriya has captured the flag!"

***

As Class 1-A walked back to the dorms that day, Todoroki felt a surge of jealousy that he couldn't stand next to Midoriya while they walked. Instead, Midoriya had been surrounded by the class, both his teammates and enemies from Capture the Flag. Uraraka gushed about how good Midoriya's strategy had been, and she wouldn't hear it when Midoriya sheepishly murmured that well, technically that strategy didn't work because it broke so quickly...

But Yaoyorozu was quick to counter by saying that his strategy remained intact even when wrenches were thrown into it, which made it a great strategy.

Midoriya wore an adorable blush as he was showered with compliments. Todoroki knew it well from their individual training, when he would compliment Midoriya's stamina or flexibility. Though now Midoriya didn't know how to return the compliments; when it was just them, he'd compliment Todoroki back.

Over dinner, Aoyama plopped down to the right of Midoriya. Todoroki scoffed. Usually he sat on Midoriya's right. No matter; he'd sit on the left.

Tokoyami sat on Midoriya's left. Todoroki fought back a frown. I can sit across from him, it's fine, he thought.

Hakagure sat across from Midoriya.

"Oh, Todo!" Midoriya waved to him. "There's a free spot next to Hakagure!"

Todoroki sat down next to her, a bit dejected, and unluckily (or perhaps luckily?) for him, Midoriya's observational skills caught onto his disappointment quickly. "You still upset because I beat you in Capture the Flag?" he teased gently, nudging his foot against Todoroki's under the table, as if to say I'm not being serious, but I can tell something is wrong.

"No, you got me fair and square," Todoroki shrugged. "Maybe if Bakugo had listened to my attempt to strategize, though—"

"What did you say, half and half bastard?!" Bakugo growled from the other end of the table, where Kirishima tried desperately to pat out the sparks that had landed on the table from Bakugo's palm.

Midoriya just laughed, shaking his head to himself. "Still, a rush was pretty good. It would have worked if we were planning the same thing."

"But you utilized the team's talents," Hakagure pointed out.

"W-well," Midoriya rubbed his neck sheepishly.

"It's all those years worth of note-taking," Todoroki said simply, nudging Midoriya's foot under the table. He hoped it sounded encouraging.

"They're not going to let you escape this without taking a few compliments," Uraraka said from a little ways down the table. Iida sat across from her and they had a game of paper football going with each other across the table.

"You did well today, Midoriya," Iida insisted. "Be proud of that."

Todoroki wished the words had come from him, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to be so blunt in his caring for Midoriya. He thought those exact words, even as Midoriya pinned him down and took the flag, even as everyone surrounded him and cheered for him. All he wanted was for Midoriya to allow himself to feel proud. He'd never been given that luxury, and maybe never would receive such a luxury, but for Midoriya it was all he could have ever hoped for.