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crushing another player or playing with your crush?

Summary:

Midoriya Izuku always loved playing games. His favorite title is and would always be The Era of Might I, so when the sequel was released, he lost his shit and dragged his friends to play with him. And they agreed. It was hard not to when most of them have a crush on the oblivious boy. It’s a shame that Izuku is so dense.

[college au with a lot of gaming and pinning, dekubowl aka MMO misadventures with Deku ]

Notes:

It's time to jump the bandwagon of multichapter fics. Say hello to my hilarious baby.

Big thanks to Tara for being awesome beta ♥ to CJ and Shu for supporting me and for D. to helping with the title. Naming stories is the worst. Seriously.

Dictionary is at the end notes♥

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: beginnings

Chapter Text

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When the news about the release date for the sequel of the gaming masterpiece, the best title among all of the MMORPGs ever created - The Era of Might II was made public, Midoriya Izuku went crazy. He couldn't stay in one place too long as he was so high on endorphins.

He loved the first title. It was his reason for existing! He had played it for as long as he could remember. He grew up on this title. He begged mom and his stepdad for money to upgrade his computer so he could have good gaming equipment to improve his performance and be able to see the word of The Era of Might with good resolution.

The Era of Might was the game that helped him realize that he wanted to make games in the future to bring happiness to others. It was the title that pushed him into attending the university with the best degree for game developers. It was hard to get there but Izuku was super determined. Needless to say, he was also super sentimental over that title. He owned tons of merch. He even cried when he heard that news, his childhood friend Kacchan teased him for that.

Truth to be told, Kacchan also loved the title but he wasn’t as open and crazy with his love as Izuku. Don’t take him wrong Katsuki Bakugo wasn’t hiding his hobby. When he got asked, he answered and rubbed it in your face that he was better at the title than you could ever be. And Izuku always argued with Kacchan about who was the better gamer between them. It was hard to decide because they used to pick different classes, impossible to compare fairly.

In The Era of Might I Izuku played brawler and Kacchan was a fire mage. There was really hard to compare them because the mechanics of playing their classes were different.

Izuku must admit that Katsuki was a good DPS, he could burn everything that was on his way with tons of his spells and he never got to the point of running out of mana. Never, not even at the beginning. But on the other hand, his character didn’t need to kite and dodge opponents’ attacks, and waving auto attacks between spells was easy. It’s a piece of cake to deal tons of damage when you can stand still and cast powerful spells.

Izuku on the other hand was always tanking opponents and hitting them with various weapons. Knuckle-dusters and his big two-handed sword with golden incarnations were his favorites.

When the recruitment for beta testers for TEM II got opened both friends signed in. Only Katsuki got lucky enough to be picked among all of the participants. Izuku was so jealous that he hung out at Kacchan’s place every time the blond was playing. At first, it was met with yelling and cursing but after a few unwanted visits, Katsuki got used to that (it was more annoying to chase Izuku away) and he let Izuku stay and watch. Katsuki’s flatmates didn’t mind.

Izuku was always welcomed there because as Mina Ashido said, he could tame the wild Blasty. It wasn’t anything impressive, Izuku knew Katsuki long enough to know how to dance around Kacchan so he wouldn’t get his head bitten off. It took Izuku ten years of practice. He was incredibly proud of himself!

During Kacchan’s beta tests Izuku took countless notes. TEM II was different from the first title. They added a few more classes and subclasses to make it more interesting and to allow more personalization of the character’s skill sets for the chance to create a more unique gameplay.

Everyone could play the way they most wanted to. As in the first game, you could pick every weapon you wanted and change it at a whim until you reached the 10th level when you were forced to decide upon the main class and the corresponding weapon. It was a nice tactic to allow players to try different stuff to find the playstyle that suited them most.

There was also a quiz that was made to help people who were still undecided. Based on your answers it presented you a few class options and subclass routes that would work best with your game approach.

Izuku loved that, people behind this title were so dedicated! They thought about so many players. Old gamers could pick something fresh and newbies got enough help to make their first steps in a new world without an ounce of worry.

Izuku wanted to reach their level. With enough hard work and determination, he would succeed for sure. He was proud of a few projects he had already made. Despite them having poor graphics he was praised for the plot and mechanics.

 

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“Ka~achan,” Izuku said, dragging out the vowels so that his childhood friend would finally notice him. They were chilling in Katsuki’s room. The blond was doing his homework and Izuku crashed on Kacchan’s bed (it was super comfy) to play Animal Crossing (and annoy Katsuki). He liked to play at the blond’s place. And it was much closer to his university than from his flat. Don’t take him wrong, he loved the place he shared with Ochako and Shouto but sometimes he was so tired of commuting.

“I’m busy nerd,” the blond hissed but turned nonetheless. He put a bookmark into his textbook, that was a good sign. Izuku wouldn’t be killed today. “What do you want? I’m not going to check how cute your villagers are. I know you love Raymond but he is just a cat and I already saw him in maid dress. Like ten times.”

“Rude. Don’t you dare to speak about Ray in that manner!” Izuku coughed to compose himself after his short moment of outrage and started again. It wasn’t the time to get annoyed. Kacchan was always teasing him for playing Animal Crossing, so at this point, he should get used to it, but it was always hard to keep his composure in check when his friend was mean to Izuku’s animal friends. “Do you know what character class you’ll pick in TEM II?”

“I know but I’m not telling,” the blond smiled smugly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Come on, Kacchan! I don’t want us to play the same class, so spill the beans!” Izuku pleaded making big puppy dog eyes. He put his switch away and clasped his hands together, shaking them. “Pretty please!”

“Okay, fine. I got a nice item promised from the beta so I’m gonna play gunner.”

“That’s awesome! Although I thought you’d rather pick an alchemist.” The green-haired boy tilted his head.

“Nah, too many sorry extras will pick that brand new class. I’ll just pick good ol’ DPS.”

“Kacchan,” Izuku started because it was really suspicious. As far as he remembered, Katsuki hated gunners from the bottom of his heart since that class appeared in TEM I, so there was no way that he would agree so quickly to pick that class despite all of the hatred.” What did they promise you as a reward for this beta testing? It must be something super-duper good for you to pick a gunner.”

“Could you stop being a clever shit for five minutes straight?” The blond cursed. “ Good beta testers, not the shitty randoms that miraculously got in, could pick rare, even ultra-rare items. And there was bazooka there. I snatched it before anyone else could.”

Katsuki was so serious when he was saying that, that it was hard not to laugh. “ You sold yourself so easily.”

“Shut up nerd.”

“Sorry, Kacchan but it’s so funny to imagine your character carrying a bigass bazooka and above your head, the name King Explosion Murder being displayed. It’s just freaking hilarious! You’d get famous in no time!”

“It’s Ground Zero now.”

“O! The breeze of the fresh air! Why the change?”

“I wanted a fresh start without all of the extras spamming my DMs because they knew me from different games.”

“Oh. Right. Your streams are super popular.” Izuku nodded in understatement. When he was watching Katsuki’s gameplays the blond always had tons of viewers. Some were nice and were watching them to actually enjoy Katsuki’s gameplays other were just mean and were complaining about blond’s anger issues, or just trolling, in general.

“Yours is more popular, nerd. Mine is full of shitty extras that want to talk shit about me so I’m burying KEM to give GZ a fresh start. “

“Clever! Nothing less than expected from Kacchan!”

“And you, who are you going to pick, Deku?”

“Oh, I thought about someone to heal the party,” Izuku said a bit unsure of himself.

“Ha?! Why would you do that? You are good at kicking monsters’ asses so why stand on the sidelines to heal some sorry players who couldn't keep their health bars at a good level?” It must piss Katsuki off because he got up from his chair and sat beside Izuku.

“TEM II seems to be harder than the first game. There will be many dungeons and bosses to conquer and a good healer is essential. And you know how hard it is to find someone trusted and skilled.” Izuku said quietly. He moved a bit trying to make some distance between him and Katsuki if blond decided to get angry at him for such a confession.

The blond sighed “Are you still referring to that one disaster of a boss fight that almost wiped out our party?” When Izuku nodded, he continued,” It wasn’t your fault that that shitty player lied about having good magic res set and being so sure of their healing skills! It’s not your fault that they got killed because they didn’t jump out from boss’ aoe and behaved like the noobiest noob would.”

“I know Kacchan, but…”

“No buts,” the blond pointed his finger at Izuku’s chest. ”Games are for fun, so if you would be forcing yourself to play a class that you may not like, what’s the point?” Katsuki said seriously. He gently moved his hand to grab Izuku’s head and turned it in his direction. It was unfair, now there was no way for Izuku to avoid his gaze.

“I’m curious about being a healer,” Izuku managed to say without stuttering.

“Why? They are useless.”

“Not in TEM II.”

“Ha?”

“Didn’t you read all of the updates?” Izuku sighed, it was so Kacchan.

“I read the essentials about the classes that actually deal damage. Not some shitty clerics running around in frilly robes with shitty wands in hand.”

“Thought so, “ Izuku said, and gently released himself from Katsuki’s touch to reach for his backpack. He fished out one of many notebooks from there. “Look, I wrote down all of the potential subclasses you can take for a cleric, that more or less make sense,” he said, opening his notes to the right page.

“Your handwriting is as shitty as ever,” Katsuki teased him, leaning over Izuku’s shoulder for a better look.

“Not the point, look here,” Izuku said, pointing at the detailed notes he spent so many hours making. He analyzed everything. He dug out every possible piece of information available to form the best strategy. All of the cons, pros, and potential synergy were listed in color-coded notes. From what Izuku gathered TEM II didn’t restricted players to pick one from certain “fitting” subclasses. You could pick whatever you wanted but the catch was that it was a permanent choice. There was no way to change it in the middle of the game like there was with the first game. Although it was a logical assumption that some of the subclasses were better than the other when it came to synergy with the main character class.

“You never like to play it safe, do you? “ Katsuki laughed reading Izuku’s scribbles about subclasses that were circled in red. “You really are something else. I’m excited to start the game with you!”

“Same, Kacchan!”

 

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Both Izuku and Katsuki managed to convince their friends to start playing with them. Izuku was more cheerful and encouraging in his approach and he won even the heart of his high school friend who was currently working his way through a degree in law - Iida Tenya. It was an achievement even Katsuki was impressed by. The blond never thought that Glasses would do something for fun, and yet, he created the account and picked a knight to play. It was super in character for Tenya.

Katsuki on the other hand was downgrading his flatmates, teasing them that they wouldn’t be good enough to start a game. And, well. It worked. All of them bought the game and made the characters to show Katsuki that they were more than he expected. The rivalry between the members of the self-proclaimed Bakusquad would never stop amazing Izuku.

Doing stuff out of spite wasn’t Izuku’s preferred method of solving things but, well, as long as it worked he had nothing against it. As they say, the more, the merrier, and it was always funny to explore the game’s world with friends.

 

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At the end of the first week after the game release, Izuku and Katsuki got nice, although a bit dysfunctional, guild members to play with.

There was Uraraka Ochako, Izuku’s flatmate majoring in machine building. She looked like the cutest girl you ever saw but could also kick your ass like there’s no tomorrow. She picked the mage that specialized in light and gravity spells. It was a perfect character for crowd control. Ochako was a bit lost with how to name it so she went for something simple, Uravity. Although there was a little tiny (not really tiny) problem. The girl complained that she was getting sick when she was overusing some of the spells because the effects were making her dizzy. Arguments that she could turn those effects off were pointless.

“I can’t turn them off, my character won’t look cute if I do it!” the girl complained and all of the reasonable arguments were pointless. They would never win.

Todoroki Shouto was another of Izuku’s flatmates, actually the owner of the flat they were living in. He was aspiring to be a doctor and the fact that he found some free time to goof around with a bunch of other young adults to play the game was giving Izuku so much joy. He was hopping around their apartment like an over-energized bunny since the day Shouto agreed to play with him. Shouto never played any MMORPG but his siblings did. Especially Shouto’s elder brother Touya and that was the reason Shouto knew the basics. Shouto, as per usual, was super straightforward with his approach to various things. He named his character using his given name (it was a miracle that the name wasn’t already taken) and picked the class easy for beginners - mage. His elements of choice were ice and fire, although he only collected fire spells without meaning to use them.

“Rare spells work like in The Era of Might I and when my brother decides to play I want to snatch all of the best spells before he got the chance to learn them.” It was meant to be payback for all of the times Touya wiped the floor with Shouto while playing Mario Kart, but well… it was just weird. But who was Izuku to judge his friend? He was an only child, he would never understand sibling rivalry.

Asui Tsuyu was another interesting addition to their team. The girl picked a summoner and instead of using all of the strong beasts available, she picked frogs as her familiars. Because they were adorable. Period. That’s an amphibian biologist for you. She even named her character Froppy.

Shinso Hitoshi was yet another essential teammate in Izuku’s guild. Hitoshi was a friend from University. The boy was studying graphic design in games and they often worked together to help each other in finishing projects. TEM I had glorious world’s designs and seeing for himself how they updated it in the sequel was the main reason the purple-haired man had agreed to play. He was a newbie but he wasn’t afraid to learn how to play a more complicated character like an assassin. They had a hard time brainstorming a name suiting the character but in the end, at 2 am while working on a project and drinking one too many cups of coffee, Izuku got the brilliant idea to name Hitoshi’s character Enigma. And it stayed.

Players Katsuki recruited were a wilder bunch.

There was Kirishima Eijirou who wanted to play tank without wearing the upper part of the armor because it was super manly (it was stupid but Izuku stopped Katsuki from pulling Kirishima down to earth in such a brutal way). After some good convincing, Eijirou decided to wear armor but only if it was red because he needed to live up to his character’s name, Red Riot.

Ashido Mina picked the new class already despised by Katsuki. Izuku didn’t know why it was so bad to pick an alchemist. For him, it was an interesting character with many roads for further development. The girl, as the true chemistry freak she was, wanted to play a character who would attack with acid and she wanted to make it happen as fast as possible. As for now, she was restricted to some weird mixtures and daggers. There was a silver lining that she played as an alchemist. She could make tons of potions for them! Mina couldn’t make up her mind for how to name her character, so she decided to buy a name change ticket and play one week as Alien Queen and another as Pinkie, and after that decide which name she liked most.

Kaminari Denki, the flatmate Katsuki wished death upon most often, was playing as a fire mage. Denki read somewhere that if you leveled up your fire magic ability enough and fulfilled some ridiculous quests, you could unlock electricity as your main element. And Denki decided to take a risk to create a character suiting the name, Chargebolt.

The last person being the main part of their playing group was Sero Hanta. He wanted to play a character that would give him tons of fun, so Izuku recommended hunter. It turned out to be a good choice. Sero loved using the crossbow and setting traps, especially sticky ones, it quickly became his favorite in-game pastime.

Oh! And Izuku picked a berserk healer while Katsuki was a gunner maining cannons.

It’s also a funny story about how Izuku got forced to become the guild master to free another player called Eraserhead from that duty. Eraserhead created the guild so his friends Midnight, Present Mic, and Loud Cloud would finally stop annoying him. (They were already listed as guild members). But that’s the story for another time.

 

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Chapter 2: making avatars

Summary:

On the faithful eve of TEM II releasing date, Izuku, Ochako, and Shouto gathered in their living room full of snacks and blankets to make their characters' avatars together.
They have fun and joke a lot but Izuku can't help the feeling that something troubles Shouto. After the talk they had, to help Shouto calm down, Izuku plays Animal Crossing with him until both of them fall asleep.

Notes:

I'm a disaster. It took me more than a month to finish that chapter. I can't promise that I will update regularly but I will slowly move forward with this story!

Big thanks to wonderful Elo, she is a Saint and helped me with correcting my silly mistakes ♥

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

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Izuku was always trying to be one step before the rest, so he was less likely to fall behind and drag everyone down with him.

He downloaded the game as soon as it was possible and after all of the files were safely recorded on his hard drive, he started patching it. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to play the game before the official starting date, but he had saved himself tons of struggles that came with downloading the game on the release day. (Overloaded link, poor downloading speed, and so on. All the stuff that made you angry and full of negative emotions).

As a good flatmate, Izuku shared the files with Ochako and Shouto. There was no point in downloading them again if Izuku had them saved. They just needed to patch the game on their devices and the trio would be set.

Seeing the other two so excited about the game was like a blessing for Izuku. He had gushed about TEM II for days with no filter at all. He had thought that it would be annoying but his awesome friends were asking more questions, letting him go all out with his rambles and speculations. And Izuku was more than happy to provide answers, even to the questions that weren’t asked. And what’s more! The utmost joy came from the fact that they agreed to play with him! Izuku treated them with dinner to celebrate that.

 

The game allowed players to create their characters’ avatars one day before the official launch. It was a wise move. Servers wouldn’t crash that badly due to data overflow. And everyone who ever played MMORPG game was aware that creating character took tons of time and must be done perfectly. The Era of Might II had a super-advanced avatar creating tool, at least from what was shown in the trailers. It was hard to ask Katsuki for details because he always rushed character creation to jump straight into gameplay. Izuku thought differently, because if you were going to spend so much time playing a game, you could make someone who was looking just like you. (Or like your ideal version of you that you’d enjoy looking for countless of hours).

 

Izuku proposed making avatars together. It was beneficial for more than one reason.

A. They would spend time together and Izuku loved chilling on their couch with Ochako and Shouto, just for the sake of being silly together.

B. They would judge each other and don't let stupid decision pass through them. It meant that there was a high chance of not needing a plastic surgery ticket during the first week of playing. (There was a cheaper way for character makeover - making a second avatar for a new character but it was never the same as the firstborn. And you needed to think of a new name, or worse - delete the first character you made to redeem for a bad design).

C. They could brainstorm names for characters and comfort each other if their favorite was already taken.

D. It was a perfect excuse to snuggle with Shouto’s warmer side and bury oneself under tons of fluffy blankets. And maybe even cuddle? Izuku loved touches so he was always looking for the opportunity. He was a bit touch starved. Sue him.

E. Snacks! They could break the diet regime stated by Shouto and eat garbage food! And drink tons of sugary drinks! Maybe even smuggle a few beers.

All in together, that sounded perfect!

 

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In the end, on the faithful eve of TEM II releasing date, the trio gathered in their living room.

Izuku was so giddy. He had hoarded blankets and pillows like crazy to make a couch in the living room the comfiest place on the planet. He had bought tons of snacks with the money he earned during his streams. When his subscribers heard about ‘avatar making party’, they lavishly chipped in. It was so nice of them! Izuku’s subscribers were such good people. He promised to stream his TEM II plays from time to time.

This evening needed to be perfect! And everything was more or less on a good way to achieve that. Although, Izuku couldn't help the feeling that there was something wrong with Shouto. His friend was always quiet and distant but today it felt like he had a specific reason to be like that.

It took Izuku tons of time to make Shouto warm-up and open up to him. They had known each other for long enough for Izuku to be able to read a bit of Shouto’s mood, and see the smallest details that mattered most. He desperately wanted to ask what was wrong to ease his friend’s pain.

It was hard to get a moment alone with Shouto when Ochako was waiting for their party to begin. She baked cupcakes and was talking and wildly gesturing about her day. It’s not like Izuku complained, the girl always had the best stories. It was entertaining and alarming at the same time.

Without a better way to approach Shouto, Izuku squeezed his arm gently and whispered,
”I’m here whenever you need me,” as he was putting the bowl with freshly made popcorn on a small table near the couch.

“I know,” Shouto replied quietly, showing Izuku one of his rare smiles. It always felt like a blessing or Christmas that came earlier when Shouto did that. His friend rarely smiled. Shouto looked so handsome and smiles only emphasized his charm. He should do it more often! He would definitely gain an admirer or two, or a dozen this way. (He wasn’t called the prettiest boy from med-degree without a reason). Although it would be super awkward if Izuku ever touched the topic about crushes.

“Have I told you how big of a dick assistant Naruse is?” Ochako complained as she set the tray with drinks on the table.

“It’s that one who hates everyone?” Shouto tilted his head, throwing blankets he found in his room on the couch and starting to arrange them.

“Exactly that one!”

“Oh, I still remember how he failed all of your year just because, “ Izuku sighed. He was slowly moving and setting all of the needed equipment in the living room.

“Yes, and it was awful Deku! This time he tried to fail my perfect project. But I didn’t let him!”

“Could you wait a moment, I need to make a quick run to my room to grab the extension cord. The socket is too far and I don’t want to strain my cables,” Izuku asked, already on his way to his room.

Ochako nodded, “sure thing but I still think it’d be better to use my laptop. No need to move your stuff as much.”

“Izuku’s computer has a better graphics engine. And it’s crucial during character making, right?”

“Exactly, Shou! I will be right back!” Izuku yelled from his room. He needed to unplug so many cables to be able to free the extension cord. in the middle of that, with a sigh Izuku decided that he needed to buy himself an additional one to save himself all of the work for the future.

 

It took them a bit more time to set everything. Ochako needed to run to her room more than once to grab everything. She didn’t manage to make herself comfortable on the couch when she realized that she forgot her phone because they needed to take a few selfies, and print them, and frame them. The second time was when she forgot her charger. This time Izuku laughed out loud when she ran to her room, cursing. Sometimes Ochako was such an airhead. She was so precious.

When Ochako finally came back with all of the equipment she needed, Izuku was already covered with a blanket and snuggled into Shouto’s left side. It was always a bit warmer than his right. It was a phenomenon that really fascinated Izuku. And it couldn’t be something as simple as circulation disorder - Shouto’s reasoning. It was more mysterious and magical than that.

“Traitor,” Ochako called Shouto. The man just shrugged in response. Ochako sighed and took another blanket from the big pile they collected and tangled herself in it and sat on Izuku’s left. Izuku had a feeling that she sat a bit too close but who he was to judge when he was almost sitting on Shouto’s lap.

“Are you ready?”

“Sure!”

“Yeah. But please be thoughtful and try to explain the terms. Some of them sound so abstract that you might as well making them up.”

“Says a person who repeats drug names out loud,” Izuku teased, “ but sure, I will try my best,” he added, smiling brightly at Shouto while he was launching the game.

As proper adults, they decided the order in which they were going to create their characters’ avatars by playing rock paper scissors. It was impossible that Ochako won every round so easily, she must have cheated one way or another. Izuku got a perfect strategy for that game, he was the master at reading the opponents, and yet he lost.

Ochako got the keyboard and the mouse placed on her lap. She didn’t want to change her position on the couch to sit in the middle. It was fair, she must have warmed her spot. Izuku felt the same, if he was to leave Shouto’s side he would also be disappointed.

“I count on you to tell me what to do, Deku!”

“Sure, first of, log in into your account.”

Izuku led the girl through the essentials. Where to click to log in, how to create a security code for the character, where to authorize that stuff. They were important because if someone managed to hack your account, it was another defense against losing all of your progress and precious character.

They also changed the graphics settings to the highest. If they were going to make astonishing characters, they could do that in full HD.

“Okay, now pick a gender. It will just determine how the armor will look on your character nothing more.”

“Shouldn’t she pick a class at the same time?”

“Nah Shou, in TEM II you do it later in-game after you tested some stuff.”

“Ah, right.”

“It’s good that I’m not forced to pick now because I’d be torn. I have no idea who I want to play. Buu~t I know that I want to have all of the coolest looking items!”

“That’s the spirit.”

Izuku was surprised that it didn’t take Ochako that long to create her character. She decided to make an avatar looking more or less like her. It just had bigger eyes and super pink cheeks. Shouto recommended that, and the brunette liked the idea so much that it stayed.

“It’s actually super cute,” she said, stuffing her mouth with popcorn.

Ochako didn’t play with the body proportions to not mess it up, she picked one of the already prepared models and adjusted it just a tiny bit to make her character look good in armor.

She exhaled happily when she was done and passed the keyboard and mouse to Izuku.

“Don’t you want to make your character first?”

“I lost.”

“Shou, you didn’t even try to win.”

“Maybe I did? You will never know.” Shouto’s lips quirked a bit but his eyes were still clouded by something. It didn’t sit well with Izuku. He desperately wanted to talk that issue out with Shouto… but he couldn’t do that right now. Leaving Ochako alone was not an option, she’d ask too many questions and it was the last Izuku wanted for Shouto. The only good solution was to create characters quickly and try to talk to Shouto afterward.

With that goal in mind, Izuku quickly logged into his account, named his character Deku, as always. He wanted to speedrun that process so he clicked a few buttons to customize his character on a really basic level, and was ready to save but he was stopped by his friends.

“Freckles,” both of them said at the same time.

“Oh come on, no one will really notice the lack of them. “

“We will.”

“And there’s no need to rush that. We have time. I can wait for my turn.”

“See? Todoroki is right, so go back and pick the better hairstyle because this one is super lame.”

“Ouch,” Izuku looked betrayed. He liked the short hairstyle he picked. Although, he didn’t check every hairstyle available for male characters. Maybe he will find something interesting.

“Maybe they will have hair as wild as yours? It suits you and can look good on your character,” Shouto suggested. Izuku knew that his friend was just complimenting the avatar he was making but it was hard not to feel the warmth inside. People usually complained about Izuku’s hair, and yet Shouto was there and threw a compliment as casual as this at him.

Izuku was a bit tired and frustrated when he was finally allowed to save his avatar. It was meant to be his choice but his friends had more to say and didn’t let him have a half-assed one. And, in the end, after too many small quarrels to count, Izuku’s Deku was ready.

He was looking a bit like a prince from a fairy tale, despite what Shouto and Ochako tried to tell him. There’s was no way that the character was looking just like him. Izuku had eyes and he frequently saw his reflection in the mirror. He was a plain-looking guy with a bird’s nest on the top of his head he didn’t want to trim, not a charming lad with long lashes, cute curly hair, and rosy cheeks (Ochako insisted).

Maybe it wasn't something that Izuku wanted to create but as long as his friends had fun, so did he. He’d love this avatar sooner or later. The more he’d play, the more he’d cherish that baby.

“Now it’s your turn, Shou,” Izuku smiled, passing his friends keyboard and mouse. “Do you want to change places?”

“No, I’m good,” Shouto snuggled a bit more with Izuku.

“I will run quickly to the toilet, I drank too much. You can start without me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, just don’t let Todoroki name his avatar in a weird way.”

“I feel attacked.”

Ochako just shrugged.

When Ochako came back with a freshly made bowl of popcorn, Shouto had already picked a name and made a face for his avatar. Maybe it was mean but Izuku insisted that if his character looked like a prince, so should Shouto’s. Izuku was too much of a coward to add that Shouto already was looking very prince-like. So know they were in the middle of picking the right hairstyle.

“Ocha, we need your opinion.”

“Hm?” the girl asked, burying herself once again under blankets.

“Should I give my avatar long or short hair?”

“Long, definitely long.”

“Ha! I told you!”

Shouto sighed. “Okay, okay. So, how about that braid?”

“Omg, show me!” the girl demanded and screeched when the hairstyle got displayed. “It’s so so perfect. If I saw someone like that on the street, I’d definitely be charmed.”

“Oh, so I’m your type?” Shouto teased.

“I never said that!” Ochako said too quickly as Izuku giggled. His friends were the best.

It didn’t take Shouto long to finish his avatar. “Can I save?” He asked politely.

“Yes! It’s perfect!”

“Oh, by the way, what’s the character name?”

“Shouto.”

“It was available?”

“Yes, miracle, isn’t it?”

“You are really lucky Todoroki.”

“Am I?”

“Yes! You may not realize that but nicknames for the avatar that are common names are quickly taken and the fact that you managed to snatch one for yourself is really impressive!”

“Oh, okay.”

“Okay,” Ochako clapped her hands together,” it’s time to clean the mess we made.” She smiled cheerfully.

“Sure!” Izuku stretched and got ready to move up from the cozy spot.

“Is it really the best time to clean?”

“Why?”

“It’s past midnight.”

“What?! It took us that long?”

Izuku laughed awkwardly. “Well, it was a time-consuming process. We can clean later. Now we should probably go to sleep. You have classes in the morning, right Ocha?”

“Unfortunately,” the girl sighed. “If you don’t mind, I will take over the bathroom. I need to take a bath.”

“Sure thing!”

“We will move stuff to the kitchen,” Shouto added, getting up from the couch. He extended his hand to help Izuku.

Ochako was running back and forth when boys cleaned the living room. Izuku waited for the best opportunity to ask Shouto what was wrong. He didn’t have the opportunity until Ochako closed the door to the bathroom after her. He didn’t want the brunette to eavesdrop.

“Shou, tell me,” Izuku started a bit unsure how to address the issue “is everything okay?”

“Yes, why you ask?”

“You were looking sad tonight. Are you sure nothing happened? You know you can tell me, right?” Izuku placed his hand on Shouto’s arm. It was a small gesture but he hoped it would show how much he cared about his friend’s wellbeing.

“Nothing will escape your analytical mind?” Shouto laughed awkwardly. He folded the last blanket and gestured to his room.

“I hope I don’t have to beat anyone up.”

“Please don’t. I don’t want anyone to land in the hospital.”

“Oh, come on,” Izuku pouted, hitting Shouto gently in the arm, “I’m not that bad.”

“I beg to differ,” his friend chuckled and closed the door behind them. Shouto sat on the edge of his bed and patted the place beside him.

“Sometimes I hate my group for clinic classes.”

“What did they do this time?”

“They didn’t really do anything,” Shouto sighed, leaning back to lay on his bed. Izuku followed his suit and moved to lay on his side.

“So they talked.”

“Yeah… I know it shouldn’t bother me as much… but it did.”

“Shou… you know that’s not a good approach? And I think that they shouldn’t talk about you behind your back and should keep their shitty opinion to themselves.”

“It wasn’t even behind my back.”

“Seriously, how dare they?!”

“Normally? They think they have a right to talk about my family situation,” Shouto’s voice raised and the boy trembled a bit. Izuku moved closer and put a hand on his arm to reassure him. He didn’t interrupt. Shouto needed to let it all out. “That bitch said that I have it easier than them just because I’m a Todoroki. That I just know people and I don’t need to try hard. She had no fucking clue how hard it is to be a Todoroki. She has no clue how many things I sacrificed to stand with them in the hospital. All they see is my name and they dare to think they have the right to assume anything.”

“I’m so sorry Shouto. Are you sure you don’t want to give me a name?”

It made his friend chuckle. “It’s tempting but no. I won’t fall to their level.”

“Do you want me to hug you?”

“Yes.” Shouto turned on his side and extended his hands. Shouto was so adorable when he behaved like that. Izuku quickly closed the distance between them and snuggled into his friend’s arms.

“Do you want to talk more about this or…”

“No.” Shouto cut Izuku and moved even closer tangling their legs together.

“Okay,” Izuku said and started to caress Shouto’s back. At first, it was really bizarre for him how quickly Shouto could calm down when the other person was close. The more he knew him, the more he understood it. Shouto didn’t have the best childhood and if a bit of touch could make his friend feel better, Izuku was more than willing to provide it.

“Can I watch you play Animal Crossing?” Shouto asked in a small voice like he was embarrassed to demand anything.

“Sure, I just need to snatch my console and I will be right back. You just need to release me,” Izuku chuckled. It was a shame that Shouto couldn’t see his smile with his face hidden in the crook of Izuku’s neck.

Shouto reluctantly let him go.

“I will be right back!” Izuku promised running to his room to snatch his console. Truth to his words he came back in less than five minutes.

Shouto moved from his previous spot and was fluffing the pillows so they’d have a comfier place to sit.

“We can lay down. I have a feeling I might fall asleep. “

“Sure, AC music does that to people. I need to be careful to not fall asleep when I commute.”

“Oh, I can totally see that.”

“Very funny Shou,” Izuku pouted and sat on the edge of the bed.” Move a bit.”

“Don’t you want to lay near the wall?”

“Nah, place on the edge is better when I need to move up and go to my room. And thanks to that I won't wake you up.”

“You know that you can just sleep here, right?”

“You don’t mind?”

“Why would I?”

“You are the best, Shou!” Izuku hug tackled his friend and rolled over him to take a place near the wall. Maybe it was just the light in the dim room but Izuku had a feeling that Shouto’s cheeks flushed a bit.

Shouto coughed, “Between the two of us, you are the one who is the best.”

“Oh, staph,” Izuku giggled. “Do you want me to play or you want to play?”

“You. I like watching you play.”

“Oki doki,” Izuku sneaked under a comforter and moved closer to Shouto so both have a good view at the screen. “How about fishing?”

“Sounds perfect,” Shouto smiled, putting his arm over Izuku’s shoulders closing the distance between them entirely.

 

They didn't play long. Both of them quickly feel asleep snuggling into each other.

 

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

Notes:

I have a feeling that you won't have problems with terms that appeared in this chapter. If you do, don't be shy to ask!

Notes:

DICTIONARY

DPS - damage per second, it's a common way to call a character class that is able to deal tons of damage in a short period of time
MMORPG - Massively multiplayer online role-playing game, many players play one game and they pick who they want to play
magic res set - it's a set that has a high statistics of magic resistance, so it lowers the damage you take from spells
aoe - area of effect, it's the type of an attack that covers a larger area
synergy - it's an added effects when two factors combined values/powers are enhanced

if you have more question, don't be shy to ask ♥