Stuck Between Realities-Remastered

Part 31~The Closet

Izuku hummed as he walked to school, typing a message back to Charlie.

'I can't believe he fucking forgot.'

'You're just upset because it means he won't remember you,' Izuku texted with a slight roll to his eyes. He almost regretted updating Charlie on this information, but it was pretty funny to get an almost instant phone call.

'He should remember me. I'm iconic.'

'You're a moron.'

'Says you.'

'Says Kakashi.'

'Kakashi is a moron.'

'Must run in the family.'

"Morning, Midoriya," Todoroki interrupted, making Izuku look up from his phone.

"Morning, Todoroki." Izuku paused, ignoring his locker and walking towards the other boy. "You don't normally greet me. Is something wrong? Have you run away? There is a homeless shelter three streets away, but you don't want to eat their chicken. I swear they're trying to kill us with that monstrosity."

"I didn't run away. Your stories would put anyone off."

Izuku chuckled. "I wouldn't say I was running away. More like fleeing." Izuku gave Todoroki a grin before he stood up straighter. "So, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Todoroki didn't answer as Izuku shrugged. "Suit yourself. We should get going. If I wait any longer, Hitoshi will come at me with a bear net." Izuku began pulling Todoroki along as he remained quiet.

~~~

Todoroki wasn't paying attention in class. He vaguely remembered Present Mic telling them about English grammar, and Midnight talked about the colour red for way too long. When they were let out for lunch, the classroom emptied.

"You not coming, Todoroki?" Izuku was looking over Todoroki's desk, a bright smile on his face. Hitoshi and Katsuki hovered near the door, waiting for them to catch up. The only other person was Aoyama, who was setting up his lunch space. "Come on, you've got to eat." Izuku grabbed Todoroki's arm, pulling him along as Hitoshi rolled his eyes.

"You're sounding like Present Mic."

"I am not."

"You are," Hitoshi laughed as Izuku jabbed his side.

The little group around Izuku was odd. Izuku and Hitoshi did most of the talking, but they would fall into long silences until one of them thought of something funny to bring up or a new conversation they wanted to start. It felt so foreign to the polite talk Todoroki had been taught.

When they sat down for lunch, they joined Iida, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu and Jiro, who greeted them as well. The conversation bounced around despite Iida and Yaoyorozu's attempts to structure them.

"I heard Kakashi broke up with his boyfriend. He doing okay," Hitoshi asked when they had somehow gotten onto the topic of their families.

Todoroki blinked, staring at Izuku as he scoffed. "He's doing great. That jerk didn't deserve him, and he wasn't even Kashi's type. Besides, he was one of those 'bi people, don't exist' people, who kept causing Charlie to lunge at him. Dick's lucky to have gotten out with all organs attached."

Hitoshi let out a chuckle. "I'm surprised he did after the whole Emiko situation."

"Emiko situation," Yaoyorozu questioned as Izuku grinned brightly.

"Emiko went to see Charlie and Kashi a few weeks back. She said she was checking in on their progress with the whole League thing, but we all know she just went to see Charlie."

"Focus, Izuku," Hitoshi joked as Izuku shot him a glare.

"It's important to the story. Anyway, the dick started going on about how Emiko shouldn't have such a boyish hero outfit if she wanted to be popular and that she wouldn't be able to fight a male villain. Charlie almost ripped his heart out. Emiko didn't need the help, though. She beat the guy easily and stuck him up on a roof until he apologised."

Katsuki shook his head as Jiro let out a small cheer. Iida and Yaoyorozu had the same horrified expression, while Uraraka looked like she really wanted to meet Emiko. Todoroki didn't hear the story; his mind was far, far away.

~~~

Aizawa let out a tired sigh as he walked to the edge of the school. Izuku and Hitoshi were talking about something that he knew was illegal while Emiko texted on her phone, probably to Charlie.

He stopped as he spotted Todoroki waiting at the school gate. The boy was looking at his phone nervously, waiting for something, a call or a text.

"Todoroki," Izuku called out, interrupting Hitoshi mid-sentence. Todoroki jolted before glancing at the group. All four were staring at him in various expressions. "What are you doing here? Your train left ages ago."

Todoroki glanced at his phone but said nothing.

Emiko had heard a bit about this Todoroki fella. Izuku and he had interned together, and Izuku had told her the basics about his family. Whenever Izuku talked about Todoroki, it reminded her of Charlie, particularly the recordings they have of Emiko talking about Charlie. She wasn't sure how accurate it was but he was standing in a very Charlie way. Where he turned with his head but kept his chest and legs turned as if ready to bolt at any moment.

"Want to walk with us," Emiko asked, skipping over the conversation Izuku and Hitoshi had struck up with the boy. "We've got to get to the trains as well."

Todoroki glanced at Aizawa before he nodded. Izuku bid Hitoshi and Aizawa goodbye before he continued whatever he and Todoroki were talking about before Emiko interrupted them.

~~~

Emiko and Izuku's train would take another ten minutes to arrive, and Todoroki had half an hour as he sat with Izuku as they waited. Emiko tried to step away while keeping an eye on her brother, putting herself in a prime eavesdropping position, and she caught every non-whispered word shared between them.

Unfortunately, she didn't care about the English grammar that Izuku was explaining to Todoroki, and it bored the living daylights out of her. If she was Todoroki, she would have told Izuku to shut up by now.

Izuku stopped as he finished his whistle-stop tour of Present Mic's class. He glanced at Emiko before lowering his voice. "Are you sure you're okay? You keep checking your phone, and you're not one to not pay attention in class."

Todoroki hesitated before glancing at Izuku. "I might have gotten kicked out."

Izuku blinked. "Wait, you're really homeless?!" That caught Emiko's attention. And the other three people on the platform.

"I don't know."

"I didn't think that was possible. I thought the nu 1 dick wanted you as his prodigy."

Todoroki staring holes in his notebook. "I don't know I've been kicked out."

"You can stay at ours," Emiko interrupted as Todooki jolted. "We basically have permanent beds for Kakashi and Charlie that aren't being used. Mum won't even notice."

Izuku nodded as the train arrived. "Come on. Until you know." Izuku pulled Todoroki along, sitting next to him on the train. "So, what did you do? Endeavour, put up with your super rebellious nature until now. What changed?" Izuku tilted his head as Emiko swatted at him.

"Don't ask him that!"

"He didn't need to answer!"

Todoroki didn't answer, watching the siblings argue. He knew the two wouldn't care; Kakashi proved that, but he hadn't processed it himself. His father was never meant to know, and he still didn't know if he had told Natsu and Fuyumi. He waited for the message telling him Endeavour had calmed down, but he didn't tell the Midoriyas that.

Their home was essentially empty. Inko, their mother, was nowhere to be seen, and Emiko made dinner. Izuku let Todoroki sleep in Charlie's spare bed with a blanket thrown over him. Izuku slept peacefully, and Todoroki closed his eyes for the night.