𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 (𝗏𝗂𝗅𝗅𝖺𝗂𝗇! 𝗍𝗈𝖽𝗈𝖽𝖾𝗄𝗎)

epilogue

three years later

todoroki

Red and white strands of long hair blew into my face as I stared at the outside of the building. The wind was almost as annoying as the small thief who had just broken in, right out in the public's view. I had just been walking through the small shopping center, picking up a new toy for my cat, Soba, when the guy, dressed in all black, smashed through the window. The door was wide open next to the window, but, of course, he had to be dramatic and go in the hard way.

Shattered glass littered the floor, throwing scattered light in random places on the ceiling and walls as it reflected the setting sun streaming in through the broken windows. I stepped over it, loud crunching coming from under my black boots as I moved further into the store.

In front of me, a glass counter—still intact—sat, filled with empty trays. The tables next to it were also missing the jewellery they usual held, which was strange for ring store. I glanced around in an attempt to find any sign of the diamonds, but nothing obvious stuck out. When I looked up, though, a man was clinging to the ceiling, clutching a large bag as he glared down at me.

As soon as we made eye contact, he started crawling away, trying to escape. Quickly, I shot ice at him and froze him, causing him to fall from the tall ceiling. I caught him and carried him out of the building, bringing him to the police before melting his hands free.

The police grabbed the jewellery-filled bag and threw handcuffs on his hands while I melted the rest of the ice. He growled and tried resisting, but one of the officers, Nakamura, held his arms tightly.

"Don't you have better things to do than freeze people?" the man hissed, shivering slightly as his wet hair dripped onto his forehead. (I hadn't bothered to dry it completely once they ice had melted.)

"Don't you have better things to do than rob jewellery stores?" I replied nonchalantly.

He scowled. "It could have been any hero, but, of course, it has to be you, the number two pro hero—"

"Would you rather have been caught by Ground Zero? Or Osore?" Nakamura asked, gripping the thief's arms tighter.

"N-no—"

"Then stop complaining." He dragged the man toward the police car and closed him in, slamming the door shut before turning back to me. "Thank you, Shoto. That guy has been bothering us for a while, but his quirk, even though it can be pretty useless, helped him escape multiple times."

"What's his quirk?"

"From what we've seen, he can stick to anything—walls, ceilings, whatever—whenever he wants to if he, uh, licks the thing be wants to stick to."

"Oh. That's a new one."

"Right? It's weird. But, I mean, I've seen worse." Nakamura glanced at the car behind him and sighed. "Anyway, I think I should get this guy back to the station. Thanks again for your help—"

He stopped talking as a crackly noise played from the speaker on his belt. Next to him, the other two policeman perked up, hearing the same message. "This is Chief Arai. We're chasing a villain and he won't stop running. Any police or pro heroes in the area, please come to our location, which I just sent out. The villain seems to be going by the name Deku and poses high threat to the civilians in the area."

The policeman opened up a location on his phone and I looked at it quickly. It was only three miles away, so I stopped listening and immediately took off running, leaving the police to gawk awkwardly before following me.

Part of me wanted to stop running and turn back. There were other heroes, even better heroes, who could have helped the police. There was no need for me to go. However, I didn't let myself stop—that name could only belong to one person; the same person who left me for the villains three years ago, and I needed to see if it was actually him. Plus, I was a hero, and this was part of my job.

I raced through the streets, ignoring the cars and people as they passed me. Two out of the three policemen were following me closely (Nakamura had stayed behind with the thief) and we were sprinting hard. After fifteen minutes of nothing but running, I felt my breathing grow harrowed and my legs start to ache. My body begged me to stop moving, but I didn't—I couldn't. I had to know if it was him. Even when the sun dipped beneath the horizon and the policemen slowed down, I kept running, and I ran until I couldn't breathe at all.

I paused in the middle of an empty road, stumbling and panting. The world around me was spinning and I swayed slightly, all while my vision was blurred and dotted with little white stars. Distantly, someone was yelling, but my ears were too foggy for me to understand what they were saying. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my heavy breathing as my lungs screamed for air.

Something moved past me and I reached out to grab it, but as soon as I moved, my vision went black and my feet swayed so intensely that I fell.

In my dazed state, I didn't think to question it when I didn't hit the ground after falling. Moments later, I opened my eyes again and, through the slowly-disappearing stars, saw a face with green eyes and a cheeky grin. His hair was green and wild, though still in a cute way. He was so familiar that I was overcome by an urge to hug him, but I couldn't quite remember his name. So I just stayed there, staring up at him in awe.

"Falling for me, are you?" he whispered.

I tried to stand up, but he was holding me and I was afraid that I was too dizzy to walk on my own, so I stayed in his arms. Nothing seemed out of order, except—

"Izuku?" I cried, jumping up as realization hit me. Suddenly I was standing by myself, but he didn't let go of my hand.

"The one and only." He grinned and squeezed my hand, almost daring to pull me close again. "I guess this is our next time, Shoto."

With the bright street light being the only source of illumination in the empty road, he had a comforting glow that nearly drew me back into his arms. I wanted to forget everything that had happened and just be with him again, but there was another shout from behind us and Izuku flinched.

The police slowly started to surround us and he smirked, dropping my hand quickly. "I'm sorry to cut this short," he said slyly, "but it looks like I have to run." Suddenly, he took off sprinting, evading the policemen and jumping into the field next to the road.

I watched him go for just a second, already missing the feel of his hand in mine. Then, without another moment of hesitation, I ran after him, not quite ready to let him go again.