Todoroki sat in his room, wrapped in a blanket cocoon, trying to warm up his body. It was Monday after school, and to say that there training was rough was an understatement. It was simple, hand to hand combat along with some exercise. But you know Aizawa always has a twist planned. No quirks where aloud, and they where only aloud to wear there winter gym uniforms, which honestly where not all that great. Oh and did I mention they did this outside in the middle of another snowstorm? Todoroki was partnered with Midoryia, and he couldn't count the amount of times he fell on his back in the freezing snow. Todoroki in particular had a rough time because of the no quirk rule. During the winter he constantly used his fire quirk to warm himself, so while one half of his body was used to extreme cold, the other wasn't.  In addition he was up against Midoryia, who was a lot better at hand to hand combat, and was admittedly beefier. Todoroki relied on his quirk a lot more than the rest of his classmates, so he pretty much got his ass handed to him in the exercise. He really should work on hand to hand combat a lot more with his father.

Speaking of his father, he still couldn't go to his internship with the crappy weather, so instead he just sat in his warm blanket fort and studied the new material they had learned today. He didn't really need to, it was pretty basic stuff he already knew how to do, but he didn't want to waste his time there wasn't much else to do. The case was pretty much on hold with this terrible weather, and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to find much else in those pictures. He needed just a bit more information, and he would have to get that on his own.

But for now, he just buried his head in his physics notes.

More like he stared at the page, completely uninterested and unfocused. He kept trying to read, but every time he got a few sentences down, he forgot everything. He'd been rereading the same paragraph of handwriting for like ten minutes. He sighed, closing his notebook and looking at the time. It was only 4:30. He decided to get some food and eat his dinner early, maybe it will help him focus.  Crawling out of his blanket prison, he turned up the heat on his left side, his hoodie and sweatpants still not warm enough for his liking. He walked down the all and walked into the elevator. Heading to the kitchen, he saw Kirishima, Sero, Mina, and Kaminari crowded around Bakugou, who looked annoyed. Well, more annoyed that usual. He just ignored them, intent on getting his cold soba out of the fridge and going back upstairs. However, he happened to overhear bits of conversation. 

"But I thought you where gonna intern with Miriko?" Kirishima questioned.

"Yeah! I thought she loved your 'competitive spirit' or whatever. She's just like you Bakubro!" Kaminari exclaimed.

"I never should have fuckin said anything." Bakugou grumbled, sounding aggravated.

"Look, I have my reasons all right you extras! I haven't ruled her out, I just need to figure out if he will even take another intern." 

"Well maybe you should ask him." Sero suggested, pointing at todoroki. Shouto could feel all there eyes on him as he went to grab his cold soba out of the kitchen fridge. He froze. 

"What." He asked, as Bakugou specifically continued to glare at him.  He got up from his spot on the couch, storming over in his stereotypical angry manner. 

"We need to talk icyhot." He gumbled, grabbing him by the arm and practically dragging him to the stairs. 

"But my soba-"

"Fuck your soba."

"Fuck you, I want my soba." 

"I'll buy you soba for the rest of the week if you just talk to me without being your annoying ass self." 

Todoroki's eyes lit up.

Free soba for a week? That was pretty much the closest thing todoroki had to happiness. But was that worth not being an ass to Bakugou? 

"Make it a month and we got a deal." 

"Do I look fuckin stupid to you!?"

"Kinda."

Kirishima, Sero, Kaminari, and Mina burst into hysterical fits of laughter as Bakugou exploded in Todoroki's face. Todoroki barely avoided the blast, but side stepped Bakugou just in time, wizzing past him to grab his soba and make a mad dash to the elevator. He rapidly pressed the button, laughing as the doors closed just before an angry rage monster reached him.  Making his classmates laugh always felt amazing, though it didn't happen often.  He could only imagine what kind of situations would ensue if he hung out with his some of his more eccentric classmates.  But that was all he could do. Imagine. Guilt tugged at his heart every time he was even around someone. A never ending weight he had to carry.  

Then the elevator doors opened, and todoroki was surprised to see Bakugou outside the door, seething with rage. 

"Where the fuck do you think your going you cheeky peppermint bastard?" 

"Can't a man just eat his soba in peace?" Todoroki groaned, not really in the mood for any more of Bakugou's rage. 

"You can eat your soba while we fuckin talk, I just need to ask you a few questions."  Bakugou  growled, settling down a bit. 

"Really? The great Bakugou has a question for me?" todoroki teased, poking the allready angry beast despite his better judgment. 

"Just shut the fuck up allready you sad excuse for Christmas candy." 

They walked down the hallway, into Todoroki's room. Todoroki quickly crawled back into his blanket cocoon as Bakugou sat on the comfortable floor mats. He glares at todoroki wrapped I  his blankets and almost laughed at the uncanny resemblance to Aizawa. 

"Really?" Was all Bakugou said, seeing how ridiculous todoroki looked. 

"What, that training was cold as hell and I was up against Midoryia. I was thrown face first into that snow for the whole afternoon basically. I'm cold." 

"You do realize you have a heat quirk, right?"

"Yes, but there's only so much I can do before I set myself on fire." 

That was particularly the reason. Todoroki's ice side was more resistant to extreme cold, but also retained more cold as well. It was a lot harder to heat himself up after as well, his fire defiantly wasn't working the best after how freezing it was.

"Whatever, that's not what I came here to talk about." Bakugou said as todoroki set down his cold soba. 

"Then what di-"

"I want to internship with Endeavor."

Todoroki was surprised to say the least. Why would Bakugou want to intern with his old man?

"Look, I know I pretty much have no chance. But I can't help but think endeavor is my best option. I was gonna intern with Miriko, but she's....to much like me. But I don't want to go with som hero who's super stuck in the mud like best jeanist. Your father has a similar enough power to mine, but uses it completely different. He would also be a huge popularity booster. I know you hate me, and you mot likely don't want to work with me even more that you allready have to. But, I want to learn from your father."

Bakugou took a deep breath, man he really hated this. Being honest about how he feels, not really his style, but oh well.

"And maybe I could learn a bit from you too."

Todoroki wondered if Bakugou had been possessed, because the fact that he was even suggesting that he could learn from todoroki was nothing short of a miracle. Bakugou had changed a lot in his two and a half years at UA, but since he and todoroki where nothing more than competition, there attitude towards each other had been pretty much the same in all that time. Why was Bakugou now suddenly in his life, a lot more than he should be? A lot more than anyone should be.

Agh, think bout that later. Bakugou was waiting for todoroki to response to his question. And it seemed like the obvious answer would be no way in hell. But then todoroki thought about it. His training had taken a halt, after all he needed someone else to train with him, and it's not like his father is the number one hero or anything. Bakugou was on the same level as him, and if was with his agency he could train a lot more. In addition, he really did need help with this case, more than he would like to admit. 

 But that would mean Bakugou would pretty much be around todoroki all day long. They would undoubtedly become a lot closer. Todoroki would have to make sure to not become anything more than acquaintances with him. Plus, after yesterday's conversation about the hospital, Bakugou was allready more than suspicious of todoroki. And then there was his relationship with his father, which was admittedly a lot better from what it used to be, but still rocky at best. Would he even consider another intern?

However, Todoroki desperately needed more training. He felt he wasn't working hard enough, he needed to be better faster. Training almost daily with him would almost defiantly speed that process up. He decided that extra training with Bakugou would do a lot more good than not, as long as he was careful to stay away from him and hide his illness.  

"I'll talk to my father about it." Todoroki replied after a long moment of silence. Bakugou's eyes where wide with surprise.

"Really? I thought you'd shoot me down immediately." 

"Why'd you think that? I'd get extra training with you and help on this case I'm working on. It's beneficial for both of us." Todoroki responded.

"It's pretty obvious you don't like me, or really being around people for that matter Mr Always alone an brooding in my room." Bakugou retorted, as todoroki opening his soba, slurping away at the delicious noodles. He cringed a bit at Bakugou's insult, it's not like he wanted to be alone, but he wouldn't know that. 

"I just prefer to be alone with my thoughts I guess. And when did I say I hated you?" Todoroki replied.

He was to focused on his noodles into notices Bakugou's reaction. His eyes widened yet again. Todoroki didn't hate him? He was an huge dick first year, and while he's gotten much better, he's also not ever been the nicest to todoroki. But......Todoroki had never said he hated Bakugou, not once. He had just assumed Todoroki's aloof and uninterested nature was directed at him, when really it was directed at everyone. 

"Huh, guess you haven't. Well, thanks for the chat knock off elsa." Bakugou retorted, standing up to leave Todoroki's dorm. 

"Knockoff Elsa? Really?" 

"What, you prefer to be called a deformed pokeball?" 

As Bakugou slammed his door Todoroki wondered how many insulting names he could be called before Bakugou ran out. Maybe he should start calling Bakugou names too, that would be funny to see. Explosion boy, angry grenade, explosive Pomeranian, Fourth of July, the list could  go on. Shouto chuckled a bit at the thought of Bakugou getting pissed at his new slew of nicknames.  

But now they might be interning together. Spending more time with the blonde should be fine, they aren't close friends or anything so staying distant from him shouldn't be a problem.....

 right? 

—————

"What are you asking me Shouto?"

"Would you take another intern?"

It was Tuesday afternoon, and the weather outside was still rough, but they agency wasn't snowed in anymore. And Todoroki hadn't been thrown face first into snow all day so that was a plus. Now he was with his father, about to go do some investigating on his case when he remembered Bakugou's question. So he was now bringing it up with his father, expecting a rather negative response. Todoroki was sure he was going to have to negotiate with his father to consider another intern. However, his fathers reply couldn't have been more different.

"Sure. I've been thinking about taking on another intern for awhile now, it would be very beneficial to the agency." Endeavor replied nonchalantly, as if it wasn't that big of a deal. His father looked up from the various documents crowding his office desk, seeing the surprise in his sons expression.

"Why do you look so shocked?" 

"I...just thought I would have had to convince you to even consider another intern as an option." Todoroki admitted to his father, who adorned his usual cold stature and intimidating stare.

"Why wouldn't I want another intern? You of all people need a partner to work with now that you are getting into some harder cases. And why are you asking me this suddenly? Do you have someone in mind for a new intern?" 

Todoroki shrugged his shoulders at his fathers first question, he often forgets his father is much different and still assumes his choices will be made with his fathers old intentions for him.

"Yeah, someone from my class asked me if you would consider another intern." Todoroki replied, staring out the window at the whitewashed city.

"Well who is it?"

Now this was the part where Todoroki would have to get persuasive.

"The winner of the first year sports festival, Ground Zero." 

"......is this a joke, Shouto?" Endeavor asked carefully, almost afraid he was wrong.  Todoroki sighed.

"No it's not. I understand he has a foul mouth and his behavior is a bit much but he is the only one from are class who can keep up with me besides Deku and he's all ready an intern. In addition he is extremely popular and having him as an intern would most defiantly help your public image. We also work well together in battle situations. And while his behaviors would lead you to believe he is lacking brain cells he's at the top of are class." Todoroki explained, looking at his old mans dumbfounded expression.

"And this is the same guy who threatened to hurt children during your supplementary classes?" 

"He was also the guy who came up with the plan which lead us to succeeding in that days course."

His father took a deep breath for a moment, considering his son's thoughts.

"All right, I'll need to meet him first before deciding anything. But........are you sure your ok with this?" His father asked him hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" Shouto asked, confused.

"Well.....usually you keep your distance from people. Working together as interns means you will be spending a lot of time together..."

Shouto could read between the lines of what his father was saying. Bakugou could find out about his illness. From a young age he had made it crystal clear he didn't want anyone knowing about his disease, one that might cripple him before he can even reach his dream.  His also mad it crystal clear to his family he didn't have any friends, and he was sure they could all figure out why.

"It will simply be a hero partnership, and Bakugou doesn't exactly like spending time with other people s-"

"Shouto maybe you sho-"

Todoroki felt his blood boil before his dad could even finish what he was going to say. Lately his father had suggested something to him, and would bring it up whenever he could. He stared at his father, his expression filled with cold rage.

"No."

"Trusting someone isn't a wea-"

SLAM!

Todoroki had already walked out of the office, not wanting to repeat the same conversation again.

"Todoroki, have you told anyone else about your condition?"

Todoroki had promptly dropped his hero costume case as he went to grab it, about to leave for the dorms. 

"What? No!" He replied, his confusion quickly turning into anger.

"Well.....have you ever considered it?" His father asked, almost softly. It was weird to todoroki and just pissed him off more. He wasn't some delicate little child who needed to be held.

"Why the fuck would I." Shouto replied, his voice icy with red hot anger boiling just beneath the surface.

"Maybe you should tell someone." 

Todoroki was floored for a second. It was funny to him that endeavor was suggesting that HE should trust someone. Endeavor, who hides his every insecurity and weakness!

"Are you serious! Take a look at yourself before you try and give others advice! Your telling me I should just tell someone I'm dying? Hell no. I will NEVER tell anyone and I really don't care what you have to say about it. You cant even begin to understand what I feel so kindly, fuck off." 

He turned and walked towards the door, all ready regretting his outburst of emotions. Little did he know his father was staring at him with a solum stare, the guilt tugging at his heart because he knows his son is miserable and lonely, just like he had been and it was all his fault. There was no way around it. He would always carry that guilt, and he knew he deserved it. He just wished his son could live a happy life, because that's what he deserved. 

But he knew he wouldn't be the one to fix his own mistake.

Todoroki hadn't been that mad in a long time, and his father and him never mentioned the argument. But he still suggested the same thing from time to time and it made todoroki see red. 

Tell someone else that he was born weak and dying, and then hurt that person would feel knowing he was dying would be awful. Who would want to be friends with him anyway? All he ever will be is a broken damaged human. Does anybody go shopping and buy something broken, with maybe a few years of value? No, they buy something new, stronger, more durable.

Things Todoroki knew he would never be.