Chapter Text
“Do you know who Deku is?”
Todoroki picked up his bowl of cereal and walked into the living room of his and Uraraka's apartment, where the latter was sitting on the couch. “Doesn’t sound familiar.”
“Kyoka-chan just texted me, ‘Deku did me!’”
Todoroki paused, spoon half raised to his mouth. “‘Did’ her? As in…?”
“Right!? It can’t be though. She wouldn’t do that to Yaomomo-chan. Oh, wait! She sent a link.”
Todoroki sat down on the couch next to her, balancing his bowl in his hand as he looked at her phone. Uraraka made a huffing sound and got up, then sat back down on his other side.
“We’ve gone over this, Shouto. Summertime you sit on the left, winter on the right.”
"It's spring."
"Yeah, but it's an uncharacteristically warm spring."
“Momo never cared where I sat,” he said, taking a bite of his cereal. Yaoyorozu had been a good roommate, up until Jirou stole her away. Not to say he wasn't happy for them, but losing his roommate had been an adjustment. Uraraka had been Jirou's old roommate though, so it didn't take long for them to realize that the easiest thing to do was to just swap places. Uraraka was...different, from Yaoyorozu. But she was good too. He'd been living with his best friend, with Yaoyorozu, but with Uraraka he felt more like he was living with an affectionate, if not slightly antagonistic, sibling.
Uraraka leaned against him, holding her phone up so they both could see. “I bet she did, she was just too polite to say anything.”
“And you’re not?”
“Nope.”
They got along well. They were both very blunt and honest with each other. Living together was always easier when the line of communication was open and easy. He thought they had a good dynamic.
Uraraka clicked on the link Jirou had sent and her YouTube app opened, the screen showing a table with a large, plush chair behind it, facing away from the camera. The chair spun around suddenly, revealing a guy around their age with dark green hair.
“Earphone Jack!” he said, slamming his hands down on the table. “Hero, musician, or just some badass person who does random stuff like jump out of helicopters?” He turned his head sharply and the camera angle switched. His serious expression melted away as his eyes started to water. “She’s all three! Did you—Did you all see the video of her fight in Ashikaga? I was watching the live feed and she jumped out of that helicopter and I thought—” he sniffed and wiped at his eyes. “I was so scared! I’m sorry, Hito-nyan, I keep thinking I’m going to run out of tears, but I cry every time I think about it. I really thought she was going to die. Should we restart?”
“Nah, I’ll edit it. I’ll think of something the fans will like.”
The guy scrubbed his arm across his eyes. “Thanks.”
He dropped his arm, eyes still watery as he smiled at the camera. The video paused and the off-camera voice, Hito-nyan, apparently, spoke.
“Hey, guys. I recently discovered some of you have been making video compilations of Deku crying. Excellent work. Really enjoyed them, so I’m giving you all this. As a treat.” The video started playing again. “Go ahead and do the intro.”
“Right!” He slapped his cheeks a few times, then beamed at the camera, making peace signs with his hands. “Hello, everyone," he said, saying 'hello' in English. "Deku here with another episode of Deku’s Hero Analysis! This episode we’re going to be looking at the Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack! She’s so cool!! Now, I’m sure you’re all familiar with her debut, but for those of you—”
“Hey, hey, you’re getting ahead of yourself.”
“Oh! Right! Sorry! We’re actually going on a field trip today! As many of you know, most of my videos start with a costume segment, where I review the official costumes available to the public, and Earphone Jack’s first official costume just dropped! The studio sent it to me right away,” he said, reaching under the table to pull out a replica of Jirou’s jacket. He pressed it against his cheek. “Her costume is so cool!! I won’t be able to pull it off, but I’ll try! But, uh, for her accessory pack, they actually sell her jacks as clip-on earrings and traditional post earrings and, um, the studio sent me the post kind. I told them my ears weren’t pierced, thinking they’d send me the clip-ons, but instead they’re...,” he paused and began nervously wringing the jacket in his hands, “sending me to get my ears pierced. So, uh, we’re off!”
The video cut and then Deku was inside what looked to be a tattoo parlor, sitting in a chair. While a person pierced a long needle through his lobes, he started discussing Jirou’s hero career, talking in-depth about her quirk and how she uses it, and what he hopes to see from her in the future.
“What are we watching?” Todoroki asked.
“I’m not really sure,” Uraraka admitted. She plucked a piece of cereal out of his bowl and ate it. "Look at him though, boy's not even flinching."
He pulled the bowl away from her. “Keep your hands out of my milk. That’s gross.”
“I thought this was going to be a dumb comedy thing, but this dude seems smart. Are you listening?”
Todoroki made a humming sound and turned his attention back to the video, not totally convinced she wasn’t trying to distract him so she could steal more of his food.
Deku spoke a mile a minute while silver studs were put in his ears, gesticulating wildly while he spoke. Once the earrings were in, he left the parlor and the camera cut back to the room from before, except this time he was dressed in Jirou’s hero costume, minus the earrings.
“And we’re back! So, the person who did my ears said I should wear these studs for six months before putting in different ones, but we’re filming now, so time to swap!”
“Is that safe?”
Deku shrugged. “Probably not? I won’t wear them long. Oh, um, I don’t condone this! Hito-nyan says I’m a reckless person and no one should follow my example,” he explained, as he sat down at the table and started cleaning the costume earrings with alcohol.
“Confirmed, I said that. He’s a bad role model.”
Deku swapped out the earrings, murmuring about blood, then stood and swung his head back and forth a few times, making the jacks swing. “They’re actually lighter than they look!”
“Stop shaking them! You're gonna rip your lobes.”
“Right! Sorry! Anyway, onto the rest of the costume! I really like this one. Sometimes I have trouble with female costumes—I’m sure some of you remember the Uwabami incident.”
“The costume ripped and he flashed a bunch of snakes at the pet store.”
“They don’t need to hear about it!”
“The snakes couldn’t even close their eyes, because they don’t have eyelids. There are a bunch of traumatized young snakes out there.”
“I’m moving on.”
“The guy from the pet store kept messaging him on Instagram. He told him his ass was haunting him in his dreams.”
“I’m moving on,” Deku hissed between clenched teeth, face scarlet. “As I was saying! This costume is from Hero Incs, which we’ve seen in the past doesn’t always put out the highest quality material, though they’re very budget-friendly. Definitely a good Halloween brand! Taking that into consideration, I’m actually really impressed with this! The boots—” he tried to lift his foot up onto the table and ended up having to grab onto his leg with his hands and swing it up.
“Pants look a little tight there, buddy. Thought you said this costume was a good fit.”
“I didn’t say that, actually. This costume definitely is more forgiving than a lot of the other female costumes I’ve done, but the pants and jacket are still a little tight around the thighs and upper arms. So keep that in mind, if you plan on purchasing! I’m wearing a large, for reference.”
“That doesn’t help when you won’t give them your measurements. They keep asking and...I’m trying, guys, really.”
“They don’t need my measurements,” Deku mumbled quietly, blushing again as he fiddled with the covers around his legs. “Anyway, as I was saying, the boots are just covers, which is pretty typical. I’m hopeful another company will come out with a deluxe costume and sell the actual boots, but for now, these will do. I put them on over regular combat boots and they look decent, I think.”
They watched the rest of the video, even though the whole thing was nearly fifteen minutes long, which was usually beyond Todoroki's attention span for things like YouTube. Deku reviewed the rest of the costume, discussed his favorite pieces of Earphone Jack merch, gave his opinion on what he thought her best moments were, and finally answered some questions from his fans, which were apparently sent in on Twitter.
At the end of the video, credits rolled alongside a sort of outtake video of him sobbing at his table, blubbering about how he thought Jirou was going to die in her last major fight.
“That was kind of cool,” Uraraka said, as she exited out of the video. “Oh damn, look,” she said, shoving her phone towards Todoroki. “He’s done so many! And over two million subscribers, wow. How have we never heard of this guy?”
“I don’t watch bloggers or whatever they’re called.”
“Okay, how have I never heard of this guy?” she asked, as she scrolled through the list of videos. She stopped with a gasp. “Shouto!! It’s me!! He did me!”
“Wanna watch it?” he asked, then brought his bowl to his lips and started drinking his milk.
“Duh! Hold on, let me text Kyoka-chan first. I wonder if she’s seen mine? She better not have, and not told me!” she pouted, as she furiously typed away.
Todoroki returned to the kitchen and put his bowl in the sink while they texted. When he came back Uraraka was bouncing lightly in her seat.
“Sit, sit, sit!! I’m ready! Kyoka-chan said she just found him. She’s trying to go through all his videos. She said some of them are really funny. And apparently the camera guy has a channel too, where he uploads outtakes and bloopers and stuff.”
“The camera guy seems sort of familiar.”
“You think? I don’t recognize his voice.”
He sat back down next to her, being mindful to sit with his cool side against her. “His voice isn’t really familiar. It’s more...I don’t know. The speech pattern, maybe.”
“His joke delivery was really deadpan. Maybe he reminds you of yourself.”
He snorted. “Right. Just start the video.”
This video began similarly to the last one, though instead of a dramatic spin, Deku came sliding across the room in his chair, rolling to a stop once he was behind the table.
“Gravity!” he exclaimed. In front of him, a stapler, a pen, and a mug rose off the desk, suspended very obviously from fishing wire. “It keeps our feet on the ground, so we don’t spiral away into orbit. It keeps our planet in orbit, so we don’t spiral away into space and freeze to death. Or something.” He turned his head to the side and, like before, the camera angle changed. “Without pro hero Uravity, we’d all be dead.”
There was a beeping sound and suddenly the screen went black. When the image returned, Deku was sitting with his elbows on the table, items still floating around him, with his hands steepled in front of him.
“I’ve just been informed that Uravity doesn’t actually control the Earth’s gravity,” he said, staring intently at the table. His eyes flicked up to the camera. “So perhaps Uravity isn’t quite as important as I thought.” He stared seriously at the camera for a few more seconds before breaking out into a large grin and slamming his hands on the table. “Just kidding!! Uravity is super duper mega important!!! She’s the best and you guys have been requesting this video forever, even though she didn’t have an official costume, but now she does, so I finally get to review her, and she’s one of my absolute absolute favorites, and aaaaaahh! It's time for Deku's Hero Analysis!! Hello, let’s go!!!” He did a quick spin in his chair and then jumped up out of it and promptly got smacked in the face with a floating stapler. The screen beeped and went to black again.
“I like him,” Uraraka decided, nodding to herself.
“His shirt says shirt on it.”
“Yeah, it’s weird, but I like it. Did you notice in Kyoka-chan’s video? His shirt said vest. But it wasn't a vest? Oh, shh, shh!”
The video resumed, showing Deku sitting behind the table, but now he was clad in an Uravity costume. His face was bright red and he looked uncomfortably miserable.
Uraraka immediately started laughing, pausing the video. “Oh my god! The poor boy! Look at that thing, Shouto. It’s stretched so thin, you can practically see his nipples. He wasn’t kidding about the female costumes thing!”
Todoroki raised an eyebrow at the screen, taking in the picture before him. “If he moves, it’ll rip.”
“Are you hoping?”
He felt himself flushing. “What? No. Why would I?”
“Cause he’s cute! Look at him!” she said, thrusting her phone in his face. He leaned back, to avoid actually getting smacked with the device. Deku’s frozen, embarrassed face looked back at him.
He pushed the phone away. “He’s just some random guy on YouTube.”
“Random guys on YouTube can be cute,” she said, but let the subject drop. She unpaused the video and the camera guy’s voice filtered through.
“It looks good. Stand up so we can see the whole thing.”
“Hito-nyan.”
“Give us a twirl.”
“I’m not moving.”
“You won’t be showing them anything they haven’t already seen.”
“Excuse me? That’s not true! This outfit is scandalous! I don’t wear stuff like this.”
“As most of you know, Deku got a lot of attention for the Uravity cosplay he wore last year, when he was a guest at HeroCon. You’ve probably all seen the video of him getting flustered when a Shouto cosplayer asked him a question. Here are some pictures of the costume, if you didn’t see it. Notice that he’s posed with Shouto cosplayers in all of them.”
“Stop it. I took pictures with tons of people, you can’t just pick and—you know what, it doesn’t matter, we’re not editing in photos. This doesn't relate to your point anyway. That costume fit me fine."
“Some of you were also so, so kind as to send me the link to this website, dedicated entirely to pictures of Deku’s ass, most of which are in this particular costume. So I’m just going to show a few of these…”
Deku crossed his arms. “You’re just messing with me. No one would make a site like that. All of this is getting edited out.”
Todoroki and Uraraka pressed their heads close together as they leaned over the screen, watching the slideshow of pictures displayed next to Deku.
The first pictures showed the costume from the front and, as promised, there was a Shouto cosplayer next to him in each shot. It was a very well-made costume. Unlike the official costume, this one fit him perfectly, so the colors weren’t washed out and the material wasn’t stretched.
That wasn’t to say the material was loose, by any means. He hadn’t done anything to alter his appearance, to look more feminine, so he just looked like a masculine version of Uraraka. The suit clung to his frame like a second skin, putting every muscle on display. Despite how wide his chest was, his waist was rather narrow, and this was emphasized by the thick belt encircling his hips.
“No wonder people are asking for his measurements,” Uraraka muttered. The slideshow transitioned to close-up photos of his ass. Shouto could literally feel the heat rushing to his face.
“People shouldn’t take photos like this without him knowing,” he said.
“Shouto, you just audibly swallowed. Stop being such a white knight and just ogle his ass. He posted the video, so he can’t be that embarrassed."
He couldn’t really argue with that point. And looking never hurt anyone.
"Besides," she continued, "camera guy Hito-nyan seems to think he wouldn't mind you looking." She snickered. "Flustered by a Shouto cosplayer, how precious."
Todoroki shoved her and took her phone.
Deku started talking again. "Anyway, as in the past, I struggled a bit with the sizing of this costume."
"He cried in his dressing room for thirty minutes because he was worried he wouldn't be able to do the video."
"I did not!" He cleared his throat. "But yeah, this costume is a little small. This is coming from CosStar, and their female sizes are known to run small. The male sizes, on the other hand, usually run large. Of course, this costume doesn't come in male sizes...but, um, I tried emailing them, actually, cause I feel like these sort of sizing issues can, uh, make people feel bad, and it's been a consistent problem. The costumes don't match the posted size chart. I never heard back though. So keep all of that in mind! This is an extra-large."
"I can't believe I signed off for a crappy company!" Uraraka wailed. "I don't want people to feel bad about wearing my costume!"
"Nothing you can do now but don't renew the license once it's up," Todoroki said. "If we watch more videos, we can probably figure out which brands he thinks are best. You can always contact one of them and put out another costume."
"Oooh, yeah!! That's a good idea!"
The cameraman spoke. "None of this matters if you only show us the top half. We need to see the whole costume, Deku."
Deku made a face. "Fine. Go get me a pillow or something."
"I can add a censor bar in post."
"I honestly don't trust you to do that."
"Wow. Ouch. Fine, here's your pillow." A pillow was thrown from off-screen, smacking Deku in the face.
"Why an All Might pillow!?!?" he yelled, picking the pillow up and squishing it nervously in his hands. It was a medium-sized pillow, shaped like All Might's head.
"Because everything you own is All Might! Your whole dressing room is All Might, All Might, All Might!"
Deku didn't seem to have an argument for that.
"Okay, turn off all the cameras."
"What?"
"I'm standing up, turn off all the cameras!"
The screen went black. When the image returned a second later, Deku was shown from the side, holding the pillow against his crotch. He was facing forward but kept glancing sideways at the camera filming him.
"Why does that one still have a light?"
"That one is sleeping. It takes too long to power on if I completely turn it off."
"The light is green."
"Uh-huh. It'd be red if it was recording."
"That seems backwards."
"What about your phone? The record button is red, right? Red means record."
Deku glanced at the camera again. "Yeah. Okay. I guess that makes sense."
"Camera guy is kind of a troll," Uraraka said. "I like him too."
The view alternated between the front camera and the side camera as Deku reviewed the costume. Despite heckling from the camera guy, he refused to turn around and show the back, though the side profile shots certainly helped illustrate how tight the bodysuit was on him.
Same as Jirou, he discussed Uraraka's quirk in-depth and then talked about which of her fights and rescues were his favorite. Eventually, he sat back down at the table.
"Now onto merch!" he cheered, pumping a fist into the air. The costume ripped under his arm and he hastily lowered it. "Right. Um, so, I actually have more Uravity merch than I do for most heroes."
"Don't worry fam, it's nowhere close to his All Might collection. That video was a hostage situation."
"Anyone can exit the video," Deku muttered as he reached under the table and pulled out a box.
"I couldn't! I was the hostage."
“So, naturally I have a figurine,” he said, ignoring the camera guy as he put an Uravity figure down on the table. “This is from the brand Artist M, and I think they did a really good job. A lot of Uravity figures don’t tend to get her figure right, I think because she’s viewed as such a cute hero. I, uh, I mean, don’t get me wrong! She is very cute! But she’s also very strong. I think some people don’t realize that, because her quirk makes everything she does seem so effortless, but her muscle definition is actually really impressive, and I think the Artist M figure shows that best. I think she looks very strong here, so I like it.”
“Hmm. You got into a fight once about this, right?” the camera guy asked, as the camera zoomed in on the figure, which Deku held so he could turn it in different directions.
“Not a fight. Just a spat. Some guy said my cosplay was bad because my muscles are real and she has glamour muscles, which isn’t true, and that's also just a dumb thing to say to someone, so I told him. You can see the paint job here is also really good. There are a lot of details, and it comes with a removable visor, which I like.”
“Did you win?”
Deku put the figure down. “Course I did. He had no argument,” he said, as he reached into the box. “The figure is probably what I would say is the nicest piece of Uravity merch out there, but my personal favorite is this,” he said, as he pulled out a pink and white jacket, “bomber jacket! It’s a nice mix between cool and cute, right?” He put it on and started to stand up, then hastily sat back down. “Um, I’m actually going to change into jeans, before we move on.”
The video blinked with a little beeping sound, and then Deku was standing in front of his table, clad in the bomber jacket, black skinny jeans, his shirt t-shirt, and Uravity boots.
“I put my own Uravity boots on! I hope a deluxe costume is made one day, so more people have access, because her boots are neat! I think the silhouette is really unique. But uh, right, the jacket!” He turned to the side, showing the arms. “I probably shouldn’t wear pink, because of my hair. Hito-nyan says I look like a strawberry.”
“You do.”
“But I like it so much! And I like strawberries. But you can see the left arm has this gold UV patch here, which gives it a nice official look, sort of like a school sports jacket. The back is very shimmery though, which lends more towards fashion, so it’s a nice mix of fashion and athleticism, I think. And the back has a picture of her, which is cool!” He turned around, showing off the back. “The pose she’s in is also very sporty, adding to that athletic appeal.” He turned more, showing the right arm. “For the right arm, it says Uravity down the side, which I also really like. When I was a kid, I always appreciated adult hero merch with names on them, because I could learn who the cool hero was without approaching the adult, which my mom was very against. I was kind of a chatty kid.”
“Who would have guessed?”
Deku stuck his tongue out, wrinkling his nose. “Bully. But, uh, I know kids learning about heroes probably isn’t anyone’s top priority, when buying merch, but it just stuck out to me because...I don’t know. I like kids, and I loved learning about heroes when I was little.” He turned once more, to show the front of the jacket, which he zipped up. “I really love the front! The breast has this little symbol on it, and it says ‘rights’ underneath it. This is a cute joke! The symbol is the astrological sign for Pluto, which used to be classified as a planet, back in the day. A lot of people were upset when they said Pluto wasn’t a planet, so that’s where the ‘rights’ comes into play. Pluto rights! Pluto is, or was, the planet in our solar system with the weakest gravitational pull, and her quirk is zero gravity, so it’s a clever addition, I think.”
Uraraka leaned further into Todoroki. “I love him. I feel so understood right now. I wanna be his friend.”
“I guess I need to authorize an official costume," Todoroki said. "And maybe a jacket.”
Deku zipped the jacket up even further, until the bottom of his face was obscured. He pulled down at the collar. “As far as actual jacketness goes, this piece is also really good quality! The collar goes up high enough to guard against the wind, and it’s thick. The entire jacket itself is sturdy and comfortable. This is probably my favorite jacket; it’s great in spring and fall, and it’s thick enough that it can be worn all season long, even when it’s a little cold out. I suppose it can get warm on unseasonably hot days, but just unzipping it has always been sufficient for me. So good quality, high fashion, and practical use. Ten out of ten, great piece of merch!”
Deku continued his review in the same spirited manner, showing off an Uravity headband that apparently he sometimes used to keep his bangs out of his face in the summer or after showering, and an Uravity blow up chair, which was pink and glittery and his favorite chair to sit in while playing video games.
Finally, he ended the segment with a q&a, just like before. Most of the questions were serious, asking for his thoughts regarding her advancement in hero rankings, what his favorite Uravity 'moments' were, and requesting his theories on different ways she could utilize her quirk.
"He's so smart," Uraraka murmured. "I can't believe this is all about me. I feel so overwhelmed, like a celebrity is talking about me."
"You're more celebrity than he is," Todoroki pointed out.
"Last question!" Hito-nyan said. "A lot of people asked this! Regarding Uravity, do you have a crush?"
Deku pursed his lips, blushing. "This is becoming a staple question, I feel. I don't really get it." He cleared his throat. "But uh, in this case, I guess I can see why people might think that. I'm a really big fan and I admire her very much! But a crush is, ah, that is to say, Uravity isn't the one I like."
"Oooh, very interesting wording, Deku-kun! Who's the one you like, then?" Hito-nyan asked. Deku immediately turned scarlet.
"Waah, that's not—I misspoke! Don't—don't say Deku-kun like that!"
"Like what, Deku-kun?"
"Like you're harassing me! I don't have a crush on anyone!"
"Well, you heard it here first, fans. He's single and his heart is completely free. Everyone has a chance to win!"
Deku ripped the pen off the fishing line and threw it towards the camera. The cameraman made an exaggerated sound of pain.
"So violent!"
"Thank you for tuning in, everyone! If you enjoyed this segment, please remember to like, comment, and subscribe! And as always, send in your questions on Twitter, linked below, for a chance to have your question featured! Next video I'll be analyzing Phantom Thief, but I'll also be doing another general q&a soon, so please feel free to ask lots of questions about Hito-nyan!"
"Please don't do that."
"Bye-bye!" Deku called out in English, making peace signs with his hands.
Credits began to roll and another omake video popped up on the screen, showing a closed door. Deku could be heard crying.
"Hey. You gotta come out."
"It doesn't fit!" Deku yelled, sobbing. "I've tried everything! I won't be able to do the video and Uravity really deserves one!"
"You gotta stop crying."
"People are gonna think I hate her if I don't do a video! That's not fair!"
Hito-nyan was heard sighing as Deku continued to loudly cry.
"We'll make it fit, okay? You gotta come out though."
"No!"
Deku continued to cry while Hito-nyan tried to coax him out of the room until the credits finished and Deku hesitantly cracked open the door, eyes puffy and red. He glanced down at the camera, then back up, then slammed the door closed just in time for the video to end.
Uraraka snatched her phone out of Todoroki's hand and clicked the like button. "I wish I could leave a comment and tell him I'm sorry for the crappy costume, but there's no way he'd believe it's really me."
"Just leave a nice comment, then."
She hummed and started typing. "I'll say he looks really cool in the jacket and, hmm, that I liked the headband on him. Should I say his forehead is cute?"
"His forehead? Isn't that too specific?"
Uraraka scrolled through the video until she had a shot of Deku wearing the headband, his bangs pushed up and away from his face.
"This is cute, right?"
"I don't know. It's a forehead. He's just some random guy."
Uraraka huffed and started typing again. "You're impossible. I'm writing that his forehead is cute. I'd appreciate it if someone said that to me. Oh! I'm gonna say he's smart too."
Todoroki sat quietly, watching her type. Once she was done she leaned back, sinking into the couch.
"Two videos is fine for today, since they're fifteen minutes," she said. "Wanna watch more together tomorrow though?"
"Sure. Who else has he done?"
"Let's see. Ooh, Kirishima-kun! We definitely need to watch that! And Tsuyu-chan! All Might, that's probably good. It says All Might number eight? Huh. But oh, oh! Thirteen!"
"I guess we can watch one more, if you want to," Todoroki said as he looked over her shoulder at the list of videos. From the preview images, smile after smile after smile greeted him.
"Okay. Just one more and that's it!"
They watched six.