Chapter 6

"So," Izuku dragged out the vowel on the word as he looked around the room. "What're you going to school for?" 

"Chemical engineering?" Shinsou's answer came out as more of a question, his voice sounding unsure as he raised a brow at the other man. 

Izuku was completely unfazed, pulling at a loose thread in his sweatshirt. "Are you super smart or super rich? 

"What?" 

"Everyone I know who went into chemical engineering was either super smart or super rich." 

"Well, I'm not rich." 

"You're a genius, got it." 

Shinsou's tired chuckle rang through the room at Izuku's observation. "I'm not a genius either, just vaguely good at math." 

Izuku's brows furrowed as he studied the other man. He held his hand up and wiggled his fingers in a sign of annoyance. "Okay, that's still vaguely genius." 

"I don't think you know the meaning of genius," Shinsou said with a small snort of laughter. 

Izuku narrowed his eyes and studied the other man. As per usual, his thoughts were racing. Do I tell him my mom got me tested as a kid? he wondered. Do I tell him my results? Or do I just let him think he's smarter than me for a little bit? Decisions, decisions. 

"What're you thinking so hard about, shortie?" Shinsou asked, amusement lacing his tone as he propped himself up further against his pillows. 

On instinct, Izuku frowned at his own thoughts. "The fact I was one IQ point away from the genius threshold when I was eight. I wonder if I've hit it since then," his words trailed off as he got sucked back into his own head. 

Shinsou's eyes went wide at the bomb that was just dropped in his quiet little room. "You had an IQ of one thirty nine when you were eight?" 

Izuku groaned and let his head fall back against the wall. "Okay, okay, it was one thirty eight, you caught me." 

"Dude, what the actual fuck?" Shinsou said with a breathy chuckle as he shook his head. "You're bitchy about me being vaguely a genius when you actually are one." 

Izuku shrugged, unbothered by the sentiment. He'd been intelligent all his life, had people oh and awe at him in elementary school like he was a pet that learned a new trick, he didn't really care about being a genius anymore. It was just his brain, a part of him he'd had to dissect and learn and accept. He was, quite frankly, over it. 

"What're you going to school for?" Shinsou asked in a pressing tone that gave away the curiosity he wasn't trying to hide. 

"Social work," Izuku answered breezily with a small smile. He'd spent most of his high school career trying to decide what to do with his life, with his brain, but nothing seemed right. Rei had brought home brochure after brochure for ivy league schools, insisting that he'd make an amazing lawyer or engineer or doctor or just about anything she could think of. 

"Social work? You want to be a social worker?" Shinsou asked, sounding like he was waiting for the punchline of whatever weird joke Izuku had just told. 

Izuku happily nodded his head in confirmation. "You heard my dark and gloomy backstory at dinner, didn't you?" He waited for the other man to nod before continuing his explanation. "Well, when my mom died, I was put in the foster care system for a few weeks while Rei and Mitsuki tried to get all the paperwork sorted for one of them to adopt me. Being in foster care was quite literally the second worst thing to ever happen to me and I just want to be that person, that adult that the kids in the system know they can trust to take care of them, ya know? The person that gets them out, or gets them a family that actually cares. I don't know, it just feels like the best use of my brain," he finished, trailing off and sounding a little unsure of himself. 

When he'd told Rei and his adoptive siblings, all of them had been incredibly supportive. Rei had even started crying, saying his heart was too big for his body, or something like that. By then, he'd already receded back into his thoughts to plan out his life. 

"Admirable," Shinsou said with a dip of his head and a fond smile. 

Izuku shrugged. It wasn't what he had been going for, he just wanted to help. If Shinsou thought it was 'admirable', that was his business. "It's just... I feel like it's impossible for people to really know how bad the system is without experiencing it first hand," he mumbled, still locked into his singular train of thought. 

Shinsou knocked his leg into Izuku's, bringing him out of his brain fog in a snap. "Trust me," he said with a knowing look in his eyes, "I get it." 

"Oh." The sound was quiet and slipped effortlessly from Izuku's lips without his knowledge. He suddenly saw the other man in a new light. A light not so different from his own. 

Shinsou brushed off the gloomy atmosphere that Izuku had let creep up on them with a wave of his hand and an easy smile. "Don't worry, my story had a happy ending. Got adopted by the two best dads I could ask for." 

Izuku didn't hesitate to let a smile slip back onto his face. "Well, aren't we a matching set. Two orphaned geniuses who got adopted into great families and are going to the same college. Same media class too," he added as an after thought. 

A small chuckle left Shinsou at Izuku's observation. "Guess the universe just really wanted us to hang out." 

Izuku hummed softly for a moment while he thought about it. "The universe or Sho, it was one of them." 

"I highly doubt your brother's grand plan was to get us to hang out. I think I might be the last person on earth he'd want you hanging around," Shinsou said with a click of his tongue. 

"And why would that be?" Izuku asked, amusement written all over his features. He was expecting the reason to be some sort of joke and was prepared for the punchline. 

Shinsou tilted his head and leaned onto his elbow, shifting just a few inches closer to Izuku. They were hardly close, but Izuku felt the vibe in the room tilt and it suddenly felt like the other man had invaded his space. "I'm not the best influence, hardly the kind of friend you want your little brother to make at college." 

"First, it's adorable that you think you'd possibly influence me," Izuku was unable to help it when those words slipped past his lips. The absolute audacity needed to imply that Izuku would somehow be the one lured into mischief, when he arranged it just fine on his own. "Second, I'm younger than you and Sho by three years, not a decade, drop the little." 

Shinsou's laughter filled the room for a moment at his snark. "First," he started, mimicking Izuku with a smirk on his face, "You think I'm adorable?" 

Izuku's face warmed at the question paired with the purpled haired man's teasing tone. He opened his mouth to retort, to explain that the action was what he'd been talking about, but Shinsou continued. 

"Second, I'm a year younger than Todoroki," he said with a flippant shrug. 

"You're a junior?" Izuku wondered aloud. 

"Nope, skipped ninth grade." 

Izuku narrowed his eyes at the answer. "Vaguely good at math my ass." 

Shinsou's smirk turned closer to a genuine smile again. "Hey, my IQ was only one thirty five." 

Without thinking, Izuku reached forward to smack the other man's shoulder, earning a loud laugh in response. "You are a genius!" Izuku accused, landing another hit before Shinsou could scoot back. 

"Genius is one forty or higher," Shinsou pointed out. 

"Welcome to rounding up," he hissed back. 

"Izuku? Iz, where in the hell- where'd you go?!" The slurring shout came from the hall, breaking through the teasing atmosphere like a splash of cold water. 

An annoyed sigh slipped past Izuku's lips before he could stop it. "I guess Sho's ready to head back," he mumbled, weirded out by the disappointment he felt. 

Shinsou raised his brows and nodded toward the door. "You might want to get him before he goes to Bakugou's room looking for you." 

Izuku winced at the mental image of Todoroki walking in on Bakugou and Kirishima and their giggling. "Good idea," he agreed as he pushed himself off the bed and quickly moved to the door. 

"Right here, Sho," he called into the hall, spotting his adoptive brother heading toward Bakugou's room. 

Todoroki whipped around at Izuku's voice, his eyes wide and glossy. "There you are! I tried to text you but you didn't respond, so I called you and it went straight to voicemail," his words were rushed with just a tinge of panic in them. 

"My phone died," Izuku said slowly, weirded out by the mother hen act. Apparently, his brother was a worried drinker. 

Todoroki looked him up and down before squinting at the room behind him. "Why were you in Shinsou's room?" 

Izuku tossed a look over his shoulder to find Shinsou still on his bed and quietly laughing to himself. "Couldn't find Kacchan's room," he said, simplifying the story. 

"Shinsou knows where it is." Todoroki was sounding more and more suspicious. 

"Kacchan and Kirishima were giggling, apparently," Izuku explained, his features scrunching in distaste at the thought. 

Like a flip switching, Todoroki relaxed where he stood and didn't seem so bothered. "Oh, fair enough." 

"Yeah, you fucking weirdo," Izuku mumbled, stepping out of the room and waving back at Shinsou in farewell. 

Todoroki grabbed his wrist before he could make it more than a foot from the doorway and held him in place. He peeked his head into the bedroom and locked eyes with Shinsou. "Leave my baby brother alone, got it?" he said, his words slurring together ever so slightly and giving away the fact he was far from sober. 

Todoroki handled his booze well, if he was visibly drunk it meant he was absolutely sloshed. 

"He wandered into my room." 

"You're the one that wouldn't let me leave!" Izuku shouted toward the doorway, off to the side and unable to see Shinsou. 

"You wanted to walk." 

Todoroki shook his head, pulling him toward the stairs. "Iz, you can't walk." 

Izuku gently patted his older brother's arm. "Walking just fine, Sho." 

"Oh." 

"How drunk are you?" 

"A lot." 

"A lot drunk?" 

"Precisely." 

Oh I think writing might be fun again. 


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