Frost has begun curling on the window, thin, translucent fingers dancing on the sill and ghosting along the glass. The chill creeps into the dorm rooms, finding little cracks in the building and making it's way inside, freezing bedrooms that are further from the heater and forcing the administration to overcompensate, making the rooms too close to the heater at a level where students are walking around in shorts and tank tops and still complaining.

Finding no proper middle ground, the heater was turned to room temperature and the lucky few managed to have nicely heated rooms while the others suffered in the cold.

Friday night found them huddling together upstairs, Momo making two heated blankets before completely wiping out and the students trying to cajole each other into offering warmth, bribes and blackmail sent around in desperate but futile attempts to find some semblance of warmth.

By the time that curfew (10:00 p.m.) had rolled around, most of the students had either fallen fast asleep in an attempt to alleviate the heat issue or had surrendered to a sleepless night.

It was with the dim lighting of lights peeking out through cracks under the doors or the faint blue glow of a screen from an open door with students unwilling to freeze alone in their rooms that led Izuku through the halls that night, his fingers bumping against the walls in an attempt to compensate for the lack of light.

He finds his way to Todoroki's room, and under the door filters a warm orange light.

Izuku knocks once, twice, and his hand stills.

There is the sound of shuffling and something is knocked over, light cursing before an apology is half whispered, half shouted through the door and some more stumbling before the door flies open and Todoroki, apparently having used too much force, hits himself on the forehead with the door. Todoroki's head flies back and he presses a hand against his forehead for a moment, which looks red, before he quickly reasserts himself and blinks blearily at Izuku.

"...Midoriya-kun?" He asks, surprised, before ushering Izuku in and making a very obvious attempt to cover up the bleeding wound on his forehead.

It doesn't work.

"You're bleeding!" Izuku exclaims, trying to keep his voice low but still half shouting as he reaches for Todoroki's wrist and pulls it down.

Todoroki turns red and he makes vague sounds of acknowledgement, "It's okay," he says, desperately, as though simply the words will knit together his skin.

"It's okay?" Izuku repeats, an incredulous hiss of disbelief, and he shakes his head, as though to ask himself is Todoroki is actually being serious or if this is just an extremely realistic dream. "Your forehead is bleeding."

"It will stop in a bit," Todoroki says awkwardly, unused to having someone fussing over him in such a manner.

"It will..." Izuku throws his hands in the air and makes an odd, irritated puffing noise. "Just a sec, I think..."

He digs into the pocket of his bright red sweatpants, slight shuffling. Todoroki's eyes find their way to the sapphire blue ALL MIGHT in big block letters that runs sideways down one pant leg, and thinks a bit fondly (though not without his fair share of amusement), ah, of course. Izuku, somewhat surprisingly, is the biggest All Might fan that they know. (Or perhaps not, if Todoroki is sticking with his theory... and he is, thank you very much, no matter what Izuku protests... that All Might is Izuku's father.)

"A-ha!" Izuku gives a triumphant shout, and then immediately turns red and gives a vague apology for the noise, "Sorry, ah, here," he holds out a band-aid proudly and a box of tissues, and Todoroki bites back a smile.

Because of course, Izuku has Present Mic themed band-aids.

He really shouldn't be surprised, but he is, a twitch, even if only because they aren't All Might. (But then again, even that should not surprise him. Though All Might will always seem to be number one in Izuku's mind, the truth is that he is a fan of all heroes, old or novice.)

"If you'd just put some ice and maybe melt it," Izuku says, leaning forwards a bit and his fingers brushing against the tissue in Todoroki's hands, "Then you can get it wet, yeah? And if we just wash the blood a bit, we can put the band-aid on, and it'll be better!" He looks immensely pleased with himself when he leans back, beaming at Todoroki with bright eyes and a wide smile.

Todoroki covers his mouth with a hand and ducks his head down in an attempt to hide the growing smile on his lips.

(He fails, judging from Izuku's pout, but somehow he doesn't mind.)

"Thank you," Todoroki says, fluttering his fingers over the tissue. A small layer of frost crawls over the paper, and he doesn't even need to activate his quirk, the warmth of his hand is enough to melt it. When it's wet, he sort of presses it to his forehead and wipes violently to the side, wincing as he does so.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Izuku's voice is far louder than he wants it to be, and he immediately clamps a hand over his lips even as the other grabs Todoroki's wrist. When Izuku pulls away, he sighs, "Sorry, I just... what are you doing?"

Todoroki blinks owlishly.

Had he done it wrong?

"I'm... cleaning the wound?" He says uncertainly.

Izuku stares.

Todoroki fidgets.

"Ah..." Izuku shakes his head, sighing a bit, and he asks uncertainly, hands making vague, uncertain motions as he asks, "Do you mind if I..."

"No, no," Todoroki presses the wet cloth in Izuku's hand, the long edges of his canary yellow sweater brushing against Izuku's palm as he hands it over. "Of course," he tries to press down the feeling of embarrassment, "Thank you."

"No problem," Izuku smiles a bit and re-folds the paper napkin so that it's on a side with no blood, "What you were doing there wasn't exactly, well, uh, wrong, but it just..." He shrugs a bit, the tips of his ears looking distinctly pink (ah, Todoroki thinks, he must be cold), "That looked like it was painful."

"Well, you know," Todoroki shrugs, the collar of his turtleneck brushing against the bottom of his chin and shifting against his earlobes, fleecy and warm, "Cleaning wounds is painful, right?"

Izuku looks indignant, "Yeah, well, a little but not like that! That's just... that's just..." He puffs out his cheek and shakes his head, "That's just aggravating your wound!"

He says it so righteously, as though it were such a severe crime, that Todoroki cannot hold back a small laugh at his antics. "If you say so," he says, amused.

"I do," Izuku huffs.

Izuku rights himself, prim and proper and it makes Todoroki laugh again and that makes Izuku huff at him even more. It's a vicious (amusing) cycle.

"You done?"

Izuku is joking, Todoroki knows, because of the little smile on his lips, and thus Todoroki allows himself a few more seconds of laughing before he stops and settles down and he nods, trying to regain any lost dignity. (He's not sure it works, but, ah well, you can't blame a boy for trying.)

"Okay," Izuku smiles.

Todoroki smiles back.

Izuku gives a little forewarning I'm going to start now, okay? and waits for Todoroki's nod before he leans forward and starts to dab at it. It's slow, much more soft and far gentler than Todoroki might have expected (though he doesn't know what he expected, it's been so long since someone else has cleaned a wound for him, even at U.A. it's been a quick kiss from Recovery Girl before being shooed off).

Izuku's touch is as light as a feather, soft and smooth on his forehead, fingers barely lingering atop his brow and it feels like both only a second and eternity has passed before Izuku leans back and beams at Todoroki, his entire face lighting up as he says, pleased with himself, "There! I'm done!"

Todoroki is both relieved, and yet finding himself missing that soft touch already. "Thank you," he says quietly even as Izuku unwraps the Present Mic band-aid (neon yellow with little, blob-like grey microphones on it) and sticks it on his forehead, firmly pressing the sticky sides but leaving the injured area alone.

"The least I could do," Izuku turns a bit red, "Especially since you only hit your head trying to open the door for me. After I visited your room so late, too..." he laughs awkwardly and rubs the back of his neck.

"Ah, right..."

Todoroki starts.

"What was your reason for coming to my room?"

Izuku blinks at him a bit, and then sighs, "I had a dream where you got injured, and I just wanted to satiate my concern, is all."

Satiate.

It isn't the type of word that Izuku uses, more stilted and crisp, it's more likely a word that Todoroki would use.

"It's alright to have some other reason," Todoroki says quietly, though he doesn't know what he expects.

Izuku smiles a bit at him and sits down properly on the floor, shifting from his kneeling position, and tilts his head to the side, "Maybe I just wanted to have some company," he says it in a way that makes the maybe seem pointless.

"Ah," Todoroki tugs the collar of his sweater up to try and hide his blush, "And you decided to come and find me?"

"Well..." Izuku gives an awkward little laugh, rubbing the back of his head, "We're friends, aren't we?"

Todoroki smiles at that, pleased, "Yes," he agrees, "Yes, we are."

Friends is such a nice word. Todoroki is still wrapping his head around the wonder of it all.

"I'm honored," Todoroki says quietly.

Izuku offers him an amused, private smile, and answers lightly, "Don't be silly. What's so honorable about a little visit between friends?"

A lot, Todoroki thinks.

It's because I haven't had friends, he thinks.

I'm honored to have you as a friend, he thinks.

"It's because it's you," His mouth says, humble and shy.

"Oh, well," Izuku visibly starts, eyes blinking and fingers still and then he turns bright red. "That's... that's..."

Oh drat.

He said the wrong thing, didn't he?

Izuku looks away, refusing to look at Todoroki. He's bright red. Is he really that angry? Todoroki tries to come up with the best way to apologize, but his mouth doesn't seem to want to work with him right now. Then, before he can apologize, Izuku regains his voice and peeks a bit at Todoroki, smiling a little, "Thank you," he says, earnestly, "That's one of the nicest things that anyone's ever said to me."

"Oh," Todoroki says, dumbfounded.

That's.

That's.

That's a bit crazy.

"But, last week, Uraraka said that she bet you could lift up a bed," Todoroki says awkwardly.

Izuku laughs, "That's a nice thing to say, too. But it's more an observation. I mean, saying something like, it's an honor to have you visit because it's you, specifically..." he scratches his cheek and ducks his head down, "You sure know how to make someone feel special."

"Ah," Todoroki's shoulders relax, and he feels quite pleased with himself, "I'm glad to hear that."

Izuku smiles at him, "It's very hero-like to say something like that."

Todoroki blinks, "Complimenting people is heroic?"

"That, too," Izuku laughs at him, and it's a little bit infectious, "But, just, you're happy because you managed to make other people happy. That, I think, is a heroic trait."

"Ah, well," Todoroki shrugs, "Isn't everyone like that?"

Izuku shakes his head, "You're very kind," he says.

"Thank you," Todoroki says, "You're very kind, too.

Izuku laughs, "Now we're just stuck in a loop of complimenting each other. We'll be here forever if we try to keep going. Are you planning on going to sleep soon?"

Todoroki casts a glance around his room. Stiff and formal, tatami mats on the floor and his futon hard on the ground, he can't imagine sleeping with much comfort tonight. Besides that, he thinks privately to himself, he'd much rather spend time with Izuku.

"No," he says out loud, quiet and firm. "I don't think I will be able to."

"That's alright," Izuku winks at him, "I was thinking ice cream?"

Todoroki tilts his head to the side, "It's late. And the temperature is very cold."

"Ice cream is delicious, though," Izuku pouts and flops over Todoroki's lap, "Come on. You really don't want ice cream?"

"Well..." Todoroki doesn't have to think much about it. He probably shouldn't (at home, there wouldn't be ice cream, and if they did have it, he wouldn't dare to go downstairs in the night. That's just asking for trouble) but he loves ice cream. "I suppose one bar couldn't hurt..."

Izuku cheered and bounced up, "Let's go!" He whisper shouted, and Todoroki laughed, trailing behind.

They regret it a bit afterwards, Izuku shivering the entire time that he eats and Todoroki laughing at Izuku, saying, you should just stop and Izuku sticks out a bright blue tongue you just want an excuse to eat my bar! but Todoroki does not deny his claim, just smiling a bit as they finish.

Izuku shivers when they're done, whining that he's cold and Todoroki pokes him, this is why you don't eat ice cream in the middle of winter! as Izuku pouts at him, but it all works out because Izuku stays in Todoroki's room, your fire side is really warm, I'm sleeping with you and Todoroki laughs you're pushy when you're tired. Izuku shrugs I'll regret it in the morning but he doesn't because it was nice, sleeping against Todoroki because he is a natural heater and Izuku is cold, darn it.

And when they wake in the morning, tangled in each other's limbs, Izuku grins at Todoroki and says want to go jogging with me and Todoroki groans it's freezing outside, Izuku laughs, in the gym! and Todoroki stares, the gym is so far though, Izuku smiles, it'll be our warm up.

Todoroki thinks Izuku's a bit crazy.

He goes to the gym anyway, and they come back together in time for breakfast, where a half asleep Uraraka glomps onto Todoroki and Iida freaks out over the band-aid on his forehead.

Todoroki and Izuku smile at each other, and in that moment, frost on the window and chill in the dorm kitchen, Uraraka hanging on Todoroki like a monkey and Iida looking for the disinfectant in the bathroom, everything is perfect.