A/N: Got some good Shouto/Izuku feels going in this one.

Chapter 19

Todoroki packed up his overnight bag. He had texted Iida and planned a day to come over to the dorms. He was informed that they would be doing a movie night with everyone, popcorn included. He would even be staying in his old room. He slung the bag over his shoulder and headed to the door. Aizawa was there to see him off.

"Have fun, I guess. Call me if you need anything. And be careful. I don't care if you are surrounded by people."

Todoroki huffed a slight laugh at his caretaker's over-protectiveness.

"I'll be careful, don't worry. And before you say it, yes, I will make sure that there aren't any triggers around where I'll be. You shouldn't hear from me at all."

That was enough to please Aizawa. "Good. Now go on before your friends think you changed your mind."

Todoroki nodded. He was almost out the door when Aizawa stopped him.

"By the way, it's okay if you want to call me 'dad'. I wouldn't mind." He smiled slightly.

Todoroki's eyes widened as he realized Aizawa had caught his slip up last night. They softened when what Aizawa said fully sank in.

"Thank you," he mumbled something more that Aizawa didn't catch.

"What was that?"

"I said you can call me Shouto," he said quickly before bolting out the door, Aizawa smiling after him.

Fortunately for everyone involved, there was already a movie picked as Class 1-A piled into the living area. Todoroki didn't really care which movie was picked and would have been willing to hear multiple suggestions. When he started to say just that, Jirou, Momo, and Midoriya all tried to slap their hands over his mouth at the same time. He wondered if he would find a bruise in the morning.

After they apologized, Momo explained it to him.

"If we let everyone pick a movie that they want, there's bound to be a fight over which one. It being pre-picked keeps that from happening for the most part."

Todoroki nodded his understanding and went to sit down. All of the couches were already full, so Kirishima waved Todoroki over to the spot next to him on the floor. The setup ended up being Bakugou on one end of the couch, Kaminari in the middle, Tokoyami on the other end, with Kirishima on Todoroki's left and Midoriya on his right on the floor. The rest of the class was scattered around the room. So, they all settled down to watch a great old classic 'Avengers Infinity War'.

(3 hours later)

"Wow," Todoroki said, "How was that both great and terrible at the same time?"

Kaminari chuckled, "I know, right? So sad at the end but such a good movie."

Todoroki nodded his agreement and looked around the room. Most of Class 1-A was passed out where they were sitting, the only ones awake being the Bakusqaud, Midoriya, Tokoyami, and Todoroki himself. Considering that it was 2:30 in the morning, it wasn't that surprising.

"Midoriya. Should we wake the others or let them sleep here?"

Deku looked at his classmates. "I don't know. They look pretty comfortable."

"Are you serious, Deku?" Bakugou complained, "They're all going to be cramped and sore in the morning and aren't going to give any sort of competition." He stood up and let off a big explosion. "GET UP, YOU EXTRAS!"

Everyone's heads popped up and many yelled at Bakugou. To which he responded with more yelling.

"Nobody cares, morons! Go sleep in your own beds. If you couldn't stay awake for the movie you shouldn't have watched it in the first place! GO TO BED!"

Todoroki listened to this exchange from his place on the floor. At the end of Bakugou's rant, he found himself laughing quietly to himself. The boys still on the couch and floor next to him looked at him, then each other with growing smiles on their faces. It was really good to hear Todoroki laugh.

"Something funny, Todoroki?" Tokoyami asked quietly.

"Oh," Todoroki caught himself, "It's just... Bakugou always talks about how he doesn't care, but then he starts yelling at everybody to take better care of themselves. It's rather amusing." He responded, equally quiet even though everyone else had filtered out of the room.

"It is," Kirishima agreed, "We'd better make tracks before Bakugou yells at us too."

They all said goodnight and went to their rooms. On the way there, Midoriya stopped Todoroki.

"Hey, I wanted to let you know, it's good to have you back, even just for one night. This was really fun. We should try to do this kind of thing more often."

Todoroki agreed. "We should. I had fun... I think. I'm still a little unsure about what fun is. But I look forward to knowing for sure."

"I'm sure you will one day, Todoroki. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Midoriya."

The next morning, Todoroki and Midoriya cooked breakfast for themselves, long before anyone else woke up. They ate in relative silence until Todoroki spoke up. Something had been weighing on him since he went to bed.

"Do you miss them?"

The question seemed to come from nowhere. Midoriya looked up from his almost finished breakfast.

"Todo and Roki?" a nod. Midoriya frowned lightly. "Kind of. In a way. I mean, it's not like they're dead. They're you. Why?"

"I was just curious. It's nothing." Todoroki still looked concerned about something.

"Todoroki, you know you can talk to me, don't you?"

He didn't say anything, just got up, placed his plate in the sink, and headed for the common room. Midoriya was quickly on his heels. Todoroki sat on one of the couches and pulled his legs up onto the couch so that he could wrap his arms around them. It was possibly the most vulnerable looking Midoriya had ever seen him. They sat in silence for several minutes. Suddenly, Todoroki started talking. And it didn't look like he was going to stop.

"You remember outside, right before we all went in to explain what was going on to the others? My concern was that you all wouldn't like me split like that. But I think what really concerned me was that you might prefer me that way. Split and incomplete. To be honest, I think I was more likable that way, anyway. Roki was so nice, like, he was one of those people that you could talk to forever. Someone you could lean on for support. Todo was like a constant presence that you could always turn to for advice and strength. He always kept his cool, always dependable in any situation."

"I'm not like either of them. I'm hard to talk to, I wouldn't know how to function in a social setting to save my life, no one would be able to come to me for any sort of emotional support, I'd probably just make it worse. I can't give useful advice at the proper time, and..."

"...and most of the time, I feel weak. Like I can't do anything right. Despite everything I do, I'm always being pulled back down, falling every time. Like, whenever I'm around, someone always seems to get hurt somehow. Right now, I can't help but feel like, maybe... maybe I was less damaged when I was torn in half."

Todoroki sighed. The things he wanted to say that had been caught in his throat, finally came pouring out. His head lowered as far as it could go, touching his knees, so he couldn't see the tears welling in his friend's eyes.

Izuku scooted over to his friend, no, more like, his brother, and pried his arms away from his legs. Just enough that he could maneuver his way into Todoroki's personal space. Izuku could see the tears on his normally stoic friends face. He wrapped his arms tightly around Todoroki, who turned his face into Izuku's shoulder, letting his tears fall freely.

"I'm so sorry, Todoro-" he stopped himself, "I'm so sorry, Shouto. I don't know how to help you with this. I don't know how to make you stop feeling these things. All I know is that I NEVER replaced you. Yes, Roki was super likable and Todo was one of the most reliable people I've ever met. But you have to understand, they were YOU. Which means you're just as likable and reliable and nice and everything that they were. Please trust me when I say, no one could replace the whole and complete Shouto Todoroki. Not for me."

Izuku was crying by the time he was finished. The two boys held on to each other for dear life, one desperately seeking comfort and the other just as desperately seeking to give it.

After what felt like an eternity of silence...

"I do trust you,"

"...Izuku."