Author's Note: Hey guys! Me again! So, chapter six is REALLY late, sorry about that. Chapter seven still isn't finished, and it only has two-and-a-half pages on the document I'm keeping the story on. I'm stuck with writer's block. I haven't touched it in almost a week, and it's really nagging at me because I really want to get it done. I just don't know how to continue the chapter. I'm most definitely NOT discontinuing the story, I just need more time with the chapter. There are lots of instances with text messages in this chapter, they will be bolded, and there will be a new paragraph for a different person talking since the formatting didn't work with this. I also have finals, and Christmas (an American holiday for my foreign readers!) is in a couple of days. I'm going on a break from school for two weeks, so I might use that time to work on this a little. And I've been checking the stats of this recently. Almost 600 views. Damn. I'm glad you guys like this story! Enjoy this chapter!

It had been two weeks since Izuku had made those three cuts in his arm. It was a Saturday morning, and the yellow glow of the streetlights leaked through the curtains and lit a small sliver of the room. The sky slowly turned from black to a dark shade of blue. The alarm clock on his nightstand read '4:37' in large red numbers. Izuku sat at his white desk hunched over and resting his head on an open science textbook. There were large bags under his green eyes, and his dark green hair was a little messier than normal. The laptop was open on one side of the desk and Google had been pulled up with 'Gregor Mendel Pea Experiments' typed into the search bar. Papers were strewn across the desk, and the binder of missing work lists was open on the other side of the desk. Silver was sleeping soundly on her bed by the nightstand.

And I said I could take this on, he huffed under his breath. Sitting up, he rubbed his face, trying to wipe the tiredness from his eyes. He picked up his pencil and continued writing his report, which was due on Monday. Suddenly, Izuku's phone vibrated, and the screen lit up. He picked it up off the desk and unlocked the screen. He had a text message from Hanako. He opened the texting app and read her message.

Why r u still up? It's almost

5 am

Izuku laughed to himself. He opened the keyboard and began typing a response as another message popped up from her.

r u still working on all that

missing work? I told you I

could do some of it for you

if you wanted.

He read the message and a chill went down his spine. How did she know? He knew it was quite foolish, but just to be sure, he glanced out the window to make sure he wasn't being stalked. He looked back to his phone and sent a response.

But then I wouldn't get the grade.

I told you, I can't let you do any of

this work for me.

Hanako was quick to respond.

well yeah, but ur always pulling

all-nighters and skipping meals

to get the work done. I thought

you said you'd do it without

sacrificing food and sleep.

Izuku felt a pang of guilt. She had made him promise that he would keep food and sleep as a top priority, but he was neglecting his own needs more and more. He decided to tackle one list after the other, finishing everything on that list within a week. He had managed his math list the week before and barely managed to get it all turned in that past Monday. This week, he had struggled to get his science list done, and he had decided that sleep was something he would have to sacrifice if it meant getting caught up, even though it went against the promise he made. He hated breaking promises.

I'm sorry. I know I promised,

but I need to get this last

science assignment done.

All my science assignments

are due Monday.

Izuku let out a sigh and placed his phone closer to his paper as he picked up his pencil and continued writing his report on genetics. His phone vibrated as Hanako sent another message.

Go to bed and finish it

tomorrow, you need

some rest. Then make

sure you get a big breakfast.

You need to eat.

He huffed, since it sort of felt like she was telling him what to do. He looked down at the report, which was almost finished. He turned off his phone and continued writing. As he finished the final paragraph, he looked over to the clock to see '4:57' in big red lights. He turned back to his heap of papers on his desk and placed his head back down on it. He figured that he could just rest his eyes for a bit, then clean up after a small nap. Only he didn't take a nap. Instead, he fell fast asleep, almost within seconds.

(I keep on trying to put stars here to signal time passing and a change of POV, but it won't save it so whatever :P)

Mitsuki had just finished making French toast with Katsuki and had the table all set. As Katsuki readied everyone's plates, she made her way up the stairs and down the hall towards Izuku's room. She opened the door to find him fast asleep in his desk chair with his head resting on his desk. She walked over to him and picked up his phone. She opened it, almost forgetting that he didn't set a password. She found the text messages sent between him and Hanako from only a few hours prior. His last message had been sent at 4:43. He'd only gone to sleep around three hours ago. She huffed, mainly annoyed at the fact that he was overworking himself just to catch up to the rest of his class.

You are really stubborn when it comes to work. No matter what, you always bite off more than you can chew.

Mitsuki turned his phone off and placed it back on the desk. She walked over to his bed and grabbed a folded blanket that was sitting at the end of the bed. She unfolded it as she made her way back over to where he was sleeping. She was kind of surprised. Izuku's back must have felt some sort of strain with him sleeping hunched over that way. She had no idea how he managed to fall asleep that way. She placed the blanket over his back and pulled it over his shoulders. She walked back over to the bed, grabbed a pillow, and once again made her way back to the desk. She carefully lifted his head and slid the pillow underneath, clearing up any papers that were in the way. She pressed a kiss against his forehead and made her way to where Silver was now sitting up wagging her tail. She motioned her hand for her to follow. As she made her way down the stairs, Silver trotted ahead of her. Katsuki was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, and Silver had gone to greet him. Katsuki was crouching down and stroking her head when Mitsuki made her way down the stairs. She stopped in front of her son as he stood up.

"Did that nerd seriously pull another all-nighter?" he asked, disappointment in his voice.

"Yeah. I'm gonna bring up a plate of food when we're done eating."

"He really needs to take a break. The damned thing barely sleeps anymore," he told her as they made their way to the dining room. They both sat down and started eating their toast. Masaru looked up at them.

"No Izuku?" he asked, his mouth somewhat full.

"Nope. He pulled another all-nighter," Mitsuki responded. "I really wish he'd stop neglecting himself like that."

"He's dedicated, I'll give him that," Masaru huffed. He passed a bottle of syrup to Katsuki, who pretty much drowned his toast in it.

"So, Katsuki," Mitsuki started. "How's your schoolwork coming along?"

"Fine," he answered with a stuffed mouth. He swallowed before he continued. "I finished studying for our test last night." Masaru shot him a glare. "What?! At least I went to sleep at a decent time, unlike McNerdy up there," he scoffed, stuffing his mouth full once again. Mitsuki laughed a little, finding the nickname rather funny.

"Are you planning on going into town today?" she asked him. He nodded, giving her a little 'mhm', since his mouth was too full to respond that time. He swallowed his food quickly to respond. "Then I want you to pick a few things up from the grocery store when you start heading back." She pulled a small list from the pocket of her leggings and slid it over to him. "I'll give you the money when you leave."

"I'm going with a friend of mine to the arcade," he told her, picking up the last of his toast on his fork.

"You mean those groupies that follow you everywhere?" Masaru asked.

"Yeah. They used to follow me, but they stopped after Deku went back."

"Why'd they stop? You seem like a cool guy," Mitsuki giggled, nudging him with her shoulder. He let out a little 'pfft'.

"Probably because they finally found something better to do with their lives," he answered, standing up to take his plate to the sink. Concern crossed Mitsuki's mind, but for the time being, she set it aside. She couldn't help but wonder if that was the truth. Soon they had all finished breakfast and Mitsuki had readied Izuku's plate after feeding Silver. She brought the plate and fork up to his bedroom and opened the door. She had almost dropped the plate out of shock as she saw that Izuku was awake and back at the grind, reading over things on his papers and changing things every now and then. He looked up at her, putting his pencil down in front of him.

"You know, I saw those text messages from last night. You didn't go to sleep until almost five in the morning," she pointed out as she placed the plate on a clear spot of the desk. "You only got about four hours of sleep." Izuku laughed nervously.

"I know. But I really needed to get this report finished."

"Tell me, when's the last time you remember getting a decent sleep?" she asked, knowing full well that he hadn't gotten more than five hours of sleep every night for the past week.

"I dunno, maybe last Sunday?" his eyes widened to the realization of how little he had been sleeping.

"You need to take a break. Why haven't you asked the teacher to take some stuff off your plate?"

"Because I don't want to graduate without doing the same amount of work as everyone else. How would it be fair to them?"

"I don't think that stressing yourself out about a month's worth of work is fair to the ones who didn't have to worry about such things either," she replied. "I get where you're coming from, but your new sleeping pattern isn't very healthy at all," Izuku looked away, shame hanging over him. "Now eat up. I let you skip dinner, and that's the last meal I'm letting you skip." Izuku nodded and began eating the partially cold toast.

(Again, more stars, I won't even try this time)

Izuku had finished his food and his work, cleaned off his desk and was sitting in his bed reading another astrology book. His computer was playing music from the same lo-fi music live stream, and the clock read '2:14' in the same red lights when Katsuki opened the door.

"Hey, nerd, I'm going to the arcade, you in or you out?" he asked, leaning on the door handle. Izuku never really understood the purpose arcades served, but he enjoyed going there nonetheless. He closed his book and placed it down on his bed, sitting up as he did so.

"Yeah, just give me a minute," he answered. Katsuki left, closing the door behind him. Izuku got up from his bed and walked over to his closet to pick what to wear. Silver was lying in her bed chewing on a dog bone and perked her head up as he passed her. Izuku quickly decided on a grey turtle-neck sweater and a pair of khakis. He changed out of his nightclothes and into the clothes he chose. He walked back around to Silver and grabbed her vest off the hook on the wall and put it on her. Once it was fastened, he attached her leash to her collar. He walked out of the room, Silver following close behind. He made his way down the stairs to see Katsuki waiting at the doorway. He walked up to the shoe rack, grabbed his red shoes, and slipped them on.

"You ready?" Katsuki asked impatiently. Izuku nodded as Silver stood next to him, wagging her tail. Katsuki opened the door and Silver made her way outside, almost dragging Izuku with her. "Mom, we're heading out!" he shouted, having no idea where in the house she was.

"Alright! Don't forget those groceries! And be back before eleven!" she replied from the kitchen. Katsuki walked out the door and made his way down to the sidewalk where Izuku and Silver were waiting. Katsuki took the lead as always, and Izuku always let Silver walk a little way ahead of him. They made their way down the street, passing all the different houses and cars. Eventually, the houses turned into occasional gas stations and restaurants. Soon, they were in the city, and the sidewalks were a little more populated. Cars were passing in both directions and were also parked by the sidewalk. Soon, they saw the arcade in the distance, and the two groupies that had always followed Katsuki until recently were waiting at the door. Katsuki ran up to greet them, leaving Izuku behind by a few yards. As Izuku caught up with them, he noticed the one with the strange wings was staring at him.

"What's the nerd doing here? I don't think we invited him," he asked, pettiness in his voice. Katsuki crossed his arms.

"I could have bailed on you, so be grateful that I even came," he retorted. Izuku lowered his head and walked into the arcade with Silver, leaving Katsuki to talk with his friends. He walked up to the register, paid for a cup of tokens, and walked around the arcade to find something to play. Soon, he came upon a game called 'Tetris'. Interested, he stopped in front of the screen. Silver sat down next to him. The rules were printed on the inside of the machine walls. It was simple and mainly focused on reaction time. He inserted a couple of tokens and began playing. At first, he sucked, mainly because he didn't know the shapes of the different blocks very well, but after a few attempts, he started getting places. He had made it to the tenth and final level within the hour, which caught the eyes of a few people passing by.

He had finally beaten the final level and the machine spat out fifty tickets. He took them and added them to his roll of tickets, winning about twenty with each level he passed. He pulled out his phone to see that it was 4:18. He looked around the arcade for a bit before he realized that Katsuki had never entered the arcade. He grabbed his cup of tokens, which only had a few tokens left, and made his way to the front counter to return them, Silver following him from behind. Once he was finished, he made his way for the door when two guys walked in. One of them was taller, pretty much an adult, and he had white spiky hair. The other was still pretty tall but seemed to be the same age as him. The younger one had short hair, half of it being white, and the other half being red. His eyes were heterochromatic, one gray, and the other blue. There was a large scar over the blue eye, one that almost covered that half of his face. Something about him made Izuku's heart skip a beat. They were both talking, but the one with the scar looked around and met eyes with Izuku. Izuku looked away, embarrassed as he realized he was staring. The two seemed to be brothers. Suddenly, the one with the scar started towards him. Izuku began freaking out internally.

"Hey," he greeted him. His voice was sort of a soft monotone. Izuku found it sort of soothing. "That's a cute dog, what's her name?" he asked, showing Silver his hand. He was crouching down in front of her as she sniffed it, wagging her tail in excitement. Izuku struggled to open his mouth, still rather nervous.

"H-her name is Silver. You can pet her if you want," he responded, words getting stuck in his throat. He started rubbing her behind her ear, which she loved. He stood back up to look at Izuku.

"My name is Shoto Todoroki," he put his hand out for a handshake. "What's your name?"

"O-oh! Um, my name is Izuku Midoriya! Nice to meet you!" he exclaimed, shaking his hand. He almost felt like freezing up. When Izuku gripped Todoroki's hand, it was super warm.

"I've never seen you before. Are you from around here?" he asked.

"Yeah, I live just outside of the city. You?"

"I live on the other side of town. You must go to the local secondary school, then. I'm homeschooled," he explained. "What's your quirk?" Izuku's eyes lit up.

"My quirk is Strategy. With a certain amount of information, I can create really good strategies. The quality of my strategies depends on how much information I have, and I can only make three strategies a day," he explained. He was happy to finally be able to impress someone.

"My quirk is Half Cold Half Hot," he responded. He lifted his hands up. A small flame burst into life in one, and a small group of icicles formed in the other. Izuku stared in awe. "Basically, Half of my body can produce fire, while the other half can produce ice." Izuku couldn't stop admiring him. He seemed so cool. The scar, the hair, the eyes, and especially the quirk. Every part of him made Izuku feel sort of numb in a good way. Izuku couldn't tell, but he knew for sure that he had to be blushing, even just a little. Gathering all the courage he had, he made a split-second decision.

"Do you want to hang out at the library tomorrow? If you're free? I want to get to know you better," he asked, a small part of him fearing he would say no. "I get it if you don't want to or if you can't."

"Sure. I can give you my number so we can figure out the details later if you want."

Wait, seriously? I'm getting his number?

"Y-yeah! Of course!" he replied excitedly. He pulled out his phone, quickly unlocking it and going to his contact list. He pulled up the 'new contact' menu and handed it to Todoroki. He took the phone, typed some things in, and handed it back to him. Izuku read over the contact information and added it to his list. He put his phone away, checking the time before he did so. It was starting to get late.

"Shoto! C'mon!" the person Todoroki had entered with was calling for him. He looked over to him and back to Izuku.

"I guess I'll see you Sunday," he said. "Bye."

"Bye!" he waved. As Todoroki walked away, Izuku started for the door, Silver lagging behind as she watched Todoroki walk away. Once he made it outside, he looked around for Katsuki. He walked down past a few alleyways, checking in each one for him. He pulled out his phone and texted Katsuki.

Where are you? I just left the

Arcade and can't find you.

He lowered his phone to his waist as he scanned the alleyways again. After little luck, he walked back to the arcade, checking the alleyways on the other side. His phone vibrated in his hand, and he pulled it up to see who had texted him. Katsuki had responded.

I'm at the grocery store down the

street. I'll be back in a bit.

Izuku let out a sigh of relief. He turned around, walking back past the arcade once more, and further down the street to the closest grocery store he knew of. The sky was starting to get dark, but the day still had some light left to it, so he didn't worry too much. He came up to the doors of the store and looked around. There was a bench facing the store on the sidewalk. He sat down at one end of the bench, letting Silver lie down on the ground next to it. He waited for a couple of minutes, watching as the foot traffic eased up a little. Every time the doors opened, he would look expectantly, hoping that it would be Katsuki. After about twenty minutes, there was still no sign of him. Izuku tried to stay calm, as anxiety was slowly rising inside him. His phone vibrated again. He turned it on and read the message he had received.

Where the hell are you? I didn't

tell you to leave the arcade.

Izuku chuckled to himself, mainly out of nervousness.

I'm waiting outside the store down

the street. The one with the bench

in front of it.

It wasn't long before he got a response.

Dammit, don't wander off like that.

I told you I would be back. Just go

back and wait outside the arcade.

Izuku sighed. All of this back and forth was wearing him out. He stood up, and Silver followed suit. Soon, they were both headed back to the arcade. As he came up to the arcade again, he saw Katsuki waiting outside the door with a bag of groceries in his hand. Izuku jogged to catch up with him.

"Next time, stay with me," Katsuki told him. "I don't like these kinds of surprises." Katsuki had a scrape on his cheek, and one of his arms had a bruise.

"S-sorry, I thought you were going to the arcade. You never even came in. Where did you go?"

"Those two were nothing but trouble. But I'm pretty sure we won't be hearing from them any time soon," he explained, lifting his arm up and lighting a few tiny explosions in his hand.

"Wait, did you get into a fight?" he asked, concerned.

"What do you think, nerd? I'm fine, don't worry about it. C'mon," Katsuki turned around and started the walk back home. Izuku followed him shortly after. The anxiety he had felt before was slowly easing away. The sky was getting a little darker, and the streetlights had turned on.

Katsuki, Izuku, and Silver all walked into the house, all of them rather tired. Izuku took his shoes off and put them on the shoe rack. He pulled his phone out and checked the time. 6:14. They were just in time to start dinner.

"Mom! We're home!" Katsuki hollered. He walked into the kitchen, leaving Izuku at the doorway. Izuku and Silver made their way upstairs and into Izuku's bedroom, Izuku closing the door as Silver trotted in. Silver sat down in her bed, waiting for Izuku to remove her vest. He crouched down in front of her and unbuckled the vest, hanging it on the hook above her bed. He sat down on the bed and pulled his phone out. The butterflies from when he met Todoroki were still flitting around in his stomach. He didn't understand why he was so nervous, or why he felt so squeamish around him. He opened the messaging app and went to Todoroki's contact. There was a small green dot on his contact, meaning that he was actively using his phone. He tapped on Todoroki's contact and entered an empty chat room. Izuku typed in a message and sent it, a bit anxious since he never liked starting conversations.

Hey, Todoroki, this is Izuku.

He waited a few minutes before receiving a response.

Hey. Do you want to send each other some

pics that we could use as contact photos?

Izuku read the message. He didn't have any pictures of himself on his phone. He shrugged his shoulders. He fell backward and rested his back on his bed, the force of his fall making him bounce upward a little. He figured he'd use Snapchat since he wasn't too confident in how pictures made him look. He opened the app, picked out a few filters, and snapped a few selfies. The poses people made in selfies always made him cringe, so he just smiled, deleting a picture of himself with a peace sign. As he was preparing to send a couple of photos, he received a message from Todoroki. Izuku opened the messaging app again and observed the photos he had sent. The first photo was of him looking away from the camera and a third of his face was cropped on the right side, however, his scar was still visible. It had a black-and-white filter, and there were small black hearts scattered on his cheeks. They had some sort of glitchy effect, with red and blue lining the hearts unevenly.

Again, the butterflies in his stomach all flew off in different directions, and he could have sworn he blushed a little. He didn't bother looking at the other pictures, quickly setting the first as Todoroki's profile picture. Izuku sent his photos and excitedly waited for a response. He still didn't understand the butterflies, he'd never been like this around anybody before, so as always, he began to overthink it.

I just think he's really cool. That's all! Honestly, I just see him as someone to look up to. He almost jumped out of his skin as the vibration of his phone brought him back to reality. He turned it on, as it had gone to sleep while he was lost in thought. He opened the messaging app once again.

You took these just now,

didn't you?

Maybe…? I don't usually take

pictures of myself.

Lol it's fine. I did too.

So what time do you

want to meet up?

Izuku giggled to himself. Todoroki seemed to like picking on people in a fun way.

What about 2? Do you

think we could visit

the cafe, too?

Sure, why not?

Coffee sounds

good.

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. Keeping a conversation going was always kind of hard. His phone vibrated again with another message.

Also, I'd prefer it

if you'd call me

Shoto.

He realized that he had been calling him 'Todoroki' since they met. I guess Japanese customs don't really interest him all that much. In America, everyone was called by their first names, no matter their relationship with the person using their name. In Japan, however, people are always called acquaintances by their last name. Calling a person by their first name was reserved for family, loved ones, and close friends only. Does he consider me a close friend?

Sure, sorry about that.

It's fine. See you Sunday.

See you!

His cheeks grew hot with embarrassment. He was finally going to hang out with somebody for the first time. He never even thought it possible that he would make an actual friend. Just as he stood up and began to celebrate his own little victory, his phone vibrated once more. He checked the message as a lump rose in his throat.

Also, since I've met you,

I can't shake the feeling

that I've heard your

name on TV before.

Another message followed soon after.

The last name 'Midoriya'

sounds incredibly familiar

to me. But that could just

be deja vu.

Izuku froze where he was, standing in front of his bed. He doesn't remember, he reassured himself. He doesn't need to know.