The dorms were quiet following the events involving the Hero Killer. Everyone was aware of what he, Todoroki, and Iida had been through and their return to the dorms was met with a quiet welcome, with elated greetings from those closest to them and relieved ones from their classmates, who cared just as deep but didn't show it as much. The following nights, Midoriya had found himself wandering to the kitchen while most others were sleeping, and often was the only one there. He'd make a cup of tea for himself and sit on the floor, just allowing himself to listen to the silence around him.

No matter how much trauma he'd been through before, he still needed time to recover from just the mental shock of he fight with Stain, and how dangerously close they'd all been to a meeting with death herself, someone Midoriya wished to avoid for a long time. He knew Iida and Todoroki were the same, and he'd made sure to reach out to them each day, not necessarily talking about the events of the fight, but just about a surface-level topic, something easy and lighthearted.

(Todoroki found Midoriya's texts a welcome distraction from his thoughts. It was nice to be able to talk about the new soba place in town instead of delve deep into his trauma, both past and present. A smile almost came easily to him when he heard a notification on his phone, knowing full well who it was.)

This particular night, Midoriya found himself with company when he arrived at the kitchen, a familiar face already there, looking through the contents of the cupboards.

"Todoroki," he said, a soft smile on his face already, "so you're up too."

The boy in question turned at the sound of his name, and while he did not smile, Midoriya could see Todoroki was pleased to see him, his expression relaxed instead of shielded.

"Midoriya," he spoke, closing the cupboard leaning against the counter, "it's late."

"Yeah. I've been up pretty late lately. Just because of... everything, I guess." Midoriya grinned sheepishly, passing Todoroki to open the cupboard furthest from him, reaching in to pick a teabag out of the box provided, "do you want some? Tea, I mean."

"Sure."

Midoriya nodded, picking out a second tea bag, before letting the cupboard close with a muted thump. The kettle was already on the stove, and he made quick work of filling it with water before placing it back on the stove, turning on the heat. As he allowed the stove to do it's work, he retrieved two mugs from the adjacent cupboard, placing them both next to the stove and placing one teabag into each of them. He glanced at the kettle, then back at Todoroki, whose gaze was fixed where Midoriya's had just been. Steam began to rise from the kettle, and he was subconsciously aware that the sound of the whistle would be audible soon.

(Todoroki's eyes were glued to the kettle, his mind bringing him back to a younger him, approaching the kitchen, stood half hidden behind the doorway. He could see steam rising from the kettle, the whistle of it starting to build up, and something was wrong, his mom's eyes weren't the kind ones he found salvation in. The kettle was almost ready, the water almost boiling, and his mom's turning to face him. He knows what's happening and-)

"Todoroki?"

Todoroki blinked, caught off guard, then looked back at him, "sorry. But, could you-"

Midoriya's mind caught up with where Todoroki's words were going before he could finish speaking, and he removed the kettle from the active stove burner, the whistle dying down before it could even start. He was reminded of their encounter at the sports festival once again, Todoroki's recounting of his childhood still eliciting anger within him after hearing it. It was difficult to see it still affecting him in everyday tasks, though he knew it was a delicate subject to approach. He carefully aimed a small smile Todoroki's way.

"It should be hot enough now."

Todoroki simply nodded in response, "thank you."

Midoriya lifted the kettle and poured water into each of the mugs, steam rising from them both. He stirred a spoonful of sugar in each, looking at Todoroki for assurance first, then sat them on the counter to cool, and turned back toward Todoroki. They shared a look, and Todoroki's eyebrows furrowed as he opened his mouth to speak.

Midoriya cut him off before he had to chance to speak, "you don't have to talk about it."

Todoroki shook his head and gripped the edge of the counter, "I know."

Midoriya nodded in understanding, and reached over to grab their cups of tea, handing one to Todoroki. Todoroki took it, mumbling a quiet 'thank you'. Todoroki seemed to be searching for the right words, and Midoriya patiently sipped at his own tea, before sighing and sitting on the floor.

Todoroki's face lit up in surprise, and he looked down at Midoriya with an expression of confusion, "uh. what."

"Just sit down here with me, okay? I find it comforting, in some weird way."

Todoroki looked at him and looked at the floor, before letting out a sigh and placing himself on the floor across from him, back leaning against the island that was across from the countertop Midoriya was leaned against.

(In a weird way, it was comforting to be sat on the floor, a secure surface beneath and behind him. It was a small area, that could be considered a little cramped for some people, but Todoroki enjoyed the comfort of a small space where it felt like him and Midoriya were the only ones in the dorm. It made it easy to forget there were other people in the building, so yes, it was comforting, in some weird way.)

Todoroki sipped at his tea, holding the cup close to his chest.

"I never blamed her for it. I know it was because of what he did to her."

Midoriya nodded, staying quiet as he listened.

"Even still... I couldn't bring myself to visit her, not until after the sports festival. I was so afraid she'd look at me with those same eyes that she did before she burned my face." Todoroki paused to take another sip of his tea, "I can never get that time out of my head. As soon as I think I'm past it, I hear a tea kettle or someone comments on my scar and it's back in my head again. It... makes me feel weak. I hate feeling weak."

Midoriya lightly tapped his fingers against his cup, "I've never liked feeling weak either," as he spoke, Todoroki watched him closely, eyes filled with curiosity, "I... I felt weak a lot when I was younger, but I was able to get stronger, so now when I feel weak again, it makes me feel even worse. But I'm starting to realize that whatever makes me feel weak is what made me stronger, or at least made me who I am today. You can't really get stronger without being weak, if that makes any sense. There's nothing wrong with feeling weak sometimes."

(Todoroki stared into Midoriya's eyes, and could see a part of himself in them. He could tell that Midoriya had gone through pain, just like him. His words comforted Todoroki in a way that words had rarely done before, and Todoroki wondered if it didn't have something to do with who the words were coming from as well.)

Todoroki's lips formed a small smile, and Midoriya found himself mirroring the expression.

"You're right," Todoroki finally said, "my father always said weakness was unacceptable but... I know he was wrong. I hate him. I genuinely hate my father so much, but some of his ideals have stuck with me, whether good or bad. Anything he disliked he told me would make me weak. Even my soulmate," Todoroki's hand itched to reach up and touch his scar as he spoke, "my mother and him weren't soulmates, you know. They married in order to have the perfect child. He wants me to do the same."

"But you won't, right?"

"No. I don't think soulmates make someone weak. I think they can make you stronger, even."

(Todoroki said this knowing full well he was speaking from experience. Midoriya had been the one who freed him from his own prison he'd locked himself in. Even now, Midoriya was helping him become better, and stronger. Todoroki still didn't know if Midoriya knew that he was his soulmate, and he promised himself he'd tell him soon, but regardless, Midoriya was the reason Todoroki believed soulmates weren't a weakness, and were quite the opposite.)

"I think so too." Midoriya said, finishing off his tea. His eyes followed Todoroki's movements, as the other boy took the last gulp of his own tea, placing the cup onto the floor next to him. Neither of them spoke for a few moments, having said what needed to be said.

"Thank you for the tea, it was good."

"Yeah, no problem! Tea's good for when I'm up late, since it doesn't really have caffeine in it, so it doesn't keep me up longer."

"I drink it too, on occasion, though I haven't had any in a while."

Their conversation fell into a steady rhythm, the atmosphere lighter as if there was one less wall between them than there had been previously. Midoriya wanted so desperately to be able to knock down any and all walls between them, like he could knock down buildings with his quirk. But these walls weren't ones a quirk would help with, and he knew it'd take time. It wasn't as if he didn't have walls up too, and he knew they needed to be taken care of as well before they could really handle all of the soulmate stuff. But for now, they could sit on the kitchen floor and talk about whatever came to mind, miles ahead of where they'd been just a month prior. Midoriya's hand came up to trace the spot his mark used to be on his arm as he told Todoroki about a movie he'd watched recently, but he didn't spiral into thoughts about it, he simply let his hand drop and the conversation continue until both felt their limbs get heavy and their eyelids droop.

The next morning, Midoriya woke up in perhaps the best mood he'd been in for weeks. His mind was not on Stain as it had been the previous mornings, but instead on the soft look Todoroki had given him as they sat together on the kitchen floor. He smiled to himself and rolled over onto his stomach, grabbing his phone from off his dresser and resting his chin on his pillow. He had only one notification, from Todoroki.

Tododoki: Thank you again, for last night.

It'd been sent about an hour before, and Midoriya couldn't help but think about how early a riser Todoroki was, even on weekends.

Midoriya: No problem :)

He placed his phone back on his dresser, forcing himself to sit up and get out of bed. It was Sunday, but he knew he still had schoolwork to catch up on from the classes he'd missed previously.

And so, roughly an hour later, Midoriya found himself sat in Iida's room, along with Uraraka, notebook in his lap.

"Did you know the kitchen floor is a good bonding spot?"

Uraraka's brows furrowed as she stared at him, "Deku, what?"

He smiled, thinking back to the previous night, "Todoroki and I talked, and it happened to be on the kitchen floor. I... I think we really bonded. Not like, romantically, of course! But, you know."

"That's great, Midoriya. I'm glad to see you two become so close." Iida grinned at him, fingers pushing his glasses back up his nose as he spoke, "but you do have math work to finish."

Midoriya puffed his cheeks out, shooting a playful glare Iida's way, "I know, I can multitask! I just wanted to let you guys know. I really care about him. I'm not really worried about whether I'm his soulmate or not anymore, you know? If I'm not, I'm not. But I'll still care about him, as both my soulmate and my friend."

Uraraka hummed lightly, "That's really sweet, Deku. Todoroki really seems to have opened up more thanks to you, you know. Much less dark and brooding, more dark and... less brooding?" she giggled, "But really, you're good for him."

"I'd have to agree there. I think that much was evident when he came to our aid the other night. The Todoroki we first met would not have done such a thing, but it's thanks to you that he's grown to value teamwork more." Iida added.

Midoriya felt his cheeks warm, but a grin remained on his face all the while, "I'm really glad, it's nice to know I've helped him out, even a little..." he trailed off, tapping his pencil against his leg, "...though it'd be nice if he could return the favor and help me out with this math right now."

(Todoroki himself was making quick work of his classwork, having an hour headstart. His own thoughts, though, drifted to Midoriya and the kitchen floor. He felt... better after their conversation, in a way that was hard to describe. He also found himself to be more curious, specifically about Midoriya and his own feelings of weakness. Midoriya had helped him, he felt it only fair that he do his best to help him too. He knew now that friendships were a strength, not a weakness, and he wanted to do his best to strengthen his bond with his friends, especially so with Midoriya. And then maybe... maybe he could find it in him to tell him he was his soulmate.)