The next day, the 'Midoriya Izuku Rescue Squad' shows up at his doorstep. Now that he's not about to pass out from blood loss, they're able to have a proper reunion. As soon as he sees him, Kirishima grabs Izuku and all but crushes him in a hug, Iida squawking and chopping the air behind him. He scolds the redhead for being too rough, but Izuku just giggles and reassures him that it's fine, he's alright now. He's more than happy to hug Kirishima back before moving to embrace Iida, then Yaoyorozu, then-

Todoroki stands a couple of feet away, scarless and smiling softly. Izuku's heart flutters and his stomach is suddenly violently assaulted by butterflies, so much so that he almost feels like puking. He firmly clamps his jaws shut, heat rising to his cheeks as he stares at Todoroki like a deer caught in headlights. Shit, what does he do?! Does he hug him too? He should, right? They're friends, it would be weird if they didn't hug- the others would definitely be suspicious if he hugged everyone except Todoroki.

Before he can lose confidence, Izuku forces himself forward and hugs Todoroki. The taller boy's arms wrap around his back and Izuku desperately hopes he can't feel the way his heart is racing a million miles per hour in his chest. Crap, why does he have to smell so good?

Izuku starts to pull away, but is it just his imagination, or do Todoroki's hands linger ever so slightly? Todoroki's face comes into view, closer than before, and all Izuku can think of is soft lips pressed against his, hot breath on his skin, blood and vanilla on his tongue-

"How have you guys been?!" He asks a little too loudly, voice breaking as he yanks himself away from Todoroki. His face isn't burning, his face isn't burning, his face isn't burning-

Kirishima's shit-eating grin and the obnoxious snort Kacchan lets out at the sight of his face tells him otherwise.

So now he has that to worry about. Honestly, compared to all of the other things he's been worried about over the past few days, it's not the worst thing. He hasn't really given much thought to his kiss with Todoroki since it happened. His kiss. His first kiss. With Todoroki, of all people. Just the memory of it makes his heart do somersaults. But now what does this mean for them? Are they still friends? Something more? Does Izuku even want something more? Well, of course he does, the butterflies waging war on his stomach are making that pretty clear. Everything moved so quickly though, and it was such an emotional moment- maybe he should just see where things go. He's so used to overthinking and overplanning, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea for something like this. For once, maybe he should just… go with the flow.

He's totally not just pushing this problem away for later.

The Rescue Squad only ends up staying for a couple of hours before they all have to leave for various reasons. Kirishima manages to convince Kacchan to come to a small local strip mall with him to relax. The blond is a bit reluctant to leave Izuku's side, but Izuku eagerly encourages him to go, practically shoving him out the door with Kirishima and telling him to bring back some leggings for him. He never did get to buy some after the Kiyashi Ward incident.

After that, he gets about an hour of peace before his senpais show up completely unannounced. He's entirely unprepared for their presence, and he doesn't know how in the world they know where he lives- although they did drop him off at his house one time while he was asleep so surely they must've gotten his address from somebody (his money's on All Might 'cause Mirio). Needless to say, he's a bit shocked when he's in the middle of eating lunch and his mother opens the door to see three third-years standing proudly- or in Tamaki's case, sulking- on the other side.

Mirio immediately scoops Izuku up into a hug, which promptly gets him attacked by Sushi not two seconds later, which draws an actual, honest-to-God laugh from Tamaki and a burst of giggles from Nejire, which gets them all a dramatic look of betrayal from Mirio on the floor.

Inko is confused.

They do get their emotional, touchy-feely stuff over with fairly quickly; neither Mirio nor Nejire are ones to linger on heavy topics for too long and are more focused on cheering him up, but Izuku doesn't miss the meaningful glances Tamaki casts his way, the silent offer of 'I'm here if you need to talk' lingering in the air, nor does he miss the way Mirio's eyes linger on his new scar occasionally. He'll have to talk to the older boy privately later, when his other senpais aren't around to hear about One for All and their friend's connection to All For One, but he can worry about that at another time.

The next day, he has even more visitors. This time, it's Aizawa and All Might, coming to discuss the situation with the dorms.

Izuku frets over a still-injured All Might as he awkwardly leads him into their living room. His worry as a healer and his not-quite-stifled hero worship are swirling in a chaotic mess inside of him. All Might and Eraserhead are in his house!

All Might gently chides him and waves him off, reminding him that he still can't use his quirk on pro heroes. Izuku pouts but backs off. Compared to the last time he saw him, All Might has a considerable less amount of bandages, so at least he's on a quick road to recovery.

Aizawa seems to have some sort of brief staring contest with Sushi before the cat deems him worthy of existing within the household and allows them to get down to business.

Izuku shifts nervously where he sits, watching the adults with anxious eyes. The school had already sent a notice of the all-dorm system plan prior to the teachers' visit and Inko, well…

Inko had reacted with mixed feelings.

They had sat down and talked that night, talked about what to do, talked about what comes next, and he learned just how badly her trust in UA has been broken. He supposes it shouldn't have surprised him, considering all that's happened, but it makes his stomach curl with apprehension as he watches his mother brace herself in front of the teachers now.

"I…" She starts, then trails off, looking down at her clenched hands, "I'm sorry. I just can't say I really- like the idea of Izuku leaving home after… after everything that's happened…"

All Might leans forward. "I know it seems like such a cruel thing to ask to separate from him when you've only just gotten him back," he says, "But it's because of everything that's happened that he must leave. In the dorms, we can ensure his safety-"

"His safety!" Inko lets out a harsh, wet laugh that startles the teachers. "You couldn't ensure his safety before, even when you did! You promised- you promised me, Eraserhead, that you'd keep him safe, and look what happened!" She glares at Aizawa, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Izuku stares at her in shock. A hazy memory floats up to his mind.

"... You… You've already saved his life once before, you know?… I don't even know if you remember-"

"I do. Of course I do."

"... I almost lost my baby that day. But you… you saved him. You brought him back to me. So… I trust you…"

"... Ma'am-"

"So you- You keep him safe, you hear me? You promise me that you'll protect him!"

"I will. I promise."

Izuku's heart clenches as frustration bubbles up in his throat. He wants to protest, but the expression on his mother's face makes him hold his tongue.

All Might glances at Aizawa. The latter holds Inko's angry gaze, throat bobbing a little as he swallows before he speaks, "I know. And I failed. I broke my promise. I couldn't protect your son, and I'll regret that for the rest of my life." He pauses, the words sinking in, and Inko sniffles. After a moment, he leans forward, elbows on his knees, and continues, "I know that you have no reason to trust me or UA after we have failed you so many times. But believe me, we are trying to do better. We want what's best for Midoriya-kun as much as you do. We want to provide him with a safe and secure learning environment where his biggest worry will be what's on his next anatomy test."

Despite the somber mood, Izuku's lip twitches. Bold of Aizawa to assume that he doesn't know everything about the human body at this point.

"We want to protect him," Aizawa says earnestly, "We will fight tooth-and-nail to do so, but only if you allow us to…"

Inko takes in a shuddering breath, eyes filling up with tears, before she tears her gaze away from his, dropping her head. "I know," she croaks, casting a glance at All Might's bandages, "I know you would. And- And you said… you said such nice things about him during the pre-press conference. So-So I know- I know you watch over him well, I just-" She exhales sharply, wiping away a couple of tears. Her shoulders tremble a few long moments and she sniffles again. "It's like," she hiccups, "It's like- my wo-worst nightmare came true that day." The teachers gaze at her with pained expressions. "I've-I've always been so sc-scared that somebody would ta-take him and- and then someone did and- and- and I can't protect him, I'm his mother and I can't do anything about it, but- but-" She lets out a trembly sigh. "At least you have a chance."

Izuku's breath catches in his throat. His mind is a whirlwind of emotions, but right now hope sparks in his chest. "So…?"

Inko's shoulders sag. "Even though it makes me nervous to send you to live in UA, I think it'd make me even more nervous knowing you'd be walking to and from school everyday. I already didn't like it before, but now after everything that's happened…" She sighs again, looking far too defeated and tired. Izuku's heart aches and he grasps his mother's hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. She smiles half-heartedly and squeezes back. "UA can keep you safer than I can."

"Mom," Izuku exclaims softly. Where is this all coming from…?

Then, Inko turns to face the heroes, straightening up and fixing them with a firm gaze. "I don't like this," she says, voice quivering slightly, "I still don't trust UA completely, but you're the only hope my Izuku has. So please… keep him safe."

All Might and Aizawa glance at each other briefly before they both stand up and bow. "We will," Aizawa says, "We promise." He looks up and meets Inko's gaze. "And I mean it. No more mistakes."

There's a heavy weight to his words. The trust that Inko is giving him is fragile, thread-thin, and it goes unspoken that if that trust is shattered one more time, it is not going to be pieced back together as easily.

Inko doesn't respond, but she merely holds Aizawa's gaze and nods.

And so the rest of the week is mainly focused on preparing to move him into the dorms. Inko helps him pack up his stuff into boxes, and it's strange- taking his old All Might posters down from his walls makes him think that maybe it would be weird to put them up in his new room. He even has a couple of Recovery Girl, plus some blurry photos of Eraserhead that he found on the internet and printed out after the man saved him when he was ten. They've been on his walls for so long that he's gotten used to them, but to deliberately put them up in his new dorm would be weird, right? They're his teachers, afterall. Just the thought of any of them walking into his room and seeing the posters makes his face burn with embarrassment. He ends up shoving the posters at the bottom of one of the boxes just so that his mother won't bother him about it.

There's some debate over whether or not Sushi will go with him. Inko insists that he'll miss him too much, that he's always been Izuku's cat more than hers, but Izuku doesn't want to leave her all by herself, especially not after what she just said. He points out that the dorms might not even allow pets, but apparently she already called ahead to check and make sure that they do.

He's torn; it would be nice to have Sushi with him, something familiar to help him adjust to such a new and difficult situation. But he'd feel terrible to leave his mother in this house all alone, and Sushi's not always friendly with new people anyways, he might get in trouble…

"I could always get another cat," Inko suggests.

Izuku blinks. "What?"

Inko shrugs, nonchalantly stirring the food she's cooking. "A kitten, maybe," she says, "With my baby going off to live at school, I'm going to need something else to fuss over." The soft look in her eyes brings a smile to Izuku's face.

"Aw, mom." It does make him feel a little bit better. Just so long as she's not alone. And this will be her chance to have a nice bond with a feline friend! Not that she doesn't get along with Sushi, but like she said, he's always been more Izuku's cat than- wait a minute. He pauses.

"Hold on, you're gonna get a kitten and I'm not gonna get to see it-?"

Aside from getting ready to move, there isn't much else for him to do for the rest of the week. He musters up the emotional energy to reconnect with his friends through their class group chat and tentatively starts watching the news, only to stop when he finds out how gravely injured Best Jeanist was during All For One's initial attack. He resumes his at-home speech therapy exercises and does his best to muffle his strangled cries at night when he wakes up from a nightmare. Kacchan can't be there all the time to comfort him and he doesn't want him to either. On a particularly bad night, he finds solace in cracking open one of the many medical books in his collection and he ends up reading with Sushi curled up in his lap until the break of dawn.

Unfortunately, this was the night before move-in day. So when Present Mic, of all people, shows up at his door bright and early to drive him to UA, it takes Izuku's brain a couple of moments to process the sight before him. He blinks slowly.

"You're going to drive me?" He rasps.

Present Mic flashes him a blinding grin. "That's right!" His loud voice pierces Izuku's eardrums. "Don't want you walking around with all that heavy luggage now, do we? No way!" He waves his arms dramatically and nearly knocks a plant off of Izuku's windowsill.

Izuku blinks again. Well, that's clearly a cover-up. Present Mic is obviously here to be his bodyguard. Izuku knows that he's not meant to travel without a hero escort. Does Present Mic think that he doesn't know that?

At his silence, Present Mic straightens up and gestures to himself. "Oh, you mean I'm going to drive you? Right, no wonder you're confused, Shouta-kun was practically hanging off your shoulder after you got rescued! I'm still shocked he actually let you leave the hospital!" Present Mic laughs while Izuku's confusion only increases. The Voice Hero's grin widens and he leans closer conspiringly. "He wanted to come get you himself, but I managed to convince him to stay behind and wait for the other listeners to arrive," he whispers loudly behind his hand, "He'll never admit this out loud, but you're his favorite, kiddo." He winks and ruffles Izuku's hair.

Heat rises to his cheeks. Absolutely having no idea how to respond to that, he kind of just awkwardly laughs and scratches the back of his head and mutters some excuse before shuffling back into his house to go grab his bags. The majority of his stuff has already been shipped ahead to the school in boxes, but he still has to carry some minor things, as well as Sushi's cat crate.

When he returns, Present Mic perks up at the sight of Sushi. "Ooh, a little kitty! Aww, Shouta-kun's gonna love you!" He coos and makes the mistake of sticking his fingers in between the bars of the crate, wiggling them around. There's a hiss, then he yanks his hand away quickly, wide-eyed. "Oh yeah," he suddenly sounds disgruntled, "Shouta-kun's gonna love you."

Izuku winces. "Sorry about that."

Thankfully, the hero doesn't seem too terribly offended and waves him off in favor of going to grab his bags, fending him off with a boop on the nose when he protests. Izuku watches him carry his stuff down to the car, hesitating to follow. His stomach churns uneasily.

Living in the dorms… As soon as Principal Nedzu had mentioned it in the hospital, Izuku had kind of just seen it as another one of the security measures that was put in place for him. Even though it was technically optional, he knew there wasn't really much else of a choice. Inko knew that too. And it's not that he's not looking forward to it! He is! All of his friends will be there- he knows that thanks to the group chat. So at least class 1-A will stick together. At least their normal won't change too much... except it will, won't it? He knows this is just UA's attempt at trying to make them more comfortable, but Izuku's been through so much instability within the past few weeks, he's not entirely sure how well he's going to be able to adapt to such a big change in his lifestyle. He just desperately wishes things could be normal again…

A gentle touch on his shoulder startles him out of his thoughts. He turns to see Inko giving him a soft smile and welcomes the embrace she pulls him into. Closing his eyes, he breathes in his mother's comforting scent, wondering how long it'll be before he'll be able to smell it again. His heartstrings tug when he pulls away to see Inko's eyes glistening, but she squeezes his shoulder and tells him to have fun with his friends and stay safe.

Stay safe. Of course. This is all to stay safe. The back of his tongue tastes bitter. Just thinking about Shigaraki always brings a nervous quiver to his gut, but just this once the memory is tinged with anger.

Inko's touch lingers on his skin as he turns and walks over to the car, Present Mic ushering him inside. The ride to UA is a short one; Izuku holds Sushi's crate in his lap the entire time, trying to ignore the bundle of nerves that has molded a home in the cavity of his chest and idly wondering why couldn't they have given Kacchan a ride too since he lives so close by.

Before he knows it, he's walking up to his new home.

"Midoriya-kun!"

A smile forms on his face without him having to even think of it. Ashido and Kaminari are the first ones to rush over and glomp him, nearly making him drop Sushi, who meows loudly in protest at being jostled.

"Shit, sorry," Kaminari says, but doesn't let go, squeezing Izuku tightly, "Dude, it's so good to see you, man!"

"We missed you!" Ashido's voice is muffled from where her face is buried in his shirt.

"I missed yo-" Izuku starts to rasp.

"Midoriya-kun!" Uraraka calls out, and then the rest of his classmates- the ones that he hasn't seen since the training camp- are coming over and giving him warm smiles and hugs. He pretends not to notice the way their eyes linger on his new scar, as well as the slightly damp spot Ashido left on his shirt, as well as the hug Shinsou gives him that is unusually long for someone as aloof and unused to physical affection as he is. He pretends not to notice all of these things in favor of widening his smile and returning their hugs, relishing in the familiar feeling of embracing his classmates, his friends. This is normal. This he can do easily. Nothing is hard when he has his friends around. He can do this.

Smiling to himself, he goes to pick up Sushi, whose crate he had to put down in order to hug everyone. As he straightens up, a shadow descends over him.

"You brought your cat?"

Izuku looks up and nearly chokes on his own spit when he sees Todoroki two feet away from him. The taller boy's gaze slides from him to Sushi's crate in his arms, expression pleasantly neutral.

"What's his name again?" He asks.

Gulping, Izuku forces himself not to stare at where Todoroki's scar once was. "Uh, Sushi."

"Right," Todoroki hums, "I think Koda-kun brought his rabbit."

All Izuku manages to get out in response is an awkward, "Oh."

This is kind of weird. Is Todoroki trying to make small talk? That would be… certainly out of character for him. Oh God, Izuku did make things weird between them with that kiss, didn't he? Unless this isn't small talk? Maybe they're just out of practice with each other or something? Maybe he's trying to warn Izuku about his cat eating Koda's rabbit? Hopefully that won't be a problem.

Maybe Izuku is just over-analyzing as usual?

Before their maybe-small talk can go any further, Aizawa appears in front of the dorm building and gets everyone's attention.

"I'll explain everything in regards to the dorms in a few moments, but first..." He pauses, his gaze roaming over the class. "Your focus now will be on getting the provisional licenses you were unable to get during the training camp. However, it seems that a few of you did not seem to care about that particular detail." His voice drops and becomes cutting. "Kirishima-kun. Yaoyorozu-san. Todoroki-kun. Bakugou-kun. Iida-kun. These five went to go save Midoriya-kun that night."

Izuku feels his breath freeze in his lungs. Beside him, Todoroki tenses up ever so slightly. The mood seems to turn in an instant, everyone going wide-eyed and glancing at each other in alarm. Aizawa watches their reactions with a piercing gaze before narrowing his eyes.

"And apparently the rest of you knew of this as well," he continues, making his displeasure clear with the drag of his low tone. His eyes flicker to the students that rescued Izuku, locking on each of them for a few seconds before he says, "Under normal circumstances, I would expel all of you, including your classmates who knew but didn't stop you."

Izuku's heart leaps to his throat. He can't do that! That's- That'd basically be the whole class, then, right? He can't do that, it's not fair! Yeah, they broke the rules, but they saved him, they rescued him, doesn't that count for something? They did what full-fledged heroes couldn't do! He wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for them! Aizawa knows this- what is he thinking?! Defensive anger burns at his chest and he glares at the man, who unfortunately does not look his way.

"However," Aizawa says after a nerve-wracking pause, "After all the criticism that UA has faced recently, and with the current unease in society due to the increase in villain activity, it would be unwise to expel you while you still have potential." A sigh of relief sweeps through the class. "Don't think you're being let off easy. You five will be serving detention for a month, and you and the rest of your classmates will be turning in a ten-page essay on vigilantism by the end of next week." The sigh of relief turns into a groan.

"Wait, what about me?" Shinsou asks. He and Hagakure had been knocked unconscious by the gas villain's quirk during the attack.

"Only those who knew about the rescue and didn't do anything to stop it will be punished," Aizawa amends. Shinsou and Hagakure fist bump. "In the future, I would appreciate it if you could follow the rules and act properly in order to regain my trust." Aizawa turns and begins walking towards the dorm building. "That is all. Let's go inside."

Everyone stares after him, mood tense and somber. Izuku shifts uncomfortably, guilt stirring in his gut. He didn't think anyone would get into trouble for rescuing him. Now everyone's going to be miserable because of him…

A yelp suddenly catches his attention. He glances over to see a very confused and panicked Kaminari being dragged away behind the bushes by Kacchan. A loud explosion and a bright flash of electricity later, and Kaminari walks back out with a dopey smile and a blank look in his eyes that makes him seem like he just got his brain scrambled.

Izuku's jaw drops at the same time as Jirou bursts out laughing.

"Kacchan!" He scolds his friend as he reappears and puts down Sushi's crate so that he can rush over to Kaminari's side, grabbing his arms to hold him steady, "You short-circuited him?! Seriously?"

"Relax, Zuku," Kacchan grunts, brushing past him. Izuku glares lightly, watching as he saunters up to Kirishima and holds out some money. The redhead is confused at first, but Kacchan barks, "For the night vision goggles. You used up all your allowance, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Kirishima blinks. "But- that was to save Midoriya-kun, man, you don't have to-"

Kacchan cuts him off with a tsk, "If you keep having to scrimp and save, then it'll make me feel bad." He's already turning away and stalking towards the dorms, shoulders hunched.

Kirishima gazes after him in confusion, then glances down at the money in his hands, then glances at Izuku. The freckled boy doesn't know what's going on about the night vision goggles, but as he pauses and looks at Kaminari, who is still 'yay-ing' in his grasp, he then notices the laughter rippling through his classmates. Gone is the gloomy mood from Aizawa's speech, instead replaced by the usual bright and happy atmosphere he's come to associate with class 1-A. A smile forms on his lips.

Aw. Kacchan was trying to make everyone feel better. Or, at least…

He glances knowingly at Kirishima and catches him gazing after Kacchan, a soft smile on his face. Then, the redhead's eyes lighten up and turns to the others, grinning toothily.

"Sorry, everyone! This won't make up for it, but let's all go eat yakiniku tonight with this money!"

Their classmates cheer at the promise of free food and, with the tension eased, begin to trot after Aizawa into the dorm building. Izuku stays by Kaminari's side to help guide him, so Todoroki offers to carry Sushi's crate for him, which he greatly appreciates. If the cat notices that he's not being carried by his beloved owner, he doesn't make any vocal complaints about it.

Aizawa begins showing them around Heights Alliance. The building is brand-new, spacious, and just a little bit too luxurious for Izuku to know that it's going to take a while for him to feel comfortable with this. He doesn't seem to be the only one that feels this way- Uraraka practically faints a couple of times, which gives him something else to worry about. Thanks to his new diet, Kaminari snaps out of his short-circuit soon enough, and Uraraka's fainting is more out of shock than anything, but really, can Izuku catch a break?

At least Sushi might enjoy the bigger space. Izuku will have to make sure it's okay with the others, but he'd like to be able to let his cat have free range of the building rather than be cooped up in his room all day. Maybe he can install a flap in his door or something? He'll have to ask.

After the tour, Aizawa tells them to unpack and get settled in their rooms. Before he leaves them to it, however, he pulls Izuku aside.

"If you ever need to see Recovery Girl after hours, the teachers' apartments are a couple minute's walk from the courtyard," he tells him, "You might get caught by someone patrolling before you get there, but you won't get in trouble if there's an emergency." He blinks, slow and tired. "Try not to have an emergency."

Izuku winces and gives him a helpless smile. "I mean… it's class 1-A." He shrugs as if to say 'what can you do?'

Aizawa lets out a long, world-weary sigh and rubs his brow. "Well, I'll be coming to check on you guys periodically throughout the night anyways, so just try not to have any disasters in the hours between then."

Izuku frowns. "Throughout the night?" He tilts his head. "Don't you need sleep too, sensei?"

A hand drops on top of his head and spins him around. "Go unpack," Aizawa orders, giving him a little push.

Huffing, Izuku glares over his shoulder, but Aizawa is already walking away. Grumbling under his breath, he begrudgingly picks up Sushi's carrier and opens the door to his new room.

It's a nice size, plus it's already furnished, so he lets Sushi out while he begins the process of unpacking. All of his boxes and luggage are already here waiting for him, having been sent ahead earlier. Sushi fearlessly charges throughout the room, exploring every corner and sniffing for danger. Once he deems it to be safe, he starts jumping into the boxes as soon as Izuku empties them.

Izuku repeatedly removes him while also trying to figure out where to put his stuff. Since he only has one (partially outdoor) cat, he has two litter boxes. Easy enough to keep in his room, he can put one in his bathroom and one next to his desk maybe. But if Sushi's going to have free reign of the dorm building, then maybe he should buy more? It would be awfully inconvenient if he was on another floor and needed to use the restroom- or litter box, he should say.

Sushi startles him by diving into another box and nearly knocking over his bag of litter.

"Sushi!" Izuku scolds, picking up the giant lump of fur that tries to melt out of his arms and slip back into the box. "I get that you're excited, but I have to unpack! Here." He reaches down with one hand and grabs a ball that makes a jingly noise. "Go play."

He tosses it lightly across the ground and Sushi perks up, wiggling out of his grip to go chase after the musical delight. Sighing, Izuku turns back to the boxes and continues unpacking.

Even though he was worried about his teachers seeing his fanboy merch, he still kept his All Might sheets and comforter. They seemed subtle enough and hey, they're comfy, sue him. So he uses them to make his bed with. He absolutely does not put the posters up, but he does admit to himself that for a moment, he feels a bit tempted to. The walls just feel a little… blank with nothing on them. But he holds out. He's going to be seeing All Might, Eraserhead, and Recovery Girl everyday, he doesn't need to fall asleep to their faces too!

Between having to hang some things and re-folding others- because he likes to keep things neat- putting his clothes away takes some time. He starts setting up his desk next, but Sushi gets bored with his toy and decides to start being a little shit. The feline hops up onto the desk and then knocks over whatever he sets down as soon as his back is turned.

"Sushi!" Izuku frowns. "What's gotten into you?" Sushi is usually so well-behaved, at least when it comes to listening to him. He shoos him away and throws another toy for him. After a moment of deliberation, he takes out his water and food dishes and fills them up.

He manages to finish putting things on his desk and moves on to the bathroom. When he comes back, all of the items that he just set up are knocked to the ground and Sushi is sitting on his desk, washing his paws.

"Okay, that's it." Izuku marches over to him. "You are going back into your carrier, mister."

He reaches for Sushi, but the cat tenses up and leaps off the desk before he can grab him. The next couple of minutes consist of Izuku chasing Sushi around the dorm room, jumping over boxes and dodging sharp corners. It ends when Izuku stubs his toe hard and lets out a stream of curses under his breath, smacking his hand into the wall to stop himself from hitting it. Sushi disappears as Izuku grits his teeth, panting.

"Jerk," he rasps, glancing at the desk, "Fine, whatever, I'll just do that last." He sighs tiredly, rubbing his eyes.

Man, he really regrets not getting more sleep last night. What little energy he had at the beginning of the day has left him quickly. Even though it's been a week since Kamino, and even though he didn't overuse his quirk to the point of passing out like he did when he first healed All Might, Izuku still feels a lingering fatigue in his bones that has yet to go away. It gets less and less heavy every day, but it acts as a very clear reminder for him to never force his quirk like that ever again. He hasn't mentioned his persisting weariness to anyone, though; if Kacchan notices his lack of energy, he probably assumes that it's because of the nightmares that keep him up at night. And the nightmares really aren't helping him feel better. At first, it was hard to tell whether or not Izuku's exhaustion was quirk-caused or was simply due to lack of sleep, but he's felt the draining effects of his own quirk practically every day of his life, so he knows the difference.

Sighing again, Izuku glances at his shelves and figures that he might as well start filling it with his medical books. He's just bending down towards one of his boxes when a knock on his door stops him.

Figuring that it's probably just Kacchan, Izuku is not at all prepared when he opens the door to see Todoroki standing on the other side. Ignoring the way his heart somersaults, he smiles nervously and rasps, "To-Todoroki-kun! What-uh- What can I do for you?"

Todoroki tilts his head- 'fuck, why is that so cute?'- and asks, "Are you alright? I heard a noise."

Izuku blinks. Ah, right. His hand slapped the wall and… Todoroki is his neighbor. Right. He forgot.

"Ye-Yeah, yeah, I'm-I'm alright!" He stammers, scratching the back of his head, "Sushi was just being annoying."

"Oh." Todoroki pauses ever so slightly, almost like he's hesitating, then says, "Well, I finished up early, actually. Do you need any help?"

Izuku feels his cheeks heat up. Todoroki in his room? Alone with him? Wait, no, that shouldn't be weird. They're friends! Todoroki is his friend and he's offering his help! That's not weird at all. Izuku is the one that's making things weird- Todoroki hasn't shown any indication that he's even acknowledged that the kiss happened.

Huh.

He hasn't, has he?

All this time Izuku's been the one that's freaking out about their kiss, but Todoroki has been acting as if nothing even happened. Maybe he's been waiting for a moment to talk in private? Maybe that's what this is?

Izuku's intestines suddenly twist themselves into a jumbled up knot of nerves.

"Uh, sure," he squeaks, voice cracking. He clears it, wincing, then glances over his shoulder. Sushi stands dead-center in the middle of the room, staring at Todoroki with an intense gaze. A lightbulb goes off in Izuku's head. "Actually, if you could keep Sushi entertained while I unpack, that would be great."

Todoroki blinks. "I… Huh?"

Izuku steps aside and lets him into the room. "He's been kind of excitable what with being in a new environment and all, so I've been getting distracted trying to keep him out of trouble. He seemed to like you well enough the last couple of times you came to my house, so if you could just play with him for a little bit while I finish up here that would be great. I only have a few things left to do and- oh, his toys are over there."

Sushi stares at Todoroki with a cold yellow gaze the entire time as Izuku ushers him over to sit on his bed. Okay, Izuku may have exaggerated the cat's fondness for Todoroki. Sushi sniffed him once and didn't attack or hiss. Just because he's indifferent towards Todoroki doesn't mean he likes him. But Izuku likes Todoroki, so surely Sushi, who loves his dear owner with every inch of his being, could find it within himself to do the same?

Todoroki, meanwhile, is looking way out of his depth staring down at the pile of cat toys at his feet.

"Uh," he says, "I've never really played with a cat before."

Izuku imagines Endeavor and Sushi- or any cat, for that matter- being in the same room together, and thinks, 'yeah, no surprise there'. After giving Todoroki a quick rundown on cat toys and their individual uses, he lets the boy try on his own. Sushi is still a bit skeptical of this newcomer encroaching on the territory he has just claimed, but Todoroki manages to distract him with a feather teaser. With his cat now occupied, Izuku turns and starts putting his books on his bookshelf.

Silence fills the room, the only sounds being those of Sushi's assault on the feather teaser. Izuku swallows, awkward discomfort stirring in his chest. Should he be the first to say something? What would he even say? 'Hey, how about that kiss?' God, so stupid. No, no, he should wait for Todoroki to say something. He decided he was going to go with the flow, didn't he? If Todoroki wants to pursue... something with him, then he'd say something. And if not, then he won't.

But he came here for a reason, right?

Izuku sneaks a glance at the other boy. He's watching Sushi obliterate the clump of feathers at the end of his string, a soft, amused smile on his face. It makes Izuku's already elevated heart rate speed up. He looks so strange without his scar. Strange, almost unrecognizable, but still unfairly handsome. Even moreso, actually.

Izuku has created a monster.

Stifling a longing sigh, he turns back to the bookshelf and completely misses the way Todoroki peeks up at him from beneath his bangs.

The silence continues on as Izuku empties his box of books. He tries to be patient, but anxiety is killing him. When he finally hears a small intake of breath from Todoroki, a thrill of anticipation tickles his chest.

"So, what kind of cat is he?"

Disappointment hits him cold and hard. Izuku struggles to keep his voice neutral as he replies, "Maine Coon." It still comes out flat.

Todoroki nods and says nothing else. Izuku gazes at him for a moment, then turns and starts taking out more minor decorations.

If he thought the silence was bad, then Todoroki's pathetic attempts at small talk are ten times worse. And now it's undeniable that it is small talk. There will be horribly awkward breaks of silence, and then Todoroki will ask something about Izuku's cat and honestly, Izuku has never given less of a shit about answering random questions about Sushi before in his life. Any other time, he'd love to spend hours talking about his beloved feline, but right now-?

At least Todoroki seems to get the message pretty quickly. Maybe it's Izuku's short, clipped responses, or perhaps he can just hear the way his teeth are grinding from across the room. Either way, he stops with the small talk soon enough, and the silence returns.

Izuku presses his lips together as he folds up a spare blanket. He glances over his shoulder, but Todoroki isn't even looking his way, eyes fixed on the stupid cat toy. A pang of disappointment makes his heart clench and he quickly turns away.

So… he guesses Todoroki doesn't want to talk about the kiss then? Doesn't want to acknowledge it at all… Are they just going to keep pretending it didn't happen? That's fine, Izuku supposes. They can do that. They're still friends at the end of the day.

But…

Heterochromatic eyes filling every inch of his vision, burning with a protective rage. Soft lips wet with blood and tears pressing against his over and over like he can't get enough, chasing after him when he pulls away-

Izuku clenches his jaw, ignoring the burning in his eyes as he puts down the folded blanket with more force than necessary.

He liked it. And he likes Todoroki. He likes the butterflies he gives him and he likes that he makes him feel safe and tried to make him feel better about his scars and he's so strong and pretty and kind and he saved Izuku and kissed him and- damn it, is it wrong to think that there was something more behind that?

Izuku shrinks in on himself, uncertainty curling in his stomach. Todoroki looked so happy afterwards, but maybe he doesn't want anything after all? It was such an emotional night, maybe it was just a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing? He probably thought about it more later and realized that he doesn't have feelings for him. And now he's saving him the embarrassment of having to have A Talk about why they're better off as friends by just ignoring the incident entirely and trying to salvage their friendship.

And Izuku is ruining that by getting all emotional about it!

Shaking his head, he takes a deep breath and forces down his bitter disappointment. Stop, enough of this. Is he... upset that Todoroki doesn't want to be with him? Yes, a little, he can admit that to himself. But he can't do anything to change that- he shouldn't even try, because that might jeopardize the friendship he still has with Todoroki. He can't risk losing that. As much as it might... hurt at first, Izuku will treasure any time Todoroki is willing to spend with him. He's just grateful the other boy values their friendship enough to not let this kiss get in the way of it. And Izuku will not let his feelings for Todoroki get in the way of it either.

Besides, it's totally unprofessional too. Todoroki is a hero-in-training and his patient. Izuku is sure there's some rule out there about healers not being allowed to date their patients. Probably. And with all the work he has to do, when would he even have time for a relationship?

No, no, this is for the best, really. He likes Todoroki, but he shouldn't let himself become distracted from his goal.

A bitter smile forms on his lips and he huffs lightly. Heh, he really went over his head there for a moment, huh? He needs to stop worrying so much!

Putting up the last item, he turns back towards Todoroki and rasps, "Alright, I think I'm done! What do you think?"

Todoroki tears his gaze away from a feathery murder scene and glances around. "Looks good," he says after a moment. His mouth opens, then closes, then opens again before he says stiffly, "I like your… books."

Izuku glances at said books. They're his medical ones, all with various boring covers. He can't think of a single reason why Todoroki of all people would like them.

"Thanks," he says anyway, "I know you can look up pretty much anything on the internet, but I always like having a physical book to read off of. They're pretty dry, but I've read them like a million times." He laughs a little and scratches the back of his head. "It probably seems a little nerdy."

Todoroki perks up, probably because that's the most he's ever responded to his terrible attempts at small talk. "Not at all!" He says a little too loudly, then catches himself, glancing away, "Well, I guess a little bit- but it's a good thing, trust me."

Izuku flushes lightly and smiles. Now that Todoroki isn't playing with him anymore, Sushi seems to have remembered that there's an actual person at the other end of the feather teaser and has resumed glaring at the boy. Taking that as their cue to leave, Izuku suggests, "Should we go downstairs and join the others, then?"

"Sure." Todoroki gets up, and to Izuku's immense amusement, gives a little bow of his head to Sushi. "Goodbye, Sushi-san. Thank you for letting me play with you."

Sushi looks as bewildered as a cat can be.

Seeing such a strong, stoic, and aloof boy bowing politely to his cat is such an amusing sight that it fills Izuku's chest with warm bubbly light. And Todoroki- he doesn't even realize how silly it is. That just adds even more to the adorableness of the situation.

…

If he and Todoroki are going to be 'just friends', then Izuku needs to stop putting him and 'adorable' in the same thoughts. It shouldn't be too hard. Todoroki just needs to stop doing cute things.

This is fine.

"Let's go," he says weakly, turning to lead the way out of his room. Todoroki follows after him.

As they step into the hallway, Izuku glances to his left at Kacchan's door. While it's a great relief to have his best friend so close by, a small, humorous part of him wonders how much he had to bribe Aizawa with in order to get the dorm next to him. He certainly wants to know what the man was thinking when he made Todoroki his neighbor too. Kacchan and Todoroki living on the same floor? Really, Aizawa? And he put Izuku between them as if he'll act like some sort of buffer- yeah right, thanks.

At least Iida is here too. Izuku isn't quite sure where he stands in Kacchan's eyes, but hopefully the blond respects him as vice-class rep, or at least recognizes that he's one of the strongest in the class-

Wait a minute.

Izuku blinks.

Todoroki. Kacchan. Iida.

On the girl's side, there's Asui and Yaoyorozu.

Izuku's dorm is on the third floor, surrounded by arguably the strongest members of class 1-A. His eyes narrow. He's going to assume that it's probably not a coincidence he was placed in the part of the building that would be the safest in the event of an attack.

A soft sigh escapes his lips.

Todoroki glances at him. "You alright?"

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing." He waves him off and presses the button for the elevator.

Resignation settles heavy in his chest. He supposes he should have expected something like this happening. He has been worried about how his classmates have been coping with everything in the aftermath of Kamino. If they felt guilty after the mall incident, then he can't even begin to imagine how horrible they must be feeling now.

And… he doesn't know how to help them. He could say that he's okay, but he's not, and they'd see right through him if he lied to them anyway. They need to cope with this somehow, and if being over-protective helps them do that, then of course he'll let them. It doesn't matter if it makes him feel just a little bit smothered. He'd do anything to make them feel better, it's the least he could do after causing them so much pain in the first place.

He and Todoroki meet up with some of the other boys in the lounge on the first floor. After chatting for a bit, the girls approach them with the idea for a room-decorating contest. The next hour is pretty fun, and it's interesting to see how his classmates' personalities come out in the way they decorate their dorms. Although, he's definitely glad that he didn't put up those posters now. Kaminari makes a comment about his All Might comforter that has his face turn red, he can't imagine what his friends would say if they saw all the other merch he still has hidden away in his boxes.

Those that haven't already get to meet Sushi too. The feline stays perched atop his dresser, deciding to watch everyone with a regal gaze from afar now that he's outnumbered. Hagakure loudly deems him to be 'cute' and the others seem to have no problem with him roaming free around the building when Izuku asks. Koda assures him that he plans on keeping his rabbit inside his room most of the time anyways.

The only weird thing that happens is when they reach Todoroki's room.

"A Japanese-style room?!"

"Was his made differently?"

"How did you remodel it in a day?!"

Todoroki remains expressionless. "I worked hard."

Izuku gapes at him, then shakes his head. "Wait a minute, you even finished early to help me!"

Todoroki pauses. "I worked really hard."

Izuku and Kaminari glance at each other, then Kaminari nervously steps away from Todoroki.

While he's not very interested in the competition, and he most certainly does not expect to win, Izuku has been idly considering who he's going to be casting his vote for. The fact that Todoroki was able to renovate his room in such a short amount of time is impressive, but Izuku is also very aware of his own internal bias in regards to the bi-colored boy. However, his decision is practically made for him when Sato's room is presented and the heavenly aroma of his baked goods reaches his nose.

"A chiffon cake?" All the girls- and Izuku- moan and lick their lips as they eat the fresh slices of pastry that Sato hands them. "It's delicious! So fluffy! What a wonderful hobby you have, Sato-kun!"

"I-I didn't expect everyone to like it so much!" Sato stammers.

Izuku groans as he bites into the warm cake. "Oh my God, Sato-kun, I think I'm in love!"

Sato turns beet-red and scratches the back of his neck.

Kirishima laughs and throws an arm around Kacchan's shoulders, leaning against the blond. "Haha, c'mon, everyone knows that the way to Midoriya-kun's heart is through his stomach!" He says loudly.

Izuku is too busy eating to notice the wink that he shoots at Todoroki. Kacchan, however, does, and he arches a brow incredulously before shaking his head with a derisive snort.

Todoroki eyes the cake in Izuku's hands and tilts his head contemplatively.