Life starts to fall into a rocky sort of rhythm after that.
The sleeping pills don't end up helping very much. He does fall asleep a lot faster, and maybe sleeps just a bit longer than before, but inevitably a nightmare makes him jerk awake in the early hours of the morning. He starts to make it a habit to go for a jog around the dorms when this happens- after texting Kacchan to make sure he knows, of course. And, to his delight, Iida starts joining him too.
Apparently, he had enjoyed going on early morning runs before school, and offers his company to Izuku, which the latter accepts. Part of him wonders if it's just because he doesn't want him out jogging by himself, but mostly he's just glad to have a running partner again. And one that can actually keep up with him, unlike Kacchan!
Breakfast is usually a pretty easy affair since most people just choose to eat something easy and quick rather than do any actual cooking. Then, Izuku splits off from his classmates and spends the rest of his morning and afternoon training with Recovery Girl. He misses not being in class with his friends, but they're more than happy to tell him about their progress with their ultimate moves during dinner. Which, so far, hasn't actually been that bad. Yaoyorozu's buddy system is appearing to be a success.
Despite this, it's clear that everyone is still trying to get used to living with each other. There's still a bit of an awkward air sometimes, especially with some of the less sociable students, when they don't quite know what to do with themselves. In the silence of the night, some will curl up under their covers with feelings of homesickness pulling at their heartstrings. It's something that will disappear with time as they settle into their new lives.
But then there are... other things….
The first incident occurs in the early morning after one of Izuku's runs. He's perched on the edge of the couch, sipping his water and just taking a bit of a breather before he goes up to take a shower. As he idly scrolls through his phone, he hears the front door open and glances up to see Aizawa walk in. The man looks like he just rolled out of bed, which isn't much different from how he usually looks, and there's a steaming cup of coffee in his hands. Aizawa blinks drowsily at him and Izuku smiles briefly before looking back at his phone. He hears a tired huff, and then Aizawa's footsteps trudge across the common room.
All of the sudden, his healer senses tingle.
Aizawa trips over a pair of crocs and Izuku leaps to his feet just in time to dive forward and catch him before he face-plants into the floor.
For a few long seconds of tense silence, the two simply cling to one another. Then, their heads simultaneously turn to look down at the offensively bright shoes. The cup of coffee is now spilled across the floor.
"Someone is getting detention," Aizawa growls, cold and furious.
Izuku never pegged Kirishima as the type to leave his shoes in unsuspecting places. Or as the type to wear crocs.
The thing is, with so many teenagers living under the same roof, all of their bad habits are noticed almost immediately.
Somebody keeps leaving the kitchen cabinets open. That's not really a problem for Izuku, he doesn't spend much time in the kitchen thanks to Kacchan practically banning him from there, and he wouldn't even have noticed this problem if it weren't for the blond. Sometimes Kacchan will just disappear into the kitchen to grab or cook something and then Izuku will hear a loud bang followed by a stream of colorful curses from his friend. No one has yet owned up to this particular bad habit because Kacchan has, on multiple occasions, threatened to murder whoever is responsible.
Tokoyami keeps leaving crumpled up paper towels and used napkins around. Not even in the kitchen, just… everywhere. And to make matters worse, since he crumples them up into balls, Sushi likes to tear them up into little pieces and makes an even bigger mess. It's such an oddly random bad habit, one that Izuku wouldn't have expected from the feathered boy, but Iida's bad habit comes as even more of a surprise.
Izuku is not expecting it at all. They're just coming back from one of their morning jogs, having worked up a nice sweat, and Izuku watches as Iida walks into the kitchen, reaches into the fridge, pulls out the orange juice, and drinks it straight from the carton. He's so stunned that he just stands there with his eyes growing wider and wider as Iida chugs literally the entire thing in front of him, then tosses the empty carton in the recycling bin.
He… He doesn't even know where to begin with this. Drinking straight from the carton is such a surprisingly… gross thing for Iida to do- but then finishing the whole carton in one go? Did he even take a breath? Why did he- Well, he must've been really thirsty, but it's a little rude to leave no orange juice for anyone else.
Iida startles when he sees that his jaw is practically on the floor and immediately stammers out an apology. And then Izuku learns that Iida's quirk is actually fueled by orange juice- which, while strange, still doesn't give reason for the fact that he drank straight from the carton, and from the light flush on Iida's cheeks, he knows this too.
But at least he's aware of his own bad habit, and he does apologize for drinking all of the orange juice, promising to replace it and buy his own from then on, so nobody really gives him too much of a hard time.
In contrast to his blue-haired friend, Izuku is entirely unaware of his own bad habits prior to living in the dorms. Somehow, it didn't even occur to him that he would have any- a foolish assumption, he's a young teenager, just like the rest of his classmates. Of course he has bad habits, he should know that! Still, that doesn't stop it from coming as a surprise when Todoroki of all people makes him aware of what one of his bad habits is.
Like before, he's just come back from one of his morning runs with Iida. A few of their classmates are already up and getting breakfast, including Todoroki. Even though his runs really work up his appetite, Izuku usually showers before he eats. He hates sitting in his own sweat and he can already feel his tank top sticking to his warm muscles. As he starts making his way over to the elevator, he lifts the bottom of his tank top, stretching it up to reveal his slick abs, and wipes the sweat off his forehead.
THUMP
"HA!"
Izuku startles at Kacchan's bark of laughter to see Todoroki stumbling back from the wall separating the kitchen and the lounge, his bangs ruffled. He rights himself a split-second later as if nothing happened, blatantly ignoring the barely stifled snickering coming from Kirishima and Kacchan from the dining table. Instead, he turns and stares at Izuku with wide eyes, face pale, looking as if he's just seen a ghost.
Confused, Izuku hesitantly asks, "Todoroki-kun? Are you okay?"
Todoroki's throat bobs as he swallows thickly. "Mm hmm." He makes a noise in response, then stiffly gestures with his hand. "Your, um, your shirt. You- You used it- uh…"
Izuku looks down and sees a damp stain on the bottom of his tank top where he used it to wipe his sweat off his forehead. "Oh!" He exclaims, then blushes. "Oh."
It's just something he does all the time, and it never seems to bother Kacchan when he goes running with him, but he didn't realize that to anyone not super familiar with him, that's probably really gross!
Flushing in embarrassment, Izuku stammers out an apology and quickly excuses himself to go take a shower. He does his best not to wipe his sweat off on his shirt from then on, but now that he's aware of this particular bad habit, he realizes that he does it a lot more often than he thought he did. It takes a conscious effort to stop himself midway from reaching up to wipe at his forehead or neck with his hand already wrapped in his shirt.
Bad habits, turns out, are hard to break. Izuku isn't the only one of his classmates struggling to break them, but at least he's trying, because apparently some of them aren't even willing to break their habits. Izuku learns this one night when a nightmare wakes him up much earlier than normal and he decides to go downstairs to get a drink before he gives sleeping another shot.
Everything is quiet as he pads into the kitchen and starts going through the motions of making a cup of tea. It's an easy, relaxing process, and it helps take his mind off of the stress of his nightmare. With a warm cup of chamomile in his hands, he sighs in content and turns around.
Shinsou silently looms two feet away from him.
"Sup?"
Izuku nearly leaps out of his skin. "Shinsou-kun!" He shrieks, hoarse voice cutting through the thick silence of the night. Catching himself, he quickly glances around before lowering his voice and hissing, "Wh-What the hell are you doing here?!"
Shinsou looks down at him through hooded eyes, seeming entirely unperturbed by his hostile tone, and drawls in a low timbre, "Same as you. Mind pouring me some?"
He holds out his own cup.
Izuku blinks, taken aback. "Oh, sure." He turns and pours the rest of the boiling water from the kettle. Shinsou thanks him quietly and spends the next couple of minutes making his own tea. Izuku drifts off to the side, not quite knowing if he should start up a conversation or just let the peaceful silence of the night continue. Thankfully, Shinsou makes that decision for him once he's done making his cup of tea, turning around and leaning back against the counter to face him while he brings his drink up to his lips.
"So," he says, taking a sip, "What brings you here tonight? You're not one of the usual night lurkers I see."
Izuku tilts his head. "Night lurkers?"
Shinsou waves his hand lazily. "Most of the time it's either Tokoyami-kun or Aizawa-sensei when he comes to check in on us during the night." Izuku frowns and he opens his mouth, but Shinsou adds, "Sometimes Tsu-chan drops by too, but I'm pretty sure that's just because she has trouble sleeping without her siblings around. Hmm, who else…"
"Are you here every night?" He asks incredulously.
"Oh." Shinsou blinks slowly. "I don't sleep too well."
Izuku's frown deepens. He's had a sneaking suspicion that both Aizawa and Shinsou don't get enough sleep. They both have near-constant bags under their eyes and have similar low energy levels. And while Shinsou doesn't fall asleep during class like Aizawa does, he always seems to have a noticeable air of tiredness surrounding him.
"Why haven't you ever told me or Recovery Girl about it? We could have given you sleep-aids or…"
Shinsou is already waving him off though. "Nah, those never work, and they make me feel even more tired the next day. Besides, I'm doing fine."
Izuku narrows his eyes. "How much sleep do you get each night?"
The corner of Shinsou's lip pulls up into a smirk. "Probably less than you," he admits, then takes a sip of tea, "But still somehow I look better." He quirks a brow pointedly and Izuku wrinkles his nose, trying not to feel too self-conscious about his own ragged appearance.
Instead, he rasps, "You have insomnia."
Shinsou yawns, "Probably."
Izuku gazes at him for a moment, and then says slowly, "You should see a doctor, then."
The taller boy shrugs. "Nah."
Bewildered, Izuku asks, "Why not?"
"Been dealing with it for a while," Shinsou replies nonchalantly, "I've tried a bunch of things and nothing's ever worked, so I've kinda just figured- eh, I guess I'll just live with it." Izuku stares as he shrugs again. "It's not so bad, I've gotten used to it over the years."
Years! If Izuku feels this miserable being sleep-deprived for a little over a week, he can't even begin to imagine how Shinsou feels being sleep-deprived for years.
"Shinsou-kun," Izuku says lightly.
"Hm?"
"Go to bed," he orders.
Shinsou pauses, then smirks and shakes his head. "Nah, I'm good."
"That wasn't a suggestion, Shinsou-kun," Izuku says. Shinsou blinks. Izuku smiles sweetly and says in a sugary tone, "I think you forget that I have medical authority over you heroes-in-training." Shinsou's smirk disappears. "That means that I can, in fact, order you to bed."
Shinsou stares at him for a few seconds, then straightens up to his full height, utilizing the good few inches between them as he regains his cool smirk and looks down at him. "And what are you gonna do if I say no?" He challenges, arching a brow.
Izuku doesn't back down and clasps his hands. "Well, we could take this to Aizawa-sensei," he suggests casually, "I'm sure he'd love to be woken up at 2AM just so he can force one of his students to go back to bed." His innocent smile takes a wicked edge.
Shinsou snorts, "Bold of you to assume that he'd even be asleep right now."
Izuku pauses. "So he's got insomnia too?"
Shinsou tilts his head consideringly. "Not so much insomnia- he's more of a work-a-holic."
Izuku nods. "Noted." Makes more sense, unlike Shinsou who seems to be stubbornly avoiding sleep, Aizawa always seems desperate to get every wink of sleep he can during class, but Izuku can deal with his sleeping problems later.
"So, are we going to have to take this to him, or what?" He asks, "I would like to ask why he hasn't forced you to go back to bed when he sees you during his nightly check-ins."
Shinsou leans back against the counter and yawns, "'Cause he already knows about it. As a fellow human being with terrible sleeping habits, he's fine with my odd hours so long as I actually make some attempt to sleep- which I do- and I don't, ya know, drop dead during training."
Izuku gaps at him for a moment, then clenches his jaw and crosses his arms. "Well, now Aizawa-sensei is getting a talk," he growls, tapping his foot irritably.
"Your tea is getting cold." Shinsou eyes his abandoned cup.
Ignoring his statement, Izuku recollects himself and counters, "Well, Recovery Girl most certainly wouldn't be happy to be woken up at this hour, and she wouldn't be happy to hear that you've been hiding this problem for so long either. So, you can either go to bed now and actually try to go to sleep, or we can go see her."
Honestly, Izuku is mentally shuddering at the thought of waking up his mentor for something as trivial as this. Thankfully, it seems like Shinsou isn't too keen on the idea either, if the way his lips press together is anything to go by.
"Seriously?" Shinsou asks, suddenly a lot less amused. Izuku nods resolutely. "Come on, I'm just gonna end up lying awake in my bed for hours until the sun rises."
"Or you could get lucky and end up falling asleep," Izuku says positively.
Shinsou huffs, "No, I won't."
"Not with that attitude, you won't."
Shinsou rolls his eyes and Izuku smiles softly, putting a hand on his forearm. "You're tired. Go to sleep."
The purple-haired boy stares down at him for a few moments and Izuku holds his gaze firmly. Eventually, Shinsou looks up at the ceiling with a long sigh. "Fine, whatever." He pokes Izuku's forehead. "But you go to sleep too, baggy eyes."
Izuku brushes his hand away. "Yeah, I was going to."
Shinsou begrudgingly bids him goodnight as he trudges out of the kitchen and Izuku finally returns his attention to his tea, which is unfortunately now lukewarm. He sighs.
The next morning, he asks Tokoyami to tell him if he ever sees Shinsou awake in the lounge in the middle of the night. He would've asked Aizawa, but since he and Shinsou apparently have some no-sleep solidarity thing going on, he figured Tokoyami would be his best bet.
The very next day after that, Tokoyami tells him that Shinsou was awake in the lounge in the middle of the night.
Izuku sighs, longer and louder this time.
So yeah, bad habits are hard to break.
Dorm life isn't all bad though. Class 1-A starts to learn nicer things about each other too, things that they didn't know before. Like, for example, the other day, Izuku learns that Todoroki likes to bake.
It's later in the evening after dinner, and the greenette has to go back down to the lounge to grab a book that he forgot. As he does, he passes by the kitchen and sees Sato and Todoroki baking- or, well, attempting to, at least. Todoroki is covered in flour and seems to be rather frustrated as he mixes something in a bowl. Sato stands next to him, looking very worried. Neither of them notice him, and he doesn't want to interrupt since they're both pretty busy at the moment, so Izuku gets what he needs and leaves as quietly as he can.
Then, the next day after training, Izuku has just finished taking a shower when there's a knock at his door. He goes to open it, and nearly chokes on his own spit when he sees Todoroki standing in the hallway.
"To-Todoroki-kun!" He squeaks, cursing his heart for fluttering at the sight of the boy. Damnit, be cool! They're friends, remember? Just friends…
He swallows and puts on a smile. "What, uh, what can I do for you?"
Todoroki is quiet at first, then seems to steel himself and thrusts something into his hands. "This is for you."
Startled, Izuku looks down at what he gave him. It seems to be some sort of pastry wrapped up in a nice decorative liner. "Is this a chiffon cake?"
"Yes," Todoroki says. After a moment, he adds, "It's a gift."
"Oh." Izuku blinks, then realization dawns on him. "Oh!"
He sees what this is! This must be some sort of peace offering! Like an 'I forgive you for sticking your tongue down my throat, let's go back to being normal friends' kind of gift. Of course! Oh, well, now Izuku feels kind of bad that Todoroki felt like he needed to do this.
While things have been okay between them, it still gets kind of awkward when they're alone together- which is why Izuku has been determinedly avoiding every possible chance of that happening. He's been making sure to always find himself in a group setting just in case Todoroki walks in, and whenever the other boy suggests hanging out or doing something together, Izuku makes sure to either invite someone else or start talking about it loudly enough for other people to hear and invite themselves. So far, it's worked, but he supposes he does miss hanging out with Todoroki one-on-one. He just wishes there wasn't any awkward tension between them, but maybe that's his fault. Maybe it's entirely one-sided. Actually, it probably is. Todoroki clearly just wants to go back to being normal friends, and Izuku… well, he wants Todoroki to be happy.
So, Izuku smiles brightly at Todoroki and says, "Thank you!"
A light flush dusts across Todoroki's cheeks and he glances away, coughing, "Er, you're welcome."
He's still standing there though, watching him almost expectantly, and because Izuku is such a good friend, he decides to eat the cake he made right in front of him. So he lifts it up and takes a bite.
…
...
Izuku learns that Todoroki isn't very good at baking.
He forces himself to keep chewing despite the fact that the cake has almost immediately sucked out all the moisture in his mouth. It turns into a gummy, pasty mush as a sickeningly sweet flavor overwhelmes Izuku's tongue. It takes everything he can not to visibly recoil.
Instead, he plasters on a smile and mumbles around his mouthful of cake, "It's really good!"
It's a disgrace to the name of baking.
But God the way Todoroki's eyes light up when Izuku says that! It's enough to make the poor greenette feel like he's about to melt into a puddle at the ground.
He doesn't notice the door to his left opening.
"You like it?" Todoroki asks, and he sounds so hopeful, looking at Izuku as if he just hung the moon and stars. Izuku is… a little confused, he doesn't really understand why being good at baking is suddenly so important to Todoroki, but of course he'll encourage him, even if it's bad, so, so bad, because that's what friends do- not to mention the fact that he's far too weak a man to say no to those eyes.
"Mmm hmm," he manages to get out in a tight voice.
All of the sudden, he becomes aware of Kacchan standing a few feet away, just outside his own room. They both turn to look at him simultaneously.
Kacchan looks between them, then at the cake, then at Izuku's pained expression, before he bursts out laughing. Loud, abrasive, obnoxious laughter. He clutches his belly and laughs so hard that for a moment Izuku thinks he might actually piss himself.
"Oh-Oh my God," Kacchan gasps in between laughs, tears beading at the edges of his eyes, "I didn't think you'd actually fucking do it!"
He dissolves into another fit of cackles.
Meanwhile, Izuku's confusion grows. He's not quite sure what Kacchan finds so funny about the situation, but Todoroki is glaring coldly at the other boy. Maybe Kacchan somehow knows that Todoroki is bad at baking and is making fun of him? That's mean! Izuku should defend Todoroki… but first he has to swallow the revolting ball of mush in his mouth.
Okay, he can do this. He tries once, and nearly gags. Thank God Todoroki is too busy glaring at Kacchan to notice. There's literally no way to do this without grimacing. Bracing himself, he tries again and forces the cake down his throat, shuddering at the terrible aftertaste and the strange, sticky dry feeling it leaves in his mouth.
Jesus, how did Todoroki fail at baking that bad?
Kacchan sees his expression after he swallows the cake and laughs even harder. Eventually, he has to just turn around and stumble down the hall, still laughing his ass off as he slaps the button on the wall and disappears into the elevator a moment later.
Once he's gone, Todoroki lets out a dignified huff through his nose and turns back to Izuku looking slightly disgruntled, but his eyes soften once more when they land on the freckled boy. Izuku's stomach flips. He tries to swallow, but Todoroki's disaster cake has practically sucked all the moisture out of him like a sponge.
"It's a great cake," he croaks, giving him a wobbly smile.
Todoroki smiles back, and it's as if the sun has somehow come down from the sky and filled Izuku's heart right then and there. "I'm glad."
Silence falls between them, and then they're just kind of standing there smiling at each other. Awkwardly. Izuku clears his throat. Despite Todoroki's intentions, it seems that things are still going to be weird, at least for a little while, between them. He needs to get out of here- he most certainly does not want to have to keep eating this godforsaken cake in front of Todoroki.
He coughs and takes a step backwards into his room. "So, um, I think I'm gonna finish it later, though," he rasps, neatly folding it up back into its wrapping, "I kind of ate a snack after training so I'm not super hungry right now, so…"
"Oh, right, of course!" Todoroki says, thankfully taking the hint and stepping backwards himself.
"But it'll be a great dessert!" Izuku insists, smiling brightly, "I already can't wait to eat it later! Thanks!"
Todoroki's eyes shine and he rubs the back of his neck almost sheepishly. It's totally not cute, Izuku tells himself firmly. "You're welcome," Todoroki says.
Izuku smiles one last time and nods before awkwardly kind of just retreating into his room and shutting the door. Letting out a huge sigh of relief, he drops the rest of the cursed cake on his desk before collapsing in his chair and rubbing his forehead. Sushi hops up beside him and starts sniffing it.
"Sush, trust me, you do not want to eat that," he mumbles.
Sushi sniffs the cake for a couple more seconds before he proceeds to vomit up a hairball on it.
Izuku groans.
Unfortunately, that's not the only strange moment to happen with Todoroki. Izuku thought he'd be safe if he only interacted with him in group settings, but apparently even there he's in danger.
It happens the night after the cake incident, just two days before the license exam. Class 1-A has decided to host a movie night. It was mostly Ashido and Kaminari's idea, but pretty much everybody jumped on board right away, especially the more extroverted students. The only ones who protested are, of course, Iida and Yaoyorozu since it's a school night and the license exams are so close, but they promise to watch only one movie and it's a good class bonding experience, plus they're all in dire need of some stress relief.
So, they collectively decide to watch Shrek The Musical. As they set up the lounge for their movie night, a mischievous thought occurs to Izuku. This might be a wonderful opportunity to help Kacchan and Kirishima's relationship blossom. It's been a while since he's been to a movie night, but he knows how they usually go, especially ones like this with big groups of people. The lights go off, people start cuddling, maybe some will even fall asleep against their friend's shoulder- it's perfect.
Izuku grins, glancing at Kirishima and Kacchan out of the corner of his eye. He just has to make sure that they sit next to each other.
Turns out, it's not as hard as he thought it would be. He actually doesn't even have to do anything, because as soon as they all start gathering around to see the movie, Kacchan drags Kirishima over to claim one of the couches with him and props his legs up on the redhead's lap. Izuku blinks.
Well damn. He just makes it look easy. Izuku wishes he could act that confident around his crush. He and Kirishima didn't start dating behind Izuku's back, right?
The thing is, he's so busy keeping an eye on those two lovebirds, that he forgets to pay attention to who's sitting next to him. So when the couch suddenly dips beside him, he's entirely unprepared to look to his right and see Todoroki.
The boy glances at him as if he just noticed him, as if he wasn't the one to come over and sit next to him, and gives him a small smile "Hi."
Izuku stifles a sigh and tries not to sound too devastated as he accepts his fate. "Hello."
"How was your training today?" Todoroki asks.
Izuku shrugs. "It was alright, just more studying, you know. What about yours? You said yesterday that your ultimate move was coming along nicely…"
They chat for a couple of minutes about training and their upcoming exams, then afterwards about the movie they're about to watch. Unsurprisingly, Todoroki hasn't seen it before. Izuku, because he has the unfortunate pleasure of being friends with Kaminari and Ashido, has. Compared to their previous conversations, it's actually a bit easier, a bit smoother. Still missing some of the usual… normalcy of their old conversations, but it's getting there. It gives Izuku hope.
Soon, Iida loudly announces the start of the movie and tells everyone to be quiet. The lights turn off and the musical starts playing.
For the first twenty minutes or so, everything is fine. As ridiculous as the movie is, Izuku quickly finds himself relaxing and laughing along with his friends. Then, Todoroki starts shifting beside him. At first, Izuku doesn't really pay attention to it, but then he notices Todoroki's arm moving out of the corner of his eye. He freezes.
Todoroki is clearly trying to be subtle about it, but there's nothing subtle about the way his arm is slowly sliding over the back of the couch, nor the way he keeps repeatedly casting glances at Izuku. After nearly thirty seconds of not-so-stealthy creeping, his arm settles on the back cushion, inches away from Izuku's shoulders.
The greenette swallows, trying to steady his hammering heartbeat. Alright, no need to panic. Todoroki was probably just getting into a more comfortable position.
The taller boy is now pressed slightly closer to Izuku's side, his torso almost touching the smaller's arm. Izuku would scoot away, except he made the terrible decision to sit at the end of the couch, so now he's stuck between Todoroki and the arm rest. Plus, Todoroki's hand is hanging mere centimeters away on the other side of Izuku's left shoulder, so if he shifted even slightly, Todoroki would feel it. Izuku is quite literally trapped.
He bites the inside of his lower lip, suddenly finding it hard to pay attention to the movie with Todoroki sitting so close to him. They're not touching, but he can still feel the heat radiating off of the boy's left side. He risks a quick glance at Todoroki's face, but he isn't looking at him, eyes locked firmly on the TV. Izuku hastily copies him, but his brain hardly processes the images moving on the screen.
Nothing happens for the next ten minutes and Izuku makes the mistake of thinking everything will be okay. He starts to relax. Then Todoroki's arm lowers around his shoulders. His brain short-circuits.
What.
The.
Fuck.
What the fuck?! What the fuck?! But- But- What?! What the hell is this?! What about the friendship cake?! That was the friendship cake! That was supposed to make everything better, that was- He thought Todoroki didn't want anything romantic, so what the hell is going on?!
Maybe it's the sleep-deprivation, or maybe it's because he's just been a little bit too high-strung over the past few days, but he suddenly finds himself super pissed off. Making a split-second decision that he's completely fed up with Todoroki's bullshit, Izuku whips his head around and is about to give the boy a piece of his mind when something catches his eye.
All across the room, his classmates are sprawled across the couches in various bunches and groups, cuddling. Yaoyorozu and Jirou are snuggling together under a large blanket that they're sharing with Uraraka and Asui, who are also nestled up against each other. Over on the loveseat, Iida sits primly while Shinsou drapes himself across his lap like a tall, lazy cat, nearly falling off the the couch as he leans his head against Kaminari's, who is sitting on the floor chatting non-stop to the purple-haired teen despite Iida repeatedly shushing him. Ashido and Sero also sit next to the blond, the pink girl slouched between her two male friends with her arms linked with theirs.
Even Kirishima has shifted so that he's resting his head against Kacchan's stomach as they watch the movie (although Izuku notes that at least now Kacchan is looking slightly more tense than before).
But as Izuku gazes at them, he realizes something crucial. They're all getting nice and comfortable with each other because they're used to this, but Todoroki- aloof, awkward, repressed Todoroki- has probably never done something like this before. This is probably his first movie night ever! And- even though they've been friends for a while now, Izuku knows he's still learning things when it comes to being social. He still doesn't always know quite what to do, and he sometimes gets uncomfortable with casual touches and stuff, but he's trying so hard all the time, especially now trying to make things normal again with Izuku!
So of course he wants to wrap his arm around Izuku's shoulders. He's been trying so hard to make their friendship better again, and now he's watching the rest of their friends cuddle together during a class bonding activity- it makes sense that he'd see this as a way to strengthen their bond. He's like a confused puppy just trying to do his best and copy what the other dogs are doing. It's not his fault he doesn't realize that he nearly gave Izuku an aneurysm.
But shit- Izuku has already whipped his head around, all ready to lay into him for being confusing, but now he has to come up with something else quick because Todoroki is looking at him. His brain scrambles for a few seconds before he does the first thing that comes to mind.
He cuddles with Todoroki.
Smiling nervously, he forces himself to relax against the taller boy and lowers his head to rest it on his shoulder. The scent of jasmine and vanilla fills his nose and he immediately sweat-drops. Wait, fuck, this was a terrible idea, abort, abort, abort-
Todoroki goes still for a moment, and then the arm around Izuku's shoulders tightens slightly and pulls him closer to his side. Izuku clamps his jaws shut to stifle a squeak as the butterflies threaten to escape from the pit of his stomach. There's no way Todoroki can't hear the thunderous pounding of his heartbeat- it's the only noise filling his ears right now. Everything else has faded into the background, the movie, his friends- all of his attention is on Todoroki.
He's so warm; that's the first thing Izuku notices. Almost uncomfortably so, and part of him wonders if Todoroki is doing it on purpose or if he's just tired from training. He quickly finds himself sweltering in the heat. There's no escape from it either; Todoroki's left arm holds him in a loose but firm embrace.
The taller boy's chest moves as he breathes, and Izuku moves with it since they're pressed so closely together. With every inhale, he can feel Todoroki's ribcage expanding, he can hear the sound of his breath, and it makes his head spin. Todoroki's arm is wrapped around his shoulders, keeping him in place, and he can feel the strength in his muscles pressing against him, and it's too much, they're too close to each other, he can't do this, he's- he's too gay for this, goddamnit, he's-
Todoroki's head turns towards him, and his breath brushes against Izuku's curls as he whispers, "Is this alright?"
Izuku nearly lets out a pathetic whimper, but swallows it down at the last second. He then realizes that he's as tense as a bowstring against Todoroki.
"Mmm hmm," he manages to get out, forcing himself to relax once again. It's an incredibly difficult endeavor with all of his senses being hyper focused on Todoroki. Mouth dry, he rasps, "Could- You're, um, you're a bit too hot."
On a number of levels- but Izuku is literally sweating right now.
"Oh, sorry." The stifling heat quickly simmers down to the usual warmth of Todoroki's left side and Izuku lets out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks," he whispers.
"No problem," Todoroki whispers back, then adds, "Sorry." Izuku shakes his head against his shoulder. After a few moments, he feels Todoroki shift slightly beneath him. His arm moves a little bit, like he wants to wrap it more around him, but he's hesitant. They're not exactly in a super comfortable position for cuddling. They're both still sitting rather upright, and Izuku can tell that his neck is going to start hurting soon if he keeps leaning against Todoroki's shoulder like this.
He wants to pull away. He should pull away- this is going to end so badly for him, he thought he'd be able to get over this thing he has for Todoroki but clearly it's going to be a lot harder than he thought, he's just going to get himself hurt or worse, make things even weirder between him and Todoroki-
But friends cuddle, don't they? It wouldn't be that weird for him and Todoroki to cuddle- everyone else is doing it, they would just be… displaying their affection for each other… as friends do! And Todoroki wants to do it, so… so why shouldn't he?
…
God, Izuku is so fucked.
Taking a deep breath, he turns and tucks himself into Todoroki's side, curling his legs up and resting them over the other boy's thighs. He slides his head closer to his chest rather than his hard shoulder before grabbing his left arm and settling it more comfortably around his torso.
The shift takes no more than five seconds. Izuku is nothing if not a master cuddler.
When he's done, he leans back and stares resolutely at the TV despite not actually paying a lick of attention to what's on the screen. Ignoring the flush creeping up his neck, he decides that everything will be fine if he just doesn't look at Todoroki for the rest of the night. He can't be sure his heart will handle being this close to Todoroki and seeing his face mere inches from his own.
The seconds that tick by feel like they last for hours. Izuku's never been so tense before in his life, but he can't be tense, he can't let Todoroki know that he's secretly freaking out- because they're friends, why would he be freaking out about cuddling?- so he holds his breath instead, waiting for the other boy's reaction.
It takes a lot longer than it should have for him to realize that Todoroki is the one who's not breathing.
A jolt of panic hits him. Did he go too far? Todoroki feels really tense- he's not relaxed at all! He's not used to this much physical contact, maybe this is a bit too much for him. Izuku doesn't want to make him uncomfortable. Although, Todoroki is the one that initiated the cuddling. Maybe he just needs some help then…
Craning his neck, he leans up to whisper in the other boy's ear, "Todoroki-kun. Relax."
Todoroki's throat bobs a little as he swallows, but with a shaky exhale his muscles become less rigid, and Izuku's human pillow becomes a lot more comfortable. Smiling to himself, Izuku quickly tucks his head back under Todoroki's chin to avoid his gaze and pretends to go back to watching the movie.
After a few moments, Todoroki seems to get a little bit braver and finally starts shifting to get himself in a more comfortable position. He carefully pulls Izuku against his chest before resting his head on top of his curls, letting out a soft sigh. Izuku gulps, heart feeling like it's about to jump right out of his throat, but… somehow, he starts to feel a little bit braver too, and snuggles closer.
Okay sue him! Yeah, Todoroki doesn't see him in a romantic way, and probably won't ever see him in a romantic way, so this is the only chance Izuku will ever get to- to- to be held like this by him! Is he sort of taking advantage of his socially-clueless and oblivious-to-his-feelings friend? Maybe. Does he regret it? He'll… He'll find out! Not at the moment, though, because Todoroki is cute and soft and smells nice and let it be known that Midoriya Izuku is a weak man because fuck it!
Izuku closes his eyes and melts into Todoroki's warmth with a quiet sigh.
He does not anticipate what happens next.
The lounge is dark, the movie is playing in the background, and Izuku is enveloped in a safe, warm, and comfortable embrace, and, well, sleep-deprivation decides to come and kick him in the ass right then and there.
Before he knows it, he passes out against Todoroki's chest.
"Shh, Bakugou-kun, stop laughing!"
"I- haha- fuck, oh my fucking God, look at his face!"
"Shh, you'll wake up Midoriya-kun!"
"'Bout to fucking burst into flames-!"
"Bakugou-kun!"
"Stop teasing!"
"Aww, Midori-kun is so cute when he's asleep!"
"Shh!"
"Let's draw on his face!"
"Don't you dare!"
"Leave him alone, man."
"Guys, shut up."
"Shh!"
"What? He should know better than to fall asleep in a public place."
"He should know better than to fall asleep on IcyHot-"
"Dude."
"BAHAHAHAHA-!"
"SHHH!"
"Should we wake him up?"
"No."
"But he needs to go to bed!"
"I'll take him."
"HAHAHA- Wait, fuck you, no I'll take him- hey wait!"
"I've got him."
"And keep your voice down, Bakugou-kun!"
"Fuck off. Give 'im here, IcyHot."
"I said I've got him."
"..."
"..."
"... Are they just gonna keep glaring at each other?"
"Guys, come on, just- don't wake him up. He's always so tired nowadays…"
"Yeah. I don't… I don't think he's been sleeping too well…"
"Poor Midoriya-kun…"
"I'm gonna take him up to his room. Alright?"
"...Tch. If you wanna carry his heavy ass that bad, fucking go ahead then."
"Good night, Midoriya-kun!"
"Shh!"
"Good night, Midoriya-kun!"
"Sweet dreams!"
"God, he's so cute!"
"Quit being fucking creepy, Racoon Eyes."
"Alright, alright, now off to bed with the rest of you."
"Boo."
Izuku doesn't remember anything after falling asleep in the lounge, but for a brief, fleeting moment, his mind claws its way back to semi-consciousness. He's still comfortable, there's still a soft weight underneath and wrapped around him, but it's not warm anymore. Fingers brush through his curls, gently pushing them back, making his scalp tingle pleasantly. The hand slowly comes down to cup his cheek, and he subconsciously leans into the palm with a sigh. He slips back into unconsciousness soon after.
For the first time since Kamino, he sleeps without having a single nightmare.