"Alright," Aizawa droned as Class 1-A got up in arms about who they'd choose as their partners. A few students reached for the hat, but Aizawa held it out of their reach, walking directly up to a small Midoriya, who was in the process of shying away behind Todoroki from the chaos. "We'll have the Capture the Flag winner draw first."
Todoroki stepped back, as well as Iida and Ochaco, who had been lingering over Midoriya's shoulders. Midoriya peered into the hat, looking at the different sheets of folded paper; they were different colors, some red, some blue, some green. But there was one—
"Take the white one," Aizawa murmured quietly enough that Midoriya was certain he was the only one who heard. Midoriya looked up at his teacher, a bit confused, then back down. From what he could tell, only one slip of paper was white. "Hurry," Aizawa thrust the hat a bit closer to the boy.
Midoriya obliged, taking the lone white slip from the hat. "Who is it?" Iida asked from the other side of Aizawa, trying not to be obvious in the way he stood on his toes to see over Aizawa's shoulder. Midoriya unfurled it carefully.
"Todoroki," he said quietly. He looked back up to Aizawa, and maybe he saw a hint of a smile; but as soon as he'd announced whose name he drew Aizawa moved on, picking a name from the hat and asking them to come to the front.
"You drew my name?" Todoroki asked, hovering back to Midoriya's side to peer at the name on the slip as if he didn't believe it. Sure enough, scrolled on the paper was the name Todoroki Shouto.
"I-I…" Midoriya fumbled for words. Well, he fumbled for thoughts, really. What was Aizawa's plan here? And, more importantly, should he tell Todoroki that Aizawa set this up?
In the end, the match-ups all felt random – aside from Todoroki and Midoriya. One or two students protested, whining that they didn't want to be placed up against such a power duo; others claimed that it was rigged, but Aizawa countered by saying "You watched him draw the name out of the hat, didn't you?"
They began their trek toward Gym Four, located the furthest away from the Class 1-A dormitory. The path there was empty save for a few second- and third-years out for a morning jog. "On a field trip, ah?" Mirio called out as he passed by, stopping to nudge his fist into Midoriya's arm as a form of greeting.
"Weekend training," Kaminari replied, and Mirio laughed.
"You thought you'd catch a break?" And with that, he began his jog once more, calling over his shoulder a quick good luck before vanishing in the path lined by trees.
Once they arrived at the gym, Aizawa stopped the class at the door. "The gymnasium has been set up by Cementoss to resemble what you might consider a laser tag arena," he announced. "Use the walls between you to your advantage. As you split off into your pairs, I will tell you which team you are tracking. Remember – the team you are tracking is not tracking you. That means you'll have to be on both the offensive and defensive for this session."
Midoriya scanned over the class, imagining which groups would be the toughest to be targeted by. Of course, Bakugou and Hagakure would be tricky – not only because Bakugou was, well, Bakugou, but because Hagakure had been training especially hard in stealth and being unable to see his opponent would severely hinder Midoriya. Then, Sero and Ochaco would likely be a dynamic duo with their combined strategic smarts. Midoriya's eyes fell on Yaoyorozu and Mineta – a terribly unlucky draw on Yaoyorozu's end, honestly – and wondered if Mineta could stop harassing women long enough to successfully capture them, should Todoroki and he be their target.
"Quit worrying," Todoroki nudged Midoriya's shoulder gently. "We're the toughest team by far."
"Easy for you to say," Midoriya replied with his tongue out playfully. "Everyone's been training."
"Not nearly as much as us," Todoroki countered, and Midoriya couldn't argue. That was true; while most friends in Class 1-A wandered the campus or watched television or played games, Todoroki and Midoriya spent a hefty amount of their free time sparring with each other. Midoriya supposed a reason they got along so well was their mutual drive to be better.
Aizawa started at the other end of the line to assign teams their targets. He held a small clipboard – Midoriya hadn't noticed it until now – and he wondered why Aizawa put so much effort into these trainings as of late. Not that he minded. As each team was assigned their targets, they were dismissed into the gymnasium to find a hiding spot to begin. First Tsuyu and Koda, followed by Jirou and Aoyama, Ashido and Sato, Sero and Ochaco, Iida and Kirishima, Yaoyorozu and Mineta, Kaminari and Tokoyami, Bakugou and Hagakure, and Shoji and Ojiro. Then Aizawa stopped in front of Midoriya, looking between the two of them.
"Think of this as a favor," he said simply.
"A…favor?" Todoroki asked, confused.
"Mr. Aizawa told me which name to pick," Midoriya supplied feebly.
"Oh," Todoroki said.
Aizawa gripped the bridge of his nose. "You two work the hardest by far, and I want the class to recognize that, so I put you on the same team." He glanced down at his clipboard. "You'll be tracking Iida and Kirishima."
Aizawa turned and made his way back to the gym, stopping about halfway between the gym doors and the boys. He turned his head back towards them after a moment of hesitation. "Don't disappoint me."
"Who d'ya think is after us?" Midoriya asked as he and Todoroki ran through the gymnasium. Cementoss had created something of a labyrinth, with walls that reached almost to the ceiling to avoid people jumping over and searching for their targets.
"Probably Bakugou," Todoroki replied with a small scowl. It seemed like the most plausible explanation – when Todoroki heard they weren't targeting Bakugou, he assumed they'd be his target.
Midoriya stilled. He swayed back and forth on his feet for a second, a look of deep thought on his face. "They'll be dangerous," he decided finally, continuing to where Todoroki had slowed to a stop in front of him.
"Well duh," Todoroki replied.
"No, not just because of Kacchan," Midoriya said sternly. "The two of us can handle Kacchan. But Hagakure thrown into the mix—"
Ochaco and Sero ran along the sides of the walls up above. Ochaco used her hovering abilities to make her and Sero extremely light, and Sero cast tape out in front of them so they stuck to the side of the wall. "That's so cool!" Midoriya called out below them.
"Thanks!" Ochaco gave him a thumbs up. "Have you seen Ashido and Sato?"
"Nope, not this way!" Midoriya called back.
"Thanks, Midoriya!" Sero said with a wave, and just as quickly as they'd appeared they were gone, turning down one of the winding pathways of the labyrinth.
Gym Four was notoriously large. Of course, all of the gymnasiums were larger than normal, but Gym Four was usually used for large sports tournaments and events. The hallways Cementoss had created were not narrow by any means, but still the maze would probably require some breaking of walls to get through and find opponents.
As if on cue, Midoriya heard the sound of Bakugou's explosions maybe fifty feet away along with the sound of cracking concrete. Then a yell. "Do you think Cementoss reinforced the cement?" Midoriya asked, trying not to sound nervous.
"Probably," Todoroki replied with a shrug, "but that doesn't mean Bakugou won't be able to get through it."
"He'll probably waste a lot of energy blowing through walls," Midoriya noted casually.
"We don't know if he's after us," Todoroki added. "Let's keep looking for Kirishima and Iida."
They moved carefully, keeping shoulder to shoulder with each other as they went. Todoroki kept his right hand ready to freeze the ground while Midoriya kept a great deal of his power activated in his legs. They kept their speaking to a minimum, listening for their classmates' voices; after working together so much, it wasn't hard for them to communicate with shoulder-nudges and quick looks and hand signals.
Mineta rounded the corner in front of them quickly, shrieking. Kaminari chased after him, fingers sparking menacingly. Todoroki and Midoriya quickly stepped to the side, pressing their backs to the cement wall, watching as Kaminari's foot got trapped on one of the many sticky traps Mineta had thrown down. Yaoyorozu rounded the corner, then, with Tokoyami following in pursuit. In moments, Tokoyami's Dark Shadow had Yaoyorozu restrained.
"Young Yaoyorozu has been restrained!" All Might's voice boomed from somewhere in the labyrinth.
He must really be bored if he came in on his weekend off to referee, Midoriya thought idly.
Kaminari had freed himself in the time it took Dark Shadow to restrain Yaoyorozu, and he continued down the hall, nimbly jumping and side-stepping to avoid Mineta's traps. A trail of blood led him through the labyrinth, and just a few seconds after he disappeared from Midoriya and Todoroki's sights, All Might's voice boomed again, "Young Mineta has been restrained!"
"Have either of you seen Kirishima and Iida?" Midoriya asked Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu.
"That way," Tokoyami nodded in the direction he and Kaminari had come from.
"Thanks," Todoroki replied for Midoriya, and the two of them took off down the hall, listening for their target's voices.
They ran into Tsuyu and Koda while they wandered, Midoriya nearly having a heart attack when Tsuyu trapped him with her frog tongue. "Hey—it's me!" he wheezed, his heart thumping. Tsuyu let go.
"Sorry," she said quickly. "From far away you looked like Jirou."
"How did I—"
"C'mon, just let me try punching it!"
It was Kirishima's voice. Todoroki immediately fell into line next to Midoriya. "It won't work," Iida countered. They sounded like they were preparing to round the corner. Todoroki leaned and nudged Midoriya's shoulder, then cautiously moved to be on the other side of the hallway. By then, Jirou and Koda had figured out what was about to happen and moved out of the hall to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
"Deku! Where the hell are you?!" Bakugou yelled, his voice sounding eerily close.
"Uh oh," Midoriya whispered, exchanging a look with Todoroki. Todoroki, however, wore a dangerous smile that Midoriya only really saw when Todoroki felt outmatched during their sparring and suddenly turned the tables on Midoriya. What did he have planned?
A moment after Kirishima and Iida so casually rounded the corner, Bakugou came from behind with his fists flaring. "Uh oh," Midoriya said a little louder.
"Oh, son of a bitch," Kirishima said with an angry smirk. "Bakugou, looks like you came straight to us."
"Outta my way," Bakugou snarled. "I've got a nerd to kill."
Midoriya sought out Todoroki across the hall for some help, but surprisingly, Todoroki had vanished. Midoriya quickly looked back and forth between Kirishima, Iida, and Bakugou, becoming increasingly aware that Hagakure's outfit wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Shouto?!" Midoriya called out.
Then, All Might: "Young Hagakure has been restrained!"
Midoriya puffed out a sigh of relief just as Bakugou came towards him. "Hey, fuck you! How did you do that?!"
"Todoroki did! Probably!" Midoriya said quickly.
Kirishima cleared his throught. "Midoriya, you should probably get out of the way. Bakugou and I have some unfinished business."
"A-ah, I can't do that," Midoriya countered, preparing his stance so that he could jump over the battle if necessary.
"Why not?" Iida asked in response, just as a wall of ice pierced through the cement effortlessly, sending the nearby wall crumbling. Todoroki calmly walked through the rubble, right side beginning to frost over already.
"Smart of you to send Hagakure after me," Todoroki said dully, "but maybe you forgot I could just literally freeze her feet to the floor."
Bakugou snarled again and sent a blast Todoroki's way, which was easily blocked by an ice wall.
"Fuck you, half and half!" Bakugou barked. Kirishima rolled up his shirt to his elbow, rolling his shoulder as he prepared to fight. He walked past Midoriya, and the smaller boy tripped him, yelling out an apology as he did so.
"Kirishima, they're after us!" Iida cried in realization, activating his leg engines and swooping in to grab Kirishima just before Midoriya could pin him down.
"Mido, watch it!" Todoroki called out. Midoriya boosted himself off the wall to avoid a blast from Bakugou's fist.
Iida had made his way behind Bakugou and was nearly ready to grab his wrists, but Bakugou sent a blast their way and knocked both of them backwards and into a cement wall. Kirishima maneuvered so he took the brunt of the blow, cracking the cement wall behind him. "You're gonna have to do better than that!" he yelled in a taunting manner.
The battle was, in essence, chaos. Bakugou shot blasts from both fists – some in Kirishima and Iida's direction, some in Midoriya and Todoroki's. Iida tried to seize Bakugou multiple times, using his engine legs to always narrowly escape the wrath of Bakugou's explosions. Midoriya took advantage of this quickly and forcefully pinned Iida to the wall just after his engine sputtered out doing the same evasion tactic for the third time in a row.
"Young Iida is restrained!" All Might bellowed.
Kirishima was trickier to capture. He and Bakugou had sparred together before (albeit not nearly as much as Midoriya and Todoroki), and it was evident in their movements. Kirishima seemed to know exactly which areas to hit and which to avoid, and Bakugou easily predicted a great deal of his movements. However, neither of them seemed to account for the wrench in their spar in the shape of Midoriya and Todoroki.
Somewhere in the chaos, All Might yelled out that others had been restrained, but Midoriya didn't quite hear who. He continued to press Bakugou and Kirishima, focusing his attention on capturing the latter while Todoroki encased Bakugou's fists in countless balls of ice to prevent him from hurting Midoriya. "Fuck—you!" Bakugou grunted, continually exploding the ice chunks and sending pieces of ice flying in all directions. His explosions got weaker as his hands grew colder, and Bakugou yelled out nothing in particular in annoyance as he tried to warm his hands again.
In the process, Midoriya had engaged in a one-on-one battle with Kirishima. If there was anyone who countered Midoriya's Quirk perfectly, he strongly believed it was the boy in front of him; every kick and punch he dealt was absorbed by Kirishima's hardening ability, and he looked – aside from a nasty red mark along his arm from when Midoriya caught him off guard – absolutely fine.
"Todo," Midoriya called out, "How are you holding up?"
Todoroki breathed heavily; creating ice at the near-constant rate he'd been going ate up a great deal of his stamina. "What do you need?" he asked between heaves, already preparing himself to rush into the midst of yet another fierce match-up.
"On my count, freeze the ground," Midoriya replied. "Can you do that?"
"Okay."
Midoriya counted to three, leaping well into the air on his last count. Todoroki sent out a wave of ice across the ground – weak enough that Bakugou had been able to blast through it – but Kirishima's feet stuck. He grunted, trying to wriggle free, and Midoriya landed gracefully behind him, restricting his arm movements.
"Young Kirishima has been restrained!"
"Shit," Kirishima let out a dry laugh. "You two are tough," he said, craning his neck to be able to see Midoriya behind him.
Midoriya chuckled and blushed at the compliment.
"Hey, fuckhead!" Bakugou yelled, rushing full-force at them. "I'm still here!"
The blasts that came from Bakugou were nowhere near as hot as usual. Midoriya had seen Bakugou's methods of rushing in well enough to be able to counter his movements with ease. Blasts that came close to his face only warmed him, allowing him to be less careful in his dodges.
A few missed swings later, Midoriya slammed a charged fist into Bakugou's stomach, sending him backwards and nearly into Todoroki. "Sorry!" Midoriya called to his partner. "Bad aim!"
Todoroki snickered a bit as Bakugou tried desperately not to puke at the hit. He readied himself quickly, though, looking between the two suspiciously. "Bring it!" he cried finally.
Midoriya ran to Todoroki's side, giving him a curt nod before leading Bakugou's attention elsewhere. Above, All Might yelled about another team being restrained.
Todoroki threw ice at Bakugou's feet, his breathing becoming more labored as he went. He supposed that ice wall to break through the concrete earlier hadn't been such a good idea, but there was nothing he could do now. All he could do was protect Midoriya, the boy who most certainly didn't need protecting.
And he proved that to Todoroki by delivering a swift kick to Bakugou's side, sending the other reeling again. Bakugou's hands were still cold, but his blasts were getting stronger and hotter by the second. Todoroki reached out to freeze his hands once more, but his ice hardly reached past him.
"Mido," Todoroki called. "I'm out of juice!"
"Your boyfriend can't protect you now," Bakugou snarled, pressing a hand to Midoriya's arm and delivering an explosion directly into his skin. Midoriya yelled out in pain, activating his other fist and delivering a swift punch to the jaw, but the damage had been done. Midoriya's left arm was out of commission, with a nasty handprint-shaped burn mark to prove it.
Midoriya gritted his teeth, forcing his energy into his legs. He jumped from surface to surface, pushing himself off the walls and the floor similarly to how Gran Torino did. Todoroki smirked. While it didn't always work on him, Bakugou looked incredibly confused watching Midoriya bounce around. "Get down here and fight, fuckhead!" Bakugou yelled finally.
Todoroki knew well what to expect next. Midoriya had used this move so many times with Todoroki when he felt backed into a corner that, of course, Todoroki had learned to memorize his patterns. However, Midoriya had never used this move during a class training – it was something of a secret power, he thought whimsically.
When Midoriya came down, his foot met Bakugou's upper back, sending the latter toppling forward and to the ground. Midoriya was a saint, though, and grabbed a fistful of his hair to keep his face from hitting the cement beneath them. He grabbed for Bakugou's wrists, tightly restraining his movements. Even after All Might announced Bakugou had been restrained, the blond formed a fireball in his palm, ready to blast Midoriya – but Todoroki, who had been using the time to recover while Midoriya handily finished Bakugou off, decided he would freeze the boy's palms together behind his back.
The rest of the training session went rather smoothly; Aizawa announced that, since only ten people were left, it became a competition between all teams. Midoriya and Todoroki took a bit of time to recover, then handily restrained three other teams, and in their final face-down with Ochaco and Sero, used their prior knowledge of the two running along the walls to restrain them quickly.
Aizawa stood in front of the class outside of Gym Four while Cementoss broke down the remnants of the walls of the labyrinth. Most students had already caught their breaths, but Midoriya and Todoroki stood rather slouched against each other, trying to steady their breathing. Todoroki's right side had frozen over, his left steaming from their later battles. The handprint on Midoriya's arm had turned a sickly purple color and near the palm a few blisters had erupted from the skin.
All Might stepped out of the gymnasium with Cementoss after the clean-up process had been completed. "Well done, class!" his voice boomed, and the class echoed their thanks in response.
Aizawa waved All Might and Cementoss away. "Thank you for your help today," he said as he dismissed them, then returned his attention to the clipboard he'd had earlier that day.
"Today's results," he gathered the class's attention flatly. "Midoriya and Todoroki won."
"Obviously," someone scoffed, though Midoriya couldn't quite decipher who it was that made the comment.
"Yes, obviously," Aizawa agreed. "Midoriya and Todoroki, by far, are the two hardest-working students in this class. Their improvements because of their constant training were very evident in today's session."
Eyes settled on the two from all around – some irritated, others bewildered, as if they had no clue Midoriya and Todoroki reserved a gymnasium at least three times a week to spar and sparred in random parts of campus the rest of the days of the week. Bakugou (of course) was the first to say, "So it was rigged?"
"Yes," Aizawa replied calmly. "I wanted to prove to you what hard work can do."
Several mutters of "I knew it" were voiced from their teammates, and Aizawa sensed the group might turn on their classmates. "I arranged this," he stated bluntly, "so do not take your anger out on Midoriya or Todoroki. If you have a problem with the way I run trainings, take it up with me directly."
Another silence fell over the class, and they exchanged a few looks before letting the matter slide. Aizawa dismissed the majority of the class to the dormitories once more, asking for injured students to follow him to Recovery Girl's office.
Midoriya almost turned and left with the rest of the class, but Aizawa called for him. "Your arm," he stated.
"Oh, right," Midoriya turned. Todoroki hadn't sustained any injuries more than a few bruises, and he hesitated as Midoriya met Aizawa and the small group of students who had also faced Bakugou's wrath. Finally, though, Todoroki turned away and caught up with the group of students making their way back to Class 1-A.
"I should have a punch card made for you," Recovery Girl teased, pinching Midoriya's cheek the way a grandmother might when he walked in. Midoriya blushed and laughed, a little nervously, glancing back at the others.
Iida, Kirishima, Jirou, and Hagakure had all come along as well. Hagakure was being supported with one arm around Jirou's shoulders and the other around Kirishima's; her legs were still encased in ice from Todoroki's attack on her. Jirou's ear bled and a burn mark stretched across the side of her cheek, but it looked much less painful than Midoriya's. Kirishima and Iida had suffered burns of degrees similar to Midoriya's, as well as a few deep purple bruises.
"I have a few students for you," Aizawa droned, walking in behind the rest of the students.
Recovery Girl walked around to each of them, taking a closer look at their injuries. "I'll have to keep these two overnight," she gestured to Iida and Kirishima, "but the others will be okay in a few hours."
"Thank you," Aizawa bowed his head. "If you'll excuse me, I must return to the rest of the class."
"Of course, of course," Recovery Girl waved him away. He left her office with a soft thud of the door, and Recovery Girl turned her attention on Midoriya. "Usually your injuries would land you in here for several days," she noted calmly, gesturing to the way Midoriya's arm hung limply at his side.
"Yeah," Midoriya chuckled softly, raising his right arm to scratch his neck. "Sorry."
"Lie down," she instructed each of them, gesturing to the four cots in the room. "I'll operate on you first, Midoriya, so you can hopefully leave here by the end of the day."
Jirou and Kirishima carefully lowered Hagakure onto a cot. Recovery Girl led Midoriya to a side room – something she tended only to do when she had other patients. "Who did this?" she asked calmly as she shut the door to her side room.
"Kacchan," Midoriya replied simply.
"He appears to have done a significant amount of nerve damage," Recovery Girl frowned. "You may not regain full strength in this arm for a while."
Midoriya paled. It was one thing for him to overuse his own power and cause damage to himself, like he'd managed to do in the sports festival the first time he and Todoroki faced off; it was a completely new can of worms to have one action cause so much damage, and not even have it be at his own hands.
"Now, now," Recovery Girl waved her hand, "don't go thinking we can't fix this. All I'm saying is you'll have to take it easy for a few weeks. You can do that, right?"
"Probably," Midoriya mumbled back, but he made no promises. Recovery Girl noticed this and sighed.
"If you do anything with this arm that exerts even a small force of strength, you'll likely damage the nerve endings further and lose feeling in your fingers. Maybe even the whole arm."
"Okay," Midoriya tried to process what she said.
"I'm not saying I won't try to fix it if that happens," Recovery Girl said, "I'm just saying it will be difficult, even for me."
"I understand."
She took a closer look at Midoriya's arm for a moment. "You'll likely have a scar here, too."
"Great," Midoriya mumbled bitterly.
"I might be able to give you a solvent to help that," she tapped her chin in thought. "It might take a few weeks to be ready if I ask the country's bio lab. Is that okay?"
"It's fine," Midoriya replied with a feeble shrug.
She performed her healing routine – smooch and all – and led Midoriya back into the main office, having him take a seat on the edge of Hagakure's bed while Jirou and Kirishima helped her up again. The rest of them filed through the side room, each returning with a large bandage on their cheeks. They chatted idly between themselves for a while as Recovery Girl left to get lunch for them.
"So Midoriya," Hagakure spoke up, "how long have you and Todoroki been together?"
"I—what?" Midoriya coughed, a blush spreading across his cheeks.
"Are you not together?" she replied innocently. "Sorry, I guess I assumed you were."
"N-no, we're not," Midoriya mumbled.
"You two make a great team, though," Kirishima said with a smile over to him. "Jeez, you guys got me good earlier. If anyone was going to capture me, I'm glad it was you two."
"I could say the same," Iida said casually, giving Midoriya a warm smile. "You do make a great team."
Midoriya flushed and, as if on cue, Todoroki sent him a text. It was rare that Todoroki initiated a conversation over text, so Midoriya smiled in surprise when he saw Todoroki's name scrawled across the top of his phone.
Todoroki: Hey are you okay? Everything alright?
Midoriya: Let's talk later
Todoroki: Does that mean it's really bad?
Midoriya: Maybe. Should be out tonight though
Todoroki: Want to make pork cutlet bowls, finally?
Midoriya smiled wider. Todoroki didn't usually text back so quickly. He wondered if Todoroki was worried; well, of course he was, probably. It didn't mean anything special. Of course it didn't. So why couldn't he stop smiling?
Midoriya: Yes, please!
Iida gave him a suspicious look, then smiled a bit knowingly. He opened his mouth to say something, but just then Recovery Girl came back wheeling a small cart with six plates of food. "You all are lucky I'm friends with the chefs here," she said in a mock-intimidating tone. "Otherwise you'd be eating canned food."
"Thank you for the meal!" they chorused, and Midoriya got up to distribute plates using his right arm.
"Oh, Midoriya," Recovery Girl dug around in a cabinet near the door, "I've got an arm sling for you."
"Jeez, Midoriya, how bad is it?" Kirishima asked.
"I—" Midoriya glanced back down at his left arm, hanging uselessly. "Well…"
"His nerves are severed," Recovery Girl answered for him. "Should be fixed in a few weeks' time."
"A few weeks?!" Iida replied. "That'll take us right into summer vacation!"
"What are you going to do about the training camp?" Jirou asked.
"I'll still go," Midoriya said quickly, "I just won't be able to use my left arm."
Recovery Girl tched at that, but she said nothing. She simply helped Midoriya's arm into its sling, then went down the hall to eat her lunch in the teacher's lounge.
Recovery Girl's office had a television wide enough for them all to see, as well as a few shelves stocked with board games and puzzles. Midoriya had made the suggestion during one of his stays, saying that he had a few board games at his house that he could donate. Since then, there had been a bin placed outside the office asking for any old supplies – from board games to books. Yaoyorozu had supplied the television as a thank-you gift after she broke her leg during one of their training sessions.
The group turned on the television at a low volume, but mostly they chatted amongst themselves. Class 1-A had become exceedingly close in the duration of their time together, especially living in such close proximity. Most everyone by then knew about Iida's brother, Tensei, and they asked how he was doing. Iida explained he was paralyzed from the waist down, but he had physical therapy with a few Quirk specialists in paralysis.
"He's going to be alright, I think," Iida said finally. "Even if he doesn't get to walk again, he'll be fine. He's tough."
Midoriya smiled to himself. He'd gotten the chance to meet Tensei over their winter break a few months before. He'd come over to Iida's that day for something else entirely – he couldn't remember what for the life of him – and nearly ran into Iida pushing his brother in a wheelchair out of the house. "Oh, Midoriya," Iida said with a bright smile. "Perfect timing! I'm taking Tensei to lunch. Did you want to come with?"
Over the course of their lunch, Tensei told dozens of stories about his active duties as a hero. Midoriya remembered being surprised he hadn't heard about a few of the villains Tensei went up against; he waved it off saying the reporters had been following one of the bigger heroes that day. He'd accompanied the two as Iida took his brother to physical therapy, surprised to see that Tensei had even the tiniest of movement in his foot. Iida had leaned over and said the nurses said that was a good sign; not all nerve endings had been severed.
He was drawn back into the conversation in front of him when Jirou said his name – he assumed not for the first time, considering the way she yelled it. "S-sorry!" he squeaked, and the others chuckled softly, causing him to break out into a chuckle himself.
"I asked how your sleepover with Todoroki went," she wore an innocent smile, but for some reason Midoriya felt a bit embarrassed.
"Oh, you did end up having a sleepover?" Iida looked over at him.
"U-uh, yeah. It was great," he said, trying to use his right hand to cover the blush spreading to his cheeks.
"How were the cookies?" Hagakure asked.
"They were great!" Midoriya squeaked again.
"It would be fun if all the guys had a sleepover," Kirishima said, wistfully looking up at the ceiling. "If only Bakugou didn't go to bed so early."
The mention of Bakugou's name sent something sour into Midoriya's stomach, and he choked out a bitter laugh. "Yeah, if only."
By the time Recovery Girl had returned, the group sat around a rather intense game of chess being played by Midoriya and Iida. There were "ooh"s and "ahh"s as good plays were made, and the amount of cheering that erupted from them when Iida finally won was not that akin to a chess match. They spent the rest of their afternoon going through each of the board games; they decided to stop finally after a Monopoly game lasted nearly four hours. (The end result was, of course, Iida bankrupting everyone except Midoriya. Midoriya decided it best to forfeit.)
Around six o'clock that evening, Recovery Girl dismissed Midoriya, Jirou and Hagakure. Jirou had sent a text to Yaoyorozu to let her know they were on their way, and seconds later Midoriya had another text from Todoroki.
Todoroki: Momo said you're otw back
Midoriya: Yeah, will be back in a few
Todoroki: I found a recipe for pork cutlet bowls online
Midoriya grinned down at his phone. Jirou peeked over his left shoulder while Hagakure peeked over the right. "You're sure you aren't together," Jirou teased, poking a finger into Midoriya's cheek the way Midoriya tended to do to Todoroki.
"Jeez," Midoriya shook his head, an embarrassed blush plastering to his cheeks, "we're not. I wish…" he hadn't meant to say that last part out loud, and it didn't register that he had until Jirou started frantically typing in her phone. "What?" Midoriya asked, looking between the two of them.
"Operation: Get Midoriya a Boyfriend is underway," Jirou teased.
"Oh, no no no that won't be necessary," Midoriya said quickly, waving his hands.
"Why not?" Hagakure asked simply. "You like him, don't you?"
"I mean, I do but he doesn't feel the same—I mean, no I don't! What am I saying?"
Jirou just smiled knowingly, checking her phone as it went off several times in a row. "Momo's in," she said simply.
"What?! You told Yaoyorozu?!" Midoriya cried.
"Trust me, we'll take care of this," Hagakure laid a hand on Midoriya's shoulder. By then, the dormitory was in sight, and Midoriya had to dedicate a great deal of energy to masking the embarrassment on his face.
That was hard to do, though, when the second Midoriya walked in, Todoroki had him in his arms.