Midoriya bade his classmates farewell just outside the Class 1-A dormitory, waving with his right hand as he stood with All Might by his side. No matter how many times he'd insisted to Todoroki the night before he was fine to pack up his own belongings, Todoroki knew better and stayed up with him until nearly one in the morning to finish packing his items away. They'd fallen asleep shortly thereafter, collapsed on the now-coverless bed, Todoroki functioning as a weighted blanket as he splayed himself across Midoriya. He'd been careful of Midoriya's left arm, but still Midoriya had awoken to the sharp pain he'd gotten so used to.

All Might had brought his boxes downstairs for him, with a bit of help from Kirishima and Sato after they'd finished packing their own things into their respective cars. Midoriya's mother had been unable to come pick him up, so All Might offered to drive him home, instead. He and Todoroki had been the last two students, but just a few minutes ago Todoroki had finished packing his things into his older sister's car. He'd arranged to spend the week before his training at her apartment.

Just as All Might and Midoriya (with the limited help he could supply) finished packing Midoriya's things into All Might's car, Recovery Girl came strolling down the path from the U.A. campus. "Ah! Midoriya, I'm glad I caught you before you left!" She pinched his cheek in that friendly manner she tended to. Over her shoulder was a bag with a medical cross on it. "I brought you some things to help care for your arm over the break. If I'm correct, this week will likely be the worst of it, but you should be able to use your arm again soon."

The bags under Midoriya's eyes practically dissipated as his entire face lit up in a way that had become scarce during his recovery. "Really?!" Midoriya exclaimed, shifting from foot to foot in that excited way that Todoroki had been witness to so many times before.

Recovery Girl passed the bag into Midoriya's hand. "There's some bandages in there to wrap your arm with once you have enough strength to lift two pounds in your left hand," she said. "I contacted your mother and let her know the condition of your arm as well as what I'm giving you now, so she has an idea of how to wrap the wound. There's also that solvent I requested for the scar on your arm," as she explained she opened the bag in Midoriya's hand and pulled the items out. "And I left a note with my phone number in the bag. Please contact me once you regain feeling in your entire arm."

"Yes, ma'am!" Midoriya chirped. "Thank you so much!"

Recovery Girl turned her attention to All Might. "Have you talked to Bakugou?"

"Bakugou?" Midoriya questioned.

"Aizawa addressed the situation," All Might replied sternly. "I will step in if I have to, but it seems that Aizawa did a fine job himself."

"Right," Recovery Girl nodded, finally looking back to Midoriya. "We don't tolerate bullying at this school, especially to that degree," she clarified.

"Oh," the warm, sunny expression Midoriya had worn before dropped.

"Are you ready to go, Young Midoriya?" All Might asked, nodding towards the car.

"Yes, sir," Midoriya replied.

"Safe travels!" Recovery Girl called to them, then headed back the way she came.

The car ride wasn't particularly long, but in the early afternoon traffic of office workers going for lunch, it took longer than normal. "Sir," Midoriya said, "nothing is going to happen to Kacchan, right?"

"If he does anything like he did to your arm again, something will have to be done," All Might replied. "And Young Bakugou knows that that 'something' will be his expulsion from U.A."

Midoriya looked straight ahead through the windshield. Despite his apartment being on the outskirts of a city, they still hit the snag of city traffic. They'd been sitting at the same stoplight for three cycles now, barely moving forward each time it turned green. "Right," he said finally.

In the few weeks that Midoriya had been in recovery, and especially after Aizawa's talk with the three of them in Gym Three, Bakugou had steered clear of Midoriya in any way possible. A few times, even, Bakugou had gone upstairs from the commons when Midoriya came down to make himself a meal or spend time with the others in his class. Part of him felt guilty, with another equal part of him insisting that he had nothing to feel guilty for; after all, he didn't destroy Kacchan's arm. He glanced down at the bandages, idly picking at them; his arm hadn't been terribly sore that morning, especially since Midoriya took All Might's advice and cut a pill in half before taking it.

In fact, Bakugou had even made sure that he was in the furthest cabin from Midoriya possible during the training camp. The sign-up process had been a zoo the night before, and Ochaco proudly stated that she'd managed to reserve a whole cabin for herself, Iida, and Midoriya and Todoroki. (Midoriya swore he saw Hagakure behind Ochaco, and if he could see her expression, it likely would have been a smirk to tell him that she had at least some part in that.) Midoriya hadn't the courage to brave the sea of students to see which cabins everyone was staying in, but he heard from Kirishima that Bakugou had bribed Jirou to reserve a different cabin so his and Kirishima's would be furthest from Midoriya.

"Young Midoriya, would you like to stop for lunch?" All Might asked.

"I'm not really hungry," Midoriya said sheepishly.

"You haven't been eating well," All Might's voice became sterner. "I'd like you to eat something. Please."

Midoriya resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Over the course of his first year at U.A., All Might had adopted a fatherly role in Midoriya's life – something he'd imagined through middle school but never in the way that it actually happened in high school. "Sure, but not too much," he buckled.

"That's fine," All Might insisted. "I'd just like you to eat something."

They ended up stopping at a fast food joint on the corner of the road to Midoriya's apartment. Despite Midoriya's protests, All Might insisted they sit down and eat, and as they sat down Midoriya understood why. "I want to talk to you," All Might stated proudly.

"You are talking to me," Midoriya replied, playing with the small beef bowl in front of him. Other working men sat around in the small joint, most busying themselves with their cell phones rather than conversation, so Midoriya kept his voice down.

"About Young Todoroki," All Might clarified, also bringing his voice down in volume. Had Midoriya had a bit of soup in his mouth, he'd have likely spit it out in surprise.

"What about him?" Midoriya flushed, suddenly entirely occupied with the soup in front of him.

"You put a lot of trust in him," All Might said after a moment. Considering his words carefully, probably.

"I do," Midoriya agreed hesitantly. If he was about to be lectured by All Might on petty high school crushes, he wanted nothing of it.

But then, Todoroki didn't feel like a petty high school crush. It could just be wishful thinking, but Midoriya thought that the bond he and Todoroki shared meant much more than that. He thought about Todoroki a lot – not just the way his cheeks steamed when he got embarrassed or the way he laughed that one time in the hall on the way back from Aizawa's dorm space, but also the amount of trust he could put in him. They'd started off simply as sparring partners, for the most part; after Midoriya had invited him to lunch a few times, Todoroki asked one day if they could spar over lunch. It had initially been because Todoroki believed Midoriya to be a worthy opponent, and Bakugou had denied him the opportunity ("He told me to 'get lost, half-and-half bastard'," Todoroki relayed to Midoriya). It didn't take long for Todoroki to decide that not only was Midoriya a worthy sparring partner, but that he'd like to get better alongside him.

"Hey," All Might waved a hand in front of Midoriya's face. "You must be exhausted, huh? You're zoning out."

"S-sorry," Midoriya mumbled.

"We're not leaving until you finish your soup, young man."

"Yeah alright, dad," Midoriya grumbled back sarcastically. That exhausted sarcasm had only breached itself to All Might once before, and Midoriya had apologized nearly a thousand times following the incident, even with All Might insisting it was alright. Now, though, Midoriya seemed to barely register he'd even done it, much less who he'd done it to. He forced a few bites of beef into his mouth, struggling to even swallow. To All Might, it almost looked painful.

"Alright, okay – listen," All Might said finally, "maybe we should just ask for a to-go container. You look like you're about to gag every time you take a bite."

Midoriya spat the mouthful of food he'd been attempting to swallow into a napkin. "Thank you," he mumbled quietly.

The car ride was short; All Might simply had to drive a mile or so down the road the fast food place cornered on. Not enough time to pry about Midoriya's feelings; at least, Midoriya had been hopeful of that.

"Care to tell me what's going on between you and Young Todoroki?" All Might asked, his eyes glued to the road ahead of him.

"Jeez, you really do sound like you're trying to be my dad," Midoriya griped to himself.

"How so?" All Might asked, and Midoriya flushed; he'd meant to only think that statement.

"I—well—" he sighed. If there was anyone who wouldn't get mad at him for speaking his mind, it was All Might. "You just seem really invested in my private life."

"I care about you," All Might replied. "I feel like I have some responsibility in ensuring your safety, both as your teacher and your mentor."

"I guess," Midoriya nodded. "He's just a friend."

All Might hummed thoughtfully, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he stopped at a stop sign. "Is he a good friend?"

"Yes," Midoriya said without hesitation. "He's my best friend."

Again All Might hummed, driving into the apartment complex parking lot. "You two seem to work very well together."

"We know each other really well," Midoriya agreed. "We hardly have to say anything when we're fighting together."

All Might seemed to mull this over. "Okay, good to know."

They brought everything upstairs in more than a few trips; Midoriya was left to carry the smaller boxes with lighter items in there, while All Might took care of the larger boxes. There was little conversation during the process, both of them straining to move the boxes. Though, Midoriya did mention that it was a lot easier when they had Kirishima and Sato's help, which elicited a laugh from All Might.

They huffed down onto the couch together once they finished, and they remained there as Midoriya's mother got home. She sang to herself as she opened the door, shrieking in terror as she saw Midoriya and All Might collapsed together on the couch, until she realized. "Oh, right, your break," she laughed.

Midoriya jumped up from the couch and hugged her with his right arm. "Mama!" he said happily, and she hugged him back, careful of his left arm.

"Hello, Mrs. Midoriya," All Might rose and offered her a bow. "Thank you for having me. I was just helping Young Midoriya move his things upstairs."

"Thank you for the help!" she chirped, still occupied with hugging her son as tightly as possible without hurting him.

"Can All Might stay for dinner?" Midoriya asked, the same way a child might ask if their friend could spend the night.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly intrude—" All Might had begun to insist, but he was cut off my Midoriya's mother.

"That's the least we could do!"

All Might smiled. "Thank you for the invitation, in that case. I'd love to stay for dinner."

Midoriya's mother ran to the store to grab the ingredients for pork cutlet bowls soon after that, and as they ate, Midoriya told his mother about the events that had happened during his latest semester at U.A. "…and we played Capture the Flag!"

"Did you win?" Midoriya's mother asked after she swallowed her bite.

"I did! I captured the flag! I went up against Todoroki and—"

"Mm, Todoroki, huh?" Midoriya's mother's gaze settled idly on Midoriya's right arm, scarred and a bit mangled.

"Yeah! And I pinned him to the ground and he told me to get the flag before Kacchan could take ours—"

"The same Todoroki that did that to your arm?"

A silence fell over the table and All Might looked from Midoriya to his mother, wondering how this would play out. "Mama," Midoriya broke the silence, "I told you. I did this to myself. Todoroki didn't do this to my hand."

"I know," she sighed, "but I just can't help holding some contempt against him for it."

"You should meet him."

Midoriya and his mother both turned to face All Might, who had been the one to make the proposition. All Might held his hands up in a defensive position. "Mrs. Midoriya, I don't mean to intrude on the conversation, but Young Todoroki and your son have become very close."

Midoriya flushed. "W-well, we're just good friends," he clarified in case his mother came to the wrong conclusion. "We spar a lot together."

His mother hummed to herself, resting her head in her palm. "I'd like to meet him," she said finally, then resumed eating.

"Y-you would?" Midoriya squeaked. Meeting his mother fell oddly into 'couple' territory.

"And this Iida and Ochaco you mentioned, too," she added as an afterthought. "I'm just so glad my little Izuku has so many friends!"

Midoriya was about to protest, but All Might interjected. "He's a pretty popular student at U.A.," he winked over at Midoriya.

"I-I am not!" Midoriya countered, a blush stretching up to his ears.

"He is," All Might insisted to Midoriya's mother. "Such a kind kid. Always helping others."

"I don't doubt that for a second," Midoriya's mother beamed, ruffling Midoriya's hair across the table. "You've always had a kind heart, Izuku."

Midoriya grumbled under the shower of compliments, hanging his head and focusing all his attention into eating his food. He found that pork cutlet bowls didn't taste as good when they weren't prepared with Todoroki by his side.

All Might left shortly after dinner and Midoriya's mother helped him pack his things away. "I'll probably leave some of it packed," Midoriya said softly, "since it'll go back to U.A. with me at the end of break."

"You're sure your arm will be okay?" Midoriya's mother asked faintly, her eyes clouded with worry. She eyed the bandages with a grimace on her face.

"Mama, it feels a whole lot better than it did even yesterday," Midoriya insisted. "Recovery Girl said this week the process will go really fast."

"She told me over the phone it'd be really painful," Midoriya's mother's voice had dropped to a whisper. "You'll tell me if it gets too bad, right?"

"I will," Midoriya assured. "But these pain medications have been really helping today!"

"I'm glad," she forced a smile to her face, throwing the last of Midoriya's clothing into the wash. With so much else to worry about in his last few weeks on campus, Midoriya had forgotten all about doing his laundry. "So, when will you invite Todoroki over to meet me?"

"You were serious?" Midoriya asked, his cheeks flushing at the very mention of his friend. "Well, I guess I could see if he wanted to come spend the night before we left for training camp…"

"That sounds perfect," his mother agreed. "Your friends are always welcome here, you know."

"Thank you, Mama," Midoriya said softly. "I'll let them know."

That week was hell.

Midoriya loved being home with his mother, but the excruciating pain in his arm kept him from enjoying himself as much as he normally would. Even the pain medication couldn't quell the pains entirely; he had Recovery Girl's phone number dialed in his phone a few times, ready to call and ask if this was a normal amount of pain to be in, but he always talked himself out of it.

A few days in, though, Midoriya woke up with the realization that he could move his shoulder. It hurt horribly to do so, but he had the ability to. Then, the next morning, he could bend his arm. By that Saturday, the pain had quelled somewhat and he could move his arm with little effort, so he called Recovery Girl, a smile on his face that had been vacant for most of the time he'd been fighting his injury.

She answered quickly. "Hello?"

"Recovery Girl!" Midoriya chirped. "This is Midoriya Izuku. I can feel my arm!"

The noise of joy that came from the other end of the line almost made Midoriya wonder if Recovery Girl didn't expect him to regain feeling in his arm in the first place. "That's wonderful, truly wonderful!" she cried. "Okay, there's a spare set of bandages in the first aid kit I gave you. Can you have your mother rewrap your arm with those sometime this morning?"

Midoriya paused. His mother had left for work early that day and wouldn't be back until late.

"I—she's at work. Can I do it myself?"

Recovery Girl paused on the other end. "Is anyone else available to help you?" she asked finally.

"I could call a classmate…"

"That would work," she said. "They'll have to follow some pretty precise instructions, though. Do you have a pen and paper?"

"Hold on."

Midoriya listed off in detail the steps Recovery Girl explained to him, holding his cell phone in his left hand as he did so. That thought alone kept the smile from dissipating on his face, and it remained there even as he bid Recovery Girl a good weekend and called Todoroki.

"Shouto!" Midoriya chirped as he heard the phone line on the other end click.

"What is it, Izuku?" Todoroki's voice sounded rocky from sleep. Midoriya glanced at the clock; it was nine in the morning. Midoriya felt bad for waking him.

"I—sorry for waking you."

"You didn't."

"I did. I can tell by your voice."

"Doesn't matter. What do you need?"

"Can you come over?"

Todoroki shuffled on the other end of the line. "Yes? Is everything alright?"

"Mm," Midoriya tapped his chin. "Yes," he decided finally. "My mama wants to meet you. Do you want to bring some stuff to spend the night?"

More shuffling. Then, Midoriya heard a muffled, "Fuyumi, will you drive me to a friend's house?"

A few seconds later, Todoroki put the phone back to his ear. "I can be there in a few. Send me the address."

"You're the best!"

Midoriya missed the way Todoroki's cheeks flushed at the statement. The two said their goodbyes, then hung up. Todoroki quickly threw together an overnight bag, and soon enough he was standing outside Midoriya's door, shuffling back and forth on the balls of his feet with anticipation – the same way Midoriya might.

Before he could knock twice, Midoriya opened the door. With his left hand. "Hey, Shouto!" he chirped happily.

Todoroki didn't reply; his eyes remained on Midoriya's left hand grasping the door handle.

Midoriya followed his gaze. "Oh! Oh, that's what I wanted to talk to you about!"

"Can you feel it?" Todoroki asked, then inwardly cringed at his stupidity. Of course he can, idiot, he thought stubbornly.

"Yes! Isn't it great?!" Midoriya squealed. Todoroki stepped inside and toed his shoes off.

"It's…amazing," Todoroki whispered. He had the urge to pull Midoriya into a hug, but he decided better of it – at least, he thought he did, but suddenly Midoriya was in his arms.

No, it had been Midoriya who initiated the hug. Todoroki had wrapped his arms around Midoriya almost immediately, though, so he supposed it didn't really matter who hugged who.

"I actually need your help re-wrapping my arm," Midoriya admitted sheepishly, drawing back from the hug. Todoroki reluctantly released him.

"Yeah?"

"I wrote down all the instructions Recovery Girl told me! Do you mind?"

"Of course not."

Todoroki read and reread the instructions as Midoriya settled himself on the couch, bandages in hand. "She said it would hurt," Midoriya called over to him, "so don't stop if you hurt me."

"Tell me if I do," Todoroki countered. "I'd like to hurt you as little as possible, at least."

He settled on the couch across from Midoriya, watching intently as his friend removed the gauze wrapping his arm. It was reddish-purple, but even with the depth of the tone his entire arm was Todoroki could still easily pick out that handprint. By now the blisters had receded, but the skin had welted with the comings of a scar. "Recovery Girl also gave me some medication to put on that," Midoriya explained softly, noting where Todoroki's eyes had settled.

"That's good," Todoroki countered softly. "Hopefully it goes away."

"I really hope so," Midoriya whispered.

They both remained silent while Todoroki wrapped Midoriya's arm. It was a delicate process; Todoroki's fingers barely ghosted Midoriya's skin, and he chewed his cheek in concentration. He went slow, first wrapping each of Midoriya's fingers, then taking the bandages up his arm. A few times Midoriya hissed in pain and Todoroki halted, looking to Midoriya expectantly; his response each time was a quick nod and reassuring smile. Todoroki stopped at the handprint just below his shoulder, eyeing it carefully. "Do you want to put that stuff on it now?" Todoroki asked quietly.

"I-if you want," Midoriya mumbled back, and Todoroki wondered why he'd stuttered just then. Did he feel the same nervousness Todoroki did? With his concentration on Midoriya's bandages coupled with his close proximity with said boy, his right side had begun to crystallize with small specks of ice. The second he spotted them he regulated his heat; he hoped Midoriya hadn't noticed.

Of course Midoriya noticed.

Todoroki rose from the couch and returned with the first aid kit a few seconds later. He fished out the container from other miscellaneous tools given to him in the kit. "Do you want to, or should I?" he asked, voice stern.

Midoriya flushed. "A-ah, could you? It's a little hard for me to see what I'm doing…"

Without hesitation Todoroki uncapped the container and carefully scooped a small amount of the scar cream onto his fingers. "This is probably going to hurt," he warned.

"Can I—" Midoriya reached for Todoroki's free hand hesitantly.

Todoroki offered the hand to him. "Squeeze it if it hurts," he murmured. Midoriya smiled nervously, then took his hand.

Nearly the second Todoroki's fingers grazed the wound, Midoriya's fingers tightened around his hand. Only slightly, though. "Good," Todoroki whispered. His voice wasn't particularly made for soothing, but it would have to do.

As he got closer to the palm of the scar, Midoriya's grip grew tighter. "You're doing great, Izuku," Todoroki murmured, hearing Midoriya draw in a sharp breath. "I'll try to go quicker, okay?" He continued coating the wound in the solvent, and by the end his soothing had become a stream of unintelligible mumbling. Midoriya's hand gripped his own tightly even as Todoroki said he'd finished, wiping the remnants of the scar cream on his pant leg.

"Thank you," Midoriya whispered, finally releasing his hand. "Recovery Girl said to put those cotton pads on the scar before wrapping it," he gestured to the open kit on the coffee table in front of them.

"Right," Todoroki nodded, reaching for them. He placed the rectangular cotton pads delicately, trying his best to keep from hurting Midoriya more. Though the other did elicit a hiss at the action, he assured Todoroki it was because he'd just been surprised. Todoroki didn't know how true that was, but he wasn't about to argue.

"I'm going to finish wrapping your shoulder now, okay?" Todoroki said, and Midoriya nodded. He refused to look at Todoroki, now, instead focusing on drumming his right fingertips on Todoroki's leg absently. It likely would have distracted Todoroki if he allowed himself to be distracted, but his focus remained on Midoriya's safety. He'd been entrusted with this task and he didn't want to prove himself unworthy of that trust.

That was the most painful part, from what Todoroki could tell. Recovery Girl's notes stated that he needed to wrap the arm tightly, and so he did; but soon enough Midoriya's drumming fingertips were replaced with his hand, squeezing at Todoroki's leg hard enough to leave fingerprint-shaped bruises, but he didn't care. He wasn't suffering here. He would have done anything to be in Midoriya's place right now.

He gave Midoriya a few moments to catch his breath after he finished. "Thank you," Midoriya whispered through a strained voice, as if he'd been biting back a scream of pain.

"You're welcome," Todoroki murmured back. "Have you taken a pain pill yet today?"

"With my breakfast," Midoriya replied, letting his head fall forward onto Todoroki's shoulder. "It didn't do much good then, though."

Todoroki absently let his fingers come up to Midoriya's hair. "Yeah," he mumbled, his fingers catching on a knot of curly hair. He did his best to untangle it without disturbing Midoriya.

They remained that way for a while, and eventually Midoriya drifted to sleep with Todoroki's fingers combing through his hair so gently. Todoroki realized what he was doing shortly after Midoriya's breathing leveled out, and it took every muscle in his body not to begin steaming; had Midoriya just let him play with his hair? Did he think Todoroki was weird now? If he did, he would have said something, right?

His internal panic continued even as the door unlocked and a woman who looked quite similar to Midoriya stepped into the apartment. "Izuku?" she called out, instead seeing a boy with white and red hair being used as a pillow. Her voice quieted to a whisper. "Are you Todoroki?" she asked quietly, as if the multicolored hair hadn't been enough of an indicator. Then again, in the world of Quirks, maybe it wasn't.

Todoroki nodded, letting his hands fall limp at his sides. "I wrapped his arm," he said sheepishly, "and he fell asleep on me."

The woman covered her mouth as she chuckled. "He does that if you play with his hair," she noted softly, and Todoroki's cheeks flushed. "It's okay!" she assured. "You're not the first person who's wanted to."

Midoriya's mother carefully shifted Midoriya on the couch so Todoroki could move away. On the one hand, he was grateful; on the other, he'd wanted the moment to last, even if he'd been sitting like that for over an hour.

Jesus, had it been over an hour?

Turns out it very much had; Midoriya's mother had come home for her lunch break. She beckoned Todoroki to the kitchen of the apartment. He stood rigid across from her, with the counter separating them. "Izuku has told me so much about you," she said with the warm smile he missed from his own mother.

"He—he has?" Todoroki replied with a soft blush.

"He says you two spar all the time," she continued. "I'm going to be honest, I was a little apprehensive of you at first, but seeing the care you have for my boy…well, how could I be upset?" She wore a wonderfully bright smile, and Todoroki suddenly understood who Midoriya got it from.

"I would never hurt him," Todoroki said with a stern look. He assumed her apprehension came either from his father or their telecasted battle the year before.

"I believe you," she replied. She glanced over at the couch, where Midoriya had mumbled something in his sleep that sounded oddly along the lines of 'Shouto'. "I need to ask you something," she said in a more serious tone, her eyes still on the couch that Midoriya laid on.

"Yes ma'am?" Todoroki tilted his head, a bit nervous for what she might ask. Would she ask if they were dating? Of course they weren't. Did it look like they were?

Oh, god. Did they act like a couple?

His thought process sent ice crystals budding at his skin again. Luckily Mrs. Midoriya's eyes remained on the couch across the room. "Who did that to him?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper. "Was it Bakugou?"

Todoroki blinked, ice crystals dissipating as easily as they'd formed. "He didn't tell you?"

"He said it was a school bully," she explained softly. "I've never known anyone who wanted to bully my Izuku, Quirkless or not."

Todoroki knew from the stories Midoriya told him about grade school that that wasn't an accurate statement. Still, he nodded his head slowly. "Bakugou did it," he whispered softly. "During a training exercise."

Mrs. Midoriya's lips fell into a tight line. "And what is being done about it?"

"He's received the best healing imaginable," Todoroki replied.

She sighed. "No, I meant – well, I suppose as a student you wouldn't know those things. I'm sorry to bring you into this." The worry that had daunted her face a moment ago dissipated, and like the sun peeking out from a layer of clouds, her smile returned. "It really was nice of you to wrap that wound for him. To tell the truth, I was a little nervous to do it myself."

"Shouto?" Midoriya grumbled from the couch.

"Sounds like you're being beckoned," Mrs. Midoriya mumbled. "I just stopped home to grab my lunch – I left it here this morning. You two have fun! Tell Izuku I'll be back a little late tonight, so you two can order food, if you want."

With a quick wave over her shoulder, Mrs. Midoriya grabbed her lunch from the fridge and left the apartment. By then Midoriya had sat up on the couch, rubbing his eye with his left hand. "Mm, Shouto, was that my mama?"

"Yeah," Todoroki replied softly. "She left her lunch here, I guess."

"Does she like you?"

"I think so."

"Good."

Todoroki sat back down next to Midoriya, who struggled to keep his eyes open and god did he look like an angel when he was half asleep. "Did you not sleep well last night?" Todoroki asked.

"It's that easy to tell, huh?" Midoriya replied with a sleepy, lopsided smile.

"I mean, you haven't been sleeping well since you got hurt," Todoroki said with a shrug.

"That's true."

"Oh, your mom said she wouldn't be home till late, so you could order us some food."

Midoriya sighed and let himself fall backward into the couch. "Takeout really doesn't sound good," he grumbled to himself. "I've had takeout three times this week."

"Does your mom always work late?" Todoroki asked curiously.

"Not always," Midoriya shook his head. "She just got the unlucky draw of shifts this week."

"What does your mom do?"

Todoroki realized he knew next to nothing about Midoriya's mother – or, for that matter, his father. Midoriya shuffled a bit next to him, sitting up again and turning to face him, cross-legged on the couch. "My mama's a nurse," he explained softly. "She can attract small objects to her, so she works with surgeons mostly to pass them scalpels and things, I think. She just got the job a year or so ago, so I don't really know much."

"What about your dad?"

Midoriya's gaze faltered and he looked past Todoroki, chewing his bottom lip. Todoroki got the sinking feeling that maybe he shouldn't have asked. He was about to open his mouth and say something, maybe tell Midoriya he was sorry, but Midoriya opened his mouth first. "He works abroad," he said finally, "which is probably code for 'he's not coming home'."

"I'm sorry I asked," Todoroki mumbled.

"It's alright!" Midoriya assured, then. "Actually, his Quirk is kinda similar to your dad's."

"How so?" That intrigued Todoroki; he sat forward, somewhat eagerly awaiting an explanation from Midoriya.

"Well, he's probably not as strong as Endeavor," Midoriya prefaced. "But I guess I don't know. I haven't seen him since I was eight. He can breathe fire, though."

Todoroki thought about that for a moment. "Huh," he said finally. "I don't know that my dad can breathe fire."

"That's why I said they're only kinda similar," Midoriya poked a finger from his left hand into Todoroki's cheek, smiling.

"I missed you," Todoroki blurted, a blush coating his cheeks before he even said it, because it was true. He had missed Midoriya so much during the week they were apart; he'd missed making food together and sparring and god, he'd just missed him.

"I missed you too," Midoriya replied honestly. "Do you want to maybe watch a movie or something?"

"I don't care," Todoroki shrugged. "As long as I get to spend time with you."

They made dinner together. It took a bit of time to get used to cooking in the smaller apartment kitchen, but soon enough they were bumping hips and sharing jokes with the same rhythm as the U.A. dorms. Midoriya hadn't had cold soba since they left the campus, and Todoroki could always eat cold soba, so they made that for dinner. As they ate together with the television in the living room providing ambient noise, Midoriya practiced holding his bowl in his left hand; he had to set it down every few minutes or so, but for the most part, he could hold it steady.

Midoriya's mom got home just about when he and Todoroki had finished doing the dishes from their meal. "Oh, Izuku, you didn't have to do the dishes!" she chirped as she set down her bags.

"There's cold soba for you in the fridge," Midoriya replied, completely ignoring his mother's statement.

"You didn't order in?"

"Shouto helped me cook, mama!"

Midoriya's mother smiled warmly. "How sweet of you," she replied. "I'm going to go take a shower, then I'll have some of that soba. Alright?"

"Okay, mama!"

Todoroki kept his head down while he washed the dishes. Midoriya dried and put away, having a better idea of where the dishes were supposed to go; but then, he mentioned his mother had rearranged the kitchen since he'd last been home, and in the week he'd been back from school he still hadn't deciphered where everything ended up.

They bumped hips even as they did the dishes, and a few times Todoroki teasingly flicked water over at Midoriya. In response, Midoriya rolled the towel and swatted at him. The laughing that Todoroki had missed so much in his week apart from Midoriya reverberated off the walls of the kitchen, bright and jovial and everything that he remembered. He let himself laugh, too, that same laugh from the hall after they'd gone to pester Aizawa to train at ten o'clock at night. How did they ever think that would work?

Midoriya's mother came into the kitchen just as they finished the last of the dishes. Todoroki unplugged the sink full of soapy water while Midoriya pulled the Tupperware container from the fridge. "Shouto and I are pretty good at making cold soba," he announced proudly.

"I'll be the judge of that," his mother teased back. "Thank you for the meal!"

Midoriya and Todoroki sat at the table with her while she ate, listening to her talk about her day at work. "I was in surgery with Dr. Nanase for over four hours today," she said with an exhausted sigh. "A little boy had swallowed a sharp rock."

"Is he alright?" Midoriya asked, always one to worry about the health of people, even if he didn't know them.

"He's fine," Midoriya's mother assured. "There's a reason Dr. Nanase was assigned to his surgery."

"Dr. Nanase has an X-ray vision Quirk," Midoriya explained to Todoroki, who nodded in understanding.

"Anyway," Midoriya's mother said, "I don't want to keep you two from enjoying your sleepover. You can sleep in the living room if you want – I'm going to go read in my room for a while."

She took her empty bowl to the sink. "Thank you for the meal. It was delicious," she smiled that warm smile, and Midoriya reciprocated it.

"I'm glad you liked it! It's Shouto's favorite."

"Seems like it's one of your favorites now, too," his mother teased. "Considering how delicious it tasted. That can't have been your first time making it."

Midoriya let out a slow chuckle, nervousness piquing on his face as he rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Ah, Shouto and I cook a lot together on campus."

"Is that so?" his mother's eyes drifted towards Todoroki as she spoke, wearing a mock-innocent smile on her face. "Isn't that wonderful."

Whatever she seemed to piece together in her mind, Todoroki didn't like it. It's not like they were – well, dating – or anything. Did people think that, because they called each other by their first names? No, best friends did that. A few times Todoroki heard Bakugou refer to Kirishima by his first name, and vice versa. It was fine. Everything was fine.

"Izuku, what time do you need to be back to U.A. tomorrow before the bus departs?"

Todoroki heaved a quiet sigh of relief. Everything is fine.

"Around seven-thirty," Midoriya replied. "Is that okay? Do you need me to call All Might and ask him to take us?"

"Erm," Midoriya's mother drew her phone from her pocket and shuffled through her work schedule. "Oh, I've got to be back at eight…that doesn't give me enough time…" she began a sort of mumble-fit. "Can I drop you boys off a little earlier? Say, seven?"

"We'd have to be up at like, five thirty to pack," Midoriya murmured to himself. "But then Shouto's things are at his sister's, and I don't know how far that is from here…and how long would it take him to pack?"

Todoroki looked back and forth between the two Midoriyas, simultaneously engaging in their own mumble-fits to determine a strategy for the next morning. Finally, in unison, they both cried, "All Might should drive!"

They laughed together, and honestly, Todoroki stopped thinking of it as 'cute' and treaded more towards thoughts about how scary it was. He looked back and forth between the two of them apprehensively, expecting venomous, evil smiles. Instead he was met with the same warm sunshine smiles he'd come to know and love (at least, from Izuku, but his mother's smiles were also quite enjoyable to witness). "I'll call him," Midoriya offered. "Shouto, how far away is your sister's apartment?"

"It's on the other side of town," Todoroki replied. "It took about twenty minutes to get here from there."

"Okay, then I'll have All Might come get us around six. Does that sound good?"

Todoroki winced inwardly at the thought of having to wake up so early. Though, if it meant going to training camp and being able to finally spar with Midoriya again, he might just do anything.

Midoriya dialed All Might's number and soon after those plans were arranged his mother dismissed herself to the bedroom, warning the boys not to stay up too late if they wanted to be awake and prepared for the day tomorrow. Midoriya seemed to disregard the word of warning the second his mother left the room, though, because he asked, "What movie do you want to watch?"

"It's getting kind of late, Izuku," Todoroki countered bluntly.

"Well, sure," Midoriya shrugged. "But I can't really fall asleep without something on, so…" He moved into the living room, pulling the cushions off the couch and moving the coffee table to the side.

"Ah, Izuku, what are you doing?" Todoroki asked tentatively. Had his friend finally lost his mind being unable to train?

"Have you never seen a pull-out couch before?" Midoriya asked, peeking his head over the couch to Todoroki. He scoffed when his eyes met Todoroki's utterly confused expression. "I should have expected as much, Mr. 'My-Old-Man-Is-Rich'," he teased with a smile.

"How does it work?" Todoroki asked, suddenly intrigued by the prospect. Midoriya grabbed ahold of a metal handle just underneath the couch cushions and pulled, and a rather thin mattress unfolded from within the couch. Todoroki must have looked awestruck, because Midoriya a second later had a finger pressed into his cheek, giggling.

"It's a bed," he explained, gesturing. "Just let me grab the sheets and some blankets. You get comfy, alright?"

"No," Todoroki followed him through the apartment as he went down the hall to the linen closet. Part of him didn't want to be alone in the apartment, small as it might be, but another part of him wished to help Midoriya in every way possible. After all, Midoriya's arm still had recovering to do; just because he could move it now didn't mean he could do everything himself.

He sure did try, though, stacking up the sheets and a rather heavy blanket on his left arm.

"Don't overexert yourself," Todoroki warned, reaching to take the blanket off his stack.

"I'm fine," Midoriya insisted, though his strained expression said otherwise. "Look! I can do it! See?"

"You're sweating."

"This is the only way I'll get better quickly!"

That impatience hadn't presented itself to Todoroki so blatantly the entire time Midoriya had been out of commission. But Todoroki understood; he'd likely have begun working his arm the second he could feel his fingers. He was surprised at the amount of restraint his friend had displayed thus far. So, he felt immensely guilty when he took the blanket in one fell swoop, rushing off before Midoriya could snatch it back. "Your nerves are still rebuilding," he called over his shoulder. "I wouldn't want to see you get more hurt than you have to."

He threw the blanket down with a huff on the loveseat perpendicular to the pull-out couch. "Fine," Midoriya griped behind him. "The least you can do is help me with the sheets, though."

Wrestling sheets onto mattresses turned out to be neither of their strengths. Finally they settled for covering three corners; every time they tried to get the fourth, another corner sprung free. They threw the blanket down, though it was warm enough that they opted to lay on top of it. "Oh! Pillows!" Midoriya cried just a moment after flopping down, already springing back up to go find some.

He returned with a stack much too large for two people (though he carried them primarily in his right hand, to Todoroki's relief). "Got enough?" Todoroki asked teasingly.

"I like pillows," Midoriya huffed back, jutting his lip out in a pout. "Did you decide on a movie?"

"Was I supposed to?"

"Shouto," Midoriya whined, throwing down the pillows and maneuvering around the furniture to the television set. "You really want to let me pick again?"

"Why not," Todoroki droned. "Sometimes the movies you pick out are good."

"Only sometimes?"

Todoroki sat up, then, casting a look Midoriya's way. "How about all the times you fell asleep on me watching a movie you picked out?"

"That was only twice," Midoriya argued, because yes, it had happened a second time in the weeks between their first sleepover and now. Soon enough he'd put a movie in, turned the lights off in the living area, and laid down at Todoroki's side.

Though they started off laying completely separate from one another, before the movie hit the halfway mark they'd made themselves comfortable pressed against each other; Midoriya's arm and leg draped over Todoroki casually, Todoroki's arm delicately wrapped around Midoriya's shoulders. It felt – well, normal. Todoroki knew well enough to know that maybe this wasn't the type of interactions best friends shared; but, well, it felt normal to him, and normal to Midoriya, so why should they stop?

Shortly thereafter his hand drifted to Midoriya's hair, lazily playing with the curls and untangling some unruly knots. Midoriya fell asleep at his hand for the second time that day, his breathing leveling out just as the movie reached its climax. Even the yelling of some rather gory battle scene wasn't enough to wake the boy, and it wasn't enough to keep Todoroki awake, either. Todoroki fell asleep to the sound of Midoriya's breathing, his voice every once in a while catching in his mouth with a hiccupped hum. And, once or twice, Todoroki swore he could hear him saying "Shouto".