No One Sleeps by MinetteSH

by alkhuzamaa

4 times class 1-A didn't question Midoriya's weird sleepwalking habits, and 1 time Midoriya picked up a knife and couldn’t wake up until blood was shed.

Drugs are amazing.

Well, he should specify. He'll never condoan doing the hardcore stuff - or even experiment with any of that crap - like cocaine, meth, or heroin. Any type of drug with high addiction percentages upon first use he'll always say no to.

Sero's drug of choice in particular is marijuana, and whoever discovered it, he will only ever see them as God-tear exilancy. How could he not when it saved his life?

When he was four and had developed his Quirk, the pain was long and excruciating. His bones slowly morphed throughout his childhood. Breaking, rebuilding, then breaking again to fit his growth spurts. There was a point where his bones had broken to such an extent that he was stuck. His wrists were pinned to his shoulders and he couldn't move to feed himself, or dress himself, or push himself back up when he fell. The pain was so agonizing that one late night his parents rushed him to the hospital because his breaks turned into compound fractures through the thin skin of his elbow. He almost died from shock.

That was also the first night he'd ever had his first dose of any type of pain reliever: oxycodone.

Throughout his eight-week stay at the hospital - he had to so the doctors could closely monitor him for any more compound breaks - he was lucid almost the entire time. There were good days where he felt like he didn't need the opioid, just as there were awful days filled with screaming and constant tears. Those days were the ones where the doctors had to unravel then recast his ever growing Quirk.

By the seventh week, his parents were worried that he was growing too dependent on it. Oxycodone was an addictive drug after all and he understood why they were so worried. He was

worried for himself as well. If he wanted to become a hero, he couldn't rely on this drug anymore. With his parents' insistence, the doctors prescribed Sero a medical merijuana card. At first, Sero wasn't sure. He'll be the first to admit, his family's way of living was free spirited but he never considered them hippy-ish or the type to do recreational drugs. However, if this was the alternative to saying goodbye to his Hero dream...

On this twelfth birthday, freshly dismissed from the hospital with his healed arm in a blue sling, his mom took him home while his dad made a trip to a dispensary. Hours later, when all the oxycodone wore off and the pain returned, his mom baked him a CBD oil cupcake. He's never rested so easily before then.

Now, a fifteen year-old UA student, he still has a card since he's still growing with his Quirk alongside him. Sero's never smoked - he'll never put his lunge through that type of hell - or has done anything other than bake his CBD oil into various pastries. Very few people know about his plant based pain reliever - including Nezu and Recovery Girl when he filled out final Hero Course paperwork and Aizawa when he moved into the dorms - but then, of course, there was Kaminari.

Why the sparky blond was spying on his conversation with his parents will never be answered when the boy hears the magical phrases - No mom. I don't plan on telling anyone I bake pot pastries. - escaped his mouth. It's been a week since then and Kaminari won't stop asking about it. It started with the usual - Why do you have a medical card? - to - Dude! You gotta let me try!

Sero's never shared his oils before and he'd never planned to, either, because it was technically prescribed medication and what the doctor writes specifically to you, you shouldn't share. However, after what felt like the millionth time refusing even with Kaminari hanging his secret over his head like blackmail in the shape of a noose, the image of Kaminari completely lax and out of it on the floor after one bite was starting to paint a hilarious picture. So, after a very long and harsh training session Friday, Sero goes home, bakes one cupcake, then gets back to the dorms before curfew.

It's Saturday evening and Sero has been waiting all day in an almost empty dorm building. The ones who are staying the weekend are himself, Shoji and Midoriya. He doesn't mind that he isn't alone, he's been alone the past two weekends in the dorms because his parents are on an anniversary cruise, but a small part of him wishes he was. He's nervous and excited at the same time, he could throw up. He'd texted Kaminari earlier this morning and they came up with a plan that he'd come back to the dorms to hangout all night and slowly eat the pastry together. Knowing the other two, Shoji and Midoriya will more than likely stay in their dorms. If it were Mina or Ida, or someone else just as nosy as the two, they would probably get caught.

When Kaminari arrived armed with grocery bags filled with snacks and drinks (gatorade mainly), they waited until it was dark to do anything. Snape is on dorm duty this weekend and didn't mind the boys' last minute sleepover plans - if it was Midnight, they wouldn't have been so lucky.

As soon as the moon was out and the sun was down and Sero was sure neither Shoji nor Midoriya would spontaneously check up on them past curfew, he pulled out the cupcake hidden under his bed.

"Really?" Kaminari teases, faking disgust. "Where all your porn mags are?" "Oh, shut up. You want some or what?"

"I'm honestly surprised you agreed. I was expecting at least one more week of nagging until you caved. I lost a bet because of you."

"Wait, you bet on this?" Sero hesitates opening the tupperware.

"Joking! Just jokes! Geez. I might short circuit a lot but I know when to keep my mouth shut."

Sero's nervous and excited but also on edge. If anyone found out he was sharing, he could lose his card then he'll be kicked out of UA and stuck in constant pain again. At least until he stops growing, but who knows when that'll be?

"You better, otherwise I'm dragging you down with me." He opens the tupperware and cuts the cupcake into fourths. "Here."

Kaminari takes the tiny offering compared to what's left in the box. "What's this?! Come on, don't be stingy!"

It's not like Sero put much oil in the batter, in consideration for his friend's lake of experience, but too much can still mess someone up for hours. "Come back to me in two hours. If you don't feel anything different by then, then I'll give you another fourth. I'm not letting you go Short-Circuit- Denki on me right off the bat."

Kaminari pouts, eyeing Sero, the piece of cupcake, then shoves it in his mouth. "Fine! But it's just gonna be a waste of two hours feelin' nothing."

They put on a movie, Sero also eating a fourth, and within fourty-five minutes - Sero times it - he could tell Kaminari was feeling it. His friend is slumped in the corner of his bed. Leaning against the wall with his head back, and eyes glassy. Sero laughs as Kaminari examines his hands. He's making them spark - nonlethal from the CBD - and looks super out of it, shocked by his own abilities.

"Dude," Sero chuckles, pulling out his phone and hitting record, "You good?" "Duuuuude," Kaminari trails. "I'm so fat! "

"You're not fat."

"Then why am I so heavyyyy?"

"It's a pain relief oil. You're just super relaxed, man, so relax."

Kaminari's head slowly rolls over, mouth open - slightly drooling - and ready to say something. He stops when he sees Sero and starts laughing hysterically. Sero laughs with him.

For the next few hours, Sero watches over his friend as he clumsily gives in to snaking and laughs at seemingly nothing during the movies. He doesn't take offense when he admits he's laughing at his face, at how his smile looks like Aizawa's on a rare good day and instead makes fun of him right back.

All of it was fine until one-thirty when Midoriya kicked in the door.

Midoriya's standing in the doorway, foot raised, body still crackling in green lightning. Sero's first thought is, they're fucked. They've awoken Midoriya, somehow, and somehow the boy knows what they're doing. He's never thought of Midoriya as the straight laced type, especially since he once went out to rescue Bakugou, then broke curfew to fight the explosive teen not too long after. The other boy has a habit of breaking rules for the sake of his friends, but Sero knows he isn't going to overlook this. Drugs are much different than life and death or a childhood grudge.

Sero spares a glance at Kaminari and at least he looks somewhat sobered by the sudden heart attack.

"Where is it?" Midoriya says, except, it's in the same tone he uses when he's mumbling. It comes out in a grumble. He finally puts his foot down, swaying, head lobbing back and forth, and eyes dazed.

Was... Was Midoriya high, too?

"Where's what?" Sero asks lamley.

"The thing." Midoriya makes a vague gesture with his hands, shaping something but making no sense. "You know. That thing."

"What-?"

"On the desk!" Kaminari blurts.

"Dude!" Sero hisses because now they're definitely screwed. The remaining half of the cupcake is still on the desk. Tupperware open and what's left of it on full display.

Kaminari's only excuse is a stiff shrug.

Midoriya's dazed eyes scan the room, fall on the desk and Sero watches in horror as Miroiya's eyes bloom in situational recognition. Green eyes shift to his, wide and accusatory.

Before he can get a word out, Sero interrupts, "Midoriya, I can explain-"

Midoriya's eyes roll, hands rise over his head then slap down to his thighs. He exasperatedly huffs. "This isn't the bathroom."

Everything is quiet until Kaminari speaks. "No, man. One more door down the hall."

Without a word, Midoriya turns in the wrong direction to the bathroom, mumbling as he goes. They're only allowed a moment of silence until Shoji bursts in the doorway, out of breath and more panicked than Sero's ever seen him.

"Have you seen Midoriya?" Shoji looks straight at Sero. Sero can't tell if he should be happy he's looking at him instead of the obviously drugged Kaminari beside him.

Sero pointed to the left wall, "Just went that way."

"I know he's sleep walking but, did he say anything about a bomb?"

"What?!" both boys screech.

From down the hall, Sero hears Midoriya yell, "Oh my God, I forgot about the bomb!"

Sero scrambles off the bed and stands in the doorway, peering down the hallway. Midoriya is looking at the ceiling, clutching fistfulls of his curls. Then, in the silence as the three watch him, he lowers his arms, looks back, and shrugs at them. "Guess I'll see you three in Hell." With that Midoriya turns for the stairwell. "Night, night."

Shoji sighs. "I better follow him to make sure he actually gets back to his own dorm." "Yeah," Sero nods, lost for words. "Sure."

When Shoji leaves the same way Midoriya does, Sero guides Kaminari back into the room and locks the door behind them.

"Dude," Kaminari says, resuming his spot in the corner of the bed. "I think I'm done with drugs from now on 'til forever."

Sero wants to say that Midoriya's weird sleepwalking outbursts has nothing to do with the drugged cupcake, but if it makes him never ask to try something again, then, "I think that's for the best."

~~*~~

It's not as if Kirishima is afraid - of course not. It's just, sometimes, when he wakes up in a cold sweat, staring into the darkness of his open closet door - even though he knows he closed it before he crawled into bed - he can't help to feel a little on edge.

He knows the door's latch is broken. It's never been able to close all the way. If the window is open - as it is now - the air circulating the room will pull it open somehow. He knows all of this, yet, he still can't fathom how the door is able to swing wide and revealing with a simple breeze. As he stares into it, it's like he's peering into the void - a black never ending hole in his wall - he wonders if tonight is the night something will finally jump out and attack him. Dark, open closets have always been his fear - a type of nyctophobia a therapist once explained to his mom - and he knows it's silly, and he knows he should be a man and grow up, but...

When he looks and can't tear his eyes away, his mind wanders back to middle school. Back to the giant shrouded in a black cloak, looming over two girl's from his school and cracking the side of a building with its grip. How scared he was - frozen in place - even though he wanted to help. Whenever he finds his gaze trapped in dark closets, he thinks he sees it - the giant. Thinks he sees the giant crouched, taking up all of the space and waiting for him to step close enough to strike and take him and snap him in two.

Without taking his eyes from the void, Kirishima fumbles for his phone on the nightstand and expertly turns on the flashlight setting without having to look. As blinding as the burst of white light suddenly is, he doesn't allow himself time to adjust before turning it to the closet. He takes a deep breath that reaches the bottom of his lungs and blows it out slow - a slight whistle trailing behind.

Of course nothing is there. It's just coats and sweaters hanging on the rack and then some shoes and old clothes he doesn't care for on the floor. Nothing to be scared of - just like every time he's checked before.

A knock on the door almost makes him scream. In his jumpy panic, he drops his phone flash light downward, and now everything is dark, and he can't find it in the covers, and oh god did the closet just open wider?

Another knock.

He finds his phone and flashes the light at the closet - heart in his throat and breathing hard - then sweeps it to the door when he notes no changes to the hangers. The handle is twitching, making everything so much worse, but he's a man. He can tell what's real and what's not, and maybe he did yelp in his panic, and maybe the person on the other side is just concerned.

"Who - Who is it?" Kirishima calls through a deep breath, trying to sound more intimidating than he feels.

It's quiet for a moment, then: "Kirishima? Can you open the door?"

Confused more than frightened now, Kirishima flashes the floor - checking for gnarled hands waiting to grab his ankles - and takes an exaggerated step out of bed to the door. When he pulls it open, there on the other side is:

"Midoriya?"

Midoriya is standing in his doorway looking half asleep and dazed, holding a small snack bag of unopened Derito's in both hands as if he's afraid he's going to drop it. Then, he shoves the bag in the boy's space, swaying slightly from his own motion.

"Here you go. Enjoy," is the only thing Midoriya offers as an explanation.

"Um. Okay?" Kirishima hesitantly takes it and scans the other. He looks like a dead man standing with obvious bags under his unfocused eyes, messier than usual hair and his baggy nightshirt hanging off of one shoulder, exposing the other. "Midobro, are you alright?"

He gets no verbal reply, just a thumbs up as he stalks back down the hall. The dark, never ending hall.

Kirishima doesn't wait to close the door. He knows it's only Midoriya outside his room, that it's only Midoriya creeping the halls, but what if...?

He quickly puts an end to that train of thought by opening the chip bag and stuffing his face. For a moment, he forgot that his room is still completely dark and the closet is still ready to consume him. In a jerky movement, he hits the light switch and a wash of relief follows as he walks towards the closet. As embarrassing and childish it is, he stretches his arm as far as he can until just his finger tips touch the closet door and then he flicks it closed. It swings without a hitch and he puts a hand to it before it can bounce off. Next is the window, and then back to bed.

He keeps the lights on as he shoves his legs under the covers. No way he's going back to sleep. Not after the nightmare he can barely remember, the terror that is his closet, and Midoriya being incredibly weird. Instead, he sits up in bed, finishing off his late night snack and plays around on his phone. It isn't until twenty minutes later that he's startled from his social media trip from another knock on the door.

Curious - because two knocks in one night? He didn't think he was that popular - he climbs out of bed and slowly opens the door. Again, it's Midoriya and he's surprised to find the smaller boy holding a half empty glass in both hands - hands that are dripping wet. The front of his shirt is soaked, as well, and when Kirishima looks, there's a spill trail leading to his door.

Unable to suppress it, he chuckles, "Midoriya, dude, what are you doing?"

His hands thrust out, much like he did with the bag of chips, and some water spills with the force. Kirishima yelps at the bitter cold now soaking his sock.

Midoriya remains dull and indifferent as he says, "Your order, Sir."

"What?" Kirishima's taking the glass before more can spill when it clicks. Midoriya is sleepwalking. "Oh."

Now the half dead look makes sense.

Gently, Kirishima places a hand on Midoriya's shoulder and bends his knees so they're eye level. He's sure he'd get glared at if he did this while he was awake but for now, he laughs it off. "Hey, Midobro? Dude? It's time for bed, okay?"

"Bed time."

His hand claps over his mouth to keep from barking out a laugh. He takes a deep breath to calm himself. "Y-Yeah, man. Come on. I'll walk you down."

"Kay."

It only takes ten minutes to get back to his own room. Why Midoriya decided to sleepwalk two stories above his own floor just to give him chips and water is beyond him. How he was able to do it without tripping is also out of the question. Nonetheless, Kirishima is grateful. His classmate unknowingly comforted him from his fears - the giant in the closet a distant memory - however, even now, he doesn't try to go back to sleep. The light is turned off at least - that's the first step - but with the excitement of the night, he isn't tired anymore. Or, at least he tries to convince himself he isn't. As he scrolls, he yawns and rubs sleep from his eyes and keeps himself from getting too comfortable.

He's in the middle of watching a video about baby goats when the third knock of the night sounds. He smiles to himself as turns on his phone flashlight and untangles himself. He had been wondering if Midoriya would visit again or stay put. What did he bring him this time?

When he answers the door, Minoriya is holding what looks like an All Might plushie that's just the Hero's head in two hands.

Kirishima doesn't have to wait long but is thoroughly surprised when Midoriya raises one hand and smacks the All Might head with so much force it almost falls from his hold. Then - what he thought was a plushie but is actually a hollow silicone - starts to brighten the hall and the space between them in a gentle yellow light.

"It glows ," Midoriya says, as if in awe of his own magic trick.

"Yeah," Kirishima chuckles, already stepping out to take the sleepwalker back to bed. "It's pretty

cool."

As if on autopilot, Midoriya holds it out for Kirishima to take. When he takes it, he doesn't expect how squishy it is.

"Dessert." "What?" "Enjoy."

Before he knows it, Midoriya is walking back into the darkness, leaving Kirishima to stare after him. He takes a moment to contemplate if he should make sure he gets back to his room all right, but by now, he expects Midoriya is a master at sleepwalking the stairs. Also, if he should give back the plushie-lanturn-thing, but he doesn't think Midoriya would've given it to him if he cared too much.

With an amused shrug, Kirishima turns back to his room and lays down. He turns off his phone

flashlight and leaves the glowing All Might head on his desk. He's pleased to find it settles a relaxing, dim honey toned light around the room. When his head hits the pillow, he doesn't care to pull up his phone again and allows himself to relax the tension from his face and shoulders. The light is warm and safe. He's in bed. The closet is closed. He's warm and safe.

Eyes closing through a yawn, they don't open again.

Hopefully, Midoriya won't mind if he returns the All Might light in the morning.

~~*~~

Tokoyami has always struggled with letting the darkness take over and consume him in a comatose-like state of nonexistence for hours at a time. Whenever he vanquishes the light and tries to calm his mind to childish lands of oblivion, the black lights with their soothing purple glow are never enough to keep the shadows at bay...

In other words, Dark Shadow is infusserable when it's time to sleep between soft sheets.

Ever since he was a fledgling and it was the first week of manifesting his Quirk, resting his aching mind, body and soul has been out of the question. As a child, he couldn't sleep with any light on, his windows were always covered in blackout curtains, as was the same with noise. Any creek from the floorboards settling or drip from the leaky kitchen faucet would drive him up the wall. When Dark Shadow crawled from his chest that fateful night and went absolutely berzerk - to the point where years later he still doesn't remember how a crater of a hole was blown through his bedroom wall - he knew he'd never get a peaceful night's rest again.

That was until a month later when himself and his dear mother went to a children's toy warehouse and picked out eye masks, noise cancelling headphones and almost bought out all of the nightlights on display. That night, a night light in every outlet inside and outside his bedroom - and, embarrassingly, a toilet bowl light that changed colors on a loop - lit up the entire house. Sleeping wasn't the same as before, but it worked well enough that he finally felt less dead on his feet every morning.

Unfortunately, tonight reminded him of those troubling times. Despite his eye mask, upgraded noise cancelling headphones, and the constant ache in every limb - it was as if none of it mattered. Dark Shadow always tried to be mindful - kept her tinkering to a minimum and distracted herself with puzzles and various games on his phone - tonight, however, he's almost convinced he's cursed. It's only been two hours since he turned off the lights and instead of her usual routine, she's been pulling the entire time. Tokoyami tried his best to ignore her, tossing and turning as he does so, because it's Roaming Hour for demonic beings and mischievous spirits and he does not feel like cracking an eye open at three in the morning to see just who or what might be bothering her.

As time ticks by, she continues her excessive pull and strain. He can feel it in his chest, an invisible string that's wrapped around every rib being tugged this way and that. It leaves his bones feeling like static, buzzing under sore muscles, and gives him an odd tired wired-ness. His mind is completely awake and aware, yet his body refuses to overcome its paralysis.

Finally, with a sharp yank that sucks the oxygen from his lungs, Tokoyami sits up gasping for breath and pulls the eye mask up to glare at Dark Shadow. Her form is larger than the door from

the dim lighting, however, as intimidating as she could be, he notes her concern immediately. He takes off the headphones and before he can ask, a loud knock comes from the otherside of the door. Dark Shadow doesn't shy away from it and yet her concern is ever present.

Tokoyami forces himself out of bed at the second sound of raps against wood and Dark Shadow flits away from the door, behind him now. He yanks open the door and prepares himself to tell whoever it was to go away only to stop when he saw Aoyama. The blond is pale against the purple fluresents, his hair sticking to sweaty skin as he wrings the cuffs of his sleep button up. The intense eye contact and literally glittering confidence the Frenchman possessed during sunlight hours is nonexistent in this moment.

"Aoyama," Tokoyami greets, unsure.

"So sorry to wake you, mon ami, however-"

A loud crash erupts through the silence and startles Tokoyami ramrod straight. With one glance, Aoyama is no better as he stares down the hall and into the abyss. He glares down the darkness, trying to spot what the other sees but it's futile.

"What was that?"

A villain attack? No. It couldn't be, He's in the dorms of UA. The building was built to protect its students.

He doesn't miss how Aoyama goes back to wringing his hands. "I - I think it's best if you follow me."

As Aoyama steps from the doorway into the darkness, Tokoyami feels Dark Shadow pull him out of the room as she rushes ahead. Her form grows, but she doesn't lose herself to the darkness. They've been working on control and he would be proud in seeing how much she's grown if it weren't for his own growing concern. When Dark Shadow stops in front of Midoriya's door - slightly cracked open with gentle yellow light flooding through the opening - that feeling sits heavy in his throat.

Aoyama stays back and gestures to the doorknob, biting his lip. Hesitantly, Tokoyami opens the door and...

He laughs - not missing how Aoyama stiffens from his outburst.

All the concern washes away as he watches Midoriya, in the middle of his room, doing jumping squats and muttering to himself. He's facing the door, eyes half closed as he looks their way but straight through them. On the floor by his desk is a picture frame with broken glass scattered in the carpet. That must've been the crash from before.

"He's been exercising for an hour," Aoyama whispers. "Can you wake him?"

Tokoyami has heard rumors about waking a sleepwalker, and when he heard Midoriya was one he did his own research. Of everything that he read, there were more negatives than positives in waking someone so entranced.

Before he can respond, he watches as Midoriya comes to a sudden awareness. The green haired boy's standing spine straight, hands at his sides and chin up. For a moment, Tokoyami thinks he woke himself up, however the lazy daze in his eyes is still present.

The boy yells at the top of his lungs: "50 MORE!" and proceeds to go down in push up position

and resumes exercising.

Once his nerves come back to him and his heart doesn't feel so hollow and chilled to the core, Tokoyami laughs again. Aoyama's own giggles join in when the boy in front of them gets to three before collapsing and shutting down right there on the floor.

"I think he's fine now," Tokoyami says, stepping in the room. He makes his way to Midoriya - lightly snoring away like he didn't just give his classmates a heart attack - scoops him up and plants him back into bed. When he turns around, Aoyama is smirking to himself as he carefully picks up the glass and deposits it in the desk side waste bin.

When they walk out and quietly close the door behind them, Tokoyami says, "I don't think he'll be getting out of bed for the rest of the night."

Aoyama still looks shaken from the ordeal, but mostly exhausted. "I sure hope not. That was a little scary."

Tokoyami has always struggled with the darkness. However, it seems he's not the only one.

~~*~~

It's girl's night.

Mina has been waiting for this night for two whole weeks because not all of the girl's were available the weekend before, and she needed to ask Aizawa-sensei for permission beforehand. Now, she is more than ready. Face masks - check! At least one of everyone's favorite snacks - check! Movies and games - check! Makeover supplies - check!

Check! Check! Check!

Everything is in order, everything is ready. She doesn't even try to contain her burst of excitement when she hears girlish giggling from the other side of her room door and swings it open before Uraraka can knock.

"Come in! Come in!" she beckons and it's all smiles when they step through the threshold.

They spend the next hours gossiping about everything under the sun, watching movies that ranged from musicals, to sad romance dramas, then playing truth or dare. The cycle of the three flowed naturally over the group. There was never a lul in the conversation because Mina won't tolerate it.

It's been forever since she's had a sleepover or a simple hangout with friends.

Ever since starting UA, she's never been able to find the time to spend time with her friends from middle school - Kirishima doesn't count - and as time went on, she slowly began to realize she didn't have many, if any, close friends. She was popular in middle school and after classes was

almost always filled with going to the movies or having snacks at someones house. When she began high school, however... and now with the dorms... she hates the thought but; were they ever really her friends? Nowadays, they don't hold their own over texts, always giving short answers instead of the string of gossip she was used to. They don't answer her calls when she's emotional in the middle of the night or simply wants to rant about Aizawa-sensei's logical rouses.

For a time, Mina wondered if she was really that forgettable.

But then! She got closer with Jiro and Yaoyorozu and Uraraka and Sui and Hakagure, and now she knows she's not alone. Now she knows what true friendships are like, and how real friends treat each other and fight for eachother. She's familiar with everyone in class but this type of familiarity feels a whole lot better than what it was before. If she needs anything - like she's sad or wants to rant about her weekend - she can go up to anyone and they will put down their phone and listen . Bakugou in particular, she's noticed, tries to project that he's cold and doesn't care, however, when she goes to him, he sits quietly and gives his thoughts without belittling or interrupting her.

It's so nice having true friends.

"Well, that was... something," Uraraka chuckles.

An old American movie Hakagure picked out - Fantastic Mr. Fox - rolls credits. Mina liked it, it was interesting. If there's one thing she's learned, American's definitely have weird tastes.

"I thought the art style was cool," Sui states.

"The music fit well, too," Jiro grunts through a wide stretch over her head.

"I'm glad you guys liked it!" Hagakure chirps. "I was a little afraid at first."

Standing from where they all snuggled on the bed, Mina pauses the credits and puts on music. She blows a raspberry. "Of course we liked it! Something new and different is always awesome."

"Who's turn is it now?" Uraraka asks, looking around.

"I believe it's mine," Yaoyorozu smiles as she untangles herself from Jiro and sits up. "We haven't done makeovers yet."

"Yes! I have so much makeup that I never use so this is perfect!" Mina cheers. Makeovers are her absolute favorite during any sleepover. To either make your friends look beautiful and transformed or an absolute trainwreck is just the type of power that will always be one of her favorite types of trills.

Mina digs around in her closet, scouting for a particular pink bedazzled makeup case. (If you can call a shoe box sized, hard shell trunk a case.) Once in her grasp, she sets it on her desk. "Alright, ladies! Lineup for Mina Ashido's Makeup Studio!"

One by one they all sat in Mina's chair and stayed still throughout the process. They gossiped more - "Don't you think Aizawa-sensei's and Mic-sensei's friendship is a bit... close?" "I don't see anything wrong with it - ribbit." "Yeah. Mic-sensei did say they went to UA together and were close even back then." - and talked about life before UA.

She'd gotten through Uraraka and Yaoyorozu, and was working on Jiro when there was a knock on the door. The noise is faint and barely noticeable if Jiro hadn't shushed everyone. Mina almost dismisses it until there was another, more audible one. Then:

"Hello?"

Uraraka gasps, and tries to stifle her giggles. "Is that Midoriya?"

"Hellooooo-? Mr. Ghost?"

"Oh my god, it is!" Hakagure quietly squeals.

"Think he's sleep walking?" Yaoyorozu asks.

"I can't think of another reason why he'd be on our floor - ribbit."

It's not as if it was dull before, but now it's getting interesting. Mina steps from around the chair, "Let's see," and opens the door, interrupting another knock.

On the other side is Midoriya, and Mina would've never guessed the boy sleeps shirtless. His chest is bare and his gym shorts hang low on his hips. If it weren't for the light blue waistband peeking out from under, she would've thought he was also going commando. With a less distracted assessment, his eyes are dazed, hair a sweaty, matted mess sticking to the side of his face as his head droops to one side.

"You called," Midoriya muttered.

Mina looks behind her, to the five other stunned girls who all shake their heads. She turns back to him. "Nope. Wasn't us."

"Oh," his expression doesn't change. "Someone called for a ghost exterminator." Mina chuckes. "And that's you?"

Midoriya bows slightly, stumbles from imbalance then rights himself. "Yes, ma'am."

Behind her, the room bursts in poorly suppressed giggles. An idea occurs then, and she takes Midoriya's hand to guide him into the room. "Momo, can you do the rest of Sui's makeup? I think Mido needs a bit of a makeover too."

"Shouldn't we send him back to bed?" Jiro asks and Mina sits the boy on the floor mat. "He looks pretty out of it."

She blows another raspberry. "Where's the fun in that? Just for a little bit anyway." Because Midoriya did look like he was about to crash on her floor.

"Actually, yeah," Uraraka cuts in. "I think it'll be fine if it's just a little makeup." "Midoriya, would you like to do a makeover with us?" Hakagure asks.

The boy looks at Mina. "If it'll get rid of the ghosts."

They all chuckle.

Mina spends the next couple of minutes going through her bag and applying eyeshadow. After a while, they put him in the chair when he starts to sway. Now, slumped in the chair with his head tipped back, they're convinced he's asleep but that doesn't stop Mina. She gives him a natural smokey eye and works well with applying eyeliner. With the boy's dead to the world, there is no flinching as she applies a deep cherry lipstick and the mascara - or at least tries her best with his eyes closed. Everyone gives their opinion on what she should put on next and in what color. When

they're done with him, he looks a little caked up but Mina would argue that it's probably the best she's done on a guy before.

When she announces she's done, she doesn't know if Midoriya had been awake the entire time or if he was unconsciously responding.

"Am I as pretty as my mom, yet?"

Either way, his response makes them gush.

After a few pictures Mina's for sure going to post somewhere, they walk him back to his room - getting as far as the stairwell because Minetta's dorm is on the same floor - and go back up to her room laughing about the whole affair.

The next morning, they're sitting in the lounge having breakfast when Midoriya comes down with lipstick smeared all over his cheeks and the eye makeup mostly smudged. He had no idea until Bakugou spat his coffee, choked into a coughing fit, and Kirishima mentioned how pretty he looked. It was that moment Mina realized she's going to hang on to the pictures and wait to reveal them until she's on a live TV interview as a Pro-Hero. The second the interviewer asks how dorm life at UA was, she's going to spread the pictures like wildfire and everyone will go crazy.

Because let's face it, Midoriya - Deku - is going to be high on the charts. ~~*~~

For the first time in two months, Aizawa Shouta has a night off.

As an underground Pro-Hero operating without an agency, his patrols start in the middle of the night and don't end until the beginning of dawn, so he was surprised when Nezu informed him of his time off. When Shouta questioned the sudden development - because he hadn't taken a night off without the excuse of injury in years - the rodent-bear creature simply replied: " You look tired, Aizawa. I think this time off will be beneficial."

Immediately, he was sceptical. The principal never did anything that wasn't for either his own theories or amusement. Even if Nezu truly was looking out for Shouta's best interest with an oddly sudden change of heart, there was a catch. Of course there was a catch. With his time off, Shouta is on call - which of course meant he had to sleep with his class's dorm security tablet under his pillow. On the tablet were two apps. One was set up to flip through the cameras in the halls, staircases, elevators, lounge, and kitchen. The other is an alarm that triggers whenever a camera catches movement - thermal movement because of Hagakure - past curfew.

When Kayama handed the device over and explained how to use it, as an afterthought, she added:

"And don't worry if the alarm goes off and it's Midoriya on the camera. He's a harmless sleepwalker."

And there it was, the catch behind the catch.

Shouta knows about Midoriya's sleepwalking. When his Problem Child moved into the dorms, the boy's mother informed the staff about his habits. His mother said it didn't happen often, to her knowledge. Primarily when her son had a particularly stressful day, and Shouta had only overheard his students teasing Midoriya about it a few times during independent study.

Before Shouta crawled into bed, he reflected on the day. The lessons went well, Midoriya answered a few questions right when he was called on, Bakugou didn't pester him too much during Quirk training - too busy trying to blow up Kirishima - and he even saw the boy working in one of his Hero Analysis journals during passing periods. If anything, the boy had a good day - didn't even tear up once.

However, at two-thirty in the morning, Shouta knew better than to be surprised when the vibrating, blaring alarm under his pillow startled him awake. Before it could wake up Hizashi snuggled up beside him, he quickly put his thumb to the screen and waited for it to scan his print before it turned off. Luckily, it only took a second and one glance at his husband had him relieved that he was still asleep. He supposes that's one of the pirques of being deaf. Hizashi's never on call because he simply won't wake up.

With a heavy sigh that turned into a tear inducing and jaw cracking yawn, Shouta moved to his back and held the tablet over his face. He squinted through the bright screen. On the camera app, he flipped through every live recording. Nothing was out of the ordinary until he got to the lounge. In the corner, almost off camera, the kitchen light was on - blinding the night vision lens. When he flipped to the kitchen, in center focus, there he was: Shouta's ultimate Problem Child.

Kayama told him not to worry but he's never seen his student so dazed. Curiously, he watched Midoriya lazily rifling through the drawers, leaving them open as he went, until he stopped at the fifth one and stared inside. Shouta wonders for a moment if the boy had woken himself up - suddenly stiff and doe eyed - until he watches him very slowly, with a shaky hand pick up a long knife glinting in the fluorescent light.

Shouta's scrambling out of bed not a moment later. He flings the blankets off of himself, shoves on his slippers, wraps his scarf and ignores Hizashi's sleepy mutters as he steps out the door. Their apartment is on the first floor of the first year's teacher complex and what he thought was a slight annoyance at first felt like a saving grace. He's out the front door in minutes, sprinting across campus to the 1-A building and watching the camera feed as he goes. Midoriya isn't in the kitchen anymore.

Cursing, he looks up and he can see the dorms up ahead, hardly a few yards away. It feels like miles until he finally reaches the door - heart pounding and breath rugged. Through his panic he messes up on his key card twice before he gets it right and bursts inside. With the open layout and the blinding kitchen light he forces himself to get used to, he spots Midoriya in seconds. He's huddled in the far corner of the lounge, knees pressed tightly to his chest and head down. In his white knuckled fist is the knife.

Shouta wastes no time striding towards him and in as demanding of a voice he can muster he prays his tone alone startles the boy awake. "Midoriya. Put down the knife."

Midoriya's head snaps up, his neck popping, and Shouta's never seen someone look at him so terrified . The boy's trembling, the knife immediately in both hands and pointing straight at him. Shouta waits for his student to realize who he's pointing the weapon at. After a few seconds, he still sees the daze in his eyes.

Shouta forces himself to breathe and focus. He's been held at knife point before by much more experienced offenders. However, he's not going to react like usual - kicking the weapon out of their grasp and immobilizing them in his capture weapon - this is his student. His sleepwalking student that needs help waking up in a way that's as unalarming as possible. God forbid he accidentally hurts himself.

Shouta cools his voice and takes a step, "Kid, please-"

"Don't - Don't take another step." It's nothing but a trembling whisper and it breaks his fucking heart. The knife is adjusted in a tighter grip, tears build in wide eyes, and a tongue swipes over parted lips. He's breathing heavy, panicked.

Shouta slowly raises his hands to his sides and, it kills him, he talks to his problem child like how he talks jumpers away from the ledge. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The tears fall as Midoriya slides up the wall, eyes still pinning him, knife still pointing at him as he stands. Shouta can tell when someone's looking for an escape, and fuck . He doesn't even know who the kid sees him as. His class has been through so much shit - the boy alone has been through so much shit.

"I'm - I'm not going to let you hurt her anymore." Midoriya's still shaking but his expression steels, a new determination shining within the daze. And Shouta knows that look. He's seen it on the boys face whenever he's forced to fight a villain.

With that statement, he must be Overhaul.

"She's safe," Shouta tries to reassure, tries to break Midoriya's version of Overhaul's character. "I promise you, she's safe."

"No. No! NO! You don't get to lie anymore! Not when I watched you break Mom's arm this morning for burning the eggs !"

Shouta froze in place, heart in his stomach and everything's so cold because holy shit . He isn't Overhaul. He isn't a villain because nowhere in Midoriya's records does it show that he's mother was ever attacked when he was younger.

Time to change tactics. Time to tell him he's safe at UA and snap him out of it. "Kid, you're at-" "Don't call me that! I'm not your son anymore! I'm not your kid!"

It's Shouta's own fault that when Midoriya swings he gets his shoulder slashed. He stepped forward when the kid warned him. He should've expected the kid meant his threat, especially how he's acting like a cornered wild animal, but he still looks at him with his own wide eyes and overwhelming shock. Fortunately, it's only a superficial cut, a little deeper than a cat scratch.

It's then he realizes: Midoriya, his problem child, is fighting for his life.

Shouting, tears streaming, Midoriya charges. The knife is low, aimed for his gut with intent to spill blood. Shouta is lucky that in Midoriya's nightmare, he doesn't use his Quirk otherwise, smacking the boy's wrist, forcing him to let go of the weapon, and pulling him into his chest would've been a whole lot harder.

At first, if felt like he was trying to immobilize the boy, squeezing him flush against his chest. His heart aches with every heart felt "I HATE YOU!" and every punch against his body that hurt but felt weak and useless compared to the damage he knew the boy could actually cause. Then, finally after a few minutes, the boy's punches, turn into slaps, turn into nothing. He's gripping at Shouta's baggy sleep shirt and is hiding his sobs in his captured weapon. He's calmed enough that Shouta confidently loosens his hold and lets a hand twist in the tangled curls at the base of the boy's skull.

His chin falls to the boy's head and he allows himself to take a deep calming breath. Midoriya mirrors him and with a febal mumble against his chest, Shouta knows his student is awake at last. "I hate him so much."

Shouta says the only thing he can think of - "I know." - because he can tell even without context. "So, so much ."

"I know, kid." His fingers rake his scalp. "I know."

Midoriya's quiet, sobbing in his chest and clinging to him for dear life like if he loosens his grip he'll be ripped out of the man's arms and forced back into his nightmare. Then: "He was going to hurt her again and I - and I" - a painful sob echos through Shouta's chest and makes everything hurt - "I couldn't just watch anymore! He was - He was going to-! An-And I had to so he wouldn't hurt her ever a-again! I had to!"

Midoriya cuts himself off with a horridly low whine that evolves into a voiced cry. It wrecks Shouta's entire being. The man's never been overly emotional - never one to express his emotions too often, either - but in this moment of uncontrollable agony and inconsolable sorrow, his eyes sting from something other than dry eye for the first time in a while.

He's never been someone well known for comforting another, as well is he very rarely the one to solace citizens who fell victim to a villainous tragedy, and in every situation he had to, everything he did felt awkward and forced. In this moment, however - connecting the dots to Midoriya's sleepwalking actions and his violent tears - it feels natural when he holds the quivering boy tighter and lifts his chin only to bury his nose in the green curls instead. The words that come forth don't feel like cotton stuffed in his cheeks, nor do they leave him feeling guilting with fowl lies like they usually do.

"It's okay," - if his voice cracked, no one's around to hear and he's sure Midoriya will keep his secret - "I have you now."

It doesn't feel right. He isn't sure if the boy is convinced. He isn't ashamed to repeat himself with a shaky voice. "I have you now, Midoriya Izuku. You're safe ."

Shouta spends the rest of the night in the dorms because like hell he's going to just leave after what happened. It takes some coxing, but in a few minutes Midoriya is passed out on the couch across from him. Shouta had followed the boy to his room so he could grab his comforter and pillow - he could feel the boy's unease to the left alone - and didn't mind watching over him as he tossed and turned before eventually falling back asleep. As time went by, Shouta busied himself with putting away the knife and reorganizing the kitchen drawers before going to sleep himself.

That day, he let Midoriya sleep at his desk and advised the other teachers not to wake him up. During lunch he marched to Nezu's office and the creature didn't even pretend to be surprised.

"Aizawa!" the rat - Shouta decided - greets with a smile. "How's the shoulder?"

His fists clench in his pockets and his teeth grind. What are the chances of getting fired if he punches his employer in the face? Instead of testing it out, he grits, "Explain."

Shouta always appreciated how Nezu never beat around the bush, today however, he wished he at least wasn't so blunt, "Four years ago yesterday, our beloved Midoriya Izuku killed his father in self defence."

He forces himself to breathe through his rugged posture. He had a feeling something like that was the conclusion to Midoriya's PTSD fewled nightmare. He just wished it had ended in jailtime for the abuser rather than second-degree murder.

"And you didn't care to share this when you put me on call?"

"The event was scrubbed from his public records after the trial. I intended to keep it limited to only my knowledge if nothing happened. Despite your lack of intel, I'd say you handled the situation well!"

With a burst of unchecked, energetic rage he can only muster on the battlefield, he punches the monitor off the desk, flips off the rat as he stalks towards the door and spits out a fierce "Fuck you." before he slams it closed behind him.

His problem child's trauma is not for anyone's entertainment.

After school, Shouta confides in his husband and Hizashi sympathizes like he knew he would. Hizashi comes up with a solution that was too good to not try to follow through. A visit to the Midoriya's residence, a brief explanation to an emotional Midoriya Inko and a few documents signed later, his problem child is cleared to move in with himself and Hizashi for the rest of the month. The last thing to do was make sure the problem child in question is okay with the move.

Much to Shouta's relief - after what felt like an eternity trying to convince the boy that he wouldn't be a nuisance - Midoriya takes their offer wiping away his tears.