Chapter Text
It takes a week before everyone has forgotten about the incident. In that time, Izuku has accidentally befriended Kirishima, Sero, Kaminari, and Ashido, getting dragged over to eat with them more often than not. They were all worried that he would be offended since they were friends with Bakugou, but he told them the same thing he told Kirishma, and that was that.
Meanwhile, Alex and Shinsou had been sort of… adopted, into his usual group. Shinsou didn’t seem to know what to do when Alex had dragged him over to their table, excitedly gushing about one thing or another. She slipped into English sometimes, not noticing as she blathered. Izuku didn’t understand half of it, but she seemed excited about it, and that was enough for him.
She also absolutely loathed English class, much to everyone’s amusement.
He had also noticed another subtle difference. Toshinori and Shouta were more willing to be physically affectionate with him now, although it was still nowhere near what some of the other soulmate pairs had. He noticed it the first time when Shouta was walking next to him in the hallway. There was plenty of room, but he still felt their arms brush against each other. Toshinori was ruffling his hair more often, more willing to pat him on the back or gently grab his shoulder.
It was… nice, the small things. He liked the sort of gentle reassurance that they cared. There were other things, as well: Toshinori inviting him to have lunch with them, or Shouta asking him if he was okay in the hallways.
Still, it was a bit odd, having such casual displays of affection. He varied between being completely oblivious, and being constantly worried about being seen. Unfortunately for him, this moment was one of the former.
He had come in early to get a question answered on his English homework, but that had only taken half the time he expected it to. So, he ended up in the teacher’s area, where Toshinori and Shouta were working together to grade papers. Between one thing and the next, and his two mates sharing desk space, he wound up sitting on Toshinori’s lap, Shouta pressed close to his side.
It was early, and he was tired, and in the moment he was extremely glad for both facts, because Alex choose that moment to walk in.
Something he learned about Alex, having only known her for two days, was that she had a tendency to shove her foot in her mouth. From making inappropriate comments that made Midnight blush, to blurting out answers in class, she was a constant chatter box. A few jokes had already been made that if Izuku wasn’t careful, she’d take his spot as top mumbler of the class.
“Aizawa-sensei, Mic-sensei told me I’d find you here, I needed to ask a question about--” she started, not paying attention. All three heads snapped in her direction right as she looked up from her papers. She froze, staring at where Izuku was sitting on Toshinori’s lap, pressed against Shouta’s side, in a very much non-teacher/student way.
It wasn’t even that bad of a position. It was just Izuku tiredly cuddling up to his mates while they argued over grades. It took Alex about .5 seconds to realize what was wrong.
And then she shoved her foot in her mouth.
“Use protection kids!” she said in English, and he could see the instantly dawning horror as she realized what she had just said. To two of her teachers. Izuku had never been more embarrassed in his life, both for her and himself.
“I should have stayed in America,” she whispered, seeming frozen to the spot. No one seemed to know how to react, stuck in a stalemate for a few seconds.
“I saw nothing, said nothing, and did nothing. This interaction never happened. Okay, cool, goodbye!” she yelped, turning and sprinting to the door. They all watched it slam shut behind her before Toshinori spoke.
“I can’t believe she called me ‘kid’.”
~~
The rest of the week was mostly uneventful.
It was easier than he expected to get used to Bakugou’s absence. He was still afraid the rug would get pulled out from under him, that he would find out this had all been some elaborate prank. But it was getting better, the fear dissipating more and more with each day.
The only issue that Izuku had now was his nest.
‘Nesting’ is what he - and most others - called it. There were a bunch of scientific names for it, but that was the more common term. It was a phenomena most mated pairs would experience at one point or another. It usually happened when the mates moved in together, and was more instinct than anything. It also tended to created an increase in territorialism and protectiveness, both of the space considered the ‘nest’ and of the person’s mate(s).
And, apparently, Izuku had gotten enough of a sense of safety to ‘nest’ in Toshinori and Shouta’s room. Which was slightly problematic considering he was still 1) underage, 2) not nearly comfortable enough to move in with them, and 3) had no idea how to broach the topic anyways. To that end, he was just getting increasingly irritated as the days went on, until Ochako finally called him out on it.
“You’ve been off, Izu-kun, are you alright?” she asked, and he had to stop himself from snapping at her, literally .
“I--” he started, being cut off by Iida.
“You can tell us anything! We are here for you if you need us!” The over enthusiastic boy said, gesturing wildly. Izuku felt some of his irritation drain away. His friends would always support him, he knew. Now, it was just the question of telling them.
“You know what ‘nesting’ is, right?” he asked, determinedly looking anywhere but at his friends. He still felt the abrupt understanding that came with the sentence, and the surprised stares of all his friends.
“But… nesting only happens after you’ve swapped wings…” Ochako said, and he looked back to see her face lighting up. Oh no.
“Izuku! I’m so happy for you!!!!!” she squealed, lunging across the lunch table to grab him. Todoroki and Iida barely managed to save their lunches, and he sighed before giving up his own for lost. It was okay though, because Ochako was wrapping her arms around him, beaming at him while his other friends watch in amusement.
“Doesn’t nesting normally happen after you move in together?” Asui asked, and Ochako drew back, giving him a sly grin. Shinsou looked mildly confused, and Alex had her face in her hands.
“Please don’t use that tone, it’s making me think of things .” Alex begged, though her words went unheeded.
“Wait, your soulmates are Aizawa-sensei and All Might -sensei, right?” Shinsou asked, everyone at the table jumping to shush him.
“Not so loud, nobody's supposed to know! Well, other than the other faculty, but they had to be told,” Izuku said, and Shinsou gave him an unimpressed look.
“Really? No one else could possibly notice you three, of course. Clearly, my fault for thinking that your cleverly hidden secret couldn’t be discovered so easily,” Shinsou drawled, voice dripping with sarcasm. Alex snorted, face still covered by her hands, but Izuku shot her a wounded look anyways.
“Well… the principal suggested that, until Bakugou was removed from the dorms, I stay in the spare room of the teachers’ living quarters. I ended up having a nightmare and staying in their room. I didn’t stay in their bed, but I made a nest of sorts out of pillows and blankets on the floor? And apparently that was enough,” Izuku explained, letting out a small huff. “And now that it’s been resolved, I moved back into my own room.”
“But…?” Todoroki prompted, everyone leaning in closer.
“I have no idea how to even bring the topic up. How do you say, ‘Hey, I know it took me months to actually trust you and everything, but after one night I nested in your room, so can I move in’? How would I even bring it up?” he sighed, staring down at the table. His friends all fell quiet, obviously deep in thought.
“Just… tell them, I guess?” Alex suggested hesitantly, and he looked up at her.
“You don’t understand how much I can literally not do that.”
“But you can,” she pressed. “One of my friends always said, ‘Clear communication saves three chapters of angst’. They’re your mates, and are clearly enamored with you, if not almost in love with you already. The worst thing they can do is say no.”
His brain was thinking too quickly, coming up with plans and discarding them, already thinking of a thousand more worst-case scenarios. He was surprised when Ochako suddenly stood up, looking around the cafeteria.
“If you don’t tell them, I will. It’s clearly affecting your mental health, and we don’t need you suffering anymore than you already have,” she said, and Izuku’s panic went into overdrive.
“Nonono--! Please don’t, they don’t even know that you know and, oh god, what if they hate me for you knowing and--!” he panicked. Shinsou cut him off.
“Midori-kun, shut up.”
His mouth snapped shut, though Shinsou didn’t use his quirk. The tired boy sighed before continuing, “It seems to me you have one of two options here. One, you can go tell them what’s wrong, or two, we do it for you.”
He shrugged nonchalantly, as if talking about the weather and not Izuku’s personal love life. Izuku shot him a betrayed look, glancing around at the rest of his friends. Alex avoided his eyes, Iida looked like he’d rather not get involved, and Todoroki looked almost bored.
He slumped in defeat, sighing again.
“Fine, you win. I’ll talk to them after school.”
~~
This was a terrible idea. He had been all but shoved out the door once school was over, and he had wandered for 10 minutes before he found them in the teacher’s lounge.
“I don’t know what to do about Izuku.”
That was definitely Shouta’s voice. Izuku paused outside the door, everything seeming to freeze.
“I know. I don’t, either,” Toshinori said, and Izuku could feel panic building. Manners told him that he should either leave, or make his presence known, but his own conventional wisdom said to stay in place, to hear exactly what they meant.
“I want to apologize to him, for how I hurt him, back on the first day of school, but…” Shouta said quietly, and Izuku blinked. ‘ The first day of school?’
“I don’t like the thought of having hurt him. Even though he would forgive us in a heartbeat,” Toshinori offered.
“I wouldn’t have even thought about apologizing if he hadn’t brought it up like that. Hell, even now I don’t think I would have apologized if he wasn’t…” Shouta started, trailing off again. Izuku heard fabric shifting, feeling conflicting emotions running through his veins.“I don’t like the blatant favoritism we show towards him, Toshi.”
Izuku froze.
Shouta didn’t like him being… likable? Izuku curled his hands into fists, digging his nails into his palms. He didn’t want to cause his mates problems. He didn’t want to be the cause of their problems.
The simplest solution would be to stop being their favorite. The last thing he wanted to be was a burden. So, he started thinking up a plan.
It was simple, really: All he had to do was withdraw until he had graduated, until he’d made his success on his own. Then they wouldn’t have to worry about anything. He could step back, let them be, and they wouldn’t have to be concerned about favoritism.
He only really saw them during school hours anyways, or on the occasion he went up to the roof while they were out there flying.It would be easy enough to stop going to the roof; he could always practice stretching his wings elsewhere. And if he always came in with Iida in the mornings, he wouldn’t have to worry about being in a one-on-one space with them, where they might feel obligated to give him affection. Even if he did end up one-on-one, there were other simple ways to draw back: He would start pulling away, start putting a few more centimeters of space between them as they walked, stop reaching for their hands. He just… wouldn't search them out. Simple, easy things.
Izuku had never hated a simple plan so much.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed his way into the room, effectively silencing both adults.
‘ Don’t bother them don’t bother them don’t bother them--’
He reached into his backpack and pulled out two water bottles, one filled with the dissolved pills for Toshi, the other filled with a few supplements he had read were supposed to help with dry eyes.
“Izuku! How are you?” Toshinori asked, and he shrugged.
‘ -- don’t be a burden don’t be a burden don’t be a burden.’
“Here, I brought you guys some more water,” he said, shoving the water towards them. He got two small smiles in return, and resolutely ignored the way his heart thumped painfully. God, he wanted so badly to cuddle up to them! But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t be a burden on them. If that meant making himself invisible, unlikeable, unlovable , then he’d do it.
They both took the water, and he shoved a small snack at Toshinori as well, telling him to eat it within the next hour. He had already proved that he wouldn’t stop bugging them until they did what he asked, so they both drank the water without complaint. One perk of being tiny and adorable: People would always do what you wanted.
He shuffled nervously.
“Anyways, I promised to help Ochako with something, so I have to go,” he said, retreating quickly. He saw a flash of confusion on their faces but ignored it, trying to run out without running. He, of course, had no plans with Ochako, and he couldn’t go back to the dorms yet.
‘ Looks like I’m heading back to the support course classrooms,’ he thought, heading towards where he knew he’d find Mei. She was always willing to let him stay in her workshop for a bit, anyways.
~~
A week into trying to avoid his mates, he was ready to kill someone. The irritation had only increased, and even Mei had picked up on it. She gave him a nice release though, always needing someone to help her test her inventions. Turned out shooting a paintball gun at a statue was oddly therapeutic.
But it wasn’t nearly enough, and when he was walking into the dorms it all came to a head.
“Damn Izuku, who’s gotten your panties in a twist?” Alex asked, and he snarled. Her voice was dripping in sarcasm, and every territorial and defensive instinct kicked in at once.
He didn’t even realize he was moving until they were both tumbling over the back of the couch, Alex letting out a yelp of surprise. They both slammed into the ground, Alex wheezing as Izuku landed on top of her. He felt rage simmering beneath the surface, clawing its way out. It burned like lava flowing through his veins, curling through his entire being until his vision was tinted red.
Alex let out a series of curses in English, hands gripping his sides. He hadn’t activated Full Cowl, thankfully, and Alex doesn’t seem inclined to hurt him. Instead, she grabbed him, flipping them both over so she was pinning him.
“What the hell is going on?!” Shouta snarled, and Izuku felt his vision clear. He looked over, feeling all his rage fade as quickly as it had come, instead leaving him filled with dread.
“Oh! It’s nothing, I just asked Midoriya to help me practice dealing with sneak attacks because I haven’t gotten as much training, and I want to make sure I’m prepared! It was harmless, I promise, I just got a couple of bruises,” Alex lied smoothly, and Izuku couldn’t help but stare at her in shock. Everyone looked to him, and he nodded numbly, surprised.
“That was a little more surprising than normal, so we should probably get our bruises checked by Recovery Girl. Come on, Midoriya,” Alex said, getting up and hauling him up as well. She was quick to escape, leaving everyone else behind and dragging him with her.
“Alright, I’m only going to say this once. If you do not talk to your mates, I will physically drag you to them and sit on you while I tell them myself,” she said, and he was still reeling.
“What--?” he started, only for her to slap a hand over his mouth.
“Nope. You don’t get a say in this. You’ve been worrying them, and us, and I won’t have it. Now, I’m going to go to Recovery Girl because I’m pretty sure you bruised my back, and you-- ” she said, shoving him back towards the dorms, “--are going to go and talk to your mates, capiche?”
Her tone brooked no argument, and he felt fear shivering down his spine. She had said it so cheerfully, but there was a threat in those words. Maybe not of violence, but a threat of something that seemed even more terrifying.
“Listen, Midoriya, we can stand here all day with you staring at me like I’m satan incarnate, or you can go solve your emotional issues and talk like I told you to, and then all be happy, yeah? So go talk, ” she says, before turning around and bustling off. He watched her go, completely shell-shocked, before shaking it off.
His phone buzzed as he stood up, debating whether or not to skip it again and find Mei. He checked it, after noticing it was from Alex.
‘Oh, and btw, if I don’t get a text from Gravity Girl confirming you’ve gone back to the dorms and have actually gone to look for your mates, I’m telling Recovery Girl’
He felt panic climbing up his veins, because Recovery Girl was terrifying and he didn’t feel like dying today, thank you very much. His phone buzzed again, and he looked down to see another text from Alex.
‘It should probably happen in the next five minutes or so, btw. After that, all bets are off’
And then-
‘ <3 ’
He booked it back to the dorms.
The door was easily pushed open, and he nearly ran into Shouta and Toshinori, both of whom seemed unusually worried. He let out a yelp, and they reached forward to grab him. Izuku felt tension he didn’t know he had bleeding out of him.
“Izuku?” Toshinori questioned, and he struggled to keep from throwing himself at them.
“Can we talk?” he asked, and he saw the worry in their expressions increase tenfold. They both nodded, and Izuku passed Ochako on the way upstairs. She gave him a Look, but nonetheless pulled out her phone and typed a message.
It was silent until they arrived at Shouta’s room, and Izuku felt every ounce of territorial anger leech out of him. Both his mates were sitting on the couch, looking to him expectantly. They were both smart people - maybe not as smart as others, but he knew they’d noticed Izuku’s own change in behavior.
“Have we done something wrong?” Toshinori asked, and he looked towards the man, confused. Toshi seemed to pick up on it, hands fiddling awkwardly in his lap.
“You’ve been avoiding us recently, we were wondering if we had done something wrong,” Shouta explained, and Izuku felt guilt clawing up his throat.
“Wha--? No, no it’s nothing you’ve done, I just…” he trailed off, shuffling his feet. “I felt like I was being a burden, is all. I didn’t want to force you into a position where you had to try to not play favorites with me, or anything.”
He saw understanding dawning on their features, and was surprised when Toshinori stood up, stepping towards him. Izuku felt warm wrap around him, and the embrace radiated safety. Another pair of arms joined in, and Izuku vaguely saw Shouta joining them as well.
“Izuku, it’s not your fault. It doesn’t matter. We can teach you and still love you and it will never be a burden,” Toshinori said, and Izuku was sure he was about to cry. The light was blocked out, and Izuku knew his mates were wrapping him in their wings.
“There’s something else bothering you,” Toshinori said, and Izuku curled into himself.
He debated with himself, thinking of just not telling them. But he remembered his friends’ concerns, and how angry he had been. He didn’t like feeling like that, and, with a sigh, he mentally prepared himself. It shouldn’t have been embarrassing, and he shouldn’t have been scared, but somehow it was so much easier to tell his friends than it was to tell them.
“You know what ‘nesting’ is, right?” he asked, squeezing his eyes shut. He could feel himself physically and mentally drawing inward, waiting for their response.
“You mean you…? In our room?” Toshinori asked, and Izuku nodded, biting his lip. He was expecting awkwardness, embarrassment, and an explanation of how he ‘couldn’t have done that’, or something . But what he got instead was two gentle kisses to his forehead, his mates nuzzling against his hair.
“Izuku, it’s okay. We’re not going to judge you. In fact, Toshi did the same thing the first time we shared a room,” Shouta said, and Izuku felt his fear drain away. He giggled slightly at Toshinori’s mildly offended ‘Hey!’, peeking out at his mates.
“Here, I can give you the code and you can stay in here whenever you need,” Shouta said, releasing him and moving over to the desk. Toshinori tucked his own wings in, but kept his arm wrapped around Izuku’s shoulder. Izuku couldn't help but lean into the contact slightly, taking the paper Shouta gave him. It was an easy enough code to memorize, and Izuku felt overwhelmingly grateful that they didn’t ask if he wanted to stay in their room all the time.
He ended up spending the rest of the day with them, doing his homework while sitting in his nest of blankets. It was nice, being in the same space as them without having to make conversation.
Life, he thought, was pretty good now.