Chapter Text
Iida lowered his hand and waited a few moments for a response.
When he was met with silence, he knocked again— a bit more urgently this time.
Still no response.
“Sero? You didn’t show up to class and everyone was worried. Are you alright?” Iida asked, knocking again.
When he was met with silence yet again, Iida’s face took on a determined expression. It wasn’t very heroic to enter Sero’s room without permission, but this was an exception.
Iida grabbed the handle, and to his surprise, it turned easily. Why would Sero leave his door unlocked?
Frowning, Iida swung the door open and entered the room.
The blue-haired boy flicked on the lights and glanced around the room. He had only gotten the smallest glance at what it looked like when the dorms had first been implemented, so he had forgotten how relaxed it was.
But now was hardly the time to appreciate the decor! Iida’s eyes flicked around the room, searching for any signs of Sero.
The bed was empty and unmade. Strange.
Iida’s eyes drifted over to the hammock, where a large, human-sized lump was visible.
Slowly crossing the room, Iida stood above the hammock and cleared his throat.
“Sero?”
The lump of blankets started moving, and after a few seconds, Sero’s face was visible.
He was shivering slightly, face was flushed, eyes were half closed and gaze distant.
“Iida? Izzat you?” he croaked out, head falling to one side.
“Yes, it is. You had us all worried, so I came to check on you,” Iida explained, a concerned expression on his face.
“Us?”
“Everyone in class. You didn’t show up and we got worried.”
Sero frowned. “I’m missing class? Man, Aizawa is gonna kill me.”
He sat up and tried to get out of the hammock— emphasis on tried.
His legs, which were cocooned in a blanket, got stuck as he tried to swing them out.
Unfortunately, Sero’s upper half still had momentum, and it didn’t get caught.
So he tumbled towards the floor, face headed straight for the carpet, a slightly surprised expression on his face,
Iida silently thanked Aizawa’s intense training and he bolted forward and caught the boy just before his head hit the ground.
Sero looked up at Iida, wonder in his eyes. “You were really fast.”
Iida’s brows furrowed as he looked down at Sero’s flushed face. He definitely shouldn’t be going to class today.
Cautiously, Iida rested his hand on Sero’s forehead. It was ridiculously hot. Sero was sick!
“Whatcha doing?” Sero asked cheerily, eyes crossed as he attempted to look at Iida’s hand.
“I wanted to see if my assumption was correct. You are unwell, and unfit to go to class today.”
Sero’s eyes uncrossed as his gaze went from the hand on his forehead to Iida’s face. “What? No~ I don’t get sick! I’m perfectly fine!”
He attempted to sit up, only managing to get halfway up before he was panting from exhaustion.
Iida frowned and started untangling Sero’s legs from the hammock. “You need to rest. I’ll let Aizawa know you’re sick and have someone bring your homework to you.”
Sero nodded slowly. “…Okay.”
Iida picked Sero up and crossed over to the bed, where he laid the black-haired boy down gently.
As soon as he was on the bed, Sero swaddled himself in more blankets and buried his face in a pillow, sighing contentedly.
“I’m going to go get some water and some medicine. I’ll be right back.”
Sero made a small sound in acknowledgement from behind the pillow as Iida left the room.
Once the door clicked shut behind him, Iida pulled out his phone and opened the group chat between him, Midoriya, Uraraka, Todoroki and Tsuyu.
Team Dad: I found Sero in his room, but he’s running a fever and is quite out of it. Please notify Aizawa that he’s unfit to go to class today, and that I will be back after I make sure he’s alright.
Iida sent the message and tucked his phone back into his pocket. Sero was okay, and that’s all he could ask for.
Entering the kitchen, Iida grabbed a few pills and a glass of water, then turned back towards the elevator.
But why had Sero insisted that he was fine yesterday? Did he not want people to know he was sick? And if that was the case, why?
When he got back to Sero’s room, Iida was still frowning slightly as he handed the pills and water to Sero, who took them unquestioningly.
“Iida~ Why are you frowning? Did I make you upset?” Sero asked, lips pulled down into a frown.
Iida snapped out of his thoughts and smiled. “I— no, you didn’t. I’m just thinking.”
The black-haired boy nodded slowly. “Well if you frown when you think then don’t think so much. I don’t like it when you frown. You’re much prettier when you smile.”
Iida felt his face flush as he froze in place. Did Sero just call him pretty? What should he do? How could he respond? Should he respond?
Just as he really started to freak out, Iida felt his phone buzz softly in his pocket. It must be the group chat!
Thankful for the distraction, Iida pulled out his phone and checked the messages.
She’s W I C K E D: That stinks!!! I hope he gets better ( T _ T )
Broccoli Bone Breaking Boy: Don’t worry about coming back to class! Aizawa says you should look after him today!
I Must Restore My Honor: We’ll bring you your homework and notes once the day is over
*sips Lipton tea*: Tell Sero I hope he feels better soon kero
Iida froze all over again. He was to stay with Sero the entire day, to make sure he was alright.
That was perfectly fine! It was his duty as class president to make sure his fellow classmate got healthy.
“Who’re you talking to?”
The blue-haired boy jolted back to attention, and looked up from his phone, only to find Sero’s face inches away from his own.
“J-just receiving an update from my friends. It appears that I’ll be staying with you for the rest of the day to make sure you’re alright.”
“Ooh! I get to spend the whole day with you?” Sero smiled brightly and Iida’s stomach flipped a little. “Yay!”
Iida nodded. “W-well you should make sure to get sleep! You won’t get better if you don’t get adequate rest!”
Sero flashed a crooked smile, and even though Iida saw that smile every day, it made his insides melt nonetheless.
“I like it when you talk.”
“Huh?”
“Your voice is pretty.” Sero leaned forward, resting his forehead against Iida’s chest. “Besides, I like hearing what you have to say.”
Breathe, Iida, breathe.
“Wow. Your heart is beating really fast right now. It sounds like the beat to… uh… I can’t think of anything right now but it sounds like a fast song.”
Iida could verify that. It felt like his heart was going to burst right out of his ribcage.
His face was on fire, his breathing was staggered, and Iida knew it wasn’t possible, but it felt like his heart was going to explode. Sero was trying to kill him, or at least it felt like it.
The black-haired boy leaned back and fell into his pillows. That was good. That meant Sero was no longer physically touching him, his own blush was dying down, and Sero was laying down in bed. That was an amazing start!
Onyx eyes were still trained on Iida though, gazing at him with a mixture of admiration and curiosity.
“Have I ever told you how pretty your eyes were?” he asked, wonder in his voice.
Iida choked on his spit and flushed wildly.
“Imma take that as a no.” Sero frowned. “Why not though? Like, they’re really pretty, and when you talk about your friends, or your brother, they get all sparkly and I just want to look at them forever.”
“I— well—” Iida stammered, face turning an even darker shade of crimson.
“I don’t think enough people compliment you~ They should though! You’re always so caring, and you’re really smart, and you’re an amazing hero, and you make the class better and happier. Well except for me—”
Iida’s heart sank. He didn’t make Sero happy? It’s not like they knew one another well, but they were friends, right?
“Well, that isn’t true because you just make me happy when you’re around, and when you’re not around I’m sad, which is a lot because we’re not even that close, and that makes me sad because you’re amazing and I want to spend more time with you.” Sero finished off his statement with a small sniff.
Oh, well that made more sense. Wait, no it didn’t! Sero— carefree, fun, mischievous Sero wanted to spend time with him?
“I— why would you want to spend time with me?” Iida asked, fidgeting nervously.
“Are you kidding? Were you even listening to what I just said? Wait, I did say all that nice stuff about you aloud, right?”
Iida nodded as Sero sat up, a dopey smile on his face. “Well put those smarts to use, hot stuff, because I know you have them~ I think you’re pretty, like really pretty.”
The bespectacled man froze up. He wasn’t ready for this, his heart couldn’t take this.
“You look uncomfortable. I’m sorry.” Sero frowned. “Do you want to sit down?”
“I— no! No! You didn’t do anything wrong! I’m just… flustered. That’s all. No one’s ever said things like that to me.”
“Well they should. Well, no they shouldn’t. Only I should get to stay stuff like that. If anyone else did I’d probably get really jealous. Do you want to sit down?” Sero patted the spot next to him on the bed. “I don’t want you standing all day.”
Iida reluctantly sat down. Sero was simply not in his correct state of mind. He wasn’t thinking about what he was saying and Iida would not bring it up once he was better, because his words held no weight— right?
Sero’s loud sigh drew him out of his daze.
“You wanna know something?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I’m glad everyone in class is so close.”
“I agree.”
“Do you wanna know why I like that?”
“I value what you have to say, so yes.”
At that, Sero giggled, and Iida felt a strange fluttering feeling in his chest. He wanted to hear it again.
“Well, I grew up with a lot of younger siblings so I’ve always been super touchy-feely, and since school has started, I couldn’t see my little siblings as much, and then with the dorms I barely see them at all—” He stopped talking to blow his nose, and Iida couldn’t tell if it was from emotion or from being sick.
Sero tossed the tissue aside and turned to face Iida. “And I kinda freaked out about it, because I’ve always been a super touchy person and I couldn’t have that any more, and one day when we were studying Kami and Kiri and Mina noticed and now we have cuddle nights.” He sniffed again. “They’re just so amazing and I couldn’t have asked for better friends. I mean, even Bakugou joins in!”
Iida cocked his head thoughtfully. Apparently the Bakusquad was much closer than any of them had let on.
“And then one day Midoriya asked me to meet with him because he wanted to talk about techniques for my quirk, right? And apparently he found out about the whole touch starved thing and he was super nice about it and cuddled with me— everyone’s just so nice.”
The blue-haired boy nodded, smiling softly. Midoriya was a cuddler, their squad sleepovers revealed that much.
“‘M sorry for putting all this word vomit on you.” Sero yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes. “You’re really good at listening. Are you the most perfect person I’ve ever met or what?”
Then Sero closed his eyes and laid back down onto the pillows, as if he didn’t just turn Iida’s world upside down in one conversation.
Sero had a big family, apparently. Sero liked cuddling. Sero thought he was pretty. Sero liked his eyes. Sero liked his voice. Sero liked hearing what he had to say.
Well, okay then. This was new information.
It was pretty obvious that Sero liked him, and Iida was pretty sure that he liked Sero back too.
So, after all this was over… Iida would tell Sero. Yeah. He could do that. He would do that. He needed to do the heroic thing, and tell Sero his feelings.
But of course he would do that later. Right now he needed to make sure Sero got better.
Ever so slowly, he stood up and walked towards the door. He would go grab a book or two and then make something for Sero to eat.
As his hand touched the handle, something wrapped around his wrist and tugged it back.
Tape?
He turned back around to see Sero sitting up, a pout on his face.
“Come back to bed~” he whined, tugging on the strip of tape harder.
Iida flushed violently. Why did Sero have to say that?
“I’ll be back soon. I-I’m just going to get you something to eat.”
Gingerly, Iida unwrapped the tape from his wrist as Sero whined.
“But I’m not hungry and I want you to stay. So stay!”
He really shouldn’t stay. Sero needed something to eat, and Iida had the willpower to say no.
Sero stuck out his bottom lip and Iida’s willpower crumbled.
He could get them something to eat later.
Sero made a delighted noise as Iida walked back over to the bed and sat down.
“I will need to make us food sooner or later.”
“Later. Now I want to snuggle.”
Before Iida could say anything else, Sero shoved him down onto the mattress, and curled into his side.
Iida took slow, calculated breaths. He could do this. Sero needed to rest and if this was the only way to make him sleep, then Iida would stay here, with Sero smooshed into his side, panicking only slightly.
…
Iida didn’t know when he fell asleep, but he woke back up to the sound of someone blowing their nose.
He sat up and rubbed his temples. Who was he with?
He blinked a few times, only, the blurriness in his vision didn’t go away. Oh right, his glasses. Where were his glasses?
“Hello sunshine~” a voice chimed.
Someone laid their head down on Iida’s lap, a blurry smile on their face as they reached their hands up to his face.
Oh right, now he remembered. Sero was sick and they fell asleep.
But that still didn’t explain where his glasses were…
“Do I not get a hello?” Sero asked playfully as he grabbed something and shoved it onto Iida’s face. Oh. That’s where his glasses were.
“My apologies, Sero,” Iida said, blushing slightly. Why was Sero’s head in his lap?
“Don’t worry ‘bout it. I just wanna snuggle for a little bit longer.”
“I— don’t you think you should eat something first?”
“We can eat something later. Now I want to snuggle.” Sero sighed and closed his eyes. “Just a little longer.”
Yeah, just a little longer.