Chapter Text
Izuku awoke, and sat up with a start.
He was in bed, covered in sweat, panting heavily. Looking at the clock on his bedside, he read 1:32am. It was unusual for him to wake up in the middle of the night, he thought to himself, and tried to recall whatever had woken him. He was dreaming, but couldn't quite remember what about... Closing his eyes and lying back down, he tried to get back to sleep, but instead began to recall, very quickly, what had woken him so dramatically.
It was months ago. He was standing next to Asui, watching on as Aizawa-Sensei took the brunt of every blow an unfamiliar boy covered with what looked like hands dealt him. He tried to crouch further, but he couldn't. His vision faded, and soon could see nothing but a dry hand reach out and cover his friends face. He heard a scream.
Suddenly, it was a few months later. Running into an alleyway in a new hero outfit, Izuku activated his Full Cowling, knowing that he had to save a friend. Kicking the Hero Killer out of his range, he squatted down to tend to Tenya. He wasn't moving, and a puddle of blood was gradually pooling at Izuku's feet. A sickening chill was sent down his spine.
The scene swapped again, and he was stood in the middle of a forest, accompanied by Shoji, Todoroki, Tokoyami and Kacchan. A villain in a school uniform had just fled the scene, and left in her wake two bodies, lying motionless on the floor. His friends were shouting, and trying to wake them up. Izuku stood in place, watching their faces, pale and white, look up. Their eyes showed no signs of life.
Izuku awoke again, and sat up with a start.
The clock read 2:49am when Izuku awoke for the 6th time that night. "This is useless..." he slurred, and threw off his bed covers. Tiptoeing around for his slippers, he got up and went into the bathroom. Splashing his face with freezing water from the sink, he stared himself down in the mirror. These nightmares weren't too rare. After all, he had gone through enough to give even the most hardened pro's a sleepless night or two. What he needed was a warm cup of tea, and a little television to calm the nerves.
Donning his dressing gown and making his way down to the dormitory common area, Izuku noticed the television was already on, though there was no sign of anyone around. Strange. Passing behind the couch and into the kitchen, he put the kettle on and popped a teabag into his favourite mug. A worn image of All-Might looked up at him, giving him the thumbs up. It felt like it was staring at him. The image of his friends from his nightmares crossed his mind. He tried to shake he image out of his head, but it still seemed to come back to the images his dreams had conjured up before. The boiling water seemed to scream at him, and snapping out of his thoughts, Izuku snatched the kettle off the podium and poured himself a hot cup of tea.
Izuku turned the lights down, and picked up the television remote. It was playing a live channel; a rerun of some reality show was on. C-List heroes were stranded on an island somewhere in the Sea of Japan, and had to survive for a week whilst being filmed for late-night viewing. He quickly changed the channel to a pre-recorded movie he had on the TV box, and went to sit down on the couch. It felt lumpy. He stood back up with a start once he heard a small groan; Uraraka Ochako was lying on her side in her gym uniform, asleep in front of the television.
She hadn't woken up, much to Izuku's relief, and looked adorable in her slumber. Though the sight of his friends meeting such horrible fates in his dreams had disturbed him greatly, nothing troubled him more than her lifeless eyes. To see her here, alive and happy, was enough to set his mind at ease. Ever since the start of U.A., Izuku had been very fond of Ochako, and was apparently very obvious about it, too. Once, Kaminari and Sero had wound him up by greeted him every time he walked into a room, calling him Uravity's #1 Fan for a whole week. Though he couldn't deny he liked her, he knew they would be too focused on their studies, and teased too much by their classmates to do anything about it. That was assuming she liked him back, too, which Izuku had long since concluded would never happen.
He perched himself on the other side of the couch, and muted the television as he put on his movie, careful not to wake her up. He had taken a few sips out of his tea when he looked over at Uraraka, perhaps only to admire how cute she looked, and noticed she was shivering a little. As a wave of confidence passed through him, he set his mug down and ventured upstairs, returning with a spare set of his bedsheets. Draping it over her, he went to tuck her in a little and didn't notice her eyes open, even so slightly. Uraraka felt vague prodding underneath her shoulder and looked up, making out the shape of Izuku's hair and concerned face.
"...Izuku...?" She murmured, and wondered whether she was in a dream.
Izuku? Did she just call him by his first name?
"O-oh! Uraraka-san!" Izuku spluttered, and leapt backwards. "I-I-I'm sorry I woke you!"
Realising she wasn't, in fact, dreaming, Uraraka's eyes shot open and her hands clasped over her mouth. She just called him by his first name. She had never done that before, and felt like such an idiot.
"It's, um, it's okay..." she mumbled, and sat up a little, rubbing her eyes. The television was on still, but the room was much darker than when she last remembered being there... "Deku, what time is it?"
He looked at his phone. "About 3 in the morning... You had fallen asleep on the couch and looked cold, so I- um- I got you a blanket."
Uraraka sat up properly and looked him in the eyes. "You're up awfully late, Deku. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm..."
Uraraka's eyes gleamed with concern. She'd already called him by his first name, he thought. That must mean she cares.
"Not... not really, no." he admitted. "For the past few weeks, I've been having nightmares about... well, everything that's happened. I saw Tsuyu, Iida, Aizawa-Sensei-"
He paused.
"...I saw you. I couldn't save you."
Uraraka shuffled closer to Izuku, and gave him a comforting smile. "You didn't have to save me, silly. I'm right here, aren't I?"
"I know you are..." he looked down, trying not to meet her gaze. "But what if I need to next time, and I don't? What if I'm too late, or what if-"
Putting her hand on his, Uraraka bent her head down to try and look at his eyes. They were hooded, and welling up fast. "What if's aren't doing you any good, Deku."
"I know..." he replied, and wiped his eyes dry.
"Now listen to me," Uraraka gently pulled his head up by the chin, and their gaze met. "Nothing is going to happen to me, okay? I'm okay, and so is Tsu. So is Iida and so is Todoroki. We're all here, and we're not going anywhere."
Izuku sniffled, and looked down. "I know," he mumbled.
Before she had a chance to think about exactly what she was doing, Uraraka pulled Izuku into a close hug, and began to sway him a little in her arms. "Your dreams can't hurt us, okay? I'm here for you right now, Izuku, and I always will be. I promise."
The two stayed like that for a while, just cuddling and swaying, with the occasional sniff from Izuku and a squeeze from Uraraka. The two felt at peace, cuddled together in the dark, with the television paused and muted in front of them.
By the time they had fallen asleep together, Uraraka's head on Izuku' shoulder, his tea was cold.
Not a single nightmare bothered him again.