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The world has its fair share of weird quirks. Izuku is pretty used to handling the odd ones, seeing as throughout most of his life they may have either been used against him or simply caught his eye while he was developing his hero notes. Villains tended to have some pretty out of the box quirks that were looked down upon by general society, for example.
A school as prestigious as U.A., where people go to become heroes or immerse themselves in the hero world in one way or another, was bound to house some pretty strange ones on top of the really powerful. Izuku soon learned that, while U.A. prides itself in the way it teaches its students how to properly utilise their quirks for the lives they may lead, that doesn’t mean the school years go by smoothly and without any incidents. Sometimes, Izuku isn’t even the one at the centre of them, believe it or not.
This is one of such times, where he is left holding a scared kitty cat with fur split between red and white and a patch of it missing over a bright blue eye. One of the girls from the general department happens to have a quirk that turns the people she touches into cats, and it has the small drawback that when she is in distress it can activate on its own. Izuku and Todoroki had the unfortunate luck of being in her way when she was running across the hall because she had woken up late and was worried she’d miss her class and get a reprimand from her homeroom teacher. Todoroki had pulled Izuku out of her way, but he hadn’t been fast enough to dodge her shove himself.
In the end, she was late anyway because she had to explain why Izuku’s friend was now a small, furry Persian cat, and when he would turn back into a human. According to her, Todoroki would slowly return to himself, but it would be a gradual process that could take up to an entire day for him to fully be normal again. At the very least, Todoroki didn’t seem to want to run away from his careful—albeit a tiny bit panicked—hold, so that was a plus. But on top of being late themselves, it seemed like Todoroki wasn’t very keen on actually leaving his side during the class.
Izuku doesn’t exactly mind having a kitty companion for a bit, but he must admit that knowing it’s his best friend and not-so-secret crush happily napping and purring on his lap throughout the entire day isn’t really good for his heart. Though once they finally finish their school day and get back to the dorms, since he can let Todoroki roam a little more, it’s actually kind of cute to watch his friend turned cat playing with Uraraka’s hoodie strings as she dangles them in front of his face.
Sometime after he finishes his homework, Todoroki is back to being mostly human, barring the ears still sticking up from between his mismatched locks. He doesn’t seem very distraught by his classmates telling him he looked adorable rolling on the floor and just being overall soft and cute, and that is a relief. Izuku knows how reserved Todoroki can be, so part of him had been worried that his friend would be horrified at his own behaviour when under the quirk’s influence.
It’s only when they are all having dinner together after Kirishima convinced Kacchan to bless them with his culinary skills that Izuku understands why he didn’t freak out about it. Even though he can talk and interact just like normal, it seems the quirk still hasn’t quite worn off beyond the ears twitching on top of his head. After all, Izuku would never really expect to see his friend licking at his hand to groom his hair right after a meal, and yet, here he is, doing just that and blushing at the sight for some odd reason.
Most of the girls let out a chorus of awed noises while the guys snicker at the strange display. As it seems, Todoroki isn’t very keen on being made fun of, his features twisting with displeasure as he listens to the guys’ ill-concealed chuckles. And it probably doesn’t help that Kacchan just so happens to be the loudest of them all and sitting right next to Todoroki, to boot. The moment Kacchan looks to Kaminari with an arrogant smirk, going on about how “The Icy Hot idiot already had a brain the size of a pea, he might actually be a little smarter now”, Todoroki casually starts pushing his water towards the edge of the table. Izuku probably could have stopped it, but he was too entranced by the slow drag of the cup and Todoroki’s completely impassive expression. When his childhood friend jumps up from his seat with an explosion setting off from his palms, Izuku finally snaps out of it with a gasp at his lips.
“You half’n’half bastard! You spilled that shit all over me!”
“What do you mean?” Todoroki asks in an almost innocent tone, looking him up and down with a disinterested hum. “I didn’t do anything.”
Izuku balks. As much as he knows that is just something an actual cat would do, he just can’t convince himself that Todoroki wouldn’t do the exact same thing if miffed enough and given the chance, and he is suddenly wondering if his friend is simply using the quirk as an excuse. Regardless of his reasons, Izuku can only get to his feet as well, reaching over Todoroki and putting his hands up in front of Kacchan defensively just as he is about to grab at his friend’s collar.
“HAH?! What’s that you cat-eared weirdo?!” He screams over Izuku’s shoulder anyway, making him flinch.
“K-Kacchan! Please, Todoroki-kun is clearly not himself right now, give him a break.”
A vein threatens to pop on Kacchan’s forehead, but he simply grumbles and shoves his chair backwards to angrily stomp towards the boys’ side of the dorms while Todoroki stares after him with disinterest before returning to his previous activity. Izuku lets out a small sigh of relief, sinking back into his seat and rubbing at his face. Uraraka giggles into her hand and Izuku can only glare in her general direction, kicking her under the table to stop her from making any inappropriate comments. Knowing her, she is already weaving a story about how Izuku is Todoroki’s knight in shining armour, defending his honour when he is in such a strangely vulnerable state.
As if…
Once Kacchan returns with dry clothes and pointedly takes his bowl to another table entirely, the conversation shifts to the mundane normalcy that follows a long day of classes, and soon everyone has finished eating and help take the dishes back to the kitchen. Izuku, Ashido and Yaoyorozu offer to wash and put them away and Todoroki lingers behind the three of them, his lips pursed.
The moment Yaoyorozu opens the tap, Todoroki refuses to get anywhere near the sink, letting out a scared little hiss, and Izuku is torn between feeling bad for him and amused at the scene. Hagakure ends up dragging him away with some scratches behind one of his fluffy ears, and that definitely doesn’t make Izuku a little jealous with how his crush’s eyes almost roll to the back of his head in satisfaction. Why on earth would he be jealous of that?
Biting on his bottom lip, Izuku focuses on rinsing the bowls, lest he break something while lost in his lovesick woes. Luckily, no one seems to comment on the faint blush warming his cheeks as he works. Izuku tries not to think too hard about how that might mean they just know exactly what it’s about, especially when he sees Ashido smirking at him out of the corner of his eye.
“Todoroki-kun is so cute like this, isn’t he?” She sighs, twirling around Izuku and holding onto his shoulders, nearly making him drop the glass in his hand before he hands it to Yaoyorozu to dry, her sympathetic gaze doing nothing to stop the coldness from spreading in his gut. “Who knew the mysterious, pretty boy of U.A. could have such an adorable side…”
“I-I guess.” Izuku curses himself for the little stutter, clearing his throat before continuing. “It’s just the quirk though, making him act like that.”
“Well yeah…” Ashido puts a finger to her chin as she hums thoughtfully. “But doesn’t it just make you want to pet him between those cute ears until he’s just melting onto your lap?”
The bowl in his hands cracks when he accidentally activates his quirk at the mere thought of Todoroki’s blissed expression.
“Midoriya-san!” Yaoyorozu gasps, reaching for the shattered porcelain and letting out a breath of relief when she sees that he isn’t hurt. “Please be more careful.” She chides as Ashido grins mischievously and Izuku feels his face burn even hotter while he mumbles an apology and helps clean up his own mess.
After they are done and the two girls leave for their dorms, Izuku takes a little time to get some more studying done in the common room as his other classmates mostly turn in for the night as well. Usually, Todoroki is one of the people who will go straight to bed, but this time he stays with him and some others, splayed on his stomach on the couch and staring at Izuku so intently he can almost feel the holes boring into the back of his skull. It gets to a point that he can’t quite concentrate on the words, shifting awkwardly on the chair as he tries his best to resist the urge to look back at his friend and ask him what he wants. For all he knows, Todoroki doesn’t actually want anything, he’s just staring… Cats do that, don’t they?
Slowly, but surely, his classmates continue to leave while Izuku keeps struggling to retain any sort of information, his thoughts utterly scrambled and consumed by a desperate need to look at Todoroki and get lost in his beautiful eyes as his cute kitty ears point to the sky.
“Yo, Midoriya, I’m getting some water, you want any?” Kirishima’s voice finally draws his attention to that general direction, and Izuku’s gaze lingers on Todoroki.
The cat ears are finally gone it seems, and Todoroki has his eyes closed, his chin perched up on the armrest with his hands on each side of his face. It’s quite an adorable position, Izuku will say that much, but why is he suddenly missing the twitchy ears at the top of his head?
“Midoriya?” Izuku jerks out of his own thoughts with a small noise that apparently rouses Todoroki from his sleep—if he actually was sleeping, anyway.
“Uh—yeah, thanks! If you wouldn’t mind, that would be nice.”
Blinking for a moment, Izuku tries to get back to his studies, but he catches some movement out of the corner of his eye and no longer has the willpower to stop from looking. Todoroki is rolling onto his back, stretching lazily with a subtle flutter of his lids as a contented purr vibrates rather loudly in his chest. A squeal dies in Izuku’s throat at how absolutely charming his friend looks, but it quickly morphs to one of horror when Todoroki brings one of his hands down to pull his shirt up to his chest.
With each new inch of skin revealed, Izuku’s eyes widen a bit further and he clambers out of his seat in a flash, looking from Todoroki’s odd display of his stomach as he continues to fix him with his eyes, to the door that leads to the kitchen. If Kirishima walks in on this strange scene, how the hell is Izuku supposed to explain that?!
Without a second to lose, Izuku spots a stray blanket on one of the lone armchairs and dives for it, quickly unfolding it and throwing it over Todoroki’s head just as Kirishima walks through the door and to where he had been sitting before.
“Hey man, here’s your water. I think I’m gonna head to bed now, though, so I’ll—What’s Todoroki doing?” He narrows his eyes at whatever is happening behind Izuku.
He looks from Kirishima to Todoroki just in time to see his best friend rolling onto the floor with a thud. Letting out another yip, Izuku stands frozen with his arms reaching for Todoroki as he watches him struggle to come out from under the blanket, tugging at the edges and only managing to shift it from one side to another without actually getting it off his head. He throws a sheepish smile at Kirishima then offers him a little shrug in response.
“Cat thing, I guess.”
A small chuckle greets him as Kirishima turns on his heels with a half-hearted wave after leaving the glass by Izuku’s notes.
“Midoriya.” Todoroki calls, his voice thick with a fear so uncharacteristic, Izuku almost chokes when he hears it.
Immediately, he runs to his side, taking the blanket off of him and throwing it back to the armchair it had been resting on initially, and kneels down next to him. Todoroki looks around for a few heartbeats, his eyes adjusting to the artificial lights and his pupils dilating slightly when he finally finds Izuku beside him. His whole body seems to go limp as he relaxes onto the floor at the sight of him, reaching for one of Izuku’s hovering hands and bringing it closer to his face. Izuku’s heart jumps right to his throat when Todoroki rubs it against his cheek, and closes his eyes, a satisfied hum turning to a purr not long after.
Izuku thanks the heavens that all his other classmates have gone to bed already, because there is no way he would have ever been able to hide the flush that suddenly takes over his cheeks. His face feels impossibly warm and that heat spreads all throughout his veins. A swarm of butterflies takes flight in his chest and his stomach flips.
“T-Todoroki-kun!” He squeaks, torn between taking his hand away from Todoroki and letting him continue to melt into his sort of unwilling touch.
In all honesty, he kind of enjoys the softness of his skin rubbing against the back of his scarred hand, it’s strangely soothing. And when his fingers inadvertently brush over his friend’s silky hair, it’s all Izuku can do not to sigh at the sensation, wanting nothing more than to fully run his fingers through those red and white locks, just as Ashido had suggested. Just that afternoon, Izuku had done that when Todoroki was still a whole cat—not just his friend with a cat’s behavioural pattern—, so really, what would be so different about doing it now?
Swallowing down both his guilt and embarrassment, he slowly nudges Todoroki to get his attention instead, ignoring the squeeze in his chest when bright, blue greys stare up at his face, his expression still the trained neutral that has always been his default, but looking so full of emotion. Which one, Izuku isn’t entirely sure, and he doesn’t know whether his heart can handle finding out either.
“C-can you let go of my hand?” Izuku asks quietly, his words somewhat strangled.
A pause stretches between them as Todoroki keeps staring. “Don’t wanna.” He deadpans, going right back to what he was doing moments before.
Actually choking on his own spit this time, Izuku tenses, not knowing what to do with himself apart from simply resigning to his fate until Todoroki deems it fit to let him go free. He is so caught up trying to hide his burning cheeks with his one free arm that he doesn’t quite notice Todoroki opening his mouth one moment, then closing it around his hand the next. With a short shriek, Izuku tears his hand away from between his friend’s teeth, exhaling sharply as he rubs frantically at the red mark left behind and gapes at him.
“I’m done with pets now. Tired. Wanna sleep.”
Eye twitching slightly, Izuku gets back on his feet and runs to the nearest sink to rinse his hand under cold water, hissing at the small sting before rubbing at his face in mild exasperation. This really goes to show that he shouldn’t read too much into what Todoroki is doing, he clearly isn’t acting like himself. But wasn’t there something that said cats only show their bellies to people they trust? Izuku shakes his head to get rid of the intrusive thought. That doesn’t mean anything.
Izuku heaves a sigh. It’s getting late, and it’s not like he is going to actually get any more work done with Todoroki like this, so he might as well head off to bed.
When he returns to gather his things and bid Todoroki a goodnight, he finds him curled into a ball on the floor, gently snoring. He can’t just let him sleep like that; it can’t be comfortable. Izuku will not be responsible for Todoroki waking up sore from spending the entire night in such a weird position—and on the floor, no less!
After gathering his notebooks into his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder, Izuku carefully approaches his friend and stops just short of actually nudging him awake. Is he going to bite him again? Not wanting to risk it, Izuku crouches near Todoroki’s face and softly calls his name. All the reaction he gets is a subtle twitch of his features before he starts to shift onto his back as he arches it off the floor with a purr, his shirt once again hiking up to reveal his navel.
Panic rises within Izuku at the thought of Todoroki once again pulling it up himself, and he throws all caution to the wind, shaking him by the shoulder to wake him as quickly as possible. Todoroki’s eyes focus on him and he rolls onto his hands and knees, leaning closer to Izuku’s face as he sniffs the air. In his haste to move away before Todoroki gets any closer, Izuku loses his balance and falls flat on his rear with an undignified grunt.
Todoroki blinks at him, already moving towards him, and Izuku doesn’t waste a single breath to pick himself back up, adjusting his backpack over his shoulders as he takes a few steps away. Todoroki stares up at him in mild confusion, but eventually gets to his feet as well, much to Izuku’s relief.
“We should head to bed…” Izuku breathes, trying not to celebrate with a tiny dance when Todoroki nods and hums in agreement.
Since his dorm is on the second floor, Izuku doesn’t actually bother taking the elevator, and when Todoroki follows him, he tries not to think about it. Yet, when he veers into the hallway and Todoroki keeps tailing him, Izuku stops to turn back to his friend and ask him where he’s going.
“Bed.” Todoroki says simply, eyes barely open and beyond heavy with sleep.
“Your bed is on the fifth floor.” Izuku reminds him, and Todoroki just narrows his eyes further. “Do you want me to take you there?”
“Yes.”
“Okay…”
The short wait for the elevator and the whole ride up to the last floor is quite awkward, Todoroki’s eyes never really leaving him, and when they make it to his dorm and he doesn’t make any move to get in, Izuku shifts from one foot to another. It takes a few, excruciatingly long seconds for Todoroki to finally get into his room, and Izuku has to be the one to open the door for him to walk through with an unintelligible grumble.
As soon as he sees Todoroki flop onto his futon, Izuku lets out a breath and moves to close the door so that he can go back to his room. A violent hiss sends his heart to his throat all over again and Izuku stops, staring wide-eyed at his friend’s angry face.
“D-do you want me to leave it open?” Izuku asks, dumbstruck, and Todoroki nods in response.
Not really knowing what else to do, Izuku leaves the door ajar and waits for a moment until Todoroki settles onto the soft covers before going to his own room and getting ready for bed. Hopefully once he wakes up, Todoroki will be back to normal. And if the gods are merciful, he won’t even remember a thing, because this is bound to be the cause for excruciating embarrassment.
At least Izuku is certain he pulled a muscle from all the cringing and flinching.
Of course, Izuku had never had much luck when it came to these things… He doesn’t even manage to get a full hour of sleep before waking up to incessant scratching at his door. He blinks at the noise, turning on a lamp and squinting at the offending light as he keeps hearing the constant scratch, scratch, scratch that only seems to get louder and faster each second.
“Midoriyaaaaa!” A smooth voice calls from the other side. No, it can’t be… I’m dreaming, right? “Midoriyaaaaaaaaaaaa!” Scratch, scratch, scratch. “Midoriyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
“Oh my god—” Izuku mutters under his breath, quickly kicking the covers off with his feet and running to the door to swing it open before anyone else hears Todoroki’s calls.
On the other side, his friend is sitting on the floor, staring up at Izuku with bright, expectant eyes and he simply gapes in return, at a loss for any proper words. His question of what he wants is met with just more staring. When Todoroki doesn’t move either way, Izuku tries to close the door to go back to sleep, but just as he expected, the moment the lock clicks shut, there it is again.
Scratch, scratch, scratch. “Midoriyaaaaaaaaaa!”
Throwing the door open once more with an exasperated breath, Izuku ignores the screaming voice in the back of his head at what he is about to say. “Todoroki-kun, do you want to come inside?” He chokes out.
Todoroki’s eyes seem to light up even further at his words and he stands up to casually stroll into Izuku’s room, sitting at the foot of his bed as he slowly closes the door once again. He sincerely hopes that they won’t get in trouble for this… In his defence, it really isn’t his fault that Todoroki is acting this way. Not that it’s Todoroki’s either… Surely, the teachers would turn a blind eye for this situation.
Worrying his lower lip with his teeth, Izuku taps his foot for a moment while he watches his friend get comfortable. Since Todoroki is clearly taking his bed, Izuku starts to take his pillow and a blanket off his bed so that he can at least get a little comfortable on the floor. But when he reaches for them, Todoroki grabs at his wrist, fixing his gaze with a small frown.
“What are you doing?” Todoroki demands. Izuku gulps at the intensity of his gaze.
“Going to sleep on the floor.”
“Your bed is here.”
“You’re on it.” Izuku reasons, his cheeks flaring once again.
“So? Sleep on the bed. I’ll sleep by your feet. Keep them warm. Keep you safe.”
“T-Todoroki-kun—” Izuku starts to protest, but one look at Todoroki and he knows that he isn’t backing down.
Well it’s not like I was going to get any actual sleep with him here anyway… Izuku tells himself, turning off the light and wordlessly snaking under the covers to curl up on his side, trying to make it nearly impossible for Todoroki to lie on his feet like he knows some cats to do. Soon after, he feels the bed shift with Todoroki’s weight as he gets settled. After a few heartbeats of silence, he risks a peek at Todoroki. He’s fast asleep already.
Once again, Izuku is left to wonder if this is the cat behaviours or just his friend’s general demeanour. He has seen Todoroki fall asleep in the blink of an eye in the strangest places… Of all those, by his feet shouldn’t really be so weird, and yet, Izuku can only feel his heart threatening to beat right out of his chest just because Todoroki is on his bed.
True to his prediction, Izuku barely catches a wink with Todoroki right there, but it only gets worse when he feels his friend’s hands on his thigh, kneading his flesh as he purrs contentedly. This certainly isn’t good for his heart, overworked as it is and without any actual rest or respite throughout the entire night.
When morning eventually comes, Izuku isn’t sure whether or not he is grateful for having to get up. On the one hand, he has an excuse to get away from Todoroki before he spontaneously combusts. But on the other, his alarm wakes Todoroki as well, and when he jerks at the shrill sound of All Might’s voice telling everyone ‘The morning is here!’, Izuku can immediately tell that the quirk’s effects have finally worn off from just the look on his face.
It happens in stages: first there’s the shock from the unfamiliar alarm, then the confusion from not recognising his surroundings, and then the blood drains from his face as realisation slowly dawns on him, finally settling on a mortified embarrassment that quickly colours his cheeks anew. Their eyes meet for the entire two seconds it takes for Todoroki to jump off the bed and nearly trip on his own feet as he stares down at them, his hair covering his still reddening face as he scrambles toward the door with nary a word.
“Todoroki-kun—” Izuku calls, his mouth clicking shut when his friend lifts up a hand to silence him while the other comes to cover his own.
“Please don’t… don’t say anything…” Izuku really doesn’t have a clue what he would have said anyway, so perhaps this is for the best. “I’m sorry for doing all those embarrassing things in front of you…”
“It’s okay…” He mutters honestly, even if he is no less embarrassed by the events himself.
“The others are already never going to let me live this down, so can we at least not talk of this again?”
“If that’s what you want…”
Todoroki exhales shakily with a small nod of his head before straightening up and running a hand through his silky, albeit somewhat messy locks. “Thank you.”
He turns the door handle then, posture alert for anyone that might be roaming the halls. Apparently seeing no one, Todoroki moves to leave, stopping dead in his tracks and looking like a deer caught in headlights not even a second later.
“Ah!” A voice rings loudly from the hallway that sounds an awful lot like Mineta’s and Izuku pales from his spot on the bed. “The cat was in heat!”
Todoroki’s eyes widen like Izuku has never seen them do before, an admittedly pretty shade of crimson painting over his cheeks and no doubt matching his own as he just crawls back into the room and shuts the door behind him, pressing against it as if it will keep the horror and embarrassment out.
“Actually, forget not talking about it, just kill me now, that’d be great.” Todoroki nearly begs, sliding down to the floor as he pulls his fringe down in front of his eyes and hides behind his knees.
“It’s not that bad… No one is going to take Mineta-kun seriously…” Izuku says, unsure of whether he is trying to ease Todoroki’s worries or his own. “A-and besides, we know that nothing happened.”
“I flashed you my abs, Midoriya. I rubbed my face all over your hand, I followed you around. I came to your dorm in the middle of the night and slept at your feet. I wouldn’t call that nothing.”
Izuku sputters at that. “W-well, that was—cats just—”
“I can’t believe this is how you find out I like you.” Todoroki groans and Izuku pauses. He blinks once, twice, three times…
“You can’t believe this is how I what now.”
Head snapping up, Todoroki somehow gets even more flushed. “You didn’t know.” He states matter-of-factly.
Izuku has to resist the urge to shout, scream, squeal, every variation of ‘freak out’ there might be in the dictionary. “You like me?!” He ends up saying instead, his voice cracking at the end.
They just sit there for the longest time, gazes locked and cheeks burning. In Todoroki’s case a tiny bit more literally than Izuku’s, if the little wisps of smoke rising from the left side of his face are anything to go by.
“Y-you don’t have—I don’t expect you to return my feelings.” Todoroki finally breaks the agonisingly awkward silence and Izuku almost squeaks all over again.
“Just for the record,” Izuku starts, pushing past the lump in his throat. “I don’t not return your feelings.” He mumbles, his arms already crawling up to cover his face as he looks to a far corner of his room.
“You don’t?”
Izuku’s head starts to feel a little light from the blood stopping at his cheeks, but he forces himself to nod, doing his best not to straight-up faint. “And I also didn’t not like you doing all of those things… Even if the abs were a little much.”
The way Todoroki hides behind his hair is excruciatingly adorable, but Izuku is already dealing with way too much to actually focus on that right now. So instead, he settles for watching his friend slowly pick himself back up, staring from him to the door and back again, clear his throat, and shift his weight for what feels like a small eternity.
“I don’t think I can process that right now.” Todoroki ends up saying.
“I don’t think I can either.” Izuku admits.
They stare into each other’s eyes for another long while.
“We can talk about it later, right?” Todoroki asks, almost begging.
“Sounds good.”
“Good.”
“Great.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
Another pregnant pause. Todoroki opens the door again. “Okay.” He parrots, finally ducking out and leaving Izuku to fall back on his bed with a squeal he really can’t stop this time around.