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This late at night, U.A.’s students should already be fast asleep, the call for lights out long passed. Heights Alliance sits in nothing but a silent darkness, and the moon lays hidden behind thick blankets of clouds as if tucked in for the night too, keeping watch over the land between the twinkling stars.
Rather than comfortably surrounded by the warmth of his bed covers, lost in fantastical worlds or drowning in dark waters of nightmares, Izuku is awake and scrambling to shove dirty laundry into his closet.
In the middle of his room sits a heap of All Might blankets, ones he had been steadily sneaking into the dorms ever since this night was a bright green circle on his calendar. With the stress that came with their last year, between juggling internships and intensive classes on top of constant villain attacks, Izuku and his closest friends hadn’t been able to do something like this in far too long.
Izuku lifts his head when he hears faint knocks, jumping up and opening the door just a slit, excitement bubbling in his chest. He almost yelps when Ochako suddenly shoves her face through the gap, eager grin blinding.
“Let’s get this party starteeeeed!”
“Ochako-kun!” Tenya shushes her, eyes darting around for anyone who might have heard the outburst, then offering Izuku an apprehensive smile.
Holding back a chortle, Izuku opens the door the rest of the way, and spots Shouto standing casually behind the other two. Ochako had insisted he buy fluffy unicorn pyjamas just for the occasion, because, according to her, spending a sleepover in grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt was unacceptable. Izuku agrees wholeheartedly, especially when Shouto looks both hilarious and adorable with his hair falling down his left shoulder in a loose ponytail, his face in that same neutral mask. It only makes his get-up and personality clash even more.
“Welcome to my fortress of solitude,” Izuku announces in a low, secretive voice, stepping aside to let his friends in for their—as Ochako had put it—‘last chance to break the dorm rules before graduation’. Tenya hadn’t been so keen on the idea, given that equally framed suggestions had ended with reprimands from Aizawa on more than one occasion, and their teacher was sure to find new and horrendous ways to punish them.
Ochako snorts lightly at his choice of words. “As if your room isn’t where we spend most of our free time anyway.”
“What can I say, studying under All Might’s ever-watchful, sunken eyes really gets that motivation going,” Shouto adds in a monotone as he follows them in, his eyes shining when he spots the pile of All Might blankets.
“Yeah, it’s like we’re disappointing Deku’s dad if we don’t!”
Izuku rolls his eyes despite the grin stretching the corners of his lips. “Very funny.”
Shouto chooses to cocoon himself in the Silver Age blanket, though he is much too tall, try as he might to get completely covered. Izuku runs for his favourite blanket as soon as the door clicks shut, but Ochako trips him and dives for it too—much to Tenya’s clear distress.
They wrestle each other for the prize, which ends with Ochako floating Izuku to the ceiling and him struggling to get down. She picks the blanket off the floor and pushes him away with little effort, giggling before releasing her quirk, and Izuku crashes down with a thud and a grunt.
He knows the fight is lost, so Izuku crawls closer to Shouto with a small, defeated whine, collapsing dramatically onto his lap. “Betrayed by my own best friend.”
Lips quirking deviously, Ochako sits next to Tenya, wrapped in her winnings. “You’ll get over it.”
“I thought I was your best friend.” Shouto frowns at Izuku, his voice muffled under a layer of fluff. “Have I been demoted?”
“I can have more than one.”
Ochako pokes at Shouto’s cheek with a smirk. “No way, you got promoted.” She shrieks when he suddenly uncovers his mouth, making to bite her, and glaring when she manages to escape just in time. “What’s that for?!”
“Stealing Izuku’s favourite blanket.”
Izuku laughs, pulling the blanket up to cover Shouto’s mouth again. “My hero.”
“Please, keep it down.” Tenya finally slumps down to sit in the loose circle they have haphazardly formed, still wary of any noise and their poor classmates down the hall.
“You’re no fun, Tenya-kun,” Ochako scolds, already taking an array of colourful nail polish bottles out of her pyjama pockets and smiling mischievously at their confusion. “Can’t have a sleepover without a makeover.”
Izuku gasps excitedly, whispering an apology when Tenya shoots him a pointed look, while Shouto hums with interest. He leaves the safety of his blanket burrito to reach for the light blue nail polish, but Ochako sneaks the bottle right out of his hand with a click of her tongue.
She walks to sit on the bed behind him, running a hand through his hair and tugging at the green tie. “You just volunteered! I’m gonna braid your hair now.”
“Hey, no fair!” Izuku protests, sitting back on his ankles as he watches with a pout. “Why do you get to braid his hair?”
Not offering an answer, Ochako sticks her tongue out, already combing Shouto’s long locks with her fingers. She sighs softly as she begins to separate them. “It’s so soft…”
It’s only then that Izuku realises the truth, and crosses his arms over his chest. “I see what this is. The only reason you suggested a makeover is because you wanted to mess with Shouto-kun’s hair.”
“Ochako-kun’s hidden agendas should be something you’re used to already,” Tenya murmurs, picking out a deep red nail polish as he takes Shouto’s left hand.
With a petulant huff, Izuku takes the blue from where it’s laying beside Ochako, and sits cross-legged by Shouto’s right side. His hand is cold when he twines their fingers together, and Shouto blinks owlishly as he looks at each of his friends, surprised that they wordlessly agreed to pamper him.
There is an understanding among them that Shouto deserves all the love and attention he can get: a movement to shower him in affection that was unwittingly started by Izuku sometime during their second year. Perhaps the attention was out of a need for affection of his own, but Shouto certainly needed it too, if not more.
Despite his confusion, Shouto doesn’t complain, just relaxes back against Ochako’s legs as she expertly weaves each strand into a stunning Dutch braid. Instead of watching, Izuku distracts himself with coating Shouto’s nails in baby blue so he doesn’t pout at the fact he doesn’t actually know how to braid someone’s hair. Sometimes, something as simple as getting his own messy curls out of his face with hair clips is a struggle, one that never fails to end in a painful knot rather than a pretty twirl of green.
Izuku supposes this gives him an excuse to gingerly hold Shouto’s hand without mumbling through several apologies, so he can’t find it in himself to mind. And anyway, he’s quite pleased with the results of his careful painting as he steals the red brush from Tenya to add a tiny heart on his ring fingernail.
Shouto seems to like it when he inspects their handiwork in Izuku’s bathroom mirror, twirling the end of the braid with one finger. Somewhere along the way, Ochako had stuck three silver stars around his left eye over the bumpy scar tissue, and it makes Shouto raise an eyebrow at her in the reflection.
“You look cute,” she offers with a smile, standing on the tips of her toes to rest her chin on his shoulder. “Fits your aesthetic.”
A low hum is all she receives from their tight-lipped friend, but Izuku can see the small twitch at the corner of Shouto’s mouth. A tiny, satisfied smile. Izuku is about to add his own compliment when a polite cough sounds from behind them, and Tenya clears his throat with an apology when they turn to look at him. “Did anyone at least remember to bring snacks?”
“I thought you were gonna get them this afternoon after practice with All Might!” Ochako crosses her arms over her chest, fixing Izuku with a stern stare.
Izuku smiles bashfully. “Oops?”
A chorus of groans rises around him as he apologises, already offering to sacrifice himself to brave the dark hallways of Height’s Alliance to get food. It was Izuku’s responsibility to begin with, after all, but the others shake their heads, refusing before it’s fully out of his mouth.
“We’re in this together,” Shouto says solemnly, his expression much too sombre—like they were about to raid a war camp rather than a pantry. “We won’t let you take the blame if you get caught.”
“Exactly!” Ochako strikes a pose before pointing towards some unseen horizon. “Operation Sneaky Snacks it is. Onward!”
Tenya shushes her again as Izuku scopes the ominous halls beyond the safety of his room. Everything is deathly quiet; all the lights are off except to indicate emergency exits, casting the corridor in an eerie green glow. Judging it safe, Izuku motions for the others to follow, and they all walk slowly in single file, dragging socked feet across the cold floor.
It’s as if the dorm halls have become battlegrounds: villains with powerful quirks and all sorts of enemies hidden in every corner as they quietly make their way down the stairs. Imaginary eyes bore into the backs of their heads, which is both terrifying and exciting.
Splitting up to cover more ground, they raid the kitchen for anything that might satisfy Shouto’s sweet-tooth and Ochako’s salty snack cravings, all while trying not to upset Tenya with an unhealthy diet. Izuku and Ochako find two bags of corn-chips at the same time Shouto steps back with a half-full bag of marshmallows, wearing an expression that spells trouble should anyone try to take it away from him.
Somehow, in the short time it took them to find it, Tenya had also made a small stack of assorted sandwiches: fast and efficient as always.
Right when Izuku is about to celebrate, the front door opens and brings the night’s chill with it. Tenya pulls them behind the kitchen counter when there’s rustling, and their hearts stay in their throats as the footsteps come closer. Izuku thanks the Gods that they decided to keep the lights off when the person—whoever it might be—walks past their hiding spot. He can’t tell who it is in the darkness, whether it’s just another of their classmates or a teacher lurking, but it doesn’t matter.
What matters is they don’t get caught.
As if reading his thoughts, Ochako touches each of their backs before pushing them effortlessly across the room, so quickly she might have challenged Tenya’s Recipro Turbo. Izuku flails at the sudden movement, eyes widening in fear as they bolt right behind the intruder, and he swears he sees bandages in the single second he manages to get a look.
Before they know it, they have made it back to Izuku’s room, shaking with a mixture of fear and adrenaline. Ochako locks the door before slumping against it with a relieved sigh, the snacks falling to the floor beside her. For a few heartbeats, they stare at each other, shocked, then Tenya snorts and slaps a hand over his mouth so fast the sound echoes.
Izuku is the second to break, and even Shouto lets out an amused huff as Ochako falls against his side with breathless giggles, wiping at the corners of her eyes. “Oh gosh, we should do this again next year.”
Silence abruptly falls over the room with the weight of a thousand words as the reality sinks in. Shouto averts his gaze to a far corner of the room. Tenya straightens his glasses, and Ochako’s jaw tenses. A small hiccup breaks the tension when Izuku hides his face behind his hands, his bottom lip trembling and a thick lump lodging in his throat. Tears of mirth rolling down his cheeks suddenly turn to ones of sorrow when it hits him just how soon everything will be over.
“There won’t be a next year,” he whispers, desolate, the gravity of graduation solidifying.
Simultaneously, his friends pull him into a hug and he does his best to return it, not caring about staining Tenya’s shirt or ruining Shouto’s pretty braid.
“We’ll keep in touch.” Ochako whispers, choked, yet grounding Izuku amidst his tears.
“Maybe we’ll even work for the same agency,” Tenya offers, but he knows better than anyone the likelihood is small.
Shouto simply nods against Izuku’s face, having nothing to offer him except a tighter hold. It takes Izuku far longer than he would like to admit to finally stop sobbing, forcing a smile through the tears that still stain his face. He has to focus on the present, right here and now.
This is their last chance to break the dorm rules, and hell if he won’t make the most of it with his best friends. Their future is tomorrow’s problem, one they will tackle smiling widely, together.