Archive of Our Own

He wasn’t supposed to be here.

The sentence led itself to several dramatic conclusions, none of which were overly accurate in the situation, but the fact still stood. He wasn’t supposed to be here.

...Why was he here again?

Ding! Went his phone, and Shouto heaved a sigh as he looked at the screen. Right. That was why. “Happy Birthday, Shouto!!” Read his sister’s message, and as much as Shouto wanted to be happy… he couldn’t. He was sixteen, sitting on the common room couch in the dim light that barely came from the kitchen, staring out in front of him into the pitch-black void of night, and nothing really felt right.

Or, it had felt a little more right before his father had texted him. Stupid old man. All he wanted with his children was to create perfect little heroes to surpass All Might and obey him like dogs so he could live his power-hungry dreams through them. His father would never be happy, Shouto knew it in his heart. There would always be some bigger fish in the sea for him to chase, and his father would never be satisfied with how big his catch may be. Which meant that Shouto would never be happy, because of course he was the vessel that his father was aggressively living through nowadays. Lucky him. 

So, here he was. Alone in the common room at an ungodly time of night, barely an hour into his birthday but already angry and wishing for it to be over. The day was a prison, a reminder of how far he’d grown and how many years he’d suffered in his father’s house. The dorms were an escape for him, the opportunity to be separated from that man and the house that forever lived in fear of his rule. It came with the sacrifice of not talking to his siblings, but he could deal with that. Shouto was used to being alone, after all, and used to being isolated from his siblings. 

(Memories flashing by like quick glimpses of the past)

(Fuyumi on the bed and reading to him to calm him down)

(Natsuo showing off in the yard because he knew Shouto was watching him while trapped inside)

(Touya–)

(It stopped.)

He just sat alone on that damned couch and blankly stared into the distance, letting the darkness wash over him. Maybe if he stayed there long enough, the day would just pass him by and everyone would forget he was there. He could melt into the couch, or make an escape through the window, but moving was such an arduous task right now that the thought was quickly thrown out. Instead, he set his phone down on the couch beside him and pulled his knees up to his chest, rocking back and forth in the ball he’d curled into to find some sort of comfortable position. Once he was satisfied with that, he wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his head against his knees, raising his fingers ever so slightly to send out little bursts of his Quirk. Right side first. Thumb, index, middle, ring, pinkie; sending bits of snow and ice forwards. Repeat the motions backwards. Pinkie, ring, middle, index, thumb. The ice moved backwards towards him this time. There was a second of hesitation as he watched the bits of ice shine in the dim light.

Left hand. Thumb, index, middle, ring, pinkie. Tiny little bursts of light, shooting across the room and making the leftover pieces of ice shine even further. Shouto exhaled shakily, inhaling as he reversed it. Pinkie, ring, middle, index, thumb. Forwards and backwards, backwards and forwards; repeated actions that were intended to help him pass the time but only made him more antsy. It honestly felt like he was going to jump right out of his skin if he had to deal with five more minutes of this awful day, and the day had barely even started yet, in all technicality. Unbeknownst to him, he’d started hyperventilating as he thought, rocking back and forth more aggressively now. 

Left hand. Right hand. Both at once. Right hand going from thumb to pinkie as left hand went from pinkie to thumb, then switch. Try to move his left hand fingers while shooting ice from his right, and then reversing that process too. Trying to create the longest, most slender stream of flames he could, first from his thumb, then his index, and on and on and on. Push it forwards and drag it back. Make shapes. Try to curve his flame upwards, try to draw a picture with his ice. A castle. A word. “Sorry,” “happy,” “mom,” “hi.” Form flaming spirals that hovered in the air like some weird Christmas tree above him, showering him in sparks and heat as he furrowed his brows and tried to focus on curving them just right. It didn’t really work, all the shapes and things being unsteady and a little off whenever he tried to use his fire. He scowled, letting the flames dissipate and going back to simpler things.

Left and right. Up and down. Left and right. Up and down.

Words couldn’t come close to describing just how much he hated this day. His motions got faster. Left-right, up-down, left-right, up-down. 

His thoughts felt like molasses being poured into a fan turned to the highest setting, a motor running and smoking and trying to move but being filled with a sticky mess of disgusting things, and it made the urge to move feel all the more unbearable under his skin. 

He wanted to pace, to run, to scream.

His body wouldn’t let him.

Leftright-updown-leftright-updown, faster faster faster.

Things were shifting from the changing temperatures, blasts of cold air followed by dry desert winds, walls creaking and wood groaning and paint slowly beginning to warp, and Shouto barely even noticed it all. The sounds just went in one ear and out the other as his movements became more and more manic and as his breathing became shallower and faster.

Leftrightupdownleftrightupdownleftrightupdown–

“Hey?” 

Shlink. One big icicle shot out from his palm and the other person jumped backwards with a curse. Shouto was panting, wide-eyed as he stared at them, and it took him a second to realize he was shaking. It took him even longer to let the icicle melt away and exhale at last. God, he was shaken up. What the hell was going on?  

“Uh–”

“What do you want.” He cut them off, looking down at his knees. His hands had returned to their places clutching his loose pyjama pants. The molasses was still being poured into the fan. Shouto could almost smell the smoke– or maybe that was just him.

“...Todoroki, dude.” The person ventured further into the room, and Shouto glanced up as the voice finally sank in. Sero stood awkwardly on the other side of the common room from him, on the very edge of the light that was still pouring from the kitchen. Shouto looked back down. “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” He responded curtly. “You can leave now.” 

“You almost stabbed me through the throat with an icicle and you’re rocking back and forth in the common room at ass-o’-clock. That doesn’t sound like fine.” Shouto only scowled further.

“Why are you awake?” Sero hummed, walking over to take a seat on the other side of the coffee table. Shouto eyed him warily.

“Well, I can’t really sleep. And it’s beautiful out tonight. I decided that I couldn’t just stay in bed if I wasn’t gonna sleep anyways, and… y’know.” Shouto eyed him carefully. 

“You were going to sneak out.” Sero went pale, then blushed. 

“W-well, not really, I… sort of, yes, but not– not really, I promise!” Shouto kept looking at him steadily, not saying a word. Sero stuttered, cussed some more, and then sighed and buried his face in his hands. “Look, it’s just– there’s this really nice place on the roof I can go out to. It’s covered and shielded from the wind well enough that I can stay out there for a little bit without freezing. It’s not below zero or anything tonight anyways, so…”

“So you thought you’d go out and distract yourself for a while.” Shouto interrupted him. Sero nodded. “And I’m guessing you’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

“You got me.” Sero held up his hands in surrender, the loose sleeves of his sweatshirt falling down to his elbows. “Yeah, it’s… nice to look at the stars sometimes. Clear my head a bit, or just think.” 

“Hmm.” Shouto hummed back. The room fell back into silence as he thought, watching Sero slowly begin to squirm as the minutes ticked by. At last, he sighed. “You’re not going to want me to tell anyone about this.”

“I– yeah, please? It’s just– I know I shouldn’t, but it’s just so nice out tonight and I can’t stay in my room any longer–”

“Bring me along.” Sero stuttered to a stop.

“I– wait, what?”

“I…” Shouto took a deep breath. “I can’t– I can’t think anymore in here. I need to get out somewhere, otherwise I’m going to… I don’t know what I’m going to do. But can you– please, can you bring me with you tonight?” 

Belatedly, he realized that it was the most open and vulnerable he’d been around the boy. Shouto’s voice was quieter, weaker, and more pleading than it had ever been before. He sounded like a child again, and Sero could obviously tell judging by the way his mouth was opening and closing. But Shouto needed this out, needed it more than he thought he would ever need something as stupid as this, and Sero’s continued silence felt like it was going to destroy him from the inside out if he didn’t–

“Okay.” Shouto blinked.

“...what?”

“I said okay. Get your coat and some boots and meet me back here, okay?” Sero waited for confirmation and Shouto forced himself to swallow. Okay. Okay, this was going to be okay.

“I– yeah, sure, uhm… okay.” He nodded quickly, almost as an afterthought, and Sero nodded back with a small smile.

“Okay.” And with that, Sero was off back to his room to get something or the other, throwing a few odd pieces of clothing (hat, gloves, and the biggest coat Shouto had ever seen) from the hallway before disappearing into the darkness. The room was silent for a moment before Shouto jolted, unfolding himself clumsily and scrambling back to his room as well to put on appropriate clothes. He threw a sweatshirt on over his pyjamas, yanked on a pair of warm socks, and picked his coat and scarf out of the closet. His gloves and boots were at the front of the dorms, set neatly by the door with all the others, and he quickly swung by to pick them up before returning to the common room. Sero was there and waiting for him, pulling on boots and gloves himself. He grinned and Shouto nodded back shakily. 

“Get dressed, I’ll explain what’s going on while you do that.” Shouto obediently set his things down and began doing up his boots, knotting the laces while he listened to the other boy talk. “I normally get up there with some creative tape work and a bit of climbing, I’m not gonna lie, so we’re gonna have to pull some creative things to get up there.”

“Well, how high up is it? You can swing us up and I can climb the rest if I’m too heavy.” Sero looked at him strangely.

“How heavy are you?” 

“Uh… I’m not sure, actually.” 

“Can I try and pick you up? If you’re okay with it, obviously, but–” Shouto cut him off with a raised hand, carefully considering. He knew that Sero wouldn’t hurt him, but there was still some part of him that help some sort of fear. A churning sense of anticipation had been building in his chest for a while now, ever since Sero had agreed to take him up there, and he honestly wasn’t sure if it was good or bad. Still…

“...just be careful. Don’t drop me, okay?” Sero scoffed, flicking his hair back with a hand. His coat was still on the ground and the sleeves of his sweater made flopping noises whenever he moved his arms. Shouto found it oddly funny. 

“I would never drop you!” He whisper-yelled. Shouto let his lips quirk into a small smile, moving a bit closer to close some of the distance between them. Sero opened his arms, giving him one last look. “And we’re sure this is okay?”

“Yes, we’re sure.” Shouto nodded, swallowing down the still-brewing anxiety in his throat. Sero scrutinized him for one more second before sighing and grabbing one of Shouto’s arms. Shouto blinked at him for a second before finally getting the hint and wrapping his arms around Sero’s neck. He felt Sero’s arms snake around his waist before he was picked up, automatically wrapping his legs around the other boy’s waist and feeling Sero’s arms shift to support him under his thighs. Without thinking, he’d buried his face into Sero’s shoulder and he could hear the other boy laugh.

“You okay, bro?” His voice was still soft, but it sounded much louder now that Shouto had his head wedged in between his neck and shoulder. After a second, he straightened up. 

“I’m fine. Am I too heavy?” He looked over Sero’s face carefully as he responded with a shake of the head. 

“You’re light as a feather. Almost worrying, but I’m sure it’s because of how buff I am.”

“Oh, of course. I don’t see why you’d think otherwise.” Shouto responded so easily that Sero seemed to take it as serious for a second before grinning. 

“Dude, you need to loosen up more like this in class. Here, I’ll put you down and you finish getting dressed, we can totally make it up like this.” Shouto nodded, releasing his hold on Sero’s hips and letting himself be set back onto the floor. He finished yanking on coat and gloves quicky, shoving the scarf into his pocket and taking Sero’s offered coat after a second. The boy gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, but I can’t wear it when I go up. Y’know.” He flapped his arms like he was performing some lazy version of the chicken dance and Shouto gave another half smile.

“Understood. Are we good to go now?” Sero gave him a thumbs up.

“Good to go. Follow me.” 

The two silently walked over the common room carpet in their boots, reaching a door that was hidden behind a lamp and a small shelving unit. Sero, being the more slender of the two, slid between the wall and shelves easily and jiggled the knob a bit, being rewarded with a small click. He swung it open, slipping in and pushing the door a little bit more. “Come on in.” 

Shouto sucked in his gut and followed, slipping through the door and into a tiny storage closet. Sero had to reach around him to close the door, and as soon as he heard the tell-tale click once more, Shouto leaned back against it. The space really was tiny, barely enough to be called a proper closet, but what mattered was that there was a window large enough for the two of them to get out of unseen. With a finger to his lips, Sero gestured at him to climb up the shelves and out the window after him. Shouto, once again, obediently obeyed the instructions, pushing Sero’s coat through the window first before wiggling out himself. Sero helped him stand and Shouto’s first sight was the long way down. Unconsciously, he hissed.

“What?” Sero tilted his head at him as Shouto turned away. He pursed his lips.

“I’m not liking the way down from here.” Sero smiled at him.

“I’ll make sure you don’t slip, don’t worry.” Shouto nodded

“What sort of hero would you be if you didn’t keep people safe?”

“What sort of friend would I be?” Sero corrected. Shouto looked up at him fast enough that he felt himself slip somewhat, sliding a centimeter backwards towards the edge of the awning. Sero quickly reached out, wrapping one long arm around his waist and yanking him back. “Jesus Christ man, don’t scare me like that!”

“Are we friends?” Shouto’s arms had automatically come up to wrap around Sero’s neck, just like they had been inside, and he found himself in a rather romantic pose with the boy now. Sero’s eyes were going everywhere, glancing all over his face, and Shouto nudged him with his hip. “Sero?”

“I– friends, yes!! Friends we are!! I– god, sorry, you just knocked me out of it a bit there, but yeah. We’re friends, if that’s okay with you.” Shouto nodded quickly.

“I’d love to be, yes.” He blurted it out so fast that Sero needed to take a moment to process it. Relief overtook his expression.

“Oh, thank god– ah, yeah. Right, we should probably get out of sight before someone sees us.”

“Or before I slip again,” Shouto offered with a smile. Sero smiled back. 

“That too. Alright, ready? You’re going to need to hold on tight so I can swing us up. I need my hands free for that. Er, elbows.” Shouto nodded again, yanking on Sero’s coat almost as an afterthought. Sero let him go, keeping his arms hovering loosely around Shouto’s waist just in case the boy slipped again. Shouto was quietly grateful for the extra assurance, hurrying to finish getting his hands through the sleeves and wrapping his arms right back around Sero’s neck. The other boy snorted, lifting him up so that Shouto could lock his legs around his waist.

“What’s so funny?”

“You almost seem excited to get back into my arms.~” Sero’s wide smile was distinctively flirty now, and Shouto snorted and let his head drop into the crook of the boy’s neck.

“I’ve already fallen enough today, I’m not falling again.” Sero tensed as if he wanted to ask something before shaking his head, muttering “never mind” under his breath. Shouto decided not to push it, feeling Sero move his arm up and choosing to hold on tightly. He could hear a couple joints crack as Sero warmed up, hear a shaky exhale of breath.

“You holding on?”

“For dear fucking life.” He shot back, hearing Sero snort again.

“Then here we go!” 

Thwip went the tape, and Shouto unintentionally clenched the boy even tighter as the feeling of falling overwhelmed him. His heart was in the pit of his stomach as they swung down and he could barely breathe as they made their way back up. Then, a feeling of calm, of floating, not falling but not flying upwards either.

And the process repeated.

Shouto wasn’t sure if he wanted to let go at the end of it all, because it felt like Sero was the only stable thing after all of that swinging. It probably hadn’t helped that he’d had his head buried in his neck for the better part of his ride, but still. Carefully, he lifted his head to take a look at Sero.

“That was absolutely terrifying.” Sero laughed for real this time, the actual loud sound that Shouto was more accustomed to hearing in class or when he passed that friend group goofing around on free days. It made Shouto’s anxious mind finally break and he started laughing too, taking one hand off of Sero’s shoulder to cover his mouth in some attempt to muffle the hysterics. The two stood there in the snow, on the roof of a UA dorm building, laughing at the moon at two in the morning, not fully knowing why they were laughing so hard. It took Shouto a deep breath and Sero a lot of muttering for them to finally calm down, and the minute they made eye contact they started giggling all over again.

“How the hell have I never heard you laugh?” Sero was grinning. He almost sounded breathless, which Shouto figured was probably from their cackling. He shrugged.

“I guess I don’t have much reason to in everyday life?”

“...you do realize how depressing that sounds, right?” Shouto sighed.

“Well, now I do.” He sighed, looking away from the other boy. “I… you might’ve guessed I’m not an overly happy person by nature, but it felt… nice to do that.”

“I’m glad.” Sero said, with absolutely no hesitation. Shouto turned his head to meet eyes with the boy, scouring every inch of his face from his messy hair hidden under a red beanie to his dimples to the way his eyes scanned his own face. Oddly enough, Shouto could feel heat rushing to his face even in the cold air of the darkness. He cleared his throat. 

“Are we going to stand here all night? I’m still eager to see that spot you promised me.” Sero took one last good look at him before carefully setting him down, and Shouto refused to move his hands off of Sero’s shoulders even as his feel touched the roof. He looked up at the other boy, feeling a chill blow through the air and seeing him shiver. With a frown, he pulled off the oversized jacket and thrust it at the boy. “Put this on. No use freezing out here if you can help it.” Sero seemed to huff but pulled the clothing on anyways. 

“Yes, yes, I did it. C’mon, it’s this way.” The hands were finally removed from Shouto’s waist, and he internally mourned the loss of contact as he followed Sero further up the roof. The two ended up heading to the massive UA logo emblazoned on the front of the building, with Sero climbing up first and extending a hand to help Shouto up. The two huddled together in the small space, the “U” only providing so much space. It helped them keep warm, Shouto figured, so it was practical. Sero was on his left side as well, which allowed Shouto to bring some heat into his still-shivering form. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, tracing the stars above them.

“It’s beautiful.” Shouto whispered. He could hear Sero hum, shifting closer to him.

“It is.”

“...thank you. For bringing me out here.” In his periphery, he saw Sero turn his head to look at him. 

“I mean, it’s not really a problem! You needed to get out of there, and now we both get to just chill out here. Plus, you’re a literal space heater.” He grinned. “Which means that I don’t have to freeze my ass off out here.”

“Mm.” Another pause. Sero turned back to stare at the sky, eyes tracing pictures above them. Shouto could feel his eyes occasionally glancing over, though. He worried his lip. “You asked me why I was awake.” Sero paused.

“That I did.”

“It’s my birthday today.” The other boy stopped, turning towards Shouto again. He kept his eyes focused on the sky.

“Really?”

“Mm.”

“Well, damn, man! Happy Birthday!”

“Thanks.” He might’ve said it too sourly, because Sero pursed his lips.

“Todoroki. Look at me.” Shouto hesitated. “Please?”

Shouto sighed, looking over at last. Sero’s brows were knit. “Yes?”

“It’s not a very happy birthday, is it?” Shouto sighed shaking his head. “Okay, why?”

“Long story.”

“We have time.” Sero shot back. A pause. “I know that we’re not the closest–”

“But you’re open to listen.”

“Yeah. And you don’t have to tell me everything, but… I’m good at secrets. I won’t tell anyone what you tell me, and we don’t even have to talk about this later. But I’m here.” 

Silence.

“My dad texted me.” It seemed so simple now that it was out in the air. Sero nodded slowly. “He and I don’t get along in the slightest. He tries to be a good father, but I can’t forgive him for what he did to me, or my mother, or my siblings–” 

“Todoroki. Breathe.” Shouto clenched his jaw, forcing himself to take a breath in. “Alright, so shitty dad texted you. That’s not the greatest for sure.”

“He won’t let me see my siblings.” He gritted out. “If I want to see them, he wants to be there too. And I know that my sister is going to want to act like a happy family with him, but my brother and I just can’t stand him, and mom won’t be there either because of what a shitbag he is–”

“Todoroki, breathe.” Shouto damn near growled this time, sucking in more air. “Alright, shitty dad texted you and doesn’t want you to see the rest of your family. Really shitty, but I don’t think that you should be focusing on that right now. And I know it’s hard, but forget about him. At least try. We can talk about anything else if you want to, okay?”

“...fine.” Shouto took another breath. “Fine, let’s do that. I’m not a good conversationalist, I warn you.”

“That’s fine. Here, lean on me a little, you’re shaking.” Sero open his body up a little and Shouto delicately leaned back against him, adjusting himself a bit as Sero wrapped an arm around him. “So. What do you want to talk about?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay, well… can I ask you some questions?”

“Sure.” Shouto shrugged, wariness hanging over him. Sero hummed.

“Alright. Well, you have two siblings, right?”

“Three, technically. Two brothers and a sister, but my oldest brother isn’t around anymore.”

“Damn, must be fun. I have a couple siblings too. How old are they?” Shouto was playing with the sleeve of Sero’s coat by now, twisting and pulling at the loose fabric.

“My sister is twenty-three and my oldest brother was her twin. My other brother is nineteen. What about yours?”

“My youngest sister is three, my next sister is seven, and then the next is thirteen. I’m the oldest.”

“And the only boy?”

“And the only boy.” Shouto bounced a bit as Sero huffed amusedly. “It’s an amazing time, as you can probably imagine.”

“Playing dress-up, the tea-parties… you must be having the time of your life.” Shouto was smiling now too, remembering the scarce few times he was allowed fun with his siblings. Sero nodded.

“Oh, of course. You sound like you have experience in this.”

“My siblings and I would play dragons and knights whenever we had time together. My oldest brother was the ferocious dragon and we always made him wear a costume with it too, he hated it. My sister played princess most of the time, but sometimes my other brother would be prince so she could be a knight with me. I was always one of the knights.” He laughed quietly, shaking his head. “I was always so excited to see them.” 

“They’re your older siblings. From what I’ve experienced, siblings always love each other more than anything. My sisters sure are. God, you have no clue how good I am at bracing myself whenever I visit home. All three of them just jump on me, sprint and leap, and I somehow need to drop anything I’m holding to catch them all.”

“Seriously?” Shouto twisted to look at the other boy a bit better. Sero was beaming, rolling his eyes.

“I wish I was lying. The amount of coffee cups I’ve broken, the panic that happens when I’m holding something just out of the microwave and one of them tries to hug me–” Shouto snorted, imagining Sero’s expression of terror as he was forced to decide between the meal he’d just microwaved and the enthusiastic seven year old charging at him. “Oh, something funny?”

“Nothing, nothing at all.” Sero gave him an exasperated look and he laughed again. “Honestly!!”

“You’re a liar.”

“I am not.”

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

“Yes!’

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“Yes!! And surprisingly immature too!!”

“I’m the youngest sibling, can you really blame me?” He did his best to look innocent and Sero groaned.

“Yes!!” Shouto started laughing again, lifting a hand to cover his face as Sero poked his arm. “No!! Stop laughing!! Shut up! Oh my god, why do you put me through this?”

“You’re the one that started it!!”

“And you’re the one that finished it!”

“Let me breathe, Sero, oh my god–”

“Then stop laughing!!” Shouto lifted his other hand and covered his eyes, forcing himself to breathe deeply. Blowing their cover out here wouldn’t do any good, and neither would going lightheaded from laughing. He exhaled hard, nudging Sero with his elbow. 

“That was your fault.”

“Agree to disagree?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Great, just as expected. Awesome.” Shouto hummed, dropping his hand from his mouth. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Sero hummed, pulling the boy closer to him. The sky was noticeably lighter than it had been before and Shouto hummed. “Sero.”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t really think of us as friends, do you?” Sero paused.

“W-what do you mean?’

“You hesitated when I asked if we were friends. You’re not acting like we’re friends either. And you obviously don’t hate me, do you?”

“I– no, no, of course I don’t hate you! It’s just, you’re just– I–” He went off into a stuttering mess. Shouto stayed silent, playing with the sleeve of his coat again and tracing the crosses of the plaid pattern with a finger. Maybe he’d overstepped, or maybe he’d read the entire situation wrong, but Shouto was notorious for his theories and guesses and now was no different. He might not have had many friends, but he knew how Sero acted around Kaminari and Ashido and it was completely different from how he’d been acting tonight. Finally, Sero groaned. “Okay, fine. Fine, you got me. I might have a tiny crush on you. Happy now?” 

“...Thank you for telling me.” Sero coughed.

“That’s– that’s not a response you give to something like that, dude!” Shouto paused.

“Well, what’s the right one?”

“I dunno!! Tell me how you feel!! Do you like me, do you hate me, do you want nothing to do with me anymore– I don’t know!!” Shouto rested his hand on Sero’s arm, rubbing it gently, and Sero started dragging his free hand up and down his face as he muttered under his breath. Shouto waited until the other boy had stopped hyperventilating as much before he continued.

“I don’t know how I feel about you, to be quite honest. I don’t dislike you in any way, don’t worry, but I’m not sure if I have romantic feelings or not.” Sero was breathing shakily. “...is that okay?”

“Are you asking me if you not knowing how you feel is okay?”

“Well, I don’t want you to hate me, or to stress yourself over me.”

“I– no, Todoroki, I don’t hate you for not knowing that. Feelings are stupid sometimes and a lot of people have a harder time interpreting them than they’d like to, y’know?”

“Yeah.” Shouto paused again. “Can we… can we still be friends until I decide?” Sero’s arm tightened around him.

“Dude, of course!! You don’t even have to ask, man, of course we can!” Shouto smiled.

“Thank you. And, if we’re friends… can I stay around you today? Since you… understand my situation, I suppose. It would make me feel better.”

“Hey, I’m not doing anything special today. We can hang out for as long as you want.” Shouto lifted a hand gently, delicately hugging back as best as he could at this angle. Sero paused before straightening up, letting Shouto go so he could twist around and give the boy a genuine hug which Shouto awkwardly returned after a quick pause. Sero laughed nervously, pulling away and rubbing the back of his neck. “S-sorry, I guess I should’ve warned you before doing that.”

“It’s alright. I’m just not very used to physical affection like that, I suppose.” Sero gave him a look.

“Again. That sounds incredibly depressing.”

“Well, clearly.” Shouto huffed. “I’m sure that you and Midoriya are going to work on that, aren’t you?”

“It’s what friends are for.” Sero gently smiled. “Now, c’mon. Let’s get inside before one of the teachers sees us.” Shouto nodded, accepting Sero’s hand and climbing back down from the logo and down the roof. Swinging back over to the window was an awkward affair, and so was getting back into that ridiculously tiny storage closet. Shouto was just glad that they were almost to their rooms when–

Footsteps.

“Shh!” Sero had a finger up to his lips and a hand covering Shouto’s mouth, eyes blown wide with fear. Shouto listened as whoever was out there paced around, muttering to themselves incoherently and seemingly canvassing every inch of that common room. He could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears, see how Sero’s chest was barely moving because of how shallow he was breathing, and feel cold sweat pouring down his back. Whoever was out there had no idea that the two boys were in the closet, he assured himself. It was going to be fine–

The steps began moving towards the closet. 

Eyes shot wide, Shouto slowly moved away from the door, one shaking hand reaching out to grip Sero’s shirt. He pulled himself to Sero’s chest as soon as the other boy had dropped his hand, turning his head to the side in order to not be nose-to-nose with his classmate as they listened to the footsteps move closer and closer. His only thought was that this was exactly like that stupid horror movie Bakugou had made them watch the other night, and that he did not want to die this way. Locked in a storage closet, dressed in winter clothes, trapped–

The doorknob wiggled. Shouto held his breath. It wiggled again and he could practically hear the mental stream of curses that were sure to be flying through Sero’s head. Quietly, he moved his foot to brace the door shut just in case. 

The doorknob kept moving and Shouto started to pray. Seconds stretched into years as every noise became a threat, and just as he was about to give up hope–

The person walked away.

Sero exhaled shakily and wobbled a bit, and Shouto grabbed him in case he fell over. They waited until they heard a door close from across the floor and snoring before Shouto finally swallowed.

“I’ll check to make sure no one is there.” He whispered. Sero nodded, moving one hand to open the door. Shouto turned around almost painfully slowly, first looking through the crack in the door. No one. He steeled himself before stepping out of the door, squeezing past the shelves to scan through the room. Floor, ceiling, all the dark corners and under the tables. Nobody. “...I think it’s okay.” Sero darted his head out, glancing around quickly before sighing and slipping out as well. The two pulled off their boots glancing at each other whenever the building settled or someone made a noise in their rooms, and Sero waved to him as he darted off to his room. Shouto picked up his boots as well and ran to his own room, throwing the items into a pile in the corner of his room and stripping as fast as he could. It was only as he threw himself into bed to feign sleep that he realized that he still had Sero’s coat with him.

He was asleep before he could think more of it.

“Happy Birthday, Todoroki!!” His friends later screamed. Shouto nodded, thanking them quietly and glancing across the room to Sero. The other boy stood, still in his pyjamas and oversized sweatshirt and yawning in the light of morning. As Shouto excused himself to make a cup of coffee, he overheard the conversation he was having.

“Wow, you really are tired! Did you sleep at all last night?” Kirishima was looking worried, hair hanging in his face in a red rat’s nest. Kaminari was there too, shoving one more bobby pin into his own hair to hold his bangs back.

“Yeah, man, you look like shit. Is the weather getting to you too? I heard it’s supposed to be stupid cold later this week, maybe your dreams got all weird because your blanket was too thin.”

“Nah,” Sero shrugged, running a hand through his hair. “I think I stayed pretty warm last night.”

Shouto snorted into his mug, seeing Sero glance over with a wink. He rolled his eyes, wiping some of the excess coffee off of his face with his sleeve and smirking back at him. Sero’s blush was more than enough of a revenge for him, and the look on his face when he returned the jacket with a thanks and a smile was even better.