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Izuku didn’t think he’d attended a more awkward dinner. He had only been comforted by Katsuki’s explosive personality beside him- strange comfort in strange times, but it was what it was. He couldn’t imagine Shouto had been much happier about what had gone down than either of them were. After Natsuo dipped, Fuyumi had done her best to continue the conversation, and Izuku was happy to politely return the favor, trying his best to avoid overthinking it. He had even had an almost pleasant conversation with Katsuki in the hallway about it, the other displaying some semblance of compassion below his multitudes of prickly layers.
It ended when they returned to the main room and Katsuki exploded at the Todorokis for discussing their personal business with guests. He had a point, but Izuku couldn’t help but feel it wasn’t really anyone’s fault in particular. Certainly not Natsuo’s, for being angry, or his siblings, for needing to discuss it with each other. Izuku couldn’t help but involve himself, as polite as he tried to be, so it was inevitable when he asked his friend if he was preparing to forgive his father. Shouto was a good guy, despite the cold front he displayed to others. He had certainly warmed up after the festival, and Izuku had gotten glimpses of someone truly wonderful underneath all those walls since. Shouto had responded with surprise and Katsuki had, as was typical, mentioned he didn’t think it mattered if Shouto never forgave Endeavor. Izuku didn’t disagree, but he knew it was up to Shouto most of all.
They had ended up sitting back down at the table and talking amongst themselves for a few hours- first about Natsuo and Endeavor, but after Fuyumi had gone off to other things, the subject changed to more positive matters. School, getting their hero’s licenses. Izuku couldn’t help but pester both Shouto and Katsuki about their quirks, the work they were doing to improve, what they had worked on under Endeavor. He loved learning more about the way they strategized and learned. It was fascinating to learn about anyone, but there was something so compelling about the way Shouto and Katsuki challenged themselves. They were so strong and intelligent, and yet knowing either of them offhand you would never guess just how capable and witty either was. And there had been something so comforting, even despite the grim discussion topic, about the three of them working together to do the dishes- their teamwork was fluid and composed, like when they fought, how they moved as one, but with a quiet peace.
Endeavor came in after a while to take them home, only to find Katsuki had fallen asleep on the table as their conversation had lulled. He turned to check the time, only to find that it was only 8:50 pm.
“What’s with him?” He said, gruff and blunt.
Izuku and Shouto looked at each other with knowing smiles.
“He always goes to bed early, sir. I think he’s had a long day, and we were being quiet, and he just lulled right off,” Midoriya said meekly.
Endeavor huffed. “Well, I was going to bring you back to the dorms, so you should wake him up.”
“He’ll kill us if we do that. Can they just stay the night?” Shouto looked at his father with a blank expression, trying to avoid showing how exciting the concept of having friends over for the night would be.
Endeavor stood there for a moment, silent. He made another huffing noise, before shrugging. “I’ll contact the school. You all better be up early and ready.”
Izuku bowed and thanked him profusely, but he had already turned around and left the room. The two boys looked at each other.
“Can you lift him?” Todoroki asked, ever the pragmatist.
“L-lift him?” Izuku blushed straight to his roots. “Why would we need to lift him?”
“To take him to my room? We’ve been done with dinner for ages.”
“Oh. Right, that makes sense.” Izuku paused for a moment, still red, before squatting and gently lifting Katsuki out of his chair. His arms slipped up under his legs, and he stood up fully. Katsuki was lighter than he expected- still heavy enough to make sense, he was well built after all-but still. Izuku’s elbow and bicep rested under Katsuki’s neck and back, snaking his arm around to let his palm rest against the sleeping boy’s waist. He tried not to think too long about how well his hand fit just so against Katsuki, how much softer he looked in sleep.
“Midoriya-kun, my room is this way.” Shouto was standing in the doorway. When had he moved? How long had Izuku just been standing there? He shook his head and walked softly behind Shouto, trying not to make too much noise or bump Katsuki against the wall. The sleeping boy leaned into Izuku’s chest and let out a whisper of a grumble, and Izuku tried not to faint.
He felt both relieved and tortured when they reached Shouto’s old room and he had to set Katsuki down. Shouto’s room in his house was eerily similar to his dorm, if a bit larger. Izuku found he wasn’t at all surprised to know this. It seemed just like Shouto to model his room exactly like home, simply because it was what he knew. The only big difference was a shelf of books he didn’t remember ever seeing. Izuku walked over to it, to check out the books. He felt Shouto’s eyes on him, watching him peruse the collection. He picked out a manga and showed it to Shouto.
“I didn’t know you read this series, it’s really good! I mean after the third volume it gets a little stale, but the author’s development of the characters over time is fantastic, and you can really tell there’s… chemistry... Between..” Izuku trailed off. Shouto was looking at him with a sort of amused look on his face. “Sorry, I was starting to ramble again, wasn’t I?”
Shouto sat down on the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb Katsuki, and put his chin in his hands. “No, it’s fine, it is a good series, and I’d love to hear your take.”
Izuku perked up and found himself a spot on the other end of the bed, sitting across from Shouto. He started to rant again, being careful not to get too loud whenever Katsuki shifted or snuffled in his sleep.
The two chatted for hours, ending up reading through one of the volumes Shouto had on hand together, quietly commenting on their favorite bits or laughing quietly between themselves. Eventually, it was too late for Todoroki, and he began to yawn more and more frequently.
“We should probably go to bed, huh,” said Izuku, glancing at the clock.
“Probably,” Shouto mumbled sleepily. He put the book back on the shelf and collapsed back onto the bed. Slowly he climbed under the covers beside Katsuki, leaving room for Izuku. Izuku fidgeted nervously.
“Are we just going to go to bed in our day clothes? Should we really be sharing the bed with Kacchan? Don’t you think he’ll-”
“I’m sleepy and my clothes are in my dorm. The bed is comfy.” Shouto’s eyes were already closed.
Izuku’s fingers played together for a moment, his nerves on edge. Finally, he shuffled over to the bed and slid in. Shouto’s side was cool, and he briefly wondered if his other shoulder was warm. He tried not to get too close, not wanting to be a bother, but there was only so far one could go in a limited space filled by three bulky teenagers. Izuku tried not to think too hard about how it tingled when their shoulders brushed.
Shouto, meanwhile, was never one to overthink things. Sure, it felt nice to have Bakugou on one side and Izuku on the other. Yes, when Bakugou shifted in his sleep and draped an arm over his chest, pulling him close, his heart set itself to the beat of a galloping racehorse. Absolutely it was very cute that he could practically hear Izuku’s mental gears grinding on his other side. But it certainly didn’t keep him from drifting to sleep.
Izuku spent a long time laying in the darkness, stiff as a rod, wondering how it had come to this. The night had been so wonderful- and sure, this didn’t break the streak- but god, was it nervewracking. Kacchan was going to murder them both in the morning, for one. If he woke up in the position he was in right now, fully cuddling Todoroki… It didn’t bear thinking about. Much less that he himself was complicit. And that Todoroki was so casual about the three of them in the same bed together! There wasn’t another one, he supposed, although it wouldn’t surprise him if Todoroki had a guest room, so save sleeping on the floor it was the only option, and it was strange to sleep on the floor in ones’ own room, and Todoroki was probably too polite to let either of his guests sleep on the floor, either. So this option was the only one that made sense. But Todoroki had fallen asleep too, and he was leaning his head against Izuku’s shoulder. It felt nice. It felt relaxing, to be in this bed with the two of them.
Somewhere, amidst all of his many thoughts, Izuku fell asleep.