Archive of Our Own

Midoriya stared up at the ceiling of the common area from where he laid on the couch, trying not to think about how terrible he felt. The pain in his hands, which had been getting significantly better thanks to his medication and his strict physical therapy regimen, had suddenly come back all at once. The worst of it had thankfully started after he finished his homework yesterday, so he had been able to suffer without having to also stress over assignments that needed to be done. It was the weekend now, too, so he didn’t have to worry about hero training or classes for a couple more days.

He hadn’t slept a wink last night because of the discomfort. He couldn’t even use his phone as a distraction (well, he could, but it wasn’t worth the ache), causing the night to crawl by in a pain-induced haze. He’d quickly grown bored of staring at his room’s ceiling, so he’d moved to the common area as soon as was allowed for a change of scenery. It didn't make much of a difference, considering most of his classmates didn’t leave their rooms until midday.

Izuku gingerly checked his phone and sighed. “Still no answer, huh…” He mumbled to himself, unable to keep from feeling disappointed. The teen had debated texting Hawks for the better part of an hour before finally sending the hero a message. That had been four hours ago, and he still hadn’t received a response.

He knew he shouldn’t be so sad about it; Hawks was a pro hero, after all. It was likely that he was working or doing something else that had him too busy to respond to the text. He shouldn’t expect the man to answer him right away. That was easier said than done, though, when he was severely sleep-deprived and experiencing his worst flare-up to date.

His sulking was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps, and he lifted his head to see who it was. “Hey, Tokoyami,” Midoriya greeted as his classmate walked by, growing curious when he noticed the duffle bag slung over one of the teen’s shoulders. “Where are you going? Gym?” He wondered, though it was unlikely given the casual clothes his friend was wearing.

Tokoyami paused and turned to him. “No, I am not going to the gym,” He replied. 

“Then where are you going?” The green-haired teen wondered. He didn’t mean to pry, but talking with his classmate gave him a much-needed distraction, and he wanted to prolong their conversation as much as possible.

His classmate seemed hesitant to answer. “...I am visiting a friend,” He replied after a moment.

Izuku widened his eyes slightly at that. “Really? Aizawa-sensei’s letting you do that?” He asked, surprised. It was common knowledge that their homeroom teacher wouldn’t let them leave the school’s campus for almost anything. He had figured that visiting people wasn’t allowed.

“He gave me permission,” The other teen reassured simply with a nod, not offering any additional information.

Midoriya couldn’t blame him. He let his head fall back onto the couch cushion and closed his eyes, sighing. “Have fun,” He said, unable to muster the effort to sound enthusiastic as he spoke.

Tokoyami hummed a note, but the lack of footsteps indicated he hadn’t moved to leave. Izuku opened his eyes again after a quiet moment to look at him.

His classmate wore a somewhat concerned expression on his face. “Are you alright?” He finally asked. “I thought you usually went out running on Saturdays. Are you injured?”

He did, and he was mildly surprised that Tokoyami had taken notice of that part of his schedule. “I just couldn’t sleep last night, so I went out earlier than usual.” Not a total lie, but it still made him feel guilty. He would tell the truth if it weren’t for his worry that Tokoyami would treat him differently for it. Not that he had done anything to make him worry; he was still hesitant to tell anyone in general.

The other teen nodded slowly, seemingly hesitant to accept the answer, but didn’t say anything else. Neither student said a word after that, so the black-feathered teen turned to leave. 

“Wait, Tokoyami,” Midoriya said suddenly before the other could walk away. The teen stopped again and looked back at him, and Midoriya worried his lip as he chose his next words. “...you still keep in touch with Hawks, right? Even though your internship is over?” He asked, earning a nod from his classmate.

“I do.” He confirmed.

Midoriya nodded. “Do you...does he take a long time to respond, ya know, to texts and stuff?” He wondered. “I sent him a text earlier and he hasn’t responded yet. I’m not worried, I just-” He sighed. “-I just really wanted to talk to him, is all.”

Tokoyami hummed thoughtfully. “Today is his day off. He usually sleeps in, but he should be waking up soon,” He said. “He’ll respond when he gets up.”

“Oh.” Of course, that made sense. He should have guessed that the man took the day off. Hawks had joined a rescue effort of civilians from a collapsing building yesterday- Midoriya had watched it on the news. That kind of exertion was bound to tire anyone out, so it was expected that the man wanted to rest. “Okay, thanks.” He sighed before returning his gaze to the ceiling.

He expected the other teen to continue on his way after that, but he didn’t, opting instead to stare at him contemplatively. Midoriya looked over to him again, raising a questioning eyebrow in a silent question. 

Tokoyami stared for another moment before seeming to come to a decision. “I’m heading over to Hawks’ apartment right now. He’s always bugging me to bring someone along. If you want, you can come.” He said, and Izuku immediately sat up at the offer.

“Really?” He asked, an excited smile spread across his face. Just as quickly, it disappeared. “Wait, what about Aizawa-sensei?” Just because his classmate had permission to leave campus didn’t mean that he did too. As eager as he was to see the hero, he was more concerned about the punishment he’d receive if he broke the rules.

Tokoyami hummed. “Sensei allows it because Hawks is a hero; I’m sure he won’t mind you coming too, as long as you let him know where you are going.”

With that, his excitement quickly resurfaced. “Then yeah; I’d love to come! Lemme call sensei real quick first to ask him,” He said, grabbing his phone from where it slid off his chest to do so. The sudden motion hurt, causing him to wince in pain. He was more careful as he unlocked the device and called his homeroom teacher’s number, then held the phone to his ear.

It rang several times before the man answered, “What is it?”

“Hi, Aizawa-sensei. Can I go with Tokoyami to Hawks’ place?” Midoriya asked.

The other side of the line went quiet. “Did Hawks say you could?” Aizawa asked after a moment.

Midoriya hesitated at the question. He glanced over at Tokoyami, who nodded, so he responded, “Yes. He did.”

“Then yes, you can,” The teacher said. “Let me know when you get there and text me before you leave to come back. Stay together.”

Izuku beamed. “We will. Thank you, Sensei!”

He hung up without waiting for his teacher’s response and excitedly jumped to his feet. “Alright! I’m all set,” He cheered.

Tokoyami nodded. “Pack a bag with what you want to bring. We will be staying for the night.” He walked over to the couch and sat down. “I will wait for you.”

Midoriya nodded, already heading towards the elevator. “Okay. I won’t be long,” He called over his shoulder as he left the common area. 

The second he was alone in the elevator, he let out an excited squeal, his earlier exhaustion all but forgotten. Not even the pain that shot up his arms as he unthinkingly clenched his fists could wipe the grin off his face. He was going to get to spend a whole day with Hawks! Even if he was having a bad day, he couldn’t help but be excited- that made it even better, actually; being around the man sounded exactly like what he needed right now.

Midoriya jogged to his room and opened the door, then grabbed his duffle bag from beside his desk. He packed a set of pajamas and day clothes, his phone charger, and his medication as quickly as he could with the condition of his hands. He slung the strap over his shoulder once he was ready and grabbed his shoes before hurrying downstairs.

Tokoyami looked up and stood as he came back into the common area. “Ready to go?”

“Yup!” Midoriya said happily, following closely behind his classmate as they left the dorms and headed for the train station.

---

By the time they got off the train, the excitement of the day had worn off, and Midoriya was back to feeling drained. He slid his hands into his pockets to prevent anyone from bumping them as they walked and tried to keep a neutral expression on his face, not wanting to let Tokoyami on to his worsening mood. He fell slightly behind the other teen as they left the terminal and kept his eyes trained on the sidewalk in an effort to avoid conversation. He just didn’t have the energy for it right now. Thankfully, Tokoyami wasn’t a very talkative person, and he didn’t say a word for the rest of the walk.

Tokoyami held the door open for him as they entered the apartment complex. Midoriya thanked him quietly before going inside, then followed his classmate to the elevator. After the trip to the top floor, the other teen led him to an unassuming door a little down the hall. He pulled a keychain from his bag and unlocked the door before pushing it open and turning on the light.

Midoriya looked around the apartment as he and Tokoyami walked inside. The color scheme of the place was light and simple. There was a noticeable lack of furniture; a lone futon in the living room was the only visible place to sit, the only other pieces of furniture being a short coffee table pressed up against the entertainment center and a small dining table in a corner of the kitchen. Few decorations populated the remaining space, leaving the apartment feeling oddly empty. He’d never seen a home that looked so barren.

Tokoyami shut and locked the door behind them. He placed his bag down under the coffee table before continuing, and Izuku did the same.

Even some of the doors were missing, he realized as they walked down the hall, passing multiple doorways where the door and hinges had been removed from the frame. Tokoyami walked up to one of the intact doors at the end of the hall and opened it, leading Izuku into the master bedroom. The room held more furniture than the rest of the apartment, mostly in the form of bureaus and short, populated bookshelves lining the walls. Hawks’ wheelchair sat beside a well-worn shikibuton in the middle of the floor, where the apartment’s owner was lying under the covers, still sound asleep. 

Midoriya suddenly felt like he was invading the man’s space, having come into his home while he was sleeping. His classmate didn’t seem to share his sentiment as he moved further into the room and kneeled at the edge of the tatami mats. “Wait, Tokoyami, maybe we should come back later…” Izuku suggested quietly, not wanting to wake the sleeping man.

“Don't worry. He is almost always asleep when I come over,” Tokoyami replied nonchalantly. 

“Oh! Well, then we should probably let him sle-” Izuku started to say before cutting himself off, his mouth dropping open as the other teen leaned forward and lightly slapped the hero’s cheek several times.

Hawks jolted at the sudden contact and pulled away with a tired groan. He tugged the covers over his head and settled down to go back to sleep, holding onto the comforter with a hand to prevent the teen from pulling it down. Tokoyami didn’t miss a beat and instead snatched the blanket from the bottom, uncovering most of his body. 

“Tokoyami, come on,” The man complained from under the blanket, somehow knowing who it was despite never opening his eyes. His tone was vaguely irritated and still heavy with sleep, and as Midoriya watched the two struggle, he couldn’t decide if he found the situation sad or hilarious. 

“Wake up, old man,” Was all his feathered classmate said in return, tugging on the comforter again for emphasis. Hawks didn’t budge. “I know for a fact you’ve already slept for at least, like, twelve hours. You need to get up and move around.” 

“I’m still tired. Gimme another hour.”

“No. Take a nap later.”

Tokoyami finally managed to get the blanket away from his mentor and stood before he could grab it again, then started folding it in the corner of the room. Admitting defeat, Hawks finally rolled onto his back and sat up, and that was when Midoriya noticed that most of his feathers were missing. 

Now that the man was sufficiently awake, he noticed the second teen standing in the doorway. “Oh, hey, Midoriya,” Hawks greeted, his tone noticeably less enthused than usual, looking up to him with half-lidded eyes before he turned to Tokoyami again. “Took you long enough to bring a friend along.”

“He was worried because you weren’t answering your phone,” The black-feathered teen said simply, dropping the folded comforter onto the shikibuton.

Hawks frowned, a guilty look spreading over his face. He looked down at his phone, which was charging beside his pillow, then back to the green-haired teen apologetically. “Sorry about that. Today’s my day off and I usually sleep for most of it,” He said. “I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

“Oh! No, that’s okay; I’m sorry for bothering you,” Midoriya began to apologize in return, only to be cut off.

“No, don’t be sorry,” Hawks insisted. “I said you could text me if you wanted to talk. It’s my fault for not answering.

“What did you want to talk about?” The man asked.

Midoriya glanced hesitantly at Tokoyami, a little uncomfortable with the idea of a classmate knowing about his arthritis. Hawks noticed right away. “Tokoyami, could you get the chairs out of the closet for you two?” He asked, and the teen nodded before leaving the room to do as he was asked.

Once they were alone, Izuku let out a sigh. “I’m just having a bad pain day.” He admitted, subconsciously rubbing the pads of his fingers across the knuckles that hurt the most. “I couldn’t sleep last night because of it, so I don’t feel all that great.” 

Hawks hummed sympathetically. “You know what, kid? Me too.” He said, and Midoriya raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I’m sure you saw the building collapse yesterday. I lost too many feathers to fly afterward, so I had to walk home. And now my legs hurt like hell. I sleep more when I’m in pain, but I get how you feel.

“Why don’t we have a bad pain day together?” He said, offering a tired smile. 

Izuku returned the gesture. He already felt a bit better, knowing he wasn’t alone in his predicament. “Sure.” He agreed. 

Hawks nodded, then sighed. “Okay, great. I should probably get up now before Tokoyami kicks my ass.” 

Midoriya snorted at that. He watched as the man crawled to the edge of the shikibuton and pulled himself into his wheelchair, then rolled over to a bureau and opened a drawer to pick out clothes to change into. When he noticed that Izuku was still standing in the doorway, he gently waved the teen off. “Go ahead and relax with Tokoyami. I’ll join you two in a few minutes.” 

“Okay,” Midoriya said, turning around to go back to the living room. He didn’t notice any new chairs right away, so he looked around curiously until he saw two folding chairs now situated between the kitchen table and the wall. Satisfied with the results of his search, he joined his classmate on the futon and pulled out his phone to entertain himself while they waited for their host to get dressed.

Ten minutes later, Hawks wheeled himself into the room wearing a pair of sweatpants and a plain tee, looking less disheveled but still just as tired. “So, what do you two want for breakfast?” He asked.

“You mean lunch,” Tokoyami corrected, not bothering to look away from his phone.

“Whatever. Food,” Hawks said, ruffling the feathers on the back of the teen’s head as he wheeled by. 

Tokoyami half-heartedly batted his hand away, dragging a hand over his head to fix the out-of-place feathers. The man reached out to muss them again, and he leaned away with a mildly annoyed groan. “Stop, I just preened those this morning,” He complained, trying and failing to keep Hawks’ hand out of his crest. 

“I’m gonna help you preen ‘em again later anyway, chickadee.” Hawks smirked, ignoring his complaints.

Tokoyami huffed in begrudging amusement when his mentor playfully shoved his head to the side, a smile spreading across his beak as he sat back up and went to do the same in return. “Jerk,” He said good-naturedly, managing to drag a hand through Hawks’ feathers against the grain once before he was stopped by an arm being barred across his chest.

Midoriya smiled as he watched them play fight. After a minute, he realized something. “You’re not wearing any of your braces,” He pointed out, noticing the stark lack of supports on the hero’s frame. 

Hawks paused in his tussling with the other teen at the comment. His brow furrowed in confusion for a second before his expression relaxed and he nodded. “I don’t wear them when I’m home. It’s not worth the time and effort,” He said. “I usually don’t need them at home, anyway.”

Tokoyami took advantage of him being distracted to get him in a headlock, earning a surprised squawk from the man. The black-feathered teen started rubbing his knuckles into his hair, and Hawks barked a laugh as he struggled to get away. Even as Tokoyami held on, his grip was noticeably gentle, the teen seemingly knowing from experience how much strength to use to keep the man in place without accidentally hurting him.

Finally, Hawks wiggled free. “So, food,” He hummed, getting back on topic before he could get jumped again.

“I’m not picky,” Tokoyami said before turning to Midoriya. “What do you want?”

Izuku thought for a moment. He would prefer to not have to hold utensils, which didn’t leave many options. “Do you have stuff to make sandwiches?” He asked.

“Yes, I do.” Hawks nodded. He playfully swiped a hand over Tokoyami’s head one last time before he pushed himself towards the kitchen, ducking away from the younger’s attempted retaliation.

Tokoyami got up to follow him, and Midoriya did the same. The man opened the fridge and pulled out several packages of deli meat, handing them to Tokoyami before closing the door. He then rolled himself next to the countertop, put on the locks, and lifted himself onto the wheel to reach the breadbox in the corner. He dragged out two different loaves, then shifted back into the seat and put the bags in his lap.

“Go ahead and make what you want,” He said, putting the rest of the food on the table.

Midoriya said a quiet thanks before making himself a sandwich and sitting down at the table to eat. The other two did the same, and they ate together in relative silence. It was odd, considering Hawks was a very social and talkative person. 

“I’ll be right back, I need to fix my feathers,” Tokoyami said once he had finished his food. He stood up to throw out his plate before he walked down the hall to the bathroom, leaving Midoriya alone with the unusually quiet hero. 

The silence was disconcerting.

“Are you okay?” Midoriya asked worriedly after a moment, finally having worked up enough courage to ask. He was concerned by the difference in the man’s demeanor; he had been significantly more subdued than usual since he’d been woken up, and Izuku was worried that something was wrong.

Hawks looked up at him. “What do you mean?” He hummed. 

Midoriya motioned vaguely with his hands. “You just seem...tired.” Hawks looked every bit as drained as he felt, and it concerned him to see the exhausted, pained expression on someone else’s face.

Hawks huffed humorlessly. “That’s because I am,” He replied. “It’s the pain; it makes me tired, so I don’t have the energy to do much. It’s normal, I just need to sleep it off.”

“Do you think medicine would help?” Izuku asked.

Hawks shrugged. “Probably. I’ll be fine without it.”

Midoriya frowned and tilted his head to the side in confusion. “But weren’t you telling me not too long ago that it’s important to treat pain?” He asked.

“I said you shouldn’t feel bad about being bothered by pain,” Hawks corrected. “I’m used to it; it doesn’t bother me much. It just means I’m injured and need to take it easy while I heal. Taking medication won’t make that happen any faster.”

Izuku’s frown deepened. “So? Are you saying that it’s okay for you to suffer through the pain just because you’re used to it?”

The hero hardened his gaze slightly, clearly not in the mood for this kind of conversation, but the reaction only strengthened his resolve. It was obviously bothering him more than he let on. “What if I told you I wasn’t going to take anything even though I was hurting? You’d tell me to take medicine.”

“You’re right, I would. But there’s a difference.” He said carefully.

“What’s different then?” Midoriya challenged, and Hawks didn’t seem to have an answer.

That got a lazy smile out of the hero. “Alright, kid. You’ve convinced me,” He relented, unlocking his wheels to push himself further into the kitchen. He opened a drawer at the end of the counter and pulled out three brightly colored pill bottles. The man inspected the pills inside before placing one on the countertop.

“When was the last time you took medicine?” He asked, looking over to Midoriya. 

“Last night,” The teen admitted. He hadn’t bothered to take more after the initial amount that he took hadn’t helped. 

Hawks nodded. He shut the drawer and grabbed the pill bottle off the countertop, then placed all three bottles in his lap. He rolled back over to the table and put everything down on it. “What do you usually take?” 

“Two ibuprofen,” Midoriya replied, and he had to resist the urge to shrink into his seat in response to the look Hawks gave him. 

“No wonder you had trouble sleeping last night,” The man commented as he squeezed one of the pill bottles, causing it to pop open. “It’ll take a lot more than that to make you feel better.”

“Oh.” He wouldn’t have known that; the dosage he’d said was the most pain medication he had ever taken at once for anything in his life. He hadn’t experimented with anything more out of fear that he might hurt himself. Granted, he’d never needed more than that until recently, so he was pretty far out of his depth when it came to judging this sort of thing.

“I’ve never seen pill bottles like that before,” Midoriya said, watching curiously as the man popped open a second one. 

Hawks hummed. “They’re made for people who have a hard time opening the normal ones,” He explained as he closed the one in his hand and offered it to the teen. “Here, try.”

Izuku accepted the bottle and stared down at it curiously. He was hesitant to attempt to open it with how much his hands hurt; opening anything with a lid was a nightmare when he was in pain. He knew from watching Hawks that these didn’t require the twisting motion that he’d come to hate, though, so he decided to humor the man and gently squeezed the soft plastic. It easily popped open again with almost no effort.

“Huh,” He hummed, pleasantly surprised. 

Hawks took the vial back from him and smiled tiredly. “Pretty cool, huh?” He said as he went back to taking the pills out of their containers.

Midoriya nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”

Hawks closed the vial in his hand again and scooped up what he’d taken out of it, then held his closed fist out to Midoriya. “Here, take that.” He instructed, and the teen held his hand out to accept the medicine from him.

Izuku balked at the combination of pills that fell in his hand. “That looks like a lot.” He was looking at over double the amount that he would have thought to take himself. The thought of taking it all honestly made him a little nervous.

Hawks only shrugged again. “It might be a little overkill for you, but it’s a safe dose.”

The teen still hesitated, not used to taking so much medicine at once, and the man’s expression softened. “I promise it’ll make you feel a whole lot better.” He reassured, and that encouraged Midoriya to finally take it.

He watched as Hawks opened the last bottle and took out a single pill, then swallowed it dry. The man must have seen his confusion over the seemingly smaller dose, because he said, “These are a lot stronger than over-the-counter stuff.” 

“I’ve already said this to Tokoyami, but so you know too: if you’re here and you need to take a pain reliever, go ahead- you know where they are. But do not touch this one,” He explained seriously, shaking the green vial. “This is a prescription narcotic. It can and will harm you. It’s the only green bottle, so you can’t mistake it for something else.” 

Midoriya nodded in understanding. “Okay. I promise not to touch it.”

“Good.” 

Hawks gathered the medicine in his lap again and went to put them away. While he did so, Midoriya cleaned up the table. Once he was finished, he went back to the living room and sat down on the couch next to Tokoyami, whose feathers were back in their normal shape.

“I’ll be right back,” Hawks said before disappearing down the hall. 

A few minutes later, the man returned with a folded blanket and a pillow in his lap. Tokoyami stood up when he saw him coming and motioned for Midoriya to do the same. He got up and moved out of the way as well, allowing Hawks to wheel himself in front of the futon. 

“What are you doing?” Midoriya asked curiously, watching as the hero lifted the seat of the futon with his forearms, allowing the furniture to unlock and lay flat. 

Hawks tossed the bedding onto the futon and locked his chair’s wheels, then transferred onto it. “I’m gonna take a nap until the medication kicks in,” He said. He moved further onto the cushion and unfolded the blanket, then threw it over himself and plopped down with his head on the pillow. He covered his eyes with the blanket before going still.

“Should I turn off the lights?” Midoriya asked, assuming he’d covered his eyes to block them out.

Hawks shook his head. “You can if you want, but I’ll fall asleep with ‘em on.” He mumbled, already sounding half-asleep.

Izuku hesitated for a moment, looking to Tokoyami for his input. The other teen gave him a thumbs-up. “Dark shadow won’t be a problem if you want them off,” He said.

Midoriya nodded, deciding to turn the lights off before climbing onto the futon, scooting closer to Hawks to leave enough room for his classmate as well. The other teen didn’t sit down right away, instead kneeling by the table to grab his bag.

“So what do you want to do?” Tokoyami asked. “He has Hulu and a PlayStation, and I brought my switch.”

“Can we watch Hulu?” Midoriya asked, gently fidgeting with his hands. He didn’t want to try to use a controller with them still hurting.

“Yeah, here,” Tokoyami said, opening the streaming service on the TV before handing him the remote. 

“Thanks.” Izuku took the remote and stared at the TV for a minute, thinking about what to watch. “Do you want to watch anything, Hawks?” The green-haired teen wondered, looking down to the hero laying beside him. He knew the man was trying to sleep, but he felt obligated to ask anyway.

He received no response, and Tokoyami huffed amusedly. “He’s already asleep. You can pick whatever you want, I’m going to play animal crossing for a bit.” He said as he climbed back onto the futon with the console in hand. He sat cross-legged on Midoriya’s other side and started up the system.

“Okay.” 

Izuku scrolled through the options for a bit before settling on Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. He pressed play and laid back on the mattress, getting comfortable as the movie started. 

Both teens sat in comfortable silence as they went about their individual pastimes. Halfway through the movie, Tokoyami put away his switch and started watching it with him. 

When the credits began to roll, Midoriya sat up to exit out of the movie. As he pressed the buttons on the remote, he realized that his hands felt significantly better than they had earlier. They still hurt, but he could use the device comfortably now.

He turned to his classmate. “Want to play a game together?” He suggested.

“Sure.”

Tokoyami showed him the games Hawks owned, and he picked a first-person shooter that he was familiar with. His classmate turned on the PlayStation and popped in the game, then grabbed both controllers and sat down on the futon. He handed one of the controllers to Izuku, letting the teen look over the controls menu before they picked a game mode and customized their loadouts. They played a quick introductory round to warm up, then started a serious game.

“So when did you start visiting Hawks on the weekends?” Izuku asked several minutes into their first match. He’d been curious about it all day but hadn’t found an appropriate time to ask about it until now.

Tokoyami hummed, thinking about his answer. “I stayed at his place for the first time during my internship. After it was over, I obviously stopped coming because of the rules with the dorms. Since I had to stay on campus and I couldn’t keep coming over to do stuff, we shared phone numbers to keep in touch. We just texted for a few weeks after. I didn’t mind, but Hawks whined nonstop about it.

“So one Saturday he calls me and says that he got Aizawa-sensei’s permission to have me over his house,” The teen smiled fondly as he continued recounting the memory. It was a rare display, something he definitely wouldn’t have seen if Hawks was still awake. “I thought he was fucking with me, but when I checked with Aizawa-sensei, he told me the same thing.”

Midoriya laughed a little at that. “So he annoyed Aizawa-sensei until he gave in?”

Tokoyami shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I don’t think so. The fact that he’s such a high-ranking pro probably made it easier since that means it’s pretty safe here.

“But I think Sensei mainly said yes because Hawks doesn’t have many people to talk to.” The back-feathered teen explained. “He either doesn’t have a family or doesn’t talk to his family members, and all of his friends are heroes, so they’re usually busy. Going out for fun isn’t really a thing he can do because of his disability, either. His social life is practically non-existent.”

Midoriya frowned at that. He hadn’t thought about it much, but it made sense; Hawks needed his wheelchair to get around when he wasn’t on patrol, and considering his disability was a secret kept from the public, that made it virtually impossible for him to go anywhere. It made him sad, to think that such a young, popular, successful hero was a shut-in, and not by choice. 

“I guess Sensei’s known him for a while because he said that Hawks has seemed a lot happier since I interned with him, so he encouraged me to come over whenever, as long as it didn’t interfere with my grades.”

Midoriya looked over at his classmate and smiled. “That’s really nice of you, Tokoyami.”

He shrugged. “It’s better than sitting around at the campus. And I’ll never admit it to him ‘cause it’ll go to his head, but I enjoy spending time with him.” He admitted.

Midoriya half-expected Hawks to react to that, but the man still looked dead to the world. Tokoyami snorted at his lack of reaction.

“Do not tell him I said that.” 

Izuku laughed. “Okay. I won’t.”

Both teens paused in their conversation for a moment as an intense moment in the match hit.

“How did you get his number, if you don’t mind me asking?” Tokoyami asked after a minute.

“Oh, I, um,” Midoriya stuttered. He still wasn’t comfortable with talking about his hands, so he didn’t mention that part. “He kinda just gave it to me while we were talking.”

Tokoyami nodded in understanding. “The day he came to UA?” He guessed, and Izuku nodded.

“After, yeah.”

Midoriya glanced down at Hawks again. “Does he always sleep this much?” He wondered curiously. Apparently, he had slept at least fourteen hours in the past day alone. That was a lot for anyone, and he certainly hadn’t expected such an active guy to sleep that much.

“You have no idea.” Tokoyami groaned. “The amount of sleep he needs to function is ungodly. How he manages to do literally anything else is beyond me.”

“I feel like that’s exaggerating it a bit.”

The look that came over his friend’s face made Midoriya laugh. “You think I’m joking, but there has literally never been a day I was here that he was awake for longer than five hours at a time. And that’s because I’m here to wake his ass up.”

Midoriya full-on cackled. He wanted to believe it was a joke, but so far he’d seen Hawks barely make it through an hour awake before crashing on the futon. That was pretty compelling evidence that Tokoyami was telling the truth. 

The other teen got the winning shot on him from behind while he was laughing, and Izuku gasped in surprise. “Crap,” He said, still smiling. “Where did you get me from?”

“The cliff by the plane crash,” Tokoyami smirked.

Midoriya huffed good-naturedly. “I looked there, too. You’re so good at sniping, it’s not even funny.”

“Thank you.”

“You can play by yourself for a bit, if you want,” Tokoaymi said as they began setting up for the next round, swapping the second player to CPU control before putting down his controller.

“Oh, I don’t mind continuing to play together!” Midoriya reassured, abashedly rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry if I made it seem like I didn’t want to.”

“No, you’re good. I just need a break,” Tokoyami explained as he flexed his hands. “My hands hurt from pressing the buttons. I’ll join again next round.”

Izuku hummed and nodded in understanding. “I get that. My, uh- my hands get like that too, sometimes.”

The other teen perked up at that. “Oh, do you need a break too?” He asked, and Izuku shook his head. 

“No, I’m fine. I mean, they hurt earlier, but they’re better now.” He said, feeling comfortable enough to share that much knowing that his friend had a similar issue. 

He expected Tokoyami to ask about it, but the other teen said nothing, only nodding in response. The unspoken respect for his privacy made warmth bloom inside Midoriya’s chest, and a smile spread across his face as he turned back to the TV.

He played another round on his own. On the next one, his classmate joined him again as promised, and they went at it in competitive but companionable silence. Halfway through the match, Midoriya began to yawn, his exhaustion catching up to him quickly now that his pain was going away. He tried to shake it off, but his body grew heavy against his will and his eyelids began to slip shut. His performance was starting to suffer because of it, but he stubbornly continued playing, not wanting to fall asleep.

“You can take a nap too if you’re tired, you know,” Tokoyami pointed out. “I can find something else to do while you two sleep.”

Midoriya shook his head, only to be betrayed by another yawn. “I would feel bad leaving you up by yourself. I came along to do stuff with you guys, not to sleep,” He said.

“I wouldn’t mind. Like I said, he usually sleeps for a lot of the time I’m here anyway.”

“I dunno…”

“I can wake you up when he gets up,” Tokoyami offered, and that convinced Midoriya to hesitantly agree. 

“Okay.”

“I'll get you a blanket.” His friend put down his controller and stood, disappearing into the hallway for a moment before returning with a throw blanket. He tossed it to Midoriya, who caught it and offered him a smile. 

“Thanks,” He said as he covered himself with the blanket and laid down, unable to deny how exhausted he felt as he shifted to get comfortable and closed his eyes. 

The mattress dipped as Tokoyami sat down again, and he heard several soft clicks as the other teen turned the game system off. After a minute, a movie that he didn’t recognize began to play on a low volume. The quiet music and voices were welcome background noise, and he began to drift off to it after only a few seconds. 

Now that they were practically face-to-face, he could hear the faint inhale and exhale of Hawks breathing. The slow rhythm was comforting. He finally fell asleep while focusing on the sound, his last thought being how awesome it was to get to sleep over at a pro’s home.

---

Midoriya woke up again to someone gently shaking his leg. He felt warm and sleepy, and the comfortable sensation tempted him to go back to sleep. The person shook his leg again before he could, and he suddenly realized that he must not be in his dorm room. He opened his eyes drowsily, shifting his head on the pillow to see who it was. Hawks smiled softly at him from the foot of the futon, already up and strapped into his wheelchair.

“Hey, kid,” He whispered, pulling away now that he saw the teen was awake. “Dinner’s almost done.” 

“How long was I asleep?” Izuku mumbled, reaching for his phone to check the time. It was almost half-past five in the afternoon. 

“About three hours,” The man replied. “I wanted to let you sleep as long as possible. Don’t worry, you didn’t miss much.” 

Midoriya hummed and nodded, then slowly sat up. He stretched his arms above his head with a groan before pulling back the blanket and sliding off the futon. As he moved, he noticed to his pleasant surprise that his hands were almost completely pain-free. The feeling was strange, but definitely not unwelcome. 

Hawks grinned as he rubbed experimentally at his joints, which were significantly less inflamed than they had been that morning. “Pain medicine worked?” He guessed.

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, it did,” He said, a happy smile spreading across his face. “Way better than I thought it would, actually.” The drained feeling he’d had earlier had all but disappeared. He was relieved that it was finally gone.

The man nodded knowingly. “See? I told you it would.” 

“Yeah, you were right.” Izuku agreed. “Thanks.”

“No problem, kid.” He said, ushering the teen into the kitchen.

They’d made a simple stir fry and rice. On any other day, a meal like that would have been difficult for him, a thought which left him with a special appreciation for the ease with which he was able to eat it. For once, eating a meal didn’t feel like a chore, and he found himself able to enjoy the light-hearted banter from the other two people at the table. 

Midoriya joined in on the conversation when Tokoyami brought up a silly story about the shenanigans that his floormates had been getting up to lately. He pitched in with several stories of his own, one of which had Hawks choking on his dinner in a fit of laughter. It took him nearly ten minutes to recover afterward, between the residual coughing and the snickers that started up again when his mind replayed the funniest parts of the tale. His reaction made the teen beam with pride. 

As they continued to talk, Midoriya couldn’t help but feel accomplished that he’d managed to put so many smiles on the man’s face after the sour mood he’d been in earlier. Hawks and Tokoyami had also done the same for him, he realized, recounting the events that had pulled him out of his own miserable frame of mind. Suddenly, he understood what Aizawa-sensei meant when he said that the pro had seemed happier lately; company did wonders for malaise. 

Visiting Hawks on the weekends was kind of Tokoyami’s thing, but Midoriya would have to see if the other teen would allow him to tag along more often.