Chapter Text
Movie nights have become a staple in the 1-A dormitory. Not everyone’s schedules matched up – despite having the same classes, people had different study schedules – so movie nights were held multiple times a week. Some students only attended one a week if that – like Tokoyami and Jirou – while others attended every single one – Midoriya and Mina – and others ended up in the middle – Kirishima, Todoroki, and surprisingly Bakugou.
Movie nights had a routine by now. The participates would each write down a suggestion for the movie, a random one would be picked, and there was no complaining about the movie picked. That rule was enforced with bans from movie night for complaining. Over time, some students had designated spots in the common room – creatures of habits after all. Kirishima normally sat on the couch next to Bakugou – with a respectable foot of distance – who himself would take the seat by the armrest. If Kirishima wasn’t there, but Bakugou was, then either Denki or Sero would take Kirishima’s spot as a buffer between him and the rest of the class. Tokoyami liked to sit on the floor, leaning against the main big couch. Iida took the single armchair that was positioned to let him oversee the class. The rest were actually fairly fluid with where they would sit, depending on who was there that night.
Mina and Midoriya – 1-A’s resident ‘besties for life’ – without argument had the best seats for the night. At least in Todoroki’s opinion.
Todoroki watched the two as they set up, ignoring the announcement of the movie for the night. Midoriya dumped a mountain of blankets on the floor while Mina grabbed chairs from the kitchen. He had a multitude of different types of blankets, which Todoroki did not know before that there were different types of blankets. From what he was able to tell, the big, thick fluffy blanket that went on the floor was a comforter. Over that, Midoriya placed several quilts that Mina had said were handmade by his mother. Then, after Mina arranged the chairs, he draped fleece blankets over the top of the chairs, creating a soft roof.
Mina climbed into the blanket cavern, pulling in pillows that she had brought down earlier and arranging them, then covering them with knit blankets from the decreasing mountain. Those were made by her grandmother, if he was remembering correctly. Once everything was aligned to her satisfaction, she would turn back to Midoriya, smile at him, and then shuffle over and make herself comfy among the pillows. By this point, there was one blanket left – an incredibly fuzzy one that made his fingers itch with the desire to squish it – and Midoriya would grab it while he crawled in next to her, covering the two of them with the blanket.
Then the two would spend the rest of the night cuddled next to each other.
It looked really warm. And nice.
For a moment, Todoroki wondered if he had overused his right side while in training, as a shiver echoed through his body. The movie had started by now, but he didn’t watch the screen. He watched them. He watched the easy affection the two shared. It reminded him of the siblings he would see on TV, the kind that relied on one another and supported one another no matter what. The thought brought a sharp need to call Fuyumi to hear her voice.
His skin felt – hungry. Prickly. Anxious? It was like a hole in his body was cracking larger and larger. Like his right side was slowly taking over. He clenched his jaw as sense memories crawled over him.
He remembered the soft skin of his mother, the brush of her hair against him, the feel of her hands scratching at his scalp, all before the – incident. The yearning in the aftermath and the anger in that yearning. He remembered the few hugs he has shared with his siblings, awkward but well-intentioned, catching a brief whiff of their scents before pulling away which now seemed like almost empty impersonations of what his friends shared so effortlessly. They made what he struggles with seem so easy.
Todoroki didn’t know how long he watched them or how long he was lost in memories and emotions. He had no idea what was happening in the movie. But when he came back into the moment, he noticed that at some point Midoriya had looked back at him. Mina was still watching the screen, but Midoriya – from his curled position around her – was watching Todoroki.
Todoroki could see the moment Midoriya noticed his attention was back. He didn’t know what to make of the look in Midoriya’s eyes - it was similar to the look he had during their battle in the Sports Festival but – sadder somehow. It made him feel equally as lost.
It made hot shame and discomfort crawl up his throat. He broke eye contact.
Todoroki watched the ending of the movie whose name he didn't even know.
Todoroki skipped the next movie night, citing him being tired from hero training
And the one after that.
And the one following that.
On some level, he understood that he was – overreacting. That he shouldn’t avoid movie nights.
They have been a welcomed opportunity for him to become closer to his classmates. It was easy and convenient socializing. He learned things about his classmates - like that Aoyama liked musicals, Kirishima had a soft spot for romantic comedies, and Jirou liked obscure documentaries. He has learned that he and Tokoyami have similar tastes in movies as his picks were Todoroki’s favorites among his classmates. He had been introduced, through Denki's and Mina's efforts, to many pop-culture references.
He knew he shouldn't avoid Midoriya and Mina. They weren't cruel people - the opposite really. They would make room for him if he asked. All he had to do was ask.
But when the time for movie night came, he couldn’t bring himself to walk down to the common room. He stayed in his room, wrapped in a blanket that he couldn’t help but think wasn’t as nice as any of the ones Midoriya had.
He felt a shiver in his jaw, that he suppressed, pulling the blanket closer.
A knock at his door broke him from his thoughts.
“Todoroki, are you in there? I have something I wanted to ask you!” He could hear Mina’s voice through the door. He hesitated for a moment.
“Todoroki?” Something about her tone sprung him to action.
He opened the door to see Mina, dressed in her pajamas, her hair wrapped in a t-shirt. She must have washed her hair today. She smiled at him as he came into view, a wiggle of something settling in his chest. She was always so happy to see her classmates.
“Hey, Todoroki! I got a favor I wanted to ask of you.” Todoroki processed for a moment.
“Okay.” He didn’t know what Mina could possibly ask from him.
“Could you join me and Izu in the blanket fort tonight?”
“What?” He was not expecting that.
“So, Izu has a theory that your left side probably runs hot and your right probably runs cold, and I tend to run really hot and Izu tends to run really cold. So, we were thinking you would be perfect to cuddle between us!” Todoroki searched her face for any signs of lying or mocking.
He found none.
She was serious.
“Please, Todoroki? We’re watching Spirited Away tonight! It was Tokoyami’s pick, so you’ll probably like it!” She thought he needed further convincing.
What he needed was his body to respond. To stop being frozen.
It took a moment, but he gave a slow nod.
Mina wasted no time grabbing his arm and dragging him out of his room, reminding him to lock his door. She didn’t let go of his arm the entire journey to the common room.
“Oh, good. You grabbed him. Hey, Todo! The blanket fort is all set up, come in,” Midoriya said, waving the two over as he climbed in. Mina still did not let go of his arm as she crawled in, forcing him to follow behind her.
Todoroki did not know what to do once he was in the ‘blanket fort.’ But that did not matter, as Mina and Midoriya clearly knew exactly where they wanted him. After a quick question from Midoriya about if he was comfortable with the 'manhandling' and if there was anything they shouldn’t do – don’t touch my scar – the two maneuvered him as they saw fit. Which apparently, was him propped against a stack of pillows, Mina curled into his right side with her head on his chest and her hand resting on the head of Midoriya, who had decided to lie down across Todoroki’s lap. Much like the cat Todoroki never had but wanted as a child.
After a moment of indecision, Todoroki wrapped an arm around Mina and set the other on Midoriya’s back, hesitating a second before tentatively raking it up and down the way he remembered his mother once doing to him. He briefly thought about asking her to do it again on his next visit.
The air was so warm, it was almost suffocating. Midoriya was a heavy – but grounding – weight. Mina a point of scorching heat sinking its way into his right side. The light scent of blueberries tickled his nose, an unfamiliar smell he didn’t quite know where to pinpoint – was it from Mina? – yet welcomed all the same. Midoriya’s shirt was soft under his fingertips, nearly as much as the blankets surrounding them.
Somehow, Todoroki was able to pay some attention to the movie despite all the sensations. It was a good movie – one he would have to watch again when he was less distracted. Drowsiness creeped up on him as the night went on, finding him nodding off and jerking awake as he realized. Mina shifted at some point, gently lowering him to curl up in her lap as Midoriya sat up. He drifted half-sleep, feeling someone petting his hair.
“Should we wake him up?”
“Nah. I don’t think Todo’s been sleeping well lately. Do you wanna get up? I can take your spot.”
“I’m good, he’s not that heavy. Which is kinda concerning. Does he eat anything other than cold soba?”
“I’m not sure. He must, right?”
“I guess. Still, I’m gonna keep my eye on him.”
“Kacchan makes extra food all the time when he cooks. I can sneak some away.”
“Yeah, that might be a good idea.”
“Speaking of Kacchan, how long has he been wearing hoodies around the dorms?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Last few weeks?”
“Oh.” The rest of the sentence was spoken so lowly, Todoroki almost didn’t hear it. “How didn’t I notice it sooner?”
“Is that not normal?”
“Not for Kacchan.”
“Oh. Do you think it’s the same as –“
“Yeah, probably. Except Kacchan is a lot more emotionally constipated. We need a better excuse.”
“And probably a private place. He doesn’t strike me as a PDA person.”
“God no. We’ll figure it out later. We sleeping here?”
“I’m not moving.”
“Alright, let me get my phone to set an alarm. Although, Kacchan will probably wake us up when he starts making breakfast. He can’t do anything quietly.”
“True.” Rustling noises filled the air then silence.
“Go to sleep, Todoroki. We’re not going anywhere.” He felt the hand in his hair briefly scratch at his scalp, soothing him further into sleep.
“And feel free to join us whenever you want. I wasn’t lying about the temperature thing. Plus, we like you and you're our friend.”
That was the last thing Todoroki heard before he was pulled into dreams of warmth, safety, and comfort.
The next day, Todoroki only paused for a second before sitting next to Midoriya close enough for the smaller male to lean on him.
Midoriya did so without looking up from his textbook.
"You can call me Izuku if you want. No pressure on reciprocating, Todo."