Chapter Text
It was a Wednesday night after dinner when you approached him. "Aizawa-sensei?" You mumbled, hoping that you wouldn't annoy him. "Are you busy tonight?"
He raised an eyebrow at you. "Yes, why?"
"Oh," you exhaled, both relieved and beginning to panic. "It's nothing, I was just going to ask if you could pick something up for me, cause if I went I wouldn't be back before curfew, but it's fine! Really, it's fine."
You sounded like you were trying to convince yourself that, whatever the situation actually was, it would be okay. It worried him; he wanted his students to trust him, now more than ever. "If it's an emergency, (l/n)-"
You cut him off. "No, no, sorry for bothering you sense. Have a nice night." You turned on your heel and walked out of the common area. He sighed, not knowing what else he could do.
"Why do I feel like it's not nothing?" He muttered into his scarf.
You went back to your room, but you found that the silence made you want to cry even more. Sure, your cramps weren't the worst pain that you'd ever felt, but they were an all-too-present reminder of the fact that your body wasn't right. You wrapped yourself in soft blankets until you couldn't see any of your clothes, just layers of fleece.
"Damn it," you groaned. "I knew I should've gone to the pharmacy yesterday. What made you think that Aizawa could help, he's a pro hero, he has his own life."
From where you were curled up in bed, you could see the box that you had pulled out of your dresser. You thought that you had packed your heating pad, but apparently it had slipped your mind when moving into the dorms.
Naturally, your solution was to swallow your pride and text Todoroki. You weren't sure how to come out to him, but you didn't feel like leaving your room to get any ibuprofen-- which you had also conveniently run out of.
could you come to my room?
please?
He left the message on read, but you heard footsteps growing louder, and then a knock at your door. "Todoroki?" You whispered as he opened the door. "Hi."
"Hello," he looked around the door before settling on your bundled up form. "Should I call Aizawa?"
Your eyes widened and you shook your head. "No, no, nothing's wrong. I just have cramps and would-you-mind-using-your-quirk-to-help?"
He cocked his leg to the side. "Like, a leg cramp? And what did you say after?"
"No, no, not a leg cramp," you paused, bracing yourself. "A period cramp."
"I thought you were-"
"I am. A guy, I mean. I'm transgender and I'm sorry for not telling you, I hope you don't hate me, but I left my heating pad at home, and well..." you could feel your face heat up as you watched him flush slightly.
"I see." He took a step further and pulled his sweater over his head, revealing the plain white t-shirt underneath. "Do you want me to join you in the blankets?"
It was your turn to be surprised as he sat down next to you on the bed. "What?"
"You want me to use my quirk, right? Do you want to unwrap yourself so that I can join you?"
You struggled to get out for a moment, but once you had freed yourself, he fit himself in behind you. You held the blankets securely around the two of you while he held you, left hand to your stomach. You knew that he could see your chest, but he didn't mention it.
After a few minutes, he slowly guided you into a laying down position. His right arm was under your neck and head, and his left arm was wrapped securely around you, still resting on your stomach. You smiled, contently pressing yourself into his chest. Your head fit snugly under his chin and he leaned down to press a gentle kiss to the crown of your head.
"Are you doing to say anything?" You mumbled, not wanting the moment to end, but needing to clear the air. His heat was helping-- the pain was less noticeable and his presence distracted you from the dysphoria-- but you were still unsure of his reaction. "About me coming out?"
He shrugged behind you, careful not to move too much. "What is there to say?"
"I don't know, but usually people have something to say. And it's not usually nice."
"I wouldn't be here if I had anything negative to say. Nothing's changed. You're still (y/n), right?"
"Yeah," you smiled. "Yeah, still (y/n)."
He paused, but took a deep breath after a moment. "Want to know a secret?" He took your lack of a response as his cue to continue. "I'm bi."
"Hi bi, I'm dad," you joked. "But in all seriousness, I'm proud of you, Todo. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me. Have you told anyone else?"
You felt him shake his head. "No. Endeavor wouldn't like it, but he doesn't like most things about me."
"Shitty homophobic parents gang, I guess." You sighed and leaned against him more, letting him know that you're there. You're present. You felt his laughter against your back, and warmth spread throughout your body as he snickered at your joke.
"I suppose yours aren't pleased with your identity?" He asked gently after he caught his breath.
"Well, if you consider coming out and never mentioning it again to be 'not pleased,' then yeah, they aren't pleased." You laughed dryly.
"I'm sure Aizawa would help," he suggested.
"I'm not sure how he could."
"He could scare them into it. He's scary when he tries. And when he doesn't try."
"-but even if he could, he still doesn't know. And I'm not sure I want him to know, honestly." You brought your hands to rest right in front of your chest, fidgeting nervously. "I wasn't sure how he'd react, so I begged All Might to talk to my parents alone when they were getting permission. I care less about his opinion of me."
Todoroki moved his right hand up slightly and began playing with your hair. "You see him as a father figure too, don't you?"
"I wonder what that says about us."
"That our fathers suck, probably."
"That they do, my fine fiery friend. That they do."
"You know," he absentmindedly worked his way through a small tangle in your hair. "I don't recall you ever having a period before. I mean, not that I would care, but I assume you would've had the same problem with cramps. You could've come to me."
You leaned into his hand, finding comfort in his touch. "Noted, but I haven't had a period in a while. I'm on the pill so that I don't get them monthly. I shouldn't be getting it right now, but I ran out. I asked, but Aizawa was too busy to get them." You cut off what you knew would've been a suggestion to ask your homeroom teacher.
"Ah."
"Oh shit, wait, if he had said yes, he would know."
"That would be correct."
"Oh shit, he wouldn't be able to get it without knowing my deadname."
"That would make sense, yes."
"Oh thank god he was busy."
There it was again, his laughter lighting up the room. "For being one of the top students in our class, you're not the brightest."
You swatted him gently, but laughed along with him. Eventually, curled up together in a mess of blankets, the two of you drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, the beeping of your alarm-- thank goodness your phone hadn't died-- woke both of you up. You didn't realize that Todoroki was still with you until you tried to turn it off and accidentally hit his arm. He buried his face into your hair, grumbling about not wanting to get up.
"Todo- Todoroki, we need to get up. You might want to go back to your room." You gently pried yourself out of his embrace as he woke up and realized what was happening.
"Oh," he blinked, still a little bit confused.
"Nothing happened," you reassured nervously. "Sato won't care and Sero is probably still asleep, so you won't have anyone asking you about it." He nodded slowly, getting out of bed and putting his discarded sweater back on. You looked up at him, then ran to give him a quick hug. "Thanks," you let go before he could ask what you were doing. "You can come to me any time, okay?"
"And you can come to me too," he smiled at you before heading back to his room.
You changed into your uniform, tugging on your binder with a hiss of discomfort. It felt tighter than usual-- or maybe you were just hyper-aware of it-- and you almost considered not wearing it. "Nope," you muttered, adjusting it as per usual. "I can't do that today. I just have to make it through class, then I'll be fine."
You had forgotten how hard it was to sit through class and pretend to pay attention when all you could think about was the way your voice sounded wrong and the pressure of your binder and the discomfort of your sanitary product. You worried about bleeding through and you almost wished that you had come out to one of the girls, just so that they could check for you. It got bad enough that at one point, Aizawa had walked all the way up to your desk-- calling your name the whole time-- before you noticed him.
"(l/n)," he tapped on your desk a few times to get your attention. Your head snapped up and you met his eyes, feeling anxiety and embarrassment swell in your chest.
"Sorry sensei," you muttered, wishing you could disappear. "It won't happen again." Maybe, just maybe, he won't push it.
"If you don't want to pay attention, you might as well skip class." He raised an eyebrow at you. "Go back to the dorms and stay there until tomorrow morning. Maybe, if you're lucky, one of your classmates will share their notes with you. That is by no means a given. Now go."
You froze momentarily, but under his watchful eye, you packed up your back and shuffled out of the class. You could faintly hear him continue the lesson as you speedwalked down the hallway. If your classmates had said anything about your leaving, you didn't hear them. You hoped they hadn't said anything, but you knew that they would talk about it eventually. This had never happened to anyone else before, not even when Kaminari texted in class or when everyone swore Uraraka had fallen asleep. "He hates me," you groaned as you left the building. "He definitely hates me."
As soon as you got back to your dorm room, you changed into a slightly oversized black sweater and black joggers. Taking your binder off had felt heavenly, and to your relief, you hadn't bled through anything. Your phone buzzed from where you had put it in your pocket.
@Todo I'll take notes for you.
Todoroki's texts brought a smile to your face. He had impeccable timing.
@Todo Is everything okay?
Does it hurt?
Do you want me to come help?
You shook your head, but the smile on your face only widened.
that's sweet of you to offer, but i was just distracted
i think aizawa hates me tho
@Todo He couldn't hate you if he tried.
He replied almost instantly.
has he ever kicked anyone out of class?
@Todo He literally expelled Mineta, (y/n).
...fair point
shouldn't you be in class?
You changed the subject, not wanting to think about how Aizawa definitely hated you after today.
@Todo No.
Well yes, but he hasn't caught me.
Yet.
go, dummy
we don't need both of us on house arrest
He left you on read, and you took that as a good sign. That was the only good news of the day, it seemed, because now you realized that you couldn't get your prescription. Again. You wanted to blame anyone other than yourself, but you knew that wasn't fair. Aizawa didn't know. Nobody did, except for Todoroki.
You must've fallen asleep, because next thing you knew, Todoroki was sitting on your floor working on an assignment. "What time is it," you muttered, rubbing your eyes.
He turned to stare up at you. "Around four," he gestured at the neat stack of papers next to him. "I copied down my notes for you. And got your copy of the assignments. Kaminari thinks we're dating now, by the way. He tried to find me in my room last night. He didn't see us, but considering I got your assignments, he guessed."
You raised an eyebrow. "Well you seem awfully calm about it."
He shrugged. "He's wrong, so what does it matter? I wouldn't mind dating you, but I don't have a strong opinion either way. Anyways, Present Mic gave us a translation worksheet and Ectoplasm told us to do some work from the textbook. I have the page number and problem set. Along with all of the notes and in class work from the day."
You slid off the bed and sat next to him. "Thanks, Todo. Really. Hopefully it won't happen again, but no promises," you laughed. You chose to ignore his plain remarks about dating in favor of skimming the notes he took. "You have really nice handwriting."
"You won't be able to go to the pharmacy," the realization dawned on him, and he frowned. "Maybe you can go tomorrow?"
"Honestly?" You sighed. "Tomorrow might be worse. But if I don't get my act together, I'll literally never get off of house arrest."
Right then, there were a few sharp knocks at your door. "Come in," you called, hoping that it wasn't your teacher. You didn't think your nerves could handle that right now.
"(l/n)," well speak of the devil-, "Todoroki, could I speak to him alone for a moment?" Todoroki looked at you and you nodded, resigned to your fate.
"Thanks for the notes," you mustered a smile, although it might've been more of a grimace, and gave him a quick side hug before he walked out. He awkwardly edged past Aizawa, who was still standing in the doorway. You could hear Kaminari teasing him in the hallway.
"What was happening in class today?" He sat on the floor across from you after nudging the door shut. He was no longer staring down at you, which slightly eased your nerves, but you still couldn't look him in the eyes.
"It was," you bit your lip. "It was nothing, sensei. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"(l/n), I can't help you if I don't know what's happening. Something's wrong, this isn't like you." He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "I want to help. But you need to give me something to go off of. Is this related to last night?"
You nodded tentatively, fidgeting with the hem of your sweater sleeve.
"Okay. Would you like me to pick up whatever you needed last night?"
You shrugged, squeezing your eyes shut. You knew he was irritated by the vague nonverbal responses, but he didn't push it.
"I'm not busy tonight."
You shrugged again.
"I'm going to need a yes, no, or an explanation."
"It's," you whispered, pulling your knees up to your chest and hugging them. "It's a lot."
"Well, I have time. Go at your own pace." He no longer looked angry, just worried. The concern in his eyes made you feel guilty, but you knew he means well.
You nodded, tapping your finger against your arm as you thought out your response. "I ran out of my meds."
"It's complicated." You bit your lip again, knowing that he would want you to elaborate. "They're um, they're birth control pills."
He stayed silent for a moment and you felt your breath quicken. "(l/n), please, for the love of all that is good and holy, please don't tell me that you're pregnant."
Your head shot up, and for the first time that day, you weren't afraid to make eye contact with Aizawa.
"What? No, no, I'm not pregnant." You bit back a snicker at the thought. "Who did you think got me pregnant?" He exhaled, clearly relieved, but your eyes widened. "Please don't say you thought it was Todoroki. Please don't- actually, don't answer that question at all."
"Well, that is the main purpose of birth control, is it not?"
"I use it to prevent my period. I ran out, so I am currently on my period. It's not great." You felt weird talking about this with your teacher, but so be it. "I guess you know now? I'm transgender."
"I feel like I should be offended that you thought I might have a problem with that." You looked up at him, slightly confused, but the affection in his eyes made you crack a smile. He tugged his sleeve up to reveal a slightly dirty rainbow friendship bracelet.
"My bad for not knowing how people will react," you grumbled lightheartedly.
"(l/n), you're safe here. I won't hesitate to expel anyone who gives you trouble about it."
"I mean, you already kicked Mineta out," you snorted and rolled your eyes at the memory of him. "He didn't know about me, but he said some gross sh- stuff. About the girls and about trans people."
The grimace that crossed his face at the mention of his old student made you snicker. "And there's the proof that I'd expel anyone who gave you trouble," he reiterated.
"You can't expel someone who doesn't go here," you sighed.
"Kid," he raised an eyebrow, but it felt less accusatory than it did earlier in the day. "Would this have anything to do with the parental figures that All Might not-so-subtly prevented me from meeting?"
"Oh no, what'd he do," you buried your face in your hands.
"He quite literally pushed me towards one of the other students' houses. I wouldn't have questioned anything if he didn't insist on meeting your parents while being indifferent to everyone else."
You laughed-- genuinely laughed-- at his annoyed eye roll. "That sounds like him. Very subtle."
"I hope you didn't think that I would've rejected you," he placed a hand on your knee. "Do you want me to run to the pharmacy for you?"
"I care more about your opinion of you," you admitted. "I don't care if All Might thought I was weird or wrong or whatever, but I don't know what I would've done if you had been transphobic." He stayed silent, and he looked angry, but his touch remained gentle.
"I'm not like your parents." He didn't leave any room to question him, and you quickly wiped the tears that welled up. "I care about you. Do you want me to get your meds?"
You hesitated before shaking your head no. "My deadname is on the package." He nodded in understanding. "Only All Might and Nezu know. Probably some others, but I doubt they remember. It took so much effort to keep it a secret. I know you wouldn't care, but I just want to bury it."
"I can take you to go get it," he suggested. "I'll stay out of earshot while you're getting it so that I won't hear your deadname."
Your eyes lit up. "You would do that?" You whispered.
"Of course. We can leave after dinner, alright? And," he paused. "Recovery Girl is allowed to prescribe and release medication. It can be delivered here instead of the pharmacy. Would you like that? She can access your medical records, so she likely already knows your deadname, but she could change the label before she gives it to you."
You thought for a moment. "Yeah. Yeah, that'd be nice. All of it. Thank you, Aizawa-sensei."
"Anything for my kid," he patted your knee a few times before standing up. "I'm sorry for being harsh earlier. If it helps, I let Todoroki keep texting you. I'm glad you told someone; it can be a lot to handle alone. Opening up helps, I promise." With that last bit of advice, he stepped out and shut the door. Immediately, you keeled over onto your side, relieved.
Taking his words to heart, you pulled up class 1-A's group chat.
hey guys
You sent the short message, seeing that several people had already read it. There was no turning back now, so you took a deep breath.
i have something to tell you