Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"-We just need to talk to him, please."

Kirishima and his boyfriends looked down at Inko, their hearts hurting from what had happened the previous day. Him and his boyfriends thought it would be wise to give Midoriya some space even though it hurt them as much as it did. Kirishima just wanted them all to be happy as boyfriends. They were so close but Midoriya decided to push them away.

His attention focused on the short woman when Inko smiled sadly. The look on her face left a pit in Kirishima's stomach. "He didn't tell you three... I'm sorry but he's not here..."

"...And I'm not sure when he's going to come back."

That was almost a year ago.

Kirishima and his boyfriends tried to move on. The first couple of weeks were rough; at random points in time one of them would just start crying whether that be because of something they saw that reminded them of Midoriya or because they were doing 'couple' stuff without Midoriya being there. As the time passed they learned to cope with it a little more but it didn't make it hurt any less.

They couldn't help the fact that they still loved him.

"Kirishimaaaa!"

Right, another change to their lives.

After getting accepted to UA, they all decided to go not only for themselves but for Midoriya. They were second years now and Kirishima couldn't have asked for anything better than being able to attend a college like this. Well, ha could think of one thing but obviously that was out of the question.

"Oh heya Kaminari," Kirishima greeted. The blond and him had hit it off right when they met the first day. They were both having trouble finding their class(in which Katsuki had angrily dragged them to the class) and Kirishima had been talking to Kaminari ever since.

"Wanna hangout today? Me and Sero were gonna go to the arcade or something. You and your boyfriends wanna tag along?" Kaminari asked with a little pep in his step. They were currently walking back to the dorms from school. Him and Kaminari had the same last hour class so that was good for them.

Kirishima smiled, still happy about how accepting his new class was of their relationship. The class didn't really pay any special attention to it or treat them any different from before they told them about it. Yaoyorozu already knew, of course, but she pulled them aside the first day and told them that she wouldn't tell anyone until they're ready.

Which was only a week or so later.

In which case their classmates offered to switch rooms with them in the dorms. There were four people allowed in each dorm but their class made it so that they only had two dorm rooms completely full. For the boys there were two dorms of four and two dorms of three while for the girls they only had two rooms of three.

Shinso and Tokoyami decided to switch their places in their rooms with Shoto and Kirishima respectively. (Apparently neither of them wanted to share a room with Katsuki.) Which worked out great because apparently Shinso and Katsuki hated each other.

"Yeah, we could hangout! I just gotta see if Katsuki or Shoto want to go," Kirishima grinned.

Kaminari nodded but groaned a minute afterwards, as if he just remembered something. Kirishima raised an eyebrow at him while he readjusted his backpack. "I didn't know this would all be so exhausting. First week back and we already have all of the syllabuses for our classes and Mr. Ishiyama or whatever- didn't you say he reminded you of Cementoss from that one series...? But like- he gave us deadlines for the books we gotta read for the class," Kaminari complained. He turned quickly towards Kirishima in between his rambling when he looked at him wide eyed, "Dude! He gave us the book already and told us to start reading the first chapter!"

"Yeah..I have him, too. He said the book was kind of hard. I'll probably have to ask Katsuki and Shoto if they wanna work on some of the material from that class together," Kirishima said aloud thoughtfully. With his gaze previously being focused on the ground, he redirected his eyes to Kaminari. "Maybe it was a bad idea on my part to take English with Mr. Yamada."

"Oh yeah. He reminds me of Bakugo," Kaminari mentioned idly. Kirishima must've given him a look because he continued, "You know- loud, and blond-"

"So you?" Kirishima laughed, "I feel like you're more like him than Katsuki."

"You talking about me over there, Dunce Face?"

The redhead turned around and smiled when he saw Katsuki and Shoto walking up to them. Well, Katsuki looked a little mad but Kirishima knew he didn't mean it. His ash blond boyfriend pulled Kaminari into a headlock and talked to him about who knows what.

Kirishima wasn't really focused on that because Shoto had simply collapsed into him with a hug. The dual haired male probably waited to do that since Katsuki wasn't all about displaying affection publicly. Well, he didn't mind it all that much beforehand but Kirishima could tell that Midoriya leaving was part of the reason Katsuki distanced himself a little.

Breaking out of his thoughts, he turned his attention to Shoto. "What's wrong?" Kirishima asked when he hugged Shoto back.

"I miss Izuku..." Shoto mumbled into his chest.

Ah, so it was one of those days.

Each of them tended to have a day where all they could think about was where Izuku was every once and a while. Shoto would be more stoic and show less emotion, Katsuki would just flat out lash out at anyone for no reason, and Kirishima himself would be less talkative, less energetic, and overall just completely exhausted.

"Yeah, I know," Kirishima muttered, "Why don't we go back to the dorms first, okay? We can call him if you want." Shoto nodded and stayed in the hug for a couple more seconds before pulling away. Kirishima had to make sure Katsuki was still distracting Kaminari and sure enough he was. Kirishima began to pull and lead Shoto back to the dorms, keeping an arm wrapped around him while he did so.

Kirishima felt a lump in his throat, the thought of hearing that damn ringing noise and to have the phone go to voicemail wasn't something he was particularly looking forwards to. Some days he would leave Midoriya a voicemail just to update him on stuff, if Midoriya even listened to the voicemails, or he would sometimes be sobbing into the phone and pouring his heart out to someone who wouldn't answer. Sometimes he would call just to hear Midoriya's voice say "Midoriya Izuku!" just before the beep for the voicemail sounded.

He was reminded of the text that Midoriya sent them in their group chat the morning he left. It was vague and Kirishima along with his boyfriends had no clue on what it meant. At least, not right away. Kirishima had read it so many times that he had the whole thing memorized by now:

Midoriya 💚:
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I have to leave. I'm doing it for you guys. I don't want him to hurt you. You guys deserve better, anyways. You'll see."
"I love you guys."

They tried to ask Midoriya what he meant, they didn't get a reply. Kirishima and them interpreted it as Midoriya's father wouldn't approve of their relationship. Katsuki had yelled through text explaining that they would work around it, and that Midoriya could even move into his house until they had to go to college. It wasn't until the day after the message was sent, the day they went to Midoriya's house and talked to Inko, did they understand.

Kirishima pushed the door to the dorms open, entering the Heights Alliance and waving at the people there. Iida was there first and of course he noticed Shoto hanging off of Kirishima's side.

"Is there something the matter with Todoroki? I would gladly assist with whatever may trouble him," Iida announced, swinging his hands and arms up and down like he usually did. He still hasn't broken that habit from last year and Kaminari, Sero, and Ashido would sometimes poke fun at him for it.

"No, it's alright Iida, I got it. He's just a little tired," Kirishima excused his boyfriend's sluggish demeanor. He looked down at Shoto slightly; though they grew a little bit over the past year or so, Kirishima was still the tallest out of all of them. He had to wonder if Midoriya grew a little bit too. It would be impossible for him to, Kirishima guessed, Midoriya was around seven feet tall which is ridiculous in itself. Kirishima wanted to know exactly how much height they all gained on Midoriya. Maybe they would actually be able to reach past the height of his chest, though at the same time Kirishima didn't want that because that would mean he wouldn't have instant access to his soft chest. Actually, one of the reason Kirishima loved their hugs so much was because of the height difference between them.

Kirishima was made aware of his dual haired boyfriend when he pressed his head to Kirishima's shoulder. The redhead nudged Shoto a little bit to silently tell him to start moving again.

Shoto reluctantly started moving, still attached to Kirishima when they were heading to the elevator. Shoto didn't even want to detach himself by the time they got to Kirishima's room. The redhead allowed it and got over to the bed, plopping down a whining Shoto on it.

"Okay, hold on I'm just getting some comfy clothes for us to wear," Kirishima murmured as he made his way to the dresser. He rummaged through it, taking some of his clothes and Shoto's clothes- they all shared a dorm room together - before making his way back over to his dual haired boyfriend.

Kirishima tossed the clothes over to Shoto, keeping the rest of them to himself when he tossed them on the bed in front of him so he could start changing. They were all used to this by now, changing in front of each other without much thought. The first couple of times Kirishima remembered how flustered they all were. The redhead has to admit there were some times where he would still get flustered seeing his boyfriends shirtless.

"Go on and change into those," Kirishima ordered, pulling a red t-shirt over his head as he spoke. He could see Shoto begin to move around out of the corner of his eye in order to get the clothes.

Kirishima took a moment before taking out his phone to pull up Midoriya's contact in his phone. He found it almost immediately, considering the amount of times he's called the number. It wasn't long after that had he found himself plopping onto the bed, noticing when Shoto had finished changing his shirt and pants.

The redhead adjusted himself on the bed, looking to Shoto to make sure it was okay to start the call. The dual haired male just nodded and Kirishima pressed the green call button.

Buzzzzz.

Kirishima hated the noise.

Buzzzzzz.

Why couldn't Midoriya just answer? Why couldn't he pick up?

Buzzzzz.

Kirishima felt something in his stomach churn.

Buzzzzz.

Answer. Please.....

Buzzzzz.

"Please leave your message for- Midoriya Iz-"

Kirishima ended the call before it could go to voicemail. He hated this feeling. He hated the way his heart ached. Why couldn't he get over it? Why can't he just accept that Midoriya is gone and move on? He was an adult, he should've able to deal with a little heartbreak.

He always told himself that. He always told himself why moping around wasn't going to get him anywhere.

But then, Midoriya's voice would float through his head like a melody. A horribly wonderful melody. His laugh and his smiles would flash in Kirishima's brain and the redhead would feel his heart stutter in his chest. He would try to remember the warm, soft hugs Midoriya gave and how sweet it was that the greenette would comfort him with words and actions, running his hand through Kirishima's hair while they hugged.

He'd remember the stupid things they all did with Midoriya. From when Katsuki tried shooting the boba pearls at the seagulls through his straw to when he and Midoriya were messing around in the supermarket, Kirishima missed every single moment.

His attention was directed towards Shoto, breaking Kirishima away from his thoughts. His dual haired boyfriend pushed on his chest to make him lay down and Kirishima obliged, noticing the sad look in Shoto's eyes.

When Kirishima was settled down, Shoto took the spot on his left side and curled up against him. He laid down on the redhead's bicep and Kirishima realized what was happening. Shoto would get frustrated in a minute or so after shuffling around and then he would be lost and not know what to do. Shoto would do it sometimes, especially when they cuddled. He would place himself in the spot he was at with Midoriya the night of the party in an attempt to relive that moment. Shoto would get angry and upset when it wouldn't work because Kirishima obviously wasn't Midoriya. Midoriya was soft and fluffy and warm. He was the perfect, cutest pillow and now he wasn't here.

Kirishima understood how Shoto felt because he himself would sometimes try doing things a certain way to try and feel how he felt before.

Shoto had started shuffling and Kirishima noticed the growing frustration on his boyfriend's face. The redhead sighed and pulled Shoto over his chest instead, carding his hand through half red half white hair and having his other hand to trace patterns on his back.

"It's okay," Kirishima attempted to reassure him. Though deep down he knew it wasn't okay. Kirishima thought they all got better, that they could move on without Midoriya. But time and time again he was proven wrong. He was wrong to think he could get over Midoriya. He was wrong to think that his heart would heal, that his feelings for his friend would dissolve.

The tears falling down his cheeks were proof of that.

Kirishima was startled when his room door flung open a few minutes later.

Katsuki stood in the doorway for a moment before flinging his bookbag aside and closing the door.

“Again?” Katsuki clicked his tongue, “I still don’t understand why you’re still fucking hung up on him.”

The redhead felt his eyebrows furrow when he looked at the blond. Sure, Katsuki got mad sometimes but he was never like this.

“What’s your problem?” Kirishima murmured, wiping his face with the arm not holding onto Shoto.

“My fucking problem is that you two can’t get over Deku! There are other people! We can just fucking find another tall chubby nerd!” Katsuki snapped. He was yelling and his face looked hurt and angry.

“But they’re not Midoriya,” Shoto gritted out. He had gotten up from his place on top of Kirishima in order to face Katsuki.

“I- I KNOW! YOU DON’T THINK I KNOW THAT? THEY’RE NOT DEKU BUT DEKU IS FUCKING GONE! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT OR WHAT?”

Kirishima was taken aback by Katsuki’s outburst. He can’t say he remembered the last time Katsuki yelled like that out of pure anger.

“We know he’s gone but I’m willing to wait as long as it takes for him,” Shoto stated firmly.

And Katsuki laughed. Full blown cackling with his body doubling over to catch himself from falling. It kind of pissed Kirishima off that the blond was acting like such a jerk. But it also threw him off because of Katsuki’s sudden mood change.

“Wait? You want to wait, Shoto? It’s been a year. More than a year if I’m counting correctly. Do you just expect him to magically come back? Appear out of thin air? Do you really think we’re just going to magically bump into him at a grocery store or on the train one day? Well tough shit because life doesn’t fucking work like that! You know that, we all know that!” Katsuki hit his fist against the wall. Hopefully Kaminari, Sero, or Shinso weren’t in the room next door; they might come and see what the commotion was.

“There’s no one that’s going to be like him!” Kirishima protested, throat tightening when tears tried to make their way down his face again. He watched Katsuki -even though he was angry- cry when he spoke.

“HE’S GONE!” Katsuki roared, heartbroken, distraught, and angry all at the same time. He slammed the wall with his fist yet again, as if doing so would make everything that upset him stop. “He left us,” Katsuki choked, his voice cracking. “The motherfucker left us. He could’ve told us he was leaving. He could’ve said he was going to another damn country. He could’ve answered our phone calls. He could’ve gave us a better answer than a damn kiss and ‘sorry’. We did so much for him. We told him he could talk to us, we gave him a place to stay when he didn’t want to go home, we dropped everything just to pick him up from some random ass spot while he was all bruised and broken, we made ourselves look like dumbasses in front of the police, we gave him a chance to get out of that shithole. We did all we could.”

Katsuki exhaled shakily and calmed down slightly. Kirishima wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t sure how to respond to any of it. He didn’t know if he should go comfort Katsuki or stay and keep rubbing Shoto’s back like he started doing in the middle of their little dispute. It wasn’t until Katsuki looked back up did Kirishima come to his senses. He looked Katsuki in the eyes when the ash blond spoke again,

“Don’t you think we deserve more than someone who’s not coming back?”

Chapter Text

He screamed and his body shook with the disgust, anger and sadness that boiled inside of him. He let everything out when he was finally left to his own devices, when his father finally left their little house.

More like hellhole.

So here he was, sitting on the bathroom floor and crying. Crying that he wasn't good enough. Crying at his disgusting body, his father, his situation, his life. Crying that he couldn't make anyone proud of him.

He was trying. He was trying so hard to lose weight. He did lose some but apparently what he did wasn't good enough. He apparently didn't 'meet the fitness requirements' to enroll in basic training.

His father was beyond furious.

He went on about how he spent all this time training Midoriya, working with him and doing all this stuff for him. Spending money every year for him to come to America over the summer so he could qualify as a 'citizen', going through all of that paperwork so that he could enlist.

All for Midoriya to fuck it up because he was too fat.

His father spent day in and day out training him and trying to mold him into some perfect person. He became drunk less often, though when he did Midoriya was often on the receiving end of Hisashi's kicks, punches, and hurtful words. Sometimes it would be worse than that, with kicks sometimes escalating to a kitchen knife and sliced skin.

Midoriya couldn't do anything more than thrash and cry out. But even then Hisashi would try to silence him.

Hours turned into days, days turned into months. And, before Midoriya knew it, a year had passed by.

A year of weight loss, a year of torture, a year of being confined to his new "home".

And now, a few days from going to get a physical assessment done again to see if he was able to enroll in basic training. His father officially declared he "wasn't as fat as he used to be" and that he could probably pass the physical assessment.

But he was still fat. He could be slimmer, smaller.

His mind supplied him with comments of his weight made by his father and old classmates. His mind constantly berated him of his shortcomings in regards to his weight and things he did and didn't do. How he didn't make it to UA like he told Mr. Yagi , how he didn't listen to his mother when she told him to tell Kirishima, Tododoki, and Kacchan that he was leaving, how he rejected the people who made him happy and accepted him for who he was.

He panted over the toilet, gripping the sides before taking his fingers and shoving them down his throat.

"Izuku, will you be our boyfriend?"

His eyes rolled back as he gagged, tears falling from his eyes as bile worked its way up and out of his throat, only to fall into the toilet with an unsettling splash. A fire burned in his throat and nose after he was done. His mouth hung open as he stared at the still clear water in the toilet.

It's all gone.

But there had to be more. There had to be more food to get out. He couldn't be this fat. He had to get it out. He had to get it all out now. He didn't want to wait six hours for the laxatives to work, he needed everything out now. He only had a couple days before the assessment. Who knows exactly what his father would do if he didn't pass his physical assessment again.

His father rejected the personal counselor that they offered when he was deemed 'overweight'. Maybe his father would take up the offer if Midoriya failed. Maybe he would be more strict. Maybe he would unenroll Midoriya from the online classes for university he wanted to take.

His thoughts faded as he placed himself over the toilet once more, a choked cry escaping him when he shoved his fingers down his throat once more.

"Hi sweetie."

"Hey mom," he replied, idly kicking his feet against his sorry excuse for a bed. Though he was rather grateful that he had one, more or less his own little room. He thought his father wouldn't allow it but the man was...kind enough to give him his own space. Much because of the excuses that "Inko will say something" or "I don't want to see you changing your clothes you fat shit."

"How is it? Are you keeping up with your online classes?" His mother hummed sweetly from the other line. He usually got to call her once, sometimes twice a week. His father would carve out thirty minutes and thirty minutes only for the phone call. After that, Midoriya would have his phone taken away.

"It's fine, the online work is keeping me busy. The one of the professors emailed me to congratulate me on my A- on the essay. Apparently the rest of the class had gotten failing grades on it..." Midoriya murmured with a small shy smile.

"Oh! Look at my Izuku go! I know how hard you work on those essays. You would always get carried away with them, analyzing everything you could and putting it into words. I still think you would make a wonderful writer."

Midoriya could hear the smile in her voice. He readjusted the phone in his hand. He listened to her babble on, only asking her questions once and a while about work and with him answering her questions she had for him. When he noticed the timer creeping in on the twenty minute mark, however, he sighed.

"Mom," he cut in, "I have to go."

"Oh..." she breathed. Midoriya could hear the faintest bit of sadness in her voice, "Already?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then...I love you, Izuku."

"I love you too, mom."

The phone call ended and Midoriya was left to his own devices. Or, rather, he was left to his cellular device.

He scrolled through it and made his way to the now familiar place in his phone. Maybe he lied to his mother about a twenty minute time limit, but he needed to spend some time on his phone other than making phone calls.

Like listening to phone calls made for him, the voicemails Kirishima, Todoroki, and Kacchan would leave for him.

Inbox: 78 new voicemails

He remembered some of the first couple of voicemails he had gotten from them. He listened to a couple of them late at night, when they were in their hotel room after they arrived in America. It would've been a day or so from when he left the night before; it took some time to get to the airport, even more time waiting for their flight, the flight itself was long, and waiting for their luggage and going to the hotel took time. His father was passed out like a light from the exhausting trip and Midoriya took the opportunity to steal back his phone from his father; Hisashi set the rules on his phone policy while they were on the flight.

He took a moment and stared at his phone, hoping that his father didn't change the passcode. And lucky him, Hisashi didn't think about doing such a thing.

He turned off airplane mode and the missed call notifications came flooding in along with more text messages than Midoriya could count.

Not knowing what to do, he clicked on the messages and scrolled through them. After a few minutes of doing that, his attention shifted to the overwhelming amounts of missed calls and eventually he found his voicemail inbox.

He had clicked on one from Kirishima.

"Hey," Midoriya almost cried hearing his voice. Dammit. He already missed him so much. He missed all three of them. "I-..damn it.." Midoriya listened when he heard the wobble in Kirishima's voice, sounding as if he were going to cry any second. "Why did you have to leave? ..."

Kirishima finally choked out a cry that lasted a good minute or so, "Do you remember what you told us? B-Before you went to get your suit tailored...?" There was a pause, as if Kirishima was waiting for him to answer the question himself. "You told us that we can ask you for stuff. That if we needed or wanted anything then we could just tell you," Midoriya could hear his sniffling, "Izuku, we want you to come back. We need you. We love you. We wanted to go to UA with you, we still do. Your mother told us you got accepted...Why couldn't you stay?"

Midoriya took a moment to wipe his tears, his breath stuttered as he breathed in and out, trying to stay silent in his crying.

The message ended with one last question, "Why did you have to break your promise?"

Midoriya remembered sobbing at the last phrase, slapping his hand over his mouth to hush himself. He couldn't be so loud, his father was in the other room, after all. When he felt he gained his composure, he clicked on one from Kacchan.

"Fuck fuck FUCK ANSWER YOUR PHONE, DAMMIT!" Kacchan sounded angry and sad, something Midoriya has never heard of in his voice before. It was shocking and heartbreaking. "You were supposed to be here! We were supposed to be happy together, all of us! WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO NOW, ASSHOLE?" Midoriya didn't- or rather couldn't- listen to the rest of the message, as he was both too sad to keep going and too worried that Hisashi might hear.

"Izuku..." Todoroki began his message, "Izuku, please come back," he begged. Midoriya's heart couldn't handle how upset Todoroki sounded. His voice sounded like it would crack if he talked much louder. Midoriya stared at his phone, his throat felt tight and he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. “I don’t know what to do without you. We don’t know….We want you to be here. We want to hold you and kiss you. We want to wake up with you by our side, we want to go on those stupid, corny dates to the park where all we talk is about how beautiful the other looks. We want to show you how much we love you.”

Those messages were a year old, now. They were replaced with new ones, though Midoriya noticed that the number of voicemails and messages that were coming in started to decrease. He went from 231 voicemails per week to around 62.

Staring at his inbox of voicemails, he had to wonder if one day the number would read zero.

He considered the thought and sighed, shakily pressing on one of the voicemails. After all, he only had ten minutes to sift through them.

Chapter Text

"Hey Kirishima, dude, wanna go to the movies with me, Sero, and Mina later? Your boyfriends could go too."

Bakugo heard Dunce Face from the other side of the classroom. And it figures, there weren't many other people in the classroom yet other than Dunce Face, Shitty Hair, himself, and the damn frog girl.

He looked at the redhead when their eyes met. He didn't want to go but he also didn't want Shitty Hair missing out on something again just because he was being all mopey over Deku still. The redhead deserved to have fun, and right now his feelings were weighing him down. They talked about this. They talked about how they needed to actually start moving on. About how they needed to stop thinking about Deku. They needed to get over him.

Bakugo wasn't trying to be an asshole when he said all that shit. He wasn't trying to be a bitch when he yelled at him a couple days ago. He just knew that was the only way he would be able to get his point through their thick skulls. Because he was tired.

He was tired of trying to do couple stuff, only for it to be ruined by the thought of Deku. He hated how he couldn't kiss his boyfriends without them frowning, how he couldn't cuddle and hold them without the thought of how it would be like with Deku there taunting them. He was fucking sick of it. And his boyfriends crying over everything for the fiftieth time was Bakugo's last straw.

They made a promise that day, a promise that they would try to move on. For good.

They started off by deleting Deku's number from their phones. Out of sight, out of mind.

Then, they decided to go on a date. If any one of them looked sad or mention anything remotely relating to Deku, then it was the job for the other two to distract them and make them happy.

It was the happiest Bakugo had been in a while.

He still had feelings for Deku, sure. But what was the point of holding onto them? He just had to forget and move on. It would be hard, but they were finally working on it little by little.

"Yeah," Eijiro finally responded, "We'd love to go."

"Really? That's great!" Dunce Face beamed. A second passed before the blond eyed Eijiro warily with a frown, "You're not gonna cancel on us like last time, are you?"

"No," Eijiro answered with a tight lipped smile. He must've been thinking about what happened a couple days ago but he seemed to shake it off. "Last time was...complicated. Guess I had some uh schoolwork to sort out," the redhead laughed.

"Yeah," Bakugo butted in, trying to make his excuse more reasonable, "The damn idiot still can't fucking figure out the standard deviation based on the dotplot."

"Hey! No fair!" Eijiro pouted.

"Ugh honestly that is pretty difficult," Dunce Face mentioned while his nose scrunched up.

"Guess I forgot I was talking to two morons," Bakugo rolled his eyes, kicking his feet up and draping them over his desk, his arms crossing as he clicked his tongue.

His attention was turned to the door opening. Shoto walked in with Round Face and Four Eyes; he was talking with them a little bit. Bakugo was actually glad he slowly started to talk to them, more than he did beforehand.

Though that didn't make the shits any less annoying than they already were.

"Bakugo! What have I told you about placing your feet on the desk! Such a mannerism is extremely unbecoming of a student at such a prestigious school," Four Eyes huffed, his arms moving up and down like that idiotic way they always did.

"Yeah yeah, same shit different day. Are you gonna take that stick out your ass? Because apparently it's still up there from last year. Or ya wanna keep it up there till we graduate?" Bakugo asked in reference to how he greeted the guy on their first day of school: 'Did your old school put a stick up your ass?'

"He might be the same but I'm not!" Bakugo turned his attention to Round Face. "If you say one more thing like that about my friend I won't be opposed to body slamming you," she threatened, her short brown hair swaying as she moved towards him. It had grown out a little since last year.

"Oh yeah, short stack? I'd like to see you try," Bakugo grinned. He didn't like a lot of the people in his class, but this girl was alright. She knew how to match his energy. He was a challenge that he liked to deal with.

"Get to your seats."

But of course Aizawa had to ruin the fun just before it started.

Round Face eyed him once before heading to her seat with a huff, everyone else following her action. With everyone being seated, it signaled the start of another boring school day.

Great.

The boot collided harshly with his chest, taking the air he once had in his lungs dissipate. His heart stuttered as he tried to recover from the wind being knocked out of him, coughing as he did so.

A figure loomed over him and the only thing Midoriya could process was his father's presence. He felt so tired, so weak as his body felt like it was being pulled apart and he was being boiled alive at the same time.

He looked up helplessly, tears silently pouring from his face, mixing in with the blood from his nose.

"WHAT WAS IT?"

Midoriya felt like he was meant to flinch at his father's tone and volume but the urge to do so had dulled over time. Even so, it didn't erase the fact that he was scared. He was crying his eyes out as he was slumped against the wall.

"I don't know-.." Midoriya managed to croak out with a whine. His hair was tugged harshly, forcing his neck to crane up more than it was.

"IT HAD TO BE SOMETHING! THERE'S NO REASON FOR THEM TO SEND YOU BACK UNLESS THEY FOUND SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR BODY-FAT PERCENTAGES, FATASS!" Midoriya thought he finally found the air in his lungs again but it was taken away just as quickly when he gasped, eyeing the knife held under his chin. His mouth was open and a mix of a sob and a scream was ripped from his throat. "SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Midoriya screwed his eyes shut and bit his lip to stop himself from crying. His breath was ragged as he tried to control it. Hiccups and small coughs spilled from his mouth every few seconds. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest as he willed himself not to scream again.

Though a stronger scream and cry had been ripped from his throat when he felt it.

Blood.

Blood dripping down his arm as a searing, unbearable pain overwhelmed him and his senses. He could smell the metallic liquid, he could taste it still falling from his nose.

"STOP STOP!"

All he could do was scream. Cry out in agony and watch his father's blank face slice away a sliver of skin from his right arm.

"Who knows," Hisashi said slowly, taking his time carving the slice of skin, "Maybe you'll lose weight faster this way. Maybe this will teach you a lesson."

Midoriya screamed as much as his throat would allow before it began to hurt. The knife clattered to the floor with a small 'thump', the blood left on it splattering on the carpet as much as the part of skin did.

Hisashi stood up and didn't say anything. Midoriya didn't dare look up, too preoccupied with the wound that went from his upper arm down to his elbow. "Clean up," Hisashi said after a minute, walking away without another word.

Not even a minute had passed before the doorbell was ringing.

Hisashi looked at him for a split second and Midoriya felt his world crumble. His father would probably do something worse to him if the neighbors were able to hear him. Midoriya would probably have to face a punishment worse than this when his father convinces the neighbors that it was just a misunderstanding.

Hizashi changed his shirt for the few minutes between so he was ready to answer the door.

"We are looking for both a Midoriya Hisashi and a Midoriya Izuku," the man at the door said. "You will need to come with us."

And then everything from their passed by like a blur.

Midoriya's vision was blacking out and fading by the time everything was just about done with. From the yelling, the fighting, and the sounds of the ambulance blaring it’s sirens in the back, Midoriya barely noticed them. The only things he recognized were the handcuffs on his father's wrists and the paramedic next to him when his vision went black.

"The shopping cart- THE SHOPPING CART HAHA YOU ACTUALLY GOT IT!"

Todoroki watched Sero race over while rolling around an empty shopping cart. Kaminari was the one laughing his head off, thrilled that the black haired male actually followed through with the dare Katsuki gave him.

Todoroki even snickered a little when Sero stopped rolling the cart and turned to flip down on the grass instead, exhausted from running. The dual haired male wasn’t too sure about this ‘guys night out’ thing at first, but now he was glad he came. He enjoyed the time he spent with his friends. It had only gotten better from the movie night of last week. From there, they had a class game night in the common room and Shoto had participated in a study session with Uraraka, Iida, and Asui.

“Dudddeeee! We could do so many things with this!” Kaminari laughed as he examined the shopping cart. “Kirishima, dude, you know what I’m thinking?”

Eijiro’s face lit up into a smile Todoroki hasn’t seen that bright in a while. The redhead beamed excitedly, “Down the hill?”

“Down the hill!” Kaminari chanted back.

Todoroki supposed going down a hill in a shopping cart went against his better judgement, but when Katsuki and Eijiro were smiling and chanting for him to do so, well, he couldn’t say no to them. Not when they looked to be having so much fun.

They all went back to the dorms and, although a bit bruised, Todoroki felt like the whole thing was worth it. It was (kind of) worth it, getting scolded by Iida about coming back past curfew as well. They probably would’ve been back before curfew if it weren’t for their little stop that they made to get ice cream. Not that Todoroki was paying attention to or worried about a curfew, anyways.

Though, to make things better, they topped off the night with something even better.

Todoroki had just finished patching up a little wound on Katsuki when Eijiro had tackled them onto the bed they were on. He kept them down and forced them to cuddle with him. Eijiro took his time covering them in kisses. With loving caresses and little praises, Todoroki found himself happily tucked under the covers of the slightly cramped bed with his boyfriends. He closed his eyes and hummed in content, loving the way Katsuki dug his hand in his hair and combed through it. It was easily one of the best days he had in a while.

And not a single word uttered about Midoriya.

Chapter Text

"Yeah yeah! I got it," Kirishima reassured Katsuki.

He laughed a little when Katsuki made a beeline for him, attaching himself to the redhead's side. The blond read over the map with Kirishima, though along the way Katsuki just ended up taking the map from him all together.

Shoto sighed, "Katsuki, I told you the trail is this way."

Kirishima took a glance at Katsuki, just to see the blond furrowing his eyebrows at the map, clicking his tongue at Shoto's words. "Well I don't trust your damn instincts, half and half. Not after what happened at the festival."

"It was that one time," Shoto whined while Katsuki and Kirishima snickered.

"Hiking was a fun idea," Kirishima said aloud, happily looking around and observing his surroundings. The air was perfect- not too windy but still cold enough not to be hot; it was warm-, as it was fall. It was one of Kirishima's favorite seasons, especially when it was spent with his boyfriends.

They would have the chance to do a bunch of fall activities like hiking- which Kirishima also loved because he knew Katsuki loved hiking. The redhead loved to see the victorious smile on Katsuki's face when they would complete a trail. He would look satisfied and almost at peace with himself, Kirishima noticed over time. It was in those moments would the redhead want to pull his boyfriend in and kiss him, only to stop himself in favor of letting Katsuki have his moment.

He knew Shoto didn't mind hiking, either. It was a nice activity for all three of them to do. Kirishima would get joy out of seeing his boyfriends happy, Katsuki would have a 'fun workout', and Shoto loved admiring the views and nature aspect of hiking. It was a win-win.

Though glancing at something he caught moving in his line of vision made him stop a little.

It was a bunny.

Kirishima hummed as he observed the little ball of fluff hop around, its little nose twitching when it stopped hopping.

"What is it Eijiro?" Shoto asked, taking a few steps back since the redhead slowed his footsteps down in favor of looking at the creature. Kirishima pointed a finger at the bunny, not saying a word as to not scare it away.

Katsuki stalked over as well, being surprisingly quiet as he did so.

It was silent until Shoto let out a huff of a laugh. Kirishima turned his head and quirked one of his eyebrows upwards, silently asking his boyfriend what he found funny.

"I remember comparing Izuku to a bunny in my head once. He would always scare easily and he was cautious about strangers..." Shoto murmured. Kirishima stayed silent, not knowing what to say. He supposed he did agree with that, in a sense. Midoriya was often very skittish and had a hard time talking to people that weren't in his small friend circle he managed to form.

Though now that they were on the topic, Kirishima had to wonder. "How do you think he's doing?" The redhead asked, looking up to the sky.

"Why the fuck should it matter? I thought we were trying to get over him," Katsuki spat bitterly.

Kirishima turned and gave his boyfriend a disapproving look. He knew it was still a delicate subject. He knew Katsuki was having a difficult time trying to let go, even if he said the opposite verbally. They had spent months harboring their feelings for Midoriya and months after they confessed, they were having trouble dealing with the heartbreak, as stupid as it sounds. Still, Kirishima knew it wasn't going to be easy to move on. Hell, the past couple weeks proved that already. Even though they were focusing more on themselves, Kirishima knew there were small things that would bring them back to Midoriya.

"He's still our friend-" Kirishima tried to bargain.

"Friend? You think a fucking friend would leave without a word to go who knows where to do who the fuck knows what?" Katsuki growled.

"Eijiro...he...Katsuki's right. Just drop it. He hurt us, he hurt you. Don't you think Katsuki has a right to be angry about that? We all do. We're all entitled to our own feelings about what happened but they can't be sad feelings anymore. We deleted his phone number for a reason. We were the ones who chose to stop thinking about him. He's clearly done the same. Yes, I hope he is doing alright but we shouldn't have to worry about that anymore. It's not our responsibility. He's not our responsibility. He's an adult. I'm sure he can take care of himself," Shoto announced.

Kirishima took a moment and bit his tongue, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked to the dirt on the trail. Shoto's words must've given Katsuki enough time to calm down because Kirishima felt an arm hook onto his shoulder.

"Come on, we still have stuff to do. I want to get done with most of the trails before you start bitching about being hungry," Katsuki said. It sounded mean but Kirishima knew it was supposed to be reassuring in a sense, especially when the blond had leaned in to kiss his cheek.

Kirishima giggled as he attempted to pry his shorter boyfriend off of his side, "I think you're just making excuses for us to get back to our dorm room you cuddle monster."

The redhead was startled a little when he felt arms wrap around his waist and a head plop onto his chest. "Well it's not his fault you're cuddly," Shoto hummed, "We should do that. Go to the dorms and cuddle after this. Please?"

Kirishima burst into laughter, finding it cute that Shoto was always the one to ask for cuddles whenever the opportunity arose. He placed his hand on Shoto's head and ruffled his hair a little, "Whatever you want, my Prince Charming."

At the comment, Shoto lifted his head off his chest and smiled up at him, standing up straighter so he could stand taller in order to plant a couple of kisses on Kirishima's cheek. When Shoto started kissing him on the lips, it was only a matter of time before Kirishima felt something pull at his shirt.

He glanced to his other side to see Katsuki with a little scowl and Kirishima smiled softly before giving him a kiss as well. Afterwards, he watched Katsuki reach over to link his hand with Shoto's, the blond pulling the dual haired male into a small kiss as well.

They stood like that for a moment, Kirishima with both of his boyfriends hugging him while their hands were linked together. It wasn't until Katsuki had pulled away did they continue on their path again. "Let's go," Katsuki commanded, "We have a cuddle appointment to get to."

Kirishima felt himself smiling softly when he went to follow behind his boyfriends, a little pep in his step as he did so.

He had long forgotten about earlier events, never noticing that the bunny had hopped away, getting further away than it was before.

White was the color he saw, the color being partially obscured by lines of silver and blobs of black.

He blinked once, twice, three times but his vision was still a bit blurry. He barely processed that the black circles that usually rimmed his vision weren't there anymore. His glasses were gone. He didn't need them to see right, which is why it was worrying that he still couldn't see correctly.

He laid on his back and tried to get a grasp on the world around him though other senses, feeling ultimately too weak to get up. His mouth was parted slightly as he took small shallow breaths in short increments. He had no idea why his body was acting that way, but he could only assume it had to do something with his exhaustion and fast heart beat.

Although muffled, he could register that there were people talking. They sounded almost panicked, talking fast and loud. They were demanding as well, Midoriya noticed. Their muffled voices were just about drowned out by the blaring noise above- below...?...all around him.

A siren.

The thought made his stomach twist uncomfortably.

He didn't have much time to process anything before a face was hovering over him. He was confused, wondering exactly where he was and why he was there. It was confusing to say the least. And not knowing that information made Midoriya feel anxious, more than he usually would be.

He tried to focus his eyes on the face still above him, only for their lips to move, words coming out muffled in Midoriya's ears. His head pounded but he tried shaking it a little in an attempt to get the ringing to stop.

Hands cradled his head to stop the motion. It was the person hovering above him, he noticed. They were wearing a uniform of some sorts from what Midoriya could gather. The uniform reminded him of one a nurse or healthcare worker would wear, something that made him feel uneasy. It took around a minute before he was able to make out a couple of sounds, "...ir! ....llo? ...hear me?"

His eyelids felt heavy and he tried to resist the urge to close them. Yet, he gave into the temptations, the thought of sleep being one that would solve all of his problems. Or, at least postpone them for now.

Had he actually fallen asleep? Or had he gone back in time?

He stared at a familiar scene, one much similar to earlier. The white ceiling and the blobs of silver and black were like a moment of deja vu for him.

Except, there were no sirens.

There were no frantic, muffled voices, and there wasn't a feeling of movement as he laid in the bed, staring at the ceiling. There was silence. The smell, however, smelled of something in a doctor's office.

He forced his gaze downwards, making the discovery that he was propped up the slightest bit as he sat on a bed with white sheets. Tracking his eyes down to his body, he recognized- and then began to feel- the tubes that connected to his arms and dug inside them. One of them made him feel especially sick. He watched the way that a red colored tube was connected to him and he turned away, not wishing to stare at it longer then he had to.

His mind tells him to tear the tube away. It buzzes with the word 'blood' and Midoriya suddenly feels sick to his stomach. He feels a lump in his throat and he starts to feel uncomfortably warm.

His mind brings him back to the screaming, the sirens, and his father yelling at him while the police whisked him away.

And he remembered the puddle of crimson liquid, the source of the substance flowing out of his arm heavily, bits of it sprouting from other parts as well in order to contribute to the puddle. The red liquid flowed out of his nose as well, making the metallic smell more prominent and the taste of it had eventually settled in the back of his throat.

Something new had found its way into the back of his throat now, though. Something different than the metallic taste of the red liquid he remembered.

No. It was bile making its way up his throat at a speed where he couldn't stop it.

And then, the white color of the sheets he had started to become familiar with turned a sort of greenish yellow color mixed with...something shiny. Maybe clear.

The familiar smell of vomit hit his nose and the burning sensation that came with it stung his nostrils and the back of his throat.

And yet not a single person appeared in response to his pained noises.

He was left alone in the room with blank white walls. He was left to cry to his hearts content, with no one there to answer his cries of pain and distress.

It was just him in an empty hospital room with no one else to turn to.

Chapter Text

He felt disgusting. He felt useless and ashamed. He felt so worthless.

A moment passed while he wiped his eyes, never succeeding in completely wiping them away because they were constantly replacing one another. He didn't want the nurse to have to deal with him crying. He didn't want the nurse to walk in and find him a mess, vomit covering parts of the blanket and littered on the floor. Why should they have to clean it up? Their job was certainly stressful and they would probably do much better without having to deal with him.

He held his breath for a moment and stood up, breath stuttering a little as he tried to recover from his sobbing. He had to grip on the side of the hospital bed to keep his balance; his legs felt so weak and standing up was dizzying.

His mind whirled and he tried to focus his eyes on the ground, paying special attention to where the vomit was so he didn't step in it. He felt his head pound while he grit his teeth. He steadied himself before deciding to start with taking off the thin sheets and tossing them aside. He had to remind himself to be careful with the things in his arm...whatever they were for. He stopped looking at his arm, slightly nauseous about the plastic tubes going up his arm. He pulled the sheets off carefully, disgusted by his own vomit covering the items.

A light knocking noise caught his attention, his gaze snapping to the door of the room.

Words seemed at the tip of the nurse's tongue as he walked in but they had soon dissolved on his tongue, being replaced with a surprised look on his face.

"I've got it," the nurse immediately mentioned, stumbling over to where Midoriya was, "You need to rest, Mr....Izu-ku...?" The nurse looked nervous, if not the tad bit intimidated when he fully walked up to stand side by side with Midoriya. He easily towered over the nurse, he noted.

"Midoriya..." he murmured. He winced a bit, taking his left hand to hold to his throat to try to ease the pain. His throat was horse and his voice was almost gone but he continued, "Last names are listed first in Japanese," he had to explain. His father at least educated him on some traditions in America and how they differed from Japan. And his father, knowing he would eventually want Midoriya to come to America, had him learn English.

"Japanese...?" The nurse looked a little curious, yet cautious of Midoriya. He had finished taking care of getting the dirtied sheets off as he said so, disposing them in a bin; the dirty clothes, Midoriya guessed. "Interesting..." he murmured.

"I can help," Midoriya rasped. He wanted to be useful. He wanted to fix the problem he made.

"Ah- no no you need to sit down. Here," the guy mentioned, seemingly less wary of Midoriya than he was beforehand. He stepped over and went to a closet, taking out fresh sheets for the bed, "It's nothing to feel bad about. This stuff happens all the time." The nurse hesitated in adding a small smile, but did so anyways.

Midoriya wanted to return the gesture but frowned at the fact that he couldn't help. Nevertheless, he seated himself back on the bed, not wanting to fall down due to his increasing discomfort present everywhere in his body. He didn't want to cause any more problems than he already did.

Once mostly everything was taken care of, the nurse walked over again, having cleaned up the vomit left on the floor.

"Okay. Mr. Midoriya..." he trailed off, as if looking to the greenette to make sure he had pronounced his name correctly. Midoriya gave a small nod to him, signaling for him to continue. "...I'm just going to check a couple of things and the doctor will be here shortly."

Which ended up being rather uncomfortable for Midoriya; it was a physical examination and he had difficulties letting the nurse do his job because the greenette couldn't stand being touched now.

The nurse had picked up on it, sometimes instructing and allowing Midoriya do some of the things to make it a little easier for the greenette. At the end of the little examination the nurse had smiled, something Midoriya was a little grateful for. At least the nurse was more comfortable around him; Midoriya didn't want him to feel the opposite.

"Alright, that's all," the guy said, "Do you need or want anything before I go? I can get you some water or maybe some food from the cafeteria."

Midoriya hesitated, which might've been an answer in itself, but he shook his head no.

"Are you sure? You need to get your strength up. You lost a lot of blood from what I read on the case..." the nurse frowned a bit. "What about some dried fruit? It'll help increase your red blood cell count. That way we can get you off that IV faster. Does that sound good?"

Midoriya meekly nodded his head,  "Thank you...Mister...?" He quietly inquired.

"Green. Mr. Green but you can call me Leon," the nurse finished.

Midoriya smiled a little and the nurse tilted his head, possibly a bit curious since it had been the first time he smiled since he got there. "It- It's nothing. I just thought it was funny. Part of my name means green. 'Midori' in Japanese..means...green," he trailed off a little, coughing shortly afterwards because of his stinging throat.

Leon laughed, "So we match."

Midoriya nodded and they were left in a small bit of silence before the nurse mentioned he would go get the doctor.

Midoriya was then left to his own devices. He'd spent the time time observing the room, taking notes in his head of all sorts of details. He had found himself focusing on a spot in the curtains, the folds of the material making it look like there was an exaggerated stretched out face.

He missed drawing. He missed being at home and drawing out little comics and writing stories. He missed home. He missed his mom. He missed his friends. He missed Kacchan. He missed Kirishima. He missed Todoroki.

He wanted to go home.

He felt overwhelmed, realizing that he was more than just alone. He was by himself in a different country. He didn't have his mom or anyone. He-

Knock knock.

He turned his head at the noise, quickly wiping away the tears that were starting to form in his eyes. "Come in," he called hoarsely. He hoped the person there heard him. Maybe it was Leon again.

His small theories were soon quelled when the door opened to reveal a woman. She had blue hair and grey eyes and Midoriya coiled in on himself the slightest bit. She must've noticed his slight change in attitude; her eyes softened and it weirded Midoriya out in all honesty. People would usually pounce on him when he showed any signs of weakness: his father, his classmates, and his bullies, they would all take that moment to push him down further than he was.

She gave a smile before glancing down at her clipboard and striding over.

"Mr. Midoriya, correct?"

The greenette nodded hesitantly.

"Alright, I'm just going to ask you a few questions if that's alright?" She asked, pausing before she added, "I'm Ms. Campbell."

Midoriya eyed her warily but nodded, giving her permission to begin the little interview of sorts.

"Okay. You are over eighteen, correct?" She raised an eyebrow. Midoriya nodded, keeping the information that he was nineteen to himself; she only asked if he was over that age, she didn't need to be bothered with information she didn't ask for. "Right. Do you know why you're here?"

Midoriya paused a moment, looking around. Was that a trick question? He was in a hospital so-

"Yes...?" He managed, "I-..." he hesitated, "...I was hurt."

"Well- technically, yes," she began. She looked hesitant as she looked back down at the clipboard, tapping it a bit before her eyes went back to Midoriya. "Do you know why those people were at your doorstep? The ones requesting for you and your father?"

Midoriya winced, looking down guilty. He already had an educated guess on why those military officers would be at the door looking for them. "To tell me I failed the physical exam...?" Midoriya murmured.

His mumbled response received a pitying look from the doctor and he frowned. Was it because of how his voice sounded? So gravely and rough because of the excess strain?

Ms. Campbell shook her sadly, "No. You passed the medical exam, save for a few issues that could be fixed with assistance." She paused a moment. "Were you aware of any type of opioids in your system at the time you took the medical examination?"

Midoriya scrunched his nose up, giving her a confused look. What the hell were opioids? "No...What are those?"

"Were you not aware of the steroids in your system as well?" She asked instead.

"Wha-" Midoriya sputtered, jaw dropping as his eyes widened. "Don't those need to be injected? My father never used needles on me," he furrowed his eyebrows. Not that he was one to defend the man, but accusing Midoriya of pumping drugs into himself made him upset.

"Drug tests tend to test for things such as steroids, a common known drug, and other types of drugs. Opioids are a class of drugs that are especially addictive if given to the wrong person. The drugs that fall under this class of drugs include ones commonly found in drug addicts- heroin or morphine. These tend to be pain killers. The one you ingested was made to be used as such, usually used to relieve strong pains that have been ongoing," she explained to him, going a bit slow so that Midoriya could take everything in. "The opioid found in your system was hydrocodone. It is usually ingested through tablets."

Midoriya stared blankly, going through scenarios in his head because he hadn't remembered a time where he might have swallowed a pill.

Except-

"Maybe two days ago," he murmured, "I- He was trying to make me do something but the bruises I had on my legs hurt too much for me to kick and run a lot. So he gave me a painkiller."

The doctor hummed and Midoriya could hear the scribbling of a pen against the paper.

He blinked, looking up, "What about the steroids? Would I be in trouble? Am I in trouble? I didn't know! I promise- I- he-" He felt his eyes tear up and his breathing become panicked.

The doctor was quick to assure him. "No, you're not in any sort of trouble. I believe you when you say this wasn't your doing. Given your father's history I can only assume he was forcing you to follow his footsteps in any means possible- if it was drugs then so be it, right?"

Midoriya sniffled, nodding and trying to wipe the tears away.

"As for steroids, those can be administered through patches and ingestion as well," she informed.

Midoriya felt his lip wobble and the severity of the situation started to creep up on him when more silent tears started falling down his face.

The doctor paused, seeming to notice this.

"I will stop by later to see how you are doing. As for now, I will leave you to your own devices," she murmured, making a point to head to the door. It clicked shut and all Midoriya could hear was the deafening silence that had been his only company since he's gotten here in America. The thought of having to deal with that by himself, to be by himself with no sort of guidance here in this country made a feeling of dread loom over him.

And... he cried.

He cried and looked around the room, trying to find something, anything that would help him.

And then his eyes landed on his phone. His crushed up, cracked phone sitting on the little table at his bedside.

He leaped for it, hiccuping as he picked it up, "P-Please work. Please wo-ork please pleaseplease...." And, for the first time in a long time, he felt his heart thump in his chest. Not from anxiousness, not from fear, but with hope.

Because his phone flashed on and took a second to unlock before he navigated to his contacts. He hissed a little when the cracked screen cut his finger, but he ignored it when he held the ringing phone to his ear. The ringing stopped for a minute and he knew it didn’t go to voicemail because of the pause of silence.

"M-Mom…I…need your help.”

Chapter Text

"Come onnn," Sero whined beside him. Todoroki didn't pay him any mind, focusing on the last bit of math homework he had to do. The raven haired male seemed to notice because the nest moment Todoroki felt an arm wrap around his shoulder. "It'll be fun! You guys haven't been to a class movie night since like- the end of last school year! You should convince your boyfriends to go too," Sero confirmed.

Todoroki looked up from his work, setting his pencil down when meeting Shinso's eyes from across the library table. "He's bothering you too?" the purple haired male sighed, probably referring to where Kaminari was at on his side.

"Hey!" Kaminari interjected, "We are not 'bothering', we're convincing."

"Conversating," Sero added.

"Well go converse somewhere else. I already have the unfortunate curse of being their roommate. I don't need more of hearing Kaminari yap during the movie or Sero's obnoxious laughter," Shinso drawled.

Todoroki watched as the blond pulled a hand up to his chest, visibly offended by the statement. Kaminari gasped, "Yapping? As if I would do such a thing while my dear old classmates are watching a movie. I'll have you know my behavior is impeccable."

"Tell that to the guy who tasted the soap to see if it 'actually tasted like green apple'," Shinso fired back.

The blond immediately groaned out of embarrassment, his face turning pink while Sero chortled.

"Dudeeee that was supposed to be a secret!" Kaminari whined while Shinso muttered a sarcastic 'oops'. Todoroki quirked an eyebrow up. Why would Kaminari taste soap on purpose? Maybe he thought it was like mouthwash? Wait. Could it be used as mouthwash?

Todoroki was brought back when a hand slapped his back. He grunted a little and turned to see Katsuki there and Eijiro following behind. "You're thinking. I don't like it. You're gonna hurt yourself trying to overwork that tiny brain of yours," Katsuki told him.

"Kat..." Eijiro began to say disapprovingly.

Kaminari interrupted, making a point to get Eijiro's attention. "Dude! Help me convince your boyfriends go to the class movie night tonight," Kaminari encouraged, "You guys didn't go to the last one so you should go today! It's gonna be the weekend anyways."

Todoroki huffed quietly into his palm as he leaned further into his hand. "We'll go..." he decided quietly.

"Hah?"

"Really?" Kaminari asked, hope filling his voice. Todoroki just nodded a little in response, giving a little look to Katsuki after Kaminari turned away to celebrate.

"Kat, it would be fun," Eijiro nudged Katsuki encouragingly, "Just one movie then we can go back and cuddle all you want in our dorm room."

"Ugh," Todoroki looked over to see Shinso with his face scrunched up. "Go be all lovey dovey somewhere else," Shinso murmured, making a fake gagging noise as he pretended to stick his finger in his mouth.

"Shut the fuck up! I can do whatever the hell I want!" Katsuki exclaimed. Next thing Todoroki knew he was being pulled into a kiss and the next moment the blond was pulling away and going to kiss Eijiro while flipping Shinso off. Todoroki smiled a little at his boldness of his boyfriend, shaking his head and hugging out a laugh when Kaminari and Sero started teasing Katsuki.

"Whatever," Katsuki finally huffed, "We'll go to the shitty movie night."

"No! It's fine, really," Midoriya protested, attempting to take the bowl away.

Leon had been awfully nice to him this past week. Whether it would be helping Midoriya hop over to the bathroom or making sure that he was comfortable or even finding paper and pencils so Midoriya could doodle, Leon would always be there.

It's like the guy never left the building.

And right now, Midoriya was trying to have a little snack to munch on but apparently the nurse beat him to that too.

"What? It's my job to help the patients," Leon smirked, tugging the apple and bowl from Midoriya's hand one last time before he held it out of the greenette's reach. Leon sat a little further so Midoriya couldn't probe the items out of his hands.

Midoriya huffed and looked at the brunet. "Well don't you have other patients?" he murmured when he crossed his arms.

Leon just hummed, yellowish green eyes focused on the apple he was cutting. "Yeah, but they're all just a bunch of older people, kinda boring. Would you wanna listen to some old guy trying to solve a crossword? How am I supposed to know what six letter word means 'although'?"

Laughter bubbled from Midoriya's mouth, "Hey! That's mean!"

The brunet shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips, "Just telling the truth. Besides, I wouldn't wanna linger in there. It gets kind of awkward when the rest of the family just stops their conversation or feel uncomfortable with me around."

Midoriya considered the information for a minute, looking to his phone for a brief second. His gaze had focused back on Leon, "So you're just here to keep me company?"

Leon froze a little, "Well- uh- technically I mean- no! Like it was at first seeing that you didn't have anyone here with you and you're still waiting for your mom. But now- I don't know you're fun to be around and it makes being an intern here a little more bearable, you know? The long hours may not be fun but you make it better."

Midoriya felt his face heat up as he turned his gaze to the side. "I'm glad I could help," he whispered.

"Well I'm glad you're talking more now, huh? Your throat isn't hurting like it was before, right?" Leon asked. All Midoriya did was nod and the sound of the knife slicing off pieces of apple was all that filled the room.

He was really grateful for the nurse, really. He had made frequent visits to Midoriya's room throughout the day, sometimes making conversation or telling stories to keep the greenette entertained. Midoriya had only mentioned that no one was coming to visit him anytime soon until around the third day. Midoriya mentioned that his mom was trying to get a flight from Japan as fast as possible, though obviously that was taking longer than expected considering it had been at least a week and a half since he first contacted her.

And yet, none of his calls to Kacchan, Todoroki, or Kirishima went through. Maybe they were busy, he thought the first time their phones went to voicemail. The second time it happened, all of their phones went to voicemail, which Midoriya thought maybe he called then when their phones were dead or powered off. He assumed maybe it was the difference in time zones. So, Midoriya would wait up till six in the morning just to call them right after they would get out of classes.

And yet no answer.

Midoriya left them voicemails, confused as to why he himself hadn't received any voicemails from them. Trying to think of a logical explanation, he concluded the issue could be his own phone. It was cracked during the incident with his father so maybe that's why he hasn't received any messages or why he can't get through to them.

Though that wouldn't explain why he could message and communicate with his mother so easily.

He asked his mother the day before yesterday if she could try contacting Mitsuki to ask about the three. Though yesterday his mother told him that all Mitsuki responded with was an even, “Katsuki isn’t home.”

He cheerily told his mom that it was alright, that they were probably just busy and that they’ll call him back. The phone call ended shortly afterwards since his mom had to get back to work.

And Midoriya had placed his head in his palms and moved them up to his hair, making it a mess the more he tried fixing it. He tried to tell himself excuses, reasons why they wouldn’t answer.

Though his composure quickly crumbled, broken sobs making their way out of his mouth. Because he knew what was really happening. Mitsuki wouldn’t just say that Kacchan wasn’t home. She would reassure Midoriya’s mom that the blond male would contact Midoriya back.

They forgot about him.

Just like he said they would. Just like he thought they did the time they ditched him the last day they were supposed to finish the project in the park. When Midoriya sat there for hours alone just waiting for them. The thought of them leaving him back then was expected. It didn’t hurt as much because he worked with them knowing that they would leave him when they’re done with him. They would come and go just like everyone else in his life.

But now, after they broke down his walls and reassured him, told him countless times of how they weren’t going to leave him and that they would be there…

Well the knowledge of them actually leaving after he had been so vulnerable to them hurt a hell of a lot more.

The feeling was just too overwhelming that Midoriya let out a scream before it trailed off into tears and broken sobs again.

He was doing better now than when that happened yesterday but the pain was still fresh in his heart.

“Yeah…” Midoriya finally replied, looking up to Leon, “My voice is better now, thanks for asking.”He had gathered his composure again, having been thrown off by the sudden compliments.

“That’s good…” Leon mentioned, eyes focused on the apple.

Midoriya took note of his demeanor and noticed it was a bit off. Leon was usually more talkative and quick to make smart remarks about one thing or another. Now he was quiet and seemingly distracted.

“You have something on your mind, don’t you?” Midoriya ventured.

Leon’s head shot up, his eyes going wide before they were in their resting position. He gazed off to the side with a smile, pausing in cutting the apple that was nearly done. He passed what he cut over to Midoriya before he stood up, “I may or may not have gotten something for you.”

“Wh- Leon! You didn’t have to!” Midoriya squeaked, face turning a bit pink.

“It’s not all that great,” Leon laughed as he walked over to a book bag that Leon placed off to the side when he arrived. He told Midoriya that he didn’t have time to stop by and put his book bag in its proper place in the staff locker room. The brunet dug through the bag as he made his way back over to Midoriya. “Um,” Leon looks up before pulling out a sketchbook, “I wasn't sure what the difference between the Bristol, mixed media, or the drawing sketchbook was so I just got them all. And I wasn't sure what brand was better so I got two different brands."

Midoriya’s eyes nearly bugged out at the sight of all of the sketchbooks the nurse started to take out. He could do so much with all of those sketchbooks! He wouldn’t have to doodle on the hospital cafeteria napkins anymore! “I- er- I uh-” Midoriya started to sputter.

Leon started to pull out some art supplies, "I don't know exactly what some of these things are but they looked useful I guess." Midoriya watched him take out some different pencils, charcoal sticks, kneeded erasers, and- oh Midoriya always needed a blending stump.

Midoriya watched the pile of supplies the brunet started on the bed grow and Midoriya couldn’t be more happy. He thanked the nurse over and over again as he began to sift through the supplies and feel the different textures of the sketchbook papers. Some of them were decent but there were a select few he couldn’t wait to start using.

“It’s the thought that counts, right?” Leon mentioned with a nervous smile.

“Yeah!” The greenette chirped, mood dampening a little when his eyes flickered to his cracked phone for a brief second. It wasn’t long before they were returning back to Leon. His smile became strained, “It’s the thought that counts.”

Chapter Text

Bakugo knew. He knew the moment he saw the unknown number who it was. He knew that number, that it was Deku's number. He didn't answer no matter how many times it rang.

Because he was fucking frustrated. Where the fuck was that phone call a year ago? If he had gotten that phone call a month or so ago, he would've answered right away. He would've been willing to push anything aside to answer it but now, he sneered at the number and let it ring.

Though, curiosity and worry had eaten away at him, especially when his boyfriends were commenting on what the phone call could mean. Deku could be in trouble or damn near dying. Maybe it was his mother calling them through his phone telling them that he's-....

No, he's not fucking dead. The old hag specifically said that Deku wanted to talk to him that one day.

But still, there was still a need to know why now was the time Deku decided to try to contact them again.

Bakugo ignored it, occupying himself with school, working out, and spending time with Shoto and Eijiro.

Like now and how Shoto suggested that they go to an apple orchard; he's never been to one.

The thought made Bakugo's blood boil, remembering what Shoto had shared to them about his childhood. He was glad that Shoto wasn't living with the Old Shit anymore but Bakugo still hated the fact that the guy was still trying to control Shoto. He wanted Shoto to follow his career and take over the family company right after graduation but Shoto rebelled and made it known that he was going to go to college.

Bakugo and Eijiro even went over to put in their own words, essentially telling the Old Man that Shoto was his own person and can make his own decisions. He deserved to be a fucking dumb college student and have fun, not stuck with some lame ass office job.

There were still some days where Shoto would come to either of them with nightmares or just be in a bad mood because of something he remembered.

Bakugo didn't want to worry about any of that for now. Today they were just going to spend the day doing things college kids do: being complete fucking idiots.

Thunk.

Bakugo cursed, looking up at the branches above him and then to the ground below him. He rubbed his head and searched the ground for the culprit of his head hurting. There were a bunch of smushed apples, yet no hard ones that could've made his head hurt that hard.

It wasn't until he looked up and saw Eijiro holding his hands to his mouth and trying not to laugh that he figured out how the apple fell.

"Oi you fucker! Why the fuck are you throwing shit?"

Eijiro let his hands fall from his face as he laughed, "Sorry! I tried throwing an apple at the other apple to hit it off the branch!"

"I'll throw you at the fucking branch if you don't watch yourself," Bakugo hissed. He turned back to his tree after a minute, bending down a bit in order to try to find the apple he had been eyeing. He was quickly stopped when there was another loud thunk that resonated in his ears, the pain following the sound shortly afterwards. "What the fuck, Shitty Hair! Trying to give me a fucking concussion?"

"It wasn't me!" Eijiro defended immediately, turning around to face him.

Bakugo's eyes darted around until they landed on his half and half boyfriend. Shoto sat there with a little smug look on his face, "It's funny when you get mad."

"Oh I'll show you how mad I can fucking get."

Which ended up with them having an apple fight, almost getting kicked out of not for them hearing a woman talking to loud, trying to guide one of the staff members to where they were having their fight. They had to bolt out of there and down the different rows of apple trees, only stopping when they were a good distance away. They huffed and puffed, laughing when they were able to catch their breaths.

"Why-" Eijiro stopped to huff, "-why don't we go on the bus thing for the hayride? That should take us back to the beginning so we can look in the gift shop and pay for the apples."

Shoto nodded and Bakugo followed the both of them. The hayride was alright, he guessed. There were a bunch of shitty extras on there, specifically children, that Bakugo felt he could've dealt without.

Okay, it sounds fucking corny but dealing with those screaming little demons on the hayride was worth it when seeing his boyfriends' happy faces.

He couldn't help it if Eijiro's smiles were so fucking blinding yet so warm! And he couldn't help the way his heart went fucking doki doki when Shoto ended up with bits and pieces of leaves stuck in his hair, his heterochromatic eyes crossing upwards when trying to see where exactly they were atop his head.

"Katsuki?"

Bakugo's head whipped around to look at Shoto, grunting as he did so.

"You thinking about us? Your face is flushed," his dual haired boyfriend pointed out while they walked back to the gift shop at the entrance of the apple orchard. Bakugo didn't miss the smug look on Shoto's face.

"Shut the fuck up!" Bakugo roared, a bit embarrassed he was caught blushing. "Put a fucking scarf on, idiot! You're gonna get cold," he countered, tearing off his own scarf before wrapping it around Shoto's neck and pulling him over with it in order to tie the thing around him.

Fuck did he love hate his boyfriends.

They sat in silence for a few moments, unsure of how to proceed given the overwhelming nature of the previous statement.

Midoriya glanced up for a second, watching as Leon wet his lips with his tongue, unsure of what to say. "Well..." he hesitated, "The bad news might be better to hear first to get it out of the way but I feel like you should hear the good news first because she would want to hear as well."

"She?" Midoriya asked, the light in his eyes bringing to ignite again. He sat up quickly, his injuries from two weeks ago being fairly healed so it brought minimal pain.

Leon smiled softly as he nodded, "Someone heard about your situation and decided to help. I heard she's a friend and she said give her a call back when you get the chance. Ms.... Yaoyorozu..? Does that ring a bell?"

Midoriya felt his eyes widen and his heart swell. Did Yaoyorozu help with the payment of something? How did she hear about it?

"Last minute international tickets are a hefty payment. Those are usually booked months in advance, you know. But your friend must really like you. She helped get a ticket and it just so happens that the flight for the ticket just landed earlier today," Leon explained, standing up and walking to the door when there was some audible commotion.

The brunet didn't get another word in because by the time the door opened, a short old woman was stumbling through, unshed tears brimming her green eyes.

Midoriya scrambled to get up, getting up and running towards her as fast as he could. He picked her up and held her in a hug while he cried. He heard similar cries from her as she wrapped her arms around him and carded her hands through his curls.

"I'm so sorry, my baby," was all she was able to sob out, "So so so sorry I should've paid more attention."

Midoriya stayed silent as he cried, listening to his mom's unnecessary apologies. He set her down after a few moments, wiping his tears away and willing a smile on his face, "Mom, it's okay now. I'm fine."

"Fine? You always said you were but look what happened!" She wailed and Midoriya was a bit taken aback by her raised voice. She wiped her eyes and Midoriya felt he had to steady her by holding her shoulders. "I don't want to see you hurt like this ever again, you understand me, Izuku? I thought you wanted to join the military. I didn't want you to go but I supported you. But if you didn't want to go, you should've said something," his mother sniveled.

"I promise..." he murmured, looking off to the side to try and keep his tears at bay. His eyes caught Leon's for a moment and Midoriya took the time to tap on his mother. "Mom, this is Leon, the nurse that helped take care of me," Midoriya introduced a bit quietly, not wanting to raise his voice much.

As much as Midoriya would love to spend more time with his mother, he knew Leon still had to tell them the bad news. He told this to his mother briefly, who had nodded but refused to leave his side, guiding him back to his hospital bed before she scoot a chair as close as possible to it.

She made him lay down and he reluctantly complied, taking hold of his hand as she prepared for the bad news.

It wasn’t until a good couple of minutes that they were settled down enough to continue. Leon sighed as he referred back to the clipboard he was using in his conversation with Midoriya earlier.

“Over the course of Midoriya’s stay, the police have had Midoriya Hisashi in custody. They’ve taken him in for questioning numerous times, only to come up short with information regarding his time spent with Izuku here,” the brunet began. He took a moment to flip through the pages once more, scanning them as he frowned. “He admitted to not only physically, emotionally, and mentally abusing his son…but the police were able to get him to confess incidents of sexual abuse…is that right, Midoriya?”

Midoriya felt his mind whirl at the words, his vision going hazy and an immediate foul taste made its way to his mouth. He choked down the bile that threatened to make its way out of his mouth. He felt his mother squeeze his hand tightly as she gasped, looking at him with what looked like horror.

Did she hate him? Was she disgusted with him? For letting that happen to him? By his own father? He hesitated in his response but found the words falling out of his mouth.

“Yes….on some occasions…” he managed to say.

And then his mother broke out into hysterical sobs.

She hated him, didn’t she? He was supposed to be someone she could be proud of, someone successful and incredible. He was supposed to be the happy beam of sunshine she relied on, the sunshine that would scare away all of her bad thoughts and brighten her day, just like how they planned when he was little.

But now all he brought her was pain and sadness, anger and fear, concerned and distraught feelings. He was no longer her sunshine like he had promised to be back then, but rather a large dark cloud that loomed over her, threatening to leave a downpour of rain at any moment, creating a vicious storm that could blow her away at any second. She was fragile.

Because he knew that if any more rain filled the dark cloud that he was, he would downpour on her and it would tear her apart.

He knew she could only handle so much, but right now she was facing the thunderstorm of problems he presented to her. His storm cloud had reached its limit, negativity and bad experiences building up and weighing down on him until it all overflowed and hit her all at once.

This is what he was trying to hide from her. This isn’t what he wanted.

His mother hugging him tightly again felt like something so numb and so distant, something he couldn’t feel. So, he looked up at Leon a little bit, “What’s the rest of the news…?”

“Your father admitted to administering steroids and growth supplements to you without your knowledge for the past couple years or so, however long he was in your life. This is why you still grew despite being so tall already. You were reported to be around 6’ 11” post graduation but now it seems you grew a couple more inches.”

Midoriya felt the pit in his stomach sink further at those words. That was the last thing he wanted to hear. He didn’t want to hear more about the bad things his father did. About the things he did to his body, to his life without permission or a care in the world. He didn’t want to be reminded about how he was supposed to be molded into the perfect soldier. How his father never viewed him as a person or his son, just as a little puppet he could fulfill his dreams and desires with.

His mother tried to console him and make him feel better, sobbing and sniffling at his bedside once Leon had left. She cried her heart out and for some reason Midoriya couldn’t find any tears to cry anymore. All he did was stare off into space as he went on with his day on autopilot.

The sunshine in him was gone and he wasn’t sure if was ever going to come back.

Chapter Text

"-it's complicated..." Midoriya finally mumbled from the other side of the line. He sounded like he was moving stuff around, trying to distract himself and possibly change the topic.

But that wasn't going to happen.

"It isn't quite fair to me that you disappear for a year or so without a word, you know. It isn't fair for Toga or Camie or-"

"Yaoyorozu," Midoriya interrupted her sternly, "It really is a lot and I don't wanna overwhelm you." There was a hint of hesitation in his tone that she could pick up only slightly.

"Yaomomo," she corrected, insisting he call her that towards the end of their school year together in high school, "And it sounds to me like you aren't ready to talk." A brief pause told her the answer she was looking for man's she decided to continue, "That's fine by me. You can talk when you're ready."

Because she knew some of what was happening. She only learned of the news because of her father, who was on a business trip in America. He heard of some messed up story about a kid being dragged out of a house in a nearby town of the big urban town he had been doing his negotiations in. The small town wasn't all that great in terms of big news, but apparently the police and ambulances there had caught the townspeople's attention, especially when they had saw a guy being dragged out on a stretcher.

He apparently looked close to dead according to one of the residents, with blood and visible bruises all over his battered body.

The eyewitness reports only briefly explained the guy: "unbelievably tall"; "kind of heavyset"; "curly hair that looked dark green".

Yaoyorozu was sure it had been Midoriya; the news of Midoriya's mother needing to get to America for an emergency only confirmed her suspicions. Especially when she learned that the male, name unreleased to the public, had been injured due to his father, who was in custody.

Thankfully the news reports at least said that the victim, Midoriya, was in stable condition after a day or two. Though, that still made her worried. She wanted to hear everything from him, she wanted to let him know that he had someone to talk to, if not her then surely he had been talking to Kirishima, Bakugo, and Todoroki.

The other side of the line was silent and Yaoyorozu was about to check if Midoriya hung up but small sniffles caught her attention. "...thank you..." Midoriya finally murmured.

"A- Midoriya don't cry!" She fretted. Yaoyorozu was always so worried and felt awful whenever Midoriya cried. It was like some sort of motherly instinct kicked in or maybe it was just because of her strong relationship she formed with him as a friend. Either way, it made her want to hug the greenette as tightly as she could, maybe sit him down and cover him with soft blankets and give him a little cup of hot chocolate or whatever would make him feel better.

"No it's just- ...you never left. I'm happy," Midoriya whispered.

"Left?" She questioned, "What do you mean by that?"

The question confusingly enough made Midoriya cry harder.

"I'm sorry. I'm trying- I can't-" Midoriya sounded like he was getting frustrated with himself. "...I don't know why I'm crying," he finished lamely.

"Midoriya it's okay to cry, you don't have to get mad at yourself for crying," she reassured softly, "You're probably dealing with a lot and you might be having trouble sorting everything out now. You're probably overwhelmed so just let things happen naturally for now, alright? Let yourself cry and relax, release your emotions because keeping them in isn't going to do anything."

She got a little sniffle in response and she guessed Midoriya understood her but forced himself to calm down.

She decided to switch topics for the time being, "When do you think you'll be back in Japan?"

And from then on it seemed that their phone calls became a daily thing.

Yaoyorozu would call him whenever, sometimes listening to him talk about his day while she did her schoolwork or studied. There was one time where Midoriya's mother had stepped in and constantly thanked her for paying for the ticket; Yaoyorozu sent little care packages to the Midoriya household every once in a while for the past year.

Midoriya had since been released from the hospital with his mother's help. They, unfortunately, had to use the house that Yaoyorozu knew would bring back bad memories for Midoriya. Even if he didn't say anything directly, she could tell by the tone of his voice that he didn't like the house and the memories they held. Especially since most of the time he would make a point to be outside, even if it was just in the front or backyard.

There were times where Yaoyorozu would hear Midoriya's mom- Inko she reminded Yaoyorozu to call her- step outside or enter the room Midoriya was in just to check on him. Yaoyorozu was glad someone was at least watching out and taking care of Midoriya.

Even if he was supposed to be taking care of himself, apparently he was still worried about others.

"Yaomomo...?" He suddenly asked. The raven haired female hummed, curious about what her friend had to ask her. Midoriya seemed to wait for a small block of silence to pass before continuing, "How are Kacchan, Eijiro, and Shoto doing?" The question came quietly, almost hesitantly.

She paused, taking a moment to process it before she blurted, "You haven't talked to them? I thought you did, they seemed so-..." The words died on her throat. What was she supposed to say? She knew those four weren't a 'thing'. They weren't dating and she learned that the hard way after her actions during their last year in high school. Midoriya told her himself. Though that still didn't mean Yaoyorozu had her own opinions about them. She could see them in a relationship. They acted so much like one, the way they cared for each other, the way they acted around each other, the way they looked at each other, and how different they acted when they were apart.

Yaoyorozu sat by on the sidelines and observed.

She noticed how those three had acted a bit off on different days. She could tell how much Midoriya not being there had impacted them. As of late, she noticed how much happier and how they were more social since high school. They were more willing to go out with friends and attend their class movie nights. Their little bad moods had become less and less since their second year started back in August. It was early September now, and Yaoyorozu was sure that their better mood was because of Midoriya talking to them.

....again. She's not entirely sure why Midoriya would stop in the first place. There had to be a reason why he never called them, her, Toga, or Camie because Midoriya certainly wasn't the type of person to shut people out. She was hoping to find the reason why from his explanation of why he disappeared off of the face of the earth after graduation.

But it seemed like Midoriya wasn't willing to tell that story yet. Maybe she would learn some of it now, though.

"So...?" Midoriya trailed off, curious, yet a bit hurt.

Yaoyorozu bit her lip, unsure of how to tell him that they seemingly moved on from trying to contact him. Or so she speculated; she wanted to confirm it first before she relayed the news to Midoriya.

"Before they were really upset from what I found, probably because they were worried about you," Yaoyorozu supplied, "They would check their phones a lot."

"I'm such a damn jerk," Midoriya suddenly said.

Yaoyorozu was a bit taken aback by his language, "Wh- no you aren-"

"But I am! I could've text you, Toga, Camie, or them, but I was too worried he might see the messages and block all your numbers! He might've slammed me into the wall, kicked me, punched me if he found out I was doing that! What if he didn't let me talk to my mom anymore?" Midoriya rambled, sounding panicked.

Him? Was 'him' his father? The one who did all those bad things to Midoriya? Did that mean that the incidents like that happened frequently?

Then suddenly everything made sense.

The reason why Midoriya was so cautious of her, the reason he would dart his head over to any sudden movement, the way Kirishima, Todoroki, and Bakugo would be protective and careful around him. They must've known or at least had an idea of what was going on in Midoriya's personal life.

Yaoyorozu wasn't sure of what she should or could say to Midoriya. She didn't know if she should say that she's sorry or something of that nature. She didn't know if she was supposed to reassure him or even say anything at all.

"I'm glad you were still thinking of us though," she began slowly, "And....I can tell Toga and Camie that they can go on a group call with us. Maybe later? Or whenever you want." She paused a moment before she finished, "And Kirishima, Bakugo, and Todoroki are doing alright..."

The break in conversation after that was probably because Midoriya was having trouble picking what he should respond to first. Or maybe he was trying to calm himself. "...Toga and Camie go to UA too?" He murmured in question.

Yaoyorozu was slightly caught off by the question but answered anyways, "No, they go to Shiketsu University but we still hangout and keep in touch. Even if they are a bad influence on Uraraka and Ashido..."

"Uraraka and Ashido...?" He questioned curiously, "Your...classmates..?"

Yaoyorozu huffed out a soft laugh, "Yeah...I'm glad that you helped me make friends with Toga and Camie back then. Myself as well as the rest of the girls like to spend time with them."

Silence fell over them.

"...I knew you were a good person. You don't seem like a mean person and I never viewed you that way. Even when they said you spread the rumors. I was mad, sure. But I was confused too. I know you never faked your kindness towards me. I could tell it was genuine. I just always had that feeling that you were someone I could trust, someone good," Midoriya explained, getting a bit louder and confident as he continued speaking.

Yaoyorozu felt something warm and pleasant curl in her heart at those words.

"I knew you were, too," Yaoyorozu admitted, "Before everything. Before those rumors. Probably before..." she trailed off, wanting to say before Midoriya and the other three became friends but decided against it. "...yeah before everything. I wanted to talk to you because you seemed so sweet besides some people talking about how you were scary and imitating. I knew you were a good person and I know you still are now."

'And Kirishima, Bakugo, and Todoroki would think so too,' she wanted to add but bit her tongue.

"Thank you..."

“Yaoyorozu Momo please report to Principal Nezu’s office immediately.”

Odd. She wasn’t entirely sure as to why she would need to be called to the Principal’s office. Still, she obeyed the call anyways.

She stopped when she approached the door, knocking on it lightly. A small invitation of ‘come in’ was heard beyond the door and Yaoyorozu slowly opened the door. She didn’t bother to look up, nervous about what the issue may be about. It wasn’t until she closed the door had she met eyes with President Nezu and Mr. Aizawa.

“All of this for one problem child, Nezu?” Aizawa grumbled with a hand sliding down his face.

“Well you said yourself that he was a good student,” Nezu replied.

Yaoyorozu became confused. ‘He’? ‘Was’? Who exactly were they talking about? An old student? Why would Yaoyorozu be involved?

“I overheard one of your conversations on the phone, only briefly, obviously,” Aizawa muttered. Yaoyorozu knew Aizawa wasn’t one to eavesdrop on purpose or seek out information so if there was a time he accidentally walked near a conversation, Yaoyorozu knew he would likely not stay. “But I heard you say Midoriya. As in the Midoriya Izuku that went to UA High, right?” Aizawa questioned.

Yaoyorozu nodded.

Aizawa sighed, “And you’re aware of the news about him?”

Yaoyorozu nodded her head, still a bit lost.

“Nezu has records of students attending the school. This information is secret so don’t tell anyone else. Midoriya was accepted and enrolled here but Nezu found that he was enlisting to the military,” Aizawa explained, “Can’t give you anything past that, but Nezu finally figured out why that seemed so unreasonable. But I’m sure you can guess the article had to do with figuring that out.”

“Yep!” Nezu chirped, “Would you be able to deliver this letter to him when he arrives back in Japan?”

Yaoyorozu nodded and bid her goodbyes, bowing before she left. She looked down at the letter in he letter and wondered what it could be about. She supposed she would have to worry about it after class because the bell for her next class rang loudly in her ears, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Chapter Text

"A dog...?" Midoriya murmured under his breath, raising an eyebrow at his mother. "Why so suddenly?" He wanted to add that getting a dog would add on more responsibility and stress that neither of them needed at the moment.

"I just think he would be good in keeping you company when we get back home..." his mother answered, a bit hesitantly with a little something in her voice that Midoriya detected right away; she was lying.

"Mom. We have too much to deal with. The- the hospital bills, the house here and what we’re going to do with it, the flight back-”

“-which is already paid for,” his mother interrupted, “Yaoyorozu was such a sweetheart and paid for a round-trip ticket for me and a one-way for you. We would just have to set the date for when we would want to go back. Three days is more than enough time, right?”

“She what?” Midoriya felt he had to backtrack. He definitely needed to give Yaomomo a big hug when he saw her. “Three days, yeah,” he addressed, “You said that before. I have some of my stuff packed already. But a dog? Why?”

“You wouldn’t want a dog?” his mother frowned.

He didn’t want to see his mother upset but he had to address what was lingering in his head. There had to be some other motive if she was pushing the idea this much. She never brought up the idea of getting a pet before so what was the difference now? It had to be because of everything that happened.

“Mom. What’s the real reason? I know you wouldn’t bring this up out of nowhere so…” he trailed off, searching for an answer in her face and in her movements.

She bit her lip nervously before closing her eyes and sighing, looking off to the side. Her gaze found its way back up to his own eyes and he noticed the tears starting to build. “Oh Izuku-”she began, her voice trembling and watery, “I-” The words got caught in her throat before she choked out a sob, “I don’t want my baby getting hurt again!” She stumbled forwards and gave him a hug.

Midoriya hesitantly returned it, only the slightest bit self conscious of himself. “I won’t-” he tried to reassure her, but she cut in just as quickly as he began the sentence.

“You will. You’re reckless,” she sobbed, “I’m not saying being in the hospital if your fault. Not at all, honey. I just- I don’t want to see you in there again for something else. For not taking care of yourself and eating properly.” She pulled away a little so that she could crane her neck and look at him with teary eyes, “You lost a lot of weight and- and…it’s not a bad thing but you still have to eat. Don’t starve yourself, please, sweetie. I love you no matter what, no matter how you look, no matter what you do. And you shouldn’t care if others don’t. Don’t surround yourself with people like that. Find people that accept you for you,”

Midoriya had been trying to hold in his sob, trying to fight his tears since his mother shed her own. But after she said that? His throat tightened and his walls crumbled.

Because he didn’t have that anymore.

He didn’t have Kacchan, Eijiro, and Shoto there with him anymore. He didn’t have them there with him, accepting all of him, all of the things he hated about himself, they countered with reassurance.

Now they were gone. Cut out of his life forcefully, whether intentional or not, it was his father’s doing. Somehow the bastard still managed to ruin his life.

And his mother let him cry, not knowing the real truth behind his tears.

The conversation ended there.

“Tomorrow? Oooh oooh where? Where are you landing? What airport? What time? I wanna see my Izuku!” Toga babbled, jumping up and down with a giddy look on her face. Yaomomo had to take the phone from her, Midoriya noticed.

“Well you technically can see me now,” he joked, pointing out that they were on a video call.

Midoriya watched Yaomomo look behind herself when a frustrated whine came from Toga. “I mean like see you in person,” the blonde complained.

“Yeah, totally! You soooo have to come see us so we can like all hangout, ya’know? And you gotta give us all a big hug, boo,” Camie pipped in from the background.

Midoriya let out a nervous chuckle at that. “Yeah, I guess I should…” he hummed.

“But we should also give him a couple of days to settle back at his house. Going from America to Japan is a great difference so he might need a couple of days to get situated,” Yaomomo suggested. Midoriya internally thanked her because he wasn’t sure if he wanted to see them just yet. Sure, he missed them, but he did want to stay home and relax a little before doing anything. He just wanted to get away from the house he was in right now, get away from the bad memories and finally feel safe enough to have a good nights sleep. Because in all honesty he hasn’t gotten much; every time he tried to go to sleep his thoughts and memories would keep him awake or his dreams would quickly turn into a nightmare, making him wake up in a cold sweat.

“Maybe on Saturday? That way you guys won’t have your classes to worry about,” Midoriya proposed, “I need time to unpack and I don’t wanna fall asleep on you guys. There’s a huge time difference.”

Toga groaned somewhere in the background, “But that’s four days from nowwww.”

“Totes not fair,” Camie huffed. Midoriya laughed a little when she pouted at him.

“Sorry but I’m not even sure my mom would want me to go anywhere the first couple of days. She might wanna keep me there forever,” Midoriya said with a little smile.

“Well we’ll just have to steal you back,” Toga mentioned matter-of-factly.

“What if I make treats for you guys instead? I can make chocolate or maybe cupcakes…?” Midoriya offered.

“I don’t think that’s necessary-” Yaomomo began but she was promptly cut off by Toga and Camie.

“Oh! My sweet Izuku wants to bake for me~!”

“‘Doriya knows how to bake? Adorbs!”

“Well…if you’re insisting then we can get you something too,” Yaomomo smiled back at him through the phone. Toga and Camie shimmied their way into the view of the camera as well.

Midoriya yawned when they did, sleep eating away at him. His eyes refused to open more, his eyelids feeling heavy. “You don’t have to,” he murmured when he rubbed his eyes.

“But we will,” Toga challenged, “Now get some sleep.”

“I suppose it is pretty late over there. We wouldn’t want you missing your flight,” Yaomomo added.

Midoriya nodded, looking over to the lamp next to his bed. “I’ll try,” he yawned.

Just when he was about to say goodbye, Toga pipped up, “Izuku?” He hummed at her question, urging her to continue. “Your freckles look cute,” she smiled. A soft, genuine smile unlike the little crazed ones she would show so freely.

Midoriya found himself slapping his face and covering his freckles. He had dropped his phone on the bed in the process. Where they exposed this whole time? Was that why Toga and Camie squealed at his appearance when he first answered the call? He thought it was because this was their first video call- they had audio calls with each other already- together. He should’ve paid more attention to his appearance before he answered the call. He should’ve-

He blinked when he felt a little pinching sensation on his arm. He stared at it for a moment or two before he processed what was happening. He detached his hand from his arm, assessing the damage he subconsciously inflicted on himself. He had dug his nails into his arm to try and rid the memory that was threatening to flood back through his brain at full force.

Strangely, the pain on his arm wasn’t enough. He should hurt more. He should be hurting more for what he did. For how he hurt Yaomomo, Toga, and Camie and making them worried sick. For how he hurt his mom and made her so stressed and made her hurt so much for everything. For how he hurt Kacchan, Eijiro, and Shoto so much. From not answering them and telling them what was happening to saying goodbye with such the lame excuse that he did. He should’ve done more to keep them in his life because he knew that them staying was something too good to be true in the first place.

“Midoriya…?” The call of his name managed to pull him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, maybe I should go,” he murmured, unfazed by the irritated skin on his arm where he caused more damage as his thoughts veered into an unpleasant direction. “I’ll see you guys Saturday, okay?” He forced himself to smile when he picked the phone again to make the camera face himself.

They reluctantly ended the phone call and Midoriya was left with himself and his thoughts.

Not a good combination.

Over the course of his life, he’s gotten better at lying.

Or so he convinced himself.

He liked to believe that he was a good lier. That he was able to convince his mother that he was okay when he wasn’t, that he could trick his teachers and classmates with a simple smile. That way they wouldn’t know how damaged he was.

That’s why he never wanted to share his problems. It’s why he never told Shoto, Eijiro, and Kacchan about his home life and his problems. He didn’t want to burden them. He didn’t want to be like some messed up toy that they would feel obligated to get. He’s just be cast aside as someone irreparable, perhaps. Someone too broken beyond repair.

He shook his head at his mother slowly.

He didn’t want a therapist. He didn’t want to talk about how messed up he was, how messed up his mind was. He often found it hard to translate his feelings to word, anyways, so what would a therapist do? It would just make him more miserable, feel even worse about himself if he were forced to think about everything and pick it apart. All of his inner feelings and emotions were right where they needed to be: locked up inside of him.

His mother grabbed his face gently before weaving her hands through his curls. He was sitting on his bed so she had easy access to it. A few moments passed, tension thick in the air.

“Why?” Was all she asked.

“You start work two days from now,” he murmured. It was true. They might’ve just flown in last night but his mother’s workplace demanded that she get back as soon as possible. They had already spent a good deal of time in America. It was already early-to-mid September. “It would be hard to manage that, going to the therapist, and trying to find out what I should do now. I don’t know what I’m going to do about college,” he finished. All of it was partially true; his real reasoning for not wanting a therapist was left unsaid.

“Izuku. The truth,” she demanded. Her tone wasn’t overly harsh but it was firm enough to give the impression that she was serious.

He directed his gaze elsewhere, his eyes flickering over all of the boxes into their living room. He wanted to redirect the conversation in another direction but if he did his mother would know he was lying. “That’s all to it. I don’t want to make you do more than you have to,” he said lowly.

“…Izuku I know there’s more to it. I know you have that big heart of yours that wants to make sure that your decisions will benefit others more than yourself but…I also know that there’s a reason you yourself don’t want to,” his mother spoke softly as she continued to soothe him with gentle touches to his face and hair. “I just want you to be safe. I don’t want anyone hurting you anymore. I don’t want to see anymore of those bruises I was too stupid to not bring up. I don’t want you to feel how you might feel,” she whispered.

He watched tears fall down her face, the room falling silent once more. She continued messing with his hair while she sniffled.

Midoriya finally opened his mouth and spoke, “I…don’t want- don’t feel like talking about….my feelings out loud…”

His mother looked at him as she took in the information. A little moment later she huffed out a small smile, “I know…that’s why I wanted to get you a dog. A…a service dog to keep you company and keep you safe. The nurse…Mr. Green back in America suggested it. He said it would help with the panic attacks you apparently had experience with.”

“Oh he saw…”

“Yes, Izuku,” she almost immediately replied. To which Midoriya almost jumped because he could’ve sworn he kept that comment to himself. His mother moved on to her next question, “So which would you prefer?”

Midoriya considered the options but would honestly like to do more research before he decided. “I’m not sure yet. Can I have more time?” His mother nodded and he greenette looked to the boxes he had ignored during their conversation. Maybe now they should start unpacking all of their things. It would help him from thinking about the issue yet.

He would think about it.

Chapter Text

Midoriya didn't get the chance to properly greet them at the door considering Toga had flung herself at him. Well, he guessed it was her. He didn't really get to see her face all the way but looking down he recognized those two messy buns from anywhere.

"Zznmkuuuu," he heard her muffled voice. She squeezed him and Midoriya let out a little grunt at the action. She moved her head a little and pouted at him, her chin still resting on him still, "You lost some of your fluff."

"Fluff...?" Midoriya asked, a bit confused on what she meant.

"Toga!" Yaomomo hissed, "I told you not to say anything! Or do anything! We were supposed to say hi not come and cuddle."

"But I missed Izuku," Toga whined. She only tightened her grip on Midoriya and he felt uncomfortable at her closeness. He hasn't been this close in contact with anyone in a while. Why was she even being this nice? Was she faking it? He wasn't sure anymore.

Midoriya could only chuckle awkwardly, "I missed you guys too." A minute or so passed before he continued, "Do you guys want to come inside?"

"Not until we all get our big hugs you promised, boo," Camie replied, holding her arms out in invitation. Midoriya internally sighed, now aware that he hadn't mentally prepared himself for their reunion as much as he should've. Still, he shook off Toga to pull Camie and Yaomomo into their own separate hugs.

"'Doriya! This is like so good! You made these sweets yourself? You totes should open up a bakery," Camie told him as she munched on a piece of chocolate, "The ones we made aren't even as good as these."

"It's just a hobby of mine..." Midoriya mentioned bashfully, "I'm glad to hear you guys like it. I've never baked for anyone other than me and my mom...or at least I haven't heard any criticism from anyone but her."

Toga interjected as she dug in her bag, stepping in front of Midoriya with the bag she brought with her- which looked a bit big in his opinion. "Not true, Camie! Well- okay Izuku's baking is good but mine isn't bad! I've been learning how to cook and bake," the blonde declared, finally pulling out a little container from her bag, "Like Dorayaki!"

"You can bake? That's not what it looked like when we were trying to bake together," Yaomomo laughed.

"Shut up!" Toga puffed out her cheeks, her pink face turning a bit red, "Camie's kitchen is just a mess to deal with. I wasn't in the right mood." She looked up at Midoriya and he was confused when she pushed the container towards him.

It clicked in his mind and he finally realized what was happening, "O-Oh! For me?"

"Well duh, silly," she answered, "I wouldn't forget to get something for my fluffy bunny." Midoriya always the light it was so weird how fast her personality would change. She opened the container and offered the dessert to him, "I made these. The matcha pound cake that we all made is at the bottom."

Midoriya sputtered, "H-How many sweets did you make? I can't eat all of that!"

"Not a ton. Just this bag," she replied, "You never did tell me your favorite sweets so I wanted to make sure you liked something."

"No but like seriously when you do and you get all the girls and guys falling for ya you gotta give me all the deets. Everyone loves a cute boy that can bake," Camie announced from her spot on the couch.

Midoriya felt his face heat up and he covered it the best he could. It was much easier since he didn't have his glasses- his father had broken them during...their last encounter and Midoriya put off ordering a new pair for now. He didn't want his mother to worry about spending money on anything else right now. Especially considering that he would most likely have to choose between therapy and getting a service dog- both expensive options. And the hospital bills would surely be a handful.

Bringing his attention back to the matter at hand, he spoke through his hands, "I don't know...cute is over exaggerating... and I don't think anyone would look my way twice."

"You've gotta be joking me. Three of the hottest guys were crazy about you last year, hun. I bet a bunch of others would be too if they got to know you more and weren't like complete douchebags," Camie explained.

Yaomomo squawked , "A- Camie you can't just make assumptions like that! All those rumors-"

"-were true," Midoriya finished. He looked up to face his friends but dropped his gaze when he saw their faces, "They did like me and I liked them but...I don't think they do anymore. They haven't been answering any of my messages and I left them voicemails but....they just hate me now." The lump in his throat burned as he tried to swallow it but it was to no avail.

"Well why did you leave?" Toga asked, her shoulders slumping while she lowered her arms. "You never even said goodbye..."

Something cruel twisted in his chest at the mention of those words.

"I left..." the world felt cold. So cold that it was almost suffocating him. "...I left because...b-because I had to..." He was stressing too much. About the situation and about the memories that flowed back into his mind. Back to when he was alone in America with his father. Hisashi would lock him in his room.

"Just a safety precaution. Don't want all of the food in the house gone by the end of the night," Hisashi would say.

Abuse for days on end would leave a scar on his mental, emotional, and physical health until it was almost worn down to nothing. But he kept that hope. Hope that one day he would find his way back to Japan with his mother and friends, where he would find Eijiro, Shoto, and Kacchan waiting for him with open arms.

His throat was closing and his eyes went blurry.

And the next moment he found himself sitting on the couch and wrapped up in soft blankets- well more covered in them, not wrapped. Someone was running their hands through his curls and he closed his eyes, not having much energy to lean into it. He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he surfaced again, but he felt bad that his friends had to witness it.

The one of the hands from his curls fell down to his face, a thumb gently rubbing his cheek. His eyes opened and he found his eyes meeting Toga's. She was in her calm state again, the only time he had witnessed her like that other than before when she comforted him on the class vacation after his fallout with Shoto, Eijiro, and Kacchan. She didn't do anything to make him uncomfortable, leaving her hands where they were on his head and face.

"Camie told me what happened that other day you were upset. When me and...we stayed back fo take care of the people talking shit while you went to your room with Camie and the other two. Back when we went on that class trip," Toga told him. She was quiet and solemn, a contrast from her original personality that was so off yet it wasn't unpleasant.

And he knew what she was talking about. When he was having a panic attack and Shoto, Eijiro, and Camie led him back to his, Shoto, Kacchan, and Eijiro's room. Did Toga figure out the symptoms? Did she really go out of her way to look up what was wrong with him? Did she care that much? And was Camie that worried as well? That she talked about it to Toga?

"You already know what this is, right?" Toga asked him, never letting go of his hair. Her other hand never left where it was cupping his face, her thumb still gently stroking his cheek.

Midoriya made a little, "Mmhm," in reply. A second passed before he clarified, "...p-panic attack..." His voice was still a bit wobbly and quiet from the attack, with it effectively draining his energy.

"Are you...getting help with it?" Yaomomo pipped in. Midoriya glanced off to the side and pursed his lips, which was probably answer enough based on how Yaomomo sighed. "You should at least tell your mother," she told him worriedly.

"She knows..." Midoriya murmured, "...she wanted- wanted me to get help. I-I think she's gonna- gonna make me choose something."

"Choose...?" Camie asked.

"Yeah...I don't know how things will go so..." he paused and took a moment to yawn and wipe his face of his tears. Toga lifted her hand for a moment while he did but placed her hand back where it was afterwards. "...I'll tell you later..."

"Well-" Toga began, stopping when a ping on someone's phone went off.

It must've been Camie because she had spoken up. "Damn. Himi, that's my pops. We gotta dip," she clicked her tongue as she spoke to Toga. Her nickname for her was Himi, as Midoriya found out a week or so ago.

Camie had grabbed her things and stopped in front of where Midoriya was sitting on the couch. Camie and Yaomomo were only sitting on the couches adjacent to him and Toga had been standing behind the couch where he was sitting at so she could play with his hair.

Camie had looked down at him for a second before she bent down and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, giving him a hug. "Keep us updated. We can hang when you're feeling better, 'kay cutie pie?"

Midoriya laughed a little at her new nickname, already a bit accustomed to them. He hugged her back, "I will. You guys can text me when you're free. I'm not doing anything currently so just drop by whenever." She pulled away and he stood up, wanting to walk her and Toga out of the door. "Make sure you guys grab some of the snacks and stuff too," he reminded them, moving to get some containers to put the sweets he made in. There was no way he could keep the stuff there. He might eat it when he didn't really need to.

Toga, however, tried to block his path.

"You need to go to sleep! Go lay down, we got it," the blonde argued. She went to the kitchen faster than he did and navigated her way around quickly before finding some containers.

"Toga you better bring them back if you're going to borrow them," Yaomomo warned. She found her way over to him while Toga was occupied, trying to get him to at least sit back down on the couch.

"I will, geez!" Toga pouted. She had already started to toss some of the things Midoriya made into a container.

Midoriya looked down at Yaomomo, who was still trying to get him back to the couch. He frowned at her, "I wanted to say bye..." The ravenette sighed before she stopped trying to heard him back to the furniture.

He really did want to say goodbye to them. It sucks that they didn't get to do a whole lot. Midoriya knew that Camie and Toga couldn't stay long in the first place, since Camie told him she had to go to her one of her fathers coworkers' wedding. Toga was tagging along too because she needed a ride(or more so she wanted to keep Camie company because the beige haired girl said the wedding would be boring).

Hopefully they would be able to properly hangout. Maybe when they're done with school if they have time. Or maybe he would have to wait till next week since UA University is an hour drive from his house. Shiketsu is just a little further at an hour and fifteen minutes.

Yaomomo caught his attention again, "Alright, but just be prepared for a-"

"Hug!" Toga interrupted, barreling into Midoriya much like she had done when she first arrived. "Your hugs are always the best, Izuku," she giggled, "You have to promise to give me one every time we each other okay?"

Midoriya hesitated for a second before allowing himself to smile. "Sure," he answered before ruffling her hair. He wasn't sure if he should but he decided to hug her back for once. He felt that she deserved it after what she did to help him. Well he hoped she saw it positively; there was the chance that she wouldn't like it and pull away.

His worries were calmed when Toga made a little noise and leaned into him more, squeezing him tightly. Well, at least he knew what he could do to make her happy.

"Himi!" Camie called near the door, "Sorry to be a drag but we gotta go. See ya, 'Doriya!" She waved and Midoriya returned the gesture when he let go of Toga. Toga seemed to pout at the gesture but a second later her face twisted into a smile quickly.

Well that certainly wasn't good.

The blonde leaned forwards and grabbed his hand and held it to her face, giving the palm of his hand a small kiss, specifically where one of his scars were. She let go soon after, gathering her things and heading for the door, "Bye Zukuuuu~"

And all he could do was stand there with his jaw dropped when the door closed. He turned to Yaomomo and gave her a confused look, gesturing to the space between himself and the door Toga left from.

“You know she has difficulty keeping her actions to herself. If she wants to do something she most certainly will do it,” the ravenette sighed.

“Yeah…I guess so,” Midoriya mumbled.

The silence between them stretched before Yaomomo piped up, “Now sit down on the couch. I need to give you something I was told to deliver to you as soon as possible.”

Midoriya’s interest peaked, forgetting about what happened with Toga in order to look over at her with curiosity. He tilted his head and blinked at her, his embarrassment fading and his exhaustion forgotten for now. “Something…for me? From who?”

“A letter,” she answered when they both sat on the couch, with her digging through her bag. She pulled out the letter as she said but Midoriya noticed a familiar marking on the envelope, one he had received just over two years ago. One with the UA University logo. “Principal Nezu asked me to give it to you when you arrived. Seems like he wanted you to get whatever information was in that letter as soon as possible,” she finished as she held the letter out.

Funny how one letter could turn his life around.

Chapter Text

Midoriya had been pacing back and forth, waiting for the phone call that was, hopefully, coming in soon. He needed to talk to Yaomomo but he would have to wait for her to get out of school first. He text her earlier telling her to call him as soon as she could. He had to reassure her that it wasn't an emergency, just that he needed to talk to her about the letter she had handed him yesterday.

Because well-

Bzzzt. Bzz-

"Hello?" Midoriya answered before the second vibration went off.

"Midoriya? You said you needed-"

"Principal Nezu gave me his email address. He told me to contact him and schedule a day for me and my mom to go visit him. I can't do that! How am I gonna- I can't! The principal of UA University? What would he want with me-"

"Woah woah. Slow down. Principal Nezu wants you to meet up with him?"

"Yeah," Midoriya said, a bit dazed at the information himself.

"What for?" Yaomomo continued.

"I have no idea!" He groaned, plopping himself down on his bed. He tried to ignore the way that the bed protested under his weight the slightest bit. Even though he lost weight he was still heavy. He didn't have the time to dawn on it anyways, because Yaomomo was squealing in his ear.

"Midoriya that's great! If it's Principal Nezu and he's going through all this trouble to get you to meet with him then it has to be something good!" She exclaimed.

Midoriya glanced up to his ceiling and sighed, "I'm not so sure..." Why would something good happen to him? Getting away from his father and out of America was the best thing he could've asked for so why would something else happen to him? He didn't deserve anything more than what he had.

"I think you should go. All you can do is hope for the best, really," she argued, as if her words would convince him. He shouldn't allow himself to be persuaded so easily. And yet, he was. Because he didn't want to disappoint his friends. He didn't want Yaomomo to walk out of his life if he messed something up. He didn't want her to walk out like Kacchan, Eijiro, and Shoto did.

"Okay. I'll see what he wants to talk about."

"Mom, it's okay. You look fine. He's not going to kick us out of his office just because you have one hair that isn't staying down. I mean, look at my hair," Midoriya tried to joke with his mom to calm her down but that seemed to have made the problem worse.

"Right! Let me see your hair- did you brush it? Did you take a shower? Did you- Izuku you have to crouch down you know I can't reach up to your hair. Thank you. Okay so-"

"Mom." He held her by her shoulders and looked at her in the eyes while he was leaning down, "I told you everything is going to be fine. It's just a small talk about school, okay? What's the worst that can happen?"

He didn't really want to dive into the answers of that but he entertained the idea for his mom to calm down. And thankfully it did.

He smiled at her when she did calm down and lifted his hands from her shoulders. He stood up and looked down at the email on his phone.

"Alright, I'm ready," his mother finally said. She looked up at him and gave him a soft smile, "Are you ready to go, Izuku?"

"Ready as I can be," he murmured before they headed out to the car.

"Izuku-! Your jacket!"

"Oh," he turned around, embarrassed that he was about to walk out in the cold with just a thin hoodie. "Right."

"Mom look! That's where the art department is! They have state of the art technology for animation and drawing software and they have a bunch of writers who collaborate with some of the art majors to make illustrated stories like mangas! I heard that they offer internship programs here too!" Midoriya gushed, overwhelmed as soon as he set foot onto the campus.

And perhaps he had gotten a little carried away when he was on campus. There were a couple of people walking around and they looked at him like he was insane. But he couldn't bother to care when he was so excited. Though that was both a good and bad thing. Partially because he had ended up getting him and his mother lost in the huge campus, not knowing where exactly the principal's office was now. It was so much different from the way UA High was structured and laid out and Midoriya found it so confusing.

"Izuku I told you we should've asked for specific directions," his mother lightly scolded.

"I bet I can find the way there! Or...maybe someone who knows the way there," he told her. He managed to lead her around, subconsciously drifting closer and closer to the art building until they were practically there. He was essentially snooping around the area but he didn't pay much mind to it. Well, not until they got caught, anyways.

"Are you a student here?"

Midoriya froze, secretly hoping that the voice was speaking to someone else but he heard the voice only a few feet away.

"Ah well I-" he turned around to face the man but stopped in his tracks. His words were caught in his throat but when he found the ability to speak again all he could do was choke out a whisper, "Mr. Yagi...?"

He ran up to him and gave him a big hug without much warning. He clung onto the man, burying his head in his shoulder and hugging him tightly. He couldn't help the tears that formed in his eyes and the strangled sobs that fell from his mouth. "I missed you, Mr. Yagi. I missed you so much," he warbled.

And the man hugged him back, not saying much other than, "Good to see you again, young Midoriya."

The minutes had passed and Midoriya tried to steady himself as he cried. Their meeting was cut short by someone else's voice.

"Izuku?" His mother called, "Who is this?"

Midoriya sniffled and pulled away, trying to compose himself before he introduced the two to each other. "Mr. Yagi, this is my mother. Mom, this is Mr. Yagi. He owns the comic book store I went to," he stated, wiping his eyes a little.

"Owned," Yagi corrected.

A pit weighed down in Midoriya's stomach and his face contorted to one of worry, "You had to sell it? Was business not going well? Or did you-"

"Business is fine," Yagi cut in, "Actually it's doing very well since I left."

"You left? Why?" Midoriya asked. Yagi loved working there, he was sure of it. From the way that he would watch the little kids squealing about an All Might figurine they found to how happy Yagi was to assist someone in finding something, he knew the man loved his job. Maybe it was retirement? Yagi, admittedly, was getting a bit old. So maybe he wanted to settle down and retire?

Yagi had smiled at him, albeit it seemed a little…sad. His smile, that is. It seemed like it was strained. The man had looked down at himself shortly afterwards, bringing his hand up to clasp the ID hanging from a lanyard. He brought the ID up for Midoriya to see and the greenette gasped a little.

“A professor?” His mother questioned, as if she was trying to piece things together.

Yagi nodded, “But that’s not all. Young Midoriya, I was sure you would’ve heard by now-” heard? Heard what? Is there something big he should know about? Was it bad? “-it’s been out for almost a year or so now, since I started teaching here.-” a year? How was Midoriya supposed to know? He had left Japan for America and his father didn’t let him watch anything news related, not even if that ‘news’ meant checking his friends’ social media profiles. It was all just working out and dieting and stuff like that. “-Do you remember what you were so excited about? One of the reasons you said you wanted to go to UA?”

Midoriya paused, stopping his flurry of thoughts for a moment to consider what the man had asked. “…that I wanted to learn how to make mangas and write stories?”

“Like the author of the All Might comic series?” Yagi ventured.

“Yeah- Yeah! Oh yeah! And I wanted to see and meet him! The author! They said he would be teaching-…here…” he trailed off as his eyes widened in realization. His mouth opened and his jaw dropped, not a word coming out before he managed to sputter, “Mr. Yagi? You- you’re-”

“Yagi Toshinori. The author of the All Might comic series. It’s why I had to quit. Otherwise I would’ve had people swarming my store for days on end,” the old man chuckled.

“I apologize but Izuku we should get going. Our meeting isn’t going to wait on us. It starts soon,” he heard his mom from behind him, with her tugging gently on his arm sleeve.

“Oh,” he looked down at her and then back up to Yagi, trying to hide his frown. “I guess I’ll see you-”

“I could escort you two to your meeting. It’s on the campus, I assume?” Yagi offered.

“Oh! That would be a great help! Izuku got a bit carried away and gravitated towards the art department I suppose,” his mother replied.

“That sounds about right,” Yagi laughed and Midoriya turned his head in embarrassment.

“We’re looking for Principal Nezu’s office,” his mother informed.

Yagi then stepped forwards, “Right this way then.”

And then Midoriya found himself in the Principal’s office. His mother sat next to him while they both sat across from Nezu and Mr. Aizawa, who had been transferred to work at the University instead of the High School. It was nice to have another familiar face in the room and it most certainly was nice making a little bit of small talk and catching up with his former teacher.

Though now the principal had been scavenging through papers and flipping through them with wonder. He hummed every so often and Aizawa was gradually looking a little impatient.

“Right!” Nezu chirped, making Midoriya jolt in his seat a little. “Midoriya, from what I understand you aren’t enrolled in any sort of college or university program, correct?”

“No. No I’m not,” Midoriya fidgeted in his seat.

“And that’s due to certain circumstances during your visit to America, if I recall correctly, right?”Nezu questioned.

“A- Uhm- y-yes,” Midoriya murmured. He hesitated but decided to ask as he glanced down to his hands in his lap, “How did you know?”

“Well,” the principal began, “UA heard of your predicament. I found it odd that you had been accepted to such a prestigious school, told us you were going to attend, and yet there wasn’t a single trace of you. So I did some digging.”

“I apologize but what does his- you know, situation- have to do with anything? What happened to Izuku is, with all due respect, none of your concern,” his mother huffed.

“I’m getting to that part, Mrs. Midoriya,” Nezu mentioned. It wasn’t long before the principal had cleared his throat, “Given this predicament and observing the results of it, I came to a conclusion. Given UA’s facilities, resources, and way of teaching, I feel that Midoriya would still make a wonderful student here.”

Midoriya felt the air leave his chest at those words, his eyes beginning to water as he took in those words.

His eyes shifted to Aizawa once the man started to speak, “UA would be best suited for you and tailored to meet any special needs or help you may need recovering from your injuries. Mentally, physically, and emotionally.”

Nezu nodded in agreement, “You were accepted your first year. Not that your knowledge applies from that year to the current school year but we couldn't waste all that potential, could we?"

Midoriya nearly fell to the ground, from the way he had stationed himself on his chair. He actually did once he managed to, getting on his knees and bowing as much as he could. A loud sob made its way out his throat as he cried to the ground, letting tears fall down his face and ugly cries fell from his lips. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" He choked out another sob before declaring, "I'll work hard, I promise!"

“That’s exactly what we’re looking for,” Nezu mentioned from above him where he was still stationed at his desk. “Welcome to UA University, Midoriya. We’re glad to have you here.”

Chapter Text

Kaminari had been walking, barely paying attention to where he was going. Which is probably why he ended up where he was now. Not that he was complaining. The interaction with that stranger was both pleasant and informative; though he felt a little bad at running into the guy.

"Guys!" He stormed into the class's dorm, seeing a majority of people hanging out in the common room. "You-" he panted, a bit winded from running so fast in the cold, "Hold on- give me a minute...."

"Sure, we have all day to wait on you, Kaminari," Jirou sassed.

"And who did you hear that from, Dunce Face? One of the gossip girls in the lunch room like last time?" Bakugo grumbled, leaned against one of the walls with an apple in one hand and an arm crossed over his chest.

Kaminari pouted at the ash blond, "That was one time!"

"Uh huh, so who did you get the information from then?" Bakugo looked bored and uninterested but Kaminari was about to turn that around.

"From the new person themself," Kaminari declared triumphantly.

"Dudeeee you're joking," Sero began, though he was ultimately silenced by Yaoyorozu when she squealed.

Kaminari's attention immediately went to her because Yaoyorozu had been oddly excited lately. She had also started to leave the dorms more and stay out later on weekends the past couple of weeks. The class was actually very curious as to why she was that way.  Some humored the possibility of her having a boyfriend.

Like there was once where she came back one weekend, a big bag of treats and goodies in her hand. Of course she shared with them with the class and holy shit they were the best things that Kaminari had ever tasted.

But when the class asked her for the bakery that was selling the sweets she said it was a secret. Now Kaminari had to question if she got them from her mysterious boyfriend that she most definitely had.

"Was he tall with fluffy green hair and black eyes?" she asked as if she knew what she was talking about. Which she did. Because that's exactly the guy that Kaminari ran into. Except she didn't mention the fact that he was chubby and soft because that was like the best part. Especially since Kaminari got a little hands on experience when he ran into him.

Unfortunately he couldn't flirt with the guy; his mother- he assumed- was standing right there so Kaminari made quick small talk with the guy, getting enough information to find out the reason he was on campus was because he was transferring to the school. Curious, Kaminari asked the guy what his homeroom class was- that's what the dorms were determined by- and he said it was 2-A.

Which so happened to be Kaminari's dorm.

Bringing his thoughts back to the conversation, he eyed Yaoyorozu a bit curiously, "Yeah.. Why, do you know him?" Was he Yaoyorozu's mystery boyfriend? He can kind of see why; the guy is tall and big and Yaoyorozu is taller than most of the girls in their class and some of the guys(namely Kaminari since he hasn't really hit a major growth spurt since his second year of high school). Yaoyorozu probably wanted a taller boyfriend. And the green haired dude was certainly taller.

Like probably over seven feet tall kind of "taller".

"Ah-" Yaoyorozu scratched the back of her head, "I'm pretty sure it's him but I want to make sure before I say anything."

Kaminari just stood there, his eyebrows furrowed, "Make sure? Pretty sure there aren't any other chubby guys that are like seven feet tall."

Ashido nearly spit out her drink from one of the couches, "Chubby? Seven feet tall??? Momo where have you been hiding this man?"

Everyone watched as her face turned red and she sputtered, "Ah- well! Looks like that's my cue to leave!" She headed out of the room in a second and no one had time to process what happened to properly chase her. Kaminari could probably tease her later about it.

"She definitely has a boyfriend or at least a crush on him," Uraraka sing songed as she rocked back and forth, a  mischievous smile on her face. From there, everyone started to discuss who the mystery boy was, getting most of the details from Kaminari himself.

He was too caught up in his own world to notice Kirishima, Bakugo, and Todoroki leaving.

He is absolutely going to kill this bitch. He doesn't care if he's over Deku or not, they were both dead if they thought it was fine to be all buddy buddy with each other while him and his boyfriends suffered all that time.

His foot stopped the door from closing; the damn door was closing so slowly that he didn’t really need to but did anyways.

Bakugo stormed into the room with his boyfriends in tow, making a beeline for the door off to the side that was designated for Ponytail. Thank fuck the other two losers weren’t here because they would’ve interrupted given all the yelling Bakugo was about to do.

“WHAT THE FUCK, PONYTAIL?”

Said girl in question turned around when they opened her room door, looking like a damn deer in headlights. Good. She should be fucking scared.

“When did he get back to Japan?” Shoto demanded.

“Why do you get to know what he’s been up to? Was he answering your calls the whole time?” Eijiro damn near snarled at her. Bakugo was prepared for her to start crying and he didn’t care if she did.

But all she did was harden her face into a cold stare. “You are not putting the blame on him, are you?”

Bakugo scoffed at her, “Well what the fuck else do you want us to do, Fucktard? He goes and flat out ignores us for a year and all of a fucking sudden he wants to talk?”

And then Ponytail laughed. LAUGHED at them like some sort of maniac instead of a giggly school girl. “Do you really think he would’ve ignored you if he had the choice? Clearly you don’t know anything about him. He poured his heart and soul into you three if you couldn’t tell. He’s always been like that. Even I noticed that from knowing him in such a short amount of time back then. He would’ve given you three the world back then without a doubt but he was just too scared to. He loved you three with that big heart of his.”

Bakugo was fucking done with her bullshit. What does she fucking know about their relationship? She only saw the fucking tip of the iceberg and this fucking ocean is thousands of feet deep. What did she know about them? About Deku and the kind of person he was? She wasn’t there dragging him to her car in the middle of the night while he was all bloody. She wasn’t there when he would be crying. And she most CERTAINLY wasn’t fucking there when Deku broke their hearts and left them without another word.

She didn’t know what he did. All she knows is the him back in high school, the him that was so kind and sweet, the him that Bakugo would’ve fell on his knees for if asked.

But the Deku he knew back then is obviously different from the one now.

And yet some fucking how Shoto still wanted to entertain her oh-so-bold claim.

“Loved…?” Shoto asked. He sounded the slightest bit heartbroken and Bakugo just wanted to sucker punch the shit out of him. They weren’t in love with Deku anymore so why the fuck should they care if he loves them back anymore?

Ponytail was glaring at Bakugo but her attention went to Shoto. “Yes. Loved. I don’t think I would love someone like you three after all of that.” Eijiro looked ready to say something but Ponytail cut him off. “Now if you three would so kindly get out of my room, I have a phone call to make.”

Bakugo was so ready to punch her teeth in but his brain reminded him it wasn’t worth it as he turned to the door without another word. He stomped over to the doorway, almost through it before the ravenette spoke one last time.

“And by the way…”

Bakugo turned to glare at her, seeing that his boyfriends were looking at her from the corner of his eye as well.

“Stay away from him when he comes. For his sake,” Yaoyorozu warned. And then the door was being slammed in their faces as soon as they got out of the door.

She’s fucking dead.

They closed the apartment door behind them and they were a bit stunned for a second. The hour ride back was full of celebration, of course. Midoriya heard his mom talking his ear off about how they need to start preparing for everything because a week wasn’t that long a time to get school stuff ready and to move into the dorms. Not to mention the lively conversation he had with Yaomomo about him going to UA. They talked about when Midoriya would be moving in and stuff like that. Yaomomo had been so excited for him and she said that the rest of the class was excited to see him.

Principal Nezu said that he wanted Midoriya to enter as soon as possible and it was already nearing mid-September.

His mom claimed that they should celebrate and have dinner together. Which made him feel a little nervous. He wasn’t sure if he could down a whole meal in front of his mom. Sure, he had a few fruit cups here and there at the hospital just to please the staff but a whole meal was something completely different. He could barely get the fruit down back then without getting anxious and trying to force himself to throw it up out of habit. He hasn’t been able to eat properly in around a year. And now she was proposing that…?

He hated to let her down but he didn’t want to scare her.

“Can we just watch a movie on the couch instead? Maybe order some takeout…?” At least this way he could get away with entertaining the idea of eating. He would just have to fall asleep before the food arrived.

His mother thankfully agreed before they got settled down on the couch to pick out the movie.

A few scenes had passed and Midoriya was actually enjoying himself. It was nice and peaceful.

It was just like when he was little. When he finally got home from school and caught up on some of his favorite shows. How his parents would swaddle him up in some of the coziest blankets they had while he laughed his head off. He was surprised he remembered it but it was probably because it was one of the only things that brought him happiness throughout his life. The reminder of his past life was often a bittersweet one.

He would feel happy and saddened at the thought of the happy little family he had. The one before dad turned into his father. Before his family turned into a shell of what it was. Before his mom started stressing and stopped coming by the house because she was always busy with work. Before Midoriya had to come home to be greeted with nothing. No one to tell him about his day, even if it was boring and filled with nothing fun other than maybe going to the comic book store to talk to Mr. Yagi.

He must’ve zoned out because his mom had been tapping him and murmuring his name when he came to.

She ran her hand through his hair for a moment, telling him to stay up for a little longer. She decided to make conversation with him to keep him up. Or maybe she just wanted to know about the topic she started with.

“Did you figure out if you wanted a dog?” She asked calmly, bringing a pillow to her lap and patting it so he could rest his head on it. He complied and she continued to rake her hands through his curls.

Midoriya tried to distract himself with the TV but knew he had to answer. “Yeah…I’ll just get the dog…” he didn’t want to but if it was going to make his mom feel better and ease her worries then he’s willing to.

He opened his eyes when he heard a little choked cry and he sat up, going to comfort his mom before she smiled, letting him know it was her happy cry. She sniffled a little when she wiped her eyes with her fist, looking up to him while her eyes were still watering. She offered a wobbly smile, one torn between happy and sad. Most likely because of the reason Midoriya needed the service dog in the first place but overall happy that he was choosing to get help.

And she reached forwards to hug him, “I’m so proud of you, Izuku.”

And then his own tears fell, struck with an overwhelming amount of happiness at the little praise, at her kind words that he hadn’t heard much of in the last year. All he did was hug her tighter, hoping his crying would be drowned out by the TV playing in the background.

Chapter Text

Midoriya felt his head ache but he forced himself to get up. He haphazardly wiped the drool from his face with his hand, only barely acknowledging it was there. Shortly afterwards he reached over to mute the noise of the blaring alarm on his phone, looking at the time and concluding he could spare five more minutes.

Because in all honesty he couldn't sleep last night.

Due to both his worry about what the day would have in store, all he could do was toss and turn, only to end up staring at the ceiling or playing on his phone for half the night. It only figures that he was only able to actually fall asleep seemingly minutes before his alarm went off. He tiredly went and set a five minute timer, dropping his phone off on the side of him before his eyes fell shut again.

"Izuku!"

A gasp left him and he shot upwards into a sitting position. His head whipped back and forth, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He could feel the way his hands started to shake. His gaze finally landed on his mom and he felt his nerves calm.

He- he was fine. He wasn't in America with his father anymore. He was here. He was safe at home. He wasn't going to be dragged to his 'workout session' by his father. No more bruises, no more cuts, no more tears, no more blood...

"Izuku..." he heard his mom call in a hushed voice. His eyes locked with hers and he could see the pool of emotions swirling inside her. The sadness, the regret, and the slight anger, all of it. She shook her head a little, standing up from where she had previously sat at the edge of his bed. "Hurry and get ready. You slept past your alarm but we still have time to get to the school."

At that, Midoriya felt around the bed for his phone, a bit panicked. He quickly got up and found it, seeing the time was later than he had hoped. Sure, maybe his first alarm was earlier than it should have been, but he slept past a reasonable time to get there! At least he had all of his stuff- well most of it-packed into the car and ready to go..but still. UA University was an hour away, compared to UA high which was only a ten minute walk from his house.

He got dressed quickly, wearing something casual given that despite it being a prestigious school, UA University didn't require uniforms. Uniforms in Japan were normally for younger students like in high school or junior high, anyways.

Grabbing all of the things that he felt necessary for going to school- almost forgetting his black contacts and makeup for his freckles but remembered last minute- he made his way to the front door, tugging his shoes on hurriedly. His mom appeared from around the corner, asking if he wanted breakfast, which they didn't have much time for.

"I can just pack them for the way there, then," she concluded when she disappeared around the corner again. Midoriya grimaced at the idea; he's gotten a little better at being able to get down small bits of food but he still felt sick when he tried.

He hated his father for making him that way.

Stepping into the car, Midoriya wanted to ignore the way that it was far too small for him. Both  because of his height from the way that he had to hunch over and his body in general based on how cramped he felt in the passenger's seat; his body was too wide.

And he wanted to cry at that fact. Maybe his father was right to restrict him from eating, to deter him from eating through hurtful words, and to go as far as inflicting physical harm when Hisashi was able to do so freely in their house in America.

Maybe that was why he couldn't bare the thought of eating much. Though at the same time, maybe it was a good thing. Maybe it was good in the fact that he was able to loose weight over the time that he was in America. And it was noticeable too.

A little part of his mind cheered when his mom pointed it out. He knew he was still too fat and that he could- that he should- be smaller and slimmer but... maybe...maybe when he sees Kacchan, Eijiro, and Shoto again..then they would love him again. They would see how much he changed. And maybe he could workout more and get rid of all the fat completely and make it muscle. Maybe then he wouldn't be such an eyesore.

Maybe then he could actually feel like he was good enough for them.

He obviously wasn't good enough for them, not even as a friend. He wasn't good enough to be spared a second glance, to get another chance when he was finally able to call them back. They probably forgot about him. And he couldn't blame them, he would forget himself too if he was them.

A hand made its way on his face and his head turned to follow the direction the hand came from, only to see his mother sitting in the driver's seat with the door open. She was leaning over the middle section so she could wipe the tears from his face that he didn't realize were falling.

Once she finished wiping his tears, she silently placed the packaged breakfast containers in his lap, one for him and one for her. She closed the car door on her side before he had gotten settled down in her seat. The next moment, the car started, and the silence hung heavy in the air.

His mom sighed and looked outside the window closest to her, not looking in Midoriya's direction when she spoke, "I was looking at service dogs.."

Midoriya felt himself tense at those words. She wasn't really serious about this whole thing, was she? He thought that she would mention it and forget about it after doing a little research on it within the first couple days of her mentioning it. Though the way that she said it made Midoriya think she was being serious.

"..and I was talking to Mr. Green again, the nurse from America. He suggested a service dog that could be a good match for you but-..." Midoriya looked to her when she paused, noticing he wasn't able to see her face. "...service dogs usually take a while to get. One to two years. And they cost a lot."

No no no. He didn't want to cause her more money. He didn't want her to waste more time and money on him than she already did. She didn't want her to have to work more just because he had stupid panic attacks or anxiety attacks. He didn't want her to have to do that for him. "We don't have to get one, I'll be fin-"

"No you won't, Izuku!" His mom raised her voice and Midoriya could hear the strain in her voice. "You told me that for years. You told me that and you ended up-... you ended up having all that stuff done to you by that man right under my nose! How am I supposed to know that you're going to be fine? I don't even want you to be an hour away from me. I don't want you going there because I'm so scared that something bad might happen to you again. And you won't even tell me because that's the way that you are. I know they have nice staff but they don't see all that happens. They don't see everything, especially if it's you. You always hide and keep things to yourself," his mom sobbed out, letting her tears fall freely now.

She continued as she tried to wipe away her tears, "At least with a service dog I know you'll be safe. I'll know that you have that dog to go to when you're upset. Because you won't go anywhere near anyone because of what happened." She slammed her fist against the seat behind her, "Dammit, Izuku, I can't even wake you up in the morning, more or less tap you on the arm without you reacting! I hate seeing you like this...." She took a moment to gather herself, "And I know this isn't about me. It isn't about how I feel. I just want you to have something. I want you to have something to turn to without feeling bad. Because people can be so cruel and I want you to be able to find a safe space in something that won't remind you of whatever you went through."

Midoriya felt his own tears well up in his eyes. Seeing his mother this upset was something new to him. She was always sad or angry as of late and he wanted to fix that. He wanted to make her happy again. So if he would have to get a job and balance his schoolwork then be it. Even if he didn't exactly want a service dog, he would get one to ease her worries.

"I can just get a job, to help pay for it and the hospital bills and stuff..." Midoriya spoke with a little wobble in his voice.

His mom wiped her tears with her palm, letting out a wet chuckle, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to yell, sweetheart. This is all just so new to me. All these big changes are happening so fast and it's..a lot." She looked up and shook her head when she smiled, tears still rimming her eyes, "And-..." she laughed, "you don't have to worry about the payment for your service dog. I was talking to Principal Nezu about the service dog and asking if you would be able to have one with you during school hours. And he told me this morning in an email that he found one that would be a perfect match for you. And on behalf of UA, the dog would be paid for in full."

Midoriya's sad tears quickly changed to happy ones as he stared at his mom. That would've been a good thing to start with in the first place but at the same time, his mom was probably dealing with so many conflicting emotions like he was. Something that he didn't even stop and think about. He didn't even think how much this was stressing her out and how upset she really felt. Yet, he felt happy that she wouldn't feel like she would have to work as hard at her job.

"That's great," he smiled at her when he huffed out his own laugh, barely believing what he heard.

His mom nodded while she tried to recollect herself and get the car going so they could make their way to UA. "He said it might take a few weeks but that's better than waiting a year, right?"

Midoriya only nodded at her, head hurting from the crying and all the information he was just given. At least it was good news, though. Maybe that's why he was so happy too. Because for once, he was getting good news. Knowing he was going to be going to UA was already more than he could ever ask for, but knowing that he was getting so much support from not only the school and staff but Yaomomo, Toga, and Camie was just so overwhelming.

Once he and his mother recollected themselves, the car began to move and their trip to UA began. A new chapter in Midoriya’s life. A new chapter without his father. A new chapter where he could pursue the future he wanted and be with his friends. A new chapter where his mom would be happy, where he could make her proud by attending his dream school.

The beginning of a chapter where he was likely to see Kacchan, Eijiro, and Shoto again.

Chapter Text

"Well? Come on, we don't have all day to be waiting around for you."

Kirishima could hear the way that Katsuki's foot was tapping impatiently on the floor. The redhead looked up to see that he was right, but he also saw the way that Shoto was waiting patiently for him, a soft look in his eyes. Kirishima smiled brightly at him in return, making Shoto's eyes widen the slightest bit as he turned to look away.

Kirishima could see a twinge of red blooming on the back of his neck.

When Kirishima managed to slip his shoes on, he clambered over to Shoto, leaning down the slightest bit to give his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek, "You're so cute, Shoto."

Kirishima was looking for a reaction out of Shoto until Katsuki made a huffing noise. And Kirishima smiled, knowing that Katsuki had gotten a little jealous and wanted a kiss as well. Kirishima let out a small airy laugh, stopping it with a small smile. He took a step and leaned in, taking a hand and moving ash blond locks out of the way in order to kiss his forehead.

Katsuki's ears bloomed into a pretty pink color and soon enough the blond was stomping down the hallway, "I said let's go!" Kirishima could tell he was embarrassed but the redhead didn't say anything about it as he tugged on Shoto to follow.

Breakfast was alright; Katsuki suggested that they spend breakfast together, which was nice. Though Kirishima missed whatever exciting conversation Kaminari, Sero, and Ashido were having. Kirishima wanted to ask what it was about, but he was pretty much preoccupied with his boyfriends from breakfast to around the time that home room started.

And that's where Kirishima found out what his friends might have been talking about.

Aizawa was up at the podium at the front of the class. He seemed to glance over a few papers that he stacked on his desk before looking up. "From what I know, you all seem to be aware of the new change in the classroom."

Some people's eyes averted to the new desk that was situated in the front row, an additional column being made just for the additional seat. It was a seat next to Aoyama's.

"And the addition may have raised a few questions about a new student. Yes, there will be a new student attending UA," Aizawa paused for a moment and Kirishima could feel all of his emotions conflicting with each other feel inside his stomach. "Please treat him like you would any other student. Do not try picking fights or treating him poorly. If I hear one word of ill treatment, there will be consequences."

Kirishima felt happy and sick to his stomach all at once. Midoriya was really coming back. He was really going to be here. Though he was different. They were different. This would be a new Midoriya that they were going to deal with and Kirishima isn't sure he can face him just yet.

"He's getting situated in his dorm room at the moment. Kaminari, Shinso, Sero, he will be staying in your dorm."

Oh thank goodness. Kirishima doesn't know what he would've done if he had to dorm with him. Or- maybe not what he would've done but maybe what Katsuki would've done. Because one glance at him told Kirishima that he was fuming. The blond looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel or something.

Kirishima listened as Aizawa told the class Midoriya's name and stuff. Thankfully Kirishima and his boyfriends will be able to mentally prepare themselves; Midoriya was going to be introduced to the class in the afternoon.

Hopefully Katsuki wouldn't kill anyone by then.

"This is fucking ridiculous. Bullshit," Katsuki was ranting as they ate on the rooftop. He claimed that he didn't want to listen to everyone babbling on about Midoriya. Especially Yaoyorozu.

Kirishima didn't like her much anymore. Not after what she said to them. Not after what she did. She didn't even tell them anything about Midoriya. She didn't tell them about what was happening and now, all of a sudden, Midoriya is back and she snaps at them talking about how they should stay away?

They were planning on staying away from him anyways but her just outright saying that pissed Kirishima off.

"Why did he have to come back now? We were just found just fine without him!" Katsuki growled out before shoving a piece of food in his mouth.

Kirishima looked over at Shoto, who looked like he wanted to speak. "Well- we weren't doing so well in the beginning-"

Katsuki nearly choked on his food but Kirishima took over in responding to Shoto. "Shoto... no, we weren't doing fine back then but we're doing better now. Maybe it was a good thing that he left-"

"A good thing? How is him leaving a good thing? You both know how miserable we all were. And still are if you haven't noticed! Katsuki is just too stubborn to get his head out of his ass and realize it! And you just hop onto his bandwagon and agree with him just because he's the oldest," Shoto hissed out. Kirishima was a bit taken aback by his outburst. Shoto never told them any of this before. He never said anything when it came to Midoriya other then the fact that he missed him.

Kirishima sighed, putting a hand over Katsuki's mouth when the blond was done swallowing his food. His eyes leveled with Shoto's, "Look. I know you still miss him. I know we all do. But...he moved on. He doesn't wanna talk to us anymore. He didn't for a whole year. I want to forgive him as much as you do but we have to work on ourselves first before we even consider thinking about him. We deserve to put ourselves first. We deserve to put ourselves first as much as he does. So... as much as I know you don't want to, we're not going to talk to him."

Kirishima took a deep breath before continuing, "Things change. And apparently he's a lot closer to Yaoyorozu than we thought. If she says it's best to stay away from him, then hey, maybe it is."

"He's sure as hell not going to hurt us like he did last time," Katsuki added when Kirishima took his hand off of his mouth.

"I...don't want him to hurt you guys," Shoto murmured.

Kirishima kept his mouth shut, not wanting to keep the conversation going and dampen their moods further. So he picked up the food with his chopsticks and popped it in his mouth.

Todoroki...was conflicted.

His boyfriends obviously wanted to stay away from Izuku. They clearly didn't want anything do do with him but Todoroki felt mostly the opposite. While he did hold some anger towards Izuku, he didn't want to avoid him all of the time. That would be nearly impossible. Maybe they could just take it slow and try to become friends again...?

But then again, Izuku just left them. He wasn't there when they cried over him. He didn't return their phone calls. How hard would it be to answer one phone call? He couldn't be busy 24/7 in America, right? He could've done something to tell them that he was still there for them.

Or...maybe he couldn't.

Todoroki and the rest of the class were now in the classroom, waiting for Aizawa to go get Izu- Midoriya. It wasn't long before he walked through the door behind Aizawa. He was basically towering over their teacher, and Aizawa was fairly tall at six feet. Did...did Midoriya grow more?

He looked..so much different. Different in a way that made Todoroki's stomach churn. He had visible eye bags, which was alarming in itself. Midoriya wore foundation everywhere so the eye bags weren't visible until after he took off his foundation. The foundation that still covered his freckles.

Todoroki took time to notice that he didn't have his glasses anymore, which was confusing to say the least. His eyes wandered to look at Midoriya's eyes, only to notice black colored eyes staring right back at him. Todoroki felt his heart twinge with a mix of emotions and had to avert his eyes.

Aizawa clearing his throat is what caught Todoroki's attention.

"Oh! Um...right-"

His voice sounded the same. So kind and warm. He sounded nervous overall though, reminding Todoroki about when they first met and how jittery Midoriya was back then. He would practically shake in fear...

"-I'm Midoriya Izuku. I-It's a pleasure to meet you all." Todoroki looked up as Midoriya bowed. The dual haired male almost felt his eyes go wide when he noticed it. Midoriya..he's noticeably thinner.

Not that he wasn't chubby anymore but it's obvious that he's lost weight. He isn't as round and fluffy, as Todoroki often found himself describing Midoriya. He's not as chubby. His clothes look looser than Todoroki remembered. Maybe that's because they don't have uniforms at UA University but still, Midoriya obviously lost a significant amount of weight.

The thought left a bitter taste on Todoroki's tongue as he watched Midoriya retreat to his seat.

Todoroki hopes Midoriya isn't doing what he thinks he's doing.

Midoriya wanted to throw up.

One glare from Kacchan and Eijiro told him that they didn't want anything to do with him. They wouldn't even look his way after the first glance towards them. He had a bit more faith that Eijiro would be more forgiving but he was wrong.

Shoto was the only one out of the three that didn't give him an immediate glare, though shortly after meeting his eyes, something in the other's eyes flashed. The next moment, Midoriya noticed Shoto wasn't meeting his gaze either.

He wanted to cry, but he knew he couldn't do that. It would be so pathetic of him to do that on the first day. No one would want to be his friend. No one would even want to approach him other than Yaoyorozu.

Well, he thought so, anyways.

Midoriya was just barely out of class. Somehow he managed to survive the rest of his classes, but that's only because Yaoyorozu would walk him around and drop him off to his afternoon classes. And his afternoon classes also didn't have Eijiro, Shoto, or Kacchan in them, which was both a good and bad thing.

Midoriya wanted to clear his head. He wanted to get rid of the memories of the first day here. Particularly the part where his- still- crushes didn't even want to look his way. Midoriya tried to catch their attention again, particularly when Eijiro looked over to...Kaminari...?..(Midoriya's pretty sure that's his name. It was the same blond guy Midoriya talked to last time he was on campus) and smiled. Midoriya peeked over from behind Kaminari to send Eijiro a wave and a smile but all Eijiro did was drop his smile and look away from Midoriya. Eijiro just focused on Kaminari again and smiled like how he was doing before.

And if Midoriya couldn't get through to Eijiro, then there's probably no way he would get through to the others. So, he just kept to himself the rest of the day, never bothering to socialize with his new classmates.

Well, he didn't, but it seems like his new classmates had other plans.

Midoriya was almost at the dorms, sleep taking a toll on him. He still had a headache from this morning and the fact that he couldn't sleep last night also didn't help his current situation. He and his mom had to wake up early for the trip here. Not to mention the fact that they had to get all of his stuff situated in his dorm room.

Midoriya just wanted to crawl in the bed and cry into his pillow.

“Hey, you, tall dude!”

Though it seemed like that wasn’t happening.

Midoriya wanted to run. He didn’t want to deal with being made fun of today. He didn’t want to get beat up. Even so, he hesitantly turned around.

He looked down to see Kaminari and this guy with black hair approaching. They were both tugging along another guy, one with wild purple hair. The guy with black hair was taller than Kaminari, but he looked to be kind. The guy with the purple hair was tall as well, though a bit taller than the black haired male.

“Hey dude,” the black haired male smiled as he extended a hand, “I’m Sero Hanta, one of your roommates.”

Midoriya hesitantly took his hand and shook it, “Nice to meet you.”

Midoriya’s gaze when to Kaminari when the blond beamed, “I’m Kaminari Denki! I know I didn’t get to introduce myself when we met but uh it’s nice to see you again!” The blond seemed excited when he pushed the purple haired one forward, “and this is Shinso Hi-”

All of a sudden the purple haired male clasped his hand over Kaminari’s mouth. “I can introduce myself,” the purple haired male mentioned irritability. He turned and looked up to Midoriya, “I’m Shinso Hitoshi, your other roommate, the only sane one, might I add.”

“Hey!” Kaminari butted in. He pulled Shinso’s hand off of his face, “Rude!”

“Someone’s gotta tell the truth,” Shinso shrugged. He tried to walk away but Kaminari stopped him with a tug on his shirt.

“Well that’s not telling the truth.”

“Anyways,” Sero interrupted Kaminari, “We were wondering if you wanna hangout with us, maybe we can get to know each other…?”

Midoriya felt guilt start to creep in as he chuckled nervously. He brought a hand up to run at his back, “Um…actually I was going to take a nap…I couldn’t sleep last night and I’m pretty beat…”

Midoriya didn’t expect Shinso to smile. “Maybe we can get along, you seem to know how to spend your time wisely,” Shinso smirked while Kaminari gasped.

“Shinso!” He gasped while pointing at the purple haired male accusingly, “Was that a joke?”

“Shinso doesn’t crack jokes unless he likes the person. So safe to say you’re on his good side,” Sero mentioned to Midoriya.

“And what if it was?” Shinso started walking towards the dorms and Kaminari scurried after him, most likely to poke fun at him based off of Kaminari’s facial expressions. Midoriya just watched them, nearly flinching when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He looked down to see Sero still standing near him, smiling a bit. “I’ll walk with you to the dorm so you can take your nap. And I’ll try to see if I can get Kaminari to pipe down so you can do that. He can get pretty loud.”

Midoriya allowed himself to smile the slightest bit when he nodded.

He never noticed the three pairs of eyes tracking him as he walked with Sero.

Chapter Text

"So what about the new guy? Did you invite him down here? Did you tell him that we wanted to hangout with him?" Yaoyorozu watched as Mina bounded over to Kaminari and Sero, the pink haired girl jumping a little from excitement.

"Ah- well..." Sero began as he scratched the back of his neck, "The guy said he was tired. Something about not being able to sleep. So he's probably gonna take a nap."

"Maybe we can ask him if he wants to hangout when he wakes up though!" Kaminari pipped in. The blond turned to Yaoyorozu, "You wanna come too? He seems more comfortable around you cause you know him, right?"

Yaoyorozu nods but she has a frown on her face as she does so. Kyou- Jiro must've noticed Yaoyorozu's worried look because she could feel the purple haired girl tap on her arm she usually does to get her attention.

"You have something...?" She asked, implying that she wanted to know what Yaoyorozu was thinking about.

Yaoyorozu nodded again, bringing a hand up to her chin, "Midoriya usually never refuses a hangout, even if he is tired."

Uraraka can be heard from one of the couches in the common room, "How is that bad...? Maybe he really is tired."

"Because Midoriya doesn't know how to say no. He would do anything for anyone. He would walk the ends of the Earth for anyone.." Yaoyorozu trained her gaze on a certain three people in the room, "..even if he was dying. Because he's selfless like that. He would do anything for even the biggest jerks, too."

Yaoyorozu almost huffed when she noticed the way that Bakugo rolled his eyes. Her eyes flitted back to Sero and Kaminari, "Do you mind if I go into the dorm room?"

"Nah dude, the room's all yours. Pretty sure Shinso went back to the university building to ask Aizawa something so you should be good," Kaminari answered with his hands in a 'surrender' gesture.

Yaoyorozu thanked them briefly before going to the elevator.

She cracked the door open a bit, the only light in the room being the small sliver that she made when the door open. "Midoriya...?" she whispered into the darkness. She couldn't see much. The room was dim because of the closed curtains; it was a bit duller outside since September rolled around and October was soon approaching. She took a couple seconds to scan the room before she found the bed, noticing a large lump on it and a pair of glossy eyes looking at her.

"Midoriya... oh no no no come here," Yaoyorozu picked up her pace when she walked into the room, making sure to close the door. She didn't have to get a verbal answer to know that Midoriya needed a hug. She sat down on the bed and leaned over partially to give him a little hug. She pulled away shortly though, noticing how she was technically laying on him and the fact that he flinched a little.

"What's wrong? Panic attack? Or is it..." Yaoyorozu trailed off. She wasn't sure if she should or could bring up Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kirishima.

"Yaomomo..."

She could feel her heart tearing at how strained his voice sounded. He sounded so broken and tired. It was so odd to find Midoriya so upset. Sure, she's seen him cry before but never like this where he was full on sobbing. He was usually always so happy back in high school, even when he would have eyebags under his eyes or Yaoyorozu when would notice a bruise on his hand that she didn't see there the day before.

Maybe those should've been the first signs that not everything was okay with Midoriya. Because how exactly did she let the fact that Midoriya was being abused by his father slip right past her? She was usually so keen and observant and yet the only reason why she managed to string everything together was because of that news report. That was when she went over everything that she knew about Midoriya and suddenly she felt like the worst friend for never noticing how much Midoriya was suffering.

Surely Todoroki, Kirishima, and Bakugo don't know, right? Because why would they ignore Midoriya if they knew of his past? Hell, if Yaoyorozu thought about it, maybe Midoriya's father dragged him to America. Maybe his dad was controlling, which wouldn't allow Midoriya to make phone calls or text them all that time. If those three knew that Midoriya was suffering like that and still ignore him the way they do, then Yaoyorozu was about to punch the- excuse her language- living shit out of those three.

Her anger for them was diffused and replaced with sadness when she heard Midoriya talk.

"...Wh-Why do they hate me?"

Yaoyorozu found herself trying to comfort her friend, "Midoriya, they don't hate you-" she tried speaking softly to him but oddly enough it had the complete opposite effect.

Because Midoriya got angry, which was the first time in a long time that she saw him upset like that. "They do!" He yelled, "Do you not have eyes? Did you not see how they were flat out ignoring me? The glares they gave me? You wouldn't know how it feels to have someone hate you. You...you..." Midoriya's breath stuttered before he let out another sob. "I'm sorry," he sniveled, "I'm sorry- I- I didn't mean to say that. Pl-Please don't hate me. I don't want you to-"

Yaoyorozu reached her hand over to comb her hand through his hair, interrupting him effectively, "Midoriya." She watched the green haired male look up at her since he was laying down. It broke Yaoyorozu's heart, with how much Midoriya looked like a kicked puppy. "I'm never going to leave," she continued, "I'll always be here. I'll be here for you like you were there for me. I want to help you like you helped me, making new friends and putting a life I thought I wanted behind me."

Yaoyorozu sat up and adjusted herself where she was sitting on the edge of the bed, "And giving a hug whenever you might need it."

It took a couple seconds, but the next thing she knew, Yaoyorozu had more than an armful of Midoriya to wrap around. Yaoyorozu wanted to comfort him more than anything, which she hoped she was achieving, but she couldn't help when her mind wandered. Because Midoriya was just so big and it was a bit ridiculous. Not only height wise but it seems like he was still very wide. Not that Yaoyorozu minded, she just kind of thought it was baffling how much bigger he was than everyone else.

"So you don't think I'm a monster?" She could barely hear him mumble into her shoulder.

"Of course not," Yaoyorozu uttered, "You're still the sweet, gentle, and kind person I knew from high school." Yaoyorozu could feel the way Midoriya squeezed her a bit at her words.

A few minutes of silence passed as they hugged. She would’ve thought Midoriya fell asleep if not for his little sniffles every once and a while. Yaoyorozu heard a little hiccup come from Midoriya, “Y-Yaomomo…?”

“Hm?” She asked, her hand now on his curls like it had been for a few minutes, running through his hair while her other arm was still wrapped around Midoriya.

“W-Would Toga and Camie be able to visit the campus this weekend? I want to hangout with you and them then…”

Yaoyorozu hesitated, “Uh well…if they visit then it would probably have to be on the girl’s side of the dorms since their dorm room is next door.” Yaoyorozu let her arms go when Midoriya moved away and out of the hug to look at her. He looked a bit confused, which would’ve been cute if not for the dried tears on his face. “Toga kind of…had a few words with those three the weekend after we visited you. Camie got a bit upset too.”

“Oh…” Midoriya looked to the side before looking back to Yaoyorozu. “Can we go to your room for that then?” Midoriya took the time to wipe his eyes and Yaoyorozu could see his foundation smearing.

“Sure,” she answered. “Do you not have anymore of that waterproof foundation that I got you…?” She asked afterwards.

“Ah- no. My father made me through it out, said it made me look…more like a girl…” Midoriya mumbled the last part. Yaoyorozu wasn’t really sure what the last part meant. She didn’t have to ask what Midoriya meant, because he adjusted himself slightly to cover his chest as subtly as he could.

Was…was his father really telling him stuff like that? Was he telling- or did he make comments on Midoriya’s body?

Now Yaoyorozu really wanted to sucker punch this guy. Comments like those were probably why Midoriya’s self esteem was as bad as it was. Combined with the way she saw people treat him in high school, she knew that probably made him feel terrible.

“Midoriya.”

She waited for him to look at her before she assured, “I’ll make sure no one treats you like that anymore, okay? As long as I’m around, you won’t have to hear anything like that, I’ll make sure of it.”

Midoriya’s eyes were glossy when he nodded, a wobbly smile making its way on his face. It made Yaoyorozu smile too when she let out a small laugh. She stood up off of the edge of the bed where she was sitting, looking to the door before looking back to him, “Okay, well, you can take your nap while I go deal with the wolves.”

“Wolves?” Midoriya murmured in question.

“Yeah, a lot of the class wants to meet you. Especially Ashido and Uraraka. I can feel their excitement from a mile away. And some of the others won’t stop talking about you and how you might be. Maybe they’ll calm down tomorrow, that way you can talk to them properly,” Yaoyorozu explained with a little smile. Her classmates were a handful at times but she wouldn’t trade them for the world.

…most of them, anyways.

“But I’m not that tired now,” he insisted. She barely caught the way Midoriya tried to stifle his yawn, but she glanced at Midoriya just in time to catch it.

“Sure you aren’t,” Yaoyorozu chuckled, “Get some sleep, Midoriya. I know you’ve been having a tough time getting used to Japan’s time again, so at least try to get some sleep, okay?”

Midoriya reluctantly nodded and laid down on the bed again. Yaoyorozu noticed the smushed pillow and small blanket, making a small mental note on it. She said her goodbyes and closed the door, left in the common space of Kaminari, Sero, and Shinso’s dorm. None of them seemed to be there, just like Kaminari said. She took a breath before puffing out her chest.

She had a mission. She could get Midoriya some more of the waterproof foundation instead of the cheap ones he usually gets along with some pillows and blankets. Maybe some more stuff depending on what she saw at the store. Maybe some baking stuff? Midoriya said he liked baking. Maybe some drawing materials as well. Yaoyorozu remembered seeing Midoriya sketch a little flower one time and she asked about it. She forgot where the others were at the time but she was really interested in Midoriya’s art.

She just hoped that Midoriya would like whatever she got for him and that it would be enough to cheer him up.

Chapter Text

It was surprisingly calm, the way he woke up.

He didn't wake up to an alarm or his mother calling for him. Nor did he wake up from being plagued by nightmares.

No, he woke up in a way that felt nostalgic somehow. Like one of those naps he would wake up to when he was younger. The ones he would have, ending up with markings on his arms, red and irritated from being smushed into the fabric of the bedsheet, skin warm to the touch. The way his mouth would feel dry and his eyes weren't constantly blinking in order to keep out the bothersome brightness of the sun in the early morning; the afternoon was settled in by the time he would wake up from those naps. Though his eyes were subject to rapid blinking for a different reason- not for the sun-; his eyes were dry from napping with his colored contacts in.

Even so, he smiled. It was peaceful.

His arms found the air, reaching to the ceiling as he stretched. As soon as they lowered, his hands felt around the bed, soon finding what they were looking for as they grasped the phone.

'5:46'

Did he really sleep for that long?

He hummed a little, pocketing his phone in his joggers before swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He stretched his whole body, grunting a little when he heard a crack. He stood up, practically stumbling out of his room when he reached the door. He grasped onto the doorknob, twisting it and pulling it towards himself to open the door.

He stood in the doorway of his room, eyes closing and face scrunching in disapproval of the bright lights that hit him. It was a stark difference- the darkness of his room compared to the well-lit common area of the dorm.

Speaking of the dorms, Midoriya was surprised that they each got their own privacy within the dorms, with them each having their own small room that connected to a slightly bigger common area, with a sink, refrigerator, and microwave.

"Hey Midoriya! D'ja have a good nap?"

He was slightly startled by the noise, and for a quick second his heart rate spiked. Though his nerves calmed when his eyes opened.

It was only Kaminari and Sero.

"Mmhm," was all Midoriya could hum out in response. He wiped his eyes, yawning as he did so. When he opened his eyes again, he looked at the two. "Um..." he hesitated when seeing the stares he was getting from the two of them.

His confusion likely didn't go unnoticed, as the two quickly recovered from their staring. "Oh-! Sorry dude, you're just- you look cute," Sero stumbled, "I mean not cute- well you are but like-"

"We don't know if you would wanna be called cute-" Kaminari tried explaining as well.

Laughter bubbled in Midoriya's chest until it spilled out, a giggling fit starting up. "You guys are funny," Midoriya laughed. A minute passed before he was able to pull himself together, "I was- ha- um- wondering of there was a gym around here or something."

In all honesty Midoriya needed to go to the gym. He hasn't been able to go since he was in America. From staying in the hospital over there to when they came back to Japan, his mom was fretting over him, having him do as little work as possible. And there was no way she would even let him think about even lifting a dumbbell.

Kaminari's face shifted into something akin to a frown. "The gym?" Ashido and the others wanted to know if you wanted to hangout with all of us after you woke up."

"Oh- well- um- I'm pretty sure everyone is busy and it's getting kind of late-" Midoriya attempted to sway them.

"Kind of late?" Sero parroted, "It's never too late to have a good time!" Sero's hand had slammed down on the table him and Kaminari were sitting at. "I think you got it the other way around. It's too late to go to the-"

"Will you two pea brains can it? Some people are still trying to take a nap."

Midoriya turned to where he heard the sound of a door opening along with the low, groggy sounding voice. Tussled purple hair stuck out every which way, along with tired purple eyes glaring in Kaminari and Sero's direction.

"Oh Shinso- I'm sorry for-" Midoriya began his apology but it was swiftly interrupted.

"You don't need to apologize for them," Shinso informed, stretching his arms with a yawn. Shortly after, Shinso made a 'come here' gesture with his hand, leaving Midoriya confused. "You said you wanted to know where the gym was at, right?"

"O-Oh! I didn't know- you want to go right now? I don't want to rush you or anything," Midoriya insisted.

Shinso let out a small breathy chuckle, "Midoriya if it wasn't fine then I wouldn't ask you. Now come on."

"So what did you wanna come here for anyways? To work out, I understand but I kind of agree with the loudmouths. Isn't it a bit late for the gym?" Shinso questioned.

All Midoriya could answer with was a shrug, "To burn off some steam I guess." It was a good thing to know that Midoriya wouldn't have to pay for a gym membership. Apparently the dorms had an area for a gym, complete with fancy equipment and a huge array of machines to use.

"Steam? You have something on your mind?" Shinso questioned.

Midoriya went to load some of the weights onto a bar. "Well," he began, pausing a second to take a look at the different weight sizes, "I guess you could say that." Shinso didn't say much after that. Once Midoriya loaded a decent amount of barbells onto the bar, he went ahead to step inside the hexagon shaped thing, the odd bar made for deadlifts. "Oh- um," he looked up to Shinso, "You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"I'm fine," the purple haired male waved off, "Isn't that a bit heavy? Maybe you should take some weights off first."

Midoriya glanced down at the bar, shaking his head, "I don't think so. We're about to find out." Midoriya took a second to hop out of the bar, spotting the white powder he liked to use on his hands. He didn't know exactly what it did but he remembered seeing other people in the gym use it before lifting weights.

He held his breath when he stepped back in and gripped the bar, making sure his hands were in the middle as not to have the bar be wobbly when he lifted it up.

But lifting it up was far easier than he thought it was going to be. "Oh..." he looked up at Shinso when the purple haired male said that, his mouth open as Midoriya just stood there holding the bar up like it weighed nothing.

"I guess I can do trap-bar jumps...?" Midoriya murmured, "It's light enough to do that, no?"

Shinso stood awkwardly, "Um honestly I don't know anything about working out. Don't know my way around the gym like Sato or Shouji do. Don't even ask about the three Musketeers. Kirishima practically begs one of his boyfriends to workout with him just so he has someone to workout with."

Midoriya doesn't comment on the latter but rather asks about the first part, "You don't know how to use the machines?"

Shinso shook his head.

"I can teach you if you want to know," Midoriya offered lightly.

Shinso looked up from where his gaze was trained on the floor. A small smile formed on his face, "Sure. I suppose it would be good to learn from a pro like yourself."

The green haired male sputtered, "Me? I'm no pro- I mean I never- I just learned a few things over the years, that's all."

"Like how to pick up as many weights as All Might himself?" Shinso snickered.

"You know All Might?" Midoriya's eyes had a little more light in them. Not that they weren't bright before; he was glad that Shinso was talking to him. The way that Sero and Kaminari described him made it seem like he was difficult to befriend, but it looked like that wasn't the case at all.

"Yeah, I read a couple of those comic books here and there. Picked them up again around last year when I came here and met Mr. Yagi. I wanted to see his work," Shinso informed.

"Oh I love Mr. Yagi's work! Some of his mini comics are good as well- you should check them out- his style is so distinctive but it it's so gorgeous! And the way he inks his work is like magic! Figuring out how to fill in the negative space and how he depicts movement through a motionless page always baffles me! And Mr. Yagi himself is so kind-..."

Yaoyorozu entered the dorms, bags of items in her arms as she looked around the common room. Not seeing Midoriya, she went up to Midoriya's room, only to find he wasn't there. "He went to the gym on the first floor with Shinso," Kaminari informed her.

Yaoyorozu rushed down with the bags at hand. Mrs. Midoriya asked if she could watch over Midoriya. She also told Yaoyorozu that Midoriya wasn't supposed to be doing any heavy activity or nothing crazy that might cause stress. Which, apparently Midoriya was trying to do the exact opposite.

Just as she was going to walk into the gym to scold Midoriya, she heard...laughing? She stayed quiet and stood near the entryway.

"Shinsoooo! Haha- stop! My side hurts.”

Yaoyorozu wanted to peak around the corner. She knew it as Midoriya’s voice but she did not recognize it. The sound of upbeat laughter, one so genuine from him was a noise she never heard from the green haired male. The thought made her sad for a second, realizing that she had done a terrible job of being Midoriya’s friend thus far. This is one of the first times she’s ever heard him laugh.

All other times she’s seen more negative emotions- fear, anger, sadness, grief, hopelessness- and she’s now finding that there is a whole other side of Midoriya she has yet to explore. She’d known there were spaces which she hadn’t ventured, though those places were too personal- such as the situation with Midoriya’s father and the whole thing that happened in America. What she didn’t know- or rather didn’t realize- was that there was a more positive side of her friend she had yet to explore. This more radiant, bright side of her friend she’s only observed at a distance for a majority of the time, the source of his happiness never being her.

But rather the people who now have a burning hatred for him.

A low whisper caused her to stop from peeping, eyes finally taking note of the fact that she wasn’t alone in her spying. She had company.

Looking up, she saw Mina, all bright and excited along with Uraraka. “His laughs are so adorable! He’s so adorable,” Mina gushed quietly.

Meanwhile Uraraka pointed an accusatory finger at her, “Why have you been keeping this angel away from us for so long? He’s like- perfect!”

“Well-” Yaoyorozu began, shifting the bags in her hands, “His absence from being at school isn’t my situation to speak on. If he wants to share about it then I don’t mind. I wouldn’t break his trust. He trusts me with that information.”

Uraraka and Mina waiver, taking the claims into consideration before nodding their heads understandingly.

Yaoyorozu wished it was that easy to convince the other three.

“I’m gonna go yell at him. If you’ll excuse me-”
Yaoyorozu barely had the round the corner before she made herself known in the entrance of the gym. The bags in her hands rustled and that must’ve caught the attention of the other two, as they turned over to her. “Midoriya Izuku! You know what your mother said about lifting weights!”

And boy was she going to tell his ear off .

Chapter Text

"She said not to do anything stressful, Yaomomo. Working out helps me relieve stress," Midoriya pointed out. Even so, the black haired girl never wavered as she led him back to his room. Shinso didn't bother tagging along because Ashido and Uraraka...? Midoriya thinks, took him to talk about something. He wasn't sure what it was but Midoriya supposed it wasn't his business.

"Not mentally," Yaomomo countered, "But it is putting a physical stress on your body." Midoriya was glad to have her around, he really was, but surely lifting a couple of weights shouldn't be an issue, right? Yaomomo turned to him, as if she was able to read his mind. "Midoriya. Not after you just got back from the hospita-"

Midoriya cut her off, "Yaomomo!" he hissed. He was slightly shocked at his own outburst, pausing before he continued in a hushed voice, "I don't want anyone to know about that..."

"What happens when you have another panic attack and I'm not there?" Yaomomo reasoned, "I've been looking up ways to navigate through one but what happens if someone gets panicked themselves seeing you like that?"

"They won't," Midoriya reassured, "...they won't find out."

"They're going to find out when you bring in that service dog-"

"Yaoyorozu," he warned, "can we please not continue this here? We're almost there." He waited a moment for her response, but she kept quiet in understanding of his request. Midoriya's lips paused a moment, his legs still moving in line with hers as they walked to the elevator. He looked around, trying to conjure up a conversation as not to have the tension he created be longer in the air than it had to. His ears caught the sound of plastic bags clashing together. So his eyes darted downwards to see the handfuls of bags Yaomomo had in her hands. "...Do you need help with those...?" he asked, his hands itching to help in someway.

"No, I've got it,"Yaomomo smiled, "I have a couple of surprises for you."

He looked at Yaomomo for a brief second, a bit shocked at her kindness.

"Yaomomo you didn't have to..." he murmured.

"I know that, goofball. I wanted to get you some stuff because you deserve to get things, even if it's out of nowhere for seemingly no reason. You deserve more than you know, Midoriya." And Yaomomo left it at that when she clicked Midoriya's floor number on the elevator.

Midoriya just stayed silent as well, starting to get lost in his own little bubble. He still wasn't entirely back to the idea that everyone was being so nice to him now. Not just his classmates, (his mind reminded him of instances where he was left in the middle school cafeteria with milk and food spilled all over himself, among other terrible instances) but also people in general. His father bashed these ideas into his mind that made Midoriya believe that maybe he did deserved to be treated the way the way that he did by his father. That maybe he did deserve all of the beatings he went through.

Not the beatings like at home, Midoriya figured out right away that without his mother around, sober beatings were far worse than the ones back at home with his father drunk out of his mind. If Midoriya couldn't get himself to do one more pull-up? Punched. No more push-ups, sit-ups, or mountain climbers? Kicked. If he couldn't go for another set? Well, his father would take him to "practice his boxing skills".

Except, it wasn't boxing. Not when your opponent has a dagger in their hand that you have to dodge instead of a gloved fist. And even then, Midoriya could barely bring himself to dodge the hits very well. And in those moments, Midoriya would think about why his father would do such a thing to his son, only for him to come up with the same conclusion every time.

His father was angry, devastated, and disgusted by him. Hisashi probably wanted a son he could be proud of, only to be met with a gross, pudgy-faced eight year-old all those years ago. How disappointed must he have been to return from America again, years later, to find a fucking fat slob like Midoriya as his son?

Useless. Useless. Usele-

On the way out of the elevator- Midoriya barely registered as it opened, something- rather someone- bumped into him and caught his attention.

Blue eyes framed with glasses caught Midoriya's attention when he looked at the other person's face. His eyes were square-shaped and sharp, similar to his glasses and- well- the rest of him as well. Midoriya didn't register the fact that the guy was leaning against him, his arms sticking out awkwardly on either side of Midoriya. The green haired male steadied the other guy, holding him by his waist. It seemed to take a second for the guy to process the situation; he pulled away from wssMidoriya with a quick jerk of his body.

Midoriya opened his mouth to say something to the guy, only to see him bow stiffly, holding his hands at his sides. "I-I apologize for my carelessness!" the guy was almost shouting from how loud he was. Midoriya moved to walk in the middle of the elevator's entryway, putting his body against the doorway to make sure it didn't close.

"Oh," the green haired male began, reaching forward a little to put a hand on the guy's shoulder, "That's okay, it was just an accident...uhmmm...," Midoriya trailed off, unable to put a name to the face.

Just as quickly as he bowed down, the guy stood upright again, adjusting his glasses with one hand and making chopping motions with the other, "Iida Tenya. It wasn't my intention to leave such a bad first impression, but it is nice to formally meet you, Midoriya."

"Iida, loosen up a bit, Midoriya doesn't bite," Yaomomo chuckled from off to the side. Midoriya couldn't help but notice how Iida's face burned red.

"It's okay, I promise," Midoriya wanted to reassure the embarrassed male, "I'm fine, it's not like you-"

"Oh! My apologies, are you alright? I suppose I was in a rush to get into the elevator-"

"Rush? What for?" Yaomomo asked. Midoriya guessed she was trying to distract Iida.

"My trouble senses are tingling," Iida supplied.

The statement made Midoriya crack a little smile. He turned to Yaomomo to assess her reactio, seeing her smiling a little as well. "Who is it this time?" She asked, readjusting the bags in her hands.

"Kaminari and Sero," Iida sighed.

"Them?" Midoriya questioned, "They're my roommates." Midoriya let a few seconds pass before he offered, "We we're going back to my room now. Would you want to come with?" Iida responded with a small "yes" before they all took the elevator the rest of the way up to Midoriya's floor.

"Shinsooooooo you have to tell us what happened,” Uraraka whined as she tugged his arm, “You can’t hog him all to yourself forever. He’s too adorable for just one person.”

Shinso, in all honesty, didn’t know how he ended up in this situation, with Ashido and Uraraka interrogating him. Actually, he did know. He was stuck there just because he decided to play nice guy for once and bring Midoriya down to the gym area.

The only reason he did was because of Midoriya’s appearance, first of all. Second all it was because he knew Midoriya was his roommate. If he wanted things to work out then he would have to start now.

Though his appearance…Midoriya did look intimidating at first glance, tall- tall was an understatement- and wide made Shinso pause for a second when the guy walked into the classroom. Shinso had to figure out what type of person Midoriya was. Because if he was anything like Bakugo or Mineta, Shinso might have to request a room change.

Though, when studying his body language and expressions, Shinso was able to piece together that Midoriya was shy and timid really quickly. He couldn’t really derive something from what Kaminari said about Midoriya the first time before today; Kaminari was friends with Bakugo, after all. Though Shinso has to admit that this time, Kaminari did make a good choice in picking his friends.

Not that Shinso necessarily hated Bakugo- the guy was tolerable sometimes- the blond’s fiery and arrogant attitude just irked Shinso. The guy always thought he was better than everyone. Which Shinso will say that his attitude has improved over the past year, but the guy always still had some anger issues that Shinso would rather not waste his time with.

But with Midoriya, Shinso is actually kind of glad to have him in the dorms. The guy already seems to have Sero and Kaminari at the tips of his fingers so hopefully now those two will be more easy to manage. Shinso almost couldn’t believe how quiet they were when Midoriya was taking a nap. It was like Midoriya’s request cast a spell on them where they couldn’t disobey him. Well, Shinso guessed it was reasonable; Midoriya was very charming. Which was probably why Shinso even dragged him down to the gym, anyways.

Now, he was paying the price for leaving the comfort of his room.

“Tell us tell us tell us,” Ashido chanted. She took a moment to flip down on the couch, readjusting herself to face Shinso, “Did you find out anything interesting about him?”

“Well I know that he works out and that he’s really strong. But you two probably already know that from your little spying session.”

“Hey! We were just- uh- curious!” Uraraka defended weakly.

“Stalkers.” Shinso fired back. He thought back to Ashido’s question, considering it for a few moments. “He has a very good connection with Yaoyorozu,” Shinso stated aloud. That he knew was obvious but little pieces of a puzzle were starting to form together. He would just have to test to see if his theory was right by paying closer attention to Midoriya. Because Shinso has a feeling that there’s more to him than he’s letting on.

“Yeah, we know, but she won’t let us go anywhere near him,” Uraraka answered, bringing Shinso back to the conversation.

“Yet,” Ashido grinned.

“Well maybe that’s a good thing,” Shinso rolled his eyes, “He doesn’t need to be overwhelmed right away by too many crazies at once. Sero and Kaminari are enough for one day.”

Uraraka looked ready to give her rebuttal but Iida walked into the room, his glasses the tiniest bit off-center from his face. That was something that caught all of their attention, because Iida was usually so put together that even something as minuscule as the way that his glasses were positioned on his face could be constantly fixed.

“Someone causing trouble again?” Ashido joked.

Iida half nodded, “I thought Kaminari and Sero were up to no good but…they were cleaning up their dorm room…?”

“WHAT?” Uraraka and Ashido shouted at the same time Tokoyami, who was also in the common room said,

“There has been an odd disturbance in the universe.”

Everyone else in the common room, namely Todoroki and Asu- Tsuyu, Shinso is still getting used to calling her, looked up in curiosity.

“Well did you ask why? There had to be a reason, ribbit,” Tsuyu pipped up.

Shinso stayed quiet, having an idea of why they did that, but he wanted to see what Iida would say first.

“No- though they were arguing over…something- from what we could hear through the door, but as soon as we walked in, they simply stopped and acted as if it never happened,” Iida explained, stress seeping into his voice.

“We?” Todoroki asked. He seemed awfully curious compared to how he’s been acting lately. Shinso took note that the whole trio has been…odd.. as of late. Especially after that whole argument with Camie and Toga.

Iida nodded, finally taking his glasses off and wiping them off before setting them carefully on his face. “Yaoyorozu, Midoriya, and I-”

“You talked to Midoriya?”

Shinso fixed his gaze on Todoroki. The way that he spoke just now came off as a bit aggressive, something out of character for the Todoroki that he knew now. “Earlyroki”, as Sero calls him, was a completely different story. That also brought up the fact that Todoroki interrupted Iida- another thing that Todoroki never normally did to anyone.

“Yes,” Iida answered, “Though I made a terrible first impression. In my carelessness I ran into him. I’m thankful that he was very understanding of the situation. He is very kind.”

“Yeah,” Shinso agreed.

Iida turned to him, speaking over Uraraka and Ashido’s excited murmurs, “You spoke with him, Shinso?”

“Yep,” Shinso answered, standing up and stretching. He wanted to take advantage of the fact that Iida was here; the girls would hold him hostage until he gave them answers, otherwise. “Kaminari and Sero did too, which is why they’re doing all that stuff. They wanna impress him.”

“Impress him? Why?” Todoroki pushed for answers.

“Because it looks to me like Sero is trying to make a move and Kaminari is finally having his bisexual awakening,” was all Shinso offered, along with a shrug.

“Wah- making a move? Mina we need to do something,” Uraraka’s voice was fading a little as Shinso started to walk to the elevator to retreat to his room.

“Movie night in the dorms on Friday!” Ashido declared.

Shinso winced. Well, there goes his Friday night. Because knowing those two, Shinso would probably be dragged down to the common room if he had to be.

Yippie.

Chapter Text

"Ayyy Midoriya!"

He turned his head at the call of his name, albeit he was a bit hesitant in doing so. Maybe people were trying to catch his attention, leading him to put a false sense of trust into them, only for those people to stab him in the back when they dragged him behind the school and-

His attention was snagged when something tapped his shoulder. Or tried to. The person's fingers only touched the upper part of his back.

Midoriya hesitantly looked to find yellow eyes staring at him for a second, the lips of the other curving up into a smile, "It's your first full day. So as your roommates-" Kaminari gestured to Sero who was just catching up, "-We wanna make sure you have fun. All day. Sooooo how about we head to the cafeteria and you can sit with us? Unless you wanna go out to the benches at the park and eat there? I'm sure Ashido, Kirishima, Todoroki, and Jiro won't mind, may take Shinso and Bakugo some convincing though."

"A-Ah..." Midoriya stuttered. There's no way he could let these two drag him along to their table. Especially if Eijiro, Shoto, and Kacchan were there. "Um I was actually gonna sit with Yaomomo-"

"Yep! I was gonna introduce him to ah- Uraraka and Tsu!" Midoriya was actually glad that she managed to jump into the conversation at the right time. It made him feel relieved. Not because he felt unsafe around these two but he didn't really want to say no to them. He would've felt bad.

"Well we can sit with you guys then! Where do you guys wanna eat?" Kaminari answered.

"Well I uh-" Midoriya began, though he stopped himself when noticing that Yaomomo opened her mouth to say something.

"...We can eat outside..?" She suggested, "I mean I can tell Uraraka, Tsu, and the others to bring their lunches outside. I know a nice park nearby that we can all walk to! And I'm sure them or Kaminari and Sero won't mind going out, right?"

"No, definitely don't mind. If it's what Midoriya wants to do then it's fine by me," Sero grinned.

"Yeah and it's not too bad today either," Kaminari added with a thumbs up.

"You can do that?" Midoriya questioned, "Eat your lunch off campus?"

"Uh yeah dude...did your old college not do that...?" Kaminari asked back. The blond seemed to readjust his backpack as he spoke.

"Uhm...I did..online schooling last year," Midoriya mumbled.

It looked like Yaomomo noticed his discomfort of talking about last year, so she quickly interrupted, suggesting that they make their way to the lunch room to get a bit of food and the others so they could head over to the park.

Which led Midoriya to sitting down on a park bench, eating with a lot of people he didn't know.

"Sorry you couldn't meet Kirishima, Todoroki, and Bakugo. They apparently wanted to eat somewhere else today," Sero mentioned with a small eye roll.

"Probably kissing and stuff," Kaminari mentioned with a shrug.

"They're all dating," someone whispered near Midoriya. Though it wasn't really a whisper, it was quite loud but perhaps the comment was meant to be heard. He looked over and across the table to see a pretty girl with pink hair and yellow eyes. When his eyes landed on her she smiled really wide and equaled a little, catching Midoriya off guard. His eyes widened the slightest bit as she squeezed her hands into fists, "You're just so cute!"

Midoriya was taken aback by the comment and blinked rapidly as if to rid the words from the air. He checked behind him as well, checking to see if there was anyone behind him, only to find nothing but the green trees that had yet to change as August was coming to an end.

"Me...?" He asked hesitantly.

He noticeably sat up straighter when he heard a giggling noise behind him, the noise approaching the table as it continued. He looked to find a brunette with round brown eyes smiling at him, accompanied by a slightly shorter girl with long, dark green hair and large oval shaped eyes.

The brunette spoke up, "Yeah! Of course you, silly!" Midoriya watched as she set her tray down, sitting across from Iida while the green haired girl that was walking with her sat next to her. Yaomomo was sitting next to Midoriya, Shinso, Kaminari, and Sero across from him along with the pink haired girl. Next to Yaoyorozu was a purple haired girl who casually introduced herself as Jiro to him. She was really nice and laid back. Next to her was now the green haired girl and the brunette. Across from them and next to the pink haired girl was Iida.

Midoriya watched both of the girls that had just arrived walk over to him when they set their lunches down.

The brown haired girl held her hand out with a smile, "Uraraka Ochako!"

"Midoriya Izuku," he blurted on instinct as he shook her hand. "I mean-!" He retracted his hand and covered his face in embarrassment, "You already know that why did I introduce myself again but at the same time would it be rude not to because I know that he whole class knows my name but wouldn't it be awkward if I didn't say anything but-"

A hand on his shoulder grounded him again, Yaomomo bringing him out of his muttering session. "Midoriya, it's fine," she reassured.

"Um.. right," he pulled his hands off his face and looked to the other girl.

"I'm Asui Tsuyu. But you can call me Tsu," the green haired girl introduced herself.

"Hello," Midoriya murmured, still trying to recover from his embarrassment.

"And I'm Ashido Mina! Nice to meet you, Midoriya!" His gaze panned over to see a big smile on the pink haired girl's face.

Midoriya nodded and made himself give her a small smile in return.

Thanks to Yaomomo's help and encouragement, Midoriya could proudly say that he made a friend today. Well, more than one friend- he made...four new friends...? Yeah! He made four new friends today. Nice friends.

The thought made him a little giddy as he finished brushing his teeth, heading to his room in order to get into his bed for the night.

His mind raced, never slowing down even as he laid down in bed. He was supposed to be asleep already but his excitement never seemed to die down. He thought of how nice his new friends and roommates were.

He picked up fairly fast that Iida was really caring towards his friends. Not that Midoriya didn't notice beforehand when he met him yesterday, but today confirmed it when Iida scolded Shinso and Urarana their sleep schedules or explained a math problem to Ashido. He even pointed out that Midoriya should eat a little more. Though Midoriya avoided doing so, giving the excuse that he had a big breakfast.

Uraraka was nice. She was kind and had a bubbly personality. She would explain things enthusiastically and would always talk with a wide smile on her face.  She seemed to be closer to Iida and Asui-..Tsu, Midoriya almost forgot to call her. Uraraka looked more comfortable speaking to them compared to everyone else. Midoriya picked that up when the brunette started playfully arguing back with Iida about her sleep schedule.

Ashido was similar, though she had more of a...how should he phrase it. She had more of a personality like Sero and Kaminari's as opposed to Uraraka having one that closer matched As- Tsu and Iida in regards to how outgoing she was. She was more...chaotic? But in a fun way, Midoriya would say.

Jiro was laid back and nice to talk to. She would make a comment here and there, sometimes to poke fun at Kaminari and Sero or just to give a small amount of input. She didn't seem all that fond of talking much, which is why Midoriya was happy when she decided to talk to him.

Asui, or Tsu, was calm and collected. Midoriya noticed how she would just idly listen to the conversations around her, only speaking up when she wanted to give our her own opinion in the conversation or wanted to point out something she had on her mind. Midoriya noticed she wasn't hesitant about speaking her mind, with that being evident when she bluntly asked Midoriya why he was at UA University.

Midoriya was a bit confused at the question and expressed it, asking what she meant by that. To which she pointed out that UA never allowed transfer students to apply, more or less accept anyone but incoming first years.

Yaomomo cut the question off, saying that it was a topic Midoriya didn't want to discuss at the moment. Which was true, and he was glad that she had said so because he wouldn't have known how to phrase his words to express that he was uncomfortable with talking about that stuff for now.

Lunch was going fine, but on their way back to the building, Midoriya's gaze caught someone else's across the campus.

Kacchan, Shoto, and Eijiro were all walking together and Midoriya's eyes caught Eijiro's. There was almost a hint of something soft yet sad about his gaze, though whatever it was, it quickly hardened into a glare. And to his horror, Kacchan and Shoto looked over as well, Kacchan glaring as well but all Shoto did was look at him and turn his head away.

And that's what dampened Midoriya's mood, going from buzzing with excitement and unable to sleep to rolling over on his side and choking back tears.

Why couldn't things be the way they used to be? He missed hanging out with them. He missed being with them and seeing them happy. He missed Kacchan's sarcasm, Eijiro's sunshine smiles, and Shoto's words of reassurance. As much as he hated his body, he missed being able to give and get hugs from them. He missed eating lunch with them and having those study sessions with them. He missed sitting on the rooftop and talking about whatever came to their minds.

But of course Midoriya had to go and screw it all up. Why couldn't he do anything? Why couldn't he fight back against his father? Why did he always feel so powerless?

He was nothing special. Maybe those three finally realized that. He's too...broken. They tried to help and fix him before all of this. They tried to fix the him that was only dented and cracked. But now he was shattered. Broken into the tiniest pieces, strewn across the ground. And to this day Midoriya was still trying to pick up the pieces. His mother tried to help, though there were some pieces even she couldn't see.

Were those three tired of helping him? Did they realize that he was far too gone to be repaired again? He couldn't blame them. Knowing himself, it was likely that those shattered pieces will never find each other to make Midoriya whole again. Not as long as he couldn't find them.

Because as far as he knew, Kacchan, Eijiro, and Shoto held onto some of those shards when he left them behind. They had some of the pieces his mother couldn't help place back in his broken heart and mind.

And Midoriya wasn't sure if he could heal if they still had those missing pieces of him.

Chapter Text

Bakugo felt his heart pounding in his chest. He looked over himself in the mirror once, twice, three times before a hand tapped his shoulder. He whirled around to see who it was, Eijiro looking at him with a nervous smile.

"Come on," he ushered, "Just like we planned."

Bakugo took a deep breath and nodded, looking over to see Shoto walking up to them and nodding.

The three of them were dressed in semi-formal attire, though not too fancy. They didn't want to go too overboard but at the same time, they knew they had to make everything special.

They had a few moments with each other before they turned to leave their dorm room. Bakugo was glad that they got lucky enough with where their room was at in the building; it was the one closest to the roof. Somehow, Shoto figured out how to gain access to the dorm's roof.

Bakugo watched Shoto maneuver the lock to the door that heads up to the roof, the dual haired male huffing a little in approval when the thing clicked open. Bakugo felt a weight on him as he moved up the steps, the anxiety welling inside him and making him feel heavy. His palms sweated when they reached the top, the autumn breeze hitting him and his boyfriends. It helped Bakugo calm down the slightest bit before he turned to the pile of stuff that they had left on the roof. They would have to get started on setting everything up and they would have to do so quickly.

Time passed in a blur, and soon enough Bakugo turned to see a figure approaching the setup that he and his boyfriends prepared. Bakugo felt ecstatic when seeing a familiar head of green hair. He'd expected a smile to be on his face, but Deku's face looked void of any sort of happiness. In fact, it was the opposite; Deku looked pissed off.

Some of his memories must've been murky because Bakugo didn't remember much other than Deku finally standing in front of them, in the middle of some angry speech.

"-think that you three can just- just treat me like I'm nothing and then all of a sudden you want to be the nice, sweet guys I knew from before?" Deku's chest heaved a little from letting all of his anger out, face red and small tears falling down his face. His eyebrows were furrowed and he grit his teeth. It was a look Bakugo never wished to see on Deku's face. He looked so heartbroken. "I don't wanna do this! You guys just threw me away! I know leaving so suddenly was...It wasn't my fault. And I tried. I wanted to be your friend again but-.."

Deku sobbed, a broken cry escaping his mouth with a few hiccups.

Bakugo could feel his heart crumbling, "Deku..." he reached a hand out to touch his shoulder. Can't they just talk it out over the little picnic they set up?

All of a sudden Deku's eyes were on him, his hand was slapped away, and a finger was to his chest, pushing him back, "You think you can talk? You're so selfish. So rude. So stupid. I never want to see you again. I don't even know why I loved you or them." Bakugo could hear the taller male's voice cracking when he let his finger release the pressure off Bakugo's chest. "I should've known you guys didn't love me, either. I should've known that I was just some stupid fling. Because now you never want to talk to me! And then all of a sudden you change your mind? Are you bored again? Need something to spice up your life?"

"It's not like that-" Shoto tried.

Deku shook his head and wiped his tears with his sleeve. He glared at them when he was done, "No. I'm done. I'm done with this, done with you all."

Deku turned to leave but Bakugo felt the need to chase after him. He felt as if he was running in slow motion and soon enough Midoriya faded away along with the rest of the scenery around him. Bakugo looked below himself to see a dark void starting to swallow him up. His body felt unbearably heavy. He was falling.

Bakugo wanted to scream, to speak and shout for someone, anyone, but his voice didn't seem to want to come out.

"Who would want to be with an asshole like him?"

Bakugo looked about, trying to look for the source of the echoing voice but only saw black and red.

"He seems so heartless, so cruel."

His breathing quickened.

"You're not good enough for him. You can barely take care of your other two boyfriends, why pull him in and make him deal with your sorry ass too? Deku deserves better. Eijiro and Shoto do too."

His head hurt.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm sorry. I love you guys but I can't..."

His heart hurt. That was the same thing Deku said before he left them. The voice sounded like Deku's.

"Goodbye, Kacchan."

Bakugo jolted awake. His breaths were heavy and he felt sweat collecting on his forehead. He felt like his throat was dry and reached up to wipe the sweat, noting there were tears falling down his face as well.

"Katsuki...?"

The room was dark and he could register the feeling of blankets over his body as well as the warmth of his boyfriends near him. Eijiro was on his left and Shoto was on the other side of Eijiro. His red headed boyfriend called for him, sleepiness lacing his voice as he lazily rubbed the blond's arm with his hand. It was an attempt to comfort him.

"'M fine," Katsuki finally breathed out, "I just gotta piss."

He could tell Eijiro was reluctant to let him go but did so after a minute. Bakugo got up and hopped out of the bed, looking to head to the bathroom and splash some cold water on his face to calm his quick heartbeat.

He didn't want to admit to his boyfriends why he had nightmares when he did. They knew that he did and brought it up once or twice but Bakugo managed to avoid talking about what they were about.

He didn't want to say that he knew he was wrong. He hated admiring that he was in the wrong. He hated feeling this way. He hated feeling scared. He hated that because he was scared and wrong that he rejected Deku the way that he did. The way that he told his boyfriends to do so too. He hated that he thought he could make everything go away if they just tried to move on and forget.

But now the void that Deku left was growing bigger each day.

And Bakugo was scared. He was scared so he pushed him away. He was scared of Deku rejecting them. He was scared that maybe Deku would realize they weren't good enough to be with him despite acting otherwise. Well, maybe not Shoto and Eijiro but Bakugo was definitely not a good fit for him.

Because Deku was delicate. Not that he wasn't strong, but he was someone that needed to be loved and cherished. He was someone who needed constant reassurance and kind words, someone to tell him the right thing at the right time, someone who knew how to pick and choose their words well, someone who knew how to express themselves and their feelings beyond just actions.

Bakugo knew the importance of words. He knew the importance of communication. He might've gotten straight A's in school and was near the top of his class at a high school as prestigious at this one, but...

He failed when it came to communication.

He never knew how to properly express his feelings. And when he tried, his mouth would betray him and fabricate some snarky comment. It would make fun of the people he knew, the people he was familiar with. Even when it came to boyfriends, Shoto and Eijiro were no exception. "I love yous" were said rarely, though homemade breakfast and tiny pecks on the cheek were doable.

Which is why he could never be with Deku. Deku, he knew, relied on assurance through words. Deku wouldn't allow touch. He barely did, at least. So how was Bakugo supposed to let him know how much he loved him without showing him? Why did he have to use his stupid words?

And why the hell was his brain telling him to be mad at Deku when Bakugo was the one in the wrong? He knew Deku...reflecting on it, he could see Deku didn't change. He and his boyfriends were the ones that changed. They shut him out in fear of hurting him and themselves again. What if they tried to start over and Deku rejected them again? Broke their hearts? What if he wasn't interested anymore? Would he start to hate them the way that they were acting like they did him?

How the fuck were they supposed to fix everything?

Bakugo gripped the sink, looking in the mirror at himself. Ruby eyes stared back at him, tussled ash blond hair laying atop his head. He tried to blink his tears away but more just kept forming.

"Weak. Pathetic. Why can't you just shut the fuck up? Go on, disappear and help everyone out."

He hated that little voice in his head.

He turned the water on, putting his hand under the faucet to feel the cold water. When he was satisfied with the temperature, he allowed his other hand to let go of the sink's handle, cupping his hands under the water and leaning down to splash the water on his face.

It wasn't long before he finished, wiping his face with the hand towel and looking at himself in the mirror.

Was it best to just let Deku go? Maybe he could find someone better.

Bakugo stared at himself a moment longer before flicking off the lights and heading back to the bed to hop in and cuddle up to his boyfriends again.

Midoriya couldn't get up. But he needed to. It was barely the first week of class. He couldn't not go.

Besides, it was Friday already. All he would have to do is push through for his morning classes, right? And then later Camie and Toga would be here; apparently they didn't have classes today so they would be heading over when they were ready.

Midoriya managed to pull himself up but his body still felt heavy, as if gravity was trying hard to pull him back to bed. His head pounded and his throat felt rough. He tried to clear it with a cough but to no avail. He decided to try and power through, though he felt his suspicions of being sick were true when he felt a specific dry blandness in his mouth that he would often get when he was sick.

He didn't want that to stop him from going to class. Even if his body felt a little warmer than normal. Even if putting on his sweater felt like he was being burned alive, and even if he felt his nose start to run, it wouldn't stop him from going. He felt like he was already so far behind so there's no way he could afford to miss today.

A knock on his door made him more alert. He double checked himself in the mirror to make sure his back contacts were in and his foundation was covering his freckles. When he was sure everything was in order, he made sure to let the person at the door know.

"Come in..." he tried to say, though his voice was quiet and janky. He cleared his throat and tried again, "Come in."

Sero peeked in the room. "Mornin! I was wondering if you wanted to walk to class together."

"Yeah, sure," Midoriya croaked. That managed to pull the smile off of Sero's face.

The black haired male walked in fully and looked at Midoriya with a certain look on his face, one that didn't look too happy. "Midoriya...you sound..and look a bit sick. Maybe you should stay here for today. I can get notes for you and go over them with you later!"

"No no!" Midoriya waved his arms around in the air, "It's fine! It's just a little sore throat." He tried to explain himself but Sero walked up to him and his eyes squinted in suspicion.

"Lean down," Sero demanded.

Reluctantly, Midoriya did so. It didn't take long for a hand to land on his forehead. Sero's hand felt cold but it felt so nice because Midoriya felt as if he was going to be boiled alive.

Sero sighed, "Midoriya, you're sick."

"I can still go to my classes though! I feel fine," Midoriya tried to ensure him. From what he knew of Sero so far, he was a bit laid back sometimes, but not all the time, as the times when he wasn't laid back, he was loud and bubbly like Kaminari and Ashido. Though there were times where Sero was persistent and caring. Midoriya experienced that sweet side of Sero plenty of times throughout the past week.

Sero didn't seem to like that idea of him going to class. His lips thinned out into a straight line and he pulled out his phone, typing away at it. Midoriya got a little nervous because Sero looked serious as he tapped the screen. It was a look that didn't look too familiar on his face, so Midoriya had to wonder if he had done anything to upset Sero.

A moment later Sero had turned his phone to him and held it out for Midoriya to read the messages. He noted that it said "Mr. Aizawa" on the top.

Sero: Heyyyy 'Zawaaa

Mr. Aizawa: Don't call me that unless you want a failing grade. And I said to only use my number in case of emergencies.

Sero: Well it is
Sero: Kinda

Mr. Aizawa: If you're going to tell me Kaminari broke the toaster again then tell him he still has to pay fees from last time.

Sero: Surprisingly no Midoriya's sick, wants to go to school still

Aizawa: Tell him to stay at the dorms
Aizawa: If he doesn't
Aizawa: Message Yaoyorozu
Aizawa: Or the lovebirds

Midoriya lifted his face up and away from the phone, eyes downcast. He could only figure the “lovebirds” Mr. Aizawa was referring to were Shoto, Eijiro, and Kacchan. While it was nice to know that Aizawa paid attention to his students back when he worked for UA High, when Midoriya was noticeably close with those three, it made him a little surprised that Aizawa hadn’t noticed how far they drifted apart. Or maybe he did and that’s why he threatened to use those three as means for Midoriya not to go to school.

“Alright, I get it,” Midoriya mumbled. He put his hands up in surrender, “I won’t go to school.”

Sero eyed him as he pocketed his phone, “Uh huh. No getting up and doing stuff, got it? Lay down, get some sleep, and message me if you need anything.” The shorter male looked about the room and spotted Midoriya’s desk, taking a pen and a paper to scribble something down. “Or text Shinso or Kaminari,” he added.

All Midoriya was able to to was give a quick thank you before Sero was trying to make him lay down. Which he succeeded at, Midoriya not having much energy to fight back anyways.

The door shut, Midoriya tucked back into bed courtesy of Sero. A yawn escaped him after he glanced at the time on his phone. He concluded that he would give himself another 15 minutes of rest before getting up to start working on the homework he was so far behind on. His eyelids felt heavy as he turned to his side to face the wall.

He wrapped his arms around a huge hamster plushie he was gifted by Yaomomo. He buried himself in the covers, hoping someone would pop out of nowhere and hug him, cuddle him, love him. But all he could hope for was for the blankets he was bundled in to provide some kind of warmth. Though, not entirely the warmth he yearned.

Maybe another day, or maybe never, he thought as he let sleep overcome him.

Chapter Text

Knock knock

The sound mocked him, the same as how an alarm would pester someone in the morning. Though this time around he couldn’t seem to stop the pestering. Actually, that’s how it had always been. Raps against the door of the room he occupied, noise produced by someone beyond the door.

Oftentimes the person beyond the door had been his father.

Knock knock

“Open the door!”

Those were the same words that he had said. He had always been relentless about it.

Knock knock knock

“OPEN UP YOU INSUFFERABLE BASTARD!” Midoriya knew it wasn’t real- or more so a memory at this point- but it sounded as if he was experiencing it all over again. His body’s reaction forced his heartbeat to quicken. It’s almost like his mind and heart were having a race to see which could go faster when thoughts of what might happen next flooded into Midoriya’s brain.

Knock knock knock knock

It was like how it always happened, with the constant knocking and the threats that were spat out over and over. The knocking would always increase in volume along with his father’s voice as time went on. Midoriya knew how the rest of the story went, and he hated how much it came to mind in situations like these. Someway, somehow, his father would get to him. Physically or emotionally.

Knock knock KNOCK KNOCK

He looked at the door, yet couldn’t see it. His vision was fuzzy and the world was spinning, acting as its own merry-go-round ride, going at a constant rate. It felt like it was speeding up and Midoriya could feel panic settling in. He wanted it to stop.

It’s like he could feel phantom touches of his father violating his body, trying to make another attempt to completely shred up his innocence. Chills went down his spine.

The ride kept spinning. He felt sick.

His arms. His arms were shaking. He was shaking. But the ride kept going, his world still spinning. His father was still there, trying to get him to act as a ragdoll he could push around and have his way with. Midoriya fought. He constantly fought. For his father’s approval, for his mother to be proud of him, for his school lunch against the bullies.

But other times he couldn’t fight. Sometimes he would have to beg. Beg for the bullies not to hurt him, to leave him alone and beg his mother not to worry about him. He would beg for his father not to assault him in any context.

That never stopped the man from trying.

The knocks stopped, yet the world did not. The ride kept going, and Midoriya felt a warmth, like it was the sun shining down on him as he rode the little horse on the merry-go-round. Except the warmth wasn’t the sun. Warmth used to make Midoriya happy and comforted. Now he could only think of bile making its way up his throat, blood trickling down his skin, or the presence of people near him when he thought of warmth.

People that could hurt him. His eyes focused, if not for a moment, on the world around him. He noticed a presence.

He screamed. He thought he did. He wasn’t so sure.

He couldn’t focus on anything but getting away from the blurred figure that approached him. Now he’s sure he’s screaming, yelling something from the way his throat began to burn. He at least knows that he’s crying too, knowing the feeling of tears falling down his face all too well. If he wasn’t before, well he definitely is now, because he doesn’t have anywhere to go. He’s trapped in this room, on the bed against the wall.

He knows it’s coming. A hit or the unwanted touches that he should be getting ready to try and defend himself against. Though his efforts are futile as he watched the figure stand just a few feet away.

But then it gets farther. Soon it’s leaving the room, and the door is being closed.

Eventually the room is silent, he thought. The seemingly ceaseless burning in his throat stopped, most likely because he stopped screaming, though he has no recollection of his body doing so, he just registers the feeling, screaming. There are no longer raps of a fist hitting the door. No more knocking.

The ride. It finally comes to an end and he feels as if he can finally gather his composure. He can try breathing again without his chest feeling as if it was alight with fire. The ride stopped spinning. The world was no longer blurred.

His breath, unsteady as he blinked and the room came into focus. Right, it wasn’t his old room. It was his new room. His dorm room at UA. He wouldn’t be hurt here, not when his father was all the way across the globe awaiting his trial. His father wasn’t here. Midoriya was not in danger. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself and his breathing like he always had to do after this type of stuff happened. Frustration settled in when his own sniffles and hiccups prevented him from doing such. Sadness quickly turned into anger. How could he let himself get this way? How did he just sit back and let his father do those things to him? Why was he so helpless? Why couldn’t he do anything right?

Midoriya looked up when hands grabbed his arms gently, yet hesitantly. “Mr. Aiz-..”

He barely has time to get a word out before the teacher is giving him a hug. It only makes the tears fall down more plentifully again. They don’t exchange words and Midoriya preferred it that way. He hated to be bombarded with questions. He didn’t like those questions, especially ones regarding his past, otherwise people would worry.

They shouldn’t worry about him. Or maybe he’s getting ahead of himself. Maybe they wouldn’t worry if they had known what he went through. Maybe they wouldn’t bat an eye. What if they got mad at him? That what he was dealing with wasn’t actually a big deal and that they expected him to have it worse than he actually did? Would they see his actions as overreacting?

“You can’t help the way you feel. You have a right to feel the way you do,” Mr. Aizawa murmured, one arm wrapped around the top of Midoriya’s back and the other arm was moving, hand smoothing out Midoriya’s curls. Midoriya supposed he was muttering and he wanted to feel bad about it, but the reassurance made Midoriya feel warm. He leaned into the older male’s chest, allowing himself to let out his tears while the man said nothing, just standing in front of the bed while Midoriya stayed sitting on it. “No one's gonna hurt you here, I’ll make sure and everyone else will make sure of it too,” Aizawa stated after a bit, removing his arms after a pat to the green curls. He gestured to Midoriya’s nightstand and the green haired male noticed a bowl of soup, “Stopped by the cafeteria before I came. Make sure you eat and take some medicine,” Aizawa instructed as he placed down a bottle of said medicine, “Yagi will be here later to check up on you.”

Wiping his tears away, Midoriya smiled up at the teacher, “Thank you, Mr. Aizawa.” The man gave a quick, small smile as he nodded, turning away to head out the door soon after.

More warmth trickled into Midoriya’s heart and filled his chest pleasantly. Midoriya couldn’t help when he started to laugh. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because of how quickly his perspective was beginning to change.

Because maybe he could find a way to make warmth feel good again.

Months. It would take a couple of months. Originally the plan was a few weeks, but there were complications.

Aizawa was fine with that since Nezu announced it. But now, Aizawa wasn’t happy with that fact at all.

A thud came when he opened the door to Nezu’s office. He didn’t warn him that he was coming in the first place but Aizawa figured given the situation, he shouldn’t have to follow common courtesy. Not when one of his students was having panic attacks this severe.

Nezu looked at him and greeted him, casually asking if he wanted to sit down and have tea with him. Aizawa just stood there, hardening his gaze when he looked at the principal. Nezu appeared to get the hint, putting his cup down and asking, “What is it that you need?”

“Midoriya’s service dog. I don’t think it can wait months,” Aizawa answered immediately.

The principal seemed intrigued at the statement, “Why do you say that?”

Aizawa sighed, going to sit down in the seat to tell Nezu what had happened. He was just going to check up on Midoriya and bring him some food and medicine. But when he tried to go into the dorm room, it was locked. He was able to get into the outer living space that was for Kaminari, Shinso, Sero, and Midoriya with the keycard, but he couldn’t get into Midoriya’s room with it.

So he knocked, and knocked. He heard something fall to the ground, and nothing after that, so he called out for Midoriya to open the door. He kept knocking harder and louder, but Aizawa only heard small sobs come from the other side of the door.

At that moment, Aizawa had been glad that Hizashi taught him how to pick locks.

When the door opened, Aizawa found Midoriya struggling to breathe, crying so hard that he was shaking, and just so visibly out of it. Aizawa almost didn’t put together the fact that Midoriya was dealing with a panic attack. He was about to try and do what he could to calm Midoriya. Ask him carefully if he needed or wanted something, or if being alone was what he needed, though he couldn’t get a word out.

Midoriya let out panicked screams. Aizawa placed the bowl of soup on the nightstand nearby and tried to analyze the situation as quickly as possible. Midoriya was clinging to himself like it was all he had, digging into his own skin to the point of drawing blood. Aizawa wanted to reach over and put a stop to it, but the closer he got, the more Midoriya tried to get away.

“It was mostly just screaming,” Aizawa told Nezu, “But sometimes he would yell out the word ‘stop’ repeatedly.”

Aizawa wanted to say more of what he heard, but he bit back his tongue. Not because he didn’t want to reveal what else Midoriya said, but just thinking of saying those words made Aizawa feel sick. Nezu must’ve noticed because he urged Aizawa, “Something is telling me that he said something else.”
Vomit rose in his throat but Aizawa swallowed it down.

“I WON’T TELL HER!” Midoriya screamed, backing up against the wall. He was terrified, scared for his life as he covered himself. It was a look that didn’t belong on him, that shouldn’t belong on anyone.

“Don’t…” Aizawa continued, pausing to sigh, “Don’t. Please. Just hit me instead,” he finished restating what Midoriya said. Nezu just hummed and shuffled through some papers.

“Did you ask Chiyo if she was available for him to see?” Nezu asked.

“She’s not in today, I believe,” Aizawa mentioned.

“Oh yes, she requested such,” Nezu said as if he had just remembered that bit of information. The papers moved around more and Nezu sounded a bit stumped. “Perhaps I can arrange something for the end of October.”

“Next month?” he asked.

“Four weeks is better than four months,” Nezu responded, “I may have to ask and transport one from Tokyo if it becomes an ongoing issue.”

Aizawa thanked the principal and let him make some phone calls to arrange something. They needed to get help for Midoriya as soon as they could. Though Aizawa knew there was one more way that he could help, which was by telling the class not to pester and bother Midoriya for the time being. He didn’t want to tell them to be cautious, necessarily. He had a feeling Midoriya wouldn’t like for people to treat him like he’s a ticking time bomb about to explode. Aizawa knew that if his students were to go out of their way to be nice because Aizawa told him to, then Midoriya might be disappointed with the insincerity.

The ringing of the school bell made Aizawa sigh in disappointment. His lunch break is now over, though he probably has enough time to head to get some coffee before he has to give his next lecture.

Chapter Text

Now that he had calmed down and got a better grasp of the situation, Midoriya suddenly felt horrible.

Aizawa had to see him like that and now Midoriya isn’t sure how he is going to face him again when he has to go to his class for a lecture on Monday. Midoriya could feel the way that he swayed a little as he stood up to walk over to his desk. He just got done eating the soup that Aizawa brought while the younger male was still trying to collect himself after the panic attack.

Though now, all he wanted to do was distract himself from what had happened. He knew that his body still felt sluggish but he had a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. He really needed to catch up on the schoolwork and studying he had been neglecting to do anyways. Only doing online university for the past year(he was of course pulled out when his father realized he might have had a chance at getting into the military) was a completely different experience than UA, Midoriya realized when he started to eye the stacks of books and papers on his desk. He heaved a sigh and hoped to at least make a dent in one of the piles today.

Yagi had stopped by later, as Aizawa promised. Midoriya waved a hello to the man when he made himself known. Midoriya quickly stood up to clear off his other chair for Yagi to sit on, only Midoriya realized he stood up a bit too quickly. His vision went black and he stumbled a little.

A hand grabbed his arm to steady him and Midoriya held onto it. It was Yagi’s hand, presumably, especially when he heard the man close to him, “It’s alright, Young Midoriya. Just sit and relax. Aizawa told me you were feeling unwell…”

“No no,” Midoriya protested as he blinked rapidly, trying to rid the black dots that were still partially in his vision, “I just stood up too fast.” When his vision came back a few seconds later, Midoriya started to walk to the chair to clear it off.

Yagi must’ve sensed what he was doing, “Oh- no, it’s alright, Young Midoriya, I was just stopping by for a brief moment to see how you were doing.” The blond haired man sheepishly held up the bag that he had been holding, though. “Or…if you don’t mind me staying, I brought lunch…?”

Midoriya smiled a little at the older man. He missed this and he was thankful for the blond in front of him. Yagi always treated him like his own son, and while some scolding from him and constant questions of concern weren’t something Midoriya liked at the time, he always looked back on those moments with a warm smile. Somedays Yagi would catch himself acting as a father figure and be embarrassed because of it, much like how he also got embarrassed about doing simple activities like eating lunch together with Midoriya.

Usually, Midoriya would accept, but…

“Oh-..Mr. Aizawa already brought me soup earlier..”

“He- oh- he did? I apologize! He didn’t mention that, he only mentioned that he visited you and that it might be a good idea for me to check on you. I didn’t have my lunch break until now so-” Yagi went off on a little tangent but Midoriya was quick to break him from it, not being able to bear the small sad look in the man’s eyes.

“It’s fine! I..” Midoriya tried looking for an excuse as he trailed off, “..the soup wasn’t that filling, anyways, so we can still have lunch together if you want…?”

Midoriya watched a happy light flicker in the older male’s eyes at that proposal. Yagi was already going to set the bag down and show off what he had gotten, sometimes asking things like if Midoriya was okay with what he brought or if he was allergic to any of it. He was quick to reassure the blond and tell the blond that everything was fine before he went to grab some of the food.

He found himself catching up on a lot of what had happened while Midoriya was away, to which Yagi might have slightly had his inquiries about Midoriya himself.

“I don’t mean to pry,” Yagi began with the smallest bit of hesitation, “but from what I understand you don’t have a lot of information about…the present.”

Midoriya was quick to interrupt, “I was in America.” The younger male only took a brief pause, “...my father took me there.”

Yagi seemed to understand and ventured away from the subject, instead bringing up different topics like asking Midoriya how his “make-up” work was going. Yagi knew that Midoriya’s father was a sore topic and one the man never asked more about.

The rest of their conversation was filled with lighthearted topics, something that Midoriya was thankful for. He navigated through those conversations easily, and eventually it was time for Yagi to go.

Midoriya felt a bit happy at the conversation but his mood dulled immediately when he was left alone with his thoughts again. Midoriya left the rest of his food on his nightstand as he hurried off to the bathroom.

He needed to get it out.

He hated how greedy he was. Why was he so greedy? Why did he constantly have to eat? Why did he overeat just now? Panic overtook him while he crouched down and got on his knees, head hovering over the toilet. He needed to get it out. Out now.

His thoughts already made him feel nauseous but just smelling the toilet water made him gag. He tried to use that to force the food out of his system, but it was no use. He just decided to shove his fingers down his throat. A familiar burning sensation filled his throat and nose after hearing the splashing of water. Tears fell down his face as he continued and he didn’t stop until he was sure everything was drained out of his system.
Tears of pain soon turned to tears of relief when he panted, sitting limply against the bathroom’s wall. He sat there breathing heavily until his breathing evened out. When that had happened, his tears were no longer filled with relief but rather anger.

He was so pathetic. He was pissed at the world, at his father, at himself…he was just so frustrated. He doesn’t understand why he still does it. He came to UA to get better, didn’t he? He came to UA to live a happy life but he still has to deal with the ideas that his father had implanted in his head. He was never skinny enough. He was always just…disgusting. He could never live up to his father’s unreasonable expectations so why was he still trying to? His father wasn’t even there to make him workout till he passed out, he wasn’t there to tell Midoriya to cut back to one meal a day.

And his mom…his mom was always so worried. Wasn’t Midoriya supposed to be getting better for her? He was supposed to be at UA to make her proud of him and to show her that she doesn’t have to worry about him. But time and time again, Midoriya always found a way to fuck it up. He hated wasting things but it’s all he seemed to do. He wasted the teachers’ time, Principal Nezu’s time, and probably his friends’ time by just existing. They could all be spending their time focusing on something valuable but they all seem to waste it on Midoriya because he couldn’t do anything right. He’s wasting things, wasting money trying to pursue a career he probably won’t get far in, and wasting all of this food by eating it when he shouldn’t.

The feeling of his phone vibrating distracted him.

Yaomomo: Sero told me you weren’t feeling well. Do you still want Toga and Camie to come?
Yaomomo: They don’t have to!
Yaomomo: We can schedule the movie night for another day.

No, Midoriya didn’t want to be the reason the class’s movie night would get messed up. He could just sleep everything off after the movie was done. Plus, he really wanted to see Camie and Toga. He felt like they would be good in lifting his mood and he knew he really needed something to make him happier.

Midoriya: I still want them to come if they can
Midoriya: I feel a lot better so I can still do the movie night

Yaomomo: Alright! I’ll let them know!

Midoriya looked at her reply and shut his phone off. He gathered himself off of the bathroom floor and hauled himself back to his room before any of his roommates came back. He just hoped that he would be able to keep his promise of attending the movie night, especially since the whole class was apparently supposed to be there.

“Izukuuuu~!” Todoroki turned his attention elsewhere as soon as he heard Toga happily call out for Midoriya when she entered the dorm building. A lot of the class was just talking but Todoroki could see how Uraraka, Ashido, and some of the others in the class got up to greet Toga and Camie.

“Ah- Midoriya isn’t down here yet,” Yaoyorozu supplied.

Todoroki tuned out their conversation when his boyfriends started talking amongst themselves. Or- more or less bickering. Somehow the topic had gotten to basketball practice and Katsuki was arguing to Eijiro about a certain play. Todoroki didn’t pay attention to what specifically it was, because he was more focused on how they were acting.

Todoroki might not have been the greatest at perceiving emotions at the beginning of high school..or college, but he was still working on it. He always studied how his boyfriends acted or talked or moved so that he could understand them better. Looking at all those things could give Todoroki the information that he needed to know how they were feeling. He had gotten better at knowing these tells and what they meant. Like now, Bakugo wasn’t as loud or that harsh with his words. That told Todoroki something was off about him. Now he would just have to listen or look for something else to tell him what exactly was wrong. As far as Todoroki could tell, there wasn’t anything else to indicate it.

Todoroki didn’t stop looking at Katsuki when he knew Midoriya finally entered the room. It caused Eijiro and Katsuki’s bickering to stop, and then Todoroki noticed it. The way that Katsuki’s left side of his lip curled in for a second told Todoroki that he was biting on the inside of his mouth. Katsuki was nervous.

Was it because of Midoriya…? Todoroki turned to look at the green haired male, only to feel a little warm at the sight of him. Somehow, Midoriya still had his charm and he…Todoroki had to admit that he looked very cute in the pajamas he wore. The rest of the class seemed to think so as well, a lot of the girls(and some of the guys, mainly Kaminari and a little bit of Sero) talked about how cute Midoriya looked in his pajamas.

“Oh..um…I can go change, I thought it was like a sleepover thing where everyone wears their pajamas,” Midoriya mumbled.

Despite some of the class’s protest, Midoriya went to change and came back with just some black joggers and a loose gray t-shirt. When he did come back, Toga hurried to grab his attention, giving him some containers that were apparently Midoriya’s…? Todoroki listened a little more and he got his answer when someone questioned the containers.

“Izuku can bake!” Toga chirped, “Everything he makes is so yummy and when we went to his house one time he gave us stuff to take home!”

“Bake?” Sero echoed, “You didn’t tell us that, dude! You and Sato should make something together one time!”

Everyone was bubbling with excitement, telling Midoriya all of these things and introducing him to other classmates when he made it clear he didn’t know everyone when he questioned who Sato was. Sero and Kaminari jumped at the opportunity and paraded Midoriya around, introducing him to the class.

Todoroki thought that would take a while and if that was the case then the movie wouldn’t be starting soon. His boyfriends must’ve thought so as well, because Todoroki heard Katsuki and Eijiro talking again, Todoroki tossing in his thoughts every once and a while.

“-and this is Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kirishima!” Kaminari exclaims with a smile.

Todoroki turns around to see Midoriya glance down at them for a second before glancing away. He looked uncomfortable and awkward. Todoroki watched the freckled male bring one of his hands up to rub his other arm, “Hi…” Midoriya’s voice came out as a mumble, hesitant, but also a little nervous.

Todoroki wasn’t sure what to say. Were they supposed to act like they all didn’t know each other? Was Midoriya trying to act like he didn’t know them?

Yaoyorozu swooped in right before Todoroki had the chance to say something, and she dragged Midoriya off by his arm, shooting the three of them a glare over her shoulder.

Sero chuckled awkwardly, “Well, I guess you guys will have to wait a bit to get some Midoriya time, huh?”

Todoroki looked down at his lap. Well that was what created this problem in the first place, waiting for some ‘Midoriya time’. But the clock stopped ticking and an alarm went off for the three of them at the beginning of the school year, waking them from their year-long slumber. They woke up. And waking up made them realize that maybe ‘Midoriya time’ was a thing of the past.

Well, that’s what his boyfriends thought. Secretly, Todoroki has been hanging onto the smallest sliver of hope that he has left. Hope in Midoriya, hope that he would be the same sweet and kind person that Todoroki knew, and hope in his boyfriends.

Hope that they would give Midoriya a second chance just like he had done for them.

Chapter Text

He couldn’t explain it. He didn’t know why he did it, it just felt right.

Kirishima had been watching the movie and everything was perfectly fine. Though, he was one of the few people still up, with the exception of Shinso and Tokoyami, who had been talking quietly amongst themselves in the kitchen area. Kirishima stood up to go get a blanket or two from up in his room. It was getting colder and it was noticeable in the air. It had gotten a little colder in the common room as the night went on.

Kirishima made his way to his dorm after he got up the elevator, but he paused when he walked past Midoriya’s dorm. Thoughts of that last day with him, waking up so happy and giving kisses on his face, just to end up crying and devastated that Midoriya did love them back, but didn’t accept them like they did for him.

Sometimes Kirishima still wanted to pull Midoriya aside and give him the biggest hug he could manage. He wanted to do so much with Midoriya and was crushed when he realized Midoriya was never coming back.

But then he came back. Kirishima was able to toss his feelings aside for a short while, forgetting him sometimes. But other times, everything would just remind him of Midoriya. He could do the smallest things and that face of freckles and green eyes would come back to him. Now, that image in his head was constant. Because Midoriya was finally back. Kirishima didn’t want to tell his boyfriends that he had at least hoped to be friends with him again, but apparently that wasn’t the plan.

Though at the same time Kirishima felt relieved. Maybe they should try to be just friends with Midoriya. If it wasn’t gonna work out or if Midoriya would just leave again, what was the point?

The fact of the matter was that Kirishima was weak. He was weak for Midoriya just like he was for his boyfriends. And Kirishima wouldn’t be able to stand by again and let himself or his boyfriends get hurt again if Midoriya decided to pick everything up and leave again.

Maybe it was their fault for not giving Midoriya enough of a reason to stay. Maybe they weren’t that reason or maybe they would never be that reason that Midoriya would return tor the reason he would stay.

They just weren’t enough for him to stay, but enough of a reason to leave.

The thought had been eating away at Kirishima and he would sometimes cry in his sleep when his boyfriends weren’t there. Either that or he would stay up, being consumed by his thoughts too much to be able to go to sleep.

His thoughts went into overdrive when he found himself back in the common room, arms full of blankets he snatched from his room. He found his eyes drifting towards Midoriya again, and eventually his feet subconsciously moved over to him as well.

Kirishima stood near where Midoriya was laying on the floor, surrounded by a lot of other people that were scattered across the floor. Yaoyorozu, Toga, Camie, Kaminari, Sero, and even some others like Uraraka and Ashido.

A thought found its way in his head but traveled to his heart as well, stabbing it and making it ache: What if they’re all the reason he stays? Would he stay for them?

Kirishima’s breath hitched a little when Midoriya moved, but thankfully Midoriya didn’t wake. Though, the redhead sensed he made a mistake when someone else moved, their golden eyes peeping open and narrowing as soon as they landed on him.

“What are you doing?” Toga hissed at him.

Kirishima didn’t say anything, letting his body move on its own when he took out one of his blankets and laid it over Midoriya. He didn’t waste a second looking at Toga before he headed back over to cuddle up with Shoto and Katsuki.

A hand was around his neck.

It was the only thing Midoriya remembered before he woke up struggling for breath.

The room was still dark and he looked to his right for his nightstand to turn his lamp on. He was caught off guard, however, when he noticed that he wasn’t in his bed but rather surrounded by people. He couldn’t quite tell who they were, especially when his contacts were all foggy from sleeping with them on. He was able to calm down when he realized that he was safe, but with the rush of fear stil coursing through him, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep anytime soon.

He huffed out a quiet sigh and got up from where he was at, noting that everyone else was asleep. He glanced at the blanket that was on him and noticed what it looked like. It was a Crimson Riot one, a little faded of color from what looked like overuse, but still in nice condition. Something in Midoriya wanted to take the blanket, with it reminding him so much of Kirishima, but he decided to go against it, because it wasn’t Midoriya’s blanket to take.

He started walking to the elevator to head back up to his own room. He didn’t want to bother anyone if he had another nightmare or some panic attack, and two, he needed to take his contacts out. Footsteps made him wary, though, and he turned around to see what looked like Toga swaying a little as she stood up, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

“‘Zu…” She murmured as she staggered over to him, “You ‘kay?”

Midoriya smiled a little at her genuine concern. Though Toga was overly affectionate and touchy sometimes with him, she knew when to use her words.

“Yeah. I just gotta take my contacts out and stuff,” he whispered to her.

“I wannaaaacome with.”

Midoriya tilted his head and frowned, “I was going to stay upstairs in my room.”

Toga stepped forward, her eyes closed as she leaned all her weight against him in a lazy hug, “Canweeee cuddle, Izuku..?” Her words were a bit slurred and jumbled together from how tied she was.

“Mmm…” Midoriya hummed, trying to think. He wasn’t sure if he was entirely comfortable with doing that. “I…guess you can lay with me in my bed.”

Toga whined but still followed him, grabbing his hand to make sure she wouldn’t tumble over.

They finally made it up to his room and Midoriya went to his dresser to take his contacts out. He grabbed the contact case from the dresser and unscrewed the top pieces to take out the black contacts. He blinked a little bit after he had done so, rubbing his eyes after screwing the tops back on.

Toga looked at him with one of those happy smiles, not the other crazed smiles that she usually has on. “You look so pretty with green eyes,” she voiced out, “Green eyes and freckles really suit you.”

Midoriya was kind of used to the compliments from Toga, Camie, and Yaoyorozu now- with the addition of some of his new classmates- but they never failed to make his face burn.

“Oh…” he murmured as he glanced to the side. Maybe it would be a good idea to grab some makeup remover for his face.

“Izukuuuu come on,” he could hear Toga whine from the bed. Midoriya went to grab some pillows from his closet anyway. “I’m tiredddd.”

“Then scoot to one side of the bed. I’m making a pillow barrier,” Midoriya murmured, “And uhm you’re gonna have to leave a lot of room. I take up a lot of the bed.” He knew there was no arguing or turning back with Toga, even if he was rethinking letting her sleep in his room. She was very persistent, and if she wanted something then she would definitely get it.

“A pillow barrier?” Toga sighed, exasperated, “Why do we need a pillow barrier?”

“Because then we might end up…! You know!” Midoriya answered back, throwing his hands up after he set the pillows on the bed.

Toga pouted, “You don’t wanna cuddle with me?”

“No it’s not- I’m just-…”

“Izuku. I’m telling you that I want to. You don’t have to but I want to. I don’t care how you look. I like how you look. I know a lot of other people do too. Your hugs are the best, and I know no one is disgusted by you like you think they are. You’re so cuddly and you being all chubby doesn’t even phase anyone here,” Toga told him.

Midoriya felt himself tear up but wiped them away quickly. “It’s just hard…” he mumbled.

“Cuddles can be platonic, too, Izuku,” Toga added.

The blonde got up from the bed to give him a hug while he tried to gather himself. She reached up a little to rub his back, her head trying to reach up to his shoulder where she rested it last time. She was in her calm-like state again, like how she had done back on the class vacation when she comforted him.

“I-I don’t think I want to,” Midoriya finally admitted, “Even if they are platonic.”

“That’s fine,” Toga murmured, pulling away when Midoriya did. She crawled on the bed and made the pillow barrier Midoriya had wanted to make. When she was done, she led Midoriya over to the bed and he went to take the area closest to the wall, where the hamster plushie from Yaomomo was. He pulled a blanket over himself and hugged the plushie with one arm, the other arm splayed out and faced up, upper arm partially under the plushie.

He felt the bed dip after he was settled down, Toga climbing into it on the other side of the barrier. She took a moment to take the hair ties that held her buns together out, placing the hair ties on the bedside table.

Midoriya started to close his eyes when the blonde laid down in the bed, pulling the blanket over herself.

He opened his eyes when he felt a hand on his own, only to see Toga looking back at him, her arm reaching over the pillow barrier to hold his hand. “Good night.”

He squeezed her hand, happy at the little form of contact. Something that reminded him that he was actually here. He wasn’t at home. He wasn’t in America. He was here. He was safe.

“Good night…”

Kirishima didn’t know what he was expecting when morning came, but it certainly wasn’t this.

They had woken up a little while ago, and for some reason Kirishima’s eyes drifted right where he remembered seeing Midoriya, just to be disappointed to see an empty space where he was. Though, he noticed Toga was gone as well.

Now, Kaminari has been parading Kirishima’s Crimson Riot blanket around, asking who’s blanket it was.

“Maybe it’s Midoriya’s,” Sero suggested, “He’s not here anymore. Maybe he left it when he went up to his room.”

He went up to his room? Why would he need to go up to his room? Why didn’t he stay with the class? Was he not feeling well again?

His questions went unanswered.

He watched Yaoyorozu say something along the lines of her going to see if the blanket was Midoriya’s. That got Camie up and moving to tag along, saying that she wanted to see Midoriya and that if anything, Toga was probably with him.

The unpleasant sound of Katsuki grinding his teeth together made Kirishima turn his attention to him.

“Fuck him,” was all he grit out before he was laying back down and pulling a blanket over his head.

Something in him wanted to be angry at Katsuki, but Kirishima could hear the pain behind his words. He sounded hurt, and Kirishima knew that when Katsuki went under the blankets, he wasn’t angry, he was upset. The blond never liked to cry. Not even in front of them. So he would hide.

Though Kirishima had to wonder exactly why Katsuki was upset the way that he was. Katsuki had been the one that wanted to get over Midoriya the most, but here he was getting mad over the fact that Midoriya’s friends were hanging out with him. His friends that were girls. Maybe there was a part of Katsuki that still wanted to be with Midoriya.

Kirishima decided not to pry.

It all happened in little bits.

Kirishima would try so hard to keep his focus on himself and his boyfriends, only to get reminded of Midoriya by either his friends or his own mind. It was harder when the class would go on outings all together, and before Kirishima realized it, it became progressively harder to keep ignoring Midoriya and being mad at him.

Midoriya’s presence was just something that couldn’t possibly be ignored. And no, not because of his height and width, but well, first of all, Kirishima knew a lot of the class adored Midoriya. Which made it so that every time that he walked into or was present in the room, someone had to bring it up. And Midoriya’s overall presence was just warm in general, so it wasn’t hard to figure out if he was in the room.

Kirishima remembered one night as he was getting a midnight snack had he felt someone else’s presence there a few minutes later. He turned to the fridge to see Midoriya grabbing a cold water bottle from there. Kirishima thought maybe the other had just gotten done with some kind of workout, because he looked exhausted. Kirishima felt awkward just standing there in the kitchen with Midoriya, but he had to turn away when Midoriya caught his gaze and tried to smile and wave at Kirishima.

Sure Kirishima felt guilty, but he still had the right to be mad at Midoriya…right?

There was another time. Kaminari had invited Kirishima over to his room to hangout. Kirishima agreed and headed over to his friend’s dorm. He failed to remember that Midoriya technically shared a dorm space with Kaminari, because Kirishima saw Midoriya kind of half awake, laying on the couch in their shared space with a blanket that barely covered him. Kirishima was able to sneak past him and head to Kaminari’s room, but a little ways into the hangout, Kaminari asked if he could grab his phone charger that he left in the shared area of the dorm.

Kirishima agreed, but he was left with his heart beating a little too fast after he went to fetch it. He didn’t really expect Midoriya's head to bob a little from sleepiness when he looked at him, saying softly, “Hi, Eijiro…”

All Kirishima could do was grunt a “Mmmhm,” before he’d yanked the charger from the socket and bolted back to Kaminari’s room.

At least he wasn’t as awkward around Midoriya as Shoto was. Shoto looked confused when Midoriya mumbled a quick hello to Shoto when he thought they were alone after class. Which they were, for the most part, that is if Kirishima and Katsuki weren’t eavesdropping. And Kirishima watched Shoto struggle to find words, just to end up settling for “Yeah..” afterwards.

Shoto didn’t get to say much else, because Yaoyorozu came in to steal Midoriya away again just like she always had.

There was another time where Katsuki and Midoriya were supposed to be partners for a project, seeing as though everyone else apparently had their partners, but Yaoyorozu swooped in(again) and offered to switch partners, wherein Yaoyorozu would be partnered with Katsuki and Midoriya would be partnered with Jiro. Surprisingly, Bakugo agreed.

Though Kirishima found himself getting irritated.

The new gossip in the class concerned Midoriya and Yaoyorozu. It was the topic of whether they had been dating or not. And seeing as though the class knew that Yaoyorozu and Kirishima and his boyfriends had known Yaoyorozu in high school, some of the class went to them for answers. It usually ended up with Katsuki spouting some shit and scaring the people off, though.

Kirishima didn’t know why the topic irritated him so much, anyways. Midoriya wasn’t any of their concern.

Well, he didn’t want to believe Midoriya still plagued his mind, but after the mall incident, Kirishima found himself more than angry with Midoriya. Because the rumors were confirmed true. Midoriya had claimed that Yaoyorozu was his girlfriend.

Midoriya looked shocked to admit it himself, but Kirishima figured it was probably because they didn’t intend on telling anyone. Some guy had been trying to harass Yaoyorozu during a class outing at the mall. Some of the class had tried to tell the guy to back off, but he wouldn’t budge. He kept persisting until Midoriya came back from the bathrooms and intimidated the guy when he towered over him. The guy tried to pick a fight with Midoriya when he suddenly blurted out that Yaoyorozu was his girlfriend and pulled her in while looking the guy in the eyes. Thankfully the guy had backed off, but unfortunately, Kirishima was left hurt and angry with the information.

A lot of the class congratulated Midoriya and Yaoyorozu afterwards, with some of the girls in the class squealing loudly, asking questions left and right. Iida had put a stop to the questioning soon enough, saying that all the questions were a breach of privacy and that Yaoyorozu and Midoriya would tell them what they wanted to know when they felt like it.

Though apparently they never “felt like it” and Kirishima was left without answers. Or not until the class made the mistake of starting this insane game that combined a lot of party games- spin the bottle, truth or dare, never have I ever, and seven minutes in heaven.

AKA the night that actually never happened yet. Kirishima just knew that something bad was gonna happen on Saturday when Kaminari announced a game night. Everyone was going to be there, which included Toga and Camie.

Kirishima hoped that they were just harmless little games. But knowing Kaminari, it was bound to be much worse. The redhead guessed he would just have to wait and see.

Chapter Text

Normally get-togethers with his class was not at all Bakugo’s thing.

And they still fucking aren’t. Bakugo wouldn’t have even come to this hellish game night if it weren’t for Racoon Eyes threatening to leak a photo of him she managed to snag of him asleep half cuddling one of the pillows in the common room.

He did not need her to send that to the class group chat.

“Noooo! Left foot red.”

On second thought, maybe he would rather let her leak that and gouge his eyes out than be here.

At least he had the option of sitting out. He sat back and watched the idiots play twister. Round face, Pikachu, Tape Face, Gossip Girl, and Racoon Eyes were playing against each other while Eijiro and Four Eyes operated the spinning wheel. Some of the others were playing a card game off to the side while the rest were in the “audience” like Bakugo.

Pikachu looked up from his arguing and his face shifted away from Eijiro. Bakugo tilted his head to his side to see who the culprit was, only to see Deku of all people strolling into the room with that stupid, cute, curious look on his face.

Bakugo started to feel all sorts of emotions start to tear him apart the moment Deku caught his gaze and his eyes lit up. But all Bakugo was good at was ignoring shit and pushing it to the side, which is why he looked away from Deku and focused back on the twister game.

His body felt warm. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and feel it trying to claw its way out through his throat but to no avail. He tried to swallow it down, only to feel a sting from how tight his throat felt.

Calm down.

“Hey Midoriya! You wanna join? We can restart the game!” Kaminari called out. Bakugo was pretty sure it was Kaminari’s voice.

“Ah. Well…” Fuck. His voice was still so warm. Like nothing changed. But things had changed. That’s why they were in this mess, wasn’t it? “No thank you. I’ll just watch.” Bakugo could hear Deku’s voice move through the room as he said so.

Bakugo felt the couch shift and he didn’t have to turn to see just what was going on. He knew Deku was sitting on the other side of it, which only made Bakugo’s situation worse. It didn’t make him spiral more, oddly, but it made something warm bloom in his chest.

Because Deku was so close. This is the closest that Bakugo has been to him in a year. And now he was right there. …right where Bakugo would’ve wanted him two months ago.

But now…

He made a bold move to look at the side. He looked over at Deku, but this time he wasn’t looking at him. Deku was over there with a dopey smile as Yaoyorozu walked over and filled the space between him and Deku. Just like she always did. It was always her, wasn’t it? Deku started to focus more on her back in high school. And even now he did.

The three of them never had a chance, did they?

“Ugh! Kaminari you cheater, you stepped on my foot!”

The pain filled when he was able to have a distraction, a way to ignore the feeling. So he ignored it.

“Oh hi Toga-aah! Toga! I said no hugs!”

And ignored.

“But Izukuuu! You promised when you came back I would get a hug everytime we saw each other!”

And ignored.

“Hey Bakugo! Wanna play?”

A distraction. Bingo.

“Sure.” No real thought was put into it. He didn’t really even know what they were playing but he hoped that it was decent.

The stars in Pikachu’s eyes told Bakugo otherwise.

“Okay!” Bakugo sat down in the small circle of people that they had. Everyone from the twister game including Four Eyes and Eijiro. Bakugo hated the grin on Sparky’s face, though. “Let’s play ‘never have I ever!’”

The fucking games were a bust. They were boring, with most of the questions being small. Even truth or dare got boring. It was basically just other people going and when it was Kaminari, Sero, or Ashido’s turn they would dare someone else to pick someone who wasn’t playing and invite them in to play until the whole class including Camie and Toga were in a big circle.

Which is where it started to get interesting. Or really, just a big shitshow of everyone using the game to get information out of Deku. He kept picking the truth so he was asked things about where he was from yada yada. However..

“You said you did online schooling last year, right? Why’d you do that?” Sero asked it as a casual question. And it was supposed to be a normal fucking question.

Bakugo looked up after Deku hadn’t answered for a good ten seconds. His gaze went to Yaoyorozu when she looked like she was gonna hover near him, her eyebrows scrunched up with concern as she looked at him.

Deku mumbled something that sounded like “it’s fine” to her.

“I um-..” Bakugo felt his eyes widen a little bit at the sound of Deku’s trembling voice. It sounded like he was close to tears, but the blond couldn’t really see since Deku was looking down at his hands. “..-I was…moving around a lot. I ah…” Bakugo and the rest of the class watched him push himself off the ground and get up. He turned away from the group right away. “..I need to go do something.”

The class was quiet until Deku was far enough. As soon as he was out of sight and earshot, Jiro punched Sero on the arm.
‘
“Ow! What the he-”

Ashido interrupted Sero before he could finish complaining. “You made him cry! He’s gonna hate us all now!”

Well he already hates some of us, Bakugo wanted to subconsciously blurt out. But at the same time, he knew it wasn’t true. Deku had actually done a lot that told Bakugo that the taller male wanted to build up some sort of connection with them. But every single time Bakugo had to play the dumb asshole and shoot him down.

The little waves and small whispers of “hi Kacchan” when he would pass by briefly. Not to mention how Bakugo could practically feel his eyes on him in class.

“-rozu aren’t you gonna go..?” Bakugo barely caught Kaminari’s question, but he forced himself to listen when he heard the next question, “He’s your boyfriend, right?”

The ash blond looked around a second and noticed that Camie and Toga had left. Now he understood why everyone was confused. They were all looking at Yaoyorozu because she was his girlfriend. The fucking fact that all the bitch did was stare at him confused and then laugh pissed Bakugo off. How the fuck was she gonna sit there and be all calm when her fucking boyfriend was having a tough time? And to let other people go and help him instead?

Bakugo wanted to rip her apart even more.

“Oh! Toga and Camie are a bit better with this kind of thing. I’m afraid that too many people might overwhelm him and he might…” she trailed off and held her fist to her mouth as if she was forcing herself to stop talking.

“He might? He might fucking what?” Bakugo had it. He didn’t know why he was doing it, but he persisted. “If somethings gonna fucking happen then you should be the fuck over there.”

Suddenly Yaoyorozu’s face hardened into a glare. “And what do you know about being there for him?”

Uraraka tried to interrupt. “Okayyy maybe we should just get back to the game..? Ashido! Truth or-”

“At least I never pulled bullshit about spreading shitty rumors about him to be fuckin popular! And we tried to! It’s not our fault he pushed us away!” Bakugo’s voice was rising and he felt a hand on his arm. He didn’t wanna lose his standoff with the bitch by looking away but he could tell that it was Eijiro.

“Guys-..” Kaminari attempted.

“You’re gonna bring that up? We both talked that out! That was a while ago! At least I know how to stick by his side! You have no idea what he went through! He tried so hard to-”

“He tried? How the FUCK do you consider a year worth of missed texts and voice calls trying? All that work and the first person he sees is you? I bet you never even called h-."

“Someone go get Mr. Aizawa.”

Toga’s voice rang through the common room. Bakugo forgot that they were there with the rest of the class. Though that was forgotten because his mouth felt dry at those words and the tone that she used.

He barely realized that someone even went to leave, not when Toga of all people started shouting for whoever was leaving to hurry up. She even added on that they probably needed the nurse if she was still in.

Bakugo was just as frozen as Yaoyorozu was at the moment, but he snapped out of it before her, turning to where Toga disappeared to and back at the black haired girl. He knew it wasn’t his place to go and check was going on so he spurred Yaoyorozu to as he barked, “What? You’re still not gonna check on your boyfriend?”

Yaoyorozu stopped and Bakugo could see something in her eyes changed as she got back from la la land. Eijiro was still behind him, slightly holding him back while Shoto stood close, so he was the one that tried to put a barrier between Bakugo and Yaoyorozu when she approached, only to stop inches away from the three of them. A heated glare came from her, “He’s not my boyfriend. Maybe if you were as smart as you say you are, you would’ve realized that by now. And maybe if you all got your heads out of your- your asses, then you wouldn’t need me to check on him for you.” She emphasized her anger with a shoulder bump to Bakugo as she passed by.

When he looked back to glare at her leaving, his eyes went to Shoto, who had been staring at where Yaoyorozu was going, where Deku was. Bakugo barely caught the split second where Shoto’s eyebrows scrunched together. All anger left Bakugo’s body, replaced with something akin to guilt.

Maybe he wasn’t the only one who hadn’t fully moved on yet. And maybe…a small selfish part in his brain hoped that Deku hadn’t either. Even if he knew he wasn't good enough for Deku anymore or even at all, even if their whole relationship was beyond repair...

Having a little hope was nice to numb the pain.

Chapter Text

Midoriya had woken up a while ago, but he wanted to try to collect himself before fully “waking up”.

“I know you’re up.”

Dammit.

The voice was Aizawa’s, “You don’t have to explain anything just yet.” Midoriya was glad that his teacher was so considerate. He opened his eyes to meet the older man’s, his eyebrows were furrowed slightly and his normally straight-lined mouth turned into a slight frown. “At least not to me. But Yagi should be on his way.”

“Mm,” Midoriya hummed, unsure how to feel. He didn’t understand what was wrong with him. He wasn’t sure if he should be scared or upset. Because then whatever this mystery illness could just be yet another thing wrong with him. Another thing that separated him from everyone else.

“Toga said you weren’t feeling well.” Aizawa stated it as fact, leaving Midoriya no room to dispute since the teacher wasn’t looking for a “no”.

Midoriya didn’t say anything, just turning his head to look around and notice that he was in an odd room. It wasn’t the dorms that they had, but it looked fairly similar. Only bigger with its own bathroom. The air smelled…like Aizawa. It didn’t take him long to conclude that it was Aizawa’s room from the plain décor.

The door had opened, and Midoriya was expecting a blur of blond rushing towards him, but instead, he saw blue eyes with long, tousled dark purple hair.

“I heard what happened. Are you alright, Midoriya?”

He gave his teacher a light smile as he answered her, “Yeah. Thank you, Ms. Midnight.” She told them to refer to her as Ms. Midnight instead of Ms. Kayama, that way it would be more fun. Mr. Yamada, or Present Mic, told them to call him that too. He said that he, Midnight, and Aizawa had come up with their own nicknames to call themselves once upon a time. Though apparently now Aizawa refused to use his.

Midnight entered the room and made her way over, sitting down on the bed before she leaned over to run her hands through his hair. The action made him relax and he didn’t know what else to do other than close his eyes.

“I’ve been talking to Chiyo,” she hummed as she continued. He wasn’t sure if she was addressing him or Aizawa until she resumed, “I told her what I’ve been noticing. Your symptoms. Your drastic shifts in mood, your anxiety, irritability…I pay attention to my students very well. You fidget often and she’s even told me about you going to her asking for medicines for your headaches, or how some of the teachers briefly mentioned your exhaustion. And I’m not the only one who’s noticed.”

“It’s just…everything is a lot. Coming back-”

It was then that Yagi decided to walk through the door. Or should he say, burst through it.

Aizawa watched as the blond leaned over the bed to give Midoriya a hug. Yagi had been quick to rush to the side of the bed once he had come in. When Aizawa deemed the greeting long enough, he started to open his mouth, only for blabbers of concern spilling from Yagi.

“What happened, my boy? Did you get hurt? Did you get overwhelmed? Did you overwork yourself? Should I call your mother to see if she-”

“Mr. Yagi,” Midoriya politely stopped the man with a smile. Aizawa noticed the way his smile never reached his eyes, as it had been doing an awful lot lately. “I’m okay. I probably caught a bug or something.”

“Or,” Kayama began, “It could be something else. Vomiting could very much be something like a stomach bug, but Midoriya, there are other symptoms you’ve been experiencing that are attached to more serious conditions.” Aizawa watched her get closer to Midoriya, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear as she spoke softly, like a mother trying to reassure her child. “You have to tell us, even if it’s a little bit, what exactly is wrong. We have to know so that we can help you.”

And so, reluctantly, Midoriya did.

The kid expressed to them what happened in high school with bullying and his father, something that Aizawa would never forgive himself for not knowing beforehand. He taught Midoriya. How come he didn’t see the signs? Yagi looked a bit off-put by the mention as well; Aizawa remembered the blond mentioning that Midoriya often visited his shop when he had it.

Midoriya got choked up when going into detail about where he ended up after high school. More of his father’s beatings, his punishments, the drunken nights, and other horrible things that made Aizawa’s stomach twist were discussed. Midoriya seemed to have the hardest time explaining the day that he got out, with him having to pause between sentences at a time, and Aizawa grabbing a garbage can for him to use when he saw Midoriya’s face pale and his cheeks puff out like he wanted to throw up at the memories.

Yagi urged him to stop, and he apologized for making Midoriya push himself too far, but the freckled male simply shook his head and wiped his face before he continued. Looking over at Kayama, he spoke with a wobbly voice, “I-I hadn’t kn-kn--own…” Midoriya paused to gag and they were all quick to either shove the garbage can to him or, in Yagi’s case, rub his back. “...he w-w-as using ster-steroids on me. He…he…”

At this point, Midoriya had been a sobbing, hiccuping mess. He wasn’t even able to get a word in without stuttering, hiccuping, or breathing in short, rapid breaths. Which is why Kayama stopped Midoriya from finishing what he was going to say, pulling him in and guiding his head to her shoulder. The kid must’ve been so worked up that he clung to her instantly. He knew under normal circumstances, Midoriya wouldn’t have hugged anyone so freely.

“Shhh, you’re okay, honey. You did good. You don’t need to say anymore. Not until you’re really ready,” Aizawa watched her sway with him back and forth a little. He had to admit, it was a bit odd seeing someone like Kayama be so nurturing and reassuring as opposed to her loud, flirtatious self. Same as Yagi. It was odd to see the non-stop smiling blond frowning with near-tears in his eyes.

They sat in relative silence, save for Midoriya’s cries and hiccups, when Yamada peeked in. He was halfway through saying that Aizawa’s class needed him, but he snapped his mouth shut when Aizawa shot him a glare. Yamada quietly muttered that he would handle it, only for Yagi to stand up, saying he would accompany him. The blond pat Midoriya’s back once or twice before he stood up and left, leaving Kayama and Aizawa with Midoriya.

Eventually, Midoriya had cried himself out. Kayama announced her departure, but not before one last hug to Midoriya. It was around two in the morning now, anyway. Aizawa had to be the one to convince Midoriya to brush his teeth. He managed to get Midoriya to do so, Aizawa letting the kid borrow a spare toothbrush he had laying under his sink. The black haired male sat and waited for Midoriya outside of the bathroom, trying to process all of what Midoriya had revealed to them. He knew that there was something traumatic that happened to Midoriya, but he didn’t really know the full extent of it until now.

Everything made him want to rip his hair out, scream, throw up, and cry all at once. Who the hell could do that to their own child? How could he let that be done to one of his students?

His self-loathing was interrupted by his cats hopping on the bed. He petted them for a minute or two, and he was just about to send them off to their beds where they were supposed to sleep in the room. Until Midoriya walked in, eyes red and puffy as he announced that he was done. Aizawa stood off the bed, “Okay. Sleep in here tonight.”

“In here?” Midoriya questioned with a yawn, “But Mr. Aizawa, where are you gonna sleep? I can just go back to my dorm.”

“No, because then you’re going to be bombarded with questions. I’ll figure something out, don’t worry about it, kid. Now get some sleep.”

He turned and shut the door only partially, as he didn’t want to fully shut it in case he needed to come back to his room to forget something he forgot.

And it seemed as if he forgot that he had two cats in his room that could easily get out through the opened doorway. It had been a good twenty minutes that he was idly scrolling on his phone in one of the empty faculty apartments UA built till he realized this mistake. He was quiet but quick in making his way back to his room, creaking his door open little by little to peer into the room to see if his cats were still in there and on their beds. Or maybe he would have to go cat-hunting tonight, because they weren’t on their beds.

He took a glance up at the bed to see if Midoriya was sleeping yet. His eyes widened seeing that not only was Midoriya sleeping, but his two cats were curled up against him, two of his arms wrapping around one of them to cuddle with and the other had her head nuzzled into his neck. Aizawa didn’t know how he managed to get both of his cats to cuddle since one of them hated cuddling, but Midoriya did. And Aizawa would normally be mad that both cats were on his bed after he just cleaned the sheets, but he guessed that he would have to allow it for tonight, especially with how relaxed Midoriya’s face was around the two animals.

Aizawa had to sneak back to his (temporary) room for the night. But as he closed the door behind him, he took his face in his hands and sighed deeply. Midoriya did so well with animals, and he was so comforted by them. He was more relaxed with them than Aizawa had seen him since he had gotten here. And obviously Midoriya was severely impacted by what had been done with him, and it messed up his relationship with people. Even if he struggled with trusting people now, Midoriya desperately needed a companion.

He needed his damn service dog, and Aizawa was now ready to go through hell and back to make sure that the kid would get his service dog before the end of the month.

Ever since the incident with what happened during the class sleepover, Midoriya felt as if he had to distance himself from everyone. He didn’t feel comfortable being around anyone anymore. He couldn’t trust himself not to blab out anything about himself like he had done with three of his teachers. So, he spent most of his freetime in his room. He was thankful that his mom had let him get a minifridge for his room; otherwise people would worry that he wasn’t eating. Which he wasn’t, really. Every time he tried to, he either got sick to his stomach and got upset with himself or binged and ended up crying about it later.

The good thing was that he did manage to catch up with a lot of his work. He had been partially pushing it off but most of the time it was because his friends or classmates wanted to drag him along to do something.

So that was one thing that helped his stress to go down slightly, though it just about went up when Mr. Aizawa discussed a group project that they were going to be working on starting next week. Midoriya only ever had one good group project experience, which was actually in Aizawa’s class as well.

Midoriya thought that this one wouldn’t be so bad, especially since Yaoyorozu, Shinso, Sero, and Kaminari were in the class; he was most familiar with them. He would probably just pair up with them. Or he would have if not for the assignment clearly highlighting that the groups would be randomized and picked by Aizawa. The worst part?

Eijiro, Shoto, and Kacchan were also in his class.

Chapter Text

Midoriya had to admit that the rest of the week went fairly fine. He found out that he passed the exam in his math class and for his drawing class, he had a critique that went by smoothly. His professor was actually really happy with his work which made Midoriya ecstatic. He always worried that he wouldn’t be talented enough to do anything in the art field, but hearing what his professor had to say made his mood lift. So much so that he agreed to hangout with Kaminari, Shinso, and Sero to play video games.

Toga, after the sleepover incident, had texted Midoriya to talk. Through her, he found out that Yaomomo had an argument with Kacchan about him. She got the information from Camie, who had been in the room when the argument unfolded, when Midoriya was having his symptoms from withdrawal.

And yeah, he found out through the school nurse that what he had experienced; his vomiting and distorted vision and a lot of the other things he had been experiencing were from drug withdrawal. She talked with him and said she managed to contact the people at the hospital that Midoriya was at in America. They concluded that Midoriya had been steadily receiving the steroids and other drugs at a steady pace over an elongated period of time. They weren’t sure how long exactly since his father wouldn’t speak more on the subject but…

It made Midoriya sick to his stomach.

“Hey uh…Midoriya? Can I ask you something?”

That and the argument was also why Midoriya had been staying away from everyone. He didn’t want them to keep asking questions.

“Sure.” He was never one to say no. It was too difficult.

Kaminari and the other two kept looking at the screen while they were playing; Midoriya wanted to sit out for a couple of rounds to figure out the rules to the videogame. “Well uh…I was just wondering. Why did you and Yaoyorozu say you were a couple when you weren't?”

Midoriya was a bit surprised at the simplicity of the question. He had been expecting a question that he didn’t want to answer. “Oh,” he started, his hands hanging onto his crossed legs as he rocked back and forth a little. “I saw that guy. He wasn’t leaving Yaomomo alone and I knew he wouldn’t take no as an answer so I had to step in. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything after. I thought you guys knew it wasn’t real…”

“That’s cool for you to stick up for her like that,” Sero mentioned, hitting Kaminari lightly on the arm when the blond bumped into him purposely to make him mess up. “Damn!” he exclaimed when Shinso ended up winning.

“You should run that by Jiro,” Shinso commented.

“Jiro..?” Midoriya tilted his head a little in confusion.

Kaminari gasped, “He doesn’t know?”

“Of course not, idiot, everyone thought him and Yaoyorozu were dating.”

Suddenly everything clicked together and Midoriya was left with a huge smile on his face, “Oh my gosh! Jiro likes Yaomomo?” He couldn’t help but clench his fists together and let out a little happy yell. “Oh- OH! Yeah. Okay. I need to go talk to Jiro. I’ll be back, guys!”

He found himself scrambling to get off the floor, heart bursting with happiness. He’s always noticed how close those two have been since Midoriya has been here. Plus, whenever Yaomomo talked about her friends, he noticed how she paid special attention to Jiro, her eyes softening. He knew that Yaoymomo at least had to have a crush on Jiro, and he wanted to at least give Jiro a chance. He honestly hadn’t known that everyone else thought they were actually dating, so this changed things a lot.

He was about halfway down the hallway before he realized that he actually didn’t know where Jiro’s room was, so he had to turn back and ask his roommates.

“Nezu. Either you get him a service dog within the next two weeks or-”

“Done.”

Aizawa’s prepared speech was snuffed out by that one word. He was fully ready to give Nezu more reasons(if he needed any) of why Midoriya absolutely needed a service dog as soon as possible. There would be no more delays, no more excuses. Midoriya had gone through enough and Aizawa figured he should at least be able to find comfort in something. Because he knew that going to Yaoyorozu, Toga, and Camie wasn’t enough for him. Aizawa paid attention to how he would hesitate saying something. Probably expressing his emotions. And to think he was doing so well with-...

“What.”

Nezu looked at him, voice chipper and light, “His service dog will be available within the next two weeks. A Bernese mountain dog.”

Aizawa wracked his brain for what the dog would be like. When nothing came up, all he had to say in reply was, “Sounds like it’s a pretty big dog.”

“Correct! Yagi was actually the one to do the paperwork for the service dog. He picked him out as well! Yagi said a big dog would be best for Midoriya considering his height and weight. If he has a panic attack or such standing up, then the dog would need to be able to get as close to his face as possible or use its weight to help ground or push Midoriya down if need be. It could be dangerous for him to be standing depending on the circumstances.”

“So I’m assuming the service dog isn’t a puppy?”

“No, it’s fully trained for Midoriya. All that it would need is some time getting used to him. They’re very kind, affectionate, and friendly. They’re also said to be very protective. They need space, but we already took that into consideration when placing Midoriya in a four room dorm. Those tend to have larger rooms and I’m sure the other three wouldn’t mind the dog.”

Aizawa paused on asking his question, but he voiced it anyway knowing Nezu would pry it out of him after he saw him hesitate.”If you knew he needed a four-bedroom, then why place him with Shinso, Kaminari, and Sero? They’re good kids but you knew that the other three had a spare bedroom.”

“You know they can’t be forced together, Aizawa.”

The black haired male huffed at the remark, “I get that but-”

“-but you also fail to remind yourself of how they are with each other now. They were in high school. Things changed, Midoriya went to America, and they’re not close. I took note that Yaoyorozu took a disliking to them, possibly because of how much she values her friendship with Midoriya.”

“Midoriya wants to reconnect, but Yaoyorozu and those three don’t want him to,” Aizawa pointed out, “Those three seem reluctant to push him away though.”

Nezu gave a smile, “Well I suppose you might know your students better than I do. So I won’t give you guidance on the topic. Just do whatever you think will help your students learn and grow.”

That put an end to the conversation, leaving Aizawa with a choice that came much too easily to him.

“Midoriya, Bakugo, Kirishima, and Todoroki. You’ll be partnered for this project.”

Todoroki felt the world stop spinning at the announcement. His head shot up to look at Aizawa, only to see that the man was meeting his gaze already, switching between them as he continued, “And you are not allowed to change partners this time. Now get with your groups so I can assign topics.”

Todoroki looked over to Midoriya’s spot, just to see the freckled male already making his way up to talk to Aizawa. They had a small conversation, though Todoroki couldn’t hear any of it from the bustle of people moving to get with their groups. The dual haired teen paused in his staring and figured that he should start moving over to his boyfriends before anything else, but when he looked up, Midoriya was gone and out of the classroom. Aizawa looked a bit upset, and Todoroki had to wonder if Izu- Midoriya was okay. Only as his classmate, though. Nothing more.

“He left,” Eijiro muttered under his breath. He didn’t sound relieved at all. He actually sounded a bit upset, which confused Todoroki a bit considering he thought both his boyfriends still had a strong dislike for Midoriya for what he had done.

Katsuki only grunted at Eijrio’s comment in response while Todoroki hummed.

It was not fair, really. Despite everything he did and everything that happened, and how Todoroki finally thought he was healing, Midoriya just had to come in and reopen the wounds. Which is actually why Todoroki was still partly mad at him, but most of him just wanted to forgive Midoriya properly. He wanted to know why he left, because knowing Midoriya, there had to be a reason. Sure, Todoroki might still be a bit bitter about him not contacting them, but something in Todoroki’s gut told him that he still had to trust Midoriya.

He knew that Midoriya was already waiting for them all to get over their bitter feelings, and Todoroki wanted to. But he was stuck. Because his boyfriends still couldn’t find it in themselves to forgive Midoriya. And the freckled male likely knew that, which is why he always avoided talking to all of them directly.

Midoriya had been trying to redeem himself, too. Todoroki noticed how he would try to smile or wave whenever one of them looked in his direction, he saw how Midoriya would hold the door open them when walking into class sometimes, and he definitely knew that the little keychains that each of the three of them received of their favorite All Might character had been from Midoriya, left in front of their dorm door.

He saw all the signs and damn it. He was not going to let this opportunity go to waste. He was going to make sure that his boyfriends saw the signs and Midoriya’s intentions so they can finally put this whole mess behind them.

And if his boyfriends still didn’t forgive Midori- Izuku after everything?

Then Todoroki had come to terms that he would probably have to pick between Izuku and his boyfriends. He would have to hear Izuku’s side of the story first, though.

Chapter Text

“AGH!”

Midoriya jolted up and clutched the area near his heart from the fright. His heart was beating rapidly and he was trying to calm himself down when he noticed that there was no threat whatsoever. “Oh. Asui- er- Tsu, you scared me a bit,” Midoriya let out a nervous laugh.

“Sorry Midoriya-kun, ribbit. But are you okay?”

The green haired male paused. On instinct he was going to reach up to grab his glasses but realized that he never actually got a new pair after the last ones were broken. Instead, he gave her a confused look, “Um yeah, Tsu. I’m alright. Just like I said I just got a little scared.”

“Not like that,” Tsu mentioned, slightly circling him. She was actually quite small compared to him. Well actually anyone would look small compared to someone a couple inches over seven feet tall. Tsu looked barely over five feet tall, so there was over a two foot difference between them. “You left class earlier,” she pointed out.

“Ah- well… I had a headache and wanted to see if the nurse had anything for that,” Midoriya wasn’t sure if she caught onto his fibbing, but if she did notice, she didn’t acknowledge it.

“Oh. Well Ochako-chan and I were going to walk to that coffee shop on the other side of the campus if you wanted to come. She wanted to get boba from there.”

“Uhm…Sure?”

Past him should’ve been warned about the dangers of going on an outing with Uraraka. Because a simple trip to the coffee shop on campus actually turned into a trip to the mall. Not only that but she had also invited Ashido, Hagakure, and Jiro. When they were downstairs waiting for the other three, Midoriya turned to Uraraka.

“Um would there be enough room in the car for Yaomomo too?”

For some reason, Uraraka frowned at the remark. But she gave in, “Sure. Everyone would probably just have to squeeze in.”

Perfect. That’s what he was looking for. Because the moment they all got to- Ashido insisted- Ashido’s car, Midoriya asked to drive. First of all, he wanted to offer because he wanted to be nice to the girls. And two, if he was driving, then Ashido would take the passenger’s seat. Leaving Uraraka, Tsu…and Yaomomo and Jiro in the back. Thankfully Ashido agreed, but said she would be fine with driving back. So when Yaomomo and Jiro lacked behind from talking to each other, they both got to the car to see that one seat was left.

Midoriya was ready in the driver’s seat(though he kind of felt bad for Uraraka sitting in the spot behind him; he had to move the seat back a lot), and he looked through the mirror. “Well Jiro can sit on Yaomomo’s lap,” he suggested, trying to keep an innocent lilt in his voice.

“Or Tsu can-” Uraraka was cut off by Tsu when the other caught Midoriya’s look of ‘don’t tell’ in the rearview mirror.

“I think that would work, ribbit. Uraraka-chan’s legs are bruised anyway.”

Uraraka seemed a bit confused by the look in her eyes but once she caught on, she started to play along, “O-Oh! Right! I forgot I uh- dropped some weights on them working out with Bakugo!”

That made Yaomomo get into the car to try and lean over Tsu to look, “Oh are you okay? They don’t hurt too bad do they?”

It wasn’t long before they were heading to the mall. Midoriya practically rushed to get out of the car to open all the doors for the girls. What? His mom raised him with manners.

They all branched out a bit when they entered the mall and Midoriya pulled Jiro aside to talk to her. He suggested that as a group they could go places and then after they could branch out into groups if they wanted. That’s when he said he would tag along with the other girls so Jiro could have some time with Yaomomo. Midoriya gave her places that they should go and the other day when he went to talk to her, he made sure to tell her all that he knew about Yaomomo. He told her, to reassure her, that he and Yaomomo were never “together” in the first place because he wasn’t interested in girls. He caved in and told Jiro the same thing that he told Yaomomo in high school; he liked boys.

“You know, you’re a really cool guy, Midoriya,” she smiled before they were dragged back to the group.

The mall ended up being really fun. Even though he had to carry all the girls’ bags and was dragged to a bunch of stores he didn’t need to go to, he had fun. Ashido and Uraraka presented him with a small gift in the form of an All Might keychain and Midoriya was beyond happy. It’s okay if he already had one like it; he put the one that they gave him and put it on his backpack once they had gotten back to the dorms.

Speaking of which…

“Oh your room is really cozy,” Jiro mentioned as she walked in.

He only nodded as he tossed a little bag of stuff he had grabbed when he was at the mall. It was nearing mid-October, so that meant that-

“So what did you need me to do?”

Midoriya stopped and paused before he opened his desk drawer. Right! He knew there was a reason why he gravitated to the desk. He took a moment to shuffle through papers before he found a folder. Jiro, after they were walking back from the parking lot to the dorms, mentioned that she “owed Midoriya” for his help today. Thankfully he had the perfect idea.

“I was going to ask Kaminari or Sero if they could but..” He looked down at the folder, contemplating if he should be brave and go next door to deliver the thing himself. But he would rather not get yelled at in the dorms. He could give it to them in class where there was zero percent chance of being yelled at but they didn’t have the class till next week. “Um,” he held it out to Jiro, who took the thing carefully, “Would you be able to give this to Ka- to Bakugo? Tell him it’s for our project.”

Jiro gave a questioning glance to him before she agreed. “Alright. And thank you. For today. I really appreciate it.”

Midoriya’s nerves calmed when she didn’t question his request, “Yeah no problem.” He beamed at her as he started to see her out the door, “You deserve it. And sorry for the confusion. I didn’t know! But,” he leaned down to her, “A little birdy told me that Yaomomo is into girls. And you’re her type.”

He stood back up with a happy smile on his face when Jiro’s eyes went wide and her face flushed. “O-Oh…Alright,” she sounded almost robotic when she said that, likely from embarrassment. He waved her off after she went into their common area to then leave out the main dorm door.

Later, he got a note that was slid under his door. Well, after he cried for a bit when someone decided to make a visit to his dorm.

“Thank you for the notes and guidelines. I can tell them to get started so that we have what we need to start working on things and compiling that together. We set up an online document for notes. I shared it with your school email.

If you’re free, can we meet tomorrow? Just the two of us. In the garden out back if you’re okay with it. At 1:00.

-Todoroki Shoto”

Midoriya wanted to laugh at the fact that the other had signed it with his full name, but the feeling of dread overtook that. He knew that he could say no, but then he would have to come up with some lame excuse as to why he can’t go and then he would have to go through the trouble of writing a note back and sliding it under the door. But then Kacchan or Eijiro might see it or they might show up suddenly and Midoriya didn’t want to risk that.

So all he could really do was wait.

“Hey.”

In all honesty, he was glad that he wasn’t the first to arrive. Because then he wouldn’t have to sit there and wait- for hours, he was prepared to- for Midori- for Izuku to get there. But there he was, fidgeting in the garden behind the 2-A dorms. Well really they were more like apartments but who was Todoroki to say that.

“Oh!” Izuku scrambled to get up from where he was sitting down and stopped when he got up, “Um…”

Todoroki didn’t meet his gaze and averted his eyes. He felt a little shame inside on behalf of his boyfriends, who, somewhere yesterday after he showed them the note from Izuku, did something stupid.

Katsuki had gone over to Izuku’s dorm after the fact. Todoroki tried to stop the blond before he walked out but it was no use. Todoroki could only watch from afar when down the hallway, Midoriya was the one to answer the door.

He watched as Katsuki just shoved his phone in front of Izuku and simply said, “Put your number in for the project.”

There was a moment's hesitation and even from the side profile, Todoroki could see Izuku’s eyes getting glossy like tears were about to come out. Katsuki likely didn’t see though because his head was tilted downwards.

“You…have my phone number,” Izuku’s voice sounded shaky when he looked at Katsuki, like he was trying to get the blond to look at him. “Right…?” his voice cracked and Todoroki felt like his heart was, as people say, “breaking” from how upset Izuku sounded from the one little detail.

Katsuki was feeling violent, it seemed. Todoroki wanted to punch him when his boyfriend snarked back, “Why would I be asking for it if I had it?”

“Because…” Izuku’s voice sounded tight, “It never changed.”

“But yet you never fuckin answered.”

Todoroki could see the tears falling from Izuku’s eyes after that. “I-...” He paused and looked down at the phone, as if he was thinking. The green haired male then started to type on the phone and held it out, tears still pouring down when Katsuki took the phone in his hands. When he got it back, that was the first time he bothered to look up at Izuku. Todoroki found a look of shock and hurt on the blond’s face. Even more so when Izuku shut the door, though not before saying, “I’ll see you in class, Bakugo.”

When Katsuki came back, Todoroki was planning to scold him, but he was too taken aback to even acknowledge the blond as he walked past. Katsuki stormed by and soon enough his door had been slammed shut.

“Can we…it’s getting a little close to lunch and I know a place. We can get a private room and talk there? My family partially owns it,” Todoroki tried to suggest first. If he knew Izuku, he knew that he liked having food as comfort. And since it was a bit awkward for him to comfort him how he would normally do so now, then he figured he could offer the next best thing. It wasn’t much, but Todoroki knew that they served some really good katsudon there.

So that’s what he ordered for Izuku the moment they made it to the private room after a painfully silent car ride there. He made sure to order an appetizer as well so they could use that as a buffer while waiting for the actual food to get there. Izuku simply sat in the part of the booth across from him with his hands folded neatly on the table.

“Look- what Katsuki did-” Todoroki tried to apologize on his boyfriend’s behalf, but Izuku stopped him with a whisper.

“I deserved it,” Izuku muttered. “I-...he’s right. I didn’t answer. You guys deserved at least that sooner than I gave it to you. But it was too late, wasn’t it?” Todoroki watched as Izuku lifted his head up with a sad smile and watery eyes. He couldn’t hold his gaze for so long, as if it physically pained Izuku to do so. He looked back down with a watery voice, “You all moved on to better things like I always thought you guys would. The thought was always there taunting me but I never wanted it to happen.”

Todoroki could only give him a moment or two before he hesitated to ask the question that had been at the back of his mind since last year.

“Izuku…what really happened?”

After everything and it was close to three in the afternoon, they arrived back at the dorms.

Midoriya felt lighter. He felt like something was taken off his shoulders. He told Shoto everything. He broke down and got everything off his chest that he’s been wanting to explain. He told him things that even Yaomomo, Camie, and Toga don’t even know yet. But when all was said and done, Shoto looked conflicted.

“You don’t have to forgive me,” Midoriya said with tears blurring his vision, “I know what I did was-”

“All that you could.”

He paused and looked up at Shoto, who had been playing with his soba with a slightly somber expression. “...What?”

Shoto sighed and placed his chopsticks down. His eyes never left his bowl of soba, “What you did was all that you could. We just-...You don’t have to apologize.” There was a moment in between where Shoto had to deal with the waiter and the bill before he continued when they took his card for payment. “I won’t tell Katsuki and Eijiro yet. I want them to hear it from you and I’m sure that they want to hear it from you. So I’ll leave it at that.”

And they did leave it at that. At least, that’s what Midoriya thought their talk was going to end with.

They were standing in the parking lot about to head back to the dorms. Midoriya was going to offer that Shoto could go in first.

But then Shoto was hugging him behind the car.

“I know it doesn’t make up for what you went through or for what we put you through, but…” Shoto took a second to squeeze him in the hug, “I’m sorry, Izuku. I hope we can be friends again soon.”

And as fast as he held on, he let go.

Seeing his retreating figure, Midoriya called out.

“Shoto?” he asked with watering eyes. The other half turned to him and stopped walking away momentarily. “That’s all I’m asking for.”

A nod let him know Shoto heard. The next moment, he was gone and Midoriya was left to cry in the parking lot.

Not from sadness this time, but from the possibility of hope.

Chapter Text

Rebuilding somewhat of a friendship with Shoto had gone very slowly. It was mostly just small forms of eye contact from all throughout the week. Midoriya hadn’t dared to message him through text in fear that maybe Shoto did the same thing that Kacchan did and deleted his number. All Midoriya knew was that he didn’t want to find out.

The only sort of progress that he was able to make with the other two was very minimal. Even if they were doing a group project together, the only way they communicated was through an online document. And even that was only just them adding in their research into the notes portion of the doc. Hopefully on Friday when they have their class, Midoriya would be able to actually talk to them. Or build up the courage to. He was planning to do something to help with that.

Wednesday was Eijiro’s birthday.

It was mid-October already, so when he went to the mall with the girls on Friday, that was when he got what he needed for the present he was preparing to give him.
He already got everything together. He figured he would wait until Tuesday night to get everything prepared. From what he gathered, he knew that there was a timeframe on Wednesdays where he and Eijiro were both not in class and Shoto and Kacchan were in class. That would be the perfect time for him to have a chance to try and talk to the redhead alone. Hopefully Ejiiro wouldn’t blow up at him or anything. He was actually surprised by the fact that Eijiro hadn’t spoken up first. Unless Midoriya moving away actually made him that upset.

He wanted to try and prepare everything that he was going to say. He wanted to explain himself to Eijiro just as he had done with Shoto. He deserved the truth, too.

Though he did have to wake up early for his Monday class this morning, he was at least glad that he didn’t have a class until the afternoon. Which gave him a little over three hours to relax. He thought of taking a small nap since he had gone to bed late from studying for the exam he just took this morning, but the knock on the dorm door had him getting up to answer it. His other three roommates must’ve been at class or just out. Thankfully Midoriya was still in the common area of the dorm and not in his room when someone was at the door.

He opened the door to find Kouda holding his pet bunny. Animals were allowed in the dorms for second year students, he remembered Kouda telling him one time when he had asked. Anyone who wasn’t a first year student was allowed to have pets in their dorms on campus. Midoriya was surprised at the information at first, only to find out that if there had been damage caused by the pet, then the owner would be responsible.

“Oh hi Kouda. What brings you here?” Midoriya greeted as he looked down at his classmate. He talked with Kouda a handful of times, mostly because of how shy the other was, but they started to become friends given a common interest, Kouda’s bunny. Or more so bunnies in general.

Kouda mentioned that he had to go to class, where Midoriya now noted the bookbag on him. Midoriya listened as Kouda told him that there would be no one in the room to watch Yuwai and lately, she had been a bit destructive. The bunny had even managed to mess up her cage somehow and Kouda was still waiting for the new one to arrive. Kouda asked if Midoriya would be able to watch the bunny while he was at class. Midoriya only nodded and stepped forward to grab the bunny from Kouda. Just for her to run up from his chest and bury her head into his neck while Midoriya supported her back and behind.

They chatted for a little more, though most of it was just Kouda thanking him before he had to leave for class.

Midoriya shut the door behind him and made sure to put the bunny down right away; he knew they didn’t like to be held.

“Alright, Yuwai! Just me and you now,” he spoke to the bunny. He just watched as she made hesitant hops around the place, her bunny nose twitching as her ears flickered around every once and a while.

Midoriya let her be as he decided to sit on the couch they had in their “living room” and turned on the TV. There was once or twice where he had gotten up to get something to snack on or drink, and when he did, Yuwai would run around his feet. He smiled a bit and leaned down to pet her when she did; bunnies often do that when they miss or love the person they circle around. The second time he went to the kitchen, he grabbed a small bowl and poured some water for Yuwai.

She was so cute! No wonder Kouda wanted to be a veterinarian. Midoriya thought about it, but he always doubted himself and felt like he wouldn’t be smart enough to do such a thing.

He watched her for a few moments before he grabbed himself a drink and went to go sit back down. Less than five minutes later he heard a loud thump against the ground. It sounded muffled but also nearby…. From the couch he leaned forward to search for Yuwai, just to see beady black eyes staring at him before he watched her lift her back legs up. Her big bunny feet hit the ground with the same thumping noise.

“What?” Midoriya couldn’t help when he started cooing with a smile, “Why are you so mad?” Rabbits can thump when they are scared, but most of the time domesticated rabbits would instead thump when angry or irritated.

Yuwai thumped again before she ran in a small circle.

“Bathroom?” He asked her. She thumped again. “More water?” Another thump. She put her paws on the couch and tried to reach the seat, only for it to be too tall for her before she grunted in frustration and thumped. The cute display made Midoriya smile a bit as he leaned over to grab the bunny. “Ohh you wanna watch TV with me? Is that it?” He placed her in his lap and shifted a little till he was laying down on his side with her pulled up near his chest. Yuwai cuddled with her before, which was actually one of the reasons he started to talk to Kouda. Apparently the bunny loved him.

He threw a blanket over himself and put his arm under his head, the other petting Yuwai as she laid down next to him. He was glad that his other class for today got canceled; he saw the notification fifteen minutes ago and was thankful because he’s pretty sure Kouda’s class would’ve overlapped with his.

Usually, falling asleep was something that was hard for him. Sometimes falling asleep felt more like a chore than something that he should be able to do so naturally like breathing. Though this time, sleep overtook him quickly and easily. Maybe it had to do with the little companion in his arms. Maybe loneliness was the thing that kept him awake at night. And now that he had sated that part of him, his eyes closed.

Soon he found that he was right. Because the more that he thought about it, he always slept the best with people or animals- something- around for him to fall asleep more easily. Just as he had slept so well when Aizawa’s cats slept next to him. ..Just like when he woke up from his nap that one time. When he was in Kacchan’s room and woke up to see those three playing video games together.

His heart felt a tinge of pain recalling the happy looks on their faces and how much they had cared for him back then. And now it seemed like they didn’t care for him much as a collective group.

But Midoriya would work hard to get a connection back with all of them, even if it was even something as simple as being barely-friends. All he knew was that he didn’t want to sit there and be the enemy in their story.

He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, and it must’ve shown in class. Uraraka had pointed it out as she sat next to him in their afternoon class, but Midoriya waved it off. He claimed that he was studying, but he didn’t want to tell her the real reason he stayed up almost all night in the kitchen. And to think that after class he would have to go back to the dorms straight away to prepare the other part of it.

“Oh, well okay. Just make sure you sleep tonight! Though I’m not sure if you’re gonna wanna miss out on what we’re doing for Kirishima’s birthday tonight,” she said with an excited giggle.

Midoriya’s stomach lurched at the thought.

“Ah- I don’t know, I’ll see. I might have to work in the studio tonight for one of my classes. I have a critique sometime next week and I don’t want to do it all at the last minute.”

Uraraka bought the excuse, thankfully, and the topic veered away from the party.

Knock knock.

Midoriya fidgeted in his spot. Doubts and fear started to creep into his mind as he waited, holding the items carefully in his hand. What if Eijiro wasn’t here? What if he was and he just didn’t want to answer? What if he-

The door clicked open and he was met with Eijiro. Midoriya felt a pain stab through his heart when the happy look in those red eyes dulled the moment he zeroed in on him.

Midoriya cleared his throat, internally cussing at the traitorous way that it started to close up and his eyes felt like they wanted to start watering. "I know-... I know you guys hate me. I get that. I just wanted to say I'm glad you guys have been doing okay,” he tried not to get choked up and steeled himself for whatever response that Eijiro was going to give.

He wanted to say more. He wanted to apologize and sob while holding them all in his arms if he could. He wanted to tell them sorry a million times over, hugs, ugly sobs and all. He wanted to finally tell Eijiro how he couldn't do anything, just like he planned that he would. All he did was his tongue, though, the words escaping him as soon as he was met with the situation.

His eyes stung and his throat burned when seeing the glare Eijiro gave him. The redhead looked like he wasn’t thrilled to have Midoriya there, and Midoriya feared that he had picked the wrong day to be brave and talk to him. How selfish could he be? To try and explain everything and make things about himself on Eijiro’s birthday? He probably ruined the whole day for him just by showing his face. All he did was maintain eye contact, just to mutter a watery, "Happy Birthday, Ei- Kirishima..." placing the bag he prepared for Eijiro on the ground in front of the door before leaving.

The use of his last name strikes a chord in Kirishima.

He heard his first name on the tip of Midoriya’s tongue, yet…his last name came out instead. His voice shook and those black eyes got glossy when he said it.

Kirishima felt like his walls were finally crumbling down.

He wanted to be mad, especially after that one day where he found Katsuki in his room crying. When he had asked Shoto what was wrong with Katsuki, the other just rolled his eyes and said he talked to Midoriya.

Kirishima thought that maybe Midoriya had changed, and he was actually not the nice, kind person they remembered him as. If it was enough to make Katsuki cry then he must’ve done something horrible. So when he had the audacity to come over and offer a birthday gift, Kirishima was a bit pissed. But now he realized why Katsuki had come back like that. Because Katsuki’s walls were crumbling too.

Midoriya was treating them like strangers, now. Using their last names to address them by.

And it made Kirishima’s heart hurt in a way he hadn’t felt since they started to try and get over Midoriya. Kirishima thought it was done healing. He thought what he had was his boyfriends was all that he needed, and that he finally got over Midoriya.

But those feelings of dread and those instinctive gestures…his heart knew what his brain didn’t. He still felt something for Midoriya- for Izuku. He wasn’t even sure how or if he could fix it. Fuck, did it really have to take this long for him to pull his head out of his ass? Was that what Yaoyorozu meant? Did she know? He wondered if maybe there was a chance that behind the hatred in their eyes when they looked at Izuku that there was an underlying look of love that was still there.

Kirishima could only scoop up the bag and bring it inside as he closed the door. He made his way to his room with it before his boyfriends could see it.

Something like guilt whirled inside of him when he finally did open the bag. It took him a good twenty minutes to build up the courage to do so. He walked over to his dresser that he left it on and carefully picked apart the contents of the bag.

The first thing that he found was a container of gyukatsu, a beef cutlet. It appeared to be carefully placed in the container and Kirishima felt something stir in him when he realized that the food was probably specifically chosen because it had meat in it, Kirishima’s favorite food. He looked in the bag more to find another container and another smaller bag next to it where the containers were stacked up. He decided to scoop out the second container, or more like a tin, and opened it to find neatly placed sweets in it.

His eyes then fell on the bag, taking it out of the bigger bag to look and find a couple more neatly wrapped sweets. They were odd-looking, he noted as he started to unwrap the little ball at the bottom that was covered in wrapping, bunching up around the stick and being held together by a small red ribbon. The ball was on a stick, reminding Kirishima of kushiage, but this thing didn’t look like deep fried fish or vegetables. It looked like a little ball of icing…

Hesitantly, Kirishima took a bite of the thing and was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted. He looked at the part he bit off and realized that under the icing there was cake. Chewing on it and taking another bite, he found more of them wrapped up in a similar way. One of them had a note in Izuku’s handwriting.

“These are called cake pops! They’re an American sweet.”

The thought of Izuku being associated with being in America made the sweet start to feel bitter in his mouth. He decided to save the rest for later as he got to the bottom of the small bag, finding a little Crimson Riot plushie.

Kirishima had to admit that it was cute, but he hadn’t seen the things in any stores. It looked like it was knitted and Kirishima twisted it around to see little beady eyes. It was a decent size, filling the space of his palms nicely. He leaned over the bag and a card had tipped over in it, making itself shown from being hidden away where it was probably slipped on the side of all the other contents in the bag.

He took out the envelope and Izuku wrote a simple “Happy Birthday” along with a little note at the corner. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it for your last birthday. I had the idea to make Crimson Riot for you for your last birthday.” Attached to it was a lined piece of notebook paper. The thing was crumbled; with shaky hands, Kirishima opened the thing.

On the top was very sloppy handwriting that read “Eijiro’s 19th Birthday Present” His eyes scanned the paper, seeing a rough sketch of the plushie that Kirishima set down on his dresser to read the card. There were notes that pointed to certain spots on the sketch, some things saying, “Use soft yarn!” or “If you have enough money for it, try to get as much yarn to make it as big as possible?” Kirishima saw little notes that Izuku wrote for himself. There was another page of the design as well, and Kirishima saw the date that was set for July of last year. That was around Izuku’s birthday, wasn’t it?

The notes and corrections were less enthusiastic at one point. Kirishima started to notice that the parts where the ink had smudged because of water weren’t like that because of water. There were tears on the paper. Kirishima finally saw a little note on the bottom, a tear barely a couple centimeters away from ruining that part of the paper. “Use it to tell him you’re sorry. Give him a big hug when you see him again.

Kirishima's eyes felt blurry.

New teardrops started to appear on the paper.

Chapter Text

The feeling only got worse the next day in class.

Kirishima walked in later than usual. He told Kaminari that he would catch up with the blond later when usually he would be walking to the class with him. Mostly because Kaminari was one of the few people that he knew in that class.

“Hey, what’s that on your hand?” Kirishima looked over at the familiar voice, just to see Kaminari talking to Izuku instead.

Then Kirishima saw it. A long, irritated pink streak on the other’s forearm, trailing down to a big patch of pink on his hand; Kaminari pulled the sleeve up himself since Izuku always wore long sleeves now.

"Oh it's nothing. I just burned it and my arm a little." Kirishima doesn't miss the way Izuku’s face twisted in pain when he did something as simple as trying to flex it. It almost made Kirishima want to go over and try to ease the other’s pain. Kaminari leaned close to Izuku and Kirishima could tell that the blond caught the look on his face just in time.

"Midoriya, dude! We need to get you to the nurse!" Kaminari took a moment to look around the classroom, bumbling up to their teacher seconds later. "Mr. Aizawa can I-"

Kirishima knew he didn’t have the right to, especially how he acted yesterday, but something in him wanted to volunteer to bring Izuku to the nurse himself. Like how he and his boyfriends did in high school…

Aizawa interjected before he could make his decision, as the professor made it for him. “Yes. Just make sure he gets there and stays there. You come back, I’m sure you’re aware you can’t afford anymore absences. He can bring himself back, it’s just his hand not his leg.”

“But Mr. Aizawa I-”

A pointed look from Aizawa was sent Izuku’s way when he spoke up, “No. I know how you were in high school. Knowing you, you won’t go to the nurse and just wrap your hand up with toilet paper claiming she did something. Now go. I can see that you have blisters from the burns from here.”

Kirishima watched as the two left, his heart heavy and a lump in his throat when he realized what that burn mark meant. Izuku didn’t buy that food or those sweets. They were all made from scratch, just like the plushie he gave him. If yesterday felt like a punch to the stomach reading over those notes, this felt like being stabbed in the chest.

These past months they had been so shitty to Izuku. They ignored him and glared at him at every chance, thinking he would do the same eventually. But he didn’t. Maybe he didn’t give up on them. Maybe…maybe Kirishima could start believing in Izuku again. Maybe he should fight for this chance harder than the first time, because there’s no telling if Izuku is going to leave again.

It was lunchtime.

Todoroki and his boyfriends didn’t even plan on going to the dining hall, especially considering Katsuki hated the food from it, but the blond mentioned something about dropping off some papers to show Aoyama. They were sketches for a design that Katsuki was working on and he wanted another fashion design major to look over it.

He said it wouldn’t take long, but on their way to the dining hall, they overheard something in the hallway. The people weren’t visible, but their voices were recognizable.

“Oh? You’re on your way to the dining hall, aren’t you?” Monoma’s taunting voice could be recognized from where they were at. “I sure hope they have enough food-”

“Monoma! Knock it off already! He said he was sorry for bumping into you!” Uraraka’s voice sounded angry. As were Ashido’s, Sero’s, and Kaminari’s when they told Monoma similar things. The arguing went on back and forth for a minute before Todoroki heard Izuku finally speak up. Izuku? Was that who Monoma was making fun of? Why the fuck was Monoma making fun of him? Todoroki assumed that maybe it was because now Izuku was associated with their class. There wasn’t much of a difference between their classes except for the fact that Class 2-A as freshmen last year were accepted into UA University right away instead of put on a waitlist like Class 2-B was in their freshman year.

“Guys…it’s fine,” Izuku mumbled. Todoroki, at this point, had peeked around the corner to see that Izuku was walking away from the group, half of which were still semi-bickering with Monoma. “Just drop it, alright?” The group continued to bicker after Izuku left and Todoroki realized that no one actually went to check on Izuku. Todoroki knew the impact that those words would probably leave on Izuku, and Mr. Aizawa probably did too judging by the harsh scolding and two weeks punishment of cleaning the classroom that he gave Monoma when he arrived.

Todoroki didn’t care or even tell his boyfriends to pay attention to the conversation. He wouldn’t be surprised if they actually didn’t notice that he wandered off since the hallway that the others were in was the out-of-the-way route to and from the dining hall. He was a bit shocked to see that they were both listening just as intently to the conversation that Todoroki was when he turned around.

“We-..I’m going to go check on him,” Todoroki said firmly. He saw the look in Katsuki’s eyes and stopped the blond before he could make a noise, “He’s our classmate, Katsuki. Iida said that as classmates, we should look out for each other. And that’s what I’m doing.” It definitely didn’t feel good to come up with a lie like that and use it on his boyfriends, but he was scared that if he told the truth, they would argue with him about going. It’s really not his fault that he was worried about Izuku.

“What if he doesn’t want you-...want us there?” Eijiro spoke. The redhead looked to the floor and his hands wrung together. Eijiro was guilty. Why was he guilty?

“We can sneak away before he knows we’re there,” Todoroki answered.

“Just to make sure he won’t do anything stupid, right?” Katsuki murmured. His voice was oddly quiet. Todoroki nodded anyway, not wanting to point out his observation outloud.

They go check the bathroom that was in the hallway where Izuku disappeared down. It was a bathroom that was rarely used because most people would just end up using the ones by the dining hall anyway. There they find out that Izuku wasn’t doing something stupid, necessarily, but something far worse than that. Todoroki realized it the moment that they peeked into the bathroom. Todoroki didn’t know about the other two, but the moment that he heard the noise, his heart dropped into his stomach.

**The sound of retching hit his ears first. Shortly after, the noise of vomit hitting the toilet water echoed through the (probably empty) bathroom. Todoroki wanted to go in and help, but he knew that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for two reasons. One was that Izuku might panic and choke on his own vomit and two, his boyfriends might not like the idea of him helping Izuku. He honestly wasn’t sure what was going on in their minds anymore. He was tired of it, and he’s sure that if he has to deal with it for any longer, then making the decision between them and Izuku might have to happen sooner than he hoped. But he wanted for Izuku to tell them his story first, and depending on their reactions was how Todoroki would make his decision.

“Nghh- ur-” The sound made Todoroki’s heartache, the little whines and grunts that Izuku made before he vomited again. It confused him. Izuku didn’t sound or look sick at all when he was having that conversation with Monoma. And he’s sure that if he mentioned being sick or anything then he would be at the dorms. **

Slap

Todoroki physically jumped up from the sudden loud noise. It echoed in the room; he glanced over to see Eijiro wide-eyed with what looked like worry and Katsuki only looked a bit shocked. The noise sounded familiar, and it didn’t take long for Todoroki to realize that the slapping noise was Izuku slamming something against the stall wall. When the vomiting had ceased, the sounds in the bathroom were replaced by soft hiccups and sobs.

"Why does everything remind me of him?" Midoriya couldn't help but to whisper aloud. He stopped himself from sitting up all the way on his knees, instead slouching back against the stall with an audible thud. Great, his vision was shot again. He doesn't worry; it'll come back in a few moments when he settles down.

If he could, that is. He felt like he couldn’t breathe and his heartbeat felt like it was stuttering. He heard a ringing noise mixed with static playing in his head. It’s okay, it happened before. He’s been through this so many times that it should be a walk through the park. All he had to do was calm himself down and clean himself off before he caught up with his friends again. They didn’t need to know. He tried to calm down his breathing himself, only for his emotions to bubble up again when he choked out another sob.

This is why they hate you, Izuku. You fat fuck.

He was the problem, wasn’t he? He was just a big, fat mistake. Maybe if he wasn’t born then his mom would still be happily married to his father. His mom never specifically stated the reason for the divorce, but Izuku wasn’t dumb. How could he even think for a second that he wasn’t the reason for the divorce when his father abused him every second that he got? Izuku was sure that a loving father wouldn’t smash empty bottles of alcohol over his head, or cut a chunk out of his arm with a knife.

He left details out like that when he told Shoto what happened. He left out a lot of details, actually. He didn’t want Shoto to worry about him anymore; he just gave the other enough information to understand what was going on. And maybe a tiny bit more than that.

You don’t deserve to be cared for. With how you are, people shouldn’t even give you the time of day.

**Midoriya tried desperately to calm his breathing down, but the smell of the vomit hitting his nose brought up so many bad memories. From being overtrained by his father all of those times, the smell of blood mixing with vomit… The blood. All of it on the ground while his father was yelling at him, a knife to his chin while he told him to shut up. Midoriya truly thought that he was going to die that day.

Dad should’ve killed me when he had the chance.

He shot forward and leaned over the toilet as he shoved his fingers into his mouth. Maybe his father was right. He was too big. He was useless like this. If he wanted to be respected and taken seriously then he needed to slim down. He always needed to. There was never an end to it, because he could always be slimmer.

He gagged and sobbed, yet nothing was coming out. A choked, confused, angry sob left his mouth at not being able to get anything out, “Damn it!” His voice was shaky as he tried again, only coming up short with dry heaving. “Come on. Come on fuck…” He needed to do it. If he didn’t lose weight then he would be yelled at again. He would be faced with all the blood, sweat, and tears if he didn’t lose enough. “One pound would be enough, come on Izuku,” any sort of improvement would hopefully make training less horrible, right? He didn’t want his father to resort to cutting off another chunk of skin again.

Bakugo’s eyes went wide and it felt like cement was weighing him down.

He was frozen in his spot. Why. Why was he fucking frozen at a time like-

“One more pound would be enough, come on Izuku…” That low cry from Deku and the sound of more retching was what made Bakugo jump into action. That sentence made the blond piece everything together. His body felt like it moved on its own when he stormed into the bathroom, leaving his boyfriends behind. He didn’t fucking care if Izuku hated him for what he did, he had to help because fuck, he was purging. He was doing the shit on purpose.**

His heart pounding, Bakugo knocked on the stall door, “Deku! Deku open the damn door.” One second was way too slow for his liking, so Bakugo slammed the stall next to Deku’s open and hopped on the toilet to look over the stall to see where Deku was. If he could, he would hop over, but the space between the ceiling and the stall was too small, similar to the space between the stall and floor. “Deku! Deku look at me.” Black-contacted eyes didn’t dare to look up at him, as if he couldn’t hear him at all. He was only staring at the wall. Bakugo could see spots where foundation was smeared on his face and his freckles peeked out because of his tears. Deku was stuttering with each breath as saliva coated the fingers on his right hand that he was trying to use to force himself to vomit. “Stop. Breathe. Try to open the stall.”

“You got it. Just calm down. In your nose, out your mouth,” Eijiro’s voice came from behind the stall door where Deku was sitting.

Bakugo saw a hand peek out under the stall as they tried to coax him out of there. Shoto spoke up, “You can squeeze my hand, here.” Bakugo watched Deku’s eyes trail down to the hand. Okay. At least he was concious enough to know what was going on around him now, because he even stopped himself before he could reach out with his right hand and used his left instead. Deku looked like he was struggling to calm down and breathe, so Bakugo counted out his inhales and exhales for a couple minutes until Deku let go of Shoto’s hand and leaned forward to flush the toilet.

When Bakugo saw him stand up and wobble, he hopped off from where he was standing on the toilet and waited outside of the stall for Deku to come out.

The thing creaked open, and Bakugo saw the look of exaustion underlying an oddly happy expression. Deku stumbled a bit out of the stall and they all gave him some room as they stepped back.

"I know it's just because of how you saw me, but I'm glad you guys even bothered talking to me. I missed you..." he murmured, “I-..” Bakugo leapt forward when he trailed off, seeing the way his eyes rolled to the back of his head before he was falling forward.

He didn’t care if his knees would be bruised tomorrow from hitting the bathroom floor so harshly, the nerd would’ve gotten a concussion or something if he didn’t do it. He didn’t care. He didn’t care is what he always told himself. That and his stubborn attitude was what kept him going all this time. Refusing to back down and admit that he was wrong.

But he was wrong. He was so fucking wrong for thinking that even for a second that Deku would suddenly stop being his stupidly kind self. That even for a second that he would stop being selfless, and someone who always cared about everyone else and not himself. Because that personality was why he did everything that he did.

It wasn’t until he was about to delete his number till he noticed the wording. The crucial detail that was hidden in plain sight.

Bakugo scrolled up to their oldest messages and read through them that night. Right up until the last one that Deku sent. The one before he left for America. Bakugo almost didn’t want to read it for the millionth time, but he did it anyway.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I have to leave. I’m doing it for you guys. I don’t want him to hurt you. You guys deserve better, anyways. You’ll see.”
“I love you guys.”

Him. Bakugo never fucking pieced it together. His emotions were all too overwhelming to think straight, so maybe that was why he never did. But honestly, it was so fucking obvious after he read through all of their previous texts. There was only one person that Izuku constantly referred to as “him”.

It was his father. That bastard was the reason Deku had to go to America. Knowing the asshole, he probably did it so Deku wouldn’t be distracted by all of them. He probably did it because he wanted Deku all to himself so that he could do whatever sick thing he was planning. That’s why Deku’s mom was there and Deku wasn’t when they went to talk to him. What she said that day suddenly made sense, that she didn’t know when he was going to come back.

And knowing Deku, he probably didn’t tell them because he didn’t want them to do anything about it. Because Deku’s father was a manipulative, cunning piece of shit that could probably get away with what Bakugo and his boyfriends would’ve told the police. They saw it themselves. Deku would probably side with his father again because of how much he didn’t want them to get hurt, even if it meant being abused and taken somewhere he didn’t want to go. He did it for them.

So no, he didn’t care that his knees were throbbing. The pain didn’t matter if Deku was fine. Tears escaped anyway. Regret, guilt, anger, and sadness making up the tears falling down his face.

“He said he didn’t deserve us. I thought about it so much. But I-” Bakugo felt his throat getting tight, “I don’t think it’s true. He deserves everything, but not me. I don’t deserve him. I don’t deserve you guys. I fucking treat you all like shit and just expect for everything to come to me.” He looked down where he settled Deku’s head in his lap, making sure to wipe away his tears before they could fall on him, “I get all angry and do stupid shit like ignoring you guys and walking away because I wanna run away from my feelings. From the honestly fucking scarily intense feelings that I have for you guys. For him. And when I can’t express my feelings, I get angry at myself and the way I handle all this shit. B-Because I know what I’m doing is fucking shitty of me. But then I convince myself that it’s better to stay away and make you guys stay away because I don’t deserve half the shit you guys give to me.” His voice was raw and scratchy.

He heard how loud and emotional his voice got in the bathroom stall, but he needed to tell them. Because maybe now that he somewhat made ammends with Deku, he can end this whole thing. Maybe his boyfriends would finally see how shitty he was and dump him. They could dump him and make ammends with De- Izuku so all three of them can be happy. Because they would all be happy without Bakugo, wouldn’t they?

He sobbed and felt something gently touch his shoulder. Here it comes. They were going to say that they would have a big talk about everything later, weren’t they? So they could let Bakugo down easy?

But Shoto spoke softly, “Katsuki, why didn’t you tell us any of this earlier?” Bakugo braced himself before looking over at Shoto, noticing that in his parefial, Eijiro was nowhere to be seen. He was likely getting help. Shoto rubbed his shoulder and looked down at Izuku. There was a sort of hurt and sadness in Shoto’s eyes. “You may not think it, and I’m sorry if we made you feel like it, but you do deserve us,” Shoto’s eyes came up to meet his, “Both of you do.”

They just sat there, staring at each other for a good amount of time before Bakugo heard commotion just outside.

Mr. Yagi and Present Mic were inside the bathroom soon enough, and Bakugo was reluctant to leave Izuku in their care.

“I don’t have classes till later,” Bakugo tried to argue.

“I think it’s best you three go,” Mr. Yagi answered. It was definite, sounding like he wasn’t going to change his mind anytime soon.

All three of them left and were on their way to their dorm. Bakugo could tell a tear or two fell from Eijiro’s eyes as well but he didn’t comment on it. They passed the dining hall, too upset to face anyone. The least emotional was Shoto, as he sighed. “Izuku was never mad at us. He was waiting for us just like we were waiting on him, but the times we each did wait never aligned. We stopped waiting too soon and he started waiting too late.”

“How do you know? He’s probably past mad. He hates us now,” Eijiro murmured as he kicked a rock.

Shoto paused a moment before he glanced the other way, away from him and Eijrio’s eyes. Bakugo knew just from that that Shoto was reluctant to say what he did next. “Because he told me himself. I talked to him on Saturday,” Shoto looked away from the sky and finally met his and Eijiro’s eyes again, “And I feel like we have to have a discussion that should’ve been done a long time ago.”

Chapter Text

“We just need to make sure that he’s alright.”

It was a good three hours afterwards. They all finished ripping the bandaid off and exposing all of those raw feelings that they needed to sort out and unpack a while ago.

Shoto didn’t tell them everything, and he said he wanted Izuku to tell them himself. When he said so, Kirishima saw the way that Katsuki went and buried his face in his hands. His voice sounded strained and so vulnerable.

“It was his old man, wasn’t it?”

The silence that followed spoke volumes and Shoto must’ve figured that because he didn’t offer any words. Kirishima pieced together what Katsuki said and suddenly everything made sense. Izuku’s father probably took him to America, didn’t he? And that’s why Izuku couldn’t talk to them. Kirishima knew his father was controlling, but he didn’t stop to think that he would go as far as to force him to leave and cut off communication from everyone.

All those old wounds started to open up again and left all three of them broken all over again. And they all knew, as if it was a silent agreement, that the only way they could feel better about themselves was to talk to Izuku. Or even just seeing him would be fine. Kirishima just needed him to look at him and make sure that Izuku would look at him how he usually did. He could only hope that he wasn’t too late to see that look again; he didn’t want that to be replaced with anger and hatred.

“Boys, you can’t see him right now,” Mr. Yagi stood before them, speaking gently to them, “He-”

“Only for a couple of minutes. He’s still out, but he should be fine by tomorrow.”

Kirishima could only stare at Mr. Aizawa when the man interrupted the blond. The redhead barely choked out a thank you along with his boyfriends before they went past both of the older men.

It wasn’t an ideal way to head right into starting their friendship with Izuku again, neither was that whole bathroom situation that made Kirishima feel horrible, but it was something. He would rather have this moment with Izuku than nothing at all. Like a moth to a flame, his eyes went right to Izuku when they walked into the room, and no matter if he wanted to fly away, his body was drawn right to the flame that Izuku was.

He and Katsuki weren’t bold flyers, but Shoto seemed to be as comfortable with it as breathing, because he was the first to be so close to Izuku’s side. The redhead watched as the other’s hand ghosted over Izuku before finally settling down to rest on top of Izuku’s hand.

There was a long silence. Kirishima and Katsuki had since grabbed their own seats that gathered around the hospital bed Izuku was in. It was odd to see just how small it was in comparison to Izuku. He dwarfed the twin bed, making Kirishima feel a little upset at how uncomfortable Izuku must be. Izuku…Izuku had grown so tall that it was shocking. Kirishima towered over a lot of his class and people around the campus. Even Katsuki, the smallest of their group did, barely tipping over six feet tall. But Izuku made them look so tiny. Kirishima didn’t understand it. And that wasn’t the only thing about Izuku that worried him.

He noticed things like Izuku’s eyebags, but Izuku had lost a noticeable amount of weight since they last saw him. Kirishima even thinks that in some places, there’s more muscle than fat, but Izuku still had a softer build. It was a little…alarming. The Izuku he knew wasn’t about going to the gym much, in fact, the mention of it always diffused the spark in his eyes, so he and his boyfriends tried not to talk about it. But now he had to wonder if Izuku’s father had to do with that change in him as well…

Kirishima watched with caution as Katsuki stood and hovered near Izuku. There was a good minute of him standing there, and the redhead could see Shoto watching too, the room heavy with anticipation.

It wasn’t until Katsuki gently thumbed his finger across Izuku’s cheek, touching him with a delicacy that was similar to someone bringing their hand close to a fire. Close enough to feel the warmth, but never close enough to be burned.

“His makeup smeared,” Katsuki pointed out, his voice soft, “You can see some of his freckles.”

“Hm,” Kirishima hummed when he pointed it out. All of his attention was now focused on admiring them now that he knew they were visible; it was rare to see Izuku without his makeup or contacts out, but every moment it happened, Kirishima would cherish it. The silence in the room became more comfortable, and Kirishima was content with just being in the same space as his boyfriends and Izuku. It was as if all of Kirishima’s worries just went away for that moment.

The moment didn’t last forever; soon enough they were being ushered out of the room.

“What did you three do?”

Todoroki heard the accusation in her voice. Ah. So Yaoyorozu must’ve found out about Izuku. News in UA spreads around fast, so it was likely that the news about Izuku being with the nurse and them being involved with him got around. He just opened the door of his shared dorm with his boyfriends, and he was greeted with Yaoyorozu looking pissed off.

He heard Katsuki click his tongue behind him, “None of your damn business.”

“It is my business when I’m told that my friend is being sent home for a week.”

Todoroki felt his eyes widen as he looked back to Katsuki, who had the same shocked look on his face. The blond was left with no words just as Todoroki was. Eijiro was the one that had to speak as he peeked out from above their heads.

“A week? For what?”

“That’s what I want to know,” Yaoyorozu huffed, though her expression seemed to ease into worry, “Uraraka told me about how Monoma was making fun of him. Her and the others were defending him even after he left. That was the last time they saw him, and I’m guessing you three saw him after. And all I know is that’s when he ended up in the nursing building with Mrs. Chiyo.”

“He wasn’t feeling good. Threw up and some shit,” Katsuki half lied, “But we don’t know why that would make him have to miss a week of school.”

“Did you call him?” Todoroki suggested. Yaoyorozu must’ve been really troubled and concerned about Izuku if she was actually willing to listen to them after their fallout with Izuku.

“I tried calling, I tried texting, but he isn’t answering,” Yaoyorozu sighed, “I’ll just ask Toga or Camie if he said anything to them about it.”

She didn’t offer much of a goodbye before she left. That left Todoroki and his boyfriends alone to process the information that they had been given.

The whole day passed by before they had all grown restless. It was near midnight now.

Katsuki was pacing around and Kirishima kept listening out for anyone walking in or out of the dorm next door. They all waited for some kind of news about Izuku, but there was nothing. It wasn’t until now had Todoroki suggested that they contact Izuku. Just for the project. They could just contact him about the project…

But then when they went to press the dial button on the phone, Todoroki could feel his stomach twisting and turning at the sound of the phone ringing. His heart thumped in his chest and he felt a sort of fear, as if he was on the edge of his seat, mentally preparing himself for a jumpscare in a scary movie.

They placed the phone in the middle of all of them, on speaker ready for when Izuku picked up…

But then it kept ringing.

And ringing.

Until after the fourth ring did Katsuki abruptly hang the phone up himself with a heavy sigh. Hands ran through his hair like Todoroki knew that they did when Katsuki was feeling extremely overwhelmed or stressed. His breathing was a bit on the heavier side as well, sounding as if he was a bit winded.

“He won’t answer. He’s not answering again,” Katsuki croaked.

“Kats, we just have to give it a little time. Let it ring for a little longer, yeah? We can wait a little before trying again,” Eijiro suggested. The redhead moved over to slip a comforting arm around Katsuki and slip one of his hands into Todoroki’s. He must’ve picked up how Todoroki was feeling as well, then.

And they did try again. But then it was ringing, and ringing… And then the ringing stopped. There was no voicemail message, and it made them hold their breaths. The silence was palpable as they waited for something, anything, but then the call ended. Todoroki felt like something died in his chest, like a petunia wilting, dying from being neglected.

He stared at his phone as the screen went black. Izuku hung up on them. He saw the way Katsuki turned his head away, the same way he did when he was about to cry and didn’t want anyone to see that he was about to cry.

Todoroki was about to let go of Eijiro’s hand and move away, but then he squeezed it at the same time Eijiro did when they saw the screen light up. It was a message from an unknown number. It was one that Todoroki knew was Izuku’s.

The flower in his chest was no longer wilting.

A message. They got a message from him. And for now, a message was good enough.

Unknown Number:
“I’m not going to be in school. I won’t be able to present the group project with you guys, but I finished and typed out my portion of the presentation. Speaker notes and research is on the doc.”
“Thank you guys for caring earlier.”

The flower bloomed.

Todoroki read the message over and over again, even if it was just about the group project, they had gotten a reply. Izuku was okay. He was here. He was safe. He showed the other two and the tension in their shoulders looked like it had gone away. Especially Katsuki’s; usually the blond had been asleep by now, but the whole ordeal made him unable to sleep.

With the reassurance that Izuku was fine, Katsuki dragged them to bed and they were able to sleep.

A giggle pulled him towards the person making the noise.The blurry face contorted to one that was soft and gentle, freckled face and green eyes staring back at him. His smile was soft and Todoroki felt himself grumble something before his face turned to the bed again.

The soft laugh came again, though there was a little huff that went with it. It all felt so real, Todoroki could practically feel how his hair was being tucked behind his ear. His eyes went back to see soft green eyes.

“Shoto…you know I have to leave.”

“Don’t,” Todoroki felt him saying, a sort of soft, desperate whine leaving him, “Stay.”

“You know I can’t stay forever. I’ll always have to leave,” Izuku hummed. He was so close to him, laying near him on the bed enough to where Todoroki could feel the warmth of his body. But then that warmth started to leave when Izuku started to vanish from thin air. Todoroki felt his heart drop when it felt like the bed was tipping over and he was free falling into a void.

It left him with his heart beating rapidly in his chest when he woke up from the fright of falling in his dream. He looked around, eyes soon squinting at the bright light that filtered through the window of his room. Something warm weighed in his lap and he looked to find Eijiro. Ah, so it must’ve been a shared bed type of night. Katsuki was likely already up and about; he liked to start his days early.

Todoroki lightly moved Eijiro off of him and tucked the redhead back into the bed. He leaned down and gave a light kiss to his forehead when moving his bangs out of the way. The action left Todoroki with a warm heart. Eijiro always looked so adorable with his hair down, and he didn’t do it often so Todoroki was always happy when he would have to move his hair out of the way to get to his forehead.

Todoroki went to find Katsuki. He half expected him to be making something in their shared kitchen, and half expected him to be up and doing workouts or stretches. A couple days went by since they found Izuku in the bathroom. It was Wednesday, and the rest of the class finally settled down about Izuku’s leave for the week. Today was also Katsuki’s early class days, which is probably why he was already up. Todoroki knew Eijiro was also supposed to have class, but the redhead’s class likely got canceled, otherwise he wouldn’t be sleeping.

Oddly enough, Todoroki found Katsuki peeking out of their dorm door before completely stepping out, keycard nowhere on his person. That in itself was strange; Katsuki never went out of the dorm without it, so what caught his attention enough to step out of the room without it?

Todoroki went ahead to follow, only to find that Katsuki barely moved a step down the hallway. Because the commotion was all happening right next door.

“Oi!” Katsuki shouted while Todoroki stayed frozen. His shout earned Kaminari’s attention, who had looked to Katsuki. No no…they had those moving carts. Why did they have the dorm’s move-in carts? “What the fuck are you doing?” his blond boyfriend questioned. With that, Kaminari’s face turned into a frown before he rolled the last of the carts into his dorm. The cart was empty, not being full yet.

“Midoriya asked me and Sero to put all his stuff in these. He said it’ll be easier if it’s all packed up before he gets here. The school must’ve approved of it because they gave us his room key.”

Todoroki felt like the flower in his chest had now withered to ashes.

Chapter Text

It was so stupid. He was so stupid for letting it get to him the way that it did.

Three simple words on a computer was all he had to read before he was bawling his eyes out. He tried to hold it in, clamping his hands over his mouth, but the more he read it, the more the tears started to spill over before a sob broke through. All he was going to do was type out a sentence or two he forgot to put into the speaker notes when he saw it.

‘Are you okay?’ The words flashed on the screen and Midoriya felt his heart catch in his throat. He sat there for a good while before he checked the editing history to see which of them typed it, only to see that it wasn’t Shoto that typed it, it was Kiri- Eijiro. He knew that what happened last week on his birthday should’ve made him think that maybe things couldn’t go back to the way that they were, but seeing that genuine concern from him made Midoriya feel how he did before. Like he got a taste of how things used to be between the four of them.

He really wanted that to change. Even if he can’t get far, things between them has to change whether they like it or-

“Gh-!” Midoriya barely grunted out in surprise before he was shoved back and tackled on his bed. Wet kisses tickled his face, making laughter mix in with his sobs. “Kiko!” he giggled, “I’m okay!” He grabbed a handful of fur as he tried to get the large dog off of him, only half reminding himself that he had to use commands if he wanted her to get off. “Kiko!” He began when the sobs stopped and the giggles were sort of out of his system, “Off.”

He was surprised at her obedience as the dog got off of him and simply sat on the bed, though he shouldn’t really be surprised considering she was already trained.

“Good girl,” Midoriya smiled and reached into his side bag for a treat. Kiko just looked at the treat in his hand that he offered and Midoriya tilted his head the same way that she did, “What? You don’t want your treat?” He took a moment to think and was about to put it back before he spoke, “Eat..?” His hesitance made her hesitate, but when he moved his hand closer, Kiko carefully grabbed the treat with her mouth.

Turns out, UA finally had his service dog ready for him. He didn’t even know that was still happening, so it was surprising when his mom picked him up from the nursing building with a huge dog in the back seat. She told him all about the dog, Kiko. She was about a year or two old and she was a Bernese Mountain Dog. She was so patient and Midoriya already loved her so much from the past couple days he’s spent with her. Nezu advised that he used this week to get used to being with her and learning the commands she knew.

And Kiko was a great help already. She stuck by him and helped him sleep better since she would cuddle up to him, she helped him with nightmares when he had one a day or two ago, and recently, she helped him with the meltdown and panic attack that he had on Wednesday when he had received news. He still didn’t know how he was going to go about next week, but he at least hoped that Kiko would make enduring it a tiny bit better.

“A dog…?”

What in the actual hell was Aizawa talking about.

One thing Bakugo knows is that he and his boyfriends were just about to go back to their room to relax after just giving their presentation, and the next, Aizawa is pulling the three of them aside after class. While Bakugo thought it was mainly to tell them that they did a good job or some shit without Deku being there, Bakugo felt a little anxious when he thought about the possibility of the conversation being about Deku. And while Aizawa did tell them that they did well on the project, Bakugo didn’t expect him to ask about a damn dog of all things.

Aizawa nodded at Eijiro’s confusion, “We need to arrange some things. I just want to make sure that none of you three are allergic to dogs and don’t mind them.”

“We don’t and we aren’t…but Mr. Aizawa what does that have to do with us?” Shoto blinked.

A sigh fell from Aizawa’s lips as he glanced to the side. Bakugo was about ready to open his mouth and demand answers, but the beginning of what the man started with made Bakugo shut up. “Midoriya…” he trailed off a bit as he tried to find his words, “You might have noticed that he has move-out carts in his room currently and that his stuff was packed away. Well, Shinso has a cat as you three might know. Dogs and cats don’t make the best combination.”

Bakugo listened on as a confused look started to appear on his face. “Just spit it out, old man!” He barked.

Bakugo could practically see the way Aizawa had to stop himself from sighing again and possibly from rolling his eyes. “Midoriya would have to move into your extra room, so I have to ask you three to clear out the extra room that you have in case it’s being used right now. He’ll be returning Monday.”

Loading…Loading…. Wait- What the fuck?

“What?” He’s sure Eijiro would’ve laughed under different circumstances when they all said that at the same time, but right now, Eijiro was just as shocked as he and Shoto were. What the fuck does a dog have to do with Deku moving into their dorm? And what the hell does the dog have to do with anything, really?

“The school approved of a service dog for Midoriya, so since that’s the case, he can’t be in his current room because of Shinso’s cat. Considering the four bedroom dorms are the biggest and his dog needs a lot of space, we would have to move him to your room specifically. The triple rooms and double rooms are booked, and his mother advised against leaving him in a single dorm due to her concerns about personal issues.”

Just hearing that made swallowing harder, Bakugo feeling like his saliva had gotten four times thicker from how sick he felt hearing that. Did- were things really that bad to where Deku needed a service dog to accompany him? He knew what he saw in the bathroom was really serious, but was it so bad and so often to the point where his mom found out? How long had it been if that was the case? Deku had just gotten back from America a month or so ago so…was he doing that the whole time in America too? Was that why he had lost so much weight?

And also, back the fuck up. Another important thing. Deku was going to be living with them now. Holy fucking shit.

Not one of them responded, which left Aizawa to speak again. Though this time his gaze turned deadly as he lowered his voice. “Nezu didn’t want him to dorm with you three at all. So if you mess this up, I can almost guarantee that you won’t be seeing him ever again.” He leaned away and half turned to leave, “Not to mention my decisions would likely not be held as highly by Nezu if you do mess it up. So just know that for Monday.” With his back turned, Aizawa showed the back of his hand as a goodbye before leaving the three of them in the classroom.

Fuck fuck FUCK.

Bakugo managed to snap out of things before Shoto and Eijiro did. “Let’s go fuckers,” He started to haul them along as he tugged their shirts, “I’m not letting anyone see our room looking like a damn pigstye.”

It felt like being dunked in a cold bucket of ice, resurfacing only to find out that the air filled your lungs and you were unable to breathe.

Kiko must’ve sensed his uneasiness, as she rubbed her head against his shoulder as he looked out the window at UA. It was really intimidating, but he’s pretty sure he could handle it by himself. Paws being squished on his lap reminded him that he wasn’t going to actually be doing this all alone with Kiko by his side now. She then settled her head on his shoulder and it was then that he was able to bring himself back to reality as the car parked.

He saw his mom turn around from the front seat and look back at him, a worried look etched onto her features. “Okay, Izuku. Do you have everything? Your bag, your backpack?” That at least made a nervous chuckle come out of him, a bit of fondness seeping into it because his mom was always so worried for him. Though sometimes it was a little much, his heart warmed at the concern.

“I’m fine, mom,” he looked at her before he turned to lightly nudge Kiko’s head from his shoulder. “I got my backpack on and my bag right here. I have Kiko’s stuff and the rest of her food in here. I’ll make sure to go shopping to get her more stuff.”

“Alright, I’ll just send you the money for that,” his mom said when she stepped out of the car shortly after he himself did, with Kiko in tow. The big fluffy dog just sat close to Midoriya, and he barely got to glance at her before his mom was hugging him tightly. “Be safe, okay? Just remember that you always have someone to talk to. Please let people help you,” her eyes got watery as she said so, her bottom lip starting to wobble when she squeezed him one last time before pulling away.

“I’ll be fine, mom. I promise I’ll try to call and stuff when I can,” he gave her a soft smile, the nerves from minutes ago rolling off of him in small waves, though the bulk of his nerves were still there, they were temporarily blanketed with the comfort that came with talking to his mom.

His mom just gave him a watery smile, blinking for a second before her smile became wider and she gave a small nod. Her attention then turned to Kiko, and she leaned down to adjust the ‘service dog’ vest on her before giving the dog a pat on the head. “And Kiko, you better take care of my Izuku for me, okay?”

“Mommm,” he felt himself whine, taking a quick glance around.

All his mother did was chuckle at his embarrassed whine, giving her best warm smile, “Okay, honey I know. You don’t want me ruining your reputation.”

Though she did so with an upwards tilt of her lips and a slight eye roll, Midoriya still felt as though he had to explain himself. “No! I didn’t mean it like that, mom,” he pleaded his case, watching her go around the car to get into the driver’s seat. She looked up at him one last time with the car door open, peaking over the car’s hood.

“I know,” she laughed, “Just go have fun, alright? Love you, sweetheart.”

Midoriya looked away a little, only slightly embarrassed this time as he waved her off with a mumbled, “I love you too, mom.” He knew she wouldn’t leave until he started to get going towards the dorms. And as much as he didn’t want to, he turned around in order to start heading to the building, sending his mom one last wave goodbye before he was far enough for her to start driving off. He sighed, looking down as Kiko walked at his side, her eyes trailing around curiously. While he almost did get wrapped up in all of his feelings at that moment, there was a break in the tension when Kiko started to run after a squirrel. He had to run after her, but thankfully when she heard his command, it only took a second time of repeating it for her to come back.

The little mishap left him a little less anxious when he finally did get to the dorms. He realized that he picked a good time to go, especially when he saw close to no one in the common room, save for Jiro, who had her earbuds in as she studied and Iida who was probably studying for an exam weeks from now as well. He must’ve caught the corner of Iida’s eye, because the other approached him. He was probably being polite when he didn’t make a huge fuss about Kiko, only acknowledging her with a moment's glance, likely leaving that information up to Midoriya to reveal.

“Hello Midoriya, welcome back!” His hands made chopping motions that Midoriya smiled at.

“It’s good to see you again too, Iida.”

“I’m glad you’re okay,” he mentioned, and Midoriya saw out of the corner of his eye how Jiro looked up at his booming voice. Midoriya just caught her gaze as she waved, and he waved back before looking back to Iida. “I was a little concerned when you were said to be gone for a week and then Kaminari had mentioned you packing your room up.”

“Ah, yeah,” He started, scratching the back of his neck. Well he supposed that he would have to mention it at some point, so he better start practicing, “Obviously you can see why.” He motioned to the dog next to him, “This is Kiko. She’s my new service dog. And uhm…Shinso has a cat so I have to switch dorms.”

“Oh!” Iida looked as if he had a moment of realization, “Then I suppose that the survey taken about being allergic to dogs makes sense now. The packing as well…” Before Midoriya could start to steer the conversation away and try to get it to dull down so he could leave, Iida left him an opening, “Okay then! I’ll let you get situated before some of the others get back from their classes and whatnot.”

“O-Oh okay!” Midoriya smiled wider, “See you later, then!” He waved and looked down to motion Kiko for a moment as they headed to the elevators. He held his breath as he got to his floor, exhaling when he survived the ride up. Okay. That was the easy part. Now comes the hard part: Moving into his new room.

Chapter Text

Uneasiness was not something he felt often. No, he would often have Shoto and Katsuki there to quell and demolish any sort of feeling of uneasiness before it even started. It’s been hard, but they found a way to pick him back up time and time again, reassuring him in their own ways when he was unsure about something.

But they weren’t here, they weren’t able to help him this time, as he locked his eyes with black ones, knowing there was an emerald green under the charcoal colored contacts. He still wasn’t sure why Izuku had worn them. He stopped wearing the glasses, at least, but the contacts and the makeup seemed to be a habit he never shook.

His gaze went to track movement by Izuku, eyes widening the slightest bit at the sight of a huge dog. But that wasn’t the only thing; a vest covered the dog partially, and Kirishima took a moment to notice the red lettering that said ‘service dog’. Was…everything that bad…?

He heard Izuku clear his throat, “This is Kiko. We won’t get in your way. And sorry about…this.”

Kirishima barely had the time to try and pull his thoughts together before Izuku continued on, asking which room was his. “Oh- uh…left side.” He strangled to get out more, like an actual hello, but now he just seemed like a complete jerk with his curt response. Midoriya started to push his cart that way when Kirishima adjusted himself on the couch, “Straight ahead when you get to that small hallway.”

A small nod came from the other, and he looked more sure of his footsteps as he followed Kirishima’s directions. And they were supposed to be working on repairing everything, right? That’s what they agreed on.

“But we can’t act like nothing fucking happened,” Katsuki explained, “He’s gonna be confused if we just act like we did in high school. Mixed signals and shit.”

“We have to be direct, but not overbearing. We have to make sure he knows we’re trying to be better, but we have to be subtle,” Shoto pitched in.

“We have to be direct but subtle?” Kirishima asked. It was really difficult to grasp. He wished that they could just wipe away the past couple months and go back to before they saw Izuku again, just so Izuku didn’t have to know how big of an asshole they all were. Especially Kirishima; he felt so bad, and he felt even worse when he saw the look on Izuku’s face before the other left after delivering birthday gifts. They all talked about the guilt they held, sharing reassuring hugs when they cried or frowned. After they had everything together, they settled on a deal.

“So we just go for being friends for now, right?” Kirishima established, watching the other two nod, “And if he wants to, we can start dating?” More nods. “...and if he doesn’t want anything to do with us…”

“We leave him be,” Shoto finished. Hearing the words left a bitter taste in Kirishima’s mouth, but he reluctantly agreed.

He had to try. Even if he ended up being ignored, he had to try. Try to fix everything. Bit by bit. “I could help…?” Kirishima half asked, unsure of himself.

Bit by bit, even if it was difficult.

Izuku paused just before he walked into his room fully. Kirishima held his breath, waiting for his response. “I’ve got it,” was all he got in response. Izuku hadn’t even looked his way. Kirishima deflated at the response. Right. This wasn’t going to be easy. It wasn’t supposed to be easy. It shouldn’t. They should have to work to get their friendship back, especially with how they treated Izuku.

While Kirishima acknowledged that those actions were out of anger and hurt, he and his boyfriends took that talk that they had to dissect all of those ugly feelings and help get them out in healthier ways. Because they were hurting, but Izuku was also hurting. And as of now, they didn’t know the extent of that hurt. Well, he and Katsuki didn’t. Shoto urged them to make up with Izuku so they could talk to him themselves.

But how could they talk to him when they screwed up so badly?

Midoriya tried to busy himself with unpacking everything once he had all of the move-in carts in his room. He took a deep breath and looked down at Kiko when she put one of her paws on his leg and made a small noise.

“I’m okay, Kiko,” he went down to the floor and sat down with her. Immediately she crawled into his lap and started to snuggle into him, “I just need to take a moment.” He said it to her like she understood. And in a way he thought she would, but she didn’t seem to bat an eye at the comment. Still, he took her affection as reassurance. He’s sure she could tell he was thrumming with anxiety being here. It was like a ticking time bomb, being there.

So much so, that he couldn’t get a wink of sleep.

Kiko would try to make him sleep, soft whines coming from her, but eventually she gave in and fell asleep on the bed. Midoriya just scrolled through his phone and continued to pet the huge dog.

Sleep didn’t come any easier in the following week, and Kiko didn’t relent on trying to help him, no matter how stubborn Midoriya was. She would even refuse to eat if she didn’t see Midoriya eating a little of something at least. He didn’t miss the way the trio tried to subtly get him to eat more; though he knew that was only because of how they found Midoriya last time in the bathroom.

Interactions with the other three were not common. Sometimes he would be bold and be able to have a light chat with Shoto, but he tried to avoid them all as much as he could. There were times where he would see them, and he would be surprised that for the most part, that they acknowledged him with a small greeting. But he’s pretty sure that was just for the sake of it. Maybe Aizawa made them be nice; he wouldn’t put it past the man.

Mr. Yagi visited once or twice, and that’s when he was the most chatty in his dorm room; though even then he was a bit quiet. Because there was a palpable tension in the air Mr. Yagi didn’t seem to pick up on when he sat down with all of them. He claimed he wanted to check up on all of them, so they were kind of forced to sit in the common area of the dorm.

Midoriya was thankfully able to come up with the excuse that he needed to take Kiko out on a walk.

The tension in his shoulders was able to be relieved when he found Sero in the common room, who smiled at him and spotted Kiko walking with him. Midoriya was glad that the class didn’t ask too much about why he needed a service dog. In fact, they were all happy to play with Kiko and spoil her with food and treats. They were also happy to go on walks with her and Midoriya, which is what Sero did, ultimately helping him calm down as they talked and walked. It made him forget about the ticking time bomb of a dorm he lived in temporarily, and he was always thankful for times like those.

Kaminari had a habit of coming over and rotating between talking to him, and then to Eijiro and Kacchan. It made Midoriya a bit sad, when he could hear their laughter from his room, knowing he didn’t belong with them and that maybe he would never be able to fit in with them. That Kaminari fit in so well with all three of them with his outgoing personality. He saw how the blond was able to make the room brighter somehow, while Midoriya felt like he just dulled the room every time he walked in. Which is why when Kaminari once peeped in his room to get him to join them, Midoriya politely declined and claimed he wasn’t feeling very social.

It was something he had gotten very used to admitting to the blond, since the blond always wanted to invite him to group events. Shinso was the one that brought it up to Kaminari when all four of them were sitting in their living room.

“Midoriyaaa! Come onnn!” Kaminari whined. He had been trying to get Midoriya to come with him to yet another hangout that week.

At Kaminari’s insistence, Midoriya sighed and was just ready to get ready when Sero stopped him. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Sero urged. He stood up straight, getting off of the wall he had previously been leaning on when he waited for Kaminari and Midoriya. Midoriya looked over at said blond to see what his reaction was, noting the pout on his face. Wanting to pacify him, Midoriya stood up and was ready to steel himself for another day out even though he wasn’t really feeling it. He loved his new friends, and he really felt a warmth in his chest knowing just how much he was wanted by his friends.

“Kaminari.” Shinso spoke, his voice sounding like he was giving a warning to the blond. The purple haired male made a gesture to Midoriya as he continued speaking, “I don’t think Midoriya has as much energy like you do. His social battery might be closer to mine.” Hearing that, Midoriya looked over at Shinso, where his eyes met purple. “Would you rather stay? You can say no to him. He understands that sometimes people need time to recharge.”

Midoriya was ready to protest in fear he might make Kaminari upset, but the blond spoke up, “Oh! Yeah I didn’t realize. I won’t be upset! Shinso doesn’t have a good social battery, and I don’t get upset with him, I get it.” A happy smile was plastered on his face, a genuine one that let Midoriya know that he wasn’t lying.

Time and time again Midoriya was reassured by the three and even persuaded to get him to tell him things like that. It was really nice but it gave him a sense of longing when he interacted with them, with it reminding him of how he used to interact with the trio. The same trio that he at least had been getting a little more casual with.

Maybe closer than he thought.

A knock sounded at his door and he dropped his book from where it was raised on his lap. He looked up and Kiko did the same, perking up at the sound of a visitor. “Oi, come on. Food’s done.”

Midoriya jumped a bit at Kacchan’s voice, but he didn’t find it surprising. The three of them were keen on making sure that he was eating, along with some of his teachers. Mr. Yagi came by sometimes and Aizawa stopped by once or twice, though he often checked on him after class.

“Okay,” Midoriya called, yet he didn’t move. Somehow, Kacchan sensed it, because he heard a small scolding from the blond for him to get out there. Midoriya could only sigh before he closed his textbook and started to walk out of his room. Though he was a bit confused by the setup. Normally the three of them would be seated at the stools where the counter was and Midoriya would be able to take his food with him back to the room but he was stopped.

It was Shoto that stopped him.

“Can you stay here?”

Midoriya turned, with Kiko at his side as both of them stopped in their tracks. He looked at all three of them and heard a sigh. From who? He didn’t know because he was just too unnerved to focus. He could barely hold Shoto’s gaze for a moment before he had looked away. He was going to find a way to decline before there was a rustling of bags that made him stop with his mouth hanging open slightly.

He looked over to see Eijiro messing with the bag that he heard. The redhead looked up to him hesitantly, “I…got some stuff for Kiko if that’s okay.”

“Oh…thank you,” he struggled to say, looking down at the dog for some sort of distraction.

“Kiko,” Eijiro sounded hesitant calling her over, like he was careful by even acknowledging her. But Midoriya wanted to relieve his worries by gently sending her over to the redhead. Midoriya could only stare as he watched her, trying to collect himself while Shoto pulled out the chair beside himself. The stools all faced the same way, so Midoriya was glad that while they ate, he didn’t have to look at them. Eijiro was at one end, followed by Kacchan, Shoto, and then him.

The silence was filled by the rustling of the bags as Eijiro introduced whatever he got for Kiko. She would come over and show Midoriya everything she got, dropping it off at his feet once he praised it. Other than that, it was filled with the clanking of chopsticks against the bowls. And then the silence broke. The one who broke it was someone Midoriya least expected.

“I meant to tell you,” he began, a lump in his throat. He blurted it out and didn’t mean to say anything, but soon enough the rest of his confession came out, “The day of the party…I couldn’t, so I left. I…” He trailed off and he wasn’t even sure if the other three were listening so he stopped talking.

“We’re sorry.” It was Eijiro that said it, and Midoriya would be lying if he said his breath didn’t hitch.

His vision blurred with the threat of tears being shed, but he was given a moment to collect himself when there was a knock at the door, followed by Ashido and Kaminari saying something obnoxiously. It was almost like perfect timing, because by then, Midoriya finished his food(the small portion they gave him) and went to rinse his bowl off in the sink quickly before he sent a small glance to Kacchan. Though he was surprised at the fact that there wasn’t a glare there, but instead his eyes were wide, and Midoriya couldn’t tell if it was fear or surprise that filled those crimson eyes, but he didn’t stick around to find out.

“Thank you for the food, Kacchan,” that was all he was able to mumble. That’s all he was strong enough to say. Because he could never be strong enough to be bolder. He was always weak when it came to them. He was always just weak in general; his father always reminded him of that.

So instead of facing everything and doing what he’s been meaning to for the past couple weeks since he’s been here, he just turned away. Just like he had done in high school.

He retreated to his room but left it open a little in case Kiko needed to come in. He assumed it was her when he was settled on his bed, but the door creaked open to reveal someone. His eyes looked up to meet Shoto’s dual colored ones.

“Can I come in?”

Reluctantly, Midoriya nodded, hearing the way the chatter outside dulled when the other closed the room door behind him. Shoto seemed comfortable enough around him, given he decided to sit down on the bed close to him. He was handed something and he took it into his hands gently. “Eijiro meant to give you this.”

Looking at the little All Might keychain, Midoriya knew that the dam broke and tears were pouring from his eyes. He turned it around and observed it as best as he could with blurred eyes. It looked like the exact same one that Midoriya had given him in high school, but he gave him a Crimson Riot one.

“He found it when we were out one day. He didn’t even hesitate to buy it,” Shoto explained. Midoriya could only cry while Shoto just sat at his side.

“Tell him I said thank you,” Midoriya choked out, holding the thing close to his chest. He always wanted the keychain, but he never bought it for himself. He never wanted to spend money on himself, but that day, he did have money that day for one. When he looked at them, his eyes went to the side and he saw the Crimson Riot keychain and thought it would be perfect for Eijiro. He remembered the other being so happy that he hugged him. Thinking of those memories made everything bittersweet, a mix of a laugh and a cry coming out of him as he thumbed the gift.

Shoto only hummed in response. He huffed after a moment, “Izuku.” The gentle call of his name caught him off guard, but he listened as his tears kept falling. “You need to tell them so they can understand. They figured out some for themselves, because they want to know. They want answers just like I did. Because they want this to work just as much as you and I do.” His voice came gentle and soft, that deep richness of his voice blending in. It made Midoriya calm down, just like it always had.

“I know,” Midoriya’s voice was watery, “But it’s…hard. I know what I did and how much it hurt you three. And I know you pushed me away because of that. I’m just afraid of it happening again…I don’t think I can handle it. You three getting mad or me hurting you.”

“Izuku. Communication was why that happened. Not talking was how it fell apart and talking is how we fix it. That’s how we’re fixing our friendship, right?” Shoto asked. A hesitant touch to his arm was there before the hand had settled, the attempt to comfort making Midoriya calm down a little. Enough for the tears to slowly stop.

Midoriya nodded, “I just- they…everytime I try to I just think of everything that happened and it makes me too worked up to talk to them. Thinking of how they might react-”

“They might be angry, but I promise it won’t be anger towards you. They were never angry, I was never angry towards you. We were all just angry and hurt over the situation. They care too much about you to hurt you intentionally. They know that they have and now we’re all trying to fix it.”

Midoriya hummed, wiping his tears with his arm as he took a deep breath, ignoring the way it stuttered from his crying. “I’m just scared…” When Shoto attempted to lean on his arm, Midoriya flinched back. He saw a flash of hurt in Shoto’s eyes and Midoriya blurted out the explanation, “The scar.”

And he knew Shoto knew exactly what he was talking about when he saw his eyes widen in realization. He’d never told Yaomomo or Camie and Toga, but he told his professors and Shoto almost everything. From high school till now. And the scar that his father gave him was one of those things that he mentioned. One of the last ones he’d gotten. It still gave him nightmares, seeing all the blood, feeling it, tasting it, feeling that sinking feeling in his gut that made him think he was going to die there on that floor. Seeing the knife and the chunk of skin on his floor…

“Ah…did it heal up okay?”

He didn’t get to answer when there was scratching at the door. “Yeah yeah,” he heard Kacchan’s voice from outside, “I don’t blame you but you don’t have to yap so much.” There was a light knock on the door. “Oi. She’s freakin out but I got her shit.”

“Come in,” Shoto spoke up for him when he saw Midoriya couldn’t.

Midoriya looked down until Kiko trotted into his line of vision. She hopped on the bed before laying on his lap. He huffed out a smile as he started to pet her, “Thank you,” he cooed at her.

“I’m putting the bag on your desk,” Kacchan announced. Midoriya only nodded, hoping the blond was looking his way. His heartbeat rose and panic settled in. He was in his room, alone with Shoto, Kacchan’s boyfriend. While Midoriya knew that they liked him at some point, he’s pretty sure any romantic feelings had left them long ago, and all they were aiming for now was a friendship. So would Kacchan be angry with him?

He was left frozen when a shadow loomed over him. He barely had the time to look up before he was being guided into a firm chest and arms were wrapped around his shoulders. The familiar comfort washed over him, smelling the familiar scent that clung to Kacchan, the same smell that made Midoriya calm down and feel safe.

The waterworks started all over again and Midoriya’s arms immediately found their way around the blond as he choked out a small sob. Kiko silently nudged her head into his belly but he couldn’t form the words to tell her he was okay.

“Let us make it up to you,” the blond got out. Midoriya was too preoccupied with trying to get himself together that he didn’t notice Kiko trying to nudge Kacchan away. Nor did he notice the way the door was slightly open and someone was there listening closely.

All Midoriya could do was hold on tighter and bury himself into the other while he could feel the familiar gesture of Shoto rubbing his back. Their hug was short-lived when Kacchan pulled away, looking at Kiko as explanation.

“Kiko, be nice,” he lightly scolded before he reassured her, “I’m okay.” A whine came from her like she didn’t believe him so Midoriya pulled her up to his face and gave her a kiss and nuzzled her forehead.

“She’s sweet,” Shoto commented idly.

“Good to know she’s here to stop you from doing stupid shit.”

A laugh bubbled from the green haired male but he kept his gaze down on Kiko. “Yeah, I’m glad she’s here.” He wanted to add on that he was glad that they all were, but he wanted to wean away from the conversation about them for today. Maybe he would be able to talk about them for longer eventually.

Maybe I can be with them, Midoriya thought as he watched Kacchan and Shoto leave the room, his hand finding its way curled around the keychain. And that night, it stayed curled around his hand while Kiko curled up next to him.

Sleep finally came to him for the first time in a while.

Chapter Text

Time travel was something Midoriya found himself thinking of often.

Not because he was a theorist or had some crazy idea of how to make one, but simply because he just wanted to be anywhere but the present most of the time. Oh how he wished that so often last year.

Maybe then he wouldn’t be waking up to nightmares, unable to sleep because of the memories or fabricated terrors his mind conjured up in the nighttime.

How he wished he could go back and tell himself to run. To do anything that he could to escape his father, whether that be staying with Kacchan, Eijiro, and Shoto, or running away with just the clothes on his back. He would do anything to go back further and find the courage to tell the police what was actually going on instead of making those three who wanted to help him look like fools.

How he wished to go back that night and tell them everything. Tell them about how his father wanted him to go to America. How he wanted to hold them and beg them. Beg them to wait for him to come back while tears ran down his face.

But then he would ground himself when he would feel fur clumped in his clammy hands, and Kiko would be at his side. He would look into those green puppy eyes and remember that he’s here. In the present.

The present where time machine’s didn’t exist. The reality where he didn’t do any of those things he wished he had done. The reality where those three didn’t wait for him and instead moved on.

And now, all Midoriya could do was explain everything to them and hope that he could start to do the same.

So, he held onto Kiko and put his head to hers. Through tears, he whispered to her and the dark room a lie he’d been well rehearsed in saying, “I’m-…” he had to gulp air into his lungs to force the words out, “..fine, I’ll be-“ another gasp, “fine…” Kiko whined, not liking his reply, especially when it was coupled with his hyperventilating. He tried to close his eyes tightly, hoping that if he squeezed them tightly enough, the images of his own blood pooling under him would go away. That the smell and taste of it in his mouth and nose would disappear. That he wouldn’t be- that he wouldn’t feel so…

His vision was blurred when he opened his eyes. Tears were falling, but the things around him were blurred as well. He felt warm, but in a bad sense, like a bland warmth that he felt when I was sick or about to pass out. Not only- oh. Oh- oh no. He slumped forward, drained of energy but feeling the need to move forward and out of bed. Fur slipped from his hands and soon enough out of sight.

Where- where was she going? Why wasn’t she helping?

“Wow, not even a dog could love you.”

Midoriya’s mind buzzed and whirled and the voice, playing it back in his head like he was holding an unfamiliar object and flipping it different ways to make sense of it. Memories played in his mind, trying to place where he had heard the voice until he finally found the puzzle that went with his missing piece. He found the puzzle in the form of his high school bullies.

“He has the face that I’m not even sure his mother could even love,” another cackled. With the words came the remembrance of being used like a punching bag.

“Stop being a fucking wimp and actually fight. Hit me! I wanna see how weak you really are.”

An image of that boy at the fight him and Toga were in came up in his mind, the guy looking at him like he was worse than the dirt beneath his feet, “You shouldn’t even fucking be here. What did you do to be with the popular kids? Blackmail them? Suck their dicks? Probably both. You dirty slut.”

Midoriya tried grabbing onto something, anything to ground himself and break away from the moment. “Things I see- things I hear,” he attempted to look for those things he remembered learning about when coming down from an attack. The problem was that he was nowhere near being done, and his words only came out as a frantic slur.

A ball floated up from his chest to his throat, a bland taste in his mouth while he tried to brace himself from the memory. Only, it was too late when he could almost feel his face against the concrete again, his nose feeling wet and the taste of copper in his mouth, his glasses shattering and the commotion of the kids around cheering or going “oooohh,”. He could feel fingers digging into his head of curls and see spots of black in his vision, begging with a “please” before he was slammed back down.

The pleas didn’t stop there, though. They continued well into another memory. Memories of his father coming back, both drunk and relaxed, though still pissy if he didn’t get his way. And now was one of those, where Midoriya would barricade his door and sob on his bed, screaming and asking for his father to stop and leave him alone. And that was on a good day, where Midoriya could protect himself and see the signs before his father even got close to touching him.

And if Hisashi couldn’t, then he would go into a rage. A rage Midoriya had seen way too often. The same kind of rage that almost ended his life.

The boot on his chest- the kick that left the air escaping his lungs and making- no. This was now. The feeling of- oh. This feeling was also familiar too now. Although normally he would be prepared when it happened since he would initiate it.

“Urrrk-“ Midoriya gagged and puffed up his face, hoping that would stop it, but it didn’t.

And a sob ripped through him, feeling the disgusting taste of vomit on his tongue and smelling it in his nose, feeling like he failed all over again. He was trying to get better, but somehow everything was just getting worse.

A hand on his right arm made him flinch away, reminded of the huge scar that lay there thanks to his father. It was like hearing silence and screaming all at once in his mind with how everything was hitting him. It left him overwhelmed and confused.

Oh how he wished for a Time Machine.

He didn’t know how long he had been out for, but when he was somewhat aware of his surroundings again and coming down, he had Kiko at his side. Tracking the foul odor that invaded his nose, he assessed his vomit covered sheets and self.

Clean the sheets, shower, bed.

That’s how it should’ve gone. But when he stepped out of his room with dirty clothes and sheets he half washed in his own sink, it was well past 2am, so the others should have been asleep. Only, he had to blink down at wide-eyed faces of shock and concern when he was at his doorway.

As elated as he should’ve been for their concern, his fear and anger poked out. He didn’t need them to be concerned. He shouldn’t have to rely on them to comfort him everytime he got upset over something so stupid. He wasn’t some- helpless…person. Or- was he, really? In their eyes- was he just some incompetent, broken person that needed help with everything?

Kiko circling their feet before nudging Eijiro, Shoto, and Kacchan forward was a dead giveaway and told him why they were there.

“You can go back to sleep,” Midoriya murmured, gently pushing past them with the laundry basket in his arms, “She shouldn’t have woken you three up. Sorry.”

“Izuku-“ Shoto’s groggy voice of concern broke the silence. Midoriya could hear the way they started to follow him to the common area of their dorm.

He didn’t reply or show any indication that he did hear what Shoto was going to say. Midoriya was tight-lipped and figured that it was best if he didn’t talk if he didn’t want to risk sounding so vulnerable. But he didn’t have a choice when he felt an uneasiness settle in him, that scared feeling coming back when he was crouched down by the washing machine and those three hovered around him.

“Stop- don’t crowd me,” Midoriya strained. He put all of his focus on trying to do the laundry instead of focusing on them. He heard the call of his name before there was a hand on his shoulder that he swatted away immediately. “DON’T- touch. Me,” he gritted out and looked at the floor near their feet as a warning. When silence followed, he turned back around to put the rest of his clothes in the washer and start it. He didn’t even think about detergent, sighing to himself when he opened the compartment and realized he would have to make the trip back to his room.

Just as he stood, Midoriya was taken aback when he saw a bottle of it pop up in his peripheral.

“Figured you would need it, and it was sitting on your dresser…” Kacchan murmured, looking away when Midoriya looked down at him. “And- you…two..can use my bed so you don’t have to wait for the sheets to be done. We were using Eijiro’s room anyway.”

“Um…” Midoriya nodded dumbly, ears starting to burn once he calmed down and realized he must’ve looked like such an idiot and a jerk to have lashed out the way he did. Yet, they still wanted to help. “Thanks,” he decided to say before he put the detergent in. Once it was, he started the washer and turned back to the blond, “I- she sheds a little…” he mumbled.

“I need to wash them anyway. Besides, I owe it to the furball,” Kacchan replied, starting to move to the other side of the dorm where Shoto’s room was.

“Why’s that?” He asked, looking down to pet Kiko as a distraction. He should really be getting into the shower so he could get to bed, but for some reason, he would rather be with them than anywhere else if he could help it.

“Because she’s taking care of you for us.”

The statement made Midoriya freeze, and he didn’t dare to look up unless he wanted to be sobbing again. Yet, as he looked at the floor, his vision blurred with tears at the soft-spoken statement. If the voice was anything to go by, it was Eijiro that said it.

There was another small pause that came with a hitch in their breath. It was Shoto, but all he had to say was, “Get some sleep. Goodnight, Izuku.”

And that’s all it took.

The next morning, he wrote a message to their group chat.

Izuku 🤍:
“If you guys are available, can we all sit down and talk tonight?”

Chapter Text

Midoriya actually fucked up.

He didn’t even remember typing out that message so early in the morning. It was like a spur-of-the-moment thing. He was still only half awake when he had sent the message, but once he saw what he put, he was going to delete it. It would be okay as long as none of them saw the message. After all, if it was early enough, maybe they hadn’t. If Midoriya just deleted it before they could see it-

A light knock and a click of the door had Midoriya looking up from his phone. Panicked, he shut it off and made it flop back down on his bed and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.

“…he’s not-! Kats! Just borrow some of my clothes! He’ll probably wanna sleep in!” It sounded like Eijiro was whisper-shouting.

“Shht-! Shut it!” Kacchan hissed. Midoriya could hear shuffling around the room. Not only that, but the bed around him moved, only for him to realize Kiko was shuffling to the end of the bed.

“Yea, hi. I know, I’m just getting something real quick. It’s my room,” Midoriya could hear Kacchan whispering to the dog. It was odd, really, Midoriya doesn’t think he’s ever heard the blond whisper. The light thumping of Kiko’s tail swishing could be heard, so Midoriya could only assume he was petting her until the thumping stopped. A minute passed before that same noise continued. “Alright. Stay here and keep taking care of him,” Kacchan whispered before leaving.

Midoriya could only wait to hear the door close before he held onto the blanket tightly.

What was wrong with him? What was wrong with them? Shouldn’t they hate him? Shouldn’t they be mad, angry, sad? Why were they being so nice? And what did Midoriya do to seemingly deserve their forgiveness?

He scrubbed away the forming tears in his eyes, finding his phone and grabbing it.

They shouldn’t forgive him. He wasn’t even sure why Shoto did, but…maybe it’s best if they just forgot about everything. Midoriya wouldn’t have to burden them, and they could live as they did before when they were without him. They could go back to their relationship stuff, and Midoriya could go back to…what did he have, really?

It felt like so much was taken away from him. All at the hands of his father. Midoriya hated it, hated himself for allowing it to happen. Frustration poured out of him in the form of tears, and Kiko had come up to lay next to him, her head resting on his chest that was stuttering with uneven breaths.

Why did he let it happen? His father doing all that stuff to him, taking him away, letting him hurt him so badly, why? Midoriya was- he should’ve been old enough to protect himself, right? Was he really that useless?

Lightly nudging Kiko off, he sat up and wiped his eyes, his nose scrunching at the burning sensation. It probably wasn’t the best idea to cry laying down; now his nose felt like he had accidentally gotten water up it.

What would his friends think? What did his friends think, knowing what they know about him and his situation? Did they only ‘care’ because they felt bad? Did they pity him?

Kiko’s small whine and nudged him, pulling Midoriya away from his thoughts temporarily. He glanced over, seeing the early morning light filter through his- Kacchan’s window.

Right. Reminded that he was still in the blond’s room, he walked up to the door. He had to quickly compose himself in case he did see any of the three, but he was really hoping to avoid them.

Luckily for him, he made good on that promise.

Perhaps a bit too much.

Midoriya was slowly drawing in on himself for the past couple weeks.

He managed to avoid the talk with the other three, grateful that they likely didn’t see the message. Avoiding them was more or less like living with a ticking time bomb attached to him at all times. Midoriya would either spend as long as he could on campus, or just spend most of the day in his room, being quiet as possible and only sneaking out of his room to grab a snack when he was certain the other three were either gone or in their rooms.

There had been a couple times where Shoto would text him and ask him if he could do something or if he wanted to join them for dinner, but Midoriya would always find a way to avoid it. He would either pretend like he didn’t see the text in time, say he was busy, or say he wasn’t home. Most days, he would try to stay out with Kiko as much as he could, in the studio and away from mostly everyone else.

Similarly, he started to avoid talking to his friends as well.

And while he appreciated their efforts, he just- couldn’t find it in himself to hangout with them. He didn’t want to go through faking smiles and laughs, keeping up his ‘bubbly’ persona for them. He barely even had the energy to get up and go to class, more or less put on his makeup and put in his contacts.

It was nearing the winter, so Midoriya was at least given a little more leeway when staying inside because of the colder weather.

Though, he couldn’t stay inside too long; Kiko still needed fresh air, and Midoriya himself felt maybe he needed the exercise.

One day, though, Eijiro saw him trying to sneak out with Kiko and avoid them again.

They were both silent, with Midoriya trying to avoid eye contact and go out the door before Eijiro stepped forward. “Um- you taking her out?”

Midoriya hesitated then, looking down at his baggy attire compared to Eijiro’s bundled up self. “Yeah…” he sighed. He loved Kiko, don’t get him wrong. Her company, her help, but sometimes Midoriya wanted to scream because when he thought he could finally sit down and take a break from school work and his mess of a social life, he would have to care for Kiko. And somewhere deep down, he considered the idea that he didn’t deserve her. That maybe someone like him shouldn’t have the responsibility of taking care of her if he couldn’t even be bothered to drag himself out of bed on the weekends or when he didn’t have classes.

“You’re not really…um- suited to go outside, you know,” Eijiro pointed out. “It’s kind of cold out today, and some of your makeup is kinda smeared.”

At the implication of his freckles being exposed, Midoriya shot a hand up to his face.

“I could…take her. For a walk, I mean. If you wanted,” Eijiro was looking at Kiko when he said it, smiling when she spared a glance towards him. “I missed my morning jog this morning and- well I needed to pick up a package from the office, anyway. It’s still kind of early so maybe you could go back to-”

“Ei- Kirishima,” Midoriya called out gently. He watched the redhead lift his gaze. “You don’t have to- ‘play nice’… whatever Mr. Aizawa told you or if you’re doing this because of the whole- bathroom incident, it’s fine.”

He wasn’t dumb. He saw how much nicer these three were being since they found him in the bathroom. He didn’t want to burden them and make them feel like they had to help the poor, sad, abused kid.

“Mi- Izuku…if I can still call you that,” Eijiro said hesitantly, “Is that really what you think? That we’re just- pitying you? That we were forced to be nice?” Midoriya glanced up just enough to see the look Eijiro gave him, the sad, kicked-puppy look he had in his face. “I can’t fully speak on their behalf, but I know that they still care. That I still care. We- jealousy, the pain, the anger, everything just- well, I don’t know- it took over. It blinded us. It made us- me act so stupid.”

“Kiri-”

“Just let me try to make up for it, please?” Eijiro pleaded.

With no energy left to fight, Midoriya sighed and handed Eijiro Kiko’s leash in his waiting hands. “Kiko, walk. Go with Kirishima,” he urged. He wasn’t really sure if she would. He’s not even really sure if service dogs do leave their owners’ sides, ever, but she gave in when she saw Eijiro waiting with a treat. She must’ve smelled Eijiro’s excitement and Midoriya’s exhaustion, because she nudged Midoriya towards his room, making sure he took steps back towards it before sitting down.

“She’s really smart,” Eijiro commented.

“Yeah… Okay, Kiko. I’ll try to go back to bed,” he murmured to her. He took a moment to bend down and get her service dog vest off, feeling odd seeing her without it. This way, she would at least know she was ‘off duty’ so she would actually go with Eijiro. Hesitantly, Midoriya looked up to Eijiro as he sent Kiko to him. “Um…thanks. You can just send her into my room when you’re done. She should just stay with me, anyway.”

And somehow, it became a routine. Eijiro, on the weekends that Midoriya wanted to sleep in, would take Kiko out on walks, sometimes with Kacchan or Shoto as well.

And this past weekend, Midoriya woke up to a little card with snacks on his desk. He had been studying and trying to get the last of his ‘make-up’ work done with the addition of having wrapped up midterms. Essentially, he was getting even less sleep than usual.

‘We hope you can get some sleep.
We thought you needed a little pick-me-up.
Don’t fall asleep at your fucking desk, idiot.’

Midoriya felt tears in his eyes. He didn’t understand. He didn’t understand the why or the how. How people were still reaching out to him when he was nothing but horrible. Ignoring them and hiding himself for the past couple weeks. He was just- boring and mean. Why would anyone keep trying for him. Why hadn’t they given up already? Midoriya was anticipating it, but it never came.

Maybe, he thought, if he kept trying then he would wear them down completely. Even though he loved his friends, sometimes he couldn’t handle being with them. Any interaction made him anxious. He was scared that the more he interacted with them, the more he said or did, then it was more of a chance for them to find a flaw in him. After hangouts, he would find himself reflecting on what he had said and done around them, constantly chastising himself for acting so stupid.

Besides, they seemed well enough on their own and without him, so Midoriya would just have to outlast them.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out in the end.

His friends, so it seems, were very persistent. Maybe a little too persistent.

He had Kaminari wrapped around him now, with the blond clinging onto him. “Midoriya…come onnnnn.” Midoriya wasn’t sure exactly how to handle Kaminari being so insistent on physical contact, but he held through.

Midoriya had to carefully peel Kaminari off of him, but Kiko seemed to dive in head-first and nudge Kaminari away herself. “I’m just- not sure. I’ll think about it,” Midoriya answered. Kaminari had been talking to Kacchan and Eijiro outside in the common area of their dorm, but the blond decided to take a detour to Midoriya’s room.

“You said that the last couple times I wanted you to hangout with us,” Kaminari frowned at him.

“Yeah but-”

“Just for a little bit? If you don’t like the vibe or whatever, you can just sneak back up here,” Kaminari smiled.

And despite wanting to avoid it, Midoriya found himself downstairs where everyone was having fun and chatting away. It was actually really nice, seeing everyone so relaxed after midterms were finally over. The party was supposed to be a chance for them to unwind. Kaminari mentioned the fact that they would play some games and then probably watch a movie, which Midoriya really didn’t mind joining everyone for a movie.

The problem was with the games.

Midoriya wasn’t really one to share things about himself, but when his game of twister ended up almost throwing him into a panic attack from everyone’s proximity, he decided to break away from the smaller group and join the bigger group that were playing a card game.

“It’s kinda like truth or dare,” Sero explained to him when he sat down. “The cards say all kinds of things people are supposed to do or ask.”

While it was funny for a while, with Kaminari having to attempt a handstand, Ashido having to freestyle dance until it was her turn again, or Sero getting Eijiro to admit something embarrassing, things took a turn. One Midoriya didn’t like.

It had been Kacchan’s turn, to which Midoriya was surprised he was playing, when the blond scrunched his face up at the card.

“What is it! Read it! Read it!” Ashido all but squealed.

“Alright! Fuck. The player to your left,” Kacchan gave a look to Ashido, “Gets to come up with a question or dare for you to complete.”

And oh. Midoriya already knew Ashido loved drama. After all, her major was performing arts and dance. But…he didn’t realize just how perceptive she was.

“You. And your boyfriends. Closet. Now,” she pointed to a supply closet, one that was bigger than most, but still a tight squeeze for three people of Shoto, Eijiro, and Kacchan’s sizes. Midoriya thought that they would probably be in there for seven minutes- like Ashido’s version of seven minutes in heaven. Midoriya knew that Ashido loved romance, so it was a given that however she could, she would try to play Cupid.

When the three started to protest a little, it was Eijiro that got them to comply. Ashido turned to everyone else as she held the supply closet open, looking around till she locked eyes with Midoriya. “Hey, Mido, this door is kinda hard to shut. Can you come help?”

Hesitantly, he walked over. Only, he didn’t expect to be pushed in along with the three. Not that Ashido was strong enough, but the feel of her hand on her had him subconsciously fleeing away from her touch until it was too late.

And the door was slammed shut.

“Now, you four are gonna talk out whatever drama you had in high school. You’re gonna talk it out or whatever until it’s Bakugo’s turn again,” Ashido shouted through the door.

Leaning against the door and trying to open it, Midoriya realized that there wasn’t a handle on the inside of the closet.

Panic bloomed in his chest. No no- he couldn’t. Not now. He would look like an idiot.

“OI! Pinky let us out, you idiot! Deku doesn’t like-” Midoriya didn’t process the rest of what happened. Sure, he heard the faint noise of music playing next to the door so no one could hear them paired with Kacchan shouting, but the rest of it was muddled.

“Fucking- Hell. Someone needs to open this damn door before he gets worse,” Bakugo hissed, irritated that Ashido would pull some shit like this. He wouldn’t have minded if it were his boyfriends, and they wanted- no, needed to talk to Deku, but not like this.

It was obvious Deku didn’t like crowded places, so why the fuck did Ashido force them into the closet? Deku was almost having a meltdown, and it was obvious Kiko noticed, too, because soon enough there was scratching and barking on the other side of the door.

And fucking finally, the door was opened.

Bakugo didn’t hesitate to pull Deku along, looking back to make sure he was fine enough to walk along with them. There was a slight glaze, but Deku only seemed like he was only dissociating, not really having his panic set in yet.

His boyfriends trailed behind them, probably to make sure Izuku didn’t fall or anything. “Kiko. C’mon, girl,” Bakugo called out with a whistle. He was thankful for the fact that they took her on walks, because she easily listened to his command and followed them.

When they were piled into the elevator, and Bakugo could see Deku’s eyes were mostly focused, thanks to Kiko doing her job, Shoto broke the silence.

“We read that message. Is it why you’ve been avoiding us?”

“I-…”

The sound of the elevator dinging might’ve been the reason Deku paused, but Bakugo had enough of this shit. He was going to figure out what the fuck happened if it was the last thing he did tonight.

“K-Kacchan!” The nerd yelped when Bakugo tugged harshly on the taller man’s arm. It was obvious that the nerd was trying to pull away, but Eijiro’s hand on the nerd’s shoulder made him freeze up and stop trying to pull away.

“Izuku. We need to talk,” Eijiro said, his voice flat as he used his key to open their dorm room. “Normally I would ‘wait until you’re ready’, but you obviously want to, and we can’t wait any longer.”

Bakugo headed in first, turning to see Shoto walk in, followed by Deku and Kiko, with Eijiro in the back herding everyone in.

“B-But…” Deku looked ready to run when Eijiro kept going, making the nerd sit down on the couch.

Before he could even think about it, Eijiro sat next to him, along with Shoto to make him stay. Not that they would or could hold Deku down, but they looked willing to try.

They already knew what they were getting into, and it was giving Bakugo memories of high school. Where they would help and care for Deku when he was crying or patch him up when he was hurt. He still cried the same, with big tears falling down his face while using the backs of his hands to attempt to wipe them away. Even down to the foundation smudging away as he did so, freckles slowly revealing themselves.

The only difference was the amount of scars that now covered Deku’s arms.

“I-…you guys are gonna hate me,” Deku choked out. “You-…” the words looked caught in his throat, and he looked like he was trying to collect himself and hold in his cries as his lip wobbled.

The lack of explanation and hesitation finally made Bakugo snap, the thread keeping all of his emotions in check snapping and flowing out with the strength of a waterfall.

He stood in front of Deku on the couch, so he wasn’t necessarily crowded but also not giving him the chance to escape. Rage and frustration burst out of him, and he hated that tears fell when he got this worked up, but maybe it would show Deku how serious they were about this. About him.

“You fall apart every fucking day and yet you refuse to let anyone know or help. So fucking spill it out already. Everything. I want to know what’s making you like this. What made you shut us out? Why- why haven’t you been answering us? We tried so- so damn hard…” Bakugo held his chin up, pausing when his voice started wobbling. And finally, Deku looked up at him. Only just in time for Bakugo to glance off to the side, unable to look him in the eyes when delivering his next line, pouring out his heart to Deku, just like he promised himself he wouldn’t do again. “Were we just- some kind of placeholders to get you through high school? Until you found some friends you actually liked? If you really loved us, then why did you just fucking leave like that? You can’t love someone that much just to leave them.”

A sob ripped through Deku, and it was the sign that Bakugo knew they got the dam to break.

“I only l-left you guys because I loved you so much. I love you so-so much.” Deku gripped his shirt and hunched in on himself from the spot on the couch, and Bakugo could see how doing that made all of his tears stop that much faster as they landed on his pants. He was hiccuping and breathing heavily between his words, making him restart or take a deep breath every sentence. It took him a while in between sentences as well, as if he were preparing himself to say what he wanted to. It was different in a way they’d never seen him before, alternating between blurting out lines but also thinking heavily on certain words before he spoke, leaving a heavy silence in between, like he didn’t know if he actually should say those things. Like he was scared to share what he felt. It was so much different from the Deku they knew, who wore his heart on his sleeve and wasn’t scared to voice out his problems to them.

“I didn’t want- want to tell you. I was- I was scared- I didn't want my dad to hurt you. He would’ve k-killed you guys just like he almost killed me.”

Chapter Text

The silence and tension in the room was palpable, even Todoroki, as oblivious he was to social cues, could tell without a doubt. The tension, only growing by the second with how Izuku sobbed to himself, and their own silence making it worse.

“You- he…what?”

Izuku hadn’t told him that. Not at all.

Todoroki had gotten as much information as he thought he was going to get out of Izuku the day they talked. He got the answers he wanted, the answers he needed so he could be well on his way to forgiving Izuku.

He understood all of it. Izuku being distant, how he didn’t want to open up… he knew Izuku’s father was horrible, but this?

He was insane.

And to think Izuku was stuck with him for almost a year. No wonder why Izuku couldn’t contact them. He probably would’ve been dead if he tried.

Todoroki felt even worse than before, about how they had treated Izuku. They all had time to think and somewhat heal to get over all of the heartache, but Izuku’s likely just began, with all that he had to deal with.

Todoroki’s eyes immediately fixated on Izuku’s right arm, the one he had been cradling as he talked about his father. Todoroki knew why. He knew that Izuku told him he had gotten injured. That’s why he was here, because after he’d gotten the injury, he was hospitalized.

“I-…lost a lot of blood. They had to stitch me back up…in a lot of places. That’s what all these scars are from.”

“Can I see the one on your arm?” Todoroki asked, eyes fixed on the black sleeve Izuku often wore. Yet, out of all the horrible things Izuku told him, the green haired male shook his head.

“I’m not ready yet.”

“I—…” Izuku struggled with his words, choked up enough to the point where Kiko tried to intervene. Katsuki easily got her down, gently telling her ‘down, girl.’ And Eijiro telling her ‘it’s okay. Good girl, though.’

That all became a blur when Izuku’s shaky hand gripped the black sleeve. “I’m not lying,” he choked out, half-masking a sob. “He—…” Izuku was taking long pauses between, and Todoroki knew it was because he was willing himself not to cry as much.

It made Todoroki’s stomach churn. It made him think of how things used to be. Izuku was never afraid to cry around them or show his feelings. But now…they created such a divide between them that Izuku seemed to be scared to, like he was holding himself in. And now, it looked like he was scared to even focus on himself despite the weight of his words.

How had they pushed away Izuku that much? To the point where the divide was so big that they went from one of the first people that Izuku trusted to dead last? Going from the people he would run to for help, the people he would trust when he was hurt, to the people that he would avoid because of the hurt they caused?

“I’m so sorry. I—I’m so so sorry,” Izuku let out a heavy sob, “I’m sorry I let you guys feel like that way. I’m sorry. Kacchan I’m so s-sorry.” Izuku took another moment to breathe in stuttering breaths as a hiccup came out. “Y-You’re so so special to me. You’ll never be a placeholder.”

Todoroki could see with one glance at Katsuki, something in him broke into something raw. Something vulnerable.

Bakugo crumbled. How couldn’t he?

“Fuck,” he cursed behind his own tears as he crouched down and collapsed into Deku with a heavy thud. He wrapped around him as tightly as he could, holding onto him in fear of losing him again. The moment was bittersweet, the familiar warm feeling in his chest from Deku’s embrace when he was being hugged back, but there were obvious differences. Their relationship, the situation, and the fact that Bakugo could feel in the hug just how much weight Deku had really lost. Gone were his soft, warm hugs, replaced by a firm body.

Something in Bakugo hated the unfamiliarity of it. The Deku he knew was soft, gentle, and his hugs replicated his personality. But this…it just felt cold and void, somehow. It was like revisiting something you found nostalgic, only to come back and realize they didn’t make the product the same they did before. And the new version was just— bland. Tasteless. Sure, Izuku had some chub sticking around, but it was nowhere near where Bakugo remembered. Actually, if anything, Izuku looked dead in a way— pale, drained. Like a vampire was constantly sucking out his blood or a demon taking his soul. Bakugo wasn’t used to it when the Izuku he remembered had rosy cheeks and a light in his eyes.

“You’re okay,” Bakugo half mumbled into the nerd’s curls when he readjusted himself to be the one with Deku’s face in his chest. He closed his eyes, hoping he could somehow get through to Deku through touch while he combed through his curls and rubbed his upper back. The position reminded him of when he would blow dry Deku’s hair for him, and the nerd would be all mushy and want to sleep. Bakugo smiled at the memory, though quickly refocused when Deku shook with another stuttering hiccup.

“I’m sorry. He would monitor my phone. I could only call my Mo-mom. I-I-I didn’t want to- want to worry he-her…” Izuku sobbed again, squeezing Bakugo in the process. “I didn’t want you to— you to get inv-involved,” Izuku was a mess. His stuttering and hiccuping getting worse. “I didn’t know- didn’t know what to- what to do. He co-couldn’t know. He would’ve hur-hurt you. I couldn’t le-let hi-him… Not like he hur-hurt me.”

Bakugo felt Izuku sobbing more against him, and it was getting harder for him to get his words out. He looked up to his boyfriends for help. Eijiro was first, scooting closer to Izuku on the couch until he wrapped his arms around him and leaned in. Bakugo watched the redhead rest his head on Izuku’s back, facing away from Bakugo.

“We should’ve known it was him,” Eijiro sighed. “We knew before, but—…we were just so hurt that we tried coming up with excuses not to like you. We came up with excuses to make you the villain so we could give ourselves more of a reason to feel validated for being upset. I guess we thought wrong. To be mad at you and not the situation that tore us apart.”

Shoto had taken a point to occupy the other side to hug Izuku. Though, Bakugo took notice of his hesitation to rest his head on Izuku’s arm. The one with the big sleeve.

It made Bakugo speak before he could think, “What did you mean by…” no. It was a stupid question. They already knew how shitty of a father Izuku had. The abuse: physical, mental, emotional…sexual. If it was like what they saw, then a whole year with that bastard unsupervised was probably worse than hell. Like fuck. How had they forgotten? Izuku’s father would…

Bakugo remembered. He was there. Izuku told Bakugo himself when they were at their prom.

He had been sitting on Izuku’s lap, listening to him babbling on in his drunken state. Bakugo’s own tongue felt heavy, so he would only speak when Izuku addressed him directly. He was petting Izuku’s hair, but then Izuku mentioned his father and the assholes that touched him. Izuku told him that before— before he up and left to live in America with just his father.

How had they been so blind? Were they really that self-centered?

“By what,” Izuku mumbled into his chest. “The hurt?”

Well, there was no turning back now. “Yeah…”

There was a moment of silence. This time, more tranquil other than the few sniffles and cries.

Izuku finally leaned away from him, which made Shoto and Eijiro release their grips. Izuku finally gathered himself somewhat. Sobs turned to sniffles, and Bakugo internally felt his heart flutter at the thought that maybe they could still comfort Izuku like they used to.

His small moment of happiness quickly disappeared when Izuku tugged down that black sleeve.

“What…” Bakugo could only trail off in horror because what the actual fuck. Of all things that happened, Bakugo couldn’t think of this being anywhere near what he had thought Izuku’s shitty dad would do to him.

Bakugo looked over to Shoto once he was finally able to rip his eyes away from the giant scar that marred a good portion of Izuku’s right arm. Shoto knew about this and didn’t tell them? They would’ve been woken up just by the sight of that alone, the scar (and others that doned Izuku’s arms now) would translate exactly what had been happening to Izuku.

But judging by the look on Shoto’s face, Izuku hadn’t even shown Shoto this scar.

They truly were the biggest assholes to exist.

At some point, Kiko nudged her way through to rest her head on one of Izuku’s thighs. Izuku looked thankful for the distraction, and finally his wobbly voice came through, “My dad wanted me to join the military in America…”

Bakugo listened intently the whole time. His boyfriends seemed attentive as well, even Shoto was, despite likely having heard the story. They all tried to do their best and try not to jump in and coddle Izuku every time he started to break out in tears again. All they could do was offer him the time to recollect himself while they offered him tissues(and used some themselves in the process).

Kiko now made so much more sense. As had his better friendship with Yaoyorozu, Camie, and Toga. They probably hadn’t been blinded by broken hearts when Izuku finally reached out again. They probably weren’t bitter, but accepting.

Bakugo would never forgive himself. Not when they finally got to the end, where Izuku’s father tried to kill him. The whole thing was gut-wrenching in itself; Izuku’s brutal training, his limited contact with his friends, people around him, and even his own mother. How he was seemingly isolated in that house, only given the bare minimum to live.

Bakugo felt like his heart dropped into his stomach with all the guilt of it all. From everything they told him, everything they did. He thought it was all justified, he thought it was right— it certainly felt right, but looking back, all he could think of what a massive asshole he was.

Because they knew Izuku. They knew he would never intentionally do something to hurt them. Yet, they thought he did. They thought he just changed. They thought he turned into someone they didn’t know, someone they couldn’t recognize. They thought they were holding onto and loving the person in the memories they had, not the stranger Izuku was now.

No, they were so wrong.

Izuku never changed. Why would he? Izuku would always be kind. He would always be sweet, smart, awkward, and a nerd. It’s who he was.

So why did they say all those things? How could they look at him, knowing what they did about him, and not think twice about hurting him the way they did?

Bakugo learned just how powerful, how poisonous heartbreak could be. How, when it infects you, it changes you. How it makes you a different person, clouds your judgement, makes you say stupid shit, do stupid shit, in hopes that your own evil actions would patch up the gaping hole in your heart. And it does for a while.

The excuses they come up with to make Izuku the villain, the things they said, the things they did to hurt the one that crushed their hearts.

Their excuses for their actions were the thread, and their actions were the needle that sealed up their broken hearts.

But then the stitches popped. They popped as soon as they saw Izuku again. Their heartbreak flooded back ten times more, the poison was useless against something that heavy.

So they used a stronger thread. More excuses to cloud their mind. A sharper needle, stronger actions and words to push Izuku away. To make them think that in their heads, they were the victims. That what they had done to Izuku was right. That it was justified.

“Put your number in from the project.”

Katsuki had already been riled up. And finding out that Izuku was in their group made it ten times worse. And Izuku knocking on their door? One hundred times worse.

Bakugo turned his head away from Izuku. He’d already known Izuku would get upset. “You…have my phone number….” Izuku’s shaky voice was already a big tell. “Right…?”

It was like Bakugo already knew. He already knew Izuku would be heartbroken by the statement. He knew that yet he somehow had this twisted idea that Izuku didn’t care about them anymore.

“Why would I be asking if I didn’t have it?”

He was such a dumbass. He already knew the answer.

But Bakugo knew that they also didn’t want to be wrong. They didn’t want to find out that everything they had done was for nothing. That, in the end, they were just big assholes for assuming things.

“Because…it never changed.” Izuku’s voice had been tight, as if his vocal cords were stretched too thin.

“Yet you never fucking answered.”

It was a huge reason for their excuse-making. They fed themselves lies about Izuku, assuming his thoughts and feelings to make themselves feel better.

Staring at the scene in front of him made Bakugo reconsider everything entirely.

“I’m not expecting this to change things,” Izuku began. Bakugo watched him skip the black sleeve on with glossy eyes. Izuku’s own eyes had looked as if tears were ready to fall, and his wobbly voice only pushed the idea. “Nor am I—…” Izuku’s breath hitched with a surprised sob. He had to take a moment before he breathed out, “I’m not expecting forgiveness…” Those words were what made Izuku break into a small sob. “I just—- I just want you to know that I’m so s-sorry. That I never meant to— to hurt you guys.” Izuku’s voice was raw with emotion, voice rising to push through over the sound of his sobs.

Kirishima didn’t know if he could trust his words. After everything they said to him, everything they’d done… Kirishima couldn’t trust his voice in the slightest.

And before he knew it, his body shot forward, and his mouth, despite his reluctance, moved on its own as well.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about!” Kirishima let out a sob along with Izuku. They had been so horrible to him. To think that Izuku had been bearing all of this pain for a year. A whole year of his father doing who knows what to him, without any sort of outlet, no one to talk to about what really happened…

Kirishima felt like he was going to throw up.

Memories flooded back the more Izuku had explained. The more he went into depth, the worse Kirishima felt. Kirishima thought of high school. He thought of Izuku’s bruises, picking him up and caring for his wounds, and finding him at his house with his drunk father.

And how he had gotten away with it. Then and now.

Kirishima didn’t understand how they kept blocking that out until now. Because if he was able to do something like that in Japan, then it would probably be a thousand times worse in America. Izuku’s father likely had way more influence and connections in America. The thought sickened Kirishima.

Yet, despite all of that…Izuku had been thinking of them.

“Eijiro’s 19th Birthday Present”. Written across the paper. A plan for a crocheted crimson riot plushie Izuku planned out just for him. The planning, the notes, little facts about Kirishima. And the worst of all?

“Use it to tell him you’re sorry. Give him a big hug when you see him again.”

How sick was it, that after everything Izuku had gone through, that he was thinking of them? And to top it off, while Izuku was barely surviving day by day, he thought he was in the wrong? Izuku thought he needed to apologize.

Because they made him think that way.

Kirishima could only hold Izuku tighter, hoping his hug would convey more than his words, that it would erase everything that they had done. Still, Kirishima knew that his silent wish wouldn’t come true, and all they could do was own up to it and talk things out with Izuku. And hopefully, they would forgive him. Or– well. Hopefully they could forgive themselves and Izuku would forgive them.

Word still evaded him, nonetheless.

“Izuku…” Kirishima could only sob out. He held Izuku tighter, readjusting his grip as if he could shrink Izuku down so Kirishima could hold him, wrap him up with his own body as if to protect Izuku from everything that had already happened.

Kirishima felt so ashamed. He’d rememered when he would always swear to protect Izuku, to make sure he wouldn’t be hurt anymore than he had been. Yet, here Kirishima was, crying when he should’ve been the one to comfort Izuku.

To make it worse, Izuku hadn’t even changed.

Because, like nothing happened, as if they hadn’t been treating Izuku the way they had, Izuku turned to face Kirishima and leaned in to wrap him up in a big hug. It reminded Kirishima of all the time that they shared, all the things they did, how caring and thoughtful was– how he is. Izuku was Izuku, and nothing was going to change that. He proved it to them, proved that no matter what happened, he wouldn’t change. Nor would he be anywhere else but right back with them again. Fate brought them together once, and it didn’t seem to want to separate them Izuku was with them, right where he belonged.

“Give him a big hug when you see him again.”

And maybe Izuku gave him a hug because he finally saw a glimpse of Kirishima again.

Chapter Text

"Girl's night…? But I'm a guy."

Midoriya couldn't resist showing his confusion with a pout as he looked down at his blond friend.

He wanted to accompany Shinso and Kaminari on the way to class since they had different classes but in the same building, though Kaminari wanted to get into the details of what Yaomomo had invited him to over the weekend. Midoriya wasn't quite sure why Kaminari was so interested— wouldn't Yaomomo have invited him, too? Kaminari was her friend, too, after all.

Kaminari gave him a dumbfounded look back before sighing and throwing his head back dramatically, "No wonder why they invited you."

Further confused by Kaminari's response, Midoriya looked over to Shinso on the other side of Kaminari for an answer.

"You're like-…" Shinso paused to think for a second as he looked around, and his eyes landed on Kiko before continuing, "…a big puppy."

Without meaning to, Midoriya tilted his head and pouted, immediately wiping the look on his face when he saw Shinso give a smug look. "I—! But I still don't- why me?"

"Oh Midoriya…" Kaminari lamented, "Dude. You're like- it."

"It?" Midoriya echoed. He was beyond confused at this point, unease at being out and talking with his friends chipping away with his confusion.

"Yeah! You're superrr tall. You're sure to scare anyone away who tries to bother the girls if you go out somewhere. And-"

"Oh," Midoriya voiced, "So they want me to be their…bodyguard?"

"I think some of us want you to be a little more than that," Shinso mumbled under his breath. Kaminari agreed with a nod, but Midoriya didn't quite get what Shinso was trying to say.

He couldn't really ask since Kaminari clarified, "Yeah but no. You're also polite and sweet. You're shy but I guess for you it's a huge bonus because you're-…you know."

"I'm…?" Midoriya ventured, trying to pry the answer from Kaminari.

The blond's face was getting a little red before he looked away and blurted, "Midoriya. Stop, dude. It's too early for you to be this cute." Kaminari made an emphasis on his dramatic claim as he looked away and held a waving hand out to Midoriya.

"Wah- cute? No no- I'm too plain-faced," Midoriya attempted to dismiss. He even looked to Shinso to see if the purple haired male would agree, but Shinso shook his head in disagreement to Midoriya's surprise.

"You're either really oblivious or really stupid," Shinso decided to say, "And based on your GPA… you're horrifically oblivious. You're one of the…best-looking in our dorm— possibly the grade."

Midoriya sputtered, not knowing what to say. He wanted to say he was in fact very much the opposite, but decided to hold his tongue. All he could do was shake his head in denial before switching the topic all together with a grumble, "I just don't see why we can't just have a class night in the dorms. But an all-girl's night? I don't understand."

"Oh. Dude. The girls are going to have so much fun." Kaminari emphasized with a slight nudge, "Mina and Hagakure especially, I think. They've been wanting to hangout with you."

"But we have. Inside school, the dorms, outside when we used her car to go to the mall…" As he was listing things, he had a thought. He hadn't really…talked or hungout with anyone in a while. Especially not after the huge talk he had with his roommates. Now that he realized, he was really isolating himself and pushing people away. And he knew that everyone in the dorms at least tolerated him in some way, and now Shoto, Eijiro, and Kacchan were added back onto that list.

Did Yaomomo, Camie, and Toga know? Did they notice the other three's sudden tolerance for him? Did the rest of the class know? Midoriya wouldn't want to ruin their image in any way if people like them were seen with someone like him.

Student athletes and a fat art nerd. That surely wouldn't look well.

But at the same time, Midoriya had noticed that the other three were slowly getting themselves more…involved with him.

Shaking those thoughts away, Midoriya refocused on his original thought as he turned to Kaminari and Shinso. "I don't want to be…nosy, but- have you- I don't know-," He floundered over his words, unsure of how to bring the topic up, "Have Yaomomo and Jiro…?"

Midoriya was ultimately glad that Kaminari had a habit of interupting people, especially when the blond lit up at the mention of the two of them, "OH! Ohhh yeah," Kaminari confirmed with an excited nod, "They've been spending a lottt of time together. People are already starting to speculate, and I've seen them a couple of times walking around campus with each other, going to each other's dorm rooms… that stuff."

Midoriya couldn't help his smile, "Really?" Although, despite the news, he also couldn't help the ugly pit of jealousy that was starting to form in his stomach as Kaminari went on, explaining how people would see Jiro and Yaomomo studying together, going everywhere together, whispering, giggling in the dorms, cooking together… why was Midoriya feeling that way? He should be happy for Yaomomo, but all he could think about as Kaminari dove into talking about romantic date ideas was how those scenarios would play out with Shoto, Eijiro, and Kacchan.

He couldn't shake the thoughts either. Not during his lecture hall, not on the walk back to the bus stop that went by the dorms, and most certainly not when he walked in to see the other three cooking in almost the same exact scenario Midoriya had been imagining.

Walking in with Kiko, Midoriya paused, seeing how the other three in the kitchen stopped to look at him as well.

Eijiro was the first to say something, "I thought your class went until three?" It was more a question than a statement. Was it because they didn't want him there? Most likely. Who was Midoriya? To think that after everything, it would go back to normal? That what they said about him, that they wanted to be his boyfriends and for him to be theirs was true? They'd all been drinking that night so why— Why had Midoriya played into those delusions, knowing he would be hurt, that they were already at the point of no return? How stupid was he? No wonder he was an art major. It was all he would be good at, too dumb, too stupid, too naive to be anything else. Painting a reality that wasn't real. Lost in the world of make-believe to hide the atrocities of the life he had.

He hesitated before replying, he rebooted his brain and forced himself to walk towards his room, "We got out early. The professor had a meeting." Without much of a second glance, he turned his gaze away. He thought they had practice, meaning Midoriya would've had the kitchen to himself to make a meal without prying eyes, but now his plan was ruined. It's fine. Maybe he could take a nap in his room and when he woke up, they would either be done, or he could just leave without it looking like he left because of them. He could just go to the dining hall by himself.

Kiko seemed to notice his distress as he discarded his backpack and flopped down on his bed, as she didn't hesitate to join him. Without missing a beat, Kiko curled into him once he got comfortable, leading him to pet her fur as sleep slowly came to him.

The first thing Midoriya was met with when he woke up was a face full of fur…and a very insistent Kiko.

"Kiko…" he whined, "five more minutes please." Yet, the clarification that he was up only came to spur Kiko on more as she tried to wake him.

Knock knock.

"Oi!"

Oh. That's why she'd been trying to wake him. Sighing, Midoriya sat up and brushed Kiko away, standing off his bed shortly after. Halfway to the door, he stopped in his tracks to stretch out his arms and back before continuing to the door.

He opened it to see Kacchan standing there. The blond looked surprised for a second before speaking, "We- there are leftovers if you want them. Katsudon. Eijiro's got some brownies in the oven, too."

"Not leftovers," Shoto chimed in before Midoriya could string together a reply, "It's a bowl for you."

Clamping his mouth shut again, Midoriya paused and looked down to Kacchan for answers. They made eye contact for a split second before the blond tore his eyes away and stumbled, "I- well- er- yeah. That."

"We're watching a movie!" Eijiro chimed in, though Midoriya could hear the crackle of something else that he couldn't identify in the redhead's voice.

A little amused, Midoriya smiled awkwardly despite his growing anxiety. "Uh. Thanks. I'll probably grab some later." He didn't quite want to dive into doing something like that until he prepared himself. Because- well. He wasn't really sure what to make of the situation. Of course, his heart felt warm that these three were trying in some capacity to get closer to him— whether that had to do with their conversation or not, Midoriya wasn't sure. Regardless, Midoriya couldn't help the doubt and fear that ran through his head.

What if he said something stupid? What if he said the wrong thing? Did something stupid? What if he ate too much? Too little? What if they judged him on how much he ate? Would they call Aizawa if he didn't go out there in fear he was starving himself again? What if that's why they were being nice? Ever since that incident with Monoma and Midoriya throwing up in the bathroom afterwards, they'd been especially nice. Even more so after he told them everything.

Midoriya just wasn't sure how genuine they were being. What if they were just taking pity on him?

He wasn't sure anymore.

"Don't let it get cold," Shoto offered, "Katsuki always says it's better hot."

Midoriya was going to reply, wracking his brain for some sort of excuse of why he couldn't go out there just now, but Kacchan muttered, "You can eat in your room if you don't wanna join us."

Knowing he was caught, Midoriya scrambled for words, "N-No-! I…" He didn't want to go out there, but he also didn't want to make the other three feel bad if Midoriya didn't at least try to make an effort.

"What made you shut us out? Why- why haven’t you been answering us? We tried so- so damn hard…”

Midoriya remembered the crack in Kacchan's voice when he'd said that to him a couple weeks ago. It made his heart ache when Kacchan cried to him, talking like Midoriya just didn't want to see them anymore, like Midoriya hated them. How vulnerable Kacchan sounded when he said it with such emotion, like he was so hurt that Midoriya didn't want to be around them anymore. Like he held Midoriya's opinion of him just as high as he would Eijiro and Shoto.

"I…just want to grab my laptop so I can work on an assignment," Midoriya decided on.

While it would be rough and awkward, Midoriya really wanted this to work. If they were finally giving him an opening, then he should probably take it. No matter how bad it might turn out.

It wasn't…too bad.

They were all scared shitless when Deku walked in, not quite expecting the nerd so early. It was also partially because they wanted to have all of their shit set up before Deku walked in, just so they could ask him on his way to his room. Because lately, the nerd had been confining himself to his room. Only coming out for class or food, and as far as Bakugo knew, he wasn't hanging out that much with the other extras, either.

Bakugo also might've felt a little bad that when he opened the door, he could tell that the nerd had just been sleeping because of his smeared foundation and how his face was red on one side.

It was actually really endearing. Bakugo kind of wanted to pull the nerd down for a kiss in that moment, because he just looked too fucking cute. At the same time, Bakugo fumbled and tripped over his words, because he'd forgotten how deep and rich the nerd's voice was whenever he first woke up. It was disarming, to say the least, hearing the low timbre coming from Deku of all places, but part of Bakugo wondered if the deeper voice was Deku's more natural voice. Maybe he made his voice higher and more soft-spoken as a way to hide himself like he does with his glasses, contacts, and foundation.

It was really confusing how much his view on Deku was starting to shift all over again. How odd it was that he had so much love for Deku, then hate, and now it was a sort of mix of longing, love, and hate. The hate aspect was mostly reserved for himself and how much of an asshole he'd been towards Deku.

Now, though? Well it was sort of jealousy and fondness all in one.

He and Eijiro were cuddling on the couch while the movie played. Bakugo knew there was enough room for Shoto to join as well, but Half and Half seemed to have taken the floor next to Deku. Fuck, what Bakugo would do to be able to even pull Deku into a hug at that moment. Instead, he opted for small talk when there was a break in the movie for commercials.

"Fancy tablet," was all Bakugo could think to comment.

Deku seemed startled by the conversation starter, but the nerd cleared his throat, "Ah. It's just a laptop with a touch screen. Sort of outdated but…you know." Deku showed them how the tablet worked, flipping it side to side before attatching it to the keyboard it came with.

"What's wrong with that?" Eijiro pipped up.

"Just the programs. certain devices have certain programs, but my laptop doesn't have the capacity to download the bigger, better programs. I had to delete some apps for the one the school provides, but it's not really my style. The school technically pays for it, though, so I have to use it because it's the 'industry standard'."

"Oh," Eijiro seemed a little confused, but it was obvious that he wanted to keep the conversation going, "So what would be the best kinda thing to have?"

The nerd started to explain this and that, talking about the devices that they used in class and how he loved how big the screens were, and how they had it set up with a double-monitor…however the hell that worked with a gigantic tablet, Bakugo wasn't quite sure. But with the nerd nerding out so much, Bakugo didn't really care.

Not when he could see a little bit of the light coming back to his eyes.

"Well…if they have one for everyone in class, then they shouldn't be too expensive, right?" Shoto asked. And Bakugo knew why. The rich bastard was probably coming up with a way to spoil Deku with gifts already. Bakugo wondered if maybe they could all pitch in (despite knowing that they could each probably afford one on their own) and buy one for a Christmas present. It was already nearing that time of year with it being the beginning of November, but Bakugo considered the idea that maybe they might not be that close anymore to give Deku such a thoughtful gift.

Deku sputtered, "W-Well…it's pretty pricy. In America I've seen them go for 600 to 2,400 dollars. Which is to around 89,000 to 350,000 yen here."

"Oh dang," Kirishima let out a low whistle. The mention of Deku being in America made something in Bakugo want to yell and scream, but at the same time, made him want to curl up and try not to vomit. Because this whole time they were going to their dream school on a scholarship for sports, Deku was being beaten to hell and back, hurt, starved, ridiculed. All by his own damn father.

Bakugo was lucky Kirishima pulled him away from those thoughts with a simple squeeze to his leg.

He only just heard the tail-end of the conversation before the ad-break ended, and they were back to watching the movie.

Still, Bakugo couldn't push away the lingering thoughts of Deku. How it was so odd that a couple of months ago, they were begging for Deku to come back somehow. All of the plans that they had with him, just for those to be marred by the distance and their emotional selves. How odd was it for Deku to be right there, yet they couldn't do a thing about it?

He knew they needed to build Deku's trust back, and that it would take a while, but Bakugo was torn. He had the need to be closer to Deku, but also knew that they needed time to repair what they'd broken. Aside from that, Bakugo also knew that Deku had his own problems that he would have to wrap up with his shitty father. After finding out, he and his boyfriends finally scoured for news, if any, about Deku's case.

It seemed most wanted to keep it hush-hush, especially considering Deku's dad's status, but the three of them managed to find a couple of articles, and even some footage that was retrieved by some of the officers' bodycams. Most of it was censored for obvious reasons, but the blurred images were enough.

They were nauseating.

Bakugo could see why Deku wouldn't want to tell them about it right away, especially if they were being assholes to him and not even giving him a chance to tell his story. It was all so fucked up. How was it that people thougnt such horrible ways to torture people, and, further, actually went through with doing it?

Bakugo found himself staring at Deku's arm. The one he always had covered, the one that had the biggest scar, marring his skin from his shoulder to just above his elbow. Deku was wearing a hoodie, so it's not like Bakugo could see the injury, but it sure as hell was noticeable when Deku's scarred hand began to shake just before he dropped the pen he was using to write with.

Bakugo wanted to say something, but he chose to try and ignore it to focus on the movie. Yet, he couldn't help focusing on how Deku grabbed hold of his wrist with his other hand, like he was trying to strangle the pain out of his own hand.

It was bothering the shit out of Bakugo, but he wasn't sure how to approach the topic. Thankfully, Shoto seemed to notice the nerd struggling.

"Your hand is hurting?"

Midoriya was startled, eyes drifting away from his hand to look at Shoto, who now moved closer to where he was sitting on the floor.

"Just a cramp!" Midoriya attempted to laugh it off awkwardly, not wanting to bring up why he got the cramps. Most would assume it was from him drawing, but Midoriya knew it was from the damage his arms took from his father. It was painful, and the spurts of pain would always come without warning. "It'll go away," Midoriya reassured again.

Midoriya felt his chest tighten and his heartbeat jumpstart when slender, gentle hands came into view. Midoriya directed his gaze up, seeing Shoto's face sort of soft and hesitant. "I could help, if you'd like," Shoto offered. When Midoriya gave a sort of half-nod yes, Shoto's hands connected with his own, first prying away his hand from his wrist before grabbing the hurting hand itself.

Midoriya noticed, then. His large, scared, sort of chubby hands and how they contrasted with Shoto's pale, lanky, and also big hands. Though, Midoriya would note that his own hands were larger than Shoto's. Still, Shoto took Midoriya's hand into his own like it was something precious, like Midoriya was something meant to be handled with care rather than the recklessness he was used to.

Without word, Shoto began to slowly work his hands into Midoriya's, kneeding and rubbing them, handling them with care. It made Midoriya involuntarily shiver, and Shoto must've noticed.

"Is this okay?"

"Yeah…" Midoriya replied with a slightly strained voice, "I wasn't expecting it to feel nice…" He admitted, lowering his gaze to their linked hands. He couldn't find it in himself to keep staring Shoto in the eyes, not when the thought of "Shoto looks so pretty" rushed through his mind and hit him like a truck. Not when all he wanted to do was reach forward and squeeze Shoto in a hug, not when he had the thought of running his hands through Shoto's hair while he told him all that he liked about Shoto.

"We get them sometimes, so we asked our athletic trainer how to fix pains if they came by. Just let me know if I'm ever too rough."

"A-Ah…okay…" Midoriya's awkward reply came, especially after he made the realization that the moment was being watched by Shoto's boyfriends.

It was a wonder Midoriya survived that night, he thought to himself as he was brought back where he was currently.

After last night's events, Midoriya figured he would get out of his dorm room, with his head now swarming with mushy thoughts he felt a bit guilty for having.

Not when he was imagining what it would be like, a movie night with his former-bestfriends-turned-crushes-turned-strangers-turned-kinda-friends-again, and what it would be like to curl up next to Kirishima or Kacchan, who ended up falling asleep cuddled into each other on the couch. How it would feel to be in Shoto's spot, who carefully made the two of them comfortable while Midoriya excused himself to put away the food and do the dishes for the meal they made. And what it would be like to end up with them in the morning, slightly crammed on the couch despite Shoto pulling it out for them, yet they all seemed content when Midoriya rushed past the scene with burning ears and Kiko in tow.

"Midoriya-kun…"

Midoriya startled, jolting in place before he looked down at his much shorter friend, Tsu. He'd been standing next to her while they got a couple things at the dining hall, and it turned out that they both had the same idea of what food they wanted.

"Oh- yeah?" He squeaked out in return. He didn't know all too much about his class, but he knew enough to know that Tsu was a bit…reserved. She spoke her mind when needbe, but most times, she was quiet and kept to herself.

"Your waffle is going to burn," she helpfully pointed out, gesturing to the wafflemaker that Midoriya might have left on for far too long.

Scrambling to get it together, he thanked her and plated the waffle, casting her a side glance when the green haired girl redirected her attention to grabbing her own waffle and heading over to the toppings station once she saw Midoriya get a grip.

Thankfully, she didn't mention the incident to Uraraka and Iida once they met back up with them to sit at a table.

Turning to Kiko once he'd sat down, he gently ordered her to lay down, giving her a small treat from where he kept them on-hand after she complied.

"I've been meaning to ask," Uraraka pipped up, "How does the whole service-dog thing work? Does she get in the way for classes? Lecture halls? I mean, she is a really big dog."

Though nervous, Midoriya always tried his best when talking with the other three. Tsu about her marine biology major, Uraraka forensics, and Iida about pre-law. Regardless of what he was told, he didn't really want to highlight much of his experience as an art major. Definitely not when all of the people in his dorms had majors that were much more profound than his.

Though sometimes he couldn't escape it.

"Well," he said, finally getting around to the answer, "I don't have much of a problem since the only lecture I really have is art history. And even then, we use an auditorium, so everyone is pretty much spread out. My other classes are studio classes."

Uraraka made a noise of understanding, while Iida leaned forward with interest, "Your classes aren't big enough to fill out the auditorium? Most of the classes I attend would easily fill one." Iida didn't sound like he was talking down, but rather trying to relate with his own experience.

Tsu pipped in as well, "Sometimes it's hard to find a seat in mine."

Midoriya, meanwhile, was a little baffled to say the least, "What? How many people do you normally have in a class?"

Before his question could be answered, a voice interrupted, "Wayyy too many. Though, I wouldn't mind if they made an extra spot for you."

Midoriya didn't have much time to process before his curls were being ruffled.

"Sero…" Midoriya grumbled.

"Got room for…five more?" Kaminari asked.

Peeking past him, Midoriya could see not only Sero, but Shinso, Mina, and Jiro in tow. Some part of him wondered if it was because they wanted to chat with the others, and for that, Midoriya felt a little disappointed. With a larger group, he was sure to get lost and forgotten in the conversation. Despite that, he accepted the offer to be nice, and was prepared to be sidelined like he expected to be originally.

To his surprise (again), the conversation seemed to be buzzing. And whenever Midoriya started to shut himself in again, like when the group would talk about a memory the year before when Midoriya wasn't there, he was surprised at how easily they pulled him into the conversation to include him again. Feeling overwhelmed by their kindness, Midoriya knew that the waterworks were inevitable.

Staring at his food, he felt the familiar sting of tears in his eyes, yet, unlike what he's gotten used to, these tears weren't out of anguish, sadness, or anger, they were tears of happiness.

Though, unfortunately, his friends didn't seem to know that.

Next to him, Iida sounded alarmed when calling attention to it, "Ah! Midoriya! Are you alright? What's wrong?" Before Midoriya could even answer, a handkerchief was thrust in his face.

From what Midoriya could hear, he was surprised that the conversation ceased when he sniffled.

"Ah…nothing. It's just-" he paused to wipe his tears with the palm of his hand, not thinking straight with the handkerchief still in the other hand. Overwhelmed with emotion, Midoriya sobbed, unable to hold in the way his heart swelled in his chest with grattitude. He could feel Kiko lay her head in his lap while he continued to wipe his tears. "I'm just so thankful to have you all," Midoriya managed to choke out.

It took only half a second before someone on his side was hugging him with a coo, "Awww, Midoriya! You're so sweet." Mina said with senserity, sounding like she had a little pout in her voice like she was going to tear up as well. "We're glad you're part of our dorm, now, and we wouldn't change a thing about it."

Sounds of agreeance were said, but not before Midoriya was engulfed in a group hug. Even Shinso, who was most wary of touch, had joined in to reassure Midoriya. It made his chest feel even warmer, if possible, and gave him a feeling of hope that maybe everything would be okay. That maybe things won't be so bad.

And that maybe, just maybe, hope that maybe he would be able to come out of the girls' night in one piece. Of course, only time would tell, especially with Toga and Camie involved, but with the group of friends that he seemed to have, Midoriya might have a chance of surviving.

Maybe he would be able to stand up to his father and testify against him once he goes on trial over the winter break.

And maybe he could survive one more heart-to-heart conversation with Kacchan, Todoroki, and Kirishima in order to completely sort things out as well.