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Izuku is not new to feeling exhausted beyond relief. He’s a hero-in-training, it comes with the school title. And he’s planning to be the best hero in the future, so, more effort is put into perfecting every move, dodge, technique, and strategy while maintaining his grades.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but with midterms fast approaching, he really should plan a better way to not push himself over the limits of his body. Every teenager needs sleep, and he hasn’t been getting enough of it. Staying up isn’t good either. Yes, Ashido, cramming is not a proper way of studying. He’ll keep saying it, despite being a hypocrite.
When Izuku walks downstairs to the kitchen for an energy drink (coffee has stopped working after drinking it everyday since middle school), he’s pretty sure he saw Kaminari sneaking past him in a hurry. He ignores it in favor of grabbing a sugary drink to mild down his grogginess. He’ll later blame it on his headache, but he reaches for a red can without reading the name of the drink or its contents.
Kirishima strides into the room, probably looking the same as Izuku, with dark circles under his eyes and staggering to stay upright. Both students studied together last night, going over math problems for hours till they started forgetting how to do simple equations. They nod to each other.
He forgoes eating breakfast and skips straight to gulping another quarter of the drink, watching as it nears eight. More of their classmates enter the room, collapsing onto the seats by the counter and yawning. Some of them thump their heads on the counter and grumble about rioting to the teachers. Izuku feels them; he wants to do the same.
While Uraraka and Jirou make themselves a bowl of cereal, Yaoyorozu pours herself a cup of tea and offers some to their other incoming classmates. Iida’s voice can be heard from upstairs, along with alarms and heavy footsteps. Although the situation could be better, he enjoys the comfortable atmosphere, knowing these people are here.
He’s not sure who, it happens too quickly for his still half-conscious mind, but they snatch the can in his hand out of his grasp. Slightly put-off, Izuku is about to ask why they took away his energy drink that he very much needs when he meets the gaze of six bewildered classmates. He scrunches his face, not in the mood to find out why they’re looking at him weirdly.
“Midoriya... you were drinking this?”
Confused, Izuku simply nods.
“Dude, that’s fish broth!”
It takes a few dozen seconds for that to sink in, and even then, he tilts his head in puzzlement. Only when someone shoves the can to his face does he squint at it and read the words on the label. His shock must show, because Kacchan walks by and laughs at him. The others pat his back and ruffle his hair in comfort, giving him an actual energy drink; the kind he likes.
He thinks that’s the last of any fishy business.
~~~
Todoroki comes one night, knocking lightly twice on his door. He’s tense, glancing around, and Izuku is worried. Letting him in, they sit across from each other on the floor in silence. Izuku lets him take his time.
It unravels, bit by bit, and Izuku doesn’t rush. He listens, and listens, till his friend is done and has said all he wanted to. By the end, he’s about ready to smack punch Endeavor.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea. He wouldn’t respond to that kindly.”
Blushing slightly at having said his thoughts again, Izuku blurts the first thing that comes to mind. “Why not with a fish then?”
He wants to smack punch himself.
Todoroki blinks back at him for a moment before letting out a chuckle. “Maybe I’ll try that. Thanks Midoriya.”
Sputtering, thinking about all the possibilities that could come about doing that, Izuku tries to suggest other methods (which don’t get replies besides more soft sniggers from the other).
When he does hear back from Todoroki, thankful that he’s not hurt because this is still Endeavor, he only finds out about his friend’s success in leaving Endeavor speechless without further details, and receives an awkward hug. Izuku doesn’t comment on the hesitation in the other’s gesture and smiles.
He does react greatly, though, when Todoroki suggests they go to a store together to buy rubber fish. Something about his brother Natsuo mentioning it before, and having used it to annoy Endeavor during his “rebellious stage”.
~~~
Aizawa-sensei finishes the lesson on hero rescue and, for once, gives them a breather. Right before he leaves, he reminds them to restock on materials and items in the dorms because he wouldn’t be helping unless it came to purchasing and ordering. The class groans in reply.
“Who’s turn is it this time to make the list? I call it not being me!” Ashido exclaims, already jumping out of her chair.
While Iida instructs her to sit back down, the rest of 1-A try to recall which of their classmates had the duty of checking the dorms for required house products.
“I think it’s Deku’s turn,” Uraraka says as she puts away her school supplies.
Izuku tries to refute, because he’s fairly sure he did it 3 months before, but resigns when he sees his friend’s pleading face. Uraraka has always liked sweet things and they’re often not on the list of supplies they need in the dorms. He knows she wants to get extra sweets (especially mochi) without being suspected by Aizawa or their classmates, so he concedes to the request. He just wishes he knew the teachers would be giving them five tests the following week.
~~~
No one is allowed to blame Izuku for forgetting to make the list of supplies (he doesn’t think anyone can). He’s tired beyond belief and no, Ashido, he will not admit to staying up to cram as much information as possible because this is an exception unlike usual (which he will also not admit to doing). UA teachers are ruthless and he hates that he didn’t prepare more for their deadlines.
Just about ready to faint right then and there, Izuku pulls the fridge door with a bit too much force than needed and hears a loud snap. With a little more care, he places the door against a wall. He’s too tired for this right now.
His classmates take one look at the fridge from where they are and shout, “Someone’s fixing that!”, resuming whatever they were doing. He has such reliable dormmates.
Izuku reluctantly finds a screwdriver to fix the fridge, over the course of multiple incidents involving his half-present mind, and manages somehow to put it back together. The fact he had to search through half of the dorms says something, and he's not ready to do it again. Another thing to add on the list, aside from a new fridge that can handle strength quirks: shelves to put important things on (he doesn’t have the time to tell certain people that they are not a place to store snacks, that’s called cupboards).
Sighing for the nth time, he gathers a few cans of red energy drinks and places them on a table. There’s a threshold for consumption of such beverages, but he disregards that part of his mind so he can drown in the short adrenaline he’ll have after drinking it all.
On his third can, he feels somewhat better, but it’s still not enough to get through the entire day. A stack of textbooks are waiting for him in his room and they won’t read themselves. He gulps down another can.
Flashes of lightning catch his attention at the corner of his eye, and he’s vaguely certain it’s Kaminari. He meets his classmate’s eyes to see that he has a hand over his mouth and looking at him strangely, his body shaking and sparking up in a frenzy of yellow. Izuku would ask if emotions are connected to his quirk subconsciously, but he doesn’t have his notebook nor passion to geek out over elemental quirks, so he instead turns back to his energy drinks. Then he hears a snicker. And another.
Izuku might’ve never been the type to ever be annoyed, thinking a hero doesn’t act on such feelings and not really seeing a need to be, but maybe stress can make him go above his expectations. He’ll never tell All Might how he banged a can of fish on a table out of exasperation. Wait.
Zoning in on the words Campbell’s Seafood Broth and the picture of shrimp, Izuku backtracks and rephrases his previous declamation. He’s never telling All Might how he banged a can of seafood broth on a table out of irritation. ...Wait.
Had he been drinking that?!
Behind him, Kaminari is no longer able to hold in his laughter and falls to the floor with a thud. “If you planned on - wheeze - finishing all of that - pffft - you should’ve put organic bone broth on the list instead! Oh god, I’m dying.” No, he’s wrong. Izuku is the one who’s going to die.
Faintly, he remembers seeing Kaminari before when this same thing happened. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but... “Were you the one who filled half the fridge with fish broth?”
Kaminari pauses mid-wheeze (Izuku applauds him for doing that, it didn’t seem like he could stop) and gives him an impression of Aizawa’s deadpan face before laughing again. “Took you long enough! Most of the class was in on it, since they missed when you first made that mistake. You’ve been doing it for the past week and everyone’s kinda just been going along with it. Sorry dude!”
Least he knows why he keeps smelling fish and no one bothered to say anything.
Taking a deep breath, Izuku promptly shrieks in Kaminari’s face (who keeps laughing) and crushes the can of broth in his hand. He’s not letting anyone have their favourite food for a month.
And if they don’t have any seafood for the months he’s in-charge of supplies, well, that’s his business. He wants no more fishy things to pop-up anymore, and he can already see the spark in Todoroki’s eyes. No, he will not go along with ordering a truckload of fish to Endeavor’s house, that's quite literally a slap to the face. Also, Aizawa would have their heads. He’s not looking forward to being fish food.