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The day is just like any other for the hero course third years.
Until it isn’t.
For right now though Kaminari Denki is eyeing the clock, counting down the minutes till the last class is over and he can get started tackling his homework, (read: stay up late scrolling through youtube until he remembers the essay in a panic). His eyes fall on the back of Kendou’s head where she sits in what used to be Ojiro’s seat and he sighs again at the loss of his friend’s presence.
It had been a major adjustment having the A and B classes abolished in favor of Day and Night classes but Denki can’t argue that it makes sense. It's their last couple months of hero school so as Aizawa-sensei would say, it’s only logical that the kids aiming for Nighttime and Underground heroics start getting some practice in their new schedules to be.
It’s just weird to look around the class and not see everyone he’s used to.
Jirou, Shinsou, Kouda, Hagakure, Tokoyami, Shouji and Ojiro are all gone and in their places sit the members of 1B aiming to be Daylight Heroes.
It’s been odd, not least because as the only Underground Hero employed as a UA teacher, Aizawa-sensei teaches the night class, even going so far as to occasionally take them with him on patrols, and the daylight A class kids have been mad jealous, something the night kids have been happily rubbing in.
Honestly this explains so much about why Sensei was always so tired as their homeroom teacher first year. If he was also teaching the third year night classes on top of his actual hero work it’s no wonder he would just pass out every spare minute he had.
Looking back, Denki is actually surprised Aizawa-sensei didn't fall asleep standing up more often.
The bell rings but before anyone can make a move Midnight claps her hands. “Before you go I’ve got a fun little announcement to make. Starting today through the next week is our unit preparing you for juggling heroics with external factors like starting a family.”
She strikes a pose as she spins on one heel to slam a paper onto the wall. “To make this as authentic as possible you’ve all been paired up with someone in the Night Class and you’ll be trading off taking care of a model newborn baby.” she grins widely clearly savoring the slowly building panic that her last minute announcement is having on the room. “For those of you still confused, the night class has been caring for your babies since their class ended this morning and now that day class is over it’s your turn to be ‘up all night’ while they head to class!”
The door slams open, Monoma in the lead looking downright murderous as the rest of the class trickles in tiredly behind him.
“Your partners will explain the rest!” Midnight cackles, sauntering out of the room.
“This is bullshit!” Bakugou shouts as Shinsou stomps up to his desk, a go bag in hand and fake baby strapped in a carry-on across his chest.
“Don’t curse in front of our child.” he deadpans, passing the doll over smoothly. “If we fail because of you ‘I’ll fudging kill you’”
His tone is mocking enough for Bakugou to accept the baby immediately out of pure spite.
“Fu-unk you Eyebags! I’m gonna be the best dad ever!”
“Great.” Shinsou smirks, “Diapers are in the bag, bottle comes with instructions, if the light on the forehead turns red you’re failing, yellow means baby is unhappy and you gotta fix it, green is golden. Got it?”
“Why’s it yellow now then you turd?”
“Diaper change. See ya!”
“Get back here you-” Bakugou cuts off as Shinsou uses his quirk to make his escape and Denki manages to be impressed even over his slowly growing hysteria that Shinsou waited to leave till he was sure the brainwashed Bakugou wouldn’t drop the baby.
Monoma slams a hand down onto Denki’s desk. “I. Have not slept. All day.”
His right eye keeps twitching and Denki forces a hesitant smile.
“Ah cool. Any instr-”
“Prince wiill start crying if you put him down before he’s fully asleep so don’t try to cut corners or he’ll get overtired! Bottle instructions are super clear so even you can’t mess it up and stop halfway through the feeding to burp him. He will throw up on you so just accept it now. Don’t neglect the diaper changing but don’t wake him up just to change him unless it's dirty. Yes it will be dirty, the support course is just a bunch of sadists. And for the love of god if you spill the formula you’ll have to wait till the morning to get more and he’ll starve so don’t you dare!”
Denki gets the feeling Monoma learnt that last from experience somehow but he keeps his thoughts to himself. Monoma holds out the baby and Denki feels a trickle of sweat go down his neck. “I um. Don’t suppose he’s got an insulation blanket in that bag somewhere?”
“No why would he-” Monoma cuts off and they share a look, Denki’s borderline panicked and Monoma's narrowing into a glare. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” he hisses. “Just don’t use your quirk and you’ll be fine!”
“But when I’m half asleep it’s a lot harder to-”
Monoma turns fully away from him to shout at the back of the classroom. “Yaoyorozu dear, Queen of our course, light of our lives, would you be so kind as to craft my ‘husband’ some insulated blankets so he doesn't accidentally murder our child in his sleep?” His tone is saccharine sweet throughout and Denki sees Yaomomo shudder.
“On the condition you never refer to me in that manner again.”
“Great.” Monoma grins, flashing teeth. “Thanks Queen.”
She rolls her eyes but Denki can see that she’s secretly pleased.
Honestly Monoma’s dedication to this assignment would be impressive if Denki didn’t have to deal with it himself.
His partner swaddles the doll expertly with an uncharacteristic care and then Denki is finally holding it, staring down at the green light with dread.
If the others can do it then so can he.
No big deal.
Right?
***
The clock reads 3am and ‘Prince’ won’t stop crying. Denki opens the diaper to change it and gets simulated pee all over his hands and a wave of exhaustion both physical and mental crashes over him.
He can’t wash it off without leaving the baby alone but he also needs to calm it down and change its now wet onesie and it won’t go back to sleep unless he holds it while pacing around the room and it won’t stop crying even though he just fed it and-
There’s a loud knocking on his door and even ignoring it he can already hear Iida lecturing from the hallway about how inconsiderate he’s being by ignoring his child and allowing it to wake everyone else and doesn’t he know how long it took Ingenium Mark 3 to fall asleep?!
Denki feels incredibly close to crying but he simply bundles Prince up ass naked, tosses everything he needs back into the diaper bag and shoulders past Iida on a mad march downstairs.
The common room should be empty at this hour so his absolute inadequacy won’t inconvenience anyone.
Except Monoma when they ultimately fail.
Fuck.
He makes for the couches to clean Prince up and stops short.
There’s a tiny lamp on the floor casting very little light on the corner of the room where Todoroki is sitting, scrolling through his phone with one hand while the other holds his baby. He’s humming absently, wrist twisted to hold the bottle in the baby’s mouth as from his laptop some kind of podcast is playing too quietly to be anything more than a drone of voices in the background.
Prince lets out an unearthly wail and Todoroki merely looks up and puts his phone down to raise the volume of the podcast a bit.
“Everything alright?” he murmurs and Denki has to blink back tears.
“No.” he sniffs. There’s so much going on, so much he needs to do and somehow what comes out of his mouth is “There’s fake pee all over my hands.”
Todoroki nods sagely as if the statement was somehow profound. “Babies tend to pee when you open their diapers because they’re hit by cold air, coupled by the pressure around their waists holding the diaper on suddenly loosening. You should lift the diaper only halfway open before holding it closed again so it gets caught in the diaper and then you can change it without fear.”
Denki blinks. “O-Oh. Cool.”
“I’ve got a carriage over there,” Todoroki jerks his head towards a bassinet on wheels- which he must have bought himself at some point holy shit, “so after you’ve sorted your… situation out you can bring it over here and I’ll rock it with my foot so you can wash your hands.”
Somehow it’s this little bit of kindness on almost no sleep that pushes Denki over the edge and he turns away crying, choking out a “thanks.” as he goes.
It’s not till he’s wiped the baby down, changed its onesie and swaddled it in a fresh blanket, Todoroki’s setup finally settling Prince enough for Denki to scrub his hands in the sink, that it occurs to him how calm Todoroki is. He’s gone back to the one handed feed and is scrolling through his phone again, foot expertly pushing the carriage back and forth in a steady rhythm. He looks like a pro honestly though Denki doesn’t know how the boy will manage tomorrow.
He turns off the sink and stares into its depths for a moment gathering his courage. “You want tea?”
Todoroki hums thoughtfully. “Just water please. The microwave is too loud for this hour.”
Denki pauses at where he’d been reaching for the kettle for himself. It hits him like ice, a cold sweat breaking out as he suddenly remembers.
Todoroki has never used the kettle for tea, not once in the three years of dorm life. He once left the room when he saw Sero using it. And Midoriya even mentioned something about being mindful about it but with all the sleepy fog in his head he’d totally forgotten.
‘Shit, what a great job you’re doing Denki, let's repay our savior by using a kettle when he’s least expecting it.’
He clears his throat loudly to cover up his lingering panic at what he’d almost done and jerks the fridge open harder than strictly necessary. “Water it is.”
Denki settles on the couch, placing two glasses down on the coffee table before taking over the rocking. Well, trying to anyway. It’s harder than it looks to use just your feet apparently.
“Here, hook your ankle on the bar like this so you can also pull it towards you after pushing it.” Todoroki demonstrates before passing it back and with a pang of guilt Denki realizes that his classmate's doll is sleeping and he’s stuck holding it for the foreseeable future now that Denki has stolen the carriage. Pathetic.
“It’s fine.” Todoroki says, finger stroking his doll’s hand lightly. “It’s not good to train a baby to only fall asleep while being held but it also isn’t good to only hold them when they’re being fed. I don’t mind.”
“Okay,” Denki mumbles quietly, “where did you get all this stuff anyway?”
“Ordered it. Expedited shipping. I’ll just give it all to my brother when the week is over.”
“Oh…” Denki swallows, scrambling for something else to say. “Looks expensive.”
Yeah perfect, small talk thy name is Denki, just great.
“It was.”
For a moment Denki thinks that’s all he’s gonna get but turns out they don't call his classmate Todoroki ‘Overshare’ Shouto for nothing.
“My brother got cut off when he married his girlfriend but I can buy whatever I need to help me graduate with top grades. So I had his wife pick out what she wanted and it’s all theirs as soon as the assignment is over.”
“Oh… is that how you’re so good at,” he waves his hand vaguely to encompass the assortment of baby gear as well as Todoroki himself. “all of this?”
His classmate is silent for a bit, the bright green of his doll’s forehead casting an odd glow to his face. “I don’t like to go home.”
Denki refrains from nodding knowledgeably by the skin of his teeth.
Just because they all know doesn’t mean they need to make it obvious.
“My brother lives in a two bedroom apartment nearby. So when I go there for the weekend I end up sleeping in the nursery.”
He shrugs mock casual but his eyes are soft as he watches his doll sleep. “It only makes sense that I should give them a break while I’m there. They don’t have to let me stay. So at least if I'm being useful then…” he huffs a sigh. “I dont know.”
The air is turning melancholy and Denki scrambles to change the subject as his gaze falls on a flat black disk on the coffee table. “So what’s that?” he asks, grabbing the distraction with both hands.
“Temperature gauge for bottles to see if it's too hot. I didn’t really need it for the assignment since the formula is fake but Natsuo and I needed one so I got it anyway.”
Denki cocks his head to the side in confusion. “Don’t people just test a drop on their wrists?”
Todoroki blinks at him silently but it still takes a minute to sink in. “Right. Your quirk probably stops that from being accurate huh?”
“Yes. And even without an ice quirk Natsuo can’t accurately tell either so… it just made sense to get one since I had the opportunity to make Endeavor pay for it.”
“Huh... So what's with the podcast?”
“Using music or noise machines runs the risk of getting the baby used to only falling asleep with them which could lead to problems later if you’re ever stuck without them. But getting them used to silence will make them light sleepers so it’s better to use something with voices that way they can sleep through regular conversations as well.”
“Like right now.” Denki realizes.
“Exactly.”
Silence descends and it's nice, peaceful even.
Denki keeps rocking the carriage until Todoroki nudges him that Prince is sleeping and he can stop.
He fights with himself before finally saying, “You’re really the best man. I would have failed without your help and then Monoma would have murdered me in my sleep so thanks. You’re my hero.”
Todoroki smiles. “Well I do have a license.”
Denki laughs as they make themselves comfortable to finally go to sleep; Todoroki pulling out some kind of sling to hold his baby secure when he moves to the recliner.
The week is far from over but somehow Denki feels more confident now that he’ll be able to do this.
And if he can’t?
He’ll just come hang with Todoroki again.