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Aizawa usually pays minimal attention to his class in the mornings. For as much as he berates them for being a crowd of unruly problem children, he knows deep down, there's some semblance of maturity, so he's content letting them do what they want until the first homeroom bell sounds while he takes advantage of the free time to catch some extra rest.
"Holy shit, just let me breathe, will you?"
But, at the sound of Todoroki shouting he can't keep his mind zeroed in on sleep.
Opening his eyes and peaking through the open zipper in his sleeping bag, Aizawa's focus drifts to seat 15, and he's mildly surprised to find Yaoyorozu with her chair pulled up right beside his desk.
While not as anal about school rules as Iida, she still very rarely violates them, and Aizawa thinks this is the first time he's seen her actually move her chair from it's designated place.
Which is strange, because her desk is next to Todoroki's anyway. She should be perfectly capable of maintaining a conversation with a meter between them, instead of sticking so close that their shoulders are touching.
Aizawa shifts his gaze to Todoroki, who he's surprised to find scowling.
"I don't need you babysitting me all the damn time!" Todoroki spits.
A hurt look flashes across Yaoyorozu's face.
Aizawa notes that she strongly resembles a kicked puppy.
"B-but Shoto—!"
"But nothing." Todoroki harshly interrupts, going as far as to lightly headbutt her. "Just go back to your desk and worry about yourself."
Yaoyorozu, after a second of thought, hesitantly complies, returning her chair to her desk and leaving Aizawa throughly confused.
It's at that point the bell rings, and he sort of wishes he could go home.
Aizawa sighs as he exists his sleeping bag, and the room is already silent by the time he's at the podium.
"What was the bet this time?" He drawls lazily, and he points to Ashido when she eagerly raises her hand.
"So basically, we were binging season 1 of this anime over the weekend, and Bakugo brought up how similar Todoroki sounded to the main character. Bakugo then bet him ¥5000 that—"
"Hold on." Aizawa interrupts with a raised palm. "Why in the hell would Todoroki need ¥5000?"
"I don't." The boy in question answers with a feral grin that doesn't fit on his face. "I just wanna see that horse-faced bastard's pockets hurt."
Aizawa spots the blond about to get involved, so he wisely interjects before a fight starts.
"Todoroki, language. Ashido, continue."
The pink girl nods eagerly. "Anyway, Bakugo bet that he couldn't keep the act up for a month, and Todoroki accepted, so here we are."
Aizawa shoots a glance towards Yaoyorozu, who's attention is solely focused on Todoroki.
He points towards the wealthy brunette. "And her?"
"Oh, that's the best part!" Ashido squeals. "She didn't want Todoroki to feel alone, so she decided to join in for his sake! Cute, right?"
Aizawa feels a headache brewing.
"Yes, adorable." He says sarcastically, before directing his gaze towards the two recommended students at the back of his classroom. "I expect this to not get in the way of your academics."
"Don't worry sir." Todoroki assures. "Nothing's going to stop me from wiping every last villain off the face of the planet."
"Mm." Yaoyorozu hums halfheartedly, with her attention still zeroed in on Todoroki.
An early retirement is slowly but surely becoming a very appetising career option.
Midoriya's relatively confident with the matchup he's been dealt.
Sure, he's fighting Yaoyorozu and Todoroki, who are both powerhouses in their own rights, but at the same time he's paired with Iida, which should level the playing field.
With their smarts and combined technical skill, they should be able to find a way to incapacitate Todoroki, and from there they can pressure his partner with a 2v1.
"Have you got any plans?" Iida asks as he's approaching, still fiddling with his helmet's visor.
Midoriya nods. "It's a bit of a risk, but supposing I get Todoroki to lose his cool before the match starts, he might leave openings for us to exploit. Handling Yaoyorozu should be lightwork after that."
Iida blinks.
"Midoriya, would you mind if I spoke my mind for a second?"
"What's up?"
"Are you mentally sound?" Iida asks gravely. "Because no sane man would try riling up Todoroki as he is now."
Midoriya rolls his eyes at the absurdity of the statement. Sure, he's been acting a little unstable thanks to the bet in place, but this is Todoroki they're talking about. Beneath the facade he's still the same socially awkward friend they've come to know and love.
"I know what I'm doing, don't worry." He assures, and pulls Iida by the shoulder towards the opponent in question.
"Hey, Todoroki!"
He looks up from the belt he's toying with. "Midoriya. Need anything?"
"Just a minute of your time, that's all."
Todoroki shrugs, and follows as Midoriya leads them out of earshot from the rest of the class, who are still in the midst of receiving their pairs.
"Around a month ago, Iida and I got peckish after our morning run, and needed some quick carbs."
Iida tenses beside him, but Midoriya ignores it in favour of continuing.
"I ate your cold soba, and he ate your leftover shortcake."
Iida grabs him by the shoulder. "Wait, what are you saying all of a sudden—"
Midoriya lightly brushes him off. "And I just wanted to say that it tasted mediocre. Possibly even subpar. I think cement would've been a preferable alternative to that garbage."
Todoroki's face flashes through a multitude of expressions, but settles on somber shock.
"This is some sort of joke, right?" His voice is almost hysterical. "You're not serious, are you?"
"Team A and B - you're both up!" Midnight calls from the front, and Midoriya smiles at the perfect timing.
He notices Yaoyorozu approaching them while looking between him and Todoroki, and does his best to blissfully ignore the death glare she's levelling him.
"Guess we should be off, eh?" He waves at Todoroki as he starts walking away. "Best of luck!"
He pulls Iida along with him and makes his way toward their starting position within the training ground.
"Was that really the best course of action?" Iida grumbles as he makes the final adjustments to his hero costume.
Midoriya chuckles. "Sure it was. Did you see him? He's totally lost the will to fight."
The buzzer sounds, and not even a second later an ice wall erupts, with the peak pointed in their general direction.
Riding atop it, Midoriya can make out Todoroki's fast approaching form, with a left arm swathed in flames.
"You traitors!" He roars.
Midoriya catches a glint of silver from behind him, and turns around to find that Iida's already been incapacitated by Yaoyorozu.
Who, he's terrified to note, is wielding two lengthy stainless-steel blades.
The last thing Midoriya remembers before blacking out is Todoroki's yell, followed by the feeling of the air cooling, then rapidly heating up.
For the following few weeks, everyone dreads being faced against Todoroki; doubly in the few cases where he's paired with Yaoyorozu.
When it comes to combat training, Uraraka's infinitely grateful she's paired with Todoroki, instead of opposing him. Poor Deku still hasn't recovered mentally from whatever nonsense happened in their fight.
Sure, her current opponents in Bakugo and Kaminari are hardly pushovers, but after seeing what became of the last few teams faced against Todoroki and his newfound ferocity, she'll gladly face off against a few sparks and explosions.
"So, Todoroki." She pats him on the back cheerily. "What's the plan of attack?"
She's surprised to find that his face is oddly solemn, as he looks over the landscape of training ground Theta through the window of their building.
"On the other side of these walls, is the training field." He states. "And on the other side of the training field, is freedom. That's what I always believed."
Uraraka furrows her eyebrows in confusion, and the starting buzzer sounds. "Okay..?" She responds hesitantly. "So, the plan?"
"But I was wrong." He turns back to her, and she's shocked to find what appear to be the faintest hint of tears gathering in his eyes. "On the other side of the training ground, is just more enemies. It's exactly as my dad's training taught me."
"Uhh…right!" She puts a bit of pep into her tone in an attempt to lift the mood. "That's exactly right - definitely enemies on the other side! Guess we gotta take them out, eh?"
Uraraka's beginning to hear the telltale sound of explosions approaching, all the while Todoroki seems completely unconcerned.
"Yeah…exactly." Her teammate halfheartedly responds.
Through the window, she can spot Bakugo flying towards them, and showing no signs of stopping.
"Hey…if we actually destroy all of our enemies on the other side of the wall…"
Todoroki points at Bakugo, and he seems to take it as a challenge if the increased number of explosions and gathering of smoke is anything to go by.
Uraraka dearly wishes she went into the construction business like her father.
"Will we finally be free—?"
"Howitzer Impact!"
Midoriya received a text message from an unknown number instructing him that someone wants to meet him downstairs, and it's only through dumb luck that he gathers the strength to pull himself out of bed.
Truth be told, ever since the Todoroki incident, he's been feeling a little out of it. Seeing his friend with such intense anger in his eyes was unnerving, and it certainly didn't help that he was the subject of his hatred.
The more rational part of him insists that Todoroki was just playing up the 'Eren' act, but Midoriya's always been a little too sympathetic, and can't help but think there was some truth to his reaction. He himself would probably be just as torn up if someone both ate his Katsudon and insulted it's quality, so he can't begin to imagine how Todoroki must've felt. It's because of that guilt that he's recently been doing his best to avoid him.
The ding of the elevator snaps him out of his musing, and he exits it to make his way towards the dorm kitchens. It's very dimly lit, but he can make out a tall silhouette sat by the fridge, with an empty chair in front of them.
"Hey…it's been 2 weeks, Midoriya."
He tenses as the face is revealed in the low light of the kitchen.
"No…it can't be…" Midoriya pauses at the kitchen entrance. "Todoroki…?"
"Have a seat." Todoroki implores monotonously, but Midoriya still finds himself glued to his spot.
"But…but how?" He chokes out. "The phone number—it said it was from an unknown contact."
Todoroki ignores him, and raises his left hand to his side. "This fridge. It has the Katsudon you've been saving for 3 days."
Midoriya's eyes trail towards Todoroki's hand, which has small embers licking at the fingertips.
"Sit down, Midoriya."
It's at that point he realises the full gravity of the threat, and complies without hesitation.
Todoroki sits opposite him a second later.
Nearly a minute passes in silence, before Midoriya breaks it.
"I don't get it…what are you planning to do here?"
"The same thing as you." He responds blankly.
Midoriya's eyes widen, and he rests his head in his palms. "W-why?"
"Don't you get it?" Todoroki leans forward. "It's the same thing as you. Because I don't have a choice."
"But I—"
"Wait." Todoroki interjects. "You can say your piece afterwards."
Midoriya's breath is still caught in his throat, so he settles for a nod and looks up at him.
"That day…the day you opened that fridge and took my food. Ever since then, I kept wondering why such horrible things have to happen to the innocents of this world."
There isn't any emotion on Todoroki's face, but Midoriya detects a slight hint of pity in his voice beneath the boredom.
"I just couldn't understand it. Why, Midoriya? Why was my soba eaten?"
He looks shamefully at the ground. "Because I opened the fridge."
"And why did you open the fridge that day?"
"Because I was hungry." He responds guiltily.
A beat passes, and Todoroki sighs.
"I suppose if you were hungry then you didn't have much choice."
Midoriya feels his heart shatter a little — because Todoroki really didn't deserve this. It's only after being threatened with the same thing that he can begin to imagine the pain his friend must've been feeling at losing his favourite food.
He drops to the ground in front of him and kneels.
"You're wrong!" He exclaims. "I had a very clear choice! Iida wanted to turn back before we even opened the fridge, but I insisted that we grabbed something to eat. If it wasn't for me…you could've enjoyed your soba!"
"I just wanted to be greedy." Midoriya looks up at Todoroki with tears streaming down his face. "The truth is your soba was eaten because of me!"
He rests his head against the floor once again. "I can't take this anymore. Spare my Katsudon - please, just kill me."
Midoriya hears the shuffling of footsteps, and finds Todoroki's shadow looming over him. Looking up, he sees his friend with his right hand outstretched.
"It's as I thought - you and I really are the same."
Midoriya's too out of it to analyse the deeper meaning of the words, and simply grasps Todoroki's hand to allow himself to be pulled to his feet.
"I'll just keep moving forward."
He notices Todoroki's other hand light up in flames, and move closer towards the fridge.
"Until my enemies are starving."
Kirishima likes to think he's got a fair amount of bravery. He's not the strongest, or even the most confident student in the class, but courage is something he has in spades, and it takes a lot to make him cower.
But when he walks into the pitch black bathroom and hears the words "Tatakae, Tatakae" on repeat, he opts for the safe option, which is running for his fucking life and finding another place to piss in.
Tokoyami's only there for a late night snack. It's become a somewhat nightly routine for him, what with his nocturnal habits, and he's accustomed to not encountering anyone this late at night.
So, you can imagine his shock when he comes across both Todoroki and Yaoyorozu in the dimly lit kitchen.
They don't seem to be in character when he first lays eyes on them. In fact, they seem to be engaging in a rather fond conversation over a cup of tea.
Then, Tokoyami makes the mistake of stepping on that one creaky floorboard, and it's like a flip switches in them both as they register his presence.
Tokoyami clears his throat awkwardly. "Don't mind me, really. I'll just be on my way—"
"No, Tokoyami, you should stay." Todoroki instructs, and his left hand is raised with a threatening line of fire across his palm. "Have a seat."
Tokoyami wants nothing more than to jump out of the nearest window, but acquiesces all the same, sitting in the empty seat across from Todoroki and beside Yaoyorozu.
There's an awkward silence for a minute, before Todoroki breaks it.
"Tokoyami, you can fly, correct?"
"Errr…yes?" He answers hesitantly. "With Dark Shadow's aid, at least."
"Then tell me, Tokoyami." The fire emanating from his palm gives his heterochromatic eyes an almost ethereal glow. "How does it feel?"
"Liberating, I suppose." He knows Todoroki realistically wouldn't harm a fly, but he can't suppress the gulp before he responds. "There's almost a sense of—"
"Freedom?" Todoroki interrupts, and it finally clicks in Tokoyami's mind where he's taking this.
"…yes." He sighs, withholding the urge to slam his head through the table. "I feel free."
"You should be happier, Tokoyami. Not many people are able to exercise that same liberty."
He moves his piercing gaze over to Yaoyorozu, and Tokoyami feels like he can finally breath.
"You, for example." He addresses her. "Do you really think you're free, Momo?"
The girl stiffens in shock. "W-what do you mean, Shoto?"
"What I mean is that your actions are hardly of your own volition." He elaborates. "You're here, fulfilling this 'Mikasa' charade for what? For your own monetary gain? For a reason that will benefit you?"
Yaoyorozu stumbles over her words, and for a second, in spite of the fact that they're so clearly acting, Tokoyami feels bad for her.
"No - you're here for my sake." Todoroki doesn't grant her the luxury of responding. "You're here because you're driven by your twisted sense of loyalty towards me — and for what? For love?" He scoffs mockingly, and she shrinks in on herself a little.
"You're so eager to please me that you'd debase yourself to this extent, and for no tangible reward." His voice is somehow scathing and monotonous all at the same time. "Simply for a sliver of my praise. Like a dog. A slave."
Yaoyorozu's shoulders are shaking now, and Tokoyami's discomfort increases tenfold.
"Looking at you has always made me sick, and now I finally know why."
Her grip on her mug tightens so much Tokoyami's afraid it'll shatter.
"Ever since we started dating, Momo - I've always hated you."
She finally looks up from the tea, and there are tears welling up in her eyes.
"Shoto…" She whimpers, and Tokoyami, in spite of the emotionless front he keeps active, feels his heart crack a little.
He looks up towards Todoroki, and he's more shocked to see him staring at her with wide, worried eyes.
"Momo?" There's clear panic in his voice, so Tokoyami's certain he's dropped the facade. "Are you alright? Was it too much? I didn't mean for it to upset you—"
Yaoyorozu breaks him out of his concerned rambling with a giggle.
"It's fine, Shoto. I was just acting."
"Holy shit." Todoroki breathes a sigh of relief, and Tokoyami realises that, outside of acting, this is the most emotion he's seen the boy expresss. "You had me seriously worried there. The crying was so realistic."
Yaoyorozu swipes her thumb across a tear streak, and leans across the table to pop it into Todoroki's mouth.
Tokoyami blushes at the display, and suddenly finds the floor a thousand times more interesting.
"It's not salty?" Todoroki mumbles through her thumb.
"Just water, I'm afraid. Managed to sneak a few eye drops in while you were talking to Tokoyami."
It's as if they've only just remembered his presence, and both sets of eyes turn to him.
"Oh, right, you saw us break character." Todoroki ponders.
Yaoyorozu hums. "I don't suppose we could buy your silence—"
"No need." Tokoyami hurriedly interjects as he rises to his feet. "As far as I'm concerned, this entire conversation never happened."
Yaoyorozu beams at him, and even Todoroki cracks a small smile.
"Tokoyami, what a man you are." He says sincerely.
"Are you sure there's nothing we can do?" Yaoyorozu asks. "I'm sure the three of us can head to an amusement park, or—"
"Really, don't mention it." Tokoyami throws all pretence of civility out the window, and retreats to the safety of his room as fast as physically possible.
The sooner he can distance himself from this cursed couple the better. Nocturnal nature be damned - he'll never leave his room past curfew again if there's a risk of tonight repeating itself.
Mineta spends his Friday evenings doing what he loves most - jerking off. Plenty of guys do it, so it's not as if it's something to be ashamed of.
But, as he's faced with the cover of an EreMika doujin, his mind's riddled with nothing but guilt. Mainly because he can't help but see Todoroki and Yaoyorozu's faces in their place.
He initially considered himself lucky that he was spared from most of their acting-antics. He heard rumours of the terror they wreaked on his classmates, and he naively assumed they planned on sparing him.
But alas, even without actively trying, they're able to terrorise him too.
He can't bring himself to actually jerk off to this. Sure, he'd be lying if he said he never had a lewd thought or two about Yaoyorozu, but to fantasise about another man fucking her would be a step too far, even for him.
Mineta's many things, but a cuck he's not, and he feels his sexual desire peter out. This might be the first Friday for as long as he can remember that he won't be spending beating off, and that realisation leaves him with a profound sense of emptiness. He'd love nothing more than to go to town on his pecker, but as it is now, it's barely got the rigidity of a wet tissue.
"What are you doing, Mineta? Get it up."
The boy in question feels his heart leap into his throat at the sound of the monotonous voice by his ear, and he turns his head slightly to find Todoroki glaring daggers at him from over his shoulder.
"Did you forget what you came to this website to do? To beat off? To fulfil your fantasies via screen, because you're too maidenless to do so in real life?"
He grits his teeth as embarrassment begins overwhelming the guilt.
"For your bitchlessness. For your right hand. For shame. You keep moving forward to avenge your fallen pride."
Mineta feels a swell of resolve, and his grip on his mouse tightens.
"Even if you bust, even after you bust."
He opens the link to the doujin's first page.
"This is the story that you started, isn't it?"
All reluctance evaporates, leaving Mineta with a sense of surging drive.
"I can't believe I had to do that." Todoroki keeps an iron grip on his girlfriend's waist as he tries to find comfort in her.
"Shhh, I've got you babe." Yaoyorozu cuddles his head closer to her chest. "It'll be alright."
Todoroki stills shivers in spite of the consolation. "His pubes were little purple spheres."
At first, Bakugo thought the bet would be funny.
And to be fair, for a while at least, it was. Todoroki reducing Deku to a depressed mess over Katsudon might be the funniest shit he's seen to this day, and he's heard a few rumours regarding Mineta that still evoke the odd chuckle or two from him.
However, with all the time that's passed, the novelty's seriously worn off. There might only be a few days till the bet is over, and he's long since accepted that he's lost, but it's getting increasingly more difficult dealing with half-and-half's shitty acting.
Thankfully, this is their last training session before the weekend, by which point the bet will have ended. So long as he makes it through this class without many grievances, he can avoid both the bastard and his girlfriend and still have a peaceful end to his week.
"Pair A." Aizawa drones from the front of the class. "Bakugo and Yaoyorozu."
Before the blond can even begin internally seething, he's interrupted by an outburst.
"No, I don't want that!" Todoroki desperately yells.
Bakugo dearly wishes he was born deaf.
"Momo, with another man? I want her to be paired with me, and no-one else—"
"Enough!" Bakugo barks, effectively silencing him.
He digs into his pockets, and fishes out half a dozen bills. He's certain it adds up to more than the ¥5000 they agreed on, but at this point he can't bring himself to care.
"Fuckin' take it." He shoves the notes into Todoroki's chest. "And while you're at it, take Ponytail with you. I'll gladly fight a 2v1 if it means staying away from the pair of you."
Todoroki raises an eyebrow. "I'm not sure that's how the rules works."
"Oh yeah?" Bakugo scoffs, and turns to Aizawa. "Got any objections, sir?"
He seems to mull it over for a second. "You proposed the bet didn't you?"
Bakugo curses under his breath and nods.
"Then fight."
For a second, Bakugo thinks he's hearing things, but the smug grin on Aizawa's face all but confirms his ears are working perfectly fine.
"After all, this is the story you started, isn't it?"