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“In the book Quirks and the Rise of Repercussions, paragraph two on page twenty-three, Chosha Hon opens his argument on the use of quirks on civilians and how the dangers may outweigh the benefits. He states that the rise of superheroes began at, quote, ‘The fresh start of the year—‘“
“Ugh, shut up.”
Izuku whirled his head around to look at his childhood friend. The explosive teen was sitting on Izuku’s bed, leaning back on the headboard with a workbook in front of him and a busted-up pencil in hand. He shot a glare Izuku’s way, tossing his pencil across the room with a series of low ’thunk!’s, ruining the poor stationary even more.
The greenette quickly straightened up from where he was sitting leaned over a laptop on the hardwood floor, “Ah, sorry, Kacchan!” He apologized, resisting the urge to slap a hand over his mouth. Izuku didn’t even realize he’d been reading his essay aloud…
“Bakugou, maybe you should start wearing earplugs,” Todoroki suggested, shifting next to Izuku to look towards Kacchan, “Midoriya mutters a lot so—“
“As if I don’t know that!” Kacchan yelled, getting up to grab his abandoned pencil, “No matter what I do, I’ll be able to hear the nerd’s yapping.”
“Then the easiest solution would be to leave the room, I think.” Todoroki suggested, something small tugging at his lips, “I understand if you can’t take the noise. Studying requires a lot of focus, after all.”
“I am focused, you moron,” Kacchan grumbled, slumping back down in his seat, “Why would I let Deku make me leave just ‘cause he can’t quiet down?”
Todoroki smiled then, just a little, “Fair enough, I suppose.”
“You really don’t have to study with us if you don’t want to, Kacchan,” Izuku supplied genuinely, “I know you prefer the quiet.”
“You can shut up, too. Go back to your dumb essay.”
Izuku hummed, trying to cover up a yawn, “Whatever you say.”
“Did you sleep well last night, Midoriya?” Todoroki asked absently.
“Uhh…” Izuku tried to find the right words. Words that woudn’t earn him an angry Kacchan, “I slept fine, how about you?”
“Fine.”
“You’ve looked dead all day, Deku,” Kacchan piped up, eyes now fixed on him.
“I— I’ve just been super focused, that’s all.”
“You almost face planted on the way home.” Todoroki inputed unhelpfully.
Izuku sent him a grimace when Kacchan’s eyes narrowed, “Just because I tripped on my shoelaces!”
“You don’t usually forget to tie your shoelaces.”
“Well, I’ve been off my game today.”
“You just said you’ve been focused.” Kacchan bit out.
“I— I was!”
“So what gives?”
Izuku floundered for an excuse, “I— skipped lunch! So I was a little out of it when school ended!”
Todoroki’s eyes widened slightly, “You didn’t eat lunch?”
Izuku realised his mistake too late, “Wait— no— I mean…”
“So you haven’t eaten much today?” Kacchan put down his pencil, a scowl on his face.
“I’ve been eating fine!”
Todoroki tilted his head to the side, “So why did you skip lunch?”
“I had a big breakfast, is all.”
“We ate together for breakfast. You had the same amount of rice that you do every day.”
“Half n’ Half, do you measure the rice?”
Todoroki shook his head, “No, I just thought it was obvious…?”
“You’re really observant, Todoroki…” Izuku smiled shakily.
“Don’t try and change the subject, nerd,” Kacchan said, squashing any chance of Izuku having a nice evening, “Go and get something to eat.”
Izuku just leaned over his laptop once again, furrowing his brows, “…Later. I need to get this done first.”
“You’ll be working on that all night, Deku, just get something now.”
“I will, Kacchan. I’ll just finish up.”
Silence fell over the room following that. Todoroki and Kacchan’s gazes were both fixed on Izuku, who was desperately trying to work on his essay without yawning again. Todoroki was definitely debating what to do and Kacchan was probably gonna snatch the laptop away from him or something. He had to get this done as soon as possible.
After a few seconds, Kacchan groaned, loud and frustrated, before swinging his legs over the bed and stomping out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Izuku had looked up from where his eyes were glued to the screen with a frown, watching the blond storm away and, judging by the sounds of the footsteps, march downstairs to the common room.
“Huh…” Todoroki spoke, tone edging on disappointed— for what, Izuku didn’t really know, “Should I go get him?”
Izuku sighed, turning back to his laptop solemnly, “No, he’s probably done for the night.”
“Alright… did you want me to leave, too?”
“Oh, no, you don’t have to. I think Kacchan’s just frustrated.” Izuku smiled at the teen reassuringly, rubbing at his eye, “I’ll try talking to him tomorrow.”
“Okay, then.”
After that, the two continued on without conversation. All that could be heard was the scratching of a pencil and the typing of a keyboard as the two teens worked.
Izuku was feeling the tiredness get to him. While he hadn’t eaten that much today, it certainly was enough to carry him through until he fell asleep. No, this issue was due to something else.
Training blackwhip was a necessity. Whether anyone was there to watch him train or not. He didn’t have a choice; he had to master this as quickly as possible— if that meant late nights, then it meant late nights.
After a few minutes of work, Todoroki got a notification on his phone. A message. Vaguely, Izuku noted his friend unlocking his phone, blinking at it for a second before typing something in response.
After a second, Todoroki stood up, took Kacchan’s things off of the bed and snagged the blanket, sitting back down and draping it across Izuku.
Izuku startled at the action, “What—“
Soon enough, Todoroki was sitting right next to him, left side warm. The boy reached out to turn the brightness down on his laptop, “Fuyumi always liked this, she said it was relaxing.”
Izuku honestly didn’t know what he was talking about, but the warmth and the familiar pressure of his blanket was soothing. His eyelids drooped.
“Your left side is warm… while your right side is cold,” Izuku mumbled, subconsciously leaning into his friend’s side and resting his head on his shoulder, “That’s really cool.”
“You always find a way to make any quirk seem interesting, Midoriya,” Todoroki said, a smile in his voice, “I think that’s cool.”
Izuku slowly shook his head, “I’m just… saying what’s there.” He yawned, “For example, Hagakure’s quirk… it’s like… pretty straightforward at first but then she can… bend light. How amazing is that? And it’s… really useful, too.”
“I agree.”
“And… she could just make things invisible if she… just…”
The low sounds of his classmates downstairs mixed with the calmness of his room was so nice. Izuku felt himself drifting off. He barely noted that his laptop was shut down, and with it his desire to fight it anymore. He was tired and this was nice.
As Izuku’s mind faded into unconsciousness, he wondered what he was gonna train on tomorrow, what his friends would be doing, how he would check up on Kacchan…
Sleep tugged at him and soon enough he was slipping into his dreams.
—
King Explosion Murder: I’m getting ingredients for dinner
King Explosion Murder: Make sure that idiot takes a nap
Shoto: Is that why you left suddenly?
King Explosion Murder: I’m gonna make auntie’s vegetable soup later. The nerd won’t be able to not eat it.
King Explosion Murder: DO NOT TELL HIM ABOUT THIS
Shoto: Okay
Shoto: :)
—
Send Our Condolences To Mr. Aizawa
Resident Pretty Boy: Guys
Resident Pretty Boy: look
Invis pots: What’s up Todoroki?
Invis pots: TELL US WHAT HAPPENED
Resident Pretty Boy: [attached an image]
Resident Pretty Boy: Midoriya fell asleep on me
Resident Pretty Boy: I don’t think I can physically move anymore
Invis pots: AWWWHWYEHEWWWWW
Acid Queen: SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE SABE SABE SBABDBESBW
Frogger: Adorable!!!!!
Pikachu: HEY NO FAIR
Pikachu: YOU GUYS HAVE AN EXCLUSIVE STUDY GROUP AND NOW THIS
Creative Mode: How cute!!!
Emo Band: Yeah Todoroki not cool
Spider Man: Favouritism at its finest
Resident Pretty Boy: He’s like a kitten
Frogger: Actually, Jirou, Sero and Kaminari, I’d say that since the whole class has the picture we should count this as a win
Rocks!!: Raise your hand if you’ve set it as your wallpaper! ✋
Frogger: ✋
Creative Mode: ✋
Spider Man: ✋
Emo Band: ✋
Pikachu: ✋
Resident Pretty Boy: ✋
Gotta Go Fast: ✋
Invis pots: ✋
Sugar Rush: ✋
Aizawa Jr: ✋
Silent But Deadly: ✋
Boots: ✋
Not French: ✋
Octopus: ✋
Emo Bird: ✋
Explody Boy: You people are so stupid
Invis pots: Aw c’mon Bakugou! Lighten up!
Rocks!!: He says, as if he doesn’t save each and every Midoriya picture
Explody Boy: THATS BECAUSE I DONT
Pikachu: I saw him set it as his background.
Gotta Go Fast: You should raise your hand since that’s the case, Bakugou.
Aizawa Jr: Why do I hear explosions downstairs
Pikachu: Why do you have to ask
Resident Pretty Boy: @ExplodyBoy Bakugou you’re waking him up please stop
Spider Man: HE ACTUALLY SOTPPED
Acid Queen: IM CRYINGNGGGGGGGGG
Pikachu: I SHOWED HIM THE MESSAGE AND HE JUST WALKED AWAY ALL GRUMPY
Rocks!!: HAHAHAHAHAH VERY MANLY OF YOU BAKUGOU!!!!
Acid Queen: IM DEADDD
Acid Queen: THANSK BAKUGOU AHSHHSKKAKJDJAHDJA
Explody Boy: IM GOING TO KILL ALL OF YOU
Explody Boy: RIGHT AFTER HE WAKES UP
Pikachu: HAHSJZHJAKSKAKA
Shoto looked down at his phone with a smile. Next to him, Midoriya settled once again, relaxing and leaning all his weight onto Shoto’s side. Shifting into a more comfortable position as he slumped back onto the side of his friend’s bed, Shoto tried to avoid any loose bits of paper or stationary.
Usually, Bakugou would be there to study with them and keep their chosen area tidier than… this. But after he left, it was like the room instantly descended into chaos, just waiting for the explosive teen to come back and sort everything out.
Shoto didn’t think that he’d be much longer, though.
When he heard footsteps approaching and a knock on the door, he smirked, a little smug.
“Come in.”
Midoriya’s door opened to reveal Bakugou, expression a little sombre, but it turned relieved when he spotted Midoriya’s sleeping form.
“How long has he been sleeping?” His friend asked, making his way inside before shutting the door quietly behind him, grimacing at the mess.
Shoto hummed, “About twenty minutes. He seemed really tired, right?”
Bakugou clicked his tongue disapprovingly. He crouched down to where the two teens were studying on the floor and started to collect their studying material with a grumble, stacking papers together and grasping stationary in his fist before standing up and ordering them all onto Midoriya’s desk. Distantly, Shoto was grateful. Bakugou seemed to be the one most concerned about tidiness, making up for the other two’s forgetfulness.
“The idiot stayed up too late training again,” Bakugou began, eyes narrowed in irritation. Still, Shoto could read him well by now; he saw the concern glittering in the crimson, “I told him to go to sleep before I left Gym Gamma but no. He just has to master blackwhip within a single night.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t see it that way.” Shoto offered quietly.
“Really feels like it. Idiot just refuses to take care of himself.”
Shoto couldn’t find it in him to disagree. Midoriya’s work ethic was admirable, of course, but even he could see some repercussions— how sometimes the greenette would yawn and rub his eyes, how eyebags would become more and more prevalent.
“Still,” Shoto sighed, “he knows what he’s doing. We should trust him not to go too far, I’m sure he’s aware of his limits.”
Bakugou paused at that. He fell silent for a few moments, facing away from Shoto so the teen couldn’t see his face.
After a few seconds, the blond set down the last pencil and turned towards them, slumping down next to Shoto.
“Did he already finish the essay?” Bakugou asked with a low voice.
The topic change was interesting, as was Bakugou’s sudden silence, but at this point Shoto’s learnt when to pry. Making a mental note to bring it up later, he shook his head in amusement, “No. But I don’t think he’ll continue anytime soon.”
Bakugou rolled his eyes at that, leaning against Shoto’s empty side with a smirk, “I’m gonna tell All Might to force him to end training early tonight.”
“Do you think that’ll work?”
The other teen closed his eyes, “It will if I have anything to say about it.”
Humming, Shoto let his head fall back onto Midoriya’s mattress, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes.
“Thanks,” Bakugou spoke up, voice the quietest Shoto’s ever heard it, “for letting him sleep.”
After a few moments, Shoto smiled, “Thanks for dinner.”
“I haven’t even made it yet, Half n’ Half.”
“A preemptive thank you, then.”
At Bakugou’s snort, Shoto let himself drift off.
—
Send Our Condolences To Mr. Aizawa
Gotta Go Fast: We will be preparing dinner soon! If you are in your room, please consider coming to the common area! Tonight we’ll be having vegetable soup, courtesy of Bakugou!
Invis pots: Bakugou never struck me as someone who liked vegetable soup?
Pikachu: Idk he just stormed out of the dorms and came back with ingredients
Frogger: I guess he just wanted some
Pikachu: Whyd he have to get peas and radishes I CANT EVEN TAKE THEM OUT OF THE SOUP OR HE’LL KILL ME
Aizawa Jr: That’s weird. Maybe Midoriya’s mom showed him the recipe
Aizawa Jr: Midoriya was talking about this soup that his mom used to make him all the time. I wonder if Bakugou ever had some
Invis pots: speaking of, anyone else notice how exhausted Mido’s been today????
Emo Bird: That’s weird. I just texted him and he usually responds to his messages right away. Even when he’s studying with Todoroki and Bakugou
Gotta Go Fast: Does anyone know where those three are? They are usually finished studying by now.
Acid Queen: …
Pikachu: …
Rocks!!: …
Spider Man: …
Emo Band: oh OF COURSE.
—
When Izuku arrived at the common room, he was hit with a wave of comfort and warmth. The smell of home wafted through the dorms and Izuku felt his shoulders slack instinctively.
“What’s that smell?” He asked no one in particular, voice quiet and sleepy.
Still, Kaminari spotted him and beamed, waving him over to the couch where he and Kirishima were watching something on the TV, “Midoriya! Hey, dude, sleep well?”
Izuku blinked at his friend when he arrived next to him, how did he know…? “Oh, uh, yeah! I don’t remember falling asleep, though! Last thing I remember was writing up my essay, and then suddenly I was waking up on my bed.”
“Your bed, huh?” Kirishima snorted, “Well, they’re almost done making dinner. Dunno how long it’ll take, though.”
“Oh, right!” Izuku smiled widely, taking a seat next to his friends, waving at the few other classmates who were dotted around the couch, “It smells really good! It kinda reminds me of—“
“Lemme guess, your mom’s soup?” Mina piped up suddenly. She was scrolling through her phone a few seats away from them and held a grin on her face.
“Uh—” Izuku tilted his head to the side, extremely confused, “Yeah! How’d you know?”
Kaminari threw an arm over his shoulders, a move that Izuku grew used to over these past few months, “Check the group chat, why don’t you?”
“Oh, okay—“
“Everyone!” Iida called, waving his arms around in the middle of the common area, “Please assist us with setting the table!”
“Looks like it’s time to eat!” Kirishima grinned, hopping off of the couch.
“Soups on, I guess!” Kaminari also stood up, pulling Izuku up with him, “C’mon, Mido! I wanna see how good this actually is! Bakugou was hounding us to get it right, it was so annoying.”
“Kacchan…?” Izuku connected the dots in his head as Kaminari pulled him to the small kitchenette where everyone was crowding around. Eventually, it clicked, and his eyes widened at the realisation, “Did Kacchan—?”
“Shut up,” Kacchan grumbled next to him. Izuku whipped his head around to see the blond boy holding a few bowls in his hands, shooting a glare Izuku’s way, “I just like Auntie’s cooking, nerd.”
“Kacchan!” Izuku yelped, “I didn’t think you’d remember the recipe.”
Kacchan only scoffed at that and walked away, knocking their shoulders together. Gently. “I have a great memory, Deku. You’re just slow.”
“I see…” Despite the regular harshness, Izuku found himself smiling. Kacchan just felt like recreating a childhood recipe, it was a common thing to do. Still, something warm bloomed in the greenette’s chest, and familiar lights shone in his eyes.
“Thanks, Kacchan.”
His friend didn’t respond. But Izuku didn’t need him to.
For the next few hours, Izuku couldn’t wipe that grin off his face. Much to the displeasure of Kacchan.
It was the best the soup had ever tasted.
—
“Young Midoriya…”
“I can keep going!” Izuku insisted, despite his mentor’s apprehension, “We’ve only been training for a few hours, I can-“
“Oh, shut it, idiot,” Kacchan butt in with a scowl, “we got class in the morning, I ain’t sacrificing sleep just to watch you fail.”
“If I keep going then I won’t be failing! I’m sorry for keeping you up, but-“
“Didn’t I tell you to shut it?!” Kacchan exploded. Izuku yelped and took a step back from the explosive hand that was swept his way, “It’s time to sleep.”
And with that, the blond turned on his heel and stomped away, leaving a dejected Izuku and semi-relieved All Might in his wake.
“He’s right, young man. You should sleep.” All Might tried again with a borderline pleading tone.
Izuku stared at the retreating figure of Kacchan, a frown etched onto his face, “I… You and Kacchan can go and turn in, All Might. I’ll stay here and keep working on blackwhip.”
All Might reached a timid hand out to the boy, “Young Midoriya…”
“I’ll go to sleep soon,” Izuku smiled at his mentor, trying hard to be reassuring and as confident as possible, “I just—“
Suddenly, an explosion hit the two. All Might quickly sidestepped the blast but Izuku wasn’t so lucky— he only had the reaction speed to register the light before jumping barely out of the way. As such, his hair frizzed up and he was sent falling with an eloquent, “Ack!”
A hand grabbed the back of his collar in an instant, keeping him from hitting the ground, “Didn’t ya’ hear me, nerd?!” Kacchan piped up, suddenly right behind Izuku and dragging him out of the gym, “Sleep. I don’t care if you think you can kill the entirety of Japan right now, I’ll beat you up tomorrow!”
“Wh— Kacchan!” Izuku tried, failing to wrestle out of Kacchan’s grip, “Let me go!“
“I’ll let you go when your salad-hair dies on a pillow!”
The two boys bickered back and forth all the way to the dorms. Eventually, Kacchan all but threw Izuku into his room and slammed his door shut.
What a day…