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Todoroki jolts awake after a particularly jarring nightmare, one of the childhood both his conscious and subconscious can never seem to shake. His mind lingers on his siblings. He wonders if growing up for them was just as hellish. Likely not.
He sits up, grabbing his phone. His boyfriend, Midoriya, always stays up later than him, texting random thoughts as they come to him, and alot of thoughts come to Midoriya. Todoroki makes sure he responds to every single one, soothing his worries and entertaining his queries.
After a moment, answering his doting sister as well, Todoroki starts getting ready. He checks the time, seeing he took a few more minutes to answer his sister than usual. She must've written a longer message with more questions than usual, and not because Todoroki had to take deep breaths between questions.
Leaving his room, fully uniformed, he notices Sero, who seems to have just woken up. Normally, Todoroki is in the common room before he wakes up.
"Mornin' Todoroki!" Sero chirps, cheery as ever. Despite waking up late, he was always a morning person.
"Morning." Todoroki responds, returning the tone as much as he can manage. "You're in good spirits, as always."
"You know it, baby!" Sero goes into the bathroom to begin his routine as Todoroki continues his, stepping into the elevator, pressing the button for the ground floor. When the elevator stops on the second floor to let someone on, Todoroki knows excactly who it'll be.
"T-Todoroki! Good morning! You're not usually in the elevator this late." The elevator doors close and Todoroki looks down at his stammering boyfriend, leaning down to kiss his lips, quick but meaningful.
"Took too long answering Fuyumi's texts, that's all." The elevator dings as they step into the common room.
"Did you sleep okay? You look tired."
"Yeah, I-"
Todoroki pauses as it rings in his ears.
The kettle.
"I can't take it anymore..."
Louder.
"Every day, the children seem more like him... and Shoto, that child's left side sometimes looks unbearable to me."
Louder.
"All I can see is his father..."
"Mama...?"
That look she had on her face. Burned into him memory, sometimes the only thing he sees when he closes his eyes.
The fear.
The hate.
Suddenly something touches his hands and his mind is brought to the present with enough force he thinks he got a concussion. He takes his hands away quickly, before he realizes it was his boyfriend taking them in his. He vaugely registers Midoriya barking at someone to take the kettle off the stove before Todoroki is fully aware of what just happened.
"I'm sorry, I-"
"Don't apologize, Todoroki. It's not your fault." He speaks so painfully soft. "How can I help?"
"I... I don't know."
"Is it okay if I touch you?" Todoroki nods and Midoriya gently takes his hands in his own, this time with conscious permission.
"Would you be more comfortable in your dorm room?"
"Yours..."
"M-Mine?" Todoroki nods. Midoriya hesitantly, like he can't believe Todoroki would pick his boyfriends room over his own, tugs Todoroki towards the elevator. The doors shut with a ding.
"Breathe." Midoriya softly commands. Todoroki didn't realize he wasn't breathing.
"Sorry."
"Kiki, stop apologizing." They both established early in their relationships that family names were more comfortable for them both, Todoroki's reminding him of his father, and Midoriya's reminding him of Bakugo's hurtful name for him. But they rarely ever call eachother anything but, so the nickname is oddly grounding, in a way that makes Todoroki's emotions push their way to his tearducts.
"Woah, Todoroki, it's okay-"
"Stop!" He flinches before he even realizes Midoriya's hand was headed for his face.
"S-Sorry!" A beat of silence, before it's harshly interrupted by the ding of the elevator, making Todoroki flinch. Midoriya gently leads him to his room, the door softly clicking behind them.
"Bed?"
Midoriya squeaks under the sudden weight of the other, hugging him back as he cries silently.
"Breathe." Right, breathe... "It's okay, you're safe. No one here will hurt you."
"I understand, Kiki," the stupid nickname makes him cry harder, though still silent and soft, "You usually prepare yourself to hear the kettle, but you were behind schedule and I could tell your thoughts were scrambled." That's such a Midoriya way to put it.
"It's the same thing for me when I talk to Kacchan, I have to prepare myself otherwise I get super nervous." He's quiet for a beat. "Well, obviously not excactly, your reaction is much more serious than mine, mine's just silly anxiety, but I get what's happening to you fundamentally, like-"
Midoriya shuts his mouth when Todoroki moves to look into his eyes. "You're rambling." He mumbles, weaker sounding than he would've liked. Midoriya blushes, chuckling nervously, before getting back to the task at hand.
"Don't feel guilty. My job is to take care of you! And if that means calming you down and holding you while you cry, then of course I'll do it." Midoriya kisses the back of Todoroki's hand.
"Thanks, Dori." He says it just to get pink to dust Midoriya's freckles once more.
"Bed?"
"What about class?"
"I think Mr. Aizawa will understand."
"Then, yes. Bed, please."