Archive of Our Own ^beta

i.

Denki Kaminari is probably one of the furthest things from an early riser, but there are days when he has his moments.

Today, however, is not one of those days. He's awake anyway of course, because he had promised Kirishima that he'd work out with him last night when he was actually feeling productive, but like most things he promises to too early, he ends up regretting it the second Kirishima knocks on his dorm room door at 5:30 in the morning.

The redhead is bearing a sharp-toothed grin and a protein shake that unfortunately holds no caffeine inside of it, and Denki isn't ashamed to say that he audibly sighed when Kirishima forced him to put on his shoes by the entrance to their dorms.

The sun was hardly even poking over the horizon yet, and Denki could still see the moon on the opposite side, but Kirishima acted as if it was no big deal to him. 

Damn, Denki thinks as Kirishima starts heading out the door with a brisk jog, paying little to no mind for how Denki was already lagging behind, I really shouldn't have agreed to this.

The run takes them half an hour, although if it were by Kirishima’s normal, ungodly pace, it would've only taken 18 minutes. The difference in paces serves as a huge blow to Denki’s ego, but to be honest, he's pretty sure that’s the last thing he could possibly care about when he was currently dripping in his own sweat and feeling like the equivalent of a black hole was sitting in his stomach.

Then, he decides that he cares way more for whatever kind soul decided to blast the air conditioning so early in the morning whenever they step back through the front doors of the dorm room.

“Kacchan!” Someone yelps, and Denki looks up just in time to see Midoriya back away from Bakugou, who was currently holding a pan. “Put that down! You could hurt someone!”

“Who the hell is there to hurt?” Bakugou taunts, waving it even closer to Midoriya, who runs to pick up a stool from the counter to use in protection. 

“Me! Stop it!” Midoriya shouts, but the laughter ringing through each word makes the protest sound weak. “Kacchan, stop this! I swear–”

Midoriya is cut off when part of the stool he was holding breaks off, and Denki finds himself wondering how the hell they got themselves into this situation when it was only six in the morning. 

“Now, look at what you did, ‘Zuku,” Bakugou says, but his voice is more amused than guilty, and damn, they really broke that chair. Class Rep’s gonna lose a pair over this.

“Me?” Midoriya asks incredulously, “This was your fault!”

Neither of them seemed to have noticed Denki nor Kirishima’s presence yet, and the sight of the two of them fooling around almost makes Denki forget about the antagonizing hunger coursing through his body right now.

Almost.

Denki clears his throat and the illusion is simultaneously broken. Both of them startle and turn to Denki like he just fired a gunshot and ironically enough, Denki feels like he's actually holding a gun somehow. 

“Yo, Bakubro,” Denki says coolly, like he wasn't dripping in sweat and slumped over in exhaustion. “What can I do to get some of your eggs?”

Bakugou stares at him for a long, long moment, with a hand still outstretched to hit Midoriya with the pan, and Denki starts to regret asking Bakugou more and more as each second ticks by. 

Maybe he should just get some cereal—

“The fuck?” Bakugou eventually says, intelligently enough, and Midoriya whacks him on the back of his head for it. “The fuck?” He says again to Midoriya, but this time, it holds more malice.

“Don't be mean!” Midoriya scolds, and Denki wonders when the hell Midoriya got so comfortable around Bakugou. “Why is your first response to everything a curse word?”

“I'll kill you!” Bakugou yells, resuming his chase after Midoriya with the pan from earlier, and Denki wonders how the two of them haven't woken up the entire dormitory yet.

Then, he pauses, because seeing Bakugou up early was a common thing for the few times Denki was up early enough to see him, but Midoriya?

Midoriya runs into a table. A loud, crashing sound follows.

At the sight of the table flipped onto its side, Kirishima and Denki share a look with each other before Kirishima just offers a shrug.

Ah, well. Denki seems to have a lot of questions he doesn't think will ever get answered.

Kirishima is kind enough to take the lead in walking into whatever tornado was happening just a few feet in front of them. Denki follows, of course, because he'd rather not get left behind and have to face the storm by himself.

Anywho, Denki has a new agenda now: he would grab whatever cereal he saw first and find a secluded place away from any tables where he could eat without fear of being rammed into. Maybe he could even talk to Kirishima about the new manga they found at a comic store the other day.

If he didn't screw this up, that is.

Denki waits for the perfect moment to strike. It's only when Bakugou and Midoriya have shifted themselves more into the open and further away from the kitchen that he rushes for the pantry. Like he planned, he grabs the first cereal he sees and dashes out.

He doesn't have time to grab milk or a bowl, but he can't bring himself to feel bothered right now. He's so hungry, he would just about eat anything. Maybe even that flipped-over table, if he put his mind to it.

He sighs when he finally settles himself onto the couch. In the rush, he had unfortunately grabbed his least favorite cereal brand, but he doesn't even care when he starts opening the box—

And the next second, it's not even in his hands anymore. 

“What the hell are you eating?” Bakugou says, way too scrutinizing for a person who was just chasing around his alleged rival with a pan at six in the morning.

“Cereal,” Denki deadpans, annoyed by the criticism. “Give it back.”

“After you just ran for half an hour?” Bakugou asks, but Denki is smart enough to know that the question is rhetorical, so he just sighs and slumps further into his chair. “Are you slow?”

Goddamnit, he frowns to himself, ignoring the insult, can't a guy just eat?

At the very least, Bakugou and Midoriya aren't flipping tables anymore. Denki’s honestly shocked no one has come down to yell at them. They're lucky Iida sleeps on the third floor and not the second.

“Is Kacchan finally going to start making breakfast?” Midoriya asks from behind the counter, still holding his broken stool. 

Bakugou scoffs, loud. “I'm not sure you deserve any, ‘Zuku.”

Denki sighs at their antics, and– ‘Zuku?

“But, how else am I supposed to stay ahead of you?” Midoriya says in a playful manner.

“Guess you'll have to learn to cook for yourself,” Bakugou hums, taking away Denki’s cereal box as he walks over to the kitchen.

Midoriya gasps, as if scandalized. “Kacchan wouldn't dare!”

“Oh, Kacchan definitely would,” Bakugou quips back, but he pulls out another set of eggs from the fridge anyway.

Denki blinks, still caught up on the ‘Zuku part of the conversation. 

Sure, Denki knows he isn't exactly the smartest—not in the ways Momo and Iida were—but he still would like to pride himself on his perceptiveness. 

Maybe it's something that's come from his own empathy, but he tends to notice things a lot of his other classmates would overlook, like how Ojirou got a new uniform recently after tearing a hole in his old one, and how Koda has been hanging out with Tokoyami more often. The small things.

But this? There's no way Denki missed something so astronomical.

Was it a new development? No, Denki thinks. He could've sworn he's heard Bakugou call Midoriya that before, but why has he never noticed it before? Was it because he was so used to it that he just never registered it?

Denki feels like there's a joke being told, and he's the only one who doesn't get it.

And it feels like he's missing something. Big. He'd like to know what it was before Mina did, preferably. She always gloated about how she got the latest gossip before him, and Denki was sick of it.

He'd launch his own investigation and figure out what was happening before Mina even caught wind of the situation. 

But first, Denki would just really like a nice, warm meal.

Fortunately for him, Bakugou is using his pan for its actual purpose now, and not just as a weapon. The sizzling of the eggs over the stovetop fills the room aside for Midoriya and Bakugou’s occasional chatter, and Kirishima has pulled up a chair next to Denki now.

It was nice. Quieter, too. Denki had always been one for chaos, but dealing with the two rowdiest people at six in the morning wasn't exactly on his to-do list. Not that there was ever much on his to-do list at six in the morning in the first place.

Denki sighs as the smell of eggs wafts through the air deliciously, making his hunger worse and better simultaneously.

“Don't you think they've gotten closer recently?” Kirishima asks from beside him, with a certain glint in his eyes as he stares at the two of them.

Denki blinks at the random comment, but follows Kirishima’s line of sight anyway. The two of them are throwing teasing comments towards each other and Midoriya even bumps Bakugou’s shoulder playfully. Stranger, though, Bakugou looks almost calm—at ease in a way Denki’s not sure he's ever seen the blond before. 

“Yeah. Now that you mention it,” Denki says, tilting his head, “they do seem a lot closer.”

When Denki turns his head back to Kirishima, the redhead is already staring at him. Although, he's interrupted before he's able to ask. 

“Here's your shit-ass food, dipshit,” Bakugou says through clenched teeth as he just barely restrains himself from slamming the plate onto the counter space in front of Denki. Denki hadn't even seen him approaching.

“Kacchan, language!” Midoriya scolds.

“I'll do whatever I want!” He yells back as he throws Midoriya’s plate at him. Midoriya catches it of course. His reflexes were better than Bakugou’s now that he had that new quirk, so a flying plate was probably child's play to him.

Midoriya smiles even though his own food had just been hurled at him. “Thank you, Kacchan!”

The tips of Bakugou’s ears redden. Curious.

Bakugou was the best cook in their class, so he wasn't short of praise in any way. If it hadn't been for him, they all probably would've starved to death. Even so, he normally only cooks dinner for them. They usually had to fend for themselves the rest of the day.

But now that he thinks about it, even when Midoriya wasn't down here, Bakugou was always making food for two anyway.

As Denki stares at his reddened ears, he feels like he's missing something. “How come you only blush at Midoriya’s compliments,” Denki pouts. 

Naturally, in response, Bakugou throws the nearest item at Denki, which just so happens to be a banana. “Why don't you shut the hell up, Dunce Face,” he snarls, but his face is still pink, so his threat isn't as intimidating as it would usually be.

Denki is not quite as skilled at dodging things as Midoriya is, so the banana hits his face with a smack. “Ouch…” he whines, rubbing the spot on his forehead. He wouldn’t be surprised if both he and the banana ended up bruised.

“Kacchan!” Midoriya scolds, but his voice isn't as reprimanding as it should be.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, nerd,” Bakugou scoffs, before taking his place next to Midoriya by the counter.

For a moment, Denki is baffled by how natural they look. It’s like their whole scuffle during their first year was only a distant memory now. Like all their anger and differences meant nothing now. He doesn’t even remember when they grew to accept each other like this, they just did. No one even noticed, did they?

It's odd, because if you told the electric blond not even a year ago that Midoriya and Bakugou could be in the same room and be civil, he'd probably laugh in your face. And yet, here he is, watching the two in the same room, being civil—more than civil.

They were throwing their arms around each other, not shying away from affection, calling each other pet names and–

Oh, Denki realizes with a start, they're dating.

It's not as revolutionary of a thought as he thought it would be. And it seemed almost normal. Like he's always known, but just hasn't acknowledged it.

Denki stares at the half-eaten eggs Bakugou made him on his plate and a small, triumphant grin forms on his face.

Take that, Mina, he thinks to himself, smugly.

ii.

Class A game nights are Mina’s favorite times to snoop. Mainly because she’s allowed to snoop under the guise of whatever they’re doing being a game. Mainly because she just likes snooping, and what better time than game nights?

She smiles mischievously as more and more of her classmates roll in through various locations in the dorm room. Although, tonight she’s not here for any of them. She’s here for the class’s favorite rivals. 

A head of blond spikes and a head of messy green stroll in through the stairwell, closer than the distance friends usually held with each other. She stares at them scrutinizingly.

Today, she had a goal: find out what was going on between them. She’s been considering this idea for a while, but after Kaminari randomly lost interest in it, saying nonchalantly that he didn’t care, Mina decided she would figure it out herself.

She was normally the one who did most of the work in their investigations anyway. Kaminari would just occasionally provide his insight on situations, which, most of the time, was absolutely useless and meaningless.

“I think that they’re siblings,” he had once said while pointing at a pair of identical twins. Mina almost pushed him in front of oncoming traffic when he corrected himself and said that they might just be cousins instead. 

She scoffs when she sees Kaminari lounging across one of the couches, taking up the whole entire thing just to play Pokémon Go. If Mina had it her way, he’d probably be charging her phone right now.

Alas. The duo draws closer and she finds herself thanking Midoriya for always being able to convince Bakugou to come down even though he has never shown an ounce of interest in their game nights. They’re having some sort of hushed conversation, but as soon as Mina tries to listen in, it’s like they notice her presence and stop.

A sigh. No matter. “Alright!” Mina claps her hands, causing most of the conversations in the room to halt as she unofficially starts the game night. “We’re playing Seven Minutes in Heaven!”

Kaminari—the ass he is—whines from his spot on the couch. “That’s boring! We played that like– last month!”

“Well, you’re going to deal with it anyway!” Mina smiles as people begin taking their places on the floors and couches.

Mina smiles for a different reason when she sees Midoriya and Bakugou sit directly next to each other, leaving no ounce of breathing room between them. Interesting.

Of course, Mina forces everyone to write their names down on a slip of paper before throwing them in a small hat Momo made for them. She writes down her own name too, although she doesn’t plan to get picked.

The papers mix inside. Mina draws out the names Toru and Aoyama. 

“Midoriya and Bakugou!” She announces instead.

The two of them look between each other before shrugging, like Seven Minutes in Heaven didn’t imply indecent things. Like they didn’t care that Seven Minutes in Heaven implied indecent things. Bakugou's probably a little skeptical about the hat draw because he throws a suspicious look at Mina, but he doesn’t seem to mind enough to actually say anything about it.

Mina leads them to the small hall closet that usually held all of their umbrellas, which were now currently thrown on the floor space next to the closet to make room for the game. “Get in there!” She cheers, shoving the two of them into the closet without any remorse for the way they hit the wall. They were strong. Surely, they’d be fine.

They hit the wall with a thunk and a loud “I’ll kill you, Raccoon Eyes!” from Bakugou, and the last thing Mina sees before she closes the door is the two of them recover from the impact. “I’m starting the time!” She calls out before waltzing over to the main room with no intention of pulling out any watch.

When she returns, Kaminari has a suspicious look on his face. “Are you not going to start a timer?” He asks her watch-less hands.

“No,” Mina scoffs, “You should know me by now. We don’t do things the normal way here. I’ll go in when I want to.”

Iida is scandalized by this from his spot in one of the wooden chairs where he had been talking friendly to Tsu. “You should follow the rules of the game! It’s only fair to the both of them!”

“Yeah, but…” Mina pauses and a smirk stretches on her face, “it’s way more fun this way.”

“What’s even your goal?” Tsu asks.

“To catch them, obviously.”

No one asks her to elaborate, funnily enough.

Mina waits for a total of one full song being hummed underneath Jirou’s breath before she decides that she’s had enough of this. Waiting could wait, she needed to know now.

“I’m too impatient,” Mina declares as she pushes herself off the couch, walking back over to them. She meant to last at least three minutes before going back over. She’s not even sure it’s been two.

Iida calls out after her, but his protest falls on deaf ears when she sees the door propped open the smallest amount. Huh, Mina was sure she had closed the door behind them.

She walks over, keeping her steps light. If she finds out that those two ditched instead of staying for the seven minutes, Mina might just send their asses to mars—

She peeks through the crack. Midoriya is on top of Bakugou’s body in the small space they have, kissing him. Kissing him. Mina almost faints, but she catches herself just in time. She refused to make a noise that would announce her presence.

Holy shit, she thinks to herself, have they been dating this whole time?

Midoriya grabs onto Bakugou’s face like it was second-hand nature and Mina thinks that yes, yes they have been.

She doesn’t call them out of the closet like she said she would. In fact, when she gets back to the common room, she calls off the game early while it feels like her entire world and all she’s ever known is crumbling around her. It apparently didn't occur to her that by intending to “catch them,” she might actually catch them.

It's safe to say Mina is positively stunned into silence for the rest of the night.

Later that night, when she finds herself still mulling over the incident, she decides to raid Kaminari’s room. “Did you know Bakugou and Midoriya are dating?”

“Yeah,” Kaminari says from his spot in his bed, not concerned at all by the sudden intrusion. “I actually did.”

“And you didn't tell me?” She cries, while Kaminari scrolls on his phone.

“Nah,” He says, with the stupidest, ugliest smirk Mina has ever seen on his face, and Mina has never felt as great of an urge to punch in his face as she does now. “I thought I'd let you figure it out yourself.”

Mina does well to act on that urge.

iii.

Iida tends to be a rule follower through and through. He listens to each rule and follows them to the tee. Even the directions on the back of products that most people would overlook are something that he follows.

The only time he has ever broken the rules were when he went to avenge his brother and when he went to rescue Bakugou after he had gotten kidnapped. Ironically enough, both times involved Midoriya, as well.

It'd only make sense that he'd break another rule for the green-headed boy.

It was late when Iida had first noticed the light coming from Bakugou’s room, and when Iida checked his watch, he had realized it was too late. All students were supposed to be asleep by now to ensure rest for the upcoming classes they would have the next day, and by the sound of it, there was another person breaking curfew with Bakugou.

So, it’s only natural that he walks up to Bakugou’s door, ready to knock on it and yell at whoever was with him to go back to their own dorm, because it was past curfew and surely they know the rules by now, but then he pauses when he sees the door cracked open just the smallest amount.

Muffled voices come from just behind the door, and Iida barely hides the small gasp of shock that leaves his mouth when he sees Midoriya curled up in Bakugou’s bed, looking like he's never belonged anywhere else.

Bakugou is holding a pillow above his head, standing next to his bed. Iida can probably guess he was threatening Midoriya in some way. Iida gets the urge to jump in and stop them from fighting, but then Midoriya starts laughing. Loud, gentle, and happily, like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Iida pauses with his hand on the door. Pillows are everywhere, and some of Midoriya’s clothes lay askew on the floor in a way he’s sure Bakugou must’ve yelled at him for by now. Bakugou was always one for cleanliness, after all. Luckily enough, though, Midoriya is fully clothed at the moment, so Iida assumes the clothes are old.

“Kacchan– I yield! I yield!” Midoriya yelps when a pillow goes flying his way. They look oddly relaxed, despite the scuffle happening between them. “I promise I won’t do it again!”

Iida can only see Bakugou’s profile, but Iida can still see the way his eyes narrow in doubt. He discards the new pillow he had grabbed onto the space beside Midoriya—or rather, he launches it towards the wall, and it just so happens to land next to Midoriya—and crawls on top of Midoriya, caging him in his arms.

“You fuckin’ better,” he says, but there’s no real bite behind it.

Midoriya laughs, pushing Bakugou’s face away from him as the blond litters his face in light kisses. “S-stop, Kacchan!” Midoriya pleads through laughs, but the protest sounds weak when he doesn’t put any real fight into getting Bakugou off of him. Iida wonders if they know just how loud they’re being right now. They probably don’t—not with how engrossed they are with each other.

Iida watches as Bakugou places one kiss on his forehead. And then another on his cheek. One more for his freckles, too. 

Iida’s face flames and he’s briefly stunned. He even cleans his glasses to make sure he’s seeing things right. He had no idea Bakugou and Midoriya were that close to begin with. He didn’t even know they were more than rekindling friends. It’s disorienting to see the two of them hug, let alone kiss.

Suddenly, Iida feels very out of place. It feels like he’s intruding on something too intimate for his eyes to see. Something too private.

Midoriya laughs and it sounds like a wind chime. Happiness is the only emotion Iida can pick up from the two of them, and the domesticity brings a smile to his own lips. As long as they were happy, Iida didn’t care what they did– well. He might have to talk to them about breaking curfew, among other potential indecent scenarios that could arise, but that could wait for the moment.

Iida smiles, closing the door before turning around to head back to his own dorm. After all, it was past curfew for him as well.

iv.

Tsuyu Asui doesn't tend to concern herself with her other classmates’ personal lives unless it would somehow endanger them in any way.

It was her belief that they could do what they wanted outside of school and it wouldn't be anyone else's business but their own. She never pried when someone was uncomfortable, and she never asked for more when someone switched the topic to avoid questions, because that's just the way she was.

So when she noticed an unusual change between Bakugou and Midoriya’s relationship, she didn't really concern herself with it. And anyway, it seemed like they would be less likely to kill each other over something petty, so she didn't see why there would be any point for her to intervene.

That didn't mean she didn't notice things, though. It wasn't her fault if she pieced things together when they were acting like this right in front of her.

She could tell from the second when Bakugou’s features softened at Midoriya’s smile during a random conversation in class that they were dating.

That was a couple of months ago, and she thinks it's even more obvious now, but no else besides her has seemed to notice. Granted, the two of them haven't exactly told anyone, but with how much their class tends to snoop, it's a miracle it's been kept on the down low.

She's not entirely sure of their reasons for why they chose to keep their relationship a secret—or at least on the down low—but she’ll respect their choice no matter the decision. Out of everyone in their class, those two deserve the biggest break.

To be honest, though, half of the time she's not even sure they're trying to hide it. They just didn't announce it, and that's all it seems to be. Tsu has thought about asking them about it a few times before, but then she ultimately decided against it. It didn't really concern her anyway.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a cabinet door closing, and she blinks back into the present. 

“Tsu?” Someone calls out, and it takes Tsu a moment to remember where she was. “Are you alright?”

Tsu’s eyes refocus and she only just now realizes she's holding a pair of eggs in her hands. When had she grabbed those?

“Yeah,” she says bashfully, before placing the eggs onto the counter where they'd be safer. 

“Are you sure?” Uraraka asks again, and Tsu meets her deep, chocolate eyes. Uraraka was always very perceptive, and Tsu finds herself wondering if she knew about Bakugou and Midoriya as well. “You seemed pretty out of it for a moment.”

“I was just thinking,” Tsu explains, although she's still a little embarrassed she got so lost in thought. “Don't worry.”

Uraraka gives her one more once-over before seeming to decide she was telling the truth. “If you say so,” she hums, but there isn't an ounce of doubt in her voice.

“What's the next step, kero?” Tsu asks, staring at the ingredients set out on the counter. If Tsu remembers correctly, they're making Macadamia nut cookies. 

Uraraka had been bored out of her mind before she came to Tsu’s dorm to ask her if she wanted to bake anything. Tsu had suggested Macadamia nut cookies because she's always wanted to try them, and Uraraka readily agreed, just wanting to do anything to cure her boredom.

“Uh…” Uraraka pauses, going back to the recipe on her phone that she had found. It was some “tried and true” recipe that “guaranteed greatness,” or whatever the website had claimed. Tsu and Uraraka didn't really care all that much, but the hype was amusing to the two of them, so they clicked on it. “It says to put the butter in.”

“Just as it is?” Tsu questions, staring at the still cold stick of butter they had pulled out of the freezer only moments before.

“Uh… no,” Uraraka intones, before reading some more. “It says to put it in once it's at room temperature. Wanna microwave it?”

“Sure,” Tsu hums before placing the butter in a bowl and setting it in the microwave.

Uraraka is still reading, but Tsu’s mind is elsewhere now. “Have you noticed anything different between Bakugou and Midoriya?” Tsu asks, testing the waters.

“No?” Uraraka says, and it sounds genuine. “Have you?”

“No,” Tsu lies, because it wasn't her business, “I was just curious, kero.”

Uraraka looks like she doesn't exactly believe her, but the microwave starts beeping before she can open her mouth, and the conversation moves on without a hitch.

It's only when they finally take the cookies out of the oven that Uraraka brings up Midoriya again.

“Hey,” she calls out, staring at the still hot cookies sitting on the pan, “aren't Macadamia nut cookies Midoriya’s favorite?”

Tsu blinks. “Oh,” she says, “I think he told me something similar, as well.”

Grabbing a plate from their cabinet and putting a few cookies onto it, Uraraka turns to Tsu with a kind smile. “Want to give a couple to him, then?”

Tsu can't help the smile that forms onto her own face as well. Uraraka’s kindness tended to be infectious, in its own way. “Sure, kero.”

The cookies are a little unstable on the plate as Uraraka carries them through the common room, but Tsu isn't really all that scared. Uraraka could just use her quirk on them before they hit the floor, after all.

If, that is, the vultures didn’t take them all first. “Yo, Tsu, Uraraka,” Kaminari calls out, perking up from his spot on one of the couches where he had just been doom-scrolling. “What’cha got there?”

“Cookies!” Ochako chirps, unbothered by the obvious greed behind his eyes. “Want some?”

Tsu isn’t sure how much counts as some. “Do I want some?” Kaminari asks rhetorically, like it’s the greatest question he’s ever been asked.

Ochako holds the plate out as Kaminari hops the backrest of the couch and prances over like a dog runs to its treats. “They’re Macadamia nut!”

“Sweet!” Kaminari grins, looking for—probably the largest—cookies to grab.

“Speaking of,” Tsu chimes in, a little disturbed by how Kaminari twiddled his fingers over the cookies as he picked, “Have you seen Midoriya? These are for him.”

“Oh, Midoriya?” Kaminari takes a moment to think, tilting his head. “He's probably in Bakugou’s room.”

“Bakugou's room?” Ochako echoes, confused. “That's a little odd.”

“Do you want to come with us, kero?” Tsu asks Kaminari, who had already shoved two cookies in his mouth. She finds herself growing more concerned about the amount of cookies they’ll have left if they stay for much longer.

Strangely enough, Kaminari hesitates as he swallows down the rest of his cookies. “Ah, no,” he says, his face scrunched up, “I'd really rather not know what they're doing in his room.”

Tsu blinks. “Oh?”

“Anyway.” A bead of sweat rolls down the side of his face. “Thanks for the cookies! They were great. Bye!”

Ochako and Tsu are only left to watch Kaminari’s receding form as he runs away with four more cookies Tsu didn't even see him grab. Well, it wasn't her fault if he threw those up later.

“That was… ambiguous,” Ochako frowns, staring at the place Kaminari used to be, and Tsu nods her head in agreement.

“Definitely.” 

“I didn't know he could run so fast,” Ochako adds.

“Me either.”

A pause. “Well,” Ochako smiles, and those are infectious too somehow, “want to give these to Midoriya now?”

“Sure, kero.”

It's only when they reach the fourth floor that Tsu really considers what Kaminari was talking about. It was already late, and since it was a school night, a lot of their classmates had already retired for the day. Despite their rowdy class, a lot of them actually went to bed early most nights.

Some of them didn't, of course, but the majority of Class A is most likely asleep right now.

“I'd really rather not know what they're doing in his room.”

Oh.

Tsu face pinkens. She's starting to understand what Kaminari meant now.

“Hey, Uraraka–” Tsu begins, but she pauses when she sees the door of Bakugou’s dorm room cracked open. No noises were coming from it either.

“Yeah?” Uraraka stared at Tsu, confused. 

“Nevermind,” she says, but Uraraka doesn't seem very satisfied with that answer.

Maybe Tsu could explain later, but it wasn't her place to speak, even if she hated how bothered Uraraka looked by the dismissal. “Okay,” she says, in good nature even though Tsu can tell she's hurt.

Tsu speeds up her pace as inconspicuously as she can to make sure they really aren't doing anything incriminating. There wasn't any noise, sure, but there was still a chance. If she could help it, she'd rather not have Uraraka find out the two of them were dating by walking in on them.

Tsu comes to the door just in time to see Midoriya kiss Bakugou. Her timing was impeccable, as always. 

Immediately, Tsu’s face flames. It wasn't very heated, thankfully enough, but she wasn't sure it would stay that way, and she'd rather not find out.

Uraraka comes up behind her, holding the tray of cookies. “What's wrong, Tsu?” She asks, staring at the frog-like girl whose face was surely as red as a tomato by now.

“N-nothing,” Tsu responds, before turning to Uraraka to hopefully get the picture of Midoriya and Bakugou kissing out of her mind. It doesn't work, but at least she tried. “I think I just forgot something downstairs.”

“Oh, really?” Uraraka asks, and Tsu feels an inkling of guilt eat away at her stomach for lying.

“Yeah,” Tsu says with a wobbly smile, turning around and making sure the door clicks behind her. “Come on, let's give those cookies to Midoriya later.”

As the two of them retreat back down the stairs, Tsu only hopes that Iida won't find the two of them in each other’s dorm past curfew.

v.

Tokoyami has issues with insomnia. He’s had them for years, so it's no wonder he's quite familiar with the dorm rooms when it's almost pitch black.

It helps that no one else is really awake at this time, so he's free to make some noise if he needs something, but he gets rather lonely sometimes.

Koda had tried staying up for him one time, but he was so tired when he finally came down that he just ended up falling asleep on the couch anyway. Tokoyami had still appreciated the thought, though. 

And it isn't like Dark Shadow is able to keep him company, either. The dark makes it hard to control them, and it's not exactly fun when your company is constantly having to be kept under control.

So maybe that's why he's as shocked as he is whenever he sees the kitchen lights already flicked on when it was hours past curfew. He almost trips himself on the stairwell in his surprise, and he has to force himself to refocus so he doesn't actually fall.

By the time he reaches the kitchen, he's already figured out it's Midoriya and Bakugou who are down in the kitchen, their figures huddling close to each other over the countertop.

Tokoyami has heard from Midoriya that the greenhead comes down the stairs some nights when he isn't able to sleep, but Tokoyami’s never actually seen him. He's always thought about asking, but it seemed rude to when he didn't come downstairs nearly as often as Tokoyami did.

They're talking between themselves—not quietly, but still low enough that they wouldn't wake up their classmates that slept on the second floor.

Midoriya notices him first. Tokoyami has always wondered if his perceptiveness was because of one of his quirks. “Oh, Tokoyami, hey!” He says, kindly. “How are you?”

Bakugou looks up at the sound of Midoriya calling his name, nodding at Tokoyami in invitation. He looks thoroughly exhausted, and his disheveled expression makes Tokoyami realize that he's never actually seen Bakugou awake past 9 at night. Could Bakugou not sleep either?

“Good,” Tokoyami responds, before shooting the two a curious look. “How come the two of you are downstairs at a time like this? Not to be rude, but I'm normally the only one awake at this time.”

“I'm making this dipshit tea,” Bakugou answers, jabbing a finger at Midoriya tiredly. “His insomnia is getting bad again.”

Midoriya laughs sheepishly at this, his face tinted with a light, embarrassed blush. “Yeah. Kacchan said tea might help, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to try.”

“Tea?” Tokoyami echoes, even though he has a couple of other questions he'd like to ask instead. Like: Did you wake up Bakugou for this? And: When did you two even get so close?

He bites his tongue instead, of course. It's not really his business, after all.

“It's a Chamomile infused tea,” Bakugou explains, his voice more calm than usual. It must be the late hour.

“Ah,” Tokoyami says in response.

“Would you like some as well?” Midoriya asks, swinging his feet, and Tokoyami’s a little surprised Bakugou hasn't yelled at Midoriya for sitting on the counter yet. “There's plenty, if you'd like.”

Tokoyami glances between the two of them, and a small smile takes on his face. He's never had company before. “I'd like that.”

Midoriya smiles, sweet and honey-like the way he always smiled, and Tokoyami swears that he saw Bakugou’s features soften just the slightest amount at him. Huh.

Tokoyami moves over to the couch closest to the living room, because while Midoriya hasn't gotten yelled at, Tokoyami is sure his fate wouldn't be the same if he were to sit on the counter. He wouldn't be surprised if Bakugou blew his body up to pieces and cooked a chicken dish with it.

Midoriya follows quickly after, and Bakugou does as well. In the calmness of Bakugou’s exhaustion, he almost looked like a tired puppy following around Midoriya. It didn't help that Midoriya also looked at him like he was a tired puppy as well.

They were oddly… domestic. The open display of affection leaves Tokoyami more than a little flustered. He's not used to seeing such intimacy between any of his classmates, let alone between two men.

Let alone Midoriya and Bakugou.

When they sit down, it’s across from Tokoyami, side-by-side—although he feels like combined might be a better word with just how close they are. A hand begins to brush through Bakugou’s spikey hair like it was a casual afternoon for the two of them. Midoriya keeps conversation going with Tokoyami while Bakugou slowly drifts off in Midoriya’s arm. Midoriya even coos at some point.

A flush rises to Tokoyami’s face. It most definitely did not feel like a casual afternoon to him.

Fortunately enough, the kettle starts boiling not long after, and the spell seems to be broken. Sighing, Bakugou slowly rises from his spot. “I'll get the tea,” he announces, even though he looks like he'd much rather be sleeping at the moment.

Midoriya smiles happily in response and says a small little Kacchan sugoi under his breath which makes the most gentle smile Tokoyami has ever seen Bakugou wear form on his face.

The silence that follows after Bakugou leaves is loud.

“Are you not going to ask?” Midoriya asks eventually, while Bakugou is making light noises in the background, presumably taking the kettle off the stove.

Midoriya looks almost as if the question has been gnawing away at him, and Tokoyami doesn't doubt that it has been. Midoriya always seemed more anxious than most of their classmates. Something like this is probably a catalyst for his anxiety.

Tokoyami takes the time to consider his question because truly, Tokoyami just wants his friends to be happy. If this is what form their happiness takes, then he could care less. Sure, it was unexpected, and sure, he’s a little confused on more than one front, but he figures seeing the two smile genuinely at each other is more than enough to know they’re happy. 

Shaking his head, Tokoyami answers: “It's none of my business.”

Midoriya breathes out a sigh of relief and gives him a soft, warm smile. “Thanks, Tokoyami.”

“Anytime.”

Bakugou returns shortly after, and Tokoyami can see the way Midoriya lights up when he comes back bearing cups of tea. It’s endearing, despite the shock that still fills Tokoyami when he watches them act more like lovers and less like rivals. He’s so used to seeing the two of them argue that he didn’t even notice when they stopped.

Tiredly, though not carelessly, Bakugou sets down the cups in front of each of them before plopping himself right next to Midoriya again. 

The three of them chatter quietly as the night continues to grow darker, and little by little, Tokoyami is able to see why the two of them seem to trust each other so much on the battlefield. It was no wonder when they seemed to trust each other so much outside of the battlefield as well. They were like two souls that had become intertwined.

Bakugou nods at something Midoriya says, but Tokoyami is no longer paying attention.

“Tokoyami?” Midoriya asks, drawing him out of his thoughts. “Are you okay?”

A small nod. “I'm doing perfect,” he says, and he is. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Midoriya smiles.

Tokoyami takes a sip of his tea, and the flavors of the tea rush his tastebuds deliciously. Hm, he thinks, this is nice.

He hopes that the two of them come down again soon. 

vi. (+1)

Izuku slides on Katsuki’s bed the way he has for almost a year now, throwing his head back onto the pillow he's claimed as his own, even though Katsuki always yells at him for claiming ownership over items that were clearly Katsuki’s.

Izuku always snickers and tells Katsuki that what's his is theirs. Katsuki never seems to like that answer, funnily enough.

It's late at night again. Past curfew, obviously, because Izuku and Katsuki were never in their respective rooms when curfew hit, and Katsuki is searching for an All Might movie to throw on the television he has in his room. 

There's a soft look on his face, despite the obvious exhaustion pulling at him, and Izuku almost feels bad for making him stay up past his usual bedtime of 9 o’clock, but then he remembers that his bedtime became Izuku’s bedtime and now he doesn't feel quite so bad.

Izuku grins when a small pout pulls on Katsuki’s lips. He's probably lost on what to pick again, too tired to make any sense of which movie was which.

“Do the All Might: Silver Age movie,” Izuku says from his spot on the bed, enjoying how Katsuki blinked at the suggestion before pressing more buttons on the remote he was holding.

“Mm,” Katsuki hums in response. It comes a little too late, but Izuku still smiles at him anyway. 

Kacchan’s so cute when he's tired, Izuku thinks as he wraps himself in the comforter on Katsuki’s bed that the blond never really used, he's like a tired puppy.

Katsuki eventually finds the movie, but not after he accidentally skips past it four or five times. Izuku laughs to himself a little each time, but makes no move to actually help him.

“Fuckin’ stupid ass TV,” Katsuki groans when the opening credits begin playing to the movie, throwing the remote to the spot next to Izuku, who yelps when the projectile comes too close.

“That could've hit me!” Izuku whines as Katsuki slides into the bed right beside him. 

“‘S fine. You can dodge anything anyway.” Katsuki murmurs.

Izuku sighs. “That's only when there's malice, Kacchan.”

“Same thing.”

Izuku would probably give Katsuki an entire spiel as to why they weren’t the same thing, but Katsuki looks like he’s on the verge of passing out, so Izuku just settles for opening his arms in invitation, which Katsuki graciously accepts.

Briefly, Izuku wonders what his classmates would think if they saw the two of them snuggled up like this. Probably baffled—Mina would probably go for their throats for not telling her too. Tokoyami already knows, and he’s pretty sure Tsu does as well. Maybe Iida as well. His face keeps going bright red any time he and Katsuki are near each other, which is incredibly often. 

To be honest, Izuku could care less if they knew or not. It wasn’t like they tried to keep it a secret when they had gotten together—actually, Izuku’s pretty sure he told Uraraka and she just laughed at him like it was a joke—but no one has noticed, or said anything. Maybe they did notice, and they just didn’t comment?

Somehow, Izuku doubts that with how nosy their class is.

“Do you think they know?” Izuku asks as Katsuki pulls him into his chest. Izuku sighs in content when the warmth from Katsuki’s body heats up his back. It's one of Izuku’s favorite things about Katsuki’s quirk—besides watching Katsuki soar through the air. The heat that radiated from his body was like a natural relaxant on Izuku’s torn up skin.

“Know about what?” Katsuki asks, voice low and tired while the movie plays in the background.

“Us.”

“Nn?” Katsuki hums, and then pauses for a long moment. “Nah,” he finally answers, “they're too stupid to pick up on something like that.”

Izuku laughs softly at the admission. “Sure, sure, Kacchan. Whatever you say.”

The next morning, they wake up to a photo of the two of them cuddling plastered onto the dorm room’s fridge with tape.

An equally guilty-looking Kaminari and Mina stand whistling somewhere in the corner of the kitchen, chowing down on boxed cereal to busy themselves.

“Huh,” Izuku says plainly as he stares at the photo, “I guess they did figure it out.”

Izuku frowns at the precarious position they're in. Couldn't they at least have pulled his shirt down so his stomach wasn't on display? 

Kacchan’s lucky, Izuku thinks, at least his back is towards the camera.

“Those fucking bastards,” Katsuki growls under his breath. “I'm not making them food for the next month.”

Izuku laughs heartily. “Good luck with that. I think they'd die before that happened.”

Katsuki shoots him a sharp grin. “Better start making their caskets then, huh?”

Izuku smiles at the photo before taking it off the fridge and putting it in his pocket for safekeeping. 

“Guess so.” Izuku shrugs happily.