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Class 1A always tried to be prepared for everything and anything. But no one was quite prepared for a cranky Izuku Midoriya.
It was just after a break where they got to see their families. Everyone except Bakugo was back, the blond’s parents having taken him to a resort that he’d be back from in the evening, missing one day of school.
It was this one day without Bakugo that something abnormal was going on with the resident piece of broccoli.
That morning had started like any other, just without the usual yelling from a certain ash-blond. Then Midoriya walked into the kitchen.
The guy looked like he hadn’t had a good sleep in a few days. The bags under his eyes rivaled Aizawa’s, and his hair was even messier than usual. His mouth was turned down into a frown, and he was slouching as he walked.
Midoriya didn’t give his usual greetings at breakfast, instead opting to ignore everyone in the room as he picked at his food.
Uraraka tried to talk to him on the way to school. But Midoriya clearly wasn’t in the mood.
“Could you be quiet? Your voice is giving me a headache,” The guy snapped, sending a glare in Uraraka’s direction. The girl was taken aback, both by the tone and the withering glare she hadn’t known her friend was even capable of. She stayed quiet for the rest of the walk.
Izuku wished he had stayed in bed. Not only was he tired, but he also had a headache that got worse with every little noise. His throat was throbbing, making talking painful, and he was feeling cold, but also kind of hot. Today was going to be an awful day.
There was no muttering from Midoriya during classes. In fact, the boy hadn’t even pulled his notebook out once. He instead stared ahead at the front of the classroom, looking spacey more than anything. Or the one class he fell asleep in, being math.
“Midoriya! Why are you sleeping during my class?” Ectoplasm questioned after he awoke the boy, earning himself a glare that could scare even the strongest of people.
“Because this lesson is boring and not worth the headache,” The boy replied, still half asleep.
“This lesson is going to be on the next test, Midoriya. It’s better to stay awake and pay attention.”
“Whatever.” Midoriya rolled his eyes. “I couldn’t care less about a test right now.”
The rest of the class was tense during this interaction. Midoriya was digging a grave for himself; it was surprising that Ectoplasm didn’t end up giving him detention.
Midoriya didn’t fall asleep in class again, but he wasn’t particularly kind during English class.
Present Mic’s voice was grating into his skull, causing an annoyed twitch of his fingers. He was resisting the urge to use Air Force to knock the blonde pro into next week.
“Midoriya! Could you answer the question on the board for me?” Present Mic addressed him, unaware of the murderous energy radiating from the teen.
“I could, but I’m not going to,” Midoriya yawned.
Mic was shocked by this answer. Usually, this kid was very eager to answer his questions. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t want to,” Midoriya yawned. “And you’re too annoying to interact with today.”
Mic was a bit hurt by that comment. But he let it slide, seeing that the listener didn’t look like he was feeling very well. If the slight pinch of his face was any indication, the kid had already had enough of a headache before English class.
Every class, Midoriya was cranky with the teachers.
Soon enough, it was lunchtime.
“Hey, Deku, are you still joining our group hangout tonight?” Uraraka inquired nervously as she took a seat next to him.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Izuku asked sharply. “Do you not want me there?”
“No, we want you there! You just… don’t seem like you’re in a good mood today.” The girl put her hands up in surrender.
“I’m fine!” The boy grumbled back.
“You’ve fought with pretty much every teacher today, ribbit. I wouldn’t call that fine,” Tsu pointed out.
“You also aren’t eating as much as usual. Normally, you’d be scarfing down that Katsudon,” Iida added. “But you’ve barely taken a bite.”
“And you don’t normally snap at people-” Todoroki started.
“Would you all get off my back?!” Izuku growled, interrupting whatever the peppermint boy was about to say.
Nobody said anything else as they ate their lunch. Izuku was the first to walk away from the table, disappearing after throwing away the half of his food he didn’t eat.
“You all look like it’s been a day,” Aizawa commented during lunch in the teacher’s lounge. “Is a student causing problems?”
“Your student told me my lesson wasn’t worth the headache, and proceeded to sleep through the rest of the class,” Ectoplasm explained.
“My student? Which one?” Aizawa wondered.
“Believe it or not, Midoriya,” Ectoplasm answered.
“I believe it,” Mic joined. “He told me I was too annoying to interact with today in English.”
“I don’t blame him for that,” Aizawa muttered.
Mic gasped in offense. “Hey!”
When it was time for hero training, Aizawa scanned his students to find Midoriya first. The kid looked like he felt just amazing.
Aizawa explained the day’s partner exercise to the class, purposely leaving Midoriya out of a pairing. The boy’s eye twitched at the realization that he was alone.
“Why-” He started to question.
“You’re sitting out of this exercise,” Aizawa interrupted.
“Why? I’m perfectly fine to train!”
Aizawa simply raised an eyebrow at him. “Kid, I’ve been a teacher for years. I can tell when someone’s hiding illness.”
“I’m not si-” The sentence was interrupted by his teacher placing a hand on his forehead.
“The fever you’re running would say otherwise, Problem Child. Now, would you like to head back to the dorms, or are you going to sit on this bench?”
“...Bench.”
Izuku barely watched any of the training, relaxing on the bench and closing his eyes to block out the light. It wasn’t really working, but it was worth a try.
Finally, school was over. The only thing stopping Izuku from going to bed was the hangout he and his friends had planned for that evening. Luckily, they weren’t doing anything physical, so maybe Izuku could just sleep through it.
Bakugo was finally back to the dorms after his resort trip. He promptly ignored Deku and his friends in the common room, heading up to his dorm. Soon after finishing his unpacking, Mina and Denki came and dragged him into a hangout with the idiot squad in Jiro’s room.
“Bakubro! Was your trip fun?” Kirishima asked him.
“It was fine,” The blond grumbled. “Relaxing, I guess.”
“At least your day had relaxation,” Kaminari replied. “Class was tense today.”
“Which one?” Jiro teased.
“All of them,” her boyfriend replied, draping himself over her lap.
“Gotta agree with Kamibro, things were tense,” Kirishima chuckled nervously.
“Yeah, I’ve never seen Midobabe so cranky,” Mina joined. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“He snapped at anyone who spoke to him. Honestly, I’m surprised none of the teachers gave him detention,” Jiro added. “Especially when he told Mic-sensei that he was ‘too annoying to interact with today’.”
Bakugo sighed deeply. He knew exactly what a cranky Deku meant.
“He’s sick,” He muttered.
“What?” Kaminari asked, not quite catching the words.
Katsuki sighed and got up.
“Hey, where are you going?” Mina demanded.
“Testing out a theory,” was Bakugo’s answer.
The squad decided to follow him, staying back when they saw him approaching Midoriya.
“Deku!” Katsuki yelled as he stomped into the room.
The boy in question groaned, shooting a glare towards the pomeranian. “What do you want, Kacchan?”
The Bakusquad and Dekusquad couldn’t decide who seemed more likely to die right now.
Bakugo stomped over without a hint of fear, stopping right in front of Midoriya. Then he promptly placed a hand on the broccoli’s forehead, as if this was perfectly normal. Everyone watching was confused.
Izuku’s shoulders sagged as Katsuki clicked his tongue.
“Just as I suspected,” The blond said with surety. “You’re sick. Now get in bed, you d*** nerd!”
Izuku just sank further into the couch, not having the energy for anything else. Everyone else watching looked confused, but were beginning to understand.
“Something all you extras should know: Deku only gets cranky and mean when he’s sick,” Bakugo stated. “Now, I’m going to go wash my hands before I catch whatever the crap he’s got.” He left the room.
Ochaco gently put a hand on Deku’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you just tell us you weren’t feeling well?”
Izuku sighed, the breath turning into coughs at the end. “I don’t know…”
He did know. He’d been worried they wouldn’t care, that they’d just ignore it. That’s how it always was in middle school.
“I guess I didn’t want to worry anyone…”
“I’d say it was pretty worrying seeing you in a bad mood,” Iida stated.
“Come on, let’s get you into bed, ribbit,” Tsu said, helping Izuku up.
Izuku was trying not to cry as his friends helped him into bed and began fussing over him. His mom was the only one who’d ever done this for him before. Nobody else had ever cared.
He felt a small smile on his face as he fell asleep, realizing just how different people were at UA.