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Aizawa Sensei was talking about... something.
Shouto thinks it was about the upcoming work studies but in all honesty, he wasn't sure. It's not like he was trying to not listen but listening was getting... harder.
He had made it through most of his morning lessons and lunch was next period so it was all good. All good. Nothing wrong.
Shouto stared as Aizawa turned around to write something on the chalkboard.
'Search and Rescue'
Okay...
Maybe not about work studies then.
He didn't know what was making things so... difficult today. Sure, he hadn't gotten as much sleep as he usually did and maybe he had forgotten to call Katsuki when he had wet the bed again, leaving him on the floor for the rest of the night because he was too damn tired to do anything about it. And yes, maybe, just maybe, he had forgotten his fidget cube in the dorms and now his hands were moving around too much because he just couldn't sit still.
He wasn't 'stimming' as they called it. He was just flapping his hands around because there was too much energy that he couldn't get out without screaming until his vocal chords were fried.
But, hey, aside from that, he was doing pretty fricking good.
All of a sudden, he was acing Maths and English was starting to make a bit more sense. He was doing extra training outside of school so his quirk was getting better and everything was looking up. Kind of.
He didn't know what had compelled him to bring Yumi along today - he wasn't feeling sad or just having a bad morning. In fact, it was okay, for the most part.
Even so, Shouto found himself digging his hand into his bag and grabbing Yumi, placing her in his lap and stroking her ears.
No one had noticed, too busy actually paying attention. Except for Katsuki, who glanced at him occasionally. Aizawa Sensei had given him a look when the faraway gaze in his eyes left him dull and lifeless, not that Shouto noticed.
No one had noticed Yumi being pulled out onto his lap. (Except for Katsuki.) No one noticed when his head ducked down and he just looked at Yumi's crystal blue eyes. (Except for Katsuki.)
Some people had noticed when Shouto started babbling under his breath about penguins and rocks, all of his attention directed onto Yumi.
Yet, everyone had noticed when Aizawa Sensei had approached him, knelt by his desk and grazed his hand.
"Hi, Todoroki."
Shouto looked up, still a little dazed yet half smiling - or as much as one could smile with a thumb half way through their lips.
"Todoroki? Are you okay?" Momoyao's voice came from beside him. He liked her ponytail, all long and spiky. He smiled in return.
"Todoroki? Come with me please, outside." Aizawa Sensei stated, deadpan and honestly, a bit scary.
Shouto didn't remember standing up. Nor did he remember walking out of the classroom, or watching as Katsuki followed behind him. He did remember the hallway, though. Bright, shiny, pristine. A little too pristine.
"Todoroki?"
The words floated around Shouto's head.
"Bakugou- "
"Yeah, no. He's regressing, I got this." Katsuki stated matter-of-factly as Aizawa moved back towards the classroom.
"Unless he ages back up, take the rest of the day off."
"Uh huh. Cool." he said, dismissive as he ushered Aizawa away with his free hand, the other moving towards Shouto's face. "Hi, Shou-Shou. Hi, Yumi. Everything okay?"
Shouto slid down the wall he'd been leaning on and plopped himself on the floor, Katsuki following suit.
Katsuki wasn't exactly sure what had led to them always ending up on the floor, but he wasn't exactly complaining - better for his back.
"Yumi happy. Peng'ins. Tolds her lots."
"Is she? Why don't you tell me about penguins too?" Katsuki questioned, soft and sweet in his tone.
"Um..." Shouto didn't really know where his voice had gone. "Yumi said no."
"Oh? Why does Yumi say 'no'? Is she sad?"
"Icky..." Shouto thumped his hand on Yumi's chest. "Boom, boom, boom."
'Speaking toddler is a lot fucking harder than it looks. Boom, boom, boom? What the fuck? Boom, boom-'
Her heart. Okay. Her heart. Katsuki could work with this.
"Does Yumi feel icky here?" Katsuki placed a finger on Shouto's chest, tracing the outline of his ribcage.
Shouto nodded, slow and careful. He wasn't sure what was wrong exactly, but something definitely wasn't right.
The boy began searching for Katsuki's fingers, tracing around his scars and his knuckles. Katsuki handed it to him, unthinkingly.
What was Katsuki gonna do exactly? Yumi was hurt... emotionally. Okay, cool. And by extension, so was Shouto. But nothing had... happened.
"Ki?"
Katsuki flung his head in whatever direction it came from, pulling him out of his thoughts and practically onto a highway.
"Ki? Yumi icky. S'eepy."
"Yumi's tired? We should get her to bed, shouldn't we?" Katsuki suggested, hoping he'd done something right.
Shouto froze. He couldn't go back to his room. The bed and the floor and-
"Nuh uh."
"Hm? Baby, what's wrong?"
"Yumi no' s'eepy. Can't."
"Yumi can't sleep? How come?" Katsuki was really confused now. The solution seemed to have worked until it just didn't.
"Um.." Shouto began sniffling, tears brimming and threatening to spill over.
Katsuki lifted Shouto onto his lap at that, holding him closer, tighter.
"Wet."
"Wet? What's we- Oh."
'Can't sleep. Wet. Sad almost but not really. Hurt emotionally. Oh.. fuck. Okay. Okay. Okay.'
"It's okay, Shou-Shou. C'mon, let's go to the dorms. I'll clean it up and you can go have a nap, okay?"
Shouto just curled into Katsuki's chest more, clutching Yumi between them both.
'Less talking. Maybe going non-verbal. Just go with it, Katsuki.'
"Okay, we're going back to the dorms."
Katsuki bounced him on his knee until he stood up from the floor. Walking back to Heights Alliance, Katsuki soothed Shouto, counting up and down as many times as he could. Once entering, the pair headed to the supply closet for cleaning supplies and then straight to Shouto's room.
"C'mon, baby. I'll get you changed and then we can all go to sleep."
Katsuki stripped Shouto of his uniform, blazer abandoned on the desk chair and everything else piled into the laundry. Before Shouto had time to argue or protest, a pull up was slipped onto him, along with shorts, a vest and Katsuki's hoodie that now lived inside Shouto's room.
Was it even his hoodie anymore?
Probably not.
Katsuki made quick work of stripping and cleaning up the bed, adding new sheets and covers soon after and placing Shouto comfortably underneath, Yumi in hand. Before long, his eyes were closing with a pacifier blocking his attempt at a thumb in his mouth. His breathing slowed. Katsuki counted the rises and falls of his chest, to make sure.
'Sigh. Anything as long as I get to skip those stupid rescue things later. (And Shouto and Yumi are okay.)’