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The soft click of his door unlocking and opening jolts Todoroki awake and pours adrenaline straight into his veins. His quirk boils beneath the surface of his skin, and he holds perfectly still, breathing evenly, and feigning defenseless sleep as the door snicks shut and soft footfalls slowly get louder.
He takes a steadying breath, muscles recently heavy with sleep now coiled to attack, mind whirring. Villains in the dorms? Are the others okay? It’s quiet, there are no sounds of screaming or fighting from the rooms around him. For the first time, he’s angry to be on the top floor of the building. If he’s lucky he’ll be one of the first ones attacked and he can help the others before things get nasty.
The figure sinks to their knees on the soft tatami mat, quiet but not overly stealthy. A poor choice to ambush as light a sleeper as he is. Hopefully they’re all amateurs.
“Shouto?”
He releases a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. The adrenaline slowly ebbs, leaving him more exhausted than when he had gone to sleep in the first place.
“Momo? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
There’s no answer for a moment and he raises up on his arm, igniting a small flame in his hand so he can see her properly. Her eyes are wide and red, mouth pinched in misery and cheeks tear streaked. But she doesn’t look to be physically harmed. Somehow it doesn’t help him relax.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
“No.” Her voice is too-squeaky, but she’s making an admirable effort to sound calm and unaffected. “I’m sorry, it’s stupid.” She gives no signs of continuing so he sits up and pulls back the covers of the futon in clear invitation. A sob catches in her throat and she shrugs out of her robe before sliding in next to him. He douses the flame in his hands and they settle with her tucked close to his chest, sobbing quietly.
Todoroki isn’t good at feelings but he’s getting better. Comforting crying people is awkward but not difficult in a stage like this where she isn’t ready to talk just yet. He smooths his hand over her hair and hums lightly, scratching lightly at her scalp.
Momo’s a well-bred lady of status so the tears only last a minute or two, but Todoroki doesn’t mind, rubbing soothing circles on her back as she quiets, wracking sobs turning to quiet sniffles. He strokes her hair and murmurs soft platitudes, unsure if she can hear them or not, but it seems to be what people always do on TV, so what could it hurt? Either way, she finally quiets with one last, shuddering inhale, falling limp beside him on the futon with her face still pressed into his shoulder.
“You want to talk about it?” He finally murmurs into the quiet night. A glance at his clock shows that it’s three in the morning. They’re going to be feeling this tomorrow, and his chest is all wet and slimy from where she’s been crying on his skin. He doesn’t mind. They’ve been best friends for a while now, ever since Midoriya taught him that friends are actually a thing in real life, and he couldn’t ask for a better friend than Momo.
She’s kind, never judges him, there’s no risk of messy romantic attachment, and everyone’s family is satisfied with any excuses that have to be made to escape forced family events. She never tires of helping him wade through his messy social entanglements, always happy to meet him with a steaming cup of tea and a kind smile, a wealth of patience and understanding.
So, no. He doesn’t begrudge her a few late-night tears. Mostly he’s just happy he can be there for her.
She takes another deep breath, creating a handkerchief from her hand to scrub her face and his chest. They’re silent for a long moment as she works, drying skin that’s already dried from her efforts as she procrastinates answering. He thinks about rescinding his question, but ultimately decides to wait her out and see if she wants to answer.
“She’s going on a date with Kaminari.” Momo’s shoulders shake but she bites her lip and manages to stay calm.
“I’ll break her kneecaps.” He says resolutely, like there can be no other solution. It startles a laugh out of Momo, though, so it’s definitely worth it.
“Don’t break the-girl-I-might-love’s knee caps.”
“Kaminari’s then.” Momo bites her lip and pretends to consider his suggestion seriously, but ultimately winds up laughing softly, shaking her head and looking up at him through the inky dark of the early morning.
“You’re spending too much time with Bakugou if that was your first instinct.” They both laugh a little at that and Todoroki pulls her closer to him and resumes petting her hair in the ensuing silence. Kaminari’s knees are definitely a sacrifice that he is willing to make. Anything for Momo.
They languish in the ensuing silence, Todoroki stroking Momo’s hair, checking his mental reserves to make sure there isn’t some other way he should be comforting her. She’s quiet for so long that he begins to suspect she’s fallen asleep, until her soft voice breaks the quiet at last.
“Why doesn’t she like me? What does he have that I don’t have?”
“Bad manners and appalling fashion sense.”
“Shouto!”
“An IQ under 40.”
She laughs at that, genuine and full-throated, though it’s not as happy a sound as it usually is with her dry throat and stuffy nose, but he finally allows himself to smile.
“You’re terrible.”
“I’m just telling the truth.”
He settles his right hand on her cheek, letting the cool soothe her aching skin, and she hums out a happy little noise, leaning into his touch. “Is it the penis thing? What’s so great about male genitalia anyway? No offense intended, but they look weird and saggy and just generally unfortunate.”
Todoroki snorts, somewhere between laughter and choking on air at her blunt statement. “I doubt it’s ‘the penis thing’.” He sooths, returning his hand to stroking her hair. “I know you can make all kinds of substitutes for that.”
“Better substitutes.” She murmurs.
“I’m sure.” He agrees, hiding his smile in the dimness of the room. “Do you want some tea? I can go get it if you want to wait here?”
She curls her hands against his bare chest, more of a little girl than he’s seen her in a long time. Despite her light tone, this is really eating her up inside. Momo isn’t one to give her affections freely and having them rebuked has to be hard on her. Just a shame Kaminari is going to have to die in the process.
“No, that’s okay. Can I just-“ she inhales a little shakily, “can I stay here?”
Todoroki settles in a little more comfortably, pulling her closer to his chest. “Of course you can. You’re always welcome here.” Her shoulders shake and the sniffling starts back up in earnest, face buried against Todoroki’s chest. He strokes her hair until she cries herself to sleep.
By some freak design flaw, the dorm room doors don’t lock automatically, they have to be manually secured via keys. Todoroki is usually pretty careful about keeping his door locked, thanks to his unconventional upbringing, but apparently Momo hadn’t locked the door after sneaking in the night before.
Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem.
This morning, the sun has only barely risen when Bakugou rudely kicks Todoroki’s door in, nearly taking off the hinges. Oddly enough, where Momo’s quiet entrance had sent adrenaline surging through Todoroki’s veins, Bakugou’s explosive one barely manages to rouse him.
“Hey, bastard, get up, I fucking-“ Todoroki cracks open an eye, Momo slowly stirring from her own slumber, face pressed against his neck, still tucked against his chest, dark hair tumbling out behind her. Bakugou’s staring at them, eyes wider than normal and blinking as he processes the scene- shirtless Todoroki, blankets slung low over his hips, holding Momo close to him. In bed, and he can’t quite make out exactly what -if anything- she’s wearing with the way her hair is falling. Irritation pours into his veins.
“Bakugou?” Todoroki mutters groggily, leaning up a little on one hand and rubbing an eye. It’s fucking adorable and Bakugou grits his teeth, resolutely not trailing his eyes down the long, pale, muscular expanse of Todoroki’s torso.
“Ain’t the fucking tooth fairy.” He growls, eyes flickering to Momo’s brief smile as she settles back against the pillows, obviously not needed for this conversation, and content to get some more sleep. Bakugou carefully doesn’t think about what could have been keeping her up last night.
“Good, that would traumatize a lot of children.” Todoroki bats back, lips tilted up in an almost-smile.
“Up yours, half ‘n half.” A real smile this time, small as it may be, Bakugou’s traitorous heart gives a pathetic flip.
“What do you need?” Todoroki extracts himself from the futon, careful not to disturb his bed-mate, and oh-boy, it’s not like Bakugou doesn’t regularly see him in various states of undress when they change, but the black boxers look damn good on him, slung low, showing just a little bit of hair trailing- he snaps his eyes back up with a scowl. Not the time, brain, not the time.
You, bent over something at hip-height. He manages not to lick his lips, but it’s a near-thing.
Todoroki arches a brow at him, fishing a dark tank top from his dresser, and it might just be Bakugou’s imagination, but he seems to take his damn sweet time pulling it over his head, giving Bakugou a good view of his rippling abdominals.
“Bakugou?”
Ah-fuck Todoroki asked him something, didn’t he? It’s hard to focus with Todoroki looking so unexpectedly edible when he’s sleep tousled. His hair’s sticking up at funny angles and his eyes aren’t quite as bright and sharp as they usually are, still heavy with sleep. Why hasn’t he woken Todoroki up before?
“I need you.” Ah- fuck that came out more suggestive than he meant for it to.
But only a little.
Todoroki blinks in surprise, the barest hint of red racing to his cheeks.
“What for?”
Bakugou’s mind supplies several incredibly unhelpful images and he loses the thread of the conversation again. It’s not even a sexy fantasy, just an image of waking up next to Todoroki, kissing his stupid sleepy face and running his hands through his messy stupid hair. He frowns and can’t resist shooting an irritated look at the woman who had probably been expecting the same thing this morning before Bakugou had burst in.
Hah. Serves her right.
“Bakugou? Are you okay?”
Fuck.
He’s still looking at ponytail, so he can see her smile and bury her face in Todoroki’s pillow like she thinks she knows something. Bakugou should be nestling into that pillow, goddammit.
He’s still glaring at her as Todoroki’s chest fills his vision, Todoroki stepping into Bakugou’s personal space and resting one too-warm hand on his forehead. Bakugou grinds his teeth and glares up at Todoroki, somewhere between biting his hand off and begging him to never remove it.
It’s been a long morning.
“Does that even work for you?”
Todoroki hums, dropping his hand from Bakugou’s forehead and giving him a little more space. “It’s not perfect, but if I use my left I can tell if you’re really running too warm. Using my forehead works the best since it’s centered, but I’ve been told it makes people uncomfortable.”
Who the fuck? Someone’s going to have to die for robbing Bakugou of the blessed moment of Todoroki pressing his forehead to Bakugou’s, and great, there’s the mental image of Todoroki in a nurse outfit, and not one of the realistic, practical ones either. One of the short white ones, with the thigh-highs and the little hats.
He growls to himself, why is his brain doing this to him today?
Somehow, he manages to resist shaking off the dirty thoughts like a wet dog and settles for a long sigh instead. “Look, I need you at the training ground, I wanna try something.”
Todoroki’s lips quirk up and his eyes glint with that special brand of mischief that Bakugou has noticed is saved only for him. Deku gets the indulgent smiles, Glasses gets the staunch, ever-present support, and smug-face Ponytail gets the softer smiles, but the little mischievous moments are saved just for him. He leans against the door frame, arms folded, and levels Bakugou with just such a smile. Bakugou’s heart does not flip, goddamit.
“My help? That’s certainly an honor.”
“You’re insufferable.”
“I didn’t know you knew any words that long.”
“And yet, I’m still ranked higher than you, what does that tell you?”
“That UA’s testing system is arbitrary and not a good indicator of intelligence or eloquence?”
Bakugou has to work not to grin, feisty Todoroki is his absolute favorite, and ‘Bother Todoroki’ has officially become part of his morning routine. He rests one palm on the wall beside the door and leans close to Todoroki’s face.
“Get your ass down to the Training field Alpha and say that to my fucking face.”
“You’re o-“ the teasing smirk falls off his face and he shoots a worried look over his shoulder. Ponytail is clearly pretending to doze, but Bakugou can see the amusement on her face. He can also practically hear Todoroki’s internal conflict and watches his shoulders ultimately slump. His face doesn’t pick back up its previous mischief and Bakugou low-key wants to scream.
“Maybe later? I have some things to take care of first.” His face is apologetic and he clearly feels bad picking one friend over another, but this is definitely breaking The Bro Code. Are he and Todoroki bros? Can you be bros with someone you wanna bang?
“No, you lazy piece of shit, get downstairs! You should be up and training by now anyway or next Sport’s Festival I’m going to kick your ass even worse!” His anger is hollow, Todoroki’s clearly made up his mind and Bakugou can’t even blame him. Ponytail is attractive or whatever, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Todoroki looks guilty but determined. “I’m all yours this afternoon for as long as you need, okay? We can train until Aizawa drags us back to the dorm.”
Bakugou grinds his teeth. “Fine, but we pair up during hero training too.”
Todoroki rolls his eyes, but his fond little smile is back. “Second round onwards, I have to do one thing with Kaminari first.”
He’s sleeping with other people and fighting with other people. Bakugou can’t compete with that. His previously good mood immediately sours.
Excuse the entire fuck out of you, I am way better than that battery-licker.
“What the fuck do you need with knock-off Pikachu when you have me?”
That came out slightly more needy than he intended.
“I just have something I need to settle with him.” He glances back at where Momo is curled up in his bed, fondness clear on his face. The fury churning Bakugou’s stomach gets even worse.
“Fine.” He tries hard not to sound as angry and hurt as he feels. He’s probably going to have to take some of this rage out on Deku or Kaminari, though. “Throw your time away with Sparky the Wonder Mutt, and lounge around in bed. Just makes my path to number one that much easier.”
Todoroki rolls his eyes again and reaches out to tug the door closed but stops just before it snicks shut.
“Bros before hoes, Katsuki. I’ll see you this afternoon.”
Momo snorts, but Todoroki can barely hear it over the indignant sounds of Bakugou squawking in the hallway. He slides back under the covers and presses a cool hand to her cheek. Her eyes are puffy and red and it’s going to be hard to hide how much she’s been crying.
“You misused that phrase, by the way.”
“Did I? I’m pretty sure I didn’t.” He furrows his brow, trying to remember Kirishima explaining the slang to him. “You’re one of my closest friends, that makes us ‘bros’, and I want to sleep with Katsuki, which makes him the ‘ho’, right?”
Momo looks up at him for a full twenty seconds before bursting into pealing laughter.
**
Bakugou barges into the crowded common area, silencing all conversation with a loud explosion.
“Which one of you assholes taught Half ‘n Half the phrase ‘Bros before hoes’? I just wanna talk.”
Kirishima and Kaminari sink low in their chairs. It’s going to be a long day.
Bakugou levels Kaminari with a long look. “You better hope it wasn’t you, you’re already on my shit list.”
Kirishima pats his shoulder sympathetically, “rest in peace, my dude.”
**
Bakugou does actually make a concerted effort not to let it bother him that Ponytail sticks to Todoroki like glue. He’s not an idiot though, she looks like she’s on the verge of tears for most of the day, and he’s pretty sure he sees her outright shrug off earphone girl’s attempts to talk to her.
Jesus Christ, is he going to have to fight earphone girl for Todoroki, too? He stops, chin in hand, propped up against his desk. Maybe he could just fight them? Caveman this shit and win Todoroki’s affection by force. Destroy the competition (as per usual) and sling Todoroki over his shoulder and carry him back up to his room and fuck his brains out.
Ugh, he presses the heels of his hands to his eyes. Why is he so horned up today? Images of sleep-tousled Todoroki flit across his vision. He sighs, what a fucking mess.
His day does not improve when combat training rolls around and Ponytail still looks so dejected that he can’t bring himself to pick a fight with her. He squares up against Kirishima instead, which is a good thing, because hurting Kirishima is really difficult these days with how much his quirk has improved, and he can really cut loose.
Except, Todoroki and Kaminari wind up on the field next to them. Bakugou smirks, he’s going to show Todoroki exactly what he’s missing. Half ‘n Half fucker’s not ever going to choose Sparky over Bakugou again.
That’s the plan, at least, until it becomes abundantly clear that Todoroki did not select Kaminari to fight exactly, but more to work out some kind of grudge.
On the plus side, it’s a short fight.
On the negative, it’s bad for Bakugou’s libido when Todoroki summons up a swell of fire that blows his stupid hair up and curls around him so he looks like an avenging angel about to smite the ever-loving shit out of Kaminari. Bakugou can’t tear his eyes away, just watches entranced as Todoroki stalks forward, blocking Kaminari’s attacks with ice summoned amongst his inferno.
Fuuuuuck.
Things go a little blurry then and he doesn’t actually get to see Todoroki annihilate Kaminari because Kirishima chooses that moment to slam a hardened fist right into Bakugou’s jaw.
He’s pretty sure he loses consciousness for a second because when he comes to, Kirishima is crouched next to him, giving him the world’s most pitying look. “Dude, you have got to get this under control.” He says sympathetically.
Luckily, Todoroki’s little fire show has drawn the teachers so no one comes to check on him and he’s offered a moment of peace- the kind only a traumatic head wound allows, and he takes advantage of the fogginess in his brain from the hit.
“I’m trying. Have you fucking seen him? Of course you have. You know you’ve had a wet dream about him- everyone’s had a wet dream about him.” Bakugou’s certainly had his fair share of filthy dreams about Todoroki, the really, really dirty kind, too. Even worse, he’s had soft, fluffy dreams about the cat they’re going to rescue together and what color he wants the drapes in their apartment to be. It’s a real problem. He’s still on his back, looking dazedly up at the sky and Kirishima pats his shoulder reassuringly.
“For my own safety, I’m not going to answer that. You need to just tell him how you feel, if anyone has a chance at tapping that, it’s you.”
“That’s the fucking problem, I don’t want to just fuck him. I like him. He was all cute and sleepy and shit when I caught him in bed with Ponytail this morning. It was fucking adorable. I want to kiss his stupid face, and make him eat something that’s not noodles for once in his life, and look-“ he raises up on his elbows and looks Kirishima dead in the eye, “if I have to fucking fight Endeavor, I’ll do it, okay? I will punch that giant dumpster fire. That’s where I’m at, shitty hair.” He flops back down, trying to ignore the way the world is spinning dangerously.
“Okay, man, I think I’m taking you to Recovery Girl.” He slides an arm down to help Bakugou to his feet, but Bakugou isn’t having it, wiggling out of his hold to stay firmly planted on the grass.
“Just leave me here to die.”
“Can’t fight Endeavor if you’re dead, my dude.”
“Who’s fighting Endeavor?”
Bakugou and Kirishima both jolt as Todoroki seemingly materializes out of thin air.
“Dude! Don’t do that, I almost had a heart attack.” Kirishima grips his chest over his racing heart and drops out of his crouch to sit next to Bakugou on the grass.
“Sorry.” Todoroki mutters, more concerned with where Bakugou’s still sprawled on the ground. “Are you okay? I knew you were off this morning, you’re sick, aren’t you?”
He kneels down and presses a too-warm hand back to Bakugou’s forehead, worry creasing his face.
“He’s okay, I just caught him with a lucky punch is all.”
Todoroki cuts his eyes to Kirishima and for the barest second, he sees something dangerous flit across Todoroki’s face.
Oh.
Oh.
Kirishima grins and raises his hands in a gesture of innocence, “my bad, dude. He’s fine, just a little thirsty.”
Bakugou snorts, but Todoroki thankfully misses Kirishima’s meaning. Bakugou makes a grabby motion with his hand and Todoroki obediently extends his right hand, pressing it gently to the rapidly-bruising spot on Bakugou’s jaw.
“You’re a good ice pack.” Bakugou slurs and Todoroki’s lips twitch up in a smile. Kirishima blinks, he’s never seen a look that tender on Todoroki’s face before, not even directed at Midoriya. He quietly stands up, deciding to leave the two oblivious lovebirds alone, and walks back over to the main group. Kaminari’s awake but shaken and Kirishima pats his shoulder.
“What the hell did you do, man?”
Kaminari gives him a baffled look. “I don’t know!”
Todoroki keeps his hand a little cooler than normal to soothe Bakugou’s injury, and it feels so good to be able to openly touch his face. Bakugou’s giving him a lazy smile that almost certainly means he needs a trip to Recovery Girl, but Todoroki holds off for another moment, enjoying their closeness.
“You feeling any better? Try not to go into the light, it’s probably hellfire.”
Bakugou snorts, squinting up at Todoroki’s head. It’s annoyingly haloed by the sun and the irony is not lost on Bakugou. “You’re lucky you’re cute because you’re sure as hell not funny.”
“You’re going to be pissed later when you realize you called me cute.” There’s no harm in the lilting warmness in his chest, right? As long as he reminds himself that this is possibly-concussed Bakugou and not normal-Bakugou. Normal-Bakugou doesn’t think he’s cute, Todoroki knows that, but it’s nice all the same. He cups his chilly hand around Bakugou’s jaw and Bakugou makes a happy noise, eyes fluttering shut and face nuzzling against his fingers. Todoroki holds his breath, memorizing the moment.
Both for himself, and more realistically the teasing blackmail he’s going to employ later because there’s soft, mushy feelings and pitiful crushes on exploding boys who will never love him back, and then there’s reality. A reality in which he can never let Bakugou live this down.
He indulges in his gift from the cosmos for another second before reaching down and giving Bakugou’s hand a squeeze. “Come on, let’s get you to Recovery Girl.”
“Don’t wanna.”
“Mm, that’s too bad, come on.”
Bakugou allows Todoroki to lift him- bodily lift him, because while he does not struggle, he makes absolutely no effort to move himself and it results in Todoroki literally picking him up off the ground after several failed attempts at pulling him up by his arms.
By the time he finally manages to wrap Bakugou’s arm around his shoulders to support his weight, the whole class is staring, most of them are giggling behind their hands, and Todoroki’s face is dusted pink with embarrassment like he’s been caught doing something bad. Aizawa is looking at him with a face somewhere between pity and apathy and he makes a vague hand gesture towards the school that Todoroki decides to take as permission to half-carry, half-drag Bakugou to the infirmary.
It’s a long, painful limp to the nurse, and on two separate occasions, Bakugou throws himself dramatically out of Todoroki’s hold to perch on a bench. He’s lucky he’s cute or Todoroki would have given him another concussion.
“Bakugou.” Todoroki sighs, giving up on trying to pull Bakugou off the bench. “You need to get up and come with me to the nurse okay?”
Bakugou levels him with a slightly smug look, and it looks like one of his pupils is slightly more dilated than the other and that really can’t be a good sign. Todoroki gnaws on his lower lip; Plan B involves throwing Bakugou over his shoulder and just giving up any pretense of not bodily carrying him to Recovery Girl.
“Sit with me.”
“I’ll sit with you in Recovery Girl’s office, okay?”
Bakugou snorts. “You’re just gonna dump me there and leave, this way you have to actually stay.” He reaches for Todoroki’s chilled right hand and presses it back to his badly swelling jaw. Todoroki’s definitely endeared by concussed-Bakugou’s logic, and he coughs to hide the swell of emotion in his throat.
“I won’t leave you, I promised we would spend the afternoon together, didn’t I?”
Bakugou arcs an elegant brow at him. “You did.” He concedes. “The whole afternoon.”
Todoroki smiles despite himself. “Yes, Katsuki, the whole afternoon.” He holds up his pinky finger like Midoriya had taught him.
Bakugou snorts, rolling his eyes and tipping his head back to look up at the sky in disbelief. How did he fall for such an adorable idiot? “You’re such a fucking nerd.”
But he wraps his pinky finger around Todoroki’s anyway, and hey, he can just blame the concussion for it later. They keep their fingers intertwined for much longer than necessary, and Todoroki resolutely tries to enjoy the moment while it lasts without letting his hopes get up too high.
**
It’s definitely a concussion, and a nasty one at that.
Recovery Girl tuts and presses a kiss to a squirming Bakugou’s jaw and he splutters like a wet cat. Todoroki reaches down to help keep his head still and forgets to take it back after the kiss has been administered. Wholly by accident, you understand.
“Are you staying with him? He can’t be left alone for a few hours. I don’t mind him sleeping, but he needs to be woken up once an hour if he does fall asleep.”
Todoroki nods just as Bakugou pulls his hand down to rest against his cheek again, making a happy little noise at the soothing cold. “I’ll keep an eye on him. Aizawa excused me from training today.” The last part isn’t a lie exactly, Aizawa had let him bring Bakugou to the infirmary.
She gives him a knowing look and a gentle smile but lets him half-carry Bakugou out of the infirmary anyway, and his cheeks are a little too warm with the silent implication.
He decides to bring Bakugou to his room, unsure of where exactly Bakugou’s keys are, and the trek is much easier this time. Bakugou’s too tired to struggle after his healing. The dorms are empty with everyone still in class, so once the door shuts behind him, Todoroki pulls Bakugou up onto his back to make the journey a little easier.
Bakugou complains some, muttering muffled complaints against Todoroki’s shoulders, but obediently wraps his arms around Todoroki’s neck and lets himself be carried up to the fifth floor and lowered onto Todoroki’s futon. Todoroki should have expected it, but Bakugou uses the last of his strength to keep his hold on Todoroki and pull him down to the futon.
“Stay.” He murmurs, barely awake, and Todoroki bites his lower lip hard. He shouldn’t. It feels too much like he’s taking advantage of Bakugou’s injury. Bakugou’s eyelashes flutter, and it’s easy to see that he’s losing the battle with sleep.
Really, who’s going to know?
Todoroki tucks them both under the covers, Bakugou wrapped around him like a happy octopus. Todoroki doesn’t bother to hide his smiles.
Bakugou’s unconscious in a matter of minutes, one arm slung low over Todoroki’s hip, and head resting on his chest. Todoroki takes a few minutes to absently pet his hair and watch him sleep. He’s still angry, even when sleeping; his brow doesn’t quite lose that perturbed furrow and occasionally his lip curls up, and not in the cute happy smiling kind of way.
It’s still the most adorable thing Todoroki’s ever seen and his heart is so full it might just burst.
He gently traces his thumb between Bakugou’s eyes and down his nose, trying to smooth the angry wrinkle, but Bakugou just pulls away, wraps around him tighter and buries his face against Todoroki’s torso.
Todoroki smiles and gives himself exactly sixty seconds to imagine what it would be like to fall asleep like this every night, to wake up every morning wrapped up in a very explody octopus.
To wake him up with a peppering of gentle kisses.
His heart seizes up, he wants it. Wants it so badly he’s dizzy with it.
But he can’t have it.
His prescribed sixty seconds end and he pulls up the novel he’s been reading on his phone, keeping an eye on the time to make sure he remembers to check on Bakugou in an hour.
It’s absolutely an exercise in futility; he’s read the same line twelve times and has absolutely no idea what it said. Suppressing an irritated groan, he resolves to just stare at Bakugou like his stupid traitorous heart wants. It’s got to get boring eventually, right? He’ll stop before it gets too weird, right?
Forty-five minutes later he’s still gently petting Bakugou’s hair, watching his face with adoration. The angry wrinkles have smoothed out some and he occasionally makes these happy little noises when Todoroki scratches at his scalp, and Todoroki was wrong; now his heart is so full it could burst.
He’s so screwed.
The door clicks open and Momo tiptoes in carefully. Great, now there’s a witness to his pathetic lovesickness. He shoots her a look of utter despair, or as close as he can get with the guy he has a massive crush on sleeping soundly on his chest.
Momo takes one look at them and pulls out her phone, snapping several pictures that Todoroki puts on a mock scowl for but knows he’s going to beg for a copy of later. She smiles and slips into the futon next to him, sighing. He rolls his head over to look at her, careful not to disturb Bakugou, and reaches down to give her hand a squeeze.
“They’re eating alone together in the cafeteria.” She whispers, trying not to wake Bakugou, but looking up at Todoroki with sad eyes. He winces and gives her hand a tight squeeze.
“You know, she’s bound to get tired of the world’s worst ‘yo mamma’ jokes eventually, and when she does, you can reintroduce her to meaningful, eloquent conversation and rock her world.” He finally quips in a completely deadpan voice.
Momo actually snorts and it’s so undignified and unladylike that her cheeks should be flushing, but she just shakes with quiet laughter instead. “Shouto, no one uses ‘Yo momma’ jokes any more, not even Kaminari.”
Todoroki’s brow furrows. “That’s not true, I saw a documentary on American Teenagers. It’s all the rage there.”
She arcs a delicate brow. “Where did you watch this enlightening documentary?”
“I watched it with Midoriya, on NTB.”
“Could it have been MTV?”
“That’s the one.”
Momo bites her lip and runs a gentle hand across his cheek. “Sometimes I just take a moment to feel very grateful that you’re so pretty.”
Todoroki gasps in mock-hurt. “That is some very ‘whack’ shade there, Momo.”
“Please stop.”
“Now it’s wiggity whack.”
“I’m telling Midoriya you’re cut off from pop culture channels, this is out of hand.”
“Don’t do that, I need the extra research on socializing with our peers. I have to be a hipster with the lingo.”
Bakugou gives a pained groan from his place on Todoroki’s chest. “And now we’re threatening Deku, not just telling him.”
Bakugou lifts his head, eyes still heavy with sleep and Todoroki gasps just a tiny bit at his cute, sleep tousled look.
“Hey.” He murmurs, reaching back out to run a hand through Bakugou’s messy hair again.
“Hey yourself.” Bakugou returns, lips tilted up just the tiniest bit, arms still wrapped tight around Todoroki’s middle. And isn’t that a look Todoroki’s never going to get out of his head. They lock eyes for a long moment, and he can’t ready the look that passes over Bakugou’s face, but his heart’s racing in his chest and he’s terrified that Bakugou can feel it.
Bakugou finally takes mercy on him and turns his gaze over to where Momo is watching them like they’re her favorite Shoujo manga. “You.” He bites out, face losing its sleepy softness in favor of his usual scowl. “Stop being a fucking pansy. Battery Brain is so gay that he would cry if he saw a vagina. He’s panting after Shitty Hair’s dick so hard it’s a miracle he hasn’t drowned in his own drool, and your beloved earphone girl wants to raw you so badly she got an actual nosebleed last week when you tore your shirt during training.”
Todoroki’s eye brows shoot up to his hairline and Momo gasps, jaw hanging open a little.
“What?! Why hasn’t she said anything?”
“Why the fuck haven’t you? She thinks your banging IcyHot here.” He lightly slaps Todoroki on the side where his hand has been resting. “No one wants to compete with the rich pretty boy, but you’re disgustingly out of Sparky’s league. Stop being a pussy and tell her how you feel.”
Todoroki and Momo both stare up at Bakugou for a full thirty seconds in quiet awe.
“How do you know all of this?” Todoroki finally asks.
Bakugou moves one of his arms to lean on his elbow and prop his head up, but he leaves the other slung across Todoroki. He’ll blame it on the concussion if he has to.
“I guess I’m just better than both of you.” He smirks. “It’s impossible not to hear all this shit, those losers prattle on about their love lives all the fucking time.”
Momo seems to finally snap out of her trance, cutting her eyes up to look at Bakugou before grabbing his face with both of her hands. “Thank you, Bakugou! I won’t let you down!”
“Get off of me, goddamit! Who are you letting down? I don’t fucking care about your shitty love life.”
Momo ignores him and rolls to her feet, graceful as ever, and all but jogs to the door.
“Good luck, Momo!” Todoroki calls, still tangled up with Bakugou on the futon and utterly unwilling to move.
“Thanks, Shouto! Bakugou!” She slips out the door but sticks her head in just before it closes. “And as long as we’re all having romantic revelations, please kiss him already, Bakugou, because I’m about to be disgustingly happy and it’ll be so much more satisfying to tell Shouto every single detail if he’s happy too. If not, it’ll just feel like I’m rubbing it in.”
“Momo!” Todoroki yells, abruptly sitting up. “What happened to bros before hoes?!”
“This is exactly bros before hoes, Shouto. Use protection!” She yells, closing the door firmly behind her over Bakugou’s spluttering and Todoroki’s exasperated groan.
Todoroki flops back down on the futon, eyes squeezed shut in mortification, Bakugou’s arm still around his waist. There’s a moment of quiet before Bakugou shifts, moving his arm. Todoroki feels it like a physical slap, but the hand just trails upwards to cup his cheek and he finally flutters his eyes open to see Bakugou staring down at him with that intensity Todoroki admires so much.
“Shouto. Let me kiss your stupid face.”
Todoroki lets out a surprised laugh, it’s just such a Bakugou thing to say, so much normalcy packed into such a big moment in Todoroki’s life.
He leans up and presses his lips to Bakugou’s in lieu of answering. They’re both smiling too hard for it to be considered a ‘good’ kiss, but it’s still a great one.