Chapter Text
The first thing Shouto heard when they opened the front door of the dorms was screaming and the distinct sounds of Mario Kart coming from the common room. They just got back from visiting their mother at the hospital and their chest felt just a little to tight, like it usually did after they spoke with her.
They entered the common room with the intention of sneaking back to their room and avoiding any interaction that would leave them confused and everybody else laughing. Most of the class was sitting in front of the TV with Kirishima, Ashido, Kaminari and Sero racing on the Rainbow Road. Ashido was kicking Kirishima of the couch and Kaminari electricuting Sero, the others munching various snacks and cheering the vicious fighters on.
In the kitchen Bakugou cooking dinner while yelling at Midoriya (and only insulting him once) to stop burning the vegetables, like honestly how do you burn vegetables, they don't even need this much heat!?
A little smile crept on Shouto's face, they were halfway through the room when Uraraka noticed them: "Hey Todoroki, welcome back. Do you want to hang out with us, we are having group dinner tonight!"
"Ah, I was gonna take a shower-", they started.
"Aw, come on it'll be fun!", Midoriya piped up from the kitchen door. "Kacchan even made cold soba for you!"
"Hah?! Fuck you, I didn't do it for them! I'm only making soba cuz' there were some leftover ingredients! Get back to work, stupid Deku!", Bakugou yelled dragging Midoriya back into the kitchen with red cheeks.
"Awww, why do you always win Mina? It's not fair!" cried Kirishima. "Todobroki, we need your mad skillz to beat her!"
"Hahaha, you'll never beat me! Bow to the queen!", crackled Ashido.
Sero smiled at Shouto:"Come on, just one round!"
"Ah, OK. Can you show me the controls, I've never played any games before."
Many outraged gasps sounded through the room.
"You never played!?"
"Dude, how does one go fifteen years without Mario Kart??"
"OK, no this can't stand! We need to catch you up asap!"
Kaminari pointed at them: "You, sit down! I'll show you how it's done!"
Shouto shuffled awkwardly to the couch and got promptly got pulled down.
"See these are joy sticks, with this one you control the direction your cart goes..."
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After four rounds filled with questions like, "Why am I driving backwards? " and "How do I go fast like Ashido??", Bakugou yelled:"Get your asses to the table, the fucking food is done!"
That got everyone's attention faster then any explosion our resident explosion boy might cause and soon everybody was digging in.
After dinner everybody slowly left for more video games (Ashido, Uraraka, Kaminari,...) or for some quiet time in their rooms (Kouda, Ojiro, Tokoyami,...).
Shouto stayed to do the dishes, since according to the chore chart made by Iida, it was their turn. The chart was a great idea, with it they could pretend they were at least a little bit functional.
After wiping down the table Bakugou joined them and silently started to help. Shouto looked at him confused and opened their mouth. "Shut up, Half'n'Half.", muttered Bakugou.
Shouto closed their mouth slowly and eventually focused on their task again.
"Are you, like,... OK?" asked Bakugou out of nowhere.
"Huh?"
"I asked if you're OK, dumbass. You seemed a bit overwhelmed earlier."
"Oh, um- Yeah, I-", Blood rushed to Shouto's cheeks. "I'm good, that- it actually helped, the distraction. I- Thank you, for asking."
"Tsh, of course I'm asking, I don't hate you, idiot."
Both teens stared intensely at the plates they were cleaning with red faces.
Once they were done, they both walked silently to their rooms. Shouto just pulled their door open, when Bakugou stopped them:"Hey, uhm... Me and the extras are studying tomorrow after school, if you want you can, like, you know.. Join us?" Heat crawling up his cheeks, as he added:"Not like I care, obviously, but the extras might like that."
Shouta gave him a tiny smile:"Sure, I'd like that."
"ANYWAYS, I'm going to bed! Goodnight, dumbass!"
"Good night, Bakugou."