Seeking Comfort ( Izuku X Uraraka)

Chapter 1

"Uraraka-san? Are you all right?" His concern for her grew when he saw that her knees were tucked close to her chest and her body was trembling slightly. She hadn't heard him yet, so he cautiously reached out a hand to touch her shoulder. Normally, he wouldn't have initiated physical contact and would just wait for her to reply, but her unresponsiveness was worrying him. The second Izuku's hand made contact with her skin, she jumped and let out a startled noise. Her eyes darted up to his and the sight made his heart ache. She was scared.

"A-ah, Deku-kun! I didn't hear you, sorry." She mumbled her apology and looked away rather stiffly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that. Is something wrong?" Izuku tried again and waited for her answer. He could tell that she was upset and needed to talk to someone, but he didn't want to pressure her into talking.

"I, uh, couldn't sleep so I came down here." Her usual cheeriness was back, but Izuku could tell right away that it was forced. She was trying to be brave and not worry him, but he could see the uneasiness right below the surface.

"I couldn't sleep either." Izuku offered a small smile hoping Uraraka would see it as an invitation to continue the conversation. For a second he thought she wasn't going to reply, but when she finally did he wasn't put at easy anyhow.

"I see." Uraraka returned to her previous position and hugged her knees close to her, protecting herself. Izuku decided to stay with her for a while and make sure she was okay. It was late and she should really be getting some sleep. Sitting down on the sofa next to her with a good bit of space between them, Izuku wondered how to get the conversation started. He opted for a direct approach.

"Did you have a nightmare?" He asked softly. From her stiffening of her body Izuku guessed that he was right. She seemed to struggle with herself on whether to admit it or not and finally gave up with a sigh. She nodded mutely.

"Me too."

They were quiet for a few minutes, letting the silence engulf them. Only one of the small lamps near the TV was on, and its light was so weak that they could barely see each other. Izuku was fine with it being dark. That way, he wouldn't continuously glance in his friend's direction. Uraraka shifted slightly on the sofa, still not looking directly at him.

"I've been having them for a few days now. Once I wake up, I can't go back to sleep." Her voice was low, barely above a whisper, but he caught every word of it.

"Have you been coming down here every time?" Izuku wondered how many hours of sleep she had missed this week. Now that he thought about it, she had been awfully tired when they had classes and had barely been able to focus.

"No, just today." Her reply told him that she usually stayed in her room, alone and wide awake. Izuku tried not to let it get to him – he did the same exact thing very often.

"My mom used to say that there was only one way to chase away a bad dream. Hot chocolate." Izuku remembered all the times he would wake up and run to his mom's bed when he was little. She would always comfort him and make hot chocolate for both of them, before staying with him until he fell asleep. Right now, he was hoping to give Uraraka some of that same comfort. Judging by how she perked up, it seemed like it had worked. Izuku offered to make some and she gratefully accepted.

They had settled into the kitchen and Izuku was rummaging around for the ingredients he needed. The kitchen was rather large and held personal cupboards for every resident along one wall and four large refrigerators that were stocked up twice a week by U.A. on the opposite. Four long kitchen stations, like the ones seen in competitive cooking shows, were aligned in two rows in the middle of the room and beyond those were dining tables.