Tonight marked the fourth time this week that you found yourself in Todoroki's bedroom in the middle of the night. You hadn't meant for your flirty joke to become true but karma was a bitch; at least that's what you figured was happening. It made sense that as punishment for belittling Kaminari's troubles with his heater during the trip, your room would one day start becoming ice-cold in the middle of the night as well.
Thankfully, Todoroki was always awake when you asked to sleep over. You couldn't be more grateful.
The only light in the room was the moonlight that flooded in through his window but it was more than enough for you to see the main topic clearly. You already knew about the origin of his scar thanks to how snoopy you'd been five years ago so there wasn't much discussion left.
Whether it was the silence or what you were doing, all walls seemed to be down right now. There was nothing else but you and him.
You traced the outline of Todoroki's scar with your thumb, watching your finger go up and down according to his mark. The small action wasn't unsettling but you couldn't help the subtle butterflies in your stomach when realizing that the entire time you played around with his face, he wasn't planning on taking his eyes off of you.
You paused and grinned,"Y'know, tracing lines on a baby's face is a really good way to calm them. I'm surprised it's working so well on a grown man."
Todoroki's voice was thick with tranquility as he leaned into your touch. He looked like he was fighting off a yawn,"It's 2 am. I'm bound to be tired."
You lowered your voice a bit once noticing his sleepiness,"But if you're so tired, why be awake?It's only been about 15 minutes since I came in and you weren't sleeping. And it's not like you knew I'd come."
Silence enveloped the room again and you stared at Todoroki curiously as he averted his eyes, still not moving his head from your touch. He wouldn't willfully opt out of your small tokens of affection. The man had never craved attention so much until he got yours.
"...I couldn't sleep."
"Well, I won't add to that. Let's sleep", you giggled as you leaned upwards from your sitting position to place a small kiss on where you'd just been touching. Todoroki's arm instinctively wrapped around you, having expected the kiss on his cheek, not his scar, and his throat ran dry when he felt it.
Once you tried pulling away, you found yourself unable to. Todoroki's hold on you was ironclad. You looked at him in confusion as his face shifted into something a little conflicted.
His feelings for you were incredibly obvious to him. The behavior he showed was so exclusive to you: hell, he just had you freely touch his face all you wanted because he wanted it too. However, you never took the hints. You carelessly showered him with affection as a result and it felt like such a tease to what he wanted.
For the first time, he felt frustrated with you. His mismatched eyes were stern as they held yours, "(Name), you need to be more self-aware."
You shot him a puzzled look,"I do?Since when?"
He sighed,"Since months ago."
Todoroki's hold on you went limp right after and as confusing as his words were, you were more enticed by the blanket of his bed. Your room had been so cold that the chattering of your teeth had been uncontrollable; the blanket looked heavenly and as soon as you wrapped yourself in it and took a deep breath, it was the same for its scent.
Todoroki had such a nice smell. You didn't know whether it had anything to do with his quirk but him room smelled like a kindling bonfire but it overwhelmed your nose the way cold air did. You smiled at him from your comfy spot,"I think I'm starting to like your bed more than mine."
His eyes lit up and he wasted no time in joining you, having to tug gently for some blanket but you didn't feel like fighting him over it like the past few days. Not that you fought much anyway. He'd been okay with you taking the entire blanket, saying he could warm himself up with his quirk, and you felt too bad to joke like that anymore.
You couldn't help yourself despite your promise to let him sleep,"So, how am I not self-aware?"
You weren't shy to cuddle up to him during the night anymore. After your 'fashion show', he hardly lost his composure. You shuffled closer to him without minding the small space you were leaving in between.
Todoroki's eyes went deadpan,"You flirt without thinking."
"As a joke", you added with a grin.
"You dress without thinking."
"It helps my quirk and I like being prepared to use it."
"You touch without thinking."
"Only with the people I love. Like you!!", you huffed.
"That's a perfect example of what I'm talking about", he groaned unhappily as he rubbed his temples. Your eyebrows shot up at the sound and you couldn't help but laugh.
You looked at him with an amused smile,"What does this have to do with my self-awareness?"
"(Name), you're one of the smartest people I know and I'm counting on that. You'll have to figure it out."
You gaped as he turned his back to you, presumably to sleep. It was fair considering the time but there was no way you'd get any rest without understanding what he meant. You pettily sat up and threw yourself across his side to look at his face properly. He opened his eyes wordlessly, not even surprised as you stared at him sideways with a big smile.
"Can I get a hint?"
As tired as he was, the sight went straight to his heart. He wouldn't give into your question though,"It's not the kind of subject that should be played with like that."
"Oh?", you adjusted yourself so your stomach would be on his side instead,"Then even more of a reason to tell me."
"I could", Todoroki agreed,"but even if I did, it won't be today."
He gently grabbed you from him and you pouted as he went to lay you down properly--or at least you thought. Your breath hitched when even as he laid you down, he didn't let go. Your nerves spiked even more when you felt him dig his head into your neck. Feeling his nose nuzzle into it grew heat on your face.
"U-Um-"
"Get the hints, (Name)."
His words flew right by you as you felt him place a small kiss at the crevice your neck. You swore you felt your heartbeat pulse through your entire body at once and your breath got caught at your throat. Your brain short-circuited. You had no idea what to respond with; in fact, you didn't even remember what he said. All you were focused on were the effects of his small kiss on you.
You wondered whether he simply thought neck kisses were the same as forehead or cheek ones. Maybe he wasn't aware that platonic friends didn't do that, or maybe he was just that comfortable. Should you straight up tell him that it's not?It felt better to inform him but it could also bring up an awkward conversation.
Your heartbeat was erratic; Todoroki felt it.
He smiled softly to himself. Having cuddled with you for the past few nights, he'd found that your heartbeat was the best sound to fall asleep to. It's why freezing your vents hadn't been a one-time thing like he promised himself.
The only sound better to fall asleep to than your heartbeat was your heartbeat racing because of him. He could feel it through your neck. Todoroki nuzzled his nose deeper with full intentions of sleeping like that.
You sighed all the possible nerves out in an attempt to calm yourself. You couldn't be having any weird thoughts while in Todoroki's arms. It would force you to stay up all night.
Either way, you weren't sleepy at all. You shut your eyes several times and tried to even out your breaths but nothing seemed to work. Eventually you gave up, keeping your eyes open and mindlessly running your hand through his hair. You entertained yourself by watching your fingertips go in through his white hair and come out the red.
You flinched at a contented sigh from Todoroki.
Your voice came out astounded,"Are you still awake?"
"It's your fault."
"Excuse me?", you paused your movements to lean away from him. His head didn't move from his position but mismatched eyes followed you.
"I like that too much to sleep."
Your eyes widened. Was he talking about you playing with his hair? You held back a laugh,"You are a grown-up baby. You want me to burp you next?"
You hadn't even finished asking before starting to slap his back with more force than necessary and Todoroki shot you a blank look. You giggled,"Is it working?"
Todoroki responded with only a sigh. When he first started developing his feelings for you, he'd been so surprised. Your personality was so different from his. Your love for making jokes despite the setting, flirting with people, and touching them without a second thought couldn't be any more different than him.
But as he thought of your kindness, strength, intelligence, and the pure heart that made you such a good hero, it was no wonder he saw you in such a good light. You were so beautiful and those only made you shine more. Todoroki couldn't hate his choice of rejecting you any more than he already did. Maybe then he wouldn't have to force the circumstances that led to you sharing a bed.
"Shoto!!"
"Hm?", he looked back at your laughing face.
"I think you just fell asleep with your eyes open. I called out to you so many times. We really should sleep, it's super la-"
"What happened to your feelings for me?"
"HUH?", you almost choked. You sat up from your laying position in shock and Todoroki followed. Despite his expression always being so unreadable, you were usually able to predict what was going through his head. Not this time though. You were lost,"Where did that come from?"
Todoroki stayed quiet as he stared at you patiently and you flushed, feeling as if in a spotlight,"I mean...don't you think it's a dead topic?"
His eyebrows furrowed,"Why would it be?"
You laughed bitterly,"Because it doesn't change the fact that you rejected me, so what does it matter what I did with my feelings?"
The silence that followed would've been awkward if not for the feelings that came to both of you as you uttered those words out. You hated that you felt bitter about it now after not caring about it for so long. It probably had to do with how much those feelings fought to resurface. Had they resurfaced?You didn't even know.
Todoroki's heart broke a little. When it came to talking about your past feelings for him, you usually felt such as ease you'd make jokes. He hadn't expected to be shut out suddenly and it stung that it was his own fault.
He swallowed,"(Name), if your self-awareness prevents you from seeing it, I'll tell you mysel-"
You didn't get to hear the end of his sentence before the window that served as the only source of light was shattered. Todoroki didn't let you react; within a second, he was on his feet and had you laying behind him, using himself as cover for you. Your heart dropped at the sound of someone hitting the floor right after.
Who the hell was stupid enough to break into the number one hero's household, right into a room with two heroes?
A familiar annoyed voice came,"You're not doll-face. Fucking wacko promised this is where she slept. Guess her stalking's getting rusty."
You swore you could hear the grit of Todoroki's teeth but it was the least of your focus. You leaned out from behind him, chock-full of shock.
Your eyes had to be deceiving you because there was no way Dabi had broken into Todoroki's room. But he had. Standing at the other side of the room, he looked at Todoroki with annoyance, almost as if judging him for being in his own room.
That's when you noticed something odd. Dabi was barely kept himself from hunching as he took broken breaths in, the healthy part of his face covered in sweat that didn't look natural. It looked like the sweat of someone ill. His eyes looked clouded; you guessed that's why he didn't see you yet. Every part of this situation was so wrong and confusing that you couldn't help what came out your mouth.
"Are you out of your goddamn mind?!?"
His turquoise eyes seemed to brighten up at the sound of your voice and a weak chuckle escaped him when they landed on you,"...Or not. Wait, were you two-- Nevermind. I have another question for you, doll. What's your quirk got on poison?"
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I've literally been dreaming about next chapter for days bro, wth
Written 1/18/2023
Published 1/18/2023