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1.
It was a chilly Friday night right before a three-day break, the sun having set a few hours ago. Class 2-A's curfew was later than it had been the previous year, but had still passed by twenty minutes earlier.
They'd had sparring in the morning and then two tests in the afternoon, one right after the other – so everyone groaned in relief when they were released for the day, looking forward to the long (and well deserved) weekend.
Some of them had gone straight to bed, the model students they were, while the others had holed up in the common room. The dorms were, as a result, more lively than usual despite the tiring day they'd had.
Ashido Mina was one of the students hanging out downstairs, laughing until her stomach hurt when Kaminari tried to mimic an anteater so his team wouldn't lose any more points.
She'd started playing charades with her closest friends, mostly as a joke, but then Uraraka and Hagakure wanted in, which turned into them creating teams and getting more competitive. Most of the others had joined after hearing their loud voices, shouting out all sorts of absurd guesses.
So there they were, some sitting on the side-lines and watching with amusement, the others trying their hardest to win the round.
Mina wasn't sure how long they'd been playing by that point. The sun had still been on the horizon when they started, but now it was almost pitch black outside.
Kirishima finally got the answer right, just before their time ran out. Mina whooped, even though she knew their team was last place since they mostly tried to make each other laugh, rather than actually get the correct answer.
Uraraka stood up and immediately began to mimic the word she'd gotten from Momo, who wrote down various words on notes and held them up for them to see. She was also keeping track of the score, since she was the only one who volunteered to do it.
(She didn't blame the others for not wanting to do it – it was chaos trying to keep track of anything when it came to their spontaneous game nights.)
However, Mina felt a little bummed out. Mostly because a certain short-fused blond wasn't present, but also because their team wasn't winning. Completely coincidentally, that blond happened to be extremely competitive and amazing at any games he actually participated in.
“I'm gonna see if I can't annoy Blasty into joining us,” she said to Kirishima who sat on the couch next to her. “But if you hear explosions, you better come help me.”
“For sure,” Kirishima responded earnestly, although they all knew Bakugou wouldn't ever actually hurt them. “Good luck!”
“Thanks!” She hopped off the back of the couch, as to not interrupt the game, and headed for the lift.
As she walked off on the fourth floor, she was momentarily thrown off by the silence up there. Compared to downstairs it was practically a tomb.
She didn't hesitate before rapping her knuckles on the door, knowing she'd be fine even if she woke him up. At most she'd get an earful of cuss-words and the door slammed in her face.
A few seconds passed without a response. Mina pursed her lips before knocking again, a little louder that time.
“Bakugou~!” She drew out the sound, hoping to annoy him enough to open the door if he was just ignoring her. “Come on, we're losing the game and you're our only hope!”
Silence.
She huffed and placed her hands on her hips, “If you don't open the door, I'm gonna get Uraraka to float me up to your balcony!”
There still wasn't a response, which made her suspicious since Bakugou always opened up whenever she threatened to come inside another way. Even after all this time, she hadn't seen the inside of his room except for short glimpses from over his shoulder.
She carefully tried the handle, not surprised that it was locked. He clearly wasn't in there, though.
Where could he have gone at this time? She wondered to herself, curious and worried at the same time.
Midoriya was downstairs with the others, so he wasn't outside fighting like last time he'd been absent from the dorms.
She brushed away the thoughts of a villain kidnapping him – as if Bakugou would ever let that happen after last time, least of all without alerting everyone within ten kilometres.
Turning around and heading toward the stairs, Mina fished her phone out of her pocket. She trudged down the steps slowly so she wouldn't fall as she texted Bakugou.
He rarely picked up when called, so she and their friends knew to just text instead unless it was urgent.
Dynamight 💥❤️🔥:
Get your ass over here, before I kill these idiots. 12:15
Me:
12:17 omw, soz 😘
22:37 checked ur room where r u?
22:38 we need u downstairs cuz were losing really bad
and ur super good at games so…
plz come help us!!!
She paused in her tracks and stared at the screen for a moment in case he replied, but when no answer came she returned the phone to her pocket with a sigh.
Right as she started walking again, she heard a noise that made her pause.
It was faint, undoubtedly coming from inside someone's room. It seemed to come from above her, but it was hard to tell since all their rooms were somewhat soundproof.
Then she heard it again, just as faint but continuous and now more clearly coming from upstairs. She tilted her head toward the ceiling, trying to make out what it was.
Curiosity piqued, she started heading back up, keeping her focus on the sound. She arrived at the fourth floor again, where it was louder, but not coming from one of the rooms in that hallway.
It made sense, since everyone on that floor was downstairs, excluding herself and Bakugou. She quickly made her way to the last possible source of the sound, the fifth floor.
She almost held her breath as she walked into the hallway toward the sound, coming to a stop right outside of Todoroki's door. This close, she could tell what the noise was, clear as day.
A violin playing an enchanting melody, notes swelling like waves on the ocean, crashing against the shore with a beautiful croon.
Mina closed her eyes and listened for just a moment.
It wasn't as if she knew anything about violins or classical music, but she swore she could feel the passion and tender, almost tentative, love flowing from the lilting song.
She wasn't sure how long she stood there, simply listening with rapt attention to the rise and fall of every harmonious note.
It came to an end sooner than she would have liked, the last note drawn out just long enough to keep you hooked on the sound before it went quiet, leaving a quiet echo in your mind.
She had no idea Todoroki could play the violin – nor that something could ever sound so… captivating.
Nevertheless, no matter how much she wanted to barge in and demand another performance, Mina knew she was technically eavesdropping. She quietly stepped away from the door when she heard quiet clapping from inside the room.
“...was beautiful…you…months?”
The muffled voice was difficult to make out, but Mina could swear it sounded like Todoroki. That wouldn't be strange, considering it was his room she was standing in front of, but he seemed to be talking to somebody else, as if he wasn't the one who'd played – unless he'd finally lost it, in which case she would need to tell Aizawa.
Yeah, she lied to herself, I'm just listening for the sake of his own well-being!
“...only played…because…me to.”
She blinked.
Then blinked again.
She also made sure to clear out her ears in case she was hallucinating, because it certainly sounded like that was Bakugou, in Todoroki's room.
An amused huff left her – what was she thinking? She was clearly exhausted from the day she'd had and needed to go to sleep, since she was hearing things that weren't real.
“If I…for…would…?”
“Don't get…maybe…Half-and-half.”
Mina wasn't so sure if she was hallucinating anymore, since that voice, muffled and quiet as it was, clearly belonged to one of her best friends. No one else called Todoroki ‘Half-and-half’, either.
Well, maybe they weren't such good friends if he'd never told her he was friends with Todoroki!
She rolled her eyes and made her way back downstairs. Honestly, Bakugou would probably just tell her to fuck off and make the excuse that she'd never asked (which was true, but still!).
Apparently the two were close enough to hang out on a Friday night and listen to music together (because if it wasn't Todoroki playing, it had to have been a radio or something, right? There was no way Bakugou of all people would have the patience to learn something that had nothing to do with heroics).
As she rejoined her friends downstairs though, she found herself quickly forgetting about it for the rest of the night.
(As expected, when she asked him about it later, all she got was a simple “fuck off and die.”)
2.
“Would you piss off already? You're a fucking nuisance.”
Izuku hesitated in his walk before rounding the corner into the dorm kitchen. Kacchan was never to be disturbed while he was cooking, but Izuku could tell he wasn't too annoyed by the sound if it.
Don't get him wrong, he was definitely not going to push his luck, but he kind of needed to go into the kitchen to get dinner. His mum had sent him on his way with a few tupperwares during his last visit, and he'd been thinking about them all day during school.
There was never anyone who made food that tasted better than his mum's (except perhaps Kacchan, but he rarely let Izuku taste his cooking anymore), and he always felt a little less homesick whenever he ate her food.
“Aw, come on, Bakugou! That's not very manly of you.”
The teasing voice came from Kaminari, leaning over the counter to grin at Kacchan. He turned to look when Izuku entered and waved.
“Hey, Midoriya!”
Izuku smiled back, shooting a quick glance at Kacchan who was still intently chopping vegetables. “Hi, Kaminari, and, uh, Kacchan.”
He got a grunt from the blond in response, which was more than enough for Izuku, who perked up slightly at the non-hostile response.
Making his way to the fridge, he listened with half an ear as Kaminari kept pestering Kacchan, who was doing his utmost to ignore him rather than blow the kitchen up, going by the subtle twitching of his eye.
“You're making more than enough, why can't I have any? I haven't had anything home-cooked for ages, dude!” Kaminari complained, collapsing dramatically over the counter, voice whiny.
Izuku already knew what Kacchan's response would be before he opened his mouth. As he took one of the tupperwares out of the fridge, Kacchan repeated the words he'd imagined almost to the letter.
“If you want home-cooked food, learn to fucking cook, you dipshit,” he snarled, not taking his eyes off the food. He was mixing together batter while simultaneously keeping an eye on the soba noodles boiling.
Before Kaminari could make another fruitless attempt to get Kacchan to share his dinner, Izuku couldn't help but ask, curious.
“What are you making, Kacchan? Tensoba?”
Kacchan side-eyed him momentarily before continuing his cooking, flipping off the heat for the pot of noodles. “Yeah. You ain't getting any, either, so don't fucking try.”
Laughing slightly, Izuku shook his head, “I was just curious. Mum made me some food already.” He took the lid off and smiled gratefully at what he saw inside.
“S'that Auntie's curry?”
Izuku opened the microwave and placed it inside, “Yeah, but she doesn't make it as spicy since you haven't visited in a while…” He pursed his lips slightly. Maybe he shouldn't have reminded Kacchan that they weren't friends anymore.
“...Huh.”
Kaminari drummed his fingers on the countertop, looking between them, “Sooo… can I still not have any soba?”
Kacchan flipped him off, the other hand coating the chopped vegetables in the batter before frying them in oil. Izuku felt his mouth watering at the smell although he already had his own food.
He had to agree with Kaminari, though. It seemed like Kacchan was making more than enough food for one person – and Izuku knew Kacchan rarely purposefully made leftovers.
The microwave beeped as Kaminari left the kitchen, whining about being bullied as he went. Izuku took his food and sat down at one of the tables, texting a quick photo to his mum and thanking her for the curry.
A few minutes went by with the sound of Kacchan cleaning the dishes filling the silence, his food apparently done.
The common room was empty except for Tokoyami and Shouji, who were quietly watching some type of show on the TV. Iida was most likely still at the school, studying in the library as he usually did along with Yaoyorozu. Uraraka and Tsu-chan (he wondered when exactly he'd gotten used to calling her that) apparently had plans with Hagakure.
He had no clue where Todoroki was, though.
Izuku had to admit it was a little lonely, but with the low sounds from the TV and Kacchan plating up his food, it wasn't a bad feeling.
His phone pinged with a response from his mum which distracted him from his food for a minute. They talked about their respective days for a bit before she had to take care of the laundry. He said goodbye with a promise to call her in a few hours.
When he looked back up from his screen, he saw Todoroki walking into the room. Izuku waved but wasn't able to say anything before he was interrupted by another voice.
“Half-and-half, get over here!”
Todoroki nodded his head in greeting before turning into the kitchen.
Izuku was a little worried for his safety, but when there were no immediate explosions he relaxed, returning to his meal with vigour. He was way hungrier than he'd expected.
By the time he finished, neither Todoroki nor Kacchan had emerged from the kitchen, so he hesitated momentarily before entering just like before.
Izuku peered around the corner carefully, eyes widening at the sight of Todoroki and Kacchan sitting opposite to each other by the breakfast counter. Todoroki had a bowl of tensoba in front of him, crispy, freshly-cooked tempura on top of the noodles.
Feeling stunned, Izuku quickly backed away from the kitchen. Kacchan had made dinner for Todoroki. Kacchan was willingly eating with Todoroki.
Kacchan and Todoroki were friends?!
“...share recipes with you,” Todoroki said, Izuku only catching half of the sentence over the sound of his own mental freakout.
It seemed like Kacchan huffed, but it was more likely a scoff, “She better fucking give up the family recipe she refuses to tell me, if she wants anything outta me.”
“It is a family recipe for a reason, you know.”
“Don't get smart with me, Candy Cane. I'll marry into your family if it means I'll get the damn recipe – why are you smiling? You think I'm joking?”
“Is that your idea of a proposal? I'd be inclined to say ‘no’ if it is.”
“All right, smartass, just you wait. I'll give you the best fucking proposal anyone could wish for. I'll do it right in front of that flaming piece of trash, too.”
Izuku smiled to himself even through the confusion he felt. He had no idea Todoroki and Kacchan were such good friends.
It made a lot of sense, given that they spent a lot of time together during the remedial lessons last year, but it still came as a surprise to Izuku. Todoroki hadn't mentioned their friendship at all, and of course, neither had Kacchan (though that was to be expected).
Quietly walking past the kitchen, Izuku brought his dirty dishes with him up to his room. He didn't feel like interrupting their conversation when it seemed like Kacchan was finally getting along with Todoroki.
When he went to wash his dishes later that evening, he found a lunch-box outside of his door with a note saying ‘Tell Auntie I'll visit soon.’ It smelled amazing when he cracked the lid open. It was the same tensoba from earlier.
If Izuku started crying right then and there in the middle of the hallway, at least no one was around to see it.
3.
Eijirou was currently lifting some weights, chatting idly with Ojirou who was doing the same next to him.
They had free reign of the gym for that class, which meant some of them were stretching, working out on their own, or sparring without quirks.
His best bro, Bakugou, was stretching by the wall as a warm-up like he usually did. Eijirou was both amazed and horrified by how Bakugou could twist and bend – it looked incredibly uncomfortable. But as always, Eijirou couldn't help but admire Bakugou's multitudes of proficiencies. It just meant he did as much as he could to be a great hero.
Eijirou kept lifting with a little more tenacity. He wasn't going to lose to Bakugou's manliness!
“Oi, Half-and-half, what the hell are you doing?”
His voice wasn't very loud, but since he was only a few metres away from where the weights were, Eijirou could hear him just fine. He looked over, curious what Bakugou wanted with Todoroki.
Todoroki was on the floor, stretching lightly. He seemed confused, tilting his head at Bakugou.
“Warming up?”
Bakugou stared at him for a solid five seconds before sighing heavily and stomping over. He sat down next to Todoroki, mimicing his pose, legs bent in a butterfly pose.
(At least, that's what Eijirou thought it was called. He wasn't the stretching type, to Bakugou's irritation.)
“You're gonna pull a muscle like that, dumbass. Straighten up, your posture's worse than Deku's.”
“Don't you usually slouch?”
“I do that on purpose,” Bakugou said, which Eijirou hadn't known about. (Did he slouch for his tough-guy reputation, or what? Not that it mattered – Eijirou had long ago stopped questioning Bakugou's wisdom.) “Heels together, doesn't gotta be your whole foot. If it hurts, you're doing it wrong.”
Todoroki adjusted his position according to Bakugou's advice, “It doesn't.”
“Good. Now press your knees toward the floor with your palms, but keep your damn back straight – stop, put your feet a bit forward, you're not flexible enough for that.”
“How would you know that?”
Bakugou was silent, staring challengingly at Todoroki. Then, he moved in front of him and pushed on his knees. Eijirou couldn't see Todoroki's face, but Bakugou raised an eyebrow.
“What'd I say?” He pulled Todoroki's feet slightly forward before pressing on his knees again, “This hurt?”
“No.”
Eijirou returned to his own training while Bakugou helped (because he was helping, despite the ocassional berating Eijirou could hear) Todoroki stretch.
That Bakugou had voluntarily chosen to help Todoroki, instead of just watching him do it incorrectly, made a grin form on Eijirou's face. Even if it was just Bakugou's sense of superiority that made him appalled to see someone butcher something he considered easy, Eijirou was proud of him for being so nice to Todoroki.
When he was finished with his sets about fifteen minutes later, he glanced back over and was surprised to see the two still next to each other. He'd thought Bakugou would leave after just a few minutes.
This time it seemed Todoroki was the one helping Bakugou. He was pressing Bakugou's leg toward his chest while he lied on the floor.
“How come you're so flexible?”
Bakugou slowly extended his leg again, before motioning for Todoroki to do the other one. “Did a lot of dancing when I was younger. S'a good foundation for heroics.”
Todoroki got very close during the stretch – close enough that Eijirou was surprised Bakugou was fine with it. He had one leg on top of Bakugou's, holding it down while the other was pushed forward, bent at the knee. Todoroki's hand was clasped right above the back of Bakugou's knee, on his lower thigh.
“I see. Would you mind teaching me again? Your movements are very fluid during sparring.”
“Whatever. You better not quit just ‘cause it's hard, though.”
Todoroki leaned in a little farther, face just a few centimetres from Bakugou's. “I don't mind a bit of difficulty. The best things are hard. To learn, that is.”
Bakugou snorted, a smirk playing on his lips before Todoroki leaned back again. He said something which made Todoroki smile slightly, but it was too quiet for Eijirou to hear.
Bakugou and Todoroki spent the rest of class sparring with each other, each pointing out mistakes or things that could be improved upon.
Eijirou left class that day feeling energetic. Bakugou and Todoroki's friendship was something he hadn't expected, but appreciated witnessing. They seemed really close, which both slightly worried (because he didn't want to lose his best bro, y'know?) and elated (because his best bro was making more friends!) Eijirou.
He clapped Todoroki on the shoulder while walking past him later, receiving a confused but polite nod in response. Although he didn't know it, Kirishima was grateful for him being Bakugou's friend.
What a good bro, he thought cheerily, helping Bakugou fold in half!
4.
The library was somewhat crowded, most classes having exams the next few weeks. Almost all the tables were occupied by various students, some diligently studying, their noses buried in books. Others worked on homework or assignments, papers spread over the length of the table, graphite smudges on their fingers.
Tenya sighed quietly. There was nowhere for him to sit. He grabbed the books he came for and checked them out, making his way back to 2-A's homeroom.
It was only noon, but they didn't have any formal classes for the rest of the day, since the teachers were also busy. On the schedule, it said they had self-study period until the end of the day – but, of course, some disregarded that and treated it like getting out of school early.
Most of his classmates had returned to the dorms already, but Tenya found he could focus better when in the school building. Yaoyorozu had apparently promised to tutor some of the less… academically gifted students, which meant the classroom would most likely be empty.
Sliding the door open, Tenya blinked in surprise.
It was not, in fact, empty.
Todoroki and Bakugou looked up at the sound of the door, the former nodding in greeting as Tenya entered the room. They were sitting by Bakugou's desk, Todoroki on a chair pulled in front of it.
Bakugou spared him only a glance before continuing to write in his notebook, occasionally looking at the book next to him.
Walking over to his own desk, Tenya sat down and prepared his notebook and pencil. The other two in the room were silent, speaking in low voices every now and then.
Tenya could easily tune them out, as they weren't distracting. The small sounds coming from their direction were actually quite nice, just white-noise that helped make the room feel less empty. Nonetheless, he found himself curious as to what they were saying, seeing as Tenya had never seen them studying together before.
“You never took any lessons for it?”
“Nah,” Bakugou responded, just as quietly. “Would've had to tell my parents if I did.”
“I could teach you, if you'd like.”
Tenya had no idea what they were talking about, but even without looking away from his books, he could tell Bakugou was probably offended at the simple suggestion of being taught something by someone he deemed less-than.
“...All right.”
…Huh, Tenya thought. That was surprising.
He glanced up briefly to see Todoroki scribbling something onto an empty page of his notebook before turning it around to show Bakugou. He pointed at the page and spoke quietly, Bakugou nodding lightly in response.
Tenya looked away after just a moment, not wanting to get caught eavesdropping. He knew it was improper of him, but there wasn't really any other way he could figure out their relationship. He'd thought the two were at each other's throats most of the time (or, rather, Bakugou being at Todoroki's, and the latter ignoring him), but just from this brief interaction he could tell the two were clearly friends.
“This is just a simple melody, although… I'm not sure what chords there are on violins.”
“S'the same, just played differently.”
“I see. I have some sheets in my room, if you want to learn reading those instead.”
Tenya wasn't sure why, but it seemed like they were talking about music or instruments. Maybe they liked the same type of music and had gotten close because of that.
Bakugou grunted in response, “Later. This means it's only for that section?”
“That's right, otherwise it repeats. This,” the sound of a pencil on paper filled the momentary quiet, “has the same principle, only by a whole step rather than half.”
“...Wait, what's the fucking point of this, then?”
“It would either cancel out this, or this, so it returns to natural.”
Bakugou grumbled quietly, “How'd you learn this, anyway?”
“My mum taught me when I was young. I imagine a real teacher would be able to explain it better, if this is frustrating to you.”
“Shut up. I'll knock the socks off'a her next time we visit, and you're gonna stand there and take all the fucking credit, you idiot.”
A short, low chuckle came from Todoroki. “I suppose that wouldn't be too bad.”
Tenya returned to his studies, feeling a bit embarrassed over doing something as despicable as eavesdropping on his friend.
However, as the two left the classroom just half an hour later, he couldn't help smiling to himself. He was glad that Todoroki had found a good friend in Bakugou, regardless of his own opinion on the blond. The two seemed close – and who was Tenya do disapprove of their friendship when it had nothing to do with him?
Pushing his glasses up slightly, Tenya turned to the next page of the book. Todoroki and Bakugou being friends was an unexpected, but welcome development in their class.
5.
“Hi, Mum!”
“Oh, Bubbles, it's so good to hear your voice! How's school going?”
Ochako smiled, keeping her phone next to her ear as she trudged back to the dorms. “It's going fine, Mum. We finished our exams yesterday so I'll come visit this weekend!”
“Oh, please do, we've both missed you so much. Honey, Ochako's on the phone!” Her voice got quieter as she pulled away from the phone to yell to her husband.
In the background, Ochako could hear the crunch of gravel and her dad's faint voice before he got closer. Her mum switched to speaker-mode after a moment.
“Hi, Dad,” she said when she was sure he could hear her.
“There's our best girl! How are you? Your exams go well?”
She kicked a rock absentmindedly as she walked slowly, as if that could prolong their phone call. “Yeah, I feel confident about them! I'm doing fine as always, Dad, no need to worry about me.”
“Oh, we always worry about you, darling,” her mum said, chuckling. “That's our job as your parents!”
Ochako could feel a slight blush come onto her face. Her parents always did worry about her, no matter what she said to reassure them. But they trusted her, and she trusted them. It was, as her mum said, more of a natural parental worry, rather than worrying about her safety like they did during her first year.
She spent a few more minutes talking to them, asking how work was going and reassuring them that yes, Dad, I'll call you as soon as I arrive when she was coming to visit in a few days.
Eventually, they got pulled away, having to work as usual. Ochako made sure to keep her voice steady as she said goodbye. She wished they didn't have to work so hard all the time. After all, the whole reason she was there at U.A. was so they wouldn't have to.
(She knew that even her short calls every few days meant less work got done, which meant less income. She tried not to feel guilty about that.)
As she walked up to the dorm building, Ochako was surprised to see Bakugou crouched by some bushes, rooting through them with a scowl on his face. He seemed to be looking for something.
“Um, hi, Bakugou,” she said, eyebrows raised, “do you need any help?”
He looked over at her, red eyes narrowed into their usual glare, “No. Piss off.” He turned back to the bushes, pulling them to the sides to better look for whatever he'd lost.
Ochako rolled her eyes at the sour attitude, “Suit yourself.”
She received a middle-finger in response, which was to be expected from Bakugou. If he didn't want any help, that was his choice. It was none of her business if he wanted to waste time simply because he refused her offer.
She opened the door and went inside, kicking her outdoor shoes off before going up to her room. She dropped her bag on the floor before changing into something more comfortable than the uniform.
When she descended into the kitchen for a snack, she glanced into the common room and saw Bakugou looking under the cushions on the couches. Apparently he still hadn't found whatever he was looking for outside and had moved on to other possible locations.
The others either hadn't gotten back yet, or had decided to steer clear of an irritated Bakugou, since the common room was empty.
She sniffed quietly before turning away. He'd made it clear he didn't want any help earlier, so she left him to it. While looking through the cabinets for any snacks she could take, she heard footsteps from the hallway and glanced over.
It was Todoroki, still in his uniform with the bag over his shoulder. He seemed to just have returned and probably came to check why Bakugou was cussing up a storm.
“Hey, Todoroki,” she called.
“Hello,” he greeted, eyes quickly locking onto Bakugou. He walked into the common room, leaving Ochako in the kitchen.
She knew Todoroki wasn't very talkative, but almost completely disregarding her for Bakugou was an unexpected turn of events. She watched them carefully, wary of a fight breaking out.
“What are you doing?”
Bakugou glanced at Todoroki, glare letting up slightly, as he put the cushions back. “Looking for-” he spotted Ochako, eyes narrowing once more.
He spoke again, voice too quiet for her to make out the words. However, Todoroki clearly heard him, as he nodded in response.
“I can help you search,” he offered.
Ochako huffed, shaking her head. He'd no doubt get the same harsh rejection she had. Bakugou wasn't one to ask for, let alone accept, any help from anyone. Unless it was Aizawa – and even then it was rare.
Bakugou stared at Todoroki for a few seconds that felt like an eternity, before shrugging lightly.
“Whatever, do what you want.”
Ochako was floored.
Todoroki started combing his hand through the rugs while Bakugou searched underneath the furniture, clearing the common room in just a few minutes.
When Bakugou groaned in frustration, tugging at his hair, Ochako snapped out of it.
She had not expected this to happen at all. Todoroki hadn't been cussed out or thrown through a wall. No, Bakugou had actually accepted his help, in his own brash way.
Blinking just to make sure what she was seeing was real, Ochako hummed thoughtfully to herself. She had seen them spending time together quite often lately, without either of them trying to kill each other.
Oh, she realised, feeling a little stupid for not doing so earlier. They were friends.
She'd honestly thought Bakugou would never be friends with anyone other than Kirishima and the other three dumbasses (his words, not hers). But there she was, clearly proven wrong.
Todoroki held his hand out to Bakugou, dropping something small and metal (a ring?) into the other's palm, having found whatever they were searching for.
Bakugou clenched his hand around it, as if it was precious, and obviously not wanting to lose it again. “...Thanks.”
As Bakugou went out into the hallway, probably returning to his room, Todoroki joined her in the kitchen and started brewing some tea they'd bought last time at the store.
Ochako smiled at his back, strangely happy with this unexpected development. Bakugou and Todoroki were friends – which meant both of them, emotionally stunted as they were, had found mutual respect and something to bond over.
Later in her room, snacking on some chips she'd found, Ochako decided their friendship was going to be one of the best things to happen in their class.
Honestly, she laughed quietly to herself, who would have thought the ‘Ice Prince’ and ‘Beast’ of class 2-A would be so close.
Certainly not her, until that day.
+1.
Shouta was, quite frankly, sick and tired of the problem children that made up his class. They were certainly bright and talented young students – but that was precisely part of the problem.
They were young, which meant they were also stupid and reckless, uncaring of the consequences of their rebellious actions.
Two of those problem children were the reason why he'd been pulled away from his sleep this late at night.
He sighed, rubbing his dry eyes and hoping for some relief.
None came. Typical.
He'd been alerted by Principal Nedzu of his students sneaking into one of the auditoriums, having been caught on the cameras outside. There weren't any on the inside, which meant Shouta had to personally escort them back to their dorm after giving them a lecture and punishment.
He sighed again. Why did he decide to become a teacher? At times like this, he really couldn't remember nor fathom the reason.
The emergency exit doors to the auditorium were normally locked from the outside after curfew, but his students were clearly clever enough to open it anyway.
As he scanned his badge to unlock the metal door, he stopped as soon as he'd pushed it open just slightly.
There was music coming from inside that hadn't been audible before the door was opened. U.A. had top-notch sound-proofing all around, so that was no surprise.
What was a surprise, though, was the music. It wasn't coming from any of the speakers. The sound echoed and bounced off the walls from the source.
The source being Bakugou, Shouta noticed, when he carefully walked inside, the door clicking shut behind him. He was mostly hidden by the shadows, so the two teenagers had yet to notice him.
The only light in the room was a single spotlight, focused on the middle of the stage where Bakugou stood. In his hands was an intricate violin, a dark mahogany with lines painted in black.
The design was simple and sleek, but Shouta could see the signs that it wasn't a newly-bought instrument. It had been used for years, with small scratches and spots where the varnish had worn off.
Bakugou had a bow in the other hand, violin resting beneath his chin. His eyes were closed even as his fingers moved dexterously over the strings. He looked peaceful – at home.
Shouta finally spotted the second missing student. His bicoloured hair stood out even in the darkness from where he sat in the front row, never taking his eyes off Bakugou. Shouta wasn't even sure if he'd blinked at all since he entered the auditorium.
Never being one for music, Shouta couldn't tell you what Bakugou was playing, only that it was, for lack of better words – extravagant.
That was the only way he could try to describe it.
The sonorous sound filled the whole room, despite Todoroki being Bakugou's sole audience. He was playing just for Todoroki at that moment. The melody and unspoken words were meant for his ears only.
Shouta had no idea Bakugou could play the violin. It had never been mentioned by him nor anybody else, but he obviously had years of experience with the instrument, with how effortless his motions seemed as he poured his feelings into the song.
The sound was rich and mesmerising, but the melody, Shouta found as he listened, was gentle and tender. Almost adoring.
He wasn't aware of how long he'd been standing there in silence until the song finished, the notes higher and melody slower as it was brought to an end. The last note was held for a long few seconds, reverberating through the room.
There was pure silence for a moment.
Todoroki stood up and walked up toward the edge of the stage, staring up at Bakugou with wonder and awe in his eyes.
Bakugou carefully packed up his violin and bow into its case, “...Well?” He didn't look up until he'd pulled the latches closed, but when he did, he smirked at the look on Todoroki's face. Sitting down on the floor, legs hanging off the front of the stage, they were close enough to breathe the same air.
“Are you speechless ‘cause of my amazing performance?” Bakugou teased, not yelling or swearing for once.
Shouta had never seen his student like this. It was strange, witnessing a previously unknown side to Bakugou. Shouta knew it felt weird because he wasn't supposed to see it – he could tell, that expression and soft voice were only for Todoroki to know.
Todoroki still seemed unable to speak, but his arms moved until his hands were on either side of Bakugou's face, thumbs tenderly stroking his cheeks.
If Shouta wasn't imagining it, Bakugou's face got a few shades darker, red dusting over his skin in a way different to when he was hard at work. This wasn't exertance or exhaustion. This was shyness.
“What?” Bakugou grumbled quietly despite not pulling away from the touch.
Todoroki pulled his face closer wordlessly and kissed him, gently pressing his lips to the other's. It wasn't the first time they'd done that. The way they tilted their heads and closed their eyes right before connecting their mouths was practiced, normal.
Shouta quietly opened the door and stepped outside into the cool night air. He made sure to be quiet as he closed it behind him, making his way back to his apartment on school grounds.
He texted Principal Nedzu and told him that he'd handled the incident and that the boys were returning in a while.
As he returned he could only sigh once more. However, it wasn't the same type of sigh as earlier. It was an exasperated, but fond, huff of air. Shouta brushed a hand down his face and shook his head, unable to help the small smile on his face.
Problem children they might be, he thought, always unbearably indulgent with his the kids, they deserve to be happy.
If he didn't give the two students any punishment for sneaking out past curfew, that was only for him to know.