Chapter Text
“Okay, just one more time!” Uraraka begs, trying to hold back a giggle, “Tell us about your dream again, please !”
Izuku sighs. “Alright, I will,” he relents, before aiming a pout at Bakugou, “as soon as Kacchan stops trying to record me.”
“Deku, you can’t expect me to pass up an opportunity like this,” he responds. Izuku holds his hand out to the other with a blank stare. Bakugou glares for a moment longer before scoffing, handing his phone over. “ Killjoy ,” he spits.
“Thank you~” Izuku sings. He sets down his friend’s phone and crosses his legs. “Alright, so I had a dream last night,” he begins, “where I was just walking around the house, y’know? I got to the kitchen, and there was this huge cat or wolf-looking thing just standing there,” he raises his hands, wiggling his fingers, “ looming over me and speaking in tongues! Suddenly it charged at me, and I thought it was gonna eat me!”
“Uh-huh!” Uraraka nods excitedly.
“So I braced myself, ready for impact, and instead it...kissed me?” he shrugs as his friends both snicker at him. “Then it talked to me, like, actually talked to me! I don’t remember what it said, but then it just disappeared into the night. Then I noticed the kitchen was a mess, so I cleaned it up and went to sleep. In my dream.”
“Pfft, oh my god !” Uraraka cackles. Bakugou hides a grin behind his hand, but can’t hide the way his shoulders shake with laughter. Izuku tries to tell them that it’s not that funny, and Uraraka waves her hand at him. “That ending is so like you though! Cleaning up a mess that you didn’t even make.”
“ That’s your takeaway from it, Round face?!” Bakugou teases, “Not the fact that Deku made out with a werecat in his dream?!”
“I DIDN’T MAKE OUT WITH IT!” Izuku shouts at the other, his cheeks a bright red. “It was just a kiss! A little peck, if anything.”
Bakugou raises an eyebrow at him. “You say it like that’s any better.”
Izuku shakes his head, deciding to ignore him. “Whatever. I am kinda curious about it though.” His hand raises to hold his chin, stroking it in thought. “What do you think it means? Maybe this is something I could use to improve my story?” He asks hopefully.
“Deku-kun,” Uraraka chirps up, “I think it means you’re a furry.”
He chokes on his own saliva. She pats him on the back as he tries to work through his coughing fit. When he’s finally able to catch his breath, he wheezes, “You think I’m a what ?”
“A furry,” she bluntly states. He holds his head in his hands, muttering about how ridiculous this is. Uraraka pokes him. “What? You asked what it could mean. That sounds like the most logical conclusion to me .”
Izuku gets up and starts pacing around the room. “Ochako, there’s no way that’s what it means. Maybe it’s a sign for my comic, that I should go out and uh, try new things?”
Uraraka squints at him. “Do your arms hurt from all that reaching?”
“Well, it’s better than your idea!” Izuku argues.
“You guys are giving me great material for my next single,” Bakugou quips, a pen and paper in his hands. He feigns writing something down as he speaks, “My roommate...the...furry.”
Izuku scoffs at him. “Oh, you are not one to talk, Kacchan. You should be dedicating that to your boyfriend , not me .”
Bakugou freezes, slowly looking back to him. He slams the paper and pen down before asking, “Care to elaborate on that bullshit ?”
“Kirishima, the dog trainer ,” Izuku drawls. Uraraka barely holds back a laugh, looking between the two of them. Bakugou glares at him harder, so he turns away and continues, “With the way he treats you , I would’ve thought it was obvious.”
The other shakes his head. “That doesn’t make any se-” he responds, before it dawns on him. He then stomps the ground and snarls, “Are you calling me a damn DOG ?!”
“No,” Izuku’s mouth moves of its own accord, “I’m calling you a bitch .”
It’s only when he hears Uraraka howl with laughter that he processes what he just said. His lips pressed together, he reluctantly turns back to his roommate. The pure unadulterated fury in his red eyes fills Izuku’s heart with fear. He vaguely remembers that he used to feel that constantly when he was younger.
Where before the other may have charged at him and thrown a punch, now he takes a deep breath and cocks his other brow. “Y’know, my parents own this house,” he threatens, “and I can get you off the lease .”
“ I’m sorry Kacchan I didn’t mean it !” He rushes out, cowering behind his arms.
“Of course you didn’t,” Bakugou rolls his eyes. He crosses his arms and heads towards the kitchen. “And here I thought you were finally growing some balls.”
“I HAVE BALLS!” Izuku shouts, his voice cracking.
Uraraka laughs once more, not helping his case whatsoever. She pats his arm in a weak attempt at comfort. “A valiant effort all the same, Deku-kun.”
“Gee, thanks,” he says sarcastically.
“What the fuck?!” they hear from the kitchen, “DEKU, GET IN HERE!” The two of them rush in, Uraraka sliding across the tile in her socks and barely catching herself on the counter. Izuku asks what's wrong and Bakugou points right above the sink. “What the hell did you do last night?! The bottom of the window is all fucked up!”
Izuku takes a closer look and sees exactly what his friend is talking about. The metal bottom and the lock for the window are both warped, misshapen from what looks like being heated too much. The glass above also looks off, bunched up from the divots formed at the bottom.
“Okay, I know I was the only one here last night, but you can’t honestly think that I did this, right?” Izuku retorts, “What, do you think I left the toaster under the window? Or the oven? It’s literally impossible for me to do this kind of damage.”
Bakugou gets right up in his face. “Oh, so I guess it was your monster mate, huh?! Just hopped right out of your dreams and through the goddamn window?!”
“Guys, calm down,” Uraraka pushes them apart, and smiles weakly, “What’s done is done, we just need to call someone to fix it. I’ll even chip in some!”
Izuku frowns and shakes his head, “Ochako, I can’t ask you to do that. This wasn’t even your fault.”
“It’s fine,” she waves off his concern, “this is my home too, y’know? I was thinking about asking for a couple more shifts this week anyway!”
Izuku looks to Bakugou to see him staring him down. His red eyes flick towards their friend as if he’s trying to tell him to “ do something ”. He only shrugs in response. Knowing of her persistent nature, there’s not much he could do to change her mind. Bakugou rolls his eyes and aims a hard glare at Uraraka, asking, “Are you sure about this?” She places her hands on her hips and nods, her brown hair bouncing along with the motion. Bakugou sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fine, we can split the cost. I’ll call Tsubaraba and see if I can get a discount out of him.”
“Are you gonna threaten him?” Izuku probes.
“One more peep outta you and you’re taking care of it!” he bites back. Izuku raises his hands in surrender, making Bakugou huff. He pulls out his phone and taps on the screen, continuing with, “As I was saying, I’ll split up the cost afterward and you two can pay me back for it later. Deal?”
Izuku nods while Uraraka cheers. She pulls out her phone as well, saying she’ll call their work and see if she can take any extra shifts before leaving the kitchen. Bakugou heads out not too long after her, and Izuku watches as he scrolls through his contacts on his way. Part of him is surprised that the guy agreed so quickly. If anyone he knows is as stubborn as Uraraka, it’s his childhood friend. The two have gotten into spats with each other for weeks on end, so seeing him resign so quickly is rather strange.
Something else he finds strange is how Uraraka offered to help pay so quickly. She’s never been a particularly selfish person, but she’s always been more stingy with her money. He can’t blame her for that though, not with her growing up in a lower class family. She’s lived her whole life learning to scrape by and to an extent, she’ll take whatever she can get. Even so, she’s just as frustrated with working at Lunch’s Rush as he is. Izuku’s baffled that she’d even consider taking more shifts at that god awful place just to fix what wasn’t even her fault.
Even stranger still is whatever happened to the window. He glances back once more, taking in the damaged metal and glass. Izuku knows that wasn’t him. There’s no conceivable way for him to melt the bottom of the window like that. Even if there was, he had no reason to do so. He’s fairly certain it wasn’t a burglar either. For one, what kind of burglar would have the technology? For two, nothing was stolen from them. They still had their TV, their phones, everything they had that could even be considered valuable. Even the antique photos of their families remained! There’s no other evidence that someone could’ve broken into their house last night, so that begs the question...what happened last night?
*******
A couple days later, he and Uraraka are walking into their workplace. She’s all decked out in their designated uniform while Izuku sports his green hoodie and old gym shorts that still fit somehow. A man with wild purple hair spots them from behind the counter and asks why the girl is so early.
“I need to eat, Shinsou-kun!” she exclaims, then hangs her head low, “I was gonna make a quick and easy quesadilla, but we’re almost out of grated cheese...”
Shinsou moves to the side as Uraraka makes her way to the register to order something. Izuku puts his hand on his shoulder and mutters, “She was about to use processed cheese instead. Trust me, this is the better option.”
He grimaces at first, but then closes his eyes and shrugs. “Whatever. They’re your calories to watch, not mine.”
“Bold of you to assume that I have the luxury of keeping track of that shit,” she says as she taps the computer screen in front of her.
“So,” Izuku attempts to change the subject, “is it just gonna be you and Ochako for now? If so, Aizawa-san really screwed you over.”
Shinsou shakes his head and points his thumb to the left side of the room. “Nah, Tokoyami’s on headset for now,” he responds as said coworker pops out from behind the soda machine, adjusting his hat over his black hair before waving to Izuku. “Monuma should be coming in not too long after Uraraka too.”
Izuku nods, and is about to speak once more before Uraraka interrupts. “Deku-kun! While you’re here, you should tell these two about the dream you had a couple days ago,” she exclaims, swiping her card at the register and looking up to Shinsou. “You’re gonna get a kick outta this one!”
Izuku groans and starts to protest to her, but the other guy smirks as he says, “Ah c’mon. With the day I’ve had, I could use a good laugh.”
Izuku is still hesitant but with Shinsou egging him on and no one else in the establishment to use as an excuse, he quickly relents. He recounts the story with pink cheeks, and Uraraka can barely keep herself from smiling as he does so.
“Wow Midoriya,” he says once Izuku finishes. “Can’t believe you never told me you’re a furry.” Izuku then buries his head in his hands and swears, trying to ignore Uraraka exclaiming “Told you so!”
“What is with you people?!” he exclaims, voice cracking like before. He clears his throat and continues, “Why do you keep jumping to crazy conclusions like that?”
“It's not that crazy. Tokoyami's a furry too,” Shinsou defends, gesturing back to said coworker.
Izuku raises his eyebrows and turns towards the other. “I thought you were emo?”
“Fitting individuals into only one community is detrimental to ourselves and to society as a whole. It disappoints me to know that you expect me to be so one-dimensional.”
He blinks at the raven-haired man’s response, not quite processing what was just said. Munching on her newly acquired fries, Uraraka asks, “Can ya say that in a language we understand?”
“He’s saying he can be both,” Shinsou easily translates. Tokoyami then expresses his gratitude for being understood, and he points a finger-gun at him in return.
Izuku waves his hands about, choosing to ignore whatever that was. “O-okay. You’re a furry. Good for you,” he says, then places one hand on the counter and another on his chest, “But I’m not! And I don’t understand how having one weird dream suddenly means I am!”
“Deku-kun does have a point,” Uraraka chirps up once more, but her tone doesn’t seem all that genuine. It makes Izuku suspicious of what she’ll say next. “I mean, I’ve had dreams about kissing a certain frog-fanatic under the moonlight, but obviously that doesn’t mean anything ,” she finishes, the shit-eating grin she aims at him making her sarcasm clear as day.
“That’s not the same!” Izuku defends.
“Is too !” she argues back.
Shinsou interrupts them before they can get any further. Turning back to Izuku with a sly smirk, he says, “Midoriya, I think the sooner you accept this, the better. It could actually be a lot of fun. Hell, Tokoyami could pick out a fursuit for you!” Izuku buries his hand into his hair, tugging at his scalp in frustration.
“Pardon me, but no one can simply choose such a thing,” said man replies. “Do you think I chose to embody the raven? No, it chose me. Now, I could see Midoriya as a rabbit...or maybe a sheep, but that’s not for anyone else to decide. It’s something he has to discover for himself.”
Izuku spends a moment taking all that in, a horrible decision on his part . A sheep? Really ? Is it the hair ? He shakes his head before those thoughts delve any deeper. “No no no! I’m not doing this. I’m not part of this, so can you all just drop it , please?”
“Drop what?”
Izuku yelps and nearly jumps out of his skin, turning around to see a girl with short black hair and purple highlights standing behind him. Attempting to catch his breath, he addresses her. “Jirou-san...jeez...you scared me...ho-how long’ve you been there?”
“Not long,” she curtly answers. She waves her hand as if asking him to move. He complies, allowing her to move up to the counter and pull out her wallet. “Shinsou, about that order I called in earlier, could I add just a regular cheeseburger onto that?”
The man sighs dramatically. “I thought we were friends. You know I hate when people add shit at the last second,” he complains, but adjusts the order anyway.
“Sorry dude, but it’s not for me. There’s this guy outside and it doesn’t seem like he’s from around here,” she explains, handing off her money to the other. “His clothes are all torn up and dirty, and he seems disoriented. Just thought I’d try to help him out a lil is all.”
“Fine,” he relents, bitterly handing back her change. “You get a pass for being a good fucking person.” He then walks back towards the kitchen to tell the cooks about the extra food they need.
Uraraka aims a concerned look at the other girl while holding a fry halfway up to her mouth. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Kyouka-chan?”
“Yeah I mean, this guy could take your gesture the wrong way,” Izuku agrees. He turns back to look out the windows, spotting a tall man with dark red hair outside. Is that the guy she was talking about? “What if he thinks you’re trying to make some kind of move on him? What if he tries something?”
A thin smile spreads across Jirou’s face. “Oh if he wants a kiss, he’ll get one,” she states, holding up a fist as she finishes, “with this .”
Uraraka sputters out a laugh while Izuku sighs through his nose, a small smile on his face. Tokoyami joins in with, “You’re going to give him food then punch him in the face?”
“If that’s what it comes down to!” She proudly answers. A moment later, she turns back to Izuku and asks, “So what were you guys talking about earlier?” A chill runs up Izuku’s spine as he sees Uraraka brightly grin again.
“Well-!”
“ DON’T !” he shouts before she can bring it up again. “It was a dumb conversation, and we are not starting that up again!”
“Aww, but the dumb ones are the best ones,” Jirou whines.
Izuku pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “Why do you all always have to mess with me?”
“You just make it so easy!” Uraraka replies unhelpfully.
Shinsou walks back up to Jirou with two paper bags lifting one of them towards her. “Alright, here’s your food,” he says as he hands it off, then holds up the other smaller bag, “and this is for the guy outside. Be careful with him, okay?”
“Will do.” She starts to walk out, then stops and turns back. “By the way, last I saw a bunch of high schoolers were headed this way, so you might wanna be prepared for a rush.”
Shinsou swears to himself and Izuku catches sight of Uraraka slinking to the back. He sticks his hands in his pockets and says, “I should probably be going then. I’ll let you guys do your thing.”
He waves to them and starts to head out close behind Jirou, but stops when he hears Tokoyami’s voice. “Wait, one more thing Midoriya,” they both turn back to him, wondering what Tokoyami needed to say to him so badly. A rare smile graces his features as he tells him, “You were right. It is the hair.”
Izuku takes a deep breath in and angrily lets it out through his nose. He just barely notices Jirou breathe out a quiet, “...what?”
“ Don’t ask ,” he tells her before shuffling past her and out the doors.
He quickly walks over to his car and climbs in, stopping himself just short of slamming the door. He closes his eyes, takes another deep breath in and slowly lets it out to calm himself down. His friends are just poking fun. There’s no reason to get so upset, right?
He opens his eyes again and grabs his seatbelt. Taking a look out the window he can see Jirou making her way over to the mysterious man in front of the building. Izuku lets go of the seatbelt and keeps his eyes on the two of them. Just in case something does happen, he wants to be ready to help his friend if she needs it.
She sticks the larger bag underneath her left arm as she approaches, then calls to the man to get his attention. It takes a moment but the stranger turns to her, showing his red and white hair to Izuku. ‘Well, that’s odd,’ Izuku thinks to himself. He also takes in the scar on the left side of the man's face. That’s probably another reason why Jirou decided to try and help the guy. She says something to him, though Izuku can’t hear it, and holds the smaller bag up to him. The stranger tentatively takes it from her and says something back, making her respond and shrug.
He keeps watching as the stranger pulls the wrapped burger out of the bag and turn back to Jirou, this time with a questioning look on his face as he says something else to her. She only nods and the stranger turns his head back to the food in his hand, still hesitant. ‘What’s he so concerned about?’ Izuku wonders.
Then the man goes to take a bite out of the still wrapped burger , and Izuku cringes. In that moment Jirou lunges for the man’s wrist, her right arm pulling his hand down from his face and causing him to look at her questioningly. She takes the burger back and seemingly shouts something at the man, not loud enough for Izuku to hear though. The man responds and shakes his head. For a moment, Jirou doesn’t move. She then over exaggeratedly rolls her eyes and starts unwrapping the burger herself, seemingly nagging him all the while. She then thrusts the burger back to him with one final statement, and when he takes it she stomps off.
Izuku...isn’t entirely sure what just happened. In the end though, his friend is safe and that’s all that matters. He finally buckles his seatbelt, starts the car and pulls out of the parking space. He takes one last glance at the stranger enjoying the food before actually driving away.
‘Odd,’ he thinks to himself once more, ‘very odd.’
*******
A few days later, Izuku is sitting at the kitchen table with Bakugou as he tells him the details of the bill for the window replacement. Turns out he’s deliberately split up the cost so that Uraraka would be paying less than the two of them, and Izuku’s currently trying to talk him out of it.
“Kacchan, I know you’re just trying to help her out, but you can’t go through with this,” he argues. “She’s gonna be really upset when she finds out you brought down the cost just for her.”
“Okay first of all, I’m not helping anybody ,” he barks back, tapping his pencil on the table. “I’m only doing this because that airhead doesn’t have as much money for herself as we do, and she won’t be able to pay off the bill and keep up with rent without killing herself from overworking, and I am not letting either of you dumbasses die on my watch! Second of all, she’s not gonna find out because you’re not gonna fucking tell her, got it ?”
Izuku sighs and twiddles his thumbs. “I don’t know. I don’t wanna just keep it from her, but knowing you did this is gonna make her feel bad-”
“I don’t care how she feels about it. This is what we’re doing and if she does find out about it, which she won’t , she’ll just have to deal with it,” Bakugou concludes, practically digging his heels in.
Izuku wants to argue some more but is interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and a familiar voice announcing her arrival. Bakugou quickly scoops up the papers and stuffs them into a folder nearby. Izuku gets up from his seat to greet Uraraka, as well as distract her so Bakugou can hide the folder. Walking out of the kitchen with a wobbly smile, he’s about to ask about her day at work when his breath gets caught in his throat.
Uraraka isn’t the only one there.
A familiar head of red and white hair is standing behind her, looking around the new place he’s been invited to. Getting a closer look at him, it’s much more noticeable how the colors are split completely down the middle. Whoever dyed his hair must be incredibly talented. He can also see the scar on his face better, and how wrinkled and pulled taut the skin is. Something he didn’t notice before were his eyes, but now he can clearly see the steely gray and jewel-like blue that scan the room. His clothes are still very worn. Izuku can see parts of his chest and stomach through the tears in his top. If he’s being honest, the man is honestly quite enchanting.
But more importantly, what the fuck is he doing here ?!
“Hey Deku-kun. I uh, kinda brought a friend home,” Uraraka states, about as graceful as an elephant.
“Y-yeah, I can see that,” Izuku oh so eloquently answers.
The man’s eyes finally land on him and immediately widen when they do. Not a moment later though, his expression is steeled to a more neutral state. Did the man recognize him? Sure, they were both at Lunch’s Rush that one day, but Izuku doesn’t think he was all that noticeable. Did he do something to call attention to himself that he doesn’t even know about? Oh god did he catch Izuku watching him? Why did his eyes widen like that? What’s going on?!
“Deku-kun, I know you’re probably confused, but I’ll explain in just a second,” Uraraka easily pulls him out of his downward spiral. “Is Bakugou-kun here right now? He should probably be here for this too.”
His eyes still on the man behind her, Izuku nods. He does manage to turn away a moment later in order to call for Bakugou, who angrily shouts that he’s on his way. When he enters his gaze—like Izuku’s—immediately finds the stranger in the house. Unlike Izuku’s though, his expression turns to one of disgust. “Since when are you bringing a boy toy over, Round Face?!”
“Gross!” she groans. “He’s a guy that’s been hanging around our work for a little while. We have an extra futon, so I offered to let him stay here until he can find a place of his own!”
For a moment they both just stare at her, appalled. Gathering his bearings, Izuku tries to speak. “Ocha-”
“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!?!” Bakugou beats him to the punch. “THIS ISN’T SOME STRAY CAT YOU CAN PICK UP OFF THE STREET!! AND EVEN THEN YOU GOTTA BE CAREFUL! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING ?!?!”
“I was thinking ,” she argues back, “that this guy, like many other people, was struggling with nowhere else to go and deserved a place to stay. What’s so wrong about me wanting to help the guy out, huh? You get it, right Deku-kun?”
Izuku takes a breath before admitting, “I’m actually with Kacchan on this one. I’d love to help but we’re not exactly in the best position to, and we don’t even know anything about him. We don’t even know his name .”
For a moment, her disgruntled face brightens and she says, “Well, that’s an easy fix!” She then turns back to the stranger and asks, “What’s your name?”
A resounding smack fills the room when Bakugou facepalms.
“Well, my name is probably much harder to say in my language for you,” the man starts, his deep voice stirring something in Izuku. There’s something familiar about it. “So, it might be easier for you to call me...Todoroki.”
Uraraka beams back at the two of them, but Bakugou scoffs. “Don’t act so fucking proud of yourself! We didn’t even get his actual name!”
The man pipes up again with, “Technically that is my actual name, but it is translated in a way that is more convenient to you three.”
Both Uraraka and him turn back to their roommate, a scowl still twisting his face. “ Full name. You tell us your full fucking name or you’re out right now.”
Todoroki rolls his eyes before speaking once more, “Todoroki Shouto. Are you satisfied now?”
“No.”
Uraraka protests once more but Izuku speaks up this time. “Hang on. Sure, we have a name now, but that’s not enough to say that we can trust this guy.” Izuku turns back to Todoroki with what he hopes is a gentle look on his face. “If you don’t mind me asking Todoroki-kun, where are you from?”
He looks off to the side in thought before starting, “Well, it is a very far away place. I am sure you have never heard of it.”
“Try us,” Bakugou challenges.
“I’d rather not actually!” Uraraka counters, “World Geography is...not my best subject.”
“Y’know what, it’s fine,” Izuku backtracks, “we don’t need to know where you’re from to see if we can trust you or not.”
“I’d say his background is pretty fucking important. Just look at those clothes!” Bakugou points to his torn garments. They’re about as dirty as they were before, but taking a closer look Izuku can see the shimmer the fabric gives off. “You’re really telling me that an innocent man stuck in poverty would own something as fancy as that ?”
Todoroki lets out a sigh and tugs on part of his shirt. “It is true that I’m not from a lower class family. I was actually quite wealthy back at home. But, due to circumstances regarding inheritance and my future, I had to leave that all behind. I could not bring any money or personal possessions with me, so here I am now.”
Bakugou stares for a moment longer. Izuku can’t tell whether or not his roommate believes any of what Todoroki has said, but from what Izuku can tell, it took him some courage to admit what he did to the three of them.
Bakugou points to one of the couches and commands, “Sit down.” Todoroki looks bewildered at this, but Bakugou only glares harder. The man eventually does as he’s told, then Bakugou says, “You two. Kitchen. Now .”
The three of them awkwardly sit down at the kitchen table. Izuku twiddles his thumbs as the silence prolongs. Bakugou lets out a long sigh before finally saying, “This has got to be the dumbest decision I’ve ever made. I still don’t trust this fucker. Not by a long shot. But I know you two are gonna feel super guilty about it if we don’t try and do something to help. I’ll let this guy stay here for two weeks. If he can’t get his life together by then, he’s out.”
Uraraka slams her hands down on the table. “There’s no way that’s fair! You can’t even go from completely broke to barely scraping by in two weeks. He needs at least a few months to try to get back on his feet!”
“There’s no fucking way I’m letting a stranger stay in our house for a few months !” Bakugou fights back, “Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile! He’ll be riding on our coattails the entire time!”
“One month!” Izuku finally interjects, making them both turn his way. “What if we let him stay for one month. We can help him find a job of his own. Until then we can have him do dishes and laundry a-and keep the house clean. Does that seem fair to you two?”
They both look at each other for a moment. Uraraka nods and Bakugou sighs once more. “Fine, fine. That can work,” he looks back over to Izuku before finishing with, “but the futon’s going in your room.”
“Huh?!” Izuku yelps, “Why mine?!”
“Because there’s no way we’re keeping him in Round Face’s room,” Bakugou explains, “and I don’t even want this bastard in my house! There’s no way I’m letting him in my room!”
Izuku wants to argue about it, but he does make good points. Letting him stay in Uraraka’s room is definitely not safe, and Bakugou might try to kill the guy in his sleep. Izuku’s room really is the best option, even if he doesn’t like it. “Alright, but I need time to move some stuff around real quick.”
“Thanks a lot Bakugou-kun,” Uraraka says quietly, “I really appreciate it!”
“Yeah, whatever,” he halfheartedly responds.
“I’m gonna go tell Todoroki-kun the good news! Then I’ll come help you with your room Deku-kun!” She excitedly tells him before dashing out of the room. Izuku takes a deep breath in and slowly lets it out. He certainly wasn’t expecting any of this today.
“Change of plans,” Bakugou suddenly states, “We’re each paying a third of the bill for the window. No exceptions.”
Izuku looks back to him with surprise. “You’re just deciding this now?”
“After this shit Round Face just pulled, she can work her fucking life away for all I care,” he says before stomping his way out of the kitchen.
Izuku sighs once again and mutters to himself, “So that’s your way of getting revenge, huh?”
*******
With the four of them all working together, it doesn’t take very long for them to rearrange Izuku’s room to just barely fit the futon. Unfortunately, Bakugou ended up complaining about Todoroki’s clothes dragging dirt everywhere. He’d told Izuku to lend some clothes, but their height difference would be a bit of a problem. Izuku suggested that Bakugou lend his own clothes, but he doesn’t want Todoroki touching anything of his with a ten foot pole. That was when Uraraka had the brilliant idea to go shopping, at least for some pajamas for now. Bakugou and Uraraka decided they would go to the store then, but decided to leave Todoroki and him at the house so Izuku could start explaining some of the ground rules for the house.
Honestly, Izuku is a bit nervous about being left alone at his house with a man who is very handsome but also very much a stranger . He’s not even entirely sure where to start when it comes to the rules of the house. Still, Izuku has no other choice, so he decided to just power through it.
“A-alright Todoroki-kun. Um, welcome to our home, I suppose,” Izuku fumbles with an introduction. “I hope this is, uh, a place where you can feel safe, and all, but uh, w-we do have so-”
“Deku,” Todoroki interrupts.
Izuku practically jumps out of his skin. It’s been a while since anyone besides Uraraka and Bakugou have called him that. “That is your name, right? Deku?” Todoroki continues.
“O-oh! No, actually,” Izuku responds, “That’s just a nickname that Ochako and Kacchan use! My name is Midoriya. Midoriya Izuku.”
“I see. Well, Midoriya,” Todoroki says, and wow his name actually sounds kinda nice with his voice doesn’t it? “You can cut out the bullshit already.”
...what?
“S-s-sorry?” Izuku worriedly asks.
Todoroki scoffs. “Why are you saying that? We have already met.”
Okay, now Izuku is very confused.
It must show on his face, because something dawns on Todoroki’s face and he pinches the bridge of his nose. “Right, of course, you are not speaking my-” he stops himself there and changes the subject. “Look, we met about six days ago. I already know that you are aware of what I am, so can you please stop with the act now that nobody else is here?”
“What are you talking about? The first time I saw you was like three days ago,” Izuku explains, even more confused than before, “and other than what you’ve told us today, I have no idea who or what you are! Am I missing something here?”
Todoroki blinks three times before closing his eyes and running his hand through his hair. “Pixz ug,” he spits.
“I...I’m sorry, picks what ?” Izuku doesn’t think he’s been any more confused than he is right now.
“Well,” Todoroki continues, undeterred, “at least my disguise works well enough I suppose. You’ll recognize me in just a second.”
Izuku doesn’t even have time to question what that means. Suddenly his body is shifting, making him taller than before, his arms and legs thinning out just a tad. His legs have become more animal-like, and his hands have a closer resemblance to paws. His ears have shifted so their closer to the top of his head and are much longer, and a tail now whips about behind him. And the fur that slowly creeps out of his pores, revealing patches of red, white, and peach everywhere. Izuku does remember. He remembers that dream—no—that night where he first met the creature.
“OH MY GOD!” he screams, “HOLY SHIT, YOU’RE REAL !!!”