summer prizes || tododeku

Chapter 3

"What are you doing here?" a soft voice speaks up.

It was late, a little past midnight, probably. Todoroki isn't exactly sure as to why he had ran off to Midoriya's dorm, or why he couldn't keep his gaze from the All Might figurines and posters. If he were to be honest, they were incredibly scary. Still, his gaze was fixated on them. It's jealousy, he considers. Thinks about the ex-symbol of peace and his expense merchandise and how expensive it is nowadays. Maybe he wants all of Midoriya's figurines.

"Todoroki-kun, are you okay?" he hears footsteps, and the sound of a bag falling down softly. Right, Midoriya had entered the room not long ago. "Did something happen with your mom? Your siblings?" Midoriya's voice is calm, soothing for Todoroki's ears.

"No, that's not it," he looks at Midoriya as he says so, then turns his gaze back to the figurines. They had surprisingly gotten even more interesting now that Midoriya was in the room. He tries remembering what happened, exactly.

Ah, that's right. His nightmares.

Somehow, Midoriya's everything in his dorm had managed to calm Todoroki down. To distract him from his nightmares. It's something that always happens when he's around Midoriya. He grows calmer, as if he knows nothing can happen now that his best friend is next to him. Whether to support him or protect him. He's there and he's bound to help Todoroki because that's just how Midoriya is. This admirable soon-to-be hero that doesn't know any better than to pry in on other people's lives. It just shows how much of a hero he already is, and Todoroki admires him for it. And maybe it's tied to their first sports festival, or maybe the battle they shared against the hero killer, Stain, but Todoroki feels as though he is forced to admire Midoriya. In a good way, mainly.

Midoriya smiles at him, his shoulders lowering. Todoroki wonders if Midoriya had been watching a sad movie before coming in, considering how red his eyes looked.

"Was it your nightmares again? I could help you clean up this time," Midoriya's smile grows wobbly, as if he's seconds away from bursting into tears.

Todoroki remembers, faintly. All those nights in which he re-lived years of abuse as if they were nothing. He remembers moving into the dorms, thinking that being surrounded by pro-heroes in the making (and actual pro-heroes) would ease his nightmares. Luck was simply never on his side, apparently. He unconsciously touches the new wound that rests on his stomach.

It hadn't been too long ago. Todoroki's nightmares had grown after the training camp incident, which was to be expected. They didn't just happen with more frequency though. They were scarier— more dangerous than ever.

Todoroki has always used his ice as a defense mechanism, even in the times his father had prohibited him from doing so. It was a pain in the ass to clean his mess-up afterwards, he'd say. Todoroki would stop doing it after noticing his mother and siblings were the ones cleaning up.

Then the nightmares would come crashing in. Twists and turns in his bed, sometimes waking him up in the middle of the night because he got poked too much. It wasn't supposed to be dangerous for him. Eventual scratches would say otherwise though. Still, it had never been something too dangerous. Some patch ups and band aids, maybe, but never stitches.

Okay, fine. It had just once been stitches. Todoroki doesn't count that time though, considering it happened in the dorms.

It happened this year, almost a week after returning to the dorms. Todoroki had told his classmates he wanted to go to sleep early, and that he wouldn't be participating in any activities. For some reason, his brain was filled with unlikely thoughts. Asui's apologies, Bakugou's neglect, and so on. All from a year ago, they almost felt tattooed on his brain. Truth is, he wasn't a fan of confrontations, despite his constant bluntness. Seeing his classmates cry caused a big impact on him. A bad one at that. Your fault, a voice had said. You should've been smarter. Faster. Stronger. None of this would've happened if you had been stronger, the voice echoed in his brain.