• Benevolence •

Chapter 32

Wanting to show off their rooms, most people hastily accept. As the others discuss the details, Bakugou scoffs quietly. "Sounds fuckin' stupid. I'm going to bed."

I snatch his hand before he leaves, stopping him. When he turns to me, I stutter quietly. "G-good night, Bakugou."

He rolls his eyes at my words but squeezes my hand gently. "G'night or whatever." Then he heads to his room.

I decided to go along with the others. We make our way to the second floor and Midoriya is up first.

"AHHH!!! NONONONO WAIT JUST A MINUTE!!" He frantically tries to stop everyone but then his door is flung open. It's covered wall to wall in All Might memorabilia.

Standing at his desk, his face is flushed bright red. "I really look up to him after all... I'm so embarrassed..."

Kaminari, appearing to have second thoughts, steps back nervously. "Oh man... what have we gotten ourselves into?"

Moving down the hall, I fall back to Midoriya's side. He still looks kind of embarrassed so I offer a soft smile. "Hey, I think it's cool that you have all that stuff, y'know? It must be awesome to know him so well now."

At that, he brightens considerably. "Y-yeah, it is pretty cool!"

Next was Tokoyami. "Hmph. How trivial..." He stood against his door to block it but the girls were determined. Pushed out of the way, his room is revealed. Very dark and almost gothic.

"So this is what boys are into?"

We slowly make our way through the dorms and the boys soon end up feeling ganged up on. Out of nowhere, it becomes a real competition.

"It's a tournament, right? We should see everyone's room with everyone present!"

"Alrighty then! We're gonna decide the room king! Sound good?"

At Ashido's proclamation, the boys nod approvingly. We make our way through more of the rooms before finally reaching the fourth floor.

"Kirishima, [L/n], Bakugou, and Shoji right?"

"Where is Bakugou?"

I speak up quietly, "I think his exact words were 'Sounds fucking stupid. I'm going to bed.' He left before we started."

Kirishima rubs his eyes. "Honestly, I'm fading too..."

Ururaka grins, "Kirishima's first!"

"I don't care either way, but I doubt girls will really appreciate it... The manliness of my badass room, that is!!" He reveals the room, posing dramatically.

It's quiet for a moment before Ashido shrugs. "...Yeah, you're right."

"Well let's move on! [L/n]'s room!"

I suddenly find myself feeling self conscious but it's too late to go back. I open my door to let everyone in. "A-alright... its not much..." I nervously sit on my bed and wait for reactions.

"That's a lot of... are those medical text books?" Sero wanders over to read the covers.

"Yeah, he's really good with first aid! He taught me, Bakugou, and Kaminari some, y'kno- woah this blanket is suuuper soft..." Kirishima flops onto my bed next to me, grinning.

Ururaka looks around the walls. "Ooh! Are those certificates?"

Walking to the nearest one, she reads it aloud. "...'CPR Certification'... Does that mean you can teach others?"

I run a hand through my hair nervously, "I mean... I don't know if I'd be a good teacher but I wouldn't mind giving pointers to anyone who wants to get certified..."

Hagakure and Ururaka jump up and down excitedly at my words. "Ooh would you teach us? Please!"

"Uh- yeah okay, I suppose I could."

Kirishima sits up, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Me too!! CPR is a super manly thing to know!"

Sero speaks up suddenly, glancing to the girls. "We should all learn! Together!"

"O-okay I'll see what I can do."

We move onto Shoji's room- completely bare -and I find myself feeling tired as we head to the fifth floor. I wander in the back of the group with Todoroki until we get to Sero's. As the he shows his room off, I turn to the stoic boy.

"Um... I don't know if I ever got to thank you... after the rescue. I don't really remember much after getting there, everything is kinda a blur- but yeah... thank you."

"I'm glad you're okay, [L/n]."

Before we start walking again, I see the glimmer of a smile on his lips. His room next, he opens his door to reveal a completely redecorated room. It's astonishing, really.

"How the hell did you do this?!"

"...I worked hard."

Finishing up with the boys, we get to Satou's room. It looks about normal but suddenly he's handing out cake and I've never been happier. Refreshed after the quick snack, we move on.

"Next up... the girls! Let's head down!"

The rest of the rooms pass quickly and soon it's time to vote.

"Has everyone voted?! Alright!! Excluding Bakugou and Tsu... the tentative first inaugural room king award goes to... SATOU with six votes!!" Mina announces dramatically.

"By the way, all those votes were from the girls cus that cake was delish!!"

Soon after, I head off to my room. I drop into my bed, drifting to sleep. My dreams are dark and entrapping, adrenaline bringing everything back to the surface. I wake up struggling to catch my breath- a fleeting image of Bakugou vanishing on my mind.

Wheezing quietly, I sit up and fumble for my phone. 5:07 am. Good as time as any to get ready. Deciding to get a quick breakfast before everyone wakes up, I make my way downstairs. With my head down, I bump into someone by accident. I glance up to see Todoroki.

"O-oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Your eyes are red. Are you alright?"

The blunt question throws me off guard. "Uh... yeah it was ju-just a bad dream. I didn't even realize I was crying... sorry."

I fidget under his steady gaze for a moment before he nods, leading the way to the kitchen. "Do you want to talk about it? It may help."

I hesitate for a moment, unsure. "T-to you?"

"Yes, if it would help. I'll listen."

"Um- okay..."

As we arrive to the kitchen, he looks to me expectantly. I clear my throat lightly, looking around the room.

"It was mainly just memories from... when they had us. I was blindfolded m-most of the time so I couldn't use my quirk. They um- they talked to Bakugou mostly... at one point they said something about letting someone k-kill me. I wasn't important, y'know?"

I fidget anxiously as I continue, Todoroki moving around the room as he listens. "I was helpless- useless even... the whole time. I jumped into to help Bakugou but he just ended up protecting me. And just when I thought we were saved -when All Might had burst into the room with all sorts of pro heroes- Bakugou vanished into thin air. I couldn't do anything..."

I vaguely feel a tear creep down my cheek and I rub at it self consciously. "But everything's okay. I mean we're out and its just nightmares- they'll go away... everyone's fine..."

Todoroki turns to me, eyes glinting. "But do you feel fine? It's alright to not be okay, [L/n]. It sounds like a hard thing to experience."

I find myself speechless and he pushes a bowl of rice into my hands. He leads the way to the table and soon we're eating. I let myself think over what he said as the others slowly wake up and make their way downstairs.

---
I actually managed to come up with a costume so I'll post a drawing in one of the next couple chapters so look out for that!
Thanks for reading!!