Chapter Text
Tenya is dying. Hes sitting in a rundown alley, forced to bleed out and watch his friends (crushes) get murdered. Blood spills onto his face, his hands, his clothes. He can't move, he can't wipe it off, he can't even scream. All he can do is stare helplessly, eager for this noseless bastard's blade to finally, finally stab through his heart.
And then we wakes up.
Oh, is his first brilliant, coherent thought. I'm not dead.
(He's disoriented. Give him a break.)
The second, more reasonable part of his brain finally warms up as he processes that dream-- that night terror. He tries to forget it, push past, but the blood is still here, covering his hands and wetting his face-- ah. Those are tears.
I need wake up tea, he ponders, face neutral as silent drops fall from his eyes.
Izuku is not a morning person. He wakes up at ungodly hours to chronic pain and something screaming in his mind to get up, stop whining, stop being a baby, Deku-
There's a clatter in the dorm kitchens.
Of course, hes alert. He doesnt know when the next attack will (it's not a question of if, not anymore) happen, who the next victim will be, if itll be his friends, the heros, or just a random civilian. He pads down the stairs as quiet as possible, One for All prickling underneath his skin. He relaxes minutely at the tall figure with broad shoulders and perfectly straight hair. (He's not paying extra attention to how his eyebrows scrunch in an effort to focus on preparing tea. Not at all.)
He makes his next steps down the stairs louder, more deliberate. He wouldnt want to scare him.
"Up so early, Iida-kun?"
Theres a flinch (so small that if he didnt flinch like that most of the time Izuku wouldn't have noticed) and suddenly a persona is brought out.
"AH, YES! Ahem, apologies. Yes, I am awake at this time. Is that a problem?" And he asks so genuine, not mocking or goading or baiting and so, so kind.
"Of course not! Did something happen to keep you up?"
"Oh.. ahm, well-"
A voice speaks from behind me, causing a slight spark of OfA in my hands out of suprise.
"Sometimes its good to get things off your chest, Iida. You should try it."
Shoto is bored. It's assfuck-o'clock in the morning, and he was still awake. Insomnia was annoying. He tried stretching, lighting candles, and scrolling aimlessly online.
No dice.
So, he might as well go downstairs, and wait for the others to wake. As he does, though, he hears voices floating up from the kitchen.
He knows them quite well. As he appraches, he catches the tail end of a sentence.
"-id something happen to keep you up?" A calming, slightly tired voice asks.
"Oh.. ahm, well-"
Iida seems like hes about to lie. He's bouncing his heel nervously, a tic he has as a dead giveaway.
"Sometimes its good to get things off your chest, Iida. You should try it," I interject, blunt but not unkind.
Midoriya jolts, startled but not afraid. (Not afraid like how he is when everyone is too loud, or Bakugou sets off explosions too close to his face.)
"Todoroki-kun! You scared me!" He laughs half heartedly, before returning his attention to Iida, "but hes right, Iida-kun. Maybe its help you feel better, or rest easy!"
"While I appreciate the thought, I dont believe there is a plausible solution to this-"
"Tell us anyway," Shoto cuts in, "at least it might relieve a mental ache."
"Hm. Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt?" And with that, Iida begins.
Tenya is nervous. After beginning, it felt like he couldn't stop- he ranted, raved, and even (though never tell anyone this) cursed that night. Talking and talking until his mouth was dry, tea left forgotten on the kitchen counter.
And now, when hes finally done, they're silent. Midoriya looks like hes thinking really hard about something (in the cute way his face scrunches up), and Todoroki is simply sitting quietly on the couch (when did they move to the common room?), waiting patiently for someone to say something else.
"Iida-kun?" Midoriya says tentatively, soft but not frail. "I might have something that can help, but I need you to trust me, ok?"
Todoroki has a perplexed look on his face, which Tenya is sure he has as well. He trusts Midorya, though, so he nods, throat still raw.
Midorya gets up, rushes out a "be right back!" and practically sprints up the stairs.
"I thought you had the speed quirk," Todoroki speaks, pulling a weak but real chuckle from Tenya's mouth. A clamoring of steps, and Midoriya is in front of them once more, carrying an All Might themed box.
"Ah, we shouldn't do this in the common room.. lets head outside, ok?"
They follow Midoriya to the porch behind the dorms, out and near a trash can Tenya has never seen before. He sees Midoriya take a deep breath, before looking at the two worriedly.
"T-this is the place. Um, if you want, you two can call me Izuku. Im about to say something I've kept under wraps for a while, and.. I trust you guys, but I want you to know that."
Todoroki, calm but with a noticable redness on his nose (is it that cold out?) nods, before speaking up, "Shoto is fine for me."
Tenya startles, before speaking with a concise chop of his hand "Tenya! Ahm, you two may call me Tenya."
Midoriya, er, Izuku's eyes shine in the small light from the porch nearby, suspiciously wet. Tenya elects to ignore it and listen to Shoto when he speaks up.
"What did you want to show us?"
Izuku jolts, before smiling (an unsure, wobbly thing). He pulls a bag of greens out of his box, as well as a clear, plastic tube and some small paper.
"Um, before you say anything, I have Aizawa's permission for this! He, uh, caught me and kinda just shrugged and allowed it I'msorryifthismakesyouups-"
Before he can trail off, Tenya speaks up, "of course he'd allow it, it'd be hypocritical not to."
Shoto seems to pause, glancing at him, "how do you know that?"
Tenya gives a sheepish smile, "he often comes to smoke with my brother. They aren't very good at hiding it."
Izuku stifles a laugh, turning the attention back to him. "Uhm, would you like to try it? Its just, you mentioned the pain and inability to be calm, I thought youd like to try it too Tod- Shoto."
Tenya looks warily towards the porch, and upon seeing noone there, sighs. He already attempted murder, whats one more crime? "Alright. It might be beneficial, so... sure."
Shoto shrugs nonchalantly. "My father would hate it. Of course I will."
Tenya furrows his brow, but chooses to adress that can of worms later, "so how to we work this?"
Izuku demonstrates, crushing the greens in the plastic container before carefully spreading it through the paper, rolling it and licking it to have it stick. He twists the end, picking it up and putting it gently between his teeth. He pulls a lighter from his pocket, lighting it and inhaling a few times before exhaling, coughing a bit.
Shoto attempts to replicate along, dragging from the blunt and immeadiately getting thrown into a coughing fit, eyes tearing up as he chokes.
Tenya sympathetically pats his back, before taking a drag of his own and breathing out calmly. Shoto mock-glares at him, affronted by his apparent ease.
Izuku giggles, taking another drag, before blowing most of the smoke out of his nose like a dragon.
The three stumble into the common room, giggling over nothing and shoving eachother playfully, before freezing as fast as their drug-muddled bodies can, staring at the scene in front of them.
Of course, today would be the day the loudest friendgroup decides to study at 6 am.
"Kamibabe, do my eyes deceive me, or are the three cinnamon rolls high?"