Always tired (bnha agere)

Chapter Nine: Nevermind, Iida

Cw: Involuntary(sorta?) regression, relatively peaceful, yay <3

Shoto had ended up skipping out on the beach day. He'd woken up extremely tired and still rather burnt out from the previous day's occasions. Tokoyami had stayed behind with him - partially because he wasn't a big fan of the sun and partly because everyone agreed it'd be awful to leave Todoroki all by himself.

The two hadn't talked much. Everyone had left around one in the afternoon. The guess was that they'd return at five. Tokoyami agreed to make dinner for their arrival. Shoto blankly watched some TV and went on a pleasant walk around campus.

Just as assumed, everyone burst into the common room a few minutes past five. Mina seemed proud that her plans had gone down well with everyone. Her, Bakugo and Sero came in first, plopping down on the couch, relatively exhausted. Kaminari, Kirishima, Shoji, Koda and Momo were quick to follow, carrying in the bags and beach towels.

Shoto watched everyone file in. "How was it?" he asked, stepping over to Izuku. The boy smiled at him and took off his sun hat.

"Wonderful, but it would have been better if you were there."

The next day was Monday and so everyone was in a foul mood. The day went smoothly. Todoroki found his biggest problem with it was just how boring the whole thing was. Sure, he wanted to be a hero but academic knowledge was practically painful to absorb.

Coming back to the dorms, he remembered the study session he'd planned with Tenya and Izuku. In a perfect world, the studying would go as planned and the three would remember some key points and information, their notes coming out beautifully. As you may have guessed already, that wasn't what happened...

Studying was proving itself harder than necessary. Shoto didn't know if he had the answer as to why, either. He knew he was feeling young and small again but he didn't feel as little as usual. This was new. And because it was new, uncharted territory, Shoto was too nervous to tell Izuku.

So he sat there, trying to focus. In general, he'd been trying to stop himself from instinctively forcing himself away from littlespace. Now he had a care giver, he was able to let loose a bit more than before. Despite the situation, he didn't want to ruin his progress. As a result, he began sinking deeper into littlespace.

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"Tectonic plates are certainly fascinating." Iida turned the next page of the textbook. Izuku gave his friend an amused look and giggled. "I guess so. I find geography pretty difficult actually." he confessed, finishing off a diagram. He turned to Shoto. "Do you remember the name for lava when it's still underground, Shoto? I've forgotten already."

Todoroki swung his legs, glancing over at him with a surprised look as though he'd completely forgotten the other two were there. "Nu-uh." Todoroki replied, grabbing one of the boy's highlighters and drawing stars on his notes page. Midoriya held his gaze on him for a moment. Something was up. But Shoto was talking. He never talked in littlespace.

Tenya blinked from Izuku to Shoto before copying down a definition and example. "Are you feeling alright, Todoroki?" he asked as Shoto stole another one of Izuku's highlighters. Shoto nodded his head and waved the highlighters around as Midoriya tried to grab them back. "Yes, 'm okay."

Izuku bit his lip, taking back his pens. There was no other explanation. Shoto was in littlespace though this time, he might be older. That was Izuku's best guess. The little appeared playful and rather unenthusiastic about the work he was supposed to be doing, instead opting to draw and rock on his chair.

Should he clear up the study session now? Midoriya hesitated. Would it be rude to Iida? It wasn't like he could just let Todoroki embarrass himself like this though. And if Izuku told Tenya what Shoto was doing, he was afraid Todoroki would later spiral into a huge panic about it.

Then Shoto got up. Tenya peered up at him. Izuku winced at the slightly puzzled look that hung on his face. "What are you doing?" Iida queried. Midoriya's eyes bore into his lap. This was a mess.

"I wan strawbewy milk." Todoroki declared, flaunting off to the kitchen. Izuku gulped down his awkwardness and stood up, collecting his and Shoto's things. "I think we should wrap this up." He stammered, hovering over Tenya, face burning up.

"Is Todoroki in littlespace?" Iida suddenly asked in an appropriately hushed tone. Midoriya's heart quickened. Tenya knew what littlespace was - maybe it'd be okay if he told him... But was it the right thing to do? Surely, Todoroki was the only one who had the right to make the decision.

Cautious, Izuku nodded. "Please," he whispered. "Don't tell anybody. I don't think he wants anyone to know. He definitely didn't do it on purpose just now. It was probably an accident." All Midoriya could hope was that Tenya would somehow understand. His classmate gave him a hard stare for a few moments, adjusting his glasses.

"I won't tell anyone. His secret is safe with me and I'll be happy to help if you ever need me to, Midoriya." Iida eventually said. Sighing, Izuku gave him a grateful smile. "How'd you know it was littlespace?"

"I found some things about it whilst looking for gifts my mother could buy her pregnant friend. My mother finds navigating the Internet hard so I opted to search for her." Tenya continued "I found myself going down a rabbit hole. I came out the other side with a sufficient gift idea and an intricate understanding of age regression. "

Izuku processed what Iida had said. What a surprise! Just then, he felt a tug on his arm. Turning, he saw Todoroki just sort of standing there, arms up like a little raptor. "I want strawbewy milk bu I can't find any." he complained. His voice was so childlike. Tenya stood up and stretched. Giving Izuku a kind look, he pushed in his chair.

"I'll go and get a carton. I'll be back in no time at all." he decided.

"Considering your quirk, you're probably right!" Izuku commented, giving Shoto's hand a comforting squeeze. "Iida's going to get you some strawberry milk. You better say thank you when he gets back!"

Todoroki nodded, coming away from his care giver and bouncing about with excitement at the prospect of strawberry milk. He was easy to please. Iida observed the little with intrigued eyes before spinning round and leaving.

Izuku left Iida's books on the table, figuring his classmate would probably continue to study once he got back. At least he could breathe easy knowing Iida was a safe person for little Shoto to be around. This meant Izuku could play and take care of Shoto like usual even if Tenya was there.

Maybe if Iida was okay with it, he'd help Midoriya babysit from time to time. The prospect got Izuku a bit excited - he wanted to co-parent with someone, that could be really fun! Izuku considered telling Uraraka as well though he knew he was getting a bit ahead of himself.

When Iida arrived with a cold carton of strawberry milk, he got to witness little Shoto some more. The little patiently waited for Izuku to pour the drink and when he finally got it, he bumbled off and sat on the floor, sipping on it.

"How interesting." Tenya murmured, watching Todoroki's mannerisms with deep curiosity. "Do you think I could observe you looking after him at some point. I've never seen somebody regress in person and I find it, well... " Iida paused, searching for the word he wanted.

"Cute?" Izuku asked. "Hopefully it'd be okay for you to watch some other time." Midoriya grinned. He said "some other time" as he could tell Todoroki was getting tired and would be needing a nap soon. Shoto wandered over to them, putting his empty cup on the counter and burying his face into his care giver's shoulder.

"Cuddles." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Izuku chuckled and began leading the little one to the stairs as Jirou and Kaminari made an entrance "Bye, Iida."
"Goodbye, Izuku, Shoto."

Yawning, Todoroki gave him a silly little wave. How very precious.