Conflagration

Chapter 8

Izuku laid quietly on the floor, sniffling and holding back tears even as he slept. He'd forgotten to breathe multiple times, resulting in a few loud, awkward gasps that had his body shaking with the effort to gain oxygen.

"Bakugo?! What are you doing here?"

The green-haired man shivered, rolling over on the floor and pulling his knees up to his chest in an attempt to get warmer.

"Hah? I forgot you lived here too, Icy-Hot. I'm not supposed to talk until Izuku gets-"

"Oh hell no, you're with him now?! Izuku!! Come get your man!"

Izuku rolled onto his back this time, wincing at how tense his muscles were and opening his eyes slowly. He bit his lip, raising a stiff hand and rubbing his eyes. Getting up and telling Tenya about Bakugo's situation was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Izuku!! Bakugo is currently bloodied and bruised on our couch right now!! Why are you sleeping?!"

"I'm coming Todoroki-kun!! Stop yelling!" Izuku shouted back, rubbing his head as his growing headache worsened at his own raised voice. He stood up slowly, opening his door and walking towards the stairs. He could hear the men fussing with each other downstairs, and his only thought was; I hope this isn't what Tenya wakes up to.

Once he arrived in the living room, he was greeted with confused and exasperated eyes, respectively. He sighed, gesturing to the door when he met Todoroki's eyes. "Please, go to work. I'll explain later, I just-"

"Midoriya, what happened to you? You look terrible- have you continued to skip out on sleeping? What are you so busy within your room, if not sleep?" The red-and-white-haired man asked, stepping closer to Izuku and reaching a hand up. Izuku knew there wasn't any malicious intent behind the action, but he couldn't bring himself to accept it right away. He couldn't accept anything at the moment.

"Not right now, Todoroki-kun. Just go to work." Izuku grumbled, sluggishly shuffling into the kitchen and grabbing a few mugs from the cupboard. His tone must've been strange because Todoroki followed him into the kitchen with a surprised face.

His eyes were wide, as if he'd just seen a ghost. "First, you're shuffling like your feet are magnets on the floor. Second, there are bags under your eyes as big as my makeup kit. Third, you just asked me to do something without adding please, anywhere in the phrase. Are you sure you're ok?" He asked, sounding frantic. "If he's hurting you, I can-"

"Go to work, Todoroki." The barista huffed, whipping around to face Todoroki with a frown. "You're going to be late."

Todoroki rolled his eyes. "You're deflecting. I can see that you-"

"Go!" Izuku raised his voice, pointing at the front door aggressively and narrowing his eyes. His roommate sighed, putting his hands up in defeat and shaking his head. He muttered something along the lines of; "Alright, fine," before walking out of the house with a low grumble of annoyance. Izuku lowered his arm and glanced at Bakugo, who was sitting stiffly on the couch.

He stayed quiet, though the green-haired man could feel the blonde following his every move as he prepared coffee for the three men left in the house. Izuku ignored the tingling feeling on the back of his neck, a feeling he always got when he couldn't directly see someone staring at him. Eventually, after starting the coffee machine, he turned around and faced Bakugo.

"You um... you sleep alright?" He asked, tilting his head and leaning onto the counter. To his surprise, Bakugo didn't answer. It looked like the man was frozen.

"Kacchan?"

The blonde shook his head, blinking a few times before nodding. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you said. Where's Mr. Uptight?" He'd shaken off his trance like it was nothing out of the ordinary, but Izuku'd be lying if he said he hadn't expected that.