mha sick fics (angst)

overstimulated (iideku)

(request: autistic deku recently diagnosed, long time diagnosed Iida helps him)

Iida and Izuku had been dating for a few months now. Iida had been diagnosed as autistic when he was a kid. His family was incredibly supportive, especially his brother.

But after he moved away from home to safely study at UA, Izuku had become his biggest support system through any struggles he couldn't handle on his own. He'd been with a therapist since he was seven or eight years old. Now he was 16 and fully able to use the coping mechanisms he had been practicing since he was a little kid.

He knew what situations he absolutely couldn't function through, and actively avoided them. Izuku knew them too, and was able to help steer clear of the situations Iida was beyond uncomfortable in and help him out of the ones he was already stuck in.

However, as Izuku and Iida continued dating and got closer, learning each others habits and routines, the more Iida suspected his boyfriend was not neurotypical like he said he was.

It was all to often Iida would find Izuku alone in his dorm afterschool, pacing back and forth, flapping his hands at shoulder level, in tears. Those days always ended in a huge mental breakdown rant that Iida could barely process in the moment, but thinking back on it he always knew exactly how Izuku felt. Usually the factor Izuku was overwhelmed by was a deadline or a tricky assignment or some aspect of being a hero that he just didn't understand.

Iida was always able to explain it in a way that made sense to Izuku, or help him out.

Lately Iida would either find him overwhelmed mid breakdown, or fast asleep. He always seemed so exhausted after school, especially lately.

There was how he avoided loud public spaces at all costs. Anytime his friendgroup would invite him for an outing at the mall, Izuku always had some excuse not to go. Eventually they stopped inviting him, and he was fine with that.

But there were some spaces he couldn't avoid. For example, the cafeteria.

Iida always wore his noise cancelling headphones when he had to sit in the cafeteria.

The last time the pair had sat in noisyband echoey lunchroom, Izuku didn't eat a thing. He was silent the whole time, only looking around every once in a while. Eventually he started crying and put his hands over his ears, shutting his eyes tight.

All his friends were very concerned. Iida tried to explain that Izuku got really overwhelmed in loud places sometimes and probably just needed to be somewhere quiet for a little while.

They all nodded and watched as Iida led the sobbing boy out of the lunch room.

Once they were out, Iida put his headphones on Izuku. By the time lunch was over, Izuku had uncurled from his overwhelmed stance of knees to chest, head in between knees, and hands over head and was airing out his sweaty body, refusing to move at all or else his clothes would touch his body wrong and then he would feel upset again.

He didn't know how to explain that he almost felt angry whenever he felt so overwhelmed like this. It was hard not to snap at the people around him, the teachers who had approached them and just wanted to help. He wanted to tell them just to go away and leave him alone so he didn't have to experience any more noise or touch or bright lights or anything.

The closer the two got, the more Iida realized Izuku was severely struggling with the same things he had learned to cope with and been helped with through his whole childhood.

He had an individualized education plan (IEP) and was close with his teachers on what needed to be done so that the classroom and training areas felt like a safe environment for him.