Coffee on a roof

Chapter 12: Awake and waiting

Izuku was lying down on the floor and petting the cat on his chest in his room. The weight pressed down on him against each rise of his chest. Kimchi was as good as a weighted blanket and the sensation of fur was pleasant on his fingers.

It was late, hours had already passed since Izuku left the 1A dorm with Yamada-san and the others supposedly went to bed. Usually, when Izuku stayed up late something crept around in his mind. Something that created knots in his stomach and a twist in his chest. This time though, the sensation in his chest was kind.

Just a cat on top, their body warm and heavy.

He could feel a slight smile on his face. A lightness. A warmth that hadn't faded even though the hugs and Kaminari's kisses had been hours ago.

That and Izuku felt awake. Really awake.

Ever since returning to UA and waking up to see Aizawa-san, Izuku hadn't felt fully awake. Even when he was aware and dealing with the unpleasantness that had reared its head he still felt like a part of him had been asleep.

That had yet to creep out from under the covers.

Slowly he had been waking up. A little less asleep each day and with each conversation things shifted. More crept out from those heavy covers and into the light. Maybe gave him a little hope.

Then Izuku saw his classmates. His friends. He had missed them. Izuku missed going to class and sitting among them, listening to the little jokes and seeing them. Izuku cared about them, he would do anything for them. He had already bled for them and he knew he would easily bleed for them again.

It was scary to think about them being angry at him, for things to have changed completely coming back. Except it didn't, and maybe that was because they didn't know everything, but instead, they welcomed him literally with open arms and smiles. He had been missed. None of them even mentioned Bakugou's expulsion, he didn't hear any whispers about it being his fault.

Ever since he was little Bakugou was a shining beacon for classmates and teachers. A model to follow on being strong. Meanwhile, Izuku was looked at like a parasite leaching onto Bakugou's light. Glares and sharp mutters about how Izuku dared to come close to Bakugou. To taint him.

Izuku worried that it would be the same at UA. Soon enough, with the way Bakugou had friends, Izuku would see those cutting looks sent his way. But they weren't and his teacher's words came to his mind again. The apology, the way that not at one moment in their explanation about Bakugou's expulsion was Izuku said to be at fault. He hadn't been blamed.

Bakugou was expelled. Izuku wasn't at fault. His teachers apologized. His friends welcomed him back. They missed him.

Izuku took in a deep breath and felt giddy with it. A lightness jumped in his chest, twirling around playfully. Kimchi squirmed on his chest and Izuku breathed out.

He was wide awake.

__________

Dabi walked in after hearing a commotion and a yell from Spinner. He'd have usually ignored Spinner yelling, but seeing as he wasn't the cause of it he was curious. It didn't take long to find the source, Jin was holding a phone that Spinner was trying and failing to grab.

"Jin!" Spinner yelled as he tried to grab a hold of Jin's arm, "just give me the pho-"

"What's going on?" Dabi asked.

Jin went to answer, the first bit nonsensical but the next Dabi didn't even pay attention to because he heard a familiar voice coming from the phone.

Izuku's voice.

Instantly Dabi knew why Spinner had been yelling and he came forward. "What the hell! Why didn't you tell us he called?" Dabi reached out for the phone but Jin just squawked and in an impressive fashion, moved and bent a certain way keeping it out of their reach. It was almost concerning how fast Jin's head was moving between looking at them and presumingly at Izuku on the phone. If Himiko was there, she would have easily been able to get the phone from Jin, but unfortunately for them, she's been investigating something for a while and they were left on their own.