Dysphoria || TodoBaku ✔

Chapter 4: Fears

Todoroki had no idea what to think. He was alone in a foreign room, the constant whir of the heater and a damp rag over his head. He took the rag, examining it in his hands before tossing it aside, watching as it landed flat against the carpet.

For an unknown reason, Todoroki wanted to find Bakugo again, to be with someone who he knew wouldn't hurt or punish him if he did wrong. Shigaraki was known for his cruel and unnecessary punishments whenever Todoroki failed to carry out his orders, but the Nomu had a feeling Bakugo wasn't like that. At least, not for now.

Todoroki slid off the bed, immediately feeling nauseous as chills ran up his spine. He forgot he had a fever, but Todoroki wanted to see Bakugo, his legs buckling before he collapsed on the floor, feeling frigid air seep through his clothes. He was breathing heavily, sweat building on his forehead as Todoroki decided to use his Glitch Quirk, glitching down to the first floor as he felt a wave of chills run up his spine.

Bakugo snapped his head around, seeing Todoroki on the ground, writhing uncomfortably from the high fever, "What the hell? Halfie, why did you come down? You have a fever, for fuck's sake!" Bakugo set down a bowl, helping the Nomu stand before setting him on the couch in the lounge. "Don't get up until I say so." Bakugo returned to the kitchen but found Todoroki trying to get up again. "Goddamnit, what did I say?!"

Todoroki stumbled over to Bakugo, who caught him as the Nomu wrapped his arms around Bakugo's neck, enjoying the warmth he emitted.

"Ugh, Icyhot, I understand you're cold but if you stayed in my room you would be warmer!" Bakugo hissed, trying to pry off Todoroki until he felt something sharp dig into his skin. "Oi, what the hell is that?!" Bakugo placed his hands over Todoroki's, feeling sharp nails that slowly began digging farther into his skin. "Ow, Icyhot, stop! That hurts!"

Midnight and Aizawa entered the dorms, noticing Bakugo trying to pry off Todoroki from him. Aizawa activated his Quirk, Todoroki's claws retracting back as Aizawa pulled the Nomu away from Bakugo, who rubbed the back of his neck to ease the lingering pain.

"What happened?" Aizawa asked, allowing Midnight to use her fumes and put Todoroki to sleep.

Bakugo grimaced, "I came down to make soba for him to eat, but that bastard decided to follow me despite having a fever. He used me to stay warm and wouldn't listen to anything I said!"

Aizawa hummed in thought, picking up Todoroki, "I did some research on Nomus, and it seems they obey commands from their masters. Todoroki may not listen to you because you're not his master, so I would get in contact with Dabi about this situation. He might know what to do." Aizawa ran his fingers through the Nomu's black and white hair. "In the meantime, keep him company and try not to piss him off. As you said, he likes the warmth you emit, so let him do what he wants to stay warm until Dabi relays some information on the situation."

Bakugo growled under his throat, watching as Aizawa let Midnight take Todoroki back to the ash-blond's room. He followed, mumbling incoherent cursing under his breath as Midnight quickly set Todoroki on the bed and ambled off.

"Such a pain in the ass..." Bakugo mumbled, noticing Todoroki was slightly trembling under the blankets. "Ugh..."

Bakugo slid under the covers next to Todoroki, letting the latter subconsciously snuggle into his chest. His breathing evened out, quiet snores vibrating from his throat as Todoroki stopped trembling. Bakugo rolled his eyes and pressed Todoroki closer to him, suddenly feeling calm and relaxed as he basked in the sweet scent Todoroki emitted.

The door startled Bakugo from his nap, peeking through his half-lidded eyes as Aizawa entered, his expression rather disturbed and annoyed.

Bakugo sat up, feeling Todoroki adjust and cling to his back, the Nomu's face buried in the crook of his neck. The ash-blond was too exhausted to deal with Todoroki, wanting to sleep and hope Todoroki somehow recovered the next day.

"Bakugo, I've got some information that will come in handy for you," Aizawa pressed, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Dabi informed me Todoroki will only respond to 'Nomu.' According to the way Shigaraki raised him, Todoroki cannot deny an order when using 'Nomu' as his name. Although, Dabi has told me Todoroki occasionally fails to obey an order and is punished whenever he fails a task.

"Todoroki is very submissive to his master, Shigaraki, but has been given custody to you, Bakugo," Aizawa continued, making the ash-blond's eyebrow raise. "He will listen to you if you call him 'Nomu' and follow that by a command of any sort. Dabi also mentioned Todoroki has multiple Quirks given by All for One that you should know about." Aizawa handed Bakugo a slip of paper listing the Quirks Todoroki obtained, including his original Quirk: Half-hot, Half-cold. "You can read these in your free time. Call me if anything happens." He left through the door without another word.

Bakugo couldn't read the list in the dark, deciding to read it tomorrow as sleep took over. He slid back down under the covers, mind the arms that secured themselves around his arm, pulling Bakugo towards Todoroki. A hum of relief sounded from Todoroki's throat as he cradled the ash-blond's arm like a plush toy, basking in Bakugo's warmth and scent.

Bakugo grew annoyed by Todoroki's risky motives but let it slide as he fell asleep, his head resting on Todoroki's as his silky and smooth hair finished off what little consciousness the older male had.

***

Bakugo woke up to the constant shaking on his shoulder. He squinted his eyes, spotting Todoroki with his deadpan expression violently shaking his shoulder in an attempt to wake him up.

"...Ugh, what do you want, Halfie? It's too early to wake up..." Bakugo shifted to his other side, proceeding to try and fall asleep until Todoroki sprouted his large bat-like wings, startling the ash-blond as he thought he pissed off the latter. "Jeez, fine, I'm up! What do you want?!"

Todoroki kept his wings extended, a look of horror on his face as he crawled and hid behind Bakugo's back, pointing accusingly at the ground.

"What...?" Bakugo followed Todoroki's finger, noticing a small spider crawling up the white wall. "The spider?"

"Kill it," Todoroki whispered, peering over Bakugo's shoulder with his wings forming a canopy above his head for protection. "Please, before it hurts me."

Bakugo wanted to laugh, to tell Todoroki he can cry him a river or give up on being a Hero because of a spider, but he knew Todoroki wasn't himself right now. He didn't know what was going through Todoroki's mind right now. If at all, the Nomu could be seeing a large monster with eight legs through those warped eyes of his.

"Fine, I'll kill it," Bakugo stated, finding himself unable to move as Todoroki tightened his hold. "I can't kill it if you don't let me go."

"But what if you get hurt?" he asked, his eyes never leaving where the spider sat on the wall. "What if you get bitten and poisoned? You'll die."

The fact that Todoroki stated Bakugo's possible fate in such a careless, dead voice made him nearly scoff at his attempt to sound worried, "It's not venomous, Icyhot. The spider's a harmless type. Just let me kill it then you can go back to sleep."

Todoroki restricted Bakugo, again, his eyes glowing from irritation, "No! You can't risk it!" He lifted his right palm, the red spider floating from its spot on the wall until Todoroki closed his hand, crushing the spider as its severed legs and body fell onto the carpet.

Bakugo's eyes widened, "How did you do that?" He noticed the list on his nightstand, taking it and reading through the Quirks. He found one called "Red Matter" that matched Todoroki's actions towards the spider. "Oi, so you can manipulate anything red?"

Todoroki stayed silent, embracing Bakugo tightly from behind as though he would disappear. His wings retracted back, allowing himself to be vulnerable as Todoroki clung tightly onto Bakugo.

"I'll protect you..." he mumbled, his arms secured around the ash-blond's waist. "Don't leave me as they did..."