BNHA Fics

Kamino Nightmares | Angsty Tododeku

A/N: Quick little angsty oneshot.  The mission to rescue Bakugou from the League of Villains was a success, but not without some casualties. In the wake of the incident, the young rescue squad finds their mental health wearing thin as they come to grips with trauma and the fact that they nearly lost their friend.

**POSSIBLE MANGA SPOILERS, brief reference to info from beyond where the anime has gotten**
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The villain was dead, lying motionless on the ground with shattered ribs and vacant eyes, but so was Bakugou. The fire in his palms had gone out, replaced by blood that dripped down from his neck where the villain had slit his throat. Fragments of his fractured costume littered the ground nearby, and in place of the noise and chaos that had filled the air for the last hour, a deathly silence rang in the ears of the survivors.

Midoriya was throwing up over the guardrail, sobbing in between heaves, his face contorted in anguish. Todoroki had sat down with his back to a wall after thawing himself out, yet frozen in shock as he surveyed the scene. He wanted to do something or say something to Midoriya, but he couldn't move. He knew his friend was devastated, not only because Midoriya always wore his heart on his sleeve, but because he knew how it felt. He knew no amount of tears or vomit would purge the ache in his chest when the ache was there because something - someONE - was gone.

True, it was a little different. He hadn't been there to see Touya die. He was glad he hadn't, and the thought of it made his own stomach turn. This new loss was something wholly different, being just meters away from the bloodshed and hearing his friend and colleague shout his last words and moments later sigh out his last breath.

They'd never been close, Todoroki and Bakugou, but they'd still been through a lot together. It was strange to think in a few days they'd be back in class, and his seat would be empty; he wouldn't be yelling or belittling anyone, or... well...

I guess I'm never getting called "Icy Hot" again.

He'd never thought he'd miss that, but somehow he already did.

Midoriya had folded his arms atop the guardrail and was resting his head on his arms, body still wracked with sobs. Determined to do something, and desperate for a connection himself, Todoroki dragged his tired body off the ground and approached his friend. Midoriya tried to speak to him, but amidst the tears, his babbling was completely incoherent. Todoroki didn't care. He listened anyway. After a few minutes, when it seemed like Midoriya was on the verge of collapse, Todoroki eased him down from the guardrail and sat with him, facing away from their fallen comrade. With another warm presence in his arm, then his own tears came, and he wept silently into Midoriya's hair as the sirens began to wail in the distance...

***

Todoroki sat up sharply and looked around his room, sighing in relief when it was, in fact, his room. Cold sweat ran down both sides of his face, and his pulse was racing, but he was safe. And so, as far as he knew, was Bakugou. It wasn't the first time in the past week he'd had a nightmare like this, and he doubted it'd be the last. He'd been toughing it out alone, but that was getting harder and harder, especially after a dream that had ended with a modicum of comfort. He picked up his phone, which read 02:39. Somewhat against his better judgement, he unlocked it and texted Midoriya.

You awake?

Yeah, came the reply almost immediately. Can't sleep. What's up?

Instead of texting him back, Todoroki decided to tell him in person. The relief of knowing the death from the dream wasn't real was something, but he needed the hug from the dream to be real. He stood up and put on house slippers, then crept down the stairs towards Midoriya's room. He didn't want to wake anyone else up, so instead of knocking he lightly tapped on the door.

"Come in," Midoriya said softly.

Todoroki opened the door, and his heart clenched at what he saw on the other side. Midoriya was sitting cross-legged on the bed, arms wrapped in a veritable chokehold around an All Might plush, silent tears streaming down his cheeks as he stared into space.

"Have you been having them too?" Todoroki asked, closing the door behind him.

"Nightmares?"

"Yeah."

Midoriya nodded. "I can't even close my eyes without seeing it. It's always some different angle. Sometimes it's exactly like what happened. Sometimes it's that All For One attacked the school instead. Sometimes it's that All Might--" he stopped and buried his face in the plush, and Todoroki didn't need him to finish his sentence to understand.

He sat down on the bed and put his arm around Midoriya, who softened at his touch. "For me it's usually that we failed, and Bakugou died," he said. "It's usually in a different way each time, but that's how the dream always ends."

Midoriya hiccuped on his tears. "I've had that dream. That's the worst one of all. Well... except..."

"What?"

"I had one where you died."

Todoroki shivered. Though their operation had been risky, the focus had been so much on the rescue that he hadn't stopped much to dwell on the fact that any one of them could have lost their lives.

"Well, I didn't," he told Midoriya, running his hand up and down his arm. It seemed to be relaxing him.

"Yeah," Midoriya whispered. "And neither did Kacchan. But the dreams feel so real, don't they?"

"Yeah."

There wasn't much else to say, so the two of them sat still in the dark, softened at the comfort of a gentle touch, until Midoriya was nearly asleep in Todoroki's arms. Not wanting to wake him, nor to leave the warmth, Todoroki gently moved him so he was lying down, then pulled the blankets over both of them. Perhaps it would be awkward in the morning, but somehow he didn't think so. With his left arm wrapped around Midoriya's sleeping body, he could feel his steady heartbeat slowing down as he drifted fully off to sleep. Todoroki closed his eyes, feeling his own pulse in his fingers gradually sync with Midoriya's as he too found peaceful sleep at last.