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“Midoriya,” someone calls in a hushed voice and Izuku shifts a little in his sleep. “Midoriya,” the person calls again, insistently this time.
As Izuku begins to gain consciousness he takes notice of the figure hovering over him and a hand settled on his shoulder. Izuku lifts his head from the cushion his arms provide and regards both with proper attention.
“Kirishima-kun…?” Izuku asks slowly as he squints his eyes at him, unsure. “What’re you doing here?”
“Sorry, I... " Eijirou trails off, and then he looks uncharacteristically embarrassed. "I just– you never came,” Eijirou says, and Izuku catches the question mark trailing behind his words. It's almost as if Eijirou considers the nature of his statement will be of an accusing one without it.
“Oh.” Izuku straightens in his seat, more alert. “Sorry, I was doing homework.”
Eijirou’s eyes roam the mess on Izuku's desk; opened notebooks, pages haphazardly scattered all over the place, one or two cans of soda. It all speaks in volume of the dedication Izuku has in regards to the academics.
“Been working hard, huh?” Eijirou playfully scoffs as he reaches for Izuku’s cheek to poke it softly. “You have sleep lines, by the way.”
Izuku rubs his cheek before he stands up to stretch. “At some point everything became a blur and I couldn’t keep my eyes open,” he yawns.
“So...I guess you already had your nap.” Izuku blinks. Again, there’s no tone of accusation in Eijirou’s words, though the way it sounds to Izuku it’s almost as if it carries a tone of disappointment.
Seemingly, Izuku’s silence stretches long enough for Eijirou to read it wrong since he adds, “It’s cool. We can do it tomorrow. Besides, It’s already late– For a nap I mean, and–”
Izuku turns his head in Eijirou’s direction so fast that he might get whiplash. “N-no! I-It’s fine!” he hastens to say with his arms frantically moving in negative motions to emphasize his words. “I c-can– I want to nap with you!”
Kirishima smiles and scratches his cheek. “It’s fine, Midoriya. I just came 'cuz I was curious why you didn’t come to my room. It’s not like you’re– y’know, entitled to,” he clarifies.
Izuku smiles fondly at the unusual tone of uncertainty. “It’s fine,” he reassures, walking up to his bed with Eijirou’s hand in his. “At least now I can have a proper nap.”
Eijirou’s reply comes as another poke to his cheek, just where the line marking his skin is. A muted mockery or an insinuation of the comfort that’s about to follow, Izuku doesn’t know. Either way, it holds no importance when he settles on the bed and feels the mattress dip under Eijirou’s weight.
“Sorry. It’s a bit crowded compared to yours,” Izuku apologizes, and Eijirou smiles in his ever so comforting way that makes Izuku believe everything in the world will be okay.
“Well, I don’t think that’s a problem,” Eijirou says and as if to confirm his words, he scoots closer and wraps his arms around Izuku’s waist. Izuku giggles softly and his instinctive reaction is to cradle Eijirou’s head tenderly against his chest. Eijirou's hair is down and Izuku finds himself pleased when he can thread his fingers so easily in it. The content sigh that comes from Eijirou’s lips confirms something he’s known for a while; this is his -their favorite position.
“See. Perfect fit,” Eijirou declares proudly, and Izuku laughs softly, finding Eijirou’s words accurate; they do fit perfectly.
Izuku recalls how this – whatever it is and nameless as it stands – started by a mere happenstance in a couch in the common room of the dorms. Perhaps it was the fatigue of a week full of academic responsibilities, or the stupor of a slow Saturday afternoon, or maybe it was both. Regardless of the reason, they fell asleep together, and the outcome had Izuku and Eijirou waking up in a mess of tangled limbs and awkward confusion.
There wasn’t any shock, at least not of the caliber Izuku would have expected. Instead, there was this impression of 'Wow, napping with you feels a thousand times better than expected so I would like to keep doing it if you want' that changed their dynamics ever so slightly since that day.
Nurtured by time, the familiarity of this new habit grew enough to overshadow any initial questioning of ‘How’ and ‘Why’. Frankly, details like those hold little importance to Izuku. As of now, everything that matters is the way his body brims with joy whenever Eijirou’s arms wrap around him, whenever Izuku’s arms wrap around him.
“Were you doing homework that’s due Friday?” Izuku feels drowsy enough to prescind from words, instead he hums affirmatively. “You’re really a nerd,” Eijirou says and Izuku grunts softly, finding no bite or mockery tainting his words.
“If you leave it for later everything tends to pile up, Kirishima-kun.”
“As expected of our number two placer!”
Now, that sounds a bit sarcastic, and Izuku’s chastising is to pull his hair softly. Eijirou laughs and hugs Izuku closer to him, inhaling his scent.
“We all use the same soap. How come you smell so different?” Izuku hums again, this time with a ‘who knows’ kind of intonation.
Eijirou has this habit of making banal chitchat before falling asleep, and if Izuku was a tad exasperated at first, by now he’s grown accustomed to it. Perhaps he can even say it lulls him to sleep. Moreover, at this point the conversations have become kind of an unofficial run-down of their doings between weekdays.
The impersonal nature of their relationship is steadily changing with this routine. Izuku can almost picture it as a bridge that’s being built between them. Fondly, Izuku calls it attachment.
“Got plans for tomorrow, Kirishima-kun?” Izuku asks, running his fingers between the fiery red hairs.
“Just doing some homework, I’m a bit behind.”
Izuku deflates. The reason he was doing his homework so early is because he wants to spend the next day with Eijirou; playing games, chatting, napping. It doesn’t matter the conclusion as long as Eijirou’s there.
Attachment.
“I can do it tonight if you wanna hang out or something tomorrow.”
“I-It’s fine,” Izuku whispers with a stiff laugh that makes Eijirou lift his head from his chest. It looks as if he’s trying to grasp what the meaning behind Izuku’s words is.
“Man, we’re gonna have so much homework now that the end of term is coming. I’m gonna die,” Eijirou whines and looks at Izuku with mischievous eyes. “Unless I get more Midoriya energy to endure it.”
Izuku is caught by surprise. Apparently, Eijirou’s good at reading between his lines. The way his words sound as a concealed request make Izuku laugh softly, genuinely this time.
“It’s cool y’know, this,” Eijirou says, squeezing him tighter to remark his words. “I mean— not cool, but like— I don't know— you get it right?”
Surprisingly, Izuku does, so he nods. "Yeah, I like this." This time, he's the one that squeezes the other.
“Then let’s finish our homework tonight and we’ll recharge energy tomorrow!” Izuku grins in response and before he’s aware of it, there’s a soft and swift touch in the corner of his mouth.
It takes a fraction of a second for Izuku to understand what just happened. As all things that have Eijirou's presence in it, and despite the novelty of his actions, there’s no alarm. Instead, what is left behind is a tingling warmth in his chest and a calm sense of marvel.
Attachment.
Eijirou looks at him with one eye closed and a playful smile. “Cool!”
There’s no long turns, no twists that could get them lost in unneeded explanations. There’s just comfort and warmth. Both are pleasant and chaste, and Izuku finds himself okay with it.
Hugging Eijirou once again, he smiles. “Cool,” Izuku echoes back after a minute or so, before he falls asleep in Eijirou's arms.