The hero academic

It was a dark and stormy night...

A Saturday night to be precise. The campus of U.A. was currently being pelted by some severe weather. A torrent of rain fell in sheets as gale-force winds ripped through the air. Small streams of water flowed into storm drains like rapids. Every so often the night sky would illuminate from the flash of a lightning bolt, followed shortly by a deafening crack of thunder.

For Izuku Midoriya, it was nothing short of calming

He liked thunderstorms, and that wouldn't really change. He'd had once feared of them he was little, but, over time, he began to appreciate them. It was enjoyable to hear the pounding of the rain, and streaks of light that passed the sky, and the beautiful roar of thunder that crashed down when the light disappeared.

Yeah, it was fun.

He would often just watch as the storm went on, even go so far as to stay up all night, just to see how the storm ends. He usually gets a drink whenever this happens, making the time pass ever so quickly as he took a sip of whatever he felt like drinking that night. So he pulled off his blankets, and quietly slipped out of his room.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise to Izuku that the power had gone out. The dorm's hallways normally had some dim lighting even late at night, but they it was pitch black when he stepped outside his room. He silently crept toward the stairs, using his phone as a makeshift flashlight. The darkness was sort of fine, but not exactly the most relaxing situation that he would have imagined, but what can he do about mother nature, huh?

The relaxed boy wasn't exactly sure what drink to have. I mean, there were so many, especially since there were 19 other kids there, along with a teacher, each one with their own tasty preference. Mumbling what to pick as he slowly walked down, he then finally decided as he then looked at the door infront of him. Opening the door to the first floor, something quickly caught his eye.

Light was coming from the common area, just around the corner from where Izuku was standing. It was extremely faint, but the fact that it was even there at all was surprising. Was someone else up? He knew some of his classmates liked to stay up late on Saturday nights, but with no power he didn't see what they would be doing. Plus, there weren't any voices or anything.

Slowly approaching the entryway to the common area, Izuku poked his head around the corner to see what the source of the light was.

What he saw made him do a double take.

The dim light appeared to be coming from inside a large mass of pillows, cushions, and blankets in the middle of the room. The sofas, chairs, and tables that normally decorated the area were nowhere to be found, evidently all being used to construct this... thing Izuku was staring at.

Curious about the structure, he cautiously approached. The sounds of the storm were still audible from outside, though slightly dampened by the change of location. He couldn't make out the finer details of the cushion-blob, but it was clear some of the pillows and blankets that made up its structure did not come from this room. If there was more light he might have been able to tell who they might belong to.

Circling the mass, one object did stand out to Izuku: A large sheet draped over some of the cushions. The light seemed to be coming from directly behind the sheet, allowing the curious boy to make out the leopard print coloring of it. Tilting his head, he combed through his memories trying to figure out who it might belong to.

Deciding to investigate further, he grabbed the sheet and slowly lifted. There was clearly some empty space behind it where the light was.

"H...Hello?" He quietly asked, holding the sheet open just enough to peer in. "I-Is someone-

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A piercing shriek from within the construct caused Izuku to let out a scream of his own, falling backwards onto his rear. He frantically scrambled backwards on his hands and feet, staring wildly at where the terrifying sound had come from. A ripple in the sheets made him tense up, his overactive imagination going haywire. Had he disturbed some sort of spirit? Were these dorms actually haunted!? Oh god, was he about to get cursed!?

He nearly screamed again when the sheet opened to reveal a human face, but he stopped himself as he recognized it.

"...M...Midoriya?!"

"T...T...Todoroki?!"

As it turned out, the source of that scream was not some long-dead specter. Shota Todoroki's familiar red and white visage was still quite visible even in the dim light. She was holding the sheet open just enough so her head was poking out, and she didn't exactly look happy.

"Dude... What the heck? Y-You almost gave me a freaking heart attack just now!" She sounded a bit shaken.

"S-S-Sorry!" Izuku stammered as he apologized, slowly climbing to his feet. "I just... I wanted to s-see what this was."

"Well, it's nothing. What are you even doing up this late?" Shota was acting very unusual. Her normally, slightly emotionless demeanor had been replaced with one of impatience and annoyance.

"I...I was wondering the same thing, actually." Why was Shota in this pillow pile at midnight?

"None of your business," the bi-haired girl snapped. "Now go away, I'm-AAH!"

The student let out a yelp as a particularly loud blast of thunder suddenly rang out. Izuku looked over as Shota threw her hands over her ears, crouching down even further than she already was. After a couple seconds, she looked back up to him, with fear in her eyes, and understanding ones in his.

She was afraid of lightning. Or maybe the thunder. Either way, she was afraid, and desperate for safety of any kind.

"I...I couldn't sleep," she confessed.

"I see that now. Sorry if I sounded rude. I'm just gonna get a drink and watch the storm." He said quietly as he moved over to the kitchen and prepared some tea.

"Y-you...like the storm?"

"Yeah I do. It always seemed to calm me, no matter what situation I was in. It just made me feel good. It's kinda like a public bath that no one but I want to get in."

"Well I think it sucks. It's just so loud, and cruel, and just...the worst." She said quietly

"Cruel? Nature can't really be cruel. That's the job of...living...things..." He said as he looked at Todoroki with some worry

'Was this personal or something? Did something bad happen during stormy days?' He asked himself had he then grabbed his mug, and purred the ice cool tea into it, as he then put it away, and walked over to the scared teen

"..."

"..."

"..."

"So...why would you describe it as cruel then?"

"Well...it...it has to do with my father." She said as she looked away from Izuku

"O-oh...I guess that's a quick and effective explanation, I guess." He said in a slightly joking mood, trying not to make her feel any worse

"He...for some reason would...treat me even worse on stormy days. Wether or not that was a coincidence, I don't care to ask, but he just...did. And every time a storm would appear, I would start crying, knowing that pain was to come my way. Even now, I still feel that way." She said as she rubbed her sleeve against her eyes, trying to wipe away the growing amount of tears

Izuku looked at her in sadness, and started thinking of ways to make her stop crying, and to make her relax in the very situation that she hated with all her life. She had some form of PTSD, and he had no way of curing that, but...maybe he could use a tactic that his mother would use when he didn't have the storm to calm his nerves, and put him at ease. He put his mug down as he then hugged the petite girl, enveloping her in the warmest hug he could. She was surprised yes, but...she needed reassurance, something that she, honestly couldn't get from anyone else at this time. She returned the hug with one of her own. and the two stayed there for a few minutes, before Shota got some of her bravery back, and asked Izuku a simple question.

"Can I sleep in your room tonight?" She asked with a slight blush in her cheeks

"S-s-sleep with...me?!" He said, shocked at what she had said

"Y-...yeah. I'm pretty sure I'll just get scared again if I stay down here, or go back to my room alone."

"...Yeah...I guess you could. But...that would mean that I'll have to sleep in your room, since Mineta is next to mine in all."

"No, I understand perfectly. Lets just hurry and get there already." She said with slight haste and annoyance

Midoriya then picked her up bridaly, and speed walked over to her room, quickly pressing the buttons on the elevator as they were brought up, and then sped over to her room, where he locked the door, and slowly set her down as she grabbed a spare pillow, and moved over in bed for him to get comfortable. He then got into bed, and laid down next to her, as they drifted off to sleep, and her arms slowly wrapped around his body, bringing hers closer to his, making her sleep ever so peaceful among the bolts of lightning and yells of thunder int he night. Though, it was an interesting find when their classmates open her door, and saw her, wrapped up next to Midoriya, both of them in peaceful slumber, till Minoru yelled, and was instantly frozen as she woke up, pissed and embarrassed.