Izuku spent the rest of the night hanging out with Ashido, Kaminari, and Sero, eventually passing out on the blond's futon. The two boys' flirting hadn't disappeared, but it was significantly toned down for the evening, something Izuku greatly appreciated. If they'd fully stopped, the conversation would have been choppy and awkward, but if they'd carried on as always, he probably would have had a mental breakdown. They somehow were able to find a happy medium. 

He went home the next day without seeing or speaking to Bakugou. Avoiding Todoroki was nearly impossible, especially since the other man was sitting on the counter as soon as he entered their shared apartment. 

"I'm... sorry," he said as soon as Izuku walked through the door. 

"For what part?" Izuku asked, slipping off his shoes and refusing to meet the other man's eyes. He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring daggers at the floorboards. "For completely embarrassing me in front of our friends? For weaponizing my trauma against me? For siding with Katsuki over me, again? For being so utterly in the wrong that even-" 

"All of it, okay?" Todoroki said, cutting Izuku off. It made the shorter bristle because he was trying to apologize yet continued to talk over him. "I shouldn't have ignored you all week, I shouldn't have teamed up with Katsuki against you, I shouldn't have... said most of the things I did. I just... do you know how terrifying it was when I woke up and you were gone? You didn't leave a note or even shoot me a text. The last time we couldn't get a hold of you, you were gone for three days. I was- I was scared, okay? I was terrified, and I lashed out, and it wasn't fair. I'm sorry." 

Izuku sighed as he dropped his arms, his shoulders sagging. "Have you ever stopped to consider that I might communicate more if you weren't fucking psychotic about every little thing? I know you think I'm your responsibility, and I might have been as a kid, but I'm an adult now. It doesn't matter if I'm out in the world making mistakes, that's what you're supposed to do at college. You need to let me live my own life, Sho." 

"I know that," Todoroki mumbled, running his thumb across the fingers on his other hand. "You're my little brother, and you've already been through so much already. If I can protect you from ever going through something shitty again, then I want to. I guess I didn't realize how suffocating that must be for you." 

Izuku cleared the gap between them in a few steps, holding his hand out to his brother. Todoroki looked up with his eyebrows knitted together, confused by the action. "Compromise," Izuku said, lifting his chin a little higher. "I'll tell you where I'm going, who I'm hanging out with, all that shit. You're allowed to make your opinion known, but you don't get to dictate my life or start shit with the people I'm sleeping with. Sound fair?" 

"Does that person have to be Shinsou?" Todoroki asked, his lips puckering in distaste at the thought of the other man. 

"It doesn't matter who it is, that's the point, Sho," Izuku sighed, throwing his head back in annoyance. 

His hand was suddenly gripped and shook twice. "Fine, I agree to your terms." 

Izuku's smile was blinding as he hopped onto the counter next to his big brother, his world was finally put right again. "Awesome. I missed you, Sho." 

"I didn't go anywhere," he said, bumping their shoulders together as his legs absently swung below him. 

"Sure," Izuku agreed sarcastically. "Wanna watch that new superhero movie?" 

"Duh." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shoto and I came to a tentative agreement

Vaguely Genius~

Oh? 

We're allowed to text now?

Believe it or not, I'm actually allowed to do whatever the fuck I want

He's just going to bitch about it

I think you misspelled 'whoever' shortie

That too

So I get to keep my smoking buddy AND my teeth? 

Dope

Your teeth are still up for debate 

I've got a mean right hook ya know

Sure shortie

How about you come over and show me?

Oh were you allowed back in the house? 

You make me sound like a stray dog

I'm hurt

Ok and?

Ouch shortie

Say it to my face

You are an unbelievable level of horny

You complaining? 

Never :)

I'll be over in a little bit

Unfortunately I do have to play video games with Kami first

That fucking bastard

Sorryyyyyy 

He got to me first

Izuku forced a breath from his lips as he pocketed his phone. "This is stupid and is going to hurt so, so badly." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So," Kaminari dragged out, "you seem to be in a much better mood today." 

Izuku was impressed that it took him a full round of their game to point it out. He thought the blond would be pestering him from the second he walked in the door, but he'd just dragged Izuku to the living room and started yapping about wiping the floor with him. 

"Sho and I made up," he responded quickly, trying to keep his focus on the game. Being friends and gaming buddies with Kaminari had taught him one thing very quickly: the blond would start conversations just to distract him. It was the only way he stood a chance in a game against Izuku. 

Kaminari hummed, button mashing for a second before Izuku swiftly ended his character's life. "So, you and Shinsou?" 

"Don't go there," he grumbled back, in no mood to talk about his current situationship. He wasn't proud of it, but he was already putty in Shinsou's hands. There was no turning back; he was going down with the ship whether he liked it or not. 

"Alright, fine," the blond huffed, leaning back into the couch as he respawned and started hunting Izuku down. "Just be careful, okay? Shinsou is..." he trailed off, searching for the right word. 

"A dick?" Izuku supplied in an offhanded tone. 

"Well, yeah, but not what I was gonna say. It's more like he doesn't realize other people have feelings until he destroys them." 

"So, a dick?" 

"That's a simple word for it, yeah," Kaminari conceded just as the round drew to a close. 

Izuku tossed his controller at the blond, hopping up and ruffling his hair as he went. "Don't worry, I'm a big kid, Kami. I can handle a stupid boy." 

It wasn't often that Kaminari was unreadable, but at that moment, Izuku had no idea what was going through his head. "You're going up there, aren't you?" he asked, not sounding surprised in the slightest. 

"No, I'm gonna go cuddle up to Kacchan," Izuku drawled in response, already heading for the stairs. 

"You know where I am if you need me!" he shouted back. 

A fond smile slipped onto his face as he made his way to Shinsou's room. Kaminari was unbelievably sweet when he wanted to be. 

"Took you long enough," Shinsou said as soon as Izuku pushed his door open. He was sprawled across his bed with his one in one hand, up and alert in seconds. 

He raised a brow at him. "It was, like, thirty minutes." 

"Thirty minutes too long," he stated as he threw his phone onto the bed next to him. "C'mere." 

"You're impossible, you know that?" Despite his teasing, he went right over to the other man and allowed himself to get pulled into his lap. 

Shinsou smirked up at him, his hands holding tight to his thighs. "You love it." 

"Maybe," Izuku said with his own smirk twisting his lips as he grabbed the other man's chin and pulled him forward until their lips connected. 

Short filler chapter before the shit really hits the fan, mwahaha.