Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue

Every first year was required to take a class called Childhood Development in their second term. This included all tracks at UA, so the hero course was no exception. Its primary purpose was to educate students on how to care for an infant as well as what the torments of pregnancy were like and how to budget—finance the future—at the most basic of levels. However, it wasn’t without saying that it was also a secret tactic aimed to scare the students out of “accidentally populating” with one another.

Only a few exceptions are able to escape this course requirement.

The students of class 1-A learned about this horrifying “elective” soon after moving into their dorms and, needless to say, they were not too thrilled.

“Ugh! What if we get one of those stupid robot babies like my sister had? My grades will suffer even more!” Ashido had thrown up her arms and howled to the ceiling, head tilted back against one of the couches in the common room, all the boys elsewhere for the time being. “This is so not fair to the heroes…” she cried, dropping her head into her hands. Momo rubbed comforting circles into her back.

“On top of that, there can only be fourteen students a period,” Hagakure helpfully reminded them.

“And you get jostled up with class 1-B, kero,” Tsuyu added, and the girls collectively groaned.

“I bet the guys get it easy, too,” Jirou said soon after, a hint of spite in her voice.

“Oh my goodness!” They all turned to Ochako, her outburst shocking them. Ochako sunk back into her seat, feeling a little sheepish. “What if we get paired up?”

A heavy silence fell upon the girls then, dread seeping through them. What if one of them ended up with Mineta?

“And there’s an uneven amount of us, too…” they all cringed at Hagakure’s observation—well, all except Tsuyu.

“Good luck with that,” Tsuyu said. She hopped off the couch and padded over to the sink.

None of the girls would figure out what she had meant by that until their first day of the class, where they promptly learned that Tsuyu had been one of the exceptions to the course along with Koda. They had experience taking care of children growing-up, so they were exempt (apparently animals counted as children).

—

Class Roster #1

Childhood Development with Amori Ren, aka "Pink Streak"

Ashido Mina
Bakugo Katsuki
Hagakure Toru
Iida Tenya
Kaminari Denki
Kendo Itsuka
Kirishima Ejirou
Midoriya Izuku
Monoma Neito
Uraraka Ochako
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
Todoroki Shoto

Amori Ren flipped through his class rosters, humming and bouncing his right foot off his left knee. “Well this will be an interesting semester,” he said aloud, reading each student’s profile. There was some overflow from the hero version of his class into the support and general studies, but it was nothing Ren couldn’t handle. He’d just have to double-time his lectures was all—for the variations between the two, that is. What surprised Ren was the fact that there was an overflow at all. Normally Shouta would’ve expelled half his class this far into the year.

Perhaps I won’t be missing that Hawaii-cation after all, Ren chuckled, dropping the papers onto his prim desk and leaning back into the pink wheelie chair. The sound of the pack of papers echoed across the empty classroom, and the pink window shades fluttered a little.

Oh are they in for a change. Ren shut the door—after walking out—and locked it, Yaoyorozu Momo’s profile left atop the stack of papers.

—

Izuku’s eyes were assaulted the minute he walked into the unfamiliar classroom. There were pink window shades, lamp shades, ceiling light covers, cushions in what must’ve been a study corner, desk chairs, cupboards in the back, even the back door was pink and, of course, the instructor’s desk chair (as well as his desk, somehow). Variations of pink littered the room all throughout and, sadly, the only things that weren’t pink were the black lab tables as well as the floor and ceiling (and main door), luckily enough.

Unsurprisingly, their instructor was wearing a salmon pink bodysuit with mostly red accessories and accents, the mask being red as well. His hair, however, must have been the link to it all as it was pale pink in color. The sheer length of it all really had Izuku wondering if he was really a male. At least he kept it up in a ponytail (although most female heroes did that anyway so it really shouldn’t matter). Boy was he tall, though.

“Good morning, Midoriya-shounen,” Amori-sensei nodded to his obviously-staring-face, and Izuku squeaked.

“G-g-good morning to you, too—A-a-amori-sensei!” the honorific really threw Izuku off, making him think of All Might. All in all, he still felt rude for staring at his new teacher like that. However, the man simply smiled at him and nodded toward the room’s center.

“You can sit wherever you like, but know that I will be assigning seats before the end of the day, so don’t get too comfortable!” Izuku tried to return the young hero’s brilliant smile, but it came out watery instead.

He was too anxious today.

Amori-sensei leaned against his desk and casually lifted his feet into the air a bit as Izuku walked past. He greeted another student that walked in. Izuku sat next to Iida, glad to be far from the bickering Kacchan (he definitely didn’t appreciate the room decor it seemed).

A couple seconds after the “bell” tolled, Amori-sensei pushed off the desk and placed his hands on his hips, practically beaming at the class.

“Alright now, children! Time to settle down,” he said, still grinning ear-to-ear despite the fact no one much liked being compared to “children.”

“My name is Amori Ren, as you all may well know now,” he started out, crossing a leg over the other. “I’m an American hero known as Pink Streak, hailing mainly from Hawaii.”

That would explain the accent, Izuku thought. His Japanese is surprisingly good, if not a little too formal.

Amori-sensei raised his left hand to reveal a tiny control stick. Upon pressing the button, an overhead came down over the classic chalkboard. Izuku’s notebook was out in a flash, so fast Iida hadn’t registered any movement at all, it appeared. The smaller boy was already scribbling away the second Amori-sensei started talking again.

“But we’re not here to talk about me!” Amori-sensei continued, uncrossing his legs to step back. Pink hair swished behind him, causing Izuku to look back up and see him jerk his head back to point out the over-head’s existence. The screen was covered in a very light pink, save for the bold title in white: “Childhood Development.” The subtitle beneath it read, “Part One: Introduction to Life with a Significant Other.”

“This is Childhood Development, and boy do we have a lot to go over before we get into any of the real activities,” Amori-sensei said, smirking. There goes Izuku’s chance to learn about a pro from America…(although he detected a foreign dialect coming in, which was interesting enough to study for the time being).

A collective groan followed the—new?—teacher’s statement, some muttering about whatever Amori-sensei meant by “real activities.” But nothing beat Kacchan’s response, who had been quietly—wait, was he seriously trying to cover the pink of his chair with ballpoint pen ink?! Izuku sighed at Kacchan’s insanity, though he admired his tenacity sometimes.

“What the FUCK is with all this damn PINK?” Kacchan shouted when Amori-sensei changed the slide—only to reveal a white background with a light pink title and dark pink body text. “I’M GONNA LOSE MY GODDAMN MIND! AREN’T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE A MAN?!” Kacchan screamed, but was cut off when the teacher apparatted behind him, bopping him on the head with a roll of paper.

Kacchan whipped around to return the favor, but no sooner than the bopping had begun to resound, had the teacher reappeared in front of Kacchan’s desk, hand cupped around the wild teen’s raised wrist.

“Remember to always respect your instructors, Bakugo-shounen.” Amori-sensei leaned over Kacchan’s wild hair and said, tone emotionless. Kacchan surprisingly withheld from retaliating after Amori-sensei had let him go, back at his desk before anyone could even blink.

Was that his quirk? So fast no one could see it coming? Izuku pondered this, theorizing in his new hero notebook while Amori-sensei introduced the varying types of material to be covered over the course of the first couple of weeks as well as material that will be later introduced.

Izuku supposed it was time to pull out his classroom notebook now.

—

“Is the equipment seriously pink?” Kacchan screamed. “What, are you gonna teach us about romance or something? Gah!” he finished, throwing up his arms. The bakusquad—who Izuku deemed as Kaminari and Kirishima, yet sometimes Ashido and Sero—laughed.

“Well, the board did say something about ‘life with a significant other,’” Ashido quipped, laughing still.

“Pay attention, Bakugo!” Iida spoke out beside Izuku, pushing up his glasses. “If you had refrained from interrupting so many times, maybe we would’ve known by now,” he continued, waving one hand around in a chopping motion all-the-while. “And Ashido-san, please do not encourage him!” he finished.

“Shut up, four eyes!”

A snicker caught all of their attention. “Ah, classic 1-A! Always the trouble-makers—”

“Shut up, Monoma!” Even some of the class 1-B students said this along with 1-A. Amori-sensei merely chuckled at their antics. This was going to be an interesting class indeed.

—

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: What Kind of Class is This?!

Izuku sat next to Monoma for a whole month, learning about basic household duties and how to balance finances between one another. The first part was extremely awkward because Monoma seemed to really hate him and would request a “divorce trial” on the daily.

The “Divorce Trial” was both a test of knowledge on the course material as well as a final game of chance that determined if you were successful in “divorcing” your current partner. Izuku thought this was silly when considering your partner was temporary (and definitely not official), but students engaged in it anyway. Monoma and Kacchan were the only crazy ones to take up the task every day, though.

Amori-sensei said the “Divorce Court” would close when they hit the final part of the class, however, saying that your partner was “permanent” by that point.

The only person to ever actually succeed in a divorce was Yaoyorozu from his second period. This was lucky for her considering her partner was Mineta and he was, unsurprisingly, rather inappropriate to her.

Izuku was just glad he wasn’t forced to study with Monoma—the guy was obnoxious!—especially when it came to reading about pregnancies, followed by baby care. (It sucked when they had to change a really old baby doll’s diaper together in class, though. Izuku laughed when Kacchan had blown his baby to bits, however, even though he really shouldn’t have considering they were supposed to be “real babies.” Kacchan really didn’t like Shiozaki, it seemed.)

The next month the whole class was promptly rearranged, with Izuku finding his name next to Uraraka’s on a desk in the back. Some students appeared grateful for the seemingly unexpected change, while others expressed clear distaste over either their new seat, their new partner, or there being a change in general (some students were creatures of habit). While Izuku wasn’t a fan of sitting in the back, he wasn’t going to throw chairs over it (grateful to be with anyone other than Monoma if anything).

What he wasn’t expecting was a third partner.

“Hi,” Tetsutetsu said simply, voice gruff yet calm.

Izuku raised his hand a little, wiggling his fingers in a sort of half-assed wave. “H-hi,” he squeaked. The class 1-B students always made him feel nervous due to the way they initially introduced themselves. Uraraka giggled as Izuku took his seat on the other side of her, their seats way too close for comfort. Now he missed how spacious it was when he only shared a lab table with Monoma.

Looking around the classroom (he was literally in the back corner seat, so this was easy to do), Izuku noticed a pattern of two males to one female, who was seated in-between them. The only exception was Hagakure and Kirishima, who were seated at the table in front of Izuku.

Curious, Izuku was about to raise his hand to inquire, but the teacher had beat him to it in the end.

“Good afternoon,” Amori-sensei exclaimed, walking through the door. “I would hope that you all had a good lunch, but if the various excitement levels are anything to go by, I would take that as a no.” Half the class appeared to be glaring daggers at the teacher now, though some were smiling. Flipping his ponytail behind him, Amori-sensei walked to the center of the “teacher zone” and halted.

“Anywho!” he beamed, hands on his hips (this quickly became a reoccurring thing for him). “I’m sure you’re all wondering why the seats have been altered, ne?” Kacchan growled, seated at the center of the room with Kendo and Iida. Iida looked particularly uncomfortable about being paired with Kacchan of all students. Izuku made a mental note to cheer him up later with some tea.

Amori-sensei blatantly ignored the class’ response. “I hinted many-a-time that you’d be getting new partners for the project portion of this class, and we have just now reached our first major project—woo!” The class groaned while Amori-sensei clapped, grinning ear-to-ear. “Now don’t get too sad! You’re in groups of three for the first one, so it’ll be a cinch! Keep in mind that this is only because there is a lack of females in the class, as there always is in the hero section, sadly,” Amori-sensei said with a straight face, suddenly serious. Just as soon as his face had fallen, however, he immediately perked back up, setting out for his desk drawer.

“It’s too bad none of you identified as the opposite gender, though. That would’ve been interesting!” Interesting indeed, Izuku thought. Something gave him the impression the teacher wanted a transgender student to work with.

Izuku raised his eyebrows when the teacher came back with an obnoxious, sparkly box in his hands. Half the box was a glitter pink while the other half was sky blue, and also very much sparkly. Yuuga will probably cry when he sees it.

“Get ready for some torment, ladies! I do hope you don’t hate me for this, though, as it’s a first for this class and I really don’t wish to upset you too much…” What is it? Izuku bit down on a nail, intensely watching the teacher sift through the box. “Aha! Finally found my demonstration one,” Amori-sensei exclaimed, pulling out some strange object. It looked to be a large oval with a waist band, somewhat like a belt with an extremely large buckle decoration. The flesh tone kind of creeped Izuku out, though it looked soft to touch. To Izuku’s horror, Amori-sensei started to attach it to where his stomach was located. Why is he doing that?

“You all learned everything you need to know about how the growth works, so now you can simulate it!” Amori-sensei continued, still attaching the straps against his back. He sighed after the oval was officially secured to his front, then picked up what looked to be a controller from his desk. “Even our pro heroes have to endure this pain, except theirs is the real deal! You’re just getting a little taste of it beforehand.” The teacher pressed a couple buttons as he talked, and the oval made a weird humming noise. If Izuku’s eyes weren’t deceiving him, it looked like the oval was bulging out a little.

“Starting today, each of you young ladies will be receiving one of these handy-dandy Baby Belly Simulators to wear throughout the month!” Izuku watched the “belly” enlarge as Amori-sensei toyed with the remote, clearly ignoring the collective gasp from the class. “I’ll be helping you fit into it today, and you will wear it when you leave as well as wherever you go. Real pregnant women don’t get breaks, so neither do you. The only time you get to take it off is when you have to shower, because that would be awful if not! Since you are heroes-in-training, I’ve allowed for two presses of the shower button each day, but only once-per-day on the weekend. You get approximately thirty minutes for each session before it alerts me that you’re not wearing your…” A slightly shaking form in his peripheral brought Izuku to look away from Amori-sensei, only to discover that Uraraka was the shaking one. Her face looked absolutely mortified.

“Oh god,” she whispered.

“...It will act as if there is really an infant growing inside, except sped-up significantly to only last a month rather nine—oh! If only we had time for the full nine…” One button caused for the oval to shoot a small portion outward, as if something was trying to escape from the inside. Was that supposed to be the baby kicking?!

“This hero is crazy…” Izuku heard Hagakure whisper to Kirishima, who half-snorted in response.

“I wonder what we have to do with it…?” Kirishima responded, though his whispers were always a little too loud for his own good.

“Excellent question!” Amori-sensei broke his own train of thought, raising his head to smile Kirishima’s way. “I was going to get to that point, but since you’re dying to know, I can inform you now.” Izuku swore all the guys were holding their breath now. Following placing the remote onto the table, Amori-sensei crossed over to the lab table before him and poked Kaminari in the forehead. “You get to be the supporting husband!” The guys all released their withheld breaths—that is, until the teacher shifted to poke Todoroki in the forehead as well (he was careful to avoid the scar). “And you are also the husband! I know it sucks to share a wife, but at least you’ll have help tending to her demands!” he finished with a shit-eating grin, hands back on his hips. The Baby Belly Simulator rumbled.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?! Izuku paled. And how was he going to find time to meet up with a class 1-B student for this (the minor assignments with Monoma were easier).

“What the fuck? How can you expect me to share a woman with four-eyes?!” A familiar popping noise resounded throughout the room. Classic Kacchan.

“Alrighty!” Amori-sensei clapped his hands, obviously dismissing whatever argument Kacchan was about to make. “I’ll take more questions after we get these things fitted onto each female,” Amori-sensei turned to the offending box again and started pulling out Baby Belly Simulators. The class slowly came back to life shortly after, chatting animatedly.

“Sucks you’ll have to suffer alone in normal classes,” Izuku heard Kacchan snicker, and Kendo looked like she was about ready to slap him with one of her large hands.

“Bakugo! That is not an appropriate way to talk to your wife,” Iida shouted, shoving his glasses way up the bridge of his nose while simultaneously “chopping” the table.

“Oh put a sock in it, four-eyes!” Popping noises resounded, but Amori-sensei feigned deaf as he helped Ashido into the simulator (she was Kaminari and Todoroki’s “wife”).

“Oh and Bakugo-shounen,” Amori-sensei cut off whatever he was saying to Ashido as he attached the straps around her. “The ‘Divorce Court’ remains open until next month. Good luck~”

“This is definitely the worst class yet,” Uraraka muttered next to Izuku, sinking in her seat. Izuku patted her shoulder lightly, but she jumped at the contact. “D-d-d-deku...!” she squeaked, bristling and face reddening. Izuku pulled his hand back and scratched behind his head instead, feeling a blush creep on as well.

“S-sorry, Uraraka-san,” he stuttered. “Thought it might help…” Feeling eyes on him, Izuku glanced over at Tetsutetsu. The other boy was giving him a look that could’ve only been pity.

He was probably feeling lucky he didn’t share every class with Uraraka was what it was.

—

The month went by surprisingly fast. Being that Uraraka was his friend, Izuku didn’t have as rough of a time with her as others did with their partners.

Well, at least in the beginning he didn’t.

Uraraka had only complained a little in the very beginning, being that she was adjusting to the sudden weight and all. She was definitely irritated by it growing in weight every day, but Izuku discovered that rubbing it made it lighter for Uraraka somehow every time he did so. The action would improve her mood a bit—despite how awkward it was at first, of course.

They quickly discovered that her mood affected the simulator in both positive and negative ways. Izuku just wished he was better at “improving her mood” toward the end, however, because Uraraka had nearly gone crazy—just like the all the other girls had—and it was pretty scary!

The second week had her cursing and floating herself to every destination, not wanting to move at all. Izuku never imagined getting the chance to carry a girl before, especially not as often as he ended up carrying Uraraka (she grew heavier by the day, too).

Part-way through the third week she was standing on desks and throwing chairs around, screaming her need for an “immediate C-section or else!” She looked just like the time she came back from her internship, except definitely more violent and “with child.”

By the final week the girls had pulled a disappearing act, conspiring against the guys. They wanted them to lose points for missing out on “belly bonding” time with them since they thought it unfair that they had to suffer physically. Izuku and the rest of the guys had to hunt them down at night in the forest, very much annoyed.

The girls’ plan backfired in the end, though, because Amori-sensei said that the wife was supposed to crave time with her husbands, so it ultimately affected all of them. Either way, he confirmed that they were graded as a group anyway, so individual wins and losses affected each trio as a whole. That sucked.

There was one reaction that was most disconcerting for Izuku. Yaoyorozu was obviously consuming more-and-more than her normal intake of food by the day (and she already ate quite a bit already, no thanks to her demanding quirk). At first, Izuku thought that maybe it was due to the tougher training sessions, but that was disproven when they hit lighter days and she continued to eat three, or four big guy meals even, still! Other girls had noticed, too (Izuku caught Jirou whispering about it to Tsu).

Eventually Izuku gathered the courage to ask her directly about, but was taken aback by her mysterious response, “I’m sorry, Midoriya-kun. I wish I could tell you, but that would require breaking a promise.” Yaoyorozu smiled softly at the lunch table, though the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m fine, really—no need to worry.”

Izuku never imagined the real reason for her sudden diet change.

When the girls had their Baby Belly Simulators removed Friday of the last week, it was like a weight had been lifted off the entire room. They started smiling and laughing again, even going as far as to make a show of their newfound freedom by running around the classroom, high-fiving Amori-sensei when they passed him. The girls were generally quiet the remainder of the class, but participated in the final tests with their groups. Izuku was just glad Uraraka was smiling again—anger didn’t suit her (and quite frankly, it was very scary seeing innocent Uraraka rage).

—

The following monday marked the beginning of the worst of all terrors. Their weekend break was the eye before the storm, it seemed. On top of that, Aizawa-sensei’s unexpectedly “normal” announcement of an end-of-year dance had all of Class 1-A on edge for another reason now.

Izuku lagged behind Iida and Uraraka, who were talking about the dance just like everyone else passing by in the hallway. Did he have to go? Who was he going to ask (or rather, have the courage to ask)? Why should hero students even have to worry about a silly high school dance?

Consequently, falling out-of-step with Iida and Uraraka left Izuku to fall into step with Todoroki, the recent member of the “Dekusquad” (much to Izuku’s dismay that the other classmates deemed his friends and him as such), and who unfortunately also appeared to take notice of Izuku’s contemplative expression.

“Are you doing alright, Midoriya?” Izuku jumped at the sudden deep voice, clutching his notebook closer to his chest before looking to the voice’s owner. Todoroki got him every time with how unnaturally deep his voice was (it was seriously unfair). The boy in question had his head tilted sideways, looking down at Izuku. The way his white hair mixed with the red half from the sudden motion lured Izuku into wanting to separate it, and he even reached up to do so before stopping himself midway. Blushing to the tips of his ears, the poor boy mused his own hair up instead and muttered nonsensically. Todoroki raised his white brow at him.

“To-to-to-todoroki-kun,” Izuku nearly stumbled as he walked. “I-I’m fine,” he shook his head, then swallowed. “Just feeling anxious, I guess…” Izuku trailed off, looking ahead. Iida and Uraraka had just disappeared into the classroom then, which was sounding more-and-more rowdy the closer they got.

“Let’s just get this day over with,” Izuku said with a smile, although the force made it turn out more watery. “The last project can’t be nearly as bad as the last one, right?”

He couldn’t have been anymore wrong.

The second they entered the classroom, Izuku noticed right away that the lab tables had been rearranged again, the extra ones stored in the back due to the nature of their last project returned to their rightful places. New name cards adorned the surfaces, too, some students already at their designated seats. Izuku noticed that Iida and Uraraka were paired up this time, and he couldn’t have been any happier for them. However, that made the idea of whoever his new partner was worrisome…

The second thing that Izuku noticed was how the teacher’s desk was covered in what looked to be large wicker baskets of various colors—there were even matching ribbons tied to each handle. Although the display made Izuku seriously nervous, he decided to look away and focus on finding his new seat.

Let’s get this final project over with, Izuku thought as he scanned the classroom. Unsurprisingly, he caught Kacchan’s gaze first, and had to brace himself for the verbal attack—that never came. All Kacchan did was grunt and shift elbow-armrests. Huh, perhaps the wild teen was actually satisfied with his partner for once?

“Shitty hair, get your ass over here!” he suddenly barked, making Izuku jump the tiniest bit. Apparently Kirishima had just walked through the door then, the “bell” sounding a second later.

“What up, Bakubro?” the jovial guy cheered, whisking by Izuku on his way over to Kacchan. “Ah wait, we’re partners? Sweet!”

“Midoriya, your name tag’s over here.” Once again, Izuku jumped at Todoroki’s sudden voice, this one not going unnoticed by Kacchan, who snickered.

“H-hai!” Izuku called, scampering over to the second-row lab table, over by the window (somehow Todoroki usually got a window seat, with the exception of the last project, of course). It took all his will power to bring down the creeping blush the second Izuku sat next to him, dropping his bag to the floor.

“Good afternoon, students! And how’re you all feeling on this fine monday?” Amori-sensei addressed the class amidst strolling in, a couple of the giant wicker baskets in-hand. No response followed his greeting. Evidently Izuku’s classmates were too shocked by the mysterious “gifts” on the desk to pay their respects.

Amori-sensei chuckled at the sea of blank faces. “You all look so excited about the crane’s arrival.” Crane? Izuku pondered while the teacher set what must have been the last two baskets beside his desk (there was no more space actually on it). What does any of this have to do with a crane? “Just pretend I’m the baby-delivering crane for today, alright, my young newly-weds?” Amori-sensei beamed, hands on his hips. He stood at the center now, taking in the mixed looks of shock and disgust on their faces.

Newly-weds?! Izuku paled just before going beet-red. Based off his situational awareness, Izuku could only assume it was going to be like the previous project. That meant that he was to be “newly weds” with Todoroki. Todoroki Shouto, only the hottest boy in class 1-A (pun totally unintended), and recent object of Izuku’s affections. It was going to be even harder to keep his cool around Todoroki now. Izuku internally sighed, glancing at said boy out of the corner of his eye.

“If the series of expressions he just went through in one minute are anything to go by, I’d say Midoriya-shounen’s already figured it out,” Amori-sensei said with a grin, and Izuku finished all over again. He could just make out Kacchan’s scoff from the back. “But to clarify, let me begin by explaining your final project,” Amori-sensei continued, a suspicious glint in his eye—it made Izuku even more anxious. Evidently he must’ve been muttering, too, because Todoroki nudged him with an elbow. Sparing a glance at the boy, Izuku realized that Todoroki wasn’t any better off, as he was playing with the hem of his shirt. Cute, Izuku gushed, sliding his hands down his thighs. Wait, what? He should not be having these kinds of thoughts right now…

“...Yes, Iida-shounen, the birds are usually referred to as ‘storks,’ however! The original myth is about cranes, not storks.” Izuku tuned in when Iida’s name was mentioned, apparently having missed whatever question his friend asked Amori-sensei while he was studying Todoroki. Izuku trained his eyes solely on the teacher now, biting his thumbnail. He couldn’t miss anymore!

“...And so we’re moving past the pregnancy stage now to welcome home the newborn—say hello to your little ones, class!” Boy was Izuku sweating now at the implication of the teacher’s obvious gesture toward the array of wicker baskets. “You will be taking care of the little tyke I present to you today with your seat partner,” Amori-sensei exclaimed, picking up two of the baskets as if to emphasize.

“And before you question your partners, I simply randomized all the names and this was the result. You don’t need to be a ‘traditional heterosexual couple’ to have a child—adopting is a thing!!—so I don’t care to enforce larger groups to make up for our sad female-to-male ratio.” Amori-sensei said this whilst handing out the first two baskets he had grabbed. It was strange because he had to look at a tag at the top to find out which basket belonged to who. But why did that matter? Weren’t they all getting the same doll? There was surely going to be a puddle of sweat on the ground by the time Izuku left for class dismissal. In fact, Uraraka’s face—upon peering into the pink basket she shared with Iida—only increased the rate of Izuku’s anxious perspiration.

“And by the way, since the Divorce Court is now officially closed,” Amori-sensei spoke again while grabbing two more baskets, shushing the steadily-growing whispering. “You have opportunities for extra credit to make up for any hard feelings with your new partner.” Izuku didn’t like the smile Amori-sensei was sporting—it was almost sinister-like, in a way.

The teacher placed a basket in front of an admittedly extremely stiff Tetsutetsu and a frowning Kendo. “Every romantic interaction with your partner and honest display of affection toward your offspring shared by one another may find you with a glittering A-plus on this final project,” he said with a shit-eating grin. “Only if it’s real, of course.” Izuku gaped while Amori-sensei giggled, skipping down the aisle toward the awaiting “presents.” Izuku swore it just rose twenty-to-thirty degrees in his immediate area, too. Boy was he sweating now if he wasn’t before!

“What the fuck?!” A familiar voice cried. “You expect me to get all googly-eyes—with Shitty Hair?! Nice try, sensei,” Kacchan spat after slamming his hands on the table. Izuku’s throat felt very dry, and he started to fan at his face a little. Why did he have to leave his water bottle in the locker room?

Amori-sensei rolled his eyes at Kacchan before heading straight for him. “Obviously it’s not a requirement, Bakugo-shounen,” he said, almost at the fuming boy’s lab table. “I don’t expect half of you to even bother, really.” Amori-sensei placed a golden basket before Kirishima and swiveled on his heels to return to the front. The smile on his face read as somewhat sad to Izuku, melancholic in a way.

“Gimme that!” Izuku heard Kacchan whisper-shout to Kirishima, followed by a subtle scraping sound. Must’ve snatched the basket, Izuku thought before he turned to catch the show himself. What he didn’t expect was Kacchan’s look of utter horror over whatever lied among the soft blankets. Izuku licked his chapped lips, still watching Kacchan’s silent scream as Amori-sensei whisked by, dropping something in front of him.

Izuku jumped and jerked his head toward the offending object, only to widen his eyes at the green basket. Oh god, did he really have to look now? But curiosity won over trepidation so there Izuku was, peering into the basket now, pushing aside the white fluffy blankets that he had wanted to touch oh-so-badly before.

Izuku looked down at the large wicker basket. The swaddled form inside was entirely motionless, and the white blanket was wrapped so tightly around his head that the chubby cheeks bulged outward. Although the face was completely still, the color of the flesh was all too real for Izuku, and its lightly-freckled face gave him the shivers.

“I think it has your hair.” Izuku jumped at the sudden opinion, but in all honesty, it was really the tiny—yet prominent—light green curl that stuck at the top of the wrap that caused him the biggest scare.

Kaminari was right: this was going to be the worst semester of his life…

The doll’s cheeks looked so...real. Izuku had the urge to disprove the misleading image, to poke the cheeks. Izuku reached in. He was hesitant at first, but eventually poked the cheek. The cheek gave in a little—but not too much—and came back as Izuku retrieved his finger, red fading as he had pressed in and forming whilst he moved his finger away. Izuku shuddered. The “infant” was clearly unresponsive, yet so realistic at the same time—it was highly disturbing!

(Especially the freckles. Boy did the freckles freak him out.)

“So now that everyone has their rightful baby, I’m going to explain the assignment in detail,” Amori-sensei started after reaching the front. He dusted his hands off at the center, offering a smile in a weak attempt to calm the growing panic.

“Each of you will be raising the infant as if they’re your precious little one in your new family life, so I expect to see gentle treatment of the infants.” Amori-sensei walked down the aisle by Kaminari, observing the students’ horrified expressions. Izuku fixed his gaze on the teacher, determined not to look at the offending creature before him. Todoroki seemed to be thinking the same thing, as he still had yet to even glance the basket’s way. Wasn’t he even a little bit curious?

“As for how this works—since I’m sure you’re all wondering about how immobile the baby is right now—it’s actually rather simple.” Amori-sensei stopped in front of Sero, who was frozen in his seat, wide-eyed. “Your newborn comes with a link of cards in the basket, that which each signify a different form of care.” Amori-sensei reached into Sero’s basket and pulled out a lock-ring with several white cards hanging off it. “When the baby cries, insert one of these cards into the slot in the baby’s back.” Uraraka caught Izuku’s attention when she suddenly whipped her head around to gawk at Amori-sensei. “I don’t expect you to know what’s wrong with an animatronic child, so you’ll just have to try out different cards,” he continued, dropping the cards onto the table. Sero glared at said cards now. “But of course! You can’t expect it to be that easy~” Izuku started muttering again as Amori-sensei reached into Sero’s basket—with both hands this time.

“Of course there’s a catch,” Izuku overheard Hagakure whispering behind him, and he ceased his muttering. Todoroki shifted in his seat.

“There’s a time-lapse between use of cards, with the first two being free game.” Amori-sensei lifted the fake infant, still swaddled. Sero scrunched up into the back of his chair. Ashido was covering her eyes now, probably trying to live in the idea that this day was just some hyper-realistic dream. (But Izuku knew better than to believe the day a dream.) “If the second card should fail to please your little terror, then you will have to wait a couple minutes before trying a new hand. I suggest cradling the little one to lessen the aggro—these babies do have sensors in their bodies, so attention does help calm—if only to lower the volume of the wailing.” Amori-sensei demonstrated how to “cradle” with Sero and Ashido’s project.

“If the third card doesn’t work, then you will have to wait five minutes, and if the fourth? Another five minutes as well, during which the infant can form a different problem that needs attention, so you can no longer rule out the other cards.” Amori-sensei finished with what could easily be mistaken for a wicked smile, gingerly unwrapping the robobaby from its blanketed prison.

“P-please tell me this only lasts a week…” Sero shuddered, and Amori-sensei looked down at him, as if he was actually seeing Sero for the first time (not just his robotic offspring). He grinned.

“Your little girl affects your final grade, Sero-shounen, so when do you think it ends?” Sero paled and Ashido shook beside him. We are so screwed, Izuku thought, shaking himself now.

“This is bull—”

“Now then!” Amori-sensei cut Kacchan off before the boy burst. “I believe you know enough to effectively begin the process now, so everyone take out your newborn!” Amori-sensei placed Sero’s unwrapped infant into his hands. He crossed in front of their table and patted Ashido’s head, urging her to be brave and help Sero.

“Remove the blanket and flip your child over,” he continued, walking up the aisle to return to the front. “Just underneath the baby’s buttocks—and before the sex—is a tiny button. Press that button. Use a pen if you have to, but it’s time to grant your newborn life!” Amori-sensei chuckled, arms spread out to the ceiling and head tilted back. Izuku was totally content to watch him, wishing to postpone the nightmare a little longer.

But Todoroki just had to nudge him, because Izuku was the hard-working student that never shied from a mere project. Why couldn’t he be the one to activate the terror?

Squeezing his eyes shut, Izuku reached into the basket and felt around the form. Finding the edges, he raised the “baby” up and dared take a peek.

The freckled cheeks remained, but the audible gasp next to him was new. Oh yeah, Todoroki hadn’t even seen the robobaby yet, had he?

Show him you’re not a coward.

Izuku pulled the blanket down from over the baby’s head first. Although he jumped from the sudden popping of tiny tufts of green hair, he was quick to move on to removing the blanket completely. Izuku balanced the baby atop the blanket on his left hand, but brought it closer to his chest. He lifted the legs with his free hand, trying not to cringe at the tiny phallus that definitely should not have been mobile (or there nonetheless!). Unfortunately the button was inset, so Izuku would definitely need a pen. Apparently Todoroki seemed to understand this, too, because he was poking around his right hand with a pen the next second. Wait, was that an Endeavor’s Agency pen? How cheeky of him.

Trying his damndest not to laugh at the implication, Izuku accepted the pen and carefully pressed the tip into the buttonhole.

The mixed gasps and screams of his classmates around Izuku still didn’t prepare him for what followed. The robo-baby’s eyes literally snapped open, and its permanently-bent-at-the-elbow-arms raised up to press its permanently-closed-fists against its cheek, its little legs also raising higher. If the blinking didn’t freak Izuku out enough, the gray eyes did—along with their freaky flecks of ice blue. He was shaking so bad that the infant almost fell out of his hand. Izuku quickly secured the infant with both hands but, consequently, it began to make hiccupping noises, the cheeks reddening and eyelids lowering.

Oh god…

Izuku looked over to Todoroki for some form of advice, but the boy was clearly too transfixed by the terror to offer any help—his eyes were the widest Izuku had ever seen them.

Ashido was definitely screaming in the background, and Monoma crying that he nor cracked the mystery that was Hagakure’s childhood appearance. Amori-sensei was simply revelling in the madness, not even caring to scold Uraraka for sending her project floating to the ceiling (Iida trying to save their somehow-giggling-baby).

“Is someone gonna tell me how the fuck this robot looks like Shitty Hair and me at the SAME TIME? WHO PLANNED THIS?!” Kacchan might as well have been roaring, attracting everyone’s attention to the back as he stood on his chair, one foot on the table. Kirishima was waving his hands around, shouting for Kacchan to give him the baby. Their infant cried as Kacchan held it out in front of him, Simba-style. Izuku had to suppress a laugh at the sight, his own robo-baby’s hiccups turning into a wail. Perhaps he should cradle it?

Amori-sensei was at Kacchan’s table in an instant, guiding the raging boy back to his seat. “I suppose you all deserve to know now,” he said with a sigh, reaching around Kacchan to take the baby from him. “Don’t throw your newborn, Bakugo-shounen!” Amori-sensei exclaimed, for Kacchan had casually tossed the baby over to Kirishima to deal with. Kirishima mirrored Amori-sensei’s frown at Kacchan.

“This better not affect our grade,” Kirishima pouted, rocking the robo-baby back-and-forth in his arms.

“Well, looks like we know who the mother in this relationship is,” Amori-sensei added with a sly smirk, Kirishima instantly blushing and Kacchan scowling.

This seemed to bring the class back to order, although it was through shameless laughter at their misfortunate peer. Izuku copied Kirishima’s action while they all focused on them, and Uraraka released her infant. (Iida had to cease his air-chopping to save their “newborn.”)

“Are you all just going to forget about this creepy engineering bullshit?!” Kacchan shouted amidst the coos he was receiving from the others, slamming his hands onto the table and standing up.

(“Aww! Such a cute couple,” Ashido had said, turning around in her seat to wave her fingers at Kacchan. Kaminari had blown kisses to them.)

Amori-sensei chuckled, walking up to the center of the room where Kaminari and Shiozaki were seated. Their “newborn” was wailing up a storm after Kaminari somehow thought it was okay to “shock it to silence.” It appeared to be immune to electrical malfunctions.

At least Izuku had managed to calm his infant, if only the volume itself was minimized.

“You may recall my saying that other opportunities for extra credit would arise as we went on,” Amori-sensei began, one hand lifted up while the other barely touched the edge of Shiozaki’s side of the lab table. “Well, one student in particular happened to have a very useful ability that—naturally—arose in me offering her extra credit in exchange for her services,” he continued, one eye closed while the other watched Kaminari closely as he fidgeted with his sudden offspring. (He omitted the fact that Yaoyorozu was able to choose her own final partner to make up for her struggle.)

Izuku couldn’t help but notice the mood darken, sure that the class had figured out who the “student” was.

“I thought that the neutral babies were too bland, so having her recreate them based off a pre-selected list of partners would make them more personal, and therefore,” Amori-sensei reached into Shiozaki’s abandoned basket to retrieve the cards, “you more inclined to take the cries of your newborn seriously, since they look like you and all,” he finished with a smile, having walked behind the desk to hand Kaminari the keys.

“Now help your babies quickly so I can get through the lesson plan!” Amori-sensei clapped his hands, suddenly at the front of the room again. “We have a lot to cover before I send you off with the little angels for your first night together.”

This last month was definitely going to be a nightmare. Between the babies, hero training, the exams, the dance—wait a minute! What were they going to do with the babies for the dance?! Wasn’t it too shallow to ask about the dance, though? Izuku stared down at the little terror, sweat breaking out at his temples. The eyes were squeezed shut and the mouth wide open, soft cries emitting from it.

He was so focused on his tumbling thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed Todoroki’s taking of the cards until his arms were snaking around the infant. Izuku jumped at the sudden intrusion, eyes blown as the newborn was taken away.

“Wh-whaa?” Izuku exclaimed, looking to Todoroki with creased brows. The boy was quick to flip the robo-baby over and lift the blue, “It’s a boy!” tee up to expose the hidden card slot. Izuku gaped, watching Todoroki stick a single white card into the slot. The infant’s cries faded away soon after, and Todoroki flipped the newborn to lay on its back in his lap. The infant’s eyelids were relaxed now, and its mouth slightly ajar as it softly...snored?

Heterochromic eyes were on him now, and Izuku gulped at Todoroki’s slight amusement. “Guess he just needed a nap,” he whispered, the white card in his free hand reading a bold, black-colored ‘NAP’ in the corner. Todoroki went back to fussing over the baby then as Izuku stared, taking the blanket from Izuku’s lap to wrap around the “sleeping” infant. The dual-quirk wielder held the “newborn” closer to his chest and started humming in soft tones, head bowed.

Izuku watched the odd display of affection in silence, committing how Todoroki’s hair gracefully fell forward to memory and oh god, his voice. Izuku could listen to the deep, soft tones for hours on end—

The sheer domesticity of it all was gonna kill him, and Todoroki’s discreet smile when he glanced over at Izuku—as if asking, “am I doing okay? Am I doing this right?”—had Izuku on his way to cardiac arrest.

Oh All Might, how was he ever going to survive this last month?

—

PREVIEW

“I am...running toward the sound of infantile wailing!” All Might cried out, sliding on into Izuku’s homeroom classroom in his signature entrance pose. The teen smiled at his mentor’s remark, knowing that everything would be alright since he was here—even if the man had lost One For All now.

Besides, Izuku’s newborn was still snoozing away, the teen gently rocking the tiny form in his arms.

Everything was totally fine in the room, everyone trying to calm their “gifts” in their own unique ways. Iida was jumping off the walls to catch his floating little girl; Yaoyorozu was hastily switching cards to try on her and Jirou’s little one; Tokoyami and Shoji were calmly talking Dark Shadow down (to give their baby back); Kirishima was somehow holding back tears at Kacchan’s brutality toward their infant; everyone else suffered equal amounts of torture via infant turmoil, and All Might no longer looked happy to be there.

The signature smile had fallen from the proud man’s face as he stood front-and-center now, hands on his hips. All Might’s muscular form poofed seconds after, followed by erratic coughing.

The situation appeared to be worse than rescue missions for All Might, it seemed.

—

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Day One

“I am...running toward the sound of infantile wailing!” All Might cried out, sliding on into Izuku’s homeroom classroom in his signature entrance pose. The teen smiled at his mentor’s remark, knowing that everything would be alright since he was here—even if the man had lost One For All now.

Besides, Izuku’s newborn was still snoozing away, the teen gently rocking the tiny form in his arms.

Everything was totally fine in the room, everyone trying to calm their “gifts” in their own unique ways. Iida was jumping off the walls to catch his floating little girl; Yaoyorozu was hastily switching cards to try on her and Jirou’s little one; Tokoyami and Shoji were calmly talking Dark Shadow down (to give their baby back); Kirishima was somehow holding back tears at Kacchan’s brutality toward their infant; everyone else suffered equal amounts of torture via infant turmoil, and All Might no longer looked happy to be there.

The signature smile had fallen from the proud man’s face as he stood front-and-center now, hands on his hips. All Might’s muscular form poofed seconds after, followed by erratic coughing.

The situation appeared to be worse than rescue missions for All Might, it seemed.
—

All Might tried to start his lesson, but either his skeletal form wasn’t nearly as boisterous, or the students had gone crazy from robotic baby wails.

“Can I please give mine up for adoption?!” Kaminari busted out over All Might’s voice. Evidently, Shiozaki had dumped their baby on him after class ended, saying that she deserved a longer break after having to “carry the weight of it herself” for the past month. Izuku felt that was a fair assessment, given the males had it a lot easier then.

Shiozaki wasn’t the only one with the idea, either.

Looking around the room, Izuku noticed the girls who happened to have male partners had passed on their baskets to them (if the seats didn’t put them next to one another), Uraraka looking particularly beside herself with glee. This didn’t surprise Izuku in the slightest considering the heavy hit her sanity took within the last month. Clearly, she still had some steam to extinguish.

“Kaminari-shonen, while I do not know the details surrounding your newfound predicament, I doubt that is an option in your other class,” All Might said, most likely trying to put the idea out of Kaminari’s head before the boy tried something funny. Izuku pursed his lips at the class clown’s wails in response to All Might’s denial, his cries somehow out-matching his robotic infant’s.

While All Might desperately tried to calm both Kaminari and his newborn, Izuku looked back to his own little bundle of hope, gently rocking the basket. He decided it was best to give his nightmare small amounts of attention, as it appeared to help keep him quiet. Perhaps if the others tried to approach the monsters with level-headedness, then they would experience success too.

Well, his success could only last so long, of course, for the robots were designed to have spontaneous fits, meant to simulate the neediness of real newborns.

“Everybody! Please sit down properly so we can move on,” Iida stood and shouted. “We must retain our vigilance so All Might can give us proper instruction and not lose any more valuable time than he already has. This is supposed to be a learning environment, after all.” He was chopping the air with one arm, yet holding his somewhat-subdued infant close to his chest with the other. Miraculously, it appeared that Iida also somehow had a natural ability to calm babies.

(By some miracle, Izuku mused, thinking about his friend’s particularly loud presence.)

“He has a point,” Asui-call-me-Tsu ribbited just after Iida’s outbursts, herself currently aiding Momo with her rather fussy case.

“Oh, like you’re one to talk,” Mineta busted out. “It’s not fair that you got out of this. Think of what we could’ve made together, Tsu-chan. It would’ve been the cutest little robot yet, still a monster, but I could handle it if i—”

“Shut up, Mineta. As if Tsu would want a baby with you of all students,” Uraraka piped up, stepping up to the plate.

“But I could be a big help too, Uraraka. And now I’m stuck with this bitch that animates the basket so I’m stuck with the little shit all by myself!” Mineta retorted, Uraraka rolling her eyes at his complaint.

“You’d think you’d be happy to have a girl as your partner but nooo, you’re still gonna complain,” Uraraka fired back, and soon others started adding in their two cents, the tension in the air having officially exploded along with the still-crying robo-babies.

“All right, calm down now!” All Might boomed out, popping back into his familiar muscle-form. “Let us move on from here on out. Iida-shonen, if you’d be so kind as to lead the young gentlemen to the lockers to gear up, and Yaoyorozu-san the ladies. We still have time for an exercise I had planned, so let’s get to it!” the former number one finished with a cough, blood splattering in its wake.

“But sensei! What are we gonna do about our, erm, ‘new responsibilities?’” Kirishima questioned as they all stood up, some struggling to quickly quiet their robo-babies so they could walk down the hallway in silence.

All Might, now back in his skeletal form, acknowledged Kirishima with a simple nod. “Not to worry, young man. I’ll think of something shortly here.”

And that All Might did. His best solution was to have volunteers take turns watching all the robotic infants as a whole while the rest participated in the event. It was certainly a long and grueling class, especially considering “volunteers” became more “appointed baby-sitters” after Momo eventually had to join the class. The babysitting didn’t go down so well when All Might thought it was a great idea to make Kacchan the next sitter after Iida, either. The babies barely made it out unscathed. The class as a whole vowed to never make Kacchan watch any child ever again, let alone his own assignment.

The class’ usually upbeat and generally composed dorm life was thrown way out the water, too. Instead of making dinner for each other like the class sometimes did, they were all running haggard with their infants or the infants in their respectful baskets, throwing hands up in frustration when they couldn’t stop the crying. Asui and Koda, being the only exceptions from the class, were kind enough to offer up lessons on how to best care for a baby, even if they were robotic.

“I don’t need your shitty class!” Kacchan roared, the only one to deny help, as Izuku expected of him. “Aplus is gonna have cooperation beaten into him,” he shouted, swinging his wailing infant around as he marched toward the elevator to his floor.

“Bakugo! Child abuse is so unmanly. Please just hand me the little man—I’ll figure out how to calm him,” Kirishima begged after him while everyone else watched. Well, at least they weren’t all freaking out over their infants anymore, Izuku thought.

“Bakugo named his assignment? Whaaaat?” Mineta cried out.

“The name itself is odd though. Hey Bakugo! Why’d you name your baby ‘Aplus?’” Uraraka shouted after Mineta, waving her hand to hush him from where she stood behind the common room couch he sat on, next to Asui.

“Because I’m gonna get an ‘A plus,’ obviously! Now mind your own business, round face,” Bakugo shouted back, flipping her off with his free hand. Then he disappeared inside the elevator, doors closing after Kirishima hopped in.

“I can’t believe Bakugo was the first to name his fake baby, even if it was a terrible name,” Hagakure chimed in, seemingly disappointed in herself. “Well, I’ll name her when I see Monoma again tomorrow, I guess.” She then piped up, clapping her hands together in excitement. Izuku stood rooted to the same spot just in front of the sitting area, watching his classmates freak out over their robo-babies in tandem, or focus on the suddenly-excited Hagakure.

“Gals! We need to have a girls night so we can brainstorm cute baby names. Since we’re stuck with the terrors anyway, we might as well make some fun out of it, right?” Hagakure giggled, and Izuku decided it was a good opportunity to head out to his own dorm room. He had a lot of thinking to do regarding his new predicament.

Izuku sighed, looking down at his eerily-quiet basket. And of course Todoroki chose that moment to sneak up from behind. “Midoriya,” he said in his usual low tone, making Izuku jump a little. He got him every time—it was so uncool!

“Oh! Uh, hey, T-todoroki-kun. Did you need some-thing?” He stuttered and readjusted the basket to lay across his arms for a quick rocking. His spook had jostled the baby, so he thought it necessary to add some back-and-forth motions lest the little beast cry out with the rest of them. Izuku had also turned to face Todoroki so the teen wasn’t looming over his shoulder and staring down their child.

Er, Yaoyorozu’s creation, not their child. They definitely did not procreate the little bugger that Izuku most definitely was not getting attached to…it was just that the idea of it was nice…

Todoroki had given him a curt nod about half a minute ago and simply stared, no other explanation given. Rather than continue to suffer the awkwardness, Izuku turned back around to head for the elevators with a quiet and long-drawn-out “okaaaaay.”

To his surprise, Todoroki followed after him. Izuku switched back to having one arm hooked through the basket’s handle, robo-baby tucked tight into the soft blankets.

“Are you going to your dorm…?” Izuku added once the doors closed, having pushed for floor five on top of the second one.

“Yes,” Todoroki said after a beat of silence, the elevator having already reached its first destination. “But I think we should discuss this project, if that’s alright with you.”

Izuku had stepped out of the elevator when Todoroki continued, and he nearly tripped over his own feet when he realized the boy was following him. Did he intend to go to his dorm? Aiya, he wasn’t prepared for this!

“Y-yeah, of course! S’good idea, anyway,” Izuku said despite himself, holding the basket close so it wouldn’t jostle too much. “...m’sure you want to take turns, right?”

Todoroki held his response in favor of opening Izuku’s door for him. “T-thanks,” Izuku spluttered and slunk in, hoping the other didn’t see his certainly reddening cheeks from the thoughtful action not just for him, but so the little beast wasn’t threatened by a few swings had Izuku himself struggled with the door.

Izuku placed his basket atop his desk and stared at it for a moment, thoughts speeding down the information highway of his brain at a hundred miles per hour. For instance, where was he supposed to keep this…‘infant?’ Surely not in the simple wicker basket the whole time? Should he look into proper baby carriers (would that give them bonus points)? He also really hoped there weren’t nanny cams inside the robo-babies, because that would make changing really awkward, but how else was Amori-sensei able to accurately monitor whether they were being neglectful to the child, or particularly fond? Didn’t he say they’d get bonus points for being sappy? Oh All-might, he totally forgot about th—

“...Midoriya, are you listening?” Izuku snapped his head up and squeaked. How long had he been in his headspace? He turned around to see Todoroki sitting in a proper position on the floor, back straight and facing toward the balcony. It was a funny visual because Izuku had no kotatsu nor floor cushion to warrant sitting the way the traditional teen was, and he had to stifle a laugh.

“Ha, no I totally missed what you said?” Izuku managed with a strained smile, scratching the back of his unruly hair. “Sorry my mind is a bit of a mess,” he sighed, crossing over to his bed and taking a seat along the edge. He motioned for Todoroki to follow after, feeling awkward about the empty floor situation.

After a minute of Todoroki studying his face for any signs of letting up, the teen finally rose to his feet and joined Izuku on the bed, a hair's breadth apart from him. Izuku looked down at his hands and licked his chapped lips for the umpteenth time that day. How could he look Todoroki in the eyes in a proper conversation manner when they were going to be talking about a fake baby made to combine their appearances? It was absolutely mortifying for Izuku, especially considering his unfortunate fancy for the boy.

“Sorry to keep you, Midoriya,” Todoroki started and Izuku rubbed his thumbs over each other, actively trying to ignore how the deep voice affected him. “But I think we need to plan an appropriate course of action for how to…best handle this project.”

“No, you’re right—b-best not to wait!” Izuku took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He looked up into Todoroki’s mismatched eyes and steeled himself for the presumably long conversation ahead.

“There are a lot of routes we can take, but our first course of action is to decide how we want to divide our attention to the baby? I take it you’d like to take turns because we obviously can’t be around each other twenty-four-seven, haha! Did you want me to keep our baby for the first week, then switch off the next and so-on?” Izuku spewed, hands waving and all. He hadn’t even realized he’d called the little beast their baby. It was certainly embarrassing, but either Todoroki didn’t mind, or he just hadn’t noticed because he made no comment, opting to simply nod his approval of Izuku’s suggestion.

“Good plan. But we’ll have to walk as a pair to every class to show we’re a team,” Todoroki said, and call Izuku crazy, but were his aloof classmate’s ears turning pink?

“A stroller would also make hand-holding easier,” Todoroki finished, staring Izuku down resolutely.

Say what now?!