It was an accident really. It's not like he was actively trying to pry any secrets out of his friend, how was he supposed to know? All Midoriya was trying to do was get Todoroki's attention when they were in his dorm room studying, having some trouble figuring out some math problems the half and half teen seemed to have a much easier time with. Midoriya was more of a science kind of guy, chemistry, biology, that kind of thing. All he wanted was to ask how to get the value of the asymptote of the graph he was looking at, but the other was so engrossed by whatever he was reading that when he called his name he hadn't heard. So naturally, Midoriya tried to get his attention the next best way he knew how, lightly poking his friend's side.

Granted he could've gone for a tap on his shoulder, or maybe even his arm but how was he supposed to predict this reaction? The ever-serious hero in training instantly jerked at Midoriya's touch, eyes widening a fraction as a sound that could only be described as a 'yip' left his lips. It was only for a fleeting moment, no more than a second surely, but it was so out of place that Midoriya couldn't help the way it was burned into his mind. Even when Todoroki was now back to his expressionless default, albeit with a little more colour to his cheeks (or was he just imagining it?), Midoriya could only stare slack-jawed at his classmate, who asked him in a deceptively levelled monotone what he wanted. He blinked once, twice, three times before stuttering out a response.

"W-what was that?" He had to know for sure, he just had to. And the way Todoroki answered with a much too quick "nothing" was only confirmation for his suspicions. At least he took it as such. Nevertheless, Midoriya decided to drop the issue (for now), a mischievous smile overtaking his lips as he directed his gaze down to his math homework, if only to avoid the other seeing the way his lips quirked up with mirth. He asked Todoroki for help and that was that.

Or rather, that's what Todoroki had hoped.

Midoriya was a good friend, Todoroki would never deny it even if someone threatened to end his life if he didn't. He liked being around Midoriya, his presence bringing some semblance of joy into his otherwise bleak existence and just overall making any mundane tasks such as studying more enjoyable. He liked listening to the mossy haired boy go on and on about heroes and other things that he's passionate about, even though more often than not someone would cut him short, leaving him to wonder what else was going on in that mind of his. But he'd be lying through his teeth if he said this new development in their relationship didn't make him a little nervous. Uncomfortable? No, he'd never be uncomfortable with Midoriya touching him and if he was he'd have told his friend, certain that he'd stop if he asked. But embarrassed? Oh yes, definitely, very much so.

Ever since that fateful afternoon in Midoriya's room, randomly throughout their encounters he'd feel a quick and light jab at his side. And each and every single time, an equally quick but disproportionately loud sound would squirm its way out of Todoroki's throat. Which he took to clearing a lot more often than would be considered normal with every single encounter of Midoriya's index finger to his sides. Midoriya never said anything about it apart from that first time, just smiled at him – no, wait, he smirked -, his eyes twinkling with a hint of amusement and kept on with whatever they were doing at the moment. Todoroki would still (discreetly) look around to see if anyone else had noticed. No one ever did. Something told him that was intentional.

Midoriya was an observant and analytical person. That translated into all of his hero notebooks: filled to the brim with information on quirks, fighting styles, costumes and their additions, drawbacks, every piece of information he could get his hands on was stored away for future reference. He used this skill to improve his own fighting and decision making, to help him become a better hero overall. But that isn't to say he wouldn't use it for other purposes. What's the fun of being good at something if you don't use it in a less than noble way at least once in a while? Honestly, it was a good thing Midoriya wanted to be a hero, that cute smile and adorable freckles hid someone conniving and scheming, Todoroki could see that now.

Each new poke varied in at least one way. Pressure, location, duration. It was as if he was conducting an experiment and Todoroki was his unlucky subject. At one point he could've sworn he saw Midoriya scribbling something down on his notebook immediately after his assault. He didn't ask what he was writing and Midoriya wouldn't tell him either.

One thing was for certain, however. In the few days that this was happening, Todoroki became hyperaware of his reactions to Midoriya's small touches. He noticed how his vocalisations would differ slightly each time, sometimes coming out as a small yelp, while others sounding more akin to a short-lived shriek. Whatever the noise, his stoic expression would always deconstruct into either an imperceptibly wide-eyed surprise or a momentary fright, no longer than a second and ending with blood rising to his cheeks. And most importantly, depending on which side Midoriya had decided to poke, his temperature would fluctuate accordingly. When his right side was teased, he immediately felt the drop, almost always freezing whatever he was holding or simply frosting over his palm. When it was his left, he'd suddenly heat up, a puff of smoke escaping with the gasp that would always leave his lips. Midoriya noticed all of this as well, he was sure of it.

If he was being honest with himself, this discovery was as much Midoriya's as it was his. He'd never realised he had this affliction, until that first unexpected noise crawled its way out of him, prompted by his friend's index calling for his attention. It wasn't like anyone had ever tried to do it since his mother had left when he was young. He just thought he'd outgrown such reactions, lost sensitivity due to the harsh training he was subjected to. Surely all that pain would've dulled his nerves to such light touches. Apparently not. His haste to dismiss it in his surprise was probably what peaked Midoriya's interest.

Todoroki didn't exactly mind that Midoriya was quite literally prodding at him but for someone so used to keeping his emotions levelled, to keeping his cool and not showing any overt reactions… It was surprising and embarrassing, but at the same time somewhat… intriguing? He wasn't sure that was the right word, but he didn't want to tell Midoriya to stop, it wasn't exactly bothering him so to speak and it seemed to amuse and entertain his friend. He was okay with that. No one else was the wiser anyway.

At least, that was until today. Exams were looming over the class' heads like an ominous cloud of black despair and everyone agreed to a group study session in the common room, Yaoyorozu leading it with Iida. Bakugou weighed in with angry curse-filled corrections when someone asked, according to him, stupid questions. It didn't matter how many times Iida would say that there were no such things as stupid questions, Bakugou would always disagree and use Kaminari as an example whenever he opened his mouth to ask something. Even when the question was to pass him the notes.

Todoroki was sat at a corner of the table, keeping to himself as usual unless someone would ask him something he could help with. Midoriya arrived a little later than the others, something about an impromptu training session, and settled by Todoroki's right with an easy smile and a greeting. Now, to any other person that smile seemed just like his usual ones, bright and wide, comforting. But when Todoroki looked at him from Ashido's notes to greet him he saw his eyes. Immediately, he felt his body tense, noting the glint he always spotted in them when he'd gotten a particularly jerky and outrageous reaction from him with one of his nudges. He kept his expression unchanged, hoping he wouldn't notice the way he swallowed nervously before welcoming him.

The way Midoriya grinned told him he saw it and was beyond pleased with himself. Todoroki's eyes drifted to the other's turned up lips and he forced his gaze back to Ashido, taking a moment to remember what exactly he'd been telling her she should do to figure out the problem.

Midoriya started taking his notes and books out of his bag, a pencil dropping from on top of them and rolling on the floor to behind Todoroki's back. The shorter teen stretched behind him, their bodies much closer than Todoroki thought was really necessary for him to grab the 'dropped' pencil (strategically, no doubt). From the proximity alone, Todoroki could feel his insides churning hotly, a swarm of butterflies making their home inside his stomach and fluttering wildly. He braced himself to keep down the noise that would undoubtedly threaten to leave him soon. But when Midoriya's right hand snuck its way to Todoroki's side, it's like the tension building up within his body exploded instantaneously.

Where before, Midoriya had only used his index, simply poking at him once and leaving it at that, this time, he used his whole hand. It was no more than half a second, a careful and meditated wiggle of his fingers to the most sensitive spot on his right side (he'd clearly taken note of that). Yet Todoroki couldn't stop the brief, but obnoxiously loud bark of laughter that burst out of him, a layer of frost covering his arm underneath his shirt in that exact moment. As soon as his features twisted to accommodate the foreign reaction, they melted back to his default expression.

Right away, he felt the eyes of everyone in the room fall on him, most wide, some narrowed, all confused. Todoroki cleared his throat like he was used to doing after Midoriya's attacks and dismissed the stares with a half-hearted comment, keeping his straight face in check as he turned to look at the reason for his uncharacteristic outburst. Midoriya was leaning back on his hands, the most self-satisfied smirk plastered across his face as his eyes shone with intent. All Todoroki could do was mouth 'don't' towards his friend soon to be turned enemy.

Because the words "Try and stop me" jolted through him like a red alert going off in his brain as soon as they left Midoriya's lips. Dropping everything he was holding, he shot to his feet and started running out of the dorms as fast as his legs would take him, knowing very well that Midoriya had left all their classmates behind with shocked and confused stares looking after their backs. They exchanged a few glances, Ashido and Kaminari trying to get up to go see what it was all about, but settling back in their seats when both Uraraka and Yaoyorozu shot them icy glares.

"Todoroki-kun~" The lilt in Midoriya's voice made it sound like he was singing his name and a shiver ran up his spine at that. "You're not getting away~"

He didn't dare stop running or look back. "Midoriya, I won't be responsible for any accidents." He warned, thinking back to the way his quirk activated from just the light pokes. He dreaded what might actually happen if it escalated any more than that. "Please don't do this." It sounded an awful lot like he was begging.

If things were fair, Todoroki would undoubtedly outrun his shorter friend, Midoriya knew this. But he wasn't about to let this end so soon. A little misuse of One For All Full Cowl wouldn't hurt anyone. He was just catching up to Todoroki, no harm done. He leaped towards his prey, tackling him to the grassy ground and pinning him down by sitting on his legs. As small as Midoriya was, he was deceptively heavy, the built-up muscle weighing Todoroki down even as he tried to wriggle free before-

His thoughts were interrupted by Midoriya's hands tentatively snaking up Todoroki's sides. Both sides. At the same time. His mind went blank, all he knew in that moment was the way those fingers were moving mercilessly over the thin layer of clothing, his eyes screwing shut as a breathy laugh snuck its way up his throat. Todoroki didn't think he'd ever felt anything like this, the way Midoriya's hands kneaded in a quick and unforgiving manner, his senses overwhelming him with an uncontrollable need to laugh. He squirmed underneath his attacker, trying to get away but as he slid his hands underneath Todoroki's shirt, suddenly the feeling was so much more intense.

He gasped for breath, his voice cracking as he howled with laughter, hands clutching tightly at the ground underneath him and simultaneously freezing and scorching the grass that came into contact with them. He arched his back instinctively, Midoriya giggling uncontrollably on top of him, relishing in the lilting noises coming out of the friend he was so used to seeing with nothing more than a blank expression. He was struck with an unbearable desire to see Todoroki's face, scrunched up with joyous glee, cheeks flushed with the blood that pooled on them.

Suddenly, the weight lifted off of Todoroki and he took that opportunity to turn himself around, gasping for breath when the hands left his skin as well. But before he could even regain a semblance of composure, Midoriya was back on top of him, looking into his eyes as his hands moved back to his middle. Todoroki's eyes widened before he shut them again, feeling the prickle of tears as Midoriya's hands rose up. The sight was more breath-taking than he could have ever imagined. The lines radiating from the corners of his squeezed shut eyes, his mouth open wide as he sucked in sudden breaths in between his guffaws, which still sounded lovely coming out of him, voice light and airy. And that light blush dusting his cheeks, drawing him in like the colours of a flower did to the little bugs it needed to spread its pollen. Midoriya realised with a flush crawling to his own cheeks that he felt like he could keep doing this forever if it meant looking at that face all he wanted.

"Mi-Mi-Mi" Todoroki stuttered in between ragged breaths, instinctively batting away at the offending hands, fire and ice licking up his friend's arms.

Midoriya's eyes widened as he shook the smoke out of his right arm with a laugh. "Wow Todoroki-kun, you're really hot." The comment was made between giggles, the half-frosted hand still mercilessly working Todoroki's right side.

"N-n-no, sssstOP" Todoroki struggled to get the words out, his hips bucking underneath Midoriya and making him lean forward on top of him to keep his balance. He tried to push him off of him, his hands travelling to the boy's legs to aid in that task.

Although, his left hand was now past steaming and actually blazing hot, a little flame springing to life as soon as it made contact with Midoriya's sweatpants, the frost from his right crawling up the other's left side over his clothes. The fact that his pants were now literally on fire finally got Midoriya to climb off of Todoroki, attempting to pat the flame to submission as Todoroki wheezed on the floor, trying to catch his uneven breath.

The half and half hero rolled onto his side, clutching his sore stomach from the exertion and wiping his wet face with back of his shirt with a groan. Midoriya, despite the likely burn on his right leg dissolved into a puddle of giggles, falling to his knees next to Todoroki, who would've glared at him if not for the fact that he could hardly contain the aftershocks, still gasping. He could feel his face on fire but he wasn't sure if it was just embarrassment or actually his quirk. Though, listening to Midoriya's melodic little laughs made it all seem just a little irrelevant as he covered his face with his hands, trying to hide the shake of his shoulders with the soft chuckles that still tore through him.

Midoriya rubbed tears out of his own eyes, stuttering out apologies in between laughs that made them seem a little less sincere. But Todoroki didn't care, just willed his breath to settle and sat up trying to get his face back to its neutral state but struggling to get the corners of his lips to stop pulling up. Instead, he covered his mouth with a hand, hiding away the goofy smile that didn't seem to want to leave his face. Midoriya could still see the smile in his eyes, though, and that was all he needed to make his own grin all the wider.

"I'm gonna get Hatsume-san to make me some fireproof clothes, there's no way I'm not doing that again."

At that comment, Todoroki shoved his friend in retaliation, but the giggles that sounded from Midoriya as his body hit the grass were like beautiful music to his ears, his cheeks burning hotter somehow. The butterflies he'd felt earlier had returned full force and he could only bite his bottom lip to stop from echoing the other boy's wonderful noises. It was then that he noticed the scorched skin peeking from underneath the hole burnt into the fabric of his bottoms.

A pang of guilt sprung to the forefront of Todoroki's mind, the smile dropping off his lips that very second, kneeling closer to the other and placing a carefully cooled palm on the mild burn. Midoriya gasped, his laughter cut short at the cold feeling of Todoroki's skin on his sending a shudder up his spine. When he looked up at his friend's face, the frown adorning his features made him want to go back to how they were just moments ago.

"I did warn you." Todoroki's voice was hushed, still a little breathless but much heavier, his gaze drifting to the floor as he kept chilling the burn to ease the pain. "I'm sorry."

Midoriya sat up, his eyebrows furling together, unsure of what to say to defuse the situation before it turned sour. He knew where Todoroki's thoughts were headed and he wanted to stop them in their tracks before they derailed, so he leaned closer, scooting on the grass and hunching over to peek up at him from below.

When a messy (even more so than usual what with their previous activities) mop of green hair forced its way into his field of vision, Todoroki straightened up and Midoriya followed after, their eyes meeting with their faces mere inches away from each other. Todoroki's cold hand was still icing the burn on his leg, Midoriya's own coming to rest over it as a wide encouraging smile graced his lips. Todoroki let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding in a puff of smoke, cheeks tinting red anew. As he saw a hand reach over in the direction of his neck, he held it by the wrist with his free one, glaring at it before aiming the look at his friend who only smiled playfully. That impish half-smirk looked awfully good on him, Todoroki realised.

"Ticklish there too?"

"Probably."

"I'll add it to my notes." Todoroki simply cocked an eyebrow at that and Midoriya shrugged with a tiny and slightly shaky laugh. "What can I say?" With a sudden surge of confidence (read: insanity) he looked into the dual coloured eyes and leaned closer, their breaths mingling between them. "I like knowing all your sensitive spots."

Whether it was his strategy or not, with those words, Midoriya definitely succeeded in stopping Todoroki's thoughts from going anywhere dark, seeing as his brain stopped functioning correctly and all he could do was stare. He blinked dumbly, closing his mouth slowly when he realised that it had fallen open in the mild shock, the hand he still held Midoriya's wrist in following as the other moved to rest his on the crook of his neck like he had originally intended.

"I liked hearing you laugh, I'd love to hear it again." Midoriya breathed the words out, their eyes never leaving each other's, though he caught the movement of Todoroki's Adam's apple as he swallowed thickly.

Midoriya could feel the warmth radiating off of the other's skin where his right hand sat, feeling his pulse point throb with each beat of his frantic heart. The carefully chilled palm on his leg dropped a few degrees and Midoriya pried it away from his minor burn, not wanting Todoroki to feel guilty about giving him frost bite on top of it as well. This seemed to snap the icy hot hero out of his strange trance and he backed away, releasing Midoriya's wrist to run that hand through his hair. He closed his eyes, cooling his rising temperature with a deep and icy breath as the other boy let out a harmonious little chuckle, dropping the hand from Todoroki's neck to his own side.

"You know exactly what you're doing, don't you?" Todoroki asked, opening his eyes a fraction to look at Midoriya, who shrugged again, half-lidded green eyes staring back with a wobbly grin.

"Not really, I just like your reactions." He replied honestly, enjoying the way Todoroki's gaze followed when he bit his bottom lip in a tell-tale sign of the nervousness he actually felt. "I like those little noises you make, and the way your expression shifts ever so slightly." He continued, voice as soft as his eyes. "I like that I can make you laugh, melt away that mask you wear all the time if only for just a moment."

Todoroki sat back on his ankles humming in acknowledgement but unsure of what he should say in return. Before he could come up with an adequate answer, Midoriya was already saying that he'd stop if he wanted and he felt as if he was a little too quick to say "no".

"It's… I don't…" Todoroki looked down at the scorched patches of grass, attempting to hide the blush he felt crawling to his cheeks as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "I don't hate it." He finally mumbled, thinking that it sounded an awful lot like he didn't particularly want him to not stop though.

Still, Midoriya got what he meant in his Todoroki kind of way and just grinned happily. "Good." He scratched at his cheek, a sheepish expression taking over his features soon after. "Though I am sorry. I did torture you a little bit at the end there."

Todoroki huffed in amusement. "You'd make a terrifying villain."

"I know." Midoriya giggled, covering his face with his hands as an embarrassed flush overtook him.

"But I don't mind." Todoroki whispered, feeling the tips of his ears burning as well. "Not if it's you." He added as an afterthought.

"Ah…" Midoriya sighed, looking through the gaps between his fingers. "If any of the others find out, I'll protect you." If only because he wanted to be the only one to hear those wonderful noises coming from Todoroki. He wanted them to grace his ears alone, for them to be because of him and him only. But he wouldn't say that out loud, at least not now.

Todoroki climbed to his feet and offered Midoriya a hand, who when trying to put his weight onto the injured leg stumbled into the taller boy's arms. Straightening and trying to regain his balance, Midoriya gasped into Todoroki's neck, making him shudder visibly at the tickle of air brushing against the sensitive skin. He couldn't help the devilish smirk that took over his lips thinking that was gonna be fun to explore. Backing away, he was met with mismatched eyes burning into him with an intensity unmatched even by what he'd experienced at the sports' festival the year before. The flush of his cheeks was still glowing faintly and Midoriya smiled.

"Todoroki-kun." A simple hum sounded in response and he continued. "You look beautiful."

Once more, Todoroki was rendered speechless, not knowing how to reply, opening his mouth to say anything but no sounds actually coming out. He doesn't dwell on it much longer, however, Midoriya taking one of his hands and pulling him along as he made his way back to the dorms.

When the shorter boy looked back at him, a bright toothy grin lighting up his freckled face, Todoroki was suddenly struck with the thought Not as much as you.

NOTE: This was just... A silly idea I came up with my friends... xD It was technically done with the intent of being a collab over on AO3, so there will eventually be a sequel over there by the lovely heliarashii :) Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed the silliness and feel free to leave any feedback you may have!