Reading with only the moon as a light source probably had not been the best idea he had ever had.

Toshinori grumbled under his breath as he rubbed over his tired, burning eyes. Even then, though, he was too stubborn and too comfortably leaning against a few pillows and the headboard behind it as that he could get himself to move.

The thought hit him that he probably wasn't being the best role model, staying up so late and overexerting his eyes like this. That made Toshinori snort quietly, smile flicking over his face as he tried to imagine the scolding look he would get from both Aizawa and his students when he came down to breakfast the next morning, yawning and with red and tired eyes.

Just this last chapter, he vowed quietly, lifting the book higher up to squint at the tiny letters. After all, he was already half sleeping, sitting in on his bed and with the lights out at two in the morning.

He didn't get very far, only to the next page, before he heard a little sound. Just the whisper of a sound, really, tiny and hushed, but instantly, he tensed with batted breath, senses running on high alert.

The floorboards in front of his room creaked again, even quieter as before.

One of the children going to get something to drink? No, then there would not be scrapping at the door, like there was now…

Instantly alerted, Toshinori let his book fall closed, thumb between the pages to mark the passage he had been reading just now. His whole focus, however, lay on the door that opened slowly, and his mind was racing to figure out who it could be and what he should do should there be an ill-meaning intruder.

The door opened just a crack, letting in just a sliver more moonlight. A shadow appeared in the doorway, pulling back, then opening the door a bit wider.

"Toshinori-sa… Toshinori?"

Once Toshinori heard the oh-so-familiar voice, all tension left him, and he relaxed back against the pillow with a sigh and a smile. "Izuku, my boy."

The door was pushed open fully and then closed again. By now, Toshinori's eyes had adjusted enough that he could see Izuku shuffling into the room, shoulders hunched and hair sticking into every direction.

"Did I wake you up?" Izuku's words were slightly slurred, tongue tripping over itself due to how tired the boy was. At the end of his sentence, a yawn big enough to make a lion jealous split the boy's face. He barely stifled it behind one hand.

"Not at all. I was not sleeping yet," Toshinori had meant for it to sound reassuring, but realized his mistake the moment Izuku's brow creased with a mixture of worry and displeasure. Hurriedly, he continued on, only partly to get away Izuku's attention from his lack of sleep, "But what brings you here at such an hour, my boy?"

He already feared that he knew the answer, and when Izuku's seemed to shrink into himself, his fear was confirmed.

"Mmmm," Izuku grimaced, shrugging. "Can't sleep."

Toshinori's smile fell as he understood what that meant, worry overtaking the joy at seeing his student. "The nightmares again."

The former hero didn't phrase it as a question, didn't need to. The answer was already obvious, anyway, with the way Izuku had slinked closer to his mentor step by step, looking sleepy yet hopeful at the same time as he glanced from Toshinori to the mattress and back.

Toshinori nearly snorted at the sight. By now, he really had suspected that Izuku would know the answer to that question he didn't dare to ask. Then again, Izuku had always been a bit insecure, so…

He reached for the boy, offering him his free hand. "Come here, Izuku."

The smile he got for that was wide and brilliant, and Izuku moved so fast as if he had used his quirk for it. Before Toshinori could do so much as blink, Izuku was already clambering up onto the mattress, patting around with both hands until he could crawl next to his mentor and make himself comfortable.

And still, polite and awkward as he was, Izuku had to hesitate and ask one more time, even though his eyes were already falling closed again as he was kneeling next to the man, "And it's really okay if I stay here?"

"Of course it is, you silly boy."

"Hmmmm," finally taking that as enough confirmation, Izuku snuggled closer, all but burying into the crook of his mentor's arm, making sure to get as close as possible and get comfortable at the same time.

It took some adjusting, bumping against each other and whispering apologies, but they had already gotten some practice from nights prior, and it didn't take that long for them to find their usual spots: Toshinori still sitting propped up with the pillow in his back, and Izuku pressed against his right side, one arm thrown over his mentor's chest but not touching the scarred left side.

Nestling closer slightly, taking a deep breath, Izuku yawned again, eyelids dropping. In no time flat, the boy's breathing slowed and deepened, and his whole posture slumped as sleep started to creep up on him.

No matter how bad the nightmares had been – once he got here, Izuku always calmed down rather quickly and fell back asleep in record time.

"Because you are here," the boy had answered solemnly when Toshinori had joked about it, and it had been said with so much sincerity that Toshinori had gulped all future jokes down and tried not to make it too obvious how much it really affected him to hear those words.

And, quite honestly – the former hero slept better, too, when his student was there.

Glancing down, Toshinori couldn't help but smile fondly at the sleeping boy glued to his side. Izuku's scarred hand was gripping his mentor's shirt tightly, the boy's head resting on a bony chest (that couldn't be comfortable, Toshinori thought with amusement, even though Izuku looked quite at peace). One hasty movement from the former hero, and he would send the boy toppling off of him.

All the more reason to be especially careful.

Moving slowly and deliberately, he reached over Izuku's head, placing the book on the nightstand, before he slipped further down the pillow, getting ready for sleep himself.

He was just dozing off, steady breathing next to him his only lullaby, when the weight on his chest shifted slightly.

Izuku bumped his head against his mentor's chin, just enough to jostle him – like a cat trying to cuddle up to someone – and murmured in a sleepy slur, "'Night, Sensei."

Turning, pushing and nudging back slightly, Toshinori didn't even try to smother his smile in any way.

"Good night, my boy."

When Izuku woke up, he registered almost instantly that he wasn't in his own room.

It was very easy to tell that he wasn't.

For one because he had woken up without the sound of his alarm clock in the background early in the morning, but rather by his own inner clock.

And second because there was a heat source in his back, radiating warmth over his whole back and over his waist, one that he recognized very well by now.

A smile quirked the boy's lips up as he stretched, careful not to throw off the arm laying over his waist. Really, Toshinori was better than any heater and blanket combined.

Blinking sleepily into the room in front of him, Izuku noted that he had somehow turned around while asleep, since he had fallen asleep with his face pressed to his mentor's chest. Now he was facing forward into the room, Toshinori behind him, the blond's breath a slightly raspy sound, heartbeat stuttering but strong and resonating through Izuku's back, reassuring the boy.

He's okay, Izuku thought, defiantly, pushing the memories of the nightmares from last night as far away as he could. He's really okay. They all are.

Adamant as not to let the dark thoughts take a hold, he made to carefully move out from the hug, aiming to slip out of bed as silently as humanly possible.

He didn't come further than a few inches, though.

The arm over his waist moved, grip tightening as Izuku was pulled back. A deep breath rattled through the chest in his back and long fingers gripped his shirt, making sure that he stayed where he was.

Careful not to move too suddenly, Izuku tilted his head back to look up at his awakening mentor. "Morning."

There was a pause where the tension didn't ease, the grip around him still solid like iron, but Izuku waited it out patiently. He had observed more than once that his mentor's awakening was abrupt and on high-alert, always ready to fight and protect if need be. Making himself as non-threateningly as possible, silently assuring the former hero that everything was alright, was by far the best way to go.

Finally, the grip around him loosened to a more natural level. Toshinori's voice was croaky and quiet from sleepiness, his eyes still closed even as he frowned slightly, "Morning. Breakfast already?"

"No," Izuku assured, careful to whisper as not to wake the man up fully. "Just thought I should go and do some laps before breakfast."

"Hn. Always hardworking," Toshinori muttered, before he yawned, jaw cracking silently. His grip around his student fell away, even though he didn't pull his arm back.

Izuku wriggled out from under the dead weight, scooting to the edge of the bed and sitting up. As soon as he shrugged the blanket off, the comfy warmth was gone, and he shivered in the cool morning air.

Drawing his shoulders up with a disgruntled sound, Izuku wished he could somehow preserve the warmth. Or the comfortableness. Or the feeling of safe and warm and familiar…

Hesitantly, he glanced back over his shoulder. The nest of blanket and pillow and half-asleep Toshinori looked way more inviting than any laps around the dorms at this ungodly hour ever could. But he didn't want to slack off on his training, either.

Ah. Perhaps he could…?

"Toshinori-sa… Toshinori?" Izuku caught himself at the last second, almost biting his tongue off. He still wasn't used to leaving the suffix away.

The blanket rustled due to movement and the former hero cracked one eye open to look at his student. "Hmmmm?"

"You think I could postpone exercising until after breakfast?"

"…Hn. Gotta ask your teacher first." The eye closed again, frown replaced with barely disguised amusement.

Izuku huffed in fond exasperation, waiting a moment in silence. When nothing happened, he tapped the hand laying closest to him on the mattress. "And?"

The eye opened again, blue glittering with mirth as Toshinori's lips quirked up into a lazy smile. "Your teacher approves."

Another huff escaped Izuku, but he was smiling widely as he slipped back under the arm that had lifted just enough to let him get closer. Cuddling back against the warm chest in front of him, he hummed contently, the sound almost turning into purring when bony fingers started carding through his hair gently.

"We will go jogging together after breakfast," Toshinori promised after a moment, sounding slightly more awake by now but making not the slightest move to get up.

And Izuku's smile only widened. Even though he had already all but forgotten about exercising in favor of savoring this quiet minutes - he still looked forward to spend some peaceful moments with Toshinori.

How many more of those will we all have?

The thought came unbidden and before Izuku could push it away again, and suddenly it was there, echoing through his mind.

And even if Toshinori noticed that Izuku's grip was a little bit too tight, the boy's hand a little bit too close to where the hero's heart was beating strong and steady, he didn't comment directly on it, just shifted enough that he could pull Izuku ever closer as he whispered, "I'm right here, my boy."

"I know," Izuku answered, muffled by the shirt he was burying his face into. "I know you are."

A shaky breath, and then a real, heartfelt smile – because smiling in the face of fear was what they did.

"And jogging together sounds great."