Cheaper by the Half-Dozen - Little Sh*t #11 [Part 4]

[Part 3]

“Hey, it’s me, we’re on our way back,” Midoriya said, letting Bakugou guide him through the station while he talked. “We just thought we’d check in, see if you need anything? We can make a konbini run or something if you want.”

“We,” Bakugou scoffed, turning briefly to glance back at him before he spoke again, a little louder. “Nerd stole my phone!”

“Actually, could you stop by the Class B dorms?” Sero requested, chuckling to himself. “All Might suggested we go indoor camping, set up tents and stuff in the common room. We could do with a couple more tents and sleeping bags, and apparently they should have some.”

“We can do that!” Midoriya agreed, getting a groan from Bakugou without even knowing what he was agreeing to. “We’ll be back in like ten minutes, then!”

“Thanks, Midoriya. See you soon. Shouto is excited to see you both.”

“Aww!” he grinned. “I’ll let Kacchan know!”

He hung up and handed Bakugou back his phone, getting a pathetically weak glare for it. It wasn’t like Bakugou had tried to stop him from borrowing it, he’d just grumbled a little! He needed to get all his classmates’ numbers for next time.

He hated that he had no doubt about there being a next time.

“We just need to stop at the Class B dorms,” Midoriya told him, trying to be placating. “It won’t take long.”

“I hate those assholes.”

“Sure you do, Kacchan.”

The dorm building was practically next door to theirs, so it wasn’t much of a deviation from their path, anyway. Midoriya dragged Bakugou up to the door, still grumbling about it, and knocked on the glass, glancing around until he spotted someone to wave at. Kendou hurried over to greet them, and Midoriya felt his smile waver a little when he realised he needed to explain it all. He knew how bad the class already felt about the villain getting away from them, he hated having to be the one to tell them it had happened again.

“We have a bunch of kids to take care of,” he explained, watching Kendou cringe. “Apparently they want to go ‘camping’ tonight, and we thought you guys might have some tents and sleeping bags we could borrow?”

“Of course!” Kendou assured him, stepping aside to wave him in, then hesitating. “Why don’t we come bring them over? It might take a minute to gather everything, and I’m sure you guys don’t want to wait. Unless you need a break from the kids, of course.”

“We’re good, we’ve just been out for dinner,” Midoriya assured her. “Are you sure it’s okay? We can wait, or come back, if you want.”

“Nah, we’ve got it!” she assured him. “A few people have gone out to grab food and stuff, so it might take us a little bit, but we’ll be over soon!”

“Thank you,” Midoriya said, giving Bakugou a little nudge that produced no results. “We’ll see you in a bit, then!”

“Good luck!”

Bakugou started dragging him away the moment he’d finished speaking, and Midoriya laughed quietly, waving back at Kendou as he hurried after him, to keep from tripping.

“Apparently Shouto is excited that we’re coming back,” Midoriya teased, as they got close. “You’re so cute with him.”

“Shut up.”

“I’m serious!”

“Doesn’t matter, shut up.”

They finally made it up their own steps, waving at the kids trapped within, and Shouto hurried over to meet them, pressing his hands against the glass and smiling up at them – though mostly at Bakugou. He was so damn cute, Midoriya couldn’t get enough of it.

All Might opened the door, and Denki ran. Shouto was grabbing at Bakugou’s hand eagerly, distracting him, but Midoriya saw it happen, and quickly crouched down to attempt to catch him. He opened his mouth to warn them, but Endeavour got there first, easily picking Denki up and turning him around, aiming him back into the building. Midoriya hurried inside, letting All Might lock the door again behind them, and Denki whined quietly, getting pitying pats from Mina for his failed escape attempt.

“He’s good with them,” All Might chuckled knowingly. “He spots them very quickly.”

“As expected from the number one hero, right?” Midoriya said, smiling wryly. Even if it was just coming from him, he knew the title would pump up Endeavour’s ego a little, make sure he was redetermined to not get caught off-guard while All Might was there to see him fall. “Hi Shouto, how was your night?”

“Good,” Shouto said firmly. “I made lots of bubbles.”

“Yeah? I’m glad, that must have been a lot of fun.”

Shouto nodded, wrapping his little limbs around Bakugou’s leg, and Bakugou sighed but didn’t complain, reaching one hand down to help steady the little lump as he walked.

“Kendou is gonna come over soon with camping gear,” Midoriya told them all, glancing around at where the sofas had all been moved aside, making a nice, open space for their campsite. “Is there anything I can do in the meantime?”

“Nope,” Sero assured him. “How was dinner?”

“So good! He made all of Kacchan’s favourites, it was super cute.”

“Shut up,” Bakugou grumbled, elbowing him in the ribs. “Don’t tell them shit.”

“He’s our friend, Kacchan, he’s being nice!”

“Fuck nice.”

“You shouldn’t swear in front of sweet little Shouto.”

“Not like he’s gonna remember it.”

Midoriya huffed, but it wasn’t like Bakugou was wrong. And even if he did for some reason, the older Todoroki wasn’t going to care. There was probably no point in complaining about it.

“Okay!” Yaoyorozu said loudly, as she returned to the room. “Your special task is ready!”

Denki’s and Mina’s heads popped up, and she grinned at them in particular.

“There are a bunch of bears hiding around our campsite! I need you all to go find them and bring them back for us, so they can’t sneak up on us!”

Denki and Mina took off immediately, but Ochako shied away a little, hiding behind Asui’s leg.

“Bears?” she asked quietly.

“It’s okay,” Asui whispered. “They’re cuddly bears, not scary ones.”

“Oh!”

She ran off after the others, and Bakugou looked down at Shouto pointedly, shaking his leg a little.

“You want to go find a bear?” he asked.

Shouto hesitated, no words coming out, though his eyes darted toward the dining room where Yaoyorozu had been off setting things up.

“I’ll be right here when you’re done,” Bakugou reminded him. “We both will be.”

Still Shouto said nothing, and Bakugou knew what was coming – damn nerd was about to make him go on a stupid bear hunt with the children, even though the rest of them got to sit back and relax.

“Shouto, should we look for a bear together?” Endeavour asked, not quite meeting Shouto’s eyes. “I could use your help.”

This time, Shouto’s hands slowly loosened, untangling themselves from Bakugou’s pants, and Bakugou was genuinely impressed. Who would’ve guessed that a bunch of bubbles would be enough to mend their fucked up family dynamic? Shouto still kept a few steps between them, still warily glanced over at Endeavour every so often to see what he was doing, but Endeavour kept his face carefully neutral, devoid of the scowls and flames Bakugou was used to, and apparently, that was enough.

“Thank god,” Bakugou sighed, falling onto the sofa heavily. “I know what you were about to do, nerd.”

“You can’t prove anything,” Midoriya sang, sitting down beside him. “Yaoyorozu, please tell me the bears have trackers in them like the cat did.”

“Better,” she said, with a little chuckle. “They’re nanny cams.”

“That’s why she couldn’t make us tents,” Sero explained, grinning. “She was busy producing spy bears.”

Sure enough, she held up a tablet, the screen split between nine different camera views. Each one peeked out from behind something or inside of something, hidden just enough to give the kids a bit of a challenge, but still peeking out to provide surveillance.

“I made a few extras, so the kids can choose their favourite one to adopt. We can strategically place the other ones around the building, I think. It’s not foolproof, but it might help us out a little.”

“It’s amazing,” Midoriya assured her. “Great work, as always!”

By the time the first bear was picked up, Eijirou wrapping his arms around it excitedly, there were footsteps approaching their front door again, and Midoriya was surprised to see multiple people from Class B arrive, carrying tents and sleeping bags – he supposed it took a few extra arms to carry them over, but he had never expected to see some of the faces who arrived, least of all Monoma.

“Delivery!” Kendou sang, when All Might let them in with quiet thanks for their help. “Who was it this time?”

Right on cue, a little cluster of children came running back in, waving bears in the air and yelling incomprehensible words. Mina was triumphantly holding up a bear in each hand, Denki trying to jump and snatch one of them whenever she looked away, while Eijirou just kept his arms wrapped around his own, smiling contentedly.

“I found two bears!” Mina said brightly.

“Me too!” Ochako exclaimed, hurrying in with her own pair in hand, dangling by their paws like she was holding their hands. “I brought one for Iida to cuddle.”

“That was very nice of you,” Yaoyorozu said, glancing over at where Iida rolled around contentedly on the carpet. “I’m sure he’ll love it.”

“Who’s that?” Ochako continued, pointing up at the classmates who watched the little group with despair and amusement warring in their expressions. “Your friend?”

“Our friends,” Sero confirmed. “They brought us some camping gear for tonight.”

“Camping!” Ochako said gleefully. “I wanna sleep in a bag.”

“Great news,” Kendou said, grinning as she bent down to Ochako’s height. “Here, a bag just for you.”

Ochako shifted her bears into one hand before she accepted the sleeping bag, bouncing away happily as she moved over to Iida’s side to provide him with a teddy bear, and Midoriya shot Kendou a grateful smile.

“We thought you might need some extra hands to get set up,” she continued. “We also brought some flashlights and head torches, so you can switch off the lights and play around with them.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea!” Midoriya gushed. “We can make shadow puppets!”

“Sounds like fun! Shiozaki brought some stuff for you, too.”

She stepped aside, and Shiozaki stepped forward with a big cardboard box, setting it down in the middle of the room. Midoriya caught a glimpse of pinecones and twigs, and he crept closer to peek inside curiously.

“I thought you could do a craft,” she explained. “You can make pinecone animals, or decorate them like trees. We brought paint and glue, plus googly eyes and colourful yarn, so they can make what they want.”

“That’s amazing! Thank you so much! They’re gonna have a blast.”

“Is it five of them again?” Monoma asked, glancing over at where the little cluster was still waving bears in the air happily. “He’s getting bold, damn him.”

“Six,” Midoriya corrected him, glancing toward the hallway where the Todorokis had disappeared. “Somewhere around here is—”

Tiny footsteps pattered into the room with impeccable timing, Shouto beaming from ear to ear as he held up a bear to show Bakugou. He didn’t even notice the new arrivals, too delighted with his find, and too desperate to let Bakugou share in his joy.

Cute.

“Wow, look at you,” Bakugou said knowingly. “That was very quick, well done. That’s a good bear.”

He nodded firmly, then looked back over his shoulder, watching as Endeavour returned with a bear of his own looking comically small in his hand.

“He insisted,” Endeavour said quietly, looking a little misty-eyed. “He was a great bear hunter.”

Shouto just grinned, hugging his bear, and in a moment of boldness, Endeavour reached out, patting him on the head lightly. Shouto froze, slowly turning to look up at him, but his smile didn’t vanish, and he didn’t pull away, so Endeavour just smiled awkwardly in return.

Todoroki was gonna be so mad when he found out about that smile.

“Endeavour is helping us out,” Midoriya explained, watching Endeavour’s head turn to take in the newcomers. “He’s been amazing.”

“Sounds like you don’t need us,” Monoma said, turning toward the door and quickly getting grabbed by Kendou to keep him in place. “What? They have the number one hero here, and the former number one.”

“They don’t have your quirk,” Kendou said pointedly.

Monoma sighed, and Midoriya couldn’t help but be a little curious; what was he planning to copy? Maybe Yaoyorozu’s quirk, to help make equipment for them?

“There’s some first-year who makes gasses,” Monoma admitted, reaching into his pocket. “I... borrowed it from her.”

Kendou snorted, but none of them elaborated.

“I brought balloons.”

He plucked one from his pocket, holding it in his fist and watching it inflate, all eyes immediately turning on him as it got bigger. He tied it off and let go, letting it float to the ceiling, and with an impressive thunk, the kids were all but climbing each other’s corpses, trying to reach it.

“I have more,” he told them, when they pushed and shoved, trying to be the first to reach it. “Chill out.”

Two by two he inflated them, one in each fist, his classmates taking them and tying them off each time they finished. Soon the ceiling was full of them, big and bright and colourful, and even Bakugou couldn’t resist the tiniest of smiles when he saw the kids giggling over them.

“Oh, I have some ribbon,” Shiozaki offered, reaching into the box of craft supplies. “Maybe we should tie them on for the kids to hold, again.”

The again was doing a lot of heavy lifting, but Midoriya didn’t ask; he knew the gist of the story, he could piece together enough to get by.

Shiozaki began cutting off long pieces of shiny ribbon, and Endeavour stepped forward to take a handful from her, reaching up to grab the first balloon. All Might joined him, the two of them working together surprisingly peacefully, and soon their huge collection of balloons featured long, dangling ribbons to match, letting the kids jump up and grab hold, to drag the balloons around the room with them.

Shouto fixated on one in particular, staring up at it with his little mouth open, and after a moment Midoriya reached for it, offering him the ribbon. It was bright orange, and he knew exactly why Shouto had gone for it, even though he was sure Bakugou would deny it if he said it out loud.

The balloons never seemed to end, Monoma just pulling more and more of them from his pockets, only stopping when the ceiling was crammed full of so many that they could barely move. They soon ran out of ribbon, Yaoyorozu quickly producing a new reel of it to continue with, but the kids didn’t even seem to notice the whole process, too busy being delighted by all of them, along with their new bear friends.

“We might have to call you first, next time,” Bakugou told Monoma, only half-joking. “A new babysitter just joined the ranks.”

Monoma cringed, but surprisingly, he didn’t outright object. He’d become a little less brash since they'd first met, Midoriya thought; then again, he was dating Bakugou, so maybe he just had a high tolerance for it these days.

“Alright folks, should we set up some tents?” Asui suggested. “We’ve got some friends here to help, but they’ll have to go home to bed soon, so we’d better use their help while we can! Do we have anything to say to them about the balloons?”

“Thaaaank youuuu,” the kids chorused, though Denki and Mina continued shoving each other throughout – Midoriya wasn’t even sure why, this time.

When he stepped forward to help, Kendou brushed Midoriya off, leaving him to just watch silently as the Class B students got to work setting up tents. The kids ‘helped’ as best as they could, but Midoriya suspected it would have been quicker to do it without them, if that wouldn’t have ruined the experience and all. Even Endeavour and All Might got relegated to a sofa, watching a couple of the teenagers whose names Midoriya had forgotten - he'd have to remedy that later - as they took over with Shouto and coaxed him into holding poles in place. In their early misadventures, Bakugou and Midoriya had taken care of each other solo, but now Midoriya wondered why. It was all so much easier with an extra pair of hands, or eight.

“I like having more people to help,” Midoriya said quietly, when he caught Bakugou giving him quizzical looks. “It’s much easier this way.”

“Sure,” Bakugou snorted. “Because these ones don’t scream their damn lungs out if someone else tries.”

Midoriya swallowed hard. That was... an excellent point. He supposed it was his own fault, to some extent, that they hadn’t done the whole teamwork-thing earlier on.

“Yeah, because you were so much better,” Midoriya pointed out.

“I needed a lot less care!”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

Bakugou elbowed him, and Midoriya shoved him right back; though when he looked over, they were both grinning.

“Are we ready for the final touch?” Kendou asked, when five tents were set up and the kids each had a flashlight in hand.

“Yeeeees!”

She flipped off the lights, and Shiozaki set something down in the middle of the room, showering the balloon-y roof in little pinpricks of light. The kids lay back on the carpet, marvelling, and Midoriya grinned as he reached for Bakugou’s hand, squeezing him lightly.

“Ready to give them a space lecture, Kacchan?” he whispered.

“These pricks? They wouldn’t appreciate it,” Bakugou huffed. “They just want to look at lights.”

“Isn’t that what all stargazing is, technically?”

“Shut up.”

When the Class B students began whispering their goodbyes and sneaking out the front door, Endeavour took over again, this time sitting down with a big bag of marshmallows he’d apparently been hiding somewhere. He formed the tiniest flame on his fingertip, keeping it small enough to not trigger any smoke detectors, and glanced over at Shouto, the surprise clear in his face when he found him marvelling rather than cowering.

“Take turns nicely,” Endeavour instructed, giving Denki and Mina a pointed look, as he offered them all marshmallows and wooden skewers. “Otherwise no one gets any.”

The pair pouted, but nodded, and one by one the kids poked a marshmallow on the end of the skewer, holding them all out together to hover around Endeavour’s flame. When smoke began to get a little too thick, Midoriya fanned it away quickly, dissipating it before it could become a problem, and for maybe the first time in their weekend, the group was peaceful.

He knew it wouldn’t last, of course – he wasn’t stupid – so he made sure to appreciate it while he still had the chance.