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Hitoshi hesitated, he’d seen something about the orange peel theory online and was morbidly curious to test it on Izuku… but is that some weird crazy partner thing? He ignored the thought and crossed through the doorway to the common room. It was late, everyone else had already gone to bed but alas the two insomniacs of the class were still up and thriving. Izuku was currently sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone absentmindedly. Hitoshi quietly walked up to the couch and plopped next to Izuku. He had brought a brush from his room to ask Izuku for help but… he was honestly a little worried about his response. Izuku looked up from his phone briefly, “Oh hey ‘Toshi! Insomnia again?” He just nodded in response and they fell back into a comfortable silence. Hitoshi glanced at the clock and then back at the love of his life before taking a deep breath. “Could you um… could you help me brush my hair?” It was a quiet request, almost a whisper.
Izuku stared for a second at Hitoshi before nodding quickly. He motioned for the other to sit on the floor so he could reach his gravity defying hair and began to get to work. He was honestly extremely surprised that Hitoshi would ask him to do anything, let alone something that he could have easily done himself! The feeling of being asked to do something for the other made a weird feeling grow in his stomach, he couldn’t help the large grin that spread across his face as he gently brought the brush through Hitoshi’s surprisingly well kept hair.
Hitoshi stared at his hands, his face beet red. He honestly wasn’t going to get mad or anything like that if Izuku ‘failed’ the orange peel theory but he really didn’t expect Izuku to be so eager about it. He smiled slightly as the brush gently ran through his hair, the motion itself making him relax ten folds.
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It had been a couple months since Hitoshi had asked Izuku to brush his hair for him and now it was that stressful time of year where every student is cramming, or well when Hitoshi is cramming for their upcoming exam because he’s still scared that if he fails he’ll get kicked out of the hero course. It’s getting fairly late and he hasn’t eaten anything or even stood up for a good couple hours but he refused to waste his time on something so trivial as basic human necessities, not when his spot is in danger. He was so out of it he didn’t even hear the door to his dorm crack open and soft footsteps behind him. A hand landed on his shoulder and he flinched, hard. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you ‘Toshi!” Hitoshi practically melted after realizing who it was, before he knew it tears welled up in his eyes that he quickly blinked away. The stress of studying for hours straight for the last week is starting to catch up to him. Izuku’s features softened, realizing what had happened. “How about we go get something to eat okay?” Hitoshi wanted to refuse, to continue studying but the look on his partner's face made him cave immediately. He nodded and stood up, his knees cracking as he did so due to unuse.
Izuku led him down the hall to the elevator and into the common room. Hitoshi was softly pushed into one of the couches where Izuku retreated into the kitchen to make something quickly. He was in the same spot he was in when he had asked Izuku to brush his hair… That thought made him realize that this is what the orange theory was about. This is the reason people ‘test’ their partners. The thought made tears spring up again, he tried his best to keep them at bay but… he was tired, hungry, and overwhelmed. He slapped a hand over his mouth to cover up his sobs but alas it only muffled them.
He didn’t know when Izuku had come back into the common room but he could feel his presence next to him. He watched as Izuku placed a plate of his favorite food in front of him and then moved over to pull him into a warm hug. Hitoshi bared his face into his lover’s shoulder before sobbing even harder. Izuku rubbed a hand up and down his back, whispering things to reassure him that everything would be okay. Eventually after Hitoshi had calmed down Izuku shifted to take his face into his hands, and gently brushed away the tear marks along Hitoshi’s face. He melted into the touch and was suddenly exhausted. Izuku chuckled watching him fight sleep before sitting him upright, “hey, no sleeping yet you have to eat.”