"Ugh!" Ochako groaned as she let herself fall across her desk. "Why's this stuff so hard?"
She earned an amused look from Midoriya, a neutral look from Todoroki, and a commiserating look from Mina, who had sprawled herself across the room's floor and looked just as exhausted and confused as Ochako felt.
"It's not that hard once you focus on it," Todoroki told them.
Mina and Ochako both glared at him, though Ochako's expression was closer to a pout. "Of course that's what you'd think, Todoroki!" Mina exclaimed. "All this stuff is easy to you."
"That's not true," Todoroki said.
"Todoroki studies just like the rest of us," Midoriya interjected.
"No, you two are like learning monsters or something," Mina told them. "I bet you eat books to obtain their knowledge."
Todoroki stared at her a moment. "That's not... how that works."
Midoriya put his hand on his chin, looking deep in thought as he started mumbling his considerations. "I suppose it's possible that someone could have a quirk like that, but how would they..." The rest became lost as his words began to run together.
"This is hopeless," Ochako said. "Where's Iida? I need him to explain this to me."
"He's not here," Todoroki answered. "He's been disapearing a lot lately."
"What? Where to?" Ochako asked.
"I haven't asked," he answered.
"Todoroki, you're hopeless," Mina said. She spread out on the floor dramatically. "You always leave out all the good parts."
"Good parts?" he repeated with a confused look on his face.
Ochako slammed her hands down on the table. "I'll never get anything done this way," she said, standing.
"Um, I-I could explain some stuff to you, Uraraka," Midoriya told her.
Ochako looked at him with a pout before falling back into her chair in defeat. "Yeah, alright," she agreed sadly. "Thank you, Midoriya."
"We should try to follow him next time we see him leave!" Mina said. "Find out what he's up to."
"Isn't that a little... rude?" Midoriya asked.
"What? No way!" Ochako told them. "We're his friends, it's fine."
"If he wanted us to know, wouldn't he have told us?" Todoroki questioned.
"Nothings wrong with a little curiosity," Mina said.
Todoroki and Midoriya both looked skeptical.
"Fine, we'll go by ourselves," Ochako told them. "Right Ashido?"
"Right!"
Todoroki and Midoriya looked at each other and sighed. "Fine, we'll go," Midoriya said.
"If we leave you two alone, you'll get into trouble."
"Will not!" Mina answered immediately.
"You'd probably get into the most trouble," Todoroki said.
"Hey! Unfair! Not true!" Mina agreed. She waved her arms in the air as she vehemently protested.
Todoroki smiled at her. It was a small smile, but it was there. Midoriya and Ochako exchanged a knowing grin of their own.
"Alright, we should get back to trying to study before it gets too late," Midoriya said. He stood up and stretched before moving toward Ochako. "I'm not as good as Iida, but I can try to help you understand things."
Ochako smiled. "Thanks, Midoriya."
It was a few days later that they had another study session. Midoriya got Iida's attention just after class was dismissed. "Hey, Iida! Are you planning on studying with us today?"
"My apologies, Midoriya, but I have other pans to attend to this afternoon," he replied.
"Oh okay," Midoriya replied. "Sorry to hold you up then."
"It's no problem at all," Iida replied. "Perhaps we can get together to study a bit later in the week? I'd hate to cause anyone's grades to fall because they were unable to get the help that they required. Perhaps Yaoyorozu would be willing to take my place?" he wondered out loud.
"We'll ask her if we need to, don't worry," Midoriya said.
Iida smiled. "Ah, alright then. I shall leave things in your capable hands Midoriya."
They waved as they parted, Iida heading to the door to leave the classroom. He was barely out of sight when Mina and Ochako came up on both sides of him. They both put an arm over his shoulder and he blushed as he tried to quickly escape their grasp.
Mina giggled at him, before linking an arm with Ochako. "Looks like the mission starts now," she said.
"Yeah, we gotta go before we lose him," Ochako agreed.
"Uh, s-sure," Midoriya mumbled.
Mina waved at Todoroki. "Come on, Roki! You, too~"
Todoroki tilted his head in confusion as he as approached them. "Roki?"
"It's a nickname. What, you don't like it?" Mina asked.
Todoroki just shook his head in exasperation and walked to the door.
"That's great! Take the initiative!" Ochako said. She grabbed Midoriya's arm and the three of them followed Todoroki out the door.
They ended up at an outdoor cafe. Iida was sitting across from someone, but they were having a difficult time telling who while still staying out of the sight.
"I can't see anything," Ochako grumbled from her place in the bushes.
"Me either," Mina said, leaning around a tree. "Who is that?"
Todoroki and Midoriya were standing a few steps away from their female classmates, watching them with varying amounts of embarrassment. Todoroki sighed. "We should go in. We won't learn anything by standing around outside."
"What? But he'll see us," Ochako said.
"Could we make up an excuse?" Midoriya asked.
"Double date," Mina said.
Midoriya and Ochako both turned bright red as they stared at her. "What?"
Mina bounced over to Todoroki and took his hand. "Let's go in."
Todoroki looked at the other with confusion as mina plled him off. He grabbed hold of Midoriya's shirt, and Ochako followed them while still blushing.
They got a table that was a fair distance away from their classmate, behind his back. Luckily, Iida's normal speaking volume was loud enough that they could hear him from their table.
"So what is it that you learn in your school? I'm very curious as to the difference in curriculum between our two schools."
"Aw, man. I hoping for something juicy," Mina complained. "He's just talking about school stuff."
"That's what I'd expect from Iida," Ochako said with a smile.
Midoriya stared at the table a bit longer. "Hey, I think I recognize her."
"Camie Utsushimi," Todoroki said. "She was in the supplementary classes Bakugo and I had to take."
"From Shinketsu, right?" Midoriya asked.
"Why would he be talking to her?" Ochako asked.
Camie saw them over his shoulder and smiled at Todoroki, giving him a wave. Iida looked behind him to see what she was waving at and immediately rose to approach them. Camie followed.
"What are you all doing here?" he asked.
Mina took Todoroki's arm and smiled. "Double date."
Midoriya and Ochako blushed again, avoiding each other's gaze.
"You, too?"
"Wait, too?" Ochako repeated.
"Oh, let me introdue you." Iida gestured to Camie, who smiled at them all. "This is Camie, from Shinketsu."
"What's up, Fam?" Camie said.
Todoroki nodded.
"I-it's nice to meet you, for real," Midoriya said.
Camie tilted her head in confusion, but didn't question it. She linked her arm with Iida's. "It's totally chill to meet you guys. Tenya likes to talk about how lit his classmates can be."
"O-oh, does he?" Ochako replied, a little thrown off by Camie's odd speech patterns.
"I can't believe you've had a secretly girlfriend all this time," Mina said.
"It's not like," Iida said, waving his hand. "Not yet anyway. There is far more work to do to determine if we are properly compatible, if we have the time to continue these meetings despite having a busy schedule, if we-"
"Babe, you're over explaining things again," Camie told him.
"Ah! My apologies," he said immediately. "Camie has told me that I sometimes offer explains and details that are more robust than strictly necessary. I have been trying to remember the problem at her behest."
"It's a work in progress," Camie told them.
"When the four of you decide to start going out?" Iida questioned.
Ochako and Midoriya both stumbled over their words and excuses, resulting in an incomprehensible mess. Mina looked up at Iida and spoke over them. "It was a spontaneous decision, but I've been thinking about it for a while now."
"You have?" Todoroki questioned.
Mina grinned at him. "Yep."
"Well, don't let us interrupt you," Iida said. "I'll see you all back at the dorms later."
Iida and Camie returned to their table.
"That wasn't what I expected," Todoroki said.
"It was even better than I hoping!" Mina exclaimed. "Iida's secret girlfriend."
"He said they weren't-" Midoriya began, but stopped when Mina waved her hand in front of him.
"I know what he said, but did you see them?" she asked. "Totally his girlfriend, even if he doesn't want to admit it yet."
"We should order," Ochako said. "I mean, as long as we're here, right?" She looked at Midoriya shyly.
"Y-yeah," he agreed. "We should."
