"It's time for you to wake up now." A warm voice called him back to wakefulness, but he couldn't summon the energy to open his eyes. He groaned and curled into the bed instead. "None of that, young man. It's time for you to go home."

Denki forced himself to a sitting position and yawned. "How are you feeling?" He looked over to Recovery Girl.

"Fine?" He smiled when his voice sounded as it usually did, and repeated himself with more vigor. "Fine! Much better now, thank you."

"Good. Last period is over, so you should get going."

"Ah, right. Thank you so much, Recovery Girl!" Denki jumped to his feet. After his nap, he recovered a lot of his energy. Plenty for the rest of the day at least. I need to figure out what I missed. He entered the nearly empty hallway and grimaced as he weighed his options. Todoroki's a no-go. No chance I'm stirring that pot. God, why couldn't he have just laughed at me like everyone else? I might be able to avoid him for a couple days, but we've got tutoring on Saturday and I can't get out of that.

I'm finally catching up, or I think I am. If I call off the tutoring because of this, then everything will have been for nothing. But how am I supposed to walk into that? If he tries to talk all serious about it again I can't blame being out of it for how I react. If I start shaking or get queasy trying to talk about it, there's no way he'd ever let it go. Then I could end up worrying him every time we do a practical exercise or quirk training.

Fuck, I can't avoid talking to Todoroki. Not forever. I just have no idea how to prepare myself for that conversation.

"Kaminari!" Denki looked up to see Iida walking stiffly toward him. "I'm glad I caught you!"

"Oh, Iida! What's up? Aren't classes over?"

"Yes, but since you didn't make it back to class, I thought I should take it upon myself as class president to check on you. I just wanted to ensure you are okay and also give you the homework from the classes you missed."

"Aw, man. Homework?" Denki accepted the stack of papers that Iida offered, looking at it wearily.

"Todoroki and I also put notes together for the classes you missed, but please don't hesitate to get in contact with me if you have questions."

Denki flipped through the papers to find some notes under the homework. "Huh? Todoroki did?" He was surprised to see that he recognized Todoroki's handwriting and note-taking style.

"Yes. When I mentioned I would make an extra copy of notes for you, he insisted on helping. I would suggest you thank him when you next see him."

"I, uh…" Denki blinked at the notes. "Right, yeah. I will. And thank you, Class Pres. I was worried about falling behind."

"I've noticed how hard you've been trying in class, and couldn't in good conscience allow you to fall behind for something like this. I am always available if you require help."

Denki felt that fluttering in his chest that happened when someone complimented him. He grinned, unable to contain himself. "Aw, thanks." With a quick scan of the notes, though, Denki was pretty sure that he was relatively safe. He didn't see too much that would be difficult, and he had Yaoyorozu's study group to ask questions about it. He was pretty sure he could, at the very least, grasp everything well enough that he wasn't in danger of something blindsiding him the next day. "I think I can manage with this, though. It's really well put together. Thanks a lot, man."

"Of course. Are you heading to the station?"

"Uh, yeah. I don't have anything after school today, so…"

"Why don't we walk together?"

Almost from the moment he agreed, Iida went off on what Denki could only assume was a word for word account of the afternoon's lectures. It was endearing, if nothing else, and since the first thing Denki's mind wandered to was almost always Todoroki, and he definitely did not want to think about that, he managed to listen fairly well.

For his own sake, he asked questions and chatted along with Iida until they reached the train station, where they had to part ways. Surrounded only by strangers, Denki tried to think more about Iida's recount of the lessons rather than the inevitable talk with Todoroki, but he didn't end up doing too well in those attempts.

Without notes in front of him, all the information just floated around in his head and he couldn't make heads nor tails of it. He didn't have the visual to reinforce what went into his head, so he felt like it mostly just slipped right back out, lost to crowded train car. I can't take out my entire notebook now, though. I wish I had Todoroki's index cards to look at.

Of course, when I get this set it'll be… He shook his head. Damn it. And things were going so well. When Denki closed his eyes, he could see Todoroki's expression. Eyes narrowed, brow furrowed, the corners of his lips twisting into un unenthusiastic scowl. He could hear Todoroki's words. "Only for now". What are the odds I just imagined that? Maybe he really did let it go and I was just too exhausted. Maybe I dreamed the entire thing and Todoroki laughed about it along with everyone else. Not unbelievable. I'd still be fooling myself, though.

Why does he care, though? I mean, obviously I understand that it's scary. I'm petrified when it happens. But even Jirou and Mina were willing to laugh it off when I did. He just doesn't get that I don't have a choice. Not if I really want to be a hero. I can't afford to half-ass everything like him. I can't use only half my power and still be top in the class.

"Is it scary?" Of course it's freaking scary. Who wouldn't find that terrifying? But if I let that stop me, I'll never catch up. It's better if it's a joke. Then, I can go all out without making my friends worry about me.

Denki was quiet the rest of the day. When he arrived at his home, he dutifully took out the notes that Iida and Todoroki had prepared for him and used them to complete the homework. He studied those notes a little longer than he usually would have because he wasn't in class for the lecture, but otherwise his evening was an average if not slow one. It gave his mind lots of time to wander, but no matter how much he lingered on Todoroki, he couldn't think of a solution. He knew he wouldn't, and that he'd just have to face it when it came. Which I can do. If there's anything I can do, it's talk.

Well, maybe not verbally, apparently, but whatever. Honestly, since he's seen me like that, it's hard to think there's anything I can say that'll get him to let it go. I'll just… face it like a man, I guess. Eventually, anyway. Like hell am I going to let him confront me about it in school. I am not okay with delving into that in school.

He sighed into his resolution, not happy about it but accepting there was no other way around it. Hero class – hero school – was so different from middle school. Something like that, a classmate seeing him overwork himself and worry over him, didn't happen before. Since quirks were so restrained, he only ever really drained himself by accident, and because of how the classes were set up he'd just be whisked away before the other students, if there were any around at all, even really understood there was anything wrong at all. And it wasn't as if quirk-related accidents were rare. No one gave it a second thought. Only at UA, in hero training, did his health and safety really become something so apparent.

Maybe it was because of the villain incidents. With everything at USJ and Todoroki specifically being one of the few who was in Hosu during the attack, Denki couldn't blame him for being alarmed by his classmate becoming unresponsive. They'd seen the real dangers, they knew how bad it got, so it wasn't something they could laugh off anymore. From that perspective, Denki felt a little guilty for worrying Todoroki like that.

But there wasn't anything he could do except wait it out, because god knows he wasn't going to go looking for that conversation. So, he did his best to put it behind him and tried to live out the following day as normally as possible. For the most part, he succeeded. Friday's classes were fine. He felt Todoroki's eyes on him, but he just grinned and bore the attention. So long as Todoroki didn't say anything, neither would he. His already terrible attention span ensured that the new distraction didn't really have too much of an overall effect as far as his studies were concerned.

The only other thing that indicated Todoroki was even still interested was when he pulled Denki aside at the start of lunch period. "Kaminari." He had said, appearing right next to Denki's desk before Kirishima or Ashido had time to pull him off to his usual lunch group.

"Hey, Todoroki. What's up?" The words felt stupid on his lips, since he knew very well exactly why Todoroki was there.

"Can we continue that conversation from yesterday, please?" The look in his eyes betrayed little of what he was feeling.

Denki didn't like that. Under the inscrutable gaze of his classmate, he shifted in his seat, felt his confidence shake. For a moment, just at the moment he began his response, he couldn't face Todoroki. "…Okay. But, uh…" He noticed Kirishima nearby, looking curious. "How about we meet up sometime out of school?"

Todoroki nodded and turned away. "I won't bother you tonight. I know you need to study with Yaoyorozu. I'll make some extra time tomorrow, does that work?"

"Sure thing, dude."

Todoroki walked away briskly. Kirishima stepped up to Denki's desk to fill the gap. "Uh, should I be worried?" He pointed at Todoroki's retreating back.

"Nah man, it's nothing." Denki waved it off with a smile. "He just wants to talk about yesterday's Foundational Heroics exercise. When we talked yesterday I was still a little, ah, dazed, so he's just helping me out."

Kirishima frowned. "You sure? Didn't he seem a little cold?"

"It's just 'cause I was so close to beating him!"

That elicited a snicker. "I'm not sure about that, but you sure did great! Everyone thought you were super cool! While we could still watch, anyway."

"Hah, right. I should probably apologize about that. I didn't think I'd take out the surveillance cameras!"

They laughed together and it seemed that Kirishima had, thankfully, forgotten or dropped the topic of Todoroki. Ashido gave him some pointed looks to say she had definitely seen Todoroki talking to him, but otherwise Denki concluded she didn't manage to hear, and so had nothing incriminating against him.

He went with his friends to lunch and, in the midst of conversation, allowed Todoroki to leave his mind. He just enjoyed his time socializing as usual. In Heroics, he received a review from All Might that left a bitter taste in his mouth – apparently frying civilian cell phones is not only a sure way to make everyone hate you, but also cut them off from calling for help or spreading word of an incident. He was praised for his quick thinking in saving the civilian, but warned that he had taken advantage of the fact that they weren't real since the cardboard wouldn't even knock his breath out of him when it fell onto him. Examination of the battle zone afterwards also revealed three civilians that were zapped by his last discharge. Not unexpected, but Denki still felt guilty.

To everyone's surprise, Todoroki actually stood up for him, saying that since the cameras went out, they couldn't see how close Denki had gotten to winning. "I was stunned, too, after his last attack. If he had a higher threshold and was able to follow up, he definitely would have won." He also reminded All Might that the only reason he hadn't harmed any of the civilians was that Denki had protected them, so they weren't so unequal.

All Might reminded Todoroki that they couldn't afford to incapacitate themselves, so it wouldn't matter in the end how close Denki had gotten if he made himself dumb. Todoroki gave Denki a meaningful glance as if to emphasize All Might's words, as if he planned to draw that observation out of All Might. Denki wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"But young Kaminari did well." All Might concluded. "He thought about his opponent's weakness and tried to take advantage of it. Even if it didn't work out this time, he's on the right track. Now, let's continue with our next pair!"

Denki fought the urge to curl into himself. Despite All Might's conclusion, he didn't feel good about the results. He had tried to deactivate Todoroki's suit, yes, and had done so, but his enthusiasm had sent him in for the close before he could fully enact his plan to make Todoroki switch quirks. He got fired up and lost control. Not to mention the look Todoroki sent him felt like he had dropped ice in Denki's gut. And though he and everyone else knew how careful he was about his quirk with his allies and with civilians, he had still discharged without concern for the dummies. That was also taking advantage of the fact that it was a test. Even in his adrenaline-fueled battle rush, he would never have done that if those had been real people.

He only shook off his mood with the help of his friends' commentary and the distraction of the battle between Kirishima and Asui on the monitors. It took just a moment for him to start getting into it, and he managed to continue through the rest of the day, including the study group with Yaoyorozu, without much else of note.

But of course, the end of the day also came with the start of the next one, and Denki found himself at Todoroki's door in what felt like no time at all.

As usual, Todoroki met him at the door and escorted him to his room. Despite having been over twice a week for a couple weeks already, and even sharing lunch with the Todoroki family once, he hadn't seen Todoroki's parents even once. Denki figured they were just busy. He went over at the same time, after all. If they were at work or had some other obligation, they would miss each other every time. Still, he was starting to grow just a little concerned for a variety of reasons. The least of which, that Denki was still nervous about making a good first impression on them. Without knowing if they'd ever show up, he couldn't prepare properly for an introduction.

"I understand if you would rather have this conversation after our review," Todoroki said when he shut the door behind them. "But I've been restraining myself, and I worry I won't be as effective a tutor if I can't get it off my mind first. I'll leave the decision to you."

Denki collapsed on Todoroki's bed, laying back so he was only looking at the ceiling. "It's fine. Say what you need."

Denki hadn't felt it before, but the moment between his approval and Todoroki finally speaking was filled with all the tension he knew they both felt about the topic. All of Todoroki's effort to let him be and bide his time before talking, elastic stretched too tightly. All of Denki's nerves about confronting a topic he hadn't seriously had a heart-to-heart about almost since it started (and then, he was just a kid, so it wasn't even as tense), a thick weight in the air, compressing both of them.

He felt it, that tension, that pressure, the moment before it snapped. "I understand that this isn't a comfortable topic for you, but please don't lie to me, Kaminari."

Todoroki's voice was even and measured, but it still sent chills down Denki's spine. "I won't."

A hum, not convinced. "Recovery Girl said that it doesn't hurt you beyond the temporary effects." Denki responded with his own hum. "But can't you understand why it's concerning to me?"

He did, sort of. It was scary. But could he understand why Todoroki was making such a fuss about it? Why he couldn't sit content in the knowledge that Denki was doing everything he could to make sure he wasn't in that position while in danger, and also that it wasn't inherently harmful for him? "No. Not really."

Todoroki was quiet for a moment. Denki felt a weight on the edge of the bed. "When Midoriya walked into the sports festival, did you worry about him at all? Did it not worry you that he willingly went on stage and broke his own bones to compete?"

Denki sat up, coming unexpectedly close to Todoroki. He grit his teeth and couldn't keep the frown off his face. "What are you talking about? Midoriya was destroying his body with a single attack. This isn't the same thing."

"It is."

"Midoriya was damaged permanently by it. It had lasting effects."

"Yes, but when did you find out about that? Before, or after?"

"Being stupid for an hour is not the same as breaking every bone in my freaking arms, Todoroki."

"No, you're right. It's far more frightening."

Denki scoffed. "You have a weird idea of what's scary, man."

"Listen." Todoroki took him by the shoulders and frowned. "When Midoriya comes back with his fingers and arms broken, I know what we're dealing with. He's perfectly aware of what's happening, even through that pain. He even, because he's Midoriya, always tried to reassure us. On top of that, his struggle is at least taken seriously and he was always thinking about how to overcome it." Todoroki let him go so that he could turn away and lean on his knees. "But you're unresponsive. Even knowing that you're going to recover with time, you have no way to communicate. What if you needed something? Or if it isn't the same, and no one knows to do anything different? Most people just laugh at you. And you don't even try to stop it."

"What are you talking about? You think I like going stupid like that? Of course I try to avoid it!"

"You don't even think twice about doing that to yourself for nothing more than an exercise!"

"Well, what would you have me do?" Denki hugged his knees. "I get excited. I forget myself and exceed my limit."

"I don't believe that."

"Believe what you want."

"Kaminari!" Denki flinched when Todoroki's voice raised. "You must know that you're going to do that to yourself when you fight."

"Of course, I do."

"Then why don't you hold back?"

Denki grit his teeth and glared at Todoroki. "I can't afford to hold back, stupid. Sorry I'm not you."

"I still don't understand." Denki saw how his expression twisted, how Todoroki was starting to get caught up in his frustration. Or maybe it was the other way around. "How can you go up in front of everyone like that, knowing that you'll put yourself in that state? Not only helpless and unresponsive, but mocked as well."

"It's better that they laugh. I wish you laughed."

"How? Why?" Todoroki was almost pleading at that point, and that reaching, grasping in his voice dug deep into Denki and broke him down.

"Because! If you laugh, you aren't scared. If you laugh, you aren't worried. If you're laughing, that means I can keep pushing myself. I won't be afraid of hurting you, or the others. If I let being afraid of that stop me from doing everything I can, then I'll never catch up. I'm not strong like you. I'm not smart.

"You'll probably be a top hero without even trying. Top ten at least, I'm calling it right now." He chuckled, surprising himself with his own laugh. Surprised to hear it was totally normal, when he felt so bitter inside. "If I let fear stop me from pushing my limits, I'll never even be a mediocre hero. If I can't step up and force myself to let out more than I feel like I can, then I may as well quit right now and go to a regular high school."

Todoroki took a while to form a response. "That's not true."

"Dude, be honest. If the entrance exam wasn't robots, I wouldn't be here in the first place."

This time, Todoroki was more insistent, and his answer came nearly immediately. "That is not true." He stood, running a hand through his hair. "Oh my god, you are so ridiculous." Denki flinched when Todoroki rounded on him. "I admit, your quirk was advantageous for the entrance exam. Maybe that did help you. Either way, accepting you into UA was the best decision that school has ever made."

Denki was too stunned, too slow in registering what Todoroki had even said, to say anything before he continued. "You, out of everyone, have grown above and beyond what was expected. I can't believe I'm hearing you worry about keeping up with the rest of us. So what if you started low? Look at how fast you've improved your grades! You almost beat me in Heroics! If anyone should be worried, it's the rest of us about how we'll keep up with you!"

"I'm only doing better because you're bringing me up to your level! Only because you're wasting your time on me!"

"You're doing well because you're putting the effort in! I'm not even a good tutor. I'm not good at explaining things, and I'm not comfortable with talking so much like that. You do all the work."

"Are you kidding me?" Denki scoffed and stood himself so he was level with Todoroki. "You're freaking perfect at everything! You're like, as strong as a pro, you have great grades, and yes, dude, you're a great tutor. You watched me, thought of how to help me, adapted ways to help me that work. I wouldn't be even close to where I am if I wasn't riding off your coattails."

"Stop making it out like you're taking advantage of me! I'm not carrying you, and you're not wasting my time! I do this because I like it, and because I respect you. And I'm not perfect. I can only dream of getting along with people like you do. You could be number one hero, don't you get that? Don't you understand why All Might is there, and not my dad?"

Denki hesitated, frowned. He wasn't sure where Todoroki was going, but he knew it was revealing something about Todoroki that he didn't think he was at a place to hear. They were friends, sure, but not like he and Ashido or Kirishima were. They didn't have chats about their feelings or their troubles. Except that's exactly what this is, isn't it? He shook his head. "All Might is ridiculously powerful."

"That's not what's important." Todoroki insisted. "People love All Might. He's not just a hero. He's not a…" Todoroki struggled for a moment for the words. "He's not even just a celebrity. I realized that, after the sports festival. He's an icon. He's not just known, he's adored. He's trusted. My dad is… difficult to get along with."

Denki shook his head. "I don't get it. Midoriya is little All Might. Not me."

"No. You're right, Midoriya is like All Might. He has that… thing. Whatever it is that makes him just a little bit of an idiot once he gets it in his mind that he needs to help someone. That's probably why All Might likes him so much. But you're just that kind of person. You make people happy just by being around them. You make them feel like they can talk to you, like they can trust you. Even Midoriya doesn't have that."

"Mina and Kirishima both do that."

"And they're both brilliant people. But you're the one I know. You're the one that's shown such amazing growth." Todoroki seemed to try to calm himself down. "Sorry." He sat. "You're not stupid, Kaminari. You're not doing well because I'm your tutor. You're doing well because you sought out a way to do better."

"You offered. All I did was agree."

"I offered because I noticed. Couldn't you tell that I had no idea what I was doing? I saw you in class. I could tell that you had trouble with how the information is given to you. I knew that if only someone would give you the information in a way that was accessible to you, you'd skyrocket above all of us. And I was right! Actually improving your grades, that's all on you."

Denki sat down next to him, unsure how or if to respond. That's what Todoroki thinks of me?

Todoroki chuckled weakly. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you drain yourself like that, though. When you see an opening, you don't hesitate. You commit one-hundred percent, even when you're scared. It's just frustrating, because you don't realize how special that is."

Denki was sure his face was red, but he did his best to ignore it. "It's not that special. A lot of the time I do stupid stuff because of it. I only commit because I don't think things through."

Todoroki shook his head and sighed through the long pause. "It's crazy, how different we are."

"You think?"

"I don't think I'm strong enough to go through your life."

"Don't be stupid. You're like, the strongest guy I know."

"No. I would have given up a long time ago if I were in your situation. With a quirk that does that to you when overused…"

"Or used improperly."

"See? And learning difficulties on top of that? I don't understand how you have the strength to pursue a career as a hero. Things come so easily to me, and I feel stupid saying it like that, but it's true. This path was practically force-fed to me with how easy UA has been, and watching you makes me feel like I don't deserve it. I don't have the will to go as far as you do."

"Sure you do. You just haven't needed to. Don't worry about not spending effort that isn't needed." Denki worried his lip for a moment. "But that's also another thing. I don't really have some crazy motivation or anything. You and everyone else, you all have these really awesome reasons for being heroes. You guys want to help people, or to live up to expectations, and I just… thought it'd be cool. I thought it'd be fun."

"Fun?"

"Yeah. In case you haven't noticed, I really like fighting."

Todoroki smirked. "That does explain some things."

"Obviously after USJ and everything, I know better. Being a hero isn't something you do for fun, but… I don't know. I'm having fun. That's why I decided to go to UA. Not some noble or important reason. I often feel like I don't really even belong with you guys."

"You're telling me that you put in so much effort, put yourself through so much, and you don't even have any investment in being a hero? You do it because you just… want to?"

Denki chuckled weakly. "I guess. That's not entirely true anymore. After being here with you guys, I want to be a hero. I want to help you guys when you're out kicking ass and taking names."

"Unbelievable." Todoroki put his face in his hands. "You have to be the bravest person I've ever met."

"No. I mean, I'm no coward, but I'm pretty sure we have a few classmates braver than me."

Todoroki didn't respond, he just hung his head in thought. After a few long, quiet, peaceful moments, he asked, "It really doesn't bother you? That people laugh at you when you're…"

"I told you, dude. It's better that way. If everyone freaked out over me every time it happened, then I probably wouldn't be brave enough to do it."

"I think we have different concepts of bravery."

Denki chuckled. "How?"

"To me, the thought that walking willingly into mockery requires less bravery than having multiple people knowledgeable enough and willing to take care of you is absurd."

"Haha, I guess. To me, the thought of putting my friends through that kind of worry, or making them feel half as afraid as I am when I'm like that, is way scarier."

"So it is scary for you."

"Who do you think I am? Of course it's scary. I can't control my own body. I can't even think properly. And even if I could, communication would still be impossible. It's not something that happens and you think 'oh, I'll be fine again in an hour'. It's just… that moment."

Denki hadn't even realized he started shaking until Todoroki's hand on his arm stopped it. "I'm sorry." Todoroki said.

"Don't be. There's nothing you need to be sorry for."

"I'm sorry for pushing you into this."

Denki grinned. "Well it's not like I wouldn't have preferred not to talk about it, but no harm done. It's not something you need to apologize for. I know you're just worried."

Todoroki smiled and shook his head. Under his breath, he said, "Unbelievable."

"But, uh," Denki took a shaky breath. He touched his warm cheeks. "Do you, like, get it now, or whatever? Are we good?"

"Truthfully, I don't think I'll ever 'get it'." Todoroki shook his head, his expression calm. "But yes, we're good."

Denki knew Todoroki probably wouldn't be comfortable with it. He felt bad about doing it without asking. But he was feeling emotional and he was a little overloaded on everything Todoroki had said to him, how much he had praised him, and he saw the opening so he took it. He leaned closer and wrapped his arms tight around Todoroki in a hug.

Since he had to lean to reach, Denki ended up with his face buried in Todoroki's shoulder, but that suited him just fine. He used Todoroki to hide his grin and mumbled into his shirt. "Good."

Todoroki shifted under him, and he was just about to let go, realizing what he did, when he felt arms surround him in return.