The news about the ongoing 'energy field' incident buzzed in the back of his mind throughout the rest of his morning classes, and it seemed like everyone was a bit on edge. How on edge they were was obvious by the time they got to lunch, where most people were at the very least giving each other worried looks and low whispers. Many people were doing their usual routines- he could see the pink haired-and-skinned Mina laughing alongside Kirishima about … something, while across the way a blond-haired boy was cheerfully chatting with his purple-haired friend. Speaking of purple hair, Izuku looked about for signs of Shinsou.

He wanted to invite the other boy to eat lunch with them, but it was a pain to find him amongst everything going on. U.A. wasn't massive by any means if the fact that there were only about forty or so students in each year's hero classes. It topped the hero students out at about a hundred and twenty, and with each department … okay, well perhaps the school was quite large when you took every department and grade into account. Still, you would think that it wouldn't be this easy for a hero course student to just disappear into the crowd during lunch, yet it seemed Shinsou had mastered the art. If this was Izuku's old school he could go check the roof or something for him, but this was U.A.- their buildings were miniature skyscrapers, and he doubted any student was just randomly allowed on the roof. Even if it had great safety measures, it just wasn't safe.

It didn't help that this was a demanding school with high standards and lots of work, and one where they were also in the public eye a fair deal. Izuku had never felt the desire to jump, but he could only imagine that if things went pear-shaped for a student who went to U.A., the height of the main buildings would be a tantalizing opportunity.

Izuku shook himself out of that line of thinking; he'd never seriously considered anything like that so it was best not to think about it.

Anyways, it seemed his attempts to pull Shinsou into his orbit of friends were going to have to be postponed for the day. There was a slight worry that the other boy knew what Izuku was trying to do and as such was pulling away from him and making himself scarce, but there had to be another explanation to that. His eyes did land on the dual-toned hair of Todoroki and that made the green-haired boy grin. Yeah, he could ask Shouto to sit with them again! The other boy was currently just going into the lunch line to pick up their food from the hero Lunch Rush, so Izuku slipped in line after him and cleared his throat softly.

Todoroki looked back at him blandly, but also considering him as if he was... surprised that Izuku was attempting to speak to him? Oh boy, he had been right; Todoroki was going to be a tough person for him to read. He already wasn't the best at it, but someone who just stared so blankly was disconcerting. Was this what Izuku had looked like when he shut down during an episode? The green-haired boy hoped not, it must look even weirder on someone who was as open and honest as Izuku usually was. "Hey there Todoroki- what are you getting from Lunch Rush?"

That actually seemed to throw the other boy a bit, as he just blinked and let out a short and cautious, "Soba. I'm hoping they made some today."

Izuku grinned a bit, "I mean, this is Lunch Rush! He can make a lot of food at the drop of a dime. I'm going to request some katsudon- I think I deserve it after the mess yesterday and then the announcement about the energy field thing." The other boy just nodded slightly, which Izuku took as a win. It wasn't going to be easy to maintain a discussion with the recommendation student, but he seemed to be making some progress on that front at least!

They both ended up getting what they wanted- Katsudon for Izuku and Soba for Shouto. As they were leaving the line, he turned to the stoic boy and smiled a bit, "Hey, I was thinking- would you like to sit with Iida, Uraraka, and I, Todoroki?"

"I'm not here to make friends," Was the short and curt reply from the other boy, one that indicated that the conversation was over in the other's eyes. Izuku however was quite stubborn and pressed on.

"Not saying we're trying to make you our friend! I mean if you wanted to be friends, that would be another matter, but since you obviously don't want to then that's not what we would expect from you of course, that would just be rude," Izuku rambled a bit before pulling himself back together a bit. "I just know that eating by yourself can suck, so it's just an offer! You won't bother us if you ever want to join!" He said cheerfully as he turned to walk away.

He was hoping Todoroki would stop him, and with an earnest voice say something along the lines of, 'How did you know what I'm feeling? I would love to come sit with the rest of you'. It was, admittedly, projecting but the hope was there still nonetheless. The desire for him to be just a bit closer to being able to offer Todoroki his hand to pull him into their friend group.

Todoroki turned away, silently for a moment, before shrugging, "I'm used to it." Then the hero student walked away from Izuku, not seeing the stricken look on his face. Because how could someone hear that and not have their heart clench tightly as memories, of sitting alone in a corner as the class looked at them with loathing, pushed themselves into their mind. Izuku hoped dearly that the other boy wasn't actually used to it, that a comment like that was just a way to hide the fact that he wanted to but was either too shy or holding himself back for some reason.

With a reluctant sigh, the green-haired hero student went over to Uraraka and Iida, perking up a bit as he sat down with them, "Hey guys, how are you doing?"

The brown-haired girl looked over at him with a cheery grin, "I'm doing well Deku! Were you talking to Todoroki?" She asked curiously, eating into some of her rice as she waited for him to answer. Izuku shyly nodded at the question from her before clearing his throat so he could explain why he had been talking to the other boy.

"Well, I was hoping to invite Todoroki to sit with us and hang out- he doesn't really do that with anyone, he just sort of sits off in a corner, sometimes with Yaoyorozu, so I figured that maybe it would be a good idea to invite him over so he could hang out with some more of his class," He rambled a bit, explaining his position as Iida nodded in agreement.

"As a fellow member of the class, it would be good for ourselves and him if Todoroki talked to his peers more. If we find ourselves in a position where we need to work together, it would be better if we all could trust each other in the moment," the class president said thoughtfully. Iida wasn't exactly wrong, of course, but Izuku just thought the other boy must be lonely over there. Even if it was done by choice and not something forced on him, which was a stretch, the dual-toned hero student would still be suffering some. Loneliness didn't care much why you were alone, only that at some point you were.

Or feared you'd be alone again.

Alright, too much introspection.

"What did you guys think about that whole energy field thing Aizawa-sensei was talking about this morning?" He asked quietly, looking around to make sure he wasn't being too loud while discussing something that was, at best, still a bit of a stress point for everyone.

Uraraka sighed, "I mean, it explains why there's like- a chill in the air or something. I don't know, but I noticed it for sure when I was on the train over; everyone in the car just seemed to be a little bit uncomfortable. I wasn't sure why, but it makes sense if everyone is subconsciously feeling the field pass through town."

That was true- Izuku hadn't really noticed because he had been so busy running to class, but once he'd settled into the classroom, the room seemed to be a degree or two colder than usual. Not enough to make him uncomfortable, but certainly something he noticed on some level. Both Iida and Izuku nodded, with Iida pushing up his glasses a bit. "I don't know much about it, but I have heard my brother complain to my parents about something similar. An energy field wasn't mentioned, but assuming this field roams the globe then I can only assume that the heroes have seen it before. I am surprised they haven't tried finding someone with a quirk who can visualize energy."

With a blink, Uraraka looked up from her food, "Really? I mean I know that with quirks something like that has got exist, but that is both very specific and the exact solution to the problem of tracking it." Izuku nodded along with her, but his brain was racing just a little bit.

"There are some major issues with that though; if the quirk required someone to interact with the energy to see it, they could suffer the same thing that the instruments are going through," He muttered, making his friend's face pale a bit, "Maybe they wouldn't suffer an aneurysm or a stroke, but they could suffer a heart attack depending on how the energy works. If they had a quirk that could just view the energy field from a distance, that would work. That way they don't have to interact with the field at all."

"Yes," Iida looked mildly disturbed. Oops. "That is the sort of thing I would consider using, but I assume someone has used a quirk like that on it before. Either that or the movement is too random for them to get the quirk user in place to use it. Still, those are important factors to consider Midoriya; as always, you continue to impress!"

Izuku blushes a bit from that praise, "No no, it wasn't anything- I mean the heroes have to have thought about all those things themselves before me!"

Uraraka nudged him with a small giggle, "C'mon Deku, take the compliment! I mean, sure the heroes probably thought about it too, but that is their job! You considering it too means that you did something pretty cool!" She cheered as Iida nodded with a smile as Izuku blushed and stammered. When these two teased him like this, it was easy to forget things were wrong at all.

For the first time in his school career, he had friends who cared about him, for just him and not his quirklessness. Not pity, or anything like that, but seemed to genuinely care. And Izuku, for his part, was on the path to becoming the hero he had always dreamed of. Still, something was nagging him in the back of his head; it felt like there was something under his skin that was yearning to reach out to the energy. Maybe it was a weird way to put it, but it felt almost like his blood was singing at the small feeling of the field like there was a connection there he hadn't known he had been missing. At first, he hadn't noticed it, but once Uraraka mentioned the subconscious feeling of the field, he was noticing it.

It made him nervous for the upcoming field trip; Izuku wasn't sure what could be about to happen, but something felt like it was coming.