Shouto arrived to school early on the first day, silently navigating the empty hallways on his way to class 1-A's homeroom. He nearly tripped over a pile of rags outside the door and sat in a desk in the back corner of the room. Head down, Shouto sighed and rubbed his bruised shoulders, releasing enough cold to numb the pain. For now.

Other students slowly trickled in, and they all found seats far from Shouto, as per usual. Even when he was younger and had gone outside to play, other children had actively avoided him. They always did. He allowed his mouth to twitch downward briefly, then went back to his impassive mask. The noise of the class enveloped him, but Shouto didn't mind.

Shouto couldn't mind.

A finger tapped his shoulder. Shouto lifted hs head and sat straight up, taking in the newcomer-a short boy, arm in a sling, dressed in a UA uniform, freckled face, green hair-and meeting his green eyes. The boy smiled nervously at him. "H-hey."

"Hello."

The boy muttered something to himself and drummed his fingers against his cast. "Is-is anyone sitting there," he said, gesturing at the desk beside Shouto's, "or is it taken?"

Shouto raised his eyebrow at the guy. "It's vacant."

The guy smiled at him again and sat down. "Cool. Uhm." He held out his cast toward Shouto. "I'm Midoriya. Midoriya Izuku."

Shouto stared at the cast for a moment, unsure of what to do. After a very long and awkward silence-Midoriya kept smiling at him-Shouto slowly stretched out his hand and knocked his fist against Midoriya's cast. Midoriya laughed a little, and Shouto felt his face turning red.

Well, more red.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I'm, uhm-"

Midoriya waved his cast through the air. "Don't be sorry, Todoroki-kun! It was just-" he snorted, "kind of awkward. But not bad."

Shouto thought about that for a moment and shrugged. It seemed legitimate. "Okay."

"Okay."

Shouto turned back to the front of the classroom. A couple people-a boy and a girl-came over and sat by Midoriya, keeping a distance from Shouto. Midoriya started talking to them, and Shouto slipped away again.

But then he saw Midoriya smiling at him again, from his peripheral vision. Shouto felt his face redden again, and ignored Midoriya.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be harder than he assumed. Much harder.

Hi. I'm alive. Read, review. Please. I survive on reviews.