A/N: As an apology for the huge delay between updates, have two chapters!

Days passed and turned into weeks, some passing swifter than others, and Shoto plodded through the days with little care for their passing. The final exams of the first semester would soon be approaching, and although Shoto had vaguely given thought to upping his study hours, he hadn't given it more thought than that.

It also hadn't occurred to him to see what his classmates were feeling about the swiftly approaching date, which was a mistake, in hindsight.

"Todoroki. You're smart." The statement was matter-of-fact and not a question, said in the slightly impatient tones of somebody with a goal in mind, and the complete intention of bulldozing you over with it. It was a tone of voice Shoto was very familiar with, only implanted into a considerably younger, considerably more feminine-sounding voice, which was an unpleasant surprise. He also didn't recognize it, which was unpleasant, but not really a surprise. Shoto could currently only recall, off the top of his head, about half of his classmates' names, though if he heard their quirk, he could hypothetically point them out in a crowd… hypothetically.

Suffice it to say, Shoto had many more than one reason to feel very reluctant when he raised his head—in a long, slow sweep from the bottom of the person's indoor shoes, past the off-white earphones dangling out of one blazer pocket and up to their pursed lips—and finally met the person's eyes.

Ah. Long Earlobes. She had a quirk similar to Mic-sensei's, with the cords dangling from her ears able to amplify the sound of her… heartbeat? Or something to that extent. Her name was…

Anyway.

You're smart, she'd said. Shoto rolled those words around in his mind, trying to find the hidden catch in the compliment, wondering where she could possibly be going with this—before giving up.

He leaned back, instead, letting his right arm drape across the back of his seat, giving the impression of a slouch; his head went to rest on his raised right hand, next, palm open, body relaxed; his eyes, though on her face, were actually focused on the bridge of her nose, giving the impression he was looking through her, rather than at her.

"…And?" Shoto said at length, polite, but bored. He slouched even further, letting his eyes become half-shut, emphasizing the impression he wished to give: already tired of this conversation, and of her, before it had even started.

(This, Shoto had learned from watching Natsuo, before simply distancing himself from conversations hadn't been enough for his older brother, and he had begun to physically remove himself whenever Father entered the room. Soon enough, he just stopped showing up around the house at all; until one day, Shoto returned to his room after a long session with Endeavor, and found the goodbye note on his bed.)

Long Earlobes looked disconcerted, though her face remained impassive. She had unconsciously taken a half-step back, and her body was now lightly turned to the side in a defensive position. Shoto continued to eye her with heavy-lidded eyes, doing everything he could to non-verbally communicate how very badly he wanted her to drop this conversation and walk away.

Yaoyorozu was smart. Iida was… smart. Midoriya was very intelligent in ways Shoto couldn't even comprehend, and Bakugo…

…In any case, there were plenty of other smart people in the room, and if you were to dig long enough, surely you would find them, eventually.

Shoto looked away, casually, as if her silence meant as little to him as her words, and tried very, very hard not to tense.

"Shit, look, I'm just gonna say it okay?"

Damnit.

"Mina and Denki were freaking out about End of Term Exams and some of the others overheard, and then they started bugging Momo about it and it became this huge thing—anyway, Midoriya is stuttering so much I feel like he's going to be totally useless without help, and Bakugo is being a dick and won't agree to come, but maybe if you're there he'd be more inclined to join? … so could you, like. Just come for a bit? It'll just be a quick study session at Momo's place, it'll be super fast and Momo's family can afford the really good chocolate—what am I saying, your place can probably afford that too." Earlobes sighed, then crossed her arms and apparently settled in to wait for his answer, her only sign of impatience a finger tapping at one arm, and the nearly inaudible tapping of her foot.

Shoto stopped just-short of gaping at her. That was a lot of unfamiliar names, and also… what? Why him?

"I… don't see how I would qualify to, I assume, tutor a group of our classmates," he began, giving each word the careful enunciation and thought they required, lest he should accidentally slip up and start his next sentence with, FUCK no, thank you and goodbye. "Unless it is in English, in which case I assume Bakugo would be proficient enough, considering how well he speaks in Mic-sensei's classes. If he refuses to go, asking—" what was his name, Kimi… Keri… Kiri…something! "—Kiri…shima, to attend should be a convincing enough argument. They seem to… get along. Well. Enough?"

Shoto coughed delicately into his right hand, trying his best not to let the blush rising from his chest reach his cheeks. Perhaps it really was time to learn his classmates' names, in the off-chance this type of unfortunate incident were to happen again.

Earlobes inhaled, and expelled her breath in an exaggerated whoosh, her t-zone wrinkling as she frowned down at him. "Well yeah, Kiri's coming, but Bakugo's really being a dick about it and totally refusing to go because his marks are, quote: 'Totally fine, unlike you losers! Go drown in your own lack of effort, shit-bags!', end quote. If you went, he'd probably feel like he had to because, you know, he hates you. And you're a recommendation student, so I don't see how you wouldn't be qualified."

Shoto noticed, with some alarm, that she had dropped out of her defensive posture and now had her hands on her hips, her body tilted forward a few degrees and nearly over the desk.

Leaning back any further would likely collapse the chair, and could be seen as a sign of weakness; Shoto leaned forward instead, a move that would force her to move backward, putting her again on the defensive, whether she noticed it consciously or not.

"Regardless of whether I would be qualified or not, I simply don't see why I have to be the one to make time out of my very intensive schedule, for the benefit of students who were too busy wasting their time instead of studying, and are now reaping the natural consequences of their actions." Shoto made sure to slip a bit of coolness into his voice this time, like when Natsuo was at his most distant, mere seconds away from completely disconnecting from whatever reality Father was insisting he reside in.

Earlobes's frown intensified at Shoto's words, but she didn't speak immediately. Or move, which Shoto was slightly more concerned about the longer she spent not doing either.

"Yo, Midoriya!" She turned her head suddenly to call over her shoulder, loud and intensely jarring.

Shoto kept his jolt to the part of his body still hidden under the table and did sigh quietly when Midoriya visibly perked up, even from across the room, and quickly headed their way.

"Hi, Jiro-san!" Midoriya said shyly, and she nodded at him, adding a casual, "Just Jiro is fine, Midoriya." Her hands—Shoto noted irritably—were again on her hips.

"Hi, Todoroki-kun!" the boy said next, his mossy-green curls flopping up and down slightly as he bounced up and down in his enthusiasm.

Despite the unwelcome conversation happening before him, Shoto felt a smile tug at his lips and gave into it as he quietly returned the greeting.

"You're coming to the study group for sure, right Midoriya?" 'Jiro' broke in casually. Shoto narrowed his eyes at her, getting a feeling he knew where this was going.

"Yes?" Midoriya asked, puzzled. "You asked me earlier? Did… did we change the time? Only like I said, I only have Wednesday off this week because I already promised my mom I'd help her out, and I'd hatetogobackonmyword—"

"No, no, it's fine," Jiro hurried to reassure him before he could tumble off into a mumbled panic. Shoto had been about to do the same and felt mild surprise at the knowledge that this classmate, whose name he hadn't even remembered, knew Midoriya well enough to know that about him. Perhaps remembering things about people wasn't that difficult after all? Maybe, if he applied the way he recalled people's quirks to remembering other things, such as their name and likes and dislikes—

It felt like a momentous idea, somehow. Shoto gave up on the slouching and sat up straight, his hand reaching into his desk for a blank notebook to scratch out a vague plan on, when he heard the words:

"—So having Todoroki there would be great, wouldn't it?"

Midoriya beamed at Jiro, then Shoto, who forgot all about his incredible epiphany and really did level a glare at the meddling girl, this time. That was just playing dirty, using Midoriya's smile like that. Jiro's answering smile was sly, and very smug with the knowledge that she had definitely won this round.

"You're coming, Todoroki-kun? That's great! We could really use the help, I know you get great grades in Math—"

"Actually, I already made plans," Shoto blurted out, his mouth moving before he could really think of what he was saying. Midoriya paused, mouth open mid-word, and Shoto quickly finished with a desperate, "…with Shoji, and. Tokoyami. Sorry."

Oh, wow. That was just… spectacular. Shoto desperately turned his head to look for Shoji, hoping, somehow, that the other boy would back him up—

"Yeah, sorry about that, Midoriya," a wonderfully deep voice spoke up. Shoto kept his elation buried behind vague interest, and mentally apologized to Midoriya. As much as he enjoyed his budding friendship with the boy, some things simply could not be allowed to happen. "Todoroki's already promised to come over to our place to help out. You can join us if you like, I've got the room," Shoji added, and the indecision that had crept onto Midoriya's face disappeared instantly.

"Oh, could I?" Midoriya asked, delight in his voice; it turned woeful in the next instant, his smile dropping as he recalled, "Oh, but I already promised Jiro-san—"

"Nevermind, Midori," Jiro said, something odd about her deep and sudden resignation, even as Midoriya flushed pink at the nickname. Shoto eyed her, wondering, and raised his eyebrows as she met his and rolled hers, looking exasperated.

"You are the densest person I have have ever had the misfortune of meeting, which is saying something, because I know Kaminari. You two deserve each other. No hard feelings, Midori, we'll manage without you. Have a good study session."

Without another word, she walked away, fingers of a raised hand wiggling her goodbye. Shoto watched her go, frowning to himself.

How odd. What in the world had that been about?

"So about this study session I didn't realize I had volunteered for," Shoji broke in dryly, and Shoto abruptly realized what he had done.

A study session, with Shoji and Midoriya and, apparently, Tokoyami—who was approaching, black crest raised high in the absence of eyebrows—at Shoji's house.

This was bound to turn out wonderfully.

(It did, in fact, turn out wonderfully. Shoto left Shoji's house the next day, a container of left-over food in his bag, and marveled at the feeling of knowing that friends were something you could actively attempt to make, and not something you had to wait—and hope you were lucky enough—to have.)