I'm Not an Experiment (But Maybe for You I Can Be)

It didn't take long for an entire notebook to be filled with all the information he could find on his classmates. Midoriya had practice with this, ever since he could remember, taking notes on heroes, and now creating a whole new notebook just for his classmates was natural.

The first one to have a complete entry was Kirishima. The man was open, enthusiastic, and friendly, answering all of Midoriya's questions. His quirk was pretty straightforward as well, which allowed for a quick and easy analysis of everything he knew and what he could see future applications to be (something Kirishima was admittedly grateful for, feeling like his un-flashy quirk had more potential than he thought).

Most recently, Midoriya finished with Uraraka. There was a lot he could see her doing with the zero gravity, and they had fun coming up with great games for their classmates to play together during weekends. They were both particularly looking forward to zero gravity dodgeball (he and Uraraka agreed to be on separate teams, as the two most accustomed to floating made the competition a little more even).

Glancing through the rest of his notes, Midoriya realized he had two of his classmates left- Bakugo, who Midoriya was pointedly avoiding for personal reasons, and Todoroki. It wasn't that he didn't want to get to know Todoroki more in-depth and really analyze his quirk. Honestly, Midoriya had so many questions. What could he do with it? If he really concentrated, how well could Todoroki control the intricacies of his own quirk? Midoriya theorized that Todoroki could use his quirk most usefully in seemingly mundane activities- being half-freezer half-toaster or half-ac half-heater or any other combination of casual appliances. He wondered if Todoroki had ever been camping. He could certainly help limit the number of materials they would need to bring.

However, Midoriya was more nervous asking these questions. He knew vaguely of Todoroki's personal life- his father specifically bred him through a quirk marriage and then trained him to be what could only be surmised as a child soldier, a carefully crafted hero in his own image. And none of this was something Todoroki loved. So, beyond the challenge of getting Todoroki to even talk about himself, Midoriya worried how willing he would be to letting him ask about (and perhaps experiment with) his quirk.

But, in the worlds of both science and heroics, nerves were only a deterrent. And Midoriya would not be deterred, not when it came to having the answers. Which, ultimately, is what brought him here, standing in front of Todoroki's door too early on a Sunday morning, after spending the whole night restlessly trying to come up with a way to ask Todoroki to join him for this work (the ultimate decision was to improv it, as usual).

On the other side of the door, Todoroki let out a quiet groan as he glanced at his clock. 5:30 AM. The lack of panic to the knocking on his door gave him enough allowance to be annoyed at whoever wanted to wake him up this early on a Sunday. The night before he had been up late, training with his father after seeing his mother at the hospital, and then still having to finish his homework to prepare for the inevitable interruptions that would take up his entire Sunday (a tactic the top few students of class 1-A quickly learned to survive the academic portion of their school life).

Shuffling out of bed, Todoroki made no effort to fix his aggressive bed hair nor wipe the trail of drool that glistened the right side of his chin. He leaned an arm against the frame of the door and cracked it open, revealing to whoever was on the other side a single brown eye and messy white hair. He blinked, slowly, recognition slowly taking form. "Wha' s'it Midoriya?" he mumbled out.

"Oh, uh, sorry Todoorki," Midoriya blurted out, waving his hands frantically in the air. "Is it early? I wanted to talk with you. I hope I didn't wake you up. Were you still asleep?"

Another couple of slow blinks was the first response Midoriya received, as Todoroki sluggishly processed the frantic ramblings of his closest friend. While instinct told him to shut the door and go back to sleep, there was a certain level of attachment he had to the boy that sent Todoroki's auto piolet to open the door and lead his green-haired companion in. He gestured for Midoriya to sit on the futon, blankets spread wildly from his attempts to kick them aside when he woke up. For himself, Todoroki returned to where he had been on the futon, lazily sitting up in a half-hearted attempt to give his attention to the other. Midoriya noted the fact that Todoroki's eyes were completely shut, and his head leaned forward just slightly as though he had fallen asleep again.

"Todoroki?" The dual-colored boy's head snapped up, though his eyes remained shut, giving Midoriya confirmation that he had, in fact, fallen asleep again. "Are you okay?"

"'m fine," Todoroki mumbled out, head slowly falling forward again. "What were we talking about?" he cracked open both of his eyes, squinting at the other.

"Well, we haven't really started talking yet," Midoriya admitted.

"Hm," Todoroki hummed. "I see."

"I was hoping we could though," he added on quickly.

"Yeah," Todoroki started leaning forward again, although he was falling asleep. "What's up Midoriya?"

"I mean, if it's not too much to ask, I was hoping I could ask you some questions? About your quirk that is. It's not you specifically, I've been doing this for everyone in the class. Just maybe we could hang out some more and I could get to know more about-" Midoriya was stopped abruptly when he felt a weight fall onto his lap. Looking down he was greeted with a mess of crimson hair and Todoroki's face pressed against his abdomen.

"Yeah," the younger boy mused sleepily. Midoriya wasn't sure if he was responding to his questions or talking to someone else entirely in his sleep. "I wanna spend more time with you."

A soft snore caused Midoriya to silently chuckle, until he realized. He was in Todoroki's room, before anybody else was probably even awake, with the boy sleeping soundly with his head in his lap. Not wanting to wake his friend again and still wanting to talk to him when he did wake up, Midoriya sighed and ran a hand through the red side of his hair, brushing back all the misplaced white locks of hair. He noted in his mind that Todoroki was definitely not good with being woken up early. With how well-put the other appeared in front of their class, Midoriya wondered how long it took Todoroki to actually wake up.

After almost an hour of extra sleep, Todoroki began to stir in Midoriya's lap. Lazily he sat up and stretched his arms, yawning dramatically. He stumbled out of the futon and clumsily made his way into the bathroom in his room. Midoriya just remained where he had for the last hour, wondering if his friend even noticed his presence. He reached into the bag he brought with him and mindlessly began flipping through his notes on his other classmates. Nothing so personal or sentimental ever made its way into his hero analysis, but there was a small part of him that wanted to capture this moment and remember it. Ever detail about Todoroki that seemed so securely hidden from the rest of the world exposed only when he was so vulnerable and innocent. It was a far contrast to how Todoroki was during his normal life, and even more so than how he was prior to the sports festival. Midoriya wondered how many other people had seen Todoroki like this. Maybe his family? Though even around them Todoroki kept his guard up. His classmates seemed unlikely; he was sure one of them would have said something by now after witnessing their most stoic member acting so… adorable. Like a puppy.

The bathroom door opening again drew Midoriya's attention back to the real world. Red and white hair settled into their respective places, drool wiped from his chin, and eyes finally alert; this was UA's prince that everyone was used to seeing.

Todoroki's head cocked slightly to the left, white hair spilling over his face, as he suddenly noticed his friend in his room. "Um… Good morning, Midoriya," Todoroki greeted politely, albeit with confusion lacing his voice.

"Oh, good morning, Todoroki! You look more… awake." Midoriya mentally slapped himself for sounding so stupid, but he came back to focus when he noticed a light pink dusting the taller boy's ears. While his expression remained as unwavering as normal, Midoriya could guess that his friend was feeling a hint of embarrassment. But why?

"I- yes," Todoroki nodded, leaning against the wall and making no moves to approach Midoriya. "I am awake." It was now Todoroki's turn to slap himself mentally. These two were among the most powerful in their class, their school, and perhaps even more powerful than many ranking pro heroes. But a simple conversation would be the cause of their defeat.

"Do you remember what we were talking about?" Midoriya sounded so hopeful that it almost physically hurt for Todoroki to admit that he had no idea what was going on. "Umm, well, I was wondering if you'd be willing to talk to me."

"Oh," Todoroki showed no kind of emotion toward what was said. "We talk all the time, Midoriya. Why would this be different?"

"Well, I mean, it would be more about your quirk."

"My quirk?"

"Yeah, I just… want to know more about it."

"I see."

"It's not just you!" Midoriya added on quickly. "I've been doing this with everyone in our class. We all have such interesting abilities and I wanted to see what more we can do besides just our hero work."

"Oh," he sounded almost… disappointed. Midoriya wondered if he overstepped. Todoroki's eyes glanced up toward his ceiling, and a hint of white teeth flashed where he bit his bottom lip in thought. His left hand rested gently on his chin, but his right hand clenched in a fist trying to contain any emotion he felt on the subject. When he finally made up his mind, he locked eyes with Midoriya, and his steely gaze held an air of protectiveness to it. "I have a few questions first."

"Of course!" Midoriya almost cheered. It wasn't a yes, but it wasn't the automatic 'no' he was expecting.

"Will we be sparring together?"

"No! No, this has nothing to do with that. I can get those questions answered from class. This is more like…" Midoriya tapped his finger to his cheek, trying to will the right words to come out of his mouth. "It's more for fun. Like, what super cool things could we do if we weren't going to be heroes."

"If I wasn't going to be a hero I probably wouldn't have been born," Todoroki reminded him apathetically.

"R-right. Then I guess more like… besides just being a hero. Like what limitations we have if we weren't fighting a villain?" He offered the last suggestion with a shrug.

"I see. So, then, no sparring. More like a science experiment, then?"

"You have it wrong! I wouldn't want to experiment on you!"

"That's what this sounds like."

Midoriya scratched the back of his head, wishing he didn't come up as unprepared as he had been. "I guess you're right, it does sound bad. You don't have to do it. I just thought it would be a good way to get to know each other."

"For you to get to know me," Todoroki reminded him coldly.

"You're right. It does seem one-sided. I guess you could learn more about my quirk, too," he offered.

"I'm not interested in that." His posture shifted back to the earlier thoughtful one he wore. "I'll do it on one condition."

"Of course, Todoroki, anything!"

"I get to know more about you afterward. You. Not your quirk."

Oh. He wasn't sure what condition he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that. "S-sure? What do you want to know, though, Todoroki?"

"Afterward," he remained firm. "We'll do whatever you want with my quirk today, and then we can talk over dinner."

"Like a date?" Midoriya regretted those words as soon as they left his mouth. Like most of the class, the school really, he was not free from the spell that was the beauty Todoroki Shouto. And, between the sports festival, their fight against Stain, rescuing Bakugo, and the many other times Todoroki fought by his side, Midoriya knew he was in a little deeper than most who saw the boy. But to be so emboldened as to imply Todoroki wanted to date him made Midoriya wish a villain would attack their dorms at that moment to save him from embarrassment.

Then, he had to open his pretty mouth again. "Something like a date, I suppose." And that made Midoriya's heart stop. "Is it a deal?"

"Y-yeah," he agreed, holding a shaking hand out to Todoroki, who took it confidently. "It's a deal."

After the two took a shower and prepared themselves for the day, it was still only 7:15. Plenty of time for what either of them wanted to do. Midoriya sat in the common room, dressed in a plain pair of jeans and a simple white shirt with 'All Might' written on it, waiting for Todoroki. He had his classmate analysis notebook with him, and a small duffle bag filled with various items he wanted to use during this time with Todoroki and an unreasonable pile of pens in the bag, just in case one (or seven) ran out of ink. He didn't want to risk losing the half-and-half boy's patience because he had to go grab a pen. While the rest of his classmates certainly were interested in going along with this, Midoriya knew Todoroki had more reservations, and didn't want to give him a chance to change his mind.

Breaking him out of thought, the elevator made a light 'ding' and Todoroki stepped off. He was dressed in a black tank and black pants made from a material similar to his hero costume. "I can't wear my hero costume," Todoroki explained when he saw Midoriya staring, "but these clothes should be able to resist whatever temperatures you want to experiment with."

Midoriya was glad that Todoroki didn't notice he was more interested in the way the clothes made his body look, as opposed to what they were made of. "It's strange that they haven't thought to give you more fireproof clothing," Midoriya muttered to himself more than Todoroki, thinking back to their training session from Thursday wherein Todoroki ended up scorching half his gym clothes, almost an homage to his performance at the sports festival. Midoriya wasn't sure if he wanted to bring up the idea to Aizawa, however, and he knew most the students certainly didn't mind these incidents.

"So, what did you have planned?" Todoroki asked, standing behind the couch where Midoriya sat. "Will we be working here or somewhere else?"

"Ah, no we should go outside. It's a super nice day. Plus, if anything goes wrong, I don't think Mr. Aizawa would be very happy if we set fire to the dorms…"

"I certainly have no intentions of getting expelled for this," Todoroki nodded in agreement, then gestured toward the front door for Midoriya to take the lead.

After gaining permission from All Might to leave campus until curfew (the thankful low risk of villain attacks recently made that easier than expected), Todoroki and Midoriya were headed to a nearby river. Midoriya placed down his bag and pulled out a pin and opened his notebook to a spread where he already quickly sketched out Todoroki in his hero suit.

"That's pretty good," Todoroki mused. "Do you do that for everyone?"

"Yeah," Midoriya admitted with a laugh. "I've done it like this since I was a kid. It really helps if I want to break down the costume or anything else, especially, or when their quirks relate to anything physical with their body and- I'm rambling again aren't I?"

Todoroki's lip twitched up slightly as he sat down next to Midoriya. "It makes sense. But what does my hero costume have to do with your experiment?"

"It's not an experiment," Midoriya repeated, before answering his question. "I guess it didn't matter what I drew you in, but I just like your hero suit. The blue looks nice on you."

Todoroki turned his head away at this comment, but all that did was allow Midoriya to see the pink that teased his ears once again. He fought the urge to write down in his notebook that Todoroki was easily embarrassed (and cute when embarrassed at that), knowing the notebook was in plain sight. "Thank you," Todoroki murmured in response.

"Okay, so first question," Midoriya propped his legs up to give himself a surface to write on. "What's it like when you get a fever?"

"Huh? A fever?" Todoroki mulled this one over for a moment. "I don't really know. I haven't been sick since I got my quirk, and my body regulates my temperature on its own, really. I suppose I would have had fevers, but I never noticed. Nobody takes my temperature anymore now, anyway."

"Why's that?" Midoriya's face scrunched up in confusion.

Todoroki looked embarrassed again as he refused to meet Midoriya's eyes, staring up at the soft clouds rolling in instead. Midoriya felt he was going to get this response a lot today, and he was excited for it. "When I was little, right after I got my quirk, every time someone took my temperature, I decided to make it go as high or as low as I could. So, umm… they just stopped because it didn't help anything anymore."

Midoriya cracked up next to him, loud laughter echoing through the empty riverside. "That's hilarious, Todoroki! I didn't realize you really were so funny!" He almost dropped his notebook in his fit, and quickly scribbled down 'Todoroki likes to play tricks on people'.

"That's not true," the heterochromatic boy jutted out his bottom lip in a small pout. "I was five, Midoriya."

His protests fell on deaf ears as Midoriya only continued to write the information he learned about Todoroki's temperature control, refusing to cross out his earlier note. "I wish I had thought to take your temperature while you were asleep this morning. I bet that would have been useful." Green eyes glanced up, shining in amusement. "Did you know you drool?"

Todoroki's eyes widened quickly, before he regained control of his expression, though the blush remained on his cheeks. "No I don't," he protested under his breath. "Don't you have other questions, Midoriya?"

"Right," he chuckled, excited by all the new sides to Todoroki he was able to see. "Have you ever been camping?"

"No. What does that have to do with my quirk?"

"Well, think of how useful it would be! You could set the fire, keep the tent warm or cold, it wouldn't matter when we went camping if you were there, I suppose. I guess you've never been affected by the temperature, huh?"

"Not really," Todoroki admitted. "As long as I don't overuse my quirk in training or battle, I don't really notice when it's hot or cold. Like I said, my body just takes care of that for me."

"That's amazing," Midoriya's voice was alight with excitement, expressive enough that Todoroki had no question that he really was fascinated with this.

"Your quirk seems pretty useful, too, Midoriya."

"Just for like, battle. And maybe if I need to open a really stubborn jar. But it's not like it does anything like yours does."

"My quirk isn't anything like yours, either. I'm not really great with close-quarters combat like you are, that's what makes everything so interesting, I suppose." He leaned back and rested his head against the grass, talking less to Midoriya and more to an unknown force of the universe. "What use would it be if we all had the same quirk? Would make things a lot harder when fighting villains for sure. Your quirk is a lot like All Might's, Midoriya."

"I'm not his secret love child."

"I wasn't saying that. I meant that, with your quirk you could easily be the number one hero. That and how similar you are to him, yourself. Always wanting to save everyone, refusing to stop smiling. If that's what you want, I wouldn't say your quirk is useless to you at all."

Midoriya lay down, as well, resting on his side so he could see Todoroki. "Thanks, Todoroki. It's nice to hear that."

"Maybe we could try camping some time," Todoroki continued to think aloud. "You think Bakugo would try to be the number one camper?"

"He already has," Midoriya chuckled at the memory of his first camping trip with his childhood friend, before their quirks came in. "He's pretty good. But I bet if you used your quirk, you could beat him."

"I may just do that, to see the look on his face." Todoroki nodded as he sat up and gestured to Midoriya's bag. "What all did you bring?"

"Oh, right!" he exclaimed as he quickly pulled out a bag of popcorn, a look of confusing flashing across Todoroki's face as he tilted his head to the side. "I figured we could see how well you can control the temperature of your quirk."

"With… popcorn?" Midoriya's growing smile was all that confirmed Todoroki's confusion.

By the end of the afternoon, Midoriya had asked nearly a hundred questions, made Todoroki use his quirk to pop the popcorn, tried to convince him to ice the river over to see how long it would stay like that on the hot summer day (Todoroki refused, stating that the fish who lived in that river likely wouldn't survive that), and various other ridiculous tasks that left Todoroki confused, somewhat embarrassed, and intrigued about how Midoriya came up with so many practical (and ultimately useless) applications of his quirk.

The summer sun continued to shine brightly well past five pm when Midoriya finally announced they were done. This was nowhere near the amount of quirk usage Todoroki had experienced when training at UA, and especially not with his father, but he found himself exhausted if not by the sheer realization of how much he's been missing out on. He ate his first marshmallow with Midoriya, roasting them gently from a fire on his fingertip. That one seemed to make Midoriya happier than the others, though he didn't understand why.

"I guess it's your turn," Midoriya said as he packed away his pens and supplies. He was about to place his notebook in his bag, before Todoroki took it out of his hands, but made no attempt to read it. "What? Todoroki, give that back!"

"We agreed it's my turn," Todoroki responded evenly, though Midoriya could hear a bit of smugness in his tone. "So, I get to take the notes this time." With no real resistance, Midoriya gave in and handed Todoroki a fresh pen (he only went through two of them in the end). Todoroki turned and started heading toward the shops that were off in the distance. "You enjoy katsudon, correct?"

"I, er, yeah," Midoriya admitted, scratching at the back of his head. "But you really don't have to buy me dinner."

Todoroki only hummed in response, and the rest of their walk to the restaurant was entirely quiet. They sat down in a quiet corner across from each other, and nothing was said between them until after they ordered their food (Todoroki ordering the zaru soba, and Midoriya the katsudon, neither surprising the other).

Lost in his thoughts about how awkward the silent date was, Midoriya didn't even notice at first that Todoroki was flipping through his notebook, until he saw the picture of Uraraka and Todoroki humming questionably at it. "What's 'zero gravity dodgeball'?" he asked.

"Oh, it's a game Uraraka and I thought we could try out using her quirk. She'd float everyone up and then we would play dodgeball in the air!" Midoriya's hands waved around excitedly as he explained their idea.

"What's 'dodgeball', then?" Todoroki continued uncertainly.

"You-you've never played dodgeball?" Todoroki shook his head. "It's a game where there's a ball and everyone is in two teams, and you throw the ball back and forth and try to hit each other. If you get hit then you're out, and the winning team is whichever one doesn't have all its members 'out'."

"I see," Todoroki's voice was thoughtful, as though Midoriya himself had created the concept of plain dodgeball. "Perhaps that could be fun."

"You can be on my team," Midoriya offered up, receiving a nod in return. "Did you see the other games our classmates came up with?"

"Hm? Oh, not really. I only saw Uraraka's so far. We didn't come up with any games."

Midoriya shifted uncomfortably under Todoroki's gaze. "Well, there aren't a lot of games we could play with your quirk, really. I guess maybe like an ice obstacle course, or the floor is lava, but your quirk is a little too… dangerous? At least for most of us."

"The floor is lava?" Todoroki glanced at the tile next to them. "Midoriya my quirk doesn't create lava."

"It's a phrase, Todoroki. What games did you play as a child?"

"Endeavor didn't think games were useful." He flipped backward from Uraraka's page, his finger tracing various games that Midoriya and his classmates had come up with. "Although, your notes make it seem like he was probably wrong about that." He either didn't notice or ignored Midoriya's feverish blush. "What made you start taking notes on everyone?"

"Oh, I've done it since I was a kid! My quirk came in… kind of late. So, I figured if I wanted to be a good hero, I would have to rely more on strategy, you know? What do heroes do and what makes them so strong, then whenever I finally got my quirk, I wouldn't be as far behind."

"Seems useful." Todoroki flipped to a blank page and wrote this down, glancing up at Midoriya afterward. "Are you sick, Midoriya?" He placed a hand on Midoriya's forehead, and the green-haired boy wished there wasn't a chair keeping him from scooting backward.

"N-no, I'm fine!" Midoriya shouted a little too loudly.

"Maybe we were out in the heat too long. Was it too hot today?" The hand, which Midoriya noted was Todoroki's right hand, started cooling down his face, which only made him blush further.

"I-it's really nothing, Todoroki," he quickly pulled the hand off his when the server returned with their food, thankful to have something to occupy himself with.

They talked somewhat throughout their meal. Todoroki asking common questions like his favorite things, why he loves All Might, what growing up was like. Nothing deep enough that Midoriya felt warranted dinner with him or making any sort of deal with him. These were all questions he would have answered at lunch easily with no bribes.

When they finished dinner and paid, they started their walk back to UA- slowly since they had more than enough time before curfew. As Midoriya eyed an ice cream shop advertising their pro hero sundae of the week (this week was a vanilla ice cream cone with bunny ear confections on top for Miruko), Todoroki stopped suddenly. Midoriya assumed he was going to ask to get ice cream until the question that came out of his mouth surprised him.

"Are you dating Uraraka?"

"Huh, what, no!?" Midoriya flustered in shock. "I mean, we're really good friends, but Uraraka doesn't even swing that way. I think she and Asui- Tsu I mean- are maybe- oh I shouldn't say anything I'm sorry."

"Doesn't swing that way?" Todoroki tilted his head gently, mixing the bangs of his red and white hair.

"Ah, like, I don't have a chance with her?" Midoriya supplied unhelpfully.

"I think you do. You're smart and kind, she seems to like you a lot."

"No, not like that I mean… I knew I shouldn't have said anything, just don't tell her I told you, okay? But Uraraka doesn't like… boys."

"Oh." Todoroki's mouth formed a perfect circle as he thought about this. "I see. You two always seemed so close I just figured."

"Just best friends," Midoriya assured him.

"Do you like boys? Or girls?"

Midoriya almost choked, coughing quickly to cover up his embarrassment. He knew Todoroki was straightforward but even this was a surprise to him. "I, um… w-well I-I guess for me it doesn't… really… matter, you know?"

"I see."

"And you?"

In a totally normal and effective response, Todoroki nodded toward the ice cream shop. "We still have time, let's get some ice cream."

"R-right…" Midoriya muttered quietly, wondering why Todoroki was avoiding his question.

Moments later, they were seated outside the ice cream shop, each with their own Miruko rabbit hero ice cream cones. They knew it was silly and cheesy, but the novelty of it made for a fun treat. Midoriya glanced over at Todoroki, watching the boy's reaction when he noticed that Todoroki nonchalantly bit an entire chunk out of the ice cream. It sent goosebumps up Midoriya's arms. "What are you doing?"

"Hm?" Todoroki turned to him with a tilt of his head again. "I'm eating."

"But… you just… bit it…"

"Yes?"

"Does it not… wait, your quirk… did you really not feel anything?" Todoroki shook his head and Midoriya gasped in excitement. "You don't even notice when you eat a bite of ice cream? Like it doesn't even get cold? Todoroki that's so cool! I have to write this down!"

Todoroki simply held the notebook up and over his head with the hand that wasn't holding his ice cream. "No. It's still my turn."

"B-b-but you haven't even written anything in there!" Midoriya protested.

"I have. You just didn't notice."

"Like what?"

"You can see when we're back to the dorms. That's the deal." Midoriya crossed his arms but let out no further protests. After finishing their ice cream, the two stood up and headed back toward campus. Todoroki did not ask a single question, despite refusing to give Midoriya the notebook back.

When they approached the dorms, Todoroki thrust the notebook back into Midoriya's hands without comment, and sped up to go to his room. Midoriya didn't even have time to respond before the boy was out of sight. Instead, he sat down on the couch next to Uraraka.

"How was your date?" she asked teasingly, a flash of sympathy over her face when Midoriya groaned.

"I don't know," he sighed. "But I got to learn a lot about his quirk."

"That's good at least." They continued their chat about plans for zero gravity dodgeball. Midoriya decided to not mention his idea of playing the floor is lava, knowing it wasn't something Iida would be too enthused about, and that Kaminari would be concerningly excited for, and both boys were sitting in the room with them.

As the crowd wound down with people wanting to get last minute homework done or to sleep early in preparation for class tomorrow, Midoriya finally allowed himself to open the notebook. He started on Todoroki's page, quickly adding notes about how he doesn't feel cold from food. He flipped over the page to see the notes Todoroki had taken on him. They seemed straightforward and academic, simply writing a list.

1. Midoriya is cute when he's embarrassed. He gets embarrassed easily.

2. Midoriya says he is a Cancer (not the disease). I'll ask more about this later.

3. Midoriya has a cute smile.

4. Midoriya wants to be like All Might. I hope he is number one someday. He could beat Endeavor easily.

5. Midoriya's eyes are nice.

6. I think I like Midoriya.

The last one Midoriya stared at for a while, blinking slowly. Was this why Todoroki planned this? How long did he feel this way?

"You should go," Uraraka said, peering over at the notes Todoroki had taken. "Number one," she added with a wink.

Faster than even calling One for All, Midoriya leaped out of the couch and ran all the way to the fifth floor. Catching his breath at the stairs, he realized he left the notebook and his bag downstairs with Uraraka. Oh well, he figured, she already saw it.

Slowly, twisting his hands together, he made his way to Todoroki's door, standing in front of it much like this morning. He knocked on the door and waited, shifting for what felt like forever when Todoroki opened his door. He gestured the boy in, closing the door behind them for privacy.

"Did you need something, Midoriya?" Todoroki leaned against the wall; his demeanor casual while his mind was racing.

"Yeah, I, um, forgot something earlier," Midoriya mumbled, hoping that Todoroki would catch on with his plan. "I have one more question."

"Alright, one more," Todoroki agreed. Midoriya took a deep breath and leaned in close to his friend, hands placed on either side of the dichromatic boy, mouths close to each other. Now or never.

"Is your mouth half-hot half-cold, also?"