Our remedial courses were starting to take a physical toll on me; after the next weekend's, I was too tired when we got back to do more than go upstairs and collapse into bed. My social life at this point was virtually nonexistant. Not that I had ever done much before, but I had been spending time after classes with my schoolmates occasionally before. I didn't even have time to visit mom anymore. I could only write her.

The next day in class, it seemed half our classmates were out doing work studies. And unfortunately, that made it very easy for everyone to notice our bandages the next morning in class.

"Whats up with Bakugou? Another fight?" Ashido asked Jirou and Kaminari as we sat down.

"Try to keep up girls," said Kaminari. "Have a look at Todoroki."

"Wah! What a waste of those good looks!" cried Ashido as she turned to look at me. "What happened?"

"Guess the provisional license course is running them ragged," said Jirou.

"I didn't know it'd be so physically grueling!" said Kaminari.

I felt a bit embarassed, and was pretty relieved when Bakugou yelled "Enough gossipping ya jerks!".

Iida called out then "Class is about to begin! Where are Uraraka and Tsuyu?" further getting attention away from us.

"Excused absences, president," said Yaoyorozu.

"Looks like the boys are missing Kirishima," added Jirou.

Further up in my row, Mineta was bothering Midoriya. "How's the work study, Midork-study? You really working with some chick in a pervy costume?"

I looked over in irritation, but Midoriya did not reply with anything but "Uh huh."

"How long're you doing it for? Can I join?" Ashido asked him.

"Uh huh."

"STOP TALKING BOUT HOW YOU'RE GETTING AHEAD OF ME!" yelled Bakugou.

Midoriya said nothing.

I cocked my head a little. It wasn't like Midoriya to be so quiet. He was doing a work study with All Might's former sidekick. Shouldn't he be excited? In fact, his head was bent down. He wasn't talking to anyone. In fact, he had become pretty quiet since the work study started.

Later that day during hero training he barely focused at all. Mr. Aizawa was reprimanding him. Something was up, something that ran deeper than usual. I'd rarely seen Midoriya this miserable.

On the way to our license course that weekend, I asked Bakugou, "Any idea what's up with Midoriya?"

"NO FREAKING CLUE. AND WALK BEHIND ME ALREADY!"

"He's been very quiet lately. Doesn't that bother you?"

"What the hell makes you think he'd tell me?"

"Sorry. I just get the impression you two tell each other things. He must have told you about me and my father."

Silence. "He didn't say anything. I found out about your family drama on my own."

"Oh. I see." I decided against asking him what that meant. "Does Midoriya seem - down to you? He's seemed a bit down ever since his work study started. Do you think it has anything to do with working with All Might's former sidekick?"

Bakugou went tenser than usual all of a sudden. "Why the hell should that have anything to do with it?"

"Midoriya's such a big fan of All Might...and they seem to have some kind of connection."

"And what the fuck makes you think that?"

"C'mon, you must have noticed. They have private conversations together, All Might pays attention to him and grants him favors no one else gets...not to mention how similar their quirks are. I'd assume they were related if Midoriya hadn't already told me they weren't."

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "THAT'S what you thought? Yeah, sure IcyHot."

"And I could tell when I asked Midoriya that there was something," I began, but then stopped.

THAT'S what you thought...

"THAT'S not it at all. Interesting wording. So there is something going on with you two."

And whatever it is, Bakugou knows about it.

That was pretty shocking to realize. It made sense, of course. How Bakugou, despite being as fixated on Midoriya as I was, and even more interested in surpassing All Might than me, seemed to have no curiosity about the obvious connection between All Might and Midoriya. How Bakugou, despite being smart and closer to MIdoriya than anyone else, had always acted as if there was nothing suspicious about Midoriya's behavior and never commented on it. He knows. Whatever the connection is, he knows about it. How long he's known, I have no idea. But there's no doubt about it, Bakugou's in on it too. And he's not supposed to talk about it either.

"What're you staring at, IcyHot?" Bakugou demanded. There was something a little off in his tone, different from the usual demands. A real question.

I wish Midoriya had trusted me with this secret too...if Bakugou can know too...but there must be some reason why eh thinks Bakugou is more trustworthy. Or perhaps Bakugou just figured it out on his own. Either way, it must really be none of my business. So I guss I should butt out.

"Nothing. I guess it's just coincidence."

"Damn right it's coincidence." That tiny note of relief in the back of the anger only confirmed what I already knew. No idea what to add. So we sat in silence as usual on our way to Gang Orca's training, where we were again put in dangerous battles and asked irritating questions about "WHAT DO YOU WANT" and "WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE A HERO."

And I kept thinking about whatever was going on with Bakugou and Midoriya the whole time. And Midoriya specifically. What was happening to him at that work study? What WAS going on with him and All Might, and why was Bakugou aware of it?

And what was I supposed to do about it?