"Hey, Yuki! How'd your date go last night?"

Shirayuki flinched and lifted her gaze from her book. Kaminari was standing next to her desk, giving her a warm smile and a curious head tilt. She slowly closed her book, settling it in front of her on the desk and absently running her fingers along the spine. "…it was…a lot of fun…"

The blond boy winced at the hoarse sound of her voice. "Whoa. What happened to your voice? You sound pretty rough. Are you catching a cold?"

Shaking her head, she finally leaned down and rummaged in her bag for a throat lozenge. As she unwrapped it, she glanced toward the door to make sure that Bakugou had not arrived yet. "…I was…voice training…after my date…"

"Voice training?"

She saw Kirishima enter the classroom and immediately lowered her head again, biting the inside of her cheek behind her mask. A hand carefully maneuvered her mask so she could put the lozenge in and savored the honey lavender flavor of it. "…I…need to talk louder…if I want to be a hero…" she explained. From the corner of her eye, she saw Kirishima approaching "…Bakugou-kun…insisted on helping me practice being louder…and talking more…but my throat isn't used to it yet so…"

"Huh? Wait, so you met with Bakugou last night?"

"Hey, Yuki. Is that a new mask?" Kirishima smiled, standing beside her desk on the other side and successfully avoiding a potentially traumatizing conversation without even realizing it.

Shirayuki felt a pang of guilt when he spoke, but he seemed to be alright. In fact, he was acting as if nothing had happened. "…yes...I actually…um…I embroidered this one myself…"

"I like it. It looks really cute," he said, giving her a thumbs-up.

"…thank you…"

Kaminari, completely oblivious to any signs that things might be different between the two, decided to redirect the conversation again. "So did your boyfriend like that movie that you picked out?"

"Oh yeah! How was it? I thought it looked pretty good!"

Kirishima-kun…? She smiled behind the mask, bowing her head slightly. She was glad that he was alright. After returning to her room that night, Shirayuki had worried that things might be awkward between them. That he might even avoid her. "…it was…really good…"

The three were soon joined by Ashido and then, inevitably, Bakugou trudged into the classroom and made them leave. The girl tensed as she listened to him move behind her at his desk. The memory of the previous night was still vivid in her mind and it unsettled her.

Shirayuki had reluctantly left her house, telling her grandmother that she was running to the convenience store. Bakugou led her to the forest where he had taught her how to stand to prevent falling when she used her quirk. What occurred after that was the equivalent of a nightmare. Screaming. Shouting. All while he threatened to make her life hell if she refused to work on being louder.

Despite the intense fear from being alone with her volatile classmate in the forest at night, she could see his point when he grumpily explained it. She mumbled. She hesitated when she spoke. A hero needed to be loud. They needed to be able to raise their voice and speak with absolute clarity.

The girl was deep in thought when she felt a sharp kick to one of the legs of her chair. She jumped a little and looked over her shoulder. "…Bakugou-kun…?"

"How's your throat?" He asked this without actually looking at her. Instead, his eyes were on the book that lay open in front of him. The book that she had loaned to him what felt like weeks ago.

His question left her a bit surprised. "…it…hurts…" She faced forward again, fidgeting with the hairband around her wrist.

"We're gonna do it again tomorrow, got it?"

"…but…I…need to go shopping tomorrow…"

Behind her, the boy scowled. "Whatever. I'll wait then."

"…I really…want to work on it alone…" Shirayuki felt a hand close on a lock of her hair and tug at it. "…ngh…"

"You're not gonna get better if you do it by yourself! I know what kind of person you are! You're gonna just play it safe and be quiet your whole life! What kind of hero mumbles?!"

"Stop it!" Her voice was at a normal, speaking volume and she slammed a hand down against the top of her desk. She gritted her teeth, face turning bright red with embarrassment. Her pulse was racing as she turned toward him and saw the boy smirking. "Bakugou-kun, I'm not-"

"Go ahead and yell at me, Ume!"

"Whoa! Didn't know you were a masochist, Bakugou!" Kirishima called from his seat. When the other boy fumed and glared over at him, the red-haired boy simply grinned. "What? You wanted Yuki to yell at you, right?"

To Shirayuki's shock, she saw a reddish hue taking over Bakugou's face. He stood when Kirishima spoke, as if he might go to confront him, but now he grudgingly sat down at his desk and turned his head to the side. What…? She glanced to Kirishima, who flashed her a reassuring smile, but she was still a little confused about what had just happened.

Class began and Shirayuki tried to focus on the lessons, but it was difficult. She had a lot on her mind after the previous day's events. The revelation that Kirishima liked her, the date with Shinsou, and the vocal training with Bakugou. It was all extremely overwhelming. In the past, it might have even caused her to stay home so she could recuperate, but things were different now. She was training to become a hero so she had to be stronger than that.

In the cafeteria, she was the first of her friend group to get their lunch. She found a good space for them to sit at and intended to wait for the others, but Shirayuki was soon joined by someone else. As her stoic classmate sat across from her, she felt an anxious twisting in her stomach. The kind of anxiety that came only with facing a near-stranger. "…ah…um…I was…s-saving…seats…" Her voice dropped to a whisper when he met her gaze directly.

"What did you say?"

Sensing that he would not move, even if she did explain, Shirayuki decided to give up. Her friends might still sit with her, after all, and that might help him realize what was going on. It was not as though she disliked him or wanted him to leave, but she was sure that he was the kind of person to dislike socializing. "…n-nothing…Todoroki-kun…"

Across the table, he began to eat without another word to her. Shirayuki's stomach twisted in knots as she realized that she would need to lower her mask so she could eat as well. With trembling fingers, she slowly drew it down and silently prayed that her classmate would not look over. As she started eating, she realized that she was so nervous that she could hardly even taste the food.

"Your father was Calorie Bomb, right?"

She gripped her chopsticks tighter and gave a small nod. When she lifted her eyes from her food, she found him watching her. The girl's wide mouth twitched into a frown and she looked down again. "…yes…but…"

"I saw him on television a few times. His quirk was something about food, wasn't it?"

Is he…making conversation? Is this small talk? Shirayuki bit her lip, using her chopsticks to stir the noodles in her bowl. "…my father's quirk…was called "calorie boost"…the more calories he ate…the more powerful it made his body…"

"What was your mother's quirk?"

My mother…Her frown deepened. "…she…can produce light…from her hands…but it takes up stamina…she isn't a hero…"

"I see." Todoroki chewed thoughtfully and lowered his gaze. "It wasn't a quirk marriage, was it?"

"…my father…really loved my mother…" It hurt to talk about. Shirayuki had memories of when her family was whole. Of when she lived with her parents and only paid visits to her grandmother's house occasionally. Of when her mother had been kind, when her father had carried her on his shoulders and called her "princess". Her chest grew tight, a faint stinging at the corners of her eyes.

The chair beside hers was pulled out and Shinsou set his tray down next to hers. The boy looked across the table at Todoroki briefly before turning his head toward Shirayuki. "How's your throat?"

"…still sore…" Her voice dropped to just above a whisper as she fought back tears. There was a quiet rustling beside her and then several lozenges plopped onto her tray. "…Shinsou…?"

"There are a few different kinds. I asked my classmates for sore throat remedies and they gave me these."

She was thankful. Not only because he had given her the lozenges. He had gone out of his way to get them for her and had approached his classmates for a remedy. "…thank you…"

Todoroki set down his chopsticks, drawing her attention. "Is it alright if I come to see my cat today?"

Shirayuki glanced briefly at Shinsou, who was now resting one arm in front of him on the table, leaning on it and staring at Todoroki. "…ah…y-yes…it should be alright…um…did you…want to walk with me or…?"

"I remember where you live so I'll meet you there. I need to get a gift before I visit." Having finished his meal, he stood and carried his tray to clear his place.

He's…so polite. He doesn't need to bring a gift every time he visits. She resumed eating, her long dark hair falling forward around her face and hiding her mouth from the students around her. "…Shinsou…do you…?"

"You don't have to ask." He ran a hand over his hair and half-smiled. "Of course we're walking home together."

When they had finished eating, Shirayuki walked with Shinsou for a while down the hallway. She was glad that he seemed to have moved past their interaction that morning. When he heard how rough her voice was, he pressed her to tell him what had happened. Shinsou was not happy that she had gone with Bakugou, but he was relieved that nothing had happened to her.

"We should get ice cream on the way home," he finally spoke again. Seeing her excited expression, a pinkish shade rose to his cheeks.