A/N: Last chapter dump for folks. I'm returning from bum fuck nowhere a week from today so the next update will be Wednesday. Do enjoy and feel free to leave a review, they always bring a smile to my face.

**I do not own these characters or the world, that belongs to our lovely author of MHA. Also, cover art was a commission by me from Krumbs. Follow them on if you'd like! They are extremely talented!

Four
But Shoto Misreads the Signals

Shoto Todoroki sat quietly in class, as Recovery Girl stood at the front with a large diagram cross section of both the female and male anatomy. While some of his peers were blushing and looking away, he was mostly unmoved by the images. It was just anatomy after all, not an actual naked man or woman. That might illicit a blush from him, but not simple diagrams.

He could see Mineta in front of and in the row next to him. While Mineta seemed largely uninterested in most of their lessons, he was rapt with attention now. Shoto briefly wondered if one of the rumored guest speakers was going to be Mineta's work study preceptor, Mt. Lady. Of course, that was something that would thrill him. Perhaps he'd be the top student of this unit, simply because of his interest in the subject material.

With just the slight incline of his head, he looked toward the seat next to him and Yaoyorozu who also seemed very intent on the lesson. Even if Mineta was overly interested in this lesson, he'd be hard pressed to beat out Yaoyorozu's academic prowess. She never failed to routinely be the number one student in their class, which didn't surprise him. He had great respect for her.

His eyes moved beyond Yaoyorozu and up the row toward the fiery Bakugo, who was leaned back in his chair and clearly not even paying attention. He would never quite understand how that one managed to score so well. For all intents and purposes, it seemed that Bakugo had zero interest in anything they learned, yet he consistently scored amongst the top students. Clearly, despite being hot headed and uninterested in almost anything academic, Bakugo was naturally gifted in almost all areas.

Except manners, Shoto thought to himself as he recalled their work study yesterday when Deku had tried to take a selfie of the three of them which had set Bakugo into a fiery rage. Ultimately, he'd launched one of his explosions at the green haired boy. The fact that Midoriya consistently tolerated Bakugo's brash and rude behavior, never failed to impress him.

Midoriya was currently taking feverish notes, his nose practically pressed into the pages of his notebook. Shoto wasn't quite sure what kind of notes he was taking since Recovery Girl was mostly reiterating the location and function of the reproductive organs. Though as he thought about it, it was highly likely that Deku had drawn very similar diagrams and was labeling them in identical fashion.

Shoto wondered briefly to yesterday when his friend had looked so tired. He'd abruptly run out of the class claiming he had to go to the bathroom just before class had started. Shoto had been somewhat surprised to see Uraraka quickly follow him out. That was a curious interaction but one he shrugged off as it wasn't his business.

When Deku had come back into class he'd been blushing but hadn't looked as exhausted as he had that morning. Perhaps he'd even looked a bit brighter. As the day had gone on, Deku had acted more like his normal self and when they'd gone to their work studies and once again begun trying to catch up with Endeavor, he'd been much more his upbeat self.

Whatever had bothered him enough that he couldn't sleep had apparently stopped bothering him by the end of the day. Aside from Bakugo's usual violent behavior at something as small as a selfie, the evening and night went largely as expected. Their work this morning was also to be expected, though Shoto noticed that as the afternoon drew close, Midoriya seemed to become more excitable. Was he excited to get back to class? Normally he seemed more excited to be doing work with Endeavor.

Shoto shifted his gaze across the room and toward Uraraka. She looked like she was paying attention, though he noted a slightly pinker color in her already rosy cheeks. Was she too embarrassed by the subject material?

"Tomorrow we'll have two special guest speakers during the lesson. I expect you all to pay them appropriate respect," Recovery Girl announced, drawing Shoto's attention back to her.

Mineta's hand shot up at once, prompting a tired sigh from Recovery Girl. It seemed that the only student who had regular questions during this unit was of course, Mineta.

"Who are the guest speakers?" He asked, practically clawing his way out of his desk.

"Wouldn't you like to be surprised?" Recovery Girl asked.

"Only if I know that they're going to be hot girls!" Mineta shot back.

Recovery Girl sighed again and said, "It'll be a man and a woman, two separate speakers."

"Sick! At least one's a hot chick!" Mineta exclaimed with delight.

"Both discussing super sexually transmitted diseases and infections," Recovery Girl added pointedly.

Most of the class shifted uncomfortably with that announcement. Shoto assumed that she'd made that statement to calm Mineta down but her remark didn't seem to have any effect on him.

"Doesn't matter…as long as it's a hottie, I don't care what they talks about!" Mineta half muttered and half shouted in response.

Even Shoto had to repress an eye roll at that. Mineta truly was under sexed and highly inappropriate at all times.

"Quit acting like a cat in heat you moron!" Snapped Bakugo angrily from further up in the row.

"That's enough class," Mr. Aizawa suddenly added, surprising everyone. Once Recovery Girl had come to class to begin the lesson, he'd zipped himself up in his sleeping bag and disappeared behind his desk, but apparently he hadn't completely gone to sleep. He was awake enough to interject and calm the class down, just in case things got out of hand.

Classes for the day ended just a short time later. Shoto gathered his books and prepared to head out of the classroom. He briefly took note of Ashido swiftly moving in his direction until he realized that she was headed not toward him but to Yaoyorozu who was still gathering her things.

Once Shoto was out of the classroom and on his way toward the dorms, Midoriya caught up to him and said, "Hey Todoroki, can I borrow your notes on the last lesson of English we had? There's just something with the 'I after e except after c' rule that I can't quite get. I know you're good with English and have helped me before so I thought I'd ask."

"Sure Midoriya," Shoto replied softly and paused briefly to open up his bag and pull out the notes he had from their English class.

"Oh you don't have to give me the notes right now; we can do it once we get back to the dorm," Deku said with a wave of his hand.

"No, it's okay Midoriya. Here they are." Shoto handed over the notes which Deku took with a small bow.

"Gee thanks Todoroki! I think this will really help," he began with a smile only to be interrupted by a soft, inquisitive voice from down the hall.

"Excuse me Midoriya, but can I uh, talk to Todoroki for a moment?" Yaoyorozu asked. She stood a few paces down the hall from them and looked rather nervous. Shoto noted a slight blush in her cheeks and that she was avoiding his gaze. He wondered what was wrong. This was unlike her. Did she have a fever? Was she sick?

"Oh, uh sure thing. See you later Todoroki!" Deku said with a worried glance at their classmate. He continued down the hall and out of sight. Most of the other students had also left, leaving just Yaoyorozu standing in the hall with Shoto.

Shoto moved closer to the red cheeked girl and looked at her with concern. She still wasn't meeting his gaze and the flush in her cheeks was more pronounced the closer he got. Could she be sick? Did she need help? Was she overheated and needed cooling down?

"Yaoyorozu, are you alright?" He asked, genuinely concerned for her wellbeing.

"Oh, yes…I was, well you see I wanted to," she began but paused, clearly uncomfortable. Shoto's concern for her continued to grow. Why was she having a difficult time talking to him? This was so unusual for her.

"You look hot and your cheeks are flushed. Do you need cooling down?" Shoto asked and raised his right hand toward her shoulder, already feeling a coolness spreading over his fingers and down his arm.

"What?! I'm hot?! Oh, uh, no, I'm not feeling hot," she stammered and finally met his gaze though it was already too late; Shoto had placed his hand on her shoulder and let some of the coldness permeate into Yaoyorozu.

"Well you look like you might have a fever with how red your cheeks and neck are. This should help cool you a bit until you can see Recovery Girl. I'm glad I was here to help you," Shoto said softly and removed his hand, seeing that the redness was beginning to fade thanks to his quirk.

"Recovery Girl? But, I…okay, you're right. I'm sorry." Yaoyorozu looked down and away and Shoto thought he saw disappointment or hurt in her eyes or perhaps a combination of both. That was perplexing but he instantly dropped that thought when he saw the red coloration in her cheeks come back with vigor.

"Yaoyorozu, your cheeks, they're so red! We should get you to Recovery Girl as soon as possible," Shoto said with worry. He grabbed her wrist with his right hand and again began cooling, trying to help abate the persistent fever that Yaoyorozu seemed to have developed.

"Todoroki, please it's al—", she began but was interrupted by an older voice from just inside the classroom door.

"I'll take it from here young Todoroki. Thank you for trying to help her," Recovery Girl said with a gentle smile on her face. Shoto was confused since he'd thought she'd left the class even before the students did and if she'd returned, he'd not heard or seen it at all. Where had she come from?

"Okay, thank you. I hope you feel better Yaoyorozu," Shoto said earnestly and released her wrist and began walking down the hall.

She was acting so strange. I hope she's okay, Shoto thought to himself as he exited the building. He paused briefly as he stood just outside the school and looked down at his right hand. Despite having just used a bit of his cold quirk, his hand felt somehow warm. Shoto held it up to his face and stared at it curiously. It should still be cold after having just used his quirk but it was still oddly warm. He hesitantly looked back at the school and again wondered if Yaoyorozu had a very high fever.

Slowly he lowered his hand and began walking away from the school again. As he walked, he was vaguely aware of some kind of tension developing deep in his belly when he thought of Yaoyorozu's flushed cheeks and the feel of her wrist in his cold hand.

He hoped she was okay.

Back in the school, Yaoyorozu stood in the empty hall with Recovery Girl, feeling horribly embarrassed and awkward. She'd been trying to do what Ashido had kept telling her to do and it had gone oh so poorly. Todoroki really did seem to be oblivious to her and any of the other girls' affections.

"Oh, don't fret too much Creati. A boy like him just needs a bit of time to put the pieces together," Recovery Girl said as she shuffled toward the much taller girl, "just like you'll learn in my class, girls develop emotionally faster than boys do."

Somehow the old woman's words were both encouraging and depressing. "Thank you. I guess I'll be going too."

With that, she bowed slightly toward the old nurse and left the school.

Recovery Girl looked on after her. "I wonder if Shoto Todoroki will realize anytime soon why she was blushing and what she was trying to ask."