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Winter was a hard time of year for Asui Tsuyu. A drawback of her amphibious nature meant that even walking from the dorms to class was dangerous, even at her most bundled up. She made sure to have company at all times when this happened, just in case. The last few weeks had been particularly cold though, so she was prone to collapse in the middle of the sidewalk, requiring someone - usually Uraraka, Kirishima, or Midoriya, to pick her up and get inside immediately to warm up.
After homeroom one morning, she decided it was time to swallow her pride. Being ectothermic meant asking for help this time of year. Sure, Support had built her a thermal suit for hero training and missions, but class required its own uniform, and she had to figure out a way to get to class without shutting down. So during lunch, she approached the table where Uraraka, Midoriya, and Iida habitually sat.
“Hey Tsuyu!” Uraraka exclaimed, always in a cheery mood to see a friend.
“Call me Tsu,” she ribbited, automatically, “how are you guys doing today?”
Before anyone else could answer, Iida set his apple down and folded his hands across his face, connecting his index fingers under his nose in thought. “My mind is occupied with the essay Sensei Present Mic has given us today. There are so many historical battles to choose from, and only ten pages? The Battle for Justice of 1987 could easily fill a book with it’s events...”
He rambled on as the other three blinked at him.
“I’m...I’m doing good.” Uraraka answered, quietly, without Iida noticing.
“Yeah, how are you holding up?” Midoriya asked, concern in his voice. It made Tsuyu blush - earlier this morning, she had been walking ahead of him and Uraraka to class, not noticing their presence, but when she collapsed from a particularly cold wind, Midoriya had dropped everything to charge over, scoop her up and get her inside. It certainly was an embarrassing way to wake up, in the arms of the green-haired hero and the rest of their homeroom class snickering at the sight.
“I’m fine as soon a I get to the heat. Thanks, Midoriya," she answered, "But I actually was wondering if I could ask you for a favor for tomorrow...it’s supposed to be colder...”
---
And so, the next morning, Midoriya met Uraraka outside the girl’s dorms, and the two of them waited outside for Tsuyu, bundled up and huddled together to combat the freezing morning temperatures. They had a calculus test later, so Deku had his notebook open, doing some last minute cramming. Even if he had a quick mind and sharp instincts, math was one of his weaker areas in all of his studies. If he had taken his nose out of his notebook, he’d have noticed that Uraraka looked a little uncomfortable that they had agreed to this.
They heard the latch from the door open, and a familiar voice croak out, “Are you ready, kero?”
Midoriya looked down from his notebook, turned so his back was facing the door, and took a deep breath as he activated his Full Cowl. “Okay, we’re ready!”
In a swift leap, Tsuyu hopped onto Midoriya’s shoulders, frog squatting on top of them, and huddling as close to his head as possible; after all, the human ears were one of the spots where heat exited the body, the other two most prominent parts being the armpits and the groin - neither a viable alternative to get to class. As she landed, Uraraka threw a light blanket over the top of her.
“You good, Tsu?” Midoriya asked.
She nodded with a small ribbit, huddling into his head as much as possible, while awkwardly crouched on his shoulders. It was a rather interesting sight, causing a few people who were heading to classes to turn and stare.
Briskly, they made their way to school, Uraraka biting her tongue. Deku’s just a sweetheart, he’d do that to help anyone out. She reasoned. So no need to feel all...whatever this is, just because it’s Tsuyu. Her insides churned in envy, stomach knotting itself.
Still, she couldn’t stop herself from clenching her fists as her frog-like friend nestled her cheek into Midoriya’s bushy hair and let her eyes droop. Deku must have noticed too, because he blushed furiously at this.
Ugh, that’s so cute! Uravity pouted, Why do I wish I could be Tsuyu right now?! It usually was not in her nature to be have these thoughts, but it wasn't often she saw Midoriya so willingly close to another girl.
“Hey,” Midoriya whispered, “Uraraka. She’s not passing out, is she?”
Almost as if on cue, Tsuyu began to snore, lightly, which broke some of the tension in Uraraka’s mind. No, she didn’t snore when she collapsed, she had just fallen asleep on Midoriya’s shoulders. They both quietly giggled as the hero known as Froppy let out a few small ribbits in her sleep.
As they got approached the building, Midoriya kept studying in his notebook, trying to get as much last-minute knowledge in as possible. Before long, he was engrossed again, muttering equations to himself. Uravity let herself smile; she had grown to find his muttering endearing, and a change of pace from his hero obsession was welcome, even if it was just for schoolwork.
The trio entered the main building, and Uraraka took the blanket off Tsuyu without them stopping. They made their way to the classroom, the gravity-based heroine wondering when Deku would wake their friend so she could get down. Midoriya, still encaptured in his notes, didn’t say anything to Tsuyu; his mind was elsewhere. Uraraka stopped outside their homeroom, removing her jacket to hang on her desk, and turned to say something, but gasped in horror as Deku entered the classroom, forgetting to wake up Tsuyu once more.
The rest of their classmates of 1-A were already there, and looked up in shock at the rather awkward sight; Midoriya, still reading from his book, with a sleeping Tsuyu perched on his shoulders, drooling slightly into his messy hair. Somehow, he managed to slide his coat off (Tsuyu had managed to wriggle her feet in past the collar of his coat), hang it up on his desk and sit down without ever looking up from his notebook.
“Oh boy...” Uraraka muttered nervously as she took her seat.
“Okay, derivatives...” Midoriya muttered to himself, holding the book closer up to his face.
Mina squealed in delight, turning to Hagakure. “I called it!” She whispered, “You owe me lunch!”
“This is a violation of so many rules!” Iida exclaimed, “I can’t even figure out which one would be primary!”
The rest of their classmates began snickering and whispering amongst each other - except Bakugou, who just scowled, like one would expect Bakugou to do whenever anything happened involving Midoriya.
Uraraka turned crimson. As if the twisting in her stomach wasn’t enough, now she’d have to endure hearing Deku and Froppy getting teased about this, which was surely not something she wanted to deal with. As much as she cared about the two of them, seeing them like this made her heart ache. Unless...maybe she was being selfish.
Her moments of doubt were shattered when Todoroki approached Deku. “Midoriya?” He asked, hesitantly.
Someone talking to him directly must have snapped him out of his trance, as Midoriya put his book down and looked up, surprised, at his friend. “Hey Todoroki, what’s up? You worried about the test too?”
The rest of the class snickered, much to his confusion. Todoroki’s mouth twitched, just slightly, upward. “I’m more concerned that Sensei Aizawa will not approve of this seating arrangement, and you will face punishment.”
“Seating...arrangement?” Midoriya parroted, confused, before he felt something wet against the top of his head. He slowly looked up and let out a loud gasp. “AH! TSUYU! I FORGOT YOU WERE UP THERE!”
The class erupted into laughter, causing Tsuyu’s head to jerk upright, “I swear mom, I wasn’t eating flies! Huh?” She looked around. “Kero?”
Realizing where she was, she blushed a deep red, and hopped off Midoriya’s shoulders. She couldn’t even make eye contact with him, and looked to the ground instead. “Th-thanks for helping me out Midoriya, but next time please wake me up before we get to class.”
Midoriya was just as red as he stared at her feet, humiliated. “I-I will! I’m sorry, I just got so caught up with studying I literally forgot you were on my shoulders and -”
Todoroki watched the two of them, standing in front of Midoriya’s desk awkwardly. Perhaps I could have handled this more tactfully, he reasoned to himself.
It was at this moment that the door opened, and Sensei Aizawa entered the room. He looked around to see Mina squealing with excitement, most everyone else laughing hysterically, and Todoroki standing at Midoriya’s desk with Tsuyu, who was still in her coat and winter gear. The class looked to him, and he sighed. “I’d ask what’s going on, but I don’t care. Get to your seats and shut up.”
And so, Tsuyu rushed over to her seat, sitting down, staring at the desk in defeat. She could hear the snickers around her, but...she couldn’t help but smile to herself. He was...so warm.
Midoriya put his head in his hands. Man...now I’ll never be able to focus on this test.