Work Text:
Study groups were the single thing saving Sero’s grades. It’s not that he’s incompetant or dumb, he just learned better in a small group setting. Lectures couldn’t hold his attention and he found it difficult to read long passages of text. So whenever the class president stepped up to organize a twice-weekly group, he made sure to never miss a session.
There were several regulars who gathered, but the group did frequently change up and sometimes split into smaller gatherings. When this happened Sero stuck with Iida every time. If pressed for a reason to pick Iida over, say, Momo and her out-of-this-world attractive self, he’d shrug and reply “Iida explains things easier.”
The week after a major benchmark, most of class 1-A decided to forgo studying and kick back for once. Iida waited in a common area, reading ahead in their history textbook during the usual time, but was about to head back to his room when Sero walked in.
“Hey, class prez. Do you think you could help me out today?” Sero scratched the back of his neck absentmindedly. “It’d be nice if I could know a little bit ahead of time, maybe I’ll be able to answer questions in class for once.”
“Sure! Have a seat.” Iida gestures to him, and Sero sits next to him on the same side of the table, as he usually does when there are more people. “Feel free to spread out, if you like! There’s a whole table here!”
Shrugging, Sero replied, “I’m comfortable here.”
Iida seemed a little flustered at that, but discards the thought. After all, Sero came here to learn! So he will do his best to help his classmate (who he may or may not have a crush on - jury’s still out).. “S-so, what do you want to work on?”
Sero bends over to look at the cover of Iida’s textbook. “History seems like a good starting point. So what happens in 18th Century Japan, my man?”
“You’ll have to be more specific. Remember, with each era we’re looking at a variety of areas of interest; the politics, economy, social norms, technological innovations-”
“Iiiiidaaa, I meant in general. What are you reading about right now?” He attempted to read over Iida’s shoulder, but after reading a couple headlines leaned back and listened to Iida’s summary, making mental notes. He asked the occasional question, which Iida appreciated - having to look things up meant he was learning more and would be more prepared for class discussions.
After a while, they decided to move from history to lit, and Sero pulled out the book they had to read by the next week. “Any chance you can tell me what’s going on in this thing, prez?” Sero asked cheekily.
Shaking his head, Iida replied, “I actually haven’t started it yet.”
Sero nodded, and flipped it open, but quickly felt his motivation had waned. “Hey Iida?”
“Hm?”
“Do you think you could read it aloud for me? I know it sounds kinda silly but when I was younger my mom would read aloud to me while I followed along on the page, and now it’s the easiest way for me to understand what I’m reading… It’s okay if you don’t want to.”
Iida put a hand on Sero’s shoulder to reassure him. “No, I can do that if you think it will help! Anything to help my peer.”
The pair sit engaged in their books, Iida’s voice carrying the narrative along. There was something calming about his tenor tones that Sero was drawn to, what always drew him to study with him. Before they reached the second chapter, Sero found himself leaning into the blue haired boy. While they were a similar height, Iida had much more defined muscles than lanky Sero; it seemed that Iida barely noticed the weight upon his shoulder.
Eventually, the muscley shoulder became less and less comfortable as a pillow, and Sero found himself slumping down further. Iida paused as the chapter was over, looking down to his side. He smiled endearingly, though the other couldn’t see. Iida lifted his arm out from under Sero, causing him to sink down onto his leg, still clutching his book.
Sero froze for a moment, not knowing if it was okay for him to suddenly just plop his head into someone’s lap like this, but Iida’s hand settled onto Sero’s back and began tracing small circles while he picked back up on chapter two. It took him a moment to realize Iida was continuing as though nothing happened, but once he did he relaxed into the nice warm lap. Between getting to hear Iida’s voice, and the soothing hand mindlessly running along his back, Sero was in heaven.