Chapter Text
The problem starts on a Tuesday.
Nobody knows it's a problem yet. Especially not the two people causing it.
Training ends at 16:43, The class slowly spills out of the telemetry building some students head toward the simulator wing.
Others toward the dorms, A few toward the engineering workshops.
Normal.
Completely normal.
---
"What happened to Todoroki?" Kirishima asks it casually, mostly because she disappeared halfway through debriefing.
Nobody thinks much of it.
Until
"Simulator wing." Bakugou answers immediately without looking up from his tablet.
Without hesitation. Without even thinking.
Silence.
Kirishima blinks "...How do you know that?"
Bakugou finally looks up like the question itself is stupid "She said she was going there."
Pause.
"Three hours ago." "Yeah."
More silence.
Kirishima slowly turns toward Kaminari who slowly turns toward Ashido.
Who immediately starts smiling.
Because that is weird. Bakugou doesn't notice.
----
Three hours later, The simulator wing.
"Has anybody seen Bakugou?" Momo asks while reviewing setup notes.
"Garage Three." The answer comes immediately.
Everyone turns.
Todoroki blinks "...What?"
"You answered really fast." Momo says.
"Oh."
Pause.
"He usually goes there after simulator days."
Silence.
"Oh my god." Ashido whispers.
"What."
"You both do it."
"Do what?"
"That."
Nobody explains.
Mostly because they're too busy laughing.
By Thursday the pattern becomes impossible to ignore.
Not for Bakugou and Todoroki, they're still oblivious.
For everyone else, the evidence is growing.
Where's Todoroki? Bakugou knows.
Where's Bakugou? Todoroki knows.
Who finished telemetry? They know.
Who skipped lunch? They know.
Who is staying late? They know.
Why do they know? Nobody knows.
Kirishima starts keeping score.
Nobody asked him to.
He does it anyway.
"You're making a chart?"
Jirou asks.
"It's research."
"It's weird."
"It's important."
"No it isn't."
"You're just afraid of the truth."
"What truth?" Kirishima dramatically flips the notebook around.
PATTERN INVESTIGATION
Underneath:
Found Todoroki immediately ✔
Found Bakugou immediately ✔
Same lunch schedule ✔
Same garage schedule ✔
Same simulator schedule ✔
Jirou immediately starts laughing "Oh this is pathetic."
"It gets worse."
"It gets WORSE?"
"It gets worse."
----
Friday, Lunch.
The entire class is eating.
Talking. Arguing.
Normal.
Until Ashido suddenly freezes "Wait."
Everybody looks up "Where's Todoroki?"
Silence.
Bakugou immediately answers "Engineering building."
The entire table freezes.
Bakugou freezes.
Realizing. Far too late.
Because every single person is staring at him "...What?"
Ashido slowly puts down her fork "That was immediate."
"It wasn't."
"It absolutely was."
"No."
"Bakugou."
"What."
"How did you know?"
Silence. Dangerous silence.
Bakugou visibly searches for an answer.
Finds none.
"...I just did."
The table explodes.
Kaminari nearly falls out of his chair.
Jirou is crying, Momo looks genuinely concerned.
Kirishima is writing things down.
"THE CHART GROWS."
"STOP THE CHART."
"NEVER."
---
Meanwhile across campus.
Todoroki sneezes.
Somewhere, somehow.
She knows she's being discussed.
----
That evening.
Garage Three, Rain taps softly against the roof.
The academy track sits empty beyond the windows.
Telemetry screens glow faintly.
Normal, Comfortable.
Quiet.
Todoroki sits on top of the toolbox, Bakugou reviews lap data.
Neither speaks for several minutes.
Not awkward. Never awkward.
Just normal.
Eventually:
"Apparently we're weird."
Bakugou doesn't look up "We've always been weird."
"No." Todoroki scrolls through something on her tablet. "The class thinks we're weird."
That gets his attention. "...Why?"
"They made a chart."
Silence. Complete silence.
Bakugou slowly lowers his tablet.
"They what."
"They made a chart."
"Who."
"Kirishima."
"Of course."
Todoroki nods "Apparently we have patterns."
Another pause.
Then:
"That's stupid."
"It is."
"Really stupid."
"Very."
Silence returns.
Rain continues outside.
The garage remains warm.
Comfortable.
Normal.
Then without thinking-
without realizing-
without even looking up-
Bakugou asks "You're staying late tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah." Immediate, automatic.
No hesitation.
No discussion.
Like the answer was obvious. Like it always was.
Unfortunately for them-
Kirishima is standing outside the garage window.
Holding the chart.
Watching.
Learning.
The notebook gains another checkmark.
And somewhere in the distance, Ashido screams "THEY DID IT AGAIN."