~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Mina POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After dinner, the whole class gathered in the campus library to study for the upcoming history exam. Everyone sat at the huge center tables, but I noticed Bakugo and Deku had quietly claimed a small table tucked away in the back corner. They were trying to look like ordinary study partners, but I saw the way Bakugo kept subtly moving his textbook closer to Deku's side of the table. Before Kaminari could wander over to their corner to ask for help with a math problem, I quickly grabbed his arm. "Hey, Kaminari! Come look at this cool diagram over here!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ochaco POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mina did a great job keeping Kaminari distracted, but then I saw Todoroki start walking toward the back corner to return a book to the shelf right next to their table. If he looked down, he would see how relaxed they looked together! I quickly stepped into the aisle, holding up a giant study guide. "Hey, Todoroki! Do you understand question number four?" Todoroki stopped, completely focused on the question, giving Bakugo and Deku the perfect cover to straighten up their desks and act completely normal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bakugo POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Those two girls were seriously running across the library like secret agents, but they were doing a flawless job keeping the extras away from our table. Underneath the wooden desk, my knee accidentally bumped against the nerd's leg. Yesterday, I would have jumped back and started yelling. Today? I just left it there, looking down at my notebook to hide the warm, flustered pink color rising on my cheeks. I glanced up and saw Mina giving me a tiny, supportive thumbs-up from across the library room. Whatever, I thought, letting out a soft huff. They're actually pretty helpful. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Deku POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I couldn't help but smile as I solved the next history problem. Feeling Kacchan sitting right next to me, completely calm and not running away, made all the stress from earlier this week completely disappear. I looked over at Mina and Ochaco, who were still keeping the rest of the class completely busy near the front desk. They were the best friends anyone could ask for. I peeked sideways at Kacchan, who caught me looking and tapped the top of my paper with his pencil. "Focus, nerd," he muttered quietly, a tiny, genuine smile playing on his lips. Our secret was perfectly safe, and I couldn't be happier.
1 more to go.
