𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 , todoroki shoto ⁽ ¹ ⁾

·₊° 19. preparations.

          And, so, Tsubame made a notebook. Her memory wasn't always the best, but she really wanted to make her time at U.A. work. She wanted to be a good friend for once. So Tsubamemochi's Friendship Notebook was formed. She had Midoriya to thank for the inspiration. It was an Eraser Head notebook that she scrounged on an obscure website for and paid for with her own money. She saved each person in her class a double spread—though she'd die before she showed anyone, how embarrassing—and wrote down things they mentioned that they liked, disliked, or would make them happy.

          There weren't a lot of entries—it had only been two weeks since starting at U.A.—but she hoped that as got to know 1-A better, there'd be more. Ashido Mina's had about five notes, such as: 'Likes Perfume (the girl group, not the fragrance)' and 'Wants a DDR machine'. Kaminari's said: 'Hunting for a shiny Ampharos; his whole team is electric types; idiot'. Tsubame found out Sero knew a bunch of obscure facts about tape, and she wrote them all down later when she wracked her brain—in case he ever wanted to talk about it. Tsuyu liked to chat about animals, that was jotted onto the pages. 'Younger brother of the Turbo Hero: Ingenium', stated Tenya Iida's, because Tsubame had learnt that about the disciplined boy. Todoroki Shoto's page had a bunch of question marks on it. That was all. Bakugou's just said: 'Angry', which was appropriate. Apart from that, she didn't really know much to say about his character. She'd heard from Uraraka that he'd been Midoriya's bully back in junior high, which hadn't surprised her at all, but had made Tsubame kick Bakugou's chair a bit more often every time she passed him. He got pissed, she cackled, and the whole class froze in anticipation for a full-out war every time. God bless Iida and his ability to drag Tsubame away by the back of her unbuttoned collar or the 1-A homeroom would have had a lot more scorch marks.

          Third, Tsubame was having difficulty staying awake. Tsubame had always had issues with fatigue, but it had never been quite this intense. She fell asleep in class, at the lunch table, on the train, and even, once, in the genkan. Even with coffee, sometimes, it was impossible to stay awake. She had been to Recovery Girl about it—who'd informed her that it was most likely from how far she'd exerted herself during the USJ incident. That she'd pushed herself far beyond her limit in her attempts to stay awake and was now paying the price. Either her body was still trying to recover from the intense exhaustion it had experienced, or it was malfunctioning and consuming a lot more energy than needed when using her Quirk—or even not using it. Since it was Quirk-related, there was no real way to tell if it was an issue that would resolve on its own with time, as of now. Tsubame had just taken to having more naps during lunch and consuming a lot of caffeine.

          Fourth, Tsubame started listening to Present Mic's radio show daily on the way to school, placing it into her meticulous rhythmic morning schedule. It wasn't a massive difference in her life. She'd listened to it before, of course—it was one of the most popular talk shows in Japan—but it was different now that he was actually her teacher. More compelling. She got to hear the news on upcoming Pros and the climbing in ranks—Mic's voice always loud and energetic—, some of the gossip that Mina loved, and all the hype for the upcoming Sports Festival. And, it was his radio show that clued her in on the fact that 1-A was going to have a spotlight this year. Typically, attention was drawn to U.A.'s graduating classes. They were more advanced in every way, a more interesting watch. This time, after making national news with their fighting of the League of Villains in the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, all eyes would be on the first years. It made Tsubame excited. Got her even more thrilled to throw herself into her training. There was no way she was giving this opportunity up.

          Fifth, Tsubame got more comfortable with her transit to school and started chatting to the upperclassman regulars at Dantō Ward's subway stop. There were just a couple of them—none Hero Course students—and they were nice. Some of them asked about the USJ attack, and she was happy to oblige them. Others gave recommendations on how to get through Ectoplasm's and Present Mic's classes. And, of course, she caught the train back each day with Sero. Saved a spot for him on carriage #4 each morning. Figured out that Jirou Kyouka also took the same south lilac line for a ward further along, and that Asui Tsuyu also did the same on her way to the Shinkansen for Aichi Prefecture. So, the four of them started sharing the train ride together. Standing, mostly. Sitting, whenever they could. Talking about whatever while clinging to the hanging handholds or pressed shoulder to shoulder. Jirou liked music a lot—she gushed over BABYMETAL with Tsubame, and then they had to introduce the band to Tsuyu and Sero. Tsuyu liked to talk about frogs, and otherwise said just whatever came to mind. Sero kind of slotted in between the three of them, filling the empty gaps. He and Tsubame talked a lot about video games. Gave each other their handles and talked about what new Pokémon—shinies, legendaries—they'd gotten recently in the brief moments between homework and Sports Festival training. It all became part of her daily ritual too.