The dorm room was quiet except for the faint hum of their shared desk lamp. Shoto Todoroki sat cross-legged on his bed, a textbook open on his lap. Across the room, his roommate and lifelong best friend sat perched on her bed, scrolling through her phone.

Shoto's gaze drifted to her, and he smiled faintly. He didn’t need to ask what she was looking at—probably another picture of the girl she had been crushing on for weeks. She’d been talking about her nonstop. Like they were still the same kids who used to sit under the big tree at the park, sharing secrets over juice boxes.

“Okay, listen to this,” she suddenly said, her voice breaking the silence. She turned her phone toward him. “She posted this like, five minutes ago. Isn’t she gorgeous?”

Shoto leaned forward to take a look, resting his chin on his hand. “Mhm,” he said simply. He tilted his head. “I think you should message her. You’ve been staring at her pictures for weeks. It’s getting a little pathetic.”

She threw a pillow at him, which he easily caught with his free hand. “Pathetic, huh? Says the guy who spent three hours figuring out how to ask his crush if he wanted to study together.”

His ears burned at the memory. “That was different. He’s intimidating.”

“Intimidating? Shoto, he’s a literature major who probably cries over poetry. That’s not exactly scary.”

He gave her a flat look. “At least I asked. You’re just sitting there scrolling. Text her.”

He closed his textbook, knowing there was no way he’d focus now. “If it helps, I can proofread whatever you want to say to her.”

She sat up. “Oh, like that time you sent your crush an email instead of texting them?”

Shoto sighed heavily. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“Never,” she replied with a grin.

They both dissolved into laughter. When it finally died down, she shuffled over to his bed, curling up beside him without a second thought. It was a familiar gesture, one they had fallen into naturally over the years.