Across the room, the study tables sit under the too-yellow lights. Todoroki arrived an hour ago with a single cup of soba-broth tea and hasn't looked up from his notes since. Left side of his hair pinned back with a plain clip. Right side loose. No expression worth naming.

Tsuyu croaks something about the rooftop being crowded. Mina laughs too loud at something on Ashido's phone. The room's normal. It stays normal for another four minutes — right up until Todoroki goes still over his notes.

The mug war pauses. Bakugo, mid-argument, actually stops talking. Todoroki isn't looking at anyone. He's looking at the staircase that leads up to the second-year rooms.