Red in Different Shades

38. Social Dynamics 101

The hum of Aizawa-sensei's car was the only sound filling the air, a low, consistent white noise that somehow made the silence even more awkward. 

Niwa sat slouched against the door in the back seat, acutely aware of the nearly foot-wide gap between her and Todoroki. It wasn't that she disliked him. Far from it. Todoroki was calm, collected, and one of the least dramatic people in Class 1-A. Granted, he was also overpowered and a passive-aggressive little shit. He was a funny guy.

But put the two of them in an enclosed space with no one else to deflect the conversation? She might as well have been strapped onto an awkward carousel. 

She stole a glance at Todoroki out of the corner of her eye. He was as composed as ever, arms crossed, his gaze fixed somewhere in the middle distance as if he were pondering the mysteries of the universe, or maybe just how long it would take to get to his house. It was hard to tell with this one.

Niwa was about to dig her phone out of her bag for some kind of distraction when Todoroki's voice cut through the quiet, startling her.

"Mina asked me if you and Bakugou are dating."

Niwa nearly choked on the fucking air, completely blindsided by his random ass statement. "What? Are you serious?"

Todoroki nodded, completely unbothered by her reaction. "She said you argue like a married couple."

She groaned, her hand flying to her face. "Oh my god." Really? With Aizawa-sensei in the car too? Why did he have to bring this up?!

"She's not the only one who's talked about it," Todoroki added, turning his head to look at her. His expression was as neutral as ever, but it was the way he said it that made her face heat up. "You two seem... closer."

"I know Kirishima told you already. But no, we are not dating." She glared at him, her cheeks burning. "And even if I wanted to, U.A. doesn't allow that kind of thing anyway."

Todoroki leaned back slightly, nodding as if her denial was a particularly interesting piece of trivia. "Interesting."

The silence that followed was somehow even worse than before. Niwa fidgeted, tugging at the hem of her jacket and searching desperately for a subject change.

"So... uh..." Anything. Something. Come on brain. "Do you think Mina and Kirishima might end up together?"

Todoroki turned to her, considering the question with all the seriousness of someone solving a math problem. "They're compatible. She's energetic; he's encouraging. They balance each other out."

Wait, what? Niwa rose an eyebrow. She was totally just bullshitting to get herself out of the firing line, but now, suddenly she had ammo. "You've already thought about this, huh?"

He shrugged. "It's hard not to notice. Jiro and Kaminari might work too, but she'd have to explain everything to him twice."

"You're not wrong." Niwa snorted. Did he just go around contemplating who in the class was most compatible with who? Was he into romance novels? That would actually explain some things, Niwa mused. "What about Midoriya?"

"He seems married to hero work," Todoroki replied evenly. "Unless Uraraka intervenes."

"You're surprisingly invested in everyone's love lives." Niwa said, shaking her head, her grin widening.

"Mina said it's important to understand social dynamics. Do you think that's true?"

Mina, what have you done to this poor boy.

"I mean, it's good to know who you can count on, or someone's personality," Niwa said between her chuckling, "but this feels a bit more like matchmaking."