Change of Perspective (TodoBaku)

Chapter Ten

Katsuki's POV:

Mr. Aizawa has given us a pop quiz. I was not prepared at all and I can tell that Todoroki wasn't either. Of course we went over the notes that Deku gave us when we took the notes, but other than that, we haven't studied or anything. I mean, we both pay attention in class and sometimes Todoroki asks me questions about the lessons.

I look over and I see that his leg is moving up and down anxiously. Of course, I do it all the time so not a lot of people notice, but I notice that Kaminari keeps looking over at him. He's catching on to something, but he doesn't really know what he's looking for. Just that something is up. I'm sure that he won't figure out anything by tomorrow which is good. I just need to get back in my body soon so that no one finds out anything. I already have help. I have a therapist and meds, I have the help I need. I don't want people finding out something that they don't need to. I'm going to get better. It just takes some time.

I look back at Todoroki and see that he's still anxious. I don't know what to do to calm him down without causing attention for the both of us. The quiet always makes me more anxious so I'll ask Aizawa to put music. Just something to make Todoroki focus on something else. Something besides the bad thoughts. I raise my hand quickly and I see Mr. Aizawa look at me. I point towards the door and motion my head to it. He nods and I get up to get outside. I get up and walk out the door, closing it behind me. I wait out here for a few minutes before Mr. Aizawa comes out. "Can you put on some music?"

He looks at me curiously. "Why?" I bite the inside of my cheek. "It's for Todoroki. He's quite nervous and music usually helps me, so maybe music can help him. You know?" He looks at me, still not fully convinced, but he nods. "Okay, but nothing too loud. I'll just play whatever is popular," he says. He walks in and then closes the door behind him. When I hear the music playing, I walk in. I see Todoroki look up at me and I put my hand up to my hair, pretending to fix it a bit, but really giving a thumbs up to Todoroki. I see him smile a bit and relax before picking up his thumb with his fist wrapped around the pencil, giving me a thumbs up too.

I keep a straight face as I walk to the back of the class. I feel good inside knowing that I made Todoroki feel better. I helped him. I sit down and start working on the quiz. I look at the first few questions and I sigh in relief. This is what was in the notes. I made sure Todoroki understood it before we stopped talking about it when we were taking those notes. I'm sure he'll be okay. I'll calm his nerves when it's lunch time. I know he'll still be very anxious when the quiz is over.

I answer the questions to the best of my ability and I'm sure I'm doing great. I know most of these and I won't blame Todoroki if he doesn't get any of them. It's hard to focus when there's so much stuff to think about. I usually have a million thoughts running through my head. Todoroki is new to trying to keep those thoughts at bay and he's doing quite well. I know that Mr. Aizawa will just transfer the grades that we get under the other's name to our own, but if Todoroki does bad, I'll just tell him that Todoroki doesn't deserve that grade and why he doesn't. It'll be fine.

It takes me the whole period before the lunch bell to complete the test and that goes for the rest of the class. In the test, we had a bit from every class, and the math problems were super long. "Okay class, the lunch bell is about to ring. I know you all are done since no one is still writing, so I'm going to go around and collect them," he says. I see that Todoroki had finished, but he was still very anxious. His foot is still moving and when he put his hands under his desk, I could see movement which means that he was probably wringing his hands nervously. It's one of my nervous ticks and I usually only do that before a major breakdown or panic attack.

I need to get Todoroki to calm down. The music helped him for a little bit, but it obviously stopped working. I look at the time and I roll my eyes. Still about two minutes before the bell and Todoroki is only getting more anxious by the second. If anything sudden happens, he'll definitely break. I get up suddenly once Mr. Aizawa is done picking up the papers. I head over to Todoroki and other people start their usual conversations. I make sure my footsteps are audible and when I get to Todoroki, I make sure to speak in a calm voice. "Hey, you're okay," I say softly.