Despite himself, Fuyuki found that he enjoyed Azusa's company. Perhaps it was because she was quiet or at least less demanding than most, but he felt he might actually be able to relax around her. Providing she never figured out his true gender, of course; he suspected Azusa to be the type that got more nervous around boys than girls. [b]'It is not all that bad; this PDA has a built-in MP3 player. One of life's little perks.'[/b] He turned to give her a reassuring smile, but she didn't appear to have heard. Instead the girl looked as though she was falling inward, perhaps having some kind of panic attack. Surely he hadn't done anything to upset her..? Although, now that he thought about it, Fuyuki [i]was[/i] somewhat lacking in social graces at times; perhaps he had said something he shouldn't? In a flash Azusa apologised for nothing and disappeared, the beginnings of a breakdown clearly visible in her eyes. He would have tried to comfort her, but naturally she retreated to the one place he could never follow; the girls bathroom. Even if half the students thought he was a girl, the staff knew better. He could only hope to find her around again some time and apologise for upsetting her... A certain cynical part of his mind marveled at the fact that he even felt the need to do so.

The next few days passed languidly, with nothing much happening bar a steady flow of clients and the normal classroom antics. Rumours of Parker's outburst floated around the school, doubtless exaggerated with every telling. From his own experience of the foreigner, Fuyuki judged that he at least hadn't punched Cole as one gossiping 1st year had professed. Parker was better than that, if his panicked but genuine concern the other day was anything to go by. As fate would have it, he soon found himself presented with the perfect opportunity to find out firsthand, in the form of a group assignment with Parker and two others. Mizukimura was that uppity blind girl who acted like the sun shined out of her arse, but he didn't know much about the other one. As he cast his gaze around, Fuyuki spied Parker dragging his desk toward Mizukimura, who had the sense to remain seated. Loathe though he was to admit it, Fuyuki wasn't capable of moving his own table; the damn thing weighed almost as much as he did. Instead he dragged his chair over, which was labourious enough. As he approached, he couldn't stop a strangled sigh upon seeing Mizukimura's angelic smile; the girl was positively glowing at the idea of group work and perhaps at the chance to make friends. For his part, at least two of the three people he would be working with were not what Fuyuki would call friend material; too much... strong personality. But work was work and he would put forward the effort if nothing else. [b]'Likewise, Mizukimura-san. I am afraid I cannot move my table, so would you mind if I work on yours? I am Todoroki, by the way.'[/b] If she hadn't worked that out by now then she was deaf too, but the social forms must be obeyed. As Fuyuki slumped into his seat, he gave Parker a little wave and happy smile; with all those rumours flying, his spirits must have been pretty low. It might help for him to think that at least one person thought good of him, even if he didn't really mean it.