SEAT #9: Koji Koda

Koda had always been quiet, and being relatively quiet himself, it didn't bother Shota in the slightest. What he did find nice though, was that over time Koda slowly became more vocal -- maybe because he had forced him to during the summer training camp -- but it had carried over into the school year smoothly, and he could sometimes find the boy hanging out with Jiro and Mina, or even Deku and his bunch. He felt pride in knowing that his student was warming up to his class over time.

Shota had a soft spot for the boy. He would never tell the kid -- EVER -- but early on, when classes were just starting for the year, he noticed that the boy was seemingly very self-conscious, and would shrink into himself if ever approached one-on-one. Midnight teased him for it, but he had made a phone call home to Koda's parents asking if he had ever been bullied. Of course, of course, the answer was yes. Why would it ever be 'no' and let him rest easy for once? From there he kept a constant eye on the boy, monitoring his interactions, keeping an eye out for the boy.

He had three successes, and two failures.

Success number one: Koda had set his tray down next to Sato's, and walked away to go use the bathroom. Almost immediately, a gangly looking boy from general studies with greasy hair and beady eyes came over and grabbed it, ignoring Sato's protests and took it over to the nearest garbage can dumped the rice and chicken into it, smiling victoriously. Shota wouldn't stand for that.

Not caring how much it cost him, and not caring who saw, he quickly walked up to Lunch Rush's line and bought another one of the same meal, placing it down at Koda's spot and disappearing into the Nap Room before the boy could find out it was gone in the first place.

Success number two: This one was by far Shota's proudest moment of them all. For his birthday, Jiro had given Koda an adult coloring book of animals. Anyone else would've thought it was dumb and childish, but for quiet and reserved Koda, it was perfect. He was working on coloring a saber tooth tiger at lunch, this time sitting with Jiro, Kaminari, and the rest of what his students called the 'Bakusquad,' when that nasty general studies kid spotted his target having -- God forbid -- a good day and started making his way over.

Shota just so happened to be passing by and accidentally released his capture scarf so that it wound around the boy's ankle, causing him to trip and coincidentally fall face first into the same garbage can he had poured Koda's lunch in a week or so prior.

However, his little victories were soon met with resistance. Two weeks after Shota had tripped that general studies kid, he was taking a nap during lunch. He desperately needed a nap that day, but he wished he hadn't because that boy had taken Shota's absence as an excuse to shred some pages in Koda's coloring book and pour soda on it.

Then came his second failure, because it turned out that Koda and the kid were neighbors and on a particular Saturday he got a call from Koda's mom asking if he could come back to the dorms a day early to see recovery girl. Apparently the other boy didn't like that Koda had friends now to make him happy, and decided the only way to leave his mark on the boy was to beat him up outside of school.

It fuelled Shota's third victory: buying Koda two new coloring books and some very expensive colored pencils (because who knew art supplies weren't cheap?) and placing them on his desk anonymously.

He fought hard to not choke on his tea when Koda stopped him after class one day. "Mr. Aizawa, do you believe in guardian angels?"

"Yes, I do." He had told the kid, sipping his coffee to hide his smile when Koda smiled softly and thanked him before running off to lunch with Deku.

Shota still hasn't figured out how deep that 'thank you' went.