"okay, so the sinoatrial node is what regulates the heart rhythm by sending impulses that spread across the atria, and slow at the – are you even listening." 

you blink, pulled from your thoughts as your gaze wanders before landing on toji's face, catching the annoyance both evident in his tone and on his expression.

no, you weren't listening, how could you? anatomy was such a boring subject, and the only reason you weren't failing was because of toji. well, his notes, that he ended up being convinced to let you use — much to his exasperation. 

but right now was one of his many attempts where he tried to get you to actually study.

you shrug your shoulders lazily, stretching out your arms like you've been putting in effort this whole time rather than thinking about what you're gonna eat later.

"you know i don't understand anything about anatomy," you sigh, waving off his annoyance. 

"that's what worries me," toji mumbled, dragging his palm along his black, spikey strands. "how do you not understand your own body?'

you roll your eyes at his point. "why don't you just let me copy off your notes later?

you swear you can see toji's eye twitch at the suggestion, dark brows knitting together in disbelief, and you can tell he's trying not to call you every synonym for the word 'stupid.'

the ravenette adjusts his glasses, and your eyes shamelessly dart to the way his muscular arm flexes under the sleeve of his jacket.

"okay, scratch the notes," you cut in before you have to listen to him insult you and then praise himself. "i don't know, start giving me a gold star everytime i get something right."

toji pauses, his heavy - lidded green eyes locked on your face like he can't decide if you're serious or not. "a gold star."

"mhm."

toji pauses again, before sighing, crossing his arms as he leans into his seat. the campus library is quiet, aside from your chatter with toji in the corner you guys have stuck yourself in.

"your 'gold star' should not be failing a class. besides, you'd have to get questions right in the first place," the ravenette retorted.

"rude." 

"it's what you get for wasting my time. it's very precious, y'know."

"god forbid i don't want to hear about sinoatrial nodes."

"sigh - no - atrial," toji corrected under his breath.

you shoot him a side glance of annoyance, tapping the eraser of your mechanical pencil against your empty notebook. "you don't have to do that every time."

toji shrugged, not even looking the tiniest bit sorry. 

blah blah blah. roll another study session. today, you happened to be in a rather motivated mood, perhaps with the encouragement of trying to prevent failing your anatomy class. 

"okay, so what's the point of the av nodal delay?" toji asks after one of his long, thorough explanation rants. he briefly glanced at your notebook — hardly filled out, but there were some notes this time, the effort was there. kind of.

you pause for a moment, tapping the eraser of your pencil against your chin as the answer pieced together in your head.

"umm... oh, it slows the impulse so the ventricles have time to fill before they contract?" you answer unsurely, bracing for one of his annoyed expressions for getting the answer wrong.

but, instead, toji let out a hum of approval before leaning over to his right, shuffling through his backpack for a moment before sitting up straight and pressing something to the corner of your notebook.

you squint your eyes, your brain taking a moment to process what was on it, before your expression quickly fell.

"is that a fucking gold star."

"yeah," as he tossed the rest of the sticker packet onto the table.

"seriously?"

"yeah." 

toji shrugged, but there was a faint, lazy smile growing on his face. with the hint of smugness. 

you let out a huff of breath in annoyance, but pause, realizing that the gold star was kinda working as reinforcement. an odd feeling of warmth left in your chest.

unbelievable.

"whatever. what's next?" you mumble, propping up your head against your palm. 

nerdoji who isn't the dorky and meek nerd stereotype, but instead the smart and intimidating genius

nerdoji who's sooo cocky

nerdoji who's the mean kind of nerd because he thinks (knows) that he's better than you

nerdoji who has a giant superiority complex. he wasn't born naturally gifted, he worked hard to get this far. automatically, that means he's better. it kind of makes you wonder who he's trying to prove himself to

nerdoji who's a kinesiology major, because i said so, and because he can utilize his intelligence in a physical form

nerdoji who says "oh, you found that hard?" because he didn't. a polite way of saying haha loser

nerdoji who's the type to correct you on every little thing you get slightly wrong. it's so annoying, really, but his way of trying to flirt

nerdoji who's got impressive muscles to match that big, beautiful brain of his, yet you never see him in anything except a jacket and sweatpants. he dresses like a total bum, but that's simply bcs he's too focused on learning -- he couldn't give a damn about his looks

nerdoji who cracks his knuckles like he's about to start a fight, but he's literally just diving into another assignment

nerdoji, who doesn't talk much outside of class. people describe him as anti - social, overly indifferent, and rude -- he didn't seem to like people very much and was obviously content not being liked in return

nerdoji who you happen to get paired up with in some way or another (studying, tutoring, group project. guys literally whatever), and he surprises you with how gentle he can be in private. he takes the time to explain the material to you, slow and patient, until you have a better understanding of it

nerdoji who lets out a soft hum of approval when you get something right after struggling, scarred lip quirking up in a gentle smile as he leans back. "see? knew you'd get it."

nerdoji who lowkey likes when you ask questions bcs it's just an excuse for him to flaunt his intelligence and (hopefully) impress you

nerdoji who leans over your shoulder to point out something in your textbook, feeling warmth radiate off his body as his voice drops lower -- quieter, more focused

nerdoji, who pushes you hard to focus on your studies, using every bribe he can. it's persistent and frustrating, but he really just wants you to succeed

nerdoji who, at some point as you both become closer, begins to take extra notes just for you. his handwriting is surprisingly neat, like the effort he puts in his academic life just never runs out

nerdoji who tells you "attagirl" when you pass a test

nerdoji whose glasses slip down his nose every time he's really concentrated on homework, and his brows are all knitted together, and his jaw is visibly hardened and rguihgdds

nerdoji who doesn't know how to handle praise. you tell him he's impressive, and he'll just shrug it off with a smirk