Chapter Text
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Izuku Midoriya knew that rhythm like the back of his hand, he was a ‘runner’, he ‘survived’ with it.
Since he was four years old he discovered he liked running, both literally and metaphorically.
He first ran when his parent’s fight -Inko, his mom; And Hisashi, his dad- had become very overwhelming for a four-yeared kid to bear. He kept running every time they fought. He ran to calm his nerves, the air ‘hitting’ his face and the feeling of freedom because he could run wherever he wanted, eased his mind whenever his home became too much.
Usually when he ran out of home, he went to that same old park on his neighborhood, where the no-new ‘attractions’ had their paint peeled off because of time, leaving their natural component, metal, exposed for everyone to see, meanwhile this same metal starts to get old and rusty.
There, he met with his childhood friend Bakugo Katsuki -Alias, Kacchan-.
The blonde, being aggressive and all, was amazing in the grenette’s eyes. Izuku loved playing with him, partially because he helped him forget about the anguish that his home situation was giving him.
He would not even wait two seconds after lunch ended to put his shoes on and head to where his friend was waiting for him with their faux second-hand red cape and wands made of tree’s branches to play heroes with him and not get home till night when he knew his parents were waiting him alongside dinner.
Right where he lived, Shimoda town, was small. The same people. Same stores and markets. Same playgrounds. Same restaurants and coffee shops. Same beaches. Same sunsets and sunrises. Nothing changed.
He crystal clear remembered the first time he ran away, his parents were worried sick, just to find out he was with Mitsuki’s -Inko’s friend- son.
Then, since in Shimoda’s old street and the same sweet ‘community’ didn’t happen anything, not even a fly was killed, they let him go to the park alone.
This was Izuku’s routine, he would just run away.
At that point, Katsuki knew about Izuku’s parents fighting regularly, but is not like a four-yeared kid like him could do anything at all, but they did play and forget about everything.
When Izuku turned six years old, his parents' fighting ‘reached its peak’’, but this time, Inko seemed more frightened. She didn’t answer as much as she used to, she had big black bags under her beautiful green eyes and sometimes appeared with marks in her body, purplish dark and horrible marks on her body, she even often had red angry marks on her neck.
Izuku, at that time, didn’t understand a single thing, and less did to help his little confused head when one day an ambulance took his dad because of a ‘leg injury’, but he never came back.
That year was the worst year of his life, because not only he lost his dad, but he also started losing his best friend ‘Kacchan’. They started hanging out with other kids around, and the blonde suddenly turned his back on him, not even wanting to see his face.
Years passed and Izuku almost lost contact with Katsuki, their only connection: the school. And with his father? He hardly ever had vague calls with him, and now it was official that he had moved out to another city, Tokyo to be more specific.
The only things that remained with Izuku were his mother and his burning passion for running.
When Izuku was ten, he started athlete classes, specifically the sprinting section. He discovered that he not only loved running, but that he also was pretty good, even a natural. He might not be the tallest and will never be, but he was one of the best in his class.
And of course, since this was a tiny town, there was only one place for athletics classes in all Shimoda, so obviously, Katsuki was also there, but for long jump, and what was not a surprise to Izuku is that he was also one of the best in his class.
At the age of twelve, Inko had told him everything about his father. How he was always way too aggressive, how he was a little bit out of his mind, how he only made bad decisions so Inko decided to divorce, but Hisashi was so damn obsessed with his mother that he wouldn’t let that happen, and that was when he first abused her. And after that, all went to shit, he started forcing her to have sex when she clearly didn’t want to, not giving a single fuck. He was insane.
But what most shaked Izuku, was how Inko’s voice broke when she told him how his dad went one day to her job, found her, grabbed her unwillingly to an ‘out of order’ bathroom so no one could enter, and raped her.
And not only that, but also when one regular day his mom was in her car in a stop and Hisashi appeared out of nowhere and, like a maniac, started pointing to his own index finger where their wedding ring was placed and repeated, “We are married, together till death, do you remember? Nothing can tear us apart, nothing”.
Izuku was completely freaked out, and his whole perspective towards his father had darkened.
Obviously, when that ambulance took his father there was no damn jack ‘leg injury’, it was clearly because he was mentally ill.
And of course, since Inko didn’t want to entirely separate Izuku from his dad, because she knew how hard it could be to not have your father around, she let them have phone calls, which at first he answered, but after all this whole discoverment, he couldn’t find himself to keep talking to that man who had hurt his mom se deeply; His father.
And besides being more than disappointed, Izuku didn’t know how to feel, so he just ‘ran away’ from it, and decided to bury it.
As the years passed, things got much better, with his mom, new friends, he was one of the smartest in his class, everything was going perfectly fine. Well, almost everything.
Izuku would probably sound selfish if he ever admitted how he still craved for Katsuki’s friendship.
And, I mean, he couldn’t help it, the blonde was amazing, he was confident, strong in lots of ways, smart, almost perfect, had everything under control…
And he also despised the greenette. That alone ruined any little hope of a ‘civil relationship’—and I mean ‘civil’ in the sense of how two normal people interact, with the occasional little ‘chit-chat,’ you know? Well, that didn’t exist between them. They had ‘little chats,’ sure, but those usually happened in the middle of fights and shouting. Absolutely not working.
And with his dad, well, it was… what it was.
Izuku at some point talked again with his father through the phone, but it was hard, you know?
Hisashi told him countlessly times how sorry he was for all and how he really missed him and wanted to see him, but that didn’t do shit.
No, because what would help was if he came and solved things, instead of being a massive coward and hiding like he always did, and if he hadn’t ran away like he did when he had to face the charges of his actions, just like he did.
But of course, blaming others is always easier, so that’s what he always did.
Until when Izuku had his sixteen birthday, his father confessed that he had started therapy sessions, this time for real, and he wanted to be much better, for him.
It’s not like out of magic that would solve everything so it was still hard for Izuku, but he did recognize that his dad was trying, so he gave him a ‘chance’, but still their communication was little. Anyway, the freckled man didn’t have a problem with it, he figured out he preferred his life now without his dad, it would be strange to have him here again, and uncomfortable.
He did sometimes miss the father figure, his dad was not a complete monster, Izuku misses how they would go to the park and Hisashi would teach him these sick activities, such as skateboarding or surfing.
Not all memories were bad…
And Katsuki was still a lost cause, Izuku hoped in the deepest part of him that they would somehow ‘re-bond’, and if they didn’t it was not like it was devastating, it would be sad, yes, but he would live.
☆☆☆
Now, Izuku has turned eighteen.
He was in Shimoda’s central high school, with his new friends, and his friend group from athletics.
He ended up being the best runner in the sprinter section, and as far as he knew, Katsuki is the best at the long jump section.
Ironic a little bit, isn’t it?
But for both their luck, or maybe just for Katsuki’s luck, being on different sections meant no crossing paths.
For the blonde, crossing paths with him was like a horse kick on his face, while the greenette didn’t really care, but he had to admit that it was awfully awkward.
At the current moment, Izuku was jogging around the brick-red 400-meter track to warm up, like every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And on Tuesday and Thursday he went to the gym with his athletics group.
Two laps around the track was the same warm up he did every day he trained at the track field. Izuku loved it, because at this point it was ‘zero percent tiring and one-hundred percent relaxing’.
He trained from 17:30 PM to 19:30 PM, and around winter, the sunsets could be really appreciated there. It was really magic.
The colors pink and violet blended together highlighted the different shade of greens from the tree’s leaves.
Izuku also loved hearing music while jogging laps. He would put on his earphones, play his athletics playlist -because que obviously had one- and forget about everything but the song’s melody and lyrics.
“Midoriya!”, a steady shout called for his name. His best friend, Shoto Todoroki, was waiting for him at the end of the track, with a bottle of fresh water on his right hand and a tiny towel on the left one.
“Thanks”, was all Izuku managed to answer as the air in his lungs wasn’t much to elaborate more words while he took both the water and the towel.
The heterochromatic didn’t say more and just walked with him to the benches where their belongings rested.
There, their ‘sprinter’ classmates such as Iida, Kaminari, and other guys of their age were catching their breath and already waiting for their coach, Shota Aizawa, to finally arrive.
Izuku stomped his feet against the red brick floor to release the tension in his leg’s muscle.
Everyone had already grabbed a flat blue pad and started stretching and warming up when Aizawa arrived.
“Kids, I’ll be brief,” their jet-black-haired coach said as he slowly walked through the circle they had formed while he palmed the water bottle from one hand to the other. “Today we’ll have company. The ‘Long jump’ athletes will work with us today since their coach couldn’t make it,” and, as if to emphasize the point, the other group of athletes walked behind Aizawa and stopped when they were facing them.
“Hi, guys!” Ejiro Kirishima, the red headed and charismatic member of the group greeted them with a wave.
Then, a chorus of ‘Hello’ answered.
The coach sighed, “Since I am just one person and I can’t handle all of you at once, you will have to pair up with a member of the other ‘division’ and help each other… I guess. But I do think this can help to find what you can improve, like a sprinter can help a long jumper to run faster before the leap to gain more length and yeah, that.”
Why pairs? Athletics is a single sport.
“Anyway, it is not that it is a ‘team sport’ athletics but, if anyone needs help or anything that could be in pairs and all, you will have to reach out to your partner.”
Okay? Izuku still doesn’t understand the point but he found it exciting to work with the long jumpers. He could learn a lot of things and he loved socializing with his peers.
But then…
“Hey, Kirishima, would you like to pair up?”
“I’m sorry, bro, I’m with Denki”
“Oh, that’s okay,” the greenette then went to ask the black-haired guy.
“Sero, would you like to pair up?”
“Sorry, dude, I’m already taken”
No one seemed to be available.
Izuku tried asking other guys, but they were all paired up. He could still ask one certain blonde, but the ‘No’ was guaranteed, though he also wasn’t planning on working with him and making things even worse. No thanks.
But, fate made its own.
“Okay, I don’t have all day, are you ready?,” impatient as always, their coach hurried them.
And if he didn’t have a partner, he would have to go with whoever was also alone, but that wasn’t quite the problem, no.
“That’s it, tell me the pairs so I can quickly write them down,” the old man grabbed a pen and notebook.
Why write them down?
Without waiting on him, everyone named their partner until it was Izuku’s turn.
“So, Midoriya?” Aizawa asked with his usual low voice.
“I- umm, actually, I still don’t have a partner”
“Well, it’s convenient, since Bakugo doesn’t have one either…-“
No-
“Absolutely fucking not” Katsuki voiced Izuku’s thougts… in a more aggressive manner.
“Why would that be, Bakugo?,” not getting riled up because of the vocabulary, the jet-haired man calmly asked.
“Because there is no fucking way I’m workin’ with him, anyone but Deku,” expected answer .
“Too bad, you’ve already declined the two people who offered you to work with them, and now everybody is taken, so is not much of a choice”
“I don’t fucking care-“
“I’m not asking you to marry Midoriya, Bakugo,” the commanding voice of their coach interrupted the carmin eyes.
Now, that would be much different. That was literally impossible.
“I’m not even asking you to work together in a project, I’m just asking for collaboration in one class-“
“You know that’s not tru-“
“Am I clear, Bakugo? You can take it or leave it, and if you ‘leave it’ you might as well leave the class.”
“You’re doing this on porpus-”
Like if Aizawa was running out of patience, he roughly interrupted, “How could I even make this up, Bakugo? It’s just a simple and unfortunate coincidence. You could’ve avoided it by not being ‘picky’ and taking what you got, but now you’re here, and it is what it is. No offense, Midoriya.”
“Don’t worry-”
“Oh, of course the nerd is not offended, but I fucking am, we could just change some pairs and get me and the fucking nerd with anyone else”
Izuku swears he heard his coach mutter a curse accompanied with a slow ‘God’, “Bakugo, I’m going to leave some things clear. First, curse what you want, I don’t care anymore, but not your companions. Second, you had other opportunities, you just weren’t grateful and thought about other ‘consequences’ enough. And last, the world doesn’t revolve around you, you don’t get to get everything you want when you want, not at least with me, and not every person is against you, this is your ‘own fault’. Now, I will repeat myself, you can take it or leave it,” He paused briefly to give more 'force' to what he was about to say, “and if you ‘leave it’, you might as well leave this class, am I clear enough this time?”
Aizawa was surely an ‘appealing’ person… not nicely, but It still did the work since Bakugo ended up agreeing with a low ‘Tch’.
“Now, y’all go and change into your track spikes and come back!,” he shouted as everyone left.
Well, that was something. This class is going to be a disaster.
Izuku ‘approached’ the benches, and there, from the other side of the fences, his best friend, ‘Ochako’, was resting in a plastic chair with her legs crossed while reading a book.
“Hi there, ‘sprinter’,” the brunette raised her sight from the book in her hands and greeted him mockingly.
“Hi there, my most obsessed fan ever”
““Hey! I’m just waiting for you so we can go to dinner afterwards,” Ochako defended, “I wouldn't be here otherwise…” a sweet while ‘rogue’ smirk was tugged in the corner of her lips.
“Sure, we both know that ain’t true,” Izuku chuckled softly as he shook his head slightly.
The athlete grabbed a water bottle and drank it all. After his final gulp, he asked with little air, “What ya’ reading?” He then put the empty bottle in his bag.
“A book,” she mischievously answered.
“Oh, really? I couldn’t tell,” the greenette said and Ochako started laughing, “You little rat”.
His friend started laughing even harder, “M’ sorry-” she took a breath, “I’m reading ‘To All the Boys I've Loved Before’”
“Wait, like the movie?”
“Yep, the one and only, is great”
“Good.”
…
“Well… I heard that the coach Sekijiro Kan didn’t come?”
“Oh, yeah…”
“Wait, why is it that bad? Did he-” gulp, “Did he die?” She then whispered.
“What- No! Why would you assume that?!”
“I don’t know, you suddenly looked disoriented!”
“But why dead?! It could literally be anything but that, like something like ‘his cat is sick’”
“Yeah, my bad, I guess?”
…
“Anyway, you still look odd, what’s up?” Ochako insisted.
“Well, since he didn't come we have to be paired up with the long jumpers…”
“And why do you make it sound like a bad thing? I would guess you love the idea”
“No! I mean, I do, but the bad thing is with who I’m paired up…”
“Who is…?”
“I don’t know, Ochako, with my ‘amazing luck’ guess who I got”
“No one comes to my mind- Wait, don’t tell me it is…” The brunette put her hand around her mouth in a ‘secret’ gesture and whispered softly, “Bakugo?”
“Yep, damn right is him,” Izuku confirmed with an exaggerated popping of the ‘p’ in ‘yep’ while nodding his head.
“Oh boy…, well, good luck”
“Oh, thank you, it is totally needed, but It won’t help even a little,” He sarcastically said.
“At least is just for today, so bear it”
“Yes… it’s not like I have much of a choice though…”
“Well, I’ll be waiting here for you”
☆☆☆
Izuku always knew that being friends with Katsuki again would take a lot of work. Because you can’t just be friends again with someone you were with, but then abruptly stop and don’t even know why, and what’s worse, is that you even become ‘enemies’. Not exactly that, but the other one absolutely hates you. Or more friendly, doesn’t like you at all.
Well, guess what. That was Izuku’s and Katsuki’s condition at the moment.
It’s not like they're working to be friends again anyway, and neither is it that they want to, at least not the blonde.
He knew there was a huge stretch between them, and they were way far from friendship.
Their friends were friends with each other, in fact, they shared the same class their whole lives.
But they were nowhere near to be friends.
And after school finishes, it will all definitely end.
They will not meet again. Maybe if they both keep being athletes -what Izuku knew he would and was almost sure that Katsuki also would- they could find themselves in practices or even tournaments if they get better and continue it as a career, which was both goals.
But that was all.
They were polar opposites, two magnets which couldn’t be attached, two points so different that they repelled each other.
That was their definition.
This all ‘pair up mess’ was nothing but a little obstacle in their paths to completely forget about each other. To go on with their lives without each other.
☆☆☆
Izuku had to do two rounds of 300 meters with hurdles, and he needs help to set them. The problem is, usually, when they run with the hurdles, they set them all together, but now they are divided in the pairs, and he is not risking asking help to Aizawa and less to Katsuki. So, he figured out for the best that he would ask quickly for help from any of his ‘sprinter classmates’.
“Hey, Todoroki, could you please give me a hand here with the hurdles?”
“I’m sorry, Midoriya, I would but I’m too busy here with Sero”
“No worries… umm- Denki! Could you help me with the hurdles, please?”
“Sorry, man, I can’t right now”
“Oh, never mind-”
“Wait! Why won’t you ask Bakugo, he is your partner after all”
“Well, yeah, that’s not possible”
“Why not? Let me ask him”
“What? No wait-”
“Hey, Bakugo! Won’t you help your pair here, he’s struggling with the hurdles!” Too late, Kaminari had already opened his big mouth.
“Why would I? Is he so stupid that he actually needs my help?” Katsuki answered while he was heading to the long jump track.
“Ay, don’t be so meanie-”
“Don’t you fucking call me that again”
“Wow, chill man. But y’know? Setting those hurdles are really a pain in the ass”
“Not my problem”
“Denki, leave it, really, that’s enough,” Izuku didn’t want problems with Katsuki.
“But-”
“I mean it, thanks though…”
“As you say,” was all Kaminari said while raising his hands in a sign of ‘giving up’.
With that, Izuku knew everyone was too busy to help him set the damn hurdle, so he just went and tried to set it himself.
And, as he expected, he wasn’t exactly getting it done as it should.
“Uh, fuck…”
“Midoriya! What’s taking you so long to start?” His coach interrupted in the middle of his struggle.
“Umm- I’m not managing to adjust the hurdles”
“And where is Bakugo? That’s why he’s your partner”
“Well, he’s-”
“Bakugo! Come over here”
Great.
“What do you want, old man?”
“I said ‘Come over here’”
“Tsk”
As Katsuki was getting near, he felt like a ticking bomb about to explode with every step the blonde made towards him.
“What the hell do you want?”
“God,” Shota sighed, “can you please help your partner to set the hurdles so he can start, as you should”
“Sure,” Katsuki said, clearly annoyed, with gritted teeth.
“Good, now don’t make me come back and please, help each other if needed, i’m not asking much”
As their coach left, Izuku didn’t want anything more than to disappear right now, maybe like letting the earth swallow him.
Yeah, that would be really nice.
“How useless,” Izuku heard Katuki whisper.
And of course, he couldn’t help but also answer in a whisper, “I’m not”
“What did you say?” Izuku didn’t need to look at Katsuki's face to know if he had a scowl in it and a grimace of disgust just because he was next to him.
“Nothing”
Pissed off, the blonde sighed and forcedly he asked, “How the fuck do you need help?”
Izuku also sighed, but because of tiredness, “I need to set the hurdle and-”
“Yeah I already know that dipshit”
“Kacchan, please, you didn’t even let me finish”
“Shut up”
…
“Hell, what the fuck are you waiting for? C’mon, tell me what I have to do, I don’t want to be here anymore”
GOD! YOU JUST TOLD ME TO SHUT UP!
He probably made an annoyed face unwillingly, like he always did. He couldn’t control his facial expressions.
“Umm- I need you to adjust the right hurdle bar while I take care of the left one”
“And you needed my help for this shit, couldn't you do it yourself?”
-No, Kacchan, I can’t do it myself, that’s why you’re here, and believe me, if I could I wouldn’t even call you, but you don’t use hurdles so you don’t know how hard it is to set them by yourself.- And that’s what Izuku would say if he had the balls, but since he doesn’t, he just pronounced a simple, “Please, Kacchan”
At that, Katsuki only sighed and just grabbed the hurdler bar.
“What do you want me to do now, nerd”
“Hold it a sec’,” The freckled man knew the hurdle’s bars were heavy, but he also was absolutely sure that it wasn’t an issue to the strong man with carmin eyes.
And now, with two people handling the damn hurdle that brought him all this problem it was much easier.
“That’s it”
When Izuku raised his eyes, he saw Katsuki was already leaving without a word.
“Kacchan, wait!”
“What the hell do you want now, Deku?”
“Umm- Actually, there is not just one hurdle…” Pitied, the greenette said.
“You gotta be fucking kidding me”
“Please, Kacchan, there are not a lot and it doesn’t take that much to set them,” Izuku pleaded.
“Agh, how many?”
“What-”
“How many?” More pissed, the red eyed repeated.
“What do you mean-”
“God damn, Deku! How many more hurdles do you have to set!”
“Yeah, sorry, I have to do 300 meters, so there are seven left…” Jeez, what was wrong with him?
“Tsk, c’mon, I don’t want to waste more time with you”
“Sure…” How patient, huh.
“Where are they?”
“They are already in their places along the 300 meters so we have to go,” Izuku doesn’t know what exactly the blonde said, but he’s sure it wasn’t anything nice.
It took them around five minutes to set all the hurdles, the sun still raised up high in the sky for it was summer, and when they were already in the eighth hurdle, Katsuki asked, “So you have to run all this”
Caught out off guard because, Katsuki had just talked to him, he answered, “Well yeah, Kacchan”
“Don’t treat me like a stupid, damn Deku, I just didn’t know you were able to do this”
“Oh, sorry. Umm- yes, I guess you don’t know but, I’m also pretty good”
“Sure, with those short legs I wouldn’t have guessed”
Excuse me?, “I’m not even that short,” He defended himself with a frown, “ and don’t act like you never saw me, if you don’t know, we train in the same place the same days since eight years,” Yes, Katsuki is taller, but he is not that short, and neither that shorter than him. The blonde height was around 6’2 and the greenette was around 5’11, there were literally just three inches of difference.
But then, when he searched for Katsuki he was already leaving without a word, again.
So, Izuku just went to the starting point of the track and made his routine.
It wasn’t that bad. As long as I don’t need more help…
☆☆☆
Right now, it was past eight o’clock. Him and Ochako were having dinner at their favourite restaurant, ‘Gasshou’. Is that typical simple and traditional atmosphere, It's the kind of place you imagine with an older owner behind the counter and a small kitchen. Very small-town.
‘Gasshou’ is a tiny restaurant tucked away on a quiet street in this Japanese seaside town. Warm yellow lights, wooden tables, an old counter, maybe five or six tables, the smell of broth coming from the kitchen, and the owner knows half the customers by name. He surely knew Izuku’s and Ochako’s names by now.
In the background with a ‘muffled’ sound, ‘No. 1 Party Anthem’ by ‘Arctic Monkeys’ was being played. The sweet melody and soft tempo of the guitar accompanied the cozyness of the restaurant.
They both had ordered the special dish, ‘Udon’. They usually order this, Ochako because she loves it, and Izuku, because he hates choosing, so asking for the ‘special dish’ in all the restaurants he goes to has become his best ‘getaway’.
While the pair of friends were waiting for their meal, the brunette started a conversation, “So… How was it today, ‘Zuku?”
“Umm- what do you mean?”
“Izuku, there is not much ‘science’ behind it,” The girl added in a deadpan, “just how was your day? I’m your friend, and I want to know,” And then she ended with a polite smile.
“Ah, yes, how stupid of myself-”
“Please don’t say that,” Ochako interrupted with a worried face and tired eyes.
“No! Yes! yes, sorry, I’m just too lost in thoughts…”
Uraraka sighed, “Yeah, I can see…”
When Izuku was about to reply, a waiter brought two glass sprites and a bottle opener. He placed the drinks in front of each friend and opened them followed by the bubbling of the gas. Both young adults raised their eyes to the waiter and muttered a low ‘Thank you’.
“Well, so how was it?” The brunette brought up the topic again.
“Nice, I don’t know? Mundane maybe, nothing new,” Izuku dismissed it with a shrug of shoulders.
“As far as I know, being paired with your ‘so sweet, kind and gentle best friend’ Katsuki Bakugo isn't exactly an everyday occurrence. Correct me if I’m wrong,” Ochako said sarcastically and ended with a flutter of lashes and acting clueless.
“Tsk,” He chuckled, “No, of course not,” He had forgotten about that.
…
“Oh my God, Izuku! When you are telling someone something you gotta finish it!” Uraraka said impatiently while giggling and grabbing the roots of her hair with her hands.
At that, Izuku laughed, actually laughed, “Yes, yes, I’m sorry,” He was talking between ‘hiccups’ from laughter.
“What the hell are you laughing at!” Ochako also couldn’t stop laughing.
“Nothing,” Sniff, “nothing… is just so hilarious how easily riled up you can get”
“Oh, you little- You like this, don’t ya?”
“Not gonna lie, of course I do,” Izuku admitted and then stretched his neck back so he could look up while covering his mouth, which kept emitting laughter, with both hands.
“Okay. Stop. Can we please stop going off-topic?,” Ochako said as she took deep breaths to calm her laughter ‘session’.
Izuku nodded with his head, “Yes, we should”
“Okay, so. For the third and last time. How. Was. Your. Day?” The brunette was doing a massive amount of work to stop herself from laughing. Again.
“Good, good. Strange the ‘Kacchan thing’, but yeah”
“Aha, and how did that go, exactly?”
“Well, it wasn’t that much of a deal. Honestly, I thought it was going to be worse. It wasn’t nice, obviously not. Not all people curses at me as much as they can in each sentence they speak, but yeah, that”
“Expected. Did you even talk that much for it to become a mess or did you two were, for the first time since I met you, civil and control yourselves?”
“Nha, we almost didn’t even talk, he just helped me with the hurdles. I’m literally one-hundred percent sure that if we had talked just one minute more it would have ended in a total disaster. But hey! That didn’t happen so we can be grateful,” And he ended his conclusion with an exaggerated, wide, emotionless smile.
Uraraka lowered her head and shook it, “God, you’re a disaster”
“No one said it wasn’t,” He fluttered his lashes and contained his laugh.
At the end, they ate their meals and headed to their houses. And, like always, Izuku accompanied Ochako to her house and then went to his own, since they live really near this was no problem.
☆☆☆
“Okay, class, please pay attention now,” His literature teacher, Yagi Toshinori, banged the eraser against the blackboard to get everyone's attention.
Today it was Thursday, and he got the first two periods of 'Literature’ with -his favourite teacher- Toshinori.
“Since last semester we read ‘Pride and Prejudice’, we will keep working in other books and ‘Literature devices’ in this final semester, but, meanwhile, as your final project, as a type of integrator, each one of you will have to make an essay about ‘What is Love?’. You will have to do it alone, and as authentic as possible,” While he was talking, he wrote on the black board ‘What is Love?’, “Remember, no answer is incorrect since these are opinions, but I'm going to rate it based on how real I feel your ‘answers’ are. This ones have to we well developed and the essay should at least ten pages,” As the amount of pages was said a wave of complaints followed, “I know,” He made a brief stop, “I know this sounds like a lot, but believe me, if you’re determined to do it right, ten pages will be just the necessary for it to be a ‘worthy final project’. And I know you all are capable and very intelligent students, I believe you will do amazing”
When the blonde, old man finished with the announcement of the final project, he simply gave them some simple poems to analyze as a review.
“Man, this 'final project’ is so boring!” Hanta Sero, who was seated in front of him, rocked his chair back and complained with Izuku, “How the heck am I supposed to make a ‘Worthy essay’ about love. I'm sure I’m totally going to fail,”He said while exaggerating the pronunciation of the ‘L’ in ‘fail’.
Izuku then contained a chuckle, “C’mon, it ain’t that bad, you have like four whole months to do it”
“Sure, I just gotta be ‘True to myself’”
“Exactly,” Ejiro, who was also in the ‘Literature class’ and seated also in front of Izuku and next to Hanta, said
When you are in your three last high school years, you get to choose some of the subjects you’ll have. One of the ones Izuku chose was Literature since he loved Toshinori, and reading. His closest friends in this period were, Ochako, who also chose it because she loves reading; Kirishima, who thought it was manly; And Sero, because he didn’t know what else to choose and thought it was a good idea to give it a try.
Mainly, they had their own class, which was the class A, where all his other closest friends were, but now they have ‘special classes’ and each one went to where they wanted, so in this period it was just the four of them.
“I like it, I’m already really excited to start it!” Ochako added to the conversation, who was seated next to the greenette.
Izuku actually didn’t know what to think. He wasn’t sure what ‘Love’ was.
Something he did believe was that the romantic kind of love -that was the one he needed to develop- was generally from opposites who needed each other to reach a balance. Like the ‘Yin and Yang’, they were completely different but have a piece of the other to ‘subsist’.
Anyway, it was not a ‘Now problem’, he’ll deal with it later.
…
An ‘Oasis’!
Yes, that will be the main source that will help him to explain what love is to him.
An oasis…