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Chapter 20

After having spent dinner with Inko, the conversation had revolved around my mother and discovering the fact that as a child, I had been friends with Izuku and Bakugo.

She reminisced, explaining times she remembered of the three of us spending time together. Izuku seemed upset, zoning out of the conversation as I took in every detail of me and Bakugo fighting every time he tried to pick on Izuku. Though it was rare, and most likely Bakugo's way of expressing affection at the time, it was nice to hear I scared both of the boys back then.

"Asami?" Izuku called my name from beside me.

I turned, finding him looking at me from under those green locks. He looked big, wearing a hoodie and sweatpants and I was suddenly aware of how much bigger he had grown since our training with All Might began.

I hummed in response.

"You haven't said anything since we left." He wondered.

"I was just thinking."

"you know you can talk to me..."

"Yes, of course."

He went back to looking at the lights along the street, his eyes dancing between every shop along the sidewalk that we passed.

"Did you know? I mean like, did you know I had been friends with you and Bakugo?" I glanced at him, finding his eyes widening just slightly at my words.

"Yes. But, I didn't think you remembered. I thought that was pretty obvious when you asked if my name was Izuku Midoriya that day in junior high. With the pencil?"

"I knew your name, we just had only exchanged a few words over the past few years. Well, that I remembered. Growing up if I ever spoke to anyone, they would pretend they didn't know my name and would make fun of me for knowing theirs. So, I just kind of keep to always asking someone's name..."

"How come you avoided me?" He wondered, his voice smaller than I'd ever heard before.

"You noticed?" I asked.

He hummed, insinuating I go on and explain myself.

"I was a joke as a kid. The more someone made fun of me, the more they felt like they could fit in. I saw you going through it as well but as much as I wanted to reach out and have that one person who could relate to what I was going through, I knew that us being friends would only make the targets on our backs bigger. Like a two-for-one special. I was also afraid you would reject me, somehow try to make yourself look better by rejecting the other freak. I knew you never would, but it just seemed like that's what everyone else did. I guess the constant thought that maybe you would be friends with me, was better than getting outright rejected. I liked to think you would have been friends with me but I was so afraid you would say no and then I would really know how alone I was. I was afraid of being alone." I glanced over, finding him staring at me with wide eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm emotionally dumping on you." I sighed.

"No, no I've wanted to have this conversation! You're the only other person I could ever relate to what happened growing up. It makes me feel like if this can make us closer, all those years were almost worth it." he explained, moving his hands at the excitement of finally having somebody to understand him.

"You're saying being relentlessly bullied all those years makes it worth it because we can talk about it... and become closer?" I raised an eyebrow at him, questioning his sanity.

"Well, when you put it like that..."

"Sorry, I understand what you mean. Everything happens for a reason and those years of being bullied were designated for some kind of growth, right? They can't just have no point to them..."