RENEGADE [Izuku Midoriya x OC]

Chapter 24 - Jelly

-

"As an identical twin, our quirks are identical too, right?

"WRONG. For some stupid reason, I got stuck with one quirk, and it's not even the cool one," Noriko blabbed, angrily slurping her mango tea with passion fruit jellies. She stirred her drink with her wide straw, glaring at the ducks in the pond like it was their fault she had only one quirk. "In case you ever need a definition or fun fact, I'm your gal. But anything useful? Ask someone else... Probably Nozomi, that beautiful, useful bitch."

Izuku frowned at her from across their sunny bench in the park, stirring his green smoothie absently. "You can't really mean that, Nori. Your quirk is so cool!" He wished he would've gotten something sweeter, more fun; the spinach and kale in his smoothie were too prominent and, to be honest, not in season.

"Pfft, yeah right," she muttered, cheeks warming at his compliment, "You just say that because you're my mentor and it's not your quirk. Most people think it's cool because I don't really have to study..."

"No, no, for real, Nori! Think of all of the heroic applications of your quirk!" Izuku said, leaning closer to her on the bench and talking with his hands. "You could memorize human anatomy and help with first aid, o-o-or use that to hurt villains more precisely! And you could memorize villain stats and abilities to help the police solve crimes!" His bright eyes sparkled in the afternoon sun, aura vibrant with renewed energy. "You could memorize maps of cities and never be lost again! Or teach yourself how to dismantle bombs in your spare time... the possibilities are endless, Nori, really."

At some point during Izuku's rather rambly pep talk, his free hand ended up on Nori's thigh in an effort to comfort her. But all he really did was unsettle her, unnerve her, and embarrass her. Noriko swallowed, her cheeks flushed, and chuckled humorlessly. "Thanks, Izu... I'll have to come to you for all of my future pep talks."

Before she could chicken out, she placed her hand on his.

He noticed. "O-oh, uh, yeah! I mean, I'd love to do you- THAT! I'd love to do THAT! Haha! I mean, I have heard before that I give a mean pep talk, but not like, actually mean as in aggressive or mean-spirited, but more like motivational and-"

Noriko's finger pressed to his lips, sending a shiver down Izuku's spine. Their eyes connected - emerald and gold - for a stirring moment, before she smiled and said, "Breathe, Izu. I understand."

His eyes fluttered shut instinctively, and he took a steadying breath, totally relaxed despite her finger lingering on his lips. "Sh-should we head back to campus? It's getting close to dinner time..."

Groaning and grumbling, Noriko pursed her lips. "If we have to... I'd rather spend time with you... there's no one to bug us here."

He stared at her for that. "'Bug us'?" Izuku repeated, cheeks warm with her confession, "Is someone bothering you on campus?"

Noriko shrugged and stirred her drink. "Kinda, I guess. The kids that can tell me and Noz apart pick on me, and the ones that can't... they flirt with me because they think I'm her. Some kid kissed me yesterday because he thought I was her."

"What?!" A weird anger frothed in Izuku's veins, seething and venomous. "They can't just kiss you without permission, Noriko. That's-"

"I already reported him, Izu, calm down."

A weighty silence sat between them like a physical presence, heavy with unspoken words and feelings. Noriko's heart slammed in her ribcage, begging her to confess everything just to make things a little easier.

But Izuku beat her to it.

"Nori... you know that if you ever need anything, I'm here for you, right?" he muttered, raking a nervous hand through his curls and staring down his straw into his murky smoothie. Izuku knew his freckled cheeks were flushed through to his ears, so he kept his eyes down. An unfamiliar emotion brewed in his chest, tight and venomous and seething; if he ever found out who that  kid was who kissed Noriko, he'd... he'd..."I-I can talk to that guy if you want.  You didn't deserve that, and I- we're..."

Noriko straightened up, clutching her drink with white-knuckled fingers.

We're what, Izuku?

He searched for the proper word, something to make them closer than mentee/mentor, but not give away his hormone-ridden thoughts. "We're... friends, right?"

Crestfallen, Noriko bit her lip and tried not to cry.

"Y-yeah, Izu... We're... friends."