Compulsion

Chapter 5: Company

Midoriya Izuku laid his tray of lunch as he slid into his seat. "Ran out of beef bowls today..." He tapped his chopsticks together before parting the salmon on his plate. "Kaminari isn't going to be happy with that..." He blinked as his gaze focused on the fringe of his hair invading his vision. "Hmm..." He meddled with the lock, internally sighing, "I should probably get a haircut... But... I don't really feel like it..." He then paused at himself for a moment; he then dropped his attention to his food. It was a normal line of thought, but for some reason, those seemed to bother Izuku more and more. Math was math, literature was literature, and history was unbelievably history. The only difference from junior high to now was the Support Course. Which was slowly becoming the highlight of his day.

Those periods were always the last period of the day, just to squeeze more time into the workshop. Designing was fun, actually building was better, and even programming had its charm. Everything else soured in comparison. It was all just the same as before, but it wasn't like Izuku ever expected any of that to change in first place. Yet, there was a pit burrowing in his stomach at the consistent norm.

Speaking of norms and things outside them, "Ah, Midoriya!" cried a familiar voice.

Izuku snapped back from his introspective crisis to look for the source, "Ah? Eh?" His head turned before his body reared back. Utsushimi's face invaded his space with a bright smile. He could feel heat blaze across his face, and his heart tumbled out of his chest to be stepped on by the offending invader.

"Heya, Midoriya!" she greeted.

"U-Utsushimi-Senpai!?" he cried as he lost balance and followed after his heart.

"Oh! Are you okay?" she giggled.

Izuku shook his head, pushing himself onto his feet. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine... Uh..." He dusted off his pants, "H-Hi...?" He was trying not to think about how good she looked in the school uniform.

Utsushimi set her bento beside Midoriya's tray, "Hey, mind if I sit here?"

"Uh, no..." he uttered before noticing her features fall, "Wait, no, I meant – I mean-" He stopped, took a breath, and cleared his throat, "Go for it."

Another giggle followed, "Thanks."

His heart skipped a beat either because of embarrassment or it was because he was going to sit next to a girl, practically shoulder-to-shoulder. He shook his head, focusing on his food and his seat. Another deep breath flowed before he retook his seat. Luckily, Utsushimi seemed none the wiser to his personal crisis. "Just... Just eat... Food is safe..."

"How's your day going?" asked Utsushimi.

"Crap..." He scratched his cheek, "Pretty okay..." He was hoping that the heat on his face wasn't evident.

"Eh? One of those days, huh?" she said playfully,

"Y-Yeah, I guess," he hazarded. "I'm not sure what you mean..." His eyes were drawn to her plastic lunch box, pulling away its lid. "Distraction...!" He coughed to the side, "Uh, what do you have there?" Her lunch was a layered collection of tomato and cheese with a drizzle of something atop it.

"Oh, a caprese salad. It's a simple Italian salad. I got the recipe off the internet, trying out the stuff."

"Oh, okay, cool..."

She took out a fork and knife, both metal, "You want to try it?" She cut a section free and held out for him to bite. He was hesitant at first – for obvious reasons. Though, the mere backfiring of his plan left his brain so fried he just nodded and took a bite. He swallowed and she asked, "Is it good?" A cough and a quick nod was his response. She smiled in response, "Sweet! I was worried I'd screw it up somehow."