Face Me Like An Idiot

29

A/N: Gonna write in past tense again. Lol, I know, I’m a sucker and y’all hate me because of that. :P

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“What do you mean ‘he was taken’?!” Uraraka shouted, alarmed by her teacher’s words. She tugged at the sleeve of her sweater, brown irises frantically searching for mirth in his eyes. Alas, she saw none.

Aizawa clenched his fists, head lowering. “You deserve to know what happened to your classmate.”

“…And Midoriya? How is he doing?” Kirishima’s question made heads turn in his direction. Startled, he fumbled over his words a bit. “Uh– well, he’s the closest person to Bakugou, so I figured he must be more panicked than we are.”

“You’re right,” Aizawa affirmed, eyebrows knitting together as his black irises became solemn. “He has been unresponsive since the incident. I haven’t heard from him yet.”

“That’s worrying,” Kaminari said, biting his nails habitually. Jirou smacked his hand away from his mouth, earning a startled yelp from the blond.

“Do you think he’s okay?” Jirou then asked, concern palpable in her tone.

“I don’t know,” her teacher answered sincerely, “but I can hope.”

Shouto stared at Aizawa’s face, noticing the subtle bite of his lip. Narrowing his heterochromia eyes, Shouto redirected his thoughts to Midoriya. 

Midoriya was a villain, Shouto was sure of it. For once, it wasn’t one of his crazy conspiracies, because it was the truth. Midoriya had trusted him enough to tell him (albeit indirectly). However, despite being a villain, the greenette had saved him; showed him the true nature of his power. 

“It’s your power, not his!” Those words ignited a spark within him that he didn’t even know needed to be lit.

It was then that Shouto realised that he had yet to return the favour. He couldn’t rescue Bakugou, but he will try his best to support his friend in his time of distress; just like Midoriya had done for him.

Fishing his phone from his pocket, Shouto excused himself from the group and left the hospital. He dialled Midoriya’s number into his phone and placed it above his ear.

After a few rings, the call went through, which surprised Shouto since he didn’t expect Midoriya to actually answer. A cold, demanding voice spoke from the other side of Shouto’s phone: “What?”

Shouto’s voice was monotone as he answered, “Midoriya. Can we talk?”

“I am preoccupied at the moment.”

“…It’s important,” Shouto said, tone indifferent.

“Is this about me being a villain? Ugh, this is why I never–”

“It’s not that,” Shouto interrupted, “I just want to talk. As a friend.” Silence followed, causing Shouto to think he said something wrong. “…Midoriya?”

Suddenly, a choke, then a laugh echoed from the other side of Shouto’s phone, which made him pull it away from his ear with a slight wince. It sounded bitter and filled with no actual humour. 

“Oh, Shouto!” Hearing his first name in Midoriya’s voice made him feel weird, but he didn’t comment on it. “You just want to repay your ‘debt’ to me, don’t you?”

Furrowing his eyebrows, Shouto asked, “How did you–”

“I doubt you can show compassion.” Midoriya’s comment stung Shouto a little, but it didn’t extinguish his newfound determination to help him.