From The Sidelines.

The Kick-Off.

Climbing up a tree with wet clothes that were now freezing was by far one of the more difficult experiences Izuku has had to deal with. His teeth were chattering, and Katsuki had to give him a boost up to the first branch. They came back from the firefly lake at around 2 in the morning, even though Izuku would be lying if he said he didn't want to stay a little longer. Feel his fingers prune in the cold water a little longer. Listen to the sounds of splashing and cicadas chirping a little longer. But alas, all experiences must become memories, at one point or another.

On the ride home, the windows were down in an attempt to dry off their wet clothes, and maybe it was because 2AM was well past when he usually slept, but Izuku rambled on to Katsuki. Waking up the next morning, Izuku could barely remember what he had rambled about. Something about Shoto's flirting fail with someone he had an eye on, and he had faint memories of giggling a lot. The only clear memory he possessed from the last 20 minutes of last night when his eyelids began to get droopy and his mouth started to run off on its own, was the fact that during the entire time he was rambling, Katsuki never told him to stop.

The weekend passed, and Izuku spent much of that time staying home helping his mother out with some work stuff since he had the time. Their relationship was a close one, for the most part. Izuku's dad had left when he was younger, but at least he left behind for Izuku some distant but fond memories of trips to the playground or sneaking away from Mama Inko to get some ice cream and go to the beach.

When his dad left, Inko channeled all of her energy into two things: Izuku and work. She was the most present mother, sometimes almost too present, and also the hardest worker that Izuku admired greatly, having opened up her own custom prints shop. It was known for having odd hours. The shop opened at 7AM and closed at 3PM. It made sense when Izuku was smaller and needed someone home when he got off of school to take care of him, but as he got older, the more useless the hours were. He could take care of himself. That didn't mean he didn't appreciate the time they had together, as overbearing as it sometimes was. He was taught to appreciate everything.

But Izuku could feel it. Something strange but new is coming into his life, rolling in like a storm with clouds so dark that he couldn't see past the frontier. It was unpredictable, exhilarating, terrifying, but most of all, a force of change. And Izuku wasn't sure how that will play out, neither for himself or his relationship to others: his mother, Kacchan, or the like.

Monday and Tuesday flew by and once again, there wasn't much word from Katsuki. It was fine, for Izuku never expected them to actually be consistent in whatever growing acquaintanceship they had. Katsuki made it clear that he would prefer it if they did their one hour for each week, and just leave it at that. And Izuku believes that is for the best.

However, it didn't stop the greenette from looking forward to their one hour for the week, especially since Katsuki has been relatively tame since they made the deal to become partners for this. And then he'd pinch himself when he found his mind getting too excited, because Izuku didn't need to do that. They weren't friends.

Izuku was digging his spoon into the matcha cheesecake he's been anticipating all day, sitting with his friends for lunch that Tuesday, when one of the pole vaulters came over and placed his hands on their table. The pole vault team was small but talented, and they usually took up a whole table to themselves. Izuku looked up to see it was Kirishima Ejirou, and then over to the empty seat besides Katsuki where he had just come from. The blonde was busy eating, and didn't seem to notice his teammate was gone.

Kirishima was Izuku's friend too, albeit they weren't necessarily close. The redhead was always very outgoing and friendly towards others, so naturally, his social circle was large. In Izuku's particular friend group, all of them knew Kirishima and a couple others of Katsuki's friends pretty well. But if Izuku and Katsuki were in the same vicinity, the two groups would suddenly disperse.