RENEGADE [Izuku Midoriya x OC]

Chapter 32 - Spill

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Time stopped outside of Noriko's little apartment.

There, she and Izuku holed up for days, waiting to both feel better before braving the outside world again. For the first time since New Years, Noriko ignored the possible consequences of avoiding the League for so long and simply let herself rest. They tended to each other in turn, with Izuku prepping cold compresses for Nori's feverish forehead, and with Nori wrapping and re-wrapping Izuku's scabby injuries. The two of them went through buckets of coffee and tea, dragging Nori's little space heater around the apartment with them to keep warm against the winter wind seeping in through the cracks in her ceiling.

They ordered homey takeout, showed each other silly internet videos, and made midnight pancakes. Between the frequent naps, they introduced one another to their favorite songs, often opting for a slow dance in the kitchen when they found just the right tune. They watched movies from their childhoods on her secondhand laptop on the worn couch and snuggled as they drank hot chocolate with mountains of marshmallows and whipped cream.

Noriko liked being able to carry the weight of Izuku's worries, even if it was only for a little while. That eternal crease in his brow and those deep, dark undereye circles disappeared overnight, as if all he needed were a few doses of tea, too many hugs, and some sound sleep to return him to his old self. His smile brightened a little more every day. His scars healed over, some erased completely from Nori's newfound quirk.

Civilization could've been collapsing outside, the whole world burning to the ground, and the two of them would've been none the wiser.

Two days into their retreat, Izuku confessed something that had been weighing on him since they reunited. He held Noriko in the warmth of his arms, her body positioned between his legs as they watched a video on her laptop perched on her knees. "Nori, I..." he said, pausing to swallow against the nerves in his throat, "I need to confess. I read some of your journal."

She turned to face him and raised an eyebrow, confused about how that could possibly be true.

"The one I delivered to you... you know? I took pictures of the first few pages and Tenya helped me crack the code," he sighed, staring into his cup of tea to avoid her piercing golden gaze.

But Nori seemed unfazed. "Wait, wait, wait... you mean to tell me that Tenya Iida speaks Tolkien elvish? Of all of the languages in the whole wide world?"

"That's what you're upset about?"

"Well yeah, I figured only other giant nerds would– whatever, it's fine. I'm fine. Good on Tenya for knowing his shit. I'm not mad."

"...You're not?"

She laughed dryly. "No, Izu, I'm not. If anything, I'm a little relieved. At least it's just you and Tenya, and not some creeper with too much time on their hands or another one of the League. It's honestly nice to have someone who knows all of your deepest, darkest secrets, you know? Freeing, kinda?"

Izuku cradled his teacup in his hands, heart warm as he studied Noriko's peaceful face. He pressed a quick kiss to her cheekbone. "Yeah... I know. Speaking of which... I should probably tell you about the Stain incident..."

"The WHAT now?"

"Wait, wait, wait, don't get mad yet! Let's, um, start at the beginning..."

-

"Anyone seen Red recently?"

Frowning at the dartboard, Dabi stood in the center of the League's den, twisting a blue-tailed dart in his hands and sipping from a beer bottle. He'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't care about Red at least a little—even though he'd die before admitting it to himself or anyone else—and his decision to let her leave with the number one hero sat jaggedly in his chest, all sour and pressing and wrong. She'd been missing for days, and it could be all his fault. What if she'd been hurt? Or... worse?