A Ray of Hope for Tenya Iida

Party Animal

(AN: This chapter's pretty long, but it was fun to write! I had a random idea and went with it, so I hope you like it!)

(Disclaimer: I completely disagree with overaged and underaged people engaging romantically and/or sexually, underaged drinking and smoking, and drug use, this was written to show the poor mental state that usually leads up to these activities.)

(TW: guilt, paranoia, smoking, swearing, romantic gestures and kissing between overaged and underaged people, alcohol, drugs, threatening, and weird party stuff [idk lol])

Iida's pov: It was good I'd gotten out of there; I was tired of them asking all of those questions. They sounded genuinely concerned, I shouldn't have brushed them all off like that. They were only trying to help me, and I desperately wanted them to, why wasn't I able to just accept help? People kept trying and I kept pushing them away and burying myself in more work to distract myself. I was postponing the inevitable breakdown of my mental state, and I knew that if I just kept working, no one would notice a thing was wrong. But now, I'd stopped working and everyone knew that something was wrong. If I'd just sat there and taken that treatment a while back, none of this would've happened. If I'd called Tensei a bit earlier, spoken with him more, and made him feel more appreciated, maybe he would still be alive. This was all my fault. I wished desperately that we could trade places, that I could give him my life like he asked in my dream, but that wasn't possible. Why was I even thinking about that dream again? It wasn't going to help me if I kept obsessing over the same thing that wasn't even real. As I walked down the street, I saw some teens about my age smoking near a light pole. I was going to tell them all about how bad smoking is for you, but then I thought about it. Why would anyone do something so bad for them if it didn't give them some kind of relief? Maybe giving it a try wouldn't be so bad, I needed a good distraction, and maybe I could make some friends while doing it? No, what on earth was I thinking?! I was supposed to be a good example for everyone around me and here I was, thinking about smoking like that would aid in my escapism. 

But... no one was watching me, and even if they were, I already pointed it out that I'd shamed UA and that I wasn't a good example. I was leaving UA and I was going to a reform school, why would I pass up an opportunity to misbehave at least one time in my life? On purpose, anyways. I looked at my surroundings and saw a restaurant, which reminded me that I hadn't eaten in a while. My stomach had made its point, I really didn't know when the last time I'd eaten was since I always avoided it in my attempts to keep my mind occupied and avoid the consequences of my actions. Even though I was hungry, I wasn't able to get any food since I didn't have money. Maybe I could go to my job early and work another shift? That job was so awkward, but maybe I could do it after a smoke with that group? I've smelled smoke before; it wasn't a rare occurrence for the smell of smoke to fill everyone's lungs at UA since Bakugou's explosions and Todoroki's fire would usually send a lot of it into the air. I wouldn't even be around that anymore, it's not like it was going to make a difference in my life to smoke. I looked around me again, making sure no one was following me. Maybe I was paranoid, but it felt like someone was watching me even though I couldn't see anyone there. I made up my mind and walked over to the group of teens.

"Hello, do you mind if I join you?" I felt like I was going to throw up, but it was just anxiety, and I knew it. I wasn't going to throw up in front of the normal teens, I wasn't going to make a fool of myself. 

"Oh, sure man! We're lacking a person anyways, so it's not like we have a reason to say no." One of the teens smiled at me. I felt safer with these teens than at UA for some reason, maybe it was because they had no expectations for me. "Want a smoke?" He offered one to me. I decided I wasn't going to give it a single thought. 

"Yes please, thank you very much." I took it, looking at it for a while before making a realization. I didn't know how to smoke. "Uhm, you wouldn't mind teaching me how to, would you? This is my first time..." I did make a fool of myself, and they were going to find it ridiculous that I didn't know how to do it and they were going to laugh at me.