Vodka Coke

Chapter 9: Brandy

Finally done with his homework, Izuku fell back into his chair with a sigh. His back had begun to ache from the way he had been curled over his desk for over two hours. Internally, Izuku was glad for his habit of doing homework the night he got it. He would have had a completely free weekend had he not been in this unfortunate situation. But there was no point crying over spilt milk, Izuku reasoned that as long as the homework was done, everything would be fine. Sure, Izuku was well aware that his teachers would be lenient with him, not only because of the situation but because he was an all-around good student. Ever since Izuku had started education his teachers had always gushed about how good a student he was and what a delight he was to teach. That sentiment hadn't changed, even as Izuku had grown older and moved into middle school. Teachers weren't supposed to have favourites, but Izuku knew that he was certainly favoured above other students. He wasn't going to complain, it just meant that his teachers were nice to him, something he desperately needed seeing as people his age seemed to have an innate aversion to Izuku, well, except for Katsuki.

Izuku stood from his desk and started swinging his arms around and twisting his torso to get the slight aching out of his back, his shoulders and back both clicked quietly, leaving in their wake a soft ache that would diminish in a few minutes. With no more homework to do, Izuku wasn't sure what to fill his time with. He could read or catch up on the various series he had started but had a penchant for not finishing, but he wasn't in the mood to sit and focus on a screen or the pages of a book. If he did that, Izuku knew that his mind would start to wander and the sharp ache of anxiety would make itself known in his chest.

He pondered on going downstairs and taking Emi up on her offer of gardening. Izuku had only tried to maintain a garden once when he was in elementary school. It was the school garden and seeing as Izuku was part of the gardening club, it was his job to look after the tomatoes, cucumbers and beetroots that were grown. He was never very successful though.

Making his mind up, Izuku exited into the hallway and down the stairs. Maybe Emi and Eri would be able to teach him something about not killing plants just by looking at them.

Eri and Emi knelt in the dirt in the back garden, giggling and exchanging inside jokes when Izuku emerged from the house. What had initially seemed like a good idea spurred on by Izuku's desperate desire to be rid of his own thoughts seemed less enticing now. It seemed as though seeing the mother-daughter duo going about their business had inspired a bout of shyness in Izuku. Who was he to intrude on a bonding moment between the two of them, even if he had been invited? After all, that invitation was two hours old. That was two hours in which either one of them could have decided that they actually hate Izuku and never wanted to see him again.

As was par for the course, Izuku's self-destructive thoughts and catastrophization barred him from being social and joining in on the activity. He sighed quietly to himself, ready to simply return to his room when Emi caught sight of him and called over.

"Izuku!" Emi called happily, "You're here! That's amazing. Why don't you join us? We're just about to plant these flower seeds."

"Oh..." Izuku stuttered, "Are you sure? I don't want to intrude on the time you spend together..."

"Nonsense!" Emi beamed, "Eri wants you to join us, don't you honey."

"Yep," Eri flashed her childish smile, ruby eyes alight with the glee one often sees in the eyes of well-loved children, "I love gardening. And your hair is green, so you should love gardening as well."

Izuku couldn't help that chuckle that slipped from his mouth, such childish logic was strangely heartening to see. "Ok, I'll join you."

Izuku shuffled over to the pair and knelt in the grass next to Eri. It looked as though they had already started planting seeds, there were several spots in the flowerbed with freshly overturned dirt. Some of them were moist from the water that Eri had been gently raining down upon them.