A Silent Kind of Strength

Chapter 38

The morning was filled with forced idleness and it was driving Izuku mad. He hadn't brought any of his school books with him. They were all neatly stacked at his work area in the shop from where he had caught up on assignments the day before the festival. So he couldn't study. His personal tools and supplies were all at his desk at home. So no tinkering. And he was apparently supposed to be resting so he couldn't run through any kata or practice with the weapons he had brought. But maybe they would make an exception for yoga?

It couldn't hurt to ask right?

He slowly stood up from the couch, careful to not jostle a snoozing Shinso, and made his way to the kitchen where he knew Aizawa was still set up with his paperwork. He knocked politely on the wall to announce his presence once again, getting a grunt of acknowledgement in return. "U-uhm. Aizawa s-sensei? I k-know I'm supposed to ta-take it easy today but u-uhm… can I d-do some yoga or so-something? I-I just… I'm not used to sitting f-for so long and I-"

The adult cut him off with a calmly raised hand. "That should be fine kid. As long as you make sure not to push yourself too far ok? I think I have a yoga mat in the storage of the training room… give me a sec while I go dig it out." He then looked the teen up and down, taking in the coveralls he was still wearing. "Actually why don't you go change into something more comfortable while I do that…" Izuku nodded quickly and ran off in triumph. He was happy to finally be doing something so he wasn't going to argue the fact that he did yoga in his work clothes all the time.

He quickly made his way to the guest room upstairs and dug through his duffle bag to pull out a pair of dark green joggers. He figured the shirt he was wearing was good enough so after he switched out his pants he hurried back down towards the training room.

He opened the door and peeked his head in to find Aizawa rolling out a thick mint green yoga mat. The hero looked up at him then gestured towards the mat with a nod. "This good kid?" The small teen jumped a bit at the question. "O-oh! Yes! It's g-great thanks!" The man hummed and made his way towards the door and by proximity the kid. "Alright. I snagged you a water bottle." He pointed to the lime green reusable bottle on the floor by the door. "The speakers in here are under GymSurround if you want to hook up your phone. Feel free to ask if you need anything else." With a quick pat on the shoulder as he slips past the man leaves Izuku to his own devices.

Izuku wanders over to the mat and pulls his phone from his pocket. He debated for a moment but eventually decided to hook up to his ears instead of the sound system in the room. He didn't want to risk disturbing anyone with his music. When the small chime sounded to let him know his phone was connected he swiped through his playlists, settling on a chill lofi list he sat his phone down on the floor by the mat. With a content sigh he started in on his easiest routine.

He felt his mind relax as he went through the familiar stretches. Floating along peacefully as his body loosened up. The soreness in his back and shoulders slowly easing a bit. He leaned back into the saddle pose only to be met face to face with strikingly orange eyes. He blinked at the fuzzy creature who was staring him down. "Uhm…"

The small black cat mewed at him before reaching out to bop him on the face. He giggled a bit before reaching out and letting the kitty sniff his fingers. "H-hello." Slowly he eased out of his stretch to sit up and pet the baby properly. He almost jumped out of his skin when a voice spoke from the doorway behind him, "That's Spooky. He's a little shit." Hitoshi grinned down at his friend as the boy scrambled to turn off his music so he would be able to focus on the conversation. "O-oh. That's a cute name… why Spooky?" His friend walked over and plopped down on the floor, pulling the feline into his lap. "He's a black cat with orange eyes. Yamada apparently named him because of the western holiday of Halloween I think?"