𝘙𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺

Chapter 25

Izuku and I had made a game out of balancing along the train tracks below us.

He yelped, falling off of them as he turned into a mumbling mess. I turned around to find him staring at the lines so harshly that a line had formed on his forehead. "How much further!?" He asked.

"Don't rush this. Enjoy this time," I replied.

"But it starts soon."

"Soon. But not right now. Right now you're losing."

We had been walking side-by-side like this for the last thirty minutes. Both of us with our arms outreached as we tried to balance our bodies that had grown tired from training this morning. It has been two weeks since I discovered Dabi had access to my dreams.

Thinking about it eats me alive.

Right now, I am awake. Right now, I am only a sixteen-year-old girl trying to balance on the train tracks with my best friend. I am not a hero. I don't know Morning Glory. My name is not Asami Yagi. I am just Asami.

Just Asami.

"Have you been studying for our exam tomorrow?" Izuku looks up at me. He peers at me from the corner of his eye as he watches the way I place my feet as he begins to mimic me.

I groan. "Which one?"

"This semester seemed to get a lot harder after we moved into the dorms, huh?"

"Seemed to get a lot harder after I missed class for another two weeks straight. I can't keep up. Especially after I disappeared for a few days to go screw around downtown. Mr. Aizawa isn't very happy with me." I glanced over, finding him watching me sympathetically. He licked his lips, trying to decide if he should say what he clearly wanted to say.

"Maybe... You know... Kacchan is-"

"I can't." I snapped. Izuku falters on his feet, abruptly looking over at me with wide eyes. "I'm sorry." I leaned down, grabbing a first full of grass and throwing it at him. He threw his head back and laughed, raising his arms to cover his face.

"Okay, okay!" He laughed. "I forgive you. Keep talking."

"I just meant that I can't look Katsuki in the face and not tell him everything. I can't lie to him. I can't keep everything from him and I can begin to feel myself bubbling over. I need to talk to him. I need to tell him about the underground quirk fighting and the pills and the thing with my brain and All For One." I looked at Izuku, finding him looking it over. "What do you think? Do you think he can forgive me? Will he ever see me the same!?"

"You are Asami Yagi. You aren't your past. You aren't an addict or an illegal street fighter. You aren't All For One's victim. You're Asami Yagi!" He smiled. He reached over, plucking a dandelion from the ground as he handed it to me. He grabbed one for himself, immediately blowing it towards me. "You are the top of class 1-A at U.A. High in combat. You listen to classical music when you study. You dust your books off twice a week and your favorite part of being a hero is helping little kids. You only wear white shoes and you're terrible at keeping them clean. Your best friend is Kacchan, not Dabi. You're the first person awake in the dorms and the last one to go to sleep." As he spoke, he spun his hands through the air wildly as he made wide gestures. He spoke the same way he does when someone asks him about All Might.

He spoke passionately. Proudly.

"You're just Asami Yagi." My heart soared at his words. My body felt lighter and my chest erupted with butterflies.

"Did the way you saw me change after I told you everything?" I asked.

"Yes. I changed the same way I change every time you tell me something about yourself. I just understand you better. Now can I ask when we'll get there?"