Ink

1. Into The Fire

An opened sketchbook lies on a small gray-wash desk in front of an open window in a small apartment in the downtown area of Japan.

The pages blow slightly from the warm spring breeze that's coming through with the sweet fragrant scent of full-blooming cherry blossoms.

Deep, clear emerald-colored eyes drift from the sketched drawing strewn across the paper to the world outside.

He smiles slightly with a sigh as he watches his favorite time of the year in full effect as he taps his drawing pencil absent-mindedly on the desk.

As he focuses his attention on the pink blossoms his mind begins to wander.

Izuku has been out of art school for almost a year now and in that year he's managed to get a pretty good job. He's been drawing illustrations for a book publication company and it's not as though he doesn't enjoy the work or that he's not grateful to have such a good job right out of school but he does feel as though his creativity is sometimes stifled by the strict structure of what the company wants and how they want it even if he thinks he could make the artwork better or come to life in a different way. When he brings those things up he's always shot down without so much as a second thought that just maybe he knows what he's talking about. It's often discouraging but it's his job and one he must keep because he's now twenty-two years old and he has bills to pay if he wants to keep his apartment.

Even though things in his life are seemingly going very well something inside him longs for something else, something different, something.... more?

He's not even sure what that something is and honestly that's the frustrating part.

Izuku has spent his life on the safe side, never going to extremes, never venturing too far out of his comfort zone. Always the good one making sure to make everyone around him pleased, doing what was asked and expected of him. He's not even sure he's ever done anything for himself really, he's done mostly what he thought he should do or what he thought others wanted him to do.

Even the guy that has been coming around him recently wanting a date is someone others thought he would match nicely with, but a big part of him disagrees with that, he just hasn't spoken it out loud.

As he lets all these thoughts twist inside his mind his bell rings.

Emerald-colored eyes snap back to reality as he stands and rushes to the door pressing the speaker button.

" Yes?"

A girl's laughter is suddenly heard.

" Izubabe! It's us! Me and Kami! You told us you would hang out with us today, remember??", she bubbles with a smile you can hear into the speaker.

He cruses himself under his breath suddenly because honestly he had forgotten.

" Oh.. um right! Come on up.", he tells them while buzzing them inside the lobby downstairs.

It's only a few minutes before his apartment door swings open and a pink haired girl brust in with a yellow-eyed male beside her.

" Izu! What are you doing?! You aren't even dressed yet!", she says seeing him in his sweats and blue faded tshirt.

Kaminari eyes the male.

" Yeah man! And you didn't answer any of my text this morning. Where's your phone Mido?"

Izuku laughs sheepishly as he stands there rubbing the back of his neck.

" Uhh. Sorry guys, I guess I might have kinda forgot that we had plans today. I think my phone is around here some place.", he says as he picks up a few articles of dirty clothes that are laying around his couch.