~BNHA~ Everything That I Am

Chapter 35

The room was silent, save for the sound of Izuku's pen dancing across the page of his diary. With everyone away, including his mom for her check-up with Nurse Shin, he had the space to focus on Aizawa's assignment: to jot down details about the voices he heard.

His mother, fresh from her appointment, watched him from the doorway. The lines on her forehead deepened as she settled in her usual spot.

"Is everything alright, Izuku?" she probed, her voice dripping with concern.

Trying to mask his feelings, Izuku looked up, forcing a smile. "Yeah, everything's fine, Mom. Would you like some tea?"

She nodded, her eyes never leaving him. "You can talk to me, you know," she whispered after sipping the tea he made for her.

He hesitated. "Writing about heroes was easier than... this," he admitted, struggling to convey the unfamiliarity of documenting his internal voices.

She touched his leg reassuringly. "What about you and Katsuki? Still haven't worked things out?"

He gaped. "How...?"

"You two were never subtle, Izuku."

Flustered, he glanced away, unsure if he was prepared to discuss the change in his relationship with Katsuki, especially their unspoken confession.

When he didn't respond, his mother patted his leg again and reassured him, "You'll work things out in time."

The thought weighed on him. The upcoming mission, though, was a beacon of hope.

Izuku was pulled from his thoughts as his friends entered the room. "Where's Katsuki?" he asked Denki, trying to sound indifferent.

Denki, who was fiddling with a gadget Hatsume had handed him earlier, looked up with a shrug. "He went to train with Ochako before dinner. Said something about wanting to improve his reflexes."

Hatsume, who was seated across from them, smirked, her goggles glinting. "Yeah, those two have been trying to combine their quirks in some sort of gravity explosion maneuver. If they pull it off, it'll be epic!"

Izuku nodded, the pang of jealousy he felt surprising him. Before he could delve further into that emotion, another absence caught his attention. "Has anyone seen Chieko?" he asked, scanning the room for her familiar silhouette.

Hatsume, who was meticulously assembling a tiny gadget at the table, looked up. "I stopped by Nurse Shin's office earlier to get some parts I ordered. Saw Chieko there, but she left before I did."

Shinso, who had been quietly observing the conversation, stood up. "Want me to help look for her?"

Izuku shook his head. "Thanks, Shinso, but I have an idea of where she might be."

His mom, sitting in a corner, reading a book, looked up. Her eyes held a mix of concern and warmth. "Just make sure you don't give Chieko too much trouble when you find her, okay?"

Izuku nodded, smiling sheepishly. "I promise, Mom. I'll just bring her back before it gets dark."

Denki, aiming to elevate the mood, quipped about Hatsume's gadget, but she dismissed him with her usual flair, making Shinso laugh.

Once outside, Izuku quickened his pace. Memories swarmed him as he neared a familiar broken wall - the covert breach he and Katsuki had found earlier. They had learned that Chieko had been sneaking out. Their previous search for her had been tense. Upon returning, she had promised not to wander alone.

Frustration brewed as he followed the path once more. If Chieko left the school again, then that meant they couldn't trust her to keep her word, especially now when their place in the school was so rocky.