My Hero Academia: Romanticise Like A Raven

TOWN - Part 1

Momoyao: I hope you're feeling ok! If you need to talk I'm here <3
Jiro: idk what that was but hope ur ok
Midoriya: You seemed pretty stressed earlier, we can talk about it if you'd like to? :(
Koda: you ok? <3
Sato: Dude, you alright?

That was just a sample of the messages that were sent at the end of the day about my sudden outburst. I replied to all of them just saying that I was fine as I just couldn't bear talking about it. That was to all of them apart from Mezo.

Mezo: Are you ok dude? You scared me back there
You: i'm just swamped, sorry to worry you
Mezo: 👍

What a very valid response. I could sense that some tension had lifted, so I shrugged, satisfied, and set my phone down. I definitely needed an early night.

I readied myself to find my book and read myself into a dreamstate, but that was when my phone buzzed again. I figured that I'd check it - it could be Momo with a follow up. I hefted it up and was pleasantly surprised when I saw not Momo's name, but Shoto's! I never got messages from him. I was blessed. My day? Instantly improved. Ahem... composure.

Todoroki (help): Uraraka told me to ask you if you wanted to meet in town over the weekend. You know. Shopping.

I turned to Dark Shadow, "Hm... how tragic would it be if I went just to see him?"

Dark Shadow thought for a moment, before coming to the conclusion, "It'd only be a bit of fun!"

You: i'll be there
Todoroki (help): Great, I'll see you there then.
You: nice

At least today wasn't a complete failure. I'd just have to hope that everyone would forget about my outburst. They would... eventually.

***

Momo and I entered town that weekend just as a pair. Momo was hoping to give me prep talks, I think. However, I wasn't really in the mood for that.

"Why don't you try smiling more? When you do it's really cute!" Momo suggested.

"I am not cute," I grumbled, "I am pure darkness."

Momo rolled her eyes jokingly and then added, "But maybe he'd be more into you! I know that he doesn't tend to smile a lot either-"

"Then why should I worry?" I retaliated, "Besides. Smiling is exhausting; brooding is forever."

Momo shrugged, "Alright..."

We rounded the corner and saw the group all there. Uraraka had really invited everyone she could get ahold of, and she waved us over jovially. Midoriya, Iida, Tsuyu, Kaminari, Kirishima, Ashido and Hagakure had also all come and of course there was Shoto, the cherry on top, in the middle of the huddle of gossiping teens.

Shoto was wearing a faded black shirt that went down to his elbows and also slim blue jeans. Oh, my... he really did look quite handsome today.

Momo patted my hair down for me. I blushed, "Thanks..."

As we moved closer, Momo grinned, "Hey guys!"

I didn't say anything. I admittedly had nothing to say.

Hagakure put an invisible hand to her mouth, "So, uhh, if everyone else is here, can we start vibing?"

Tsuyu nodded and the bit of her tongue that stuck out of her mouth bobbed up and down. She backed up her comment with, "Yeah, totally! Let's go!"

Midoriya had that sparkle in his eye, "Ahh! There's a really cool shop I wanna show you guys that's just full of All Might merch!"

"I think I know where that is! Let's go!" Uraraka beamed, grabbing Midoriya by the hand and pulling him excitedly.

"Wait up!" Ashido shouted at them.

Then we were all running until we found ourselves on the high street. The shops were tall but undoubtedly didn't contain products all the way up to their rooves. Right? Regardless, my friends were marvelling at the sight as if they'd never gone shopping before, fueled by the fact that they were all with each other.

I looked at everyone first, but I found my own gaze caught when I turned and saw a shop selling goth clothes. It was so edgy. So perfect. So me. I turned to Dark Shadow. They nodded, and then we both started to wander off in that direction.

Wait, no. That was rude. What would Shoto think?

"I was just wondering... should we split up?" I cleared my throat, getting their attention.

Ashido grimaced, "Yeah... it's a bit late for that!"

That was when we all realised that we'd abandoned Kirishima and Kaminari. We all looked guiltily at each other, Midoriya and Uraraka most of all, before Hagakure got everyone's attention.

"We should go back and look for them, Mina!"

Ashido agreed, "Totally! We'll meet up again in a bit."

"Yeah, let's all meet up in this spot later!" Uraraka grinned.

Suddenly, I was the one left in the dust. Everyone ran around me to get where they wanted to, even Shoto, which I thought was very unlike him. But then again, how well did I really know him?

I sighed. This was all a mess. Why did I even come?

Dark Shadow pouted, "So much for it being a friend meetup! How rude!"

"We were literally just about to do it to them." I reminded them.

"Regardless, we've been wronged, dude!"

Dark Shadow flailed their arms around as if there were no words big enough to describe their annoyance, so they had to make themself bigger in response. I believe that this was the reason we heard the whimper behind us.

A small, frail young girl was cowering in fear. She was looking straight at me, and I checked behind me to see if there was anything there, but it was just more shops. I felt a knot in my stomach. Was she... afraid of us?

The girl's mother looked at us too, and she smiled uncomfortably before pulling them both away. I watched them go as if I were drowning, not breathing. Not saying a word.

A tear formed in my eye but I wiped it away before I could fall. None of that. It was supposed to be a happy day. Even so... I wanted to be a hero. So why did people just look at the bird head and assume I was a villain?

I touched my beak, and suddenly a new anxiety flowed through me. What if Shoto wouldn't want to be with me because of it? I closed my eyes and found myself longing for Mezo's presence. He always knew what to do in moments like this...

Mother and I moved to the country soon after she got her divorce. It had been a small town, but that was good. It was away from everything. It was what she'd wanted, plus we had family there.

But that didn't stop kids from being bullies. They were throwing seed at me, and flapping their arms. Subtle puns I was ok with, but this I wasn't. They were mocking me. I was only four. I didn't know what to do, and my quirk still hadn't developed so there wasn't even Dark Shadow to help me.

I was tiny. I was defenceless. I needed a hero. That was when I met him for the first time - he pulled the other kids away and intimidated them with his superior height. He held out one of his four hands.

"Thank you..." I blubbered.

"Ugh, stupid Shoji! Always ruining our fun!" one of the kids groaned.

Mezo glared at them all, and then they ran away. Mezo turned back to me.

"I'm Mezo Shoji. It's nice to meet you." he beamed.

I smiled back, albeit shyly. I held out my miniscule hand and he shook it...

I checked my phone. I'd sent a text to Mezo earlier that day to ask him if he'd wanted to come to although he'd left me in read. My frown deepened; the tension had returned. I slipped my phone away. I needed to shop. I needed to distract myself. Happy day. This was a happy day.