Why Us?

Avoiding pt. 2

"'Zumi, I thought when you asked to hang out, you meant just us?" Midoriya questions, his voice an octave higher than usual.

"Sorry, Zuzu. I forgot to mention Toshi always eats lunch with me." Izumi dramatically gestures to said purple-haired teen as he's mid-yawn, "Also, I don't trust you to be alone after what happened in Hosu."

Shinsou pauses, tuning into the conversation late after realizing the attention is on him.

"Hi, Midoriya." he shrugs, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck.

Izumi pouts, leaning forward and looking up at Shinsou disapprovingly.

"You should work on talking to people, Toshi. You sound cold."

She whips around to Midoriya, pointing her finger at him.

"And you're not much better! I want my friends to get along- is that too much to ask? It's only one lunch period, and it's not even the first time you two have been around each other," Izumi sighs, leaving the two boys to awkwardly stand as she sits under a nearby tree.

"Whatever, I'm sorry for being cold, Midoriya," Shinsou relents, and the boys join Izumi with their lunches, sitting in a small circle, "Why can't we eat in the cafeteria?"

Midoriya winces and looks at Izumi, unsure what her reaction will be.

"Cuz it's a nice day out," she evades, digging into her lunch to avoid more questions.

"Bullshit. It's because of Bakugou, isn't it?" Shinsou spits, stabbing his lunch with a chopstick.

"Uhh, I don't think-" Midoriya starts.

"It is." Izumi glares at Shinsou, her eyes stormy, "So what? You can go inside if you want."

"That's not what I'm saying, and you know it. When are you going to stop letting him control your life? So what if he eats in the lunchroom? He can suck it up and share it with others."

Izumi frowns, fidgeting with her bracelet again. Shinsou's lips press into a thin line. Midoriya glances between the two rapidly, trying to diffuse the tension.

"So, Shinsou. Have you met your soulmate yet?" Midoriya asks, almost immediately covering his mouth in horror for bringing up soulmates when he's trying to lessen the tension and not increase it.

"Yeah, she rejected me though. She said she didn't want a thing to do with a 'villain' like me. Haven't seen or heard from her since." Shinsou shrugs, gesturing to a plain black bracelet covering his soulmate's first words, "What about you, Midoriya?"

"No, but I'm hopeful that I'll meet them soon," Midoriya squeaks, desperately wishing he hadn't picked this topic.

"Oh yeah, you have a packed summer! I-Island with All- er, family, and your summer training camp! Make sure you keep me updated, yeah?" Izumi grins, steering the conversation toward summer plans.

"Izumi, Bakugou's your soulmate, right?" Shinsou asks, offhandedly as if asking about the weather.

Izumi chokes on her lunch.

"How'd you figure that part out?"

"Not important. I gotta go kill a bastard now," Shinsou deadpans, internally struggling with anger over how cruel fate can be, and depressed that he had to bring up his own soulmate situation.

He doesn't keep his soulmate's words hidden for the same reason as Izumi. The words aren't bad, just a simple 'Woah, purple hair!' but seeing it makes his chest ache- so much he cut the area until the words were illegible. It still fills him with a heavy feeling when he looks at his wrist, followed by guilt for taking his frustrations out on his soulmate's words, so he keeps it covered.

"It's fine, Toshi," Izumi sighs, flicking her wrist dismissively and sending a small wave of water to splash him in the face, "I guess we can eat inside tomorrow. How's that sound, Zuzu? You've been trying to get me to meet your super cool classmates, so how about Toshi and I join your group for lunch then?" Izumi smiles weakly, eyes dark and stormy with emotions neither boy can identify, even as she clears the tension.

"Yeah, sure," Midoriya agrees weakly, not wanting to turn down her trying to move on, even if it's probably to prove a point.

"So... what happened in Hosu?" Shinsou asks, remembering what Izumi said earlier.

Izumi and Midoriya sweatdrop, Izumi because she forgot she can't talk about it, and Midoriya because of the memories of his internship and fighting Hero Killer: Stain. Izumi accidentally splashes Shinsou with water again, startled into activating her quirk. They both evade the topic.

Shinsou tries again as he and Izumi are walking back to class, but they get stopped, saving Izumi from having to evade the topic again.

"Shinsou, Hirai. Just the students I was looking for. Do you have a minute to talk?" class 1A's teacher asks, only raising his eyebrow questioningly at Shinsou's damp face and uniform.

"Uhh, sure," Shinsou agrees warily.

"I noticed that both of you have great potential for joining the hero course. Shinsou, you need to improve your combat experience, and Hirai, you need to work on your quirk control. I'd like to help you succeed, so would you be interested in extra training classes with me?" Aizawa asks

Shinsou agrees almost immediately, while Izumi says nothing. Shinsou looks at her and nudges her, saying nothing, but the meaning is clear: How long are you going to let Bakugou hold you back and influence your actions?

Izumi reluctantly agrees.