Violet Eyes

Chapter 49

"Maybe it wasn't a good idea to take the recovering addict back to the place where the addiction started," I mumbled more to myself than anyone else. Our ragtag group had decided to go for a walk through Uraraka's old neighborhood to show Ashido around. Every place of note that we passed was somewhere I had done a ridiculous amount of drugs. It was making me feel anything but at ease.

Hitoshi heard me, which wasn't surprising. He bumped our shoulders together, even though our hands were already connected. "You wanna head back?"

"Desperately," I admitted. Being back home meant that I knew more than a handful of dealers in the area, I could easily get my hands on anything I could think of. It was making me antsy and I needed to calm the fuck down before I did something stupid. I was actually trying to stay clean this time.

"Hey guys," Hitoshi called to the two girls and Todoroki who were a few feet ahead of us. "We're gonna head back, Iz isn't feeling great."

"Lame!" Uraraka shouted over her shoulder, but she didn't push any more than that. I wasn't sure if she knew why we were really heading back or not, but either way, I was thankful she didn't try to convince us to stay.

"I'll join you. I don't want to be stuck alone with them ever again," Todoroki said, his hands shoved in his front pockets as he quickly changed the direction he was walking in. I didn't blame him.

My brows knitted together in concern. It was getting dark and Uraraka's neighborhood didn't have a stellar reputation. "Ura, do you have your pepper spray?"

"Yup!" she called back happily. "And a pocket knife, and a Mina. We'll be fine, Mom." She made a fair point, Ashido was a badass. I had never witnessed it, but Eijirou had told me plenty of stories about the girl knocking grown men on their asses after they got too handsy at the club. I suddenly wasn't so worried.

"Have fun!" I shouted as we started to head back to the house.

"I bet you five bucks that by the time they come back, Uraraka will have already found a party for us to go to," Hitoshi mused, a faint smile on his lips.

The sun had just started to set and the street lights were flickering to life. I'm embarrassed to admit that they startled me, causing me to tense up.

"You're tense," Todoroki stated, his heterochromatic eyes flashing to me.

"I'm always tense."

"You jumped because a street light turned on."

"Okay?" It came out as a question because I wasn't sure what he was getting at. What point was he trying to make?

"That's overly tense, even for you."

I frowned at the observation, mildly offended. "Being back home after my relapse isn't fun."

He nodded once. "I figured as much."

Hitoshi eyed him carefully. "And you felt like pointing it out for fun?"

"I wanted to confirm my suspicion."

I turned to Hitoshi, ready to abandon the current topic of conversation. "Am I allowed to smoke tonight?" I would never be able to sleep without it. Not only was it hard for me regularly, but now I was in a different environment. There was no hope without weed.

"Don't be offended," Hitoshi prefaced, trying his best to not look like he was judging me. He was doing a decent enough job. "But are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Definitely give me a limit," I said with a sigh. Without one I knew I'd smoke more than I needed and then my cravings would just get worse. I wasn't a complete idiot.