Artifice

Devil On My Shoulder

"Your eyes." She whimpered.

"Huh? What do you mean 'my eyes'?" He asked, seemingly unfazed by her fear.

"They're glowing." The girl trembled.

"Uh. Did ya hit your head? Go see the nurse. I'll handle this."

Reluctantly, Izuku stepped forward, his heart racing as he approached the massive robot. He stopped a few meters away, eyeing the machine with a mix of caution and boredom. The robot loomed over him, its metallic surface glinting in the sunlight, but all Izuku could think about was how tedious this fight was becoming.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to end it quickly. He focused all his energy into his right leg, stepping forward with a determined look. With a swift roundhouse kick, he struck the robot’s leg. The impact sent the giant machine tumbling sideways, crashing through a line of fake buildings. Debris flew everywhere as it fell with a loud thud.

When the dust settled, Izuku watched as the robot lay motionless on the ground, its circuits sparking and fizzing. Finally, out of commission. He sighed, rolling his eyes.

The alarm went off, indicating the exam was over. Present Mic screeched excitedly over the intercom, making comments on how easily Izuku took down the robot (with the fake name he gave them, of course).

"Ugh. That was such a pain." Izuku said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

Everyone who was in the arena stared at him, their mouths hanging open in shock.

He walked over to the girl who was still sitting in the same spot he had left her. Now she was sitting upright. Her brown hair messily framed her round face. Fear still lingered in her brown eyes as she stared up at the surprisingly strong boy in front of her.

"Something wrong with your legs?" Midoriya squatted down next to the girl to take a closer look. "You look fine." He reached for her arm so he could try to get her up.

She scooted back frantically. "Sorry, but could you stay right there?"

He looked at her, puzzled. "Why? I just saved your life. Didn't I?"

She looked down, avoiding eye contact. "I'm grateful for that. But it's scary that your eyes are glowing like that."

"Again, I have no clue what you're talking about." Midoriya looked down at his hand where a red light shone on them. He brushed it off as a coincidence.

He got up and extended a hand to her.

"You need help up?" She looked at his hand before accepting it.

She stumbled back, but before she could fall, he picked her up and sat her on a nearby bench. She was shocked at this display but didn't argue it.

"Thank you." She said in almost a whisper.
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On his way back to the bar, the girl's words played on repeat in his head. Each time her soft voice said it in his mind, it nagged at him.

Midoriya's POV:

I picked up my phone and nearly dropped it when I saw my reflection.

Before I could even turn on the screen, two bright red eyes glared back. I looked at my phone for a few more seconds, trying to tell myself that I was seeing things.

The longer I stared at myself in the slightly cracked screen, the more real it felt.

While I stared at my phone like an idiot, I felt a sharp pain in my hand.

There was blood covering my hand as well as the sleeves of the shirt I was wearing.

I checked myself for injuries before I figured out that the blood wasn't mine.