The cold winter air brushed against Izuku and Ryuko as they strolled through the parking lot of Hadena's studio. The sky loomed overhead, laden with heavy grey clouds.
They didn't linger long before reaching the car. However, for Izuku, the atmosphere remained uncomfortable and tense. The expression on Ryuko's face was even more distressing than before they entered the studio; she was no longer concealing her despair.
As they settled into their seats inside the car and closed their doors—Ryuko exerting more force than necessary—the boy felt compelled to speak up.
"Ryuko, what's wrong?"
Suddenly, she turned to him as if she had almost forgotten he was there. Ryuko's gaze appeared meek, almost fearful, and her hands slightly trembled as she tightly gripped the steering wheel.
"I... I've...-"
It took her a long time to think and articulate her thoughts. The only other instance that Izuku could recall of Ryuko displaying similar behaviour was when she first said she marked him.
It was a deep-set fear that Ryuko was barely preventing from boiling over, and it made his heart ache to watch.
"-Izuku... I have a confession to make... several of them. I've screwed up."
"Screwed up?"
There was a sigh from Tempest.
Ryuko, you're overreacting-
"NO, I'M NOT! THIS MIGHT BE HILARIOUS TO YOU, BUT THIS IS SERIOUS!"
The loud snap made everyone in the car quiet. Izuku recoiled while Tempest went almost silent, only muttering slightly.
Sorry...
Ryuko brought a hand to her face. "Don't... just... I'm the one who should be apologising... I've gotten us into a huge mess."
Izuku placed a steady hand over Ryuko's, which was still shaking on the steering wheel. "Whatever this mess is, we can figure it out."
She didn't look at him. "I don't know about that..."
"Then tell me, what happened?"
She withdrew the hand resting on her face, peeking at him with a sigh. "Where do I even start...? I guess I'll start with the simple one. We made Hatsume suspicious of us when we saw her the other day. Apparently, we seemed pretty close to her."
His eyes frowned. "Oh...-"
"But I cleared that up... I just told her something about interns and pros developing close bonds, especially in our case with Hydris."
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Out of Place & Out of Sorts
FanfictionBeing a hero was hard. Few knew that better than Izuku Midoriya. One would think that after so many harrowing experiences, he'd be at least kind of used to it by now. But when Eri's Quirk triggers out of nowhere, replacing herself with an alternate...
