Five Words

Thank You For Saving Me

'I'm so sorry I have to write this down. I'm not brave enough to tell you any of this out loud. Which is ridiculous considering the hell of a year it's been at Yuuei, I know, but I just can't do it.

We only met once before Yuuei... But the amount that you changed my life with that one meeting is just... Incredible. I don't think I could ever say how much you changed the course of my life. Before I found out I was a late bloomer, I thought that I was Quirkless, and that meant that I wasn't ever going to be a Hero. I truly did believe that it was out of my reach. The day you met me was the day I'd finally given up on following my dream. The world isn't kind enough to throw someone like me a bone or a lifeline to float on...

But... You threw one for me. By talking to me, even though you'd never even met me before, and had no real reason to think that you would ever again. You were the first person ever since I was Quirkless to try to encourage me, support me, and tell me that I could be a Hero, even when I didn't have a Quirk. It was exactly what I needed to hear. More than anything.

You Can Be A Hero

I still have that note. Framed on my wall, above my computer. Because it's the only memory I had of you for years. And... It made me remember that you did exist. And that you somehow could believe in me. That you could put so much stock into a stranger. And then, when I walked in and saw you in my homeroom...

I was thrilled. I was so happy to see you. I wanted to approach you right out of the gate, but things just kept getting in the way. And it became so hard to just go over and talk to you the longer I waited. The longer it took, the more afraid I ended up... It's only been a few months, but now, I can't even remember what it was like before we spoke. Everything has just... Been so much better.

But it's why I need to tell you this. And I've been terrified of telling you this for the entire year... But it's gotten hard to look at you, and not think about it. And I can't say it because I'm too much of a coward not to.

But I like you. I've been infatuated with you since we were kids.'

Izuku read over the full page in his fifteenth notebook with a very loud, audible groan. What the hell had he been thinking?! Reading over everything was cringeworthy, and it was physically painful to do. He couldn't have chosen worse words if he had made the effort to. Who on earth confessed to a crush by using the word 'Infatuated'?! He thought writing this down would make things easier, but somehow it was just as painful. The actual act of writing hadn't been so bad, but reading what he'd actually written?

It was all so painful to look at. He flipped the page back one, so he simply wouldn't have to see it for a second longer.

And of course, he was on the most recent page – That page being of Mina's appearance and her Quirk in detail. He'd written about her and her Quirk far more times than he was ever willing to admit. In the case of this page, he hadn't even been aware he had done it. He'd just been sat at his desk the previous night, and the next thing he knew, two and a half hours had passed, and his notebook had another entry.

The notes for that were just as bad.

'Black eyes and gold irises, like stars in the night sky. Soft and warm skin, smooth thanks to her amazing Quirk. Fluffy, messy hair that – '

He closed the book outright, and felt his face burning up. This had to be on the border between being a sweet crush, and being downright creepy, didn't it? At least to someone who didn't know him for what he really was – A nerd with a crush who made notes on people out of a habitual thirst for knowledge on Heroes.

Their second year at Yuuei was right around the corner, now that they were in March, and everyone was starting to return to the dorms to get ready for the new academic year. Only a few people weren't present, though they had a couple of weeks to show up before their classes started up again. And Izuku wanted to confess.