Something Further than the Universe

Chapter III ~ What Lies Beyond the Stars

A/N: Really didn't know what to title this, but it's late and I wanted to post this before I went to bed. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter (4,100 words), and it took a lot of editing for me to feel somewhat happy with the outcome. I'm a little worried it gets boring at some points, especially when it comes to the second half. There's a lot of dialogue, and most of the dialogue is a setup for later chapters. I'd love to hear any feedback you guys have. And you'll finally understand why I titled this story Something Further than the Universe, which I'm sure most of you have been wondering about.

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Something about Izuku's budding friendship with Mina had brought on suspicion from their classmates—the kind of suspicion that followed the two of them wherever they went, like they were meek and unsuspecting and everyone else was right on their tails, waiting for the chance to pounce. Izuku wasn't sure what it was they were suspicious of exactly, but he just wanted to make it to class peacefully on Monday without any mishaps or misunderstandings. But when he heard a certain familiar voice call out to him from the crowd, he knew his wish wasn't going to come true.

"Thanks for waiting for me, Midoriya," Mina said, bending down and putting her hands on her knees. She was disappointed that she still lacked stamina, but she knew it would take a while before her morning jogs with Izuku played into effect.

"No problem. W-what's up?"

"All my friends took off without me, and I was walking around aimlessly looking for them until Ochako told me they already left. Can you believe that? They probably forgot I existed or something."

"Maybe they were playing a prank on you," he suggested, picking up his pace where he'd left off. Mina bounced on her heels at the idea, sneaking up beside him.

"Now that I think about it, they'd totally do that. They're too dumb to think of a better prank."

"I don't think that's a bad prank, is it?"

She looked at him funny. "You really need to get out more, Midoriya, because that's a horrible prank."

"Oh, I-I didn't know."

And he wouldn't have known, because he was uptight, socially inept, could barely keep up a conversation with a girl if his life depended on it. Mina was everything he wasn't: easygoing and a social butterfly, the kind of person who enticed everyone like gravity. Nobody in their right mind who'd known them for more than a second would think they'd make good friends.

And he could understand that, because he wasn't sure what about Mina made her so much fun to hang out with, either. But he knew it had to be something, because otherwise she wouldn't be walking beside him right now. Maybe it was just the extra time they were spending together, and as soon as he figured out the whole dancing thing, their friendship would fizzle out.

"Hey, Midoriya, look!" Mina said, pointing to the sky. By the sound of her voice, he thought maybe she was seeing something breathtaking.

Except she wasn't, because when he followed her hand, he saw the very same sky he'd seen all morning, dreary and dull and infested with dark clouds. Maybe he was missing something. "What is—"

"BOO!"

He yelped when the shock of it hit him, her hands on his shoulders and her voice so loud it could've shattered his eardrums. Mina doubled over with laughter because everyone within a mile radius could hear him, and it reminded her of that time she popped out from around the corner while he was jogging.

He took his time catching his breath and then began to laugh, so much so that he ignored the fact that he'd just embarrassed himself in front of half the school.