滞在 | "There's a woman banging in my window every night." Midoriya says, ruffling his forest green hair with eyes nervously darting across the room.
"Problem Child, from the footage we've seen so far there's no one outside your dorm's balcony in the...
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| Height Alliance |
"Deku, where were you?" Ochaco looked over the boy that had just entered the dorms.
It had been an hour after the time ticked into the evening and the green-haired boy looked more out of commission than their homeroom teacher.
"Uhm... I just went to Recovery Girl and had... some alone time outside afterwards." Izuku explained, mumbling the last part while fiddling his hands.
"Oh okay...! We already ate before you since you were elsewhere. Should I heat your food?" The brunette rushed to the kitchen, only for the boy to dismiss her from doing so.
"No need." Izuku informed, walking towards the common room elevator.
"You're not eating?"
"Yeah, I'm not hungry anyways but thanks." He answered, entering the elevator and left immediately.
"But you didn't eat breakfast and lunch either! Deku, you have to eat...!" Ochaco tried to run to the elevator, but was too late, "Deku..."
Izuku locked his door and sat on his bed, grabbing his phone to distract himself. But that wasn't so simple. Distractions aren't things you can force onto yourself... most of the time.
He was beginning to have ideas, ideas that he didn't want his brain to come up with.
"Could it be someone with a ghost quirk? An invisibility quirk? Could this just be some kind of prank that all of my classmates are onto?" Izuku pondered, but to no avail.
Through those thoughts, he became more weary of himself. He never felt the feeling he was having now. Back then, he could be amused, angry, unhappy or frightened. He used to be either awkward, determined or at the verge of crying. But now.. he felt empty.
Why? Why is he so empty so suddenly? There isn't anything that have come up to break him, is there? Did he got hit by someone's quirk without knowing? Is he dreaming? Was he emotionless now? Is there something wrong with him after all?
All those thought rambled inside his head, each one racing their way to trample on Izuku's mind. And inevitably, through his overthinking, someone knocked on his door again.
He shifted his gaze to his wooden door, gripping his clothes, wishing it wasn't another thing he'd just heard. If anyone were in his dilemma, they would be more than glad to hear a familiar voice.
"Midoriya, are you okay?" He heard a straight yet soothing voice, "Can I come in?"
"Sure..."
The doorknob twisted and later opened the door, revealing a boy with hair evenly split between two colors: white and crimson red. He was holding a cup of Soba in his left hand.
"You said you weren't hungry but your face says otherwise." Shoto said as he stood there in the doorway, "I don't usually share my Soba, but since you're Midoriya..." He rubbed the back of his nape, "I guess you can have it."
Izuku glanced at the pasta in front of him, it looked like Shoto had eaten most of it. He retrieved the chopsticks and meticulously removed the noodles from the cup. His gaze landed on his friend's just before he nibbled.
Shoto was drooling, staring at the soba being pulled out of the cup.
"Todoroki-kun, if you're still hungry, why'd you give me your leftover Soba?" The green-haired hero pushed the cup away, "You can have it."
Shoto was taken aback. He was desperate for the soba, but he was concerned about the broccoli. He can't do it! He must share. This is Midoriya, the one who helped him in accepting himself. A small soba shouldn't be that much of a dilemma for him, should it?
"W-We can just share..." He compromised and sat next to him.
The multi-color haired young man's eyes lit up and eagerly grabbed the chopsticks. The two of them sat at his All Might-themed bed and ate up the soba.
"So did something happen? You seem off." Shoto began while slurping the pasta, "You can talk to me. I think I'm a good listener."
The anguish Izuku was experiencing was like an electrical storm raging within his skull. It felt like he was expected to feel profound grief. He was trapped in a harrowing state of mind, as if he had no one else to turn to. That wasn't simply a migraine; it was something considerably more deep.
"Your eyes seem like they're pleading for help, Midoriya," Shoto spoke as he caressed the young man on the back, "If you can talk about it... I'm always here, alright?"
"That's... That's the problem, Todoroki. I don't know why I feel this unbearable pain in my chest..." Izuku can't even bawl out and cry, he was too busy trying to understand his head. He felt he was improving his connection with OFA, his friends, and himself. Was that all a ruse? Could he have been merely being hopeful?
"It's just too much..."
"Midoriya... To be completely honest with you, I don't know what you're going through, and perhaps I can't relate to it that much to know exactly what you feel. So, I can't tell you that you're not alone on that. I can't tell you that I feel the same pain as you do right now." He slowly grabbed Deku's hands, "What I can tell you is that you can cry. You can shout as much as you want. You can complain, you can make a fuss. Hell, you can rant to me and I'll listen. But, you can never ever give up. Because the Midoriya I know would never throw in the towel."
Long stifled sobs erupted from Izuku's little bubble. Convulsive gasps following convulsive breaths, it was an endless loop of releasing the misery he felt deep within. He didn't know why... yet crying it all out felt really good.
In a few minutes, it was already one hour before dawn. The two had talked for more than five hours, albeit it had been a random discussion. Perhaps this was Todoroki's method of diverting him from his friend's distress?
"Looks like we're going to class sleepless," Shoto sighed, "I'm sorry, Midoriya. Would you prefer to be late for class? I'll tell our classmates you're not feeling well today. Don't worry, if you're absent today, I'll be absent too. It's my fault you never got to sleep."
"Huh? What are you sorry for? It's because of you that I've gotten my mind off of those things!" Izuku gripped his shoulder, "And I'm okay now. A sleepless night isn't so new to me."
Shoto didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell him that it's okay to rest and be absent for one day. Still, Izuku denied this. He wanted to go to class, and tell everyone that he's doing absolutely fine.
"I noticed how they're all worried about me..." He said, "And that's the last thing I'd want them to think."
"Midoriya..."
| Loading Next Chapter | Chapter Written On - March 03 to 05, 2023 | Chapter Published On - March 11, 2023
