Essence of a True Hero

Summer Interlude: Escape

Kon'nichiwa minna! I have thrown caution to the wind and not worried all those weird things people call grammar and plot and continuity because I really want to get this chapter out to all of y'all. I hope you enjoy! Also, this chapter is dedicated to animexaddicted. Thank you for supporting me as I continuing writing. Izuku has done the unthinkable, he has stood up to the infamous Bakugo in a fight and not only survived scarcely scathed, but further only due to apparent exhaustion. If anyone has anything to say about it, the fight ended in a draw. Now, he's become the talk of the students (and perhaps the instructors also), both from Class 1-A and 1-B. However, instant popularity is not always an easy burden to bear.

Izuku Midoriya's P.O.V.

   There was no rest for the weary. Okay, there was, but not for me. Our instructors called a mandatory bathing session, just like every other day of the Attack Circuit, before preparing dinner. I tried to relax, to clear my mind, but Sato-san was the first to ask about my fight against Bakugo, "I heard your fight against Bakugo lasted over an hour."

    I stared intently at the clothes from which I was undressing. "Yeah," I said hollowly.

    "How can you not be excited? No one has ever beat Bakugo before. Only one to hold a candle to him was Todoroki."

    He was incredulous: how could I not be proud of myself. I had stood up to Ka-chan and received barely a scratch, at least, by the standards of fighting him. But it didn't feel like that, not at all. When I thought back on the fight, there wasn't much that I did. I had only barely kept up. There hadn't been time to think about how well I was doing. "I took the chances I could, and that's it."

    "How'd you do it?"

   I had tried to avoid eye contact this whole time, but I was becoming annoyed. I looked into his eyes angrily; I could hardly think myself. However, I saw his genuine curiosity and tried not to be upset with him. I looked away sighing, "I don't know Sato-san. I just did it. I didn't have some grand plan, nothing, alright?"

    I was pleading with him to shut his mouth, but he wouldn't, "You can't just not know, not have a plan when fighting against that guy."

    "I didn't. End of story."

    "Yeah, sure," he was clearly dejected, but at the moment I was too exhausted to care.

    I walked into the baths trying to clear my head. As soon as I got out of the changing room however, I was bombarded by classmates. Their exclamations ranged from, "I can't believe you survived Bakugo!" to "How did you do it?"

     I ignored them.

    As soon as I hit the water, they clamoured to talk to me. I only wished that I could breathe under water. Maybe then I could disappear from their stares. Still they raved on, becoming more preposterous in their claims the longer we all sat there. I hated this feeling, being the center of attention, sitting in the spot light. As Kirishima-san was asking me what it felt like to one up Ka-chan and Tokoyami-san was staring at me critically, I could see Shoto sitting on the far side of the pool. His face was stoic, but his eyes were boring into mine. They were eyes filled with aloof betrayal trying to show that he couldn't care less.

    I looked away disappointed. I hadn't talked to him since—

    "Come on, Izuku!"

    My arm was jerked away as I felt my back almost break. Kaminari was pulling me along. I looked up at him now. He was smiling largely. I was happy to see that smile, especially after everything today. "We can't have you looking all glum after your face off with Bakugo."