bus rides | midoriya izuku

07 | hopping pages

HEROES AND COMICS WERE THEIR MUSES

The only wisteria gaze meant for comics hypnotizing her wandering, eccentric mind slowly shifts its attention to the sight of a gem hidden in a roadside bush—her mind's instincts bellowing at her to look! look! look! Something's shining in that bush! Except that the gem was already out of its hiding spot as its light dazzles from the sun, casting a line of light connecting her strings of curiosity, though her marvel mind never fails to be such unique stars.

He was already at the door when he boarded, purple pupils widening a little when the green head simply walked past his regular seat and instead, sat down beside her ( remember, empty seat between them ), erasing his own presence in the bus while the world ignores the backseat of the background.

Sumire Aiko had half of her face covered by her comic, only her wondering gaze peeking at the seat in front of her and his side profile back and forth, dazed and bewildered at the same time. Izuku was silent the entire time, though his movements were loud—fingers fidgeting, tugging his lower lip with a nervous thumb, side glancing the attentive girl every few awkward seconds. It's as if he wanted to start a conversation but he didn't know how, and Aiko nearly cringed at the tension dangerously increasing at each second.

"Um—"

"That's Jason Todd, ri—"

They look at each other, innocent eyes wide and hearts at the pace of a hummingbird's wings.

"Y-You go first!" Izuku flusters, hiding his cherry face behind crossed arms.

Aiko's face burns at the awkwardness—their awkwardness—and quivers a small smile. "I was going to ask about you, but then you mentioned Jason Todd."

She chuckled a little, retracting her comic off her face when she tries to show the cover page to Izuku, gently placing the comic on the seat between them. His gaze softened at the gesture, his left hand reaching out to trace a finger on the trails of the character's stance. Aiko watched him as if he could be tamed from the simplest of things—like how she knows the boy gets excited over his hero notebook and her Moon Knight comic that she gave away. Perhaps the light in his eyes was meant for his heart.

"Jason Todd was a sidekick working under Batman. He was the second hero to undergo the role of Robin, but then.. Batman's nemesis got him and killed him.." Izuku still traces the comic while the girl stared, the corners of her lips curling up a little.

"You seem to know your stuff," she quirks, jolting him out of his trance.

"O-Oh! I, um, I just did some research! That's all! I mean, the comic you gave me was from the same publisher so I thought I'd just look up the internet to see what other heroes were written.." He averted his gaze for a moment. "Plus, from what you've been reading, you seem to read a lot of dark comics so.."

"I do," she smiles. Izuku stiffed at that in retaliation. "Because I like reading dark comics. They may be violent and deep and dark, but they're much more interesting and mysterious that it keeps me curious—compared to other comics in general. No offence."

Kinda like how he's got her curious. Except he was all rainbows and rays of sunshine.

"I-I see.." Izuku simpers at his lap, fingers playing at the zip of his bright yellow bag that seems to outshine his round starry eyes. "Kind of like how I always write down notes whenever I encounter new heroes in town—analysing their quirks and techniques so I could learn how to be one someday."

Aiko notes at the last two words, a brow rising.

"I've been writing them ever since I learned how to walk! Aha.. Uh.. even though my mum sometimes wonder why I needed so many notebooks.. I guess I'm on my thirteenth book now that I mention it. Did I tell you I wrote down Batman's techniques as well? Even though some of the heroes I researched didn't have a quirk, they trained their body and learned martial arts to be a hero! I guess hard work does pay to be a hero! But, well.. despite saying that.. I'm not doing anything to be one at the moment except studying overtime to get accepted into Yuei.."

Aiko waited for the rest of his words after that, only realizing and surprising her when the boy actually finished mumbling—but she understood what he'd been saying the whole time anyway.

"You must really like heroes a lot," she perks up, smiling at him as he stares cluelessly, but eventually smiles sheepishly and averts his gaze while playing with his fingers out of habit again.

"Yeah. It's my dream to be one."

He smiles again, though the stretch didn't curl as much like his precious hair of forest, only sun rays filtering through the leaves casting on her skin. Aiko was an observant of sorts, and she knows a forlorn smile when she sees one. The kind of smile when the world gave them too much hope, only to drop the reality on fantasists' heads.

"U-Um.. what about you? What's your dream?" He asked.

Aiko's previous astonished expression fades, sighing a little as she smiles and turns to the front.

"I want to be a comic artist."

Their stop arrived then, commencing the end of their first and proper conversation. An interaction between dreamers and planet dwarfs. Flowers and gems. Moon and sun.

Izuku stepped off first, followed by Aiko as they both stood at the stop together with no one accompanying the empty bench. The girl bit her lip, wanting to say something. A goodbye or—

"Um.. what's your name?" He mumbled, cheeks as red as the stop sign beside them.

She cracked a smile. "Aiko. Sumire Aiko."

"I-I see.." A small, shy smile on his lips as he looks at the ground.

"...What's yours?" She asked back, startling him a little when he didn't need to.

Although she didn't have to, she was curious for his surname.

Then, the boy's eyes vanished in crescents, lips grinning with shining white teeth—simply glowing in her eyes when she noticed just how dark the sky had been after the sun sets.

"Izuku."

She knows that.

"Midoriya Izuku."

Now that sounds much beautiful than what she knew.

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yikes !!! so sorry for the long update i literally had no wifi since the last update ;-;