Caged Bird - BNHA Band AU

[25]

-feel free to listen to the music while you read-

The smell of spaghetti filled the air as Izuku sat anxiously at the table, fidgeting with his fingers and picking at the skin. Todoroki sat next to him silently, watching from the side of his peripheral vision, wrestling with his thoughts as he became tempted to comfort the boy. He was about to open his mouth when a certain yellow haired boy perked up, "so Mido, you haven't really eaten with us before, are we making you uncomfortable at all?" Kaminari cursed himself as Izuku had a panicked expression. "What? Of course not, I'm just not used to eating a lot is all," the boy rushed out, waving his arms around dismissing the thought. "Well, get used to it nerd, we're gonna make sure you don't fucking die, got that," Bakugo aggressively placed a plate in front of the insecure green haired boy, a firm frown stretched on his face. "You can't pressure him, that's not manly," Kirishima winced at Izuku's expression, a smile suited Izuku's face a lot more than a frown. "N-no, it's fine, I need to get over it before it escalates, thank you for the concern guys, but I'm eating a lot more lately," Izuku had a sad smile replacing the previous frown, a determined glint shon in his eyes.

He shakily picked up the fork as everyone else went to start eating, he spun the noodles around his fork and lifted it up slightly. The sight of the dish was appetising, but the thought of actually eating it made Izuku's stomach churn. He'd barely noticed the shaking of his hand until a familiar warm hand was placed on his, he snapped his head to Todoroki who wore a concerned expression. "You don't have to force yourself, we can get you something easier if you'd like," Todoroki whispered, using his quirk to make a comforting warmth. "I-I don't know, wouldn't that be rude?" He whispered back, eyeing Bakugo guiltily. "He'll understand, we don't want you getting sick," before Izuku could answer, Todoroki stood up, grabbed his plate and swiftly ventured into the kitchen. Izuku buried his face in his arms and let out an irritated sigh, 'why do people keep fussing over me? It's so pointless!' He screamed at himself, never missing the eyes glancing back and forth from him to the kitchen door.

Minutes later, Todoroki strolled back in with a smaller plate of cheese crackers and tomato, earning a weak glare from the green haired boy. As Todoroki sat back down with a small smirk, Izuku nudged him hard in the ribs, "I told you it was fine," he whispered, worry filling his tone. "And I said we didn't want you to feel sick," Todoroki answered, going back to eating his food casually. He sent Bakugo a glance, practically speaking telepathically to each other, Bakugo only nodded in response, turning back to his conversation with Kirishima and Kaminari. Kaminari had wanted to stay the night, him sleeping on the couch for the night since he didn't feel like going home. 'His parents were too clingy' he'd complain, so everyone decided to give him a break from them. "So Midoriya," Kaminari started, suddenly the whole conversation shifted to face him, "Ah, yeah?" He asked nervously nibbling on a piece of cheese. "Do you have any siblings?" Izuku shook his head, "after my parents had me, Hisashi wasn't too keen on having another..." an awkward silence filled the air for a few seconds before Izuku continued. "Thought I wouldn't have minded having someone by my side, in was pretty lonely, other than Lucy, no one talked to me," that sparked interest in the rest of the table, everyone staring expectantly at the smaller boy. "And who's Lucy..?" Kaminari edged on, waving his hands to show emphasis.

"Lucy was my childhood.. friend," Izuku hesitated slightly, looking back on what had happened, he wouldn't say they were friends. "And if my memory isn't wrong and she hadn't moved, she lives around here," he smiled sadly, he'd known Lucy for his whole childhood, he looked up to her, admired her. But sadly, their friendship didn't last as long as Izuku had hoped. "Maybe you'll see her again some time in the future?" Kaminari shrugged, clearly ignorant towards the hesitant tension in the air. "M-maybe, it's been years since I last talked to her..." Izuku munched on his finger, previously oblivious to how he'd finished the cheese he was eating. Izuku glanced down at his finger, shaking his head before picking up another piece. At this point, everything but the cheese was being pushed to the side.

"Well then, who's on dishes duty?" Kaminari asked, glaring at Shinso mischievously. Shinso just sighed, standing up and picking up his and Kaminari's plate, "not everyone has finished yet Denki, be patient." Kaminari chuckled, hoping out of his chair and racing down the hall towards the laundry, picking out a large blanket and running back to the couch screaming, "Movie night!!!." Bakugo grunted, eating one last mouthful before standing and bringing his plate to Shinso. It was only Kirishima, who was talking too much to even noticed his half finished dinner, Todoroki, who was staring into space and Izuku, who was munching on his fifth piece of cheese, nodding along to whatever Kirishima was saying. He was happy for how close they'd gotten, but a part of himself was telling him it was about to fall apart, wether it was his life, or someone's else's. He wasn't too happy to figure out what the feeling meant, so he ignored it for as long as he could. They had another meeting with WKMI tomorrow, he didn't want anything to spoil that for them.

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Sorry this came out a little later than usual, I have literally no excuse for it so meh. I hope everyone's enjoying the story so far and I'd like to say a massive thanks to all the support it's gotten. I do have plans for future chapters, but I still need to add in filler chapters so too much doesn't happen at once. Again, thanks for all the support and I'll see you in future chapters.
~Author~