Nothing In Return

8

Izuku wasn't gonna lie, the day didn't start out like any other day. Usually he would wake up by himself before anyone else and make a cup of coffee. Normally, he would go on a jog and get back to his room to change into his hero gear and head to Noriko's room where they would draw straws to see who had to stay with the class.

That wasn't what happened that day. 

Billy shook him awake, and although it was still early enough to go through his schedule, the fact that he had to be woken up was enough to give him a bad feeling about the day to come. 

When he told his friends they assured him everything would be fine before joking a bit as they lightly elbowed him.

"Oh no, I actually got a reasonable amount of sleep. The world is coming to an end !" Idie had said, terribly mimicking Izuku's voice as she waved her hands in the air, trying to look frantic but only succeeding to look like a crazy person.

The joking made him feel a little better, but the dread still lingered. 

When Izuku drew the short straw, Noriko offered to take his place, and he gladly accepted. She gave some excuse about how Denki had asked to train with her for a bit due to the similarity of their powers, because god forbid she actually seem like she cares about her friends. 

The feeling went away somewhat as he patrolled the school grounds watching for threats. Maybe it was just because he felt like he was more prepared while on patrol. Or maybe it was because of his great vantage point from the sky as he flew above the school, his sharp eyes searching for any threats to the students. 

At lunch, Izuku double checked with the others that nothing had been out of place or strange during their days. The feeling had gotten worse as he got around more people, and he wasn't quite sure if it was just his anxiety acting up or his instincts warning him, but he allowed himself to relax for just a bit as he ate with his team. 

As usual, Billy complained about how much he missed cheeseburgers and Noriko slapped him on the back of his head, telling him off as Idie just laughed at them. 

"Quit complaining or I'll tell Teddy that you're a whiny little baby when you don't get what you want. He'll never agree to marry you then." Noriko joked, assuming bringing up his boyfriend would at least get him flustered. 

"Ha, bold of you to assume he doesn't already know. And how do you know he hasn't already agreed to marry me?" Billy replied, sticking his tongue out at her after he finished. 

"Because you would have come to us crying tears of joy if he had said anything like that. You're a bigger crybaby than Izuku when it comes to your boyfriend." Idie piped up from her seat where she had been silently laughing at them for the entirety of their conversation. "And that's pretty difficult to accomplish." She looked pointedly at Izuku before they all laughed.

They all knew that sixteen was early to get married. Hell, you can't even get married until you're eighteen unless you've been emancipated or have parental consent in the United States, but they also all knew that as heroes, you sometimes don't live very long. If you fall in love and you think you can make it in long term, you take any chance you can get. So they figured with how madly in love Billy was with his boyfriend and the way Teddy returned his feelings, it was worth it to at least try. Sadly, Billy hadn't quite popped the question yet, and they enjoyed teasing him relentlessly about it. 

 After lunch, Izuku was feeling better than be had been before, and felt almost completely relaxed as he patrolled in the afternoon. Not totally, seeing as he was supposed to be keeping an eye out for potential threats, but it was a lot better than he had been before lunch, that was for sure.