Bitter and Sick

The Start of a Nightmare

With a wide grin splitting his cheeks, Izuku shoveled his katsudon down with his chopsticks in delight as the others sat at his table and ate their own lunches.

"Deku-kun, ya' sure do like katsudon, dontcha?" Ochaco chuckled from beside him, causing his freckled cheeks to flush a pink hue.

"Ah," Izuku nervously rubbed his neck. "Yeah, my mom used to make it a lot for me as a kid because of how much I liked it. It's always been my favorite meal."

"I feel that with a lot of food, but mochi will always be my favorite, even though it's not really a meal."

"Technically it could be a meal since it is a dessert!" Iida piped up. "I personally love stew. My elder brother would always make the best stew I've ever eaten! As expected from an older brother and the former hero, Ingenium!" He said excitedly as Todoroki slurped his cold soba from beside him.

"Oh, that reminds me! How is your brother doing, Iida-kun?" Izuku asked.

"He's been doing quite well, actually! One of his close friends took over his agency and he now works around the office filing paperwork and receiving calls from civilians." He smiled. "His physical therapy has been going well, too. Tensei might not be able to feel his legs, but he wants to do his best to stay in shape. He is an inspiration to us all!"

Izuku looked at Iida in awe before a smile graced his face. "I'm so glad he's doing well, and the same goes for you, Iida-kun."

"Yeah, you've matured a ton since then!" Ochaco added.

"I agree." Shouto chimed in.

Iida gaped for a moment before closing his mouth, bottom lip wobbling. "I am truly honored to receive such praise, but I feel like all of you have grown far more than I have. Especially you, Midoriya-kun! Your use of your quirk has improved drastically and I really admire your hard work as well, and I am guessing that the internship you two and Bakugou-kun have with Endeavor must be treating you well!"

"Yeah, it has!" Izuku smiled happily until a tray from above whacked his head from above. He winced.

"Will ya' keep it down! I'm tryin' to eat and have a conversation." Katsuki growled from the table behind Izuku and Ochaco.

"Bakugou, you were able to hear me just fine." Kirishima chuckled. "Sorry about that, Midoriya. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." He said as he pointed his thumb toward the blonde.

"Oh shut it, shitty hair!" He huffed and returned to eating his food.

Izuku gingerly rubbed his head. "We weren't even being that loud, Kacchan." He pouted.

"You alright, Deku-kun? It sounded like that hurt." Ochaco's brows furrowed as her hand went up to join his in aiding to soothe the small bump. Izuku froze, and so did Ochaco soon after realizing what she was doing and quickly tore her hand away as her face, her pinky cheeks beet red. "Ah, s-sorry!"

"N-No, t-that's okay!" He blurted out, his complexion reflecting Ochaco's own, the two of them too invested in their own embarrassment to notice the other girls of class 1-A at the end of the table start to snicker as Mina excitedly hopped up and down in her seat.

---

Izuku's stomach did a flip as he moved to hide behind a wall, peeking around the corner to get a good view of his surroundings. Once he dubbed that the coast was clear, he waved to Ochaco and Iida that it was okay to move, and so they did. They quickly ran across the street, dressed head to toe in their hero costumes as they worked through their training exercise for the day.