RENEGADE [Izuku Midoriya x OC]

Chapter 13 - Thanks

That night, at Nori's request, Izuku drove her to the bakery.

The ride was quiet in his electric car, small and unassuming. He didn't want anything flashy or fancy. Plus, he didn't drive very often anyway, so he just needed the darn thing to work on the off chance that he needed it in a pinch.

"Thank you for everything, Izuku," Nori said as they got close, her clothes and extra medicine in a plastic bag between her feet.

When he opened his mouth to answer, she covered his lips with her hand, and gave him a look. "Let me finish," she said softly. Izuku nodded, keeping his eyes on the road, cheeks warming at her touch. Noriko took a deep breath, fortified by the fact that he wasn't looking at her. "I... haven't been myself. For a long time. I think you could tell when you came to the shop that day. I've been on my own since graduation... without anyone to lean on. And you just showed up, out of the blue, with my journal, with a new book, with medicine... with help. With kindness. And I just-" she explained, voice wobbling a bit near the end before she cleared her junky throat, "I just want to make sure that you know how much I appreciate that you didn't give up on me after I was a dick. Because today, despite being on the brink of death-"

That made Izuku smile beneath her palm, which earned him a playful smack to the bicep.

"I had fun playing hooky with you today, Izuku Midoriya. And I felt more me today than I have in a long time. So... really. Thank you."

He pulled into a spot just down the block from the bakery, the only open spot he saw. Izuku put it in park, and stared at his hands, marred with scars. The same hands that took care of Noriko all day. Her hand popped into his vision, wiggling into his closest palm, squeezing softly. That champagne feeling from the other day came back, fizzing and warm in his veins. He felt like he could run a marathon, no quirk, and win. Like he'd punch a shark for her. Like he'd find a way to lasso the moon to make her smile forever the way she did at him right that very second.

"Nori, I-" He wanted to tell her the truth. Tell her that he took pictures of her journal. Tell her that he knew she was a villain, but that she was looking for Nozomi's killer and that was okay. That he understood. That it was complicated, but that he'd stay. That he'd always be there for her. "I want to say thank you too." He also wanted to explain that he'd been feeling the same way - feeling unlike himself - but that their day together was... freeing, in a way. That since she'd waltzed back into his life, he'd been-

"Nuh uh," Nori frowned at him, pinching the inside of his hand, the meaty part of his thumb.

Izuku raised an eyebrow at her, laughing. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. This is not a thank you competition, Izu. Sit there and bask in my gratitude. Accept it. If you feel the need to thank me, I want it to be of your own volition, and not because I just reminded you that you wanted to." She huffed and grabbed her things from the floor, opening the car door. "I'll see you Sunday, and you better not try to thank me for anything then either!"

"No promises!" Izuku shot back before she slammed the door shut with a laugh, jogging down the chilly sidewalk to the bakery in the All Might sweatshirt he'd loaned her to keep warm.

Someday, somehow, he'd figure out how to thank her.

And she'd have to accept it.

-

Noriko's hands shook just thinking about the rest of the night.

When she finally returned to her apartment, her phone sat on her endstand, dead. The second it was charged enough to turn on, the notifications crashed in like a wave, flooding her phone with texts, missed calls, voicemails, emails, messenger notifications, and private messages. After the beeping stopped, and the messages stopped coming in, Noriko took a shaky, centering breath, and started with her texts.