It was almost like clockwork, something that she had predicted from the very moment their simulation battle had ended; she was going to get sick. Natsumi always took extra precautions to keep her body healthy and happy, well, she tried to at least. She would drink herbal teas, take extra vitamins, and tried to eat as healthy as possible while still sticking to her tight budget. However, doing those things never seemed to make much of a difference when it came to her quirk working against her. She just had to suffer through the runny nose and the nausea and make it through to the end of the day.
She desperately wished she had a quirk that could freeze time so that she could just stay in bed and sleep for another twelve hours. Unfortunately, she did not have such an ability and was thus forced to wake up earlier than she wanted to get ready for class.
Her entire body was sore from a mixture of muscle fatigue and her oncoming illness. She chanced a quick glance at herself in the bathroom mirror and grimaced. Wavy pink locks clung to either side of her face from her sweat, the bags beneath her crimson eyes were much darker than usual, and her cheeks were flushed.
"You've had worse." She reminded herself, "Don't be so weak, Natsu."
If you didn't get accepted at UA in the first place you could still be in bed. Her traitorous mind taunted.
Yeah, yeah. But I did get accepted and I'm going to do something with my life other than wallow in my self-pity.
She pushed those thoughts aside and went to work to make herself look as presentable as possible for class. Her brown contacts were the first step, next she figured she'd do something to make the dark circles under her eyes less angry looking. Natsumi was no makeup guru by any means but she did know a few tricks that worked wonders with concealing unwanted blemishes, the bags under her eyes never stood a chance.
"Well…that's a little better." She mused, staring at her reflection one last time before turning on her heel and stalking out of the tiny bathroom and across the hall to her bedroom where the rest of her uniform lay sprawled across her bedroom floor.
Her uniform's blazer lay crumpled on the floor with a little black lump curled up atop it, she let out a small sigh and smiled, "Why do you have to do this?"
One little ear perked at the sound and swiveled in her direction, but the cat otherwise made no motion to move from her comfortable spot. This prompted Natsumi to let out a groan and stalk forward, fingers gripped one of the sleeves and she pulled at it until the feline picked herself up and skittered away, but not before throwing a scathing look over her shoulder at her human companion.
"Yes, I already know I'm terrible. I'm sorry, Kaguya."
She pulled on her blazer, relishing in the brief moment of warmth that she felt from the spot that Kaguya had been laying on before chills wracked her body and she violently shuddered. The pink haired teen snatched a face mask from her bedside table and positioned it over her mouth and runny nose before making a beeline for the front door.
"Are you alright, Miyano-chan?" Uraraka frowned, concern lacing her every word as she peered over at the girl in question.
Natsumi glanced over at the bubbly brunette, eyes immediately landing on the dark purple bruise on her cheek. How could she be worried about me after I did that to her?
Midoriya perked his head up, eyes widening, "Is that because of your drawback?"
Perceptive as always, though, she supposed that he took notes on her and the others for a reason so he could recall certain facts later on. A quick bob of her head was her answer to his question and his lips immediately downturned into a contemplative frown.
"Should you be at home resting instead?" He asked, mossy green locks falling into his eyes as he shuffled towards her desk.
"As much as I would love to be curled up in bed right now, I don't think Yūei allows for sick days." She shrugged her shoulders, pink waves falling out of place with the movement, "No worries, I should be right as rain in a few days as long as I don't do anything too strenuous." Suddenly, she shuddered, goosebumps prickled her skin and she let out a groan. The nature of her quirk constantly made her feel cold but when she was ill it was like being stuck in the arctic in just her underwear. It was awful.
Midoriya and Uraraka exchanged concerned looks, neither of them entirely convinced by her words.
It was the brunette who spoke next, her voice soft, "After school you should go straight home and sleep then."
Natsumi hummed in agreement before frowning, "Well, I have to go get some groceries but then I'll be heading home and cocooning myself in every available blanket I have for sure."
Midoriya frowned, "You shouldn't over-exert yourself, I can help you carry your things if you'd like."
Uraraka perked up, "You're going shopping too? We should go together!"
The pink haired teen bit her lip, trying to untangle their words as they piped up in unison. She was taken aback for a moment by Uraraka's eagerness and Midoriya's sincerity and she was glad for the mask that covered half of her face so they couldn't catch sight of the color blossoming against her cheeks.
She quickly composed herself, glancing back at the two, "Well, if you're already going Uraraka-san then I suppose it would only make sense for us to just go together. Midoriya-san, I think I can handle my groceries but if you don't believe me then feel free to tag along just in case."
Uraraka pumped her fist excitedly, "This'll be fun! And I've got a ton of coupons you can use too."
Natsumi felt her lips twitch and the subtle, yet familiar, ache of anxiety slowly began to creep over her at the thought of going out after school with two of her classmates. What had she gotten herself into? She was so used to doing everything by herself that the mere thought of having someone accompany her made her stomach twist in knots.
It'll be fine, they're both sweet. She tried to reason with herself, hating how her anxiety had popped up out of nowhere to torment her.
"Everyone get to your seats, class is starting shortly." Iida commanded, his arms moving almost robotically as he motioned to his classmates who were still standing or milling about the classroom. As he finished speaking the warning bell rang and Aizawa-sensei, like clockwork, slid open the classroom door and slithered in.
The stubble poking through his pale flesh seemed to accentuate the heavy bags beneath his bloodshot eyes. He closed the door behind him, dark beady eyes scanning over each of the students as they clamored to their seats as quickly as possible out of fear of what their homeroom teacher would do to them if caught out of them.
"I expect you all to be in your seats and awaiting my instruction before I enter the room." Exhaustion laced his words, though by now the class expected nothing less of their teacher. For all the naps he took during class time he should have been able to face the rest of the day well rested and with a fresh attitude. But no, it seemed as if he would never be well rested. Natsumi briefly wondered if he ever actually slept or if, perhaps, he was an insomniac which would explain so much.
"The decisions you make today will impact you immensely for the rest of your time here at Yūei, do not take this lightly. Think clearly and make the right choices."
Suddenly the classroom was abuzz with panicked chatter, what could be so important that it would affect their entire high school career?
"Please don't tell me it's another exam." Kaminari groaned, fear evident in his shaky voice.
"Oh man, I couldn't handle another one of those tests." Ashido frowned in agreement.
"We will be deciding who will be the class rep." Aizawa droned.
A collective sigh resounded throughout the classroom as everyone expelled all thoughts of something unpleasant such as another exam. This was an ordinary, run of the mill, high school activity and almost every hand in the class shot straight into the air excitedly.
"Being class representative would be super manly, ya'know!" Kirishima's lips parted in a toothy grin as he pumped his fist into the air.
"Sounds like fun!" Ashido giggled, waving her arm around.
"I'll do it!" Kaminari piped up eagerly.
"It's not just some fancy title! This is a serious undertaking that comes with many responsibilities such as being the bridge between the class and the academic leaders, making informed decisions based on the best interests of the class, leading class discussions, and helping to organize class events just to name a few." Iida explained with a passionate fierceness, arms mechanically moving about in all directions as he spoke.
"Dude, your hand was raised the highest." Sero called out with a laugh.
Iida didn't seem deterred though, "To determine the best possible candidate we should bring it to a vote. The person who receives the most votes will be best suited for class representative. Is that acceptable, Sensei?"
Their disheveled looking homeroom teacher shrugged his shoulders as he unzipped his bright yellow sleeping bag and crawled into it, "I really don't care what you do as long as you come to a decision before homeroom is over. Also, don't disturb my nap."
"But won't everyone just vote for themselves?" Ashido called out, lips downturned.
"Not everyone intends to run for class rep." Natsumi brought up with a shrug.
"Not interested?" Mismatched eyes regarded her suddenly with mild curiosity.
She was momentarily surprised by his acknowledgment, angling herself so that she was facing him, "Not at all. You?"
He shook his head, "Too much of an inconvenience."
A light chuckle escaped her parted lips and she nodded her head in agreement, "Guess we have more in common than just the whole ice thing."
"It's decided then! We will put it to a vote." Iida announced, "Everyone please write down your choice for class representative on a piece of notebook paper and then pass it to the front of your row."
"He's already acting like our class rep." The pink haired teen mused but nonetheless followed the bespectacled boy's instructions by tearing a piece of paper out of her notebook and scribbling down a name before folding it in half and passing it up to Yaoyorozu.
"Who's going to count the votes? How will we know that they're being truthful with who won?" Hagakure questioned worriedly.
Natsumi's lips twitched as she watched her classmates shift in their seats, she ran a hand through her wavy pink locks and let out a sigh. From beside her she could feel Todoroki's gaze on her once more as she pushed her seat back and sauntered to the front of the class, suddenly all eyes were on her.
"I'll do it." She began to collect the votes, "I wasn't interested in running, remember? So, I guess I'm the best person to tally the votes."
"Good idea, Natsu-chan!" Uraraka smiled encouragingly with a thumbs up sent in the other girl's direction. The new nickname did not go unnoticed to Natsumi who was taken aback by the familiarity the girl had spoken with, but the pink haired teen made no motion to correct her.
As she reached out to take the pile of papers off of Shoji's desk, she noticed Jirou peer over his shoulder at her, "Hey, is that a tattoo?"
Feeling panic rise in her chest her eyes shot down to her left wrist where the sleeve of her blazer had hiked up, exposing dark ink against pale flesh. Quickly, Natsumi yanked the sleeve down and snatched the papers, "Yeah."
Jirou grinned, "That's pretty badass, Miyano-chan."
Several sets of eyes followed her curiously, trying to catch a glimpse of the now hidden tattoo as she moved on to collect the rest of the votes from her classmates. Once her arms were full of loose papers she went back to her desk and began the task of counting votes.
Idle chatter picked up after that, but she could feel the countless stares of her classmates watching her leaf through the papers regardless and suddenly she became self-conscious. Pale fingers glided over the papers stacked haphazardously on her desk as she separated it into piles based on name and the number of votes received. While it was true that most of her classmates had, indeed, voted for themselves there were several students that boasted multiple votes. It came as no surprise to her that Iida, Yaoyorozu, and even Midoriya had the most votes out of everyone and she felt a small smile pull at the corners of her lips.
Her fingers hovered over the last paper in the stack, lips suddenly downturned as she mentally read what had been scribbled in neat scrawl against the neatly folded sheet of paper.
Miyano Natsumi
Who the hell had the audacity to throw me into that mess? Wasn't it obvious that I wanted nothing to do with this? Thankfully it's just one vote.
"The fuck is taking you so long? How hard is it to count twenty-one votes?" Bakugou sneered, a sharp glance in her direction pulled her out of her silent panic over seeing her name thrown into the fray.
With an annoyed roll of her eyes she answered, "I was pausing for dramatic effect."
The ash blond scoffed, "Well fucking get on with it, we don't have all day, ice bitch."
She had to admit that his little nickname for her, while incredibly unoriginal, was rather funny and she found it a little endearing. For a moment she was glad that she was wearing her mask because if the blond had seen her smirk he probably would have lost it.
"Fine, fine." She turned back to the papers and glanced over them one final time before turning her attention back to her classmates who were eagerly waiting with baited breaths for her answer.
"Congrats Midoriya, you won the title. Yaoyorozu was in second place."
"Heh?! Who the fuck voted for Deku?!"
Ochako whistled inconspicuously, twiddling her thumbs almost comically. Natsumi caught the brunette's eye for a moment and almost laughed.
The boy with unruly mossy locks turned a bright shade of red at hearing his name unexpectedly, "M-me?" He pointed at himself, disbelief colored his face as his classmates congratulated him.
"I can see why you were voted for, you seem like a pretty dependable guy." Kirishima grinned, flustering the boy even more at his kind words.
Aizawa unzipped his sleeping bag from the inside, an impressive feat in and of itself, and stretched out an arm before bringing a juice pouch to his lips and slurping at the contents noisily. Once he was finished squeezing all of the liquid from inside out of it his tired eyes fell on the class, "Midoriya you'll now be our class rep, Yaoyorozu you will be his deputy officer."
Yaoyorozu flushed appreciatively and bowed, "Oh thank you so much for appointing me to such an important class role, I promise I will do my absolute best to serve you all."
Mineta grinned, a string of drool slowly rolled down his chin and dribbled onto his desk, "I've got a couple of ideas on how you can serve me."
A collective grown resounded throughout the class at the comment and Asui took it upon herself to smack him over the head with her long tongue, momentarily incapacitating the purple pervert.
The morning had dragged on at an almost excruciatingly slow pace and Natsumi had an inkling that it was because her body was more exhausted than usual. Keeping yourself awake through hour long lectures when your eyelids felt weighed down by bricks and your throat felt like sandpaper was no easy task. Periodically she would create a small icicle and stab the palm of her hand with it when she felt herself slipping, the sharpness and the cold would give her the quick jolt that she needed to get through another hour.
When the lunch bell rang she felt a wave of relief wash over her, momentarily wondering if she could get away with napping for the period. The more reasonable side of her brain argued that she would need to actually eat to have enough strength to stay awake through her afternoon classes. As much as she hated that voice of reason it was right, as always.
Her fingers curled tightly around the sides of her crimson bento box as she made her way towards the cafeteria. Originally, she had wanted to stay behind in the classroom where it was quiet but thought that the boisterous cafeteria would be a much better option because there was no way she would accidentally nod off with all of the loud voices around her.
It didn't take her long to find a nice, secluded, table towards the back of the room, far enough away that she could enjoy her meal in peace without having to worry about her classmates joining her. They were all growing on her, she couldn't deny that, but with her illness everything was amplified—sounds were much louder and made her temples throb, smells were much more potent and made her nauseous, and lights were so much brighter and only furthered to increase that dull pulse behind her eyes to a steady and intense pang of pain. Her classmates were pretty rowdy, most of them at least, and she just wanted a break to recoup.
Natsumi removed the lid of her bento and frowned down at the rice and fish nestled neatly amongst assorted vegetables. Her chopsticks dipped into her meal and she pulled out a clump of rice before shoving it into her mouth. She didn't feel hungry and the cold rice made her nausea flare up, but she hadn't eaten anything in over a day and knew that her body needed the nutrition.
Suddenly, a tray appeared across from her and as her eyes strayed from the table and trailed up the arms of the person to finally rest on their face, she bit back a surprised gasp.
"Is this seat taken?" Todoroki had already taken the seat, though she supposed he asked the question just to break the stunned look off of her face.
She swallowed the rice still sitting on her tongue and shook her head, "It's all yours, though I can't say that I'm not surprised? I mean, there's plenty of tables…why would you willingly sit with the girl who's got the plague?"
He raised a brow at her choice of words, "It seemed like the quietest option."
She nodded in understanding, the other tables around them were bustling with loud chatter about classes and hobbies and the two of them were more content to just sit in silence enjoying their meals, "You're not wrong there."
They sat quietly for a few moments, Todoroki slurping his noodles while she halfheartedly poked at her lunch with her chopsticks before she felt a pair of eyes on her. Glancing up, she noticed him blatantly staring at her, her lips twitched.
"You're not eating." It was a statement, more of an observation on his part really, but for some reason it made her feel a little self-conscious that he had noticed.
Her lips pulled back into a sheepish smile as she readjusted the elastic string holding her face mask around her neck, "I guess I'm just not all that hungry."
He was difficult to read, she found that she could not figure out what could possibly be going on behind that stoic façade of his. Heterochromic eyes turned back to his bowl of cold soba as he scooped up the last remnants with his chopsticks and shoved it into his mouth.
Once he swallowed what was in his mouth his eyes turned back to her, "Your body needs proper nutrition, especially now that it's fighting off a virus. If you deny yourself that your body will become weak and you will be useless to your teammates."
He picked up an untouched bowl of miso soup from his plastic tray and slid it over to her without a word. She stared at him with mixed emotions, unsure of his intentions or whether or not she should humor him and accept the damn bowl of soup.
Todoroki stared at her pointedly, "It's better than cold rice and fish, soup is good for when you're sick anyway."
"Ah, you're right. Thanks, Todoroki-kun." Natsumi dipped her head in thanks, pulling the bowl towards her. She dunked her spoon into the broth and brought it to her lips, the warm liquid slid down her aching throat with ease and she absently closed her eyes, reveling in the warmth that a simple soup had brought her.
When she opened them again he was staring at her with a quirked brow and a subtle twitch of the lips that let her know he was mildly amused by her reaction.
"Our quirks are kind of similar, do you have to worry about drawbacks like getting too cold or getting sick?" She was genuinely curious, all quirks were different and had different side effects but they both had power over ice so it stood to reason that maybe he would have the same or a similar drawback.
"Not really." He answered evenly.
Feeling somewhat disappointed by his answer, she responded with a thoughtful frown, "Lucky you, it's a major inconvenience."
Loud sirens suddenly began to wail throughout the lunchroom, causing her to jump at the intense shrill burst of sound and she wasn't the only one, all around them students began to rise from their seats in panic.
"There has been a Level Three breach of security. All students are instructed to evacuate premises immediately in an orderly fashion."
Dark brown met stormy grey and turquoise for a brief moment before they both simultaneously stood from their seats.
"That doesn't sound too good." Fuck.
Todoroki frowned, "Something doesn't seem ri—are you okay?"
Natsumi swayed on her feet, a wave of dizziness hitting her, she waved it off and offered him a reassuring smile, "Yeah, yeah. Just stood too fast, no worries."
He didn't seem convinced at all but chose not to comment on her blatant lie as they followed after the hoards of students stampeding towards the exits.
Everyone was pushing and shoving and most definitely not exiting the building in an orderly fashion as the announcement had suggested. Natsumi wouldn't have been surprised if some people would have to visit the infirmary from being injured in the hustle afterwards. They made it out into the hallway and found themselves crammed against the window, students were shoulder to shoulder and aggressively pushing and pulling to try and get themselves out of the building—it was every man for himself at this point.
Someone roughly shoved past her and growled 'out of my way!', making her stumble forward and lose her balance for a brief moment before she felt firm hands grasp her shoulders to steady her. A quick glance to her right confirmed that it had been Todoroki who had helped her regain her balance.
She nodded in thanks to him before reaching forward, her fingers snagging the collar of the rowdy boy's blazer and yanking him towards her. The boy let out a startled cry as he fell backwards but quickly regained himself just as she was reeling back her rime frosted fist. As she was about to take a swing at him, she felt a warm hand grasp her elbow, stopping her.
"You'll make the situation worse."
Her cheeks flushed and she tore her arm away from the bi-color haired boy, feeling embarrassed under his penetrating gaze. She turned back around to face the exit, not before shooting the boy she almost attacked, now behind her, a slightly apologetic glance, "Sorry, got caught in the heat of the moment I guess."
She found that she couldn't meet Todoroki's gaze after that, but she could feel his eyes on her. All she could think about was how stupid it was that she had allowed her temper to get the better of her, while she was at school, no less! Here she was trying to do the right thing and be a better person and one idiot who couldn't wait his turn had triggered her into almost relapsing.
You're not a monster. Just fucking breathe.
She inhaled deeply and then let the air out before repeating the process several times. Being packed so closely together like a can of sardines was doing nothing to ease her nerves or the anxiety bubbling in the pit of her stomach. Natsumi needed to get out of this, she needed fresh air, she needed—
"Can I have everyone's attention?!"
Iida?
She tore her eyes away from the head of hair of the girl in front of her and trailed her gaze to her classmate who was standing atop the glowing emergency exit sign.
"The alarms were triggered by the media, we are in no danger. I repeat, this was a false alarm. Please calmly disperse and head back to your respective classes in a calm and orderly fashion befitting that of the great Yūei!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd of students at the revelation that they weren't being attacked by villains and the tightly packed hallway suddenly loosened up as everyone began to disappear in different directions.
She let out a breath, feeling her heartbeat thundering against her ribcage, the ringing in her ears amplified by her illness.
"That was anticlimactic." Todoroki breathed beside her.
She nodded in agreement before groaning, "Yeah, didn't even get to finish my soup."
The classroom was in absolute upheaval when she and Todoroki made it back to their seats, loud chatter about the exciting lunch time rush bouncing back and forth between her classmates. When Iida entered the room half of the class stood and cheered, he took a step back in surprise and almost looked embarrassed by the attention before he repositioned his glasses and spoke to the class.
"Everyone, please calm down. Class has resumed, please be respectful to your fellow classmates and Aizawa-sensei."
"As expected of Emergency Exit Iida! Always the voice of reason." Sero grinned, but nonetheless took his seat.
"Way to go, Emergency Exit Iida!" Ochako cheered, pumping her fist in the air.
Iida was flustered by the nickname and the praise and bowed low to his classmates before shuffling to his seat.
Midoriya stood suddenly, cheeks burning red hot as all eyes fell on him. He swallowed his nerves and spoke shakily, "I-I want to thank y-you f-for believing in me and m-making me class representative but…after what happened earlier, I believe that Iida-kun would be b-better suited for the position."
The class was stunned to silence by this unexpected turn of events before slowly claps and cheers erupted.
"You know, Iida-kun really is a great choice! He really pulled through and calmed the masses today during the panic." Kirishima nodded his head before adding, "It was super manly."
Iida stood abruptly with misty eyes, "Thank you for your confidence in me, I will treasure this moment and I promise to work diligently to keep the classroom running smoothly. I won't let you down, thank you." He bowed so low to the ground that Natsumi thought that he was going to faceplant into the tiled floor.
"It's settled then, Iida will take Midoriya's place as class representative." Aizawa rolled over in his sleeping bag and peaked open an eye.
The relief she felt at the end of the day when the final bell rang was immeasurable, all she could think about was crawling into her bed and sleeping for the next three years. She shouldered the strap of her school bag and started for the door when she felt the presence of two bodies sidle up beside her.
Oh, that's right.
"You ready to go shopping?" Ochako bounced on the balls of her feet.
Midoriya bit his lip, and for a moment Natsumi wondered if he regretted his decision to tag along considering how awkward he seemed to be around girls.
"Yeah, I don't need much. Just a few things to get me through the week."
"Did you have a specific shop in mind? I know there's a market close by and their products aren't overpriced." The brunette smiled brightly.
The pink haired teen smile behind her mask, her classmate's energy was so contagious, "I know the one, I go there often."
"You live nearby?" The curly haired boy piped up.
She nodded, "Yeah, so I usually just walk to school…as long as I can pry myself away from my bed."
Ochako laughed, "I know the feeling, my bed is just so comfy in the early morning it's so hard trying to convince myself to get up."
They continued their walk to the market conversing amicably amongst themselves, Midoriya even began to open up and join the conversation as he found himself becoming more comfortable around the two. Though, Natsumi noticed, he was still rather shy and had trouble holding eye contact but she figured it would take longer than a couple of days to break him out of certain habits.
Once they reached the grocery store the brunette immediately grabbed a flyer from the stand by the automatic doors, her eyes roving over the photos and sale prices within to see what sort of deals the store was offering that week.
"Produce is on sale, so is rice…" Ochako mumbled to herself, mentally preparing her own shopping list.
Midoriya grabbed two shopping baskets, holding one in each hand, "I'll carry your things for you." He directed that towards both girls with a bright smile.
"Thank you, Deku-kun!" Ochako beamed, clasping her hands together.
"Thanks." The pink haired teen nodded towards the boy.
"Okay, how do we want to tackle this mission?" The brunette asked, suddenly comically serious about grocery shopping.
Natsumi bit back a chuckle, "Well, not sure how much you need to get but we could start here in produce and then work our way towards the frozen and refrigerated section."
"Sounds like a plan." The bubbly brunette nodded emphatically.
The three started towards the produce section where the two girls picked out several varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables to get them through the week. Every once in a while, Ochako would hold up an awkwardly shaped vegetable and the two girls would start laughing while Midoriya's face would flood with color.
Shopping was surprisingly fun with the two of them there with her and she found herself thoroughly enjoying the time spent with the duo despite her previous reservations. Natsumi wasn't used to being around other people for prolonged periods of time and generally felt intense bouts of anxiety and unease when the thought of going out and being around other people presented itself to her. But…these two were so easy going, even if Midoriya was a little shy, and it was so refreshing and genuinely nice to not feel so utterly alone for once.
"I'm glad we did this together, we should do it again sometime!" Ochako grinned, clutching her bags of groceries as she waved to her two classmates. They had finished their shopping and were now ready to part ways, the brunette was heading in the opposite direction of Natsumi and Midoriya had offered to carry her bags home for her.
"Yeah, it was nice." The pink haired teen agreed with a slight nod of her head.
"Maybe next time Miyano-san will be in better health." Midoriya offered her a warm smile.
Natsumi's lips twitched into a lopsided grin, "Eh, we'll see. I'm sick more than I'd really like to admit."
Ochako and Midoriya gave her sympathetic looks, they understood more than anyone the feeling of having an unfortunate drawback.
The pink haired teen waved it off nonchalantly, "No worries, it's no big deal."
"Well, we'll have to plan something in the future for sure!" Ochako turned on her heel before glancing over her shoulder, "Have a good night!"
"Y-you too, Uraraka-san!"
"Call me Ochako!" She called back to Midoriya who shuffled uncomfortably, cheeks burning red. Her gaze flitted over to Natsumi, silently urging her to do the same.
After the brunette had departed Natsumi felt Midoriya's stare and turned to meet his gaze, "You really don't have to carry my things, I think I can manage it."
He shook his head stubbornly, a bright smile upturned on his lips, "No, you're ill. What if you become so fatigued while walking back home with your bags that you collapse? What if you hit your head? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something like that happened and I was able to prevent it."
She was taken aback by his reasoning for a moment before a small laugh escaped her lips, "You've got an overactive imagination, don't you?" She shut her eyes for a moment and let out a sigh, opening them again with a small smile, "All right, you win."
Midoriya beamed, clutching the bags in his hands tightly, "You live close by, right?"
Natsumi nodded, pink waves bobbing back and forth with the action, "Yeah, just a couple blocks away, not too far I promise."
He shook his head frantically at the realization of what his words may have implied, "Oh no, I-I didn't mean it like that! I don't mind either way."
She laughed and waved him off again, "I know that wasn't what you meant, don't worry."
They walked side by side in comfortable silence for the remaining distance and it was nice, no forced conversations or awkward silences….just an amicable quietness between the two that didn't need to be filled by pointless chatter.
They stopped in front of an apartment complex that was a dull gray color and must've been at least six or seven stories tall from what Midoriya could tell from a quick glance upwards. There was a series of steps leading from the sidewalk up to the front door, chipped and worn in places from time.
The boy cast a quick glance over at his classmate, "Is this where you live?"
Noticing his slight trepidation at the sight of the worn-down building she laughed and nodded, "Yeah, it's pretty old but I promise it's nicer than it looks."
She led him inside and up six flights of stairs, Midoriya silently thanked the deities above for all of the training he had done over the summer that kept him in shape and from getting winded by the insane amount of stairs they were climbing.
"Here we are." She announced as they reached the landing on the sixth floor, standing in front of a crimson red door that stood out against cream colored walls. Her fingers fumbled with her keys for a moment before finding the correct one and pushing it into the keyhole, twisting it and opening the now unlocked door.
"It's not much…" She muttered while slipping off her shoes, almost nervous about what he would think, "…but it's home."
Midoriya quickly slipped off his shoes and placed them neatly by the door, he glanced around the apartment, noticing its simple décor and minimalistic approach suggesting that maybe she didn't come from money. Not that he was really one to talk when it came to money.
From where he stood in the doorway the apartment opened up to the family room on his left, it was a decent size and boasted a comfy, well loved, dark navy couch facing a little television and several gaming systems set up, controllers and game boxes strewn haphazardously across the floor. In the corner of the room was a dark wooden stand holding up a fish tank with live rock and brightly colored fish swimming back and forth, he caught himself staring at the tank for several minutes, almost mesmerized by the colorful creatures inside.
Natsumi noticed him staring and bit her lip to hide the grin forming, "Landlord found it after evicting this one guy that lived a few doors down, so I decided to take it. They're beautiful, aren't they?"
He angled his chin to glance over his shoulder at her, "Yeah, are they saltwater?"
She nodded eagerly in confirmation, closing the door behind him as he stepped further into her apartment. To his right was a wall with a large rectangular opening peering into the kitchen. Taking a few steps forward, bags still in hand, he noticed a narrow hallway off of the kitchen where two doors stood opposite each other—he assumed her bedroom and the bathroom.
But one thing seemed a little off to him.
"Where are your parents?"
The girl faltered at his question, her lips slipping into a neutral expression, "They're gone."
"Go—"
"Dead." She quickly interjected.
He immediately regretted his question, eyes widened in panicked realization as he spluttered out a jumble of words, "I'msosorryIdidn't—"
"It's fine, Midoriya-kun. I know you didn't know, it's not exactly something that I broadcast." She softened her gaze when she saw the glassy, teary-eyed stare he was giving her, "I'm serious, It's okay. It happened a few years ago—stop looking at me like that!"
He bit his lip, mossy curls falling into his eyes as he dipped his chin and frantically wiped at his eyes before looking up to meet her gaze with an apologetic smile, "Sorry, sorry."
"Good, now go put those bags on the kitchen counter." She commanded playfully.
The boy bobbed his head and shuffled over to her small kitchen, lifting the bags in his arms and gently dropping them down onto the countertops.
She sidled up beside him, making him jump at her sudden appearance and eliciting an amused laugh from the young girl.
"Do you want anything to drink? I can make some tea really quick."
He ran a had through his unruly mossy green mop, "Ah, n-no I would love to, but I promised mom I wouldn't be out t-too late."
She nodded quickly in understanding, bringing her fingers up to her mask and pulling it down to rest around her neck, giving him a crooked smile, "Well, I really appreciate all the help today."
His lips pulled back into a bright grin, dark green eyes alight with such sincerity that Natsumi was momentarily lost in them, "O-oh, it was nothing. I was happy to help, Miyano-san."
"You can call me Natsumi, or Natsu, or I guess whatever you're really comfortable with." She ended with a sheepish laugh, she had never really been one for formalities, that had been something she had adopted and practiced when she was first accepted into Yūei so she wouldn't stand out too much.
The offer seemed to catch him off guard, a girl had asked him to call her by her first name…as that realization dawned on him, he found himself spluttering unintelligible words, his cheeks flaring bright red.
His obvious nervousness caused Natsumi to laugh at him once again, "Like I said, whatever you're comfortable with."
She led him back to the door where he slipped on his shoes, turning back to face her once he had calmed down and his cheeks were no longer a radiant red but more of a dusty rose, "Have a good night, Miy—N-Natsu-chan."
Natsumi blinked, not expecting him to use her actual name so quickly, "Y-you too. G'night, Midoriya-kun."
So, funny thing is I had half of this chapter written wayyy back in December but then I just got caught up with work and the holidays that I kind of just left it and didn't pick it back up until like 3 days ago. I figured I needed to get my shit together and finish this chapter because once Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out in a week and a half I'm going to be consumed by that for a little while lmao.
I really wanted to have her have some interactions with more of her classmates before we go through the USJ incident so I figured I would just stretch things out a little before that happens. Next chapter may or may not start the USJ incident, I'm not sure yet, I was pretty deadest on having one more chapter before we go through that ordeal but now I'm not so sure. I guess I'll figure things out when I start to write it out lol
She tends to rely heavily on violence to solve problems, something that was demonstrated during the simulation battles and also in the hallway when she was pushed. We will learn more about her upbringing later on, but that was definitely something that she was taught to rely on growing up.
I recently (and by that I mean a few months ago) bought a tank and turned it into a saltwater tank so I've been incredibly obsessed with saltwater fish and researching everything that I just needed to include my newfound hobby in this story too haha.
I seriously want to thank everyone who favorited and followed this story! I promise I won't give up on this, updates sometimes may be slow because of work and all that, but I'll do my best to get things written as quickly as I can.
I would love to hear your thoughts or even if anyone has questions about her or anything! Again, thank you so much!
