Oh boy! He's been having great days lately! It's already been a month since he started meeting with his new friends. They even started meeting in other places! They went for ramen, in the park, went shopping together... There was even a day when Tenya, Ochako and Tsuyu decided to see each other at the train station and went to Izuku's school. And that day ended up becoming routine! He felt so lucky... Lucky that he now had someone waiting for him, like when he was little and chased Kacchan...
Don't think on Kacchan. Kacchan is not important in this moment of his life. No, he is not... He might miss that friend who played and carried him for ten years of his life! But thinking about the blonde boy all the time just made him feel super sad... Think on nice things Izuku! Think on nice thing! Pro-bending! His new friends! Uncle Masaru and Auntie Mitsuki! His mom! His red sneakers! Writing and researching things! Learning about the elements!
... Learning about the elements! That reminded Izuku that he started studying the elements with his friends. Uraraka's airbending was impressive (With just a few movements of her fingers she managed to lift small objects as if making them float! That's how she was able to make him "float" when they met each other! She normally could do it just with small objects, but she was able to lift him! She was a prodigy!) Iida's earthbending and metalbending were amazing (Iida wore pieces of metal on his clothes along with metal boots, and with metalbending he was able propel himself to be as fast as a car! This was part of his training as a detective in the city!), and Tsuyu's waterbending (SHE COULD BEND A WATER WHIP WITH HER TONGUE! That was impressive as heck!). He also wrote what he learned from them and from their movements in a notebook; and he helped them improve with his analysis and things that he himself had learned from the internet and books.
All legally, obviously, because otherwise Iida would scold them all the time.
His annotations and analysis had started to help them a lot, especially Uraraka.
And speaking of the chestnut girl: It was a Sunday morning. Normally those days Izuku and Uraraka met in a specialized park to train the elements in a regulated way.
"Freckles Freckles!" The girl came to where they regularly met, under a large and leafy tree. Izuku turned to see her, raised his hand to greet her.
"Over here, Uraraka-chan!" The girl led and sat next to him fast. "I have some new ideas for your training" And he automatically handed her his cell phone.
The first thing the girl saw was the TikTok screen, to later see a girl with pink hair making some movements on the floor: she was break dancing.
"... wait, do you want me to do that?" She turned to look at him with an incredulous face.
"N-Not like that!" He said, waving his hands like crazy. " I-I just thought it would be a good idea! I mean, the girl seems to be from the water nation and while she is moving, she doesn't make any air currents unless those currents can't be recorded on the camera, although that would make sense since the air is not visible, and I doubt that it will be recorded on video" He said, looking at the screen again.
Uraraka also saw the video from the corner of her eye...
"... Well, I could try something similar... I can do cartwheels!"
"... Oooh that could be a good start". Izuku nodded enthusiastically.
"I'll try then!" She said getting up from her place. She stepped to the side to avoid hitting Izuku ... she raised her hands and did the cartwheel.
"... Uh, you didn't do anything". Izuku said. He pulled the notebook, reading his notes on airbending.
"Why didn't it work?!" She pouted, making a movement with her hand generating a small sphere of air. "I can do things like this with my hands, but apparently not with my feet..."
Izuku brought his fingers to his lips, taking the inferior on them and squishing it a bit.
"Do you know how airbending works?" He He turned to see her raising both eyebrows.
"Do you mean movements or...?"
"No, I mean ... The science behind it"
"Hmmm ... I never really asked myself"
"Well, my research has made me know that, Airbending works through pressure and aerodynamics" He said.
The girl made a face, not quite understanding. Izuku noticed this and pouted, taking out a new sheet and writing and doodling on it, showing the girl a more graphic way to understand it in the process.
"Have you ever read how a tornado works? How are they get formed?" The girl shook her head. "Okay... For a tornado, we must have a mass of hot air above the ground" In the notebook he drew a horizontal line, and on this horizontal line he drew with another red pen some arrows that formed a circle. "This hot air rises to the sky, and mixes with another mass of cold air that is above". The girl blinked, nodding. "When this happens, it generates a stream of hot and cold air, and it starts rotating" He did the drawing as it looked. "This is supposed to be called..." he took his cell phone, checking other notes he had there. "Supercell… This is one way to generate a storm."
"Oh ... What does that have to do with a tornado?"
"Well, because when this happens, these super cells contain more than one current, which are called convection currents? These go, for example, corresponding to the hands of the clock, and then there are other currents that go the opposite of how the first ones go". He said, drawing another circle of arrows the same as the previous one but with the opposite direction. "This generates another current in the clouds that have already formed, trying to lower these air currents a bit to free themselves a little". He drew a small triangle between the two. "This generates a vertical whirlpool which is the first stage of the tornado..."
"Oooh"
"And this current start to get faster and faster until the tornado forms the moment this current touches the surface of the earth. All this, thanks to the atmospheric pressure differences of hot and cold air".
"... okay..." She narrowed her eyes processing the information. "So, what you're saying is..."
"When you airbend, you generate a current of air. The way I've seen you do it is that you cool the air enough to make this currents of air. When you do this, you also make circular motions with your fingers. You should be able to do this while making the cartwheel, you should have generated a circular current like the one that creates the supercell... but I guess you couldn't cause you focused more on not falling while doing the cartwheel than on doing the change of temperature in the air while doing the movement". He said, bringing his thumb and forefinger to his lips.
"... Makes sense. Because in fact it is a bit difficult for me to do these pirouettes... But then how do I do it without thinking about anything else?"
"Um ... Maybe by thinking on it as part of your nature?..." He thought a little. "I have a friend... An acquaintance, who is a firebender. He always told me that when he fights and practices his powers, he just thinks on strategies before getting into it, but while he's practicing, he follows his instincts, making him unpredictable, able to win his matches. I think maybe it should be the case on bending: Bending is a second nature".
"... Uy! I don't know, that sounds hard".
"hmmm... Let's see, can you do the cartwheel again?" He got his fingers on his chin, pouting. "But just do it don't focus on anything else".
Uraraka nodded, getting up from the ground. She did it again, and Izuku tried to draw the process quickly.
"... I think that for you to combine the wheel with airbending, you need to learn to balance yourself" He said seeing her. "You make the cartwheel well, but when you fall you do it with both feet, and it makes you go all shaky".
"... So, I must practice then!" She said enthusiastically and began to do more laps.
And so, they continued, that day it became a routine for the girl because now she was beginning to practice gymnastics through the internet: Carriage turns back and forth, somersaults, laterals, and other movements were added to her repertoire in a few months of a whole lot of practice in both school and training with Izuku and their friends. The girl gained flexibility, and soon was able to do all these leaps with ease.
And the day came when these movements were natural to her, and that she was finally able to combine the idea that her friend had given her with these.
"FREAKLES!" She shouted, arriving next to him at the same park, but without saying anything else, she just left her things next to him and made a forward somersault, generating a current of air that raised leaves and moved the tree in front of them. "I CAN DO IT! I FINALLY CAN DO IT!"
"Oh, spirits! Uraraka-chan! I'm very proud of you! This is amazing!" Izuku celebrated, getting up from his place. They clashed fists, as they used to when they managed to make advances in the chestnut's training. "I'm glad I was helpful…"
"Huge thanks!" She said clenching her fists, hitting the air with enthusiasm. "I feel like I could conquer the world!"
Izuku couldn't help but laugh. He was helping others! This was what he wanted ...
Izuku knew that good days weren't going to last forever. And he confirmed it when, for some reason, the day after Uraraka's achievement was very... Strange. At least it was not bad but ... Ugh, I'll explain: First, his alarm didn't sound, and he was late to school, which would be bad but when he arrived the teacher still had not arrived. He narrowly escaped the scolding but still he was frustrated because the teacher was two hours late.
Second: When the break came, he realized that he forgot his lunch, but when he went to buy something to eat, he realized that he had more money than he remembered... And in the cafeteria, all they had were sandwiches egg and he didn't love them, but he didn't dislike them either...
Third: The teacher arrived just to tell them he had to leave early, so they left long before the bell rang. This meant that he could go to the library sooner, maybe even come over to his house to eat something more substantial. Maybe bring the bento his mom always did for him in case something happened...
He did that: He went home, left extra things that he wouldn't need, brought his cell phone charger just in case, filled his backpack with his notebooks, took the bento and some flavored puffed rice bars (just in case) guys wanted one), and went to the library.
Fourth: ... On the cobblestone path of the library, he tripped and fell on his knees and hands to the floor. At least he was not as bad as when he met . He didn't tear the fabric of his pants and the gloves he used protected his palms, but his knees did hurt.
"I must be careful..." he said to himself, getting up from the floor and checking himself... His pants were just a bit dirty. He shook his hands off his knees and continued forward.
Obviously upon entering he realized that neither Uraraka nor Tsuyu were there yet. It was about... 12 noon... Wow, he was out early. He normally would go to scool in at seven in the morning and leave at two thirty in the afternoon unless he had to clean the classroom...
It doesn't matter, he went through the security zone first.
"Good morning, Mr. Shimano!"
"Oh! Midoriya!" The guard smiled at him. "You're early today"
"Yes ..." Izuku handed over his bento. "Do you think you can take care of this for me?"
"Yes of course". The brown-haired man smiled, taking the tupperware, and setting it behind his desk.
"You can have one of the puffed rice bars if you want"
"Thanks, young man! I only warn you that today we are going to close early, so please leave before six pm today"
"oh, uh ... Thank you" And he went upstairs, to sit at the usual table...
It had been months since he's been alone in this place. He felt empty...
He got up and went to sit on another side where the chairs were. At least having the arms of it by his side would make him feel less alone.
He spent two hours trying to read, but for some reason he couldn't concentrate. Just ... he saw the letters and his eyes hurt. Maybe he took a little sleep, that always helped him ... When he hurt himself or someone hurt him, this always made him feel extremely sleepy, just like when those voices came to his head and ... When his investigations brought back memories that he felt were not totally his... But would sleeping in the library be good? The last few times were accidents, but this would be on purpose ...
He was thinking about that when Uraraka came up behind him.
"You arrived before me!"
"Basically didn't had school today..." He rubbed his eyes
"... Are you okay?" The girl she frowned sitting next to him. Izuku always jumped when she came out of nowhere but today there was no reaction... Weird.
"Yeah, I'm just ... I'm sleepy, I think" He said taking a deep breath. "Today's been… a weird day…"
"Weird how?"
"Well..." he yawned softly. "I woke up late, but my teacher wasn't on the classroom, and when he arrived, he only gave us an hour of class and then he let us go... And fell outside on the cobblestones of the snake road"
She asked frowning. "Wait you fell? Are you ok?"
"I'm… fine... But I think that's what is making me sleepy..." he felt his eyes close.
"... Get some sleep, who's stopping you? I have a heck ton of homework today anyway". Uraraka took away the notebooks and books that he was carrying in his hands, and left them on the table next to her chair. "I'll take care of this, just rest a bit" She rubbed his curls.
And he fell asleep.
He didn't know where he was, but he felt like he was floating in water. He looked around himself and saw only impending darkness. A strange greenish-black smoke covered his mouth and body... Or rather, he was made of that greenish-black smoke, for he really didn't feel anything else besides his right hand, his nose, his cheeks, his eyelids, and his eyes...
In front of him, there was a white-haired girl... She looked like Yue, the girl from the statue in Rep City's library...
She said something, but the words didn't reach his ears ... In fact, he didn't even have ears.
He turned to the sides without understanding anything, but he managed to see that the girl smiled sideways, and approached stretching out a hand... And he raised his hand automatically, taking the girl's hand and-
When he opened his eyes, he didn't move. He felt extremely disoriented and tired, as if he had any slept at all since... Yesterday. The sunlight coming through the great glass wall reached his face, causing him to close his eyes again ... and he could hear voices near him.
"Don't you think that Midoriya is sometimes very weird?" Tsuyu asked, putting her hand to her cheek.
"Weird how?" Uraraka looked up from the book he had.
"Weird, like… In general". The girl sighed, closing the book that she had in front of her. "When we do the investigations of the one with the four elements, he tells us fun facts, but sometimes it seems like he says those things as if he lived through them"
"Well... It's because he's very passionate about his mother's stories. Don't you remember what he told us?" She cocked her head.
"I do remember, but it's just weird… Sometimes when he talks about these, his eyes look like..."
"... Melancholic?
"And old"
"... Well, I have noticed..." Uraraka sighed, leaning against the back of her chair. "I mean, yeah, it's weird. But maybe it's because those stories are from his childhood?"
Tsuyu stared at her for a few seconds. Ochako didn't seem very convinced.
"In his notebook he has many notes that say they come from dreams".
"... Now that you mention it ..." Uraraka frowned. "... I think I've read that too... And I asked him, but he said nothing"
Tsuyu pouted. "... Those who control the elements are supposed to be... Reincarnations, right?" Tsuyu looked up at the ceiling.
"... What do you want to get with this?" Ochako between her closed her eyes.
The greenette shrugged. "Normally reincarnations have memories of their past lives, right? Well, at least that's what comics and books says"
"... Izu-kun's a non-bender. I doubt this is the case".
"True, but it wouldn't necessarily have to be THAT person... It could be the case of a reincarnation that was close to them"
"... Like Sokka or Asami?"
"Yes."
"oh. That makes more sense. " Uraraka made a funny face.
Tsuyu laughed a little.
"It also gives me the creeps when he falls asleep out of nowhere". Uraraka said, bringing her hand to her chin.
"That's worrisome ". Tsuyu agreed. "Before actually talking to y'all, he had to see him fall asleep in the chair".
"I've had to take care of him while he sleeps about three times already". The brunette raised an eyebrow.
Izuku at that moment shook his body, starting to stretch.
Oh! Sleeping beauty has awakened!" Uraraka joked, turning to see the boy. Izuku just nodded, turning instead towards them.
"... Were you talking about me?"
They both turned to see.
"... No?" Tsuyu tried to lie, but Izuku was still too disoriented to notice it. "Why would we talk about you, kero?"
"I-I don't know" Izuku got up from his chair and approached them rubbing his eyes. "I just… heard… like that"
"Oh, you're just still sleepy" Ochako said in a sappy tone.
"I-I guess..." he sat next to Tsuyu.
They were silent for a few minutes... until Iida came from behind.
"Good afternoon!" He said animatedly, sitting next to Uraraka.
"Hello Iida-kun..." Izuku saw him tired.
"Uh, is he all right?" Tenya adjusted her glasses, frowning.
"He's been like this since I arrived. He slept for four hours" Uraraka turned to see him
Izuku blinked in surprise... Four hours?
"... What time is it?"
"Six o'clock" Tsuyu responded by poking her cheek.
It was at that moment that his stomach made a noise.
"... Midoriya-kun, have you eaten?" the blue haired boy approached the one with green curls, looking at him inquisitively.
Izuku turned red, turning sideways.
"We will take that as a no". Uraraka said laughing.
"... I-I brought a bento that my mom prepared for me, I left it downstairs with the security guys..." He said, getting up from his place. "I-If you want, I'll leave you here, I'll... eat downstairs". He stretched.
" It's okay Izu-kun~"
"Don't fall asleep again, kero"
"Bon Appetit, Midoriya!"
He smiled, starting to walk down the stairs, seeing through the glass wall. Now that he remembered... he overheard the entire conversation of the two girls. They talked about him, and the "strange things" he did…
Hm. His mother is a nurse, she told him that his constant sleep changes were normal for boys his age, and that they were not such a worrying thing either... Besides, he was already controlling this weird sleep schedule his body imposed him. Today was just a weird day, the whole day was weird.
And about the stories... Well, he was just very passionate! His mother also told these stories like that! If she was so excited, so was he. Even more! Especially with those beautiful dreams that he had...
... speaking of dreams... what was that?
He stopped. He looked toward the great glass wall. He pressed his face to the window, squinting, observing the fountain from afar...
Yue. The girl in the dream looked like Yue, the princess who was sculpted in that fountain in the great garden of the library ... The girl in the dream was pretty, she smiled warmly at him, she said something to him ... it was her? Did she hear her?
"Yue... Was she Yue? Princess Yue… the girl who turned into the spirit of the moon... Are you real?" He brought his fingers to his lower lip, squeezing it a bit..
He continued his way down the stairs.
"Ah?" His bento was on top of the counter where they kept all the things that people left before entering. He took it in his hands... Why would Mr. Shimano leave it there? He turned sideways, looking for the guard who was always there. "Hello? Is anybody here?" He peeked into the office that was next to security… "A-Anyone?" He walked to the front door now, hoping that, perhaps, the guard had stepped out or something ...
But he reached the door, and it didn't open.
"W-Wait wha-what!?" He shooked it. "Open the door! Please!" But it was in vain: It was locked.
"... GUYS!"
Fifth strange thing of the day: he was locked in the library with his friends.
Ochako, Tenya and Tsuyu were calm in their places, sitting, chatting quietly as they always did in the library.
"Do you think then that reincarnations are real? And that Midoriya-kun is one?" Tenya raised an eyebrow, adjusting his glasses.
"Basically, that's what we've been looking for, right? Midoriya-kun has searched for this kind of info for a long time, kero" Tsuyu said, putting a hand to her cheek. "Somehow, unconsciously, he keeps looking".
"Irrefutable logic, Asui-san".
"Call me Tsu, kero"
"What I find curious is that we are searching so much about the guys of the four elements. Hardly anyone talks about it anymore. And those who know the stories take it as fairy tales" Ochako leaned back on the table frowning. "If you look at school books or when we have history class, it's noticeable there are things that they don't tell us" she began to play with a pencil.
"I've noticed. " Tsuyu turned towards the ceiling.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the commission just decided to omit things. They are in charge of education anyway" Tenya added, crossing his arms. "First, because the story is always told by the people who won and people who are powerful, and it is likely that someone doesn't want normal people to find out about something that happened in the past that could cause chaos. And second, because a person being able to bend the four elements, ease evil spirits, help good spirits, and more things that we have found through old diaries and Midoriya-kun's notebooks, is extremely hard to believe" He did a robotic hand motion again. "The fact that people like us exist, I mean people who are able to bend the elements is difficult to understand, but we are very used to the fact that we exist. The question would be why do we do it? And are there really spirits out there? Like, do they exist? Does the person who bends the four elements exist? Or existed?"
"I think our existence is enough proof that these things could exist. If people with powers like us exist, it shouldn't be hard to guess there are dual, third or fourth bending users" Ochako frowned at Iida. "Don't believe in anything and everything that we have investigated with Izu-kun? Does it seems silly to you?"
"Of course not!" Iida said suddenly, slicing the air with his hand, offended. "In fact, I think a lot of things we've found make sense! The blood of the great Toph Beifong runs in my veins and we are sure that she accompanied Aang on his travels! She, too, helped Korra at some point! I was just trying to find something to justify the disappearance of such important characters as Korra, Aang, Kyoshi, Kuruk, Roku, Genji, and many others, from the history books! The fact that they all are gone from the popular knowledge makes it more likely that they all had some common enemy, which ended up making them disappear from the face of the collective mind!" Iida explained while continuing to make his robotic movements.
"Yeah, I understand! But it's just…" Uraraka sighed. "Sometimes I just think about what they could have done to them and.. get kinda sca-"
"GUYS!"
"Kero! Was that Midoriya?!" Tsuyu asked, turning to see them.
"Oh no! Freckles!" Ochako automatically got up, running to the stairs.
"Uraraka-kun, don't run in the library it is forbidden!" Iida said, but he got up behind her chasing her. Tsuyu just sighed getting up and going after them.
When they got to the ladder, the first thing they saw was the boy in blue climbing the steps two at a time (Since when was he so agile?). Iida caught him in the middle air.
"Midoriya, you don't have to run or scream! But what happened?!" The boy in blue asked alarmed.
"Iida-kun! When you came in, was the guard Shimano in the entrance?! Or someone else?!" He asked, panting. He had his lunch intact in his hands.
"Aw, your tupper is cute!" Tsuyu couldn't help saying, seeing the Tupper that he had rabbit prints on the lid.
"Uh ... thanks! B-But that doesn't matter! Iida-kun! Answer please!"
Iida raised his hands. "When I entered, I saw the guard nothing more"
"Didn't he talk to you or something?!"
"... Oh no" Iida's eyes widened, and he brought his hands to his head "He told me that they were going to close early and that we should left quickly..."
"... Oh no, he said the same to me! That they were going to close at 6 pm!" Uraraka said suddenly and began to look around him. "Are we alone!?"
"Worse! We are locked up!" Izuku turned to see the door. "I-I tried to open the door but it was locked down!"
"Ribbit… What are we gonna do now?" Tsuyu frowned. "Shouldn't the guard have checked for any people who could still be here?"
"I suppose not. When I was going up stairs, I saw other people were going down. I guess they got out. I'm sure he might have thought they were us" Iida said, trying to reason the situation.
Izuku brought her fingers to his lips.
" Oh no, this is bad, we don't have the workers phone numbers to ask them to come and take us out of here and I don't think that activating the alarm on purpose to attract someone is a good idea because-because it could be in our criminal record I think we should do something else besides that, B-But if it were like that then the alarm should have already been activated when I tried to open the door. Maybe it doesn't actually work but-oh no What if everything is being recorded? Th-There must be cameras everywhere, they'll see that we still are here-no wait there are no cameras on this floor, but-but the alarms could go off and tha-that would be very bad for us and-"
"Izu-kun, calm down!" Uraraka interrupted, taking him by the shoulders and puffing out her cheeks.
How am I going to calm down?! We're locked in here without being able to get out! M-My mom is going to worry if I don't make it home! What about Asui-I meam Tsuyu-chan?! Her parents are waiting for her too! And what abo-"
A slightly light slap from the brunette interrupted him.
"We will find the solution! Just don't get nervous! And neither do you!" She said turning to see the other two. "Now just… Go and eat, and tell your mom what happened... Meanwhile, we will see what to do to get out of here" She pointed to Izuku's lunch, and he just pouted, walking to the stairs and starting to eat.
"Okay, you calmed him kero. But what do we do now?" Tsuyu asked nervously, playing with her hands.
"Find how to get out of here, What else?" She said confidently, shrugging her shoulders. "We must find an open window or something".
"Sorry to crush your idea, but going out a window is not very viable". Iida said, doing the same robotic movement with his hands. "The windows are small on the first floor, and if we go out on the second or third floor, we will have to use our elements to go out, and that is illegal. And difficult, since Midoriya can't bend and has not good physical abilities".
Uraraka hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Spirits, my plans never work!"
"We just must find another solution, kero" Tsuyu said, looking at the glass wall. "... Why did they close so early today? It's barely seven o'clock, kero"
"My brother Tensei said that today was going to be a marathon in front of this street. I imagine that was the main reason" He brought a hand to his chin.
"... Uh" Uraraka turned to see Iida. "Couldn't you tell your brother to get us out? He's a policeman isn't he?"
"Detective. And he is working, he is forbidden to use the cell phone during work!"
"Well he could help us when he stops working!"
"... Oh, that's true! I'll send him a message! But we will have to wait then since today it leaves at o'clock!"
"That's a solution, kero. We will wait a few hours then".
Izuku heard them from his place, with his cheeks full of food.
"Well, if we're going to wait ... I'll continue my research..." he said to himself in a low voice.
He was really having a VERY bad day. After finishing eating, he tried to do what he set out to do: read. But an hour had passed, and his head gave no indication of helping. His brain just said... not today, thank you.
"Freckles?" Uraraka stung his shoulder. He had been looking at the same page for more than twenty minutes.
"... I can't focus on anything"
"Why?"
"I-I don't know. All day I've been feeling weird... Extra tired".
"Did you sleep last night?" Iida turned to see him severely. "You must sleep at night to be able to perform correctly during the day!"
"I did sleep, Iida-kun! I slept about four hours on that couch!" He pointed to an armchair that was nearby. "But I feel like I haven't slept in... three days" He yawned, and then droped onto the table face-to-face, hitting his nose in the process but not doing anything against it. "... Ow that hurts".
Uraraka raised an eyebrow.
"Are you stressed about something?"
"... No? I don't exams until two weeks" He doesn't have Kacchan bothering him since a month ago, and Kacchan's new suddenly waving and smiling at him in such a friendly way makes him feel less bad about not being Kacchan's friend anymore...
"Let me see how stressed you are, kero". Tsuyu got up from her seat, approaching him. Izuku didn't move, still with his face squized against the table, just... he stayed there.
Suddenly, the green-haired girl ran her fingers all over Izuku's spine.
"Aaaaaaah! don't do that!" He got up and shook, feeling chills go through his entire body. "I-I-It feels horrible, hey!" The jolt almost made him fell out of the chair. In the end he just dropped back onto the table, now on his cheek.
"Sorry!" She said nervously. "But if you shook yourself like that, I think it means that you are very stressed, kero". She pouted.
"… eh… ah"
"Oh-Oh, do me! Do me! Do me!" Uraraka dropped onto the table, just like Izuku. "Let's see what that feels like!"
Tsuyu did the same with Uraraka, running three fingers all over the girl's spine. She also shook but not as hard as Izuku.
"Oh, if it feels bad!" She shook her head. "… ONE MORE TIME!"
"Uraraka-kun, stop" Iida put his hand on the girl's head. "I think Asui-san wants to come up with something with this" He did his typical movement.
"Call me Tsu, kero" She just sighed. "By the way, can you give me my bottle of water? It is in my bag". The girl pointed to her backpack, and the one with glasses rose to grab the canteen she pointed to.
" Here you go, Asui-san"
Tsuyu just sighed.
"I told you to call me Tsu, and thank you, kero" She took it in her hands, opening it. She let drop some water from it but it stayed suspended in the air, while she did a movement with her hand: She was waterbending it. "I want to try something, Midoriya-kun. Can you lift your hair a little?"
"... What do you want to do?" He asked, but he lifted the curls from his neck.
"The other day I read in my book that there are ways to relieve stress with waterbending and it's healing abilities" She said calmly, taking the raised water in her hand to her neck.
"... Okay. I think I know what you want to do. My mom told me that it's possible to affect the brain via healing. I think that's how Aamon was able to block bending too..." he let himself do whatever the girl was going to do.
Tsuyu nodded. She began to make movements with her hands, the water on Izuku's neck began to spin in a small circle, and the water began to glow in a blue hue.
"What do you want to do to him Tsuyu?" Ochako got up from her place, watching the water spin on Izuku's neck.
"I'm trying to help him raise your levels of serotonin, dopamine, and some endorphins to help him to de-stress" She said quietly. He just closed his eyes…
"... I don't understand, Asui-san" Iida frowned.
"It's something I learned from my books". She said calm, trying to keep her movements smooth, but her hand movements were… not gentle.
"Uh... Have you done it before?" Izuku asked kinda worried. His mom told him that even talented people in the field had to be careful on this type of healing because it could mess with the patient in a bad way.
"Don't talk, kero" Tsuyu didn't answer his question, she just continued with her movements.
Izuku pouted. He just sighed and allowed himself to feel… whatever she was doing to him, he didn't felt any change if he was honest.
"... What are you-"
"Don't talk, kero.
"Sorry but-"
"I'm telling you not to talk" Tsuyu made a movement that made the sparkling water touch the fingers that held the curls of the green hair. "If you distract me, something bad could happen, kero".
"Something bad?" Asked Ochako frowning.
" I think? Healing is supposed to be natural for us, but the truth is, I'm not very good, kero".
"So, I'm a guinea pig"
"Don't talk, kero". She said, closing her fists. He felt the water touch him again, now directly his neck. He felt a chill at this, but instantly he felt something "click" on his body. Tsuyu went back to the movements and after a few seconds she stopped.
"Hmmm... I think I'm done" She raised her hands and automatically the water stopped shining, and with a smooth movement she returned it to her bottle.
Izuku got up.
"How are you feeling, Midoriya-kun? " Iida asked.
"Normal... I'm not sleepy anymore!" The curly-haired boy blinked and turned sideways. "I don't know what you've done to me but... Thank you" He wiped the back of his neck.
"You're welcome, kero" She smiled a little, although she said under her breath "I'm glad I could make it without messing up"
"… Messing up?" Uraraka frowned.
"I'm not very good at medicine" Tsuyu just shrugged.
Izuku turned to look at her in disbelief.
"... So, I was a guinea pig?"
"Basically, kero".
"Asui-san, I think you should be a bit more cautious with this kind of things". Iida started scolding her. "You shouldn't play with the health of your friends, or use them as guinea pigs for your experiments"
"But I don't think that if I did something "wrong", something excessively bad would have happen to him" She quietly drank from her bottle.
Izuku frowned a little.
"Actually... I agree with Iida, Tsu-chan" he started playing with his fingers, but kept looking at her. "My momma's a nurse, and she always told me that, using this kind of knowledge to heal things that aren't wounds and, y'know, internal processes… is dangerous and you must be very careful while doing it"
"I know that. I tried to be as careful as I could so I wouldn't end up messing anything for you, kero. That's why I asked you keep quiet". She poked his cheek a little playfully. "But it is not as if I worked on your heart or some dangerous zone. I worked on your neck" She explained, tilting her head. "And although I am not an expert, I know how to avoid certain areas to avoid bad experiences".
"... Okay..." The greenette sighed, looking at the ceiling.
"... Tsuyu, can you do that to me too?" Ochako asked, lying down. "I doubt I'm stressed as Izuku but ..." she shrugged.
Ten or fifteen later he tried to go back to business, his energy was back but... he still didn't want to read, so he was watching TikToks on his phone. Ochako, who also received this strange "boost" of energy from Tsuyu, was watching videos together with him.
"I think that what you did, didn't work at all, Asui-san" Iida said making a face. "They are more distracted than before".
Tsuyu sighed, she would have to get used to the boy not calling her what he wanted.
"I guess not, but at least Midoriya-kun is no longer a living zombie".
Izuku laughed at one of the videos, Ochako took his phone and wrote something on it.
"What are you guys doing?" Iida got up from his place and went to where they were.
" Nothing! " Ochako said. Izuku made waved his hands trying to give himself some air cause he was laughing out loud, even with tears in his eyes. He changed the video.
The one with blue hair leaned out to see the cell phone.
"... NOOO!" The three screamed at the same time.
"W-What happened?!" Tsuyu asked altered.
"You don't want to know!" Said Ochako, but she gave Tsuyu Izuku's phone.
Tsuyu took the cell phone. The video showed a girl, and a little kitten... It looked like she was going to give him a little kiss.
"Kero, how cu-NO!" She screamed, after seeing that the girl instead of giving him a kiss bit the cat's face (softly, but still it still looked just as funny and horrifying). " Why are you seeing this?!" She asked horrified.
"I-I think we're on pet tiktok! I don't know! We just saw that!" Izuku said, starting to laugh again for no reason. Tsuyu handed him his cell phone again, but she got up and stood behind them to see as well.
They were watching more videos, including one of a peculiar boy with red and white hair... Todoroki-kun? Izuku thought, but Ochako switched videos without even thinking about it. At the time he didn't pay much attention, but those red and white colors stood on his mind for a little.
It was at that moment that he felt something strange on himself. An even bigger energy hit that just made him fall on the table, making a big noise while his phone crashed against it.
"I'm hungry again!" He said, beginning to slap the table with his hands.
"Hungry?" Ochako turned to see him.
"Yeah~ a lot" Now he started to move his feet too.
"... Midoriya-kun, are you feeling okay?" Tsuyu passed a hand in front of the boy's eyes.
"Amazing! But hungry! And very thirsty". He turned to see her with a sappy smile.
Tsuyu at that moment noticed that his eyes were dilated.
"... Kero ... Midoriya-kun, what did you eat before it helped you with stress?"
"Eh? Before..." the boy with freckles turned to see the bento tupper. "... I don't remember..." And he started laughing a lot again.
"Tsuyu what did you do!?" Ochako asked, laughing nervously.
"Midoriya-kun, look at me" Tsuyu asked, frowning. She cupped his cheeks. "Remember. What did you eat?"
"Uh ... Don't make me think right now..."
"Oh no. Who are you and what did you do to my friend? " Ochako said extremely nervous, but laughing too? Nervous laughter.
"Uraraka-kun, I don't think this is the time for jokes! And Midoriya-kun, answer the question!" Iida scolded them both
"Oh..." He turned to see his bento again. "Now that I think about it, it was a fruit salad, fried rice, and a chocolate-filled muffin... And a rice-crispies bar"
"Did you just eat that?! No wonder you are hungry again!" Iida said, scolding the boy.
"It was the lunch that I had to take to school..." Izuku puffed out his cheeks.
Ochako just stared at them.
"... That's a lot of sugar... You said you're thirsty, right? And that you have a lot of energy".
Izuku simply nodded. He kept the silly smile.
"I think Midoriya got a sugar rush, kero".
"A what?" Iida asked. Izuku kept moving his feet and hands like crazy.
"A sugar rush... It's... What happens to little kids when they eat a lot of sugar, kero" She put a finger to his cheek. "This happens to my siblings when they eat sugar after six in the afternoon".
Oh yeah. This is the sixth weird thing that happened to him today: Having a sugar rush.
"I used to have that when I was little!" Ochako exclaimed, raising a hand. "My parents used to make me run around the house until I fell from fatigue"
"I do the same thing when I must take care of them and they eat cookies without my permission, kero" Tsuyu looked at the curly haired one, thinking what to do. "Midoriya-kun, do you usually have sugar rush? Or did you had those when you were little?"
"Uh-no. In fact, everything makes me sleepy" He shrugged.
"... Oh no" Tsuyu put a hand to her mouth. "Was it me?..."
"Naaah, maybe I'm just happy~" The boy stretched out in the chair, and then he stared at nothing for a few seconds... And then he turned to see Uraraka. "I want to run, can we run?"
"Midoriya-kun, we are in a library! We can't run!... Although it might help you with your current condition..." he put a hand to his chin.
Tsuyu just stared at him.
"Midoriya-kun, run around the table until you get tired, kero".
Izuku listened, starting to run around the table.
"Wow, you sound like a big sister" Ochako said, she was bouncing on her chair.
"... Ochako-chan"
"What?"
"You don't feel the same, do you?
"..." The brunette put a hand to her chin. "Now that you mention it... I feel energized but not at the level of needing to run".
" Look me in the eye, kero." Ochako listened, looking at her with her big round eyes. "... Something tells me that it was me" Tsuyu crossed her arms. "Reminder: Never doing this again"
"Eh?"
"Now... Ochako-chan, run around the table.
"WHAT!? Why!?"
"Your eyes are all sparkly just like Midoriya's, kero" Tsuyu finally sat down in Izuku's chair.
"B-But I don't feel as-"
"It doesn't matter"
"… Ains..." She got up and started chasing the green haired one.
They stayed like that for a while until Ochako stopped.
"It's boring running in circles!" The brunette complained. "Can't we try something else?"
Izuku didn't stop and did a full turn, bumping into Ochako's back in the process. Obviously, he stopped after this, but he just laughed and said tiny "sorrys" under his breath.
"W-Watch out, freckles!" She turned to see him. The boy still looked too animated. She sighed. "Don't you think we could do something else? I don't know, run up the ladder?"
"Running on the stairs is very dangerous, Uraraka-kun" Tenya said, adjusting his glasses. "I would recommend that you continue running around the table, at least this way we will keep all the noise that could get us in trouble if they see us on the camera recordings"
"But we are locked up and alone! It's boring! You guys are boring!" She said pointing to her friends in a mocking way.
"Actually, there are no cameras on this floor, only at the entrance and on the third floor because there are computers up there. And on an "only authorized" door" Izuku said in a low voice, but everyone heard him.
" Midoriya-kun, how do you know that?!"
"... I don't like to feel watched! Okay?!" He said hugging himself.
"See!?" The chubby cheeked girl said, doing jazz hands "We can do whatever we want! I say let's do something livelier, Izu-kun!"
Tsuyu stared at both sugar rush kids. Izuku was hopping in his place, and Ochako kept looking quite animated... Then, she saw how the brunette put her arm around the boy's shoulders, moving from one side to the other and making the other move from one side to the other side to side as well. They seemed to be dancing.
" ... What if you record from those videos? Where kids and teens like us dance?" She said, taking her cell phone. "Those tiktok videos".
"Hey that's a good idea ~" Ochako said, throwing himself on the table and taking Izuku's cell phone. "Let's make some TikToks, Freckles!
"OK!" Izuku just raised his hands, shaking them. "But I must warn that I dance like a drunk giraffe..." he whispered.
"Drunk giraffe!? I must see that!"
"You don't want to see! You're going to end up hating me!
The truth is that they didn't record much at the end. They didn't knew any choreography, and Izuku was right in saying that he danced like a drunk giraffe: Uncoordinated and almost fell three times; so, they better decided to put on music and start dancing in the hallway without recording anything (Izuku was sure that Ochako uploaded a tiktok onto HIS account… A video of him dancing HORRIBLY... He hoped it won't go viral).
"Guys, we're in a library! We must not make noise! They could scold us! I know Midoriya said there were no cameras around here, but maybe they'll find out, because they have microphones or something!
"When there's no police around everything is legal!" Izuku said, strangely more animated than before. He hopped up on the table. "Sorry but I need to blow up some steam!" He jumped from the table to the floor.
"Eeeh! Midoriya-kun got worse!" Tenya screamed, catching the boy, carrying him in one arm. "Asui-san! You are forbidden to do that again!"
Tsuyu sighed, grimacing. "I already learned my lesson since their eyes widened, Iida"kun ..."
"Uh..." Uraraka sat down on the floor. "I think I'm finally tired." She laid on the floor. "Iida-kun, has your brother already answered you? What time is it?
Iida checked his phone, still with the freckled one on his arm.
"... He just saw the message... I'm going to send him another" Iida released the green haired boy, who went to lie down next to Uraraka, but he kept waving his arms like crazy. "Let's hope that now he answers me, and someone comes for us".
"I'm still hungry"
"I think it's the sugar rush, and the thirst that's messing up with your stomach" Tsuyu also went to lie down next to them. "Unfortunately, you ran out of my water a while ago".
"... Oh"
Iida stared at them, raising an eyebrow... In the end, he decided to do the same: lay on the floor with them. The four there formed a cross on the floor, looking at the ceiling.
"… It's been a long ago since I've spent so much time with friends" Izuku suddenly said, smiling a bit.
"Do you consider us your friends?" Iida asked, bringing his hands to his stomach.
"Yeah" Izuku couldn't help but smile. "We haven't known each other for too long, but still… You guys are nice"
"... Guys, now that I think about it..." Uraraka stretched her arms out to her sides. "We met and, I think, we are friends... But do we know anything about each other besides that Iida-kun is an earthbender, Tsu-chan a waterbender, Freckles a non bender and me an airbender?"
"We know that Iida is Toph Beifong' descendant" Tsuyu commented. "And that you come from Ba Sing Se, kero" She pointed to Ochako. "And that Midoriya-kun is very smart, and he likes to search and teach what he's learnt"
"You think I'm smart?" Izuku turned to see the girl.
"Without a doubt, Midoriya. In fact, you are one of the smartest people I know, Midoriya-kun" Iida confirmed. Izuku was sure that Iida was doing his robotic movements. "Besides that, your organization with your notebooks is excellent, and you have helped us a lot with training"
"Especially me" Uraraka added. "If it weren't for you, it would be the same as when I arrived in the city"
"Thanks..."
"No, you Freckles. Thank you" She reached out and poked him on the shoulder. She couldn't help but smile for a few moments and then look at the ceiling thoughtfully. "But besides that. We know something? Like... I don't know…"
"... What is your favorite color, Iida-kun? But... A very specific one, kero. Like, there are people who answer that the orange of dawn, and others that the red of a wine, kero. Something like that..."
"... I think blue" The boy with glasses bent his legs. "But the color that the sea takes at night. When the stars and the moon leave their halo on it, the sea takes a really deep shade of blue. I like it"
"Good answer" Tsuyu smiled.
"Yours, Uraraka-kun?" Iida asked.
"Uh..." she sighed, pouting. "That pink on the cherry blossoms. That warm shade of pink... What about you, Freckles?"
"... I have two... Two favorite colors" He said, looking at the ceiling. "Green in different shades, mostly greens near the blue hue like the leaves of a tall pine, or the color of mint, or the one from a freshly cut emerald, or the teal tone the sea takes in a cloudy day" He reached out a hand and brought it to his forehead. "The other is the color of rubies, an intense and deep red... I think that's why I I love this tennis" He lifted his leg showing his shoe.
"Wow. You have many options then" Tsuyu said, smiling sideways.
" What's yours, Tsu-chan?"
" Uh, I also really like green, kero... But the bright shade near yellow, like the one in freshly cut grass, or the color of the garden frogs from the swamp where he used to live"
"You used to live in a swamp? " Izuku asked.
"Yeah, but my family and I moved to Republic City when my younger sister was born".
"Interesting. " Ochako smiled. "We are both foreigners then".
"Basically, yes"
Iida stared at the ceiling.
"I know we're all in high school. And that Asui-san is studying a little of nursing. But... what do you want to be when you get to college? We have time to think on so if you don't know it's ok"
"I want to be a chemistry-biologist" Tsuyu answered "But I'm studying nursing out of obligation. The truth is, I don't really like attending people" She shrugged. "There's this stereotype that woman are natural at healing but... I think I just proved my point, right, Midoriya and Uraraka?" She smiled in amusement.
Izuku couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah, I think we know now..." he sighed quietly. "What about you, Iida?"
" I just want to follow in my brother's footsteps" He said calmly. He sat in his place, turning to see them now. "It is my family tradition, to be a police officer or a detective. In my case, I want to be a detective, like my brother, and make my family proud of me".
"Traditional ~" Uraraka smiled.
"And what about you?" Tsuyu asked, looking at Uraraka. She sat up, now turning them to look exactly like Iida.
"I want to be an astronaut or a pilot" Ochako showed a huge smile. "I want to be able to fly through the skies, see unknown worlds and find adventure. Go on a trip on this planet, and even others and make profit from it" She smiled dreamily. She sat up, turning to see them. "But... My family..." her dreamy gaze darkened a bit, and she hugged her legs. "We have went through very bad economic difficulties. My parents own a construction company, but… it's hard to win money from it on Ba Sing Se" She gave a soft sigh ... " And if we add that ... I'm here, alone, the situation is worse".
"... It's true, Uraraka"chan, why are you so far from home and alone at age thirteen?" Izuku turned to see her.
"I came here to learn airbending, but there was no one who could teach me. It's complicated. I... When I began to manifest my abilities, I've caused a lot of problems... I once destroyed my mother's mirror with a sneeze when I was seven years old, and I couldn't control myself. And I know Ba Sing Se may no longer have those filthy rings that separated social classes into rich, middle class and poor, but economic differences still affect, they still make a difference between those who would have been from the "inner ring" and Who we are from the "middle" or the "lower", for the earthbenders there is even differentiation in terms of the amount of money they can pay to get classes. Now imagine for an airbender from the middle ring in Ba Sing Se, classed for any type of bending are very expensive and for a rare bending like airbending was the most expensive, and we had no money... So, the only way to learn airbending there was to join the air nation and learn for free with them, but I don't want to"
"Why don't you want to?" Tsuyu made a face.
"I ... I want to travel through the world and the air nation is full of nomads, but... I also want to help my parents" She started to play with her hair a bit. "Actually, my dream of being an astronaut or a pilot comes along with the money I can earn from it, which might not be much but it would be enough to help my mom and dad... Space and sky is my passion... And I would love to do this, because I could help them, and I would be doing what I like" She sighed, stretching her legs again. "But if I joined the nomads, I would have to let myself go from with absolutely everything: my family, my possessions, my friends, my dreams... We did talk to the leader of the nomads in Ba Sing Se, but... I didn't like the idea of leaving them alone forever"
"... And you came to Republic City to learn without committing to be part of them. No? And to go back to your parents when you learn to control yourself"Izuku saw her from his place.
"Yeah. I ... uh ... I'm just supposed to be here for year and a half. I came with a scholarship".
Izuku couldn't help laughing at that.
"That sounds like my mommy".
"Uh?" The three of them turned to see Izuku at that moment.
"My ... My mommy is from the southern water tribe. She came to republic city when she was about... eighteen, I think, to study to be a nurse. In here she met my father and well... They got married, so she didn't have to go back to the south" He shrugged. "Then my father left when my mom was pregnant with me and left us all alone"
"... Hey, Midoriya" Tsuyu leaned a little. "Why don't you ever talk about yourself?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Well..." she put a finger to her cheek. "We're talking about us, right? And... You brought your mom, instead of telling us what you want to be when you grow up. And I think it's the first time you've talked about your father with us..."
"... Uh..."
"It's true. And when we do research, you never say 'oh I did this' 'I found this' 'look I know this'. It's always... 'My mom told me this' 'My friends told me this' and you never talk about your achievements when we're training" Uraraka frowned.
"I… I didn't even noticed that I do that" Izuku turned to the other side. "M-Maybe it's because... I don't like to talk about myself"
"It's totally understandable, Midoriya-kun" Iida replied, waving his hand. "But I think it should be fair that you talk a little about what you think you are when you grow up so that we are all close at hand".
"… I…"
"It's okay, Izu-kun, don't force yourself. If you don't want to tell us, that's fine" Ochako ran her hand through the boy's curls. He just squeezed his eyes a little.
"... It's just ..." he smirked, but he didn't look happy. "I... I tend to push people away without-without thinking... I ..." he sighed, but it sounded more like a sob. "I-I don't like talking about myself, because-because, when-when I do, I... I..." his eyes began to burn. This made him bring his hand to his eyes, trying to squeeze them and keep the tears from coming out. "I just... I just know want to-to help others, I want-I want to be able to be useful to others, I-I want to do something well in my life and-and leave a mark in the world of the people I love, I would like to... Change something for the greater good even the smallest thing, just leave a seed to make a greater change. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, I just know that I want to help others, make them happy and safe. But it is hard, because… How can I help others when I feel bad about myself? When I talk about me, I end up pushing others away, I end up making them feel grossed out. It's like... Just being me, makes people tear apart" He started sobbing and breathing ragged, with a painful voice. "When I talk about myself, my father always ends up cutting me off and he won't let me say anything else apart of the typical 'Oh school is great' and 'I love you dad'. When I told my childhood best friend about a horrible nightmare that I have every freaking full moon since I'm six, three years ago, he stopped talking to me and started teasing and even punching me, and now he replaced me with some kids I don't even know. And when I talked about how my friend Kacchan started to be mean towards me with my only another friend three years ago, he ended up moving out of the city and it wasn't even his fault because his brother committed suicide and his family moved out. When I talk about my dreams at school, my classmates laugh of me. It's as if talking about me, my problems, what I want, what I like, what I feel, it just... It alienates others. I-And I-I don't want that to happen now, not with you. I... I ended up obsessing over this stories and pro-bending and the elements, just because it's the only thing that has kept me sane since three years ago, three years that I've been completely by myself" he sat down and could no longer contain himself. He began to cry, loud: with his tears running down her cheeks, sobbing loudly, trembling in his place, turning her back on his friends. "I... I feel so alone..."
Ochako turned to see the other two, who remained in silence watching the freckled one unburden himself through tears. The girl one just... thought of running her hand down the boy's back. She did it.
"It's okay, Izu-kun... Everything will be fine..." Ochako said in a soft voice. "I'm sure none of that is your fault..."
"I agree with Uraraka-kun." Iida with a very soft voice. "People tend to not want to understand others and be mean just because of that"
Tsuyu made a grin looking at Iida. She turned to see the boy again, who was still crying. She didn't know what to do, so she just thought on something.
"Midoriya-kun, do you really think it was you who pushed the other people away? Are you sure it was you and not the others just being mean?"
The boy, just turned to see her. He was still sobbing but hearing that made him begin to calm down.
"I mean, if it were that way, do you think we would still be here with you? For you?"
"Yeah, freckles. They just must be big bad meanies! I'm sure it isn't you" Ochako tilted her head, smiling warmly. "What you said your father sounds bad, also the thing with your friend is not good either... And I'm sorry that your other friend has left... But now you have the three of us and we really like being in your company, and your mom loves you. You're not alone..."
"You are a very valuable person, as well as intelligent" Iida added. "I think I speak for the three of us when I say that we appreciate your friendship and company"
Izuku stared at them for a few seconds, before wiping his tears with his hands... Did they like him? His friendship?...
He was alone for three years, thinking that he would never have friends again. Thinking that talking about him would make him a burden. That simply showing some need would make him stay alone... He talked about his dream to Kacchan, how his insides hurt when he woke up, how scared he was when he dreamt about the man getting impaled... And Kacchan got so mad at him, that he ended up turning his back on him. He talked to Todoroki-kun, how talking about that dream caused Kacchan to move away from him, Todoroki-kun found something logical why Kacchan got angry with him, that Kacchan might have gotten scared or mad cause of an illogical thing like a nightmare, and Todoroki-kun supported him but ... He moved out because his oldest brother committed suicide and he hasn't seen him since... And his father, someone who was supposed to keep an eye on him but never did, someone who... Wait, did the man even had the right of being called a father? He gave them money, but his mother still had to work for support, and Izuku had never seen him in person just in old photos, he sent him gifts, but he didn't care about his school, he didn't let him talk about himself… Did his father even know him? Did he know his father?
Was he alone? Was he a burden? Or... did he just stop trying to make friends after his heart broke time ago at age ten?
"Come here, freckles" Ochako stopped patting him on the back, and rose from her place to be in front of him, taking his arm. She forced him to get up, but he kept his gaze on the floor thoughtfully.
She took his other arm, starting to make it move in its place, like dancing, to the rhythm of a ballad... It was at that moment that Izuku realized that in all this time there was music, being heard from the player of his cellphone.
Tsuyu instantly got up as well, approaching them and taking their hands, joining in the little slow dance they did, and Tenya did the exact same thing seconds later. The music made them spin, and Izuku began to distract himself from his sadness.
"... I ... I will be king ... And you, you will be queen " Tsuyu began to hum the song.
Izuku looked at his friends.
"Through nothing will drive them away" Tenya followed the song, a little louder. "
"We can be heroes! Just for one day!" Ochako yelled now, raising her hands and Izuku and Tsuyu's in the process.
Izuku couldn't help but smile.
"We can be us, just for one day..." he finished singing.
Iida pulled away a bit and turned Tsuyu around, then she did the same with Uraraka, Uraraka with Izuku, and Izuku with Tenya (the latter had to bend over so that the greenette's arm could turn him around).
So, they stayed this way for a while until the song changed for something faster. Without thinking, the four of them started dancing faster, extremely uncoordinated, but they didn't care: They apparently needed this… Izuku needed this. Their steps ended up leading them to their table, on which Ochako and Tsuyu got on, dancing from one side to the other, together. Ochako got off, and Izuku got on afterwards, dancing like Tsuyu, keeping up with him but wrong: Like a drunk Giraffe, he said exactly what he danced. Then Tenya also got on (the other three encouraged him to do it) and started doing some steps with which he looked like a robot, but he genuinely danced well (truth be told, he was the one who danced the best of the four). Then, Izuku, Tenya and Ochako were on the table. Then there were the four of them.
And they stayed that way for a while until the four of them felt exhausted, falling on the floor.
"Guys, we will have to clean this up because it is very disrespectful and irresponsible from us to leave that table full of our footsteps" Iida said, recovering his usual tone. "And we will not dance like this again in a library, it is extremely disrespectful. We must be thankful that there are no cameras, if Midoriya didn't lie to us".
"Yeah Whatever Iida-kun" The brunette downplayed the situation by waving her hands and airily tossing the dirt that had remained on the table with airbending.
"That's not the way to clean!" Tenya scolded the brunette. The boy instantly got up from his place to find a broom or something to sweep and clean up the mess they had left in the place. He found the broom near the ladder. "Do you realize we just vandalized a library?! This will not happen again!"
Izuku couldn't help but laugh, while watching the boy sweep and collect the dust. With earthbending, he lifted the dust and put it on the trashcan. He was already calmer, he already felt good to laugh a little.
"Are you feeling better, kero?" Tsuyu turned to see the green haired boy.
"... Yeah "He smiled a little. "Thanks for listening".
"No problem Midoriya. Remember that we are your friends, we will be here to listen to you when you need it".
"You-You too, you have me... here" He smiled a little.
"Hey, Midoriya. Has your sugar rush gone down, kero? Tsuyu asked, poking his cheek with a finger.
"I-I think so. I suppose that the fact that I don't feel the need to move my legs and arms is a good sign, no?"
"Oh, perfect kero" She smiled with calm. Then she looked at the window… "Uh, What time is it?"
"It's..." Tenya took her cell phone from her bag. "Eleven o'clock at night..."
"And your brother hasn't answer yet?" Ochako tilted his head.
"Uh... he texted half an hour ago, says he's looking for staff to come get us.
"... This sounds like we are going to sleep here" Izuku sighed.
"I want the big sofa!" Ochako jumped up and went to lie down quickly on the couch with a mocking smile.
They were like this for a while. Everyone found a place to stay in, and Tsuyu, Tenya, and Ochako fell asleep...
But Izuku was still awake. The moonlight came through the great glass wall and this was when he realized that it was full: It was a day of nightmares... He had already caused many problems today, he didn't want to cause more so he did his best not to fall asleep.
He got up from his place, starting to walk. He preferred to do that... Besides, it would be nice if someone stayed awake while they waited for someone to take them out, right?
The shelves of books were open before him, all the knowledge he could get to discover was here... But they were incomplete, he knew it. Why books summarize the 100 years' war to a tiny section? It was a hundred years of war resumed in… what? Three or four pages? How is it possible that the publisher decided to teach children everything that happened there? It had been a HORRIBLE war, causing a ton of despair and anger but people now barely knew about it... Could it be because he knows that Aang participated on it?
Now, what about to Aang, Korra, All Might, Nana, Kyoshi? What had happened to all of them? Why did he only know about them from his mom's stories? He needed to know. He needed to find out what title they had, he needed... to know why he saw them in dreams sometimes. Also, he needed to know why people stop believing in so many things? The legends of the world such as the secret tunnel, Princess Yue (which he had just seen in a dream a few hours ago), of the mole badgers that taught the earthbenders to earthbend, the moon before Yue that showed the waterbenders how to bend the sea, the flying bisons that taught the airbenders their powers, the dragons who taught the firebenders... Dragons are long extinct, right? There are those who say that they didn't even exist...
Izuku rubbed his eyes in frustration. He had so many questions, and almost no answers... He just wanted to know, and to be able to help someone with this knowledge... Could the ancient beings that caused him great admiration be dead? Could it be that many spirits hated humans? Could it be that someone hid all this for good reasons?... But he felt inside that this was not right, that this knowledge should have been maintained, that these stories shouldn't be hidden because whenever people ignored or preferred to leave history behind, society doomed to repeat it. What would happen if it turned out that a mad leader of a country decided to repeat what Fire Lord Sozin did and wage war against everyone again? What if another dictator like Kuvira came out of nowhere? What if another leader came to put his own people at his feet and enslave them just like Chin the Conquerer?
If people could still make use of the four elements, if there were people who claimed to have "paranormal" experiences, if Comet Sozin still passed every hundred years on earth... They should know.
There was the elementary commission, that organization that kept the peace between the towns, and who implemented the licensing system to prevent people from hurting others in street fights and for people to learn to control their element under the same system and that everything was well controlled (and to be honest, this system sounded... not entirely right, but it worked?). The commission exists, but what was the use of them if people barely knew what happened before? What good is it if people forget something like a war? Like crazy people who want power? Like people who have a fanatic idea of destroying everything in the name of a god-like spirit all over again?
He spent a long time thinking about this, looking at the books on the shelves, running his fingers through the titles and reliefs that some had... he took one in his hands, one that contained incomplete information about the water tribes. He knew it, because his mother had told him many things about the southern water tribe, and there was almost no information about it: most were from the north. He supposed it was because the north was always more advanced than the south, it didn't matter that Varrick had come from the south (one of the best inventors of all time, he created the cinema and analogic telecommunications, basically), the leaders for more than four hundred years they had decided to stay traditional and had become surly at the idea of foreigners and more "advanced" people, technologically speaking, entering their comfort zone. At least that's what Mommy said about her born town. He left the book in its place and turned to go back to where it came from... But he saw something.
A door.
A door with letters that said, "authorized personal only", which had a small window on its side through which he could see inside with perfection...
Izuku had already seen this door before, it was the only area on that floor that had a security camera pointing at it. The boy with freckles always believed that... There would be computers or something like that inside, something of great value, but his gut told him that it wasn't computers... He felt an urge to look inside. This door had made him curios before, but he never approached because, as he said before, he didn't like to be observed, but the fact that there was a camera pointing directly to the door was... strange. He couldn't help it.
"... Uh ..." He took a step to it. "No-No, it has a camera... I could cause a lot of trouble..." he hesitated for a second, bringing his hand to his mouth, taking a step back again. "... Today I danced here, I ran, I screamed..." he said to himself. "What is life without a bit of adventure?..." he said to encourage himself, taking a step at last, slow pace but he did it...
He reached the door and looked out the small window... he could barely see what was inside because it was very dark, but what he saw left him confused. What the hell? There are many books. They are all stacked, in no order, from floor to ceiling. Could it be the winery? There must be all the previous editions of all the books on the library... Although those gliders hanging on the wall... And those golden fans... He didn't know what else was hung there, the books covered the walls… but he felt that this was important.
He broke away from the window, turned to look at the camera and quickly left.
What else was there? Now he wanted to get in. If there were old books, will there be more information there? The one that was discarded? This only fueled his curiosity.
"... Aaaaah ..." he brought his hands to his head, scratching his skull under his curls and then covering his eyes. "Distract yourself Izuku, don't enter a door that you don't have permission to get in, you should better ask Mr. Shimano kindly if he can give you permission to enter that strange room to see everything that's inside tomorrow".
He took his cell phone, charger, and headphones, going to the nearest outlet and instead began to do what he always did when he didn't want to think or sleep: Watch that video app called tiktok. He was going through several videos quickly, there were some that interested him, and he left them, including one where the first thing he saw was a girl with white hair and red locks...
"Today we are going to prepare some cold soba for my cute little brother" Uh that voice was... Wait, was that Fuyumi"chan? She had a tiktok account?... "Say hello to your fans, Shoto!" The girl with white hair and red locks switched to the front camera and sat next to a boy who had bicolor hair... It was Todoroki-kun! He seemed kind of awkward to be on camera.
"Fuyumi, please." He said, trying to stay calm. His sister seemed to smile a little and she just shook his hair.
"Okay bro"
And the video started again. Uh... Funny, seeing his old friend so awkward in a TikTok video...
He entered the girl's profile.
"... So her account is called YumiYumiKitchen... Hehe, sounds cute..." He said in a low voice, starting to watch several of the videos that were there. She didn't have many, and they were mostly recipes. She had four videos for making the cold soba that, he recalled, Todoroki-kun loved. Also, she had recipes for mapo tofu, curry, katsudon (this one made Izuku feel more hungry)... She also had one where he was dancing with Natsuo-kun, and one where Todoroki-kun seemed to be in front of a chalkboard explaining something and had the title "conspiracies and Shototheories".
This one caught his eye.
"My little brother is doing something with his little friends..." he heard Fuyumi's voice, and the first thing he saw was that it was an old video: Shoto was in the foreground, and it looked the same as last time that he saw him. He was in front of a board on which he had quite childish drawings and letters that said, "moon made of cheese" and "the turtle-ducks gave us the power to control the elements."
... Now he remembered this. These were Todoroki-kun's crazy theories. After he started telling him the stories he loved, Shoto started to do the same, telling him and Kacchan some theories of the universe Todoroki-kun thought. Some were very crazy, like the moon made of cheese, others... They made a lot of sense. He recalled that Kacchan always said that Shoto had "the ability to be extremely smart and incredibly stupid at the same time" and that "it must be because of his hair dye" (but this was natural). Remembering this made him laugh.
The video showed in a minute the small compilation of videos of his friend narrating with all the seriousness of the world how he would discover that some of his theories would be reality, and among these he managed to see small pieces where Natsuo was listening to him with great attention, others where... Kacchan and him were there! He listened to it and Kacchan just said it was stupid.
"... When did Fuyumi-chan record this?" He wondered in a low voice. The last thing he saw was a small sign that read "Happy birthday, little brother!" And the video started again.
Seeing this made him laugh. Oh my spirits! Fuyumi had recorded things from when they went to his house! At what point would she have done it without them noticing? Especially Kacchan, Kacchan was always very alert to his surroundings and his senses were too keen, him not realizing that they were being recorded was a sign of how good he was at making a hidden camera. How funny, and he always believed that Fuyumi was the quietest in the house...
"Oh my spirits, this brings back many memories... I must send this to Kac-!." he stopped in his tracks when he had clicked the "share" button. Kacchan didn't speak to him, he had gotten angry with him... What if sending him this made him angry again?... He had his number; he could send it to him... But would he respond? Was this a good idea? What if he got mad again? Would he even see it? "... I doubt he will see it..." He spoke. Steeling himself, he hit the send button on the blonde's WhatsApp icon. "... No! No no!" Instantly he repented and opened the app, deleting the message instantly. "Delete for all delete for all delete for all nonono" When he deleted the message, he sighed tiredly ... "What were you thinking Izuku? No. No" he gave himself a little slap on his cheek. "Don't be so... Impulsive..." he put the cell phone aside and stretched his legs.
Maybe... he should relax.
Seventh weird thing: Seeing Todoroki on the tiktok and send Kacchan a message without thinking twice and then delete it instantly.
Less than ten minutes passed and someone opened the door on the first floor. Izuku was still awake and managed to hear a voice.
"Tenya?!" He heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
Izuku got up and looked out onto the ladder.
"Iida-san?" He managed to see two men in the distance: Tensei (Iida-kun's brother) and Mr. Shimano (the guard).
"Midoriya-kun?!" Mr. Shimano raised his flashlight. Izuku covered his face when he felt the halo go to his eyes.
"Y-Yeah, it's me." He just answered.
"A-Are you guys okay?!" Both men ran up the stairs.
"Yes, uh... We-We're fine ... " The boy nodded. "I-Iida-kun and the girls are asleep. I-I... I stayed awake because I'm not tired..." he shrugged in his place. But as if saying that would activate some button on his body, he began to feel tired. He didn't know what really happened until he got to his house... Did they take Ochako or Tsuyu first? Or him? He knows his mom made him have some cereal before he went to bed but... From then on... he just remembers getting to his bed and falling asleep.
Water, earth, fire, air. They surrounded him, burned him, cut him, hurt him. He turned sideways trying to understand what was happening, but there was light was blinding him. His body was made of black smoke, except for his eyes, ears, and cheeks. After a few seconds, the elements around him stopped and he saw how a man was impaled-oh no! Is this his nightmare?! Nonono not again no.
At that moment he noticed that he did have feet, as he took a few steps back. His hands weren't made of smoke either, so he managed to bring them to his ears, and squeezed his eyes as tightly as he could, beging for this nightmare to end and just let him rest... But the noises were too loud and, like water, it ran through his fingers reaching his eardrums, and the noises made him recreate the nightmare in his own mind: A murdered blond man, a man dressed in black too, sighs that generate lights, a pain in his abdo-Wait why isn't he waking up? Wake up Izuku, wake up! Please! Wake up!
"Oh, young man, just open your eyes, I'm not going to hurt you. Just open them..." He heard a voice close by, a deep one... He opened his eyes, but he was still in the dream. "That's it..." And there he saw was strange: he saw a man, a skinny man, with sunken eye sockets that only let a blue glow come out of them, with sunken cheeks, with tousled blonde hair and a melancholic look. "Don't worry. Soon you will wake up. Just... Easy, young man" He raised a bony hand and brought it to the boy's curls. "Don't get inside that room until you are sure that you will be able to leave this city without any problem. Take careof yourself and of the people that will help you get in, and please, just read what you will see there and don't take notes." The man released him, and suddenly ...
The nightmare of the red moon was repeated like a flash before his eyes.
He woke up screaming, sobbing, and the pain in his abdomen so strong that he couldn't go back to sleep. His mother instantly opened the door and he only felt her warm arms around him, but he couldn't calm.
First the girl, who he was sure that she was Yue, appeared to him that afternoon in dreams and tried to speak to him, but he didn't hear anything. Then this strange thin and skeletal man who spoke to him in his dreams and told him something about a door... Wait, was he talking about the door of the library?...
Ok this was the eighth weird thing of the day: His dreams started speaking to him.
'Am I going crazy?'
Author's note:
Fourth chapter of my BNHA x Avatar fanfic! Oh boy, I've been writing a lot about this AU. I hope I don't leave it like the others I've written for other fandoms!
Anyways, we return with the lore and construction of the world we are in. As you can see, nobody remembers the avatar! And people doesn't learn about them in schools. And what are these dreams about? Why is Izuku incomplete tin them? Who will be the man of sunken eyes? Was Yue is the girl? Why is her trying to call him? Uuuh? Leave your theories!
I know I promised that Katsuki was going to come out in this chapter, but I was busy establishing a little more about the Dekusquad's friendship, as well as adding their goals, desires, and a bit of context regarding all of them. But the next one is NOW from Katsuki's POV! Yeyeyeye don't worry our explosive blonde will be back and recharged and with his squad!
Question Time! (If you like, you can respond in the comments):
- What's your favorite legend? Inside Avatar, I love the secret tunnel (that song is so good especially because it is incomplete it makes it Hilarious HAHAHA); Outside of Avatar, I really like Chang'e's (which was clearly used for Yue's story!), La Llorona's (AAAYYY MY HIJOOOS) and, they may not exactly be a "legend", but doppelgängers are awesome!