Uraraka aggressively slammed her money down onto the counter of a shooting game. "I'll take a go at it," she said, nearly snarling.
The man running the game stand simply smirked, handing her the throwing balls.
The rest of them watched it happen, standing a few feet away.
"There's no need for her to do this," Iida huffed.
"She's doing it because you lost three times, ribbit," Tsuyu pointed out, amidst laughter and a flushed Iida.
"Th-that's why she shouldn't bother!" he protested, gesturing wildly. "Clearly, the game is rigged!".
"Or you're just bad at them," Shinsou drawled.
Iida turned away, Aoyama patting him on the back. "It is alright, mon ami! We can't all be good at everything! Everyone deserves their chance in the spotlight."
Izuku grinned. When Ashido had come into the class announcing that there was going to be a carnival in town, Izuku had thought it was probably going to be a bad idea, especially considering how every other time they'd tried to have fun, it had ended up with them being attacked by villains.
But he was finally getting a good feeling about being here with his friends. It felt like nothing could go wrong.
"That poor man is going to regret ever letting Uraraka-san play," Izuku chuckled. "I can't wait."
"And to think you didn't want to come." Shinsou shook his head, nudging Izuku's shoulder good-naturedly.
(Iida was trying to lecture them in the background for rejoicing at someone else's defeat, but Aoyama's determination to have Iida learn to embrace the spotlight was proving to be too distracting even for him and his lecturing abilities.)
Izuku bit back a grin, pretending to pout at Shinsou as he shoved his hands into his pockets and huffed into his scarf. The cold made his upper joints ache, but he was glad to spend time with his friends. Todoroki pressed his left side against Izuku's, making him sigh from the warmth.
Izuku gave his friend a slow blink to convey his thanks. Todoroki rolled his eyes, a smirk twitching at his lips, lacing their fingers together. The heat from Todoroki's hand eased some of the stiffness and Izuku had to bite back the urge to sigh in relief.
He glanced over to find Todoroki watching him with a knowing look on his face. Izuku leaned into him for a second before pulling away again to watch Uraraka toss the ball in yet another perfectly aimed throw. The man running the game stand watched her, eyes darting back and forth between her and the target in sheer disbelief. It took everything in them not to burst out laughing, Izuku having to make the special effort to not look anyone else in the eyes. He knew if he did, he would absolutely lose it.
Uraraka cheered as she hit the target for the fifth time in a row. "I win!"
The man picked his jaw up from the floor, sighing in defeat. "Yes, you did. Just pick your prize and leave before I lose more customers." He pointed to a selection of large plushies.
Uraraka hummed as she eyed the prize stand. Suddenly, her face lit up and she pointed at the lower prize tier. "Can I get a couple of the small prizes instead of one big plush?"
The man eyed his prize stand and then shrugged. "Sure, kid. Whatever you want."
Uraraka beamed at him before pointing out a few animal-themed keychains. "I'll take seven of those, please! One of each!"
The man paused, mouthing the word 'seven' to himself before shrugging. "Still cheaper than one of the plushes," he said, taking them off the wall and handing them over to Uraraka.
"Thanks," she called, running over to join the group.
She was there for scarcely a second, before slipping her arms into Izuku and Tsuyu's and dragging them away from the stand. She barely bothered to check if everyone else would follow suit as she took off with them. Izuku mourned the loss of heat from Todoroki for a moment, but Uraraka's excitement was contagious and he didn't find himself mourning for very long.
"Uraraka! Where are you going?" Iida demanded, speedwalking to catch up with them.
"Come on," was her only response. Izuku's eyes connected with Tsuyu's as Uraraka continued to practically drag them along, large grins appearing on their faces.
Finally, they stopped near an open, grassy area. Uraraka waited for everyone to catch up with them before showing off her prizes. "Look!"
"They're very beautiful," Aoyama complimented! "Fantastic prizes for a fabulous win!"
"Do you have a lot of keys?" Todoroki blinked.
"No?"
"Then why did you want so many keychains?"
Izuku had to admit, that was a valid point Todoroki had just made. In response, Uraraka simply smiled. "Put your hands out," she ordered.
Izuku shrugged and put his hands out, most of the others following suit. Shinsou, the lone holdout, raised an eyebrow, clearly demanding to know why.
"Just do it," Uraraka groaned.
Shinsou sighed, as if putting his hands out was a great ordeal he was being forced to go through, but he obediently put one hand out, palm first.
Thoroughly satisfied, Uraraka smiled before she dropped a keychain into each of their hands.
Izuku blinked down at his hands, a green glass rabbit staring back at him. He snapped his head back up to see Uraraka holding up a pink hamster keychain of her own.
"Aren't they cute?" she giggled.
"Yes, they are," Iida nodded. "Wonderful choice, Uraraka." He tried handing the keychain in his hand back to her but she refused to take it.
"It's for you," she said, stepping away from Iida so he couldn't pass it back to her.
"But you won it," Iida protested.
"For all of us!" Uraraka pointed at her hamster again. "See, they match us!"
Izuku looked at his rabbit, he had to admit it looked a little like his hero costume with the hood up, so he could see why he was the rabbit. Tsuyu, of course, had a frog.
"A peacock!" Aoyama cried in delight. "They are the most glorious animals, showcasing their fabulousness with every step they take. Oh, I'm honored you think so highly of me!" He threw his arms around Uraraka, enveloping her in a sideways hug. She patted him on the arm fondly, while looking at the rest of them.
"Well, do you guys agree?" She raised her eyebrows at them.
"A purple cat," Shinsou drawled. "A cat makes sense for me, I guess, but why the heck did they make it purple?"
"I know! It's amazing! It's like these keychains were made for us," Uraraka nodded eagerly.
"That makes it sound a little scary, actually," Izuku shuddered.
"It's okay. It wasn't made by villains," Todoroki tried to be comforting.
Izuku immediately pointed at him, waving his finger. "See, I wasn't even thinking about that! What if it is made by villains in a way to trap us?"
"Deku-kun, that's impossible. Your conspiracy theories are even worse than Todoroki-kun's," Uraraka shook her head.
"My conspiracy theories?" Todoroki questioned. "I don't have any theories, everything I say is based on objective fact," he argued, sounding quite genuine.
Izuku paused mid-finger-wag so he could turn to give Todoroki an incredulous look. Todoroki didn't react, so he turned towards Uraraka, who simply nodded to indicate that she too was sharing his pain before giving him a pointed look.
Izuku eyed his hand before letting it drop back to his side. "Oh fine, maybe it is just a coincidence. I'm still suspicious, but villains making keychains does sound pretty ridiculous."
Uraraka nodded in agreement, patting him on the shoulder then turning to flash an inquisitive look towards Iida.
He flushed. "A greyhound?"
"It's even a little blue, so I thought it was perfect!" Uraraka nodded. "They're friendly, intelligent, and friends for life. It fits you to a T, Iida-kun!"
Iida blushed from head to toe, sputtering out unintelligible sounds in an attempt to make words. Izuku knew exactly how that felt, but he was glad Iida was going through it. He deserved the compliments.
They collectively turned towards Todoroki, making him look up owlishly at them. He blinked at them a few times, before raising a single eyebrow. "Yes?"
"What do you think?" Uraraka didn't quite shout, leaning towards him, her anticipation for his answer clear to see.
"I don't get it. How am I a red raccoon?"
Izuku took a closer look at Todoroki's keychain. He had to admit that a raccoon didn't fit their friend's personality in the slightest. Almost robotically, he turned towards Uraraka, questions popping into his mind.
"A red raccoon?" Uraraka sounded incredulous. "What? Show me that!"
Todoroki displayed it for her, Uraraka reaching out to properly examine it. She let it go gently, a soft laugh escaping her.
"It's not a raccoon, Todoroki-kun. It's a red panda," she explained.
He blinked at her, turning towards Izuku who could only shrug. He had paragraphs of information on heroes and quirks, but he knew very little about animals. Obviously understanding Izuku's lack of knowledge on the subject, Todoroki turned back towards Uraraka.
"How am I like a red panda then?"
"They are also intelligent, independent, playful, and unique animals!" Uraraka grinned. "Like you!"
"Like me?"
"Of course! You're fifth in the class, a powerful hero, have a great sense of humor, and you manage to come up with the wackiest theories. It's just a bonus that its natural colour fits you so well."
Without warning, Todoroki burst into flames, Uraraka yelping as she jumped back to avoid the fire. Izuku had to bite his cheek to keep himself from laughing as Todoroki put himself out. If Uraraka kept handing out compliments so easily, he worried they might never recover.
"I'm glad you all agree with me! I thought this could be a nice token of our friendship." It was her turn to blush as she awkwardly scratched the underside of her chin, shyly eyeing them from the corner of her eye.
"It's perfect, Uraraka-san. Thank you," Izuku was the first to say, Tsuyu nodding beside him.
"Yes!" Iida emphatically chopped the air. "This is such a kind gesture," he managed, choking up.
"You have a beautiful mind, ma chère!" Aoyama blew a kiss towards her.
Uraraka blushed, hiding her face with her hands. "Stop it, stop it, all of you!" She slowly peeled her hands away, to reveal a huge smile on her face. They all broke out into giggles, as they saw her, Uraraka playfully flailing her hands in their direction.
"I'll treasure it," Todoroki said, just as everyone had begun to calm down, setting them off once again.
"I'm glad," Uraraka told him fiercely, even as she tried containing her own laughter.
"Okay, okay," Izuku gasped out. "Let's figure out what we're doing next."
"Next?" Shinsou repeated, the laughs finally coming to an end.
"Yeah, I mean unless you want to go home already," Izuku shrugged.
"It's far too soon to be headed back to the dorms! We should enjoy ourselves thoroughly!" Aoyama protested.
"Agreed. So, where to next?" Tsuyu pondered out loud, tapping their chin with one finger.
"See, this is why I had insisted on creating an itinerary," Iida sighed. "It would have been more efficient and that way we'd be able to cover the entire fair."
"It's not like the place is that big," Shinsou yawned. "Although, honestly, I am kind of hungry."
"Great! Then it is decided, we shall go eat," Iida nodded decisively.
"Wait!" Aoyama cried. "They're doing a theater performance in about ten minutes!" he said as he waved a pamphlet he had just dug out of his bag at them. "It's supposed to be an original romance! As the sparkling hero, I can't ignore others trying their best to sparkle themselves!"
"Alright, we'll get food and then go to the play," Iida smiled.
"The play is on the other side of the grounds, ribbit. We won't make it in time if we stop for food," Tsuyu pointed out.
Iida frowned as Aoyama's face fell from dismay. Shinsou crossed his arms, clearly waiting for Iida to make up his mind.
"Why don't we split up?" Izuku jumped in, the familiar urge to make everyone happy hitting him hard.
Todoroki frowned at him. "Is that a good idea?"
"Come on, Todoroki-kun. It's a carnival, and the teachers are around. We'll split into smaller groups and then meet up at the play once we're all done," Izuku proposed.
"It would be the most efficient way of getting things done," Iida admitted, heavy reluctance in his voice.
"Groups of two should probably work? There are seven of us, after all," Shinsou pointed out.
"Iida-san and Todoroki-san should come with me!" Aoyama suggested brightly.
Iida cocked his head to the side thoughtfully while Todoroki looked alarmed. "Us?"
"Yes, absolument! I think the two of you would appreciate the art and could even learn a thing or two from the story!"
Iida pounded his fist on the palm of his other hand. "I didn't even think that this could be a learning opportunity! You are correct, Aoyama! We will greatly benefit from watching this play together."
Behind him, Todoroki was slowly shaking his head at them. Before he could launch so much as a single protest, Iida slung his arm over his shoulders. "In the end, this will make us better heroes!"
Todoroki blinked. "Better heroes?" he repeated.
"Why, of course! True heroes learn from everything around them! And Aoyama is right in that we know painfully little about theater! Creative thinking is an absolute must when coming up with tactical plans!"
While Todoroki considered Iida's words, Aoyama leaned towards Izuku. "I want them to appreciate the pretty costumes and the love story, they could definitely benefit from seeing some romance. What is Iida-san talking about?"
Izuku struggled to find words to respond to Aoyama before shrugging. "Probably best if you don't tell them that." He glanced towards his other friends to find Uraraka looking like she was seconds from bursting into laughter. Shinsou and Tsuyu were no better.
"I trust the four of you will get food for yourselves and us as well?" Iida finished, having gained Todoroki's complete cooperation.
"You got it!" Uraraka flashed them a thumbs up.
"And you'll stay safe?" Iida stressed.
"Promise!" Izuku grinned.
"Magnifique!" Aoyama grinned, grabbing Iida and Todoroki by the hand, preventing Iida from saying anything further. "Let's go, mes amis!"
Izuku and the others watched the trio rush off until they could no longer be seen.
"That'll be fun," Shinsou said, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"Poor Iida-kun totally got the wrong impression and gave it to Todoroki-kun too!" Uraraka shook her head, her amusement clear to see.
"Ahh, we shouldn't laugh at them, we have to go watch the play too," Izuku reminded them.
Simultaneously, they both rolled their eyes at him. Izuku pouted back.
"Whatever the case, let's go eat first. I'm feeling a little hungry now too, ribbit," Tsuyu put in.
"Good idea, Tsu-chan!" Uraraka jumped in, moving to their side before abruptly stopping in her tracks.
"Uraraka-san? Everything alright?" Izuku asked when Uraraka continued to just stand there for a few seconds.
Slowly, she turned sparkling eyes towards the rest of them. "Guys," she started, a serious look about her. "Look at that," she pointed towards a large, pinstriped tent. "It says they do fortune telling! We should go check it out!"
"Fortune telling?" Shinsou repeated, his tone screaming incredulity.
Uraraka furrowed her brows. "Oh, come on! It could be fun!" she pleaded. "What's the harm?"
"It's a waste of time. They do nothing but lie to you," Shinsou rolled his eyes.
Uraraka pouted. "Sometimes it feels good to hear nice lies!"
"Who says they always give nice lies?" Tsuyu pointed out, much to Uraraka's dismay.
"It's fine, guys!" Izuku jumped in before the argument could continue. "Why don't you guys get us all some food, and Uraraka-san and I can go to the fortune teller?" he directed his question towards Shinsou and Tsuyu.
"Iida told us to stay safe, splitting up into duos doesn't sound safe, especially when one of those duos includes you. And I really don't want Iida to give us the safety lecture again," Shinsou pulled a face.
"Hey! What do you mean, when one of those duos includes me?" Izuku said indignantly. "I am perfectly responsible!"
"He means you're a trouble magnet," Tsuyu said, putting in their two cents.
"Trouble magnet?" Izuku squawked in protest. He turned towards Uraraka and Shinsou, hoping for some back up, only to be disappointed.
"I don't go looking for trouble!" He defended himself if nobody else would.
"We know. Trouble just finds you, that's why you're a magnet, ribbit," Tsuyu clarified.
"I don't know how you manage it, but you could get into trouble while buying a carton of milk," Shinsou swore.
"It's true, Deku-kun. I'm really sorry," Uraraka gave him a sheepish look.
Izuku couldn't help but pout at that for a moment, before perking himself back up. "Well, it won't happen this time! You'll see! Come on! It'll only take five minutes!" he added when they still looked unconvinced.
"We'll hold you to that," Shinsou sighed, sticking his hands into his pockets. Tsuyu waved at him and Uraraka and the two left for the food stalls.
"Shall we?" Izuku turned to Uraraka. She gave him a happy smile, bobbing her head in agreement.
"I'm so excited, Deku-kun!"
Izuku watched Uraraka move, a different excitement in her step. "I didn't know you felt so strongly about fortune tellers," he commented.
Uraraka faltered, before turning back towards him. "I don't, to be honest. It's just…my aunt used to like reading tarot cards. She'd always make these funny fortunes to make me laugh when I was little. I guess I'm just looking to recreate that magic." She let out a strained laugh, eyes trailing up to watch the clouds. "Silly, isn't it?"
"Not at all," Izuku replied. Surprise coloured Uraraka's face, her eyes darting back to him, studying him closely to see if he meant it. And Izuku did mean it. "Anything that makes you happy could never be silly, Uraraka-san."
A smile pulled at the corners of Uraraka's mouth, even as she waved him away. "You're the best, Deku-kun."
"Nuh-uh!" Izuku shook his head. "We're the best!"
Uraraka rolled her eyes at him, giving him a playful swat to the arm. "Never mind, you're just a sap."
"Guilty," Izuku grinned, as they fell step into step towards the entrance of the tent. He pushed the flap open. "After you," he overdramatically bowed as Uraraka giggled.
"Oh, no," she shook her head. "After you," she said, tugging the flap away from him. Izuku thought about resisting, but the cheeky smile on Uraraka's face had him letting go without a fight.
"Thank you!" he said brightly instead, walking into the tent.
The first thing he noticed was the smell. It was musty, like the earth after it had rained, and herbal, from the incense, creating a certain heaviness in the air, almost a dense humidity, yet all Izuku could feel was a chill deep in his bones.
The lighting was dim, a faint fire glow emitted from glowing candles. It was nothing like Izuku had seen before, making him wonder if it was coming from a quirk.
Unlike what he had expected, there was no crystal ball or deck of cards, like he'd seen in old pre-quirk videos. He wondered how the fortune teller would give the appearance of the future without them.
There was just an old woman, wearing a dress that was nearly all blood-red except for the golden Japanese rhinoceros beetle right in the center of her dress, staring right at him. Izuku could feel his hair raise on edge, involuntarily taking a step backwards, right into Uraraka.
"Everything okay, Deku-kun?" Her brows pinched with worry.
"Uh, y-yeah!" he stammered out, still strangely unnerved, in a way he didn't even quite understand.
"Well, let's go in," Uraraka prompted after a moment. Izuku was about to hesitantly agree when they heard a shout.
"Ocha!" came the loud wail.
They turned as one to see Ashido rushing towards them.
"Mina?! What's wrong?" Uraraka gasped, grasping Ashido's forearms to stop her from barreling into her.
"I need you to come with me right now," Ashido said instead, already pulling Uraraka away.
Uraraka threw a bewildered look back at Izuku, who instinctively caught the flap that had slipped out of her hand, before it hit him in the face.
"Is everything okay, Ashido-san?" Izuku couldn't help but ask, but Ashido offered no explanation, simply marching along.
"Sorry, Midoriya! I'll bring her back soon," Ashido called over her shoulder.
"I'll be right back, Deku-kun!" Uraraka promised, having given up the idea of resisting Ashido and her demands. "Stay right there, don't get into trouble!"
Izuku felt it was rather unfair of Uraraka to tell him to stay out of trouble when she was the one being dragged away, but she was already gone before he could even try to come up with a response.
All he could do was stare at the dust they had left behind.
"Would you like a reading?"
The sudden question caught his attention. The words had been whispered but the voice had come out scratchy, like fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard. He turned to find the old woman standing just a few feet away from him. Now that she was standing right before him, Izuku wanted nothing more than to back out of the tent, but his feet felt glued to the floor. Still, he managed to shake his head in denial.
"Don't you want to know about your future? I can tell you whether or not your dreams will come true," she said.
Izuku's throat felt dry as if all the moisture had been sucked out of it in an instant.
He knew she wasn't really going to see his future. The whole point of fortune telling was to tell people lies to either make them feel better or get scared of the future. And if, by any chance, she was using her quirk to tell his future…well, in that case, Izuku really didn't want to know. He didn't need to know what the future would bring. He was happy living in the present, hoping for tomorrow. "I-I'm just waiting here for my friend, she's the one who wants a reading," he managed to get out, voice no higher than a whisper.
"Not even if the reading is free?" she pressed. "I do it free for green hair, it's lucky," she added.
"No, thank you," he said, taking in a shuddering breath. "Nothing good has ever come from knowing too much about what the future will bring."
"What makes you say that?" The woman pulled the flap from his hand, inviting him inside. Despite his instincts, Izuku obeyed the wordless order and walked to the middle of the tent.
Images of All Might's solemn face, Sir Nighteye's cold demeanor, and then his broken body, and Eri flashed through his mind.
"The future isn't set in stone, and knowing one possibility makes us think it is," was all he could say, the same rush of mixed emotions, despairing rage, and determined hope, flowing through him. No, it was better if he stayed away from the future business, fake or not, he was here just for Uraraka, that was it.
"I understand," the woman said, her expression settling into gentle disappointment. The spooky stare vanished entirely, her whole demeanor now expressing nothing but exhaustion.
Izuku wanted nothing more than to kick himself for putting that look on her face.
"Is everything okay?" he tried asking gently, wincing when she met his eyes.
"I haven't gotten a customer all day, is all," her smile felt incredibly forced and Izuku was very aware that it was because of him.
He wanted to say something to make her feel better but all that came out of his mouth was "but you offered to do it for free."
The woman clucked her tongue, her smile dropping faster, "I was hoping you would mention it to others, give it a good review, that sort of thing."
"I can still do that!" Izuku tried.
"By lying?" she shot him a dry look, making Izuku flush.
"No! When my friend comes back! She wanted to get a reading, so it would be all true!"
"A wonderful reading but the person with her didn't want one too? Do you see how that looks?" she scoffed.
Izuku felt compelled to explain himself. "I just don't want to know about the future and feel trapped in that possibility," he waved his arms, unsure if what he was saying would make sense to her.
The woman snapped her fingers, lips twitching into a smirk, an odd glimmer in her eye. "What if…I give you a reading that would tell you how life could have gone?"
"You can do that?" Izuku was floored.
"Life is nothing but a set of choices, and every choice leads us to a different outcome," she explained. "All I have to do is find the choice that would give the most drastic result."
"Why bother?" Izuku blinked, still trying to wrap his head around it all. He knew that choices could cause different outcomes, of course, but thinking about 'what ifs' always led to regret, didn't it?
She shrugged at him, "it makes people happy to know they made the right decisions, after all. Now are you going to get that reading then, or are you wasting my time?" she raised an eyebrow at him, foot clearly twitching impatiently. It was a far cry from her attitude when she'd originally asked if he wanted a reading.
"Yeah, alright," he conceded. She'd spent long enough trying to convince him and now he had no reason to say no. The past was long gone, it couldn't hurt.
"Remember, this was your choice," the old woman cackled, leering at him as she took his hands in hers. "There are no takebacks," she smiled, showing the missing gaps in her teeth, roughly pulling his hands up to eye level.
Izuku pushed down his discomfort, letting her peer at his palms.
Contrary to how she had grabbed him, she traced the lines of his palms gently. "Fascinating! Oh there's something special about you, isn't there?"
"S-special?" Izuku could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. "N-no, there's nothing special here."
"Don't be modest!" she snapped. Izuku shut his mouth with a snap, sure his face was a bright red from the chastisement. "I see a meeting. With a man beyond compare."
"A man?" Izuku wondered who she was seeing exactly. He had met so many great people, people he could never have imagined encountering in his life before UA, before All Might.
All Might! Of course, if there was anyone who was beyond compare, it was him.
"How did he enter your life?"
Izuku blanked, this was information he should have written down and celebrated the anniversary of, but, in truth, he had no idea outside of the general timeframe. "Uh, I was three years old and there was this video," he said, "it's kind of a long story, but watching that video gave me hope every time that I could follow my dream no matter what anyone else said—,"
"How did you meet him, in reality," she hissed, cutting him off.
"Oh!" Izuku said, startled. "Well, that's a really long story, so much happened that day, I don't even know where to begin," he frowned.
"Start from the beginning," she encouraged, still peering at his palms intently.
"Well, it was a long day and I was late coming from school because –uh– I had to get my notebook! I knew my mom was working late, so I thought maybe I could cook dinner. I was already late so I was rushing to get home and wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings, and all of a sudden, a big pile of sludge came out of the sewers, well, not a pile of sludge, it was a villain with a sludge quirk. Huh, now that I think about it, I wonder how his quirk works. Did it activate late, or was he always able to dissolve his entire body into sludge? And how would that work? I know he can hold people but thats by covering them in his sludge, can he hold regular objects? Ooh, what if he could leave bits of himself everywhere and control it or does all of the sludge have to be in his immediate proximity or directly on him even? I wonder if—,"
"Sum it up for me," she said flatly, interrupting him again.
"Uhh," Izuku bit his tongue to keep himself from continuing to mutter. "I…got attacked by a villain."
"Yes, and then?" her tone was rather impatient. Izuku couldn't blame her, most people reacted the same way when he began to mutter.
"The man you mentioned saved me from the villain. That was how we first met," Izuku said, the memory of waking up to All Might hovering before him so sharp, that it caused a blinding ache in his head. He would've stumbled had it not been for the woman tightly holding onto him.
"The incense can get to those who aren't used to it," she offered. "Just keep going. Tell me, why did you take that path?"
"What do you mean?" Izuku frowned.
"Something tells me it wasn't your usual route home. So, why take that path? What choice led you there?"
"Choice," Izuku parroted, feeling as if the room was swaying. He let his mind wander back to that day. "There was a choice," he admitted slowly. "I-it was a shortcut. I fished out my notebook and I didn't want to run into Kacchan and his friends again."
He blinked, the words registering after he'd said them. He hadn't meant to say so much. He tried to pull his hand away so he could clamp it over his mouth, but the woman's grip tightened.
"Did you think this Kacchan was waiting for you? Is that why you took the shortcut?"
Izuku bit his tongue, determined to keep himself from speaking any further. His brain didn't seem to get the memo, the memory surfacing unbidden.
Izuku was walking down the path, clutching his burned, wet, and still dripping notebook in his hands, tears still gathering in the corners of his eyes.
He was rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, trying his best to swallow his sniffles, when a flash of blond caught his eye. The trees were obscuring his vision, but Izuku knew those spiky tufts anywhere.
His hands went cold, even as his heart pounded furiously against his chest.
Very slowly, (wincing as gravel crunched beneath his feet) Izuku darted to the rarely used footpath that led to the dirty alleyway behind the school.
The last thing Izuku had wanted was another encounter with Katsuki, especially when the words he'd said so casually were still stinging Izuku's heart.
"But what if you hadn't?" the woman pressed, bringing Izuku back to the present. "What if you used the main entrance after all?"
Izuku's eyes went wide, he had still been biting his tongue (so hard that he'd drawn blood) so he knew he hadn't been speaking out loud.
How did she know any of that?
"Let go of me," he said, voice low, maintaining the facade of politeness, as he tried to pull away. As he attempted to tug his hands out of hers, his eyes fell on the woman's dress.
The rhinoceros beetle was gone. It had been there, he had seen it. So, where did it go?
Something was very wrong.
Izuku renewed his efforts to pull away.
"You still can! Just keep going, take the main exit!" she cried. "Take it!"
"Let me go!" Izuku shouted, unable to take it anymore. He was about to activate his quirk when he felt a weird sensation crawl up his body, making him go still.
"What was that?" he asked, by this point, the woman's grip on his wrists was tighter than a pair of handcuffs. The crawling sensation had stopped on his back and he could feel claws digging into his shoulders. "What's on my back? What are you doing?!" He demanded.
"Make the choice again, Midoriya Izuku, and change your own mind! Just keep walking!"
He could feel a horn nestle into his curls, clamping him from all directions, but the memory of that day was so overpowering, that he couldn't bring himself to care. The fortune teller's voice echoed in his ears.
"Take the main exit! Keep walking! Keep walking! Keep walking!"
Izuku was standing, frozen, staring at those blond tufts of hair. His stomach clenched and he forced himself to take a step forward. He wanted to be a hero, he couldn't hide from Katsuki. He had to keep walking.
"That's right," a voice murmured in his ears, "just keep on walking and miss meeting that man. Live a life unlived."
And Izuku did. He kept moving forward, the words the strange voice had whispered already forgotten.
Thank you for reading!