It didn't take long before the news spread like wildfire in Class 1-A.
Izuku was sitting inside of his room after school, just enjoying a moment of peace with himself when he heard the sound of footsteps shuffling right outside his door. Lowering his phone, Izuku glanced uncertainly at the door while his mind wondered who could be standing outside and for what reason.
Izuku opened the door and found some of his classmates standing outside his door. "Guys? What brings you here?"
"Er... Is it true you have an older sister?" Jiro asked, poking her earphone jacks together. "You know, because Mineta told us all that Nejire Hado was your sister."
"Is she your secret sister or something? You mentioned nothing about her to us." Shoto pointed out.
"Yes, Izuku! Exactly what I wanted to talk to you about! I wanted to come by myself to ask you if Nejire Hado is your sister, but some of our classmates tagged along with me!" Tenya waved his arms about as he always did, but this time it seemed more frantic than usual.
"What?" Izuku groaned inwardly as realization smashed him straight in the face. Of course, Mineta would go around spreading false information about him. "It's... It's not what you think it is!"
"Of course not. Everyone reacts differently if other people find out about their siblings or they simply don't care." Tenya nodded his head gravely. "I would also get embarrassed if I went to the same school as my older brother and people found out about the information. But there's no need to feel down about it because we here at Class 1-A accept Nejire Hado as your sister wholeheartedly!"
"Where did that wacky assumption appear from?!" Izuku asked, shock emanating from his voice. And there was no way Tenya would actually feel embarrassed if his older brother went to the same school as him. He was just saying it to relate to him. "N-Nejire is... Um…"
Actually, who was she?
"Ah, stuttering! A common symptom that's usually paired with nervousness about a sibling being discovered! But fear not, as class president, I will put your fears at ease!"
"Ack! No! She isn't my sister!"
"Denial! That is also a common symptom! I too would deny Tensei is my brother if people discovered him as my sibling!"
It seemed like everything Izuku was throwing at them wasn't working. They weren't accepting the fact that Nejire wasn't his sister and instead Tenya was making it worse because of his enthusiasm to comfort Izuku. Also, why did he stutter like that? It just made it even worse instead of just straight up denying it!
"Well, if you guys don't mind, I'm going to rest in my room all day... I'm a bit tired. Just call me out when dinner is ready or something." Izuku closed the door in Tenya's face and slid down while exhaling a sigh of relief.
It was embarrassing! It truly was! What would he do if his classmates saw him meet Nejire in the middle of the hallway or something?
Outside his room, he could hear Tenya shouting as usual. "Yes, let him rest! I'm sure he'll feel better as time goes on and the embarrassment fades away! But for now, let's get dinner started! I have just the thing to comfort Izuku with the power of food; beef stew!"
"Hold up, that's your answer to calm Izuku's feelings down by feeding him your favorite food?" Jiro asked, obvious confusion spilling from her tone.
"Not to worry because beef stew is the key to everything!"
Izuku fell down on his bed and laid his arm over his eyes while the voices of his classmates faded away. With a sigh, he stared at the ceiling. He wanted to meet Nejire quickly to ask her a few questions, so he could clear up the confusion he caused.
But she was so pretty. And cute. How was he supposed to talk properly with her? Even just thinking about the prospect of talking to her made him nervous.
Hugging his pillow close to his chest, Izuku groaned at the possibility of having to meet her one day again, whether he acted on his impulse to talk to her or by accident.
And to Izuku's surprise, he met her again a few days later. She was walking down the hallway with a cheerful expression when Izuku immediately noticed her blue hair. Izuku considered going in the same direction as her to avoid confrontation but didn't act on time as she noticed him. Nejire waved her hand at him before continuing on her way to class.
Izuku tried to grab her attention to ask some questions, but his anxiety shut him down quickly. And because he was also walking with some of his classmates, it hurt his chances of reaching out to her properly.
"How come you didn't say hi back to your sister?" Shoto asked as he glanced back to see Nejire had already disappeared behind a corner.
"Erk…" Izuku glanced to the side in shame. The way Shoto worded it made Izuku feel guilty, even though he wasn't. "Would it surprise you if I told you she isn't my sister, Todoroki?"
Shoto stared at him with a confused expression. "Wait, she isn't? But everyone's been saying she is your sister."
"It's fake, Todoroki! You can't believe everything that comes out of people's mouths!"
"Does that include yours?" Shoto asked innocently, without realizing how insulting it could sound. "Though I feel like Kirishima's reason for your interest in quirks lines up perfectly with Nejire's. And I also heard from Mineta that Nejire told you to keep it a secret."
Groaning inwardly, Izuku wanted to break out of the grave he had dug himself into. If only he hadn't called Nejire sister, he would have been fine. Still, what was the difference between confronting Nejire now or later? He would have to meet her eventually since he wanted to interview her about her quirk and other stuff. He was going to have to work up the nerve to ask her all those questions, but didn't he make it easier on himself by acting like she was his sister?
Actually, who was he kidding? He was just trying to soothe himself, but it wasn't working.
Mentally hitting himself on the head, Izuku brought himself back to reality and stared at Shoto. He really couldn't fight them because they had some flimsy evidence to believe in. On the other hand, he knew the truth, but what was he to the rumors of 19 other people in his class? If that happened to someone else, it would also confuse Izuku on who to believe.
"Okay, listen to me very carefully, Todoroki. And I mean what I say!" Izuku placed a hand on Shoto's shoulder and looked him directly in the eyes. "She isn't my sister."
"Uh... Okay, but didn't Iida say denial was a symptom of someone's sibling being discovered?"
Izuku slapped his hand on his forehead as he screamed internally.
Over the next few days, Izuku couldn't tell if it was him or not, but he began to notice Nejire more and more. He would catch a glimpse of her when he walked down the hallways, when he ate with his friends at the cafeteria, and sometimes when he walked back to his dorm.
He never noticed her before, so why was it happening now? Was it because he finally realized that she existed? Or was it that weird phenomenon where people owning a blue car noticed more blue cars?
And right now, he was walking back to his dorms alone, while Nejire was right in front of him. The sunlight from the blazing star settling beyond the horizon was painting her hair in a more beautiful way than he imagined.
Though her hair wasn't what he should've been concentrating on. What he should have done was realize that Nejire was aware of his presence.
It didn't take long before Nejire whipped her head around and scanned her surroundings to search for who was staring at her. When her eyes met Izuku's, his brain kicked him back to reality. He quickly averted her gaze and looked down at his feet as his heartbeat spiked in surprise.
He didn't know what would happen next, but hearing footsteps drawing closer to him wasn't one of them. And he sure didn't expect her friend to follow her.
Izuku looked up to find Nejire walking beside him and her friend, Yuyu, shooting her weird glances. Blushing furiously, Izuku had to rein his emotions in from melting down on the floor from his nervousness. "Uh... Hi?"
"Hello, little brother." Nejire flashed him a smile that immediately hacked away at his worries, but then he remembered how beautiful she was and returned to his timid state. "See Yuyu, this is my cute younger brother!"
Looking him up and down, Yuyu's expression said as much; she didn't agree with Nejire's statement. "Are you sure about that? I mean, where do I begin with? He has green hair, he has a different surname than you, and he is so nervous, unlike your curious self! There's no way this boy is your younger brother!" Yuyu turned to look at Izuku and gave him an apologetic smile. "No offense if you really are Nejire's younger brother."
Before Izuku could answer, Nejire pulled him in close and pouted. "He really is my younger brother! Can't you see how cute the both of us are together?"
Izuku stiffened as his face got buried in her hair for a quick second. She smelled good. Her hair carried the scent of faint strawberries. Maybe she showered in the morning, so that's why it was faint. But why was he thinking about that? She was so close to him! They were touching!
"I mean I can't deny that..." Yuyu agreed, studying his face. Yet her expression changed from curious to unimpressed as she looked back at Nejire. "Even so, I don't believe you."
"Oh, come on! Believe in me, Yuyu!" Nejire stuck her bottom lip out in protest and then shifted her gaze towards Izuku. "Hey, hey! Why don't you call me big sister for once!"
"W-What? I..." What was he supposed to say? Was Nejire joking? Should he play along? "Uh... Big sister?"
This was the best card he could play at the moment. He wasn't as flirty as Kaminari, so his only option seemed to be to call Nejire his sister, even though it wasn't true. Or maybe there was a better answer he could have said, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"There you go, Yuyu! He called me big sister!" Nejire grinned from ear to ear, obviously thankful that Izuku was playing along with the joke. "Now you can't deny that we're siblings!"
Yuyu shook her head in disbelief. "That's literally not how siblings work! Besides, you forced him to say it! From the looks of it, you guys are an only child, no offense again, but from all my years of seeing how siblings react, don't they always hate each other?"
"No, no, that's wrong thinking, Yuyu! There are definitely some siblings out there that treat each other with love!" Nejire wrapped her arms around Izuku, causing his mind to spiral from her overwhelming warm touch. "Just like my relationship with this cutie!"
Nejire reached up to gently squeeze his cheeks, causing Izuku to back his head away from her reach, but because he didn't want to hurt her feelings, he let her win.
Within a few seconds, her touch captivated Izuku. He didn't want it to end, but Nejire pulled her hand away, back to her side. She walked back over to Yuyu and waved her hand towards Izuku. "Well, I'll see you around, little brother! Make sure to eat, sleep, train, and play well!"
"Oh, okay..." Izuku muttered, but after a few seconds, added another two words that were important to her. "Big sister."
Nejire beamed at him with a lovely smile that he never knew was possible, despite seeing her smile all the time. As she walked back to her dorms, Izuku just stood there and watched her.
All that was going on inside of his mind were questions. And this all started from an accident. A stupid accident! But why did he feel happy at the same time?
Author's Note: Happy Mother's Day to everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Yuyu Haya should become more of a common occurrence because someone needs to have a brain cell in this story!
With love from your favorite writer, Out4Lunch!
