Izuku walked down the trail with Nejire as he watched her surveying the beauty nature provided for them. Just like a little kid finding out snow for the first time, Nejire had the same expression on her face.
They had gone to the top of the waterfall and back down already. The only thing he could see interesting about it was the way the water curved down and spiraled down crooked paths. Sometimes, it felt like he could play a game with it. Whenever an object floated down the route the water raced down, his eyes followed it until it dropped into a lake below.
The other thing that captured his attention was the moss waving under the shallow crevasses the water had dug out into the rocky cliff. It was a wonder how they had grown, but knowing how tenacious moss was, it made sense. Yet it was weird. Maybe he could search them up on the internet when he got home.
Still, it was a sight to behold. At least for the first part, until he realized it was just the same thing over and over. Not that he didn't like nature, but he'd instead do something a little more fun, a little more interactive. Was Nejire's enthusiastic personality influencing him?
Nejire turned around and frowned, slowing her pace down to match his. "Are you okay, Izuku? You're walking a bit slower. Should we rest or something?"
"No, it's fine! I was just thinking, that's all... But why would you think that?"
"Just my intuition! Besides, I'm a third-year, so my stamina is ridiculously high and I fear you first-years aren't as high stamina as me, but I guess you seem fine!" Nejire exclaimed, settling down to walk right next to him.
"I'm… I'm pretty capable!" Izuku said as he lifted his arms and flexed his biceps in exaggeration. She was pampering him, wasn't she?
"Oh, Izuku, I know!" Nejire laughed as he blankly stared at her. "I'm just teasing you!"
"Y-You know, I'm beginning to think the part where you said you were going to stop teasing me to death was a lie…" Izuku pointed out. Nejire said she would stop teasing him, right? Or did he hear wrong? Maybe communication wasn't the key here.
"Exactly! It's just fun to tease someone who is so susceptible to being flustered by everything I do, but maybe I ought to turn it down once in a while." Nejire pondered as she put her hand on her chin. "Still, no harm in having a bit of fun, right?"
"Until it goes too far…"
"But how could I not with you? You're so cute!" Nejire linked her arm with his and smiled. She raised her sun hat a little higher than it usually sat on her head to get a good look at him, but when he lowered his sun hat, she giggled.
"Er… Switching the topic here, but can we have something to eat? I'm getting hungry…"
"Aww, he's hungry~." Nejire teased, reaching out to touch his hat and reveal the blush sitting on his face.
"Eek, wait!" But of course, Izuku was too late.
"See, you're so cute! Don't you think so?"
"I guess so…" Izuku was in the spotlight one too many times, but he didn't dislike it.
Nejire giggled and pointed up ahead. "Once we reach that river or something, we can eat from our packed bento boxes!"
Nejire held onto his hand as they made their way to the river. The leaves from the trees floated down to the river as they touched the liquid and caused waves of vibrations to echo around itself until they dispersed into the expanse of the water.
They stationed themselves underneath a tree with enough shade to protect them from the sun. Using the cloth that wrapped the bento boxes, Nejire spread it over the ground for them to sit on.
Izuku tugged at the loose corners of the cloth to straighten it out. When Nejire patted the spot next to her, Izuku slowly made his way to the available area. Upon sitting down, she handed him his portion and smiled.
"Eat well, brother!" Nejire exclaimed, a pretty smile on her face until realization hit her. "Oops, I meant to say Izuku!"
Chuckling at her correction, Izuku opened his share of food and admired the colorful array of food planted in each space that separated each one from another. It was cute, but it didn't feel like Nejire was the one who constructed the meals for their trip today. Or was it? He couldn't tell, but maybe asking her was the way to go.
"Did Yuyu make this?" Izuku asked, trying his best to look innocent just in case he hurt her feelings.
Nejire stopped chewing on her food and swallowed it down before puffing her cheeks out. "What? You thought I didn't make it? That's so mean of you! I'll have you know I made the whole thing with no one's help!"
Izuku laughed while he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, sorry! I was just wondering! But was that why you took so long?"
Nejire deflated and began mumbling the truth to him. "Well, Yuyu helped me make them cuter since she was more skilled in that area of expertise where she can carve some cute designs with a small knife, but don't get the wrong idea! I did most of the work like buying all the necessary ingredients and preparing them and generalizing what needed to go where! I just needed help from Yuyu since I couldn't do the small stuff I wanted to do because of my lack of skill and because I was doing too many tasks at once!"
Izuku looked up at the sky as he repeated the concluding part of her last sentence in confusion. "Performing too many tasks at one time? How does that happen?"
"Don't ask! Even though I enjoy cooking on a regular basis, if I tackle too many assignments at once, I end up panicking! Just enjoy the food I prepared for us!"
Izuku laughed again, noticing the cooked salmon flaking away at a single swipe. She did a phenomenal job, even though Yuyu aided her in small ways. "I wouldn't worry too much, Nejire… It turned out great…" After a few seconds of silence, he looked over at her. "But I just want to know what mistakes you made that forced you to get Yuyu's help-"
Nejire cut him off by playfully smacking him on the shoulder while a small red blush appeared on her face. "I said don't ask!"
Nejire followed Izuku, who was deciphering the map's locations until they arrived at their destination; a lake with cherry blossom trees planted along the borders. From there, Nejire searched for a suitable spot they could look at the lake while he buried his head in the map, also looking for one.
The cherry blossom trees weren't supposed to be in season until next year during spring, but the park had planted ornamental ones to make up for the lack of color during autumn.
Nejire excitedly pointed at a spot they could sit down on, ruining Izuku's quest for the perfect area, where they could enjoy the view. The map wasn't really accurate with the destinations since most of them led people to watchtowers they had to spend a few extra yen on to access. Izuku shrugged his shoulders and folded the map away into this pocket before joining Nejire down by the ledge.
He noted the beautiful gold, bronze, red, and orange leaves falling from the cherry trees, gently kissing the water with every gentle wind that passed by. It almost reminded him of the time when he would go out with his mom during the autumn season to view the scenery of leaves spiraling down from the sturdy branches. It was soothing to be nostalgic for the old days, but now he was spending it with someone very special.
Distracted from drawing in the stunning sights, Izuku didn't notice what Nejire was doing until something warm and soft radiated from his shoulder.
Peeking out from the corner of his eyes, he froze up once he realized she was leaning her head on him. It all seemed so natural for her from his point of view, but it was a nerve-wracking experience for him.
He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down while Nejire yawned. "I… I thought you had lots of stamina, Nejire."
"Of course I do! Don't doubt my amazing stockpile of stamina! Though... I can still get tired because I'm still human." Nejire responded with her pretty signature smile. "Unfortunately, I can't extend the pool of energy to last my whole life. But even on the downright horrible days, I can keep an upbeat attitude and utilize my quirk well! That's what makes a hero so great and dependable, right?"
Izuku stared at her and blinked twice in surprise. She was right. They were both training to be amazing heroes, and that was their primary goal. It's been a wild ride so far with all the mishaps he's gone through, but he realized just how little he knew about her or her ambitions. This was his chance to get an idea of who she was by asking her some questions.
"Hey, Nejire… What are your ideals of a great hero?" If he asked this question, was it possible to unlock a new perspective that revealed the thoughts of a different person on what a hero was supposed to be?
"Honestly, I don't know…" Nejire responded after entertaining the question for a few seconds in her mind. "It's a tough question that has a lot of angles on it, but I think the first and foremost ideal that comes to mind when I was a kid and typically idolized them was how fearless and dependable they were! Like when All Might always appeared on TV day after day, I always wondered how he always smiled despite the bad days he experienced!"
"True…" Izuku looked down at the bottom of the lake and noticed some fishes hanging around the shore where some kids were throwing pieces of bread into the water.
"Then I placed myself in that situation and realized it was hard to adapt to. So I came to the conclusion that in order to be a great hero, you must be a sacrificial pawn, who offers your life up to save and keep the peace in society. People always sought the work of the hero because it's popular, but I think it is one of the most demanding jobs in the world since you have no clue if you could die any day of the week." Nejire laughed to break the tension. "But that's just me rambling my ideals and stuff like you wanted me to! I didn't mean to bring the mood down!"
"That's some next-level thinking…" Izuku muttered as his brain whirled around. His idol, All Might, risked his entire life to chase his goal and establish himself as the symbol of peace, so everyone could live a life in peace. And he succeeded.
"What about you, Izuku? Can I hear your thoughts on what your ideals are?"
"It's almost the same thing as you, except without all the thinking. I just wanted to be a hero like All Might, a symbol of peace and someone who could always smile despite the horrible circumstances that can tower above you. When I was younger, I would always watch a clip of All Might saving hundreds and saying everything's going to be fine because he's there. Just the mere presence of him was enough to instill a sense of security that everything was going to be okay, and that to me was so awesome!" Izuku rubbed the back of his head nervously as he realized the rampage of words he was going on. "So I want to be someone like him is all I'm saying. Does that feel childish?"
Izuku found Nejire staring at him with a twinkle in her eyes. It was obvious to tell that she was gushing at whatever he had just said.
"That sounds like something a younger brother would say! And that totally matches you!" Nejire giggled as she bumped her shoulder against his. "No wonder your hero costume has those cute bunny ears on top of your head!"
"Oh." Izuku started as his face suddenly turned into a deep shade of red. "Oh… Please ignore that part of my hero costume… It's embarrassing, but since everyone was so easy to bond with, I forgot about it…"
"How could I ever forget something so cute, like you or those bunny ears? Now I want to see you wearing it!"
"B-Back to the topic at hand!" Izuku said, trying his best to steer the conversation in a different direction that wouldn't constantly put him in the spotlight. "Actually, a new topic! What are you going to do when you graduate?"
"Ooh… Good question." Nejire said as she squinted off into the distance. "I have absolutely no clue! There's a strong chance I'll stay with Ryuko, but I feel like I learned a lot from her already and if I travel to a different hero agency to become a sidekick there, I could learn a lot more things, but I'll miss Ryuko!"
A drop of sweat trickled down his neck as he realized just how difficult of a question he had asked her. "Er… Forget I ever asked that question."
"No, there has to be an answer for this one! Believe me, I'll find the answer with your help!" Nejire exclaimed confidently while pointing a finger in his direction.
"Uh-huh, I'm sure you will-" Izuku trailed off as he shot her an expression of confusion. "Me? W-What did I do to deserve this?"
"By stating the question in the first place! Now help me devise a plan to think about my future!" Nejire tugged on his arm to beckon him for his help. "You still have at least two and a half years to understand my position and if you're still having trouble by then, I'll give you a hand!"
Izuku's eyes widened in shock as he stared at her. He felt like his brain was short-circuiting from the fact that she was willing to stick around him for years.
It wasn't supposed to be like this, but maybe this is what Izuku deserved for saying he didn't want to take a taxi service back home.
"Ahh! Nejire, please don't kill me! I still need to live until I see myself become a great hero!" Izuku yelled as they shot across the sky on their way back home.
"No worries, Izuku! I have us covered!" Nejire yelled back as they charged down to Izuku's dorm room, where Yuyu was.
Nejire had texted Yuyu earlier to make sure she was there to open the balcony door to Izuku's room. Being the amazing friend Yuyu was, she listened to Nejire's odd request and wiggled her way into the Class 1-A dorm, and asked for permission to unlock the door to Izuku's room with a screwdriver.
With that task accomplished, Yuyu proceeded to wait, though not for long as Nejire dove through the balcony door and crashed into Izuku's bed, causing the legs to snap with a tremendous crunch.
Nejire had her face down in Izuku's blanket while Izuku was sprawled out on the side of his room, eyes spinning in circles from the sudden stop in momentum. As for Yuyu, she was on edge from the sudden appearance of her best friend and Izuku dropping in with no prior warning.
Nejire lifted her head from his bed with a joyful smile planted on her face and laughed. "We made it back in record time compared to the taxi cab!"
"N-Nejire, why did you do that?" Yuyu said, her eyes suddenly flaring up in anger. She made her way over to where Izuku was to make sure he was okay. He seemed fine, but she had to know for certain.
Minus the repair costs going to the bed, everything was surprisingly fine. Thankfully, he would live to see another day.
Author's Note: Alright, I've run out of pre-written chapters and have been working very hard on this chapter the last few days to correct mistakes and make it more fun to read… But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop! I'm going to keep this going as long as it feels comfortable and natural, so maybe in like a few chapters, I'll end it or something, but not now!
I had some plans to end this story literally next chapter, but no, I must push myself so you guys can have more fun and enjoy the absurdity of it all! Besides, the attention this has been garnering is absolutely insane! So thank you for all your support!
With love from your favorite writer, Out4Lunch!
