"Man being late just isn't the same anymore.." Leizcio said as he was speed walking down the class halls. It's been a week since he had his talk with Blink. His rehabilitation has paid off as he's able to walk without crutches now. However, running is still stressful on his legs so he just moved his legs as fast as he could without doing so.
Well, Leizcio had a different sense of late. Turns out it was still a good 15 minutes until homeroom would start and most of the class was already there, either sitting down or having small talk as they waited.
"You okay Esperanza? You've been looking a bit more tired lately." Ojiro asked as he walked up to Leizcio.
"Yeah, just been having a lot on my mind recently."
"Okay, just wanted to check in." Ojiro said as he sat back down.
Besides the rough training that Blink has been making him do, he also kept on thinking of how he's supposed to help mend things between him and Ochaco. What Blink told him helped him realize that he has to be the one to take that step.
The only problem is that Leizcio was barely getting a handle on doing things socially. It's one thing to be able to go out of your way and talk to others and make friends. It's an entirely different thing when you ignore your best friend's warnings not to get yourself killed and nearly do so despite said warnings.
'Yeah, there's definitely something wrong with me...' Leizcio thought to himself, realizing his painfully unique situation.
But there was one person who could help him with this. Someone who was practically an expert at everything social. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it right. He just needed to talk to...
"Hey Ashido, can I talk to you about something?"
The pink girl with horns that had a seemingly endless supply of energy. Even though the two haven't really started to talk until recently, Leizcio knew he could depend on her for some advice on this.
"Sure Espe! What's up?"
'Wait how do I even explain this without going into it too much?'
"Well... I need to talk to someone but I'm not sure how?"
"Whatcha mean?"
"Uhm... Let's say that hypothetically, I might have fucked up and ignored one of my closest friends when they were justified in how they felt especially since I was the reason why things went bad between us. I-I'm just tired of having it be like that and I want to apologize but I don't know how?" Leizcio explained, trying to get his words right without saying too much.
"Yeesh you got quite the problem there Espe. Luckily, you got me to help you out!" Ashido said with a smile and thumbs up.
Before Leizcio could say anything else, he was whisked away and sat down in a chair across from Ashido. She also had glasses on now?
"Where'd those glasses eve-" Before he could speak another word, Ashido held a finger up, quieting him.
"Don't worry bout that. We're here to talk about fixing things right?" Ashido said, which Leizcio nodded in agreement.
"Good. Now... What happened between you and this 'hypothetical' person?"
"... Well, I was ignoring them. They were trying to keep me from doing something stupid, and I ended up not listening. I was too... arrogant to listen to them. I sort of shut myself off from them. And they reasonably got mad at me. But that's when things started to get worse because of me. I snapped at them, I started yelling and just kept going down that hole..."
Saying it made Leizcio feel guilt hanging over his head, realizing he basically left Ochaco on her own after the mess of a dispute they had. But it also started letting other thoughts sitting in the back come to light.
His anxiety and nervousness were starting to make him want to leave. He never really talked about his problems, not on this level. Even when things were okay with Ochaco, he never delved into his problems, it was one of the things he'd tend to avoid. Yet here he was spilling his problems onto Ashido.
'Am I saying too much? I can't dump my issues on her like this. I shouldn't make her uncomfortable. These are my own burdens that I have to carry and fix.'
His intrusive thoughts were getting worse by the second. He tried to shake them off but they only clung on harder. Wanting to leave the situation, he starts to get up.
"I'm sorry Ashido, I don't want to trouble you with th-"
"Espe."
Despite trying to get up, he felt Ashido's hand holding his shoulder down, not letting him leave.
"It's okay. We're friends. We help each other out when we can, and don't worry about it, this isn't a bother to me. So let's make sure we can fix things and make things better okay?" Ashido told Leizcio, trying to get through to him.
In which she has succeeded. While he didn't say a word, his face made it clear that he was ready to talk about it. Those thoughts that were invading his mind went back into hiding and Leizcio was ready to face this head forward.
"Thank you Ashido. And yeah... Let's." Leizcio said calmly.
"Course! Now... what's really stopping you Espe?"
Again, those fears tried to stop him, but he pushed them back down. If he was going to make things better, the least he can do is be honest.
"I...I don't want to mess things up again. I already hurt that person and I want to make things right. I just want to make sure that I don't do it the wrong way or anything like that."
"I see... Well, you're already on the right track. The things you told me, you should tell them. If you're honest with them and yourself, then that'd be the start of getting things back to normal."
"I know it's much easier said than done, but you got it. Right Espe?"
It was a small pause but Leizco understood what Ashido had told him.
"Yeah... Thank you Ashido."
"Of course Espe! You let me know when things work out okay?"
"Yeah!"
Now feeling much better about the situation, Leizcio feels slight confidence that things might go for the better. Noticing that Aizawa was entering the class, he quickly went back into his seat as homeroom began.
Classes went by in a rush and it was already time for lunch. Trying to cram in as much content as possible as finals lurked, it was a temporary break that Ochaco needed.
"I wonder how I did on my midterms..." Midoriya said, openly thinking to himself.
"Same here. It was quite difficult, especially with everything that's happened." Iida agreed.
"What about you Uraraka?" Midoriya asked, trying to get her opinion on this.
But yet, she was seemingly spacing out. Her eyes were just blankly looking somewhere and she didn't say anything for a good solid minute.
"Uraraka, you there?" Midoriya asked again, this time, snapping her back to reality.
"Huh?"
"You okay? You're looking a bit tired than usual." Iida commented, noticing the lack of energy she usually has.
"Oh, just a little bit! Studying for finals has been a bit exhausting since it's so soon!" Ochaco responded quickly. The other two nodded in agreement with what she said.
It might be the case as to why she's a bit mentally tired, but something else was also taking up space in her mind.
There's no ignoring how things are between her and Leizcio. The two haven't spoken to each other since what happened at internships. And as much as it pained to see her best friend hurt so much, she couldn't put up with his stubbornness anymore.
And even with how distant the two have been recently, she can't help but also be concerned that that might've been the thing to completely break their friendship. It's been a few weeks since what happened and it doesn't seem that Leizcio has made a single step to trying to fix things between them. She hates to think it, but the thought of him possibly being deadset on not apologizing kept invading her mind.
While Ochaco was blanking out and thinking again, Midoriya felt like bringing up some good news.
"I'm just glad Esperanza has a chance to take the finals now that his recovery is going well!" Midoriya cheerily said, glad that his friend is slowly rising back.
But boy does he have terrible timing and can't read the room too well.
"Yes... It's a bit of a shame that his quirk hasn't fully come back yet. Only time will tell when it will." Iida said.
While Midoriya understood Iida, he was rather concerned with Uraraka considering how her mood slightly changed when he brought up Leizcio.
"Yeah, he's made some progress at least..." She said half-heartedly, only concerning Midoriya more.
Midoriya didn't say anything else as the tension at the table was already pretty high and didn't want to push it.
He wanted to try and help with whatever happened between those two. One would have to be blind to not see the clear distance between the two even though they were best friends before UA. He already felt that guilt of not having interfered when Iida went to Hosu city.
But it was clear that this was a situation he couldn't really meddle in and could only hope that things take a turn for the better.
Luckily the tension didn't last long as it was already nearing the end of lunch and the trio would head begin to get ready for the rest of their classes.
'So... Tired...' Ochaco thought as she got off the train.
As classes became more rigorous with their exams beginning to get closer by the day, she became more tuckered out each day.
Even on the walk home though, she's reminded of Leizcio. These streets were one of the major areas he would patrol more often back when he was still operating as Blur. And of course, with him no longer able to hold that mantle anymore, there's no denying that things have been going back to before he was Blur.
As she continued walking, she looked over to her side and saw a thing of graffiti. Backing up a little bit, she saw that it was a mockup of what was Blur's 'symbol'. A red circle with a wide black V splitting it down the middle. There wasn't exactly escaping the influence that Lei spread to others as Blur and this was one of them.
But thinking about it got her reflecting back to what happened with the suit he used. Sure it was mangled and torn up, but yet she can't help but feel somewhat dissatisfied with the way she and Tamashi went with it.
Ochaco kept on walking and every now and then, a small art tag of Blur would be somewhere around the corner. It only made her reflect more on what happened that night.
Making it back to her apartment, she takes off her shoes and sets down her bag. Quickly going over to her futon, she just lays down to take a minute and relax. Well more so attempt but she can't stop thinking back to it.
Just burning Leizcio's suit like that didn't sit right with her. While she was mad about how he let himself spiral down and end up being arrogant, she can't deny what he's done for everyone he's saved just by being Blur.
Burning it wasn't in her style, she would've preferred something else but it was the only thing they could do then. But doing it felt... wrong.
She felt like it was disregarding the people Leizcio managed to inspire but also Leizcio himself.
If there was even just an ounce of communication between what happened, the entire situation could've been handled so much better.
'All this thinking is making me even more tired...' Ochaco thought as she got up and went to get see if she had any mochi in her fridge. As she got up though, her phone started to ring.
Wondering who it was, she checked to see who was calling her. She wasn't expecting it, but it was Leizcio.
She holds the phone in her hand looking at the contact as her phone is waiting for her to choose whether to answer or deny the call.
'If things are going to get back to normal, I have to take a chance too right?'
She answered the call, much to Leizcio's surprise.
"Hi Ochaco."
"Hi Leizcio. Did you need something?"
Even through a phone, the tension could be cut with a knife.
"I... Look, I want to talk. Properly this time. Can you meet me at the cafe tomorrow when you have the time please?"
A few seconds of silence pass which concerns Leizcio. But on the other end, Ochaco is surprised to hear that coming from him. She had her doubts but here he was trying to take that step.
"Sure Leizcio. Late afternoon fine for you?" Ochaco said, feeling the slightest bit more relaxed.
"Yeah! Oh... Uhm, I mean yes, that works. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Sounds good then, Leizcio." Ochaco said, promptly ending the call.
With a simple call, it seemed to give a refreshing dose of hope to both Leizcio and Ochaco.
Now the two just wait until they finally get the chance to talk again.
Chapter 45
End
