Chapter 2

Getting To Know You

He couldn't wait for school to get out, and it had only just begun.

Izuku had to go through his classes before he could see Ritsuko again. He felt like he had to see her again. The teen just had this overwhelmingly strong urge to shelter her; to protect her from whatever was going on in her life. That was why he was so happy when she agreed to meet him again. The boy already had a plan for what they could do for the day.

First, they could go out for food. There was a nice restaurant he had in mind that wasn't too fancy, but it wasn't too basic either. Second, they could go to a little shop that was close by there. Third, they could stop by a nice bakery that he was fairly fond of. Of course, he was going to go anywhere she wanted to if she didn't want to visit one of those places.

Luckily, before he knew it, it was already lunch. He quickly got to the cafeteria and collected his food. Although, he wanted some more time to think, so he ended up going outside instead.

He found a nice tree that was away from everyone and sat down. Izuku pressed his back against the bark and began to eat what he had gotten. Little did he know, two people were stalking him from afar.

"What do you think?" Uraraka asked the person beside her.

"He may want some alone time. After all, he does spend most of his time with us during class breaks," Iida suggested. She shook her head.

"No, I bet it has something to do with that girl he mentioned. He's been kind of weird ever since that night he met her."

"True. He has been acting rather strange."

"Let's follow him after school," the brunette said, a devilish smirk on her face.

"We can't do that! It's an invasion of his privacy!"

"But aren't you curious?! I mean, he may be interested in a girl! What if he tries to take advantage of her if she is a shy and innocent girl?!"

"He wouldn't do that. I have a lot of faith in Midoriya," Iida told her. Uraraka pouted.

"Well, I guess I'll be going by myself. It would be a shame if something were to happen and that someone could have helped but wasn't there."

Iida thought for a moment. Then he gave in. "As much as I don't want to, I will join you. I want to make sure that no gets hurt or anything during this whole thing."

The girl squealed with glee.

~~~

Izuku sat in a park bench in a new set of clothing. The park wasn't too far away from his house, so he was able to stop by and change into something more presentable. Of course, he told his mom a goodbye and that he might be back a bit later than usual.

His outfit was pretty simple. It was a black hoodie, blue jeans, and his red boots. Underneath the hoodie, he wore a simple white, short sleeve shirt.

Anxiously, he checked the time on his phone. It was exactly 4:25. He pocketed the device and leaned back against the bench. Patiently, he waited another few minutes. Izuku didn't mind if she was late. He would just be glad that she came to meet him.

Feeling nervous, he began to look around. Then he felt something blow on the back of his neck. Out of instinct, he jumped up with a weird sound escaping him and rubbed his neck. He saw who he was waiting for standing behind the wooden bench he was sitting on moments before.

"R- Ritsuko, why would you scare me?!" he asked, heat rushing to his cheeks. She was wearing a maroon red shirt, dark blue jeans, and the same white winter jacket she had worn yesterday. She had on a pair of black leather boots that went just above her ankles as well. His green eyes noticed she was wearing the heart necklace as well.

"You were vulnerable," she answered.

"O- oh. I- I'm glad that you came here though!" He realized that she was holding the chocolate box from yesterday.

"What are we doing first?" Ritsuko asked him. He saw her walk around the bench to get closer to him. The slight breeze had picked her light blue hair up a little bit. She then opened the box to reveal that the top tray of pieces were gone, and there weren't much left of the second. They ate the rest, and Ritsuko threw away the box in the near by trashcan.

"W- well, there is a restaurant near by if you're hungry," he suggested. She nodded.

"Alright."

They began walking to their destination. He wasn't sure what he could say to get her to talk more. Izuku already determined that she was a person of few words. Plus, he doubted that she would share much of her personal life with someone that she practically just met. He found it as a miracle that she even agreed to meet him again.

The two made it to the small restaurant. Izuku, being the kind soul that he was, held the door open for the girl to enter first. They let the workers know that they were there, and then he saw her walk to one of the tables. Ritsuko sat at one near one of the various windows, so he sat across from her. He began to nervously fiddle his fingers that were hidden under the clean surface of the table.

A few seconds after they were seated, they were both given a menu. Since he had been to the place a lot, mostly with his mom when he was spending some time with her, he knew what he wanted. Still, he looked through the menu due to a habit he had created.

He looked through the menu once before glancing up at Ritsuko. Her menu was closed, and she was staring outside with her dark grey eyes.

"Ritsuko," he started, causing her to turn to him, "did you pick something out?"

"I've never been here before. You pick for me," she ordered. He tilted his head to the side slightly, a sheepish smile making its way onto his face. Either way, he reopened the booklet and looked through it.

"The fancy sushi they have here is pretty good," he informed her.

"I don't like sushi," she stated bluntly.

'At least she's honest, I guess,' he thought to himself. "Are you allergic to anything?"

"Not that I know of."

"Okay, would like to try their pork and rice? It's pretty good here." He saw her nod. A waitress came by and supplied them with water before going to help someone else, giving the two some more time. "Alright. They have lot of different drinks that you-"

"Tea," she said, cutting him off. He paused for a few seconds and closed the menu. Then the waitress came back about a minute later.

"Have you two decided yet?"

"Uh, y- yeah. We will both be having pork, rice, and tea. I will also take some shrimp," he informed her. She finished writing and repeated the order to make sure it was correct before heading off. He looked back over to Ritsuko after a minute or two and saw her looking out the window again.

"Where do you usually eat when it comes to restaurants?" Izuku asked. She turned back to him, noticing that he wasn't stuttering. She suspected that his confidence rose enough. Knowing that he was more comfortable than earlier made her feel more at ease.

"I don't eat out," she answered. If he asked simple questions like that, she had no reason not to be honest with the green haired boy.

"Oh. Then what do you usually do in your free time?"

"I play violin, and sometimes sing," she told him.

"That's nice that you can do that. I've never played an instrument, and I kind of sound like a dying whale if I ever sing," he told her truthfully, a nervous chuckle escaping him. Just then, the waitress came back with the food that they ordered.

Izuku saw her take the fork in her left hand, keeping her index finger from touching it. He guessed that Ritusko was a lefty from which hand she was using. Taking his own fork, he got some of the pork and took a bite. He saw her do the same as he chewed. When he got some of the rice, she did the same just seconds after.

The two continued to eat like this for a few minutes. Eventually, he got used to her mimicking what he was doing, minus when he took bites of the shrimp he got. Izuku had also noticed that whenever she placed her hands on something she would always have one finger off of it. Izuku assumed it was either out of impulse or that it was a habit she picked up at some point early on in her life.

When they were done, they got up and headed to the counter as a waiter cleaned up their table. He payed for the both of them before they left.

"Was it okay, or did you not like it?" he questioned her.

"It was good," she replied, looking at the passing cars. He paused for a moment.

"Uh, there's a little shop near by that sells some small nick nacks and stuff," he told her, causing her to look at him. "We can check it out if you want."

"Okay."

By now, he was fairly used to her speaking few words. The same can be said about the slightly odd behavior she displayed.

Izuku and Ritsuko arrived at the place he had suggested. They looked around in the small space of the aisles. She would stand a good distance from him as they searched. He had noticed that whenever someone entered the same aisle as them, she would take a step closer to him. Especially when they got closer to them. To get the taller girl to talk, he would point some items out around them. Still though, she didn't say much more than 'cool', 'okay', or 'I don't like it'.

As time went on, more people entered the store. Each time the bell signalling someone walked in rang, he saw her get more fidgety and nervous. Feeling worried for her, he got her out of the store.

"Is there anywhere you would like to go?" Izuku asked her. It was pretty late at this point; nearly dark. He saw her shake her head. "Oh, okay. There's a nice bakery close by if you want to stop by there." She nodded and followed him.

When they got there, he brought her to the counter to look at what they had in the clear glass counter. This place helped him figure out that she was a fan of bread since she had pointed out different kinds that she said were good. She was pretty much leading them, and he ended up following her to a small cookie section.

"This," she suddenly said, pointing to a large chocolate chip cookie.

"You want that?" he questioned her, just to make sure that was what she meant. Ritsuko nodded, so he got it for her. They went outside into the cool night air after that.

Izuku saw her take a big bite of the cookie. Just like with everything else before now, she had her index finger off of the wrapper holding the cookie. Ritsuko looked over to him.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?"

"Today."

"Oh, I just kind of want to get to know you," he said while rubbing the back of his neck.

"You had a plan. That's good," she assured him. It made him become a bit flustered.

"Y- yeah. I- I'm glad that you l- like the time we spent together!"

"I'm going home now."

"I can walk you," he said, a small smile working its way to his face.

"No," she said immediately, making the smile go away quickly.

"Oh, a- alright." Izuku watched her go take a few steps down the sidewalk before stopping. She spun around to see him, her dark grey eyes looking just over his head.

"Same place, same time, tomorrow," she told him before turning back around and resuming her walk. He just stood there for a minute before a smile finally formed in his expression again. He then headed back home, excited for the next day already.

Izuku wasn't sure why he was excited to see her again. He just was, and it didn't bother him. Not at all.

Then that feeling that he felt before about her came back. The need to protect her and make sure she was safe. Except it felt stronger this time.

The aspiring hero told himself that he would get to know more about her tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the two that were spying on them all day were chatting now that they split up.

"Alright!" Uraraka said, feeling like she accomplished something extremely important.

"Midoriya probably shouldn't be made aware that we did this, right?" Iida asked, waiting for confirmation. She shook her head.

"Of course he shouldn't! Just act as though we never did this; we saw absolutely nothing!"

Word Count: 2229

I was able to get this chapter out sooner than I actually thought since I got into writing this one.

Just so there isn't confusion or anything, chapters in the future will most likely not come out this quickly. They won't always be a weekly thing either.

~ Posted September 6, 2018