Chapter 7

Rising Jealousy

Izuku woke up with a major headache. It felt like his head was going to explode. Then he realized why. He was suffering from a hangover due to drinking a lot of alcohol. He let out a quiet groan from the pain in his head before he registered that he was in a treehouse. He didn't remember getting there, and it worried him a bit. The last thing he could recall was him sitting at an outside bar sipping at his second drink. Or was it his third? He wasn't sure.

Then he felt something warm move slightly in his arms, but he didn't know what it was. He moved his hand a little, deciding to pull whatever it was closer. It was when he felt a warm breath tickle his neck that he figured out what it was. It was Ritsuko. His face grew extremely hot, and he knew he was blushing. However, he didn't let go. Instead, he moved up a little bit so her face was in his chest. He didn't want to move too much because he didn't want to wake her.

Izuku got his phone from his pocket and held it behind her on the floor so he could see it. After turning his phone on silent so he wouldn't wake Ritsuko up, he saw that he had five texts from Uraraka.

9:16 pm yesterday

Uraraka: Hey whatcha doing

9:57 pm yesterday

Uraraka: U ever going to respond?

11:34 pm yesterday

Uraraka: Youre worrying me

1:38 am today

Uraraka: Deku please answer so i know nothing bad happened to you

5:42 am today

Uraraka: deku if you dont respond by 7 im going to call iida and were going to come find you!!!

It was 7:35 now.

'Guess I missed the window then...' he thought. 'I still better text her to let them know I'm alright.'

Izuku: Uraraka im ok you dont need to look for me

After that, the response he received was nearly instant.

Uraraka: Omg youre ok!

Izuku: Yes im not hurt in anyway

Uraraka: Thank god but where are you send a pic

Izuku has sent a picture

Uraraka: Why r u in a treehouse deku?

Izuku: Idk cuz i am?

Uraraka: Do u even know where you are?! And now is not the time to be sassy!

Izuku: Of course i do! If i didnt how else would i get home

Uraraka: Send me ur location so me and iida know where u r. We'll come get u

Izuku: Why i want to just be alone for a while

Uraraka: Omg is a villain keeping you from sending your location?!

Izuku: What no

Uraraka: Then send ur location!!

Izuku thought for a moment. He knew that keeping his location was suspicious, but he really didn't want to tell them where he was. In truth, he wanted to be alone with Ritsuko for a while longer.

He felt the light blue haired girl shift against him. Then he felt her hand being pressed to his chest. It made his face go hot again, but he stayed still. She rolled over on her side so her back was now against his chest. Not knowing what he should do, he settled with what he wanted to do. He slowly wrapped his arm around her waist. The girl tensed for a moment, but then she relaxed. Then he got an idea that could work for both him and Uraraka. He got his phone again.

Izuku: Send me ur location first

Uraraka: Why

Izuku: Do it and ill send u mine

It took a few seconds, but she finally sent him her location. She was still in the center of the large city they lived in. It would take her and Iida quite a while to get to him, even with his speed quirk. That would be plenty of time to spend with Ritsuko, so he sent his location to her.

Uraraka: Why are you that far into the forest?

Izuku: You have my location now so dont complain

With that, he set his phone back down. He heard the ding for another notification, but he ignored it. It was probably her saying they were on their way or something.

Izuku really wanted to talk to Ritsuko. She was sound asleep though, so he patiently waited for her to wake up on her own. His wait payed off when she began to stir awake about ten minutes later. He saw her dark grey eyes begin to flutter open. She rolled over onto her back with a yawn and a stretch of her arms.

'Cute,' he thought. Realizing what he said, he shook his head. He rolled over onto his other side so she wouldn't see the pink hue on his cheeks.

"Something wrong?" she asked. Izuku couldn't help but think about how casual she was about it. It seemed like the situation didn't bother her at all. Then he felt her finger tap his arm. He turned his head just enough to see her sitting and looking down at him. She then placed three fingers on his forehead.

"How bad is it?" she questioned.

"H- how b- bad is what?"

"The hangover?"

"M- my headache i- is fine!"

Ritsuko stared at him for a moment before standing up. As she did he got a glimpse of the cut on her right forearm from that knife during the race. Seeing it made him a bit sad. He didn't like knowing that she was hurt.

Izuku sat up and watched her go to a box. He saw her wince as she crouched. Her hand went to her right hip for a second before she opened the wooden container.

"A- are you okay?" he asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

"I'm fine," she told him. She tried to hide it, but he could barely hear her speak as if she were in pain. He got up and went over to her. The inside of the box had some pictures, books, and glass things. From looking at it, he could tell that they were probably personal to her. Important too.

"Why don't you sit down?" Izuku inquired her. She shook her head. "What are you looking for?"

"A picture," she answered. He kept watching her go through everything for a few seconds.

"C- can you do s- something for me?" Izuku suddenly asked her, making her stop her movements. She turned to him.

"What?"

"C- can you make your sentences longer? They're usually pretty short, but I feel that you want to say more," he explained. Then, in a whisper that she could barely hear, he added, "P- plus, I- I think your voice sounds nice."

Ritsuko was quiet for a few seconds. She had never really thought about talking more. It was more comfortable for her to speak less. Although, she trusted Izuku. She saw no harm in speaking a little more, but only around him. "Sure, I guess it would be fine. Only around you though."

That made a smile appear on his face. "Good! Also, did you find what you were searching for?"

She shook head, but then she did actually find it. Ritsuko took the small picture out. It was of an older woman with long brown hair, and there was a young light blue haired girl sitting next to her. He knew it was Ritsuko and her mother from the color of their eyes. They were the exact same dark grey eyes.

"I've seen your mom, so you should see mine," she told him as she handed the picture to him. "I was five in this one."

"If you don't mind me asking, how old were you when you lost your mom?"

"I was six. She was jumped by a group of villains, and they killed her." Hearing that made him sad again. He handed the picture back as she gave him another one.

"That one is of me and my childhood friend Kaito. I was twelve, and he was fourteen," she explained. The boy she was beside in the picture had spiky, dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. They were both smiling, and he could tell that the boy took the picture with the camera based off his pose and the perspective it was taken at.

"Is he nice to you?"

"Yes, of course. We do a lot of things for each other, and we protect each other the best we can." She handed him another picture. This one had her, Kaito, and a blond.

"That blond guy is Haze," she informed him. He remembered hearing his name; it was the night he figured out about the race. The girl that went up to Ritsuko mentioned him.

"What kind of friendship do you guys have?"

"We don't have one anymore. Kaito and I used to be pretty close to him, but he changed ever since his parents died," she told him. She had this sad look in her eyes that he didn't like. He didn't like seeing her sad at all. It made him feel terrible.

"Has he hurt you or anything?" Izuku worriedly asked. He took her silence as a yes. "You should do something! I'm sure that Kaito or your dad can help you."

"They do. Kaito beats the shit out him when he sees it, and my father has hurt him before."

"He hadn't done anything really bad has he?"

Ritsuko looked down to her lap for a second before looking back at him. "You have noticed the pain in my right hip, haven't you?"

He nodded, "He did that?"

"Yes, but the pain is a permanent thing. It was a year ago that he had shattered my hip because we got into a really bad fight. I didn't get proper medical attention, and I always walked on it for long periods of time despite it hurting. It didn't let it heal properly, so it always hurts now," Ritsuko explained. Izuku felt his hand curl into a fist involuntarily as a small bit of anger filled him. He wasn't sure why, but knowing that she was in permanent pain due to Haze made him feel so mad.

'I'm going to beat this guy up, I swear!' he thought angrily to himself. Then he felt a hand on each of his. He looked up and saw that Ritsuko was in front of him now.

"It's alright; I'm pretty used to it by now," she said in the hopes to reassure him. Although, he shook his head.

"It's not alright..." he mumbled. After a short silence he asked, "What makes it hurt more?"

"If anything touches it. Even the slightest tap can make it hurt a lot more depending on where it touches my hip. Moving my leg far to the side can really hurt my hip too. Walking for a long time can do it as well," she said to him.

"Wait, has us walking around the city been making it worse?" Izuku asked her with concern. "I mean, we walked a few days in a row, and it was for a while too."

"It did," she admitted, "but it's alright; you didn't know, and I didn't tell you."

"It's not! You should have said something because I wouldn't have-" He was cut off when she flicked his nose.

"Being with you made my days better, and I knew that you wouldn't want to meet up if you knew," she said. Then she tilted her head and added, "You know now though, right?"

"Yeah..." Izuku looked over to the box and at the pictures. Then he realized something. "Why isn't your dad in any of the pictures?"

She seemed to tense slightly, and he wasn't sure why. When she relaxed, she said, "He's in some, but they're not at the top of the pile."

"Can I see what he looks like?"

"No," she responded instantly. "You wouldn't like him."

"I can judge that," he told her.

A silence fell over them. He saw that she was staring to the side at nothing in particular. It took a few moments for him to realize just how close they were. They were side by side, their sides nearly touching. He was on her right side, so he was being extra careful now that he knew about the pain in her right hip. The close proximity caused a red blush to spread across his cheeks. Feeling how warm she was didn't help him either. To him, since he was fairly cold, she felt a lot like a heater. There was a strong urge that appeared in him to lean closer to her. However, his shy and rather timid nature would never allow him to do that.

Izuku dared a glance at Ritsuko's face only to see her dark grey eyes staring at him. She was looking at him for who knows how long, and it made him even more nervous than he was before. Before he or she could do anything though, a voice rang through the cool morning air.

"Deeekuuu!" They yelled. He instantly knew that it was Uraraka. "Deku, you're here somewhere, so show yourself!"

Izuku remembered just how close he was to Ritsuko, and he turned bright red again. Quickly, he leaned back and looked away.

They heard a rustle of the leaves. The two both looked in the direction it was coming from, and they saw Uraraka poke her head out.

"Hello, Deku!" she cheered with her eyes closed. When they opened, she saw them extremely close together. Seeing Izuku so close to Ritsuko made the brunette feel very jealous.

"H- Hey!" Izuku called nervously as he scooted away from the light blue haired girl. "Y- you guys f- found me!"

Uraraka climbed into the treehouse and walked over to them. Her jealousy flared up, and it made the girl really upset. She walked over to him and tapped his head. The brunette then made him float upwards. His head hit the ceiling, and he let out a pain filled cry. His head was still hurting a bit from the hangover, but now it was even worse. He looked down to see an extremely mad Uraraka.

"What were you two doing? Something could have happened to you two while you were out here!"

"N- nothing!" he stuttered. Then he was suddenly dropped to the floor. The brunette went over to him as he sat up.

"Why weren't you responding to my texts?! I was so worried!"

Izuku waved his hands defensively, "I'm sorry; I was really distracted yesterday!"

"Alright, let's all calm down," Iida said since he was able to climb into the treehouse on his own. The brunette seemed to ignore him and got closer to Izuku. He went red from her being that close to his face. Then she stood back up with a quiet gasp.

"Deku, why do you smell like alcohol?"

"W- wait, I do?" He seemed confused. Then he did a mental facepalm. 'Of course I do! I was drinking after all.'

"Oh my god," she said angrily. Uraraka tapped him, making him float again. Then she walked over to Iida and tapped him as well to make him float. "We're leaving; see ya, Ritsuko!"

Ritsuko saw her jump down, the two boys close behind thanks to her quirk. She crawled over to the edge. Uraraka was now dragging the green haired boy while Iida walked beside her. After seeing them walk for a few seconds, she went back by the box in the treehouse.

The girl moved a few pictures until she found the one she was looking for. It was a picture of her mom, and she was beside her. Behind the five year old Ritsuko was a seven year old Kaito. Right behind her mother was her father. He was where she got her light blue hair and her other quirk.

It was Tomura. He wasn't threatening in the picture or anything. Actually, he had a very small and content smile on his face. A genuine one that was caused by happiness. His arms were resting on her mother's shoulders.

The four were happy together in the picture. They were a small happy family.

~~~

"Can you just let me go already?" Izuku asked. He gave up his struggling long ago, and he was just asking now rather than demanding with a struggle. Uraraka didn't respond though. "Look, I'm sorry for not texting yesterday. Or earlier this morning..."

"Yeah, because you were out getting drunk!" she said with anger and irritation.

"Okay, I admit to that. I didn't know it was alcohol until I already had a glass though. I swear that's true!"

"Where did you even go? And why would you drink to begin with?" she asked him, anger still evident in her tone.

"It was a party of sorts..." he whispered. "Like I said, I didn't know it was alcohol until I already had a glass or two." Uraraka stopped, resulting in him bumping into her. She turned around to see him.

"You shouldn't be around Ritsuko anymore," she declared. "She's a bad influence. Heck, she even let you drink!"

The fact that Ritsuko did allow him to drink was one he couldn't deny. However, he still wanted to talk to her. He was going to continue to speak with her, no matter what.

"I can talk to her if I want too!" he yelled. It caught both Uraraka and Iida off guard since he sounded so mad all of a sudden. "Neither of you can control what I do! I like to hangout with her, so I will if I want to!"

Uraraka grip loosened slightly, and he took that opportunity to break away from her grasp. He pulled his wrist away from her and took off. Both of them yelled for him to stop, but he ignored them.

The brunette began to run after him, but Iida stopped her by grabbing her shoulder. "Let's leave him alone. Going after him won't help any of us. Just let him think for a while. We should do the same."

She was about to protest, but she stopped herself. The girl knew that he was right. Her jealousy ultimately made her act that way. She didn't like how she was treating him because of it, so not talking to him while in her jealous state was the best option.

~~~

Izuku was still mad when he got home. It didn't even let him register his mother's greeting. He rarely didn't respond when he got home; he only didn't when he had a really bad day at school. She immediately knew something happened. Inko followed him to his room to make sure he was alright. "Izu, are you okay?"

"No," he admitted honestly, sounding slightly angry. She walked a bit closer to him.

"We can talk about it if you want," she told him.

"Not now," he said, quickly managing to calm himself down. His mother had nothing to do with why he was upset, so he didn't want to expel any of his frustration on her. She gave him a nod after a few seconds.

"Let me know if you need anything," she told him before walking back down the hall.

Izuku went to his dresser and got some clothes. His mother wasn't close enough to smell the alcohol on him, and he didn't want her to know. He had to take a quick shower and wash his clothes before she found out.

After getting some clothes he went to the bathroom and got in the shower. While standing there, he couldn't help but think about the race, him ending up drunk, waking up next to Ritsuko, finding out more about her, and the fight with Uraraka. His mind went on a bit of an overload.

Izuku felt like he was missing something when he wasn't with her. Around her he felt strange but great at the same time. There were times where she would get him extremely flustered, and there were times when he gained more confidence than he normally would around girls. He didn't know how he was able to do it, but he wouldn't stutter as often when he was with her unlike the other girls. Whenever she was sad, he felt sad too. When she was happy, he was. Knowing that she was hurting made him angry too; more than he felt he should be. The range of emotions he felt in regards to Ritsuko just confused him so much.

Izuku looked up, letting the shower head spray water onto his face.

He had taken her out to dinner, to shops, an arcade, and he went out of his way to see her at that race. He even bought himself a butterfly knife to defend himself since he had the suspicion that the place was full of villains. He did all of that for her, and she was almost constantly on his mind when she wasn't with him.

Izuku wasn't sure of what he should do about it. Although, he was positive that he was going to be seeing her again really soon. He wanted to feel like he wasn't missing anything anymore, and he felt that desire disappear when she was near him. It was because he felt that the thing he was missing was finally with him. Much like whatever he was missing was Ritsuko herself.

For now, he decided to figure out the various emotions he was going through later. The boy was a bit tired, so he was going to take a short nap before doing anything else for the day.

Word Count: 3615

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

~ Posted November 22, 2018