Hi all welcome back to another chapter!

This one is departing from the light-hearted mood of the past chapters to be a more emotional one. I wanted to write about our favorite characters dealing with their emotions. Because for all the great highs in life, you can't appreciate them if you don't face the lows. And no matter how great things turn around, negative thoughts always lurk.

As the elevator door opened, Ibara was surprised to hear the steady dull thud echo throughout the hall. Ibarra was worried to see Mary staring blankly down the hallway. The echoes of Ibara's steps snapped Mary out of her trance. Upon seeing the vine haired girl, Mary let out a sigh.

"Shiozaki-chan, it's good to see you. Midoriya-kun showed up and immediately marched towards the bag room. He's been at it for almost an hour." Mary clenched her fist as she stared down the hallway again.

Ibara simply nodded before walking up to Mary. Setting her bag down, Ibara surprised Mary by giving her a brief hug. She let go before Mary could move.

"Do not be afraid to show one compassion. Your sincerity and good will shall reach and touch the heart of those you give it to," Ibarra said placing a hand on Mary's shoulder. "I shall go speak to Izu-kun. I hope that I can offer him the guidance he needs in his time of need."

Mary was quiet before putting a hand on Ibara's shoulder.

"You're a better person than me," Mary said before picking up Ibara's bag, "I'll put this in the office for now."

Ibara bowed, "Thank you, Mary-san." Without another word, Ibara turned and walked down the hallway.

Mary looked back to see the young girl clasping her hands together in a prayer. Looking down, Mary clenched her fist. "You kids… I feel like I'm playing catch up while they are busy being real heroes."

000

As the constant dull thuds got louder, Ibara found herself constantly playing with the hem of her shirt. As she stood outside the door, the loud echoing thuds did not hesitate for even a moment. With one last sigh, Ibara pushed open the studio door.

This studio was lined with different punching bags. From hanging ones to self-standing to hand pads. Izuku was smack dab in the middle of the room with one of the self-standing bags. Ibara watched as Izuku never ceased punching. The dull look in his eyes made it clear that he was not even looking at the bag.

Ibara then saw something that stopped her cold. Blood. There was blood on the bag. Without another second of hesitation, vines shot out and wrapped Izuku in a cacoon finally snapping the boy out of his trance.

Izuku tried to flail free but found that Ibara had bound him to where he could barely move a muscle. That and his whole body began to ache so heavily that he was unable to move them even if he wanted to. Ibara used her vine to manipulate his hands to be in front of him.

More vines shot away from Ibara to the first-aid cabinet the room had. The second the antiseptic was in her hands, Ibara applied it to Izuku's bleeding knuckles. When Izuku flinched, she gave him a look that clearly said 'you brought this on yourself.'

A nervous chuckle escaped Izuku as Ibara returned her attention to his hands. A heavy silence filled the studio as Ibara carefully wrapped Izuku's hands up.

There were many things Ibara wanted to say, to yell, to scold… to cry. To see Izuku hurt himself like this, it caused Ibara's heart to ache. The words that Ibara wanted to say died in her throat the second she saw the hurt that lingered in Izuku's eyes.

Once Ibara finished, her vines jerked Izuku towards her. Upon release, Izuku simply flopped to the floor. Instead of crashing, he was once more caught by Ibara's vines and slowly lowered. Izuku could only stare up in disbelief when he found Ibara frowning down at him. The soft pillowy feeling that he rested his head on could only be one thing in this position. An almighty lap pillow. Izuku was blushing red when he realized this. Gentle hands found their way to Izuku's sweat-matted hair. Ibara did not say anything as she weaved her fingers through his hair.

"What's wrong Izuku?" Ibara finally asked breaking the silence.

All his redness was gone as Izuku looked away from the piercing gaze of Ibara.

"It's n-nothing," Izuku said.

"It's obviously not nothing Izuku. You worked yourself so hard your knuckles are bleeding and your body is so tired you can't move.

"I can move too," Izuku protested as he tried to roll away. Only to find that his body would not listen.

"It seems that you can't," Ibara said bluntly. With a heavy sigh, Ibara lowered her head closer causing her vines to curtained around them. It was as if she was cutting out the world so it was only the two of them. "Now confess your true feelings Izuku. The only ones that will be able to hear is I."

"I… I feel so weak." Izuku finally broke down as tears began to rush out of him. "There are days, where I look at all the awesome and amazing quirks and I just wish. Just wish I could be like them. To be strong like them." Closing his eyes, Izuku tried to hold back his tears. "Is it so hard to treat someone as a human? Why does me being quirkless automatically mean you can do whatever you want? Why can't they see how much it hurts?"

As Izuku cried out his pain, Ibara could say nothing as she petted his hair.

"Honestly, I think those that hurt you like this are nothing more than monsters," Ibara spoke in a hushed whisper. "A cruel thing to say about someone. But how they can hurt someone as kind as you, I will never know." Dabbing away some of Izuku's never-ending tears, Ibara tried to hold back her own. "Izuku, you're so much stronger than anyone with a quirk. Because it takes someone with a strong soul to be able to face the hardships that you have and still be willing to reach out to others in need. Out of everyone I know, you are the strongest."

Ibara touched her forehead to Izuku's. Izuku closed his eyes as he felt Ibara's tears fall into his hair.

With shaky hands, Izuku reached up and found Ibara's hands to hold onto. The two sat clinging onto one another, one wishing the pain away from her friend, the other wishing he could see what she saw in him.

Ibara eventually sat up straight again, the sad smile that she wore made Izuku try to squeeze her hands. Her hair fell back behind her once more allowing the afternoon sunlight to shine upon them.

"Did something happen at school?" Ibara asked softly.

"No, nothing at school. Ayane-san scares away any would-be bullies." Izuku closed his eyes once more. "I was talking to an online friend last night, shield-maiden. She's quirkless like me and I think she had a really rough day. We just… we talked a lot about what ifs and wishing things were different. The thoughts stayed with me all day. I guess I snapped, huh." Izuku tried to lighten the mood but saw that it failed.

Ibara said nothing as she absently played with Izuku's hair. With a sigh, Ibara removed her hands and rested on them as she leaned back.

"Do you remember how you met Miruko?" Ibara said.

"O-of course," Izuku said, "How could I forget that?"

"Then I also want you to remember the feeling that you had afterward. In that moment after saving her, did you feel some pride in yourself that you managed to protect her? The happiness you felt that she was safe? That she looked up to you as a hero?"

Tears once more rolled down Izuku's face.

"I did, I was so happy I was able to make a difference. That I could be a hero." Izuku put an arm over his eyes. "How do I tell that feeling to someone halfway around the world? So that they don't give up hope?"

"You have to be vulnerable to them. To show you understand how they feel. But share your experiences of how you are working to overcome that feeling. Encourage them to go and seek out similar instances. And also just do your best to support them. Be it encouraging words or simply just wishing them a good day. A constant positive influence goes a long way right?"

Izuku smiled at that, his eyes still covered.

"Yeah, it really does."

A knock on the door causes the two to jump. Ibara helps Izuku sit up as Mary walks in with a tray of pink smoothies and rice balls.

"I figured today I treat ya so I wiped up some smoothies and rice balls. All I had on hand in the office." Mary blushed as she set the tray on the ground. Her eyes narrowed upon seeing Izuku's wrapped hands. She stole a quick look at the bag but said nothing as she gave Izuku a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. Without another word, Mary went about cleaning up the room.

Izuku looked guilty and tried to move to help. Instead, Ibara vines kept him firmly seated while she held out the smoothie and onigiri to him. Any protest died when Izuku saw the cold stare Ibara gave him. With silence acceptance, Izuku ate what was offered as Ibara used her vines to eat herself. Mary watched quietly as she finished sterilizing the room and bag.

When she moved to leave, Mary stopped in the doorway.

"Midoriya-kun, I'm banning you from working out in here for the next two weeks. Shiozaki-chan, please make sure he does not do anything strenuous during that time. And please, go out and do some dumb kid things. Drag the rest of your friends as well. Summer does not last forever, and neither does your childhood." Mary gave the two a small smile before walking away.

"I was thinking of taking everyone to a theater performance," Ibara said causing Izuku's eyes to go wide.

"That sounds super cool, I saw a lot of talk about how quirks are used in during productions and I've always wanted to see it in action."

As Izuku began to wander off in his ramblings he leaned against Ibara. The girl simply closed her eyes and listened to Izuku ramble occasionally tossing in questions. Causing Izuku to go off on more tangents.

While his smile did not reach his eyes, Ibara prayed that Izuku will once more be able to smile freely again.

I hope you enjoyed this heavier chapter. The lives of so many of the characters in mha are tragic in so many different ways. My favorite fanfics are those that slowly show how the characters are coping and growing past such things. In my experience, no one grows without relapsing. It's how they handle relapsing that shows a person's true character I think. And that is something worth exploring in my writing.

I'm not sure why Ibara was the first character that came to mind for this moment with Izuku. But I'm really happy with how it turned out. Ibara comes off as someone who can be blunt and firm yet soft and gentle. The only other person I feel is like that is Tsuyu and I've sadly have not used her enough for a scene like this.

To any that are wondering, yes shield-maiden is going to be Melissa, and I have a chapter with her and Izuku planned.

I hope you all have a good day!

PK OUT!