Chapter 18

After an uneventful weekend, I was looking forward to class. As I walked into the classroom, I spotted Deku. But something seemed off. He was just staring into his phone. No smiles. Just a dead stare as his finger did the motion of scrolling. And the more I looked at him, the more I started to notice how exhausted he seemed. From the dark bags under his eyes and how pale his skin was. It didn't help that I could tell he was shaking. But sadly, I couldn't do anything as class was about to begin.

It was during lunch that tried to see what was wrong with Deku. But instead, the way he was looking had me questioning if I even wanted to know the answer. So, for the moment, as I tried to think of the right words, I just watched as Deku looked at his food. The way his expression screamed something was wrong. "Midoriya, are you alright?" I watched as Deku looked away from Ida and smiled.

"I'm fine. Are you ok, Uraraka? You haven't touched your lunch."

"You're one to talk." The way Deku's smile left for just a second had me realize I made a huge mistake.

"I had a big breakfast." But before I could say anything, I watched as Deku got up and left. He walked all the way to the trash can and threw out his lunch before leaving the lunch room. I've done it now. I could practically feel the rage that Bakugo is going to have when he finds out. After what happened last week, I am terrified.

As we all headed back to class, I tried my best to seem like nothing had happened. If I acted like everything was fine, maybe Bakugo wouldn't know. Hopefully, he just won't notice. Even though the way Deku's walking seemed like he could faint at any moment. But he kept insisting he was fine. Clearly, he's fine. Right?

…

After my jog, I had to brace myself against the wall as I slowly made my way from the front door to the bathroom. With every step, it felt like my legs were about to fall off. It didn't help that every muscle was sore to the touch, and I was struggling to breathe. But I had to keep moving. For if I stopped for just a second, I fear I might pass out. Which I really couldn't do while mom was still home.

When I finally made it to the bathroom, I did all I could to not fall on the toilet. That jog did nothing to stop this raging headache. But maybe a hot bath would do the trick. And as the steam from the bath filled the room, my head started to feel lighter. With my last ounce of strength, I managed to allow myself to soak in the smooth water.

As I lay in the tub, I looked over at my right hand. With the sports festival around the corner, how will I be able to use my quirk? At that, I don't know what exactly will happen during that event. Since every year the sports festival has different line-ups of obstacles. Which made no two festivals the same. And how would I be able to train with OFA without hurting myself? What would Kacchan do? Kacchan…

Thinking his name left an unpleasant taste in my mouth. Kacchan was just amazing. All the teachers and classmates ever did was praise him for being so gifted in everything. But if I even dared speak about him or tried to speak to him, I was physically punished and shamed. Oh, if I dared speak in class, I would get sent to detention. Or if I tried to walk into class after everyone else, I would be forced to go back home. So many days of not being able to take part in schoolwork because I was sent home. The only way I could get around it was by making sure I got to class before anyone else. At least before the teacher showed up.

Oh, how I wish I could forget about those two weeks that Kacchan wasn't in class in fourth grade after spring break. He wasn't the type to miss school, but for some reason, the teachers didn't make a big deal of it. And during those two weeks it was one thing after another. From being sent to the hospital for a broken rib. I had to put up with everyone trashing my desk so that it became unusable. Or how everyone wrote death threats on my locker. It took me forever to clean those off.

And when Kacchan did return to school, the bullying seemed to calm down. Mostly because everyone was gushing over the fact that Kacchan had a cast over his broken left arm. At least my desk was replaced before he came back. But after that day, I tried everything to seem as unnoticeable as possible. I hoped that if nobody noticed me, then maybe the bullying would stop. It didn't.

It was getting exhausting running after school to avoid getting jumped. Even more so when I also had to worry about the middle schoolers that were nearby. And mom was never home. At that, she never answered her phone when the hospital would call her. What was I going to do?

As I hid in a nearby dumpster, I happened to come across a skateboard. Why would someone throw this away? I looked it over and only saw a few scratches here and there, but nothing that meant it was unusable. So, I took it home and went online to watch tutorials. Maybe if I learned to skateboard, I could get away from everyone faster. With that thought, I couldn't stop smiling. But I just needed to make sure mom didn't find out I had this, or she would throw it away.

*Cough* I quickly sat up, only to realize I was in the tub. As I coughed, water came out from my mouth and nose. Did I fall asleep? What time was it? That's when I heard knocking at the door. "Is everything ok in there, Izuku?"

Oh! That's right! Mom was still home. "Everything fine, mom." I quickly got out of the bath and grabbed my towel. Once I was somewhat dry, I wrapped the towel around my waist and got out of the bathroom. When I stepped out, I saw that mom was there. She had tears running down her face. "Is something the matter, mom?"

Mom hugged me, and I could barely understand her as she cried. "I heard you screaming. Is everything ok, baby?" I tried patting her back. When she looked up at me, I gave my best smile.

"I'm fine, mom." After a moment of her crying, she finally let me go. Once in my room, I felt my shoulders starting to feel heavy again. "Not now." After getting dressed, I went to the kitchen. To my delight, there was food on the table, and mom hadn't started eating yet. After lunch, I spent the rest of my Sunday going over my class notes while listening to Present Mic's afternoon podcast.

Come Monday morning, I did my best to stay awake. It was another sleepless night, but I really needed to get through class. I just can't miss anything. And when I got to school, I was pleasantly surprised I was the first one there. While I sat at my desk, I looked through Hero News on my phone. Maybe there was something I could look forward to seeing after school today.

As each of my classmates slowly came in, I didn't pay mind to them. The only reason I knew Kacchan showed up was because he kicked my desk before sitting down. It was too early to deal with this. I did find it annoying when I noticed his hand making its way to my phone. So, I slapped it away as I continued scrolling through my phone. "Tch." What was his problem?

The classes seemed to blur into each other as the day went on. But when lunch came, it was a struggle to move. I watched as each of my classmates left the room before I focused myself on getting up. My legs and arms were shaking, yet I still found the strength to walk. And as I went to the lunch room, everything seemed just to blur. I knew I was walking and where I was going. But I simply couldn't see or feel the world around me.

And when I did finally sit down to eat, the smell of my lunch made me sick to my stomach. It was difficult not to gag as all I could smell was a mixture of fish, undercooked beef, and the trashcan that was just a few feet behind me. The way my nose picked up all the smells in the lunch room had me struggling not to vomit on the spot. But tried as hard as I could; I focused on talking with Ida. Maybe that way, I can distract from the overwhelming sensation of wanting to run.

When Uraraka spoke to me, I just couldn't take it anymore. So, I tried figuring out any way I could just escape. Thankfully nobody followed me as I left the lunchroom. I made my way to the staircase and tried my best to keep breathing. As long as I kept breathing, I should be fine. I almost missed when the bell rang for us to go home.

On the way home, I felt so weak, but I kept moving. I even forced myself to stop by and grab dinner from a convenience store. And as I reached the corner before turning home, I felt something grab my shoulder. I looked back and saw it was Kacchan. What was he doing? "Nerd?" The moment he spoke, I tried my best to smile, but I just couldn't do it. "Please tell me that's not all you're going to eat today."

I looked at the bag in my hands before looking back at Kacchan. "It shouldn't matter what I eat." I then tried to walk away, but his hand kept me in place. "Why should you care? Now, leave me alone." With that, he let me go. When I got home, I was grateful that mom wasn't there, as the tears burned down my face. What was I going to do now?

I'm so tried. But every time I try to go to sleep, I suddenly am wide awake. I ate my dinner in silence before heading to my room to start my homework. After finishing up the last of the math assignment, I turned on my computer and put on an All Might movie. Maybe that would help me fall asleep tonight.