Chapter 20

When my alarm went off this morning, I didn't want to get out of bed. But sadly, I had to go to school. After crying until I fell asleep last night, I wasn't sure if I wanted to be around people. Yet my old hag didn't give me a chance to have second thoughts. She pulled the blankets off me and started to shake me to wake. "Leave me alone!"

"Get your ass up, brat! You're 5 minutes past your alarm clock! I told you before if you didn't want me to wake you, then you had to be up at 6 on the dot. Now get your fucking ass up!" I tried to kick her off me, but she managed to drag me off my bed. Which had me hitting the back of my head against the bedframe. I held my head as I tried to kick while she still dragged me.

"I'm up! I'm up! Get out!" The old hag let go of me, and I was just left there in the center of my floor. Letting out a frustrated breath, I stood up. I then went about fixing my bed and made sure to place my All Might doll safely back in its spot. After going about my morning routine, I felt sluggish. Every muscle was in pain as I went about the motions. Even though I had my clothes and book bag ready, like always, I just stared at them.

I wanted so badly to miss school today. My body was in pain. The hit to the back of the head didn't make things any better. In fact, I just wanted to scream, but no sound came out. When I finally did get dressed and grab everything, I took another look over to my All Might doll. His smile was comforting, but I wish someone else was smiling today. Shaking my head, I made my way downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning, Katsuki." I looked at my old man before nodding in acknowledgment. "I made your favorite for lunch." It was then I saw how he was wrapping up a bento box in an orange cloth. That was the cloth that was part of the bento box set he gifted me. The very one that he gave me after I mastered my first recipe all by myself. I couldn't smile as he sat down so we could eat breakfast.

While I got my shoes on to head out, my old man stood next to me. No words were exchanged between us. But when I got up, he gave me a hug. "I'll be fine, dad."

"Whatever it is, it'll pass. So, please know that."

I tried holding back the sudden urge to cry as I rested my head on his shoulders. "Will you be home when I get out of school?"

"I took the rest of this week off. So, yeah." With that, our hug ended, and I was off to school. It was always strange whenever me and my old man had moments like that. It somehow gave me hope. But same time, it was just as creepy like how Deku knew something was wrong with me. But I shook that thought out of my head as I started heading to school.

When I got to class, I was not surprised to see Deku, once again, be the first one there. A part of me wanted to try to be as quiet as possible and not get noticed by him. But the other part of me still craved that he just acknowledged me for one moment. It was a struggle not to kick his desk when I got to my desk. In fact, it was hard not to slide my chair to hit the nerd's desk. Why was it hard to avoid him? Usually, it was easy to ignore him, but not today.

I could easily ignore him. But thoughts on how it was only easy when I set my focus on either Kato or Saito. Yet, now, there was nobody. Not even shitty hair or raccoon eyes were in class yet. Why did I think of them? I shook my head as I set my bag down.

As the morning class passed through, it was easy to get through. But when it was time for lunch, my nerves suddenly were fired up. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to the lunchroom to enjoy the lunch my old man made or stay in the classroom. Not to mention, I could hear Deku mumbling behind me while I also could pick up the sound of him writing. Was he not going to the lunchroom again? I had no trouble eating around him. I've done it before.

Yet my heart was racing, and it was getting hard to breathe. I took one more look around the class, I saw it was just 3 of us left. Deku was writing in his notebook. That one kid that sat at the front of the class next to the entrance. And myself. I took a few deep breaths and finally decided.

As I ate my lunch, I slowly forgot about the two other people that were in class. I enjoyed every bite. The old man outdid himself once again. From how the salmon practically melted in my mouth. And with the creaminess of the homemade spicy mayo. Or how it balanced wonderfully with lightly steamed bok choy. I can't wait to get home and ask him to teach me this recipe.

Once I finished eating and setting everything back in my book bag, I decided to start of some homework. It was then that I noticed how oddly quiet it was. The kid in the other row was gone. Do I dare look behind me? I grabbed my phone and acted like I was looking through it as I used it to see behind me. Somehow, I was horrified that Deku was still here. But why was he so quiet? How long was he quiet?

My heart started racing again, and it suddenly became hard to breathe. As I tried to focus on my homework, my vision kept blurring. In fact, my shoulders started to hurt. Not to mention how the muscles around my shoulders and upper arm started to twitch. What was the matter with me? It was just Deku. Yet, why am I worrying so much? Sure, it was just us two. Alone… Oh god! We're alone!

It felt like the floor was moving. But I did my best to focus on the homework. Just as I finished the English homework, the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. I was saved. And as the rest of the class started coming back, my nerves started to relax. I still don't get why I started to get anxious, but I'm glad it was over.

…

After everything that happened with meeting Mr. Jones, Sydney gave me a packet of paperwork I had to fill out. While she drove me in her car, it was silent between us. [ENG] "Sorry, Splits. I forgot that Mr. Jones is such a stick in the mud. I should have given ya the paperwork the other day. My bad."

I placed the packet in my book bag and looked out the window. [JP] "The school's support company had me redo forms for my hero costume. Something about it didn't follow Japan's codes. Did you know about that?"

[ENG] "My bad, Splits. Since the original design was for ya before you got a quirk. So, it was difficult to break it down to follow hero regulations."

[JP] "So, what regulations did you follow?"

[ENG] "Military standards. Micky did tell ya about the contract he wanted you to be a part of?"

[JP] "Yeah."

[ENG] "Well, if we were going to have ya in the field, we needed to make sure you would be safe. One way or another, I would have told you to get to this gym. Since you would need to be physically fit to handle the suit and work." Then there was silence before Sydney started speaking in Japanese. "Don't let Mr. Jones scare you. He's a good man, and he cares. If he didn't believe me when I told him about you, he wouldn't have allowed you in. At that, he's excited to see you in action during the sports festival."

I felt my face burn up at that comment. "Why is he excited about that?"

I could hear Sydney chuckle before she answered. "Hero agencies aren't the ones who recruit people from the festival. Agencies of all types pay attention to this event. From top military down to up-and-coming business." She then started to laugh. "I look forward to seeing what you and this Kacchan person are capable of."

I couldn't help but frown at the sound of his name. "Why did you mention him?"

"The way you speak about him makes him sound like the perfect soldier." Our eyes met in the rearview mirror. "If you say he can't join, I understand. I will make sure nobody pushes him to follow this path if he doesn't want to. And I promise to keep the army from recruiting him. Just say the word."

"I can't make choices for him."

I looked at my book bag as I felt my body start to shake. "I know. But again, the way you talk about him." With that, the rest of the ride was quiet. And when I got home, I was surprised to see mom was crying in the kitchen. When I walked over to her, I slowly saw she had a pink paper in her hand. Which only meant one of two things. She either got fired from one of the law offices or she was late on a bill. I really hope it was a bill this time.

"I'm home." Mom looked up from the table before she hugged the pink paper. It was then that I noticed there were other colorful pages across the table. "What's wrong, mom?"

"I got fried again, Izuku." Mom sniffed before she stood up. "Along with the fact I'm officially a widow. It turns out recently your father had passed away. The states are sending his body back to Japan in the next few days. Since they have to deal with a ton of paperwork. I know I told you how me and him never officially divorced?" I just couldn't stop staring at her. What exactly was I supposed to do or say? "Don't worry, baby. I'll find a new job. I always do. Everything will be okay."

When did she start hugging me? All that I was able to see was the pile of papers on the table. Even though I heard every word mom had said, I still didn't understand. But all I could figure out was that mom was sad and she needed me. "It's ok, mom. We got this."

I don't know when or how, but I was now in my room. At that, I was staring at a blank notebook. What am I going to do? I have to deal with high school, trying to figure out how to use my new quirk. But now all of this. It was all too much at once. Yet, I somehow will get through this. I had no choice. Now more than ever, I need to make sure not to worry mom. I need to keep it together and not slip. She doesn't need me to burden her any more than usual.

I wasn't able to sleep that night as I wondered how I would be able to help mom. Come morning, I spotted mom sleeping in the kitchen. And to no surprise, there was a pile of dishes before her. I put the dishes in the sink before I went off to school.

Once at school, I had another issue to deal with. At first, I didn't even realize that Kacchan was already in class before I noticed the rest of our classmates showing up. I didn't think it was possible for Kacchan to be silent when entering a room. That's when I faintly remembered yesterday and how I didn't give him a birthday present. Not like I was going to give him anything, but I have this strange feeling I did something. Especially with how quiet Kacchan is today.

During lunch, I stood behind in the classroom. Since I wanted to get some of the paperwork out of the way. I did notice that Kacchan also stood behind. Most likely to eat his after-birthday bento his dad always makes him. Telling from the orange cloth, I was right. It was at that moment I stopped caring about the documents I had to file out and just enjoyed the sounds of Kacchan eating.

From how quiet it was, I could tell Kacchan was really enjoying his lunch. The way his shoulders rose from excitement. Or how he held the bento closer to his face while he ate. It never fails to amuse me whenever Kacchan enjoys something. He didn't always smile when he liked something, but there was always a tell. I've always noticed that he tends to go quiet when he's happy. Not the type of quiet when he wanted to be left alone. It was a different kind of silence. The kind that allowed him to enjoy something.

I looked over to where Aoyama sat, just to see he was gone. Which meant it was just me and Kacchan. That thought alone made me happy and nervous. I then wondered if it was not too late to make a card for Kacchan. But I quickly thought against it. Whatever happened yesterday must have been bad enough that he tried to stay quiet. I wish I could remember, but it's all a blank. All I do remember was how I was standing in front of a military base so I could join their gym. Before that, it's all a blank. I don't even recall what I did all day in class.

Regardless, I tried to get back to filling out forms. But for some reason, all I was able to do was stare at the pile of papers. That was until I heard some type of tapping. I looked up to see Kacchan shaking. Oh no! He only does that when he's having a panic attack. I wonder what could have caused it. At that, is there anything I could even do to calm him down? I doubt he would want my help with this. But I'm worried it might get worse if I don't stop him.

As I struggled to figure out if I should do something, the classroom door opened. We both looked and saw that the rest of the class was coming back from lunch. And somehow, that had gotten Kacchan to stop shaking. Thank goodness. I was on the brink of my own panic attack for not knowing if I could help him. With that said, we had to get ready for our hero training class. I wonder what assignment it will be today.