What a Tragedy

Chapter 20: Icky

Izuku nodded while biting his lip. He knew that whatever training they did, the worst he would have would be bruises and sore muscles, not broken bones and larcerations.

"Will you be okay with training with knives today?" Aizawa asked calmly.

Another nod of confirmation and Aizawa reached into his pocket, pulling out a japanese tanto knife. He handed the sheathed weapon over and Izuku pulled it out. It was a black blade and steel edge, the black hilt was wrapped in a decorative dark green ribbon.

"Alright. We'll start with swinging it in a frontward attack and later move onto swings and thrusts. Okay?"

"Okay," Izuku said airily. He stared at the blade with uncertainty before following through with the action while Aizawa stood next to him, pulling his own knife from it's sheath on his lower back, and followed Izuku's motions.

They changed their swings every few minutes, Izuku getting more comfortable and confident as they practiced.

Eventually they went to sparing, starting off slowly, but gradually growing faster. Aizawa swung his knife in a slash to the left and Izuku ducked under, swiping the man's legs out from under him and going for a swing. Aizawa rolled out of the way into a crouch and swung his blade in a reverse grip. Izuku blocked, holding the knife in a hammer grip.

Pushing him off, Izuku jumped and rolled to the side, keeping his feet light and quick. Aizawa seemed to catch on and charged at him with both strength and agility. He pushed his blade foreward in a stabbing motion, and Izuku blocked again, only this time, the knife was knocked out of Aizawa's hand.

It fell to the ground with a thump, and Aizawa was left open. Using the opportunity, Izuku attacked. He brought him down with a kick, and crouched over him, holding his knife to the man's throat.

He stayed there for a moment, panting tiredly as his guradian and teacher looked up at him with calm eyes. His eyebrows were slightly quirked upward, showing his surprise at being defeated.

Izuku backed off, pulling away from him and standing back up. Aizawa stood up, and grabbed his knife from the grass, and got back into a fighting stance. He saw the smallest upturn of his lips. "Good. Let's try again."

He carded a hand through his hair, now noticing that his hair had fallen out of his hair tie. His forehead was beginning to sweat, and his arms ached, but he could keep going. He could always keep going.

Izuku silently ate his curry with his boistrous classmates beside him, shoveling their food into their mouths. The food wasn't awful persay, but it wansn't the best. Then again, any food was good food to Izuku. He ate bread and scraps for a majority of his life.

He tried to ignore the hairs on the back of his neck sticking up. Kota had been watching him all day. It was unnerving to be honest.

Taking a quick inconspicuous glance at his surroundings, he saw a small figure retreating into the trees.

Strange.

He hadn't seen the young boy eat anything all day.

Izuku hastily finished his bowl before grabbing another and filling it with food. He took the spare chopsticks and followed after Kota. If it turned out that he had eaten, then Izuku would just eat the food himself. The younger boy's tracks were easy enough to find, seeing as they were fresh, and he kept a slow pace behind him.

Call him curious, but he wanted to know where Kota was going.

The canopy of the trees above him whistled in the wind, carrying whispers of something unseen. It was eerily quiet, not another sound was heard other than the breeze in the leaves, and Kota's footsteps a good distance ahead. His own heartbeat was calmed, his breathing regulated, and his steps always light. Even so, the feeling of eyes on him never faded. He was probably just being skittish.