In Loving Memory

The Problem With Being A Ghost

Toga invited the boy to talk with her in an adjacent hallway. Suddenly, Izuku felt very bad about this. The two of them had begun talking, Toga staring at him oddly and grinning so manically that Izuku's heart would have probably stopped upon seeing it, that is, if it was still beating in the first place. Before he could even think or consider the weirdness of this situation, he noticed the glint of something reflecting off of metal. Izuku looked closer, a shock running through him as he realized what the blonde was holding.

"Watch out!" he shouted, momentarily forgetting that he was dead and also invisible. He then looked closer and realized that the girl was not holding a knife like he had thought, but rather a metal straw that looked a little scuffed-up at the end. The boy didn't look out for danger, obviously, but he did look around.

"Did you hear something?" the boy asked.

"Hear what?" Toga asked, the little bits of obsessive desperation leaking into her voice.

"Ugh, I should have stayed home today," the boy sighed, rubbing his temples. "I knew I stayed up too late."

"Maybe," Toga smiled. "But, then we wouldn't get to hang out today."

"Yeah, that's true." Izuku felt rather silly. The situation seemed stable, and it seemed he may have followed the two of them all the way here for nothing, something that made him feel especially awkward as he remembered that he had nowhere else to go during the day, and it wasn't like some horribly terrible thing was going on with the people he had been watching over the day before. Ochako was fine, she could defend herself, the purple-haired boy had a tenacity that seemed all-too familiar, and Kacchan was well, Kacchan. They were fine. Besides, U.A had similar security to Tartarus Prison, and they were going to be doing a training exercise that day.

"I really like you, y'know that, Yuki?"

Yuki looked at her quizzically with a little bit of concern, probably from Toga's tone of voice and how odd she sounded. "I uh, I asked you to not call me by my first name, Toga."

"Oh, but it's only fitting," she smiled, twirling the metal straw around between her fingers.

"Huh?" Toga moved quickly, swinging the metal straw at Yuki's neck like it was the lid of a cup of bubble tea. Izuku, hardly thinking at this point, dove at Toga, intending to interrupt the attack. He hoped the fluke he had sometimes when he could touch somebody would finally come into clutch. The kid he had saved only months earlier was going to be hurt and he wouldn't be able to stop it, and he couldn't risk not having the chance to protect him.

To his surprise, he plowed into Toga, knocking her to the ground, even being the scrawny middle school sized kid he was. Yuki stared at him in abject horror, probably still in shock about having been inches away from being turned into a human juice box. Izuku had barely processed being able to touch things again when he finally put two and two together and realized he was being seen. Toga hissed like an angry cat and threw Izuku off of her, sending the boy flying a few feet in the air, where he floated a few feet above the floor.

"Yuki!" Izuku shouted, turning to the boy. "Get out of here!" Yuki, however, was frozen in place.

"I've been fantasizing about this for weeks," Toga said snarled. "I've been holding back from this for weeks, and as soon as it's within reach, someone interrupts." Her voice was strained, like she was trying to keep from yelling. "How can some kid who barely looks big enough to be in middle school stop me like that?!" Toga lunged at Izuku, swinging her straw at him. Izuku squeaked, gliding out of the way. The straw hit him, but not quite, Toga's hand passing through Izuku's leg. She stared at him in confusion and continued to stab the straw at him, which was about as effective as trying to corral a litter of kittens, or sort salt from sugar.