Paging Dr. Deku

55: State of My Head

"Izuku, there you are!" 

Izuku felt pain and guilt hit her chest when she saw Reed standing there and smiling happily at her. 

'As much as I should act like there isn't anything going on between me and Kacchan, and that me and Reed are dating... something just feels wrong about everything that I'm dealing with right now. I said I'd talk to Kacchan after this, but will I be able to face him that easily now?' she thought as she slowly approached Reed. 

"Something wrong, you looked worried." 

"Ah- no, I'm fine. Is your friend from the States joining us?" 

"Oh no, they're at my place since I offered them to stay at my place during their visit. There'd be no point in renting a place or getting an expensive hotel room since they're planning on leaving in a couple days. So how've you been?" Reed asked.

"Oh- I'm good. I honestly thought I was gonna forget about you–or you forgot about me–this entire week." Izuku mumbled. 

"Like I would forget about you, c'mon, let's try this place out for lunch." Reed said as he pointed to where they were going and was pointing at a shop in front of them. When Izuku looked at the shop, she stood there–feeling frozen–as she realized they were about to have dinner at an old Ramen shop she and Katsuki used to go to when they were kids. 

'This... This is where we're having lunch?' she thought. 

"Something wrong with the place I picked?" 

"Huh? O-Oh no, I-I actually used to eat at this shop all the time when I was younger." 

"Really, then you can help me on which Ramen to pick." 

"M-Mn."

The second they sat down, Izuku kept moving her eyes around just to make sure she wasn't facing a certain blond since she was sure he'd visit this place often. 

"Are you looking for someone?" Reed asked. 

"Ah- no, actually I'm just... amazed that this place has barely changed from what it used to be. It almost looks the exact same from when I was growing up. I used to come here pretty often when I was still in school, but it always gave me energy to finish the day, either the food or it was the people I used to eat it with." Izuku said, laughing it off. 

"Oh really, any friends that I would know of?" 

"Mn. They were sometimes my classmates from high school, and most of the time it would be with Ka-" 

She immediately stopped talking and had the image of the smiling blond burned in her brain. 

"Who?" 

"Ah- i-it's someone you haven't met before."

Just when she was worried about what to say next, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. 

'Who could be texting me now when I'm- it's Melissa! Hm?' 

As the greenette read the message, she was instantly confused on why Melissa would text her this. 

I need to call you, and it's something about Reed. 

'Reed? But Reed's with me right now. What could this be about?' 

"You look a little worried about something, is everything okay, Izuku?" Reed asked. 

"Ah- y-yes, I just need to take this call for work really fast, b-be right back!" she said as she got out of her seat and walked out of the shop and made sure she was at a distance that Reed wouldn't hear her and she dialed Melissa's phone number.