𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐘. ( izuku midoriya )

47 - # RESCUE OVERTURE

a sigh fell from my lips as my hand met the top, huffing again as i pushed myself up and twisted to sit down, gazing at my classmates below. legs swinging over the side, my hand weakly moves up and pulls on my hair tie, letting my hair fall loose as i snap the band over my wrist.

izuku lets out a heavy breath, hissing as he pushes himself over the edge. once standing, he hunches over, palms pressed against his knees. my eyes flickered to his red shoes, and then up to his face where i found he was already staring back. neither of us said anything.

"jeez, you can really tell who started their work studies, huh?" jiro murmurs, watching the climbers from the ground.

"they're picking up tricks while they're away from here." katsuki huffs, pointing fiercely at kirishima. "hey! what've you guys been learning? tell me!"

the redhead winces, glancing down at katsuki from his position three-quarters up the wall. "sorry, man, we can't!"

i lay my palms flat behind me and lean back, turning my gaze to the ceiling.

-

as summer fell further into autumn as the days kept getting colder, the short-sleeved school uniforms were replaced with the long-sleeved blazers we wore at the beginning of the school year.

izuku had told me about nighteye and all might, the prediction of the symbol of peace's unspeakably gruesome death that was foretold to happen in one or two years. that was one of the many things on my mind as i rolled up the white sleeves up to my elbow, draping the blazer over the back of my chair. without acknowledgment from the other two boys, i sat my tray down on the lunch table.

staring down at my bowl of food, i pulled on the thin wooden chopsticks and broke them apart.

however, when it came to eating, i couldn't get myself to bring the noodles to my lips. my stomach twisted, an ache of nausea rising to my throat. just thinking about the shie hassaikai made me sick to my stomach.

"not hungry?" iida said, gazing down at my untouched food from across the lunch table.

"oh- yeah!" i blinked back into focus, quickly slurping up some noodles. after swallowing, i gave the class rep a tight smile. "i was just... preparing."

his gaze didn't waver, eyebrows furrowing. "are you alright?"

my lips parted to speak, but shoto quickly cut me off just as i was about to respond.

"you've been acting edgy and depressed ever since you both started your work study." he hums, loudly slurping soba into his mouth.

"edgy?" i said, my head tilting. "really?"

iida holds out his hand, smiling warmly. "if you ever wanna talk, or anything, just let me know. we're friends, right-? that's what you said to me, remember, back when we were heading off to our internships... and i was fuming like a fool..."

shoto slurps more soba into his mouth, nodding along.

"sorry, i'm completely fine!" i smiled, staring down at my food. "it's nothing."

"suzuki?" shoto said.

i hummed, "yeah?"

"you're crying."