The Shadows I Hide

Chapter 18: Shadow

This chapter is long as hell and I apologize.

Izuku was walking to the gym tailing the rest of his male classmates, all except for Kacchan, he hadn't felt like attending. There was still a bit of sunlight visible on the horizon, but it was fading fast giving way to the cool darkness of the night. Even from where he stood Izuku could see the bright lights flashing within the gym and could hear the music that was being played through the speakers that were wheeled in there the day before. Izuku felt super awkward as he walked with his classmates. Everyone else seemed to be comfortable and confident. Izuku didn't understand how they could be so calm. The freckled boy tugged at his collar for the millionth time since he's out on the shirt. Kaminari took notice and slowed his pace to match Deku's.

"Relax a little dude, you look great," which wasn't a lie. The weekend before they had helped Izuku pick out an outfit that complemented him well. A white dress shirt with a black vest, black tie, and black pants.

"That's not really what I'm worried about, to be honest," the boy grimaced. "Is the collar supposed to feel like it's strangling me?" Kaminari gave him a sly smile.

"Oh, I think I get it. You're nervous about your date aren't you," the immediate blush on Izuku's face was all the confirmation the electricity user needed.

"She's not my date!" he said, louder than he had meant to. He clamped his hand over his mouth and silently cursed himself as some of the guys looked at him in confusion for a moment before resuming their own conversations. Izuku turned back to Kaminari and this time making sure he spoke at a lower volume said,

"We're going together as friends. She said as much herself," Kaminari just smiled.

"Yeah, sure Midoriya," he said before walking off towards the rest of the guys. The gym loomed closer and closer as they walked to the entrance. Reaching it at last Izuku entered the gym to find the place to be decorated with lots of bright party lights and a huge dance floor with Present Mike at the DJ booth. There were also tables with food next to the back wall. Already beginning to feel awkward just standing at the entrance as he was Izuku made a beeline for the food table, which seemed like the best place to go for him. He wasn't particularly hungry but he felt the most comfortable there. Everyone else was laughing and having conversations with their classmates or enjoying themselves on the dance floor. Izuku didn't feel he was comfortable enough to do either of those things, so he stayed where he was. Surveying the gym he saw that some of the girls had arrived already, although not very many. He could see Mina in her purple dress and a floating dress he could only assume to be Hagakure but aside from them, it was only the group of guys Deku had come with.

"Midoriya!" Izuku turned around to spot Iida walking towards him in a light gray suit which seemed to fit his style well.

"Good evening," Said Iida, formal as always.

"Oh, good evening Iida," replied Deku with a friendly tone. "What's up?"

"Not a whole lot going on currently. Still waiting for the others to arrive. But I plan to enjoy myself to the fullest tonight," he said enthusiastically.

"Hey Iida are you planning on doing the robot dance?" asked the green-haired boy. Iida looked over at him confused.

"Now, why on earth would I do the robot dance?" he asked clearly baffled at the question.

"Oh, no reason," he replied, his mind wandering to all the times he's seen Iida wave his arms around dramatically while suppressing the urge to laugh.

"Alright then," said Iida. "I'm going to go greet the rest of our fellow classmates now. I'll talk to you later," with that Iida took off in the direction of Shoji in his suit oddly accommodated to fit his many arms. Izuku chuckled watching him rush off before resuming his previous task of doing nothing at all. He really wasn't used to parties at all. He wasn't made for these things. His attention was then drawn over to the door where more of the girls had arrived. He watched them come in one by one until his eyes stopped dead in their tracks and he felt his heart skip a beat. Uraraka was standing in the doorway looking flustered in a pink dress. For a moment Izuku could do nothing but gaze at her from across the room and think how pretty she looked in it. Wait, what? That brought him back to his senses and made him realize he had been staring. He looked away quickly before someone noticed, trying to focus his attention on anything other than her. On the other side of the room, Ochako was feeling almost as awkward here as he was.