You're currently in the dining hall, picking through your pasta. It's now Friday, and you're in between classes. You successfully finished the papers that were due today, and you couldn't be happier. It'll be nice for the weekend to finally come around. Usually, you'd simply relax, maybe go for a nice walk or hike, but you don't feel like exercising right now, so it seems you won't leave campus this weekend. Not that you mind, Yuuei University has many great things to do, parties to go to and such. You guess trying to find someone you'd be comfortable partying with is the real issue. Most of your friends in your classes typically like to stay in rather than go out. While that is also how you function for the most part, letting loose and having a good time sounds like fun too.
As you take a sip of your lemonade, Ochaco sits down across from you with a massive grin on her face. She's majoring in teaching, so you happened to meet her in one of your classes since it correlates with your minor. That was the class you both just came from, so since the beginning of the semester, you've been sitting and eating lunch with her. She's great, super sweet, and honestly incredible. She's been a great friend to get to know.
"So Y/N," She starts. "A friend of mine, his name is Denki Kaminari, he's having a party at his place tonight, and I was wondering if you'd like to come with?"
"Yeah, sure, that sounds like fun." You agree, and both get back to eating and discussing the plans for the night. Ochaco is super pumped that you'll get to meet some of her friends, and it makes you excited too. Being able to branch out to people with other interests besides writing and such sounds really promising. After lunch, you finish up classes then take a well-deserved two-hour nap. Like Midoriya expertly analyzed, you did stay up late on Tuesday and did come back the next day... and the next. Even though you successfully made it through without falling asleep, you were damn exhausted from staring at a computer screen for so long. You ultimately decided to wake up early this morning to add the finishing touches to the last paper. Technically they're all due at midnight tonight. Still, thankfully, your past self thought ahead, and now you can go to the party without any worries.
Ochaco swung by your apartment at 8 to get ready. It seemed a little early in your defense, but she suggested you pre-gamed a little before heading over. She said, and I quote: "My friends are great, but all fascinating characters... you'll see, if they're not loud, they're stupid."
She slips into a hot, blush pink dress that hugs her figure very well, and she helps you choose a dark blue two-piece set. You were a little apprehensive about the whole thing since it felt a little out of your comfort zone, the dress was a little too tight, and you felt like your stomach was on full display, but Ochaco insisted, saying that you looked "absolutely stunning! Gorgeous, beautiful!" so you agreed.
After hanging around your apartment for a while, you both decided it was time to head over, so by 9:15, you hopped in her car and drove over to his place. On the drive, she told you that she would stay with you the whole time, to which you turned her down. You appreciate that she was concerned about the possibility that you wouldn't know anyone, but it wasn't like you couldn't handle being on your own. You've grown to be a different person after the incident, and you think it'll be okay. She still insisted that she would make sure you were all good and stuff if she walked away or something, which you're grateful for.
The drive was about 15 minutes since the apartment was located on the other side of campus. It was on the outskirts, of course, since only dorms are considered "on-campus," but a lot of students, after their first year, move to these apartments to have more independence (and host parties whenever they want without getting in trouble with the R.A.s).
You park a little down the road and walk with Ochaco up the stairs and in through the front door, which was wide open. As soon as you walked in, you feel the music's bass resonate in your stomach. As you enter, you see the large speakers next to the D.J. stand. A girl with cool-ass headphones stands behind the set-up, effectively keeping the energy high as people danced in the open space in front of the speakers. Ochaco grabs hold of your elbow as she makes her way through the room and into the kitchen. A group of people surrounds the kitchen counter, and they pass out shots, hooting and hollering when someone takes it.
"Hey guys!" Ochaco exclaims as she heads over to the group with you in tow. They all welcome her with loud remarks, and you can see what she meant when she said they were loud. "This is my friend Y/N L/N! You know, the one I was telling you guys about? She's an awesome writer, like out of this world."
Your face turns a little pink at the introduction. "I don't know about that," You start with a laugh, "but it's nice to meet you guys."
"Welcome to mi casa!" A blonde-haired lanky guy shouts. You have a strong feeling that this is Denki Kaminari. "Feel free to take whatever booze you'd like, no problem."
You nod, "thanks."
The others introduce themselves, and you all get to chatting. In the group standing around the table, there's Tsuyu Asui, who insisted you call her 'Tsu.' Hanta Sero, who waved for a second before going back to hitting his vape pen. There is also Denki Kaminari, the host of the party, and Tenya Iida, who you would not imagine as a partier. When you question him about it, he says he's only here to make sure no one does anything irresponsible or put something in the alcohol.
You all chat about random things, just getting to know them. You find out that they all met when they came here during the summer to take classes. Apparently, a program allowed them to take some GenEd courses for free if they won a specific scholarship. You wish you would've known about this, and once you tell them that, they instantly laughed.
"It was nice, but the instructor was crazy. He would come into class tell us to read or work with our groups to then fall asleep! He actually slept during the class! What kind of professor does that?" Iida says, obviously not a fan.
"Yeah, Professor Aizawa was pretty weird, but he let us do whatever we wanted. He graded hard, but it's a give-and-take situation, I think." Kaminari shrugs.
"That's how we met all of the gang. We were all together for 6 weeks, doing some intense training and whatnot for our harder classes that are to come." Tsu comments.
You keep talking, and you find them all to be very cool people. Many of them here are in STEM, so you would never have met them if you didn't come. As you're talking more with Tsu and Ochaco about the papers you had to finish, the guys next to you erupt in loud cheers as they flag down a group that just walked in.
The first guy that walks in, you notice immediately. Kasuki Bakugou. He's on the football team, a big-shot quarterback on the rise. Even though he's only a sophomore, he's made a significant impact on the team, and it looks like he doesn't plan on stopping. The guy who comes in after him is also on the football team. He's practically a one-man wall. No one gets past him. He looks a lot more friendly than his counterpart who walked in before him, and the spikey red hair is hard to miss. Eijiro Kirishima. The two walk confidently hand and hand, they came out as a couple last year, and it was a pretty big deal. People were nonstop talking about it on campus, but everything died down once winter break rolled around. You only know this much about them from the people you've talked to around school and from your dad, who's a massive fan of Yuuei sports.
Another kid silently makes his way in and over to Iida and Ochaco. He has fantastic split white-red hair and a birthmark that takes up the top left side of his face. He totally looks like he doesn't want to be here, and you feel for the guy, in a way. Thinking that was everyone they were calling in, you turn back to the girls and continue your conversation until it's interrupted again by Kaminari's loud yell.
"Midoriya! What's going on man?"
You turn your head in time to see the fluffy mop of green hair stride over to the group. You're thoroughly surprised to see him here. He's wearing ripped black jeans and a dark green t-shirt that make his eyes and hair stand out even more than before. He hasn't noticed you yet since he's busy being bombarded with questions from Iida and Kaminari about how they haven't seen him in forever.
You know you will make it a point to say hi to him but seeing as he's busy at the moment, you throw your now-finished White Claw in the trash and go to grab another. As you come back, a drink for you and another for Ochaco in hand, you see Midoriya now stands in the spot that you left, talking to Tsu about something, waving his hands all over the place.
You stop behind him. "Wow, I didn't realize you did anything other than work."
He turns his head at the comment, and his eyes almost bug out of his head when he notices it's you. "Well, I didn't realize you did anything but homework."
You snort and hand one of the drinks to Ochaco. "Touché."
You take a large sip, Midoriya still staring at you. Still completely thrown off that you'd be here, let alone dressed the way you are. He can't help but scan your outfit and consider how great the blue looks against your skin. You can tell his gaze moves up and down your figure, and you feel giddy at this new development. "So, no café tonight?"
He snaps his eyes up to yours, and he blushes a deep red when he realizes you caught him staring. "Uhh, nope. I requested the evening off so I could come. I uhh haven't seen these guys in a while."
"You guys know each other?" Ochaco says, shock evident on her face.
"Yeah, I do my homework at the café he works at."
"Really?" Ochaco says, "why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, I didn't realize you'd know each other," You say with a laugh. "You knew that I've been going to a cafe in the evening, remember? I even invited you a few times." Ochaco pouts but quickly gets over it. She's already a few drinks in, and her cheeks are turning a light pink.
"So you must go there a lot then, right L/N? Since you guys seem to know each other pretty well already." Tsu questions with a slight smirk.
"Eh, I go there occasionally."
Midoriya snorts, "That's an understatement. You're there like every day."
You turn your full attention to him now. "Sorry, I'm trying to be a scholarly student," you say sarcastically, "and for giving you guys business. I didn't realize you didn't want me there. Guess I'll stop coming."
His face drops a little. You guess you sounded a little too serious. You nudge his shoulder, to which he looks up at you again, "but then again, who's going to wake me up when I fall asleep..." His face lights up. "Or draw cute doodles on my cup."
His confidence seems to come back, and he nods, trying to stop himself from smiling. "That's true."
At this point, the girls joined back into the main group conversation, and now it's just you and Midoriya having small talk off to the side. You offered to grab him a drink, but he says he's the designated driver for the night since he has to work in the morning.
"Okay, okay," You start, leaning a little closer to him to hear each other over the music. "I think I can guess who your favorite hero is."
"You think so?" He challenges, then takes a sip of his water bottle. You're not sure if it's the alcohol, but Midoriya looks really good right now. Who would've thought he was so built? At the coffee shop, they wear black button-ups, and you guess it conceals his fit figure. He has some sort of arm wrap around his right arm that makes you curious, but you decide it's probably not nice to pry.
"Yeah, I'm certain it's..." you start, trying to hide your laugh. "Endeavor."
He turns his head to you so fast that you need to pull back, almost clonking your heads. "Seriously?"
It's too hard for you to keep a straight face anymore, and you burst out laughing. You grab onto his arm for support. You don't notice, but his face becomes red at your hand on his arm and how great your laugh sounds.
"I am totally kidding. It's definitely All-Might." You say, your giggles dying down.
"Phew, you had me worried for a second there."
You keep talking until Bakugou Katsuki comes up behind you and punches Midoriya hard in the arm. "Deku, play beer pong with us." Midoriya rubs his arm a little, then shrugs.
"I wish I could Kacchan, but I don't have a partner."
"Find someone, dumbass." He says and walks off with Kirishima towards the open table.
Midoriya huffs and scratches the back of his head. "Sorry about him. He's a little intense."
"I can tell. But Deku? Kacchan?" You question.
"Oh yeah," he says with a laugh. "I've known Kacchan, I mean Katsuki, since we were kids, we're from the same town, that's just what we've called each other."
You nod; that makes sense. "I can be your partner for beer pong."
He perks up again, "seriously? Are you sure? Kacchan gets really into it."
"That's cool with me. I'm pretty good at the game." You say as you push yourself off the hightop ledge, you were leaning against. Midoriya smiles at your competitiveness, and together you guys make your way over to the table, which is already set up for the game.
As you walk over, Midoriya introduces you to the two football players. Bakugou could care less, under the impression that you're just another extra trying to chase his clout. The childhood friends flip a coin to see who goes first. While they're doing that, Kirishima waves and introduces himself, confirming your preconceived notion of him being the friendlier one.
Bakugou wins the toss, and they start. He makes the first toss, and you take a sip of your drink. You can already tell this is gonna be an exciting game, but it makes you practically vibrate with anticipation. You haven't gotten the chance to play beer pong in a while.
You toss the ball next and sink it into one of the middle cups with ease. Midoriya congratulates you, making Bakugou scoff. "Lucky shot."
"I could say the same for yours," you absentmindedly comment back. Bakugou glares but doesn't say anything. Kirishima goes next and misses, feeling bashful but laughs it off. It's Midoriya's turn, and he also misses, profusely apologizing. You tell him it's no biggie, and you guys continue on with the game. You're on a roll. Each time you throw the ball, it goes in, and now the rest of their friends gather around the table to watch the throwdown between you and Bakugou. Kirishima and Midoriya opt just to watch and instead follow along for the ride, offering their teammates their support. It's down to the last two cups, and Bakugou must be feeling the alcohol because he misses the shot. He lets out a string of curses, and you get excited, knowing that you can finish this.
"You got this, Y/N!" Ochaco cheers.
"Yes! Go Y/N!" Tsu says.
You smile and toss it with a perfect arch, having it land in the cup with no problem.
"Holy shit, you're so good." Sero comments then turns to Bakugou. "Bakubro, I bet you're sweating now."
"Shut up, let me do my thing." He grunts and also lands it in the cup. There's only one more cup on your side, and you lock eyes with Bakugou. He does look pretty intimidating, you'll give him that, but that doesn't mean that you won't back down either.
You turn to Midoriya, who looks very tense. "You think I won't make it, Mido?"
"Wh- no, I mean yes! You got it! I believe in you."
With a laugh, you blow on the ball and line up your shot. As soon as you let it go, you know you clenched the win, and as the ball lands in the cup, the group cheers for you (very loudly) and surrounds you and Midoriya, offering their congratulations. Once they chill out, you walk over to Bakugou and Kirishima.
"Good game guys, it was really fun."
"Yeah, it was! How are you so good?" Kirishima questions, practically bouncing up and down in excitement.
"My older brother, he graduated from Yuuei last year. He had me practice with him before he went to college, so I got a lot of experience," you say, smiling as you remember all the times you guys would play with water in the cups in your backyard. Your brother just wanted to get good, so he could look cool in front of girls, and from what he's told you, it's worked out pretty well for him, but that also feels like a little too much information.
"That's so manly of you," Kirishima says excitedly. "Isn't that cool, Katsuki?"
With his arms crossed over his chest, Bakugou just grunts then walks away. You quirk an eyebrow at his retreating figure, but you figured that he wouldn't be very talkative after the loss.
"Don't mind him, he just doesn't like to lose. Don't take it personally, I can tell he thinks you're alright."
"Why do you say that?"
"He hates when people are braggy or fake; you played him in the game just because. Besides, I know the competition was good for him. But next time, we'll beat you for sure."
You laugh, "I'll believe it when I see it."
After your chat with Kirishima, you walk back over to Midoriya. When he notices you coming back, he raises his hands, and you meet him in a double high five.
"That was awesome, L/N! You made it look so easy! Sorry I wasn't much help." He says, rubbing the back of his neck.
"That's okay, really don't worry about it." You start, swaying a little from the alcohol. "You can just stand there and look pretty."
"Wh-what? You think... I'm pretty?" He asks, face dusting a shade of pink, definitely not expecting you to say something like that.
"Well duh," you start. "But if it makes you feel better, you can be the muscles in our duo too."
He laughs and covers his open forearms with his hands, seeming a little shy at the attention. "I don't know, I think you give me a run for my money."
You flex your arms and do some bodybuilder poses, to which Midoriya laughs again. "Yeah, that's true. I am pretty buff. I bet I could pick you up."
"Huh?"
Before he can protest anymore, you squat down a little and lift him a few inches off the ground. As soon as you pick him up, you have to drop him again because he is pretty heavy. Once you set him down, you see his face a bold red hue again.
"See! I knew I could, it wasn't by much, but I did it."
He chuckles nervously, and you think you might have stepped over a line, but then his face goes back to its normal color, and a sweet smile rests on his face. "Since we're testing our strength, it's only fair that I try to lift you."
You smirk, "Sure, go for it."
Before you can blink, he literally sweeps you off your feet and holds you bridal style, making the act of picking you up seem like a breeze. Your faces are close, and when you make eye contact, butterflies swirl around your stomach. You rest your hand on his chest, "Okay, you can definitely take the muscle title of our duo."
He grins and sets you down lightly, totally acting like you weigh nothing, which feels like an impressive feat in your mind. Once you get your footing, you feel your head spin a little. You guess all the alcohol you drank during the game is starting to get more into your system.
"I think I'm gonna go grab some water and maybe a snack. Want to come with?"
He nods, and to get through the large crowd, you grab his hand and pull him along through the mass of other partiers. As you're pulling him along, Midoriya is desperately trying his best to stay calm and NOT think about the fact that you're holding his hand right now.
You get into the kitchen and grab a bag of Doritos and water, instantly uncapping it and taking large sips. Midoriya does the same but instead opts for a bag of Lays since they were on top of the others bags.
"So you were also in that summer program?" You ask.
"Yeah, it was cool! I took three classes and stayed in the dorms with everyone. It was nice to meet them, and it's not far from home for me, so I was able to go home to see my mom."
"You close with her?"
"Super close, it's just us two, and she's great. She means a lot to me."
"That's really sweet, and also really nice that your family is close."
"Yeah, we live about an hour away, sometimes I can make it back there in 45 minutes if it's not too trafficky. What about you? Are you close to home?" Midoriya asks, slanting his head to the side.
You smile, "it's about a 4-hour drive, so not too bad. I'm the youngest of two, so now that we're both older, my parents travel all over the place. My brother graduated from here last year, and now he's living it up in the city."
"That's awesome! What is your brother doing?"
"He's a lawyer."
That is what you would've said, but someone else beat you to it. You knew the voice right away, and a chill runs through your spine. You feel their presence behind you, and you have to force yourself to turn around and face them.
"Tomura." You mutter when you see him, fear coursing through your veins. Midoriya takes notice of your sudden change in attitude and takes a step closer to you, now shoulder to shoulder.
"Good to see you, Y/N," he says, eye traveling up and down your figure in a way you don't like.
"I wish... I could say the same." You whisper, unable to look up at him.
"It's been what?.. 5 months?" His gravelly voice asks, completely ignoring Midoriya and keeping his eyes on you. When you don't answer, Tomura takes a step closer, and you lean back, unintentionally stepping closer to Midoriya. He can tell that something's up between you and this Tomura person. He looks at your face and sees nothing but fear. He decided right then that he doesn't want to ever see you look like that again. He brings a hand from his side and places it on your lower back softly, letting you know that he is there.
You take note of the action and feel a little more relaxed than before, helping to keep you grounded. You had a good amount to drink tonight, being coherent enough to function, but now, the sight of Tomura, here, makes you practically sober again.
"Aww come one now, that's no way to treat your boyfriend," Tomura says.
Midoriya knits his eyebrows together, but before he can overthink the possibility that he was trying to get close to someone who was already in a relationship, you speak up a lot louder this time. "You're not my boyfriend, Tomura. We broke up."
"That's not how I remember it. All you said was that you needed a break."
You shrink under his intense gaze. "No. I said we were done."
"You were just emotional. I know you didn't mean what you said," he takes another step closer and grabs onto your wrist. You gasp, the feeling of his hand on your skin burns like it used to. It hurts to the point that you feel paralyzed, unable to pull away or stop him from trying to pull you with him. "Let's go, we can go back to my place and... talk."
Before you can get too far, Midoriya's hands practically slam onto Tomura's shoulder, stopping him from dragging you out of the kitchen. Tomura stops moving, but the grip on your wrist tightens, the burning sensation getting worse.
"Sorry, but Y/N's with me." Midoriya states. The way he says your name makes you feel warm inside, the butterflies swirl around again, but you don't have the time to think about that too much since Tomura turns around and glares daggers at Midoriya.
"Who might you be, exactly?"
"I'm Izuku Midoriya, a friend of hers."
The tension between the three of you is suffocating, and you have the feeling if you don't deescalate the situation, then Tomura is going to have one of his tantrums, and you would hate to see Midoriya become the main target because of you.
"What are you doing here, Tomura."
He turns his attention to you, "just driving around with my friends," he jerks his head over to the doorway, and you notice a few familiar faces there. His friends aren't good, and it hurt to see him get closer to them and start doing the things he did. "We saw this party, decided to stop in, and now I'm glad we did."
"This is an invite-only." You try your best to say without your voice wobbling too much. "You should go."
You lock eyes with Midoriya. He seems to offer you a look saying, 'are you okay?', to which you shake your head no. You don't know how much more you can stand here talking to him. The memories from the past start to creep their way across your skull, and you need to focus on your breathing before you start to panic.
When you look back up at Tomura Shigaraki, for a moment, you see him as he used to be. A sweetheart who cared unconditionally for you, someone who you could rely on. But that moment lasts for a brief second before it reverts back to that scary face your ex now makes at Midoriya.
"But why," Tomura whines. "I haven't seen you in so long. I know you miss me." He turns to Midoriya with a calm smile, but his eyes hold much hostility. "I appreciate you keeping her company," he says with malice. "but I can take her from here."
Tomura tries to take you with him back over to his friends. You try to pull away, but it seems Tomura doesn't want to let you go again. Midoriya frowns and, in a swift movement, successfully removes Tomura's hand from your wrist and stands in between you two, sheltering your body from Tomura's gaze.
"I think it'd be best if you leave."
The two have a staredown. You look between Midoriya and Tomura, hoping and praying that Tomura is not in one of his violent moods. When you're sure something might happen, Tomura breaks eye contact and shrugs.
"Pfft, whatever," Tomura scoffs. You make eye contact with him from behind Midoriya's shoulder. "I'll see you later, pet."
As he walks away, he rams into Midoriya's shoulder. You shudder at the familiar nickname and hate that you're not able to stand up for yourself. You thought you were a different person since you left Tomura, but you guess nothing really has changed.
"Hey," a soft voice says, pulling you out of your self-destructive thoughts. "How about you go sit down? I can bring you another water."
You nod, and he keeps his distance as he follows you over to the dining table. It's pretty late now. The party seemed to have moved to the dance floor, the music somehow even louder than it was. You two are one of the few people left in the kitchen, so not many other people saw what happened, and if they did, they were probably too drunk to care.
He hands you the water, and you take a small sip, the alcohol practically disappeared from your system during that little scene, but it still feels good to drink the cold liquid.
"Would you like to leave? I can take you back to your apartment?" Midoriya asks, keeping an eye on how pale your face is.
"Aren't you the D.D. for your group..? I can just wait for Ochaco."
He quirks a brow and looks off to the dance floor. "I am, but I have the feeling they'll be partying a little while longer so I can just come back. I doubt Ochaco is in any shape to drive right now either," he says. "I don't mean to be pushy or anything, but I want to make sure that you're okay."
The night is pretty much ruined after the run-in with Tomura, so you agree to have Midoriya take you home. You search through the crowd and find Ochaco swaying off-beat with the other girls, and you try your best to get through the crowd to her.
"Hey," You shout over the music. "I'm leaving with Midoriya, okay?"
She practically screams in excitement, mind instantly going to a dirty place, and you shake your head no, even if a blush rushes to your cheeks. "He's just driving me back. I'll see you later, have fun!"
You think she can see something is wrong but ultimately lets you go knowing that you're in good hands and continues to party with the others.
As you walk out into the night, you text Ochaco again just in case she forgets that you talked to her and continue to follow Midoriya to his car. He opens the door for you, and with a small thanks, you climb into the passenger seat.
The first few minutes are quiet, your head rests against the window as you watch the houses and trees pass by in a blur. You really appreciate Midoriya for stepping in. You don't want to think of what might've happened if he wasn't there and you were dragged off with Tomura.
"Thank you," you start, still looking out the window. "And sorry, about... all of that, and ruining your night, and having to take me home."
He looks over at you quickly, wanting so bad to make you feel better. "It's okay, really! It feels nice to get out of there. The music was giving me a headache anyway. So please, don't worry about me." He turns back to the road and tightens his grip on the steering wheel, remembering how you acted, the terrified look on your face, your shoulders trembling. This Tomura guy must have really hurt you.
"Are... are you okay? Do you want to... talk about it? You don't have to if you don't want, but..."
You turn your head from the window to finally look at Midoriya. He bites his lip nervously, worried that he may have overstepped, but you can see the concern swirling around his eyes.
You take a deep breath and exhale, feeling a little embarrassed. "Well... sure," You say. It might be nice to just vent, especially right now. You've come to find that Mido is approachable and super open-minded. Besides, you sorta feel like you owe him an explanation after that intense scene.
"Tomura and I... have known each other for a long time, since middle school. We were really good friends. We'd do everything together." You start, fondly remembering all the good times you guys had. "He's a year older than me. We met on the bus one day. I accidentally sat down in his seat without even looking, and then after that, we were inseparable."
"But then, when he got into high school, and I wasn't there for him as much, he started to have problems at home. It... wasn't a good environment for a 14-year-old, and then he started to hang out with a bad crowd... he was really falling off. By the time I got to high school, he was... not the same Tomura I remember."
Midoriya nods along, letting you know he's listening.
"Which whatever, it's naive to think someone is going to stay the same once they're exposed to the real world, but... it was still hard to watch," you say, remembering how your heart ached for him, it still does. "I was there for him through all of it, so I guess he became really attached to me since I was truly one of the only people who cared for him. I think his friends noticed and started telling him all these... things about me... and I guess he associated it with me being interested in him."
You take a breath, rearranging your thoughts. You don't remember the last time you were able to go through the whole backstory, and as you talk, you feel your shoulders relax.
"So he made a move, and we started dating the summer of my junior year. I guess it made sense, he was the only guy in my life at the time, and I really cared about him. During the first year, he was moving in a positive direction. But... it didn't last long, and then it was this constant cycle of not knowing which Tomura I was talking to."
You pause and bite the inside of your cheek. "Umm... by the time I was a senior, he was constantly asking about... getting intimate with me. His friends pushed for it a lot too. Saying crap about not being a real man or whatever. He said all this stuff to me, some of it not being... very nice. It was so tiring and hard."
Midoriya clenches his jaw, trying so hard to not say anything as you continue to talk. He wants so badly to reach over and make all your pain go away, offer some form of comfort.
"Then, he said that if we had sex... then he would change. He would stop drinking at school, stop being high all the time, start getting back on the right track again. Me being the stupid idiot that I am, I believed him. I wanted so bad for him not to feel like he does, and I felt it was the only way..."
"Y/N..."
"And after that, it was a constant activity in our relationship. It got to the point where he would just come over and then leave right after. And of course, nothing changed but yet I still stayed with him, hoping something still would. I was so focused on the past that I refused to see what was going on." You sigh and run a hand through your hair.
"During that whole time, it just got worse. He became so controlling, wouldn't let me talk to other people, limited the time I spent doing homework or even just relaxing. I just let it happen. He even only let me apply here so that we could stay together."
"I mean, this was the only school I really wanted to go to, regardless of Tomura, but it was still not okay. I was able to get an amazing scholarship from U.A. based on recommendations from the writing contests I entered in, which was awesome, so guess that's a good thing that came out with U.A."
"But anyway, once Tomura started his freshman year of college, I was able to have some personal time. The time I had away from Tomura during my senior year... made me see just how messed up everything was. I tried to break it off with him, but he wouldn't let me. So during my freshman year here, it was a constant struggle to try and get time away. I purposefully loaded myself up with classes so I would be too busy to see him. I mean, it worked well for me so I could get a lot of my GenEds out of the way, but it was tough. Then this past summer, I was able to finally get away and be done with him. It was a huge blowout, it was... really bad... but it's done. I blocked him on everything, went to therapy, and really got away."
You exhale, your shoulders are now completely slack. The car pulls into the driveway in front of your complex, and when you turn to Midoriya, tears are streaming down his freckled cheeks.
"Midoriya! I-" You're shocked, eyes wide. Unable to comprehend the idea that someone would cry... for you.
He parks and brings his hands up to his cheeks to wipe away his tears. "I'm glad you told me... t-that takes a lot of courage to get away from something like that. I'm so sorry to hear that you had to deal with that for so long."
You reach a hand over and place it softly on his forearm that rests on the center console. His watery eyes reach yours, and you smile softly, really appreciating that he listened, really listened.
"Thank you, I'm sorry for making you cry."
He laughs a little, sniffling and looking away bashfully. "Yeah sorry, I can get kinda emotional sometimes."
You laugh too, feeling much better, all thanks to Midoriya. "It's okay," you smile, rubbing your thumb over his scarred skin. "But really, thanks a lot. I appreciate it, more than you know."
He blushes, "Y-yeah! Of course, don't even mention it."
You smile and then unbuckle and step out of the car. As you're about to close the door, you lean your head in again. "Hey, could I get your number?"
He raises his eyebrows in shock, "Yes! I mean, yeah, sure." You hand him your phone, and he quickly types in his number before handing it back to you. The name he typed in was Deku, and you knit your eyebrows together.
"Do you want me to call you Deku?"
"Huh?" He questions. You show him the screen. "Oh haha, sorry that's just what I was so used to putting down this summer. I guess it was muscle memory." He chuckles while rubbing the back of his neck.
You nod and look back down at the screen again, "would it be okay if I call you... Izuku, instead?"
His eyes practically bug out of his head. "Oh yeah yeah! Sure, of course! That's cool, real cool."
You offer a small smile. "Okay great, thanks Izuku. I'll see ya. Thanks again."
"It's no problem! Yes! See ya, Y/N."
You close the door and wave as you get up to your front door, unlock and enter. Izuku watches you the whole way, practically starstruck with how strong and excellent you are. The way you said his name! Damn, it's almost enough to make his stomach explode from all the butterflies rattling around. Once he knows you're safe inside, he pulls down the driveway and heads back to the party.
Izuku's drive back was filled with thoughts of you. The more he processed what you confessed to him, the more he really saw just how amazing you are. It almost made him wish he would've punched that Tomura guy. The thought of this guy taking advantage of you makes him tighten his grip on the steering wheel. Even if he feels anger course through his veins like electricity, it's reassuring to know that you're in a much better place now. Once he's back, he looks at his phone before walking through the door.
hey it's y/n, thanks again. it was fun hanging out tonight
Izuku figures you sent the message so he can save your number. He smiles down at the screen.
Totally! I had fun too! It was nice to see you outside of work lol :D
You laugh at the message.
I agree, we should hang out again sometime. Maybe lunch?
Izuku's heart practically stops.
Yes! That'd be great! :)
With that, he walks back into the party, continuing to think about you.
+++++
Hey! Author here!
Long chapter am I right!? Almost 7000 words! Crazy!
My goal is to post a chapter once a week!
I hope to stay on this schedule but with university picking up, it will prove a challenge! I will do my best. I hope all of you are doing well! Please take care of yourselves!
With love! ,
Juliana <3