My soft breath illuminated the air in front of me with the white mist of the cold.
Well shit, now I know I have to be more subtle with my questioning or he'll run off.
And how long will he be gone for, he's obviously a tool, but also the key to figuring out things about the league.
I shut my window and got down from the tub's ledge.
Slumping to the ground, I stared into the full body mirror by my bathroom door.
My cheeks were rosy from the cold.
I brought my knees to my chest, and my face gently to my knees.
I thought back to our interaction.
Pfft.
He was "in love" with me.
The thought made me laugh a bit.
How could you fall in love with someone so easily.
Without ever meeting them.
What did he even learn about me anyways to get him like that.
It was then the image of caretaker popped up in my mind again like a jumpscare.
I shook my head and stood up.
I ran to the bathroom door and unlocked it, forcing it open.
I didn't even try to be quiet or careful I practically flew at the bed.
Katsuki flung upwards in bed from me landing so hard on the mattress.
He thunked back on it quickly, before shooting right back up.
"What the hell was that Y/n?" He asked, his voice shakey and tired.
"Nothing. Just, noticing how bouncy this bed is, like a trampoline.. haha?" I said awkwardly, beginning to press up and down on the bed.
Katsuki gave me a weird look and turned his head to my bedside table.
"At 2:30 in the morning?" He grumbled.
"Uhh, yes. That is what the clock says." I shrugged.
"Cut the crap." He muttered, tossing his head on my pillow and staring at the ceiling.
I sighed.
There really wasn't hiding much from him, he knows me scarily well.
"I was in the bathroom, no not using it, I was messing around with my hair. When I thought about.." I had to come up with a lie, he couldn't know what I was really thinking about.
"that interaction I had with Shigaraki, a while back. When he told me I had someone out to get me, the man who murdered my parents. I just kinda covered my face with my hands to brush my hair back and get it out of my face when my old caretaker flashed across my mind again. I wasn't expecting to think of her so I just kind of ran to bed on instinct." I explained, quickly.
His face fell a bit.
"Come here." He mumbled, as he opened up his arms.
I scooted over to him, and he wrapped his arms around me.
I buried my face into his shoulder.
He was starting to smell like me.
"Are you smelling me, weirdo?" He chuckled.
"What? Me? In your dreams." I laughed back.
We went quiet for a bit and just kinda sank into the hug.
Eventually he flopped on his side, pulling me down with him to maintain the hug.
"..You wanna talk about it?" He asked, pressing his hand lightly against my back.
"No, it's okay." I replied back, quietly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day felt kind of weird.
All everyone was talking about was the upcoming exams.
Some of my classmates looked to the others who placed higher during mid-terms for help studying, before it ended up getting leaked by someone that the exams would be not about literature of a sort, but combat testing.
I had heard from some random kid in 1-B that it was gonna be combat against real people, however I had heard from my classmates it was gonna be robots.
So I was pretty lost.
Despite all the guesses and rumors flying around the hero course buildings, what stood out to me more was the fact Katsuki was acting more aggressive than usual today.
I would've asked him about it but he had a lot of classmates (Ei and Denki.) which honestly half the time having Denki around can feel more like there's 10+ people hoarding you despite it being just him.
He was fun and energetic but boy was he distracting on a whole other level.
Maybe that's why Katsuki was so mad.
"Hey! Deku!" I heard the familiar voice yell.
I turned my head around to see what was going on with Katsuki.
"I don't know whats going on with your power, but I saw the way you're using it now, I want you to know.. it's seriously pissing me off." Katsuki muttered.
So that's why, it must be that being back in school reminded him of how much Izuku has been progressing.
"I won't have another half-assed win like the festival. We'll be getting individual scores in the finals. New rankings. So we'll all know exactly where we're standing! I'll show you how much better I am. And Todoroki, I'll kill you, too." He grit through his teeth as he stormed out of the classroom.
"It's been a while since I've seem him that worked up." Ei said, scratching his head nervously.
"Yeah, he didn't even drag Y/n out with him." Mineta added in.
Tokoyami turned to them, "Think its impatience? Or hatred?" He asked.
He was fine just last night.
And come to think of it, Mineta's right, he hasn't really been dragging me around all day almost at all.
"I don't get why you all tolerate such a jerk, let alone why this one." I heard a voice say, while also feeling a hand press against the back of my head. "Even gives him the time of day."
I turned around to see Raven.
I slapped his hand off.
"He's a lot different from what you think he's like." I muttered.
"Oh really? Well then I'll take your word for it, after all I've only seen the way he acts in school." Raven shrugged.
I sighed and looked over to Denki who also shrugged.
"Apologies for coming in on such short notice. I know class is practically over but I wanted to discuss something with you guys." Raven explained.
Ochaco practically twirled across the room to his side, eager to listen.
"So I know exams are coming up and you're all probably a little nervous." He said, the tone is his voice falling a bit.
"I just wanted to let you guys know as an upperclassman what you should all be prepared for. And before anyone asks why I'm here trying to help you guys, well it's because I admire this class. You're all talented and promising heroes despite some of your guy's.. anger issues." Raven said subtly, it was clear everyone got who he was referring to.
"I also wanna share with you guys my experience back when I first joined the hero course. Since I'll be volunteering in this class more often I want you guys to be able to know you can talk to me, about anything. Despite being an upperclassman, I'm really not that much different from you."
"Here goes, I got in on recommendation, but here's the thing, despite having a decent quirk, I had a really hard time with controlling it. Much like some your classmates, I'd get these jolts of after effects after using my quirk. They were pretty awful and getting into UA really pushed my limits on the whole idea of having to use it so often."
"What would happen was I would constantly be in the infirmary put on rest for these horrible head aches that hurt honestly so badly I couldn't do a single thing. I could barely see straight."
"And, this is a little hard for me to admit but, I wanna set a good example for you guys so you can understand your feelings are valid and there are others who understand, I felt like I wasn't enough to be in the hero course, let alone from recommendation."
"I was insecure about how vulnerable I'd be in a serious fight. I went through a pretty tough state of depression and loss of self worth. It really messed with my daily performance for simple everyday things and I ended up flunking mid-terms and almost got myself kicked out of the course. But, Aizawa oddly gave me a second chance. Which I'm thankful for. He told me if I could train and do better during finals, that he'd let me pass and everything."
"And so that's exactly what I did, but what I wish he would have told me was that finals was not JUST about the history of heroes and hero studies and law and all that kinda stuff." Raven chuckled.
"Now here's where I'm gonna explain whats gonna go down. You all are gonna be grouped up, and forced to fight something in groups of two. What you have to fight varies every year as far as I'm concerned, but I didn't know this. Like I said, I thought it was gonna involve just writing or something. I was very wrong. So obviously I almost shit my pants when I found out what the final test of the exam was actually gonna be on."
"But here's the thing, when I got out on that field with my partner, and I saw he was struggling as well, it struck a cord in me, I got even more nervous and thought that if he was struggling, that I was surely doomed or something like that. He ended up noticing why we were struggling so much before I managed to, it was because I was holding back. I told him I was scared I'd mess up and you know what he told me?" Raven asked, everyone was listening intently to his story and practically leaning in over their seats in curiosity. Even Shoto.
"He told me that if you hold back on everything in life and only focus on the mistakes you could make, that you'll never be able to do anything at all. It wasn't too long after he said that, that what we were fighting, which at the time was multiple high tech robots a bit more complicated then what they have at the entrance exams, ended up knocking my partner out cold. I freaked out of course, but, I thought about what he had told me, and in that moment I acted on impulse and.."
"That day, in that moment, I was able to generate two blasts of wind, one to breeze my teammate to the side to safety, and another at the robots. But what made the air that smacked the robots so special was how hot I was able to generate it, without gaining a head ache. For the first time that day I had generated heat around 1,400 degrees Celsius for a time period of 15 seconds."
"Now 15 seconds may not seem like much to you, but to me who struggled with using my quirk at high temperatures for an excessive amount of time, that was crazy. And in the moment it felt just as such. I ended up being able to melt through some of the bots's detection material, rendering them useless when trying to land attacks. I was able to carry and make a run for it with my teammate to the exit behind the bots and we ended up getting an A for the exam." Raven explained.
"Point is I need you guys to know you need to push your limits and do above and beyond. I know it sounds corny, but you're all fully capable. Ive seen so much potential in all of you. Anyways, that's all I needed to say, I hope I gave you guys some help and encouragement for the finals. Thanks for listening." Raven smiled, though it was clear the smile was nervous.
He did reveal a lot to everyone, it probably took a lot of balls to admit and openly talk about his past struggles with mental stability and school performance.
I held my hands out slightly and began a slow clap.
Slowly after that everyone else began clapping as well.
It got pretty loud and Ei started crying about how manly Raven's confession was.
I wasn't really sure how to feel about Raven at first but honestly after hearing his story my views of him changed a little.
I assume he still deals with insecurities sometimes as well.
Things like that just don't vanish because a random high school kid told you to basically man up but I admire him for sharing his story with us.
I think he's gonna be good for the class, and I bet our class will have no problems keep him cheered up.
My class truly is one of a kind.
Guys I cant even say I've ever had a flop era because there has not been a single point throughout my publishing of this story despite it having 61 chapters where I've ever had a view era of any other kind. Help me. I'm the king of flop at this point. Floplandia central man. Help me.