now playing: 0.2 - just for a small moment, he felt lucky.
01:43 ━━━━●───── 03:50
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tw ! : mentions of blood
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"Sho–"
"It's Mr Aizawa. I'm your teacher from now on."
"But you're also my guardian? It's weird to call you 'Mr'."
"Does it look like I care?"
"A little bit–"
"Amano."
"Aizawa."
Aizawa held back the urge to hit the back of her head, his hand tensing into a fist as he stared down at the teenage girl that lived in his house.
The young teen sat at the kitchen island, a book on morse code that he'd gifted her for her fifteenth birthday opened on the counter as she ate a piece of toast. She'd asked for the book after she learned that he knew morse code off by heart, thinking it would be funny if she could communicate to him in morse code in the middle of class.
She was a bit of a goof ball – a trait she didn't adopt from him.
He wasn't her biological father, not even her adoptive father — but instead a guardian assigned to her by the hero commission. Yet, they sort of looked the same with their dark hair, and – when Kazumi overuses her quirk and grows tired – their matching, dark eye bags.
She'd only been under his care for nearly two years, yet she seemed to have picked up on his sassy remarks.
"Why do I have to hide that I live with you?" Kazumi questioned, pouting.
Kazumi was a smart kid; she knew why she couldn't be completely transparent about her livign situation. She was just being stubborn.
"Look, it'll save you the trouble of explaining everything." Aizawa explained for the one hundredth time. "Do you really want to explain why you're parentless?"
Ouch, but it was true.
She sighed, deciding to agree with him.
She snapped shut the black book in her hands before he stood up, taking Aizawa's cup of coffee from the kitchen bench and spinning it. She thought it was so cool that she lived with a pro-hero, she even thought of him as a father figure sometimes. But that didn't seem to be the case for Aizawa.
"Stop drinking my coffee and head to school. I'll meet you there." Aizawa said, handing her red tie to her.
Kazumi reluctantly obeyed, taking the tie from him and putting it around her collar.
"Alright, but don't be too late, okay?"
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"Kaz...Kazumi?!"
The aforementioned girl looked up from the book she was reading, her eyes widening as she stood face to face with one of her childhood best friends.
He was the same old kid; his green hair still fluffy, eyes still shining with passion and cute freckles decorated on his face. He had grown significantly taller than her, slightly toned.
"Izuku...?" Kazumi asked, taking her headphones off her head and putting them around her neck.
Midoriya had caught her approaching the entrance of U.A. while he freaked out at the doorway. However, when he saw the grown up version of the little girl he used to have play dates with and pick flowers for after school, his heart felt full seeing her blossom into a beautiful young lady.
"Izuku... I'm glad to see your dream is starting to come true... I can't believe you're a student here..." Midoriya felt his eyes water hearing her gentle voice and just knowing she still remembered him.
He didn't hesitate to bring her into a hug, his arms around her shoulders as he cuddled her closely.
She was momentarily taken aback from his sudden movement, her eyes watering too as she snuggled into his arms.
"I'm so happy that you're okay," he whispered, pulling back as he took a good look at her. "I heard about your mum... I'm so sorry. Are you alright? I heard from Mitsuki that you left to live with your dad."
Kazumi nodded, wiping her eyes as Midoriya rubbed her arms.
"I'm okay, Izuku." Kazumi reassured, smiling up at him. "I'm sorry I left so suddenly."
Midoriya shook his head, tears leaking down his face, "no, I understand..."
She'd grown up a lot since he last saw her. For one, she seemed like a distinguished young lady who grew into her rounded features well. Not to mention her composure was noticeably confident she'd perhaps spoken more words in that one interaction than she'd had in the entirety of their childhood.
The two stood in front of U.A. High, both wearing U.A. uniforms. They'd run into each other for the first time in possibly three or four years on their way to their first class.
Midoriya glanced over to the side, seeing a few students making their way towards the entrance where they stood. Kazumi pulled away from him, quietly handing him her handkerchief as he led her into the school.
"I'm really happy for you Izuku – that you made it to U.A. despite not having a quirk." Kazumi commented, smiling up at him as he wiped under his eyes.
A surge of guilt invaded his heart at her words. Technically he had a quirk now.
She heard a scratching noise coming from Midoriya and her eyes discretely bounced to his finger that picked behind his ear.
He's suddenly nervous...
"I see that your quirk has aged well too," Midoriya commented, clearly changing the subject. "You seem to have gotten a grasp over your sensitive hearing."
She stroked the white strand behind her right ear, a small nervous habit she had. She felt extra insecure knowing it was Midoriya who was staring.
"That wasn't from Kaachan, was–"
Kazumi frowned, nodding as she looked down at her shoes.
Four Years Ago...
Kazumi dropped her books at her feet, hands trembling to her ears as she witnessed Bakugou throw one of Midoriya's journals into a fountain after school; he called him names like 'Deku' while his friends laughed behind him.
Explosions came from his hands, yelling about how Midoriya was useless because he didn't have a quirk. The noise practically burned her sensitive ears, making her eyes slightly water.
Despite the loud booming of his explosions, his ears twitched when he'd heard her books collide with the concrete. He turned his head to see the pale expression of his best friend.
"'Zumi..." Bakugou stammered before noticing the confused expressions on his friends' faces. "What are you doing here?"
Kazumi abandoned her books where they'd fallen, coming to Midoriya's side and helping him stand up.
"I was waiting to walk home with you..." Kazumi said, adjusting her middle school uniform. "What are you doing to Izuku? Why are you calling him those names?"
Bakugou felt his heart pang at her broken tone but he shoved those guilty feelings away.
"He deserves it, that's why!" He exclaimed, making Kazumi flinch. "Can you believe that idiot doesn't have a quirk?"
Kazumi's face melted into sadness, glancing at Midoriya whose figure hunched over as he stared at the pages of his ripped journal in the fountain.
"'Suki... what's wrong with you?" Izuku's eyes widened at her words. "I know you're a good person, why are you doing this?"
Bakugou tightened his fists as his friends snickered behind his back. He raised his hand, palm upwards as loud explosions erupted from his hands.
Kazumi immediately put her hands to her ears again, eyes turning glassy as her ears began to bleed.
"I am a good person! A better person even, especially in comparison to some quirkless idiot." Katsuki exclaimed, turning his back. "Now follow me, otherwise you're just as useless as he is."
Kazumi let her blondied hands fall from the sides of her head, blinking away her tears before she shook her head.
"I'd rather be useless than mindlessly follow someone with an ego like you." Kazumi shot back sharply, her voice uncomfortably calm.
Bakugou felt his blood run cold, Kazumi hearing the way his heartbeat sped up and his breathing hitched as he walked off. She knew he'd been letting his ego get in the way from the way he'd instantly regretted his words.
However, she regretted her words when Bakugou strode towards her, raising his sparked hand to hit her on the left side of her head.
He paused in front of her ear and distinguished his hand when she'd crouched onto the floor, visibly trembling.
He held back shameful tears; how did he just nearly hurt his own best friend?
He'd left with his friends, not looking back in fear of falling to pieces at the sight of Kazumi crying.
After a moment, Kazumi bit her lip as she slowly stood up. She clutched her ear, Midoriya noticing a streak of white slowly forming in her midnight hair as she turned to him.
Midoriya was knee deep in the fountain, trying to retrieve all his ripped up pages. She took off her shoes and socks, rolling up her skirt before joining Midoriya in the fountain.
"Kazumi... why would you help a quirkless guy like me?" Midoriya whispered, tears leaking from his face as he slowly gave up trying to salvage anything from the fountain.
Midoriya watched as she kindly smiled down at him, wiping the blood from her ears with the back of her hand.
"Why have a quirk if it only makes you suffer?" Kazumi whispered. "It's a double edged sword. You're... lucky."
Midoriya never thought of himself as lucky. But seeing Kazumi kindly smile down at him, wiping the blood from her ears with the back of her hand... just for a small moment, he felt lucky.
"It took a while... but I have a pretty good control over my quirk now." Kazumi stopped in the middle of the hall, a smile appearing on her face as she tried to tug away the sad mood they'd created. "What class are you heading to?"
"Class 1A of the Hero Course, how about you?"
She made a noise of amazement, patting the male on the back.
"Woah... you not only made it to UA, but you ended up in the hero course?" She exclaimed, before a small smile appeared on her face. "Let's sit together okay?"
Midoriya opened the class door for her, smiling down at her as she made her way into the classroom.
"Let's have lunch together as well, Kaz–"
"Your old school put a stick up your ass?" A rough voice called from inside the classroom. "Or were you born with it?"
Kazumi raised an eyebrow as she turned her head, eyes widening as she spotted her other childhood best friend leaning back in his chair with his feet on the table. Before him was Tenya Iida, a student she'd seen during the entrance exam.
From behind her, Midoriya peeked his head in with an anxious grin on his face.
"Just my luck." He whispered, Kazumi turning to face him.
"He doesn't bully you still, does he?" She asked, ignoring Bakugou's vermillion eyes that burned into her back.
"Well–" Midoriya began, only to be interrupted by a chair squeaking.
"You're in Class A, are ya, Crybaby?" Kazumi ignored him. "Oi! Turn around, ya Mute!"
Midoriya's face paled as he watched Kazumi's concerned expression drop into slight annoyance, turning her head around to look at Bakugou.
"I see that your manners only got worse, Katsuki." His name slithered off her tongue a bit too sweetly.
He raised a brow. So that's how it is.
"And I see that you only grew uglier."
That was a lie. She was drop-dead gorgeous and he hated her for it.
"Real mature." Kazumi turned to Midoriya, ignoring Bakugou's question all together. "Izuku, let's find our seats."
Midoriya anxiously nodded, following Kazumi before they began talking to a few classmates.
Bakugou was oddly quiet after their small interaction, crossing his arms against his chest as he leaned back in his chair. He closed his eyes as he waited for their homeroom teacher to arrive, hoping that he could filter out everyones' annoying voices.
A small part of him was envious of the close relationship that Midoriya and Kazumi had despite not talking for four years. But he knew better that it was expected – given how their last interaction ended.
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