I wake up and perform my daily routine, as per usual. I'm especially excited to go to school today as Iida told me he would help me research my condition! I get ready quickly and exit the door. As I walk to the station, I subconsciously look for Iida, but see no sign of him. I guess he doesn't leave this early. I get on the train and zone out.
I feel a tap on my shoulder, I turn to look at who it was.
"Huh? Iida?" I say. How come I didn't see him get on?
He smiles. "Good morning."
"Good morning!" I reply.
"I... did some research on your condition yesterday." He says looking slightly worried for some reason.
"Uh... I have formed a couple of guesses on what it could be.."
"That's great news! What are the guesses?" He looks around. "I'll tell you later, It's too crowded here.
"Oh.. Okay then."
I was a little disappointed, I was excited to hear about my condition so I can hurry up and get rid of it, but if I have to wait a little longer then so be it.
The train quickly comes to a halt and we get off. We talk the whole way to school, it was fun. Talking with Iida is fun.
We arrived at class on time.
I went and sat down in my seat, and Iida began to scold Bakugo again. Mina and Ochako come over to me. "Good morning!" They greet me. "Good morning!" I try to reciprocate their energy. The rest of the girls come over and start to converse next to my desk, asking me questions too, making jokes and laughing with me.
I felt... at peace.
U.A is a great place.
—--------------------
U.A is a surprisingly normal school. Before noon, we have classes for all the required subjects. I'm gonna study hard and be a good student, let's make mom proud!
—--------------------
Class has ended, it's time for lunch.
I follow Uraraka, Midoriya and Iida to lunch. "Woahh," Ochako, Midoriya and I all exclaim. The food looked and smelled so good. The prices were relatively inexpensive but I couldn't afford it anyway. I don't get a huge allowance and I don't need to eat such food anyway.
As I stood in line with them, Iida asks me a question.
"Are you going to eat?"
"Ah.. I'm not gonna buy anything." I say.
"Why not?"
He has a weird expression plastered on his face, a mixture of worry and seriousness, he's also kind of pale. "Hey, are you okay?" I ask him.
He nods his head. "I'm fine, why aren't you eating?"
Suddenly, I realize what might be the cause of his odd behavior.
"Hey, uh.. Is this about our conversation from yesterday?" He flinches, and then lets out a sigh.
"Haaa.. come with me." He says. He grabs my hand while Ochako and Midoriya are distracted, dragging me over to a secluded corner. He runs his fingers through his hair with a complicated expression.
"...What were you going to say?" I ask.
"Yesterday... I did some research on your condition." My face lights up.
"And... I could be really wrong but..." His face looks really weird right now.
"Is it possible that the cause of your condition has something to do with... Your... image of yourself?" He says, looking directly into my eyes with a serious expression.
"H-huh??"
Why would he think that? And what did he mean? To do with my image of myself?
To be truthful, he wasn't completely wrong.
I've always had a complicated relationship with my appearance.
My hair, dark as ebony, is gloomy and sad. My complexion, pale as a ghost, is sickly and reminiscent of a dead person. My eyes are empty and soulless, and worst of all was my inexpressive face. I always hold a somber, depressive face. An unfriendly, drab look. A face that could never be popular.
—-------------------
3 years earlier
I sit alone in the classroom, while everyone is off at lunch. Every lunchtime I pretend to be asleep, that way I don't have to sit all alone in the cafeteria. Though, it's pretty much the same here. At least here, I don't have to keep my head down all lunch.
I sit at my desk, staring outside the window.
BANG
The door slams open.
I instinctively tuck my head into my arms and quickly position them on the desk, pretending to be asleep.
I hear footsteps, a few people have entered the classroom. Judging from their footsteps, maybe three or four people? They shut the door and begin to chatter. I recognise one of their voices, it was Kosei, the only boy in school who was nice to me. He also happened to be the boy I held feelings for due to this fact. Yesterday, I happened to tell him how I felt about him. It was a stupid mistake I made, I was too worked up and said something I couldn't take back. Thankfully, he played dumb like he had no idea what I was talking about. The best option for both of us.
I hear them talking about something.
" –Asleep." Were they talking about me?
"Good, she's asleep." An unfamiliar voice, not coming from Kosei.
Two boys begin to snicker.
"Fucking pig." I hear one of them say.
Yeah, they were definitely talking about me. I'm the chubbiest girl in our school, it's not a surprise though.
"Kosei, I can't believe piggy likes you!" One of them says.
Piggy? Was that my nickname?
"Fuck, if it were me, I would've thrown up." Another makes gagging noises.
"What did you say Kosei?" One asks.
"Uh..." That was definitely Kosei's voice.
"Well... I didn't say anything."
"What the fuck? You should've told her you don't like her, straight up."
"Yeah! Now she's gonna think she has a chance, you dumbass."
This type of behavior isn't unusual. I don't care about any of those idiots anyway.
"If you have an ugly face, you should at least make up for it by keeping a good figure!" One says.
"That's right." I hear two others agree. That means there are 3 of them, not including Kosei.
"AND if you can't do that, unattractive pigs should at least have a good personality!"
"Yeah! She doesn't even try to befriend people."
That's not true. I'm always trying.
"Kosei! Tell us."
Kosei?
"What do you think of her?"
Kosei doesn't like me, I already know. I don't need to be reminded.
"Huh? Well... I don't like her." He says.
"We know that dumbass, what do you think of her appearance?"
"Yeah, you think she looks like a pig too, right? A fat fucking pig?" The boys pester Kosei to answer.
"Um... Yeah, she does." Kosei replies.
I knew that already, it didn't hurt my feelings.
"--- She's fat and scary." He continues.
I get it, all 13 year old boys want to fit in, he has to match their energy. I don't hold it against him,
"She's like a Kuchisake-Onna." He adds.
"Yeah! But if she asked me if she was pretty, I would say no way no matter what!"
The boys erupt in laughter, Kosei too.
Something like this wouldn't hurt me. But why does my heart hurt so bad? It feels like it's being stepped on for some reason.
This feeling sucks.
—-------------------
That situation was just one of many examples. But with a face like mine it's to be expected. I was used to it. Iida was definitely wrong, it has nothing to do with my image of myself. Besides, I've been throwing up my meals even while I was fat!
Yeah, that's right, Iida was wrong.
Plop, plop.
Huh? Why are tears coming from my eyes?
"Rei!?!" Iida says in a panicked tone.
I cover my eyes with my hands. This is so embarrassing.
"T-there's something in my eye!" I say. It's a dumb excuse but I can't think of anything else right now!
I feel two hands cover my own.
"Rei..." Iida's tone turned serious.
His hands were warm.
"...You don't have to tell me.."
His hands gently lift mine, exposing my tear stained face. Why did he do that??? This is humiliating!
"..Ah.." I exclaim.
"...It's not!..." I say, my voice as clear as I can get it to be.
"...Y-You're wrong!.. It's nothing to do with that.." I repeat, my voice breaking. Not very convincing.
"..Hic...Hic.. Ha..." I'm usually good at crying quietly, why am I getting all emotional now, of all times?!?
My disheveled appearance and weeping started to gain some looks from other students, curious about what was happening.
Suddenly, Iida pulls me in. My tears soak his blazer. His shoulders were broad, broad enough to completely cover me from the crowd. Ahh that's why.
"I-Iida??"
"Ah.. uh..." I feel his heartbeat begin to get quicker. Must be because of the crowd.
"...Don't cry, Rei," He says.
"IIDA????" A small boy with yellow orbs on his head yells. I think he was in my class. His mouth was held agape. "Why'd you stop Minet–IIDA???" A boy with yellow hair resembling thunder stopped in his tracks. His mouth was also held agape.
Iida begins to heat up. I can feel his body temperature change. He smells kinda good. I wonder why?
"YOU LITTLE-" The purple haired boy starts to yell until Jiro stabs the two with her ear jacks. "What are you two idiots doing just standing there." Upon seeing me and Iida, her eyes widened slightly but she pretended not to see anything. She grabs the two boys by their collars and drags them away. "...Let's go over here."
I've stopped crying.
"...Iida." I say.
"Y-YeS?" He says, his voice sounding weird.
I lift my head up, out of the warmth radiating from his chest.
"I've stopped crying." I say. My voice has gone back to normal.
He suddenly goes red and lets go of me quickly. "Ah yes! Let's go back to Uraraka-kun and Midoriya, they must be wondering where we went-"
I grab his sleeve.
"Wait." I say.
He looks back at me
"...You're right," I say quietly, barely audible.
He grabs my arm.
"...Let's go."
The feeling of his gentle hand on my arm is comforting. For some reason, I felt like crying.
We join Ochako and Midoriya for lunch. Iida constantly offered me portions of his food, which I gratefully accepted. Why are all his actions so kind? Why is he so kind?
Iida, this is the first time I've ever felt this way.
I wanted to get another chapter out but I might be slower with them from now on, I have huge tests coming up! Let me know how you liked this chapter.