When she got to the dorms, she didn't say a word.
Not to Todoroki who was concerned.
Not to Iida who was worrying.
Not to Bakugou who cared.
Not to anyone who was even present and was waiting for her return.
---
She slammed her door closed, and threw her bag to the wall, the contents spilling out and onto the floor. She kicked her baskets, threw off her books on the shelves and on the coffee table.
She screamed and she cried, desperate to get rid of her frustration as she trashed her room, throwing everything away or at the walls, trying to calm down, trying to release her anger.
Yelling out curses, she flipped her coffee table over, the wooden table breaking a leg off. She kicked her bean bag chair, and hurled anything she could get her hands into. She also punched the walls, leaving a dent getting bigger and deeper every time she struck.
When she felt her energy draining, she looked around her.
She looked at her room, which she now realized represented her inner self.
She was a wreck.
More tears flowed down her cheeks as she slid down her dented walls, her knuckles hurting and stinging, her heart and head aching.
"Why now.."
she murmured, feeling the cold wind enter her room.
"Why me.."
Hugging her knees, she put her head on her arms and continued to cry.
The door opened, letting light shine into the dark room, revealing the mess that she had created, and the girl right in the middle of it all. They noticed her broken table, her books, her shattered picture frames, her torn sheets, her damaged basket, and the blood on the dents on the walls.
They felt pity.
"(Name)?"
"What do you want..?"
She sniffled and turned her head away from the door. Everyone was outside her room, waiting, thinking about what to say or what to do, like mines were planted in her room trailing all the way to her. One wrong move, one wrong word, and it might trigger her and make her feel worse.
Finally, a sense of bravery overcame one of them, and that was Izuku.
The green haired boy squeezed through the group and neared the girl, stepping over books and broken lamps on the way. He crouched down and saw that her knuckles were bruised and bloody, as he took it in his own as he inspected them.
"Stop it, Izuku.." she mumbled, her head still down. Izuku smiled and creased his brows in nervousness, but still pat the girl's head. He said,
"I can't tell you that everything's okay. Because obviously, it's not." he looked around the room, then back to her. "But I can tell you that we'll be here for you to help you with what you're going through."
Todoroki stepped in, and crouched down next to her. "I'm here."
(Name) looked up, and saw his heterochromic eyes, and Izuku's green ones. Seeing them made her soften, and cry once more. Throwing her arms around Todoroki, the male kissed her hairline and hugged her tightly.
Izuku smiled at them, and said "I'm here too." and joined the hug.
"Me too" Iida spoke up, breaking off from the group.
"And me."
"Me too!"
"So are we."
Soon enough, all of her friends and classmates gathered around her and joined the group hug, with warm hearts and soft smiles, she found herself smiling too.
"Thank you, everyone."
---
The next day, Tomoe and Takae were in her room, fixing her room, replacing and cleaning up the mess she made.
Izuku happened to be there to check on her along with Mina, Todoroki, Ochaco and Iida.
"Eh? Tomoe-kun? Takae-kun? What are you doing here? Where's (Name)?" Mina asked, peering inside the room.
"Oh, she's out in the city taking a walk." Tomoe replied, inspecting the broken table. He sighed and stood up, looking over at them. "She's still a bit sensitive, but she'll be alright in a few days."
"As for what we're doing..well..." He looked over at his twin, who was folding new bed sheets and clothes. "We know that she'll throw another tantrum. It happened when father passed, and of course, it would happen when mother..."
Takae then crouched down to collect her books, and piled them in his arms.
"Oh, let me help you!" Midoriya ran to him and took his books, Takae mumbling a thanks.
"Is anyone accompanying her?" Todoroki asked, gathering her photos from the cracked frames. There was one frame that contained him and her at the cafe. They asked an employee if they could take a picture of them and that employee thought that they were a couple.
(Name) was so flustered.
He chuckled at the memory, and gathered some more.
"Oh? Uh, yeah she's with Mirio. I asked him to accompany her just in case any paparazzi swarm her and make her even more uncomfortable than she already is." Tomoe answered, scratching his head not knowing what to do with the wooden table. "Good thing he's a big guy with a big and patient heart. He'll understand if ever she'll act up."
"What? She knows Mirio senpai?" All of her classmates except Mina looked at each other in shock. "Of course she knows him. Mirio-kun and (Name) were friends since they were kids. Well, they only became friends because Tomoe-kun and Takae-kun were friends with him first." Mina picked up her bag and put in her notebooks and things inside it.
"You knew and you never even told us?"
"What treachery!"
"Relax, guys it's not like I secretly joined the League of Villains." she shrugged. "Didn't you even notice? Mirio-kun approached her right after that exercise and they talked normally."
"Right."
---
Midoriya was confused.
Why did he feel like this?
His emerald eyes keep trailing back to the girl whom they comforted the other night. She still had a distant look in her eyes, as if something was rather wrong.
Like something was puzzling her and it bothered him.
Right now, Present Mic was discussing types of literary works, quoting Shakespeare's works for reference.
"A sonnet is a poem that consists of fourteen lines using any number of formal rhyme schemes. In English, it typically has ten syllables per line. It is also used for when an author hascome to a realization or understanding of a subject or an idea." Present Mic flipped the book open and stopped on a page. After some time, there were writings on the board, and under the sonnet was a dash and Shakespeare's name. "Can anyone read it to me and explain what this sonnet is about? It's one of Shakespeare's popular works, Sonnet 145."
Hands shot up in the room, including Yaoyorozu and Todoroki's, but he ignored all of them and called for (Name), whose gaze remained distant, until she heard her name being called.
"You've been quiet for quite some time now, (Name). Why don't you recite the sonnet and explain? Please?" Present Mic used small words and a soft tone. He knew what happened to his friend, Kyoshi. He knew that Kyoshi was her mother. Being careful is good.
She sighed and stood up, reading the text skillfully, yet her voice was low and monotoned.
"Those lips that Love's own hand did make,
Breath'd forth the sound that said 'I hate'
To me that languish'd for her sake;
But when she saw my woeful state,
Straight in her heart did mercy come,
Chiding that tongue that ever sweet,
Was us'd in giving gentle doom;
And taught it thus anew to greet:
'I hate' she alter'd with an end,
That follow'd it as gentle day,
Doth follow night, who like a fiend
From heaven to hell is flown away;
'I hate' from hate away she threw,
And sav'd my life saying, 'not you'."
She put her hand on her neck and looked away, thinking for a moment.
"Shakespeare's Sonnet 145 describes a man's intense love for his woman that her telling her that she hates someone ignites a fear in him that he is the one she hates." (Name) looked back at Present Mic who was showing her a big smile in her answer. "But seeing as her words meant everything to her lover, she changed her words to reassure him that indeed she does hate but it isn't him who she dislikes."
"Very good, (Name)!" the blonde hero praised in english, clapping his hands. The whole class followed after, unsure if they should be clapping as well.
Midoriya's eyes looked back at her (eye color) ones which were now meeting with his as she sat back down. He jolted in his seat at the sudden eye contact, but then he brushed the feeling off by waving at her.
Saying nothing, she turned her head, her hair covering her face as she focused on the lesson. His heart clenched, thinking that she was ignoring him purposely. But, no. That can't be it, right?
Midoriya felt it,
but he knew it wasn't pity.
It was something else.
He was scared she didn't like him.
But why would he be worried about that?
---
(Name)'s mind drifted elsewhere as recess rolled in.
Thinking back to the day after her mother's death, she remembered spending time with Mirio in the city, walking around trying to clear her head.
Mirio offered to take her to the amusement park, and when she said no, he insisted. Then she found herself in front of game stalls, food carts, and lines for rides.
Couple of games and prizes won later, they called it a day and walked back to the school. The sunset's warm colors reflected on their faces, engulfing the streets in a quiet that was comforting.
"Mirio."
The blonde looked down at her, carrying her plushies and her toys that he won for her, the smile never wavering from his face. He also carried plushies she won for him, which were almost the same amount as his wins.
"Why are you doing this for me?"
Mirio's eyes widened at her question, and laughed heartily. "Haha! Isn't it obvious?" (Name) looked up at him, making a face; her eyes squinted and her lips jutting out. "H-hey! Don't look at me like that."
"It's because I care about you, (Name)."
The blonde scratched his nose as he looked up to the sky, a small confession bubbling up in his mouth. He blushed as the girl beside him looked at him with such intense curiosity in her eyes.
"You see, when we were kids and you manifested your quirk in an early age like your brothers, I admit that I was quite interested in you. Then and up to now. Especially when I offered to fight you and your classmates, and at the sports festival." He coughed, trying to get rid of the butterflies ferociously gnawing at his stomach while he spoke.
"You were amazing at controlling it, and I along with Tamaki and Nejire had to watch your brothers struggle." he lowered his head and shook it, memories of that time swirling in his head. "You were also so supportive and kind. You were caring. You were patient with Tamaki's shyness and Nejire's energy. Despite being two years younger than us and them, you helped your brothers with their quirks. You were there for us and me when we needed you."
"I just think that now," his blue eyes trailed back to her "Now that you need someone to be there for you, I thought that I would return the favor from all those years ago."
"And maybe, what I'm trying to say..is well.."
(Name)'s heart thumped, heat rushing up to her face as he uttered those three words to her. She didn't know how to react. She didn't know what to say.
Silence followed them all the way to her dorm. Before getting inside, she turned to him. Him who was in front of her. Him who had just told her how he felt. Him who had her in his heart.
"Thank you for telling me how you feel, Mirio."
She said,
"Of course. It's alright if you don't return my feelings. Can't force someone to love you back, amirite?"
Her heart hurt hearing him laugh. It contrasted to what he really felt. She knew that.
She wished she was as brave as him to smile whenever pain was in the picture.
"Just wanted to let you know...I'm willing to wait. I've waited this long to tell you, and I can do it again."
She wished she knew before.
She wished a lot of things as she walked inside her dorm
"I'll get going now. Bye, (Name). See you later, I guess."
He leaned in to kiss her cheek, and walked away, leaving the girl to watch him disappear.
"I like you."
She wished she could say it.
But it would be bad to lie to him.
It would be bad to lie to herself.
---
Mirio and Midoriya huh?
Six chapters into the story and things are escalating very, very quickly.
See you soon, Saengies.