Izuku was sitting at his desk in the agency office, looking through hero news articles and taking notes on them in his notebook. A month had passed since his fight with The Destroyer and apart from another big fight with another villain two weeks later, his only encounters had been with robberies and others during his morning and afternoon patrols, as well as the occasional evening one.
To some people, that may seem uneventful, but for Izuku, there were his efforts at constantly preventing crime in the street. It made his new job worthwhile, and made him even more determined to work hard to become not only the number one hero, but take the place as the next Symbol of Peace.
Until that day comes, he would continue to patrol the streets. Even though today, he was appointed for an evening one, he still decided to come to the agency, not just to have a few moments to himself searching articles but to look at radars that could alert him for assistant nearby. But as there weren't much in the area so far, he focused on the articles, as it was something he did when he was an obsessed hero fanboy. And still was.
He was so engrained in his research, taking note on a particular new story that a simple hand on his shoulder caused him to practically jump up from his seat. Quickly turning around on his seat, he then gave an annoyed sigh, sinking into his chair and clutching his chest that was threating to burst.
"Why do you always do that?" He asked annoyingly, only hearing snickering as a response. This prompted him to look up again, facing a snickering, red faced Vulture, trying his hardest to not burst out laughing.
"Ah! For a confidant hero... you sure are a scary cat!" Vulture managed to say once he stopped his snickering.
"Right..." Izuku simply said, looking unimpressed. "Please tell me you're here other than to scare me."
"Well, I am curious as to why you're in now. I thought you had your patrol at 6pm." He asked curiously, grabbing a chair to seat next to Izuku.
"I do. I'm here just in case any heroes need assistance on their patrols." Izuku changed the screen from the internet to the hero radar.
"Gosh, don't you ever rest?" Vulture sighed.
Izuku just shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, I don't know why you're even surprised."
Vulture was silent for a bit, thinking to himself. "Yeah, you're right." He finally replied, which made Izuku chuckle.
"Anyway, how did your patrol go?" He asked, returning to the internet and resuming his note taking before getting scared out of his will.
"Not bad. Managed to stop a mugging from happening."
"Oh, that's great!" He exclaimed.
"Yeah, but honestly, the mugger was pretty stupid. He saw me and yet, he still thought he could get away with it. 'It wasn't me, office, I swear!'" Izuku couldn't help but laugh at Vulture's impersonation. "I mean, if a rise of crime results in a rise in incompetent villains, then I don't think we should be worried about anything."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Izuku said in between his laugh. He eventually managed to calm down before focusing back on note taking.
"What are you taking notes on this time, fanboy?" Izuku rolled his eyes at the nickname Vulture liked to say, but the smile on his face failed at his demeanour.
"Oh, you know? Hero news. Oh, look!" He scrolled down to a particular story, clicking on the link for more information. "Gang Orca returned from his hero trip to New Zealand. He managed to rescue 100 people from a massive building collapse."
"Oh, nice!" Vulture nodded impressively. "Must have knocked out those villains with that shockwave of his."
"You bet!" Even though he was a pro hero himself, Izuku would still get excited over the heroes he grew up with and their many new achievements over the years, along with the new pros emerging. He then looked back to his notebook, turning pages back at what he wrote before. Reading hero news articles was not just for him to see what's been happening in hero society, but also to analysis the different situations and techniques he could use to improve on his own skills.
As he did, he turned clicking, which caused him to look up, seeing that Vulture had taken control of the computer and looking through articles himself, muttering the titles of each one. Izuku just smiled before going back to his notes, adding additional thoughts that he didn't add before and muttering to himself.
"Huh. This one's interesting. 'Pro Hero Uravity defeats villain in Musutafu'."
Izuku froze. The movement of his pencil ceased. His eyes widened. A soft gasp escaped him.
"Musutafu is your hometown, right?" He heard Vulture ask. He couldn't talk, feeling as if his throat was closing up, so he just nodded. It seemed to work as Vulture began to read the article.
"'Pro Hero Uravity defeated the villain, SharpEdge, at a park at Musutafu, Japan. The 20-year-old hero, who has been a pro for 5 months, had managed to stop the dastardly villain, whose quirk allowed him to produce sharp knifes at will, from causing havoc at Star Park in the early hours of today. Despite being primarily known as a rescue pro, Uravity was able to engage in combat with SharpEdge, apprehending the villain while at the same time...'
Vulture's voice started to fade around Izuku as he finally looked up. His eyes caught a picture on the article of her, in a capture shot of her talking to the police. She was in her hero costume, consisting of a black and light pink body suit and pink knee-high boots, while also wearing a visor. She was standing sideways, so he saw that her hair had gotten longer, now tied in a bun, but still having two long side bangs.
"...Uraraka..." The name came out like a whisper. Like if he said it any louder, it could disappear out of existence. It's been a long time since he saw her, and even though she had clearly grown since then, he could still see things that haven't changed.
The light blushes on her cheeks were still prominent. Her eyes were still wide and full of determination. Her smile was still present. Still as bright and cheerful as ever.
That smile wasn't there that night...
"Deku!"
Izuku jolted up, shrieking as he did and causing him to drop his notebook and pencil. His wide eyes searched the room until it landed on Vulture, who was looking at him, waving his hand in front of him.
"Y-Yeah?" He eventually answered.
Vulture dropped his hand and smirked. "Never took you as a romantic wreak."
A deep red crept up Izuku's face, burning it up as words became a foreign concept to him. "Ro-roma...! No! No, no! I-I... um, well... it's not..."
Vulture couldn't contain the bellowing laugh escaping him, causing him to double down on his seat, wrapping his arms around his stomach. "Ah man! It's love at first sight!"
"Vulture!" The embarrassment only increased in Izuku that he couldn't even look at his friend in the eye, slumping into his seat and covering his eyes.
"What? Did you have a crush on her in your class?"
"What?! N-No, I..." Izuku stopped midsentence as what Vulture said sank in. "Wait, my class?"
"Yeah, the article said Uravity is a U.A. graduate, and since she's been a pro for just as long as you have, I figured you two might be in the same class." He explained. "Or at the very least, the same year group."
"Well..." Izuku rubbed the back of the head. "We... were in the same class."
"Ah, so I was right."
"But I didn't have a crush on her!" He exclaimed, sitting straight up. Then, he felt a punch in his stomach, like he had gotten shot from behind. A memory popped up into his mind so rapidly that he could have given him a whiplash. A memory he didn't want to remember.
Tears stemming down her face, not wanting to stop, but still smiling. Telling him she was OK, before running off, still in tears. He tried to stop her but couldn't.
The last time he saw her.
"Not that it mattered if I did..."
"OK, let's not get defensive here." Vulture's voice brought him out of those thoughts, seeing him putting his hands up in surrender before dropping them. "So, a friend, then?"
"Well... y-yeah... kind of..."
"Deku, it's a yes or no question."
"Well, I don't know!"
"What do you mean you don't know? When was the last time you two spoke?"
The same shot came straight for his heart this time. A feeling of guilt and regret along with it, causing him to sink down his seat again. "...Two years ago."
"Two years?! Why? And don't say it's because of the job."
Izuku shrugged his shoulders. "Just... haven't. ...I messed up..."
"Messed up... how?" Before Izuku could answer the question he honestly didn't want to, a short jiggle was played across the room before a low, male voice appeared.
"Can Deku and Vulture come to the office? Thank you." A voice disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
"Huh, I wonder what he wants." Vulture commented. "Honestly, I wouldn't mind heading back out again. There's only so much I can stay in this building without going insane." Izuku couldn't help but chuckle at his complaining, finally removing the unease that was in him.
Vulture then processed to get up, stretching his arms before heading for the door. Izuku followed suit, picking up the notebook and pencil that was dropped and setting them on the desk. As he did, though, his eyes caught the computer screen again.
It was on a different picture in the article, of Uraraka standing next to a young fan, with her eyes shut and a big grin on her face.
Messed up... how? Vulture's question came back to him. Along with that memory.
I-I'm sorry, I... I don't... even know... why I'm crying myself...
Izuku sighed. "Messed up big time." He whispered before heading for the door, capturing a glimpse of the screen once more as he left the room.