Proof - Chapter 20

--5 Years Ago--

Raven has been seeing this trend on tiktok lately, and she wants to try it.

It's kind of annoying, but it's gonna be funny either way. The victim?

Jirou.

Yes, Raven is gonna be doing a prank on the emo goddess herself. Let's see how this one plays out.

The prank?

Denki and Raven got this huge speaker on sale at the mall the other day, you know, when she teased Izuku about looking like a family?

Yeah.

Anyway, it's kind of hard to explain it, so let's just see how this goes.

It's currently nine thirty at night as Denki and Raven sneak up to Jirou's dorm room door. Denki was carrying the big speaker, and he placed it down next to the door.

They had already hooked up the music to the speaker from her phone, so all they needed to do was hit play and they were gold.

Giggling, Raven took out her phone and hit play.

~I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drum~

Denki and raven lifted up their hands to the door, and as hard as they could-

BANG! BANG!

And they ran.

It sounded like gunshots, it was so loud.

But, they ran before they could get Jirou's reaction; too afraid of what the emo princess would do to them.

So, after waiting about thirty minutes in Sero's dorm, they snuck out and did it again.

It is now ten o'clock at night, and their doing this trend on a Thursday. a school night.

They must be dumb or something because at this point, this idea was just plain stupid.

Tiptoeing into the hallway, they made their way through the dorms and to Jirou's door. And again, played the same song.

~I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drum~

BANG! BA-

The door opened, and an bedraggled, angry looking Jirou stood in the doorway. "You motherfuckers!" She all but screeched, shaking Denki by the collar since he was the closests to her. Raven was just dying laughing next to them.

Denki was laughing, but terrified at the same time, "AHHHahahah!!" He scream laughed, "W-wait Jirou! It was a prank! We won't do it again-"

"You better not!" She seethed, "You're going to put a hole through my door!" She finally let go of Denki, shoving him to the ground and turning to go back into her dorm with a frustrated huff.

Raven was still wheezing, now lying on the ground and not even making any noise as she laughed her ass off.

Denki was mortified. Even though he had a slight crush on her, he was still terrified of Jirou. But it's okay because he thought it was hot.

Finally, Raven took a deep breath and got up off the floor, leaving Denki there alone. She looked down at him, "Oh my god," She said, a smile breaking out on her face, "That was amazing!"

--------

--Present Day--

Raven would like to say she's prepared to confront Izuku. But, she's not.

She's nervous.

So nervous, that she can't even focus on her patrol.

Why can't she focus on patrol?

Because she can't stop thinking about if she's going to run into him again, like that one fateful day.

So far, she's been holding out great--besides her performance.

Raven is constantly looking everywhere but the villains, trying to see that tuft of green hair that she so often sees on her daily patrols. But today, it looks like she'll get no such luck.

She kept asking herself why she's trying so hard, that this was silly, and that he should come to her. But that's the toxic side of her wanting to play the victim--which she is not. She knows she's in the wrong here, and that's why she needs to apologize. Quickly.

Raven likes to get things done, she doesn't like to wait. But if she has to, she can wait for the right moment.

Which is why she is currently trying to push the fact that she is trying to apologize. She wants to get it over with, so things can go back to normal.

Raven's lost in her own mind thinking about different ways to confront him. She's not even focusing on her patrol anymore, not giving mind to all the different kids and people gushing about seeing her on the streets.

Suddenly, she walked straight into a wall.

But..

It was kind of squishy.

Like, a human wall, kind of.

Looking up, she was met with the one person she'd been trying to find.

Freckled cheeks, broccoli hair, and a body that should be illegal to look at.

She flushed, looking away. Yep, that's Izuku.

They just.. kind of stared at each other for a little bit, not knowing what to say to the other since both of them were unprepared to run into one another.

But that was soon thrown out the window, when, "Hey.." Raven started, shifting on her feet awkwardly, "I've.. been looking for you!" She tried, putting her hands behind her back.

Izuku raised an eyebrow, "Have you? Why is that?" He asked quietly, looking down at his feet.

It was kind of hard to hear him over the bustling of the streets, but Raven paid no mind to it, only giving Izuku her complete attention. "Because.. I wanted to apologize," She said, beginning to regret trying to look for him during patrol.

She really had no other choice. She didn't know where he lived, and he was no longer coming to her house anymore, so this was the only option. Maybe she could find somewhere isolated to talk to him.

He never answered her, just waiting for her to continue as she looked around for a place to talk.

"Let's take our break, yeah?" She asked, not waiting for him to answer as she grabbed his wrist and walked into the nearest coffee shop.

They sat down at a table. This... was very awkward.

Well, what did Raven expect?

She cleared her throat as she began to talk, "I wanted to apologize, because I overreacted. I should have never done that to you. I don't really have a reason for what I did, because I barely remember the night before. So, I'm not giving you an excuse that it was triggering for me. It wasn't. I just.. I don't know." She threw her hands into the air and leaned back into the chair, a frustrated look overtaking her face.

Izuku remained silent for a minute, "Why are you apologizing?" Was all he asked.

Raven blankly looked at him for a moment, before, "Because I screwed up!" She said, sitting up again, intertwining her fingers together.

Izuku locked eyes with her, his brows furrowing, "No. I did. I shouldn't have done that to you. I should have thought about the night before and the events that took place. It was unfair of me."

"Life isn't fair, Izuku! I messed up because I overreacted. Plain and simple. Don't try and turn this around on you!" Raven started to raise her voice.

He looked hurt for a moment, but then "I'm not! It's the truth! I'm in the wrong. Just let me apologize to you, please," He tried.

Raven could sense they were both getting heated, but continued anyway, "You have nothing to apologize for, Izuku. Why is this so hard for you to understand that not everything is your fault!?"

"Why is it so hard for you to understand that not everything is your fault?! You've been sulking for five whole years Raven! Thinking that everyone was mad at you because you messed up one time. Sure, you never apologized, but everyone understood that you were beating yourself up about it! That doesn't make it right, we all knew that. But distancing yourself because of your own self loathing isn't going to solve any problems!" Izuku ranted.

Raven slammed her hands on the table, standing up with the impact, "That's why I'm trying to change!" She yelled, causing the cafe to grow quite. She sat back down, wiping away growing tears, "I know, Izuku. I know. I've fucked up. That's why, starting now, I'm apologizing. Not just for what happened a couple days ago. For everything. I know you were worried for me the entire time. I know. And, I hate to admit this to you, but you've grown on me. You're my first friend I've allowed myself in these five years. So please. Just let me say I'm sorry." She finished quietly.

"No."

Raven froze.

'No?'

And why not? After everything she just confessed? He won't accept it.

He won't forgive her.

Raven stood up slowly, grabbing her things, "Okay then," She responded dully. She walked out of the cafe, leaving Izuku behind.

--------

Raven took off the rest of her shift that day, and went home. Again, she had no one to go to anymore.

No one to talk to, no one to have fun with.

It's all pretty depressing, really.

Because in only a few months, she managed to ruin another friendship. The only friendship she had.

Why wouldn't he let her apologize?

Was is because she wasn't in the wrong? Or because she messed up so bad that he wouldn't accept it. No, that couldn't be it because he was saying it was his fault.

But it wasn't his fault. It was Ravens.

She didn't know, and it was eating her up. She just wants things to go back to how it used to be.

Really, this whole ordeal is stupid. He made a joke, and Raven didn't take it well. That's all that happened.

So why is this so hard to overcome?

Maybe.. It's something more than just what happened.

Maybe it's more personal.

Raven thought about that day when she was sulking in her bed, and all of the self conscious thoughts came out. She would've stayed like that for a long time; just think about what happened five years ago and where she is now. So.. who was there to save her then?

..

Kirishima!

She needs to talk to him. Now.

Raven snatched her phone off the coffee table, where she was sitting on the couch, and texted Kirishima.

Raven:

Hey! It's Raven. Can you come over? Like, right now?

Sent

Almost immediately, Kirishima responded.

Kirishima:

Yeah! I just got off my shift, so I might be a little sweaty, but I'll be right over!

Read

Okay, Kirishima is coming over. All she has to do now is wait.

So she waited.

And waited.

And it's only been seven minutes.

Raven is hella overthinking right now.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door and she bounded off the couch to unlock it. Soon, Kirishima was standing in her apartment while she paced around.

"Okay, no need to fret about it! I'm sure everything will be just fine!" Kirishima said nervously after Raven was done explaining everything.

Raven groaned, "No, everything will not be 'just fine,' Kirishima! He literally said he wouldn't forgive me!" She said, pushing her palms into her eye sockets out of frustration.

Kirishima hummed, "Hmm, maybe there's something we don't understand.."

"Of course there's something we don't understand! I've never understood him in the first place! Like, why didn't he forgive me? Why is he the one apologizing? It was never even his fault in the first place! Why is he always teasing me? And why am I always getting so flustered from it? Why do I know he likes my reactions? What about that stupid skin tight suit that he somehow changed in the time that I was gone? Why does he have to go and look so good-" Raven stopped herself in the middle of her rant when she realized what she was saying.

Kirishima and Raven kind of just stared at each other for a second, before Kirishima's face brightened to the point where she thought she was looking directly into the sun. "I know~!" He said gleefully.

Raven's face morphed into one of horrification, "No, no no no! It's not what you think!" She tried to backtrack, but it was to no use.

He began dancing around her shitty apartment, singing, "I know! I know! I knowww!"

Raven growled out a curse, wanting to literally die in a ditch somewhere. "This is not what I asked you to come over for, man! I just wanted to rant! Not figure out if I might have a crush! Which I do not!" She stated angrily.

"But it makes so much sense! Why you guys are always around each other, and teasing one another. I don't know why I didn't notice it earlier. I mean, I definitely noticed it back then." Kirishima reminisced, but Raven was confused.

"What do you mean, 'Back then'?" She asked genuinely, a little skeptical about the answer she might receive.

Kirishima froze and side eyed Raven from across the room, "I- uhh, I mean," He stuttered, his voice going an octave higher from pointing out the obvious to the oblivious, "You and Midoriya used to have a crush on each other back in high school, right? Back when you were still doing pranks?"

Raven cringed, hard. Oh, right. None of the class knows what she did to Izuku, and she doubts Izuku ever told anyone, either. "Um.. Not exactly..?" She said, her voice squeaking.

His brows furrowed, "What do you mean..?" Kirishima said, becoming weary of what happened back in high school. "What happened?"

Raven took a deep breath, and began to explain to him what she did to Izuku. Not at all exaggerating or under exaggerating the story. Just the plain truth. This was the first time she told anyone about her plan, besides Denki. Her heart hurt thinking about him.

When she was done, Kirishima just stood there and looked at her, dumbfounded. "Wow, that's- Um. Wow." He repeated, not sure what to say about the whole ordeal. He now knows everything about what happened, about their current situation.

For some reason, Raven feels like a boulder was lifted off her shoulders from finally being able to tell someone her truths. "So.. Yeah. That's what happened. And how Izuku should definitely hate me now."

"Hold on," Kirishima stopped her, "You're telling me, that back then you did all this shit to him, and he still came to you five years later and befriended you again? You can't tell me this man doesn't have it bad, bro! I mean, sure, you guys are in a slump, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like you," He said.

Raven tried to cut him off, but he started again, "Listen, I know it may not sound like it, but I think you two never stopped liking each other. All those little moments you've had are proof." Suddenly, Raven came to an understanding at his words.

But..

When did she begin to fall for him?