Prophecy - Chapter 6

--6 Years Ago--

Today was Raven's turn to cook dinner for class 1-A in the dorms, and on the menu for tonight was some curry with a sprinkle of salt.

Yes, Raven is pulling a prank.

Again.

This time though, it's a food prank. Raven doesn't do food pranks often, because they could potentially make someone sick, but she saw this one on social media and thought it could work for the best. Specifically on someone gullible and nice.

Raven had just finished up making the curry, and was just waiting for the rice to finish cooking. She thought it best to do the prank now, seeing as it would make the most sense.

She walked out to the common area, looking at who all she could pull the prank on. Scanning the premises, her eyes narrowed in on one person in particular. 'Perfect," She purred inside her head.

Walking back into the kitchen, she scooped up spoonful of salt in a spoon, and then dipped it into the curry to cover up the spoonful of salt. "Sero!" She called out from the kitchen, "Come here for a sec!"

She blowed on the curry while she waited, hearing the familiar scampering of feet padding on the carpet. Turning around, she was met with Sero's big eyes, "What did you need?" He asked.

She smiled, "Taste this for me. I need another person's opinion," Raven said, gesturing to the spoon filled with curry. She held out the spoon for him to take, and he did.

Taking the spoon and eating the curry and salt, he waited for a moment, tasting the saltiness before, "Oh," Was all he said.

Her eyes lit up, "Do you like it? Is it good??" She asked innocently.

For fear of hurting her feelings, he immediately agreed, "OH YEAH!" His voice cracked, not being able to swallow it.

She giggled at his enthusiasm, "Alright! I'll call the others to dinner, then!" She said joyfully, knowing full well that he wasn't going to eat dinner that night.

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--Present Time--

The cool breeze of fresh spring air wafted on Raven's face as she reminisced on old memories. The one thing she did have, even after giving up on pranking, was the memories she made before they turned for the worst.

Of course, Raven always has her bad days where she thought more about how her pranks were hurtful than funny, but today was a good one. She thought about her creativeness in pulling all those wonderful pranks that everyone at the time thought were amazing, wondering how she even thought of stuff like it.

But, Raven wasn't always the mastermind. Usually, it was Denki, her beloved 'partner in crime' as she used to call it, who would create the ideas. Raven would just go through with it.

Now, there were days where Raven would come up with something extra devious, but Denki ultimately shot them down because they were a little too much for some people to handle. Thank god for that, because she would have never lasted as long as she did.

Anyway, enough of the past, though. Right now, Raven is sitting on a bench at a local park near her shabby apartment, enjoying the spring air. She wouldn't admit it, because it doesn't really serve a purpose, but Raven secretly loves the outdoors. She would go out on her balcony with a glass of wine and enjoy the scenery before her eyes, but that was whenever she was avoiding Midoriya.

Speaking of the broccoli haired man, she had given up on avoiding him. She sees it as something that she just cannot keep running from. If he's so stubborn about being in her life, then so be it. She's tried to stay away from him--from all of her old classmates--but he just does not want to listen.

She wonders just how much time has changed him, because he didn't use to be so up front with people. If anything, he would run away from things that would make him uncomfortable unless it benefited him.

But, this is just Raven getting lost in her thoughts again. She decided to end the trail there so she wouldn't get too deep in her brain to where she wasn't able to get out.

That's another thing.

After That Day, Raven had a hard time adjusting to the fact that she had no friends anymore. Everywhere she looked, people were glaring at her. All because of the fact that she let her pranks consume her.

Raven was still just a kid, though. She didn't know what she was doing. Her parents had trained her to let her pranks lead her way through life, not having any guidance to what could happen or the consequences of one's actions.

She had nothing to lead her. Nothing to help her understand.

She was given the role of leader without having anything set as a foundation.

Deep down, she knows her upbringing was the catalyst for her downfall. She just doesn't want to admit it because admitting it would mean that her family was wrong. Raven still loves her family, but her family cast her out because of their own beliefs.

Beliefs that she thinks are wrong.

But, that just means there's a bit of character development in her. It means she's grown from her past, from her wrongdoings and her troubles. It means she's learned.

Raven sat there with a smile on her face from her positive thoughts, making a certain broccoli haired man stop his approach to admire it before he interrupted her inner monologue.

She looked like a goddess, sitting there with the wind making her beautiful purple hair sway along with the currents, smiling down at the ground like she had the world in her hands. It made his heart skip a beat just to see a genuine smile on her face after That Day. He hadn't seen her smile in so long.

It truly hurt him to see her go down such a hard path.

And he wasn't there for her.

There was one thing that Midoriya was ashamed of, and that was his reluctance to help Raven. Sure, she had done something wrong, but she shouldn't have been treated like she was. People should have realized that she understood how badly she messed up and should have helped her become a better person for it. Instead, they treated her like a monster.

No one deserves that.

Stalking his way up to Raven with these thoughts in mind, he decided he would never let her drown in misery while he was around. He would be her sunshine that she so desperately needed.

"Hey," He spoke as he stood in front of her with hands in his pockets, his deep voice coated with sweetness.

Raven was snapped out of her thoughts, looking up as she wondered when he had approached. "Oh, hi," Was all she said in response.

Sure, she could accept her fate, but that doesn't mean she has to like it.

He cleared his throat as he shifted on his feet, "Is that seat taken?" He asked, pulling a hand out to point at the rest of the bench beside her.

She looked at it disinterestedly, "I don't know, do you see a ghost there or something?"

Midoriya chuckled, "Same old Raven," He said, knowing it wasn't particularly true.

She thought the same exact thoughts but decided against speaking them as he made his way over to the bench and sat next to her, looking at the pond in the distance.

"It's a nice day out, don't you think," Midoriya made small talk, small talk that Raven hated. Just like she hates people.

It's all just a cover up.

She scoffed, "It was until you showed up."

The broccoli haired man had gotten used to her cold retorts, coming up with quick responses to get underneath her skin. But this one, it seemed like she kind of meant it.

And he guessed she did based off of how she looked before he made his presence known.

He sighed to himself, "What's on your mind?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

She looked up, bewildered that he had asked such a question out of the blue. "What do you mean?" She questioned, getting suspicious as to what he wanted out of her.

He shrugged, "I mean, what's got you in such a grumpy mood? You seem more out of it today," He explained.

She looked back out to the pond before responding, "Believe it or not, this is actually one of my better days," She said solemnly as she began to pick her nails.

Midoriya was surprised he actually got an answer from her that wasn't meant to be rude, "Well then, show me what your better days look like. 'Cause I know it's not what I'm seeing now," He dissected. She was putting up a front to make her seem like she wasn't all that happy, but he saw it on her face before he came over.

She was smiling.

Raven sighed, too afraid to tell Midoriya what exactly was on her mind. He understood, though. He knew it was hard to confess feelings to someone. Maybe he just thought that, since they had history, maybe she would feel more comfortable with opening up to him. But, he recognized that she had been out of touch with her social skills, so it might be for the best.

For now, though, he was just going to stick with the teasing, "Or, maybe you won't tell me because I'm on your mind?" He concluded, making her jump.

"No! Absolutely not! Hell no! If anything-"

She was cut off with him laughing, making her scrunch up her face in an unintentional pout which only made him laugh even more. "Relax, Raven, I was just teasing," He said, coming down from his fit of giggles.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Yeah. That's all it is with you, isn't it?" She said crossing her arms.

"Only because I love your reactions," He quickly followed up, making her look away in an attempt to hide her oncoming blush.

Yes, she was blushing from something Izuku Midoriya had said. Call her crazy, but he was slowly growing on her, just like five years ago.

"S-shut up," She murmured.

Midoriya's eyes lit up, "What was that?" He asked, getting closer to draw the embarrassment out more.

She turned back to him, eyes lit with a fire behind them from his ruthless teases, "I said shut the fuck up you dumb broccoli boy!" She started smacking his shoulder with false anger, making him laugh and cower in defense as she attacked him.

"Ah! Wait, Raven!" He giggled as she began to stand up to hit him, getting more violent in her attacks before he grabbed both of her wrists and held them above her head as he towered over her. He chuckled at the predicament, "You know, I kind of like this position."

Rage filled Raven's soul as he said those words, lighting a fire in her cheeks but all she could do was squirm and kick at him. "You're! Such an! Asshole!!" She shouted out with each kick to his stomach, some not even landing as she was going at it blindly.

The only reason she was acting this way was because she was getting scared, and was taking it out on him. The only other person she knew.

What was she getting scared about? Well, she was scared because she was starting to enjoy the small teases he was sending her, scared because she was starting to let him in when she didn't want too. So, the only other option was to push him away again. It's how she coped with everything.

She's been alone for five years, the only interactions she's had are with civilians who recognized her or small talk with her neighbors, who she wouldn't even let get past hello.

She's learned to just push people away, because she doesn't know how else to live anymore.

Push everyone away. That's how it's been for the past five years.

And that's how it's gonna stay.