Provoked - Chapter 3

--6 Years Ago--

If Raven knew setting up a prank was gonna be this difficult without help, she would have never done it. But, she was doing it now, as the cup of water was resting between the ceiling and the broomstick.

Yes, an oldie but a goodie is what she'd like to call it. Raven climbed down from the chair she was standing on and held the broomstick firmly against the bottom of the cup filled to the brim with water. "Okay, Denki! You can move the chair now!" She shouted over as the boy came running to her aid.

Who is she doing this prank on?

Izuku Midoriya.

The sweetest boy in her class.

And, while he might be a precious little cinnamon bun, he would never get away from her pranks. No one can.

She smiled evilly as she awaited for the moment Midoriya would walk through the doors of the UA dorms, practicing her panicked expression as she would tell him there was a bug in the cup.

The rest of the class was farther into the lobby, watching TV or playing various board games, while Midoriya was out training with his quirk.

She smiled to herself as she saw Midoriya talking with All Might through the glass window, turning around to wave him goodbye as he walked towards Heights Alliance. Just as she practiced, she turned on her acting skills.

She didn't use her quirk for pranks. No, Raven liked to try and make things believable without the use of her quirk. It makes things more fun. It's too easy to if she does use her quirk, that's why, when things fail, she tries harder the next time.

So when Midoriya walked through the doors of Heights Alliance, he was quick to run towards her in concern, her facade completely believable to the broccoli haired boy. "Oh my gosh! Raven, are you okay? What's going on?" He asked, frantically waving his hands back and forth in a concerned manner.

"Oh thank goodness!" Raven cheered, "I need your help! There's a bug in here and I need to go get the bug spray so I can kill it!" She said, trying to make it sound believable the best she can.

Midoriya grabbed the broomstick, "How did you even get the cup up there?" He wondered as Raven let go, completely oblivious to the trap he had fallen into.

Raven smirked confidently, while pointing at the poor boy "AHA! That cup is filled with water! There was no bug! You've fallen right into my trap!" She said while putting her hands on her hips.

Midoriya looked at her with confusion written all over his face, "Well, why can't I just do this?" He asked while lowering the broomstick, balancing the cup full of water on the top.

Raven's jaw dropped to the floor as he was quick to snatch up the cup before any water spilled on the floor, careful not to make a mess.

Sure, she knew that this was a possibility, she's done this prank a hundred times! But not once have they ever actually done this! But, she should've known Midoriya would have at least attempted to solve the problem. He's always weirdly good at everything.

She pouted as he walked away from the situation heading to the kitchen to probably pou out the water, and she wondered how she would ever get to prank him. She had tried to prank him before with vinegar in his water, but he'd smelt it before he took another sip.

This was just another prank that he had slipped away unscathed.

She needs to get creative.

The next day, with the help of Denki's mind of blubber, they had come up with a great prank. One where it focuses on Midoriya's personality.

So, upon walking to class the next day, she walked right up to him. "Hey, Midoriya! How are you today?" She questioned him with a bright smile as he looked up to her from his notes.

"Oh! Hey Raven! I'm pretty good, what's up?" The adorable broccoli head replied, which only spurred her on more.

She smiled innocently, "Oh nothing much, just can't wait for training today! Hopefully I'll get to see you shirtless," Raven giggled and winked as she trailed her hand down his forearm, watching as Midoriya stared at her and processed her words before he erupted in a rose colored cloud.

"W-w-what do you mean by that?" He stuttered out, "W-why would you want to see me s-shirtless?" He asked as if the sight of it should disgust her.

She giggled even harder at the dumb question, leaning down to get close to his face, "Well, why do you think I want to see you shirtless? Hm, Izuku?" She breathed out his name, her breath fanning over his eyelashes.

if it even could, his face turned impossibly more red, becoming a stuttering mess as he finally processed that a girl was actually flirting with him for the first time in his life.

Yes, this was the prank.

Raven's prank is to tease the living crap out of him. She and Denki discovered he was a sheltered, innocent boy, so they decided that she would be the one to prank him, and tease him.

But, she realized just as she was done teasing him for the first time that morning, that she didn't want to stop. So she did it again at lunch. And of course, he became flushed and red, not being able to process what Raven was saying.

Soon, Raven became addicted to it.

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--Present Time--

"Raven Tanuki? Is that you?" Midoriya asked as he looked down. He was once only a few inches taller than Raven, her standing at five foot four. Now, though, it was like he was a whole foot taller than her, since she's still the same height.

She looked at him blankly, masking the terror she was feeling about finally seeing his face, only to have the sun blind her. He quickly moved to the side to block out the incoming rays of light, only to have him be the next source.

Raven stumbled back when she caught the full view of his face, and just like she thought, the memories of That Day came back more prominent than ever before. He grabbed her wrist before she could fall back into someone, but the contact only made her wrench her wrist free.

'I need to get away from him. He isn't supposed to remember me.'

He looked more worried now than before, her panicked expression breaking through her calm exterior, "Hey, hey, are you okay? What's wrong?" He asked carefully, grabbing her wrist more firmly so she wouldn't get away.

When she realized this though, it only made her heart race faster, forcing her to breathe before anything major could occur. Raven stood still for a couple seconds, closing her eyes and slowly breathing in and out once before opening them to something she could call a nightmare.

She forced herself to answer him in a neutral tone, "Hi, Deku. I'm fine," She answered curtly, before turning to try and walk away from the situation. She didn't want to be here any longer than she had too, but she forgot the iron grip that he had on her that pulled her back to face him.

"Wait," He said, confused at the sudden change in her actions, "I want to talk to you."

She looked into his green eyes, finding only truth and curiosity. Curiosity of where she's been all these years. "Curiosity killed the cat, you know," She said.

He smirked playfully, "And satisfaction brought it back," He replied, letting go of her arm as he realized she was here to stay.

Raven sighed, "Fine, you've got three questions. If I don't want to answer them, you won't get an answer, got it?" She said firmly, and he nodded his head quickly as if he was a puppy listening to his owners orders. "Okay, first one," She said, holding up one finger as they started walking, not really going anywhere in particular. They were both off duty right now anyway.

Midoriya thought to himself for a moment; Raven was already getting bored with the situation she was in. "Oh, here we go," Midoriya said after a few moments, "How about, how are you?" He smiled brightly, causing Raven to scoff at his meaningless question.

"That's such a dumb question," She said, and Midoriya stopped in his tracks as he pouted at her.

He quickly caught up to her though, "No it's not! I haven't seen you in a while! It's only fair I ask how you've been all these years!" He said, just as much of a cinnamon bun as he used to be.

Raven fought the oncoming smile his cinnamon bunness always used to bring back in the good old days. This isn't like it was back then, though. This is now. He's supposed to hate her.

She sighed again, "If you really want to know, I've been shitty," She said, glancing back behind her to make sure he was still listening. She can't fathom anyone wanting to know how she's been. It's all a bunch of bullshit.

Midoriya's face twisted up into a sideways frown, "Well, what's been going on? How can I help?"

"Do you want to use this as your next question?" She followed, speeding up on her walking as if hoping by walking faster she could escape the conversation.

"Yes," He answered, keeping up with her pace.

"I'm not answering that. Next question," She dodged.

Midoriya grabbed her wrist again to make her face him for his last question, "Alright, then. My last question is.. Can I take you out to dinner tonight?" He asked, smirking as he got in close to her face.

Her brows furrowed in an instant, pushing him away because of the close proximity and ripping her wrist free of his hold, again. "What th- what the fuck? No!" She declared, not even giving it a second thought.

She can't go on a date with him. She shouldn't even be talking with him. He's supposed to hate her! Why is he acting like this??

It's obvious he's not used to doing this. But.. that was pretty smooth.

I guess he's not as innocent as he used to be.

Raven began walking in the other direction, Midoriya following right after her. "Why not, Raven? I'm a man who could show you a good time," He flirted, making her cringe at how much of a creep he sounded. She knew exactly what he was trying to do, and he was not good at it.

She turned around sharply, only to end up smashing right into his chest. She snapped, "If you don't get off my ass, Izuku, I will yell out that the number one fucking hero is harassing me," Raven threatened, causing him to take a step back with his hands up.

He's trying to get back at her for what she did to him. Raven knows what she did to him was fucked up. Leading him on and acting like she liked him was not the way to go, and it just further proves that her pranking hurt those around her.

Raven knows this better than anyone.

She's not happy with how she spent her high school life.

She hurt people, and she's not proud of that. Hell, she was trying to become a hero, and she was hurting her classmates!

He looked down at her with a sadness she didn't understand, but it upset her "Raven-" He tried but was cut off.

"Don't pity me. I already said I was fine, didn't I?" she spat, thinking that was what she had said since it was an automatic response to most people.

Midoriya sighed, "No, yo- Just.. Listen, I just wanted to go out to dinner with you to catch up!" He defended himself.

"And I already said no," She spouted right back turning on her heel to leave. This time Midoriya finally, didn't follow her.

Raven's got to admit, he's got more personality now that he's grown.

They've both grown.

Some in worse ways than others. But regardless, they've both grown.