Something is up with Izuku

As the sun began to set, painting the sky in hues of orange and red, Izuku and Mirai walked home together in silence. The events of the day weighed heavily on their minds, and for a long while, neither of them spoke.

Mirai's thoughts drifted to All Might. She still couldn't believe that she had seen the legendary hero in person, but something about what he had said to Izuku nagged at her. Had All Might admonished Izuku? Did the two of them have some sort of history?

She glanced over at her friend, who was staring at the ground, a frown etched on his face. Mirai sighed. No, she couldn't bring that up now, not when he was probably already feeling terrible about the whole ordeal.

"Deku!" a rough, all-too-familiar voice called out, shattering the silence.

Mirai and Izuku turned to see Bakugou running towards them. Instinctively, Mirai stepped forward, placing herself between Izuku and the approaching boy. What could this jerk possibly want? To make Izuku feel even worse?

Bakugou came to a stop a few feet away, panting heavily. "Out of my way, girl," he growled.

Mirai's eyes narrowed, "My name is Shiromi to you,"

But Bakugou ignored her, much to her annoyance, and focused his gaze on the ground, his fists clenched at his sides. "I…" he began, his voice tight with emotion. "I didn't ask for your help!" he screamed, his head snapping up to glare at them. "And you didn't save me."

His blazing red eyes looked directly at Izuku, "Ha! I could have saved myself!"

"Oh yeah," Mirai clapped her hands slowly, "because you seemed so cozy engrossed in that goop—"

"Shut up!" Bakugou snarled, rounding on her. "Don't you dare look down on me! You didn't do shit either!" He swiftly turned away, his parting words laced with venom. "You damn nerds!"

As Bakugou stormed off, Mirai shook her head in disbelief. "What the hell is up with that guy?" she mumbled, but deep down, she knew the answer. She hated him with every fiber of her being, hated his arrogance, his cruelty, the way he looked down on everyone around him. What right did he have to tell her best friend to take his own life, just because he had an impressive quirk?

The thought made Mirai's blood boil, and before she could stop herself, she was moving, her feet carrying her after Bakugou. Over her shoulder, she called out to Izuku, "Go ahead without me. I'll catch up with you later."

Izuku seemed to hesitate, his mouth opening as if to protest, but Mirai was already too far away to hear him. Unbeknownst to her, as she chased after Bakugou, Izuku found himself caught up in a conversation with someone else entirely…

Mirai's mind raced as she closed the distance between herself and Bakugou, a thousand angry words bubbling up in her throat. She had no idea what she was going to say to him, but she knew one thing for certain: she wasn't going to let him get away with his actions any longer. Even if she has to come home bruises and scars to do so.

As she rounded the corner, Mirai noticed Bakugou's pace slowing, his steps faltering. For a moment, Mirai's resolve wavered. She hadn't really thought through her plan, and seeing Bakugou in this state gave her pause.

With a grunt, Bakugou peeled off his uniform jacket, revealing the extent of his injuries. Angry red welts and dark bruises marred his skin. Blood oozed from a particularly nasty gash on his rip cage, painting his torn undershirt crimson.

Seeing the sight, she could only sigh as she disappeared.

"Goddamn it." Bakugou cursed as he coughed.

Then a shadow over him, and see the silver haired girl, a first-aid kit clutched in her hands.

Wordlessly, Mirai knelt beside him and began tending to his wounds, her fingers deftly applying antiseptic and bandages. Bakugou flinched at her touch, a hiss escaping his lips.

"Don't fucking touch me," he growled, trying to push her hands away.

But Mirai was undeterred. "Shut the fuck up and sit still," she snapped, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she continued to work. "Unless you want these to get infected. Or have aunt Mitsuki to see these wounds."

Bakugou glared at her but relented, his eyes fixed on the ground as she cleaned and dressed his injuries. She knew she hit the mark, because to him, the opinion of a lowly extra is worth nothing compared to the woman who gave birth to him, the humiliation of seeing every day with concerned eyes is too much Bakugou's pride.

The silence stretched between them, heavy and awkward. Finally, Mirai spoke, her voice low and bitter. "Izuku and I are going to UA."

Bakugou's head snapped up, "What the fuck did you just say?"

Mirai met his gaze unflinchingly, her grip on his wound tightening. "Disappointed? You should be. Because a person like you shouldn't be allowed to be the greatest hero."

She finished tying off the bandage and stood, looking down at Bakugou with a mixture of contempt and satisfaction. "So let this wound be a reminder that you aren't fucking invincible."

With those parting words, Mirai turned and walked away, leaving Bakugou alone. Gritted teeth and glaring eyes.

As she made her way home, Mirai's thoughts drifted. Going to UA, huh? Funny, being a hero, because hero are great, selfless, kind. But, she? She doesn't fit the criteria at all.

And yet, if someone like Bakugou was allowed to pursue the path of heroism, then perhaps she shouldn't care about stuff like that anymore.

┏━°⌜ 赤い糸 ⌟°━┓

┗━°⌜ 赤い糸 ⌟°━┛

Midoriya was acting strange, stranger than usual she mean. As in…

"If I start with a basic weightlifting regimen and gradually increase the intensity over time, I should be able to build up my muscle mass pretty quickly. And then, if I incorporate some cardio into the mix, like running or swimming, I can improve my endurance too. Oh, and I can't forget about flexibility training! I should probably start…" Midoriya continue ramble as he viciously wrote down on his notebook with a time table and notes on the sides. He hadn't even touch his lunch.

Mirai stared at him for a good while, "Uh…Izuku, you're working out or something?" Or creating some sort of rituals?Midoriya snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her, nodding enthusiastically. "Yeah! I was thinking that, well, maybe I should have been working out from the start. It should have been a given, honestly, and I feel frustrated that I didn't think of it before."

"Hm…" Mirai hummed, "Well, better late than never, I suppose. Though I'm a bit surprised. I thought…" She trailed off, shaking her head.

Midoriya tilted his head, "What?"

"Never mind, it's not important." Mirai waved off the thought with a smile.

Midoriya simply nodded and continued writing down his notes, his brow furrowed in concentration. Mirai watched him, honestly, with the amount of writing he was doing, she should consider gifting him a big notebook for his birthday.

After the villain attack and seeing how down Midoriya had seemed, Mirai had worried that he might give up on his dream. But she was glad to be proven wrong. Midoriya was still doing his best, despite his circumstances.

"Hey, Izuku," Mirai said, a thought occurring to her. "I'm sorry to rely on you again, but have you thought of any potential training exercises I could do with my quirk?"

Midoriya's face instantly lit up. "Ah, yes!" He flipped through the pages of his notebook, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "See, I took some notes on your quirk, and I have a few ideas. Like, you could try teleporting progressively longer distances to increase your range, or maybe even practice teleporting while carrying objects or people to improve your precision and control. Oh, and you could also work on your reaction time by having someone throw objects at you and trying to teleport out of the way at the last second. The possibilities are endless, really!"

Suddenly, a group of passing students caught Mirai's attention. Among them were the two boys she had saved from the sludge villain, the ones who had fled like cowards while she and Midoriya fought to save Bakugou.

"Hey, look!" one of them called out, pointing at Mirai and Midoriya with a sneer. "It's the loser couple!"

"Yeah, I bet they're planning their wedding or something," the other chimed in, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Imagine having a quirk like teleportation and still being a complete nobody."

Their laughter echoed through the hallway, grating on Mirai's nerves. She felt her cheeks burn with a mixture of anger and humiliation, her hands clenching into fists at her sides.

Before she could think twice, she grabbed her lunch tray and hurled it at the two boys, watching with grim satisfaction as rice and curry splattered across their shocked faces.

"What the hell?!" one of them shouted, frantically wiping the food from his eyes.

She reached out and grabbed Midoriya's arm, yanking him close. "Hold on tight," Midoriya barely had time to nod before they vanished in a flash of blinding blue light, leaving nothing but a faint crackle of energy in their wake.

They reappeared on the school rooftop, the sudden change in scenery sending them stumbling forward a few steps before they regained their balance. Midoriya stared at Mirai,

She grinned at Midoriya, trying to play off the situation, but a sudden wave of dizziness washed over her. Mirai stumbled, her vision blurring around the edges as she felt her legs give out beneath her.

"Whoa, hey!" Midoriya's alarmed voice sounded far away, muffled by the ringing in her ears. She felt his arms wrap around her, supporting her weight as he gently lowered her to the ground.

"Mirai, what's wrong? Are you okay?" The concern in his voice was palpable, his green eyes wide with worry.

Mirai took a deep breath, willing the dizziness to subside. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. It's just… my quirk. Teleporting takes a lot out of me, especially when I'm carrying someone else. I think my blood sugar just crashed, that's all."

She laughed weakly, trying to reassure Midoriya even as her head continued to spin. "Guess I should've eaten my lunch instead of throwing it, huh?"

Midoriya frowned, his brow furrowing with concern. "You need to be more careful, Mirai. I know you want to get stronger, but pushing yourself too hard isn't the answer."

Mirai sighed, leaning her head back against the cool metal of the rooftop fence. "Yeah yeah..Besides," she added, her voice growing stronger, "once we get into UA, we won't have to see those jerks again."

"Mirai.." Midoriya looked at his palm and ball it into a fist, "Yeah, I guess your right." He smiled.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts of the future. After a moment, Midoriya's face grew thoughtful, a hint of hesitation creeping into his voice.

"Hey, Mirai?" he asked, "What are you planning to do before the examination?"

"Hm? Why'd you ask?"