Chapter Text
It started as a beautiful morning, better than it's been in weeks.
Izumi had been stretched thin with training and school, but this one lovely morning, she managed to finally sleep a little later than usual. And it felt like bliss to wake up for once by her own will rather than a blaring alarm off her phone.
So blissful that she even stepped onto the veranda for a moment to enjoy the nice dawn breeze through her hair and the sun happily shining in her face.
She breathed in the scent of dew-covered grass hanging in the air in one slow inhale. Throughout the courtyard, the birds sang around her, and the cerulean sky had nary a cloud in sight.
Just carefree and beautiful this wonderful morning.
...Carefree and beautiful until she walked into her small dorm bathroom, opened up the cabinet, and discovered that she is indeed one of the most idiotic klutzes on the face of this earth.
"No, no, no..." The greenette chants in a begging mantra.
A pair of small, scarred hands shuffled around inside the cabinet in a panicked state, desperately looking for her one and only savior.
It must be here, please let it be here! The girl cries internally. But alas, what she needed was nowhere to be found.
Izumi groans at the lack of hope found and her hands make a loud smack on the edges of her porcelain sink. She grips the ceramic with white knuckles and glared down at the little container below her.
Her little contact lens container.
Which was deprived of solution fluid because she swore up and down to herself that another bottle was already stocked away after her last one recently ran out.
Son of a bitch, she was tempted to smash her head against the glass of her mirror. Maybe then she would learn to check thoroughly next time she puts a gamble on her things.
Frustrated, Izumi rubs between her eyes at this simple yet horrifying mistake of her life. Damnit, what was she going to do now?
Well...she knew what she had to do, but she doesn't want to say it. The thought of it made her want to stomp her foot like an angry toddler.
Because she had worked her ass off for at least a decade.
A freaking decade of keeping this embarrassing secret under wraps.
Hell, Katsuki didn't even know about it, and how can anyone say that wasn't an achievement? Because she's highly proud to have that in her life.
No, the only people who knew of her horrendous eyesight are her and her mother.
And she had been so careful with this fact for so many years! How is it now her brain decided to go out to lunch and slip up such a crucial task?
Always make sure to have a bottle of fluid in hand, it would tell her,
Izumi lets out a long groan of agony.
...Oh wait!
An idea struck her and she lit up. Her smile shined at her blurry image in delight. Ah, she can avoid this after all! She can just go see Recovery Girl before class! She's just bound to have something as simple as that in her office!
...oh wait.
Didn't Sensei warn the class yesterday that the nurse hero would be out of town for the next couple of days for a medical conference?
Ah, damn it again.
It went as it came. The gleeful hope deflated out of her, and her head dropped in defeat once more.
There was no avoiding it.
Invisible tears trickle down her face and she whimpers with a broken frown.
It's official. Today was the day; an unwanted, never-expected-to-come-to-light day. She would have to reveal to all of her classmates, her teachers, and the school...
Izumi Midoriya wears glasses.
Dorky, nerdy glasses that make her truly make her look like the comic-book, hero-obsessed geek that she was.
Her rational self lectures her about that this wasn't the end of the world and how overdramatic she was being. One of her dearest friends wears glasses, it says.
Yeah, and Tenya looks handsome with them, that was his style. He can pull off glasses amazingly with that face of his. But her? Growing up, she lost count on how many times she was told she looked plain or ugly. Most of it by a certain former bully of hers and his lackeys.
Despite her girlfriends' supportive efforts to tell her about how beautiful she was, Izumi knows that it was just a nice gesture to cheer her up, and they didn't actually mean it. As kind as that was, she knows she is every guy's last choice. And honestly, she's good-naturedly came to terms with that realization.
Izumi's life has way too many objectives going on than worrying over something as trivial as getting a boy's attention.
She says this but her brain decides to call her out with an image of a certain hot-headed blonde. Instantly, Izumi pushes it far, far away with a heated puff.
Anyways, back to the problem at hand.
Izumi stands there for minutes and minutes, trying to think about how to go on with today.
She could just grin and bear it, go on without glasses.
But she knew that would not bode well at all. Her eyesight's seriously one of the worst. Even her optometrist mentioned he'd never seen such poor vision in a patient.
Oh, she actually remembers one other time when she forgot to put in her contacts.
It was back when she was in first grade. How it happened, she still doesn't remember. And even though she knew her glasses were tucked away at the bottom of her backpack, she didn't want to feel the usual wrath of her classmates increase by ten-fold.
So, she went that whole day, blind as a bat.
Izumi thought that her child self would receive the most bruises from Katsuki's hands, but that wasn't true. That record was broken by the number of times she ran into desks, tripped on air, and walked straight into the doorways of the school.
Katsuki remarked it as 'The Day Where Clumsy Deku Pulled Out All the Stops.'
The repeating pain of hitting her head for the umpteenth time outweighed the hurt feelings.
...Maybe she can fake being sick for the day?
"Okay, no. No, you're being ridiculous!" Izumi angrily snaps at herself, pumping her fists up and down. Sighing at the tension in her shoulders, she looks up at her blurry self in her mirror.
Let's just rip off the bandage and get it over with.
She wasn't in elementary school or middle school anymore. She wasn't with those same group of kids, bar Katsuki. Now, she had loving, dear friends that always praised her or supported her.
And even with this about-to-come-to-light secret, Izumi knows that they would never be cruel or vicious to her about a pair of glasses.
Steam puffs out her nose as she determinedly pats the white of her sink. Quickly, she spins herself around and walks out of her bathroom.
BANG!
"...Ow..."
Now, she walks out of her bathroom after accidentally running her face straight into the wall.
Taking great precaution while holding her bruised nose, she slowly walks to her small dresser underneath her desk. Once there, she cautiously pats the dresser to ensure it was in front of her before pulling open the first drawer.
Laying right there inside is her unwanted but unavoidable glasses case.
Her hand wraps around the cool leather before yanking out of the drawer and slamming it shut. Izumi takes a moment to stare at it before she finally snaps it open, hinges squeaking.
The fuzzy outlines of the frames mockingly greeted her and it makes a wave of annoyance hit.
Sighing, she takes them out and shuts the case before putting it on her desk. Izumi reluctantly slips them on as she made her way back to her bathroom.
Thankfully, the wall was avoided this time.
But the minute she makes eye contact with herself in the mirror, all of her fake confidence instantly slingshots out of her.
She could set her reflection on fire with the heat of her glare. Her round cat-eyes laid happily on her nose, just mocking her even further.
It took just a few more seconds of immense glaring before she drops her head in defeat.
Begrudgingly, she pulls out her phone and texts Ochako that she wouldn't be coming down for breakfast just yet because of late-minute homework.
Maybe she gets something to eat after everyone else leaves.
Because right now, she just wants a bit more time before attending the funeral of her self-esteem.
Ochako-Chan: Deku-chan r u alright? Class is about 2 start!
Izumi sighs defeatedly at Ochako's panicked text. She holds the protein bar between her teeth and quickly reassures her best friend with a reply back.
So sorry!! (>.<) Homework took longer than I thought but omw now!
A loud crunch echoed in the empty hallway as she sends it. Chewing down the last bite of her sad excuse for breakfast, she throws the wrapper away in the closest bin.
Izumi wipes at her lips with her thumb and lets out another sigh as she continues her march to hell.
The stupid glasses slip a bit on her nose from her walking and she reflexly pushes them up and back in place.
It's not like she hated the functionality of them, she got used to them almost immediately after getting them.
Was it a bit annoying at times? Sometimes, but nothing major. It's mainly how she looked in them that makes her self-conscious.
She wanted to be taken seriously as a woman and a hero. And looking ridiculous in these things isn't a great way to achieve that.
So that's why nervousness injects into her veins as she gains closer and closer to her classroom, legs trembling and her lightweight glasses suddenly feeling heavy.
This isn't a huge deal, she assures herself again.
She can do this and get through today. It's just one day, Izumi cheers herself on. The pharmacy will be open until six tonight, so during lunch, she can just go ask Aizawa-sensei if she could go there after school.
But until then, it's time to face the music.
Izumi stops in front of her classroom door, cursing over the fact that it seemed like the trip from the dorms to here was shorter than usual.
As she gazed up at the huge door with the 1-A painted on it, Izumi clutched the straps of her backpack, a nervous tick that she would never be rid of.
Just one day. They will be nice, stop overthinking it.
Closing her eyes, the greenette took a deep calming breath. But even as she lets out troubled air, the weight in her heart didn't feel any lighter. But she can do this as best as she can.
Izumi opens her emeralds again, reaches out to grab the handle, and quietly slides open the door.
Everyone was off in their little world. Multiple conversations were scattered across the room. All of the girls were huddled in the corner at Momo's desk, one group of guys were crowded at Tokoyami's, and another group hid Katsuki's desk from her sight.
As soon as she opened the door, just a few people turn their heads. And she freezes when she sees one of them is Ochako. At the sight of her best friend, the brunette chirped and immediately zoomed across the room.
Izumi wondered for a moment if her best friend had even noticed her spectacles because Ochako didn't seem to be fazed by her appearance.
However, it did seem like the other few people who turned to look at her did because suddenly, she can feel watchful eyes on her. Izumi blushes as she looks to the ground, a nervous bead of sweat appears at her temple.
"Deku-ch-" Ochako immediately stops her greeting and freezes like Izumi. Her chipper smile drops before her wide, brown eyes gape at her best friend.
Ah, now she noticed and Izumi didn't like her expression at all. Izumi could feel that familiar sting at the back of her eyes. She knew she looked as bad as she thought she did. But determined as she strived to be, Izumi just clears her throat and throws on an unconvincing smile.
Ochako doesn't return it, she kept on with a mute voice and blown fish eyes. That courageous flare inside Izumi dims, but she gradually spits out a greeting.
"G-Good morning, Oc-
"YOU LOOK SO ADORABLE!"
Holy-
Izumi launches herself to the ceiling at the loud statement. When her feet make it back to the floor, she clenches her chest to keep the heart attack from growing. Not just her, everyone in the room was shaken by the loud interruption and looked over at the two girls. Izumi is so caught off guard that she couldn't even stop Ochako from grabbing her by the shoulders.
"E-Eh?" Izumi asked as a blush rose into her cheeks. Before she could make another sound, her feet were already dragging across the floor as Ochako hauls her over to the girls.
"I had no idea you wore glasses! Guys, look at them, look at them!" Ochako shouts with joy with a steaming red Izumi behind her.
Eh? EH? Izumi couldn’t do anything except let her boneless self get pushed and shoved across the room like a vacuum cleaner, Ochako's rowdy statement roaring in her ears.
A-Adorable? Her? With these things? She had to be kidding, right? She must be just saying that, right? Beet-red Izumi numbingly thought to herself.
But once she stood in clear view in front of her group of girls, they pounced just like Ochako.
"Oh my gosh, Zuzu! So cute! When did you get them?!" Mina asked as she reached out to hold Izumi's hands.
"Kero, you look very studious with them on, Mi-chan." Tsu smiles at her gently.
"Ah, Midoriya-chan, they look absolutely lovely! So elegant!" Momo's eyes shined along with her comment.
"I agree with Mina, I think they're so cute!" Izumi watches Tooru's sleeves cheerfully flow with her words.
"You look like one of those cool hipster musicians, Izu." A small smile paints Jirou's lips as she plays with one of her ear-jacks with her fingers.
The other ear-jack helps Izumi out by pushing her glasses back into place. She didn't even know they slid down again, the shock of what was happening at the moment fried Izumi's awareness.
With every compliment they gave her, crimson paints darker into her cheeks. Izumi couldn't help but look down shyly at her feet. Without thinking, her hands went to softly touch the frames, the hardwire pressed against her fingertips.
"O-Oh, um, t-tha-" Izumi stutters out, but before she could answer any of their questions, a squeak escapes her lips at a sudden arm now wrapped around her shoulders.
Sandalwood hits her nose and she turns her head at a sunny-as-always Eijiro. The redhead's gaze looks over her glasses before he gives her a huge sharp-toothed smile.
"Whoa, Midori-chan! I like them! You look so manly!"
If a girl didn't know the positive man that is Eijiro Kirishima, that would have been a slap-in-the-face insult. But knowing her eccentric friend, Izumi just laughed and thanked him for the compliment, scratching at her cheek.
"Even cuter than usual, Izumi-chan! Think I could take you out after school?" She hears Denki teases with wiggling eyebrows. The question makes Izumi sputter but she's saved by Hanta, who lightly hits the blonde on the side of his head.
"Knock it off, dude. She wouldn't go out with you without them." Hanta's playful taunt and Denki's whine made Izumi briefly giggle, nerves starting to unknot.
Hanta smiles at her reaction and winks at the girl. "Nice specs, Midoriya."
"T-Thank y-"
A loud camera SNAP! interrupts her and immediately, all of them look to see Mineta with his mobile phone up in the air, drool pooling out of his mouth.
"Midoriya wearing glasses...Thank you Kami-sama!" The purple-haired midget prayed in gratitude while wiping away at his mouth.
Izumi groaned uncomfortably at the behavior, but she jumps when the phone was quickly snatched out of his hand by Katsuki.
Everyone around him watched stunned as he blows it up without any hesitation. Mineta cried in distress as the remains of his phone feel down at his feet and he kneeled beside it, trying to scoop up any parts he could salvage. She can't say she's sympathetic about it, neither can everyone else.
And while everyone was waiting for an answer from Katsuki, she was more confused on why the bomber hero's glaring straight into her now.
A strong hand engulfed her shoulder, making her squeak, and her eyes look up at her red and white-haired friend.
Shouto's different colored eyes scan across her face, and the heat in her cheeks is about to make her explode under their handsome intensity. A few beats go by before he gives her a soft smile.
"You look nice, Midoriya." The gentleness in his voice is enough to make her feel extremely dizzy.
"T-Thank you, Shou-chan..." She laughs nervously as she looks at her fidgeting fingers.
"Indeed! It's nice to have another classmate with glasses as well!" Tenya smiles with a proud huff. Izumi laughs behind her hand at his enthusiasm.
But Tenya suddenly frowns and asked her with a tilt to his head. "But when did you get them, Midoriya-kun? I never recall you having vision problems before? Did you just get them?"
Izumi was expecting the question, but she had been hoping it would be ignored.
"Oh, u-uh, I-I actually have had them...since I was about five years old, to be honest," Izumi mumbled until the last part of her confession. But everyone hears her and all of their questions come at her harder.
"Eh?! All this time we've been together, and you never told us?!"
"But you look so cute with them on! Why don't you ever wear them?!"
"Does that mean you've been wearing contacts this entire time? Don't those hurt during training?"
With each smile and genuine interest in her glasses, warm tenderness fought back against the worried anxiety in her stomach, and that slight wetness comes back to the back of her eyes but in an elated way.
Izumi couldn't believe it. Never was she expecting this at all. She was excepting quiet giggles behind hands or uneasiness on how to comment on her appearance. Not all of this overwhelming attention and approval about her new look.
"FUCKING HELL! CAN ALL OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY?!"
The shout was like a pin scratching the vinyl record, and the joyful music instantly stops.
Surprised, everyone looks over at Katsuki. The blonde resembled like a poisonous viper ready to unleash his fangs in every single one of them. Izumi felt dread creep up on her as she makes eye contact with him.
He glares harder at her and clicks his tongue.
"It's just the nerd in a pair of damn glasses! Who the hell cares about them?!" The insult stung Izumi a little harder than usual.
Eijiro raises an unimpressed eyebrow at his best friend, his arm still slung around Izumi. Izumi notices Katsuki sending an unusual mean glint at the appendage, but the redhead is oblivious to it.
"Man, why didn't you tell us she wore them? Didn't know childhood friends had their secrets?" He quips at the fuming boy.
Izumi knows Eijiro didn't mean anything bad by it, but still, she froze at the comment and kept a solid stare at the tiled floor. But her fear goes unseen by everyone, their attention on their loud classmate.
Disgruntled, Katsuki grinds his teeth in response and looks away from them without a word.
With that reaction, it only took a handful of seconds before that light bulb flicked on for all of them.
"Don't tell me...You didn't know either?!" Denki chuckled as he bravely called out everyone’s thoughts.
"You and Midoriya have known each other since preschool, and you didn't know she wore glasses?!"
"Wow, I must say I'm a bit shocked, Bakugo-kun."
With each innocent question, each innocent reply, Izumi’s heart just grew colder and colder.
No, she didn't tell him.
Why would she tell him anything when it was clear that he didn't want anything to do with her?
Yeah, they were on...'good' terms now, for a lack of a better word.
But they're not like friends-friends. More like acquaintances and rivals to be honest.
There were still some things that she was still guarding away from him, and it was gonna take her a while to reveal them.
God, she didn't even want to imagine what it would have been like if her mom didn't let her get the contacts the second she got diagnosed.
Izumi remembers every detail of that mental breakdown to this very day.
What would have happened if she had been forced to wear the frames to school every day when it was hell already.
Kids making fun of her quirkless self, Katsuki and his lackeys destroying her worth as a person and a girl, none of the teachers not lifting a finger to stop it.
The last thing she needed was glasses on her face because sometimes, kids can be crueler than most villains.
"Shut up! So, what if I didn't know?! Like I need to know everything that has to do with some annoying nerd!" Katsuki's voice breaks her rocky train of thought.
Izumi blinks back to earth and gulps at the tension in the air before faking out a laugh.
"A-Actually, I-I never really told anyone. Uhh, I'm just a bit private about it." She says, scratching the back of her head.
"Oh? Then why are you wearing them today, Midoriya-kun?" Iida asks with a tilt of his head. The tenseness is temporarily put outside the room as Izumi lets out an annoyed groan and drops her shoulders.
"I ran out of solution fluid and need to get some more, so," She gestures to her frames. "Glasses."
"Aw, do you have to? I think you should wear them more often!" Ochako hugs her friend, and some of the others nod in agreement. It also makes Izumi huffs out an amused laugh.
"Tch, you just look nerdier than usual," Izumi's heart pinged in a slight ache at Bakugo's words. She turns to sadly stare at him just as he turns to the front of the room.
"Hey man! Not cool! Don't be a jerk!" Kirishima chastizes him and some of their classmates look on in disappointment.
Todoroki glares at him before he tells Izumi, "Ignore him, Midoriya. You look good." he compliments again.
She pushes through the hurt and gives a gentle smile while shaking her head.
"It's alright. I'm a bit more comfortable without them anyway," She turns to Tenya with a playful glint in her eyes.
"Actually, part of my mad respect for you, Iida-kun. I always wondered how you managed on not going crazy with having to wear yours all the time.” Izumi tell him.
Izumi wasn’t just saying it to avoid the awkward tension. Iida truly did amaze her with his skills sometimes.
”Especially with how fast you run and everything. Even under your hero costume! I would have broken about twenty pairs by now if it were me!"
Tenya is a bit taken back by the compliment and smiles with a prideful blush on his cheeks.
"T-Thank you, Midoriya-kun! Although contacts can be helpful, I prefer using the old-fashioned way!"
Izumi blinks before smiling softly.
"...Is it the putting in the contacts part?" She pokes fun at him.
Immediately, he flinches and clears his throat.
"O-Of course...not."
The class boastfully laughs at the non-confident answer. Izumi laughs along and pats her dear friend on the back in comfort.
"Don't feel embarrassed. I've been wearing them for years and it STILL freaks me out!" Izumi reassures him, grateful that the conversation was turning back to something more positive, and ignores the heaviness in her heart.
Tenya smiles gratefully at her, but before he could say anything back, another loud slam echoed in the room.
"DROP THE FUCKING TOPIC ALREADY!" Katsuki yells again, veins popping in his head.
For God's sake, Kacchan. Izumi sighs under her breathe and shakes her head in hopeless defeat.
Meanwhile, everyone else frowns at the blonde, and the navy-haired lad chops at the air.
"As rude as that was, Bakugo-kun is right. Class will start very soon. Everyone, please take your seats!" The class rep announces.
Everyone hums and grunts in agreement before following his orders. The girls gave a couple of more compliments to Izumi, and Ochako send her off with one last squeeze.
Izumi sighs once more as she quickly races to hang up her bag in her classroom locker and then made her way to her desk as well.
And as she does, her framed eyes look up to see Katsuki still staring immensely at her.
Staring, not glaring. His eyes were much different from earlier. The red coals behind them were burning through her soul as they just gazed upon her.
Surprised at the odd attention, she halts in place and blushes. They were much more intense than Shouto’s were, but they was something there that made her almost shiver in place. Swallowing, Izumi tilts her head at him in question but unfortunately, that’s what broke the spell.
Katsuki stops his gawking and his expression morphed from realization, panic, and then animosity towards her as he glares with more venom than before.
What? Questions form all throughout her brain as the feral teen growls and spins back around to the front.
Taken back, Izumi’s eyes blink in confusion. What in the world was that about?
Sighing, Izumi rolled her eyes to herself before finishing her journey to her desk.
As she settled in her seat, the girl peered at the back of him, taking in the strong muscles of his tanned neck and his broad shoulders. Fighting the blush in her cheeks, Izumi bites her bottom lip in thought.
The blonde can be such a mystery to her. Sometimes, she knows exactly what he's thinking and other times, it's like trying to figure out how to find the needle in a haystack.
After Ground Beta, they've been on...somewhat better terms. As better as she thinks at least. Her childhood friend has actually been standoffish since that night of getting his feelings about her out there.
Not the type of feelings she wished for, but it's better than before.
But lately, it feels like no matter what, Katsuki was there and when he was, it's a gamble on how to talk and interact with him. He's either quiet and brushing her off or yelling and nagging at her.
Meanwhile, she's been thinking long and hard about how she feels for the bomber, and she knows nothing good will come of it.
There was no denying it, she's fallen hard for him a long time ago. You freaking idiotic masochist, she lectures herself.
Of course, she would fall for the one guy who's been barking at her heels over the past decade. However, with everything that's been going on with All Might, work studies, and school, romantic feelings were on the back burner for now.
Hell, they're in line to be on the back burner.
Plus, she knew that the thought of Bakugo Katsuki returning any of her feelings is the most laughable idea that'll make her cry in sorrow for years to come.
Shaking her head, Izumi adjusts her glasses one more. Oh wow, she forgot about those for a second.
Wait...maybe he's pissed off she kept this secret from him for so long? Prideful glee isn't a known buddy of hers, but a smile forms across her face.
Ha, that's a bit satisfying, to be honest. The fact that Izumi could have her secrets too.
Shut up! So, what if I didn't know?! Like I need to know everything that has to do with some annoying nerd!
A sudden wave of hurt hits her and the smile melts away.
Ah, he's not wrong...but that doesn't make her feel better.
"Good morning, ah, good. Everyone's seated."
Izumi looks to the familiar drawl of her teacher, watching as he treks to the podium. She doesn't hesitate to join the rest in their greeting.
"Good morning, sensei!"
Aizawa grunts in acknowledgment as he reaches the front of the room. As his tired eyes behind his long black hair make a quick sweep across the room, he does a double-take at Izumi.
"Ah, trying a new look, Midoriya?" He lazily comments at her.
Izumi blushes as the class chuckles at his joke and waves her hands in dismissal.
"N-No, sir! I just ran out of solution fluid this morning!" She gives a wobbly laugh and scratches the back of her head. She hears Katsuki click his tongue again and felt the glare he throws over his shoulder.
Aizawa hums and looks down at some papers in his hand.
"I see, as long as you can function like normal, I don't care what you wear."
Izumi flinches a bit at his honesty and gives him an uneasy smile.
"Y-Yes, sir. I can do that." She dryly responds.
"Anyways, let's go over our agenda already."
And with that, the school day moves on as Izumi gives one last look to Katsuki and listens to her teacher.
Izumi hummed in bliss as she slurped down the last of her noodles. This really hits after the morning she's had.
She'll never know how Lunch Rush could make such a fantastic Katsudon that could rival her own mother's recipe. Every flavor and spice was just right each and every time.
Ugh, just so damn good...
As she chewed on her last bite of pork, she wipes away sauce at the corner of her mouth with her napkin.
She stops cleaning when the lights of the cafeteria hit against the glass of her lenses. Ah, is that a smudge? Izumi took off her glasses and used the other end of the napkin to wipe it away.
"It's just so surreal how different you look with them on, Deku-chan!"
Izumi popped her head up in surprise, her red cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk.
Ochako winked and giggled at her best friend while Tenya and Shouto nodded their heads in agreement. Gulping down her food in embarrassment, she fumbled to pick the specs back on her nose.
"I-Is it?"
"Not a bad difference! You look great!" Ochako was quick to reassure as she put down her bowl on the table and waved off her worries.
Izumi laughed softly. "Thank you, Ocha-chan."
Ochako hummed as she grabbed Tenya's hand to play with his fingers. He blushed slightly at the sudden act, but let her do what she wanted.
A pang of jealousy hits Izumi and she felt guilty for letting it. She doesn't have a right to be bitter, especially when she was extremely happy about her best friends finally getting together.
Still doesn't stop her longing to have that kind of moment with Katsuki, however.
"I agree with Oc-Uraraka-kun, Midoriya-kun," Izumi keeps in her giggle. Tenya still isn't used to talking so intimately in public just yet.
"You said that you got them when you were five?"
"Yep. I was very young when my vision just gradually got worse. I thought I could just deal with it, but eventually, I kept running into things or I couldn't read the blackboard at school unless I was right in front of it," Izumi explains.
"Of course, my mom got concerned, so she took me to get tested. I swear I think I failed every vision test they gave me because even the doctor said bats could see better than I could."
To this day, Izumi could remember that smug look on that asshole's face.
Tenya's eyebrows went into his hairline. "Oh my, that bad?"
"Pretty much. Even my contacts are a bit on the stronger side." Izumi sighed in defeat and place her chopsticks in her bowl.
Shouto was the one to point out the elephant.
"Why didn't you say anything about having them?" He mumbles out in his own quiet way.
Izumi flinches before she shrugs her shoulders in uncertainty. All of them stare in patient silence before she lets out a tired sigh and gives them a dejected grin.
"I...I wasn't really the prettiest girl when I was younger or had many friends growing up." She tries to laugh in some pleasant vibes in her explanation, but the three just frown in bits of grief and anger.
A bit spooked, Izumi clears her throat at their seriousness and continues on with her story.
"A-Anyways, I was bullied a lot for being...well, me. When I heard I need glasses as well, ah it was bad. I was practically offering up every sort of deal to my mom if she could let me have contacts."
If she was feeling honest, she counts that experience as her very first panic attack.
"I've never been more grateful in my life when she broke and said yes. And then I just...never really told anyone. Ah, I-I know it's ridiculous now that I think about it, haha." She fidgets with her fingers.
"Midoriya-kun, it's not ridiculous at all." Tenya quickly points out. Izumi is taken back by the severity in his voice and looks at him in surprise.
Tenya drops his spoon in his bowl before he uses the side of his thumb to tap on one of his lenses.
"I've been there before. Children can be cruel without realizing it. Luckily, I had my brother whenever I got down on myself and he tried his best to make sure I focus on the bigger things."
Ochako squeezes his hand with fondness in her eyes while Tenya smiled and squeezed back.
"But it's alright that you would want to keep that fact to yourself, it's your own personal business. Some people don't understand how much important an environment is on a child's self-esteem as they grow up."
Ochako shakes her head in agreement.
"I had my share of that with my parents' finance issues. Kids would make fun of me for sometimes having to wear the same clothes two days in a row." Ochako grumbled and Izumi frowned in mirth at her story.
How could a little girl help it if her parents couldn't afford more clothing at the time?
"You already know about my home life," Shouto interrupts her thoughts.
A flash of his cold distant demeanor during the sports festival drove through her mind, and sympathy hangs in her face. Izumi rubs at his shoulder and gives him a soft smile which he returns with a thankful nod.
"I was super quiet at school because of what happened at home. I wasn't really bullied for it, but I wasn't exactly popular either."
Fair enough, but still wasn't the healthiest way to develop social skills. Despite how somewhat open he is now, Shouto still had his troubles reading the room, and it took a good amount of time to even get that point.
Izumi felt her heart feel a little lighter at her friends' comforting words. She might have to take back that moment of her mom saying yes to contacts being the most grateful she'd felt.
Because having friends like these to share their own painful experiences just to make her feel better?
"Ah?! Please don't cry, Deku-chan!" Ochako panics as she lets go of Tenya's hand to pass along some napkins. Izumi couldn't stop her pathetic whine.
"I-I'm sorry! I j-just love y-you all so much!" She cries loudly, scaring a few students around with her extreme waterworks.
Ochako blinks...and then she lets a sniffle of her own.
"W-wait, sweetheart, don't-!" Tenya panics but it was too late.
Ochako's already joining the water ride with Izumi.
"WE LOVE YOU TOO, IZUMI-CHAN!"
Ochako wails as she embraces her best friend. Izumi takes off her glasses and hugs back with the same amount of powerful force as her floating friend.
Shouto blinks in confusion, looking unfazed by the scene; the only telling expression was his unusually wide eyes.
Tenya sighed but a smile still grazed his face and he scratched his girlfriend's back in comfort. He looked down at Izumi's teary eyes and in her glasses-less state. She could only make out the fuzzy outline of his face.
But she does hear him say to her, "Never forget that we're your friends, Midoriya-kun. We're here to help you no matter what."
...
Both her and Ochako sobbed harder at his words, and it created a caring sigh out of Tenya, who just wordlessly continued scratching Ochako's back.
Shouto watched the entire scene with his soba moving like an ocean wave into his mouth, chewing slowly and precisely.
After a quick shallow, he spoke.
"I don't mean to hurt the moment, but Midoriya," Izumi peaked around her shoulders, still latched onto Ochako.
"You said earlier this morning that the glasses were only for today, correct?"
With his question, a realization made her tears stop instantly.
"Crap!" She quickly sniffled, finally letting go of Ochako to wipe at her eyes and put her glasses back on.
"Thank you for saying something, Shou-chan! I actually need to go ask Aizawa-sensei if I can go to the pharmacy after school."
Ochako pouted as Izumi gathered all of her trash and stood up from her chair.
"Eh? Why do you have to go there?"
"To get more solution for my contacts."
That just made Ochako pout even more. "You mean you're not gonna keep the glasses on?"
Izumi blushed and laughed shyly. "I-I mean...I can at the dorms, I guess. Now, that all of you know, it will be a relief not having my contacts on all the time."
Ochako perked up right away and chirped happily at her, "Yay! Please do!"
"I agree with Uraraka-kun. Another reason I prefer just sticking with glasses myself...Just the thought of something scratching my eye..." Tenya shudders as the girls giggled at his reaction.
Shouto nodded. "I think you look good either way, Midoriya," He quietly mumbles out, still slurping away at his noodles.
His bold words made the blood in Izumi's cheeks pool bigger and she fidgeted in place.
"I'll meet y'all back at the classroom!" She rapidly squeaked out before making her escape to throw away her trash and head over to the teacher's room.
Oblivious as always, the hybrid teen blinked in confusion before he looked over at the couple next to him. "Did I say something wrong?"
Ochako smiled as she chewed on her rice. "No, Todoroki-kun. You just have a better effect with your words than most boys," she comments, a speck of rice stuck to her cheek.
"A-Ahem!"
"Don't worry! You'll always have every effect on me, Tenya-kun!"
Tenya just took her hand once more and kept his grumbling frown to himself.
But, unknownst to the bunch, a pair of crimson eyes didn't budge from Izumi the entire time during lunch. And as soon as she zoomed out the door, the eyes narrowed in anger before getting up from their seat as well.
Tap, tap, tap goes her feet as Izumi walked down the hallway.
There were still a few students lingering around, but she knew that a good number of the student body were back in the lunchroom. From the corner of her eye, she could spot more in the courtyard, either eating, talking, or playing some sort of game.
But right now, all she could focus is fanning the fire out of her burning face.
Ugh, all this attention about her glasses has really thrown her for a blunder. She had high prayers that everyone would be supportive about it, but all of this unforeseen praise really has thrown her for a loop.
Ah, and Shouto has to be in his normal heartthrob self without realizing it.
Even if she has her heart straight on one guy, she still gets overwhelmed when she gets attention from boys. Surprisingly, she's earned a bit of that since getting to UA.
Too bad that kind of attention isn't gained from the one she wanted. Or at least, she does get it from him if it comes in the form of an exploding palm or a cursing tongue.
Her brain questions why did she chose him again while her heart screamed the answer on the top of its lungs.
Shaking her head from her thoughts, Izumi then looks to the floor in deep thought.
Speaking of which, Katsuki's been extremely strange so far today, even more than he has been since Ground Beta. And she knows it most likely had to do with the glasses, but the reasoning behind that is a big fat mystery.
Izumi mumbles to herself the examples of his behavior this morning.
First off, every time he would have to pass up papers to her, he would spin completely around in his chair to hand them to her instead of just passing them over his head. And then he would set her on fire with his stare before he faced back to the front.
Next were those tiny breaks between classes when the teacher would switch out.
That same blazing stare would drill into her from behind his shoulder. The minute their teacher ended the class, he would whip his head to the side, looking at her until their next sensei would step into the room and announce themselves.
And then, when it was finally lunch, it was alarmingly frightening how fast Katsuki rockets up and turns to her, a rampage built in his eyes and throat.
Izumi was about to sit there and unwillingly take it, but before he unleashed onto her, Ochako came to the rescue and stole her away.
One of the very things she loved about her best friend was the fact that she can really read the room.
And as she gets dragged across the room for the second time today, Izumi makes a point to avoid eye contact with the hothead and ignore his whispered cursing under his breath.
It also helped that Kirishima and the others came around to pull the bull by its horns to the cafeteria.
All of these weird acts of his were making her scratch her head more than she already has. Izumi crossed her arms tight around her chest and held the tip of her chin.
Maybe he really was pissed off about not knowing about the glasses?
Nah, that made absolutely no sense. It was just a pair of stupid glasses, that's just too ridiculous of a reason to be upset and angry. So it has to be another reason why he was like this.
Did she get a better grade on the last test than him? No, she would definitely know that.
Maybe he got pissed about her and the girls for hogging the lobby TV the other night to watch that Mirko special? But he made a comment about recording it so he could watch it later by himself.
Ah, maybe he's getting irritated over the fact that she's been asking him to help train a lot after school? He doesn't say yes most of the time, so it could be that he's getting annoyed at this point.
Or maybe-
And then at that moment, a glimpse of sunlight decided to hit one of the windows, and the reflection momentarily blinded Izumi's right eye and instantly stopped her deductions.
"Ah!"
She halted her steps and turned her back away from the windows. Grumbling, she took off her glasses and rub at her eye to vanish the floater of light that flew in there.
"Forgot about that part of wearing these things, damn." She mumbled quietly to herself.
Thankfully, there wasn't another soul around to witness her normal clumsy self.
"And what part is that, shitty nerd?" Every muscle in her body froze at the familiar voice, and tired dread filled her chest.
Speaking of the devil is too much of a cliche and yet, it still never ceases.
She internally groans and slowly turns her head with glasses still in hand.
And no surprise, there, only ten feet away from her, was the one and only ruler of hell...in the form of a fuzzy outline.
She didn’t need perfect eyesight to know exactly what he looked like right now.
Most likely, Katsuki was standing there with his hands in his baggy pants' pockets, his shirt undone at the top, and that oh so lovely stare that he's been throwing at her all morning.
His grimace is taking up most of his face and his narrowed cat-like eyes were probably red with anger like always.
How is it that he's the only man she knows that could look so drop-dead gorgeous when he's like this?
Pisses her off sometimes.
"Huh? You gonna answer my question or not?!"
Izumi's taken back at how loud and brash his voice was.
The demanding tone in his voice usually would make her snap back in a snark comment, but there was something about it this time that made her want to take off for the hills.
Not wanting to feel like some prey, Izumi puts her glasses back on and tries to nice her way out of this situation.
"Just speaking with myself, Kacchan. It's nothing, alright?"
That wasn't bad, right? Izumi put up a subtle wave of goodbye, facing the other way to keep heading to the teacher's room.
But apparently, Katsuki wasn't done with just that.
Izumi didn't know how he came upon her so fast, but suddenly, her bicep is being grabbed with such a force. It made her slightly shriek in alarm, and she snapped her head back around at him, startled by his action.
"What are you doing, Ka-"
"Even after our fight, you're still just as conceited as always, huh Deku?"
His venomous poison jab of words killed the warmth in her blood. Izumi blinked in stunned confusion at him, now just really looking into the mass pools of bloody death in his eyes.
"E-Excuse me?" She asked.
Katsuki scoffs and squeezes her bicep tighter, his nails digging into the gray fabric of her overcoat.
"Don't give me that wimpy lamb look. You know what I'm talking about. Your fucking glasses," He moved in closer to her face, his heated breath puffing on her nose.
The scent of his cinnamon-spice musk and natural caramel aroma burned in her nose, and she used every ounce of willpower in her body to keep the red from gathering in her cheeks.
Instead, she used that power in her to rip the captured arm away and step back a couple of feet.
He doesn't follow her but stands in place, unfazed by her escape. Izumi stood there silently for a minute before what he said finally soaks in.
...Her glasses.
Her fucking glasses.
She was right in the beginning and he was acting like a demon of hell because of a pair of glasses.
Izumi couldn't comprehend the blonde's ridiculousness right now.
"My glasses? THAT'S what has me on the top of your hit list right now? Kacchan, you cannot be serious, right?" She laughs in disbelief.
That was a step in the wrong direction because Katsuki grits his teeth and gets fired up even more.
"HAH?! SAY THAT AGAIN, NERD?!" He holds up a sparking hand for emphasis, its pops echo in the vacant wind.
But Izumi isn't afraid as she puts her hands on her hips and looks back at him with the same firey power in return, her emeralds burning behind those cat-eyed lenses.
For a moment, Izumi almost dropped her anger when Katsuki suddenly took in a sharp breath but she stood her ground.
"I said, you can't be serious! My glasses? You're just grabbing me by the arm like a caveman and spitting in my face just because of them?! What's your deal?"
"How about the fact that you think that changing your look is going to get you more attention than you deserved?"
A nerve gets struck by that, but she powers through to defend against his accusation.
"C-Changing my look?! I'm not changing my look, you idiot!"
Where the hell is this coming from?
"Like I said this morning, I've had glasses all my life! W-Why are I even arguing about this with you?!"
Katsuki growls like a feral animal and darkly spits out.
"Just reminding you that you're here at UA to be a hero, not some mindless bimbo who begs for attention at every turn. IcyHot looked super interested today, didn't he? You proud about that?"
Speechlessness is what made her jaw drop. All she could do at the moment was gape back at Katsuki.
He...he did not just imply that she's trying to change her look because she's starved for attention.
And he also didn't just imply that Shouto was trying to flirt with her and she wanted it. A rigid sense of cold anger started to bloom into her veins and she clenched her fists to her sides.
"W-What the hell does Shou-chan have to do with any of this?" She asked in a steady voice.
Katsuki's eyes flashed with bursts of glowing fury, and he just continues on.
"Well, 'Shou-chan,'" he mocks her in a high-pitched voice.
"Clearly wants something out of you. Are you fucking blind, Deku? Oh, wait, not blind. Just can't see that well." He scoffs in disbelief at her.
Careful. Don't let him win.
Izumi takes in calming breaths and pushes against the tears building in the back of her eyes. Her nails shovel into the skin of her palm, the burning pinched into her nerves.
Is this idiotic asshole really calling her blind? She's in love with him! Been in love with him for years, even though he loathed her entire being.
...Actually, why the hell is she in love with this fucking bastard again? Seriously, why?
"Not only did you keep your quirk secret from me, but now this? You really just won't stop laughing behind my back, will you?!"
He screamed at her, looking at her just like that time the two of them battled during the first week of school. Like that night at Ground Beta.
Izumi's self-control was shorting by a thin margin.
Why? Why is he giving her shit about not telling him? A memory of her being pushed into the dirt at the neighborhood park appeared in her mind.
She remembers how he and his followers laughed.
Remembers that dirty look in his eyes and that terrifying grin looking down at her.
Remembers how he ordered her not to follow them and watched his back as they run off, leaving her behind.
He wanted nothing to do with her, he left her. He was her best friend and he left her.
Because she had no quirk, she had no power.
And he's standing her, accusing her of bullshit, and making her feel guilty for keeping her own business to herself?
At this point, her head was throbbing from keeping the tears back, her pale skin felt cold to the touch, and the little red crescent shapes on her palms just burn.
The hole in her heart feels like a black hole, so open and dark. Bleeding with black, sucking in the liveliness she had earlier until there was nothing left.
Izumi moves her eyes to the floor and bites her lip.
Oh, oh hell no. In love with him or not, she isn't gonna sit here and take his guilt shit.
Katsuki notices her bowed head and rages once more for good luck.
"Oi, Deku, tell me why you never told me. Just admit that you wanted a good laugh! Admit you finally wanted to get some attention from that half-and-half bastard like some desperate lovesick puppy!"
SNAP!
Izumi doesn't know where the words came from.
Her heart's shattering from every word he said, she suddenly felt incredibly tired, and all of her emotions just took the wheel, unable to keep their hands to themselves any longer.
Whatever force in her head that's been telling her to calmly walk away, to just be nice and let him rant, to ignore him...vanished.
That dark side of her came out of hiding and took over.
With a deadpanned voice, Izumi's long hair covered her bitter eyes behind her spectacles and said...
"I already hate myself enough, Katsuki. If you had known about them when we were younger, I probably would have taken your advice about the rooftop."
Just like that, every little pointless emotion melted away, both from her and him. There was this shattered feeling in the air. A tension so large, it physically hurt to stand in it.
That dark side of her laughed on its way out the door as her common sense woke up again.
She now felt cold inside and out and her hands started to shake uncontrollably. A bead of sweat drips down her forehead as she tries her best to swallow down that large lump in the pit of her throat.
Oh, god.
Oh, she didn't mean to say that.
Never once since they been at UA was that moment ever mentioned. It was like an unspoken rule to never bring it up ever again because saying that time was horrendous would be the freaking understatement of the year.
Shakily, she takes a quiet deep inhale, and as cautious as possible, she lifts her head to look at Katsuki.
She could see all of the anger in him had disappeared and he was looking at her with this almost petrified look.
Or rather, she thinks he's looking at her. His eyes may be on her but she doesn't think that he's really seeing what he's seeing in front of him.
He also didn't appear to be breathing, almost. His chest didn't seem to be moving, at least to her it didn't.
And the silence was ringing in her ears. He just stood there, staring and staring and staring. It was scaring her more than when he was unleashing wrath at her.
Internal peril hugged this moment like an old friend.
Nothing was being said, being screamed, or being yelled. They both just stood in that awkward and horrid pool of tension until finally, the school bell chimed out for the end of lunch.
The bells shooked Izumi to death, the noise way too startling even though she hears them every hour on the hour.
Katsuki wasn't affected by them, however; he still stood there in his catatonic state.
Izumi opens her mouth to say...What could she say? Should she apologize? She feels like she should, but not for saying the words, but for bringing up that moment.
She closes her mouth and looks to the wall.
Then again, he was the one who started their match with his pettiness and malice. She was just minding her own damn business, and he came in fighting with clenched fists over a pair of stupid glasses. No, she shouldn't have to apologize, she tells herself as she pushes her bifocals back up her nose.
Her eyes moved back to Katsuki and her heart plummets once again at his state.
Ugh, damn it! Shaking her head, she quickly turns her back to him.
"I-I have to go find sensei, I'll see you back in class...Bakugo."
Calling Kacchan or Katsuki didn't seem right at the moment. She felt like she lost the privilege to do so for now. Once again, he manages to beat the unwarranted guilt inside her without fail.
And Izumi hurries away without looking back at him, the echoes of incoming students slowly merging into the air.
She doesn't hear him follow, say or yell anything out to her, or make any sound of his usual impatient demeanor.
Once she rounded the corner, the tears finally started falling.
She tells herself to knock it off, that there wasn't any reason to cry. But her heart screamed disagreement because it was in pain. Pain over his words, pain over hers, and pain over the fact that she hurt him in return. She curses at herself, wiping hopelessly at her eyes.
God, she already wants today to be over with. Hell, she feels like now she wants this entire week to be over with.
Taking a deep breath, Izumi looks forward and fast walks down the hall to get to Aizawa.
Just finish today and you'll be okay, she chants to herself in her head.
The aching heart and river of tears moving down her face disagree with her motto.