Izuku could hardly believe it, but he was possibly even more tired than the previous morning.
´Stupid anxiety!´ He rubbed his eyes to try to dispel his sleepiness.
First, it had taken him about an hour to explain the situation with Fumika to his classmates so they´d leave him alone. Second, he ended up lying. Well, half lying.
Izuku accepted he met with Fumika at the rooftop, and that they stayed there for a while, but omitted everything about their conversation and her reason to be there in the first place. Knowing it was something too private to tell anyone without having Fumika´s permission first.
The funny part is that none of his classmates questioned his version of the facts. So even if lying was the right thing to do, he still felt guilty about it.
And he got really anxious about his version possibly being different from Fumika´s. Assuming she had said anything to the girls and not just ignored them, which was the most probable coming from her.
In the end, he didn't get much sleep. Again.
He was lucky there was no Heroics class that day.
"Midoriya!" Tenya shook him from his shoulder very suddenly, but Izuku was too tired to get scared this time. "You stayed awake until late again? You should sleep earlier today or at this rate, you´re going to affect your health."
"He is right, Deku-kun," added Ochako. She looked and sounded awkward, but he was probably just imagining it. "You aren't even eating your katsudon!"
"Katsudon?" Izuku looked in front of him, and as Ochako said, there was a bowl of sweet and perfect katsudon made by Lunch Rush on the table.
He was in the cafeteria, which implied they had already seen homeroom class with Aizawa… He couldn't remember a thing about it.
Worse yet… He left the katsudon to get cold.
He committed such a monstrosity and affront against humanity and yet was barely aware of it. "Sorry, g-guys. But don't worry, I'll be fine." He gave them a little smile and started eating the cold dish. It was the punishment for his sins.
As he did, his eyes wandered to the table across from his, where Fumika was, along with Tsuyu, Shoji, and Koda. Basically, all the students of class 1-A with an animal-type Quirk and/or an introverted personality sat in there.
His eyes found Fumika´s and feeling like he had to do something, Izuku smiled and waved clumsily at her. She lifted her arm in acknowledgment and nodded, while Dark Shadow waved enthusiastically.
Before his classmates could notice him, he lowered his arm and looked away, just to find Ochako staring, her expression stone-cold.
He gulped and continued eating. It seemed now even Ochako was mad at him because of the katsudon.
(…)
Izuku wasn't sure how, but he managed to survive through the rest of his classes. There was still a thing he and Fumika had to do, though.
"Don't slack off. I'll know if you do," Aizawa warned them and exited the classroom.
After sighing, he grabbed a broom from the supply closet. "I g-guess I'll be in your care," he said. Fumika nodded, grabbing her own broom.
They started sweeping the floor calmly. It was going to take a bit, but it wasn't anything hard. The bad thing about such a repetitive activity is that Izuku was having trouble keeping his focus.
"Art thou well, Midoriya?" she asked, noticing his sleepiness.
"I didn't get m-much sleep yesterday, so I'm a bit tired. S-sorry about that."
"No need to apologize. Though, thou couldst have voiced that fact to Aizawa-sensei. Perchance he may have excused thee from today´s cleansing."
"I doubt it, but it´s fine, Tokoyami-san." He made his best attempt at a smile. "I´ll take my part of the punishment."
Fumika frowned slightly. "It cannot be helped." She passed the broom to Dark Shadow and took another for herself.
"That's not n-necessary. You shouldn't do two-thirds of the work."
"Dark Shadow and myself art two individuals, and most of the blame for this situation befalls us, so doing two-thirds of the work is just natural." She continued, ignoring Izuku´s further protests.
Izuku sulked and, knowing he wouldn't convince her to stop, grabbed a second broom and started using one with each hand.
Fumika gave him an unimpressed look and took out another broom for Dark Shadow, so now girl and Quirk were using a total of three brooms at the same time.
A competitive flame flared in his chest, dissipating part of his fatigue, as he started sweeping the floor faster and harder than before.
When he looked at his classmate, Fumika was standing over her broom´s head, using it as a Segway or something similar. While Dark Shadow rushed around the classroom, pulling her as a horse pulling a carriage. "We are unstoppable!"
It was a truly bizarre sight that made him laugh and seriously wonder if maybe he was already dreaming.
"That's not fair!" He needed to do it better, so without thinking too deeply about it, he activated his OFA and dashed forwards.
They were being ridiculous, the two (three) of them, but it was nice.
"You are having fun with this."
Izuku flinched as his Full Cowl deactivated and he fell face-down. He heard a thump a second after, and when he looked at his side, Fumika was on the ground too, rubbing her beak with a pained expression.
"Very nice..." Aizawa stood by the door, red eyes glaring at them.
(…)
After their homeroom teacher almost bit their heads off for messing around, they continued cleaning in a calmer fashion. All the while, Fumika and Dark Shadow kept an eye on the sleepy Izuku.
´It is our fault,´ she thought as they exited the classroom and walked back to the dorms.
If Izuku was unable to sleep, it must have been because something made him anxious. Surely it was getting punished by something that wasn't his fault, and then being harassed about that stupid rumor Hagakure and Mineta tried to spread.
So she felt like she owed him one, but didn't know how to pay him. Fortunately, Dark Shadow gave her a good idea.
"Midoriya, wouldst thou care for some refreshments?" She inquired pointing at a nearby vending machine.
"Uh?" He blinked, looking only half-aware. "It's okay. Y-you don't have to."
"I know, but I shall anyway." She inserted a bill into the machine and selected a can of iced tea for herself and one Power Cola for Izuku.
She extended the carbonated drink to him. He looked at it with a bit of hesitation but took it anyway. "T-thank you, Tokoyami-san." He bowed gratefully.
"Let us sit." Fumika walked to a nearby bench and he followed her. She managed not to snort at how Izuku was careful of keeping a certain distance between them when he sat, trying to conceal his blush.
Once open, she extended her can of tea towards Izuku´s. "Cheers."
"Ah, c-cheers!" They bumped their drinks softly and took a sip.
"I hope our classmates have not inconvenienced thee too much."
"A-ah. It wasn't−" He tried to deny it, but he wasn't terribly convincing
"It was quite bothersome. Thou needn't lie."
He deflated. "Yeah, it w-was. I, um, how to say it?" He scratched his cheek. "I'm quite bad at being the focus of attention. Especially when it´s about t-those, um, kind of topics."
"It makes thee uncomfortable. Tis understandable, thou art a private person." She nodded. "As am I."
"Really? Because you seem quite c-collected most of the time, Fumika-san," he stated, brimming with curiosity. "As if stuff like that could not affect you at all."
"Ah unfortunately, tis not the case." Her closer friends were especially aware of that. "But I try not to give importance to the nonsense our peers tend to say."
"What a good poker-face she has, right?!" Dark Shadow pulled at her cheeks, trying to change her expression without much success. She swatted its hands away and scoffed at it.
Looking at their interaction, Izuku chuckled in amusement. Usually, that would upset her, but Fumika knew there was no ill intent in Izuku´s reaction. "I do suppose it could have been far worse," she murmured, expecting Izuku not to hear.
"E-eh, what do you mean?" he asked.
She stared at him, not sure if she should reply. But after having Dark Shadow screaming repeatedly to ´DO IT!´ in her mind, she decided there was no reason to keep quiet. "How to put it?... As maddening as gossip can be in general, I must recognize my boundless luck in at least being falsely matched with someone I actually respect, such as you."
She avoided showing in her face the fact she had trailed off just at the end. Instead, as Izuku turned red, she put all her attention on studying his face as if solving a very difficult puzzle.
He was totally embarrassed and having trouble saying anything back, she couldn't blame him, but what surprised her is that there was no sign of disgust or aversion in his expression because of her statement. Actually, it almost looked as if he was resisting a smile.
´Interesting!´ ´Quite interesting, indeed.´ She made no further comments about the matter. Something the nervous boy seemed to appreciate.
(…)
After they finished their drinks Izuku and Fumika went back to the dorms. For a moment, by the way she stole glances at him, it seemed as if she wanted to tell him something, but she stayed in the lounge talking with Tsuyu instead.
The frog girl looked strangely amused after seeing them walking into the building together.
Meanwhile, Izuku made his way to his room. He was really tired, and yet, a couple of hours passed, and he still couldn't relax enough to fall asleep.
Suddenly, he heard an electronic ´I-AM-HERE!´ coming from his phone. He had received some text messages. Some really weird ones.
Unknown number = Out from the darkness
Unknown number = finding the warm summer light
Unknown number = my black heart brightens.
He had to read it twice before noticing the particular metric.
"A haiku?" And there was only one person that would send him such a gloomy but still nice poem. "Fumika." He smiled and added her to his contacts.
After some minutes of thinking, he sent her an answer.
Me = Shining smiles I see
Me = protect and are protected
Me = BECAUSE I AM HERE!
He regretted immediately how cheesy his poem was -his inner hero fanboy had taken total control-, when he received a reply.
Fumika = Impressive.
Me = Eh? Really?!
Me = I didn't mess up the number of the syllables, right?
Fumika = No. Thou didst well enough.
Me = Thanks!
Me = I didn't expect you to text me.
Fumika = Wanted to know if thou were in a better condition than before.
Fumika = Is it a bad time?
Me = NO!
He felt like a zombie, but technically speaking he was okay.
Me = It's not that. I'm just curious how you have my number.
Fumika = Ah.
Fumika = I intended to ask thou about it. In the case that I wouldst need it.
Fumika = But unfortunately I forgot.
Fumika = So I asked Asui instead. I hope thou dost not mind.
Me = Oh. I don't!
Her phrasing felt off, though. Then, he remembered.
Me = Wait. You said you forgot, Tokoyami-san?
Fumika = Yes?
Me = Before, in the lounge, you seemed thoughtful about something.
Me = Was it then?
If it was the case, he couldn´t understand why she didn't just ask his number then. Maybe she wanted something else.
In any case, he was still curious. After all, if she needed help with anything, he would gladly give her a hand.
"Maybe she just felt shy about asking," he mumbled, then shook his head. "Nah, it must have been something else."
He waited, and about fifteen minutes later she finally answered.
Fumika = Midoriya.
Fumika = What dost thou think about my haiku?
Fumika = Tis a beloved hobby of mine so I wouldst appreciate thine opinion.
"She totally dodged the question!" Also, it hadn't been subtle.
Me = It was really nice!
Me = I had no idea you wrote poems.
Fumika = There are an immense number of things about me thou dost not know.
He almost choked at that message, being able to picture Fumika in her absolutely dramatic-self saying such a thing. But at the same time, it almost sounded like flirting.
"Nah, t-that's dumb. Absolutely i-impossible!" He was so sleepy his mind was tricking him.
Me = Of course! I know that.
Me = Despite the punishment, it´s kinda nice to have the chance to get to know you better.
Fumika = Is it?
He blushed, having laid it on too thick. His filter wasn't working like normal, it seemed.
Me Yeah, it´s nice.
Fumika = I feel the same.
He smiled and wracked his brain for anything else to say. He didn't want the conversation to die just yet.
Me = Is it weird that I was surprised that you wrote poems
Me = but at the same time, I wasn´t at all?
"Does that even make sense?" He wasn't sure anymore.
Fumika = No.
Fumika = I comprehend what thou mean.
Fumika = Most would not expect an affinity for delicate poetry from an emissary of darkness like myself.
Me = Really?
Me = Because I think it really suits you, Fumika.
´A nice hobby for a nice girl. There's nothing weird about that.´ Despite her temperament and her odd and somewhat distant attitude, Fumika was a gentle soul. ´She is cute too.´
She didn't answer for a while, which made him nervous.
Fumika = Sky, it is dark now,
Fumika = sun falls while the moon rises,
Fumika = Morpheus claims you, green.
He read the new haiku over and over until he could repeat it by memory. He couldn't keep his eyes off from the ´green´ part.
Me = It´s as nice as the first one.
Fumika = Thank you.
Fumika = It is about thou.
He gulped.
Me = Really?
Me = What does it mean?
Fumika = It means it is late and thou should go to sleep, Izuku.
Me = Oh.
Me = Sorry if I said something silly before.
Fumika = Again, thou hast no motive to apologize.
Fumika = have super duper nice dreams zuku /
"Eh?" He stared at his phone screen, not sure what to think, waiting for it to grow teeth and bite him or something equally absurd.
Fumika = That last missive was from Dark Shadow.
Fumika = Please make thine utmost effort to disregard it.
Me = Okay, I'll try.
´But I'm not sure if I can.´ He laughed as the weird message appeared as deleted by the sender. His eyelids felt heavy.
Fumika = In any case, I wish thou peaceful dreams
Fumika = and hope we can carry on with this fellowship for the times to come.
Normally, Izuku would have answered immediately while blushing like an idiot, but he wasn't awake anymore.
A long night of sleep, finally.
(…)
Fumika sat at her desk, her room in total darkness while looking at the text messages she and Izuku had exchanged. It had been a nice conversation.
She just hoped Izuku would sleep soundly, he deserved it.
With her so distracted, it was easy for Dark Shadow to snatch the cellphone from her hand. "´I wish thou peaceful dreams and hope we can carry on with this fellowship for the times to come´," Dark Shadow repeated, mimicking Fumika. "WHAT A NEEEEEEERD!" It snickered while stretching away, so she couldn't reach her phone.
Fumika growled and took the flashlight she kept over her night table. Next, she turned it on and pointed it at Dark Shadow. Her sentient Quirk hissed and hide under her bed, throwing the cellphone away.
She jumped to catch it before it fell to the ground. Then glared directly at the bright yellow eyes.
´Get mad if you wanna, but if you keep acting like a weirdo you'll creep him out! And if you aren't more straightforward someone will steal him from us-!´
´Silence.´ She threatened it with the flashlight. ´Izuku is not a mutt to be ours. That is preposterous.´
´You know what I mean.´
She narrowed her eyes. ´Whether I desire Midoriya as a consort or not, I will proceed at my own pace and how I choose because it is my decision, not thine.´
Dark Shadow grunted, which was the closest to an okay she was going to receive.
Then she illuminated it with the flashlight a second time, just because.
