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Training Ground Beta isn’t the first place someone would think of as a good place to train One For All. The miniature city (Nezu’s theatrics truly knew no budget) was packed full of skyscrapers and vehicles on an average day, and even now some robots strolled around to imitate “civilians” living their day to day life.
A particular one was wearing a bright pink dress and had a yellow parasol, despite the fact it hadn’t rained once in the past week.
But the ease of damage and clutter of objects was the precise reason it was the perfect training ground for Izuku. One For All was a monsoon in human form on a good day, and one slight slip up on control at lower percentages could cause enormous damage to an area. Every time he ran he could leave holes in concrete, shatter nearby glass, and who knows what else.
And that’s not even counting the latest development with the quirk.
Izuku’s focus shattered just as the glass he was crashing into did the same, his body flying through the pane as Blackwhip lashed out around him. The tentacles of dark energy, instead of lightly holding themselves to the side of the skyscraper had dug into the side, crushing through concrete and shortening the amount of “rope” available to Izuku. Which had messed up the angle to his swing and caused him to fly straight into a wall.
And then another wall. And then some glass. And now onto the floor.
Izuku sighed as he stood up. He’d been at this for… honestly he didn’t know. He remembered it was noon when he came out here, but the sun had just begun to set, so it had to be time for dinner. It was time to call it a day, and a productive one at that!
Although…
There weren't many chances to practice at sunset.
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The ground was much softer than Izuku remembered. At least, he assumed it was the ground.
He knew he was pushing his limits at the end, honestly it was a miracle he made it as far as he did before crashing, but this was his reward.
A nice, soft, warm ground that seemed to make it where Izuku never opened his eyes and honestly just fall back asleep to the sound of its breathing-
Wait, the ground doesn’t breathe.
Izuku’s emerald eyes shot open to meet cerulean lazily staring down at him, and the walls of red blocking his vision quickly matched the color of his entire body. Izuku himself then tried to shoot up, but the rest of his body wasn’t responding to his command.
A quick glance told him it was probably due to the giant band-aid laid over him haphazardly like a blanket. And One For All, apparently deciding this situation was not as life or death as his mind told him it was, decided to remain inactive after being overworked all day.
The girl above him seemingly noticed his struggles, and finally decided to help him out.
She held up one finger, shushed him (Izuku hadn’t even said a word!), before moving her hand and running it through his hair. She let out a small, content “Mmm”, still staring into his eyes as Izuku willed One For All to use Blackwhip to make a black hole and swallow him. Naturally, it refused.
“Ah-uh, Sorry miss but who are you?” Not his best line, but it’s kind of hard to think of what to say to a woman who has seemingly given you a lap pillow before even saying a word to you. Who even does that??
“Kodai Yui. Class 1-B.” Apparently Kodai does that. The memories of the Joint Training and Sports Festival flashed through Izuku’s mind, and now he was somehow even
more
embarrassed by the turn of events. But maybe he could salvage this, or say something to just get his mind off of where his head is-
“I remember now! You gave us such a hard time in our fight! Your quirk is size based, but given how you changed sizes in order for them to be thrown it actually affects mass as well as traditional size, which explains why this bandage is so heavy and how you can carry so many projectiles! The size can scale both up and down based on the bandage now and the barrels of oil you used-”
This time there wasn’t really any warning. Yui grabbed his shoulders, and flipped him over.
Izuku was now face down on a lap pillow.
His mother was going to kill him. Or have a heart attack. Or do both while crying.
“You’re talking too much. It’s nice, but you need rest. I saw you training all day, and you didn’t even eat. So stay still.” Despite the fact that the greene was catatonic, Kodai did not stop the brushing of his hair, her humming seemingly louder than before.
Not that Izuku could tell, because the roaring in his ears and heartbeat that sounded close to flatlining was taking up that sense of his. Not his sense of touch however because he could feel the way his breath was working and more importantly where his entire face was and that wasn’t even what-
He tried once more to move his head, but the brushing of his hair was for more than one purpose and he couldn’t budge. He tried to say something, but honestly the consequences of that needed to be purged from his mind even faster.
It was only when he had finally calmed down (relatively) and relaxed did his mind finally catch up to what Kodai had said an eternity ago. He nudged his head to the side, and managed to make eye contact with Kodai. Cerulean scanned over emerald, and eventually accepted its resolve. The young heroine slowly moved Izuku back over to where they could keep eye contact, although her hand never stopped its brushing.
Stirring up his resolve, and somehow keeping his composure despite his position, Izuku pushed forward. “You- You mentioned something about me talking a lot, which means I had entered a “mutter storm” as Kacchan calls it. Usually when that happens, it weirds people out so I end up apologizing, but you called it nice?” That hadn’t ever happened before, ever. Even his mom, bless her soul, had simply called it “a very unique habit”. Which wasn’t a slight, but it sure wasn’t a compliment.
Although, why would she be different? Izuku’s doubts took hold, and he began to backtrack. “Although, I might have misheard you. In which case I’m sorry I said anythin-”
“Thoughtful. It proves you care about what you see.” Kodai’s tone steamrolled over his own, and her eyes bore down on him for even thinking about apologizing. Her legs shifted as if threatening to silence him once again if he spoke up, so Izuku was quieter than a Nezu.
“It’s warm. It keeps your presence at one’s side. It’s smart. It shows not only you care enough to look, but also know enough to see more.” Kodai stopped brushing his hair, and moved both hands to cup Izuku’s face. Her own expression showed almost no change, but almost was the key word.
Izuku could see it. The way her posture leaned in, closer to him. Her eyes seemed to shine more like the ocean, with life swimming more vibrantly than it had before. Even her cheekbones had somehow softened, making her smile even more-”
“Just like that. You look close because you care. You see the worth in someone even when it’s not obvious. That is why it is nice.” Kodai, content that she had said her peace, decided to shift Izuku once again. He was pulled further into her lap, now with both his head and shoulders supported by her legs. Her own frame seemed to rest on Izuku’s own now, allowing herself to relax and be at peace.
And for the first time, Izuku tore his stare away from Kodai’s eyes and into the sky. To where the moon and all the stars of the night shone in their radiance.
The sky that had captured so many hopes, so many dreams of many that even the stars were outnumbered by them. It’s beauty had remained unmatched throughout the ages, unchallengeable throughout the course of human history.
Yet Izuku dragged his eyes away from the night, and instead back to Kodai’s eyes. The cerulean orbs widened in the slightest bit of surprise, before a smile graced her lips. So small that it was almost impossible to notice. To where almost no one would know it was there.
To Izuku, that smile was more beautiful than the night sky had ever been.
Its radiance was greater than all of the stars in the sky.
After what could have been one moment, or could have been an eternity, Kodai once again spoke. It was a burning question that had been consuming her all night long.
“You never told me your name.”
“AH, R-Right! I’m Midoriya Izuku! Class 1-A!”