Work Text:
"You're up late."
Izuku jumped, whipping his head around. "Ah, Asui! Did I disturb you?"
"No. I went to get a glass of water and I saw that you were out here. I also told you to call me Tsuyu."
"Right… sorry."
There was an awkward pause. Izuku shuffled his feet, pressing his hands together and squeezing his fingers. He hadn't really spoken to Asu– Tsuyu since their first night in the dorms. …Not that they typically spoke to one another outside of school, anyways. Things between them were supposed to be fine now, but Izuku still had trouble meeting her gaze.
"Do you mind if I sit out here with you?"
Izuku blinked. "Oh, um, sure! I don't mind."
Tsuyu stepped down, taking a seat on the courtyard steps. She slouched forward, placing her hands against her knees as she stared at him with dark, unblinking eyes.
Slowly, awkwardly, Izuku crouched down, flipping his notebook to the next page. He meant it when he said that he didn't mind. However, he was having trouble thinking of a good reason as to why Tsuyu would want to watch him. Was she looking for inspiration? Or was she having difficulty falling asleep too?
Izuku stopped, realizing that his eyes were skimming over the same line of notes over and over again. He shook his head and stood up, taking a breath as he activated Full Cowling. He braced himself as the familiar thrum of power crackled through his body. He bent his knees, holding his stance before leaping forwards into the air, swinging his leg forward in a practiced motion. He tried for a second swing, twirling in the air as the ground rapidly approached. Shoot! Izuku barely managed to land safely, staggering as his feet hit the ground. Okay… I gotta try that one again.
Once his vision had stopped spinning, he braced himself again. Just as he was about to jump, Tsuyu spoke again.
"I heard about what happened at the exam."
"Huh?" Izuku stopped, the thrum of electricity in his muscles dying down as he straightened himself back up. "Do you mean what happened between Todoroki and Yoarashi?"
Tsuyu shook her head. "With the girl from Shiketsu."
"N-not you too!" he stammered, his cheeks firing red as he threw his hands in front of him, frantically shaking them from side to side. "It wasn't like that, I swear! Sero misunderstood what was going on."
"I believe you." Izuku relaxed, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. "I'm sorry that happened to you."
"It's alright," he smiled. "I haven't really thought about it. Kaminari and Mineta were just—"
"That's not what I'm referring to."
"…?"
"I'm talking about how the girl from Shiketsu had harassed you."
Ha–huh!? Izuku shook his head. "I-It wasn't like that either. She was just a really skilled opponent. She somehow had the ability to hide from my senses. I thought it was something she had learned at Shiketsu but…" he thought back to what the hairy student had said.
Tsuyu put a finger to her chin, tilting her head. "Can you tell me about what happened?"
Izuku took a deep breath. "She had snuck up on me, hitting one of my targets. She then started talking about how she wanted to learn all she could about all of us at U.A. before disappearing from my sight again. She then knocked me to the ground again and…" he trailed off. The events from that morning played back in his mind.
He slams into the ground with a heavy thud. She twists his arm, pinning it against his back. Her knee sinks into his leg as she leans closer to him, her hair grazing his cheek. The smell of her perfume is overwhelming, so sickeningly sweet that it turns his stomach. Her voice is low as she speaks directly into his ear, asking him why he wanted to become a hero. Sweat curls down his face as she presses her weight against him, crushing him.
Izuku swallowed thickly. "She knocked me to the ground and kept me pinned while she asked me some questions. I was able to knock her off but then we were attacked by some students from Ketsubutsu. The girl from Shiketsu then disguised herself as Uraraka and put herself in danger. I saved her, she tried to tag me again, I stopped her, and she asked me some more questions while her disguise melted away along with her clothes." He paused, his face flushing at the memory as he rubbed his cheek. "…She then lunged at me. That's when Sero and Uraraka showed up. She… said she wanted to talk more, but couldn't with there being so many people around. After that, she disappeared, and… that was it. I didn't really see her again after that, I mean, not until after the first part of the exam was over." He paused again, now fiddling with his hands. "I… tried to find her after we had gotten our licenses, but I guess she wasn't feeling well and went home early…"
He shifted awkwardly, sparing a glance over at Asui. Her expression remained unchanged as she took his story in, and it was at a time like this that he really wished he could tell what she was thinking. He didn't know why it was bothering him so much. He knew what had happened. The Shiketsu girl had just gotten the better of him, that was all. But, for some reason… recounting it now left him feeling uneasy. He didn't know why it made him feel so gross.
Eventually, Asui broke the silence. "When the villains had attacked us at USJ, do you remember when we had first thought that they were retreating?"
Izuku thought back to it, remembering how Shigaraki had scratched and scratched at his neck, saying that it was game over. "I do."
"Mineta had used the opportunity to grope my chest."
"O-Oh." Izuku grimaced. He had been right next to her. He wasn't aware of that happening. He had been distracted, too occupied by his own thoughts of what Shigaraki had been thinking at the time. "I'm sorry."
Asui hummed. "Mineta is always trying to do things like that, disrespecting our boundaries to fulfill his own desires. While Kaminari hasn't tried to do anything as extreme as Mineta, he still perpetuates that behavior." Izuku nodded along, though lost as to where Asui was going with this. "Sero shouldn't have told them about what happened."
"Asu–Tsuyu, I… no, that's different."
"Is it?"
"Yeah, it… it wasn't anything like that."
Tsuyu stared at him. "Would you feel that way if you heard about it with the roles reversed? If a boy was the one to pin a girl down and ask her about herself, to have his clothes disappear, and then stop only when other people showed up?"
"I—" Izuku thinned his lips, imagining it. "N…No."
"So what makes it different with you?"
He slams into the ground with a heavy thud. She twists his arm and pins it against his back, her nails digging into his wrist. Her knee sinks into his leg as she leans closer to him, putting weight into the elbow against his shoulder. Her hair grazes his cheek, the stench of her perfume burning his nose. Her breath falls hot against his ear as she asks him why he wanted to become a hero. Sweat crawls down his back as she presses more of her weight against him, crushing him. He turns away as she hovers even closer, his heart hammering against the rubble. She tells him that she wants to know more about him. He feels teeth graze his ear and—
Izuku's stomach twisted into a knot, the breath momentarily leaving his lungs. It was as though thousands of insects had burst from the ground and began crawling all over his skin. It's different, he repeated. That isn't what happened to me. She— He closed his eyes, feeling tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. No, stop it. Why are you crying? There's nothing to cry about. Quit it. He turned away, wiping his eyes. You're going to make her worry about nothing. "I–I don't know. It… that wasn't it. She–She was just curious about me, that's all."
"It's okay to be bothered by it, ribbit." Tsuyu paused. "I know Kaminari and Mineta acted like it was a good thing, like it was something you wanted to happen, but, if you ask me, it's no different from the behavior I've experienced."
His thoughts were a whirlwind. I need to— that didn't— that wasn't— She has the wrong idea— That can't— Why did that girl?— He scrunched his face up, taking a deep breath. He could still smell perfume.
"Is… is that why you came out here?" Izuku turned towards her, keeping his eyes firmly on the ground.
"You seemed bothered. I wanted you to know that I understand." Tsuyu paused again, mulling something over. "…I can't force you to feel differently about it, but it was important to me that I gave you my thoughts on it. I wanted you to know that I'm here, if you ever wanted to talk more about it."
"Ah… thank you." Izuku curled his fingers, absently tugging at his shirt. He wasn't sure what else to say. He didn't want to be talking about this anymore. "I… I appreciate that, A–Tsuyu."
Neither of them said anything else after that.