Aesthete

Chapter 19.

Mr. Aizawa insisted that I studied day and night for the upcoming finals that were next week. He told me that if I failed, I wouldn't go to the nice trip they were planning at some random forest lodge during the summer break. When he announced that threat to the class, everyone who was poor at test taking became ridden with fear at the idea that they won't come along for the event and immediately showed their various levels of alarm. Denki was so overwhelmed with the notion of failing that he stabbed Izuku's eye at some point, leading me to kick his ass quite literally.

Since Momo and I were tied for the top grade in the class, we had taken to tutoring any classmate who asked. There were days where I worked with Uraraka, Jirou, and Mina and there were other days where I drifted off to Ojiro, Kaminari, Sero, and Kirishima.

On Wednesday, Izuku, Iida, Shoto, Ochaco, Tsu, and Hagakure were in lunch discussing our ever-growing anxiety with the practical portion of the exam while I idly chewed on my broccoli. I pointed to Izuku and asked him if the vegetable was his twin out of boredom, pointing between the head of the broccoli and his hair with a deadpan expression. He stared, stupefied, before rolling his eyes and swatting my forehead. Because of my close relationship with Izuku, he was now comfortable enough to show the different ranges of his emotions; yet he still managed to remain considerate, sincere and helpful. Snapping us out of our exchange, Neito Monoma from class 1-B called our names condescendingly as he approached our lunch table.

"You four encountered Stain didn't you?" His voice was snotty, he wasn't ugly but his demeanor scared me off.

I grew defensive, if he thought about insulting any of my friends, I would resort to Bakugo's crude personality. "Yeah, why are you asking though?" My words weren't sharp, but there was an edge to them.

"If you and your dumb friends think it's okay to go after a villain, one day all of 1-A is going to encounter something they can't recover from."

He leaned towards me while saying that but his words seemed to address a part of my mind that hasn't spoken up in a while.

He's right, it's a warning, the voice told me while I attempted to drown it out. Izuku tugged me away from the cocky blonde and I simply stared while the always cheerful Kendo lifted her hand to deliver a harsh slap to his head, dragging him away from us. She also mentioned that the practical exam would consist of us going against robots from the entrance exam to this school. Iida continued to reassure me that it would be easy, and I'd pass with flying colors.

I tried to confirm this with Shota but he refused to tell me if it was true or not, so I stuck to amplifying the skills I learned with Endeavor and working out every part of my body until I collapsed.

It was Saturday afternoon and I was running around the long stretch of a trail that circulated the park with music infiltrating my hearing range. I picked up the pace with each beat of the drum as I unzipped my jacket slightly, letting the sun tint my skin with heat as I observed the small, white flowers blowing in the wind. I was too busy staring at the flowers that I didn't realize I plummeted straight into a person running towards me, forcing us both to tumble to the hard pavement.

Shifting myself to land on the concrete while gripping the stranger protectively, they immediately flipped my body in midair so in that brief second, they cushioned my fall. I huffed, feeling my face press against their chest while their hands cradled the back of my head.

"Florence, you've gotta be more careful." His soft tone and slightly high-pitched voice immediately notified me of who it was.

"Izuku, hey." My adrenaline slowed with the crash so I only sighed, not feeling the energy to stand up. "F-Florence, um, are you okay?" He asked, cupping my face to lift it slightly.