No Regrets - Izuku Midoriya x OC (MHA/BNHA)

II.

I absentmindedly stared at Deku as he talked to Itazura. I leaned back in my chair.

Great. Even a person who is a pro hero is better at pedagogical stuff than I am.

Deku smiled with every word, showing his beautiful, white teeth. I truly admired him. I don't have the guts to stand up to villains or disasters like he does. To be a hero like that takes some serious character lines I do not have. 

Itazura listened to him with his eyes wide open. He literally devoured every sentence Deku said. I guess I smiled unconsciously so Deku looked at me as well. I instantly felt a wave of heat swarm my cheeks. Who wouldn't blush, seeing those big green eyes look at yours?

Deku's POV

I looked at this young woman in front of me. She stared at the boy and me, a smile lightly dancing on her lips. Her brown hair rested on her shoulders. She blushed a bit, looking down at her nails. I turned my gaze away, guessing I'm making her uncomfortable. 

"You're so cool! I want to be like you one day!" the boy suddenly yelped, looking at me with his big eyes. 

I smiled and nodded and saw the teacher do the same. A content smile showed as she got up and walked towards us. 

"And you will no longer be rude and say bad words, right?" she said significantly looking at him. 

"I will not! I want to be just like Deku, and he doesn't do it, right?" the boy replied. 

I shook my head. "No sir", I said and got up from my kneeling position. 

The teacher told the boy to go get his things from their classroom and began collecting some papers as he ran off. 

"Thank you for that. It's sometimes hard to approach them", she said with a tiny chuckle. 

Her back was turned towards me, but I sensed something in her voice...something like excitement. 

"No problem! I like kids anyway..." I said, leaning onto the wall. 

She continued cleaning up and I tried to figure out what is she like from those brief moments she would turn to face me. She had large but pretty teeth and beautiful sea-green eyes. Her moves were elegant and light. She reminded me a bit of how they always describe fairies in books. I looked through the window as silence fell over us. I expected her to say something - anything. I wanted to start a conversation but had no idea just how. I was still the same 15 year-old on the inside, too nervous to talk to pretty girls. Knowing myself, I was most likely to say something stupid, which will make her think I am mentally stagnant. 

Little quick steps got louder through the halls, ending with the boy storming into the classroom and almost knocking the tables down. 

"Itazura! What have I told you about running through the halls?" the teacher turned around, quickly catching the tables with incredible reflexes. 

He looked at her with an innocent look on his face and she rolled her eyes. 

"We...um...should go now. I-if it's ok with you", she told me, nervously fidgeting her fingers around a strand of her glossy hair. 

"Yeah, sure", I said quickly and held the doors for her. 

She caught Itazura's hand and waited for me in the hall. I followed them and watched the boy run of to someone (I guess it's his mother). 

"Oi, Alex! Where were you - oh!" a man said, coming from around the corner.

So, her name is Alex, huh? So she mustn't be from Japan then. Cute name, though...I wonder if it's shortened. 

"Gakko! I had a bit of a trouble with Itazura...but Deku helped me", Alex smiled at the man. 

I smiled as well, waving my hand awkwardly. He waved back just as awkwardly. Was he her boyfriend? It could be possible, she is pretty hot and seems really nice...

"I've got some errands to run, my apologies. Thank you for the time you spent with Itazura, you really reached to him... It was such a pleasure meeting you! You truly deserve the number 1 spot. Thank you!" Alex blurted out, obviously gathering the strength to do it. 

This snapped me away from glaring at the other man, Gakko, and look at her. Her pretty eyes looked at me for a short while and then turned away again. In that one moment, something like a string pierced me through my chest. I must've smiled in a dumb manner, since Gakko snickered. I shook my head and quickly regained my composure. 

"The pleasure was mine. Truly", I said quickly. 

It was at the top of my tongue to ask for her number. But, so many things seemed to stop me. There was this Gakko who could be her friend or her boyfriend, there was my silly shyness... and next thing I know, she walked away. Turning around to look at her, I saw her burry her red face into her palms. 

Well, it's good to know that I'm not the only one who has troubles talking to people. 

It must've been different for her, though. I don't mean to sound snobby, but... I am a hero after all. She probably doesn't talk to those every day. And me and my awkwardness and rigidity definitely didn't make her feel any easier. It's funny and sad at the same time. People looking at us, heroes, only see success and fame and pleasure. They think we are the luckiest and the greatest people on Earth, they think our only problems are dealing with villains every now and then. 

But most of them don't see we are just humans too. Some of us are gifted with a better quirk (or given, in my case) and those get the reputation of the 'untouchables'. I know for sure that's not how things are. We get nervous and anxious, we suffer from heartbreaks and mistakes we make as well. I am not so much different from Alex - the only difference is the fact I had more luck at some point in my life than she did. 

But how do you approach people when all they see is this gap? It's easy with children, like Itazura, but it's different with adults or people you meet the way I met Alex. Maybe it's not really that hard. Maybe once you get to know someone - for real - they start looking from your point of view and you start looking from theirs. There is a reason why villains fight so hard. Most of them are incapable of seeing the world through our eyes. 

I guess this is the reason why Alex ran off like that. I can't really blame it all on myself, can I? It's the society and its disadvantages. 

Who know how long I was staring at the place where I last saw Alex. 

"It is always a pleasure to meet someone like you. I admire your work", Gakko said after some time. 

I looked at him as he cleaned his glasses. "I like talking to people like this as well", I said and flashed him the hero smile I always flash to people. It's turned into a habit. Who knows if I can sincerely smile anymore...

Gakko put his glasses on and walked away with a tiny bow. 

I just stood there. From where I was standing, everything that happened today somehow reached into me deeper than anything else in my life. I haven't met a lot of people like Alex. Everyone would be so excited and hyped up to take a picture with me, get an autograph, ask me a question. No-one just, sort of, admired me in silence like she did. And don't get me even started on the weird feeling that caught me while staring into her eyes. 

It all seems very much like something out of a fairytale...

But, my greatest question now is - will I ever get to see her again?