Because (BNHA x Male OC)

15: That Sort Of State Of Mind

Tokoyami looked confident. He should be, he was a really talented fighter, but Chiharu was done with talent at this point. 

He was done with qualifiers in general. Everyone was who they were right now. That was that. And right now he was Iwamoto Chiharu and he was going to win. 

Belatedly as Midnight dropped the flag to initiate the fight Chiharu felt his chest twinge when he remembered that Izuku hadn't come to wish him good luck before the match like he had for him. He didn't blame him, but it hurt. 

They were supposed to be there for each other no matter what. That was their best friend pact. 

He supposed to pact didn't apply now that Izuku knew Chiharu was basically obsessed with him. God he was going to distance himself. Haru would never hang out at his house again or play video games with him. They'd stop sending each other their favorite All Might moments. 

So what was he doing this for? Well he had already basically lost. He lost Izuku, or at least his respect. He could at least win at something. 

Midnight started the match with the wave of her flag and Dark Shadow immediately popped out of Tokoyami's chest. Chiharu held her hand out to stop the thing and ended up being pushed back about a foot but no more than that. 

The space where his heels had dug into the ground and slid were visible. The crowd murmured and cheered at the sight. 

"Back!" Tokoyami called. Dark Shadow retracted and Chiharu took his opportunity to run at his fellow hero student. Tokoyami dodged one punch but as mentioned many times before Hawks' training prioritized speed over everything else. Except maybe safety. 

But living with Keigo had only made Chiharu faster and he was adapting to a boxing style of fighting quite quickly. So Tokoyami's dodge didn't do much for the punch that was delivered to his solar plexus right after. 

The hero student coughed, stumbling back. Dark Shadow lunged for Chiharu buts its claws were unable to pierce his skin. Chiharu stood there, a true unmovable object. 

It was clear though that Tokoyami was not him unstoppable force. The teen dodged around Dark Shadow and continued to deliver hits, pushing him closer to the boundary. Dark Shadow wasn't great when it came to close quarters and got in the way more than anything. 

Haru saw the exact moment Tokoyami realized he was teetering on the edge. The feathered teen look back at Chiharu with a bewildered expression and Chiharu didn't even hesitate to punch him right in the space between his beak and face. 

Tokoyami fell to the ground and the stadium erupted in cheers. He was at a loss for how he could have....well lost. Chiharu didn't feel pain, not often anyways, and he was tough. Tokoyami had known that. But he had pushed right past Dark Shadow with a strength he didn't know his classmate possessed. 

Chiharu held a hand out to help Tokoyami up and the feathered teen accepted easily. "You are far mightier than I had expected." He muttered, clutching his face. His beak was bleeding from the nostrils. How was that possible? 

The black haired teen gave him a heartbreakingly worried expression but Tokoyami just smiled as best he could through the grimace on his face. "I'll live." He assured the boy. 

"I'm so sorry." Chiharu said, looking horrified with himself. Tokoyami thought he looked like he was on the verge of tears. "I didn't-I really didn't mean to hurt you that badly.".

It was really hard to get mad at Iwamoto. All of 1-A knew that. But that afternoon Tokoyami learned it was even harder to stay mad at him, even a little. It was the big bambi eyes for sure. Those brown eyes sparkled and were the picture of innocence. 

"Recovery Girl will handle it, do not worry." Tokoyami said simply. 

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Haru felt sick. What was wrong with him? 

He was sweating but felt cold. His head was swimming and he was acting weird. It was so out of character, that entire fight was. Why had he thought that way? What was wrong with him? 

 The teen splashed more water on his face. At this point his hair was soaking wet and nothing had actually helped. He still felt a strange numbness in his chest. It had disappeared when he beat Tokoyami but it returned the moment he was back in 1-A's section waiting for his turn again. 

"Deku's fighting Todoroki next." Uraraka said, taking her seat right next to Haru. Iida took his on the other side of Uraraka. "Are you excited to watch, Iwamoto?". 

"I guess." He muttered, still feeling awful. The two gave him matching concerned looks. 

"You're always excited to see Deku do this stuff." Uraraka said, her tone worried. "Yes, you lack your usual enthusiasm." Iida added. Chiharu sighed.

"I think the fight took a lot out of me." He said, making up an easy excuse. "Did you wish him luck? You seemed super stressed about doing it last time." Uraraka asked. 

Chiharu panicked for a second, remembering the conversation he had unintentionally walked in on but then just shook his head. "I just missed him in the hallway I guess." He said, "I looked everywhere but he must have been tucked in some weird room.". 

Uraraka nodded, satisfied with the answer, and settled into her seat. Present Mic started announcing the match, which got the audience excited and made Chiharu nervous. Todoroki was more of a loose canon than he had thought. What if Izu got super hurt? Haru hadn't wished him good luck! 

Now, he was superstitious but he couldn't help feeling that if Izuku got hurt than it would be all his fault. 

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Chiharu watches in shock as his best friend was taken off the field by paramedics. Iida and Uraraka were already up and out of their seats, the latter tugging on Chiharu's arm to get him to come with them. 

He stumbled his way out of the seat, not quite believing what was happening, but following regardless. Were Izu's arms going to be okay? They looked shattered? What was he going to do? 

Suddenly he wanted to sit down and have a snack with Inko, like they had in the past. She'd just have him sit there at the kitchen table while Izuku was off doing something else and they'd talk. She had been his shoulder to cry on for so long and he wanted nothing more than to sit down and try whatever new type of tea she was brewing. 

He wanted Keigo too. He wanted wings to envelop him in the protective way they always did. It was selfish, he wasn't even the one hurt. He was perfectly fine. Haru shouldn't want to be comforted when Izuku was right there, bloodied and broken. 

But he had been hurt too. Physically he was unharmed but Chiharu hadn't yet discovered how deep Izuku's conversation with All Might had shaken him. He hadn't even begun to explore what 'inheriting a quirk' meant. 

As they made their way to the stadium's exit, someone put a hand on Chiharu's shoulder. It was Vlad King with a clip board in hand. "Iwamoto, your match is up next, you need to head to the waiting area." He said gruffly. 

Chiharu wanted to protest. He wanted to say 'my best friend needs me!' and blow the teacher off. He wanted to say that he didn't even know who he was supposed to be fighting yet, or that the last match hadn't even ended but he couldn't. He couldn't find the words. 

And did Izuku really need him anyways? 

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I'm so sorry for the late update😭😭 ! The chapter was so close to done for 2 days but I was behind on my novel study book and I ended up needing to finish the last 20 or so chapters tonight. 

I did end up getting it done though and the chapter's only a day or so late so its not the end of the world. 

Thank you all for your patience! Stay tuned!