Silent Suffering

Chapter 2 - Rising Concerns

The more he tried not to focus on Mineta's thoughts, the harder it was to hear anything else. In the end, Izuku didn't get much sleep that night, feeling dirty even though it weren't his own thoughts. So he went running early in the morning in an attempt to get his mind off things, returning to the dorms when the early risers were already up and about.

"Ah, Midoriya, good morning. You're up earlier than usual" Yaomomo greeted him as he entered. He nodded, giving her a small smile and a wave in return. Alright, we're doing combat training today so I'll use more calories than usual. I could lose a lot if I eat even less today, but if I dip much lower than my current weight I might end up fainting if I go all out... I'll just preserve my energy then! Izuku could hear as he walked into the kitchen.

Yes, one piece will do just fine!

With that, Yaomomo took an apple from the fruit basket. One of the smallest ones, may I add. Izuku frowned at that. Was she trying to lose weight? But she was already one of the skinniest girls in class! Izuku had always thought it was due to her quirk and he was sure she had some kind of food plan worked out in order to optimize it, but this was the exact opposite! She even knew it was bad for her! She was thinking about the risks right there and then and picked to starve herself over eating a healthy diet!

He wondered how long this had been going on for... Had someone called her fat or something? Is that why she was suddenly so self conscious about it? But now that he thought about it, he'd never seen Yaomomo eat a lot before... No, he'd seen her drink a lot of tea, but whenever it came to food she always politely declined or ate very little... So that meant she probably never had a decent meal plan to begin with.

Izuku decided there and then that he would make one and talk things over with her once this quirk wore off. Was it an invasion of privacy? Perhaps, but this quirk didn't give him much of a choice. Did he care more about his classmate's health than their perception of him? Absolutely. She could avoid him all she wanted after, but she'll eat her calories, Izuku will make sure of that. Besides, Momo is a nice person, she wouldn't avoid him for something he had no control over! Right..?

After he ate his breakfast, he went to the bathrooms for a quick shower. He worked up a sweat from his morning jog and still wasn't over this dirty feeling. Izuku knew someone else was taking a shower, hearing the water running as he entered. It was only a matter of time before Iida's thoughts invaded his mind, setting Izuku on edge. His thoughts were loud and fast, just like the teen himself. But what bothered Izuku the most was how stressed and worried he sounded, even now when there was nothing serious going on.

It was all school and deadlines and training regiments and concerns about his classmates and friends and possible villain attacks. The fact Izuku got hit with a villain's quirk didn't lower his anxiety either... It made the green head feel even worse about all of this. He made a mental note to make Iida relax more often and force him to take time off when needed. That was kind of hypocritical of him though, seeing as Izuku always pushed himself to his limits. Plus Ultra and all that, you know?

That didn't mean he didn't rush his shower in order to get away from Iida's stress inducing thoughts, deciding that maybe the both of them could do with a little less pressure to perform perfectly. More people had gathered in the common room by the time he left the bathrooms, chatter filling his brain even if not all of them were talking. It was like entering a cafeteria, really. Nothing too disturbing or unpleasant, just loud.

It was a morning like any other. Everyone was getting ready for school, chatting with their usual friend groups about random and superficial topics as they ate breakfast and went to get dressed for the day. Izuku discovered that there was a way to filter out Iida's thoughts, or at least make them easier to ignore, and that was listening in on the bits and pieces of song lyrics Todoroki repeated in his mind. He didn't know all the lines though, and neither did Izuku, so it were just the same ones over and over again.