Kitty-Kitty Cat-Cat (IzukuxMandalay)

20: Hurtful Truth

"....."

"Midoriya, is everything okay?" Ragdoll asked, a worried look over her face due to the student still having a full plate of food in front of him. "You haven't really touched your dinner at all today, or yesterday for that matter."

"I haven't been hungry that much Ragdoll." Midoriya answered glumly, his chopsticks meakly poking at the fried chicken ball over a bed of rice. "It's fine."

"You haven't been hungry much since you and Sosaki went to go speak with Sir Nighteye." Tiger noted. "Did he say something to you?"

"It's nothing Tiger, thanks for worrying but I wouldn't bother with it."

"Hmm, very well then. So, an organization takedown huh?"

"That's what it seems like for now." Mandalay replied. "Bubble Girl will send us the full details on what's wanted from us tomorrow but from what I could figure yeah, seems like we're going after this Yakuza group. I'm assuming there's going to be two phases to this, first will be the stakeout phase with the second being the actual takedown. It sounds like Sir Nighteye has the barebones of evidence to seize this Shie Hassaikai group but not enough for an actual warrant, maybe he's waiting for something who knows, but in any case we'll have to split the work load into two pairs.

One pair will deal with the patrol here in the forest, the other will go into the city and see what Nighteye wants. I want us to alternate working with each other and working in between the two zones, so on Monday Izuku and Chatora will handle it here, Tsuchikawa and I will go to the city. Tuesday Izuku and Tsuchikawa will swap partners, Wednesday Chatora and I will switch venues and partners. We'll go from there for now and remember, we are not working UNDER Sir Nighteye. We are still the independent group of the Wild Wild Wild Pussycats so no matter what that suit starched bastard says about us we are NOT working under him. We're simply working with him, nothing else. Everyone got that?"

"Understood."
"Yup yup!"
"Yes."

"Mm..."

Mandalay glanced across the table where Midoriya continued to poke at his food with no interest whatsoever, his eyes permanently stuck to the table cloth underneath his plate like it was the only vibrant color in the universe. Clearly, Sir Nighteye managed to get under the student's skin in ways she didn't understand here, and that's because she knew her boyfriend. She knew it would have to take something sizable to make him this quiet and uninvolved with the situation around him. Not to mention the feeling in her stomach that said there was another conversation going on aside from the main topic at hand. Something was being said that she heard, but didn't quite understand.

And knowing her boyfriend he wasn't going to outright spit it out so easily, it's going to take a little bit of pressure to make this balloon pop. "Do you remember the place where we first spoke to each other?"

Midoriya looked up from his plate of food to lock contact with Mandalay, the former nodding subtly to her voice in his head. "After we finish eating, say you're taking a short walk and head out to that spot, I'll meet you there shortly. And, Honey, I know you're not in the mood but please, eat a little bit. Just a bite that's all I'm asking."

Midoriya sighed through his nose before picking up a wad of rice along with a fried chicken ball and stuffing it into his mouth, Mandalay obscuring her smile through a cup of water raised to her lips. Like dinner the night before Midoriya sat at the table in silence while the others conversed about different topics, only this time things were different towards the end when he did as Mandalay requested by dismissing himself for a short walk.

It's coming, he could feel it already. The conversation that he thinks he's about to have is playing in his mind and already, he could feel the nerves shake all throughout both hands. How much is he going to say? What SHOULD he even say for that matter? Is he required to tell All Might about what he's going to say to the woman? IS, he going to say what he thinks he's going to say to her? Questions on questions on questions, nerves stacking on concerns stacking on fears. The concept of a relationship is about trust but the secret of One For All is so heavy it forces him to ponder whether to place that burden on the trust of love.