A Different Path

Chapter Four - Lunchtime Meeting

Deku absentmindedly touched his neck as he sat with his friends in the lunch hall, thinking about the fight he had with Tomura Yagi the day before. The wounds from Tomura's decay quirk had been healed by Recovery Girl, but Deku could still feel their sting. The words Tomura left him with haunted him. Although he was trying to sound malicious, Deku couldn't help but notice the sadness that laced the boy's final words. Deku knew right then that Tomura had seen a darkness in the world he may never be able to comprehend. He couldn't help but wonder, what happened to him? What happened to the boy with the quirk that kills?

Deku was snapped out of his thoughts by someone shaking his shoulder. It was Uraraka.

"Hey, Deku, are you alright? You seem sort of out of it today."

Deku flashed a smile,

"Oh yeah sorry, I am fine. Just thinking about my fight with Yagi"

Uraraka nodded, looking solemn,

"Yeah, that fight was pretty intense. The whole class was speechless by the end. Even Bakugo looked shocked!"

Deku laughed at the thought of Bakugo exhibiting any other emotion besides rage.

"Well, wouldn't that have been a site to see" he teased.

At that moment, Deku spotted a familiar flash of blue out of the corner of his eye. He turns his head quickly to see none other than Tomura standing in the lunch line. Deku was shocked, he had never seen Tomura here before. Then again, he wasn't someone on Deku's mind before now either. Quickly, Deku stood up and walked towards Tomura, leaving a confused Uraraka in his wake.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tomura winced as he reached up to grab a lunch tray on top of the glass display case. Despite Recovery Girl's efforts, he still felt a bit achy from his fight with Deku yesterday. After his fight, Tomura confronted his uncle about Deku and whether he was the new wielder of one-for-all. Eventually, after wearing him down, All-Might told Tomura the whole story. How he met Deku, how he trained him, and how the boy is now on his way to become the world's next greatest hero. Tomura simply nodded along to the story, not feeling much of anything while it was being told. He didn't care about who had one-for-all or what would happen as a result of this new revelation. He simply wanted to stay informed. Being left in the dark has never been good to anyone in Tomura's eyes.

Tomura still didn't quite understand why his uncle chose Deku to be his successor, but it wasn't something he planned on sticking his nose into. His uncle's choices are his own business, it doesn't concern him. Tomura was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of someone greeting him,

"Hey Yagi! It's nice to see you! I didn't know you went to the dining hall around this time"

Tomura turned around to meet the eyes of a familiar face: Deku. Deku was looking at him expectantly, waiting for Tomura to respond. Awkwardly, Tomura replied:

"Oh, um yeah, this is a little earlier than I usually come but I had some extra time.. So yea.."

Deku nodded, looking up at Tomura with a wide grin plastered on his face. Tomura couldn't help but be confused. Why was this kid talking to him? He almost disintegrated his neck yesterday. Most sane people would avoid him as much as possible.

"Are you sitting with anyone else today?"

The question took Tomura off guard.

"Oh uh, no. I wasn't planning on it."

Deku looked excited.

"Oh well, why don't you sit with us! We would love to talk to you a little more and get to know you better"