This Color Ain't It

Chapter 23: A Couple Realizations

Notes:

Guess who just got back with the milk, yalls? Drinking straight from the jug though

cw : swearing, injury (doesn't get too graphic), usual prejudice spiel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text
"Ah! I see now!" Kenji hurried to write down the corrections in his notebook. Upon writing down the correct answer, he looked back at Midoriya with a grin. "You're so smart, Midoriya-san!"

It was Kenji's final day of house arrest, and the three students decided on going over their schoolwork in the common area. Well, Kenji says three, but Midoriya knows that if Bakugou could have it his way, he would lock himself in his room as soon as their morning chores were finished. So Bakugou was making himself busy in the kitchen to avoid them. Not that it worked since Midoriya and Kenji were situated at the dining tables just a few feet away from him.

Midoriya shook his head and began to rub the back of his neck. "I just know this material pretty well." He let out a flustered chuckle after saying that.

Kenji looked back at the worksheets spread out in front of him in thought. He tapped his pencil eraser against his jutted-out lips as his eyes scanned over the kanji slowly.

Midoriya dropped his gaze back to his notebook and sighed. Initially, he was glad Kenji had suggested the study session, but now that he's actually having to socialize, he's finding it difficult to concentrate on the work in front of him. There was too much running through his mind. Hell, he hardly got any sleep because of every single negative thought mixing in with what he knows and doesn't know.

Sitting in front of him, the pouting blonde looked no better with the dark bags gradually forming under his eyes, but he still found the energy to smile at the people he didn't like. Midoriya fully admires how Kenji can keep it up for so long.

Meanwhile, between his schoolwork, Quirk, and crumbling friendships, Midoriya's finding it hard to keep up with his conflicting emotions.

"Let's take a break!" Kenji's sudden demand jolted Midoriya out of his head. Whipping his head up, Midoriya finds Kenji stretching his arms behind his head, dangerously close to tipping the chair all the way back.

"Um," Midoriya picked up his phone, "we just had a break less than fifteen minutes ago?"

Kenji winced mid-stretch and tipped the chair back to its original position. He folded his left arm across his abdomen and propped his head up on his right on the table, cheek resting comfortably on his hand. His wide eyes blinked at Midoriya, and maybe Midoriya just needed more sleep (he did), but Kenji was also pouting.

"I really struggle with Japanese Literature the most though," Kenji began to explain. "The most we got to read in my village were during the trips to the farmers markets, and my family only gave me children's books to practice my kanji.

"These big kanji characters are hurting my brain," he finished with a scrunched nose. And just for dramatics Midoriya is sure, he also let his head drop.

Midoriya couldn't help but chuckle. "I understand, Miyazawa-kun. Let's take a five-minute break then." He did need it, too, anyway.

It was weird how Kenji was able to act like everything was normal. Midoriya is sure that even Bakugou can tell that he isn't actually doing well, but neither has the social skills necessary to press for him to talk. Not in the way that Kenji is able to make everyone else talk. Not to mention how the freckled blonde likely didn't have very high opinions of either to begin with.

Midoriya sighed. He tried to scroll through his apps to make it seem like he was doing something when he was actually trying to make sense of all of the sudden pieces he was given the past few days. The fights, the Commission, the things All Might had once told him, Iida...