Compulsion

Chapter 70: On the Path to Avoid It

While the trek into buying his Mom a birthday gift was anxiety-ridden and stressful in its own right, it helped Izuku set aside the complicated situation he twisted himself into. "Still... I don't regret it..." he considered, feeling a certain weight lifted from his shoulders, but a bubbling anxiety still remained under the skin. "I told the truth... No matter what happens next... At least, I managed that..." With that, he felt like he could hold his head high when he left his dorm room in spite of his bubbling skin.

The sun hung high in the air – far higher than it should, considering how late Izuku and Kaminari got back to their dorm-rooms. "He's probably still asleep... Or getting ready..." With that thought, he stood there, teetering his head back and forth. "Should I knock...? Call...? Maybe texting...? It's less invasive..."

Then, before he could conclude the best way to contact his friend, the door opened. "Oh, hey, what's up?"

"Hey!" Izuku cleared his throat. "Morning."

Kaminari returned the greeting before asking, "What're you doing?" He chuckled, "Nervous?"

"No..." The freckled teen didn't shudder, not at all... He cleared his throat. "Well, I'm trying to stay positive about it..."

"Guess that's all you can do." The blond stepped, shutting his door behind him, before gesturing forward. "Shall we?" With an affirming nod, they both made their way to the ground floor. "Do you think everything's gonna turn out okay?"

"I can only hope..."

His friend's face contorted for a moment before he asked, "What're you going to do if they kick you out of the program or... worse?"

"That'll be a conversation between me and Mom." The freckled teen shrugged, "However that turns out."

"Well, I'm still friends with Mineta," said Kaminari as he nudged Izuku, bringing their walk to a stop. "It'll be hard, but..." he mock-sniffled, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We'll make a long-distance friendship work."

"Long-distance?" As Kaminari's eyes bulged, Izuku dreaded what his own face looked like. Jirou's eyes were narrowed, focusing deeply upon the pair.

All while Ashido's face fell in concern—made more evident with her following question, "What're you guys talking about?" The pink-skinned girl pouted, "No one better be moving! We're only in our first semester!"

"Jirou didn't hear all of that, did she...?" His eyes noticed how one of her jacks was plugged into her phone. "No, she wouldn't have asked that if she did... Right...?"

"N-No!" Kaminari waved his hand. "Just a dumb bit..." He cleared his throat. "Heading to school?"

She flashed a confused yet incredulous look. "Yeah...? Where else would we be going?"

Ashido pointed between the blond and freckled boys. "You're both acting weird..."

"W-Well, why don't we all get breakfast, then?" offered Izuku. "We were gonna try and stop by the convenience store to grab something to eat before we get to class."

The girls shared a look.

The boys shared their own.

"Fine," responded Jirou curtly.

Ashido crossed her arms. "Sure..."

"Great!" declared Izuku. "Right?"

Kaminari forced a smile in turn. "Absolutely!" After that, both boys turned and walked off – not even bothering to check if the girls was following.

They were, and the boys could tell because they were staring questioning holes into the back of their heads the whole time.

One does not eat while walking through the streets of their city, so the quartet stopped by the little rest area of the store. Though, it wasn't a quartet for long as Kaminari's boss managed to pull him off to the side for a 'quick' conversation, traitorously leaving Izuku alone.