Cubicity

Chapter 9: Hitting the Books

An alarm resonated in a dark room and something stirred. It groaned in protest and turned off the device making the infernal racket. After a long sigh, Izuku got up and leaned against the wall next to his bed. The boy didn't get much sleep last night after what had happened at the end of Tooru's visit yesterday. Midoriya was going to have another date with his invisible friend, alone this time. Sure the concept seemed daunting, and his mind plus heart went into a flutter each time he played out possible scenarios that could happen. But a part of Midoriya felt glad. At first, he considered it was because he would be celebrating his best friend's birthday. Or perhaps it was because Izuku was slowly becoming more assertive in his social life. But in the end, he decided that it was due to Tooru finally being vocal in giving her intentions about the status of their relationship.

But I guess dates do help in telling if two people wanna take their relationship to the next level.

If you are okay with that possibility, I'd be happy to take you up on your offer Izuku.

Tooru's words actually comforted Midoriya. For the longest time, he felt clueless in trying to figure out what her end game was. Was Hagakure giving hints through her actions the whole time? Or was that just her personality of being so friendly? Maybe it was just because he was her first friend at their current school? But when Tooru spoke those words, it told Izuku the stage was now set for what could happen. No more misinterpreting signals. Tooru had spoken that she was open to the idea of becoming a couple, it might not happen just from this next date, but it was a possibility. But the idea of becoming a couple wasn't the main reason of what kept the sleepy boy up most of the night.

As Izuku got up to prepare for school, vague thoughts of the night's dreams popped in and out of his head. Scenes of walking down a beach at dusk, shopping, watching movies together, going out to eat, and other date scenarios. But the source of his displeasure was dreams of physical affection with Tooru beyond just holding hands and hugging. Midoriya's face began to become crimson as he brushed his teeth. The boy wasn't ready for the next step in physical contact in a relationship. Hand holding, at least beyond the eyes of others, Izuku had gotten used to at this point. Hugging, while still a heart-wrenching experience, was still doable. But the possibility of kissing was nightmare inducing, mainly because these dreams were about him being a terrible kisser. Which was probably true, it's not like he could practice for such a thing.

As Midoriya got dressed, the one thought that was giving him some comfort in this dilemma was that they weren't a couple yet. And until they were, if they ever were, he shouldn't be worrying about such things. But mental images of such acts would continue to plague him from time to time no matter what he told himself.

While eating breakfast, Izuku revealed to his mother about his date with Tooru for her birthday. He hadn't the courage to tell her after Hagakure had left the day before. Inko expressed a mix of happiness and nervousness at her son's revelation. The older Midoriya offered any help to her child if he needed it, but Izuku told her that his current priority was the study session tomorrow. He had already told his mom about the trip to Momo's house, but he hadn't mentioned anything about why it was giving him so much stress. With Tooru, Izuku felt he could be open with his mother about anything. But whatever Mashirao was dealing with, and had dealt with before, seemed out of reach to speak about at the moment. Without knowing why Ojiro was so hostile in his opinions on wealthy people, he felt there wasn't much to discuss. But Midoriya was determined to make this work for his tailed friend and the rest of the group's sake.

Getting off the train into the crowded walkways that exited the station was particularly annoying today for Midoirya. The movement was slow as the station was more packed than usual. This was on top of the summer heat bearing down on him.