Cubicity

Chapter 10: Turning Point

The big day was here; it was Sunday morning which meant it was Tooru's sixteenth birthday.

Izuku had dressed in a white t-shirt with "All M" in big green text on its front and teal track pants with a white line going up and down the side of each leg. He also had a small white backpack that had his money and the brownies he had made in it. He was currently inside his apartment staring at the door that would take him outside. Inko had already served her son a hearty breakfast and wished him good luck. However, the younger Midoriya was having a terrible case of second thoughts as he stood there frozen.

After a minute had passed, Inko approached her child slowly from the side and said with care, "I guess you are quite nervous, huh?" The boy gave a weak nod but didn't turn his face towards his mother. She then softly put her hands on his shoulders before saying, "Remember that this day is for Hagakure-san. And if you overthink your date, as hard as I know it is for you not to, it won't help. So don't think about what you two might do today. Don't think about what could go wrong. All you need to do is be there by her side and go with whatever happens, within reason, okay?" She then put a finger under his chin and raised it up before asking, "Izuku, do you think you can do that?"

Izuku gulped and stated, "I'll t-try."

"That's my boy," Inko replied as she removed her hands and opened the door.

Instead of walking forward, Izuku turned to embrace his mother and said, "Thanks, mom, for everything."

"Just be safe and make your friend's birthday a special one," Inko replied while giving her son a tight hug.

The younger Midoriya then separated from her and gave a nod before finally stepping outside. As he slowly made his way to the train station, he recalled the study session from yesterday as a way to keep calm.

Instead of lecturing at the start like last Saturday, Momo decided to gauge everyone's grasp on English by talking to each of them in the language. Of all the subjects at school, Izuku felt this was his worst. He was still really good at it for his grade level, but he always had to spend the most time studying and practicing it compared to everything else. He quickly learned it was also Tooru's worst subject as she struggled to understand what Momo was saying and what to respond back to her. The vice president was practically fluent in English and so was Tenya. Ochako and Mashirao seemed quite good at it, with a couple of common mistakes here and there.

Yaoyorozu needed to work one on one with Hagakure, so she decided to do ask Ida to lead the next exercise. After explaining what to do to the class president, Momo pressed a button on the wall, and a large monitor came down from the ceiling. Momo then turned it on and switched it to a news channel in English. She said she chose this particular station as it had the least variety of accents in the newscast, which can be jarring when trying to become fluent in new a language. The group then listened in on the morning news, and anytime they had trouble understanding what was said, Ida would pause it and explain what they meant. The hardest point of this exercise was the speed at which the people talked. Uraraka especially regularly asked for certain sections to be replayed so she could catch up. Regardless, it was a worthwhile activity that Midoriya enjoyed. He considered maybe using this practice to watch hero-centric news in English. This activity and Tooru's private lesson with Momo lasted until it was lunchtime.

The meal served was unagi (grilled river eel with barbeque sauce) with a side of amaebi sushi (large raw sweet shrimp). Both were very sweet, and Izuku enjoyed the plumpness of the shrimp. Momo again gave a face of disappointment once the meal was revealed. Midoriya wanted to ask why but felt it would be better to ask her in private if the chance presented itself.