It Hurts (DekuBowl)

The Music Festival

Izuku's POV

   I took a deep breath as I stood on stage. Aika has told me not to do the dance so I only needed to sing.

   Aika looked at me and smiled at me, giving me a reassuring look. I smiled back, nervously, and nodded, signaling that I'm ready.

   Aika started to play the piano entry and I waited for my turn to come.

(I could only find this that would actually fit. I really luv this song.)

   When we finished, the audience clapped loudly, some people yelling. We bowed and left the stage, Aika looking very happy and I was very nervous.

We waited in the waiting room, watching the others perform from a TV. Aika held my hand, realizing that I was shaking.

Time Skip

When all of the performances ended, all the participants were called to the stage. The principle handed out awards, shaking the participants' hands.

Aika and I got the first place award, many composers and artists asked us to come with them. Out of them, none of them were where we wanted to go. We kindly turned down everyone's offer.

Aika seemed to be very upset about this so I tried to cheer her up. Just as I was about to say something, somebody walked up to us.

"Hello, I'm the secretary of the President of JYP Entertainment." The man said, smiling at us. "We would like to scout you. Would you take our offer, Aika and Izuku Shimizu?"

"Yes!" Aika and I screamed. The man handed us a piece of paper and told us to call him when we get back home.

The man left, leaving us excited. We stayed at school for the rest of the festival and headed back home after the last event.

Time Skip

Aika and I went back home, telling Mother all about the music festival. We told her about the scouts and she looked a bit worried.

It took some persuading, but in the end, we managed to convince Mother so let us go when school ends. We would go to Korea in 3 months, which was July, after we graduate from elementary school.

"Okay, both of you. Take a shower and change, I have a surprise for you." Mother said, closing her eyes.

I went upstairs to my room and took a quick shower. I changed into a blue sweater and a pair of sport shorts. When I finished, I went back downstairs, waiting for Aika and Mother. I sat on the sofa, looking at stuff on the phone, when I came across a picture of the performances of the music festival.

"Izu, what are you doing?" Aika asked, plopping down next to me. She peered onto my phone. "Oh, I guess the reporters uploaded the pictures online."

"Is this normal?" I asked.

"Yeah, reporters come to see the festival every year." Aika replied. Mother came into the living room, holding two small boxes in her hand.

"Mother, what is that?" Aika and I asked in unison. She smiled and handed both of us a box. Mine was blue while Aika's was purple.

"It's my gift for you guys. Congrats on the scouting." Mother said as we opened the box.

In my box, there was an emerald, green bracelet and an earring. Only one earring though. The jewelry of the earring was shaped into a snowflake, while the bracelet was made of delicate strings and it had one single flower in the middle of it. I looked over to Aika and saw that she had a blue necklace and a bracelet. There was three blue hearts in the center of her necklace, while her bracelet had two hearts and a star in between.

"This...These are beautiful. Thank you, Mother." I smiled, putting them on. I helped Aika put on her necklace.

"Where did you get all of these gems? And how did you make them into these shapes?" Aika asked, touching the hearts on her necklace. "This are blue apatite gemstones and Izu's is made of emerald, right?"

"Well, Aika. I made them with my quirk. The gems are permanent and both of those will help you when you really need help." Mother said.

"Oh..." I mumbled.

"I'm giving this to you because I feel like I don't have much time left. I expect you two to protect each other and other people." Mother said. I was about to ask her what she meant by 'I don't have much time left' but she resumed her speech. "Keep this with you at all times, because when you're in danger, it will keep you safe."

"Understood." I said. "Mother, can you explain what you meant by 'I don't have much time left?'"

"Oh...Izu, I forgot you weren't here when that happened." Aika sighed and looked at me sadly. "Mother has an incurable disease that even the best doctors don't know about. She got it last year. The doctors said that she will only be able to live around 4 more months, now."

"O-Oh...I'm sorry...I'm only being a burden to you guys right?" I said, turning to Mother. "You would've been better without me."

"No, no!" Mother said, grabbing my wrist. "Look, Izuku. Don't blame everything on yourself. I had this disease for more than a year, it's not your fault. Now, go to sleep. Tomorrow, we're going shopping."

"Okay." I smiled, still feeling a little bit guilty. I went to my room after saying good night and went to sleep.

THE NEXT DAY

I woke up, getting changed into comfortable clothing. Mother drove us to the mall and bought some clothes for me. Aika ran off to who knows where, but Mother didn't seem to mind.

"Aika always goes to the same place when we come to the mall. She'll be fine." Mother said, picking out some clothes for me. She gave them to me and pushed me to the changing room. "Go try it on, dear."

"Okay..." I took the clothes and went inside the changing room.

I had a hard time wearing the clothes since I only wore a hoodie, a sweater, and a t-shirt before. This one was a...dress shirt, I believe. I also had trouble wearing the pants since two of them had holes in it.

"I'm done." I said. I came out wearing one of the shirts and pants Mother gave me.

"Izuku! You look like a model!" Mother exclaimed. I heard an item drop and saw Aika with wide eyes, staring at me.

"Izu, is that you?!" Aika yelled. I nodded in confusion. She showed me a mirror and I realized that what Mother said was true. I looked completely different. "Izu, you look way better like this. I bet you look like a Kpop idol."

"Um...Thanks?" I said, shyly. "We should get going now."

"Oh, yes." Mother said. "Go change and I'll pay for the clothes."

I got changed back in the changing room and gave the clothes to Mother so she could pay for them. Mother said that we could look around the other shops. At that, Aika instantly dragged me to a music store. She told me all about the Kpop artists and albums. It felt like years until she stopped ranting.

"Oh, isn't this BTS?" I asked, pointing to a poster of 7 boys. Aika looked at the poster and nodded.

"BTS is my favorite boy band!" Aika squealed. "Don't get me wrong, I like all the Kpop bands and artists, but BTS is how I learned about music."

"Oh..." I said. "So there's a story to your reason of liking them. I thought you liked them because they were handsome or something."

"Well, when I was young, I never cared about music." Aika said, staring at the poster. "I thought that it would stay that way, but one day when I was 10 years old, I learned about BTS. When I heard of them, I started to learn what music was."

"That's such a deep story...I wish I had a reason, too."