Total Command

Chapter 12: There are things that are not sayable

They were both silent for the rest of the meal preparation.

Cooking had helped him clear his head, but this time, it wasn't enough. Neither was talking about it with Tsuyu apparently.

"Tsuyu, mind If I leave and do some training?" He asked as the curry simmered, basically done.

"Sure- Uh, how should I reach you when we are having lunch?"

He shook his head, "Not hungry."

She just nodded in response.

He heaved the bar up, holding it there, feeling his muscles ache.

He didn't need to do this. With Total Command his body would retain his muscle mass no matter what he did.

But that didn't mean that he wasn't deriving some pleasure out of it.

He let the bar drop back to his chest and lifted it back up again, letting his joints creak under the weight of it all.

"I know that sound."

The bar on his hand lost all its weight, he turned to see Ochako standing above his head, a plate in her hand.

"Uraraka," he mumbled still holding onto the thing, "give its weight back, I still want to work out."

"After lunch, ok?"

He grunted and sat up, not looking at her.

"Did Tsuyu send you?"

"No," she said simply sitting next to him and passing him a plate of curry and rice, "I got worried when I didn't see you at the table- Is something wrong?"

He accepted the plate. He wasn't hungry, but he knew his body needed the nutrients after the morning's ordeal. "You could say that"

"Want to talk about it?"

He shook his head, "I don't want to..." Exercise hadn't helped.

He raised his head to look at her, "It didn't help when I talked with Tsuyu-"

That's cheating.

She was giving him puppy eyes.

He sighed.

"Alright."

"So- She jus' attacked you?"

He nodded slightly while taking another spoonful of food.

"I wanna beat 'er up even worse now."

He choked on his meal, brain registering her switch back to her Kansai dialect. "URARAKA!"

"What? She's mean." she huffed, puffing her cheeks out with a small pout

He sighed placing the empty plate to the side, "She wasn't always like that."

"Don't defend her, Deku."

"I am serious, she just-" He slumped. "She never wanted me to be a hero- seeing me here is probably pissing her off"

"Deku, she gave you a concussion over your friend's word choice, said you slept your way in and we both know that's a lie- why do you keep trying to give her excuses?"

"I'm not mad about any of that," he admitted, "I can take a concussion or two it's just..."

"What she was about to say to Hatsume?" she completed. That's so him.

"I guess?"

"Deku, you're too selfless for your own good," she said flicking him in the forehead, ignoring the slight pit in her stomach.