Seeking Comfort ( Izuku X Uraraka)

Chapter 12

Shoutout to Flamatheus for supporting the fanfiction! You are amazing!!

The rest of the train ride had gone by slowly. Ochaco had spent the time thinking about her meeting with Deku's mother and the things she had found out about him. She was still having a hard time grasping it all. If Midoriya's quirk only developed the previous year, he hadn't had much time to train it before applying for the hero course and he had still ranked seventh in the entrance exam. She admired him more and more for every day that passed, but she also couldn't help the anguish she felt on his behalf.

He hadn't outright told her, but judging from his nature and the way he reacted to Bakugo's presence, Ochaco was almost certain that he had been bullied. She had thought about it before, but now that she knew he hadn't always had a quirk, the probability was even higher. It would also explain his skittish nature and his lack of confidence. Kids could be horrible and she could only imagine the hardships he must have suffered for being born different. Sneaking a glance at her snoozing friend, Ochaco was relieved he had held on to his dream of becoming a hero.

He looked so peaceful when he was asleep, it was hard to believe that this was the same person who had nightmares and worked harder than anyone to fight the evil of the world. Ochaco's eyes lingered on his face while they sat. From here she could count his freckles and trace the outline of his jaw with her eyes. She had to admit that he was good-looking and possessed tons of boyish charm that made her knees weak. His fingers moved and made her look down at his hand that she was still holding and her eyes found their way to the scars on his right hand and forearm. The brunette didn't want to think about how he had gained all his scars, so she checked the time and began waking him up instead.

"Deku-kun?" She whispered and tapped his shoulder a few times. His eyelids fluttered open and locked onto hers and for a moment Ochaco forgot what she was doing, but then he blinked and ended her trance.

"Hm?" Deku brought a hand up and rubbed his face tiredly.

"We have to get off soon, so I thought I would wake you." Ochaco explained and watched as he rolled his shoulders a few times.

"Thanks." He muttered and closed his eyes again, breathing deeply. Ochaco was afraid he was falling asleep again, but then Midoriya took a deep breath and stretched as best as he could in the small space they were occupying.

"Strange, I don't even remember falling asleep." He smiled sheepishly and scratched his head. Looking up at the brunette beside him, Izuku noticed that their hands were still in contact. His fingers were half-curled around Uraraka's smaller ones, but she made no move to remove them so Izuku left his hand where it was, trying his best not to short-circuit.

"You only slept for 20 minutes." Uraraka replied and caught his attention. She sounded distracted; Izuku thought and looked at her curiously. She was looking down at her lap with the same troubled expression she had been wearing for the past few hours.

"Is something wrong?" Izuku wanted to know. He hoped he hadn't offended her or said anything rude, but he wasn't sure what it could have been. Maybe she was feeling troubled because he dragged her to his house and had her meet his mom on such short notice or maybe he hadn't been a very good host?

"I don't know..." Uraraka replied and looked up at him. She looked as though something was on her mind and he was just about to ask if it had been something he had said, when their stop was announced over the speakers.

Frowning, Izuku got up and walked over to the automatic doors with Uraraka trailing behind him. The train slowly came to a stop and the doors opened, letting the two students out onto the platform where other passengers boarded. It would take them around 15 minutes to walk back to their dorm, but the sun hadn't set yet, so Izuku thought it would be easier to talk somewhere away from the dorm. He couldn't stand seeing her bothered by anything.