What a Tragedy

Chapter 15: Smiles to Fear

Am I posting this late when it'll probably blow up my phone in the morning? Yes. Will it be worth it? Absolutely. I hope you're excited for this chapter because when I asked for theories I didn't get that many. Eh whatever. I'll probably end up writing the next one late too. Sorry.
So Aizawa made an awful mistake if you all remember what happened at the mall in cannon. Please be kind guys, it is super late and I'm writing this instead of sleeping.
I procrastinate a lot okay?
Anyway, love you guys!

Enjoy~
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He didn't want to be here. He'd rather be anywhere but here. The sun beating down on him and his new yellow backpack strapped on his back as he walked around, self conscious of the small scars that showed up past the sleeves on his fingers and the ones up his neck that couldn't be hidden by clothing in Summer.

People were giving him weird looks, either because of the scars or the hoodie he didn't know, but it made him uncomfortable. Iida walked next to him on his left, not unlike a bodyguard, and was standing there like a giant. He hadn't questioned his choice in clothing, probably because he already knew why, but the others did.

"Midoriya-kun, why are you wearing a black hoodie in this heat?" Yaoyorozu walked up to him as the class began to gather. Aizawa wasn't there to help him. The man had left him to "socialize" with his new classmates after he dropped him off, leaving instructions to Iida that they should "have fun".

Hypocrite.

For some reason, doubted that most of these kids knew sign language, and he didn't feel like exerting the extra effort to pull his notebook from his bag and waste paper. "I like this hoodie," He responded in a quiet raspy voice that she had to lean in to hear.

"Well, alright. But if you get too hot I'm sure we could find you a normal shirt. Okay?" She said.

Izuku nodded to her concern, feeling his face flush a little. They were all so kind.

As time went by, more students showed up. Todoroki couldn't come because he was visiting his mother and Bakugo wasn't there either. Something about not wanting to be seen in public with shitty extras. Whatever that meant.

Ururaka expressed the same concern as Yaoyorozu in his choice of clothes, but he'd been quick to ease her worry with the same response he'd given the others.

Once everyone was there Iida stood at the front of them and started working on a way to get everyone organized. That was when Ururaka and Izuku were left behind together. Izuku, who was only there to "socialize", was left behind by the people he was supposed to be socializing. Whatever. At least Ururaka was still with him.

She shrugged and they started walking around the base level of the mall. It was a crowded day and all the faces were beginning to blend together in Izuku's mind. As he was trying to work out his growing migraine, Ururaka took that time to ask a question that had probably been on a few people's mind.

"Hey, Midoriya?" Izuku stopped to look over at her and saw she had stopped walking and was now staring at the ground in front of her feet with a concentrated look, brow furrowed thoughtfully and eyes sharp. "Why don't you ever smile?"

Izuku's brain stopped working for a moment before his mind caught up with what exactly she just said. He frowned in confusion.

"You never smile. Even when you seem to be in a good mood, you never even give a small one. It's like you don't even know how. Or is it because you don't like us?" She asked.

Ururaka finally looked up at him, tears pricked at her eyes at the mere thought that Izuku would hate her, patiently waiting for his answer, even though it looked like his answer would hurt her.

Izuku frantically shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't like them, they were fine. It was just that he didn't really know how to talk to people. He'd never had friends before, at least from everything he remembered. Bakugo's blow up the other day coming to mind before he quickly pushed it back again to focus on what was going on. He just didn't think he deserved all these nice people. No one has ever been this nice to him before leaving.

He had to show her that it wasn't her fault.

This had to be worth the paper, right? Izuku frantically pulled out his notebook and flipped to a blank page while Ururaka stood there confused. Grabbing at the pencil in the side pocket of his backpack he started writing.

"I don't hate you, I swear! I don't hate any of you! I just don't know how I should react. You're all being so kind to me. I don't think I even can smile. It's not you I swear. I'm just weird."

Ururaka read the note as he face contorted with shock and then morphed to confusion. "You... don't know how to smile?"

Izuku shrugged his shoulders and let his arm hang limp with the notebook in hand.

"But..-but that's awful!" She exclaimed, making him flinch in surprise. "How can you not know how to smile? Haven't you ever been happy before?" She looked desperate. "Here. Try with me." Ururaka put her index fingers to the side of her mouth and she smiled, showing her white teeth.

Brows furrowed, Izuku tucked the pencil into his pocket and the notebook under his arm and copied her movements. It must not have looked right because the girl frowned at his attempt. Izuku gave up and settled his face into a grimace. He whispered a small apology and looked down at the ground.

The only noise was the sound of the bustling people around them. Normal people. People who didn't have a problem with being happy. People who could smile freely like Ururaka and Yamada and Nezu. Why couldn't he do that too? Why was it so hard? Maybe it was just because he was weird.

"Midoriya-kun." Ururaka's voice was flat, but he could almost hear the determination. He looked up to see it on her face. "Don't worry! I'll make you smile!"

The shock must've shown on his face because the determination only grew.

"You wait here! I'm gonna go found something that'll be sure to make you smile! Don't move!" And just like that Izuku was left alone.

Even with all the people around, he felt even more lonely.

Izuku shifted his feet uncomfortably and held his now closed notebook to his chest with his eyes cast onto the ground. He really shouldn't have come here. Why was Aizawa so insistent that he hang out with these people. They were kind, but he didn't really know how to react.

With his mind lost in his thoughts, and his headache slowly growing, he didn't notice the person next to him until an arm was draped over his shoulders and a raspy rough voice in his ear made his blood chill.

"Hey brat, funny seeing you here after you ditched us," A familiar voice said. Izuku didn't think he'd ever felt more rigid and cold in his life.

Suddenly, the beating sun didn't matter and his headache was the least of his problems.