Work Text:
An 11 year old boy with a wild mess of curly green hair on his head stood in front of the door to an old abandoned building. The forest was in the process of reclaiming the building, vines crawling along the walls and in through broken windows. Once upon a time it probably stood in a clearing, but now the trees were leaning inward, stretching their branches to take advantage of the space. It looked like it used to be a western style house, but it didn't make sense for a house to be here. He was deep in a forest and there was no driveway or even foot path leading here. He and the others had trooped through the forest for over half an hour to get here.
Midoriya Izuku looked back at the other boys, the three of them smirking. The blonde one started scowling instead when Izuku looked at him. “Hurry it up, Deku!”
Izuku looked back at the building, hiding his grimace. The reaching tree limbs cast sinister shadows over the building, giving it an ominous air that was enhanced by the slowly gathering storm clouds. He really did need to hurry if he wanted to finish this and get back home before the rain started. He squared his shoulders, put on a brave face, and entered the supposedly haunted building.
The haunted nature of this building was definitely something the others had just made up to scare him, he was sure. Tsubasa had said that he'd heard rumors about it and that was how they knew where it was, but Izuku knew he was lying. They'd most likely just stumbled across it one day and had the idea to have 'Deku' go in. They just wanted him to get scared so they could tease him for believing in ghosts. But he didn't believe in ghosts, so it wouldn't work.
The door slammed shut behind Izuku with a crash, the boy nearly jumping out of his skin. Whirling around, he saw through a window one of the three boys running away from the house back to the other two. He had followed Izuku to the building then slammed the door, but since Izuku saw him it didn't scare him into thinking the house might actually be haunted. Not that he would have thought that if he hadn't seen the other boy. He had only jumped because of the sudden loud noise. Having been Kacchan's favorite 'punching bag' for years he would probably always jump at sudden bangs, even if they weren't explosions like the blonde's quirk.
Through the bay window that he could see the outside of the door, so on a hunch he took a look. Sure enough, there was a rope tied to the two door handles, which would keep the door from opening. Of course a house this size would have a backdoor, so it wasn't like Izuku was trapped. Worst come to worst and they blocked the backdoor too, he could just climb out a window. Not really a problem, but if he had panicked and tried the door, it might have been scary. Not because he would be trapped in a haunted house, it was just the idea of being trapped in general. Izuku didn't believe in ghosts.
Glass shattered deeper in the house.
Izuku whipped his head around so fast he felt a twinge of pain. All three of the other boys were still outside, so how could they have caused that? No no no. He shook his head vigorously as if trying to shake the thought loose, but had to stop quickly when his neck protested. The slamming door must have knocked over something balanced precariously. Or the wind. The leaves on the trees outside were starting to blow harder, the wind picking up in prelude to the storm. A gust of wind might have caused the house to shift, knocking something over.
The clouds were also getting thicker and closer, darkening the sky and the house. He did have a small flashlight with him, but it would make things more difficult if he was forced to rely on it. Not to mention slower.
'Just get this over with, Izuku. Quickly, before the storm comes in.'
Izuku had barely taken three steps into the house before a floorboard creaked in protest beneath his foot. Izuku groaned in dismay, offering up a prayer in hopes that this house didn't have a basement he might fall into. Or need to explore.
Another floorboard creaked, but he wasn't moving. Izuku looked to his left, where the sound had come from. There was a door in that direction, but no one was there and the door was closed. Of course no one was there. It was just the wind pushing against the old building causing the wood to flex and groan.
'Just the wind.'
With no other ideas for where to look, Izuku started in that direction, looking around the entry room and rubbing his sore neck as he went. He didn't know enough about big houses to know the proper name for the room. Certainly not western style houses like this one. There wasn't much in the room, just some small pieces of furniture. Just enough to keep it from feeling empty. He didn't know if that was normal for this sort of room. Keeping the entryway uncluttered made sense to him.
Through the doorway he found a study. It was so stereotypical that he knew immediately that was what it was, looking as if it was ripped from the set of a movie or TV show. There was a big, sturdy looking desk made out of some dark wood. A big, comfy looking chair behind it was turned partway out to make sitting down easier. Against the wall were two bookshelves filled with big, difficult looking books. And finally, a big, old-fashioned looking fireplace between the two shelves.
Izuku walked in, moving over to run his hand across the desk. It felt smooth and cool to the touch. It was a nice desk. Very heavy though, an experimental push had failed to budge it an inch. The single pen holder with three plain pens in it only brought more attention to how bare the surface of the desk was. The hinges of the door creaked and Izuku's head whipped in that direction, causing another twinge of pain. The door hadn't shut completely, but he had definitely left it wide open and now it was nearly closed. The moment he turned his back on the fireplace to reopen the door the metal grate rattled, causing him to jump and whip around again. A low moaning sound made him stumble backwards, accidentally pushing the door the rest of the way shut.
At the click he turned and frantically grabbed the handle, mind already filling with images of being locked in the room, unable to get out. To his surprise and immense relief, the door opened without issue. This allowed him to calm down enough to think things through. It was just the wind. The moaning sound had been the wind blowing over the chimney, like blowing across the top of a glass bottle. The grate had rattled because the wind had moved it. And the draft had been what pushed the door partway shut. Of course the door had opened no problem, because ghosts weren't real and doors didn't lock themselves.
'Just the wind. It's just the wind, Izuku.'
Taking a deep breath to finish steadying himself, Izuku walked back to the desk. He ran his fingers across it again, walking past to look at the bookshelves. From a distance they looked like boring books and up close wasn't much different. No decoration, just a flat, dull color and simple title on the spine. He frowned as he looked from one shelf to the other. There were repeats. Completely identical books, the same size, color, and title. And none of the books had the author's name on the spine. Curious, he pulled one out. The front and back covers were equally boring, the latter totally blank, the former with just the title again. He flipped it open to a random page.
It was completely blank. He thumbed through the pages quickly to confirm, there wasn't a single word written on any of the pages. He put the book back and pulled out another one. It was the same, every page was totally blank. He checked a random selection of books from both bookshelves to be certain. Not one drop of ink inside any of them. Izuku slid the last one back onto the bookshelf, huffing out a confused breath. What was the point of so many blank books? And why did they have titles?
He stood there puzzling over it for a while but couldn't come up with anything. A low rumble from outside caught his attention, reminding him he didn't have time to waste. If thunder was starting to rumble he didn't have much time before the rain started to fall. If it hadn't already started to fall. There weren't any windows in this room for him to check. Izuku considered that the other boys probably would have left by now, not wanting to be caught out in the rain. But if he left empty handed... Izuku shuddered at the thought. They were bad enough already, no point giving them something new to tease him about.
The drawers in the desk appeared to be as empty as the books, a quick rifle through them revealing nothing. Nothing, except for in the last drawer. Izuku was in the process of closing the drawer when he heard something small clatter inside, the quickness of his movement having shifted whatever was inside. He pulled it back open and found a small key. The lock it went to was no great mystery. In addition to the drawers, the desk had a pair of cabinets, one of which had the expected slot for his find.
Unlocking the cabinet and pulling it open, Izuku found another book. The exact same type of book as the ones on the shelves. Simple title, dull cover, no author.
'In fact... .'
Izuku looked back at the left bookshelf. While looking through the books earlier he had noticed a gap but hadn't thought anything of it at the time. Now that he was thinking about it, it was a little strange that there was a gap when everything else was so neat and orderly. The boy picked the book up. Why was this one removed from the shelf and locked away? He flipped it open and inhaled sharply. There was writing inside.
The book was hardly filled, not even the first quarter of pages had anything written on them. But every page that was written on started the same way. With a number and a month. It was a diary, apparently written with whatever was available. His curiosity getting the better of him, Izuku sat down to read. A few things quickly became apparent. First, it was written by a girl. The first entry, dated February 11th, mentioned it having been the girl's 11th birthday, making her the same age as him. That was nearly enough to make stop reading as quickly as he had started, his whole face turning red at the thought of reading a girl's diary. He pushed through his embarrassment though, still curious about the house and whoever had lived here. It helped that the house had been abandoned for a long time, so whoever wrote the diary would be much older by now. The second thing he noticed was that the girl apparently liked to write morose poetry. That was, however, explained by the third thing.
The girl did not live a happy life. Half of the description of her birthday was familiar to Izuku. The part about not having any friends there to celebrate it with. But Izuku had always had his mom, at least. The girl's parents were not nice people. They had shouted at her on her birthday, accusing her of being the reason they were unhappy. And it wasn't just on her birthday. There wasn't an entry for everyday in the diary, but the harsh words of the girl's parents were a common topic. And it seemed like the girl believed them. The last entry ended with her asking if everyone would be happier if she was gone.
Izuku shut the diary, feeling slightly nauseous. At some point it had stopped being curiosity that kept him reading, but a need to know what had happened to the girl that went through something so similar to him. Too bad he didn't like the answer. He sniffed and rubbed at his eyes briefly, deciding he was going to hug his mom when he got home. In the meantime, he needed to find something to satisfy Kacchan and the others and Izuku didn't feel right taking the diary. Distracted by his own thoughts, Izuku didn't put the book back in the desk, but rather slipped it into the gap on the bookshelf.
A rapid knocking sound came from the other bookshelf. Izuku turned to look and his eyes immediately widened. One of the books was vibrating up and down, making the knocking sound when it hit the shelf. More knocking, this time from the shelf in front of him. Another book was vibrating and Izuku slowly backed away, eyes so wide it felt like they could just fall out of his skull. “Wh-what's going on?”
Izuku's question went unanswered of course, but more books started vibrating on the shelves. It occurred to Izuku to run, but the door slammed shut and with an audible click, locked. Nearly a dozen books were shaking now, their knocking a cacophonous noise. Then suddenly, they flew from the shelf. Like some sort of demented birds, the moving books flapped their pages as they flew about the room. For the most part they left Izuku alone, but one at a time the books would bump into him. They didn't hit hard, but Izuku still covered his head and ran for the door. He grabbed the lock and tried to open it but it was stuck fast, unwilling to turn. Panic erupted within him, Izuku banging on the door. “H-help! Somebody help!”
The books clattered to the floor all at once. The lock clicked open. Izuku yanked the door open and ran. The front door was tied shut so he didn't even try it, running across the hallway. He through the door open, just a large bedroom, no way out. Continued running brought him to a big room with another fireplace. There was another room past that without a door between them, he could-
“W-wait!”
The voice of a young girl called out to him. Izuku froze so quickly he nearly stumbled over his own feet. It felt like his heart had stopped beating and he certainly wasn't breathing. He turned stiffly, looking to the voice. Behind him, half hidden by a wall, was a girl that looked to be the same age as him. She had silver hair and the hand he could see was held before her, her elbow at her side and bent 90 degrees.
'The ghost! It's actually the ghost of the girl that wrote the diary!' Izuku was starting to feel light headed, like he was about to pass out.
“I am very sorry, I did not mean to scare you so much.” The ghost's voice was soft to the point that it was difficult to hear her over the storm outside. The storm Izuku was fully prepared to run out into to get away from her. But his feet wouldn't move.
“Y-you did th-that? With the b-books?” A pointless question, of course the ghost had done it. But while Izuku's panic fueled brain may have been racing a mile a minute none of the thoughts in his head were being directed to his mouth to form a useful sentence. Like apologizing for reading her diary or begging for mercy.
“Yes. My quirk allows me to move objects with my mind. I am very sorry, I was just trying to have some fun.”
And suddenly Izuku could breathe again. Of course. She wasn't a ghost. She was a real live person with a telekinetic quirk. He should have known better. His own mother had a quirk like that. Kacchan and the others must have recruited her. They found a kid with a quirk suited to their prank and gotten her to agree to help put 'Deku' in his place. Now she was going to find them and tell them all about how 'Deku's afraid of ghosts' and then he would be teased about it forever.
“Are you unwell?”
The girl's question suddenly alerted Izuku to the fact that this time his brain had connected to his mouth, but without a filter it had still failed to form something useful. Instead he had just been muttering again, loud enough for her to hear but apparently to low for her understand. Now she was going to get upset with him for that. Maybe if he apologized first, she'd brush past it. “I-I'm fine. Just talking to myself. Sorry. I know it's creepy.”
For some reason, the girl seemed to be happy. It wasn't showing on her face, she wasn't smiling or anything, but when she spoke her tone sounded happy, just a little. “I don't mind. I am often called creepy as well. My name is Yanagi Reiko. What's yours?”
Izuku's gaze snapped to hers and she flinched slightly. She didn't know who he was? Then had Kacchan not put her up to this? She had apologized twice after all, which was something Izuku was pretty sure she wouldn't be doing if she had scared him intentionally. It could have just been another part of the trick, but she sounded genuine. “I'm Midoriya Izuku.”
“It's nice to meet you, Midoriya. Why did you come to this place?” As she spoke, Yanagi came further out from behind the wall. There was still a fair bit of distance between them, but they were facing each other directly without any obstacles now. Izuku could see that she had her other arm held like the first.
At this point Izuku was fairly certain she hadn't been put up to this by Kacchan. He took a few steps forward to make talking to Yanagi easier. “My friend Kacchan and the others brought me here. It's like a test of courage, I guess. And I have to find something interesting to show them as proof that I actually looked around. Why are you here?”
“My cousin, her friends, and I are going to play a game. I came in first to look around and get ready. Then I'm going to try to scare them when they come in. I scared you as a practice run and because I was bored. I have been waiting for my friends for a while now.”
She was waiting on her cousin and friends? But there hadn't been anyone else outside when Izuku had arrived with the others. Were they around back? That didn't make much sense though, the path led to the front. The two groups should have seen each other. Unless... just how long had Yanagi been waiting for? Was she actually a-
“About an hour.”
Izuku's thoughts sputtered to halt. “W-what?”
“You asked how long I have been waiting in this abandoned place for.” He had been muttering his thoughts aloud without meaning to again, and this time he was close enough for Yanagi to understand him and respond. “It has been about an hour.” Yanagi looked off to the side, her gaze downward. Izuku recognized the look of sadness and loneliness on her face. He had made the same expression many times. “I know they have likely already left me behind. I am used to it.”
It sounded just like how Kacchan treated him, if less violent. Izuku wanted to cheer her up. “Your quirk was super cool! My mom can move objects with her mind too, but she can only bring things to her. You were moving those books all over the place!”
Yanagi looked back at Izuku. She giggled a little at his enthusiasm, but didn't look put off by him being a quirk nerd. “Thank you. It's a lot of fun and I enjoy using my quirk very much. What about you?” Oh no. He was an idiot. Of course if he brought her quirk up she'd ask about his. “Did you inherit a quirk like you mother's?” She sounded so hopeful for that. “Or maybe your father's quirk?”
For the hundredth time, Izuku considered lying. Whenever he met someone new there was the option always presented itself. He could say he had a quirk. Something very minor and impossible to demonstrate on demand. But as always, he decided against it. Heroes don't lie. And if he was going to become a hero despite not having a quirk he had to accept his quirklessness. He had to own it.
It would have been nice to be friends with Yanagi though. For a while, at least. “N-neither. I don't- I don't have a quirk.”
Izuku held his breath, waiting for her reaction. It would be one of three. Best case scenario, pity. More often, condescension or disgust. “Oh.” That was it. She didn't pull away, she didn't make a face or anything. Just a simple sound of surprise. “Would you like to see the other scary tricks I made?”
“S-sure?”
Izuku's confusion went unnoticed by the silver haired girl as she stepped forward quickly. She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him along. She let go quickly, just a few steps later, but the feeling of her touch persisted. The only person who ever touched him without trying to hurt him was Izuku's mom. Izuku trailed behind the excited girl as she showed him everything while he waited for the other shoe to drop. They went into the kitchen where she showed him the glass she had dropped when he first came in, the bedroom where a mop and coat were moved together to look like a person when glimpsed indirectly, upstairs to see the crack in the floor she saw into the study through to use her quirk and many other things. And the other shoe never dropped. The whole time she had a slight smile and she talked excitedly, happy that someone was showing such interest in her quirk. Once he relaxed a bit he even offered her a few ideas and instead of getting mad at him for 'saying he knew how to use her quirk better than her' she got even more excited and thanked him for the ideas.
“U-um, Yanagi. That diary in the study. You wrote it?”
“Indeed I did, Midoriya. To make it scarier I wanted to tell a story about a girl that died full of regrets.”
“I see. So you- that is, everything you wrote. You made it up?”
“Yes, of course, why do you- oh.” Yanagi's eyes widened slightly, then she smiled softly again. “Thank you for your concern, Modirya.” Izuku blushed at so easily being seen through. “Yes, I made up the contents of the diary. While it is true I do not have very many friends, my parents and I love each other dearly.”
Izuku's blush softened as he scratched the back of his head. “I see. Sorry. I was just... yeah.”
Yanagi took it easy on him and changed the subject. “It seems the storm in still going strong. I've shown you everything but if you agree we can wait it out here. I enjoy talking with you, Midoriya.”
Izuku blushed again. His mom would be super mad if he got home that late, but... “I- I would like that, Yanagi. I enjoy talking with you, t-too.”
They talked and talked, but eventually the storm and their time came to an end. Yanagi didn't live in the area but her parents and her came to Musutafu to visit her aunt every Sunday. The two agreed to meet at the abandoned house each week.
Years passed for the two one week at a time. They talked about everything on those days, family, friends or lack there of, troubles, and most of all their shared dream of becoming heroes. When they each got a phone those weekly chats became daily.
When Izuku began his training with All Might they couldn't talk as much. Izuku was simply too busy to text all day long and his training continued on Sundays, meaning he couldn't meet with her at the abandoned house. Yanagi was very understanding and encouraged him the whole time, which did make Izuku feel bad about not telling her about All Might and One for All. But he had promised to keep it secret so he would.
And finally, it was time for his first day at UA.
“And you name is Midoriya... Deku, right?”
“Deku!?” A surge of panic shot through Izuku. Why was she calling him that? UA was supposed to be different from highschool, he had a quirk now! Did he really still come off as useless? Sure his quirk hurt him when he used it, but he just hadn't learned to control it yet.
“Hmm? Is that not it? That Bakugo guy called you that.”
Izuku let out a sigh of relief. Uraraka wasn't trying to be mean. She just didn't understand what it meant and thought it was actually his name. “A-ah. My real name is Midoriya Izuku. 'Deku' is just Kacchan being a bully.”
Izuku was standing just outside the main door of UA, along with his new friend Iida Tenya and Uraraka Ochako, who had just joined the two boys. Izuku had stopped here to wait for someone and Iida had obliged him. Uraraka was in the middle of apologizing to him for getting his name wrong when a quiet voice spoke from just behind him. “Izuku.”
His two new friends jumped in surprise at the sudden intrusion, but Izuku simply turned to the familiar voice, a smile lighting up his face. “Reiko!”
Izuku was aware that Yanagi Reiko was an unusual woman. Maybe not in comparison to women with heteromorphic quirks, which were often accompanied by quirky personalities as well, but Reiko had quite a few eccentric characteristics to her. Most immediately visible was the way she held her arms, elbows by her sides with her hands dangling in front of her like a ghost. She was quiet most of the time, but when she started speaking in her soft voice she was quite wordy and old fashioned in her way of speaking. She wasn't very good at showing her emotions, though Izuku had gotten very good at reading her expressions over the years.
Right now though, anyone could see the joy sparkling in her one visible blue eye despite the heavy bag beneath it, her small mouth turned slightly upwards in a smile. She was the most amazing and beautiful person he had ever met. It still seemed unbelievable that she made expressions like that for him. That just seeing him could make her so happy.
“It brings much joy to my heart to see you here, wearing that uniform, Izuku.”
Izuku chuckled softly, smiling at the silver haired girl. “You were there with me when I opened my acceptance letter.”
“Indeed. Yet my heart refused to fully accept it until seeing you now. I confess, I also grew worried when I did not see you at the orientation speech.”
Izuku chuckled slightly. Even now he still wasn't fully convinced he was in UA's hero course. “Our homeroom teacher made us skip the speech to do a quirk assessment test instead.”
Reiko's eyes widened and her gaze immediately dropped down to his arms before locking onto his bandaged finger. He felt a gentle tugging on the wristband he wore. Reiko would never pull hard enough to move him against his will, but he didn't try to resist as she used her quirk to lift his hand to hers. She grabbed his hand gently, careful of his finger. She had a frown on her face. “Izuku... .”
“I-it's not so bad. I was able to limit the damage and Recovery Girl fixed me up. The bandage is just for caution's sake.”
Reiko chose not to respond, simply frowning as she looked at his hand and gently rubbing his palm with her thumbs. While it was great progress from the entrance exam, she wished he didn't need to hurt himself at all. The two stayed like that for a moment before there was a cough from behind Izuku.
“I am sorry to interrupt, but perhaps introductions are in order, Midoriya.”
Izuku jumped, apparently just now remembering they were in public, Reiko letting go of his hand so he could turn around. “A-ah. Right, sorry.” Izuku cleared his throat and tried to fight down his blush. “Uh, Reiko, these are Iida Tenya and Uraraka Ochako, they're in Class 1A with me. Iida, Uraraka, this is Yanagi Reiko, my girlfriend. She's in class 1B.”
“Oh. It is a pleasure to meet you, Yanagi.” Iida's greeting was echoed by Uraraka, the tall boy giving a small bow, the brunette waving cheerily.
Reiko gave a small bow in return, her hands staying in front of her. “It is likewise a pleasure to meet the both of you. I am certain that anyone Izuku would befriend so quickly will be someone whose company I will find pleasant as well. Indeed, I- oh. Are you not the one who spoke on Izuku's behalf after the entrance exam?” Reiko looked directly at Uraraka, recognizing her from the video in Izuku's acceptance letter. She bowed again to the other girl saying, “I offer you my deepest gratitude for your kindness.”
Reiko watched as Uraraka blushed, waving her hands back and forth. “It's not a big deal. It didn't do anything anyway.”
Reiko shook her head slightly. “Regardless of the necessity, your intentions and willingness to sacrifice your own points for his sake speak volumes of your character.”
Uraraka was clearly preparing to downplay her actions again, so Reiko readied herself to counter any denial she might make. Before that became necessary however, Iida spoke up. “So Midoriya, I assume when you asked to wait for someone you were speaking of Yanagi?” Her boyfriend nodded in affirmation, so Iida continued, “We had best be off then. Best not to linger on campus too long.”
They all agreed with the tallest of them. When he turned towards the gate, Izuku offered her his elbow, allowing her to hook her arm with his without having to move her arm from how she normally held it. As they walked, the other three began talking about the test their teacher had put them through, and how they and their other classmates had done. Reiko only commented or asked for more details occasionally. She was more content to listen to her boyfriend's relaxed, happy tone, something she normally only heard when Izuku was speaking with his mother or Reiko herself.
Reiko lifted the arm linked with Izuku's, turning her hand inward to hold onto his bicep as they walked. She tilted her head as well, resting it on the shoulder that had grown much more muscular over that last year. Izuku gained the lightest hint of a blush at the public display of affection, but she knew he did not mind. They had both learned not to carry the burden of others' opinions.
They might be weird, but they loved each other even more for it.