Capítulo 3: Touchdown lights out
The last bell of the day rings overhead. A boy with a mop of messy green hair quickly stuffs his notebooks and pencil case into his bag, pushes in his chair and swings the bag up over his shoulder. He makes it two steps before a hand comes down on his shoulder, wrenching him to a stop. Looking up, his gaze meets another's shielded by square glasses.
"Where are you off to so quickly?" Asks a curious Iida Tenya.
"Yeah!" Cheers a bubbly brunette. "It's the weekend, time to slow down a little."
Izuku Midoriya blushes slightly at the brunette's attention. He pivots and faces his new friends; Iida retracting his hand from the smaller boy. "I'm sorry! I've got to go meet someone at the airport today. Their flight lands with hardly enough time for me to get there before them!"
"Oh," frowns the brunette, sitting up in her chair from a lounged position. She glances at the girl with green hair and sleepy eyes to the left. "I was hoping we could all hang out after classes today." She drops her gaze to hands, fidgeting with her nails. A boy with white and red hair joins the small circle between Iida and Tsuyu.
"It's alright Midoriya. We can meet up after you pick them up." Croaks Tsuyu. "It would give us time to go home and change first."
Ochako perks up, rising to her feet. "Yeah! We could all meet up at a coffee shop then go to an arcade!"
"I cant!" Izuku squeaks out loudly. The other group that gathered across the room looks over with interest. "I promised her I'd show her around and help her get a train pass and a sim card for her phone so she can use it while she's visiting."
"Ah, well if that's the case-"
"Wait, you have a girlfriend, Midoriya!?" A pink-haired girl calls out from the other group, all of them having turned to listen in, her chair squealing across the floor when she quickly stands, slapping her hands down on a desk beside her.
A blush sprouts across Midoriya's cheeks and spreads down his neck. His hands come up in a surrender and wave wildly. "Ch-Charlotte isn't my girlfriend! She's a very good friend from o-overseas and she's visiting for the week while her school is on s-spring break!"
"Overseas? Midoriya, how did you meet her?" Iida asks, pressing his glasses up his nose further.
"Well," the boy shifts from side to side, hand ruffling the hair on the back of his head. "We first started talking on an All Might forum. She messaged me first, saying she'd seen my username on a lot of other videos she's watched, and wanted to know my opinion on a video that someone recently posted. We kinda kept talking from there and now she's going to be staying at my house for the week."
It takes a second for it to sink in before questions burst forth from the remaining students in the classroom.
"How do you know she's real-"
"-Internet is full of danger-"
"-A total babe-"
"-have you been talking to-"
"-is she from-"
Midoriya's face gets darker as he's bombarded with questions coming at him with such a rapid fire that he hardly has time to process them, much less have the time to answer. Thankfully, a saving grace, his phone alarm goes off, effectively cutting everyones talking off as the theme song for the animated kids show about All Might goes off at full volume. He's quick to pull it from his pants pocket and shuts off the alarm. Stuffing it back into its pocket, he turns from his classmates.
"I've got to go, I'm gonna miss the train!"
"Wait, Midoriya-" Iida's hand is back on his shoulder holding him back. "This is serious, they-"
"They might be some creepy old guy who likes teenagers!" Mina Ashido interrupts him again.
Midoriya shakes his head. "They aren't, I promise. I've seen their school ID and their passport." He purposely doesn't mention the accidental cake photo.
Ochako steps around to his other side, a tentative hand taping his other shoulder. "At least send us a picture when you meet up with them, so we know you're safe."
Midoriya grins widely and nods. "I will."
She steps aside with a small smile. "Then hurry up! You're gonna miss the train."
The boy blanches and launches out the door, leaving behind classmates curiously asking each other questions, opinions and fantasizing in general about the boy's overseas acquaintance.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The green-haired boy is out of breath when he steps through the sliding doors of the airport. He had just barely caught the train, which then ended up being slightly delayed because of a small villain skirmish that ended up crossing the tracks in front of them. Thankfully the train didn't sideswipe the hero in pursuit of them. The conductor ended up announcing that the hero was successful in their capture a few minutes later, the riders giving a small round of applause.
Then on the rest of the walk to the airport, he managed to hit every red walk sign along the way. Midoriya doesn't think he's ever been so antsy to have the crosswalk change to green as he has been today. But thankfully he's made it.
He quickly moves to the escalator and climbs the stairs to get him up to the next level faster. There's signs to follow around to the left if you're meeting someone arriving and he trails after them, pulling his phone from his pocket. It's 4:32pm, her plane should have touched down about 15 minutes ago.
Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, he pulls his bag from his shoulder and unzips it. Carefully pressed between two notebooks he pulls out a small sign made on card stock. He chucks his phone into his bag before pulling it back up onto his shoulder.
The sign is decorated with Charlotte's first and last name in bright reds, blues and silvers, to match All Might's costume color scheme. Hopefully she likes it as much as he does. He takes another deep breath and nervously smiles. Any minute. Any minute and he's gonna be able to meet his online best friend for the first time in the real world. Excitement is bouncing around his stomach and his hands clench the sign, crumpling the edges slightly.
A small crowd starts to flood past him, glad to be off the plane and in air fresher than that of the circulated air of the cabin. So when people pass by and no one excitedly comes up to him, his smile slightly falters and the words of his classmates filter into his thoughts. What if his classmates were right, and it was this creepy old man wanting him for… He shakes his head. Best not to think about that, because it isn't true. He's had proof shown to him that she is who she said she is.
Though, maybe he missed a text while he was in class and in his excitement to get here, just didn't see the notification at the bottom of the screen? He snakes his hand under his arms, making sure to keep the sign held up and fishes for his phone. Snagging the edge, he pulls at the case with his nails and frees it, flipping it around so it's right side up and unlocking the screen.
No new messages, not since this morning where he responded to her saying she was boarding the plane and how nervous she was about flying. Now that he thinks about it, maybe he shouldn't have given her crash statistics. He slides his phone into the side pocket of his bag, eyes darting to the multiple big screen TVs along the edge of the ceiling. Having memorized her flight number and her landing time, quickly skips around the screen until he sees the plane she should have been on. PDX-KTA 935 - Arrived @ 4:28pm - Currently unloading passengers.
A voice speaking in English echoes above the noise of the bustling people. An airport worker with a voice enhancing quirk is descending the stairs a group of people who looked like possible foreigners - and tired travelers - trailing behind her. She's talking about baggage claim, bus stops, taxis and if someone needs more help, the international desk down at the far end can answer any questions or concerns. She says "Welcome to Japan!" with a small bow, effectively signaling the end of the short tour she hosted.
Maybe she's with these people? All of them look like tourists and are all paired up and chatting with others as they disperse from the big group to get to their next destination. Some of them heading straight out the exit doors, while some trail over to the baggage claim.
A girl with light blond hair that's cropped to her shoulders separates from the crowd, a backpack over her right shoulder and a roller suitcase in her left hand. Her phone is clutched in her hand, looking down at it. She glances to my right, eyes skimming the baggage claim and towards the exit doors with a heavy frown. Maybe… Is that…? Her eyes connect to his, feeling him looking at her before they drop down to the sign he's clutching to his chest; his fingers dig into the paper and crush the edges further.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
A lady with a voice boosting quirk leads a handful of people from my flight towards the entrance of the airport, talking about baggage claim, transportation and where to go if you'd need more help before leaving the airport. A frustrated couple immediately makes their way to the help desk at the mention of it, before the guide even gets half-way through her welcoming us to Japan.
The other passengers disperse from the slight tour guide's dismissal, and I'm left standing alone. I pull my phone out and unlock it. No new messages, but I shot off a quick one to my parents that the plane landed safely with the terminal's wi-fi. Hopefully Izuku is still going to pick me up, otherwise I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Blowing my bangs up out of the way and I look around the floor again. My eyes catch on a green haired boy looking directly at me. His eyes grow wide and I glance down at the sign in his hands. It reads 'Charlotte Reed' in blue block letters, with detailed red and silver accenting it. Yellow Bunny ears popping off the 'C'.
A grin splits my cheeks, eyes no doubt mirroring his. The breath gets knocked out of me for a split second before I remember to breathe and a small squeal slips past my lips. He's here, he's here! And he's not some creepy old man trying to cat-fish me. Thank fuck. My feet do a quick little bunny hop - quick step of their own accord before pushing me quickly towards my best friend.
"Izuku!"
His cheeks flush and a small smile curls at the corners of his lips.
"C-Charlotte? Is that really you?" he stutters out as I close in.
I launch herself at the boy I've been talking to for what feels like years and envelop him in a tight hug. The sharp snap of the suitcase tipping over echoes through the terminal, drawing the eyes of other patrons. My force of impact makes him wheeze and we wobble backwards. He takes a step back to steady the both of us, his sneakers squeaking against the tile floor from the quick movement. The name sign pressed between us and no doubt bending.
He's stunned for a moment before he's quickly returning the hug with just as much gusto, arms wrapping around my middle, fingers clenching onto the material of my shirt, stretching the fibers out. I don't care though, cause I'm meeting my best friend! My arms are curled around his neck, chin resting on his shoulder with the biggest grin on my face that it starts to hurt.
We stand like that for a few moments and I give him a quick squeeze before pulling back to arms length and dropping down from my toes back onto my heels. I share a small chuckle with him, and I can feel my cheeks flushed pink with excitement. Izuku catches the sign before it falls to the ground.
"I'm so glad I get to finally meet you in person, Izuku!"
"M-me too!" He squeaks out, the biggest grin stretched across his face. "H-how was your flight?"
I take a step back and bend down to grab the fallen suitcase by the handle and turn towards the baggage claim roundabout. The crowd gathered around it had thinned out considerably and there were only a couple of suitcases left behind.
"It was alright. I took a short nap at the beginning and then watched a couple of movies on my phone I had downloaded before the flight." I say with a shrug and a smile.
"So, not too bad then?" Izuku rubs the back of his head. "No crashing then?"
I point, and we pad towards the round about and I look down the conveyor, spotting my bag coming towards us now. Perfect timing.
"No, thankfully. I also ended up getting lucky and didn't have someone sitting next to me so I was able to stretch out a bit more." I smile and step up to pull a large sunflower covered duffel bag off the conveyor. Grabbing it by the handles, I heave it off the belt before it coasts past us to make another round. It hits the floor and makes a noise almost as loud as when my suitcase hit the ground. Glancing up at Izuku, I smiled awkwardly. "I might have brought too many clothes."
Midoriya smiles and reaches out a hand. "I can take it, if you'd like? Switch me?" I nod once and he hefts it up onto his shoulder with his book bag, completely unbothered by the added weight. I blinked at his nonchalant reaction to the added weight, taking my name sign from his other hand.
"Man," I crack a grin and give his free arm a little mock punch, the boy tenses at the action briefly. I pull my backpack around and slide the name card in between the back wall and my laptop, then throw it back up my shoulder. "You weren't kidding about those workouts. All Might really put you through the ringer, huh?" The boy nods shyly, ruffling the hair on the back of his head, as we walk towards the entrance, my suitcase being dragged behind me.
"I still have to keep getting stronger, though. This first week of classes and seeing everyone else with so much more control over their quirk than me really makes me feel behind. I need to catch up if I'm ever going to be the number one hero after All Might." He fists a hand in front of his chest, eyes dropped to his feet.
I hum as we continue to walk out the terminal and down the street. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You did just get your quirk, right? So of course they have better control, they've had most of their lives to use it. I'm sure soon enough you'll be surpassing everyone."
Izuku takes a deep breath and smiles shyly, cheeks a slight rosy coloring. We make eye contact briefly, when we pause at the red crosswalk light. "I know. I just feel super far behind."
"Well, you'll be leagues ahead of me. I can't technically start utilizing my quirk for a few more years." I shake a fist at the sky with a scowl, before dissolving into giggles. A car honks. "Curse the US and their have-to-be-an-adult rules." We cross with a small group of people once it turns green.
Izuku tilts his head. "Did you not get into the exchange program? I thought you sent in a trial video and your scores at the beginning of February."
"Oh yeah. Of course I did." Izuku leads me under an awning and to a set of escalators into the train station. At the bottom we skirted over to the right most turn-styles. Izuku slips his train pass out of one of his uniform jacket's pocket and slaps it down on the style in front of me before doing his own. We both pass through easily enough but somehow my suitcase gets caught and Izuku ends up having to slap his train pass down on the turn-style again to get the suitcase through to our side.
"Sorry about that," I say, panting slightly from the struggle, as we walk across the platform and stop by a pillar labeled in tight kanji lettering. " I'll pay you back for having to tap me and my suitcase through."
He shakes his head with a smile, "It's alright. America has different ones right? I'm sure I'd get myself stuck in yours and my bag as well."
"Okay, fair point."
Train arriving at platform, next destination Mustafu an overhead speaker announces.
"That one's us, right?" I question because no matter how clear the announcement was in Japanese, a couple of the words sounded garbled.
"Yes." Izuku nods, "So, did no one get back to you? For the exchange program?"
I shrug as we wait on the platform for the train that's blowing through to come to a complete stop and open its door.
"I mean, yeah. France." I make a puking motion and he snickers at my gesture. "And then Russia, and I mean, love the snow and stuff but that's not gonna happen."
A cute little musical chord plays and the doors of the train pop open and we get shuffled inside alongside a couple other people. We stand to the left side of the door, the suitcase pressed between the sidewall and the back of my knees. Izuku stands in front of me, one hand holding the duffel bag in front of him and in between the two of us, the other resting above his head in one of the looped hand holds.
"It gets cold enough here, but I can't imagine how cold it gets in Russia. Plus all the hero's there and by default, villains, would have to have quirks and costumes that would benefit them in that environment."
"Yeah, that's true." I nodded. "I looked into the school statistics and the class sizes were small, like only fifty students per grade level. And the graduation rate of the students who actually become heroes is like ten, so they aren't pumping out heroes very fast. It makes sense why they have a high villain to crime ratio."
The train announces a stop with the pleasant jingle again and people shuffle towards the door as it slows down. It breaks hard, sending me sideways into the partition, my shoulder slamming into it. Izuku also gets jostled and another rider smacks into his back, forcing him to release the loop above him and slam his hand onto the wall behind my head.
Immediately the rider is frantically apologizing when we all regain our footing, bowing deeply multiple times while shuffling a few steps when they lifted out of the bow until they were clear of the doors. Izuku and I made eye contact once they scurried out of sight and giggled quietly to ourselves.
"Geez a second sooner and you would have slammed your hand right into my face. But, thank goodness, your reflexes have been getting better." I comment with a light smile. The train chimes and begins to move forward gently.
The boy rubs his cheek against his raised shoulder, the corner of his mouth curls upwards. "It looks like you might need some work though."
My jaw drops at the subtle diss before I'm laughing into the palm of my hand. "I suppose you're right. Maybe that's why Russia wanted me. So they'd be able to mold me into their perfect soldier." I straighten my spine and make a fist over my heart, face etched into a scowl and hold the pose. We both dissolve into more giggles when we make eye contact.
The train begins to slow again and the speaker system announces Shizuoka Prefecture and Izuku adjusts my duffel bag to be on his shoulder. "This is us."
I shift myself and my suitcase around to face the doors and have it right behind my heels so I can keep it close behind me when exiting. We get jostled slightly when the train comes to a complete stop and we both dive out the doors as soon as they open so we don't get sucked in with the mob of people boarding and end up getting stuck going down another stop.
We make our way up the escalator and out of the station into the open air and take a left to walk through the neighborhood sprouting up around the station.
Izuku clears his throat. "So that's a no to Russia - where are you gonna go then? Wait til college?"
I shrug. "Might just have to."
"If you stick with your training - I can even share with you my routine if you want - you could definitely be ahead of your classmates once you start…" And he gets quiet, mumbling under his breath. I can barely catch what he's saying, it's so quiet and quick, but I catch words like nutrition, supplements and adjusting it for my quirks needs and body type.
An "Oh wow." drops from my lips before I can stop it.
Izuku blinks and looks up at me as we round the corner to the right. "What is it?"
"You really do go off on tangents and start talking to yourself."
His entire face flushes deep red in a second. He cringes and covers his mouth with a hand and mumbles through it. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I'm trying to stop."
I laugh and smile. "Don't worry too much about it. I don't mind it. Heck, occasionally I just drift to another world and it takes a second to come back to this one. I'm sure you'll see it soon enough, and have to pull me back."
Our pathway drifts slightly to the left. There's a cat perched along a wall about waist high, intently staring at the birds chittering in a bird bath a few feet away. Its bum gives a little wiggle but it stays seated. I tap Izuku's arm and point out the tabby. He smiles as it ears flick backward then forward again to focus 100% on the birds blissfully unaware of the threat. We shift back to our previous conversation.
"But, yeah. I'm sure you'll be able to jump ahead of your classmates though, if you keep up with your own training when you finally are in classes."
"I hope so. I know some others are already working on their quirks in their own time to make 'em stronger," We turn down another street and an idea pops into my head. "Hey, maybe once you get your hero license you can come and be a hero in America, be a special guest to my school?"
"Oh, haha" he smiles shyly. "I doubt I'd be popular enough by the time you hit college to get them to invite me as a guest."
I shrug a shoulder "Maybe not because of popularity, but more like a small glimpse of what our first year will start out like, and just your experience with it in general. I mean, you'll be coming in from Japan, it's a totally different experience from what we Americans go through."
"That's a fair point" He nods. "I'll have to start as a sidekick though. Oh!" He snaps his fingers and he turns to me, eyes wide. "Maybe once you've graduated college, you can transfer here and if I've made good enough progress with the popularity charts, you can start as a sidekick at my agency until you feel confident enough to be a full time hero!"
"Now there's an idea! I wouldn't do that at all. What would you name the agency though?"
We stop in front of an apartment complex at the bottom of the second story staircase and he looks down at his shoes, which are a bright red much like his face was a few minutes ago. He chews on his lip for a moment before meeting my eyes, determination swirling in the emerald irises.
"I'd probably pay homage to All Might. He's been the biggest help to get me trained and prepping me enough to get into U.A. with my own power. So, I'd like to not just honor him but thank him with it as well." His expression changes to a shy smile and he's looking down at his shoes again when he finishes his statement.
I reach out and give his shoulder a gentle pat. "That's very kind and noble of you. I'm sure he's super proud of how far you've come along already."
Izuku gives me a wide smile, eyes closing for a moment before it slides into one of realization.
"Oh that's right!" He snakes his hand underneath my big duffel bag into his school bag. He pulls out his phone and holds it up, grimacing. "I forgot that my classmates learned about you after class today and they want a picture as proof."
"Alright," I nod, holding my phone up as well. "But only if I can get one of us too."
We crowd together and cheese real big when Izuku holds up his phone. I throw up a peace sign, my pointer finger lightly touching my cheek bone. He takes the photo and lowers his arm, clicking on the small square in the corner of the screen and the photo that he just took of us blows up on the screen.
Honest to god, this is the best photo I've ever been in. The light breeze had tousled our hair just right so it looks strategically styled and the lighting, don't get me started! We're partially in the shade so a sharp line cuts across our shoulders, lighting up our lower bodies, but the shade - which is more just filtered out light from a tree nearby - has us glowing. Eyes sparkling and our cheeks flushed in glee.
"Man, we look good!" I exclaimed. "Would you send that to me, I don't even want to try and retake that with my phone."
"Yeah sure, I'll send it once we get inside." Izuku points towards the building we paused in front of. "This is me."
We begin to climb the stairs to the apartment complex and make our way to the third floor. Nerves set in and my hands have a slight shake. Izuku unlocks the door and steps inside, throwing a smile over his shoulder. I blow out a nervous breath and step into the entryway of the apartment.
"Mom, we're home!" he calls into the apartment.
"Welcome back, dear!" Calls a cheery voice from further inside. A woman pops her head out from behind a corner to the right, green hair identical to the boy kicking off his shoes falling out of the bun it was in, and smiles at us. She disappears behind the wall again. "Dinner is almost ready."
Izuku sets his shoes next to another set of street shoes lined up on the left side and slips into a pair of sleek black slides as he steps into the short hallway. He props my bag against the wall and grabs the suitcase from me, placing it next to the other. I toe off my own sneakers and lined them up next to Izuku's, slipping on a deep green pair of guest slides he placed down for me.
I drop my backpack next to my luggage, making sure it's pressed up against the wall, and catch up to Izuku who's a couple meters away in the kitchen slash dining area. He nods at me when I step up next to him and I take another deep breath.
"Mom, this is Charlotte Reed. She's the one who I've been talking to on that All Might forum."
I smile at Mrs. Midoriya when she looks at me, and step forward, holding out my hand. "Please call me Charlotte or Charlie. It's nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you from Izuku over the past year."
Mrs. Midoriya towels her hands off on her apron and grasps mine in both of hers. She has a small Mona Lisa smile on her lips. "It's nice to meet you too, Charlotte."
She releases my hand and turns to Izuku, "Though I have to say I was rather nervous about agreeing to let someone Izuku met on the internet stay with us." She gives a pinch to his cheek "So, I'm glad you ended up being who you said you were."
I giggle at Izuku's reddening face as he whines at his mom to stop, clasping my hands behind my back and shifting my weight to one foot.
"My parents also had the same apprehensions about letting me go see some stranger from the internet - especially since it was at an overseas location."
"Well, of course they were. A parent's pride and joy are their kids." Mrs. Midoriya turns back to the stove top and shuts off a few dials. "Would the both of you set the table, please?"
Izuku moves around the small kitchen easily. "Yes mom." He pulls out a couple of spoons, chopsticks, cups and sets 3 high lipped plates on the counter next to Mrs. Midoriya. He passes me the cups. and leads me over to the table. We lay out the eating equipment onto the four person table.
Izuku gestures for me to take a seat on the side with two sets of dishes side by side before slipping back into the kitchen. He returns to the dining room with a pitcher of water and one plate; steam curling off the dish. He places the plate down in front of me, I mumble a thank you and he gives me a smile and a nod before going about filling up the cups with water. The cup with the set beside me he fills almost to the brim.
Mrs. Midoriya brings out the other two plates and sets them down in the two open spaces. Izuku leaves the pitcher on the center of the table and they both take their seats, Mrs. Midoriya across from the both of us.
"Is this curry? It looks so good!" I exclaim. I've had the American version- rice with a ladle or two of soup on top but just by the looks of this, it totally outclasses anything I've had.
Mrs. Midoriya smiles and both Midoriyas, in sync, place their palms together in front of themselves, with fingers together and pointed to the ceiling. "Thank you for the food"
I copy their actions and softly say, "Thank you for the meal."
It's silent at the table for a few minutes while each of us blows on our first few steaming bites.
Mrs. Midoriya clears her throat. "So you'll be staying with us for a week, right?"
I nod. "Yes, my flight back home will be next Saturday in the afternoon," I take a sip of water. "And thank you again for letting me stay here. I really appreciate your hospitality."
"Of course dear, Izuku was babbling all week about you arriving when he wasn't gushing about his classes at U.A." Mrs. Midoriya giggles and smiles at her son.
Izuku glances over at me quickly before busying himself with his half empty cup of water, cheeks tinted pink. I grin.
"Since you've got school, I won't be able to have a guide until you're home, I should probably get a train pass and maybe a short term cell phone plan, in case I get lost."
"Oh! There's a phone store close by; you can get a temporary phone for the week. And Izuku, make her a copy of the house key, so she can come back without getting locked out if neither of us are here." Mrs. Midoriya supplies, her brow creased.
"Okay mom." Says Izuku, nodding, shoveling food into his mouth.
The conversation lulled into comfortable silence as we finished off our meal. The warmth of the food in my stomach soothes some of those left over nerves I had and I yawn big into the back of my hand.
"Oh gosh, that was so good. Thank you for dinner, Mrs. Midoriya."
"Of course dear." She sets down her utensils and sits back in her chair with a smile. "I'm glad you liked it."
I stand from my chair and grab up my plate and cup. "Can I take your plate? I can wash the dishes."
"No, it's okay! You just got here and you're a guest. I can do it. It's my job anyway." Izuku dumps the last bite into his mouth before jumping up and gathers his mom's plate with his, and plucks mine out of my hand as another yawn crashes through me. I laugh as he disappears into their small kitchen.
"Alright fine, would you like help though?"
"We can set up a futon in my room for you, while he does that. You can also put away your luggage there." Mrs. Midoriya interjects, standing from the table.
"Are you sure it's okay that I sleep in your room with you? I can totally sleep in the living room; I don't want to invade."
Mrs. Midoriya smiles and beckons me towards the first doorway we passed in the hallway. "It's alright, dear. That way you also won't be interrupted when Izuku has to get up early for classes."
I snag my duffel bag and backpack and hook them over my shoulders. Mrs. Midoriya stops at the sliding closet door and pulls out a folded up futon mat, passing it off to me. She closes the door and takes back the mat before pushing open her bedroom door with her foot.
I set my stuff down next to Mrs. Midoriya's dresser. She has the futon on the floor half unfolded when I spin back around. We pull on opposite ends to stretch it across the center of her room. I yawn again as we straighten and smooth it out.
"Oh man, why am I so tired."
I sit on my knees and try to blink away the tiredness. Mrs. Midoriya giggles and opens up a bench chest pressed up against the foot of her bed.
"Well you did fly halfway across the world today. Even if it wasn't a far trip, flying still would take a lot out of you." She pulls a pretty purple quilt embroidered with pink cherry blossom petals and a crisp white edge.
I nod as she shakes the quilt out at the head of the futon, taking the top edge and snapping her wrists down; the rest of the blanket unfurls across the mat and settles gently across it. A knock on the door frame and Izuku is standing there, the handle of my suitcase in one hand.
"The dishes are done," his eyes shifted from his mother to me. "Did you want this one too?"
"Oh," I stand and cross the room, taking the bag from him and tucking it alongside my others. "Thank you for bringing it here."
Mrs. Midoriya claps her hands together twice and my jaw splits open with another yawn. "Let's call it early, you both have a lot of things to do tomorrow. I don't think Charlotte is going to be standing much longer anyways."
Izuku and I both giggle, my hand going to the back of my neck and my cheeks flushing pink.
"That might be a good idea." I admit. "Before that, could I get the wi-fi password, perchance? I wanna update my parents. Oh and can I get that photo we took too?"
"Yeah, sure!" The green haired boy smiles brightly as I pass over my phone, open to the wi-fi password input page. He taps the code in quickly and passes it back.
Once it's back in my hand it buzzes for a solid minute before my phone auto silences the vibrate mode; my lock screen flashing as the messages continue to pour in. I drop it down onto my bedding, allowing the phone time to catch up on everything, and kneel before my duffel bag.
The zipper is still stiff and the noise of it unzipping cuts through the empty room; Mrs. Midoriya and Izuku having disappeared down the hallway. I pull out a paperback size zippered pouch and a pajama set that had been rolled up and stacked along the edge of the bag. Mrs. Midoriya's door doesn't make a sound as I swing it shut, and I quickly strip out of my airport verified travel sweats and into some mid-thigh cotton shorts and a sized up rock band t-shirt.
I jam my clothes into the duffel and wander down the hall a few steps. The living room is dark, and there is a small floor light on in the kitchen; a cupboard tapping closed and the sink turning on. A door on my left is open and light spills out from it. I peak my head in and Izuku turns and greets me with a beckoning hand. His mouth a tooth pasty smile.
Izuku takes a small step towards the open slider door that separates the tub and toilet from the sink and washer and gestures to a third cup perched upside down from a peg at the bottom of the mirror. I nod and set my plastic toiletry bag on the floor and fish out my toothbrush and toothpaste from the bottom. A quiet yawn, that makes my jaw crack, escapes me as I paste my brush and add some water to my cup.
We brush in silence, Izuku in precise circles around each tooth while I scrub back and forth a couple of strokes before switching to up and down. He finished first, spitting out the foam, swishing with the water from the cup and rinsing off his tooth brush with the remaining water. Notching the brush onto one of the other pegs, with the cup above it.
I quickly follow suit, stow my brush and cup like his and grab my bag. We step into the hall and pause, turning to each other.
"G'night Izuku. I'm glad I'm here." I speak softly.
"Night Charlie, I'm glad too. Sleep well." He steps into me and I lean into him for a quick hug.
"You too. See you in the morning."
I all but fall into Mrs. Midoriya's room after I turn away, sleep pulling me down by the shoulders like a weighted blanket. Quickly, I ditch my bathroom bag on top of my duffel, grab out of the side pocket a portable power charger and half slide, half flop on to the futon. My phone blinds me when I lift it to my face.
3 New Messages
48 New GC Messages
1 VideoShare DM from SmallMight
Confused, I open up the direct message from Izuku. The screen takes a few moments to load in the new message before an attachment icon pops up. I click on it and the photo we took outside of his apartment fills my screen. Smiling, I download the file and swipe down on the top of my screen. The notifications page shines at me showcasing the other two message threads.
I click on the three grouped together and my message history with my mom pops up.
Mama: Glad your flight went well!
Mama: Your cat misses you [Picture Attached]
Mama: Check in occasionally please! Dad and I love you!
I smile at the picture of my cat sprawled out on my childhood bed in the square of sunlight and send off in return the picture of Izuku and I squished together with an 'I love you too, more pictures to come!'. I open up the notifications tab again and click on the GC alert. Several new messages have been added in the last few minutes and I don't bother to scroll to the top and read them, knowing its my friends from school back in the states chattering together.
I send them the same photo I sent to my mom, without a message to accompany it, put my phone on silent and plug in the cable to charge it while I sleep. It makes a small ker-chak as I place it on the floor next to my pillow.
Status de energia semanal
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