Page 15
A Comprehension of Chemistry
What is love?
Is it something created by star crossed fate or is it a chemical reaction that can be meticulously controlled by a person who knows how to play the game? Which path leads to the priceless treasure that all of humanity starve for?
It'll forever remain a mystery with tragic ends for many so long as people follow the directions of any sole side.
"Ribbit- Are you dead?" asked a curious green-haired girl.
"I'll never forget that day when I opened my eyes and first met her, probably because at the time she did something that felt almost foreign to me."
"Oh, you're alive," said the young girl, leaning forward. While it was done so that she could get a better look at the face of this stranger who appeared out of nowhere, it also gave the boy a chance to glimpse her's and he noticed how frog-like her face was, "You didn't look so good laying there like that so I thought you might've died. You ok?"
"She considered my well-being. It's been such a long time since I last felt that kind of care from another person that my brain didn't process it at first."
The froggy-greenette tilted her head at the boy's silence, pressing a fingertip against the edge of her lips she called out to him again, "Hello?"
"I must've looked like a fucking idiot laying there, either that or a hobo."
Snapping out of his daze the young green-haired boy sat up on the bench he was previously laying down on, apologizing for his idleness, "Oh, sorry about that. I'm doing fine, just taking a nap."
"A school's playground bench is a weird place for a nap," the girl pointed out, standing up straight, "Do you go to this school? It doesn't look like it."
"My game plan was that if I was on school grounds it would deter most people from bothering me because they'll assume I'm some kid attending doing some school activity. It worked pretty well though I had to be sure I switched up the school, I usually picked the bench by the edge next to a few trees and bushes since they decently covered it up, hoping it'll be enough to not make me immediately stick out."
The boy didn't answer at first, taking a moment to look behind the girl to see what was happening behind her. Many kids were happily playing in the playground, chatting, and enjoying their time of physical freedom. It must be recess. He looked back to the girl who woke him up and said, "No, I'm not a student here. Don't fret and get your teacher, I'll be on my way."
"No need, you can stay. Just make room so I can sit down," the froggy-girl told him as she settled herself down next to him before he could get up.
"...uhh, are you sure you should be sitting next to me? It might alarm your teacher if they notice that one of their students is sitting next to a kid they don't recognize."
"That won't happen, these teachers are quite negligent to us. They don't watch us that well, most of the time they're either secretly taking a smoke break or are flirting with each other. They won't even call us out for using our quirks as long as we don't seriously hurt each other or damage anything. As long as you don't do anything outlandish to stand out from the rest of us you'll be fine," the frog girl explained, despite her vacant stare, there was some sort of warmth feeling when she smiled and stated, "Besides, this is my favorite bench, the shade here keeps me cool whenever the sun gets too hot. I can understand why you would pick to sleep here since it's such a great spot, I don't mind sharing it with you."
"…"
"I'll admit, I was a bit stunned by her decision. Not saying she had to be freaked out screaming, that would be annoying to deal with while understandable, but I didn't expect her to be calmly casual about it. She barely asked why I was there as a non-student, if I wasn't basically her age at the time I would've questioned if her parents thought her stranger danger."
"My name is Tsuyu Asui by the way," Tsuyu told him, resting easy as she got comfortable in her seat, "What's yours?"
"Call me Rideru," Rideru responded, scooting to the side to make sure she had more than enough space for her.
Rideru: Age 10 | Tsuyu: Age 9
"Just your surname?" questioned Tsuyu, tilting her head at him again, "That's a bit unfair, I was polite enough to give my full name."
"A-no, that's actually my first name," Rideru corrected, not wanting to seem rude.
"Oh, any specific reason? It seems odd to introduce yourself like that."
"It's embarrassing to watch others try to pronounce my last name. To make things easier I prefer everyone to call me by my first name."
"Really, huh? Well then, you can only refer to me Tsuyu then."
"Wha- why!?"
"Since I can only call you by your first name it's only fair if you do the same," Tsuyu said, looking at him with that straight vacant look she always had on.
The young boy flinched at how serious she looked, how unmoving those oval-shaped eyes were almost unnerving when she talked like that. Deciding it wasn't that hard of a demand, Rideru responded, "I...I guess that's fair. I'll only call you Tsuyu then."
"I'm joking, hehe," chuckled the greenette, breaking her usual monotonous expression for a quick moment to curl her face into a smile, "I do prefer people to call me Tsuyu, and maybe if we become friends you can start calling me Tsu."
"….Ok," was all Rideru could think of to say.
"It was extremely hard to read that girl at times, her demeanor really didn't help when it came to humor."
"So what happened to your eye," Tsuyu asked, pointing out Rideru's eye pad bandage that was covering his right eye. It was that detail that sparked her initial question, it wasn't every day that one would find some random kid with a patched-up face sleeping in their school's playground.
"I'm an extremely still and silent sleeper, even back then. In hindsight, I don't blame her for thinking I was dead just laying there. It was also a time when my hair was plainer than it was before, making the situation with my eye more noticeable."
The young Rideru softly touched the white cotton that was covering his face, wincing as a jolt of pain shot through his nervous system. It hasn't recovered yet.
"An accident at home," Rideru calmly answered, one can always speak more peacefully when there's truth in their responses, "Long story short, my quirk accidentally activated at the worst time possible."
"Oh -ribbit, sorry to hear that," said Tsuyu, leaning closer to the boy as she examined his eye while asking a few questions, "Is it alright?"
"Uh, my eye? What exactly do you mean by alright."
"Can you still see out of it?"
"Y-yeah."
"How are you sure? I mean it's covered right now unless you're about to see through objects."
"The last time I changed my bandages I checked. It hurts to keep it open because some of the wounds haven't healed fully yet, but I can still see out of it thankfully."
"Too bad I now deal with dry eye problems sometimes."
"Do you still feel pain from it?"
"...Nooo as long as I don't touch it obviously. Why does that matter though?"
"If you do then we can go to my school's nurse, she's pretty friendly and laid back. She won't ask questions and could probably help tend to it a bit."
Rideru nervously scratched the side of his face next to his patched eye at Tsuyu's concerns. While people around where he lived have taken interest in what happened to his eye before, most of their curiosity ended quickly after finding out the cause as if it was a courtesy to ask then any genuine worry, it was getting a bit uncomfortable for him to experience anything else then that. Not wanting her to feel bad about being a caring human being, Rideru continued to reply to Tsuyu questions to assure her that he was fine, "D-don't worry about it, it's just a few scratches. It happened quite a few days ago and I doubt it's going to leave a scar."
"I was completely wrong, it left a lot of scars."
"That's good," Tsuyu told him, she seemed to have taken a visible deep breath, "I have a little brother who recently did something stupid and got himself hurt. He tried to hide it and almost made it worse by neglecting to get it treated to look tough, I didn't want you to do the same. It's dumb to worsen your condition over something like pride."
Hearing that last part made a black coal memory boil inside the young boy's body, unconsciously Rideru gave a discontent mumble, "I hate it when people hang onto something that deteriorates everything around them instead of ending it. Adults do that the most, that's why they're the worst."
"Ribbit- Tell me about it, my dad would refuse to get directions on family vacations no matter how long we're lost for," Tsuyu grunted, still having nightmares when her family spent twelve hours on a car trip that was only supposed to be 7 hours.
A comedic drop of sweat went down Rideru's face as he said, "A-... yeaaah that kind of stuff."
"So do you live around here?" ask Tsuyu, remaining frequent with her questions.
'How many questions is she going to ask!?' Rideru thought, shifting back in his seat to the point where he's pressing against the metal bars of the bench, 'It's like dealing with that crazy girl on my street who bothers me every day.'
"Dumb as it sounds now, back then I felt somewhat weirdly attacked despite their being no malice in her questions. It was like I was being dissected on my personality by simple questions alone. She wasn't doing anything special like an interrogation, just normal questions you'll get from any normal conversation. That says more about the state I was in than anything else."
Despite how discomforting it was, the young Rideru still answered every one of Tsuyu's questions and entertained many of the topics she brought up.
"Do you want to see a trick?" Tsuyu eventually asked.
"Why?" asked Rideru, still feeling uneasy from the questions about him to now wanting to show him a stunt.
"Because you are visibly unsettled and are being super awkward. I get you're most likely someone who doesn't talk to others often, but you need to relax when someone does talk to you, or else people will think you're some weird hermit who came out from under a rock to communicate for the first time."
"..." 'Ow.'
"If there was one thing that stuck out about her the most that day, it was how blunt she can be about things.
"Maybe a trick will calm you down," Tsuyu continued, reaching into her pocket.
At this point Rideru was going along with whatever she said for his own curiosity to what she'll do, answering, "Fine, show me."
Pulling out a yoyo, Tsuyu showed him the design of it. How shiny the blue aluminum metal was under the sunlight did catch Rideru's attention, it reminded him of what he thought a real life mech suit would look like. There were also the initials 'BN' written as a specialized music font on each side, it was a symbol from some hero that has been around for a few years that have fallen under the radar to most, though it was starting to get recognized among the youth. In the near future, it would go even beyond that.
"During one of our overly long family trips, my mom had us stop by a shop to get me and my brother something to keep us occupied," Tsuyu explained, setting up the string along with her fingers for the trick she was going to perform.
Rideru looked a bit confused, asking, "Of all things you picked a yoyo?"
"Along with a few snacks!" Tsuyu explained, two small pink dots started emerging on her face.
"But how would you properly use a yoyo in a car, is that even possible?"
"Well, I didn't get that answer till we started driving, better what my brother got, I forgot what he picked out but it broke before we got home. While my own wasn't the most practical for a car ride, afterward I was able to learn something that's a bit cool. Like this."
Finally getting everything set up, Tsuyu showed off what she'd learned over the years when she was bored and had nothing to do for the day. Which was often. She displayed tricks such as the rock a baby, the elevator, the four-leaf clover, and the Eiffel tower.
"I've never been to any entertainment shows before, making the amateurish performance look like a five-star show. The only disappointment I had was that it ended early because it was time for her class to head back in. Just my luck it happened when I started warming up to her."
"I guess our time is up," the froggy girl stated when she saw her classmate start to gather toward the school, she got up from the bench turning to the stranger she met, "I have to go back inside."
"On a usual day I would've left the conversation at that and taken my leave. But there was a question drilling into my mind that I couldn't get out."
"Wait!" Rideru called out even though Tsuyu hadn't moved an inch, "I need to know, why didn't you just play with the other kids here? I'm sure you had other things to do then talk to me."
The froggy greenette pressed a finger against the edge of her lips as she answered, "Well, all my friends are in different classes this year so I usually spend recess sitting here reading, practically with my yoyo, and being bored."
"...Oh, ok. Sorry if that sounded weird, it just bugged me how quick you were to talk to me," Rideru said, diverting his eyes away as he scratched next to his patched eye.
"Somehow getting a clear answer had me filled with more anxiety."
"Don't worry about it," Tsuyu told him, "You being here today gave me someone to talk to during this period and I truly appreciate it. If anything, I should say-"
Hearing those words made Rideru look back at her, being met with a froggy smile brighter than any she showed before during their conversation. The boy had seen many smiles before in his life and oddly had decent accuracy as a child to spot when someone is displaying a false expression by seeing how stressed their facial muscles are. Many times had he seen a fake smile or someone trying to force an emotion onto their face to hide what they're thinking, especially when speaking to him. From his experience, adults were a lot better at hiding it and kids sucked at it but since they're dumbasses most other kids won't notice it. Thanks to the few decent people in his life, he does know what a genuine smile looked like.
This was one of those cases.
And Rideru received this kind gift from Tsuyu accompanied by a phrase from her he has only heard one other time in his life, except this time, it sounded more generated to him with genuine feelings.
"-Thank you for keeping me company."
…
Rideru smiled back to her, "No problem, anytime."
"In that case, can you come by tomorrow?" Tsuyu asked.
"Eh?"
"Like I said, none of my friends are in this period. I'm guessing this the first time you're doing something like this and it'll definitely not be the last, while I don't know why you choose to be here at this time at least you can keep me company while you're doing it."
"A-...-"
"That was the second biggest surprise she gave to me, I wasn't even sure how to take it. I thought she was crazy. On the other hand, knowing how low security the school was, it did feel nice having a consistent place to sleep at and someone to talk to when I woke up."
"-ok," was Rideru's response.
Tsuyu gave another soft smile, waving him goodbye as she began walking off, she gave a happy croak, "Great! See you tomorrow -ribbit."
As the girl the young boy met disappeared into the school, he sat there on the bench staring in awe, wondering if what happened was real.
"I've told this story to very few people before and they've often teased me that I fell for her the day we met. Despite common belief, at that time I wasn't attracted to her at all. Not saying she was ugly but I was among the group who wasn't instantly allured by her frog face…...yet. I was also ten and my life wasn't exactly one were I had the free mind to think about that dumb childhood romance phase with people my age. It was only older girls for me for two obvious reasons. Back then I didn't understand why I kept going back to that school, my mind was screaming at me at how dangerous it was repeatedly going back yet I still did it. Now I know it was just having someone to talk to that helped me forget about the rest of my life, the feeling was so addicting that I didn't mind risking getting in trouble to get it."
From then on, Rideru returned to that school every school day for weeks, waiting on that same bench just to chat with a single person which helped make his day a little brighter. Each day the two learned something new about the other, from interest to more personal detail.
"So your quirk is you having the abilities of a frog?" asked Rideru, it seemed kinda obvious from her appearance alone but there are people he knows who have animalistic features but their quirk is something more than that, "Including the washing out stomach thing?"
It wasn't the first time Tsuyu has received this question, most kids ask it because they're weird like that. She always dreaded what came next.
"Y-yeah," the froggy greenette answered, stammering with a more timid tone in her voice.
"Gross," commented Rideru, using his mouth to cover his chuckle.
Immediately a small blush came across Tsuyu's face as her eyes slightly whited out.
"Hey! It's not like I do it that often," Tsuyu yelled, her arms shake in front of her from the fluster that came over her, "it's just something I can do IF I want to!"
"That often?" Rideru repeated with a smirk, "So you have done it before."
"Ga-... well...maybe once in a while to see if I could still do it."
"You're gross."
"R-ribbit ribbit- Stop it!"
"I'm just being honest."
"I can't help that frogs do that! What about you? You mentioned having some animal traits as well! Wait -ribbit, what animal are you? You never specified which you were."
"Oh that's simple," Rideru told her, turning his head to the side to move aside his hair showing off the black-fur that covered and trailed off the back of his ear, "I'm a Lynx."
"Oh -ribbit….. Darn, I don't know that much about that animal."
"Ha!"
"Just you wait, I'll find something embarrassing about lynx."
"Nothing you'll find will top being able to hack up an internal organ like a toy and wash it with a sponge."
"! k-kero kero!" a near speechless Tsuyu exclaimed, her embarrassment stunning her so severely that she didn't speak proper words. Her blush turns from a slight tint to a heavy shade.
The rest of their time during that day's recess period was filled with Rideru's many jabs and teases about the near endless weirdly interesting things a frog can do. Tsuyu was not happy about it, she almost smacked him in the face with her tongue for one of his comments.
"Even back then I was a bit of a dick, then again, who wasn't kinda an asshole as a child at times? Not like any of us knew any better, even more so if you had shitty parents."
By the time recess ended for her, she looked quite grumpy from all the taunts. Not that most would notice due to how monotonous her expression can be, but Rideru did spot the tiny shifts of her face.
"H-hey," Rideru called out to her as she was leaving, despite all the laughs he had something to ask her.
"Ribbit- what?" Tsuyu asked, turning around. There was a pint of grouch in her voice, maybe he took the jokes a bit too far.
Retreating to his usual habit of scratching by his injured eye, he asks, "I'm free later today, do you want to hang out after school as well."
"Over the course of time we've talked, I've grown a fondness toward her that a single period a day to talk quickly became too short for my sanity. I was unsure about asking as it breaks past the original reason why she was even currently speaking to me but I took the leap regardless."
"No," was Tsuyu's answer.
A black pit sat in Rideru's stomach hearing that response but he wasn't going to break down over it as he assumed this was a likely possibly. It would be best to quickly accept and move on before things become too weird.
The young greenet lynx casually replied, "That's fine, I just had extra time today and wanted to see if you were as well."
Swiftly Tsuyu told him, "Oh no, not no as in I didn't want to hang out with you, I meant no as in not today. I have to go straight home today to help my parents with something, we can hang out another day."
"..."
"I didn't speak as I knew if I did I would've said something stupid from the joy that sparked in my heart. To me it felt like I finally had a friend I can actually care for, my bar wasn't that high but everyone had to start out somewhere. That wasn't even where the excitement train ended."
"But if you want to," Tsuyu continued, one of her shoes dug itself into the dirt of the playground as she displayed some of her more timid traits, "You can walk me home, T-today at least since I know you're free."
"...-"
"I really didn't want to say anything stupid, so I went with a response that've been trialed and tested to never fail me."
"-... Ok… only if you promise not to do anything gross like eating your own skin."
It was right then that Rideru started finding Tsuyu's frog face appealing when she gave him the most adorable pout in an attempt to show off her irritation with him. Her puffy cheekbones, lengthy mouth, and big oval eyes made it hard to take her seriously, not to mention that Rideru didn't spot many signs that she was actually angrily mad, more flustered chagrin. He had to bite down on his lips to prevent himself from bursting out laughing as he watched her walk away without a word, her foot subtly stomping against the ground as she left.
Starting that day, Rideru would always walk Tsuyu home.
At first, it would only be down to her block that he'll walk her down, then it quickly evolved into escorting her to her street, followed by walking with her to the front of the apartment building her family lived in, then to the floor level, and finally right to her front door.
"We still argue today over who was the one that kept encouraging the other to go further and further into this 'walking home' agreement. I swear it was her that kept guilt tripping me into staying with her more of the way by pointing out how half-ass it was to only walk her back partway, but she says I was the one that was making excuses as to why I wanted to escort her closer to her room even though she would've been fine by herself. The nerve! Anyways, it wasn't anything too special until I accidentally ran into her family at the door. That was awkward as hell which is why I left as soon as I could, the family wasn't the worst, except for the younger brother. Fuck that kid."
Weeks have passed since the two children's first meeting, with them growing comfortable with each other.
Such as the time when Rideru was finally able to take off his bandage for good. He decided to save the occasion to share it with Tsuyu.
"Ow, ow," yelped Rideru, as he was trying to take the patch off his eye, the sticky substance on the bandaid was becoming gradually more painful to peel off.
"What are you doing?" Tsuyu asked, watching how slowly he was peeling it, "We're going to be here all day if you keep going at that speed."
"This is a lot more painful than it looks!" Rideru shouted back, he winced again as another millimeter of progress was made. Jumping around a bit to shake off the pain he was feeling.
Not wanting to be there all day Tsuyu lent a hand to assist him, saying, "Here, I know something we can do to reduce the amount of pain."
"What?"
"Ribbit- This," Tsuyu calmly said, grabbing the patch when Rideru's grip on it had relaxed and ripped it off in a single stroke.
"Mother!-" shouted Rideru, clutching his eye with his hands and having what could only be described as a muscle spasm as his body jolted in every direction. His uncovered eye popped out, his head bobs up and down, and the vulgar curses he was about to yell was silenced by puffs of angst and blows of pain relief. Tsuyu didn't know it at that time but this young green lynx had an extensive vocabulary of swears and insults that could flood out like a waterfall to drown her purpose of being alive, farmed and invested in by his environment. Her soul was only saved by friendship and self control, "mmm! MMMmM! MMMMmm- ah fuck!"
The apathetic frog watches on with a small smirk, giving a redundant question, "You ok? -ribbit."
Rideru snapped his head toward her shouting, "What do you think!?"
"Seems to me that you're in pain."
"Jeez, I wonder why!?"
"I was doing you a favor."
"Well thanks for the pain packer you sadi-…..," Rideru paused for a moment as he realized she might not know that word, "You cruel bag of slime, croaking lies!"
"Tearing off a bandaid slowly is the perfect choice for a long excruciating experience, you have to get it over with that way you only have a short burst of pain. Most of it will overlap anyway so you won't even feel all of it."
"Could've still warned me," Rideru grumbled under his breath, rubbing his eye,
Shifting closer to the green lynx, Tsuyu sent her decently sized hands to softly grip Rideru's own. Trying to get him to lower his palm so she could see, she said, "If I did you would've made it worse by struggling. Now let's see."
"You'll get yours frog," mumbled Rideru, giving a small pout as he removed his hands away from his face letting his froggy friend see.
…
There was no response from Tsuyu as she stared at him, her vacant stare only becoming more blank as her mouth dropped open.
Seeing her expression, Rideru was unnerved and questioned her reaction, "Well, did it scar?"
Stiltedly, the greenette frog covered her mouth with her hands as her body began to shake. A cold shiver went down Rideru's spine when he heard her softly murmur the words, "I'm sorry."
The possibilities ran rampant in his mind! Was the damage worse than he thought? If so then he might've lost the use of that eye completely.
"Is it that bad!" a panicked Rideru exclaimed, covering his eye again so she didn't have to look at it.
Tsuyu shook her head.
"Oh," went Rideru, lowering his hand from his face.
As soon as he did, Tsuyu's bizarre reaction erupted again as her body hunched over. She was shaking uncontrollably and it was becoming worrisome.
"What? What!?" the lynx yelled, the suspense she was putting him through was unbearable.
Gagging relentlessly, Tsuyu stammered, "Y-your….. your eye-"
"I knew it, I was too hopeful! My eye is gone!" Rideru exclaimed, in his shock he didn't notice that his other eye was currently open. Not that he would notice since his vision barely changed.
"Brow," Tsuyu burst out, croaking a parade of laughs as she pointed right above the greenet's right eye, "Your eyebrow!"
It wasn't until Rideru looked in a mirror did he realize what happened. When his eye was last patched up the sticky substance on the bandaid was accidentally placed over a bit of his eyebrow, so when Tsuyu ripped it off, a big chunk of his eyebrow went with it.
"Ke-ke-ke-ke kero kero!" wheezed Tsuyu, earning a scornful look from a red-faced Rideru. The frog girl had to hold herself up as she was about to fall over, "I-i'm sorry! I know I shouldn't laugh, kero kero! You just look- h-hey! -ribbit!"
As she was speaking, Rideru had begun walking away with a flustered scowl on his face.
The froggy greenette ran after him still chuckling, calling out, "Hey, come back, kero, kero!"
"No!" Rideru yelled back, "You lost my talking privilege for the day."
"Oh come on!"
"I'm serious."
"Fine, I'll stop…..pffffft kyakerokero!"
"I'm leaving!"
"Haha, wait I'm sorry!"
"You're extremely messed up since you were the one who did it!"
"That's why I'm apologizing kero!"
Partly out of pride and partly out of embarrassment did he walk away. Giving her the pseudo form of a silent treatment, in years to come, Tsuyu would master this technique and rapidly use it against him.
"Side note, after a few days when I had finally started talking to her normally, I ran into her brother again."
"Hey," said Samidare Asui, Tsuyu's younger brother. With a bluntness that must run in the family, he told him, "That eyebrow and those scars make you look funny. Not even the haha funny but the ha look at this idiot walking around like that kind of funny. Like a clown who screwed up his make-up but still went out trying to pretend like the people are laughing at his bit and not at his existence."
…..
'Cheeky little shit,' mumbled Rideru, trying his best not to let the depression that flooded his body make him drop to the ground.
"Yeah I hate her brother."
"You should cover it," suggested Samidare, pointing to his own haircut which covered one of his eyes, "When I got pinkeye I changed my hair to this while the treatment was taking place because my eye still looked funny. Thought I looked cooler with it, Tsuyu seemed to think so."
The black-furred ears of Rideru twitched, "Did she?"
"I know what you're thinking? No, that wasn't the reason why I wear the hair the way I do. For a while I've been thinking about hiding my scarred eye, it was becoming a burden looking at it every day in the mirror, constantly reminding me that it's there. Just having it out in the open felt wrong. It just so happens that her brother suggested it at the time I was contemplating what to do about it…. and that he phrased it the way he did. But it was more of a wanting to impress a friend kind of thing than romantic, that didn't come till later."
"Are you changing your hair?" Tsuyu asked, after noticing how Rideru had been steadily growing and growing the front of his hair to hover over his scar.
Rideru: Age 11 | Tsuyu: Age 10
Rideru tried to remain calm about it, casually saying, "Hm, this? I guess, felt like trying something new."
"How does it feel?"
"Well the wind blows against it less, it always felt weird on the skin whenever it did."
"Oh -ribbit, well that's a good thing to come out of it."
"Why? You don't think it's good for me?"
"Hmmm," went Tsuyu, pressing a finger on her lips. She used her other hand to move the hair aside to get a clear view, "It's not bad, you do look more aesthetically interesting with it. I just didn't mind either way."
He didn't show it then, but he appreciated the gesture. Trying to play it off, he jokingly went to knock Tsuyu's hand away, saying, "Heh, I'm not surprised you'll be so accepting. Considering what you do-"
Rideru paused as he felt his hand being stopped, Tsuyu had grabbed it and was holding it tightly in her palms.
"Actually, it's because you're my friend," Tsuyu told him.
The green lynx wasn't sure what was happening to his body but feeling her touch on his hand felt off that day. His body felt tingly and if he had little self control over his body his legs would quiver from the sensation.
"Rrright," Rideru told her, still trying to chuckle it off, "You don't need to tell me obvious cheesy stuff."
"Actually I do," Tsuyu replied, she took his other hand in her own as well.
"H-hey."
"I have a bit of an embarrassing confession."
"...ok"
"You remember the day we first met and I told you why I decided to come sit with you instead of playing with the other kids?"
Rideru nodded, it was hard for him to forget the day he first met her since they've been spending so much time together. It's been nearly a year since that day yet to him it may as well be yesterday.
The leg of the frog girl fidgeted, grinding the tip of her shoe into the dirt below them. After taking a deep breath she finally spoke, "That was a lie. My family moved here a year and a half ago because of my dad's job and I had to leave many friends behind. I've actually been struggling to make new friends since I moved here, it was pretty lonely. I guess it was my lucky day when you ended up on that bench, someone to talk to. I'm not sure if you feel the same way but I know what I feel and I have to say."
The frog held both of their hands in front of them as she stepped forward. The bright sunshine had rained over her face as she let out another long smile, one that provided more warmth than the sun itself followed by words more comfortable than a pillow.
"Thank you for healing my loneliness, let's continue to be friends!"
…
To feel compassion,
Flavor equal to honey,
What a blissful drink.
Those were the best way to explain what Rideru felt at that moment.
…
…
...
…
A streak of pink blush came across his face, it wasn't from embarrassment this time.
"Oh."
"That was when I started falling for her," Rideru explained, having finally finished his long romance history to Izuku.
After cleaning up the mess Izuku made, they had moved away from the building they were training at to another building that Rideru apparently owns, or earned by the lynx's own words. From his explanation, the other place is his more public spot he uses for training and telling others where they can go to find him, while this one is for private affairs. It was a lot more comfortable and furnished than the other building, with actual chairs and couches you'll find in a normal home.
"Or at least, that's when I noticed I was falling for her," the lynx continued, going to the cooler in the room and opening it to get out some soda, "It was hard to tell what I was feeling beforehand since it happened a few years ago, I don't think crushes like those just pop out of nowhere anyways."
When he turned back to Izuku all he saw was the green fox with sparkles for eyes and his mouth hanging open as if a fangirl saw All Might shirtless.
Looking down at him like how most people look down on k-pop fans, Rideru asked, "What?"
"That was such a touching childhood romance story," Izuku stated, placing his hands on his face, "I feel like I could cry! You two have been by each other for over half a decade."
"Not really?" Rideru told him, tossing him one of the sodas, "You see-"
"You're moving!?" Rideru exclaimed, a bit louder than he intended.
Tsuyu sadly nodded her head, "My dad left the job he was in because it was apparently turning extremely abusive to him and managed to find another that promised to give him better conditions. We're… leaving in a few weeks."
Rideru: Age 12 | Tsuyu: Age 11
Rideru was speechless, to lose a friend like her so quickly after she opened up to him. It was like a cruel joke by God to bring him up only to take it away.
"I'm sorry," Tsuyu told him, she took a step forward before immediately retreating it. Shame filled her face as she turned away, "I spent all this time asking you to stay friends with me, yet… I'm the one who left first."
There were many things Rideru could've done at that moment, he could've cried, yelled, been enraged, cursed everything, and everything in between.
What he went with was…. Acceptance.
He gave a slight shrug, saying, "Well, it was great while you were here. I wish the best for your family and hope you'll make friends wherever you end up."
Encouraged by his words, Tsuyu immediately collapsed into his chest. She was hugging him tightly as tears flooded down her cheeks, nuzzling her head against him as she cried out, "But, I don't want to lose you! Not another friend!"
Ridieru's heart was shredded into pieces, yet he remained calm. The lynx thought it would be unnecessary for him to be emotional about this subject, he knew Tsuyu was handling it way harder than he is since she's the one stuck with the difficult situation, there was no need to make it worse for her over him right now.
'The status quo has been maintained again, heh, such is life.'
He softly embraced her and petted her head. While his eye was hollow, he assured her, "Hey, don't cry. You're overselling this entire thing, people come and go, you can't ball your eyes out over every person that walks out the door or else you'll be crying all day."
"But you're not just someone," Tsuyu sniffed.
"That's probably a good thing, I'm a bit of a dick. I would skip school to take naps, stay out late at night, gotten into a few fights over dumb stuff, constantly insult others, and a whole heap of stupid things," Rideru told, "You can honestly do better than me in terms of friends."
Tsuyu looked up at him, "And what if I can't or maybe don't want to have more friends -ribbit."
"Be a lot cooler if you did," replied Rideru, "Honestly that'll be the one thing that'll make me happy about this if you did. I know you can, you ain't the worst. Just don't do anything gross and you'll do fine."
Tsuyu's tearful face began to ease as her mouth curled into a pout, "You jerk! You always got to say the meanest things don't you?"
"I did establish that I was a dick a few moments ago," Rideru chuckled, he made that feeling last as he knew it was going to be a dark winter because he'll feel it again, "So can you do this for me? Can you grant this jerk's request and make friends beyond me when I'm not around?"
"I won't do what a jerk wants me to do!" Tsuyu croaked, sounding a bit harsh before her voice eased up to say, "But I will do what I can for a friend."
"Good," Rideru smiled, scratching by his scarred eye, "Who knows, if we meet again sometime in the future I won't mind being with you again."
"I'll hold you to that!" Tsuyu told him, "So don't break it when we meet again!"
"She then moved as she said a few weeks later. We didn't see each other again till….. I don't know, let's say a few months ago. By sheer luck we both ended up hopping through a few cities, I ended up here not that long after she departed when I was twelve. Her dad finally got a good job to settle down in and in turn found a house they could live in permanently that just happens to be in the travel range of this place," Rideru explained, opening his soda and drinking it.
When he looked at Izuku this time, he looked on the verge of tears.
"What the hell is it now?" he grouchily asked.
Izuku exclaimed, "It's just so sad!"
A drop of sweat dripped down the lynx's face, with his stoic eyes glaring he told the boy, "Fucking christ, don't cry over dumb shit and other people's business or else you'll be crying your entire life over nothing. I told you this story for a reason."
"Hm, why?"
"To show what you're doing wrong with Rumi."
Izuku sat up straight replying, "Oh right."
"For the last couple of months, while I was trying to keep Rumi's mindset to seeing you as a potential lover and not her brother or son, I've been carefully watching you and seeing how you'll react to things," Rideru told him.
"Wait so you didn't talk to me all that time on purpose!"
"Oh no part of that was just me being nervous."
….
"What?" was Izuku's question of utter confusion.
Rideru shrugged, keeping his straight blank face, "Unless you didn't notice from my backstory, I'm not exactly the most social person alive. It takes time for me to warm up to people especially when they're not that social either. With you, it's even more awkward considering your connection with Rumi. Don't bitch because it took Merrie five months before I even told her my name and Setsuna three, she just called me the green mute. I don't want them to know that they make me uncomfortable so I go with the plan of remaining blank face to everything so at least they think I don't mind."
"I don't think that works, I thought you hated me?"
"I never said it was a good plan, just one that works for me."
….
It's hard to argue against that logic.
"Point is, I've been looking into you," Rideru stated, drawing on the dry-erase board that he had in his private quarters for some reason, he drew a few shapes next to a couple of huge words.
IDENTIFYING CHANCES, TAKING ASSERTIVE ACTION, RISK, RESISTANCE, ADAPTING, FORMING DYNAMIC, INTEL OBTAINING, UNDERSTANDING, AND MATURITY.
Rideru smacks the board, giving a very conflicting low energy face stating, "This is what you lack."
"I lack all of that?" Izuku asked, he knew he had his issues… like a lot of issues….. Mount Everest has killed fewer people than the amount of issues Izuku has faced in his life. Honestly, he's surprised he turned out as a semi-functioning human being the way he did, looking back at what he dealt with and still dealing with….. "Nevermind I can see it."
'You fucking better.' Rideru thought to himself before continuing his explanation.
"From what I've gathered and extracted about you, we're fundamentally different and it shows through our actions. Identifying chances, I knew when I got my blessing each and every time and recognized them as life's tiny little bones it tosses once in a long while that should not be relied on. You seem to still have a habit of sitting on your fucking hands for a miracle to happen to you, there's a difference between tactically waiting for an opportunity for something through planning and preparations, and being dependant that the stars will align just right for some good to happen in your life to make the right decision."
That was a fair assessment, while things like deciding to live with Nezu for training and a few other choices were him seeing a chance by himself, there were many more times where it seemed like he was waiting for the sun to turn black to choose something unless his back was against the wall.
"Taking assertive action, it's basically an extensive version of the last point but an emphasis on you needing to be more assertive about things. Fucking damn it kid, stop letting Rumi and people in general make every choice for you while you're just a passive chooser of what'll happen when the options are offered. Being the one who gives the ultimatums sometimes is better than just receiving, especially in a relationship you can't have one side always being in control of a situation. Even more so since your dumbass is trying to date Rumi of all people, her crazy ass finds challenges and competition interesting. You pushing back against her and her antics will be a turn on. As you saw with me, I ask Tsuyu if we can hang out after school walk, not wait until she offers it to me to talk about it. There were also multiple times where I suggested what we'll do when and where."
Izuku knew who to blame for part of his passiveness, though it'll be unfair to place all the blame on the Katsuki. He wasn't the only person who bullied him or lowered his self-esteem, just the most significant one. Izuku since birth wasn't an aggressive creature, even before everything in his life took a wrong turn, fell off a cliff, burst through the ground, and took him on a one-way trip through the nine levels of hell. Everything else just piled on top of that aspect and made it worse.
"Risk, this goes hand-in-hand with the last one. You don't take assertive action because you pussy out from taking risks way too often, you fear risk most of the time because you stray away from assertive actions. Uroboros, a self-sustaining fucking circle. If you never stick your head out to get shot then you'll never get anywhere, stop being a bitch, the worse she can do is say no. Ok, maybe with Rumi she might kick your ass thirty times over and break every bone in your body, trust me I've seen it happen before, but you're a friend so she might have mercy. Imagine if I never risk asking Tsuyu if we can hang out after school, our entire relationship would've been just sitting around each other for less than an hour during school days."
Rideru quickly moved on to his next point.
"Which leads to resistance, which translates to stop being a fucking pussy! As said before, stop letting Rumi just do whatever she wants. She's not a shit person, she's just not someone whose action should be followed without a check. It's not a sin to say no to her and tell her to fuck off if she starts getting a bit too comfortable neglecting your existence. You don't have to stand there and take it, you can walk away. Also, look around you dipshit, the entire establishment of this place is basically people resisting every norm of the society we distaste or can't stand and she loves it here! Trust me, match your energy a bit with her, throwback the insults she gives to you, rough house with her a bit, and she might even fuck you after an intense sparring match."
"What?" Izuku said, "Wait, how do you-"
Rideru interrupted, "Questions at the end, the point is she's someone who likes to push, pushing her reasonably back in a smart way is a good way to keep her engaged with you. Moving on! Adapting, two people being in a relationship is basically two puzzle pieces being connected but neither fit the other. It's impossible to have an absolutely perfect match. You know why, because we're all our own shitty people, no one on earth is just made for someone else. We can't change our core but we can change our connecting part to be able to live with each other, usually by adding or shaving off a few things. Now after you match together, if your cores don't go well with each other then it just wasn't meant to be, but you got to actually match each other first before you judge that. You two obviously have two different styles of life you want to follow and you fail at being someone who can keep up or actively be a part of hers nor have you attempted to get her to be someone who can exist happily in yours. Be someone who can live a bit outside of your comfort while also being someone who can incorporate someone into yours! Not that one degenerate who eats glue and thinks mashing the circle block into the square hole blindly will make it work."
'Maybe I could get her to stay home some days and play games with me instead of going out and put more effort into the activities she likes that I can handle while flat out rejecting others I can't instead of putting in moderate energy in all of them.'
"Forming your dynamic. Give her something about you that solidifies your bond, right now you're like a wet handkerchief that sticks on her because she's too stubborn to get a new one. Establish something decently unique between the two of you, for me and Tsuyu that was me being that guy she spoke to during recess evolving into the one she hangs with after school who walked her home. That'll help you stick out in her mind. Think about how your lifestyle can mush with hers, then form it with the most ideal one that'll keep both happy. Rumi has Cassidy as her rival partner in crime that takes their competitive violent tendencies to their max. With Merrie it's a sort of older caring sister or pseudo mother figure, she apparently has another one but I haven't met her. She sounds kinky though. Anyways, everyone's relationship with Yogi is basically food related. Finally, with me we're basically the friend, not a friend, the friend since we both understand each other. You need to find yours, but since you're a bit of a snowflake at the moment I suggest appealing to her more sensitive side especially since you're trying to date her not just be her friend. Think about what you want to be for her as well as what she can be for you. Adapting will be needed as well as obviously she'll have her own definition of it and you should have some form of compromise to what it is."
Those words among the rant were probably what struck Izuku the most, he thought, 'What am I to her?... Crap, I've been way too reliant on her with us. She probably feels like I'm a sandbag that she has to carry around. She's someone that gave me hope and helped me believe I can be something more than what I am even before I showed any potential. She's my encouragement in life to be better, that's what she is to me. I need to be someone of similar importance to her.'
"Intel gathering and understanding," Rideru continued, "This is straightforward but important! You're planning to be with someone, you should understand them, in order to understand them you need to know more about them, and the only way to know more about them is to gather information. That means doing shit like asking people she knows what she likes and dislikes, as well as talking to her yourself. There's no better source of milk than sucking straight from cow's udder. Get her views on these things and see it from her perspective, she'll also tell the most personal stuff about herself that others can't simply mimic. I usually went to Tsuyu's brother whenever I needed a plug on things about her in exchange for dumb crap, the little fucker fucked me over more than once but he'll point me in the direction of gold once in a while so I'll let it go with silently wishing he gets hit by a car."
Izuku thought, 'There is Nezu I can ask but I got to be careful about how I ask him, he will break my kneecaps if he figures out I'm asking because I want to date his daughter. There's also-... Wait did he just admit that he wanted a child to get run over by a car?'
With his presentation coming to an end, Rideru talked about the last subject, "And most importantly maturity, no one wants to deal with a baby and no one wants to deal with a complete bitch. Not even babies and bitches like dealing with babies and bitches. Having some traits of them, alright that's fine some people are into that crap, but completely being like them then you have a one-way track of dying a virgin. Learn how to act, when to act, and the best way to act in a situation. Be able to handle tough situations and not crack under them. Imagine if instead of comforting Tsuyu when she told me she was moving, I broke down crying being a depressed fuck about losing a friend at the time. She not only would've felt even worse about the whole thing but would only plague her with guilt when she left, it would also be fucking selfish for me to make her moment where she can't do anything about the situation she was dealing with and made it about me. Grow the fuck up, I was ten to twelve when I was doing most of this shit, you're almost sixteen and me of all people have to give you a crash course. I skipped school for nap fucking damn it!"
'... yeah he got a point,' Izuku thought, he wasn't even going to try to act like he can defend himself. The only thing he had to his name was not letting his anger get ahead of him when Katsuki offered to teach him, he could've just lashed out at him and made things a lot more complicated than it already was but instead he reasonably states why he would never do it even if a gun was put to his head at the time. He said his piece and he moved on.
Moving away from the board Rideru stated, "In conclusion, you're an annoying piece of shit of a human being that doesn't appreciate your blessings as a great chance given but as a handout, as well as a weak-willed pussy ass bitch who's a pushover, also an inexorable anti-social selfish dumbass that can't think about finding a way of knowing more about someone you like, and most of all someone that every year is drawing closer to becoming the definition of a man-baby if you don't change. Personally, you're one of the cases I wonder how you were allowed past childhood when you should've been put down with a shotgun years ago then put in a box. Sealed, signed, and sent back to the receiver, which would be the nonexistent hell since only the devil will have the sadistic mind to create something that miserable. Honestly, it's a miracle that Rumi became friends with you and even more so that she somehow has some fondness for you. Then again, she's not exactly someone I find that makes smart decisions."
…
…
…
…
…
...
Izuku felt his body disappearing into nothing, his existence was utterly demolished.
What's more impressive is that Rideru said all that with a straight face without breaking once.
Depressed in the fetal position in the corner, Izuku just mumbled nonsense to himself, most important among them were, "You're right, I am the worst at times."
Rideru got his attention back by throwing his empty soda bottle at the wall by him, calling out, "Ey! Be depressed on your own time, not mine. In fact, stop being depressed like that in general, that's probably how you developed so many issues in the first place. You spend more time retreating to self-depreciation and self-pity mode then assessing what was the issue. Be a man for once, when life throws shit at your face stop hunching over covering your head in fear, look forward, knock the crap away, and kill what threw it in the first place."
"R-right!" Izuku exclaimed, turning away from the corner feeling a bit energized.
"Oh, and one more thing," Rideru grumbled, dusting off his hands.
Izuku tilted his head, "Hm?"
Almost instantly Izuku's sense flared up, it was the same as when he faced Katsuki on the street. Yellow bold words, with a haze of black.
DEFEND!
…
It happened so quickly.
Both of Izuku's hands were wrapped around the wrist of just one of Rideru's hand that was awfully close to Izuku's neck. The green lynx middle finger and thumb lightly tapped against the pale skin of the fox. Rideru's blue eye stood mere inches away from Izuku's face, they were sharp as a blade as if he was ready for a hunt, with the same vacant look he always has but now with more darkness shadow looming over his face.
As Izuku's hands shivered with Rideru's wrist tightly in his group, Rideru calmly spoke.
"I don't like the way you treated my friend. Rumi gave you a chance she doesn't give out often to other people and instead of taking full advantage of it with grace, you sat back with your greedy ass mouth open waiting for another one and another one as if it was her job to feed you. Then you dare have the nerve to think you're worthy of dating her without properly putting in the effort of understanding her, her life, likes and dislikes, lifestyle, or even being an active positive influence on her life. But then you'll secretly grow hate for me instead of openly confronting me about it because I was possibly a better candidate for dating her!? Granted I'm a dick but you….. Ha, you just sat back as if because you're a nice good boy that's oh so quirky and dorky, and nice, and kinda, and innocent, and went through so much in life, that means the girls must bend over backward craving for your dick uncontrollably. Waiting to be blessed by being penetrated by your mighty one-of-a-kind giant drill that's totally going to be the best she'll ever experience in her life that she'll never be able to live without just yours. All you need to do is just be around her and wait, and be a good nice boy so that regardless if your personality or chemistry with her is plainer than white bread, her uncontrollable lust for your pinnacle of humanity baby-maker will take her over for your delight."
As Rideru continued to talk, he inched his face closer, closing the gap between the two and allowing Izuku to see the true intensity of his face. The utter unmoving coldness that was in his eye sent a blizzard of chills, he didn't blink nor divert.
"Unfortunately for you and your fucking fantasies, that's not the world work and that's definitely not how Rumi lives. You should start seeing her as a human being who has freedom of will to make her own choices and not the girl you're just waiting to realize you're her only option. If you want her attention then fucking earn it and learn how to appeal to her instead of getting depressed and mad at anyone else who does earn it. If not then you can go fuck yourself. Rumi is a special person to me, nearly on the same level as Tsuyu, her livelihood is something I don't mind taking some responsibility in making sure it stays good. And I don't take kindly to people that mess with it. So if you do that crap again to her or anything where you're neglecting her feelings as a human being for yourself-"
A small memory for Rideru popped up for him.
Rideru: Age 14 | Rumi: Age 13
"You good?" Rideru asked, approaching a Rumi who was oddly alone in an alleyway.
Her body jerked for a moment before turning around, boasting, "O-of course I'm good! Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because you've been periodically frowning at everything this week, been avoiding group events, and even seem less enthusiastic about fighting."
"... a-"
"Also you're utter complete dogshit at hiding stuff, especially with me. I found out your real name because you dropped your school ID in front of me."
"I'm still so pissed you read it so fast!"
"You were the one who stood there stunned for so long like a smooth brain nutjob, now tell me what's up?"
…
"So that's it?" Rideru said, they were now sitting on top of the rooftop looking up at the night sky, 'That'll explain it, it was that season after all.'
Rumi sat with her knees pressing against her chest, mumbling, "Pretty stupid right?"
"No, especially from you, that was the most intelligence I've seen. Maybe the school you went through wasn't an utter complete failure that should be burned down."
"Hey!"
"You care if the school burns down?"
"No that place can burn in hell for all I care, I meant the remark on my smarts."
"Oh right, of course."
"Anyways, that's basically what's been on my mind," Rumi murmured, looking back to the moon, "I guess you could say-"
Rideru interrupted, "That you're feeling alone?"
The bunny looked at him shocked, "How you know what I was about to say?"
"It's not hard to see some of the things you say coming," the lynx sighed, "Plus, I recognize the look on your face, or better said the look in your eye. It told of a special kind of loneliness, one where even among a group of misfits who are supposed to be just like you, you still sometimes feel like a complete outsider."
"..." Rumi looked straight again, this time looking down at the ground, "Don't tell the others about this, ok? I don't want them to think they're not great friends, they already do so much and the time I do spend with them is amazing. It's just….. Ugh! Dumb emotions, I hate them! Why can't people just be someone that drinks cola and kicks ass! Fuck everything else."
"You were doing great aaaaaaaaand now we're back to you saying dumb shit again."
"Hey!"
"Anyways, don't worry I have no interest in just spilling personal secrets. Doing shit like that is dumb anyway."
"Thanks."
"And if you ever start dealing with those dumb emotions again, you can always just come back to me to talk about it."
"What, really!? Waaaaaait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute! Why would you do that for me? Possible blackmail?"
"I don't get what's with people and forgetting what I just fucking established a few moments ago? No, I have no plan to blackmail you."
"Oh," went Rumi, her floppy ears lowering a bit at her own stupidity, not a rare moment between the two, "Then what?"
"Probably because I can relate to the feeling. You know, I'm a bit of an outsider myself," Rideru told her, he laid back on the rooftop, "So maybe having another outsider to talk to could do you some good. Just think of me as your medicine to heal your loneliness, I'm not worth much, apparently I'm decent at it."
As the memory ended, Rideru drew his middle finger down from Izuku's neck toward his chest, and let a single claw nail pop out and poke him. He moved his head letting his hair shift out of the way to show his scarred closed eye. As it opened, Izuku now had two blue eyes glaring coldly at him. With pupils so black that Izuku almost forgot the colors of his eyes, just staring at how bleak and hollow those pupils were when Rideru said the next few words.
"I'll kick your ass so hard that you'll never be the same again afterward."
Izuku nodded his head, showing he understood.
"I got it," Izuku replied, "In truth, I've realized it myself how unfair and not right our relationship is. I want to fix it. So I apologize for some of my actions earlier, let me do it properly this time and request this. Please help me be better."
"...ok," Rideru shrugged.
"Wait really?" Izuku said, "Just like that?"
"Yeah, I was planning on doing that anyway, that's why I brought you here. I was just establishing how much of a piece of shit I think you are and why so you know what we're fixing."
"B-but, why if you think I'm that bad of a person?"
"First off, I didn't say you were that bad of a person, I just called out the many flawed traits you have that I don't like, thus I see you as an annoying pile of trash. Like I said, Rumi matters to me and so far she really likes you despite all your flaws. She just doesn't realize how much she does. If she likes you, well I can't stop her but I can help make sure she's happy with her choice. That means changing you from what I identify as a piece of shit to a somewhat decent human being."
"Oh… kinda wish you'll stop calling me a piece of shit though," Izuku said.
Rideru stared at Izuku for a moment before stating, "Naaaaaaaah."
A cold sweat dripped from the green fox's face as he said, "Well what will we do?"
Right then did the door open and in came Yogi and Simba.
"That's what they're here for," Rideru told him.
"Yo!" Simba greeted, "I heard our new member was having some lady trouble. You know, I'm quite a flirt around town myself but sadly with my responsibilities I can't commit to them all. You know they're this close to calling me the king of the jungle right?"
"I rushed over as soon as I heard," Yogi said with a sandwich in hand, "I can offer whatever I can."
"They're here to assist me in your stop-being-a-bitch rehabilitation," Rideru states.
Izuku ears curled up hearing him, repeating, "Rehabilitation?"
"Yes," Rideru said, pointing to the board, "As I established, your existence is pitiful at best and the pit of hell where annoyance is born at it's worst. Another big thing about relationships is you yourself not just how you connect with her. If you're a piece of shit, you might still date a girl by making the words but don't expect it to be a happy relationship. So you're going to put dating Rumi on hold for a moment and work on making sure she's not crushing on a garbage bag."
"Basically, we're going to take you away from Rumi for a bit and help you become a better version of yourself first," Simba exclaimed.
"And with fewer insults," Yogi added, "Sorry for Rideru's language by the way, he has a cruel way with words and deconstructing others."
Rideru rolled his eyes, turning to Izuku saying, "Anyways, I hate overly long drawn out conversations, so I'll get to the point. I got a plan. You follow it, it'll whip you into shape, you have a chance. What do you say?"
"Yes!" Izuku declared, why the hell would he need to think about it.
"Good, let's get to business," Rideru said with his unmoving face, "Me and the boys are going to put you through anti-simp training."
"Am I a simp?"
The room erupted from a vast amount of mumbles and uncomfortable comments that were cultivated into one phrase.
"You're tethering dangerously close to it."
Rideru brought his attention to the board, "Now first things first, you have to-"
As Rideru was speaking there was one thing that had Izuku thinking.
'The weird part about this is how different Rideru is now from his past self. From how he described it, he was still a crude person but it was at a controllable level and he showed a lot of emotions about the things he did. Now, he still has some compassion seeing as he tried to wring my neck over Rumi but, he seems so… off now.'
Izuku had to question.
'What happened?'