On that same faithful day, Nighteye passed away with the hero he adores, and the students he cared about, Midoriya and Mirio. But, on that same day, for some uncertain reason, Y/n wasn't there. He was immediately informed about his moderator's condition but did not once show up or leave any letter of appreciation. He did not show up at all. Leading to Izuku's disappointment and losing a bit of respect for Y/n. However, on Nighteye's deathbed, he uttered his last words where All Might, Izuku, and Mirio were present.
"Y/n...he's...special...he's different," he said shakily, coughing. "Promise me that...you guide him..." he added with a hefty sigh. "His mind's...mixed up...filled with emotions and thoughts he locks away so...I do hope...you have the heart...to understand...his...ways..."
Then he smiled one last time. "He's...a good man...he...no..." he then turned to Midoriya and Mirio with the final sparks in his eyes coming to a near end. "You all...will be...great...such fine...heroes.."
And at that very moment, the wind blew away the remnants of his fire, leaving a cold and empty pyre.
---
Once the final settlements were arranged, especially the amount of paperwork that had to be done, Izuku, Kirishima, Ochaco, and Tsyu finally went back to their respective dorms. Of course, they were warmly greeted by their classmates just behind the doors. They missed them, very much. They inquired about their past experience, wondered if they were still hurting, and asked why they didn't tell their classmates at first. But Iida, the one that was mostly empathetic, intervened, claiming that their friends needed their well-deserved rest.
However, Izuku had something else in mind.
...
Running around the entire UA campus at 12 in the morning, Y/n increases his pace, his whole body sweating profusely as he ran around the campus that night on his 25th round. He breathes in, then exhales, stepping his foot hard onto the ground as he makes one more final sprint, instantly zooming back toward the entrance of his dorm, a small gust of dust fabricated as he made a stop, breathing heavily. Once he finally makes his final round he made one more stretch as he reached for his dorm's door knob, the gentle breeze of the early morning sent shivers down his spine as he grabbed the doorknob and twisted it open. Only to be interrupted by someone calling his name.
"Y/n!" a familiar, high-pitched voice called him out, desperately seeking his attention, the slight huffs from the latter's tone signified that this person chased him around the campus, running as well.
The said man turned his head to meet the student that called his name.
Izuku Midoriya.
He noticed streaks of green lightning enveloping his figure, his chest heaving as he breathes from his mouth. He stood there on the path towards Y/n's dorm, sweating profusely, still wearing his UA uniform, and placing his hand on the lampost, leaning on his right for support. The greenhead gulped when Y/n finally acknowledged him.
The man spoke first in a stern tone as if his long sprinting routine didn't even faze him. "Your breathing...breathe from your nose, not through your mouth. It'll loosen your lung capacity and lead you to fatigue faster. Take a deep breath from your nose, hold it, then sprint. Do that and you'll run better and last longer. It'll be useful in battles that last."
"Y-Yes sir!"
"Good." Then the man was about to enter his dorm when he was called out once more.
"T-That wasn't what I came here for...!" Once more, Y/n was stopped momentarily, giving the teenager the signal to continue with a hesitant gulp. "It's...It's about sir Nighteye..."
Izuku noticed that Y/n's grip on the doorknob hasn't changed, and his overall reaction hasn't altered, leading to the slight irritation of the green-haired boy. The teenager, wanting to point this out, decided to state his opinion.
"H-He was on his death bed...saying his last goodbyes...I-I know you probably had something important to do at that time, but not showing up at the Shiessaki raid at all...and not visiting your moderator before he passes away..." Izuku clenched his fists as tears strolled down his eyes in sadness and frustration. "That's just...disrespectful in so many ways...I thought...I thought you'd help in the raid...I thought...you'd..." his voice started to tremble in between his words, getting emotional.
Y/n, finally taking note of his junior's emotional frustration, turned to him and walked up to him, unintentionally looming over him. He knelt on one knee to look at the teenager face-to-face. "...Not all of us have the same way of mourning..." he uttered silently. "I...cope with sadness and frustration by...training. And I honor Sir Nighteye by living...He'd want that for us. I'm sure."
"But...the raid...you..weren't there..."
"..." Then Y/n stood back up, turning his back to the teenager, and trudged back to the entrance of his dorm. "It doesn't matter if I was in the raid or not. You won, right? Good job. Now, please. Stay away from me. I don't want you getting caught up in my problems."
With that, Y/n closed the door to his dorm, leaving a perplexed and confused Izuku at the sudden change of tone from the latter. In the end, the teenager no longer expressed any frustration for the man, instead, a hint of remorse. He remembered Y/n saying that he had his own way of mourning, meaning that he too wanted to be alone for a while, and the teenager walking up to him and saying that not being present in Sir Nighteye's death before his final moments' was "disrespectful," only added salt on the gaping wound.
Now feeling a heavy weight on his chest, his morals urged him to apologize, so he jogged toward the third-year's dorm and clenched the doorknob, and twisted it open only to stop when someone placed a hand on his shoulder.
It was Tamaki.
"Tamaki-san!"
The latter placed a finger on his lips, making a gesture for Izuku to silence him.
The teenager nodded in response.
"What are you doing here, Midoriya?" Tamaki asked softly. "It's the middle of the night..."
"Ah...W-Well..."
"It's about Y/n, isn't it? I usually wake up at this time to check on him."
The latter reluctantly nodded.
Tamaki only sighed and encouraged him to enter their dorm room and sit on the couch where they can discuss. "Coffee?"
"N-No, I'm good."
The silent and reserved man gave himself some coffee from the kitchen before sitting back down on the couch, adjacent to Izuku's position. He placed his fresh cup of coffee on a table in between the couches. "...I take this is about Y/n not being there at the time?"
The greenhead fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat before nodding.
"I see. So, what do you want to know about him?"
"U-Uh...I-Is that really alright...?"
"Yeah, you can, don't worry, he wouldn't mind."
"A-Are you sure?"
Tamaki took a small sip from his coffee before nodding.
"Alright then...uh...so how is he like?" Izuku asked gingerly, wanting to know a bit of Y/n's personality.
"Well, Y/n...in most cases, acts and does almost the same things I do. But, opposite from what I am, he's a very...careful and calculated man, uh, pretty handsome too. He knows what he wants to improve on himself and makes that his goal. He's...far more disciplined than anyone I've ever seen...honestly, I think he's far more disciplined than...even Togata," he chuckled a bit. "When we had our first year together, he instantly became the heartthrob of the entire school. It even became a competition for making him blush or smile a bit."
The greenhead giggled a bit from the reveal.
"But no one did at the time because he was being way too distant...and er...intimidating. So...we all just...left him to do his own thing," Then he took another sip from his coffee. "Anything else?"
"So uh...How did you become his friend then? If that's the case?"
"Ah, now that, ask that question to Mirio. He's the one that befriended him. Not really sure how he did it though."
"O-Oh...I understand," Then the teenager suddenly stood up and instantaneously bowed at Tamaki, causing the latter to choke on his coffee. "Thank you very much for this conversation! I'll head back to my dorm now!" he announced out loud.
"R-Right...You...didn't have to shout at me..."
Then from the corner of Izuku's eye, he discerned a figure on the stairs of the Third year's dorm, half concealed, finally trudging up the steps.
***
It was the month of October. A lot of time has passed especially after the raid. Everything has finally calmed down after that time. However, there was an event that was apparently the most anticipated in the entire Academy, which was the School festival.
Everyone in class 3-A either screeched in joy or groaned in annoyance. But the only individuals that actually, silently, groaned in annoyance were Tamaki and Y/n. You see, they both lack social interaction, so being the severely introverted duo that they are, they semi-dislike the fact that the whole class was supposed to cooperate to make a fun school festival.
"I...don't want to festival."
"Y/n...it's required..."
"But...I don't..."
"I feel...the same way."
"I don't...like the sun."
"Isn't...isn't that unhealthy?"
"I...I wanna sleep."
"Sleep...forever?"
"That...That's called death, Tamaki."
"...I know what I said."
Then a new voice butted in. "Come on guys! Don't doze off! Dying isn't fun!" It was Nejire.
"Death...ah, well, it provides the fact I can stop existin-"
"You were never this suicidal in thought Y/n!" Mirio blurted out.
"Yeah! Death isn't cool! It's dark and weird!"
"...I'm just tired."
"Well maybe if you didn't run around the school 25 times, you wouldn't feel so tired!" The bluehead blurted out as a matter-of-factly.
"...I'm gonna sleep. Just tell me when Midnight's done with the lecture."
Tamaki huffed, laying his head on his table. "You...do know ma'am is gonna try and grope you."
"I'm...fully prepared for the assault. Emotionally and spiritually. Pray to every God above I don't get groped by some...hot milf near my area."
"...Hey-"
It was too late. Y/n fell asleep.
Immediately, Nejire noticed a bright shimmer from Midnight's eyes right across the classroom, grinning ever so slightly. "Uh, guys..."
Togata forced himself a wide smile. "Geez, she's like a predator spying on her prey. But I remember that Y/n once told me that he wouldn't mind having a 'pretty/sexy' gal 'gobble' him up. I can only assume Ms. Midnight is no different! I can agree that she is indeed pretty So I take there's no need to defend him from ma'am!"
Tamaki and Nejire deadpanned.
"Your...serious?" the sun eater questioned.
Nejire, on the other hand, pouted. "Hmph."
Togata slowly turned his head to Tamaki, uncannily, still with that forced wide smile, making the latter shiver. "He told me that the first time we met in order to weird me out and stop me from pursuing him," the blonde confirmed. "Even though the attempt failed, I still remember his comment as bright as day. I...will never forget the way he said it," he shivered ever so slightly. "...Gobble...Unngh...He said like, 18 more weird stuff to me, wanna hear it--"
"No."
"No!"
***
Later that day, the whole class was required to create their own activity for the school festival. There were a lot of choices that came into play. Albeit as of the late, the number one choice, to Y/n's displeasure, was public flexing. Specifically the males in their class. Though it's understandable that there are a lot of guys that are attractive in Y/n's class, he knew that he'd still be the number one choice. Which, of course, he did not want to see come up. The women in his class technically wanted only to see him flex.
"Being handsome is a curse," mumbled the man.
"You're gonna say otherwise when you're ugly!" Mirio retorted cheerfully.
"That's a fair point. But still."
Then Tamaki came into the scene eating fish crackers. "What's the event?"
"Male flexing competition."
Tamaki nearly choked on his food.
Nejire, interested in the convo, joined in. "Flexing? Like those bodybuilders on Tv flexing their bigggg biceps?!"
"Yeah!" Mirio confirmed. "But I think it'll apply to only the third years," Then there was a brief silence before the blonde suddenly gasped out loud and smacked Y/n's backside. "I JUST REMEMBERED! ERI-CHAN WANTS TO SEE ME!"
"Why'd you slap me--"
"I'LL GO NOW!" the blonde blurted out, standing from his seat and simply walking out of the classroom. "SEE YOU GUYS!" Then he loudly slammed the door shut.
Some of their classmates laughed at Mirio's sudden bluntness, while others completely ignored him since he's always been like that.
...
...
Then a stern look suddenly developed on Nejire's face, which was rare. "Y/n, I know you've been on the raid but..."
"Why...were the police...after you?" Tamaki continued.
"We've been sorta holding out the thought for quite a while but..hehe, c'mon, we're your friends! You can tell us anything!" the bubbly teenager added in hopes for Yn to open up.
"..." Standing from his seat, he stretched his arms and waltzed for the classroom's exit. "I'm off. If you ever need me, you know where I usually click in." Then he left, leaving Nejire and Tamaki's question unanswered, a growing concern swelled deep within them that...he was hiding something. But...what was it?
Nejire wanted to express this concern to her friend. "Tamaki...Y/n's hiding something from us, isn't he?"
The latter could only squint at where the massive man left. "He is. I...don't think it's anything good."
"We should confront him about it with Mirio!"
"Yeah, but, maybe it might be best after the school festival."
"I don't like this Tamaki, Y/n's disappearing a bit more often in these past months and becoming more distant...Does he still want us as friends?" she asked somberly, another expression that was rare to see in her usual jolly self.
The latter, noting his friend's sadness, pulled her in an embrace, rubbing her back. "I'm sure he wants to still be friends with us. He's staying away from us...maybe because...he's trying to keep us away from...whatever he's hiding."
Even if this was the case, Tamaki wouldn't stop thinking...
Y/n...what did you get yourself into?