𝐏 𝐚 𝐫 𝐭  𝐯 𝐢 .

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫. 

𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝'𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 

𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 

𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝."

- 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨: 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝟏, 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝟒

His emerald eyes flickered up at the door when the bell hung above it rang. He quickly looked away, focus on the table in front of him. It served as a resting place for his hands, which nervously twitched. He watched from the corner of his eye as you sat in the booth that was directly behind where he sat. The little restaurant lent a nice break from the rooftops and abandoned buildings you usually met in.

"Hi," Izuku greeted you in a hushed tone.

"Hello," You responded, using the same volume. You shared a moment of silence. You watched as the employees busied around with customers. You were wary of them, keeping a close watch to know when a waiter was about to approach you.

"The Leauge is planning a job in two days," You explained briefly. "Another government facility, you'll get the location soon." Izuku nodded his head, only to realize you couldn't exactly see him. Izuku partly felt bad. You were going through so much trouble to get him this information and he didn't know how to repay you. You were risking your life to be here!

"Can I buy you lunch?" Izuku offered politely.

"That'd look too suspicious," You declined, though the food that came from the kitchen smelled amazing. He hummed in thought for a moment, gathering up his courage.

"C-Can I at least say you look pr-pretty?" His question made your face feel warm. Did he really mean that? No one had ever told you something like that. You lived your entire life around people who were scheming and manipulating. But Izuku wasn't complimenting you to get something out of it. He struck you as the type of person to say something like that only if he meant it.

"Thank you," You stiffly said, slightly unsure how to respond. You stood up, covering your mouth with your hand to hide the shaky smile. Izuku watched you leave the building, his own giddy grin as bright as the sun. The young hero was shocked at the effect you had over him. You opened the front door and he stared as you disappeared down the sidewalk.

A breath of fresh air swept across you as you walked back to the villainous hideout. The outside world was so much different from the one you lived in. The sun peered down at you from behind the clouds. You passed a park. You saw the people there, how happy they all looked. Everywhere looked so full of life. You weren't used to being out during the day.

You appreciated that life more now. In a way, it reminded you of Izuku. Full of idealistic hope, like the children who ran past you laughing. You felt yourself smile. Were you happy? Yeah, that sounded about right.

𝐓 𝐨 𝐁 𝐞 𝐂 𝐨 𝐧 𝐭 𝐢 𝐧 𝐮 𝐞 𝐝 . . .