expiationlogs | [Open Log]

Entry tags:

[Open Log]

Who: Izuku and you (OPEN)
Where: Around Aldrip
What: April catch-all - Izuku's trying to get on his feet and handle the disappearances (only one is working out for him)
Warnings: Nothing immediate, but Izuku's not in a great headspace at the moment so I'll warn if/when a thread starts digging into that.

1) Old (Fitness) Habits

[Izuku is very, very bad at sitting around doing nothing when there is something wrong. Too easy to get trapped in thinking about what-ifs and worst-cases, of ways he could help if he was just smarter or stronger or better. Not really being able to personally do anything about it at the moment just makes it even worse.

So he falls back on the one thing he can do to prepare for the moment he gets an opportunity to finally do something useful: hone One For All's vessel.

...it's exercise. He's throwing himself into exercise.

He can't really properly recreate his usual routine - no weights or other exercise equipment readily at hand makes that hard to do - but he's already got practice in a fairly decent replacement. Namely, he spends a good chunk of his day helping with manual labor around Aldrip. No OFA, just pure, raw muscle power. It's no Dagoba Beach, but the principle is the same, embracing the heroic spirit inherent in unglamorous volunteer work while doing many different physically demanding tasks that require working different sets of muscles to do properly. He doesn't even ask for or expect payment for any of it, though he can be made to accept rewards of money or food with enough persistence, and he knows better than to turn down hydration when it's offered during or after the work.

If there's none to be had, or at least nothing he can do without using his Quirk or that doesn't require specific knowledge or skills he lacks, he spends the time doing regular exercise instead. Most of it he does in his room at the inn (so any attempt to drop by may result in sweaty teen boy, sorry about that) but he does also develop a jogging route around town, and can be found running it in the mornings almost every day. You're welcome to join him.]

2) Out and About

[Of course, Izuku can't work out constantly. Overworking does more harm than good and, as he learned the hard way, could easily result in him putting himself in danger of passing out in the middle of a task. But he still can't just sit around doing nothing during his rest periods. So when he's not doing fitness volunteer labor, he can very likely be found doing ordinary odd jobs and random acts of kindness. Lending people a hand with their laundry, offering to help someone he spots sweeping or cleaning, getting things down from rooftops or out of trees, even being a comforting presence for an upset child; if he sees it needing doing, he's going to at least try to help out. He won't force it on anyone who doesn't want it, though. That'd be rude.

Izuku won't turn down offers to help out with his helping out either, unless it's genuinely unnecessarily. That would also be rude. Feel free to meddle in his meddling!]

3) Knowledge is Power

[When there's nothing else to do, or bad weather gets in the way of his usual (very outdoors-focused) daily plans, Izuku's almost guaranteed to be at the library. He's an analyzer, a tactician, a planner - he knows the importance of learning everything you can about whatever situation you end up in, and there's no better place to start than with what Expiation's populace records about their own home.

Also he just...really likes learning new things. He's most likely to be found reading up on books or computer entries of local history and folklore, but there's even odds he can be found flipping through cookbooks, or looking up something that someone he knows is passionate about, or trying to book-learn a foundation for some new skill that would broaden his options for fitness labor. He, uh, may also be making a mild nuisance of himself; he's not particularly loud when he gets to mumbling his thoughts aloud to himself, but he does go on for a while once he gets going. Sometimes a long while.

...man, he really misses his notebooks.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[The charms' translation capabilities are incredibly useful, Izuku can more than admit to that. But reading something actually written in Japanese still feels different, somehow; the sense of familiarity, perhaps? Either way, it's enough to draw his attention to the oddity of a Japanese cookbook stocked away in amid the local ones in the library. And...yeah, it's just as much homesickness as curiosity that makes him decide to flip through it. He misses his mom's home cooking, and Lunch Rush's gourmet school meals, and the group prepared food at class parties. If he can at least find a recipe for katsudon, maybe he'll feel a little less--

Hold on. There's already handwritten notes in this cookbook. Which are also in Japanese. Huh...?

The realization that this might actually belong to someone has him switching gears immediately. Because it's Izuku, of course his first thought is to see if this is someone's missing property so he can return it. And yes, he finds a name inside the cover - and one he recognizes, at that. So, while he can't be entirely certain it's not just a coincidence (it's not like he knows what characters Aragaki's name actually uses) he still sends off a quick message:

Hi, this is Izuku. Um, could you come meet me at the library? I think I found something of yours.

After all, if it is a coincidence, it's a heck of a big one. Better safe than sorry!]

[There are only about three or so people Shinjiro expects to contact him on any given day, so it's a bit of a surprise to receive a message from someone else. He doesn't need to think too hard to remember Izuku - patrol boy and yes-man, of course - but... the library?

....Something of his?

He knows about the way items sometimes just appear- Kotone's picture, Mizuki's bike, surely plenty more- but why would anything of his be in the library? Actually, what does he even own that he didn't wake up here with in his pockets besides his old axe, which is decidedly not a library item...

Alright. Okay. He doesn't reply immediately; instead, he heads for the library, and fires off a reply when he gets there:]

It's Shinjiro. I'm at the entrance. Where are you?

[Don't make him wander the whole library, please.]

[ It isn't really that the boy running errands around town reminds her of Gau. Besides the green hair, they couldn't look more different. (As much as she'd like to see a familiar face, Celes sincerely hopes she'll never turn a corner someday and find the wild child here. Of all people who don't need to have some faceless god pass judgement on him and be stolen off to this island colony...) ]

[ It's just that... once one gets on that line of thought, there's the inevitable question: What could a kid this age have done, to get spirited here? ]

[ Celes isn't graceless enough to ask that question outright. But the next time she sees Izuku passing by the inn working up a sweat, she steps out to flag him down, a glass and a water pitcher in hand: ]

Hey -- whoever you're working for, it won't get done any faster if you give yourself heatstroke. Take a break.

[Izuku isn't the only one helping out. There are some things you just don't really talk about -- for instance, how shaken Noel has been after the last few weeks. How much everything really got to him. Food scarcity is something he knows like the back of his hand, like a companion he grew up with. Guess it goes hand-in-hand with the end of the world. So, now that the dust has settled and things are slowly sliding back into some weird definition of normal, he deals with his feelings on the subject the same way he's dealt with every other feeling for the past few centuries: he doesn't. Instead, he leans on helping others. Looks like the Shadow Hunter is at it again. (Minus the edgy nom de plume. For now.)

He's been delivering packages for various people for most of the afternoon and he's finally on his last one, examining the slip of paper that has the delivery instructions written on it, when a gust of wind knocks it out of his hands and up to the roof of a building. He curses under his breath and starts to put the box down when he spots someone up on the roof already.]

Wh... Deku? [...But the wind threatens to pick up again, so he gestures wildly at the paper currently stuck between two roof tiles.] Hey! Grab that paper!

[Izuku doesn't really think much of the delay - too busy flipping through (other) cookbooks looking for anything that seems familiar, now that he's gone and gotten nostalgia cravings - but he's still a bit surprised that the first response he got was 'I'm here' and not 'what did you find'. Now he really hopes this isn't just a weird coincidence, or he's gonna feel bad making Aragaki come all this way for nothing.]

I'll come meet you there, it shouldn't take too long.

[And yes, he's already heading for the front as he sends that, it's too late to stop him.

When they do finally meet up he greets the other boy with a sheepish wave. He's carrying the cookbook with the same gentleness and respect he gives his own notebooks, if not more. He knows how much it hurts when someone ruins your belongings.]

Hi. I'm sorry for bothering you [child you literally are trying to return something to its owner] but I found a book with your name written in it, so I figured you should see it.

[Kotone used to work in the school library, kind of (though that had mostly been to talk to Saori instead of any interest in books). Still, it means she kind of likes to wander among the shelves in the library here with her music playing in her headphones, just kind of poking around in case anything catches her interest. Not that she really reads much herself, unless it's studying. And it seems like a good idea to maybe brush up on the geography of this place in case they need to travel again!

It's with a thick encyclopedia in her arms that she spots Deku muttering to himself at one of the tables and brightens, taking off one eof her headphones and letting it drop to her chest. That's right, she has something for him! This is the perfect opportunity to give it to him!

But she doesn't want to interrupt. So she takes her book and scoots into a seat beside him to start reading, waiting for a break in his personal monologue to speak up.

[It's a good question, Celes! One Izuku really should be asking himself - he knows what his parchment says, but as for why it says it...

He's not expecting to be approached for...well, any reason, so she ends up essentially startling him to a halt and it takes him a moment to realize what she said. Once it clicks, though, he laughs sheepishly on what is almost reflex. It's certainly not the first time he's been chided for overworking, even if it has been a while, and it leaves him feeling more embarrassed than anything else.

Look at him, going and worrying yet another stranger here. It feels like he's doing that a lot more often than usual.]

Do I really look that bad?

[He has maybe not fully thought through how his 'workout routine' might come across to others, especially given his general ~~meddling~~ helpfulness around town. Izuku is not really letting himself think about a lot of things right now, really.]

[The real miracle is getting a reply at all from Shinjiro "uses his cell phone like an old man" Aragaki, especially on these weird little charms. Still, he's here for this mystery object, although he's still wondering about the whole library aspect. Could it just be a misfile of items...? Did Kotone's picture come with her name tagged on it somewhere, just in case? Hm-

Ah, but there's Izuku's reply - and this one he doesn't reply to again, simply loitering by the entrance with one hand in his pocket and the other idly thumbing at a pile of some free bookmarks for little kids on the front counter. No one has politely asked him to stop doing this yet, but he quits it on his own when Izuku arrives, giving him a scrutinizing-and-curious look, and—]

Yeah, that's mine.

[He knows his own cookbook on sight, not only for the little sticky note tabs sticking out all over it, but the precise way the cover is just a little beat up and a bit scuffed up in one corner, that's— that's definitely his goddamn cookbook, what the hell. Why put it in the library, where people can look at it?]

You just found it here? [A beat, and then more, uh, dark...ly...?] Did you look inside?

[It's a cookbook. It is literally just a cookbook, but he's written some truly humiliating sentimental stuff about steaks in there, so Did You Look Inside.]

[Izuku was, for once, on a roof for reasons other than fetching something and immediately jumping down - lucky for Noel, there. He'd been helping some locals replace the lean-to cover of a firewood storage shed, more than happy to use his strength to hold it in place until it was stable, and was waiting to make sure it wouldn't need the extra support again when he hears the shouting. And of course, even without it being addressed to him, he's instantly turning to see what he needs to do to help.]

I got it! [He moves to stand - and then freezes, looking back to the people he was helping apologetically.] Sorry, I'll be right back--

[He's waved off before he's even finished - don't worry about it, we're almost done - and springs to his feet and across the roof with practiced ease. That pause at the start almost makes him too late; the wind catches the paper up again just as Izuku arrives. He leaps after it, snatching it out of the air...

...sending himself airborne over the edge of the roof as he goes, out into the open space over the road...

...where he slows to a stop. In midair. And just kind of floats there a couple of feet off the ground, drifting a bit in the strong breeze, as he awkwardly reorients himself so he can drop back down feet-first.

There is maybe a reason he's so willing and eager to go up onto rooftops so others don't have to.]

[Izuku, for his part, is already too deep into his thoughts to notice her right away. He's got a book on building and repairing fences in front of him, but his brain has already segued off into reviewing how his fitness labor 'regimen' has been going and where he needs to make changes - imbalances to correct, compensation routines to plan, ways to track and schedule things more effectively... He's so into it, in fact, that his right arm is up on the table next to Kotone, hand reflexively miming writing as though taking invisible notes with an invisible pen.

And even a cursory glance at that hand will be more than enough for her to notice his plethora of scars. They run from his fingers up much of his forearm, though his hand and wrist have it the worst.

The mumbling (and phantom notetaking) go on for a good few minutes, but he does eventually lean back in his seat and lapse into silence, hand to his mouth. Now's your chance, girl! Quick, before he starts up again!]

[Noel is no stranger to heights. Stairs, buildings...look, when Etro's Gate opened, it sort of spat him out in the air and let him fall wherever the hell he landed. So, heights? jumping? falling? No big deal. But floating and hovering in the air? That's something totally different, if the surprise in his expression is anything to say about it. He watches Izuku for a second, mouth half-open, before he snaps out of it.]

That was really something. [He sounds impressed, for sure, nodding up at the roof Izuku just took a flying leap off of.] Bet it comes in handy when you're working up high, too.

[Boy, once he gets going, he doesn't want to stop, huh? It's kind of charming in its own way, and she's happy to let him keep doing his thing until he has to pause. She does notice the scars, filing away that information for later -- is that normal for superheroes-in-training?

Ah, wait, he's paused for a second! She leans forward and waves a hand in front of his eyes.]

Midoriya-kun! Aldrip to Midoriya-kun!!

Yeah, I found it mixed in with some of the library’s cookbooks. It caught my attention when I realized the title and everything was in Japanese.

[The moment Shinji confirms that it’s his, Izuku just smiles and holds it out for him to take. Property return successful! Well, assuming there’s no complications actually taking it out of the library…he can vouch for the older teen if need be, it’ll probably be fine.

He’s a little baffled by that second question, though, and it shows.]

Um, a little? I stopped to check if it had an owner’s name when I noticed the markers and handwriting, so I didn’t really get too far…

[He doesn’t Know, but he still kinda partially knows. Have fun with that, Shinji!]

[Well that certainly snaps him out of his thoughts! Izuku jumps in his seat with a startled yelp - sorry about that being right in your ear, girl. His hyperfocus bubbles just do not know how to pop quietly.]

Sh-Shiomi! [He blinks, and just stares at her for a moment while his brain furiously works to unjam and then shift its gears.] When did you get here?

[Surely he would have noticed that, right? Right???]

[He could have easily just continued straight into the ground and been fine with a bit of OFA, funnily enough. Having access to Float just makes it less necessary to catch himself with his face if he doesn't have to. Plus it's just...nice, using it for something outside of a fight. If there's one good thing about being taken here, it's being given time and opportunities to use his more recent 'unlocks' to help people without applying them to violence. (Do not think about their applications in search and rescue, do not, do not, do not--)]

It has been! It's a simple Quirk, but very useful.

[Of course, he just loves Quirks in general. He will never stop disagreeing with the idea that the Predecessors' Quirks are unimpressive or otherwise less than amazing, Kacchan.

Feet on the ground once more, he jogs over to hand Noel the paper. It's gotten pretty crumpled up, what with him desperately snatching it out of the air, which Izuku can't help feeling bad about.]

Here. I hope I didn't ruin it.

A couple minutes ago!

[She'll leave it up to him to decide if that's a long time or a short time. She giggles a little at his reaction, resting her chin in her hand and beaming up at him. It must be nice to be able to focus that hard on something, huh?]

You seemed pretty focused. What were you working on?

Yes, dreadful.

[ There's a faint smile to show she isn't serious (the kid looks embarrassed enough as it is, after all), though there's an awkward edge to it. It's not that she's being insincere, more just... unused to casual banter. She fills the glass with a musical glug of water, as she continues: ]

You're a stranger to these lands too -- right?

[ "Chosen" is such an ill word for whatever this tenure here is. Being chosen, like it was a gift. ]

Helping out is commendable, but... some advice. Jjust because they're our hosts, don't feel beholden to them.

A... quirk? Seemed more powerful than just some kind of quirk, to me.

[He thinks, at least? Is Izuku really some overpowered person and he just hasn't realized it yet? Does "quirk" mean something different, to him? Maybe both of those things are possible at the same time. Either way, Noel can think of so many stairs he could have avoided if he could float. (Or his fall from Etro's Gate -- it didn't really end badly, but how useful would that have been, right?)

He takes the paper gratefully and tries to smooth it out.]

Don't worry about it. I can still read it, so it's not that bad. Thanks.

[He blushes lightly. Any time is too long a time, as far as Izuku's concerned.]

I'm so sorry, I didn't even notice...

[He feels so bad. She clearly wanted to talk to him and he just (accidentally) ignored her! Absolutely embarrassing. Not even the surprise at Shiomi actually being curious about what he was doing is enough to override it.]

Nothing important, really. Just trying to work out a fitness routine. Or, well, changes to one. [He shakes his head - it really is nothing important, he can hash the adjustments out more later.] What was it you wanted, though?

Oh. Yeah, I'm another outsider.

[He ducks his head a little. He's getting better about telling when he's being teased in a good way verses bad, but it still takes a couple seconds of thought; nothing against Celes, he just doesn't know her well enough to have the important tells click right away. But eventually he smiles back.]

It's not out of obligation, really. I just...like helping people.

[It's just how he is, and it's helping him feel ~~useful~~ productive. He needs that feeling right now.

But he does walk over to where she's standing. She is right about him needing to remember to pace himself, after all. There'll still be chores around he can help with after he's let himself rest a bit.]

It's okay! I didn't want to interrupt.

[She waves a hand, not at all offended. It was kind of cute, just how focused he really was, but she perks up at the mention of a fitness routine.]

Oh, yeah? I should probably do something like that... [Waking up in the morning is so hard though, she'd rather just sleep... no, she can't think like that. Getting up and exercising would be a good thing, probably? Especially since they can't train in Tartarus.

Anyway, she'll come back to that. For now, she digs into her bag and produces a small, pocket-sized notebook and pen. The notebook itself has what looks like a handmade cloth cover with a simple green pattern on it.]

Ta-da! A present! It's not much, but...

[Notebook club has to stick together!]

[Izuku blinks in confusion for a second, then ducks his head in embarrassment. Right, he'd forgotten he shouldn't assume people understand that term. He needs to be better about that.]

Sorry, that's what we call abilities like that where I'm from. Since they're part of what makes people unique.

[It's just another part of you, like your personality or height or hair color.

He visibly relaxes a bit on hearing the paper's still legible. The last thing he wants is to end up making things worse by trying to help someone out. Maybe he should find some way to practice different ways to catch paper - would Blackwhip be better or worse than his hand...?]

It was nothing, really... [He smiles awkwardly, unsure if what he wants to say next counts as 'too much' meddling...well, nothing to do but try.] Is there anything else I can do to help? My last job's pretty much finished, so...

Oh - no, it's fine, I'm used to interruptions!

[Sometimes they're important! And he's good at not completely losing a train of thought once he's been mulling away at it, even if he has to put it aside to deal with something else for a bit. Besides, having his hyperfocus broken so someone can talk to him is a lot more pleasant than...other options he's experienced...

He smiles a bit at her reaction - obviously he'd be happy to help her figure something out. If nothing else, it might be nice to have a regular jogging partner; it's not quite the same thing as training with his friends and classmates, but it's still always nicer to do with others than alone. But it's clearly not what she came here for, so he waits patiently instead of jumping right into the first topic to come up.

And-

Oh. Oh.

He looks back and forth between her face and the pocket notebook (a notebook! and pen! just for him?) and his eyes are almost immediately glassy with unshed tears. Oh, he wasn't expecting something like this. He would never have imagined anyone would seek him out just to give him a present.

He reaches out to take the gifts timidly, as though afraid he's somehow misunderstanding the whole situation. Which, honestly, a tiny part of him probably is. He's still not entirely used to things like this.]

You -- [His voice wavers a bit, and he presses his other hand to his mouth as he takes a steadying breath.] You didn't have to...

[He has not blinked since she revealed the notebook and pen, because if he makes one wrong move he will start to cry and he does not want to give Shiomi the wrong idea. Nothing is wrong! He's just a crybaby! He swears!]

I wanted to!

[She lowers her voice a little bit, partially because it's a library, partially because she doesn't want to overwhelm him with the sudden influx of emotion in the face of what's clearly affecting him deeply. To her, it only seemed natural to give him a present when she'd spotted the notebook in the back of a stationary store, just like it had only seemed natural to sew a basic cover to protect it. But just because something is normal for her doesn't mean it's normal for everyone, and based on his reaction, it's obvious that it means a lot more to him than it did to her.

So she smiles and nods in confirmation, dialing back her own energy just a little.]

I saw it and thought of you. You don't have to worry about getting me something in return or anything. It just makes me happy to give things to my friends.

[And while they might not have talked all that often, she does consider him a friend. Then again, she considers half the town to be her friends, and a lot of them she's only spoken to once or twice.]

[Noel nods a bit.] I think I get it. [It doesn't sound exactly the same, but magic isn't terribly different, where he's from -- everyone uses it differently. Maybe if there had been more people around to use it at all, they would've come up with an interesting name for those abilities, too. You never know.

He pauses at the question, weighing the box for a moment. It's not too heavy, but Izuku clearly wants to help.]

I think I got it, but I wouldn't say no to some company. It's not exactly the most exciting job in the world. [It's BORING!!!1] Been a while, huh? How've you been holding up?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Open Log]

Closed to Shinji

no subject

1

2

no subject

3!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject