Izuku Midoriya ²

The fluorescent lights buzzed like angry insects above your head. Chairs scraped against the floor, Kaminari was laughing too loud three rows back, someone’s pencil kept tapping, tapping, tapping against a desk. Every sound crashed into you at once until your skin felt too tight to stay in. You stared at your notebook without really reading it. Your heartbeat thudded in your ears. Too warm. Too bright. Too much. “Hey!” You flinched.Izuku Midoriya stood beside your desk, clutching his own notebook to his chest. His voice was gentle, careful, but it still cut through the noise like a blade. “Sorry, I missed some of Aizawa’s lecture. Could I maybe borrow your notes later?” You opened your mouth, but another burst of laughter exploded across the classroom. Someone dropped a bag. The lights hummed louder. Your fingers dug into the edge of the desk.Izuku frowned slightly. “Are you okay?” Then he touched your shoulder. It was light. Barely there.But your body reacted before your brain could. “Don’t touch me!” The words cracked through the classroom so sharply that conversations stopped mid-sentence.Izuku jerked back like he’d been burned. His eyes widened behind his glasses. “I-I’m sorry—” “Just— stop!” you snapped, standing so fast your chair screeched against the floor. “Everything is so loud already and you just—” Your throat closed painfully. Every eye in the room was on you now. Too many eyes.Too much attention. Silence pressed in.Then Izuku quietly set his notebook on your desk. “You don’t have to explain,” he said softly. The anger drained out of you all at once, leaving only shame and exhaustion behind. “I didn’t mean to yell at you,” you muttered.Izuku gave a small smile,, nervous but warm. “It’s okay. Sometimes people get overwhelmed.” He hesitated before adding, “Next time, I’ll ask before touching you.” Something in your chest loosened slightly.Across the room, the noise slowly started again, but softer this time.