Halfway to the Moon

A Constellation of You

 A couple weeks passed after the party, and little had changed. Izuku dragged himself out of bed every morning with a groan and a silent wish to crawl right back into the comforting embrace of his duvet, attempted- key word, attempted- to stay awake and take notes during his classes, put his all into his training with All Might, and then finished the night working shifts at the convenience store that seemed to stretch into eons.

 All in all, it was a very stress-inducing routine and didn’t give Izuku much time to do, well, anything. Though having Kacchan there improved things significantly. Knowing he could just ask Kacchan for assistance academically meant he wasn’t so hard-pressed to be in tip-top shape during the early hours, when he was still groggy from lack of sleep. It was also nice to come to class to a clean desk everyday- something he suspected Kacchan was responsible for no matter how much his childhood friend scowled and denied it.

 Then there were those smoothies Kacchan kept bringing. They helped him a ton during training. It’d been a bit of a subtle change at first, and Izuku couldn’t really tell if it was doing too much, but as the days went on and he kept drinking them, he noticed his stamina beginning to increase. It also helped him to stay awake at work, though that was never a problem anyway on the days Kacchan decided to accompany him.

 The beatings never got any easier, unfortunately. Walking home, knowing what every step he took brought him closer to, was the worst. Izuku would stare up at the sky as he walked, wishing upon a shooting star even when there were no stars to be seen, just a sea of molasses stretching in every direction.

 Still. Things were better. Not ideal, of course, but better, especially since Kacchan’s ‘goodnight’ messages had escalated to calling. Every single night when Izuku returned home, he could expect a call from Kacchan, telling him to ‘get some fucking sleep’ and reminding him to ‘call if anything happens or whatever’. Izuku didn’t know what caused the change, but he was happy for it.

 Something about the extra attention made Izuku feel warm all over, and more than once, it’d saved him. His father couldn’t do much with someone right there listening, and he wasn’t a very patient man, typically leaving for the bar before Izuku hung up.

 Yeah. Things weren’t great, but they were definitely better.

 Which was why when Izuku awoke one Thursday morning feeling like he’d been dunked in mind-numbing acid, he was wholly confounded and more than a little frustrated. Nothing about this morning was any different from the morning before or any morning before that! So why were these overwhelming emotions surfacing today?

 Apparently, he didn’t need a reason to feel sad and gray. He just did.

 With a sigh, Izuku sat up in bed and dazedly planted his feet on the floor. He didn’t really want to do anything, right now. He wanted to lay back down and sleep, or sit and listen to music as he watched the sun rise and fall in the sky, but he couldn’t afford to indulge in any of those fantasies right now. He had responsibilities! A lot of them, actually!