ATOMIC STRUGGLE

0「school」4

After that, Aizawa stayed for dinner, which forced Izak to use whatever was in the fridge. It was then that Mihoko realized that she never wanted Aizawa or any police to ever visit during meal times again, because if lunch was anything to go by, Izak being left to his own devices was phenomenal. What they had for dinner that night was subpar in comparison.

When they had finished eating, the two had seen the hero off and then retired themselves for the night since they would be getting an early start. Izak got up at 6am that morning, sitting up in his bed and staring at the wall. This was something he needed to get used to, it was his new home. While the walls were white, they weren't those white walls. His sheets and covers weren't white, and there were other objects in the room other than the bed.

He wasn't at the lab anymore, but his internal clock still worked like he was. Sighing, Izak moved the sheets off of him and moved over to the closet to get his uniform on for the day. Aizawa had dropped off three sets of them during his visit the night before, so the boy just grabbed one and threw it on. It fit well, so he didn't have any complaints.

He decided not to wear the tie, though.

From there, Izak walked from his room to the living area, where he then rerouted to the bathroom. When that aspect of the morning was done, he sat on the longer couch and turned on the TV, manipulating the atoms around Mihoko's room so that the sound wouldn't travel into it. The channel it opened on was the one it was last set to, so he just boredly switched to a news channel. Some heroic feats were reported, and then the weather came on.

Apparently it was supposed to be nice, so that was good. At around 7:30am, Izak knocked on Mihoko's door while releasing the molecules around the room at the same time. "Hey, it's time to get up."

"O-okay!" Her voice sounded from inside. With that confirmation that she was at least awake, the teenager headed into the kitchen, deciding that he wanted some scrambled eggs for breakfast. Since Japanese people liked rice with almost all of their meals, he made sure to add that to their plates as they materialized. Right as the dishes set themselves on the table, Mihoko burst out of her room, her uniform on and her hair brushed.

"Welcome to the land of the living," Izak said dryly as he sat down, materializing a cup with chocolate milk in it. The expression made the girl giggle as she came to the table and took a seat. "What do you want to drink?"

"Um," She clearly had something in mind as her eyes darted around nervously. "Can I have hot chocolate?"

"Sure," A mug appeared beside her plate with the steaming beverage in it, causing Mihoko's eyes to widen and sparkle like she was seeing gold or something. Izak watched with a raised eyebrow as she sipped the drink, then after confirming it wouldn't burn her mouth, downed it in a few gulps. Blinking, Izak refilled it with a left-handed snap.

He could see she was tempted to chug again, but she ended up deciding against it and started working on her actual breakfast. "Y-you look good in your uniform," Mihoko stammered a while later, flushing slightly from what he assumed to be embarrassment.

"You look good too," He returned the compliment, making his plate vanish as he stood up. "We need to leave in ten minutes, so let me know when you're ready."

"Yes sir!" She exclaimed, and the teenager blinked at her.

"You can call me Izak, or Iz if you want. I'm pretty sure I already said this, but you don't have to be formal around me," He reasserted, and the girl sort of deflated. Izak raised an eyebrow.

"I-Iz," Mihoko tried out cautiously.

"Yeah," He squatted in front of her. "That's me."

"Iz," She repeated, this time more confidently. Izak nodded. "Can I have more hot chocolate?"

"Mhm," He snapped, and the mug was full again, causing the girl to beam. She really likes hot chocolate, Izak mused as he made his way back to the couch and flopped down on it. His bag was by the door and ready to go, so all he needed to do was take Mihoko to school, and then he could go to his own school.

Almost exactly ten minutes later, that's exactly what they did. Mihoko held Izak's hand as they watched, her head turning this way and that to take in all of the sights on their way. It took them five minutes to get to the elementary school, and right in front of it, Izak squatted in front of Mihoko again. "So, think you can get back on your own?"

"Yes," She nodded, so he returned the gesture before digging around in his pocket and producing a key.

"Then I'll see you at home after school. You can stay out until 8pm, that's when I draw the line unless you wanna make dinner yourself," He exacted, and the girl shook her head. "Cool, then have a good day Mihoko," He stood straight and walked off, leaving her in front of the elementary school. She watched him go for a bit, then balled her hands into fists in front of her. Maybe this school would be better than her old one, and people wouldn't be scared and hate her.

As she was hyping herself up, Izak had already gotten out of eye range of the little girl, trodding through the street towards where he could see the buildings of UA standing proud and clear. He had no idea what to expect since he had never been in a school before. He'd taken classes before, but it had been mandatory back at the lab, and he was the only student.

Now, he was going to have twenty classmates, and he wasn't allowed to kill them. How was he gonna survive if someone pissed him off or just rubbed him the wrong way? This right and wrong business really was too stressful and restricting, he thought to himself as he arrived at the UA gates. But oh well, I'm still going to meet this challenge head on.