⌘

Midoriya turned left, walking fast. He needed a quiet place to relax in, to somehow cheer himself up.
He needed to run away, to forget - even if just for a little while - the reality he lived in.

He needed to go to the lake, even if it meant returning to the territory of the nobles again.

Walking past the clean sidewalks, the big houses, and the well-maintained flower gardens some of the nobles had always made him angry, but now he tried to ignore it.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again he concentrated solely on walking. Just moving his legs.
Left right left right left right.

He didn't imagine what his life could have looked like if he was born with a bit more luck. He didn't envy the people who glared at his attire with a scowl as they passed by him.
The only thing he thought about was walking. Faster and faster until he got to his destination.
Left right left right left right.

His feelings were a mess, like they usually turned to be at night. He was extremely tired and his head ached, but the moment he caught glimpse of the lake he was heading to, everything became much more simple.

Obviously, it was easy for Midoriya to hate the lake. To hate the unfairness and the lack of justice behind the beauty only the nobles could enjoy.
But he didn't. Midoriya didn't know why, but he didn't.
He liked that place, he liked looking at the water and hearing nothing but silence while doing so. And he couldn't care less about the fact that he wasn't supposed to be there.

Midoriya took another deep breath.
There were no houses around that lake, no shops or restaurants in a radius of a hundred meters at least.
Maybe for them, it was a park, somewhere they took their children so they could run and play. But for him, it was a drop of nature inside the city, a place of quiet in the middle of the noise. Like an oasis in the desert.

Still, even with all that, the most important thing about that lake was that at night, it was also empty of people.

In all of Midoriya's visits to that lake, he didn't see nobles sitting there. Not even once. Not in groups and not alone. Of course, he knew he always got there at a late hour, but he doubted every single noble in the city was already asleep.

They took it for granted. They saw nothing special at that reservoir.

How stupid of them, he thought, this place is most beautiful at night.

The sun was already gone, and Midoriya took a sit on the grass, on the verge of the peaceful lake that reflected the dark sky.

He never knew why he was so attracted to that place, he didn't know why he found comfort in a lake surrounded by streets full of people he tended to curse in his heart.

Yet as long as it distracted his thoughts from everything that was wrong in his life, it didn't matter. It was fine.

Ironically, the first time he saw that lake was while he worked. He went from door to door, trying to sell his logs to whoever agreed to pay him.
It was a bad day and his hands grew tired from carrying the wood for so long, especially since his pile has barely gotten smaller.
He was just about to give up and return home when he saw that lake. Like a little heaven in the middle of the hostile environment, a pool of calmness against his growing frustration.

He was grateful for finding a place that helped him go through rough periods. Although most of the time he refused to admit his discovery was a result of the stubborn behavior of the nobles.
After all, it was 'thanks' to them that he wandered around the streets he detested long enough to discover a new part of the city.

The green eyed teen sighed and looked up. The lights of the stars that decorated the sky were dim, but the moon was bigger than usual, he thought, breathing in the air of the approaching night.

His tensed muscles relaxed, he no longer felt the urge to cry.
"I'm pathetic" he mumbled, covering his face with his hands. Every day was the same. He felt lost, he felt useless. He needed someone to tell him that things could get better, because each day he found it harder to believe himself.

Midoriya stared at the moon through his fingers, following its light down to the lake again.

There, to his surprise, he saw a figure.
A person was standing in the middle of the lake.
A person was standing on the water.

Midoriya narrowed his eyes as he tried to see the figure better. Wondering whether it was real or whether he started to hallucinate.

The gentle light of the moon caressed the face of another male, around Midoriya's age. His hair was half red half white, and he was looking at the almost invisible stars in the sky.

Midoriya shook his head, that boy was handsome, indeed. But it wasn't what captured his attention.
If what he saw wasn't an illusion, then that person was actually standing on the water as if they were ground.

And if that person really stood on the water, it meant he had a magical ability.

Midoriya froze.
If someone was to see him now...

He was about to open his mouth and say something, but he stopped.

Maybe he shouldn't meddle in this.
He had enough troubles on his plate, and he already knew he couldn't help everybody.

He might be wrong anyway, maybe that person didn't have a magical ability at all. It was possible that Midoriya's mind was playing tricks on him at that hour.

Besides, it was easy to guess, by the clothes that he wore, that the person standing in the middle of the lake was a noble.
And what good could ever come out of talking to one of those silver-spooned bastards?

Suddenly, the half red half white haired noble started to move. Slowly turning his head in Midoriya's direction, revealing a big scar on his face, around the left eye.

Yet somehow, despite that scar, he looked like an angel sent from above. His hair moved slightly as the wind stroked it, and the moon's light glowed around him.

Midoriya couldn't breathe.

◇ Decision ◇

❖ Speak ❖
⌘ Stay silent ⌘

——————————————————-

If you chose "❖" your next chapter is:
"The angel"

If you chose "⌘" your next chapter is:
"Another encounter"