A Gift of Memories

"Eh?" Izuku's eyes widened in surprise as he looked up at me, his grip on the action figure tightening. "You can take it home," I repeated, "If you want." A second of silence passed, and then his face lit up. "EH??" The scream that followed was loud enough to shatter glass, and I winced, covering my ears. Izuku's face turned bright red as he stumbled backward, his eyes fixed on me in shock. I felt a bead of sweat trickle down my forehead as I tried to compose myself. "Y-Yeah, I mean-" I stuttered, feeling a wave of awkwardness wash over me. Why did it have to be like this? I had envisioned a meaningful moment, with soft music playing in the background and a warm sunbeam lighting up my smile. Instead, I was stuck in this awkward, cringe-worthy situation. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. I counted to ten in my head, feeling my heart rate slow down. "It would be my honor to give you this gift, Midoriya-san," I said, bowing my head in a gesture of respect. Maybe I was overdoing it, but when you didn't know how to deal with social cues, manners were all you had. Izuku's brain seemed to short-circuit at my words. He started spluttering and blushing, his face turning an even deeper shade of red. He shook his head violently, as if he wanted it to fall off. "No no I-I can't possibly-" he stuttered, his voice barely above a whisper. I bowed again, this time more to hide my burning face than out of respect. Why was it being so difficult? I just wanted to do a nice gesture, damn it! "Truly," I said, my voice muffled by my bowed head, "I wouldn't treat it with the same care you would anyway. It deserves to be in the best possible hands, right?" I peeked up at Izuku, who was still stumbling over his words, his face a deep shade of crimson. I smiled, feeling a warmth in my chest that I hadn't felt in a long time. Maybe this was the start of something special, something that would change my life forever.