Shadows of Asphodel [8/?]
Summary: Asphodel; (noun); a flower said to bloom in the shadows of the greek underworld. or, Secrets are like shadows, and Izuka is surrounded by them. Secrets about her turbulent childhood, about her mother, and about her quirk.
Warnings: Darker themes are being explored in this fic. These themes include suicidal thoughts and ideation, trauma, intrusive thoughts, and other such topics. I will give provide warnings before each chapter.
Chapter eight: Yellow Light
The start of the summer months oversee multiple changes. As the weather changes to warm, cloudless days and humid, starlit nights, Izuka is finding that all her training, both with Yagi and with Hitoshi, is slowly but surely paying off. The beach at Dagobah is ever-so-slowly transforming under Izuka’s hands, the shifted rubbish carted off by a cackling Mei and her exasperated father (who had introduced himself as Fueru with a tired smile). It’s nowhere near clean, of course, but seeing the progress made is enough to make the strange warm feeling expand in the cold cavern of Izuka’s chest.
She’s also noticed how the training has affected her, as well. She’s always been fast, slippery, adorned with decent reflexes. They are necessities born from a young age, both from her mother’s so-called tutelage and the constant need to outrun school yard bullies, to never let them catch her.
The last few months, though, have seen her slowly getting faster – a result of her self-imposed training regime that focuses on speed – and more agile. When she changes into and out of her athletic gear to continue her work at Dagobah Beach, she notices how any remnants of baby fat (not that she ever had much to begin with, what with her constant running from bullies and years of constant stress) have been melting away, making way for leaner muscles. She’s been slowly getting stronger, too, as evidenced in how the beach is being uncovered.
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