Chapter Text
"Hey, Izuku." Hank interrupted just as the villain was gonna speak, right behind the two, blade in hand just in case but out of sight.
Both of the shorter men jumped, Izuku turning to look at Hank as much as he could. He looked scared but less now, with Hank here.
"Are you okay to hang out?" Hank asked, knowing the answer. He didn't even seem startled by the villain next to the boy.
"It's rude to butt into the middle of a conversation." The hooded stranger still holding Izuku's neck said, death-staring the man.
"And it's rude to hold someone's neck, if you want to play that game." Hank responded, staring right back at him. Those red goggles were intimidating, making the criminal sweat a little bit.
"You can come get him for your hangout later." The villain was starting to get frustrated and scared. Hank could hear it in his voice.
Hank shook his head, "Yeah, no. Go fuck off, you pathetic creep." He had more authority to his voice, staring through the villain almost.
It looked like the villain was going to say something in response, but huffed and let go, scurrying away while grumbling something.
Once the weirdo was gone, Hank looked over at Izuku to make sure he wasn't hurt at all, asking "you okay?" While flipping his pocket knife closed and putting it in a pocket.
Izuku nodded, "just a bit shook up, I guess," he moved a little closer to Hank, "can we go hang out with the group still?" He asked.
Hank nodded, silently going to lead him to the group.
.
The girls had moved on from the cafe, it was getting around when the students all agreed to meet up again so they were slowly heading towards the fountain for that meet up. On the way, they found Hank and Midoriya together.
"Hi!! How's your arm doing?" Ochako was the first to greet them, going up to Izuku. She had a new jacket Momo had bought her at Uniqlo (Momo would've bought her something more expensive, but Uraraka insisted on the cheaper one.)
"Oh uh-- its fine!!" Izuku said, Hank didn't know if he should read the boy's awkwardness as a crush or as social anxiety or both. It was probably both.
"Alright thats enough you love birds," Mina suddenly interrupted, making Ochako and Izuku immediately go to defend themselves while Mina just continued on "we were gonna go meet up with the rest of the class at the fountain anyway so we could all go get food together and hangout," Mina explained.
"Oh-- we were just coming from the fountain," Izuku said, hand going to tap on his own shoulder a little. It was a fidget he got from breaking that arm so much already.
"Well we're going there again!" Mina exclaimed, then continuing on. The group following. Hank and Hollow quickly reuniting.
As they walked, Hank asked Hollow "where'd you get the money for all that?" While gesturing to their new outfit.
'Others paid for me, mainly Momo' they signed, getting a nod from Hank.
"Looks good on you," he complimented, the knight going gray with blush.
.
In a dingy bar somewhere far from the mall, the clink of glasses full of alcohol and resigned sighs and laments of failed villains filled the air. Though one not as sad as the others.
Tricky stayed quiet, freed from his chains and holding a bottle of Hennessy in his teeth while he idly braided a strand of his hair. Maybe he could try something different than the usual, something to symbolize his new friends and new home.
Next to him was Shigiraki, talking with Kurogiri about what to do next. A shot glass of gin in his hand, pinky on the table. He flinched lightly when he felt the bigger man's hands grabbing his blue hair and starting to braid it idly. The repetitive pull and pressure on his scalp felt oddly familiar, relaxing. Made him think clearer, which he probably needed.
"I've been thinking of getting in contact with more well known villains, such as Stain," Shigiraki told Kurogiri, "I'm thinking his small following could help make us more known, and our resources could help make him even more influential. And besides, our ideals are very similar apart from some key differences." He explained, then drinking all his shot glass.
"I'll tell master," Kurogiri told him, "I think he'll agree though, your points are good." He poured him more gin, then turning to the clown "Tricky, are you going to drink or are you going to just hold it between your teeth?" He asked.
Tricky jumped a little and turned his head up, chugging the entire bottle then softly putting it down on the table. Continuing to braid Shigiraki's hair. "QUESTION! TRICKY WANT TO BRAID HAIR, CAN KUROGIRI HELP?" He asked, looking at the fog shaped like a man.
"I can't, my hands aren't made for it. Though," his yellow eyes turned to Shigiraki, "I'm sure master could, it'd be something to do between missions. And, it'd be good practice for controlling his quirk."
Shigiraki groaned, "do I have to??" He asked, looking at the sheer amount of hair Tricky had. That was a lot of hair.
"PLEASE?!!!" Tricky begged, mustering the best puppy eyes he could. They weren't good but they seemed to work, as Shigiraki groaned again.
"Fine,, you're teaching me how to braid small like that though, I've never dealt with black people hair, or styled hair in general." Shigiraki said.
"TRICKY THINK THAT OBVIOUS!!!" He said, giggling while ruffling the smaller man's blue hair.