Chapter Text
9-year-old Izuku Midoriya loved watching his sempai’s doing what they did best
“Amazing!” the small boy cheered, applauding politely as the teens landed next to him on the roof “That’s so cool!”
“Why thank you Mido-chan” their leader Daitan, a boy with black hair and fiery streaks said, taking a small bow.
“You know what?” Hana smiled fondly down at the curly haired boy “I think he has enough practice to come re-decorate the streets with us”
“Oh yes” Hiroki grinned, re-tying his golden ponytail “this’ll definitely be fun”
“What are you watching nerd?” Bakugo asked, rudely sprawling himself over the other boy’s lap
“It’s a parkour video” he explained turning the phone screen to the blonde
“Why are you watching that? Don’t you already do that?” he huffed, rolling his eyes
“These videos are surprisingly popular” Midoriya mumbled. “and it’s still kinda cool”
“Whatever. Are we gonna watch some actual TV or what?”
“Ugh. More parkour videos?” Bakugo whined, peering over the green haired boy’s shoulder
“Actually, I recorded this one.” Izuku crowed proudly. Katsuki took a closer look at the grainy video
“Well that explains why the video quality is so shitty”
“Hey!”
“Dumbass. You gotta adjust the camera settings when you do this” he sighed, snatching up the phone “Look.” He tapped a few buttons and gave the phone back. “Now your videos won’t be as shitty”
“Oh. Thanks Kacchan!” Midoriya chirped “How do you know all of this?”
“YouTube” he answered casually “I have my own channel”
“WHAT??”
“I never told you?” Bakugo seemed legitimately surprised “really??”
“I think I would remember if you told me you had a YouTube channel.” Midoriya pouted, hitting his friend repeatedly. “Why didn’t you tell me??”
“I honestly forgot.” He shrugged and grabbed hold of Izuku’s tiny wrists to stop him “All I do is blow shit up and post it. That’s it.”
“What’s your channel name?!” he asked excitedly
“Like hell I’m telling you” Bakugo snapped. They glared at each other for a while before Midoriya slipped out of the blonde’s grip and began typing into his phone’s YouTube app
“It’s KingExplosionMurder isn’t it?” he grinned, typing it into the search bar. Bakugo turned slightly red
“What! nO!!” he shrieked, trying to grab the device away from his friend “Don’t!!”
“OH MY GOD IT IS!!” Midoriya wheezed gleefully, using his legs to keep the seething blonde away and practically bending backwards over his couch’s armrest to see “Wow. You know I kinda expected more videos to be honest”
“GET THE FUCK OFF MY CHANNEL”
“Aaaaaaaannd- subscribed.” He cackled, holding the phone up for the other boy to see.
“You’re dead” Katsuki snarled. Izuku gave a yelp and dodged out of the way in time before Bakugo could tackle him. He slipped off the couch and ran to the door, Katsuki close on his heels. “GET OVER HERE YOU PRICK”
“AW COME ON!!” Midoriya laughed “YOU GOT A NEW FOLLOWER RIGHT?”
I don’t think I’ve ever been more confused in my life on how to do something. Midoriya looked at the USB cord in one hand, phone in the other, and computer in front of him. Fuck it. I’ll ask Kacchan. he dialed his friend’s number and put the phone on speaker.
“It is 9:00 at night you piece of shit. Your house better be on fire or you’ve lost a limb for calling me up this late” came the gravelly and highly annoyed voice. It’s only 9. How are you asleep already??
“How do you upload a video on YouTube?”
“…”
“Kacchan?”
“Good night you prick”
“Kacchan wait- he hung up.”
“Call me up that late again and you’re dead to me” Katsuki snarled sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he plopped down at Izuku’s desktop. “Gimmie that” he snatched up the phone and USB cord plugging the two in together. “Okay pay attention because its 7 in the fucking morning on a fucking Saturday and I wanna get back to sleep as soon as fucking possible so I’m only gonna do this once” He connected the phone into the computer and showed the curious, curly haired boy how to download his videos onto the computer
“Got it. Now what?”
“I’m guessing you want to post this on YouTube?” he sighed, rubbing his face tiredly and already pulling up the website “You’re lucky I tolerate you so much” he muttered.
“Yeah!”
“Fucking thought so.” He groaned “Okay, well for one, you need a new account”
“What? Why? What’s wrong with mine now?” Midoriya pouted
“1. Its stupid and 2” Bakugo pulled up the Gmail sign-up page “You’re gonna get a bunch of notifications in your e-mail and believe me that’s a pain in the ass”
“oh.”
“I know what I’m doing” he huffed “I’m 9 and-a-half, not a fucking idiot.” They argued over the name for a bit before Katsuki finally just typed in [email protected], much to Izuku’s protests. After about half an hour more of arguing, they finally finished setting up the channel.
“Finally.” Midoriya sighed “Okay, now how do you upload?”
“You click the ‘Upload’ button dumbass” Bakugo snapped, leaning back on the spinny chair he was in and twirling around slowly “then choose the video file you want from the computer, add a title, description, make it public boom done” the sound of tapping keys filled the room and Katsuki began to doze off again.
“Got it!” The blonde startled awake.
“Huh?” he looked at the computer and wheeled over “Great” he yawned and pulled out his phone “It’ll take a couple minutes for it to be seen- oh there it is” he held up the screen with Midoriya’s channel. “The video will upload after a while, I mean, it was only like 5 minutes long.” He tapped the phone’s glass for a bit before putting the device away and plopping down on Izuku’s bed. “I’m going to sleep. Wake me up and I’ll kill you.”
“But it’s morning-“ soft snoring came from under a blanket He’s asleep?? “how??” there was a small notification from the desktop. He looked up and glanced at the computer
One new subscriber: KingExplosionMurder
“Ack!” Midoriya yelped as he nearly careened over the edge of the roof. He righted himself quickly and adjusted the phone literally duct taped to his chest. “Whoops. That would’ve been a great video. Falling to my death. Nice.” He sighed. “Well, I guess I could head over to Sou-chan’s. The scenery isn’t too bad… and they might still be open-“
“Hey! You!” a voice called out “What are you doing up there?!” He instinctively pulled up his hood and ducked his face under his curls before glancing over the edge to see- Fuck. Police again.
“Good evening!” he called back happily, already planning out his path of escape “Just out for a quick, uh, jog!”
“On the roofs?!”
“…Yes!” he answered, mentally face palming himself and beginning to inch away “Well, it was nice talking to you officer! I’ll be going now-“
“Hey! Wait a minute! Stay where you are!” the officer began to make his way up. Yeet. Nope. Not today. Izuku immediately took off as fast as possible, leaping over obstacles and following the familiar paths he ran in the daylight. He could faintly hear the adult yelling behind him, but he was long gone by then.
“You got chased by the police??!” Katsuki cackled as he edited the video for Izuku. “How fucking stupid are you?!”
“Shut up. I don’t wanna hear it from the guy who got the fire department called on him mid-video” Midoriya snapped, face buried in his pillow to hide his shame. Bakugo kept laughing to himself and finally saved the footage.
“That was only once” he huffed, twirling around in the spinny chair “I’m done. You gonna upload or what fucker?” Izuku pulled himself up and shuffled over
“What’s the point?” he sighed sadly “I’ll get 10 views tops”
“Did you tag the videos?” Bakugo asked, already guessing the answer
“… did I what now?”
“Huh. Apparently getting chased by cops is pretty fucking funny” Katsuki noted, looking at his phone “It’s only been like two weeks”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me” Izuku groaned, uploading the next video “Why being chased around like a common criminal is fun to watch I’ll never guess”
“People are weird” Bakugo shrugged “now help me pick. Should I blast open couch cushions or the expired bottle of lighter fluid I found in the shed and mixed with rubbing alcohol?”
“Lighter fluid. Definitely”
“Or… I could combine the two…” they looked at each other excitedly
“Both.” They agreed
“You guys are never gonna believe this” Hana squealed as the others crowded around her, eager for her street gossip “Little Mido-chan has a police record!”
“I HAVE A WHAT??!!” Izuku shrieked. The others laughed as the young boy panicked “HOW??!”
“Yeah, my brother told me he and his buddies aren’t too happy about the little, get this and I quote ’Haya Demon’ running around on the rooftops late at night”
“DEMON?!? WHAT??” he wailed
“Relax Midori!” Mina reassured “As long as they don’t get your name or face, you’ll be fine! All of us have some kind of record with the police. Unfortunately.”
“An official free runner” Uta laughed “You got your first police nickname!”
“This isn’t something to be happy about!!!”
“Calm down o-toto” Daitan chuckled “it’s not a big deal. Even if you do get caught, they’ll let you go with a warning at best, community service at worst.” Izuku gave an unhappy whine but nodded
“Well then” he gave them a little wink “I guess I just can’t get caught then” Because my mother and Kacchan would kill me.
“Mido!” Taka shrieked, knocking down the small boy “How’d you do it??”
“Huh? What are you talking about Taka-senpai?”
“That doodle in the middle of the bridge over on Sakura Lane” they explained “That was you right? I saw your artist tag”
“Oh yeah” he remembered “What about it?” Taka stared at him
“What about it? What about it??!” they shrieked “Do you know what you did??! That bridge is impossible to vand- I mean re-decorate! The patrols plus the walls that make it impossible to climb even with a quirk, How??!” Izuku gave the red-head a cheeky grin and stuck his tongue out at them
“Like I’d tell you”
“Here. Happy birthday or whatever” Katsuki snapped, shoving a small, boxy parcel at Izuku, who promptly began opening it “Hey watch it! If you break that thi-“
“OH MY GOD!” Midoriya shrieked happily. In his hands was a slightly worn Go-Pro “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”
“It’s not that big a deal” the blonde muttered “I was able to buy myself a new camera and figured you should probably stop recording on a phone since your videos always come out shi-oof!” The green haired boy practically tackled him with a hug.
“THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!” he squealed, bouncing up and down. Bakugo finally managed to pry the overly excited child off of him
“Yeah, yeah” Katsuki mumbled, a bright shade of pink “Don’t get so overworked about it. It’s just a camera.”
“I CAN FINALLY RECORD THINGS WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT DROPPING MY PHONE!”
“Heh. Yup. That thing has lasted a blast or two so it’s pretty fucking sturdy” he announced proudly
“Awesome!” he began fiddling with the controls, trying to turn it on “I’m gonna go on a ‘run’ tonight and test it out!”
“You do that. I’m gonna be at home fast asleep”
There was a group of kids huddled around a desk when Bakugo and Midoriya walked into class that morning.
“The fuck is going on?!” the blonde snapped and the crowd turned fearfully at him. Fingers was the first to pipe up
“Some person is spray painting things in crazy places” he said, motioning to one of their classmate’s phone. The two made their way over and peered at the design on the screen. Midoriya recognized that flower immediately. Holy shit. Is that mine? It is! That’s my tag down at the bottom!
“It looks like a ten-year-old drew that” Bakugo scoffed That’s because a ten-year-old did draw that.
“Well that ten-year-old is trending right now” Wings answered “Look at how many likes its got”
“It is literally just a flower” the blonde hissed irritatedly
“And its also in the middle of a tunnel, at the very top where no person can reach” another pointed out “that’s the craziest part!” Almost no person can reach.
“So… What’s the person’s name?” Midoriya casually chimed in, trying to hold all of his excitement from his voice. The owner of the phone scrolled through the little article
“Apparently people have started calling them uhhh… Haya?” they said “Because they’re too fast for the police to catch” oh my god. This is fucking amazing. I’m trending!
“Still pretty stupid” Katsuki huffed, moving towards his desk “for all we know his quirk put it up there. That’s nothing special” Excuse you?? Do you know how long it took me to get up there??
“That’s pretty cool” Midoriya said sweetly, smiling at his classmates as he twisted around them to get to his seat “I’d like to see a video on how they did it to be honest” They all burst into excited agreements. Wait a minute. A small smirk began to spread on his freckled face and he pulled out a green notebook, secretly filled with colorful designs and doodles. I think I know how I can get more viewers.
Izuku was softly humming along to his blaring music and working on some new art he’d put up later when a blonde head and hoodied arms suddenly latched on to his open window. He gave a startled yelp and took off his headphones, placing them around his neck to better hear his friend yelling at him.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS??” Bakugo screamed, holding up his phone on Midoriya’s YouTube channel. Except, it wasn’t quite his channel anymore. The banner at the top of the page was a mosaic of different pictures of graffiti. Over that, in a red spray paint font was the name ‘Haya’ “ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS??”
“DID YOU SERIOUSLY CLIMB ALL THE WAY UP HERE TO YELL AT ME?” Izuku yelled back, helping drag the other through and both tumbled to the floor. Katsuki held up the phone angrily again
“What the hell Deku??!” he snarled “Explain. Now.” Midoriya shot him an unimpressed look and sat down on his bed with a sigh
“Fine.” He ran a hand through his curls and gave a sheepish grin “I wanted more views and figured ‘Haya’ was the best way to get them”
“And vandalizing shit was a good idea to you how?” Midoriya winced at the word ‘vandalism’
“It’s not vandalism” he huffed “it’s… re-decorating. The streets just look so much more fun and colorful thanks to me-“
“It’s illegal.”
“Only if I get caught” Izuku smirked, green eyes dancing “And even if I do get caught, it’s only like, a misdemeanor or something. Besides, I like it. It’s kinda therapeutic.” The blonde sitting crisscross on his bedroom floor looked about ready to explode his friend
“You’re gonna get arrested you absolute moron” he groaned, burying his face in his hands
“Once again, only if I get caught”
Loud laughter echoed over the rooftops as a panicked Midoriya raced over the gaps, police close behind in pursuit.
“OH MY GOD THIS IS MY WORST IDEA YET!” he cackled at the Go-Pro, thankful for the black bandanna covering most of his face. “WHICH ONE OF YOU TOLD ME TO PAINT THE POLICE STATION??!” he gave another wild laugh and dropped down into an alley. Pressing his back against the warm brick wall, both him and the camera looking up at the adults jumping overhead.
“where’d he go?” their voices became fainter and fainter
“he couldn’t have just disappeared!”
“-quirk?” Izuku shot the camera a hidden grin from behind the bandanna and a wink from under his hood.
“I think I’m gonna end the video here” he whispered “If you got any requests of where I should hit up next leave it in the comments below. Don’t forget to like and subscribe and I’ll see you in the next video!” he waved and clicked the stop button, putting the small device in his hoodie pocket. “Well!” he announced to the empty night, ripping off his hood and slipping the bandanna around his neck “ I think that went rather well to be honest.” He stepped out onto the sidewalk nonchalantly and walked into the nearest convenience store.
“What’s someone as young as you doing out so late?” the cashier asked while Midoriya browsed the aisles.
“Just hungry.” As he paid for his snacks, he watched with amusement at the police men running outside the glass doors frantically.
“I wonder what has them all in a hurry” the cashier mused. Izuku smiled innocently and nodded in thanks as he grabbed his bag
“No clue.” He shrugged
“Whooo~!” Tamako laughed, watching Izuku’s latest videos “You actually tagged the police station?”
“Daaaaaaamn Mido!” Hiroki cheered, high fiving the 11-year-old “That took some guts you fucking superb little man!” Midoriya puffed up proudly
“Oh my god” Mina giggled, peering over Tamako’s shoulder at the phone “The looks on their faces!”
“Absolutely priceless” Daitan congratulated and Izuku nearly passed out with glee “I think I broke the replay button”
“askljgfiluebfshlbevlu” he babbled and they all burst out laughing
“How the hell did you even say that out loud??” Taka chuckled, gently shaking the dazed Midoriya “Shit Ember. I think you broke him.” Daitan guffawed even harder
“Oops.”
“Come on!” Hana yelled, brushing a light blue strand of hair behind her ear “I gotta see this in person!” they all chorused in agreement and Izuku just curled up into a happy little ball on the roof, still mumbling incoherently. Hisoki gently picked him up and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“Well? Let’s go!” he announced
“Holy shit. Deku!” Bakugo announced, practically careening into the bedroom “That last video got like a thousand views what the fuck man?!” Izuku perked up before frowning
“You got three thousand on your last post” he pouted. Katsuki tackled him
“That’s because the fire department showed up” he growled, sitting on top of his chest “Is getting the authorities called on us the only way to get views?”
“Apparently” Izuku sighed, resigning to his fate of being sat on “Maybe I should get chased by police more often”
“What about a pro hero?” he grinned and the boy under him paled
“No way! I’ll get caught within seconds!”
“True. Then I’d end up having to break you out of jail” Katsuki mused before flopping down, resting his head on Izuku’s stomach “What are we gonna do?”
“The heck if I know! You’re the one with the ideas!” he whined
“Well you gotta contribute somehow useless Deku” the blonde snapped. They both lay in contemplative silence.
“How many subscribers do you have again?” Izuku asked. Bakugo shrugged
“Uhhh like, 900 something?” he answered, “The hell if I know!”
“We could do a Q & A” the curly haired boy suggested “Or a thank you video when you hit a thousand subscribers”
“Lame.” Katsuki huffed. They lay quietly for a little longer. Midoriya broke the silence once more.
“Did you know flour is flammable?”
“What on earth did you two do??” Mitsuki cried, not sure whether to scold or laugh at the two boys smoking and covered in indistinguishable powders.
“Did you know ground coffee is flammable auntie?” Izuku muttered “Lots of things are really flammable. Like powdered creamer, pepper, flour, chili powder…” he continued listing off items as they were led into the kitchen to get cleaned up.
“What did you do to the poor boy?” she snapped at her son
“Me?? It was his stupid idea in the first place!” Katsuki squawked indignantly
“Flour. All I said was flour for fucks sake.” Izuku whispered, glaring at his friend
“I’m never listening to your idiotic suggestions ever again!”
“Please don’t”
“How have you two not gotten arrested yet?” Mitsuki sighed
“Hey Kacchan….” Izuku was staring at the screen in awe “I think you just went viral…” Bakugo turned up his hearing aids
“What? I think I mis-heard you” he answered, putting down his homework “You went viral??”
“You went viral.” Midoriya repeated, turning the laptop around for his friend to see “Look. Over a million views.” He stared at the computer trying to process it. “you’re like, #10 in trending” Bakugo burst out laughing
“The printer one went viral?! Seriously?!” he cackled. Midoriya huffed in amusement
“Yeah. Apparently some popular reaction channel reacted to some of your vids” Izuku explained excitedly, typing in the reaction video. “There it is.”
“Wait wait wait” Bakugo laughed, getting up from the table and rushing off to his room “I gotta record a reaction to the reaction!” He slid back into the living room and crashed on into the couch next to a giddy Izuku “Okay hang on,” he tapped a few keys on the laptop “I gotta record the actual video while watching” While he did that, Midoriya set up the tri-pod and camera.
“Should I dress up as Haya?” he asked him, trying to stop the camera from tipping over
“You know what? I honestly don’t care!” Bakugo replied, still quite excited about going viral and in a rare good mood. Izuku shot over to his backpack and pulled out his black bandanna and then pulled the jacket from around his waist, zipping it on.
“Okay done” he announced, tying the bandanna around his face to cover most of his freckles and pulling the hood over to hide his curls. “Pretty sure you can’t see my face. I hope.”
“Done over here too” Katsuki grinned. He glanced over at the hidden boy “Yeah, I can’t tell who you are” they sat down on the couch, pressed record on the camera and laptop and started.