Work Text:
“Midoriya! Get away from him!”
Izuku almost drops his ice cream cone as he spins around at Iida’s panicked shout.
“That’s the villain we told you about, the crazy one who attacked us at the USJ!” Ashido yells from Iida’s side. “He could kill you if he puts that fifth finger down!”
And-
Oh my gosh.
Izuku can’t help it- he breaks out into a fit of laughter as he looks from his classmates to Tomura Shigaraki and back. “I- you-”
Behind him, fingers still wrapped around Izuku’s throat in a joking threat, Tomura is having it ten times worse. He’s nearly bent double, cackling so hard it almost sounds like he’s asphyxiating, and Izuku would be concerned for his personal safety if he didn’t know that Tomura had his gloves on today and was therefore mostly harmless. Somewhere in the rational part of Izuku’s mind, it registers that maybe, just maybe, he should explain the whole childhood-friends-with-Japan’s-newest-supervillain deal to his other friends at UA. But right now, Izuku’s very much preoccupied, shaking and gripping his sides as he wheezes.
Meanwhile, Iida gapes at them in horror. “Midoriya! Are you all right? Did that foul villain do something to you?”
“No,” Izuku finally answers after he manages to pull himself together enough to string words into a sentence. “We’re- we know each other. It’s all good.”
“I’m not sure that can be considered ‘all good,’” Iida sputters. “He tried to kill us, and he looks like he’s trying to kill you too…?”
Tomura takes this moment to grin at Izuku’s classmates, and Izuku winces in pity as he watches them shudder. Tomura only grins when he’s trying to intimidate, because it works every time and he knows it full well. “Like Izuku said, no need to worry. The two of us are very well acquainted.”
“You could be well acquainted with someone if you try to kill them every week,” Kaminari calls out bravely.
“Deku!” Ochako shouts, arriving on the scene in a frenzy. “Shigaraki, let him go or else!”
Tomura drops his hand from where it had been teasingly placed on Izuku’s neck and points it at her in a real threat. “Who are you to call him that name,” he nearly growls. “You-”
Hurriedly, Izuku graphs his arm. “Tomura,” he whispers. “That’s Ochako. She’s the one I told you about. She doesn’t mean it in that way. Please don’t hurt my classmates.”
Tomura scoffs. “Fine. I’ll pretend to have morals for your sake.”
Izuku beams. “Thank you!”
When he turns away, Izuku finds that half of 1-A has arrived on scene and is staring in shock at the scene before their eyes.
Okay, maybe now’s a good time for an explanation before someone really calls the cops on us.
Izuku pulls away from his childhood friend’s grasp and faces the small assembled crowd of his classmates. “Guys, please let me explain,” he says, waving his hands. “I promise it’s nowhere near as bad as you all are probably thinking.” Then he catches sight of some civilians at the edge of the crowd. “But, uh, can we go somewhere more private?”
They cluster themselves into the nearest unassuming shop, convincing the shopkeeper to take an early lunch break, and with 10 expectant pairs of eyes on Izuku, he finally begins to tell them about how he and Tomura Shigaraki met.
“So, it started one night when I decided to go out on a little wannabe-vigilante excursion, and there was a guy behind a convenience store…”
It all comes tumbling out. How Izuku jumped in headfirst after very inadequately making an assessment of the situation. How Tomura, having snuck out to get away from Dr. Ujiko’s tests, happened to be walking by and found himself inexplicably drawn to intervene. How they’d talked afterward, each bringing the other out of their shell.
How they kept running into one another every few weeks, with Tomura trying to kill Izuku as an assignment from Sensei for showing “weakness.” How gradually, eventually, it had turned into a sort of joke, a song and dance they did every time. How Izuku had cautiously finally invited Tomura to a formal “playdate.” How Tomura had shown up bloody and bruised, and ended up spilling his secrets to Izuku. How, from that moment onwards, Izuku had begun to hatch a plan to free his best friend.
How Tomura had later found out about Kacchan’s treatment and went and taught him a lesson, and later all three of them became begrudging friends.
How Tomura’s Sensei had started forcing heavier tasks upon him. How they’d tried their best to avoid the USJ.
(At that point, Tomura had pitched in with a short recounting of how he’d put laxatives in Izuku’s morning protein shake so that he wouldn’t make it to school and All Might would have less reason to show up.)
And now this. The mall meet-up hadn’t been planned; Tomura only knew that some heroes were going to be in the area and had therefore told Sensei that he wanted to go and “give them a good scare” as an excuse to get outside, but then Izuku happened to be there…
“And the rest is history, I guess,” Izuku said. He twisted his hands, shifting from foot to foot under the incredulous stares of his classmates. “I promise, Tomura’s a good guy once you get to know him!”
“Once you get past the attempted murder, you mean,” muttered Mina.
“Say that again-!” Tomura lunged at her but was held back by Izuku.
“Tomura, you promised you wouldn’t try to kill my friends. Besides, it’s kind of true.”
Grumbling, Tomura sat back down. “The things I do for you.”
Izuku beamed.
Then, a silence washed over the entire establishment. Izuku could see his friends questioning everything they had just heard, and frankly, he didn’t blame them. All they had intended to do today was go out and shop like normal teenagers. This bombshell certainly hadn’t been on the to-do list.
Finally, Kirishima broke the silence. “Sorry, Midoriya, but how do we know you’re telling the truth? I mean, he looked pretty convincing at the USJ and all…”
Izuku sighed. “I really can’t prove anything. All I have is my word- you can ask Kacchan if you want, but-”
It was then that the boy in question slammed the door open. “Oi! Tomura! How dare you meet up with Deku first and not me, I’m supposed to be number one! I’ll show you what you’ve brought upon yourself!”
“Sure, Kacchan,” Tomura drawled.
The blond let out a guttural growl and launched himself forward.
Even though neither of them were realistically helping the case as they tried to kill each other, somehow, Class 1-A felt a little more convinced that Izuku had been telling the truth all along.