Chapter Text
"Let this be a lesson for you, nerd. You’re never gonna be as great as me, so start to fucking learn your place, Deku, and stay the hell away from me!“
Kacchan stood smugly above Izuku, his hand still raised and small explosions coming out of it. Izuku's eyes began to tear up, he couldn’t understand why Kacchan acted this way.
Ever since he got the news of his quirklessness, Kacchan's behaviour towards him changed completely. He no longer came to play dates that Auntie Mitsuki and his mom planned and slowly he began to get aggressive towards Izuku.
It had started simply. His words got sharper, his eyes cutting him with his looks. But then last year, it started to get physical.
Instead of mean words, there were now shoves and occasional use of his quirk against him.
But Izuku just didn’t understand why.
As he was staring up at Kacchan, lying on the ground and holding his side with his right arm, he noticed the other kids behind Kacchan were laughing.
They were currently outside the park in the woods, where Kacchan usually liked to go exploring. There were no adults nearby, though Izuku began to notice how most of them would rather look away than help anyway.
With one final superior look, Kacchan turned around, leaving Izuku behind, his ‚extras‘ of course following, like always.
Izuku wanted to stand up and follow Kacchan, too. Even though Kacchan didn’t act like it anymore, to Izuku he was still his best friend and amazing.
As he tried to put weight onto his leg, he began to shake and promptley fell down again. One of Kacchans friends had kicked against it pretty hard.
Izuku rolled up the bottom of his trousers and saw a bruise already forming. His side also really hurt.
Today, Kacchan had used his quirk again on him, probably to practice to become a great hero! Didn’t mean it didn’t hurt though, Izuku was sure there would now be a small burn if he were to look.
Sighing, he accepted that he couldn’t follow after Kacchan like this and would have to wait for them to come back or until his leg stopped shaking before trying to stand up.
He started to push himself to the next tree, being careful not to irritate the burn on his side. Izuku leaned his head back against the tree trunk, closing his eyes and planning to rest while he could.
Slight tremors still running trough his small body.
He wanted to go home and just go to bed. He was getting tired of getting teased by the other kids. And lying to his mom.
When he was younger, he told his Mom everything, but since that fateful doctor‘s appointment, his Mom started to change and so did their dynamic.
He loved his mom! But there were also times where he heard her cry herself to sleep, or where he listened to his mom screaming at his dad.
Izuku noticed how shortly after the news, his Dad left the country and his phone calls began getting less frequent until they eventually stopped completely.
Izuku may only be 8 years old, but he was pretty smart for his age. He knew that his mom was worried about him, so he just couldn’t admit to her that Kacchan was the one that kept giving him these bruises, so he lied to her and became really clumsy in her eyes.
Oh, this bruise on my arm? I ran into a wall at school. This burn on my shoulder? Kacchan was just showing me a new awsome trick with his quirk! He’s so amazing!
He didn’t want to lie, but he also didn’t want to stop being friends with Kacchan. And surely if mom knew, Auntie Mitsuki would know soon after and he didn’t want to risk ruining his mom‘s friendship and possibly losing Auntie!
It would be his fault and his mom was already struggeling as of now.
Leaving Izuku often alone at home, picking up more shifts at the hospital to cover the bills at home.
Still. He hated lying to her.
He just had to hope that Kacchan would get over this weird behaviour towards him, so that they could be properly best friends again and become heroes together, like they had always planned. A small smile forming on his face at that thought.
His body was relaxing slowly, when suddenly, he heard a noise, like leaves rustling.
Coming from above him.
Izuku snapped his eyes open, staring directly at bright red ones that were zeroed in on him.
He yelped loudly and slid down the side of the trunk, barely catching himself with his left hand, that wasn’t currently holding his injured side.
"Shit! You weren’t supposed to notice me, now I won’t reach the next level, dammit!“
The older boy, as Izuku now noticed, began to slide down the branch he sat on, now being more visible for Izuku.
He looked a little bit annoyed, his hands crossing over his chest and pouting.
„Next level?“ asked Izuku, still a bit shocked about the stranger and not fully comprehending what was going on.
„Yeah, my next level! I was supposed to get better at hiding and stuff, but you wouldn‘t leave and it was getting uncomfortable, so I tried to change positions quietly. Didn’t work, obviously.“
The older boy didn’t look at him anymore, rather still searching for a good way to climb down.
Izuku's eyes lit up as he finally understood. „Oh! So you’re playing hide and seek! I love that game, I play it all the time with my mom! Who are you playing with?"
Red eyes looked down at him again. But rather than annoyed, the boy looked a bit embarrassed now, before he said grumbling: „With nobody. My Sensei said that I had to get better at hiding or like, blending in with my surroundings or whatever. I was doing well until you ruined that!“, his voice getting a bit more angry at the end.
Sensei? Like a teacher or something? Izuku looked down, hands now folded in his lap and playing with his fingers nervously.
„Sorry, I really didn’t mean to, I swear.“
The boy above him just scoffed. Izuku, now looking up again, trying to get a hold of the red eyes, repeated in a more desperate voice, „I really mean it!“
He the started to ramble. „But- but my Mom says I am really good at hiding and I’m getting even better at it now! Kacchan and his friends found this new game, where they chase me around and if I manage to hide well enough, they won’t kick me or say mean things. So I guess i must be at a high level now, if you describe it like this, because they don’t notice me as often anymore if I really try to stay hidden. So I c- could help you and we can play hide and seek together!“ Izuku's voice and body language getting more excited towards the end.
Red eyes widened briefly but quickly turned into a calculated look, studying the small green haired boy.
Faster than Izuku could see, the boy jumped to the ground, now standing above him, hands on his hips and pinkies raised.
„What‘s your name?“
Izuku raised his head, eyes practically sparkling. „I’m Midoriya Izuku, but you can call me Izuku!“
„Well, Izuku, I guess you have to help me now. You owe me a favor after all, for not letting me level up. My name is Shigaraki.“, the boy answered proudly.
Izuku wanted to jump with happiness.
He was making a friend and he would get to play with them and playing hide and seek more would surely be a good stealth training for his hero dreams.
He tried putting pressure on his knee again, and this time the pain was almost gone, only a dull uncomfortable pressure left, so he slowly stood up.
Now facing Shigaraki, Izuku tilted his head up to look him in the eyes. A smile, so brightly, forming on his round face, it rivaled with the sun.
„You won’t regret it, Shigaraki-san! I’m gonna help you become the best at hide and seek ever!“
Shigaraki was stunned. Izuku couldn’t know, but it was a long time ago, that someone seemed so happy, to simply be in his presence.
He looked down at the green haired boy. Those bright green eyes and even brighter smile created a weird, warm feeling in his chest.
His Master approves of everything that will help Tomura bring him closer to his goal, so he didn’t worry much about that.
It will also improve his social skills, that he kind of needs to work on if he’s being honest with himself. So this kid could be useful in more ways than one.
And if this NPC gets too annoying, Sensei will know what to do.
Set in his decision, a small smirk began to form on dry lips.
„Tomorrow, here at 5 pm. Don’t be late.“