Chapter Text
'He's just an attention-seeker.' The teacher says as the mother of one a student, kind and soft spoken, tells him to look at, to see the tears running down her sons face, his smile gone, taken by the harsh words and harsher hands that greet him every morning.
'She's brilliant, we couldn't be prouder.' The principal says as the girl -once full of life and love, now cold and empty- looks down at the praise, and they shake hands: one calloused, one soft to the touch -both feared by those who have stood in their way. She smiles, the same smile as always, innocent and perfect, just like her (never like her, never pained or sad or weak, never human), the smile her classmates learned to fear.
'They're just playing around.' The kid says as they keep their gaze down, their sister gently holding their chin as she cleans their face, careful around the bruise resting just below her little siblings eye, and she wonders just how many times had they've been told those exact same words.
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Izuku knew he shouldn't have been patrolling that night. Partially because he needed to get up early in the morning, yes, but also, burns didn't exactly mix well with the rough fabric of his winter costume. An issue he's currently working on, though he might've gotten a bit distracted with searching for an even more heat-resistant fabric for his outer layers -sneaking up on Dabi without one if he somehow managed to do that was a dangerous game and he did not want his face melted off, thank you very much.
At least he had time to do that while learning how to sneak up on the man, who somehow always seemed to know where he was.
("It's called situational awareness, brat. If you don't notice the shit happening 'round you, you'll end up bleeding out in an alley or tied up in warehouse full of people who want to either kill or torture you."
"Speaking from experience?" Izuku giggled and duck out of the way of a small ball of blue fire.
The scarred man rolled his eyes.
"Not my own" he replied, smirking a bit at the third person sitting at the table.
Zephyrs eyes widenened as he turned to Kurai who was glaring at Dabi with red creeping up her neck. Then, she slowly reached out, taking some of the fries and dipping them in the milkshake before her, then lifting them to her mouth and eating them, starting into turquise eyes narrowed in disgust.
"You're nauseating." He sneered at her before they both broke into fits of laughter, leaving Izuku dumbfounded.)
He smiled softly at the memory -hearing the story (well, stories, as the two sides had little in common) of their first meeting had been an experience- before almost doubling over in pain.
'Focus, you're Zephyr right now' he told himself as he jumped onto the next building. His legs shook a bit as he landed, muscles still aching where his bullied kicked him after school ended. He wasn't quick enough to get away, too tired and zoned out from last night, which caused him to 'ignore' their taunting, and they took that a bit too personally. He admits, he must've been really out of it to not even look up at Kacchans explosions, which now that he thinks about it didn't leave any new scars. Maybe Kacchan had to leave early? Uncle Masarus birthday is coming up, after all.
Shaking his head, he spotted a person stumbling in the dark a few streets over. He quickly made his way there and landed a few meters from them.
"Hi, I'm Zephyr, you may have heard of me already" He started cheerfully "Mind if I walk you home?"
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"Over here!" Tsukauchi turned to where Sansa had called out. "