Prologue: Tokyo Dreamin'
Third Person POV
Inhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
A stream of white smoke floats into the heavy Tokyo air, disappearing into the rainy atmosphere. There is a man standing outside a small shop tucked neatly into a narrow street, lit with dreary, grey-blue afternoon sunlight. He is dressed in dark clothing and a long apron that sits limply over his legs and shins. His usually messy black hair is pulled back into a simple bun on the nape of his neck. The man stares, disinterested and bored, at the empty street, and reaches up lazily to scratch his cheek and stubble. He sighs and takes another drag of his cigarette.
"Tenchou-san."
The man's face immediately twists into one of annoyance. "I'm on my break," he calls loudly over his shoulder.
"Tenchou-san."
The manager huffs in mild anger and stops leaning against the wall next to his shop's door. He pokes his head inside. "What is it?" He demands.
"We have a problem," answers another man. He is standing behind the store counter, and a look inside reveals it is a quaint coffee shop, all glossy wood and low yellow light. His hair is blonde and he wears a set of glasses with tacky red frames on his face. His clothing matches the manager's - long apron and dark dress shirt and all. The man tilts his head as a gesture to the general direction of…
The manager's cigarette falls out of his mouth. He notices and hurriedly bends over in one smooth movement to flick it out onto the street and crush it with a twist of his foot.
"Who the hell is that? I didn't see anyone come in just now."
A high schooler. His head is bent low, and he refuses to make eye contact with anyone or anything in the room beside the floor. Even from the doorway, the manager can see that his navy blue school blazer is soaked at the shoulders.
The manager steps inside the store and closes the door behind him, a set of bells above jingling cheerfully in the tense air.
"Kid, I don't know who you are, but you better tell me how you got in here and then beat it. You're soaked."
"He's hurt," the man with dyed blonde hair stresses.
"So? This is a coffee shop, not a clinic. This isn't another one of those stray cats you keep bringing in, Hizashi, this is a person."
Yamada Hizashi shoots his best friend a look as if to ask, 'Is now really the time for that again,' but the manager holds his ground.
"Come on man, don't be so stiff! Let's at least patch the little guy up before we send him off on his way," Hizashi persuades.
The high schooler stays silent, but he slides off the tall stool and finally looks up. The manager recognizes the Yuuei High School uniform on him, though it's wet and dirty. He can also see the full extent of the damage - there is a purple bruise blossoming over his left cheek - but the kid looks at them both with eyes darkened by the clouds of resolution.
The manager pauses.
This is no stray kitten, Hizashi… It's a wounded animal.
A sigh.
"What's your name, kid?"
Hizashi is already preening in victory behind the counter, and he shoots him a cutting glance.
"...Midoriya Izuku," comes the mumble.
The manager steps inside. "My name's Aizawa Shouta. I'm the owner of this establishment. How did you get into my shop, kid?"
Oi oi, you bother to ask him his name and you're going to call him "kid" anyway? Hizashi shakes his head, but he's been used to his friend's antics since they were in high school together. Neither of them can ignore a beaten and battered student.
"Your back door was unlocked," the teen answers quietly, not looking at either of them. "I needed somewhere to hide so…"
Hizashi freezes.
Shouta is sending him a blank stare. "'Unlocked,' you say? That's unusual."
He chuckles nervously and retreats into the back room in search of the first aid kit.
Aizawa watches him leave with a cool stare for a moment, then turns back to the teen in his shop. "Why did you need a place to hide?"
Izuku's face darkens into a cross between anger and frustration. "Just some stupid guys who are too jealous for their own good," he mutters. "But it's fine, they probably won't be coming back for me."
Hizashi returns from the backroom with the first aid kit in hand and walks around the counter. He gives it to Shouta with a small push, as if to say, 'you do it.'
Shouta gives him a deadpan stare but walks over to Izuku. "Sit back down, kid. I'll give you something for that cheek and then I want you out of here, understand?"
Izuku nods. He didn't plan to stay anyways.
There is a silence that sits calmly between all of them for the next few minutes. The tension from before, when the two adults were guarded against the unknown, has now largely disappeared. Instead, Aizawa focuses on carefully cleaning the student's wounds and bandaging them. Yamada hands him a plastic, zip-lock baggy filled with ice for the bruise on his cheek, while he works on the kid's busted knuckles.
"You can't throw a punch to save your life," Shouta deadpans.
The kid's head drops. "I got the job done," he huffs under his breath.
"Why'd those other kids come after you anyway?" Yamada asks curiously.
Izuku holds the bag of ice to his cheek, wincing from the cold. "They were mad that I got into Yuuei instead of them."
Aizawa frowns. "You're a first year?"
Izuku nods as his free hand is wrapped. "The opening ceremony was yesterday. Someone must've told them I was there."
"Oh man, is it April already?" Yamada laughs, scratching the back of his neck. "Seems like just yesterday we were opening the shop back up after the New Year's break!"
"Yuuei's got limited seating too," Aizawa ties off the wrapping and lets Izuku switch hands so he can wrap the other. "Shit's highly competitive."
"You guys sure know a lot…"
"Huh?" Yamada pauses, the hand scratching his neck coming up and hanging in mid-air. "Well, yeah. I mean, we went there too."
Aizawa turns around quickly in his seat and shoots him a glare. "Hizashi, go and grab a water bottle from the back!"
"Okay, okay…" He chuckles weakly, backing off.
"You went to Yuuei?"
Aizawa sighs almost aggressively, annoyance on his brow. "Yeah, kid, we went."
Izuku hums noncommittally in response, and things fall silent between them again until Hizashi returns with a water bottle. He presses it into Izuku's hands.
"Now, get out."
Hizashi sputters.
"I'm serious," Shouta glares. "This cut my break short, and it's almost time for the second afternoon-rush."
"People do need their coffee after work and school…" Hizashi admits reluctantly.
Izuku slides off the stool again, cutting the debate short. "I'm going," he announces, and the men turn to look at him. "I have to get home. Thank you for the help."
He makes a beeline for the door and opens it, turning around to give a slow bow of his head to the pair of them in thanks. "Alright little man, take it easy and stay outta trouble!" Yamada calls after him with an obnoxious wave.
The door shuts and the bells jingle, leaving the two of them alone once more in the quiet cafe.
"I hate you," Shouta says casually.
"Nah," Hizashi grins boyishly at him. "You don't."
Izuku pants harshly, darting through the side streets of Tokyo. His sneakers smack against the wet pavement with each step, and his ears are filled with the sound of his blood pumping and the endless "shaa" of the rain.
"Hey hey hey! Wait up!" A few boys whoop and holler and laugh obnoxiously as they chase after him.
'Are they close?!' Izuku screams mentally, throwing a glance over his shoulder at the bullies. 'Why are they chasing me?! I thought it was ove-!'
A sudden and painful collision brings him crashing to the asphalt. He can barely hear anything over the sound of his roaring heartbeat and the rain, but as Izuku sits up, dazed and confused, he hears soft whimpers near him.
A girl.
He scrambles up and quickly helps her onto her feet, "I'm so sorry! I didn't see where I was going!"
"Midoriya~! Wait for us~!" Someone sings cruelly, and Izuku turns a terrified stare to the hill he had just run down.
Shaking his head, Izuku turns back to the sniffling girl as she pats the skirt of her school uniform off. By the looks of it, she might be a student at one of the nearby junior high schools.
She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. It's a pretty, silvery-white color he's never seen before. "It's okay, I'm not hurt," she says, bending and picking up her school bag.
"Still, I'm sorry." Izuku apologizes hurriedly, looking back the way he came as another call of his name rings through the streets, closer than before. "But I have to go!"
With that, Izuku takes steps back and away from the girl, staring nervously at her for a moment before taking off. But his hesitation costs him, because the boys saw him.
"Hey, Midoriya! Long time no see, huh?!"
His eyes dart from place to place, alley to alley, searching in desperation for somewhere to hide. They're too close, he wouldn't be able to outrun them now.
'There!' An alley hidden slightly from the average eye. Hoping for the best, Izuku dives in and rolls behind a few crates, pressing his body against the wet wall.
He puts a hand to his chest, willing himself to breathe more quietly.
"Where'd that useless piece of shit run off to this time?" A voice demands.
"He couldn't have gotten far."
"I can't believe he punched you like that."
A growl. "The fucker has some nerve. I wasn't even done beating him and he just up and ran."
"Hey wait a second, what about here?"
Izuku slaps a hand to his mouth. They've found his alley. It's only a matter of time before they find him too.
"I hear something."
Izuku's eyes widen. Was he breathing too loud?! Could they hear his heartbeat?! He was starting to get a little lightheaded…
"Nya~"
The teen flinches, eyes darting to his left. A stray alley cat stared back at him.
"Nya~"
Izuku tears up, feeling the burn of desperation behind his eyelids. "Shh! Shh!" He tries, putting a finger to his lips.
"Oh, it's just a cat."
"Nya~" The cat continues to stare at him. Any more and it would lead the others right to him.
Izuku gestures frantically in whichever way he can to get it to go away. 'Shut up, shut up, shut up!'
"Noisy thing, isn't it."
The cat blinks its pale green eyes at him before turning and walking off. Izuku breathes a sigh of relief, watching as its grey form saunters away. But then it stops, throwing a look at him over his shoulder, as if to get his attention, before slipping through…
'Is that a door?'
Izuku cranes his neck a bit and squints. He must be crouching near the back door of a business - the cat peeks out from the crack in the door and looks at him again. Thinking, he peers around the crates - good, the others have wandered far enough away for him to make a run for it.
Breathing deep, Izuku steels himself and counts down mentally.
At three, he springs up from his hiding place and dashes straight for the door.
"Oi, there he is!"
"Midoriya!"
"Hahaha!"
Izuku lunges for the door handle, yanking it open as the bullies run into the alley.
"Hey, now what?!"
With shaking hands, Izuku slams the heavy metal door shut and locks it. He presses an ear against it, waiting with bated breath, but they don't pursue him any further…
Letting out a harsh exhale, Izuku collapses to the floor. He stares at it as his eyes welled up with tears.
'Why… Why?!' He screams in his mind, fists trembling as they press into the floor. 'Why is this happening again?!'
Sniffling, Izuku angrily sits up and pushes the sleeve of his dirty and soaked school blazer to his elbow. A dark, purple and black bruise had blossomed over the majority of his forearm. The sight made him want to hurl.
Instead, he clutches his head with his hands. 'I shouldn't have tried to hit them back… I've never done that before, but maybe after this they'll stop coming...' Izuku moves a hand to his aching cheek, feeling the injury from when one of them punched him.
"Who are you?!"
Izuku whips around at the sudden voice, eyes wide and arms up to protect himself.
A man stands a few paces away from him, with obviously dyed blonde hair and a long apron. ...The owner of this place? Where is he, anyway?
Izuku says nothing, glaring at him. He is hurt and upset. He is furious at himself for letting this happen again. There is no way he is going to take a scolding on top of all tha-
"Oh man, you're hurt." The man comes closer, and Izuku can see his piercings and ugly red glasses more clearly.
'This guy must be one of those yankees I've heard about,' Izuku thinks aimlessly, letting the guy approach him.
The man comes to a stop. "Come out to the front, little guy," he says, turning heel and walking through the small hall.
Izuku slowly brings himself up and off the floor, pulling his sleeve back down before following. As he steps out into the light, a wide room opens before him. Tables, chairs, a bar to his left…
"A cafe…?" He mutters, eyes roaming.
The man who invited him in goes to stand behind the counter and Izuku reluctantly steps up onto a bar stool. He watches as the other cups a hand around his mouth and turns towards a door to their right, beyond the counter.
"Tenchou-san."
...
Izuku sits up, tossing his bedsheets aside in frustration.
It seems tonight will be sleepless as well.
A/N: I will find a way to properly hyperlink the lofi music videos mentioned in each chapter title. In the meanwhile, please enjoy the story.