Shouto led the way to their destination for lunch, with Izuku following him close behind. On the way there, they had struck up some casual conversation that a Shouto had found somewhat helpful.
Helpful, in a way, to know what to not talk about. The rules were, no talking about Izuku's hair, no talking about Izuku's father, no talking about Izuku's tower, or just anything relating to his backstory in general.
Shouto found it a bit strange, but he complied anyway.
They walked down the path and eventually they had reached an establishment with a sign near the path to the entrance. The small cute sign read 'The Snuggly Duckling' and had a rubber duck shape on the sign.
"Here it is," Shouto spoke to Izuku, standing exactly at his side as they looked at the sign then at the building. "Don't worry, very quiet and calm place, good for you,"
Izuku smiled at the thoughtfulness that Shouto seemed to show, the both of them walking down the path then opening the door to the establishment. Once the door was open, Shouto stood behind Izuku to show there was no turning back.
Izuku's eyes widened and his heartbeat quickened, the interior of the Snuggly Duckling looking like a worn down and dark, unkempt bar, full of ruffians and thugs of various sizes and different types of weapons.
The green haired boy quickly got into a defensive position, holding out the frying pan in front of him to protect himself if all of the thugs in the bar started to attack him out of nowhere.
Shouto grabbed Izuku by the shoulders and started to push him deeper into the bar without a word, everyone in the bar looking at them with a scowl. They looked extremely out of place.
As they got further and further into the bar, the overwhelming smell of body odor and beer got stronger and stronger and the number of bodies surrounding them grew and grew.
Eventually, they made it to the back of the bar, right next to the fireplace. Izuku was still in his defensive position, holding his frying pan with all of his might. Tsu hid in the mess of Izuku's green hair.
"You don't look so good," Shouto commented, keeping a hand on his shoulder. "If you can't handle this, I don't think you should keep going on your journey." He started to guide Izuku towards the exit, but the exit door was slammed shut revealing a wanted poster of Shouto on the back of it.
One of the thugs slammed her hand against the poster, looking directly at Shouto. "Is this you?" She looked at him menacingly with her jet black eyes.
Shouto didn't reply, not wanting his words to be used against him.
"Oh yeah, that's him alright!" Another thug walked up to them, the blush on her cheeks and her light brown hair the complete opposite of her thug-like nature and the hook on her hand. She turned to another thug and shouted: "Go find some guards!" She then grabbed onto Shouto's collar with the one hand she had, having a tight grip on it. "Your reward is going to buy me a new hook~"
Another thug with unnaturally big lips grabbed Shouto out of her grasp, holding him away from her. "Hey! I could use that reward more!"
Shouto was then snatched out of his grip, being held down by a roughian with multiple arms. "Yeah! What about me? I'm broke!"
The whole bar then started to fight for Shouto, trying to grab onto him so they could get the reward for his head. Izuku was bumped around in the crowd, trying to get Shouto away from them. "Hey-! Stop-!"
Shouto winced as he was fought for and pulled around in every which way "Guys! We can work this out!" He shouted.
"Hey! Leave him alone!" Izuku shouted, trying to make his way to the middle of the crowd to rescue Shouto from the ruffians and thugs. He then mindlessly started to hit some with a frying pan "Let go of my guy!" They didn't seem phased by Izuku's attacks at all.
Eventually, all of the thugs got a hold on Shouto, holding him still so the hooked thug could get a good punch on him. Izuku acted quickly, using the rope he brought with to swing it and wrap around a board on the ceiling. He pulled the board up with the rope then let it swing down, hitting the hook-handed thug in the cranium with a bang.
Everyone went silent in shock, Izuku shouting through the silence "Put him down!" He pulled the rope off of the board and put it back on the small notch of leather he kept it in on his side.
The hooked hand thug didn't seem phased, looking back at Izuku with her fist still pointed at Shouto. Shouto just stayed still as he was held, widening his eyes at what Izuku just did. It was definitely very brave. A light dust of red brushed across his cheeks.
Izuku let out an exasperated sigh and inhaled deeply before starting to explain the situation he was in by shouting while mumbling and mushing his words together "Okay, I don't know where I am, and I need him to take me to see the lanterns because I've been dreaming about them my entire life! Find your humanity! Haven't any of you ever had a dream?"
The hooked hand thug pulled her ax out from the holster on her back, then menacingly walked up to Izuku. Shouto was hung on a nearby metal hook that was attached to the wall. Izuku stood his ground as the thug walked closer, her face now nearly inches from his.
"I had a dream, once…" She mumbled longingly, looking into the distance. Without her gaze shifting, she threw her ax towards the blonde accordion player in the corner who with a jump and a glare, started to play the accordion.
The brown haired thug then began to sing her heart out about how she was feared, and her appearance was very intimidating and scary. Her hook just pieced the whole look together.
She had made her way over to the stage on the side of the establishment, stepping onto it then reaching back to press her fingers against the keys of a piano. She sang about her dreams to become a pianist and wanting to be known for her playing rather than her rugged appearance.
The other thugs then started to join in, their attention was taken completely off of Shouto who just stayed hanging on the hook, not really able to do anything about the situation.
The rats in the bar started to bob up and down with the tune of the music, two of them tending next to Tsu. Tsu was slightly weirded out by the rats, but couldn't help herself from bobbing up and down slightly with them.
Another thug approached Izuku, he had blonde hair with a black streak running through it that resembled a lightning bolt. He then started to pour his heart out to Izuku as well. He sung about his appearance, how he didn't look the best and certainly wasn't attractive ut how he wanted to find some love or someone to be by his side.
He handed Izuku a small white flower before going over and sitting in a boat conveniently located in the bar, holding the ore to it and leaning against it longingly. A short purple haired guy was sitting in the boat across from him, opening up a parasol to represent his love interest.
The blonde thug attached the purple haired boy to a string and started to swing him all around the pub, the purple haired boy in a diaper with a bow and arrow to represent Cupid. He swung by Shouto. Shouto didn't seem amused in the slightest.
Everyone started to sing about their own dreams and the dreams of the other thugs and ruffians in the bar.
They all then turned to Shouto who was still hanging on his place of the wall. "What about you?" The brown haired thug said with a menacing tone.
"I'm sorry…" Shouto started to reply in disbelief "Me?"
"Yeah! Your dream!" The blonde haired thug replied, picking up Shouto off of the hook.
Shouto looked at them, crossing his arms and looking at them with a deadpan face. "No. I don't sing." He stated bluntly. As a result, a bunch of swords were jousted towards him, aiming for his head or neck.
The next thing he knew, Shouto looked over at Izuku. Izuku was looking at him with a big smile, seeming to want to know what his dream was and wanting to see him sing.
So, he started to sing. He sung about how he wanted his father just to leave him alone, and how he wanted to be his own person who chose his own path.
Izuku then climbed up onto a bar table, smiling happily as he waved at everyone to get their attention before starting to sing his big heart out about his dreams to see the lanterns on his birthday.
Then everyone chimes in, the layers of voices building and building towards the height of the song.
"Yes, way down deep inside
I've got a dream!"
Their happy song was cut short by the door bursting open, a thug rushing and shouting "I got the guards!"
Shouto reacted quickly, pulling Izuku and Tsu (who was sitting on Izuku's shoulder) aside and out of sight behind the bar counter. A few seconds later, the guards rushed in, the head guard leading the charge.
His dull and tired looking eyes scanned the area, his long and black hair slightly unkempt and the stubble on his five-o-clock shadow clearly visible. "Where's Shouto?" He asked in a demanding tone.
The guard then started to walk in more, searching the whole place for any sign of the wanted thief. "I know he's here. Find him. Turn this whole place upside down if you have to."
Shouto peeked up from behind the bar counter to see what was going on, and saw the rest of the party walk through the door. Specifically, he saw the people who he had previously been working with to steal the crown walking in with handcuffs around their wrists. They did not look happy, especially Bakugo.
Shotuo immediately shrunk back behind the bar counter.
Then suddenly, a familiar hook was held in front of both Izuku and Shouto. She held herself still, but pointed to a secret path with her eyes. She then opened it up, crawling back behind the counter with them to it. "Go." She smiled, looking over at Izuku "Live your dream."
Izuku smiled happily at her, nodding with a determined look on his face. They both then started to crawl through the hole, Izuku making sure that Tsu was still on his shoulder as they went in. She still was.
Izuku looked back at the girl, giving her one last wave before crawling fully into the passageway.
She gave him a nod back.
