Wow, I updated more than once a month? Shocker. I have spring break and I need to do something with it, so hey, why not?
-o0o-
Izuku's nails dug into the cloth on his gakuran as he walked to his new school, Aldera Junior High. Himiko and Tenko walked beside him, one skipping as the other chose to walk like a normal person. How Himiko could be so energetic on the first day of school was beyond Izuku.
As the foreboding gates of the school approached, Izuku shrunk further into himself. He was scared. He was scared of what the people at school would think of him. He was scared of what the people at school would do to him.
"Relax, Zuzu," Tenko whispered and grabbed hold of his wrist, squeezing lightly. "No one's gonna hurt you on our watch."
Izuku nodded, blinking away the tears on his lashes. He really needed to stop crying, it was embarrassing. Hopefully, his face isn't red. Rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his gakuran, he met the doors of the school with a wobbly grin. So long as he made a good impression on his class, it would be just fine.
-o0o-
It was not fine.
For starters, Izuku tripped while walking through the door, so that wasn't very fun. At least he didn't face-plant onto the tile.
Once he sat down at his desk in the back corner, his name written on it in cartoon-ish kanji by the teacher, Katsuki and his, well, not friends, but acquaintances, or goons, whatever they would be called, walked in. Izuku was quickly met with a sharp glare when he raised his hand to wave and wilted in his seat. The two following him had relatively plain features, one with the quirk to elongate his fingers and the other with rocks for hair. Izuku couldn't remember their names. The pair stuck their tongues out at him and dragged down their lower eyelids before laughing and high-fiving. Like that was something to be proud of, acting like primary school children.
The bell promptly rang, their homeroom teacher walking in as it finished its tune. She has kind features, light purple hair pulled up in a ponytail. She began speaking, and Izuku listened attentively until he noticed something of a ripple effect.
A note was being passed around the room, people having various reactions to it. Some snickered and scribbled something down, others sneering at it in disgust or with a sympathetic look before passing it to the next person. Izuku didn't know what it was about, but he didn't need to when it landed on his desk.
Katsuki's cronies were glancing at him and sniggering as he opened it. Izuku had a bad feeling and braced himself before reading.
Pass this to the person next to you! Don't give it to the green-haired guy before everyone's seen.
Dude's quirkless, did you know? And that he wants to be a hero?
What a freak.
He should just leave, we don't need that here.
Ew, what if it's contagious? I don't wanna lose my quirk!
He wants to be a hero? He should be realistic.
The note had more statements along those lines that Izuku didn't bother with reading.
'Wow. Creative. C'mon, guys, you can do better than that.'
Despite this, Izuku still felt the tell-tale pressure build behind his eyes that would give way to tears. Crumpling up the note, he threw it into the trash can behind him.
"Throwing things, Midoriya? That's your one warning for today." The teacher at the front of the room frowned in disapproval, her arms crossed.
'Can today just end already?'
-o0o-
The final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day at long last. Izuku packed up his belongings and hurried out the door, knowing what would likely come if he didn't.
He felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned around, muscles tightening up with irrational fear. He knew that at this point he could even send someone as strong as Katsuki to the ground, but he also knew that it wouldn't help him in the slightest if he got burned without his gear. Maybe he should work on fighting without that.
"Uh, hey… you're Midoriya, right?" Izuku's eyes widened slightly and he nodded. Someone other than his bullies or his best friends was talking to him! She was relatively short, which coming from Izuku meant a lot. Her brown hair was pulled into twin braids, matching brown eyes almost shining.
"I, I wanted to tell you that, uh, what that note said, it wasn't okay. I should have just thrown it away when I got it, I'm sorry," The girl murmured, her voice even softer than Tenko on bad days. Izuku could hardly hear her.
"Oh, it's uh, it's alright! I'm, I'm used to it." Izuku bit his lip, shifting from side to side. He didn't know what to say, and it wasn't her fault. It was on the people who wrote the note and added to it, not her.
"That, that doesn't make it okay, though. It was cruel." Katsuki and his 'friends' walked out of the classroom, Katsuki shooting him and the girl a disgusted glare. Izuku began shaking, the blond's mere presence shooting fear down his spine.
The girl beside Izuku muttered a quick apology and speed-walked in the opposite direction, leaving Izuku to the wolves. Not that he could blame her, Katsuki was terrifying.
"Hey, Izu-kun~! What's takin' you so long?" Himiko jumped up to stand beside Izuku, her arm looping through his. She was grinning at Izuku but sending a challenging glare towards Katsuki and his lackeys. Izuku could see the slightest glint of silver peeking out of her cardigan's sleeve.
"We're getting some ice cream, remember? We don't want Dabi getting impatient," Tenko murmured, taking hold of Izuku's free wrist. He could hear the disturbing but familiar sound of skin being scratched off. He would make an effort to stop Tenko, but if it didn't work before, it never would.
Izuku let the pair pull him away from Katsuki, a shaky sigh leaving him. His shoulders slumped and he smiled, jogging so that he wasn't being dragged behind.
"Since when were we getting ice cream?"
"Since little bitch boy over there decided to be a little bitch boy!" Himiko exclaimed, prompting a sharp snort to burst from Izuku. He sniffled, murmuring a thank you.
"We told you that we wouldn't let anyone hurt you on our watch, Zuzu. We meant that."
-o0o-
"Hey Mom, can you help me over here?" Inko stood from the couch, scurrying over to Izuku's room. The boy was curled up in his chair, one of his notebooks flipped open to a page that Inko couldn't see.
"What do you need help with?" Inko asked, moving over to stand behind Izuku. Now that she could see better, she could see that the page held notes on Tenko's quirk with measurements of his hands. There were sketched out designs of various gloves, some scribbled out.
"I'm, uh, I'm wanting to make Tenko some gloves other than his artist gloves. I know that they're pretty uncomfortable. But I can't really come up with a good design, you're better at that. So, can you help?" Izuku muttered, Inko only able to hear him through being the one to raise him. She smiled, sitting down on his bed.
"Alright, let's get started then. So what do you have in mind?"
-o0o-
Standing outside of the Midoriya family's apartment, Tenko shifted his balance, waiting for Izuku or Inko to answer the door. It wasn't particularly unusual to be invited, but typically it was with Dabi and Himiko. Sometimes he went alone but having heard Izuku say that he had a surprise put him on edge. Knowing Izuku, he built something lethal and wanted him to try it out.
The door swung open to one of the biggest grins on Izuku's face he'd ever seen, Tenko not even able to get a word out before Izuku drug him inside by the wrist. He was talking at a mile a minute, somehow not needing to catch his breath.
Izuku spun around and shoved Tenko onto the cream-colored couch, telling him to stay as he grabbed the surprise from his room. Inko came shuffling out of the kitchen in blue pajamas, sitting down beside Tenko.
"Izuku's really excited, y'know?" Tenko snorted, leaning down to rest his forearms on his knees.
"Understatement of the century. I couldn't even understand him." Inko chuckled, placing down her cup of coffee. Looking around, Tenko saw the pieces of cloth strewn around, along with cut spools of string. Inko's probably in the middle of making something, then.
"Okay, I'm back!" Izuku barrelled into the room, almost tripping over air. "Here!" He shoved a black box towards Tenko, almost vibrating in his excitement. Tenko peered suspiciously at it, lifting the box above eye-level to examine the underside.
"It ain't gonna explode, is it?" Tenko asked, lifting an eyebrow. Izuku plopped down onto the couch, opposite of his mother. He squished his cheek into Tenko's shoulder, flicking him on the forehead.
"Nope. Now open it!" Izuku demanded, almost crushing Tenko's ribs with how hard he hugged him. He let out a wheezing breath, trying to pry off Izuku's arms to no avail.
"Holy hell, fine, I will, just lemme breathe," Tenko wheezed, pulling in a deep gulp of sweet, sweet air. Inko and Izuku laughed, much to his chagrin.
Tenko opened the box slowly, pulling out the pair of gloves inside. They were dark red on the top with thick black stitching running down the sides. The palm side had black mesh for grip spanning from the palm all the way to the fingers and black leather on the knuckles, presumably to keep him from getting all too damaged if he punched something.
"Try 'em on, c'mon!" Izuku was biting his lip as Tenko peeled off his artist gloves. He stilled as he was about to put on the pair Izuku gave him, furrowing his brow.
"Wait, won't I destroy them?" Tenko asked, glancing between Izuku and the gloves. The boy shook his head pointing towards them.
"Nope," he said, popping the p. "They're made of two different materials on the inside to keep your quirk from activating. I thought this out, I wouldn't overlook something as basic as that!"
Tenko pulled on the gloves, at last, the pair fitting perfectly over his hands. Was this why Izuku needed measurements of his hands? Probably.
"They're, uh, they're cool. I guess." Tenko felt a smile tug at his lips, his heart swelling with gratitude.
"Well, they better be! They were made by me and Mom, after all."
-o0o-
I'm not good at insults, can you tell? Anyway, remember to review and ask questions and all that jazz.
