•———

"You're so cool, Deku-kun!"

———•

Watching his classmates fight each other in pairs helped him get a good grasp on their powers, and their ability to work with someone. Most of the teamwork displayed was sloppy, as their compatibility varied with one another.

Izuku and his teammate were definitely the most in sync, like they could read each other's minds. Ochako understood everything with little information, and was the main reason their team emerged victorious.

He was quite embarrassed at his lack of verbal communication, but pleased with the outcome of the fight. Ochako was proud of him. He was not used to being praised by other people after being put down repeatedly his entire life.

Ochako gave Izuku so many high five-'high fours!'-s in the matter of a minute it was alarming. He was grateful for a friend, though.

After the fight, be apologized over and over again to Iida Tenya, his opponent in the armor. Tenya thanked him for the apology, complementing his strategy and saying he'd "take notes". Izuku felt honored.

One particular classmate, the ice user, was very interesting. He was calm during the entirety of his match, worked well with his partner, and had great leadership skills. Izuku could tell he told his partner what to do and how to do it very specifically, and made no mistakes. This match was probably as easy as taking candy from a baby to him.

On top of all that, he was handsome. His was blessed by the gods above with good looks and a strong quirk. Compared to Izuku, he was just perfect. Izuku was quite jealous. Why couldn't he be handsome and automatically popular? He just had a round face and a blushing problem. 'Gods have favorites.'

—

Ochako talked at a speed of two hundred words per minute. She wouldn't shut up. Izuku wouldn't ask her to, though. he enjoyed her company, and chatting was good time waster while riding the train.

She talked about anything she could, and jumped from one subject to the next. He didn't care, as he enjoyed her company and her talks. She had very strong opinions, like how she thought the US was being lead into the ground by a dense president with a weak mind manipulation quirk. Izuku agreed wholeheartedly, and it was a fact.

"-yet he's really smart. He doesn't need to use his little quirk to manipulate a good percent of the American population. He's smart, which fuels his manipulative ability. Yet he's done so many illegal things he could be charged, but he hasn't been. Put him in a peach 20XX!" She punched the air. Izuku giggled, clapping his hands once.

"You're r-really funny, Uraraka-san!" He smiled at her, continuing to chat about America and their way of doing things. Japan was much cleaner compared to them, but they had wide varieties of food from all over the world.

Dread suddenly pooled in his stomach, wiping his bright smile off his face as he instinctively moved closer to his new friend. "Uraraka-san... did you feel that?" Izuku squeaked, a frightening amount of fear lacing his voice.

Ochako tilted her head in response. "No..? Why? What do you feel?" She looked around, seeing nothing suspicious or out of the ordinary. It felt like a normal train ride.

Izuku gasped, placing an arm around her shoulder as a way of saying touch her and I'll kill you. A man, slightly overweight, dressed in black baggy pants and a sweat stained button up, was staring at the pair. His intentions were far too clear.

He was standing, clenching the ring above him, inching very slowly towards them. Izuku leaned towards Ochako, whispering as soft as he could. "T-There's s-someone watching us."

Ochako glanced at the man in front of her, noticing he was staring at her chest. "Oh..." She shifted in her seat uncomfortably, her bright smile dropping from her face.

Izuku didn't doubt their abilities, they could take him on if they needed to. Unless this man had some kind of god quirk, they had a fair chance of beating him. Only if that absolutely had to, though. Quirk use was illegal without a license unless used for self defense.

Ochako lived in the same apartment complex as Izuku, only a few rooms down. She moved in a week before school started, as she lived too far away to attend if she stayed with her parents. Izuku doesn't know how he didn't see he-'I never leave my room, that's probably why.'-r at least once.

The train slowed, signaling for Izuku to grip Ochako's hand like their life depended on it and bolt out of that cramped train. There was always a chance their life actually depended on it.

The doors slid open, people spilling out of the transportation unit slowly and without a care, unaware of the chilling danger the two were facing. They were so painfully oblivious it made Izuku sad.

The pair jumped up, sprinting towards the doors and squeezing in between people to get the hell out. They ran as fast as they could until they could blend into the crowd of people leaving the station.

Ochako looked behind her, eyes locking on to the same light blue sweat stained shirt owner. He was following them, not even subtly. What, were heroes in training who made it into the best school suddenly the best choice for sexual assault? The man was stupid.

She jabbed her elbow into Izuku's side gently, gesturing with her head for him to look behind them. Izuku didn't have to, he could read her mind through her eyes. Her emotions were crystal clear.

The exit was a few feet away. Neither of them dared to look back, they just continued. Their grip was tight on each other's hands, they were both afraid.

The automatic doors slid open, a quick 'goodbye' tune playing as they left. Ochako released a breath, but she knew they weren't out of the woods just yet.

They speed-walked down the sidewalk, yet the sense of danger kept getting stronger and stronger. Izuku took the risk of looking behind him, knowing full well making eye contact was the worst thing to do in a situation like this.

The man was not far behind. His reddening face disgusted Izuku to no end.

Izuku's mind, filled with both fear and sadness, went into panic mode, desperately trying to form a plan that would get them out of harm's way, made a stupid decision as he yanked Ochako into an alley against better judgment.

Thankfully, it was not a dead end. He pulled her through the connected alleys that were formed by various convenience stores and tattoo shops so close together, and made guesses on which turns to take.

Thin stems from a flower Izuku couldn't remember shot out from his wrists, forming a web low to the ground, almost invisible in a dark alcohol puddle.

A right turn led them to an exit, and he smiled in hope. He was sure Ochako did the same. After all, they were basically the same person.

A thick, sticky liquid shrouded their shoes, slowing them down so much they were sure it stuck them to the floor.

Tears welled up in the flower boy's eyes, purely from stress. 'Now is not the time for crying, Izuku!' He turned his head.

Izuku turned his body as best as he could. The man had his arms outstretched, his fingers dripping the grey liquid that trapped them.

"I'm so grateful for this quirk." He said, chuckling at something after it. "It only lasts a bit before it stops being sticky, but it'll give me just enough time to do what I need to do~." He sang, unbuckling his belt quickly and approaching the gravity girl.

A plan formed in Izuku's head at an alarming speed. "Get away from her!" He screamed, voice cracking. His tears were now angry tears.

Ochako screeched as he neared her. "Don't come near me!"

The man laughed as he neared them. "Scream all you want, ain't nothin' gon' happen!" His cocky laugh quickly turned into smoker's cough. Izuku hoped he choked.

He stepped in the alcohol puddle, stepping on the simple trap Izuku had set in a panic. It was sloppy and he could have done better, but it wound get the job done.

The stems closed around his foot, stuck to the ground with a natural adhesive he had secreted. It tripped him, and he fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Izuku felt the liquid around his feet weaken and slide off slowly. His eyes, which were once clouded with fear, shone with slight happiness.

The man lifted himself from the ground surprisingly quickly, he had done this before. 'Disgusting piece of trash.'

"Uraraka-san! We can attack now!" He yelled, and jumped away from the sticky puddle, jumping on to the man, their combined weight sending them both to the ground. He sent a punch to his nose, undoubtedly breaking it.

He got up and looked towards Ochako, smiling.

A sadistic smirk was spread across her face. He would have never seen it otherwise. "I'm going to castrate you." She grinned, before pouncing like a wild, uncontrolled tiger. She was lethal:

Fists connected with the man's chubby face, breaking his glasses and damaging his nose severely. Izuku definitely could say he deserved it.

Izuku leaned against the wall as his friend let out all the fear that was converted into anger. He decided it was enough when the man started sobbing, tears mixing with the blood.

He walked towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her off. "This isn't very heroic, and we could be caught. He doesn't deserve too much. Just enough to warn him not to do it again." He smiled at her. She seemed to calm down at his smile. He pulled her into a tight embrace, relieved nothing bad had happened to them.

"Thanks, Deku-kun! Let's go now, you can come over to my place and we can play some card games! I can't afford any video games..." She cheered, her normal bubbly energy back, like it had never gone.

Izuku sighed in relief. The event wasn't too traumatic. "Yeah..." He muttered, following her out of the alley with his hands wrapped tightly around his backpack straps.

He glanced behind him at the man, who was limp on his back. He was surprised. He probably had never expected his plan to fail as badly as it did.

——

This entire chapter was based off a personal experience of mine with a strange man, as I'm still a minor. The absolute fear and terror that courses through you when you know someone's about to hurt you sends your body into panic mode, and you either shut down, or dash. Please stay safe out there!