The Coffee Shop Hero: Part Two
Chapter OneIzuku had every intention to send Eri to school with lunch, a watch that acted as a phone (and an anti-kidnaping device), and a calm smile. Well, he succeeded on two of those objectives.
"Bye, Nii-chan!"
"Meorw" Danzo added. The mangled emotional support cat was carried in her arms. Izuku would never regret adding the feline to their family. Even when it puked on the stairs.
It had been a long year. A long, painful year that Izuku would not exchange for the world. His princess had blossomed after the incident; from being independent enough to run the typical childhood errands to taking care of the cat Izuku (and Nezu) got for her birthday several months ago, Eri had grown. She was a delightful child, curious about everything.
The nightmares still happened. Those would never go away completely, no matter how much Izuku wished they did. But the monsters behind the nightmares were gone. Even Shigaraki, though his was more of a voluntary deportation from civilization as he hid from Izuku's wrath.
Eri waved him off happily as she skipped into her classroom, and he swore Danzo waved as well. They had done a "meet the teacher night" last week, so she was excited to hang out with her new classmates, instead of being scared about leaving her brother.
That made one of them.
"R-remember, I am only a panic button away." Tears fell down his cheeks in buckets like a true Midoriya. He took his freshly pressed handkerchief out; it would be drenched before he left the school.
"As am I, Young Eri."
Ah, yes. Eri had, for some reason, asked Yagi-san to come along for the momentous moment.
"Have a great day, Problem Midget."
And Shouta-san. He could let that one go, as Shouta-san was his overprotective partner in crime.
The rest of the heroes (and heroes in training in the case of his minions) were outside but still waving through a window. Hitoshi was forced to wave by Kirishima, and Bakugou did so based on a certain promise he received from Izuku.
"You're going to do great, Eri-chan!"
Oh. Him. Izuku sent a minor glare at the degenerate that his sweet princess insisted on being there. Blond hair more obnoxious than the sun on a coffeeles day assaulted the corridor, along with the signature cape.
"Bye, Lemillion!" Eri said, actually responding to the cretin. If only he had the courage to end the hero's existence. But then Eri would be sad. She'd probably cry too, and call him a terrible brother.
So Izuku put up with him. He still sobbed into his handkerchief as her classroom door closed, leaving him in the brightly colored hallway of the prestigious elementary school.
"Problem Child, you okay?" Shouta-san asked after a few minutes passed with him staring at the door.
Izuku nodded and wiped his tears. "Of course, Shouta-san. It is time to go back to the shop. I will make us a fresh cup of coffee."
He ignored the narrowed eyes of his friends and minions. They knew the day was rough on him. All first days were with his family. When Izuku had started elementary school, his mother had cried herself into dehydration.
"I'll see you this evening for the celebratory dinner, Midoriya-sama?" Mirio had the appropriate level of fear in his voice, at least.
Izuku grunted and walked off. He had a coffee shop to run.
Tending to customers was not what Izuku wanted to be doing on Eri's first day of "real school". No, he wanted to be in a tree nearby, ready for any bullies or villains to strike. But their beloved customers needed coffee and service, and Izuku would deliver.
It helped that he had audio and visual surveillance playing on the tiny tv by the register, courtesy of Nezu. The principal was sipping his own tea in Izuku's apartment, working on a case they were partnering on. He had to say declaring the start of U.A's term the day after Eri's school started (and every other school in the country) was genius. It made it where all the teachers, who just so happened to be hanging around his shop, were at the ready in case anything happened. That, and nothing productive would get done. Even Shouta-san knew that.
"Have a wonderful day, Tanaka-jiji," Izuku called as the bell rang with the man's departure. The man had been their first- and most loyal- customer.
"I will see you two tonight. Take care," the older man said back.
Izuku started heating up another pot of his personal supply. The crashing sounds around him were demanding it.
"Little Listener, can I have another cup?" Yamada-san asked, trying to do a handstand from the ceiling. The young owner nodded and caught the thrown cup when the voice hero tossed it, filling it and holding it up. It was snatched from his palm.
"Absolutely not! Zashi, you've already had twelve!"
"Aww, Shou, live a little, you've had, like, thirteen yourself." Nemuri-san collapsed over the counter, pouring bourbon into her mug before motioning for Izuku to top it off with coffee.
"Only a little, Nemuri-san; you must be sober in time for the coffee."
"My friends, putting alcohol in your beverages before noon is most un-heroic!" Yagi-san said.
The former number one hero was bringing the cookies for the group out of the kitchen. The "I love Unicorns and Coffee" apron Eri got the man for Christmas was covered in flour. The young shop owner made a mental note to expand their ingredient budget yet again.
Other customers ignored the chaos. They were used to the shop being lively, though generally at night. Izuku still offered the whole store a free cup of his specialty dark roast to make up for it.
Izuku continued to smile at everyone, even when Yamada-san started discussing the English grammar rules with some poor college student studying French, or when Nezu began manic cackling down the stairs. He prided himself on being a most excellent host, even when he was falling apart about Eri. Nothing would change that.
He noticed a feeling of a cold coming on, and ignored Hitoshi's offer for medicine or a nap after the boy caught him coughing. It had been happening the last few days, random fits. While it had been a while since his last illness, Izuku knew it would be a few days of dodging all the mother hens if he let on that he was not one-hundred-percent.
A little heart to heart with his purple haired minion ensured a mountain would not rise from a molehill.
Izuku smiled at a picture of his mother and him later while washing dishes, the one from the day they opened.
"This really is the life, eh, Mom?"
In a certain place, far from Midoriya's Coffee and Pastries, Stain plotted. He knew he was lucky to escape from prison, and that contacting Inko's hellspawn again would lead to a worse fate.
But he needed their brand of information. No one in the underground could go toe to toe with a Midoriya's analysis. They were demons to their enemies, angels to their allies.
Stain needed to become an ally once again. Inko-sama tolerated him, once upon a time. There had to be a way to get her son to do the same.
Because Stain had a new mission in life. It was even more futile than his last one of killing the false heroes. But it was more important than spilling the blood of the individual cancerous cells. Stain would remove the tumor that held those festerous pockets of greed. The Hero Commission would fall by his hand.
He just had to convince Inko Midoriya's son to help.
"And then Kouta-chan dumped glue on my backpack," Eri finished her rather roundabout story as Izuku picked dry flakes off the fabric.
From what he could gather, imaginary dinosaurs in top hats were murdering (Eri's words, not his) unicorns. Kouta, with all the logic only children could possess, led Eri and several other classmates into a fierce battle that was won by dumping glue onto their bags. Somehow glue dumping was the only weakness they could come up with to destroy the primordial beings.
Her uniform fared almost as poorly. A mud stain covered her entire left sock, and something resembling seaweed was in her hair. A bath was clearly in order.
Izuku digressed. At least she had fun, judging from the footage. He thought back to when Eri was so timid that she couldn't go on the swings alone. Now she was being corrupted by delinquents!
"I doubt that, Problem Child."
"Was I mumbling again?"
Eri giggled while munching on a cookie. "Kouta isn't a delinquent, Izu-nii! He's gonna be a hitman."
A what now? Izuku blinked. Did villain groups begin recruitment in the first grade? He wasn't aware he hadn't destroyed all villain groups within a three mile radius of Eri's school.
"Problem Midget, did Kouta say he was going to be a hitman?" Shouta-san seemed slightly worried.
"Yep!"
"Well as long as he isn't ever in my class."
With that, Shouta Aizawa walked away for a nap, leaving Izuku alone to grapple with the task of tracking down whatever mafia wanted small children in their ranks.
"Nii-chan, when can we have cake?"
Izuku smiled, as his most competent minion was busy grabbing it.
"Hitoshi will be bringing it soon, Bug."
"Okay! I can't wait to see Hito-san" She chirped.
"I'm glad. Now, bath."
Eri gave a less than impressed look at that order, but his signature look had her scrambling upstairs. Yeah, he still had it.
Across town, in a cozy apartment filled with high-end (read: expensive) decorations, Kouta was watching the coolest movie ever. Technically his aunt said he wasn't allowed to watch "grownup films", but Kouta loved the pre-quirk era! They had all the best fights, the best weapons. They also gave the greatest plots for his new hitsquad from school to enact.
He'd have to tell Eri-chan tomorrow, since she would be a super cool assassin with him! She was going to be his number two, since she sacrificed her backpack first. That, and her nii-chan packed the best snacks. Nobody else had rice balls shaped like kitties!
Danzo the cat was fine too, but he gave Kouta the creeps. He would investigate to see if he was worthy to be an assassin as well, but Kouta doubted it with how lazy he was.
Kouta tried to copy John Wick on screen. Every move was difficult, but he would master them all. His aunt walked in just in time to see her designer pillow be pinned to the wall by her favorite kitchen knife.
That night was a huge success. Sure, the cat got into the coffee, and Izuku would be scrubbing the place before he opened, but Eri had fun. It was all that mattered.
He collapsed onto the couch after tucking her in. He pulled several stuffed animals from under him, and sighed as his bones just melted in relief. Danzo purred on top of him, and all the stress of the day just went away.
A sudden pain wracked his upper chest and throat. Izuku bolted upright, coughing into his fist. The cat bolted off, but he was too busy trying to not suffocate in his own mucus to care.
The hand. Rough and ice cold. It was back! Wrapped around his neck, and those eyes. Malice filled eyes. Gleeful as they applied pressure!
"NII-CHAN!"
He slapped himself, hyperventilating while hacking up a lung. Kamino was gone. All For One was gone. He was in his apartment, Eri was in her room. This was just a cold, he wasn't being choked.
"Pull it… pull it together!" He said to himself. "You can't let yourself fall apart, Izuku. Mom left you in charge. Eri is safe. You are safe."
He wiped his hand on his pants leg as he got up to double check his sister was indeed there, in her bed, and not at that monster's lair. The seven year old was stretched out over several plushies, snoring away. She had a peaceful expression on. Izuku felt a wave of protectiveness at seeing his sister. He would protect her from anything and anyone. No matter the cost.
Izuku took a shower quickly after, making sure to take a dose of cold medicine for his cough. No way would he wake Eri up sneezing and coughing. Doing so would lead to more headaches beyond her shouting it to the world like he was dying.
Izuku failed to notice the smear of copper mixed in with his mucus.
End. Welcome to part two, readers! This installment on "why Izuku really should have died from a cuteness overload" will be focusing on continuing our green bean's bonds with others. That and Eri's personal growth. Plan for a roller coaster, y'all, because I don't plan to hold back. Let me know what y'all think, and your theories, because those are a joy to read!
Also…
I will be developing a lot of side characters in regard to how they affect Izuku, primarily All Might, Nezu, and several teachers. If there are other characters y'all want to see splashed in more, let me know. We will also be graced with Hitoshi getting more than like, two scenes. Hopefully. That's the plan with the plot.
Enough rambling, see y'all next time!
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