Four nights a week, Shouta has patrol from sundown to the early hours of the morning. Another four nights a week, Shouta does a few miscellaneous things in conjunction with the local police, (investigations, undercover work, interrogations, ect), but on some days...
On some days, (Tuesdays through Saturdays, to be exact), Shouta takes college classes in order to obtain his teacher's license. And on days Shouta has classes, he takes lunch in that same tree in that same nearby park. And on Tuesday through Friday, Eraserhead's littlest, purplest fan lounges around the park at the same time as Shouta, presumably after getting out of school.
This, Shouta doesn't mind too much. The kid avoids other kids, and lingers in the shade provided by the trees Shouta frequents. The kid is there when Shouta arrives, and he's still there when Shouta leaves. Sometimes, the kid will read a book, or listen to a little portable radio, and once or twice Shouta even catches the kid tempting some stray cat into his lap with a can of tuna. The purple kid, on his own, isn't too bad.
But on Saturdays, the blond kid joins him.
The blond kid has an explosion quirk.
Shouta doesn't get much sleep on those days, but at least his littlest fan seems to be having fun. Shouta has to hide a grin when the 'purple troll doll' is forbidden from being Eraserhead while playing hero-as apparently, much to the purple dandilion's frustration, the kid had continuously failed to prove Eraserhead even existed.
Shouta almost started to regret hiding his existence when the purple problem child elects, instead, to play as Present Mic, and loud screams of "Yeeeaaahhh!" start joining the explosions that disturb Shouta's naps on Saturdays.
"Why Present Mic?" The blond asks, eyebrows furrowed. "He's not the strongest. I mean, you can't be All Might, because I'm the strongest so I'm All Might. But you could have been the second strongest...like the sidekick...or Endeavor..."
"Duh, its because we both have voice quirks!" The purple child says, audibly rolling his eyes. (Shouta has been eavesdropping on these kids for almost two months now, he should really learn their names soon). "And...!" The kid starts off strong, but his voice trails off. Despite himself, Shouta cracks an eye and peers down at the two kids through several layers of thick foliage. That little head of purple hair is bowed a little lower than usual, and little fingers are fidgeting with the edge of a tiny t shirt.
The blond kid looks up from where he is doing an inexpert imitation of warm up stretches. "Huh? And what? Spit it out, Troll Doll!"
"Did you ever hear the story..." The kid trails off again, then sucks in a big breath and says all in a rush, "Have you ever heard that Present Mic was born with his quirk? And he hurt a lot of people when he cried when he was born?"
The little blond's face screws up in concentration, and then clears into a mue of distaste. "...yah, I've heard that story." The blond kid turns his head away sharply. "...him and everyone around went deaf." He grits out quieter.
"Yah." The purple kid's shoulders hunch up around his ears. He fidgets more, and also looks away. "...I hurt my mom. When my quirk came in. I hurt my mom. She was driving..." the stutters out. "...that's why I live in the orphanage now." The kid whispers, now. "She was really mad."
Shouta doesn't see the blond kid's reaction to the heavy confession. Shouta has turned his eyes up to stare blankly at flashes of blue sky through the trees. He felt like he was intruding, but if he moved enough the kids would notice him leaving. Shouta made a mental note to practice his stealth in trees.
There is a long moment of silence.
"That's why I think Present Mic is really cool." Purple kid whispers out. "He hurt people on accident with his quirk, but he worked really hard and became a hero anyway. I think it would be really cool to be a hero like him."
Another long moment of silence. The sound of purple kid shuffling his feet.
"...my quirk counselor told me about Present Mic." The blond kid finally says.
"Huh...?"
"...she said that he's deaf. That he's the most famous deaf hero. He's fifty seventh in the rankings, and he's deaf."
Shouta's brows furrow. Even he cannot guess where this is going...
"Yah...?" The purple kid sounds out. The blond kid was not offering an objection, but what he was saying wasn't an agreement either.
"...the quirk councilor says that I'll probably go deaf, too. That I'm not hurt by explosions, but my ears are hurt by the sound of them. She says if I keep using my quirk a lot, I'll go deaf really early. And if I want to be a hero, then I do gotta use my quirk a lot."
"Oh. Oh. Bakugou...that really sucks."
Shouta almost snorted, despite himself. No shit that sucks, kid. Jesus, did five year olds discuss such heavy topics when Shouta was a kid? Jesus.
"But the quirk counselor said Present Mic became a hero even though he's deaf! She probably means you can be like him too-!"
"Shut up!" The blond...(Bakugou, apparently, how fitting)...snapped back, cutting purple off. "That quirk councilor was dead wrong! I'm going to be way better than some fifty seventh ranked has been! I'm going to be the number one! With or without ears!" There is the small crackle of an explosion, and Shouta imagines the blond just smashed a fist into his palm, an action that has snapped Shouta out of more than a few naps, at this point. "The point is...the point is I guess Present Mic is cool..." the blond trails off, then tacks on hastily, "...enough to be my sidekick! So I guess I'll let you be Present Mic."
The purple kid sniffs, only once, and then takes another deep breath in and barrels on. "Let me be Present Mic?" Shouta can easily imagine the kid literally turning his nose up, with that tone of voice. "I'd like to see you stop me from playing Present Mic!"
"Ha! I stopped you from playing that made up hero!" The blond also seems quick to spring back from the heavy topic. "Why do you even want to be a made up hero when you could be Present Mic?"
"I did not make up Eraserhead!" The purple kid squawks. "And Present Mic is cool, but Eraserhead is ten times cooler!" Shouta's littlest fan shouts faithfully. Shouta slowly closes his eyes and pretends that if no one can see it, then he is not blushing.
Somehow, for all the screaming and explosions that follow, Shouta never does get around to finding a better napping spot.
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