REVISED (YYYY/MM/DD) : 2020/09/29

CHAPTER FIVE - PART ONE

Nowhere to Hide

"From now on, you're my lackey!"

Golden orbs met crimson orbs. Denki's gaze was blank. "No way. When did you get here?" He asked.

At the moment, he's in the backyard of the kindergarten. He couldn't wait until he got back to experiment with his quirk. While trying to reenact what happened while fighting Katsuki, he tried repeating what he did… and got a result that he was aiming for.

He had been staring at the thin golden rod protruding from his right palm. 'What the…'

And that's when Katsuki showed up unannounced.

"What's that?" Katsuki asked.

Denki gingerly touched the rod to his thigh.

'It's solid…? What the… How?'

Seeing Katsuki made a motion to grab it, he brought his palm away. "Don't touch it. I don't know why it's like this, but my quirk is electricity," he explained while retracting the rod. He stared at his palm and did what he did while at the hospital. He didn't try to compress the energy inside of him. While thickening his 'skin', he created an opening to his right palm.

Thick bright violent formless yellow electricity came to life on his right hand. He cut the energy decisively. "Hmm…" Denki mumbled, still confused. 'My electricity can be solid?'

"What the hell are you on abo…" The ash blonde haired boy trailed before clicking his tongue. "Tsk!"

'What does this guy want?' Denki thought, looking to the ash-blonde warily.

"Kaminari-kun!"

He turned his head to the speaker and blinked. "Uh?"

It was Izuku and the boy was jogging in his direction. 'What now?' he thought wryly.

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

He had been discharged from the hospital just today after staying there for a week to deal with the worst of the treatment. He's still not allowed to use his left hand though.

"It's one versus three but only Kacchan landed a hit right? Even then, it's because you caught his hand! That's so cool! How do you do that?!" Izuku gushed.

Denki looked to Izuku for a long while.

"It wasn't anything special," he replied. "Anyone can move around dodging punches. You could do it too. How about you try doing light physical training?"

"H- huh?" Izuku let out, stunned. His admiration for him practically skyrocketed.

The blonde looked at the green-haired boy carefully. 'What's up with him?'

"If you want to be a hero, you have to make sure that you're always in tip-top shape since you can't do much if you get hurt and there has never been a lack of people in need," Denki pointed out the facts before throwing another fastball. "If your intention is only to help one person, aren't you doing that just to make yourself feel better?"

Denki's voice had been quiet and steady, but his words were ever blunt and straightforward. His tone wasn't condescending and it was clear that he was just telling them his thoughts. But it didn't make it less painful and offending for Izuku.

Izuku's eyes widened before they sparkled less. He looked hurt.

"Ah… y- yes, you're right."

Denki wondered if Izuku really understood what he was telling him. The blonde was confident of his own perception regarding this because he used to fight all the time in middle school and high school as Rei. Sure he's part of a group, but injuries are individual responsibility. It was obvious, but it took him quite a while to realize it.

*silence*

"T- that's! It isn't like that…!" Izuku retorted weakly.

"Haa… Has anybody ever told you how nosy you are?" Katsuki said blandly. Denki ignored him.

Denki scratched his scalp awkwardly when he saw how much his words had shaken the boy. "I can't say this kind of thing nicely. Sorry."

The boy looked to him nervously, as if Denki would scold him some more. The blonde's intention has never been that though.

Denki placed his hand firmly on the green-haired boy's shoulder. "Look, I don't want you to lose your life because you're being unrealistically idealistic."

"I- Is that so?"

"Mm. So do me a favor and try training your body. I…" his golden orbs looked deeply into the boy's green orbs. "I really want someone like you to be a hero. I hope you get acknowledged and become one with your own strength."

The blonde's lips twitched at the completely dumbfounded look Izuku had on his face. Izuku's jaw was practically on the floor and he looked like a jpeg right now with how frozen in place he was.

"The f*ck?" Katsuki blurted in disbelief. Denki glanced at him, back to Izuku, and looked at Katsuki again.

"Midoriya-san is tons better than your ex-followers," Denki said, pointing his index finger to the shocked Izuku. "He doesn't have the skill or strength to back up his intention right now, but he's hella courageous. Those two guys however, followed you around on their own accord but ditched you after getting into trouble and reprimanded for what they participated willingly for. Even if they have the advantage, I'm pretty sure all they care about is their own survival."

One of these days, Denki will get into trouble because of his mouth. For now, seeing Katsuki's loss of words and frustration clear on his face was enough. "I f*cking know that! Why are we talking about those mot-

"Midoriya-san is way better than you give him credit for, Bakugou-san. You'll see." Denki's words had no hesitation because he knew how cool the freckled boy can become.

"Pft. Quirkless will still be quirkless. And he's going to be five soon. What hope does he have?" Katsuki retorted, shoving his hands to his pocket. "Anyways, agree to be my lackey already!"

Denki rolled his eyes. 'Why are we back to this again? Don't tell me he's actually serious.'

"You wish. Go be your own lackey, idiot," he said, shoving his right hand to his pocket and starting to walk back into the building.

Denki wanted nothing to do with those two anymore.

"W- Wait up, Kaminari-kun! C- C- Can we be friends?!"

"Haahh?! The hell, Deku?! I got to him first!"

Denki shivered. 'Friends? With those two?' The trouble it would give him was not enough to compensate for the good things that may or may not come from the arrangement.

"No thanks. How about you be each other's friends instead?" he said to them bluntly.

Denki graduated from preschool and enrolled in a primary school in a different area. Tsubaki had to quit because she needed to take care of her young grandchildren since her son had a divorce and Yuugo wanted to live with him anyway, so Denki moved to Yuugo's apartment and went to a school nearby. They moved their important and valuable belongings and the house was up for sale. A well-off family that has a connection with Yuugo immediately took up the offer even though it was really pricey (Yuugo was actually profited from selling it) because it was a great house with a strategic location.

The apartment they lived in now is small.

"Really really small, right? Don't worry, I'm already browsing for houses," Yuugo said with a little smile when Denki was done with exploring it in less than five minutes.

Denki's lips parted and he shook his head. "No, it's fine," Denki said decisively. "I can do all the chores myself if our home is this small," he said with determination.

"You sure?" Yuugo asked, easily lifting Denki up in his arms.

"Yup. Besides, it's just the two of us, so it's fine. You should save the money for your retirement instead, Tousan," he said sincerely, wrapping his arms around the man's neck.

One and a half years have passed since he first met the man and Denki must say, the man is big on physical contact. Denki likes it too so things worked between them. Their bond is strong and they're so close that it's hard to think that they've only started getting to know each other for less than two years. "Such a good kid…! What are you, Denki, an angel?" Yuugo asked, squishing his cheek to Denki's before rubbing the two against each other.

The blonde groaned, pushing the man's head away from him. "Cut it… out! Geez!" He complained. "We have to go to the grocery store to buy food material!"

"Ehh… let's just eat out."

"Tsubaki-san taught me how to cook and I don't want to eat out all the time… it's unhealthy and a waste of money!"

"Uh-huh… so you know how to cook?"

"I can totally cook!"

Rei wasn't totally hopeless since he lived alone, but Tsubaki was god-sent. Denki's survival will be thanks to the woman if nobody else's. But it seemed that Yuugo was insistent on not believing him. It's so annoying.

*tuuuggg*

"I really can, okay?" Denki whined, puffing his cheeks and tugging Yuugo's cheeks. Gosh, his hands are still tiny!

"Haha… fin~e, I can cook too. For the meantime, let's go grab food. I'm hungry."

.

.

"Tousan, we can't forget the milk!" Denki shouted, jogging to the dairy area.

"Oi, Denki! Don't run off on your own!"

The blonde skidded to a stop and cheerfully looked around for the milk he is used to having. "Etto… why can't I find it?" He mumbled.

Because his eyes were on the shelves and he's moving to the side, he accidentally bumped into another kid and they both fell to the floor together. "Ah! I'm sorry!" Denki apologized instantly and stood up. Upon looking who it was, his blood ran cold. But he couldn't act strangely here. "A- Are you okay?" He asked, swallowing thickly. His heart was beating really really fast right now.

"Mm. I'm fine," the boy said calmly with a nod.

"Shouto?! What happened?!" A woman exclaimed, running to them. The woman sounded gentle even when her tone was very concerned.

"Wha… seriously?! I only left my eyes off of you for a second!" Yuugo remarked in disbelief, finally arriving at the scene. "You okay?" He asked, placing the basket on the floor and inspected his knees and hands.

Uhhh… More than his slightly scraped knees and hand, his entire mind was occupied by… by…

"Mm, I'm fine. I bumped into him… Shouto-san… earlier while walking sideways," Denki said, dazed.

"Walking sideways… geez…" Yuugo muttered, giving him a light chop on his head. "I'm sorry for my son, Ma'am. Is he alright? I'll buy you bandaid and disinfectant if you allow me to," he said politely to the boy's mother.

The lady raised her palms and shook her head. "No no, everything is fine. It seems that Shouto-kun is only surprised."

Denki bowed to the two. "I'm sorry for bumping into you earlier, Shouto-san," he apologized again.

After he straightened up, he was surprised by the boy's action. The boy had bowed too. "Me too. You were only walking and didn't bump into me really hard but I lost my footing… I'm sorry for making you fall too."

'What the heck is up with that apology? He's sorry for losing his footing and making me fall?' Denki looked at the boy strangely. "Um, I have something to say about your apology because it's totally my fault from whichever angle…" Denki trailed, scooting to Yuugo and grabbing his pants, "But because I feel like you will retort if I say something about it, I'll accept your apology okay?"

The heterochromatic-eyed boy blinked before his lips twitched. The boy laughed softly from behind his hand and Denki stared star-struck.

Todoroki Shouto was freaking adorable! Now he understood why it's said that Shouto was one of the most handsome characters in the series.

"Hehe okay, thank you. I accept your apology too."

A real angel has descended the earth. Denki felt like he could see a halo and a pair of white wings behind the kid. Whoa… like seriously. Is this really the same person who will go all emo in the earlier seasons of the anime?

"Thanks!" Denki responded with a little grin, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well… I need to get the milk! See you around, Shouto-san, obasan~"

When he was about to leave everything to Yuugo (the man was looking to Denki with exasperation!) Denki heard Shouto's voice again. "Wait! Um… can I know your name?"

Denki turned around curiously and pointed to himself. The boy nodded.

"I'm Kaminari Denki, six years old!"

The boy looked surprised. The boy's face visibly brightened up. "I'm six too. I'm Todoroki Shouto. Nice to meet you, Denki-san," the boy introduced himself (nobody asked him to, seriously!) with a bright smile. "Which school do you go to?"

Denki blinked slowly, then turned to Yuugo. "What. I told you last time. It's…

It wasn't just the boy's overall expression now. Even his eyes were sparkling now.

Oh.

No.

Nonono.

"Whoa!" Shouto let out excitedly for the first time. He had been fairly composed all this time. "We're going to go to the same school? That's so cool!"

They are going to go to the same primary school?

Color drained from Denki's face.

Author's Note: Look forward to your Follow, Favorite, and Reviews~ See you in the next chapter!