Chapter 3- The Worriers
Katsuki kept his gaze fixed on Zu-chan as he stumbled his way over and grasped his hand.
"Kacchan said a no-no word!" the midget sing-songed.
Before Katsuki could even open his mouth to show the brat just how many no-no words he had in his arsenal- Izuki was off again in a tangent of questions. Keeping his hand held with one of his own small hands, Izuku began to swing the other about as he took in a deep breath- his eyes determined.
"Kacchan, are we really in UA? You got so big and more grouchy looking! How old are we? Your quirk is so awesome, I never knew your sparks could make real explosions! What is my quirk? I must have one if Imma student too, right? Knew I had one, can't wait n' tell Mama that I don't need to see no doctor! I bet it's super cool and we're gonna be the best hero duo ever, right? Ah- but how can we be a hero duo if I'm little? How long will I be little? Will I still go to school, oh no, I bet schools super hard- I don't want to do bad! Ka-mmmph "
Izuku was cut off by the hand that slapped over his face and his muffled mumbling finally slowed to a stop, the hand that had been ticking points off on his fingers fell back to his side. Izuku moved to glance back up at Kacchan. His eye was super twitchy, and the hand that still held one of Izuku's spasmed a few times open and shut- though the feel of those small fingers still griping a few of his own kept him from lighting even a spark.
"Zu-chan, shut up and listen cuz I'm only going to say this once. I. Am. Tired- it has been a long fu-freaking day and we don't have time for twenty questions. You only get to ask one question every five minutes until we get this mess figured out- the rest of the time you will be quiet, or I will leave you for some one else to deal with- got it?"
"But Kaaaaachhhhaaaaaaan!" whined Izuku as he tugged back and forth again on the older boys hand. His mouth was hooked in a firm pout and he squeezed his eyes shut in the unfairness of Kacchans stupid question rule. It would take forever to get all the answers his brain was demanding.
"Fine, someone else can deal with you" Katsuki made to pull his hand free while looking around. Izuku immediately turned a devastated face up to him, trying to catch his eyes as his lip trembled and he clung tighter to the hand that Katsuki was pulling from him. Kacchan was never one to make idle threats- aside from his death threats, of course. The thought of being around nothing but strangers- nope-nope-nope, he did not want that.
"Noooo- Kacchan, I'll be good- I don' wanna be with no strange people!"
"Alright then, one every five minutes, you better think hard on what you want to ask first, come on." Katsuki adjusted his grip on the small hand and turned to begin walking. Almost immediately he felt a pull on his hand and turned to see that Izuku had tripped and now hung from his grip.
"Kacchan…...I tripped." Katsuki sweat-dropped as he looked down into the serious face of the 4-year-old who just let himself hang as his feet kicked absently in their cloth prisons.
"Tsk, I can see that Zu." Katsuki rolled his eyes, catching as he did the others from where they were making absolutely no attempt to be subtle in their staring. Kirishima's jaw was almost on the floor, and Todoroki actually had the emotion of mild confusion or shock on his face. The Principle stood next to them, although his expression was very mild- not having the first-hand experience of the duo's relationship to refer to.
Clicking his tongue against the back of his teeth, Kacchan glared at them- though only Kirishima had the decency to look away. Fuck it, he was too tired for this. With only a slight moment of hesitation he reached down and lifted the young boy into his arms and continued stalking back towards the entrance. The others hastily followed, although the two boys made sure to remain a good ten feet back.
Principal Nezu trotted up to walk beside them.
"Right, lets get going, the other students should be rounded up by now and we need to see if Recovery girl has made it here yet. We can have her look over young Midoriya while the officers on their way can question the villain about her quirk. Come along now" He continued to trot next to Bakugou, occasionally looking up to smile at the big green eyes peaking over the angry blonde's shoulder. Whenever they happened to lock eyes during the walk, the greenett would jump and the small head would burrow into the teens shoulder. It was quite adorable, if Nezu were to be honest, to see how the child's curiosity would eventually win over his bashfulness and he would peak over again.
Katsuki wasn't complaining, if De- Zu-chan's attention was focused on observing the principal he wouldn't be pestering him. Though he did grumble on principle when the boy squirmed every time he tried to hide his face in his shoulder.
Kirishima couldn't believe his eyes. The small boy was trustingly clinging to Bakugou, and Bakugou was allowing it! He had called him Zu-chan, ZU-CHAN! Suddenly Midoriyas calling him Kacchan had a backstory beyond the weakly mumbled excuse of 'childhood friends'. It had been hard to believe, given Bakugou's attitude. But clearly the friendship had existed. Though he supposed that the fact that Bakugou didn't correct Midoriya when called Kacchan should have been a big enough hint.
He locked eyes with the small green haired boy a few times during the walk and couldn't help the automatic response of making a face, waving at the kid, and laughing quietly when the kid would shyly smile back before ducking his head.
When it had happened a third time this time accompanied by a tiny hand wave, Bakugou glanced back at him and rolled his eyes at Kirishima's sheepish smile. The explosive teen then turned back around and stomped up the stairs.
"Its so manly of him to step up to help Midoriya, eh Todoroki?" Glancing to the side at the silent teen he was met with stoic silence. Well, that wasn't really anything new from that front.
As the teens made it to the top of the stairs they were met with their fellow students. Most everyone seemed uninjured- although many looked equally exhausted. He saw the moment their eyes really took in Bakugou and his passenger. At first, they had passed him over, just a sweeping glance, but almost everyone did an immediate double take. Their eyes went wide, and mouths dropped open as they tried to figure out where the odd kid had come from.
It was Ochako put it together first as here eyes did another sweep and came up with their 'missing' member.
"DEKU?!" She shouted and ran up to Bakugou despite his misgiving air. The little boy flinched at the loud voice and jerked around while his arms tightened on Kacchan. The brown-haired girl was coming right at them. She stopped just a few feet from them her hands coming up in front of her as if to touch the child.
Kirishima was quickly bringing his arms together in an X as a sign to stop the girl from whatever she was going to say but she didn't seem to see him behind Bakugou. The explosive teen hiked Zu-chan higher up on his him to adjust his grip on the squirming boy and glared harder at the girl. But Ochako plowed ahead undeterred.
"Deku, that is you right, what happened? How?" She made a vague gesture that indicated the boy.
The small boy mouthed the word 'deku' then turned to Bakugou looking upset.
"Kacchan….am I a …. deku?" The little lip had a wobble to it as he asked. Bakugou's eyes widened in panic at the kid before turning to pure murder back at Ochako. The girl flinched back at both the heartbroken question and the pure death she saw in Bakugou's eyes.
Kirishima felt his heart break a little at the upset kid, damn those were some scary good puppy eyes. But he was surprised when the answer came not from Bakugou but from Todoroki.
"Midoriya, you took that name ironically not too long ago, do not think it is said maliciously." The duel haired boy continued to walk past the gawkers and towards where the shuttle was located to take them back to the main entrance of the school.
"Totally little-dude, its not meant to be a mean name!" Kirishima was quick to fill the awkward silence following Todoroki's awkwardly placed …... reassurance? Midoriya's big eyes turned to look at him, tears just barely being contained by his lashes.
"But if it upsets you little-man we totally won't be calling you that while you're like this, right?" Kirishima turned to address the others that had approached at the beginning of the 'confrontation'. They were quick to nod their agreements.
Bakugou tisked and adjusted Midoriya again before turning to follow Todoroki towards the shuttle.
"Don't be slow Zu-chan, stupid extras don't know what their jabbering about."
With a quick sniff and a mildly disgusting swipe of an arm under a nose. The small boy clung tighter to the teen as they walked away from the others.
"Kacchan, who was that scary lady?"
Bakugou snorted. "Is that really the question you're choosing Zu-chan?"
"Wah?! No, no, no Imma ask a better one!"
"You've got a minute and a half left on this one before you miss the chance."
"No fair Kacchan!"
The students of A-1 all looked at each other before shrugging and following the strange childhood friends out of the USJ and through the chaos of the arriving police.
Inko Midoriya rushed through the hallways of her sons' school, making her way to the nurse's office. She had been informed that there had been an accident involving a villain's quirk and that her son was involved, but she had not received any more details than that. As she rounded the final corner she struggled to hold back her tears- this was not the first call she had received from the nurse and quite frankly she didn't know how much more her heart could take.
She found herself stopping suddenly when she glanced up to see a small crowd of students piled up by the nurse's door, pressing themselves close to the barely opened crack many of them holding their phones and stifling giggles. 'What on earth…?'
"Excuse me, but I need to get through- "All of the students jumped, shooting straight up and backing up while waving their hands at each other and making shushing noises. When they turned to see Inko they calmed down and sheepishly backed away from the door. A red-haired youth approached her, scratching the back of his head embarrassed.
"Ah- sorry ma'am, you must be Midoriya's mom, he's right in there! But, can you not tell Bakugou that we were out here? He'd kill us!" Many of the students nodded franticly behind him while quickly putting their phones out of sight.
Inko slowly nodded and gently pushed past them to open the door. The sight that greeted her melted her heart. Laying in one of the farther beds by the window was Katsuki Bakugou, her son's one-time friend, but what shocked her was that there was a child sleeping on him, being held against his chest by an arm secured across the back. The child was dressed in what appeared to be a spare uniform shirt that was long enough to be a nightgown. Closer inspection proved that Bakugou was wearing only an undershirt and his uniform pants.
Slowly walking farther into the room, after closing the door quietly on the curious lurkers she moved closer to the boys taking in more details. The child had unruly green hair, and – her breath caught in her chest- freckles danced across his cheeks. Slowly one of her hands came up to cover her mouth while her other reached out for the boy. Her boy.
A large rough hand caught her wrist before she could touch her son and she turned to find herself under the scrutiny of a tired red eye. Her eyes softened ever so slightly at the protective behavior and she turned so he could see her better in the fading sunlight.
"Katsuki-kun, it's alright." To her surprise after a quick once over the red eye slipped closed again and her wrist was released. For all intent ant purposes, it appeared that the teen had gone right back to sleep.
Again, she took in the two boys. Her son- the somehow child again - was curled tightly together with the older boy, both clinging to the other while they breathed softly. The temptation to wake him was strong, to see those big eyes brighten at her, and his voice squeak her name in excitement. She was distracted before she could move to do just that.
"Mrs. Midoriya- "A whispered voice drew her to the other side of the room were an office door had opened spilling light across the floor. There stood a small older woman- the nurse hero Recovery Girl- that she had spoke to over the phone. Inko made her way over and the two stood just within the office so as not to disrupt the sleeping boys. Time to get to the bottom of this.
The next half hour passed by in a bit of a blur as she was informed in detail of the day's events. Villains attacking at the school, her son having to fight them, being taken hostage and suffering the attack of a villain's quirk. Them unsure about releasing him because its affects were completely unknown – the villain refusing to cooperate with police. Her son being in the mind and body of a 4-year-old and they didn't know how long it would last or if it would affect him negatively in any way.
"I know this must be very frightening, but just before you arrived I received word of a group of children led by a teenager checked into a local hospital. Their claims link them to be more of the Villain Dolly's victims. We are hoping that after they are treated, and statements are taken we will have a better grasp over the limits and side affects of such a quirk."
Inko nodded and glanced back towards her son, aside from being a child again she saw no physical injuries. "So, what is it you think would be best for the situation?" She asked.
"Normally, given that he has no injures we would send him home. But the others were displaying unusual symptoms and we don't know if it's the quirk or just exposure to the villain herself. I would like for your son to stay on campus for the time being until we have further information. You are welcome to stay with him if you are able- we have rooms set up very similarly to dorms to assist in situations like this. Knowing that you have work we also plan to ask Bakugou to consider staying or spending time here to help keep Midoriya comfortable. Of course, we also have our hero staff available to supervise him."
Recovery Girl smiled at the mother who was weighing the pro's and cons of the situation.
"I assure you, there are no lack of people hoping to help your son. He has made quite a few friends here."
Inko smiled and finally nodded. Honestly this would probably be better than her taking Izuku home. She no longer had many things at home that would entertain a 4-year-old and she had no doubt that her teenage son would be devastated to come home and find his valuable limited edition All Might merchandise opened and played with- even if he was the one who had played with them. The activity of a new place to explore, one that was filled with heroes, would help to keep his attention during the day and she could pack a few over night things and spend the evenings with her son here until he was well.
"Excellent, if you would like to go wake the boys, young Bakugou can walk you down to the cafeteria. We hold evening classes for some of the other various fields and so we host dinner as well as lunch." Recovery girl smiled as she watched the mother's hands twitch as she looked at her son. It was every mothers' dream to have another chance at cuddling their children, it just so happened that this mother was going to get the chance.
Inko smiled and thought back to how she used to wake her son from his naps when he was younger.
"Izuku-chan, All Might is HERE!" She sing-songed.
"ALL-MIGHT!" The young boy was up like a shot, his knees digging into the teen under him.
"Oof- why you little shit, watch your fucking bony knees!" The little boys' eyes went wide, and his hands clapped against his ears as he looked around franticly. Even Inko was caught off guard by the language- it had been a while since she had been exposed to the Bakugou way of speaking.
"Kacchan! Auntie Missy is gonna get you! Stop using no-no words!" The green haired child scolded, and he reared back and bopped the teen on the head. Katsuki was shocked into stillness- it's not like the hit had hurt but the nerve! At the incredulous look on his face Inko couldn't help it. She laughed.
Katsuki growled as he looked between Zu-chan and his mom, his hands itching for retribution he couldn't bring himself to enforce on the little kid. Auntie Inko's eyes gleamed as she watched him, as if reading his mind. He had a feeling that his mom was going to be dragged into this loop of madness and he was never going to hear the end of it.
"Fuck."
A small hand bopped him again before the child it belonged to remembered the voice of his mother that had woken him. He turned his bright eyes to the woman and had to stop for a moment. She looked different, just like Kacchan did. Age had softened her, adding a plumpness to her face and figure, but there was no mistaking those eyes and that smile.
"Mama!" The little boy was in his mother's arms in an instant and she laughed as she picked him up and spun him around. How long had it been since she could do that?
"Izuku-chan, they told me about your very adventurous day. I bet that after all of that you are starving, shall we go get dinner?"
Izuku beamed up at his mom as she gently set him back down. "Kacchan can come too right?" Inko noticed right away how her boy nervously fidgeted in place and glanced around himself and back at the other boy.
"Well of course, we can't very well leave the hero of the day behind, now can we?" Her kind eyes locked with shocked red as she spoke.
Katsuki fought hard against the blush that was trying to take over his face, forcing his face to the side he crossed his arms stubbornly.
"Psh, who said I wanted to eat with you guys. Now that you're here I can finally dump the brat on you and head home."
Izuku was suddenly at his side, his hands gripping hard onto Katsuki's pant leg that was still laid out across the bed.
"Kacchan can't go!"
Everyone froze at the fear that was in the boy's voice as he clung tight to the teen, burying his head against the boy's leg. Slowly Katsuki lowered a hand and dropped it on the child's head, roughly carding through the green curls with his fingers.
"Stupid Zu-chan, like I could trust you to stay out of trouble even with your mom here." He made a point not to look at the boy as he continued to awkwardly pat him.
A loud gurgle filled the room and suddenly two pairs of surprised green eyes were watching the teen who again was fighting his blush as he glared at the wall.
"You mentioned dinner?"
-End Chapter 3-
I'm sorry if this was a bit of a filler chapter without as much cuteness as I would have liked, but it is setting the stage for Zu-Chan shenanigans at UA! Who will be roped into the madness, unable to resist the cuteness while also bearing with the guard dog? :)
Also if anyone has any suggestion for awkward no filter 4-year-old Zu-chan questions to be launched at random bystanders please feel free to let me know in the comments.