...
Izuku felt good as he left the exams. Power Loader seemed genuinely interested and impressed by his ideas. They had spent far longer than the time limit going over the invention. It wasn't until the pink haired girl nearly exploded her table, again, and that Izuku stopped her just in time did they stop. Everyone seemed to stare at him with wide eyes.
To Izuku's horror the dice had begun in his head again. He didn't know what the dice were warning him about and he didn't want to know. Half the time the dice meant nothing but trouble and he had the feeling it was true in this case. That had eyes upon him including the girl's. Her eyes made him feel like a pinned insect.
When Power Loader allowed him to leave he felt unbelievably grateful. Something about that girl made him nervous. There was no need for him to risk his lifestyle. Leaving UA through the gates in turn brought about sadness. It was his dream school and he didn't want to leave. Staying any longer than necessary might however bring unwanted attention. So with squared shoulders he left.
Izuku made his way down the streets towards the train station. At every corner he checked that the cameras were there. Since his arrival as Fox more cameras had been added. Not just to the streets either. Locally owned shops that didn't have them before were adding them now. Word had gotten around that there was someone looking out for the citizens. Quirks or lack there of didn't have an impact on if they received help.
Rumors had been circulating online that people were starting to mark the walls of the city. An orange fox spray painted onto the walls of a building if the vigilante had aided a shop. So far Izuku hadn't found anything to prove that the rumor was true but neither had he found anything discounting it either.
Izuku felt unfriendly eyes upon him as he was walking. A shiver ran down his spine and if anything the dice began rolling even harder. They were warning him about these people he was sure. First step first. Get a look at who was watching him.
He stopped close to one shop pretending to peer into the window. In truth he was eyeing the group behind him. They were teenagers around the same age as him. One he immediately recognized as Bakugo. Unfortunately the others weren't his lackeys so he didn't know what their quirks were. Four on one. He did not like those odds. He didn't like them at all.
With one hand he set his phone to record from his pocket. It would only be sound but it was better than nothing. Knowing that if he didn't and a fight broke out it would be blamed on him. The way the world saw it, these teenagers would be in the right. Be more trustworthy than him and his mental quirk. At least that's what his quirk register said.
Once that was done he turned away from the window. Then he continued heading down the streets pretending not to notice the four. He kept one of his hands in a pocket. Every now and then he would stop to look in the windows and check the walls. With each stop he checked on his followers. Thankfully no one joined them but they had closed the distance.
On top of that Bakugo seemed to be itching for a fight. Did he not get enough of it at the Heroic's exam? Fighting might not be his specialty but that didn't mean he couldn't fight. He just chose not to and he was tired of being a punching bag.
In his head the dice were bouncing around and he wanted to growl with frustration. Most of the time he didn't mind his luck being strange. This was not one of those times however. He wanted to know what the dice rolling meant. Was he going to be attack? That seemed like the most likely event.
As Izuku turned onto the street where the train station was they made their move. An arm slung itself over his shoulders and pulled him close to a boy. Looking up he realized it was one of the boys that was with Bakugo. One who he didn't know what their quirk was. Damn it.
The boy said loud with a false cheerfulness, "Hey there! It's been awhile since we got to hang out," in Izuku's ear he hissed, "You better go along with it Deku."
"Are you threatening me?" Izuku questioned his voice as cold as ice.
It was that damn nickname again. The name that Bakugo had given him because his mother forced him to have a declared mild intelligence quirk. In the eyes of his once best friend that meant he was useless. Once upon a time it hurt. Now he was just numb to the bullying but there was no faster way to insight his anger however than to use that name.
Using his anger he slipped out from under the arm even as it tried to direct him into the nearest alley. Slipping under it was easy however the others and encircled him. Around them people ignored what was happening. To them it was just a group of friends having a talk. People saw what they wanted to see.
The boy growled, "You think you can just ignore what I tell you? Get over here, Deku. You have some explaining to do."
At the nickname a few people glanced over curious. When they saw it was just teenagers they shrugged and continued on.
Still ice cold Izuku said, "I think not. And stop calling me that name. Just because you made friends with Bakugo doesn't mean you can use it. Are you his new lackeys?"
"Lackey?!"
"Who the fuck do you think you are?!"
"Deku! I'm going to kill you."
This had Izuku rolling his eyes. Of course that would be their reactions. Stupid teenagers. Why did he have to deal with this?
Several passerbys stopped now. They heard the threat of murder and they were concerned. The only one who had not spoken was a mousy looking boy. He glanced nervously at the passersby and back at Izuku. Unlike the others he didn't show any real malice. Most likely he just went along with so not to be bullied himself. Internally Izuku shook his head in disappointment. People doing nothing allowed the bad to win.
Bakugo didn't say anything else however instead he flung himself at Izuku. A shower of sparks were coming off his right palm in the giant right hook he always started with. A hacker he might be but defenseless he was not. For two hours every weekday he went to a self defense gym. It was a charity gym that ran on donations. They accepted anyone as long as they had a quirk. Izuku had thanked his lucky stars that at the very least his mother marked him with the intelligence quirk and not as quirkless. If he had that stigma then it would have made his life much more difficult.
Blocking the attack easily he shoved Bakugo back, hard. The surprise made the blond stumble back and gave Izuku room. He breathed in slow and focused his mind. One of the boys suddenly grew spikes and lunged for Izuku. Immediately he jumped back avoiding being cut by the spikes. He wasn't given the chance to slow down as the other two came in.
Luck decided to favor him in the fight. Why it couldn't favor him by not forcing him to fight? He didn't have an answer for that. If he had his wish he would not be in this situation. Again he pushed away the attacker that came at him. People had gathered but no one seemed inclined to intervene. By the Kazoo God he hated people.
"Leave him alone," shouted someone from the crowd.
A pink haired person slammed into one of the bullies. This divided their focus between him and the newcomer. He gave her glance and realized it was the girl from the Support Course Exams. She glanced back at him and their two shades of green eyes locked for a moment. She gave him the briefest of nods. They then turned back to the bullies. Two on two was better than his previous odds.