What is it that makes a hero?
Chapter 1
I couldn't believe my luck. It was when no grownups were around, was when these 2 damn fourth graders decided to pick a fight with me. The skinnier one punched me in the face. All while the fat one held me. As my face was hit, I tried with all my might to swing my body forward, landing a good kick at the skinny's gut. "Damn, brat!" I threw my head back, hitting the fat one's jaw. It was then I was free.
Now that I had my footing, I turned around and hit the fourth grader in his fat stomach. He stumbled back, and I could hear the other one come towards me. I avoided his punch in time and kicked his leg as hard as possible. That kick made him fall to his knees. Taking that as my chance, I punched him in the face. Then the fat one went over to the skinny one's side and tried to help him up. "Just you watch! I'm going to tell my big brother!"
I held my head high as I stood before them. "You're the one who picked a fight with me." With that, the fourth graders ran off. I tried to wipe away the tears I knew I had. And suddenly, Kato and Saito came from around the corner. Were they there the whole time? And didn't even try to help me? I bet they were hiding in fear. That's so pathetic.
As Kato and Saito discussed how cool I was, I felt like someone else was watching. I looked behind me and faintly saw someone peeking from behind a nearby lamppost. But I ignored that as I brought my focus back to my friends. Before long, I finished walking back home.
The next day at daycare, I noticed the quiet kid kept looking my way. I wonder why. Especially when they always turned away when I looked at them. It went like this all the way until it was time for recess. We were allowed into the playing yard, and I walked over to the tree at the far end. Sitting under the tree, I watched the rest of my class play.
It has been like this for as long as I can remember. Nobody ever wanted to play with me. That's fine with me. I don't need anyone. No matter how lonely I felt. They're all cowards because I'm stronger than them. "Um." I was quickly brought out of my thoughts and looked up next to me. It was the quiet kid. He was fidgeting with his fingers as he mumbled.
"What did you say? I can't hear you."
He put his arms at his side, and I saw tears falling down his face. What was his problem? At that, his face was super red. "You were so cool yesterday." He then covered his face with his hands.
I quickly stood up and tried to remove his hands from his face. We then were looking at each other's eyes. And for some reason, my face felt hot. "What do you mean by yesterday?" He started to mumble again. "What?"
"I saw you yesterday. You looked so amazing fighting those fourth graders. You were like a superhero." That's when he started to look down, and more tears formed. He sure cries a lot.
"My name is Bakugou Katsuki. What's yours?" At that, he lifted his head, and our eyes met again. Then I noticed his bright green eyes and freckles that made his face look like strawberries with his red cheeks. His cheeks seemed so pinchable. "What's your name?"
"My name is Midoriya Izuku." He then looked back at the ground; I wondered why. I let go of his hands and grabbed his face, making him look up. He started to mumble.
"Were you the one behind the lamppost?" Izuku made a small squeak as he tried to answer me. He's so cute. "Are you only talking to me because I won against those fourth graders?"
I let go of Izuku's face and watched as he rubbed his cheeks. "Yes, but also, I wanted to know if you were ok. You seemed to be hurt." Why did that make my chest hurt? I tried to ignore it as I smiled.
"I'm perfectly fine. Those fourth graders didn't know who they were messing with."
That's when Izuku grabbed my face. "You're so amazing, Kacchan." Kacchan? Before I could say anything, recess was over, and we had to return to the building.
…
During the walk home, I faintly heard something. It sounded like a fight was going on up ahead. I don't know why, but I ran toward the noise. Before long, I spotted the fourth graders from last week beating up someone. I quickly hid behind a lamppost. While peering around the pole, I saw who they were beating up. It was the boy that always sat alone at recess.
I watched how one fourth-grader held onto the boy while the other punched him. That was until I saw the blonde boy do something so amazing. He kicked one of the fourth graders and headbutted the other. It soon went from the fourth graders beating on someone smaller than them to getting their butts beaten.
As I watched in amazement, I could faintly see how the boy had tears. Yet somehow, he was able to win and have the older kids crying. He was so cool, just like All Might. I wanted to say hi, but then the two mean kids from daycare showed up. So, I decided to stay away. I don't think it would be a good idea if I went over now. With that, I'll wait until they leave so I can finish walking home.
As I waited, I couldn't stop admiring the blonde boy. But then he looked back in my direction. I got scared and tried to further behind the lamppost. And when I took a peek, I saw they were walking away. Once they were far enough is when I started again to walk home. It didn't take long for me to catch up and realize they lived near my home. But thankfully, they made a left when I had to take a right.
All I could think of while finishing my walk home was that fight. Besides seeing the blonde boy winning against the fourth graders, I could stop thinking about how he was crying. Not to mention, he looked in pain. That's when I promised to work up the courage and speak to him. And maybe we could also be friends.
At daycare, I couldn't help but keep looking his way. Yet I would quickly look away whenever he turned to me. And for some reason, I felt dizzy as my cheeks began to burn. It was so hard to pay attention throughout the day. All because I could only think about how I would confront him during recess. Especially when I wasn't sure if he'll be alone as always or if I would have to speak in front of many people. I'm so scared.
But it was just my luck when I saw the blonde boy heading off alone, like always. I took a deep breath as I made my way over to him. It also was a relief when no mean kids paid attention to me. And the closer I got to the blonde boy, the more my face was on fire. The moment I reached him, I couldn't help noticing his sad look.
"Um." The moment the blonde boy looked at me, I couldn't take it. So, I looked at my feet and started to cry. What was I even doing? He properly won't even talk to me. This is hopeless. "This is stupid. This stupid."
"What did you say? I can't hear you."
That's when I looked back up and saw him staring at me. I can't believe I'm doing this, but I must be brave like a hero. "You were so cool yesterday." Oh goodness! I spoke to him. I quickly covered my face as I tried to hide the fact I was crying. That was until I felt something trying to move my arms down.
When my hands no longer covered my face, I was met with shiny red eyes. "What do you mean by yesterday?"
My whole body felt on fire when I realized how close he was to me. But I tried to keep it together. "I saw you yesterday. You looked so amazing fighting those fourth graders. You were like a superhero." I then watched how a smile grew across his face, which was amazing. So amazing that I couldn't help but cry.
"My name is Bakugou Katsuki. What's yours?" I couldn't believe what I just heard. So, I looked up in the hope I wasn't dreaming; thankfully, I wasn't. I was just speechless. "What's your name?"
"My name is Midoriya Izuku." This was more than I thought would happen. Kacchan was not only talking with me but also super close. Then my face felt hot again, and I quickly looked back at my feet. That was until Kacchan grabbed my face and made me look up. "Oh goodness. Oh goodness."
"Were you the one behind the lamppost?" Oh goodness! He saw me. "Are you only talking to me because I won against those fourth graders?" When Kacchan asked that, his smile disappeared; I only saw sadness. I don't like that face on him.
What could I say to make Kacchan smile? And was he rubbing my cheeks? "Yes, but also, I wanted to know if you were ok. You seemed to be hurt." I couldn't tell if he was happy or sad at that moment. But he stopped rubbing my cheeks momentarily, and it felt weird without it. Then he smiled again, but his eyes still looked sad. I didn't like any of that.
"I'm perfectly fine. Those fourth graders didn't know who they were messing with." Oh no! Now I recognize that face. It's almost like the face my mom had when she told me that my dad went away for a job in the States. I don't like this. What can I say to make Kacchan feel ok?
I quickly grabbed his face. "You're so amazing, Kacchan." He had that paused face again before smiling with his face and eyes. I like this face. It makes me happy. He then started to make the movement to say something, but we were suddenly called back from recess.
The rest of the daycare seemed to go by quickly. And when it was time to change out our school, I noticed how the other boys went to talk with Kacchan. They seemed to be happy talking to each other. It made me feel sad and wonder if I was Kacchan's friend. But my wonder quickly went away when Kacchan and the boys came over to me. At that, I felt scared since the other two had picked on me a few times.
"That's such a cool All Might shirt." Why was my face burning up, and my heart seemed to be in my ears?
"Thank you."
"We're heading to the store. Want to come with us?"
"Why are you inviting him?" I looked at the other boys. They had those mean faces from the other day. But when I looked back at Kacchan, he was smiling at me.
"Because I said so." At that moment, my face felt on fire, and I was so grateful. We soon ran out of the daycare and were on our way. As we walked, I followed behind the others. Even when the other two kept getting in my sight, I could only focus on Kacchan.
…
While we walked to the store, Kato and Saito kept saying things about Izuku. Stuff like how he's such a crybaby and wonder why I asked him to come with us. Even asking if I was pitying him. Especially with them saying how they heard he was fatherless. Even though I was laughing along, it all felt wrong. But what else was I supposed to do? And whenever I looked back, I was met with Izuku's eyes, and the bad feeling worsened. What is this feeling?
We soon came across a group of people standing around the TV shop. To my great joy, they showed how All Might defeated yet another villain. He was so amazing, and I cheered. Then I looked to my right and saw Izuku was there and cheering as well. Seeing how happy he was made this moment feel incredible. I wonder how I would be able to always see that smile.
After cheering with Izuku over how amazing All Might was and wanting to be the number one hero myself, is when the regular news came back on. So, we started off to the store again, and I realized something. It was the first time I talked about something I liked with someone and wasn't told to stop. It was a wonderful feeling. Especially with Izuku smiling as we excitedly spoke about All Might. We continued talking all the way to the store.
It wasn't until we got our hero snacks that I realized that me and Izuku weren't alone. I completely forgot that we were also with Kato and Saito. But at this moment, I didn't care. I was having fun with someone who shared my excitement over my favorite hero. And when we opened our hero snacks, we saw it came with a card pack. I stood in front of Izuku. "Let's open it together."
"Yeah!" With that, we opened our packs, and to our surprise… "We got the same All Might card! This is so cool, Kacchan!"
"Hell yeah!" Today just keeps getting better. I looked at my card and wondered if I'll ever get a chance to get it autographed by my hero. And when I looked over to Izuku, my excitement grew as I saw him hugging his card. Today was just perfect.