"And don't come out until I say so! Do you hear me, Katsuki?!"
Mitsuki walked away from her son's room with a scowl, ignoring the curses that could be heard from behind the closed door. She eventually made her way into the living room where her husband was and sat next to him on the couch. Masaru, being the devoted husband that he was, could tell that his wife was more than just angry over what Katsuki did.
"Mitsuki…?"
"I'm a terrible mother," stated Mitsuki, the start of tears in her eyes. "I should have done a better job at getting it through Katsuki's head that it's not okay to treat the Quirkless as less than human."
Masaru let out a sigh. "If that's the case, then I'm a terrible father. Katsuki is both of our responsibility and we both are doing everything we can to teach him, but you know how this world is. No matter what we say, everyone else keeps telling him he's the greatest for having a strong Quirk and that people like Izuku are nothing because they're Quirkless. Unfortunately, this all went to Katsuki's head and he won't listen to us anymore because we don't put him on a pedestal like everyone else does."
The scowl returned to Mitsuki's face. "I want to punch those idiots' faces in."
"As much as I would love to see that, honey, the best we can do is to be more forceful with Katsuki. Make sure he understands that what he did was wrong and that he shouldn't listen to what others say," explained Masaru.
"…You honestly believe that will work?" asked Mitsuki, glancing at her husband with a deadpan look.
"Not at all, but it's all we can do for right now."
The blonde woman could only let out a groan. With how difficult Katsuki is, this was going to be an uphill battle.
-:-
It had been a week since Izuku and Kyouka had met and they had become the best of friends, spending time with each other whenever they could. This was especially good for Izuku since this meant he had someone his own age that didn't look down on him for being Quirkless like the other children.
Speaking of which, Izuku was surprised that Kacchan left him alone all week. Not once did Kacchan antagonize him or hurt him like he usually did. Maybe Mitsuki-obachan really did get him to stop like Kaachan said she would.
Putting Kacchan out of his mind, Izuku had more important things to do. Like playing with Kyouka at the park! The two children were currently playing tag, having the time of their young little lives. Unfortunately all good things must temporarily come to an end.
"Deku!"
Both children flinched in fear as they turned to see the burning red glare of Bakugou Katsuki. The angry boy had two of his followers with him as they made their way towards the two smaller children. Seeing his former friend, Izuku immediately put himself between Kacchan and Kyouka. If he could keep Kyouka safe, that was all that mattered.
"K-Kacchan…"
"Stupid Deku! Because of you I got grounded by the old hag!" yelled out the bomb boy as he glared at his favorite punching bag.
"Good! That's what you get for being mean to others!" squeaked Kyouka as she glared right back at the bully.
A growl escaped Bakugou as he set off a few small explosions from his hands. "Shut the hell up, you damn extra! Know your place!"
The ashy blond stepped forward, ready to use his Quirk on those he saw as inferior to him. Just before he could take another step towards his targets though…
"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
A loud screech pierced the air, making the children jump in fright. The next thing they knew, a large black mass flew out of a nearby tree and hovered over the small group. From what they saw, it had a bird-like head and glowing yellow eyes that were glaring directly at Bakugou.
"Wh-What is that thing?" questioned one of Bakugou's followers in fear, taking a step back, ready to run.
"H-How the hell am I supposed to know?!" shouted Bakugou, trying to stand his ground. Despite the bravado he normally shows, Bakugou was scared in this moment (even if he would never admit it).
The creature let out another screech before swooping down towards Bakugou and his followers. Fight or flight kicked in at that moment and the bullies ran for their lives, not wanting to deal with whatever this thing was. Seeing that the loud brats were gone, the creature let out a "wark" before going back to the tree.
It was silent as Izuku and Kyouka stared wide-eyed at where the creature was. Eventually, the silence was broken due to Izuku's excitement.
"Wow! Did you see that, Jirou-chan?! The shadow bird scared off Kacchan!" squeaked out the fluffy-haired boy.
While Izuku was excited, Kyouka on the other hand was shaking in slight fear and stood behind her friend for protection. "Wh-What if it c-comes for us, I-Izuku-kun?"
"But wouldn't it have done that already instead of going back to its tree?" questioned the boy, using logic at such an early age. He then let out a gasp. "What if it was a hero's Quirk?!"
That calmed the purplette down a little bit. A hero wouldn't hurt them. The two children made their way over to the tree that the shadow bird was settled and bowed politely.
"Thank you, Hero-san!"
They then scampered off to play. If they had stuck around just a bit longer, they would have heard a response.
"You're welcome."
-:-
Over the next few days, Izuku and Kyouka would return to the tree to see if the shadow bird was there and every time the shadow would have to scare off Bakugou and his followers.
"Why can't Bakagou just leave us alone!" exclaimed the little musician, using her nickname for their bully. She then turned to Izuku with a pout. "I thought his Kaasan grounded him?"
"Kacchan never really listened to Mitsuki-obachan after he got his Quirk," replied Izuku with a frown.
"It would seem that more will be needed to be done to stop this Bakugou," spoke a voice from the tree, catching Izuku and Kyouka's attention. "Although I am quite surprised that Dark Shadow wasn't able to scare him off for good."
"That's because Kacchan thinks being scared makes you weak and useless," explained the greenie.
"And he's loud, too!" added Kyouka, grimacing as she remembered how her ears would hurt whenever the explosive blond was nearby.
"So I've heard," replied the voice, clearly just as annoyed with Bakugou as Kyouka was.
The three continued to talk about this and that to take their minds off of the blond bully. Just as the conversation turned to favorite heroes, All Might for Izuku and Dark Crystal for the voice in the tree, the subject of the previous conversation decided to rear his ugly head.
"Deku!"
A growl came from the tree as Izuku immediately stood in front of Kyouka to act as a shield.
"K-Kacchan!" stuttered out the little greenie, trying his best not to show fear.
A few pops came from Bakugou's palms as he glared at his victims. "Shitty Deku! Today's the day I put you in your place and that damn shadow thing of yours won't stop me!"
Said shadow emerged from the leaves and glared at the bully.
"You just won't learn, will you, Bakugou-san?" questioned the voice.
"Shut up, you damn freak!" snapped Bakugou, glaring hatefully at Dark Shadow. "You're no different from that Quirkless loser Deku! You both belong under my shoe!"
Dark Shadow let out a screech as he flew towards the brat in hopes of scaring him away once more, but instead of running away, the brat ran forward and met the shadow halfway.
"Die!" yelled Bakugou as he swung his arm and hit Dark Shadow with an explosion, causing him to shirk back away from the light. This cause Bakugou to gain a feral grin. "I should have known a freaky Quirk would have a lame weakness!"
With Dark Shadow incapacitated for the moment, Bakugou continued running towards his target. Izuku quickly got Kyouka out of the way, but was surprised when Kacchan didn't come after them and instead attacked the tree. He was confused at first as to why his bully would attack the tree, but it became clear when the tree shook from the explosion and a small figure fell out of the branches. Seeing that the figure was about hurt themselves when they landed, Izuku quickly dove to break their fall, allowing the figure to fall on him instead.
"O-Ow," groaned out Izuku. He then looked back at the person he saved. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. Thank you for helping me," replied the figure, a boy Izuku's age, looking at Izuku with large, serious looking red eyes.
What really caught Izuku and Kyouka's attention though, was the bird-like head the new boy had. Soft and rounded black feathers covered his entire head and he had a yellow, slightly hooked beak as well. All in all, the boy looked like a raven.
"Heh, so really are a freak! Only a freak would have a freaky Quirk!" exclaimed Bakugou, earning a glare from the bird boy. "Now it's time to put all of you extras in your place!"
Bakugou drew closer with his hand raised, ready to set off another explosion, and Izuku knew that if they ran they would be caught. Which is why Izuku was more than ready to sacrifice himself so Kyouka and the bird boy could get away. Before he could tell them to run and he could act like a shield, someone else caught Bakugou's attention.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing in my park?"
With a scowl, Bakugou turned to glare at the newcomer. It was a boy who was slightly taller than all of them, as well as looking to be slightly older than them, too. He had fluffy hair similar to Izuku, except it was black instead of green. To Kyouka, this boy looked like he could be Izuku's older brother if he had freckles.
"Who do you think you're talking to, extra?!" demanded Bakugou, not backing down from the older boy.
But the boy just glared back. "I'm talking to you, you brat! You're making too much damn noise and getting on my nerves!"
Bakugou let out some growls as he continued to glare at the boy. "Don't you dare look down on me!"
"I'll do what I damn well want, you brat! I'll even have you shaking in your boots when I'm done with you," replied the boy with a challenging grin as his hands had a slight glow to them.
With a feral roar, Bakugou charged towards the older boy. This gave Izuku, Kyouka, and the bird boy the opportunity to escape unnoticed.
-:-
The three children panted as they came to a stop, making sure they were as far away from Bakugou as possible.
"Looks like we lost Bakagou," said Kyouka once she caught her breath.
"But what about that boy? What if Kacchan hurts him?" asked Izuku, naturally worried for someone else's well-being.
"That boy was older than us, so it is doubtful that Bakugou-san will be able to do anything to him," replied the bird boy. His Quirk then made an appearance and floated next to him. "By the way, my name is Tokoyami Fumikage and this is Dark Shadow. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Izuku's eyes shined in excitement as he got to see Dark Shadow up close, which made Kyouka giggle at how cute her friend looked right now. Seeing as how Izuku was slightly distracted, Kyouka decided to introduce themselves to the raven.
"I'm Jirou Kyouka and this is Midoriya Izuku-kun."
"R-Right!" squeaked out Izuku. "W-Would you like to hang out and play with us, Tokoyami-san?"
"I would like," said Fumikage with a nod. He then watched as Dark Shadow floated his way towards Izuku and happily perched himself on Izuku's soft fluffy hair, much to the greenie's confusion. "Dark Shadow has been wanting to get to know you as well."
This caused Izuku to beam in happiness. He and Kyouka just made another friend!
He couldn't wait to tell his Kaachan about this!
CHAPTER END
-:-
This chapter has been in my backlog since December 2022 and I finally found the motivation to finish it. I'm hoping the next chapter won't take as long to write out, but I unfortunately can't make any promises.
Anyway, about this chapter. Tokoyami makes his debut and if you've ever seen the official art of Baby!Fumi, he's a little fluffy baby bird who is also a chibi chuunibyou. The perfect balance to Izuku's sunshine personality.
And yes, that was Shindou Yo making an appearance. He won't be a big part of the story, I just wanted give him a cameo here since he's also from Shizuoka like Izuku and the others, so I thought it would be a good idea to have him encounter and inadvertently distract Bakugou.
Next chapter: Izuku, Kyouka, and Fumikage meet a boy who can use both fire and ice, but he seems to be suffering. Can they help their potential new friend before it's too late?