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Izuku thought he was strong, he knows he deserves a bit better than what he got. He knows that much. People usually laugh when they hear he has ‘daddy issues.’ They think it’s a joke. They laugh, call him a useless Deku, they blame him for why he might leave. And they laugh.
They always laugh.
“Izuku, why aren’t you doing things kids your age should be doing?”
The 12-year-old boy looked up at his dad, a worried and fearful look in his big green eyes.
“B-But I just wanna draw..”
“Don’t argue with me. You need to start growing up, getting stronger, and not wasting your time.”
His mother ran up to them before things got out of hand. “Hisashi.. just please leave him for now. He’ll join the sports teams at school just please don’t do anything rash. He’s still young-“
“He’s fucking 12, Inko!”
“Exactly, which is why we have to give him time! H-He should be able to do what he wants-!”
Izuku could see his mother shaking, as much as her voice sounded brave and slightly unwavering, he knew better. He knows how scared she was- how scared she is. He was glad to still have her.
“Inko,” Hisashi spoke in a low voice, making the other two Midoriyas flinch.
“Honey, please. J-Just-“
There was a knock on the door. It was almost faint, but it was a harsh knock. Izuku moved fast and went to open the door. There stood a boy his age wearing a short sleeve with an ‘X’ on it with a black long sleeve underneath, jeans and black shoes. He had two other adults behind him. Izuku hadn’t seen or spoken to this boy before.
The tall woman with blond spiky hair smiled as she spoke to him, “Hey there, sweetie. Heard you guys just moved in. We wanted to welcome you guys to the neighbourhood! We live next door actually.” The man with brown spiky hair smiled and nodded beside her.
Izuku had never spoken to anyone like this before, considering no one but his mom was nice to him. Katsuki got a glimpse of the others’ green eyes and freckles. His hair was curly and fluffy, the ash blond boy thought he looked cute.
“H-Hi. Um, w-would you like to come in?” He nervously spoke, he desperately wanted an outing to the argument that had previously happened.
“Oh, sure, if you don’t mind of course. We wouldn’t want to intrude.” The man spoke.
“N-No! It’s fine. My parents don’t mind I’m sure, you guys s-seem nice!”
He smiled and let them in as he noticed the boy with blond hair hadn’t spoken a word yet. He was looking to the side with an angry expression on his face.
He hated watching his parents faking a smile. They all sat at the table with the Midoriya’s, smiling and chatting away. He didn’t like being questioned about his life or school, so he sat away from them on the couch. His mother's smile was one of relief and genuine joy. Whereas his father was one of irritation and anger.
The woman, who they now know as Mitsuki, nudged her son’s side, earning a grumble in return.
“Go on, Katsuki. Go talk to him. Make some friends, you grump.” She rustled his hair, as he growled and slapped her hand away.
“Whatever, hag.” He mentally gasped when he heard that, he didn’t think it was possible for someone to talk to their own mom like that.
He looked up to see Katsuki standing near the couch where he was sitting.
“Mom said I have to hang out with you. Said we could go to the park near here or something.”
“O-Oh! Right now?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh uh- ok. But I need to go ask my parents-“
“Izuku!” He heard his mom call out, he looked at the table to see everyone looking at them.
“You boys have fun, okay? And Izuku, honey, be back early.. please.” He didn’t have to ask why, he heard the desperation in her voice. Of course, the others didn’t notice, but he always knew better. Being alone teaches you to be observant sometimes.
“Alright, mom. Thank you.” He rushed to his bedroom and grabbed his large yellow hoodie.
He and Katsuki left in silence. Walking in the noon sunlight down the street towards the park. The walk was quiet, the greenette was nervous, and having social anxiety didn’t help at all in this situation.
They reached the park as the cool wind blew. He pointed to an open grassy field full of flowers a bit away from the main park area.
“W-We should go sit there. It seems nice.”
The other shrugged, “Sure, I guess.”
They sat on the grassy bed, flowers littered all around them, the wind blowing all of them in one direction. It was a calming and cute place to be on days like this.
The smaller boy ranked up the courage to start a conversation as the two sat cross-legged in front of each other.
“So um.. What do you like to do for fun?”
“I play video games.”
He lit up a bit, “What video games do you play?”
“Usually action and shooting games, but my favourite ones have to be the All Might games.”
The blond boy felt his heart tighten as he saw the smaller boy’s eyes practically sparkle at the mention of that.
“I LOVE the All Might games! My favourite has to be ‘All Might 3: Roaring Muscles’. There’s something really cool about that one that really connected with me! When he’s running around talking to students while completing their missions and stuff! Meeting this kid that’s his number one fan- I thought that character was really cool and really wanted to be like him! Oh, oh! And that part of the game near the end with the finishing blow you can unlock when you combo the Texas Smash with a dropkick while holding X- or when he saved the kids from that sludge monster? It was amazi-!”
“Okay, okay! I get it!”
Izuku visibly deflated, he had forgotten how much people hated when he rambled.
“Oh.. sorry. I just get r-really excited and sometimes I can’t stop myse-“
“No, dude. I meant that All Might 3 is okay, but I think the DLCs are a bit better.”
He didn’t.. comment on his ramble. He actually listened. He didn’t say to shut up or that he was annoying. The wind blew again, making the grass and flowers flow around them.
“Yeah.. the DLCs are pretty good. Haven’t played them though..”
The boy with the ash blond hair smirked triumphantly, “We should play together. Bet my parents wouldn’t mind if you came over one day.”
He’d never been to anyone's house before. Besides his relatives of course. But he had never been to a stranger’s house before. Is he a stranger, though?
“You’re okay with that..?”
“Yeah, why not? Could be cool, I guess.”
They talked for what seemed like an hour. They laughed and smiled at each other, Izuku liked being around the boy. He seemed scary at first but he’s pretty nice. The greenette can’t remember the last time he’d ever hung out with someone like this before. Or ever.
After a while, the blond asked, “What do you do for fun?”
Izuku hesitated. As strange as it sounds, he was bullied for liking art, for liking to draw more specifically. They always said it wouldn’t get him anywhere, he wasn’t good at it. “Why can’t you draw like them? It looks easy!” It hurt. People always expected too much of him.
“I.. like to draw.” He waited for the backlash. He waited for the laughing in bated breath.
“Oh, really? That’s cool.”
“It’s.. cool?”
“Yeah, duh. Drawing is pretty cool, I can't draw for crap but it’s whatever.”
“Thank-“
He stopped as he looked behind the blond. He saw two other kids a bit farther from them, plucking the pretty flowers out and throwing them at each other. He was lucky that they hadn’t seen them yet. Katsuki peeked behind him as he followed Izuku’s eyes.
“Friends of yours?”
“I-I wouldn’t say, friends. But.. I know them..”
He saw them smirk from afar and walked over to them. Izuku’s anxiety skyrocketed. He’s never felt so nervous in a while, he didn’t want to drag Katsuki into this too. He didn’t want to see him hurt.
The blond boy with short hair, Monoma, and the other boy, Shindo stared at them with a vicious smirk.
“Hey, De~ku! I see you’ve brought a new dweeb. What’s your name, Blonde?” Monoma asked. Izuku hated his teasing voice.
“Uh, why would I tell you, random dudes, my name? And why’d you call him Deku?”
Izuku wanted to curl in a ball and cry.
“Because he’s weak and useless. He’s got daddy issues and he’s crappy at art! There’s a reason why he has no friends.”
The boy and the boy beside him laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world. Shindo crossed his arms, “So, what’d he do to even get you to hang out with him? Did he give you some candy he stole from the garbage? Promise to do your homework for a week like a nerd?”
The blond turned to look at Izuku, only to see him basically on the verge of tears, looking slightly down at the grass. Plucking some to keep him distracted.
He had to admit that he felt rage bubble up in him. Despite barely knowing this boy, he knew he didn’t deserve it. He stood up from where he sat.
“Hey, back off!”
The boys flinched a bit but still kept their smirk. “This is hilarious, little Deku can’t even fight his own battles~? Why was I expecting it to be different, it’ll always end with you getting bruises anyway.”
Katsuki’s fists clenched tighter. He shoved the other boy almost making the boy lose balance and fall on his friend.
“I said.. Back. Off.”
“O-Or what?” He asked, getting his balance back as the other boy behind him helped him stand straighter.
“Or I’ll be giving you a black eye. If you don’t stay away from Izuku I’ll make sure you go home in a full body cast.” His deep red eyes were sharp and left no room for argument.
Despite how scared he was, Izuku watched. This boy who he’d just met stuck up for him like he’s known him for his whole life. He watched and admired with sparkling eyes. He was amazing.
He got up and nervously grabbed his arm to try and get him out before they fought. “Come on, Katsuki. I-It’s not worth it.”
“Heh, y-yeah listen to the weak little runt.”
“That’s fucking it-!” Izuku thankfully grabbed his arm as they ran back to the main park area.
“Hey, what the heck, Izuku?! Let go!”
They stopped running as Izuku turned around and looked up at him. The blond’s heart broke when he saw his facial expression— thick tears threatening to fall in the corners of his big eyes.
“It’s not worth it.”
He just wanted to grab him and hug him as if his life depended on it. The greenette mumbled in a quiet voice still loud enough for the taller boy to hear.
“I’m not worth it..”
It was silent.
Izuku knew it himself that he was right.
As much as he knew what he deserved, he knew deep down he still knew he wasn’t worth anything. Just a useless Deku who can’t please anyone, can’t do anything right. Thinking back now.. does he really deserve anything?
Probably not.
“You do. You deserve better. I know we still barely know each other, but I want to get to know you. I don’t know what you’re going through, but I’ll stay with you, a-alright? And for the record.. I bet your art is amazing.”
The blond hadn’t really said these types of things to people before. He’s not really the “talk about your feelings” type of person. But he wanted to try for Izuku. The boy seemed like he could use a break.
He felt a nuzzle in his chest. “T-Thank you. And thank you for helping e-earlier. You didn’t have to.”
Izuku let the tears fall freely now. It was such a relief to have someone else his age caring the way Katsuki did.
He liked Katsuki, he wanted to hang out more with him.
“What’re friends for?” Katsuki mumbled into thick green curls. Wide-eyed and in the heat of the moment, Izuku pulled away for a second and kissed his cheek. He immediately went back into his chest. Katsuki was speechless, why did he-
“Why did you-“
“I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking! I-I panicked-!”
“I-It’s okay relax, relax- I’m just surprised. Just- uh let’s not think about it too much, yeah?”
Izuku giggled and nodded. They were still young, they still didn’t know much about feelings yet. But they didn’t mind in a way. It felt nice.
“Just know that.. you deserve a lot, Izuku.”
That’s all he’s ever wanted to hear.