Face Me Like An Idiot

23

"I suggest that we split up into pairs!" Ashido chirped with excitement.

"But there's an odd number of us here," Kirishima responded, rubbing the back of his head. Feeling a vibration from his phone, Izuku fished it from his pocket and glanced at it, the chattering of his classmates moved to the back of his mind.

Tasei
You have a meeting with the
Hazakishi Mafia at 8pm. They
refuse to meet with Mietto instead.

Izuku grumbled a curse under his breath. Just when he had started his month of freedom, a hubristic Mafia decided they 'would like to have a chat with the supreme boss'. The greenette rolled his eyes, sending a quick text of acknowledgement to Tasei, before redirecting his gaze back to his companions.

That was when he realised: he was standing alone. Eh? He whipped around, attempting to find his classmates. Alas, he found no sign of them.

They don't like you.

They are just using you to get closer to Kacchan.

Do you actually think people like you?

Izuku shook his head. They mentioned something about splitting up earlier, he must have been too distracted to pick a partner – so they must have assumed he wanted to be alone.

Yeah, they didn't leave on purpose!

Breathing out a long-suffering sigh, Izuku clenched his fists and scoffed. Who am I kidding?

"Hey! You're a U.A. student, right?" He could not be more thankful to the person who interrupted his pessimistic thoughts.

An arm draped over the greenette's shoulders in an oddly friendly manner, as if the person was a long-lost friend. The strange gesture caused Izuku to involuntarily stiffen as he cautiously glanced at the person's face. Dull blood-red eyes gleamed with animosity, pale blue strands of hair falling over the person's cracked and dry face. Izuku's suspicions were answered when the person wrapped four fingers around his neck, specifically leaving out their middle finger.

"Shigaraki," Izuku forced his mind and body to relax. He lowered his head, viridian strands of hair shadowing his eyes – which glimpsed around imperceptibly to see if anyone had noticed their odd interaction. Finding none, he turned his attention to Shigaraki. "What could I help you with?"

"I just want to chat," Shigaraki grinned, tightening his hold on the greenette's neck. "If you try calling for help, I'll kill you."

Izuku scowled, emerald eyes glistening dangerously as he maintained eye contact with the fellow villain. He could easily take the man down, but where is the fun in that?

His expression relaxed. A small, threateningly calm smile formed on his lips. "All right, shall we talk in a more comfortable environment?"

"Pretend that I'm an old friend," Shigaraki led Izuku to a bench in the middle of the mall, settling down. The greenette crossed his left leg over his right thigh, making himself seem as comfortable as he could.

"Is this about Stain?" He asked, placing a finger on his chin – a habit he had obtained from Tsu.

Shigaraki hummed in affirmation. His fingers twitched slightly in the temptation to scratch his neck. "He's been stealing all the attention lately. It makes me so frustrated! The League attacked the USJ – a highly secured facility owned by U.A. – yet we practically got ignored because of Stain's sudden burst of popularity."

Izuku sighed understandingly. "I know what you mean. The Hero Killer has been on the news so often lately; it's honestly starting to get quite irritating."