Deku? I Think He's Some Pro...

Chapter 9: What's in a name?

“Come on, kiddo, we’re gonna be late!” Ms. Joke called behind her as Izuku scrambled to catch up.

“If you want me to keep up, maybe you could take some of my bags?”

Joke just laughed, but grabbed the duffel bag from Izuku’s outstretched hand. To celebrate the end of Izuku’s first pre-school internship, they were going to dinner with Eraserhead, Mr. Brave, and even Sir Nighteye. Izuku was having trouble wrapping his head around the fact that the heroes wanted to hang out with him. They seemed to genuinely enjoy his company which was...strange. Even before Kaachan had gotten his quirk, hanging out with him had required a fair bit of posturing, walking on eggshells, and telling Kaachan how amazing he was. 

Hanging out with the heroes wasn’t like hanging around Kaachan. The heroes teased one another, but they didn’t mean to hurt each other. They laughed, joked, and talked about each other’s interests. The heroes had never cut off one of his mumble storms by telling him he was annoying or creepy, instead adding interesting insights and asking Izuku to speak up. The worst that had happened was the one time when they were in the middle of a meeting and they told him that they needed to move on, but that they’d like to hear his ideas later. 

On the one hand, Izuku was the happiest he’d ever been, but however much he tried to ignore it, fear was bubbling just beneath the surface. It won’t last. They’ll grow tired of you soon enough. They’ll realize how weak you are and then they’ll hate you just like everybody else.

Izuku shook his head and followed Joke into the 24 hour diner they were meeting at. Eraser insisted they go there because of everyone’s patrol schedules, but Izuku knew that he probably just wanted to avoid being around a lot of people. But it worked out with everyone’s schedules, so they were going to dinner at 10:00 at night and then Ms. Joke would take Izuku back home and he’d spend a week with his mom before his next internship with Mr. Brave. 

They were apparently the last to arrive, since the others were already sitting in a corner booth. Mr. Brave was telling a joke to Sir Nighteye, who was chuckling softly while Eraser brooded with a cup of coffee and a tired energy that was making the waitresses steer clear. When they saw them, Mr. Brave waved energetically and Sir Nighteye simply nodded. Eraser didn’t acknowledge them, but downed the rest of his coffee and looked slightly less broody than before. 

“Hey everyone!” Joke said loudly as she pushed Izuku into the booth and slid in after him, “How was your week?”

“The same as every week, Joke,” Eraser grumbled, “You were the only one with anything interesting happening.”

Joke laughed loudly, “That’s fair! I guess I am really spoiled, after all, I had Deku all week long. ” she bragged.

Mr. Brave rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, we heard you the first dozen times.” He turned to Izuku, “She’s been bragging non-stop that she got the first internship, just because she called dibs.” He rolled his eyes, “It’s like she’s forgotten that he’s going to intern with all of us! ” He called the last part at Joke, who simply stuck her tounge out at him while Izuku giggled. 

“So how was the internship, problem child?” Eraser asked.

Izuku beamed, “It was amazing! I got to watch Ms. Joke fight and see how she used her quirk to take down the villains. I even got to meet Midnight!”