Held |There's something in the water. . . .|

IDIOT!

At work on Sunday, Izuku when out of his way
to say hi to the guys. They seemed relieved that
he wasn't mad anymore. And the truth was,
he really wasn't, now that he understood how
it was with pranks — and now that he had a
genius plan for getting them back.

"Come swimming with us today," Katsuki called
as he unwillingly helped his mother in their buggy. "We'll
be there right after lunch."

"Sure!" Izuku called back. "I'll meet you!"
Uncle Yagi patted him on the back.
"That's the way kiddo," he said. "There's no
room in a small town for grudges."
Izuku was dying to tell Uncle Yagi about his
idea. But Izuku kept his mouth shut, worried
that his uncle might (see what I did there) tell someone and spoil the
plan.

He saw Ochako Uraraka as he was leaving the
diner patio. She waved to him and smiled, like
she wanted him to go up and talk to her. For
months last spring Izuku had prayed that Ochako
would look in his direction. But now? He didn't
have time for girls, not even Ochako. He had to
get to the creek before the guys. He waved to
Ochako and headed home

Uncle Yagi was going to the diner to take care
of some bookkeeping, and Izuku headed home
to change. He grabbed the bag he'd packed
that morning. Inside was a bottle of ketchup,
one of his old work boots, and the white cap he
always wore to work — everything he needed.

——

He hurried to the creek, which was completely
quite, and went straight to work.

His plan had two parts. First, he wanted to
make the guys think he'd been attacked and
dragged, bloody and screaming, into the creek.
He dribbled some ketchup along the dock — a
trail of blood. He put his boot in the middle of
the dock and covered it with ketchup. He did
the same to his cap.

Izuku stood back and admired his work.
So far. So good.
Now Izuku took off his trousers
and kicked off his boots. He hid them in the tall
grass. Then he went to the wettest part of the
bank. He scooped up handfuls of the slimiest
mud he could find and smeared it onto his face,
his arms and chest. He used extra mud to
cover his head so that no hairs poked through.
He had no idea what the Creek Devil was
supposed to look like, but he was pretty sure it
didn't have fluffy green hair.

Izuku was just finishing when he heard
voices.
The guys!

Izuku closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Then he let out the biggest, loudest scream he
could muster. He screamed like he was terrified,
like he was in agony. And then he splashed
loudly into the creek, careful not to wash of the
mud. He screamed some more, and then waded
into the reeds and hid.

"Izuku?" Katsuki called. "That you?"
Izuku didn't answer. He couldn't see the guys,
but he heard their heavy breathing and their
panicky voices.

"Where is he?"
"Is that his boot?"
"What the . . ."
"Oh, my god," Eijiro whispered. "Is that
blood?"

Izuku held his breath. Would they really fall
for it? Could this actually work?
"Izuku?" Eijiro called. "Izuku, you there?"
Izuku had to puff up his cheeks to keep from
bursting out laughing.

"Isn't that Izuku's cap?" Tenya whispered.
A few seconds went by.
"What the hell is happening . ." Katsuki said quitely.
They were falling for it! Now it was time for
part two.

Izuku gave a low hiss, remembering what Mr.
Shield had said about the sound the Creek
Devil made before an attack.
"What the heck was that?" Eijiro said, his
voice shaking.
"Quite!" Katsuki said.
"Should we go get someone?" Eijiro said.
"HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS."
Izuku was Impressed by how spooky he
sounded. Next he started to moan, low at first,
and then louder.

"OOOOOOMMMMMMMOOOOOO."
He poked his head through the reeds, not all
the way through, just enough for the guys to
catch a glimpse of a hideous head covered with
black slime.

The guys stared with bugged-out eyes and
wide-open mouths.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" They screamed.
Tenya went tearing away.
"𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘔𝘔𝘔𝘔𝘔𝘔𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖!"
"AHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Eijiro and
Katsuki.

They turned to run, and that's when Izuku
leaped out of the water.

"Got you!" Izuku shouted.
Katsuki and Ejiro stopped short. Their faces
were dead white.

"I got you good!"

He waited for their terrified faces to melt into
smiles, for them to laugh their heads off and tell
Izuku he's a genius
But they didn't.

Katsuki stomped onto the dock. He leaned close
to Izuku, his face all twisted up and furious. His
fists were clenched.
Izuku jumped back. Was Katsuki going to deck
him?
Eijiro pulled him away. "He's not worth it,"
he said.

"You're an 𝘐𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵!" Katsuki growled. "We really
thought something bad happened to you!"
"How could you think that would be 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺?"
Eijiro said.

The words came at him hard and cold.

Katsuki glared at him a few more seconds. And
then they turned and walked away.
Izuku stood there in shock.

His prank had worked better then he could
have imagined.

But it was all wrong.
And there he was, covered with stinking mud,
all alone.