A Veterans Bunny Boy

5: A Friend of an Enemy

"Izuku." A scratch.

"I-zu-ku?" Another set of scratches, rock in hand as the grenette before he's shaking his head. "It's two so there can't be three breaking points. So maybe I-zuku?" He asks, coughing into his shoulder when dust went down his throat but never took his eyes off the wall he was writing on.

He steps back, slouching as he sits on his hinds with a hand at his mouth, tapping his lip thoughtfully as he stares at the lettering on the walls. It's a messy version of the original 'デク' of his name, but it was like chicken scratch. With his inexperienced hand and the grainy, bumpy wall of the building, it was practically impossible to actually tell. Not that he could really tell the difference or if he was even writing it correctly, but he'll make due with what he has; poor sets of skills and a copy of the letters his mom wrote on the sidewalk days before at his feet-- to which he copied onto a leaf with a stick and brought it with him to practice on the park wall.

"Or is it backwards? Japanese is supposed to be backwards so maybe names are too?" He mumbles to himself but one glance at the long line of scribbles, all different from each other, makes him sag in on himself on the floor, crossing his arms over his knees and putting his head between it. A well needed break.

"Bunny!" Came a distant voice, the animal name bringing the attention to both his ears as they curved back towards the source. The rapid footsteps approaching his way became louder until there was loud panting next to him, making him look up to see the same girl from before. It made him perk up a bit at the sight of her, Yuna, he remembers.

"Hey." He called, almost hesitant while turning his crouched body backwards to see if he could catch a glimpse of the mother, but came short with all the swerving, intertwining pathways, benches, and trees blocking the view. Just kids running around and various adults watching or chatting.

"Are these your drawings?" Yuna asked, izuku looking back to see that she was crouching too far away from him and looking at the short wall full of markings. He smiles nervously and lets out a dry laugh, the chalk from the rock coming back to peck at his throat.

"No. I was trying to write my name."

"That's good because they looked pretty ugly to be drawings." She says and Izuku stares at her for a bit, not knowing whether he should be offended at the blatant insult or greatful that they don't look like random doodles. She tilts her head anyway, frowning with a pull at her lips.

"What is it anyway?" Izuku sighs as he looks down the long, barely two feet high, wall with tall black fence lining on top of it to keep kids from running towards the open road.

"My name." he breathes out as he twils the fur on his leg mindlessly. He glances at her though, seeing her inspecting it still and becomes a little hopeful.

"C-can you read it? What is says?" He asks and Yuna hums before she shakes her head before laughing with a bright smile, coming to stand up with a hop.

"Nope! I can't read yet." She pauses, looking at him with attentive eyes now. "What is your name anyway? You never told me."

Izuku decides to sit down, turning his back to the fence and extending his legs, coughing with a disgusted smack of his tongue to get the dust out. "Never had reason to." he forces out, wiping his mouth on his sleeve before focusing on the girl, who was sitting down too in front of him with her dress folded under her knees to sit on. Didn't they teach her about talking to strangers? Ones who live in dangerous streets nonetheless?

"But I told you mine, that's not fair tho." She says with a tone close to a whine but more of a pout with the jutted lip and furrowed brows. Izuku shrugs, hands beside his head as he raises them exaggeratedly.