Unfairly Likable

Chapter 4: Unexpected Friendship

Bakugo had wandered around a bit, taking a look at the butterflies. He couldn't deny that he was only sticking around because of Midoriya. He still tried to deny the truth, attempting to convince himself it was because he still had to watch over his assigned kids.

Bakugo was currently bored out of his mind. Thankfully, his buddies were complete idiots so it kept him entertained. Part of them wanted to sneak out and enjoy the zoo without the kids around, but they knew better. Midoriya was alone with a ton of kids, just because they were acting good now didn't mean they'd get cranky or cause him trouble at the drop of a hat.

Midoriya was near the entrance of the enclosure to assure no kid would wander off. It seemed as if his placement was helpful considering the caretaker entered and immediately spotted Midoriya. Midoriya flashed them a smile and the adult's shoulders sank a bit with relief. Before the three could even get close enough to hear anything, the man was bowing before Midoriya.

Once the three subtly shuffled their way over to be in earshot, they could shamelessly snoop.

"Thank you so much! I heard you found Umesaka! I had been talking with the police when they described what you looked like. I remembered telling you about the situation so it was a bit of a surprise to hear you were the one who saved him," thanked the caretaker, clearly overwhelmed with how poorly the field trip had been going.

Midoriya urgently waved his hand, trying to brush off the compliment. "No need to bow! If I'm honest, it was kind of a coincidence. I honestly had been trying to find some workers to let them know, but I ran right into the kidnappers."

The three boys secretly listening all shared baffled looks. The gears in their heads were trying to process the fact Midoriya ran right into the villains. It wasn't like Midoriya had intentionally sought them out and had a game plan. Both he and the criminals were caught off guard by one another's presence. Now that they were getting a story, they didn't even try to hide the fact they were listening.

"Oh my god really?" gasped the caretaker, his face paling.

"It's fine! Don't worry! They were honestly not smart nor strong," reassured Midoriya, shifting the child in his arms with a meek grin.

"I mean you knocked two of them unconscious. Apparently, the one who was caught trying to flee refused to speak," mentioned the caretaker, thinking about his conversation with the police earlier thoughtfully.

The bullies all did a double-take at the caretaker. All it took was two sentences from the man to flip their worlds upside down. Bakugo had been struck again with reality hitting him in the face. He couldn't imagine Midoriya fighting anyone, let alone dangerous people. Bakugo couldn't process the notion Midoriya packed a punch capable of rendering people unconscious. The three had no other choice but to believe it was the truth, they'd heard enough to know that.

The part that messed the trio up the most was the fact Midoriya had been on his own to fight more than one person. He was up against dangerous individuals who had attempted to kidnap a child. While they may not have been powerful villains, they were disgusting criminals. They were still a threat, so hearing Midoriya had managed to defeat two criminals and scare the third off really made them want to witness the altercation.

Even if the news of Midoriya being strong enough physically to fight off grown adults made them grow wary of messing with him, his bullies could respect him for saving a kid. Besides, they wanted to go to hero school so, of course, they'd be interested in that kind of thing.

"I may or may not have scared her," chuckled Midoriya sheepishly, thinking about the instant when he screamed at the woman.

"Good. I'm glad you did. The name's Suga Senichi!" chuckled the man now known as Suga.