Strings and Buttons

Chapter 2: Boring Green Boy

He looks down at his muddy shoes and grimaces, shoving his hands in his black coat. Good thing he wore his boots.

He turns his head to see the movers continuing their work, now under the watchful eyes of his old hag, who has her hands on her hips.

"And don't even think about slacking off, you got it?! With the money I'm paying all of you, this shit will be done by today!"

The mover's wince, not stopping their pace at all as they all answer at the same time.

"Yes Mrs. Bakugou..."

The women's eyes catch Katsuki moving away, and she yells after him.

"Katsuki! Your father is making dinner again today, so come back early!"

He shrugged as he walked away, going towards the overgrown garden. There are bricks sectioning off areas, where plants were supposed to be. Too bad the weather was too shitty for anything good to grow without tons of hard work.

With hands in his pockets, he goes past the garden. There were small sections with stunted rose bushes all over the garden. The flowers were long gone, but the thorns still remained. He learned that the hard way when he had tried to move past them just by walking through them and not around them.

That was how he got through the garden and up to the hill. It was slippery getting passed the incline and the mud, but once he did, he had the perfect view of the house.

A faded pink, the old sign a couple of yards away from the old house too muddled to make anything out. He continues to walk, finding himself in an area with even more old trees, rotten apples filling the air with a sour smell.

He doesn't stop though, determined to find something. He had found about an old well from Mr. Hizashi.

"Don't go to the old well. I'm just warning you, listener, it's a dangerous place."

That interested him so the first thing on his mind was finding it. It was at least something to do. He can't last another day in his room just waiting around. After a couple of minutes of walking, he finds himself in a overgrown meadow behind the clump of old trees.

The meadow was surrounded by rocks built up like a wall, right around the hill. He walks towards the well, which was a small circle of built-up bricks. It had wood planks covering the opening, and when he's close enough, he tries to move the wooden lid.

It moves a little bit, and he pushes harder.

"I wouldn't do that if i were you."

He jumps, turning toward the sound of the voice. A guy stands there, red shoes standing out brightly against the mud. He watches Katsuki, his green eyes focused solely on him as he folds his arms.

A red and white cat rubs itself against one of his legs only to move between them, looking at Katsuki with big eyes. One eye is a pale blue while the other is a dark brown.

Katsuki glares at the boy.

"And why the hell not?"

The stranger steps closer to him, now standing by the well with him.

"You might fall in. It takes a lot of strength to move the lid, and to do that you'd have to reach over."

Katsuki watches as the cat jumps onto the well, careful not to step onto the lid and stay on the brick.

"I do whatever the fuck i want."

The green haired boy doesn't do anything in response to Katsuki's harsh tone, just looks at him and smiles.

"Did you just move here?"

He clicks his tongue and shifts on his feet, his shoes sinking deeper into the mud.

"None of your damn business."

The cat looks at him and lets out a sharp hiss. The boy turns to it and pets it softly, trying to calm it down.

"Sorry if I'm being nosy. I've just never seen anyone other than the adults move in so..."

The boy gives him a warm smile and Katsuki looks away from him.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya by the way! I live with my mom at the main house."

The boy, Izuku, holds out his hand. Katsuki looks down at it and keeps his own hands in his pockets.

"I'm Katsuki Bakugou."

Izuku's smile falters awkwardly and he puts his hand down, laughing.

"Nice to meet you Kacchan!"

Katsuki glares at him, tilting his chin up to look down at him.

"Hah? What the hell did you just call me?!"

Izuku just laughs again, happiness practically radiating off of him in waves. It unnerves Katsuki. He's never seen someone so happy for no reason before. He's only had four people in his life that have shrugged off his angry personality and tried to actually talk to him.

He would consider them friends. Too bad they're all the way in the city and he's all the way over here in this shit hole. Though with someone his age, it might not be that bad.

"Kacchan! I have a nickname for all the residents i meet. Oh!"

Izuku opens his arms and the cat jumps into them gracefully. He carries the cat and smiles.

"This is Sho!"

Katsuki looks down at the cat, uninterested. The cat seems the same way, not even looking at him. He looks back at Izuku and grimaces.

"Don't tell me that shitty cat is your only friend."

Izuku tenses and his cheeks turn red, embarrassed. He turns away, looking at the ground.

"N-No! Why would you say that?! I have tons of friends!"

Katsuki finds it satisfying seeing the boy all flustered about his lack of a social life, and he grins.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say Deku."

Izuku, now named Deku, looks at him with wide eyes.

"Deku?"

Katsuki grins and begins to walk away. Now that he knows the well isn't really worth opening, he decides to leave it for now.