Hey, Bartender

1. A Little Young

"Aren't you a little young to be working a bar?"
"Aren't you a little young to be in one?"

Silence. The two stared at each other, purple eyes meeting green as they waited for the other response. Shinsou grumbled under his breath, dismissing the boy as he sat down. Izuku gave a crooked grin and slid some red liquid over to Shinsou, who shot him a questioning glance.

"It'll wake you up," Izuku explained with a wink and Shinsou shrugged. As much as he shouldn't take drinks from strangers, given his circumstances and why he was there in the first place, he couldn't bother to care as he downed the drink.

Suddenly, it felt like he had eaten a piece of gum and then drank ice water. He choked on air for a moment before everything seemed to clear, and he was more aware and awake than he had been before. Clutching the bar stool he sat on painfully, Shinsou glared at Izuku, who simply gave him a cheeky smile.

"What can I do for you, besides the drink?" Izuku asked suddenly and Shinsou eyed him cautiously, wary after what he just gave him.

"Now now, no need to be afraid. I'm Izuku Midoriya, you are?" Izuku introduced himself politely. As much as he hated talking, Izuku proves to be useful in some ways, and he had heard the name circulating around the League Of Villains, the group he was looking for.

Though the rumors made him out to be much more... violent than he was. He reminded Hitoshi of a snake, dormant and out of sight but ready to strike at any given second, especially when provoked. He shook those thoughts away and turned back to his task at hand.

"Yeah, I'm looking for the League Of Villains," Shinsou began cautiously, glancing around despite the bar being empty. Izukus gaze seemed to darken and he too glanced around before leaning on the countertop on his elbows.

"Let me give you a little advice, don't seek them out. There are consequences to one's actions, as I'm sure you know already, but I warn you Shinsou, you won't like what you recieve," Izuku explained as he looked Shinsou in the eye, making the boy want to squirm.

He heard the warning in the others' tone, and yet a part of him didn't care. He wanted to be a villain, everyone said he was one so why didn't he just give in and be one already?

Izuku seemed to sense that his warning wasn't getting through to the boy.

"Humor me for a moment, eh? Tell me your story," Izuku cooked his head to the side before moving, bringing up a stool behind the bar and sitting down. Shinsou once again eyed him weirdly, sensing that he was planning something though the boy wasn't sure what it was.

"Well, you somehow already know my name," Shinsou began with a huff, still unsure how the boy knew him. Izuku simply gave a grin and a nod.

"I grew up hated because of my quirk, I was bullied and called a villain because of the damned thing. Brainwashing, made me a freak they said. So, eventually it hit me, why not make them eat their words? I figured I'd seek out the league and I guess get some revenge, or prove their point?"

Shinsou finished talking and clamped his mouth shut. He didn't know what hit him he just.. kept on talking. Izuku nodded and looked focused for a second and only now did the boy realize he was furiously writing. Shinsou kind of felt stupid now that he had voiced his thoughts out loud.

Why ruin his dream, his only chance ever, because of some petty choice words people threw at him.

"It seems you've already come to the conclusion I have, so let me make a deal," Izuku proposed, standing up as he turned around and tossed the notebook behind him. Shinsou listened intently. Maybe the boy had an intelligence quirk? He seemed to know a lot that Shinsou didn't.

"Join the hero course with me, see if they make you out to be the villain you suppose you are, and if not, beat me fair and square, as I'm technically a villain," Izuku finished proudly, grinning as he held out his hand to shake on it.

Shinsou stared at his hand as if it was a foreign object, weighing his chances. He could go eith the deal, and either make or break his dream, or he could break it here and now by searching for the League again.

"I'll do it," he decided, finally shaking Izukus hand. The boy surprisingly had a strong grip, though he seemed tiny and weak.

"Good, now get your ass to school," Izuku berated as he glanced at the time. Shinsou seemed to pale as he realized what time it was and bolted for the door quickly, running away without a second glance back. Izuku smiled.

He was not the heartless villain everyone made him out to be, he didn't want teens doing what he had done and turning to villainy. He tried to deter as many as he could without upsetting the league, though recently it seemed to be failing.

Izuku heard a portal open behind him and merely glanced back as Kurogiri appeared, watching Izuku clean a glass as he regarded him silently.

"Another one down, I'm proud of you child," Kurogiri pointed out and Izuku grumbled as the mist man ruffled his hair. Despite anything he said, Kurogiri always referred to him as child. The man had been working with Izuku, to the best of his abilities, to keep the league from gaining power.

If Izuku had an opinion, there was still a lot of human left in Kurogiri even after the Nomu process.

"Though do be warned, Shigaraki is getting impatient. You need information soon or he will discover what you've done," the mist explained and Izuku shrugged as he rolled up his sleeve to glance at the hand print permanently on his body.

He had crossed Shigaraki once. And while he didn't want to do it again, he didn't want everyone else to go through what he had.