I Was A Teenage Vigilante

Celebratory Body Mods

After a month or so, Izuku was better getting used to life in San Francisco. He still kept in touch with his 2-A friends and there were the occasional twinges of homesickness. Still, his friend group (now permanently known as the Meme Team, much to the chagrin of Andreas) was accommodating and welcoming, albeit a bit more... rebellious than at UA. Of course, nothing too drastic, just exploring random abandoned buildings and staying out late. Oh, and the occasional late-night grafitti tag on a corrupt business' skyscraper.

"I've just noticed. I think I'm the only one of you guys without some sort of body modification," Izuku pointed out one day. The group was sitting in the school's courtyard eating a delicious lasagna lunch. Nobody had talked until he did.

"Come again?" Andreas grumbled.

"I mean... you've got an eyebrow piercing, Viv's got snake bites and pierced ears, Charlie and Ed both have tattoos, and... uh..." he paused and looked at Athena. "You... don't have anything."

"And I have no intention of getting anything," Athena chirped, going back to her lasagna.

"What's the matter, bud? Feeling left out?" Charlie asked. "It's fine if you are."

Izuku paused briefly. "...A bit."

"Wait, I have an idea!" Edwin chimed in.

"You're not gonna steal the piercing gun from the Blair's you work at, are you?" Charlie's head turned into the gun in question, slightly scaring Izuku.

"No! What do you take me for, a medieval torturer?" Edwin laughed. Charlie's head turned back to normal. "I got my own piercing kit for my 16th birthday. Sharp needles are way better than blunt force trauma."

Izuku was in shock from all this. Needles? Piercing guns? Blunt force trauma?? "Uh... I-I'm gonna have to ask my mom."

He picked up his phone and texted Inko. Nobody could see what they were messaging about.

"What'd she say?" Charlie asked with a false sense of urgency.

"She said it's fine as long as I take care of them properly." He turned to Edwin. "She also wants you to disinfect the piercing kit. No infections for me, please and thank you."

"So, is after school alright?" Vivienne asked.

"Uh... sure." Izuku gulped.

After school, the Meme Team headed to Edwin's house to give Izuku his piercings. After a brief chat with Edwin's moms, they all went up to his bedroom. The room was cluttered with space-themed paraphernalia. A star map above the bed, an unfinished Lego space shuttle on the desk, and glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to the ceiling. In addition to that, Edwin appeared to be a massive fan of Star Trek, evidenced by the scale model of the Starship Enterprise on his shelf. A few stray planets were also hung from the ceiling by some fishing line. The rest were sitting on the desk next to the spool of fishing line.

"Oh, uh... excuse the mess. I'm redecorating."

Izuku was in awe at the decorations. Edwin's more into space than I thought.

"So, where's your needle, Captain Kirk?" Charlie asked, sitting down on the floor, saying a quick hi to Edwin's cat Major Tom.

"Bathroom. I'm also gonna get some saline spray and numbing cream."

Izuku's eyes widened in fear. "N-numbing cream?"

"Chillax, Izuku. I dunno how sensitive your lobes are, so it's just a precaution," Edwin said with a shrug. "Also, before we do this, I have to make sure that you're not having any second thoughts or anything. This is a full on hole in your damn ear. Just to be clear."

"I know. I did a bit of research before getting here." Izuku took a deep breath and gave Edwin a shaky thumbs-up. "I'm ready."

"Well, alrighty then, Lettuce Boy. I'll go get my equipment, don't go anywhere," Edwin grinned, leaving the room.

Lettuce Boy? That's a new nickname. He sat down on the desk chair and spun around a bit to take his mind off the nerves.

"What's eating you, dude?" Andreas asked, leaning on the back of Izuku's seat. "Nervous?" The way he asked wasn't mocking, as he had previously expected.

"Well, I've never gotten a piercing before." He pointed to Andreas' eyebrow piercing. "Did that hurt?"

He scoffed. "Surprisingly, no. But I did get it completely numbed up beforehand, so I can't really say for sure." He tapped the piercing to punctuate his sentence. "A couple tips, ZZ. One, don't take the earrings out. You may want to change them, but wait a month or so. Two, disinfect three times a day. Infected piercings are like hell on earth."

"Wow, Andre. I didn't know you were this good at giving people advice," Athena chirped.

"Yeah, well, when I got my earlobes pierced back in the 7th grade, they got infected like nobody's business and I was sick as a dog for a while." He shook his head. "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

Edwin reentered the room, holding a plastic bag full of piercing equipment and some lidocaine. He was wearing a pair of blue rubber gloves.

"Alrighty, time to put some holes in you," he said, snapping his glove for dramatic effect. He took out a pair of plain black stud earrings. "You're gonna be wearing these for six straight weeks. Don't take 'em out."

"I know, Andreas told me."

"Well, then. You're way ahead of me." Edwin dabbed a bit of lidocaine on each of Izuku's earlobes and rubbed them in. He then handed him a headband. "Gotta keep that mess of hair away from the piercing."

"Don't worry, ZZ, it won't hurt!" Vivienne said, sitting upside-down on Edwin's bed. Izuku gave her a shaky thumbs up as Edwin wiped off the excess lidocaine and drew a dot on each of his earlobes.

"Alright, piercing time. Deep breath, buddy." Izuku squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. With a quick pinch in each ear, it was over. "And we're done."

Izuku cautiously opened his eyes. "Am I dead?"

Edwin laughed. "No, but you do look great. Take a look."

He handed Izuku a mirror. His ears were now adorned with two little black dots. There was no blood or residue to be seen, courtesy of Edwin's handiwork. He lightly tapped one of them. It felt strange having a piece of metal in his ears.

"This is... strange."

"You'll get used to it," Andreas said.

Edwin handed Izuku a spray bottle labelled "saline cleanser☆". "Spray this on your ears three times a day. Don't want your ears to get infected. I'd suggest in the morning, after school, and before bed. If you need a refill, don't be afraid to ask." Edwin took off the gloves he was wearing and threw them in a nearby trash can. "Maybe when you're up to it, I could give you a tattoo?"

"Uh- let's not get too hasty, Edwin. I'm fine with the piercings for now."

"Suit yourself."

a/n: it seems like i'm the only person whose ideal friend group is a bunch of chill friendly nerds and not the most popular kids in school. oh well.
also, WHY THE FUCK IS THE GENFIC TAG FULL OF SEX AND ROMANCE THAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF GENFIC