Cold Instinct || Vigilante Deku

ⁿᵒ.17

Izuku walked with his hands in his pockets, cowering behind his hood and eyes glued to the sidewalk as he took another turn and found himself in his old neighbourhood, headed to the store his dad used to send him to.

He wandered around the aisles and finally stood in front of the refrigerators keeping the booze he so desperately craved ice cold. His knuckles had dried blood and were a dark shade of purple as he gripped the glass weakly and pulled out a pair of some random six-packs.

It was the middle of the day on a working day, just a few people were around, most of them were elderly ladies running errands and a couple of teenagers out for lunch break, Izuku could feel their eyes on him as he made his way to the register and placed the beers on the counter.

"I'm gonna need to see some ID-" The guy said but stopped when he locked eyes with Izuku, "Hey man! How's it hanging? Haven't seen you around for a while."

Izuku shrugged, not talking, then he eyed the pack of chips on discount and put it on the counter on top of the beers, "Fine, Dad asked for them, and can I get the usual brand, two packs." He gestured at the cigarettes behind the counter with his head.

He lied, knowing the guy would believe him, his dad had talked to him, saying he was the one buying the beers way back when and the guy had no idea where they lived so he complied, "Will that be all?"

Izuku nodded and pulled out the money as the cashier placed his stuff in a plastic bag, "Is your dad trying out a different brand?" He asked as he took the money, shit, I never bought these before, "Yeah."

Grabbing the bags, Izuku gave a nod when the guy said to have a nice day and walked off, headed to his place. It was dangerous to stroll around in the middle of the day as a teenager, he was attracting too much attention.

To hell with it.

It wasn't long before he was done with the first can as he smoked and lay on the old, red couch on the second floor. He couldn't be bothered with what happened last night, rather who was sitting in the same spot.

He opened another can and swallowed bitterly while reaching for the bag of chips. His phone was ringing nonstop and he was getting tired of it but he couldn't bring himself to turn it off for some reason.

Katsuki had been calling since the third period at school, Aizawa had rung once and Mitsuki as well but he wouldn't-- couldn't, answer.

Izuku was too busy trying to -make his mind shut the fuck up- get wasted, the chips disappeared one after the other, each followed by a sip from the beer can and he finally opened his notebook hidden under the worn-out seat beneath him.

He looked through what he had on Endeavour right as he flipped through the next page with shaky hands, Dabi appeared in the doorway. He raised a brow when Izuku weakly looked up to meet his face.

"The hell you doin' here?" Izuku slurred then drank the last bit of alcohol left in the can, "Could ask you the same thing, kid." Dabi sat next to him, putting the bag of chips on his lap to make space for himself on the couch.

Dabi took a chip and threw it in his mouth, irritating Izuku. "Fuck you." he threw his notebook on the floor and reached for the next beer on line but Dabi grabbed his wrist as he studied the boy. Izuku shot him a look as he leaned back.

Now that the sun was out, and Izuku didn't have his gear on, he could see the bruises and cuts all over the boy. Bandages stopped right around his elbows on both arms, his neck had an old burn and- "Don't touch me." Izuku warned harshly and Dabi let go of him without protest when he saw his neck.

"The fuck happened and how much did you have to drink?" Dabi didn't 'care', not really. He was just curious, Midoriya didn't seem like the type to drink not to mention he's probably still in middle school- "None of your business."