Rules of the street

Chapter 4 - Information is valuable. Gather as much as you can.

Rule 10: Information is valuable. Gather as much as you can.

 They glanced at each other as I made my way over to it. The simple gold inlay was fire in the morning sun, the reflected light dancing across the large room. My fingers automatically cradled the hilt, and I weighed it in my palm. It still fit perfectly. Feeling disgusted with myself, I hurriedly returned it to the table.

"After I couldn't find on the street, I assumed someone had stolen it."

"Of course we took it. It was the only clue we had." His heterochromatic eyes met mine as he spoke up.

"Yeah?" I looked at it again. "What did you figure out?"

They looked at each other once more. It was beginning to get on my nerves. The blonde slumped into one of the plump armchairs that surrounded the little, fancy looking table. The other also sat, and I took the hint. The chair was too soft. I felt like it would swallow me whole if I let it.

"You or your family has or had money, a decent amount." His crimson eyes were staring at the knife so hard, I fully expected it to melt. I sighed.

"That's true." I admitted, nodding my head.

He blinked in surprise before continuing, seeming to gain confidence.

"The knife itself is old. It's been in your family for a while."

I nodded again.

"It's worn and dirty. You use it a lot." The other stepped in. Another nod.

"That's about it." The blonde admitted. The partial red-head seemed to disagree, and they had another of their silent conversations. Feeling pissed, I spoke up.

"Yeah well, you seem to know an awful lot about me considering I don't even know your names." The bite in my tone surprised me and clearly surprised them as well judging by the looks on their faces.

"We can solve that. I'm Shoto, and this is Katsuki." The spiky-haired grunted in response, inclining his head slightly.

"We don't know yours either, ya know."

Of course they didn't. It's not like the knife was named. Mentally kicking myself for being insensitive, I gathered my reply.

"I'm Izuku. Izuku Midoriya." My breathing was becoming a challenge again, as I had just given these two essentially strangers, not only my first name but my last as well. Rule nine. I shook my head slightly. I wasn't on the street anymore; the rules didn't work here.

"Well, tell us something about you, and we'll tell you something about us. How's that sound?" Shoto asked. The noise tore me from my train of thought.

"Yeah, sure." I huffed, glancing to the ceiling as I thought for a moment. How much should I tell them? Obviously not everything, but if I really wanted to give this a shot, then I needed to be honest, and I needed to be open. To my surprise, I found I did want to try, and holding on to that thought I began to talk.

"I'm sixteen, I was raised by both parents until my mum left when I was seven. Had a few years with my father before I left home and joined the nearest street gang. I... I spent three years there until... well, until the parade."

They were silent for a while, seemingly processing the new information. I couldn't tell them about Eri. Not yet. They started sharing looks again, and this time I spoke up.

"Please stop."

"Fucking stop what?" Katsuki looked pissed but it didn't matter. I was more pissed.