Too Late

Four (Midoriya P.O.V)

As soon as his feet touched the floor of their base, Midoriya grabbed his mask and threw it on the floor. He was breathing a bit heavily as he took a step forward, crushing the cheap plastic under his foot. Seeing Bakugo again brought memories and feelings that he didn't want to ever have to think about. Bakugo was always bullying him, relentlessly belittling him and his dream just because he didn't have a quirk. His hands went to his hair, knocking the hood from his head as they tangled into his curls.

"You know Deku, we can't really keep making you new masks every time you throw a tantrum and break yours" A girl with golden hair tied up in buns said as she messed with the knife in her hands.

"It's fine, I have an extra one in my room anyway" Midoriya responded as he turned on his heel to begin walking to his room "I'm not in the mood to deal with anything right now, so I'm going to take a nap" he waved his hand slightly, having removed both of them from his hair. He didn't bother to listen to the girl, he didn't even bother to say anything to the stitched male when he walked passed him to enter his room either. He grumbled slightly as he plopped down on his bed, glancing around the small room he had. It was nothing like his room back home, after all, he didn't have any All Might things anymore. All he really had was a bed, a desk and a bookshelf. On the desk sat a small tv, which he used to watch the news and see anything about any new heroes. Sometimes he watched different things, but most of the time he was doing something else. The bookshelf was positioned on the wall by the door. It was filled with "Hero Analysis" notebooks, some regular books that he read every once in a while and workbooks he used to study. He couldn't necessarily go to school anymore, since he was still considered missing, but that didn't change the fact that he wanted to learn.

"Kachan" Midoriya spoke carefully to himself after a moment, glancing out the small window by his bed. It had been forever since he had spoken to the boy, but he saw him all the time. He closed his eyes, falling back on his bed.
——
"Excuse me, are you going to buy that are just stand there?" Midoriya glanced up, holding a book in his hand. He had gotten lost in thought staring at the cover of the book. An older man had his arms crossed, tapping his foot. He was clearly aggravated with Midoriya, but slightly nervous as well.

"Sorry.." He said quietly, reaching into his pocket to pull out some coins so he could pay for the book. The store owner grew tense when he reached into his pocket and Midoriya understood why. He was wearing a surgical mask to cover his freckles, a baseball cap for his hair and sunglasses to shield his eyes. He looked suspicious no matter how you thought to look at him. He hold out the coins to the shop owner, who quickly took them from him and turned to leave.

"....Bakugo" Midoriya paused when he stepped outside the shop, glancing around as he heard a familiar name over the noise of the street. He noticed a tuff of white hair and realized who it was. He grimaced, and moved to walk again. It bothered him that he had to walk towards Bakugo to get where he was going.

"Huh?" Bakugo's voice filled Midoriya's ears. It was filled with confusion and annoyance.

"I said, what do you think, Bakugo?" Another person spoke, he quickly recognized the male as one of the two guys Bakugo and him used to hang around back when they were kids. It was another person who used to bully him.

"About what?" Bakugo asked, clearly he hadn't been listening to the conversation.

"We were wondering if you wanted to come to the arcade with us" The boy asked, gesturing to the other male with them.

"I guess" Bakugo replied with a slight shrug, glancing around as he talked to the other two.

"Hey hey, look at this." The other boy pointed out something posted to the wall. Midoriya glanced to whatever it was just as Bakugo turned to look as well. His missing poster "It's been over a year now since Deku has gone missing, huh? Think he's dead?"

"Definitely" The first boy crossed his arms and nodded "There's no way he would have survived out there on his own. Even if he did have a quirk, he has no survival instincts. A villain had to of gotten to him" Midoriya scoffed a bit. They weren't wrong about a villain getting to him, but he didn't die because of it. The two males kept talking about him, but Bakugo had fallen silent.

"Hey, didn't Deku have a dream of going to UA too?" The other boy laughed slightly "He never would have made it passed the exam"

"Shut up.." Bakugo said quietly, but he was ignored as the two kept talking. "Shut up!" He said a bit louder, startling his companions.

"Oh come on Bakugo, is something wrong?" The first boy asked. "You know you're thinking the same thing as us about Deku"

Bakugo moved carefully, tearing down the poster. "I just don't want to talk about Deku" he said lightly, crushing the paper in his hand as he began walking again. "I'm going home" he still held the poster as he walked. It caused Midoriya to scoff as he moved to walk passed Bakugo. He was tired of looking at his old childhood friend. As Midoriya stepped passed him, he felt a pair of glaring eyes on his back for a moment.
——
"Deku.... Deku" A voice caused Midoriya to open his eyes, he quickly realized he had fallen asleep. He glanced to the clock he had on the windowsill. "You're awake! Kurogiri wanted me to tell you it's time for dinner" He sat up as he rubbed his eyes, pushing back the small glimpse of memory he just dreamed about.

"Already..?" He mumbled a bit, realizing he slept the whole day. "Why'd you let me sleep this long? I'm not going to be able to fall asleep tonight now, Himiko"

"You seemed like you were in a bad mood. But it doesn't matter" She grinned as she reached forward touching his arm "Kurogiri wants to go over a new plan while we're eating"