Worthless Necessity [HitoZuku]

Chapter 15 - But now they only ricochet

Midoriya climbed up the tree that just happened to be next to his window, and hopped into his room, careful to not bump into anything, moving with practiced ease. He had been doing this for years and knew how to move and navigate in his barren room, but he was being careful just in case someone decided to play a prank on him and leave something in his room.

According to Nezu, Recovery Girl said that the hawk was, luckily, healthy, though she was surprised that Nezu was bringing a baby bird to see her. The bird ate meat, and Midoriya had taken to buying small amounts of it, alongside Reiko's cat food that he hid right at the bottom of his bag, and feeding the bird with a pair of chopsticks.

Reiko and the hawk were probably still in his closet, considering how his room seemed untouched, and he made a beeline for the closet in the dark, gently flinging it open. He really needed to figure out a name for the hawk, just calling it by its breed was no doubt rude.

He saw mint and cyan eyes looking directly at him, and he gently reached out, scooping Reiko, and by extension, the bird in her grasp. Reiko purred softly, nestled in the crook of Midoriya's neck, and Midoriya gently tucked her into his oversized hoodie. He didn't bother changing out; he was usually sleeping in his vigilante outfit, with the blanket always stuffed behind the door or under his bed. He hated the damn thing; they were suffocating, quite literally. Even in winter, he couldn't bear to use it, and just opted to curl up in a corner and try to preserve his own body heat with pillows and his hoodie.

The chick gave a small peep, and nestled into Reiko's paws, and Midoriya lay down on his bed, curling up into a ball and positioning himself so he wouldn't crush them by accident, before he dozed off, but not before he nuzzled Reiko and closed his eyes.

-----------------------------

Midoriya's foster mother, luckily, had decided to go out to the mall for the day, bringing some of the other kids out as well. She had never bothered asking Midoriya if he wanted to go, and Midoriya's didn't really want to go out anyways. Malls had too many people, were too noisy, were obvious targets for villain attacks, and things were way too pricey. People were wasteful, not even bothering to repair stuff when they broke and just opted to get a new one. Everything Midoriya owned, which included his phone, laptop, his lamp, was salvaged from the dump.

Sure, it was annoying to have to keep finding new parts whenever something stopped working, but everything could be reused. People took whatever they had for granted.

Midoriya just looked around, and listened, making sure that the other residents weren't anywhere near his room, before he closed his door and pulled out a piece of paper. The baby hawk was a few days old, and he was starting to grow some feathers, so Midoriya decided that it was time to name him.

He scribbled down a few ideas on the paper, as Reiko curled up against his arm, and the hawk was nestled comfortably between her paws.

Midoriya gently nudged her, and Reiko opened her eyes, before turning to the paper that Midoriya was writing on.

"Name ideas for him, Rei?" Midoriya scratched the back of his head, "I thought you'd want to choose."

Reiko gently licked Midoriya's cheek, before she looked over the names. The hawk gave a small chirp, and Midoriya gently ran his thumb over the chick's head, careful not to press too hard. The hawk nuzzled his finger, and Midoriya let a small smile grace his features.

He hated showing his emotions around others. People would only use his emotions against him and hurt him. He put on a mask to protect himself, and had been putting on the mask for so long that he could no longer tell if he was wearing it or not. He pushed everything away; emotions only served to hurt, and they made you make poor decisions. It wasn't worth it, when dealing with people.