The Serpent in the Garden - [todoshindeku] - Villain Izuku

Chapter Seven

Izuku: >picture sent<

Hitoshi: Izuku?? Why're u on the train, it's lunchtime on a school day!!

Hitoshi: What're u getting yourself into now? (ノ_＜)

Izuku: Ye of little faith

Hitoshi: I z u k u w h y

Izuku: What're u even doing on ur phone? Shouldn't u be getting to class

Hitoshi: I,, uh,,,

Izuku: Stop acting like such a good student, Hitoshi. U're probably not even at school, r u?

Hitoshi: >picture sent<

Izuku: Wow, u r? Damn, that's a first.

Hitoshi: Stop calling me out (/T_T ) /

Izuku: ...

Izuku: nahhh

Hitoshi: ... b r u h

Izuku grinned down at his phone, savouring Hitoshi's indignation. In his own personal opinion, Shinsou was much too much fun to tease. He lingered for a moment longer, secretly hoping that Shinsou would keep texting, but when no new messages came through, Izuku shoved down that strange feeling of rejection and swiped out of the messenger app and into contacts.

Ever since the interview, or whatever you'd call it, with Kakureta's ambassador, Hagakure Shou, he'd been curious about the boss of the underground organisation. His name had sounded strangely familiar, and so today Izuku had decided to leave school early — much to the consternation of the teachers present — and take the train to go meet him. From an earlier conversation with Giran, he'd been able to procure the location of the company's headquarters. Well, he hadn't gotten the exact address — it was Giran after all. That man wouldn't've been able to give a straight answer even if held at gunpoint. Luckily, a quick call to the company's boss, and he'd be set.

Except not here. Izuku grunted as he was jostled from all sides simultaneously, and squeezed the bar tighter in a desperate endeavour not to get pitched sideways into two elderly businessmen. For some reason, he'd expected the train to be less crowded in the middle of a weekday, but he'd forgotten to factor one thing into that assumption: it was goddamn Japan, in the city.

On his left, people pushed forward, getting ready to alight at the next station. Izuku bit back a squeak as this action crowded him forward and pressed him tight against the train doors. When the train doors opened, he'd spill forward, unable to stop himself from falling forward. He was about to start cursing in frustration, but the overhead announcement cheerily stated that the next station was the one he was getting off at anyways.

As Izuku waited patiently to be thrown forcefully out of the train, he tried to think up a reasonable excuse to give his mother for his reason to leave school, then disappear for the rest of the day. Of course, if he got home at the time he usually did, his mother might not notice, but that would just be ignoring the fact that his homeroom teacher definitely would phone his mother about this. Not for the first time, Izuku wished teachers could mind their own business.

A few moments later, the train glided to a seamless stop and the doors slid open, the push of people trying to get out behind him causing Izuku to trip forward, barely managing to keep himself upright — just like he'd predicted, he thought morbidly.

As he tapped off his pasmo card, Izuku used his peripheral vision to scroll his list of contacts till he reached the one named 'Shinsou's dad'. He didn't know for sure if he was, in fact, Shinsou's father, but he'd picked it mostly just because it was such a mundane name, something any teenager would have on their phone. Most kids had their friend's parent's numbers, right? Most likely. Izuku wasn't the leading expert on normal teenagers with normal lives and friends, but he could safely say that that was pretty normal.