Little Prince

Chapter Nine

"Shou! Let's go bud! We don't wanna miss the bus!" Izuku called, stuffing a blanket into his tarp bag. He headed towards Shouto's room and peered in.

"Just a minute! I'm still getting ready..." As Izuku found his way into the room, there was the boy on the floor, still picking out his shoes for their outing today. Leaning on the doorframe, he smiled and watched the boy tie his shoes.

Cute.

Today, their UA friend group had decided to have an outing at the park, including a small picnic. Ochaco, Iida, Tsuyu, and Bakugou would all be going- or at least they hoped Katsuki would show up. Lately, he had been less social, even more so than usual. Even his closest friend, Kirishima, couldn't seem to connect with him lately. The group decided that maybe this could cheer him up.

"Got it!" Shouto said, in his small voice. He hopped up quickly, and Midoriya giggled at the boy's cute choice of clothing. He wore his favorite pink sailor moon jacket, along with his matching pink adidas shoes. Izuku helped him off of the ground, and swept him into an embrace before they left to catch the bus.

They arrived at the park, where their friends all gathered on a pink gingham picnic blanket. All their friends had already arrived- except for Bakugou, of course. 

"Todoroki-kun! Deku-kun! You're here!" Ochaco hopped up from the blanket and waved at the two. 

"Uraraka-san! Hey everyone!" Izuku grabs Shouto's hand, and rushes the two to the blanket. "Ah, has Kacchan not shown up yet?" He asks.

"No," Uraraka sighs. "He texted me and said he would, but nothing since yesterday." She looks sad. Izuku touches her shoulder, smiling reassuringly.

"Bakugou will be okay, Uraraka-san. Maybe he just needs some time." Iida says to her.

"Yea, Bakugou-kun will be just fine! Let's eat, kerro!" Tsuyu said, causing the others to laugh.

They all ate their food, enjoying the warm day. Ochaco brought mochi and tea sandwiches, while Iida and Tsuyu had run to the convenience store earlier for chips! Izuku and Shotou brought water and a small carton of strawberries for them all to share.

Once they were all done, the group began chatting, plotting their other activities for the day.  Shouto picked at the grass to occupy his hands.

"I checked the maps before we came, there's a pond down the way with ducks." Iida said, looking up from his phone.

"Maybe there will be frogs there too, kerro!"

"Hopefully, Tsuyu!" Ochaco chirped happily. "I think there's a playground that way too!"

Shouto perked up as he heard this. He hadn't regressed since they had arrived at the picnic- it would be embarrassing to do so in front of his friends. But, the idea of playing started to sound like a lot of fun to him. He played with his fingers and hoped there weren't going to be any kids there- it'll be more fun to play uninterrupted.  He thought.

They headed towards the pond, Izuku and Shouto held pinkies on the way there. Shouto kept looking longingly at the playground.

Izuku chuckled.

"You wanna go bud? You can go play if you like- doesn't look like there's anyone there. Don't worry, I'm sure our friends will be pretty distracted by the duckies." He smiled and kissed the boy's forehead, before rustling his hair and sending him off.

Shouto rushed towards the play equipment. There were monkey bars, slides, and his favorite, the swings!

He started with the monkey bars; he was just short enough for his toes to reach an inch off the ground, which wasn't very fun, so he quickly moved to the swings.

He hopped onto the swings, the skidding of his shoes against the park wood chips reminded him of the times he did the exact same thing as a kid. The thought made him smile. He swiftly kicked his legs, gaining speed as he swung. Soon, he swung high enough to lean back and see the bright blue sky above him.  He let out a quiet giggle. Then, he got to his favorite part: the jump! He pumped his legs until he got as high as he could go, then he leaped out of the swing! He was so excited that when he landed he jumped and hopped happily.

He thought about playing a game of hop-scotch, when suddenly he saw someone unexpected.

"Bakougou-kun!" He shouted.