hero's shadow // mha

7) time will tell

It's Izuku's turn to hit his friend.

The rest of their time at the mall passes by in a blur. They banter back and forth like usual, Kacchan still being upset at him for some reason. At one point, the explosive teen tries to fight an entitled lady for running into them and not apologizing.

Izuku was forced to hold him back, having to ignore the voices in his head that were cheering the boy on.

Both teens have a couple bags in their hands now, full of clothing and smaller accessories, and they decide to rest on a bench near the middle of the mall on the first floor. The open air is a blessing, and they both start to relax for at least a few seconds.

Kacchan is on his phone, scrolling through the news and some of his social medias, while Izuku is looking around, notebook in hand.

Analyzing. Watching people.

He's always been observant. Hell, there's been quite a few times back then when Kacchan would call him a stalker just to get under his skin. He kind of is, honestly. The only exception being that he doesn't actually follow people around unless he has a reason to. Probable cause and all that.

He just sits back and observes most days.

There's a fountain.

Izuku blinks at the sudden thought, not knowing where it came from. Okay, and?

Jump in it.

What the fuck. Why would he do that? He's still healing. His bandaged torso hurts like hell, so why would he make it worse?

Why not?

Oh shit. The voice is right.

In a moment of incredibly poor judgement, Izuku slips the hoodie off of his back, revealing the monstrosity of a shirt underneath. He takes off his shoes as well, not wanting to ruin them.

Kacchan glares at him over his phone. "What the fuck are you doing. I'm not sitting next to you looking like that."

"I'm jumping in the fountain."

The boy blinks, mouth slightly agape in disgust. He looks disappointed, but not surprised. "You dug a bullet out of your stomach not twelve fucking hours ago. What makes you think that's a good idea."

Izuku just shrugs.

"You did a shitty job at stitching yourself up, too. How did you even get all the pieces out?"

Izuku rubs at his neck nervously. "Well."

He turns on him suddenly. "You did, didn't you?"

"Of course I did! And it doesn't matter now. I'm jumping in the fountain, and you can't stop me."

So what if he's deflecting? He does not want to remember last night. It turns out that if you poor enough liquor onto an open wound, you'll eventually become numb all over. So yeah, he'd had a lot of fun.

"Deku, I swear to fucking—"

Izuku sets his own phone into one of his discarded bags on the bench before jumping up. He has a clear path to the fountain, so this is gonna be lit.

He strides a few steps and leaps up, foot touching the edge of the wall holding the water, and promptly does a belly flop.

There's gasps and laughter coming from all around him, and the water splashes up like a wave. Izuku sloshes around in the surprisingly clean water for a few more seconds, giddy, right up until he hears shouted voices. Mall cops.