Devil Within

Chapter III - Wicked Games

Midoriya reassured her, "I wanted to find Iida-kun and Todoroki-kun, anyways. I'll catch you later."

"Alright!" The girls turned back to their game. Midoriya fished the gum out of his mouth and, when he was sure they were engrossed in their game again, pressed it into Uraraka's hair before turning and walking away, whistling innocently.

Asui glanced back at him, "Midoriya-chan, did you just—?"

The guilty boy sped up and ran off before she could finish her sentence. He came to a stop when he reached Todoroki and Iida, who were about to start a game of air hockey. "Hey, guys!"

"Ah, Midoriya-kun! Would you like to join us in a game of air hockey?" Iida offered politely.

"Sure! It'll be two against one, so who—"

"Hold it right there." The students turned to see a boy, possibly around ten years old, stood with his arms crossed. He was glaring at Midoriya and jabbed a finger in his direction. "I want to play against you!"

Iida and Todoroki gave the boy and then their classmate a puzzled look. "Do you know this child?" Todoroki asked.

Midoriya shrugged, "Never seen him before in my life."

"Liar! You stole my chewing gum!" The kid accused.

"I apologise, but that is ridiculous," Iida stated. "Midoriya-kun would never participate in such delinquent actions."

"Well, maybe MIDoriYA-KUn isn't who you think he is," the stranger shot back. "I'm Yuki. Now let's play!"

"That's 'Midoriya-san' to you," Midoriya corrected coldly.

Yuki scowled, "Whatever. Stop faltering." He stepped up to the table and placed a coin inside, grabbing a blue striker. Todoroki and Iida stepped forwards but Yuki held up a hand, "Not you two. This is between me and him!"

Todoroki looked at Midoriya. "I don't think he likes you very much."

"Really? I never noticed," Midoriya replied sarcastically. He took his place on the opposite side of the table and snatched the red striker. Iida placed the puck in the centre of the table and the game began. Midoriya jerked his hand forward and his striker hit the puck, and almost Iida's hand. It slid into the hole on Yuki's side before he could even react.

"H-hey! That wasn't fair!" The kid complained.

"Life isn't fair, kiddo. Deal with it," Midoriya deadpanned.

Yuki scrunched up his face and took the puck out of the table, putting it back in place. Midoriya repeated his previous action before Yuki could even reposition himself and it slipped into the hole again. "Stop!"

"I thought you wanted to play," Midoriya queried, frowning at him.

"I do!" Yuki snatched the puck and threw it to him. "You place it this time!"

Iida leaned in to mutter to Midoriya, "Maybe go a little easier on him. He's just a child, after all."

"Which is exactly why he needs to be taught a lesson," Midoriya replied simply, tossing the puck up and down in his hand. He put it in the middle of the table and Yuki quickly hit it. However, he wasn't fast enough and his opponent whacked it back. Yuki managed to block it and the puck slid back and forth between the two for a while.

"Heads up," Midoriya said as he slammed his striker into the puck so hard that it bounced off the edge of the table and hit Yuki directly in the face. The boy stumbled backwards, clutching his nose in pain.

"Ow! That hurts!" Yuki whimpered.

Iida gasped, "Midoriya-kun!" He hurriedly went over to comfort the young boy but he pushed him away.