𝐇𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐢 『Bakugo Katsuki』

◆Chapter 72◇

"Are you... Ridiculing All Might?"

Miyuki was aghast.

She looked at her father's deadly glare trained on Izuku as he remained frozen in his All Might imitation. She bit her lip, a bubble of nervousness growing in her chest as she watched her dad slowly turn to face the green-haired boy fully.

"You little..." he started, pushing up the rim of his glasses. "What's with that face? What are you trying to do?"

"Oh, well, um...!" Izuku stammered, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.

"You committed this outrage knowing I was All Might's former sidekick?" Sir Nighteye questioned intensely. He approached Izuku and scrutinised his face, pulling at the skin around his eyes.

"Papa..." Miyuki spoke up quietly, noticing how uncomfortable her best friend was as her father looked directly into his eyes.

"All Might's wrinkles are not like that," Sir Nighteye pointed out, his gaze unwavering. "In his normal face, the wrinkles around his eyes are 0.6 cm long. From Silver Age on, they were about 0.8cm long. These days, even unlicensed merchandise specifies which 'age' it's from. Do you not even know that? This is unpleasant. Please leave."

Just like that?! Miyuki thought, her brows furrowing with confused panic.

"The vinegar riverbank incident... Are you not aware of that?" Izuku quickly spoke up, making Sir Nighteye pause in his tracks. "A middle schooler whose Quirk could change water quality was drowning in a river, and All Might saved him. The drowning middle schooler changed the water into vinegar in his panic, and that got into All Might's eyes when he jumped in to save him. This is the face he showed at the interview right after the incident. His smile with narrowed eyes..." Izuku made the face once more. "I chose that face here!"

Miyuki glanced between her father and Izuku. Even though he wasn't able to make him laugh, she supposed appealing to his love of the number one hero was pretty good, too....

But was it working?

Sir Nighteye's expression was inscrutable as he looked over his shoulder at the green-haired boy. When he glanced briefly at his daughter, she looked away quickly, her cheeks tinted a light pink, before making her way to free Bubble Girl from Tickle Hell. His yellow eyes drifted back to Izuku.

"Of course I know about that. It happened before I teamed up with him," Sir Nighteye responded. "They also mentioned it on the Yomiuri TV program, A Look Back."

"Yes, that one!" Izuku agreed, fanboying. "There weren't any villains involved, and it's boring compared to his other work, so it's not really talked about on the fan sites, but I like it... I especially liked the witty response he gave after being thanked by the boy.'The pleasure is mine! Thanks to you...'"

"'... my skin feels ten years younger,'" Sir Nighteye finished.

A small smile made its way onto Miyuki's face, glancing over her shoulder before turning back around to continue removing the cuffs around Bubble Girl's wrists.

"That's it!" Izuku cheered. "I loved the "my skin" part!"

"You... Were you testing me?" Sir Nighteye questioned, inclinations of irritation in his flat tone.

"Oh, no!" Izuku responded, panicked. "It's just that because All Might is a teacher at our school, it's hard to speak much about him, so I got too excited and couldn't help myself..."

"The crux of that incident was the family life of that middle schooler," Sir Nighteye said.

"That's right!" Izuku agreed enthusiastically. "Whether you know that or not makes a big difference in the weight of the words!"