Deku x Shaggy: Confused Love

Trust has been Aquired

The sunshine glinted bright off of the towering, perfect buildings of UA, a shining extension of the 'heroes' within. The serenity in the air could almost convince one that nothing could go wrong, picture perfect families within a picture perfect city far removed from the horrors of real life.

For Shaggy though, the bright light of a new day did little to banish the lingering feeling of ominous dread. Had he messed up their plan with his little outburst? To think that he could have already messed up his goal did not necessarily surprise him, but it did nothing to help his self-perceived pointlessness. What good was he if he couldn't manage a conversation with a goddamn high schooler?

A sound that personified how he was feeling caught his attention: crying. Not anything super dramatic, but quiet, a clear attempt to hide and force oneself to calm. Shaggy followed the sound around the dorms, finding, to his surprise, Deku sitting on the back steps, head low and buried in his arms.

He was stunned to say the least, definitely not expecting to find the kid crying and at a loss as to what to do. "Hey, man, you... okay?" he finally muttered, shifting awkwardly.

Deku's head snapped up, eyes wide with surprise before he recognized who was next to him, lowering his head back to his arms, "Y-yeah," he sniffed, "I'm fine. Just give me a moment, and we can train."

Shaggy sighed, yeah right the kid was going to be 'fine'. Walking over to the steps and taking a seat next to the distressed child, Shaggy settled in for what was probably going to be an uncomfortable attempt at being a shoulder to cry on, "What happened, man?"

Deku smiled slightly, most likely expecting Shaggy to not let it go, "Do you really want to know?"

"There's no harm in talking about it, is there? What do you think's gonna happen?" Shaggy responded bluntly, "Man, I'm not, like, gonna hate you or anything for talking about your day."

The boy deflated a little, settling his head back into his arms as he glared at the court behind the dorms, "It's just... stuff happened today, and I guess it all just kinda stacked up until I broke."

Shaggy glanced at him, a little worried by that wording, "Wanna, like, be more specific?"

"I've always thought being a hero is what I wanted to do," Deku stated, glare softening to an unfocused gaze, "But ever since I was in school there were people that told me I wasn't cut out for it."

"Yeah, there's always going to be people wanting to put you down, man." Shaggy replied solemnly, "Some people just can't leave you to your business."

Deku gave a small nod, "I just... I thought once I got into UA and started succeeding that people would start believing in me. I thought I'd be good enough."

"Who says you're not, man?" Shaggy asked, "I mean, you do well in your classes and stuff right?"

Another nod was his response, but Deku didn't look any happier, "I've... gotten into trouble a few times, but I'm on track to being a hero according to my teachers... but..."

"It's your classmates isn't it." Shaggy deduced. Peers were just about the worst thing for anyone's confidence.

Deku smiled shyly, a dead give away that Shaggy had found him out, "It's not like I don't have friends, but..."

"It's Bakugou, isn't it." Shaggy sighed dryly.

Deku deflated, "Yeah." he said almost imperceptibly.

"Tell me, man, why do you, like, keep hanging around him? Why do you care what he thinks?"

"He was just... always so amazing. When we found out what his quirk was when we were kids, it was hard to not think that he was the coolest person ever; awesome quirk, tons of confidence, drive, everyone loved him." Deku's eyes sunk lower and lower into his arms, and Shaggy couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him. He knew how it felt to idolize somebody, but at least Shaggy was idolizing a good person.