It was at that exact moment that he and Katsuki Bakugou made eye contact and then everything descended into chaos.
Izuku's eyes went wide at he stared at his childhood friend and then his entire body decided to activate abort mode. The ramen he was halfway through eating slipped down his throat and he began to choke loudly causing every eye in the restaurant to turn to his suffering form.
Shinso stood up from his chair, "Are you okay?"
He couldn't be bothered to think about his friend worrying about him, he was too worried about the piece of ramen doing the cha-cha slide up and down his esophagus. Tears gathered in his eyes as he struggled to breath unsuccessfully. He stood up and leaned over the table and finally coughed out the little terd, all eyes still staring at him and Shinso fretting over his dying friend.
He straightened up and looked all around him at all of the concerned faces, "Um..." He looked back at a still freaked out Shinso and silently sent him a message that he hoped he got.
Hitoshi stared at Midoriya who had just been on the brink of dying via noodle. It seemed ridiculous considering what the guy did as a night job, but still. He looked into his eyes and the message he got screamed 'ABORT MISSION! ABORT MISSION!' and Shinso wasn't about to argue.
Without any more indication the two boys whipped out their wallets and slammed cash on the table and booked it out of the restaurant. Eyes followed them and murmurs surrounded them as they left, but they didn't pay them any mind.
Once they were far enough away, Midoriya collapsed his back against the wall of a building and seemed to stare into oblivion.
"Uh, you good?"
It took him a moment to process what was just asked, but he eventually choked out, "N-not really."
"Right...is there anything I can do?"
whAT WAS THE PROCEDURE IN THIS KIND OF SITUATION?? HITOSHI DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO FRIEND! THIS WAS OUT OF HIS JURISDICTION.
Midoriya let out a small laugh out of nowhere and Hitoshi found himself getting more and more unsettled by the second. "Uh, Midoriya?"
Another laugh and he shook his head with an unhinged smile, "Of course...of f***ing course! God-" He then proceeded to dish out every curse word that Shinso had known and then some before he finally took in a deep breath and slid down to the ground as he let it out. It was another few seconds before he acknowledged Hitoshi again, "Sorry for, uh, that."
"...you're good?" He was sorry, okay? Forgive him for not knowing what to say in whatever situation they were in at the moment. Actually, he had no idea what was going on. Maybe now would be a good time to ask. "Um, so can I ask what that was all about?"
Midoriya turned his head toward him and looked at him with significantly more tired eyes than before, "I guess. If we're going to be friends, you should probably know since I doubt that it'll go away any time soon."
"Right, uh," Hitoshi looked around, they were alone where they were, but they were still on the sidewalk in the middle of town. It wasn't exactly the most private or comfortable place, but he supposed that he shouldn't be too worried when he had a bada** vigilante with him.
"I don't know if you saw them, but I recognized one of the family's that were in there. Their son, we used to be best friends when we were kids, but we had a...falling out."
"A falling out?"
"Katsuki was an early bloomer. He got his quirk before anyone else in our class and if that wasn't good enough, it just so happened to be a pretty dang good quirk. Everyone started praising him and wanting to hang out with him because they knew that he would become a pro one day and it's always good to be on the good side of a pro hero. I was one of the people who admired him a lot, although mine was genuine because we had already been friends and I had known for a while he would turn out to be great. He started getting cocky and when I didn't end up having a quirk it all fell to pieces. Our friendship, my friendship with all of our other classmates, any peace I might've had in my academic life, everything.
"Long story short, we stopped being friends and he started bullying me pretty badly. I still have some scars from his worst attacks, but that's whatever. Anyway, so then I died, and I saw him at my funeral, but he didn't see me and then we just made eye contact in there and it's just all such a mess. Not to mention everything that just went down with my bastard of a father-" Izuku's words died off as his mind caught up with his mouth. His eyes widened and slowly looked at Shinso who was staring at him with literal plates in his eye sockets.
He hadn't meant to say all that, but he just couldn't help it! He finally had a friend that he could talk to (kind of?) and it was so easy to just dump all of the trauma of his life while he was on the train of self-pity, and he might've revealed more than he was supposed to.
"Uh, so I think I've said a bit too much..."
His friend continued to gape at him before his mouth eventually closed and his eyes went back to their normal size. "I'm sorry, we're not just going to speed right past that, did you say that you died?"
That was what he was concerned about? "Yeah? I thought that you already knew?"
"I mean you and Eraserhead have joked about it before, but I didn't think that you guys were actually being serious!"
"Oh...uh, yeah. I actually can't die."
"Uh huh," Shinso nodded his head while continuing to gawk at Izuku with disbelief, "And how exactly did you find that out?"
"You know what? I'd rather not get into all that right now. That's a whole different box of trauma-"
"Midoriya."
"Okay fine!" He had only known Shinso for a short amount of time, but there was no mistaking that tone in his voice. He wasn't going to take no for an answer. "So, I might've...maybe...triedtokillmyselfaftermyformerchildbestfriendtoldmeto."
He had tried to say it as fast and quiet as he could in an attempt to deflect Shinso, but by the look on the boy's face it was clear that he understood exactly what he had said.
"What?" He let out in a low voice.
"Uh, yeah so anyway it's getting kinda late, maybe we should be-"
"Midoriya, this is serious. You're telling me that friend of yours-Katsuki-told you to kill yourself after years of bullying and tormenting you?"
Izuku nodded gingerly, afraid of what his friend's next reaction would be. He had honestly not seen this coming and didn't know how to respond.
"Does Eraserhead know?"
He had to think about that for a minute, "He knows that I tried to kill myself, but I don't think I ever told him the reason."
"We're going to him right now." Shinso stood up and began walking down the sidewalk.
Izuku scrambled to his feet and called out after him, "Wait, what? Shinso you can't do that!"
"And why not?"
"Because..."
"Because you're scared? You don't want to get Katsuki in trouble?"
As much as he hated to admit it, that was exactly why he didn't want to get Eraser involved. He knew that as soon as he did, the pro would be outside the Bakugou's apartment ready to drag Katsuki out by his hair and have a 'talk' with him. And he didn't think that even Auntie Mitsuki could take him.
"I-" he tried but was cut off by Shinso."
"Nothing. What he did to you is not okay and you need to know that."
"I do know that!" More than he could ever know actually...
That's what happened when you had to relieve all of the tormenting of your childhood over and over again until you just cracked.
"And Eraserhead needs to know too. I don't know exactly what the relationship between you two is, but I know that he cares about you."
Izuku struggled to keep up with Shinso which was extremely surprising, but he had seen mama-bear mode in action before and he knew better than to underestimate it. Something that was also surprising was that they were actually going the right way to Eraser's apartment. He decided to shoot Mic a quick warning text, no doubt he was still there, and he was slightly less terrified of him than of Eraser.
Ten minutes later Izuku had reluctantly guided Shinso to their apartment (with Mic's permission that apparently came from Eraser) and taken him down all of the roundabouts and throw-off roads until they finally arrived outside their door.
Izuku had tried to drag, push, tackle, and beg but there was nothing he could do to deter his friend. Is this what it was like for everyone else? Was his stubbornness this annoying? Probably. But that wasn't the point-
The point was, that there they were. Only a thin wall between them and an unknowingly amount of pissed off Eraser. Izuku was terrified. He could handle him on his own, but to have to protect Shinso too? That was too much, it was hard enough to escape from him alone.
Thankfully? Unfortunately? Izuku's dilemma on whether or not to rip the band-aid off and open the door was thrown out of the window as Shinso knocked before turning the handle and walking right into their apartment.
Did he have a death wish? Was this how he made Eraser feel when he was on a suicidal binge? He'd have to apologize to him some time...
Izuku scurried in after him and gently shut the door behind him. Wouldn't want witnesses to their murders and all that. He walked right into the room with Eraser and Mic sitting on the couch watching a movie and Shinso just frozen five feet from the door.
"Uh, Shinso? You good?" He walked around to see his friend's awestruck face.
It made sense, he guessed. Not everyone saw pros on the regular out of their hero costumes, so he understood how this could come as quite a surprise to him.
Mic stood up first and bounded up to them, "What's up listeners?? I'm so glad you're back Izuku! Shouta was beginning to get boring, and I missed my favorite little gremlin." He slung his arm over Izuku's shoulders and ruffled his hair just enough for it to be annoying, but they were both laughing.
It was crazy how far he'd come with just Mic. He hadn't known the guy a few weeks ago, and now he barely flinched when he touched him.
Somehow, Shinso snapped out of his trance and stared at Izuku and Mic, "Wait, Izuku?"
Izuku's eyes shot to Mic, and he let out a groan.
"Oh sorry! I assumed if you brought him here that you two were on first name basis..."
"It's fine, you didn't know." He looked back at a smirking Shinso, "Izuku is my first name. Call me it if you want, I don't really care."
At that he got another hair ruffling but this one was a bit harder. "Oh shush," Mic called out, "Don't listen to this one. He just doesn't know how to interact with people correctly."
"Yeah, I've noticed."
"Perfect! Then you already decided to be his friend even despite..." He looked at Izuku who glared back at him and being unable to find the correct word he opted for simply gesturing to Izuku.
Izuku's mouth fell open and he thrust his arms out in exasperation, "You just gestured to all of me."
"Right! Oh, don't give me that look Izuku, we both know that you're a lot more like Shouta than either of you want to admit and I would say the same thing about him."
He had to give him that one. It had been a countless number of times that Izuku found himself in the middle of one of the two hero's petty arguments. They weren't actual fights, just the two of them trying to annoy the other and knowing that the best way to do that was to bring Izuku into it. He didn't know whether to be offended or flattered by that, but he decided to just not think about it.
"Anyways! Welcome to Shouta's apartment, I know it doesn't look like much, but if you look past all of the blandness it's actually pretty cozy."
"I heard that!"
"You were meant to!"
Eraser stood up to join the three of them circled in the entryway and nodded at Izuku which he returned. Izuku took a look around, just remembering something important that was missing. He turned back to Eraser with a questioning look, "Where are the cats?"
"We put them up when we heard that we'd have a guest. You know how they can be around new people."
Izuku nodded in understanding. He did, when there was someone new in the apartment the two cats decided that it was their duty to mark their territory and get as much of themselves and their smell on them as possible. So, it was almost impossible for the person to leave because they would most likely have two cats sprawled across them refusing to get up any time soon.
He found it endearing, Eraser found it annoying.
"So, is there a reason that the two of you are here and why you looked like you were accepting death when you walked in?"
Izuku's cheeks burned as he shifted his gaze down as to avoid the hero's stare. "Well..."
"Are you aware of Midoriya's past?" Shinso's voice spoke up for the first time since they arrived, and all attention snapped to his serious tone.
He looked directly at Eraser who seemed a bit confused by the sudden question. "Um, some of it, but I'd bet not everything."
"Shinso, please don't-"
"Shh," Shinso put his finger in front of Izuku's mouth and he was tempted to bite it off just out of spite but was able to restrain himself somehow. "You know about his quirk, right?" Eraser nodded. "And about how he figured out he had it?" This nod was a bit more reluctant.
"I don't know the details...what is this about?"
"We were at a restaurant and saw his childhood bully there. The same bully he used to be best friends with and that had told him to kill himself the day he discovered his quirk."
Eraser's body stiffened and his breath caught. It was subtle to everyone except for Izuku and Present Mic. The two of them exchanged glances to each other before Eraser's head slowly turned towards Izuku and his scrutinizing eyes fell on him.
Izuku felt five inches tall under that stare. It was what he imagined inspired so much fear in his enemies, but he had never actually witnessed it, let alone experienced it. Although he was like seventy-five percent sure that he wasn't angry at him, Izuku's anxiety still spiked, and he had to beat down the urge to apologize profusely with a mental stick.
"He what?"
"Um..." Izuku shrunk back, "It's nothing really, Shinso's just being dramatic and-"
"Did that actually happen?"
"Can you be a bit more specific? Izuku squeaked out cringing away from the slowly approaching hero.
"Did he tell you to kill yourself?"
He knew he couldn't lie to him no matter how much he wanted to. The two of them had grown too close for that. There would be no easy escapes from this one. "...maybe."
Izuku had closed his eyes and prepared for the worst when Mic's voice rang out and Izuku opened his eyes to see the hero restraining Eraser under his arms and pulling him back. "Now, now Shouta. You're scaring the poor boy and you know how he is."
"Let go of me," Eraser jerked out of Mic's hold and glared at his friend, "I'm not so much of an idiot to go after a child on a whim."
Mic glared right back and crossed his arms as the two of the stared each other down. Izuku felt like he was in the middle of something he really didn't want to be in, and he shot his own glare at Shinso who gave him an innocent shrug and moved to stand by his side.
"When it comes to Izuku all of your common sense goes out of the window!"
"That's so not true!"
"So what? Are we just going to pretend that I didn't have to stop you from going after his father and Conductor when you heard about what happened? You were literally in a hospital bed, and I had to physically restrain you."
"That was one time!"
"Because you were on patrol the other time!"
Shinso leaned over to Izuku's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "What are they talking about?"
Izuku simply shrugged, "My useless piece of crap father came back after I died and tried to control me when he found out that I was alive, and this pro hero accidentally killed me this one time."
"I'm sorry, what?" the boy's voice yelled close to his ear and Izuku jumped at the volume of his outburst.
"What?"
The two hero's argument overtook their own and the boys turned to catch the back end of it. "Fine! Fine, I won't do anything unless he tells me to. Happy?"
"Very." Mic snarked at Eraser who glared back. After a few more moments Mic broke their eye contact and looked back at Izuku, "Are you okay? I can't imagine it would've been easy to have all of those memories brought back."
Maybe Izuku wouldn't mention to either of them how often he dreamt of his childhood and all of the torment he went through. They'd probably just get mad again.
"Uh, yeah I'm fine now."
This time Shinso shot him a look that he dismissed with a wave of his hand.
Eraser, who had been keeping quiet ever since talking with Mic, groaned as silence stretched in between them and took a sip from the glass cup that he had obtained sometime during everything. "Can I at least know their name?"
"Shouta-"
"Shut up Hizashi. It's not like I can actually do anything anyways, I just want to know."
Mic sighed and turned back to Izuku, giving him a look that clearly said that he could do whatever he wanted, and he would support him either way. He thought about it for a moment, trying to figure out if this could come back to bite him in anyway, but came up with nothing. He sighed, "I guess... His name is Katsuki Bakugou."
Suddenly the cup shattered, and tiny pieces of glass rained down all over the wooden floors. "His name is what?"