A/N: Just want to say this right now, this is not a ship! Shinso and Izuku are just friends in this story.
~ ~ ~
A year quickly passed by, Izuku had just turned 13 a little over a month ago. At this point, he didn't celebrate, all that the day meant to him now was another year alive. Unfortunately, Yui had overheard him mention it and begged him to make a cake that he ended up taking home afterwards. Surprisingly, Eraserhead took a piece to go when offered, though Izuku knew it was probably for his husband, President Mic, who apparently loves sweets. Don't get him wrong, Izuku did love sweets, but he also was a vigilante who needed to keep fit and healthy so he tried to lay off desserts and candies when he could.
Today though, was an ordinary day, besides the appearance of a certain lilac-haired boy. He has been showing up on Saturdays around 9 am for the past 2 weeks, making this his third visit. Izuku hadn't gotten a name yet and had been mentally calling him "Minizawa" because he reminded Izuku of his favorite sleep-deprived hero. The deep eye bags and bored, monotone voice was so similar that Izuku had almost looked up the hero and kid's records to see if they were related. He restrained himself, but it was strange.
'Minizawa' walked up and ordered his usual black coffee and a chocolate chip muffin. 'Aizawa gets the same things, except the muffin is blueberry'. It was surreal to say the least. Izuku happily began the kid's coffee and plated the muffin before bringing it out.
"Here you are!"
'Minizawa' nodded in response. He only ever talked when making an order, but Izuku was determined to get a name today. There were only two other customers who were college students that came here often to work on their laptops, so Izuku could take a short break.
"My name is Megumi Izuku! I've seen you here a few times now, so I thought I'd introduce myself."
The kid (can he call him a kid even though he is taller than Izuku?) simply looked up at him with slight shock and weariness. Izuku just kept his warm smile on and waited for a reply. 'Minizawa' shifted in his seat before looking down at his hands.
"...Shinso Hitoshi"
"Nice to meet you Shinso-kun, I was wondering how old you were since you seem about my age." Damn his social awkwardness, how do people make conversations.
"um... I'm 13" Izuku smiled
"Wow, I'm 13 too! I totally thought you were older than me!"
The one-sided conversation continued. With Shinso gradually making more comments and asking Izuku a few questions. In the end, he got Shinso to chuckle at some stupid insomniac jokes before another customer came in and he had to get back to work. When Shinso left, Izuku called out a goodbye which got him and small wave from the 'Minizawa' Shinso. Despite the lack of conversation from Shinso's side, Izuku had been happy when the boy started to reply more near the end.
~ ~ ~
A few weeks passed by and Shinso was getting more talkative. So far Izuku knew a fair amount about the boy. He was an insomniac who wants to become a hero and doesn't have many friends, probably related to his quirk. Oh, and he loves cats and coffee, the most important facts. Izuku never asked about his quirk since he always stiffened or shuffled nervously when something similar was brought up. Izuku had held off researching the boy since he wanted to make friends with Shinso himself, plus he had no reason to, the kid wasn't a threat as far as he could tell. Seeing that he fought 'threats' every night, he was confident that Shinso was not one.
Izuku was now waiting in excitement for his new friend(?) to come in once more. It was 8:50 and Saturday, so he would definitely arrive soon. While wiping down a table at the front of the shop, he looked out the glass and saw Shinso walking while on his phone just down the street, making Izuku smile.
However, the smile was quickly dropped from his face when a group of three boys came up behind Shinso and pushed him towards an alleyway right next to the café. Shinso didn't want to talk about his quirk and those boys were acting just like Izuku's old bullies when he still went to school years ago, Izuku wasn't dumb. Knowing what was about to happen, he rushed out after calling out to Yui that he would be right back.
Izuku was practically seething in anger when he saw his new friend on the ground, surrounded by the three boys. The leader, he assumed, was taunting Shinso with insults about his 'villain quirk' and how he could 'never be a hero' both of which, pissed Izuku off even more as his own memories of Kacchan resurfaced. Izuku couldn't take it anymore.
Shinso met his eyes, fear and shock swimming in them, as Izuku moved up behind the leader silently, the bully too caught up in his jeering to notice the small boy. Not that he would let him, he was a vigilante who had exceptional stealth skills after all. Without warning, Izuku grabbed the leader's collar and pulled him backwards sharply, a small cry of shock escaping him.
Everyone was frozen as the leader bully landed on his ass. After a moment, the bullies seemed to realize that this 'savior' in front of them was shorter than them and was probably younger and weaker. Of course, they couldn't be more wrong, but Izuku was fine with them underestimating him, it gave him the advantage.
"Why are you defending a villain?" Lacky 1 sneered.
"Trying to play hero? Get lost." Lacky 2 scoffed, literally and figuratively looking down on him.
Izuku raised an eyebrow coldly, holding back his bloodlust for now. "Villain you say? Have any of you actually met a villain before?"
Apparently, that just made them angrier, especially the leader whose face was now red from embarrassment and anger at the small kid who caught him off guard.
"What are you talking about pipsqueak?"
"As if you would know! This guy is a damn villain!"
"Go play hero somewhere else shorty!"
Izuku almost wanted to laugh, they had watched him pick up their leader by the collar of his shirt to throw him down and they seriously kept picking a fight while thinking he was some small, scrawny kid. It would be hilarious if Shinso wasn't still on the ground, scared for him and still shaking a bit. Time to wrap this up.
"Actually, I think it's time for you three to get lost, I have to get back to work and you guys are pissing me off." He gave them a sharp smile and a hateful glare through his eyes.
They stupidly decided to charge. 'Well, this is just self-defense'. A few moments later, the three kids were on the ground, one with a bloody nose and another with a bruised arm. Seeing that they weren't a match, they begrudgingly rushed away, calling out a few insults once they were far enough away.
"You're just as much of a villain, freak, next time we won't lose!"
Izuku gave a dry laugh before calling back, "As if you weren't literally the villains here, you can't beat me so just fuck off!" Clapping his hand together Izuku turned to face a curled up Shinso, who was starting to hyperventilate. His anger faded to concern.
'Shit', Izuku thought, 'I was so focused on the bullies in my anger that I forgot Shinso was probably in shock from me seeing him like this'. He took out his phone and began to play a calming instrumental song that Izuku used for himself when he had panic attacks before approaching the boy.
"Hey", he spoke softly, "can I come sit next to you Shinso?"
There was a pause of silence before the purple-hair boy nodded slowly, still in a daze. With that, Izuku shuffled to sit down on the ground a few inches away from Shinso and asked him to breathe with him. After a few deep breathes together combined with the gentle music and murmurs of encouragement from Izuku, Shinso relaxed and looked away from him.
"...thanks..."
Izuku gave a gentle smile and put away his phone. "It's no problem, I have this song saved and practice breathing exercises for myself."
Shinso glanced over, a bit shocked but also comforted. Izuku guessed that he normally doesn't get help with attacks and didn't know anyone in a similar situation.
Standing up, Izuku dusted off his pants quickly before extending a hand to the taller boy, "come on, let's get inside, we could probably both use a coffee."
Shinso accepted the hand and let Izuku lead him into the café where a worried Yui was cleaning off a table. When she saw them, she started fussing about how Izuku had worried her by leaving so suddenly. He just comforted her that it wasn't anything serious and asked if he could take a break for a moment. After getting confirmation, Izuku moved over to Shinso who was sitting in his normal booth, looking down in thought.
"Hey, did you get hurt anywhere? We have a first aid kit in the back."
Shinso just shook his head before wincing slightly at the movement.
Izuku slowly reached his hand out and looked over his face. There was a small cut on his jaw and probably a bruise as well. Without a word, Izuku went and grabbed the kit before crouching down slightly in front of the taller, now sitting boy.
"I can do it mys-"
"Its fine, I'm not letting you do it without a mirror nor after an attack", Izuku cut him off with a smile, leaving no room for negotiation while gently dabbing disinfectant on the wound.
Shinso just looked at the ground in silence while Izuku bandaged up his jaw, equally silent. Once finished, Izuku decided that he needed to talk first. So he packed up the kit and sat down across from him, the kit sitting next to him in the booth.
"They were right...you'll just get picked on too for siding with a 'villain'"
Apparently, he didn't need to start the conversation, thank goodness cause he had no idea how. But the way Shinso had called himself a villain made Izuku wish he had hurt those bullies more.
"What do you mean? Are you a villain?"
Honestly, Izuku wanted to ask a lot of questions because he didn't like not knowing things that other people did, but he held his tongue. Shinso would get overwhelmed, and he might trigger him again, especially if he asked about his quirk.
"No! I want to be a hero but... I- My quirk... it's not... it's not good...or heroic..."
Izuku hummed, "do you mind telling me what it is? If you want to?"
Shinso shook his head, "you should know... it's- it's called brainwashing." He spoke the last two words in a whisper.
Izuku's eyes widened and Shinso braced for Izuku to yell at him or get up and leave. Instead, the black-haired boy smiled and began to ramble excitedly.
"Oh my gosh, that would be perfect for hero work! Especially as an underground hero, you could make villains turn themselves in without a fight and easily dispel any hostage situations! Oh! And you could use some cool support gear, like a voice changer and maybe a scarf like Eraserhead. I know you like him and so do I! He is just like you, his quirk affects other people but doesn't strengthen himself. Maybe you could intern with him one day! I would be so jealous if you did. Not to mention- WAIT ARE YOU OK?"
Izuku cut himself off as he saw tears begin to fall down Shinso's face. Did he say anything wrong? Maybe he had guessed wrong about Eraserhead? Or perhaps he had-
"yeah, I'm fine it's just... no one has ever told me that kind of things before..."
'Thank nezu, those are happy tears', he thought, "I'm serious here, trust me, I study heroes in my free time, and some of the best heroes are like Eraserhead with 'weak' or 'non-heroic' quirks. The top heroes like All Might and that flaming trash can of a number 2 hero are only popular because of their flashy quirks, but they honestly cause more damage at times with their lack of restraint. I mean they practically put half their paycheck back into property damages alone" Izuku rolled his eyes dramatically and Shinso chuckled.
After talking about heroes, Izuku asked more about Shinso's quirk. The boy was nervous, but answered and was pleasantly surprised with how the other just smiled and talked excitingly about possibilities and now it could be used in heroics. But then, Shinso asked the dreaded question Izuku had been avoiding.
"So what's your quirk? I don't mean to pry, I was just curious..."
Izuku laughed as Shinso looked away with a slight tint of pink embarrassment to his cheeks. "Well, um... the funny thing is, I kinda, don't... have one?"
Shinso's head snapped up, looking at him with wide eyes, but Izuku decided to just be blunt.
"I'm quirkless"
There was a silence and Izuku worried that maybe even Shinso would hate him now. It wasn't likely knowing him, but years of rejection made Izuku's mind buzz with worry.
"...Really?"
It was said with a slightly shocked tone, but no malice or disgust which made Izuku inwardly sigh in relief.
"Um, yeah? I got the whole extra joint in my pinky toe and everything" He rubbed his head nervously, letting out a small laugh at the end.
"Wow" Shinso leaned back, "that's impressive, I was thinking you might have some strength after earlier or maybe an analysis one with you knowledge of heroes, but damn."
Izuku just smiled, happy for his acceptance and kind words. "Thanks, you can probably guess, but I was... bullied too before I moved to online classes a few years ago."
Picking up his coffee, Shinso nodded and sipped at the hot drink. The next half hour was spent with them talking and drinking coffee. Yui had even insisted that they take their time and was fine working for a bit on her own since it wasn't busy at the time.
But, eventually Shinso needed to head home and work on some homework.
"You can bring it here next time if you want Shinso-kun, I can even help you if you want" Izuku told him as they walked towards the door
"Hitoshi"
"huh?" Izuku looked up at the taller boy who rolled his eyes and looked away.
"You told me to call you Izuku, so it's only normal for you to do the same" Izuku smiled brightly.
"Sure thing Toshi!"
"Whatever Zuku..."
The nickname made Izuku giggle and he asked to trade phone numbers. After Hitoshi was out of sight, Izuku screamed internally. He had a real friend. And now he was going to help said friend become a hero no matter what, he would even fight the number one hero if he so much as hesitated to tell Shinso he could be a hero or flat out turn his dream down. Just like he had denied Izuku all those years ago.