Glass Heart

Glass Heart - Chapter Sixteen

There's so many shops! How can so many different items and areas be filled in one part of the city?

Izuku swore he saw a park in the mall somewhere.

"Is there a shop for everything...?" He whispered to himself in awe.

"Pretty much." Shouta replied, chuckling when Izuku ducked his head down in embarrassment. "Come on, let's grab you some furniture first."

"Yay wardrobes!" Hizashi cheered, as he ran ahead. Izuku stayed by Shouta's side, tightly gripping his hand. The high amount of concentrated people in the small building had him nervous, worryingly tightening his grip.

"Kid?" Shouta asked, concerned. Izuku simply responded by shuffling closer to him and burying his face into Shouta's leg. Whenever anyone got too close, Izuku began to gently shake.

"I didn't realise being around so many people at once would be so overwhelming for you..." Shouta sighed, a worried expression on his face. "I guess you must've been forced to remain at your old house for most - if not all - of your spare time. If you don't want to shop today, we can simply go now and return another time."

Izuku looked up, wanting to nod, but feeling his subconscious holding him back.

If you can't face your fears head on, then how will you become a hero?

Izuku took a deep breath.

"No - I can do this!"

---TimeSkip---

Izuku skipped along the bottom floor of the mall, swinging around some bags with new clothes in joyfully. He had no idea shopping could be so fun!

At first Izuku refused to ask for anything, but when Shouta insisted they were getting items either way, he started making small comments and preferences. He got some plain hoodies and shirts - with a couple snarky shirts thrown in for good measure - some plain trousers, socks etcetera. Shouta had even given Izuku a small metal keychain, that Izuku had attached to his trousers.

Without Izuku realising, Hizashi had thrown in a few plushies that he's spotted Izuku looking at, and Shouta had added some hero merch which he bought in secret, after asking Izuku who his favourite heroes were (All Might, Eraserhead and Present Mic - while as an underground hero Shouta wasn't going to be able to find some of his own merch, he grabbed a bunch of All Might and Present Mic merch for him) and a few new notebooks.

They had just left the furniture store, deciding it'd be best if it was one of their last stores. However they still needed to go to the shoe store, and Shouta had vastly underestimated how heavy a wardrobe, chest of drawers, desk, chair and rug were.

"Z - Zashi..." He whispered, struggling under all the weight. "Please help me take these to the car."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you, could you repeat?" Hizashi replied, pretending to look completely innocent - which didn't work, as he had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.

Shouta wasn't in the mood for games. "Shut up and help me!" He yelled, knees starting to buckle. Hizashi chuckled and lifted a few boxes of furniture items off of Shouta.

"Izuku, we'll be right back. Would you be able to stay here while we get to the car? We wouldn't be able to keep an eye on you outside because we'll be focused on this, so you're safer here, with so many people."

Izuku nodded and promised Hizashi he wouldn't leave the mall, and Shouta and Hizashi left. Whether Hizashi was purposefully trying to knock the boxes from Shouta's grasp he wasn't sure, but Shouta didn't look too pleased with him.

He walked over to the fountain in the middle of the mall ("How fancy is this mall?" Izuku had whispered when he first saw it), and sat at the edge of it, dipping his fingers in the water. A few people had chucked coins into it, but Izuku had no coins, and could therefore make no wishes.

After a few minutes, Izuku began to hear some strange sounds coming from a fairly abandoned part of the mall. His curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to take a closer look.

In this corner was only a couple shops - with the other nearby ones not being used - and with the lack of popularity those stores had in combination with the food hall at the other end of the mall - Izuku couldn't see anyone in the abandoned corner.

Well, at first he couldn't anyway.

As he got closer, he heard more traumatising sounds. The sound of laughter and crying being among them.

"Haha, this is what you get for speaking out loud, you worthless villain!"

The voices started to become clearer, Izuku being able to make out multiple voices.

"Maybe now you'll think twice before entering an area full of poor civilians!"

"If we weren't here, I'm sure you would've killed them by now - we're basically heroes!"

Izuku couldn't take it anymore.

"NO, YOU'RE WRONG!" He shouted, darting closer to the corner. In his hurry, the keychain broke away from his trousers and landed on the floor. He spotted a small gap between two stores as he got closer, that wasn't entirely visible from the start, and darted towards it.

Once he ran up to the area, he was forcibly dragged into the gap. He gasped in surprise, before glancing upwards at the scene.

Three slightly taller boys were grinning devilishly at Izuku, with a bruised and bloody purple haired boy, smaller than the other boys - and around the same height as Izuku - was lying on his side on the floor, tear stains marking his face.

Oh hell no.

And Hitoshi has been introduced! Sorry but there's not going to be ShinDeku, while I do love that ship, it'll eventually be TodoDeku.

Anways, hope you're enjoying the new year. It's only just started for me, but I'm wishing this year the best. It snowed this morning, so I really feel like we're starting the year with a clean slate!! (written 1st of January)

See you guys again soon - hope you enjoyed the chapter!

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊