hero's shadow // mha

20) fragmented

Forgetting things can be easy.

It's easy to forget your nonexistent car keys. It's easy to forget to water your fake plants. It's easy to forget where you put your phone.

It's easy to forget where you are. It's easy to forget that you're not in danger. It's easy to forget that you're safe.

Especially when you're running through the city, dodging almost a dozen police officers as they chase after you.

Okay, that's probably the only thing Izuku isn't forgetting anytime soon.

Holy shit, Izuku thinks, I'm gonna be late.

The first day of school and he's already off to a bad start. Just fantastic, huh? In his defense, the morning started out great. He didn't sleep at all last night in favor of testing out his quirks for the umpteenth time, and his right hand is still shaking from all the writing he'd done in his notebook, but that's okay! If anything, he's even more motivated now.

He was ready to go with a coffee in hand and a few fresh notebooks he'd gotten at a dollar store, excited to kick off the school year. Which is really telling since excitement isn't an emotion he feels often unless pizza or quirks are involved. Damn, he really needs to eat at Tony's again for some Friday Night Free Breadsticks.

Another good thing that's happened is that Kacchan gave him a nice backpack from his parents' work to use for school supplies. Izuku always forgets that Mitsuki and Masaru work at a fashion company, so he was surprised when Kacchan threw the bright pink backpack at him.

So, yes, to put it short, he was having a good day. He would've arrived at UA twenty minutes earlier than needed had things worked out; enough time to prepare for the day ahead and calm down his jitters so he wouldn't scare anyone.

But then he ended up stopping a guy from robbing this homeless man on the side of the street, which prompted an entire crowd of people to watch as Izuku smashed the criminal's face into a nearby fire hydrant, breaking his nose.

And okay, that was a complete accident. Izuku was aiming to shove his face into the sidewalk, but the panic rising inside him instead made him miscalculate by just a couple inches. To be fair, though, Izuku was in a rush, as he did not want to get caught doing this today of all days, nosiree.

Tsukauchi is on duty at the moment. Izuku doesn't want to face the detective's wrath, especially since it's one of his busiest work days. The boy would be skinned alive, probably.

But despite his wishful thinking, things just don't go his way.

A police officer, one who obviously isn't familiar with Izuku or his antics, had been in the crowd when it happened. He ran forward, attempting to pry Izuku off of the robber, and had promptly handcuffed the boy when Izuku stood up. Which is kind of a betrayal, seeing as the boy was listening to him and not resisting, but whatever.

Izuku was okay with it at first, figuring that the cuffs would come off once he proved his obedience, but then the officer just had to say: "I'm taking you in for assault, son."

Yeah. Fuck that.

Cue Izuku running through the city, hands still cuffed behind his back, trying to frantically lose the people tailing him among the throngs of workers. It's a busy morning with kids and adults alike going to school and work, so it's pretty crowded on the sidewalks.

"Hey, somebody stop that kid!"

It's almost laughable how not a single person listens to the cop's shout. Izuku zig-zags through the people, trying not to be rude and shove them like he normally does, and eyes a nice pole at the corner of a crosswalk up ahead. It seems to be broken from an accident or villain fight, as the top part of it is missing, leaving behind rough, jagged edges.