Viridian: The Green Guide

Chapter 11: Anxiety

Izuku had to pause in the middle of putting on his school uniform as the weight of what he'd done last night came crashing down on him. He'd been too tired last night to really process what had happened, but now the panic was back with a vengeance.

He'd punched Eraserhead!

Eraser had to be so mad at him. He'd just been trying to get Izuku to a hospital but then he'd panicked about what would happen if they figured out who he was, which meant that Mom would figure out what he'd been doing, and she would be so worried and scared and he really didn't want to do that to her, so he had to get away, but if he wanted to get away, he had to make Eraser let go of him, and he really wasn't thinking that clearly, and the first stupid thought he'd had was to punch a hero in the nose! Whatever respect Eraser had for him was gone, not that he could've gained that much considering that Izuku was a quirkless middle schooler who couldn't even aim his slingshot correctly, but that didn't matter because it was gone now and he was never going to get it back.

Good work, Deku, his inner Kacchan said, you managed to fuck things up even worse than you ususally do.

He didn't want to have to face Eraserhead again. Maybe he would die before he had to see him! That would be good. Maybe he would go out tonight and there would be some villain attack, maybe even another trigger villain, and Izuku would just step in instead of getting a hero and then it'd all be over quickly and he wouldn't have to deal with Eraser's anger, or Amplifier's disappointment, or Mom's worry, or Kachan's...

Izuku shook his head forcefully, he wasn't supposed to be thinking things like that. Besides, with his luck that probably wouldn't work anyway. Even if everything went well and he died, the fact that he didn't go get a hero for such a big villain would be suspicious, and then what would happen if they realized he'd wanted to...and then they'd look into Kacchan and he wouldn't be able to go to UA and it would all be Izuku's fault!

Izuku shook his head again and winced as he realized he had a headache he'd been ignoring. His ribs hurt more than his head did, though. He knew he probably had a little concussion, but it was nothing compared to that time Kaachan had pushed him off the slide on accident and he'd hit his head, so Izuku wasn't that worried. He shrugged off his shirt so he could put some cream on his ribs, tensing as the cold cream hit his skin. After that, he finished getting dressed and grabbed his backpack. He didn't want to be late for school.

Katsuki tuned out the extras that surrounded him as he ate his lunch. The old hag had packed the extra-spicy curry today, so he knew it was gonna be good.

"Look guys, it's Deku." One of the extras at another table called out and sure enough, Katsuki looked up to see Deku walking into the cafeteria with his shoulders hunched. The extras sitting at his table looked to see how he'd react, but he just scoffed and turned back to his lunch. Heroes didn't pick on their classmates, no matter how much they deserved it, and he was going to be the best hero!

"What's up, Deku?" The extra with extendable fingers asked. "Still alive?"

A small group of their classmates had surrounded Deku by this point and even some of the extras at Katsuki's table had gotten up to go join the fun. The extras were grinning and laughing like Fingers had just made the funniest joke on earth, but Deku himself was just staring silently at the ground.

"Why so quiet?" Another extra, this one with boulders for hair, asked. "Finally realize that no one cares what you have to say?"

Well, that might be true, but it probably wasn't very nice to say. Katsuki knew he was acting like a bit of a hypocrite. It wasn't like anything they were saying to Deku was new. Katsuki himself had always prided himself on being especially creative with his insults, after all, so in comparison, these extra's insults were boring and almost as plain as Deku's face. So it wasn't like the extras were saying anything that Deku hadn't heard before or anything they hadn't heard Katsuki himself say.