Chapter Text
“Remember the rules! Remember the buddy system!” Iida shouts at the 1A students clamoring off the bus. He waves his arms frantically to get their attention.
“We’re meeting back here at 2pm, which gives us exactly three hours and twelve minutes to do our shopping! Do I need to list off the buddies again?” Everyone shakes their heads at his question and continues on with their shopping, many of them with their lists in hand.
Saturdays for the 1A class had become shopping days. Although the school was responsible for keeping snacks and basic toiletries stocked in the dorm buildings, the snacks were always ultra-healthy and tasteless. Many of the students took it upon themselves to stock the shelves of their dorm kitchen with popcorn, chips, candies, or other “fun” snacks. Many of the students also purchased clothes for the days where they didn’t have to don their uniforms. Aoyama and Mina were both known for always coming back to the dorms with new outfits, while many of the other students purchased school supplies or necessities for their hero costumes and training regimens.
“What’s on your list for the weekend, Deku?” Uraraka popped up next to his elbow, causing him to startle and throw his hands up in front of his face.
“Uh, I heard the superhero store is supposed to get in some new All Might trading cards today, and I want to get the first jump on them before anyone else can!” He tries his best to pretend like he didn’t just jump at Uraraka’s appearance next to him.
“ More All Might merch?” She laughs. “Deku, you could run an entire store out of your dorm room alone, and we all know that that’s not even all the merch you own!” He laughs along with her, scratching the back of his neck.
“Well, it’s hard not to want more merch when he’s my idol!” Uraraka just smiles, rolling her eyes jokingly. The two head off in the direction of the merchandise store.
Uraraka was panicking because they had picked each other as buddies for the trip. After Izuku’s run-in with Shigaraki in the mall that one time, UA had decided that having students stick together in pairs or groups would be the safest option if further outings would be allowed. Iida had taken this advice to heart and had taken the lead on creating a sign-up sheet for each student to pick a buddy for that day. The students were generally good about sticking together, but fear of inciting Iida’s wrath as class rep made it all the more prudent to make sure you stuck together like glue.
It hadn’t been weird for Uraraka to see Kirishima and Bakugo or Momo and Jirou heading off together and signing up to be buddies, but she felt strange and tingly when she saw that Deku had also agreed to be her buddy on this trip. Last week she had gotten paired with Tokoyami, as Iida and Deku had signed up before she got a chance to get to the list and Tsu was out with a cold. Don’t get her wrong, Uraraka thought Tokoyami was great, but they just didn’t have much in common and Tokoyami wasn’t much of a talker.
This was her first week where she was paired with one of her closest friends and the excitement of it made her almost want to run away. But yet, she stuck dutifully to Izuku’s side, happy to just be around with him, even if it meant listening to him spew All Might facts that she had heard a hundred times for the next three hours.
He led the way into the hero merchandise shop, which was on the corner of the little marketplace they were in. The marketplace spanned an entire block, and the budding heroes were restricted to just that area. There generally weren’t any of the UA staff around, but the market usually had one or two low-level heroes on patrol, just in case of any petty crimes or thefts.
“Hey, Midoriya!” The shop owner greeted Izuku like they were old friends. Izuku raced up to the counter, the same “small child on Christmas” look on his face that always arrived whenever he stepped foot in the shop. The owner was an older man and had seen a lot of customers in his forty years of running the shop, but Izuku’s excitement for heroes and his merchandise was something that never failed to bring a smile to his face.
“Hello, Mr. Furutani!” Izuku grinned back at him, stopping to look back at Uraraka, who was hovering in the doorway, looking at a stand of hero-themed postcards set up on display in the window.
“I see you’ve brought a girl with you this time, eh?” The shopkeeper gives Izuku a sly smile and a wink. Izuku’s face flushes bright red and he stammers out an excuse about them just being friends.
“Ah, nothing to be ashamed of, son.” The old man laughs. “She’s definitely a beauty.” He throws another sly look at the embarrassed boy before reaching below the counter to unlock the box that contains the new shipment of trading cards he promised Izuku.
While the shop owner is busy, Izuku turns back slightly to, as inconspicuous as possible, look at Uraraka. She’s moved on from the postcards and now is bent down to look at the rows of action figures. The light from the shop window seems to encircle her head and make her glow faintly. Her brown hair turns almost golden in the light and her eyes are filled with mesmerization as she tries to name each of the heroes without looking at the names on the boxes. A small smile reaches Izuku’s lips as he realizes how right the shopkeeper was. How cute she looks with that look of concentration she’s wearing on her face, like the one she wears when they’re studying for a particularly difficult exam.
“Midoriya? You here?” The shop owner snaps his fingers in front of Izuku’s face and Izuku turns back to Mr. Furutani, an apologetic look on his face.
“No worries,” the man laughs, sliding the box of cards across the counter. “Why don’t you look through there and see if I have something you don’t already have.” He smiles, before grabbing the broom sitting against the corner of the counter and heads to the back of the shop, whistling as he works.
Izuku flips through the cards as carefully as he possibly can. He recognizes some of the cards as big-time trading steals, and even folding the corner could reduce the worth of the card by tenfold. He realizes that he has most of the cards already, thumbing through them and putting them in piles on the counter. He hears the distant bell of the shop chime, but is too focused on remembering the specific details of a golden-age All Might card to think about it.
Meanwhile, Uraraka, who had assumed that Izuku had heard her call out she was going to the bathroom across the street, was quietly walking across the road. The intersection where the merchandise shop stood was by far the quietest street of the entire market, as it was the largest shop seated in that small intersection and the only one of any importance to the students. There was a building with a bathroom across the street, a small family-owned law firm diagonally, and an empty building across the street in the other direction.
She walked quickly towards the bathroom, not really even needing to go, but just needed an excuse to take a breath and put some distance between herself and that shop owner, who had definitely noticed her staring at how cute Izuku looks when he’s focused on superheroes. She thought that she was being sneaky about hiding and pretending to look at the limited-edition hero signature stationary, but the shop owner’s sly smirk and not-so-subtle wink told her otherwise. She really just needed an excuse to get out of there for a second before the shop owner mentioned something to Izuku. How embarrassing it would be if she had to watch the man explain she had been staring at Izuku. It would completely make him never want to be her buddy in one of these outings ever again!
Taking a deep breath, she steps into the women’s bathroom and splashes some water on her face. As soon as she had figured out that she and Deku were going to be buddies for the day, she had set to picking out the perfect outfit and makeup combination that would make her look cute, but not like she was trying too hard. Mina had been especially helpful in this, despite her constant teasing of “the date” that the two were going on.
She took the moment in the bathroom to swipe a stray piece of fallen mascara off her cheek and wipe away a smudge of lip gloss. It had started getting colder, so she wore a pink turtleneck sweater, tucked into a black skirt with some flats. Mina said it made her look “alluring” and “irresistable”, but Uraraka really just wanted to go for more of a friendly and sweet kind of look.
After doing a few other touch ups to her hair and makeup, she left the bathroom and continued back across the street to the merchandise shop, hoping that Izuku had had enough time to make his purchase so she wouldn’t have to deal with the shop owner exposing her stalker-ish behavior.
As she walked towards the shop, a large person bumped into her shoulder, sending her spinning to the ground.
“Hey!” She called, picking herself up. She felt strong hands grasp her arm and hoist her up the rest of the way. She stared at the person who had both knocked her over and helped her up, and saw nothing but a pair of piercing blue eyes staring back at her.
“My apologies,” a man’s voice said to her, letting go of her arm and swiping a leaf off her sweater. “I need to be more careful about watching where I am going.” He tipped his hat towards her and walked off, out of sight around the corner of the merchandise shop. Uraraka felt a strange sense of anxiety fall over her. Even though the interaction seemed harmless enough, the man seemed off. Plus, he seemed in a hurry to get away from her.
It’s odd that I was only able to make out his eyes . Uraraka thought to herself as she walked back into the shop. And I hadn’t seen him when I walked out of the bathroom. It’s almost like he materialized out of thin air . She surveyed the small shop, looking around for Deku. Just as she was about to call out his name, the shop owner rounded the corner and said, “He left a few minutes ago, trying to go after you. Didn’t know where you were. I think he assumed you were headed back towards the plaza of the market.”
“Oh! Thanks!” Uraraka said, before exiting the shop and pulling out her phone to call her friend. Man, if Iida ever found out that they had been separated for more than ten minutes, he might die of a heart attack. She selects Deku’s name from her list of contacts and listens to her phone. It’s not even able to ring once before Deku’s panicked voice jumps in her ear, frantically asking where she is and where she went.
“It’s alright! I told you I was going to the bathroom, didn’t you hear me?” She laughs.
“Oh, no. I guess I was too busy looking at the cards.” He breathes a sigh of relief. “Are you back at the merchandise shop?”
“Yeah, do you just want me to wait here for you? How far away are you?” She asks.
“I made it back to the plaza. I thought you would have gone there for some reason.” He feels stupid now, realizing that his thought process didn’t make any sense, and the most logical solution was that she was just across the street in the bathroom.
“It’s alright, I’ll wait on the curb next to the merchandise shop!” She smiles. She’s always loved these conversations with Deku. They make her feel so close to him.
“Alright, I’ll see you in a few minutes! Sorry for taking so long in the shop, by the way.” He starts walking back towards the merchandise shop, a route that he knows by heart.
“Did you get the card you wanted?”
“Actually, yeah! I’ll show you when I get to you!” He says, smiling. He loves talking to her on the phone, even though the anxiety of talking to a girl on the phone hasn’t ceased, even after it became a regular thing for them to do over breaks and such.
He hangs up the phone, putting it in his pocket as he increases his pace towards the shop. If Iida found out that they were each alone for so long, they could be in some serious trouble with him.
Izuku runs into Denki and Sero on the way, and the three exchange a few hellos before Izuku shares that he accidentally left Uraraka alone and Denki exclaims that he better hurry before Iida’s ‘stick-in-the-mud’ senses kick in and he finds one of them first. Laughing, Izuku hurries back towards his friend.
Uraraka, on the other hand, just sits and waits on the curb outside the shop, her arm resting on her knee and her head resting on her hand. She doesn’t know how long it’s going to take Deku to get to her, and as much as she hates waiting, it’s foolish for her to try and meet him halfway, especially when she doesn’t know from what direction he’s coming.
A rustling pair of footsteps from behind distracts her and she feels the shape of a person sit down next to her. Expecting it to be one of her classmates, she turns with a smile, before staring directly into the same pair of blue eyes that she saw earlier. Her smile fades and she wills herself to say something, but nothing comes out. She doesn’t even know what to say. Being aggressive at this point would just get her into trouble, since the man hasn’t posed any sort of threat or danger towards her. But being nice is an invitation for talking, and she is still creeped out from earlier.
“Sitting all alone, are we?” The man’s face is now more exposed, as the collar of his large jacket has separated and she can see a defined jaw sprinkled with stubble and a large smile. His eyes are still the most obvious thing about him, and they seem to bore into her skull while waiting for a response.
“I’m just waiting for my friend.” She smiles weakly, turning her head back towards the road as an effort to show that she’s not looking for conversation.
“Ah, good. Me too.” He settles his weight, directly implying that he has no plans of moving anytime soon.
“Oh, that’s nice.” She says, looking around for Izuku again. He can’t be that far, can he? She stiffens as she feels a hand snake around her waist and rest on her hip. She turns back to look at the man, who is looking away, now donning a mischievous smirk, as if this is some sort of game to him.
She tries to shift her weight and scoot away from him, but he pulls her even closer to him with a strength that Uraraka didn’t know a person with one arm could use.
“Yes, I’m just waiting for a friend.” He laughs. “But my friends take an awful long time to come get me sometimes, so I appreciate the company.”
“Well, I think I should be going,” Uraraka laughs nervously, her heart pounding in her chest. She attempts to stand up, but is yanked back down by her belt loop, which the man has a tight hold on.
“Oh, c’mon, don’t be a drag!” He turns so their faces are inches apart. “It’s always nice to have company while waiting, isn’t it?” A shiver runs down Uraraka’s spine as she hears him. His voice is now sickly-sweet, as if he’s forcing a tone in an attempt to be more trustworthy. Her heart beats harder in her chest, and she begins to rack her brain for ways to get out of this situation that doesn’t involve her elbow slamming into his nose.
She thinks about running again, but as if he’s reading her thoughts, his arm wraps around her waist again and he tightens his hand around her belt loop again. She could make him float, but that might get messy and the school wouldn’t let them out to the marketplace again. No, the best option is to just sit and play nice until I see someone from class, and hopefully that’ll be enough to scare him off. She thinks to herself, trying as hard as she can to stifle the urge to burst up from her seat on the curb and float herself up to the top of the nearest building. She thinks about maybe trying to wave down the shopkeeper, but one glance behind her and she realizes that he’s deep in conversation with someone on the phone with his back turned to her.
“You look a little on edge, my dear. Is everything alright?” His smile is big, much past the point of simple nicety. His tone seems like he may be on the verge of laughter.
“I’m fine, just anxious to see my friend.” She smiles weakly.
“Yes, well, friendship is one of life’s biggest blessings.” He tightens his grip on her belt loop. She’s waiting for him to do anything towards her that would give her a reason to float him into the sun. She wants so desperately just to use her quirk on him, to just put an end to the discomfort that’s sitting roughly against her ribcage, but she knows that drawing attention to something like this would ruin the day for everyone and prevent the class from going to any more outings like this.
Suddenly, the man stands up, jerking her up with him. Crying out, Uraraka pulls down her skirt from where the pulling on the belt loop brought it up her hips. The man apologizes with a sense of taunting behind the words, and then quickly shifts his grip to grab her wrist instead of her belt loop.
He’s got such a hold on my hand that if I wanted to use my quirk, it would be almost impossible to touch him! Uraraka realizes, a heavier panic setting in her chest. The man starts to try to walk away, still clutching her wrist, and Uraraka remembers something her mom told her when she was little.
“Regardless of quirk, of strength, or of threat,” her mom had told her as a small child. “If someone grabs you and tries to pull you with them, you scream. Scream so loud that everyone’s attention is drawn and you make a scene, even if you feel small and scared.” And so Uraraka opens her mouth, looks the man dead in the eyes, and screams.
Izuku is barely two streets away when he hears a voice yelling. It’s faint, but it sounds distressed. He follows the sound of the voice, changing his light jog to a run as he realizes the voice is Uraraka’s. He sprints down the streets, hoping that she’s still in front of the merchandise shop. From a distance, he can see a tall man in a long, thick coat with a hat that casts a shadow over his face tugging on her wrist. The man has a firm grasp on her wrist, and has it turned in such a way that Uraraka wouldn’t be able to use her quirk against him, especially if he has a decent amount of strength.
“Hey!” Izuku yells, catching both their attention. He skids to stop in front of them, surveying the man and glancing at Uraraka’s relieved face. “What’s going on?”
The man looks Izuku up and down before making a show of lifting his arm up and dropping Uraraka’s hand. He puts his hands in front of his chest and takes a step back.
“I don’t want any trouble, now.” he laughs. “You kids are from UA, right?”
“You didn’t answer my question.” Izuku says instead.
“And you didn’t answer mine.” The man grins. “I guess that makes us even.” He turns to walk away, getting a few paces before turning back around and says, “I’m sorry for the trouble, miss Uraraka.” Uraraka’s eyes widen and Izuku takes a few steps towards her.
“What happened? Are you alright?” He asks.
“I’m okay. He grabbed on to me and tried to get me to go with him.”
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
“He knew my name.” Uraraka’s eyes meet Deku’s. “I never told him my name and I’ve never seen him before in my life.”
Despite Izuku’s insistence, Uraraka refused to file any sort of claim with the police or patrolling heroes. Of course she didn’t reveal her real reason, but just told him that she didn’t want to cause more work over something that didn’t matter much anyways.
“Are you sure ?” He asks her.
“Positive.” She smiles. “There’s no use. Besides, we still have a little over two hours left, we might as well make the most of it.” But something is off, and Deku can tell that it really rattled her. He realizes that nothing he says is going to make a difference, so he instead just takes a deep breath and continues on, following her towards the mochi stand.