Weird Names

They arrived at the Viran pub together.

Surprisingly (or maybe not since he did become a regular patron here), a couple of people drunkenly cheered upon seeing Kacchan enter the establishment. Apparently, he was still famous in some parts of the university.

"You have a lot of friends," Deku said, his tone somewhat accusing.

Kacchan could only scoff.

"Haven't seen you here since--" A girl with purplish-pink skin appeared, nursing a half-empty glass of vodka. "Why, hello there. You must be that Deku boy Bakugo has been talking about--"

"Knock it off, Panda-Eyes." Katsuki took the glass away from her. "Where's shitty hair? He shouldn't be leaving you alone drunk like this."

"Pshaw," This 'Panda-Eyes' girl laughed wholeheartedly. "Enough about him, aren't you gonna introduce us to each other...?"

"No."

"But why?" Panda-Eyes whined.

"Ugh," Kacchan was really patient with this girl who was more or less clinging to him like gum.

They must be close.

"We aren't," Kacchan clarified.

"We are," She beamed.

Deku apparently said that out loud, he felt a blush creeping up on his cheeks.

"You shouldn't really run off like that, Ashido." A man with a more explosive version of Kacchan's hairstyle but in the shade of red joined in, most likely talking to 'Panda-Eyes'. "Oh, hey there, Bakugo."

"Shitty hair," Kacchan nodded cooly.

"Seriously, bro, stop it with the weird nicknames." But he honestly looked like he didn't mind. "Oh, you must be Deku. I'm Kirishima Eijiro." He offered a hand to Deku.

"And I'm Ashido Mina, but just call me Mina!" Mina gleefully joined in, offering her hand in the mix.

Deku awkwardly took both of their hands at the same time and bowed. Both of them hollered. Deku felt like an idiot.

"I like coloring my skin purple to express my inner Alien Queen-ness," Ashido explained out of nowhere. "Oh, Midoriya-kun, you've been staring at me for a while now! Don't worry, you're not the first one to ask!"

"I'm sorry," Deku averted his gaze, making her laugh even louder.

"I'm Red Riot!" Kirishima proudly exclaimed it seemed like he was drunker than what he looked. "And Bakugo's Ground Zero!"

Deku look bewildered. Bakugo was irritated but said nothing.

"How about you, Midoriya?" Kirishima suddenly rested his arm on his shoulder. "What was your 'hero' name when you were a kid?"

"All Might Junior," Bakugo answered for him, knocking down Kirishima's arm at the same time. "also, hands off."

"Arm off," Ashido cheekily corrected.

"This is stupid," Kacchan clicked his tongue and turned his heels. "I'm just gonna go to Shigaraki. Deku, come with me."

Deku could only nod and bow in farewell as Kacchan dragged him away from his newfound acquaintances. They both waved at them carefreely.

"They seem like nice people," Deku said.

"No comment,"

Even with the sheer crowd of people in Viran Pub, it was relatively easy to find Shigaraki Tomura partly because of his teal hair sticking out of the crowd like a sore thumb or maybe it was just the menacing vibe he exuded wherever he went.

"Shigaraki,"

The aforementioned person was currently making out with a blond girl with dual messy buns. Kacchan instinctively hid Deku behind him. After a minute, they finally separated to take a deep breath.

"Bakugo-kun," Shigaraki greeted back, wiping the trail of saliva off his face. "Oh, and you brought Midoriya with you."

The blonde woman perked up upon hearing Midoriya's name. "Izuku?" She gasped, a bit too excitedly for Kacchan's taste. Toga Himiko's cat-like eyes sparkled about seeing him, like a kid presented with a new toy. "Izuku, I haven't seen you since forever!"

Toga proceeded to pounce on him but Bakugo immediately blocked her way before she could do so.

"I remember telling you that I hit girls," Katsuki started cracking his knuckles. "Or maybe you prefer a demonstration?"

"No need to get violent, Bakugo-kun." Shigaraki snaked his hand around Himiko's waist. She purred and rested her face on the curve of his neck. "I already warned you, Toga, about what you did to Midoriya-kun last time. You should've learned your lesson."

"Yes, boss." Himiko grinned droopily as if she wasn't threatened just a second ago. "Oh, Dabi! You look charming as ever!" She started trailing after a guy with hair as black as coal and has prosthetics (?) all over his skin. "Toodle-oo!" She waved her fingers before disappearing in the crowd along with the guy who looked like he doesn't want anything to do with her.

But Deku can agree on one thing, that Dabi person has the most charming electric blue eyes he has ever seen.

At least in this time period.

Izuku shook his head. "You're awfully chill with your girlfriend getting threatened and taken away by another man right in front of you."

"She's no girlfriend of mine," Shigaraki eerily smiled at him, like how he usually does. "Toga knows her limitations, that's what matters."

"She especially knows her limitations when it comes to Deku," Bakugo emphasized.

"Yes, I made sure of that." Shigaraki sighed in fake empathy. "Enough about our resident troublemaker, how about let's get you some drinks! Just ask Kurogiri whatever drink you want, how many drinks you want! Think of it as a welcome-back gift and a little... Consolidation for the trouble Toga has caused to our dear Midoriya."

Kacchan opened his mouth to argue that no amount of alcohol is enough to bribe him when Deku intervened.

"Thank you, Shigaraki-san," Deku said. "I'll make sure to make good use of it."

"No you're not," Kacchan snapped. "I'm the one bringing you home and I sure ain't willing to drag you there."

"How about a Smirnoff?" Deku suggested.

Kacchan made a face at his poor yet reasonable choice of weak alcohol. "Yeah, sure. But only half a bottle."

"Half a bottle--"

"One Smirnoff coming right up!" Kurogiri shouted from somewhere.

Everybody turned their heads, looking for the weak offender who would dare drink such a pathetic vodka (is that even considered a vodka?) in such a good establishment. Deku felt shrunk in embarrassment.

Shigaraki patted him on the shoulder. "Enjoy your night," He said before disappearing into the shadows.

Like he's planning to take over the world or something.

"Smirnoff," Kacchan shook his head while muttering under his breath.

"Is there something wrong?" Deku tilted his head.

Kacchan continued shaking his head in disgust.