Chapter 3

Ignoring everything that was going on around them, a small child flipped through pages and pages of a book in their lap. They paid no attention to anything else as all their attention was on the words on each page. They looked deeply interested and submerged in the book, their eyes glued to the pages, and their body barely moved an inch as the wind picked up, blowing leaves in front of them.

Vibrant, blond hair fluttered in the wind's direction, making the small child take a hand off the book and try to prevent their hair from getting in their face. A pair of sharp, reddish-brown eyes showed the child's bored and uninterested expression hiding underneath the shadows.

Kim Soo-Eun - or now known as Bakugou Hitori - sat under the shadows casted by the branches of the tree hovering over his head.

He was currently reliving his 'childhood' for the second time. And one of the worst stages to be in; Kindergarten. The years where you have to be stuck in a room with crying, annoying little shitty babies. 

Hitori could barely even deal with being near the vicinity of a human being, let alone deal with thirty disgusting babies.

The only way that Hitori still had their sanity still intact - even when he barely had his sanity in the first place - was because he was outside most of the time, only going inside when it was raining or the teachers said so.

So sitting under the shade of a tree, Hitori was using his free time to read and enjoy the peace and quiet of this hectic world. 

The wind picked up, blowing the chilly Autumn air past his face. Making no reaction to the pickling feeling he got from the wind, Hitori fluttered his eyes closed, taking in a small breath of the air. It was refreshing to say none the least, not until a familiar someone yelled out Hitroi's name.

"Hitori-kun!" A small blob of green waved their hand over at the resting blond.

Chasing behind the green blob was a blond blob, who looked a lot like Hitori himself, just more expressive in their…anger.

"COME HERE IZUKU!" the blond blob yelled, extending his arms out to try and reach onto the green blob, or, the broccoli named Midoriya Izuku.

Hitori watched as the two blobs of color ran up the hill, chasing each other around. Izuku had a wide smile plastered on his face, his freckles glistened under the sunlight along with his big green eyes radiating with innocence and childishness.

"Kacchan, hurry up!" Izuku turned his head behind him to yell at the blond blob.

His enthusiastic tone and his lively actions made Hitori stare at him with droopy eyes, which made him try his best to keep them from closing entirely and falling asleep.

"ARGH! I'm coming!" The blonde blob nearly tripped on his own feet, but stabilized his body and continued to run after Izuku.

'Kacchan' as Izuku called him, was Hitori's older brother in this life, Bakugou Katsuki. The main headache for Hitori, and the character that he'll eventually watch grow up into a pissy, arrogant brat.

Though, if his dear brother got too out of hand, Hitori would have to change him, just a little. Since he'd be the one who'd have to deal with the consequences, and being dragged into more bullshit made Hitori shiver in fright. But he wasn't going to mess with his character now or too much, after all, messing with the plot would cause a lot of problems, and Hitori hated problems.

Hitori could feel his headache in pain as he saw the two trouble-attracting idiots reach the top of the hill where he was resting. Izuku's smile widened when he saw the usual stoic expression that Hitori had on, and ran over to him with no thought and threw his body onto him.

Hitori winced a bit when Izuku's body made an impact with his, but held in the noise down his throat, not letting a sound escape his lips. 

'Fuck…what is Inko feeding this kid'

"Izuku."

The simple words made the green blob jump in realization and Izuku quickly got off Hitori.

"Ah, sorry Hitori-kun! I forgot the touchy thing…" Izuku muttered out.

Hitori simply hummed in response, but he grimaced as soon as he saw his rowdy brother run over.

"Idiot!" Katsuki was angered that Izuku got to his brother before him, so he pulled Izuku away from Hitori. "'itori is mine!"

Katsuki, being the possessive brother he is, pulled Hitori into his arms and glared at Izuku who was pushed aside onto the grass and watched as his childhood best friend hogged his brother once again.

"Hey! You can't do that Kacchan!" Izuku exclaimed.

Ignoring the broccoli, Katsuki nuzzled his head into Hitori's neck, not even batting an eye at Izuku. His full attention was on his brother.

Hitori, who just sat there with his brother clinging onto his waist, sighed. He glanced down at Katsuki and then up at Izuku. Hitori was just too tired to deal with this again, and gestured to Izuku that his left side was still unoccupied. Seeing this, Izuku immediately stopped sulking and hurried to fill Hitori's left side.

With two blobs beside him, Hitori uttered out a subtle sigh and gave in. He was already sleepy and the book he once had in was now too far for him to reach. With Izuku sitting practically hovering against his shoulder and Katsuki choking his waist, Hitori couldn't move his body. 

Hitori was already tired ever since the morning and wanted to take a nap but chose not to, since he wanted to finish the book he was reading, but currently in his situation, he could have a reasonable excuse for him to rest a little.

Fluttering his eyelids, Hitori's sight of his surroundings soon blackened. His reddish-brown eyes closed shut and soon, Hitori drifted off to his slumber.

Katsuki noticed that his brother fell asleep and looked over to Izuku, who looked like he was about to squeal out in joy, his face flustered red. The blonde 'tsked' and would usually go and yell at Izuku to stop acting like a puppy for his brother, but he didn't.

It was rare for Katsuki to see his brother ever get some proper sleep. Hitori was either awake for whole nights reading and writing. Or, if their parents stayed with Hitori until he fell asleep, he'd only ever take a short nap around 10-15 minutes long, then wake up and continue to do whatever.

Katsuki always wondered why his brother did this. He even tried many times to sing Hitori a lullaby to fall asleep, since that was what Mitsuki did for him. But it never worked, his brother would just close his eyes as he sang and when he was finished, Hitori would praise him for his singing abilities,

Seeing that his brother finally took a nap in three days, Katsuki decided to enjoy the silence with him. He nudged his head closer to Hitori's neck and rested on his shoulder.

Izuku watched as Katsuki closed his eyes and soon fell asleep on his brother's shoulder. He blinked a few times to make sure that his 'Kacchan' was actually not yelling and being angry for once, and seeing that it was reality, he smiled.

His green eyes trailed up into the blue sky shining its sunlight down onto the earth. The sunlight never touched Izuku though, with the tree branches stretched out like vines so far out, it made it difficult for sun or rain to reach whoever or whatever was underneath its shade. Izuku looked over to his side, but tried his best to keep his distance but since Hitori was resting on his head, it made it slightly difficult. 

Izuku took this time of silence to also take a nap, relaxing his shoulders - still making sure it wasn't touching Hitori by his side - and shutting his green eyes. He soon fell asleep.

***

"Midoriya! Bakugou! Hitori!" A woman looked left and right, calling out three names over and over again with her hand over her mouth to form an 'O' shape.

The woman had a light blue vest on and a name tag pinned onto it; Miss Ikoma. 

She was a caretaker of the kindergarten and picked up the job in need of money. Ikoma was a lady in her early 20's and nearly all of the kids loved her and wanted her to stay with them, this included Katsuki and Izuku.

Izuku quickly warmed up to Ikoma on her first day, as he is always with everyone. Katsuki took some time, but did eventually warm up to her, only expressing his feelings differently. All of his little actions such as asking Ikoma for help in reading and hugging her leg every so often made Ikoma chuckle.

Ikoma only faced one obstacle; Bakugou Hitori.

Hitori was a strange child to Ikoma, but not in a bad way. He was very quiet and barely interacted with his peers. Always going outside and sitting under the shade reading a book. He never caused trouble or threw a tantrum and never asked the adults for anything. Hitori kept a stoic face most of the time and rarely expressed his emotions.

Ikoma even asked Hitori's parents if this was normal. Mistuki and Masaru answered with a yes. Mitsuki would even say, "The fact that ever since he was out of my womb, he has not once cried! Not once! I wondered if he was healthy, but the doctor just said he was just fine! My dear ruby is just too special!"

The first time Ikoma met Hitori was on the same day when she got appointed as a caretaker. Her co-workers were showing her around the place, until they stumbled upon a little kid sitting in the corridor.

Blonde hair and sharp eyes, Ikoma almost questioned if a little kid could even have a gaze like that. Ikoma asked her co-workers if they should help the kid back to the playroom with the rest of the kids, but they just looked at each other and laughed.

Ikoma looked at them laughing with furrowed brows. Why were they laughing?

She asked them and they responded with; "Just let Hitori be, he prefers the silence."

Ikoma couldn't get why her co-workers thought of this so lightly, a little kid out and about with no supervision was really dangerous. And so, she decided to walk up to the blonde haired kid. Ikoma extended her hand out to tap the kid's shoulder, but was met with a piercing gaze. Ikoma was taken back at how cold this kid was, but gave them a sweet smile.

"Honey, you can't be here. How about you come with me and I'll guide you back to your room? How about it, little missy?"

Ikoma didn't know then, but this triggered her co-workers to burst out in laughter. And once again, Ikoma had no idea why. She turned her head over at the kid, who stared at her with a stoic expression.

And with the most soothing and monotone voice, said this to her; "Missy..? I'm a guy though."

As the kid stood up, Ikoma could feel an invisible strike of lightning shoot through her body. 

Did she just misgender a kid!? 

Ikoma could bet that this kid was a girl! Long lashes attached to their sharp eyes, a baby soft face and a girlish-like appearance, soft pink lips and skin white as snow. How could such a pretty kid be a boy?

Ikoma left Hitori to be and her co-workers teased her the rest of the day. 

Hitori watched all of this happen, shrugged, and went back to his book. 

And that was Ikoma's embarrassing first meeting with Hitori.

But it wasn't the time to think about the past. Ikoma was told by her co-workers that playtime was over, yet three kids were missing. Without even thinking, they all knew it was the trio. So they sent Ikoma to go fetch them back.

Ikoma continued to call out the trio's names and searched the whole playground. Nothing. Ikoma was going to give up, when a memory hit her; the old oak tree on the hill..!

She'd always see Hitori walk up the hill and take a seat underneath the shade provided by the big old oak tree. It was like Hitori's spot for everything. And knowing that his brother and Izuku followed him around like lost puppies, Ikoma guessed that they'd be there as well.

She walked over to the hill, and when she reached the top, she was met with such a cute scene! Katsuki leaning on Hitori and him resting his head on Izuku's head. It was such a cute and wholesome thing for Ikoma to see!

She wanted to pull out her phone and take a photo to make remembrance of this moment, but then remembered that Hitori was a very, very light sleeper. Even a slight movement can wake Hitori up from his nap, and it was hardly ever seen to the adults for Hitori to actually fall asleep. Ikoma held her urge in.

There was one problem, how was she supposed to wake them up? Ikoma didn't want to disturb their little nap, but she also needed to get them back to the daycare! What to do?

But her problems were solved with Hitori letting out a subtle yawn.

Hitori felt someone was watching them and woke up. Seeing that it was Ikoma, he lowered his guard and greeted her. "Good afternoon, Miss Ikoma."

"Ah—yes! Good afternoon, Hitori." Ikoma was never used to how formal Hitori could be to others. She doesn't even think that someone his age should know all of these formal greetings and gestures.

"Is there something that you need, Miss Ikoma?" Hitori asked, since no adult really went up here.

Ikoma was lost for a moment at how peaceful Hitori's voice sounded compared to the other children, before nodding her head. "You guys have to come back now."

Hitori hummed and with no further words needed, flicked both Katsuki and Izuku's foreheads.

Katsuki, who was dreaming about becoming the No.1 hero and the people of Japan cheering him on, was about to shake All Might's hand when he was awoken by a sharp flick to his head.

"WHO—! Oh, 'itori." Katsuki was about to give whoever woke him a beating, but seeing his brother's stoic face, his anger disappeared.

Hitori turned her head to see Izuku's eyes still closed and drooling from the corner of his mouth, nudged his shoulder.

"Izuku, wake up."

Izuku heard a soft, monotone voice echoing into his ears, and immediately woke up. 

"H-hitori-kun!" Izuku stuttered, his eyes shook around as his face started to burn up.

Hitori didn't know why Izuku's face suddenly started to turn red and thought that he was sick. So they looked up at Ikoma and asked, "Is Izuku sick?"

Ikoma who was watching this play out almost wanted to ask if Hitori was being for real. But she didn't and only chuckled. "No, he's not. Midoriya is just a little flustered."

Hitori tilted his head to the side and thought to himself,

'Why was Izuku flustered?'

Ikoma wanted to laugh at how dense Hitori was. He was intelligent and smart enough to do university level questions, but he was just so dense about basic human emotions. Ikoma almost felt some sort of pity for Izuku and his puppy love.

"IZUKU! STOP BLUSHING!" Katsuki angrily yelled at the broccoli. He couldn't just sit there and do nothing as his brother was being blushed over!

Katsuki was somehow smart enough to know that his best friend had a thing for his brother. And as Hitori's older brother, he would not let Izuku take him away. Katsuki swore on his future to keep everyone away from his brother and protect him all his life.

No man or woman shall touch his brother!

Ikoma watched as Katsuki started to chase Izuku down hill and she chuckled to herself. She then felt a tug on her vest. Looking down, Ikoma's poor heart started to flutter. Hitori was looking at her with their glossy, half-asleep eyes, rubbing them with his hand.

Hitori looked up at Ikoma and gave her his usual stoic expression and monotone tone, "Miss Ikoma, can you carry me?"

He couldn't even care that he was going to have to have contact with Ikoma, Hitori was tired and wanted to be carried.

"Of course!"

What kind of person would decline this little angel! Ikoma gladly picked Hitori up and carried him down the hill. She hummed a happy tune the whole was and opened the doors to the dining room.

After stepping into the room, Izuku and Katsuki came running in behind Ikoma, making her nearly trip.

"Slow down boys!" she called out.

"Don't bother, Miss Ikoma." Hitori tapped her shoulder, shaking his head. "The blobs won't listen."

Hitori watched from above in Ikoma's arms as Izuku was bawling out crocodile tears while being chased by Katsuki, who had his mouth open and was imitating a ferocious beast with sharp fangs.

Hitori tiredly sighed. He wondered how much longer until he could leave them, but that wouldn't be until they were in Yuuei. Hitori felt all the trouble that the two would cause for him and all the future headaches.

But he couldn't leave them now, not when the headache would only get worse in a few weeks.

Bakugou Katsuki getting his quirk.

Hitori knew if he left the two boys alone now, Katsuki would grow up being over praised for his 'amazing' quirk and Izuku would be bullied till he met All Might. Hitori wanted to just watch from the sidelines and let the story play out. 

But how could he watch silently when Bakugou Katsuki was literally their brother. 

Hitori needed a plan, a plan so that he wouldn't get himself involved with any bullshit that would drag him away from his Slacker life.

But how?

Hitori had no idea, but he'd come up with something.

After all, anything that would get in the way or disrupt Hitori walking his flower path and get their slacker life-chan back, shall perish.