(Female Reader)

"Uhm, please don't.."

"Come on sweetheart," the man leers. "Don't you wanna good time?"

Izuku backs away nervously from the counter- abandoning the glass he was cleaning earlier. He averts his eyes meekly, body tense and ready to bolt.

"Excuse me, but what the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Or:

Izuku works at your bar, and you happen to catch some creep cornering him.
[Mentions of the Yakuza]
[Reader is high-key badass]

——————

"Izuku. Take care. I'll be out until twelve. Think you can handle it?"

The boy nods enthusiastically, and a blush forms on his cheeks when you giggle and ruffle his unruly green hair. "Good boy."

He's always eager to please, especially when it comes to you- and you exploit that without any remorse just to see him fluster and scramble for words when you give him the subtlest praises. He was a cute kid, and he's worked for you for around two years already.

Though he was only two months younger, you always treated him like a kid, mostly to tease him about his height and the fact he was younger than he looks.

"Be careful."

"Thank you Ms. [Y/N]! You have nothing to worry about!"

Right. You step out the bar, waving a goodbye and he cheerfully waves back.

Nothing to worry about.

————

You never really expected to come back and see this- then again, perhaps you should've.

"Uhm, please don't.."

"Come on sweetheart," the man leers. "Don't you wanna good time?"

Izuku backs away nervously from the counter- abandoning the glass he was cleaning earlier. He averts his eyes meekly, body tense and ready to bolt.

Here's the situation: a man, bigger, brawnier, stood over Izuku, practically pinning him against the wall of liquor, a hand on the kid's chest, too fucking close to his face with his rotten, beer stained teeth practically brushing against his neck.

Everyone else in the bar either looked the other way or didn't notice the bartender getting fucking harassed- and fuck it if it didn't make your blood fucking boil.

"Excuse me," you say as kindly as you can muster, green eyes snapped at you in surprise and relief as the man scoffs and turns around to get a better look at some cockblocker. "But what the fuck do you think you're doing to my employee?"

It suddenly occurred in his tiny fucking brain that you were the goddamn owner, seeing how his expression drops and his shoulders sag, bowing his head. "Shit. Sorry, but he was askin' for it and-"

Evidently, that was the worst possible thing he could've said because you growled, lips upturned, eyes ablaze at the sheer fucking audacity.

"Get the fuck out."

"But-"

"Get the fuck out, before I plant a goddamn bullet in your skull and toss you in the fucking aquarium to make you into fish chow."

The man squirms, obviously unnerved. The whole bar's attention was turned to you and the drunkard, while Izuku was frozen in the background. He'd.. never really seen you so angry before- and even if you didn't raise your voice, your threats held so much promise it was actually frightening.

"[Y-Y/N-]," Izuku splutters carefully, trying to break the brewing, dangerous mood- but you held up a hand and he quickly shuts up, face pale.

"I'm gonna tell you one last time," you say coldly. "Out." You were really about to get pissed.

And he does, before you could do further damage, scurrying past customers and finally out the door. Only then do you turn your attention to Izuku, who was tight-lipped and shaking in his boots. "T-Thank you.." he bows profusely, fluffy green hair bouncing on his head.

"Don't worry about it." You see the tension melt off his shoulders, a smile creeping on his face and it makes your heart flutter. "Stand up for yourself next time, 'kay nerd?"

"U-Uh, okay!"

"Good."

—————

"I like you."

An extremely unexpected development.

"Uh. No?"

Izuku startles when you say that, before tears well up in his eyes and then you panic because goddamn it, why can't you just shut your ass up for once?

"Shit, sorry, Izuku. Look-" you pull him into a hug, squeezing him tight and mildly copping a feel that makes you casually think that he feels like a goddamn twink. Whatever. You find him cute, anyway. "It's dangerous. I'm shady. This bar is shady. You're about to go to an academy for cops, for fucks sake, and having you here will screw up your reputation. The moment someone catches wind that a future police officer is hangin' around low-lives like me, you'll-"

"Don't call yourself that!" He snaps, tears still streaming down his ruddy cheeks. "You're not a low-life! I..!"

"We both know where I come from, Izuku." You say, voice quiet as you cup his cheek. "Why I never went to school. Why I always go out. I know that you've seen my tattoos- I'm from the Yakuza. Sure, I may have escaped three years ago but it's too fucking late and-" you choke up, but swallow down the harsh lump in your throat. No need to make Izuku feel pity. "I don't want you to have the same life as me."

Izuku was stunned. He knows where you came from, of course- it's a subject both of you danced around, and he walked on eggshells, so careful to not bring up your past because he was a good person like that. It's only now you've openly admitted to it, showing your heart to him, as you hug him so tight.

"You're a.. You're a good person, [Y/N]." He gives you a watery smile, and your eyes widen, and you rip away from the hug as if you've been burned. "I- I'm sorry, Izuku," you try and suck away but he grabs your wrist.

It's funny, how you're normally supposed to smack right back into his chest or whatever the old romantic books said- but since he's so short and scrawny Izuku flies into yours instead.

"W-Well, I like you!" He squeezes his eyes shut, hugging you around the waist as hard as he can. "And you're family! And you- you always told me that no matter what, f-family comes first, right!?"

"Izuku-"

"S-So don't be a h-hypocrite and order me to leave you alone, okay!? C-Cause that's- that's selfish and I.." he trails off, lower lip trembling and you could feel his heart beating so fast. "I really do like you. S-So.. um.. Your past doesn't matter. I-It's the who you're trying to be in the future."

It was quiet in the back room for a few seconds, and he stares at your blank gaze, chest welling in panic.

D-Did he say the wrong thing!?

After two moments, you burst into tears, sending Izuku into a further frenzied panic as you bawled your eyes out.

"Izukuuu," you cry, squeezing the life out of him. "You're so nice, Ugh!"

He reigns his humming bird heart in, reaching up to run his hands through your hair, a smile on his face as he feels you straight up weep on his shoulder. "Y-You're always so tough," he murmurs. "You're so strong, [Y/N]. But sometimes you get so cold and you drift away."

A little memory makes itself known- perhaps around a month he'd known you when both of you were thirteen.

"You cry a lot." You've said as you wipe Izuku's tears. He hiccups, but leans into your touch. "Sorry," he apologizes, mildly embarrassed. "T-Thank you for giving me a job."

"Nn.. all you're gonna do is stack shelves anyway." You shrug. "Nii-San did tell you to not touch the adult drinks, right?"

"R-Right!- um, [Y-Y-N], after last night- you got beaten pretty bad- are you-?"

You look at him, eyes hard, and he zips his mouth quickly.

".. I'm fine," you turn away. Izuku knows you aren't, but he keeps quiet.

"Okay."

Izuku was on the streets, barely scraping by- showering in their school's locker rooms, getting new clothes from the lost and found, sleeping on the rooftops under all the stars- until 'big brother' picked him up and told him he needed some extra hands on deck because he was opening a new bar.

Turns out the same man picked you up too, kept a roof over your head- considered you to be his little sister, and you repaid him by helping around.

It went on until he died- a stray bullet not meant for him. Right in the head- he was dead before he even hit the ground.

"You're just a crybaby like me, huh?"

He hums, rubbing comforting circles on your back. It wasn't much- but hey, this was a start.

—————