It's Day 1 of VD9week18! VD9week18 is basically a countdown week for the opening of pre-orders of the VD9 Villain!Deku zine. I'm so excited to share this with you guys and hope you enjoy it!

PS sorry about the previous upload.

Anju

"How about we play a game?" Izuku said, smiling at the little girl in front of him.

"What kind of game?" The white haired girl said, looking at Izuku curiously.

"A game of hide-n-seek!" Izuku said with a smile.

"What's that?" The girl asked, setting her doll in front of her to look at Izuku sitting close by. He was busy writing on the clipboard that was now on his lap.

He would usually sit there whenever he came in to check on her. Always sit there in his suit, observing her as she played and checking on her health.

A doctor, Chisaki said he was. But where was his lab coat? She always saw the 'doctors' wear them whenever they 'checked' on her.

That's how she knew Izuku was different. He never wore his coat nor gloves. He wasn't afraid of her, always near her whenever he can because Chisaki hated the fact that Izuku was someone she became close to.

"It's where you hide and another person tries to find you. If the other person doesn't find you, you win. If they do find you, you lose and have to find the other." Izuku explained, putting his clipboard away in his bag.

"That sounds interesting. I never played it before." The girl said, running her hand over the torn carpet underneath her. Izuku frowned as he saw her play with a loose ends of the so called carpet.

"So let's play! Let's see if we can hide from Chisaki!" Izuku said cheerfully before letting his smile drop when he saw the girl flinch. "Eri, it's going to be fine." Izuku said softly, spreading his arms out. Eri ran to him, Izuku tightly embracing the little girl, patting her head. "I won't let him near you."

"Promise?" Eri said, looking at him with her red doe eyes. Izuku felt his heart clench, making him tightly squeeze the little girl in his arms.

"You bet! If he decides to even lift a finger," Izuku said, taking out a knife. "I'll make him into sushi!" Izuku finished with a smile.

"Will the sushi taste good?" Eri innocently asked, making Izuku laugh.

"Probably not! So, want to play hide-n-seek?" Izuku asked Eri again. Eri hummed, before nodding her head. "Great! And I know the perfect spot for you to hide so that you can win!"

"You won't be hiding with me? We won't be together?" Eri asked with a whimper. Izuku shook his head. "Why?" Eri asked, tightening her grip on his vest.

"If I hide with you, he'll find you more easily. If we hide separately, he will have a hard time to find the two of us. But don't worry!" Izuku said, taking out a tiny cat pin. Eri's eyes widened, gasping at how adorable the pin was. A white cat with yellow goggles on its head was the pin Izuku gave her. Eri continued to look at the pin in her hands, not noticing that Izuku took out another one that was yellow in color. "With this pin, it will tell me if you're in trouble. My cat will meow really loud if that's the case."

"That's amazing." Eri said in awe. "And you have one too. We match." Eri said, looking at how similar the pins were only that Izuku's cat had white goggles on its head.

"We do, don't we. So are you ready to hide?" Eri nodded her head, Izuku putting the cat pin on the inner part of her collar. "So then, I want you to…"

"Where is Eri?" Chisaki said, looking at Izuku with daggers for eyes.

"Wasn't she with what's-his-face?" Izuku said, feigning innocence as he stepped to the side to dodge Chisaki's attack. "Pretty sure she was with him."

"Don't act stupid boy." Chisaki said, grabbed Izuku's coat and slamming him to the floor. He held a blade to his throat, annoyed at the smile plastered on Izuku's face.

"I'm being honest, really! I have no idea where she is right now. And even if I did know," Izuku flipped Chisaki over him and rolled to the side to get up. He took out a dagger and took his stance. "I wouldn't tell you, child abuser." Chisaki scoffed.

"We're on the same boat Green." Chisaki said, making Izuku scowl. There he goes, calling him a name other than his code name. He's always reminding him it was Archive. Not that it matters, this will be the last time the two will see each other.

"Afraid we're not." Izuku said, flipping the dagger and placing it into the sheath at the side of his leg. "Unlike you, I would never succumb to the use of children for my own gain. That's just inhumane. That's just like being another one of those people that run around society calling themselves Heroes. Another fake."

"Another Stain fan I see. So that's why you're with the childish villains who call themselves a league. And they're right. A league of their own, children who don't understand how to run society and how to control it. A bunch of fakes wanting to take control of society without a proper method to do so."

"And you think that your plan will work?" Izuku said. "A plan based on cruelty and self-interest based methods? Also, I'm not with the League of Villains. Just an info broker."

"It will. Just wait and see."

"We'll see alright." Izuku said, grinning. "And thanks for playing with me!"

"What?"

"It was a nice game of hide-n-seek you see!"

"What are you talking about?" Chisaki said, narrowing his eyes.

"Hope you can find us!" Izuku said, looking at the watch on his wrist. "I'll be getting a minute head start. Well, I'll be getting a bit more of time since you've still got visitors to chat with."

"I don't have any."

"Sure about that? Pretty sure the people running around your base will say otherwise." Izuku said, pointing to someone behind Chisaki. Chisaki looked behind to see a wall punched open, a small bunch of heroes jumping through it, locking gazes with Chisaki.

"There he is!"

"You bastard!" Chisaki yelled, turning to face Izuku, only to find him gone.

"Good luck! 'Cuz you're going to need it! Then again I highly doubt you'll ever will. Bye!" Izuku's voice rang through the room, making him boil with rage.

"Archive! You'll pay for this!" Chisaki yelled. So he did remember his name.

"Izuku!" Eri happily said when she saw him smiling back at her.

"Eri!" Izuku said, climbing through the window of the room. He carefully landed on the floor making sure to not step in the areas that weren't cleaned.

"You were right! Chisaki never found me!" Eri said with a smile, before covering her mouth. "Sorry." Eri said behind her hands.

"It's fine! There's no one inside the house at the moment." Izuku said, sitting at the edge of the bed, Eri scooting closer to him. "Told you it a good place to hide!" Izuku said with a smile, laying back, the coldness of the mattress hitting his warm back.

"So how did you find this place?" Eri said, making Izuku's smile drop. He continued to look at the ceiling covered in All Might posters and stickers.

"This….this used to be my room.." Izuku said, sitting up. "Right before I started to play hide-n-seek with everyone."

"Did anyone manage to find you yet?" Eri asked, placing her hand over Izuku's clenched ones. She felt his hands loosen up, glad she helped him lose the tension.

"No…no one had found me yet….I'm still hiding…" Izuku said, remembering the poster he saw on the street before entering his old room, his old home, the neighborhood he used to live in.

Izuku stood in front of the old playground he used to play with the other kids in his neighborhood as a kid. The swing set was sitting there, beckoning him to go to it and take a swing or two. The jungle gym stood there silently, wanting someone to conquer it and yell for everyone to know he had done so. How nostalgic. That's when a flyer stuck to the fence caught his attention.

There on the flyer, a header in all red saying 'MISSING'. A picture of him was in the middle with his name and other information. But what struck him the most was the date that said how long he had been 'missing' for. 2 years.

It's been 2 years since he left home. It's been two years since he's gone against the Heroes of society. It's been two years since his game of hide-n-seek first began. What a long game. When will it end?

Because being by himself was hard, especially when he knew how much his mother was suffering.