Shadewood kicking rocks and breaking teeth

he hated every second of what took place afterward – the anger, the threats. deku peered between the two other boys with an expression of fearful regret on his young face. the silver in his eyes seemed to glisten with the threat of tears, but he did what he could to swallow the heavy lump of emotion that had settled in his throat. had the stranger not attempted to stand up for him, it would have been likely that deku would blindly stand behind orochi. the angry pup was family, after all, and that was important.
 
instead, the other boy seemed to want to come to deku’s defense. the starchaser was completely taken aback by such a selfless act. they did not even know each other and yet here he was, ready and willing to go to battle for what he believed to be right. a sharp inhale was the only sound that he made for a moment. deku did what he could to steady himself against the onslaught of their words, but he feared that the worst would happen.
 
“i- i don’t want you to get hurt, orochi…” deku tried to tell his brother, but his words were easily swept away in the threats that were being tossed back and forth between the other two boys. the child of the stars was left to stand between them, a dejected expression on his young face.