Chapter Text
“And then the next step in securing the perimeter would be—“
Yagi stopped mid-sentence when a loud buzz coming from his pocket cut him off. It didn’t sound like his personal phone. Everyone knew what that sounded like. It wasn’t his work line either. Izuku was aware that was disconnected for nearly a year now. The boy ceased his furious note-taking -even if few things in this particular Fundamental Heroics lesson were new information to him- and watched his teacher fumble to silence it with twenty curious eyes on him.
“Ah, I’m most sorry about that—“
He glanced at the screen, finger hovering above the ‘decline’ button. It stilled. His face suddenly became gaunt. It steadily gained some colour and substance back since he no longer worked himself to the bone but it’ll probably never be the same as it was before his injury.
“Sorry kids, I have to take this.” He picked up, immediately switching tone. “This is All Might speaking.”
You could hear the buzz of a fly in the expectant silence of the classroom as he listened to the reply. It was usually pretty quiet during his theoretical lectures, even if only because -no hard feelings Yagi but- they tended to be a bit boring. Izuku’s mentor has improved a lot in their second year but he still obviously preferred supervising practicals to giving actual lectures. He quietly admitted to Izuku during a lunch that he just regurgitates his old college textbooks whenever he doesn’t have an idea what to say. And when he really doesn’t want to lecture, he entertains the class with never-ending wild tales from his duty days.
But this silence was a different kind. Whatever the person at the other end of the line was saying, it was sucking the life he worked so hard to build out of his face with every word. Yagi’s eyes flashed to Izuku while he listened. Izuku gave him an uncertain smile. The corner of his idol’s mouth twitched but it wasn’t a smile.
“Are you sure—“
The caller cut him off. Yagi kept eye contact. Izuku’s smile faltered. For most people, his expression would have presented as neutral. But in those blue eyes, the young hero student saw alarm.
“Does anyone else know yet. No, no, don’t— Thank you. I’ll take care of it.”
Izuku felt the fear in him rise in tandem with his mentor’s subtle panic. He hang up and stepped out from behind the cathedra without grabbing any of his papers.
“Midoriya, we need to go.”
Izuku jolted, mostly from the tone. At this point, everybody sort of knew they were on closer terms. But Yagi never outright addressed him in class like this.
“Now.”
That was an order.
Izuku sprung up, almost knocking over his desk in his haste. Whispers rose around him but no one dared to be the first one to raise the question. Something about Yagi’s expression, even if his voice was level and his face was blank, made even Bakugou hold his tongue.
His mentor was almost out the door by the time Izuku caught up. He didn’t even bother dismissing the class, already dialling another number.
“Go pack your things,” he said, covering the speaker of the phone for a second. “Only the essentials. I’ll get your gear from storage.”
“Yagi why—“
“What are you waiting for, my boy?” the man nearly snapped, mumbling an English curse when the recipient didn’t pick up. “Meet you in front of the dorms. Be as fast as you can.”
Izuku hesitated for but another moment. Yagi looked like he was going to snap at him again so he didn’t dare question it further. He ran ahead with a moderate surge of OfA.
“And pack yourself a toothbrush!” Yagi called after him, voice a tad warmer.
Something heavy settled in his gut but he ignored it.
A few lingering students cast curious looks as he sped past them but no one stopped to question him. He scaled stairs five to ten steps at a time, some anxious sixth sense telling him that he should go even faster. Yagi has never used that tone with him outside of crises. Which immediately lent itself to the conclusion that this was one. A real one. It took only a real crisis to make All Might panic.
He barrelled through the door of his room and yanked the All Might silver age-themed suitcase out from his closet. He forgot to dial down One for All and nearly slammed himself in the face with it. He bounced back, clicked it open, and started shoving in the ‘essentials’. Mostly support gear and medicine for his joints. Then he tossed on top whatever was at hand in his closet and some basic toiletries. Toothbrush included, of course. He wasn’t sure what ‘essentials’ meant in his mentor’s vocabulary so after a second of contemplation, he also shoved some warmer clothes in there too, thermal base layers and fleece sweaters gifted to him by Yagi.
To be fair, half his wardrobe were gifts from the man. Full of signature reds and blues but also greens, after he noticed Izuku’s preference and started showing up with custom-made clothing in ‘Deku’ colours.
Izuku tried to vehemently refuse every time but he stood no chance against All Might’s gift-giving fever. It seemed to cause the man genuine joy and not like Izuku wasn’t over the moon to be decked out head to toe in custom All Might merch.
He contemplated taking his favourite Golden Age hoodie but the word ‘essentials’ rang warningly in his ears. He did plop his reading assignments on top of the pile before he clicked the case closed. He scanned the room once more just to be sure. His eyes got caught on the novelty keychain carefully posed on the corner of his desk. Only the essentials, Izuku. Yagi gifted that keychain to him after he finished his first year at UA. There is only one of it in the entire world, he said. It wasn’t All Might merch but a small, black figure of a yellow-gloved woman.
Yagi said she was to him what he hopes he is to Izuku.
Izuku snatched the keychain up. Only the essentials.
He practically flew down the stairs while trying to figure out what this might be. A surprise? A strange practical joke? Another emergency hero operation? Not like the first time Yagi showed up on his doorstep, literally suitcase in hand.
But this one felt different.
Somehow, by the time he arrived at the entrance of the dorms, Yagi was already waiting, holding only a leather suitcase in one hand and his phone still in the other, feet tapping impatiently. He only acknowledged Izuku with a grim nod and darted for the exit, the boy having to use a bit of OfA to keep up with his long, hurried strides. He opened his mouth to inquire but his mentor seemed to be deep in a very serious conversation.
“—send one right away— what do you mean a unit is already over?” Who authorised that? Naomasa get the operation leader on the line for me—“
They nearly crashed into Aizawa, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere -the bushes- and planted his feet firmly in their path. Izuku reached out to steady Yagi who seemed just as caught off-guard as he was.
“What are you doing, Yagi?”
Yagi didn’t bother with an answer, just tried to sidestep him which of course did not bode well with Aizawa.
“You can’t just take a student out, especially not-“
He cut himself off, eyes flashing to Izuku. Izuku didn’t like that look. It was like the one Aizawa gave him on the first day of school but somehow worse.
“I can and I will,” Yagi replied, voice sharp and firm like steel, “We don’t have time for this Aizawa, so please let us go.”
That ‘please’ was purely ornamental. It was the exact same tone as Midoriya we need to go. Izuku noticed how Yagi never once stopped calling -and failing to reach- someone. The stone in his gut started to sink.
Aizawa closed his mouth, looking at Izuku again for some reason. That was a look similar to the one he gave him after he almost failed the quirk apprehension test.
“Are you— sure this is the right course of action, All Might?” he asked, never once looking away from Izuku, narrowing his eyes slightly. As if he was searching for something. He seemed somehow relieved when he didn’t seem to find it.
“How are you not?” Yagi retorted.
Izuku tried to cut the tense silence between his teachers, “Aizawa-sensei, Yagi, if I- I did something, I’m sorry I—“
“Go, problem child,” Aizawa ruffed, already turning back towards the main building. He briefly nodded at Yagi, grim and final. “I’ll go check in with Nedzu. For all I know, Midoriya Izuku could still be in class.”
Izuku tried to ask what that meant but both adults moved on as if they were on a deadline. Which, according to what Yagi said, they might be. Izuku confusedly followed, pacing himself to Yagi who once again resumed calling the same number. Izuku managed to get a glance at the ID.
It was his mother’s.
“Is— is mom okay?” he asked hesitantly, fearing another reprimand but fearing the implications more.
“She better be,” Yagi grumbled in English. When he saw Izuku pale, he gave him a quick -forced- smile and added, “Your mother is fine my boy. There’s just been a— misunderstanding of sorts. I’m sure it’ll clear itself up swiftly but better safe than sorry!”
A sliver of All Might slipped into his voice which did nothing to calm Izuku down. It only meant that he was lying.
“I-Is this connected to One for All?” Izuku chanced while Yagi led him to the private entrance at the back of the school’s estate. “O-or— or A-All for One?”
His mentor’s jaw set at the mention but he said nothing, only ushered him through the gate. As far as Izuku knew, the supervillain was still in prison, seemingly accepting his fate now that his plan involving Shigaraki has failed before it even began when Mirko bashed his brains in Jaku. Officially, he died when his tank got cut off electricity.
Yet Izuku kept waking up in cold sweat, thinking he was outside his room, waiting. For what, he wasn’t sure. It got so bad, he swallowed his embarrassment and went to Yagi.
After some consideration and calming green tea, Yagi showed him one photo. Just one. Just to put his mind at ease that Shigaraki was as dead as they come. Izuku slept in his mentor’s dorm room that night.
He suddenly wasn’t so sure anymore.
Screeching came from his left and Izuku automatically jumped back, shielding Yagi before he realised it was made by his car. Hercules came to a smoking halt and its doors opened, revealing an empty inside. Yagi didn’t hesitate to get into the driver’s seat and neither did Izuku in following him.
He didn’t even wait for the doors to properly close before overriding the autopilot and flooring the gas. Izuku hiccupped, used to breakneck speeds but not inside vehicles. It seemed scarier somehow, with about a ton of hero-grade steel around him, speeding down the streets at more than a hundred kilometres per hour. Yagi, still without a word of explanation, connected the phone to the car’s system and continued calling his mother.
Izuku’s heart climbed further up his throat with each ring and his gut sank more with every rejected call. The stark white of Yagi’s calloused knuckles stood out against the sleek leather of the wheel. Izuku nearly disappeared inside the oversized seat when his mentor took a turn, definitely much faster than he should have.
The car hit a curb, Yagi yanked on the wheel to correct and the call ended with a beep. Again. “The number you’re trying to reach is unavailable or—“
“GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!”
Yagi’s fist banged on the dashboard, silencing the repetitive voice and rattling nearly the entire thing. Izuku sank in his seat further, fidgeting with the keychain, feeling the tears forming already.
“Mom…”
Yagi glanced at him and something in him softened. “I’m sorry about that, Midoriya,” he said, reaching over to briefly ruffle his hair. Izuku felt that the gesture was tense but gentle. He welcomed it even if it helped very little. “I shouldn’t lose my cool so easily. That’s not very heroic now, is it? God, I’m really getting too old for this…”
“Old for what?” he tried again, this time a bit more impatient.
Yagi glanced at him, opened his mouth then closed it. They were almost home now.
“Midoriya do you know—“
He cut himself off, shaking his head and parking the car in the middle of the road, not even bothering to properly pull over. He turned on the hazard lights and glanced out the window.
“Lay low and wait until I get back. Do not get out of the car, okay, my boy?”
He pressed something on the dashboard to make Izuku’s seat fold back, hiding him from view even though all the windows were reflective. Izuku could only nod before Yagi was out of the car, slamming the door closed behind him so hard, even the hero-grade hydraulics struggled.
In the oppressive, silent dimness of the Hercules, Izuku’s mind went into overdrive. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong and if All Might reacted like that, then it must be a Something and a Wrong with capital letters.
And Izuku’s mother might be in danger because of it. She might even be—
He couldn’t take the silence any longer. Or the uncertainty. He carefully sat up to barely peek through the window.
Yagi was a few dozen metres ahead, standing with his back to Izuku, conversing animatedly with— is that Kamui Woods? Why are there so many police cars here? Where’s his mom? Is she all right, why is Yagi yelling at the heroes and why are they yelling back and—
Something happened out of view and everyone turned towards it, readying weapons and quirks, preparing to fight— his mom.
She didn’t look any different than usual; on the contrary, she seemed rattled. Wearing slippers and a light flowery dress Izuku knew she’d never go out in during a normal day. But the officers and heroes seemed to be seeing something else, something worthy of such alarm. Maybe behind her where Izuku couldn’t or maybe he was missing some context…
Yagi resumed yelling, definitely raising his voice enough to make Kamui flinch. His mom noticed and started hurrying towards him, making everyone tense even more. One officer raised his gun at her, finger sliding onto the trigger.
Izuku was out the door long before he could cognise what he was doing.
“Keep that thing off my mom!”
His voice carried much further than he expected, making quite a few officers jump and snap their heads towards him. The closest policeman scrambled back, yelling something into his dispatcher and trying to pull out his duty weapon but Izuku passed him without a second look, too focused on Yagi and his mother, one of which was now shielding the other from the police.
“—I might have had my licence revoked but do not make me see how fast I can revoke yours,” his idol was all steel again, the thousand times folded kind.
Kamui prepared to scrape together a reply but then he too, noticed Izuku. The boy swore he visibly paled even through the mask. The hero readied his quirk, arm branching out in a mesmerising pattern. Izuku faltered, growing uncertain. His mother poked her head out from behind Yagi’s back.
“Izuku? Are you okay baby?”
“I’m fine mom, what is going on, are you all right, what hap—“
“Stay where you are and keep your hands where we can see them!”
It took a moment for Izuku to realise they were addressing him. Like that. Like a villain.
He recoiled, more confused than scared but Yagi, once again, took control of the situation.
“We are going,” he declared, gently guiding Inko away while remaining planted between her and Kamui Woods. His eyes flashed to Izuku, conveying a hurry. Izuku didn’t question it, running up to his mother to help her—
A thick branch came at him from the corner of his eye. He shot out a hand, channelling about 20% of OfA to snap it off before it could encase him in bark. That was an unexpectedly strong opening move from Kamui who wasn’t the most aggressive hero when it came to close combat. It was also quite unwise to use a head-on attack against a power type… Almost as if he was desperate.
Izuku evaded another twig, watching Yagi book it for the car, pressing a button on his phone to make the engines rev with a thunderous sound, staggering the officers trying to get between them. One of them raised his weapon but when it settled on Yagi, he seemed to falter.
The man did not, however. He disarmed the officer in one, incredibly practised motion, taking his gun and kicking his legs from under him. Hercules caught up to them, forcing another policewoman to jump out of its way. Yagi stuffed the gun into his belt and turned back to shout at Izuku.
“Get in the car Midoriya, NOW!”
Izuku didn’t need to be told twice. He evaded another branch, trying to retreat but if there was one thing Kamui Woods was an expert at, it was getting in the way. His quirk weaved around Izuku, cutting him off. He pushed down the instinctual panic and imagined that he was out on patrol dealing with a villain and not the other way around.
He flipped to face the pro, calculating only for a second before taking aim to blow him a few dozen metres back with a one-handed Shoot style. With his other arm, he reached behind him and shot out a tendril of Blackwhip, managing to anchor it to the side of the car first try without looking. He would have been so proud of that if this was any other situation. Now he was just glad he managed.
He pulled himself forth and Yagi opened the backdoor of the car, already in motion. Izuku crashed inside and they shot off. A few bullets bounced off the exterior but this casing was bombproof so the police-issued weapons didn’t so much as leave a dent.
Izuku tried to catch his breath in the back which was strange considering he shouldn’t be out of it from a small scuffle. But something was stuck in his throat and he struggled to breathe through it.
His mom turned back in her seat, eyes gleaming with unshed tears. “Are you okay, Izuku? Did they hurt you? Oh my god, what are we going to do…”
“Don’t fea— worry, Midoriya-san,” Yagi spoke up, voice smooth and calming. Now that both of them were here, the tension in him seemed to lessen somewhat. “It’ll all be over soon, I promise.”
For some reason, Inko seemed less than reassured. Fat, crystalline tears rolled out of her eyes while she reached to squeeze Izuku’s hand. He barely felt her grip but somehow it helped anchor him to something in this rapidly moving world. He squeezed back, careful not to hurt her. Yagi glanced at the two of them, giving a softer rendition of his signature smile in the rearview mirror.
“It’s going to be all right. I’ll drop you two off at a safe house and then I’ll go straight to the head of the Commission to clear this— misconception up right away—“
“You can’t…“ Izuku’s mother muttered.
Yagi cast a confused glance at her.
“I know I’m not what I used to be, Midoriya-san, but trust me, I can still pull my worth. I’m an honorary council member after all—“
“You can’t— because it’s true.”
Yagi did not react to that. His eyes seemed to empty out, fixed on the road.
“It’s true,” Inko repeated, voice cracking so, so sadly, “All of it is true, even the—“
She broke down in sobs, refusing to look at Izuku but now more so holding onto his hand than the other way around. Her hand shook so badly.
“I’m so sorry Izuku, I’m sorry baby, I should have told you, I should have told you a long time ago, I just—“
“Give me your phones,” Yagi spoke up and for the first time in a year, Izuku could not read him. He was staring rigidly ahead, foot slowly but steadily leaning on the gas. “Anything electronic that can be traced too.”
Izuku got confused but complied, taking his phone out and giving it to his mother who passed it to Yagi. He took it, rolled down the window and chucked it without a word. He rolled it back up and reset the GPS, never once looking at the boy or his mother.
“Hercules, find me the safest route out of the city. Use the police database.”
“You no longer have authority to view that, All Might.”
“Then get me authority.”
The car processed the reply and they continued to accelerate in silence.
“Uhm, Yagi-san—“
Yagi leaned on the wheel, the leather creaking painfully under his oppressive grip. The speedometer kept going up. The silence kept gaining weight. There was still something in Izuku’s throat but he managed to speak.
“A-All Might?”
Yagi didn’t react in any discernible way. The GPS set a new route avoiding ‘roadblocks’. They were nearly at the end of the street and the man showed no incentive of slowing down. Izuku could see that a bakery operated at the very end, a couple of people sitting out and slipping coffee—
“TOSHINORI WE’RE GOING TO CRASH!”
Yagi blinked, stumped for a moment by Inko’s tone but he finally realised their situation and stepped on the brakes, yanking the wheel to the left. Izuku got a faceful of the back of Yagi’s seat and Inko nearly choked from the seatbelt. The only reason they didn’t crash into the window front is that Hercules seemed to have brakes from the next century.
Yagi said nothing, just set a ‘manageable’ -but by no means legal- speed and glanced at the GPS. “We need to get off the grid,” he muttered, seemingly to no one, pressing button after strange button
“Why?” Izuku still didn’t know what was it he did that was so horrible that the entirety of Shizuoka prefecture was after him. “You said the safe house—“
“ ’cause if we don’t leave this town, we might never make it out before your father gets us.”