Chapter Text
Sometimes, Izuku reflected, that while killing a killer means that the same number of killers exist in the world, it doesn’t mean the same number of victims exist.
This was the unfortunate logic that followed Nezu’s question.
When the strongest prison isn’t enough to contain the man who would orchestrate the end of an entire nation there is only one true solution.
“We have to kill him.” Is what Izuku didn’t say. He turned to his dad in shock, who gave him a saddened look. The room’s occupants nodded solemnly, but were looking at Izuku in slight worry.
Aizawa searched Izuku’s face before briefly turning to the rest of the room and signalled for them to give him a minute. Polite conversations started up in the background to give the two a semblance of privacy.
Izuku opened his mouth to speak. Shota’s expression softened and he leaned forward to cup the side of Izuku’s face, cutting him off. Izuku leaned into the hold in confusion, not understanding the situation.
He felt his dad’s thumb gently rub his cheek. After a moment of sustained eye contact, his dad explained himself. “Let us handle this burden, Son.”
Izuku’s heart skipped a beat at the address. Then, his eyes widened.
Oh.
Oh.
He reached up to grab the hand holding his cheek.
“I am- was- eighteen. You don’t need to shelter me, I promise.”
Shota sighed, and dropped their still conjoined hands. “I know.” He peered up at his son from his hunched position. “But let me try anyway?”
Izuku sniffed tearily. “Okay, Dad.”
His dad’s expression melted, and Izuku was incredibly pleased that he didn’t stop himself from pressing a kiss on his forehead, despite them not being alone in the room. The warm fuzzies healed his hurt soul.
They took another quiet moment before turning their seats back to face the table properly, and nodded to Nezu, who signalled to the room that they were ready to continue.
All the staff turned to Izuku in worry, but it was All Might who asked, “Will you be alright?”
Izuku gave him a wry smile. “I was… fully prepared to make that suggestion myself. I know I’m going to be part of the team attacking him directly. Plus…” Izuku looked down in sorrow. “I was the one who dealt the killing blow to Shigaraki.”
That piece of information gave everyone a bit of a jolt. Midoriya and Aizawa hadn’t shared that little tidbit before.
He looked at the staff ruefully. “None of you need me to tell you how choosing to end someone’s life feels. Just… entering a battle with the intent to kill rather than save is… yeah…” He trailed off, as the teachers nodded in understanding.
All Might placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “My boy, I had honestly thought that I personally ended All for One’s life 6 years ago, anyway. Of course, no attacks were made with the intent to kill, but there is a line when it comes to defending yourself from a powerful adversary who is without a doubt intending to kill you.”
“Yeah, kid.” Torino groused. “Sometimes, the only way to save people is to kill. It seems you’ve already learned that lesson.”
Izuku made a sad agreeing sound.
“I would like to agree…” Everyone turned to face Recovery Girl. “And I know Midoriya said it didn’t matter so much to him, but as his teachers and support staff, I’d like to think we could have a failsafe.” She elaborated before anyone could express their confusion. “It’s clear that we want to do this quickly, meaning we’d look at getting Midoriya-kun a temporary signed-off provisional license. The first official villain encounter ending in death is an end to his career.”
She gave Izuku a look. “I completely understand that the entire nation is at stake, which is why I’m not dissenting to any plan. But, if only for your sake, as a gratitude for all the lives you’re about to save, I’d like to hope that at the very least, we could guarantee you the career you want.”
Izuku was very touched by the consideration, and the agreement by his other teachers.
Ectoplasm rubbed his chin in thought. “We could possibly spin the takedown in our favour regardless of the outcome. After all, a provisional student taking down someone that gave the undisputed number one hero a hard time is someone that they’d definitely want in their ranks.”
Nezu nodded. “Yes, I was of the same mind. The same can be said for potential media coverage. A lack would simply mean no controversy, while its existence would allow us to bring hope, and show the public that the next generation of heroes is already strong.”
Izuku sniffled and held his dad’s hand under the table while All Might rubbed his back comfortingly, the warmth and care seeping in his bones. He hadn’t realised how little hope he’d had for his old dream until it was rekindled by the steady support of the UA staff. He felt fifteen again. Not just in body.
His dad leaned forward on the table to address everyone. “So right now the vague plan is, scout the area to provide legal ground for a raid, authorise a temporary provisional license for Izuku, and during the raid, capture Kurogiri, and kill All for One.” He stated.
He received murmurs of agreement and continued. “For this first step to be successful, we need to treat Kurogiri’s capture as a priority. He needs to be kept off the scene to prevent escape, because All for One has a quirk to forcibly activate other quirks.”
“I see.” Nezu clasped his hands pensively. “To clarify, All for One doesn’t reside in the League’s main base?”
Both Deku and Eraser shook their heads. “The league is in a bar, All for One stayed in the nomu factory, likely to be near the doctor who probably moved between nomu factories”.
“Right.” Nezu clapped his paws together. “Well, the remaining details are best left to be determined once we are officially authorised for a raid. I assume you will be scouting the locations out as soon as possible, Eraserhead?”
Aizawa nodded. “I’ll try to swap shifts with the other underground patrollers in that area for next week. Spend around five days in the area to limit suspicion and make sure I don’t miss anything before we submit a raid request.”
“Excellent. After that, we bring Shinso-kun in to help interrogate Kurogiri, who will give us reasonable means to investigate the hospital in Jakku. We can also send Recovery Girl in as initial reconnaissance if need be.” She nodded in acknowledgement.
His head dipped as he regarded his notes. “We should probably refrain from planning further ahead to limit the amount of moving pieces, but it would do well to keep the quirk erasing bullets in mind, as well as the Meta Liberation Front and the villain Gigantomachia.”
Eager assent circled the room, as the staff sensed the meeting was coming to a close and were ready to go home and rest from now two days of overtime.
Izuku found himself sharing a look with his dad. Something that had dealt such devastation in their time had been broken down into simple, manageable, and most importantly, achievable steps that they couldn’t ward off instinctual disbelief.
Was stopping off the end of the world as they knew it really so easy?
“Hindsight is 2020.” Shota muttered, seemingly unthinkingly, causing Izuku to snort, breaking their little bubble of shock. Shota rolled his eyes and knocked a fist on Izuku’s head affectionately.
Hizashi and Nemuri sidled over to Shota while Izuku felt Gran Torino’s cane prod his foot. He turned around to face the man inquisitively.
Torino regarded him for a minute, before huffing, not unkindly. “You’ve got the eyes of a veteran, kid. You shouldn’t have them, but you do. Shigaraki-” He cut himself off, and sighed. “Shimura. Tenko Shimura. I should have watched over Nana’s family.”
He bowed his head in apology. “I’m sorry that part of everything that happened to you was because of my negligence, but know this, you zygote.” He reached his cane up and emphasised his next words with taps to Izuku’s chest. “You’ll be a real asset to the raid. I’m glad that you’ll be there to help clean up after my messes, ‘cause you’ll do a real good job of it.”
Izuku had been too stunned to get a word in edgewise before Gran Torino said his goodbyes and left.
Izuku took a minute to himself. He watched as detective Tsukauchi rubbed his forehead tiredly in response to something All Might said that had him rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Recovery Girl walked up to Nezu and had a short exchange before she too left.
Slowly teachers began to file out, waving to him, which he returned in his slight daze. The day’s events hit him all at once, and he moved to slump tiredly next to his dad. He followed his dad out of the room, the two being flanked by Hizashi and Nemuri.
Izuku let their idle chatter wash over him as they made their way out of the school. He reluctantly parted ways with his dad, feeling the toll of separation more intensely in his tired state.
He arrived home, enjoyed the warmth of his mother’s kindness, and passed out the second his head hit the pillow.
~~~~~~
Omake:
The next morning, Izuku woke to intense buzzing from his phone. Blearily, he tapped his passcode, and stared uncomprehendingly at the spammed messages.
Then there was a thump, and he was on the floor, laughing. Left on his phone screen, was the culprit of Izuku’s humour.
Kacchan:
Nerd WTF
THE WHOLE POINT OF THE TALK YESTERDAY
WHERE THE FUCK DID THAT ROPE AND SMOKE COME FROM
WHAT ARE YOU SOME KIND OF ELDRITCH BASTARD TIME TRAVELLER NUTJOB
Another notification.
I CAN SEE YOU READING THIS YOURE GOING TO TELL ME WHATS GOING ON RIGHT FUCKING NOW
NERD
His Mum had to check on him after he started wheezing on the floor.