Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Prologue; The Social Media Icon & Izuku Fucks Up
Chapter Text
Aizawa Shota sat at the detective’s desk with a raised eyebrow as a file was plopped onto the space in front of him. Tsukauchi walked back to his own side of the table and sat into his own chair with a sigh. Shota’s eyebrows furrowed in suspicion as his fingers brushed the oddly thin file. He gave into his curiosities and opened the file, finding only two photos. One of which seemed to be a screenshot of complex code typed out, on top was a pop up with various warnings, most had the words ‘Access Breached’ written all over them. The second item in the folder was an extremely blurry image of a building taken from the ground on the inside of an alleyway. It was dark out, and the little light in the image came from a far away streetlight. On the edge of the building was half the back and a bright red sneaker of an unidentified individual.
“And this is the evidence I was waiting all week for?” Shota raised an eyebrow, glancing away from the evidence and up towards the police officer.
“Look. This one’s extremely careful with sightings. We had to make an entire bank robbery set-up just to get a picture of ‘em. Not to mention we have no idea what their quirk is. If used improperly, this can get extremely out of hand. We’ve barely even been able to pick up on his gender. Luckily most of our witnesses slipped when referring to him though… the only people who have had close interactions were myself, the criminals, and the victims. As you know, vigilantism is not overly uncommon, but most of which are premature and easily caught. We have absolutely no idea what his next move is. He’s busted about five drug exchanges in the last week. We’re also not even counting any petty crimes as we don’t even know the amount he’s been involved in. It could range from five to fifty depending on the day.” Tsukauchi concluded his thorough explanation with a huff, as his eyes wandered to the picture of a single red shoe. Mid-jump from building to building.
“So I can assume you want him in custody as soon as possible, right?” Aizawa questioned. The officer nodded.
“So far, he’s had no real criminal offenses other than vigilantism, battery, and probable hacking- again no proof. It’s difficult especially considering we have no idea what his quirk is.” At the last sentence, the Underground Hero’s head shoots up from the papers.
“What do you mean you have no idea what his quirk is?” He practically snarled out.
“He typically gets the job done so quickly and efficiently that he’s gone before we arrive. We didn’t even know he existed until the criminals he captured ratted him out. Strangely enough they seemed reluctant to do so…” The officer trailed off in thought.
“So it’s entirely possible that he’s got a non-physical quirk? Emitter type?” Aizawa asked.
“Well… there’s another thing. If that was the case, the villains wouldn’t be so battered after we find them…” Tsukauchi explained. The hero nodded and picked up the case file after giving the half-silhouette another once over.
“I wish you luck… who knows what he can do.” The detective followed the hero to the door. Shota merely nodded sharply before exiting the office and the station all together.
A hooded figure jogs between alleys, clearly in a rush. He pulls out a phone so cracked that it barely produces any light. As his eyes dart to the time, he begins to let out a string of curse words, picking up his pace. He leapt across the alleys, maneuvering between elaborate parkour flips and acrobatics, continuing his haste until he approached a seemingly random alley and jumped. He wasn’t too far into the downtown area meaning that the buildings were an easy drop. Regardless, he sprung off the sides and got to the ground within 3 jumps. After sprinting between a few other alleys, he managed to make it to a large semi-abandoned building. As in, it was supposed to be abandoned. The hooded figure took a few steps backwards before hopping over leaping over the barbed wire fence. He once again checked his batshit beaten phone before casually walking into the building.
Jonathan Exavian was from America. He had just gotten a huge order of Trigger. People were buzzing about his new and improved drug. He knew he’d go down in history as the man who figured out how to mass produce it. Even if the hero’s refused to touch the stuff, he’d get there. Everyone would need it. For now, he would continue his smaller deliveries with employees and his larger deliveries with himself. This would be the next big step. He was meeting up with a large gang in Japan. It took some money to get here with the cargo, but he knew that he’d get it back. For the sake of secrecy, everyone in the sketchy building was nameless. He didn’t know who he was dealing with either. All he knew was that this was his big break.
Jonathan was in the middle of a handshake and the pass of a brief case before the door busted open, revealing a figure on the smaller side. The person had a simple face mask and goggles over his eyes. He was also wearing a black tight suit with a black hoodie tied around his waist. He had various tools strapped to a belt and harness. A bō staff extended with a sharp slice beside him.
“Hello, boys!” The figure exclaimed. A voice changer covered whatever his true voice sounded like.
“IT'S A BUST!” Another voice from the opposing side of the exchange shouted. The unidentified figure waited until everything erupted into chaos itself before actually stepping in. Well, in actuality all the man had to do was blink before the figure was gone.
“WHERE’D HE GO?” Another voice shouted. Jonathan panicked. He ran.
If someone were to count the steps he took, the man would’ve taken exactly two before everything went black.
“119, what’s your emergency?”
“Hi, do you have Tsukauchi over there?”
“If this is a prank call, you can go ahead and hang up.” The voice immediately deadpanned.
“Yeah, I got a huge Trigger bust over here and where’s Tsukauchi?”
“Trigger? This really is a serious topic-“
“Yeah just get some of your fuzz over here in like 5. I don’t know if they’re gonna stay out for long and one of them has this quirk with knives…? So like- I’d hurry.” The officer on the other end briefly sighed before there was some sort of ruckus on the other side of the phone. Another voice joined the conversation.
“Who is that?”
“I don’t know. Some prank caller. Talking about Trigger.” The other voice groaned before he was the one operating the phone call.
“Vigilante.” The voice huffed.
“Tsukauchi! I just knew you’d make it!” The voice-changed voice cheered.
“Where are you?” Tsukauchi asked blatantly.
“You know that warehouse off the side of Tsuya-Sa Street?”
“There? Wasn’t it set for destruction last week?”
“Apparently not there were these plans but they were faked and I found the real ones- It was labled as destruction but in actuality its not to destroy for another three month, there is this underground guy I’ll have more information on him soon, he keeps making fake documents-” The supposed vigilante broke into a spur of uncatchable mutters before stopping themself, “Anyway- hurry. There’s a knife guy and I don’t know how long he’s gonna stay down.”
“Don’t you want to stay and give us a witness statement?” Tsukauchi asked, attempting to sound inviting, as if he wouldn’t throw him into the back of the car regardless of his statement.
“Yeah, no. I’m good. Busy.” The line was cut.
The detective sighed and looked at the responder, stepping back from the other’s workspace.
“Get a unit over to Tsuya-Sa. I’m coming with.” Tsukauchi walked away- the operator could almost say he was stomping.
The vigilante hissed as he poked at the wound. One of the men in the warehouse managed to get a shot on him. As shitty as it was, Izuku told himself it could have been much worse- which was very much true. The bullet only barely grazed his shoulder, but it still hurt pretty badly.
“How rude is that…?” Izuku muttered to himself as he cleaned the wound while sitting on the top of a building with his medkit. He found himself in a generally safe area from any villains and heroes. As a child, he shared a dream with Kacchan of being the Number One Hero. That whim has all burned and died with his current life. At least he’s not a full-fledged villain. He hasn't gotten a name. There have been too many suggestions and self-dubs by citizens that he just goes by ‘that vigilante’ at this point. Whether or not it’s out of fondness or distaste, Izuku couldn’t care less. He didn’t want the publicity anyway.
Of course, the universe chooses to be a cruel joke anyway and makes Midoriya the newest internet sensation. Somehow the public manages even without any pictures. However, the vigilante can’t play entirely innocent as he has multiple social media accounts for the sake of slandering your average local authority. He also often gets into these Twitter debates with other heros. His favorite victim to torment is Hawks. While he does make for fantastic banter, it’s best to stay behind the safety of his laptop. He doesn’t exactly know what lead to another, but something happened where Hawks figured out what his occupation was. He was lucky the hero didn’t care enough to try and capture him.
Midoriya huffed as he finished patching up his arm and replaced his jacket over his arms. He took a moment to glare at the tear in the fabric. He decided that he needed another pocket for more weapons anyway. He’s been on his own for about five years.
It was supposed to be a short trip to America with his father.
It was supposed to be one where she came back.
It was three weeks after she left when he found out about the fire.
It was at least a year when he realized she wasn’t coming back.
Izuku began once again running among the rooftops. It felt nice to finally cut that Trigger case to a close. The increased Trigger usages have been proved to be a serious pain for the vigilante. Now that he’s caught the supplier, he can hopefully take a night or two to finish up breaking into those files at the police station. They changed the cybersecurity-everything after last time. How annoying.
His patrol ended just as the sun was coming up. He managed to stop a few small-scale bank robberies and assaults in back-alleys. The rest of his night was rather lenient on him- as boring as it was. For the fuck of it, Izuku decided he’d post something on his instagram. He looked over the quick picture he took of the defeated villains after they were apprehended. His photography skills are trash, but it does good when you’re bored but also don’t want to risk direct evidence. Obviously he moved far away before he posted it. He sat on the edge of the building and laid back as he scrolled through his busted janky-ass phone.
‘Reminder: Don’t shoot people ;)’
Aizawa looked unimpressed at the cracked and blurry picture being shown to him by the detective.
“So… he has a social media…?”
“Yeah… never actually posts pictures of himself. Mainly random pictures and stuff like this that’s so damn blurry that only people who know what it is can really decipher anything.” The officer huffed. Shouta opened his mouth to comment before the officer added, “And no. We can’t track his IP. This criminal has every encryption in the book. His phone might as well have been made before the age of quirks.” The underground hero hummed in acknowledgment.
“Better than the two damn near useless hunks of evidence I guess…” the hobo said, as enthusiastic as ever. Tsukauchi rose an unamused eyebrow at the constant annoyed comments from the hero. He glanced over at the thugs currently being apprehended. They were yelling something about a bō staff as they wrestled their ways to a containment vehicle. The law enforcement has been looking for this gang for a long time. Luckily for them, this Trigger supplier from America was also among those caught. He went quieter than expected. Almost like he’d given up. Like he knew he never had a chance.
Well, Aizawa knew he had one and he wasn’t going to waste it. Based on what the captured crimminals were spewing, the vigilante probably had a pretty basic enhancement quirk. That or a stealth quirk… or a teleportation quirk. The supplier of the whole ordeal was from America. Based on his description, this wasn’t just any vigilante. How could someone disappear within a blink… definitely teleportation…
Izuku was running… running from… running from everything. Running from Kacchan, running from his past, running from the jerk that keeps following him around.
It started at about midnight. The vigilante had felt eyes burning into the back of his head. Even when he tried losing them, there was always a scream or cry for help, a hand reaching out that couldn’t be ignored. As big of a mistake it was, Izuku couldn’t force himself not to help. He continued trying to lose the eyes scraping through the back of his hood, but no matter what he did, the constant heebie-jeebies continued to crawl up his spine. Just as soon as he thought he lost the eyes he felt them again. By now, Izuku was just finishing with his night shift and was getting pretty damn sick of this. He just wanted to go home. But he couldn’t go home until this guy got off his back. It was only when the sun came up could Izuku stop aimlessly walking around
He didn’t go away until daybreak, which left Izuku aimlessly wandering the streets until he’d arrived back at his abandoned apartment. He attempted to look into the building’s history at some point, but the task was neglected when he finally caught a lead on some villain he had already caught many moons ago. He probably should look into it at some point as it would be his typical ‘Deku’ luck to find the apartments happen to have some sort of death mold that would kill him within the next three months.
The vigilante held his chin as he muttered, walking along the alleys. He’d like to walk in the streets to see the sunrise, but atlas, walking among civilians required his ‘civilian cloths’. (However, even those didn’t count for much as he still got awkward glances and ‘hobo’ comments. He’s even been offered hand-outs. He can’t say that he didn't take them though).
There was a call for help.
Izuku perked up on instinct. He looked at the sky and gauged his time. He bounced on his heels anxiously, teetering from one direction to the other for only a moment until he gave in and ran. The vigilante expertly weaved through the alleys before he stopped on his heels. He arrived at a dead-end of an alleyway. Inside Izuku found… nothing.
Oh fuck.
Izuku turned on his heel to immediately leave before he was suddenly tackled to the ground.
“Gotcha.”
Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Izuku Finds out He’s Dead
Summary:
Enter stage right: Bakugou Katsuki and a whole shit truck of problems (with benefits). Aizawa plays dirty.
Notes:
Hey everyone! Chapter 1 was a little short and I thought it was a little unfair to just give Yall that so I pulled up with this as well!
Chapter Text
Izuku grunted as he fell to the ground, taking no time to think as he kicked his attacker over him and jumped back to his feet. His assailant was clearly inexperienced as he stumbled to his feet.
“Hold up, hold up, I just want to talk-” but izuku’s body was already moving. His foot met the other’s face and in the same fluid motion, and he pinned the boy up to the wall. The other was panting as his eyes met the ones covered by his goggles.
“I need your help.” The other breathed out, not looking away from the vigilante. The kid had a few inches on him. Izuku could recognize him from anywhere. His lips had meant to make sound, but perhaps it was for the best when he mouthed the name from behind his mask and no sound escaped.
“And get the fuck off me! Fucking short ass pervert! I should’ve known there would be some bullshit like this when working with a crimminal.” The taller’s hands crackled threateningly. Izuku loosened his grip on his old friend’s wrist hastily. Izuku stared at the other, his lips continued to move but no sound came out.
“So? You gonna help or not?” The explosive blonde shot back.
“What exactly do you need help with?” Izuku urged himself not to stutter, and luckily he managed (Barely). The young vigilante scanned the surrounding area. He didn’t see any bad guys.
“My friend.” The other said simply.
“Uh, context please?” Izuku shrugged.
“Oh for fucks sake-” The vigilante’s newest encounter turned around to grumble and shove his face in his hand.
“Look. You’re that vigilante, right?”
“Depends. Which one are you referring to?” The smart-ass comment poured from Izuku’s mouth without any way to stop it. He wanted to clamp his hands over his mouth and sew it shut. The taller one in response rolled his eyes.
“Don’t get snappy with me. Besides, I’m trying to be nice here so you’ll fucking help me.” The ‘Unlike the rest of these assholes’ was left unsaid. The other huffed.
“Fine, fine. What do you need help with? Getting anger management therapy?” Izuku crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow, despite the fact that the other probably couldn’t see it. His past friend glared before taking a deep breath.
“I’m trying not to make this difficult because I really need this so just stop being such a fucking smartass and let me talk!” The boy snapped, but was clearly still trying to hold himself back.
“Alright, geeze. Start yapping.”
“My… friend is missing.” Izuku’s eyebrows scrunched together.
“Why didn’t you just go to the police? You know, instead of seeking out a possibly dangerous alleged criminal? People on the streets are pretty morally grey you know.”
“Well… he’s been missing for… a while… the police closed his case early.” Izuku stepped back for a moment with a tilt of his head.
“How long? They don’t usually close the case until there's no evidence after seven years, but that’s America…unless they think he’s…” Izuku trailed off, not wanting to name the worst outcome of one of Kacchan’s friends. He found himself suddenly getting grabbed by the harness.
“Don’t. Fucking. Say. It.” Katsuki glared coldly, his hands began to pop, threatening to set off a real explosion. Izuku expected himself to cower. To run away back like he did in school when Katsuki would grab the straps on his backpack. He found himself glaring back up at the boy.
“Touch me again and I’ll make sure they never find you either. Now come on. I need more info.” Despite everything he has done. Izuku wouldn’t find it in his heart to turn him down. Katsuki was acting so weird. He wasn’t yelling as much, and there was a tremble in his voice, almost as if he knew something… but refused to believe it.
“Everyone keeps saying that… that he’s dead. You know what? I don’t believe it. I can feel it. He’s still out there. Everyone else gave up on him. But I’m not gonna. He’s just been pronounced legally dead and no other heros are doing anything about it. They say they have ‘better stuff to do.’ So just… I know he’s out there. Besides, that twerp would survive the last quirk war without trying. That Dek- He’s like a cockroach.” Izuku’s eyes widened from behind his goggles at the other’s sincerity, hidden behind his harsh words.
So then why did he feel like being such a dick?
“Yeah. That’s how it is…” The vigilante shrugged, knowing full well that if it was one of Katsuki’s friends, they probably went missing for a damn good reason. “Now, can I get some actual information and not your sob-story, please? I’m a busy guy-” Katsuki sighed in relief despite the unusual harshness that had been radiating off of Izuku. There was still something bothering the vigilante about said sob-story, so despite his request a question bubbled into the air.
“So, why did they drop his case so early? I’m sure you know that they don’t use that seven-year rule like in the U.S.” Katuski sighed, seemingly debating whether or not to trust his new comrade before giving in to Izuku’s need for information.
“He… doesn’t have a quirk.”
Oh.
OH.
After seeing Izuku stare off into space for quite some time, Kacchan found his voice again and spoke up. And at that point, Izuku really wished he hadn’t.
“I know what you’re thinking. I thought the exact same shit too. I… wasn’t very… I was an ass ok? I still am. I… learned the hard way that a quirk isn’t what makes someone heroic. I wouldn’t be caught dead saying this anywhere else- so you better not say shit… but he was more heroic than anyone I fucking knew- And if I know anything, he’s still kicking and screaming ‘Kachan’ with his annoying twink ass voice. Look- I- just forget it. This was hopeless anyway. I know why you wouldn’t wanna help me. Never mind.” Katsuki spun on his heel, turning the palm of his hand to his forehead lightly jabbing as he walked away, muttering something about ‘society being fucked’. Now, Izuku wanted to run. He didn’t know when the explosive boy tackled him to the ground, or yanked him up by his cross-belts. But this?
This scared him.
Kasuki having regret of all things?
Terrifying.
The comment on society being fucked up?
Villainous.
Which is why Izuku was so confused when his body moved before he could think.
His bow staff suddenly extended out and nabbed his former-friend’s ankle. He tripped over the weapon and fell flat on his face.
“So your name is ‘Kacchan’ then?” The word felt familiar on his tongue, but he couldn’t help the slyness in his voice.
“HEY WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?!” Katsuki jumped up and began marching towards Izuku, who leaned on his bō staff. As fun as it was to see Katsuki go through all of the things he’s been through on his behalf, Izuku… didn’t want his former friend to go through that. He was clinging to a memory that only had a hope of a chance of still existing. And yet he still took his extended hand. Figuratively. When Izuku offered his hand towards the other to help him off the ground, he got it roughly slapped away.
“I came here to find that quirkless brat so my mom would stop hounding me. Not to make friends. And you’re not allowed to call me that.” Katsuki presumed to help himself up and brush himself off. He began walking away, out of the alley.
“And he is?” Izuku felt his mouth quirk up at the irony, “Well I never said I wouldn’t help because I- he’s quirkless. I never even said I wouldn’t help.” Izuku shrugged, “Who do you think I am? The police?” Izuku grinned as he saw the corners of Katsuki’s mouth twitch upwards.
“Haha. Good one. His name’s Izuku Midoriya.”
“I’ll… see what I can do.” Boy, he hasn’t heard that in a while. He almost felt himself get pulled out of his own body and watch the scene in third person. He felt like he was a ghost of his former self, and the ghost of Izuku was screaming at him to tell the blonde that he was here.
“You fucking better. If you're really what they say you are, you better be damn good, or else I’m gonna be pissed. If you do, who knows, I’ll think of something. Probably pay you. FUCK YOU!” Kacchan hissed out as he stomped out of the alley. However, Izuku couldn’t help but notice the slight lift in his head, and the loss of tenseness in his shoulders as he walked out of sight.
“Izuku Midoriya…” One of the villain’s hands tapped methodically on the bar’s counter as the other ticked and stretched at the back of his own neck. He chuckled a moment before motioning for the cloud of smoke beside him to continue.
“It’s a quirkless kid that the vigilante is set to find.” Kurogiri clarified. Tomura hummed as he continued his tapping on the counter. The other was continuing to clean glasses- despite no one other than the thin-haired man at the bar.
“Interesting… so… you said he had more of a hero complex, correct?” Shigaraki giggled.
“Yes, I do believe that can make it difficult to please Sensei’s wishes…” Kurogiri replied. Tomura rolled his eyes.
“Yes well, he is trying to save that quirkless brat. We need more people for our cause anyway. Why don’t we hit two birds with one stone? If he keeps running, we’ll make him come to us.” Shigaraki chuckled as he scratched at the back of his neck again. Kurogiri’s glowing eyes raised an eyebrow at the suggestion.
“We gotta find that brat first. Surely there’s some resentment towards this society… being outcasted by it and all. So much so it seems like he turned his back on it anyway… we got work to do. Getting that ‘heroic’ vigilante on our side is our next move. Too big of one to ignore. The hero killer kills the symbols, and the vigilante kills the soul.” Shigaraki was pleased. It’s clear that the villains would not only gain publicity and social balances between the heros, but this vigilante was clearly another physical resource as well. If he could only figure out how it worked…
Kurogiri almost felt bad for the boy. Being born quirkless most certainly wasn’t easy. Being the next target of the League Of Villains definitely didn’t make living any easier. Speaking of which, that did bring up another topic of conversation.
“How can we be so sure that this boy is still even alive?” The villain asked.
“Playing the devil's advocate per usual are we?” The other villain leaned over the counter with a manic smile.
“It’s like that kid said. I’ve just got a feeling.”
Shota Aizawa was scrolling away from the blurry images- seemingly taken with a cracked camera. To anyone else, it would look like random abstract forms of photography, but to Shota and the police, it was evidence. Take away the nondescript errors in the photos and they’d be looking at the faces of thugs, thieves and villains at the vigilante’s mercy, minutes before the police arrive.
Not to mention the online beef with Pro Hero Number Three, Hawks.
Aizawa decided that he definitely needed to have a brief conversation with said hero, considering his blatant connection to the vigilante. After another mental debate with himself, (strictly for the purpose of not going through with this as he really didn’t feel like getting blinded by the energy of the guy, even if it was over text) the Underground hero sends the top three a brief message. He didn’t bother explaining the situation, just asking if they could talk and sent a screenshot of one of the vigilante’s and Hawk’s more recent web interactions. Bubbles almost immediately shot up after the text.
TheRealzHawks
K.
Shota groaned painfully at the short response. As much as the hero would love a full and scheduled response, he supposed that this was the best he was gonna get. He needed more information on the brat, and this was his next best source before he did anything rash like attempting to capture the Vigilante blindly. The man groaned and flopped onto the U.A. high school break room’s couch. School was starting in a few weeks, and he needed to finish preparations with the Principal for his new batch of brats. He was almost off and had a few hours before his patrol. The more information he had, the better. For now, Eraser would need to collect information. He decided silently tracking the criminal was the next best course of action.
Eraserhead was a bit more than disappointed with himself when he couldn’t even find the general area the kid patrolled in until the sun was just kissing the horizon. It was only for a second, a subtle glimpse of a small hooded figure running atop the rooftop, but by the time he blinked, the person was gone, having jumped into a darkened alley. Of course, the hero rushed over to where he thought the person had disappeared, but there was no trace. He began to come up with plausible explanations for what the criminal’s quirk could be. He was well aware that he’d need to be extra careful if it was a mutation quirk. He didn’t even know if the person he saw was who he was looking for.
Shota sighed as he turned in for the night. He went off the assumption that the person he saw was in fact the vigilante. If it was some sort of emitter type, the hero would definitely be able to easily capture the vigilante. The hard part, as the hero learned yesterday, was finding his assignment. Despite his wish for a simple enhancement quirk, Shota had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy. Not like it ever was.
Izuku huffed as he flopped into his makeshift bed. It consisted of a pretty decent couch he found on the side of the road and some old pillows with some slightly newer cases. He was gathering information for most of the night. He did manage a few smaller drug busts, but that was just a complication for what he was attempting to get information on. Izuku had an entire crime board centered around an emerging group: Unknown. Izuku has been finding connections between this newer group and a small rise in crimes. He knows that they’re trying to stay on the down-low, but words on the street don’t get brushed past his ears. And what worries Izuku is the recent fluctuation in the sudden rumors. He knows something big is coming… It doesn't help that he has no other information. He’s been busy buying and selling information, all just to figure out what the hell is about to go down.
Izuku’s eyes drift towards the board across the room. He doesn't know what’s happening. He can’t control it, and that scares him.
Not to mention the whole ‘Kacchan Situation.’
When his former best friend was first in sight, he didn’t know what to think. When he found out why he’d willingly searched out an unknown Vigilante just to find… well, him, was when he was really lost. Izuku also had another project. He wanted to take a looksie at this year’s UA applicants. It’s always interesting to get a look at their quirks during its annual Sports Festival. Izuku just wants to see their quirks and see how effectively they use them. He also wants to see how much the students have grown. If he can get some baseline done, and maybe see some of their quirks in the practical exam, he can gauge how effective the UA teaching style was. He wasn’t trying to see who his classmates could’ve been. If he had a quirk. No. He doesn’t have one. That’s that.
The vigilante found his eyes fluttering closed, despite his efforts to think for a moment longer. He never liked sleeping. It was inconvenient to wake up every morning with a curt shout or scream. He always dreamed. They were never nice dreams. Funny enough, the nicer dreams were the cruelest. He dreamed of it before everything went wrong. Before he went wrong.
Running,
Reaching,
Roaring of laughter
Stabbing
Screaming
Searing no after
Dangers
Distinguished
Death becomes shattered
Hiding
Crying
Running
Reaching
Falling
Going
Gone.
Everything.
Burning.
Kacchan.
His mo-
As expected, Izuku arose with a gasp. He grumbled as he ran a hand over his face. It doesn’t matter now. He had work to do. Izuku swung his legs over the couch and stretched. He let out a satisfied hum as he immediately walked over to his crime board. Multiple low-life criminals have been heard around in the neutral zone about a recent offer that has sprung up. As disappointed as the Vigilante was that he had yet to receive that offer, he wasn’t expecting to have one as he leaned into the more ‘lawful’ category of people on the streets. It’s useful to have over fifty percent of said criminals in his debt. It was easy to retain information on any topic if you knew the right people.
The board in front of him had multiple lengths of string wrapping around each other, all centered around a giant question mark, with plausible theories pinned to it. Most of these theories held question marks following them. The boy sighed as he sat on his bed. He finished middle school about a week ago, and it was already killing him. He took the initiative to finish up online after he ‘crashed out’ one day with Kacchan and had to pay the price.
Izuku flopped onto his chair and fiddled with the mouse for a moment as the screen lit up. The boy needed stimulation. Something to distract him from the current case of his own disappearance and the new villain group he has come no closer to finding.
Something was off. Izuku knows the word on the street at large… but All Might was always the word on the street, so why does this time feel so wrong? After a lot of digging, Izuku learns that the normally lanky man would be taking up a teacher position at UA. It took minimal digging in the private files, and he covered his tracks easily.
Izuku is all too aware of every quirk he never had. He always thought he’d become envious at some point, in his childhood he was. Never did it go anywhere past that, as Izuku found analysis more than enough. (If only the teachers at Aldera agreed).
The thing that really pissed off Izuku was that the League mainly communicated through word of mouth. This meant that he had to go out on the field to acquire information, and Kami was that a hassle? Through this method and his knowledge of computer science, (No, not hacking. He’s quirkless. Laws don’t apply to people like him and he refuses to believe otherwise) Izuku found that the Number One Hero was working at UA. How they allowed the man into the joint without a teaching license surpassed the young vigilante.
Despite this, the vigilante can’t let his own personal distaste for the hero get in the way of this possible outcome that the villains are planning. He was all too well aware of the entrance exams.
‘Kacchan would be applying by now…’ Izuku hummed. If this new group of villains is planning something at UA… and soon… it might be logical to assume that-
Holy shit Kacchan was in danger.
Izuku groaned in his chair and began furiously typing. Anything. He needed to know something. Through his various contacts and information trades, he found most people involved were visited by a mist-guy and another with a decay quirk… All of them refused to give out names. No matter how hard Izuku searched, he couldn’t find a single database with a name for the quirk. He didn’t doubt that the guy could be off-records anyway, so he opted to use that on his analysis of the guy’s quirk. As Izuku never met the guy, he had to use accounts from criminals. Obviously not his preferred method, but he hoped to see him in action soon.
On a brighter note, Izuku was now legally dead. (According to Katsuki).
Which also meant he didn’t have to batshit a name to get into the entrance exams.
The boy cringed as he leaned back into his seat. His computer was pulled up to the average scores on the entrance exams for both hero course students and general education students. He also happened to find All Might’s files within the teaching staff. He’d look at those later. You can’t pass up dirt this good.
Izuku groaned as the sun began to set. The boarded up windows allowed specks of light to trickle through his hideout. He arched his back over the arm of his chair, and folded his hands over his head. He had work to do. After researching all day and making an analysis on ‘Decay’, his muscles itched to get out. Izuku couldn’t help himself from being giddy as he slipped on his patrolling uniform (it's not a costume). His uniform was made up of a basic black hoodie, cargo pants with quite a few extra pockets sewn in -inside and out-, a crummy voice modulator that worked just enough to hide his voice, and two utility belts that he wore differently depending on how he felt that night. Sometimes he’d wear them crossing over his chest or he’d opt to put them both on his waist. Putting them on his waist was most effective, but having them strapped tightly around his body was always quieter, especially when it came down to a sound-related quirk.
Today, Izuku decided to wear them crossing over his chest like a harness. There was a lower ranked villain going after a small support company. They usually supplied sidekicks and smaller, up-coming heroes, but they still had some extremely useful tech. He managed to get in with one of the villain’s lackies.
He almost pitied the guy.
They spoke about the (ex?) villain’s craving to be a normal member of society, but the ‘boss’ wouldn’t let him go. Izuku distinctly remembers ordering fries and a milkshake in a sketchy but neutral-zoned bar. Izuku took in all of this information like a sponge and used what he told him to find himself where he was tonight. Izuku perched himself on top of a building, supervising a warehouse that belonged to the company.
He almost pitied him.
If it wasn’t for the fact the guy called his boss right after their meeting, Izuku would’ve bothered giving him some redemption contacts. Of course people are never that simple, so he immediately figured out that they wouldn’t be attacking the company’s headquarters. It was a smooth plan. Plausible in theory. Have one of their men pretend to have a sudden change of heart, fool their biggest threat into going to the wrong location, and if (when) the vigilante found out, they’d say that the poor villain didn’t know about the change. Unluckily for the crooks, they were dealing with one (1) Midoriya Izuku. And as much as he wished to purge it from his police file, he still was the “Vigilante”. It was well beyond stupid to refer to him as such, considering most underground heroes didn’t touch him. He hoped it would stay that way and he’d end up unscathed by the hero commission.
Thankfully he now knows the Commission won’t be too harsh when (if) they catch him, especially after they gave Endeavour himself a slap on the wrist for nearly turning him into a McCrispy™. At most that’s what Midoriya would be getting, more over when they find out he’s quirkless. What are they gonna do? Arrest him for illegal quirk usage? No. They'd throw away his toys, and throw him into foster care or some group home, where the kids jants never quietes, and when they weren’t directed at him, he was still being punished.
Not again.
Izuku sighed as he continued observing the warehouse. He noted the groups taking place on the different sides of the warehouse. ‘Just how much gear were they taking?’
Izuku carefully crept around the perimeter of the activity. He supposed he’d just have to get inside first. The not-technically-vigilante managed to swindle his way past both the gang and the guards by jumping roof to roof. He was only fairly content with his situation when he was atop of the warehouse.
“I always loved surprises-“ Izuku grinned as he unscrewed a vent. He carefully lifted the grate off of the square opening and immediately lodged himself in. Izuku wondered if this was what Santa Claus felt like on Christmas Eve. In fact, he was even tempted to shout ‘HO HO HO!’ As he fell down the vent, despite the fact it was nowhere near Christmas. Izuku fell through the ceiling with a yelp, expecting the vent to be able to hold him up. Apparently not. The force of his fall caused the vent to go crashing down under the weight of his steel toed shoes. He couldn’t tell if it was dumb luck, or an even dumber inconvenience when his eyes darted to a shelf right below him. Izuku was careful to quickly grab the vent underneath him before he tumbled as silently as he could into the top, without trying to hit any of the goods that were stacked in boxes. The vigilante sighed softly in relief as he began making his way down from the top shelves. It was too cliche of a warehouse with much too valuable items for him to mess this up. He located the front door and waited.
He looked down at his wrist boredly as though checking a nonexistent watch. After hearing a short tussle with the guard outside, the vigilante got into position. Considering the length of the fight with the supposedly trained guard and the footsteps of only 3 people, Izuku immediately supplied himself with the knowledge of a knock-out quirk. He tightened the mask on his face in case it was airborne, and the gloves around his wrists if it was skin to skin contact.
If he wasn’t wearing a mask and goggles, one would have seen a near-manic smile gripped onto his face as the door was busted open.
“Hello! Now, while I believed neither of us are supposed to be here, I would find it quite convenient if you’d leave.” Izuku teased as he attempted a complex spin with his staff. He briefly fumbled around with it before it landed back into his grasp, barely hitting the ground.
“Hah! Would you look at this guy?!” The leader shouted, stomping up to the smaller, “And who are you supposed to be? Huh pipsqueak? Some wannabe hero? You know vigilantism is a crime. If you stop now, you might be able to get in a cut with us.” The boss rambled on, before one of the goons nudged him.
“Hey, Uroki? How’d you think the kid got in here?” His voice was laced with suspicion.
“Huh… funny. I thought I had the joint surrounded. Is it your quirk kid? Man, I would kill to have something like that. Now, you gonna stop pretending or what?”
Izuku rolled his eyes and the leader’s antics. If he could get the one with the knock-out quirk knocked out before he kicked the bucket himself, he might be able to take the other man’s lackies that were supposedly surrounding the building. Without warning, small metal marbles clinked to the ground. The men barely had time to react before that entire section erupted in smoke.
“Someone get that kid!-” The shout was cut off by a sickening crack. The men reacted blindly whipping around in whichever direction they heard noise. Izuku grinned as the men began to shout towards one of themselves in particular. Izuku now knew his target. The boy snuck up behind the man, his staff connecting to the back of his neck just enough to knock him out. After this henchman’s quirk was out, the rest were easily picked off. By the time the smoke cleared the floor was scattered with still-breathing bodies. Now, Izuku had to catch as many as the criminals surrounding the warehouse as quickly as possible before the police arrived. The more silent, the better. The Vigilante took a step before turning around. Just as he did, a white piece of fabric whipped past his face. He immediately skittered off to the side in order to get a better angle of his attacker. There stood a man in black with yellow goggles. A scarf was wrapped around his neck, his hands weaved with the access, controlling it with expertise.
Pro Underground Hero; Eraserhead
Quirk: Erase
Izuku’s brain helpfully supplied. Though he made sure to cut his train of thought off before it got any further. He needed to focus. He made sure to filter any observations he took on the hero as he stood there. His head turned into a constant highway, pushing helpful information in and out as the two stood in silence. Eraser, despite the thoughts threatening to burst from the greenette, was the first to break it.
“Nice work.” The hero said plainly. He still held his scarf in preparation. Izuku knew that Eraser was expecting him to run. Izuku buzzed with anxiety and excitement. Very few people have ever snuck up on him like that before (and be his favorite underground hero AND complement him). His hand reached up to the switch on his mask, double checking that his voice modulator was turned on before speaking.
“Flattery appreciated. But undeserved.” Izuku shrugged. He couldn’t help but grin slightly as he approached the man, who stepped back warily. From Eraser’s point of view, it was a smart move, considering that he didn’t know what Izuku’s quirk was. Eraser’s quirk flared up, to Izuku’s glee. He instantly began taking information in order to analyze it later.
“So, you understand what you’re doing here is against the law, right kid?” Izuku tried to ease the tension in his shoulders at the man’s nickname for him. He definitely wasn’t an adult’s height. It still spooked the Vigilante a bit to know that the other was a little closer to figuring him out.
“Eh, not really.” Izuku shrugged again, trying to remain nonchalant despite the buzzing he felt under his skin. Eraser raised an eyebrow.
“As in ‘you don’t know’, or vigilantism ‘is not really illegal'?” Eraser blinked but only for a moment. Its not like it made a difference.
“Who said vigilante?” Eraser rose an eyebrow and glanced meaningfully at the plethora of villains lying limp behind the boy in green.
“Anyhow, I believe we have more pressing matters at hand.” Izuku nodded almost sarcastically. His hands clasped together and pointed towards Eraser with an exaggerated nod. As if on cue, a tsunami of voices were heard from outside of the warehouse. After repeated questioning from the people outside, the door suddenly melted down. Izuku’s mind immediately began spinning, words unintentionally spewing out of his mouth in a low mutter.
“Melting quirk, 3 points, drawback looks like typical overuse. Nails get darker as it’s used. He’s almost at his limit. It looks like it’s based on surface area…? Time used seems irrelevant if he’s already warm out after one use. Easy take down if he uses his quirk again… already worn out, might not need to make use of quirk.” Izuku’s eyes then darted to the three other goonies following the one with the melting quirk.
“I’ll take the mutant quirk. The one with the yellow mask: Kokomo Yasashii. I’ve seen her before. She can manifest bricks out of thin air, more than likely by using dead skin cells, doesn’t seemed to have been used. The quirk you do have to worry about is Pinky over there,” Izuku referred to the girl with a pink bandana covering her eyes. “I don’t know what her quirk is…” Izuku trailed off getting into a fighting stance. He really needed to cut that rambling habit of his. Izuku looked back at the eraser hero and noticed he was using his quirk on him.
“Not an analysis quirk huh? Noted.” Eraserhead smirked slightly from under his capture weapon. Though Izuku couldn’t help but notice the furrow in his brow as he turned back to the group in front of them.
“What are you doing here?!” Kokomo shouted at the vigilante.
“Yeah, same question actually. What’re you doing out of jail?” Izuku responded as though teasing an old friend. The villain rolled her eyes and began making her bricks, getting ready to throw them. After seeing her hostile state, the rest of the villains followed suit. Izuku was pinned against the brick lady -as she immediately went for him first- and made sure to lure the two mutants towards his side of the fight. Eraser was taking care of the melting quirk and the unknown. Izuku hoped he would be smart about erasing the unknown’s quirk first as it was unknown. However, all Izuku could do was trust and get his fight over quickly as he knew there were at least two other groups on the west and eastern ends of the building.
The first to attack was the burly man with the crocodile mutation quirk. He only had partial crocodile parts, such as a partially croc-ified head and a tail that snapped to intimidate him. Izuku raised an unseen and unamused eyebrow. The man clearly depended on the tail trait, so Izuku made the decision to subdue that first. The next person to come up and attack was obviously the brick woman. (Ah, so they weren’t stupid enough to fight him one at a time, wonderful). She already had a few bricks made and wound her arm up to toss them at him. The other mutation quirk woman was clearly inexperienced as well. She had some sort of small-mammal mutation. Possibly a squirrel, as she was at least a foot or two shorter than he. She stood back and watched her comrades fight.
Izuku dodged the bricks with ease, though he could tell Kokomo had been practicing since he last saw her.
“BATTER UP!” Izuku called as he extended his staff once more. He enforced it with some high-end metal he had saved up a while for, so it should do the trick. The brick villain could only ponder in confusion as the boy swung his staff around as though hitting a baseball towards the brick. On par with the expected, the Brick Villain looked confused in sync with the mutant-croc. This moment was all Izuku needed to get his home run. The brick didn’t get hit far because physics kind of sucked sometimes -especially for the quirkless vigilante- but it got where it needed to go. The corner of the hunk of rock got smashed into the croc mutant’s tail. He yelped for a moment and winced. Obviously the villain was not incapacitated yet, so The Vigilante would then knock him in the back of the neck.
Kokomo groaned and face palmed, “Useless idiots…” she muttered off to the side. As Izuku continued to avoid getting struck out, all the while not needing to walk any bases, he shouted baseball terms as he hit the bricks. Obviously the Eraser hero felt the need to look over when the boy yelled “FOUL BALL,” and a cry of pain from the other mutant quirk standing off to the side. Izuku caught wind of the disapproving side eye of the Eraser Hero and snickered, before shortly realizing he wasn’t using his quirk on the right person.
“Eraser look out-!” One of the emitter type quirks have come up and attempted to touch his shoulder. The Pro Hero whipped around just in time to side-step the attack and give an approving nod to the Vigilante, who had just knocked out his final opponent. The Pro and the Vigilante met back up again before Izuku began running towards the other side of the building, the Eraser Hero shortly following, especially if he had hopes of capturing the Vigilante when this whole mess was over.
“There should be two more groups, one on the North end, and the other on far South. They should have weaker quirks so they shouldn’t be a problem. As the pair made their way over, the comms on Eraserhead’s wrist beeped.
‘He must have forgotten to connect it to his earpiece.’ Izuku reasoned.
“Sending backup immediately. Both stationed villains and the Vigilante are on sight.”
Eraserhead visibly cringed at the untimely reveal. Izuku kept running beside him, amused.
“Well, Eraser, looks like you won’t be needing me for this round, huh?” And with that, the vigilante scrambled up the shelves and launched himself into the ceiling by abruptly extending his staff. The Eraser hero stopped briefly, looking up at where Izuku had disappeared to, though he shook his head and continued with the task at hand as The Vigilante inevitably made his escape. Izuku ran away from the crime, fully aware that the heroes could take it from here. It’s definitely not his favorite way to handle things, but if people aren't in imminent danger and his ass is at risk of being arrested, it was the most logical option.
Izuku took a breath as he finally hunkered down into a neutral zone. Knowledge of the place spread by mouth, and during the day, it was a family diner. It doesn’t sound like a logical move, but to those on the inside, it's ingenious. The neutral zone is protected by those who respect it, and anybody who doesn’t respect that is not welcome. It was just something people knew. No borderline illegal activity until after eleven at night. The vigilante found this to be a hotspot for buying and selling information. This is where he made the most bank. With the recent topic of the new organized villain organization, Izuku found himself more commonly trading information than anything. Today was a day when he needed to actually sell what he was learning, because he was running low on yen, and he could only survive on cup soup for so long.
As Izuku walked into the bar, he was greeted by various nods, glares, and stares. He was a well known info-broker in the underground considering that the Hero Commission was up his ass. He likes to think that they gave up on his case, especially since he isn't trying to draw attention to himself- hell, he doesn’t even have a name. Especially since they have yet to send Hawks to assassinate him, he supposes that’s a good thing too- he doubts he’s good enough to survive. For now, he hopes that he’s nothing more than something to send a cop or two after him. Speaking of Hawks, Izuku has an internet debate to settle with the guy. He keeps saying birds are real.
Izuku hopped onto the bar stool, clearly not built for someone of his height (or age). He nodded to the bartender who didn’t seem too busy at the moment, despite the crowd that Saturday nights bring in. A small one-man band played in the corner. He sang into a flimsy mic that went down just enough that it would pick up his voice if he tilted his head up at fifty degree angle at the least. This foot tapped along with the beat, triggering the bass drum next to it to let out a hollow sound. Despite the cheap material, the sound made let out the kind of nostalgic energy, allowing the usually rowdy crowds to have the uncommon sense of ease around them. Those who weren’t as affected by the music settled to chat quietly- even if the conversation was heated.
“I take it you’d like your usual?” The bartender asked. Izuku bit his lip for a moment. (He still wore his mask in these kinds of places. In fact, this is where he needs it most). The kid shuffled around in his pockets, feeling the thickness of his moth-eaten wallet.
“Uh… no sorry. Can’t tonight. I’m just here for the gossip.” Jenereki Kougoyaka was the name of the bartender who nodded understandingly from the other side of the bar. It was often the case that the man was called ‘JK’- a thing Izuku found funny because of the English abbreviation of ‘Just Kidding’. To add to the irony, the man was one of the most stoic people Izuku has ever met. His appearance didn’t draw much attention to himself, and he had a “weak” emitter quirk.
Tell that to the guy that can make shooting soap bubbles out of one’s fingers lethal.
The boy constantly denied the man’s self-deprecation. Always having a solution to any of his problems- despite them not being verbally expressed. Izuku admired the man’s quirk, and honestly believes he’s been holding himself back. Jenereki had the ability to fix shattered glass.
Now, don’t get Izuku wrong, he knew it didn’t sound amazing, but he knew better. Based on his observations, the bartender can pick up the glass without using his hands, melt it back together and have it transform back into a cup. Izuku believes that this is all the man wants; a cup. But the vigilante suspects some sort of heat-related quirk that has been inherited, along with something to do with glass, or even sand. If he really wanted to, Izuku doesn’t doubt that the bartender could condense the glass into a nearly unbreakable weapon. And if it did break- so what? Of course the man continues to hold himself back, but if he was happy with his current life, who was Izuku to judge?
Izuku spun around in his chair, surveying the bar. People were chatting amongst the heartbeat of the guitar that was playing in the back of the room. Some were ducked down in booths, their conversations being nothing more than a quiet hum, while others laughed loudly with their dates and drew attention from within the quiet of the room. Izuku managed to spot Giran. He needed information. And Izuku needed cash.
As the vigilante fiddled with his fingers, he heard the slight scruff of a plate against the bar being slid in his direction. He turned back around and found his usual basket of fries before him. Izuku’s hunch almost made him look half his size.
“Uh- I- uh- d-didn’t order this.” The stuttering sounded odd underneath the voice changer his mask provided. Such a timid sound coming from such a well-known source.
“I didn’t ask if you could order. I asked what you wanted. And you were eyeing up that guy’s fries.” Jenereki shrugged before going back towards another customer who practically screamed ‘I work a minimum wage job on a Saturday’. Izuku sent a grateful glance towards the bartender before munching on his steak fries. He hasn’t eaten yesterday because again, he’s running out of cash. After Izuku finished his fries, he ran through his own head, pecking for useful information. Giran was a patron at this bar. He was extremely shady around the edges. An info broker just for the cash. At least the man was smart enough to not sell the information he got stupidly. No (serious) crimes have been traced back to him (yet). When Izuku looked back over, he found that Giran was eyeing him with the same hunger Izuku was before he got his fries.
Time to trade.
Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Entrance Exams
Summary:
We get to see a little more Bakugou action, and an analysis of Eraserhead! (If the damn photo loads). Let me know if I should post the 4th chapter. Bakugou meets Shinsou, and they surprisingly hit it off.
Notes:
So I wanted to do something cute, idfk. So I made my own analysis thing and went outside with red shoes and took pictures. I have an encryption for it to but I don’t think any of y’all are gonna figure out that crap, just because it’s not letter to letter, it’s to sounds- and then there’s all this other crap like the fucking ‘sandwich’ clause. So I decided to only encrypt a few words. I’m probably just gonna stick to using it to freak people out when I write reminders on my flesh. There are supposed to be formatted text, but my lazy ahh isn’t doing that crap after copying it from google docs. Crap does not show up. Let me know if it annoys you or smth. I’ll fix it ig. Just so you guys know: I’m about 5k into writing the 5th chapter and Mic and Aizawa still haven’t met (re-met????). This is about to be some heart wrenching slow burn. I promise.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku hopped into the old rolling chair he had found on the roadside before opening up his laptop. It should have been barely functioning, but Izuku made it work. Izuku managed to swindle a few pieces of information out of Giran while also gaining some cash. He was clearly trying to get onto Izuku’s good side, but for what, Izuku had no idea. The man did let it slip that the villains involved with the attack still had no information, which was a relief considering a short notice wouldn’t go over well with any followers this new group had. He opened up his latest Twitter- changed, ‘X’ -post on one tab before opening another. He quickly typed out a small rebuttal before opening up some police files.
TheRealzHawks
“How would birds not exist if I exist?”
Izuku scoffed and closed the message as he continued digging through some police files. He had a collection of names of people who were pronounced dead, and their bodies were never found. The people he talked to slipped up enough by telling Izuku the villain’s gender, so he could firmly cross off half the people on his list.
TheRealzHawks
“Also, don’t you think they’re a little too cool to be made by human technology?”
Izuku’s hands twitched as he scoffed before changing tabs.
GDQNEZMZSHB
“Thatz bs Technology is actully rlly advancd I can make a fake birb bet.”
Izuku switched back to his original tab on missing persons. It was odd. None of them matched the quirk described. The only quirk that came close to what this quirk was is ‘Dissolve’. It belonged to a man in his forties who died from a particularly brutal medical phenomenon where his quirk stopped working before his heart exploded in his own chest. But that happened at least 50 years ago. Izuku doubted such a medical phenomenon was possible without the use of a quirk. A missing quirk? Not Izuku’s favorite sign in a world where rumors of Japan’s underground boogieman were afoot. Izuku groaned into his chair. He was so screwed.
TheRealzHawks
“Srsly? You can’t make a bird this cool.”
see attachment
Izuku clicked on the selfie of Hawks. He was pointing to himself as he stood on the top of a building, his wings spread almost enough to hide the background entirely, but not quite enough to block out the raven-haired pro hero in the background who was glaring at the camera.
TheRealzHawks
“So where in the world are you, vig-”
Izuku slammed his laptop closed before he could even finish reading the sentence. He considered himself a fast reader, so the fact that he managed to close the laptop before he finished was rather impressive, if not for the fact that Hawks just suggested he was looking for him with Eraserhead.
“Fuuuuck fuck fuck fuck fuck-” Izuku let out a string of curses as he ran his fingers through his hair, not daring enough to check his computer again. He decided to keep his laptop closed for a few minutes before gaining enough courage to close the tab. Izuku had no idea what he was going up against from both sides at this point. The boy knew he was screwed, but he didn’t know how screwed he was. He should’ve known Hawks was being pushy in his responses. On the bright side, Izuku finally had something to do tomorrow.
Aizawa Shouta released the final criminal from his capture scarf and watched as the officers placed quirk restricting cuffs and shoved the criminals into the police cars. The man ran a hand over his face as he turned on his heel, his head whipping towards the detective who stood off to the side.
“You didn’t tell me he was a kid.” Shouta spat. The detective looked taken aback, though an eyebrow raised in confusion.
“The Vigilante,” Shouta clarified, “is a kid.” The detective’s face shifted and his head tilted in slight confusion.
“Most are,” then his eyes narrowed in realization. “Wait, how old is he?” The hero sighed at the detective in front of him.
“He’s no older than fifteen, Tsukauchi.” Aizawa sighed, rubbing his temples. He could tell in the drop of the detective’s shoulders that he clearly expected someone a lot older. Not some kid who barely even passed middle school yet. The kid had his face covered and he had a voice changer on. There would’ve been no other way to tell. His small stature could’ve been a quirk factor. No, Shouta knew. He saw a student in that boy. A child.
“He’s just a kid… What do I do…?” Shouta leaned against the police car.
“I don’t see how- he’s been active for two years, that we know of.” Tsukauchi knew he was right, it was written all over his face, but Kami, was it so much easier to deny it.
“What did I sign up for…” Shouta trailed off, “you owe me so much coffee after this.” Shouta rode in the passenger seat of Tsukauchi’s cruiser to the station. Shouta took a brief hour filling out the necessary paperwork before a message tinged on his phone.
The man had only recently downloaded the social media app for the sake of work under a random name. He was pleased to see that Hawks responded to the message.
“I love that brat Meet me up on that building w/the soda sign with the creepy guy on it on that one street with the good ramen place Do you want ramen?”
Shouta’s eyebrows furrowed as he sighed into his hands. The hero quickly finished up his paper work and adjusted his scarf before heading out of the building. The area Hawks chose was peaceful. No crime in sight (though Shouta had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the Number Two hero being in the area).
Shouta’s feet touched the rooftop with complete silence, seeing the Number Two hero waiting patiently for the other. Hawks’ wings spread out as he turned around with a lax grin.
“Ah! Eraserhead! Fancy seeing you here!”
“You invited me.”
“Want some ramen? This place is pretty good.” The daylight hero waved a takeout bowl temptingly in front of him.
“No thank you. I’m here to talk about you-know-who.” Aizawa raised his eyebrows meaningfully at the winged-man.
“Oh! That dude. Not like I know him personally or anything, but he’s fun. I like that guy.” Hawks commented with a nonchalant shrug while stuffing his face.
“Have you ever met him?” Aizawa stepped closer, his voice lowering.
“No…?” He raised an eyebrow, wondering what the underground hobo was getting at.
“He’s a kid.” Hawks’ eyes widened but no other reaction was shown.
“Like… a ‘me’ kid or…” Hawks trailed off, making a motion with his hands that suggested a person with a smaller stature. Aizawa simply nodded in response.
“I don’t think he’s anymore than 15.” The underground hero grumbled.
“I knew he was a little shit, but I didn’t think he was that little of a shit…” Hawks muttered with furrowed eyebrows.
“So, I’ve seen some of your chats. Think you can tell me anything about him?” The younger hero had his back turned briefly with his wings up. Aizawa heard the click of a picture.
“The kid’s careful. I don’t think I can give you anything useful on him…” Hawks paused thoughtfully, “I’m not saying I’ll help you catch him, but I’ll keep an eye out for ya’, yeah?” Aizawa nodded before Hawks turned around.
“See ya’ around, yeah?” Hawks’s wings spread briefly before he bulleted off into the sky, leaving the dust swirling across the roof in his wake. Shouta stood for a moment with an unimpressed expression.
Izuku’s face had a near maniac grin on it as he compiled his notebooks. Today was the day of the UA entrance exams. He already had pages with the student’s quirks written in and blank ones in between. He was careful to encrypt any harmful information, but so far, he only had the quirk name and function to deal with and questions that would be answered with observations. After he prepped at least two notebooks with the students, he provided more pages for some over others, as he already had an idea about who would get in. He also really wanted to see some of the videos from the recommended students. He can only bet that some of them have some really amazing quirks- though what he really wants to see is how they use them. Izuku is most concerned about the boy who was presumably recommended by the Endeavor himself.
Izuku was stalling until the last second to hack into UA’s cameras. Izuku knew the notorious principal would be making security checks before the exam, so he’d try and log in at the last second while the principal was busy watching. He would also have to be careful of the security measures the hero probably had placed. Izuku knew he’d miss at least a little bit of the practical exam with the time it’d take to not trigger anything that would notify the rat of his presence. Despite having these work-arounds, Izuku knew he’d have enough time to see what all of the possible students were made of.
Izuku has determined that the villains don’t actually know what they’re planning, so Kacchan and the others would be relatively safe. Because UA hasn’t officially started classes yet, no one knew the whereabouts and according to Izuku’s sources, those involved haven’t gotten any info yet either. It’d be an awfully short notice to announce the attack right now. The unprofessionalism would tarnish this new villain group’s name before it even started.
The vigilante just finished writing names on his watch-list when the time of the practical exam arrived. Izuku planned on using his laptop to record all exam sites so he could look at it later. While it was happening, he would flip through each exam site and get what information he could while it was live.
The greenette started hacking about three minutes before the exam. Despite the early start, Izuku knew he wouldn’t be able to get linked to the feed until at least two minutes into the exam itself.
He found his fingers clattering on the keyboard and weaving through the firewalls. He wouldn’t say it was easy, but it was definitely easier than he thought it would be. The challenge excited him and defied his only recently required skill. The loops in code, each one was different and got harder as he passed each fire wall. About four minutes into the exam, Izuku finally managed to connect to the UA network. He scrambled for his notebook and screen recorded the live feed on a different tab. He instantly began going through the recordings of those students on his watch list and scribbling down the applications of their quirks. And if Izuku spent over half his time adding to the already four halves full of a notebook, who would ever know?
He could always watch the other students later.
Katsuki yelled some sort of profanity as he pushed another examinee out of the way, just as the three pointer’s metal claws wedged itself in the ground where the eye-bagged freak was once standing. Bakugou Katsuki was just mad. He felt every fiber of his being shake with anger until it rattled his core and everyone else around him.
That damn nerd isn’t here.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
He was supposed to be here.
This bottled up situation was spewing out of Katsuki in the best way possible- in the form of explosions, rescues and points. He had more than enough points to pass, and he was only six minutes in. He didn’t understand how so many of these extras could get in the way so easily. It pissed him off. Though he supposed it would… help bring a little bit of Deku with him in spirit.
Katsuki whooped as he clamored on top of the robot and exploded its head. He jumped down panting heavily. If he were some sort of animal, he’d have gotten the control called a long time ago- based on the foaming from the mouth.
Where. Was. He?
His head was spinning from it.
A hand clamped down on his shoulder. Katsuki did not jump at the contact (he just froze up a little, that’s it). He immediately glared at the hand’s owner, finding an extremely lanky kid with some of the most horrendous eyebags he’s ever seen.
“Hey man, are you alright?” Katsuki so graciously responded by swiping off the hand.
“I’m fine eyeba-“ and then his mind went blank.
“Let’s just breathe like that for a minute, yeah? I’m not gonna get in regardless, and you clearly have yourself handled. You won’t if you keep going like this. It’s not right. My name is Shinsou Hitoshi. Quirk; Brainwash. I want to be a hero… but I haven’t gotten a single point stacked up. Never had the quirk for it. Thanks for saving me, I’m gonna start heading back to the gate. Maybe I’ll see you at the sports festival if I even get in.” The purple-haired lanky boy began walking away as Katsuki found he could move himself again. It felt like his body just had an entire reset. While he was under, all of his thoughts went blank, and all of his brewing anger vanished. The worst part? Eyebags was right. He was being reckless. Not the hero Izuku thought of him as. No, he nearly hurt Hito-shit or whatever his name was by trying to snag those extra points. It was a bad call.
If this damned test ran on save-points I’d be shit… that fucking Deku could’ve gotten in instead of me-
Wait a damn minute.
His body moved before he could think.
“Oh no the hell you’re not eyebags!” Katsuki roughly grabbed the other’s arm, despite his freakish tallness and began dragging him back towards the exam.
“Hey-! What the hell do you think you’re doing? I helped you right- seriously.” At this point, Shinsou gave up, sounding dejected, “ok- ok, look. I know my quirk is bad. Alright? But we really don’t have to do this now- it’s the middle of the exam and there are probably cameras everywhere.” Bakugou froze. This idiot thought he was gonna kick his ass.
Like Deku.
Bakugou turned sharply towards the other.
“Listen up, Eyebags. You’re not giving up that easily. This test is a total shit hole and we only have a few minutes left. If I can get all the points I need in two minutes, you might just be able to catch up- and you’ve already got a head start.” Katsuki didn’t skip a beat as he began dragging the other towards the chaos again.
“What? What are you talking about? I haven’t destroyed a single bot!” Shinsou growled out, still trying to tug his hand away, “I don’t have a chance- I never had a chance.” Katsuki finally got where he needed to be.
“Well sometimes it’s not about destroying shit! Sometimes it’s not about fucking beating people up and shit. Sometimes it’s about fucking saving people and not fucking- fuck.” Katsuki stopped himself before the image of a certain nerd appeared from behind his eyelids.
“Ok? And?” Shinsou raised an eyebrow.
“Look. It’s a fucking long shot, but this exam is a shit show. Clearly they expect more future hero’s to actually help- because look around,” Katsuki gestured to the mass destruction brought about by the exam. These kids needed help.
“Now stop fucking gawking. You don’t have a lot of time and I don’t have a whole lotta patience. Hurry up! I ain’t losing my first spot for nothing Eyebags!” Shinsou’s eyes widened for a moment before nodding to save some of the other examinees. He didn’t want to steal all the points for the guy, but some of the other kids were in really bad shape…and this one guy was just walking around like a damn drunkard. Katsuki approached almost cautiously.
“Oh! Heyyyy it’s explosive guy! You was yellying eaaarlier right? Yeah?” Katsuki scoffed.
Quirk over used…
“C’mon. Sit your ass down.” Katsuki reluctantly allowed the yellow-haired boy to lean on him, “Let’s hope you’ve got enough points cause I think you’re done for the day-“
“EXPLOSION DUDE!”
“ITS BAKUGOU KATSUKI, EYEBAGS!”
“LOOK!” Shinsou pointed further up the street towards a rumbling giant, rolling along the pathment as though taking a jaunt in the park, and not threatening the livelihood of at least the hundred kids in their areas.
Katsuki groaned, and made sure the blond he’d hauled was in a safe spot before hauling ass over to the purple-haired boy.
“And here I thought they couldn’t make this anymore kid-friendly.” Shinsou uttered beside himself.
“It’s like they wanted to make our parents hand over custody after seeing how fucking legal this is.” Katsuki suppressed the way the corner of his mouth quirked up, threatening to grin. He much more willingly rose an eyebrow at the purple haired boy, gesturing towards where the sea of students were running from. Shinsou shrugged and made his way over towards the robot with Bakugou.
Katsuki sneered as other kids rushed past them, leaving others in the giant robot’s path.
“SHINSOU!” Katsuki hollered to the tallest of the examinees.
“WHAT?!” Shinsou hollered back, releasing his brainwashing quirk from another kid. They seemed to have been panicking as they weren’t physically injured. The boy quickly thanked him before running off. Hitoshi took only a moment to look wide-eyed at the guy before turning back to Bakugou.
“We need to take this thing out! These fucking extras are too damn stuck up so far up their own asses they can’t to do it themselves!” Shinsou nodded.
“Help!” A voice cried out from almost right under the robot’s wheel. The two boy’s heads jerked towards the noise.
“Shit.”
There was a girl trapped under some of the other rubble dropped by the goliath of a robot.
“So safe.”
“Not the time, Eyebags!” A pitter pattering of concrete was heard as another kid- he was also one of the kids who was yelling in the auditorium earlier. He sped towards them and landed in a bow almost to his knees.
“I am Tenya Iida, and I owe you my greatest apologies. My judgement has been clouded by my own fear. You have taught me that-“
“Yeah, yeah. Shut your trap, we don’t have time for your sappy shit, what do you want?” Katsuki shoved a fisted hand on top of Iida’s head, who shot up in discomfort.
“What do you two need?” Iida asked, though it was clearly somewhat forced. Before Katsuki could yell at the Stick-Up-His-Ass anymore, Shinsou butted in.
“There’s a girl trapped underneath that rubble right there- we’ve got to save her and stop the super-safe and legal robot before it can get to anyone else.”
“On it.” Iida did a salut of sorts before speeding off towards the fallen examinee
“Bakugo, I’ll grab someone to help Iida get the rubble off of her. There’s no chance he can do it with speed alone.” Shinsou ran off towards where the rest of the examinees were retreating, “I think you know what to do.”
Katsuki’s head craned towards the monstrous task before him, but then the people right underneath it. He’d say that he thought for a moment. That he took a deep breath before firing off towards the damn thing, but he really didn’t. The sweat from his hands exploded as he pelleted at the robot’s head. Katsuki flew up to the top of the robot and looked down. He watched as Shinsou got pushed and shoved aside as he desperately tried to find someone who could help lift the ruble off of the girl trapped below him. He only got a few hesitant glances before the examinees started running again.
“Pathetic…” Katsuki glared at the backs of their heads, committing at least that to memory, because if any of these extras got into the UA hero course, he’d make sure they’d know at least he didn’t think they belonged. Katsuki cuffed his hands around his mouth, “HEY LOSER, YOU GOT YOUR QUIRK FOR A REASON! USE IT!”
Shinsou was the only one that looked back at him before curtly nodding and running alongside a rather bulky-looking boy. Clearly signs of a strength enhancement quirk.
Smart…
Katsuki observed, but would never admit aloud. The two only exchanged a few strings of words before Shinsou managed to ‘convince’ the guy to help. Now it was Katsuki’s turn.
The boy exploded into the zero-pointer’s head.
“Kami, I can’t believe I’m not even getting any damn points for this!” He growled as he began exploding things at random from within the robot's head. He can’t say he didn’t at least have fun with it. He could only hope the robot looked like it came down with a case of measles after it stopped moving, thanks to the explosion causing the metals to meld around his hand.
Katsuki continued to destroy the damn thing.
Yeah Eyebags, I know it’s not moving anymore. That’s not the point.
He only rocketed down from the robot when the timer for the exam was complete. Hopefully that Iida guy didn’t hack up more points while he was busy. His palms crackled one last time as his feet touched the ground. There he saw Shinsou asking the pink-cheeked girl some questions, who was leaning against Iida. The girl perked up as soon as she saw Katsuki.
“Woah! Your quirk is so powerful! It’s no wonder you can take down such a large robot all by yourself! Thank you so much for saving me!” The girl did a half-assed bow but only because she was clearly favoring one foot over the other. Katsuki rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah pink-cheeks. You just made me miss out on a ton of points is all.” He grumbled. Iida glared.
“I must say, that is very rude! Your possible classmate is complimenting and giving you gratitude and all you do is-“
“Shut it, four eyes!”
Eyebags looked between the two of them and sighed before whispering something to the injured girl, who raised an eyebrow but nodded. Katsuki’s eyes furrowed at the interaction, causing him to turn towards them right ast Shinsou opened his mouth.
“Can you hero wannabes do anything other than fight?” Shinsou lent a hand to Uraraka and let her use him to support her weight.
“WHO’RE YOU CALLING A ‘WANNABE’, EYEBAGS?”
“Yes, I must commend that response, despite the wayward delivery why use such language when we were just convulsing pleasantly just a few moments ago?” Both Katsuki’s and Iida’s eyes went blank as their mouths clamped shut. The girl suppressed a surprised snort of laughter as Shinsou glared almost distasteful at the two.
“Shut up.” Hitoshi began walking with Uraraka towards the Recovery Girl as Katsuki regained control of his body.
“Don’t run away from me Eyebags! We aren’t done yet!” Katsuki tried to run after the purple-haired freak but his upper arms were grabbed from underneath by Tenya.
“This type of violence is unbecoming of future heroes. Shinsou is right. I do hope he makes it into the hero course with us with such a refined quirk. However, I believe he must survive the end of exams prior to that.” Katsuki squirmed out of Iida’s grip to glare, but then looked back at the tired-looking teen. Iida was right about that. He does have an impressive quirk.
Something that damned nerd would fanboy over I bet.
Notes:
Hope you guys liked it! I might post the 4th chapter later today bc I think you guys should read them back to back. Just saying. Let me know if I should.
Chapter 4: Chapter 4: The Determination of An Insomniac
Summary:
Izuku dislocates his thumb, Nedzu knows Izuku exists, Aizawa changes tactics, Shinsou crashes out.
Notes:
This is definitely a longer chapter with just over 10k words! Enjoy <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Something that damned nerd would fanboy over I bet.
“Kacchan is so cool! He’s going to be such an amazing hero!” Izuku whooped as he punched his fist into the air, holding his notebook against his chest. He spun in his chair for a few moments as he began writing an analysis on the other quirks he saw at play. Izuku knew he shouldn’t have spent so much time on one examination site, but he couldn’t help it. It started when Katsuki saved the first boy- and then he used an extraordinary quirk to calm him down. Izuku didn’t know all of the implications, but it seemed to be response oriented. Katsuki’s quick thinking about the guidelines of the exam definitely saved him from being put into the General Education Course. The other boy, Shinsou, was just as clever. He needed a little push from Katsuki, but he picked just the right quirk to help with Uraraka’s situation when the zero pointer was released. Its fall was just another example of Kacchan’s raw power and why he’d be great as a hero. He doesn’t think he’ll forget what he’s done… but Katsuki has grown. Izuku finished up his thoughts in his notebook before he decided to take a break. He managed to get notes on all of the examinees’ quirks- mostly just baseline analysis unless something interested him (like Shinsou’s quirk- it was so cool). He already took to screen recording it, so he could watch it whenever he wanted. First, Izuku needed to log out. Getting out of the UA network would be a lot easier than going in, now that he already knows all of its weak points. It was funny how they were set up…
Izuku’s eyebrows furrowed as he clicked away at his keyboard weaving backwards through the code. He knew that he only just started this whole hacking process a year ago. UA’s security system was built by one of the world’s smartest rats. Izuku retreated out of the system as quickly as possible. He knew if Pro Hero Nedzu checked the security measures after the exam, he’d know Izuku was here. There was one thing still bothering Izuku… there were these switch codes. After Izuku passed a firewall, the switch code turned on. But when he went back through… it stayed on.
Oh fuck.
Izuku needed to weave back through the code, log back into the network, and turn every switch code off as he logged out before Nedzu logged back in. Izuku hoped the speed of his retreat didn’t make the code sloppy but- oh he was so screwed. Izuku took a breath as his fingers practically slammed on the keys to log back into the network. Izuku barely stopped to breathe when he made it back to the camera screen. He saw the students retreating from the exam on his screen that was split into the different exam sites. The vigilante didn’t leave time to gawk as he began logging out. He only had a few minutes max before Nedzu caught him. He did not need to know what happened after that.
Izuku began patching up the switches ingrained in the code swiftly. He felt like he was backpedaling out of a trap. A maze that felt just hard enough to the point where he could get through. Almost like the security measures were-
Made for me.
Nedzu walked into his office with a pop in his step that made everyone uneasy. Everyone around him attempted to calm their jitters by telling one another it was probably because a student had potential to be his personal student. But then when the written exams passed and the infamous principal still had that glint in his eye, the teachers continued to deny their worries by muttering that the student must be in the hero course. Even after, when all exams had passed and the students were leaving the building, the staff still had yet to identify what had the principal in such an uppity mood. Needless to say, an eerie air hung over the entire school as Nedzu walked its halls that day.
The mammal hopped into his chair and calmly opened his laptop. He believes he’s given the criminal long enough. Nedzu sifted through the maze of codes he created. He knew the vigilante would be wise enough to use any weak spots… but the switch codes he used were all still in the clear. The Stoat practically deflated seeing as his little trick didn’t work. He’s been trading information with the vigilante anonymously for about a year. There was no doubt that the human was a moth to a flame when it came in front of a quirked society. Aizawa merely confirmed his suspicions. Now, the thing that irked Principal Nedzu wasn’t how he was a kid- that much was obvious enough with how he talked online with false professionalism. It was how the Principal couldn’t figure out who the kid was. He searched vast databases for any kind of intelligence quirk, and then expanded towards all quirks, missing children, children in group homes. Nothing came up. And now Nedzu found himself practically deflated against his desk. The vigilante didn’t come. He was hoping to at least ask some questions about his outstanding analytical skills
Wait.
Nedzu still had one more thing to check.
Nedzu logged back into the code, not wasting any time to see if the trap was truly sprung. Nedzu broke into a maniac grin after seeing the final line of code uploaded. A virus.
The vigilante got his prize. (And quite possibly a virus). Now, in order for the vigilante to have done such a thing without Nedzu noticing… he would have had to broken in and followed the maze of weak points in the firewalls Nedzu laid out (in just a few minutes considering the vigilante would have known when Nedzu would be watching the exam), and then essentially backpedal through the security system and recode all of the switched on commands within the code- which also meant he would have had to memorize the original code as he was hacking it. Now that Nedzu looked at it, there were slight variants within the code- clearly caused by the short time the vigilante had, though Nedzu doubted anyone else would have noticed in a different situation.
For any teacher at UA, they’ve all been well acquainted with a certain Stoat, and know to never get on his bad side, so when any of the staff were passing through the same hall that the principal’s office resided, they would feel prickled throughout their body and the temperature drop to a certain degree. Anyone else who was oblivious to these changes, or was unfamiliar with the unspoken rules of UA and entered this sacred space anyway would have heard an eerie chuckle echoing through the doors of said principal’s office.
Then laughter.
Then cackles that sounded borderline made by a villain.
Toshinori froze entirely. He supposed this is what happened when he didn’t trust his gut. He felt afraid to move a hair until the maniacal laughter ceased erupting. Only after the halls went back to their original temperature did he deem it safe to silently tiptoe past the office.
At least it wasn’t him.
Izuku has made a decision.
“Burn it.”
“What?”
“Burn it. I don’t want to see that an inch of it survived.”
“Why? Don’t you love this thing? No. Scratch that. Aren’t you too broke ass to buy a new one, kid?”
“I- may or… may not have uh… hacked into UA.” Izuku fidgeted with his fingers as he looked down at the ground. He’d met Dabi about a month ago and just barely managed to stop him from continuing his homicides by bonding over tragic backstories and daddy issues. Now they occasionally trade information, train, go on missions for cash, and eat the occasional meal together. (It really wasn’t that much, they just needed to share a starter because two broke people don’t make a good team.)
“And? Weren’t you meaning to try at some point?” The scared-face man questioned.
“Yes but- he seems to have… uh… caught on.”
“What do you mean? Who? Is he causing problems? What’s the asshole doing to make you want to burn your shitty laptop?” Dabi exclaimed as he flipped the device in different directions, trying to identify why the kid didn’t want it.
“Um. The principal… uh… Nedzu?” Dabi raised an eyebrow.
“You mean that rat? What? Did he outsmart your computer or something? Did he do something to it?” The man asked, poking at any usb plugs.
“I uh… don’t exactly know.” Izuku scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“The fuck you mean ‘you don’t know’?! Aren’t you supposed to be some computer genius or something?!” Dabi asked exasperated.
“I only learned how to hack a year ago!” Izuku protested. The scarred-man huffed.
“Not exactly helping your case kid.” Dabi had no doubt- whoever this kid was- is a genius. The little gremlin memorizes the patrol routes of heroes and the layout of buildings (and all escape and entrance routes, vents included). He has a plan A, B, C, and D. And those are the plans Dabi knows of. Usually while doing borderline illegal jobs they’ve never needed to go any further down the alphabet.
“I haven’t opened it yet.” Izuku admitted quietly.
“So why not see?” Dabi popped open the laptop without warning, allowing it to turn on.
“NO WAIT!-“ Izuku jumped towards Dabi, who smirked and held the laptop over his head. Todoroki would have been Izuku’s age by now, huh? Dabi laughed a moment at Izuku’s pathetic attempts at grabbing the laptop.
“Welcome back Vigilante!” Izuku yelped as he heard the automated voice of a certain principal of UA. He quickly tugged the back of Dabi’s jacket, causing him to momentarily duck away from view of the laptop’s camera.
“DON’T LET IT SEE YOUR FACE!” Izuku cowered behind the coated man, who looked unamused while staring directly at the camera.
“Downloading assets.” Dabi smirked as the boy beside him was almost in tears as he watched his electronic device perish in live feed. Izuku scrambled to grab duck tape out of his book bag (because anything can be fixed with duck tape) so he could rip a piece off and cover the camera.
“BURN IT BEFORE HE STARTS TRACKING US-!” Izuku exclaimed with a crack in his voice. His face flushed for a moment as the computer seemed complete with its ministrations. Dabi made no move to do so. This was amusing. Maybe if this kid caught the attention of a principal he could hopefully get a proper education and not those shitty online classes that he also needed his shitty laptop for.
“Wait.” Midoriya scrambled through his tool belts before pulling out a hard drive and shoved it into the computer a little too aggressively.
“C’mon… c’mon…” the boy began muttering out of stress, a string of word vomit of what Dabi could only assume was a narration of what he was doing. He dragged a video file over to the uploading tab and backed away as it loaded.
“It’s a race at this point.” Izuku informed Dabi.
“What is it?” The man asked Izuku who was fidgeting nervously as the two programs were uneasily close.
“It’s a video of the UA entrance exams. I was originally gonna get it off my computer for safety reasons, but now I need to get it off so Nedzu doesn’t erase it…” Dabi perked up.
“Do you have the recommendation examinees as well?” The scarred-man asked.
“Now is not the time to be dealling information!” Izuku was to stressed to notice the cracks in his voice. His hand went up to allow his pointer finger to cover the bottom half of his mouth as he muttered towards the moribund computer as though encouraging it to load faster that the infection on the files.
“YES!” Izuku exclaimed as he hurriedly pulled out the flashdrive and slammed the computer shut.
“Can I burn it now?”
“Hello Vigiliante! Am I a dog, am I a mouse, or am I a bear? More importantly, I’m the principle of UA! Aww… Where’d you go? I believe I have quite the tempting offer.” Izuku slammed his hands over his mouth and frantically shook Dabi, mouthing whispered exclaims of panic. The smaller boy stopped as Dabi approached the computer, however, just as the flames touched the cover, he scooped it up and opened the screen.
“Ah! There you are!” Izuku scrambled to get to the back of the laptop without being in the camera’s view. He glared at the man holding his laptop and NOT burning it.
“Yup. Me.” Dabi did a cheeky grin towards Izuku, who was dragging his finger across his throat in angry jerking motions.
“Wonderful! As I can see, you are much older than I initially expected you to be. I was going to make an offer for you to be my personal student! But you clearly are occupied with other things, so perhaps you would be interested in a different offer?” Dabi raised an eyebrow above the computer towards the shocked green-haired boy.
“Say, is there someone else with you?” Nedzu asked, sipping his tea with a knowing smirk. Dabi looked over at Izuku who returned to performing the motion across his throat with greater urgency.
“Yeah.”
“DABI-“ Izuku gasped in betrayal before scrambling up to close the computer and run with it. And could you blame him? The kid’s a genius. He has to get his education somehow. Dabi will help him out eventually. The man was too tired to chase the eccentricity of the determined kid as he raced towards the docks. Dabi watched from a distance, walking lazily behind the Vigilante as he ran towards the docks. As he ran towards the water, the kid dropped the laptop and kicked. He just punted his laptop.
The device didn’t get far, lacking in aerodynamics. It landed on his red shoe at an awkward angle before it sunk into the shallow waters.
“It's dead now.”
“Dude. C’mon kid, you kinda have to admit it was a pretty good offer…” Dabi said temptingly. He leaned over the dock, glancing into the water. Fish began gathering curiously around the laptop, nibbling at the new-comer
“Dabs. Everything is going to shit right now. This is not a friend for me. It’s a trap.” Izuku turned sharply and began speed walking away from the dock. Dabi groaned at the fact he had to continue to use the muscles God had given him. He’d prefer to be a blob of skin and bones at this point. He followed the boy away from the docks as he paced.
“What do you mean?” Dabi asked with a raised eyebrow. Izuku sighed as his legs sprung up, allowing him to hop onto the few foot tall brick wall, clearly built for aesthetics. He swung around the street light before hopping back next to Dabi with his arms crossed.
“Well, Tsukauchi- who I thought was my friend, put Eraserhead on my case! He’s like- one of the coolest, most skilled Underground heroes ever! Not to mention he fights quirkless most of the time because his quirk doesn’t work with mutants and he’s incredibly skilled with his capture weapon,” Dabi, sensing the on coming rant attempted to cut the child off.
“Kid-“
“He must’ve been practicing with it for so long to be able to move like that! I can’t help but notice how he incorporates a variety of fighting techniques into his style. He doesn’t so much make his movement big but quick and effective and-“
“Kid.”
“Oh- oh sorry…” It was always one step forward and two steps back with the greenette.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Tell me about it later. But- look. Kid. What do you mean the detective sent Eraserhead after you?” Izuku huffed and ran a hand over his face.
“That. They sent Eraserhead after me. Hawks also knows now- which is fucking fantastic now my computer is busted and-“
“What.”
“My computers busted- now I’m probably gonna have to do something super risky to-“
“No. Before that.”
“Hawks knows I exist?”
“Fuck.” Dabi ran a hand through his hair, “how the hell did you manage to get the Number Three hero in Japan up your ass?” He really wanted to shake Izuku by the shoulders so hard that the rest of his brain cells died out so maybe he could grow some new ones.
“Well, Eraserhead contacted him because of our online debates I suppose.” Izuku shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal,“it’s not a big deal really-“ his voice broke, “Dabi what do I do?”
“I don’t know kid…” The scared fire-user put a hand atop Izuku’s head in an attempt at comfort. The boy brushed him off and walked away.
“I’m going on patrol.”
“Let’s hit up Tsuyama’s Coffee later, alright?”
“Yeah. Ok. Sure. I’m good.”
“I’m ok.”
Four points. Shinsou was four points away from becoming a hero. He barely even got into the Gen Ed course. What was wrong with him? With his quirk? He shouldn’t be doing this. What point does it make anyway? He’s going to end up here at some point, so why not start early? He’s only in the General Education course. They must have found someone with a flashier quirk. What a joke.
Shinsou dreaded seeing Katsuki again after that.
Right now, the boy walked the streets in the early morning of the red light district with a surgical mask and a black hoodie. This is where crime happens right? What was he doing? He could always just get an after school job. Though, isn’t this just… gonna happen anyways? He doesn’t have a heroic quirk. Everyone just wants to use his quirk for something. At least he’s the one using it this time around. His eyes scanned the area, looking for a civilian (victim?). He knew he could pick just about anyone with a quirk like his, though instictively he searched the crowds for any weak and scrawny-looking people. Though a voice in the back of his mind screamed.
Aren’t they just like you?
Aren’t these the people we’ve been wanting to protect?
He very subtly bumps into the smaller boy.
“Oh sorry- I wasn’t looking where I was going and uh-” The boy stammers and spins his finger together. Hitoshi cringed in spite of himself.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah- I” Hitoshi hesitated for a moment before pulling back on the string that tugged at his brain. He awkwardly weaved through the crowd and led the now brainwashed kid into an alley.
“Uh- give me your wallet…?” Hitoshi stammerd. He told himself this was for practice, but every fiber in his body was screaming ‘wrong’.
The green-haired boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather wallet that was tearing at the edges. Shinsou grimaced and his hands peaked inside. There he found a two-year old coupon for McDonalds, Endeavor’s Business card and fourty-two cents.
“What the fuck.” Hitoshi clammered backwards and released the control on this victim.
“Sorry I don’t have much. I just went shopping earlier so I’m kinda out.” The green-haired kid didn’t miss a beat. Most people were disoriented after being released from the control of his quirk. This wasn’t the only red flag either, the boy’s eyes flashed with recognition.
“Are… you ok?” Hitoshi’s eyes darted back down towards the useless wallet in his hands before he handed it back. Most kids their age had at least a few bucks on them in case of emergencies, even without full fledged jobs.
“What?” His so-called victim asked as he took his wallet back and plopped it back into his pocket.
“Are you like, good? You don’t have like- anything in here? And I thought I was broke.” Hitoshi grumbled to the side and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Oh! I’m fine. Why? Are there any applications of your quirk I should be worried about?” The broccoli-boy tossed his bag off his back and took out a note book and clicked a pen.
“What?” Now it was Hitoshi’s turn to be confused.
“Oh! Right- I’m kind of a geek when it comes to quirks…?” The boy shrugged. He was an enigma. Hell- Hitoshi just tried to rob him, and this other boy apologized that he didn’t have money. Hitoshi ran a hand over his face over the absolute insanity of the situation- did this kid already have a page on his quirk…?
“Actually, there’s something that has been bothering me… You’re pretty darn new to this whole ‘robbing people’ thing, aren’t you?” Izuku grinned with a raised eyebrow towards the other. Shinsou scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He knew it was quite obvious, though having a conversation with the person he had just tried to rob was way more awkward than just getting arrested at this point.
“Nah… first time.” Shinsou attempted to be casual, but the large green eyes staring at him spoke way too many words with every glance. He felt like every atom of himself was being stared at.
“Good. Then I suppose I should expect this to be your last then.” Izuku said nonchalantly as he scribbled in his notebook, “Why are you doing this anyway? It’s only logical to assume you have a reason, right?”
“I didn’t get into U.A.” The words Shinsou has been itching to say to anyone. Someone who would just glance at another lost story in a hero-built society.
“What!?” Hitoshi did a retake. He sounded surprised.
“What do you mean ‘what?’ I didn’t get in.” Shinsou repeated with more of a misunderstanding shrug.
“You- HOW- I calculated every possible factor… You should have gotten in! You had more than enough rescue points… unless they didn’t count those but that wouldn’t have made sense because it’s been nearly the exact same exam not to mention how many people you saved you should’ve been at 20-something in the exams which would have been enough to-“
“How do you know that?” The boy seemed to stop his muttering and his entire train of thought.
“Uh-uh I- was… um- I was there…?”
“No you weren’t.” The very average looking kid let out a heavy sigh.
“Fine. I- mayormaynothavehackedintoUA’scamerastowatchtheexam- I really like quirks Y’know? ButIthinkTheprincipalknewIwascomingandhecaughtmewithavirusnowmylaptopisatthebottomofadockandIhavenowaytodoworkIneedtobuyanewoneand-“ Hitoshit cut the other boy off when he needed to take a breath.
“Hold on- breath. As insane as it is that you managed to hack into UA- why do you think I got in? I was four points off?” Izuku’s eyes furrowed.
“If that’s the case then… no- you definitely should have been awarded enough points… I’m sorry Shinsou… You will become an amazing hero.” The greenette affirmed.
“What?”
“You’re getting into that hero course… I just need to buy a new laptop.” The other boy bit his nails- seemingly in thought.
“You can have my old one.” Shinsou blurted. He felt bad for almost robbing the eccentric but average-looking boy. Besides, it was better than throwing it out.
“Wait, really?” The other’s eyes lit up, almost glowing in the dark alleyway.
“I guess so.” Hitoshi shrugged and scratched the back of his head, the other boy was buzzing.
“Thank you Hitoshi. I promise you won’t regret this!”
“It’s still weird that you know my name without telling you by the way.” Shinsou deadpanned.
“Oh- right. Well, my name is Izuku. Midoriya Izuku. Feel free to just use my given name.”
“You… uh… want my number or something?” Shinsou asked. How would Izuku get his laptop without knowing a meet-up spot.
“Oh don’t worry, I would’ve found you anyway.” Shinsou’s eyes narrowed uncomfortably, but made the better decision not to comment on it.
“Right. Uh. Here.” Hitoshi pulled out his phone and watched the Izuku pulled out his-
Oh god.
What is that.
What fucking century did this time traveler pull that device from?
Hitoshi opened his mouth before he could think too much about it.
“You can have my old phone too.”
Aizawa Shouta was in his classroom, looking through the videos of the UA entrance exam when he was called down to the principal’s office. He didn’t know why he was called down. He was hoping that he was going to finally accept his two week notice and not look him dead in the eyes as he shoved the paper into the shredder before offering him some tea.
Even if that wasn’t the case, Aizawa still had to talk to him about an issue with the scoring. The teacher is all too aware of the bias towards flashy quirks. He had to live through it himself. So imagine Shouta’s surprise when he found a teenager with an overpowered quirk, but no way to use it in the exam manage to rack up sixty-or-so points by rescue. The hero wishes he had thought of that in his youth, but he was even more pissed that somehow, the kid didn’t get in… he had enough points. So as to how Shouta hasn’t stormed into Nedzu’s office and scolded him silly was beyond himself. He had at least a few papers filled with possible calculations and variables Shouta had missed, though even when giving the ‘failing score’ the benefit of the doubt, Shinsou Hitoshi still wound up with forty four points -barely passing- but enough to get in.
The Erasure hero planned to use this chance wisely, and explain exactly why he should just be fired already. Or why the purple-haired kid should be placed in his class. Depending on whatever reason the rat calls him down for. (And to Aizawa’s utter despair he just knew it wasn’t going to end with him losing his day job, but a man can hope).
Aizawa walked through the principal's doors, watching them open automatically for himself. He walked straight to the principal’s desk and sat in the chair in front of it. In the slightly higher chair across sat Nedzu. He only sat a few inches above eye level with most humans, the Underground Hero recognized it as a power move.
“I believe you already know why I’ve called you here?” Nedzu folded one paw over the other atop his desk. Shouta’s eyes widened.
“Wait, you mean I can actually leave!?” Shouta almost let a smile break through his stone-like visage. His eyes darted around the office, taking everything in. It felt odd being in here for the very last time. His eyes glanced at the pictures of past graduated classes from every course while under Nedzu’s guidance. The couch Nedzu used to allow him to sit and have tea with him when they needed to chat. The tile floors that have been used all throughout UA didn’t vary here either and the-
“Oh. No.” Nedzu broke into a fit of laughter, “see, I knew I liked you for a reason. Of course not. Though I’m quite sure you’re wondering why I haven’t shredded your last two week notice. Well, it seems we’ve hit a milestone.” Nedzu proudly pulled out a frame with Shouta’s last two-week notice inside. A plaque was attached to the bottom, ingrained with a fancy gold metal plate that read, ‘Aizawa Shouta’s hundredth Two-Week Notice’ towards the bottom of the frame. Nedzu seemingly took a moment to revel in the way Aizawa’s eye twitched before hopping off of his chair and hanging the last whisper of Aizawa’s hopes and dreams on his wall, like a mountain man would a decapitated mammal.
“Ah. Now that that’s cleared up; You’ve been wanting to discuss the child named Hitoshi Shinsou, correct?” Aizawa, who was just recovering from Nedzu’s blow, only nodded, his face remaining stoic, but his heart discouraged.
“Splendid! Exactly as I’ve been hoping for. Now, I’d like you to record his acceptance letter, explaining that there was an error in our point evaluation.” Aizawa would have groaned, realizing that he’d have to record another video of all things, but knowing that this boy was probably distraught -despite knowing he should have gotten in- stopped him.
“Do you want me to send it in?”
“No, I have other plans.”
Aizawa did not want to know what these other plans were, so he begrudgingly stood up and walked out of the office before Nedzu could dip further into detail. Now that Aizawa had that sorted out, he could focus on his other pain in the side; the Vigilante.
Ever since he’s been assigned to the little creep, he’s never been close enough to talk. The Underground Hero has been patrolling the Vigilante’s territory, in the red light district, and has yet to get any closer to him than he has on that first night. See, the Vigilante is solving more problems than he’s causing so no one has that original urgency to capture him. This includes the Underground hero. Aizawa doesn’t doubt that the kid is skilled in what he does, but what worries Aizawa is that he’s just that; a kid. The hero has no idea what brought the kid to becoming a Vigilante, but that amount of skill doesn’t come from playing hero. These skills weren’t built intentionally.
The way he fights, moves, and observes isn’t a habit learned.
These are built habits.
They are his survival.
Shouta didn’t know what this kid went through, but he knows he needs to reach the kid.
Somehow.
Someday.
Somewhere.
He will give this kid a new way of living, and may Kami hope that Shouta finds a way of forgiving whoever hurt this damned kid.
Izuku was in terrible need of a haircut. He could feel the brush of its split ends against his neck and spilling over his shoulders. After Hitoshi’s number was forced upon him, he and the other boy agreed to meet at Dagobah beach. Izuku faintly remembered his mom taking him there back before the beach became a dump. Though it could have been a different one. His memories could only go so far back before they got ever so fuzzy. He’s already forgotten his father’s face. The only thing that prevented his mother’s face from slipping from his mind was the occasional dream. And even then he felt the shape of her eyes slipping away. Sometimes he wonders if her eyes were really green, or if he knows they were just because he sees them every time he looks in his reflection.
It’s not like he deserves to mourn.
Izuku’s red shoes clashed against the sand and sank about half way into the beach as he walked down the stone steps connecting the forgotten beach to the rest of the world. There was that particular boy in the distance. The brightness of the sun behind him made it difficult to tell that it was Shinsou. Though the bits of purple at the edges were more than enough to leave Izuku bounding towards him.
“Hey Shinsou!” Izuku waved as he approached the boy. Shinsou, who was hauling some of the discarded metal across the beach, dropped what he was hauling and waved him over.
“What’re you doing here?” Izuku’s foot lightly jabbed at the dropped garbage and gave Shinsou a curious glance.
“Oh. Well… since I didn’t get into UA’s hero course this time, the only thing left is to try harder, right? I’ll try even harder during the sports festival.” Hitoshi grinned and made a determined fist towards Izuku. Izuku forced a determined smile back, but all Izuku could see was a mountain of guilt.
He was the reason Shinsou didn’t get in.
Izuku didn’t just know it. He was sure of it. After Izuku had met up with the boy, he firmly scrambled through his notes on the other students. The lowest score to get into UA was Hagakure, who scored a forty one. Her quirk was invisibility. With the amount of rescue points Hitoshi should have accumulated, he would have ended up with a sixty-three or so. The only possible explanation was that Nedzu knew. Of course he did. Izuku didn’t quite understand why Nedzu would let go of a quirk like Shinsou’s with so much potential, but for whatever reason, Izuku was sure it had to do with him. Nedzu must have recognized Izuku watching the Kacchan and Shinsou duo the most during the exams. Kacchan’s score was way too noticeably high to fumble to that extent. Everyone would recognize that the kid who destroyed countless robots didn’t get in, and that would raise suspicions. Kacchan may have seemed less… extreme this time around, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t still confident in his abilities and counting his point along the way. There’s no doubt he would’ve known something was up.
And then there was Shinsou. The kid who clearly didn’t have any flashy quirk. The kid who didn’t take out a single robot… there was no way he could have gotten in compared to what the other students could do. It was just so easy to look past all the good he did, could do on the battlefield, that no one would even think if he didn’t get in. Especially since the students weren’t informed about the rescue points prior to the exam.
It would be so easy to say he didn’t make it in.
It would be so easy to send a message.
Now, Izuku didn’t know how Nedzu would know how much Izuku cared, but he thinks that’s what scared him the most. Izuku knows such a quirk would be wasted if Shinsou doesn’t get in. He’s obviously going to do something about it. If the rat could figure all this out about Izuku just from their short emails about his quirk analysis, the boy didn’t know what to do.
Other than to help Shinsou.
“Yeah. I guess you’re right. But don’t worry Shinsou… I’ll make sure you get in. I promise.” The purple haired boy raised an unbelieving eyebrow.
“That’s a pretty hefty promise for a guy that just stood and stared off into space for,” Shinsou checked the nonexistent watch on his wrist, “four minutes?” Shinsou shook his head.
“Look. You don’t have to lie. I don’t know how advanced your hacking skills are, but if you just want my old laptop for the sake of having one, I don’t mind. Really. It was just gonna get thrown out anyway.” Shinsou shrugged, walking over to his bag that was back over by the stone steps. Izuku followed like a puppy would its owner who was clearly having a bad day.
“No. I mean it. I’ll find a way. Because I know you got in.” Izuku confirmed. Shinsou shot him another look of suspicion, “I… uh… also recorded the exam.” Izuku huffed. “I don’t have the flash drive with me, but maybe we can meet up sometime and we can look over it. I have a copy of the grading rubric. You racked up more than enough rescue points to get in.” Izuku grabbed Shinsou’s shoulders and made sure he looked him directly in the eyes. Shinsou thought for a moment
“If you have a video, does that mean you can see the other students? I know when I saved some of them… they were pretty beat up…” the supposed-to-be U.A. student commented thoughtfully. Izuku couldn’t help the grin that peaked up from his lips. He just knew that Hitoshi would be an amazing hero.
“Yeah! They were fine. They got healed up pretty quickly with the help of Recovery Girl’s quirk! Did you know her quirk is instantaneous? She doesn’t even kiss the wound! I’m pretty sure most healer quirk have some sort of mutation portion to it, especially when they hover directly over the wound, because that would indicate the cells are getting stimulated by a physical force, and not an emitter one-“
“Ok wait up, genius. How do you know that? Do you have some sort of analysis quirk or something? You’d be a pretty witty hero with that kind of a quirk. Probably could go underground. That’s what I was going to do.” Izuku had a look of surprise on his face that instantly turned into a scold at Hitoshi’s last sentence. It was odd, living with someone who was so over the moon about himself for so long, and then meeting someone like Hitoshi.
“What you will do.” Izuku immediately corrected. Hitoshi scoffed with a smirk and an eyeroll as he pushed Izuku’s hands off of his shoulders and swung his backpack over one shoulder and facing his front so he could shuffle through it.
“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.” The boy sighed, handing the laptop to Izuku, and then his old phone. Izuku shook his head and waved his hands around out of nervousness.
“O-oh! Sorry Shinsou- I really can’t accept- I honestly thought that you were joking about that earlier…” Izuku attempted to push the phone back, however Hitoshi was persistent.
“If you don’t accept this right now, I’m going to try and give it to you everytime we meet until you either take it home or take it willingly. Might as well keep it now. Again, I know it’s not in the best shape, but you need a new phone and this one would’ve gotten thrown out anyway.” Shinsou shoved the phone back into Izuku’s hands with the determination of All Might.
“R-really- I can’t just-“
“Oh no. Looks like I’m deleting your old number. Too late.” Shinsou made a dramatic sigh, “I guess I can never text you again…” Izuku scrambled to take the phone.
“All right! All right! I’ll take it, geeze-“ Izuku huffed as he snatched the phone.
“I took it to get all the information off of it, so you should be able to set your own password, same thing with the laptop.” Shinsou mentioned to Izuku as he turned on the phone.
“W-wow. I don’t know what to say. Thank you Shinsou!” It was odd not swiping his fingers across an absolutely demolished phone screen for once.
“Don’t mention it.” Shinsou shrugged.
“We should hang out more! Maybe we can watch the exams after you get accepted.” Izuku grinned.
“Look… I understand that you can hack and stuff… but how is that gonna help me get into the hero course? You said it yourself. The principal caught you. You can’t just hack my name in.” Shinsou huffed solemnly.
“Well, I don’t plan to. I know you got in… I’m just… making a deal with the devil I suppose.” Izuku sighed, “Did you know that you had over sixty rescue points? I think that’s pretty amazing that you managed to get in with just that alone!” Izuku said encouragingly, despite Shinsou’s increasingly skeptical stare.
“Whatever… just… don’t be crushed if none of this works out, yeah?” The lanky boy tilted his head with an inapposite shrug. Izuku shook his head.
“I won’t let you down Shinsou.”
He was the reason the boy didn’t make it into the hero course after all.
The least he could do was fix it.
He needs to fix what he can.
Tsukauchi walked into his office and sat down. The clock ticked exactly once.
“Tsukauchi- it’s the-“
Whoever walked into his office found themselves getting cut off.
“Damnit!” The detective stormed out of his office, brushing past the poor officer who just wanted to let him know of the current situation in their hands. It was only hours after did Tsukauchi remember that they were an intern on their first day.
The officer stormed through the office. Anyone in his way scrambled to get by, feeling as though they just crossed paths with a black cat. Naomasa clamoured on his tool belt as he brushed past his coworkers and practically threw himself in his cruiser. He floored the gas and unhooked the radio, putting it up to his mouth.
“Eraserhead. He’s on-“
“I know.” It seems as though the underground hero was just as displeased. The detective floored it to the given location and soon saw a sight he’d never see. The Vigilante was out in the open, holding a knife to a guy’s neck. He stood at the top of a building as he announced how wonderful it would be to watch his insides spilled out. The building was already surrounded by multiple police officers, most of which were trying to keep the nightly on-lookers from getting too close. They all knew how unpredictable the Vigilante was. One wrong move and they could all be covered in glitter, or covered in someone else’s blood.
Naomasa rushed over to the Underground Hero who stood observant at the bottom of the building. The detective already had his pen and pencil out to jot down the information.
“Something isn’t right…” Eraserhead states lowly.
“No kidding,” Tsukauchi takes a moment to note the number of law enforcement on scene and jotting them down before he continues, “that so-called ‘kid’ is holding that man at knife point describing how he’s gonna kill him. This is definitely not good. I hope someone’s recording so we can later compile his exact words as court evidence when we catch this bastard. Before I didn’t quite mind him… but this is actual criminal activity.” Aizawa hums in response, though his eyes never leave the Vigilante. He looks at them as if he half-expects some villain to rip off the mask and exclaim that they were framing it on the Vigilante the whole time.
Naomasa could understand where Eraserhead was coming from. The Vigilante looked short- about the height of a kid in Shouta’s class. However there’s no counting that everything about the criminal could be caused by additional quirk factors. This is the first time they’ve actively caught the vigilante out in the open. He had to admit that it was odd for the vigilante to be looking for publicity. He had always been stealthy and careful of the public eye. To see the Vigilante doing something like this wasn’t… right.
“You see what I mean now?” Eraserhead asked. He was glancing over to Tsukauchi who clearly had some sort of expression on his face that spoke too many words. The detective caved.
“It is a little weird.” The detective admitted to the now annoyingly smug hero. He took another look at Eraserhead and noticed him watching with his eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought.
“So what’s the deal?” Tsukauchi asked firmly.
“If I try and save the guy now, I might not be quick enough. It’s best if we get someone to diffuse the situation.” Aizawa huffed, his eyes boring holes into the Vigilante and his captive.
That was until a second one came on scene.
Eraserhead visibly stumbled back as the first Vigilante was mauled over by the second.
“GET MY FACE OFF OF YOUR BODY!” By now, the people on scene could only see the man who was captured. He was staring behind himself in fear as the angle of the building prevented them from seeing what was going on. The voice was distorted with his usual gadget on his mask. Tsukauchi thought he could hear just the edges of his true voice peeking out of the corner of his words, though it was probably his imagination. Shouta looks over at Tsukauchi and nods before flinging himself up to the building, only 5 stories or so, and rescuing the civilian. Though, he did notice his gaze linger towards the sound of the scuffle. The Erasure Hero brought the shaken up man to the ground before glancing towards the detective.
“There are two of them now.” Naomasa felt like a middle aged baseball coach who’s little league just threw the game. He wanted to take his hat off, crumble it before throwing it to the ground.
“They’re fighting each other. I’m surprised they haven’t drawn blood yet. I’m going to watch from a distance and proceed accordingly. You should take care of the victim- and probably ask what happened. I’m going to observe- I’ll wait to step in until I figure out what in the world that kid’s gotten into.”
Tsukauchi doesn’t even know how he was going to explain this in the case report.
Shouta Aizawa was just about to go on his fifteen minute break when he heard a commotion a few buildings down. He was at a higher elevation, carefully observing the situation for a moment before pulling out his work phone and dialing the station as he traveled down. From afar, it looked like a basic hostage situation, the faces shadowed under the moonlight. The Underground Hero took a moment to mourn fifteen minutes of yellow sleeping bag naps and jelly pouches as he flew towards the ground, making a sour attempt to push back the civilians by himself. Luckily, a number of police shortly arrived, giving Shouta the chance to look up at the scene. It was difficult to see the faces in the light, or maybe it was because one of the figures, the shorter one, was wearing a mask.
Or maybe it was the fact that it was the kid’s mask that made it hard to see.
Naomasa Tsukauchi ran through the scene like a rampaging bull. One of his eyes was twitching as he looked up at the Vigilante. Eraserhead knew something was wrong. As obnoxious as the kid has been at times, holding someone at knife point in front of a crowd simply wasn’t his style. It didn’t fit his overly-pure motives. Aizawa was the type of guy to trust his gut, and his gut screamed at him that there was something extremely wrong. Naomasa had his teeth clenched in annoyance as he shortly conversed with Eraserhead. They could only exchange a few short words before ANOTHER Vigilante tackled the first one, leaving the man he had taken hostage frozen in place. The pair stood in shock for only a moment. Eraserhead shot his capture scarf up towards a large sign overhanging the building the crime scene was on. The hero quickly scooped up the civilian and swung around the billboard, just in time to see double. He didn’t think he’d need a drink tonight, but now he might need it. The pair of Vigilante’s were wrestling, though the hero couldn’t help it notice one was using significantly more knives than the other. Aizawa lowered himself and the civilian to the ground and set him down next to Tsukauchi. Something was wrong, and the kid once again found himself in the middle of it.
“There are two of them now.” Aizawa nodded at the officer’s statement who looked about two more of these types of instances away from quitting. The hero turned his back, wrapping a piece of his scarf around his hand, getting ready to throw it up towards the top of the building.
“They’re fighting each other. I’m surprised they haven’t drawn blood yet. I’m going to watch from a distance and proceed accordingly. You should take care of the victim- and probably ask what happened. I’m going to observe- I’ll wait to step in until I figure out what in the world that kid’s gotten into.” Aizawa nodded once again before pelting off towards battle on the roof.
The Vigilante with the knives had the second Vigilante pinned.
“I gave you some of my blood because you needed it- not to save some for later and use it to commit a crime!” The second Vigilante kicked the first Vigilante over his head, causing him to flip off of the second. Vigilante number two scrambled away from the Vigilante who favored knives.
“Oh c’mon, Vigilante-kun! Isn’t this fun?” He got back on his feet, spinning the knife in his hand.
“Not when you probably just made me a public figure! Oh this is really bad. Toga, I’m supposed to stay on the down low.” The boy complained, waving his hands wildly. He suddenly lunged at the first Vigilante and quickly dragged him off of the top of the building. Aizawa followed them off the building, his eyes locating them in the alley below. By now, the pro hero has an idea of what’s going on. He doesn’t know the reasons behind it, or any type of background information that would have been rather important by now, but he’s quite sure one of the two has a transformation quirk. Most likely based on blood, from what the kid was saying. The second Vigilante suddenly tugged the first over to the wall by his arm, out of Shouta’s view. The man could only assume that he knew he was there. Or maybe something else was at play.
Izuku grumbled about his Vigilante persona being compromised, but he couldn’t afford wasting time on that now.
Izuku felt it.
The prickle of hairs standing up on the back of his neck. He remembers this feeling. Back when he went to school, seconds before disaster. He could practically hear the whispers of what jeers they’d use, or how’d they’d try once again to break him down. Or even worse; Others. Being who he is today, he doesn’t think he could’ve been here without it.
Someone was watching them. Izuku pulled Toga to the side of the alley, just in time to see himself melt from her now nude body.
“I must say, your freckles are soooooo cute!” Toga squealed, to which Izuku rolled his eyes as he took off his hoodie and handed it to her.
“Here. I don’t know where you put your clothes, but please wash and return it when you’re done. Or not… It doesn’t matter. Stay here and hide. Eraserhead is on my case, so you can probably go free after I’m out of view.” Toga’s eyes widened as she was handed the hoodie. She put it on and broke into a huge smile, practically jumping on Izuku.
“Thank you! I will keep it forever!” Izuku did an awkward pat back as he stepped away from the hug. Underneath his hoodie, Izuku wore a shirt that said ‘pants’. The only thing Izuku could do now was pray that Eraserhead didn’t pick up on his sense of humor- or else he’d have to get a new wardrobe, and he was tight on money as it was. And maybe dye his hair.
…
“Screw it.”
Izuku took off his shirt and turned it inside out, shoving it back over its head. Toga tilted her head but didn’t say anything about it. He’d met her very recently. Only last night in fact. He found her about to kill an innocent civilian. He found it very odd, and extremely sad that such a young girl was becoming a villain.
Because Izuku knows best that villains aren’t born.
They’re made.
So what makes heroes any different?
What makes him different?
People can only take so much. Only so much hatred and bad memories can pool within their consciousness before it begins to run up their ankles. Then the darkness makes it above their knees. Soon, it becomes hard to move freely when it gets up to your waist. You start to feel trapped. It gets up to your chest, and only then does it feel like you’re just going through the motions. Then you find all of these experiences wrapping around your neck, leaving you no choice, or a better one, or an easier way out. After it consumes you fully, you never realize you’re falling until it’s too late.
So why hasn’t Izuku fallen yet?
He supposes he was stuck in this limbo for now. He liked it this way. He can’t get rid of it. Never will he forget, nor will he forgive. And he never has to. Though floating in this subliminal space of a consciousness filled with so many bottled up thoughts, memories, feelings, and indifference never felt right either.
After he’d let the civilian run away, Toga ended up laughing hysterically in some sort of mental breakdown. So, Izuku asked what she needed and gave it to her. He began conducting an analysis on her quirk, and is starting to wonder if there’s more to it than what meets the eye. After Izuku gave her some of his blood, he took her out for ice cream. She kept trying to touch his hair, though was overall super nice after getting properly fed. Izuku could only imagine the abuse she’d gotten, all because of the side-effects of her quirk. And yet she still had a smile brighter than the sun.
Izuku would- no.
He will save her.
Izuku nodded to Toga, flashing a smile that she could hopefully see with just his eyes as he ran off into the alleys. It’d be harder to lose Eraserhead when he had a birds-eye view of every path he went down. So Izuku clamored on top of a garbage bin and jumped to reach an escape ladder, to which he climbed up with his usual speed. Izuku took off across the buildings, jumping between alleys. It wasn’t long before Izuku felt the familiar prickle of hairs on the back of his neck. The boy was no idiot. There was no way he could outrun one of the best underground heroes. Though the chances of Izuku out running the other was slimmer with his feet on the ground. Eraserhead’s vision was limited to what was on his horizon. If Izuku could suddenly duck down, probably behind a building, below Eraserhead’s field of view, Izuku might have just enough time to escape and blend in with the civilians. At times like these, Izuku is incredibly gracious for his incredibly normal heritage.
Despite the hero knowing that Izuku was aware of the chase, he still traveled with impeccable silence. The Vigilante had no doubt that even a sound-related quirk might have difficulty picking him up. Izuku aspired to be that good one day.
Izuku flinched as his legs reflexively pushed him to take a barrel roll to the side, disrupting his path. Izuku didn’t need to turn around to see the capture scarf that was flung towards him. It seems he couldn’t get a break either as the scarf flung at an awkward angle, almost as if it intentionally adjusted to his quick reflexes. Izuku barely had time to think as he once again jumped away.
Off of the building, his body had decided. Izuku was lucky that the fall was only a couple of floors. He wasn’t lucky when there happened to be a fire escape ladder that nicked his left thumb on the way down and more than likely dislocated it, based on the sickening pop that echoed throughout the alley he not-so-smoothly landed in. Izuku immediately got to his feet and attempted to slither out of the precament he’s been caught in, though he didn’t have much time for slithering as he felt the rough tug of Eraserhead’s scarf from around his waist. The boy found himself rocketing upwards towards the hero standing on the edge of the building. Izuku felt like a salmon being reeled in by a fisherman as he hung aimlessly over the alley.
“Going fishing…?” Izuku felt his voice crack nervously as his eyes met the glowing red ones of the hero’s. He did not find his joke amusing as instead of the edges of his mouth, the bottom lid of his eye was the one twitching. Now that Izuku was facing the hero, he had time to properly observe the hero so that he could take notes later (if he survived).
“Problem Child,” The Underground Hero huffed out, letting Izuku touch the ground with his toes, though the capture weapon was so taut that it barely left Izuku any wiggle room to touch his heels to the ground.
Oh yeah and his thumb kinda hurt.
“Uh. What a catch, Mr. Eraserhead sir? Though you kinda gotta let me go. I’m an endangered species. No fishing around these parts. Y’know you can’t actually bring in a guy like me. Th-there are still plenty of fish in the sea.” Because it was true. Technically he can’t bring in a quirkless kid for illegal use of a quirk. Izuku grinned sheepishly from behind his mask, thankful the voice modification he ingrained existed, as he would have died from embarrassment if his voice cracked this many times while talking to the guy and he heard it. He didn’t know if the hero actually got his fishing puns- considering he probably didn’t even take into account how undignified being reeled in like a fresh salmon was to Izuku -but the boy assumed the reaction would have been the same regardless.
“You’re hurt.” The Erasure Hero practically spat at the boy, finally taking a moment to blink. He still had his capture weapon wrapped snugly around the boy, though loosened it just enough so that he could pull Izuku’s right arm out of it. The boy bit back the urge to hiss as the hero pulled Izuku closer to him so he could get a better look at his hand. For a variety of reasons, in fact:
- Eraserhead was a hero. A really cool hero who was assigned to capture him. Cool but lethal, and Izuku didn’t like those chances.
- Ow. Now, Izuku has never had his thumb dislocated (surprisingly), but he knows it’s gonna hurt just as well to get it back in after they (hopefully not) bring him back to the station. He knows how to relocate one, and has done so for only one other person by now. It still hurts. Maybe if he keeps dislocating it, he can learn how to dislodge it on command and escape handcuffs or something. But again: Ow. And he already knew how to escape handcuffs anyway. A dislocated thumb was still extremely useful.
“It’s fine. It’s not that bad. I can pop it back in later.” Izuku looked numbly at his thumb. He wiggled his hand around a bit, snickering and mumbling under his breath over how oddly it moved. Izuku found his mouth clamping shut after seeing Eraserhead’s continued glare.
“No.” Eraserhead, guess what? Continued glaring. The captured boy huffed.
“Oh, yeah, I almost forgot, I wanted to talk to you about something.” Izuku’s voice dropped the light-hearted tone he used to joke with the heroes who have tried to capture him. Eraserhead finally paused his piercing stare for his face to soften to one for reluctant questioning.
“We can talk after we get you to the station… I still want to take a better look at your hand… it doesn’t look off… but-“ Izuku didn’t have time, he would cry over cutting off one of the best Underground heroes to touch the face of the earth later. He couldn’t afford to lose this for no reason.
“No. There’s this new villain group. I know school hasn’t started yet- but they’re planning something. I’d give it a week before something goes wrong.” Eraserhead dropped Izuku’s hand- gently so as to not hurt him -directing his attention to the speaking boy.
Good.
“I… they don’t like All Might. You know he’s teaching there, right?” Izuku asked the now flabbergasted teacher. Not much could surprise this man. He didn’t even look surprised. Though Izuku could tell in the twitch of his brow that he’d manage to stump the Underground hero.
“How did you know that?” Eraserhead snapped. Izuku didn’t have time to answer unimportant questions like that anyway, so he brushed it off.
“It’s fine, the information gets released to the public within like, two days. Anyway, they’ve been collecting villains from the underground. They’re paying them a sum of money to attack. I don’t know why, but I’m worried that they have a means of attacking. I’m still trying to figure that out. I probably have to trade a bit more before-“ Now it was Izuku’s turn to be cut off. The boy was oddly grateful, as he got the information he needed to get out, and the fact that he probably would have exploded into a mass of mumbles, possibly revealing a bit too much about his Vigilante whereabouts.
“Kid. You’ve been trading in the Underworld for information?” Eraserhead was pinching the bridge of his nose, “I only ever do that if lives are in imminent danger. What happens if you piss off the wrong people? You can be targeted by gangs if you’re not careful.” The hero looked like he was getting done with the conversation. He was going to start moving soon. That’s the last thing Izuku wants. It was time to wrap this up.
“Hey, Eraserhead?”
“Yeah, kid?”
“You grabbed the wrong thumb.” Izuku’s dislodged thumb allowed for odd and awkward movements that the capture scarf wasn’t able to track down and immobilized within its capture. Izuku shifted just enough so his hand could grab the hilt of the knife Toga had so kindly given him with his other four fingers. His hand slipped behind his back. It was clever as the sudden movement of his arm gave Izuku just enough slack to cut the capture scarf. His arm bent at an awkward angle so that he could cut the scarf from behind his back, sliding the knife quickly upwards. This trick also assisted in Eraserhead not realizing what he was doing until he dropped the smoke bombs on the roof and made a break for it.
See? Dislocated thumbs were impeccably useful.
Aizawa Shouta practically threw himself into Tsukauchi’s office. The officer was already itching to see how the supposed ‘kid’ managed to escape one of the best heroes that roamed the Underground (contrary to said hero’s belief). The hero began pacing Naomasa’s office and running his hands through his hair. His eye was twitching as he stopped in front of the detective’s desk.
“He dislocated his thumb.” The detective was unfazed at this point, thumping his head on the desk, into his hands.
“I’m such an idiot. I grabbed the wrong hand.” Tsukauchi shook his head and went around the desk to put a hand on Shouta’s shoulder to hopefully stop him from spiraling into gruff complaints.
“He’s a smart kid. So he knows how to dislocate his thumbs…?” Tsukauchi concluded. That was important to write in the case report, especially if they planned on cuffing him when they caught the Vigilante- which then brought up the whole questioning of mortality when it came to cuffing the Vigilante. Now, it wasn’t that Naomasa didn’t believe Shouta. His quirk told him that much. He trusts the teacher’s instincts to be able to identify when someone is in need. However, like the detective previously stated, the criminal was smart. It could even be his quirk so that Shouta would go unintentionally easy on him when it came to capture.
“No.” The detective was yanked out of his thoughts and blinked in confusion.
“What…?”
“The little shit fell off a building, dislocated his thumb, so when I grabbed the wrong one, he used his just dislodged thumb to cut himself out.” Shouta deadpanned, sauntering tiredly over to the coffee machine in the corner. Normally Naomasa would stop him, but even God could tell that the hero needed it.
“That probably had to have hurt. Are you sure he wasn’t just tricking you…?” The detective didn’t want to believe it. If the Vigilante could dislodge his thumbs at will, great. He was hopefully just a shorter man in his fifties with extensive training.
“Tsukauchi. I heard the pop. He said he could probably pop it back in later. He then went on this rant of mutters, which I’m pretty sure he didn’t even realize he was doing, about how he’s only ever popped other people’s thumbs back into their sockets.” Oh. That was a problem in Tsukauchi’s firm wall of denial. The detective had firmly built it so that he wouldn’t see the child on the other side.
“Who are the other people?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe he’s affiliated with a gang of some sort-“
“No, he said they were civilians. Again, he mutters a lot and doesn’t realize it. I don’t bother stopping him because it’s decent info.” Aizawa’s description of the Vigilante was tearing down his wall of denial brick by brick. Naomasa didn’t want to believe it. Not that he couldn’t, because the worst part about this was that he could. In a world built around heroics, the detective can imagine a kid lost to society’s judgement, he can imagine this lost and forgotten kid who has potential to do good in the world. All it would have taken was one accident for a kid with an unwanted quirk’s life to fall apart. So the kid could slip through the cracks of it. Tsukauchi knows. Tsukauchi can believe it. He just doesn’t want to, the detective found. As though reading his thoughts, Eraserhead spoke up.
“We chose this line of work to help people. It doesn’t matter if we want to or not, but you know as well as I do how delicate this situation is. He has potential. But he doesn’t have the help he needs to push himself forward… and I think it’s our job to make sure he believes it. Please, Tsukauchi. We aren’t going to get anywhere if we keep trying to capture him. Things need to change. I’m going to try and get in contact with Hawks again.” Aizawa began walking towards the door.
“I’ll change his file,” Naomasa found himself speaking up, “he is no longer capture on sight.” Tsukauchi took a breath. He hoped that Eraserhead was right about what he just said.
“Thank you, detective.” Shouta shot one of his rare smiles towards the man before walking out the door.
Naomasa sat in his office for a bit contemplating, before standing up to stretch. He needed coffee.
Tsukauchi walked over to his coffee pot-
“Goddammit, Aizawa.”
Looks like he needed to go to the staff room.
Nedzu was in his office, doing his usual afternoon chores before classes officially started up once again. He looked away from his laptop for a moment to close his eyes and sip his tea. It really helped to fully elongate the flavor. In the middle of his sipping, his ear twitched towards his computer. It seems as though he’d received a notification. Lots of notifications. Only students were told to message this account about any concerns they had. It seems Nedzu’s tea-drinking was cut short as his mailbox was suddenly flooded. There were at least forty emails… all of which from valid student emails.
What ever could have been the cause of this?
From: Ochako Uraraka
Hello Mr. Nedzu! How are you? I’m super excited for school to start. Though, I was wondering how a boy named Shinsou Hitoshi didn’t get in. I was just contacted by someone. (I’m assuming is a student). Who told me that there were rescue points! I watched Shinsou run around for the entire exam, saving other students. I have no doubt in my mind that he should have gotten in. He saved me and a lot of other future students. If it’s true, and he really was only four points off, then I was wondering if I could give him some of mine? Thank you so much for your understanding!
From: Kaminari Denki
Hey Principal man. I know I’m probably not on your watch list right now considering I barely passed both exams with all my brain cells intact. But I was wondering how Shinsou was doing? I heard from someone that he didn’t get in which is a total bummer because he and his really cranky friend. Saved my ahh when i overusd my quirk.
From: Bakugou Katsuki
I was the kid who had the highest score on the exams. I know that there were rescue points. The dumb vigilante guy said so. I don’t know how they were scored, but Hitoshit scored enough to get in. If he didn’t then take some of mine. I have a lot. I’ll still be number one without them. He has a pretty badass quirk. Get him in.
Ah. So that explained it then. Nedzu could keep scrolling, though he already knows what the majority of the emails were about. He couldn’t help the manic grin that got painted across his face. As annoying as it was that the Vigilante thought his way out of his trap, Nedzu couldn’t help but be giddy. He originally hoped to re-hack the Vigilante’s computer and finally have a chat with him, but it seems like the Vigilante had other ideas in mind.
The emails were all from kids Shinsou had helped during the exam, all of them offering to give points and vouch for him to get into the hero course.
Not to mention they were all sent in at the same time.
Nedzu would recognize this as a power move.
The rat was pleased with the Vigilante’s thinking. He managed to avoid possible conflict, use his resources, and avoid the need to get a new computer- to which Nedzu had no doubt that the Vigilante had by now. By the time Nedzu finished skimming through the wave of emails, a new email was sent into his mailbox.
From: Mustafu City Library
:D Nice try using the recorded exams to upload the first virus lol! I think I just got super lucky using this computer. Here’s a copy of calculations for Shinsou Hitoshi. I copied clips from the exam, marking the exact scoring rubric you’ve so helpfully supplied on my first trip into UA! I decided to use the exact minimum scores. But you and I both know he should have gotten sixty-four points.
I expect his Hero Course Acceptance letter to arrive shortly!
42 attachments
Nedzu felt his eye twitch. A new manic grin spread across his face.
Shinsou:
How the hell did you do that.
Izuku:
Do what?
Shinsou:
1 attachment: image of U.A. acceptance letter with a hologram of Eraserhead beside it
Izuku:
Oh you got into UA!!!! That’s awesom!!!!
Shinsou:
What did you even do????
Izuku:
You took the test. Not my problem. They just messed up your score
Shinsou:
How did you know he said that????
Izuku:
We should celebrate! Where do you want to go?
Shinsou:
Hello???? Tf did you do???
Izuku:
How about the mall?
Eh… kinda crowded
Let’s go to a cafe!
Location sent
Shinsou:
Bruh.
Izuku:
If you want to watch the exams we kinda have to go to the library. Nedzu put a virus on the hard drive I uploaded the video to so it’s on one of the computers over there rn.
Shinsou:
Context????
Izuku:
When do you want to meet up? I’m free later this month. Let’s say the last Saturday of this month!
Shinsou:
I’m free too but I srsly.
You pissed off my principal????
Izuku:
Ok cool. Let’s meet up at the cafe and we can go from there!
Shinsou:
Bruh.
Notes:
Find the theater kid reference.
Chapter 5: Breached
Summary:
Sometimes, even Vigilantes need a hero.
Notes:
HEEEEYYYY. So I just moved into dorms for summer break. I’m at a summer camp for the next month! So, I’ll try my best to update, but I might not have time to update or they might be every other for the next month. This is also a longer chapter, so enjoy! ❤️❤️❤️
Chapter Text
Izuku has managed to dodge a massive bullet. He originally just wanted to watch the exams in a quiet space, though he realized he didn’t have the computer Shinsou gifted him, so he decided to just use the library’s computer. He uploaded the video only to find Nedzu’s freaky rat virus being uploaded as well. Izuku would have cried if he had to sell enough information or go on missions to buy a new one. Izuku decided he might as well use this computer to communicate with the rat from now on, so that’s what he did. After he properly analyzed the videos from the exam, Izuku compiled screenshots, scoring and reasoning for Shinsou’s winning score. He told all of the students he contacted to send the message exactly at four pm. Many of the kids were confused, but he hoped that they would. Mainly because it was funny. He could only imagine the rare look of confusion on the Stoat’s face at the high income of emails at the hour.
That was just over a week ago, and good news:
Izuku is still kicking.
The incident with Eraserhead still left Izuku shaken up. He managed to (hopefully correctly) pop his thumb back into its socket, but he still felt a dull ache everytime he moved his hands to type or text. As much as he wished he could dislocate his thumbs on command, it really wasn’t worth it. He hated the uncomfortable feeling of his bone flickering around aimlessly in his skin without a joint attached to it, guiding it where he wanted it to go. He hated not being in control.
And did he mention that it hurt?
Izuku felt a little bad. Since about two weeks ago, he’s cut off all contact with Hawks. And since about a week ago, Hawks has been messaging him and asking if everything was alright since the hole ‘dislocated phalange’ incident. Izuku could only assume that he’d met back up with Eraserhead since then. Izuku eventually caved and replied to the 19 messages with a simple ‘thumbs up’ emoji. That seemed to slow the spawn of them, but it didn’t stop Hawks from messaging him once a day about something random. (Though Izuku was quite sure it was to make sure he was still alive). The boy was about to tell him to calm down and that it was only a dislocated thumb, but that didn’t sound comforting. Now, Izuku never met the hero in real life- and part of him hopes it never comes to that. He has seen him fly overhead once or twice as a civilian.
Aside from that, it was Shinsou’s first day. It was super exciting to hear that he managed to get into the Hero Course! Due to the implications of Shinsou’s circumstances, he ended up starting a few days later than everyone else (to which Izuku apologized profusely for). The purple-haired boy didn’t seem to think it was a big deal.
Izuku:
How’s your first day going? Do you have friends? Can I meet them? Who’s your teacher?
Is there someone named Bakugou in your class?
[Message Deleted]
Shinsou:
Calm down. I’m good.
3 attachments
Three images of Shinsou taking a selfie at his lunch table. Uraraka Ochack was on his left with Bakugou Katsuki on his right. He was flipping off the camera. He was joined by a few other students that Izuku couldn’t name off the top of his head. They included a boy with a black lightening bolt in his hair, a very pink girl, a boy with spikey red hair, and Tenya Iida, who sat on the other side of Uraraka
Izuku allowed a bittersweet smile to slip through. He sat on his mattress and lifted his palm to his cheek to rest his head on as he looked at the pictures. Shinsou lived in such a different world. Though maybe they weren’t that different in another one… where he had a quirk. Something so useful, yet so insignificant in the life of Midoriya Izuku.
If it was all people talked about, then what stopped Izuku from making that chatter his? Izuku flopped onto his mattress, staring up at the water-damaged ceiling above. His eyes dragged over every crack and leak that came through on rainy days and let out a dry chuckle. He didn’t even need a flashy quirk. Izuku would have made anything work.
So why was he given nothing?
Shinsou:
Our teacher is Eraserhead.
Izuku’s eyebrows shot up.
Bakugou is going to find out eventually.
And now his Vigilante life was going to shambles.
Shinsou:
Holy shit bro there’s some alarm going off rn.
Izuku:
What.
The boy jumped out of his mattress. It looks like fate decided that he’s had enough wallowing for one day. Izuku ran at his semi-new computer and popped it open. He really hoped this wasn’t what he thought it was.
As much as the boy loved the laptop Shinsou gave him, Izuku realized that he’d have to risk Nedzu’s wrath for this task. The boy didn’t realize how quickly his fingers tapped until he was inside U.A. 's security system. Nedzu more than likely left bread crumbs for Izuku this time around as well, though now wasn’t exactly the time to worry when other student’s lives were on the line. Typically the Vigilante would do this as a weekend activity. Though it seems as though his personal research would have to wait. Izuku swiped through the cameras as quickly as possible, trying to find the source of the break in.
Oh.
Izuku can’t say that he was disappointed as he saw the reporters face into UA, shouting their questions about All Might’s new position within the school. The boy slumped into his chair in relief as the teachers exited the school to keep the crowds back.
Shinsou:
Nvm. We’re good.
It was just reporters.
Izuku looked at his phone with a snort. Shinsou had impeccable timing.
Izuku:
Impeccable timing.
Shinsou:
Wth does that mean???
Dude.
Did you hack the cameras????
Izuku:
Go to the nearest camera and hold up a number one through ten.
Izuku probably should be so obvious, he shouldn’t trust this boy he only technically met just a few weeks ago, but he couldn’t resist sharing a smile or two with him, even if it was over the phone. Izuku hasn’t trusted anyone in so long. Anyone his age was out of the question. It was nice to have a friend. Now that Izuku knows what it felt like, he couldn’t help but have a deep rooted trust for this first friend. Part of it came from the pure joy Izuku had when Shinsou did the same for him. Hitoshi had just met him and outright trusted this random, average-looking kid with his entire future. Izuku had never felt lighter as he messaged those other kids. Some of them even wanted to chat more with him. Izuku could understand that none of them wanted to meet up (considering he emailed them out of the blue without any saying in who he was), and it was probably for the best to protect his identity. Izuku knew that Shinsou would be alright. He had some good friends. Shinsou was a good friend.
Izuku grinned at the live feed of the hallway Shinsou was found in. It was easy to pick him out thanks to his incredible tallness. It was also easy as he was the only student aiming a very crude gesture towards him. Is he holding up both hands…?
No that was just Bakugou. Izuku wonders if Shinsou told Kacchan that he was watching, or if Katsuki just raised his middle finger up because he saw Shinsou doing it and thought ‘why the hell not’.
Izuku:
That is very rude! :(
Shinsou:
Srsly tho how tf are you doing this.
Izuku didn’t bother responding, instead, changing the names in their chat. For his own, Izuku renamed himself as ‘Quirky Cryptid’ and for Shinsou, he named ‘Mr. Clean’
Mr. Clean
BRO HOW
And why Mr clean????
Quirky Cryptid:
Idk what ur talking about :)
I named you that bc Mr clean washes stuff??? Idk. Ur quirk is brainwash.
What Izuku didn’t mention was that he also dubbed Shinsou that name because his hairline was nonexistent. Though he supposed that would remain as an inside joke between himself, him, and Izuku.
[Quirky Cryptid changed Mr. Clean to Brain Troll]
Brain Troll:
Are you fucking serious?
Quirky Cryptid
I mean, not really, considering I just changed your name to brain troll. I was actually just trying to make joke. Do you get it?
Brain Troll:
“☝️🤓” 💀
Quirky Cryptid:
What does that mean?
Brain Troll:
lol.
Whos cryptid now
Izuku put his phone down with a roll of his eye. He decides to let Shinsou be, especially considering he was having another conversation as the students were exiting the cramped hallway. If this is how the students acted in an actual emergency, then U.A. needs to update their security protocols.
Izuku switched cameras back towards the walls of U.A. Reporters continued to flood the premises, though the heroes seemed to have it handled, slowly pushing them back towards outside of U.A. some police cars were arriving as well. He assumed they probably had some sort of notification system set up in case there was a disturbance on campus. The proper law enforcement would show up depending on the severity, reported by the intense security system. The only reason why Izuku managed to get in was because the principal left little mouse holes in the code for him to break through, and that was just because the principal wanted him to try. He probably would have already been arrested by now if it weren’t for the fact that the stoat was occupied at the moment. Izuku reached under his desk, and opened up the drawer, pulling out a meal replacement bar. (He needed to eat these sparingly because he really doesn’t want to trade information for a while.) He leaned back into his chair, watching as the heroes recoiled from the sudden scare. The boy straightened his back when they looked close to being finished- he’d probably need to log out of U.A. 's security system before Nedzu found him. There was something still bothering him.
“Wait.” Izuku mumbled to himself, and continued his murmurs. Izuku zoomed in on the door that once protected the U.A. grounds. Dust was shedding from around it. The boy scrambled for his notebook, leaning too far off of his chair and falling off of it. He reached onto a small book shelf and snatched his notebook, crawling back onto his chair and taking the top off off the pen with his teeth. He opened the book and flipped to the page of the ‘Decay’ quirk, before scribbling down any and all characteristics of the now ruined door, his mumbled being muffled by his own chewing of the pen cap. He tossed his notebook to the side, on the floor and quickly hunched back over his laptop. The boy rewinded the cameras’ feed, back to when the alarms would have went off. He carefully flipped through the footage, noticing nothing out of the ordinary until he made it to the teachers lounge. Izuku once again indignantly fell off his chair, this time knocking it over to grab his notebook, scrambling back towards the feed as a swirling black portal emerged. A man with a hood over his head sauntered out of it, looking along the walls. He had hair that passed just below his shoulders, allowing Izuku to just barely make out the light-blue color of his hair. The man began rummaging around the office, until finding a rather empty cubical, clearly someone who hasn’t been here for a while. The only thing on his desk besides the work computer was a mug with a very cheesy pun about being number one.
“All Might.” Izuku muttered as he watched the footage. The hooded man picked up the mug, seemingly to read it. He scoffed, before placing his final pinky on the branded product.
“Whoops.” The man’s voice was gruff through the computer’s crackly speaker. Almost like a forced whisper. The mug in his hand melted as he placed his middle finger on the mug.
“Not melted… dissolved… decayed.” Izuku knew way too much information with a picture of the man. He had quite a destructive quirk. His hands were cracked, like dry earth during a heat wave (and Izuku had no doubt that the rest of his skin would be the same). Obviously there were drawbacks to nearly all quirks, but most of them were energy related. And then there was the things Izuku’s eyes darted to that almost made him fall backwards in his chair. (That was, if he was sitting in it, and it wasn’t toppled helplessly onto his floor.)
The shoes.
The same exact shoes Izuku found himself with every day. The same shoes Izuku looked down at, just so he could be looked down upon by others. It was difficult to tell by the angle of the footage, but he saw it. The widened sole around the toe.
It hurt that this was something Izuku even noticed.
And this really wasn’t calming his fears about the rumors.
The man began rummaging through the drawers, have angered mumbles of curses (very blatantly directed at the number one hero).
“How the hell does anyone find anything in this dump?” The man opened the top drawer, closest to the desk. “Where is it…”
The Vigilante felt chills as the man located what he was looking for. It was a sheet of paper. He could practically hear the man’s maniac grin just from his breathing, quickly looking over the paper, his hands clenched it (without his middle fingers of course) as though he would crinkle it up, but then he carefully placed it back where he found it and walked back to the center of the room.
“Kurogiri.” The man called. Not even a moment later did the same swirling-black portal open. Izuku made a note to start a new page on this ‘Kurogiri’ guy. Though he doubted it was his real name. The boy didn’t notice he was holding his breath until the feed ran for a few extra minutes after the man left. Izuku’s one regret was that he couldn’t see the damn paper from the angle of the cameras.
Bakugou Katsuki was kind of pissed. The boy was always pissed, so why was this kind of pissy different? Perhaps it had something to do with the purple-haired boy that sat beside him at lunch. Maybe not. Katsuki wouldn’t know.
But he was still pretty pissed.
First the guy works his ass off to get into UA, gets some bullshit letter into the General Ed course, and when he finally gets accepted into the Hero Course, it all goes to shit. And the worst part is, the guy didn’t even care. And Bakugou Katsuki was getting pretty pissed about this ‘oh, it’s fine’ bullshit.
When they finally got back to their table, the speakers echoed throughout the lunch room, announcing the extension of this period for the students in lunch. Bakugou smirked at the thought of any of the older kids, stuck in one of those snail-like classes for an extra fifteen minutes. The normal chatter soon filled up the lunch room and Bakugou sat quietly at the lunch table while Hitoshit just finished texting someone. The purple-headed beanstalk of a fifteen-year-old put his phone away with a smirk one would have after an amusing conversation that probably shouldn’t be said aloud. Katsuki’s eyes narrowed as he glanced at the reporters being held back by the other pro heroes found at U.A. Their principal was among the heroes, talking quietly at the back towards their home room teacher. He noticed how the rat’s ears twitched for a moment before he reached into his pocket and took out his phone. Both man and rat stood silently, staring at the screen and then back at each other for a moment before racing back inside the school.
“Wonder what that’s about.” Katsuki mumbled in a gruff tone, his eyebrows narrowing. His newer friend, Kirishima follows his gaze and nods.
“You know how it is, man, with people breaking into the school. They’re probably just reinforcing security or something.” Kirishima attempts to sooth Bakugou with a lax grin and a pat on the back. He jumps back slightly when he fails, and instead is met with the swat of a hand coming straight from the angry Pomeranian trapped in Bakugou Katsuki’s body.
“Whatever Shitty Hair.”
Unknown
Heyyyy I ask that you please don’t track this number, but there are some things I’m willing to risk. Check the top drawer of All Might’s (/his secretary??? Idk i think it’s the same ‘desk’) desk. That’s what they wanted. They put it back. I don’t know what was on it, but it was important enough to cause what’s happening now. Just word from a friend. Please look into it. :) if you don’t believe me, he should be missing a coffee mug, and a crumble of dust shoul replace it about a foot away from his desk. (We both know what quirk did this, I’m still working on an analysis but I just got a ton of new information today. There were two people involved. One of them has a very unpredictable teleporting warp gate and the one who went into your office has decay quirk and I have footage from your cameras I think they had someone or warp gate guy teleported decay guy into your office and. Sorry just check it. Pls. I’ll try and get more information from footage. They prolly deleted it on your end, I’ll send you recording. I trust Eraserhead will be able to hand deliver my next analysis. We need to be discreet as posbble. I wipe conputer hard drive after send bc lots of info others shouldnt have access to byyyyyyye. Thx. Sorry.
-The Vigilante.
[deleted message 13:17]
Aizawa knew this kid wouldn’t lie. Though he was a little shaken to see the villains going after All Might’s schedule of all things. All Might only taught his and Vladking’s class. Were they trying to attack his students? Aizawa didn’t know… and he was worried. Nedzu replaced the paper with a sigh, giving himself another reminder to update the security system.
“That was the Vigilante, wasn’t it.” Shouta stated. The rat nodded, knowing it was not a question.
“So you are familiar. I was unsure if we both had the same one.” Aizawa had a deep pit settle in his stomach at the extra glint in his eye. The rat’s ears twitched and his smile grew just a hair wider.
“I must say, his range of skills are strenuous to keep up with. It’s no wonder you haven’t caught him yet.” The rat laughs with a sound heavier than it sounds. The last thing the man wants is for them to ever meet.
“It seems as though the cell phone he sent the message from is in the same place of the last device I hacked.” The principal observed as he tapped on his phone. Aizawa looked over his shoulder.
“Why’s the location in the lake?”
“It’s a habit I’m assuming.” The rat shrugged, still with the mischievous grin. The teacher felt the air come back into his body. The two clearly haven’t coordinated with each other yet. It seems as though the world would live another day.
“Well then. It looks like Cementous has already sealed the breach. Let’s move on with our day! And let’s not forget.” The two held eye contact with an understanding ripple going between them before going their separate ways.
Izuku breathes in the nightly air of the city. With warm days, cool nights set afoot in the city. His city. Given the state of this district, no one actually tries to make it safer, even if they were designated to patrol there, this little forgotten corner seemed like a lost cause. Though, to Izuku, he couldn’t help but wonder how much of a lost cause this part really was. People still lived here.
These people were still people too.
Izuku finally had a chance to get more information on the attack on UA as well. He was meeting up with one of the participants. They said that they didn’t fully trust their intentions, so they would talk it over with him at the neutral spot. Maybe if he was lucky, the guy would order him food. He hasn’t had time to get money through spilling secrets with the alleged attack on U.A. However, Izuku still had some time before said meeting, so he would use that time to its fullest by helping the people of the red light district. As a Vigilante, Izuku didn’t just kick ass (as fun as it was). He stuck to his belief of saving people, no matter the situation. He’d do the typical martyr act, such as walking old ladies across the street (when they didn’t mistake him for a villain and thwack him with their canes), saving people from small fires, and helping lost children find their mothers. Of course, Izuku would always be the first to jump into a scuffle to stop someone from getting hurt, resulting in a few bangs and bruises on his sides. The Vigilante would have liked to look further into the spread of the quirk-enhancing drug that’s been running around the Americas, but he’s trying to lay off bigger missions until he can stop what’s going to happen to the kids at U.A.
The universe didn’t seem to like giving the Vigilante a break, because as he was hopping between buildings, just about to head over to a popular neutral zone among the people in the underground, a scream broke out. Izuku scuttled to a stop on the edge of the building, his read shoes teetering on the edge as he waved his arms sporadically, attempting to swing himself back onto the correct side of the ledge. He shot back a quick text to his client.
Izuku:
Hey, I might be a little late, just ran into some trouble. The night never rests!
P. M.
I know how it is! Let me know if you ever want to patrol together! I’ll be here! I’m still listening in on whether or not it’s a good move to go to that meet up?
The Vigilante grimaced slightly at the thought. Patrolling with another person was odd. He’d occasionally have Dabi help with the more difficult hostage situations (usually those required more than one person as someone had to keep the villains in line while the others lead the civilians to safety). And usually he’d have to pay the fire-user back by helping him prank Endeavor and what not. He enjoyed those types of favors anyway.
Izuku:
Thanks for the offer! Maybe some other time! I’ll be there in a bit.
The boy nodded in satisfaction at his response as he ran towards the commotion. He was surprised at how open the ‘Villain’ was. The man claimed himself as a villain, but never has Izuku ever seen him commit serious crimes. Weirdly enough, he’s commonly referred to as a third party that helps get civilians to safety during natural disasters, or especially lethal villain attacks.
His eyes narrowed as he stalked on top of the buildings, observing the situation. There was a woman backed up against the wall of the alleyway, a man was slowly approaching her. She gasped as she hit the wall.
“Sir- please. I don’t have any cash! I d-don’t have anything on me.” The woman stuttered out. Izuku observed how the water produced from her eyes turned into evaporated smoke as soon as it fell off her face. He instantly thought of how if she could managed to save the water produced, maybe she could make some environmentally friendly smoke balms. Maybe she could make her sweat into smoke as well. Does that mean Kacchan’s tears could be used for his-
“Please! No!” The smoke-quirked woman’s voice cracked as the man yanked at her purse. She attempted to fight back at him.
Ah. Right, he was analyzing the wrong person.
Izuku knew he didn’t have much time so he quickly collected as much information from the man as possible before he jumped down. The bulky man had white hair that spiked down his back somewhat resembling a porcupine. The small rips and tears in the back of his jacket told Izuku that the strands of hair could sharpen themselves. It seemed like a mix of a mutant quirk and an emitter. (Most quirks nowadays are, Izuku noticed, though no one else seemed to). The man had clearly cut his hair recently as it went down to just the backs of his knees, and yet the bottom still looked freshly trimmed. It obviously wouldn’t hurt the man if Izuku chipped at the source of his quirk, though the minuscule scratches meant that his quirk had no problem hurting him. That’s probably what the leather was for. The hair didn’t seem to have a motor function either, so he just had a sharp head of hair. This means that Izuku would be seeing a lot of the man’s back in the fight. It’s either Izuku got his staff just right in between the man’s neck and his hair-
Or he was gonna make this guy strip.
The woman yelped as he bag was finally plied from her hands and unzippered by the criminal. His hands shook as though desperate. He seemed more than well fed as well, especially with his stout figure.
Ah, Izuku gets it now.
He silently slid down the fire escape’s ladder. The woman, who was backed up against the wall, locked eyes with him. He gave an awkward wave at the steam-quirked woman. Her shoulders immediately untensed as Izuku was hit by a grateful glance. The boy merely nodded in response, as if reassuring the woman was safe before creeping up behind the man. He raised his staff up in the air before attempting to slam it into the back of the assailant’s neck. The man’s hair suddenly poked up as he whipped around just in time to dodge Izuku’s attempt to knock him out. Luckily that wasn’t what Izuku was going for. The boy pivoted his foot to use the other end of his staff to loop through the handles of the woman’s purse and spin around again, allowing him to toss the purse from around the white-haired man and to the woman.
“Catch!” Izuku called. As soon as the lady managed to bumble the purse into a correct grip with her hands, Izuku handled a barrage of attacks on his opponent, skillfully making a path for the woman to run behind him. The boy made a jerking motion with his head and the girl took off out of the alleyway- to where she was hopefully calling the cops. The man let out an animalistic grunt as he pushed the boy back, forcing him into the wall behind him.
“Do you have any idea what you just cost me?! I hate little shits like you, thinking you’re all game just because you gave some bitch back her purse?! Do you have any idea what it’s like, always knowing that you’re never gonna be at your fullest?” Izuku’s eyes narrowed.
‘At your fullest…?’ He echoed in his thoughts before his eyes widened.
“You’re that Vigilante huh. Can’t wait to tell my seller just how great his shit is after you come up dead on the news.”
“Oh no…” Izuku tried to stop him. He really did, but the man immediately swung himself off of Izuku before he could use his staff to knock the needle out of his hands. The white-haired man stabbed his neck. Izuku knew he could handle a drug-enhanced quirk. That was enough. Though the Vigilante didn’t know how he felt about being in such a banged up state for tomorrow’s complete unknown of an attack. The boy groaned as the man yelled viciously as his quirk began to spiral out of control. Tonight wasn’t going great, but when did things ever for Midoriya Izuku?
Izuku still didn’t have money for food tomorrow.
And he still needed that haircut.
The boy rolled out of the way behind a trash can as the white-haired man’s spikes pointed out and began shooting out of his head, growing back at a rapid pace. The boy never agreed with the drugs. He had an ongoing theory that if these people just put in the work and exercised their quirks, they could do just what they’re doing now without the drugs, but no. Now he’s stuck behind a dumpster as this man with an unclear head mindlessly shoots his hair at him.
Izuku needed a plan.
He had no idea what the man’s quirk did after being affected with the drug. The spiked shanked against the garbage can with more force as the villain walked closer. He seemed to be having some sort of evil monologue, though his deranged screams couldn’t keep up with his blackened tongue. A car drove by their tiny crook of chaos. The headlights shown through, brightening the formally pitch black alley. Izuku’s eyes were shielded under the shadow of the bin he hid behind, while the villain’s eyes clenched shut reflexively, despite being already dilated by the drug. Izuku grinned. This was his moment.
He ran out from behind the dumpster and got low to the ground, slamming his staff into the backs of the villain’s knees. The man stumbled for a moment before turning sharply at the Vigilante. By now the car was long gone, so Izuku used the next best thing. The light of his phone flashlight suddenly snapped in the villain’s face, allowing Izuku the chance to test an on-going theory he had.
“Sensitive to light… now is it a quirk drawback or part of the drug…” he mumbled.
The Vigilante picked up one of the man’s fallen spikes before using it to scratch the man’s hand as he darted past him. If the villain’s spikes did have a small amount of sedative on them- like Izuku theorized, the quirk enhanced amount wouldn’t be able to be absorbed by what immunity the man had previously developed.
The burly villain growled a moment, making a weak swat at Izuku as he darted past. The man took just a few steps before he suddenly fell to the ground with a thump. His hair grew back to its formal length from behind himself and the younger boy blew out a breath of relief and grinned. The man yelled out profanities as he quickly checked the man for any more Trigger while he was down. Izuku quickly dialed Tsukauchi’s number, holding it up to his ear by placing it between his head and shoulder as he grabbed some of his zip ties from one of his utility belts. He placed any left over Trigger in his hoodie pocket- he could study it later.
“So I got a porcupine looking man and he-“
“Don’t worry, kid. Couple people already called it in. We’ve just dispatched a few officers.” Tsukauchi replied exhaustedly.
“Wait a couple-?”
Izuku was just tightening the zip ties when a pair of feet touched the ground from behind him.
“Heya kid.”
“Shit—“ Izuku jumped, suddenly tightening the zip tie around the man’s wrist, causing it to pinch his skin.
“Hey! OW!” The man growled out, his spikes flaring up, a stray one shooting out and scratching Izuku’s hand.
“Paralysis paused when introduced to pain. NoteeEEEeeEed—“ Izuku shouted as he felt himself swaying and falling backwards. The sound of walking approached him, until he was looking up at none other than the number three pro hero, Hawks.
“Heya Birdie. Looks like you’re in a bit of a prickle huh?”
“Hawks.” Izuku huffed out, attempting to move his fingers. Sirens were heard in the distance, Izuku felt his chest tighten up. He couldn’t afford to get caught now, not with so many people in danger tomorrow. He could barely twitch his fingers. Izuku’s eyes darted towards the edge of the alley where flashes of red and blue intertwined. A hand grasped the back of his crossing utility belts, yanking him up from the ground. Izuku couldn’t exactly stand in his current state, but he felt his feet pathetically dangle above the ground as he was suddenly hoisted up and flown out of the alleyway with a ‘whoosh’. The Vigilante could only blink in confusion at the number three hero as he was placed leaning against the wall of the alley.
“Do me a favor, and don’t go anywhere, ‘kay? I’ll be back in a bit.” The boy leaned back against the brick wall, confused. Izuku used the twitching of his fingers to steadily draw out the knife he had hidden up his sleeve. It was a painstakingly drawn out process, especially when time was relative to the boy as he had no idea what Hawks was telling the police right now. The teen deflated in relief as he finally managed to wiggle the small dagger into his hand. He twitched his fingers up slightly so he could poke at the skin from underneath his hoodie, just barely drawing a trail of blood. He felt himself jolt up from the paralysis before instantly hunkering back down into his clump in the alley as soon as the knife was released.
“Ok then… constant it is then…” Izuku oomumbled, making the knife prod further into his skin.
“Gosh I hope this doesn’t last long…” the boy used one hand to hold the knife to the back of his forearm while he used the other hand to pull himself up from the wall, he instantly felt a wave of dizziness as he went vertical. Izuku was still starving, tired, hit by a porcupine poison quirk;
And he still needed that damn haircut.
“I hate this quirk.” The boy mumbled as he dragged his feet across the alley, supporting his body weight with his other arm. He leaned heavily against the wall as his other hand continued to prod at his arm with his knife. Izuku knew he couldn’t continue to make left turns with the state he was in, but that was the side he had leaned up against the wall. The vigilante needed to get further. Izuku sucked in a break, poking his knife into his arm even deeper before stumbling across the alley in order to take a right turn to the next building. Izuku knows about a decent safe space just a block or two over, but the real question is, would he be able to make it? By now, he was just out of view of where Hawks originally left him. He only managed to make another left corner before he saw Hawks flying around and landing a few alleys over, just where he left him.
“Huh. That’s funny. Could’ve sworn the report said the sedative lasted for at least an hour or two…” Izuku heard Hawk’s voice echo through the alleyways. The boy immediately froze, making feeble attempts to slow his heart rate and breathing down. The boy shifted so his back was against the wall, carefully moving his hand that once supported him over his mouth to muffle his breathing and turn off his voice distortion. If he breathed too loud the modifier might pick it up. Izuku closed his eyes to think. He had a few options. There were always options. He could either stay here and wait until Hawks left or he caught him, the Vigilante could try and haul ass back to a safe neutral zone while borderline sedated, or he could creep his way along the wall. The second option was out of the question considering the amount of noise it would make and Hawks’ speed advantage. The first option was risky and it mattered on how determined Hawks was to catch him. Izuku opened his eyes, option three it was.
The Vigilante slowly released a breath, slowing his breathing and making his oxygen intake as slow as possible as he lowered his hand from his mask to press just his fingertips up against the wall and pushed himself away from it. Being quiet was difficult when the only thing that stopped him from keeling over was the sharp prick of a knife. He started to feel blood trickle down his arm. It wasn’t much, but it was more than he’d like.
“He couldn’t have gone far!” Hawks practically called out, as if knowing he was still there. Izuku winced, having a feeling that his sudden nausea wasn’t just from the quirk he was hit with.
Footsteps.
Izuku had to move.
He began taking steady steps down the alley, wincing at any sort of crunch the musk of the ground made with his boots.
“I thought I told you not to move.” Izuku tensed at the voice behind him, the usual light air of it disappearing for only a moment before returning almost immediately, “Really kid? Couldn’t sit still for a few minutes could you?” The Vigilante tensed up as he felt a hand in his shoulder.
“What? Did you push past that quirk with pure force of will or something?”
“Aren’t you a daylight hero?” Izuku blurted, before his hand flew off the wall to turn on his voice modifier- though it was already too late. The hero held an amused smirk as Izuku’s sudden motion caused him to slump against the wall. He winced a bit as he more firmly pressed the knife into the back of his arm.
“Woah, lil dude, are you ok? How are you even standing with the sedative…?” Izuku slid down the wall and finally sat down, loosening his grip on the knife that was being held up to his forearm.
“It’s uh… part of the guy’s quirk. Pain stops the effects of the sedative… probably has something to do with the chemical signals blocking the sedative’s uh…” Izuku trailed off to stop himself from rambling, “or uh… something like that.” Hawks stood stunned for a moment and flog-blinked.
“How’d you know about that? Work with the guy before?” Hawks asked, cautiously approaching the Vigilante, and bent down to meet his eye level.
“Uh, no actually, I first noticed it when you approached me. I was just handcuffing-“
“Don’t you mean zip-tying?”
“-the criminal and you startled me, so I pulled it a bit too tight. That’s how he managed to poke me with one of his spikes, because before that I’ve already managed to use his own quirk against him so it’d make sense how that would be his first response.”
“Wait, wait, wait, hold up kid, how have you been holding up then?” Izuku shrugged, reaching his left arm over to roll up his sleeve slightly. Izuku has been curious to see how bad the cut was.
The wound wasn’t terrible, in Izuku’s opinion. He didn’t mean to make himself bleed that much, but he supposed that he might have pressed the knife deeper than he meant to.
“Well shit, Eraserhead wasn’t playing. You really do have a death wish, kid.” Hawks attempted to grab the Vigilante’s arm but he immediately jerked it back.
“It’s not that bad. It's just blood.” Izuku huffed out, “patching it up now isn’t gonna do anything now, especially if I can’t move when it does get healed.” Izuku moved the knife he held in his hand to one of his compartments on his belt after briefly wiping it off on his pant leg, “besides, you said about an hour, right? It should start wearing off soon.”
“I said at least. I still wanna get a look at your thumb too. A little bird told me you dislocated it, yeah?” Hawks’ hand shot out to grab the young Vigilante’s injured arm (this time his captive got the right one) and took his knife.
“What?! Seriously?” Izuku attempted to snatch his knife back, though as the pain resided he began to lose feeling in his body once more.
“Hey, you said it yourself. That quirk should start wearing off soon, right? Kick back, relax, chillax a little.”
“There’s no relaxing right now, I have things to do.” Hawks blatantly ignored Izuku’s comment and continued observing his beaten up hand.
“Well, the cut might need a few stitches, that thumb’s definitely been dislocated at some point… and popped back in…” Hawks glared down at his hand, probably noticing the slight swolleness that has been steadily lowering over the past week.
“Well the cuts aren’t that bad, probably could use a few bandages to not scare anybody, and yes my thumb is fine, I’d rate that experience two out of ten stars, the two is because it gives field advantages. Pooping it back in wasn’t very pleasant, but I managed to-“
“Don’t do that again.” Hawks suddenly said sternly, glaring at the boy. Izuku has always liked Hawks’ upbeat personality, so why was he so scary when he did that.
“Uh- y-yes Hawks- s-sir.”
“Good. Wish you were that much of a suck up on your Twitter account.” Izuku responded with a somewhat shocked noise, though the hero only replied by lightly hitting his shoulder.
“Kidding! Man, I’m starving. I know a hella good place somewhere around here… it’s a bit of a hole in the wall, but they have some pretty good Katsudon.” Izuku felt an instinctive pull as he perked up at the sound of his favorite food. He hasn’t had Katsudon in a while. At least a few years. He’s always been scraping by on corner store snacks and the occasional on-the-house food he’s gotten from Jenereki at the bar- and that’s usually when he forces the boy to take it. Most of the time Izuku declines.
The Vigilante looks over at Hawks, catching him looking at himself with an amused smile with an expectantly raised eyebrow. He noticed his attentive posture change at the mention of his forgotten treat so he instantly shifted back against the wall, acting as though his mouth didn’t twitch into a grin with fond memories.
“Uh… good for you…?” Izuku attempted with a nervous shrug.
“Right, you probably want some too, don’t ya’?” Hawk’s shoulders shook with a quiet laughter as Izuku shook his head as frantically as he could with the torturously slowing reside of the quirk.
“Uh, no! That’s o-ok. I’m good. B-besides- I left my wallet at home, so I’d have no way to pay for it, and also I have more to do, I was gonna grab something later and…” Izuku felt his voice die in his throat again, as Hawks continued to stare at him with a knowing eyebrow raised.
“C’mon. Let’s go.” The winged hero suddenly stood up, grabbing onto Izuku from under his arms and took off. He shoots off the ground, leaving the boy to yelp as he makes a poor attempt at gripping his arms.
“I NEVER AGREED TO THIS!” Izuku shouted over the wind as he took in the city lights.
“You didn’t have to. I know a guy in need of a bite when I see one. Besides, I don’t mind paying.” Hawks shrugged. It’s not like money mattered to the number three hero. He had more than enough support from the HPSC, his fans, and his own agency to get by. Though Izuku couldn’t help but feel guilty making other people pick up his slack for him. He didn’t want to be a dead weight for others to drag along. Hawks doing such a thing made Izuku feel like something worse; a leech.
“R-really I’m fine!”
“Nice try, but you’re not getting out of this. I still gotta patch you up properly or that underground hero you like to torment is gonna have my ballsack.”
“W-WHAT?” Izuku shouted, despite hearing the hero perfectly clear.
“I SAID HE WAS GONNA HAVE MY BALLSACK!” Hawks shouted, grinning down at the Vigilante, who felt the underside of his eyes twitch into a flabbergasted grin.
“Why does Eraser want your balls?” Izuku asked, genuinely curious as to why the underground hero would care about Hawks’ activities.
“Ah, he asked me to find you. Make sure you’re ok after that stunt you pulled last time.” He slowly lowered them to the roof of a building that the boy didn’t get the chance to look at the front of. Izuku felt his feet touch the ground but his legs were still unable to hold him up, so the hero slowly lowered him until he was sitting.
“Oh.”
“Cool. I’m gonna go grab grub. No running off this time.” The Vigilante rolled his eyes as Hawks talked, walking towards the roof, “What do you want?”
“I’m ok.”
“Yeah, not letting you off that easy. You’re getting this place’s specialty; Katsudon. Sound good? Good.” Hawks turned back towards Izuku, his heels teetering on the front of the building.
“And don’t move. Trust me, I’ll know this time.” Hawks hopped backwards off the roof with a cheerful salut and an elongated ‘bye’. He sat limply on top of the building, contemplating his life decisions. He wouldn’t be able to get that far, even if he had his knife. If what Hawks said was true, he wouldn’t be fast enough anyways. So Izuku awkwardly sat and waited as feeling slowly returned to his arms, and if he felt his legs allow motion too, no one had to know.
Hawks was back in less than fifteen minutes, flying up to the roof with a take out bag. His feet landed softly against the roof as he held up the food with a grin, as though it was the accomplishment of the century.
“I’ve got the food!” Hawks dragged out as though tempting a stray puppy who he’d expect to come prancing up to him any minute now.
“Nice. That was fast.”
“Yeah. That’s kinda my thing.” Hawks sat down beside Izuku, taking out both bowls and laying them out in the roof. The Vigilante looked surprised for a moment, as though expecting the hero to lie about the delivery of food before grabbing it and awkwardly setting it between his legs. Hawks pulled out his own container while pulling out two pairs of chopsticks. He crinkled up the plastic bag and put it off to the side. Izuku looked expectantly at Hawks before they put their hands together.
“Itadakimasu.” Izuku mumbled, and the hero practically shouted the exact same thing before Hawks practically tore off the cover of his container. He chose to get Chicken Katsu, to which Izuku had raised an eyebrow.
“Uh, isn’t that uh…”
“We eat, and we don’t judge.” Hawks had mimicked an older meme while pointing a finger, before shoving a few pieces of chicken in his mouth. Izuku’s nails scratched at the container.
What did I do to deserve this?
He felt the warmth of the meal between his palms, through the bowl. He knew what was inside of it, so why was he so hesitant to take off the cover? The Vigilante’s nail finally managed to catch the top of the container as he pulled off the top, the warmth rose to his face, the scent took only a moment to get through his mask. He hasn’t had this in ages. Izuku took a glance at the hero beside him. He was watching him with a slight smile, but his eyebrows were furrowed with an emotion that took the boy a moment to identify.
Concern?
The Vigilante didn’t know why that was, but he didn’t push, instead, grabbing a piece of pork from the top of the Katsudon with one hand and lifting up his mask at an awkward angle to shove it underneath. He let out a small hum, refusing to believe that his eyes watered a little at the taste.
“Pretty good, ain’t it? Found this place after coming home from Tokyo and didn’t feel like flying back home to eat. I didn’t know what you wanted, so I hope you don’t mind that I just got their specialty.”
“This is amazing, Hawks!” Izuku blurted, not realizing his mouth was still full of food, covering his mouth as though his mask wasn’t there to stop and impolite gestures, “Sorry! This is amazing! I used to have Katsudon all the time! It’s actually my favorite.” Izuku scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
“Well, I guess I just have a knack for those sorts of things, huh?” Hawks grinned before using his wing to pull Izuku over into an awkward side hug and ruffling his hair.
“That was NOT an invitation!” Izuku sputtered, struggling in Hawk’s weak chokehold, while attempting to not knock over their food. Eventually Hawks released the Vigilante who went back to shoveling food in his mouth from underneath his mask.
“Hey, kid, you done?” Hawks glanced over at Izuku, who was just finishing scraping the last few grains of rice from the bottom of his bowl.
“Oh- yeah.” Izuku said, putting the top back in the container and setting it aside.
“Good.” Izuku suddenly felt his arm getting grabbed again and held by the hero. The sleeve of his hoodie got rolled up.
“Hey- what-“ Izuku stuttered, attempting to pull his hand away though Hawks gave an Eraser-like glare, tugging his hand back.
“I’m fixing your hand before Eraserhead finds out about it.” Hawks searched around on the inside of his coat before pulling out a first aid kit.
“I can patch myself up when I get home- it’s fine!” Izuku stuttered out, waving his free hand for extra emphasis. The hero snorted and let Izuku’s hand go when he seemed to stop struggling. He opened the first aid kit and began cleaning off the smeared blood around the cut before going over it with bandages.
“I’d like to do stitches, but I don’t have the right equipment on me right now. It doesn’t look too deep, so it should be fine if you keep it wrapped tight. Oh! I might have butterfly bandaids.” Hawks lit up as he looked through the first aid kit as Izuku continued to sit silently.
“So. How’d you know where I was in the alley earlier?” The Vigilante blurted, rushing to explain himself, which quickly devolved into a mess of rambles, “uh, I noticed your feathers have a hearing range only slightly more advanced than that of an average human and from the sound of it, you were too far away to hear and I didn’t see any flying around and you were also walking rather loudly as though you weren’t trying to pick up any sound vibrations so… uh… yeah. Just curious, that’s all.” Izuku would love to have his notebook on him.
“Oh. Yeah. I almost forgot about that.” Hawks shrugged nonchalantly as he finished up wrapping Izuku’s arm and pulling his sleeve back down. The Vigilante raised a curious eyebrow until he suddenly felt something fly out of one of his cargo’s pockets. The red feather that was revealed replaced itself back onto one of Hawks’ wings as he glared in betrayal.
“You BUGGED me?!” Izuku exclaimed.
“Well, it’s not technically a bug but-“
“I trusted you.” The Vigilante exclaimed, yanking his arm away from the hero. Hawks faltered, his hand reaching out in an attempt to sooth the teenager.
“Look, kid I-“
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say there’s more feathers on me.” He exclaimed. He tasted the blood in his mouth as he thought about where else the feathers might be, his teeth biting his own cheek in ashamed anger. As if confirming his suspicions, Hawks didn’t reply. Rather, his gaze shifted downwards and he extended one hand of his wings so that Izuku could watch as the feathers flew back to him.
“god-fucking damnit. I knew it.” Izuku muttered out before hastily standing up, the world spinning a bit with the rest of the quirk wearing off from his body.
“Kid- maybe you should sit down a sec-“
“No. I fucking trusted you. I would’ve ran away earlier otherwise. Are you trying to bring me in?”
“Kid. Listen. It’s not my job. Thats Eraserhead’s. He told me about last time. I wanted to see if I could find yo-“
“I knew it. I fucking knew it. You’re working with him?!” Izuku blurted, backing closer to the edge of the building.
“No-nononono- kid, we talk sometimes but-“
“You are.” Izuku spat, continuing to back towards the edge.
“-I just wanted to make sure you were ok.”
“That’s not- that’s not true. You- you’re trying to get me to come in peacefully. I’m not done yet.”
“Kid. How long has it been since you last ate.” Hawks cut in, his light tone fading. Izuku stumbled over his words for a moment, his feet going stiff to the ground.
“…what?” He asked quietly, barely enough for his mask to pick up his voice.
“How long have you gone without a decent meal, dude.”
“I-… its not…” Izuku backed away a few steps again. His heels hitting the back of the cement, bordering the edge of the building. His eyes screwed the area scarcely, while he went through his memories from the last week… last time he ate something decent was at the neutral bar… and the last time he ate was… a few days ago maybe…?
He’s just trying to get inside your head Izuku. Pull it together. He’s trained for this.
“Stop pretending to care.” The Vigilante spat. Hawks steadily stood up, but made no moves to approach the Vigilante.
“I’m not trying to capture you. I’m trying to help you. Where are your parent. Who are they. Do they know about this?”
“Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP.” Izuku stepped onto the concrete that led to the edge of the building.
“Don’t you think I would’ve captured you by now?”
“I said SHUT UP.” Izuku looked down at his palm, smoke bombs lightly clinked together as he jumped off the roof.
“KID-“ Izuku scowled at the fake concern, grabbing onto the ladder below him and sliding down it. He threw up the smoke bombs and covered the alley in smoke, just in time for Hawks to run to the edge of the alley, his eyes searching for the Vigilante. He scoffed before searching the floors of the alley.
“Where is it… come on…” Izuku’s feet blindly stomped on the ground until the usual light scruffs of dirt were met with a clang.
“Here…” Izuku’s fingers caught the manhole cover, smoothly slipping into the underground tunnels just as Hawks landed in the alley.
The Vigilante’s feet landed on solid ground once more, his eyes squinting in the sudden change of lighting. Izuku stood quietly at the base of the ladder until he no longer heard the number three hero. Only then did Izuku finally breathe and begin making his way home through the tunnels.
He felt like he was forgetting something.
P. M.
Heya listener! It looks like you were pretty wrapped up in whatever was going on earlier, so I sent the information about the group party below. I never got your input and I really need this money (new speakers are gonna be so fire 🔥 maybe I can get some better equipment for my radio show! My first air is this Saturday!!!☝️☝️☝️) so maybe I’ll see you there! It’s supposed to be quick and easy so maybe it’s nothing to worry about, yeah? Anyway, maybe I’ll see you there!
Oh. Right.
Chapter 6: Presentation Micheal is Loud in Dome Theaters
Summary:
Aizawa still wants to quit his job. Presentation Micheal gives him more paperwork.
Notes:
IM SO HAPPY TO BE BACK. I really enjoyed writing this chapter! Thanks for sticking with me for the past month <3. I made sure to make this chapter extra long.
Chapter Text
Today Aizawa had to take his brats to training today. Unfortunately he’s managed to spot some glimmer of potential in some shape, way or form, leaving him unable to expel them all like in the previous year. It truly was a tragedy for the teacher, only expelling one student this year. So obviously he did the best next thing and created more opportunities to bully children.
He managed to set up a field trip with the rescue hero: Thirteen. He’s taking the kids to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint to work on their rescue portion of hero work. Annoyingly, the kids were buzzing with excitement, even with Iida’s constant scolding. Especially since this was supposed to be a treat for him. He wanted to see this high of energy shattered. Permanently. To make matters worse, he recently had to let the kids run an election per required by The Rat™️ for class officers. The fanfare was completely pointless in Aizawa’s opinion, most of his first years ending in a riot, leaving him to pick for them with a randomizing pin wheel on his phone (unbeknownst to them). Surprisingly, he didn’t have to do that this year. His students handled the election in a democratic manor, while most students voted for themselves, a few chose to vote for the two students that proposed the democratic election. Yaoyorozu Momo and Tenya Iida ended up tying for the class rep vote so Aizawa allowed them to both Co-Rep, surprisingly per Kirishima’s suggestion. The raven-haired man couldn’t help but be reminded of how utterly ridiculous some of his classmates had their hair at this age by the red-headed boy.
Aizawa checked the students' names on his clipboard as they filtered into the bus. Today, he especially wanted to focus on Shinsou’s abilities. Due to his late enrollment, he’s been taking lessons after school with him to get him caught up with the other students. (He only missed a week, why is he still letting him stay after?) He can’t say that he wasn’t flattered when his student was rather insistent on learning how to use his capture scarf from him. Shouta was proud of how quickly the boy advanced over the past week. He was learning with pure determination, and now he might have even surpassed some of his peers. Shinsou was a machine. He definitely still had work to do, but Shouta was at least confident he could hold his own with the capture scarf rather than relying completely on his quirk- something Shouta noticed early on in his training. His quirk was powerful and rather interesting. It was clear that he had a lot to explore with its full capabilities. Part of Aizawa wanted to bring his Vigilante into the mix. Though the wiser and much more intelligent side told him that The Vigilante mingling with his class would leave a bad influence on either side. He’s honestly scared for if that day comes. No. When.
He wanted to help him.
The kid was a genius. And Shinsou had an over-powered quirk that had so many questions to it with so little testing, he was sure The Vigilante would be buzzing if he ever met him. Aizawa favored the purple-haired teen and he couldn’t care less that everyone noticed.
Maybe he could take him as intern as an excuse to meet up with The Vigilante to talk about his quirk.
…
Scratch that. The duo is terrifying to think about.
The teacher walked into the bus, sitting down in the front as the children conversed in the back. He didn’t bother listening in to their conversation, finding it meaningless when he could take a snooze. He leaned back against his chair, letting himself sink into the bus’s shitty cushions only implemented for the sake of aesthetics (Aizawa hates aesthetic. It’s hard to spell, hard to do, and too much work for something dumb). The chatter from his students was ever faithfully drowned out by the start of sleep. Drown out as he dozed off to sleep.
The bus began to make a series of jerking motions before Aizawa awoke. He stayed in his seat as he watched his brats get off, doing another mental attendance to make sure no one ran off before they got on or jumped out halfway there. (He honestly wouldn’t put it past them with this group). He followed the group off, walking behind them up the steps to the USJ. He creeped ahead and slid out his hero license, scanning it on the side of the door. The large metal doors opened, revealing Thirteen in front of the training facility. The facility consisted of multiple different zones, all of them giving accurate examples of what a rescue would look like in that type of environment.
The students filed in, marveling at the technology, speaking amongst themselves (still with too much excitement) about the visible environments, and which ones they were most excited to use their quirk in. Thirteen stood inside of the door with their back to the facility. The teacher watched in silence as Uraraka in particular lit up at the sight of the hero.
“Good morning class 1-A! I’m the rescue hero, Thirteen and-“
“We need to leave.” Aizawa’s shoulders unhunched at the voice, leaving him with a more attentive stance towards Hitoshi, his in no way favored student, holding his phone and glancing at his teacher with fearful eyes. Shouta sighed, careful to not misunderstand the situation, though he knew that he’d have to be scolded for interrupting later.
“Why.” Aizawa asked, the class parting as he walked towards the purple-haired student. Hitoshi was frantically texting again before looking back up at Aizawa.
“What did I say about bringing your phone to class exercises?” Shouta questioned tiredly. The teacher observed his student as his eyebrows furrowed when he read over his next text.
“Look. I’ve only known him for a bit, but I promise he’s never been wrong about this. Mr. Aizawa, we need to go. I don’t know what’s up with him, but we need to go.”
“Who’s ’he’?” Shouta cut in suspiciously. He held out his hand to motion for Shinsou to give him his phone. The motion was started, but never finished as one more message was sent by the other end.
“He said something about ‘Problem Child’?” Shinsou used Aizawa’s brief moment of distraction to text back his friend. His phone buzzed one last time with a notification. Shouta had gotten sick of wait at this point, using his scarf to snatch Shinsou’s phone, and using his thumb to scroll through it. The boy didn’t look all that worried though. Most of all, he looked relieved.
Quirky Cryptid:
SHINSOU. ShinsouuuuuuSHINSOUUUUUUU I NEED YOU.
Braintroll:
What. I’m in class.
Quirky Cryptid:
You need to get everyone out of there. Now.
Braintroll:
Ur scary when you use perfect punctuation.
Quirky Cryptid:
Shinsou. I’m serious. Get out. Now. Villains.
Braintroll:
why the fuck are you hanging out with villains????
Quirky Cryptid:
THEY ARE GOING TO ATTACK OU YOUR CLASS. You need to leave. Shinsou please.
Braintroll:
I just told my teacher.
Quirky Cryptid:
Fuck. Dude. I’m gonna be multitasking. Texts might get wobbly buthe won’t do anything. Hrs an amazing teacher, but you don’t h🤪 have proof. Make up some dumbahit idk. Go. Leave they’re coming.
Braintroll:
Well unlike you I’m not a pathological liar
Quirky Cryptid:
Tell him hm problem child
Braintroll:
He’s taking my phone. Hope your doing ok.
Oh wait nvm that worked???
Message unable to send.
Izuku was tense as he found himself among the crowd in the location Mic had given him. He saw the man give a friendly wave that Izuku ignored. He seemingly slumped down in slight annoyance before going back to observing the other villains. Izuku let out a small sigh in relief as Mic didn’t continue to pester him. Despite the subtle- not so subtle since its Mic -glances, Izuku trusted they wouldn’t trace the leak of information back to him. Based on Mic’s position in the raid, it looks like they don’t plan on discarding him. These factors soon came to be the least of his concerns as before the crowd and himself stood an eight foot tall amalgamation of a person. If it was a person at all. Its eyes bulged out of his head in a similar fashion to its brain which he could see through his skull. Izuku shivered. The creature was clearly built for a purpose. Izuku instantly recognized what it was a product from: Quirk Experiments. The bird-like beak combined with the over exaggerated muscles gave it away. The intentions were fastened into every fiber of the being before him. Izuku knew that this machine was made to kill.
Made to kill the best.
The hall echoed with chatter as though the bone-shattering creature couldn’t break everyone here in seconds. Some voices were curious about the creature, but the whispers were nothing less of excitement as he stood amongst the villains (and Mic). The creature stood atop an elevated surface, Izuku could only assume it was stairs as he could barely see over the crowd’s head as it was. There must have been hundreds of people packed into this warehouse. As much as Izuku wished to get closer, he knew it’d make him stick out more than he’d like. Izuku had pulled out a notebook from one of his belts, which he’s decided to place over his hips today. He began jotting down the experiment’s features and possible quirks until he could get more information.
Luckily, a man with chin length hair soon emerged beside the creature. Izuku instantly noted his facial features and how dry they all were. If this was a client, the boy had half a mind to recommend at least twelve different moisturizers, and not as options, but to recommend applying all of them at once. Izuku could only assume the dryness was a side effect of his quirk. Decay made things dust themselves, so it made somewhat sense that the side effect was such. The thing that irked Izuku, was that the quirk was affecting the body as a whole- even when not in use. Typically a quirk's side effects are directly tied with a quirk. If the quirk required- let’s say calories like Fat Gum’s, they would be depleted as he went. Even when it affects the body, the quirk is usually partially a mutant quirk- like Midnight’s. It’s listed as an emitter quirk, but Izuku suspects her to have some sort of ancestor with a mutant quirk that gave off high amounts of pheromones by using lipids. This tipped Izuku off, the quirk was such a pure emitter as well. There are no mutant pieces to it. Almost like… his body wasn’t used to it.
Izuku let out a strangled noise and his hand clamped over his mask as though covering his mouth. He felt the sudden urge to vomit as memories of old articles reemerged.
Izuku had spent years picking through the worst with a hope that it would help him deal with the lesser evils to come.
So why wasn’t ‘the worst’ dead by now? Izuku immediately knew Shigaraki wasn’t the true problem here. Everyone in this room was being manipulated.
He wonders if he was among those.
He was among those in this room afterall.
“I’d like to start off by skipping the formalities. Most of you already know me, but I’m Shigaraki Tomura. And today is the day we take down the Symbol of Peace!” A rumble of cheers were heard before they quieted down into excited questioning, many of the villains’ eyes automatically darted to the horrific creature standing beside the young adult.
“Now now, I’m sure many of you are wondering as to how one could kill All Might… I’m also quite positive you’ve noticed the Nomu.” Murmurs of agreement replied.
“Nomu is one of a kind! He is genetically engineered- so he has quite a few upgrades. Starting off with multiple quirks! He has the strength of All Might with regeneration- something not even he has, with a touch of shock absorption." Many of the villains looked skeptical, but others looked excited. A select few of the “villains” looked nervous- Izuku didn’t doubt that they were probably young kids dragged into this mess. (Except Present Mic, though he wasn’t exactly looking at the Nomu, but rather sending concerned glances towards Izuku. He didn’t understand it either).
“Well, well. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s introduce our special edition player; Present Mic.” Said man pried his eyes away from the Vigilante to stand beside the misting man. He noticed beads of sweat dripping down the side of Mic’s face as he clearly was attempting not to glance at the Vigilante. Izuku would have raised an eyebrow at the not-so-subtle glances if Shigaraki didn’t immediately continue speaking.
“Next, we have a mystery player, courtesy of the same update that brought in Present Mic; The Vigilante!” Present Mic visibly winced as the crowd parted from where Izuku was standing, Izuku attempted to follow the rest, but it looks like he was already spotted. His shoulders tensed as he waved awkwardly. He felt his heart beat out of his chest as he felt the individual pumps of blood flow through his veins and into his ears, replacing any other sounds he would have heard.
This is why he didn’t trust people. The Villains surrounding him, many of whom he had captured in the past grinned evilly, some making crude or threatening gestures, others backed away fearfully, and a select few eyed him curiously. From where he stood, he could see Present Mic’s eyebrows scrunch as though stressed, as he observed the scene. Izuku’s brain gathered information rapidly- a defensive mechanism he had developed for its usefulness. His eyes darted frantically, looking for anything he could find.
“Well Player Two? Any other information for the fans? Alrighty then. Boss wants to have a word with you when this is all over, kapeesh?” Izuku barely registered the words as he found the creature beside Shigaraki, who was originally staring blankly frontwards slowly turned its head towards Izuku, leaving the shaggy-haired man’s words to drown within the circulation of his ears. Hands clammy, Izuku found himself nodding silently, urging the shaking in his hands to stop in order to yank his soul back into his body. There was still work to do after all. The Vigilante, the Nomu, and Shigaraki found themselves within a stare down.
“It’d be a shame to disappoint the boss afterall, wouldn’t it?” The dry-skinned man commented lowly. Mic, sensing the tension in the now silent room, did what he did best.
“What are we waiting for?! Let’s get this party started!” Present Mic pumped his fist into the air, only needing to use a touch of his quirk to allow his voice to reverb off of the suffocating silence that the building once held.
Izuku didn’t understand how he could breath in such an environment- none the less speak with such power. Izuku used the sudden distraction to meld himself back into the crowd, getting squished between people as something caught his attention. He replayed the encounter in his brain, not having the proper mentality to process it previously.
They weren’t stupid. Even this amount of villains wouldn’t be able to storm the entire building of UA, especially with the clear low status of the majority of them, they wouldn’t be able to take on the whole school, but maybe a class… along with a few teachers.
Like the field trip Shinsou was on.
That included All Might.
Izuku attempted to frantically text his friend as he found himself getting dragged along with the crowd into a black misty portal, more than likely created by the misty man that followed Shigaraki around like a well-trained dog. He only managed to get back a few paces before being brushed along again. His breathing was getting heavy as his texts refused to go through. He only allowed himself a small breath when about one fourth of the villains made it through. He assumed they’d have some sort of communication-blocking quirk, because his messages were suddenly sent after an individual went through the swirling quirk. He knew he’d only have a few minutes to text Shinsou. He’d face the consequences later. Izuku would save his friends. Izuku would save those kids.
In his sporadic frenzy of texts to a much-too-lax Shinsou, Izuku failed to notice the older figure creeping up behind him. The boy would have smirked a bit at the fact that he could practically hear Shinsou’s voice through the phone, if not for the fact that the situation the kids were about to be put in was deadly. They were barely trained.
Izuku yelped, almost flipping the taller man over as he found an arm around his shoulders. He tensed at Mic’s gesture, glaring coldly at the man.
“You double crossed me.” Izuku snarled as Mic was looking around, ensuring no one was eavesdropping as he spoke lowly.
“Look. Kid- I- what are you doing here? You’re a kid!” Mic exclaimed. So that explains the odd states he received since he arrived.
“I’m not a kid.”
“And I’m not the best radio host in the world-“ Izuku scoffed, shrugging Present Mic’s arm away from himself roughly. This is why he can’t trust people. The man instantly rushed back to his side again.
“Look, my point is, is that you shouldn’t be getting into this kind of shenanigans. I don’t know if ya’ noticed, but a lot of the people here are not-so-great people. I didn’t know they’d be trying to lure you here. I saw your broker business and heard you were pretty damn good. But god, you’re just a kid. I’ll cover for ya. Just get outta here. I didn’t know-“ the man paused to run a hand over his face “-That you’d be this young… How old are you? You shouldn’t be messin’ around in places like this.” Mic said sternly, grabbing his shoulder before he fully walked into the portal. Izuku snarled and rolled his shoulder to get Mic away again.
“You betrayed me. Why would I ever listen to you?” The boy scoffed.
“Did you even see that thing!? He’s already noticed you. You’re just a kid. You don’t even have any proper hero training!” Mic exclaimed. A few villains batted eyes but continued their way into the portal until Izuku and Mic were the only ones left.
“And you do?” Izuku snarled. Mic sighed but didn’t answer.
“That’s… not the point.”
“You don’t have training either. Why should I listen to you?”
“I do- it’s just… none of you business.”
“Wait- you have hero training?!” Izuku asked almost exasperated.
“Yes? No? Kind of? It’s not on paper. Now, what I wanna know is how a kid as young as you managed to get so knee deep into enough trouble to get noticed by the league.” Present Mic held Izuku’s shoulder who shrugged it off.
“I’m not a kid. Besides, how would you know? No one else has notic- thought that.” The Vigilante crossed his arms defiantly, omitting the fact that Eraserhead had also somehow noticed that legally- he was a child.
Izuku Midoriya was not a child.
“Nice try Listener. And stay out of this. I have some business to take care of. They said this was just to kill All Might. We might give whoever their teacher is a scare, at most.” Mic spoke the last bit in a nonchalant tone before letting go and racing into the portal. Izuku rolled his eyes before slowly sauntering in despite his warning. He walked out of the portal slowly with a glance of calculation. He found himself teleported among one of the front groups of villains, unlike Mic who was standing in the same line as Shigaraki. The only reason why he was able to see that was because he was standing behind Shigaraki’s placement. Mic happened to stand behind the Smokey man- who Shigaraki had addressed as Kurogiri in the short time that Izuku had seen him- where he was out of the field of view from anyone facing frontwards.
The Vigilante was border-line hyperventilating. He was stuck in the midst of over a hundred villains and a science experiment made to take out All Might. The only thing that prevented his breakdown was Mic’s words. How dare he. He wasn’t just a kid. He could handle this. He would not let a Villain prove him wrong.
Izuku took note of the students and Aizawa at the front doors of the USJ. It looks like Shinsou couldn’t convince Aizawa that the class was in danger in time. The Vigilante knew that this would be a problem… though not unanticipated. Aizawa seemed to be barking at his recently acquired purple friend who was frantically attempting to show him his phone. The teacher looked angry, making a stipulating motion for the boy's phone. Eraserhead was shortly cut off by Shigaraki’s monologue. He began going off about the flaws in hero society as the rest of the villains stood intimidatingly in the background. As much as Izuku still wanted to curl up in a hole and die, especially with the mortifying beast he had in front of him, he knew he had to stay. The monologue gave him time to think. Izuku began creeping his way to the edges of the large dirt field that he was teleported to. He knew he’d have to move incredibly slowly or else Shigaraki would notice him during his monologue. Izuku did not want to know what happened after that.
He first allowed himself to fade into the crowd before circling back around into the Ruins zone. It was a bit of a pain in the ass, but Izuku knows that if he attempted to pass by through the bushes then he would have been beaten to a pulp right now. Izuku’s one job was to keep everyone safe. He carefully maneuvered to the large area of shrubbery by the stairs before using a grappling hook to quickly haul himself up towards the back without being noticed. Well, noticed by the villains at least. Thirteen was the first to notice him before attempting to shuffle between the kids and The Vigilante.
“It’s another villain! Stand behind me!” Her call drew the attention of the rest of the students, while Aizawa stayed planted on the edge, only taking a moment to glance back at The Vigilante, before rolling his eyes as though not surprised.
“Cool it tough shit! I know this guy. He’s… annoying, but he isn’t with them.” Katsuki stepped past Thirteen, who made a weak attempt to stop him after seeing him very promptly punch The Vigilante with a fish hook.
“I thought you were supposed to be ‘The Best in the Buis’. Where the fuck is he?!” Izuku once again felt the straps of his belts getting grabbed and yanked upward by the loud blond. The recognition in Bakugou’s voice must have also been what caused the lacking in popping from his palms as Aizawa had returned a glare from over his shoulder.
“Bakugou. We’re talking about this later. You too, Shinsou. I will not have my students affiliating with a Vigilante.” And unheard by anyone else’s ears meant for only himself, the hero muttered, “not until he’s in my class anyway.” Izuku found himself chuckling nervously at the off-handed comment, somewhat knowingly. He won’t be thinking the same after he finds out about his quirk situation.
“Uh… Sensei? For the record, I don’t actually know who this guy is…?” Shinsou replied awkwardly.
“And you knew about the attack how?”
“A friend texted me about it?” Shinsou raised an eyebrow, hands in his pockets. Before their teacher could divulge further into the possible identity of his Vigilante self, he cut in.
“Uhhh yeah! He knows… uh someone.” Izuku did not need a name drop with Bakugou here. Sure he was legally dead, but his former friend knew more about him than he did the fact the sky is blue, “I just had to take my account in connections to hopefully warm you guys. It didn’t work very well, did it?”
Shigaraki continued to drone on in his speech. Izuku was finding it annoying, but it was for the best, giving him more time to think.
“Wait a minute, aren’t you that Villain Endeavor hates so much?” Izuku’s head turned towards the voice. The boy had a hair line split down the middle, half was white and the other half was red. It was about time he met Endeavor’s third son. He’d just have to meet Natsou and he’d have the complete set.
The class observed in utter shock as the boy held out a hand. For Izuku to shake.
“Uh, Sensei…?” The frog-quirked girl cut in, “the villains.” Everyone’s head darted towards the mob, which was now advancing towards the group
“I agree with Tsu!” Iida Tensei’s brother exclaimed with exaggerated arm movements. Shigaraki, Kurogiri… and the creature seemed to be staying back behind the villains, Aizawa instantly jumped into action.
“Thirteen, keep the kids safe.” Aizawa nodded towards the Pro Hero. Izuku looked flabbergasted at the hero’s nonchalance towards his presence.
“Eraserhead-! Wait!” Izuku gasped out, moving away from the other kids, “Your fighting style- it’s not fit for this many opponents-“
“Kid. Stay with Thirteen.” Aizawa glared at The Vigilante with his quirk one last time before vaulting off of the platform. Izuku found himself sputtering after Eraserhead. Thirteen caught his arm.
“Stand back, kid. Let the adults handle this.”
Izuku felt his eye twitch. He was pushed back away from the villains.
“Everyone exit the building!” Thirteen called. The students began running towards the exit, but then in a puff of smoke, a large cloud of dark mist appeared. And guess what?
Another monologue. The Vigilante could see Bakugou’s hands popping from the corner of his eye. He instantly gripped his shoulder with a small shake of his head. Kacchan whipped his head around to glare at Vigilante and shrugged his hand off- to which Izuku was quick to oblige.
“You know if someone found the damn nerd by now we’d already be out of this shit.” Katsuki growled quietly.
“Wait… what…?” Izuku found his head darting towards the blond.
“Look. I made the same mistake… I know he’s quirkless or whatever bullshit… but I’ve seen some of his creepy notebooks… I’ve brung them to actual quirk analysts and they asked how much I paid for that shit. He would’ve thought of something by now. Instead I have to put up with your bullshit. Some of the students spoke challengingly towards Kurogiri… The Vigilante would have to tell Eraserhead to work on that. Provocation of Villains is something a hero should avoid. (Keyword: Hero. Not Vigilante.)
At the mere thought of the hero, Izuku’s eyes darted towards the battlefield seeing Eraserhead take on the horde of Villains by himself. And was doing well, which was expected. Something still irked Izuku at the back of his mind. He could’ve sworn he’d seen more Villains. They must be spread out to other parts of the USJ… they were planning to split them up.
He immediately scurried through the crowd of students towards the pink girl with the floating quirk. He believed her name was Uraraka.
“Excuse me?” He asked quietly. She turned around, with a jump.
“Didn’t Aizawa Sensei tell us not to talk to you?”
“Can you float everyone here?” Izuku asked firmly, hoping Kurogiri hasn’t noticed his presence, too distracted by the quiet contemplation of Thirteen herself.
“Uh… maybe? I get a little sick when I overuse my quirk so I-“
“Good. Here:” Izuku opened the side pocket of one of his belts, handing her a box of tablets, “It’s unopened. I got it from the corner store down the street. They’re nausea tablets made mostly of salt. They’ll help.”
“How do I stop everyone from floating too far?” Uraraka asked.
“How long can you wait after touching someone for them to float?” The girl took the tablets, opening them, but not yet popping them into her mouth.
Smart. Izuku noted.
“What…?” Uraraka looked at him as though he had asked her to swallow a bottle of chlorine.
“After you touch something. There’s always leeway in the amount of time between when you touch them and when they start floating. How long can you hold that limbo?” Uraraka blinked in surprise and sudden understanding.
“I don’t think I’ve ever tried that before.”
“Guess there’s no better time.” Izuku nodded encouragingly towards his arm to which he held out. Uraraka pressed all five fingers to his arm and he found himself not floating. He had a surprised look before he broke into a grin, not that the girl could see his reaction from under his goggles and mask.
“How does it feel?”
“Not as nauseating as I thought it would… especially for the first time…” Uraraka looks at the directions on the back of the salt tablets, popping two into her mouth.
“Can you lift the whole class?” Izuku asked.
“Probably not for long… but yeah. Why do you ask?”
“He has a portal quirk… he’s gonna try and teleport us. If you can alert your quirk at the right time I might be able to stop him. Get everyone in our class. Thirteen should be fine.” Uraraka gave him a determined nod, before Izuku rushed off towards Shinsou. He was once again stopped by the Todoroki child. He didn’t have time for this.
“Touya says he’s proud of you.”
That was gonna bite him in the butt later. He didn’t take the time to turn back to see his reaction, though he hoped he could have at least broken down that stoic wall, just a little. Finally, he reached Shinsou at the edge of the group, tugging him down so that he wasn’t seen while also being able to have a quiet conversation with Shinsou and have his voice modulator active.
“Can you get him to talk?”
“Pff… can I get him to talk?” Shinsou scoffed cockily, before pausing, “Wait. How did you know that?”
“You’ll know when you need to start. There’ll be a signal.”
“…And so you see, the League of Villains has come to destroy the symbol of peace!” The portal quirked man exclaimed. Izuku was usually annoyed by his short height, but being able to be unseen by the villain before him made him forever grateful.
“Stand back children!” Thirteen called as she stood in front of the group, sensing that the villain was about to make a move.
“URARAKA! NOW!” A black mist got spread out up to their ankles, moments after he felt the ground disappear from below him, he felt weightless as he floated into the air away from the black mist below. Izuku used his grappling hook once more to throw himself towards the dome on his left, using it as cover as the smokey man looked around confused. The entire class, with the exception of Thirteen, who thankfully wasn’t teleported away, was floating above the ground, most of which looked surprised, some just went with it, while Uraraka and Shinsou seemed to understand the plan. The pink girl had a hand to her mouth as though about to throw up, but she quickly took more of the salt tablets with her eyes squeezed shut from nausea. Izuku made a brief fist bump as he latched himself to his hiding spot.
“Is that really all you villains got? Honestly, we’re kids in training, and we managed to outsmart your ass already! The ‘League of Villains’? Seriously? What? Did a seven year old come up with that?” The misty-man’s eyes darted to the snide teen who had his hand behind his head and one leg crossed over the other. His other hand was out as though checking his nails. Izuku, who watched the scene from his hiding spot behind the large dome, between that and the wall, had to cover his mouth to hide his snort of amusement.
“How dare you mock Shigaraki Tomura’s perception-“
“I’m gonna have to stop you right there buddy-“ Shinsou suddenly winced as though fighting a whole new battle. Kurogiri’s smoke went stiff, as his yellow glowing eyes widened. Izuku knew that Shinsou was using his quirk on the man, but something was off…
“What the fuck?!” He yelped again, seemingly still having Kurogiri under control.
“Let us leave the USJ!” Shinsou shouted, his face showing clear signs of strain. Uraraka, seeing that they didn’t have much more time pressed her padded fingers together (would Izuku be able to ask her for finger prints later?) and called a sickened, “Release!” before herself and her classmates fell to the ground. They instantly began rushing towards the exit. Shinsou held his head in his hands, catching Izuku’s eye long enough for The Vigilante to give him an encouraging thumbs up. The wall of black mist looked like it shook its head before looking around confused, spazzing out at random incriminates of time.
“It’s- ITS NOT WORKING!” Shinsou cried, still attempting to keep his control on the villain. Shinsou gasped, clearly no longer in pain, but that didn’t stop the terror from reemerging on his face.
“Did you children really think that you could take on the The League Of Villains?” Kurogiri laughed before spazzing out again.
“Everyone! Look out!” Thirteen called as the floor once again opened up. Izuku watched helplessly as the students disappeared one by one in a puff of black smoke.
He grit his teeth. He was supposed to save them.
He was supposed to protect them.
He refuses to let anyone get hurt again.
Aizawa Shouta hated this fucking job. All he wanted was to have a nice calming day of hero training with his ki- class. With his class. He even thought for a moment that he lucked out when the large and loud blond omitted to mention that he wouldn’t be showing up. He almost felt as though the universe decided to smile on him. Of course this kind of smile happened to be the sinister kind that would come before one would rip a rug out of another’s feet and throw an entire horde of villains at them, organized villain group included. So now Eraserhead was surrounded by Villains, not to mention that there was a whole ass creature not even two hundred feet away that could easily puncture his bones in such a way that he’d end up inside out.
The hero would only find a faint sense of relief inside of himself when the majority of the villains were taken out. He’d still have to deal with the leader, and the giant of a being that stood beside him. Aizawa was just finishing off the last of the villains. He shot his scarf behind him to hopefully mangle someone as he threw punches to his front. His scarf caught something, yes, but it wasn’t moving. The hero took a moment to turn around and take a glance at what had caught his scarf.
“Sho’! My old friend! Long time no see!” Aizawa barely had time to lock eyes with the other’s piercing green ones before he was yanked forward by his own scarf.
“What…” he barely mumbled after barreling into the other’s chest, “you… ‘Zashi…?” Alarm bell began going off through Aizawa’s head at the voice. It was his quirk after all. Why was he here…? Where has he been? Why was he helping these villains attack his students? Millions of questions flew through Shouta’s head, though most moving so fast he could never get a clear gaze out of them. Most could be dumbed down to a simple and broad one.
“What the hell is happening?” Shouta abruptly pushed Hizashi away, who still had a grasp on the end of his scarf. The man fidgeted with the fabric as he glanced back up towards Aizawa with a mocking pout on his face.
“Aww… but Sho, I thought that you’d be happy to see me!” Hizashi said, instantly pulling the hero into one of the awkwardest side hugs ever, though maybe that’s because he’s known Midnight, who wasn’t stingy on affection.
Shouta retreated again, running a hand over his face. He breathed heavily, suddenly loosening his scarf just enough so that he could pull the end back to himself without Hizashi attached to it. He threw a punch at the man who dodged. Aizawa then attempted to swing a kick under his legs to which he jumped. The dance was smooth, almost completely natural before the villain spoke up.
“So… why are you here Sho? How’d you even find out about this? And betraying the group? Really? I knew you were an underground hero, but infiltrating a group this big isn’t your style…” Hizashi commented thoughtfully, making slow steps towards Aizawa. The hero scoffed, taking a few steps back. He held his scarf in his hand preparing for another attack at Hizashi. He looked so different now. He had a small mustache on his upper lip and the hair on his head was heavily grown out. It was clear that he spiked it before he came here, just enough so that his hair would make an over head swoop to one side. He wore headphones over his ears and the rest of his get up looked painfully similar to its original design. He was covered head-to-toe in leather. Some differences included the red accents on the sleeves and the boots with spikes on the backs of them.
Aizawa opened his mouth to respond but the villain observing beat him to it.
“Wow Eraserhead…” The pair’s offhanded reunion was interrupted by a series of slow claps from the leader who was observing their interaction, “I didn’t even know you were here.” His voice dripped with sarcasm as his lips cracked to allow himself to smile. Though Eraserhead could only see it from underneath the rotting hand over his face. The hero allowed himself to breathe in order to correct Hizashi.
“I’m a teacher. At U.A.” Shouta straightened his back, looking into Hizashi’s eyes, “Zashi. What happened to you…?” Hizashi’s mouth twitched as though thinking he was joking. His eyes were crinkled as they darted up to meet Shouta’s once more, but the raven-haired man’s eyes didn’t reciprocate his playful glance. Shouta watched as Hizashi’s smile dropped and his eyes widened.
“You- you’re really serious, aren’t you Sho…?” Aizawa could see the thoughts behind Hizashi’s sunglasses and his eyes, and yet he couldn’t read them.
Part of him was frustrated that they have grown so distant.
Or maybe he was in denial about the longing he saw from within that split second.
“Oh I love completing side quests. Now how’s the situation, Kurogiri?” The wall of smoke that Aizawa had seen earlier paused. He must have reappeared at some point.
“The mission has so far been successful. The st-“ The portal-quirked man paused, his body spazzing out for a moment. Aizawa found his eyes once again locking onto Hizashi's furrowed eyebrows, “students have been scattered.”
Aizawa sucked in a breath.
“Good. Ha! Those brats were really no match. I wonder if any of them have been K.O.’d by now… hehe. And we didn’t even manage to get to the final boss… I was too focused on the Easter egg… maybe we can give the kids a little taste before All Might shows up…”
Suddenly Hizashi practically jumps, “wait, I thought you said none of the kids would be hurt! We were just… gonna give ‘em a scare so All Might… would…” Aizawa watched as Yamada’s words died in his throat, realizing how stupid he sounded. Shigaraki only looked at him with a manic grin.
“Hizashi. What the fuck?” If Aizawa’s voice cracked, no one would have said anything in this situation.
“Well, I suppose I might as well have some fun before the heroes arrive.”
“B-but- shI- ShI-Shigaraki To-Tomura-“ The black-misted man began glitching once again, to which the boy rolled his eyes in annoyance.
“Oh calm down. I’ll get Sensei to fix you later.” He paused as his lips cracked due to the manic smile stretching across his face, his head turning towards Aizawa. “Well? Present Mic? Are you gonna do your job? Or am I gonna have to do it for you?” Hizashi glanced between Aizawa and Shigaraki with a helpless look on his face, frozen in place. Most people would expect there to be a type of dramatic pause between the time Shigaraki asked Hizashi. But the loud blond didn’t have time to think before Shigaraki opened his mouth again.
“Nomu. Take care of the hero.”
“Wait- No SHO!”
Izuku managed to scramble off the top of the dome. He nearly had a heart attack out of relief when he caught sight of the boy with the bird, of course, the relief immediately dissipated after seeing the two boys fight off a horde of villains. He had an overhead view of the stormy weather. The kid with the shadow controlling quirk and the animal quirk were cornered against the edge of the dome which was filled with jagged rocks. Someone of Izuku’s skill level could more than likely scale them easily, but the kids in the small dome were barely trained. The area was a downpour rescue, meaning that there weren’t many ways for the quiet boy to use his quirk. The lack of animals in that area and in the USJ in general made the boy nearly useless, unless he had some hidden talent of fighting that he omitted to show during the entrance exams. He knew the boy was more than dead weight. While the building lacked large animals, maybe the boy could use something more versatile…
Izuku looked up towards the top of the USJ. Darts of black fluttered around, oblivious to heartache occurring below. Their wings fluttered around, their chirps echoed in the dome structure. They clashed together in a loving dance, happily floating above bloodied waters.
Izuku longed for the kinds of smiles that type of ignorance could bring.
He knew what he had to do. He would do what he did best and ruin an already perfect thing. He was quirkless. A leech on society.
Perfect society.
And a parasite on anything that resided within it.
Izuku tapped on the glass.
The Vigilante had made a few attempts before one of the boys looked up towards him. The one with the crow head was busy fighting the other villains off with ‘Dark Shadow’. Izuku made a friendly wave before signing as discreetly as he could.
‘Call your birds.’
The boy looked confused for a moment before Izuku felt around on the dome searching for a way in. He managed to snag a latch on the window and unlock it. Surprisingly, the large pane of glass was quite heavy, leaving Izuku to result in using his unsheathed bō staff to prop it open. As soon as the window opened, a sharp whistle was heard from inside the dome. The birds that flew overhead skirted to a stop, their once troubleless lives left behind. Izuku yelped and ducked out of the way as the flock of birds squeezed through the crack that he created in the window. The boy couldn’t help but grin as he watched the battle. Koda’s quirk was intriguing. He definitely had some mutant traits. At first glance it does look like Koda’s quirk is a mutant, but after closer inspection, Izuku has come to realize that it’s more closely related to an emitter quirk. Not only could the boy talk to animals, but the animals abided by him. There has never once not been a time where the animals have refused to do what he asked. He has a feeling that his ancestors might have had a quirk similar to Shinsou’s.
Is Koda related to Shinsou?
Izuku realized he had to pause his muttering as he looked down at the fight below. Izuku has probably fought all of these low life villains at least once and won in the past… but could he fight them at once? The Vigilante wasn’t sure, but he did know that he was about to find out.
The masked Vigilante shimmied his way through the crack of the window, grabbing his staff on the way down. The window slammed shut as he fell through the ceiling. If he were to land on the ground he’d more than likely sprain an ankle on contact. Izuku was small, but a drop from such a height would give him unwanted injuries for the upcoming battle. So obviously he used the nearest villain to cushion his landing. His feet met the man’s shoulders with yelp that didn’t come through his mask. The villain instantly crumpled to the ground, landing on his back. Izuku hopped off just in time and tucked and rolled. He sprung back on his feet right in front of the two students, popping his staff to full length. The villains looked surprised for a moment, stopping their slow descent in favor of not getting hit by the elaborate dance of The Vigilante’s bō staff as he tossed and span it between his hands.
“Glad to see you show up! Dark Shadow thought there was someone up there waiting to attack. We didn’t think that it’d be you.” The boy with the crow head called with an approving nod. Izuku nodded back towards him, cutting through the air with his staff. He managed to smack the back of a criminal’s knees. Izuku had one advantage against every single villain here. He’s fought all of them and their quirks before. While the same could be said for them, it’s not like they would actually use said knowledge.
Tokoyami was amazing. His quirk was extremely trainable and powerful. Even with such little hero training, the boy could pellet himself around villains. While most of what he did involved his quirk, it still was a spectacle for Izuku to watch. It really was no wonder how these students made it into U. A. The entrance exams relied on pure power, and that’s what a lot of these kids had. Like Kacchan. Koda was being extremely tactful with his battle as well. He knew that he didn’t have a lot to work with, and yet he was still an incredible help. He’d send his birds after the criminals with lethal quirks, temporarily blinding them, making it easy for Izuku or Tokayami to knock them down. Of course, the amount of villains they were facing was way too many.
They all knew that they’d be overwhelmed eventually. It was an underlying fear that peaked beneath the surface of already murky waters. All they knew now was that they had to keep fighting. The only one of them that practically had infinite stamina was Dark Shadow, considering the mock-dark skies they were set in, but that wasn’t even considered Tokoyami himself. If Eraserhead’s fighting style was bad in his situation, they were even worse off; two of them didn’t even have one. Izuku knew that they needed a plan.
One of Koda’s birds was highly entertaining. It flew around the villains heads in circles before speaking with one of his comrade’s voice. As soon as the scrawny man would turn around, he’d find himself getting pecked in the eyeball. Izuku loved animals with quirks. They always used them so naturally as though part of their daily lives. It was so unlike the world they had today where quirks contributed to everything. They used them when they needed to. As tools for survival.
Without being boisterous and making everyone bend to their will because of them.
Izuku ducked under a fist that had a thick sheet of rocks surrounding it and swiftly tripped the man that ran at him with his staff. The rain pelted at his back by now, soaking through his hoodie. His eyes darted to Tokoyami’s shadow… and a very specific bird found among Koda’s flock.
“Koda, Tokoyami, I have a plan!”
The boy with a raven’s head nodded while Koda began to frantically sign to Izuku.
‘How do you know our names?’
Izuku was still looking over his shoulder as he thwacked a woman over the head who had a pepper spray quirk before she could use it. He shrugged at the boy before making his move. He raced backwards at Tokoyami grabbing the scruff of his cloak and then towards Koda, who stood at the edge of the rock formation they stood on.
“WAIT-!” Koda’s voice cracked as Izuku rammed into the boy with his shoulder, while dragging the bird boy behind him.
He launched his grappling hook with one hand, keeping Tokoyami’s hood in his grasp and swung his legs underneath Kota’s arms, crossing his ankles for a better grasp. Both of them screamed. Izuku would say it evened out quite well with Tokoyami’s post-puberty voice and Koda’s extremely premature one. Izuku slowed the acceleration of his grappling hook as they went down so that he didn’t pull his arm out of his socket. (He has done that before, which is why he doesn’t go around using it like the pre-quirk hero spiderman could. He lacks the arm strength and the pain tolerance, despite it being quite high).
They soon slowed to a stop, ending in all three breathing heavily. Of course, The Vigilante decided that their suffering wasn’t over yet, resulting in him attempting to memorize the layout of the USJ and any safety precautions implemented. Izuku mentally went through the layout of the building as his grip on Tokoyami’s cloak began slipping.
“I can see why our teacher didn’t want us hanging around with guys like you!” Tokoyami called as Dark Shadow burst out of his cloak. It clawed into the wall of rocks grabbing hold on the three boys. Izuku was squished in between Koda and Tokoyami as their feet dangled above the jagged rocks. The rain was less prominent with the large cliff in its way, but that only made the sloshiness of his soaked hoodie stick more to his body.
“Uh- y-you said that you had a plan, right?!” Koda called to The Vigilante.
“Right. Are you familiar with the Myna bird species? You have a couple up there fighting the bad guys right?”
“U-uh right.”
“Great. Do you think you can get a few of them to come down here and uh… mimic our voices…? One of them has a quirk. Do you think you can call it? And Tokoyami, can Dark Shadow lower us to the ground? It’s a long shot, but if we can distract them long enough with the birds, we can circle out on the ground.” Izuku muttered quietly
“And how would we know that this would even work?” Tokoyami cut in.
“What choice do we have? We all know that we can’t fight them forever. And without a way to contact the outside, it can be hours before a Pro Hero arrives. Is that really something you want to risk?” Koda gave Tokoyami a pleading look before he resented.
“Fine. I suppose the worst that could happen is that they find us again… Dark Shadow! Lower us to the ground.” The creature made a pleased noise before lowering the three to the ground. The outskirts of the Down Pour Dome had a sort of drainage system. The water would be sprayed at the top before seeping down into the gutter-like trench in the outskirts that collected water for it to drain. Their shoes were now sloshing with water, but that was the least of their concerns. Koda made a sharp whistle, calling down the bird.
“Can you help us?” Koda asked quietly.
“Can you help us?” The bird asked back, mimicking his exact words.
“Impressive observations.” Tokoyami gave Izuku an approving nod, to which The Vigilante returned.
“Impressive quirks.” He shrugged back, redirecting the compliment.
Koda chatted with the bird as it switched back to its regular chirping before he turned back to the other two boys.
“In order for her quirk to work, she says that she needs to know your names and hear your voice.” Koda explained awkwardly.
“I’m Tokoyami Fumikage.” The bird-headed boy said aloud. Koda sighed, his eyes glancing towards Izuku.
“That’s not who’s name she was asking for.”
Izuku tensed up as all eyes darted to him. He glanced upwards towards the edge of the cliff they stood under, the rowdy voices of villains growing louder.
“Fine. She won’t say anything about it, right…?”
“Oh- no. It’s just required for her quirk to work.” Koda said reassuringly.
“I’ll do it.” He didn’t have time to think it over.
“I’m The Vigilante.” The bird on Koda’s shoulder opened her beak, no words came out.
‘She says that she needs your real voice too.’
“I know.” The Vigilante cut off Koji’s signing in a fit of stress. He sucked in a breath, instantly feeling guilty and bringing his voice to something quieter. He’s more responsible than that. He can’t get stressed. Not with kids here, “Can we just… do it in private…?” Izuku huffed, looking at the two.
“Why? Don't want us to know your identity?” Fumikage cut in passive aggressively. Izuku sighed. He should’ve known that the students would still be weary of him, especially with the way society cultivated all criminals to be painted into villains (even when they helped people apparently).
‘G-guys- can’t we all just calm down? Kaisō says she can hear him privately if he wants.’ Koda had his eyes squeezed shut as he moved between the two, frantically signing his message. The bird then flew to The Vigilante’s left shoulder with a nod, as though confirming Koda’s sentence. The boy continued to look between the two worriedly as Izuku stomped a few meters away. He turned off his mask and cupped his hands towards the bird. His lips opened.
“Izu-“
The Vigilante’s ears caught a mostly one-sided argument going on behind him.
“It will be fine, Koda. I know what I’m doing.”
Izuku’s head suddenly snapped to his right. His soaken hooded head nearly clashed with an equally soaken Dark Shadow. He would forever to refuse to admit the small squeak that escaped his mouth as the raven-like shadow was yanked back like a bungee cord before it could hit the water. The shadow creature instantly went to Tokoyami’s ear and whispered in it.
Izuku stood frozen for a moment before something punched him in the gut, it hit him deeper than any knife could. And yet he was incredibly used to it. It bubbled up to his chest and through his mouth.
“Don’t do that again.”
Betrayal.
He was hit by another wave of regret as he realized he forgot to turn his voice modulator on.
“You’re our age.” Tokoyami said. It wasn’t a question. The highness in his voice and the crack it had already been revealed and shown to the two boys. The Vigilante hurriedly turned his mask’s voice modulator back on. He turned away from the two boys, beginning to lead the way to freedom.
“No. I’m not.”
“But-“
“Let’s get moving.”
“You clearly have potential-“
“I SAID DROP IT!” Izuku yelled a little to loud for comfort. As he turned back on his heel.
“Hey! I think the little shits are still alive down here!” A villain called mat the edge of the cliff, circling back around to the others.
“We need to get going.” The Vigilante reaffirmed. The crow-headed boy relented with a sigh.
“Right.” Izuku gave Koda the signal to tell his bird to start speaking as they began running around the rock formations in the pit of the fallen rain. Water sloshed around their ankles as they speed-walked through. Izuku felt a presence come under his arm, like a dog begging to be pet. He jumped slightly in surprise before glancing down. It was Dark Shadow.
“Sorry…” Its voice sounded a bit like a scratching hiss. Izuku nodded before resting his hand on its head and patting comfortingly. The bird boy soon noticed what his quirk was doing, attempting to call it back to him, clearly embarrassed.
“Dark Shadow! Leave the Vigilante alone.” However, his quirk didn’t listen very well. Maybe it was the dim lighting in the trench, but Izuku found the quirk clinging onto him, almost as if a way of apologizing until they made it out.
“It’s alright Tokoyami. I forgive you.” Izuku nodded as the bird boy looked slightly flustered.
“Let’s get out of here.” Tokoyami looked towards Koda, who nodded. Izuku shot his grappling hook up towards the bridge that connected the main area to the entrance, in order for people to get across the drainage system without falling fifty feet below.
“I might have to take a two trips…”. Izuku mumbled looking between the two. Tokoyami shook his head.
“It’s alright. Me and Dark Shadow can handle it.” The Vigilante nodded before holding his hand out to Koda, who took it.
“See ya’ there!”
“Right.” Tokoyami used Dark Shadow to ricochet off the walls of the drainage system, similar to that of Izuku scaling alleys. Said Vigilante hit the reversal button on his grappling hook, causing him and Koji to be pelleted up towards the bridge. Izuku helped the boy onto it before getting on himself. Tokoyami was there before them, preparing to escape out of the door.
The three of them ran out into the sunlight, no doubt all of them feeling a sort of relief from the freezing rain they had just sat through.
“Ok. You guys get back up to the entrance. I don’t see Kurogiri up there anymore so you should be alright. If one of you can just spam principal Nedzu emails until it sends that would be great. I have to find whoever is jamming our signals.
‘Right.’ Koda signed, following it with a thumbs up.
Could Koda control Nedzu?
Could he tell him to stop harassing Izuku?
That’d be great.
“No.” Fumikage spoke out, turning to The Vigilante.
“We’re hero course students, are we not? It’s our duty to fight villains and help civilians. I want to help our teacher.”
Izuku opened his mouth to speak, but surprisingly, the quiet boy with the animal quirk cut him off.
“I- I agree with Toko- Tokoyami. I came here to be a hero, and that’s what I’ll do!”
“Well said, Koda.” Fumikage nodded towards the other student who beamed with pride.
“No- look. I can’t let you two do that. It’s too risky. First of all, Aizawa would probably kill me, secondly, you guys aren’t even trained, not to mention the fact that you two are both extremely underaged. You guys aren’t ready for field work.” The Vigilante stopped himself before he could go further in depth with a barrage of mutters, but even if he didn’t, Tokoyami beat him to it.
“And you aren’t underaged? You are very obviously the same age as us, if not younger.”
“Well at least I’m trained.”
“By who.”
“Crows don’t say, ‘hoo’.” Izuku blurted, unable to resist the possibility of a bird pun. The student rolled his eyes before stepping towards the battlefield.
“It doesn’t matter. I refuse to stand by helplessly as our teacher fights an uphill battle for us. You included.” Izuku raced in front of the boy to stop him, but he faltered at his last words.
“Me… too…?”
“That’s the most emotion I’ve seen him with… well since ever. He’s fighting for all of us. And I won’t stand by while he does all the work.” The Vigilante lowered his staff, staring at the ground numbly.
“Maybe… that’s exactly why we need to do our part. If you get hurt because you’re untrained… wouldn’t that all just go to waste? Fine. Let’s make a deal. The man that’s blocking our coms is probably in one of these bushes. He probably knows little to none hand to hand, which is why he’s hiding. You can… help find him and take him out. Then we can call for help.” Izuku compromised as he turned on his heel. He wouldn’t believe that. Eraserhead couldn’t care about him… even if he did, he’d leave eventually. That’s why he can’t start caring, because if he does, then that means he’s one step closer to leaving in one way or another.
“Let’s circle the perimeter. We can cover more ground that way. We can keep trying to contact the outside while we look.” Tokoyami spoke up, snapping Izuku out of his thoughts. Suddenly, Koda clapped quietly.
‘Our phones. The water. Dead.’ Their eyes all snapped onto one another.
“Shit.” Izuku huffed out, “whatever. Just find the guy. I’m sure that our classmates will be around soon.
The battlefield became eerily quiet for a moment, causing the three students to glance over from the training exercise’s entrance.
Four figures were left standing on the battlefield. Shigaraki spoke with a sinister smile on his face while Present Mic was left between the two of them. Izuku watched as Shigaraki’s hands kept scratching at his neck. His stature kept leaning towards the Nomu as his eyes stayed on the distant Raven hair figure to the front of him.
Izuku knew what was about to happen.
And so his legs moved before he could think.
He felt a sharp beak just barely nick his leg. Luckily the boy still needed to learn how to adjust quickly to different light levels.
“IZU NO!” He heard Tokoyami call from behind him as his hands grasped a pouch from his belt- the sheath only used in dire situations.
He couldn’t stop and he couldn’t think.
“Eraserhead!”
Aizawa attempted to dodge before realizing he didn’t need to. A green-hooded boy landed on top of the creature, shoving a knife into its brain. Most would expect there to be blood, but the creature seemed as hollow as its soul. There was only a sickening squelching sound as everyone who had ears intuitively clamped their hands over them as its beak opened to make a glass-shattering screech. The only person present who didn’t was Kurogiri who only seemed to glitch more from the noise.
“You BRAT! YOU’RE BREAKING MY NOMU!” Shigaraki shouted at the kid, just barely overlapping the screeching. The good news was that Shigaraki was panicked, meaning The Vigilante had a well off idea on how to injure the creature. The bad news was that it was a kid (his kid). The boy didn’t have much more time, before grabbing two smaller knives to shove into the damn thing’s eyeballs. Aizawa would have congratulated The Vigilante for his wits in any other situation. He was dealing as much damage as possible while aiming for weak points. The knives that he used were kept in the creature’s wounds so that its regeneration wouldn’t fully develop over the wound.
But again, these were compliments for any other situation. Right now the kid was being reckless. He’s never taken on such a violent and overpowered opponent. The man has already tried using his quirk on the large mutant and no effect was made. The damn thing had multiple quirks.
So of course Aizawa did the dumbest thing he’d ever done in his career and ran at the one thing that could end it. Of course he wasn’t quick enough to stop the creature from reaching behind itself on its back and grabbing The Vigilante by his upper arm. A sickening crack echoed throughout the dome as the creature blindly threw the child (HIS child) off its back, pelting him at least 10 feet into the air.
His ears were ringing. But they shouldn’t be?
Nothing happened yet.
That was the kid’s voice wasn’t it? The voice modulator was either so broken that he could hear it, or it was just the kid that was.
He was screaming.
That’s what he heard right? It was hard to tell with the blood rushing in his ears. Everything felt tenfold.
He felt the drip of blood from his nose that he gained while fighting a villain previously. The leather of his utility belt brushing up against his pants, the fog on the sides of his vision. He felt the kid getting flung away from him. He felt Hizashi’s betrayal.
Gravity felt like too much right now.
“Kid!” Shouta shouted with dry eyes and not a blink to spare. Part of him wishes he did end up flinching so that he wouldn’t have to witness the malformed giant’s hand coming towards him. Time seemed to slow as Aizawa attempted to dodge once more. The kid’s body had yet to hit the ground, the hand had yet to make contact with his face, but he had yet to move.
The functions of physics and time shortly reemerged when an ear shattering VOICE was heard from beside him. He was propelled out of the beast’s fire, and so was said beast. He barely had time to register the sound of cracking glass before his ears began to ring. He could barely breathe. The vibrations of the sound trembled through his veins, they all pulsed using one word from one use, and yet it played over and over in his head, substituting for the sounds that no longer existed in his world.
“SHOUTA!”
His back hit the dirt ground, just as the doors to the USJ burst open with the flashiness of All Might and all his glory. The sides of his vision were blurry and his head hurt like hell. The ringing in his ears had yet to cease but he felt the tremor of footsteps. Red shoes caught his vision before he was yanked up by a scrawny hand. The pair stumbled slightly and Aizawa urged his vision to clear.
The man felt words leave his mouth but couldn’t hear what he said. He turned over to the kid, who was more so using Aizawa to support his own weight by now than being the original crutch promised when picked up by the kid. The Vigilante turned his head towards him before pointing to his ear and shaking his head. He began using half-assed sign language (when did the kid learn sign language?!)
‘Are you ok? Aside from busted eardrums?’ He managed to get across with one hand. Aizawa rose an unimpressed eyebrow at the kid who was practically leaning against him.
“Are you?” He thought that sound could have come from his lips, but there was really no way to tell. The Vigilante raised an eyebrow before pointing to his ears. Around them, chaos ensued. The creature seemed to be throwing a fit of sorts as All Might began approaching it. So much was happening around them that they barely missed the Villain standing in the midst of it all.
Aizawa flinched and put a hand up towards his ear, his hand coming back red.
‘Don’t touch it.’ The boy signed. His goggles rested on his head which allowed Aizawa to see the haziness in his eyes.
‘How are yours?’ Aizawa managed to sign with one hand, to which The Vigilante shook his head.
‘It’s fine.’
Of course he’d say something like that.
‘Can you hear?’ As expected, the boy shrugged once again before wincing.
So that was a no.
‘It’s a dome. Loud sounds reverberate.’ Izuku fingerspelled out the last word, but Aizawa got the message.
So that meant that Hizashi had made all of his students deaf or more.
Fantastic.
Izuku’s head slumped against his shoulder.
More fucking paperwork.
Two more of his students began running up to him. It was Koda and Tokoyami.
‘Is everyone all right?’ Koda signed to the two. Aizawa nodded, passing the limping Izuku towards the two. He was barely on the string of consciousness, no doubt having a concussion and multiple broken bones. He was quite sure he had a gash on his leg as well. Aizawa had no idea how the kid was standing or how he even managed to travel to him so fast after being thrown across the ground. He was probably the most injured out of all of them.
How dare he.
It should have been him, not a child. He was barely out of high school and had more broken bones than most adults. At least now that he can’t run, Aizawa might be able to figure out what to do with him and get him out of this Vigilante business and put him back out with an actual license.
Tokoyami ended up using Dark Shadow to hold The Vigilante. Based on the care he was showing, he probably knew a thing or two about his age. Maybe the pair has more useful information. Tokoyami was in the midst of propping Izuku up onto Dark Shadow when the pair instantly went rigid.
The two students’ eyes widened and were locked into a figure behind himself. He raised an unamused eyebrow, before he felt something cuff around his ear.
“Heya Sho~”
Now Aizawa was the one going rigid. He spun around to face the threat. Hizashi stood there, now missing a hearing aid. The other was currently used in replacement of his own bleeding ear drum.
The man across from him had a faux lax smile on his face. Aizawa could tell in the way that his eye twitched that it was fake. Not to mention his own rigid shoulders, or the strain in his smirk, the tightness of his cheek bones, the smaller than usual pupils, or maybe the twitch in his eye brow, the messy hair (which had changed since highschool. Aizawa knew he’d get tired of buying hair gel eventually) that Hizashi only ever combed when he was calm. It also could be the constant tapping of his heeled boot, the jitter in his knee, maybe it was the way his hands clenched in his pockets.
Aizawa wouldn’t know. Right?
“Done checking me out yet?~” The man took a step or two closer to Aizawa and the students (and almost completely passed out Vigilante). Behind them, dust began to cloud up from the fight with All Might. Hopefully the other heroes would be getting here soon.
“‘Zashi. You blew out my students' ear drums and you clearly had something to do with the kid being here. And now he’s fucking unconscious.” Aizawa could see the way his eye twitched again at the comment, a bullet of sweat creeping down his forehead as he attempted to explain. He could tell that part of the voice villain didn’t want to keep up his faux smile.
“Sho, listen. I didn’t want to- I couldn’t have saved you any other way! You’ve seen the size of that thing, haven't you? I didn’t have time to think. I just… knew that was the only way I could save you. I knew I could I just-“ Hizashi was about to go on into a guilty ramble. Part of Aizawa cut him off because he didn’t want to feel the pangs of his own empathy as Hizashi spoke. The other half of himself cut Hizashi off due to the anger bubbling in his throat.
“Save me? ME?! What about the kid you brought into this mess, HUH?” The kids attention was drawn to the door. The Pro heroes have probably arrived, but Shouta couldn’t bring himself to care enough to look.
“Why didn’t you save him, huh?” Aizawa felt himself grit his teeth and a pain in the back of his throat. The one that made you want to scream and yell
Good thing heroes never cry.
“I would’ve but he just-“ Hizashi’s eyes were aimed at the door.
“Don’t blame this on him.” Aizawa cut him off again coldly. The kid was mumbling to himself now, but Aizawa’s single artificially working ear wasn’t enough to pick it up. Hizashi’s foot was tapping more frantically. Hizashi was getting antsy as he watched the heroes through the door.
“I wanted to make a deal.” Hizashi’s eyes finally met Aizawa’s, his voice softer. Sometimes, Mic would use his quirk without noticing, and it felt like the whole room would rumble just because he smiled when he talked.
Aizawa wants that back.
The blond took a step forward and Shouta took a step back. He felt himself getting dizzy, his adrenaline was beginning to wear off and that concussion was starting to catch up to him.
A hand caught his waist before he could fall backwards.
“Careful.” Hizashi said with a calm voice, but his actions revealed it all. He slowly lowered Aizawa to the ground. He made a gesture with his eyes at the kids and then at Aizawa. They looked confused before getting down to their teacher’s level to stay with him.
“What kind of dumbass shit were you gonna offer…?” Aizawa mumbled. The lights were too bright and his back was aching. Maybe it was some access fumes from Midnight… he didn’t know. Aizawa was tired.
“Well, this;” ‘Zashi pointed up to his hearing aid, “for this;” Hizashi grabbed Izuku from under his arms while Tokoyami was distracted with the hero’s entrance. He whipped his head around at the sound of Dark Shadow’s whine.
“Wait- no.” Aizawa hissed out, beginning to push himself up from the ground. His head throbbed in protest.
“Are you a-“ Tokoyami began speaking before wincing, his hands coming to his ears but then went back in front of himself to perform some clumsy and inexperienced sign language.
‘You villain?’
Hizashi raised an eyebrow, hesitating for a moment.
“Uhhhhhhhh… no…?” Hizashi affirmed, completely unsure of himself. He made a hand sign for good measure. Aizawa’s eyes darted back towards the approaching Pro Heroes again.
Good.
It wouldn’t be long until the kids were safe.
All of them.
Tokoyami glared suspiciously at Hizashi before nodding to Koda.
“I’m afraid we can’t let you do that.” The raven sounded awfully scary for not being able to hear a thing.
“C’mon Sho. We both know that he wouldn’t like waking up with cuffs. Besides, I owe him.” Hizashi pleaded quietly to Aizawa.
“He needs to be healed.” Eraserhead responded.
“And I’ll get around to that. We both know some underground healers who can look at him. He trusts you Sho. And your kids are scary- please call off your scary kids.”
Aizawa found himself snorting before his mouth twisted into a scowl.
“I don’t forgive you.”
“I didn’t expect you to.”
Aizawa looked up towards his kids, standing back up on wobbly feet.
“And they are not my kids.”
“Alright sure, Sho.” Hizashi put his arms under The Vigilante’s legs and behind his back, allowing him to pick him up without hurting him. The kid winced as he was scooped up, shifting at the sudden change from standing, “I’m so sorry.”
No one but Aizawa heard his quiet apology.
He felt his eyes soften and his shoulders slump at the scene.
The hero then shook his head, briefly reminding himself that this wasn’t the same. Hizashi wasn’t a villain. Hizashi had changed… right? Aizawa couldn’t let himself forget that. It made him wonder how Hizashi became a villain in the first place. Had he made any public appearances?
Has he even done anything villainous?
“Put him down ‘Zashi.” Aizawa took a step closer to the Villain. The tension was thick as Aizawa reached a hand up towards his scarf. The two students behind him took a tentative step closer as well in an attempt to be intimidating.
“Sorry Sho, but I owe the kid.” Aizawa didn’t know how he got one, but Hizashi then disappeared in a puff of smoke from one of The Vigilante’s smoke bombs. The hero instinctively flinched at the explosion. It drew the attention of the surrounding heroes, the pink sparkly wall sticking out within the dirt.
Eraserhead ran forward, his scarf swiping out blindly into the smoke, reeling back to him empty handed.
“DAMNIT!”
And yet all he could think about was what made him deaf.
Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Vigilantes Die like Cockroaches; They Don’t
Summary:
Izuku is (somehow) still alive and tells everyone through a Twitter post.
Aizawa wants therapy.
Dabi and Hawks’ love language is kicking ass.
Notes:
Heyyyy Srry this chapter is late. I had a musical over the summer. This week’s might be a little late too just because I have band camp. Thank you so much for all the love and support!!! Pls enjoy!!!
(Guys the ao3 curse is hitting. The school just caught in fire at band camp. Can’t go inside and all of the pit stuff is there. MY POOR MARIMBA)
Chapter Text
“Do you really have to go?”
“Me and you father wanted to spend a little time together. I might be able to get a job at where he works, and then you can have all the All Might comics in the world. Wouldn’t you like that?”
“Yeah, but not if you’re gonna be gone all the time…”
“It will be alright. Auntie Mitsuki will take care of you. And, you can play with Katsuki. Wouldn’t you like that? Imagine all those play dates!”
“I… yeah! I’ll get closer with Kacchan! Maybe his friends will want to play with me this time…”
“Hey kiddo,”
“Hey. Kid.”
“Dinner is ready.”
“Kiddo, are you awake?”
Izuku Midoriya groaned, the sun misted his face, almost prominent enough to distract him from the dull ache in his shoulder, and the sharp one in his chest. The stray hairs from his grown out hair (that he had yet to cut) tickled his neck from under his hood. Screenshots from his dream whizzed past as he laid there in his half-conscious state.
“Listener, you up now?”
Izuku opened his eyes. He found himself inside of an unfamiliar room. He was on a couch next to a window. His hand flew up to his face. He sighed in relief when he realized his mask was still in place.
Present Mic stood over him with a concerned look. He was no longer in villain attire, instead he took on a more domestic look. His long hair that formally surpassed his lower back was tied up into a messy bun at the back of his head. The orange tinted glasses were now replaced by more mundane black-rimmed ones. He wore a baby pink apron with an orange cat on the pocket. Above it were the words, ‘Serenade the Cook’.
Izuku scrambled backwards on the couch, kicking up the blanket that covered him, startling the cat that was once sleeping peacefully at his feet. Both of these items he’d only just realized were there.
“Where am I?” Izuku’s mouth clamped shut and his shoulders tense after hearing his own voice and not the one distorted by his voice modifier. His hand once again flew up to his mask. This time his fingers began fidgeting with the various buttons on the side of his mask. None of them were corresponding with their actions. Izuku panicked a little more as Present Mic watched him.
“Kiddo… calm down. You were out for a day or two.” Izuku’s eyes snap up towards Present Mic, his face fading into realization.
“It’s dead…” he muttered to himself as his hand faded downward back into his lap. The two of them sat in the room with a heavy silence for a few minutes before Present Mic sighed. He walked over to the other side of the couch and grabbed the blanket, folding it over his arm and putting it on the back rest.
“I… uh… made breakfast.” Present Mic offered. As if the very mention of food made Izuku realize how hungry he was, the scent of miso soup and rice suddenly wafted into his nose. The boy nearly winced at the pang of guilt he felt, making himself feel sicker than he was hungry.
Present Mic - a Villain who he didn’t even know- stopped him from getting captured and got him healed. Izuku could’ve sworn his shoulder had snapped when he hit the ground the other day, not to mention that his ears were literally bleeding. He shouldn’t have been hearing Mic right now. Getting a healer this good must’ve cost a fortune. And now he was feeding him?!
Izuku opened his mouth to quickly turn down Present Mic’s offer before his stomach, the traitor that it was, growled. The Villain’s mouth quirked into a smile before he broke into a tension-cutting laugh.
It made Izuku wonder how the guy ever became a Villain.
“I figured that you’d be hungry after being out for a day or two.” Present Mic shrugged, walking back towards the kitchen.
Izuku made a weak and mumbled protest that he’s quite sure Mic didn’t even hear (or chose not to hear, partial deafness came with the perk of selective hearing afterall) before traipsing over to the kitchen. The apartment wasn’t huge, but it was cozy. It had more than enough furniture, for both humans and cats. There was a short hallway leading to three doors to his left at the far side of the living room, opposite to the TV that was next to the door to which Izuku assumed led outside. The open doorway to his front led to the kitchen. Izuku followed Hizashi to that room. This room had less natural lighting, making the room have a warm yellowish glow. A table was set up in the middle with four seats, though it was clear that only one of the seats was only ever used based on the whitened patch of wood on the front most part of the table. This time, two chairs were pulled out, a bowl of miso and rice were sitting across from each other.
“You can take more if you want, lil’ Listener. I have enough to make people think I have a quirk for it!” Mic grinned encouragingly as the boy approached the table. The smile dropped almost instantly after Izuku pushed the chair back in and grabbed the food.
“I uh… should probably eat in the living room…” Izuku explained awkwardly, attempting to soften the blow he’d seemingly made towards the man.
“Oh, right.” Mic’s lips loosened in understanding as Izuku turned towards the living room, “You know, you don’t have to kid… you can trust me. I’m like you, yeah?”
Izuku suddenly went rigid, pausing mid-step into the living room.
“I am nothing like you.” He spat with a coldness that shouldn’t be known to a fifteen year old.
But then Mic kept pushing.
“Ha, what do you mean Listener? Me and you are exactly alike! We’re both being hunted by the heroes, we both clearly have a rivalry with a certain underground one, we make our own tech, the list is pretty wild. You’re like a mini version of me!” Mic paused, not sensing that he was any closer to getting a response out of the young Vigilante, “but, uh.., my point is kid, you can trust me. I’m in your corner.” Izuku set down the dishes on a counter beside him with a shake of his head. His shoulders began bouncing up and down before a snort was released from his mouth, the laughter got worse before it got better as Izuku turned towards the man. The crinkle in his eyes wasn’t full of amusement or joy, or any kind of mischief they should’ve held for a boy that age.
They held sorrow.
“Trust you? ‘You’re in MY corner?!’” Izuku paused to shake his head, “You just BAITED ME into a warehouse FULL of villains, that I personally handed into the police at some point or another, not only could they have fucking out numbered me, but SHIGARAKI wanted me to MEET. HIS. BOSS. You fucking tricked me! You say we’re so alike, but I don’t willingly HURT people! Yeah! I know- I’m horrible ok? I hurt people just by being out on the streets every night, but sometimes… it’s the only way. But I don’t put people in danger for what, SOUND EQUIPMENT? You caused almost all of Eraserhead’s class to lose hearing! You were a part of an attack to HARM CHILDREN. We are nothing alike, Mic.” Izuku finished his rant off with a scoff before turning away sharply and grabbing the food, storming back into the living room. Present Mic didn’t respond, but he didn’t push further. Izuku couldn’t see his face from where he sat on the couch, and he didn’t want to.
Mic betrayed him. So if the ‘Villain’ did have anything to say, he didn’t want to hear it. The Vigilante found himself picking at the rice, moving it around with his chop sticks. He took tentative sips of his miso, staring blankly at the wall. He started off by picking up a single grain at a time, though hunger quickly won over, resulting in two empty bowls sitting in front of him on the coffee table. Izuku looked down at the empty bowls and rolled his eyes in discomfort. He knew that he’d have to go back to the kitchen to put his dishes away. Sure, Mic broke his trust, but how was that different from anyone else?
He should be used to it by now.
Izuku found himself traipsing back to the kitchen, avoiding eye contact with the ‘Villain’. He avoided looking at his direction in general. He took his bowl over to the sink to wash it out, but his eye kept darting back towards the rice cooker. Mic, noticing the pause, somehow found room within the tension-filled silence for his voice.
“Yamada Hizashi.” Izuku froze, his bowl not yet touching the sink.
“What…?” Izuku found himself turning around as Hizashi spoke.
“Call me Yamada, kid.”
“Yeah… sure.” Izuku replied hesitantly.
This is when something clicked in the mind of Midoriya Izuku.
Yamada Hizashi was not a Villain.
“So, um…” the man had yet to turn around, Izuku stared at the bun on the back of his head. His glasses were now set on the table, “Your friends and family must be pretty worried about ya’. You’ve been out for a couple days now, kiddo.” Yamada muttered, “not saying you have to leave but might wanna text them or something…” Izuku felt a bitter grin form under his mask as he shook his head once more. He turned on the facet to rinse out his bowls, turning away from Mic -no- Yamada once more.
“Oh- no. I don’t need anyone. No one out there really cares. I don’t do the whole friend thing. I’ll be fine. I should get going though.” Izuku laughed lightly, but then he heard a sharp movement from behind himself. He finished cleaning out the bowls and finally turned to face Yamada, who seemingly whipped his head around towards the boy.
Izuku admittedly felt a little guilty. Yamada didn’t even know he was quirkless before betraying him. Maybe it was just a natural response. It happens to everyone eventually. Maybe something inside of them just knows that he’s quirkless. The Vigilante turned around to face Yamada, who had a starstruck expression on his face.
“Do you honestly believe that, kid?” Izuku huffed with a shrug.
“I guess. Who could be worrying about me…?” And yet, even after he asked that question, one person came to mind. Eraserhead, but his time was coming to a close too. Izuku has met him just a few weeks ago, nearly during almost every time during his nightly activities and has known him sense… surely he was getting sick of him by now.
Right. No one. He had no one.
And yet Yamada still looked at him so skeptically, you’d think he was questioning whether or not he was real.
“Yeah, you should probably check your phone, kiddo. It was going off like crazy for the last two days.” Yamada awkwardly scratched the back of his head, “I actually had to turn off the notifications because I was worried you were gonna wake up…” Izuku’s eyebrows scrunched before his hand instinctively reached for his phone. He paused as he noticed Mic watching him intensively.
“Right… I’ll… check later.” Izuku watched as Yamada raised an eyebrow before shrugging.
“I… uh… should probably leave. So… uh… I’ll see you around?” Izuku balanced back and forth between his feet awkwardly as Yamada took a long drawn-out sip of his soup.
“Yeah, you can leave whenever. Just watch the cats on the way out. KFC likes to run.” Izuku nearly cracked a smile at the name but quickly shook his head and bowed respectfully.
“Thank you for the food and your hospitality.” He stood back up straight again, watching as Mic laughed awkwardly, “I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding and my outburst. It won’t happen again, Mr. Yamada.” The man blinked in surprise before looking away shamefully. The Vigilante huffed, knowing what was coming,
“Don’t let it happen again.”
“Quirkless brat, doesn’t have respect for his elders.”
“You think you know better than us, don’t you?”
“You don’t know any better. Everyone is gonna use you. You should’ve known better.”
“No. Kid. I was in the wrong. I am so sorry.” Yamada was in front of him now. (When did that happen?) He was bent down to his height with a remorseful expression. Like he knew what Izuku had been through. His eyes were soft, like a look of pity, like an outsider would look in, but he wasn’t just watching.
He was reaching out.
His hand was on his shoulder again.
“I know, I know. Sorry doesn’t fix what I did. I promise. I’m going to make it up to you. I…” Yamada choked on his words. He was… crying, “You’re just a kid… and I… you didn’t deserve that kid. I don’t know how to make it up to you, and I don’t think I ever will. Just… know that I have your back. Ok? If you need anything, just let me know.” The Vigilante stared in shock, tears threatening to run from his own eyes at the sight of the crying ‘Villain’. It was contagious like a sneeze. Izuku felt vulnerable and he didn’t like it. He needed to get out.
Now.
The boy awkwardly patted the man’s back and turned away, so tears no longer threatened to spill.
“Sorry about that, Listener. I’m a bit of a baby, huh?”
“No. It’s ok to cry. It’s good. Shows that you still… feel for others.” Izuku said absentmindedly. Yamada blinked in surprise before he smiled and wiped his tears.
“Smart kid.” He attempted to ruffle Izuku’s hair, but his reflexes kicked in, quickly ducking underneath the hand, using the back of his wrist to shove it back.
“Oh. Right.” Yamada said awkwardly, tucking his hand back to his side.
“You should get a directional speaker. Decreases civilian casualties.” Izuku shrugged, quickly checking over his gear. It was starting to get uncomfortable.
“A directional-what now?”
“A directional speaker… it might prevent uh… this from happening again.” Izuku pointed helpfully to his ears, Mic still looked confused before he nodded slowly as though he understood. Izuku nodded, giving one last pat down of his gear, finding the only things he was missing were the knives he shoved into the Nomu’s eyes.
A sickening pop, some splattered on the pinky side of his hand. Blood, there was blood. It’s jaw could clamp down and snap his arm in an instant. It would bleed. His bone wouldn’t be the only part of himself snapping either.
“Hey… kid. Can I uh… borrow your phone for a minute? You gotta have a way to contact me in case ya’ need something, yeah?”
“What’s your number?”
“Uh… right. It’s +81 xx xxx xxx.” Izuku nodded, typing it into his phone and shoving it into his pocket, “You should really check your phone, Listener.” The Vigilante scoffed.
“I will, I swear…” Yamada snorted before hiding the grin behind his palm.
“I really don’t understand what’s so funny about this…” The boy scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing…” Yamada shook his head as though he had an inside joke with himself.
“Alright. I’ll get going. I’ll… see you, Mr. Yamada.”
“See ya’ Listener!”
The Vigilante went towards the living room where the exit door was, but rather than leaving out the door, he crossed the living room towards the window. Yamada, followed behind The Vigilante more than likely planning to give a final wave (and make sure his cats didn’t attempt to escape.)
Izuku was standing by the window, playing with the latches.
“How do you open the window?”
“What wh-YYYY WHAAAAT?!” Yamada winced slightly as he used his quirk. In his defense, it was for rather good reason as Izuku had already managed to open the window and was half way out of it.
“Nevermind! I figured it out!” Izuku called as he disappeared out the window.
“Take it easy! Your bones aren’t fully- healed yet…” Yamada raced to the window, calling out to the boy, but Izuku was already half gone. The Vigilante quickly made good work of the fire-escape off to the side and sprinted away through the alleys.
“He really is just a teenager…”
Izuku Midoriya took a breath of fresh air as he ran across the rooftops looking for trouble. He had spent the remainder of the day trying to get back home and researching the aftermath of the USJ incident. It looked like most of it was covered up by the Hero Safety Commission. He ended up being listed as a third party in the incident along with Mic. Not much more information was shared other than the fact that no students were severely injured, though most had some form of mild hearing loss- obviously the reason remained undisclosed.
Tonight was (disappointingly) a quiet night. Not that Izuku wanted anyone to be in danger or anything, but he was hoping for at least some action after his two-day long nap. He also hoped to rake in at least a few yen in cash out of criminals wallets for his next meal, (or to save for another underground healing session). Though for now, the Vigilante would have to suffice with the small numbers of criminals that were rolling in. Yamada really didn’t know how much breakfast helped him through today. The light ache in his shoulder and ribs began to incline to more of a throb when standing still, a sharp pain when he ran, and a searing affliction when he fought. It didn’t matter though.
He’s saved people today.
People smiled when he hopped down from the rooftops to give them a reassuring nod.
They cried when they felt safe.
They tried to pay him back after he’d slammed his staff into the back of a criminal’s head, resulting in a bone crunching snap in his shoulder that no one heard but him.
People smiled when he arrived, and that’s all he needed.
The quiet easiness of the night led to Izuku sitting on a rooftop. One leg was tucked to his chest while the other quicker easily off the edge.
He was not taking a break.
No way.
Izuku didn’t take breaks, he was still… taking care of stuff.
Just making sure his storage didn’t get full.
That’s it.
He turned on his phone and swiped downward. He faintly remembered Mic mentioning that he turned off his ringer. His Notification Center was immediately clouded with over two hundred notifications.
Oh crap.
He forgot to check that, didn’t he?
Izuku fumbled his phone, almost dropping it as he briefly swiped through the messages with wide eyes.
There were about three from Dabi, both were sent corresponding to the days he’s been out of commission.
1 day ago:
Dabi:
Are you good?
6 hours ago:
Dabi:
If youre dead I’ll burn Endeavour's agency in your honor.
Seriously you’re better than dying on me. Where r u?
Izuku snorted before responding, especially since his texts were the most… underwhelming of the over two hundred.
Now:
Little shit:
I’m alive and well! I’m back in the streets! Got some help :)
Izuku nodded in satisfaction. He then scrolled towards Shinsou’s contact, cringing at the messages.
2 days ago:
Brain Troll:
Dude. You might wanna check on ur vigilante friend. He was in relly bad shape after the attack at the usj
1 day ago:
Brain Troll:
Hellooo? Usually ur rlly punctual with texting and stiff
1 day ago:
Brain Troll:
Wait dude srsly??? Is he ok?
Oh wiat
Shit.
Pls tell me this isn’t a joke???
Are you seriously
Pls be fucking w/me rn
Midoriya.
WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL SENSIE
RESPOND PLS
14 hours ago:
Brain Troll:
Sensei took my phone. He still doesn’t know but he prolly has a idea
Are. U. Alive?
Dued.
2 hours ago:
Brain Troll:
They want to talk to me??? Wtf do I say???
Dude pls tell me ur friends.
Pls.
BRO ARE YOU ALIVE???
R U OK???
Izuku sighed at the messages. They were a whole can of worms he was not ready to open yet. The Vigilante cringed at how he’d explain everything to Shinsou. It wasn’t right to leave him hanging like this. Shinsou was just a kid and he was probably being pressured by all those teachers to release information. Of course Izuku didn’t doubt that he would try his hardest… but he would probably cave anyway, right?
Besides, what’s the worst that could happen if they knew his real name? It might even be kept under wraps, meaning Bakugou would never know.
Of course Izuku could always drop Shinsou…
Before he gave up on him.
As soon as he figured out he was quirkless everyone would leave.
Shinsou would spill the beans, Eraserhead would stop fighting with him, he was a liability after all.
Kacchan would- (well Izuku doesn’t exactly know what he’d do, but it definitely would end in explosions). Detective Tsukauchi would send someone to throw him in a group home. Present Mic would stop talking to him.
Izuku would end up alone again.
He shouldn’t have let them get close in the first place.
The Vigilante cringed and closed Shinsou’s messages. He’d talk to him later. Give him a cryptic time and date like usual.
He couldn’t do that now.
About fifty or so of the messages were from Hawks on Twitter.
2 days ago
TheRealzHawks:
LIL DUDE??? R U GOOD? I HEARD WHAT HAPPENED?
Seriously pls respond
Pls
Pls
Pls
I have to go on patrol now.
Thx for unblocking me btw
Pls respond
Pls
R u ok???
1 day ago
TheRealzHawks:
Look I know things were probably bumpy since last time.
Srry
I didn’t mean to overstep last time .
I just want to know ur ok .
Who was that other guy?
Are you safe???
Kid please .
Your killing me here
Back to patrol.
Pls check in.
No one’s heard from u
6 hours ago
TheRealzHawks:
If you don’t respond I’m getting the rat to track you down
Next time I go on ptrol and see u I’m gonna noogie ur ass
Kid cmon
Where r u
Do you need help?
Pls be ok
We’ll find u promise
Izuku sighed. He partially regrets blocking Hawks.
It was weird how he doesn’t remember unblocking him.
Izuku quickly sent a reply publicly on his account. He held up a peace sign, making sure to move the camera just enough to take an overly blurry picture of his red shoes.
Now
GDQNEZMZSHB
Just livin life. Still aliv ig @TheRealzHawks
1 image attached
Izuku hummed in satisfaction before putting his phone away. His foot that was dangling off the roof was pulled back to the ledge to stand up when his phone buzzed again. He groaned and rolled his eyes.
Oh yeah. The rest of the messages were from Eraserhead.
Izuku chose to ignore those.
Now:
Eraserhead:
You little shit.
124 more messages
The Vigilante felt a chill run down his back, causing him to instinctively whip his head around, only to see a pair of red glowing eyes rapidly approaching him.
“OH SHITTLES-“
Izuku couldn’t help but feel a roll of satisfaction at the familiar sound of his distorted voice while he was in Vigilante gear. The death of his mask was the death of him. The weight of his gear and the higher pitch of his own voice didn’t mix well in his chest. He hated how exposed he felt, how raw his voice sounded, echoing around inside his mask.
Of course, Izuku couldn’t relish the feeling as the two glowing red eyes were still rapidly approaching. The Vigilante scrambled to stand up and get to moving away from the ominous glowing red eyes that got closer by the second. Of course that exact second when his legs forget how to work, resulting in his sudden stumble. Eraserhead was about two buildings away by the time Izuku managed to start moving. Two sets of feet padded across buildings and jumped across alleyways. Izuku parkoured over a particularly steep roof. As soon as his feet hit the top, they shifted unevenly, causing him to slip off the roof. He was only one story or so high at this point so he would have tucked and rolled anyway, though he ended up falling into a dumpster. The Vigilante didn’t have time to rest as a pair of heavy duty boots stomped on the ground in front of the dumpster. Izuku attempted to scramble out of the dumpster, though, as he tumbled out of it, he heard the snap of a scarf. His feet had barely touched the ground when he was suddenly yanked through the air and found himself face to face with the raven-haired underground hero.
“Uh… hi…?”
Eraserhead stayed silent as he glared at The Vigilante. Izuku shifted uncomfortably.
“So… uh… how are you…? You can hear right? Uh… ha hah… how’s your class?” Izuku grinned nervously under his mask, yelping when he was suddenly yanked forward by Aizawa’s capture scarf.
“You start contacting the friends of students in order to warn them about a possible villain attack, instead of just telling me, you then show up at said villain attack by getting information through a possible dangerous source, knowing you couldn’t handle it alone. You fucking break multiple ribs and instead of letting proper authority bring you to a medical professional, you asked fucking Mic, to help you escape, knowing he was unreliable. You go missing for days without contacting anybody, and when you wake up, you don’t think to respond? I know for a fact that you woke up at least several hours ago, and I found out that you’re alive after forty-eight hours
through A TWITTER POST?!”
Izuku stayed silent, blinking for a few moments, before laughing nervously.
“My bad…?” Izuku muttered between his awkward chuckles.
“Yeah. It is.” Eraserhead growled and pulled out his phone. The two were interjected into a deafening silence as the Hero began typing.
“So…” Izuku balanced back and forth on his heels before shifting to his toes, bounding between them, still wrapped in Eraserhead’s capture weapon, “Who are you texting?”
“Hawks.” The man responded dully, his tone in no way matching how The Vigilante felt.
“WHAT-?! Why?” Izuku groaned. This was the last thing he needed. He felt the lungs in his chest drop at the thought of the man he’d ran away from last time he’d seen him. He couldn’t help the guilt that crawled up through his throat. Yeah, he bought him food. Good food. Shit he wouldn’t be able to have without a year’s worth of saving. Part of Izuku wanted to apologize, but there was another part that wanted to keep running. He was the Number 3 Pro Hero. There’s no doubt he didn’t get there without some shady shit going on underneath…
He’d look into that.
“Because,” Eraserhead interjected, “ever since he heard about what went down at the USJ he hasn’t stopped bothering ME about it. He’s worried about you, now you have to face the consequences.” Izuku groaned, remembering the not-so-threatening threats he received over Twitter.
“But-“
Izuku was cut off by a ‘whoosh’ beside himself. He felt his hood jostle, some of his overgrown green curls to peak out. He shifted his arms, instincts telling him to tuck his hair back.
Hawks skidded to a stop, sharply turning towards the pair before cuffing Izuku over the head.
“What were you THINKING?!” Izuku shifts awkwardly as he was scolded by both Heroes. He tilted his head, attempting to look somewhat innocent.
“I was thinking about stopping the villain attack.”
“Well yeah, no duh. But running in there yourself?! And then not contacting anyone for days- even after you wake up?” Hawks was almost shouting. His feathers bristled in irritation.
“I contacted you.”
“Through a TWITTER POST!” Hawks groaned, “You should have back up.”
“Well, I was hoping to stop the attack early, but I was kinda noticed so I couldn’t exactly call it in without getting killed.” Izuku said casually. Both men’s eyes widened, glancing at the kid and then back to each other.
“What do you mean by, ‘noticed’?” Aizawa asked, his voice growing cold as though deadpanning, but his eyebrows were still scrunched, hinting at something deeper.
“Uh- well, Shigaraki kind of singled me out before we went through the portal thing. Told me his boss or whatever wanted to see me, obviously that never ended up happening because Yamada saved me but-.”
“He what.”
Yamada Hizashi was finishing up the housework before his radio show. The radio show had been going on for a while, but he was ready for his first debut as Present Mic live on the streets. He was hoping to get some cash for some more equipment, but he’s assuming it’s never going to happen now that he’s helped the Vigilante.
But then he got the phone call.
Hizashi was in the middle of setting up his radio equipment when his phone rang with an unknown number. He scrambled to pick it up, remembering the certain Vigilante he had given his number to. He must be in trouble.
“Hey kiddo! This is Yamada speaking!”
“I know who you are, Yamada Hizashi.”
The man felt his chest tighten up as a raspy and dried-out voice answered.
“This is Shigaraki Tomura speaking. I believe we have some things to chat about, don’t we?” Hizashi’s shoulders as the name crackled through his ears (despite his obvious deadness), he instinctively lowered his voice.
“Look, I know you don’t think that I knew what I was doing. But I stand by my choice. I don’t want your cash if that’s what you stand for. Leave the kids out of this.” Hizashi found himself standing up. They were just kids. They didn’t deserve this, “I understand that I had a job, but if that job involves hurting children then I’m out of it.”
“Oh, you must mean that brat and some others. You must know that you have to expend some free XP to level up… then again, you are just an NPC after all, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Sensei already knows all about him, so I wouldn’t worry. Though I’d be more worried about yourself, considering that you’re a traitor and all…” Hizashi didn’t know if he should be relieved or not that the call wasn’t made to target the young Vigilante that he’d met.
“However,” Shigaraki started, his tone sending a shiver down Hizashi’s spine, knowing that it was going to be bad news, “If that’s what it takes to repay your debt, the league will gladly take care of that brat for you.” The radio host felt his hand’s grip tighten around his phone. He couldn’t help but commit the name to memory as his chest tightened.
“And maybe if you’re lucky, with some adjustments you both could be on the winning side. So I suggest surrendering yourself and player two to the league peacefully, or we’re gonna have to make the first move for you.” Shigaraki hissed out, “Sensei isn’t pleased about your lack of loyalty. It’s because of you the Symbol of Peace still lives. You’re a powerful character, Present Mic. Just make sure you know where your loyalties lie. It’s only a matter of time until we get to him, and you too. Sensei says you are both useful assets. So I suggest that you not displease him again.” Hizashi’s hand was shaking by the time Shigaraki hung up. He looked at the equipment before him and the time on the clock. It was getting late.
And he had never missed a show.
(Even if himself and someone he had just found out that he cared about were in danger of a fate worse than death).
“Uh yeah,” the teen responded with way too much nonchalance for this type of situation. Hawks and Aizawa could only blink as he explained, “yeah, so like, I was doing my thing, trying to figure out a way to stop the attack without getting killed right? But then Shigaraki started yapping. He called on Mic and then on me. He said that his Sensei wanted to see me or whatever- that I’m pretty sure is All For One but I have very little proof on that, so I’ll get back to you on that and then there was the fucking creature-“ the boy was cut off by Hawks’ confused explanation.
“Wait wait wait, All For One? Who’s that again? Isn’t he like- a boogie man of the underground?” The Vigilante sighed as though Hawks was an annoying little kid who was much too honest and asked too many questions.
“Yes. Get over it, again, no proof, mostly just rumors and Shigaraki’s shoes- anyway-“
“What does this have to do with Shigaraki’s shoes?” Even Shouta was getting tired of Hawks’ interruptions at this point.
“Again, still no proof. So yeah, apparently he wants to talk to me I guess, which that is definitely not happening. So yeah. Now I’m here. I’m pretty much fine though. I don’t even know what I broke.” The kid made a shrugging gesture, before obviously hiding a wince.
“Right. And that wasn’t you getting thrown by a strength induced monster halfway across the USJ. I don’t know who or where Hizashi took you, but I’m sure as hell that no healing quirk is that powerful. What part about breaking bones do you not understand?” Aizawa spoke up, his eye catching the clear discomfort the kid felt while wrapped up in his capture scarf. He grumbled to himself before hesitatingly unraveling it around his body, resorting to wrapping the weapon around the boy’s wrist so that he couldn’t run away while himself and Hawks figured out what to do with him.
“I thought it was pretty straight forward. You break ‘em, you get them fixed, they’re good.” The Vigilante shrugged, rolling out his shoulders, one of them held a healthy pop as the other rolled awkwardly around.
“Look kid, I’m the Number Three Hero, and even I need to catch a break sometimes. Especially after the battle I’ve heard about. You’re clearly not fully healed yet, Birdie.” The moody teenager huffed in response to Hawks’ concerns.
“Seriously? I just took time to recover! I was just gone for a couple of days! It’s really not that big of a deal…” The Vigilante responded as he tugged on the capture weapon wrapped around his wrist.
Hawks face palmed, almost mirroring Aizawa during school house as he rubbed his temples, “Passing out from exhaustion and pain for two days does not count as actual rest.”
“We’re taking you to Chiyo.” Shouta admitted. The boy whipped his head around to face him. He jumped on the balls of his feet, raising his already short height to just a few inches over the usual.
“W-WHAT? Recovery Girl?!” He gasped. Shouta would have thought that he was annoyed, and yet there was this underlying hint of excitement in his voice, hidden behind his annoyance. Another thing that Aizawa has picked up was that the kid immediately knew her Hero name off the top of his head. Chiyo was not an extremely popular hero nowadays. She was mainly known in her prime time for her quirk, which was mostly done behind the scenes. And even then, her real name wasn’t mentioned very much in papers, it was always just ‘Recovery Girl’. The kid was intelligent, and clearly was a hero fanatic. It astounded Shouta how the kid wasn’t in a hero school. If he did have a weak quirk, he could’ve at least gotten into a lower class hero school. However, he doesn’t doubt that despite that, the kid still would have gotten into UA. The kid more than likely had an emitter quirk, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what it was. He’s tried using his own quirk on the boy countless times… he knows that he’s using it, but he doesn’t let that hinder him. He keeps going.
That’s potential. Aizawa sees so much of it in this one boy.
So why couldn’t he use it?
“Yes. Underground healers are inexperienced, untrained, and usually can’t fully heal someone without at least a few rounds or incredible powerful quirks. I’d guess there’s at least several remaining fractures that have yet to be healed. You’re coming with us.” The kid had seemingly stopped struggling, his eyes only glancing at the capture weapon wrapped around his wrist. His eyes then darted towards a glint in the alleyway.
Shit.
His eyes told a silent message, one that Shouta didn’t understand, but enough of one to know that someone was there.
“HAWKS GRAB HIM-“ as soon as the words were spoken, Aizawa felt the tautness in his scarf go slack and the alleyway erupt into a thick smoke- the color being unidentifiable in the dark.
“It’s alright, I gotcha kid.” The voice wasn’t Hawks. It had the hint of a rasp, but not as prominent as Shigaraki’s. Through the smoke, Aizawa saw flashes of blue.
“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!” That voice was Hawks, who was probably close enough to see whatever quirk was causing the flashes of blue. He should’ve been closer. Intuition wasn’t enough to outmatch this kid.
And that was another thing that he’d have to put into this report. The kid had allies. How fantastic.
“Dabi! His wings don’t have nerves! Burn as many feathers as you want!” The distortion was a clear sign of the kid’s voice. Aizawa stayed guarded, making his way through the smoke, his scarf swiping blindly.
“SERIOUSLY?!” Hawks.
“I feel like you're lying.” The raspy voice, the kid dubbed as Dabi said dully. Aizawa could just barely make the edges of a black leather jacket out in the smoke, just a step closer and he’ll be able to cancel his quirk.
“Kid! We’re not trying to take you in.” Shouta called through the sounds of a scuffle between Hawks and Dabi. There was the sound of running on the roof, before Aizawa got tackled from above by a small body. It was the kid.
“Don’t worry Vigilante! I got you!” As if the kid speaking in the third person was odd, things got even odder when he responded in the distance.
“No wait- guys! I’m fine!” The young boy yelped, Aizawa kicked the other Vigilante off of himself.
“Who are you?” Aizawa asked coldly, the two circling around each other.
“Pff- I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The not-Vigilante shrugged, playing with a knife in one hand. Aizawa used his quirk on the other Vigilante. They didn’t seem to notice, unlike the one a few meters away, who would go rigid when anyone glanced at them, “I’m just… repaying my favorite Vigilante a favor!”
The fake Vigilante’s eyes curled upwards in a freakishly wide smile that Aizawa couldn’t see due to the mask. The man wonders if the boy’s actual face is hidden under there, especially considering the unknown person’s quirk is clearly a mutant type. They suddenly charged with a knife, blindly slashing at Aizawa. The man could easily dodge. He made sure to pin them down as another among the people who had potential. This fake Vigilante also rung a bell from a few weeks ago. This must be the same person that was impersonating the Vigilante when the kid dislocated his thumb. These were two people that Aizawa wanted more information on. More information he gets on them, means more information on the kid.
He just wants him off the streets. And probably into a proper home where his parents actually question why he’s waking up every morning with broken bones and finger joints popped out of their sockets.
Shouta quickly dodges the attack, grabbing his assailant’s wrists and twisting them behind their back. By now, with the amount of wind picking up from Hawk’s wings, the smoke was starting to clear, allowing Shouta to get a good glance at the man Hawks was fighting. They both looked about the same age, but the man called ‘Dabi’ was a few inches shorter than the other. They were going head to head. Dabi had a manic grin on his face while Hawks held a confident one.
“Honestly, I thought that the Number 3 Hero would be harder to beat.” The fire wielder laughed, lighting up the area around Hawks. Aizawa used his quirk just in time to stop it from reaching Hawks. Dabi’s grin dropped, settling into more of a pout as his fire stopped working. He looked over at Shouta, still expressing the same oddly disappointed face.
“Oh come on. Y’know that I wasn’t actually gonna burn him, right?” Of course, Aizawa using his quirk required himself needing to look away from the fake Vigilante, causing himself to get stabbed with some sort of support item, attached to his captive’s back.
He hissed and pulled back as the person laughed maniacally. The gadget stabbed his leg and was still lodged in after he had pushed the criminal away. He noticed the Vigilante’s usual mask was lifted slightly, revealing a set of needles on their belt that connected to their mouth. They hummed thoughtfully as he felt pressure where he was stabbed. The red liquid drained from his leg through the needle and through the tube that connected to their belt… that connected to their mouth.
Oh shit. This kid was drinking his blood.
The hero was quick to dislodge the needle as the person giggled. And Aizawa thought that The Vigilante was the source of all bad influences.
“I guess I’ll save the rest for later…” Their voice was more… collected after they managed to stab him. Their eyes were more sharp and lacked the singeing twinkle of crazy he had observed earlier. They were locked onto the man with a black coat, who now had Hawks pinned to a wall.
Aizawa chose to burn the image and not to ask about it later. Shouta’s eyes were immediately locked onto the kid. The real one. Who stood off to the side, hugging his shoulder. He also was glancing at Dabi who suddenly nodded towards them.
Maybe the Vigilante had a telepathic quirk?
Of course, even when he looked at him with his glowing red eyes, all three of them still reacted at once, all of them running towards the hobo-looking raven haired man. The alleyway once again erupted into smoke, this time, flickers of blue light surrounded him.
This is what he gets for trying to give a child proper medical care, he supposes.
Aizawa popped open his belt, using the crackles of the blue flame to his advantage. He opened up his walkie talkie, whispering his location as soon as he heard an operator pick up. He didn’t want to have to turn the kid in. It would break his trust. Which is why he convinced Tsukauchi to change his status on his file to a less extreme protocol. Now he might be able to get him proper and better medical treatment for his injuries without needing to arrest him. He could probably use the car as a ride too. The Hero could already hear the sirens, which meant the others probably could too. Which meant that he had to hurry this up.
Shouta felt a gust of wind blow past him, blindly snatching at it. He had managed to grab a small wrist, instantly tugging it back to himself. The kid yelped, muttering a curse as he was wrapped in the capture scarf.
“Hawks! Got him!” Aizawa called as The Vigilante weakly struggled against his hold.
“Wait- what-!?” Another voice called. This was in front of himself, where he’d left the fake Vigilante.
“Shit. C’mon kid. We gotta go.“ the slightly raspy voice was getting closer as the sirens could be heard from just beside himself.
“Great! I’ll meet you there. I have an urn to make.” Hawks, who was quite a few meters away from himself called. Dabi made another swear, before a plethora of footsteps irritated the dirt of the alley around himself. Hawks’ flutter of wings cleared the remaining smoke, which left only the three of them in the alley.
“Well, that’s that.” Hawks huffed nonchalantly, “though I wish I could’ve gotten one last hit on the bastard though…” Shouta rolled his eyes in response.
“Tell me about it. That copying quirk is starting to get annoying.” Just then, a police car rolled up in front of the alleyway. A man very familiar to Shouta by now opened the door and slammed it close, his brown coat dragging behind him. He didn’t even take a glance at the other two Heroes. He stormed right up to the boy with his note pad who was now captured crouched down.
“Don’t do that again.” He sighed. His notepad dropped as he ran a hand over his face, “people in the office started making bets on whether or not you were alive. If people start texting you? Please fucking answer.”
“Well, in my defense I was kinda out for a few days and-“ The Vigilante started to defend himself before getting thwacked on the back of the head by Hawks.
“And nothing. If we call. Answer. We’re trying to make sure that you aren’t dead in a ditch somewhere.” Hawks huffed out.
“Tch. I wonder how I even put up with you guys.” The Vigilante replied, to the three adults’ dismay.
“Let’s just get you in the car. Again. For clarification. We are not trying to bring you in. We’re going to heal the several fractures you probably still have because you were dumb enough to go out with them.” As if saying the words reminded him of the pain, The Vigilante visibly cringed before rolling his shoulders.
“Get in the car Vigilante.” Tsukauchi relented with a sigh, sending steady ‘I hope your right about this’ glances to Shouta, “you’re not going to the station tonight.”
“Really? Great!” The boy’s attention was no longer focused on his arm, turning it towards the other three people.
“I think it’s best to get this over with. I really am fine. I don’t see what the big deal is.” The Vigilante huffed out as Aizawa grabbed his shoulder, guiding him to the cruiser. The sassy teen grumbled to himself as he sat in the back and crossed his arms. The door slammed with the Vigilante still inside.
“Alright. Thanks, Aizawa for letting me come along for this. Happy to see the little guy ain’t dead anywhere.” He chuckled awkwardly before giving a salut-like wave and soaring off.
Now Aizawa had to deal with the punk in the trunk.
He traipsed over to the passenger seat, getting in tiredly, nodding to Tsukauchi who was already starting the car. Aizawa had a phone call to make, and he was not very excited about this one. He knew it had to be done though. The kid wouldn’t stop for a shattered ankle, which meant the fractures might heal wrong, or never heal at all if he kept this up.
The phone rang about twice before she picked up.
“Aizawa. I hope this is important! Calling me at one in the morning! You of all people should know about school tomorrow!”
“Can you heal a kid for me? I wanna cash in a favor.” Aizawa could practically hear her rubbing her temples.
“Gosh you never forget about those things… fine. You know where to bring ‘em.” And with that she hung up, more than likely going back to sleep until they arrived.
“So… what’d she say?” The Vigilante was right up for the window of the cruiser, their hands grabbing at the bars. Aizawa nearly jumped, but his hero training helped him slowly turn his head towards the boy.
“We’re healing you kid. Stop trying to wiggle out of it.”
“What? Who said ANYTHING about trying to wiggle out of anything?” The Vigilante giggled almost guiltily. Aizawa rolled his eyes turning back around towards the front, to very obviously ignore The Vigilante in the back of the car. Tsukauchi and Aizawa made a point to exchange very few words about other cases with the beat in the car.
It didn’t help that he was being unnervingly quiet either. He at least had the mind to sit in his seat. His legs kicking slightly as he dangled them above the floor of the car, humming something that sounded completely awful from underneath the distortion of his mask.
They all shortly arrived at Chiyo’s. The front light was on, and so were a few in the house, signifying that she was up by now.
Aizawa circled around the back of the car and opened it, making a point to quickly grab the kid by the wrist as he marched into the house. Tsukauchi in all his tired-detective glory, followed closely behind. They didn’t even need to knock before Recovery Girl opened the door and ushered them all inside.
Aizawa was admittedly disappointed. The kid wasn’t blabbering as much, especially with the reaction he held to her name. He supposed that the kid still thinks he’s going to get arrested when this is over. It would also explain the uneasy silence he’s been hearing from him. He huffed and placed a comforting hand on The Vigilante’s shoulder.
“Hey. Kid. Relax. Your file status has been changed. You ain’t going anywhere.” The kid tensed as the hand hit his gear, but his shoulders immediately slumped when he said those words. Chiyo’s house was small but cozy. There was the drift of a radio somewhere in the room. The host’s voice was alluring.
It made Aizawa want to stand up and turn the volume higher to whatever mad man was airing at two in the morning.
Aizawa made a mental note to look into the radio show, taking care to look at the channel and writing it in his notepad. The time for his job worked out, that’s all. And the voice sounded breathlessly familiar. Maybe it was someone he knew. It sounded so uncharacteristically quiet from inside the lowered volume of the radio. The man would definitely take to listening to this station more often.
He couldn’t figure out why it was so familiar for the life of himself.
Aizawa let himself sink into the couch beside The Vigilante, who flopped onto the couch with a bounce.
“Alright, let’s see what we’re dealing with.” Recovery Girl walked over to The Vigilante who was sitting between the two law enforcers, still kicking his feet.
“Hey hun. Can you take off your hoodie for me? It’s just gonna be a second.”
The Vigilante shrugged with a nod.
“Sure thing.” He surprisingly took off his hooded sweatshirt, allowing Recovery Girl to take a look at his shoulder. Aizawa and Tsukauchi exchanged a brief glance before Recovery Girl tweaked him over the head with her cane.
“You woke me up at one in the morning for THIS?!” She practically snarled, giving the boy a brief kiss in the head- to which he was extremely unaffected.
“What are you talking about? I’m pretty sure he has a couple fractured ribs at least!“ Aizawa’s eyes darted to The Vigilante. The once calming and consistent drone of the radio host’s voice was drowned out by the blood in his ears, his eyes locking onto The Vigilante who was putting his hoodie back on.
“There’s nothing wrong with him! Aside from a few bruises.” Recovery Girl scoffed, “Gosh you need to stop overreacting to these sorts of things! They’re just kids, but they can be banged up a little-“ Recovery Girl's voice faded into the same subliminal space where he found Mic’s as The Vigilante’s eyes formed excited half moons. The familiar voice poked out beyond the blood rushing to his ears.
It was no longer just a familiar voice he heard on the radio.
It was Zashi’s.
The Vigilante beside him was no longer the boy he’s grown to care for through fighting crime and broken bones.
She laughed as his face melted off.
Aizawa could use some therapeutic ‘Zashi' radio time right about now. Seriously?
Now:
Eraserhead:
Seven officers, two pro heroes and an intern.
SHE BIT SEVEN OFFICERS, TWO PRO HEROES AND AN INTERN.
Dabi snorted as he peaked over Izuku’s shoulder, glancing at his phone.
“You think she’s gonna be ok?” The Vigilante asked tentatively.
“She’s better off with them than on the streets.” Dabi shrugged, puffing out a cigarette.
“Yeah but- it was because of me that she was caught!” Izuku exclaimed, “I would have been fine if I went… I was going to see The Recovery Girl! Besides, even if Eraserhead was lying, you know that I could’ve escaped easily.” Izuku scoffed, silently envying the fact that Toga got to meet the Recovery Girl.
“But do you really want to take that chance? Look. She’ll be fine. If you really want, we can get her out later.” Dabi suggested with a shrug. The Vigilante rolled up his sleeve, snapping a picture of a very familiar set of teeth that have imprinted on his arm and sending it to Eraserhead.
The Vigilante:
And a partridge in a pear tree???
Deal w/it.
one attachment
“Yeah… I guess we can. Shouldn’t be too hard to break her out. We've done it before, right?” The Vigilante rolled his sleeve back down, holding a small but determined smile under his mask.
Eraserhead:
Oh god. The rat wants to let her into U.A.
Izuku and Dabi’s eyes stared at his phone with widened pupils. A short silence submersed them as they reread the message.
“Sorry, kid. Your friend belongs to the Heroes now.” Izuku was still frozen as Dabi stood up and brushed himself off, “I’m getting some soba.” He held a hand out to the Vigilante.
“You coming?”
Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Faulty Trips
Summary:
Aizawa is absolutely whipped for (1) Presentation Micheal.
Toga and Uraraka share a moment.
Izuku gets drunk.
Shinsou has an alcoholic divorced father. (He’s chill)
Notes:
Heyyy guys. (Oh good grief school is starting this week.) Wish me luck. I’m gonna need prayers this year. Especially since that ao3 curse has yet to hit. So far it’s been pretty mild cause I don’t have a single morning class with any of my friends. (But my stars I hope it doesn’t get worse). Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! Next time, Izuku burns the Sports Festival to the ground!
Chapter Text
The girl, who they’ve found out went by Toga Himiko was kicking her feet cheerfully inside of the cell, now fully clothed, rather than the singular hoodie she had been wearing, that she had claimed belonged to the Vigilante. The interrogation went surprisingly well (after the biting phases). She held a somewhat bored expression, picking at her nails and feeling her sharpened teeth with her tongue. Aizawa Shouta, Detective Tsukauchi stood outside the cell with a face of quiet contemplation. The principle of U.A. had arrived. No one knew why he came, or how he knew of the teenage girl with the powerful transformation quirk, but apparently already had a proposal prepared. The two men stood in silence as the stout sold his pitch. He came armed with legal documents and previous projects, that have all took stride in a similar program.
“Therefore, I would like to welcome Ms. Toga Himiko into my school for U.A’s very first young criminal rehabilitation program.” Nedzu finished his proposal with a soft smile. The girl inside of the cell suddenly perked up, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion.
“Wait- hold on. I’m going to be going to a school for heroes? Do you people even have any idea what I’ve done? Don’t you think that I’m a little too far gone? Should I really be around other people? Shouldn’t I be… I don’t know… locked away where I can’t drink anyone’s blood again?” The girl had a touch of sarcasm in her voice, that managed to make the Rat beside himself chuckle.
“Oh! Why of course! All growing minds should have a right to connect with others. In fact, I believe it’s an important step in learning. Of course, being a part of the includes attending all activities that would be optional for other students, as well as other precautions like ankle bracelets- though I’m sure those are things you would expect. I would also like to take note of the emotional and mental load the implications of your quirk must take on you. I must say, that’s quite a lot for someone your age, therefore you will also have mandatory sessions with Hound Dog.” Nedzu replied with a smile, completely ignoring the bombastic side-eye that was glaring into the side of his head by Aizawa. “Other implications of your quirk will also be accounted for-“
“Like blood?” Toga asked with a manic smile on her face. Nedzu’s eyes twitched as he sighed almost tiredly.
“Like blood.” He confirmed. The teenage girl suddenly turned to attention, her overly exaggerated expression gone, she stood in front of the bars with a more serious expression on her face.
“And what are you getting out of this?” Aizawa was quite sure that if she had access to knives, she would have been waving one around tauntingly in front of their faces.
“Ah, you children are so sharp these days!” Shouta hated the way the rat’s grin sharpened, “Well, I believe that this will be a brilliant way to help integrate people within our society who have less than ideal quirks. This will also be a brilliant exercise with our current hero course students. I’ve noticed them getting rather… clicky with one another. So what’s a better way to build trust than sharing a blood bond?” Shouta was quite sure that Nedzu meant the complete opposite. It was clear to the teacher who had been semi-forced into working at U.A. for several years that the rat enjoyed drama. He had no doubt that the principle was interested in how the Hero Course students would react to such a quirk, and more so how they would use it to their advantage.
Nedzu suddenly leaned towards Aizawa, obviously sensing his disdain, “It wouldn’t be much of a bother if this were another great incentive for our Vigilante to learn there as well.” He lowered his voice enough so that only Aizawa would hear, but it was enough to make the man roll his eyes. He was so done with those brats. Was it still too late to turn in his two week notice since his last one?
Shouta opened his mouth to ask, but Nedzu beat him to it, as though knowing what he was going to say, “No. One hundred is much too even if a number for it to last so shortly. I suggest you give up now.” The rat replied, still with the same pleasant smile on his face. The teacher crossed his arms and huffed, grumbling off to the side. Tsukauchi, who decided to blatantly ignore the conversation, had just finished looking through the documents, giving them back to Nedzu as though they had burned his finger tips. It wouldn’t surprise Shouta that he’d managed to find enough loopholes to not only get Toga out of jail, but to do so without going to court.
“Everything checks out. Aside for one thing. I’d like to not see her back out on the streets again without a Hero License, if she does choose to get one that is. So where exactly would you be keeping Ms. Himiko during this time?” Nedzu’s smile grew at the question he clearly was waiting for someone to ask.
“Why, at U.A. of course, carrying into our next implementation of this year; student and teacher dorms!” Shouta could see the rats grin as he noticed his eye twitch in irritation.
“Great.” Shouta grumbled.
“Therefore, if you don’t mind, me and my employee will be escorting young Himiko to our newly built dorms!”
“Seriously?!” The raven-haired man’s head whipped his head towards the rat who chuckled incredulously.
“Yes, now if you don’t mind, please release Ms. Himiko.” Nedzu’s hand motion towards the cell. Tsukauchi held a similar face to Aizawa’s as he unlocked the cage. The hairs that just barely hung over Shouta’s face whipped to the side as a blur of blond darted past him. His scarf instinctively lashed out, going taut against the attempted escapee. Nedzu laughed and began a slow muffled clap with his paws.
“Incredible movement Ms. Himiko! I am very surprised with you abilities! Especially considering you only had a Vigilante to base your skills off of. I am highly impressed with your quick learning capabilities. Having limited knowledge and no instruction makes your achievements incredibly formidable! I believe you will excel at our institution!” Nedzu’s grin grew into an eerie smile as he stared at Toga, urging her to stop struggling.
“I’m going to rip you to pieces.” She returned the sinister grin, albeit hers looking much more blood thirsty. Shouta was rather grateful for her comment.
Someone had to say something.
Nedzu let out another light and airy laugh, contrasting the tension that remained in the room.
“Oh, I believe having you at my school will be an absolute pleasure!” He turned on his heel and began walking out of the building. Aizawa gave the detective a helpless shrug as he followed the rat, pulling along the rabid girl. The trio walked out of the station, many glancing questioningly towards them, some (the more experienced of the officers) nonchalantly scurried out of their way. A car was already parked outside of the station, being driven by none other than Nemuri (to Shouta’s disdain).
The Twilight Hero raised an eyebrow as Aizawa found himself climbing into the back alongside the girl, to which he had to keep at an arms length to stop from biting him (again). He’s quite sure that he had black spots against his vision from blood loss by now.
“Not. A. Word.” He grumbled, crossing his arms ensuring that he was on the furthest side of the car as possible. He hunched himself into the corner of the door. Of course, Nemuri opened her mouth anyway, despite his obvious advocacy for her not to.
“Picking up another kid I see?” She asked snidely, a smirk dancing on her lips as Nedzu climbed into the front seat beside her.
“Why do I bother?” The man grumbled, sinking into his scarf.
“So… when do I meet everyone?” Toga spoke up, her head swaying as though she was listening to a song, despite there not being a source of any music. Her eyes were aimed out towards the window. She wasn’t showing it… but Aizawa could tell with the tension in her shoulders and and the glaze in her eyes that she was nervous. Her pupils darted around. Aizawa knew all too well the look of someone making fake scenarios in their head, fretting about what others would say.
The poor girl probably thought they’d all hate her. Who knows what led her to the streets, especially in the age of quirks.
Luckily for her (and unluckily for him) his class was the most friendly and inclusive bunch of idiots he’s ever known.
“You’ll be fine, kid. Trust me. The brats are annoying… but I wouldn’t worry yourself to bits about what they have to say. We all have something to prove here.” Aizawa didn’t bother looking back at the small girl as he nestled into his scarf and closed his eyes. Maybe he’d be able to get a few minutes of sleep on the ride back to UA.
“So, Ms. Toga. I believe I have neglected to properly introduce myself and my staff.” Shouta felt the teen’s gaze leave him as Nedzu began to speak.
“I am Nedzu! Am I a dog, am I a mouse, or am I a bear? But most importantly, I’m the principal! Our driver here is most commonly known as Midnight, but- oh my, I seem to have gotten myself carried away! Surely she can introduce herself.” Nedzu laughed lightly as Nemuri spoke.
“Yep. I’m the Twilight Hero, but call me Mrs. Midnight when we’re in class.” Shouta could practically hear the mania in the young blond’s voice.
“Oh, I like you. But, aren’t you gonna tell me your actual name?”
“Nope.” The teacher said light heartedly.
“By the way, aren’t you a stoat? I like your introduction, but Vigilante-kun told me that you’re actually a combination of a few animals. He said it was a theory or whatever, but he’s usually right.”
“Did he now?” The rat once again gained the dangerous tone of voice, a common occurrence when talking about the Vigilante.
“Yep! He’s like- super smart.” And now Nedzu is dragging information out of her.
He’s going to sleep now.
“So, how does your quirk work Toga? I noticed that well… clothing doesn’t merge well with your quirk, similar to another student’s, like Mirio’s.”
“Yeah… it gets a little embarrassing sometimes.” Toga muttered mindlessly.
“I see, well, I’m sure Aizawa has some work to do then, seeing as we have the Sports Festival coming up soon.” Nedzu grinned at him through the mirror above the dashboard, but Aizawa kept his eyes stubbornly closed.
“Shouldn’t we ask whether or not she actually wants to participate first? She’s a few weeks behind the rest of her classmates still.” The teacher relented, opening his eyes, only to look questioning towards the girl beside him. The teenager looked startled, as though no one had asked her before.
As though no one had ever given her a choice. She opened her mouth to speak and no words came out. She thought it over and tried again, this time presenting them with a response.
“I think… that I’d like to meet everyone first. See if any of them are worth ‘being’.”
“Don’t bite your classmates.” Shouta said dryly.
“Yet.” Nedzu cut in, to Aizawa’s exasperation and Toga’s absolute glee.
Izuku was out for another night of crime fighting. Tonight, he has stopped two robberies of local businesses. (He’s a witness of five, but large, overly-capitalistic cooperation can burn in hell. They can hire their own security guards). Most of his captured criminals follow a pattern, all of which ending off in some sort of tension-filled alleyway, where he found himself now. He was fighting a woman with large feet- probably part of a mutant parent. However, her quirk seemed entirely emitter, and way too over powered. Her quirk allowed her to change gravity’s direction within a 30 foot radius, and she already figured out he was there. If Izuku wanted to do an analysis on her quirk, he’d assume that if she’d use it properly, she might be able to unlock a new part of it, however considering she is so violent and dead set on crushing him, he hopefully can assume that won’t be happening anytime soon. She must have some sort of telekinesis quirk. Similarly to one of the students at UA, if she can factor her quirk to rotate at a constant rate, she could be able to use it to float her opponent. For now however, Izuku is finding himself slammed into walls repeatedly. Which is another thing the lady could easily fix- she is working with only 90 degree turns with her quirk. Why not throw Izuku into some corners where it’s more difficult to get a good stance?
At least she was predictable, her hand moving to control her quirk at least a second or two before gravity changed. She had a powerful quirk that she was reliant on. These downfalls gave Izuku a pleasant shiver, as a voice that sounded suspiciously like Eraserhead’s echoed around in his brain throughout the
It all started earlier that night when Izuku had spotted her using the key off of a knocked out security guard to get into a hero agency. Obviously he ran to stop her, resulting in his current situation. If there’s one thing that Izuku could pride himself in, it was his willingness to adapt. After being thrown around against the wall a few times, the Vigilante has made great use in practicing switching back and forth between the flailing. The woman’s quirk only works within a certain radius, and yet she’s made a great point of staying as far back from Izuku as possible, meaning that she didn’t have any hand to hand experience, or she was not confident in said experience. So just to be safe, Izuku leaned towards the latter.
Speaking of ladders, the one leading up to the fire escape was a real pain when you were being bashed into it and not using it to escape a certain raven-haired hero. The Vigilante was just starting to get used to being thrown around, his feet now touching the three surfaces he was being bounced between one out of every three times. It helped that the villain didn’t move with her quirk. Since she was staying in one place, it was incredibly easy to get the jump on her.
The Vigilante made quick work of the distance between them, jumping off of the wall before the woman could change gravity again. Her hand jerked to the left, the lag in her quirk causing her to be late in reaction time. As it turned for Izuku, she did end up having at least some form of combat training, which caused her to duck underneath his attack. He yelped, as his feet were planning for some sort of pressure from his wack. He lost his balance, landing on the wall with a groan. He was quick to regain his footing, letting a subtle grin rest on his face as he began running for another attack. The woman grumbled, her shifts becoming a lot more sporadic.
“I’ve heard about you! You’re that Vigilante getting all my buddies in the ice box!” She growled, her quirk barely keeping up. Her legs were beginning to shake, Izuku noticed. He noticed the strain as she talked and how her arm was curling towards her. It must be a quirk drawback. Her quirk wasn’t getting any weaker either, which means it must be physical. The woman dropped to one knee, continuing to shift gravity at a rate Izuku could barely keep up with. She wasn’t getting weaker. She was straining against her own gravitational pull. Gravity must get stronger for her as she uses her quirk. Izuku could feel the trapped animal within her eyes as her hand continued to shift into different directions quicker now. The massive lag caused the warning he originally had to become completely meaningless, meaning Izuku was hitting the surfaces of the alley a lot more commonly.
He had to end this quickly. Izuku began advancing as quickly as possible, the woman’s quirk suddenly stopped working. Her eyes darted up towards the boy as she stood up like normal, the walls no longer shifting around on Izuku.
“What- what did you do?! YOU LITTLE SHIT! Where’s my QUIR-“ The Villain didn’t have any more time to say anything before Izuku’s hunk of metal hit her temple, causing her to topple over unconscious. He wished he hadn’t done so, as he’d only really registered what she’d said after she was out cold.
The Vigilante huffed in relief before digging through his belt- which he had decided to put around his waist tonight -for zipties.
A small but slow clap was heard throughout the alleyway. The Vigilante was quick to restrain the girl he was previously battling before bracing himself. The crunch of two pairs of boots hit the alley slowly walking towards him out of beat with their claps. Izuku couldn’t identify their faces in the dim light provided by a back of a random bakery, though he doubts he could have otherwise. They both were wearing masks of some sort. One had shoulder-length black hair with a gas-mask like feel, the other wore a white cloak and held a gun in his hand.
As a Vigilante who’s been on the streets nearly every night for the past three years, Izuku was not fond of guns.
“Vigilante. We've been hearing a lot about you.” He said level headedly, taking slow steps towards them. Izuku stepped in front of the criminal he had just captured, spinning his staff intimidatingly. The other man had a bottle in his hand and was staggering slightly, following his white-clad friend.
“Ok…? And? A lot of people have these days, you think? I could’ve handled her you know… so what was that nifty trick? Removing her quirk and all?” The Vigilante grumbled out as the man got closer. He shifted, faking to grab a weapon, in reality hitting a ‘panic button’ this feature he had recently downloaded onto the phone given to him by Shinsou. If he holds down the power button and frantically taps the ‘home’ button, his phone automatically sends his location to his favorite detective. He’s quite sure the man hasn’t changed his number again, considering Izuku had only recently searched through the police files for his new contact. Ever since he’d stopped receiving responses to his last spam of memes at three in the morning, he knew that the detective must have attempted to cleanse his phone of Izuku once more.
Not happening buddy.
The Vigilante still had cases to solve after all.
Just in case, Izuku grabbed a knife as he replaced his phone into his belt, grabbing the knives with his pinky and ring fingers, using his thumb and index finger to carefully replace his phone. The man before him walked with the confidence of someone who was undiscovered, so he knew that he’d go running once sirens were heard. Of course this wasn’t exactly a good thing. He had the drive of a guy who had more to do.
“Yes. That’s correct. You are spoken about quite often in the Underground. And that ‘trick’ is why we’re here. We heard that you have info, and my boss would like to talk it over with you, if you don’t mind.” You know that feeling you get when you know something really bad is about to happen, that scream in your gut that tells you that you should’ve ran several minutes ago and starts pushing you to leave right that second, even though you know full well that it’s much too late for you?
Yeah. That’s what Izuku was feeling.
“Have you told him I’m not interested in cash? You with Shigaraki?”
His attention shifts to the other man as he also approaches, stumbling, his head tilted back. It didn’t help that it was put at that angle in order to down the final drops of alcohol inside of a hard liquor bottle. Izuku’s eyes narrowed in confusion. There would be no reason for such a seemingly organized group to send a man so drunk he could hardly stand, unless it was due to a quirk.
Izuku felt things click all too slowly as he was hit by a wave of nausea and fatigue. He stumbled to the wall of the alley, using it to support himself.
“The boss looks forward to speaking with you, Vigilante.”
Shinsou Hitoshi was having an… interesting week to say the least. It was also rather stressful. Last Saturday, his teacher, Mr. Aizawa had shown up at his place asking permission from his parent to partake in the residential program at UA. Of course he had agreed. The divorced man thought that the reasoning made sense.
His father had hair that stuck up in a similar fashion to Hitoshi’s, but the color was blue rather than purple. He also had a minor quirk he could use for a few minutes a day, making a mental link between himself and someone he touches in order to have a telepathic conversation with them. He wore glasses, covering up eyebags that were very similar to Hitoshi’s own.
Hitoshi’s teacher explained with a clear practice in his tone the benefits of living at UA and how it would not only be better for learning at the school, but being safe, especially with the recent villain attack on UA. Which is why Shinsou and his father found themselves moving into his dorm room that Monday.
As if Shinsou didn’t have enough overly eccentric people in his life that fit into his introvert-capacity, apparently he had also gained another classmate. They were supposed to have a formal introduction on Tuesday, though, as if loud and boisterous blonds were magnetized to the guy, he couldn’t get a break. A girl about his age came prancing up to him as he tried to huddle himself into his room before anyone could talk to him after parting ways with his father. The boy winced as the bounce of two blond messy buns were seen in the corners of his vision.
“Hi…?” Shinsou barely managed to NOT groan out as the girl looked excitedly up at him.
“Hello, uh… Shinsou, right?” The girl peaked over his shoulder towards the name on the side of his door that his father insisted on hanging up.
He would take it down after escaping this conversation.
“Hi! I’m Toga Himiko!” Shinsou averted his eyes, the brightness of her smile burning the first few layers of his retina.
“Ok… great…?” The boy shifted on his feet as Togo stared up at him expectantly. Hitoshi didn’t want to be rude of course, but he had quite a few questions on his mind about the girl. Maybe that’s how one started an interaction in real life…?
“So… uh. You’re the new student huh…? How’d you get here…?” Shinsou would have killed to figure out how to get into U.A. 's hero course without needing to get mauled by robots, “Or are you from the other class or something…?” Though that question didn’t exactly make sense considering class 1-B was supposed to be in a different building.
“Oh! I’m in the rehabilitation program!” Toga said almost sheepishly. Shinsou blinked.
“The what now?” Hitoshi asked with a tilt of his head.
“Oh, I think it’s something your principal made up.” She shrugged, “I got arrested. Didn’t really have choice. I’m excited to meet everyone. Can I have a taste…?” Shinsou awkwardly glanced to the side.
“Uh… of what…?” He murmured, subtly shifting, attempting to shuffle behind his door.
“OF YOU!” The girl lunched at him, her arms held out in front of her, clearly eager in pinning him down. His instincts kicked in, his brain recalling the multiple times mid-water break when Izuku would do the same. He dropped a foot back and caught the girl by the shoulders, smoothly rolling backwards and throwing him over himself with the force of her own pounce. She landed indignantly on her face, sliding across the floor for a moment before she immediately perked up, looking over to Shinsou in surprise. The purple haired boy was already scrambling back towards the safety of his room when a gust of wind blew past him and a scolding voice reached his ears.
“Ms. Himiko! I have just finished telling you to stay by me! Mr. Aizawa entrusted me to ensure you would not wonder off! I believe I was being quite generous in giving you a tour of this institution! And then you go off to attack one of our classmates! I am somewhat aware of your situation! But I believe that is not an excuse!” Shinsou stared, halfway behind his door as Iida Tenya reprimanded the blond girl. Toga wasn’t paying attention.
She was now standing, seemingly getting up nearly as quickly as Shinsou had. She was staring at Shinsou, who was awkwardly attempting to sneak back into his dorm room without being pulled out by a conversation. The girl no longer looked at him with that manic look in her eyes, her expression now leveling out to a somewhat more interested one. Unfortunately she still held way too much excitement behind her gaze, which only encouraged Shinsou to shrink further backwards into his dorm. Even more unfortunately, Iida was now locking eyes with him.
“Shinsou! I am terrible sorry if she had inconvenienced you! It is truly my fault for not keeping a close enough eye on her! I should’ve known considering her history that she’d-“
“Well her history isn’t here now.” Shinsou found himself talking before he could stop himself. The other boy’s usually tense shoulders fell at his comment. Hitoshi immediately attempted to recover, “It’s fine, Iida. Just a bit of a shock is all. How about we ask her why she tried to BITE me?” Hitoshi snipped out, his head darting spitefully towards Toga, who stood with her hands behind her back with a look compatible to that of a puppy.
“Oh, y’know. Just-“ Toga laughed maniacally slightly, “wanted to say hello to my classmates!” She once again gained the much-too-wide grin on her face, that caused both boys to physically recoil.
“And I said that we would be meeting them soon later today!” Iida paused to take a breath, “Infact! We should start heading down to the common rooms now!” Shinsou raised an eyebrow.
“We’re meeting in the common room?” Shinsou asked, walking beside Iida.
“Yes. I believe I have sent a message in the group chat.”
“Oh. I have that on mute.” Shinsou shrugged, walking beside Iida. He felt a little unnerved, feeling Toga’s eyes blazing into the back of his head in quiet fascination. So much so that he barely noticed Iida’s constant berating about the importance of staying informed. He honestly would have preferred to miss such a speech.
Thankfully Toga was still following closely behind by the time they arrived to the common room. The excited chatter went quiet a his classmates’ eyes locked onto the blond trailing behind the pair. Shinsou was quick to get out of their line of sight, falling behind the couches along with Bakugou and Tokoyami, who preferred to stand rather than attempt to clamor onto a single couch. Togo waved excitedly at the class, most of them lighting up at the friendly face. It was clear that they heard rumors, but actually seeing the girl calmed their nerves.
“I do believe some proper introduction is in order! This is Toga Himiko and-“
“She can introduce herself, jackass!” Bakugou cut off Iida with a light-hearted glare.
“Bakugou, language!” Iida called.
“He’s right,” Toga scoffed, “Hi everyone! I’m Toga Himiko!”
“What’s your quirk?” Kaminari perked up immediately. Hitoshi really shouldn’t be surprised, considering that he had heard him betting on their new classmate’s quirk the other day. Hitoshi finds his eyebrows furrowing as the girl immediately tenses. No one else seemed to notice the shift as she still held the friendly smile.
“It’s called… Transform. I can transform into people!”
It hurt Hitoshi to hear her voice crack abnormally. Bits and pieces of herself were shown behind her insanity. The class blew up in excited chatter. It was clear that she expected it to quickly die out in the way she dragged it out,
“So how does it work?” And this question caused Shinsou to physically recoil. Katsuki bumped his shoulder with a concerned eyebrow. Hitoshi shook it off, continuing to observe the girl, who for once found herself as the center of curious attention. Not negative. The class was clear to discover what her quirk looked like, some looking as though they were about to jump out of their seats to volunteer.
“In order for it to work, I need to ingest a person’s blood. It depends on how much I ingest.” Toga said, calmer. The chatter died down.
“So, let me get this straight… in order to use your quirk, you have to hurt people?” The frog girl, Tsu- as she’d insisted they call her -piped up.
“That doesn’t sound very heroic at all…” Mina mumbled towards Kaminari, who was sinking back into his seat, once eager to be a test subject of her quirk. Shinsou, all too familiar with this sort of treatment opened his mouth to call them out, but surprisingly others beat him to it.
“Alright knuckle-nerds. Don’t pretend we don’t see people getting beat to shit by heroes all the time. It’s literally what we’re here for. We’re learning to fight people. I don’t know what’s so bad about a little blood shed- especially if it could be willingly. Besides, a quirk like that doesn’t come without a price. Toga, what’s the catch?” The class was put into a stunned silence as Bakugou stood up for the girl. Toga, sensing the tension.
“Well, I get pretty nasty cravings, Y’know? And I… I’m not exactly stable all the time. Oh! And I can replicate a person’s clothes… but I have to not be wearing my own for it to properly work or else it looks awkward.” Toga gave a nervous chuckle, and one of her eyelids gave an antsy twitch.
Uraraka of all people slowly stood up and walked towards the former criminal.
“Here.” She curtly pulled up the sleeve of her sweatshirt, holding out for Toga, “the class was pretty excited to see what you could do. I am too! I’m happy to lend you my blood anytime.” She gave the other an encouraging smile as the class watched in silence.
Toga’s mouth fell open… any insanity she may have shown dissipated as her eyes darted from her held out arm to Uraraka’s face, her fingers twitching as though holding back. “Are you… are you sure…? I don’t even know your name-“
“Uraraka Ochako.” She kept her arm held out.
“Uraraka, excuse my bluntness, but are you sure it’s wise to give this criminal the means to-“ the normally sweet girl cut Iida off with just a glare. Bakugou barked out a laugh as Iida clamped his mouth shut.
“I taught her that one.” He whispered off to the side. Shinsou snorted and shook his head as Tokoyami scoffed light-heartedly.
Toga was still in a state of shock and awe as she slowly lifted Uraraka’s arm up to her mouth. The class was completely silent as she held the girl's arm with the gentleness equivalent of how one would hold a newborn animal. She pressed her arm to her nose for a moment, mumbling something with closed eyes. Maybe if the class even had a low rumble of chatter it would have died out, but the soft words anyone who spoke out against her presence there to shame. Her cheeks were flushed slightly as Uraraka didn’t struggle.
“Thank you, Uraraka Ochako.” Said girl put a friendly hand on her shoulder and nodded.
This moment felt much too private for the class to be watching. Much too intimate for their eyes, but maybe that’s why they needed to see Uraraka offering her blood to the girl that needed it.
It was at that moment the class realized the truth behind some that needed to be saved.
Civilians weren’t always the ones that needed saving from villains.
Villains needed to be saved too.
The silence was almost immediately filled with a peppy attitude as Toga transformed into a near-perfect replica of the girl beside her. The only way that they could tell the two apart was the way Uraraka’s clothing molded around hers. Soon the class was bustling with excitement once more.
“Woah! Can you do me next?” Any judgement Kaminari had was forgotten, eager to see himself out of body.
“You can borrow some of my blood too if you want. Can be useful in training and stuff…” Katsuki called out.
“Me too!” Mina cried.
“Bakugou does have a good point. It could be rather useful during missions I suppose…” Tsu pointed out thoughtfully.
It wasn’t long before the entire class of 1-A became Toga Himiko’s personal blood drive.
Shinsou hoped that they didn’t have any STIs in the room.
Toga Himiko nearly had tears in her eyes as Uraraka pulled her into a hug.
“We’ll support you, Toga. I don’t know you too well yet, but I’m determined to help in any way I can!” The brunette said happily, which only assisted the second brunette into a fit of tears. Mina ran up to join the hug. Jiro joined in, and then Kaminari. Any of the stragglers were yanked into the group hug by the scruff of their necks.
Needless to say, Shinsou barely escaped with his life.
He’s decided that today was way too much social interaction for his taste. And while true, he didn’t have nearly enough caffeine to last the week while at U.A. Despite how much of a disaster that was, he found it to be the perfect excuse for Aizawa to give him permission to make a quick run off campus. He reluctantly took some of his classmates' orders as well. Todoroki wanted cold soba, Mina asked for some sort of energy drink, and Katsuki asked for a whole list of ingredients to make a professional-chef version of ramen. This is where Hitoshi drew the line, forcing him to get a brand of hot-sauce that he liked.
The teenager was quick to check out at the small convenience store, using a mix between his own cash and given money, making a mental note to hound Mina for whatever money she’d probably refuse to pay back. Energy drinks were annoyingly expensive, despite being a coffee lover, Hitoshi was well aware of the overwhelming price of a simple beverage. He had managed to cram everything into two bags, obviously wanting to pick through it before the others got their grimy hands on his own caffeine, causing him to rush through the streets. He nearly missed the scuffle going on in the alley beside him.
The purple-haired boy quickly closed in on the alley, silently putting down his bags.
“Someone tell the boss we got the kid.” A man’s voice was heard, calm and even. It sounded as though he was talking to an earpiece or phone call.
“You- you won’t get away with this.” The voice was slurred and had the familiar robotic voice over top of his mumbles.
“Hah! We already have.” A third voice emerged sounding just as slurred, though clearly more able to take a drink.
“You might as well stop fighting. Besides, we just want to talk. I don’t think the boss has plans on hurting you yet. Though if you struggle enough he might have to take you apart.”
“Tell that dry-faced frea-“ The voice choked on his own tongue, fabric and lightweight metal was heard, the sound of someone falling almost gently to the ground,“freak to fuck himself.” Shinsou’s heart pounded its way into his head, already knowing exactly who that was, just not wanting to believe it. The robotic overlay of his friend’s voice sounded all too familiar. He knew the dangers of being a Vigilante… he just hoped that Izuku would be caught by the police and not one of his enemies. The boy shook his head.
What was he doing staying here?
Shinsou was training to be a Hero and it was this kid who made his dream come true. He knows very well how pissed off the man was at the Vigilante, and he didn’t want to know the fate he would bring if Izuku was caught. Shinsou had no choice but to intervene. As much fear he had crawling through him, he knew that he’d be the only one to stop this.
He knew he should call for back up.
He also knew that Izuku would be long gone before it would arrive.
“Dry-faced freak? What’s you goin’ on about?” The drunken sounding man hiccuped.
The U.A. student pulled his hood over his head- hiding his hair -and pulled his sleeve over his mouth to hide his face.
God he hoped that Izuku was right about his quirk being able to hold out after a response was made.
He ran out into the front of the alleyway.
“Hey! You guys!”
The Vigilante on the ground groaned. The man in white, who had the levelheaded voice, was mid reach towards the boy when he was addressed. Both men seemed amused at least.
Shinsou had to remind himself that was a good thing.
“Shin-“ Izuku started before stopping himself to Hitoshi’s relief. He’d be put at risk too if they knew that they were friends. It was a nice catch on Izuku’s part, “Get- get out of here!” His mouth stumbled out as he attempted to push himself up.
“What are you guys doing to this civilian?!” Shinsou ignored his friend’s plea, bravely walking forward. He could see the annoyance in the white-clad man’s face.
“Get lost kid. This isn’t business you want to get into. Go home.” He snapped out.
One down.
“You really think I’m that stupid! You’re Villains!” Shinsou attempted to seem as heroic and stupidly brave as possible. The tremor in his voice sounded like fear, and it was. Though part of it was strain as he held his quirk off from taking control until the very last second.
“Get lost. You know this isn’t your fight, so why bother?” The drunken man slurred out before barking out laughter, “unless you wanna end up like him! So keep your trap shut and go back.”
Shinsou felt his control go taut. The small string of fishing line in the back of his mind tightened as the two men suddenly froze. He couldn’t see the blankness in their faces, but he could feel the way his quirk reacted, buzzing as though it knew his full potential.
“How dare you. That was incredibly reckless.” Izuku growled out, attempting to stand up before succumbing to the dizziness. Faint sounds of police sirens were heard, barreling up the street. Shinsou didn’t know if they were meant for this alley or somewhere else, but he really didn’t want to be there to find out.
“How dare I save your ass? Please. I’d do it all over again if I could.” Shinsou grew a sharp smile on his face as he stood over Izuku, “looks like you need some help?”
“No. I’m fine.” The Vigilante stayed rooted on his island of stubbornness.
“You sure?” Hitoshi asked teasingly, as Izuku managed to flip himself over onto his back, with a faint mumble about how it made the quirk’s effects worse.
“I’ll… just wait until it wears off.”
“Yeah and you’ll wait for the police to capture you too, right? I can almost see the headlines,” Shinsou crouched down next to his friend, still with that teasing grin as he reached a hand out. On the surface it looked like a playful hair ruffle, but as Hitoshi settled his hand into Izuku’s mess of hair from under his hood, he left it there. As though making sure his friend was still there, because if Shinsou thought he knew fear, having a friend as a Vigilante was a different story. “‘Infamous Vigilante; Caught Because he Can’t Trust People Enough to Help him Stand up Straight After Being Attacked by a Drunk Quirk! Slurs Through Interview!’” Izuku found himself chuckling hollowly at the statement Shinsou purposely made much too personal before weakly punching the arm that was extended down towards his head.
“Jerk.” Shinsou then acted as though he was walking away and out of the alley, causing a long droned out groan from the boy beside him.
“You wouldn’t.” The boy called, as Shinsou walked out of the alley, “Ok- ok! Shinsoooouuuu!” Izuku slurred as he disappeared out of his view.
“Calm down. I was grabbing my groceries.” Shinsou scoffed, quickly returning to retrieve his friend, “I’ll call my dad. He knows a lot about this kind of stuff.” He began helping a drunken Izuku out of the alleyway, into a different one away from the crime scene.
“No… don’t… I don’t need…” Izuku slumped, causing Shinsou to roll his eyes.
“Seriously?” He grumbled, setting Izuku on the ground to lean up against the wall and guard his groceries. He pulled out his phone and dialed the number.
“Hey dad. I need a favor.”
Shouta Aizawa was using Tsukauchi’s desk while he was out and about on his night patrol, looking furiously into Present Mic’s file. The hero doesn’t know how he hadn’t noticed it sooner. The Villain had been ‘present’ for a few years now, often committing no more than petty crimes by putting on random live concerts in public areas during the night. Most of which included extensive hacking, used to access said public space’s speakers. The hero looked through every crime the blond had done, committing them to memory. His eyebrows were scrunched together at a constant, giving him a slight migraine that not even caffeine could chase away. It would make sense that Aizawa would have never encountered him on his patrols, since most of his appearances occurred in Hosu. The teacher preferred to patrol in areas that were closer to the school, just in case his students managed to get in trouble outside of school. (It wouldn’t be the first time after all, and he has a feeling that it wouldn’t be the last for a very long time, especially considering Nedzu’s likeness of even numbers, causing his absolute refusal to let Aizawa even talk about retirement.)
Present Mic has had about fifty-seven ‘concerts’ as most had called them. At first he’d start out as a DJ, creating a distraction for other bank heists, but then as the years went by, these kinds of occurrence had rapidly decreased. Shouta knew something wasn’t right about any of this. All he felt was a sick feeling in his stomach as he read the first few reports, which began to get lighter after seeing the rest. It still was wrong. Hizashi was his friend. He was the dumb blond that wouldn’t stop annoying him in heroics class. Hizashi was in his heroics class. He was supposed to be a hero.
No kid should have had to go through what they went through. They were only in their second year when the three ‘Dumbigos’ became two. It was exactly why Aizawa found himself training his students the way he does. He couldn’t say that he was upset at Hizashi… but it hurt. He was always supposed to be the one who would make it. Aizawa was just following the crumbs of his friend’s success.
But then he stopped coming to school less.
Then he started mixing in with the wrong crowd.
Then he moved on from heroics.
Hizashi was meant to be much more than what he’s doing now. His hardships were supposed to make him stronger. Aizawa never thought there would be a point where Hizashi would break before he did.
He found that he wasn’t even mad at Hizashi.
He was mad at himself.
Shirokumo would not have wanted them to end like this. All Oboro wanted was for them to take care of each other. To motivate each other to keep moving forward. And to catch them when they fell.
And yet they couldn’t catch him.
He couldn’t catch Hizashi either.
God he was such a failure wasn’t he?
It made him wonder if he’d ever get to the Vigilante in time before he-
“Aizawa?” The office door was opened towards the detective. He stood with a worried expression on his face.
“Yeah?” Aizawa snapped out of his daze, his expression returning to an almost bored one as he urged his hands to once again sift methodically through the files.
“You’ve been staring at your coffee like I stare at a case. Just checking in. I just got a tip-off so I’m gonna go check it out. Take a break. Alright? And try not to drink all my coffee this time.” Shouta shrugged as his lips touched his mug, allowing himself to sip some of the luke-warm liquid. Tsukauchi stood there as Aizawa took his long exaggerated drink as loudly as possible in response to his plea. The Detective ran a tired hand over his face, knowing his conditions would not be met.
“Alright then… nice talk.” The Detective left the office, leaving Shouta to solve the mystery of Hizashi Yamada. Aizawa’s search pcontinued as he recounted and damn near memorized the crimes of Hizashi Yamada.
And then there was a more recent report.
Apparently Hizashi has been getting popular as this one described him being popular with the citizens.
Many of them decided to record their interactions and post them to YouTube.
Aizawa’s pen dropped as he nearly fell out of his chair, scrambling towards his friend’s and coffee supply’s computer. He typed in his own login information before the mouse darted to the search tab, instantly searching up the video website and typing in his former friend’s Villain name.
Present Mic’s Concert: Hosu Show (GONE WRONG!!!)
Two days ago
Aizawa clicked on the video unblinkingly, impatiently spamming where the skip button would be when an ad for a popular fast food restaurant came up before the video. He hadn’t even noticed that he was using his quirk until his hair fell back into his shoulders when he found that he needed to blink.
There was a shaky camera, a person with slightly scarlet hands held a thumbs up in front of the camera before it zoomed in to the top of a building. Present Mic stood there, tapping the device around his neck. It was slightly hidden from underneath the high collar of his leather jacket. His hair flowed over the jacket, making its way past his ass. Admittedly Shouta was relieved the man was no longer spending an excessive amount of money on hair gel. The device he recognized as new. Hizashi was fidgeting with the notches, his tongue poked out of his mouth with concentration.
Aizawa had put his elbow on the desk and rested his head in his hand, unaware of the twitch in the corner of his mouth as the man on screen cleared his throat.
“GOOD EVENING EVERY-“ His voice was cut off by a loud screeching from the cameras around him. The camera shook only briefly before refocusing on the man, who went back to adjusting his equipment. Aizawa found himself snorting at the scene before Hizashi immediately went back to addressing the crowd.
“Sorry about that to all my listeners! I recently got myself some new equipment thanks to a fan.”
The kid.
“Anyway, today, we’re gonna address that new artist, The Realtenor. And guess what?! He’s not even a real Tenor! Sounds more like a supprano to me. He’s been a pain in my ass recently! Especially when he keeps copying MY hits!” The crowd cheered in response, giving an appropriate reaction.
“Yeah yeah, I know. I don’t copyright my songs, but who really has time for that when you got hella good fans supporting a local artist such as myself. Most of you probably heard my podcast, and if you don’t, you should probably listen in. I talk a hell of a lot more!” The crowd seemed to really enjoy Present Mic’s banter with himself (and Aizawa couldn’t blame them). Of course, he was still illegally hacking into public speakers and using his quirk in public without a hero license.
And yet Aizawa couldn’t help but scroll through the ‘up next tab’ making sure that there were more videos to watch.
This was strictly for research purposes after all.
“Why’d you become a villain?!” One of the people in the crowd shouted within a moment of silence. Shouta felt a twitch in the crease under his nose and irritation in his brow. Hizashi stumbled backwards for a moment, visibly recoiling at the question, a drip of sweat on his brow as he fained a smile.
“You’re one of those angst bitches aren’t you? Well, I guess I’ll tell you…” Hizashi gave a dramatic pause. Though Aizawa knew in the twitch of his brow that he didn’t actually know what he’d say, “when you become one yourself! Man, keep to your own drama, yeah? You could learn a thing or two by living your own life, yeah?” He gave a wink, and the camera man lost it.
“Oh my god I wish he’d look at me like that. Fucking baddie. Too bad he’s into coffee addicted hobos, right?” The camera man huffed out, assumingly to his companion. As it turned out, the raven-haired hobo looking man watching the video was taking a sip of his coffee as the camera man said this, causing him to nearly spit out his coffee in a sputtering shower. He managed to hide his surprise with expertise as he slammed his cup down and gripped the desk.
And apparently Hizashi heard him.
“Oh! Good point, good point. Hey, I wouldn’t mind a hook up sometime, pretty boy,” Aizawa felt one of his lower eyelids twitch as Hizashi winked towards the camera man, shoulders tense, “but you’re right about my type. Y’know. The other day, I was doing a job and guess who I saw? That’s right! A lovely rat-nested head of hobo-hair. So Y’know, obviously, I approached the guy, and he started throwing punches! So, I decided that if he wanted to get up close and person, then I would too! (He didn’t exactly like that considering he was a hero trying to stop me) but hey, it’s not like I was doing anything horrible, yeah?” A murder of agreement echoed through the crowd as Aizawa immediately recognized the memory Hizashi was recalled. His face felt warm.
He hated getting sick… it was very annoying.
“Turns out the guy was an old friend from highschool!” The crowd was filled with excited ‘ooos’ as Hizashi continued, “but then, the guy that hired me tried to cockblock!” His audience sputtered into laughter, and yet one voice stuck out.
“Villain! You think you have a right to call yourself that?!” The man holding the camera aimed it towards the voice, it was a normal looking guy, people began backing away. He wore jeans and a white T-Shirt. He held a back pack that was swung over the front side of his shoulder, allowing himself to shuffle through his bag.
“I’ll show you what a real villain looks like!” The man had an insane grin on his face as he pulled out a small needle, shoving it into his neck. See, Eraserhead didn’t really know what Mic’s reaction was, due to the camera pointing towards the villain. This incident wasn’t in the files, or had yet to be filed, as there were no accounts of any other Villains in the more recent logs of Present Mic’s crimes. (Aizawa would know). The man grew quickly, towering over the rest of Mic’s ‘Listeners’ which consisted of about fifty or so people, most of which were teenage boys. He had elongated arms and legs, his face widening to show an eerie smile on his face. His pupils were dilated as his tongue grew into a more giraffe-like feature, turning an odd shade of blue with a very familiar blackened tip.
Aizawa leaned back in his seat as he expected. A hero would show up and Mic would disappear. So the man decided to watch the last eight minutes of the video, attempting to see where this would all go. He sipped his coffee, his eyes only glazing over the screen. A man and his daughter were lobbed into the chaos, seemingly going out for dinner and running into the clutter. The enlarged man’s eyes caught the small girl’s with a glint no hero ever likes to see. The father instantly clutched her to his chest with his back turned towards the Villain.
A blur of black pushed through the crowd, suddenly sandwiched between the Villain and the parent. His long hair followed behind him, just barely moving in the wind as though it was a cape.
“OH, YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” Unlike at the USJ, the voice sounded distant. Definitely still heard, but now the ear shattering volume that most definitely would have shattered the camera man’s phone was now condensed and directed towards his target. Aizawa was once again in mid sip as his mouth opened, disgustingly dropping any coffee that made it into his mouth back into the cup, he froze in his seat for a second as he watched the Villains’ showdown.
Was his nose bleeding…?
The monster of a man roared and covered his ears falling backwards with a pained scream. Mic, seeing as he was already deaf, was unaffected. The surrounding crowd gasped, the small girl peeking out from behind her father’s grasp.
The attacking villain instantly shrunk back down, passing out due to the drug he had taken. Mic’s eyes caught the small girl’s giving her a soft smile and a wave. Aizawa considered himself lucky he’d backwashed his coffee, as he was not the type to drink back his own saliva. Though if he had, he knew he would have choked again. The camera zoomed in on the blond as he crouched down, offering his hand to the girl, the father backing away to observe the interaction.
“Are-… are you a hero?” The voice was quiet and barely audible over the approaching sirens and gossiping people, Mic merely smiled and patted her head.
“Thank you. I don’t know what we would’ve… my baby girl’s future… me… would have been lost if it wasn’t for you…” The man smiled and held out a grateful hand for a hand shake. Hizashi shook his head, clearly red in the face. Aizawa still watched, now hunched over the computer screen, his face searching Hizashi’s for more subtle gestures.
“It’s nothing really. Can't leave on a dead crowd on me… yeah…?” He scratched the back of his head, his hair following suit. People began crowding around, and the camera man began losing his vantage point, the final sounds of the video being cluttered chatter and approaching police.
Aizawa sat there for a moment with his hand over his mouth in pondering. His eyes darted to the ‘play next’ bar beside the now ended video.
He was going to be here for a while.
If Izuku had a dime for every time he woke up on a random couch after getting his ass whipped by Villains he’d only have about twenty cents. It wasn’t nearly enough for a decent meal though so he doesn’t understand why anyone would ask such a question. His eyes squinted, expecting to feel the soft glaze of sunlight, but instead the curtains were drawn. It was still nighttime.
“Good to see you alive.” Shinsou’s voice was heard. As he stood up from the chair and shove his hand back into Izuku’s curls. It was becoming a habit for the boy and Izuku wouldn’t say that he liked it, but he didn’t plan on telling Shinsou to stop, “So what was that about?”
“Do I look like I know?” The Vigilante huffed, glancing around, “I feel like I got hit by a train… Where am I?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you did at some point.” Hitoshi shrugged, “You’re at my dad’s place. You passed out and I wasn’t gonna leave you in the alley, and I feel like you’d hate me if I took you anywhere else. Dad doesn’t know so you’re fine.”
“What do you mean he ‘doesn’t know’?! I’m fully decked out in Vigilante gear, have a knife sticking out of my back pocket and a belt full of explosives!” Izuku gasped out.
“My dad’s a middle aged divorced man. He took one look at us and said that he didn't want to know. Not that he doesn’t care or anything. He’s just tired of me making friends with criminals.” Izuku nodded slowly.
“Where’s he now?”
“He’s in the car. I need to get driven back to U.A. before curfew… but he says you can stay as long as you need. I gotta run so leave or stay. Whatever works… and uh… the Sports Festival is coming up. You should watch.”
“Wait, wait, wait-” Shinsou paused at the doorway as Izuku stood up from the couch, surprised to find that he wasn’t wobbly. It must have something to do with the quirk. “Curfew?”
“Oh. I thought that you of all people would know. We have dorms now. It’s annoying.” Shinsou shrugged, “Why do you ask?”
“How’s Toga?” Izuku sputtered out before he could stop himself. Shinsou viably relaxed as a faint smile grew on his face.
“She’s more than fine. Pretty sure she’s the happiest she’s been in like… ever. Especially now that she’s not living on the streets anymore.” Izuku gave a cold stare at Hitoshi as he gave him a knowing one with a raised eyebrow.
“Anyway, Sports Festival. You should come watch. I want to show you my progress… maybe we can spar during break or afterwards or… something. I don’t know yet.” Shinsou shrugged, “See you.”
Shinsou left Izuku in the living room, leaving the Vigilante with only his thoughts. Though that’s something no one wants, making Izuku quick to leave the cozy home. It was messier that Mic’s and less cozy, the faintest smell of cigarettes lingered in every room, a cold and sour touch that made the boy wrinkle his nose until he stepped outside onto the bud-ridden porch. The car was gone, leaving Izuku to walk back to the city.
Shinsou entered the car and slammed the door shut. His dad was on his phone, turning it off after he entered the car. His father pulled out of their driveway and into the street, the pair drowning in silence.
“So…” Shinsou piped up awkwardly, choosing to speak up rather than turn up the car’s radio to whatever was playing. He figured it would be worse if the mystery wheel of music chose some out of the box tune, unfitting of the tension in the car.
“A Vigilante, Shinsou?” His dad asked tiredly, visibly about two seconds away from slamming his head into the horn.
“Dad- it’s not-“
“He could be dangerous… to you.” His eyes left the road for a second to look back at his son, “at least I know how you got through that exam…” he grumbled, attempting to cut through the tension he created.
“He’s my age. He’s not dangerous… and I think… he needs help.” Shinsou’s father’s head turns towards him looking at him in surprise before his eyes dart back to the road. He finds himself slamming on the brakes when he notices the red light ahead of himself, causing the car to lurch forward awkwardly. Shinsou’s dad yelps and reaches his arm over to his chest, keeping his from lurching too far forward.
“Dad grab!” He calls as the car stops fully, the tension that was once thick no more than a light mist by now.
“Remember that program my Principle messaged you about?” Hitoshi asked.
“Oh. The one he said that he was strictly by law required to tell us about? The one where they let charged criminals into a school full of children, right?” His father deadpanned sourly.
“Yeah… that girl she… it wasn’t her fault. And it isn’t his fault either. What if we get rid of villains by uprooting them at the source… and not just…” Shinsou hesitated, his father sending meaningful glances at him while focusing on the road.
“Judging them all the time.” The parent finished, knowing what Shinsou had been through, needing to switch his schools multiple times.
And why his wife left.
And Shinsou feels so lucky to know that his father still loves him endlessly, and support any path he chose.
Which is also why his father sighed as he stopped in front of the gates of U.A. and unlocked his car. Shinsou opened his door and nearly managed to escape with his caffeine before being yanked back inside.
“I am so so proud of you Shinsou.” He quickly pulled him into a side hug to which the purple-haired boy protested.
“Dad!”
“I’ll be sure to take good care of your friend.” He smiled, “maybe give him a hair cut too. On the house.” He grinned.
“What friend?” And suddenly, there was a rat with a tiny tie standing next to their car. Shinsou felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
“I wouldn’t get your hopes up. He’s probably long gone by now.” Shinsou told his father, loudly enough so that the principal could hear.
“Oh. I see.” His father, sensing the tension between his son and the rat, was quick to drive off.
“It’s getting late, Shinsou. I suggest heading inside not to miss curfew!” Nedzu smiled a toothy grin. Hitoshi nodded, eagerly taking the escape offered.
“R-right.”
So yeah. Maybe he shouldn’t have invited Izuku to the Sports Festival.