Chapter Text
The sun beamed down on the beach, giving Izuku ample reason to despise the sun. The sand was doing its job and retaining that heat, making the air around him a scorching one hundred and two degrees Fahrenheit. The only relief that Izuku got was the occasional breeze coming off of the ocean, cooling his sweat-slicked skin. Hatsume had decided that until they got a sufficient amount of raw material for her to begin piecing parts together, she was going to help him.
Her hair had grown out recently, and since she hadn't had time to get it cut with her obsessive focus on the project, she currently had her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, much like Midoriya kept his. She was in shorts and a tank top with a bandana placed over her head but had insisted all the same on wearing her combat boots. How she was managing, Izuku had no idea. He had long since discarded his shirt and was merely in his shorts and shoes. He supposed it helped that she was dismantling scrap into core components while he was lugging heavy objects, either to her to dismantle or to the dumpsite.
The beach, itself, they were making solid progress on. Now that he had someone stripping parts for him, he could focus more on simply clearing. About thirty-five percent of the beach had been cleared by his estimates, and it would, hopefully, pick up pace even further once Jiro joined in. Speaking of which, she should be getting there right around… Izuku heard footsteps approaching the beach from where he was tossing the trash into one of the dumpsters. Now. Izuku set down the rest in the bin and then turned to meet Jiro.
"Hey there, Jiro," Izuku called out to her as she stood by the wall, staring in disbelief down at the beach. Whether due to the mountains of trash or due to the amount they had already cleared, he wasn't sure. She had evidently followed his message that morning about the temperature and worn light workout clothing.
"Just how much trash is down there?! There's a beach under all of that?!" Izuku chuckled. It did indeed seem overwhelming initially. They had already cleared a forty by twenty rectangle out of the beach.
"It's not that bad. Only about two stories of various refuse. We've already cleared out about twenty-four thousand cubic feet of trash, so what's remaining is already a lot less than we started with. Follow me and I'll introduce you to my partner." Izuku smiled and gestured to her to follow.
"Hey, Mei!" Izuku yelled across the beach as they walked over. Mei, who was bent over an engine bay disassembling, grunted back at him. He had brought that car over to her early this morning and she was only just now getting to it.
"One moment, Izuku. I dropped one of my tools and it fell to the bottom. I'm seeing if I can reach- oh god damn it." The soft tink of metal on metal followed by a short thud inclined Izuku to believe the tool had just fallen through to the sand. He chuckled and walked up, tapping Mei on the shoulder to get her to shift back. She stepped back, shoulders hunched, and pouted. "I could have gotten it, you know."
"I'm sure you could, Mei. But it's easier this way since it's on the ground now." Izuku grabbed the front of the car and lifted it up onto its back fender long enough for Mei to pick up her wrench. She huffed and thanked him before turning around to their guest. She had been prepared to play nice like Izuku had asked and introduce herself. That was until she saw Jiro with her jaw practically on the ground. All she could do was laugh after that.
Jiro looked between Izuku, Mei, the vehicle, and back to Izuku, in that order. "You have a strength augmentation quirk? I always wondered why the definition in your arms was, well, so defined." Jiro nodded her head as if she was finally understanding. That was until Izuku's face became pained and Mei started to laugh even harder. Jiro ignored the girl now crying and looked to Izuku for an explanation.
"I don't have a strength augmentation quirk, Jiro. In fact, I have no quirk at all." Izuku was wincing when he said it. He may be fine with his quirklessness now, but that didn't mean that he was unaware of how people tended to react to the quirkless. As if they were a diseased leper in a society of immunodeficient. Jiro went back to being absolutely shocked before sputtering and simply pointing between the car and Izuku. Mei, panting, finally spoke up.
"His muscle and bone density are so far beyond what a normal human being should have, he could probably lift three or four of those at this point. Hell, that's not even the craziest thing I've seen him do recently. I'm starting to find the idea that he's entirely human to be a joke." Neither girl saw how Izuku winced back as if he had been slapped at that. Mei wiped the tears out of the corner of her eyes and extended her hand to Jiro. "Hatsume Mei. I'm Izuku's business partner."
Izuku smiled seeing Mei actually interacting with another person willingly. Even if he hadn't planned on announcing his quirkless status, it was worth it if this was the outcome. "I'm going to let you two get acquainted. Jiro, when you're ready to get started, grab me. I'll show you an area with smaller pieces that you can start with." Izuku narrowed his eyes. Now that he thought about it… "Jiro, have you had any formal combat training? Martial arts? Wrestling? Boxing? Anything at all?" Kyoka blinked at the question and shook her head.
"No, I can't say I have. Is it important?" Her jacks were twitching and she was nervous. Was she supposed to have had some kind of training? Izuku nodded.
"Alright, then I'm going to start training you on that, as well. We'll take some time later to get you started on the basics. You're going to be joining us, too, Mei." Mei's head snapped back to Izuku. She had gotten distracted with a part and was only now, that Izuku said her name, really processing what they were talking about.
"What?!" Mei squeaked. She was startled by the idea. She was going to be a support technician. Why did she need to know how to fight? "Why am I being dragged into this? Her, I understand." She gestured to Jiro with her screwdriver. "But I'm going to be staying in my lab. Why would I need to know how to fight?"
Izuku turned his narrowed gaze on her. "That is exactly why you need to know how." Mei tilted her head and even Jiro was giving him a confused look. He sighed, "Let me put it this way. If you were fighting a war against an overwhelming enemy, where do you start targeting?"
"Infrastructure, civilians, supply lines, industry. What does that have to do with-" Mei cut herself off, eyes widening as she came to the realization Izuku was looking for.
"Exactly. If I were a villain? The first group I'd target and get rid of are the support technicians. They are the scientists. The creators. They are the lifeblood of the supply, the industry. Now I'm not saying you are going to get attacked, Mei. In fact, we're lucky, as most people labeled villains are just petty criminals. They won't go after technicians because they aren't concerned with the big picture. An organization though? They would. What happens when we introduce our prototype, as well? You think companies won't send people after us?" Mei raised her hands in defeat.
"Fine. Fine. I get it. I'll join in later." Her mouth was dry and she reached for her water. She hadn't thought about it, but it made sense. Izuku nodded his head, then slipped into a small smile.
"Back to a lighter topic. Like I said, Jiro, I'll train you later. When you're ready to get to the smaller pieces, grab me." He walked away at this point, picking up a fridge that had already been stripped of all it's usable pieces. His muscles flexed under his skin, and the sun glinted off his tanned skin from many days in the sun. He had the body of a Greek demigod, and as he walked away, Jiro let out a low whistle.
"Good Lord, Green is fucking jacked." Jiro was muttering to herself, but evidently Mei had heard her because she snorted at the statement.
"You don't even know the half of it. When he really gets working at the forge? He's shirtless, sweaty, and hammering a piece of heated steel." Mei shuddered and shook her head slightly. "It's kind of terrifying honestly. But. In a good way, you know?"
Jiro looked back to where Midoriya was now carrying the fridge up the stairs with ease. "Yeah, yeah, I get that. I get that really well."
…
The sun was setting when Jiro's back hit the sand. She was exhausted. Midoriya made it look easy, and his idea of light was incredibly skewed. Then following that hellish muscle training in the guise of cleanup came the combat training. Initially, it hadn't been that bad. It started with Midoriya explaining basic strengthening techniques for the muscle groups that weren't targeted by their cleaning. After that, it had been the basics of the basics. How to properly throw a punch, kick, and block. What she hadn't been expecting was the routine that came along with that. Repeat into repeat of the same movements made her aware of muscles she didn't even know she had.
When she finally caught her breath, she set out towards the train station to head home. Izuku had said he'd follow her home to make sure she got there alright. When she protested, he stated that it was just convenient timing, since he had business over in town that way. She shrugged, since she didn't mind the company, anyway. As they sat down on the train, she groaned. How she was going to get back up at her stop, she had no idea.
"How the hell do you do that every day, Midoriya? I did less than you were doing and I can barely walk. And I'm certain that I will be feeling it worse tomorrow."
"Well, I can't exactly claim that I'm the most normal person you should be comparing yourself to, Jiro."
She narrowed her eyes at him, scrutinizing his expression. "Just how abnormal are you?"
"Enough," was his only reply before they sank into a companionable silence.
…
When Jiro and Izuku were almost back to her home, she asked him a question. "Midoriya. What you said earlier to Hatsume, about support technicians being in danger. Were you telling the truth?"
"I am a lot of things, Jiro. But a liar is not one of them." He had a sad expression and distant eyes, as if recalling something long ago. "But yes, to answer your question. Support technicians are generally very well protected behind multiple layers of security. It's one of the major reasons I-Island was created. But I know all too well how easy it is to slip past security if one has a reason to. I want her to be able to protect herself if worse comes to worst."
Jiro could understand that. A million things could go wrong, and there was no harm in being prepared, after all. "I doubt I'll be able to join you guys again tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to wake up and take a painkiller as it is."
"I wouldn't want you to, anyway. Nothing against you but you're not used to this, and straining your muscles too far will only do the opposite of what we want. I'm fairly confident you'll be able to tell when you should and shouldn't be joining us. Here's your stop." Izuku smiled at her. "It was great to have you along. I'm sure Mei will warm up to you soon enough. She honestly socialized better than I expected her to."
Jiro laughed. "She looked like she wanted to beat me with her wrench every time I got near the pile of materials she was working on."
"Yes, well, that's already better than most. The first time she met me she actually tried to hit me with her wrench, so…" Izuku smiled and waited for her to be fully inside before turning around and letting the smile drop off his face.
"You can come out now. I know you're there." There was nothing but heavy silence that greeted Midoriya's comment. But Izuku knew someone was there. He had been able to sense someone following them since they got off the train. "Fine, if that's how we want to play this." Izuku let all of the guards he had put up slip away. His personality flipping as if a light switch had been flicked.
His eyes glowed a bright viridian, and cyan specs floated around them. It was bright, and anyone looking would think that a demon was staring back at them. He flexed, rolling his shoulders and popping his neck, the promise of violence practically radiating off of him now. "Let me make something very clear." He growled to the silence. "You can come after me all you want. I don't care what you do there. But if you go after one of mine? There will be no pit in hell deep enough that you can escape me."
It took a moment, but the presence faded, and Izuku sighed, letting the light in his eyes recede back into his normal emerald. That had been an unexpected encounter tonight, but he still had one more thing to do before he could head home. Hopefully, it could be dealt with quickly. His mother would be late getting home tonight, and he really wanted to have dinner with her.
…
It didn't take long to find the man he was looking for. Even if he didn't have what was basically an inescapable web of cameras to pull from, the man didn't exactly do subtle very well. He had fallen into step behind the man for a few blocks before following him into an alley. Izuku hadn't made any attempt to disguise that he was following the man. He had wanted this confrontation, after all.
"Who are you and what do you want?" The man snarled at him, as if Izuku had kicked his dog. Cerulean fire lit in his hands, climbing his arms in an attempt to scare Izuku. The fire lit the alleyway in a ghostly hue, outlining that the man in front of him was not healthy. He had more burn tissue than should be on anybody and a haunted look that told Izuku the information he had gathered was correct.
Izuku parted his hands to either side of him, a universal symbol that he came in peace. "Midoriya Izuku. What I want is you, Dabi." The man looked down at him with suspicion in his gaze.
"And what would a kid need with a hardened criminal like me?" He still hadn't put the flames out, but he seemed less tense. Izuku just chuckled.
"If a series of small break-ins where you took only the bare minimum is what you consider to be a hard crime, then you need to relearn what it means to be a criminal, Todoroki Toya." Izuku gave an icy smile that reflected the look in his eyes that were once again glowing.
Dabi, once on the verge of relaxing, felt his tension immediately spike through the roof, his flames burning brighter than they had been a moment before, and subconsciously he shifted into a combat position. This kid is dangerous. How the hell does he know who I am? How long has he been watching me?
Izuku waved at him in a motion of dismissal. "Relax. I'm not one of your father's goons, and while I doubt I hate him as much as you do, I have no love for our illustrious Number Two." Izuku let a bit of venom leach into his voice when speaking of Endeavour. Generally, he wouldn't let his opinions seep so clearly into his tone, but he had a feeling it would help in this situation. "As for how I know who you are, yes, you are that obvious. It isn't hard to figure out when you have an entire city's databanks at your disposal. You should just be glad that the police never tasked anyone actually competent to your missing person case."
"Great. Now I know I have to worry about someone finding me still. You still haven't answered what you want from me." Dabi was on edge. He couldn't get a read on this kid. He clearly wasn't a cop, and he clearly wasn't a hero. But he wasn't a villain, either. Even if his blood had run cold under that gaze and his instincts were screaming at him to run.
Izuku gave him a wide smile now. Dabi felt another chill run down his spine. There was a predator in this alley, and it wasn't him. "Oh no, you don't need to worry about anyone else finding you. I scrubbed all trackable information from the systems for you. Think of it as a peace offering, considering how I've ambushed you like this. As for what I want? It's simple, really. I want to offer you a job. I know you're looking for one. No one is willing to hire you for a variety of reasons. The place you applied to earlier ripped up your application, by the way. Don't bother waiting for a call from them."
Dabi cursed under his breath. He'd had a good feeling about that one, too. The man must have been faking nice. As far as they were concerned, they all saw a burnt, sketchy man that had no real history. Hell, he was barely making it by as it was, and he was getting kind of sick of sleeping in stairwells. "What kind of a job and why would I want it?" Izuku smiled now for real. They both knew that he had him.
"It's quite simple, really. You see people out there, like yourself, need help. Sometimes it's something small. Moving a couch, finding a lost cat, beating the shit out of a stalker. Other times, it might be something bigger. Escaping from an abusive husband and getting them to an extraction location, returning a stolen item to its rightful owner, beating up several bigger stalkers. I'll pay you a flat fee for each, varying based on the task at hand with a potential bonus if you can handle the situation without incident. You'll handle the situation and, in return, they'll owe me a favor down the line." Izuku's smile was hard and vicious at that last point. "In this coming year, I'll be setting up a facility of sorts. I'll then be transitioning you to head of security for that facility. At that point, you will be paid a salaried wage, and if you would like, you can stop doing the contracts entirely."
"And why would you want me for this? There are others more capable, surely." Izuku shook his head.
"Certainly that might be the case, but you are special. You know both sides of this. You have a criminal mind, but you aren't past the point of no return. What you've done can be expunged from the system. Besides that, you know the heroes' side, as well. Oh, don't get me wrong. People like us? We aren't heroes, even if we have a license saying otherwise. We operate in a gray zone that people don't like to think about. But it's a chance for you to do good, despite everything you've been through."
Dabi thought about it, staring intently at the boy. No, not a boy. Demon in front of him. He knew too much, spoke too well, and played the game like a pro. He was right, of course, and he couldn't exactly pass up an offer this good. Dabi nodded his head slowly, agreeing to the offer, and let his flames fade out. It was like everything the boy had said and done up to this point had been an act. His smile dimmed into a proper, soft one, and the creature that was hunting him before was gone, as if it had never existed. He shuddered at the easy transition. The kid wished him goodnight, turned, and walked out of the alleyway. It wasn't until his phone buzzed in his pocket with a list of contracts and their commission prices that he decided he had just sold his soul to the devil.
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