Tsukauchi frowned at the woman sitting across from him at his desk. There was a rather large stack of paperwork from last night, and she was one of many who had come into the station to help fill out that paperwork. It could either be a good sign or a bad sign. Either some new underground heroes were taking interest in the area, or they had a vigilante. The second option was the most likely, but not optimal, especially since Tsukauchi was still dealing with the aftermath of the recent Hero Killer activity nearby.
"Why don't you tell me what happened?" he suggested, glancing over the report she'd helped fill out.
"Sure," she said, looking anxious in her chair, with her hands clasped nervously in her lap. "I was cornered by three men last night. They, um, they attacked me in an alley and told me to give them money, but I didn't have anything on me because I don't usually carry money on me since when I have money with me, I use it. I told them I didn't have anything, but they didn't believe me. One of them cut my arm with a knife and I screamed. They stole my purse, but I didn't have anything in it except my phone. When they realized it was empty, they said I'd have to pay them, um, in, um, other ways." A faint blush started on her cheeks and her eyes dropped down to her hands. "They started, um…" She bit her lip, tears coming to her eyes.
"You don't have to give all the details," Tsukauchi said kindly. "I have that part on file. What happened next?"
She nodded, meeting his eyes again. "It was getting really bad, and, um, uncomfortable, when this kid dropped down from the roof and started fighting them. He knocked the first one out immediately, and then started fighting the second two right after, but they ran away before he could really do anything to them. I saw their faces though," she added hastily, "so I worked with a sketch artist yesterday to help you find the two that ran."
"That's fine, keep going."
"Okay, so then another man dropped down from the roof after the kid and told him that they ran because they thought he was a threat, which made the, um, the kid look a little more relaxed or something. He'd seemed, um, kind of disappointed before that. So then the kid asked me if I was okay, but the other man started dragging him away. They left, but then a few seconds later, the kid came back and told me to call the police. He asked if I was okay and I told him about the cut on my arm, so he asked if he could do first aid on it, and I told him that was fine, so he pressed some gauze on it. He didn't really say anything else, just worked on my arm until we heard police sirens and the other man came back and told him they had to go. And then he just… disappeared. I think maybe he went to the roof? Sorry, I don't know where he went."
"Hmm." Tsukauchi looked over the notes he had from last night. This was definitely a vigilante case, which was unfortunate. "Did you happen to see the kid's face?"
"No, sorry. He was wearing a black medical mask and a green hoodie. It looked very, um, last minute. Like he hadn't put much thought into what he was wearing. But he had a lot of weapons, um. Knives, I think maybe swords on his back? And a big, long stick."
"Did you catch a name?"
She shook her head, looking very apologetic. "The other man just called him 'kid.' His voice sounded like he was around… Well, I'm not sure how old, but in his teens. Younger teens? It was kind of high pitched. But… capable." She frowned deeply. "I'm sorry, I feel so unhelpful."
"This is very helpful, actually. Thank you. Now, could you describe the other one?"
"The man?" she said, looking a little more excited. "I didn't recognize him last night, but this morning I was watching the news and I saw him. Stain, the Hero Killer."
Tsukauchi's blood ran cold. This was very bad. One Stain was enough, but Stain with an apprentice, most likely a hero school dropout, was worse.
"O-okay," he said, trying to keep it together. "Stain. And, last thing. Did you happen to see the kid's quirk?"
She shook her head, looking sad. "Sorry, I didn't see it. He didn't really seem to be using one, but I don't know."
"Okay, thank you. Do you need an escort home?"
"No, thank you, I'll manage." She stood up with a smile. "I'm glad I could help. Please call me if you have any more questions."
"Of course." He showed her out the door and then closed it. With a weary sigh, he pressed his forehead into the wall next to the door. A vigilante training under Stain. From the sounds of it, a very talented, very young vigilante training under Stain. They'd have to catch him soon, or he'd grow very quickly into a tremendous problem, like Stain had.
Sighing again, he reopened the door and waved in the next person to get saved last night.
Stain was changing his M.O. to paralyzing heroes and destroying their public image instead of just killing them. Toshinori was refusing to slow down his hero work and suffering because of it. Several gangs were beginning to rub up against each other in the worst way possible. And now Stain was taking on a student.
Could this year possibly get any worse?
Something was happening in the underworld and Tomura didn't like it.
He didn't mind that something was happening, that was normal-- good even. The more power upheavals that took place now, the easier it would be for him and Sensei to make use of the instability. No, having things going on was good. But he didn't know what was going on, and that was annoying.
To be fair, no one else knew what was going on either. Giran didn't even know what was happening, even after he'd met with the one person in the underworld who usually had all the gossip. But it would appear that that person was the gossip in this case, because apparently he'd shown up with a kid who completely threw all of Giran's attempts at information gathering into the trash and instead managed to draw information out of Giran, which was not how that was supposed to work. Giran was the Tomura's information broker for a reason, because he didn't talk about things he wasn't supposed to. He was good at it, at keeping his mouth shut. But something about this goddamn kid made him open that mouth and spill.
Tomura had been so angry about it, he almost murdered Giran on the spot. Only Kurogiri's soothing words had held him off.
So this kid, this little 'green' kid was messing things up. And Tomura wouldn't care normally, but this kid had dipped his fingers into the wrong people's business now. Tomura was going to get to the bottom of this, and then he'd decide whether or not the kid would be useful to him and Sensei. If he was useful, he'd be recruited.
If he wasn't useful, Tomura would make sure he regretted messing with his broker.
By the time Izuku was back in school on Monday, he'd been recommended for the U.A. hero course. He hadn't really expected Reiki to act so quickly, but she sent out the necessary emails and letters in no time at all. Nezu apparently moved equally quickly, because on Monday morning, the entirety of Aldera faculty had been informed that one of their students had been submitted for recommendations.
Not only that, but the student recommended was, not in fact, Bakugou Katsuki, but was instead one Midoriya Izuku.
Most of the faculty were either in denial or were currently worshipping Izuku, and he didn't know which was better. He didn't really like either of them, to be honest. He'd much prefer being ignored by the teachers than this. The teachers in worship mode were just fake and slimy and Izuku didn't want them near him because seriously ? Only now that U.A. thought he had potential, he was worth something?
The teachers in denial weren't any better.
"One of you got recommended for the U.A. hero course last week," one such teacher started class with, glaring around the room, "And it sure as hell wasn't the Quirkless. Was it you, Katsuki-kun? Why are you hiding behind Deku?"
Kacchan scowled around the room, looking for whoever had dared surpass him and got in from recommendations. "I'm not gonna get in from recommendations, I'm gonna prove how good I am in the right way," he growled, finally meeting eyes with Izuku, who wasn't sure how to handle this situation. "And Deku definitely didn't get a recommendation."
Izuku resisted an eye roll, but it took a great deal of self-control.
"So which of you bastards was it?" Kacchan asked, returning to glaring at each student in turn. "Which of you decided to get someone to recommend you for U.A.?"
With an annoyed huff, Izuku raised his hand. "Excuse me, I did get recommended for U.A.'s hero course." Kacchan whipped around in his chair, eyes blazing. But Izuku had fought real villains now, he'd gone toe to toe with some of the most dangerous people in the underworld, and Kacchan didn't scare him any more. Izuku didn't care about what he had to say now. "I got recommended by Fujimoto Reiki, who's a hero healer I met the other night."
"Don't lie to me," his teacher hissed, eyes narrowing. "You fooled the U.A. staff into thinking you got recommended, cheating to get up in the world, just like always."
Izuku was starting to get a little angry at this point. Everyone at this school was so stupid , underestimating people who didn't have flashy quirks. People without flashy quirks were going to be these people's downfall someday, because they let their own stereotyping get in the way of their heads. "You seriously think a middle schooler could trick Nezu? I'm just a useless Deku, right?" he snapped. "How on earth would I do that?"
"Then you tricked this Fujimoto person into recommending you," his teacher snapped back.
"Don't call her that," Izuku said, voice going dangerously low. He didn't use this tone often, and if his teachers paid any attention to him, they would have known that this was the tone that made bullies back off and run. This was the tone that meant murder. It was making more and more appearances lately.
"Don't call her by her name?" Izuku's teacher said, in an almost teasing voice.
Izuku stood up, slamming the palms of his hands into the top of his desk. His teacher had the decency to actually jump a little, looking marginally terrified. Some of the other students in his class were actually starting to edge out of their seats away from him. "Don't pretend you understand everything about me," he snarled. "You know nothing about Reiki, and you're stupid if you think she'd be so gullible as to be fooled into recommending a someone to the U.A. hero course. Reiki recommended me because she saw something in me that no one else ever takes the effort to, and she had the compassion and the bravery to act on it. So don't act like you understand her. And don't call her Fujimoto."
"You couldn't possibly have gotten recommended to U.A.," his teacher insisted.
"How would you know that?" Izuku retorted immediately. "How would you know what talents I might have, if you've never taken the time to look? Reiki looked for potential, and she found some. Is that so hard to believe? Maybe if you spent less time with your head up your ass, you'd actually see that I'm not as incapable as everyone seems to think I am."
Maybe that was too far. Even Kacchan looked surprised, so that might have been pushing it.
He slid out from his desk and fell into a deep bow. "I apologize for my outburst," he said, forcing his tone to lighten up a little. Several students relaxed. "It was out of line, and completely uncalled for. I was the student recommended for U.A., and I'm going to do my best to get in." He allowed the threat to show in his tone as he finished, "I would suggest you support me, before you find yourself left behind."
Chapter End Notes
I love it when I'm writing and I have a plan and then while I'm writing my fingers are like, "yes, that was the plan, it was-- but how about this, how about he takes the recommendation exam instead?" and then the plan is better but so much more complicated.
Hello! At this time, you have read about 50 pages of Google Docs, which is the equivalent of something like 100 pages in novel form. It you are binge reading, go take a break! Sleep! Eat a snack! And then... proceed :)
Training
Chapter Notes
'Sup.
This chapter's a little rushed because I really want to get to the entrance exam and UGH why does there have to be so much stuff in between I just want to be there already
tw// discrimination, mentioned suicide baiting, minor injuries, explosion
See the end of the chapter for more notesIzuku felt a little like he was the latest exhibit in the zoo.
At school, the feeling was inevitable. Everywhere he went, he was followed by whispers. Most of them were not nice whispers. They were, in fact, quite cruel. People turned to each other in the halls and made bets on how long he'd manage to stay alive. They told him he was cheating, or said they didn't believe he'd been recommended at all. Some people were nice enough, he supposed, and would congratulate him or wish him luck, but even they had a tone that expressed pity, not real encouragement. The teachers gave him sorrowful looks when he passed them, as though they were looking at someone on his deathbed. Some particularly brave bullies were putting spider lilies on his desk. He figured it was only a matter of time before they began telling him to kill himself now to avoid a humiliating death later. That was fine. He'd dealt with them saying stuff like that before, he could bear it again. Anyway, he only needed to hold on for a little while longer, and then he'd be free from this school.
No one, not a single person in the entire school, seemed to think he could actually be a hero. All of them were just waiting for the illusion to finally break, when he would finally see that he couldn't do it. But he refused to see it. He didn't want to see it, not when he could focus on hope instead. His hope to become someone who saved everyone. That was his focus, no matter what anyone else had to say about it.
He couldn't pretend it didn't hurt, though. The way whispers followed him wherever he went at school. The way people looked at him like he was fragile enough to break at any second. How people seemed to expect him to be unable to carry himself one more step, just because he didn't have their kind of power. But, to be honest, he'd always felt alienated from everyone else. He didn't see how this was any different. Anyway, half the time he believed them. Maybe he wasn't cut out to be a hero.
But then, all that was different when he was out on the streets with Stain. People seemed to think he was capable of anything as soon as he put on his green hoodie and grabbed his knives. Whispers followed him there too, but they were a different kind of whisper. People spoke about him with a tone of admiration, of fear, of expectation. Everyone anticipated great things from him as a vigilante. And he'd only been on the streets for about two months. He hadn't even tried going solo yet, and people still were talking about him. It was flattering, in a terrifying way. When he walked up to villains who were in the know, they would sometimes back down. Not always, not even often, but that was too much to hope for anyway. Most of the time people treated him like he was an interesting new challenge, at least until he kicked their asses, and then they tended to start respecting him. But sometimes he would meet people who took one look and then backed off, apologizing. Not because he was a threat now, but because no one wanted to anger someone who had so much potential, someone who had caught Stain's eye. It made him wonder why people at school never thought he was capable of growth.
At night, when he slipped down the alleys in his gear, keeping half an ear out for trouble as he headed home, he would consider the difference between school and his new extracurricular. At school, people hated him because they thought he couldn't amount to anything. As a vigilante, people hated him because they were afraid of what he could turn into. He never showed any sign of a quirk on the streets. At first, he'd thought that would make people see him as less of a threat, but actually it made him into more of one. Because no one knew what his quirk was, everyone figured he was hiding it, but if he ever got into really big trouble, he could use it just as well as he could use his knives. It added an extra layer of mystery that made people wonder exactly how powerful this new kid was.
But Izuku didn't have a quirk. He was planning on keeping that secret for as long as possible, because things changed when he told people. But as time went on, and he got better and better as a vigilante, he began to wonder if not having a quirk to rely on meant that he had that much more room to grow than everyone else. And as he began to wonder that, he started hating the world of quirks that shut him out. Because he had just as much potential as everyone else. It just manifested itself in a different way. And everyone in this society was too blind to see that anyone, even a useless quirkless freak, could succeed.
Then, there was home. His mom… wasn't exactly sure how to feel about him getting recommended to U.A. She would alternate between bursting into tears about the possibility of her losing her 'baby,' and beaming at him with pride from across the room. And she absolutely loved Reiki. Almost every conversation Izuku had with his mother after Reiki came over was about her-- what she did for a living (hero healer), how Izuku had met her (at a friend's house), why she hadn't come over again (she had a busy schedule), why she was recommending him for the exam (he'd asked her to). He was finding it increasingly difficult to think of convincing enough half-truths to answer the harder questions.
And meanwhile, Stain had realized that Izuku's exams were coming up, and therefore was pushing him even harder than before. At first, he had been extremely helpful, throwing out tips and occasionally stepping in to aid Izuku during fights. Now, he stood on the sidelines and watched as Izuku struggled, and then later lectured him on everything he could have done better. Izuku would be the first to admit it worked, but it was still difficult, and he was quickly losing much-needed sleep with the pressure of studying for the written exam added on.
Reiki was a godsend during all of this. While she didn't come over often-- something about not wanting to make Izuku's mom an "accomplice"-- she was almost always around the bars after training, and Izuku would slip in and go immediately to her, holding out his scratches and battered muscles and begging her to stitch them together. She would grab the bartender or the nearest customer and use her purple light to heal Izuku's body before sending him off with wishes of good luck and occasionally tips on how to help his body get better faster. Because she healed his muscles immediately after he ripped them apart, he never had to deal with being sore, and he made rapid progress in his strength. As it stood now, two and a half months before the recommendation exam, he could beat Stain in hand-to-hand combat. It wasn't easy, but he could do it.
Stain had also decided to make Izuku clean Dagobah beach, which Izuku couldn't for the life of him understand, but he wanted to be better, stronger, and if the best way for him to do that was clean a disgusting beach, then Izuku was going to clean that goddamn beach. He'd already decided there was no way he was going to finish cleaning the beach on time, especially if he was still setting aside time for studying, but the little progress he could make was good enough.
Tonight, though, he was out on their patrol route earlier than usual. He'd wanted to try a solo mission and Stain didn't do anything earlier than ten, so he figured if he went out at nine, he'd have some time to practice by himself before finding the Hero Killer. And he did. Because right away, barely ten minutes after he'd left his house, he found some jerkwads holding up a convenience store.
With an annoyed huff, he pulled out one of his katanas. Surely a sword would be enough to scare off a couple of dumbasses who thought the best time to rob a store was 9:10 PM. Did they have a bedtime or something? He kicked open the door to the store and scowled at them. "You people are the biggest idiots," he said decisively.
They all glanced over and froze when they caught sight of him, the person behind the counter looking notably confused.
"Out," Izuku said to the robbers, gesturing at the door.
They shared a look between themselves and Izuku gripped his katana tighter. It was looking like he was going to have to use violence this time. But then one of them made a wild shake of her head at her friends, and the group nodded, backing away from the counter and putting their weapons down.
Izuku really loved having a reputation.
"Great, now you're all just going to leave here and get a job, okay?"
"Can't," one of the group muttered, glaring at the floor.
"And why not?" he asked, turning around to glare at them, annoyed.
"We're all mutant types," the girl explained.
Izuku really hated discrimination.
"Oh, yeah," he said, nodding sympathetically. "That makes it difficult. There's this website I found, though-- I'll write the address down for you-- it lists a bunch of jobs for people who have weaker or mutant quirks." He stepped forward, setting his katana on the counter as he grabbed a sheet of paper and scribbled down the website address. Turning around, he held out the paper. "The jobs are all low-paying but they're a great starting point for people who don't have much experience, or haven't been able to find a job because of quirk discrimination."
The one who had shaken her head earlier took the paper from him hesitantly, eyes flicking from the paper to his face a few times. "Thanks."
"No problem." He started shooing them out the door. "Now, go away! Stop holding up convenience stores! Get a life!"
They started shuffling out one at a time, muttering apologies and thank you's as they left. He just rolled his eyes and gestured them out. When they were all safely out of the building, he turned back to the shopkeeper and clapped his hands together, pleased. "Now! Are you--"
A huge explosion came from outside, shattering the glass windows and sending shards flying into the shop. Izuku managed to roll away from the majority of it, but he knew for a fact he had several pieces of glass stuck in his backside. Springing to his feet, he grabbed his katana and looked around for the source of danger.
Instead of the low-level criminal he'd been expecting, though, he came face to face with the cold blue eyes of Endeavor.
Those eyes… where had he seen those before?
Chapter End Notes
Oki so I now have a tumblr. It has nothing on it and I've never been on tumblr before so I have literally no idea what I'm doing, but there is now a tumblr you can use to scream at me (nicely). Here you go!: sabertoothhousecat's tumblr
Damage
Chapter Notes
Ah friends, you know you're a writer when you get your character into a situation and then you can't figure out how to get them back out of it.
Ok I actually really love this chapter, I'm very proud of myself
tw//burns, lots of burns and death, violence, major injuries, explosions, fire
As Izuku looked into the hate-filled eyes of Endeavour, he knew.
He was so, so fucked.
He stumbled backwards, tucking his katana away, because it wasn't like a sword was going to be useful against a literal fireball . Praying silently that Endeavour would show restraint just this one time and try to not leave collateral damage, he darted down one of the aisles, keeping his head down and footsteps light as he tried to give himself some distance and cover.
Endeavour apparently hadn't had a change of heart on his views on collateral damage, and a moment later, the front half of the store was in flames. Cursing silently, Izuku pulled up the front of his hoodie over his nose and mouth and started to work his way around the back of the store, trying to get back to the shopkeeper, who was probably suffering from second-degree burns at this point.
"Come out, little boy," Endeavour snarled from the front.
Izuku resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Endeavour was so dramatic, honestly. What, did he think Izuku was going to hear him say that and then think, oh, he's right, I should make sure the rage-filled homicidal hero knows exactly where I am ? Because there was no way in hell Izuku was doing that.
He was now in a position where he was out of Endeavour's line of sight, but could see the shopkeeper again, who was cowering under the counter looking like he regretted his decision to call the police. A large, completely open space lay between Izuku and the shopkeeper. As Izuku began a long internal debate on whether or not he should expose himself for the sake of some random civilian, Endeavour shot another flame ball into the shop, making up Izuku's mind for him. He sprinted forward, diving under the counter and hoping beyond all hopes that Endeavour hadn't seen him.
Luck was in his favour this time.
He crawled over to the shopkeeper, pulling out a roll of gauze from one of his many pockets. The shopkeeper whimpered slightly as Izuku took his arm and drew it out, examining the long, angry burn that was visible there.
"Minor second degree," he muttered, seizing a bottle of water from the fridge under the counter. "Seriously, Endeavour? Dickhead." He started carefully drizzling the cool water over the shopkeeper's arm, chewing on his lower lip in concentration.
"Where are you hiding?" Endeavour shouted from all the way across the store.
Izuku actually did roll his eyes that time.
"Idiot," he muttered.
The shopkeeper nodded in agreement and then froze as though he hadn't realized what he was doing.
"Pull your shirt over your nose and mouth," Izuku instructed, pretending he hadn't noticed. "You need protection from the smoke. Keep drizzling water on that, okay? I'm going to find a way out."
Very carefully, he poked his head up over the counter, looking for Endeavour's fiery head. He found it a moment later, in the back corner. Endeavour was setting things on fire right and left as he tried to flush Izuku out. He sighed. The property damages on this poor store were going to be so much more expensive than anything the store would have lost originally. Good thing Endeavour had deep pockets.
The storekeeper tugged on his sleeve, and he glanced over.
"There's a back entrance," the shopkeeper wheezed.
"Endeavour's in the back corner," Izuku said distractedly, going back to watching Endeavour's fiery crown.
"It's behind the counter."
Izuku's head whipped around again. He honestly could have kissed the shopkeeper right now. "Lead the way."
The man nodded and crawled out from under the counter, pulling open a small door in the wall, just big enough for a decently sized person to crawl through. He ducked through it, Izuku close behind, and they gently shut the door behind them.
"Why is that there?" Izuku asked curiously, letting the front of his hoodie fall. They were in a short tunnel now, with standing room. Izuku thought he could see another door up ahead, presumably to the outside.
"Almost every store nowadays has one of those," the shopkeeper explained. "Villains come in a lot, so it's nice to have a way to get out, especially when the heroes show up."
"Why…" Izuku had been about to ask why it was important when the heroes showed up, but then he remembered what the interior of the store looked like right now. It was an absolute mess, and it had been fine-- safe, even-- before Endeavour showed up. "Oh."
Pushing the door open to the outside, the storekeeper nodded. "Sometimes people say they wish heroes wouldn't come, because the heroes themselves are more damaging than the villains."
"Not all the time," Izuku argued. A moment later, he wondered why he'd said it. Why was he defending heroes? Not all heroes were bad, sure, but who cared about the few that were good when there were still some who were dangerous and untrustworthy? People needed to hold them responsible.
"True," the shopkeeper conceded, letting Izuku follow him out, and shutting the door behind him.
"Okay, can you call the EMT?" Izuku asked, back to formalities now that the immediate danger had passed.
"I'm sure they're already--"
"Call anyway," Izuku said, reaching for the shopkeeper's arm again. He expertly twisted the gauze around it, keeping it tight, but loose enough that it wouldn't rub at the skin or cut off circulation. "You're going to want them to look at that. I would recommend using aloe after they treat it, it'll calm down the--"
A huge explosion came from behind them, followed by an animalistic roar from Endeavour, and Izuku flinched.
"I think I should…"
The shopkeeper nodded. "You should go."
Izuku turned to leave, and then remembered the dumbasses he'd just sent out of the store. The explosion had come seconds after they left-- were they okay? Heart beating fast, Izuku ran for the front of the store, hugging the external brick wall as he went, in order to reduce visibility. As he came around the corner, he saw them. Two were moving, definitely injured, but alive, and they were crowding around the other one, whose body was still.
"Shit."
Abandoning all stealth, Izuku sprinted across the sidewalk, nudging the two aside as he knelt by the still one. It was the girl, the one who had recognized him and called it off. "Shit shit shit." He reached for the side of her neck, maybe the only visible part of her that wasn't covered in deep, deep burns.
There wasn't a pulse.
Feeling nauseous, Izuku fished out his phone from its very secret hiding place in one of his pockets. His fingers fumbled for her number, but finally he got it.
Reiki picked up on the first ring.
"'Sup, Deku? You stab Stain again?"
"No, I'm sitting in front of a dead girl and I don't know what to do. I'm with two heavily injured criminals outside a shop that Endeavour's in--"
"I'm calling Dabi," she interrupted, voice suddenly sharp. "Text me your location."
"Ok."
She hung up and he texted her the address of the store, before turning back to the dead woman in front of him. Without another moment's hesitation, he started CPR. He would have started sooner, but he knew he needed back-up. "Count for me," he said to the closest dumbass. He didn't have the brain capacity for multitasking right now, not when his mind was frayed out in all directions, trying to make sense of everything that was happening.
The guy started counting for him, voice shaking.
"Other dumbass, I'm going to give you some instructions and I need you to follow them to the letter, do you understand?"
"Yes."
"You're going to take your friend here and you're going to go half a mile west. You are going to find an alley and you're going to wait there until I come to you. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Go."
Izuku took over counting and the two of them left, one of them limping and the other one looking extremely dizzy. He didn't have time to watch them, as he switched to rescue breaths a moment later. He could still save her, she could still be saved. Just a few more compressions, a couple more breaths, a few more compressions, a couple more breaths, a few more--
Dabi was here.
Izuku knew immediately, because he came with a wave of blue flame and a lot of angry, incoherent yelling. "Deku, you idiot!" he shouted, finally comprehensible.
"Not an idiot," Izuku panted. "This girl is super dead."
"Why are you doing chest compressions, then?" Dabi asked, looking extremely angry.
"I have to try to save her."
"You have to get out of here. Come on, Reiki's on her way. I've got damage control."
"You'll be blamed for the fire damage," Izuku argued. "And this girl's death. It'll be the first thing on your criminal record." Dabi had, miraculously, managed to keep his criminal record clean until this moment of time. It was something he bragged about constantly. Ironically, Endeavour had managed to keep his criminal record clean too. Izuku had to wonder how many cover-ups that man had paid for.
"And you'll still be alive."
Izuku paused in the argument to do two more rescue breaths, and when he resurfaced, Dabi had already launched himself into the inferno that was the small store. The last thing Izuku saw of Dabi before the man disappeared was his cold blue eyes.
Hold on.
Those eyes…
Oh, shit.
Izuku was on his feet in an instant, abandoning his fruitless attempts at CPR. Dabi had just launched himself into a fight with Endeavour, what was he thinking , he was going to get caught--
He started to run for the building, mind scrambling for a way to win, a way to beat the second-most powerful hero in all Japan. He was almost at the door when a fist caught his throat and he stumbled back, choking.
"What are you doing?" Reiki hissed, getting up in his face. "Get the hell out of here!"
"The girl--" he gasped, waving back at her.
"Is extremely dead and has been for several minutes."
"Dabi--"
"Knows what he's doing, let's go." Reiki grabbed his arm and dragged him off. She was surprisingly strong, and Izuku was tired and his body ached and he had glass stuck in his butt and his eyes were burning. He weakly attempted to get away, but she was not having it. "Where are the other two?" she demanded.
"West," Izuku said.
"We're going to find them, and we're going to save them. Being a hero, Deku, is all about priorities. Sometimes you can't save everyone, and you have to choose. And when we choose, we choose the people we know we can help. We choose what we can do with our own skills. Humans are inherently selfish, Midoriya. In moments where we have to prioritize, we choose ourselves."
Izuku blinked, swaying on his feet. He'd only caught half of that. "What?"
Reiki shook her head with a heavy sigh. "You're hopeless."
"Say it again, in a language I can understand," Izuku said.
"We are going to go help the people I know we can help," Reiki said very slowly, punctuating every word. "We can't help a dead girl and we can't fight Endeavour, but we can help some heavily burned dumbasses, so we're going to."
"Why didn't you just say that?"
Reiki gave him a lofty look. "The beauty of philosophy--"
"Oh, shut up."
Later that night, after Izuku had helped Reiki heal two dumbasses and talked them through their grief, after Izuku had endured a long lecture from Stain, after Izuku had gone home and snuck in through his window, after he had watched the news carefully for Dabi and found he'd managed to escape-- after all that, Izuku sat at his computer, flexing and clenching his fingers methodically over the keyboard. He'd refrained from doing this for so long that now that he had made up his mind to research Dabi, it felt like he was about to commit the biggest sin in history. Maybe it was just because Dabi was his friend now, and he didn't want to violate the man's privacy. But no matter what was holding him back, he knew he needed to do this. He needed to understand.
With a heavy release of breath, he began to type.
Endeavour fourth kid?
One thousand two hundred forty-eight results and a picture of a white-haired boy with Dabi's eyes, proclaimed dead at fifteen.
Oh fuck.
Introductions
Chapter Notes
So I'm like five chapters ahead and thought I'd post early because why not (I'll post again on Thursday don't worry).
Time skip? I think it's time we moved on to exam week, I think. Don't you think?
I don't usually shift between perspectives as much as I do in this chapter, but I wanted to have fun with it so we get a lot of different POVs
tw// child abuse/domestic abuse, scar, a LOT of discrimination (let me know if I missed anything)
The incident with Endeavour was all Izuku could think about. It had happened months ago, and it was still echoing around in his head, screaming at him for attention. What kind of hero… did that, did any of that? The incident with the store was enough to rattle Izuku's perceptions of all heroes, but adding Dabi on top of that…
Dropping into his seat, Izuku started organizing the facts in his brain for the hundredth time. Endeavour attacked a store where there was no clear sign of hostile action--except for maybe, maybe Izuku's katana, completely burned the place down and gave the storekeeper several, admittedly minor, burns. In the process of doing so, he killed a girl who was leaving the scene without actually committing a crime, and severely injured two other people. The store was ruined, thousands of dollars in collateral damage, several people's lives were put in danger, and one of them was killed.
What kind of a hero treated criminals like that? What kind of a hero treated innocent bystanders like that?
What kind of hero did all that and got away with it?
Izuku had to wonder if Katsuki would turn out like that too.
All blame for the fire, damages, and death were put on Dabi, who now had a criminal record. He was trying to keep on the down-low for now, staying out of the public eye for a while until he could start sneaking around again. Meanwhile, Endeavour paid for the damages to the store, most likely in an attempt to keep the shopkeeper quiet and get a reputation boost at the same time. People loved Endeavour. The headlines said stuff like, "Fighting Fire with Fire: Why Endeavour Couldn't Save Them" or "Endeavour Pays Damages for Local Business Caught in a Villain Atack."
It pissed Izuku off.
The headlines should have said "Reckless Use of Quirk from Endeavour" or "Endeavour Kills a Girl" or "Why Endeavour Shouldn't Be a Hero." Instead, people were celebrating him. It made Izuku feel sick.
And then, Dabi… Dabi and everyone else in that poor family. Izuku promised himself that if he ever met the youngest kid, who supposedly had the perfect quirk, he'd personally kidnap him, just to get him out of that house. His mom wouldn't mind, when he explained why.
Hero society… wasn't what Izuku had imagined.
He wasn't sure whether or not he really wanted to be a part of it any more. Which sucked, because this afternoon, he was going to take the recommendation exam.
He suffered through home room and his morning classes, and then finally he was called to the front office to go to his showcase. Reiki picked him up, grinning broadly. As his sponsor, she was required to accompany him to the exam.
"Ready, fucker?" she asked as he signed himself out of the front office.
Ignoring the shocked looks from the front office staff at her language, Izuku nodded. "Ready."
They left together.
U.A. was big.
Shouto found that he didn't really care. It was just another place where he'd go through relentless training. The where didn't matter. Neither did the why particularly, because he knew why. It was because he had a perfect quirk for heroics, and it was his job to use it so his father could live vicariously through Shouto's success. The how did matter, though. He was tired of being burned when he refused to use his fire. Hopefully U.A. would be more welcoming to the idea that Shouto didn't want to use his left side in combat.
He walked up the front steps to the building, a few paces behind his father so he didn't get in the way. This was his job when they were in public-- become invisible. The public would be allowed to notice him when it was time, but for now, always behind and to the right, head down. Don't make people want to look at you for too long, always point their attention back to Endeavour. After all, Endeavour was the hero right now and he needed a popularity boost.
The hallways of U.A. were long and tall. Shouto liked how much space there was. It didn't feel claustrophobic. It made him feel much safer than the dark, low ceilings of his own home, where Endeavour could appear at any time, huge body taking up all available space.
They made their way toward the amphitheater where the written tests would be taken, Endeavour giving a long lecture about decorum and what Shouto should and shouldn't do. Shouto tuned him out, face completely impassive. He didn't need or want to listen to another lecture right now.
The door to the testing room was just as huge as every other door in the school, and when it opened as they walked up, Shouto blinked in surprise at the difference in size between Nezu and the door.
"You're early," Nezu chirped with a smile as he showed Endeavour and Shouto inside.
"Punctuality is an important trait in a hero," Endeavour said coldly, casting a sidelong look at Shouto, as though expecting him to be taking notes.
"You never used to think that," Nezu said thoughtfully.
"People change."
Nezu's sharp eyes glinted as he looked at Endeavour. "Don't they," he said, clearly searching Endeavour's face for… something. He didn't seem to have quite found what he was looking for, when he suddenly turned to the door and swung it open, smiling at the two people outside, a boy with vivid, curly green hair and a woman not much older, with a long purple ponytail and clear grey eyes. Most striking about them both, though, was the way they held themselves. There was a visible weight on their shoulders, and although they were smiling as though someone had just interrupted a joke, it didn't reach their sad, thoughtful eyes.
And the moment the door opened, both of them looked straight at Endeavour and scowled.
The purple one put her hands on her hips. "What's he--"
She was cut off as the boy, now frowning at Shouto, elbowed her expertly in the ribs. "Hi, I'm Midoriya Izuku," he said. The sentence was clearly directed at Nezu, but his eyes didn't move from Shouto.
"The quirkless one," Nezu said warmly.
Quirkless?
Midoriya's back tensed and he ripped his eyes off Shouto's to meet Nezu's instead. Shouto felt his body relax, now that the pressure of those green eyes was off him.
"Problem?" Midoriya snapped. It was the purple one's turn to elbow him in the ribs. He blinked and the angriness slipped away, replaced by an open, friendly expression. Shouto was no longer sure which expression showed his real feelings, although the look in his green eyes seemed to suggest the former.
Nezu was beaming almost maniacally, looking at Midoriya like he was an interesting problem to solve or project to finish.
"Quirkless?" Endeavour spat. Shouto glanced over to see his father glaring at Midoriya with venom.
"And more of a hero than you," Midoriya responded in a sweet voice, smiling innocently. The purple girl hid a smirk behind her hand.
The tension in the room was so high at this point, Shouto was almost afraid the room was going to explode. Instead, smiling contentedly, Nezu trotted to the door and opened it to let in another student and sponsor. The tension scattered as the two walked in and Shouto felt himself relaxing again.
Midoriya Izuku and his purple friend had a quick, hushed conversation and then retreated to the corner of the room.