Chapter Text
Miyo's day has been going smoothly, and there have been little to no problems since they left the agency. Manual, Tenya and he were out on patrol for the first time together. The streets were calm; Miyo and Tenya only needed to put a stop to a handful of purse-snatchers and a few people who wanted autographs from Manual (and the odd few who recognised Miyo and Iida, which resulted in more autographs that left Miyo's wrists sore).
Manual had dragged both students into a restaurant around midday, and they ate lunch together; their meal was interrupted every so often by fans or people who "disapproved of them relaxing and eating while they were meant to be protecting the innocent."
Miyo ended up holding Ao in a choke grip underneath the table as those people spoke, which gained him that stupid side eye from his mentor he's been getting since the man was forced back to the agency by Miran and Yuko. The look was driving Miyo crazy!
Around 6pm the sky was beginning to get dark and the streetlights were starting to come on. Manual pulls out his phone, looks at the time, and shoves the device back into his pocket.
"We should head back to the agency; then I can teach you boys about the joys of paperwork."
The older man does jazz hands on the last word, Miyo groans at the mere mention of it, and Iida is too focused on their surroundings to give any feedback. Only a few more turns until they're back at the agency – Miyo's good evening goes down the drain in the shape of a hulking figure crashing into a building ahead of them, with a hero following soon afterwards.
His day was going fine. What type of person was he in his past life for all this to happen? He wants his bed already.
oOo
Everything is on fire. How is everything on fire? When did arson become a popular hobby? That's mine and Dabi's thing – are those NOMU?! What? Tomura never mentioned anything based in Hosu!
"Tenya! – He disappeared? What the hell! Myst, get over here and help me find Tenya and assist anyone to the best of your abilities! Use your quirk; you have my permission!" Manual yells out.
Both student and mentor survey the area in hopes of locating the other student but turn up empty. The crowded street of panicked civilians and heroes evacuating said civilians to safer places makes it nearly impossible to find Iida. Manual vanishes into the river of terrified people without Miyo noticing.
Miyo creates ghost after ghost, sending them throughout the city, guiding hysterical people to safe areas, blocking chunks of buildings from falling on anyone from the Nomu and heroes fighting, and searching for Iida. His mind overflowing with noises, panicked faces of civilians, fire, and heaviness from using so many ghosts at the same time.
In the rush of it all, Miyo (obviously, because why wouldn't he?) gets separated from Manual while he's controlling all of his ghosts. He's standing in the middle of a street with a Nomu and a hero he doesn't recognise fighting up ahead of him. Ducking into an alley to dodge a chunk of rubble hurling through the air in his direction, he pulls his phone out of his pocket.
Miyo frantically selects the contact "Tenko" and listens impatiently for the other to answer.
Ring… ring.. rin–
"What? Pipsqueak? Aren't you on your internship? Why are you—" Dabi is the one who answers the call.
"I DON'T KNOW! DO YOU WANT TO TELL ME WHY NOMU ARE DESTROYING HOSU!? THE CITY I'M INTERNING IN?! DUDE! SO NOT COOL! CALL THEM OFF OR SOMETHING! I DON'T FEEL LIKE BECOMING A SLAB OF MEAT ON THE STREET!"
There's a distressed noise on the other end, and Miyo ends the call before anything else can be said. An explosion goes off somewhere nearby, and Miyo tenses even further. Refocusing on his ghosts, Miyo finds Shouto watching Endeavor fight a nomu with wings and some sort of fire resistance quirk. Fire, ash, glass, and rubble break off from a building near Shouto and begin to fall towards him.
Miyo gets the ghost to possess Shouto, and his friend pops into the space beside him. The ghost exits Shouto and leaves again, with a wave directed at Shouto, to search the city for Iida or anyone that needs help. He only acknowledges his friend with a short nod and looks back to his ghost's views. Shouto nods back and walks toward the entrance to the alley, poking his head out to the street so he could have a look around.
Seventeen of Miyo's ghosts are assisting with safety areas, keeping children calm and entertained while distracting them from the destruction around them, helping the medics with treating the injured, dealing with less than cooperative individuals who are hurt, and gathering names of those in need of medical treatment. Eighteen ghosts are leading civilians away from the dangerous fights, and finally, eleven are searching through back alleys for Iida.
Miyo is sweating. This is so stressful. Why in the world did Iida think it was a good idea to run off? Wait. Hosu, visiting his older brother, the eye bags and tiredness... Is Iida going after Stain ?
Miyo's panic levels reach dangerous heights as he works double time to find Iida. Shouto pokes his head out to the edge of the alleyway entrance and quickly retreats as something bright and green flies past his face. His eyes narrow in the direction the light went before they widen slightly, and he whips back around to face Miyo.
"Was that? —Hey, Miyo! I think that was Midoriya! Can you send a ghost after him?"
Miyo's eyes bulge out of their sockets; a ghost materialises within seconds, and it quickly speeds out of the alley to follow "Midoriya".
"Why would Midoriya be in Hosu? Wasn't he interning with a retired hero over in Yamanashi Prefecture? Speaking of which, why are you and Endeavor here? His agency is several cities away!"
Miyo forces the words out, trying to keep his mind off of the Nomu running rampant through Hosu City. His friend returns his gaze to the street, only managing to watch for a few seconds before Shouto curses lowly as a Nomu flies past him, a hero following not even a second later.
"You were right about the old man wanting to have a go at catching Stain; he also thought it was a good idea to drag me with him for "educational purposes". He, those sidekicks that went into his office last night, and I got the earliest train here this morning. He's trying to kill me before I graduate. I swear."
Miyo nods along with the explanation, still mainly focusing on his ghosts. His head is killing him, and the skin on his arms and legs is disappearing in small wisps of mist and fog; it creates a soft swirl around his abdomen. He zooms in on the ghost following Midoriya, his classmate is surrounded by green lightning, which reflects off his costume and the buildings he hops between like a rabbit. That's definitely new...
He must have figured out how to fully use his quirk. Still doesn't explain why he's here. Maybe he suspected something was wrong with Iida? They are friends.
Midoriya's head snaps from side to side as he glances inside every alleyway he passes; Miyo winces at the action. Then the lightning dives in between two buildings, and Miyo's ghost moves to the entrance of the alley and peers inside. A knife goes flying from inside the alleyway, barely missing Miyo's ghost by a hair.
The ghost moves to a different spot, and dread fills Miyo's gut from what he sees; Iida and Native are on the ground, there is way too much blood pooling underneath Native to be healthy, and Stain is in a fighting stance facing Midoriya, who is crouched over Iida's unmoving form.
Miyo catches sight of Midoriya's hand behind his back and spots the other send his location to all of his contacts before shoving his phone into his pocket and dodging another knife flying at him. Stain's body is a blur as he charges for Midoriya, who lights up brighter than before and grins at the literal serial killer. Midoriya leaps off Iida's limp body and aims a kick at Stain's knees.
That's not good... Nope, that's not very safe in any way, shape or form – his classmates are both reckless idiots!
Ao quickly moves over to Shouto and possesses him. Miyo, already gone from his previous position and landing at the entrance of the alleyway Midoriya had just entered, Shouto appears at his side, following right behind him. While Midoriya is still keeping the serial killer busy, Miyo is quick to assess the situation and get to work.
He sends Ao over to Iida and gets him to bring Iida further away from the fighting, and the armour-clad teen appears at Miyo's feet within seconds. Miyo crouches beside Iida. There is a long, jagged-edged knife in Iida's right arm; his left hand is bleeding heavily from the palm; and he has a nasty gash cutting through his armour along his left shoulder.
"Cryoflame." Shouto is quick to move where Miyo points, "Ice Tenya's stab wounds. Your fire won't be of much help if you don't know how to cauterise the wound properly. Be careful of the knife in his arm. We can't remove it, or else it'll cause major damage. If you need me, call. I'm going hero fishing."
Shouto nods and gets to work on icing Iida's injuries. Miyo forms a water whip in his hands. He eyes the rusty-looking fire escape before flicking the water up and tugging himself off the ground. His boots make no noise when he lands behind the limp body of Native; the hero does make his living status known by flicking his eyes to the side when Miyo bends down to examine the injured hero.
Miyo sucks in a sharp breath at all the slashes and bruises marring the hero's face and body. The hero's blood is everywhere. It's on the ground, the walls, and the bins in the alley, and now it's on Miyo. He doesn't even know where to begin; there are so many punctures in Native's skin that the man could pull off a Swiss cheese cosplay.
Miyo swallows down the slight panic working its way up his spine and steps into action, creating a ghost, possessing Native, and moving the older man out to the mouth of the alleyway.
Just as Shouto moves his attention to Native, Iida is now lying facedown on the ground with patches of ice on him while he blabbers nonsense. Miyo hears Midroiya cry out before he sees the knife cut him, and the lightning-covered boy falls to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
The alley grows quiet; all of Miyo's hair is standing on end as Stain turns to face him. A part of him relaxes slightly over the attention being on him and not the ones at the other end of the alley. Miyo takes a deep breath and steadies himself, ordering Ao to discreetly move closer to Stain in hopes of possessing the man.
A knife comes flying at his face; a ghost appears and stops the blade, and Miyo takes it from his ghost with a nod. His eyes look at the blade; it has a jagged edge, exactly the same as the knife in Iida. He swiftly slips the blade over to a small ghost behind him and asks it to bring the knife to his hideaway in the underground shopping centre that he had brought Shouto to, a trinket, if you will.
Miyo looks Stain in the eyes; the man's own narrow at him, but Miyo manages to stop his body from trembling, both from exhaustion and fear. Must be from the adrenaline finally kicking in.
"You... You're that UA student, the one with the water and ghost quirks. You saved everyone in the stadium from that explosion at the cost of your own safety. Takei Miyo? Yes, that's who you are. One of the few true ones. Why do you interfere with my culling of these fakes?"
Stain glowers at him, raising his two katanas to point at Miyo. His grip tightens on their handles so much that the weapons creak under his strength. Miyo gulps, and his water whips form in both of his hands; particles from the smoke in the air and the dust from the nomu's havoc can be seen inside them. Stain's voice is raised, and he glares at Miyo with a hardened gaze, asking again:
"Why do you interfere with my culling of these fakes? Do you really think they deserve a chance to live?"
"Of course they deserve to live! They're humans; I don't know Native personally, but he is a decent enough hero in my books."
Miyo ducks from an incoming knife; his whips snatch it from the air, and he hurls the blade back at Stain. The man dodges easily; the action is probably like breathing for him.
"Iida is only a student! He's still learning! So am I! Give him time!"
A scowl forms on Stain's face.
"So what if he can learn? He still willingly sought me out for revenge; your mentor, Manual, and you were searching for him for assistance with all the sheep, weren't you? How can he be a hero if he so easily gets blinded by his emotions and his actions in the future will only cause others to die?"
Miyo pauses at that question, struggling to find an answer; it really won't look good for the others in the alley if he agrees with Stain's logic. But finally, he says,
"No one is perfect, not even you, and especially not All Might. Humans have flaws. Such is life. Try to deal with it without murder; just a suggestion?"
Miyo lets a sly smirk onto his face as Stains goes slack once Ao enters his body, perfect. Now he needs to check on Midoriya. He quickly bypasses the murderer and moves down to inspect Midoriya, the downed student already letting a flow of questions and apologies pour out of him, his voice getting squeakier as he rambles on.
"Woah, Midoriya, chill out, man. Stain is under control. Can you tell me any specific places that you got hit or, you know, stabbed?"
Midoriya blinks, then he takes a shaken breath.
"Uh, I-I think he cut me on my left, left leg and my arms in a few different s-spots, and he managed to s-slice my cheek before I f-froze up?"
Miyo hums along, carefully applying bandages over the larger, more concerning wounds. He carefully finishes up the bandaging and takes a step back, nodding his head in approval.
"Can you move yet?"
Midoriya visibly attempts to move; he gets his fingers to twitch, his head to move from side to side, and after a few more seconds, he manages to shift his arms and legs.
Stain's quirk must have a time limit. It can't be based on the injury; otherwise, Iida would be up already... Blood type?
"Hey, Midoriya. This question is going to seem very random, but what's your blood type?"
Midoriya pauses while Miyo tries to help him stand up fully.
"I think I'm type O? Do you think blood has something to do with Stains' quirk and its time limit?"
Miyo nods, and they begin to trudge towards Todoroki, Iida, and Native at the entrance of the alley. Miyo gets Midoriya to sit down beside Native; the hero now has basic medical treatment, along with a few layers of ice covering his deeper injuries.
"You doing alright, Sho? He didn't throw any knives this way, did he?"
Shouto nods quietly, now looking Midoriya over for anything Miyo may have missed, or he could just be doing that to calm himself. Midoriya and Miyo did just go against Stain, and they came out alive.
Wow, that's something Miyo will never comfortably gloat about, ever.
His head pulses harshly, and Miyo puts his hands on the wall to steady himself. Miyo takes a deep breath, forcing himself to ignore the pain, but something happens, and all he feels is raw agony. His hands leave the wall, and he grips his head while crumbling to the ground. His limbs flicker between fog and skin.
"OW! Make it stop!" Miyo screams out in anguish, feeling as though his head was being ripped apart. Someone shouts, and it sounds like Midoriya, and the alley grows cold, probably from Shouto's ice, and the roar of engines comes from the direction Miyo recalls he had left Stain and Ao. The ghostly feeling of someone kicking his head is all Miyo feels before Stain's voice reaches his ears.
"That wasn't a very nice trick, Ingenium Jr."
As Ao enters Miyo's field of vision, Miyo puts his arm out for the ghost and pulls Ao into his chest while shaking from the pain slowly leaving his head. The clanking of metal on metal draws his attention down the alley. Iida, Midoriya, and Shouto are all fighting Stain. Shouto's eyes keep flicking back to Miyo, concern and fear being the most obvious emotions in them.
Two knives are flung at Miyo; he isn't able to avoid them, and the blades lodge themselves in his right thigh and his left shoulder. He grits his teeth together, muffling his scream completely. The others, though focused on their opponent, have caught sight of the hit, and Shouto and Midoriya shout out his name in alarm.
Miyo doesn't try to remove the knives; that would be stupid, and he would bleed out faster. He manages to pull himself off the ground, his leg throbbing at every movement. He stumbles his way over to the fight; the second time's a charm after all. Iida is clearly ignoring Midoriya and Shouto's shouts to stop, too set on defeating Stain.
Miyo makes two ghosts; they... don't look normal. Their bodies are thin and lanky; wisps of dark smog lick at the ground beneath them, and they're tall—almost the same height as Miyo. Neither have facial features except for two glowing navy eyes that stare forward eerily at Iida and Stain. They move slowly, almost as if they are wading through an invisible pool of tar. They are unsettling, like something from a horror movie.
Miyo has a new second-favourite ghost.
He points to Iida and Stain, and the ghosts vanish immediately. He watches in fascination as both males freeze where they stand, their pupils shrinking to the size of pinheads as a blue cloud washes over them. Their arms drop to their sides, and a large number of weapons float off of Stain and fall to the ground once at a safe distance. The cloud shrinks in size until it only surrounds their waists and arms; their feet are lifted off the ground, and they remain suspended in the air, almost like puppets suspended by their strings.
Midoriya peers at the two floating males as Shouto rushes back to Miyo. His legs give out from under him, and Shouto catches him almost instantly. Small tears well up in Shouto's eyes when he gets a proper look at Miyo's injuries, a guilty look appearing in his eyes as he gently carries Miyo out to the street. Multiple voices sound from down the street; "an ambulance is nearby" and "students" are the most repetitious words spoken.
Manual, Endeavor, an elderly man in a white and yellow costume, along with several sidekicks, round a corner and make their way up to where Shouto and Miyo have sat. Midoriya exits the alley behind them with Native being dragged at his side, the hero's arm slung over his shoulders.
The old man gets to them first; he only gives Miyo and Shouto a short glance before he spots Midoriya and gives the boy a lecture of a lifetime. When Manual reaches them next, he's quick to assess Miyo's injuries, but then his eyes drift to the alley behind them. His face pales dangerously as he takes in the sight of Stain and Iida floating side by side, wrapped in the dark fog.
"Takei. Am I seeing things, or is that really Iida and Stain in the alley?"
Shouto responds instead.
"Yes. Miyo was the one who trapped them. Iida was uncooperative."
Once that's said, Shouto turns back to Miyo and blocks out anything else said to them; he even ignored Endeavor when he came over to them when Stain was dragged out into the open.
"Shouto! How dare you run off! And you didn't even manage to capture Stain on your own! Useless..."
Miyo glared up at the man towering over the two of them at the last word; Endeavor had then firmly shut his mouth and stomped off to bother someone else. The ambulances arrived a few minutes later, and Shouto ended up threatening his way into the one Miyo was strapped into. The medical staff inside the ambulance with them promised to never mention that they held hands through the whole journey. That had earned him Miyo's and Shouto's approving nods.
Native, Iida, and Midoriya went in the other vehicles, and then Stain was brought away inside a police car, still unable to speak over Miyo's ghost. When they got to the hospital, Shouto had to be separated from Miyo, seeing that Miyo still had the two knives in his leg and his shoulder and had to go into surgery to remove them and repair the areas.
God, so much for a calm and peaceful internship... Is all Miyo thinks as he's put under anesthetic to begin the operation.