Chapter Text
Izuku wanted to curl into his bed and sleep.
Since that was clearly not an option, he chose the next option on his list of things to do.
Save his entire class from the League of Villains.
His goals are always attainable, truly.
Panting breaths emerge from his lips in an irregular rhythm, something he should probably be more concerned about that he is. His feet thump steadily along the uneven terrain of the woods, thankful for the barely-there path. It was rather overgrown with bushes and roots from the trees around weaving under and above the ground. He had slipped a few times already, but he blamed that on the drugs still coursing through his system.
The cuffs still wrapped tightly around his wrist changed at the skin beneath his uniform as he ran but he ignored it, compartmentalizing the pain. It was a handy trick he had used since he was young, even if those injuries now seemed like child's play to what he'd had to endure since becoming a vigilante.
The material covering him clung to his skin, his sweat making him feel sticky and uncomfortable. Even the filters in his mask weren't enough to prevent his hot breath from steaming up the air between it and his skin.
Pushing aside everything that wasn't necessary to his journey, he continued running, refusing to slow for even a second. He didn't recognise where he was and he knew that soon enough the mission that The League were planning would commence.
He had to get there first.
Failure wasn't an option. Not in this scenario.
By the time he reached a clearing that led onto a road by the forest, the sun was steadily rising through the sky. Its weak dawn rays were enough for his head to pout something fierce.
Staggering, he moved towards the road, taking deep breaths as he struggled to clear his hazy vision. It wasn't a new experience but his stomach still lurched every time his lungs tried to draw another breath, nausea rising in his stomach.
Eventually, he calmed enough to proceed, running towards the town he could spy in the distance.
He didn't notice the car until it was upon him, rumbling quietly behind his running form. For a brief, panic-stricken second his mind supplied him with thoughts of The League finding him and taking him back to that cell, collaring him like a dog and breaking him slowly.
The air caught in his lungs and he stopped, swaying gently as the car stopped. His feet refused to move, his mind slowly resigning itself to his fate and hurriedly fabricating a mental barrier to protect him.
"A-Are you alright there?" A sweet timid voice asked from behind him. Whirling around- he regretted that a moment later- he peered through his mask at the woman reaching out with a hesitant hand.
Izuku struggled to clear his throat, and when that didn't work he tried to nod, but nothing happened. His body's betrayal was expected and yet still triggered a bout of anger to flash up within himself.
She looked over him with a wary eye, faint recognition lighting up the shining silver depths. He blearily took note of the way her skin shimmered with a faint gold tinge, wondering absently what her quirk was.
"Well I'm sorry to say, but you don't look OK. You're that vigilante everyone's gone wild about recently, aren't you?" Her tone remained calm, easing some of the tension that had fastened his body in place. He gave a sharp nod in return to her question, shifting his body away from her a little more than before.
A tinkling laugh emerged from her throat and she rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not going to do anything to you, Loki. That's your vigilante name, right?" When she garnered no response, she proceeded as if she hadn't expected one. "You look like you could use a hand and I'm sure you have a reason for being so beat up. Can't imagine being a vigilante is safe work. You need a ride?" A hand waved towards her car, the road otherwise empty.
Loki contemplated it. He didn't know this person. For all he knew, she could be one of The League's petty criminals or a hire sent to retrieve him. But there was something about her, a matronly aspect to her that reminded him of his own mother. Someone who would offer assistance no matter the circumstances. And if he wanted to get back to his mum, there was really nothing else to be done.
Clearing his dry throat once more, he smiled, his mask copying the expression so the woman could see it too. "That would be much appreciated, thank you."
Her lips twitched with a smile and she turned to go back to the car, allowing him to take his time on the walk to reach it. He stumbled more than usual, but the promise of resting, even for a few minutes, was tempting enough that he was sliding into the seat far faster than would have been expected, considering his current condition.
He panted a little behind the mask but the woman didn't seem to notice, idly messing with the radio settings as she waited for him to put on his seatbelt.
He winced when he reached his arm over his shoulder to pull the strap, the movement aggravating the acid burns on his wrist and neck. Hissing through his teeth, he buckled himself in and relaxed, boneless into the soft, heated seat.
"So, where do you need to go?"
Loki turned his head to face her, absently admiring the soft lilac curls framing her face. "UA?"
Her eyebrows rose, mouth pursing in confusion. "Hmm, why do you wanna go there? Are you a student?"
He looked out the window, ignoring the glance she shot at him out of the corner of her eye. "Something like that," he replied, shutting his eyes.
"Ok. Oh, I never introduced myself! How silly of me! I'm Akanti Yui."
"Thank you for helping me Akanti-san. I… I needed it."
A gentle smile gracing her soft features, laugh lines deepening around her eyes. "It was no trouble dear, don't worry about it."
Silence settled between them as they both got lost in their thoughts, Akanti thinking about the stranger sitting beside her and how on earth she would explain this to her already over-protective daughter while Loki debated his next move. He supposed he could contact Nezu, except he didn't know if he should waste time trying to find him.
"So, what's a vigilante like you doing at UA?" Akanti shot him a small glance before her eyes refocused on the road. Loki's eyes peeked at the time displayed on the screen between them, trying to figure out how much longer it would take to reach UA.
"I don't know if I can tell you that. Though, if I said it was for the safety of students, would that get us there quicker?" he teased lightly, hoping his mask's expression was jovial.
She chuckled, rolling her eyes at his response. "I'd like to not get pulled over by any officers today, thank you very much." Regardless, the car rumbled louder, speeding along the road much quicker than before. He smiled, relaxing in his seat, content to restore his energy for the moment.
Loki fiddled with his belt, the cuffs on his wrists causing him to wince more than once as he pulled a small vial from a hidden pocket at his hip. He withdrew a tiny needle too, fingers already beginning to assemble the dismantled needle. Mei had helped him ensure none of the pieces would go missing, even during a fight, unless direct contact with the pocket was made. It was reassuring to have multiple backups for when his human nature came to bite him in the ass.
"If you're doing drugs in my car, you better get out right fucking now," Akanti's voice pierced the mind-numbing focus Loki had been absorbed in, his entire being focused on assembling the shaky needle now held in his hands.
He turned to face her, tilting his head at the pure anger he saw there. This wasn't merely the response from someone who hated drugs, this was something deeper. An open wound had been divulged.
Akanti blew out a deep breath, knuckles clutching the steering wheel turning white as Loki watched.
"Akanti, this isn't a hard drug, it's just adrenaline. I'll need it for what I'm planning to achieve," he replied gently, reaching out a gloved hand to lay on her arm lightly. Her eyes closed for a brief moment, eyelashes fluttering before she opened them and nodded.
"I-I, sorry, I just can't han-handle watching someone take drugs again." Her bottom lip turned red as she nibbled harshly on it, breath trembling on the exhale.
The ' again' took precedence in Loki's fuzzy brain but he swallowed down the questions, carefully covering the needle and corresponding vial under the gloved hand that was farthest from her.
"Thank you for giving me a ride," he said instead, desperate to break the suffocating silence that had descended over them both once she had gotten her emotions under control.
A smile twisted on her lips, hesitant but comforting as those cyan eyes darted to him quickly, "It's no trouble. I just hope I'm not leading you into a situation you're not prepared for."
"I'm a vigilante, what would I not be prepared for," he laughed, ignoring how his ribs ached continuously at the action.
For a mere second, Akanti's face darkened, a scowl hardening her features, "There are much worse monsters out there than we know of, Loki. Many who would relish in taking down a vigilante for no other reason than for fun ." Quickly, her expression brightened, "But I suppose you would know that better than me. Anyway, here we are."
Loki whirled to the window, Ua's huge gate looming menacingly above them, but at that moment Loki thought it looked like the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
"Thank you, Akanti-san, you have saved lives today. Or at least, I hope so." He smiled brightly, a fuzzy feeling that had nothing to do with his injuries filling his body with warmth.
Undoing his seatbelt, he took a deep breath, needle and vial clutched tightly in one hand. He pushed open the door, throwing himself out of it, already forcing his body to begin running, to start warming up his muscles again.
The rest his body had received, albeit short, clearly did wonders for his energy. He only stumbled slightly a few times along the trek to the gate, quickly tapping his ID card and impatiently waiting for the gate to open.
He knew Nezu would be getting a notification of his arrival straight away, but he had something else to find before he worried about the principal.
Or rather, somebody .
**********
Mei paced furiously at her desk, desperate to keep her mind off of the big problem here.
A missing Izuku.
"I'm sure he's fine," Shinsou said, voice set in its usual drawl but she noticed his eyes cast down towards the floor.
"Yeah, and pigs can fly." She laughed humourlessly, running an oil-stained hand roughly through her hair, tugging on a few of the knots she encountered. "This is Loki we're talking about. It hasn't even been that long into the school year and he's already gone missing."
She slumped onto her stool in defeat, fiddling with one of her most recent gadgets.
They had both been told to leave their respective classes because of the restless energy they had that day. Loki hadn't shown up to any of their classes so far and he hadn't brought Mei a coffee this morning. Shinsou claimed he was glad that Loki decided not to irritate him this morning like most other ones but Mei knew that was a lie.
"Well, he probably just passed out from exhaustion after patrol last night and forgot to set an alarm," Shinsou shrugged, shoulders spelt taunt, even when they slumped back down.
Mei shot the insomniac one of her 'oh, really?' looks, one which never failed to make the other person she was speaking to embarrassed. Apart from Loki. He usually just laughed.
"Have you seen how that boy takes care of himself? Even if he was bleeding and dying, he'd still try to go to school as normal. No, no, somethings wrong ."
She sprang from her seat once again, back to frantically wearing the soles of her shoes down. Shinsou's heart plummeted when she froze in her tracks.
She mumbled something under her breath, a realisation causing her eyes to widen. Shinsou wanted to grab her, shake her, demand answers to whatever she had just thought of. But he restrained himself.
"Could you repeat that please?" he asked.
"Loki wasn't supposed to have a patrol yesterday," she whispered into the empty classroom around them, that somehow seemed a substantial bit smaller than before.
"W-what do you mean?" Shinsou cursed the slight tremor in his voice.
Mei turned slowly, tentatively, to him and stared, unseeing, into his eyes. "He told me he didn't have patrol. Nothing should have happened… and if it did-"
A tremendous slamming of the door cut Mei off, both of them immediately swiveling to face whoever had opened the door. Shinsou noticed in slight amusement that she had plucked one of her hammers off the desk currently scattered with random tools.
"Mei!" Loki jogged into the room, barely avoiding sliding along the tiles. He bumped into a few desks as he made his way over to them.
Mei met him in the middle, running into his arms and burying herself there, in his firm embrace. Shinsou had begun to move to Loki but stopped when they stood there hugging. He yearned to hug Loki like that too.
Pink hair and one eye was all he could see of the engineer's face, smushed as it was against Loki's chest. He had ensconced her in his arms, a proper hug, and laid his head to rest soothingly against her hair.
His breathing was heavy but he didn't seem bothered by it.
Eventually, the two broke away from each other. Mei slapped his bicep sharply.
"Where the fuck were you? Shinsou here was worried sick!" She shrieked, poking a finger into his chest and pushing him back until he stumbled into the edge of a desk.
Shinsou spluttered, trying to deny her claim, while Loki just rolled his eyes at Mei and sighed. The sound came out slightly distorted from behind the mask.
"You don't have to pin all the concern on poor Shinsou. I'm sure he was extremely disappointed when I didn't show up, but you don't have to pretend you weren't either Mei-Mei." His laughter eased some of the tension from the room and Shinsou couldn't help the small grin that twitched unwillingly at the corners of his mouth.
"I never said I wasn't worried, you imbecile," Mei huffed, pouting in faux offence.
"Yeah, well, put that concern on hold," Loki sighed, shoulders slumping.
"Loki?" Mei questioned, laying a calloused hand on his forearm.
His eyes met hers and they locked as he spoke. "You need you to find Nezu and tell him that the USJ is under attack. Not the studio but the training centre that 1-A are now at. He'll probably be in his office, so it won't be too hard to find him. Make sure he believes you. I have to go try and get there on time because I don't know when it started or the amount of criminals they brought there."
"It's not The League's doing is it?" she questioned sharply. She received a hesitant nod in return. "For fucks sake, of course it is. When is it not? They seem to have absolutely nothing else to do than traumatise kids for fun."
Mei's eyes narrowed as she ran her eyes over him fully. "What's that around ur wrist?" She grabbed his arm, turned it over to peer at the holes in his costume, pulling one back to see the angry red flesh of an acid burn. "Don't tell me that's where you were. Loki, we've talked about this, you can't just do everything alone, that's not fair!"
Shinsou could see Loki's agitation levels were rising faster than he could control them and so, it came as no surprise to him when the vigilante snapped.
"Mei, I'm asking you to do something important. I get that I should've called you or said something to someone. But... I was scared . Now, can we please find a way to stop this attack before anyone gets seriously hurt? Please," he begged, his gloved hands reaching out to her own, and clasping them tightly.
Mei looked at where their hands were joined before flicking those bright eyes back to his face. "Fine," she groaned. "I'll tell Nezu, you go save the day. Also, we are talking about those burns when you get back. I can't keep giving you acids and hazardous equipment if you're going to injure yourself with them."
"Well the other option was to still be imprisoned in a dark room, so I'm pretty sure you'll allow me a pass on this one. Anywho, I gotta go," he said, a luminous green grin stretching across the mask still on his face.
Mei briefly worried that it was covering up something, but she had to push that aside.
Loki left them with a two-finger salute, but turned back to Mei, just before he left the room, and called out, "Bring that new thing we've been working on with you Mei-Mei!"
Mei chuckled, shaking her head at his retreating form. Shinsou cocked his head to the side, "No one's mentioned anything about a 'new thing' you've been working on at any of the lunches we've had."
"No one said anything about working on it at school," Mei replied easily, winking at him. She shoved her tools into her backpack quickly, Shinsou taking this time to process what had just happened.
"Well, we have got to go get Nezu. I suggest you prepare to see a concerned principal because trust me, you'll never have seen him like this before."
Shinsou absently wondered why the hell he always got dragged into these ludicrous plans with these two maniacs.
Or maybe he dragged himself into these scenarios.
Eh, normal was boring.
He followed Mei closely as she sauntered out of the room, face set in one of the first serious expressions he had observed from her.
**********
Izuku ran.
He ran as if the lives of 1-A depended on him, because they did. He wished they didn't, he wished he could pretend that it was just another mission, just another few people to save.
But it was so much more than that.
It's so much more difficult to concentrate when he knows these are people he genuinely likes and respects .
He refuses to address the fact that Aizawa is there, probably already fighting for the class.
It's not that he doesn't believe in their capabilities, not that at all. They just… haven't had the same experiences as he has had yet and he doesn't want them to have to. He chose this. And he would choose it again, over and over again. But they should be allowed to choose this.
And fuck anyone who says they already had by joining the hero course. Joining the hero course and receiving the training essential to confront villains was different from being thrown into a situation headfirst.
He pulled out his phone, clicking on the link Mei had sent him. She knew he would need direction and sent them as soon as she could. Helping each other with code had been one of the best decisions they made. It made hacking a little more fun too.
He followed the directions, although it was a mostly straight path. Once he reached the building, he slowed, looking for any signs of penetration in the walls or doors.
Glancing to his phone, he watched as it glitched, all service gone. A now useless phone sat in his hands.
Communications jammed then. Smart.
Creeping along one of the walls, he reached the door with no problems. No one was outside, guarding the USJ and for a moment, he wondered if they had noticed he left and rescheduled.
Slipping through the door, his eyes widened behind the mask and he fumbled for a second, tapping on the side of his mask to lower the brightness of the green.
The swirling black mass of Kurogiri stood before him, though it was his back that faced Loki. It was infinitely eerie to see the huge nebula of darkness that ebbed and flowed around the room. Kurogiri was saying something, but Loki ignored it in favour of creeping to the edge of the wall, unnoticed in the shadows.
He controlled his breathing, refusing to let out more sound than needed. So far, he hadn't been noticed, though he knew it was only a matter of time.
Silently, he moved further along, glimpsing peeks of the class as he moved. It seemed they had been herded into a close-knit group, which was most likely exactly what Kurogiri wanted. It would be easier to pick and choose who he wanted to teleport and seclude.
Though, Izuku was sure they hadn't bothered to collect data on the kids' quirks. Or if they did, they wouldn't have remembered them.
He spied Bakugou standing in the group, vibrating furiously with the force of his anger. He knew he had to do something before the hot head got himself and others in serious trouble.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself, ensuring he had utter composure. He slowly inserted the needle he currently clasped in his grasp into his thigh, hissing slightly as it entered. He was glad he hadn't informed Mei he would need one of these. She would have refused to let him go at all. The empty needle dropped to the floor with a quiet clatter than no one else noticed.
Well, he had sworn to only use it if he needed it. He thought this situation was cause enough. Surely, she'd understand...
"My job is to scatter you, and torture you all to death," Kurogiri announced, voice bellowing by the end of his sentence. Whips of his quirk began to spread out, grabbing and dragging, washing over the mass of fearful students standing before him.
Relaxing his shoulders, Izuku reached out an arm and flicked his wrist, letting the claws of his right glove slip out. He dragged them along the wall beside him, a glaring shriek piercing the air around them. Kurogiri's quirk stopped, pulling back from the students.
Loki stepped out of the shadows, a wicked grin spreading over his mask, eyes narrowed into slits.
"I think this is where I come in, right? I admit, I do love to play with my food."