Chapter Text
In the months that Katsuki’s been doing his work studies with Mirko, he’s become more and more comfortable around the bunny. Unlike most people he's met, she welcomes his brash exterior and loves a good brawl almost as much as he does.
After his work studies at the Endeavour agency, and seeing Icy Hot’s relationship with his dad, he had slowly rebuilt in his mind what kind of hero he wanted to be. It had made him acutely aware of what the absolute drive to be #1 did to the people he was meant to be saving. He didn’t only want to be a hero who always wins, but a hero who is strong enough to save people. Don’t get it wrong - All Might always has, and always will be his #1 favourite hero; but he realised he would never be the kind of hero who saves everyone with a smile on his face. He didn’t want to be, either. He liked being loud and brash, intimidating any villains who might be thinking about doing anything. And while Mirko wasn’t exactly… intimidating, she was strong and eager to speak her mind, and he always felt comfortable to do the same in her presence.
It had helped that she had beat him up on one of his first days. He’d been cocky, overly so. He was sure he could beat a damn bunny, but man had he been wrong. He’d had bruises for a week. But once his body (and ego) had recovered, she sparred with him regularly and he’d gotten better; that was all he wanted. He had slowly reframed his sense of self worth from needing to be the best to just needing to work hard to be better. It still wasn't always healthy, but it was an improvement. One that allowed him to (just about) interact with his peers.
They were out patrolling today. The League of Villains spent much of their time working behind the scenes, trying hits on heroes or hero sympathisers, continuing the work of the deceased Stain. While the lack of direct attacks on UA or the public was nice, it was… unsettling. Their numbers had kept growing, and chatter continued to rise. He knew something was coming, all the heroes could feel it. He could feel it every time he patrolled, the tension heavy in the air.
But for now, there was no active job. He was just patrolling, same as always. He’d done his first internship with Best Jeanist, and while he didn’t enjoy his time there, he had slowly come to appreciate the lesson he had learned: patrolling isn’t just about stopping villains, it’s about making the public feel safe. As much as he’d love a brawl with some low level thug, he understood why it mattered anyway. Mirko was smiling and waving at any fans who stopped her, but that wasn’t really his style. He kept more of the strong but silent style of patrolling, though on the rare occasion anyone recognised him from his sports festivals he gave them a quick nod, and the occasional autograph. He glanced at the bunny but kept his eyes on the roads and alleys ahead of them.
That was, until the BOOM.
He’s created enough of his own to know what an explosion sounded like. Holy fuck he thinks, as he sees heavy, dark smoke rising above the level of the buildings in front of them.
“Come in, any active heroes within a 5km radius of the Endeavour agency should go there immediately. We believe there are villains on the scene, and many people trapped in building. Both fighting heroes and rescue heroes are required.”
Endeavour’s agency? That was only a few blocks away. Jesus . The #1 hero. He didn’t like Endeavour much, but fuck . An attack on the #1 hero was not a great look for the hero community. A quick panic took over him as he tried to remember if Icy Hot was even working today, but he let out a breath as he remembered it was a Saturday morning, the day he visits his mother.
He looks over at Mirko, and takes in her grimace. They are only a few blocks away from the explosion.
“What are you waiting for, brat? Come on!” She shouts over the gasps of the public, looking uncharacteristically serious, and they both take off running.
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By the time they arrived, police were already coordinating heroes. Only a few heroes beat them to it - Mount Lady was already there, as were her sidekicks, Yaoyorozu and Kendou. Kamui Woods was there too, helping sort through the rubble. There had been reports of a fire hero in the area, and that was not his expertise.
Katsuki couldn’t help but let his eyes glide over the damage done. The building was still standing, for now, but it didn’t look very stable. The wall half way up on one side had been blasted through several floors, and there was still thick, dark smoke everywhere.
"Mirko, Dynamight - start cornering off the east side!" The CO of the police calls over to them. Katsuki glances over at Mirko,
"I'll take the rooftops then?" He checks in with her.
"Get going, kid." She confirms. It had been their strategy on several missions - Katsuki could manoeuvre comfortably in the air with his quirk but did best with more space, while Mirko worked well in close quarters. He blasts himself up onto a low roof nearby and began the search for any villains in the area.
---
“Two Nomu here 1-2-9 Okubo,” Mt Lady calls in. “Any heroes not securing the area I need a hand!” She calls in.
“Edgeshot on the way,” The ninja hero responds.
“Best jeanist on the way” His previous boss responds. A few other sidekicks respond quickly also. Katsuki wants to get in on the action and smack those bird brain assholes, but he knows he and Mirko still have yet to be called back from securing the East side of Endeavour’s agency.
“Seen anything yet kid?” Mirko called out over his comms.
“Nothing yet.” Katsuki grumbled back. He scans over the rooftops he can see. Glancing behind, he could just about see Mount Lady through the smoke on the West side of the rubble, and Hawks out North and some other hero he couldn’t quite make out covering the South. There were more heroes who had checked in down on the streets securing the perimeter or taking the Nomu, and plenty working on recovering people from the building. No one had called in any actual villain encounters yet, so either they were hiding or had found some way out. He used his blasts to propel himself up to a high roof ahead of him, trying not to get too far ahead of where Mirko was on the ground. He blasts himself up, and then out of the corner of his eye, he sees something moving left out of his sight.
“Mirko, out left moving North!” He calls out to her. “Can’t see who the fuck it is, but I sure as hell doubt it’s anyone innocent.”
“See if you can keep close, but do not engage,” She replies. “I’ll start moving to cut them off down here.”
Whoever this is is moving fast, and Katsuki knows fast. Maybe it’s a quirk? A speed quirk, or some kind of enhancer perhaps. He lets off a blast, moving in but the villain is fast. Not faster than me , Katsuki thinks. He can move fast, faster than this extra at least. Mirko isn’t as fast as he is, but her bunny genes means her legs can spring, making her one of the quicker moving heroes on foot.
“At least two villains on 1-9-9 Okubo, I need back-up fast.” Mirko calls in.
“Shit!” She grunts, and he can hear her panting. Clearly the damn bunny has started the fight without him. “20s male with a fire quirk, and teen female with an unknown quirk and a knife.”
“Gunhead on the way,” The pro responds.
“I’ll move in from the North and try to cut them off!” Hawks calls through the comms.
“Dynamight, keep close to the one up top!” Mirko calls back through to him. “K boss,” He responds. “Better take those damn extras out, you hear?!” He hears a scuffle down the comms and can briefly see some blue flames down in the alley.
“Yeah yeah, kid” She huffs, catching a breath. “Focus on your own damn self.”
Right, fucking obviously , he thinks, but realises he’s falling behind the thug he’s following. He lets off some bigger blasts and tries to close the distance. Off to his left he can see Hawks dive down from the sky into the alleys below him, but he’s got other things to think about. So far, the extra has just been running out North. If he knew Katsuki was there, he’s paid him no mind. But clearly he has been paying attention, because as soon as Katsuki is within range, the extra turns and jumps too far, too fast for a normal person, and swings a heavy kick into Katsuki’s side, sending him flying sideways.
Fuck. He barely manages to get a blast out in time to stop himself slamming into the roof with enough force to knock him out. Or worse, he thinks grimly. He rolls over quickly but before he’s even back on his feet he’s having to let off a blast to avoid the metal fist swinging towards his face. He’s panting, struggling to take a deep breath with what he assumes are broken ribs, but he’ll be damned before he lets this extra take him that easy.
“Villain with some strength enhancer up here,” He calls in, wheezing a bit as he blasts back and up out of range (hopefully) from this asshole. “I’ll need a hand to take him in.”
He doesn’t like to admit it, but the truth is this extra packs a big hit. He should be able to maneuver out the way, but he’s in trouble.
“Just keep out of his reach brat, we’ve got our hands full.” Mirko calls back. “Some real heavy hitters out today.”
Right, he thinks, I can do that . But he’s only just got his feet down on another roof when this fucking asshole is jumping over again. He’s got a green hoodie, though the hood has come down, showing off wild, shoulder length navy hair clumped in curls and a metal mask over his nose and mouth. Even though he’s pretty built, Katsuki reckons he’s maybe in his teens, 20 at most. Katsuki is more prepared for the asshole’s speed this time, and at the last second uses his quirk to dodge over the top, slow, and then let off a blast right in the asshole’s face. Or at least, it should have been. But the asshole has moved too fast, and Katsuki only just blasts back quick enough to dodge the incoming red sneakered-foot directed at his already broken ribs.
Fuck this , Katsuki thinks. The strength enhancer is one thing, but the asshole has seriously quick reflexes to have dodged that. He can see that he managed to catch the asshole’s shoulder still, but it doesn’t seem to have slowed him down at all. Katsuki changes direction and tries to blast himself up, high, out of the reach of the villain but whilst he’s taking off he feels a hand on his ankle, and he’s slammed hard on his back down onto the roof, with what little breath he had being knocked out of him. Without thinking, he shields his face and lets off as big a big blast as he can right above him. His ears are ringing, his head fucking kills but he knows he doesn’t have long. Get up , he thinks, and makes it to his knees. He looks up at the villain, and then stops. His rapid-beating heart sinks into his stomach. The villain’s mask has been blown into pieces, scattered across the rooftop. But that isn’t what stops him. The hair is too dark, and the frame is too bulky, but he suddenly recognises the green eyes as the villain tries to get to his feet. Maybe if he hadn’t just concussed himself, he’d have had the sense to keep fucking fighting, but instead he can’t stop the words coming out.
“Deku?” He says, wheezing. He’s been winded hard, and with his ribs he can barely get enough breath to get the word out. The villain jumps to him, and all he can feel is the cold, metal arm pinning him down. Fuck , he thinks. I really fucked up this time . He tries to move an arm up to blast, but it’s smacked down by the villain’s - Deku’s - other hand. Is it Deku? The face has a few scars, and has gotten a little less round, but it’s the same face, even if the hair and frame are wrong. It’s been more than three years, of course he’d have gotten bigger. He’s never met anyone else with big green eyes like that, except for Auntie Inko’s. Katsuki’s eyes are swimming, and the dark at the edge of his vision is closing in.
“You shouldn’t have done that. I’m meant to kill you now.” Deku lets out, clearly struggling to catch his own breath. Katsuki wants to say something, anything, but the arm across his throat is stopping him. “Stay down, call for medical. If you follow me, I will kill you.” Deku pauses for a second, though Katsuki isn’t sure if it’s for breath or for thought. “So stay down.”
As the pressure lets up a little on him, Katsuki struggles to get an arm up to blast the fucker. Deku or not, he doesn’t give up on a fight. But then his head is slammed back against the roof, and everything goes black.