Chapter Text
Izuku felt his hands dig in his cheeks but didn’t dare move them, too scared to make a noise.
This… it couldn’t be! Tears sting at his eyes but he couldn’t let them fall, taking a step back, another when the first went unnoticed, before he started running.
I can’t let this happen! He couldn’t help but thought, they need to be stopped!
He closed the door to his room, back pressed against it, slowly falling to the floor.
I have to stop them…
But how could he… when he was but a quirkless kid?
--
Rody looked through the plane window, cheek smashes against his open palm.
The view was nice, sure, it’s not like he often had the opportunity to leave the country (not since they first left Otheon with his father, without even saying goodbye to any of their friends), but he still wished Roro and Lala could have been with him. He sighed, knowing they would have simply loved the opportunity to visit the clouds.
“Oy, stop with the long face, bird brain.”
Pino rolled her eyes while Rody turned with a smile toward Bakugou.
“What is it Lord Explodokill, can’t keep your eyes off me?” he smirked, not paying any mind to his glare and the low popping of explosions, certain in the knowledge that Endeavour wouldn’t let the plane crash.
“Tch,” he scowled, “you shoulda spared us your sorry face and stayed home!”
“Aww, you care,” he teased, “alas, I couldn’t miss such an opportunity! Free travel and lodging to Otheon aren’t a dime a dozen, you know?”
And that was without even mentioning the various doors that would open to him just by being presented as Endeavour’s intern. Even if his father had been overly worried about him going back to Otheon, and he himself felt bad about leaving Roro and Lala, Rody knew he couldn’t miss this opportunity.
“Calm down, both of you,” Endeavour growled from the depth of his seat, at the front of the plane. “We are going for diplomatic reasons, so you better not cause me any trouble.”
“Yes sir,” Rody answered with a sloppy hand salute, as Bakugou simply growled his assent.
Still, as he closed his eyes for a quick nap before arrival, he couldn’t help but remember his father’s look as he waved his family goodbye at the airport. But what could worry his father so much about their home country?
--
Izuku stood tall at the assembly, the shaking of his hand hidden behind the length of his robe, his breath carefully measured to not show his anxiety. On top of his balcony, Flect Turn spoke but all Izuku could hear was a faint buzzing noise. Ever since he heard their plan to save humanity, he had barely been able to pretend there was nothing wrong going on.
Who else knew about the real plan? How many people heard about the bombs and thought this was the only solution available? He discreetly looked at all the people surrounding him, some of them he has known for as long as he had been living in Otheon, they took care of him after his mother died!
And they were planning on killing thousands of people, all for the sake of ‘cleansing the world’.
He clenched his fists.
This was wrong.
When they left Musutafu for Otheon, they thought they could find a community that would accept them, a single mother and her quirkless son. And they did! For a while, life was good!
Their neighbours welcomed them with open arms, when his mom needed help with work, they showed her places looking to recruit, and when she needed help to watch over him, they invited him to playdates.
And when his mother suddenly got sick, they offered him a place to stay as she recovered. They gave him a place to live when she was gone, he knew they were good people.
But then why, he couldn’t help but scream inside, why would they do something like that? He wanted to ask, as they bowed in front of the man who welcomed them with open arms. Are they as unaware as I was? Or are they simply pretending?
Why do they believe that to save humanity, they have to destroy it first?
--
Rody was following the thief with a light jog, knowing that Pino wouldn’t lose sight of him, using alleyways and passages he had noticed since their first arrival in the city.
If his calculations were right, this shortcut should lead him directly to-
He hit someone, reflex trained in his body made him try to catch them, but they got thrown back before he could even try. An object hit the ground hard, but Rody barely gave it a glance as he gave precedence to the young boy on the floor.
He seemed to be around his own age, maybe even younger, the clothes he was wearing would be considered bland by most individuals – perfect for blending in, a part of him couldn’t help but think – and his hair was barely hidden underneath an old cap. A look around showed the fallen object to be a briefcase, oddly similar to the one the thief was holding in his hands.
--
Izuku has been running for so long, he barely registered where he was heading to. He had been able to enter Turn’s desk, and in it found enough incriminating documents to make sure he could be stopped before he was too late, but an unfortunate timing led to him being seen by someone who might have been a guard. He was pretty sure they haven’t realised what he has done, but since then he hadn’t dared to stop.
Until he rammed into someone so hard he found himself thrown back, hitting the ground hard. He looked up to the person who ran into him, freezing as his brain tried to make sense of the situation, hope unwillingly blooming into his chest.
This was- this outfit could only belong to a hero. But Izuku knew every Hero working in Otheon, knew their agencies and their sidekicks and their quirks, was more than well-acquainted with all of them, both from his obsession about their work but mostly because so many helped raise him.
Could this be a foreign hero? If that was the case, if Izuku were able to give him the information about Humarise, he could stop them!
But as he took in more details, as he saw his young face and innocent gaze-
Words died in his throat.
He couldn’t let them get involved, this would be too dangerous.
“Hey easy there, you’re alright?” the young hero asked, his bird fluttering around his head. Izuku could only nod in answer, his grip tightening around-
Nothing. His eyes widened as he looked around everywhere, no this couldn’t be! He couldn’t lose it now. The hero must have sensed his panic, as he too looked around before his bird chirped.
Izuku looked at it. The bird was sitting on top of his briefcase, Izuku scampered toward it but the bird refused to move, and Izuku felt frantic, he needed the documents within this case, they were proof of what Flect Turn was planning, and he needed to get them to someone who could help before it was too late.
As if hearing him, police siren grew closer, and Izuku paled even more upon hearing them. He lunged for the case but the hero caught it first, holding it out of his reach.
“Hey, slow down,” he seemed to almost juggle with it, Izuku never losing sight of it, “where were you heading so fast like that?”
“I’m sorry for walking into you,” Izuku barely bowed, eyes still on the case, “I am sure you must be busy, please let me have my case back and I will be out of your way.” His mother would have admonished him for the lack of courtesy, but he didn’t have the time to worry about it.
“Oh no, no need to apologise,” the hero tried to wave away his worries, “really, I was my fault as well,” Izuku couldn’t care less about his idea of a reassuring smile.
“I’m sorry but I really need to go,” he tried to reach out to the briefcase, only for him to take a step back. Izuku took another step forward, but the hero stayed out of reach.
“Of course I understand-“ the hero said “-but you see, it is my duty to make sure everything is fine-”
“You don’t understand-“ Izuku screamed, his tone shocking him as much as it seemed to shock the hero to the point he stopped moving, seemingly listening intently “-I need this briefcase back, it contain very important documents.”
“Alright, I get it,” the hero said, both hands palm up as if to mimic a shrug, “but I am sure you wouldn’t mind me taking a look inside first, just to make sure everything is in order, right?”
Izuku pondered his options. It would be bad if the young hero were to find something he didn’t like in the case, but he also didn’t have the time to try and convince him otherwise. They were locked in a stalemate and both knew it.
The police siren grew even closer.
“Alright-“ Izuku conceded “-but please be fast about it. I do not have much time.”
“Of course, of course!” he answered confidently, “this shouldn’t take long at all!” the ‘unless you’re hiding something went unsaid.’
But right as the hero went to open the case, the first police cars arrived, circling them. Izuku tensed, unable to hide his fear, certain that it was now too late.
The hero said something to the policemen holding their weapons toward them but Izuku couldn’t hear any word of it. At least… He could tell himself he had tried to be a hero, right? It might not have been enough, but-
They start shooting.
But not toward him.
Izuku barely registered as he got grabbed, only making sure the case was with them as the hero brought them both to cover. The sudden movement snapped him out of his mind.
He looked to the hero and his briefcase, the stomping of boots filling his ears as he made a decision.
“You need to take this and go away,” he pushed the briefcase toward the hero, making sure he got a secure grip on it before letting it go and slowly pushing himself up, “make sure this reaches someone who can help,” he begged.
The hero grabbed his wrist. “Hey wait, what are you planning to do?”
Izuku remembered all the videos he used to watch when he was young, where All Might would smile to reassure civilians. He was sure the smile he offered could barely be called a pale imitation, but he put all the shaky confidence he had into it. This was far from the same kind of situation, but he couldn’t allow someone to die for his mistakes.
“They’re here for me, they should let you go if I surrender myself.”
The hero grabbed his arm, “I can’t let you do that, you’re going to get yourself killed!” he whispered.
Izuku shook his head, extracting his arm. “I am too valuable for them to kill,” he said with a confidence he couldn’t feel, “I will be fine.”
He didn’t give any time for the hero to retort.
--
Rody could only watch as the policemen roughly grabbed the young man, handcuffing him before bringing him inside the car.
None seemed to look for him.
His arms tightened around the case.
What kind of hero could he call himself if he just let himself be saved by a civilian? He wanted to run out, grab this young man and make sure to get an explanation before any other action is taken, he wished he had the power to just whisk them away until everything can get cleared out.
But he knew there was nothing he could do right now, he didn’t have the power to just grab him and save them both, Aizawa’s lessons dug in his mind as he discreetly left the scene, ignoring Pino’s attempts at making him go back.
Sometimes, the best thing a hero could do was retreat and call for reinforcement, no matter how much it pained them to do so.