Chapter Text
Life was a vicious bitch, or at least Shoto thought it was after the horrendous day he had. You’d think that after waking up late and rushing to work just to forget his train pass and having to frantically trek back home, being puked on by not one, but two sick children, and forgetting his wallet in his locker at work (all nurses were given a locker to keep their things in during their shift), that life would give him a break and allow him to relax for the rest of his evening as he miserably walked home in the rain (yes it was also raining and of course he didn’t have an umbrella).
Unfortunately for him, life truly was a two faced good-for-nothing prick.
Motherfucking bitch ass fate.
Shoto sighed deeply before taking in another deep breath. He liked to believe he was a good person, he truly did. He worked as a nurse at a local hospital, he spent his free time volunteering at orphanages and children's service centers, and he used his quirk to heal people when they got hurt. He paid all of his bills on time, he adopted stray cats that needed somewhere safe to stay, and he even healed people for free when they couldn’t afford to pay the hospital fees.
That last thing may or may not technically be illegal but he wasn't a fucking snitch and neither were his coworkers.
Except for Avea the two-faced bitch.
At the end of the day, Shoto was a pretty damn good person. So what the fuck did he do to deserve this shit.
Hitting his head against the brick wall behind him, Shoto tiredly eyed at the villain who was standing on a dumpster - a dumpster - of all things, practicing his “monologue” regarding what he was going to tell the heroes when they finally came to rescue him. If they came to rescue him.
The motherfuckers never patrolled in this area so he doesn't know why the fuck their chilling in this dusty ass alley.
As much as he loved to imagine a big, strong hero coming to save him from this wackjob, he highly doubted that anyone would waste their time to come take down a man who truly wasn’t doing anything villainous. Besides going out in public in his quote-on-quote “villains costume” (stripes and polka dots DID NOT go together thank you very much), Shoto truly believed the man wasn’t capable of hurting a fly. If it weren’t for the rope that tied his hands and feet together, he would have simply walked off with no interference a long time ago (because of course the villain just had to have a rope manipulation quirk).
Kinky.
Even if it was technically his own fault for getting caught by this fucking wierdo, Shoto still called bullshit on the entire situation. Sure he really should have known better than to try and take the back alleys as a shortcut back to his tiny apartment. But after the day he had, could he really be blamed for wanting to get home and out of the rain as fast as possible?
No, no he fucking couldn’t.
Groaning in annoyance, Shoto shifted his attention back towards the villain who had “captured” him. Focusing on the man’s words, Shoto realized that the dipshit was still muttering to himself while standing on a dumpster. Facing the wall intently, Shoto internally vomited when he heard some of the man’s words.
“HEAR AND ugh FEAR ME NOW HEROES, FOR I AM… who am I again… AGNAST, THE ROPE VILLIAN… no that’s no good I shouldn’t have to tell the heroes who I am, they should ask me who I am!”
Talk about fucking cringe.
If it weren’t for the fact that he was currently sitting on a dirty, potentially bloodstained street in the middle of a back alley, Shoto would have offered to help the poor boy before he obviously made a fool of himself in front of god knows how many people. Actually, after looking at his costume again, he might still help.
It’s not like he had anything better to do right now since he’s tied up and can't go anywhere.
Considering his options - he was really fucking bored right now - Shoto glanced at both ends of the alley, checking once again if someone, anyone really, would be coming to save him. After determining that the answer was a definite no , he turned his gaze back to the self-proclaimed villain and began to voice his concerns.
“Hey, dumbass,” he stated tiredly, eyes narrowly watching the villain as he continued to stand on the dumpster. Observing the other intently, the bitch definitely had some screws loose so it was better to be vigilant than to end up dead , Shoto watched as the man instantly stopped mumbling incoherent sentences to himself to turn and look at him. Ignoring the glare the villain sent his direction, Shoto continued speaking.
“I have a few suggestions on how to present yourself to the incoming hero’s if you’d like to hear them,” Shoto explained. Watching the other man like a hawk, Shoto tracked the villain's movements as he slowly turned his head, almost like a dog trying to process a question, and repeated the statement he just provided. “…you’d like to…” the villain began, staring at Shoto in wonder, “help me… present myself... to the heroes.”
Blinking tiredly at the fake villain with a deadpan expression, Shoto hoped his dark purple eyes were properly devoid of any emotions so they could factually represent the state of his soul right now, “yes, that’s literally what I just said.”
Shoto watched as the villain finished processing his words, and then began to snicker, no laugh (he was definitely laughing), uncontrollably. “YOU want to help ME with MY entrance,” the villain started, trying desperately to get his sentence out in between his laughter. “Sorry pal but I don’t think I need your help. It’s not really that hard anyway. All I need to do is stand someplace high, and shout MY NAME IS-”
“-SORCERER.”
Flinching at the sudden loud noise, Shoto almost snapped his neck with how hard he turned it to look at the entrance of the alleyway. If it weren’t for the slightly too tight ropes tied around his limbs that kept a slight tinge of pain coursing throughout his body, he would have thought he was hallucinating. Standing at the entrance of the alley way was none other than Sorcerer, the number four hero himself.
TV broadcasts and talk shows really didn’t do Sorcerer justice because god damn this motherfucker is hot.
Staring at the hero in shock, Shoto noticed the apologetic smile on the other man’s face when he noticed the rope tied around Shoto’s limbs.
“Sorry it took so long for someone to come, but I’m here to save you now.”
Tired mind still trying to fully process what was happening, Shoto could only stare as Sorcerer slowly began walking down the alley towards the villain, towards him, smiling calmly with eyes that never once left the villain’s fearful gaze the entirety of the way.
“Normally I wouldn’t patrol this late at night, or this area even,” Sorcerer admitted, “but for some reason something inside of me screamed at me to investigate this area.”
Shoto watched as he finished waltzing up to the villain, the villain who had taken him hostage, and the same one who was now staring up at Sorcerer with a mix of fear, disgust, and admiration hidden in his eyes. As Sorcerer stood in front of the villain, Shoto admired the height difference between the villain and the number four hero himself. “Now,” he finished, “I’m glad I followed that gut feeling.”
Shoto stared in amazement as Sorcerer flicked his wrist, and a paper shikigami suddenly appeared from his hand and started flying around. Watching the piece of paper - was that even paper - fly around the air, Shoto heard a large thump. Glancing back towards the villain, he realized the other man had promptly passed out from fear.
Classic.
Staring at the scene in front of him in disappointment, Sorcerer sighed and looked at the now limp form of the villain in front of him. “Why do villain’s these days always pass out the moment they see me.” He asked, seemingly to himself, as he pulled out his phone and began typing a message to someone.
“Maybe,” Shoto suggested, “It’s because you’re the number four hero and most villains are only expecting to face sidekicks or underground heroes. Especially during night patrols.”
Sorcerer looked at him, suddenly startled, and immediately started laughing. It wasn’t a confident boisterous laugh like the ones he uses during his interviews though, it was a quiet awkward one that Shoto could never imagine coming from someone as well defined as him.
It was kind of cute.
“Sorry about that,” he began, hand slowly rising to rub the back of his neck, “I kinda forgot you were there.”
Shoto looked at him incredulously, his naturally sweet smile turning into a smirk of amusement. “That’s alright, though if you could unite me that would be great. I’m starting to lose feeling in my hands and feet from sitting here in the rain tied up for so long.”
Glancing down towards his hands, then his feet, Sorcerer chuckled anxiously before slowly walking towards him and leaning down towards the ground.
“Oh right the rope- I mean- I totally already knew about that. Yeah I suppose that it would be… er… uncomfortable to keep this rope tied any longer… Let me just- yeah.”
Looking up from the ground, Sorcerer made eye contact with Shoto before looking back down again as he grabbed the rope containing his arms together, and gently tore it apart. While Sorcerer shifted down to remove the rope wrapped around his legs, Shoto began to gently massage the area around his wrists where the rope had almost cut off his blood circulation.
Gently removing the ropes surrounding Shoto’s feet, Sorcerer smiled in triumph after Shoto was completely rope free.
“There you go, good as new!”
Giving Sorcerer one of his signature sweet smiles he regularly uses as a nurse, Shoto looked up at the man as he moved from massaging his hands to his feet. “Thanks for saving me!” He genuinely stated. “I’m sure you must have had a busy day so far, so I appreciate you shutting up the wackjob.”
Attempting to bring an adequate amount of blood flow back into his feet (honestly did that idiot wannabe villain have to tie the rope so tight), Shoto deemed his situation acceptable after a few minutes of rotating his ankles without feeling a numb sensation in his feet.
“Naw, don’t mention it. Saving people in need is like the most basic part of a hero’s daily life.”
Snorting in amusement, Shoto grabbed his bag that was on the ground beside him. “I thought that was paperwork,” he replied before he could stop himself.
Hearing laughter from the other man, Shoto smiled to himself. Using the wall for support, Shoto slowly stood up and began dusting his scrubs off in a vague attempt to reduce the amount of stains he would have permanently etched into them. Scrubs were ridiculously expensive these days, and he’d be damned if he didn’t at least try to save this pair.
Considering the fact that he had been sitting in a pool of questionable dried blood it was a definitely a lost fucking cause though.
Deeming his clothes unsavable, Shoto let out a small sign before coming to terms with the fact that his clothes would need to be burned in a sacrificial bonfire in order to cleanse his spirit of whatever karma he had been inflicted with. Peering over at Sorcerer, who was currently tying up the villain with the same rope he just removed from him, Shoto groaned and rolled his eyes.
“You can’t be fucking serious right now,” he muttered softly, debating whether or not he should even bother admitting what he knows. Who the hell ties up a villain with a rope manipulation quirk?
He’s a 10 but he’s dumb as shit - automatic 6.
“Hmmm? Did you say something?”
Rubbing his hand through his hair aggressively, Shoto sighed softly. This is going to be his good deed for the month, he swears it is.
“You can’t tie him up with rope,” Shoto stated. “He has a rope manipulation quirk.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that.” Watching as Sorcerer removed the rope and wrapped the villain with shimmering purple wires? threads? - fuck if he knew - that appeared from no where, Shoto had to force himself to not clap and the borderline party trick he just witnessed. “Thanks for letting me know.”
Humming in agreement, Shoto hiked his bag father up on his left shoulder, and took a step towards Sorcerer before formally bowing. Today may have been one of the shittiest days of his life, but it could have been significantly worse if the hero hadn’t found him in the alleyway. Sure the “villain” probably wouldn’t have hurt him, but Shoto probably would have bit off his own tongue and died before he willingly sat down and listened to the dumbasses monologue for hours.
He would have ended up a corpse either way.
After everything that happened, he still owed the hero a sincere thank you.
“Thank you once again for saving me. I’m sure you hear it all the time but I really do appreciate it.” Standing up, Shoto made eye contact with the hero. Dark purple eyes meeting multicolored purple ones hidden behind a mask, Shoto gave the other man a real, grateful smile. “I should be on my way now though, have a good night Sorcerer.”
Turning around, Shoto quickly made his way through the alley and back towards his apartment. He may have been stopped once, but he sure as hell wasn’t gonna let it happen twice - healing quirk be damned he could throw hands when he needed to -. Briskly walking for a few seconds (it was still raining after all), Shoto stopped when he heard shouting come from behind him.
Quickly turning around, Shoto watched as Sorcerer quickly jogged towards him before standing a respectable distance away from him. Looking at the hero in confusion, Shoto watched as the man slowly started wringing his hands together before he slowly brought one of them to behind his head.
Smiling sheepishly, Sorcerer made eye contact with Shoto before quickly averting his eyes towards the other end of the alley. “I just wanted to see if you wanted an escort home. It’s still dark out so there’s always the risk of running into another villain. Plus, the police are already on their way to detain the criminal so it wouldn’t be any extra trouble.”
Blinking absentmindedly, it took Shoto a few seconds to register what the man had said. Smiling softly, Shoto looked at the man before gently laughing into his raised hand. Who knew the number four hero was such a sweetheart (Shoto surely didn’t). Noticing a small blush began to spread across the man’s face, Shoto took pity on him and held out his arm.
“An escort would be nice,” Shoto admitted, “thanks for offering. I live in an apartment about ten minutes from here if you don’t mind walking in the rain.”
Watching Sorcerer in amusement, Shoto could pinpoint the exact moment his words registered within the man due to the large smile that spread across his face. “Eyyyy, that sounds perfect!” Stepping towards him and delicately linking Shoto’s offered arm through his own, Shoto internally swooned at how gently the number four hero was treating him.
Smiling down at him, Sorcerer looked back towards the villain once more to ensure he was still properly tied up. After deeming the situation acceptable, he looked towards Shoto once again before glancing towards the other end of the alley where they would be heading.
“Lead the way.”
He’s definitely a 10.