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Izuku tried to breathe slowly.  It had been nearly two full days since the ship had been taken over by pirates.  Izuku had barely slept, instead focusing on staying hidden while he gathered the information he needed to free both ship and crew.  Food hadn't crossed his mind until just now, when his stomach gave a faint rumble.  He ignored it.  He didn't have time for that, he needed to hurry.  He could eat his fill when Captain Yagi was back at the helm.  Unfortunately he hadn't come up with a plan yet.  The pirates had them outnumbered and outgunned.  He would need to find a way to outsmart them.

That was why Izuku had been carefully tapping into the wires of the ship.  His plan was to set off the alarms and scare the pirates back to their own ship, then he could detach them and free the crew and they could all fly away together.  He didn’t have all the details worked out, but the important thing was getting the pirates to leave.

Izuku was supposed to have left already too.  As soon as the pirates had started pursuing them, Captain Yagi had given him orders to take one of the escape pods and go.  Izuku hadn’t.  He’d stayed hidden on the ship when the pirates took over.  The crew had been locked up and now the pirates were searching for something.  Izuku had seen them looking through the vents, which was how he’d stayed hidden and moved around the ship so freely.  He didn’t know what they were looking for, just that it belonged to Captain Yagi and had to be important.

He hoped they were still looking, because he was out in the open right now, trying to tie together the last of the wiring he needed.  He wished he knew more about ships- well, he knew plenty, but he’d never had any hands-on experience before.  Captain Yagi had let him help here and there, but rewiring an alarm system from a side panel in the storage unit was completely different.  His fingers were starting to shake, so he set the wires down for a moment and pulled out his locket.

A few deep breaths and the image of his mother helped him to relax.  The locket held pictures of him and his mother together, projected just an inch or so above the metal.  She was so far away right now and he wished he had never left her side.  But missing her wouldn’t help.  He needed to save Captain Yagi if he wanted to get back home.  Izuku closed the locket and reached for the wires again.

"So you're the one who's been sneaking around.  No wonder we had trouble finding you." Someone from behind said, hoisting Izuku by his collar.

Izuku screamed, kicking wildly.  The man, obviously a pirate, lifted him many feet above the ground so he could see his face.  The man had white hair and red eyes and had a few scars on his face.  He was dressed in black and red- pirate colors- and he had a mean smile on his face.

"Why does Captain Yagi have a child on his ship?  You're not his secret love child, are you?" The pirate said with a dark chuckle.  He didn't wait for Izuku to reply, he just started dragging him kicking and screaming through the ship.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Izuku shouted when he was shoved into a chair.

"Ah, so you don’t know who I am.  Let me introduce myself." The pirate leaned down over Izuku, boxing him in and smiling at him.  "Hisashi Shigaraki, Captain Shigaraki will do for you."

Izuku swallowed his shouts and leaned back.

Shigaraki grinned wider at his reaction.  "Very good, you do know." He reached up and stroked a finger down Izuku's cheek.  "You don't look much like Yagi, do you?  Are you sure he’s your father?"

"He-He's not!" Izuku stuttered, flushing.

"No?" Shigaraki raised an eyebrow.  "Then what are you doing here?  Don't lie to me, little one, or I'll drag the truth out of you with my bare hands."

Izuku whimpered, but he did his best to square his shoulders.  "C-Captain Yagi is my neighbor.  He invited me to come."

"Ahh, interesting.  And why are you sneaking around?  What are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying to make you go away!" Izuku blurted before he could stop to think.  “Leave us alone!”

Shigaraki laughed, louder than Izuku expected.  Izuku flinched back, trying to shrink through the chair.  He didn’t understand what was so funny.  Nothing about this was funny to him- it was outright terrifying.

“Of course, little one, I’ll leave you alone- as soon as I find what I’m looking for.  Maybe you can help me with that, hm?  Tell me where One for All is and I’ll leave your little ship and her crew alone.”

“I-I don’t know what that is.” Izuku whimpered.  He felt like he was about to cry but he wouldn’t cry in front of this pirate.

“I told you not to lie to me.” Shigaraki said.  He removed his hand from Izuku’s face and started strapping him into the chair.  “Do you know what I’ll do to you if you lie to me?  I’ll start by probing your mind- I’m told it is extremely painful- and if that doesn’t work, I’ll start cutting off your fingers.  Old fashioned, but effective.  So tell me- where is One for All?”

“I don’t know!” Izuku cried, ducking away as best he could, fighting against the restraints.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“It’s a program, one that was stolen from me a long time ago.  I know that Yagi has it in his possession.”

“A program?” Izuku repeated, shaking his head.  “H-He’s never told me anything about that.  A-And even if he did, I wouldn’t tell you!  You’re a pirate!  You probably want to use it to hurt people!”

Shigaraki’s smile stayed on his face, but his eyes glinted darkly.  “What did you say your name was, little one?”

Izuku closed his lips tightly and looked away.  He didn’t want to tell Shigaraki his name.  His name was connected to his mother, and he didn’t want anything to hurt her.  If he and the crew didn’t survive, he didn’t want Shigaraki to go after her just because.  He’d been known to hunt down the families of crews he’d prayed on before- it had happened with Captain Shimura years ago.  He would rather die out here alone than put his mother in danger like that.

“Oh, trying to be brave, are we?  How adorable.” Shigaraki reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a thin, silver needle.  He held it up where Izuku could see it start wiggling.  Izuku jerked back, struggling to get free of the bindings.

“No!  Get that away from me!” Izuku cried.

Shigaraki laughed.  “That’s more like it.  You know what this is, don’t you?”

“I-It’s a mind probe.” Izuku whimpered.  “Th-They’re illegal!”

“Well, as you’ve pointed out so many times, I’m a pirate.  I don’t care what is and isn’t legal.” Shigaraki shrugged, looking the little probe over.  “Since you won’t tell me what I want, I’m going to have to use this one on you.”

“You can’t!” Izuku shouted, shaking his head.  “They’re dangerous!”

“It won’t hurt.” Shigaraki promised.

“You’re a liar!”

Shigaraki paused, chuckling again.  “You are brave, aren’t you, little one?  You’re right- it will hurt.  I’m told it hurts so very much, it feels like your head is going to explode.  I’ve heard of that happening, you know, if the victim doesn’t hold still while the probe is working.  But it’s fast, it will be over before you know it.  It goes up your nose like this-” Shigaraki tapped Izuku’s nose, then used his fingers to tiptoe up his face, between his eyes to his forehead like little feet. “-and into your head.  Then it just wiggles into your brain and- ta daa!  It starts working!”

“D-Don’t.” Izuku begged.  “Please.”  He was trying so hard to hold back tears.  He was scared.  He wanted Captain Yagi here to protect him.  Better yet, he wanted to be back home with his mother.

“It’s all right if you cry.” Shigaraki told him, drawing his fingers back.  He seemed to be enjoying Izuku’s fear.  “Go on.  Stuff like this makes even the big strong heroes cry.”

Izuku swallowed and shook his head.  He didn’t want to cry, not in front of Shigaraki.  He was tired of being a cry baby.  And the more scared he got, the happier Shigaraki became.  Even if it was just a little, he wanted to make the pirate pay for what he’d done to the ship and crew.

“Hm, stubborn little one, aren’t you?” Shigaraki mused.  “Well, I’m sure you’ll change your mind once we get started.  Now, hold still.”

Izuku screamed when Shigaraki brought the probe up to his face.  “No!  Stop it, please!  I don’t know where the All for One is!”

“Not All for One- One for All.” Shigaraki corrected him.  “I already have the other one.”

“I don’t care what it’s called!” Izuku shrieked.  “Stop it!  Please!  Leave me alone!”

Shigaraki paused with the probe an inch from Izuku’s nose.  The tiny machine was wiggling wildly, trying to get into Izuku.  “You know, little one, I wouldn’t have to do this if you weren’t so stubborn.” He said.

“I’m not!  I told you the truth!” Izuku cried.  No, no he wasn’t crying.  Not yet.  He could hang on a bit longer.

“Have you?  I’m not sure that you have.” Shigaraki replied.  “Although… you may be just the leverage I need to make Yagi talk.  If only you would answer my questions.”

“B-But I did answer!” Izuku tried to squirm back again.  He didn’t like the way the probe, crosseyed in his vision, was trying so desperately to break from Shigaraki’s grasp.

“You didn’t.  I asked you to tell me your name.”

Izuku’s eyes broke away from the probe for a split second, darting up to Shigaraki’s face.  “Why?” He stuttered.

“Just tell me, and the probe will go back in my pocket.” Shigaraki said, moving it closer to Izuku’s face.

Izuku bit his lip and pulled away again.  He wasn’t telling.

Shigaraki clicked his tongue angrily.  “Stubborn little brat, aren’t you?  It’s an easy question.”

“D-Doesn’t matter.” Izuku braced himself for the pain.  “Y-You’ll put that thing in me even if I do t-tell you.”

“What makes you say that?” Shigaraki asked, then immediately answered for himself.  “Ah, it’s because I’m a pirate, isn’t it?  That’s a fair assumption, little one.  Normally, you’d be right, but this time I’ll keep my promise.  Tell me your name and I’ll put my little friend away.”

Izuku knew better than to trust him.  Still, his mother had taught him to believe in people, to always hope that they would do good if given the chance.  He swallowed, then answered in a small voice.  “Izuku.”

“Izuku what?” Shigaraki pressed and this time Izuku squirmed away again.

“J-Just Izuku!” He insisted.

“You really are just trying to be difficult now, aren’t you?” Shigaraki grabbed Izuku’s hair and forced him to look up.  “Looks like I’ll have to let it in through your eye instead.  You’re guaranteed to lose it if you survive the probing.”

Izuku screamed, squirming and closing his eyes.  “No!  You promised!”

“And you said you would tell me your name.”

“I can’t!  Y-You’re going to h-hurt mom if I tell you!”

“Your mother?  Is she on this ship as well?”

“N-No!  She’s at home.  Please, please don’t hurt her!” Izuku begged.  Now that his eyes were closed, a few tears had slipped out without his permission.

Shigaraki let go of Izuku’s hair and lifted his locket instead.  “Is this your mother?” He asked, clicking it open to look at the picture inside.

“Don’t touch that!” Izuku cried, eyes snapping back open.  “You’re going to break it!”

“Aw, what a cute little family.” Shigaraki ignored him, swiping through the pictures.  “Though I can’t believe she agreed to let a child like you go out into space all by yourself.”

“I’m thirteen!” Izuku protested, immediately offended.  He didn’t like being treated like a child, especially by someone as nasty as Shigaraki.

Shigaraki glanced at him, chuckling again.  “Are you now?  My mistake.” But Izuku could tell by the amused gleam in his eye that he wasn’t sorry and didn't think what he'd said was a mistake.  “I should let you know that I only bother hunting down family members of people who make me angry.  And so far, you’ve made me very upset, Izuku, by not answering my question.  So, would you like me to stay angry?  Or should you be a good little boy?”

Izuku knew that his situation was hopeless.  No matter what he did or said, Shigaraki was going to hurt him however he wanted.  Even if he was good, even if he did everything the man asked, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t hurt him or his mother.  Still, he had to try and protect her no matter what.  “Midoriya.” Izuku said, dropping his eyes.  “It’s Izuku Midoriya.”

He didn’t see Shigaraki’s grin of triumph, but he did feel the tap on his nose.  “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Shigaraki closed the locket and pulled a small container out of his pocket.  He dropped the mind probe inside and sealed it.  He ruffled Izuku's hair, making Izuku wince and duck away.

"Wh-What are you going to do now?" Izuku asked.

"I'm going to go and visit your friend, Captain Yagi.  I'm sure he'll be much more willing to talk once he finds out that I have his cute little neighbor captured." Shigaraki pinched his cheek.  Hard.

"Ow!" Izuku tried to pull away, but the pirate didn't let go.

"And you thought you were brave enough to handle a mind probe." Shigaraki chuckled.  He pinched a minute longer, jiggling Izuku’s face, then let go and patted his cheek.  "Sit tight for me, all right?  If Yagi isn't cooperative, I may have to torture you in front of him.  But don't worry, I'm sure your Captain will protect you better than he has the rest of his crew."

"I hate you." Izuku said as fiercely as he could, but his voice was shaking.

Shigaraki just laughed and ruffled his hair again.  "I'll be back soon, little Izuku."

"I'm not little!" Izuku called after him.  The door closed, leaving him alone.  Izuku bit his lip, the urge to cry suddenly stronger than ever.  He looked down at his restraints and wiggled to test them again.  They were locked securely- military grade.  There was no way he could get out of them without a key.  Still, he couldn't just sit here knowing that Shigaraki was about to go and hurt Captain Yagi and the others.

Once again, Izuku felt very small and very insignificant.  He was all alone, in a hostile environment, separated from the people who should have been able to protect him.  He’d given their captor, a vicious and horrible pirate, the means to hurt them even more.  Worst of all, he was so very, very far away from his mother.  He might not ever see her again.

And with that last thought, Izuku’s resolve broke and he burst into tears.  He wanted to go home.  He didn’t want to be out in space anymore.  His mother had been right all along- he was too young.  That meant that all of Shigaraki’s jabs at him being so small were right too, and that hurt.  It hurt as much as knowing that he was making Captain Yagi hurt, the man he had admired so fiercely for all his life, who he loved more than his own father, who had promised his mother that he would be safe.  All of this suddenly felt like Izuku’s fault and rather than facing it, he just wanted to curl up and hide.  Somewhere he wouldn’t have to face Captain Yagi if they made it out of this alive, somewhere Shigaraki couldn’t find him, somewhere he could be safe until he found his mother again.

Izuku brought his hands up to his face to hide behind.  Hands?  When had his hands been freed?  He blinked, tears momentarily halting.  The restraints were undone, but he was still all alone in the room.  Confused, he dried his eyes and looked around.  Shigaraki hadn’t been gone long.  He had expected the pirate captain to send someone in to guard him or at least check on him, but so far no one had.  It hadn’t been long enough.  The only thing out of the ordinary was his locket- it was glowing.  When he cupped it in his hands, it was warm.  Mystified, he stared at the warm glow until a noise outside the door brought him back to reality.  He was still in danger, and the moment Shigaraki found out he had gotten out of his restraints, he would be very angry.

Izuku tucked his locket back into his shirt.  He could hear voices, they were getting closer now.  He glanced around the room and spotted the vent under the table.  He rushed over to it.  Shigaraki knew he was small enough to fit through the vents, which meant he would be able to start hunting for him as soon as he found out he had escaped.  Izuku would need to figure out his plan and execute it before then.

After pulling the vent cover away, Izuku squirmed into the tight fit and closed the vet behind him.  He crawled far enough away that no one would be able to grab him and pull him out like Shigaraki had.  He needed to think fast- what was he supposed to do now?  He could go back and try to finish his firstplan- sabotaging the controls in order to kick Shigaraki’s crew out again.  But Shigaraki had already caught him in the middle of that and had likely already undone all of his work.  Izuku wouldn’t have enough time to start over before he was caught.  He needed to do something else.  What would Captain Yagi do?

Izuku winced as he remembered Captain Yagi’s original orders- to take one of the escape pods and leave the ship.  Maybe if he’d done that to begin with, things wouldn’t have turned out so badly.  If he’d gone and called for help right away, someone could have come to rescue them by now.  He’d been naive enough to hope that he would be the rescuer, but that couldn’t have ended worse.  Now he had to face the facts- he was just a little boy trapped on a ship full of killers.  What could he do to help?  He was too small to fight them, he’d failed at outwitting them, and he wasn’t brave enough to face Shigaraki again.  He needed help.

That was it.  Get help.  That’s what Captain Yagi had wanted him to do in the first place.  If he could get back to the escape pod, he could get off the ship and outside the range of the communication block.  Then he could call for help and someone would come to save them.  Shigaraki would probably be expecting him to try and hack the controls again, so he probably had time.  If he hurried right now, he could get there before they even knew he was gone.

Izuku dried the last of the tears from his eyes.  This was no time to cry.  He was supposed to be brave- brave for his mom and Captain Yagi and the rest of the crew.  Next to his heart, he felt his locket warming again.  Perhaps it was reassurance that his mother loved him and was waiting for him to get home?  He didn’t have time to worry about it.  If he was actually going to save anyone, he had to go now.

Getting to the escape pods through the vents was fairly easy.  After spending a few days crawling around in them, Izuku was pretty good about getting anywhere he wanted.  He wished he had time to let Captain Yagi know that he was all right, but Shigaraki was probably in with him right now.  Izuku shuddered as he crawled.  He didn’t want to see what Shigaraki was doing to Captain Yagi.

At the escape pods, Izuku snuck out of the vents and started prepping the escape pod for launch.  He was glad he knew how, some people didn’t pay attention during the mandatory onboarding lessons and it cost them their lives.  He muttered softly to himself as he followed the directions he’d memorized, his words scattered with, “Hurry, hurry,” and, “Don’t mess up!” and, “Come on, come on!” until the launch was ready and the doors opened with a soft sigh, one that Izuku mirrored.  He took a step inside but got no farther.

A hand grabbed his arm and Izuku turned to see Shigaraki himself standing there.  “Isn’t this a nice surprise?” Shigaraki said, though he didn’t sound like he thought it was nice.  “Going somewhere, little one?”

“L-Let go!” Izuku tried to jerk his arm away, but as before Shigaraki was both an adult and a very large, very strong one as well.  He pulled Izuku’s arm, yanking Izuku out of the escape pod.

“Where are you going, little Izuku?  Are you trying to run away after I was so nice to you?”  Shigaraki really did sound angry now.  “You’re lucky I caught you before I had to send someone after you.  You would have been in a lot of trouble then.”

Izuku didn't feel lucky at all.  He got the feeling that he was already in a lot of trouble.  So he didn’t answer, he just closed his mouth and tried to think of how he could not make Shigaraki more angry than he already was.

“What were you planning to do, hm?  You don’t seem the type to just run away, not after trying to be so brave before.  No, you would have run away a long time ago.  In fact, I wonder if that was what you were supposed to have done all along?  Yagi seemed very surprised and upset to hear that you were still on board… I see.  Yes, this works out perfectly.” Shigaraki stepped into the escape pod, pulling Izuku with him.  “Yagi said he hid One for All inside one of these pods- which means he meant to send it away with you.”

“H-He did? But he didn’t give me anything!” Izuku protested.

“Quiet.” Shigaraki snapped and Izuku ducked.  Shigaraki sounded very angry, but he wasn’t hurting him yet.  Izuku knew that as soon as he realized that what he was looking for was not here, he would torture him in front of Yagi to get him to tell him the truth.  “Where is it?” Shigaraki muttered to himself.  “Where did you hide it, Yagi?  What did you disguise it as?”

Izuku squirmed a little in Shigaraki’s grip.  It was too tight and very painful, but he was too afraid- and too stubborn- to cry about it.  He couldn’t help but look around as well, wondering if Captain Yagi really had hidden something in here.  If that was true, it made Izuku feel even worse about not running away with it.  Maybe if he found it before Shigaraki did, he could still find a way to escape?  But even as he thought it, Shigaraki’s grip tightened around his arm.

"Ow!" Izuku cried at last, trying to pry Shigaraki’s fingers off.

Shigaraki turned on him as if suddenly remembering that he was there.  "Where is it?" He demanded, not even trying to hide his anger this time.  "I've searched my entire life for this treasure, I'm not about to let some stupid little boy keep it from me!"

"I'm not stupid!" Izuku cried back, eyes glistening with pain and embarrassment.

"No?" Shigaraki laughed, but it was a dark, scary laugh that made Izuku shiver.  "Yes you are.  A small, stupid little boy who doesn't do what he's told, who tells lies, and who tries to pretend he's a hero.  You aren't going to save yourself or anyone else on this ship so stop trying!"

Izuku was used to people telling him to give up.  Almost every day of his life he'd heard those words, so much that he'd thought they could never hurt him again.  But he hadn't been told that for a while now, not since he came to space with Captain Yagi.  Ever since that day a few months ago, all he'd heard was words of praise and encouragement.  Enough that he'd started to believe them.  Shigaraki was right.  He was stupid.  Izuku sniffled and his lip trembled.  Suddenly being brave enough to look Shigaraki in the eye didn’t seem worth it anymore and he dropped his gaze.

"Good." Shigaraki turned back to searching the pod.

"I just want to see my mom again." Izuku said softly.

"You aren't going to." Shigaraki snapped.  "As soon as I find One for All, I'm going to probe your brain, cut off all your fingers and toes, and then de-molecule the rest of you.  I warned you once, brat, not to make me angry."

Izuku sniffled again, feeling tears start to run down his cheeks.  He felt utterly defeated.  All his plans had failed and everyone was going to die.  He was going to die.  He'd promised his mother he would come home safe, but that promise was going to be broken.  Was she going to be mad at him?  Or would she just be sad like he was?

Shigaraki was muttering to himself, sounding angrier than before.  He was starting to break things in the escape pod, searching for some kind of hidden compartment.  He let go of Izuku’s arm so he could use both hands to yank up the panels.  Izuku winced- how could anyone hurt a spacecraft so carelessly?  It may be an old superstition, but to him, the ship itself was alive.  To hurt the thing that was protecting you from the cold void of space was inviting disaster, especially if it was the escape pod.  He wanted Shigaraki off the ship and as far away as possible before anyone else could get hurt.

Izuku backed away, feeling his locket warm against his chest again.  He pulled it out and held it, trying to find some form of comfort.  He found the stairs and realized he was at the door.  Biting his lip, he stepped out, hoping that Shigaraki didn't notice.

As soon as his foot touched the stairs, Shigaraki whipped around.  Izuku shrieked and scrambled back.  Before the pirate could grab him again, the door to the escape pod slammed shut and sealed itself, just like Izuku had programmed it to do for the launch.  But Izuku hadn't hit the close button?  Either way, now Shigaraki couldn’t grab him and that was a relief.

On the other hand, this was the angrier Shigaraki looked yet.  He glared at Izuku through the glass.  Izuku wanted to turn and run, but he was frozen in place by those burning red eyes.  Shigaraki looked at Izuku's hands and Izuku looked down as well.  The locket was glowing again, warm and bright.  He swallowed and looked back at Shigaraki who had gotten even angrier for some reason.

*Open the door.* He saw Shigaraki mouth.

Izuku shook his head.  If he did that, he was sure the pirate would kill him.

*NOW.*

Izuku shook his head again, taking a small step back.  The locket glowed brighter in his hands, pulsing gently like a heartbeat.  A moment later, one of the buttons on the keypad by the door lit up.  Both Izuku and Shigaraki looked at it, then quickly back to each other.

* Don't-!* Shigaraki started to warn, but Izuku slammed the button much harder than he needed to.

The pod launched itself away from the ship, shooting far off to the destination Izuku had programmed.  Taking Shigaraki far away from the ship, far enough that he couldn't hurt him anymore.  Izuku stood and stared out the glass, not sure he could believe that he'd actually done that.  Shigaraki was going to kill him for sure now!  …If he ever caught him again.  The locket pulsed in Izuku's hands again, reminding him that he wasn’t out of danger yet.  There were still other pirates aboard, and the rest of the crew to rescue.  If he hurried, his original plan might work.. Trigger the right alarms and the pirates would be running back to their own ship.  He could do it.  He could make it.  He had to.

Yagi had always known that someday Shigaraki would come for him, just as he had tracked down all the other carriers of One for All before him.  Knowing that, he'd trained himself to withstand the pain that Shigaraki would cause him.  The only pain he couldn't protect himself was the guilt of knowing that his crew was going to suffer as much as he was.  Worst of all, little Izuku had been captured with them.

Shigaraki had gone into great detail explaining how he planned to torture Izuku in front of him to get the location to One for All.  Yagi wouldn't have believed him if he hadn't mentioned Izuku’s locket.  That was a detail he wouldn't have been able to make up, meaning that Izuku really had disobeyed his orders to evacuate the ship.  His best attempt to protect Izuku and One for All had failed, and he was willing to give up One for All if it meant protecting Izuku like he'd promised.

Yagi closed his eyes, feeling them throb with the rest of his body.  Walking was difficult with the pain shooting through his nerves.  Last he remembered before passing out was sending Shigaraki to search the escape pods.  He'd put One for All in there with Izuku, but Izuku had taken it with him without realizing.  Shigaraki had held it in his hand without even realizing.  The next thing he remembered was alarms going off- celestial storm warning, hull breach, depleting oxygen levels.  He tried to stay awake, but soon dropped into unconsciousness again, waking to the doors opening and the engines igniting.  The alarms had stopped and someone was piloting the ship.

Izuku knew some of the basics of flying a ship.  Captain Yagi and the others had shown him some of the navigation tools and other components, but it took a full crew to make the ship run smoothly.  After kicking the pirates out with his alarm trick, Izuku had wondered if he should free the crew first to get their help, but he was too afraid the pirates might attack again as soon as they found out the trick.  So he’d rushed to the controls to try and put some distance between them first.

Flying the ship alone was scary.  There were too many places to be and too many things to do.  But for some reason, he didn’t have to do it all.  Izuku wondered if that was because of his locket.  It was shining brightly now, and there were eight different colored lights hovering around it.  Izuku didn’t look too closely- he was too frightened about doing something wrong and crashing the ship, or breaking it, or making a mistake that might kill everyone on board.  He wasn’t sure that all the pirates had left the ship either.  Could they be sneaking up on him?  What if Shigaraki had somehow found a way to get back?

He shook his head.  No, that couldn’t have happened.  He was just tired.  It had been days since he’d rested longer than an hour or two.  His mind was taking all the scary things and making them worse.  Once Captain Yagi got here, everything would be okay.  …That was, if Captain Yagi was even alive.  What if he wasn't?  What if Shigaraki had killed everyone?  What if it was just Izuku left alone?

Izuku felt like crying, but he couldn’t cry.  He was being brave, brave like Shigaraki had said he was.  Maybe stupid too, like Shigaraki said, but he didn’t care.  If being brave was stupid he was going to be stupid then because he wanted to get himself and everyone else home safe.  He could almost hear Shigaraki telling him that being hopeful was even more stupid than being brave.  Why was he so mean?  He’d said he was going to probe him and cut him up and put him in a de-molecularizer, all because Izuku hadn’t told him something he didn’t even know.

“Easy now, kiddo, you’re holding the wheel too tightly.”

Izuku screamed at the words and the soft hand on his shoulder.  He spun around, ready to fight- not that he knew how to fight.  He was small and scrawny and the most he could do was flail and hope to scratch his assailant, or catch a lucky blow and then run for it.

“Whoah, whoah!” Captain Yagi caught Izuku’s hands.  “Easy, kiddo, it’s just me.  I didn’t mean to scare-!”

“Captain Yagi!” Izuku cried and instantly his former resolve dissolved into the tears that flooded out of his eyes.

Startled, Captain Yagi returned Izuku’s desperate embrace.  The rest of the crew had already filled into their regular positions without Izuku realizing.  He’d been too focused on steering to pay attention to the rest of the room.  Someone stepped up to the wheel as Yagi pulled Izuku up into his arms, letting the boy sob into his chest.

“Shh, it’s okay.  Everything is okay now, kiddo.  You know why?  It’s because I’m here!  It’s all right, Izuku.  Everything is going to be all right.” Yagi said, rubbing Izuku’s back and looking around to make sure his crew had properly taken over.  “Did you do all of this, Izuku?”

Izuku nodded through his tears, gripping Yagi’s uniform tightly.

“You got rid of all the pirates too?  Was that all you, kiddo?”

“Y-Yeah.” Izuku cried.  “I t-tricked them!”

Buried in the captain’s jacket, Izuku didn’t see the glances of respect from the crew.

“That’s very impressive.” Captain Yagi said, giving him a gentle squeeze.  It was more than impressive.  “I can’t believe you got Shigaraki to fall for that.”

Izuku shook his head this time.  “Shigaraki is in the escape pod.  I launched him by himself.  C-Captain Yagi, he said he was going to cut me up and de-molecule me!” Izuku cried, hugging the captain tighter.

“He’s not going to do that to you.” Yagi promised.  “You’re safe now.”

Izuku nodded.  All of the sudden he felt very, very tired.  He wanted to stay up and help, he wanted to ask Captain Yagi about the thing that Shigaraki was looking for, but his vision was a little fuzzy and his body was feeling very heavy.  He closed his eyes and sank into Captain Yagi’s warmth, feeling perfectly safe at last.

“He’s just asleep.” Yagi assured the crew when Izuku collapsed in his arms.

"Poor kid must be exhausted."

"You should rest too, Captain.”

Yagi shook his head.  Regardless of how he felt, it was now his responsibility to make sure that the ship made it back to port safe and sound.  He lifted Izuku up in his arms, marveling at how such a young boy could have outwitted the pirates, saving both ship and crew.  He noticed Izuku’s locket was still glowing, and carefully closed it.  “That’s enough for now, thank you.” He said softly.  Thank goodness neither Shigaraki or Izuku had realized he had programmed One for All into Izuku’s locket.  It had probably been helping Izuku a great deal these last few days.

He wished he could see Izuku to bed himself, but he had to oversee the reclaiming of the ship.  So he handed Izuku off to one of the crew, though he did pause for a moment to brush the bangs out of Izuku’s face.  He’d always been fond of his little neighbor.  With no family to come home to, he never expected anyone to greet him.  But without fail, no matter the hour, as soon as he was back in Musutafu, little Izuku was knocking on his door, waving over the fence, running up the walk to say hello.  When had that little one gotten so big?  He was growing up so fast.  His mother was going to be so proud when she heard about all of this- though Izuku would probably be grounded for a long time from space voyages.  If he even wanted to go out to space again after this.

“Let’s get back home.” Yagi said, pulling his hand away from Izuku.  There would be time for this later.  For now, he was the Captain and Izuku was safely asleep.

Shigaraki’s temper had been shorter than usual since he’d been rescued from the escape pod.  He had been alone for nearly a week, everyone too afraid to be near him.  No one was stupid enough to bother him while he was this angry.  No one who didn’t want to die, at least.  But they were also not stupid enough to ignore him when he summoned them.  That was why Kurogiri was standing in front of him, patiently waiting for orders to be given.

Shigaraki wasn’t looking at him.  His attention was focused on a small mind probe that he was spinning between his fingers, the same one he’d had in his pocket to threaten Izuku with.  Izuku.  Thinking the name made Shigaraki’s blood boil.

“I want you to put out a bounty.” Shigaraki said at last without looking up.

Kurogiri waited, knowing that it was better for Shigaraki to give the rest of the details instead of asking for them.  The pirate captain had a flare for dramatics.  He would say what he wanted first, then let Kurogiri ask for anything left out.

“Ten trillion units.” Shigaraki said, “On a boy named Izuku Midoriya.  He’s thirteen years old.  Green hair and eyes.  Freckles.” He paused, thinking of more details.  “He wears a locket with pictures of his mother inside.”

“...A child?” Kurogiri repeated.  It wasn’t like Shiragaki to make such a request.

“Yes.  I want him alive.” Shiragaki looked up at last, snapping the mind probe in half between his fingers.  “And wearing the locket.”

Kurogiri took a moment to fully process the request before confirming.  “You would like me to place a bounty on a thirteen year old child to be brought to you alive with a locket.  For… ten trillion units.”

“That is what I said.” Shigaraki’s eyes flashed, but he didn’t make any move to get up or reach for his gun.  “I want him here, alive, and unharmed.   One million units will be deducted for each bruise, scratch, whatever, I find on him.”

“...I will put the request in.” Kurogiri said, turning to leave.

Shigaraki sat back after the door closed, flicking the broken pieces of the mind probe away.  He’d spent a long time trying to decide what revenge he wanted on Izuku.  In the end, he hadn’t been able to decide.  As angry as he was, he couldn’t stop thinking about how Izuku had looked him fearlessly in the eye.  Even when he was scared, even when he was crying, Izuku hadn’t ever backed down.  No one had done that since… since Yoichi had been alive.  And, on top of it all, Izuku had One for All now.  It had been with him the entire time.  With the bounty in place, he could have them both.

The pirate captain chuckled darkly to himself.  He couldn’t wait to see Izuku again.  He hoped this time Izuku would have the good sense to be afraid of him, but even if he didn’t, it wasn’t going to change anything.  Shigaraki was excited to see him again.  Maybe he could force Izuku to become a pirate himself, or use him as a hostage to kill Yagi, or perhaps Izuku would just be a pet until he finally broke… There were so many possibilities.  He hoped that Izuku survived the bounty hunters, he hoped he struggled and fought and was dragged here kicking and screaming and crying.  He hoped that when Izuku was finally in front of him again, he would look him right in the eyes like he had before.

“I’ll be waiting for you, little one.” Shigaraki said, settling into his chair.  “As long as it takes.”

Though, with a bounty as high as that, it wasn’t going to take long.