Chapter Text
Izuku sat on the pile of blankets that worked as his bed and listened. The sirens in the distance made Izuku itch to go and see what was going on but he ultimately decided against it. Whatever was going on tonight it sounded big. It would be best if he stayed in his relative shelter until morning.
Izuku pulled one of the blankets up and over his head, wrapping his arms around his knees while he stared at the cracked wall of the warehouse. Would he be able to sleep tonight? He wasn’t sure. The last time the night was restless like this he had seen a horrendous attack in Hosu, from Stain and that new villain group called the League of Villains.
He would have to loiter at some storefronts tomorrow to see if he could catch the news on what was happening tonight. He looked up to the single All Might poster he still had. A drip from the ceiling had damaged the edge of it but All Might’s smile was still bright on it. It was Izuku’s most prized possession at the moment besides his pile of cheap notebooks. A source of comfort on nights like this where crime was apparently rampant.
With his mother gone, the All Might poster seemed to be the only person looking out for him.
“Guess a hero must have stopped them, huh All Might?” Izuku asked the poster, referring to the lack of sirens in the night. Izuku wondered if he ever would have made it into UA if his mother had still been alive. Getting stuffed into a foster home after her death had killed that dream. His quirkless status had ensured that.
He was better off here alone. He always knew that quirkless people got the short end of the stick genetically and socially but he never realized the extent of it. Not until his home and loving mother was ripped from him.
Izuku curled up tighter and then flopped over on his pile of clothes trying to get comfortable. He missed his bed.
“Ack!” came a girlish cry that rang off the walls of the warehouse making Izuku immediately sit up in alertness. It was quickly followed by a few thumps, as if some heavy bags were thrown to the ground.
Confused, Izuku got up and headed for the doorway of the room he was in. Ever since he had started staying here he hadn’t met any other homeless people. In fact, he barely ever saw anyone in this industrial park. So to get someone here in the middle of the night? Maybe they were just seeking quick shelter with all the police activity around?
Izuku peeked out of his doorway to the main floor below him. Below him, he saw several figures sprawled out on the ground. It was hard to make details out in the dark but he could see a girl standing up, rubbing her back. Above them, a portal swirled much to Izuku’s fascination.
As he watched another figure fell through the portal as well, falling right onto the girl who fell over again with a yelp. The portal above them slowly closed and the recently fallen figure picked themselves up again immediately reaching for it.
“Sensei!” the lean older boy cried out but the portal closed off leaving him to swipe at air.
Izuku had no idea who these people were. But he doubted they were friendly. But he was in a room on the second floor. The open floor plan made it easy for Izuku to see out over the warehouse but it also meant they would see him if he moved out of the room. Maybe they would just pass through. So he crouched and continued watching in the doorway, hoping to see them leave so he could finally get some sleep.
It went quiet for a while. The tall boy pacing while the girl looked to be poking at the other bodies on the ground. They talked occasionally but it was much quieter now and Izuku couldn’t make out exactly what was being said. He felt slightly relieved when the bodies on the ground stirred and one by one they sat up. Some groaning. At least they weren’t dead bodies.
The air around them was tense. And Izuku noticed that all of them seemed to be looking at the tall boy constantly. As if waiting for orders. As the moon started to sink in the sky it finally filtered in good lighting to see the group by. And Izuku paled considerably.
He didn’t recognize most of them. But the tall boy and mist man who rose silently from unconsciousness certainly looked familiar. He had seen them on a broadcast from Hosu. The League of Villains.
Izuku hid in his room and bit his lip. This was incredibly dangerous. He needed to notify the heroes. Or the police. Or both. Just someone who could handle this. He hated the thought of getting dragged back into the system when they realized he was a homeless teenager but he could easily slip away again.
Again he looked around his small room. There was no window in here. No exit besides the in view doorway. He would have to wait for the group to sleep. Then he could maybe slip away?
So he took sparse checks on the group. A lizard man, a strange one who had erratic behavior that hung around the blonde girl, a black hair scarred man, another with a notable yellow coat and a mask, and a woman who wore sunglasses and carried something hefty around. Those with the mist man and Shigaraki made eight people.
As the sun began to peak out on the horizon it seemed most decided it was finally time to sleep. Except for Tomura, the mist man, the masked man, and the scarred man. Izuku guessed it made sense. They were wanted criminals, of course they would keep people posted to watch.
Izuku himself could feel the effects of his own lack of sleep. A pounding headache and fatigue. But he couldn’t let himself rest. He was forced to watch enviously as the other half of the league went to sleep in odd positions around the warehouse. From his position he saw Tomura standing with the mist man and the masked man. Talking quietly.
The black haired scarred guy was the most worrying at the moment. He was walking around casually, glancing around the warehouse in bored curiosity. Izuku kept careful tabs on his exploring, knowing it was only a matter of time before he made his way up to where Izuku was.
At the first sound of the blacked haired guy stepping onto the metal steps leading up to the second floor Izuku flinched. His time was running out. He would have to move or he would be discovered. So he licked his lips and watched as the man ducked into an old office to look around.
Holding his breath Izuku crouched and left his room onto the metal grating walkway. He was in full view now. His eyes went from the office door to the warehouse floor where they were still conversing. He ducked into the next room over and sucked in a breath. It worked! He would have to play this game of ducking and going until he got to a spot he could leave from.
He knows there is a fire escape out the window at the end of this walkway. So he only had to make it that far. He could do it. Gathering all his courage Izuku again ducked out of the room and hurried along the walkway. He kept his eyes on the office room the black haired man was it He heard something shatter in there and froze as the trio on the main floor looked up at the doorway as well.
He didn’t want his movement to draw attention so he held his breath until the black haired man emerged again to wave off their concerns. Izuku just managed to get into the next room as the scarred young man turned to continue down the walkway towards him. Izuku panted with his back against the rough wall.
Just two more rooms until he reached the window.
He carefully leaned out to see where the black haired guy was. His heart jumped to his throat as he saw the man standing in the doorway of Izuku’s room. Head tilted as he considered the clearly poorly lived in area. Let it be a distraction. Izuku prepared to move out of the room, eyes going to the warehouse floor to check the trio who had been down there. Only to see just the mist man and Shigaraki.
Where was the third?
“Oh my, does this place have a mouse infestation?”
Izuku’s heart nearly stopped. He slowly turned to see the masked man behind him. The remnants of a purple portal closing behind him. Izuku ducked as the man lunged at him. The man’s hand hit the wall where Izuku had been and Izuku watched in shock as a circular piece of the wall disappeared, turning into a marble and falling to the ground.
Izuku didn’t think as he ducked again and instead abandoned all stealth making a run for it. He slammed into the railing outside the room, turning as he heard the footsteps of the black haired man. The scarred man had a blue flame in his hand, a dangerous quirk. Izuku turned and ran towards the window where he knew the fire escape was.
He was so worried about the masked man and the scarred man that he didn’t realize a portal had opened on the walkway’s floor until his stomach flipped when his foot sunk lower than he expected. He fell straight through with a half aborted yelp.
Concrete met his knees and hands as he landed.
Cold sweat clung to Izuku’s spine as he slowly sat up to see he was facing a concrete wall. A shadow loomed behind him, engulfing his own small one. Izuku turned his head to see a dead hand covered face looking down on him. Shigaraki. The leader of the League of Villains according to the wanted posters.
“What's this NPC doing here?” Tomura spoke in a raspy voice, his one crimson eye narrowed at Izuku.
“So much for this being a ‘safe’ house.” the black haired guy snorted coming through a portal with the masked man. “Looks like a homeless shelter up there.”
“It shouldn’t be possible for someone to be here. Sensei vets these places constantly.” the portal man spoke, his glowing yellow eyes narrowing down at Izuku.
“Annoying.” Tomura said as Izuku turned around fully and backed up from him. “We don’t have time for this.” he said, reaching a hand out towards Izuku. Izuku’s back hit the wall and he could do nothing but stare as the hand loomed closer. Fear keeping him frozen and silent.
Just before Tomura’s hand would have touched Izuku’s face, a small portal appeared, whisking it away from him. Tomura growled in irritation withdrawing his hand and turning to the portal man. “What are you doing Kurogiri?”
“Apologies Tomura.” Kurogiri said as Izuku slid down the wall in relief and weakness. “But I believe it impossible that this child was here and Sensei didn’t know about it.”
“Ha?” Tomura said, scratching absentmindedly at his neck. He stared down at the trembling boy with narrowed eyes. Why would Sensei let a kid crash in this safe house? Why would he send them to the same safe house if he knew the kid was here?
He wished he could ask. But Sensei was gone for the time being. And it seems he had left this one thing behind.
“Compress.” Tomura said, Compress stepped forward with a bow and a flourish of his hands. The boy’s eyes widened for a second and his mouth opened like he was going to say something but Compress touched him before he got a word out.
The resulting marble clacked on the ground and Compress picked it up to stare at.
“So you think this kid is a new recruit?” Compress asking, holding the marble up to the light of day filtering in.
“If so, why did he hide and run from us?” Dabi pointed out skeptically. “The last thing we need is another kid throwing a tantrum. That didn’t exactly work out last night.”
The fresh wound of failure made Tomura twitch. He reached out and snatched the marble from Compress. He didn’t know what Sensei’s intentions were but if this kid was something Tomura was meant to find…he’d figure it out later.
Right now he just wanted to rest.
-=-
Izuku blinked hard when the world came back to him. He was completely disoriented and it took a moment to figure out his surroundings. When he did, he realized he was back in his warehouse room. Tomura was crouched by his makeshift bed, he held one of Izuku’s notebooks up with pinched fingers reading along the pages.
Izuku’s heart sank as he saw all his research being read by the absolute last person he would ever want to read it. He turned to see Kurogiri in the doorway, ensuring he wouldn’t be running anywhere.
“You know a lot about heroes, huh?” Tomura said standing up as Izuku did as well. Tomura’s gaze switched from the notebook to the All Might poster on the wall. Izuku stared as Tomura brushed his fingers across it. It began to slowly dissolve under his touch, turning to dust. Unbidden tears pricked Izuku’s eyes at its loss. His mother had given him that.
“And you’re no villain.” Tomura said with certainty, turning to him with a cocked head. “Are you?”
“N-No.” Izuku answered, his eyes falling on his notebooks.
“But I think we can change that.” Tomura said before giving Izuku an eerie smile. A good amount of rest had cleared Tomura’s head and he realized what this boy was. Sensei was gone, but had left this boy for Tomura to find. This boy was going to be a guide NPC. One that would tell Tomura all the heroes weaknesses.
He failed with Bakugou Katsuki. But he planned to win with this kid.