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The days leading up to the student’s departure for their internships are hectic as plans are made. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to get everything ready for them to leave. Keigo for his part is heading back to Fukuoka for the week to do his own internship with Tokoyami and to check up on the agency. It’s only been a month since he came to U.A. to teach, but he’d rather take what time he can to be there.
Keigo offers to bring Izuku with him since Hitoshi is going to be away interning himself, but Izuku turns him down, saying he’s okay to be on his own for a while. He does promise to call Keigo if he needs him and to come to Fukuoka if he feels the need to be with family.
Keigo, for the most part, is split in multiple paths right now. Between working at U.A., his own agency, the internship, the revelation about Endeavor and that whole can of worms, and now the news of Ingenium’s career ending injury and the threat of Stain hanging over the whole industry, it’s a lot of stress.
He thankfully hasn’t been asked to look into Stain, though he knows that another attack or death will more than likely mean drawing more people onto the case. Keigo silently prays they catch him before someone else gets hurt.
The morning of, he gets both boys up, Hitoshi nearly vibrating with excitement as they dress and grab his suitcase he packed the night before. The two are having some rapid fire discussion that Keigo isn’t paying attention to as he cooks, but last he saw from their signing, it seemed to revolve around Izuku possibly coming to visit Hitoshi at his internship.
Setting plates of food down, the discussion comes to a stop as they thank him for the food. “So what’s this about visiting Hitoshi?” Keigo asks after swallowing a bite.
Hitoshi quickly swallows his own bite. “My internship’s in Shibuya and I figured he’s never been somewhere like that. I sent an email to my instructor and she said there will be some down time between learning stuff and patrols, so I thought we could go shopping,” Hitoshi says with a grin.
Keigo glances at Izuku and sees the sheepish shrug. Keigo can see that shopping isn’t something the teen is very interested in, but spending time with Hitoshi and seeing the major shopping district is interesting to him so he sighs and then snorts. “I take it this is where you ask to borrow my credit card?” Keigo asks, though he had already planned to give them both their own copy since he’ll be hours away in Fukuoka and not in easy flying distance.
“I mean…if you want to,” Hitoshi says with a grin. “I do have some allowance saved up.”
“Just don’t go crazy,” Keigo says with a pointed look before he reaches for his wallet and pulls out two copies of his card. “These are for emergencies mainly, but I’ll allow a few purchases. I better see some good pictures while I’m at it,” he adds.
“We’ll take all the selfies,” Hitoshi promises and Izuku nods excitedly.
“Alright, finish up. We need to get to campus soon,” Keigo reminds them and they quickly eat what is left on their plate.
Keigo reaches out and holds Izuku back as Hitoshi rushes to his room to throw on his uniform before they head to campus. “Are you sure you’ll be okay, fledgling? I can always bring you with me,” Keigo asks quietly, offering the teen an out.
“I’ll be fine,” Izuku signs with a smile and hugs Keigo with a happy chirp.
“Alright, fledgling. Call or text me whenever you need me. And you have staff numbers as well, so if you can’t reach me, call them, got it?” Keigo orders.
Izuku nods and then heads to their room to grab his jacket as Hitoshi comes out dressed with his suitcase in hand.
It’s a short flight from their apartment to campus and they find most of 1-A and 1-B already there, milling about waiting for the rest of the classes to arrive. It had taken a solid afternoon to figure out routes, arrange transportation and contact the various heroes that would be interning the first years. Some are picking up students on campus. The rest are either taking a train or flying in the case of him and Tokoyami since he’d rather not spend over five hours on a train.
Izuku and Hitoshi wander off to talk with their class while Keigo finds Aizawa and Vlad doing last minute inspections of the student’s cases and making sure they have everything they’ll need. “Morning,” Keigo greets with a grin.
“It’s something,” Aizawa grumbles as Vlad nods himself.
Over the next half an hour, they finish inspecting gear and the last students arrive in the time limit. It takes a few minutes to dole out cases to their respective students. A lengthy speech is given about Yuuei’s standards, about what is expected of them and that if they need to leave at any time, they need to contact their homeroom teacher who will come and get them.
With a few parting words, the two classes are split up. Those going on the trains will be going with their homeroom teacher to the nearby station. The rest will be remaining on campus under the watchful eyes of Present Mic and Midnight while they wait for their heroes to come pick them up. The few going by plane are going with Keigo, which just happens to be Tokoyami and Asui as the two traveling the furthest.
With one last hug to his two chicks, Keigo leads the two students away towards a waiting car provided by Yuuei to take them to the airport. It takes everything in him to leave his chicks and head to the airport. It’s the first time in a while that they’ve been apart for an extended time and with so much distance between them. He really hopes nothing happens while he’s away.
~*~
Hitoshi’s excited. This is his first major step to his dreams…aside from getting into Yuuei of course. It’s different from living with Keigo. Keigo is family first before hero and while he can learn some stuff from the hero and has, Hawks is very much a limelight hero. Hitoshi does not want to be that kind of hero.
Thus, he’s in Shibuya interning with Fortuna. He’s heard a little about the under, though only in passing. Most unders have very good teams who go through and erase any info that might give too much away. He doesn’t know what her quirk is, but that doesn’t matter because she’s a hero and she wants to help him become one too.
When he first meets her, it’s a little awkward, mainly because she’s very brusque and clipped with her speech. It’s only after he gets settled at her small agency and he meets her partner in crime so to speak, Esper, that he learns she’s like that with everyone. Why waste time with too many words when one word will do?
Hitoshi can get behind that. He texts Izuku and Keigo that night to update them on how everything is going. Esper has even handily given him a brief rundown of what the two unders had planned to teach him and when they would go out, so Hitoshi has a good idea of when Izuku can come visit him over the week. Keigo sends back bird emojis and a thumbs up and Izuku agrees to whatever time Hitoshi says he should swing by.
Grinning, he readies himself for tomorrow when he really starts to learn what it takes to be an underground hero.
~*~
It’s quiet in the apartment. It’s not the first time Izuku has been alone in the apartment. There are days he doesn’t go to campus with Hitoshi and Keigo. Days Keigo is out and Hitoshi has things to do and so Izuku is on his own for a few hours.
But he’d known they would be back eventually. This is the first time he’s been in the apartment without anyone and knowing that it will be days before they return. It’s a little nerve-wracking to be honest. He’s constantly jumping at sounds that once never bothered him, on alert without his flock nearby.
He still goes to campus, helping out the other teachers when they need it, or working on his own classes, but his days are less occupied with the first years away on internships. He’s helped a bit with the second and third years, but not as much. Many of them already have long standing internships and work studies, or specialized classes that don’t really need his input.
Still, he’s glad for the work to distract him from his flock being so far away and the still lingering concern about Todoroki-kun’s whole…situation. Nedzu had spoken with him briefly to let him know it was being seen to, but that he couldn’t be included in the investigation which Izuku understands. He’s a minor and a little close to the whole issue since Todoroki is the one who confided in him. Plus his conflicting emotions don’t help.
He’d rather distract himself with work, and text conversations with Hitoshi and Keigo. He even has a few ongoing conversations with some of the other students while they’re away, but most are busy learning and can’t be on their phones as often as he can. That’s fine too. He wants them to do well which means they need to focus.
He knows he’s not doing very well alone when by the night of day two alone in the apartment, he drags his and Hitoshi’s bedding to Keigo’s room to curl up on the man’s bed. It helps sooth his nerves a little to have their scents around him and he’s able to sleep better that night.
Still, when Hitoshi sends a text the following morning saying that Izuku should come around in the late afternoon to hang, Izuku is already ready to go an hour later. He shoots a text off to Keigo about going to visit Hitoshi and then spends a little time figuring out which trains he needs to take to get to Shibuya.
Keigo texts back that he’s okay with him going, but that he should cover up a bit and Izuku agrees. So as the afternoon rolls around, he grabs what few items he’s bringing with him, pulls on a hoodie that snaps around his wings, grabs a beanie to cover his very distinctive curls and heads out to grab his first train.
He flies to the station and then with a bit of concentration, he makes his wings go invisible and tucks them in close to his body so no one runs into them. It’s a bit crowded this late in the day as schools have started letting out and students are the main crowd with some business people getting off of work.
The sun’s setting by the time he boards his bullet train to Shibuya. He’d missed a stop on his first train and had to back track to the station he needed. Hitoshi had laughed at him the whole time over text when Izuku had to explain why he would be running late. Forgive him for not being used to the whole train system. Usually he would just fly where he needed or take a cab if it’s too far to fly.
He manages to get a decent seat next to the window and relaxes a bit as the bullet train takes off. It’s a little cramped in the seat with his wings, but he’s honestly been in worse seating arrangements and at least the spot next to him is empty so he can sort of spread his hidden wings out without anyone feeling them brushing against them.
The sky is awash in dark oranges, reds and purples as the sun finishes setting about an hour later. He’s about half an hour away from Shibuya, passing through Hosu when Izuku notices something off outside the window. Frowning, he looks closer and sees an off color speck in the sky as something flies over the city. They’re too far away to make out anything more than vague details, but those are wings. Not feathered wings though, the configuration is slightly off from avian wings.
Before he can figure out what he’s looking at, a nearby building shudders and sways before with an almighty crash, the upper half bursts outward in an explosion, debris raining down on the ground below. Izuku clutches at his armrest, eyes frantically searching for the source of the attack and for any responding heroes.
Overhead an announcement informs them to remain seated and to not panic, but before anyone can panic something large comes crashing into the side of the train car, tearing through sheet metal, wires and glass to land in a heap inside the train.
Thankfully, this car had been fairly empty and no one is in the seats that were just flattened. That doesn’t stop those that are in the car from panicking, screaming and starting to rush for the exits to other cars on the train even as the train starts to break sharply, alarms blaring overhead asking passengers to remain calm.
Izuku, heart beating heavily, vanishes in an instant, eyes zeroing in on the hulking, grotesque figure that stands from the crumpled form of a hero that it just slammed into a train. The thing starts to lumber further down the car following the still struggling passengers trying to get through the narrow exit.
Gritting his teeth, Izuku drops his invisibility and flares his wings out, letting loose a loud screech that even the creature can hear over the alarms sounding. Head turning on a thick neck, Izuku gets a good look at it front on and feels his pulse skip when he notices the exposed brain. It looks a little too much like the Nomu from the USJ attack to be a coincidence.
Letting out another screech while flaring his wings again, Izuku darts for the hole in the side of the car and jumps out, the creature right on his tail. He barely clears the opening, wings catching the wind as he feels a heavy hand grab his leg and pull.
The weight is too much and they both plummet. Screaming in fury, Izuku kicks out with his free leg, talons digging into flesh, gouging furrows into thick hide like skin. It seems to be enough to force the creature to let him go as the weight disappears and Izuku frantically flaps his wings to gain some distance between him and it, the creature landing on the ground in a small crater.
There are people still around though, civilians cowering back. He can’t leave this thing here to wreak havoc, but he’s not a power house to take this thing down without some tools to help. He needs to lead it away towards a hero that can take it down. His ankle gives a throb of pain reminding him that he’s not at peak performance right now either.
Drawing in a breath, Izuku dive bombs the creature, rolling away from grabbing hands and shrilly calls for it to follow. It rises from its crater and follows suit, easily keeping pace below him as Izuku arrows down streets, dodging around power poles and light poles, trying to use the environment to slow it down.
It just plows right through everything in its path though, cars knocked away to roll into guard rails, poles broken at their base to crash down in a shower of sparks and exploding glass. Keeping most of his senses trained on the creature following him, Izuku looks ahead, hoping to find help. He spies it reflected in the glass of a building at a T-intersection.
With a shrill screech back at the thing and to announce to the one incoming, Izuku takes the turn as sharply as he can, diving low under a stream of flame. He feels it brush over his feathers and grimaces as he feels the heat singe a few of them, but for the most part, his wings are fine.
He has to swerve at the last second to avoid ramming into someone behind Endeavor and blinks in surprise as he comes face to face with Todoroki. Back flapping to come to a quick halt, Izuku lands quickly, breathing heavily. He is not meant for long, extended flights at that speed. His back is one big ache from the strain of maintaining that speed.
“Midoriya-san,” Todoroki murmurs in surprise.
Heavy steps crunch on asphalt, the heat suddenly increasing and Izuku reacts by taking a few steps back to put some space between him and the flaming hero. He’d rather not singe any more feathers and he doesn’t trust the hero to not react poorly to Izuku’s role in this take down.
“Who are you?” Endeavor growls out, scowling as he takes in his wings and obvious shorter stature.
“A civilian caught in the attack. I led it away from the crowded area to a hero that could handle it,” Izuku signs briskly, not leaving any room for questions.
“He works at Yuuei,” Todoroki speaks up. “He’s Hawks’ foster son,” he adds.
Endeavor’s demeanor doesn’t soften, but some of the heat does fade a bit. Endeavor snorts. “Should have realized,” he mutters too lowly for anyone to hear, though Izuku has excellent hearing and catches it anyway. “Leave the heroing to those with the training,” he growls back with a scowl.
With a flap of his wings, Izuku jumps into the air to hover over them and lets out one loud screech of disdain before he disappears and flies off, ignoring the hero’s demands he come back.
Flying without a giant creature chasing him is a little easier as Izuku glides mostly rather than outright flying. As he coasts from building to building, Izuku keeps his eyes peeled for any signs of who might be behind this.
He can guess of course, but guessing is not solid evidence. His ankle throbs again and Izuku lands long enough to look at it. The flesh, when he peels back his foot covering, is bruised, but it’s not sprained or broken which is a relief. It will be colorful come tomorrow, but he’s honestly had worse.
There’s a distant screech and Izuku looks up to see the thing that first caught his attention diving down to disappear behind a building. He also sees fire balls being thrown at it and guesses Endeavor is after that creature.
Deciding he’ll be better help down below, Izuku glides down to start directing people away from the worst of it, miming and hand gesturing mostly, but signing to a few who can understand him to head eastward away from the center of the attack. He helps a little girl lost in the crowd to be reunited with her parents who thank him.
As he heads deeper into Hosu, looking to see if anyone needs help, it gets quieter and quieter. The crowds have thinned out the further away from the main attack he gets and most have already fled to various shelters put in place for such an attack.
It’s the quiet that allows him to hear the muffled yell from further ahead. He feels his feathers lift in agitation, head turning unerringly towards a series of alleys ahead. Invisibility falling over him instinctively, Izuku creeps closer to see what is happening in the alley.
Steps silent, he peers into first one alley, than a second one before he finds the source of the noise he heard. Izuku has excellent dark vision, a trait from the owl mutation part of his quirk. He can see quite clearly the three figures in the alley.
One he knows vaguely in that he’s seen them in passing, but they have the look of a hero, judging by the elaborate costume. Red stains their shoulder and chest from a heavy stab wound there. One is on the ground, unmoving. Whether they’re dead or unconscious, Izuku can’t tell as their armor obscures any obvious life signs. However, he recognizes that particular armor. He’s seen it multiple times helping out 1-A in their training. Izuku recalls hearing that Iida was coming to Hosu for his internship.
The last, Izuku can only guess as Stain. No one’s been able to get a clear image on the Hero Killer, but the descriptions mention multitudes of blades and the signature mask. If this isn’t Stain, then it’s a very good copycat to take down a pro and a hero student.
Cursing silently, Izuku pulls back and pulls out his phone. It’s quick work to shoot off an SOS message to his contact list with his location, but he doesn’t have much time to do anything else as he hears Stain moving in the alley. No doubt to finish his work before anyone notices him and calls the police. Not that the police will get here in time with the chaos already happening in the city.
Bending down, Izuku finds a few bits of trash and grabs them before he jumps into the air, wings flapping silently to take him higher. Perching on the edge of the building, Izuku tosses the empty can he grabbed further down the alley from where he’s at.
It lands with a sharp, loud clang in the silence and Stain reacts how he expects, turning around expecting an attack. Izuku uses this moment to study Stain. He notes all the blades on his person, hidden and visible. He also notices their serrated edges. A serrated edge isn’t meant to just cut, it’d meant to tear the flesh and cause the most damage with the least amount of effort.
He’d heard Keigo and a few other teachers discussing Stain after Ingenium’s attack. There’s speculation about the person’s quirk and why they always use a blade. What testimony there is from the few that Stain left alive is that they slashed them and in an instant, they were paralyzed. A paralysis based quirk usually has to work through a medium: touch, sight, a piece of the person, a personal item, something that can create a connection between the caster and the target.
Stain very obviously favors the blade, though whether that’s how they paralyzes their victims or just a preference, Izuku isn’t sure, but it’s important. Taking his next piece of trash, he lobs it in the other direction and it lands with a soft thud, the wet paper bag of trash not making as much noise, but still enough to draw Stain’s gaze.
“Who’s there?” Stain hisses out and the voice sounds masculine, though gravelly. It might be natural, but it might also be the byproduct of something. Perhaps the man smokes. Izuku files it away as he watches silently from his perch.
His phone buzzes silently in his pocket, but he ignores it. It won’t help him right now. He needs to plan. Stain is dangerous, armed and willing to kill. He also has two hostages, wounded and down. Izuku has no idea how badly they are hurt, or how long they have before they bleed out. He has no idea how long it will take for anyone to reach his location. He needs to plan carefully or he might get the two down there killed, or even himself.
Izuku tosses the last piece of trash, a piece of waterlogged cardboard, directly at Stain and this time he reacts, noticing the moment it leaves Izuku’s aura and he slices it in half before they land with wet thuds. “Come down here,” Stain growls out. His blade arcs down, point resting a few inches above Iida’s neck.
Izuku breathes slowly, eyeing his stance and form, noting how he holds the blade and his comfort level with it. This is someone who has mastered his weapon of choice, someone who is comfortable with both hands wielding a weapon and someone who is used to ambush tactics. This isn’t a matter of sneaking up on an unsuspecting opponent and taking them out. That won’t work here against another ambusher. He needs to out think Stain. That is the only way to buy time long enough for help to arrive.
Izuku needs a weapon and it just so happens that Stain has plenty to take from. Wings lifting him silently, Izuku glides down until he’s just above Iida. He strikes out in an instant, dropping his aura. Stain reacts as he expects, lashing out with his blade at the suddenly appearing enemy right in front of him.
As Izuku’s feet touch down on either side of Iida, he ducks under the rapid slash. Twisting awkwardly and keeping his wings pulled in tight to avoid getting them cut, he grabs at Stain’s wrist. A sharp twist and jerk has the man’s blade falling from his hand into Izuku’s waiting one, a sharp snap announcing the snapping of his wrist as well.
Settling into a ready stance, Izuku waits, half crouched over Iida. “You,” Stain hisses, glaring as he holds his broken wrist close to his chest, eyeing it. Izuku allows him the moment. He’s not here to attack, only defend. If Stain leaves now, he won’t follow. Izuku’s main priority is the two downed people.
Stain grits his teeth and uses his left hand to pulls his other long blade free. “Who are you to defend this scum so fiercely?” he demands, shifting to put a little space between them, keeping his injured wrist away from Izuku. Izuku just stares silently at him, unwilling to try and sign for fear of giving them man an opening.
Stain frowns, frustrated by his silence. “Nothing to say then?” Izuku just continues to stare. “You hold that blade well, boy. Tell me, are you willing to do what you must to defend them?”
“Midoriya, what are you doing?” Iida demands into the silence and Izuku ignores him, too focused to bother listening to anything he might have to say.
“So you know him then? Did you know he was coming to hunt me down? Revenge for his brother?” Stain asks. “Not the actions of a hero, wouldn’t you agree?” Stain shifts his back foot ever so slightly, the sole of his shoe scraping across concrete.
He frowns harder as Izuku continues to remain silent. Izuku frantically tries to remember everything he knows about fighting with a blade. He hasn’t used one in quite a while and he’s sure to be rusty. Hopefully he can remember everything he needs to as Stain finally grows tired of his silence and lashes out.
He’s fast, is Izuku’s first realization as he barely gets the stolen katana up in time to block Stain’s first attack. Not Keigo fast, but here in the confined space of an alley, hemmed in and forced to defend, Izuku is at a disadvantage. He also can’t ask Iida how he was taken down. Which means Izuku needs to figure out how Stain paralyzes his victims before he falls under his quirk.
Izuku blocks the next three rapid attacks, holding his ground barely. “You know the blade then, do you? You seem a little rusty though. How long do you think you can last before I break through your guard?” Stain asks and Izuku grits his teeth as he waits for the next attack.
Izuku knows this is a losing battle. He wasn’t trained to fight head on. Stealth and ambushes were his forte. And Stain slowly realizes this as Izuku barely holds his ground. The only blessing from this fight is that Stain’s broken wrist means he can add another blade into this fight.
This impasse can’t last however. Izuku’s starting to regain his confidence with the blade, but he’s not doing it quickly enough. Stain is bearing down on him and Izuku is forced to take his first step back to avoid a gut wound that would have ended him far too easily. However, he’s so focused on Stain, he forgets about Iida still slumped on the ground behind him.
With a soft screech, his feet become fowled and he loses his balance right as Stain goes to lunge at him, seeing the break in his guard. Cursing himself silently for not keeping track of his surroundings, Izuku braces for the sharp stabbing pain of a blade through his body.
There’s a crackle of sound behind him and Stain is forced to dodge at the last second as a spear of ice comes shooting from behind Izuku into the space Stain once occupied. Taking the reprieve for what it is, Izuku hurriedly rights himself, glancing back at the mouth of the alley to see Todoroki. He realizes belatedly that the teen and the rest of 1-A and 1-B were in his contacts.
“Sorry I took so long, Midoriya. It took a moment to find this alley. Help is coming, though I don’t have an exact time,” Todoroki adds.
Izuku grins in relief, turning to keep track of Stain who is eyeing the new arrival with a furrowed brow. “What are you doing? Get out of here,” Iida shouts from his prone position.
Izuku lets out a reprimanding screech. Using a foot, he pushes Iida onto his back, keeping one eye on Stain as he looks down at Iida. Izuku mimes zipping his lips with a frown, “We will deal with you after this. Your brother would be ashamed of what you attempted. Now let us keep you alive so he can yell at you,” Izuku signs angrily. If the teen understands, he doesn’t show it and Izuku doesn’t bother to check. He’s got to keep his guard up.
“Midoriya, any idea how his quirk works?” Todoroki calls out and Izuku wiggles his hand in a ‘sort of’ gesture. He holds up the stolen katana and taps it to indicate he uses the blades with it. “Don’t get cut, got it,” Todoroki agrees. “Iida, any ideas?” he asks the downed teen.
“I’m not sure. He cut me and then a second later, I went down unable to move,” Iida admits.
Izuku glances back slightly to catch Todoroki’s eyes and points at Iida then the downed hero. “I’ll keep them protected and act as backup,” Todoroki agrees.
Nodding, Izuku takes a step towards Stain, swallowing nervously. Stain grins, though it looks more like a grimace. “Finally ready to face me then, boy. I mistook your silence for arrogance. I will not underestimate you again.” Stain shifts into a fighting stance. “Are you prepared to use that blade for its intended purpose? I will not show you mercy because you’re a child. The moment we crossed blades, you agreed to the terms of this fight,” Stain warns.
Flexing his shoulders a bit to loosen them, Izuku takes another step forward, ensuring Iida is not right behind him. Giving a sharp cry, Izuku lets his invisibility wash over him and moves. Stain catches his first strike, guessing Izuku would come from overhead.
Izuku nearly gets a blade in his shoulder when Stain pulls a throwing knife out with his broken wrist. The only saving grace is his broken wrist has his aim off and instead it slices through the sleeve of his hoodie, barely avoiding skin.
Ducking low, Izuku goes for the man’s legs and rolls out of the way as a blade slashes for him again only to have to keep rolling as a gout of flame nearly hits him when Todoroki tries to help. Hooting in annoyance, Izuku lets his invisibility drop. It’s not helping much, and will only hinder Todoroki’s attempts to help. Stain also seems really good at predicting his attacks and guessing where he’ll be coming from. The element of surprise is long gone.
“Not bad boy, you’re learning quickly. It’s too bad I can’t spare you. You would have made an excellent hero. If only you weren’t trying to save these false heroes,” Stain says a little mournfully, as if he regrets his actions. “Play time is over. I can’t let you interfere with my plans anymore.”
With a lunge that is somehow even faster, Stain closes the distance between them. Izuku gets his blade up in time to catch the first strike, the second, the third…only Stain changes the angle of the hit at the last second and it scores across Izuku’s cheek, leaving a line of fire in its wake.
Jumping back, Izuku goes to ready himself for the next attack only Stain doesn’t follow. A grin split his face as he brings the blade up and Izuku realizes his mistake too late as the man’s tongue comes out and licks the small smear of blood on the edge of the blade.
Like every one of his tendons and ligaments has been severed, Izuku crumples with a sharp cry, landing awkwardly on his wings as he loses control over his whole body. “Got you,” he says with a grin. Stain starts to walk closer. “You were good boy. No one has held me off for as long as you have. For that, I will spare you. However, those two must be purged.”
Izuku lets out an angry screech as a wall of ice blocks Stain off, but it’s not going to stop him for long. He wants to look back at Todoroki. Try and impress that he should grab Iida and run. Get at least one of them out of here, but his muscles won’t listen.
The ice wall shatters as Stain slashes through it. A blast of fire goes out pushing Stain back and Izuku feels the ground rapidly cool beneath him as an ice ramp forms beneath him, Iida and the hero. They go sliding back away from Stain and Izuku applauds Todoroki’s thinking. Get them away from Stain and go on the defensive.
Todoroki manages for about a minute, keeping the villain at a distance and jumping to avoid his attacks, but Stain is too smart to not recognize a pattern eventually and soon he starts throwing blades at Todoroki. The teen dodges most, but one finds purchase in his arm and he grunts in pain.
Izuku feels adrenalin surge anew through his body as he watches Stain start to rush Todoroki. Sees the way Todoroki backpedals, trying to find his footing again and throw up another defense before Stain can close the distance. Watches Stain cut through the feeble ice wall like it’s nothing.
Izuku strains and feels his hands respond sluggishly. Fingers curl and uncurl and with a will and a lot of silent curses, he forces his body to move. He remembers so many days of struggling to move despite his exhaustion, orders ringing in his ears to ‘Move! Get up! Get up Mirage!’ and he finds that strength now as he forces struggling muscles to do as he needs.
Wobbling slightly as he slowly regains coordination, Izuku lunges forward, swinging clumsily at Stain as he gets in close with Todoroki. Izuku’s only saving grace is that Stain isn’t expecting the attack, the blade finding purchase against his side. It doesn’t go deep, more a small gash than an actual slash, but it’s enough to get the man to back off with a growl of frustration.
“Midoriya, you’re up?” Todoroki says, sounding grateful for Izuku’s timely intervention. Reaching up a hand, Izuku swipes the still bleeding cut on his cheek and shows it to Todoroki. “Blood,” Todoroki murmurs. “That’s how he paralyzed you?” he asks and Izuku nods. “Then how are you up and not Iida?” he asks.
Izuku holds out his arm, pulling back the sleeve slightly to use the blood to draw an O on his arm. It’s kind of obvious now that he thinks about it. Blades mean blood. Blood means a connection to the target. Blood type would definitely play a role how long he paralyzes his victims. If he needed more blood to hold them longer, he would need a different means of getting blood, like a syringe. Yet he only licked s a small amount of Izuku’s blood which means he only needs a small amount for his quirk to work.
“Oh, your blood type is O. So am I. Iida, what is your blood type?” Todoroki asks.
“A,” Iida says, looking thoughtful.
“Very good, you figured it out. It won’t save you though,” Stain growls out in frustration.
“How long have you been down, Iida?” Todoroki asks.
“It’s been a few minutes,” Iida admits.
“Hopefully yours should be wearing off. Try to get up. We need help and you’re it,” Todoroki demands.
Izuku shakes out his limbs, flexing his wings before pulling them back in. He can feel exhaustion edging in slowly. He’s used up too much stamina. Between all the flying, using his quirk and now this fight, he’s not sure how much longer he can keep going.
He looks to his right and sees Todoroki trying to make a quick bandage on his arm while still keeping an eye on Stain. He looks down to see the frantic agony on Iida’s face as he tries to move even a little bit. The hero, Native his mind finally supplies, is still out cold. Izuku’s too focused on Stain and this fight to see if he’s even still breathing.
Drawing in a slow breath, Izuku lets it out just as slowly before he takes a step forward and settles into a fighting stance again. Just a little longer. Todoroki said help is on the way. He just needs to last a little longer. He can rest later.
He looks back at Todoroki to see he’s done. Heterochromic eyes look back and he nods. “I’ll back you up,” he tells Izuku and it’s reassuring. He’s only had his flock to back him up before now. Before that, he was alone, isolated, trained to act alone. It’s nice to know there are others he can trust to have his back.
Nodding, Izuku rushes forward. With a flap of his wings, he springs up, using the wall to push himself forward at an angle. Stain excels in tight quarters. Izuku does as well. He needs to get him trapped against a wall, hinder his swing and his movement.
Their blades meet in a shower of sparks, Izuku gritting his teeth as he tries to bare his weight down on the man, despite their obvious difference in stature and weight. Stain forces him aside and Izuku uses the alley wall to spring back at him, spreading his wings slightly to give some lift so he comes from up high right as a series of ice spikes try to take the man out at the knees.
Stain sees it though and jumps right at Izuku’s swing, forcing him to defend. Izuku sees his opening with one arm occupied and one still barely functioning from the broken wrist. Izuku lashes out with his talons, the claws digging deep into the side Izuku managed to hit before.
Stain grunts in pain and kicks out at Izuku, knocking him from the air, but it’s enough to force the man back. Red eyes frown with a new wariness. He gives an almost there nod of acknowledgement at Izuku landing such a blow.
Settling back into a fighting stance, Izuku hears it behind him: the slight revving of an engine…or engines actually. He’s sure Todoroki who is right by Iida hears it as well and he trusts them to follow along. Taking a steadying breath, Izuku shoots forward, using his wings to give him some speed as he flaps quickly a couple of times.
He crosses blades with Stain and before the man can react, pushes off the ground with another flap of his wings, sailing over his head to get behind him, the man turning to follow his movement, not wanting Izuku at his back. Right as the revving increases to a loud enough pitch that it echoes off the alley walls.
Ice crackles across the ground as Iida forces himself into a standing position and surges forward on limbs that shake badly, but hold him up enough to get one attack out. Stain realizes too late what Izuku is doing.
All three attacks hit at once, Iida’s kick slamming into Stain’s head as the ice slams him from the other side in his chest, Izuku fouling Stain’s feet to stop his attempt to dodge.
Silence reigns suddenly, only their harsh breathing and the distant sound of sirens breaking the quiet. Izuku looks up at where Stain is caught on a protrusion of ice and breathes a shaky sigh of relief at the unconscious state of the villain.
“Midoriya, you okay?” Todoroki asks, starting to come forward. Izuku nods. “Are you sure, you’re bleeding,” the other teen points out and Izuku realizes that he is, a short slash on his shoulder where Stain must have gotten him before Iida and Todoroki’s attacks hit.
“I’m okay,” Izuku signs and mouths. “Rope?” he asks hopefully.
“I’m sure we can find some around here, Midoriya-san,” Iida says with a wince as his injuries make themselves known. The worst is a deep stab wound in his arm.
It takes a moment to find some rope in the trash and then they quickly truss up Stain before he wakes up. Izuku removes all his blades beforehand, doing a very thorough search of his person. Even he is surprised at the number of blades this man managed to carry on his person.
“Let’s head to the mouth of the alley. Help will find us easier out there,” Iida says and Izuku nods. He walks over and does a quick scan over Native. His pulse is steady, if a little slow. He even rouses when Izuku shakes him a bit and with help from Izuku, stands on unsteady feet.
Todoroki and Iida work together to drag Stain down the alley. Izuku breathes a sigh of relief when they step out onto the larger road. Not even a minute later, they hear the hurried steps of a group heading their way and look to see a group of heroes coming, led by Endeavor of all people.
“What is going on here?” a male hero demands. Izuku recognizes Manual and sees Iida flinch. He recalls the teen saying he was interning under this hero. Guess this was an unsanctioned thing indeed.
“Is that Stain?” a woman asks from the rear in shock.
“They’re hurt. Call an ambulance,” another says.
Izuku gladly hands off Native to another hero. His arm is starting to throb and exhaustion is weighing heavily on him now that the adrenalin of the fight is wearing off. His phone buzzes insistently in his pocket and with pang, he remembers the reason he was even passing through Hosu. Hitoshi would have seen his SOS as well.
He steps back, going to pull out his phone and face the music of a worried brother when two things happen: something screeches overhead and sharp talon sink into his side as whatever screeched snatches him up and starts to fly away.
Izuku can’t fight the instinctual screech of fear as the wind buffets him. He claws frantically at the clawed legs holding him, instinct taking over as fear overwhelms him. Reaching up, he drags his own sharp talons over the inside of a knee, severing tendons and the claws go lax.
Pulling himself off of the talons with a sharp cry, Izuku reaches up and drags his talons through the thin membrane of the thing’s wings, shredding them thoroughly. With a shrill scream, he kicks the creature away from him.
Shredded wings beat uselessly at the air as the thing plummets to the street below and lands with a wet, sickening crunch. Breathing heavily, Izuku hovers, looking around for the next attack, pressing a hand to his side where the claws dug in deepest. Warmth pulses around his hand as he bleeds heavily.
His vision starts to darken as the events finally catch up to him. Gasping for breath, Izuku feels his wings give out and starts to plummet himself. Dark dots swim in his vision as he watches the ground approach at an alarming rate before something dark and flickering with purple appears beneath him in a circular shape.
Before he reaches it though, something slams into him from the side. What little grasp he still had on his consciousness slips away as the strike causes his injuries to flare harshly and he passes out.