Chapter Text
Midoriya has a pro hero license. A full, no restrictions, non provisional, hero license. And he's only a second year student at UA. How? Well, turns out the final battles against Shigaraki and All For One were publicized, and the HPSC didn't want to credit such a large victory to a provisionally licensed teen. So they gave him a full one. He was not, however, assigned an agency, still being in school and all that, so his license only really came in use when on work studies. He would love to help around the neighborhood, but paperwork sucks and he still hasn't learned how to properly fill it out yet, so work studies it is.
Izuku thought it would stay like this until graduation. There was no reason to think he would be needed for a mission. Especially a stealth mission. A stealth mission with his teacher. But alas, he was needed for that very thing.
It was in English with Mic when he heard Nezu on the intercom: "May Aizawa Shouta and Midoriya Izuku please report to the Principal's office."
A pause, then-
"Oooooooo~ someone's in trouble~", the class jeered as Midoriya got up and took his stuff out the door. He could hear them guess what he was being called for as he walked down the hall to the stairs.
When he arrived, he found Aizawa already there, mirroring the displeased face of the principal.
"Am I in trouble, sir?" He asked as he walked inside, closer to the desk.
"Nonsense! I just have some... unexpected news for you." Nezu explained cheerfully, though looking pained to say it. "The Hero Public Safety Commission has sent me an assignment for the both of you, being fairly unknown heroes and non-committed to agencies. They wish for you to..."
They what? The Hero Commission wants me on a mission? With Aizawa-sensei?
“... Trigger ring. Your main target is Yamaguchi Toro, quirk: polyflame. He can create different colors of fire and has pyrokinesis. Other suspects are…”
It... unfortunately made a lot of sense. The Commission needed a quick solution with heroes that wouldn't be recognized. Given both their quirks and status on the hero charts, they were a perfect duo for this. Sneak in, take out the boss guy, and sneak out. Easy, right?
"As much as I wish you or I could, this is a non-negotiable mission. I hope you will both understand." Nezu finished sadly.
"We understand. The HPSC doesn't give a damn anyways so it looks like we're doing this." Aizawa did not sound thrilled in the slightest, standing up and heading towards the door. Midoriya was quick to follow.
And so it seems he is doing a mission. A mission for the HPSC… holy shit he’s doing actual hero work. Non-provisional hero work. He’s getting paid for this. It may sound terrible, given his teacher’s expressions about it, but it’s happening! He’s a hero! Well, technically him fighting off Shigaraki and All For… never mind that! This was his first /assigned/ mission. He would get to be on the field as an equal to Aizawa.
“For the record, I would appreciate it if you still do as I say during this. While you may be a full hero to the law, you are still a child that needs guidance. Am I clear?”
So not quite an equal, but fair. “Yes Aizawa-sensei, I understand.”
“Midoriya,” Aizawa paused in the hallway, turning to look at Midoriya and level him a serious look. “I need to be absolutely transparent with you. What this job entails will likely be uncomfortable for you at best and horrifying at worst. This will not be fun. I need you to be at your best at all times and I need clear communication with you. If there is anything, and I mean anything, that you can think of that would affect your performance during this, tell me now.” Aizawa ended up gripping his shoulders at that last statement, a testament to how serious he was and how much he cared.
“The only thing I can think of at the moment is you using your quirk while I’m in your line of sight or my muttering,” Izuku admitted. Him not using a quirk while in the field wouldn’t even be that much of a problem given his hand-to-hand skills. The muttering however, that would be an issue for a stealth based mission.
“I can see how the muttering would be a problem. Do you know of any way you can stop it?” Aizawa asked.
“No sir, and believe me, I’ve tried many things, even a retainer once, but-“
“What’s your pain tolerance and infection rate?”
“W-what?” What did Aizawa mean by asking that? Was there something else Izuku hadn’t tried yet?
“U-um well my pain tolerance is, uh, p-pretty high as you pr-probably know and um I’m not particularly prone to inf-fections?”
“Oral Hygiene?”
“Fine?” Okay what was he getting at. What could possibly be a solution that also risked infect- oh no.
“Ever considered an oral piercing?”
Yep. Izuku was dead. No way in hell would his mom ever let him get a piercing. Nope. Not happening. Never. He told Aizawa as such:
“I haven’t actually considered that but there’s no way my mom would ever let me get one. She doesn’t like piercings or tattoos or any of that and as long as I live with her I have to abide by that-“
“But you live in the dorms.”
…Okay yes he lived in the dorms most of the time. He loved his mother, he really did. But sometimes she could be a bit overbearing and dare he say, old-fashioned. Not in like, the generational way, but she wasn’t a fan of certain things, like tattoos or piercings, because of what they represented when she was growing up. But she was definitely overbearing sometimes. Enough that Izuku only visited every few weekends. That, and travel can be exhausting. So, yes, he lived in the dorms. Even still-
“Yes, but I don’t want to upset her or anything, and honestly piercings never appealed to me? I mean I had a phase in junior hi- never mind that but I don’t really see how it could be beneficial? I guess the feeling of something in my mouth would mitigate, or at least alert me if I started mumbling but given the retainers and pencils didn’t work I doubt just having something there would do much though there is the possibility that something cold like metal would do better than mypreviousattemptsandeventhenmaybeHatsumecouldmakeanoisesilencerinmymask-”
“Midoriya.”
Oh shoot he was doing it now wasn’t he.
“Yes, you were.”
He said that out loud too?
“And, if just having something in your mouth isn’t enough then maybe the pain and foreign feeling of something through it would.”
That- that might actually work. Oh Kami, was he really considering this? He supposed it wasn’t the worst of ideas, but how would he hide it from his mom? Would he just tell her upfront?
“If you’re really worried about your mom you can always do your tongue to hide it easier I suppose. It has a high pain and infection rate but if you think it’ll be effective then go ahead.”
Izuku also wondered about public image when it came to body modifications, but held his tongue.
“I’ll let you think about it. See me after school tomorrow and we’ll go over further logistics about this mission. For now though, have a good Wednesday.” Aizawa dismissed, walking back towards the teacher lounge.
Midoriya turned around to head towards the dorms. Guess I have quite a few things to consider.
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He tried to get a silencer in his mask. He really did. Went down to the support department and talked to Powerloader, Hatsume too, but it couldn’t be ready in time. Sure, they could make one in time, but due to his full license, he would need the equipment patented and field approved by his agency. Which, standing as he didn’t have a direct agency, would be sent to the HPSC. And there’s no telling how long that would take. He really was out of options wasn’t he?
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He was gonna do it. Kami, save him, he was getting a tongue piercing on Saturday. One his mom actually approved of. SHE APPROVED! He didn’t expect her to but after panning out the entire situation she didn’t see any reason to say no. Inko simply put it as: If you think it will help and it’s your last resort, then go ahead. After the green light, he went straight to research. A simple vertical midline. Done.
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He was nervous about the pain after reading online reviews.
He later thought they were all just exaggerating. It didn’t hurt that bad.
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In the first few days, he started doubting whether it would work or not. He was still a mutter storm during class and the piercing felt weird. He quickly stopped doubting it when he found it easy to catch himself when he started up. It was working.
By the time of the mission, he just. Didn’t mutter. It felt kind of strange to know that such an out-there solution had worked, but hey, the muttering stopped. Aizawa even ended up congratulating him on it.
His friends were acting strange recently, but he supposed that could be worried about after his mission with Aizawa. His MISSION with AIZAWA was TODAY! It was relatively simple, but there’s always something that goes wrong. And with busting a Trigger trade? One mistake could cost far more lives than imagined.
He and Aizawa were up against a pyrokinetic, Yamaguchi, a telekinetic, Fukusa, and an unknown mental quirk, Shiko. Not to mention the roughly 20 men they would have with them given the high stakes of trading Trigger. Oh yeah, and the possibility of getting shot was not lost to Izuku, whether with a bullet or Trigger, well, he hoped that if it came to it, it would be the former. A bullet wound can be healed if not fatal. Trigger could permanently damage One For All. He doesn’t want to imagine what it would do to Aizawa’s Erasure.
So yeah, it was a dangerous first mission for a second-year, but Izuku was excited. He got to wear his stealth suit again! And he was getting to work with Aizawa-sensei! Speaking of Aizawa, there he was now.
“I’m all set to go, Eraserhead sir.” It felt weird to not call him Aizawa-sensei, but he had to start the hero names now so he wouldn’t put his teacher in danger on the field.
“Just Eraserhead is fine, kid.” It was nice to have someone he trusts like he does his teacher on his first official mission. Sensei was a familiar face that only brought comfort, so having him for this helped ease the nerves.
“Think you’re ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Then let’s go.”
So off they went. They had to go to Nagoya, so it would be a long train ride. The ride, while uneventful, had Izuku’s nerves ramping up. What if he messed up? What if Aizawa got hurt? What if he got a civilian hurt? What if he was a burden to Aizawa, to the mission? No, Izuku, stay focused. He was picked for a reason and he had to be calm for things to work out. Besides, Aizawa told him to just follow his lead. He can do that. Except he certainly won’t be napping on the train. No thanks. He’ll leave that to his sensei.
They arrived. This was it. 17:34 start, hopefully 20:00 finish. This had to be quick. It was still relatively early in the spring, so the sun was already starting to set. Perfect. Enough light to see, but not enough to be seen.
The warehouse seemed desolate except for two guys waiting, one smoking a cigarette, the other pacing. He and Eraserhead snuck up into the rafters and watched, also waiting. Soon, Yamaguchi arrived.
“A little birdie told me you got some fun things to trade and try. Mind showing the offer?”
Izuku tries not to judge people straight off the bat, but something about Yamaguchi made him sick. Grimy looking pale blue hair, wide orange eyes, hunched over like a cat with its hackles raised. He reminded Izuku of an older Shigaraki, but not quite as menacing.
“I do have a few things for y’a, but first we gotta clear out the rat.” That was Fukusa, but why was he reaching out towards Sensei?
Eraserhead was yanked from his hiding spot on the other side of the warehouse. How did they know he was here?
“Figured you might stop by, Eraser.” Fukusa smiled as he pulled Aizawa closer to him. “Didn't expect you to be so easy to find, but I guess even the undergrounder has its holes. Shame you came alone.”
This was bad. Only a few minutes in and one of them had already been caught. Even worse, it was the adult. Aizawa was tied down to a post by the three men that were holding him. Izuku was on his own.
“Now that our little problem is in the open, how ‘bout I demonstrate the goods for y’a? Give the hero a shot and see if he crumbles?”
No no no no, this is bad. Very bad. Izuku has to think quickly if he's going to save Eraserhead and stop the trade. How would he stop everyone without being seen and get Eraserhead free? Would Blackwhip and Smokescreen be enough? Maybe he could use Float to not be heard- he was running out of time!
“Here, I’ll let you do the honors, Yamaguchi. You’ll be using them later anyways, so why get in some practice.”
Yamaguchi took aim and-
Everyone was in the air, suspended by black and teal tendrils. The men shouted and swore as they were shaken up a bit before being held in stasis.
“You didn't say there were more!” Yamaguchi sounded furious, thrashing about in Blackwhip.
“Eraser don't work with anyone last I checked. There shouldn't have been another at all.” Fukusa pitifully defended himself. He tried to use his quirk on the energy vines but they wouldn't budge.
Izuku figured he could wait to reveal himself just yet, opting to use Smokescreen and untie Eraserhead. He got one hand untied, then-
“Shiko! Where's the damn mouse?! Find it!”
So Shiko was here. A dangerous unknown in all of this mess. Mental quirks were no joke, and the heroes didn't know what his quirk did.
A bored sounding voice cut Izuku's thoughts; “He’s untying Eraserhead.”
Shit. Izuku had to work fast. All but one leg undone before he was gripped on the shoulders and hoisted up.
“Found it! Hey wait this is a teenag-” Izuku raised his leg and kicked his captor as hard as he could behind him. The guy let go and crumpled to the floor on his knees and, oh, oops. Izuku cringed when he realized where he kicked but oh well. Back to saving Sensei.
“A teenager?” Confusion rose among the men as Fukusa and Yamaguchi went back to struggling in black whip.
“You think he's a vigilante?”
“Maybe a work study kid?”
Who sends kids to drug rings? Izuku asked himself. He then realized his situation and, well, the HPSC would send kids, he supposes.
He went to run back to Eraserhead, but more of the henchmen had come around to surround him. He would have to fight all of them to get to him, but he couldn't go all out with the mystery cases Yamaguchi brought and Aizawa right there.
Deku engaged them one by one trying to keep it small and limit his quirk use. He didn't want OFA’s lightning right now, as it would reveal his location further.
There was one thing he missed. He let go of Yamaguchi and Fukusa to fight the henchmen.
He was almost to Eraser when he felt the head pain of Dangersense. But who?- Fukusa aimed for Eraserhead.
Fired.
Izuku stepped in the way.