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“Are you sure?” Izuku said cautiously, carefully walking along the edge of the building.
“Yes. I won't try to turn you in anymore.”
Izuku narrowed his eyes, flipping his knife in the air and catching it again.
“What made you change your mind?”
“It's just not worth it anymore.” Eraserhead leaned back against the wall, hands up and facing Izuku.
“You are a little destructive, sure, but I think we could work something out to reign you in a bit.”
They had been playing this game of cat and mouse for a few months now, and if Izuku was being honest he was starting to warm up to the pro hero. He had helped him a lot, and even though he was always trying to convince Izuku to turn himself in to the police, he had always been confident that the hero would never try anything too drastic. He relaxed his shoulders, slipping his knife into his pocket.
He held out his hand, curling an eyebrow up.
“Partners?’ He asked, slightly tilting his head.
Eraserhead grabbed his hand, glancing slightly down at him.
“Partners.”
And for a week, they were. The tension that was between them had lowered, and Izuku found himself listening to the hero more often and trusting him to have his back in some fights. They had just finished a patrol and were catching their breath on a roof when Eraserhead stood up.
“Wait here for a minute, there's something I wanted to give you”
Izuku was curious, but stretched out and looked up at the stars, patiently waiting as Eraserhead went to grab whatever he was talking about. Then he heard it. It was faint, he only heard it because the wind carried it up to him.
But it was unmistakable, someone was standing on the fire escape on the side of a building. He had been on it before, it took at least two people to make it creak like that. Izuku sat up, slowly backing toward the opposite side of the building. And then he ducked.
A bullet shot right above him, and he turned to see Snipe staring down at him from the building across. A few more heroes jumped up, forming a circle around Izuku.
He frantically looked around, until he locked eyes with Eraserhead.
“Traitor.” He spat, and then moved into action.
He grabbed a punch that was thrown his way, using his weight to pull the hero down and kicked him over his head directly into the person behind him. A shard of ice pinned his feet to the ground, and he slammed the butt of his knife into it, shattering the block. He jumped up, kicking a woman with spines on her arms into the wall.
He had just turned to try and make a run for it when Eraserhead's cloth wrapped around his legs, causing him to trip and fall to the ground. He turned toward him, hate filling his eyes. And then pain. He shouted as a bullet pierced his shoulder, but the cloth around his ankles suddenly loosened.
“I said not to hurt him!” Eraserhead shouted at Snipe, but Izuku could care less about him now.
He yanked his feet out of the cloth, and in one swift motion flipped off the roof. He landed onto the next building, stumbling from the explosion of pain in his shoulder. He could feel the blood pouring out of the wound, soaking the thin fabric of his jacket. But he couldn't stop.
He couldn't get caught.
He ran, and footsteps chased him. He took a sharp turn, leaping off a roof, onto a fire escape, and then onto the ground. He had gotten a little ahead of the others, and used the opportunity to dive into a broken window. He pushed himself up against the wall, heart hammering in his chest. He closed his eyes, hearing the footsteps and shouts pass him and then fade into the distance.
Still, he didn't dare breathe until the pain got to be too much. He peeled off his jacket, pressing it into the wound. He should have expected the betrayal, and on some level the thought was always there. But that didn't make it hurt any less. He took a deep breath, dragging himself upright. He slowly made his way back to his home, doing his best to patch himself up. He wasn't going to take this lightly. He had wanted to trust Eraserhead so badly.
He missed being able to rely on somebody.
It was what held him back from harassing the heroes. It was why he had made an effort to minimize damage, and to not make it obvious when he chose to kill. But not anymore.
He was going to make the heroes lives a living hell, starting with him.