You know, maybe some god had it out for Izuku. Maybe, possibly, he pissed off the wrong guy in the luck department, or perhaps, he just managed to be here at the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe, you know, luck should be on his side, hm? Do you ever think of that, luck?
Nonetheless, he was having a rough time. One would even consider this moment to be unfortunate. Regardless of luck and how unfortunate this is, he was injured. Pretty damn badly, although he would never admit to that.
He doesn't know what the hell it was, maybe it was a knife, or the person he was fighting had some secret quirk that made them have claws, but he was bleeding out of the shoulder pretty fast, the damn wound only slowing slightly.
Many problems were at hand here. One, Izuku was way too far from home to try and walk or even run there, which was possibly one of the more dangerous problems. Two, he knew that several heroes would be coming down this street or in the area in approximately three minutes, which, while it didn't give him much time to work with, he's done better with worse before.
So, with gritted teeth and thankfulness for his pain tolerance, he poked his head out of the alleyway he was hiding out in, hand pressed against his bloodied shoulder, and scuttled across the street, walking as fast as he dared down the sidewalk, his visors using night vision.
'I've got to get home, asap. This is going to need stitches.'
The lightheadedness caught up to him in no time, the blood loss plus whatever poison was in what hit him making him dizzy. He ducked into the nearest alley, stumbling over his own feet as he settled into sitting down, leaning against a stone wall.
'Let's see if I die here. I'll just come back anyway if I do.'
'Now, where could you be, little vigilante?'
Sharp eyes, partially hidden behind a yellow-tinted visor, scanned the area from the sky, red wings a stark contrast against the dark sky illuminated by stars and the moon.
When the hero's eyes locked onto a figure walking across the street, he kept an eye on them, recognizing the outfit and humming under his breath. 'That was easier than I thought it'd be.'
Watching him walk into another alley sluggishly, Keigo swooped down, landing in front of the alley opening, walking in with his hands shoved into his pockets. Upon seeing Izuku's form slumped over, hand over his bloody shoulder, he tilted his head before an idea formed in his mind.
Satisfied with his thoughts, he scooped the vigilante up, walking out of the alley and opening his wings, taking off from the ground. 'First steps to gaining trust from anything is eating with them. and patching up wounds.'
Getting to his house quickly, he walked through the door, closing and locking it behind him, before making his way to the guest bedroom, snagging the first aid kit along the way.
Keigo set the vigilante down on the bed, removing the blanket and letting the sheets get stained. He didn't mind the sheets, a wound needed to get fixed. Taking the scissors, he cut around the suit sleeve as far up as he dared to go, plus down to remove the sleeve entirely.
As he disinfected the area, he found himself caught between taking off his mask and visors and not doing that out of earning the boy's respect. With nimble hands, he threaded the needle, tying it and quickly sewing the vigilante's flesh back together, steady and quick. When he was done, he wrapped the injury as needed before quickly looking for other wounds.
Upon seeing none, Keigo nodded to himself, setting the things back in the place they were and standing up, looking down at the illegal vigilante.
'It's just for his trust, that's all.' As he walked out of the room, he spared a second glance back at him. 'That's all.'
When Izuku woke up, his first thought was, 'Ow, fuck, that hurts.'
His second thought was, 'Wait, I'm not supposed to hurt after looping.'
Now wide awake, his eyes snapped open, and he was face to face with a white ceiling. Slowly, he sat up, grimacing at the pain in his shoulder that rendered him immobile for the time being, but if he was anything, it was stubborn. He noticed his goggles were still on, along with his face mask and his hood.
The bed he was sitting on looked rather expensive but also modern and modest. He gingerly reached up to his shoulder, looking over and seeing the blood-stained bandages. Hissing as he touched the centre of the wound, he felt the familiar pulling and itching of stitches, and he pulled his hand away, flipping the covers off of his legs.
He could replace the suit, even just ask for a repair from Grian, but he needed to figure out where the hell he was. He could worry about the outfit later.
Throwing his legs over the side of the bed - which was a rather pleasant shade of cream and white, really - he stood up, feeling woozy and dizzy. Izuku leaned against the nearest wall until the fuzzy feeling faded from the front of his skull and his eyes.
When it did, he looked around the room, noticing the thin layer of dust on everything. Disturbed, but certainly not lived in. He made his way across the room to the door, pointedly ignoring the bloodstains he undoubtedly left on the bedsheets. Grabbing the door handle, he twisted it, coming face to face with a normal-looking hallway.
One step out of the room, all he saw was a red flash before something sharp pressed against his throat, and he flinched back, nearly falling back into the room to avoid whatever the hell that was. The red thing moved with him and continued poking against his adam's apple, forcing him to stumble backwards back onto the foot of the bed.
"Hey, dude, it's not the best decision to get out of bed right now. That injury of yours was pretty bad."
'Oh, fuck me. Really? Are you fucking kidding me?' Coming around the corner with a bucket of fried chicken under his arm and a bone sticking out of his mouth, Keigo Tamaki, AKA Hawks, munched on the meat left on the bone.
At his silence, the hero raised an eyebrow before holding out the bucket. "Want some?" He offered, but Izuku was speechless. 'This wasn't supposed to happen.' Keigo, when there was no response, shrugged and took the bucket back. "Well, regardless, you need to stay in bed. You lost a lot of blood." Giving an easy grin, "And don't worry about the mask thing. I didn't remove anything, except for the sleeve, cause, you know."
In shock, Izuku nodded, his jaw dropped behind the mask. He closed his mouth, clearing his throat once the feather moved away. When it sounded robotic and altered, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Uh..." He floundered for words, his usual awkwardness showing. "What...what time is it?"
'Nailed it. Call me Izuku Extroverted Midorya. Actually, maybe not.' "About three in the afternoon, glad you woke up," Keigo answered, leaning against the doorframe, "because you weren't in ideal condition when I found you."
"Found me?" His mind blanked before he recalled the night before. "Oh, right." He vividly remembered getting slashed by something and going into an alley, wanting to take a nap. "Thanks for uh, for that. But..." He didn't really want to ask the question that was on his mind ever since he recognized the hero.
Thankfully, he already knew what he meant. "Why didn't I arrest you on sight?" At Izuku's following nod, he shrugged once more. "I wouldn't be a hero if my first priority was to arrest an injured person, vigilante or not." Lost in thought, Izuku nodded again, falling silent.
Keigo noticed and hummed. "Welp, if you need anything, just holler. You have a bathroom attached to this room, the door on the left there," He gestured to the door, "and rest up. I'll be in the living room." With that, the man walked out of the room.
After a moment of silence, Izuku sighed, "Well, that happened." Deciding that he wasn't hungry or thirsty and didn't need to use the restroom yet, he moved back onto the bed, laying down. During the interaction, he hadn't noticed his shoulder throbbing, but it came back with a vengeance now, as he laid down on his back.
'I've dealt with worse before, though. Might as well get as much rest as I can while I can before I run off.' He thought, not bothering with the messed up blankets and letting his exhaustion take hold. From behind the goggles, his eyes drifted shut, and sleep hit him like a freight train.
The next time Izuku woke up, it was to the sound of his phone buzzing. He stirred from his sleep, patting his pockets to find the rectangular device. When he felt it, he lifted it up, unlocking it and looking at his messages on Discord.
Bitches that do the hero shit
Monday - 17:35
Tsaltauchi: Does anyone even know where Cyber is? We haven't had contact in a while.
3amdemon: If I knew, I wouldn't be outside in daylight right now, Tsukauchi
Tsaltauchi: Sorry, sorry, I know. I'm just concerned.
Megaphone: Maybe they're just on a vacation rn guys
Tsaltauchi: You don't get it, Mic. He ALWAYS takes an opportunity to annoy us.
Tsaltauchi: It's unusual to not hear from him for so long.
Carfixer: awww u really do care ebotut me!!!1!
Carfixer: whomst tf changed my namr
Tsaltauchi: Why are there typos?
Carfixer: jusr woke up, whus poppin
Tsaltauchi: A genetic quirk user was recently arrested, poisonous claws. They mentioned your vigilante name, and we hadn't heard from you in a while.
Carfixer: oh shit yeah, about thatr dude
Carfixer: that realy fukgin hurt bt w
Carfixer: rlly didnt neeed that toxic in my life
3amdemon: This isn't a time for jokes
Carfixer: you gotta fin the humor somehwere, my dude. otherwise, everything is stupid and dull
Megaphone: While I agree, I also don't think you should be joking about that
Carfixer: yeah, yeah, it's okay. someone saw me and picked me up for some readon
Carfixer: idk why, byt like i wont deny free healthcare, yk? kinda sus of him though
Carfixer: got it sall taking care of, no infection or anythng
Tsaltauchi: That's good. I'm glad you're safe.
Carfixer: awwww u guys do care abou me
Carfixer: thought the love was oine sided.
Megaphone: Who picked you up?
Carfixer: uhhhh odk if I shoud say, but hes not a vilain
Carfixer: super strict about me laying down tho, resting or some shit
Carfixer: but like yeabfbefurb
A feather swept under his hands, snatching the phone out of his hands and into the hands of Keigo. Izuku pouted - even though the man couldn't see - as the hero typed on the phone before setting it down on the bedside table. "Time to change the bandages." He announced, holding up a first aid kit.
With a nod, Izuku sat up, holding a hand out for the bandages. Keigo pulled up a stool that the boy didn't know was there, opting to instead begin unraveling the bandages himself.
As they were unraveling, the younger looked away, deciding that if the hero wanted to hurt him, he would have done so in the alleyway. "I could have done it myself..." He muttered, but the man heard anyways. "It's fine. I've bandaged many injuries in my career." He kept that easy grin that both eased Izuku's mind and set it on high alert.
"So have I." An awkward silence occurred, at least it was on Izuku's side, and the hero replaced the bandages around his shoulder. "How old did you say you were?" Keigo broke the silence, and Izuku replaced it. "I didn't."
Look, was he being rude right now? Maybe a little. Did he regret it? Not right now, but he probably would later. You can't really blame him though, he got slashed by apparently poisonous claws and saved by a hero when he was a slightly known vigilante. Illegal as hell. He was cautious, and who knows what Keigo would demand in turn.
Regardless of how many loops he went through, the guy wasn't an open book. A whole ten time loops were spent analyzing the hero, and each time he was as unpredictable as the last. If there was anyone he didn't want to know about his time-travelling abilities, it was him. He could snitch on Izuku just as fast as he could help him solve the solution of getting the loops to end.
"Alright, well, how old are you then? Because until you do tell me, I'm just gonna call you 'kid'." Keigo asked after he was done replacing the bandages. Izuku wondered what answer to give him, deciding on the classic. "I am both simultaneously older than you, yet younger than you at the same time."
"Okay, kid."
As Izuku healed, he learned a side of the man he'd never seen before. He knew all of the man's secrets, but his personality was an enigma itself. Keigo let him eat in the room, with the door closed to respect his identity. When the bandages were changed, he would ask about his age. Every single time, he got the same answer.
One afternoon, three days after his initial night in the house, he took his portion of food to the table instead of the room, sitting down in a seat. "I need you to not freak out." He told the hero, who nodded. "No use in freaking out."
With a deep breath, Izuku flipped his hood down, dirty, tangled, green locks springing free from where they were held. Unsteady hands unbuckled the strap keeping his goggles on his head, and green eyes stared at the wooden table as he set them down next to his plate. The same hands then reached up, removing the mask from his face, rubbing the sore spots that it caused from staying on his face.
Lips pressed into a firm line, he looked at Keigo, who was as visibly surprised as he was shocked. "Don't freak out." He was nearly surprised himself, hearing his own voice without the mask. "You really are a kid..?" The hero practically whispered, putting his head in his hands, looking at the table. Izuku nodded.
'I WAS ORDERED TO KILL A CHILD.'
'He better not be freaking out right now.'
'A KID. A CHILD. ONE THAT WAS POISONED AND HAS BEEN SEEN FIGHTING ENDEAVOR?'
'This is an awkward silence...maybe I should have eased him into it?'
He watched the hero take a deep breath, releasing it. "This is fine. It's not that different." He turned to Izuku, "Thank you for trusting me with this."
Izuku gave him a small, shy smile. "Well, you did save my life, so..."
For the rest of the night, the two cracked jokes and ate dinner, and Keigo learned that the feeling he experienced on day one was not just for Izuku's trust but a familial attachment.
Bitches that do the hero shit
Monday - 17:42
Carfixer: yo, this is hawks. The guy is safe. I fixed him up.
3amdemon: If you hurt him, I will hunt you down, Hawks.
Megaphone: Ditto
Tsaltauchi: Ditto
Nedzu: Ditto as well
CARFIXER added FUCKYACHICKENSTRIPS
Friday - 01:26
FuckYaChickenStrips: I'm taking him
Carfixer: wtf ur not allowed to do that.
FuckYaChickenStrips: no, no, we ate fried chicken together. We're besties now.
Tsaltauchi: He showed you his face???
Megaphone: YOOOO
3amdemon: Child or adult?
Carfixer: don't u dare answer that it's my biggest mystery.
FuckYaChickenStrips: Hmmmmm
Carfixer: I'll buy you a bucket of fried chicken
FuckYaChickenStrips: are u trying to bribe me?
Carfixer: depends. Is it working?
Tsaltauchi: Please do not give in to the bribery, Hawks.
FuckYaChickenStrips: nah, nah, he's actually a 43ub
FuckYaChickenStrips: bqshbdudbejendivun-nvue9n8e743bf
Carfixer: hah
FuckYaChickenStrips: u shouldn't be throwing things u should be resting
FuckYaChickenStrips: I thought we were besties ;-;
Carfixer: besties don't give away each other's secrets
FuckYaChickenStrips: fine. I'm eating the cookies.
Carfixer: GET AWAY FROM THOSE COOKIES RN, I WILL ATTACK YOU
FuckYaChickenStrips: COME AT ME NSUDEUFNERUBGRGRYU
New contact added - Chickie Nuggies.
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The playlist I listened to while making it: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QBklxKYzYxUcQWBvQWEXp?si=11449421838648c6